Sure, you have God's Word if
you would take your Bibles and open it to the book of Revelation,
Revelation chapter 20. And I want to begin by reading
the text that we will be looking at tonight. It is one of the
most sobering and most weighty passages
of Scripture in the entire Bible. I want to speak to you tonight
on the great white throne judgment. Revelation chapter 20 and beginning
in verse 11, we come to the end of the Bible and we come to virtually the end of God's redemptive story
as it relates to time. The new heavens and the new earth,
as we heard this morning, will begin in chapter 21. And so,
as we come to the end of Revelation chapter 20, in reality, we come
to the end of time. We come to the end of God's eternal
purposes within time for the human race. And we come to the
final judgment. Beginning in verse 11, then I saw a great white throne,
and Him who sat upon it from whose presence earth and heaven
fled away, and no place was found for them. And I saw the dead,
the great and the small, standing before the throne. And the books
were opened. And another book was opened,
which is the book of life. And the dead were judged from
the things which were written in the books according to their
deeds. And the sea gave up the dead
which were in it. And death and Hades gave up the
dead which were in them. And they were judged every one
of them according to their deeds. Then death and Hades were thrown
into the lake of fire. This is the second death, the
lake of fire. And if anyone's name was not
found written in the book of life, he was thrown into the
lake. of fire. Many today do not want to think
about eternity, especially when they are young because eternity
seems so far away. But like Jonathan Edwards, if
we would think about eternity, heaven and hell, it will change
the very way we live our lives today. As Jonathan Edwards pursued
holiness in his life, he resolved to live not only with one eye
upon heaven, we spoke about that this morning, but he was resolved
to live every day with one eye upon hell. Edward's purpose to
turn one ear to hear the hallelujahs of heaven, and with the other
ear he purposed to strain to hear the shrieks and the groans
of tormented souls in hell already. Both heaven and hell occupied
his constant attention, even as an 18-year-old young man.
So we read in Resolution 55, quote, to endeavor to my utmost so to
act as I think I should do if I had already seen the happiness
of heaven and hell tormented." In other words, Edwards intentionally
chose to think about those already confined in the bowels of hell
and suffering under the wrath of God. It would affect the way
that he would preach. It would affect the way that
he would pray. It would affect the way that he would live his
life. Such a sober estimation and meditation on these tormented
damned souls already in hell gave Edwards eternal perspective
that marked his life every step of the way. These verses in Revelation
chapter 20 tell us very clearly that there is looming across
the horizon of time a final judgment. It is known as the Great White
Throne Judgment. This world is currently spinning
through space, and it is on a collision course with God's final judgment. The book of Romans calls it the
Day of Wrath. The book of Jude calls it the
Judgment of the Great Day. The book of Romans also calls
it the Day of Judgment. And Paul speaking in Acts 17
says, God has fixed a day in which he will judge the world
in righteousness. That day is fast approaching.
There is coming a final judgment day in which God will hold court
and all the world will be on trial before God. In this final
judgment, God will open the books And God will present His case.
