”The Great White Throne Judgment” | Pastor John Tilley Jr | Revelation 20

All right, let's take our Bibles now and

go to Revelation chapter 20. That was on

Revelation 20 · chapter mention

my heart and uh

the Lord just kind of told me I needed

to encourage you in that regard tonight,

and so

that's what I did.

So, Revelation chapter 20, tonight we

Revelation 20 · chapter mention

finally have made it to

the great white throne judgment. And

we've been talking about this for 3

weeks now. I was supposed to be here 3

weeks ago, but we have really slowed

down when we get to Revelation 20

because it is so full of all kinds of

wonderful things.

And I'll just remind you of what we've

looked at already. In verse 1 through 6,

the Bible describes for us the

millennial reign of Christ. That's the

1,000-year kingdom of Christ.

It begins with the defeating of Satan at

the Battle of Armageddon. Satan is bound

and thrown into the bottomless pit.

Christ rules and reigns for 1,000 years

in Jerusalem. You and I get to rule and

reign with him. It's a wonderful world.

It's a wonderful kingdom. That's verses

1 through 6.

Verse 7 through 10 is the Battle of Gog

and Magog. At the end of the 1,000

years, Satan is loosed for a period of

time, and he is allowed to once again

deceive. And he is a master at

deception, and he is able to raise up a

great army who surrounds Jerusalem.

That's verse uh number 9. They surround

the beloved city. They surround

Jerusalem, and they're ready to attack

King Jesus on his throne. However,

uh Jesus and and you and I would There's

no battle at all. There's no battle

whatsoever. Fire falls down from heaven,

consumes the army of Satan, and they are

forever defeated. Uh Satan is bound up

and cast away forever into the lake of

fire where the Antichrist and the false

prophet are.

And that's verse 7 through 10, that

great the final battle, the Battle of

Gog and Magog.

That final battle. Then there is in

verse 11 through 15, and this is where

we we come to tonight, the great white

throne judgment.

So, the thousand years have been

completed. The battle of Gog and Magog

has been completed. Satan has been cast

into the lake of fire.

And we have seen the the final battle.

Now, in these verses, the great white

throne judgment, we see the final

judgment on the lost.

Verse 7 through 10, the battle of Gog

and Magog is the final judgment of

Satan.

Verse 11 through 15, the great white

throne judgment is the final battle for

Excuse me, the final judgment of the

lost. So, I want us to consider a few

things tonight as it relates to the

great white throne judgment. And

hopefully by the end, you'll be greatly

encouraged and motivated through what

the Bible teaches us. I've got three

points for you, maybe four points. I

cannot remember. We'll We'll figure out

when we get to the end. Number one,

write this down. We see first of all,

the bench.

The bench, b e n c h. I'll explain it.

The bench. Let's Let's read the verses

beginning in verse 11. We'll read

through the end of the chapter. Refresh

our memory on what the text says.

And I saw, John is writing. What does he

see? I saw a great white throne and him

that sat on it from whose face the earth

and the heaven fled away, and there was

found no place for them. And I saw the

dead, small and great, stand before God,

and the books were opened, and another

book was opened, which is the book of

life, and the dead were judged out of

those things which were written in the

book according to their works. And the

sea gave up the dead which were in it,

and death and hell delivered up the dead

which were in them. And they were judged

every man according to their works. And

death and hell were cast into the lake

of fire. This is the second death. And

whosoever was not found written in the

book of life was cast into the lake of

fire.

Have you ever been in a courtroom? How

many of you have ever been in a

courtroom and you've observed the

setting? I can only remember one time in

my life when I was in a courtroom and I

do not know why I was in the courtroom.

I cannot remember.

I think I was a teenager at the time and

I remember sitting there and being a

little bit intimidated by the desk, the

bench that was before me. There is a in

a courtroom, you have the judicial bench

which is the desk behind which the judge

sits. And he's seated there behind the

desk, this this judicial bench. And the

desk is the command center of everything

that takes place in that courtroom. When

you walk in, it commands your attention.

Every eye is focused on the judicial

bench. The very design of the desk is

made with careful attention and detail

so that the bench naturally projects an

atmosphere of authority, order,

prestige, power, and even intimidation.

