Final Judgment

INTRODUCTION

The Apostle’s Creed says this about Jesus:

He ascended to heaven       and is seated at the right hand of God the Father almighty.       From there he will come to judge the living and the dead.

The Apostle’s Creed

The Nicene Creed is similar:

He ascended to heaven            and is seated at the right hand of the Father.            He will come again with glory            to judge the living and the dead.            His kingdom will never end.

The Nicene Creed

The 1689 London Baptist Confession—the cornerstone confession of the Southern Baptist Denomination says the following:

God has appointed a day wherein he will judge the world in righteousness, by Jesus Christ; to whom all power and judgment is given of the Father; in which day, not only the apostate angels shall be judged, but likewise all persons that have lived upon the earth shall appear before the tribunal of Christ, to give an account of their thoughts, words, and deeds, and to receive according to what they have done in the body, whether good or evil.

1689 London Baptist Confession

And then finally, the Baptist Faith and Message:

God, in His own time and in His own way, will bring the world to its appropriate end. According to His promise, Jesus Christ will return personally and visibly in glory to the earth; the dead will be raised; and Christ will judge all men in righteousness. The unrighteous will be consigned to Hell, the place of everlasting punishment. The righteous in their resurrected and glorified bodies will receive their reward and will dwell forever in Heaven with the Lord.

The Baptist Faith and Message 2000

You can clearly see that for 2000 years, creedal and confessional Christianity that is biblical believes in a Final Judgment.

Christ will return and when He does, all souls will give account for their lives.

And everyone will carry on forever in eternal life or in eternal death.

Not just spiritually, by physically.

To deny Final Judgment is to deny basic Christian doctrine.

To come to believe in the reality of it leaves you pleading for basic Christian hope.

This is our subject matter in Revelation 20:11-15.

CONTEXT

A reminder of where we are at in our study of Revelation.

The last time we were together, we were looking at Revelation 20:1-10 and we were considering the events that are described there.

Continuing to study Revelation from the idealist/amillenial perspective, we understand that the book comes to us in 7 cycles.

In each cycle, we get a picture of how things are in during the age of the church’s witness and how things will be in the end.

Revelation 20 marks the beginning of the 7th and Final Cycle of Revelation.

In it, we saw how when Jesus died on the Cross and resurrected and ascended to heaven, He bound the enemy—Satan, the strong man.

While Satan is still the god of this world, he will not be able to keep the nations in darkness and the Gospel will go to every shore and people will be saved from every people group.

Being bound, Satan can’t stop it.

This will go on throughout the 1000 years (or long, indefinite period) of the church’s witness.

During this time, believers are passing away and their souls go to reign with Christ in the intermediate heaven until He returns.

Before Christ returns, Satan will be let out for a little while to run amok.

This is when the Final Antichrist, the Man of Lawlessness, will wreak his havoc in the world.

But then the Lord Jesus returns.

And when He does, He will throw every enemy that we met in chapter 12, in the 4th Cycle, into the Lake of Fire.

The Beast

The False Prophet

Babylon

Those who dwell on the earth and take the mark of the beast

And then finally, Satan.

Revelation 20:10 ESV

and the devil who had deceived them was thrown into the lake of fire and sulfur where the beast and the false prophet were, and they will be tormented day and night forever and ever.

With the punishment of the Beast, the False Prophet and the Devil begun in verses 7-10, it is now time for us to see how God deals with the souls of humans.

Revelation 20:11-15 give us a close look at the final, great white throne judgment of God.

Revelation 20:11–15 ESV

Then I saw a great white throne and him who was seated on it. From his presence earth and sky fled away, and no place was found for them. And I saw the dead, great and small, standing before the throne, and books were opened. Then another book was opened, which is the book of life. And the dead were judged by what was written in the books, according to what they had done. And the sea gave up the dead who were in it, Death and Hades gave up the dead who were in them, and they were judged, each one of them, according to what they had done. 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.

THE THRONE OF JUDGMENT (v. 11-12)

I am going to preach an eight point sermon tonight.

I promise we will go home.

But here is how it will work.

We will have five “In the End” observations

And we will have three “Right now” applications.

So here is our first “In the end,” observation.

1. In the end, Jesus will sit on a throne of judgment (v. 11-12).

The Final Battle is over. Verses 11-15 give you the last glimpse of evil in the Bible.

There is nothing left now but judgment.

That is why John sees a great white throne.

This is a throne of judgment.

