The Great White Throne: God's Final Courtroom

I just wanted to say, just to wrap up last week, just as we summarize everything,

we were talking about that the believers who survived the tribulation,

they actually enter the millennium, the thousand-year reign of Christ, in their mortal bodies.

That's those who survived, the believers who lived through it.

And so, but they are not glorified, in other words, at the second coming.

But what we have is, Scripture actually shows us, Isaiah 65,

we talked about this briefly, that there will be people marrying and having

children in this millennial kingdom.

And I talked with you last week that these are the kids of those believers.

And just like today, just because mom and dad are believers,

does not mean that their kids will accept Christ.

And we're talking about mortal believers still here. And death,

it says in Isaiah 65, is going to come, it's going to still occur among those

who survived the tribulation, right?

Those who will repopulate the earth is what we're saying here in those thousand years.

And although they will live longer.

We see that also in Isaiah. And there's nations being ruled.

I'm going to talk about that again in a minute.

And then the final rebellion at the end.

But I want you to get this tonight.

Glorified people, which will be the church, right? And we'll talk about all

those groups in our glorified bodies at that time, right?

We won't be capable of dying.

We're in our glorified bodies. We are in our eternal state, if you will.

We're like Jesus. and also glorified people

do not marry according to Matthew 22 30

there'll be no marriage or given in marriage right and so

and here's the most important thing I want you to get glorified people are sinless

sin has been eradicated okay there'll be no more sin in our glorified bodies

and so as we look at it the groups that we have are the church saints which are us right.

At the rapture, we're going to be called up together, right?

We're going to get our glorified bodies, all that.

And so the church saints here in the millennium, they're going to reign with

Christ in their glorified bodies.

The Old Testament saints are also going to reign with Christ in their glorified

bodies, which they will be raised.

We'll talk about that here that we did last week, I think, at the beginning

of the millennium. And then the tribulation martyrs, those who actually died

for their faith throughout the tribulation, they got saved during the tribulation,

but gave their lives. They were martyred.

They will also be in their glorified body. So what, again, is the one group

of people that will not be in their glorified body in the millennium?

Right. The only group.

Those who live through the tribulation and are saved.

Now, if those that don't know the Lord, remember, and I'm putting a bow on this,

because those that don't know the Lord, they're going to be dealt with at the Battle of Armageddon.

The only people left on earth will be believers. You get that,

right? At the Millennial Kingdom.

But the only ones, the survivors of the tribulation, will be in their natural

mortal bodies at this time.

And they're going to be the ones who will repopulate the earth.

And so as we really look at all that, we'll see us as part of those people who

are glorified saints, glorified bodies and capable of sinning.

And we're also not going to be having children and marrying and all that.

So we're going to be glorified rulers that we talked about some last week,

and we're going to reign with Christ.

So we're going to be reigning with him in the kingdom.

And and then those citizens there

who survived the tribulation they're going to be the mortal kingdom

citizens that we will be reigning over with

christ at that time and so of course you can go deeper into all this looking

in isaiah chapter 65 matthew 25 in the old testament talks about this and all

Isaiah 65 · chapter mention

those things so and take a look at that but i thought i would just kind of kind of, you know,

re-go through, go through that again with you guys, just so you see that and

that you'll see what, what happens there.

And we'll talk tonight about that last judgment, and that's where we're going to pick up tonight.

And if you want to look there in Revelation chapter 20, verses 11 through 15,

Revelation 20:11–15

this is going to be like man's last day in God's court. Okay, this is it.

We'll pick up there. It says, then 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.

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 from the things which were written in the books according to their deeds.

And the sea, listen to this, 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 according to their deeds.

Then 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

this passage Eastwood describes the final sentencing of the lost and y'all it's

the most serious sobering and tragic passage I think in the entire Bible.

It's commonly known as the Great White Throne Judgment.

You've probably heard of it before, the Great White Throne Judgment.

It's the last courtroom scene, if you will, that will ever take place.

