Sermon Notes

The Righteous Judge
When the Books Are Opened
March 1, 2026

Writing your own eulogy…
If the books were opened today, would they tell the story I hope they would?

Judgment reveals what we have spent our lives abiding in.

Hebrews 4:16
 Let us then approach God’s throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need.

In Scripture, Judgment Was Longed For

• Genesis 6 — Evil must be cleansed.
• Genesis 18 — Judgment in response to outcry.
• Exodus 3 — God hears the cry.
• Psalm 96 & 98 — Creation rejoices because He comes to judge.
• Amos — trampling the poor.
• Micah — selling the needy.
• Matthew 25 – how we treat the least of these
• Mark 9 – everyone salted with fire (purify)
• Luke 12 – faithful and unfaithful servants
• John 3 – people loved the darkness
• Romans 1 — God “gives them over.”
• 1 Corinthians — fire refining gold.
• Hebrews 4 — sword/scalpel dividing.
• Revelation 14 — winepress squeezing evil.
• Revelation 21 — second death.

Judgment is God restoring what evil has distorted.

Daniel’s Dream (Daniel 7)
The prophet’s dream is a king’s nightmare.
4 beasts: Lion, Bear, Leopard, Terrifying fourth beast

Daniel 7:9-14
“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.
¹⁰ A 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.

¹¹ “Then I continued to watch because of the boastful words the horn was speaking. I kept looking until the beast was slain and its body destroyed and thrown into the blazing fire. ¹² (The other beasts had been stripped of their authority, but were allowed to live for a period of time.) ¹³ “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 nations and peoples 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.

Three Characters in Daniel 7

1. The Beasts — beastly power structures
2. The Ancient of Days — fixed center of the universe
3. The Son of Man — the truly human one

Revelation 20:11-15
Then I saw a great white throne and him who was seated on it. The earth and the heavens fled from his presence, and there was no place for them. ¹² And I saw the dead, great and small, standing before the throne, and books were opened. Another book was opened, which is the book of life. The dead were judged according to what they had done as recorded in the books. ¹³ The sea gave up the dead that were in it, and death and Hades gave up the dead that were in them, and each person was judged according to what they had done. ¹⁴ Then death and Hades were thrown into the lake of fire. The lake of fire is the second death. ¹⁵ Anyone whose name was not found written in the book of life was thrown into the lake of fire.

Two books:

1. Book of Deeds — The story we lived
2. Book of Life — The story of the Lamb

Judgement is revealing the story we chose to abide in.

Which story have you chosen to abide in?