Well, thank you, Dr. Harry Walls.
I've served on the board with Harry for many years with great
pleasure to be with him. He's a great pastor and preacher
in his own right there in Birmingham, Alabama for many years. What
a gift he is to this university. I'm thankful for Dr. Chow and
the leadership that he has been raised up to provide here. He
is such a solid Bible scholar. Thankful for Johnny Artavanis
and for the invitation to be here. And I love this university. All four of my children not only
were students but they all graduated by the grace of God. That's true
for my boys. My daughter graduated number
one from here with a perfect four-point. So, my three boys
played on the golf team here and occasionally went to class. I want you to take your Bible
and turn with me to the book of Revelation, Revelation chapter
20. And I have a strong message for
you today. It's an R-rated sermon. R for reformed. It's good to know where the elect
are in this group today. I want to read the passage, Revelation
chapter 20. Verses 11 through 15, the title
of this is, The Final Judgment. Beginning in verse 11 of the
book of chapter 20 in Revelation, 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 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. Strong words, true words that
need to be a part of our Christian worldview, need to be a part
of our Christian life in understanding the reality of this. In these
verses, we see the final judgment of the world, the final judgment
of every unbeliever. And we need to see this day that's
looming on the horizon, a day of perfect justice because we
live in a world of injustice. Everywhere we look, we see inequity. We see unfairness in the world. All around us, we see the guilty
rewarded. We live in a world in which the
innocent are punished. We see criminals released. We
see law-abiding citizens harassed and persecuted. We see the rights
of rioters protected and proper owners of property, pillaged,
abused. Everything in this world is backwards.
We live in a world of values that are completely upside down.
Right is wrong. Wrong is right. A blind man could
see it. There has to be a day like this
in which God will settle His accounts. There has to be a day
like this that we are looking at in which God will execute
perfect justice. Romans calls it the day of wrath. 2 Peter refers to it as the day
of judgment. Jude calls it the judgment of
the great day. And this judgment of the great
day is already etched into God's calendar. And it is immutable. It is unchangeable. And it is
coming faster than any one of us can imagine. R.C. Sproul says, modern man is betting
his eternal destiny that there will be no final judgment, unquote. My friend, that is a very bad
bet. because God is a God of infinite
holiness. Holy, holy, holy is the Lord
God Almighty. And holy God reacts with vengeance
and fury against all that is not in conformity to His holiness. And so I want us to look at this
passage, and I want us to be reminded of what's out there,
of what's coming, because it will have a very powerful effect
upon your Christian life. You may say, why would you preach
this at a Christian university? Well, number one, it's in the
Bible. Number two, you need to be grateful
for your salvation. You need to say, there but for
the grace of God go I." Because there's no one in this room any
better than those out in the world. We have been drawn from
the same pit, and the potter has made us to be vessels of
mercy. It could have just as easily
made us vessels of wrath, prepared for destruction. There needs
to be a humility. There needs to be a sobriety.
There needs to be a thankfulness. And this is like the black velvet
backdrop that causes the diamond of His grace to shine all the
more brightly. There is no good news of salvation
until you understand the bad news of damnation. So we need to be reminded of
the bad news if we are to glory in the good news of salvation. And there will be those of us
here today who are not yet true believers in Jesus Christ. There's
no way we could get this many people into one room and everyone
is born again. Totally impossible, unless we're
in heaven. one of the twelve that Jesus
had was a devil. Satan sows tares among the wheat. Not everyone who says to Me,
Lord, Lord, shall enter the kingdom of heaven. And so there will
be those among us in the plural here today who are yet outside
the kingdom. And this may be a graphic description
of your future. Not everyone who professes Christ
possesses Christ, and how critically important it is that our faith
is genuine and authentic. And so this text really serves
as a necessary wake-up call for those who are religious but lost.
those who have their names in the church roll but are not found
in the Lamb's Book of Life. So let's walk through this passage
together, and we need to have an understanding of this passage
in order for there to be a weightiness about our faith, a gravitas, the fear of the Lord cultivated Several things I want you to
note from this text. First of all, the setting described. This
scene begins with the description of the place of the final judgment.
Verse 11 begins, then I, referring to the Apostle John who has been
caught up into the heaven of heavens and given a guided tour
of heaven and what is to come. And John now is allowed to see
at the end of time, at the end of the age I saw a great white
throne. It's great because of its power.
