The Final Judgment

Please bear with my singing for just one moment.

Happy birthday to you.

Happy birthday to you.

Happy birthday, dear Gertrude.

I was curious if anyone would finish the song.

Right?

We know that happy birthday has four lines.

And if we only hear three, we're not satisfied.

There's no happy birthday resolution without the final line,

happy birthday to you.

Well, Revelation chapter 20, verses 11 to 15,

Revelation 20:11–15

is kind of like that final line to happy birthday.

If the final judgment was not in our Bible,

it would be like living in eternity,

waiting for and never hearing the final happy birthday line sung.

The issue of sin must be resolved.

Or otherwise, life is not satisfying.

Judgment must come.

And Revelation 20, 11 to 15, this great white throne judgment,

is God's last needed act against sin.

God resolves it.

The issue of sin, this issue that has been wreaking havoc on creation since the beginning, nearly.

And God will leave no loose ends.

There's no possibility of sin kind of rearing its ugly head ever again,

kind of reemerging from the tomb.

There will never ever again be any sort of move on the part of God's enemies to take His throne,

to do violence to Him or His church.

Because with the final judgment, sin is no more.

It's God's resolution to sin.

And you're maybe sitting here saying,

well, that's all well and good, Matt.

But how does this apply right now here today?

Maybe you're in the room today,

and there's just a person who immediately comes to mind,

and you're just like, oh, I'm so glad that person's going to get his.

She's going to get hers.

That you're struggling to love an enemy,

and you're just, oh, God, please bring this day now.

I really want it here now.

How does the final judgment help you love your enemy?

Or maybe, I'm guessing all of us fall into the second category too,

where the final judgment,

there's names and there's faces of people near and dear to our hearts.

And when we think of the final judgment,

we're heartbroken.

Because there's friends and family and neighbors and sisters and brothers

and all the rest in our lives who we know right now,

if they were to face this judgment today,

they'd be in trouble.

Because they've rejected Jesus.

They're living for themselves.

Does this final judgment give us any way forward?

How we're to see through what God is telling us

to move towards our loved ones with the gospel?

Because God does resolve sin.

We know that.

So how do we make sense of this?

How does this passage help us today?

Why do we have to sit here and kind of think about something

that's so uncomfortable for us?

If you're like me, you start thinking about hell,

you start thinking about judgment,

and it becomes very uncomfortable very quickly.

This is hard.

But far from this text just kind of being this unnecessary topic

that we can sweep under the rug

or we can kind of ignore until a later time,

the final judgment matters very much for us today.

And though we're not going to be able to deal with every single tension

that this passage is going to present,

the goal for us today is to provide some ways

how this text can shape our relationship with Jesus

and our relationship with others around us,

particularly for those who don't know Jesus.

So that's our goal.

We're going to try and show how this final judgment matters

and how we relate to Jesus day in and day out as his disciples

and how we relate to a lost world

who is on a one-way street to hell

apart from receiving the gospel.

Here's the claim of this passage.

I almost don't even need to say it.

You heard it read.

You know what it's about.

But let me try and summarize it.

Jesus will carry out the final judgment on each and every person.

And those whose names are not found in his book of life

will spend eternity in the lake of fire.

Jesus will carry out the final judgment on each and every person who has ever lived.

And for every single person who's ever lived,

whose name is not found in Jesus' book of life,

he or she will spend eternity in the lake of fire.

That's what this passage very clearly tells us.

And so today we're going to walk through it by asking four questions.

Four questions of this passage.

And as we're answering these questions,

we're going to try and deal with some of the tensions.

And we're going to try and apply it again as it relates to our faith

and our following of Jesus

and how we interact with those around us.

So four questions.

Question number one from Revelation 20.

11 to 15.

What does John see?

Of course, that may seem like stating the obvious,

but let's walk through it again.

Put simply, John sees the final judgment.

This is, on the one hand,

the tragic end of a staggering number of individuals who did not repent,

who spent their life in war against the Lamb and the Lamb's people.

But on another hand, it's sin's last breath.

