Sermon on Minneapolis 06.06.2010

In the name of the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit, let us begin our services with opening prayer and thanksgiving.

Holy and righteous God, our dear Heavenly Father, again this morning we thank you for this new summer day that we are able to enjoy with its bright sunshine and the passing of the rain. We thank you for your many temporal blessings, but above all, we wish to thank you that we are today a child of God, by faith a member of your kingdom, alone through the merits of your Son, Jesus Christ.

So we ask that you would be with us this morning again, as always, bless our services, protect us and keep us in this faith. Nourish us with your everlasting gospel and keep us on this way so that one day we can reach that eternal home and the glory of heaven one day. All of this we ask in the name of your dear Son, Jesus Christ, our Lord. Amen.

Amen. Today is the second Sunday after Pentecost, and the theme for today speaks about treasures that are perishable and treasures that are imperishable. The Old Testament text for today is from Daniel chapter 5, and I'll read verse 17.

Amen. Then Daniel answered and said before the king, let thy gifts be to thyself and give thy rewards to another. Nevertheless, I will read the writing unto the king and make known to him the interpretation.

Amen. Daniel and many of the people of Israel were transported into captivity in Babylon after Nebuchadnezzar conquered Israel in the year 586 B.C. The armies of Nebuchadnezzar pillaged the temple, leaving not one stone upon another. And they stole many of the valuable treasures from the temple, many of the expensive ornate dishes and such, and brought these with them on their return back to Babylon.

So the king would use many of these stolen treasures and dishes for many of his parties and festivities. Nebuchadnezzar had now passed away, and a new king of Babylon was in power, whose name was Balthasar.

One day in the king's palace, while they were having one of their typical parties, I'm sure in the form of an orgy, with the music and dancing taking place, the wine was flowing, and there was much indulgence of food, and perhaps even overeating, which was typical at parties during those times.

In the midst of all of this fanfare, something remarkable happened. An invisible hand, a hand, appeared, and began to write something on the whitewashed wall there in the room in the king's palace where everyone was gathered. And the hand, the finger of the hand, wrote something in a script that nobody understood.

I'm sure the face of the king turned white, and his knees began to tremble, and he began to shake with fear. Balthasar realized and knew that the finger of God was not only writing something on the wall, but it was impressing very strongly upon himself as well.

The hand disappeared, but the writing remained on the wall. The king called all of his magicians, counselors, and wise men from his kingdom together and asked them to interpret that writing on the wall. And he even offered a reward, and the reward was mentioned in our text or before our text. You would get a royal purple garment put upon yourself, a golden necklace around your neck, and you would be number three in order in my kingdom whoever is able to interpret this writing.

Of all of the wise men, counselors, and magicians in the great kingdom of Babylon, not one was able to interpret that writing. Then the king's wife remembered that there is one man here in your kingdom who is a man from Israel who has done miraculous things and interpreted dreams and such before. Perhaps he would be able to help you in this very trying, frightful, and difficult situation.

So Daniel, a young and a humble man, was brought before this mighty king of Babylon and now the two are facing each other. Daniel is not officially a prophet. He was an officer of some sorts, now in the cabinet there in Babylon. But we know and we understand that Daniel did have prophetical gifts.

So Daniel, standing before this great and mighty king, hears the offer of this reward. And our text tells us the response of Daniel to this great offer. Daniel answered and said to the king, you can keep your gifts. Give these rewards to another. However, I will read and interpret this writing, which is on the wall.

Here was King Balthasar dressed in his royal garments, the mighty king. And standing before him was this lowly and humble man, dressed, I'm sure, in very casual clothes. But Daniel, in spite of his outward attire, was dressed in another attire, invisible to the eyes, which was much more valuable and precious than the royal robe that Balthasar was wearing.

Years ago, during the wars that Finland was experiencing, ministers were, believing ministers, were often asked in the barracks to keep services for the many of the believers who were there at the battlefront. Many unbelievers would often come to the hearing of these services.

After one such service occasion, an unbelieving soldier asked the believing minister, saying that I don't understand you Lestadians. When you always preach the forgiveness of sins in Jesus' name and blood, what about the Old Testament time? Christ was not even existing here upon this earth. What do you explain about such a situation in that case?