And after this, there will never again be a trial, and God will never again need to act as judge.

The accused, all the unsaved, who have ever lived, will be resurrected here

at the end of the millennium to experience a trial like no other that has ever been.

There'll be no debate over their guilt or their innocence.

In fact, there will be a prosecutor, but no defender, an accuser,

but no advocate in this trial.

There will be an indictment, but no defense will be mounted by the accused.

In fact, the convincing evidence will be presented with actually no rebuttal

or cross-examination in this trial.

There'll be an utterly unsympathetic judge and no jury, and there'll be no appeal

of the sentence he pronounces.

The guilty will be punished y'all eternally with no possibility of parole in

a prison from which there's no escape.

So I want you to get this scene. In fact, the language of this passage as you

read it, it's very plain. It's very stark and it's unbellished.

I mean, it's right there in your face.

Few details are given and the description is utterly lacking in the vivid part,

but the scene is frightening.

When you look at it enough.

I mean, just reading through it in its own right that it would really be,

you know, unnecessary to add any vivid language if you want to look at it that way.

In fact, the beloved apostle John here, who's writing, recording this vision,

if you remember, don't forget, in a cave on a hillside on the island of Patmos, remember?

No doubt, y'all, He was shaken as he wrote of the eternal damnation of the wicked

that's taken place here.

Ever since the fall, think about it.

The father of lies, John 8, 44, who is that? Satan, right?

Has attempted to deceive people about the reality of the coming judgment.

He's done his best to convince people that there will be no final tribunal, right?

Satan has deceived sinners into believing that they can live as they please

without fear of ultimate accountability or future punishment.

In fact, Satan said to Eve, you remember all the way back in Genesis 3 verse

Genesis 3:4

4, you remember what he said?

You surely will not die. Y'all remember that? And.

Basically, by saying that to Eve back there, he was voicing his denial of judgment on sin.

Now, you'll surely not die. There's not going to be a judgment.

You know, the primary means the devil uses. Think about it.

In his deception are atheism, particularly the godless theory of evolution that

we hear today, and false religion.

Atheism's denial of God's existence means there is no moral judge.

Think about it. to whom people are accountable after they die.

And I've shared with y'all before, God doesn't believe in atheists.

You look in Romans chapter one, he says, you know, everybody knows there is

a God and everybody's without excuse.

Why do we know that? Because God said he's revealed himself to everyone on the planet.

That's how we know it. And they wrongly, though, believe that they are free

to sin as they please and then simply pass out of existence.

You know, I'll just live whatever life I want to now.

And, you know, yeah, I'll die one day, but they don't really believe in the

reality of judgment or hell.

And you stop and think about it. The gods, the little G of most false religions, they're not holy.

They don't require inward righteousness and heart obedience,

and they're appeased by ritual and ceremony.

And so those gods, those little g,

those gods, they inspire zero fear of accountability in their worshipers.

I mean, it's kind of like, you know, you'll become like God,

little gods, little g, right?

We become our own gods, so to speak.

But despite the vain, the foolish speculations of men, the true and the living

God, as we see in this passage, Y'all, he is the supreme judge of the entire universe.

His judgment of unbelievers, y'all, here's something that's so interesting and it's so.

I don't want to say overwhelming, but it is comforting when you think about

it because his judgment of unbelievers will be just because he is just.

Deuteronomy 32 verse 4 actually says of God, listen to this,

Deuteronomy 32:4

his work is perfect for all his ways are just, a God of faithfulness and without injustice,

righteousness, and upright as he. That's who our God is, y'all.

Job 37 verses 23 and 24 declares this.

Job 37:23

It says, the Almighty, we cannot find him.

He is exalted in power, and he will not do violence to justice and abundant righteousness.

Therefore, men fear him.

God cannot but be just, Eastwood, because the absolutely holy perfection of

his nature will not allow him to do anything but what is right.

Is that a comforting thought to you? That God's not going to be unjust with you, me, or anyone else.

