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SERIES: THE REVELATION OF JESUS CHRIST, WEEK 80

TITLE: THE GREAT WHITE THRONE JUDGMENT

TEXT: REVELATION 20:11-15

INTRODUCTION: (1) THE FINAL TRIAL IN THE COURTROOM OF GOD WILL BE VASTLY DIFFERENT FROM A CRIMINAL TRIAL IN OUR LAND TODAY.

* LET ME EXPLAIN. IN THE LAST COURTROOM SCENE THAT WILL EVER TAKE PLACE CALLED THE GREAT WHITE THRONE JUDGMENT, THERE WILL BE A JUDGE, BUT NO JURY.

** THERE WILL BE A PROSECUTOR, BUT NO DEFENSE ATTORNEY.

*** THERE WILL BE A CHARGE, AN INDICTMENT, BUT NO DEFENSE MOUNTED OR GIVEN BY THE ACCUSED.

**** FOR THE EVIDENCE FOR GUILT WILL BE PRESENTED WITH NO CROSS-EXAMINATION, NO REBUTTAL AND NO ARGUMENTS.

(2) THERE IS NO DEBATE OVER GUILT OR INNOCENCE.

* AND WHEN THE GUILTY VERDICT IS ANNOUNCED, THERE WILL BE NO APPEAL PROCESS AND NO POSSIBILITY FOR PAROLE EVER.

** NOW SOME OF YOU MIGHT BE THINKING, RAY, WHAT A TRAVESTY OF JUSTICE! WHAT A MOCKERY OF WHAT IS EQUITABLE, IT’S JUST NOT RIGHT! IT’S JUST NOT FAIR! WHAT A KANGAROO COURT!

*** WELL, LET ME SAY, HUMAN BEINGS ARE NOT GOOD IN JUDGING WHAT IS FAIR WHEN IT COMES TO GOD’S DECISIONS.

**** FOR WE IN OUR HUMANNESS ARE BIASED, WE ARE LIMITED, WE ARE INFLUENCED BY OUR FALLENNESS AND DEPRAVITY AND THUS WE ARE NOT IN A POSITION AS CREATURES TO DETERMINE WHETHER WHAT THE CREATOR DOES IS RIGHT.

(3) WE ARE LIMITED, GOD IS NOT. WE ARE RESPECTERS OF PERSONS, GOD IS NOT. WE ARE UNJUST, GOD IS JUST. WE ARE SINFUL, GOD IS HOLY, WE ARE FALLIBLE, GOD IS INFALLIBLE.

* WE ARE FINITE, GOD IS INFINITE. WE ARE NOT ALL KNOWING, BUT GOD IS ALL KNOWING. WE ARE UNHOLY REBELS AND GOD IS HOLY, JUST AND RIGHTEOUS.

** SO WHY WOULD WE EVEN THINK IN OUR PUNINESS WE HAVE THE ABILITY TO DETERMINE WHAT IS FAIR AND JUST WHEN IT COMES TO GOD.

*** AND WHEN WE DO WE ONLY GIVE EVIDENCE OF OUR WICKED PRIDE. AND HERE IS MY DEFENSE OF WHAT I HAVE COMMUNICATED SO FAR.

**** PSALM 145:17 SAYS: (READ IT).

(4) PSALM 50:6 SAYS: “AND THE HEAVENS DECLARE HIS RIGHTEOUSNESS, FOR GOD HIMSELF IS JUDGE. SELAH”

* PSALM 89:14 SAYS: “RIGHTEOUSNESS AND JUSTICE ARE THE FOUNDATION OF YOUR THRONE; LOVINGKINDNESS AND TRUTH GO BEFORE YOU.”

** PSALM 97:2 SAYS: “CLOUDS AND THICK DARKNESS SURROUND HIM; RIGHTEOUSNESS AND JUSTICE ARE THE FOUNDATION OF HIS THRONE.”

*** PSALM 99:3 SAYS: “LET THEM PRAISE YOUR GREAT AND AWESOME NAME; HOLY IS HE.”

**** DEUTERONOMY 32:4 SAYS: “THE ROCK! HIS WORK IS PERFECT, FOR ALL HIS WAYS ARE JUST; A GOD OF FAITHFULNESS AND WITHOUT INJUSTICE, RIGHTEOUS AND UPRIGHT IS HE.”

