1. Have you ever been to court?
   1. Illus: Thanks to some very minor traffic violations, I've seen the inside of a few courtrooms in my lifetime!
      1. And I've had to stand there, as you have.
      2. And I've had to explain to the judge why such a careful driver as I was traveling at that rate of speed.
      3. And by the way, they never buy the line about how when you work for the Lord, you have to drive like the devil!
   2. No, I don't know anybody who relishes being in court.
      1. Illus: Not even one of the most celebrated trial lawyers of this century, Louis B. Nizer, who in his best-seller My Life in Court describes the physiological experience of appearing in court:

         "On the morning of the trial all the physical indicia [signs] of unbearable trepidation are evident. Hands are clammy, brows...wet, cheeks flushed or sickly pale, eyes...red-rimmed, voices...froggy. There are articifial yawns, dry lips...and frequent visits to the toilet."

      2. I repeat--nobody likes to go to court.
   3. But this evening I'd like to invite you to return to a scene we gazed upon two evenings ago. But in the dramatic portrayal of this courtroom scene we will discover a moving and profound portrait of God.
   4. Now look, I realize that this is NOT what one would normally describe as a GOOD NEWS SCENE.
      1. Because here in Daniel 7 we are ushered into a courtroom.
      2. AND NOBODY--and I mean nobody--ENJOYS SPENDING TIME IN A COURTROOM
2. Daniel 7:9,10 (p 864)
   1. I must confess that I'm intrigued with those "books."
   2. Why does God go to all the bother of keeping books in heaven?
   3. Although I suppose if Daniel were writing today, he might have been shown shelves and shelves of computer disks or video tapes or microfilm canisters.
      1. The inescapable point is that God keeps a record!
      2. AND BEFORE WE ARE TOO HARD ON HIM, LET US QUICKLY BE REMINDED THAT WE ARE JUST LIKE HE IS!
      3. There has never been a time in the human race when people have had a greater penchant for record keeping!
      4. We keep records on everything--medical records, academic records, sports records, weather records, movie records, music records, court records, credit records.
      5. You name it--we got it somewhere in a file!
      6. At the flick of a button or the punching of a key--your computer screen can overload with reems of records!
      7. Illus: Karen and I found out that sobering reality when we went to buy a car a few years ago--Karen's brother had a friend in Indianapolis who sold used Ford Taurus's driven by Hewlett Packard executives and salepersons, etc.
         1. So we drove the three hours south one Sunday to look those cars over.
         2. Didn't take any of our records, our bank files--nothing--just wanted to look.
         3. But after looking, we found a car we thought might last a few years
         4. We decided to trade in our Volkswagen Jetta on the spot--but alas, when the gentleman asked for our credit records, we pleaded innocent--we hadn't brought them (I was kinda glad I didn't have to show him such private matters.)
         5. "Oh that's OK," he said, "give me your Social Security Number."
         6. I did, and he whipped it into his computer, and there before our dumbfounded eyes appeared our credit record on his computer screen--with every credit card and bank balance we ever had.
         7. There are no secrets anymore, my friends!
      8. So let's not be terribly hard on God for keeping records--after all, we are just like He is! (Where do you think we got it!)
      9. Daniel 7 declares that in His courtroom the books are opened!
   4. But why--why does God go to all the bother of keeping records? It certainly can't be for His own benefit, can it?
      1. Is that it? God needs something to jog His divine memory?
         1. Someone has estimated that 6 trillion human beings have lived on this earth since the beginning.
         2. Could that be it? Judgment time comes...God scratches His head....HOW AM I GOING TO REMEMBER ALL OF THEM....LET'S PULL THE OLD RECORDS OUT AND JOG THE MEMORY...
         3. Why it sounds sacrilegious to even suggest it!
      2. So why then does God go the bother of keeping those records?
      3. It is in answer to that question that the moving portrait emerges.
   5. Let's read a poignant description Jesus Himself gave of God in Matt. 10:29, 30 (p 944).
      1. Did you catch that? My Father in heaven knows how many hairs you have!
      2. Illus: Some years ago our son Kirk came back from Sabbath School one Saturday and announced that his teacher had told the class just how many hairs are on our heads--the average head of hair has 100,000 hairs...a rough guesstimate...naturally, for some of you the number is considerably less!
