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In this sixth chapter we will look at the great and final judgment. Remember that only the unsaved people
must face this judgment, only those "whose name is not found written in the book of life." (Revelation 20:15) Please read
carefully the following passage of God's Holy Word from Revelation 20:11-15, where the apostle John describes this great judgment.
He writes: "Then (when the millennial kingdom has ended) I saw a great white throne and him who was seated on it. Earth and
sky fled from his presence, and there was no place for them. 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 have
done as recorded in the books. 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 he has done. Then death and Hades were thrown into the Lake of Fire. The
Lake of Fire is the second death. If anyone's name was not found written in the Book of Life, he was thrown into the Lake
of Fire."
It is important to remind ourselves, that those who were Born Again, those who were born of the Spirit of
God (John 3:3-5) and those who were washed by the blood of God's Lamb, they will not come to this judgment. Jesus himself
says: "I tell you the truth, whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life and will not be
condemned; he has crossed over from death to life." (John 5:24) This wonderful truth is confirmed by Romans 8:1 which states:
"Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus." All those who are in Christ Jesus will be saved
from this great judgment, ever as Noah was saved from the fllod, because he was in the ark.
1. The resurrection of all unsaved dead.
Duringthe first resurrection, when Jesus will come for His Church, only the saved people will be resurrected.
(1 Thess.4:16) At the beginning of the Millennial Kingdom there will be the resurrection of all the people who died for their
faith during the time of the Great Tribulation, because they refused to worship the beast. (Rev.20:4) In this last resurrection
all the remaining dead will be brought to life, whether they were in their graves, or in the sea or in Hades. They all face
this final and just judgment. They will be judged and condemned according to their behaviour during their life on earth. Yes,
God keeps His records straight. For that reason He has two record books. (see Rev.20:12) On that Great Judgment Day God will
not accept other witnesses nor any excuses. Please remember that. Whatever is written about you in these two books, will be
the final evidence against you on the day of judgment.
2. The Great White Throne.
Our Bible speaks about five different judgments.
The first one is recorded by the prophet Isaiah when he says that Jesus was judged for our sins. As God's
Lamb He carried all our iniquity to the Cross of Calvary. (Isiah 53:6-8) all believers are encourage to examine and judge
themselves each day, in order to follow that "Narrow Way" (Matthew 7:13-14), and see whether they are in the faith. (1 Cor.11:28
and 2 Cor.13:5) Those who judge themselves in the light of God's Word, will not be judged. (Matthew 7:1-2) The third judgment
is connected with rewards of all believers. (2 Cor.5:10) We discussed this in chapter two. Fourth
is the judgment of all nations in the Valley of Jehoshaphat. (Joel 3:2) The fifth and final reference
to judgment is here in Revelation 20:11-15. Please remember that all unbelievers, and only those people who in their lifetime
rejected Jesus as Savior, on this day will be jidged according to their deeds. Yes, all of them will be condemned to eternal
punishment in the Lake of Fire (Revelation 20:15), but their sentence will not be equal. Even as the reward of all believers
is different, and also is based on their good works (2 Cor.5:10), the punishment of the wicked will also be different. In
today's prisons and penitentiaries we have different inmates. Some prisoners serve a few years for lighter crimes, whereas
murderers are often condemned for life. Likewise it will be in eternity. All unbelievers will be condemned, and all will
be separated from God for ever, but their punishment will not be equal.
We read in Revelation 20:15 that they will be "thrown into the lake of fire." Jesus calls this terrible place of suffering the place of "darkness, where
there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth." (Matt.8:12 and Matt.22:13) According to the words of Jesus this "Eternal Fire is prepared for the devil and his angels" (Matt.25:41) However, the main reason why these people are eternally condemned into this place of suffering is not because they
were any worse than all others, but "because they have not believed in the name of God's one and only Son (Jesus)." (John 3:18) Please read again John 3:16-18 and John 3:36, and see for yourself God's original plan. God is patient, loving and kind, "not wanting anyone to perish,
but (He wants) everyone to come to repentance." (2 Peter 3:9) He wants to save everybody and condemn nobody. Therefore, all
those who will perish in the Lake of Fire, will be only those who did not believe God and rejected His Son Jesus. Their own
unbelief and rebellion brings upon them this eternal condemnation. Therefore dear reader, "be not deceived: "God cannot be
mocked. A man reaps what he sows." (Gal.6:7)
The Great White Throne symbolizes our Lord's holiness, purity, righteousness and power which belongs to
Him, the Almighty King and just Judge. According to Revelation 20:11, this throne will be somewhere between this earth and
heaven, because this earth and sky will disappear from Christ's presence. Our planet is so polluted by sin that it will not
be able to face the Holy Judge at His return as King and Lord. As soon as the Righteous Judge will be seated on the Great
White Throne the old earth and sky will flee away.
