Second Sunday of End Time (Last Judgment) – November 6, 2011

⁹ “As I looked, “thrones were set in place, and the Ancient of Days took his seat. His clothing was as white as snow; the hair of his head was white like wool. His throne was flaming with fire, and its wheels were all ablaze. ¹⁰A river of fire was flowing, coming out from before him. Thousands upon thousands attended him; ten thousand times ten thousand stood before him. The court was seated, and the books were opened.

A little over a week ago I had the privilege of doing my civic duty as I was selected and served on a jury that was trying a young man. As the defendant sat in his chair and people were paraded to the stand to make their testimony, you could see the nervousness, restlessness and apprehension. I couldn’t imagine sitting in his shoes.

It’s hard to envision standing before God, too, isn’t it? It will so be much different than sitting before an earthly judge. It will be so much more vivid than anything we can imagine. Yet this morning, in the words of our text, God draws a picture for us. Now clearly, as we read this description, we understand that it is symbolical language. Yet, even though it is symbolical language, we also understand that there is a very real interpretation behind it. It is speaking about a real thing – Judgment Day. On that day we will see the Ancient of Days in His Courtroom.

Now, as we begin our focus on these verses, it’s important for us to realize that we are jumping into the middle of a larger vision found in the seventh chapter of the book of Daniel. In the first part of Daniel’s vision, Daniel sees four beasts jumping out of a stormy sea. One had the form of a winged lion; another looked like a bear; the third appeared as a leopard with four heads and four wings; and the last had large iron teeth and 10 horns on its head, with another horn appearing that had the eyes and mouth of a man. Daniel is told that these “four great beasts are four kingdoms that will rise from the earth” (Daniel 7:17).

But in the midst of this horrible sight, Daniel sees something totally different; he sees the climax of the vision: “As I looked, “thrones were set in place, and the Ancient of Days took his seat. His clothing was as white as snow; the hair of his head was white like wool. His throne was flaming with fire, and its wheels were all ablaze. ¹⁰A river of fire was flowing, coming out from before him. Thousands upon thousands attended him; ten thousand times ten thousand stood before him. The court was seated, and the books were opened.”

Even though this is the only place in all of God’s Word that refers to someone known as the “Ancient of Days,” we know exactly who this is, don’t we! This is the only One who has been around since the most ancient of days – the LORD. It is a reference to the eternity of God. He has no beginning and no end. He is completely outside of time and clearly beyond us. He is taking his seat in his courtroom – and he is not just any judge.

Daniel records, “His clothing was as white as snow; the hair of his head was white like wool.” He is dazzling white, which is a symbol for perfect purity. He is not some sinful judge; he is pure, righteous. He has the right to condemn all sin and sinners. His judgments are flawless.

Then Daniel writes, “His throne was flaming with fire, and its wheels were all ablaze. ¹⁰A river of fire was flowing, coming out from before him.” He is surrounded by fire, which pictures his holy hatred against all unrighteousness and his holy ability to destroy it. Moses said in Deuteronomy “The LORD your God is a consuming fire, a jealous God” (4:24). This fire consumes any sin that transgresses his holiness, and any who dare enter his presence still bearing sin.

Finally we read, “Thousands upon thousands attended him; ten thousand times ten thousand stood before him.” He is surrounded by angels; those “mighty ones who do his bidding” (Psalm 103:20). Those mighty servants of God before whom the Roman soldiers fell down in fear, like dead men, petrified by weakness and sinful imperfection.

What a powerful vision! It may be short, but it is a sobering reminder of the seriousness of God’s judgment. And does this picture of God’s courtroom make you a bit uncomfortable. It should…because there will come a day when each and every one of us will stand in the courtroom of the Ancient of Days, and we will have to answer to God. In case you’ve forgotten, God has been watching. Every time your hands committed evil, God noticed. Even those times when you thought no one was watching, God was! Every time you harbored an evil thought in your mind, God took note of it. Every slip of the eye or tongue – God knows about it all! The books that Daniel sees open before the Ancient of Days picture this fact for us. “The court was seated, and the books were opened.”

What are these books? We get a clue in Revelation 20, “And I saw the dead, great and small, standing before the throne, and books were opened…The dead were judged according to what they had done as recorded in the books.” These books contain the total record of your life, and the lives of all who have lived.

So, where do we stand in the light of this evidence? Will there be any lack of evidence for the Ancient of Days in his courtroom? What will he see in the books? The time you complained about your parents. The time you glanced at your classmate’s test. The time you punched your sister and blamed it on your brother. That time alone with your girlfriend or boyfriend. The time at that party. The time fooling around at work when the boss was out. The time you spread the rumor. The time you immediately thought the worst of your friend’s words. The time sleep sounded better on Sunday morning. This book does not tell a pretty story.

