Please turn to the last book in the Bible, the book of Revelation.
We will read from verse 11 through verse 15.
And I saw a great white throne, and Him that sat on it, from whose face the earth and the heaven fled; and place was not found for them.
And I saw the dead, the great and the small, standing before the throne; and books were opened: and another book was opened, which is the book of life: and the dead were judged out of the 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 Hades gave up the dead which were in them: and they were judged every man according to their works.
And death and Hades were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death, even the lake of fire.
And if any was not found written in the book of life, he was cast into the lake of fire.
Lately, we have been considering together this matter of the revelation of Jesus Christ. The last book of the Bible is called Revelation. It is the revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave to Him to show unto us.
In other words, it is the purpose of God that we see the Lord Jesus. When God reveals, we see. To God, it is a revelation given; to us, it is a vision seen. And God desires that we see the Lord Jesus in the light of our days—in the end days—to see Him, Who and what He is, in the last days.
This morning, without going back to what we have already covered, we will come to the sixth vision of the Lord Jesus in this book of Revelation.
In the last vision, the fifth one, we see Him as One who rides upon a white horse, One who comes with His army. It is that last battle before the millennium, the battle of Armageddon. We find how, by the sword that comes out of His mouth—even with His breath—He destroys His enemies.
Then He sets up His kingdom upon this earth. In the prayer that our Lord Jesus taught His church to pray, “Thy kingdom come,” we find that after that last battle, won by our Lord Jesus and the army of heaven, the Lord will set up His kingdom upon this earth. The kingdom of God is finally manifested upon this earth.
And as we find in the book of Isaiah, righteousness shall rule over this earth, and the knowledge of God shall fill this earth as waters fill the sea. It is a time of the millennium. It is a time of the golden age, the utopia that people have been looking forward to. Finally, we find that it is a reality.
In the time of the millennium, it is almost like a return to the days of the Garden of Eden before the fall. Why? Because we find that those who rebel against God were destroyed. The Antichrist and the false prophet were cast into the lake of fire, and Satan was bound and sealed in the bottomless pit.
Those nations that were brought into the millennium will be ruled with a rod of iron. If there is any rebellion, it will be punished right away, as we find in Zechariah. Righteousness shall rule over this earth. The Lord shall rule over this earth, and those who shall reign with Him over this earth.
The nation of Israel shall be a nation of priests, as God promised to Abraham and as He promised to Moses. They shall be a nation of priests, and they shall go out and teach the nations to serve the Lord. We have the best environment the world has ever known.
At the end of the millennium, Satan will be released temporarily, and he will tempt the world after the millennium. There will be a great multitude following him in the last rebellion.
You know, dear brothers and sisters, we often think that people are bad because we do not have a good environment. If our environment is changed, we will be changed. But this is not so.
Why? You find that during the millennium time, you have the best environment you have ever had, and yet the heart has not been changed. The basic problem is not a matter of environment. The basic problem is a matter of heart. You may be given the best environment, but if your heart is not changed—
—even the submission that you find during the millennium time is an outward thing, not an inward reality. And that is the reason why, after the millennium, especially for those who may be born during the millennium years, they have never known the corruption. They have never known the violence that we know today.
And yet, they will be tempted. They will be tested before they are allowed to be removed to the new heaven and the new earth. So here you find the last rebellion.
Gog and Magog will come up. They will surround the camp of the saints and the holy city, but they will be consumed by fire.
Now, Gog and Magog—we know from history that they were a nomadic, cruel people, who traditionally hated God’s people. In Ezekiel 38 and Ezekiel 39, we find Gog and Magog and how they were the last and final enemy of the nation of Israel before the millennium. Probably they were the northern confederacy.
But here it is after the millennium, so Gog and Magog are used symbolically. It is not limited to any geographical area or to any ethnic people, but it represents those who hate God’s people.
Probably it is because they are jealous. They are jealous of the grace of God as shown to those who reign with Christ. They are jealous of the nation of Israel because the grace of God is upon us. And out of jealousy, you will find there will be this last rebellion. But thank God, they will be consumed with fire.
Now, after such things have happened, then John says, “I saw. I saw.” John began to see something. Now, what did he see? He said, “I saw a great white throne, and One sitting upon it.”