And you walk in and you see the judge in

his in his

in his clothing, in his outfit, and he

stand his

he sits on this

behind this judicial bench.

And you sit there and you await for the

gavel to hit and announce your sentence.

And tonight we enter not a judicial

bench, but a divine bench. There is a

divine courtroom in heaven and one day

God will judge the evilness of the

world. There is coming a day when every

person who is without Christ will stand

before the judge of all judges.

And he will be judged according to his

works.

And if you think that a judicial bench

in today's courtroom is intimidating,

you have not seen anything yet. Because

this courtroom in heaven is unlike

anything that the world today could ever

give to us. Notice the great white

throne.

It is a throne like no other.

It is great because it is a throne of

power.

It says it is a great white throne.

It is great. That is a picture of the

divine power that is associated with the

throne. There is no authority like the

authority of the divine judicial bench.

We have seen human thrones in the

in our world and we've seen the

Antichrist throne in the book of

Revelation and we've seen the temporary

thrones of the kings of this world, but

but this throne that is mentioned here

in Revelation 20 is unlike any other

throne. For every other throne in the

world is limited in some way.

But this throne is unlimited

in its power. It is unlimited in its

authority because of the one who is

seated in it.

This judge contains all power. We would

use the term in theology his omnipotent.

He contains all power. And so this

throne, this judicial bench contains no

limitations. And because it is a great

throne, it is a symbol of the power of

the one who sits upon it.

There have been many gavels that have

struck signaling a courtroom's judgment

upon a lawbreaker.

Many times over a judge will pound the

gavel on that judicial bench.

And when he does, a sentence is

pronounced. A sentence of judgment is

pronounced upon the criminal.

But there is no gavel like the gavel of

God's wrath that will strike the

sentence of of punishment upon the soul

of every person who is not under the

blood of Jesus Christ.

There's never been a sound like the

sound of God's judgment, God's gavel of

wrath striking and sentencing every

person who is not under the blood to

eternal punishment in a place called

hell.

The the lake of fire rather.

So, it is great because it is a symbol

of his power, but it is also said that

it is white. It is a white throne.

And that is a symbol of its purity.

It's a picture of Christ's perfect

judgment upon sinful humanity. Human

judges have made the wrong decision many

times and they have pronounced the wrong

judgment and and given the wrong

sentence many times over.

Because their judgment is imperfect, but

God is righteous and holy and makes no

mistake. He will never judge

unrighteously. His judgments are just

and pure. It is white because it is a

symbol of his cleanliness. He He is

spotless. There's no sin in him. There's

no wrongdoing in him. There's no

unrighteousness in him. He is perfect.

So, this throne that he sits upon, the

bench that we see

is one that is great. It could That

could be a reference to its size. It

could be massive. It is also a reference

to his power and then it is white to

show that he is pure beyond anyone or

anything else.

And then notice the next phrase in verse

11. We see the the great white throne

and then we see him that sat on it.

So, there is a throne like no other, but

now we see a judge like no other.

Who is this judge that is seated on the

great white throne? It is none other

than Jesus Christ, the King of kings and

the Lord of lords.

And Jesus oftentimes in the book of

Revelation is described as a lamb. We've

seen that many times in the just in the

past few chapters. Jesus Christ is

described as the lamb of God, which

taketh away the sins of the world. And

we're so grateful for him being

described as a lamb, but now he is also

described as a judge. All through

scripture, he is also the described as a

judge.

John chapter 5 and verse number 22 says

John 5 · chapter mention

this, "For the Father judgeth no man,

but hath committed all judgment to the

Son." Who is the Son? That is Jesus

Christ. He is the judge of the world.

Everyone, everyone who has ever breathed

God's air will stand before Jesus

Christ.

You will either stand, you will either

bow before him today as the lamb, or you

will bow before him on that day as the

judge.

But Philippians chapter 2 and verse 10

Philippians 2 · chapter mention

and 11 tells us very plainly that every

knee will bow and every tongue will

confess of things in heaven and things

in earth and things under the earth that

Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of God

the Father. There's coming a day when

every person will bow. There are those

who rebel Christ, they rebel against the

law of God, they rebel against Jesus.