Please notice that the white throne is not prepared for the king to rule. This seat is prepared for the
Righteous Judge. The White Throne is big because it deals with a very special event and with a big judgment. Actually this
will be the final and decisive judgment, where the fate of all unbelievers will be decided
once and for all. I remember when World War II ended in 1945, many criminals were condemned for their evil activities
against the whole of humanity. Several supreme judges from many allied countries jointly took part in that very significant
judgment. However, God's judgment is more important than the one in 1945, when the war criminals were judged. At
the Great White Thone the record of every unbeliever will be carefully reviewed and each person will be righteously judged
"according to what they have done as recorded in the books." (Revelation 20:13) Nobody will be condemned for somebody else's
crime. Each person will suffer just consequences for his and for her own sins. Yes, I believe that among the criminals will
be Pilate, Caiaphas and all others who unrighteously judged and falsely accused Jesus when they condemned Him to die on the
Cross of Calvary. (Matt.27:32-40) However, all other criminals and all the people who managed to hide themselves behind the
mask of religion and for many years gave the impression that they were christians, but were not. They too will be there. We
see this from Matthew 7:21-23 and Matthew 25:41, where we read: "Not everyone who says to me, "Lord, Lord," will enter the
kingdom of heaven, but only he who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. Many will say to me on that day, (on the day
of judgment) "Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and in your name drive out demons and perform many miracles?"
Then I will tell them plainly, " I never knew you. Away from me, you evildoers!" To other pretenders Jesus wil say: "Depart
from me, you who are cursed, into eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels." Read also the parable of the Ten Virgins in
Matthew 25:1-13.
I remember reading about one leader in a certain country who claimed to have supernatural powers. He always
covered his face, because as he claimed "it was so beautiful, pure and almost holy." He even threatened people by saying,
that "those who see his unusual face, will die!" But during one rally where many people were present, a very courageous
young body guard, ripped off the veil from his face. To his amazement and to the astonishment of all the people, he saw a
very deformed, ugly and repulsive face. Immediately they drove this deceiver away and banished this hypocrite from their midst.
The Lord Jesus, that Righteous Judge will also remove all those masks behind which some people were hiding. On that day everybody
will be revealed as they really are.
3. There is no appeal from this judgment! I have stated already that this will be the final and decisive
judgment, from which there is no appeal. All those whose "name was not found written in the book of life, he will be thrown
into the lake of fire." (Rev.20:15) From Luke 16:26 we see that this is a permanent abode of all unbelievers. Nobody can get
out of there because "a great chasm has been fixed", and it cannot be crossed either way. Again, it makes no difference how
we picture this place of eternal condemnation, according to the words of Jesus, it is a real place of great suffering. (see
Matt.25:30 and Luke 13:28) This is the main reason why Jesus died on the Cross, so that He would save us from going into that
terrible place of indescribable suffering.
4. The Lake of Fire. The Lord Jesus says in Matthew 25:41 that this place is "prepared for the devil and
his angels." God will judge all unbelievers with the fallen angels, which He has kept in prison since the day they sinned.
He "sent them to hell, putting them into gloomy dungeons to be held for judgment." (2 Peter 2;4) Therefore don't you wait
any longer to accept Jesus, if you are not a believer. Turn to Him in sincere repentance and trust and thus avoid this
terrible place of eternal suffering in the lake of fire.
5. Jesus is the Righteous Judge. This we see from several places in the Bible. In the book of Acts 10:42
we read: "He (God) commanded us to preach to the people and testify that he (Jesus) is the one whom God appointed as judge
of the living and the dead." Furthermore we read that God has already "set a day when he will judge the world with justice
by the man he has appointed. He has given proof of this to all men by raising him from the dead." (Acts 17:31) We all know
who was so gloriously resurrected from the dead and who came out of the grave on that Easter sunday morning. All four Gospels
have record of that. (see Matthew 28, Mark 16, Luke 24 and John 20) Jesus himself states in John 5:22-23 that "the Father
judges no one, but has entrusted all judgment to the Son, that all may honour the Son just as they honour the Father..."
I wonder how Judas will feel on the day of judgment because He betrayed his Lord with a false kiss (Matt.26:49) and sold Him
for thirty silver coins. (Matt.26:15) And now will all others feel who betrayed their Savior, Master and Lord in many ways,
who sold Him for a few cheap thrills of this world and exchanged the life He has offered them for a few temporal pleasures.
Oh, how shocked, surprised and bewildered will all those be who curse Jesus today, who persecute His saints and who constantly
refuse His gentle invitation, when He says: "Turn to me and be saved, all you ends of the earth; for I am God, and there is
no other.: (Is.45:22) And when Jesus calls: "Come unto me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest."
