The End Time Great White Throne.

The end time great white throne.

Revelation 20:11-15 10/16/05

It has been sometime since I have flown but I remember the flight attendant giving some instructions before takeoff. She or he would tell the importance of keeping seat belts buckled while taking off and landing. He or she would tell of the exit signs over the doors if there was power failure, the exit signs could be seen. He or she talked about if the cabin decompressed, there would be some oxygen mask dropping down and he or she gave instructions on how to put them on. My experience in flying was that not many people paid attention to their instructions. What if he or she had taken a doll, covered it in gasoline, set it afire and moved up and down the cabin and said listen people, this could be you if you don’t listen?

The Bible is a book of blessings but I want to tell you, you have missed some of the Bible if you have never paid attention to the warnings that are pasted on many of the pages. We all do well to pay attention to the warnings that are listed in the Bible, the Word of God. The Bible teaches us that life is a journey and it has two destinations and every one of us is moving toward eternity. Shouldn’t we think about that once in a while? If it has been some time since you have thought about it, I want you to think about yourself moving toward eternity this morning. That is really what is taking place. You are closer to eternity today than you have ever been in your life. Some of you say there is a lot of time out there for me and I hope that is true but graves are all sizes. Doesn’t make any difference how old you are, you are heading toward eternity. Eternity can be the last home and we call that heaven. Eternity can be horror and we call that hell. Each one of us is closer to one of those places than we have ever been in our life.

Now when we read our text for this morning, there are some things that really stand out. Some people have trouble wondering who is on the throne that our text is talking about. Some have said that is Jesus on the throne as the judge of the earth. Others have said that is God the Father on the throne getting ready to judge the world. I don’t have to guess because Jesus said long time ago I and My Father are one, so I don’t spend that much time wondering who is on the throne.

Then in verse 12 we read that John saw the dead, small and great stand before the throne. The key word in the verse is neither the standing, nor the books necessarily, but the key word is the word dead. That tells me that the ones that are getting ready for their judgment are not believers. What I mean is that the ones that are standing waiting for their judgment are the unsaved. They never received Jesus through faith and now will meet Him as their judge. The believer is never dead; he is either on earth or in heaven, but never dead. So what the Bible is talking about in our text this morning is the final abode of the lost person.

There are two families in this world in which we live. There is the family of God and they are on their way to heaven. Then there is the family of the devil and they are on their way to hell. Everyone on this earth will go to one of those two places. Here is the kicker, every person makes the choice. Of course there aren’t many choices but only one. When a person decides for Jesus and makes Him their Savior, Then they are going to heaven. There may be some of you that have never made that choice then you will find if you don’t choose for Jesus and heaven, then you do chose the devil and hell. There are two families in this world. There is the family of God on their way to heaven. There is the family of the devil on their way to hell. You and I am a member of one of these families.

The first thing I want to point out in our text this morning is THE REALITY OF HELL. When you read the Bible, you find many ways that the place hell is referred to. It is called the bottomless pit; a place where the worm never dies; a place where there is weeping and the gnashing of teeth; a place of everlasting fire; a place called the lake of fire.