After thousands of years of wreaking havoc,

from Lucifer's war for the throne in heaven,

to the wickedness in the days of Noah,

when God was sad that He even made man,

to more modern examples of things like the Holocaust,

thousands of years of havoc.

Thousands of years of havoc,

and sin breathes its last breath.

It's the last chapter.

The book is closed.

It's done.

This is the resolution

that all of creation has been groaning for

since Genesis chapter 3.

Genesis 3 · chapter mention

And this is the final move

before the new heavens and the new earth come down.

The place where God

will dwell with His people forever.

And no detestable thing will ever enter into it.

This place that is free of sin and free of death.

So John sees the final judgment.

It's both tragic and wonderful.

That's the first question.

John sees the final judgment.

But then we have to ask,

who's there?

Who does John see at this judgment?

Well, if you look in verse 11,

the first person that John sees

is the one on the throne.

Notice he's on a great and white throne.

It's great because it's unrivaled.

This isn't one throne among many thrones.

This is the throne of thrones.

This is the only throne at the end of time

when judgment comes that matters.

And it's white because of a few reasons.

This word white in Revelation,

it speaks of purity.

It speaks of holiness.

It speaks of wisdom.

So the judge on this throne,

on this great white throne,

he sees everything perfectly.

He knows everything that each person has ever done.

There's nothing that escapes his vision

or his knowledge or his justice.

That makes him uniquely qualified

to judge the nations.

He will judge everybody with equity

and with fairness.

There's no need to wonder

at the end of this judgment

whether God was just and fair and right.

It's because of who he is.

But who is this?

So is this,

are we talking about God the Father here?

Are we talking about the Son, Jesus?

Jesus?

When Revelation,

the one on the throne

is always seen as the Father,

the Ancient of Days from Daniel chapter 7.

Daniel 7 · chapter mention

However,

the Lamb, Jesus,

is always seen in the midst of the throne.

And he's always the one

kind of carrying out the judgment.

Remember back to chapter 5,

it's the Lion of Judah.

He alone,

who is worthy to take the scroll

and to break its seals

and to carry out judgment.

So rather than saying it's,

well maybe it's the Father,

maybe it's Jesus,

it's yes.

It's a both and.

The Father and the Son

are united in this judgment.

In John's Gospel,

Jesus says that the Father judges no one

but has given all judgment

into the hands of the Son.

So the first person John sees

is God on his throne.

But then of course in verses 12 and 13,

we see those who are standing before the throne,

those who are being judged.

And notice how John describes them.

Four times in verses 12 and 13,

they are referred to as the dead.

I saw the dead,

great and small.

And the dead were judged

by what was written in the books.

Verse 13,

the sea gave up the dead who were in it.

Death and Hades gave up the dead

who were in them.

They're also described as great and small.

Of course,

we're not talking about

seven foot basketball players

and three foot six,

nine year olds.

The great and small is referring

not to a physical stature

but to the rich and powerful

and mighty and influential

and celebrities

and those who are poor

and insignificant,

those overlooked by the world.

John wants us to see

in this description,

great and small,

that no class or social status

of people

escape this judgment.

This judgment

involves everyone.

And I find it so interesting

that everybody's standing

before the throne

but no words

come up in this passage.

Nobody's pleading for their lives.

The judge is not seen speaking here.

So what's going on?

We don't even really have enough

to speculate.

But it seems that these dead

are just standing there

waiting for God

to pronounce

the judgment.

And notice too

where they're from.

These dead,

where did they come from?

Well, it tells us that

they're coming out of the sea,

they're coming out of death

and Hades,

that these places

are surrendering the dead

that they've been housing

somehow

for any number of years.

So we're probably

wondering,

are Christians here too?

It's hard to be certain.

I'm not totally

decided one way or another

but I want to say

a couple of things

and then give you

my best sense of

who is at this judgment.

First, we know from

2 Corinthians 5 verse 10,

2 Corinthians 5:10

Paul says that

we must all stand

before the judgment seat

of Christ.

So Paul is saying

even Christians

someday will stand

before Jesus

and give account

of our entire lives.

But then we also know,

right,

that because we are

in Jesus,

because we are

followers of Jesus,

Romans 8 verse 1

Romans 8:1

tells us,

there is therefore

now no condemnation.

