A Study of Eschatology

Revelation 20: 11-15

Every person who has ever lived on the earth who is unredeemed or saved as we generally say will stand before the LORD Jesus Christ to receive the sentence of eternal death. The death is called in the bible the second death. The judgment from this throne will be without a jury, a defense lawyer, but there will be a Judge and Prosecutor. There will be no appeal and the sentence will be final. When this event is completed the, all things on earth will be made new.

It is a fearful moment to fall into the hands of the Living God. Hebrews 10:31 and Revelation 20:11-15 explain why. All religions are based on works apart from faith in God, this is why sin is not mentioned once in this passage of judgment. It a brief explanation, Jesus paid the price for our sin at the cross of Calvary. “Behold the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world” John 1:29; Psalm 40:6-8 and Hebrews 10:5-7. So the Great White Throne Judgment cannot be about sin, it has to be about the deeds of mankind that God judges as dead works, or works without biblical faith. Ephesians 2:8-10.

The Great White Throne Judgment is a place without redemption, no favorable verdict and no possible appeal. There is only one sentence for everyone there. Separation from God for eternity in a place called the “Lake of Fire” All of creation including us feel this separation in part today, but it is not a total separation even for the dead at this time, but after this judgment the Lake of Fire will be filled with the souls of all people and spirits who have practiced deeds that God has classified as evil. If we have the time we will investigate just what these deeds are, but if not we will pick them up next week.

Sometimes we will run across those believers who are confused about judgment so lets take another moment and explain a thing or two. The Judgment Seat of Christ and the Great White Throne Judgment or two separate events:

The “judgment seat of Christ occurs after the Rapture of the church and during the seven year period of the tribulation. It is a resurrection to life and includes only those who are saved by the Blood of the Lamb. Revelation 1:5.

The “Great White Throne Judgment occurs at the end of the One Thousand Year Reign of Jesus Christ. It is a resurrection to death and all of the lost are included. Revelation 20:14-15.

Some would wonder where this event will take place. The Throne of Judgment will be so traumatic that the presence of heaven and earth will not be there to see it. Revelation 20:11. I think this is unique in that those at the judgment will not have any excuse. They will not be able to rely on earthly references because earth will not be around to remind them. They will not be able to refer to any spiritual guidance because everything pertaining to heaven will not be available to reference. Hebrews 12:28-29

God is preparing a new heavens and earth, the elements of this universe will melt away and the new heavens are in the making. 2 Peter 3:10-13, there is coming that day. The day of the LORD and it will not be December 12, 2012. It will be a day when God completes the judgment at the Great White Throne. Who ever is erased out of the Book of Life will be standing at this throne and there will be no appeal.

The Person on the Throne is God and we must be careful with this and confuse those who are not sure of what to make of the person of Jesus Christ. Jesus is the fullness of God in bodily form. No one has seen God at any time since God is a Spirit, John 4:24. There is a four fold witness that Jesus Christ is God in human flesh found in John 5:31-47.

One: John the Baptizer is a witness

Two: The works that Jesus did

Three: The Word of God the Father Himself

Four: The Scriptures and Jesus is referring to the Old Testament here since the New Testament has yet to be written.

The people at the throne are referred to as the; the dead, the small and the great. Revelation 20:12. The phrase is found often in the Old Testament and five times in the book of Revelation and always means those who are spiritually dead. Those who are spiritually dead are those who are blotted out of the book of Life. Exodus 32:32-33. This is the age old sin of mankind. Idolatry which rejects God, and replaces Him with pagan or man made gods. The One speaking to Moses here is the LORD Jehovah who is the LORD Jesus of the Old Testament. See also Psalm 69:28.

The purpose of the Great White Throne will not be because of a lack of “Good Works” humans mostly desire to do good things. The history of time proves beyond a doubt that good is accomplished. However, these good deeds or works that are written in the books that are opened is a guilty verdict to those who did them because these things were done in darkness because the deeds were evil. Simple put these deeds were not done in the light of Christ, or in His Name. John 1:5 and 3:19

The Punishment is permanent. Jesus spoke more about hell then He did about heaven. In fact; When He spoke of the two abodes, his references were three to one. For every one word he spoke of concerning heaven, He spoke three words concerning hell. Hell is a real place, it is not His desire for anyone to go to hell since it is a place that was originally made for the devil and his angels Matthew 25:41.