Here, brothers and sisters, this is not the throne of grace that we approach today. We find in Hebrews how we approach the throne of grace with boldness, receiving mercy and grace for seasonable help.
The throne of God today, to us, is the throne of grace. It is because of the blood of our Lord Jesus. It is because He has opened a new and living way for us. It is because He is our great High Priest. So the throne of God is to us today the throne of grace. We may approach boldly to receive mercy and find grace for every need.
But one day, the door of grace will be closed, and a great white throne will be set. It is the throne of eternal judgment. God is going to judge all men.
A great white throne—it is a great throne. The very size of that throne gives you the impression of the greatness of God’s authority and power, how He will judge all men. In Hebrews, we are told that it is appointed unto men once to die, and after this cometh judgment. So here you find all men will be judged at the great white throne.
It is called a white throne. Why? Because white speaks of purity. In other words, before the throne every man will be judged with no partiality, with no prejudice, with absolute justice. How terrible must be that great white throne!
It is the last event of time, because after the great white throne judgment, time will pass away and eternity will return. And there is One who sits upon the throne. Now, Who is that One?
In John 5, the Lord Jesus said, “Neither doth the Father judge any man, but He hath given all judgment unto the Son.” In other words, the One who sits upon the great white throne is none other than our Lord Jesus. He is the One who sits upon that throne, and He is the One who is entrusted to judge all men.
You remember when Peter was in the house of Cornelius, in Acts 10. He said, “He,” that is, our Lord Jesus, “is the One who has been appointed by God to judge the living and the dead.”
And when Paul spoke to the Athenians, he said, “God hath appointed a day, in which He will judge the habitable world in righteousness by the Man whom He hath ordained.” The One whom God has appointed to judge the whole world is none other than our Lord Jesus.
While He was on earth, He was judged by men. But now it is His turn to judge all men.
From Whose face the earth and the heaven fled, and place was not found for them. You remember when our Lord Jesus was crucified on the cross, how the sun hid its face. Here you find that before the face of our Lord Jesus, even the heaven and earth will pass away.
Even the heaven and earth cannot stand to see His face. The old earth and old heaven will be consumed, burned. All the elements will be burned and consumed. Nothing can stand before His face.
What a terrible day it must be, to think that people have to stand before the One Whom even the heaven and earth cannot face.
And he said, “I saw the dead, great and small, standing before the throne.” It is the judgment of the dead. The living have already been judged, so it is the judgment of the dead. All those who have died will be raised to be judged.
Again, in John 5, we are told—the Lord Jesus said—the day shall come, and those who are in the tombs shall hear My voice. And those who hear the voice of the Son of God shall be raised: those who have practiced good unto the resurrection of life, and those who have done evil unto the resurrection of judgment.
And we know that the resurrection of the just happened before the millennium, a thousand years ahead. Now this is the time of the resurrection of the evil. All those who are evil shall be resurrected, and they will come into judgment.
Dear brothers and sisters, how we thank the Lord. Even though we are no good, yet because we have trusted in the Lord Jesus, God has counted us as righteous.
Again, in John 5:24, the Lord Jesus said:
He that heareth My word, and believeth Him that sent Me, hath eternal life, and cometh not into judgment, but hath passed out of death into life.
Because we believe in the Lord Jesus, it is because of His shed blood, it is because of the life that is given to us, that God should count us as righteous. We will not enter into this judgment of the great white throne. We have passed out of death into life.
So, dear brothers and sisters, by the grace of God, we who have believed in the Lord Jesus have been delivered from this great white throne judgment. We will not be there, because Christ has already been judged for us on Calvary’s cross.
But those who do not receive Him, those who reject the Son, those who will not accept His mercy and His grace, they shall be resurrected, and they shall enter into this judgment. No one can escape.
Great and small, the sea will give up its dead; death and Hades will give up their dead. There is no escape. Everyone who has rejected the Son, everyone who has despised the love of God, everyone who has refused to accept the Lord Jesus as his Saviour, as her Saviour, will be there at the great white throne.
And how are they to be judged? “And books were opened, and books were opened.” These books are the personal files, the records of every man.
You know, God keeps a record. He has a file on every man from the time you are born to the time you die. Everything is in the book.
