The Final Goodbye
Notes
Transcript
Introduction
Introduction
I mentioned last week that one minute after you die, you will either be ushered into glories as you’ve never seen, or you will be ushered into gloom as you’ve never seen.
One thing is for certain from the authority of God’s Word…Life doesn’t end at death; your soul lives on and will either go to heaven or hell.
I preached on what happens after you die...
27 And as it is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment:
In that message, I gave an overview of the Bema seat and the Great White Throne judgment, but this morning, I want to dig into the Great White Throne Judgement for a little while.
What you believe about eternity determines how you live today…We need to understand that all this is true, and we must be prepared - If you’re saved, thank the Lord you will avoid the Great White Throne Judgment, but think of all the people around you that won’t be so fortunate - this is why we must be telling people that there is a Heaven to gain, and a Hell to shun!
If you’re not saved this morning, I beg you; be saved before it’s too late!
There are a number of judgments described in Scripture.
There is the judgment of sin at the cross, the judgment of the believer in this life and again at the judgment seat of Christ, the judgment of the living nations, and this judgment—the judgment of the wicked dead at the great white throne.
The Fearful Sight
The Fearful Sight
11 And 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.
There are two adjectives used to describe this throne.
1. It is called Great—This word refers to “its power”. This is the highest court in the universe! This is no small claims court! When judgment is rendered from this throne, there is no appeal to a higher court, for there is no higher court! This is the place of highest authority and final judgment. We can best understand this court by comparing it to our Supreme Court. There is no higher court in the land. All judgments rendered here will be final!
2. It is called White—This speaks of “the purity” of this court. All human courts are tainted by sin, prejudice and fallibility. This court, on the other hand, is absolutely perfect and the judgment rendered here will be perfectly fair and righteous. The Judge who occupies this bench is infallible. He cannot be tainted by sin or prejudice, but He renders judgment in perfect righteousness and fairness.
Not a single person judged here will cry “unfair” when their sentence is handed down. Every sinner judged and sentenced will know that they have received perfect and fair judgment.
The Bible tells us that this throne is occupied by a Person. However, His identity is not revealed here. The Bible tells us in other places Who is on this throne.
1. His Name—The man on this throne is none other than the Lord Jesus Christ Himself...
1 I charge thee therefore before God, and the Lord Jesus Christ, who shall judge the quick and the dead at his appearing and his kingdom;
The Savior will be the Sentencer in that day!
2. His Nature—This is no lowly Nazarene Who occupies this throne. This is not a poor, humble carpenter. This is a resurrected conqueror. This is the King of Kings and the Lord of Lords. His appearance is described for us by the prophet Daniel.
9 I beheld till the thrones were cast down, and the Ancient of days did sit, whose garment was white as snow, and the hair of his head like the pure wool: his throne was like the fiery flame, and his wheels as burning fire.
10 A fiery stream issued and came forth from before him: thousand thousands ministered unto him, and ten thousand times ten thousand stood before him: the judgment was set, and the books were opened.
His presence is so terrible and powerful that even the heavens and the earth flee from before Him.
Nature has the good sense to bow before this judge! Why is it that sinners have such a difficult time doing the same?
The Bible tells us here that there was found no place for the heavens and the earth to hide from the gaze of the One on the throne. It needs to be remembered that this righteous Judge sees all and He knows all. There is no sin hidden from Him and no thought has ever been concealed.
There will be no pretending on that great judgment day, but only a sure recounting of every sinful deed and every sinful thought.
17 For nothing is secret, that shall not be made manifest; neither any thing hid, that shall not be known and come abroad.
Nothing will be hidden!
The Final Summons
The Final Summons
12 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 books, according to their works.
13 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.
a. The presence of the wicked dead is required at this judgment
b. The past of the wicked dead is reviewed at this judgment
Here we are told that those appearing before the throne are the “dead”. This proves that there will not be a single born again believer in the group. Why? The Bible tells us that we who have trusted Jesus as our Saviour have “passed from death unto life”, John 5:24. We have been given eternal, abundant life through the blood of the Lamb and can never lose that or be dead again for ever.
This can only mean one thing: this mass of humanity will be made up completely of those who are spiritually dead...
1 And you hath he quickened, who were dead in trespasses and sins;
It is—
Total judgment
Total judgment
“small and great”
None is left out! The king, the pauper, the general, the foot soldier, the master, the slave, the borrower and the lender will all stand before God.