The throne is great because of who is seated on it and the authority He possesses.

It is Jesus Christ.

We know this because the Scriptures reveal it:

Acts 17:31 ESV

because he has fixed a day on which he will judge the world in righteousness by a man whom he has appointed; and of this he has given assurance to all by raising him from the dead.”

Matthew 25:31–32 ESV

“When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, then he will sit on his glorious throne. Before him will be gathered all the nations, and he will separate people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats.

The King of Kings and Lord of Lords sits on the throne.

The Son of Man, who was judged in the place of sinners at Golgotha, now sits in judgment over sinners at He comes in His glory.

The throne is described as “white,” which symbolizes its purity.

Revelation has used white in this way throughout the book.

Jesus offered pure, white garments to the lukewarm Laodiceans in Revelation 3...

The martyrs are given pure, white robes in Revelation 6...

Jesus is riding on a white horse in Revelation 19...

The image is unmistakable—God will judge the world through His Son, Jesus Christ.

Jesus will sit on a throne of authority, possessing the right to judge every soul as the Life-giving, Creator of all.

His judgment will be a pure judgment.

It will be completely fair and good.

It will be a judgment that comes from His righteous character and it will be according to His perfect law.

We often think of Jesus with the Lamb tossed over His shoulders or Jesus loving a tax collector.

We think of Jesus turning over the tables of bad guys and Jesus healing lepers.

We think of Jesus being counter-cultural in His dealings with women and we think of Christ calling for little children to come to Him.

But we must also think of Jesus in the way He is described in Revelation 20:11—He is a judge.

He is the Judge.

And in the end, He will sit on His throne of judgment, just as Psalm 2 promised He would:

Psalm 2:6 ESV

“As for me, I have set my King on Zion, my holy hill.”

In the end, He will do that which the Father has authorized Him to do:

John 5:22–23 ESV

For the Father judges no one, but has given all judgment to the Son, that all may honor the Son, just as they honor the Father. Whoever does not honor the Son does not honor the Father who sent him.

END OF THE AGE

When Jesus does this judging work from His great white throne, it will signal the end of this age.

That is why the earth and sky flee from His presence.

That is why there is no place for them.

The old earth and the old heaven are fleeing from the presence of the Judge who is closing out the accounts of history.

They have no place in His courtroom.

Every deed that will be committed on the old earth under the old heaven has been committed.

All life that is to be lived in the future will be lived out in glory or judgment. In heaven or hell.

So here, the created order as we know it, the heavens and the earth, flee away because it is time for the old to pass away and the new to come.

We should not be surprised to see creation in trauma at the end of all things. John’s vision has been hinting at this throughout.

The sixth seal represented final judgment and when it was opened, there was cosmic upheaval with a great earthquake and the sun turning black an the moon turning to blood (Revelation 6:12-17)

When the two witnesses, who represent the church, are resurrected and vindicated in chapter 11, and after they are, there is a great earthquake (Revelation 11:13)

And when the seventh bowl is poured out, it is the same thing. There is a great earthquake unlike anything humanity has ever seen (Revelation 16:18)

All of this shows how the old creation will be melted down.

It will flee away.

It’s time is done.

Behold, the Lord is making all things new, with a new heaven and the new earth, which we will see in Revelation 21...

EVERYONE WILL BE JUDGED (v. 12)

In verse 12, John says that he sees the dead, great and small, standing before the throne, and the books were opened.

The picture is reminiscent of what we see in Daniel 7.

Daniel 7:9–10 ESV

“As I looked, thrones were placed, and the Ancient of Days took his seat; his clothing was white as snow, and the hair of his head like pure wool; his throne was fiery flames; its wheels were burning fire. A stream of fire issued and came out from before him; a thousand thousands served him, and ten thousand times ten thousand stood before him; the court sat in judgment, and the books were opened.

The books that are being referred to are the records of history.

It is everything.

It is every act that human beings ever performed under God’s watchful eye.

Jesus, the Judge, is opening up the books and He is judging the record of every life.

Great and small.

No one will be exempt.

2. In the end, Jesus will judge everyone by what they’ve done (v. 12-13).

Everyone called to account for everything.

That is what we are talking about it in Revelation 20:12...

After the age of witness is over, Christ will return and everyone who has ever lived will be resurrected.

This is what the prophets taught.

Daniel 12:2 ESV

And many of those who sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake, some to everlasting life, and some to shame and everlasting contempt.