(Matt.11:28) I hope and pray that nobody who is reading this will be among the lost.
In case somebody things that this is not true, read again very carefully Revelation 20:11-15 and see what
God says. We all know that today every country keeps a record of all their citizens. In Canada each child is registered at
birth, and before national election day every eligible voter's name is carefully recorded. With the help of the computer it
is very easy to keep detailed records of each person in the country. In most cases our government has much more information
about us than we realize or would want them to have. Even before we renew our driver's licence and car registration, they
check on each driver to see if he has paid all his penalties. Those who have not paid theur fines will not get their proper
documents, neither their driver's licence nor ownership permit. Now, since we humans are capable of checking on other people
so well, and keeping all these detailed records, how much more accurate and just are the records God is able to keep
about all His creatures! Be sure therefore that your name is written in the book of life. (Like 10:20, Revelation 20:12-15)
6. Some people might still ask: "What is the purpose of this judgment day, and why do we need it?" We will
answer you from Revelation 20:12-13. This judgment is necessary so that every person may receive the just reward in according
with what he did during his life on earth. Today some people suffer unjustly for the crimes of others. Many lose precious
years in prison and some even lose their lives. This mistake will not be repeated any more, because at the Great White Throne,
people will be judged according to what is recorded in God's two books. (Revelation 14:12) says that in addition to
that each person "will give an account of himself to God." In order to avoid any mistake about people, God keeps two record
books. In the Book of Life He keeps the names of all the people who accepted Jesus as their Savior and Lord.
It is imperative, therefore, to have your name written there. It is even more important than performing miracles. According
to the words of Jesus this assurance causes us to rejoice and be extremely happy. (Luke 10:19-20) Another reason for rejoicing
in the Lord is the fact that those who overcome Satan and his temptation because of the blood of the Lamb of God, and whose
names are recorded in the book of life, Jesus reassures that He will dress them in white robes, and will never erase their
names from that book of life, but will acknowledge their names before His Father and the angels. (see Revelation 3:5) This
glorious Biblical thuth must fill all the believers with great joy. In the second book God keeps the deeds of all unbelievers.
Let me at this time show you briefly how to escape the day of judgment and how to avoid the Great White
Throne, and ultimately escape being cast into the Lake of Fire. My advice is the same as is the advice of each faithful pastor
and evangelist. It is the advice of the apostle Paul and others, who say: "Repent and turn away from your sins!
and live," If you are now sincerely asking: "What must I do to be saved and have my name written
in the book of life?" I answer you with apostle Paul: "Believe in the Lord Jesus Christ, and you will be saved..." (Acts
2:38) Peter's advice is similar, when he says: "Repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ
so that your sins may be forgiven..." (Acts 2:38) I'm wholeheartedly identifying myself with the following Bible reference,
and plead with you, my unsaved friend, as "Christ's ambassadors, as though God were making his appeal through us. We implore
you on Christ's behalf: Be reconciled to God." (2 Cor. 5:20) Don't wait any longer. Do it right now!
Perhaps the following illustration will encourage and help you to make your decision - now.
During a fishing expedition a man fell into the lake. When a person from the next boat saw that he was in
trouble, without any hesitation, he jumped into the lake and rescued the drowning fisherman. Then they went fishing again.
While thanking his rescuer and talking with him for a while, the fisherman discovered thet his saviour was a judge from his
county. Several years later this man got himself in trouble with the law. He was so glad to find out that the presiding
judge on that day was the same person who saved his life during that unsuccessful fishing trip. When the sentence was read
by the court clerk, the judge asked the accused man to speak. He started with these words: "I am so happy that I am able to
explain my case to you, your honour. I know that you are such an understanding and kind judge. Perhaps you don't remember me,
but I am the man whom you rescued some years ago during my fishing trip." "Oh, yes, I remember you very well, my good man,"
answered the county judge with assurance. "But you must not forget, at that time I was your saviour, but today I am your judge.
When I rescued you I was moved by compassion. Today I must be guided by the law of our country." After that brief comment
the judge sentenced the accused man to several years in prison.
Dear friend, is Jesus Christ your personal Saviour and Redeemer? If yes, serve Him humbly and faithfully.
But if He is not your Saviour today, remember that one day He will be your judge. Turn to Him right now. God's Holy Word reminds
you once again: "Listen! This is the hour to receive God's favour: today is the day to be saved!" (2 Cor.6:2b) Yes, today
is the right day to accept Jesus Christ. Tomorrow will be the day of judgment and condemnation. If you neglect your chance
to be saved now, you are without an excuse before men and God. Remember also that time and opportunities quickly pass
away. What you miss today, you might never find again. Consider this appeal very prayerfully.
Chapter 7:
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