We hear it preached, we read about it, and for the most part, we all believe it—the final judgment is coming, that great day when all unbelievers will stand before God and give an account to God. The final judgment is called the “Great White Throne Judgment.” Many people scoff at the idea of it all and refuse to believe that there will be a future punishment for sins.
They laugh at the preaching and teaching about hell, but the Scripture emphatically declares that there will be a final judgment for unbelievers, every unbeliever small and great. They will all stand before the throne of God and give an account to Him. That is where we are going tonight as we talk about the final resurrection and judgment of unbelievers, “The Great White Throne Judgment.”
Tonight’s study is one of the shorter ones but I wanted there to be a definite separation between this section of Revelation and the next.
READ 11. First we see the place of the judgment, the great white throne of God. This is the very throne of God. Standing there they will see exactly what John saw. There they will know that they should have never rejected and cursed God and Christ. Let’s look at how the throne is described.
First, the throne of God is a great throne. It is far greater than any judicial bench of any supreme court. It is greater because God Himself sits upon it. When He speaks and makes a decision the decision is final, it is for eternity, and it can never be appealed.
But the throne is great for another reason. Its decisions concern a great salvation. Everyone who stands before the great white throne of God has rejected the great salvation of God’s Son. They have rejected the only way to God. That is what makes this so serious.
The second description of the throne of God is that it is a white throne. As we know, white stands for purity, holiness, and righteousness. We can never forget that no person is perfect. No person is perfectly pure or righteous. Only God is perfect. The only way a person can ever live with God is if his imperfections are removed. How is that done? It is done through Jesus Christ. Jesus died for our sins. He took upon Himself the sins of man so that man can be counted as righteous before God. When we accept Jesus as our Savior, we can then reside with God.
The point is that no unbeliever has done this. Everyone who stands before the great white throne of God will be bearing his own sins.
Also in verse 11 we see the time of the judgment. When will the great white throne judgment take place? When the earth and the heavens flee away. This is a poetic way to describe the destruction of the present heavens and earth. Remember: God has promised a new heavens and earth. To do that, He must destroy the present heavens and earth.
Picture the scene. There stand all the unbelievers. Billions and billions of unbelievers stand upon the great sea of glass before the throne of God. Then all of a sudden there is a massive explosion of atoms. A chain reaction sets off all the atoms throughout the whole universe. A universal atomic explosion destroys the whole universe.
Imagine the shock to these unbelievers. The idea is that they will witness the fiery destruction of their world. Note the words, “there was no place for them.” That is speaking of the unbelievers. They had lived for the world and now that world is gone. They don’t belong in heaven so there is no place for them.
READ 12. Here we see the people who will be judged.
• Both the small and the great.
• Ordinary men and women.
• Those who were average and common people of the earth.
• Those who are slaves and servants of the world.
• Those who are in positions of authority.
• Those who misused their authority.
Every unbeliever on the face of the earth will stand before God and be judged. Also in verse 12 we see the basis of judgment. Note exactly what is said.
There are two kinds of books kept in heaven. Both will be present at the great white throne judgment.
1. There is the book of life. This is the book where every human being who has ever lived has his name written. It is the book that includes the names of everyone who has ever lived or ever will live upon earth. God wants everyone to live with Him forever, so every person’s name is recorded in the book of life. But when a person fails to receive Jesus Christ as his Savior, his name is erased from the book, and he loses the right to live as a citizen of heaven with God.
2. The other book, actually books, are the books of records. These books are the records of all the works of unbelievers. When a person’s name is found erased from the book of life, then the books of records are opened, and he is judged out of them.
