Many, many years ago, one of
the best funeral messages that I ever heard from a gospel preacher
had four points. Four points that communicate
things that are common to every one of us. They say there's only
two sure things, death and taxes. No, that's not true. In fact,
taxes aren't that sure anymore. These four things are things
that every one of us will have to experience at some time. Number
one, obviously, we all have a life to live. You're living it right
now. For some, it's short. For some,
it's longer. I always think about comparing,
given the contrast between Abel, one of God's sheep, who worshiped
the Lord through the blood of Christ as he was promised, who
come before God pleading his righteousness, and Methuselah,
who lived to be 969 years old. And the only thing that's said
in scripture about him is he died, other than his name. He
died, and he died. So we have a life to live. And
what we have to think about in that life is how we're going
to live it. Are we going to live it to the
glory of God's grace, praising Him, trusting Him, as my message
this morning at 11 o'clock, clinging to Him by faith? Or are we going
to live it for self? We've got a life to live. And we know that our only hope
is to live it by the grace of God. Secondly, we all have a
death to die. It is appointed unto men once
to die. How are we going to die? Only
two ways to die. I mean, I'm not talking about
the means of death now. You either die in unbelief without
Christ or you die in Christ. You die in the faith. And our
only hope is to die in the faith. Blessed are those who die in
the Lord. It's a precious thing in the
sight of the Lord is the death of his saints because it's a
passing. And then thirdly, we all have a judgment to face.
Now that's what the lesson is this morning in Revelation 20,
beginning at 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. And I saw
the dead, small and great, stand before God. And the books, now
notice the word books there is plural. The books were opened,
and it says, and another book was opened. There's another book,
and it's singular. So understand, you've got the
books, and then you've got the book. And it says, the book,
the singular book that was opened is the book of life. That's the
record of God, of his people. And the dead were judged out
of those things which were written in the books. according to their
works." Now, stop right there. We all have a judgment to face.
Now, I'm going to come back to that. It's what we're going to
talk about. The fourth point of that funeral message is we
all have an eternity to spend. How are we going to spend it?
We all have a life to live, a death to die, a judgment to face. What
are we going to plead when we stand before God at the judgment? Okay? And then how are we going
to spend eternity? Well, this is called the Great
White Throne Judgment. The Great White Throne, in and
of itself, indicates by symbol, by vision, whose throne this
is. This is the throne of Almighty
God. You could say it this way, this
is the throne of the Lord of Glory, the Lord Jesus Christ,
And it represents his sovereignty. He is Lord of Lords and King
of Kings. He's on the throne. He's in control. This is his judgment. This is
his business. It's a great throne. There's
none greater. This is the highest court. We
talk about the Supreme Court being the highest court. Oh,
no. There's one higher. This right here. At this throne
is a throne of judgment. It's a great white throne. White
indicates righteousness. White indicates truth, you see. There's no perversion of justice
here. This is a throne of justice.
I heard a man preach one time, he said, when I stand before
God at the great white throne, he said, I don't want justice,
I want mercy. And I say, too bad. Everybody
here, now listen to me, Everybody here at this throne is going
to get exactly what they deserve. Does that shock you? Well, you
say, wait a minute, preacher, if God gave me what I deserve,
I'd be doomed forever, because I'm a sinner, even a sinner saved
by grace. Listen to what I'm saying now.
Everybody before this throne will get exactly what they deserve,
either according to their works which will be eternal damnation,
or according to their standing in Christ, which will be eternal
glory. You see, my deserts are not in
myself. Christ took my deserts, what
I deserve. But hold on to that thought now.
This is the great white throne judgment. Nothing's going to
proceed from this throne but justice and truth. God judges
according to truth. There's no pretend here. There
never has been with God. You know a lot of people when
they talk about the truth of imputed righteousness, that is,
I stand before God in a righteousness not my own. but one which Christ
worked out in his obedience unto death that is legally accounted
to me and charged to me. And a lot of people say, well,
that's not real. That's just God faking it. That's just God
looking at you like you're righteous when you're not. No, it's not.
