Judgement Day, Part 2

Isn't it good to know how the world ends? I just for once wish that Newsweek or Time magazine would ask me to write an article. About how the world is going to end. It would clear up a lot of the confusion that we have in the world today. It'd make it very clear. Revelation 20. I saw a great white throne, and him who sat upon it, from whose presence earth and heaven fled away, and no place was found for them. I saw the dead, the great and the small, standing before the throne, and the books were opened.

And another book was opened, which is the book of life. And the dead were judged from the things which were written in the books, according to their deeds. The sea gave out the dead which were in it, the death and Hades gave out the dead which were in them, and they were judged, every one of them, according to their deeds. And death and Hades were thrown into the lake of fire. This is the second death, the lake of fire.

And if anyone's name was not found written in the book of life, he was thrown. Into the lake of fire. As we have looked at this passage once already, we begin by looking at the context. For judgment, John sees a great white throne. It's great not because of its size, but because of its significance. It's white because it represents the purity and holiness of Almighty God. And we talked about this throne because there was one who sat upon the throne. And it's a great demonstration of the deity of Jesus Christ because the one who sits on the throne is God.

And we know that God the Father gave all the judgment to God the Son. And so we spent time reiterating the fact that this proves the deity of Jesus Christ. It affirms that Jesus and God are one. And the Bible says that everything fled away from his presence.

That means it has to go out of existence because God is everywhere. So there's a context for judgment. John sees a great white throne, and all of a sudden, things are the way they were before Genesis 1:1. There's nothing. There's no gravity. There's no time. There's no matter. Can't have matter unless you have time. There's no space, there's no stars, there's nothing, not. All the way it was, all back the way it was before Genesis 1:1. And John says, I saw a great white throne. And everything fled from the presence of the one who sat upon that throne.

What an amazing, an amazing scene. He says in verse number 12, and I saw the dead. I saw the dead, the sinners who had been killed. They are not the saved people, they are the unbelievers. This is called the second resurrection.

This is the resurrection of damnation, according to John 5, verse number 24. And John says, I saw the dead, the great and the small, every who ex. From the beginning of time to that time, who is an unbeliever? Whether they are a popular person or whether they were a pauper. The great and the sm. And why are they standing? Because the judge says, Will the sinner please rise? You're all standing there awaiting the verdict from the king. That's the context of judgment. Then we look at the call to judgment.

He says down in verse number thirteen. 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 one of them, accord to their deeds. This is the call to judgment. These are the unbelievers who stand before the throne of God. In Hades, the unrighteous soul suffers. And there were some questions last time during our question and answer period concerning Hades and hell and paradise. Excuse me, the contrast between Hades and Paradise and Abraham's bosom and that kind of thing.

So, let me just give you four verses to help you understand Hades and Paradise. In Abraham's bosom. According to Ephesians 4, the Bible tells us that Jesus Christ descended to the lowest parts of the earth. And he led captive a host of captives. According to 1 Peter chapter 3, verse number 19, this is the second verse.

He went and made a proclamation to the spirits in prison. The third verse is Luke:, where he told the thief on the cross today.

You shall be with me in paradise. So if Christ is on the cross and he says to the thief, Today you will be with me in paradise. And paradise is the equivalent to Abraham's bosom, in which there was a great chasm between paradise where Lazarus was. and Hades, where the rich man was then Christ would then, after his death, descend to the lowest parts of the earth. He'd make a public proclamation Saying to the spirits that are in prison, all those in Hades, that he was the victor. That he is the winner, and he would lead a host of captives with him.

To be with him and his father in heaven. Because the fourth verse I want to give you is 2 Corinthians 12, verse number 4, where Paul says that he was caught up into paradise. So Christ would make paradise then the place of his abode with all those who die and are born again. You follow me? So when a man died in the Old Testament, he would go to paradise. Abraham's bosom. And there'd be a great chasm, a great gulf between those who are the wicked dead and those who are the righteous dead. And when Christ came and died on the cross, he took that thief with him to paradise, made a public proclamation, led those in Abraham's bosom back up into heaven with his father.

And thus they remain there until we go to be with them when we die, for absent from the body, present with the Lord. But Hades is the headquarters of the wickedness and of evil. There is no more seed to keep the wicked man. There is no more grave to hold the wicked man. And there is no more Hades to imprison the wicked man. Everything is gone. All that is left is the great white throne. And all the sinners stand before that throne. The text says These words: The dead were judged. The dead were judged.

