The Path of Contempt

The scripture reading comes from Daniel, chapter 5.

Daniel 5 · chapter mention

Please follow along on the screen, the bulletin, or your own Bible.

Starting in verse 1, we read,

King Delshazhar made a great feast for a thousand of his lords,

and drank wine in front of the thousand.

Delshazhar, when he tasted the wine, commanded that the vessels of gold

and of silver that Nebuchadnezzar, his father, had taken out of the temple in Jerusalem,

be brought, that the king and his lords, his wives and his concubines, might drink from them.

Then they brought in the golden vessels that had been taken out of the temple,

the house of God in Jerusalem, and the king and his lords, his wives and his concubines,

drank from them.

They drank wine and praised the gods of gold and silver, bronze, iron, wood, and stone.

Immediately, the fingers of a human hand appeared,

and wrote on the plaster of the wall of the king's palace, opposite the lampstand.

And the king saw the hand as it wrote.

Then the king's color changed, and his thoughts alarmed him.

His limbs gave way, and his knees knocked together.

The king called loudly to bring in the enchanters, the Chaldeans, and the astrologers.

The king declared to the wise men of Babylon,

Whoever reads this writing and shows me its interpretation

shall be clothed with purple and have a chain of gold around his neck

and shall be the third ruler in the kingdom.

Then all the king's wise men came in,

but they could not read the writing or make known to the king the interpretation.

Then King Belshazzar was greatly alarmed,

and his color changed, and his lords were perplexed.

The queen, because of the words of the king and his lords,

came into the banqueting hall, and the queen declared,

O king, live forever.

Let not your thoughts alarm you, or your color change.

There is a man in your kingdom, and whom is the spirit of the holy gods.

In the days of your father, light and understanding and wisdom,

like the wisdom of the gods, were found in him.

And King Nebuchadnezzar, your father, your father the king,

made him chief of the magicians, enchanters, Chaldeans, and astrologers,

because an excellent spirit, knowledge, and understanding to interpret dreams,

explain riddles, and solve problems, were found in this Daniel,

whom the king named Belshazzar.

Now let Daniel be called, and he will show you the interpretation.

Then Daniel was brought in before the king.

The king answered and said to Daniel,

You are that Daniel, one of the exiles of Judah,

whom the king, my father, brought from Judah.

I have heard of you, and that the spirit of the gods is in you,

and that light and understanding and excellent wisdom are found in you.

Now the wise men, the enchanters, have been brought in before me to read this writing,

and make known to me its interpretation.

But they could not show the interpretation of the matter.

But I have heard that you can give interpretations and solve problems.

Now if you can read the writing and make known to me its interpretation,

you shall be clothed with purple, and have a chain of gold around your neck,

and shall be the third ruler in the kingdom.

Then Daniel answered and said before the king,

Let your gifts be for yourself, and give your rewards to another.

Nevertheless, I will read the writing to the king,

and make known to him the interpretation.

O king, the most high God, gave Nebuchadnezzar your father kingship and greatness,

and glory and majesty.

And because of the greatness that he gave him,

all peoples, nations, and languages trembled and feared before him.

Whom he would, he killed.

And whom he would, he kept alive.

Whom he would, he raised up.

And whom he would, he humbled.

But when his heart was lifted up, and his spirit was hardened so that he dealt proudly,

he was brought down from his kingly throne, and his glory was taken from him.

He was driven from among the children of mankind,

and his mind was made like that of a beast,

and his dwelling was with the wild donkeys.

He was fed grass like an ox,

and his body was wet with the dew of heaven,

until he knew that the most high God rules the kingdom of mankind,

and sets over it whom he will.

And you, his son, Belshazzar, have not humbled your heart,

though you knew all this.

But you have lifted up yourself against the Lord of heaven,

and the vessels of his house have been brought in before you.

And you, and your lords, your wives, and your concubines,

have drunk wine from them.

And you have not praised the gods of silver and gold,

of bronze, iron, wood, and stone,

which do not see or hear or know.

But the God in whose hand is your breath,

and whose are all your ways, you have not honored.

Then from his presence the hand was sent,

and this writing was inscribed.

And this is the writing that was inscribed.

Mene, Mene, Tekel, and Parson.

This is the interpretation of the matter.

Mene, God has numbered the days of your kingdom,

and brought it to an end.

Tekel, you have been weighed in the balances,

and found wanting.