      3. So if God knows the number of your hairs, don't you suppose He knows the record of your life?
      4. Look what Jesus said in the verse just before, v 29.
         1. Your Father knows every sparrow that tumbles from its tree-top perch at the end of its fragile little life.
         2. Jesus says that our God knows and cares deeply about those tiny feathery creatures.
         3. Then doesn't He know all about your life and mine?
         4. Our hurts and our wants, our failures and our successes, our sins and our victories...doesn't He know it all?
      5. Why of course He does!
   6. Look at that beautiful promise ancient Isaiah made sure we received--Is. 49:15, 16 (p 706).
      1. I won't forget, God says, you're engravened on my very hands!
      2. Illus: When I was was a twelve year old boy growing up in Japan, I learned all about engraved hands!
         1. When a friend of mine and I came home from school one evening, we noticed that the Japanese carpenters had left a table saw plugged in on a construction next to our homes..
         2. And so Bob and I started hunting for wood, anything that we could try sawing on that powerful saw.
         3. We were finally having to resort to small wood chips--but nevermind, wood is wood!
         4. And so I put that tiny piece of wood fragment up to the roaring, spinning saw blade to see if I could cut it in half.
         5. Well--you guessed it--the hungry machine ripped the small scrap out of my hand and sucked my fingers in behind it!
         6. These three fingers were instantly ripped open and I went screaming to my mother holding up my mortal wounds!
         7. That night the hospital scrubbed them raw and a kind doctor sewed them all up.
         8. But everytime I look at my hand, I remember that day.
      3. God says, You're carved on My hand...I will never forget the love that led me to get these scars for you!
      4. Why, it's a portrait of the cross in the heart of the Old Testament!
      5. My nailscars will never let me forget you!
   7. So why does He open the books in this great judgment scene?
      1. It can hardly be that while God remembers all of us, He has a hard time remembering the checkerboard records that our lives have accumulated!
      2. Illus: [show on screen only] Why the Bible declares in Heb. 6:l0--"God is not unjust and He will not forget the work and the love you have shown Him."
      3. God doesn't forget anything about us--He doesn't need books to help Him remember the good or the bad about our lives.
   8. "Oh, but wait a minute," you say. "Doesn't the Bible say something about God remembering our sins no more?"
      1. You're right...it's a beautiful promise in Is. 43:25 (p 699).
      2. It couldn't be any more plain, could it? "I will not remember your sins."
      3. But is that a statement about God's capacity to remember or is it rather a statement about God's CHOICE to forget?
      4. Illus: Let's let Ezekiel 33 (p 837) help inform our answer.
         1. Look at vv 14-16.
         2. It's not that God has forgotten...but rather than this person's sins are not remembered against him.
         3. I.e., his sins are not held against him, though they still are remembered.
         4. Notice that v. 13 turns the tables on one who is supposedly righteous.
   9. My friends, the Scriptures are abundantly clear that our omniscient God stores within His Father's heart the record of every tear, every triumph, every sparrow, every sin, every act of mercy....HE NEEDS NO BOOKS TO PROMPT HIS HEART OR JOG HIS MEMORY.
   10. Then if GOD doesn't need the information contained in these great heavenly books of record, who does?
       1. Return to that portrait in Daniel 7 with me and let's read all of v. l0 again (p 864).
       2. Whom are the books for?....the on-looking universe of intelligent, created life....the celestial jury of angels and unfallen beings...
       3. Please note that the great heavenly judgment that precedes the triumphant return of Christ to this earth is convened before the witnessing universe.
       4. "And the books were opened."
3. Could it be, then, that in a very real sense in the final judgment God allows Himself to be put on trial could it be that these books in heaven are primarily for the benefit of the celestial jury, empowered to weigh the gravely serious charges that have been leveled against God Himself by His rebel child Satan?
   1. Look at Dan. 7:25!
      1. Note here that someone is speaking "pompous words against the Most High." Someone is bringing accusations against God.
