10 Mar How’s Your Holy Vessel?
Daniel 5:13-23 – Then Daniel was brought in before the king. The king answered and said to Daniel, “… I have heard of you that the spirit of the gods is in you, and that light and understanding and excellent wisdom are found in you…But I have heard that you can give interpretations and solve problems. Now if you can read the writing and make known to me its interpretation, you shall be clothed with purple and have a chain of gold around your neck and shall be the third ruler in the kingdom.” Then Daniel answered and said before the king, “Let your gifts be for yourself, and give your rewards to another. Nevertheless, I will read the writing to the king and make known to him the interpretation. O king, the Most High God gave Nebuchadnezzar your father kingship and greatness and glory and majesty. And because of the greatness that he gave him, all peoples, nations, and languages trembled and feared before him….But when his heart was lifted up and his spirit was hardened so that he dealt proudly, he was brought down from his kingly throne, and his glory was taken from him. He was driven from among the children of mankind, and his mind was made like that of a beast, and his dwelling was with the wild donkeys. He was fed grass like an ox, and his body was wet with the dew of heaven, until he knew that the Most High God rules the kingdom of mankind and sets over it whom he will. And you his son, Belshazzar, have not humbled your heart, though you knew all this, but you have lifted up yourself against the Lord of heaven. And the vessels of his house have been brought in before you, and you and your lords, your wives, and your concubines have drunk wine from them. And you have praised the gods of silver and gold, of bronze, iron, wood, and stone, which do not see or hear or know, but the God in whose hand is your breath, and whose are all your ways, you have not honored.
5 Good Lessons We Learn from Daniel
- Don’t get caught up in power, praise, possessions, or pleasure as it passes quickly. Daniel got a Rick Ross hip-hop Halloween costume and job promotion that lasted only a few minutes before God toppled the nation.
- Conquer fear of man with fear of God. Because Daniel feared God, he could look the most powerful king on earth in the eye and basically take the young buck to the woodshed for a master class in humility from good old Daniel.
- Because he knelt before God, he could stand before kings. We all bend our knee to someone or something. Earlier in the book, some 300,000 people bowed to their political ruler. Conversely, Daniel stood before kings and would only kneel and bow before the King of Kings.
- Don’t write or edit the mail, just delivers the mail. God had some brutal reality to reveal through Daniel. Daniel could have added his list of complaints that included being a castrated prisoner of war held as a slave, but he did not. He said what God said to say and nothing more.
- If the issue is between someone and God, stay out of the middle. Daniel knows the issue is between the king and God, so he makes that point clear and lets God do the rest.
4 Bad Lessons We Learn from Belshazzar
- Unless God is not your Father, it’s always like father like son. Here we see the third generation of egomaniac, selfish, ungodly men, which is why God has simply had enough.
- Pride is a problem. The root issue of any matter is always the heart. God sees a proud heart and, for Him, it is a problem.
- If you don’t worship the Creator, you wind up worshiping the created. Sex, money, fame, power, pleasure, and comfort have been popular from Babylon to Baltimore.
- Don’t misuse God’s holy vessels. The reason God takes down the entire nation of Babylon in a day is because they used and abused his holy golden vessels made of silver and gold. Now, consider 2 Timothy 2:20-21: “In a great house there are not only vessels of gold and silver but also of wood and clay, some for honorable use, some for dishonorable. Therefore, if anyone cleanses himself from what is dishonorable, he will be a vessel for honorable use, set apart as holy, useful to the master of the house, ready for every good work.” Your body is supposed to be a holy vessel dedicated to purity to carry the Holy Spirit of God.
How are you doing at maintaining your body as a holy vessel, especially with things such as sex, food, and drink?
In addition to this introduction to and overview of Daniel, you can find the corresponding sermons, daily devotions, men’s ministry resources, and hundreds of additional sermons and Bible teaching resources for free at markdriscoll.org or on the Mark Driscoll Ministries app.
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