Perez, your kingdom is divided,

and given to the Medes and Persians.

Then Belshazzar gave the command,

and Daniel was clothed with purple.

A chain of gold was put around his neck,

and a proclamation was made about him,

that he should be the third ruler in the kingdom.

That very night, Belshazzar, the Chaldean king,

was killed,

and Darius the Mede received the kingdom,

being about 62 years old.

So, this is the word of God.

Thank you.

I just want to briefly introduce Alan.

I'm sure many of you know Alan.

Alan is on staff with us,

and Alan joined our staff in about August last year,

is that right?

Yep.

So, coming up for a year,

and oversees the youth.

And Alan has been an incredible,

incredible gift to our church,

and to our staff.

You are such a blessing in so many ways.

We love working with you,

but I know you've blessed many families.

Alan's going to be bringing God's word to us this morning.

So, just because we've been in COVID,

and Alan's actually been leading worship

at the community center,

like the last six weeks or something,

eight weeks, every Sunday.

Yeah.

So, we haven't seen a lot of you around.

So, for those of you who don't know Alan,

this is my buddy,

and a hero of ours,

and we are excited to have you bring God's word to us this morning.

So, go for it, buddy.

Awesome.

Thank you, Kevin.

Okay.

Let me just go up,

because I'm not as tall as Kevin.

Okay.

Yep.

So, I don't think I have to give the introductory speech up.

Hi, if anybody does not know me,

my name is Alan.

I oversee the youths.

Okay.

Let me get myself ready.

Thank you, Henrika.

Thank you, Pui,

for that scripture reading.

Are you guys still with me?

Yes?

Yes?

Okay.

Awesome.

So,

I think my introduction has been done,

so let me just dive into the word of God.

Okay.

So, for the past four weeks,

we've been looking into the book of Daniel.

One of the things we have been looking into is the sovereignty of God,

and at the same time,

the faithfulness of God.

We've been looking into how amazing God is,

how great God is,

and He's in control no matter the situation that's happening around us.

And if you remember,

the theme of the whole series is to live in a godless,

what does it mean to be,

what does it mean to be living in a godless world?

So, that's what we've been looking at,

and just last week,

through Kevin,

we've been looking into a bit like the testimony of King Nebuchadnezzar.

So, we've been looking into how King Nebuchadnezzar puts himself up in a pride,

and he's making himself great,

and obviously,

Daniel warns him,

hey, if you're going to go on with this,

you're going to be like an animal,

you're going to,

judgment is going to come on you.

And finally,

at the end of Daniel chapter 4,

Daniel 4 · chapter mention

we see that Nebuchadnezzar,

he looks up towards heaven,

and he says,

like,

God,

you are good,

that you are great,

and you are worthy of honor and praise.

And if you look at the last verse of chapter 4,

it ends with Nebuchadnezzar himself saying,

and those who walk in pride,

he is able to humble,

that he is able to humble.

But that raises a question of,

but what of those who will not be humbled?

For what about those who is not going to humble themselves?

What about those people?

So now,

as we enter chapter 5,

we suddenly encounter a new character.

Now, we have this new king,

a king called Beltesh,

no, sorry,

a king called Belteshazzar.

Man,

these names are so tough.

My tongue goes like,

hold on,

so I am just going to call him Belt.

So we got a new king,

King Belt.

He is here,

and you must be wondering,

like,

what happened between chapter 4 and 5?

I am like,

what happened to our King Nebs?

Where did he go?

And if you look around verse 2,

or verse around there,

it says that,

hey,

Belteshazzar,

his father is,

Nebuchadnezzar.

But actually,

in reality,

the word father is used in the way of ancestor.

So actually,

it's used in the same way as we use Jesus,

the son of David.

Obviously,

his father was not David.

He was from the line of David.

So in the same way,

Belteshazzar,

the son of Nebuchadnezzar.

So,

now,

but in reality,

Belteshazzar's father was actually a person called Nabodunus.

And the interesting thing around here is that

his father was away in,

he was somewhere away,

kind of like a retreat or somewhere.

And Belteshazzar was,

if you allow me,

he was like a substitute king in his place.

So,

that's why if you look later on,

when Belteshazzar promises a reward,

he promises what?

The third highest ruler of Babylon

because he himself was the second highest ruler.

So that was his promise.

That's a little bit of history.

Now,

let's get into the setting.

Well,

what's happening really?

