If you have your Bible, please turn with me in the Old Testament to the book of Daniel, Daniel chapter 5. There are just some thoughts I'd like us to give consideration to this morning in the house of God, Daniel chapter 5. It's a fascinating portion of scripture. There's much in it that we can learn from. It is, of course, a historical record. This is fact that is presented before you. Don't forget that. It's not just a story. It's not just a fable. We are coming now to the word of God. It is historical fact. It is scriptural truth. And we look to the Lord that he would bless it to our souls even this day. Daniel chapter five and the verse one. Belshazzar the king made a great feast to a thousand of his lords and drank wine before the thousand. Belshazzar, whilst 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. Now, as we give consideration to that word that is before us, Belshazzar's having a feast. He's a great king. He's a mighty ruler in the land. He's called together all his great and noble men. And I would say at this stage, they have been on the wine. They are drunken. They are debauched before God. And his sin goes yet further. He calls for the vessels that were taken from Jerusalem to be brought. These vessels were sanctified. That is, they were set aside for the use and purpose of Almighty God. And here he seeks to fill them again with wine, that he might use them for his own sinful desire and pleasure. And this is a sin that ranks up to heaven, to the very nostrils of God. says that they brought the golden vessels that were taken out of the temple of the house of God, which was at Jerusalem, and the king and his princes and his wives and his concubines drank in them. They drank wine and praised the gods of gold and of silver, of brass, of iron, and wood, and of stone. And 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, and the king's countenance was changed, and his thoughts troubled him. You will note that there had been no interpretation given here yet as to what was written on the wall, but yet right away his conscience is pricked. He knows he is in the wrong. And how many there are today who sit under the word of God and are convicted of their sin. And his thoughts troubled him. So that the joints of his loins were loosed and his knees smote the one against another, the king cried aloud to bring in the astrologers, the Chaldeans, and the soothsayers. And the king spake and said to the wise men of Babylon, whoever will read this writing and show me the interpretation thereof shall be closed with scarlet 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 changed in him, and his lords were astonished, that is to say, they were astonished, they were struck dumb, they had no words to say. And then we're introduced now to the queen. Now the queen, by reason of the words of the king, had the lords came out into the banquet house, and the king spake and said, O king, live forever. Let not thy thoughts trouble thee, nor let thy countenance be changed. There is a man in thy kingdom. And here we are introduced to God's servant, Daniel. If you jump on down the chapter there to verse 17, The king has been told that Daniel can give the interpretation. He's been told that he was the one who gave the interpretation and guidance to Nebuchadnezzar in days gone past. He was the one that was brought out of the fiery furnace. And in verse 17 we read, and Daniel answered and said before the king, let thy gifts be to thyself and give thy rewards to another. Yet will I read the writing unto the king. and make known unto him the interpretation. Daniel here is brought in to the chamber. Daniel here is brought in before the king. And as he looks and sees the writing, Daniel knows full well its interpretation. In this portion of scripture, Daniel seems to have been unknown to Belshazzar. But he was known to his father Nebuchadnezzar. And when we say father, it's really the word ancestor, I think, Belshazzar was a grandson of the former king. But Daniel somehow had been cast off or was left aside from the king's palaces. And while he may have been forgotten about by the king, he was not forgotten about by God. God was still using his servant. God was speaking to him. God was leading and guiding him. And here Daniel comes at the very time of God's choosing. and is set now before the king. And he has a message to interpret and to give to the king, a message from God written on a wall. But before Daniel does that, he preaches a message to the king that should have pricked his very heart. Daniel here, in verse 18, begins with the words, O thou king, The most high God gave Nebuchadnezzar thy father a kingdom, and majesty, and glory, and honor. And for the majesty that he gave him, all people, nations, and languages trembled and feared before him. Whom he would, he slew. Whom he would, he kept alive. And whom he would, he set up. And whom he would, he put down. But when his heart was lifted up, and his mind hardened in pride, he was deposed from his kingly throne, and they took his glory from him. And he was driven from the sons of men, and his heart was made like the beasts, and his dwelling was with the wild asses. He fed him with grass like oxen, and his body was wet with the dew of heaven, till he knew that the Most High God ruled in the kingdom of men, and that he appointeth over it whomsoever he will. And thou, his son Belshazzar, hast not humbled thine heart, though thou knewest all this. but has lifted up thyself against the Lord of heaven, and they have brought the vessels of his house before thee, and thou and thy lords, thy wives, and thy concubines have drunk wine in them. And thou hast 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 thy breath is. And whose are