God judges according to truth. God sees me as righteous in Christ. Now, I'm not righteous in myself. I'm a sinner. Everything I do
yet falls short of God's standard of righteousness. But I am really
righteous in God's sight based on Christ's righteousness imputed,
and that is real. That's not legal fiction. It's not fake. Now, if you're
gonna come before the throne of judgment, two things you'd
like to know, I hope, before you get there. Number one, who
is the judge? And number two, what's the standard
of judgment? Well, who is the judge? Well,
Christ said the Father has committed all judgment unto him. You can
read about that in the book of John chapter five. And that's
an earned right for Christ because he is the mediator. So what is
the standard of judgment? Well, it's righteousness, it's
justice. I quote all the time Acts chapter 17 and verse 31.
Now think about it this way. Paul's standing there on Mars
Hill in Athens, Greece, and he's talking to a bunch of philosophers
and religionists, and he's talking to them about the true and living
God, the creator God, and he brings it down to the judgment
of God, and he talks about how God has commanded all men everywhere
to repent, change their mind, Based on what? Verse 31 of Acts
17, because God has appointed a day in the which he will judge
the world in righteousness. Now, the Pharisees had a standard
of righteousness, didn't they? And it was all involved in their
works and their traditions. Christ said in Matthew chapter
5 and verse 20, he said, except your righteousness exceed the
righteousness of the scribes and the Pharisees, you shall
in no wise enter into the kingdom of heaven. You've got to have
another kind of righteousness other than what they had. Their
standard was too low. Their standard was not God's
standard. But what is God's standard? He
will judge the world in righteousness, Acts 17 31, by that man whom
he has ordained. I hear a lot of people, maybe
they don't say it this way, but they come across saying, well,
you know, I'm not perfect, but I'm not as bad as some. I had a very dear person to me
tell me one time, he says, well, I'm not perfect, but I've never
done anything to deserve hell. Well, see, the Bible says that
we've all done things to deserve hell. So who is the standard? By that man whom God has appointed
and he has given assurance unto all men. How did he give assurance
unto all men? That this person whom he's appointed
is the standard of righteousness. He raised him from the dead.
Now who's he talking about? He's talking about Christ. Christ
is the standard. I hear these preachers, false
preachers, talking about living holy lives. And by holy, they
mean morally perfect. And they say, you've got to be
righteous in your character and conduct. And they speak as if
they are righteous in their character and conduct. They're not. I would
like to stop and ask one of them, I say, do you love God? And I'm
sure they'd say, yes, we love God. Well, would you stack your
love up against Christ's love for God? I don't think most of
them would say yes to that. Well, if your hope at the judgment
is your love for God, then it's got to equal Christ's love for
God. That's how righteous you have to be. That's what this
great white throne is all about. Look back at verse 11. Him that
sat on it, on this throne, whose face the earth and the heaven
fled away from whose face. There was found no place for
them. What that's talking about is the fallen, cursed earth. It cannot remain. when Christ
comes again. When Christ comes again, you
see Christ, that's what this is about. Christ is coming, his
second coming, he's gathered his people unto himself, and
the dead have been raised, John chapter five, and they're all
standing before the great white throne judgment. There's no place
for them in the new creation, the new heavens and the new earth.
And verse 12, he says, I saw the dead, small and great, stand
before God. Every individual will stand before
God and give an account. That's what the scripture says.
Small and great means all people from all classes and groups,
doesn't matter who you are, doesn't matter what you attained in this
life as far as status, economy, politics. The nobles, the poor,
stand before God. And then it says the books were
opened. Now this is so significant here. The books of the record
of all the sins of all those who are found without Christ. And then another book was opened,
the book of life. This is called the Lamb's book
of life in another place. and it says the dead. Now the
dead, now think about it, here they've been, they're standing
before Christ at judgment and they're still called dead. So
what kind of death is he talking about here? He's talking about
condemnation and spiritual death. The dead were judged out of those
things which were written in the books according to their
works. What he's talking about is that there is a record in
God's holy mind of all the sins that the dead committed against
him. They have no savior. They have no mediator. They have
no surety. They have no forgiveness. They
have no righteousness. All they have is their sin and
it can be their best efforts. to make themselves righteous.
Matthew 7, 21 through 23, Lord, Lord, haven't we preached in
your name? Lord, Lord, haven't we cast out demons? Lord, Lord,
haven't we done many wonderful works? You see that? They're going to
be judged according to their works. But there's a distinction
here. He says, all those who are in
Christ They'll be judged out of the book, and there's no record
of their sins. Why? Because their sins have
been washed away in the blood of Christ. They have a righteousness before
God, and God's record, but now think about this. You know, the
Bible says in some places that those who stand before God in
Christ, that God will not remember their sins. Now that doesn't
mean he forgets. God doesn't forget anything.
