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All right, thank you very much. First of all, I wish you the best. Thank you very much. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. 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Open your Bibles to the book of Daniel Daniel chapter 5 Daniel chapter 5 And As our custom we will be reading the entire chapter Daniel chapter 5, please same and if you're there amen Daniel chapter 5 verse 1 Bell shazara the king made a great feast to a thousand of his lords and drank wine before the thousand Bell shazara whilst he tasted the wine Commanded to bring the golden and silver vessels with which his father and a bukkad nazar had taken out of the temple Which is in Jerusalem that the king and his princess his wives and his concubines might drink therein Then they brought the golden vessels that were taken out of the temple of the house of God Which was a Jerusalem and the king and his princess his wives and his concubines to drank in them they drank wine and praised the gods of gold and of silver and brass of iron of wood and of stone and The same hour came forth fingers of a man's hand and rode 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 roads Then the king's countenance was changed and his thoughts troubled him So the joints of his loins were loosed and his knees smote one against another the king cried aloud to bring in the astrologers to count the ends of the soothsayers and the king spake and said to the wise men of Babylon Whosoever shall read this writing and show me the interpretation thereof Shall be cloth with scarlets and have a chain of gold about his neck and shall be the third ruler in the kingdom Then came in all the king's wise men But they could not read the writing nor make known to the king the interpretation thereof Then was King Belshazzar greatly troubled and his countenance was changed in them and his Lords were astonished Now the Queen by reason of the words of the king and his Lords came into the banquet house And the Queen spake and said, oh King live forever Let not thy thoughts trouble thee nor let thy countenance be changed There is a man in thy kingdom in whom is the spirit of the holy gods and it dates with thy father light and understanding and wisdom Like the wisdom of the gods was found in him Whom the king of a goddess are thy father the king I say thy father made master of the magicians astrologers Chaldeans and soothsayers for as much as an excellent spirits and knowledge and understanding Interpreting of dreams and showing of hard sentences and the solving of doubts were found in the same Daniel whom the king named Belshazzar You You You You You You You We're not going to finish this chapter here today, we're only going to You Now Alcohol gives boldness to do what is wrong Alcohol gives you boldness to commit sins and to do wrong Daniel 5 verse 1 Belshazzar the king made a great feast to a thousand thousand of his lords and drank wine before the thousand Belshazzar while he tasted the wine Commanded to bring the golden and silver vessels, which his father Nebuchadnezzar had taken out of the temple Which was in Jerusalem that the king and his princes his wives and his concubines might drink therein So we see here in Daniel chapter 5 verse 2 that when Belshazzar is actually drinking wine That is the point where he says let us bring the golden and silver vessels that we've taken from Jerusalem And we're going to use them as part of our religious ceremony to basically desecrate them now I want you to realize that when a country would take over another country in the past Oftentimes various countries had a different religion. They followed they usually didn't harm the gods of those countries you know, you can look back throughout history with various religions and Oftentimes they would just merge those religions together and when they took these golden and silver vessels They were taking them as part of their religious ceremony now now that's going to belong to them They weren't desecrating them But when he's drinking wine He does something he knows that their God would not approve of meaning the true God that we worship and basically Belshazzar says While he's drinking alcohol Let us just get these golden and silver vessels and just use them for our purpose and he's basically going to desecrate these golden and silver vessels verse 3 Then they brought the golden vessels that were taken out of the temple of the house of God Which is at Jerusalem and a king and his princes his wives and his concubines Drank in them. So it'd be like for example if at our church, you know for the Lord's Supper Let's say we had a specific like metal container small little metal cup cups or something that we used to take the Lord's Supper And we use grape juice, right? We don't use alcoholic wine But they would use those and then basically put alcohol in them and drink out of them They're basically desecrating those and using it for a sinful purpose now go to Proverbs 23 Proverbs 23 I'll give you a few references to this but realize he does this while he's drinking alcohol This is not something he decided to do when he was sober But when he's drinking he has boldness to commit sin and do wrong Proverbs 23 verse 20 Proverbs 23 verse 20 and says in Proverbs 23 verse 20 Be not among wine bibbers among riotous eaters of flesh and you're gonna notice in the Bible that Drinking alcohol and riot are often linked