The Pickens sentinel. (Pickens, S.C.) 1911-2016, 1922-07-13

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thinS. whether IL be good, or whether It
be evil.-Eccl. l2l4
REFERENCE MATEIeIAI-Gen. 1911
~: ESod. H:2l-3l: Ezek. 3l:l-14; Acts IL:
PRIMARY TopIC-Daniel Tells the
klns of His Wrong Doing.
JUNIOR TOPlC-Belshazzar's Feast
and Fate.
INTERMEDIATE, AND SENIOR TOPIC
Judgment Against King Alcohol.
| YOUNG PEOPLE AND ADULT TOPIC
| How to Enforce the Judgment Against
Strong Drink
!. Belshazzar's Impious Feast wv.
1-4).
l. Who attended wv. I, p. Bel
shazzar, his wife und concubincs and
Il thousand of his lords.
9 Behavior thercnt {vv. 3. ~.
Cd They drank wine; they engaged
in revelry. (2) They committed sue
rilcge. In their drunken revelr: they
drank wine out OF the sacred vessels
which had been taken out of the
temple, of the house of God, which
was at Jerusalem. When men are un-
der the influence of Intoxicating
liquors they lose Ill regard for sacred
things. CD They worshped idols.
They prayed to gods of gold and of sill
YER of brass, of iron, wood anG stone
II. The Handwriting on the Wall
wv. 5-1G).
l. The time Of ". 81. 1t occurred
in the same hour In which they were
engaged In their drunken revelry.
2. The effect upon the king (v. 81.
He was greatly disturbed; he was
seized with CONSERVATION. 1.-The joints
of his loins were loosed. and his knees
smote one against another"
3. The kings behavior wv. 7-1G).
G He called forth astrologers ard
soothsayers. offering rewards of gold
and position ". 7-9). Their utter In
ability to interpret the writing left
the king even worse perpleXed.
(2) Daniel brought ut the suggestion
of the queen wv 1O-16). The queen
here was perhaps the wife of Nebu-
chadnczznr who remembered Daniels
service in interpreting his dream For
that reason he was sent for and prom
iSed great reward.
III. Daniel interprets the WRITING
wv. 1929.
l. Daniels address to the king wv.
1920. He brushes aside his prom.
ised gifts (v. ~. He would not have
his speech limited by the kings gifts.
2. The Interpretation of the writing
wv. 25-2S). % Meme" means mum
hered" ". 26) God hath numbered
thy Kingdom and finished It," (2) "Te-
kel' means weighed" ". 27). "Thou
art weighed in the balances. and art
found wanting" (3) "Peres" means
"divided" {v. 2@. "Thy kingdom is
divided, and given to the Medes and
Persians"
". The Judgment Executed wv.
20-3).
In that night was Belshazzar slain
and Darius the Medean took the king
dom.
The Chaldean dynasty ended with
Belshazzar. SO we may interpret this
whole scene as pointing to the con-
ditions at the close of the times of
the Gcntics and as adumbrating the
prevailing conditions. Let us note:
l. The stupidity Of men. They, like
people today. would not learn by eX-
ample. Ncbucladne eZzar's fate should
have deferred Beshnzzar from such
frivolity.
.. The magnificent splcndor. This
| great feast was characterized by
pomp. display, parade. How churac-
teristc of this age!
3. Luxury. The famous hanging
gardens Of Babylon were n notewor-
thy example. Signs of luxury TODAY
are on every hand.
| 4. LicentiousnesS. The king with his
wives and concubines. This is noto.
riously prevalent today.
| S. Blasphemous sacrnege And may
not the sacrilegc of today be in ex-
cess OF theirs, expressing itself in G)
Il profession Of religion for pccunury
gain, social and political prefermcnt
CD use of the pulpit and of the min
istry for display and notoricty, even
Tor the propagation of false doctrine
CD uniting with the church, attend
| ing the communion. SO as to cover up
secret sins; (D the use of the Word
of God to give point to Il joke; 90 de
nying that the Bible is GODS Word,
making 1t book of errors, myths and
legends; Co sneerng at the Virgin
birth, repudiating Cllrist's deity and
setting aside His vicarious atonemcnt.
q. Drunken carousnls. The hand
writing is on the wall. God will not
endure this forever; His Judgment
shall fall. Conditions in the world
indicate that the time Is drawing
near. Are you ready?
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