The book of Revelation chapter 20. Revelation chapter 20. I'm going to bring a message this morning on the subject of the great white throne judgment. The great white throne judgment. So we'll begin reading at verse 11. We'll go down to verse 15. John says, I saw, and I saw a great white throne, him that sat on it, from whose face the earth and the heaven fled away. 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. The dead were judged out of those things which were written in the books according to their works. The sea gave up the dead which were in it and death and hell delivered up the dead which were in them They were judged every man according to their works, and death and hell were cast in a 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 our studies of eschatology, all of it has been very serious. All of the events, all of the Topics that we've covered and really we've only covered We've only done an overview we've not dived really deep into these things Certainly if we did we would have taken a lot longer on these things but It's all been serious This one though is one that I want us to understand is very serious. It's more than just a mark on the paper, a piece of the timeline, a tick on the, or a blip on the map, so to speak. It's more than that. It's more than that. I want us to catch the emotion of it all. Sometimes, sometimes I think we, we've allowed others to rob us of the emotion. And this, this is real. It's a real place, real time, and real people will be involved. Regardless of where you place in your belief the timing of the rapture, regardless of where you are with your eschatology, the reality is everybody in this world up to this point has an appointment with death. Statistically speaking, 100% of the people who have ever lived in this world have died. That's a statistic that everyone should agree with. Everyone in this world, up to this point, has died or will die from something. And then what? And then what? Well, without Jesus, this, this is what's coming. The other day I was reading, actually Friday, I was reading, I believe it was Friday, I was reading in Luke chapter 13. So if you'll hold your place there in Revelation chapter 20, go with me to Luke chapter 13. Sometimes my private readings come into my sermons, and this is one of those times. In Luke chapter 13, beginning of verse one, There were present at that season some that told him of the Galileans whose blood Pilate had mingled with their sacrifices. And Jesus answering said unto them, suppose ye that these Galileans were sinners above all the Galileans because they suffered such things? I tell you, nay, but except ye repent, ye shall all likewise perish. or those 18 upon whom the tower in Siloam fell and slew them. Think ye that they were sinners above all men that dwelt in Jerusalem? I tell you, nay, but except ye repent, ye shall all likewise perish." So I was reading that and all the while thinking about what I was about to preach, this text in Revelation. As I was reading this, Luke, I ventured over to J.C. Ryle and his excellent expository thoughts on the Gospels. And he had some comments on that. Isaiah and I was looking at that on Saturday, yesterday. And the fact is that there are, and Ryle brought it up in his commentary, and it's true in Jesus' day, it's true in Ryle's day. Ryle lived in the 1800s. It's true in our day. People talk about death, but they talk about the extreme cases of death, the murders, the situation that happened there in Luke 13, whatever this was, the Galileans where Pilate had mingled their blood with the sacrifices, whatever that was, okay? the Tower of Siloam that fell. People were apt to talk about those things. People were apt to talk about the Twin Towers that fell, the school shootings. They'll talk about those things. They'll talk about the extreme, sudden deaths like that. The tsunamis, the hurricanes, the tragedies, we all know them. They happened in our day. They happened in Ryle's day. They happened in Christ's day. They're all over the news. People talk about them. But what don't people talk about? What don't people like to talk about? People don't like to talk about the fact that we will die someday. They don't like to talk about the fact that you and I have an appointment with death also. We don't like to talk about our own death. Easily we'll talk about other people's deaths, but not ours. People won't talk about theirs, even though statistically 100% of people die. And friends, the state of your soul ought to be of great concern, great concern. Because when you pick up the newspaper, when you read the obituaries, The reality is that death is no respecter of persons. When you look at a great tragedy like the Tower of Siloam or the Twin Towers or the hurricanes, the reality is death happens to young people as well as old people. When you walk through the cemetery and you see the graves there, do you realize that those people who are dead, they all had plans for the next day, the next week, the next year, but those plans were canceled because they had an appointment that many of them did not consider. Many of them took more time planning their next vacation and they took planning for eternity. And so notice how Jesus took this conversation in Luke chapter 13. When the conversation went the way that it did, as they told him of the Galileans whose blood Pilate had mingled with the sacrifices. He took that conversation and he turned it around to repentance. That's what's important. That's what's important. Twice he declares emphatically, except you repent, you shall all likewise perish. Oh beloved, beloved, it is important that if you have on your bucket list of things to do, that if you've never repented of your sins, if you've never trusted in Christ, this ought to be at the top, that this ought to be taken care of without delay. In