together Because this is something people do when they're drinking right, you know just in the last couple years around the world Really? There's been all these protests in rioting for a variety of different reasons I know in America was like every single day They were writing about black lives matter and all these other things and these people are getting drunk They're doing drugs and then they're burning down buildings. They're rioting right but it's while they're drinking alcohol They don't feel bad about committing these sins, right because alcohol gives you boldness to do what's wrong Go to Ephesians 5 Ephesians chapter 5 Ephesians 5 When people get drunk they do things they would never do if they were sober Ephesians 5 verse 19 or verse 18. I should say Ephesians 5 verse 18 and In Ephesians 5 verse 18 the Bible reads and be not drunk with wine Wherein is excess but be filled with the Spirit now, let me just say this on a side point Some people try to use this verse to justify drinking and what they'll say is don't drink wine that is in Excess like too much don't get drunk, but it's okay to drink Well, the reason why that doesn't make sense is because the Bible speaks about rioting in excess a little bit of riot is bad Right, you know, it's like well, I only burned down one building. Oh, it's okay then I thought you burned down too Right, no just a little bit of rioting would be wrong smashing one window with the rock would be wrong You don't have to do too much rioting before it's already wrong. So any amount of drinking alcohol is gonna be wrong Okay, it's gonna be sinful But it says be not drunk with wine wherein is excess but be filled with the Spirit and what you're seeing is a comparison Between wine and the Holy Spirit you say what do wine and the Holy Spirit have to do with one another? Well, they're basically the opposite right from a worldly standard what is the terminology they use for alcohol they use the word? spirits That's a term the world gives them and according to the world. Apparently there's a spirit attached to drinking alcohol Hey for once the world is right They're correct about that. They literally will call it spirits and there's literally an unclean spirit associated with drinking alcohol Okay, but here's the comparison the Holy Spirit gives you boldness to do what is right That you would never do in your normal flesh Alcohol gives you boldness to do what is wrong that you would never do in your normal flesh Right. Look at our church. Most people at our church go soul-willing is Everybody at our church outgoing is your natural personality just you know, very outgoing you love to approach random people Look, I would have never thought I'd walk up to random people and start a conversation. That's just not who I am Okay, I usually waited for people to talk to me. Okay, and yet when we go soul-willing, isn't that exactly what we do? I Mean you become a new man as we talked about when you walk in the Holy Spirit You're doing what's right you're changing and the Holy Spirit gives you boldness to do things you would never do in your normal flesh Right, you know look when I was in college, you know, I didn't I didn't have to do too much public speaking But I did from time to time for projects and I'm just being dead honest I was not a good public speaker and I did not enjoy it. I Was terrified to do public speaking. It was my biggest fear was public speaking. And what do I do for a career? I mean I I Publicly speak all the time, right and you say well How is that possible because the Holy Spirit gives you boldness to do things you would never do in your normal flesh? Alcohol gives you boldness to do things that are wrong that you would never do in your normal flesh I mean so much of murder and all manner of sin is committed while people are drunk and it's something that wouldn't happen If they weren't drinking right now turn your Bible to Esther chapter 1 I'll give you a long story that kind of explains this Esther 1 I Mean I use the example before of somebody I knew who died from my college Spanish class and you know what he died because him and his buddies were getting drunk on the weekend at WVU and basically, you know because it was a big trial case in West Virginia of exactly what happened because somebody got murdered and the question was Was it self-defense or was it cold-blooded murder, right? And basically, you know They these two sides were like arguing with one another while they're drunk one side threw a snowball at the other side And then all of a sudden they ended up coming in confrontation a knife's pulled out and the guy got stabbed to death Look, they wouldn't have done that if they weren't drinking alcohol I mean, how stupid do you have to be to try to stab someone to death? But you know what when you're drunk you do things that you would not do if you were sober Right Even when you think of drinking and driving look people often drink and drive and it's something they weren't planning to do But once you start drinking alcohol you start thinking no big deal I can drive and it's something you wouldn't have done But once you start drinking alcohol, it changes your judgment and you do not think clearly Esther chapter 1 and you know We'll be in this story for a little while to explain this but notice what it says in Esther 1 verse 10 on The seventh day when the heart of the king was married with wine, so this is King has aware as he's drinking