It towers over every other throne. It towers over every earthly
seat of authority. This throne has universal jurisdiction. It overrides every objection. Its verdicts are final. It is
the supreme court of heaven and earth. There is no higher court
of appeal. The verdicts of this throne are
final and indisputable. It is white. It speaks of its
purity. Its verdicts are executed with absolute holiness, with
inflexible righteousness. And at this point, there is not
one drop of grace. It is a throne because its purpose
is judgment. And every sinner without Christ
will stand in this court. This is a terrifying scene, and
the entire Bible looks ahead to this final day of judgment. Psalm 9 verse 7, the Lord has
established His throne for judgment, and He will judge the world in
righteousness. He will execute judgment with equity. Psalm 11, verse…Psalm 7, verse
11, God is a righteous judge. And in Acts 17, 31, Paul at Mars
Hill says God has fixed a day. There is a day that is fixed
in which He, God, will judge the world in righteousness. And there is coming this day
when God will settle every account, and every sinner will appear,
and every sin will be exposed, and every wrong will be judged. There will be no sin in the history
of the world that will escape His judgment. The second thing
I want you to note is the sovereign enthroned, because in verse 11,
John continues to describe not just the throne, but the one
who is seated on the throne. The throne is occupied. There
is no vacancy to this throne. And we read in, him who sat upon
it. There is no doubt who this One
is. It is the One to whom the Father
has given all judgment into His hands. It is the One that the
Father has given all authority in heaven and earth to Him. In John 5, 22, Jesus says, the
Father has given all judgment to the Son. And Peter in Acts 10 says, they
put Him to death by hanging Him on a cross. This is the one who
has been appointed by God to judge. So the throne is occupied
and the one who is upon the throne is not asleep. He is actively
presiding, not only presiding over the affairs of providence,
every moment of every day in this world. There's no bad luck,
good luck, no such thing as an accident, no such thing as fortune. The stars are not controlling
anything. The Lord Jesus upon His throne is masterminding and
micromanaging the entire universe. As R.C. Sproul says, there are
no maverick molecules in the universe. but they all answer
to the bidding of this One who is upon the throne. And He is
directing all of human history, this very monument, to the final
scene which will lead then to this point. And He is seated
upon the throne, ready to hold court, ready to judge the world. This judge has already been seen
earlier in the book of Revelation in chapter 1. He has a loud voice
like a trumpet. He drowns out every other voice,
every other sound, every other opinion. He drowns it out. He speaks with the sound of many
waters. His head and his hair like white
wool. His eyes are a flaming fire,
not just seeing every life but seeing into every life, seeing
through every life, cutting through the exterior facades of every
life and reading every person for exactly who they are and
what they are and what they have done. His feet are like burnished
bronze glowing in a furnace. He's standing in judgment. And
His right hand, He holds seven stars. And out of His mouth comes
a sharp, two-edged sword. And the sharp, two-edged sword
does not refer to the written Word of God here. It refers to
His instrument of war that will be unleashed in the day of judgment.
And His face, like the sun, shining in all of its strength, radiant
glory. blinding to look upon this One
upon the throne. In Romans 2, 16, we read that
He will judge the secrets of men. In 2 Timothy 4, 1, He is
the judge of the living and the dead. At the end of verse 11,
from whose presence heaven and earth fled away, attempting to escape this judge, attempting to escape this sin-exposing,
sin-judging judge, and no place was found for them. Today, if you want to escape
from standing in court, you could go to the Florida Everglades
and hide. You could go to the Appalachian
Mountains, the Smokies, and hide and perhaps never be found. But
in this day, heaven and earth fled away and no place was found
for them. This judge is inescapable. This
day of judgment is unavoidable. Men have cursed Him. Well, they
curse Him to His face. Men have ignored His Word. Men
have ridiculed His teaching. The world mocks His values, but
now they must face Him. in the judgment. Notice third, the summons issued. In verse 12, the judge has all
authority to summon the guilty parties to appear before His
court. And in verse 12, we read, and
I saw the dead. That refers to all the unsaved
since the beginning of time. All the Old Testament dead, all
New Testament dead sinners, graves will open. He says, the great and the small.
The great referred to the great men of history, great in stature,
great in influence, great in possessions. Possessed with great
prominence and great power, they have always bought off judges. They have always used their clout
to escape accountability. They've been a law unto themselves.