      2. Who could this someone be?
      3. The answer will certainly come as no surprise to us now, for we have encountered this accuser numerous times before in our NeXt Millennium Seminar lectures.
   2. Let's return once again to Revelation 12 (p1182).
      1. We immersed ourselves in this chapter in a previous lecture, when we examined the cosmic Stars Wars story.
      2. But we must review again how the genuine Star Wars really began.
      3. Read Rev. 12:7.
      4. The Greek word for "war" is polemos, from whence comes our English word, polemics/polemical a synonym for aggressive argument and debate.
      5. The critical point Heaven broke out in war not a war of fists but of competing philosophies not a war of missiles but of dueling minds an intergalactic struggle launched by a rebel angel named Lucifer against the throne of God and Christ Himself portrayed in apocalyptic symbols as the dragon vs. Michael.
      6. Read vv. 7-9.
   3. And what were the attacking accusations and charges that Satan brought against God and Christ in heaven?
      1. For the answer we return to the beginning of the Bible Genesis 3 (p 3).
      2. Remember from our previous "Star Wars" lecture how when God placed Adam and Eve in the garden of Eden He gave them not only the freedom to say YES to Him, but also the freedom to say NO.
         1. Love can't be love if it doesn't give you the right to say both, correct?
         2. And so to provide the opportunity for them to "vote" against Him, God actually placed a tree in the middle of the garden where they could go to register their choice to reject God.
         3. You may recall we even likened that tree to "a voting booth."
         4. Now, God warned them to stay away from that tree that to go there would only bring them heartache and eventual death.
         5. But you remember the story Eve one primeval morning wanders off on her own until she stands all alone beneath the very leaves of the forbidden tree!
         6. But she isn't alone--the enemy of God and the newly created human race was lurking in the boughs, ready and waiting!
      3. Read Genesis 3:1,2.
      4. Now note these next two verses very carefully this is the reason we've returned to this story--because these two verses contain the original accusations Satan made against God--the very same accusations, by the way, that he has been getting hellish mileage from all through the centuries of human history, right down into to tonight!
      5. Read vv 3,4.
      6. Did you catch the devastating insinuations in his hiss?
         1. Come on, Eve, you don't believe everything God tells you, now do you?
         2. Why look you don't die when you eat this fruit.
         3. Are you kidding! God knows that if you eat of this, you'll become as wise and powerful as God Himself.
         4. Which is why He's keeping you away from this tree.
         5. But don't believe Him look at me I can talk think of what could happen to you why you'll become like God Himself!
         6. I'm telling you you can't trust God He only thinks of Himself.
         7. Do this like me, and you'll be freed from God's cruel restrictions.
      7. It doesn't take a rocket scientist to read between the lines and realize the insidious charges Satan is laying before the unsuspecting Eve.
      8. BOTTOM LINE: YOU CAN'T TRUST GOD. PERIOD. BECAUSE HE'S A LIAR. WHICH IS PROOF ENOUGH HE DOESN'T REALLY LOVE YOU. JUST WANTS TO USE YOU.
      9. No wonder Revelation calls the hissing serpent dragon "THE ACCUSER" (in fact, the meaning of the Hebrew word satan, means accuser! he was named very aptly!)
      10. How did Daniel's prophecy describe Satan's modus operandus? "He shall speak POMPOUS WORDS AGAINST THE MOST HIGH."
   4. Returning now to Dan. 7:9,10 please note that it describes how before Christ returns to this earth a court will be seated in heaven, and the books will be opened, and thousands of heavenly beings will be present at that judgment scene AS GOD ALLOWS HIMSELF TO BE PUT ON TRIAL.
   5. But someone may ask, Is the book of Daniel the only place where the Bible speaks about a time when God Himself will be judged?
   6. No it is not let's go to Romans 3 (p 1086) for a moment.
      1. Paul is noting how even when Israel as a nation had been unfaithful to God, God nevertheless had remained faithful to them.
      2. Read Romans 3:3, 4.
      3. Did you catch that that You (capital Y) may overcome when You are judged.
      4. Even though His people were unfaithful to Him, Paul observes, God's unwavering faithfulness will enable Him to overcome on the day when He Himself is judged!