And they say they will never bow to King

Jesus.

What they do not know is that there's

coming a day, no matter how how powerful

they are, no matter how how lovely they

are, no matter how good of a person they

are, every person will bow

before the judge, Jesus Christ.

Notice what comes next. It says, "Who

from whose face the earth and the

heavens fled away, and there was found

no place for them at all." What does

that mean?

Means that God is going to destroy the

creation that he made.

Heaven and earth, all of it. It's all

going to flee away from the face of the

judge

of Jesus Christ. It will flee from him.

He's going to destroy the creation. For

all of those who are concerned about the

trees and the climate,

I've got news for them. This planet is

going to be destroyed one way or

another. They can't save the planet. The

planet's going to flee away. God will

destroy this planet, but don't worry.

He's going to replace it with a brand

new heaven and a brand new earth. And

we're going to get to that in chapter 21

and chapter 22. He's going to make a new

heaven. He's going to make a new earth.

But this earth will flee away from him.

It will flee from his face.

Now, before we go any farther, I want us

pause and make an important note that

we're going to come back to.

The great white throne judgment is not

for believers.

It is for unbelievers

only.

You and I will be judged. We will stand

before Christ. But if you're saved

tonight, if you're under the blood of

Jesus Christ, then the church will be

judged at the judgment seat of Christ

following the rapture. Sometimes you may

have heard it referred to as the bema

seat of Christ. It is the judgment seat

of Christ. As soon as the church is

raptured or shortly thereafter, we will

stand at the bema seat of Christ, at the

judgment seat of Christ, and he will

judge us.

We we will be judged based on our

reward. Meaning, the things that we did

for Christ, we will receive a reward for

it. But the things we did for our self,

we will not receive reward for it. Let

me read you these verses in 2

2 Corinthians 5 · chapter mention

Corinthians chapter 5, verse number 10.

The Bible says, "For we must all appear

before the judgment seat of Christ." So,

Christians must appear before the

judgment seat of Christ that everyone

may receive the things done in his body

according that he hath done, whether it

be good or bad. You will receive crowns

of righteousness for that which is good,

and you will receive nothing for that

which was bad. You will be judged

according to your works, but you will

not be judged to determine whether you

go to heaven or you go to hell. You will

be judged to determine how many crowns

you get to throw at Jesus' feet. Does

that make sense?

That's the judgment seat of Christ, the

bema seat. That's happened far before we

get to the great white throne judgment.

The great white throne judgment is

reserved for unbelievers only.

It is the final judgment against those

who rejected Jesus and did not accept

his gift of salvation.

And unbelievers of all ages will stand

before the throne of God. Does not

matter how big or popular someone is or

how much money someone has, how small or

unknown they may have been, if they

reject Jesus in this life, then they

will stand before the divine judicial

bench of God's judgment on that day.

So, number one, there's the bench.

Number two,

we see the books.

Look at verse 12 and 13.

John writes, "And I saw the dead, small

and great, stand before God, and the

books were opened."

God has a bookshelf.

And another book was opened, which is

the book of life, and the dead were

judged out of those things which were

written in the books according to their

works.

The books were opened. What I'm just

curious, and I ask myself this question,

I wonder what books are on God's

bookshelf. I wonder what books are we

talking about when we read that the

books I noticed right away that it's

plural.

It's not just the book was opened. The

book of life is going to be opened, but

before that, we see the books, plural,

are opened. What books could be

included? Let me give you uh we're going

to we're going to take a little journey

through the Bible here, and I'll give

you some passages that you can write

down, and I'll read them to you. The

first book that I think is on God's

bookshelf is the Bible.

In John chapter 12 and verse number 48,

John 12 · chapter mention

we read this.

"He that rejecteth me and receiveth not

my words hath one that judgeth him, the

word that I have spoken, the same shall

judge him in that last day."

So, in the last day, John tells us, God

is going to open his word and he's going

to judge the sinner based on the Bible.