They have done what they have wanted to do, when they have
wanted to do, however they have wanted to do it. They have escaped
judgment and accountability here on the earth, but here now, the
great, the kings, the judges, the princes, they will all appear
before the judge of heaven and earth. And the small, those small
people of history that no one even knows of, small in stature,
small in influence. His lives really accounted for
very little compared to the vastness of the great men of history.
We don't know their names, but we read they're standing before
the throne. They are appearing in the day
of judgment. Their day in court has now arrived. And at the beginning of verse
13 we read, and the sea gave up the dead which were in it. Those shipwrecked in the open
sea, submerged at the bottom of the ocean, the one place on
the earth in ancient times that things were irretrievable. They
had no modern means to gather anything from the depth of the
sea. But even those who have died
at sea and are submerged so low, they will be brought out of the
sea and they will stand in this court before this judge. And
death and Hades gave up the dead which were in them. Death here
referring to the grave that holds the body of every unsaved person
in Hades, the temporary place of punishment of unsaved souls
and spirits awaiting this final judgment. And they must wait
until the final judgment because the influence of their ungodliness
has been perpetuated through their children, through their
grandchildren, through those they worked with. All of the
accounts have not yet come in. The judgment could not have happened
at the end of their lifetime because the influence of their
life continued and God must wait until it's run its full course. And they will give an account
to the judge for generations of sin. Death and Hades gave up the dead
which were in them. Jesus referred to it in John
5, 29 as a resurrection of judgment. No way to pull the grave like
a sheet up over their face and just hide from God in this day. Jesus Himself will resurrect
their body out of the grave and raise their damned souls and
spirits to be reunited and to stand before Him and to give
an account for the entirety of their life. So who will be there? Well, defiant sinners will be
there. God-haters, Christ-haters, Bible-haters,
church-haters, terrorists, anarchists, atheists, agnostics, they will
all be there. Religious people will be there.
Those who are members of false religions and cults, Jehovah's Witness, Mormons, Catholics, They will all be there in the
judgment because they had believed a lie. Good people will be there,
decent, upright citizens who paid their taxes, helped their
neighbors. They just were never born again. Procrastinators will be there,
those who had heard the truth of the gospel. But they really
weren't ready to let go of the world. They really weren't ready
to break from the pack. They wanted to continue to go
with the flow of this world. And every time they heard the
gospel, they just kept putting it off and putting it off and
putting it off until they have procrastinated
their way into hell. And they will be there. and lost church members will
be there. As I said earlier, those who
profess Christ, they just never knew Him. They knew about Christ. They just never had a personal,
experiential, living relationship with the risen Christ. They had
never met Christ. they will all be summoned to
stand before the throne. Notice fourth in verse 12, the
sin exposed. In every court, the evidence
must be presented to substantiate any charge. And so, we read in
the middle of verse 12, and the books were opened. Opened by who? opened by Jesus
Christ Himself. In these books, or in the plural,
speaking of the comprehensive nature of what has been recorded
in these books, volumes and volumes, the complete record of every
unbeliever's life. And God has been keeping impeccable
records of every life, every sin recorded, every secret thought,
every idle word, every sinful deed, every selfish motive. Ecclesiastes 12, 14 says, God
will bring every act to judgment. Everything which is written,
whether it is good or bad, skeletons will come dancing out of closets.
