READ: Revelation 20:11-15.
In this passage we’ve read together tonight, Revelation 20:11-15, The Apostle John records for us the scene of the final day of judgment, when all who have died without a personal knowledge of Jesus Christ as their Saviour and Lord will give an account before the bar of God. John writes: “And I saw a great white throne ...” What is described is a great and a terrible day in which the eternal destinies of countless millions of people is decided and sealed.
Let us look, tonight, at: four reasons for sober consideration of this coming day, when men and women from all of history shall stand before the Great White Throne.
Firstly, consider :
1. THE IDENTITY OF THE JUDGE.
"Then I saw a great white throne AND HIM WHO SAT ON IT, from whose face the earth and the heaven fled away. And there was found no place for them. And I saw the dead, small and great, standing before GOD, and books were opened."
(Revelation 20:11-12a)
We are told that the occupant of this great throne is God Himself. In John 5:22, however, we are told that "... the Father judges no one, but has committed all judgment to the Son", and so we can deduce that, to be more specific, Jesus Christ is the person of the Godhead sitting in judgment upon the throne.
John’s language is graphic. Here we see "the wrath of the Lamb" (Rev. 6:16) in it’s full expression. Before the face of Christ (literally "before His countenance") the earth and heaven "flee away"; that is, they are destroyed. Leon Morris writes: "There was something so terrible in the demeanour of Him on the throne that earth and heaven themselves fled away from Him. There was no place for them, i.e. they were completely destroyed."
In the first verse of the very next chapter (21) this destruction is confirmed:
"... for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away".
Who will be able to stand before Christ on this occasion? The moment when His countenance is such that part of His creation, that which had been the home of these ones standing before Him, is obliterated! Mankind has rejected Christ and continued in their own sin, and this is the most heinous offence to God (John 16:9). Now, that same Christ they have turned their back on sits in judgment over them and they are unable to turn away.
What a terrifying predicament! The Judge seated upon the Great White Throne is the very one that has been sinned against. He is infallible, and He has an unquestionable record of every one of their sins. He has shown grace beyond measure and extended countless opportunities for repentance, and now the time of His grace is ended. Who can hope to stand?
Secondly, would you notice with me:
2. THE ABSENCE OF AN ADVOCATE.
"And if anyone sins, we have an Advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the Righteous."
(1 John 2:1b)
Tragically, for those who stand before the Great White Throne on that day of judgment this verse has no meaning; it is addressed to those who have received Christ as their personal Saviour and Lord. Christians will not be subject to judgment before the Great White Throne, because their judgment has already been taken by Christ who stood in their stead and bore the penalty for their sin upon the Cross. He is their Advocate before the Father. To put it in other words, He is their defence lawyer who pleads the case on their behalf.
At the Great White Throne, however, there is no advocate present. The only one qualified to stand and plead their case is now Himself the Judge. Those who come before Him stand alone, naked of excuse. It is conspicuous in the passage we have been examining, Revelation 20:11-15, that there is no mention of any companion to stand by the defendant. The picture drawn is one of total "aloneness" before the bar of God. This isolation, of course, is but the first moments of an eternity of isolation in separation from God and His people. What a contrast is seen here compared with the Christian who has "... a friend who sticks closer than a brother" (Proverbs 18:24).
Thirdly, consider:
3. THE FINALITY OF THE VERDICT.
"And anyone not found written in the Book of Life was cast into the lake of fire."
(Revelation 20:15)
"These shall be punished with everlasting destruction from the presence of the Lord and from the glory of his power "
(2 Thessalonians 1:9)
"And the smoke of their torment ascends forever and ever ..."
(Revelation 14:11)
In our western judicial systems, a person convicted of a crime by a court of law is entitled to appeal against the decision and be granted a re-trial. In fact, most court decisions today are contested by such appeal.
This mechanism built into the system is simply an admission of the fallible nature of our earthly judicial practices; an acknowledgement of the fact that a court may have made an error. God, however, is the infallible judge. As He is incapable of error, and totally just in all His ways, there is no need for, nor chance of, any appeal by those sentenced at the Great White Throne Judgment. Once the verdict has been pronounced it is absolutely final.