all thy ways hast thou not glorified? Then was the part of the hand sent from him, and this writing was written. And this is the writing that was written. Mine, mine, tekel ufarsin. This is the interpretation of the thing mene. God hath numbered thy kingdom and finished it. Tekel thou art weighed in the balances and found wanting. Perez, Perez is the singular form of the word euphorsin. Thy kingdom is divided and given to the Medes and Persians. Then commanded Belshazzar, and they clothed Daniel with scarlet, and put a chain about his neck, and made a proclamation concerning him, that he should be the third ruler in the kingdom. In that night was Belshazzar the king of the Chaldeans slain, and Darius the Median took the kingdom, being about threescore years, threescore and two years old. Amen, and may the Lord bless the public reading of his word to our hearts. We'll look to the Lord in prayer and seek his blessing. Our gracious God and our loving Father in heaven, we thank thee for the word that is before us. O God, we pray thou wouldst take of it now, that thou wouldst bless it to each and every hearer, that thy word would accomplish that whereunto thou hast sent it, for it's for thy glory And in thy name we pray. Amen. Amen. We have been reading for us the account of the fall of the kingdom of Babylon. This feast was going on at a time when the city itself was under siege. It had been surrounded by the Medes and the Persians. But the king so strong in his own belief, so haught up with the likeness of his own strength, the thickness of his own walls, the depth of his own moat, that he calls for a feast. It is said by historians that the city had at least two years worth of food built up in it. So here they were in the city that was under siege, yet without concern. And you know, in a very spiritual sense, there are those sitting here under the sound of my voice, and you have not a concern for your soul. You have not a concern as to how you will one day stand before God. You do not trust in a thick wall. You do not trust in a deep moat. But you trust in your own self-righteousness. You trust in your own good works. You trust in your free Presbyterianism. You trust in your attendance at the house of God. Do you think that one day you can stand before the King of kings and bring him your good deeds to warrant entrance into the kingdom of heaven? No. You will stand before God on that day as King Belshazzar stood this night, weighed in the balances of God and found wanting. Belshazzar had his feast. He had those round about him. All was well and good in his life. Then God intervenes with a word that came with particular power to the soul and life of Belshazzar. And we read that bit that his thoughts troubled him. As soon as the word came, as soon as the hand appeared and the writing was put on the wall, Belshazzar knew it was not well with him. The thickness of the walls were irrelevant. The depth of the moat mattered not. The city itself was actually taken without a battle. Historians tell us that the Medes and the Persians simply diverted the river Euphrates further up into marshland, and when the river level subsided, they were able to walk into the city and take it without a fight. this man trusted in his own vanity, and it failed him. And we're told that when the message was brought and the trouble was on his countenance, there was one who knew of a man that could give the interpretation. And you know, in your life, I do not doubt that you know of at least one Christian perhaps one family member, one loved one, who has for you shared with you the gospel over the years and has been faithful to your soul with regard to the things of God. And you today stand before God in your need. You stand before God condemned already in your unbelief. And yet today, in the providence of God, you're here in the house of the Lord, under the sound of the word of God. And I say to you, there is one. There is one who can bring comfort to your soul. There is one who can give rest and ease to your mind. And it is not the one called Daniel. but it is the one who Daniel believed in. It is the one who Daniel looked to who would come forth. It is the man, Christ Jesus. It is him I set before you today. Oh, that you would realize those good deeds that you do, that self-righteousness that you have. Oh, that you would realize the great weight of your sin. Oh, that today you might see that your sin will drag you down to the very depths of hell. The feast went on. The message was given. Daniel comes. He speaks to the king. He tells him of his grandfather, how that he was great in the land, but yet God's hand came upon him also. but yet he was delivered by repentance and faith. He turned to the Lord. He found mercy. He found grace. The opportunity was again given to Belshazzar. He was given space to repent, yet he repented not. And as we read there in verse 26, this is the interpretation of the thing, God hath numbered thy kingdom and finished it. And though that we might apply that lesson to our lives, that we might realize that whatever our age today, our days are numbered. It doesn't matter how young or how old you are in the meeting today, whether you're listening in on sermon audio, Whether you're listening again to a recording, perhaps, of this at a later date, your age is irrelevant. The days of your life are numbered and set. And oh, the command to you today is to repent. Today, if you will hear my voice, harden not your hearts. Oh, that today you might turn and come to the King, the King of kings, the King of glory, the King of love, my shepherd is. Oh, that today you might hear the grace of the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ. Our days are numbered. Tekel, thou art weighed