And every lost sinner will be judged. And God will announce
His verdict. And God will execute perfect
justice. And He will condemn every unbeliever
to hell. R.C. Sproul says, modern man
is betting his eternal destiny that there is no final judgment. My friend, that is a bad bet
because the holiness and the righteousness of God demands
that on the final day, God execute His perfect justice. This is
precisely what this text presents for us. This judgment will occur
at the end of human history, after the great tribulation,
after the second coming of Christ, after the thousand-year reign
of Christ, And before the new heavens and the new earth, this
final judgment stands at the end of time after God's plan
for a redemptive history has been fulfilled. And in these
verses, what is described for us is the final courtroom scene. This is the highest court in
heaven and earth. This is the supreme court of
the universe. It is the court of no appeal. Every lost sinner will be individually
summoned to take their stand before this judgment bar, and
every lost sinner will have their day in court before the Lord
Jesus Christ. The evidence will be presented
and it will be irrefutable. There will be no rebuttal offered. There will be no defense rendered. There will be no sympathetic
judge. There will not be one drop of
mercy. There will be no grace. There will be no advocate to
defend the sinner. There will be no mistrial of
justice. There will only be perfect judgment. There will be no successful appeal
by the guilty, no parole in prison from which any sinner will ever
escape. This scene is described for us
in these few words, but how laden they are with truth And we must
hear this tonight. As we are focusing this conference
upon heaven and hell, we must come to the end of time tonight. We must enter into this courtroom
with those who will be condemned, and we must grasp The gravitas
and the magnitude of this scene and this day is more real than
the day in which you and I are living this very moment. This
is no imaginary scene. This is a day that is fixed on
God's prophetic calendar, and we are moving irreversibly towards
this final day. There are four truths that I
want you to note with me out of these verses as we will work
our way through this graphic text. I want you to note with
me first in verse 11, the setting described. In verse 11, this
scene begins in a stark and sobering and straightforward manner. As
John records, then I saw a great white throne. Great speaks to
its power. White speaks to its purity. Throne
speaks to its purpose. John's eyes are riveted upon
this stark reality. It is a terrifying scene that
is unveiled before his eyes. It is the highest court in the
universe. It is the court of heaven and
earth. These three words, great, white,
and throne, describe this setting. It is great. It towers over every
other throne, this throne. It possesses universal jurisdiction
over the entire created order. It overrides every decision of
every lower court. It is great in its power. It
is great in its authority. Its summons when it is issued
is irreversible. Its verdicts are final. Its sentences
cannot be overturned. It is the greatest courtroom
in the history of the world. It is called white. Great speaks
to its power. White speaks to its purity. It is a court of absolute holiness
and inflexible justice. All of its judgments are perfect. All of its verdicts are perfect. There is no injustice at this
throne. There is no partiality. Every
sinful deed will be presented as it actually was. The secrets
of men's hearts will be exposed and presented exactly as they
were. There will be no exaggeration
in this courtroom and every bit of evidence for every sinner,
thought, mind, motive, deeds, will all be presented exactly
as it was. The word throne speaks of its
purpose. It is a judge's tribunal. This throne is a seat of judgment. Every wrong will be presented
here and will be judged. Every injustice will be made
known here and it will be brought into account. The entire Bible
has looked ahead to this final scene of divine judgment. Let
me give you some verses. Psalm 9, verses 7 and 8. But
the Lord abides forever. He has established His throne
for judgment. Did you hear that? God has established
His throne for judgment. and he will judge the world in
righteousness. He will execute judgment for
the peoples with equity. Psalm 7, verse 11, hear the word
of the Lord. God is a righteous judge and
a God who has indignation every day. If a man does not repent,
God will sharpen his sword. God has bent his bow and made
it ready. God has prepared for himself
deadly weapons. He makes his arrows fiery shafts. and every one of them are aimed
at the heart of lost sinners. And as Spurgeon says, God never
misses His target. In this final judgment, the God
who has indignation every day with sinners, will be the object
of the righteous anger and fury of Almighty God. Psalm 11, verse
6, upon the wicked God will rain snares. Fire and brimstone and
burning wind will be the portion of their cup. Don't kid yourself. This day is coming, and it is
necessary that the holiness and the righteousness and the perfect
justice be vindicated in the last day. And would you note
the judge in verse 11? And I saw a great white throne,
and Him who sat upon it. Stop right there. This One who
sits upon this throne is none other than the Lord Jesus Christ
Himself. He is seated, meaning He is actively
presiding. He is enthroned. He is ruling. He is reigning. And He is ready
to judge in this day. All of Scripture identifies this
one as the Lord Jesus Christ. Jesus said Himself in John 5,
verse 22, For not even the Father judges anyone, but He has given
all judgment to the Son. Peter said in Acts 10 verse 39,
they put him to death by hanging him on a cross. God raised him
up on the third day. This is the one who has been
appointed by God as judge of the living and the dead. Romans
2, verse 16, on that day, when according to my gospel, God will
judge the secrets of men through Christ Jesus. In Acts 17, verse
31, God has fixed a day in which He will judge the world in righteousness
through a man whom He has appointed, having furnished proof to all
men by raising him from the dead. This judge of heaven and earth
is none other than the Lord Jesus Christ Himself, and in this day
the Lamb shall become a lion. A lion captures his prey by his
mighty jaws, and once it is caught, he crushes his prey and conquers
his prey. and consumes His prey. So it
will be in this last day for the Lion of the tribe of Judah
as He will capture and crush every unbeliever outside of Himself."
