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??Introduction：Do you like to go to parties？Maybe you like birthday parties best, or Christmas or New Year's parties. Well, today won't you join me for a different kind of party right in the palace of the king of Babylon!
??Can you imagine that we would see such rich decorations, and elegantly clothed people, and oh! Imagine the delicious food! The Bible tells us in Daniel Chapter 5 that King Belshazzar had made a great feast for a thousand of his lords. This was a big party! But sad to say, it was not the kind of party you and I would have enjoyed, for the people were doing very foolish things. The Bible indicates they were drinking lots of wine, which caused them to say and do sinful things.
??The servants were commanded by King Belshazzar to bring the golden and silver vessels that King Nebuchadnezzar had taken out of the temple of the true and living God in Jerusalem. King Belshazzar was King Nebuchadnezzar's son or grandson, and although he knew about the true and living God, he had chosen to worship idols. As the king and all his lords and ladies drank wine from the holy vessels from the Lord's house,
??the Bible says they "praised the gods of gold, and of silver, of brass, of iron, of wood, and of stone." How foolish to worship the things God has made, rather than to glorify the God Who made all things!
??Main Teaching：If you know the Lord Jesus, remember：God wants you to glorify Him! To glorify God means to praise and worship Him, to brag on Him and give Him thanks for the things He has made, and the wonderful things He has done! As believers in the Lord Jesus, we know that all we have, and all that we are, is a grace gift from the Lord. Let's say our Bible memory verse for today：I Corinthians 6：20, "For ye are bought with a price：therefore glorify God in your body, and in your spirit, which are God's." In all that we do and all that we say, God should be lifted up. If we brag, we should brag on God and not ourselves. If you know the Lord Jesus, remember：God wants you to glorify Him!
??How foolish for King Belshazzar to worship the things God made, rather than to glorify the God Who made all things! Daniel 5：5 says, "In the same hour came forth fingers of a man's hand, and wrote over against the candlestick upon the plaster of the wall of the king's palace：and the king saw the part of the hand that wrote.
??Suddenly the party was over! The king's proud face changed to fear, and he was so frightened, his knees knocked together. He called for his astrologers, his Chaldeans, all his wise men of Babylon to come quickly. "Whoever can read this writing on the wall and tell me what it means shall be clothed with scarlet, and have a chain of gold about his neck, and shall be the third ruler in the kingdom." But none of the king's wisemen could figure out this strange writing nor what it meant. Now the king was even more frightened and troubled. He must have known this message was bad news, but what could it be？The king's mother or grandmother came in and gave the king some very good advice. She reminded the king that there was a man of great wisdom who had served under King Nebuchadnezzar. He had revealed dreams and given such wise counsel to King Nebuchadnezzar that the king had made him master of his wise men. Can you guess the name of this wise man？The queen mother said, "Now let Daniel be called, and he will show you what this message is."
??Don't you wonder why King Belshazzar had not been seeking Daniel's good counsel before now？When Daniel came before the king, the king said, "Are you that Daniel from the captives of Judah that King Nebuchadnezzar brought out？I have heard that there is excellent wisdom in you. If you can read this writing on the wall and tell me what it means, you shall be clothed with scarlet, and have a chain of gold around your neck, and you shall be the third ruler in the kingdom."
??Then Daniel answered the king："Let your gifts be to yourself, and give your rewards to another; yet I will read the writing to you and tell you what it means. O king, the most high God gave Nebuchadnezzar your father a kingdom, and majesty, and glory, and honor. Because of all the power God gave your father, all people, nations, and languages trembled and feared before King Nebuchadnezzar. Whoever he wanted to kill, he killed. Whoever he wanted to keep alive, he kept alive. But when the king's heart was lifted up and his mind hardened in pride, he was brought down from his kingly throne, and his glory was taken from him. He became like a beast, and even lived in the field, eating grass like a beast, until he knew that the most high God ruled in the kingdom of men and
??that it was God that appoints over kingdoms whomever He will."