He can't help but be just. That's who he is. That's his nature.

That's his attributes, right? That's who he is.

God's will is the supreme standard of justice and equity, and he wills nothing

but what is just, what is right, and what is true.

Nothing outside of himself, don't lose this, nothing outside of himself compels God to act justly.

Justice is his very nature.

Don't lose that. So all of God's acts towards people, including me and you, are perfectly just.

Sinners have all wronged God's justice, but God's justice has not wronged them, nor could it ever.

Our God is just. Our God is holy. Our God is pure. He does what is right.

In fact, no one at the great white throne judgment will have the slightest grounds

for complaint about his or her sentence. Did you know that?

Those who reject God's grace and his mercy in this life will inevitably face

his justice in the life to come, according to God's word.

God said, if you remember of wayward Israel, he said this, he said,

my people did not listen to my voice and Israel did not obey me. That's in Psalm 81, 11.

And to their equally stiff necked descendants, Jesus actually declared this.

He said, you are so unwilling to come to me so that you may have life.

And John 5, 40, and you will die, listen to what he says, and you will die in

your sins. For unless you believe that I am he, you will die in your sins. John 8, 24.

Unrepentant sinners will experience God's justice at the great white throne judgment.

So who's the great white throne judgment for? Hmm.

Sinners, unsaved people from all time.

We're going to see more about this, the resurrection of the dead,

the unsaved, the damned, if you will.

And so unrepentant sinners will experience God's justice at the great white throne judgment.

This simple but powerful passage of Scripture describes that terrifying reality

of the final verdict and sentence on sinners under, I think,

four different headings, if you will.

Let me share those tonight. I don't know that we'll get through all of them,

but the first one we'll see is the scene.

Then we have the summons that we see in the passage. Then the standard.

And then the sentence, finally. So it's the scene, the summons,

the standard, and the sentence.

So let's dive in just a little bit deeper tonight. We'll look at first at the scene.

Listen to this, verse 11 and 12 again. Listen, that 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.

And I saw the dead, the great and the small, standing before the throne.

Y'all, as you look at this passage, in one brief, straightforward,

unbellished statement, John actually describes this terrifying scene before his eyes.

The apostle here is shown the judge who is seated on his throne of judgment

and all the accused standing before him.

That familiar phrase, Caithon, once again introduces this new vision here in

Revelation, this vision of the great white throne judgment.

Follows those of the millennium that we studied and the second coming by the way and it immediately,

precedes that of the new heavens and the new earth okay so the first thing it

says here that john saw was a great what throne white throne you know you know

nearly 50 times in revelation there's the mention of a throne, and in this case,

it's the seat of God's sovereign rule here.

It's called great not only because of its size, as greater than the throne's

mention back in verse 4 of this chapter, but also because of its significance,

its majesty and authority.

And think about it being white for a minute. What does white symbolize?

Purity, holiness, justice, those things we were talking about earlier.

And the verdict that's handed down from this throne will be absolutely equitable.

It'll be absolutely righteous and just.

The Lord abides forever. If you remember, David wrote, he said he has established

his throne for judgment and he will judge the world in righteousness.

He will execute judgment for the peoples with equity, with fairness, right?

Daniel, we talk about Daniel a lot because the prophecies here towards the end

time, but Daniel described this scene, believe it or not, in Daniel chapter

Daniel 7:9

7, verses 9 and 10. And I want you to listen.

He said this, he said, I kept looking until thrones were set up and the ancient of days took his seat.

His vesture was like white snow and the hair of his head like pure wool.

His throne was ablaze with flames.

Its wheels were a burning fire. A river of fire was flowing and coming out from before him.

Thousands upon thousands were attending him, and myriads upon myriads were standing before him.

The court sat and the books were opened.

That's in Daniel 7. And Jesus, by the way, he actually described this seen in

John 5, 29, as the resurrection of judgment is what he called it.

And of that judgment, the apostle Paul actually wrote these words.