So terrifying is this scene in verse 11 that we continue to
read. from whose presence earth and
heaven fled away." So terrifying that all unsaved guilty people,
when they see the awesomeness of this scene, they will do all
that they can to retreat and to pull back in absolute terror. and we read, and there was no
place found for them. No, this throne and this judge
and this judgment are inescapable. All guilty men must appear before
this judge, and they will have no place to hide in the final
day. All their lives They have ignored
Christ. They have denied Christ. They
have cursed Christ. They have blasphemed Christ.
They have marginalized Christ. They have played games with Christ. They have put off Christ. And
now, in this final day, every lost sinner will stand face-to-face,
coram Deo, in the very presence of this Lion, the Lord Jesus
Christ. And as they look up, they will
see this Judge Christ, standing as with feet as glowing in a
furnace, seeing with eyes of fire. And when this judge speaks,
he will speak with the sound of many waters, and he will drown
out every excuse and every word that would be offered to him,
and his verdict alone will be heard." This is the setting described. I cannot think of a more terrifying
scene than to appear at this great white throne and to have
your day in court with the great judge of heaven and earth and
to stand and receive perfect inflexible justice. I want you to know second, the
summons delivered. Because what power this judge
has to summon the guilty. He has no red tape to go through. He but issues the summons and
they will all come and appear. This court date is inescapable. So we read in verse 12, And I
saw the dead, the great and the small, standing before the throne. These are all the unsaved dead
since the beginning of time. They will be summoned to appear
in this courtroom before this judge. that all of the great
will be there, and so will the small. The great refers to those
great men of history who lived with great power over others. Here will be Alexander the Great. Here will be Napoleon the Great.
Here will be Hitler and Stalin and so many other notorious sinners
who sinned on a grand scale with the world as their stage, but
even they will be summoned to give an account to the judge
of heaven and earth. And then the small are standing
here as well. Small in stature, small in visibility,
small in influence. They live lives of obscurity. These are men and women whose
lives amounted to very little on the grand scheme. They just
drew their breath and drew their salary. They are people like
your next door neighbor. They are people like your work
associates. They are people like your classmate.
No one else really knows who they are. They live rather common
lives. But the Lord sees, and the Lord
knows, and the Lord will summon them to come and appear before
His judgment on the last day. As we look at the great and the
small, I want to divide this out yet further. Who is it who
will stand at the great white throne when this summon is issued? And I want to set before you
five groups of people, perhaps represented even here tonight,
who will be summoned to appear before this great white throne.
First of all, the out-and-out sinner will be there. those who
have sinned violently against God, those who have broken God's
law with a high hand, those who have all but spit onto the face
of the Lord Jesus Christ, and who hate God, who hate the church,
who hate the Bible, who hate any form of morality. 1 Corinthians
6 and verse 9 says, Or do you not know that the unrighteous
will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived, neither
fornicators nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor effeminate, nor
homosexuals, nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor
revilers, nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God."
Those who have lived lives of open, shameless sin will be brought
to stand before the great white throne judgment and have their
day in court. There's a second group that will
appear here, not only the out-and-out sinner, but second, the self-righteous. those who prided themselves in
being so good and so moral. This is the one who thinks the
gospel is for the thief, the gospel is for the prostitute,
the gospel is for the out-and-out sinner, but not me. This person
has never been born again, but they think that they are good
enough in and of themselves, in their own morality, and in
their own good works to commend themselves to God. They are assuming
that God will grade on the curve. They are assuming that they are
better than others. Therefore, God will surely accept
them. But the fact is, they have been
weighed in the balances and found wanting, they have sinned and
fallen short of the glory of God, and they will be brought
to stand in this last day." There's a third group that will appear
at the great white throne judgment among the great and the small.