None will escape and none will hide, but all will face the Righteous Judge in judgment that day!
Preachers, deacons, church members, popes, priests, nuns, choir members, drunks, whores, drug addicts, pimps, pushers, grandmothers, grandfathers, teenagers, moms and dads, will all stand together with Cain, Judas, Hitler, and every other person who chose wickedness over righteousness, before the throne to face their judgment! There will be no escape and there will be no exceptions.
Every person who has ever died without Jesus Christ will face Him in this Judgment on that day!
Truthful judgment
Truthful judgment
“the books were opened”
The Bible tells us here that the “books” will be opened. Only one of these books is named and it is called the “book of life.” I don’t know all the books that will be used that day, but I am sure of a few that will be opened. Allow me to share them with you for a moment.
The use of the word “books” indicates more than one book. The books will include:
1. The Old and New Testaments.
48 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 the last day.
2. The book of secrets.
14 For God shall bring every work into judgment, with every secret thing, whether it be good, or whether it be evil.
3. The book of works.
27 For the Son of man shall come in the glory of his Father with his angels; and then he shall reward every man according to his works.
15 to execute judgment upon all, and to convince all that are ungodly among them of all their ungodly deeds which they have ungodly committed, and of all their hard speeches which ungodly sinners have spoken against him.
4. The book of words.
36 But I say unto you, That every idle word that men shall speak, they shall give account thereof in the day of judgment.
37 For by thy words thou shalt be justified, and by thy words thou shalt be condemned.
5. The Book of Life
The absence of your name in this book indicates you died without Christ as your Savior.
Whoever is not written in the Book of Life will spend eternity in the Lake of Fire.
Terrible judgment
Terrible judgment
“according to their works”
The dead will be judged according to their works—their works will come back to haunt them—so to speak!
God will judge every person that’s ever lived and were not forgiven by His Son and saved by His grace.
The judgment of God will be complete, not partial; the judgment of God will be righteous, not wrong!
The Bible says that “each one” will be judged according to his works. You will not be judged for another person’s sins, but for your sins! You will not bear another’s burden, but your own burden!
This is why I’ve said time and time again, if you reject Christ because of how so-and-so treated you or you refuse to get saved because of the hypocrites in the Church (and there are some!) - But at the end of all time, you’ll be judged based on your own works, nobody else! There’ll be no excuse on that day!
The Fatal Sentence
The Fatal Sentence
14 And death and hell were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death.
15 And whosoever was not found written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire.
The final prison:
The final prison:
“death and hell were cast into the lake of fire”
The word for Lake of Fire is gehenna. Gehenna is the New Testament word for the valley of Ben-Hinnom or Topheth.
33 For Tophet is ordained of old; Yea, for the king it is prepared; He hath made it deep and large: The pile thereof is fire and much wood; The breath of the Lord, like a stream of brimstone, doth kindle it.
The valley of Gehenna was located southwest of Jerusalem. Idolatrous Israelites burned their children in the fires of this valley as sacrifices to false gods (Jeremiah 19:2–6).
It was the site of Jerusalem’s garbage dump in Jesus’ day. Fires constantly burned and gave off a putrid, sick-smelling smoke. Maggots infested this place. The bodies of criminals were sometimes dumped in this valley. Gehenna became an ideal illustration for Hell.
The final punishment:
The final punishment:
“whosoever was not found written…was cast into the lake of fire”
There will be no appeals; all judgments rendered from this bench will be final and they will be binding.
This will be the last day any of these sinners ever see. This will be their final goodbye!
This will be the end of the road for them, for they are forever consigned to the Lake of Fire to suffer torment for eternity!
Conclusion
Conclusion
I think that this is the most horrible scene mentioned in the Bible. I think the concept of people perishing forever is terrible beyond description. However, as horrible as it is, it is true!
If you have never been saved, you need to come to Jesus. You need to be saved today! If you will just trust Jesus by faith, He will save you and spare you from this terrible time of judgment that is coming upon all the lost. Won’t you come?
To those of us who are saved, this passage reminds us of the terrible need of the world around us. If nothing else, it ought to move us to come before the Lord and cry out for the souls of our friends, neighbors and loved ones who need Jesus.
It ought to stir our hearts so that we will not rest until we have tried to tell every lost person we know that salvation is available to them if they will come to Jesus! Surely we’ve not become so hardened that the thought of Hell no longer moves us. Won’t you come?