alcohol He commanded my human bista Harbona big thaw in a back the Zethar and carcass very good names for a baby If someone doesn't have a name picked out yet The seven chamberlains that served in the presence of a has aware as the king to bring Vashti the queen before the king with the crown Royal to show the people and the princes are beauty for she was fair to look on now. Let me just take a minute I've preached through Esther before to say that a lot of people just kind of change this story you know if you read Esther chapter 1 in the whole book of Esther a has it worse is not that bad of a guy and If you actually read very closely when he picks a new queen There's all of these women that are you know, he's considering to be the new queen One of the requirements was for them to be virgins and he wanted a woman that was pure if you pay close attention He's not sleeping with all these women. He waits to pick a queen and then that's who he picks He's not like sleeping with all of them or anything. And so that's kind of how people often preach it That's not what it says because it's clear at the end of the chapter. There's still virgins Okay, once he picks his wife then obviously they come together as husband and wife now. I'm not saying it has worse was a good guy Yeah, I understand. You know, he had multiple wives, but so did a lot of characters in the Bible Okay, so I'm just saying he's not some sort of reprobate, you know He's not the greatest guy in the world But he's not some wicked guy and honestly all the Persian kings pretty much for decent guys in the Bible you're looking at Cyrus and even the Medes as well, but Here what he says in verse 11 is he wants his wife to come before and he wants to show off her beauty now Here's the thing one thing that I've heard preached is that he's asking her to basically do a striptease and take off all of her Clothes, I don't see that in Esther chapter 1 Right now it doesn't say anything about him telling her to take off all of her clothes and then show off her beauty in that Since I think he's just saying, you know, my wife is very attractive Beautiful face and he wants her to be shown before the people now I do believe that what he's asking is kind of foolish and I do think he's doing it because he's drinking alcohol But that's my point you do things that you probably wouldn't do in your normal flesh But as he's drinking alcohol, he makes kind of a ridiculous sort of request, you know Obviously she's hanging out with her friends and he asked her to come I want all my buddies to see how beautiful you are Okay, and So it says in verse number 12, but the Queen Vashti refused to come at the king's commandment by his chamberlains Therefore was the king very Roth and his anger burned in him And so as the Queen refuses to come this surprises king it has a whereas you say why? because normally she probably would have done what he asked and The reason why it probably surprises him is because when she wasn't drinking alcohol or if she's not drinking alcohol She probably would have done it What he does is a little bit foolish What she does is a little bit foolish His request I think is a little bit foolish, but it's not the end of the world. He says hey, can you come here? So everyone sees that I've got a really attractive wife. Okay, that's a bit foolish to do but it's not the end of the world Okay, and then her she decides not to come Which obviously is embarrassing the king the ruler of the world and she's obviously not being submissive to her husband And what she does is a bit foolish as well But alcohol is kind of that thing that's woven in there. We're basically that's probably the reason why they acted that way So the king is very angry because he's embarrassed now go to verse 15 and it says what shall we do unto the Queen Vashti according to law because she hath not performed the commandment of the king of has a whereas by the chamberlains and Mameu can answer before the king and the princes Vashti the Queen hath not done wrong to the king only but also to all the princes and all the people that are in all Provinces of the king of has a whereas for this deed of the Queen shall come abroad unto all men so that they shall despise Their husbands in their eyes when it shall be reported the king of has a whereas commanded Vashti the Queen to be brought in before Him but she came not now. Here's the thing, you know a has a worse has his buddies They're kind of giving bad advice Okay, because they want to get on a has worse his good side. He's very angry So they come up with this very strict sort of punishment in reality. Here's the right response. What do you do? Just wait tomorrow when the alcohol wears off and have a conversation with your wife quietly. That's the correct answer You're upset about what your spouse did. Well, don't say anything in front of other people deal with it one-on-one Right. The reality is in marriage. Every marriage has fights, you know, how do you deal with that one-on-one alone? Right not in front of other people and certainly not while you're still affected by alcohol, right? Don't make judgments while you have alcohol inside your body Okay verse 18 Likewise so the ladies of Persian media say this day unto all the king's princes which have heard of the deed of the Queen Thus shall there arise too much contempt and wrath if it please the king let there go a royal Commandment from him and let it be written among the