You'll turn in your Bibles to
revelations or revelation 20 will start in
verse 11 revelation 20 verse 11 Titled the message it's God's
great white throne of judgment And 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 were opened. And
another book was opened, which is the book of life. and the
dead were judged out of those things which were written in
the books according to their works. 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. And death and hell were cast
into the lake of fire, This is the second death. And whosoever
was not found written in the book of life was cast into the
lake of fire. In that great day of judgment,
when Christ shall come again, we will all stand before the
Lord God Almighty He seated on that great white throne and be
judged by him out of those books according to our works by his
strict, righteous, and holy justice and his judgment. His judgment
is true and it's final and it's swift. His elect The righteous
in him will go into eternal life, and the wicked will go into everlasting
punishment. So let us look at five things,
Lord willing, revealed in this scripture. The Lord Jesus Christ is coming
again. And there will be, all will be
raised up. and stand before him. We will all be judged out of
those books according to our works. The righteous will go
to be with him for eternity and the wicked will be into eternal
damnation. May God bless his work. Number
one, the first thing we can be sure of Because he promised,
he said it. Christ is coming again. Psalms
96 verse 13 tells us, all God's elect shall rejoice, but for
the Lord, for he cometh, for he cometh to judge the earth,
he shall judge the world with righteousness and the people
with truth. First time he came, in humility. First time he came to suffer
and die for his elect. But this second time when he
comes again he shall appear in all his power and his glory seated upon that great white
throne. It's great because there is none
beside him. There is none like unto him.
He is sovereign, and he is just, and he is holy, and he is right
in everything that he does, because he is God Almighty. It's a white
throne because he is pure, the anointed one of God, the spotless
lamb of God slain before the foundation of the world. and all shall bow to him and
confess that he is Lord over all. He is the only begotten son of
God, the exalted one, and he is coming, that one whom God
sent to redeem his people. With his own blood on that cursed
tree, he who humbled himself and poured out his blood laid
down his life for his sheep. That one is coming, he, the one
that the fallen race of Adam rejected and murdered. He is the risen, exalted, preeminent
over all his brethren. He is that one the Father chose
to judge every man in righteous judgment. And out of the books
we all shall be judged from the greatest to the least. According
to our works, the elect of God shall be judged in Christ alone,
washed in his blood, robed in his righteousness alone, but
not so for the wicked. He is coming again, And this
time is not for any to know. We don't know the time he's coming.
God says only the Father knows. We don't even look for signs. We just by faith in him look
with hope, that good hope, because he promised he would come again
to gather us. And he shall come as a thief
in the night to the reprobate. For all that they have shall
be taken away from them. They'll be robbed of all their
self-righteousness and all they think so good their works. But to the elect, we're not gonna
lose one thing. We're not gonna be robbed. We're
gonna be given spiritual life Faith, grace. We're gonna get an inheritance.
We're gonna gain Christ. 1 Thessalonians, verse five. 1 Thessalonians, verse five tells
us, We'll start in our chapter five,
I'm sorry, 1 Thessalonians. I got messed up here. 1 Thessalonians
chapter five, verse one. But of the times and the seasons,
brethren, we have no need that I write unto you. For yourselves
know perfectly that the day of the Lord so cometh, saith the
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. But ye,
brethren, are not in darkness, that that day should overtake
you as a thief. Ye are all the children of light,
and the children of the day, We are not of the night nor of
darkness. Therefore, let us not sleep as
others do, but let us watch and be sober. For they that sleep,
sleep in the night, and they that be drunken are drunken in
the night. But let us, who are of the day, be sober, putting
on the breastplate of faith and love, and for an helmet, the
hope of salvation. For God hath not appointed us
to wrath, but to obtain salvation by our Lord Jesus Christ, who
died for us, that whether we wake or sleep, we should live
together with him. Wherefore, comfort yourselves
together, and edify one another, even as also ye do. Judgment is God's. we leave the
judgment to him. We comfort one another with this
hope that he is coming again to gather his elect in himself and that his righteousness and
his works that he accomplished while manifest, God manifest
in the flesh on this earth, It's enough. It's all God required. And he did it all for us. The
elect of God have a hope. Christ Jesus revealed in us the
hope of glory. We have an inheritance. We lose
nothing. We gain Christ. We shall experience
his grace, his glorification. He hath prepared a place for
us, and we shall be with him without sin. That old man will
no longer be a part of us. We can worship him in full spirit,
full truth, without sin. Second Timothy 4a tells us, henceforth,
there is laid up for me a crown of righteousness, which the Lord,
the righteous judge, shall give me at that day, and not to me
only, but all of them also that love his appearing. We shall
be found of him, he is that crown of righteousness. He is that
crown of righteousness. You know, there's no degrees
in heaven for reward. All we do is what God has ordained
us to do in Christ. We can do nothing without him.
