or the
golden vessels of the Temple, which Nebuchadnezzar had brought down from
Jerusalem, and Belshazzar drank wine out of these sacred vessels of the
Temple. And, like men and women when they drink liquor, they lost their
reason, and they praised the gods of gold, and of silver, and brass, and
iron, and wood, and of stone, and thus dishonored God; and there
appeared in the banqueting hall the fingers of a man's hand and wrote on
the wall so that all might see and read it, and these were the words
which were written before that wicked king: "Thou art weighed in the
balances, and art found wanting." (Daniel v: 27.)

Now you see that God weighs men and women, not for the purpose of
telling how many pounds their bodies weigh, but He weighs their
character, He weighs their conduct, He weighs their purposes, and He
weighs their principles, and so He weighed Belshazzar, and He said of
him and to him, "Thou art weighed in the balances, and art found
wanting." God weighed Belshazzar as though he were placed in this side
of the balance, and on the other side of the balance were placed all his
opportunities, privileges and his blessings, and all that God had done
for him. When God thus weighed him against all these things Belshazzar
was found so light that he did not weigh as much as the privileges and
blessings which God had given him, and therefore, God said that he was
weighed in the balances and was found wanting.

In just this same way God weighs you and me, in order that we may see
whether or not we weigh enough. Suppose we turn to the twentieth chapter
of Exodus and there find what God requires of us. You will find that God
says, "Thou shalt have no other gods before me. Thou shalt not make unto
thee any graven image, or any likeness of anything that is in heaven
above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under
the earth: thou shalt not bow down thyself to them, nor serve them: for
I the Lord thy God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the
fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth generation of them
that hate me; and showing mercy unto thousands of them that love me, and
keep my commandments."

[Illustration: "Thou Art Weighed in the Balances, and Art Found
Wanting."]

Now suppose I place this requirement in one side of the balance, and
then ask you to place your obedience to this requirement in the other
side of the balance. I am sure there are a great many grown men and
women w