I need to tell you something here that you need to understand. This is a just judgment. This is a right judgment because there's going to be people who will say, you know, this really isn't. Fair. This really isn't the way it should happen. After all, God is a loving God. He is a merciful God, a kind God. A gracious God, a good God. Yet, you must understand that our God is a holy God. And every dec that he makes, every judgment that he passes Is bas on that standard of perfection that he is holy.

Therefore, every decision that God makes about man is the perfect decision. Is the right decision. Is the righteous decision. The Bible says in Ezra 9:1, the God of Israel Is right.

Psalm 116, verse number five says, Gracious is the Lord and righteous. John 17:2 tells us, as Christ prayed his high priestly prayer, O right Father, the world hath not known thee, but I. Have known thee, O right Father. The reason Christ knew the right Father is because he him was righteous. The Bible says in Jeremiah 12, right art thou, O Lord, when I plead with thee.

The Hebrew word for righteous means basically this: straight. That's what it means: straight, no crookedness, absolutely straight. God is straight. God is right. God is just. And the righteousness of God is the attribute that leads God to always make the right decis. The righteousness of God is that attribute that always causes him to act justly. That's the way God is. So when the men are judged, they are without excuse. When man is judged, He is not exempt. Why? Because God is righteous. And the verdict he passes.

Is just. Every motive of a man will come forth on that great day. Every hidden thought, every hidden motive will be exposed in Revelation 20. On that day, Matthew 12, verse number 37. For by your words you shall be justified, and by your words you shall be condemned. Man will be judged according to every word that he says, every thought that he has. Matthew 16, verse number 27, says this: For the Son of Man is going to come in the glory of his Father with his angels. And will then recompense every man according to his deeds.

Man will be paid according to his deeds. So every word, every act, every thought are recorded in those books that are open. The books were opened. Same phrase used in Daniel 7, verse number 10. Daniel saw the same thing, and the books were opened. And every person will be evaluated bas on what he did, on what he said, what he thought. Every motive will be exposed, and man will be without excuse. Romans 1, Romans 2, John 1: says that the true light which comes into the world enlightens every man. You hear that?

The true light, John 1:9 says, that comes into the world enlightens every man. So man is without excuse. But it's interesting that not every man on that day who is judged will be judged as severely as another man will be judged. For instance, it says this in Matthew 10, verse number 14. These words. And whoever does not receive you nor heed your words as you go out of the house or that city, shake off the dust of your feet. And truly I say to you. It will be more tolerable for the land of Sodom and Gomorrah in the day of judgment than for that c.

Think about it. Disciples are sent out to preach the gospel. And Christ says: if you go into a city and they don't want to hear what you have to say, you just shake the dust off your feet and you won't move on to another city.

Because I tell you, in that day of judgment, it will be more tolerable for Sodom and Gomorrah than for them. So you have a city, a city that's heard the gospel, and they reject the gospel. And they're good people. They're righteous people according to the world standards. They don't murder. They don't commit immorality. They don't say nasty words. They're pretty much good, upstanding moral people. And you've preached to them the gospel. You've told them the truth. And they have rejected the truth.

You know what Christ says? When they are standing right next to the homosexual from Sodom to Gomorrah, that this person who rejected the gospel will suffer greater. Th this person. That 's what's going to happen. That 's what's going to happen. There are degrees of punishment. It might only be to the degree in which you gnash your teeth, but there are degrees of punishment. Matthew 11, verse number 21, woe to you, Kho, woe to you, Bethsa, for if the miracles had occurred in Tyre and Sidon. which occurred in you, they would have repented long ago sack off of ashes.

Nevertheless I say to you, it shall be more tolerable for Tyre and Sidon in the day of judgment than for you. And you, Caper, will not be exalted to heaven, will you? You shall descend to Hades, for if the miracles that occurred in Sodom, which occurred in you It would have remained to this day. Nevertheless, I say to you that it shall be more tolerable for the land of Sodom in the day of judgment than for you. God says, those people in Sodom and Gomorrah who are wicked, evil, vile, rotten people, their punishment is not going to be near as great.

As someone who is an upstanding, church-going, praying, singing person who never swears. Who never committed immorality, who never drank, who never curses, who never smokes, and yet has never believed in Jesus Christ. They will suffer great. It says over in Hebrews 10. Verse number 2 How much more severe a punishment do you think he will deserve who has trampled under the Son of God, and has regarded as unclean the blood of the covenant by which He has sanctified, and has insulted the Spirit of Grace.