We all get the same inheritance that we don't deserve. Because the Lord Jesus Christ
did it all. It's by God's grace in Christ
Jesus, his only begotten son, that we are what he has made
us to be in him. And he alone makes us to differ
from the wicked. There is nothing in us, nothing
that separates us from the wicked. Only Christ in you. He's what
separates you. He's what makes you to differ. We're all sinners saved by grace.
Christ in us the hope of glory. We are accepted only in him.
And it's for his namesake. That God loves us. Nothing we
have done. We'll all cast our crowns before
his throne and say, thou art worthy, oh Lord. Only thou art
worthy. Only thou are holy to receive
glory and honor and power. For thou has created all things
and for thy pleasure they are and were created. He did it all. Second thing, when Christ comes
again, there will be a great resurrection of all who lived
on this earth. John chapter five. John chapter five, verse 28. Marvel not at this, for the hour
has come in the which all that are in the grave shall hear his
voice and shall come forth, they that have done good, unto the
resurrection of life, and they that have done evil, unto the
resurrection of damnation. I can of my own self do nothing
as I hear, I judge, And my judgment is just, because I seek not my
own will, but the will of the Father which has sent me. And there'll be an order. There'll
be an order at this great day of this great resurrection. We
see that in 1 Thessalonians chapter four. 1 Thessalonians chapter four.
Verse 13. But I would not have you ignorant,
brethren, concerning them which are asleep, that ye sorrow not. Those that have gone on before
us, they're sleeping, even as others which have no hope. For
if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so them
also which sleep in Jesus will God bring with him. For this
we say unto you by the word of the Lord, that we which are alive
and remain unto the coming of the Lord shall not prevent them
which are asleep. For the Lord himself shall descend
from heaven with a shout, with a voice, and the archangel, and
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. And so shall we ever be with
the Lord. It says, comfort ye with these
words. So all who have died in faith and gone on before us,
The dead in Christ shall rise first, and then immediately,
all of us who are left alive on this earth will be caught
up in the air, and we'll be changed. Complete in Christ, given a new
body. We'll give Him one likening to
Him. He gives us this victory. Let's
go to 1 Corinthians chapter 15. 1 Corinthians chapter 15 verse
51. Behold I show you a mystery. Something hidden only God can
reveal. We shall not all sleep, but we
shall all be changed. 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. For this corruptible must put
on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality. So when
this corrupt shall have put on incorruption, and this mortal
shall have put on immortality. Then shall be brought to pass
the saying that is written, death is swallowed up in victory. O
death, where is thy sting? O grave, where is thy victory? The sting of death is sin, and
the strength of sin is the law. But thanks be to God, which giveth
us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. Therefore, my beloved
brethren, be ye steadfast, unmovable, always abounding in the work
of the Lord. For as much as ye know that your
labor is not in vain in the Lord. Christ came, he suffered, he
bled, he died, he was buried, And according to scripture, he
rose again the third day victorious. He conquered all his enemies. He was exalted, and he sits in
heaven until all his enemies be made his footstool. And it
says the last enemy to be conquered is death. Beloved, you and Christ, you're
going to sleep. You're gonna die, but you ain't
gonna see death. You're gonna live with him. He's
eternal life. If you're in Christ, you have
eternal life. He will raise us up at the last
day. Then after all the ransom of
God, all of God's elect are gathered in him, after he has destroyed
all the wicked, With the brightness of his coming, he's a consuming
fire. All the wicked shall be delivered
up. We read that in our text in verse
13. 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 the works.