This is what Jesus taught.

John 5:28–29 ESV

Do not marvel at this, for an hour is coming when all who are in the tombs will hear his voice and come out, those who have done good to the resurrection of life, and those who have done evil to the resurrection of judgment.

This is what we are seeing in Revelation 20:12...

And what will take place at that judgment? Well Jesus explains it in detail in Matthew 25...

Matthew 25:31–46 ESV

“When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, then he will sit on his glorious throne. Before him will be gathered all the nations, and he will separate people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. And he will place the sheep on his right, but the goats on the left. Then the King will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world. For I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me, I was naked and you clothed me, I was sick and you visited me, I was in prison and you came to me.’ Then the righteous will answer him, saying, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you drink? And when did we see you a stranger and welcome you, or naked and clothe you? And when did we see you sick or in prison and visit you?’ And the King will answer them, ‘Truly, I say to you, as you did it to one of the least of these my brothers, you did it to me.’ “Then he will say to those on his left, ‘Depart from me, you cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels. For I was hungry and you gave me no food, I was thirsty and you gave me no drink, I was a stranger and you did not welcome me, naked and you did not clothe me, sick and in prison and you did not visit me.’ Then they also will answer, saying, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or naked or sick or in prison, and did not minister to you?’ Then he will answer them, saying, ‘Truly, I say to you, as you did not do it to one of the least of these, you did not do it to me.’ And these will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life.”

It is a sobering thought.

Everyone who ever lived—great and small—they will come before God and answer for every public and private moment.

The complaint uttered that you thought no one heard

The pornography you looked at when no one was around

The thought you had about the person in front of you while you were driving

All of it

Every action and every motive behind the action because the Lord goes beyond our deeds.

Jeremiah 17:10 ESV

“I the Lord search the heart and test the mind, to give every man according to his ways, according to the fruit of his deeds.”

People think they are getting away with all sorts of things. People think they have skeletons in their closets that are long buried. People think there is no accountability for their actions.

But there will be.

Believer and unbeliever alike will have the book of their lives opened and we will be judged for what we have done.

How we spent our time

How we spent our money

How we spent our love

How we spent our words

How we spent our health

All of it.

And we will not only be judged for the ways that we have transgressed God’s laws, but also for how we have taken God’s mercy for granted.

God not only keeps an account of thy sins but of the mercies thou hast received, and thou must be answerable to both.

William Gurnall

How many mercies have we received, only to assume they were our rights and privileges, and we never stopped to thank God?

How many mercies have we received and attributed to others or to our own flesh?

This ungratefulness will also be judged.

Hearing this, you might despair and think, “We are all doomed then, because we are sinners and He is a Righteous Judge...”

But thankfully, verse 12 speaks of another book.

THE BOOK OF LIFE (v. 12, 15)

Not only will the books of God’s records of humanity be opened, but so will His records of the elect.

For in verse 12, John says that there is a separate book opened— “the book of life.”

It is mentioned again in verse 15, where John says that if anyone’s name is not in the book of life, they are thrown into the lake of fire.

They are thrust into the second death.

But the inverse of that is true as well. If anyone’s name is found in the book of life, they will not be throne into the lake of fire.

They will not taste the second death.

3. In the end, those whose names are in the book of life will not taste the Second Death (v. 12, 15).

This is not the first time we have seen the book of Life in Revelation. This is the shorter title for it.

It’s full title can be found in Revelation 13:8

Revelation 13:8 ESV

and all who dwell on earth will worship it, everyone whose name has not been written before the foundation of the world in the book of life of the Lamb who was slain.

“The book of life of the Lamb who was slain” —that is the full title

It’s date of authorship?

Before time. Before the foundation of the world.

So according to the Scripture, from the perspective of God, the determining factor for your eternity is whether or not your name is written down in the Lamb’s book of life.

And yet, we are also told that we are judged according to what we have done.

What do we make of this?

BEMA SEAT AND DIFFERENCES AT THE THRONE

Well, in order to reconcile it, we must understand that the judgment believers and unbelievers experience at the Great White Throne will be quite different.

For the unbeliever, they will be judged for their deeds and given eternal justice according to their deeds.

It will be perfectly congruent.

The punishment will perfectly meet the crime because God is perfect in everything He does, including His judgments.

Hebrews 9:27 ESV

And just as it is appointed for man to die once, and after that comes judgment,

When an unbeliever stands before God’s law, if it is broken at any point, they will be declared guilty of sin and the wages of sin is death.