What's happening out here?

Now,

Nebuchadnezzar actually has been dead for about 23 years.

So,

that means Daniel has been around Babylon

for about 70 years.

Now,

Daniel is about 80 years old now.

He's a very old man.

So,

a lot of time has passed between chapter 4 and chapter 5.

So,

a lot of things has happened.

Daniel is an old guy,

80 years old.

And,

it's a huge gap.

But,

if you actually look closely,

the stories between chapter 4 and chapter 5

is quite similar.

Not the same,

but quite similar.

Now,

with that out of the way,

let's dive into God's Word for us today.

Okay?

Now,

diving into the Word of God,

Daniel 5,

one of the first things we see in chapter 5 is

a party.

A party is happening

with DJ.

No,

there's no DJ.

So,

there's a party happening.

There's a feast happening.

And,

we got kings and concubines

and wives

and wines

and no beers,

I guess.

But,

there's a party going on

and a feast going on.

And,

if you look,

and one thing you'll notice that is that

while this party is happening inside,

there's actually something that's happening outside.

What's happening outside is actually

the Persian army was attacking the city of Babylon

at that same time.

Actually,

the city was under siege at the very moment.

And,

what's happening here?

There's an army,

there's an enemy attacking the city

and just inside,

Bel-Sajar is having a party.

Can you imagine that?

Your city is under attack

and you're enjoying a cup of wine

with your friends.

I mean,

like,

that's something you cannot even imagine,

right?

Come on,

you're going to be killed.

Your people are being killed outside

and then you're having a party inside.

And,

you got a question,

what's really going on here?

What's happening?

And,

which leads us to our first thing

that we are looking into

and in fact,

the title of our,

this sermon is

The Contempt of the King.

The Contempt of the King.

Ooh,

okay.

I don't see that back there,

but Contempt of the King.

So,

what do I mean by contempt?

The best place to go

is the dictionary.

Like,

well,

the dictionary defines contempt as

the feeling that someone

or something

is without value

and deserves no respect at all.

Does not have value

and deserves no respect at all.

So,

how do I define content?

That's how I define content.

Do you want to turn to the person beside you

and go like,

do it.

Do it.

I'm looking at you.

Go to the person beside you

and

contempt.

Contempt.

That's contempt,

right?

When I was in high school

back in India,

I used to study in all boys

boarding school.

I used to hate contempt

with the passion.

I used to hate it.

We had a system in high school

where the senior boys

used to have complete authority

over the junior boys.

So,

meaning,

the class 12,

the most senior boys

had complete authority

given by the school

to take care of the discipline,

to make sure the boys

are behaving well.

So,

we had complete authority.

And once in a while,

there used to be one or two juniors

who used to think

that it's a good idea

to break that system.

And I used to tell them

to do something

and they used to be like,

man,

and that used to be received

with a sweep,

with a quick beating up.

Yeah,

that's boys school,

you know.

But I used to hate,

hate contempt

with a passion.

And I'm sure all of us

have experienced contempt

once or twice in our life,

right?

Man,

it's,

it's just so,

because the reason is

because contempt is not just,

it's actually a deep disrespect.

It's actually,

when you look at the other person

in such a way

that that person

has no value whatsoever.

There is a saying

in my,

in Nepalese language,

manse ne gondena.

So,

that means,

you look at the other person

and you don't even count him

as a man,

as a person.

You don't even look at him

as a human being.

It's,

that is what contempt is.

Deep disrespect,

look at others

with no value

as if that person

is not even a person.

Back to Belshazzar.

Now,

Belshazzar is pretty chilled,

right?

I mean,

there's enemies

lying right outside

the city gates

and he is having

a party inside,

which kind of reminds me

of Genesis chapter 4,

Genesis 4 · chapter mention

7,

where God tells Cain,

hey,

be careful,

sin is crouching

right outside your door.

Be careful.

And then,

we have here Belshazzar

who is like,

the sin and destruction

is right outside

and he's pretty chilled inside

having drinks

and having a party.

Now,

if you remember,

last week,

we talked about Babylon,

right?

I mean,

like Babylon was

such a great city.

It was an amazing city

with hanging gardens

and like amazing infrastructure

and I don't know

what you call it,

buildings and stuff like that.

And like Belshazzar

actually had reasons

to be confident.

Man,

it's such a great city.

It has been years

that it has not been conquered.

It's an amazing place.