So there is not

a true born again

Christian on planet earth

who needs to fear

standing before

the judgment seat

of Christ

because being in Christ

they are forgiven

and the judgment

was,

the wrath was poured

out on Christ

so that we might

have life.

But that being said,

I do not think

that Christians

are in the depiction

of judgment

here in Revelation 20.

Three reasons why.

when the dead

seems to be a really

strange way

to refer to Christians.

Seems a strange name

to apply to a believer,

right,

because

though we die,

we live.

Those who,

those Christians who died

when we see them

in the book of Revelation,

they're always

seeming to be alive

spiritually,

speaking to God

or singing His praises

like the martyrs

under the altar

in chapter 6

or in the song of Moses

from chapter 15.

Also,

another reason

why I don't think

Christians are there

is because of the places

that are giving up

the dead.

Death and Hades,

if you remember

back in chapter 6,

death was the one

on the rider

of the pale horse.

He's an agent

of God's judgment

who goes out

to kill a quarter

of the world.

And the sea,

though sometimes

just refers to

that physical body

of water over there,

many other times

in Revelation

speaks of this place

of chaos,

this place of evil

that God must subdue.

And in chapter 17,

the sea is referred to

as all the nations

that the prostitute

is seated upon

and is seduced

and influenced

away from God.

And then in chapter 20,

it seems that

there's a distinction

between those

who have been

raised with Jesus

to participate

in this thousand years

and those

who remain dead

until the end.

If all of the Christians

are raised

to reign with Jesus,

then that stands

to reason

that those who are left

are non-Christians

who will be raised

to judgment.

And immediately

before our text

this morning,

we see the defeat

of Satan,

which seems to flow

right into the defeat

of all those

who have aligned

themselves with him.

So that's my best sense

of who's at this judgment.

The judge

and all of those

who die apart

from Jesus Christ.

Before we answer

the fourth question

of, well,

how is judgment

carried out?

What are the criteria?

I want us to focus

on this third question

of what is this

lake of fire?

It's important

that we

actually get

a clear sense

of what this place

is.

because people

want to distort it,

they want to

make it sound

like it's

less than

what it actually is,

that it's a different

kind of judgment

than what

the Bible talks about.

So let's just

ask the question,

what is this

lake of fire?

In chapters 19

and 20,

we see that this

is a place

where the beast,

the false prophet,

and their boss,

Satan,

are cast forever.

the anti-trinity

is thrown

into the lake

of fire.

And if you look

in verse 10

of chapter 20,

you see that

they will be

tormented

their day and

night

without end.

In chapter 14,

verses 9 to 11,

this torment

occurs

in the presence

of God's

holy angels

and in the

presence

of the Lamb

Himself.

God is still

there

and it's

horrible.

I think

this is one

of the things

that should

help us

when we're

talking to

non-believers.

I'm guessing

you've heard

people talk

about,

well,

I just can't

wait until,

you know,

hell's going to

be this huge

party,

right?

And if I

can just

get there,

then I'll

be free

of God

and rid

of all

of His

shackles

and all

of these

Christians

trying to

tell me

to abide

by these

rules.

And God's

still there.

This is not

a place

that you

escape from

God,

that you

somehow are

set free

and liberated

to kind

of do

everything

you want.

And we

can't let

people walk

around this

planet

thinking that's

true.

We must

tell them,

no,

Jesus is still

there and you

will be in

torment.

You will

have no rest

there.

You will

have no freedom

from God.

God will be

there.

Don't make

the mistake

of thinking

this is a

party.

But it's

not just the

anti-trinity

who will be

in the lake

of fire

tormented

day and

night.

It's also

all of those

who worship

the beast

and receive

its mark.

They are

there too.

And

Revelation

has been

giving us

this very

clear

understanding

over and

over again

that there

are only

two camps

of people.

You are

either sealed

by the

lamb,

bound for

the new

heavens and

the new

earth in

the presence

of God

forever,

or you

are marked

by the

beast.

And

will spend

eternity

apart from

the grace

and mercy

and kindness

and glory

of God,

the one you

were created

to love

and worship.

