Untitled Sermon
Scripture
10. The Judgment of the Great White Throne (20:11–15)
11 Then I saw a great white throne and him who was seated on it. Earth and sky fled from his presence, and there was no place for them. 12 And I saw the dead, great and small, standing before the throne, and books were opened. Another book was opened, which is the book of life. The dead were judged according to what they had done as recorded in the books. 13 The sea gave up the dead that were in it, and death and Hades gave up the dead that were in them, and each person was judged according to what he had done. 14 Then death and Hades were thrown into the lake of fire. The lake of fire is the second death. 15 If anyone’s name was not found written in the book of life, he was thrown into the lake of fire.
Following the judgment of Satan, John sees a great white throne and One seated on it from whom the earth and the sky fled away, and yet there was in the end no place to seek asylum. The One who sits on the throne is omniscient, omnipotent, and omnipresent. One cannot avoid the presence of an omnipresent God nor seek asylum from an omniscient and omnipotent God. Now the dead are standing before the throne indicating that there has been a resurrection of the ungodly. They are made up of both great and small, persons who in the eyes of the social order amounted to little and persons who were a part of the ruling aristocracies of the world. There is no longer a distinction among them, but they all stand before the throne having in common that they died outside of Christ.
The basis of their judgment is twofold. First, books are opened, and then another book is plainly said to be the Book of Life. All of the dead are judged out of the things that are recorded in the books. This is a judgment based on their deeds or works. Everyone is there, the sea having given up the dead who have perished there and the grave, or Hades, having given up the dead in them, and every person is judged by what he has done or what has been recorded in the books.
Thomas notes, “Scripture makes consistent reference to a register of human actions.” Now death, the final enemy of all mankind, and Hades, the abode of the dead itself, are thrown into the lake of fire. The lake of fire is referred to as “the second death.” Just as the first death is dreaded and avoided, so the second death is the far more devastating experience, encompassing a state of continual dying. Now the second basis of judgment is provided. If anyone’s name is not found in the Book of Life, he, too, is thrown into the lake of fire. This constitutes an important theological principle. Everyone who stands before the great white throne is judged from the books. The only people appearing before this Great White Throne Judgment are those who were not a part of the first resurrection and hence were outside of Christ. No believers are here.
The judgment of believers is referred to as the judgment seat of Christ or the Bēma. That judgment is either referenced or explained in Rom 14:10; 2 Cor 5:10; and 1 Cor 3:10–15. Only believers appear at the Bēma, and its description is distinct. At the great white throne judgment, only unbelievers are present, and they are judged according to their works. The fact that they are condemned on that basis bears eloquent testimony to what the Scriptures have plainly said: “For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God” (Rom 3:23); “There is no one who does good, / not even one” (Rom 3:12b); and, “The heart is deceitful above all things / and beyond cure. / Who can understand it?” (Jer 17:9). Even persons who have been counted to be good and noble by their counterparts on earth are in their hearts rebellious against God. Universally, unredeemed humanity is at enmity with God. That becomes apparent in the judgment from the books.
However, there may be one last hope. A search is made in the Book of Life for the name of that individual. To be found in the Lamb’s Book of Life affirms that one has been forgiven of all the sins recorded in the books. To be found in the Lamb’s Book of Life is to be guaranteed life on the basis of the work of Christ rather than on the basis of the deeds written in the books, by which no flesh can be justified. Those whose names are not found written in the Lamb’s Book of Life are condemned.
Thomas believes every individual’s name is originally written in the Lamb’s Book of Life, therefore indicating his confidence in a universal atonement. Those of a more Calvinistic persuasion would argue that the only ones whose names are written in the Book of Life would be those who are the elect. The names of the nonelect would never have been recorded there. Thomas would suppose that the Book of Life would be purged of those names who do not come to Christ. This he would see as implicit in the promise to Sardis that the overcomers would not have their names “blotted out” (Rev 3:5). However this is resolved, the point of the text is that the recording of one’s name in the Lamb’s Book of Life is the antidote to the condemnation of God brought on men by the deeds of their hearts and lives. So, therefore, men are twice condemned. First, they are condemned by their works; and second, the condemnation of their works holds because they have chosen to reject the proffered gift of God, which is eternal life. The result is that they are thrown also into the lake of fire.