(5) AND THEN IN GENESIS 18:22-25 ABRAHAM APPEALS TO GOD ABOUT DESTROYING SODOM AND GOMORRAH AND SAYS:

V. 22 – THEN THE MEN TURNED AWAY FROM THERE AND WENT TOWARD SODOM, WHILE ABRAHAM WAS STILL STANDING BEFORE THE LORD.

V. 23 – ABRAHAM CAME NEAR AND SAID, “WILL YOU INDEED SWEEP AWAY THE RIGHTEOUS WITH THE WICKED?”

V. 24 – “SUPPOSE THERE ARE FIFTY RIGHTEOUS WITHIN THE CITY; WILL YOU INDEED SWEEP IT AWAY AND NOT SPARE THE PLACE FOR THE SAKE OF THE FIFTY RIGHTEOUS WHO ARE IN IT?”

V. 25 – “FAR BE IT FROM YOU TO DO SUCH A THING, TO SLAY THE RIGHTEOUS WITH THE WICKED, SO THAT THE RIGHTEOUS AND THE WICKED ARE TREATED ALIKE. FAR BE IT FROM YOU! SHALL NOT THE JUDGE OF ALL THE EARTH DEAL JUSTLY?”

* NOW WHAT IS THE ANSWER TO THAT QUESTION AT THE END OF V. 25? WELL, GOD CAN ONLY DEAL JUSTLY, IT’S IMPOSSIBLE FOR HIM TO DO OTHERWISE AS GOD.

** BELOVED GOD IS INCAPABLE OF INJUSTICE, IT IS IMPOSSIBLE FOR HIM TO BE UNJUST, FOR HE IS HOLY.

*** NOW, WITH THAT SAID, WE COME TO REVELATION 20:11-15 AND OUR STUDY OF THE HOLY JUDGE AT THE GREAT WHITE THRONE JUDGMENT WHERE THERE IS NO JURY, NO I OBJECT, NO ARGUING AND NO APPEAL.

**** WHY? THE HOLY JUDGE IS ON THE THRONE, THE MOST HONORABLE AND HOLY ONE – JESUS CHRIST!

(6) AND HE WILL RENDER A HOLY VERDICT AND SENTENCE TO EVERY UNSAVED PERSON OF ALL TIME AT THIS TRIBUNAL.

* AND JOHN IN REVELATION 20:11-15 DESCRIBES GOD’S FINAL JUDGMENT, HE DESCRIBES THE VICTORY OF GOD OVER THE LAST OF HIS ENEMIES, WHICH USHERS IN THE NEW HEAVENS AND THE NEW EARTH IN REVELATION 21&22.

** AND REVELATION 20:11-15 SETS BEFORE US ONE OF THE MOST SOLEMN SCENES IN THE BIBLE.

*** JOHN MACARTHUR CALLS IT “THE MOST SERIOUS, SOBERING AND TRAGIC PASSAGE IN THE ENTIRE BIBLE.”

**** AND BELOVED, THE SCENE BEFORE US TODAY IS FRIGHTENING.

(7) FOR TODAY, WE COME TO THE GREAT WHITE THRONE JUDGMENT, WHICH IS THE TITLE OF OUR STUDY.

* AND WE’LL LOOK AT 4 THINGS IN REVELATION 20:11-15. NO. 1 THE PLACE OF THIS JUDGMENT, V. 11; NO. 2 THE PEOPLE IN THIS JUDGMENT, V. 12; THE PURPOSE OF THIS TRIBUNAL, V. 13; AND NO. 4 THE PUNISHMENT GIVEN AT THIS JUDGMENT, THE PENALTY, VV. 14&15

** AND WITH THAT OUTLINE AS A ROADMAP FOR US TO NAVIGATE THROUGH REVELATION 20:11-15, LET’S BEGIN BY LOOKING AT OUR FIRST POINT, THE PLACE. LOOK AT REVELATION 20:11 PLEASE.

I. THE PLACE, (READ V. 11)

A. NOW FOR THE FOURTH TIME IN REVELATION CHAPTER 20 JOHN USES THE FAMILIAR PHRASE IN THE BOOK OF REVELATION, “I SAW.”

* AND THIS PHRASE REMINDS US THAT JOHN IS AN EYE WITNESS OF THE EVENTS BEFORE US REVEALED TO HIM IN A VISION OF THINGS TO COME WHILE HE WAS EXILED ON THE ISLAND OF PATMOS FOR HIS FAITH.

** NOW WHAT DOES JOHN SEE HERE? WELL, HE SEES A GREAT WHITE THRONE.

*** AND THE WORD THRONE IS USED 42 TIMES IN MY BIBLE IN THE BOOK OF REVELATION. BUT THIS THRONE IS TO BE DISTINGUISHED FROM THE OTHER THRONES USED IN THE BOOK FOR IT IS CALLED A GREAT WHITE THRONE.

**** AND THE WORD GREAT IS THE GREEK WORD MEGAS FROM WHICH WE GET OUR ENGLISH WORD MEGA. AND MOST LIKELY THIS THRONE IS NOT ONLY HUGE BUT ALSO IS GREAT BECAUSE OF IT’S SIGNIFICANCE.

