₦sermon 7
(A Sermon Preached by Rev. Fortune Emerence Chinemerem Nwaiwu)
“Thou art weighed in the balances and art found wanting”
—Daniel 5:27
Bible texts: Judges 19:1-30.
God is the Eye that searches man’s hearts and measures them up with their actions to know if they are in the right and accurate balances or found wanting. When one is not meeting up the desirable requirement of God, such a fellow is found wanting.
Belshazzar, the last of the Kings of Babylon, the son of Nabonidus by Nitocris who was the daughter of Nebuchadnezzar and the widow of Nergal-sharezer shows the utmost contempt to the sacred things of God which were taken from God’s temple when Nebuchadnezzar invaded Judah. He organizes a great feast for a thousand of his lords. Definitely when he testes the wine and realizes that it tastes good, he gives order that the items — the gold and silver cups that his predecessor, Nebuchadnezzar had taken from the temple in Jerusalem be brought to him. The invited guests and the King drink from them and praise their idols made of gold, silver, bronze, iron, wood and stone — Daniel 5:4. This action prompts God to display fingers of human hand writing on a plastered wall of the King’s palace. This is a great warning and the impending doom that would be wrought both on the King and his kingdom because he has been numbered (MENE) – God has numbered the days of his reign and has brought it into nothing, weighed—TEKEL, he has been weighed on the balances and has not measured up, and divided —PARSIN, his kingdom has been divided and given to the Medes and Persians. Just in a sudden, that night, the King is killed and Darius, the Medes becomes the next King.
A nation could be weighed and found wanting when it’s soaked in adultery, lesbianism and homosexualism which are extremely contrary to God’s perfect standard. The story of Belshazzar and his kingdom pictures out the nature and ungodly life-style of people who parade with God’s inheritance thereby showing contempt to it. Belshazzar was measured up by God and he was found lacking of God’s precepts. His moral being was scaled to low ebb. This was seen in him when he organized an ungodly party with his un-reputable lords who drank from the sacred silver cup of God. Their merriment was perhaps encrusted with contempt to mock the Living God of Israel and God declared doom to his soul that very night.
The people of Gibeah was found wanting for their dreadful acts. When the Israelites had no King, there was a man from the tribe of Levi who lived at the hill country of Ephraim. This man has a concubine from Bethlehem. One day his concubine became angry and left him and returned to his father’s home. This young man from Levi went to her to take her back, the father in-law welcome him and urged him to stay which he stayed for three days. When he wanted to leave, his father in-law obliged him again to stay. It was like this until he insisted of taking his concubine and his servant home. When they got at the village called Gibeah, they intended to sleep at the market square until an old man from the hill country of Ephraim but lived in that Gibeah decided to hospitalize them in his house and warned them about the dangers of sleeping in such a market square. Unfortunately, as they were enjoying, eating, a band of troublemakers from the area (Gibeah) came to have sex with him, which the old man pleaded even volunteered to give them his virgin daughter and the concubine of the man. However, they took the concubine and abused her throughout the night. The concubine returned to her husband and fainted. She died. Her husband cut of her body into twelve parts and distributed them to the Israelites. I tell you this evil which the tribe of Benjamin did against the man’s concubine made God to allow the Israelites to destroy them.
When one is weighed by God and one does not see the need to repent, the end result is always death and destruction. Some of us are like King Belshazzar who gave God’s glory to his gods made up of gold and silver. We usually take what belongs to God and misuse it in ungodly ways. Consider this, a man of God who uses offering money to abort some of his member’s pregnancy. The offences are conspicuous. Firstly, the offering money belongs to God and he uses it to commit the sin of murder, and secondly, he eats from the altar of God but his heart is not right with God. Such a man is weighed on the balances and found wanting. This is very inimical and it has become rampant in our contemporary society where cases of rape are being reported and experienced. What can we say when we call ourselves Christians but live in all sorts of moral impurity. You’re a Christian committing adultery/fornication, you steal people’s phones, as a business man/woman, you sell the fake in the name of original, full of cheating people, falsify accusations against your neighbour, and your heart scheming evil; my dear God has weighed you and found that you lack good manner and your christian living is extensively declining.
When our conscience begins to groan and tenderly telling us our wrongs and mistakes, it is a sign that there is a hand writing in our heart telling us that we’ve been found wanting. It should be a special privilege to us to amend our ways. Belshazzar did not know this instead he waned in calling all his magicians what the hand-writing on the wall means. Even when this hand-writing was interpreted by Daniel, he did not show any sign of remorse and total repentance just like what King David did when he was confronted by prophet Nathan over the sin he committed with Bathsheba. David said unto Nathan, I have sinned against the LORD and Nathan said unto King David the LORD hath put away thy sin; thou shalt not die”— 2 Samuel 12:13 KJV. Had it been that King Belshazzar did what King David did, the hand would have written another thing that since he has humbled himself; his kingdom would not be divided and he would not die. Hence he repented not and death became his peril. He died mischievously, and Darius became his successor. Through King Darius, God’s children were able to rebuild their desolate temple of God. Thus when God begins to weigh your enemies, he is at the same time bringing liberty and freedom from oppression to you. That is the moment the chains that enemies have encaged you with will be broken.
Pray and tell God to forgive all your sins and may God deliver you in Jesus name, amen.
