WEIGHED

Martin Brown

Daniel 5:1, 4-6, 17, 22-28

Luke 4:16-22

John 20:30-31

2 Corinthians 3:2-3

We have read in Daniel about a man called Belshazzar, who was king of the Babylonish empire. His father Nebuchadnezzar became a believer. He had been converted, testifying to the Most High God (chap 4: 34), having been proved to be so by delivering Daniel's friends from the fire.

Belshazzar knew all this; he knew all of it. He was brought up, as we are and know today, perhaps in a believing environment, perhaps where the God of grace and the God of glory is spoken about in many ways. Daniel says that to him in verse 22, “although thou knewest all this”. But Belshazzar did not know God. He lifted up his heart in pride. It is what marks the world in which we live today, lifting its heart up in pride against God; but the gospel of grace continues today as it has done over the course of many years so that persons may repent and receive remission of sins and the gift of the Holy Spirit. The gospel continues to this day so that you might be saved. You have been brought up, perhaps, in a Christian household and come to many gospel preachings, and it might be said of you, 'You know all this'. But perhaps, dear friend, you are still turning your heart away from the grace which is being presented to you in the glad tidings.

It is a matter of the utmost urgency that you respond, and not only listen and hear the glad tidings, but that you let it down deep into your heart; and that you repent and believe: believe what God is saying. Belshazzar found no room for repentance. He found no word; he had no room for the testimony of his father. He found no room except for pride, celebration, the tasting of wine and making great pomp and glory of himself. And yet in the same hour, when the fingers of a man's hand came forth, his countenance was changed. He recognised that there was something above himself. He was making himself the number one in his life, and yet when this matter happened he realised that there was something above himself.

And God as the Creator of the universe is speaking to mankind. Indeed it says in the epistle to the Romans that even creation itself will render men inexcusable, chap 1: 20. Our young brother preached in the open air tonight, and some young men walking past, hearing the name of Jesus, put their fingers in their ears; how sorrowful that is. Even creation itself will render men inexcusable. If not the gospel of glory and the gospel of grace, creation itself will render persons inexcusable. And I cannot overstate how important it is that you have heard the gospel so many times; you know all this. Have you let the gospel in? Have you let the gospel in?

If at the day of judgment you are not found written in the Lamb's book of life you will be rendered inexcusable. It tells us in Revelation 20 that books were opened, v 12. God is not condemning anyone now, and I will come on to that, but in that day books will be opened and testimony will be given.  And, dear friend, if you have not been convicted of your sins today and repented towards God you will be fully convicted in that day. Your mouth will be stopped, no more excuses will be given, and you will have nothing to say. Why? Because the mass of evidence given against you will be so great and so ordered that no one in that day will have anything to say. God will be declared righteous in all of His judgments and those who have rejected the gospel, even those who knew all of this, will be condemned finally to the lake of fire – a place “prepared for the devil and his angels” (Matt 25: 41); it does not say it was prepared for man. This is to the end of this man's course.

Daniel was brought in to bring the interpretation of the writing. And he says, “This is the interpretation of the thing: MENE, God hath numbered thy kingdom, and finished it”. God has taken up another Man, who will soon take up the reins of government and govern in excellence and righteousness. He has finished the kingdoms of this world. But Daniel goes on to say, “Thou art weighed in the balances, and art found wanting”. It tells us in the scripture, “all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God”, Rom 3: 23. That does not just apply to this man Belshazzar; it does not just apply to the great sinners of this world; it does not just apply to Paul who had put many men to death, it applies to me. I have been weighed in the balances and found wanting; but thanks be to God that my trust is not in myself but in Another. In Another; is yours? Where is your trust, where is your hope, where is your salvation? We have all been weighed in the balances and found wanting.