Only two

kinds of

people.

You're

either sealed

by the

lamb or

you're marked

by the

beast.

And this

text in

the book

of Revelation

tells us

that the

lake of

fire,

which we

could also

describe as

this is

hell,

right?

Just so we're

clear,

this is

hell.

It is a

real place

of everlasting

torment.

Jesus in

Matthew

Matthew 25 · chapter mention

chapter 25

says that

God has

prepared it

for the

devil and

his angels.

And we

see in

Revelation 14

that it

is those

people who

die apart

from faith

in Jesus

Christ that

they will

go there

too.

And it's

a place

that Jesus

himself says

is a

place of

eternal

punishment.

my shoulders

just kind

of droop

and drop

when I

say these

things.

I think it's

right that this

should be

uncomfortable

for us.

There's no

easy way to

talk about

something that

is so

final

and so

scary to

think about.

God.

But what we

know about

God can

help us

deal with

the discomfort.

It's not

going to

eliminate it.

I don't

have any

pill.

Just take

this and

the discomfort

will go

away.

But what we

know about

God can

help.

Hell is

God's

idea.

This is not

some human

notion that

we've conjured

up to try

and get people

to obey

rules through

fear tactics

and manipulation.

God has

created this

place for the

devil and

his angels.

It's God's

idea.

We know

that God

is holy.

We sang it

this morning.

He's holy

which means

that he's

entirely

distinct and

he's not

corrupted by

sin and

he's not

influenced by

anything bad

or detestable.

It's why in

verse 11 of

our text the

earth and

sky flee

from him

and there's

no place

found for

them.

Because the

one on the

throne is

so holy

that the

creation itself

that's been

corrupted and

stained by

sin just

flees from

his presence.

There's nowhere

for him to

go because

God is

holy.

And God

is good.

God is

good.

We know

that he will

not do

anything

contrary to

his nature.

And we

know that

he's good.

And if you

need to

wonder if

he's good

or not

just look

to the

cross.

You see

the slain

lamb,

God's escape

route from

this judgment.

God is

good.

He's provided

a way or

else none

of us

would have

hope.

He's good.

And so

by faith we

must submit

any of the

discomfort,

any of the

things hard to

stomach about

hell, we must

submit him to

what we know

about God.

He's just,

he's holy,

he's good.

This is his

idea.

It probably

shouldn't make

sense in our

little human

brains how

this all works

out.

But we must

trust him.

We can't do

the opposite.

So there's a

way that folks

at different

points in time

will do

something like

since God is

love, hell

can't be what

so and so

is saying it

is.

If God's

love, he

would not

create a

place like

this.

Right?

But our

text, it's

right here.

We can't

escape it.

God is love

and God did

create a place

like this.

We have to be

able to hold

these things

together.

And where we

don't see how

they meet, we

say, God, I

trust you.

You're good,

you're holy,

you're right,

you're just.

This is hard,

but I believe

you.

I trust you.

There's no

other way that

we can move

forward faithfully

and honestly if

we believe that

this text is

true.

And if it

helps, I was

doing the math

a couple weeks

ago and realized

that by God's

grace, I had

had the opportunity

to preach over

a hundred sermons

downstairs at our

homeless breakfast

on Sunday

mornings.

And most of

those sermons,

I have spoken

of judgment.

I've spoken

of this

terrible place

that unrepentant

sinners will

spend eternity.

It is not

getting easier

to preach that.

It's not.

In fact, it's

getting harder

as I get to

know people

and I see

their faces

and I recognize

their great

need, even

more than they

do.

it doesn't

get easier

to say

hell is real

and you need

to repent.

It's

necessary, right?

If we believe

that this Bible

is true, we

must say these

things to people.

We must warn

them to flee

from wrath.

There's no other

hope than to flee

to Jesus.

So the lake

of fire is a

very real

place that God

will send the

devil and his

angels and

every person

who does not

repent of their

sin and trust

in Jesus

Christ.

So the final

question, how

are the dead

to be judged?

We can see this

in a couple of

verses, in verse

12 and in

verse 15.

The short

answer is that

books are

opened.

And these

books are

described as

being in

accordance with

what each

person had

done.

