Revelation chapter 20 verse 11,
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. Having seen the casting of Satan into the
lake of fire to be tormented day and night
forever and ever, we now approach this portion of scripture that
talks about the final judgment. All rebellion against God Almighty
and His people that has been led and energized by Satan himself
using the means of false religion known and revealed to be in this
scripture as Gog and Magog. That means the prince and his
kingdom, Satan and his kingdom of spiritual darkness is now
being judged. Don't believe what men say Gog
and Magog is Russian, China, etc. The Scripture doesn't say
that. Gog and Magog is set forth in
the book of Ezekiel as being the prince of darkness and all
rebellion against God's people. But I want you to notice how
quickly Satan is put down. when the Lord returns. Verse
9 says, ìThey went up on the breadth of the earth and compassed
the camp of the saints about, and the beloved city and fire
came down from God out of heaven and devoured them. And the devil
that deceived them was cast into the lake of fire and brimstone,
where the beast and the false prophet are, and shall be tormented
day and night forever and ever.î When Almighty God The Lord Jesus
Christ returns. It's over. It's done. It's done. Judgment. The day of the Lord,
the Scripture said, will be as a thief in the night. 1 Thessalonians
5, 2 and 3. For yourselves know, Paul says
perfectly, that the day of the Lord so cometh as a thief in
the night. For when they shall say, Peace
and safety, then sudden destruction cometh upon them as travail upon
a woman with child, and they shall not escape." John says in that eleventh chapter
that we just read, and I saw. He saw with knowledge. He saw surely. Just as John saw
the Lord Jesus holding the seven stars and the seven golden candlesticks,
just as he saw in the right hand of Him that sat on the throne
a book written within and on the backside sealed with seven
seals, John said, I saw a great white throne. This throne is
the throne of judgment before which all men are going to stand. Now, I'm going to make some statements
in this first message. There will be some things that
I, Lord willing, plan to deal with in the second message. But
this is the truth concerning the judgment of Almighty God,
and as I said, I'll explain more fully. But suffice it for this
moment, that 2 Corinthians 5-4 says, for we must all appear. That is, the word appear means
our being shall be revealed. We must all appear before the
judgment seat, before the step or the platform of the Lord Jesus
Christ. That everyone may receive the
things done in His body according to that he hath done, whether
it be good or bad." The judgment seat. We must all appear before
the judgment seat. The judgment seat and the great
white throne judgment is the same judgment. There's one judgment.
There's not a lot of judgments that's going to happen. Judgment
for the wicked and judgment for the... You know, there's one
judgment. The day of the Lord. The judgment
seat. in Matthew 27, 19 speaking so
that we'll understand what this analogy is. It says concerning
Pilate, when the Lord Jesus Christ was brought before Pilate, it
says when he was set down on the judgment seat. He's sitting
there as a judge on a bench. His wife sent unto him saying,
Have nothing to do with that just man, for I have suffered
many things this day in a dream because of him. This is a scene
of judgment. A judge is sitting upon a bench. And here is the throne that's
referred to in Matthew 25, verse 31, When the Son of Man shall
come in His glory and all the holy angels with Him, then shall
He sit upon the throne of His glory. Rest assured, the Lord
Jesus Christ is coming again. As a thief in the night, he's
coming. John 14, 2 and 3 says, in my
Father's house are many mansions. If it were not so, I would have
told you. I go to prepare a place for you,
and if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and
receive you unto Myself that where I am, there you may be
also. At the second coming of the Lord
Jesus Christ, Great judgment is going to be wrought, and there's
going to be a great resurrection. Turn to John 5, verse 27. What I want to deal with today
is what's going to happen at this great white throne. John
5, verse 27 to 29. The Scripture says, and hath given him authority
to execute judgment also, because he is the Son of Man. Marvel
not at this, for the hour is coming in the which all that
are in the graves shall hear his voice, and shall come forth,
they that have done good unto the resurrection of life, they
that have done evil, under the resurrection of damnation. Here
is the fact of the matter. There is a resurrection coming. And all that are in the graves,
all that are standing on the earth at that day, everybody
is going to hear the voice of Almighty God, the Lord Jesus
Christ, and there's going to be a great resurrection. Everybody. Now, the first that
are going to be raised are those that have died in the faith. 1 Thessalonians, turn with me