Not only the out-and-out sinner and not only the self-righteous,
but the religious cult members will be here. Those who have
followed after other religious leaders, those who have followed
Muhammad, those who have followed Buddha, those who have followed
Joseph Smith, those who have followed Reverend Sung Moon,
those who have followed the Virgin Mary, Those who have followed
every other religious leader except Jesus Christ, they will
be summoned and they will stand before the Lord because Jesus
said, I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to
the Father but through me. There are not many roads that
are leading up to heaven and Christianity is but one of those
roads. You just have to be sincere and
get on one of these religious roads that will take you to the
top. No. There is one God and one
mediator between God and man, the man Christ Jesus, who gave
himself a ransom for all, the testimony born at the proper
time. Peter said there is salvation
in no other name. For there is no other name under
heaven given among men whereby we must be saved. No, every follower
of false religions will be summoned to stand before this great white
throne judgment." There's a fourth group that will be there in that
day, and that is the procrastinator, those who know that they are
sinners. those who know that Jesus Christ
is the Son of God and is a Savior. Those who intend to be saved
one day, but they keep putting it off, and they keep putting
it off, and they say, one day when I get out of college, one
day when I get married, one day when we have children, one day
once my career gets going, one day when I get a little further
down life's path, then I will finally give my life to Christ. But that day never comes. Proverbs 27 verse 1 says, Boast
not yourself of tomorrow, for you do not know what a day may
bring forth. The Bible says, Behold, now is
the accepted time. Behold, today is the day of salvation. Procrastinators who die without
Christ will be summoned to stand before this great white throne.
And there's a fifth and final group that will be there that
day. Lost church members will be summoned to appear before
the great white throne. They have their name on a church
roll, but their names has never been written in the Lamb's Book
of Life. They profess to know Christ,
but they do not in reality possess Christ. They are attached to
a church, but have never become attached to the Lord Jesus Christ. They have a form of religion,
but they deny the power thereof. These are those who will say,
Lord, Lord. Did we not prophesy in Your name?
Did we not cast out demons in Your name? Did we not perform
many wondrous works in Your name?" And Jesus said, "'I will say
unto them in that day, Depart from Me, you who work iniquity,
for I never knew you.'" Truly, truly, I say unto you, he who
hears these words of mine and acts upon them is like a wise
man who built his house upon the rock. And when the rains
came and the winds blew and beat against the house, it did not
fall because it was built upon the rock. He who hears these
words of mine and does not act upon them is like a very foolish
man who built his house upon the sand. And when the rains
came and the winds blew and beat against the house, great was
its fall, because it was not built upon the rock." Unconverted
church members lost church members will be summoned to appear before
this great white throne judgment because they have never been
born again. Jesus said, except you be born
again, you will not see the kingdom of heaven. And so, as this summons
is issued in verse 12, I want you to also note in verse 13
how powerful is this summons to raise the dead. We read in
verse 13, And the sea gave up the dead which were in it, And
this day and time, as someone was lost at sea and went down
with a ship, the sea was a place in which one would be irretrievable. The body would go all the way
down to the depths of the ocean and the sea, never to be seen
from again, never to be recovered by any man. But on this last
day, God has the power to raise the dead, and the Lord Jesus
Christ will issue His summons from this great white throne,
and the sea itself will give up the dead that lay at the bottom
of the sea. And death and Hades gave up the
