The Last Judgment

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Philip of Macedon, the father of Alexander the Great, assigned one of his slaves a most unusual duty. It was to be done every morning regardless of the circumstances. He was to enter Philip’s presence and say this in a loud voice: “Philip, remember that you must die.” Remember that you must die. 

You’ve heard it said your entire life that only two things are certain in this life and that is, death and taxes. Well, that is partly right. Scripture says the real certainties are death and judgment. Hebrews chapter 9, verse 27 says, “It is appointed,”—that is, the Greek word, “it is inevitable”; “it is certain”; “it is destined” —"for men”—number one—“to die once”—and number two—“after this comes judgment.” Hebrews chapter 6, verses 1 and 2 lists eternal judgment as one of the basic foundational teachings of the Scripture. 

In the Old Testament, there are passages like Ecclesiastes 12:14, “God will bring every act to judgment, everything which is hidden, whether it is good or evil.” In the New Testament in Acts 17, verses 30 and 31, Paul says to the philosophers on Mars Hill, “God is now declaring to men that all people everywhere should repent, because He has fixed a day in which He will judge the world in righteousness.” Second Timothy chapter 4, verse 1, Paul says, Christ Jesus is “to judge the living and the dead.”

You see, Jesus our Lord, the very embodiment during the incarnation of the love of God, He was also a preacher of divine judgment. The word “hell” occurs twelve times in the New Testament, eleven times it comes from the lips of our Lord. Twelve of His thirty-six parables speak of coming judgment. Four times in Matthew, Jesus refers specifically to the “Day of Judgment.” You see, the testimony of Scripture is that not one sin ever escapes God’s notice and not one sin will ever go unpunished. That is the justice of God. 

Now for believers, our sins were judged on Christ on the cross. And so, there is no judgment for our sins. For us as believers, we will stand at the judgment seat of Christ and there our service will be evaluated but we will never be judged for our sins. They were dealt with permanently and finally when they were judged in Jesus on the Cross.

But this morning we come the future judgment of unbelievers. Now, let me first of all say that this public judgment that we are going to read about in just a moment and study together is not to determine the destiny of the people who stand at that judgment. That will already have been obvious at death. Believers are ushered immediately into His presence and unbelievers awake in the torment of hell. Destiny will already be settled by the time of this judgment. And God already knows the degree of punishment that each unrepentant sinner deserves. So, He doesn’t need to have a judgment to that end either. 

So, what is the purpose then of this public judgment? I think Louis Berkhof is right when he writes this: “It will serve the purpose of displaying before all rational creatures the declarative glory of God in a formal forensic act,” listen to this: “which magnifies on the one hand God’s holiness and righteousness and on the other hand, His mercy and His grace.” You see, it will display God’s glory. If for those who will stand at this judgment, the judgment of unbelievers, it will display His holiness, His justice, and His wrath. For those of us in Christ who will not stand at this judgment, it will display for us His mercy and His grace. 

We come this morning in our study of the book of Revelation to the central text on this last judgment. Let’s read it together, Revelation 20 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 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.

This passage tells us that at the last judgment every unredeemed sinner will stand individually before Jesus Christ to be judged, condemned and sent to the lake of fire to suffer forever and to suffer commensurate with his or her sins. This judgment is called “The Great White Throne Judgment” because of how the throne itself is described. This is the final judgment of every unbelieving person. 

Now as we walk our way through this passage, we are going to discover several details about this judgment. Let’s look at it together. The first detail we learn has to do with the day of judgment. The day of judgment or its timing. The timing of this final judgment is clear here in the context. Notice how verse 11 begins: “Then I saw.” In the last three chapters of Revelation that little phrase establishes a timeline of events. In fact, it establishes what we could call the seven last things. We’ve already looked at a number of them: the second coming; the battle of Armageddon; the binding of Satan; followed by the millennium; Satan’s final rebellion, that we looked at last week. That brings us to the sixth of those seven last things with the great white throne judgment. It begins as the others have with “then I saw.” This is the timeline of events.

