Will you take your Bibles and turn to Daniel chapter five as we continue to look into this amazing Old Testament book. I have been titled my discourse to you this morning, "Godless Defiance and Divine Judgment." And you will understand more of what that means as we look at this text to this morning. Living in a morally bankrupt society that could be likened to Sodom and Gomorrah and having to endure many of the political issues that are so anti-Christian can be both depressing as well as infuriating. I understand that, you understand that. However, despite the righteous indignation that believers might have, towards those who mock Christ, and those who hate all who belong to Him, we should all shudder when we consider what awaits them if they choose not to repent and place their faith in Christ. I want to remind you of this before we look at this text. Dear friends a day is coming, according to scripture, when unbelievers will stand in abject horror, before the Lord Jesus Christ seated upon his great white throne of judgment, they will stand before the divine bar of justice. A time is coming when they will appear as condemned prisoners in the indescribable emptiness between the end of the present universe in the creation of the new heaven and the new earth. A time is coming when they will look upon the one whom they have ignored and ridiculed and defied and rejected all their life. It will be a time, according to Scripture, when the unrighteous dead will hover in the unspeakable void of empty space and look upon the righteous, omniscient, omnipotent, sovereign creator of the universe, and there, they will appear with new resurrected bodies, suited for the eternal torments of hell. This is what Jesus referred to in John 5:29 as the "resurrection of condemnation." There they will be judged for their works, for every thought, for every word, for every action, everything will be measured against the righteousness of God. And they will be found wanting. And were it not for the righteousness of Christ, we would be with them, were it not for his grace, we would stand with them. Revelation Chapter 20. We're given a glimpse of the scene. There we read beginning in verse 11. "Then I saw a great white throne and Him who sat upon it, from whose presence earth and heaven fled away, and no place was found for them. And I saw the dead, the great and the small, standing before the throne, and books were opened; and another book was opened, which is the book of life; and the dead were judged from the things which were written in the books according to their deeds. And the sea gave up the dead which were in it and death and Hades gave up the dead which were in them, and they were judged every one of them according to their deeds. Then death and Hades were thrown into the lake of fire. This is the second death, the lake of fire. And if anyone's name was not found written in the book of life, he was thrown into the lake of fire."

Whenever I think about God's judgment upon the wicked, two things immediately well up within me. One is how thankful I am for his saving grace in my life. But secondly, just an overwhelming sense of burden for those that don't know Christ. We all need to bear this in mind as we endure some of the wickedness that's all around us, as we endure people that hate us. Yes, today, they have the power, so to speak. They live in Satan's world; he is the god of this world; God has allowed that temporarily. But as the old preacher said," There's payday someday. There is payday someday." The apostle Paul addresses this in Second Thessalonians, one beginning in verse six. He says, "For after all, it is only just for God to repay with affliction, those who afflict you, and to give relief to you who are afflicted, and to us as well when the Lord Jesus will be revealed from heaven with His mighty angels in flaming fire, dealing out retribution to those who do not know God, and to those who do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus. These will pay the penalty of eternal destruction, away from the presence of the Lord and from the glory of His power, when He comes to be glorified in His saints on that day, and to be marveled at among all who have believed, for our testimony to you was believed." The inspired apostle went on to describe the nature of his prayer for all of the persecuted saints. And this is what we need to hear. He says, "To this end, also, we pray for you always, that our God will count you worthy of your calling, and fulfill every desire for goodness in the work of faith with power, so that the name of our Lord Jesus will be glorified in you, and you and him, according to the grace of our God, and the Lord Jesus Christ." This, beloved, must be the decisive commitment of your heart, even in the midst of righteous indignation that you might have towards ungodly oppressors. And what we see today, in the text before us, is a prime example of God's judgment on those who defy him, what I would call godless defiance. And we see this all of the time, all you have to do is turn on the television. Listen to the news, you see it all the time. And as we examine this historical narrative this morning, we glean some very clear patterns that emerge from the text. Patterns regarding human depravity and how it is often manifested and how it progresses. So as we come to Daniel five, let me take you back to the context. This is ancient Babylon. And this is the story of Belshazzar, the ungodly grandson of Nebuchadnezzar that is now dead. Daniel was an old man, the prophet Daniel was an old man by now, about 81 years old. Now Belshazzar was a co-regent with his father Nabonidus, who was an absent king, who basically abandoned the capital city of Babylon for many years at a time. In fact, he maintained a separate royal residence at Tema in Northwest Arabia, which would be southeast of Edom. It's recorded that there was one period of 14 years when he never even visited the capital. The famous Nabonidus chronicle speaks of Belshazzar as quote "the Crown Prince, who was regarded as king," because he was left there in Babylon to control the military from at least 549 to 545 BCE, while his father, Nabonidus was establishing a new military and commercial fortress at Tema. You can also read in a text called a "Persian Verse Account of Nabonidus," the following, quote, "He freed his hand," referring to Nabonidus, freeing the hand of Belshazzar. "He entrusted the kingship to him, then he himself undertook a distant campaign." Also, the Babylonian Chronicles which were written in Babylonian cuneiform discovered in some of the excavations in the 19th century. There we know exactly when this story happened. From that ancient document it happened on the 16th day of the month, Tishri, Nabonidus' 17th year. That translates into Saturday, October 12 539 BC.