there, 1 Thessalonians chapter 4, 1 Thessalonians 4, verses 13 to
18, the scripture says, But I would not have you to be ignorant,
brethren, concerning them which are asleep. That is, that sleep
in death, but also in the Lord Jesus Christ, that you sorrow
not, even as others which have no hope. All believers that have
died in the faith, let me tell you what's going to happen first
when the Lord returns. Those that have died in the faith
are going to be raised first. For if we believe that Jesus
died and rose again, even so them also which sleep, which
rest in Jesus will God bring with Him. We say unto you by
the word of the Lord, and that we which are alive and remain
unto the coming of the Lord shall not prevent them or to go before
them which are asleep. For the Lord himself shall descend
from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, with
the trump of God, and the dead in Christ shall rise first. Then we which are alive and remain
shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet, The
Lord in the air, so shall we ever be with the Lord. Wherefore,
comfort one another with these words." In that great day, something
marvelous is going to happen. 1 Corinthians 15, verse 51 says,
Behold, I show you a mystery. We shall not all sleep, but we
shall all be changed. I'll deal with that, Lord willing,
in the next message. Some believers will be alive
at the coming of our Lord the second time. At that second coming,
those that sleep in the Lord, those that have died in the faith,
those that have been physically dead, buried, they'll come out
first. We which are alive on this earth
will be raised, Paul says, we won't all sleep. That means not
all believers are going to be dead at the time of the Lord's.
There will be some that will be alive here. But he says, we
all will be changed, will be made different. 1 Corinthians
15, 52 says, in a moment. That word, moment, there, it's
a very unusual word. The best description that I can
find of that word, in a moment, We think of a moment as being
just a moment. The word actually means unable
to cut. Unable to cut. Meaning, you can't
even half this one, Bob. That's a moment. In a moment. Not even able to half that. How
could you not half something? In a moment. In the twinkling
of an eye. At the last trump, for the trumpet
shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and
we shall be changed," Paul says. Incorruptible. That word means
not liable to decay. Immortal. So those that sleep
in the Lord shall rise first. Those believers which are alive
at the second coming shall be changed and rise to meet the
Lord in the air and forever be with Him." There will be a resurrection. So here at this great white throne,
it's great in that it is mighty, it is strong, it's high because
of Him who sits on that throne, the omnipotent God. It's white set forth because
of the purity and the holiness, the righteousness and the justice
of Him that sits upon that throne. And it is a throne because the
King who sits upon this throne is the Judge before whom all
men are going to stand. John says concerning this, I
saw a great white throne and Him that sat on it from whose
face The earth and the heaven fled away." Now, what he's actually
saying there, it says, from whose face, from whose presence, from
whose countenance, because of the brightness of His being,
causing the earth and the heaven, that is, everything that is before
Him fled away. It vanishes. Let me give you
an example and you'll understand what I'm talking about. At night,
you go out and you look up, and if it's a bright night, you see
the stars. Oh, look at the stars. Let me
ask you this. At the noonday, are the stars
still there? Yes, they're still there. Why
can't you see them? Well, you say, the sun's out.
And the brightness of the sun causes my vision of those stars
to be hindered. I can't see them. That's what
it's talking about right here. Him, John says, that sat on the
throne, whose face the earth and the heaven fled away. And there was found no place
for them in that day of judgment. No spot, no space, no location,
no place. shall conceal that which Almighty
God is surely going to reveal." God's people are going to be
revealed, and the wicked are going to be revealed. And no
spot, no place, John says, there was found no place for them. Remember, for we must all appear
before the judgment seat of Christ. Paul said, that every man may
receive the things done in his body according to that he hath
done, whether it be good or whether it be bad. So I wanted to, and
our time is up, but I wanted to set forth in this first service,
number one, the surety of the Lord's return. The surety of
the resurrection of all, the surety of the great white throne
judgment, and the surety that all men would be there. Lord
willing, in this next service, we're going to go into those
next three verses, 12, 13, 14, and 15, and Lord willing, look
into what will actually happen at the great white throne judgment.
I'll dismiss you about 10 minutes and we'll go ahead and the piano
will start playing and come on in. Thank you.