      5. The Bible writers anticipated a time when God Himself would be judged.
      6. Serious charges have been filed against God. "Pompous words" have been "spoken against the Most High." And those charges will have their day in court.
   7. You think about it!
      1. God could have swept the whole story of Lucifer's rebellion under His celestial rugs, couldn't He have?
      2. Why, better yet, He could have instantly nuked Satan and his rebel followers and everyone else for that matter who knew anything about Satan's false accusations against God, and started His entire creation process over again, couldn't He have?
      3. Then why didn't He?
      4. Because number one, God has to live with Himself and the self God lives with is love, self-sacrificing love destroying the evidence was never an option for Him.
      5. And number two, the awful specter of His loyal children living in fear that maybe God might one day turn on them, too, was too much for God to contemplate.
      6. God is love and the only way He could be true to His love was for Him to let Lucifer and his rebel followers (including this fallen human race) have the freedom to hurl their charges and build their case for rebellion against the God of heaven, until there would be finally enough evidence to place before a court of law!
      7. Oh, no God would not wait forever Daniel is clear a date was set for God's final judgment.
      8. Then the sad and tragic story of this Star Wars rebellion would be placed in full before the celestial jury.
      9. But not before Satan had been given the chance to demonstrate what his kingdom would be like were he instead to rule the universe.
      10. Not before it could be shown to the same universe how far God Himself is willing to go to stand faithfully by His friends in order to rescue them and save them for all eternity!
      11. Once the evidence was in, the court would be convened and the books would be opened and the jury would decide!
   8. But what is so stunning about all of this is the revelation that God allows Himself to be put on trial by the onlooking heavenly hosts!
   9. This profound portrait of God reveals a most profound truth!
      1. The security of the universe itself appears to hinge on the outcome of this trial.
      2. Satan's ravaging attacks on God's character must be examined.
      3. Is God untrustworthy as charged? Unfair, unloving, uncompassionate?
      4. Can the universe trust Him for the rest of eternity?
      5. Has He been fair in His treatment of the fallen human race, in His treatment of Lucifer?
      6. God convenes a judgment and opens the record books and places Himself on trial in the evidence.
      7. WHY? Because God's heart longs for a friendship of trust, not a relationship of servile fear.
      8. "I'm not Somebody to be afraid of; I'm Someone to be a friend of."
      9. "You don't have to run from Me; you can run to Me."
      10. Is it true that He has run after the rebel human race with His wide- open embrace?
   10. "And the court was seated and the books were opened."
   11. So that, as we just read, God "may overcome" on the day He is judged.
4. I find it an absolutely breath-taking portrait of God, this picture of the heavenly judgment BEFORE Jesus returns in glory to this earth!
   1. Because it is the portrait of the God who practices FULL DISCLOSURE.
   2. illus: And in a world of political correctness and political hypocrisy, isn't that a refreshing contrast!
      1. Illus: I know a little bit about the politics of the United States and Japan and India and Australia and Yugoslavia and England--having been in all those nations during heated political debates.
         1. And I know that America doesn't have the corner or monopoly on political dodging and ducking of the truth!
         2. Getting a straight forward candid honest and open answer from a politician is a rarity in any nation on earth!
         3. Nobody wants to practice full disclosure, even when the laws of the land demand it!
         4. Which is why political opponents love to cry out "COVER-UP, COVER-UP!"
      2. But when we examine the judgment portrait of God, we discover the breath-takingly refreshing portrayal of FULL DISCLOSURE.
   3. In fact, what we have here is a HEAVENLY AUDIT OF GOD Himself.
      1. illus: The three most dreaded letters here in the United States are not MTV or CNN or ABC or NBC...but rather I.R.S., which stand for the Internal Revenue Service, our government agency that's authorized to collect our taxes doing it any way they think they can, or, at least until just recently, any way they thought they could get away with.
      2. Just speak those three letters IRS and the awful specter haunts every taxpayer of the possibility of an AUDIT!
      3. Because we've all got it figured out that even though we're as honest as we can be, we're sure the IRS will find something wrong of our tax records!