In fact, the cuneiform reads, quote, "The army of Cyrus entered Babylon without a battle." You'll understand that more him here in a minute. And the Greek historian and leader there in Greece many years ago during that time, Herodotus, notes that "Babylon failed during a time of festival, and celebration." So that's a little background here. So let's examine the text. And let's do so with a view towards understanding some of the key elements that occurs when people defy who God really is; when they have no fear of God. People that have no fear of God are called fools in the Bible. So let's look at a fool beginning in verse one.

"Belshazzar the king held a great feast for 1000 of his nobles, and he was drinking wine in the presence of the 1000." Now here we see a common characteristic of a defiant fool. That is a passion for drunken debauchery. These people love to party, they love to use alcohol and drugs to create a fool's paradise, so that they can deny the works and the Word of the living God. In fact, if you go to Isaiah five, you will see that this is one of the reasons why God judged ancient Judah. Now, I want you to understand how foolish this is what I just read about Belshazzar, having a great feast of 1000 nobles drinking wine in their presence. You see the context here is as follows: The Persians had already conquered all of the territory surrounding the city of Babylon. They had already defeated Nabonidus in battle, and he had fled for his life. And he left his son, Belshazzar, there in Babylon with the remaining forces to somehow fight the Persians from behind the walls. So now what you have, is this enormously powerful Persian military surrounding the city. Morale was extremely low. We know that the people were fed up with their leadership, you might say Belshazzar's approval ratings had slipped very, very low. If you took a poll of the people in Babylon, they would, the majority would say the Empire is going in the wrong direction. So that's what's going on here. So what should you do as a leader? Throw a party, throw a party, tell the press secretary to spin the situation. You know, let's boost the morale of the people beginning with the leaders. And it's time to exalt the king, fuel his pride, bolster his self-image and his own self-confidence. And like most petty dictators, kings, or even presidents that have ever existed, Belshazzar had an insatiable appetite for self-aggrandizement. So let's gather 1000 of the nobles, let's impress them with my cavalier attitude towards danger. Let's somehow help them understand that we can handle this. Our military is powerful, we can defeat this enemy. And moreover, as you're going to see, let's bring everybody together so that I can publicly defy the God of ancient Judah.

By the way, these large banquets were not at all uncommon. History records that Persian monarchs would feed as many as 15,000 guests at daily feasts. Imagine that. And we know that there were 10,000 guests at the marriage feast of Alexander the Great. So this is how they functioned in those days. But you need to also understand that this was an opportunity for Belshazzar to reaffirm their commitment and their faith in their Babylonian gods that they believed had protected them in the past. So bring on the food and the drink. And the women. Verse two says that he ordered his wives and his concubines to join them. You see, this was for the purpose of providing sexual pleasure. Inevitably these events would end up in a drunken orgy. So the spin machine now is set into full motion. It's time to enjoy some carefree hilarity. It's time for drunken debauchery. And we all know how quickly alcohol consumption can cloud a man's judgment, temporarily drown out your sorrows. Proverbs 20 verse one says "Wine is a mocker, strong drink a brawler, and whoever is intoxicated, intoxicated by it is not wise." So godless defiance will often manifest itself in a passion for drunken debauchery.