One of the books that will be opened at

the great white throne judgment is the

Bible. It's interesting to me, I was

riding down the road today, me and

Esther were feeling like we needed some

caffeine, so this afternoon I took a

little trip and got us some caffeine. As

as I'm riding down the road, I'm

thinking about this text

and it occurred to me, isn't it

interesting

that as the sinner stands before this

great white throne, this judicial bench,

and almighty God, Jesus Christ, is

seated there as the judge, and they

stand there rather bowed there before

him as they recognize their sinfulness.

One of the books on this, I don't know,

perceived bookcase beside Jesus, he

reaches over and he takes out a book

with which to judge this individual

with, and and they look upon him and

they recognize the book.

They realize they've seen that book.

They've heard messages preached from

that book.

They've maybe even memorized verses from

that book.

They had it all along.

And now Jesus will take that book that

they are familiar with, the word of

Christ, the Holy Bible, and he will open

it up and he will reveal to them from

the word of God that they have broken

God's law.

Can you imagine the sinking feeling

that the very book that is pronouncing

their sentence on them.

They had it the whole time.

They had the answer key

and they rejected it.

And John tells us on that day, God will

open his word and will judge them. So,

the first book on God's bookshelf is the

Bible. Second, there is a book of

records.

There's a book of records.

God is recording things. God keeps good

records.

Psalm 139 and verse number 16,

the Bible says, "Thine eyes did see my

substance, yet being unperfect, and in

thy book all my members were written,

which in continuance were fashioned when

as yet there was none of them." The

psalmist said, "You are keeping a record

of every part of me, everything that

I've done."

Do you know the great thing about being

a Christian?

Is that that record book gets replaced

with the blood of Jesus Christ. But, for

those who are not saved, for those who

have never accepted Jesus Christ, God is

recording

everything.

Every thought that they have ever

thought, every sin that they have ever

committed, and on that day he will pull

out his record book and he will open it

and he will see their sin for sin.

Isn't it a good thing tonight to be

saved and that God's record book of our

sin is covered by the blood of Jesus

Christ, cast as far as the east is from

the west?

Oh, but there will be those on that day

whose sin will be revealed.

Number three,

a third book, there is a book of tears.

A book of tears.

In Psalm 56 and verse number eight,

the psalmist writes, "Thou tellest my

wanderings.

Put thou my tears into in bottle. Are

they not in thy book?

God is keeping a record of every tear

that you cry.

Every tear that you shed.

There is a book of works.

A book of works.

Here in our text in Revelation chapter

Revelation 20 · chapter mention

20,

verse number 12, I saw the dead, small

and great, stand before God, and the

books were opened. Another book was

opened, which is the book of life, and

the dead were judged out of those things

which were written in the books. What's

written in the books? According to their

works.

And so there are all these books, and

then there is a final book that will be

pulled out of God's bookshelf.

And that is the book of life.

Take just a moment and talk about the

book of life. This

book is a specific book. God names it

very clearly in verse 12. It opens the

books, and then another book was opened.

And what is this other book? It is the

book of life. The book of life is

mentioned nine times in the Bible.

It's mentioned in Philippians chapter 4

Philippians 4 · chapter mention

in verse 3. It's mentioned in Psalm 69

in verse 28. Every other time,

the seven other times that it's

mentioned are all in the book of

Revelation. So it's mentioned nine times

in all of the Bible, but seven of those

are found in this book of Revelation.

It's found in chapter 3, in chapter 13,

in chapter 17, two times in chapter 20,

once in chapter 21, and once in chapter

22.

We find this reference to the book of

life. What is the book of life? Well,

there's many things that we could say

about it.

But what we know from this text is that

God will open this book of life. And if

the name of the person before him, as

God sits at his judicial bench, he's

judging at this great white throne

judgment, he will open the book of life,

and if the person before him's name is

not found written in the book of life,

then they will be forever cast out into

eternal punishment.

That person will be cast into the lake

of fire. They will join Satan and the

Antichrist and the false prophet in the

lake of fire for all of eternity.

There's some speculation here and I'll

bear with me for a moment. I

I'm not going to be dogmatic about this.