It will be an open book. Jesus said in Matthew 12, verse
36, every careless word, every frivolous word, every stupid word, every careless word that men
shall speak they shall render account for it in the day of
judgment." Not just big conversations, but
even small little words, it will reappear and be placed
on the scales 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 known and come to light. Every sin of every lost sinner
will be brought out into the open as under the noonday sun
with the blazing light of the holiness of God shining upon
it in this day of judgment." Sins long since forgiven, committed
in elementary school, committed in middle school, high school, sports trip, the military, guys night out, business trips,
back rooms, flawless records have been kept,
immorality, impurity, sensuality, idolatry, enmities, strife, jealousy,
anger, envying, lying, cheating, dishonoring parents, coveting, stealing, cursing,
cussing, pride, arrogance, self-love, self-pity, self-esteem, self-righteousness,
self-flattery, self-promotion, self-elevation, the entire record. It will be such an insurmountable
case that every unbeliever's mouth
will be shut, Romans 3 says. There is no excuse that could
be offered for such a presentation. And then we read in verse 12,
and another book, another book was opened. It's singular, one
book, which is the book of life. which contains the names of all
believers in Christ, their names written into the Lamb's Book
of Life, and they were written there from before the foundation
of the world. Their names are not being written
as they are being converted, one added on a Monday, one added
on a Tuesday, another on a Wednesday. No, every name that is in the
Book of Life, it was all recorded at one time, before time began. as a result of God's sovereign
election. And they will be shown that their
name is not written in the book of life. It was their only hope. Their name is on their driver's
license. Their name is on their checking account. Their name
is on their tax returns. Their name is on their mail. But their name is nowhere to
be found in the book of life. Notice at the end of verse 12,
number 5, the severity. Unleashed, we see the severity
of the judgment on this last day. and the dead," referring
collectively to all who have lived their life on the stage
of human history, both the great and the small, those who had
leading roles in the script of history and those who were backstage. They were judged. They were judged
by the judge. And just one sin Just one sin
would be enough to condemn them and damn them in hell forever,
just one sin. Just one sin by Adam threw the
whole world into condemnation. Just one sin against an infinitely
holy God would deserve the eternal death penalty because He is that
holy. But the entire record has now
been presented. Mountains and mountains and mountains
of sin have been dredged up from the past and have now been recorded
infallibly in the books. And now the books opened and
the case has been presented and Jesus is both judge but also
the prosecuting attorney. And the dead were judged. and found to be guilty. The wages
of sin is death. The dead were judged from the
things which were written in the books, please note this,
according to their deeds. Not one drop of grace. No forgiveness. No pardon. no propitiation, no reconciliation. They were judged according to
their deeds, every individual sin receiving a corresponding
eternal punishment, some sins greater than other sins. Hebrews
2 tells us every sin, every sin will receive a just recompense. it will be pure justice, an eye
for an eye, a tooth for a tooth. The greater the sin, the greater
the judgment. And all sins will be judged fairly
and impartially to the full extent of the law. Jesus said in Matthew 10, 15,
listen to this, it will be more tolerable for Sodom and Gomorrah
in the day of judgment than for this city. referring to the city that heard
the gospel, referring to the city that heard the truth, referring
to the city that had their day of visitation from God. And they
sinned against greater light. They sinned against greater truth
and greater revelation. And Jesus said, it will be more
tolerable for Sodom and Gomorrah filled with whoremongers and
homosexuals It'll be easier on them in the day of judgment than
for you who have heard the truth and have rejected the pure, unadulterated,
unvarnished truth of the gospel. Hell could not be hot enough
for someone to refuse the precious blood of Christ. But instead,
as Hebrews 10 says, to trample underfoot the precious blood
of Christ and to insult the Spirit of grace. Now, it will be more tolerable
for Sodom and Gomorrah than for that city where the
gospel was preached. If you're going to go to hell,
go to hell from Sodom and Gomorrah. But don't go to hell from church.
Don't go to hell from a Christian university where you have the
truth presented to you every day that you're here. Jesus said
in Matthew 11, 21, 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. It will be more tolerable for
Tyre and Sidon in the day of judgment than for you." No sin will be overlooked. Every
sin will be weighed in the balances, and no sin will go unpunished. Every sin in the history of the
world will be punished to the full extent of the law. Every
sin will either be punished in hell or punished in Christ on
the cross, but no sin will go unpunished. It will either be
punished in hell or punished in Christ. but every sin will
feel the weight of the justice of God upon it. So notice finally the sentence
executed. The defendants now await the
verdict of the judge. It is time for the judgment to
be rendered for the sentence to be read. Verse 14, then death,
which holds the body in the grave, and Hades, which holds the soul
and spirit in torment, were thrown, not just dropped, but thrown into the lake of fire. This becomes the primary description
of hell. It's used more than twenty times
in the New Testament to depict the torment of the damned. I
believe it is real fire in a real place, unleashed upon real people
forever and ever. It's found not just in apocalyptic
literature like the book of Revelation, but it is found in the epistles
The very didactic epistles, it is found in the discourses of
Jesus. Jesus had more to say about this
lake of fire than anyone in the entire Bible. Jesus had more
to say about this lake of fire than He had to say about heaven. Revelation 20 verse 10. the lake
of fire and brimstone. They will be tormented day and
night forever and ever, and it is only right and it is only
just because they have broken the law of God. This lake of
fire will never be drained. This lake of fire will never
be extinguished. John the Baptist in Matthew 3,
12 refers to it as unquenchable fire. Revelation 19, 20, the
lake of fire that burns with brimstone. John the Baptist,
Matthew 3, 10, every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut
down and thrown into the fire. Jesus said the same in John 15,
verse 6 in the Upper Room Discourse. Jesus said in the Sermon on the
Mount, you shall be guilty enough to go into the fiery hell. And Jesus said in the collection
of parables in Matthew 13, the tares are burned with fire. And Revelation 9 speaks of the
smoke of the great furnace. This is the second death, verse
14, the lake of fire. The second death is far greater
than the first death. For those who are unbelievers,
the first death only ushers them to the second death. The first death only kills the
body. The second death condemns and
damns the soul. Verse 15, and if anyone's name,
anyone's name was not found written in the book of life, he was thrown
into the lake of fire, submerged under the white hot lava of judgment. In that place, Jesus said, is
the weeping and the gnashing of teeth, meaning it's not just
a gnashing or a weeping, but of all of the weeping that has
ever occurred throughout the annals of human history pale
into significance compared to the weeping. Does anyone repent in hell? Does anyone turn to the Lord?