And we're actually also

looking at the life

of Nebuchadnezzar

last week,

chapter 4,

and one of the key themes

was pride.

And we were looking

at how terrible

and disastrous

what pride was.

And what pride was

was basically

to lift yourself up

above others,

to lift yourself up

in such a way

that you see your glory,

that you are glorious,

that you are amazing

and you are majestic.

I'm like,

that's what Nebuchadnezzar said,

right?

If you look in chapter 4,

he said,

I build this great Babylon

by my mighty power

for the glory

of my majesty.

That's what Nebuchadnezzar said.

And Belshazzar is no different.

And if I may,

I could say,

like father,

like son.

So,

if you look at verse 1,

King Belshazzar

made a great feast

for thousands

of his lords

and drank wine

in front

of the thousand.

So what's happening

is here,

he's not just having a feast,

he's not just having a party,

he's actually drinking

and he's invited

all these thousands of people

and he's actually

standing in front

of them

like I am right now

and he's drinking wine.

Almost like

he's displaying himself,

look at me,

look at how great I am.

I'm like,

there's an enemy outside

but don't worry,

look at me,

I'm pretty chill

and pretty amazing.

Look at me,

I'm on display.

But you see,

he does not only

raise himself up,

he does not only

put himself up

above other people

but at the same time,

he looks down on other

with no respect

and no value.

At the same time,

as he's lifting himself up,

at the same time,

he's looking at the other

with no,

as if the other person

has no worthy

of any respect

or value.

So as he's putting himself up,

he's looking at something else

that that thing

has no value,

it's not worthy of respect

and in discontempt.

And that other

was God.

He was looking at God

with complete contempt.

If you look at

later on in chapter 5,

Daniel confronts Belshazzar

and accuses him

of his sins.

And one of the things

Daniel says in verse 23

is that

he has not honored God

in whose hands

is,

in whose hands

in his pure breath

and in whose is

all your ways.

So,

he has not honored

the God

in whom

everything of his

belonged.

So not only has he

not honored this God

who by the way

is sovereign,

who by the way

holds his whole life

and breath

in his hand,

in verse 22,

Daniel accuses him

that,

and though he knew

what God did

with King Nebuchadnezzar,

he did not humble himself.

No,

in other words,

what Daniel is telling

Belshazzar is that

you knew,

you knew who God is.

You have heard

the story

of your father,

of your ancestor

Nebuchadnezzar,

of how he humbled

Nebuchadnezzar.

You know how,

how God was,

how great God,

how sovereign God is.

You knew all that

and still

you have not

honored

him.

I'm like,

from the mouths

of Nebuchadnezzar,

you've heard his testimony.

I mean,

you saw that.

Let me read

what Nebuchadnezzar

says in chapter 4,

I mean,

which we read

in the worship

before we started worship.

He says,

for his dominion

is an everlasting dominion

and his kingdom

endures from generation

to generation.

All the inhabitants

of earth

are accounted

as nothing

and he does

according to his will

among the hosts

of heaven

and among the inhabitants

of the earth

and none can

stay,

stay his hand

and say to him,

what have you done?

Nebuchadnezzar

looks up to heaven

and he says this

and Belshazzar

knew it

but still Belshazzar

looks up to God

and says

and does,

he just shrugs

in contempt.

Now imagine,

imagine the queen

of England

comes in,

Ebenezer.

I can't say that

because Chris

is not with us today.

So the queen

of England

comes in,

she walks in,

everyone's standing,

everyone's bowing,

I don't know how you bow,

I don't know what's

the protocol

but then I stand,

I sit beside her

and I like,

I sit down,

I don't look at her

and I go,

I'm not gonna honor you.

I know you're sovereign,

I know you're powerful

and you have authority

but I'm not gonna honor you.

Can you imagine

the disrespect

and the contempt

that is shown

towards the queen?

And this is what happens,

first thing,

Belshazzar knows

who God is,

Belshazzar knows

the sovereignty of God,

Belshazzar knows

what God is all about

but then he,

instead he just

shrugs it off,

he's not gonna humble himself

or honor this God.

It's amazing, right?

I'm like,

God has

the very breath,

very air

that Belshazzar

is breathing,

the very air

that is in his lungs,

the very thing

that he's walking on

and his very life

is held by God

and he chooses

not to honor him.