This phrase

shows up

twice, once

in verse 12

and once in

verse 13.

The dead

are judged,

each one of

them, according

to what they

had done.

This is

really a

depiction of

God's

exhaustive

knowledge and

his instant

recall of

each and

every person's

life.

I kind of

imagine that

each person

has a book

and God's

perfect memory

bank of

saying this

so-and-so,

it's got your

full name,

your date of

birth, your

vitals.

So-and-so,

this is his

or her life.

God knows it

perfectly and

has no trouble

recalling each

and every deed,

thought,

motive of our

hearts.

And that's

why verse 15

says that

if the name

isn't in the

book of life,

they're thrown

into the lake

of fire because

when each one's

works stand

alone, they

only serve to

condemn us.

They don't

give us life.

We aren't

justified, we

aren't granted

salvation by what

we have done.

It's by grace

alone, through

faith in Jesus

alone.

So that's

how the dead

are judged,

but then notice

this other book

shows up.

This single

book appears,

not books

plural, but

book in

verse 12.

Then another

book was

opened, which

is the book

of life.

This book is

distinct,

it's unique,

it's unlike

these many

books, that

we could say

are books of

works.

In this book

elsewhere in

Revelation, we

see that it

belongs to the

lamb who was

slain.

It's Jesus'

book.

In chapter

13, verse

8, we see

that it was

written before

the foundation

of the world.

The ink in

this book has

long since

dried.

I think it's

fair to say

that this

book is

highly valued

by Jesus.

Not because

of its

exquisite

binding and

the goat skin

leather it's

made of and

the gold foil

pages and the

beautiful calligraphy

on it.

It's highly

prized by

Jesus because

it contains

the names of

those that

Jesus has

bought with

his own

blood.

This book

is precious

to our

Lord because

if we are

followers of

Jesus, our

name is in

it.

Is your

name in

this book?

If it is,

then worship

the lamb.

If your

name is in

this book,

it's because

Jesus died

that your

name would

be in this

book.

If your

name is in

this book,

it's because

Jesus endured

the Father's

wrath so you

would escape

the lake

of fire.

Can't you

just imagine

the joy on

Jesus' face

to read your

name from

this book?

It cost him

so much.

And he did

it in love

to spare us

from this

lake of

fire.

our name

must be in

this book.

It must be

in this book.

If you've

trusted in

Christ,

that his

death

saves you

from wrath,

that he is

your righteousness,

then your

name's in

this book.

It should

bring gratitude

and worship

to us,

church.

Remember,

your name's

in the book.

We have a

great Savior

who's able

to save us

from the

lake of

fire.

But not

only does

this help

us to

worship God

for what

he's done,

right?

So now we're

getting into

this relationship

with how does

this help us

in our

relationship

with Jesus

today?

right?

One,

it should

produce this

overwhelming

gratitude.

God spared

me from

that?

Hallelujah.

But it

also strengthens

us to

persevere

and to

one day

finally conquer.

conquer.

We belong to

the land.

Jesus is

making all

things new.

And when

judgment comes,

we will stand

in him.

For a little

while longer,

for a little

farther in this

journey of life,

we press on.

We have

persistence and

perseverance and

endurance to

conquer and

overcome because

Christ has

conquered and

overcome for

us.

So that's how

this text helps

us relate to

Jesus now.

Final judgment

should fill the

Christian's heart

with gratitude.

My name's in

a book.

Jesus purchased

me by his own

blood.

And it should

give you great

courage and

strength to

persevere and

press on in

this journey of

life because God

is doing away

with sin.

New Jerusalem

is coming.

How does it

help us as we

interact with

others?

How does the

final judgment

help me interact

with my enemy?

Maybe you've

got this long

standing hurt.

Maybe it's a

long past

way that

someone sinned

against you,

this deep

wound that

just doesn't

go away and

you're just

aware of it.

Or maybe it's

an ongoing

thing that you're

just being

mistreated and

abused in some

way, whether

it's verbal or

even with

violence or

whatever else.

How do you

how does this

help us with

that kind of

person, my

enemy?

We know what's

coming, right?