Also, you will remember back in verses 4 and 6 of this 20^th chapter, there is a reference to a resurrection that is called “the first resurrection.” That’s the resurrection of the righteous: all of those who have believed in God through His Son Jesus Christ. That first resurrection occurs in two phases: it occurs for church age believers at the rapture prior to the seven-year tribulation. The second phase of that first resurrection, the resurrection of the righteous, occurs at the end of the seven years, the resurrection of tribulation saints and of the Old Testament saints as well. 

Now, that phrase “the first resurrection” implies what? A second resurrection. And the second resurrection is mentioned in verse 5 where it is simply referred to, notice verse 5, as the “resurrection of the rest of the dead.” The rest of the dead. It will include all who aren’t part of the first resurrection. Remember the first resurrection is a resurrection of the righteous, so this second resurrection, the rest of the dead, is the resurrection of all the unrighteous. All unbelievers. 

When does this second resurrection occur? Notice verse 5, “The rest of the dead did not come to life until the thousand years were completed.” So, the resurrection of unbelievers happens after the thousand-year millennium but before the New Heavens and the New Earth recorded in chapters 21 and 22. In Romans chapter 2, verse 5, Paul calls this judgment “the day of wrath and revelation of the righteous judgment of God.” It is the day of judgment.

There is a second detail we notice here and that is, the place of judgment. Verse 11 says, “then I saw a great white throne.” Where this judgment takes place is described in three simple, but terrible terms. First of all, “great.” That is, great in size. This is after all, the solemn majestic throne that is described so powerfully in Isaiah chapter 6 and again in Revelation chapter 4. It’s that throne. It’s size, the greatness of it, really has two ideas. The first is its awesome grandeur—its appearance is absolutely overwhelmingly majestic. But its greatness also describes the universal extent of its authority. This isn’t some little petty throne that governs some small piece of this earth. It is the throne of the universe. It is great. 

John also describes it as white. In Scripture, as well as in Revelation, white speaks of purity and holiness. This throne is characterized by perfect holiness and therefore, perfect justice. There will be no perversion of justice at this throne. God doesn’t grade on a curve. It’s always perfect holiness and perfect justice. You know, we live in a world that is literally filled with people, maybe you are one of them, who thinks that it’s going to go like this at the judgment: God is going to put your bad deeds on one side and your good deeds on the other and since you are essentially a good person, the good is going to outweigh the bad and God is going to let you in and it’s going to be okay. That is a great white throne. It is a throne in which there is no leniency; there is only perfect pure holiness demanded and shone and therefore, justice will be done. Everyone gets exactly what they deserve before this throne: perfect unwavering justice. There is no curve in God’s grading system.

Finally, it is called a “throne.” Because decisions in this courtroom are more than just a judge in some small courtroom. The decisions here are sovereign and they are permanent. There is no appeal. This is the universe’s supreme court. The overall impression that John got from what he saw and what he wants us to get from his description is that this great white throne is absolutely overwhelming. There is there infinite majesty before which puny humans can only fall as dead people. Can I say this directly to you if you are here this morning and you are not a follower of Jesus Christ? If, God forbid, you leave this life without repenting of your sins and believing in Jesus Christ, God’s Son, His life, death and resurrection as your only hope of being right with Him—if you leave like that, you will end up standing before this throne on this occasion and I promise you this, it will absolutely take your breath away. Your heart will be pounding out of your chest. You will simply want to be sick. Nothing you experience in this life, have experienced or will experience, compares to the terror of that moment. That moment when you realize God is real. The Bible is true. Eternity is forever and there is no way to change what is about to happen. There is no second chance. There are no excuses. There is no mercy. John says, “I saw a great white throne.”

