THE COURT IS SEATED, THE BOOKS ARE OPENED!
Rev. Mark F. Bartels
Epistle Lesson;
Hebrews 12:1-2
Gospel Lesson;
Mark 13:24-31
Sermon Text;
Daniel
7:9-10
I want to contrast the pictures of Jesus we see today, with the picture of Jesus that is shown in today’s scripture reading. All of us probably have a favorite picture of Jesus. I don’t know what yours is. I have a few of them.
One of my favorite pictures of Jesus is the picture where He is sitting down and there are little children huddled all around Him. In that picture, Jesus has little children in His arms. I love that picture of Jesus! It reminds me that Jesus came for all of us, no matter how small, how humble, and that He is looking for "the faith of a little child" in our hearts. I love that picture!
Another picture of Jesus that I love is the picture of Jesus, where a woman is at His feet, washing His feet with her tears. It is such a beautiful picture of Jesus, because there was a woman who had led a sinful life. She knew that Jesus, her Savior, had forgiven her of all her sins. And she was so happy! She wanted to show her love for Him. That is a beautiful picture of Jesus, our Savior.
Of course any picture of Jesus on the cross, is an awesome picture. That picture shows us the love that our Savior had for us.
Now, think about all of those pictures that I just described. What if Jesus, in those pictures, would step off of the canvas and walk out into this world, and people were to look at Him, as He walked around. Oh, they might recognize who He is. They might say, "Oh I recognize Him by the long hair, the beard, and the clothes. That is Jesus."
But would they be able to tell, by looking at Him, that He is God, Himself?
Isn’t that the very Jesus that people could walk up to and push? He didn’t look like God to them!
Isn’t that the very Jesus that people could take thorns to cut His flesh and draw blood He didn’t look like God to them!
Isn’t that the very Jesus that people could walk up to and strike in the face with their fits, turning His eyes black and blue? He didn’t look like God to them!
Isn’t that the Jesus that people could spit at, in His face, while He did nothing in return He didn’t look like God to them!
Isn’t that the Jesus that they could take nails and drive them through the flesh of His hands, and then put Him on a cross? He didn’t look like God to them!
Isn’t that the Jesus that people could walk by and mock, while He hung on the cross, saying, "If you are the Son of God, come down from the cross"? And, He just hung there. He didn’t look like God to them!
Isn’t that the Jesus that they could wrap up in burial clothes and stick in a grave? He didn’t look like God to them!
The world still treats Jesus the same way, today. The world still shoves Him aside. The world still treats Him as if He is not God. Mention Jesus in the locker room. Mention Him in your place of work. See if Jesus gets shoved aside, as someone unimportant, as someone not to be listened to, not the Son of God.
If you go to different countries in this world like China, The Middle East, or Africa, you will see what people do to those who claim to be followers of Christ. See how they are persecuted, tortured, and killed. Jesus is treated as if He were not the Son of God.
If you watch TV, just recently there was a show, questioning whether Jesus was married and had children. That is the world’s mockery of Jesus, mocking whether He really was who He claimed to be. The world treats Jesus as if He is nothing, and as if He is powerless, as if He were not the Son of God.
Now I want you to contrast that with the picture of Jesus, who is going to come back some day in judgment. It is not going to be the same picture. It is not going to be Jesus holding the little children in His arms, when He comes back in judgment. It is not going to be Jesus with a sinner at His feet, on the Day of Judgment. It is not going to be Jesus hanging on a cross, on the Day of Judgment. It is going to be a very different picture of Jesus, who comes back on the Day of Judgment. The picture of Jesus that we see in today’s scripture reading is an awesome picture.
When Jesus comes back,
on the Day of Judgment,
there were will be absolutely no question,
absolutely no question
in anybody’s mind,
anymore,
who He is.
It will be profoundly evident to everybody living and dead, who that Man is. Consider what is going to happen. Like a flash of lightening, in an instant, in a burst, He will appear with great power and authority. All of the angels will be with Him.
The earth will melt with fervent heat.
The sky will roll up like a scroll.
