Rev. 20:11-15 "The Final Judgment"

Introduction

A. The final judgment doesn’t fall into the favorite theological topic of most Christians.

But in truth you can’t understand the Kingdom dynamic of Christ’s sovereign authority without it. It is the doctrine that obligates everyone when it comes to belief in God and the accountability that goes with it.

As Christians we do not want to be in denial about the Final Judgment. Nor do we want to minimize it in such a way as to negate the implications of it. (Man who said it wasn’t true).

Our approach to our text this morning is going to be, To Explain the Text, Focus in on the theological truth and then to apply it to our lives.

I. Explain

A. The Throne of Judgment (11).

Notice that it is a Great White Throne. This denotes that it is a throne that is Holy, righteous and representing absolute sovereign authority.

But it is not the throne itself from which the righteousness and power comes. It is clearly from the power and authority of the One who is seated on it.

It is from Him that the earth and the sky fled from and there is no place for them left. This denotes the ultimate scope and span of His dominion being over all things. It is a cosmic judgment being exercised.

Theologians are divided on who it is that is seated on the throne. Some say God the Father and others say it is the glorified Christ. The reason they are divided is that there are Scriptures that indicate both.

Therefore it is difficult to say with certainty except to say that God is on His throne here and He is exercising judgment. Which person of the Godhead it is doesn’t minimize anything from a theological perspective.

I lean toward it being Christ on His throne as Matthew 25:31 tells us in the parable of the sheep and the goats.

It also seems to me to fit better with John 5:22 where John tells us that Jesus has been given authority to judge by the Father. It is Godhead execution that is taking place.

Then we see the basis of His judgment in verses 12-13:

B. The Basis of Judgment (12-13).

The basis of the judgment is the content of the heavenly books that are opened in this cosmic courtroom.

The dead at this point have all been raised and the record books of heaven are opened along with the book of life. Tribulation on the earth is done and the millennium has ended.

And judgment was made according to the works recorded in the books.

Only those who are truly believers are recorded in the book of life. Their works are done as a reflection of their place in Christ. Good works are the by-product of true regenerating faith.

The works of others who are outside of Christ reflect their unbelief through their deeds and actions.

This is the time when everything will be laid bare as Peter tells us in 2 Peter 3:10: 10 But the day of the Lord will come like a thief, and then the heavens will pass away with a roar, and the heavenly bodies will be burned up and dissolved, and the earth and the works that are done on it will be exposed.

Now Peter after saying this goes on to argue that such a truth should spur us on to live lives of holiness and godliness.

Judgment having been made, then death and the grave along with the wicked are sent to a place where the sentencing is carried out. Look back at your text to verses 14-15:

C. The Sentencing of Judgment (14-15).

Death and Hades are cast into the Lake of Fire because they are both by products of the sin that brought death in the first place. Hades is denoting the realm of the dead or the grave and along with death it is no more.

Some of you may remember from 1 Corinthians 15:26 that death is the last enemy to be destroyed. This is when the perishable puts on the imperishable and the reign of Christ ends as He hands over the Kingdom to the Father.

The Lake of Fire is the second death and anyone’s name not written in the Book of Life was thrown into the Lake of Fiire.

Now we saw last Sunday from verse 10 that the devil, the Beast and false prophet were thrown into the Lake of Fire for eternal torment but here we see that people are cast there as well.

The judgment of God is so often seen as a negative doctrine. But Scripture, including Revelation, doesn’t do this at all. The theological truth of our text is not exalting the destruction of sinners but the vindication of God.

We could say it this way:

II. The final judgment is the once and for all vindication of God’s righteousness and justice over all of His creation.

A. When we attempt to ignore the doctrine of the judgment of God we can create numerous false notions and incorporate them into the practice of our Christianity.

III. The Application

A. Knowing the importance of the vindication of God is critical in regards to His character.

The reality of final judgment tells us something about the absolute nature God’s character. He is just and righteous in His holiness.

He is a perfect being and makes judgment that can not be other than absolutely just. If this is true then why is it that the church today in the west has such disdain for the judgment of God?

Yet everyone loves at least at a practical level the application of justice. We tink that way and act that way even at times with glee in our hearts at the thought of the guilty being punished.

What would you do if someone murdered your child? What would you want done to such a person?

Would you be ok with them to just go free without any punishment?

What about from a standpoint of society? Would you want to live in a society where lawlessness reigns without any sense of civility.

Or maybe managing your home? Keeping our rambunctious kids in line by teaching them about actions and the consequences that go along with those actions.

You see Christian even the atheist and the agnostic has a love for justice when the wrong being done to them is close to home.

It is something that is understood and expected when it comes to our experience in life. We act on these principles without even thinking about it as we live out our lives. (Many hunger for justice in the social dynamic but think it negative in the cosmic order.)

Where do you think we got such an incentive for justice in order for us to think and to act like that? We got it from God. We are made in His image and He wrote His law on our hearts.

The just character of God then removes any possibility of God being capable of sin and it upholds the absolute reliability of God being faithful in all of His promises.

He is then the only being in all the Universe and beyound that is worthy and reliable in regards to our trust with the fullest measure of faith.

The absolute fidelity of God is a faith builder. God is not more desirable to those in the world depending on how well we can make Him look in their eyes. God is desirable because of who He is and has revealed Himself to be.

God doesn’t need a public relations department to appeal to the appetites of fallen men. We only need to reveal Him as He has revealed Himself to be. God’s revelation of Himself is what all human beings need to be aware of.

And judgment is one of those revelations as it relates to accountability.

B. Knowing the importance of the vindication of God is critical in regards to human accountability.

There is no need to think that the guilty and the wicked will go unpunished. There will be no unsolved mysteries on judgment day.

Such unsolved mysteries are only a temporary lapse in justice. That is what the victims of horrific crimes that never get resolved in this life appeal to.

We often love the application of relative justice in our human dealings. We don’t like it when we get caught by the police for something we consider trivial but love it when serial killers and bank robbers are arrested.

That is the kind of justice that we are the most comfortable with. And the understanding of the absolute justice of God exposes the hypocritical nature of our relativism.

Final judgment with a book of records is not too comforting when we have fashioned our life from a man centered orientation. Understand this Christian, God doesn’t look at His Universe from a man centered orientation. Final judgment obliterates such a possibility.

How do I know? Because the final judgment points us to the vindication and exaltation of God alone.

IV. Conclusion

A. But what will bcome of man in the end? He will either be a recipient of the rightous justice of God’s wrath or a benificiary of His grace and mercy.

And this is where the critic and the skeptic says, “ah ha, absolute righteous justice can’t be merciful without compromise.” And if you picked that up you would be correct.

The crime must be paid in full for God to be just in the absolute sense. That is why Jesus Christ came into the world 2000 years ago to pay the penalty for sinners and to suffer in their place.

You see Christ came into the world to vindicate God’s righteous justice in the place of sinners.

Unbeliever- Believe

Believer you know this don’t you. Then why would you expect anything else in the end but God to be vindicated. If you despise judgment then be consistant and despise the gospel too because that is what happened on the Cross.

That is how you were justified before God.

Confess and recieve. Let’s pray!