1. FOR IT IS WHITE, WHICH SPEAKS OF GOD’S HOLINESS, RIGHTEOUSNESS, PURITY AND JUSTICE.

* BELOVED, THIS THRONE IS MAJESTIC AND COMMUNICATES THE ABSOLUTE RIGHTEOUSNESS WITH WHICH JUDGMENT IS DISPENSED FROM IT, FROM WHICH HOLY VERDICTS ARE RENDERED.

** NOW NEXT JOHN SEES THE ONE WHO SITS ON IT. AND THE ONE WHO IS SITTING ON IT IS NOT IDENTIFIED, BUT WE KNOW WHO IT IS FROM OTHER SCRIPTURES.

*** FOR JOHN 5:22 MAKES IT VERY CLEAR, FOR OUR SAVIOR THE LORD JESUS MAKES THIS STATEMENT: “FOR NOT EVEN THE FATHER JUDGES ANYONE, BUT HE HAS GIVEN ALL JUDGMENT TO THE SON.”

**** AND THEN CHRIST ADDS IN THAT SAME CONTEXT A FEW VERSES LATER IN JOHN 5:26&27, THIS:

V. 26 – “FOR JUST AS THE FATHER HAS LIFE IN HIMSELF, EVEN SO HE GAVE TO THE SON ALSO TO HAVE LIFE IN HIMSELF;

V. 27 – AND HE GAVE HIM AUTHORITY TO EXECUTE JUDGMENT, BECAUSE HE IS THE SON OF MAN.”

2. AND THEN II TIMOTHY 4:1 SAYS: (READ IT).

* AND SOME OTHER SCRIPTURES THAT COMMUNICATE THAT CHRIST IS THE JUDGE APPOINTED BY HIS FATHER ARE FOUND IN ACTS 10:42, ACTS 17:31 AND ROMANS 2:16.

** SO THE ONE SITTING ON THIS GREAT WHITE THRONE IS THE HOLY JUDGE OF ALL THE EARTH, THE LORD JESUS CHRIST.

*** BUT NOTICE AT THE END OF V. 11, THAT AFTER JOHN SPEAKS ABOUT THE GREAT WHITE THRONE, HE DESCRIBES THE MAJESTY AND POWER OF THE ONE SITTING ON IT BY SAYING, “FROM WHOSE PRESENCE (THE LORD JESUS’ PRESENCE), EARTH AND HEAVEN FLED AWAY AND NO PLACE WAS FOUND FOR THEM.”

**** WHICH MEANS THE EARTH AND THE HEAVENS ARE DESTROYED AND WILL BE REPLACED BY A NEW HEAVEN AND A NEW EARTH.

3. THE IDEA IS THAT THE PRESENT HEAVEN AND EARTH FLED AWAY INTO NOTHINGNESS, THEY DISSOLVED OR DISSIPATED AND NO PLACE WAS FOUND FOR THEM TO EXIST.

* AND THE WORDS OF PETER GIVES US THE DETAILS OF THIS CATACLYSMIC JUDGMENT UPON THE HEAVENS AND THE EARTH WHERE HE WAS INSPIRED TO SAY IN II PETER 3:10-13:

** II PETER 3:10 – “BUT THE DAY OF THE LORD WILL COME LIKE A THIEF, IN WHICH THE HEAVENS WILL PASS AWAY WITH A ROAR AND THE ELEMENTS WILL BE DESTROYED WITH INTENSE HEAT, AND THE EARTH AND ITS WORKS WILL BE BURNED UP.

V. 11 – SINCE ALL THESE THINGS ARE TO BE DESTROYED IN THIS WAY, WHAT SORT OF PEOPLE OUGHT YOU TO BE IN HOLY CONDUCT AND GODLINESS,

V. 12 – LOOKING FOR AND HASTENING THE COMING OF THE DAY OF GOD, BECAUSE OF WHICH THE HEAVENS WILL BE DESTROYED BY BURNING, AND THE ELEMENTS WILL MELT WITH INTENSE HEAT!

V. 13 – BUT ACCORDING TO HIS PROMISE WE ARE LOOKING FOR NEW HEAVENS AND A NEW EARTH, IN WHICH RIGHTEOUSNESS DWELLS.

*** NOW BEYOND THIS TEXT JESUS SAID IN MATTHEW 24:35, MARK 13:31 AND LUKE 21:23 (READ MATTHEW 24:35).

**** AND BEYOND THESE TEXTS JESUS SAID IN LUKE 16:17: (READ IT).

4. NOW THIS IS NO BIG DEAL FOR THE CREATOR TO DO THIS, FOR HE SPOKE THE HEAVENS AND EARTH INTO EXISTENCE AND NOW WILL UNCREATE EVERYTHING.