If you are not someone who has believed in the Lord Jesus Christ, dear friend, you are weighed in the balances and found wanting. The gospel goes forth so that you might receive God's free gift of salvation and be blessed in Jesus Christ. These balances of old were used to weigh things. They had scales on either side with weights on one side and the thing to be measured on the other side. And to apply it morally, all of my sins have been placed on one side and the righteousness of God placed on the other; and I have been found wanting. It is an amazing thing that man in God's great creation has the ability to sin and yet no power to atone for it. I have got no power to balance the scales. What is to be done?

We come to Luke's gospel and here we find a Man called Jesus. Here He was, coming into His own creation, coming into Nazareth where He was brought up, “and he entered, according to his custom, into the synagogue on the sabbath day, and stood up to read. And the book of the prophet Esaias was given to him; and having unrolled the book he found the place”. “He found the place”: what grace. He was given the book of Esaias, and He could have selected any portion of scripture, and yet in His grace He found the place where it was written: “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to preach glad tidings to the poor”. This was the Saviour of the world come into His own creation in order to draw near to man; and in every single gospel preaching He is drawing near to you. You know this! You know this! You have heard it. Has it affected your heart? You have heard of Jesus, the Saviour of the world, how He was laid into a manger. We sang of that -

Once on earth in Bethlehem's manger, As a holy Babe, He lay.

Who was He?

God come down, a heav'nly Stranger,

Love to sinners to display.  (Hymn 112)

And here He was in the synagogue at Nazareth reading from an evangelical Old Testament scripture, pleading with these people to receive the gospel, pleading with them to believe in the glad tidings of grace. And the preacher tonight, dear friend, pleads with you. Why? Because the day is short. Your never-dying soul is of the utmost preciousness to God and the time is short. We are told in the scripture, “now is the well-accepted time; behold, now the day of salvation”, 2 Cor 6: 2. That is today. We cannot promise another day, but we can give today. And God pleads with you that you might turn to Jesus and ask Him to save you from your sins.

You think of the fingers of a man's hand in the previous scripture in which we read, and you think of the detail; the fingers always speak of the detail of things, the intricacy. And here we have Jesus; think of the book being given into the hands of the Saviour, the Son of God, and Him finding in that book the place where it was written: “he has anointed me to preach glad tidings to the poor; he has sent me to preach to captives deliverance, and to the blind sight, to send forth the crushed delivered”. This was One who had come and was approaching those who had been weighed in the balances and found wanting. The only way of salvation – here He was. He says, “To-day this scripture is fulfilled in your ears. And all bore witness to him, and wondered at the words of grace which were coming out of his mouth”. Why could He say, “To-day this scripture is fulfilled in your ears”? Because here He was, Jesus, the manifestation of the grace of God, bringing everything into the world that God was: the love of God, the righteousness of God, the holiness of God. We read of Him testified to in the scriptures that He was “holy, harmless, undefiled, separated from sinners”, Heb 7: 26. And yet we find Him constantly, constantly, coming near to sinners. He healed lepers; He touched the ears of those who were deaf; He touched the tongue of one who was dumb. He was constantly drawing near to those who needed Him, who were in pain, who were in conflict, who were in pressure.

What about you? Because even today He has not changed. His love and his compassion remain the same, and He is pleading with you again tonight. Why? Because you know all this. I know every single person in this room has been to many, many gospel preachings; you know everything that I am saying. Have you accepted it into your heart? Has it made a difference to you? You have heard it in your ears. Paul had heard the gospel, and there was something in his heart that was pricking it, causing him an uncomfortable feeling, and yet there was one time when the Lord had to do with him and his heart was opened. His heart was opened and he accepted the message of grace. What about you?

So, dear friend, we read of Jesus in John's gospel, and it says there that there were many other things which Jesus did. You see this world has developed and grown and many would look at it as improved. For the Christian, it is darkening and worsening, going the other way. But the advances of science would seek to give people many options . But this scripture here in John's gospel simply says, “Many other signs therefore also Jesus did before his disciples, which are not written in this book; but these are written that ye may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that believing ye might have life in his name.