And death and hell were cast into the lake of fire as the
second death. Theirs will be a resurrection
of eternal damnation that is separated from God. Separated
from Christ. Separated from the God whose
grace they despised. Separated from the love of Christ,
the one whom God sent, and they would not have that man to rule
over them. They wouldn't bow and submit
to the Son of God. They wouldn't believe on him.
And they'll be cast into the lake of fire forever. There's
no comfort for them. There's no pity. There's no mercy. And God is right and just to
do it. Says up in verse six, blessed
and holy is he that hath part in the first resurrection. On
such the second death has no power. He'll conquer death in the grave
for us. We the elect of God are under
his grace. His spirit's in us. We're sanctified
in our Lord Jesus Christ, made holy by him. He gives us eternal
life. And the third thing, on that
day, when Christ shall come again, We will all be judged by Christ
Jesus according to the record of our works. God's elect in Christ Jesus have
been given a knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ. God has revealed
himself to us in the face of his only begotten son, Jesus
Christ. And we know, for we're taught
of the Holy Spirit that there is no good in us. He has convicted us, convicted
us of sin, our sin. We fell in Adam, and
we sin continually, and we continually need him. When we would do good, we know
evil is present with us. But God has predestined us unto
salvation, to be conformed to the image of his son. He's called
us by his gospel, preached, and he's justified us by his grace.
He's born us again. We have been made partaker of
his holy and divine nature. He has turned us, that new man
in us. Christ revealed in you the hope
of glory, that seed in us. And he knows our works. He knows every man's works. Ephesians, let's turn to Ephesians
chapter two, verse eight. Ephesians chapter two, verse
eight. For by grace you are saved through faith, that not of yourselves,
it is the gift of God, not by works, lest any man should boast. For we are his workmanship, created
in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained
that we should walk in them. Our righteousness is as filthy
rags, and in our nature, our works of our hands are abominable
to God. We have been in Christ by God's
grace, chosen in him before the world was. His faithfulness, it's Christ's
faithfulness that will preserve us. He has sanctified us in Him,
in conforming us to His image, given us a spiritual. We were
dead, trespasses and sins, spiritually dead. He has given us spiritual
life in Christ that we may understand spiritual things. For God is
spiritual. God is spirit and truth. And he's given us that faith.
We don't have any of our own. God gives us faith. It's a gift
of God. He gives it. And it works by
love. For he's love. And that faith of ours looks
to that object to the author and finisher of our faith, and
that's the faith of the Lord Jesus Christ, the faithful one. What Christ did, if you were
chosen in Christ by God's grace before the foundation of the
world, and he has shined his light in your darkness and reveal
Christ to you and Christ in you. If he's made you a new creature
in him, then what Christ did, we did. His works are our works. I didn't do anything. Neither did you. Christ did it
all. He has been made unto us wisdom. He's been made unto us righteousness,
sanctification, and redemption. It's His suffering, His perfect
obedience to God the Father as He walked on this earth. His
perfect righteousness that He brought in. It's His blood shed
for the forgiveness and remission of sins. His life on this earth,
his death, his resurrection, all according to the scripture,
he fulfilled all things. And because he is in us and we're
in him, because he is sinless, that new man in Christ is sinless. Not our flesh, not our old man.
We still sin, we are sin. He's holy. It's Christ in us. Because he is holy, we are holy. Because he is righteous, so are
we. He has made us one with God in
him. We have peace with God through
his shed blood. There is no sin in him. The God man, our redeemer. We're born of his spirit. And that's by the will of God. We're born in corruption. But
that seed in us will be raised in incorruption. John 6 verse 38. Christ said, for I came down
from heaven not to do mine own will, but the will of him that
sent me. And this is the Father's will
which has sent me. that of all which he hath given
me, I should lose nothing, but raise it up again at the last
day. And this is the will of him that
sent me, that every one which seeth the sun, and believeth
on him, may have everlasting life, and I will raise him up
at the last day. Christ will raise up his purchased
possession. at the last day. He is our only acceptance to
God. And he's enough. He's enough. God's grace is sufficient. In
Christ Jesus, he did it all. And he did it perfect. God cannot lie. God cannot change. Therefore
we have a good hope. We have a surety. He's made a covenant and he is
the mediator of it. And he's perfect. And we are
made perfect in him. It's for Christ's sake for his
name's sake. His honor. His honor is at stake. He is not going to fail. He cannot. The Lord our righteousness. We're
his adopted children. And he has given us his name.