dead which were in them. Death in Hades refers to the
grave and those places on land where their body lies there buried,
their soul and spirit already tormented by God in a bottomless
place. But on this day, their body will
be raised up to be reunited with their tormented soul to have
their official day in court. And there they will stand before
this fearsome and awesome scene on the last day. Now, I want
you to note third. I want you to see the sins disclosed. At the end of verse 12 and at
the end of verse 13, at this great white throne as Jesus Christ
will present His case against every lost sinner. I want you to note in the middle
of verse 12, Exhibit A, the books. We read, and books were opened. These books contain God's precise
and accurate record for every life. God has been keeping inscrutable
books. The omniscient God who sees all
and knows all has been recording in His books every thought, Every
word, every deed of every unsaved person who has ever lived, every
sin is recorded. Every useless word has been written
down in permanent ink by God Himself. Every selfish deed,
every sensual thought, every smutty joke, every carnal comment. all that the sinner should have
done and failed to do, all that he should not have done but did,
every influence that he exerted upon his brothers and sisters
growing up, every deed that was done in college, everything that
the sinner thought that no one else saw, no one else knew about,
Even sins long since forgotten by that person will be presented
in this day in court, and skeletons will come dancing out of closets. Everything that was done in secret
will be shattered from the housetops on this last day. Ecclesiastes
11, verse 9 says, know that God will bring you to judgment. Ecclesiastes
12, verse 14, God will bring every act to judgment. Did you hear that? God is not
an idle talker. God is not a babbler. All that
God says is true. God will bring every act to judgment,
everything which is hidden, whether it is good or evil. Jesus said in Matthew 12 and
verse 36, every careless word that men shall speak, they shall
render account for it in the day of judgment. Jesus said in
Luke 8, verse 17, for nothing is hidden that will not become
evident, nor anything secret that will not be made known and
come to light. The Bible says, there is no creature
hidden from His sight, but all things are open and laid bare
to the eyes of Him with whom we have to do, Hebrews 4 and
verse 13. So there it will be in this last
day, there it will be at the great white throne judgment,
the judge seated upon His throne, the sea giving up the dead, Hades
and death giving up their dead, every lost sinner, standing before
the Lord Jesus Christ will open the books, and everyone's life
will be measured against the perfect holiness of Almighty
God. Matthew 5, 48, Therefore you
are to be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect. God will not
grade on the curve in that day. Every sinner will be measured
against the absolute, infinite, moral perfection of Almighty
God. You shall be holy for I am holy,
1 Peter 1, 16. We will all be weighed in the
balances in that day who are there without Christ. and be
seen to fall short of the glory of God." Now, God's justice demands
payment for every sin of every unbeliever. So much sin, so much
justice. So much justice, so much punishment. Ezekiel 18, verse 4, the soul
who sins will die. Romans 6, verse 23, for the wages
of sin is death. Do not be deceived. God is not
mocked. For whatsoever a man sows, this
he will reap. Galatians 6, verse 7. I told
you this morning, every sin in the history of the world will
be judged by God. No sin will be overlooked by
Christ on the final day. From the sin of Adam all the
way down through the end of the thousand-year reign of Christ,
every single sin will meet God's perfect judgment. Every sin will
either be punished in Christ and pardoned in Christ, or will
be punished in hell throughout all of the ages to come. But
every sin will receive a just recompense. Think about it in
that day. Think of what it will be to stand
before Jesus Christ without any white garments, without any blood
atonement, without any forgiveness for God. And in that day, it
will be too late. There will be no second chance.