(A Sermon Preached by Rev. Fortune Emerence Chinemerem Nwaiwu)
“Thou art weighed in the balances and art found wanting”
—Daniel 5:27
Bible texts: Judges 19:1-30.
God is the Eye that searches man’s hearts and measures them up with their actions to know if they are in the right and accurate balances or found wanting. When one is not meeting up the desirable requirement of God, such a fellow is found wanting.
Belshazzar, the last of the Kings of Babylon, the son of Nabonidus by Nitocris who was the daughter of Nebuchadnezzar and the widow of Nergal-sharezer shows the utmost contempt to the sacred things of God which were taken from God’s temple when Nebuchadnezzar invaded Judah. He organizes a great feast for a thousand of his lords. Definitely when he testes the wine and realizes that it tastes good, he gives order that the items — the gold and silver cups that his predecessor, Nebuchadnezzar had taken from the temple in Jerusalem be brought to him. The invited guests and the King drink from them and praise their idols made of gold, silver, bronze, iron, wood and stone — Daniel 5:4. This action prompts God to display fingers of human hand writing on a plastered wall of the King’s palace. This is a great warning and the impending doom that would be wrought both on the King and his kingdom because he has been numbered (MENE) – God has numbered the days of his reign and has brought it into nothing, weighed—TEKEL, he has been weighed on the balances and has not measured up, and divided —PARSIN, his kingdom has been divided and given to the Medes and Persians. Just in a sudden, that night, the King is killed and Darius, the Medes becomes the next King.
A nation could be weighed and found wanting when it’s soaked in adultery, lesbianism and homosexualism which are extremely contrary to God’s perfect standard. The story of Belshazzar and his kingdom pictures out the nature and ungodly life-style of people who parade with God’s inheritance thereby showing contempt to it. Belshazzar was measured up by God and he was found lacking of God’s precepts. His moral being was scaled to low ebb. This was seen in him when he organized an ungodly party with his un-reputable lords who drank from the sacred silver cup of God. Their merriment was perhaps encrusted with contempt to mock the Living God of Israel and God declared doom to his soul that very night.
The people of Gibeah was found wanting for their dreadful acts. When the Israelites had no King, there was a man from the tribe of Levi who lived at the hill country of Ephraim. This man has a concubine from Bethlehem. One day his concubine became angry and left him and returned to his father’s home. This young man from Levi went to her to take her back, the father in-law welcome him and urged him to stay which he stayed for three days. When he wanted to leave, his father in-law obliged him again to stay. It was like this until he insisted of taking his concubine and his servant home. When they got at the village called Gibeah, they intended to sleep at the market square until an old man from the hill country of Ephraim but lived in that Gibeah decided to hospitalize them in his house and warned them about the dangers of sleeping in such a market square. Unfortunately, as they were enjoying, eating, a band of troublemakers from the area (Gibeah) came to have sex with him, which the old man pleaded even volunteered to give them his virgin daughter and the concubine of the man. However, they took the concubine and abused her throughout the night. The concubine returned to her husband and fainted. She died. Her husband cut of her body into twelve parts and distributed them to the Israelites. I tell you this evil which the tribe of Benjamin did against the man’s concubine made God to allow the Israelites to destroy them.
When one is weighed by God and one does not see the need to repent, the end result is always death and destruction. Some of us are like King Belshazzar who gave God’s glory to his gods made up of gold and silver. We usually take what belongs to God and misuse it in ungodly ways. Consider this, a man of God who uses offering money to abort some of his member’s pregnancy. The offences are conspicuous. Firstly, the offering money belongs to God and he uses it to commit the sin of murder, and secondly, he eats from the altar of God but his heart is not right with God. Such a man is weighed on the balances and found wanting. This is very inimical and it has become rampant in our contemporary society where cases of rape are being reported and experienced. What can we say when we call ourselves Christians but live in all sorts of moral impurity. You’re a Christian committing adultery/fornication, you steal people’s phones, as a business man/woman, you sell the fake in the name of original, full of cheating people, falsify accusations against your neighbour, and your heart scheming evil; my dear God has weighed you and found that you lack good manner and your christian living is extensively declining.
When our conscience begins to groan and tenderly telling us our wrongs and mistakes, it is a sign that there is a hand writing in our heart telling us that we’ve been found wanting. It should be a special privilege to us to amend our ways. Belshazzar did not know this instead he waned in calling all his magicians what the hand-writing on the wall means. Even when this hand-writing was interpreted by Daniel, he did not show any sign of remorse and total repentance just like what King David did when he was confronted by prophet Nathan over the sin he committed with Bathsheba. David said unto Nathan, I have sinned against the LORD and Nathan said unto King David the LORD hath put away thy sin; thou shalt not die”— 2 Samuel 12:13 KJV. Had it been that King Belshazzar did what King David did, the hand would have written another thing that since he has humbled himself; his kingdom would not be divided and he would not die. Hence he repented not and death became his peril. He died mischievously, and Darius became his successor. Through King Darius, God’s children were able to rebuild their desolate temple of God. Thus when God begins to weigh your enemies, he is at the same time bringing liberty and freedom from oppression to you. That is the moment the chains that enemies have encaged you with will be broken.
Pray and tell God to forgive all your sins and may God deliver you in Jesus name, amen.
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