We're his bride. The church is his bride. And
he's given us his name. The Lord our righteousness. And
we shall have no fear in the day of judgment. For we're in
him, but the wicked and the unjust. they shall remain unjust still. Fourthly, when Christ comes again,
the final judgment shall be made. Only Christ is worthy to open
those books, those books that he talked about.
here in our text, and I saw the dead, small and great, stand
before God, and the books were opened, and another book was
opened, which is the book of life, and the dead were judged
out of those things which were written in the books according
to their works. God doesn't need books to remember
your works. This is a picture. This is a
picture of His being the all-knowing, omnipotent, all-seeing God Almighty. He knows all things. He's purposed
all things. He ordains all things. Nothing takes God by surprise.
He doesn't need books. He's omnipotent. But this shows
us That He knows all things visible and invisible. He created all
things for His purpose and for His glory. He knows even the
thoughts and the intents and even the motives of our hearts. Nothing is hidden from Him. And
no sin, no sin in anyone is going to go unpunished. Not one. The wages of sin is death. And he, the righteous and holy
judge, and he's not a respecter of persons. His judgment is righteous and
true. When our sins, when all the sins
of God's elect were made to be Lord Jesus Christ, When he was made to be sin for
us who knew no sin, God the Father punished him. He punished him with all the
wrath and holy judgment. Nothing was left to spare. All the wrath that we deserve,
he bore it in his own body. on that cross. God the Father punished his son
with all the fury of his holy wrath until his holy justice that we
offended was completely and totally satisfied. God was satisfied. We deserved the wages of sin we deserve death
that separation from God for eternity. We deserved that lake
of fire. We deserve God's wrath for eternity. But Christ Jesus bore it all in his body. On that cross, just try to wrap your mind around
that. We don't even know what he suffered
on that cross. We're told, but we cannot even
imagine. But he suffered it in our room
instead. what would took an eternity.
We'd never be able to pay for one sin for eternity. He paid
for all his elect's sins in his body. But by grace, by faith given
to us by God, In His Son, by His Holy Spirit
working in us, He's give us faith to believe that there's no sin left to be
punished. He perfectly put it away. And when we face Him in judgment, we're not going to be punished.
God will not punish us ever, not now, not ever, for sin. He'll correct us. He will instruct
us. When we sin, we will sin. We
do sin continually. But we have an advocate with
the Father. We have a high priest. Lord Jesus Christ, the God-man,
he who suffered and died and rose again on that third day,
he sits on that great white throne. He sits on that throne right
now. And he rules and he reigns supreme, sovereign. And he says, children, you can
come to me. And I'll give you help. You confess
your sins to me and I'll forgive you. He's already put them away. He's already done it. But he'll convict you of it,
because we will sin until this day, until that day that he separates
us from this body of sinful flesh. But we have that hope, we have
that hope. That old man that was crucified
on the cross with him, who is dead to the law, Because he fulfilled
the law perfectly in our room instead? He took the curse away
from that law, made it honorable? There won't be any charge because
there's no sin. He put it all away for his elect,
that mediator of a better covenant. He fulfilled the covenant. And lastly, the fifth thing, to those who are not in Christ, there is no comfort. Your dirty rags of righteousness
and your works of your own hands, no matter how sincere you thought
they were, No matter how man applauded you for them, they are an abomination to God. And we will not accept anything
less than perfect. And the only perfect one, the
only perfect works that were ever done were by his only begotten
son, Jesus Christ. Grace and works do not mix. It's either of grace or it's
of works, and it's of works, it's not of grace. Proverbs 21, 4 tells us an high
look and a proud heart and the plowing of the wicked, even the
plowing of the wicked to provide food for themselves and their
families and others is sin. God won't accept it. only Christ. And the wicked shall part into
eternal punishment. God knows our works. He knows
all things in the books. You stand in Christ alone or