* DONALD BARNHOUSE WROTE IN HIS COMMENTARY ON REVELATION AND I QUOTE: “THERE IS TO BE AN END OF THE MATERIAL HEAVENS AND EARTH WHICH WE KNOW. IT IS NOT THAT THEY ARE TO BE PURIFIED AND REHABILITATED, BUT THAT THE REVERSE OF CREATION IS TO TAKE PLACE. THEY ARE TO BE UNCREATED, AS THEY CAME FROM NOTHING AT THE WORD OF GOD, THEY ARE TO BE SUCKED BACK INTO NOTHINGNESS BY THE SAME WORD OF GOD.” (END QUOTE)

** NOW AGAIN THE DETAILS OF GOD’S UNCREATION OF THE UNIVERSE ARE GIVEN IN II PETER 3:10-13 WHICH WE HAVE ALREADY LOOKED AT.

*** BUT SPEAKING ABOUT THAT TEXT JOHN RITCHIE IN HIS COMMENTARY ON REVELATION SAID THIS AND I QUOTE:

**** “THE WORDS OF PETER DESCRIBE THE DETAIL OF THE CATACLYSMIC END TO THIS CREATION; THE HEAVENS, BOTH THE ATMOSPHERIC AND THE STELLAR, WILL PASS AWAY WITH A GREAT NOISE.

5. UNBELIEVING EVOLUTIONISTS SAY THE COSMOS BEGAN WITH A “BIG BANG”; GOD SAYS IT WILL END WITH IT.

* THE ELEMENTS, THE BASIC BUILDING UNITS OF THE MATERIAL UNIVERSE RIGHT DOWN TO THE CONSTITUENT PARTICLES OF THE ATOM, WILL HAVE THEIR BINDING FORCES RELEASED (THE SCRIPTURAL WORD IS “DISSOLVED: II PETER 3:11). THE ACCOMPANYING ENERGY RELEASES THE “FERVENT HEAT” THAT ENGULFS CREATION. THE STATEMENT IS EXPLICIT “THE EARTH ALSO AND THE WORKS THAT ARE THEREIN SHALL BE BURNED UP,” WORDS COULD SCARCELY BE CLEARER.” (END QUOTE)

** NOW WITH THAT SAID, WHEN JOHN SEES THE GREAT WHITE THRONE AND CHRIST SITTING ON IT, HE SEES THE DESTRUCTION OR UNCREATION OF THE EARTH AND THE HEAVENS AS THEY PASS AWAY.

*** AND THIS IS TALKED ABOUT IN REVELATION 21:1 WHICH SAYS: “THEN I SAW A NEW HEAVEN AND A NEW EARTH; FOR THE FIRST HEAVEN AND THE FIRST EARTH PASSED AWAY, AND THERE IS NO LONGER ANY SEA.”

**** NOW PROBABLY AS THE EARTH IS DESTROYED, RIGHT BEFORE THAT TIME, THE SEA GAVE UP IT’S DEAD AND THE GRAVES OF UNSAVED PEOPLE IN THE EARTH ARE RESURRECTED, WHICH WE’LL SEE IN V. 13.

6. FOR JOHN SEES THE DEAD STANDING BEFORE THE LORD IN V. 12, BUT THEIR RESURRECTION, WHICH IS THE 2’D RESURRECTION TAKES PLACE IN V. 13.

* BUT JOHN IS JUST GIVING US A GENERAL OVERVIEW OF WHAT HE SAW, I SAW, V. 11, I SAW, V. 12 AND I SAW, REVELATION 21:1, BUT AT THIS GENERAL TIME, THE EARTH AND HEAVENS ARE DESTROYED.

** AND THE PLACE WHERE JOHN SEES THIS IS FROM THE GREAT WHITE THRONE AND THE ONE SITTING ON IT.

*** WHICH LEADS US TO V. 12, WHERE PEOPLE ARE SEEN STANDING BEFORE THIS GREAT WHITE THRONE, SO LOOK AT V. 12 PLEASE WHERE WE’LL SEE OUR 2’D POINT, THE PEOPLE.

II. THE PEOPLE, (READ V. 12)

A. NOW THE NEXT THING JOHN SEES IS PEOPLE STANDING BEFORE THE GREAT WHITE THRONE.

* AND THEY ARE IDENTIFIED AS THE DEAD, SPECIFICALLY THE RESURRECTED UNSAVED DEAD WHICH WILL BE CLEARER IN V. 13.

** AND THE TITLE OF THE DEAD REFERS BACK TO “THE REST OF THE DEAD” IN V. 5 OF THIS CHAPTER AND HAS REFERENCE TO ALL THE UNBELIEVERS OF ALL TIME.

