The Path of Contempt

[0:00] The scripture reading comes from Daniel, chapter 5. 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.

[0:18] 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.

[0:35] 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.

[0:46] 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.

[1:03] 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.

[1:18] 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.

[1:34] 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.

[1:49] 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.

[2:03] 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.

[2:17] 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.

[2:41] 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.

[2:57] 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.

[3:17] 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.

[3:36] 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.

[3:49] 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.

[4:07] 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.

[4:26] 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.

[4:50] 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.

[5:04] 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.

[5:22] 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.

[5:34] 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.

[5:49] 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.

[6:04] 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.

[6:21] So, this is the word of God. Thank you. I just want to briefly introduce Alan.

[6:39] 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.

[6:54] 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.

[7:09] 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.

[7:20] 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.

[7:32] 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?

[7:43] 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.

[7:56] 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.

[8:11] 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.

[8:28] 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.

[8:42] And finally, at the end of Daniel chapter 4, 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.

[8:53] 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.

[9:04] 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?

[9:15] 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.

[9:26] 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?

[9:37] 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.

[9:50] 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.

[10:02] So in the same way, Belteshazzar, the son of Nebuchadnezzar. So, now, but in reality, Belteshazzar's father was actually a person called Nabodunus.

[10:12] 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.

[10:24] 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.

[10:35] 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.

[10:46] 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.

[10:58] 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.

[11:11] 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.

[11:24] 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.

[11:35] 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.

[11:47] 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?

[11:57] 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.

[12:11] 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?

[12:23] 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.

[12:35] 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.

[12:46] 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.

[12:58] 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.

[13:09] 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.

[13:22] 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.

[13:35] 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.

[13:46] 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.

[14:02] 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?

[14:13] 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.

[14:29] 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.

[14:42] 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.

[14:53] 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, 7, where God tells Cain, hey, be careful, sin is crouching right outside your door.

[15:07] 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?

[15:21] 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.

[15:34] 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.

[15:47] 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.

[16:02] 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.

[16:15] 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.

[16:34] 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.

[16:47] 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.

[17:01] 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.

[17:13] 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.

[17:32] 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.

[17:48] 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.

[17:59] 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.

[18:21] 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.

[18:34] 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.

[18:49] 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.

[19:02] 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?

[19:17] 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.

[19:29] 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.

[19:53] 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?

[20:06] 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.

[20:22] 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.

[20:40] 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.

[20:52] 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.

[21:12] 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.

[21:26] 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.

[21:42] 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.

[21:58] 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.

[22:09] 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.

[22:23] 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.

[22:34] 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.

[22:47] 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.

[23:07] 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.

[23:29] 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.

[23:46] 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.

[24:08] 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.

[24:26] 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.

[24:38] 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.

[24:49] 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.

[25:02] 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?

[25:14] 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.

[25:27] 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?

[25:40] 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.

[25:51] 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.

[26:06] 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?

[26:21] 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.

[26:33] 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.

[26:44] 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.

[26:58] 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.

[27:17] 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.

[27:32] 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.

[27:45] 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.

[28:04] 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.

[28:16] 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.

[28:35] 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.

[28:51] 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.

[29:03] 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.

[29:18] 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.

[29:29] 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.

[29:41] 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.

[29:57] 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.

[30:12] 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.

[30:37] 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.

[30:48] 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.

[31:30] 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?

[32:15] 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,

[34:22] 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,

[36:11] 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,

[37:25] 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,

[39:29] 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,

[41:25] 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