Weighed And Found Wanting

DAN. 5:25-28 “WEIGHED AND FOUND WANTING”

A) This is a solemn, serious message to come from God to anyone!

* Suppose tonight upon the wall of your bedroom, the finger of God inscribed these same words

of death, doom and judgment ... Are you prepared? * If God said .......

* “Tonight your days are past on earth ... Tonight you must die.” * Are you ready to die?

* “Oh, you don’t scare me Preacher ... I don’t think folks ought to be scared into religion.”

* I’m not surprised ... Maybe you can’t be scared ... Some folks don’t have enough sense to get

scared! * Psa. 111:10 and Prov.9:10 says, “The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom.”

B) A man who does not fear God is not wise!

* Anyone with ordinary, common horse sense, who thinks about God and judgment and eternity

and his sins will become disturbed if he is not prepared for it!

* Fear may not be the highest motive for coming to Christ, but it’s a good sensible motive!

* Heb. 11:7 “By faith Noah, being warned of God of things not seen as yet, moved with fear,

prepared an ark to the saving of his house; by the which he condemned the world, and became

heir of the righteousness which is by faith.”

* It’s better to get scared now and repent than to face God at the judgment in your sins!

* Heb. 10:31 “It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God.”

C) If this would come to pass today, and you died, the first thing I want to ask is this .......

* What would you weigh? * Notice this ... Belshazzar wasn’t weighed in the balances of his

reputation ... He wasn’t weighed in the balances of his friends .......

* He wasn’t even weighed in the balances of the gods of Babylon .......

* He was weighed in the balances of God ... The just, righteous God of heaven .......

* And he wasn’t big enough to balance the scales!

D) Now, let me give you some idea of a scale! * Two suspended pans on opposite ends of a bar.

* In one pan you place a weight ... In the other you place that which is being weighed.

* When the two are equal, the bar is perfectly level ... It is balanced!

* If either is heavier than the other, then one is found wanting!

* If we could reach up to heaven and pull down a set of God’s balances, I’d like for you to step up

on one side of the scales!

E) “Well, Preacher, I do the best I can, I’m about as good as the next fellow, I’d weigh out right

well, I think!” * Wonderful, you’re just the one I’m looking for!

* You’ll need to be good, because these balances are accurate, they never lie for anybody!

* There’s no mercy with balances! * That’s why when you see a statue of justice, she is always

holding a pair of balances in her hands! * Balances are a symbol of justice!

* “All I ask is that I be treated right ... Just give me what I deserve.”

* Don’t say that ... What you need is mercy ... If God gives you what you deserve, it’ll be in the

lake of fire ... Cry out for mercy ... You need it ... But balances give justice!

F) So you climb into your place in the balances! * What shall we put on the other side?

* Well, what does God weigh a man by? * His own perfect standard of holiness, righteousness

and perfection! * If you balance the scales, you’ll have to be just as good as God .......

* You’ll have to be just as holy as God and just as righteous as God!

* There can be no flaws, no sins, no mistakes, no weaknesses!

* You must be equal with God in perfection!

G) A good summary of God’s required standard is His law ... The law is perfect!

* It is an expression of God’s very nature! * But we don’t have time to deal with all the law, so

we’ll just use the 10 commandments! * In a nutshell, they are the basic laws!

* So in the balances go the 10 commandments!

* “Oh, I live by them,” you say, “I follow those faithfully.”

* Good! Then this weighing ought not upset you ... So hang on ....... * Exo. 20:1-17

(1) THOU SHALT HAVE NO OTHER GODS BEFORE ME! * Jesus puts it this way .......

* Matt. 22:37-38 “Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and