This is your day to stand before Christ. There will be no appeal. There will be no reversal of
the verdict. This is your day. and every sin
you have ever committed in the entirety of your life, it will
all be flushed out and they're presented by Christ before Himself. And as you see this whole record,
a mountain of sin, and you will shriek back and say, oh my God,
no. And Jesus Christ will say, this
was your life. This is the reality of the sin
of your life before you. And Jesus Christ, with omniscience,
who knows all and who sees all, Jesus Christ, who never forgets,
who is the same yesterday, today, and forever, He will present
His case in that day against every lost sinner, and it will
be right, and it will be just, and it must come to pass. And then Exhibit B. That was
Exhibit A. We continue to read in verse
12, Exhibit B that Christ will present. Not only the books,
and another book was opened, which is the book of Revelation
13, verse 8. Revelation 17, verse 8, tell
us that the names of every believer, all the elect of God, Their names
are recorded in the Book of Life from before the foundation of
the world. Names are not being added as
each person is coming to Christ. Before the foundation of the
world, in eternity past, a sovereign God chose His elect, He gave
them to His Son, the Lord Jesus Christ, to secure their salvation,
and their names were written in the book of life before time
ever began. And so, the book of life will
be opened, and Jesus Christ will present His case, and He will
show every lost sinner that you have never believed upon my holy
name, that your name is not written in the book of life. You have
not come to cast yourself upon the mercy of the Lord Jesus Christ. You have chosen to go your own
way. There is a way which seems right
unto a man, but the end thereof is the end of death. And so,
Jesus Christ, after He presents the books, the entire record
of their life, every sin, every iniquity, every lust, every immorality,
He will then present the book of life. And the sinner will
see that they have no claim upon the Lord Jesus, and no claim
upon His mercy or forgiveness, for they have never come to believe
upon Him." And so we read, and the dead were judged from the
things which were written in the books according to their
deeds. Understand this. Salvation is
by grace, and judgment is by works. Salvation is by grace,
and judgment is by works, and here each sinner will be judged
by the Lord Jesus Christ according to what they did and the justice
that is required for that sin. The result here at this point
is pure, unadulterated judgment and not one drop of mercy. And so, we read at the end of
verse 13, and they were judged. The they refers to the great
and the small, all who are summoned to appear before this great white
throne. None will walk away forgiven. None will walk away with mercy. None will walk away with a second
chance. No, they were judged, every one
of them. according to their deeds. In fact, men and women will be
judged in that last day not only by the deeds that they have committed,
but also to the amount of light that has shined into their lives
and the exposure that they have had to the truth. And those who
have had a greater exposure to the truth of the Word of God
and to the gospel will be held to an even stricter standard
of judgment. Jesus said in Matthew 10 and
verse 15, "'Truly I say to you, it will be more tolerable for
the land of Sodom and Gomorrah in that day of judgment than
for this city.'" this city where Jesus preached the gospel, this
city where Jesus performed miracles, to have heard the truth like
that and then to reject it and to go one's own way, Jesus said
in the final judgment, It'll be more tolerable for Sodom and
Gomorrah, the most wicked culture that there has been upon the
earth, that lies beneath the bottom of the Dead Sea, than
for these who have heard the gospel." Listen, if you're going
to go to hell, don't go to hell from resolve, where the Word
of God is so clearly made known to you. If you're going to hell,
go to hell from some dark, remote place where you would never hear
the name of Jesus Christ. Matthew 11, verse 21, Jesus said
the very same. Woe to you, Chorazin! Woe to
you, Bethsaida! For if the miracles had occurred
in Tyre and Sidon, which occurred in you, they would have repented
long ago in sackcloth and ashes. Nevertheless, I say to you, it
will be more tolerable for Tyre and Sidon in the day of judgment
than for you." In this final day, in this final judgment,
those who have had a greater exposure to the truth will be
held to such a strict accountability, and the judgment that will be
rendered to them will be so much more severe than for those who
had not heard the truth. So I want you to see finally,
in verse 14 and 15, the sentence delivered. Having examined the
evidence and having documented the guilt of every lost sinner,
the defendants now await the verdict of the judge. It is now
