WHEN GOD OPENS THE BOOKS

Daniel portrays God as the sovereign Ruler of the universe, who controls the destinies of both pagan empires and His exiled people. He revealed His mighty power to the kings of Babylon and Persia, forcing them to acknowledge His supremacy. He revealed to Daniel His future plans to restore His people Israel once the times of the Gentiles had run their course.

The bottom line in text today is that one day the Judge…The Ancient of Days will take his seat on his throne, the court will be set, and the books will be opened.

GOD HAS BOOKS

I. The Book of Remembrance

a.God keeps a record of his people’s troubles (Ps. 56:8). He is not ignorant of them, nor indifferent to them. He takes notice and gives sympathy. He will take account of them in the future, turning them to good, or compensating for the endurance of them.

Psalm 56:8 NASB95

You have taken account of my wanderings; Put my tears in Your bottle. Are they not in Your book?

b. God keeps an account of his people’s faithfulness (Mal. 3:16). Though they appear to be forgotten, their humble service is all noted.

Malachi 3:16 NASB95

Then those who feared the Lord spoke to one another, and the Lord gave attention and heard it, and a book of remembrance was written before Him for those who fear the Lord and who esteem His name.

c. God preserves a remembrance of men’s sins. God forgets sin when he forgives it, but till then our forgetting it does not remove it from his book of remembrance, any more than our forgetting a bond releases us from the obligation of it when it is presented.

II. The Book of Life

a. St. Paul refers to those “whose names are written in the book of life” (Phil. 4:3; see also Exod. 32:33; Rev. 3:5).

Philippians 4:3 NASB95

Indeed, true companion, I ask you also to help these women who have shared my struggle in the cause of the gospel, together with Clement also and the rest of my fellow workers, whose names are in the book of life.

Exodus 32:33 NASB95

The Lord said to Moses, “Whoever has sinned against Me, I will blot him out of My book.

Revelation 3:5 NASB95

‘He who overcomes will thus be clothed in white garments; and I will not erase his name from the book of life, and I will confess his name before My Father and before His angels.

God God preserves a record of the heirs of eternal life. He knows them, if men do not. He takes note of them individually; their names are written. The world is redeemed, not in the mass, but individually. Each one of us either has or has not his name written down in the “book of life.” The most important question for each to ask is whether his name is there.

III. The Book of the Future

The future is known to God, and the course of providence and redemption by which he will work out his purposes of righteousness and mercy is determined (Rev. 5:1). Sudden changes surprise us, but they were anticipated by God. There is no chance, but an overruling wisdom fixes the great landmarks of the future.

Revelation 5:1 NASB95

I saw in the right hand of Him who sat on the throne a book written inside and on the back, sealed up with seven seals.

GOD’S BOOKS ARE SEALED

I. THE BOOK OF REMEMBRANCE IS SEALED

From our human vantage point We have no present visible proof that God notes our trouble, our fidelity, or our sin. We may forget our past, and it will lie hidden and silent.

II. THE BOOK OF LIFE IS SEALED

a. We may have sure evidences of our redemption, but we cannot directly read our names in the book of life. Perhaps the reason for this is that we may walk by faith and experience its discipline.

b. We cannot read the names of others. Therefore we cannot pronounce judgment on them, nor say how many or who will be saved.

III. THE BOOK OF THE FUTURE IS SEALED

Prophecy has extracted a few pages. But the great volume will only be unrolled as it is accomplished. It is best that we should not know the future, as we only have sufficient strength to bear the burden of the present (Matt. 6:34). It is best also because we can learn to walk humbly and trustfully, while we resign the future to the care of our Father in heaven (Matt. 6:32).

Matthew 6:34 NASB95

“So do not worry about tomorrow; for tomorrow will care for itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.

Matthew 6:32 NASB95

“For the Gentiles eagerly seek all these things; for your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things.

GOD’S BOOKS WILL BE OPENED

That is really what a came to remind you of beloved. We are in the last times and we need to be careful not to get caught up like the world thinking that there is nothing to what the bible says.

The judgment-day will be first of all a day of revelation. The decrees of reward and punishment will follow the opening of God’s books. 1. The record of our conduct will be brought to light. Forgotten deeds will be remembered, and the truth of character made clear (1 Cor. 14:25).

1 Corinthians 14:25 NASB95

the secrets of his heart are disclosed; and so he will fall on his face and worship God, declaring that God is certainly among you.

Hidden sin will be revealed. Unrecognized merit will be honoured. 2. The roll of the redeemed will be read. Not one of God’s people will be forgotten. Christ will own the humblest of his followers. 3. The purposes of God concerning the future will declare themselves. The book of the future is unrolled by degrees as time passes. But its most momentous contents will be those which will be made clear when the great facts of the unseen world are first brought to light. Then God’s purposes with mankind will be understood as we on earth can never comprehend them.

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