But there's a second characteristic that we see emerging from the text and that is a fearless disregard for God's judgment. I want you to see how this plays out beginning in verse two, "When Belshazzar tasted the wine," by the way, in the original the idea here is, is not only sensing its flavor, but also feeling its intoxicating effects beginning to take over. So, "when Belshazzar tasted the wine, he gave orders to bring the gold and silver vessels which Nebuchadnezzar his father had taken out of the temple which was in Jerusalem, so that the king and his nobles, his wives and his concubines might drink from them." By the way, when it says "Nebuchadnezzar, his father," that term is also used to describe a grandfather, which Nebuchadnezzar was. So this was an act of, of unbridled pride, of defeat, of defiance, deliberate blasphemy, to somehow say, I am not intimidated with Yahweh, who I know judged my grandfather. But you know, at least his grandfather kept the sacred vessels according to chapter one and verse two, "in the treasure house of his God." No Babylonian king had ever done such a thing, taking the sacred vessels that they had taken from the temple in Jerusalem. And again, he's wanting to demonstrate his fearless disregard for the Judean God that had humbled his grandfather through his judgment. That's why later on in verse 23, Daniel is going to say to him, "but you Belshazzar, have exalted yourself against the Lord of heaven; they have brought the vessels of His house before you and you and your nobles, your wives, and your concubines have been drinking wine from them, and you have praised the gods of silver and gold of bronze iron, wood and stone, which do not see here or understand. But the God in whose hand are your life-breath and all your ways you have not glorified." I'm reminded of Proverbs nine and verse 10, "The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom. And the knowledge of the Holy One is understanding." But fools have no fear of the Lord, the God of the Bible. In fact, in Psalm 14 one we read that, "The fool has said in his heart, 'There is no God.' They are corrupt, they have done abominable things." Proverbs 26 and verse 10, "The great God who formed everything gives the fool his hire and the transgressor his wages." And that dear friends is about to happen. As the story unfolds, notice verse three. "Then they brought the gold vessels that had been taken out of the temple, the house of God, which was in Jerusalem; and the king and his nobles, his wives and his concubines drank from them. They drank the wine and praised the gods of gold and silver, of bronze, iron, wood and stone."

By the way, history records that the way they did their praise was through singing. So they are singing with instruments to their false gods. I'm reminded of Romans chapter one, beginning in verse 22, where the apostle Paul says, "Professing to be wise, they became fools, and exchanged the glory of the incorruptible God for an image in the form of corruptible man and of birds and of four-footed and animals and crawling creatures. Therefore, God gave them over and the lusts of their hearts to impurity." Then he goes on, he gives them over as well to "degrading passions," that of homosexuality, and then finally to "a depraved mind to do those things which are not proper." And sadly, the things that he goes on to describe are basically those things that many of our politicians exalt and celebrate and force upon us. It says, they're "being filled with all unrighteousness, wickedness, greed, evil; full of envy, murder, strife, deceit, malice; they are gossips, slanderers, haters of God, insolent, arrogant, boastful inventors of evil, disobedient to parents, without understanding, untrustworthy, unloving, unmerciful; and although they know the ordinance of God, that those who practice such things are worthy of death, they not only do the same, but also give hearty approval to those who practice them."

So now Belshazzar, who wants to tell everybody that he is not intimidated with the God of Judea, the one that had proved himself so powerful in the past with his grandfather, this king now, is about to be humbled. So imagine the scene. Try to go there in your imagination. The king is all liquored up along with the nobles, they're laughing it up. They're having a big party having a gay old time drinking and singing. I mean, folks, this is spring break in Babylon, you get the picture. It's spring break in Babylon. And imagine the beautiful golden and silver vessels falling to the floor in the midst of drunken revelry. An orgy of Satan loves to mock the one true God. Notice what happens next. "Suddenly, the fingers of a man's hand emerged." As I studied the original language here, it's really fascinating. When it says emerge, it's the idea of coming out. And so this hand is coming out of the wall, in what we would call a three dimensional materialization. So it looks like a huge hand coming out of the wall. And this hand "began writing opposite the lampstand on the plaster of the wall of the king's palace." So this was the perfect place for it to be illumined where everybody could see. And we read "and the king saw the back of the hand that did the writing." Boy, imagine the scene. How quickly all of that gaiety turned to sobriety, to terror. I'm sure at that point, you could have heard a pin drop. These people that had suppressed the truth in unrighteousness we're now experiencing the reality of the living God doing something to pry the lid off of their foolish denial. I'm sure no one in that room doubted his power at that moment, even though they weren't sure what was going on. But surely, these people were very familiar with the Judean Yawei the history of what he had done over the years, even from Egypt on, was astounding and terrifying. And now with the Medo-Persian siege warfare machine surrounding the city, they undoubtedly knew that whatever was said on that wall was a harbinger of something very bad. Something horrible, was about to happen.