Romans 6:23 ESV

For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.

But this is not the case for the believer because of their names being written in the book of Life.

Those whose names are in the book of Life are those who were given to the Son by the Father.

John 6:37 ESV

All that the Father gives me will come to me, and whoever comes to me I will never cast out.

Jesus knows their names. He has known their names from before time.

Jesus came to earth to save them.

Jesus died on the Cross for them, accomplishing their salvation.

Jesus rose again from the grave, securing their life.

And Jesus intercedes for them at the right hand of the Father.

And because of this saving work, when the Father looks at all of the sin in my life, He just sees the righteousness of Christ.

So unlike the unbeliever who is being declared guilty or not guilty on the basis of their works, the believer is being declared guilty or not guilty on the basis of Christ’s works.

And since His work is perfect according to the Law, we are accepted in Him and declared fit for the new heaven and the new earth.

We are resurrected to life—not a judgement unto death.

When believers stand before the throne, we will go through the judgment that Paul refers to in 1 Corinthians 3—sometimes called the Bema Seat Judgment.

1 Corinthians 3:12–13 ESV

Now if anyone builds on the foundation with gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, straw— each one’s work will become manifest, for the Day will disclose it, because it will be revealed by fire, and the fire will test what sort of work each one has done.

If you built on the foundation of Christ’s righteousness with acts of loving obedience toward Him, then those Christ-honoring acts will be like gold, silver and precious stones.

They will surviving the purifying judgment of God at the Great White Throne and they will speak to the rightful place of your name in the book of Life.

It is not that your works earn your place in the book of Life.

Instead, your works show that Christ has indeed saved you and that your redeemed life produced fruits worthy of repentance.

These are the righteous deeds of the saints that the church will wear like wedding dress at Christ’s return:

Revelation 19:8 ESV

it was granted her to clothe herself with fine linen, bright and pure”— for the fine linen is the righteous deeds of the saints.

But everything in our lives that was not for Christ will just burn up. Like wood, hay and straw.

It will be cast as far as the East is from the West.

Some argue whether or not this judgment will be painful for us...

They ponder if God will allow us to feel this last bit of sorrow for our failures...

We don’t know.

But either way—the fact that our entire lives will be laid bare should motivate us to build on the foundation of Christ with obedient acts of love that reflect the salvation we have received.

And along those lines, I would challenge not to think of obeying and loving God merely in terms of Bible-reading and song-singing.

So much of what you read about in Matthew 25 in terms of judgment is attached to how you treat others.

And Jesus takes your treatment of other image-bearers so personally that He says your actions toward them are as if they were toward Him!

In light of that, we should understand that how we treat others will say a lot about whether or not our name is to be found in roll that is called up yonder.

DEATH WILL BE DEFEATED (v. 13-14)

Getting to our fourth observation, we just see how God deals with the final enemy mentioned in Revelation.

We have seen the Beasts fall. We have see Babylon fall. We have see all who take the mark be defeated. We have seen Satan himself conquered.

But now—the final enemy—the enemy that came in through the back door of the Garden with Adam’s first transgression...

1 Corinthians 15:26 ESV

The last enemy to be destroyed is death.

In verses 13-14, it is time for the death of death.

4. In the end, death itself will be defeated (v. 13-14).

If you eat of this tree, you will surely die.

Death has always been the dancing partner of disobedience toward God.

Life has always been the dancing partner of obedience.

On the New Earth, there will be no disobedience to King Jesus, therefore, the dancing partner of Death will be nowhere to be found.

Revelation 21:4 says death is “no more” as the eternal age is dawning.

In verse 13, the sea gives up the dead who are in it.

The sea is not just speaking of the ocean. Certainly not a tranquil ocean.

In the Jewish world, the ocean was viewed as a place of chaos and destruction.

This is why John says the “sea is no more” in Revelation 21. That doesn’t mean the New Earth won’t have oceans.

That means that chaos and destruction will have no place in the New Earth.

It is a symbolic way of talking.

This place of chaos cannot hold the dead any longer. It must give them all up.

Death gives up the dead in it.

This means that all who are in the grave are raised.

Hades gives up all who are in it, as well.

This is the holding place of unbelievers.

The place of life and victory depicted in Revelation 20:4-6 is the holding place for believers who die before Christ’s return.

They experience the first resurrection, which the second death has no power over.

Jesus calls this Abraham’s side in the parable of the rich man and Lazarus.

