Reading in the book of Daniel chapter 5, we are told about the writing on the wall, and how the king of the Chaldeans, king Belshazzar, was weighed in the balances, and found wanting. Why was he found wanting? Because, in spite of knowing about what had happened to his father, king Nebuchadnezzar, he failed to humble his heart, transgressed the ten commandments, and did not glorify the God in whose hand his very being was. So the law of God in the one pan of the scale outweighed king Belshazzar.
Jesus was also weighed in the balances, but was NOT found wanting. Why not? Because he did humble his heart, as we read in Philippians 2:8; “And being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross.” Secondly, Jesus did not transgress any one of the ten commandments. He came to prove that man can keep the law; He came to fulfil it: - Matt. 5:17 “Think not that I am come to destroy the law, or the prophets: I am not come to destroy, but to fulfil.” Thirdly, he glorified God in every thing he did. Not some things; in EVERY thing he did.
Since all human beings will be weighed in the balances, it would be well for us to determine just where we stand in this matter. Both the books of Ecclesiastes and James tell us that the law of God is the standard by which we are to be judged. This can only be so, since sin is the transgression of the law: 1 John 3:4. Shall we then evaluate ourselves, now, before it is too late? The whole world is deceived. However, we need not be, if we allow God’s word to be our guide. Ps. 119:105 “Thy word is a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path”. Let us use these scriptures carefully, and prayerfully.
In John 17:17 Jesus prays: “Sanctify them through thy truth: thy word is truth”. And in 1Peter 1:23 we read: “Being born again, not of corruptible seed, but of incorruptible, by the word of God, which liveth and abideth for ever”. In view of this, are we really reborn, or do we deceive ourselves? Are we really reborn by the word of GOD, as it is given to us in the scriptures, or are we reborn by the word of men, telling us what they think God says?
Reading Matt 12:37: Jesus says: “For by thy words thou shalt be justified, and by thy words thou shalt be condemned”. And then the warning in Ephesians 5:6 “Let no man deceive you with vain words:…”. There are those, sadly the majority, who speak vain words; who preach in vain. Jesus identifies them: He says they teach for doctrines the commandments of men. If we diligently compare what we are told by those around us, with what God says in His Holy word, we will know whether or not we are deceived. For instance, God says keep holy My day, the seventh day of the week. They say; No! no! keep our day, the first day, Sunday.
We are admonished, in 1Pet 4:11; “If any man speak, let him speak as the oracles of God;…” What are the oracles? They are the ten commandments, given to us by Moses as indicated in Acts 7:38 “This is he, that was in the church in the wilderness with the angel which spake to him in the mount Sina, and with our fathers: who received the lively oracles, to give unto us:”. Now tell me, are the pastors today speaking as the oracles of God? Of course not. Sunday proves it!!
We find the following in Hebrews, the fifth chapter: - v8 “Though he were a Son, yet learned he obedience by the things which he suffered; . V9 – And being made perfect, he became the author of eternal salvation unto all them that OBEY him; ”. If Jesus had to learn obedience, how much the more do we? In v12 the ministers of the early church were admonished thus: - “For when for the time ye ought to be teachers, ye have need that one teach you again which be the first principles of the oracles of God; and are become such as have need of milk, and not of strong meat”. God is saying the same to the teachers of today: - “The 7th not the 1st day”.
Friend, God can do no more than He has done, to warn us. “…if thou wilt enter into life, keep the commandments.” Matt. 19:17. Rev 14:12 – “Here is the patience of the saints: here are they that keep the commandments of God, and the faith of Jesus.”
Rev 22:14 – “Blessed are they that do his commandments, that they may have right to the tree of life, and may enter in through the gates into the city.”