The other accusation

by Daniel

you'll find

in verse 2 and 23

and basically

it is this,

that you took

the vessels,

you took the vessels

or goblets

of gold and silver

that were in God's temple

and used it

for their pleasure.

So basically

he took what was

in the temple,

the things from the temple,

he took it out,

he took it to his party,

his feast

and uses it

for his pleasure.

He uses it to drink,

he uses it to give,

entertain his guest

and while he does that

at the same time

he praises

the gods of silver,

gold,

bronze,

iron,

wood and stone.

Now I don't even

have to tell you

why that is wrong.

I don't even

have to tell you

how wrong

that is.

I mean imagine,

imagine

you created

a beautiful art

and you put it

up on your wall.

Imagine this

beautiful painting

is a masterpiece

and you put it

up off your sofa

and I come in one day,

I take it out,

I take it back

to my house,

I use it as a chopping board

for my BBQ

and while I'm chopping

the meat on your painting

I say like,

man,

this other artist

is such a good artist

for making

this beautiful chopping board.

How would you feel?

How would you feel that?

Not only am I

taking your painting

and using it

for the wrong purpose,

I'm at the same time

I'm praising an artist

that has not even done it.

It makes you furious,

right?

The vessel

that were in the temple

actually had a purpose.

The vessel,

the goblets

that Belshazzar took

actually had a purpose.

It was made

for the worship of God.

It was made

so that God

would be worshipped

in the temple.

But what we find here

is Belshazzar

takes it

and instead of using it

for worship,

he takes it

and uses it

for his feast.

Instead of taking it

for the glory of God,

he takes it

and uses it

for his own pleasure.

He takes something

with a purpose

and does totally

opposite of it.

Now,

I'm like,

that might sound,

I don't know,

funny

or that might sound

shocking,

that might sound

like terrible.

But I wonder

if that sounds

familiar to us,

which actually should.

I wonder

if that sounds familiar.

Think about it.

We created nuclear

with the purpose

of clean energy,

a good energy,

and then we take it

and turn it

into a weapon

of mass destruction,

killing thousands

and thousands

and threatening

countries and people.

God created sex

to be between

a husband and wife,

something beautiful

and intimate,

a gift of God

with a purpose

and then we take it

and pervert it,

make it into something

lustful and dirty,

so much so

that we flinch

at the thought

of talking about it

sometimes.

Jobs and positions,

maybe God has given

jobs and positions

to us

and we take it

and use it

to glorify ourselves,

to put value

on ourselves,

to look down

on other people

while actually

God gave it to us

so that we can glorify

Him in that place

and use that place

to do His work.

We could take

God's calling

in our life

as something

to separate ourselves

from other unholy people

rather than serving

and loving people.

We can take the gospel

for us

which we all received

and use it as something

and keep it with ourselves

and keep it for ourselves

and stay in our comfort zone

rather than going out

into nations

and sharing the gospel

which is why God

gave us the gospel.

We can take the grace

and mercy of God

in our lives

and use it as a license

to sin

rather than a reason

for it to be

for us to come

in gratefulness

and worship

and thankfulness

to devote our life

to our God

who has shown mercy

and grace in our life.

Belshazzar took that

which was sacred,

that which had a purpose,

something that was for God

and about God

and made it

about His pleasure

and His glory

about Himself.

And not only

did He do that,

while He was using the vessel,

while He was doing this

in the temple,

He actually praised

other gods,

gods that did not see,

gods that did not hear

and gods that did not know.

In other words,

understand.

In other words,

He started praising

gods that did not see,

gods that were blind,

gods that could not lead Him

because He was blind,

gods that could not hear.

So in other words,

He cannot hear His prayer

or His suffering.

Gods who could not understand,

in other words,

with whom He cannot have

any relationship,

who cannot understand Him.

Things that were useless.

Do we have those kind of gods

in our life?

Gods that do not see,

hear,

or understand.

The contempt of the king.

Now let's take a pause here.

I don't know about you.

Now I'm furious

with King Belshazzar.

Are you guys angry

with King Belshazzar?

Nod your head.

I'm like,

I know we are a congregation

that's pretty quiet,

but are you furious

with Belshazzar?

Yes.

Yes, right?

Man, it's,

I'm pissed off.

Let me drink some water

because I'm pissed off.

And you should be angry.

Man, how could he?

How dare he do that?

Man, it makes you just furious

and angry.

But let's take a pause here.

I'm going to take a walk.

