The Great White Throne Judgment

Introduction

General: Throughout the book of Revelation we have come across many passages that are full of symbols that require interpretation and intensity of mind to consider their meaning. I have labored, especially for those who are newer in their faith, to make those symbols and those messages accessible for newer believers, or those still young in their faith. In reality, the bulk of our faith should not be spent parsing the difficult passages and debating the symbols; but should be spent considering the weighty issues of atonement, of Christ’s nature, and of our final judgment. Today, we come across a passage that needs no great interpretation. It stands on its own. Today I speak on the topic of the final judgment, what this passage refers to as the The Great White Throne Judgment.

Many: Many in our day today do not like the idea of a God who judges. They say they prefer a God who does not judge, a God accepts us all as we are, with all our flaws. And to that crowd I give one simple bit of counsel. What an awful world it would be if at the end of the day evil just gets a pass; if at the end of the day Hitler is simply accepted by God for being his authentic self. The real world demands ultimate justice.

Personal: Now it is one thing to think of Hitler’s judgment. We all know intuitively how he will fare. But what about you? How will you do on that day? How will God judge your life? When your heart, and mind, and motivations, and actions are laid bare before the ultimate judge of everything, what will be revealed? And much more importantly, how confident are you?

Context: Today we consider the Great White Throne Judgment. To be clear, this is a judgment that has not yet taken place in time. Those who have died in Christ are with him now in Paradise, and those who have died outside of Christ are now in a Hellish place. But on the day Christ returns to usher in the New Heavens and the New Earth, an event will take place that is recorded in our passage here today. That event is the final judgment of all things.

Structure: Five reasons to take careful thought about your judgment day.

Revelation 20:11–15 “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.”

Meaning & Application

GOD’S JUDGMENT WILL BE TREMENDOUS

First, we see in this text that God’s judgment will be tremendous. As John looks, we are told in verse 11:

Revelation 20:11 “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.”

The image of a great throne is put before us. It is the throne upon which Christ will sit for judgment. The word “great” describes the entire scene of the throne room. Why is it called “great?”

The Moment is Tremendous: First, the throne is called “great” because the moment it marks tremendous a moment. All of human history will have been working towards this moment, when Christ will stand as judge over humanity, and awards and punishments will be doled for the righteous and for the unrighteous. It is a tremendous moment, unlike any that we or anyone else has ever participated in.

Christ is Tremendous: Second, the throne is called “great” because Christ who sits upon the throne is Himself tremendous. He is so magnficent and so glorious that the earth and the sky themselves flee from his presence. When Isaiah stood before his throne, he fell at his feet as though dead. The angels around the throne cover their eyes and cry out “Holy, Holy, Holy is the Lord God Almighty.” Throughout Revelation Christ has presented as the “lion and the lamb.” He has presented as the “Alpha and the Omega.” He has been presented as the “beginning and the end.” In Revelation he is worshiped, and he is adored. Why? Because Christ is the eternal God incarnate. The infinite, eternal source of love and light Himself entered into humanity. All that is kingly and regal and noble and right and good and true, is seen in his face.

Judgment is Tremendous: Third, the throne is called great because the judgment which proceeds from upon it is tremendous. Were you to stand before the Supreme Court of the United States of America, you would recognize the greatness of the moment. There is no earthly higher court of appeals. The Great White Throne Judgment is last and final judgment in God’s creation. Everything will be brought to light. All that was hidden will be exposed. All that we lament in this world will have its day in court. It will be a day of wonderful victory for justice.

Eternity is Tremendous: Fourth, the throne is called great because from that moment on, all of eternity will be set in motion by the events of that day. After a million years, the verdicts that will be handed down at the Great White Throne Judgment will still stand. Can you perceive the greatness of it. Forever and ever we will look back to this day as “the beginning of all days.”

God’s judgment will be tremendous.

GOD’S JUDGMENT WILL BE PURE

Second reasonn, God’s judgment will be pure.

White: We are told that it is a great “white” throne. Throughout scripture “white” is the color of purity. It is the color of righteousness. You may recall how often Revelation spoke of the symbolism of the color white. The rider on the white horse is Christ. The 24 elders around the throne are clothed in white. The martyrs are given white robes. The great multitude before the throne are also given white robes. The throne is white because it represent ultimate purity, righteousness, and truth.

Why: Why will this judgment be pure. For two reasons.