Third, notice the judge on the throne, verse 11 says, “Then I saw a great white throne and Him who sat on it.” Revelation 22, verses 1 and 3, speak of “the throne of God and of the Lamb.” You see, God the Father and God the Son share the throne. But judgment is the special work of the

Son. Jesus said this repeatedly while He was here on earth. In John chapter 5, verse 22, Jesus says, “not even the Father judges anyone, but He has given all judgment to the Son.” John 5 verse 27, the Father gave the Son of Man “authority to execute judgment.” Peter said to Cornelius in Acts chapter 10, verse 42, “He ordered us to preach to the people, and solemnly to testify that [Jesus] this is the One who has been appointed by God as Judge of the living and the dead.” Paul to the people gathered on Mars Hill in Acts 17:31, says that 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 [who that is] by raising Him from the dead.”

So understand that the judge in this courtroom, the judge before whom every unbeliever will stand is none other than Jesus Christ—the One through whom God made the world; the Creator and Sustainer of all things; the One who took upon Himself full and complete humanity; the eternal Son of God, made flesh, who came and dwelt among us, who lived a perfect life of obedience to God so that He might redeem those by His death, who were alienated from God. So that He might reconcile us to God, He offered Himself to absorb the full wrath of God on behalf of every sinner who would believe in Him and then God raised Him from the dead. That One, the One through whom forgiveness is offered to every sinner is the One who will sit on that throne. That day He will not be on a cross. He will be on this Great White Throne.

Notice how John describes Him, verse 11, “from whose presence earth and heaven fled away.” There is something so terrible, so awe-inspiring about the glorified Christ that the entire creation will shrink away in terror. John adds in verse 11, “and no place was found for them.” You see, at the time of this final judgment, the universe itself will be uncreated and will go out of existence. Look at chapter 21, verse 1, “Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth; for the first heaven and the first earth passed away.” In 2 Peter chapter 3, Peter describes how this will happen, 2 Peter 3, verse 10, he says, “the day of the Lord will come like a thief, in which the heavens will pass away with a roar and the elements will be destroyed with intense heat, and the earth and its works will be burned up.” He goes on to say in verse 12, “The heavens will be destroyed by burning, and the elements will melt with intense heat.” We will talk more about this next time, but it appears that God will unlock the power of the atomic structure and the subatomic structure of our universe, and the entire universe will simply erupt into explosion and destruct. The created universe will cease. Think about this, on the day of this judgment, there will be nothing but God and people. David MacLeod writes “At that moment the single focus of the universe will be God’s throne. The throne stands isolated, majestic and terrifying. Everything else will have passed away.”

Next fourthly, John describes the defendants on trial, verse 12, “And I saw the dead, . . . standing before the throne.” “The dead standing,” obviously, implies they will have been resurrected which is exactly what verse 5 teaches. The rest of the dead will come to life after the thousand years are completed. “The rest of the dead” in verse 5 are the dead standing ones in verse 12. So, the only ones at this judgment will be unbelieving sinners that, according to verse 6, they are those who are subject to the second death. In other words, this judgment will only be for every single person who has refused to turn from his or her sin and to follow Jesus Christ as Savior and Lord. Again, understand what this is. This revelation comes from Jesus Christ to John His apostle. In other words, I am not telling you this today. Jesus is telling you this. If you are here and you have not repented of your sins, you have not believed in Him, the very judge before whom you will stand is warning you today about what is coming. In His grace and in His patience, He is saying, “Listen, this is what is going to happen to you if you refuse to repent.” 

John adds in verse 12, “the small and the great.” There are no exceptions; there are no exemptions. The important people will be there and the unimportant; the rich and the poor; the young and the old; blue blood aristocrats and the homeless; academics and the uneducated; the world’s most powerful and influential and the nobodies; the ultra-religious and the secular atheists. They will all be there. No exceptions. Everyone who wasn’t a part of the first resurrection of the righteous will be resurrected for this second resurrection and will stand at this judgment. 