      4. Illus: Which is why there was a massive, collective sigh of relief when the U.S. Congress outlawed the IRS's notorious "audit from hell"!
         1. Or more properly, the Taxpayer Compliance Measurement Program (TCMP), which was a euphimism for the exhaustive and random audits of tens of thousands of taxpayers each year.
         2. Get this--the audits could take up to 30 months for a single taxpayer!
         3. If you underwent this "audit from hell" you were required to prove every single item on your tax return.
         4. Even producing marriage and birth certificates--I suppose just to prove that in fact you had been born!
         5. Well, good news--the "audit from hell" has been outlawed.
   4. But the "audit of heaven" is in full swing even as we speak!
      1. May I remind you of the words of the angel recorded by John in Revelation 14:7, spoken shortly before Jesus returns to the earth as recorded in vss. 14ff.: "Fear God and give glory to Him, for the hour of His judgment has come." [show on screen]
      2. My friends, we live in the time of that judgment, that "audit from heaven" spoken of in Rev. 14:7.
      3. It's the same judgment that Daniel pictures in Daniel 7.
      4. And it is taking place even as we speak tonight.
      5. The amazing prophecy of Daniel declares that God has thrown open the records of His Kingdom and--get this-- HAS SUBMITTED HIMSELF TO AN AUDIT BY HIS OWN CREATION!
      6. "Go ahead and audit My books," says the heavenly Judge as the court convenes and the records are examined.
      7. Full disclosure....what a heart-stirring portrait of God the Judge!
      8. You think about, my friend--here is an even greater truth than the one we've already discovered that says we shall all stand before the judgment!
      9. And that is the truth that GOD HIMSELF WILL STAND UP TO BE JUDGED BEFORE THE UNIVERSE!
      10. And so "The court was seated and the books were opened." (Dan. 7:10)
   5. But I ask you again tonight, what is contained in those books? What is the evidence within the books that can either convict or exonerate God of the charges that Satan has been making against Him all these long centuries?
      1. As we noted last evening, it is clear from the Scriptures that the books of judgment spoken of in the Bible are the detailed records of our own lives and works.
      2. How detailed? Review these texts with me for a moment [show on screen]:
         1. Rev. 20:12 "And all the dead were judged according to their works, by the things which were written in the books."
         2. Ecclesiastes 12:14 "For God will bring every work into judgment, including every secret thing, whether good or evil."
         3. Matthew 12:36 "For every idle word men may speak, they will give account of it in the day of judgment."
         4. I Cor. 4:4,5 "He who judges me is the Lord...who will both bring to light the hidden things of darkness and reveal the counsels of the hearts."
      3. The Bible is clear a "photocopy" as it were of our lives our thoughts, our words, our deeds is kept in the records of heaven.
      4. As we observed earlier, God in this respect is no different than we are He keeps detailed records on His celestial computer hard disks!
      5. And then can you believe it! He takes those records and throws them open to the "jury" of the universe!
         1. You've heard the charges of Satan.
         2. I submit to the court the records of My dealings with the human race.
         3. Examine them for yourselves, and see if those charges are true!
         4. Audit My books, examine My records, and judge My character I have nothing to hide, I have nothing to hedge!
      6. WHAT AN ASTONISHING PORTRAIT OF GOD HE SUBMITS HIMSELF TO A CELESTIAL AUDIT.
      7. And He does it through an examination of the records of our lives yours and mine!
      8. This is, in part, what Paul meant in 1 Corinthians 4:9 [Show on screen] "We have been made a spectacle to the world, both to angels and to men."
         1. Paul had the final judgment in mind when he said this, because just a few verses earlier he had referred to the judgment: [Now show both the 1 Cor. 4:9 text we just quoted and the following text on the screen at the same time.]
         2. 1 Cor. 4:5, "Judge nothing before the time, until the Lord comes, who will both bring to light the hidden things of darkness and reveal the counsels of the hearts."
      9. Ladies and gentlemen, God's government will be judged and His character tried in the lives of His friends!
      10. God declares to His rebel accuser:
          1. "Lucifer has made serious charges against My friends and against Me, universe--BUT LOOK HOW MY LOVE IN FACT HAS TRIUMPHED IN THEIR LIFE STORIES!"