Do you know,

do you know that sin

is a contempt towards God?

Do you know that every sin committed,

that every sin done

is a contempt towards God?

Now you might say like,

hey, no, no, no.

No, I respect God.

Yes, I did the sin,

but I respect God.

No, Alan,

I think you're wrong.

No, no,

it's a contempt towards God.

No, no, no.

Like,

I'm not disrespecting God.

When I did the sin,

I was not even thinking about God.

That's what contempt is,

not thinking about God.

I'm like,

it's worse if you're thinking

about God and sin.

But then,

not thinking about God,

isn't that what contempt is?

That you're not even thinking

about the one

in whom your whole life

and the very breath

that you're breathing

is in Him.

Every sin committed

is a contempt towards God.

I want you to remember

the definition of contempt

that we were looking.

Not that one,

the one we were looking properly.

But,

it not only is sin

a contempt towards God,

but sin,

every sin committed

is totally against God.

If you remember Psalm 51,

which talks about David,

and David,

what David does is,

he goes on,

he steals another wife,

and he commits adultery.

And not only does he steal

another woman,

he actually kills her husband

in the process of it.

Man,

that's terrible.

I wonder how many of you

have done that.

Raise your hand.

No,

just kidding.

Don't raise your hand.

But yeah,

I'm like,

that's terrible.

And then,

later on,

the prophet comes in,

and he confronts David,

and David writes this Psalm 51.

And what David says is,

that my sin,

and against you,

and only you,

have I sinned.

He looks up to heaven,

and he says,

this sin that I've committed

is against you, God,

and only against you.

You see,

many times,

we can make sin about us.

Think about pornography.

You'll think,

well,

pornography is just about me

and the screen in front of me.

It's not harming anyone.

Oh,

this bitterness is only about me

and that person.

It's not against,

not really against God.

But do you know,

that every sin,

it's not only his contempt,

it's done,

his sin is against,

and only against God.

Now,

this contempt that Belshazzar shows,

now,

this sin that Belshazzar shows,

is not only ignored.

Now,

this contempt that Belshazzar shows,

is not ignored,

is not brushed away,

because there is an immediate consequence to it.

Immediately,

something happens,

and now,

moving on from the contempt of the king,

we enter into the judgment of the king.

Now,

what happens next,

is pretty amazing,

right?

I'm like,

it's a very well-known story.

Immediately,

the fingers of a human hand appears,

and right on the wall,

opposite of the lampstand.

There's a painting,

that I've put up,

if you can't see it.

It's a beautiful painting,

but,

yeah.

So,

now,

verse 6,

if you look at verse 6 in the bulletin,

this is what it says,

then the king's color changed,

his thoughts were alarmed,

his limbs gave away,

and his knees knocked together.

Basically,

what happened was,

he turned pale,

and his limbs gave away,

meaning that he could not stand anymore.

He was shaking on his knees,

and it was like,

oh,

I don't know,

I don't know how to do that.

I'm like,

oh,

maybe,

something like that.

He was terrified,

he was scared,

and he was just,

he just loses it.

I'm like,

just a few minutes before,

he was having a party in front of thousands.

Now he's like,

oh,

oh my gosh.

And he calls his people,

he calls like,

okay,

get all my wise men,

get the PhD,

the doctors from Babylon,

those who studied in Babylon universities,

get them,

get them all these wise men together,

and make them interpret it.

What does that mean?

What is that writing on the wall?

Can someone tell me?

And obviously,

no one is able to do that,

and finally,

the queen comes in and says,

hey,

you know,

there is one guy who does it.

His name is Daniel,

and Daniel is brought in,

and Daniel comes before him,

and he tells him what he has done.

He tells them,

he tells him of the contempt of his sin,

that he tells Belshazzar,

that you have not humbled yourself,

that you have not honored the God,

you have held God in contempt,

and in that,

and now,

because you have not humbled yourself,

even though you knew it,

judgment has arrived,

and this is what he says,

many,

many,

tickle,

and parson.

Sounds like many,

many tickle a person,

doesn't mean that he's going to be tickled and dead,

but many,

many,

tickle,

and parson.

Back at high school,

again,

I have a lot of stories from high school.