So we've

heard God

say, vengeance

is mine.

I will

repay.

Let me just

encourage you,

do not

callous over.

Do not

harden your

heart toward

that person.

We have this

awful way,

right, of

repaying in

our hearts,

right?

Maybe we

don't, maybe

someone slaps

us, we don't

slap them

back, but in

our heart we're

slapping them

anyway.

We can do

this with

individuals, we

can kind of in

our hearts and

say, you're

going to get

yours, bub, and

just harden

over.

It's not how

this text helps

us treat our

enemy.

We can do the

same thing toward

whole groups of

people, right?

Guessing some

people in the

room struggle with

how am I

supposed to

show love

toward the

gay and

lesbian community

for example?

How am I

supposed to

love people who

are so clearly

opposed to God

and his stance

and view on

marriage?

How do we

avoid saying

they're going to

get what they

deserve and

just kind of

harden our

hearts?

Well, we

look to Jesus,

right?

We know when

Jesus looks at

sinners, he has

compassion on

them, right?

The sheep

without a

shepherd and

he goes toward

them in love.

He doesn't

excuse sin, he

never condones

that, but he

moves towards

people, he

moves towards

his enemies or

we'd all be

toast.

So we

soften toward

our enemies

because judgment

is not yet and

God will repay.

so we soften

and we

develop compassion

and love

because the

enemies of God

will be judged

and they need

the gospel,

period.

We move

towards enemies

and love

with the good

news that Jesus

loves enemies

enough to die

for them.

There's still

time for sinners

to repent so

compassion rules

the day for

those of us who

follow Jesus.

us.

That's costly

but it's

right.

So we

preach Christ

hoping that

some of even

our enemies

would repent

so that they

would be spared

while we trust

that if they

do not repent

God will

definitely repay

them in the

end.

It's his to

judge.

then I

saved

our loved

ones for

last.

When we

think of

judgment and

we have

faces and

names of

friends and

family who

we know need

Christ, who

we know need

to repent,

it can be

tempting for

us to soften

this, to try

and maybe

even apologize

for God or

excuse this

and kind of

say well

it's kind

of, we

can't.

We can't

ignore it

because it's

difficult.

We can't

ignore it

because it's

right here.

God's just

told us over

and over and

over again of

judgment.

So we

can't sweep

it under the

rug, we

can't ignore

it, think

it'll go

away because

it's not,

it's coming.

It's coming

on those near

and dear to

us.

So it

ends up being

quite unloving

for us to

ignore or to

soften it

because our

text makes it

so clear that

it's coming.

So in

counting others

more significant

than ourselves,

we deal with

the discomfort

that we feel

because we

love other

people.

We want them

to be rescued

so we keep

going day

after day

after day,

we keep

pressing into

the discomfort

because our

loved ones

need the

gospel.

Final judgment

helps us to

soften towards

others and to

bravely and

fearfully and

sacrificially go

towards other

people.

Let it put

courage in your

heart, friend,

to be

compassionate and

to share Jesus

with non-believers

whether they're

enemies, whether

they're strangers,

whether they're

near and dear

loved ones.

both because we

believe the gospel

is big enough

to welcome even

enemies into the

kingdom and

because we

believe it's

mighty enough

even to save

those most

near and dear

to us regardless

of the life

they're currently

leading.

Jesus is going

to carry out

the final judgment

on each and

every person.

and those

whose names are

not found in

his book of

life will spend

eternity in the

lake of fire.

We need this.

We need this to

be good disciples

of Jesus and we

need this to go

toward others in

love before it's

too late.

So let's pray

together and ask

for God's help to

do that.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Father we thank

you for your

word.

Even the hard

word.

Even the

uncomfortable

word and we

ask God that

this would

serve each one

of us today.

You would help

us.

Help us to

relate to Jesus

in light of the

final judgment

and help us to

go towards others

in love and

compassion because

of it.

God we ask for

help as a

church.

We ask for

help as

individuals whether

it's because

we're afraid or

we're angry or

anything else.

God would you

get our hearts

right when we

think about

judgment?

Would you

receive glory

through our

response to it?

Help us we

pray in Jesus

name.

Amen.