God never changes. What that means is that God does
not charge them with their sin. Who shall lay anything to the
charge of God's elect? It's God that justify. On what
basis did God justify that? Who is he that condemneth? It's
Christ that died, yea rather is risen again. who's seated
at the right hand of the Father ever living to make intercession
for him. In John chapter 16, it talks about one of the things
that the Holy Spirit does when he convicts. It says he convicts
us of three things, of sin, because they believe not on Christ. In
other words, without Christ, it's all sin. Of righteousness,
because Christ went unto the Father. He did the work of righteousness.
And of judgment, because the prince of this world is judged.
The prince of this world is Satan, the accuser of the brethren.
Satan is represented in the Bible sometimes almost like a prosecuting
attorney who's bringing the charge. Look at Bill Parker. He's a sinner.
He deserves damnation. But Christ steps in as the advocate
and pleads his blood, his righteousness, that sets Bill Parker or any
other sinner saved by grace free. You see that? So those who are
judged out of the book, that's the Lamb's book of life. They're
washed clean in his blood. What can wash away my sins? Nothing
but the blood. They stand righteous in Christ
based on his righteousness imputed. Now, does that mean God doesn't
see my sins? Well, sure he sees them, but
he doesn't charge me. He doesn't condemn me because
I stand in Christ and there is therefore now no condemnation
to them which are in Christ. My only hope at the great white
throne judgment is to be found in Christ, not having my own
righteousness, which is of the law, but that which is through
the faith of Christ. the righteousness of God. I don't
want to be judged according to my works. How about you? Well,
Christ paid the full debt and the penalty of all the sins of
his people. He brought in righteousness that's
imputed to them, and that's how we stand before God. Our record,
listen, if we're judged out of the books, plural, our record's
not clean. But if we're judged out of the
book of life, our record is clean because it's been washed clean
by the blood of Christ. He satisfied God's justice. He
drank damnation dry. He paid the dead in full and
therefore we have nothing charged against us. But you can look
at passages of scripture Where the Bible talks about judgment,
and it says judged according to their works, over in the book
of John, chapter five, for example. I'll show you a couple of passages. Verse 28. This is where Christ
talks about how all power and authority of judgment has been
given to him. And in John 5, 28, he says, marvel not at this,
for the hour is coming in the which all that are in the grave
shall hear his voice, that's the second coming of Christ,
and shall come forth, verse 29, they that have done good unto
the resurrection of life. Now is that teaching that those
who are saved, that they were saved by their goodness? or their
good works? Well, if that's what it teaches,
then we might as well close this book and go home and just get
ready for the Super Bowl. Because, number one, that shows
you there's contradictions in the Bible. The Bible all through
from Genesis to Revelation constantly hammers down the point that salvation
is not by our good works, but it's by the good work of Christ.
So what is it to do good in the eyes of God? It's to believe
on Christ and submit to His righteousness, His goodness as my only hope
of salvation. It's like back in Cain and Abel. I'm going to mention Cain and
Abel today in the message and then probably next week I'm going
to be dealing with them. He told Cain, after he rejected
Cain, he said, now Cain, you know that if you do well, you'll
be accepted. Well, what do you have to go
by in that passage if you stay with the Bible now, and you read
Genesis chapter 4 in light of what's already transpired in
Genesis chapter 3, the fall of man, God removing the fig leaves
and promising the Messiah and then shedding, killing an animal
and shedding blood and giving him coats of skin. What do we
have to go on that helps us to understand what the Lord meant
there when he told Cain that? What is it to do well? I'll tell
you exactly. The only thing in the context
is do what Abel did. What did Abel do? He brought
the blood of the Lamb. So when he talks about those
that have done good under the resurrection of life, he's talking
about those who are saved by grace through the work of Christ
and who plead him. And then he says there in verse
20, and they that have done evil unto the resurrection of damnation.
Look at 2 Corinthians chapter five. Here's another passage
about judgment and works. He says in verse 10 of 2 Corinthians
5. He says, For we must all appear
before the judgment seat of Christ, that every one may receive the
things done in his body according to that he hath done, whether
it be good or bad. Now, how am I going to stand
before God as a sinner and plead anything that I've done as the
ground of my salvation. Well, it's impossible. That's
death. But what's he talking about here?