Christ’s Knowldege is Pure: First, because the one who sits upon the throne and who enacts judgment is not tainted by sin or lack of knowledge. In this world, we do not know of the purity of judgment. Judges hear cases around the world and they are presented with evidences and they must give their verdict. There are many wicked judges, whose verdicts are anything but pure and white. Throughout history unjust verdicts have been down. But even for righteous and noble judges, their judgments are never pure white like Christs simply because they never know all the pieces. They have not seen all, and know all. But they see the evidence the presented to them, and know only the limited factors that they can possibly know. Even the purest judgments in this world are tainted by human limitations. But not this throne. The one who sits upon this throne is not limited in his knowledge of your actions and your heart and your motivations. Christ, as the God-man, knows all and has seen all, and his judgments will be pure and right and true. Even those who are cast into Hell will not argue that his judgment was not true and right. Nobody in Hell will be saying “I didn’t deserve this.”

The Standard Pure: Second, his judgment will be pure because his standard is pure. Again, in earthly courts we know not this purity of justice. One man commits a crime and he is penalized with a year in prison. A different man by a different judge commits the same crime and he is penalized with a hefty fine and volunteer hours. This is tainted justice. But God’s judgment is not tainted because the standard is fixed, unchanging, and unmoving. God’s Moral Law, summarized in the 10 Commandments, explained and applied through the Scriptures, and masterfully taught upon by Christ in the Sermon on the Mount, is the standard whereby our actions and our lives will be weighed. Christ himself, as we read of him in the New Testament is the living embodiment of those laws. He is the living standard, because He perfectly satisfied the law in heart, mind, and in action.

Purpose of the Law: I must shepherd us for a moment on this topic. Many modern Christians misunderstand God’s law, in many ways. But the primary way they misunderstand the law, is that they think of God’s law as a means of salvation, as a path to earn our position with God. They think to themselves, “I know I’m not perfect, but on the whole I try to obey God’s law. And I’m sure he will see that I’ve done my best.”

Illustration - MRI: Oh no! The law of God is like a great MRI Machine for the soul. When a person goes underneath an MRI machine, the body is scanned in all of its detail, and the hidden things that are diseased or cancerous or broken are revealed. In the same, the law has no power to save, only to reveal in our sinful condition, just how sick we are. It doesn’t just scan our best days and best moments. It reveals the soul-cancer inside of us, called sin.

Romans 3:10 “as it is written: “None is righteous, no, not one;”

The truth is that on that day, when we stand before a Holy God, and our lives are laid bare before him, all of us from Hitler to Mother Theresa will be found having fallen short of the the standard of righteousness God has demanded. Christ alone fulfilled the law.

God’s judgment will be pure.

GOD’S JUDGMENT WILL BE UNIVERSAL

Third reason, God’s judgment will be universal.

Revelation 20:12 “And I saw the dead, great and small, standing before the throne…”

Every soul who ever lived on this earth will stand before the throne on this judgment day. The great ones of this world will have no advantage over the small ones of this world. The Kings who in this life ruled over thousands and millions will stand side by side with the poor beggar from the street who had not a penny to his name. Mighty Nebuchadnezzar himself will stand shoulder to shoulder with you. Alexandar the Great, will have no advantage. The Lord does not use unbalanced scales. Death is the great leveller of all humanity. It has no respect of persons.

No Denying: In this life, many in this life play the fool, denying with their mouth what they know to be true in their heart of hearts, that there is a God, and that we will stand in judgment before him. This knowledge is woven into the human experience. The man who denies that there is a final judgment before our maker is like a man who denies that he has a nose. He is a fool. And all eternity will remember him that way.

No Escape: There wil be no mountains or caves to crawl into to escape the devastating reality that our Judgment Day has arrived. Men and women today cover their shame with all kinds of ridiculous clothing. They convince themselves with illogical, incomprehensible, and fallacious arguments that there is no God, and that even there were a God that he would not judge them. Those statements will prove as frail as a twig when they stand before the Great White Throne of God.

No Excuse: There will be no excuses that we can make when we stand before the King of Kings and Lord of Lords. Today, we justify our sins by all kinds of excuses. We explain ourselves that such and such has happened to me, and that as a result I cannot help myself but to continue in sin. We blame our sin and our lack of conviction on Christ on our parents, on our friends, on our circumstances. On the day we stand before the Great White Throne, all excuses will fall from lips forever. For to look in his face is to know in your soul that he will be not deceived, he will not be mocked, and the day of reckoning has come.