??Main Teaching：Daniel called God "the most high God." God is sovereign, which means He rules over all, and He deserves our glory and praise. If you know the Lord Jesus, remember：God wants you to glorify Him! God says He is the potter, and we are just the pieces of clay. Can the clay form itself？Of course not! God says He is the wise potter Who made you, gives you life and breath, and has a wonderful plan for your life. Part of that plan is that we should glorify Him! When you pray and read your Bible, seeking to know God and obey Him, you are glorifying Him. When you brag on God and not yourself, you are bringing glory to God. Singing praise and talking to others about the wonderful things God has done brings glory to God. Remember our Bible verse in I Corinthians 6：20, "For ye are bought with a price：therefore glorify God in your body, and in your spirit, which are God's." If you know the Lord Jesus, remember：God wants you to glorify Him!
??Daniel was careful to glorify God, calling Him the "most high God" that rules over all.
??Daniel reminded King Belshazzar that even though he knew all the things that happened to King Nebuchadnezzar because of his pride, yet Belshazzar had not humbled himself to give glory to the most high God. Daniel said, "You have praised the gods of silver, and gold, of brass, iron, wood, and stone, which see not, nor hear, nor know：and the God in whose hand your breath is, and whose are all your ways, you have not glorified."
??Gospel：Have you glorified the God Who holds your breath in His hand？He is the true and living God Who created you and all things. Jeremiah says that God loves you with an everlasting love. He wants you to be with Him forever, that's why He made sure you saw this lesson today! God is perfect and holy, without sin and so is His Heaven. You and I were born with a problem called sin that separates us from God and His forever home in Heaven. Sin is when you break God's laws, and one example is when you do not glorify God. God knows about your sin, but in His great love He sent the only solution to your sin problem. When Jesus, God's perfect Son, came to earth from Heaven, He came to pay the price for your sin. What was that price？It was to give His precious blood and life. Jesus willingly did that when He allowed wicked men to nail Him to the wooden cross. Remember our verse for today？I Corinthians 6：20 "For ye are bought with a price：" Jesus paid that price for you, so you would never have to suffer the everlasting punishment of being in hell. Three days after Jesus died, He rose from the dead, and now the Lord Jesus is alive in Heaven. He is ready to forgive your sin and save you when you ask Him. Your salvation, your life, and your very breath are all a gift from God. He created you to glorify Him.
??Daniel told Belshazzar that He had not glorified the God who had given him his very breath. And then Daniel read the mysterious message written on the palace wall. The writing was：MENE, MENE, TEKEL, UPHARSIN. What could those strange words mean？Daniel knew precisely what they meant and he explained them for the king. MENE：God has numbered your kingdom and finished it. TEKEL：You are weighed in the balances and found wanting. PERES：Your kingdom is divided, and given to the Medes and Persians.
??Daniel told Belshazzar he did not please the Lord, and his kingdom was going to be taken from him and given to the Medes and Persians. Belshazzar probably did not dream it would be that very night. History books tell us that even as the lavish party was going on in the palace, the enemy armies were digging a trench and draining the river that ran under the high, thick strong walls of Babylon. Their clever plan worked, and the army was able to come under the walls using the drained river bed. That very night the Bible says Belshazzar was killed and Darius the Mede took over the great kingdom of Babylon, just as God had shown Daniel.
??If only Belshazzar had learned to give glory to the true and living God! What a sad but true story. What about you？??Challenge：If you know the Lord Jesus as your Savior from sin, will you remember this week to give glory to God？Why not write your Bible verse from I Corinthians 6：20
??on a strip of paper and use it for your Bible marker this week. Reading your Bible and praying daily will help you know what God wants you to do. Obeying His Word, singing songs of praise, and telling others the wonderful things God has done are ways you can glorify God this week! Did God help you pass a test？Did He protect you and provide all you needed this week？Then praise and thank Him for it, giving Him all the glory!
??Invitation：If you have never believed on the Lord Jesus, then you can never please and glorify Him. Why not go right now to "How To Be a Child of God" and find out how to have your sins forgiven and become His child today. Then you too can begin to do exactly what you were created to do：glorify God your Creator!