John Phillips writes, 

The dead small and great, stand before God. Dead souls are united to dead bodies in a fellowship of horror and despair. Little men and paltry women whose lives were filled with pettiness, selfishness, and nasty little sins will be there. Those whose lives amounted to nothing will be there, whose very sins were drab, dowdy, mean, peevish, groveling, vulgar, common, and cheap. The great will be there, men who sin with a high hand with dash and courage and flair. Men like Alexander and Napoleon, Hitler and Stalin will be present, men who went in for wickedness on a grand scale with the world for their stage and who died unrepentant at last. Now one and all are arraigned and on their way to be damned: a horrible fellowship congregated together for the first and last time.

Where will these dead come from? Look at verse 13: “Death and Hades gave up the dead which were in them.” Death refers to all of those who have died but weren’t resurrected with the righteous. Hades can refer either to hell or the grave, but together death and hades includes all who have died and been buried but weren’t in the first resurrection: the resurrection of the righteous. 

But curiously, John adds a third when he says, verse 13, “and the sea gave up the dead which were in it.” Now, to be honest, we don’t know for sure why John mentions the sea in addition to death and the grave. But I think it is likely because the ancients believed that if you were not properly buried, you would experience neither blessing nor judgment. You were kind of caught in this no man’s land. That’s not true but it’s possible that John included those lost at sea to make it clear that every unbeliever will be at this judgment. The point is all unrepentant dead will be there regardless of where, when, or how they died or where they were buried. 

A fifth detail about this last judgment is the legal evidence of guilt. The legal evidence of guilt. Now there are three lines of evidence that will be brought to bear at this judgment to prove their guilt. One of them is mentioned elsewhere and two of them are in our passage. Let’s start with the one elsewhere. The first line of evidence will be the law of God. The law of God. The substance of God’s law, Romans 2:14-16, tells us is written on every human heart. In other words, there’s not a single human being that’s ever been born, whether they had a Bible or not, who didn’t understand the basic substance of God’s law: that God is holy, that He has demands, and that they will be punished for their failure to obey Him. In fact, Romans 1:32 speaking of pagans who don’t have the Bible, who don’t claim to worship the true God, they “know the ordinance of God.” How? Through the law written on the heart: “that those who practice such things are worthy of death, [yet] they not only do same, but also give hearty approval to those who practice them.” 

But many have the Bible, they have God’s written law. Look at Romans chapter 2, verse 11, “There is no partiality with God. For all who have sinned without the Law,” that is, they didn’t have it, “will also perish without the law.” They will be judged by the law written on their hearts. “And all who have sinned under the Law will be judged by the Law; for it is not the hearers of the Law who are just before God, but the doers of the Law.”

James 2:10 says, “Whoever keeps the whole law and yet stumbles in one point, he has become guilty of all.” In other words, God’s law will be evidence presented to prove the guilt of those standing at this judgment. Whether they had it written on the heart or whether they had it in the Scriptures.

Back in our text in Revelation 20, there is a second line of evidence and that is God’s record of every life. God’s record of every life. Look at verse 12. It speaks of books being opened, the middle of the verse, “books were opened.” And then it says, a little later, “and the dead were judged from the things which were written in the books according to their deeds. Look at verse 13, “They were judged, every one of them according to their deeds.” What are these books that are opened at the judgment? They are the divine record of every person’s life. These books represent Christ’s perfect knowledge of every sin every believer has ever committed. 

You know, it’s amazing in our day how much data can be stored on such a small amount of space. Back in the 1980’s, my first computer’s, I’m dating myself here, but my first computer’s entire memory was a 512k floppy disk. That was all the memory that we needed. It blew my mind the first time that I saw a CD which contained the entire Encyclopedia Britannica. And then when I got my first laptop that had a gig of memory, I remember thinking there is no way I will ever use that much memory. Now I have an external drive in my office smaller than a pack of cards that holds, I don’t know, two tetradactyl, no, two terabytes of information. So, it shouldn’t surprise us, should it, that the eternal perfect Son of God holds every detail about every person in His perfect infinite mind. 