When I was in class nine,

I,

it's a boarding school,

I used to run away from school every night when I was in class nine,

and I mean every night,

literally every night,

I was outside the,

outside the school boundaries in a restaurant,

having parathas,

and noodles,

and I'm like,

every night,

I'm like,

I used to be an expert bunker,

I'm like,

that's what we call ourselves,

bunkers,

and we used to be expert at that,

and every night,

we went away,

we got noodles,

and foods,

and the,

and the auntie from the shop used to know me so well,

oh,

Allen brother is coming,

and like,

I used to be famous at bunking,

so,

but then,

finally,

we thought like,

we'll never get caught,

but finally,

obviously,

it does happen.

On the last day of school,

can you imagine the last day of school,

we were just jumping over the fence,

and then the security guard sees us with a torchlight,

and then we start running,

and then,

and we took a one whole round of our school boundary,

and our school is huge,

in between jungles,

and on top of the mountain,

and we're like,

going through the jungles,

we came from the front gate,

and we went straight into the classroom,

and pretended that we were studying,

which was funny,

which would have worked,

if we were studious,

you know,

like,

I'm like,

we used to come first in class,

from the opposite direction,

from the back,

so,

yeah,

and then we were there,

me and my partner,

his name was Tashi,

he used to come second last,

I used to come last,

and then,

the teacher comes in,

and he said,

what are you guys doing?