Acts chapter 17, this is hardly preached anymore, but it's important. Those old preachers in the New Testament, and they were preachers of grace. Understand that. They preached grace. They believed the sovereignty of God. But when they got out and preached, look how they did. In Paul, in Acts 17 and verse 30, he says, And the times of this ignorance God winked at, but now commendeth all men everywhere. But now commandeth all men everywhere to repent, because he hath appointed a day in the which he will judge the world in righteousness by that man whom he hath ordained, whereof he hath given assurance unto all men, in that he hath raised him from the dead. God commands all men everywhere to repent. Unless you repent, you'll die and you'll end up at this Great White Throne Judgment. You see, that's why when I say this is a serious subject, that's why when I say we can't escape the emotion out of it. That's why when I say it's more than just a checkbox in a square or on paper of a timing of when this will be. We've got to realize that this is real. The only hope you have is to repent and believe in Jesus Christ. The only time you have is now, in this lifetime. Those of you who know Christ as your Savior, praise God, we won't be there. Thank God we won't be there, but listen, we have friends, we have loved ones who will, and we ought to warn to flee, to run to Jesus, for that's the only hope that they have. Let's go back to our text there in Revelation chapter 20. Let us consider this place, this judgment, what the text says about it. Revelation chapter 20 and verse 11, and he says, 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. John begins painting this picture, the vision that he saw, as he sees this great white throne and Jesus sitting upon it, the righteous judge of the world. There'll be no jury, no lawyers, Only Christ. Sitting there on the throne. And right away we sense the dread of that place. So we see the sinners that are there and it says, and there will be no place for them. No place for them. What's that mean, no place for them? I believe this means that there is no hope. All hope is lost. There is no place for them before the God of heaven. There is no place for them before Jesus Christ. They have no standing before the judge of the world, you see. They have no legal standing. You and I, we have legal standing before God. Why? Because Jesus Christ died for us. We stand before God because we have the imputed righteousness of Jesus Christ. We can come boldly before the throne of grace. Why? Because of Jesus. But these folks, these sinners, they can't. There's no place for them. Oh, beloved. And I preach as a sinner to sinners and realize something that were it not for the grace of Almighty God, all of us would be destined for this, every one of us. This is what we all deserve, myself included. And as I read this, I know what I deserve and how thankful I am for the grace of almighty God. There's no retreating, no hiding, no place of safety by the time the dissenter gets there. There's no second chances. No place for them. This is not a trial. But more so a sentencing. Some people think of it as, they think of the afterlife as being well. When I get to the Lord, my good works will be weighed out with my bad works. If my good works outweigh my bad works, then he'll let me on into heaven. That's not how things work, folks. You're either in Christ or you're not. You're either saved or you're not. You see? And all these that stand before the great white throne judgment are those who died without Christ. That's it. The Bible tells us that all are sinners. That even our righteousnesses are as filthy rags. where we're at without Christ. Verse 12, John says, And I saw the dead, small and great, stand before God. The books were opened, and another book was opened, which is the book of life. The dead were judged out of those things which were written in the books according to their works. John, on the Isle of Patmos, and he's given this vision. He says, I saw the dead, small and great. There'll be all sorts of people there. There'll be rich people. There'll be poor people. Wealth has nothing to do with whether you'll be at the great white throne judgment. There'll be people who were something in this world, and then there'll be people who were nothing in this world. In other words, there'll be people who are well-known, very well-known in this world, famous, perhaps Hollywood actors and actresses, big screen Hollywood stars. heard of, they'll be there. Because fame will have nothing to do with it. It won't be fame or fortune. There'll be some people who will have great heritage, perhaps descendants of some famous people. Perhaps some people who were descendants of Abraham and Isaac and Jacob. There'll be descendants there who were descendants of George Washington and famous individuals like, I don't know. whoever you can think of, even some famous preachers, their children and grandchildren may even be there. Charles Spurgeon's children, grandchildren, great-grandchildren, whatever, they may be there too. Because having a great ancestry doesn't mean anything, won't keep you from being at the Great White Throne Judgment. There'll also be people there who don't know who their ancestors are. There'll be people who didn't have an exciting family line. Small and great, you see? None of that'll matter. There'll be people there who were great sinners, and there'll be people there who were small sinners. What I mean by that is, in the eyes of man, you think of great sinners, what do you think about Adolf Hitler, Osama bin Laden, you know, guys like that. Some of the serial killers, school shooters and those guys, I won't name their names, You know who they are, the great, the horrible, horrible people. But then there may be some, what we would think of as small, small sinners. Maybe didn't really cause a lot of trouble in this world, but yet never repented of their sins. Never believed in Jesus Christ. My point is, and I believe what the Bible is bearing out here, is that all the dead, small and great, rich and poor, free in bond, young and old, nobody will be left out. Everyone who dies without Christ will be at this hopeless, Fearful judgment. Jesus brought it out in Matthew chapter 7. Matthew chapter 7 verses 21 through 23. Not everyone that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven, but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven. Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? In thy name have cast out devils, in thy name done many wonderful works. Then will I profess unto them, I never knew you, depart from me, ye that work iniquity. It's easy to think about the great white throne judgment and outside sinners. Horrible sinners will be there. But let us consider the big picture. There'll be some professing Christians who are there. People who weren't trusting in Christ, but they were trusting in their works. Jesus went from talking about false prophets to false professors in this text here in Matthew chapter seven. He went from talking about unsound teachers to unsound hearers, you see. Folks whose trust and faith was not in Christ, but rather in their works, in their church membership, in their baptism, and all that sort of thing. Their hope was in all of that. So much so, by the time that they're before the Lord, they're arguing not on the finished work of Jesus Christ, but they're still arguing on the wrong thing. They're trying to say, hey, look, Lord, look at what we've done. Give us a chance. You see? You catch that? You catch that? Lord, have not we prophesied? Have not we? Look at what we did. That's not right. There's something wrong there. You see? You see? The reality is that if your faith and hope is on anything besides the finished work of Jesus Christ, you'll have no hope when you stand before the Lord. Christ is our solid rock upon which we stand, and our hope is in Him, beginning to ending. He is the author and the finisher of our faith. The dead is small and great. The books were opened, the Bible says. There in verse 13. God's got a library. I like that. I don't know everything about God's library, but I know that some of those books will be opened at the judgment. I do know some of God's library, 66 of those books we've got right here. I love that library, but I know it's going to be dreadful for the day at the judgment, at the great white throne judgment. I believe part of those books, some of those books will be open. It's going to be right here out of the word of God. John chapter 12, John chapter 12 and verse 48, look what the Bible says here. John chapter 12, verse 48. He that rejecteth me and receiveth not my words hath one that judgeth him. The Word that I have spoken, the same shall judge him in the last day." The Word of God. The Word of God. The Bible has saturated our world in such a great way over the past many years. But, you know, you can find the Bible so easily country and our language. Many homes even have the Bible. Even some homes that don't go to church or believe they have. I remember in Mansfield, I got a call one time. This man was all worked up and he was so concerned about things that were going on in his home. He wanted to know if I could just bring some Bibles and put in his house. to ward off some evil spirits. Listen, it's not a good luck charm or anything like that, you know, but I think sometimes people use it like that. Some people have Bibles in their homes with just enough dust on them so you could write the word damnation on the cover. It's a reality. God's gonna judge the world. with the Word of God, with the books that are open, one of them being the Bible. One of the books that the Scripture specifically mentions is the Book of Life. Before the foundational world, there's a Book of Life in which God's people are listed in it. Look, praise the Lord, God's got books and His books don't have any errors written in them. He's the ultimate record keeper and not one of His people is going to be missed or caught up in this great white throne judgment But all those who were not written in that book of life, they will be there. They will be there. In Matthew chapter 12, look what it says here. Matthew chapter 12, verses 36 and 37. But I say unto you that every idle word that men shall speak, they should give account thereof in the day of judgment. For by thy words thou shalt be justified, and by thy words thou shalt be condemned." Some books are going to be opened someday. What a terrifying thing that is for those who don't know the Lord. Things that are done in secret. People think they don't know what's going on. You know, all this thing that was just happening When, with Twitter and Elon Musk getting in there and finding all that stuff. You know, someday, someday things are gonna be a lot worse than that. When the Lord exposes the secret sins of men. Oh, what a horrible thing it's gonna be. What a horrible thing it's gonna be. The Bible is very, very clear on that. And it ought to make us tremble to think about it and to consider. Because it says, the dead were judged out of those things which were written in the books according to their words. Verse 13 of Revelation chapter 20, it says, and the sea gave up the dead which were in it, Death and hell delivered up the dead which were in them. They were judged every man according to their works. Nobody will be forgotten. Nobody will be left out. Nobody will be left behind. You know, we talked about the rapture and what a glorious day that'll be when the saved in Christ will be resurrected and we'll be given new bodies. And so our old bodies, you know, the pain, the trouble, the decay, the cancers, all those