laws of the Persians and the Medes that it be not altered or be not Changed that Vashti come no more before king has worse and led to another that is better than she so essentially this is divorce Happening in verse 19 and it says that it be not altered or that it be not changed basically Here's the decree that you know what? She is no longer the queen. She's done with that She is going to be replaced by another woman. Look It's always wrong to get divorced But while you're drinking alcohol, that is not the best time to make big decisions You're making a decision that cannot be changed according to the law of means and persons Because if you're familiar with Daniel chapter 6, there's a story where King Darius foolishly has Daniel put to death by his decree about not praying and he couldn't change the law that was part of their culture Right. It would be very foolish to make a life-changing decision that cannot be changed while you're drinking alcohol Wait until you're sober Better yet Don't drink alcohol to begin with and you won't do something foolish Because alcohol gives you boldness to do stupid things, right? and It says that it be not altered verse number 20 and when the Kings decree which he shall make shall be published throughout all his empire For it is great all the wives shall give to their husbands honor both the great and small and The saying please the king and the princes and the king did according to the word of my mucan now go to Esther chapter 2 I want you to notice verse 1 and pay close attention Esther 2 verse 1 After these things So after all this has taken place after this this law has been made that it cannot be changed After these things when the wrath of King Ahasuerus was appeased, so he's no longer angry He remembered Vashti and what she had done and what was decreed against her The indication from this verse is that when he was drinking alcohol, he didn't really know what he was doing Because it wears off his anger is gone and then all of a sudden he remembers his wife and it's like oh, wait a minute I just divorced my wife and removed her as Queen Because she didn't do something I asked her to do now look of course the Bible teaches that men are the heads of their homes and wives are supposed to Be submissive, but that's a pretty extreme thing to get a divorce Because the fact your wife disobeyed you It's like talk to them one-on-one and deal with the problem when no one else is around after the angers gone By the way, this is true not just for alcohol, but with anger in general I mean if you're really angry about something just let the anger wear off before you make big Decisions and say a lot of mean and hateful things and just talk about it one-on-one right, but the alcohol affects the judgment of Ahasuerus and Vashti and it's like he forgot or didn't even realize what he was doing now turn to Daniel chapter 5 Daniel 5 Daniel chapter 5 And so point number one is that alcohol gives you boldness to do what is wrong And I will say that this sermon will be a bit shorter. The first sermon was longer. We will still get done on normal time But point number one alcohol gives you boldness to do what is wrong point number two false religions They use alcohol and drugs as part of their religious ceremonies false religions use alcohol and drugs Notice verse number four they drank wine and Praise the gods of gold and of silver of brass of iron of wood and of stone They drank wine and then they're praising their false gods and it's like alcohol is part of their religious ceremonies Right. I mean, can you imagine getting drunk and let's have our monthly prayer meeting? Okay, we drank alcohol now Let's pray right now. Let's just praise the gods that we worship. It's like alcohol is part of their religious ceremonies I mean for us the Bible says touch not the unclean thing Alcohol is unclean. It's a sin. We should have nothing to do with it. And it's not just that people are doing it They're mixing it in with their religion as if it's a good thing and you what there is nothing new under the Sun the same Thing happens with religions today. Let me give you an example of this. What about the Catholic Church? What about the big church here in the Philippines What about the Eucharist? Here's what it says from this article It is a definitive doctrine of the Catholic Church that only pure and natural grape wine Can be employed as valid matter for transubstantiation into the blood of Christ pure wine Right pure wine. How about pure grape juice? Right non fermented grape juice, why are you using alcoholic beverage as Part of your religious ceremony because look in the Bible, you know The word wine is used quite a bit and you know what the word juice is only used one time because juice was not a very common word back when the Bible was written and What you'll see is oftentimes the Bible uses the word wine But it's referring to juice because wine can be fermented or unfermented Okay So here's the thing in the Bible oftentimes wine is just tough for example, Jesus turning water into wine He didn't add another keg to a party and get people drunk Right people want to read that story. Well when the men were well drunk, here's some more beer. That's ridiculous. Okay He's giving them grape juice which was a very precious commodity back in that day without modern Technology to make it even nowadays grape juice is very expensive how much more back in that day, right? But with the