But Hades is a place of separation from God and goodness and it is the place the souls of unbelievers go, awaiting the Great White Throne Judgment.

When Jesus sits on His Great White Throne, the sea, death and Hades will give up all their dead and they will all be judged.

And then, we see in verse 14 that Death and Hades are thrown into the lake of fire.

This is a symbolic way of describing the death of death.

Death and Hades are thrown into the lake of fire just as the Beast and False Prophet are. This is John’s way of describing the final defeat of God’s enemies and his eternal victory over every force or person that has opposed him. God wins!

Sam Storms

THE SECOND DEATH (v. 14-15)

And then, finally, we have our fifth “In the end,” observation and it is focused on the Second Death.

For anyone who has their name written in the book of Life, they will not be thrown into the lake of fire, but that is not the case for those whose names are absent.

Verse 14 explains that the second death is the lake of fire and then verse 15 says that those whose names are not in the book of Life will be thrown into the lake of fire.

5. In the end, those whose names are not in the book of Life will experience the Second Death (v. 14-15).

This is a heavy truth.

It is to be understood in sobriety.

It is to be considered with a clear mind.

The picture that we are given by the Holy Bible at the end of Revelation 20 is one where unbelievers are being resurrected to judgment.

When God looks at their life, He does not see the perfection of Christ because they have rejected the Lamb and followed the Beast.

And when He judges them, He judges them according to what they had done.

And what they had done is rebel against the Lord.

They have suppressed the truth so that they could live the life they wanted to live, acting as their own lord.

And in rejecting the only atoning sacrifice that God the Father has given for the sins of humanity, they are left to pay the deathly wages forever.

The lake of fire, which is called the second death, will last forever.

It was right there is Jesus’ teaching about the sheep/goat judgment.

Matthew 25:46 ESV

And these will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life.”

Jesus Himself describes Hell as a place where the worm never dies.

The creature that is known for making a meal off the dead will always have food because the death will never end.

He describes it as a place where the fire is not quenched.

Revelation 21 will tell us the type of people who will be there.

Cowards who did not repent and trust in Him.

Faithless people who did not turn from their doubting and believe the Lord.

Detestable people and murderers who press on in their evil or try to wash it away with their own “good works”

Sexually immoral people who get in bed with Babylon and reject Christ as the Bridegroom

People who practice sorcery and seek power and provision from created things instead of from the Creator

People who lie and make themselves enemies of the Truth

Revelation 21:8 tells us that “their portion will be in the lake that burns with fire and sulfur, which is the second death.”

The profile of the punished in verse 8 describes all of us.

None of us have avoided those horrible sins.

In some form or fashion, you make that list.

The only way you do not taste the second death is to share in the first resurrection.

The only way to not taste the second death is to trust in Christ.

It is to have your name in the book of life.

And that book is filled with the names of those who believe the Lord.

But for those that do not, the grave reality of Hell could not be any more devastating.

RIGHT NOW APPLICATIONS

1. Right now, everything we do matters.

If God will open the books and the record of our life will be exposed down to every minute detail, then everything we do in the here and now matters.

How I spend my time matters.

How I spend my money matters.

How I spend my energy matters.

How I spend my talent matters.

Our lives are short.

Solomon says there is a time to be born and a time to die and he blows right past the living, as if to say that this life is so short you don’t even mention it.

It is a breath and then it is over.

And yet, what we do with these short lives matter.

Is there an eternal state into which souls pass after this life? How precious then is present time upon the improvement whereof that state depends. Oh, what a huge weight hath God hung upon a small wire! God hath set us here in a state of trial. According as we improve these few hours, so it will fare with us to all eternity. Every day, every hour---nay, every moment of your present time—hath an influence upon your eternity.

John Flavel

For the unbeliever, the remaining hours of life must be used to turn to Christ and then live for Him.

For the believer, the remaining hours must be spent to build on the foundation of Christ, not to live for ourselves.

We must give our lives to Christ and His cause, not our own selfish pursuits.

Your flesh constantly wants drop an anchor on earth, live as if this place is all that exists and to spent your time on your own pleasure.

But the Spirit of God beckons us to drop anchor in heaven, to live with our eyes on the city that is yet to come and to spend our time aiming to please the Lord Jesus.

We must reject the flesh and self and listen to the Spirit and honor Christ with our moments and our days.

Everything we do will have its reverberation at the Great White Throne

2. Right now, everyone must repent.

This clearly must be our response to this text. This is a passage that begs the reader to turn away from sinning against God.