Christ was true. It is true that Christ was not yet physically here upon this earth, but he was in spirit. We can read from the prophet Isaiah from chapter 53 how clearly the prophet sees that moment when Christ would be hanging upon the cross.

He is like a lamb that is brought before its slaughter and shear and it opens not its mouth. He is wounded for our transgressions and he is beaten for our sake and through his wounds we are healed.

Five hundred years before Christ would be hanging from the cross giving his life as a sacrifice, the prophet through eyes of faith is able to see that moment as if it was happening right then and now. And as the Bible said, through faith and by faith it purifies and cleanses the heart.

So the Old Testament believers in eyes of faith were believing upon the promise of the coming Messiah and through faith the blood of Christ washed and cleansed their undying souls. Through eyes of faith they were able to see that moment when Christ was upon that cross and he shed his blood to the last drop.

In the end he said those last words, "It is finished. Father, into your hands I give my life." And precisely at that moment the veil one mile away which was separating in the temple the holy from the most holy was rent open and the way was now open into the most holy and all the way unto heaven paradise.

We remember when Adam and Eve fell into sin God chased them out of paradise out of the garden of Eden and the door, the gate into paradise clanged shut as they left the garden. An angel with a flaming sword was put to guard the entrance back into paradise.

And from that moment on mankind has lived here upon this earth having to toil and work with the sweat of their brow many times experiencing metaphorically and literally the thorns and the thistles and the burdens and sorrows of the earth.

Many of our dear ones and near ones have already lived their lives and many of them have left this world behind laying down the cross in faith having exchanged it for a crown of glory.

For them God has come he has called he has not asked are you ready can I come now or should I come at another time but God comes when he comes without asking he clips snips the threat of life and takes that one from this life to life eternal.

For those who have died in faith we have this hope this living hope that there in heaven we will one day be reunited with them again.

So we have this hope and wish and desire to remind those friends perhaps relatives and dear ones who are not partakers of this living faith and to remind them of this reward which we as believers possess already by faith and which would be fulfilled one day after leaving this temporal life behind.

We wish to remind them of that possibility that they could also be partakers of this eternal crown and glory if they would be able to receive the grace of repentance.

Today is the day of salvation. Today is the time of visitation. Make repentance and believe the gospel.

For we know that one day this world will come to an end. Then life will be simplified. It will be so simplified that before the great and almighty throne of God there will be a mass of people a sea of people divided into two simple groups.

There will no longer be a distinction between the communists and the capitalists, the rich and the poor, the learned and the unlearned, employers and employees and so on and so forth.

Life will be so simplified there will only be the blessed and the cursed, the saved and the unsaved. Those that are heaven acceptable and those that are not.

One time a believing man was visiting with an unbeliever and they were talking about matters of faith and matters of salvation eternal life and temporal life. That unbelieving man said to the believer, "You talk about eternal life and the final judgment and so on and so forth."

He replied that "I won't be there on that day."

The believer had to reply and say, "You won't be asked whether you want to be there or not. Everyone will be in attendance asked or not."

And so we remember the apostle Paul when he was standing before King Felix or was it Governor Felix and he was confessing his faith and he said that there is a way that you call the way of heresy but this is the way that I wish to travel and I wish to travel keeping faith and a good conscience before God and before man.

Then the apostle Paul goes on to say that one day there will be a resurrection the final resurrection every human being that has lived on this earth will step forward on that day it will be for the just and the unjust alike.

So now going back to our text Daniel says to the king I don't want your reward give it to someone else but still I will interpret that writing that you see still inscribed on the whitewashed wall.

There is a long interpretation but perhaps we could read only one of the interpretations or part of it and this is the writing that was written: Mene, Mene, Tekel, Upharsin.

And part of the interpretation is this: You are weighed in the balances of God and found lacking or wanting.

It's amazing that we as human beings if we would give an interpretation of ourselves our evaluation of ourselves may be and many times is completely off the mark.

In the writing of Proverbs it says my evaluation of myself is wrong and we as human beings when we look at another person we may attempt to give an evaluation of that person and his or her soul's condition.