And He will judge every person according to His perfect knowledge of their deeds. That will include their actions. In verse 12 and 13, we are told they are judged according to their deeds—their actions, specifically. Matthew 16:27 says, “The Son of Man is going to come in the glory of His Father with His angels, and will then repay every man according to his deeds.” You understand that Jesus Christ in His perfect omniscient mind knows every act you have ever committed good or bad. He knows every one of them. And He has never forgotten a single one. 

Not just that though. At the judgment, unbelievers will be judged for their words. This is staggering. In Matthew 12, verse 36, it says, “every careless word”—this is Jesus, He says,—“every careless word”—individually that people speak—“they shall give an accounting for it in the day of judgment.” We say so many words every day. We have said so many words this morning. Jesus knows every single one of them. And every word you have ever spoken, it is recorded in His divine mind. And it will be the basis for the judgment of those who refuse to believe in Him.

Thirdly, He will judge on the basis of thoughts, attitudes and motives. All the internal stuff. Romans chapter 2, verse 16, “on that day”—the day of judgment—“God will judge the secrets of men through Christ Jesus.” You know, in our world, you can be filthy on the inside and look pretty good to everyone else. Not in God’s world. He sees the dark as well as the light. He sees the heart as well as He sees the actions. So, the books record a perfect record of every life.

There is a third line of evidence introduced in verse 12, the Lamb’s Book of Life. The Lamb’s Book of Life. Verse 12 says, “and another book was opened, which is the book of life.” This mysterious Book of Life is mentioned five times elsewhere in Scripture: twice in the Old Testament; three times in the New; but six times here in the book of Revelation. What is the Book of Life? Well, it may be that is based on an image in the ancient world. Ancient cities often had a registry of the citizens of each city. And you couldn’t enjoy the privileges of citizenship unless your name was written in that written record. That may be the image behind the Book of Life.

But we learn a lot about this book back in chapter 13. Look at chapter 13 and verse 8. This verse is the fullest explanation of this Book of Life. Notice what he writes, “All who dwell on the earth will worship [antichrist]”—now, notice how he describes this book—“everyone whose name has not been written from the foundation of the world in the book of life of the Lamb who has been slain.” So, here we learn a couple of very important things. This Book of Life is a record of the elect. The names in it were written by God from the foundation of the world—the very same language used of election in Ephesians chapter 1, verse 4. 

But we also learn here that the Book of Life is the book of the Lamb who has been slain. In other words, the names recorded in this book are those who have believed in Jesus Christ, the Lamb slain for sins and sinners. This is the Book of Life. 

Now what distinct roles will these three lines of evidence have at the judgment? You have the law of God. You have the record of every life, and you have the Book of Life. What roles will those three lines of evidence play? First of all, most importantly, the Book of Life decides the final verdict: guilty or not guilty. Notice verse 15 of our text, Revelation 20, verse 15, “And if anyone’s name was not found written in the book of life, he was thrown into the lake of fire.” So, the Book of Life decides guilty or not and everyone standing at this judgment is not found written in this book and is found guilty. 

The other two lines of evidence are used like this: God’s record of every life, their actual deeds, and words, and thoughts, and attitudes are compared against His perfect law. And that determines the degree of punishment for each person. So, guilty or not guilty. Is your name written in the Book of Life?

The degree of punishment determined by the record of your life measured against the law of God. And there are degrees of suffering in eternal punishment. Turn to Matthew chapter 10. Matthew chapter 10, verse 14, Jesus says to His disciples, 

Whoever does not receive you, nor heed your words, as you go out of that house or that city, shake the dust off your feet. Truly I say to you, it will be more tolerable for the land of Sodom and Gomorrah in the day of judgment than for that city.