in the balances and found wanting. You know, we could take this text And we could certainly apply it to those who are without Christ. You are weighed in the holy and just balance of God, and you are found wanting. And no matter what good deed you put against your sin, no matter what church office you hold, it does not count with God if you are not right with Christ. Oh, for the scales of divine justice to be set right, you cannot do that just with mere religion. You need to receive Christ into your heart and into your soul. You need to repent of your sin. You need to turn from your sin. You need to forsake your sin. We do not believe a gospel today of easy believism. We do not believe today you can be saved just by saying you put your hand up in a meeting, you decided for Jesus. There has to be the grace of God into your life. The Bible says you must be born again. There has to be that new nature, that birth from above. Salvation of God is a gift. It is offered to you freely. But know this, there will come a day when you will be judged. How you have heard, how you have received, how you have acted at the presentation of the gospel, thou art weighed in the balances and found wanting. That text itself is terrifying. That text applies to the New Testament church. That text applies to every free Presbyterian church. That text applies to every committee man, every elder, every preacher, every minister. We are weighed in the balances and found wanting. I am a deacon in this church. We have elders here. We are charged to be men full of faith and of the Holy Ghost. That's not an option. It's not an extra. It's a command. It must be. And yet, we live in a body that's challenged and wrecked with sin. We have the allure of the world crying against us. We have our own flesh crying against us. We have the devil out to destroy us. Yet we have one in the glory today, greater than all. Whom the Son of Man shall set free is free indeed. How can we live the Christian life? You're sitting in the meeting today without Christ, thinking you could never be a Christian because you could never keep it. It's not yours to keep. It's yours to receive. It is the giver who keeps and sustains. I thank God today that his grace is sufficient, even unto this hour. And as her brother commented, I don't know, I wouldn't say it's always the case. You could ask my wife, but I'm not always smiling. But I can tell you today, I have a smile in my heart that the Lord Jesus Christ gave to me at the age of 18, and it has never, never left me. The joy of the Lord is my strength. There is joy in sins forgiven. The king was trembling that night before the word, because he knew of his sin. And friends, I can stand before you today, and I know of my sin. I hear the accuser roar of ills that I have done. I know them well, and thousands more. Yet thou, Jehovah, findeth none." You can have peace with God today, even in the midst of life's raging storm. Oh, that you would only set your heart right before God, that you would only heed his call to come in repentance and faith, that you would kneel at the foot of the rugged cross, that you would plead the cleansing that's found in Christ. And brethren, for those of us who know and love the Lord. Let us give ourselves afresh to the work of God. Let us again look to this text and consider again that we will one day give account of ourselves before God for our own stewardship. How good a husband are we? How good a father are we? How good a member of this church are we? How good a Christian are we? We will be weighed in the balances, thankfully not for our sins. For our sins, which were many, are all washed away, cast into the sea of God's forgetfulness, never to be remembered against us again. But oh, we must live in this day with great solemnity. It was a great encouragement to my heart the other night. We connected up in the youth fellowship with her brother Armin over in Canada. And I can say he's the same fellow that left here. The joy of God is in his heart. The zeal of the Lord is in his soul. And one thing he said, Armand just has his own way, you'll know that. But he said, we just need to quit wasting time. We need to just get before God. Spend time in the word. This is our reality. I know the pressures of life. I know the time constraints that we're all under in this day and age, but yet we must make time for the Word of God. We must make time for personal religion in our lives and in our souls. We must make time because time is running out. Verse 28, Perez, thy kingdom is divided and given to the Medes and Persians. There is coming a judgment day. There is coming a day of division, a day of separation. There will be those who will be on the left hand and those who will be on the right. And as I look upon this congregation, I cannot know which way you will be numbered. but you stand before God today and before the word, and you know the writing on the wall. Thou art weighed in the balances and art found wanting. Oh, if you're in this meeting without Christ, you are found wanting. Oh, if you're in this meeting without your sins forgiven, you will be found wanting on that day. Come to him today. come to him and know the joy of sins forgiven. Thou art weighed in the balances and found wanting. I close with a phrase from Psalm 90 in the verse 12. The Bible says, so teach us to number our days that we may apply our hearts unto wisdom. You know, the devil does not care that we go to church, that we read our Bible, as long as we do not apply it to our lives. We need to get real before God, brethren. We need to live the life that Christ would have us to live, lest we be weighed in the balances and found wanting. So teach us to number our days, that we may apply our hearts unto wisdom.