No Coattails: There will be no coattails of anybody else that we can hold onto on that judgment day. Our parents cannot hold our hands and offer us any reassurance. The great saints who have passed before us cannot offer us any of their merit. All of us must face our judgement alone.

No Forgery: Lastly, there will be no forgery. Every hypocrite will be exposed before the throne of the Almighty. There will be many who took the title Christian, had Bibles in their homes, listened to sermons, fooled their pastor, maybe themselves were pastors, maybe themselves were pastors who led great congregations, who when they stand on this judgment will be revealed that they never really repented of their sin, they never really accepted Christ as their Savior, and they never really determined to follow Him no matter the cost. We may play the part down here, but before the Great White Throne our costumes will give way to the real condition of our heart.

God’s judgment will be universal.

GOD’S JUDGMENT WILL BE GLORIOUS

Fourth, God’s judgment will be glorious. We read

Revelation 20:12 “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.”

The Scene: The scene is rather interesting. First, a great number of books are opened, and we are told that we are judged by what is written in those books. Those books represent our lives, our actions, our decisions, and our deeds. The image here is that all of our life is recorded, every moment of it, and that God will review the facts of our life and hold us to account. But in the very next breath, John says that a separate book is then brought out, this one is called the Book of Life. Verse 15 tells us:

Revelation 20:15 “And if anyone’s name was not found written in the book of life, he was thrown into the lake of fire.”

Well, the question is very important. What is this book of life? And are we judged by what is written in it, or are we judged by what is written in the stack of books, namely our deeds? We must get this right!

Book of Life: This book of life is unique. There are many wonderful books in this world. But none, so precious, none so wonderful, none so ancient, none so glorious, as the Lamb’s Book of Life. The Lamb’s Book of Life records the names of every individual who has repented of their sin, and trusted in Christ’s finished work on the cross for their salvation. It is a roster of every name that will be admitted into heaven. What it will be like, to have your name read from the Lamb’s Book of Life! Can you imagine!

Seven Times: This book is mentioned seven times in the New Testament. Once by the Apostle Paul in Philippians 4 where he describes his fellow co-workers in the gospel as those whose names are written in the book of life. The rest of its occurrences are in the Book of Revelation. In that great and horrifying chapter 13, where we encountered the beasts out of the sea and out of the land, and how Satan coopts systems and governments to lead people astray and worship false Gods. We saw in that chapter:

Revelation 13:8 “and all who dwell on earth will worship it, everyone whose name has not been written from the foundation of the world in the book of life of the Lamb who was slain.”

The same thing is said in Revelation 17 where we read:

Revelation 17:8 “… And the dwellers on earth whose names have not been written in the book of life from the foundation of the world will marvel to see the beast…”

That is an important verse. It teaches us three things about this book and why it is so glorious.

First, it teaches us that in this life there are only two kinds of people, and there is no middle ground. There are those whose names are written in the Book of Life, and there are those who worship the beast. That is what the text says. There is a group of people in this world today, that believe that though they are not Christians, and therefore they know that their names are not in the Lamb’s Book of Life, that are morally upright. No! “The Fear of God is the beginning of knowledge.” We either worship Christ as King, or we worship the Beast who masquerades as the King. That’s it.

Second, it tells that our names have been written in the Book of Life before the foundation of the world. Before you or I ever did anything to earn God’s favor, God secured his Church. This is why it is called GRACE. Some people mistakenly think that at the moment they choose to follow Jesus, their name is recorded in the Lamb’s Book of Life. No, but that is not what the text says. The text says that our names were recorded “from the foundation of the world,” before we had ever chosen Him, or done anything worthy of Him choosing us.

Fits Together!: See how this fits together. We have already seen that God’s judgment is purer than pure. If the only books that were available to judge us by were the stack of books that recorded our lives, all of us would cry out like the prophet Isaiah, “Woe is me! I am undone! I am a man of unclean lips!” The Scriptures say that the wages of sin is death, and simply to look on the glory of the face of Christ on that day will be to know that reality intuitively. If all we had were the books that represent our lives, even the greatest and most noble among us, we would flee from his presence the same way death and hades flee form his presence. What a terrifying reality!

But Church - there is another book, the Lamb’s Book of Life. And in that book are written the names of every individual who Christ came to save. Those names were not written because they were more worthy, or more deserving. No! Not one name recorded in the Lamb’s Book of Life was worthy to be there. Those names were written on account of grace upon grace. Long before any of us “decided to follow Jesus”, Jesus decided to save us.