you stand alone. And in conclusion, Those who are not in Christ will
be cast into the lake of fire. And God will be just and right
to do it. And it won't be anybody's fault
but your own. You can't blame God for it. You
can't blame anybody else for it. You didn't bow to him, you didn't
believe on his name. You did not believe on the Son
of God whom he sent. And you would not submit to God. And you'll be punished and die
in your sins. But those in Christ, though you merited nothing, we
merited nothing. The only thing we can take Any credit for it is a sin. And
we're full of that. God will be just and right to
say, enter in my beloved son. Because it is all for Christ's
sake that he is pleased to call us his people. And he is pleased
to call us his people in Christ. It pleases God to call you his
children and his sons. For he did it all. How we know? Because the God-man Jesus Christ
is seated on that great white throne of glory. There's your assurance. He was
raised again. He was exalted. That great and
sovereign, holy God on his white throne. And every knee shall bow and
every tongue shall confess that he is Lord. 1 Corinthians 15, let's flip over
there one more time. 1 Corinthians 15 verse 24. Then cometh the end when he shall
have delivered up the kingdom to God, even the Father, when
he shall have put down all rule and all authority and power,
for he must reign till he hath put all enemies under his feet.
The last enemy that shall be destroyed is death, for he hath
put all things under his feet. But when he saith all things
are put under him, it is manifest that he is expected, which did
put all things under him. All this was done before the
foundation of the world. It was accomplished when Christ
came, manifested in the flesh, and did the work that the Lord
gave him. And he finished it perfectly. But we haven't experienced
everything. We haven't experienced the glorification. But he promised that we will.
He is God. God the Son and God the Father
are one. That triune God, God the Father,
God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit, they are one. They are
the one and only sovereign God. And we shall be complete in him
without sin, because he's going to change us to be like unto
him. His elect, when he comes again,
those books shall be opened. All shall be judged according
to their works. His elect shall dwell with him
in glory forever, praising him, worthy is the Lamb of God. We shall have no part in the
second death. Only the wicked will be cast
into the lake of fire. And they'll suffer the wrath
of God's holy justice, separate from God forever. But those in
Christ, he hath prepared for us a place. And he says we cannot even imagine
what God has prepared for us in glory. And he did it all before the
foundation of the world. And we know, we know this answers
Romans 8 verse 28. And we know that all things work
together for good to them that love God, to them who are the
called according to his purpose. He's purposed this all before
the foundation of the world. Says for whom he did foreknow,
those he chose in his son, he also did predestinate them to
become conformed to the image of his son, that he might be
the firstborn among many brethren. Moreover, whom he did predestinate,
them he also called. In whom he called, them he also
justified. In whom he justified, them he
also glorified. He says it's already done. but
we're going to experience it when he comes again. And what
shall we say then of these things? Of God before us, who can be
against us? We'll never be separated. Nothing
can separate us from the love of God. And when he comes again,
we shall see him face to face. Our faith, that object of our
faith, the author and finisher of our faith will be sight. He'll be psyched. Now I know in part, but then
shall I know even also as I am known. Because we're going to
be like him. He's going to change us. We're
going to be conformed to the image of his son. We're going
to be in him. We're going to be one with him.
We're going to be married to him. For my name is written in
that other book, the Lamb's book of life. Oh, glory to God. I'll be judged in the righteousness of Christ
Jesus. I'll be judged in him. God don't judge me in myself,
judge me in him. For I merited nothing. It is
all of Christ's meritorious works that the Father sent him to do,
those that he finished. So we say thank you, Lord, for
your free and sovereign grace in your only begotten Son, the
Lord Jesus Christ. It's only in him who we have
no fear on that day Only in Him will we be accepted, be the kingdom
of God in Christ for eternity without sin. Amen.