          2. "I HEREBY CONVENE A JUDGMENT AUDIT OF ALL THEIR BOOKS--OPEN THEM AND EXAMINE THE EVIDENCE FOR YOURSELF!"
   6. So the divine court is seated, and the books that record our life stories are opened, and the thousands times ten thousands of heavenly hosts are invited to examine the evidence from those books and render their verdict on the charges that have been brought against God.
5. But a vital question at this point is: How do the records of our lives help answer the charges that God is untrustworthy and unloving?
   1. Illus: One answer to this question is found in Matthew 5 in the Sermon on the Mount, where Jesus told His followers that they could live in such a way, though the power He would give them, that the works they did would bring glory to God.
      1. Let's look up one text there, Matt. 5:16 (p 938).
      2. So as the records of our lives come up in judgment, in some way the works of love and mercy that we have done through the empowerment of God bring glory to Him and vindicate His name.
      3. OPEN THE BOOKS, God commands, AND SEE IF MY KINGDOM OF LOVE COMES SHINING THROUGH IN THE WAY MY FRIENDS HAVE LIVED ON EARTH.
   2. But there is another profound reason the records of our lives help answer Satan's charges against God.
      1. For not only does Satan charge God with being unloving and untrustworthy in His dealings with the human race, he also accuses God of trying to buy off the loyalty of human beings by "bribing" them through special favors and blessings!
      2. HAS GOD BRIBED AND BOUGHT OFF THE LOYALTY OF HIS FRIENDS ON EARTH?
      3. The book of JOB is a classic response to that satanic charge!
      4. Behind the dialogue between God and Satan recorded in the first chapter of Job (go home and read it in your own Bible), Satan appears to be shaking his devilish fist in God's face and shouting:
         1. I dare you to show me one person who is loyal to You when the chips are down, when the heat is turned way up.
         2. Job? Ha! He's a fair-weather friend You've simply bought off by Your blessings.
         3. Take those away, and he will curse You to Your face!
      5. "Alright," God replies, "you may go after Job taking everything he has even his health only you may not take his life."
      6. And so Satan hurries off and brings wave after devastating wave of tragedy upon Job he loses all his possession, all his children are killed, and his own health is broken, so much so that Job longs to die!
      7. But through it all, HOW DOES THIS FRIEND OF GOD RESPOND? Job 13:15 [shown on screen]: "Though He slay me, yet will I trust Him."
      8. Read the Job's story for yourself even though he couldn't understand the reason for the tragedies that befell him, he never let go of his trusting hold on God.
      9. And in the record of Job's trust and faith even when all of God's blessings were removed God triumphed against the diabolical charges of Satan that God buys off His friends!
      10. GOD SUBMITS JOB'S RECORD BOOK TO PROVE absolutely false Satan's charges that God is unloving and can't be trusted, and that God can't evoke true love and loyalty to Him in the hearts of His friends.
   3. Listen, my friends, Satan attacks every one single one of us who trusts in God.
      1. The Job's of this world make him furious, because well he knows that their faithful trusting of God is prime evidence refuting his own satanic charges!
      2. That's why Satan keeps coming after you even in the midst of this NeXt Millennium Seminar simply because he wants to break your decision, your radical obedience to God, he wants to crush your growing friendship with your Savior.
      3. YOUR LOYALTY TO GOD PROVES SATAN'S CHARGES ARE FALSE.
      4. Which is why Satan keeps turning up the heat in your life!
      5. illus: It's like the electric burners on your stove...or our stove at home.
         1. You can put it on low...and you can hardly tell the heat is on...save for holding your hand and feeling the warmth.
         2. But have you noticed that with every notch that you turn the adjustment knob there is a change in state of that coil.
         3. low...low med....med....med high...
         4. And if you crank that knob all the way around to HIGH.....watch the colors change.
         5. What was cold and black becomes searing and fiery orange....red yellow orange... that enflames any combustible item that touches the red-hot coil.
