Looking for His glorious appearing! Titus 2:13

Revelation 20:11-15
Dec 4th, 2011
Exploring RevelationArt Sadlier
Categories: Commentary;Prophecy;Book Study

"And I saw a great white throne, and him that 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, stand before God; and the books were opened: and another book was opened, which is the book of life: and the dead were judged out of those things which were written in the books, according to their works.  And the sea gave up the dead which were in it; and death and hell delivered up the dead which were in them: and they were judged every man according to their works. And death and hell were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death.  And whosoever was not found written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire" (Revelation 20:11-15).

In verses 1-6 of our chapter we see the thousand year reign of Christ on the throne of David in Jerusalem, this is the Millennial Kingdom.

In verses 7-9 Satan is loosed when the thousand years are expired. Satan proceeds to attempt a rebellion against God which is crushed by God.

In verse 10 we have the beginning of the eternal age as Satan is cast into the eternal lake of fire. Verse 11 also takes place at the beginning of the eternal age. If this is not the beginning of the eternal age it is an interval between the Millennial kingdom and the "eternal age."

Verse 11 also takes place at the same time. What an awesome scene as we read about the great white throne. We have the resurrection of the unsaved dead of all the ages as they come and stand before the awesome, sovereign, Lord of the universe.

This is the second resurrection. This is not a resurrection unto life, but rather a resurrection unto death, eternal death, which is eternal separation from God. This is called the second death. If you are not saved do not go there, come to Christ at once and escape that fearful scene.

Verse11, "And I saw a great white throne, and him that sat on it, from whose face the earth and the heaven fled away; and there was found no place for them."  This is perhaps the most terrifying verse in all of the scriptures.

"A great white throne," those who stand before it have rejected a great salvation. Hebrews 2:3, "How shall we escape, if we neglect so great salvation; which at the first began to be spoken by the Lord, and was confirmed unto us by them that heard him." What is the answer to that question? The answer is found in verse 11, our text verse; they must stand before that awesome throne and hear their judgment pronounced.

"White throne," white stands for righteousness, everything connected with this throne will be just and fair and righteous. The unsaved sinner will get exactly what he or she deserves. Romans 2:5, "But after thy hardness and impenitent heart treasurest up unto thyself wrath against the day of wrath and revelation of the righteous judgment of God."

"Him that sat on the throne," this is the eternal God, the perfect judge. The scriptures tell us that Christ will do the judging on the Father's behalf. John 5:22, "For the Father judgeth no man, but hath committed all judgment unto the Son."  Acts 17:22, "Because he hath appointed a day, in the which he will judge the world in righteousness by that man whom he hath ordained; whereof he hath given assurance unto all men, in that he hath raised him from the dead." The one who died for their sins will be the judge, who can raise a protest against such a judge? Having done all He could to save man, He must now judge those who refused His love. You can face Him now as your Saviour or you can face Him in that day as your judge, the choice is yours, but you must choose now.

"From whose face the heaven and earth fled away."  God's anger against sin will be so awesome that heaven and earth will flee away. God's anger against sin will burn for all of eternity. He no doubt, will remind you of the one who tried to share the gospel with you and how you turned away.

We have seen Jesus coming to earth as a humble saviour. We will one day see Christ coming in the clouds of glory as a king. Here He is seen with His face black with anger and rage against sin and sinners who despised His shed blood. There is a tremendous contrast between the Christ who hung on the cross and the Christ who sits in judgment of sinners.

Verse 12, " And I saw the dead, small and great, stand before God; and the books were opened: and another book was opened, which is the book of life: and the dead were judged out of those things which were written in the books, according to their works.  And the sea gave up the dead which were in it; and death and hell delivered up the dead which were in them: and they were judged every man according to their works."  These are the unsaved of all the ages. There are no saved among them, "small and great," but all lost!

Wherever their dust or ashes may be, in the waters of the sea, or in the dust of the earth, God will call them all forth.

I thank God today that because of the shed blood of Christ and because it has been applied to my heart by faith, I will not stand before that awful throne. If you are not saved today, right now, repent and receive Christ as your Saviour and Lord.

"And the books were opened." God has a record of all of the sins of unsaved men and women. Each person will be confronted with all of his or her sins. Every sinful act, every sinful deed and every sinful thought is recorded and will be brought before those who individually stand before the throne.

"And another book was opened which is the book of life." In that book are found all the names of those who have been saved. Their sins have been blotted out by the blood of Christ which had been applied because of their faith. Paul said in Romans 8:1, “There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus....”

But, those in this crowd that stand before the great white throne are not found written in the book of life!  Through repentance and faith, you can have your name written in the book of life right now.

"According to their works," God keeps a record of every sin. The evidence for condemnation will all be presented. Romans 3:19, "Now we know that what things soever the law saith, it saith to them who are under the law: that every mouth may be stopped, and all the world may become guilty before God." The purpose of the book will be to determine the degrees of punishment in the lake of fire.

All of the unsaved will spend eternity in the lake of fire, but some will suffer different degrees of punishment.

Men can deny this verse, men can try to make it figurative; men can ignore it. But God has spoken and the one who refuses to obey God will one day discover to their horror the lake of fire is real, but too late!

My friend, Don't go there! Don't go there! Don't go there!

Luke 12:5, "But I will forewarn you whom ye shall fear: Fear him, which after he hath killed hath power to cast into hell; yea, I say unto you, Fear him."

Hebrews 10:29,31, "Of how much sorer punishment, suppose ye, shall he be thought worthy, who hath trodden under foot the Son of God, and hath counted the blood of the covenant, wherewith he was sanctified, an unholy thing, and hath done despite unto the Spirit of grace?" "It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God."

Hebrews 12:29, "For our God is a consuming fire."

Matthew 25:46, "And these shall go away into everlasting punishment: but the righteous into life eternal."

You may not believe in hell, but don't say the Bible doesn't teach it.

In the meantime we are to keep on giving out tracts, we are to keep on witnessing, and we are to keep on preaching the gospel.