There's a heap o' lessons to be learnt in the Olden part of God's Testament, the book we call the Bible. Take for example, the book of Daniel. Brothers and Sisterns, Daniel was the voice of God in the wilderness of sin. You maybe have heard about how wild it gets on Saturday nights in Fort Worth or maybe there in Juarez, across the border from El Paso. That ain't nothin' compared to what all went on in Daniel's time. That poor soul was stuck over there amongst a bunch of wicked foreigners in a stinkhole called Babylon. And there ol' Daniel was, actin' as the foreman of God's church. Now, congregation, the word church don't mean nothin' but God's people. So there's the church now and the church then, both of 'em nothin' but God's people called apart from the world and its devilish ways. And Daniel was the one doin' the callin', at this here time, don't ya see? Here in the book of Daniel is one of the doggonest stories ever told. If y'all didn't know the Holy Spirit wrote these words, y'all would say the writer was shore stretching the blanket quite a lot. But you can just mark it down that the Lord's ways are beyond our understandin'. Amen and amen. Anyhow, Daniel was one prayin' son-of-a-gun. He prayed when he woke up. He prayed when he went out and when he come back in. He prayed for more things than most church members today even know the Lord has. Daniel was a young man, of royal blood. And he was one good-lookin' dude, too. Kinda like a young John Wayne, don't ya know? And he had three compadres. For some reason or 'nother, ol' King Nebucadnezzar hung a new name around Daniel's neck and the others, too. He called Daniel "Belteshazzar", and he called Hananiah "Shadrach", and Mishael became "Meshack" and Azariah he branded as "Abednego". Well, sir, John Wayne's real first name was "Marion," kinda sissy-like, but he was the same fellah no matter what the name. And so was Daniel. Y'all know how Daniel got tighter'n-a-tick with that yahoo Nebucadnezzar by tellin' the ol' boy what his dreams meant. And y'all have heard how Daniel and them three saddle pards of his got tossed into the biggest campfire you ever did see, and came out without even a singed eyebrow. Well, sir, about that time King Nebucadnezzar's son, Belshazzar took his place on the throne. And one night the new king was having a feast with his wicked friends. Those varmits was havin' a grand ol' time--justa singin' and dancin' the Texas two-step, and drinkin' up a storm. They was even drinkin' their booze out of the silver and gold cups that his father had stolen from the temple of God in Jerusalem. When all of a sudden, King Belshazzar saw a hand twitchin' away and writing these words on his bunkhouse wall: "Mene, mene, tekel, parsin." The king's Tex-Mex was rusty, so he couldn't figure out what them words meant. So he sent for his wisest men to tell him what those words might mean. None of them fellahs knew Tex-Mex, either. Fact is, they couldn't tell him squat. So he up and calls in young Daniel. And when Daniel told him what them words really meant, it was like whoppin' him up side of the head with a brandin' iron. In particular, Daniel told him that the word "Tekel" meant, "You have been weighed on the scales and found wanting." Lord have mercy. That King Belshazzar was about to be chased up a tree and wouldn't know how to get hisself down. That very night somebody up and kilt the king. He had been weighed on God's scales and come up short. Well, sir, what I want to ask each of you folks is this: "How much do you weigh?" Ain't none of us really wants to be found wanting on judgment day, so think about the question: How much do you weigh? It's just plumb natural for ranchin' folk like us to want to know how much things weigh. When we take a load of cattle to the auction sale, we have an idea of how much they will weigh. And we shore don't walk away happy if the check we get shows that their weight was off and we done come up short. And when a fellah goes to the feedstore and buys a hundred pounds of dog food, he don't want to be shorted on the deal. If you pay for a hundred pounds, you don't want a sack that comes up short and only weighs 95 pounds. Brothers and sisterns, it is the same way with the Lord God Almighty. He has got himself a set of scales that would be the envy of any auction house or grain elevator. He has got some scales up there in heaven that can weigh out the amount of Christianity that there is in a body. Oh, sure, there's been times when crooked butchers has tipped the scale in their favor and sold folks less meat that what they paid for; but there ain't no foolin' the Lord's scales. His scales will catch each and every sin you ever did, and even those you thought about doin'. So just how much do ya weigh? If the good Lord jerked you up by the ears and plopped you down on his scales this very hour, reckon how much yore gonna weigh? Folks, ya can't get up to the right weight by sittin' on the front porch and watchin' yore neighbors march down the road to hell. To get up to the right weight, ya gotta serve the Lord with all your heart and soul and mind. And that's the gospel truth. Amen and amen.