Says the gnashing of teeth as everyone who is in hell is fiercely
bitter and angry at God for assigning them such a destiny. They would grind their teeth
to nothing if they were not given a resurrection body suited for
the flames of hell so that they would be ever perishing but never
perish, ever dying but never dying, a body that has an increased
sensitivity to pain and the affliction that will be unleashed upon them
by Jesus himself. In Revelation 14 it says, indicates
that Christ Himself will be in hell inflicting the wrath upon
the unbelievers. It will not be a self-inflicted
wrath but will come from the One who is the Omnipotent Almighty
and there will be no restraint in that day. So what should this say to us? I would assume that most of us
in this room have repented of their sins. I would assume that
most in this room have denied themselves and have taken up
a cross and are following Christ. I would assume that most in this
room have thrown themselves upon the mercy of God and begged for
forgiveness. For us, the gratitude and the thankfulness
that should be in our heart towards Christ and towards the Father
should know no boundaries and no end. The humility that should be in
us, the fear of God that should be in us, the eternal weight
of glory pressing down upon us, that we have been a brand snatched
from the fire and rescued by the grace and mercy of the Lord
Jesus Christ. What forgiveness we should offer
others. knowing that the great forgiveness
has been given to us in Christ? And what does this say about
evangelism? What does this say about missions? What does this
say about us going into all the world with the only message of
deliverance from this day of final judgment? How can we sit
back? How can we be inactive? How can
we be immobile, knowing that this planet is spinning through
space and is on a collision course with judgment? As we live in
a world of cosmic treason against this High King of heaven, how
we must go into the highways and into the byways and compel
them to come to the banquet, to be persuasive, to urge, to
plead, to beg. And what should this say to those
here today who are religious but lost? If you're going to
go to hell, don't go to hell from the master's university
because you've had the greater light. You've had the greater
exposure to the truth. It will be more tolerable for
Sodom and Gomorrah than for those who have not yet come to Christ
in a place like this. If you have never repented of
your sins and put your faith and your trust in Jesus Christ,
if I was you, I would flee to Christ. Behold, now is the accepted
time. Behold, today is the day of salvation. How shall we escape if we neglect
so great a salvation? If you have never come to Christ
with saving faith, humble faith, I plead with you this moment
to throw yourself upon the mercy of Christ and settle this out
of court. Don't face this judge on the
last day because there will be no mercy for you, just judgment. But today is a day of mercy.
Today is a day of grace. The gates of paradise are swung
wide open And Jesus says, come unto me, all you who are weary
and heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you,
learn of me, for I am meek and lowly in heart. You shall find
rest for your souls, for my burden is easy and my yoke is light. Who could refuse the invitation
of this gracious Savior It says, enter by the narrow gate. It
says, if any man thirsts, let him come unto me and drink. This one who offers the gospel
to you, that there is now therefore no condemnation for those who
are in Christ Jesus. Why remain under his wrath when
you could be under his grace and his mercy? As you find yourself
here today in this school, and you have had the haunting
realization that I'm not saved like everyone else in this school,
this message is intended to point you to Christ, to direct you
to Christ. and receive much forgiveness
and mercy. But I beg you, do not wait until
it's too late because when the door closes, it will never be
opened again. Let us pray. Father in heaven, may the full
weight of these verses that depict the
end, the final day. May it rest upon us. May Satan not send birds to pluck
up the seed. May it not fall on shallow soil
or thorn-infested soil. May this seed fall upon fertile,
receptive soul. He who has ears to hear, let
him hear what the Spirit says. We pray this in Jesus' name,
amen.