The mountains will fall.
The dead will be raised, no matter where they are.
The graves will all be emptied.
And there, standing before Him, will be the whole world, gathered together. Everyone must appear before the Judgment Seat of Christ. And then, everybody, EVERYBODY will know, and there will be no question who He is. Everybody will know that
v
He is the One who raised the dead.v
He is the One who melted the earth.v
He is the One who rolled up the skies.v
He is God!Our scripture reading says Daniel saw this awesome vision of Jesus in judgment. By the way, St. John in the book of Revelation saw this same vision. He expounds upon it a little more. He said, "The Ancient of Days will take His seat." There all eyes, in the world, living and dead will look and they will see that Jesus is the Ancient of Days.
What does that mean that He is the Ancient of Days? That means that
no one will question anymore whether He is the Eternal God.
No one will question anymore whether He is the One who existed when this world was created, and even before the world was created.
No one will question anymore whether He is the One who will exist for all eternity.
It will be profoundly evident that Jesus is, He is, the Ancient of Days. Jesus says in the Book of Revelation,
"I am
the alpha
and the omega."
That is the beginning of the Greek alphabet and the end of the Greek alphabet. "I am the beginning and the end." He said to the people of His day,
"Before Abraham was,
I am."
Many of them laughed at Him. They knew that He was claiming to be the eternal God. Those who laughed will not laugh anymore. They will not laugh anymore.
Those who trusted that Jesus is the eternal God will stand before Him in joy and in anticipation.
Our scripture reading says, "the hair on His head was white like wool." John goes on and says, "It was white like the snow and His face shown like the sun." That is the picture of Jesus that we will see on Judgment Day. It is a picture of Jesus in all of His majesty and glory. That white hair is a picture of great age, age beyond what we can comprehend, and a picture of an august, revered God, who stands before the people. Those who doubted Jesus and didn’t believe will be terrified.
Those who believed
will lift up their heads in joy.
That picture of Jesus with white hair, white as snow, is also a picture of the elderly, who we consider to be very wise. Here is the picture of ultimate wisdom. We will see Him as the all-knowing, all-wise God. Those in this life who saw Him as foolish, who saw the cross as foolishness, will now stand in terror, realizing that they rejected the wisdom of Jesus Christ.
But those who
clung to the "foolishness" of the cross
will lift up their heads in joy.
It goes on and describes Him this way, "His throne was flaming with fire, and its wheels were all ablaze." There is a picture of fire. John says, "I looked in His eyes and His eyes were like flames of fire." What does fire do? Fire consumes things. Later in the book of Hebrews it says, "Our God is a consuming fire." There is the picture that Jesus is God. So, what does fire do? It consumes what is useless. It will burn up all that is useless, all the wicked will be destroyed. But, fire purifies that which is good and right. He will purify His people. Those who thought that Jesus was useless, those who are wicked, unrepentant sinners, will be terrified.
But those who believed in Him,
knowing the day of our purification
has now finally come,
will stand in joy.
Then the Bible says, "The Ancient of Days took His seat."
"The Ancient of Days took His seat."
That will happen on the Day of Judgment. At this point, the Bible tells us that every knee, EVERY KNEE, will bow and EVERY TONGUE WILL confess that Jesus, the almighty Jesus, is LORD. Everyone will have to bend the knee and bow before Him. Everyone will have to look to Him and admit that He is GOD. He is who He claimed to be. Some will do it willingly. God’s people will do it willingly, but others will do it by force. All must submit to Him. All must appear before the Judgment Seat of Christ, scripture tells us. No one will be able to run away. No one will be able to flee. But, by His almighty power and authority, all must appear before that Judgment Seat. That is the great throne, the great white throne described in Revelation. There is the picture that Judgment will commence. Everyone will know that his or her eternal fate has always rested in the hands of Jesus Christ. And, on that day, on the Day of Judgment, my eternal fate will be given out to me by His judgment and His judgment alone.