When the books are opened, sinners will be exposed.

There will be no arguing.

There will be no second chances.

There will be no bartering.

At some point, every court reaches a time in which it must fully enforce the Law for the sake of justice.

God mercifully withholds His gavel from full judgment until the Day of Final Judgment, but when that day comes, He will deal with every ounce of evil once and for all.

In a world that lacks justice, it is such good news to know all things will be right in the end.

But when you realize the person staring back at you in the mirror is declared guilty by the law of God when the books of record are opened, then you know that you are not exempt from God’s judgment.

Romans 3:20 ESV

For by works of the law no human being will be justified in his sight, since through the law comes knowledge of sin.

The Law exposes our sin.

Are you an idolater that gives your affection to things that are not God?

Are you a blasphemer who uses His name like a cuss word even though He gave you life?

Do you reject His rest and try to work for your own spiritual peace on your own terms?

Do you dishonor your mom and dad? Have you ever?

Have you murdered or been unrighteously angry with someone in your heart?

Have you committed adultery or even burned with sinful lust in the heart?

Have you stolen what is not yours?

Have you lied about someone and sold it like it was the truth?

Have you coveted your neighbors things?

The Bible promises us that all people stand before this Law and the works of their lives are exposed as being evil.

Romans 3:23 ESV

for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,

Every sin committed is a treasonous act against the Maker of the Universe and it deserves God’s wrath and curse in this life and the next.

Breaking the eternal law of an eternal God demands eternal punishment.

But we know that God sent Jesus to be the solution for this devastating predicament we find ourselves in.

For on the Cross, Jesus suffered in our place and He received the punishment for our law-breaking.

He drank the cup of God’s wrath down to the dregs for you so that you would not drink it forever in the lake of fire.

So agree with Him about the evil of sin and turn to Him and receive the gift of His life and death in your place.

And that is not just a message for the unbeliever, but for the believer.

If the reality of judgment has shaken you to the core and reminded you of the shortness of life and made you realize you have been spiritually sleep-walking, then repent and remember your first love.

Ephesians 5:14 ESV

for anything that becomes visible is light. Therefore it says, “Awake, O sleeper, and arise from the dead, and Christ will shine on you.”

3. Right now, every church must stay on mission.

This is the last thing I want to say to you tonight.

If all of history is barreling toward this conclusion—every soul standing before the throne of judgment, answering for their lives—then the mission of the church becomes of utmost importance.

The mission of the church is to make disciples, baptizing them in the name of the Triune God and teaching them everything Christ taught us, until the Lord returns.

Until the trumpet sounds and Satan and death are defeated and every soul is gathered for judgment, the church must continue to answer the ringing mission bell.

As we arrive at November 2023, one week removed from our quarterly Members’ Meeting, it is an exciting time in our church.

It is exciting because after two decades, this is a year that the church got out of financial debt.

It is exciting because we joined up with a network of local, faithful churches this year.

It is exciting because we are serving Christ presently.

Between the Christmas Lights Outreach and Upward Basketball, it is one of out biggest outreach seasons of the year

And on top of all of that, we are making plans for the future.

But as we make those plans for the future, from how we spend money to what we will be teaching from the pulpit, we must be vigilant to keep our mission in mind.

We exist to see souls move from death to life through God’s global disciple-making movement for His own glory.

Our mission, as the workmanship of Christ, is to fulfill the task that He set before the church—to take His Gospel to the world—and to see souls saved and cultivated.

See, it is all about the mission.

Seaford is a church with a large building.

In order to be good stewards, we will need to care for this building over the long haul.

Seaford is a church with many active ministries.

In order to be faithful witnesses, we will use those ministries as platforms to proclaim the Gospel from.

But understand that this building and these programs only exist to support the mission.

They are not the end, in and of themselves.

Now, I know that you know that, but in light of the Day of Judgment that is coming, it is good for us to remind ourselves.

We do not exist to maintain an institution until Christ returns to judge the world.

We exist to make disciples and to be a part of seeing Satan’s house plundered, as Jesus uses us as His mouthpiece on the earth during this age of witness.

We are not here just to keep the building and programs of Seaford Baptist that you know and love up and running.

We are here to build the Kingdom until the King returns to judge the nations.

We are preparing our neighborhood for that day through the disciple-making Gospel we preach.

In light of the Great White Throne that is coming, let us not lose our focus.