Catholic Church they say well, you know what we want to represent the blood of Christ So we're gonna take the sinless Jesus Christ and then use the sin of alcohol as part of our religious sermon Does that make any sense? Because for us we do the opposite unleavened bread Non fermented juice right grape juice It says the 1983 code of Canon law declares the most holy sacrifice of the Eucharist must be celebrated in Wine to which a small quantity of water is to be added The wine must be natural made from grapes of the vine and not corrupt. Well, once again, it's corrupt when it's alcoholic Right moreover the catechism of the Catholic Church asserts that one of the essential signs of the Eucharist sacrament is grape wine so I guess if you don't use alcoholic wine, it doesn't count as You know basically remembering Jesus Christ now, there's a thing that's Catholicism in general But it goes more extreme for example in Mexico where it says that on the Day of the Dead Christians leave tequila and mezcal as offerings on Day of the Dead owners And so basically, you know, the Day of the Dead is like a hardcore Halloween all Saints Day like to another level where they dress as demons and act really sinful Well, I mean, it's appropriate you use alcoholic wine for that sort of celebration, right? But it's like a Catholic holiday in Mexico and then it's like let's just leave tequila for our dead relatives And of course the dead relatives are gonna come out of the graves at nighttime and just spiritually drink that tequila, right? That's what they believe. Okay Another example is the Eastern Orthodox religion now in Christianity. The biggest religion is Catholicism Number two is the Orthodox religion. Basically, they have about 20% of the members that the Catholics have There's like 260 million worldwide Russia and a lot of countries are Orthodox and the Orthodox faith in the Eastern Orthodox faith particularly in Russia Vodka is blessed by priests and imbibed at religious celebrations like Easter or poured onto the graves of loved ones So basically you can't celebrate Easter without some vodka according to the Eastern Orthodox religion Hey, you know what you go to a funeral just pour some vodka on your dead relatives on the graves It's like this is ridiculous and they're mixing alcohol as part of their religious ceremonies, right? I haven't even gotten to the best. Okay, or the worst depending on how you look at this in Judaism I'll give you three more examples in Judaism wine is used more elaborately in Jewish rituals, especially in the kadush ceremony Which takes place during Shabbat the Jewish Sabbath the participants bless kosher wine and then the chala before everyone drinks They toast by saying IKEA which means to life During Passover family step over the vinyl or wine and individually bless four cups of wine at the family center So at their Passover celebration in 2022 Alcohol is a big part of it Did I miss the part in Exodus 12 where they're getting drunk Right me if you read the Old Testament, I mean Exodus 12 the big Passover chapter somehow I missed the part about them getting drunk Apparently I go back and read that because I don't remember that part is being part of the pass Oh and yet part of the Jewish ceremony now when they celebrate the Passover a religious ceremony They're drinking wine and blessing the God that they worship right the false God that they worship the best one we got two more but the best is this one Tibetan Buddhism and You know think of the Dalai Lama is the head of Tibetan Buddhism, you know, if you know the Dalai Lama that's his brand of Buddhism the most famous Buddhist in the world and This is their ritual one of the most ancient rituals in Tibetan Buddhism is drinking from the kapala They're drinking alcohol in what's known as the kapala which is a sacred sculpted cup made from the top of an actual human skull so basically They take a human skull they pour alcohol in it and then they drink alcohol out of a human skull it's like How do you even come up with something like that and I'll explain why they do it here in a second But I mean an actual human skull Right, the skulls are carved and adorned with precious metals and jewels then filled with alcoholic beverages Blood or dough cakes as offerings meant to appease wrathful deities drinking from the skull is reserved only for the most experienced of llamas as It supposedly transfers the knowledge and karma of the skull's former owner to the drinker So what they're saying is that basically if somebody dies, let's say, you know, you have a relative that dies make sure you keep that skull put alcohol in it and Basically as you drink it you're gonna get all the knowledge that they had The knowledge transfers via an actual human skull from that person and then he drink the alcohol in it Right. So basically, you know somebody dies is very smart They speak like 15 languages. Just get that human skull pour alcohol in drink it and you know what you're gonna be a polyglot Right. That's the secret, right? How do you even come up with something like this, right? But this is what and look this is the brand of Buddhism. This is not just a rare form of Buddhism This is the brand of Buddhism of the Dalai Lama the most famous Buddhist on the planet and that is apparently what they do I had no idea until I was preparing this sermon, but I was like man, right? there's a lot of strange religious rituals, but it's tied in with a