What is Jesus saying? He is the judge. He is saying, “Listen, there are going to be degrees of guilt and therefore, degrees of punishment.” He says the same thing in Matthew chapter 11, verse 20, “He began to denounce the cities in which most of His miracles were done, because they did not repent.” And He says in verse 21, “Woe to you, Chorazin! Woe to you, Bethsaida! For if the miracles had occurred in Tyre and Sidon”—these pagan cities—"which occurred in you, they would have repented. Nevertheless, I say to you, it will be more tolerable for”—for those pagan cities and the pagans who live there—"in the day of judgment than for you.” Capernaum, you have a special guilt for if the miracles that occurred in Sodom had occurred in you it would have remained to this day. Nevertheless, I say to you that it will be more tolerable for the land of Sodom in the day of judgment, than for you.” 

Do you know what Jesus is saying? The severest punishment in hell, there will be degrees of punishment, and the severest punishment in hell will not be solely for the worst sins you can think of or the sheer number of sins, the worst penalty will be for those who have the greatest knowledge of Him and the gospel and who reject it. In other words, don’t for a moment and sit there, think, “You know, I’m not as bad as the next guy.” If you have sat under the preaching of God’s Word in your life, you’ve had the opportunity again, and again, and again to be exposed to the gospel, to hear about Jesus Christ, and you have rejected Him time after time, after time, it will be worse for you at the judgment than the people who lived in Sodom and Gomorrah. That’s what Jesus says. 

Using these three lines of evidence, the decisions at the Great White Throne will be perfectly just. No one will claim they are innocent; the judgment is unjust. In fact, Romans 3, “Every mouth will be stopped.” Nobody is talking at the judgment. Christ’s verdict will be public. It will be just. And it will be unchangeable. 

There is one last detail here and that is the destiny of the condemned, verses 14 and 15. Look at verse 14, “Then death and Hades were thrown into the lake of fire.” All the wicked who had been raised from the dead and from the grave are now thrown into the lake of fire. In other words, there are no exceptions. No sinner will escape this destiny if his name is not found in the Lamb’s Book of Life. Verse 14 says, “This is the second death, the lake of fire.” In other words, the lake of fire is the second death. 

What does he mean “second death?” Scripture actually speaks of three manifestations of death. We are all born spiritually dead, Ephesians 2:1: “Dead in our trespasses and sins.” But the second death refers first to physical death, that’s the first death. The second death is this one. It’s conscious, living death forever. In other words, the second death is living death. Prolonged for eternity in the lake of fire. The second death is described in verse 15, “If anyone’s name was not found written in the book of life, he was thrown into the lake of fire. And what happens there? Go back to verse 10, Satan, antichrist, and the false prophet were “thrown into the lake of fire and brimstone,”—brimstone being the fuel for the fire, sulfur—“and tormented day and night forever and ever.” Chapter 14, verse 11, says that same fate awaits all Christ rejecting humans. Listen to this: “The smoke of their torment goes up forever and ever; they have no rest day and night”—into the ages of the ages. That’s the reality—the destiny of those condemned. Those who reach this second judgment, this last judgment.

The trial of the lost at the Great White Throne will be unlike any human courtroom. John MacArthur describes it this way, he says,

There will be no debate over their guilt or innocence. There will be a prosecutor but no defender. An accuser but no advocate. There will be an indictment, but no defense mounted by the accused. The convicting evidence will be presented with no rebuttal or cross examination. There will be an utterly unsympathetic Judge and no jury. And there will be no appeal of the sentence He pronounces. The guilty will be punished eternally with no possibility of parole in a prison from which there is no escape.

If you are here this morning and you have never believed in Jesus Christ, this passage is here as Christ’s grace to you. You understand this? This isn’t just to frighten you although it certainly should do that. This passage is Christ in His grace saying, “You don’t have to be there. If you will repent and you will believe in Me in My perfect life and substitutionary death to pay for your sins, then you can be exempt from this judgment. Your name can be written in the Lamb’s Book of Life.” This is His appeal to you. Romans 2, Paul says to unbelievers, “Do you think lightly of the riches of His kindness and tolerance and patience?” Think about your life, think about all the good things you enjoy. Are you thinking lightly about that? Paul says, “Do you not know that the kindness of God is supposed to lead you to repentance?” That’s what God intends. He is being patient and gracious and giving you so many good things to lead you to repentance. But Paul says, “but because of your stubbornness and unrepentant heart you are storing up wrath for yourself in the day of wrath and revelation of the righteous judgment of God. 