*** SO THE UNSAVED DEAD FROM ALL TIME ARE STANDING BEFORE THE GREAT WHITE THRONE.

**** AND THE ADJECTIVES GREAT AND SMALL ARE USED TO TALK ABOUT THESE PEOPLE WHICH MAKES REFERENCE TO ALL CLASSES OF UNSAVED PEOPLE, FROM ALL SOCIAL STRATA, ALL WALKS OF LIFE, FROM THE RICH AND FAMOUS TO THE POOR.

**** AND BEFORE THE GREAT WHITE THRONE, THERE IS NO RESPECT OF PERSONS BEFORE CHRIST, FOR COLOSSIANS 3:25 SAYS: (READ IT). ALSO READ I PETER 1:17.

1. NOW THERE IS NO PARTIALITY AT THIS THRONE OF JUDGMENT, FOR AS WE SEE IN THE NEXT PHRASE OF V. 12, “THE BOOKS WERE OPENED.”

* AND WHAT ARE IN THESE BOOKS IS BROUGHT FORTH AT THE END OF V. 12, “AND THE DEAD WERE JUDGED FROM THE THINGS WHICH WERE WRITTEN IN THE BOOKS, ACCORDING TO THEIR DEEDS.”

** SO THE UNSAVED DEAD ARE JUDGED FOR THEIR DEEDS, LIT. FROM THEIR WORKS, FROM HOW THEY HAVE LIVED.

*** AND GOD OBVIOUSLY HAS A RECORD KEEPING SYSTEM IN HIS OMNISCIENCE, BEING ALL KNOWING, AND RECORDS THE DEEDS, THE WORKS, THE SINS OF UNSAVED PEOPLE IN WORDS, ACTIONS AND THOUGHTS.

**** AND THOSE DEEDS AND ACTIONS WILL BE THE FRUIT THAT WILL GIVE EVIDENCE THAT THEY ARE NOT SAVED AND THEIR NAMES ARE NOT WRITTEN IN THE BOOK OF LIFE.

2. THE BOOKS ARE IN A SENSE VOUCHERS, EVIDENCES, DOCUMENTS THAT VERIFY THAT THESE PEOPLE HAVE NEVER COME TO CHRIST FOR SALVATION, THUS THEIR NAMES ARE NOT IN THE BOOK OF LIFE.

* AND OF COURSE SALVATION IS BY GRACE ALONE, THROUGH FAITH ALONE IN CHRIST ALONE, BUT HOLY DEEDS AND RIGHTEOUS ACTIONS AND GOOD FRUIT GIVE EVIDENCE OF FAITH.

** AND BECAUSE THESE PEOPLE DO NOT HAVE THEIR NAMES IN THE BOOK OF LIFE, THERE WILL BE NO HOLY RIGHTEOUS FRUIT WHICH CHRIST WILL USE TO SHOW HIS JUST CONDEMNATION OF THEM IN V. 15.

*** SO WHAT IS REVEALED HERE BY THE BOOKS AND THE BOOK OF LIFE IS THE CONFIRMATION OF ONE’S DESTINY BY MEANS OF GOD’S WRITTEN RECORDS.

**** AND TWO QUICK THINGS BEFORE I MOVE ON TO V. 13.

3. NO. 1 THE BOOK OF LIFE IS THE RECORD OF GOD’S ELECT FROM THE FOUNDATION OF THE WORLD.

* FOR IF YOU RECALL, REVELATION 13:8 SAYS: “ALL WHO DWELL ON THE EARTH WILL WORSHIP HIM, EVERYONE WHOSE NAME HAS NOT BEEN WRITTEN FROM THE FOUNDATION OF THE WORLD IN THE BOOK OF LIFE OF THE LAMB WHO HAS BEEN SLAIN.”

** THEN REVELATION 17:8 SAYS: “THE BEAST THAT YOU SAW WAS, AND IS NOT, AND IS ABOUT TO COME UP OUT OF THE ABYSS AND GO TO DESTRUCTION. AND THOSE WHO DWELL ON THE EARTH, WHOSE NAME HAS NOT BEEN WRITTEN IN THE BOOK OF LIFE FROM THE FOUNDATION OF THE WORLD, WILL WONDER WHEN THEY SEE THE BEAST, THAT HE WAS AND IS NOT AND WILL COME.”

*** NOW MY POINT FROM THESE TWO VERSES, AND IN FACT FROM THE N.T., 7 TIMES IN THE N.T. BELIEVERS ARE IDENTIFIED AS THOSE WHOSE NAMES ARE WRITTEN IN THE BOOK OF LIFE.