I have not studied it enough to know for

sure, but it's interesting to think

about. So, I'll propose it to you and

you can think about it with me.

The book of life is very interesting in

scripture. The psalmist talks about

being blotted out

of the book of life.

And so there is a an idea, there is a

teaching

that

makes sense.

that

your name starts in the book of life.

When you are born, your name is put into

the book of life.

And at the moment that you are of an age

of understanding

and you recognize you're a sinner and

that you need a savior, but you reject

Jesus Christ,

then your name is blotted out of the

book of life.

And then at such a time

when you receive Jesus Christ and you

accept his gift, your name is put back

in the book of life.

This would explain why God can be

merciful to an aborted baby

and they go to heaven.

This is why David could pray when his

child, his infant child died and and

David had prayed and fasted for this

child to live and and God had taken the

life of that infant child, that David

got up and ate and and his people who

were were watching him said, "Why did

you fast for the child when it was

alive, but and mourn when it was alive,

but now that the child is dead, you've

got yourself together and you're eating.

What what's going on?" And David said,

"I He can't come to me, but I'm going to

go to him." What's David saying? Hey,

one of these days I'm going to see that

infant child again.

And this is something that we see all

through our culture.

Aborted babies I think fit in this this

category, but also the terrible

tragedies that happen to young children

at times and their life is taken and and

we mourn and we say, "God, why did you

take their life so young?" But be

comforted when a young child dies before

they reach that age of understanding,

which is different for every person I

believe.

Only them and God know.

They are with They are in the presence

of our savior.

That is a an aspect of the mercy of God.

So, I don't know if that's how it works.

But it makes sense in my mind.

When you're born, God writes your name

in that book. And when you reach the age

of understanding and you realize you're

a sinner and you realize Jesus died for

you, but you choose to reject that,

then your name is blotted out.

And then at such a time when you do cry

out to Jesus and call on the name of the

Lord and you receive Christ, then your

name is put back in.

Regardless, on that day,

if your name is not found in the book of

life,

then you will be cast out into the lake

of fire.

That's what we know for sure.

All the details around that, that's for

God to know. He's just and righteous.

But we do know that on that day, if your

name is not found in the book of life,

you'll be cast out into the lake of fire

forever.

I've got a few more things that I want

to give you tonight.

Verse 13 communicates to us that all of

the dead from all time will be gathered

and judged according to their evil

deeds.

Those who have died and have already

died and are today they're in right now.

They will be pulled out of hell, brought

before the great white throne judgment

and judged. They're to receive their

eternal sentence, and then death, hell,

and all of those who have been in hell

will be cast into the lake of fire. Hell

and the lake of fire are different. I

don't have time to talk about all that

tonight because I talked about other

stuff, but they're different and one day

hell will be cast into the lake of fire.

The lake of fire is the the place of

eternal torment, eternal punishment. Put

down number three tonight. We see the

bench, we see the books. Write down

number three, there is the blotting out.

Verse 14 and verse 15.

And death and hell, here it is what I

just spoke to you on. Death and hell

were cast into the lake of fire. This is

the second death. Those without Christ

will be cast out into a place of eternal

torment in which they are forever

separated from the presence of God.

And that is the worst part, by the way.

We think of the fire as the worst part.

The worst part is that they are

separated from God. They can never enjoy

the presence of God. It's interesting

that people today who reject God, rebel

against God, say they have no need of

God, they have no idea.

They they live in a world where God's

presence is still active. They live in a

world where there is the church that is

indwelled with the Holy Spirit. And the

Holy Spirit it is is the one who

protects a lot of the things that and

evil can only be so evil in this world

as long as the church is here and as

long as the presence of Christ is here.

But one day they will experience what

they truly desire to be separated from

the presence of God. And it will be so

much worse than they could have ever

ever imagined.

And put down number four, and this is

final tonight. We've seen the bench and

the books and the blotting out, but

notice number four, the blessing.

So, where is the blessing in all of

this? This sounds terrible. And I would

agree this is probably one of the most

terrifying passages in all of the Bible.