If any one of us thinks that we can stand in front of the just and holy Ancient of Days and say, “well, I know I wasn’t perfect, Lord, but I did the best I could,” we’d better think again. If our sinful flesh has led us to brazenly believe that the Judge must not care about the sinful acts we commit today because we are not immediately swallowed by the earth like Korah in the Old Testament, we’d better think again. If the devil has lulled us into believing that the Ancient of Days is snoozing in his chambers, unaware of our sins of thoughts, word and deed, we’d better think again. If we believe that the unseen Judge doesn’t care about the sins we harbor in our hearts, or that he isn’t coming as Judge, we are sadly mistaken.

We have not met the standard of perfection demanded by the absolutely holy God who’s dressed in garments as white as snow! We have done much that is evil! Before the Ancient of Days who is sitting on a fiery throne we stand covered in the filth of sin! What we deserve to hear from him is “Depart from me, you who are cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels” (Matthew 25:41).

Does this mean we are doomed to be judged guilty? Is there no hope of escaping this courtroom? Well, if we are judged on our works, we won’t stand a chance. We see the damning filth of our sins. Their black stains stand out in contrast to him who is “white as wool.” With our lives as the evidence we could not hope to stand in the presence of this Judge.

But dear Christian friends, our sinful lives won’t tell the story that day. They won’t be the evidence submitted to the Judge. Just a few verses later in the seventh chapter of Daniel, he records, “In my vision at night I looked, and there before me was one like a son of man, coming with the clouds of heaven. He approached the Ancient of Days and was led into his presence. ¹⁴ He was given authority, glory and sovereign power; all peoples, nations and men of every language worshiped him. His dominion is an everlasting dominion that will not pass away, and his kingdom is one that will never be destroyed. (Daniel 7:13,14). Who is this “one like a son of man”? It is Jesus! And he enters the courtroom on our behalf.

This last part of Daniel’s vision is a beautiful picture of Jesus returning to his Father victorious, having defeated sin, death and the devil. And notice: he doesn’t hesitate to enter into the presence of the Ancient of Days. Why? Because he is the perfect Son of God who perfectly carried out his Father’s plan of salvation. From the moment he entered this world till the final breath he took on the cross, Jesus perfectly obeyed all of God’s law on our behalf. And with that perfect blood shed on the cross he paid for our every sin. In his mercy, God sent his Son Jesus to be our defense attorney.

So it is Jesus who speaks to the Father in our defense. He is the atoning sacrifice for our sins. Jesus laid down his life for us after having perfectly lived his life for us. We are washed clean in his blood. And this is the evidence that will be presented to our Judge to consider: the sacrifice of our Savior for us. He has given us his own perfect life by which we can make our appeal. And for Jesus sake the Ancient of Days will declare us not guilty.

Because of Jesus, we receive a verdict we do not deserve. We do not need to be afraid of the book of sins opened in front of us because every page of our book has been covered with the blood of Jesus and those records washed away. Our names have now been written in another book, the book of life. The introduction to that book tells of Jesus’ sacrifice of his life for ours, ending with the words, “It is finished.” In between Jesus announced to his heavenly Father, and our eternal judge, that he has made perfect payment for sin, once for all. So we can be certain, as Paul says, “Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus” (Romans 8:1).

The Apostle John spoke about this book of life in the revelation God gave him. While talking about heaven he said, “Nothing impure will ever enter it, nor will anyone who does what is shameful or deceitful, but only those whose names are written in the Lamb’s book of life” (Revelation 21:27). And notice that John calls it the “Lamb’s book of life.” It isn’t my book of life. It isn’t your book of life. It is the Lamb’s – Jesus – the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world.

And he tells us whose names are written in that book. It is the names of those, who by faith in Jesus, trust solely in Jesus and his work alone as the basis for being able to stand in the courtroom of the Ancient of Days. That is what he told Martha when he said, “I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in me will live, even though he dies; ²⁶ and whoever lives and believes in me will never die” (John 11:25,26). It is what he told Thomas and the rest of the disciples. “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me” (John 14:6). It is what he tells us.

Imagine what an awesome sight it will be, when God opens our books – and instead of seeing our sinful past – he will see the perfect life of Jesus. Jesus has erased our criminal evidence with his own blood! Because of Jesus we will hear him say, “Come, you who are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you” (Matthew 25:34). Thank God it is not based on my life or your life, but on JESUS’ life. Amen.