**** AND THE BOOK OF LIFE, THE BOOK OF ETERNAL LIFE, WHICH BELONGS TO THE LAMB, THE LORD JESUS, IS THE REGISTRY, THE ROLL, THE DIVINE SCROLL, THE BOOK IN WHICH GOD INSCRIBED THE NAMES OF THOSE CHOSEN BY HIM FOR SALVATION BEFORE THE FOUNDATION OF THE WORLD SPEAKING OF ETERNITY PAST.

4. NO. 2 AND I DON’T HAVE A LOT OF TIME TO DEVELOP THIS, BUT WORKS AND DEEDS ARE JUDGED AT THE GREAT WHITE THRONE ALSO TO DISPLAY THE ABSOLUTE JUSTICE OF GOD.

* AND THAT JUSTICE WILL BE MADE MANIFEST BY CHRIST DETERMINE THEIR DEGREE OF PUNISHMENT IN THE LAKE OF FIRE.

** IN OTHER WORDS, THEIR DEEDS WILL DETERMINE THEIR DEGREE OF GUILT THAT WILL DETERMINE THEIR DEGREE OF PUNISHMENT.

*** FOR PASSAGES LIKE MARK 12:38-40 DESCRIBES WHO “WILL RECEIVE GREATER CONDEMNATION.”

*** IN MATTHEW 11:21-24 IN REBUKING SEVERAL CITIES FOR THEIR UNBELIEF SAYS: “IT WILL BE MORE TOLERABLE FOR TYRE AND SIDON IN THE DAY OF JUDGMENT THAN FOR YOU.”

**** THIS TRUTH IS ALSO COMMUNICATED IN MATTHEW 10:14&15.

5. AND THEN IN HEBREWS 10:29 THE WRITER OF HEBREWS ASKS: “HOW MUCH SEVERER PUNISHMENT DO YOU THINK HE WILL DESERVE WHO HAS TRAMPLED UNDER FOOT THE SON OF GOD, AND HAS REGARDED AS UNCLEAN THE BLOOD OF THE COVENANT BY WHICH HE WAS SANCTIFIED, AND HAS INSULTED THE SPIRIT OF GRACE?”

* SO CERTAINLY SCRIPTURE COMMUNICATES GREAT PUNISHMENT, GREATER CONDEMNATION AND VARYING DEGREES OF PUNISHMENT IN THE LAKE OF FIRE.

** AND A QUOTE FROM JOHN MACARTHUR IS HELPFUL AT THIS POINT FROM HIS 2’D COMMENTARY IN REVELATION AND I QUOTE: “IT SHOULD BE NOTED THAT WHILE THERE ARE VARYING DEGREES OF PUNISHMENT IN HELL, EVERYONE THERE WILL SUFFER INTOLERABLE, INDESCRIBABLE MISERY AND TORMENT. ALL SINNERS IN HELL WILL BE UTTERLY SEPARATED FROM GOD AND ALL THAT COMES FROM HIS GOODNESS. THUS, THEY WILL BE MISERABLE, BUT NOT EQUALLY MISERABLE.” (END QUOTE)

*** SO ALL THE PEOPLE IN HELL WILL SUFFER, BUT TO VARYING DEGREES.

**** AND MOVING ON BECAUSE OF TIME, WE’VE LOOKED AT THE PLACE, THE PEOPLE AND THIRDLY TODAY, THE PURPOSE. LOOK AT V. 13 PLEASE.

III. THE PURPOSE, (READ V. 13)

A. NOW THE PURPOSE OF THE GREAT WHITE THRONE IS JUDGMENT FOR THE LAST PART OF V. 13 SAYS: “AND THEY WERE JUDGED EVERY ONE OF THEM ACCORDING TO THEIR DEEDS.”

* NOW JUDGMENT OF THE UNSAVED IS THE PURPOSE OF THE GREAT WHITE THRONE, BUT FOR THAT TO HAPPEN, THE UNSAVED MUST BE RESURRECTED.

** THE CRIMINALS ARE SUMMONED FROM THEIR CELLS TO APPEAR BEFORE THE HOLY JUDGE AS THEIR COURTROOM DRAMA UNFOLDS.

*** AND FOR THAT TO HAPPEN, BEFORE THE SEA WENT OUT OF EXISTENCE, IT GAVE UP THE DEAD WHICH WERE IN IT.

**** AND THIS PHRASE REMINDS US, NOT EVERYONE IS BURIED, FOR OVER THE CENTURIES MANY HAVE DIED AT SEA AND WERE NEVER RECOVERED, SO WERE NEVER OFFICIALLY BURIED IN A GRAVE.

1. ALSO THE ENTIRE POPULATION OF THE EARTH DROWNED WITH THE EXCEPTION OF NOAH’S FAMILY IN GENESIS.

* SO A LOT OF PEOPLE HAVE NEVER BEEN BURIED IN THE GROUND OR ARE AT THE BOTTOM OF THE SEA AND EVEN THEY WILL BE RESURRECTED, ALTHOUGH THEIR BODIES HAVE NEVER BEEN RECOVERED.