In addition, the nature of the prescribed punishment bears testimony to the finality of God’s verdict. The New Testament clearly expresses the punishment’s durative nature by the use of the adjective "aionion", which is best translated "ETERNAL". It is the same word used to describe God in such verses as Romans 16:26. When used in reference to the final state of the wicked it is often translated "everlasting". This fails, however, to carry the full force of what Scripture is actually saying.
If we speak of God as "everlasting", it could mean that God will exist forever but continually getting older and even decaying. Similarly, an everlasting punishment could mean that it will exist forever but become less intense - even bearable. This is not the case however. God has created an "eternal" hell; a state that will continue unchanged forevermore, remaining constantly torturous. An absolutely FINAL condition.
This brings us very naturally to consider our fourth consideration:
4. THE SEVERITY OF THE SENTENCE.
"Then He will say to those on the left hand, ’Depart from Me, you cursed, into the everlasting fire prepared for the devil and his angels.
(Matthew 25:41)
How severe a punishment would befit Satan and his demonic cohorts? Those evil agents who have set themselves against God and sought to undermine His will in all things; who have attacked His beloved church continually, and sought to deceive even the very elect of God. The Bible vividly describes the punishment that awaits them, but it also asserts that unregenerate human beings, found guilty at the Great White Throne, will also be subject to the very same fate.
This eternal state is punishment in two ways. Firstly, there is the punishment of loss in separation from God ("depart from me"), and secondly there is the punishment of positive torment ("into the everlasting fire").
Separation from God is a horror unimaginable by man’s mind, particularly unregenerate man’s. God is both the chief good and the fountain of all goodness, so to be separated from Him is to be cut off from good in any form. All that is left is unchecked evil! It also must be remembered that man was created for fellowship with God, and hell denies man that possibility. Hell therefore denies man the possibility of rest, satisfaction and happiness.
SO, we have four reasons for sober consideration of the solemnity of final judgment.
1. THE IDENTITY OF THE JUDGE: It is the offended Son of God.
2. THE ABSENCE OF AN ADVOCATE: The sinner stands fearfully alone.
3. THE FINALITY OF THE VERDICT: There can be no appeal.
4. THE SEVERITY OF THE SENTENCE: Eternal separation from God with torment.
The message for those who do not know Christ as their Saviour from this peril is all too clear. Come to Him NOW in the day of grace and receive His forgiveness. In a few moments I’m going to give opportunity for you to receive Christ as your Saviour.
But allow me a few more moments, to consider how this message tonight affects those who are already believers. The terror of that great day must surely cause us as Christians to guard our lives and remain steadfast in the faith. And MOST OF ALL ...
Win the Lost.
"Knowing, therefore, the terror of the Lord, we persuade men;"
(2 Corinthians 5:11)
In context, Paul is saying, in 2 Corinthians 5:11, that there is a motivation to evangelism in knowing that we must give an account before the Lord at the Judgment Seat of Christ. The words, however, are very applicable also as we consider the Great White Throne Judgment. As we read the Scripture and see a glimpse of the terror of the Judge upon the Great White Throne, surely we have all the motivation we will ever need to go out and "persuade men"; to get about the task of soul-winning. In the light of that terrible day, are we not constrained to "win the lost at any cost"?
The story is told of a prisoner on death row in England. A priest was called in to minister to him, and he sat reading mildly with no conviction passages from the Bible about judgment and hell. The prisoner stopped him and said: "Sir, do you believe that those things you read are true?" The priest replied that he did. To which the prisoner said, "If I were you and I really believed that what you are reading is the truth, then I would crawl on my hands and knees over burning coals the length and breadth of England to stop just one person from going there!"
CONCLUSION:
We have seen, then, that the Great White Throne Judgment is going to be a most solemn day. He who sits upon the throne as Judge is none other than Christ Himself, and His wrath is so great that the present heaven and earth will be destroyed at the sight of His countenance. Those poor creatures who stand before Him stand alone, and without excuse. The Judge’s verdict, which is already certain, will be final and no hope can be entertained that any appeal will be granted. The severity of the sentence is simply unbearable, and yet the horrific fact is that it will continue eternally; the condemned will not even be able to find relief in perishing. The knowledge of these facts is truly sobering.
[Appeal.]