Now, it's interesting that the German archaeologist, Koldewey, when he excavated Babylon, he says that the largest room he found in the palace complex was 55 feet wide by 169 feet long, and they had plastered walls. He also describes a niche in one of the long walls opposite the entrance, where it is suggested that the king would have been seated during times of feasting, so you get the scene. Notice verse six, "Then the king's face grew pale, and his thoughts alarmed him and his hip joints went slack and his knees began knocking together." This is symptomatic of sheer terror. When it says that his hip joints, which could be translated the joints of his loins when they went slack, it's an indication that there was a real possibility that he suddenly lost bladder and bowel control. Which is a common physiological reaction under circumstances of acute stress and extreme fear also, the term "loins" in Scripture is often used to describe the seat of our body of our strength. And so all of his bottomly strength suddenly vanished. Pride comes before destruction dear friends, mark it. And that's what we see happening here. And I find it most telling to see what he did next. One would think that suddenly he would know what's going on. Because he knew his own heart, he knows what he was trying to do. You would think that suddenly he would cry out to the Judean God, Yahweh, for mercy, for forgiveness for trying to desecrate his sacred vessel. You would think that he would suddenly humble himself and plead for undeserved mercy, that he would repent. But no, that's not what he did.

Notice in verse seven, "The king called allowed to bring in the conjurers, the Chaldeans and the diviners." Dear friends, not only do defiant fools, have a passion for defiant, debauchery, and a fearless disregard for God's judgment. But thirdly, and this is what we see here, they seek the wisdom of man rather than God in their hour of need. They seek the wisdom of man rather than God in the hour, their hour of need. I mean, I think, even with our own country, a country that is so incredibly divided, a country that is struggling with disease, a country that is weakened. Wouldn't it be wonderful to see our leaders humble themselves before the living God? The God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob? Wouldn't it be wonderful to have our president give an executive order to bring in all of the godly pastors that they could find, to seek counsel from them, and then to call for a day of public repentance? For the way they have mocked the living God for so long here in this country? Wouldn't it be amazing to declare not just a day of prayer, but a month of prayer to seek forgiveness and mercy? And then to commit together to resending all of the laws that make a mockery of who God is? Laws that have enacted and legislated things that God abhors. But no, they will not do that, they will seek the counsel of other depraved men who have no answers.

Worse yet, as we come back to Belshazzar, he's going to buy their loyalty and bribe them to tell them what he wants them. To tell them he wants to hear something. So notice what he does. In verse seven, "The king spoke and said to the wise men of Babylon, 'Any man who can read this inscription and explain its interpretation to me shall be clothed with purple and have a necklace of gold around his neck and have authority as third ruler in the kingdom.' Then all the king's wise men came in, but they could not read the inscription, or make known its interpretation to the king. Then King Belshazzar was greatly alarmed, his grace grew even paler, and his nobles were perplexed." According to one scholar, Hitzig, the grammar here in the original language indicates that the phrase "were perplexed" in this form, quote, "not only comprehends the idea of alarm, but also that of confusion and excited movement." Get the scene of a cage filled with rats, surrounded by cats. And you'll see the frenzy that's going on in this room. People pacing about wondering what is happening.

And then notice verse 10, "The queen entered the banquet hall because of the words of the kings and nobles." Now someone goes and tells the queen what's happening. Now who is this queen? Well, some evidence suggests that this was the queen mother, Belshazzar, his own mother, Nitocris, the daughter of Nebuchadnezzar and the wife of Nabonidus. Others would argue, and this is compelling as well, that this might have been the aged widow of Nebuchadnezzar Amytis, for whom he had built the Hanging Gardens, because she was so homesick for the hills of her beloved Media. But whoever it was, it's obvious that this woman was well acquainted with Daniel well acquainted with Yaweh. So much so that she may have been a genuine convert. So she's careful to describe Daniel here, by the way, and in ways that Nebuchadnezzar described him in chapter four, verses eight, verses nine and verses 18. This is what she says, "Then the queen spoke, 'O king, live forever! Do not let your thoughts alarm you or your face be pale. There is a man in your kingdom, in whom is a spirit of the holy gods.'"