He said, because of your stubbornness and unrepentant heart,

you remember what he said?

He said, you are storing up wrath for yourselves in the day of wrath and revelation

of the righteous judgment of God. That's in Romans 2, verse 5.

Romans 2:5

And y'all, even more awe-inspiring than the throne was the vision of who? Of him who sat upon it.

The judge on the throne is none other than the eternal almighty God.

That's described in the throne scene all the way back in chapter 4 of Revelation,

verses 8 through 11. I'm going to remind you of that text.

Listen to it. It says, and the four living creatures, each one of them having

six wings, are full of eyes around and within,

and day and night they do not cease to say, Holy, holy, holy is the Lord God

Almighty who was and who is and who is to come.

And when the living creatures gave glory and honor and thanks to him who sits

on the throne, to him who lives forever and ever,

the 24 elders will fall down before him who sits on the throne and will worship

him who lives forever and ever and will cast their crowns before the throne.

Saying, Worthy are you, our Lord and our God, to receive glory and honor and power.

For you created all things, and because of your will, they existed and were created.

Wow. Do you see the majesty and the glory that's on display here?

In fact, earlier in Revelation, the tribulation martyrs, do you remember this?

They cried out back in chapter 7, verse 10, I believe, salvation to our God

who sits on the throne and to the Lamb.

There's a song from that, by the way, right?

And in chapter 19, verse 4, we read that the 24 elders and the four living creatures

actually fell down and they worship God who sits on the throne saying what? Amen. Hallelujah.

Right? You remember that? And sharing the throne with the Father is who?

Jesus. The Lord Jesus Christ. In chapter 3, verse 21, Jesus promised this.

He said, he who overcomes, I will grant to him to sit down with me on my throne.

And I also overcame and sat down with my father on his throne.

And in John's vision here of the new heaven and the new earth,

he saw, we haven't got to that yet, but in chapter 22, we're going to study this.

He saw the throne of God and of the lamb, he said in chapter 22, verses one and three.

And we'll see that down the road just a little bit. But though the Father and

the Son, think about it this way, they share the throne.

It is the Son who is uniquely in view here.

Since Scripture, if you remember, teaches that He will judge sinners.

Back in John chapter 5, verse 22, Jesus actually said this, listen,

John 5:22

not even the Father judges anyone, but he has given all judgment to the Son.

While in verses 26 and 27, he added this in John.

Just as the Father has life in himself, even so he gave to the Son also to have

life in himself, and he gave him authority to execute judgment because he is the son of man.

In Acts chapter 10 verse 42, Peter actually declared that Jesus is the one who

Acts 10:42

has been appointed by God as judge of the living and the dead.

In fact, the apostle Paul warned the pagan philosophers of Athens that God has

fixed a day in which he He will judge the world in righteousness,

it says, through a man whom he has appointed,

having furnished proof to all men by raising him from the dead, Acts 17, 31.

So in Romans, he wrote of the day when, according to my gospel,

God will judge the secrets of men.

Listen, Romans 2, 16, through Jesus Christ, through Christ Jesus.

While to Timothy, he also noted

that Christ Jesus is to judge the living and the dead, 2 Timothy 4.1.

It is God, y'all, in the person of the glorified Lord Jesus Christ,

who will sit in final judgment on unbelievers here at the great white throne judgment.

And so after describing the vision of the judge on his throne,

John also noted this the the startling reality that from his presence look at

that from his presence what fled away?

Yes, earth and heaven fled away. I mean, that amazing, incredible statement

there, it really describes, you know what it describes?

And the uncreation of the universe.

You ever thought about that? The earth will have been reshaped by the devastating

effects of the judgments of the tribulation.

You remember that? All those things happening.

And it will be restored during the millennial kingdom.

Yet, it will still be tainted with sin and subject to the effects of the fall.

There will still be decay and death, so it must be destroyed.

Since nothing corrupted by sin will be permitted to exist in the eternal state,

it tells us in 2 Peter 3.13, God will in its place, what is he going to do?