That person will receive a most severe punishment. Listen, if you have heard the God, listen, if you are a person. Who comes to church regularly and hears the word of God and has never given your life to Christ, it will be better for you to die now than at the end of this sermon. It would be better for you to die now than to be here on Sunday morning and still reject the truth. Because the more truth you're exposed to, The more the gospel you hear, the more Jesus Christ is presented to you. And the more you reject it, the greater your punishment, the greater your damnation.

Why? Romans two tells you. Romans two five says Because of the stubbornness and unrepentant heart, you are storing up wrath for yourselves. In the day of wrath and revelation of the righteous judgment of God, who will render to every man according to his deeds. That's why. You are just piling up wrath. The more you reject the truth, the more you say no to Christ, the more you live in your unrepentant state, you just keep piling up wrath upon wrath upon wrath. So when the day of judgment comes, Bam!

It's worse for you than for those in Sodom and Gomorrah. We need to understand this. Because this should motivate us in our preaching of the gospel. This should motivate us in telling people about truth. You need to give them Hebrews 10, 29. You need to give them Romans 2:5. You need to give them Matthew 11, Matthew 10. You need to tell them that if they don't come to Christ, their punishment will be more severe. Th those who have never heard the truth of Jesus Christ. So important. All sinners in hell will be miserable, but not equally miserable.

There will be degrees of punishment. And their punishment will fit the crime. Because when the books were opened, the righteous judge made the just. Decision. The Bible also says in Revelation chapter 20 that there was another bo which was opened. The book of life. You have all these books that are opened that record every motive, every thought, every word, every deed, every act of an individual. That stands before the throne of God. And then there's another book, and it's called the book of life.

In that book, the names of all those who won't die, the second death, are recorded there. And the implication here is that their names were not written in the book of life, but in the other book. And some of them will be startled. Wait a minute, my name's not in the book of life. Wait a minute, this is where Matthew 7 comes into account. Did we not prophesy in your name? Did we not cast out demons in your name? Did we not do many marvelous deeds in your In your name, oh Lord, we did it for you. That's why the passion within me as a pastor is to make sure that anybody in the church is not duped by the devil to thinking that, yes.

Yes, I know Christ, when in reality they might stand before him, and when the book of life is opened, their name is not written in the book of life. And they're going to plead with God. But Lord, I did this for you. I sang in the choir for you. I went on mission trips for you. I gave thousands of dollars for you to church. I fed the poor. I gave. Food to those who were hungry. I clothed those who were naked. I did everything I could for you. And he says, I never knew you. Depart from me, you who practice lawlessness.

Can you imagine that? Do you know how many people are in that category? Let me tell you how many people put in that category.

Enter by the narrow gate. For the gate is wide, and the way is broad that leads to destruction, and many are those who enter by it. For the gate is small, and the way is narrow, that leads to life, and few are those who find it. You, that's what the Bible says.

Some will ask, as Revelation 20 says, those whose names were not found written in the book of life were cast into the lake. Of fire. And some will say, Would a loving God really do that? Let me say it to you this way.

That is the wrong question. It's not, would a loving God really do that? The question, or the better question, is this: why would a sinner do that? Why would a sinner reject God? Why would a sinner reject this moral law? Why would a sinner reject what conscience tells him to the convicting work of the Holy Spirit? Why would the sinner reject the revelation of Christ in the world? Why would the sinner reject the gospel? Why would the sinner reject the free gift of grace? That's the question. It's not why would a loving God do this.

It's why would a sinner reject the truth? That's the question. We ask the wrong questions. We question God instead of questioning the one who needs to be questioned. Why would you reject? One may have said it well. You have to pass through a lot of gates to get to the lake of fire. You have to only enter into one gate to get to glory. Just one. Which gates have you entered? Let's pray. Father, we thank you for the Word of God. And while we look at this And realize the absolute se of the end upon all those who will be judged according to their deeds.

I would pray that there would not be one person in this auditorium or one person who listens by way of tape or radio. Who would fall into the category on that day of saying, Lord, Lord, did we not do this for you? And to hear those awful, terrifying words: depart from me. I never knew you. What a devastating day. May we be motivated, Lord, to share truth, speak truth. Show truth because you are truth. And we love you. In Jesus' name. Amen.