religious ceremony and Lastly, I'll just mention on Shinto which is is kind of the main religion in Japan Although it's kind of merged with Buddhism it says here in this article There's perhaps no religion that loves alcohol as much as the Japanese Shinto religion Which reveals sake as the most sacred of drinks the liquor of the gods and this is how much I know about alcohol yesterday I pronounced that sake Sake and then you're like sake I like all sake, okay Right now turn your Bible back to Daniel 5 Daniel 5 and look it's not just these ones. I mentioned There's a lot of brands of religion like voodoo I mean the voodoo alcohol is a big part of their religious ceremonies that they bring that if you go if you if you go To a voodoo ceremony you're supposed to bring alcohol for the deities and then other religions They don't use alcohol, but they'll use a type of drug which is basically the same right shamanism a lot of native religions You know Rastafari is like against alcohol, but smoking weed is essential to being a Rastafari, right? So they basically replace alcohol with drugs and a lot of these ones what they'll say is well when you take these out that these Drugs and do this alcohol. It basically puts your mind into another state, right? You don't understand until you do it Yeah, you know what? I don't understand right and you know what? I'm sure they're literally right It literally makes you become a different person and they're basically just worshipping devils and it's part of their religious ceremonies But that's what you see in Daniel chapter 5 and there's nothing new under the Sun drinking alcohol while praising false gods Point number one alcohol gives boldness to do what is wrong point to false religions use alcohol and drugs as part of religious ceremonies point three alcohol brings on the wrath of God Daniel 5 verse 5 in The same hour came forth fingers of a man's hand and rode over against a candlestick Upon the plaster of the wall the king's palace and the king saw the part of the hand that wrote Then the king's countenance was changed and his thoughts troubled him So the joints of his loins were loosed and his knees smote one against another So basically the king sees this writing on the wall and he's so afraid that his countenance changes and he starts to shake But even to the point that his knees are hitting against one another so basically so afraid that you know They're knocking against one another and I've been afraid before like, you know where you're shaking a little bit not to the point though where you're like your knees are like Knocking I mean that's pretty extreme right and so his knees are like smiting one another he's so afraid and look I he's probably wondering at this point. Is that the alcohol or is this actually taking place? I hope it's just the alcohol because I think I see you know a hand writing on a wall, right and It says and you know what you're seeing is God even though this is a very bad guy a sinful guy When he does this and desecrates the golden and silver vessels from the Lord That's where God says it's too far and he says I'm gonna remove you. This is the end of Babylon, right? this is the end of the Chaldean Empire reigning because of this event where God says we're gonna remove you and The Persians and the Medes take over because of this event, right? And it says in Daniel chapter 5 verse number 7 the king cried aloud To bring in the astrologers the Chaldeans and the soothsayers when it says he cried aloud It's not referring to tears tears is weeping in the Bible like luha Crying is like yelling out Okay, so he cries out he's yelling You know bring in the astrologers the Chaldeans and the soothsayers and the king spake and said to the wise men of Babylon whosoever shall read this writing and show me the Interpretation thereof shall be clothed with scarlet and have a chain of gold about his neck and shall be the third ruler in the kingdom So I personally believe that when the king cries out this is heard even outside the room where other people can hear So basically if I were to yell out really loud and there's people around People are gonna wonder what is going on in there, right? They hear the king crying out and you know what they can hear the things that he's saying because notice what it says in verse number eight Then came in all the king's wise men now This is very interesting because earlier in the book of Daniel Nebuchadnezzar has a request and nobody wants to come But when they find out hey, I could be the third ruler in the kingdom then came in all the king's wise men Why because there's a reward this time, right? So I believe that this basically went viral so to speak back in that day where the king cried out What was he talking about? You know, he said that there's this writing on the wall if you can come in and interpret it You'll be the third ruler everybody comes in right because they want to be the third ruler in the kingdom No punishment if they get it wrong, but they're gonna get a reward So I believe that's why it's specific when it says all the king's wise men Okay, now realize this the one guy who doesn't care is Daniel He just kind of ignores it because he could care less about being the third ruler in the kingdom He's like, I really don't care. I hate this guy, right? I believe he believes Belshazzar is like a wicked reprobate You know, he doesn't like him at all. And so him he's like, I don't really care