We remember when Saul had lost his kingship and taken his life and God was looking for a new king to replace King Saul. Samuel came into the house of Jesse there in Bethlehem and said that I am looking from your family for a new king.

Jesse thought that it must be my oldest son he's the oldest wisest most handsome he has the most abilities and the best characteristics to be the next king of Israel.

When the oldest son stepped before Samuel Samuel shook his head and said no.

Jesse brought his second oldest son Samuel said no and on and on six of the sons were brought forward Samuel said no to all of them.

Finally Samuel asked Jesse do you have any more sons Jesse said yes I have one son the youngest son but he is only a lowly shepherd and he is out tending to the sheep in the fields.

Samuel told Jesse to bring your son in before me.

When David the youngest son stepped into the room in a festive way Samuel anointed David to be the next king of Israel but then he continued and said we as human beings look upon another and we only look at his or her outer form and countenance but God looks below and beyond the surface he looks into the heart and sees what we do not see.

So our evaluation of another person many times and often is completely off the mark.

But here the interpretation of the writing of God which is on the wall there in the king's palace in Babylon is this: God puts you in every individual into his balances.

In science class and chemistry class sometimes we have used balances to weigh certain things perhaps we have a little weight that we know is 10 grams and then we may add some powder chemical powder to the other side and we add it until the balance is level and we know that the powder is equal to the 10 gram weight on the other side.

So this is the image that we have before our eyes and God has his measure his measuring stick in his cup and things are put into the other cup on the other side of the balance and God looks to see whether something will move the balance or not move the balance see if something is acceptable before God our heavenly father or something is not.

Our evaluation of our own selves says the writer of Proverbs is often many times off the mark.

Our evaluation of another person is many times and often completely off the mark.

But when God places something into the cup of his balance that is always without error it is either acceptable or unacceptable.

So anything that we do of our own selves any work any effort any merit is we could say like a feather placed in the cup of the balance of God and will not move that balance one iota.

What is it then alone that moves that balance of God makes it level makes it worthy and makes a person heaven acceptable?

Daniel was telling the king that King Balthasar with all of your treasures with all of your might with all of your glory as the autocratic ruler and king of Babylon when you are placed into the balances of God you are found lacking or wanting you are unacceptable.

That same evening the enemies attacked Babylon and Balthasar was killed he lost his life without a testimony he was not heaven acceptable.

When we go back to this that Balthasar as a king was standing face to face with Daniel the prophet of God I mentioned already that Daniel in the outward sense I'm sure was in very casual clothes and attire but by faith he was wearing an invisible attire which was and made him heaven acceptable.

This was the cloak of the righteousness of Christ and this is the only thing that will move the balances of God and make a person heaven acceptable.

One brother once said sometimes it has been said that he said it often but perhaps he only said it once but it came to be a very well known expression the old preacher brother at least once said on the last day there before the almighty throne of God when the books of life and the books of consciences are open and my book of conscience is open and God begins to read all of those things that are listed in the book of conscience you will say no sins for they have all been blotted out and washed away with the blood of Christ.

So the king Balthasar was offering Daniel great rewards valuable temporal rewards a golden necklace around his neck precious royal garments upon his shoulders and number three men in order in his kingdom.

I'm sure these are things that any person naturally would be envious of but Daniel rejected them he didn't want them he said you can keep them and give them to another.

He had another reward as the apostle Paul when he writes to the Philippians he tells about his former life in self righteousness that he was born of the tribe of Benjamin he was circumcised on the eighth day of his life of the Pharisees he was the most strict and most exact he grew up at the feet of the high priest Gamaliel and he thought in his mind he was blameless or perfect in the law of God.

He had a cloak of righteousness of self righteousness which he realized after he received the grace of repentance that it was completely worthless and he rejected it as dung or as a pile of dirt for that new cloak of righteousness which Christ Jesus himself had prepared for him and all mankind which is receivable can be accepted by faith through the manner through the means of faith.