Every word that you have spoken—an idle word or a good word; every thought that you have thought, evil or good; every action that you have taken, good or bad; every attitude that you maintain, good or bad; every relationship that you have, good or bad.
Everything in your life, to the minutest detail—there is nothing lost. Your whole life is filed in God’s record, and the books are there.
You know, people are rather frightened today. I often read in the paper about either the FBI or CIA, or whatever it may be. The government seems to keep a file on everybody, and they seem to know everything that you have done. People are already afraid of that.
But do not be afraid of that, because they miss a lot. But there is one book that you really need to be afraid of, because nothing is missing. Everything is there.
Now, does God really keep such a record? He does. How does He keep it? Where does He keep His file cabinet? Can it be destroyed? Let me tell you a story.
D. L. Moody, the great evangelist, told about himself. He said that when he was a boy, he was in a river or in a lake, and he was drowning. He said that when he went down under the surface of the water, in a split second, he saw his whole life projected as on a screen, pass before his eyes. Just in a second, he saw his whole life.
So Moody said, “The books that God keeps are your memory.” God keeps that book in your memory. Everything is written there. When the time comes, God just brings it forth, and in your memory your whole life will come before you. In a second, you see everything that you did in your life.
That is probably the way God keeps His record. And here, brothers and sisters, is it not terrifying to see your whole life projected before you? Not only for you to see, not only for God to see, not only for the Lord to see, but for all these billions and billions of countless people to see. Your whole life is an open book. Everybody will see it.
God does not need to judge anyone. You judge yourself.
It was Spurgeon, another great evangelist, who said this. He said, you know, before he believed in the Lord Jesus, he was a young man and he was seeking salvation because he was burdened with his sin. He said, “If God is righteous, then God must condemn me to eternal death, because if He does not condemn me to eternal death, He is not righteous.”
Dear brothers and sisters, there is no need for God to condemn anybody. You will condemn yourself when you see what you have done. When you see your whole life projected before you, there will be no argument before the great white throne. There will be no excuse given for any reason. Nobody can give any excuse.
When you see your whole life projected before you, you hang down your head and say, “God is just. He is just. I deserve eternal death. He is right.” Everybody will give righteousness to God.
Terrifying. But, dear brothers and sisters, how we thank the Lord for the precious blood of the Lamb. When the blood cleanses, it washes it away. It is no longer there.
Even God will not remember it anymore. Thank God for that. Brothers and sisters, do we realize what we have received? Do we realize the grace, the mercy, the love, the salvation that we have received? In the light of the great white throne, how we need to thank the Lord Jesus for what He has done for us, what love He has given to us.
And another book was opened, which is the book of life. Against all these books that are before the great white throne, there is another book. And that book is called the Book of Life.
Anyone whose name is not written in the Book of Life shall be judged by the books. In other words, if your name is written in the Book of Life, you will not be judged by the books.
Who can pass the judgment if you are judged by the books? And by that, he means you will be judged according to the works that you have done.
The letter to the Romans and the letter to the Galatians have proved to us that no one can be justified by works. We are justified by faith, not by works. It is by believing in the Lord Jesus. And at the great white throne, everyone will be judged according to works. But who can be justified? Nobody.
No one can be justified by works, now or forever.
Oh, we need to thank God that our names are written in the Book of Life. You remember Luke 10, when the Lord sent the seventy out, and they came back rejoicing. They told the Lord, “Even the evil spirits are subject unto us. See what power we have.”
They were happy with such a manifestation of divine power. And you know what the Lord said? The Lord said, “Rejoice not because the evil spirits are subject unto you, but rejoice because your names are written in heaven.”
To cast out evil spirits is to demonstrate the power of the age to come, but to have your name written in the Book of Life is eternal. It is eternal.
Dear brothers and sisters, we need to rejoice that by God’s grace—not by your works, not because you are good, but because the Lord is good—your names are written in the Book of the Lamb, in the Book of Life.
Thank God, your name is written in the Book of Life. Make sure of that. If you are not sure whether your name is written in the Book of the Lamb, make sure of it today. If you do not, it may be too late. If your name is not found there, then you will be judged according to the books.