Not a Desparate Attempt: You see, the cross was not a desparate attempt by God simply to make salvation possible, as some falsely believe. No! At the cross, Jesus took our judgment upon himself. At the cross, Christ secured the forgiveness and atonement of those who had been given to Him by the Father. Not one drop of Christ’s blood was wasted, wondering if so and so would ever believe. He knew exactly whom he came to save, and he saved them. Every lash, every thorn, every nail, every heavy breath, every agonizing cry, every drop of blood offered for a specific people. This is why Christ said:

John 10:11 “I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep.”

On the last day, at the Great White Throne Judgment, not one name will be missing. Not one page will have to be ammended.

Assurance: Oh Church, what wonderful assurance this offers us. The Christian’s story is grace upon grace. The Christian story always begins with “law”, rightly understanding our condition before a holy God. We must tremble underneath God’s law before we can fully appreciate God’s grace. But if we are in Christ, then our debt is paid in full. Nothing can separate us from God. No power in all of God’s created order can amend or change the Lamb’s Book of Life.

John 6:37–39 “All that the Father gives me will come to me, and whoever comes to me I will never cast out… And this is the will of him who sent me, that I should lose nothing of all that he has given me, but raise it up on the last day.”

Not one name is lost. Not one drop of Christ’s blood is wasted. Not one promise of God fails.

God’s judgment will be glorious.

GOD’S JUDGMENT WILL BE THOROUGH

I will close us on a fifth and final observation. That is that God’s judgment will be thorough. We see that a person’s salvation is dependent upon the Lamb’s Book of Life. And yet, the text very clearly says

Revelation 20:12 “… And the dead were judged by what was written in the books, according to what they had done.”

Outside of Christ: To those outside of Christ, those books will record your sins. They will stand as witnesses against you validating God’s justice. And verse 15 records the justice that will be yours. I do not know how literal to take the language, for so much of Revelation is symbolic. But verse 15 says that those outside of Christ are “thrown into the Lake of Fire.” Oh precious souls in this room today. I plead with you, to not delay believing in Christ. Your soul is far too great of value to spend an eternity in Hell, white the joys of heaven are presented before you. Choose Christ, and you will find that Christ has already chosen you! Repent of your sin—Do not delay! And discover that Christ has pursued you and been knocking on your door for far too long already. Today is the day of salvation. Believe and be saved from the fires of justice.

In Christ: To those in Christ, how will we be judged bywhat we have done, if we have already seen that our salvation is dependent solely on what Christ has done? Well this is important, and there is great application for us here. The person who has been truly saved, truly born again, will bear the works of that salvation. Their life will look different. Their choices will look different. Jesus spoke about his followers this way:

Matthew 7:20 “Thus you will recognize them by their fruits.”

Christian, your life will also be reviewed at the Great White Throne judgment. And I do believe that there are greater and lesser rewards in heaven, that will be based upon how we fare at that Great White Throne Judgment. Nobody in heaven will be in despair or shame over their place in heaven.

Have you accepted Christ and then just sat back on your haunches and forgotten his commands for holy living, for piety? Remember the Great White Throne!

Have you invested yourself in your church, and poured your life into seeing God’s church flourish and multiply? Remember the Great White Throne!

Do you pray fervently and consistently? Are you lazy in your prayers? Remember the Great White Throne!

What about your heart, and the things you treasure? Have allowed the treasures of the world to fill your vision of the good life over and above Christ? Remember the Great White Throne!

How about your eyes? And what you see and watch and browse? Remember the Great White Throne!

How do you manage your money that God has entrusted you with? Are you wise? Are you generous? Do you build his church? Do you send his missionaries? Are you bold in your generosity. Remember the Great White Throne!

Can you, for the sake of your eternal soul, do a little self-examination? It matters not how anyone else in this world thinks of you? All that matters is Christ, on his throne. Place the reality of God’s judgment at the center of your thought. Let it guide your decisions. When you are tempted to sin, remember the Great White Throne, and the books that are recording your choices. Your salvation is secure, Amen! But may those books tell a story of one who bore the marks of their salvation.

Closing

Oh beloved Church. The day is fast approaching when we will hear a trumpet sound that will make every ear on this planet turn. And we will see him descend, with those who have passed from this life already. And in that moment, there will be no more delay. The Judgment Day has come. For those who are in Christ, we will marvel as we recount the story of Grace upon Grace, the story of extravagent love that know no bounds, Christ!