** AND THE SEA REFERENCE MAY COMMUNICATE GOD CAN RESURRECT A BODY FROM ANYWHERE, AND I MIGHT ADD EVEN THOSE WHO HAVE BEEN CREMATED. WE ALL GO BACK TO DUST ONE WAY OR ANOTHER SPEAKING OF OUR PHYSICAL BODIES.

*** AND WHETHER DUST IS SCATTERED, THROWN INTO THE SEA, AT THE BOTTOM OF THE SEA OR IN AN EARTHLY GRAVE, GOD WILL RESURRECT THEM.

**** AND BY THE WAY, THE ONES RESURRECTION HERE ARE THE ONES NOT RESURRECTED IN THE FIRST RESURRECTION IN REVELATION 20:5: “THE REST OF THE DEAD (THE UNSAVED DEAD) DID NOT COME TO LIFE UNTIL THE THOUSAND YEARS WERE COMPLETED. THIS IS THE FIRST RESURRECTION.”

2. NOW WHAT DO WE HAVE IN REVELATION 20:13? THE 2’D RESURRECTION, THE RESURRECTION OF THE UNSAVED DEAD.

* AND THIS IS FURTHER DESCRIBED BY THE TERM DEATH IN THE REST OF V. 13, “AND DEATH AND HADES GAVE UP THE DEAD WHICH WERE IN THEM.”

** AND DEATH REPRESENTS THOSE WHO HAVE DIED AND THAT ARE BURIED.

*** SO THE SEA AND DEATH GIVING UP THEIR DEAD MAKES REFERENCE TO THE “RESURRECTION OF BODIES.”

**** THE RESURRECTION OF THE PHYSICAL PART OF PEOPLE, WHEREAS, HADES THE TEMPORARY PLACE OF TORMENT FOR THE UNSAVED UNTIL THE LAKE OF FIRE, HADES GIVES UP THE SPIRITS OR SOULS OF THE UNSAVED.

3. WHICH IS ANOTHER EVIDENCE THAT THIS JUDGMENT IS NOT THE JUDGMENT OF THE SAVED, BUT OF THE UNSAVED, FOR THE SAVED ARE NOT IN HADES.

* SO THE IDEA IS THE SEA WILL YIELD UP THE BODIES IN IT AND THE GRAVES HERE REPRESENTED BY DEATH WILL DELIVER UP THE BODIES OF ALL THE UNSAVED WHO HAVE BEEN INTERRED. AND THE UNSAVED DEAD ARE GIVEN RESURRECTION BODIES SUITED FOR ETERNAL PUNISHMENT.

** AND HADES WILL GIVE UP THE SOULS OF THOSE WHO DIED WITHOUT CHRIST. AND THE BODIES AND SOULS OF UNSAVED PEOPLE WILL BE REUNITED TO STAND BEFORE CHRIST AND BE JUDGED.

*** AND THIS JUDGMENT OF THEIR DEEDS OR WORKS WILL DETERMINE THEIR DEGREE OF PUNISHMENT IN THE LAKE OF FIRE.

**** AND PUNISHMENT IN THE LAKE OF FIRE IS THE THEME OF VV. 14&15 WHERE WE’LL SEE OUR LAST POINT TODAY, THE PUNISHMENT. LOOK AT V. 14 PLEASE.

IV. THE PUNISHMENT, (READ V. 14)

A. NOW AS THE SENTENCE IS PASSED ON THE UNSAVED FROM CHRIST, DEATH AND HADES MEANING THE GRAVE AND THE TEMPORARY PLACE OF TORMENT WILL BE THROWN INTO THE LAKE OF FIRE, MEANING THEY WILL GO OUT OF EXISTENCE, THEY WILL BE NO MORE, SWALLOWED UP BY THE LAKE OF FIRE.

* BELOVED, THE GRAVE AND HADES HAVE NO FURTHER PART TO PLAY IN THE PURPOSES OF GOD SO THEY ARE CAST INTO THE LAKE OF FIRE, BANISHED THERE FOREVER.

** NO LONGER WILL DEATH AND THE GRAVE HAVE POWER TO TAKE LIFE.

*** AND THEN WE HAVE THE EXPRESSION, THIS IS THE 2’D DEATH, THE LAKE OF FIRE.

1. AND THE FIRST DEATH WAS A PHYSICAL DEATH, AND ALL OF OUR LIVES WILL END PHYSICALLY, BUT THOSE WITHOUT CHRIST WILL FACE ETERNAL DEATH, FOREVER DEATH, SEPARATION FROM GOD IN TORMENT FOREVER.