Listen, God is going to pour out His wrath on every sin you have ever committed. And that only happens one of two ways: it will either be on you forever in hell or if you will believe in His Son, He will allow His Son to have suffered in your place so that He can forgive you. Those are the only two ways it happens. But God’s justice demands that every sin be punished. It is your choice and I appeal to you today turn from your sin. Why? Why will you stand at this judgment? Why will you put it off? Why will you be stubborn in your heart and not bow the knee to your Creator? Not respond to the gracious invitation that Jesus Himself extends to you today? 

For believers, there are a couple of lessons I’ll just mention. First of all, it enables us to patiently endure injustice in this life. Knowing that the judgment of unbelievers is coming, we can face the injustices in this life. In some cases, some of us have been horrifically sinned against. We can bear them knowing that justice will be done. That was how Jesus was able to endure the injustices of the cross. 1 Peter chapter 2, verse 23, “and while being reviled, [Christ] did not revile in return; while suffering, He uttered no threats.” How could Christ endure the greatest injustice in human history? Here it is: “He kept entrusting Himself to Him who judges righteously.” He knew justice would come someday. We can do the same.

Number two: knowledge of this final last judgment motivates us to share the gospel with the lost. There are so many passages but the one who comes to my mind is Ezekiel 33:11, where God says to Ezekiel, say to the people; “Say [this] to them, ‘As I live! Declares the Lord God, ‘I take no pleasure in the death of the wicked, but rather that the wicked turn from his way and live. Turn back, turn back from your evil ways! Why then will you die?’” That needs to be our message to the people in our lives who will stand at this judgment. It motivates us to share the gospel.

Number three: it fills our hearta with gratitude for Christ. As you think about the fact that you won’t stand at the judgment, that you won’t be there, it should fill your heart with gratitude every day. In Luke chapter 10, verse 20, Jesus says, “Rejoice that your names are recorded in heaven. Rejoice that your names are written in the Lamb’s Book of Life.” Christian, a just and holy God knows every single sin you have ever committed, and He has a perfect record in His divine mind. He is bound by His unchanging character to punish every one of those sins. But that same God motivated by amazing love tore the pages from the book that is the record of your life, and He nailed those pages to the cross. Pilate put on the cross “here’s the reason Jesus dies: This is Jesus King of the Jews.” But God nailed to the cross the comprehensive list of your sins and mine and Jesus paid it all. You won’t stand at this judgment because Jesus absorbed God’s judgment on your behalf. The judge became the judged and the executed.

I love the way it is put in 1 Thessalonians 1, we “wait for [God’s] Son from heaven . . . Jesus, who rescues us from the wrath to come.”

Let’s pray together. Father, thank You for our time together this morning. I pray that You would use Your truth. Lord, for those of us who know You through Your Son, for those whom You brought to humble ourselves and to seek the forgiveness that is found in Jesus. Lord, may our hearts be inflamed to share the truth of the gospel with those who will one day stand at this judgment, people in our lives who will be there. May we pray for them. May we share the gospel with them. May we love them.

Father, I pray that You would also fill our hearts with gratitude. Lord, help us every day to rejoice that our names are written in the Book of Life—the Book of the Lamb slain before the foundation of the world. 

And Father, I pray for those here this morning who have never repented and believed in Jesus. Lord, help them to see this passage for what it is. It’s Your grace to them. It’s a kind invitation. A gentle warning of what’s coming so that they don’t have to be there. Lord, may they today give up their stubbornness and bow the knee to You and find the forgiveness, the reality that Jesus paid it all. We pray it in His Name. Amen