And I'm like,

we're studying,

and like,

obviously,

the teacher's not gonna believe us,

and yeah,

we got caught,

and we were thinking like,

man,

we never thought we would get caught,

man,

we never thought that,

this consequence would ever come,

I'm like,

we have never imagined,

because we were so good,

no one was after us,

but you see,

it does,

consequences does come,

and it did for Belshazzar,

many,

meaning numbered,

tackle,

meaning weighed,

and parson,

meaning divided,

counted,

counted,

found wanting,

divided,

so basically,

Belshazzar,

you have been found guilty,

now the kingdom is gonna be taken away from you,

and it'll be given to the Persians,

and the Medes,

and as we come to verse 30 at the last,

that does come true,

and Belshazzar,

whose name actually means,

Baal save the king,

Baal as in their God,

Baal will save the king,

and in verse 30,

what we find,

is that he's killed,

at the end of verse 30,

and at the end of chapter 5,

that's the end of chapter 5,

now,

we see that we saw the contempt,

and we saw the judgment,

and we are furious with King Belshazzar,

but you know,

it's quite easy,

to sit at the side as an audience,

and watch this story unfold,

to actually sit at a theater,

and watch the story play out,

but you see,

this not only tells us,

the story of King Belshazzar,

but actually,

it also reveals something,

for those who are actually sitting,

and listening to this story,

it reveals to us something,

that is quite easy to see in others,

but quite difficult to see in ourselves,

the word of God,

suddenly becomes a mirror,

and we see ourselves,

in the story,

you see Romans 3,

tells us that,

there is no one who is righteous,

that everyone has sinned,

and everyone has fallen short of glory,

that everyone is a sinner,

there's no one,

who is righteous,

and now we find ourselves,

with sin,

with contempt,

towards God,

I mean a few minutes,

we are furious with Belshazzar,

but in reality,

actually we are,

with Belshazzar,

that we are standing,

just beside him,

but this,

you see,

but as Belshazzar,

came with sin,

and contempt,

so do we,

so do you,

so do I,

but,

as Belshazzar,

came face to face,

with judgment,

you and I,

we come face to face,

with the mercy,

of the king,

which leads us,

to our last point,

the mercy of the king,

you see,

our sins,

are in contempt,

towards God,

they are against God,

it is a clear rejection,

of our creator God,

it is a clear rejection,

of who God is,

who God created us to be,

I mean Isaiah 43,

tells us that,

God created us,

for his glory,

but we went on,

and we lived our lives,

any,

for anything else,

but for our own glory,

we live our lives,

for our own pleasure,

for our own self,

hurting others,

hurting ourselves,

we do anything,

except for his glory,

you see,

it is not just sin,

that are committed,

it is not just,

sin that are done,

it is actually contempt,

it is a disrespect,

and rejection,

of God,

it is easy,

to look down,

on Belshazzar,

but actually,

that's where we find ourselves,

too,

with Belshazzar,

and let me be clear,

judgment did fall,

as it did with Belshazzar,

it did,

so did it for us,

you see,

judgment did fall,

on our sins,

and on,

and all the contempt,

of all our sins,

the judgment did fall,

for all the sins,

that we did,

and all the contempt,

that we have shown,

towards God,

but you see,

the judgment fell,

on Belshazzar,

but for us,

the judgment fell,

on the son of God,

Jesus Christ,

the judgment did fall,

but it fell,

on Jesus,

God sent his son,

to a world,

that was in contempt,

towards him,

Jesus came,

and lived among people,

that were sinful,

and though they stood,

against God,

he reached out,

and touched the unclean,

and made them whole,

though we stood,

in contempt,

he welcomed us,

to eat,

and drink with him,

though we stood,

in contempt,

he took our contempt,

in contempt,

he was beaten,

he was mocked,

in contempt,

people spat on his face,

and put a crown,

on his thorn,

to mock him,

as a king,

while in reality,

he was the king of kings,

made to carry,

the very instrument,

of his death,

he went to the,

Calvary hill,

and he was nailed,

taking on him,

the punishment,

of our sins,

and our contempt,

taking on him,

our judgment,

Romans 5,

8 tells us,

this is love,

this is how God,

showed love,

that while we were,

still sinners,

that while we still,

showed contempt,

towards God,

Christ,

died for us,

Christ,

died for me,

Christ,

died for you,

while we still,

showed contempt,

towards him,

1 John 4 tells us,

this is love,

it's not that we loved him,

but he loved us first,

he loved us first,

I don't know,

do you see,

the weight,

of that word first,

he loved us first,

when we were looking,

as best as it did,

when we looked at God,

with contempt,

with no respect,

of no value,

not even thinking about him,

he looked at us,

and he loved us first,

I'm like,

if someone showed me contempt,

I cannot even imagine,

doing that to that person,

but God,

loved you,

and I first,

so as we come,

towards the end,

see if you are new,

this morning,

do you know that,

even before you knew Jesus,

he loved you,

would you come,

and taste his love for you,

that he paid the price,

of every sin,

and every contempt,

that was committed,

that he is willing,

to take our shame,

and guilt,

that he is willing,

to take every contempt,

that we had done,

and in return,

he promises peace,

and eternal life,

peace not as the world gives,

peace that he gives,

that is out of this world,

would you come,

and know this God,

who created you,

and formed you,

this God,

who is above all,

and who created everything,

in one word,

who calls you by name,

who redeems you,

and he calls you,

his own,

who calls you by name,

and for us,

those who do know Christ,

for us,

those who are believers,

are there still places,

of contempt in our lives,

sins that we know,

are clearly wrong,

but instead of bringing to Christ,

and repenting,

we entertain it,

maybe it could be,

in our workplaces,

and universities,

and our schools,

and workplaces,

where we know,

what God is calling us to be,

where we know,

what God is telling us to do,

but we just brush it away,

and ignore that,

because we just want to be,

comfortable in our lives,

I mean even for communion,

right,

I mean like,

we can take communion,

in contempt,

I mean like,

we do come in,

when we come and take communion,

while we have been harboring,

unforgiveness,

and bitterness towards others,

because 1 Corinthians 11,

tells us,

examine yourself,

before you take communion,

do we really do that,

or in contempt,

take it like,

like it's just a ritual,

that we do,

are there any places,

of contempt in our lives,

and for all of us,

this is the invitation,

for us,

come to the God,

come to God,

who loves you,

and who loved you first,

I mean Isaiah 1,

18 says,

though your sins,

are like scarlet,

though they are red as crimson,

they will be white as snow,

yes we do have sins,

and there is contempt,

in our life,

that we have shown towards God,

but calls us,

God calls us,

to him,

who loved us first,

come in repentance,

come,

and he will show us,

grace and mercy,

and Daniel's accusation,

was this,

towards Belshazzar,

that even though you knew,

you have not humbled yourself,

you knew,

you knew the story,

you know the gospel,

you know the love of God,

but now come,

so may I invite,

all of us to stand,

and also invite,

the worship team,

to come front,

why don't we take some time,

and let the Holy Spirit,

come and work among us,

why don't we call,

let the Holy Spirit come,

and show us in our lives,

places of contempt,

places that we have been missing out,

why don't we just spend some time,

allowing the Holy Spirit,

to speak to us right now,

so why don't we take the posture,

with our open hands,

and just spend some time,

in quiet,

and say,

Father,

Holy Spirit,

would you come,

and show us places,

of contempt in our life,

in my life,

in my life,

sink in our life,

through example,

one place,

two place,

and rude,

establishing,

a story,

and