Then the Bible says, "the books were opened". Those are the books that are described in the book of Revelation. It says, written in those books are the deeds of every man in this life. Every deed we have done is recorded in those books, and they will be opened. And no one will be able to contradict what is written in the book. No one!
Not one deed that we have done will be escaped.
Not one thought that we have had will be escaped.
Not one word that we have spoken will be escaped.
All will be written in the books. The books will be opened. And, the judgment will begin. Those who rejected Jesus as their Savior, their sins will stand before them, as they stand before Christ. And, because they did not believe, because they rejected Jesus, because they did not believe that He was God, because they did not believe that He paid for the sins of the world, will be condemned.
What about us? What about the believers in Christ? What about when those books are opened, and there in those books are recorded all the wrong things that I have ever done in this life? Do I need to be terrified, as those books are opened before God and before the whole world? Oh NO, dear Christians!
We do NOT need to be terrified!
Who is the One who opens the books? Who is the judge who reads from the pages of those books? Isn’t the Judge our Savior? Isn’t He the One to whom all things must submit? And, isn’t He the One who says to us, through the scriptures, that He has come to pay for our sins. He has given His life on the cross. He has washed away our sin by His payment. He declares us, because of what He has done, to be holy, forgiven, innocent people of God. Is not He the One who will be the Judge?
Will He go back on His Word? No! He will NOT go back on His Word. He will not. He cannot. Will our sins be able to rise up against us, and cry out to Christ? Oh no, they will not, because all must submit to Christ. Christ in His power and authority will declare to our sins that they are forgiven. They are washed away. They are gone. They do not exist. He will remember them no more. He has paid for them. And, He will declare us to be His holy people. We will be judged by faith in Christ. The Bible says that we will be judged by the Gospel, by the Good News, and our sins are forgiven.
That is a day that we, as Christians should look forward to. Now, if you don’t believe in Jesus as your Savior, if you don’t believe Jesus is God, if you have not turned to Him yet, if there is anyone here who has not, it is not too late. He still stands at the door and knocks. He still says to you,
"Come onto me
all you who labor and are heavy laden and
I will give you rest."
His Gospel promises are still true. Turn to Him. Repent of your sins. Cling to Jesus’ forgiveness. Then you will be able to stand with us, before Christ, blameless on the Day of Judgment.
Those of you who are believers, what should we do, as we see the Day of Judgment approaching? Scripture tells us these three things. Number one, Jesus says,
"Watch and pray,
because the Son of Man will come
at an hour when you do not expect Him."
This world is complacent. They don’t believe that Jesus is coming. The world wants to distract us and cause us to lose our focus on the coming of the end of the world. But, let us watch and pray, that we are ready for the Day of Judgment.
Then scripture says in the Book of Hebrews,
"Let us not forsake
the assembling of ourselves together
as some are in the habit of doing.
But let us do it all the more,
as we see the Day approaching."
There scripture tells us, that as you see Judgment Day coming, what should you do? It says, "Let us not forsake the assembling of ourselves together." Let’s go to church. Let’s hear the Word of God. Why? Is it because going to church is going to get us to Heaven? NO! But, it is because of what happens at church. What happens at church is that the Gospel of Jesus Christ is preached, the sacraments are administered, and there the Holy Spirit comes to us. He strengthens us. And, He builds us up in our holy faith, keeping us ready for the Day of Judgment.
The last thing that scripture says to us, Jesus says to everyone here,
"Work while it is day,
because the night is coming when
no man can work."
It is still day. Jesus may come on Friday of this week. We don’t know. But there is still time to work. What is our work? Jesus says,
"Go and make disciples."
It is still time for us to take that saving Gospel message of Jesus to souls who could be lost for all eternity on the Day of Judgment. Spread the saving Gospel message to them. Have you done that? Are you doing that? Am I doing that? Have you ever invited someone to church here, during your membership here, at Holy Cross? Have you ever told someone about Jesus his or her Savior?
"Work, while it is day,
because the night is coming when
no man can work."
So, as Christians, we look forward to the day of Jesus’ Coming and we pray with St. John,
"Come quickly,
Lord Jesus."
Amen.
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