time for the judgment to be rendered and for the verdict to be issued. And we read in verse 14, do you
see it? Then death and Hades were thrown
into the lake of fire. It will be at this point that
Jesus will say, depart from me, you cursed, into the everlasting
fire prepared for the devil and his angels, Matthew 25, 41. The primary image of hell in
the Bible is fire. Death and Hades were thrown into
the lake of fire. It is the most terrifying image
that can be represented to us of what the eternal abode is
in the place called hell. The Bible repeatedly refers to
hell in these terms of fire. Matthew 5, verse 22, the fiery
hell. Matthew 13, verse 50, the furnace
of fire. Matthew 9, verse 48, where the
fire is not quenched. Mark 9, verse 49, for everyone
will be salted with fire. Hebrews 10, 27, the fury of a
fire which will consume the adversaries. Jude 7, the punishment of eternal
fire. Matthew 18, verse 9, the fiery
hell. Revelation 19, verse 20, the
lake of fire that burns with brimstone. Matthew 3 and verse
12, the smoke of a great furnace. and unquenchable fire." Revelation
20, verse 10, the lake of fire and brimstone, and they will
be tormented day and night forever and ever. Think about this. Every
lost sinner When they are condemned by the Lord Jesus Christ, foes,
befriender says, depart from me. You who work iniquity, I
never knew you. And they make a fire and there
will never be, he calls it pits of darkness. Matthew 25, 46,
eternal, the weeping and the gnashing of teeth. Not just weeping
and gnashing, but thee weeping and thee gnashing, meaning the
greatest does not even compare with the weeping and the gnashing
of teeth, those grinds they spend forever and ever under his wrath. Christ, who is omnipresent, who
is everywhere present will be in hell himself, being the one
to personally inflict the wrath upon the unbelievers, revelation
that the unbeliever will not be separated from Christ, they
could only wish they would be presence of the angels, Jesus
Christ, the righteous judge, will be the sole afflictor of
His vengeance upon them in hell." This is a terrifying scene. Then death and Hades were thrown
into the lake of fire. This is the second death, the
lake of fire. The first death is physical.
The second death is eternal and spiritual. Jesus said in Matthew
10, do not fear Him who has power to kill the body, fear Him who
has power to kill and destroy the soul and the body in hell
forever. Luke 12, verse 5, "'For the one
who, after he has killed, has authority to cast into hell,
yes, I tell you, fear him.'" The writer of Hebrews, in Hebrews
10, verse 30, "'Vengeance is mine, I will repay. It is a terrifying thing to fall
into the hands of the living God.'" And so, verse 15 brings
this terrifying scene to completion that is looming on the horizon,
that is fixed on God's calendar. And if anyone's name was not
found written in the book of life, he was thrown into the
lake of fire. This fiery hell is forever. It will never come to an end.
And throughout all of the ages and the eons to come, those who
are cast down into this bottomless pit, this lake of fire and brimstone
that burns forever and ever, there will never be any relief.
There will never be any escape. but that throughout all of the
ages to come, they will be the object of God's fury and God's
vengeance and God's wrath and God's judgment. So what should this say to us?
What should this require of us? Number one, humility. If you are a Christian tonight,
if you have been born again, if you know the Lord Jesus Christ,
who has a Son, has life. He who does not have the Son
does not have life. But if you have Christ, as we
look at this passage, every one of us in Christ tonight should
say, there but for the grace of God I stand. There but for the grace of God,
I am judged. There but for the grace of God,
I am condemned. There but for the grace of God,
I am damned forever. The only thing that makes a difference
between me and the one who stands here is the unconditional love
and the unmerited favor of the Lord Jesus Christ. Every one
of us here tonight deserves to stand at this great white throne
judgment. Every one of us here tonight
deserves to be cast down into the lake of fire because we have
all sinned and fallen short of the glory of God. The fact that
we are in Christ tonight that Christ has taken our sins and
placed them behind His back, that Christ has removed our sins
from us as far as the east is from the west. That Christ has
washed our sins away. That Christ has imputed His perfect
righteousness to us. That we are covered with the
blood of the Lord Jesus Christ. That our sins will never be brought
into account before God. How humbly we should walk before
our God. what thanksgiving we should offer
to the Lord, that there is now therefore no condemnation for
them who are in Christ Jesus, that nothing shall ever separate
us from the love of God, neither life nor death, nor principalities,
nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come. Nothing will
ever separate us from the love of God, His mercy, His forgiveness
for us who are in Christ. How this should cause us to treasure
our eternal salvation in Christ. Consider the great sin that has
been forgiven you. Consider the great sacrifice
that has been offered to take away your sin. How we should
say with Paul, I am what I am by the grace of God. Every one
of us should walk out of this grand meeting room walking lowly
before our God in great humility. Second, evangelism. As we read this text, for each
and every one of us, there are people all around us who have
yet to come to Christ, who are outside of the kingdom of God. And being outside of the kingdom
of God, they are already under the wrath of God. God's love
is restricted exclusively for those who are inside the Lord
Jesus Christ. And for those who are outside
of Christ, they are in a fearful place. It is incumbent upon each
and every one of us to go into the highways and into the byways
and to compel them to come to the banquet that has already
been prepared by the Lord Jesus Christ. What responsibility we
have that we go to our family, to our friends, to our classmates,
to those who we work with, to those who are around us, and
with a sense of urgency to share with them the love of God in
the cross of the Lord Jesus Christ. How shall we escape if we neglect
so great a salvation? You may be the very one that
God has placed in their lives to tell them about Christ. You
may be the only gospel witness to that person. How incumbent
it is for us to go into all the world and to preach to every
creature repentance towards God and faith in our Lord Jesus Christ. And finally, For those of you
who do not know Jesus Christ, God has brought you here tonight
for this divine appointment, for you to hear of what your
future holds if you continue to go down this path. God has
brought you here to speak the truth to you. And if you are
not yet set through the narrow gate that leads to life, I call
upon you to come to faith in Jesus Christ, to repent of your
sin, to turn away from the world, to forsake your pursuit of sin,
to come to Christ, humble yourself, receive his mercy, throw yourself
upon him and say, God, be merciful to me, the sinner. enter through
the narrow gate. For the way is broad, and the
gate is wide, that leads to destruction, and many are those who find it. But the gate is small, and the
way is narrow, that leads to life, and few are those who find
it." I call you to leave the broad path. Turn away from the
easy road of sin. Come to the narrow gate who is
Christ. That gate is open right now. His arms of forgiveness and mercy
are extended to you right now in this gospel message. Come to Christ. Believe upon
Him this moment and receive His mercy. And if you do not believe
upon Jesus Christ, the infallible record of the Word of God says,
there is coming a final judgment. Boast not yourself of tomorrow,
for you know not what a day may bring forth. Come to Christ. Come to the water of life and
drink freely. Come to Christ and believe upon
Him. or in that final day, you will
stand before Him. Every knee will bow and every
tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of
God the Father. This is serious because this
is your life and the eternity that is before you. Let us pray. Father in heaven, we understand
that you have appointed all judgment to your Son, the Lord Jesus Christ. but you have fixed a day in which
you will judge the world in righteousness through a man whom you have raised
from the dead, Jesus Christ. Father, we understand the perfect
justice that will be meted out in that day. You are a God of
inflexible holiness and righteousness, and yet a God of mercy and grace. And at this very moment, through
the gospel of your son, you extend forgiveness. You extend your
saving grace. Lord, I pray that in this great
assembly hall tonight, there will be those who will come to
their senses who will become sober enough to realize what
I've heard tonight is the very truth of the Word of God, and
I cannot put this off any longer. How shall I escape if I neglect
so great a salvation? Father, would you open eyes to
see their need to be saved? Open ears to hear this gospel
plea. May tonight they be saved. And Father, I pray for believers
here tonight that there will be a new sense of urgency to
reach those around us who know not your Son, Christ. May we
go to every length and effort that you would have us to expend,
to go to the corners of the earth even, to preach and to proclaim
the glorious gospel of peace in the name of Christ. For there
is salvation in no other name. Father, sober us tonight with
the realization of heaven and hell, time and eternity, salvation
and damnation, Jesus as Savior and Jesus as Judge. May these truths grip our soul and our
heart tonight. In Jesus name we pray, amen.