      6. I'm going to turn the heat way up, God, when we get to the end...and I'm going to prove to You and the watching universe that the people You're counting on will burn up and burn out in the end!
   4. Ah, but I have good news for you: The Bible declares God will have a people, friends of His who will come through the tribulations of life with their love and trust for Him still intact.
      1. Illus: Notice how Rev. 7:14 says that [show on screen]: Those who are saved "...are the ones who come out of the great tribulation, and washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb."
      2. Listen, we all have different kinds pressures and times of trials in our lives.
      3. And so the faith that each of us has in God will be tested differently.
      4. But, my friends, God can be trusted.
      5. He has promised to see us through!
      6. If we don't give up on Him, He will not give up on us.
      7. In fact this text declares that if we will put our trust in Jesus, who gave His own life for us His sacrificial death will cleanse the records of our lives and make us ready for His kingdom.
      8. That's what it means to wash our robes and make them white in the blood of the Lamb!
   5. And when you think about that will be the ultimate exonerating evidence before the celestial jury, will it not?
      1. The greatest testimony in the universe entered into the judgment evidence will be the crimson testimony of the blood of the Lamb!
      2. The testimony of Jesus' unselfish life of service and love for us runaway rebel children, the testimony of His sacrificial death for us there is the evidence that will shatter and ultimately silence charges of Satan against the throne of God.
      3. For in the gift of Jesus it will be seen and shown that God has emptied His heart of love to save us sinners.
      4. IS GOD TRUSTWORTHY, IS HE LOVE, IS HE TRULY THE FRIEND OF THE UNIVERSE, THE FRIEND OF SINNERS?
      5. In the shadows of the cross, there can only be one answer.
      6. YES, YES, and a thousand times, YES.
6. In closing I want to share with you a story my friend Mark Finley shared with me.
   1. Illus: It's about the time he and his family were taking a tour of the Royal Mint in London, England.
      1. This is the place where the great treasury of the United Kingdom preserves and measures the sterling reserves for the British pound currency.
      2. Along the tour they came to a room that contained the finely-tuned electronic scales or balances that weighed out the monetary sterling.
      3. As they approached the electronic machine, the tour guide held up two sheets of identical white paper--"I will now demonstrate to you the extremely sensitive accuracy of these high-tech scales."
      4. Carefully he placed the two sheets of paper on opposite ends of the balance.
      5. And sure enough, after teetering back and forth, the balances soon came to rest in a position of perfect balance--the electronic readout declared it so.
      6. The guide then removed one of the sheets of paper--and as soon as he did, the balance dropped to the side that still held a sheet.
      7. "Now, would one of you please lend me a pen?"
      8. The guide took the proffered pen and scribbled his signature on that piece.
      9. "Now watch" he instructed, as he returned the signatured piece of paper back onto the balance.
      10. And as everyone stared at the electronic calibrations, they watched as the sheet with the signature on it tipped the balance in its favor!
      11. All it took to tip the balance in its favor was the signature of a name!
   2. And that, my friends, is the truth about the judgment and God and Jesus and you and me ALL IT WILL TAKE TO TIP THE JUDGMENT SCALES IN YOUR FAVOR, IN MY FAVOR, WILL BE THE CRIMSON SIGNATURE OF JESUS UPON THE RECORDS OF OUR LIVES.
      1. The scarlet signature of divine love poured out in the life and death of Jesus are God's irrefutable evidence that the charges of Satan are false.
      2. The crimson letters of Calvary written upon the pages of your life are God's guarantee that the judgment will be in your favor.
      3. So why fear the judgment and the books that are opened there?
      4. For through one death God exonerates two lives His and yours, if you'll trust yours to Him.
      5. You have His Word on it the Word of Jesus, with which we close tonight--John 5:24 (p 1030) [show on screen, too]: "Most assuredly, I say to you, he who hears My word and believes in Him who sent Me has everlasting life, and shall not come into judgment, but has passed from death to life."
      6. All it takes is His signature in your book.
      7. Why not ask Him to sign it right now?

Further Study:

Discover Guide - Your Home In Heaven     (Lecture Study Guide from Discover Bible School)

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