He's going to create a new heaven and a new earth for the first heaven,

it says, And the first earth hath what? Passed away.

Passed away. The present earth in heaven will not merely be moved or reshaped.

Since John here saw in his vision, what did he say? The language there,

no place was found for them.

No place was found for them. They'll be uncreated and go totally out of existence.

And y'all think about it. This is nothing less than the sudden violent termination of the universe.

You know, we read in scripture, that Jesus is the one that holds all things together, right?

Everything. I mean, all the atoms, everything, all the molecules in our body, all of it.

I think of that song, every move I make, I'm making you, Jesus, right?

But theologian Barnhouse actually wrote this. He says, there's to be an end

of the material heavens and earth, which we know.

It's not Not that they are to be purified and rehabilitated,

but that the reverse of creation is to take place.

They're to be uncreated, in other words, as they came from nothing but what?

How did the world come into existence at the universe?

From the mouth of God, right? At the word of God, they are to be sucked back

into nothingness by the same word of God.

So the details of God's uncreation of the universe, they're given by Peter in

2 Peter 3, verses 10 through 13.

2 Peter 3:10–13

And he describes the final expression of the day of the Lord. Listen to this.

He says, but the day of the Lord will come like a thief in which the heavens

will pass away with a roar and the elements will be destroyed with intense heat

and the earth and its works will be burned up.

Since all these things are to be destroyed in this way, what sort of people

ought you to be in holy conduct and godliness,

looking for and hastening the coming of the day of God, because of which the

heavens will be destroyed by burning, and the elements will melt with intense heat?

But according to his promise, we are looking for new heavens and a new earth

in which righteousness dwells.

The day of the Lord, y'all, will come suddenly here, unexpectedly,

and with disastrous consequences for the unprepared, just like the coming of a thief.

When the day comes, several things are going to happen.

First, the heavens will pass away with a roar, it says.

Rehoizodon. You almost hear that in the word, right, in the Greek word.

Heroizodon. You almost hear that roar in there, right?

It's called, and get me if I get this right, because I had it in my head this week.

They have a name for this, a word like that.

I believe it is onomatopoetic, I believe.

I think I remember it. That is, it's a word that It sounds like what it means. Horizon.

So it sounds like what it means. It actually describes the loud whistling,

the crackling, the rushing sound here.

That's going to result when the elements will be destroyed with intense heat

and the earth and its works will be burned up.

When the heavens will be destroyed by burning, as it says, and the elements

will melt with intense heat. Wow.

Stoicheon, elements. It refers to that the basic building blocks, if you will, of matter.

Think about atomic and subatomic particles, right?

Destroyed. That verb, that Greek verb there, luo. It could be translated dissolved.

Dissolved. the present universe in other words

will explode like this gigantic nuclear

bomb if you want to think about it that way and the

resulting intense heat will literally

dissolve all matter in it you know the present laws anybody think about this

you may have thought about it already but the present laws of thermodynamics

which actually state that matter can neither be created or destroyed will no longer be in effect,

Brother Ronnie, at the Word of God.

And as a result, the universe here will be burned up. It'll be totally consumed.

And again, that absolute reverse of creation will occur.

It didn't take eons of evolution, did it? Nor will it take eons to uncreate

it. It took the Word of God.

And the uncreation of the universe, think about it, the universe,

new heavens and new earth.

You think about how many stars that's out there today that we know about.

Think about those that we don't know about, that came flying out of the mouth of God at creation.

All of that uncreated, because there's going to be new heavens and a new earth

where righteousness reigns.

And it'll take place, y'all. This should make us tremble in awe by the word

of God, the word of his mouth.

And then introducing the final element in this scene, this fearful scene,

really, John writes that he saw the dead, look at it, the great and the small

standing before the throne.

So think about this. The setting is the indescribable void, so to speak,

the inconceivable nothingness between the end of the present universe and the

creation of the new heaven and the new earth.

The prisoners before the bar here are all, think about their position.