things will be gone when we're taken up out of the grave and we're taken up to be with the Lord. But it won't be that way for those who don't know the Lord. At the great white throne judgment, when the Bible says that the sea gave up the dead which were in it, death and hell delivered up the dead which were in them. I believe, I believe, and you can, you can take this however way you want it. But I believe that those bodies will be brought up the way that they were. The rot, the decay, the trouble, the pain, the horribleness of whatever they had, just however way they were, that's the way that they'll be resurrected. That's the way they'll be brought up, out of their graves, when it pulled up out of the sea, the rottenness, the filth, and all of that. All who are dead, whether in the sea or in the earth, none will be forgotten as this cemetery that we call earth purges itself of everything that's left. all the dead that's left in the earth to come up before the Lord at the great white throne judgment. They'll be judged based upon their works. Verse 14, death and hell were cast into the lake of fire. Now bear in mind, okay, this is important. Death and hell cast into the lake of fire. This is important because when it talks about the sea giving up the dead which were in it, death and hell delivered up the dead which were in them, okay? Understand that when the graves are emptied up out, Those bodies which were in the grave, those individuals which were in there, they weren't sleeping there. They weren't R-I-P. They weren't resting in peace since the day that they died, okay? People who die without Christ, the moment that they die, immediately go to hell. That's the reality of it. That's the script. The Bible is clear on that. The rich man and Lazarus. The Bible teaches us that immediately when the rich man died in hell, he lift up his eyes being in torment. His body was in the grave, but immediately he was in hell. The Bible tells us that he wished for water to cool his tongue. Even though he was in the grave, his body was in the grave, he wished for water to cool his tongue. I don't understand everything about it yet. Understand yet, because right now there's some things that have prevailed for me. I'm in a physical world at the moment. But I do know what the Bible tells me on the authority of Jesus Christ, who knew those things a lot better than I do. So these folks who are coming up out of the grave, they've already been in torment. for however long they've been dead, they've been in hell, okay? Their souls have, their bodies are just being reunited. Now, the Bible tells us that death and hell are cast in a lake of fire. At this great sentencing, which I told you is not a trial, it's a sentencing, that they are taken, body and soul, and thrown into the lake of fire. Think of it this way, and this is the best way that I can think of it, the best way that I can illustrate it. Hell is like the county jail, okay, temporary. holding place. The grave is also temporary, but the prison is the lake of fire. And that's where they're going for all eternity. For all eternity, never to be let out. There's no ending to this. Whoever is not written in the book of life, whoever does not repent of their sins, whoever does not know Jesus Christ as their Savior, This is, verse 14 says, the second death. Verse 15, whosoever was not found written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire. Do not think of it as being just some people you don't know, some folks that are in some far off place. Realize, beloved, these are friends, these are loved ones, these are individuals that you and I brush elbows with. These are folks that we work with, these are people that we're neighbors with, people that we're related to. Unless they repent, this is their destiny. in Mark chapter 16. Mark chapter 16. So we kind of bring this to a close here. Mark chapter 16, beginning of verse 15. He said unto them, Go ye into all the world, preach the gospel to every creature. He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved, but he that believeth not shall be damned. You and I, we have a message. We have the message. To preach the gospel to every creature. We don't know who the elect are. We don't know who's written in the book of life, but we've been told, take the gospel and carry it to every creature. Except you believe. Except you believe. You must believe or you'll be damned. Except you believe, you'll be at that great white throne of judgment. Oh, there's so many wonderful places that the Bible tells us about that I want to go and I want you to go, but there's this place that I don't want anybody to go to. May our friends, our loved ones, may you, if you're here today and you don't know Jesus, may you find no peace or rest for your soul until you find true peace and true rest in Jesus. Repent and believe. Repent and believe the gospel. That's the message. That's the only way. That's the only way. Let's close with a song. We'll have our song leader come. Piano player will sing a couple, two or three verses of an invitation hymn. If you've If you need to make profession of your faith, then you come. If you need to be baptized, the invitation is to come. Whatever it is, you come and may it be glorifying to God. Let's stand and sing. What number? 175. Work with the Lord in the light of His Word. What a glory He sheds on our way! What we do is good will, He abides with us still. People will trust in the way. Trust and obey, for there's no other way to be happy in Jesus, but to trust and obey. Not a shadow can rise, not a cloud in the skies, but His smile quickly drives it away. Not a doubt or a tear Not a sign or a tear Can abide while we trust and obey Trust and obey For there's no other way To be happy in Jesus But to trust and obey Right. Brother Berry, would you dismiss us in prayer, please?