about getting rewards for some wicked person But all these false prophets they all come in because they want to be the king I think that's why the wording is specifically like that But they could not read the writing nor make known to the king the interpretation thereof Verse 9 then was King Belshazzar greatly troubled and his countenance was changed in him and his lords were Astani Now turn to Proverbs 31, you know, we'll continue next week and finish that story, you know I just wanted to focus on alcohol because that's the theme there in those first verses But there's nothing new under the Sun I mean religions do the same thing today mixing alcohol with their religious ceremonies And look alcohol will bring on the wrath of God Especially because alcohol will cause you to sin and cause you to do wrong and alcohol will bring on God's judgment Now I'll just close with you in Proverbs 31 and show you this passage and let me just say that Proverbs 31 is a very misunderstood passage Let me show you what it says here in verse 3 Proverbs 31 verse 3 Give not thy strength unto women nor that ways to that which destroy the Kings it is not for Kings o Lemuel It is not for Kings to drink wine nor for princes strong drinks So what you're seeing is and I believe this is Bathsheba talking to her son Solomon and what she's saying is you know what? You're too good to drink alcohol Because you're a king right? You're the ruler you are too good to drink alcohol It's not for you now Let me just say this that let's say something is a sin for me to do if it's a sin for me to do It's also a sin for you to do Right. I mean if it's a sin for me to drink alcohol. It's also a sin for you to drink alcohol Right if it's a sin for me to do something. It's a sin for you to do something It's not like there's different sets of laws for me versus you Obviously if you're the one preaching the sermons, it's very important that you're right with God and things like that But it's not like hey here are the laws that you have to follow but you know what? I'm a pastor so I have like different laws, right? You need to go soul winning but not me because I'm the one preaching right? It doesn't work that way the same rules I have are the same rules that you have right? And so if it's not for Solomon to drink alcohol, it's not for anybody to drink alcohol What she's saying is you're too good to drink alcohol. And look I would say the same thing We understand what the world does they drink they party they get drunk they commit these sins You know what as a Bible believing Christian you are too good to do that right verse number five What's the problem with drinking alcohol lest they drink and forget the law? So look when you're drinking alcohol, it's gonna make you forget the law and what is the primary law that's being used during that day This book so essentially the law of God is what you could say So look if you're drinking alcohol You're gonna forget what God's law states and it says and pervert the judgment of any of the afflicted now those verses are very clear People get confused on verses six and seven though. Okay, and sometimes when you're reading the Bible you have to understand sometimes there's Sarcasm sometimes there's mocking in the Bible and look this is hard for people sometimes to realize like for me I if you know me well enough I tell a lot of jokes, right? My philosophy is life is too serious to take it too seriously, right? I tell a lot of jokes Yeah, I know when to be serious, but I know when to joke I'm often very sarcastic in jokes and you know people often get it and other times it goes like straight over the head They have no idea It's like it was a joke, right? It's like all right. It's not funny anymore if I have to explain it, right? But that's what's going on here in verses six and seven because she's basically mocking alcohol in these verses It says here in verse six give strong drink unto him that is ready to perish perish means to die So if someone's about to die give them strong drink give them alcohol. Okay is what she's saying and Wine unto those that be of heavy hearts if somebody is depressed. Here's some alcohol Okay. Now look people use these verses and they say well if somebody is, you know, like really depressed Or you know, they're at the point of death It's okay for them to drink alcohol or whatever and I've heard people use this for pain medication and stuff like that Let me say this. I'm not a hundred percent against pain medication. I've used pain medication before in my life I don't think that really has anything to do with this passage but this It just has nothing to do though with talking about pain medication or talking about giving somebody drugs when they're going through a surgery Or anything like that has nothing to do with that It says give strong drink unto him that is ready to perish It would be like if I preach a sermon and I say hey You know what as a Bible believing Christian don't drink alcohol. Let the losers that are destroying their lives get drunk That's what she's saying. It's like it's not for you give strong drink unto those that are ready to perish Well, why are they ready to perish because they're drunks? Because they drink alcohol look drinking alcohol will destroy your body Okay, it will cut a lot of years off your life if you're a drunk okay, give strong drink unto him that is ready to perish and Wine unto those that be of heavy hearts. Hey, here's the