Let me pause here. You will remember when we studied chapter four, this phrase "holy gods" came up, and it can be translated, and I think better translated, "the Holy God," because the plural gods can refer to a single deity in both Aramaic as well as in Hebrew. "'There is a man in your kingdom in whom is the spirit of the holy God and in the days of your father,'" referring to his grandfather, Nebuchadnezzar, "'illumination, insight and wisdom, like the wisdom of the gods were given in him. And King Nebuchadnezzar, your father the king, appointed him chief of the magician's, conjurers, Chaldeans and diviners. This was because an extraordinary spirit, knowledge and insight, interpretation of dreams, explanation of enigmas and solving of difficult problems were found in this Daniel, whom the king named Belteshazzar. Let Daniel now be summoned and he will declare the interpretation.'" Isn't it interesting? She did a real "no, no" here in the king's court. She used Daniel's Hebrew name. Moreover, her intimate knowledge of Daniel, as well as his God, and her willingness to speak so boldly to the king, are indications again, that she not only knew Daniel well, but may have been a convert to the Judean God, our God, the One True God.

Verse 13, "Then Daniel was brought in before the king. The king spoke and said to Daniel, 'Are you that Daniel, who is one of the exiles from Judah, who my father, the king, brought from Judah? Now I have heard about you that a spirit of the gods is in you, and that illumination, insight and extraordinary wisdom have been found in you. Just now the wise men and the conjurers were brought in before me that they might read this inscription and make its interpretation known to me, but they could not declare the interpretation of the message.'" Now, mind you, what is inscribed on the wall is still there. Verse 16, "'But I personally have heard about you, that you are able to give interpretations and solve difficult problems. Now if you are able to read the inscription and make its interpretation known to me, you will be clothed with purple and wear a necklace of gold around your neck, and you will have authority as the third ruler in the kingdom.' Then Daniel answered and said before the king, 'Keep your gifts for yourself, or give your rewards to someone else; however, I will read the inscription to the king and make the interpretation known to him. Oh king, The Most High God, granted sovereignty, grandeur, glory and majesty to Nebuchadnezzar your father. Because of the grandeur which He bestowed on him, all the peoples, nations and men of every language feared and trembled before him; whomever he wished he killed and whomever he wished he spared alive, and whomever he wished he elevated and whomever he wished he humbled. But when his heart was lifted up, and his spirit became so proud that he behaved arrogantly, he was deposed from his royal throne, and his glory was taken away from him. He was also driven away from mankind and his heart was made like that of beasts, and his dwelling place was with the wild donkeys. He was given grass to eat like cattle and his body was drenched with the dew of heaven until he recognized that the Most High God is ruler over the realm of mankind, and that He sets over it whomever He wishes. Yet you his son, Belshazzar, have not humbled your heart, even though you knew all this, but you have exalted yourself against the Lord of heaven; and they have brought the vessels of His house before you and you and your nobles, your wives and your concubines have been drinking wine from them; and you have praised the gods of silver and gold and bronze iron, wood and stone which do not see hear or understand. But the God and whose hand are your life- breath and all your ways, you have not glorified. Then the hand was sent from Him, and this inscription was written out. Now, this is the inscription that was written out: 'MENE, MENE, TEKEL, UPHARSIN,' This is the interpretation of the message: Mene-- God has numbered your kingdom and put an end to it. TEKEL-- you have been weighed on the scales and found deficient. PERES-- your kingdom has been divided.'" In other words, it's about to be broken and given over to the Medes and Persians. Fascinating.

So, knowing Daniel served the Most High God, that he was deliberately trying to dishonor, that he was deliberately defying, and fearing that what Daniel said, just might be right, we read in verse 29, "Belshazzar gave orders and they clothed Daniel with purple and put a necklace of gold around his neck and issued a proclamation concerning him that he now had authority as the third ruler in the kingdom." How sad. There's not a hint of repentance. There is not a hint of a contrite heart pleading for undeserved mercy. Therefore, there's no saving grace. Friends, if you ever believe that it's somehow man, rather than God, that initiates salvation, You simply don't understand Scripture. God must do that. And for whatever reason here God has not done that.

Verse 30, that same night Belshazzar the Chaldean King was slain. So Darius the Mede received the kingdom at about the age of 62." Oh, how quickly and how violently God can humble the proud, the high and the mighty. What happened that night? Well, the Athenian born military leader, philosopher and historian Xenophon said that" Cyrus diverted the river Euphrates" so that quote, "the bed of the river, where it traverses the city became passable for men." And he also recorded that this happened while the Babylonians were feasting in a time of drunken revelry. He also stated that Gabrius was the commander under Cyrus led the men into the palace where they found the king, quote, "already risen with a dagger in his hand," and then we read that they overpowered him, along with his attendants and killed them. The Nabonidus chronicle says that Cyrus commander, Gabrius has entered, quote, "Babylon without a battle." How tragic. The great Babylonian Empire, how quickly it deteriorated because of incompetent, corrupt and morally bankrupt leadership. It reminds me of our country today, and all that we see happening in it. The rise and fall of empires, dear friends, is always superintended by a sovereign God, who orchestrates all of the events of history, to accomplish his purposes, to ultimately bring glory to himself. The magnificent Babylonian Empire, you will recall was depicted as the golden head of the image in Nebuchadnezzar's dream recorded in Daniel two. You remember that? It would be vanquished by another power depicted by the chest and arms of silver. And of course, that's what we're seeing here. The Medo-Persians came in and defeated them.