They're all physically dead since they're no longer any living people.

None could possibly survive the destruction of the present universe.

The last living unbelievers will perish when God crushes the rebellion at the end of the millennium.

That's in verses 8 and 9 that we read the other week.

The last living believers will be, as far as living believers,

they will be translated and transformed into their eternal bodies like Enoch.

Remember old Enoch, Elijah, and the raptured church at this point.

Because I know some of you have probably been wondering, well,

when are these believers who made it through the tribulation,

when are they going to get their resurrection body?

This is it at the end of the millennium. the dead

that are pictured here standing before the

throne of divine judgment are not just from the millennial rebellion but include

don't miss this all unbelievers who ever lived this is the resurrection of judgment

or the resurrection to disgrace and everlasting contempt Daniel calls it,

or the resurrection of the wicked, Paul calls it in Acts.

The Bible teaches that no believer, listen, the Bible teaches that no believer

will ever face God's judgment.

You know why? Because there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus, Romans 8.1.

Come on, you will never face God's judgment.

Everyone who believes in him is not judged, according to John 3.18.

They have eternal life and do not come into judgment, he says,

but have passed out of death into life, John 5.24.

Far from being judged, all the godly participants in the first resurrection,

which happened, we read back in verse 6, would have already received their rewards.

And to emphasize all, you think about it, the all-encompassing scope of the

judgment, John actually notes here that the sweeping mass of unbelievers before

God's throne includes the great and the small.

And all is going to face judgment, in other words. The somebodies and the nobodies.

There's no partiality with God, remember? You'll have both of them,

all of them, the greatest to the smallest. In fact, John Phillips,

theologian, wrote this.

He says, there is a terrible fellowship there.

The dead, small and great, he said, stand before God.

Dead souls are united to dead bodies and a fellowship of horror and despair.

Little men and paltry women whose lives were filled with pettiness,

selfishness, and nasty little sins will be there.

Those whose lives amounted to nothing will be there. whose very sins were drab

and dowdy, mean, spiteful, peevish, groveling, vulgar, common, and cheap.

The great will be there. Men who sinned with a high hand, with dash and courage

and flair, men like Alexander and Napoleon, Hitler and Stalin will be present.

Men who went in for wickedness on a grand scale with the world for their stage

and who died unrepentant at last.

Now one and all are arraigned and on their way to be damned.

A horrible fellowship congregated together for the first and the last time, he said.

Wow. Just think about that saying for a moment.

I'm going to stop tonight and next week, Lord willing, we'll pick up with the

summons that we see in verse 13, the first part of verse 13.

Sorry, I got excited there at the end, though, because Jesus is the one who took our place, y'all.

There's no judgment left for you and me.

In fact, there's no punishment at all left for you and me.

You know, I mentioned this morning about, you know, some people thinking,

you know, if they're like the Pharisees' way of thinking that,

you know, well, something bad happens or maybe, you know, you fall into sin, right?

You know, you're no longer a slave of sin if you're a believer, right?

But you fall into sin and you're like, you know, the Holy Spirit should convict you, right?

He convicts you and that should make you miserable.

And then you repent, right? You fall down, you get up, you keep your eyes on the prize.

That's the heart of the believer. But someone who is pharisaical or who thinks

they have to perform, you know, they have to do all this.

Then what happens is they sin and they think somehow that the consequences,

all this stuff that's happening in their life is God punishing them as a believer

because they didn't come to church today or they didn't do this just right.

God's got some kind of punishment for you.

You know, you didn't give this particular amount of money this week.

God made your tires blow out this week because he was going to get that money

from you one way or the other, right?

Y'all ever heard that kind of thinking before? That's pharisaical thinking.

Has nothing to do with the gospel.

Because if you're a believer, there is no judgment, no punishment left for you

because Jesus paid it all.

Paid it all. Now, I will tell you this. As a child of God, he disciplines his kids.

He disciplines his kids, but there is no punishment. Jesus took it all.