Let’s note a couple of things about these books of records.
a. They are not opened to see whether or not a person is doomed to hell. The book of life tells that. The book of records shows the degree of punishment a person is to receive. Yes, that means a man such as Hitler will be punished more and judged much more severely than a petty thief. Both are doomed for hell, but both will not suffer the same amount of punishment. (READ Luke 12: 47-48)
b. The books of records means that the judgment will be exact and fair. An unbeliever will be treated justly. There is a record of exactly what he has done and not done. There’s the record of secret sins, sins committed in the dark and behind closed doors, of ill feelings within the heart, or even the evil thoughts of the mind. He will be judged and punished for exactly what he has done, no more and no less. Remember what we said in earlier chapters. It’s too late to turn back now.
READ 13. Here is the resurrection to judgment. The first resurrection has already taken place 1,000 years earlier. The first resurrection, you might remember, was the resurrection only of the believers. This resurrection, the calling forth of the dead is the 2nd and final resurrection, the resurrection of all unbelievers.
Here we have to say something about the greatness of God. He knows where all the atoms and particles of a person’s body may be. They may be scattered all over the world, but God knows where every minute element is. And He is going to call forth every human body. Note where the dead unbelievers will come from:
1. They will come from the sea—from the depths of all the oceans and seas of the world.
- those sunken in wars
- merchant ships
- pirate ships
- those murdered and dumped in the sea.
2. They will come from death itself and from the graves of the earth. All the bodies scattered all over the earth will be resurrected.
Note that verse 13 reemphasizes that all unbelievers will be judged according to what he or she has done. You see, what it comes down to is this:
- God has provided the way of salvation for every person.
- All a person has to do is to follow that way, to believer in Jesus and follow Him. The decision is man’s. Man can either choose to believe and follow Christ or else to face God alone.
- There will be no discrimination but there will be no favoritism either.
And here comes the judgment. Here is the terrorizing punishment of the judgment. If there is any one thing that believers should do, it is to note these two verses. One preacher said the first reason he accepted Jesus was because he didn’t want to go to hell. He didn’t want to be tormented and punished by being separated from God forever and ever. READ 14-15.
Let’s note three things about these verses and we will stop for tonight.
1. Death and Hades (the grave) will be cast into the lake of fire. Hades is the place where all unbelievers go after their death. It’s a temporary place where unbelievers go to await the final judgment. After the great white throne judgment is completed, then, all those who are dead and in Hades, will be cast into the lake of fire. The lake of fire is the final and eternal place of torment where all unbelievers will be cast.
Many say this fire is symbolic and that the lake of fire is not real. But all I can say about that is that if it is not a real fire, then it is something far worse. Just as the human mind cannot comprehend how beautiful heaven is, it also cannot comprehend how terrible the lake of fire will be.
Scripture paints the punishment of suffering apart from God as being so horrifying that a person who goes to hell would probably choose fire over the reality of the lake of fire.
2. The second thing we note in verses 14-15 is that the lake of fire is the second death. That means it is eternal death. It means separation from God. Please note that this death does not mean annihilation. It doesn’t mean that you cease to exist. This life is not all there is. When a person dies here, he still exists in the next world, in the spiritual world and dimension—the permanent and eternal world.
You see, the physical world may pass away but not the spiritual world. It lasts forever. So, when a person dies on earth, that is just the first death. You are separated from this world but you still exist in the next world.
But if you don’t follow God you are separated from God. In the next world you are still separated from God. That is the person who will die a second death. He will then be separated from God eternally. The second death simply means to be separated from God eternally. This place of the second death is known as the lake of fire.
3. The third thing we note in verses 14-15 is the basis of judgment is the book of life. If a person’s name is not found written in the book of life, then he will be cast into the lake of fire. A person has to possess the perfect life of Jesus Christ if he is to live forever in heaven with God.
If a person doesn’t possess life, the life and righteousness of Jesus Christ, if his name is not written in the book of life, then he is doomed to death. He is doomed to the second death, to the lake of fire. Whether it’s literal fire or symbolic fire, it won’t be good.
We stop here for now. Next time we will look at the other side of the coin, so to speak, the New Heavens and the New Earth.