When Jesus came from the glory of heaven he came for this reason alone to knit and to prepare this cloak this wedding garment of righteousness and especially there on the middle cross of Golgotha he was weaving and preparing that robe but we can say that it wasn't entirely finished until Easter morning when he rose from the grave then he knitted the final stitch into this robe of righteousness and it was now finished it was now complete.

As Paul writes to the Romans Jesus suffered and died for our sins and the sins of mankind but then he rose from the grave for our righteousness sake.

Today's theme as I mentioned already is about temporal treasures and eternal treasures.

The new graduates for this year have received a song book from the church pretty soon they will receive their leather skin or their graduation certificate and they will now be young independent boys and girls and preparing themselves for their lives.

They have received many temporal gifts they have been able to grow up in believing homes and they have been fed and well taken care of by their families and now they are will be on their own preparing for their future lives and we pray and we ask that God would richly bless them in the temporal sense that they would be able to succeed in their life in this society but most importantly that they would be able to preserve as well of all of us that gift of all gifts that imperishable treasure the gift of living faith.

The Bible says in this way what does it profit a man a person if he or she would gain the entire world all of the treasures all of the honor all of the glory of this world but in the end would lose their soul.

In the year 1912 the supposed unsinkable ship Titanic left on its maiden voyage from England the shores of England toward North America.

On April 14th 1912 it struck an iceberg near Newfoundland Canada and the ship began to take on water and began to sink.

There were thousands of people on the ship with few lifeboats and the lifeboats were reserved primarily for first of all children and women.

There happened to be a very wealthy person on this ship and he began to offer large sums of money huge sums of money I'm sure in the valuation of money at that time if he could get but one spot on one of these lifeboats the answer was no they are reserved first for children and women.

He sank with all of his treasures into the icy oceans of the Atlantic Ocean.

What does it profit a man if he would gain the entire world but in the end would lose his soul?

Christ Jesus alone knew the true value of a person's undying soul he was there at the moment of creation and saw when God created Adam in his own image and blew his living spirit into the nostrils of Adam and he became a living soul.

Christ Jesus when he was here upon this earth he worked night and day for one reason that he would be able to seek and find and save undying souls and for one reason he allowed himself to be crucified on the middle cross of Golgotha so that he could pay that price of redemption for undying souls.

He didn't offer gold or silver the price of redemption was his only innocent blood which he shed to the last drop.

But then on the other hand he realized he knew and he saw what could be lost when a person loses their undying soul.

He tells in that story the parable of the rich man and Lazarus of that rich man who woke up in condemnation in hell and the fires of hell were burning and the rich man found no relief.

Jesus tells in another parable of another rich man who was a farmer had a very bountiful year year after year and built larger granaries to store his crops in the end Jesus says at this parable in this parable at the end that night the trumpets of judgment sounded for this rich man and the word of God was this you foolish man your soul has been taken away from you.

So Jesus realized what he did that a person could gain eternal life but Jesus also saw and realized what could be lost when a person lost their faith and undying soul.

So brothers and sisters this morning we have by faith that greatest of gifts which is the righteousness of Christ Jesus that wedding robe which makes us heaven acceptable and amidst all of the temporal blessings we have in this life remember that these are perishable treasures.

Naked I came into this world says Job naked I must leave this world.

Remember we can't take anything with us they will not help us one iota.

We don't disdain and frown upon these some people have more some people have less God has blessed with his own measure each individual but in the end they are temporal.

When we leave this life we leave naked as we came into this world.

The only thing that matters on that last day when we take our final breath when we step before the almighty throne of God one question will be asked were sins forgiven is your name written in the Lamb's book of life in heaven.

Remember to keep this as the most precious treasure in your life you can be encouraged even now to believe sins forgiven in Jesus name and precious blood.

The power of the gospel will keep us on this way and bring us one day to our eternal home in Jesus name amen.

Let us thank and pray.

We thank the almighty God that thou hast comforted and refreshed us with this precious and gracious supper and we pray unto thee grant that it may increase our faith and our mutual love through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

Humble your hearts before the Lord and receive the benediction.

The Lord bless thee and keep thee.

The Lord make his face shine upon thee and be gracious unto thee.

The Lord lift up his countenance upon thee and give thee peace.

In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Ghost. Amen.