He's not talking about judgment based on or by our works. but he's simply talking about
our state before God, whether or not we're in Christ, good,
or whether we're in ourselves, bad. He's talking about not judgment
by our works, but the judgment of our works. Do my works evidence
that I'm trying to be saved based on my works? If that's the truth,
it's bad. Do my works evidence that I'm in Christ, that I'm
depending upon his blood and righteousness? You see what I'm
saying? And then he says, knowing therefore the terror of the Lord.
Well, what's the terror of the Lord? Well, I know this. Here
it is. If I stand before God without Christ, it's damnation. Go back to Revelation 21. If
I stand before God in Christ, eternal bliss and glory. That's the terror of the Lord.
You have no hope. I have no hope of salvation any
other way. This book of life, is the record
of God's electing grace, God's redeeming grace, God's regenerating
grace, a record of perfect righteousness in Christ. You know, and I'll
just give, you don't have to turn here, you know over in Romans
14, where Paul's talking about weak believers and strong believers,
and he makes, what he was talking about there is that true believers,
all who believe the gospel, were dividing because of Some were
mature and they ate certain things that another group wouldn't eat
because they thought it was sinful and they were judging each other
based on a wrong ground. That's what they were doing.
It wasn't doctrine now. The issue wasn't the gospel.
The issue was what should a believer eat or not eat, drink and not
drink, and they were fighting and fussing over it, and they
were judging each other based on a wrong ground. And he makes
this statement in Romans 14 and verse 12, he said, everybody's
got to stand before God and give an account of himself. Well now,
what is the believer's account? That word count and account,
you know what that refers to, don't you, in a believer? It's
the doctrine of imputation. What is my account before God? Well, it's the Lamb's Book of
Life, wherein there's no sin charged against me. Blessed is
the man to whom the Lord imputeth not iniquity. It's the Lamb's
Book of Life, wherein righteousness is accounted to me. That's my
account. Because I stand before God in Christ. Look at verse
13. It says here, 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. Now it's talking about those
who stand before God at this great white throne judgment without
Christ. And what he's showing here is
that there is no manner, there is no way of death that'll be
an escape from the wrath of God. Death and hell refers to any
manner of death, and the grave itself will not be able to hold
him back. You know those people who think death is the end? That's
what that's saying, it's not the end. It's not the end. You know why I think that a lot
of people claim to be atheist? Because they don't want to be
held accountable to a higher power. I want to go out and live
my life willy-nilly, eat, drink, and be married. Tomorrow you
die. Death's the end. And here we come along in the
gospel and say, now there's a judgment to face. Don't want to be held accountable
to that. No right and wrong, see? Everybody wants to do what's
right in their own eyes. Will said, you know, all that
does is just evidence their oneness with Adam in the garden. That's
what Adam did. I'm going to set my own standard.
I'll be his gods. See, that's what man does. But
they don't want to face it. But no, he's going to judge every
man according to their works. In verse 14 he says, and death
and hell were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death.
The second death is eternal death. Separation from God. The first
death is this physical. Well, you could go back and you
could say it this way. The first death is spiritual
death when we fell on Adam. Which leads to physical death.
But the second death is the scriptural way of referring to eternal damnation,
eternal separation from God. The lake of fire, that's a symbol
of the wrath of God. Death and the grave were classed
in the lake of fire. What that means is those who
die in their sins, are under the wrath of God. The scripture
says, he that believeth not, the wrath of God abides on him. And then in verse 15 it says,
whosoever was not found in the book of life was cast into the
lake of fire. In other words, they were under
the wrath of God. Eternal damnation. So our only
hope is what? that our names are written in
the Lamb's Book of Life. Now how do I know my name's written
in the Lamb's Book of Life? How can I know that for sure?
Well, read the Bible. And what does the Bible say about
God's elect? What does the Bible say about
Christ's church, true church? What does the Bible say about
his sheep? What does the Bible say about
his brother, his brethren? What does the Bible say about
the seed of Abraham, the children of promise? What does the Bible
say about those whose names are written in the Lamb's book of
life? They're like Abel. They're like Noah. We're going
to be looking at that in Hebrews chapter 11, starting in that. What did these men do? They were
sinners saved by grace, evidenced by the fact that they depended,
trusted totally, totally upon God's grace in Christ, His blood
alone, His righteousness alone, to save them, to keep them, and
to bring them to glory. Do you believe in the Lord Jesus
Christ as He is identified in this word. All right.