* SO THE 2’D DEATH IS THE LAKE OF FIRE, THE 2’D DEATH TAKES PLACE FOREVER IN THE LAKE OF FIRE.

** AND THE PEOPLE WHO WILL BE THERE ARE SPECIFICALLY DESCRIBED IN V. 15. LOOK AT V. 15 PLEASE.

B. READ V. 15. NOW WHO IS THROWN INTO THE LAKE OF FIRE, BY THE WAY, THE SAME LAKE OF FIRE THAT SATAN WAS THROWN INTO IN V. 10 AND THAT THE BEAST AND FALSE PROPHET ARE THROWN INTO IN REVELATION 19:20.

* BUT WHO ARE THE ONES PUNISHED IN THE LAKE OF FIRE? THE ANSWER CLEARLY IS, ANYONE WHOSE NAME WAS NOT FOUND WRITTEN IN THE BOOK OF LIFE.

** SO WHOSOEVER’S NAME IS NOT IN THE BOOK OF LIFE IS PUNISHED.

*** AND REGARDLESS OF ONE’S STANDING ON THE EARTH, RICH, FAMOUS, ROYALTY, WELL-KNOWN, ANYONE WHO DOES NOT HAVE HIS NAME ON GOD’S DIVINE REGISTRY WILL BE SENTENCED TO THE LAKE OF FIRE, WHICH I EXPLAINED LAST WEEK IS ETERNAL JUDGMENT, ETERNAL TORMENT, NOT ANNIHILATION.

IN WRAP UP: (1) AN UNDERSTANDING OF ETERNAL PUNISHMENT WILL HELP US IN EXALTING THE GRACE OF GOD AND MAKE THE LOVE OF GOD ALL THE MORE WONDERFUL FOR THOSE OF US WHO HAVE BEEN SAVED FROM GOD’S WRATH.

* I MEAN THE LAKE OF FIRE WOULD BE EVERYONE’S FATE IF IT WEREN’T FOR THE SOVEREIGN GRACE OF GOD AND THE LOVE OF GOD.

** SO I WANT TO PUT ON DISPLAY GOD’S GRACE, MERCY AND LOVE TODAY.

*** FOR WITHOUT THOSE WONDERFUL ATTRIBUTES AND WORKS OF GOD, WE WOULD BE CAST INTO THE LAKE OF FIRE FOREVER.

**** BUT BECAUSE OF HIS AMAZING GRACE, HIS AMAZING MERCY AND HIS AMAZING LOVE TOWARD US THAT HAVE BEEN SAVED FROM HIS WRATH, OUR ETERNAL STATE WILL BE REVELATION 21&22, WITH GOD AND CHRIST IN THE NEW JERUSALEM.

(2) AND I GUESS IN MY FEEBLE WAY, WHAT I’M TRYING TO EXPRESS, BELIEVER, IS DOES GRATEFULNESS FLOOD YOUR SOUL IN WHAT YOU WILL BE DELIVERED FROM? THE LAKE OF FIRE AND THE 2’D DEATH?

* ARE YOU MOVED BY THAT KIND OF GRACE AND LOVE? AND MOVED ENOUGH TO SERVE AND LOVE GOD MORE? WE SHOULD.

** AND A REMINDER, IF YOU DON’T KNOW CHRIST AS YOUR LORD AND SAVIOR, THE GREAT WHITE THRONE AND THE LAKE OF FIRE IS YOUR END. YOUR ONLY HOPE IS TO TURN TO CHRIST IN REPENTANT FAITH AND RECEIVE HIM AS YOUR LORD AND SAVIOR. REPENT OR PERISH!

(3) BUT ONE LAST THING AS WE COME TO THE CLOSE OF REVELATION 20, WE SEE GOD VICTORIOUS, HIS PERFECT PLAN COMES TO PASS AND ALL OF HIS ENEMIES ARE DEFEATED.

* FOR THE LORD GOD IS VICTORIOUS OVER EVERYTHING THAT IS AFFECTED AND TAINTED BY SIN.

** THE BEAST IS PUT DOWN, THE FALSE PROPHET IS DEFEATED, SATAN IS VANQUISHED, HEAVEN AND EARTH WILL PASS AWAY. AND ALL THINGS WILL BE MADE NEW.

*** THEN EVEN NO MORE HADES OR DEATH. VICTORY IS THE LORD’S, HIS PURPOSES ARE ACCOMPLISHED AND HE REMAINS ON THE THRONE, FULFILLING HIS DIVINE PURPOSES AND GLORIFYING HIMSELF.

**** MAY WE GLORY IN THAT TRUTH TODAY AND GLORIFY THE ONE WHO HAS ACCOMPLISHED IT.