The bench and the judge and the lake of

fire and the eternal torment, a

terrifying passage. But there is a

blessing in all of this. In verse 15, we

see this phrase, "Whosoever was not

found in the written in the book of life

was cast into the lake of fire."

That tells me that those who are written

in the book of life

will avoid the lake of fire. Notice with

me verse six of this same chapter.

We talked about it a few weeks ago.

Notice the first word.

What is the first word of verse number

six of chapter 20?

Blessed.

And holy is he that hath part in the

first resurrection. On such the second

death hath no power. But they shall be

priests of God and of Christ and shall

reign with him a thousand years. There

is a blessing even in the final

judgment. Even in this final moment of

of death and judgment upon the world,

there is this blessing for those of us

who know Christ. I'm so thankful tonight

that I'm not going to be there.

I won't be at the great white throne

judgment. It's not for me. You see, my

sin has already been judged by God. And

I didn't have to bear that penalty.

Jesus Christ hung on a hill called

Calvary and God poured out his wrath. He

hit the gavel of his wrath upon his own

son and he poured out an eternity of

wrath in a moment upon Jesus Christ. And

Jesus took my sin and my shame and my

punishment and my judgment on himself.

And with his stripes, you and I are

healed. So on that day, we don't have to

stand before Jesus Christ the judge

because we have bowed before Jesus

Christ the lamb, and our sins are washed

white as snow, separated as far as the

east is from the west, and we'll get to

rule and reign with Christ in the

millennial kingdom. And when he ascends

back up at the end of the thousand years

and sits on that judgment throne, that

judicial bench, and he pronounces

judgment after judgment after judgment

after judgment and sentences people

after people after people to an eternity

in separation in a place called the lake

of fire, you and I will be enjoying the

peace and prosperity of Jesus Christ

because the wrath of God has already

been poured out for our sin. And by the

way, any person who calls on the name of

the Lord Jesus Christ shall be saved.

Saved from what? Saved from that

terrible, dreadful day. You and I have

great hope. You and I have reason to

rejoice. The book of Revelation is truly

a blessing to the believer because we

realize just how much Jesus did for you

and I. So, this week, two things.

Number one,

thank Jesus for the blood.

Thank him that he died in your place,

that he took the wrath of God for you.

And number two,

go tell somebody about him

because just as Jesus paid for your sin,

so he has paid for their sin.

And they don't want to stand

before that divine judicial bench.

They want to be absent. They want to be

with you and I enjoying the peace and

the presence of God for all of eternity.

So, today, tonight, tomorrow, the rest

of this week,

would you thank God

for the blood of Jesus that has been

applied to your account? And would you

go tell somebody about the blood of

Jesus that has been shed for their sin

as well.

Heavenly Father,

we love you very much, Lord, and I'm

thankful tonight.

I'm so thankful for the blood of Jesus.

Calvary covers it all.

Every sin, every stain, every shame,

Lord, all of the guilt,

all of the stuff that the devil would

try and use against us, Calvary covers

it all. The blood is sufficient. When

you died, you died for all of my sin.

And the blood has covered it all. Lord,

I have nothing.

I have nothing to stand on.

But I'm so glad that I am under the

blood.

Thank you for the blood of Jesus. Lord,

if there's anyone here tonight or

watching

that does not know for sure that they're

saved, that they have called on the name

of Jesus for their sin,

then I pray that

perhaps through the word of God that has

been taught tonight, that Lord, you

would enlighten them, show them their

need of a savior, convict them that they

might call on Jesus and be saved for

forever, for an eternity, that they

might never know what it is to live in

the absence of the presence of God.

But from this day and for all of

eternity, they might live in the peace

and prosperity and presence of our

glorious savior.

Lord, we don't want anybody to be there

on that day. Sadly, many will be there.

I pray you'd help us to reach some

people. May we see some fruit. May we

see some souls saved. May we see some

people turn from their wickedness and

call on Jesus Christ. And we'll give you

the glory and the praise for all you're

going to do. Thank you for this text

that we've looked at this evening. Thank

you for this church. Lord, I love these

people. And I pray that you'd bless them

the rest of this week. We ask these

things in Jesus' name. Amen.