And according to that image, according to the prophecy, the Greeks and then the Romans would follow suit, consistent with that prophetic outline of the rise and the fall of four great empires, world empires, that will finally be replaced by a fifth Empire, the kingdom of heaven. Oh, dear Christian, please know, great empires will continue to rise, they will continue to rebel and they will continue to fall including the last Gentile empire of the Antichrist. And it will one day be defeated by the one that we worship here today, the King of kings and the Lord of lords, Jesus Christ. Who will return in power and great glory and establish His kingdom that will never end.

Daniel will go on to say in chapter seven beginning in verse 13, "I kept looking in the night visions, and behold, with the clouds of heaven, one like a Son of Man was coming. And He came up to the Ancient of Days and was presented before Him. And to Him was given dominion, glory and a kingdom, that all the peoples nations and men of every language might serve Him. His dominion is an everlasting dominion, which will not pass away and His kingdom is one which will not be destroyed."

Well, dear friends, I trust that you will examine your own heart and your own life, in light of this. Certainly if you're one here today, or within the sound of my voice, that defies the Living God, ignores him, just lives for yourself, then you will probably fit somehow into some of the things that we have seen in Belshazzar. You will at least have a penchant for defiant debauchery, love to party, so that you can ignore and deny the reality of your sin and your need for a Savior. You will also be one that has a fearless disregard of God's judgment because you have no fear of God, and therefore you are a fool. And you will seek the wisdom of man rather than the wisdom of God and you will do that even in your hour of need. And if this describes you, you must know that like Belshazzar, you have been weighed in the balance and you have been found wanting. All have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God and our only hope is in Christ. But oh, dear friends, those of you who know and love Christ, those of us who are debtors to his grace, knowing the judgment that is coming upon the unregenerate, knowing according to Second Peter 3:10, the "day of the Lord will come like a thief...the heavens will disappear with a roar,,,the elements will be destroyed by fire and the earth and everything done and it will be laid bare." Dear friends, knowing all of this, we must honor Christ in our life. Come what may. Verse 11, of that same text. We are told, "Since everything will be destroyed in this way," what kind of people ought you to be? You are to "live a holy and godly lives as you look forward to the day of God and speed it's coming, that the day will bring about the destruction of the heavens by fire and the elements will melt in the heat. But in keeping with his promise, we are looking forward to a new heaven and a new earth where righteousness dwells." So then, difference, "since you are looking forward to this make every effort to be found spotless, blameless and at peace with him."

In closing, John MacArthur, summarizes this so well, all that we've seen from this text and what I'm trying to communicate to you. He says, quote, "True believers must realize that the state of our society is the result of the righteous judgment of God. God has not commissioned his people to reconstruct society. We are not called to expend our energy or his energies for moral reform. We are salt, a preservative for a decaying generation, Matthew 5:13. And we are lights, designed to shine in a way that enables people who see our good works to glorify our Heavenly Father, Matthew five, verses 14 through 16. In other words," he goes on to say "our primary task is to preach the truth of God's word, live in obedience to that truth, and to keep ourselves unstained by the world, James 1:27. Our influence on society must be the fruit of that kind of living, not the product of fleshly energy, or political clout." Dear friends, we serve a glorious, a good, a redeeming God. And we can trust him to do everything that he has promised to do. So let's live in light if his coming. Let's dedicate ourselves to living holy lives and lives that are deeply moved with compassion towards those who do not know the Savior. So they can look at us and see something different. And by God's grace, give us an opportunity to present to them the only truth that can save and sanctify and glorify. Let's pray together.

Father, we are so thankful for the gospel for all that you have done for us. But again, our hearts are broken for those that do not know you. And we know that apart from your regenerating grace, they will never know you. So we pray that you will move upon them continue to use us as salt and light that they might see the truth that they might believe and that they might be saved. So we thank you for the hope that is ours in Christ. Bless us, encourage us, especially in these dark days, and use us mightily for the sake of the kingdom and our coming King. For it’s in his name that I pray. Amen.