How can your name be written in the Book of the Lamb, in the Book of Life? By trusting the Lamb of God, Who takes away the sin of the world; by believing in the Lord Jesus. Then your name will be written in the Book of Life. Rejoice over this fact.
Furthermore, in Philippians 4, you remember Paul talked about his fellow workers, about Clement and about other people, and he said, “Their names are written in the Book of Life.” Is that not wonderful?
How can we serve God if our names are not written in the Book of Life? In other words, service comes out of life. It is because our names are written in the Book of Life that our service will be accepted by God.
If our names are not written in the Book of Life, no matter how you serve, your service will be rejected. God does not want your service, because the more you serve, the more you deserve Him.
But if you know your name is written in the Book of Life, then, dear brothers and sisters, it is time that you start to serve Him. You serve Him with the life that He has given to you.
And another thing, you remember: to have your name written in the Book of Life is a protection. Why? As you read Revelation 13 and Revelation 17, you find those whose names are written in the Book of the Lamb, in the Book of Life, will not worship the beast.
But those whose names are not written in the Book of Life will worship the beast. You know, when your name is written in the Book of Life, He will keep you away from sin, from evil. Thank God for that. Thank God that your names are written in the Book of Life. How important it is!
But why is that Book of Life there at the great white throne? We say it is the judgment of the dead, and those who believe in the Lord Jesus have been resurrected a thousand years ahead of them, and they would never come into the great white throne. So why should the Book of Life be there?
Is it just there to serve as a check, lest anybody whose name may be there should be judged? Certainly it would be more than that.
Now, I do not know, because the Bible is silent. There is only one explanation I may offer. Now, you can take it or leave it, because it is not the Bible.
I think probably the Book of Life is there because of those who may die during the millennium years.
You remember Isaiah. It is said, even a sinner who dies a hundred years old is considered as cursed. Maybe there are people who are born in the millennium and die in the millennium. Maybe some of them have their names in the Book of Life. I do not know, but there may be such an explanation.
So anyway, we find that during the last judgment, all whose names are not written in the Book of Life will be judged according to the books, according to the works that they had done in their lives. The result is that they will be cast into the lake of fire, which is the second death.
Remember, the lake of fire, or hell as people usually say, is not made for men. Hell is prepared for Satan. Satan was cast into the lake of fire, but those who follow Satan have to keep company with him. That is why you find those who are judged and condemned will be cast into the lake of fire.
That will be the end of time. And thank God, after that comes eternity.
So, dear brothers and sisters, we need to see the Lord Jesus in the light of the great white throne. Today, He offers His grace to us, but one day He will sit on the throne and judge all men.
Whom do you see? In what way do you want to see Him? Do you want to see Him as the Lamb of God, Who takes away the sin of the world, seen as the burnt offering willingly offered to the Father on behalf of the world? Or do you rather see Him as the Judge on the great white throne?
We have much to thank Him for, we who have believed in Him. So may the Lord help us. Shall we pray?
Our Heavenly Father, we praise and thank Thee because the One Whom Thou hast appointed to judge the living and the dead is the very One Whom Thou hast sent into the world to save the lost.
Oh, how we praise and thank Thee that Thou hast opened our eyes to see Him as the Lamb of God. How we praise and thank Thee for faith given us in believing and trusting in Him. How we thank Thee that our names are, by Thy grace, written in the Book of Life.
Oh, how we thank Thee for the salvation and for the Saviour that Thou hast given to us. Oh, how it is our prayer and our longing that many more may come to know Thee in this way.
Because it is Thy will that all shall be saved and come to the knowledge of God. Thou dost not want anyone to perish.
Oh Lord, we pray and ask Thee that, seeing Thou hast saved us, may Thy compassion fill our hearts, that we may go out and seek the lost. Oh, that the gospel of Jesus Christ may be preached. Oh, that many more may be brought into Thy kingdom.
We pray for our friends. We pray for our relatives. We pray for our neighbors. We pray for those with whom we are in contact.
Oh, we do pray that, Lord, open their eyes, that they may see Thee as the Lamb of God, Who takes away the sin of the world. Oh, we pray that they may not reject Thee and then one day stand before that great white throne.
How can they face Thy face? Oh Lord, have mercy. Have mercy. We ask in Thy precious name. Amen.