Sermon Tone Analysis

Introduction:

I.

The Scene (vs.

11-12a)

This is probably the most terrifying scene that John has witnessed up to this point.

John is shown the judge seated on his throne of judgment and all the guilty accused are standing before Him.

Again, like other times, when John uses the familiar words, “then I saw” introducing us to the sequential events that are taking place.

The first thing that John sees is a great white throne.

It is great because of its significance.

It is white because of the purity of the throne and the one who is sitting upon it.

The verdict handed handed down from this judgment will be final, equitable, righteous and just.

Daniel described the scene:

Jonm

Even more awe inspiring then the throne was the one who sat on it.

This is, of course, none other than the eternal almighty God.

Christ is seen many times in the Revelation as sitting on the throne.

Revelation

Revelation

Revelation

Revelation

Amazingly, when John speaks about the earth fleeing from his presence, it is speaking about the the “uncreation” of the universe.

The earth will have been reshaped from the devestation of the Tribulation and restored during the Millennium.

Yet it will still be tainted with sin and subject to the effects of the fall; decay and death, and therefore must be destroyed.

Keep in mind that corruption cannot exist in the eternal state.

God will remake the heaven and the earth which is why John says in our text, “no place was found for them”.

They will be uncreated and go completely out of existence.

There is a terrible fellowship there.…

The dead, small and great, stand before God.

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

Little men and paltry women whose lives were filled with pettiness, selfishness, and nasty little sins will be there.

Those whose lives amounted to nothing will be there, whose very sins were drab and dowdy, mean, spiteful, peevish, groveling, vulgar, common, and cheap.

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

Men like Alexander and Napoleon, Hitler and Stalin will be present, men who went in for wickedness on a grand scale with the world for their stage and who died unrepentant at last.

Now one and all are arraigned and on their way to be damned: a horrible fellowship congregated together for the first and last time.

(Exploring Revelation, rev.

ed.

[Chicago: Moody, 1987; reprint, Neptune, N.J.: Loizeaux, 1991], 242–43)

II.

The Summons (vs.

13a)

As the next scene in this ultimate courtroom drama unfolds, the prisoners are summoned from their cells to appear before the Judge.

Since their deaths, their souls have been tormented in a place of punishment; now the time has come for them to be sentenced to the final, eternal hell.

Before the sea was uncreated and went out of existence (cf.

21:1), it gave up the dead which were in it.

The sea may be singled out because it is seemingly the most difficult place from which bodies could be resurrected.

But God will summon from its depths new bodies for all who perished in the sea throughout human history, including those who drowned in the Flood, those who went down with the Titanic, the Lusitania, the Arizona, and the countless other ships that have sunk, as well as all the millions of other people who met their end at sea.

Death symbolizes all the places on land from which God will resurrect new bodies for the unrighteous dead.

The sea and death are pictured as voracious monsters that have swallowed those bodies and will be forced to disgorge them before their uncreation.

Hades is the Greek equivalent of the Hebrew word sheol.

Both words describe the realm of the dead.

Sheol, used sixty-seven times in the Old Testament, describes the realm of the dead in general.

Hades is used ten times in the New Testament, always in reference to the place of punishment (cf.

Luke 16:23) where the unrighteous dead are kept pending their sentencing to hell.

In this incredible scene, Hades is emptied of its captive spirits, who are reunited with resurrection bodies before the bar of God’s justice.

Unbelievers, fitted with resurrection bodies suited for hell, will then be ready for their sentencing to the lake of fire where their punishment, unlike that in Hades, will last forever.

III.

The Standard (vs.

12b, 13b)

The books contain the record of every thought, word, and deed of every unsaved person who ever lived.

God has kept perfect, accurate, and comprehensive records of every person’s life, and the dead will be judged from the things which were written in the books, according to their deeds.

Sinners’ deeds will be measured against God’s perfect, holy standard

God’s justice demands payment for every person’s sins.

Christ paid that penalty for believers:

1 Peter 2:

God’s judgment of impenitent, unbelieving sinners’ evil deeds will include their thoughts.

Sinners will be judged for their words

Unbelievers will be judged by their actions.

The absolute, unerring accuracy of God’s judgment will ensure that unbelievers’ punishment in hell fits their iniquity.

Each person’s life will be individually evaluated, and each person’s punishment will be consistent with that evaluation.

Thus, Scripture teaches that there will be varying degrees of punishment in hell.

When He sent the twelve out on a preaching tour Jesus told them,

It should be noted that while there are varying degrees of punishment in hell, everyone there will suffer intolerable, indescribable misery and torment.

All sinners in hell will be utterly separated from God and all that comes from His goodness.

Thus, they will be miserable, but not equally miserable.

After the books containing the prisoners’ evil deeds were opened, another book was opened, which is the book of life.

This book’s imagery corresponds to the registry of citizens kept by ancient cities; it contains the names of all those whose “citizenship is in heaven” (Phil.

3:20).

It is referred to several times in Revelation (v.

15; 3:5; 13:8; 17:8; 21:27).

The book of life is the record of God’s elect

All those whose names are not written in the book of life will be eternally damned.

Keep in mind that this book was written, not as people “make decisions for Christ” but before time began.

Since their names were not in the book of life, the prisoners before the Great White Throne were judged, every one of them according to their deeds.

Some, in shock and horror, will protest, “Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in Your name, and in Your name cast out demons, and in Your name perform many miracles?”

(Matt.

7:22).

But they will hear in reply the most chilling, terrifying words that any human will ever hear: “I never knew you; depart from me, you who practice lawlessness” (Matt.

7:23).

Those who refuse to plead guilty to their sins in this world, repent, and ask God for a pardon based on the substitutionary work of Christ will face trial after they die.

And on that day, they will be pronounced guilty.

IV.

The Sentence (vs.

14-15)

Reve

The evidence is irrefutable, the verdict rendered; judgment will be swiftly carried out.

As the sentence is passed, death and Hades (the grave, and the temporary place of punishment for everyone whose name was not found written in the book of life) were thrown into the lake of fire, meaning that they will go out of existence, swallowed up by the final hell.

Their inmates, currently suffering in their spirits only, will be united with specially designed resurrection bodies and cast into eternal hell (cf.

Matt.

10:28).

That final hell, described as the lake of fire, may already exist (cf.

Matt.

25:41), but if so, it is currently unoccupied.

Its first two occupants, the beast and the false prophet, will not arrive until the end of the Tribulation (19:20).

The clearest and most vivid of the New Testament terms used to describe the final hell, the lake of fire, is geenna (Gehenna).

Gehenna is the New Testament word for the valley of Ben-Hinnom (also called Topheth; 2 Kings 23:10; Isa.

30:33; Jer.