secret if you're depressed get drunk. Does that make any sense? But here's the thing. Isn't that what the world does though? They're depressed Why because they drink and party and live for themselves and they get depressed as a result and what happens while they keep drinking It's like well go ahead and drink away your life Right Bible talks about the misery and sorrow associated with drinking alcohol Look drinking alcohol. It might give them a temporary happiness. That's gonna wear off and they're gonna be miserable Right if I was suggesting to someone how to be happy I'd say obey God's laws because if you know these things happier you if you do Walk in the Holy Spirit and you've got joy in your life not get drunk Okay, if you get depressed do not drink alcohol. Okay, that's not What's she saying? She's mocking it saying give alcohol to these people that are dying and depressed because of their alcohol Let him drink. So basically let him drink let those people drink and forget his poverty and remember his misery no more Well, why are they poor? Why do they have poverty because they drink alcohol Look, if you're a drunk, you're not gonna be a good employee You're gonna waste all of your money Right. Like I'm always amazed we go soul winning everywhere Sometimes you go so any in areas that are not the highest income areas very poor areas and you see people That don't have a whole lot But they drink and smoke all the time All their money is spent on alcohol It's like look if you have little you would think man. I need to save that up for something important for groceries and Yet they find money to buy alcohol and so what are they doing? They're just trying to basically wash away their sorrows every single day Right. Look obviously not all people do that But I'm saying a lot you do see a lot of those people that do that. They gamble away their money They smoke and they drink and it's like what are you doing? Look as a Bible believing Christian. You are too good to do that You're above that That's what the Bible saying. That's what she's saying to her son son. I understand out there people get drunk They're poor and miserable because of their alcohol not you You say well, that's because he's the king but the Bible says that when you get saved you become kings and priests unto God So in a spiritual sense, then this would still apply even if you want to just be stubborn about this. Okay, it's very obvious What's being talked about in Proverbs 31? Let him drink let them drink and forget his poverty and remember his misery no more Let him just drink away their lives and do whatever they want Look I preach sermons on things all the time and I sometimes say things like hey, you know What let the world do whatever they want to do? But as for you don't listen to the rock music like they do Right. Does that mean I'm saying it's okay for them to listen to rock music No, I'm saying I'm not preaching to them. I'm not talking to them I'm talking to people that want to follow what God says and She's talking to her son and saying hey, you know what they can do whatever they want We have no power over them. But for you don't drink alcohol, right? That's what she's saying. So basically she's mocking alcohol in verses six and seven. She's not saying Hey, if somebody's about to die just give him some alcohol to wear away the pain right now once again This is nothing to do with pain medication. It's not what I'm talking about, but she's basically just mocking alcohol Look alcohol will destroy your life and look here's the thing. You know what when it comes to the world They don't understand what I'm preaching and talking about People in the world a lot of them don't even realize that drinking alcohol is wrong They might think it's wrong to get drunk and feel bad about that, but they don't think it's really wrong to drink a beer But you know what the Bible says you say brother Stuckey. I don't know what the Bible says Well, if you were paying attention to this sermon You now do Now you are without excuse Maybe before you thought it was okay to drink, but what does the Bible say about that, right? I mean it brings on the wrath of God You know what the Bible says and here's the thing if you are aware of what God says about something God expects you to follow it Now look if you sin due to ignorance, it's still a sin, but it's a sin of ignorance it's worse when you specifically know something and Yet you do it. Anyway, you make a willing free will choice to sin Look, I hope that people at our church don't drink alcohol. You know, I'm not I'm not ignorant though a church this size I'm sure there's people that drink from time to time. You know what? It's gonna destroy your life It's gonna make you miserable According to the Bible it's gonna make you poor It's going to destroy your health as a Bible believing Christian. You are too good to drink alcohol Let's close in a word of prayer dear Heavenly Father Thank you for allowing us to be here in your house and ask you to help us apply the sermon our lives and you know I hope that that people in this room are not drinking alcohol God But if so help them to get that sin out of their lives But even if that's not a sin we struggle with God help us maybe to think about other sins that we do struggle with that Might bring upon your wrath and help us to get those out of our lives God. We just pray these things in Jesus name. Amen You You You You You You You You You You