Jesus wants you to have life; God wants you to have life. It is a matter of life, not only that we might live here in this world morally and spiritually, but eternally, for we have to do with eternal realities. It says here that there were many other signs that Jesus did, and we have read of Him at the beginning of His testimonial public life; reading and having words of grace coming out of His mouth. But there was another thing that Jesus did. He did not just go about doing good and undoing the works of the devil, but He laid down His life; He died for sinners like me. I was weighed by God and I was found wanting, Jesus bore the judgment that was due to me. When there is a weighing and someone is found wanting, that person deserves judgment. There was a man on the cross beside Jesus and he recognised that he had been weighed. He said, “we receive the just recompense of what we have done”, Luke 23: 41. He realised that he had been found wanting, but he pointed to Jesus and in public testimony to this other malefactor on the other side of Jesus he said, 'Look at this Man'; this Man who is dying on this cross has done nothing amiss. And he said to the Lord, “Remember me, Lord, when thou comest in thy kingdom”, v 42. He was a man who recognised that he was a sinner. He recognised that he needed a Saviour, and he asked the Lord to save him. Repenting in his heart, he testified and confessed that the One who was hanging on the tree was a Just One. And God tonight, my friend, is a Justifier of those who believe in Jesus: believe in Jesus.

Would you like to know that? To be justified, and have all your sins removed because of the death and blood-shedding of Jesus. God is happy to offer salvation and forgiveness of sins. Why? Because Jesus has borne that judgment. God is not now imputing trespasses and sins. As you trust in Jesus God is not now weighing you and finding you wanting and judging you and condemning you. Romans tells us, “There is then now no condemnation to those in Christ Jesus”, 8: 1. How blessed! What freedom and liberty there is for those who believe the glad tidings now. That was one of the things that Jesus did. You might say the most magnificent thing that He did was that He died for us on the tree; He died for us on the tree. He satisfied God in so doing, and the evidence to that is that when He was buried after three days He was raised from the grave, raised “by the glory of the Father”, Rom 6: 4. What a wonderful thing that is. For if Christ has been raised from the dead, God is satisfied with Jesus and my sins are all dealt with. They are gone; they are put away forever; how wonderful!

Later, He ascended and He is now in heaven.  The impact of the fact that Jesus is raised from amongst the dead is a glorious one; what it means to the heart of the believer! It says that Jesus is the Christ: “that ye may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that believing ye might have life in his name”. Do you know that life? Do you know this life that we are talking about? Do you know it for yourself? Do you know all these things? Do you know the life that would speak to your heart that you have let Christ in? Repent towards God and believe in the Lord Jesus Christ and you will be saved, and you will have this life.

I have read in 2 Corinthians 3 because it speaks there of “the Spirit of the living God”. The Spirit of the living God has come that we might have life in Christ's name. You might ask how that is possible. Well, you believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and your sins are forgiven, washed away. You have an eternal redemption; God will never have to raise your sins with you at all. You are not now weighed in the balances and found wanting, because Jesus has borne that judgment on your behalf. But how is this life to be known? It is through the Spirit of the living God. You see, your heart has been affected; I spoke to you about that. The gospel is received through the ears, through the report, and it goes down into the heart in faith, and your heart becomes impressionable. And the Spirit of the living God can write upon it. He can write upon it things of Jesus and bring joy and life into your soul, into your heart. And then you find others whose hearts are the same: those who love Jesus, those who are impressionable. And it says, “Ye are our letter, written in our hearts, known and read of all men”. It says, “written, not with ink, but the Spirit of the living God”. “The Spirit of the living God” is here, and He indwells believers, and He indwells believers that He might bring them together in a body way that they might enjoy things of Christ together.

And that is simply the impression that I had, that we are taken from a position of being weighed in the balances and found wanting, and we are brought into the most magnificent position of having the Spirit of the living God in our hearts and being able to enjoy the things that God has prepared before for those that love Him. How wonderful, all that God has done. We can do nothing, but God has done everything if you will answer to it in faith.

I commend the word to us all here for His Name's sake.

Bo'ness

17th April 2022