"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. 12 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. 13 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. 14 Then death and Hades were thrown into the lake of fire. This is the second death, the lake of fire. 15 And if anyone’s name was not found written in the book of life, he was thrown into the lake of fire."
Fear and confusion and propaganda continue to plague our nations. The resurgence of Covid is causing division and anxiety, perhaps greater than at any time this year. I believe that God is awakening us from our slumber, shaking us from our places of comfort and convenience. Calling us to humility, repentance and obedience. He's telling us that we cannot afford to quietly yield to deception and fraud any longer. He's in charge. That's never been more evident than it is today. Our lives and future are out of balance, and we've been forced to depend on God.
We've lost our way. We've come to believe that a relationship with Jesus Christ is having all our desires fulfilled, all of our dreams and ambitions and
goals met, all of the anticipated joys of life somehow fulfilled,
everything working out well for us, that we can continue on our current path on sin and we don't need to live in obedience or make any
sacrifices. That's just not true. In fact, that is exact the opposite of what Jesus teaches. We've been misled. And so, there's a shaking taking place. He's reminding us of the prospect of hell, and the judgment of God.
In Matthew chapter 5, in the fourth Beatitude, Jesus said "Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for
righteousness, for they shall be satisfied." It’s a matter of realizing
that you are spiritually bankrupt and have nothing and you hunger for it. I believe the issue lies in the fact, we aren't hungry enough. We don't want to concede that we don't have it all figured out and yield to the Lordship of Christ. Oh sure, we claim Him as Savior, but we have come to believe that we can follow Him on our own terms.
In John 8, Jesus said to the adulterous woman, "I do not condemn you, either. Go. From now on sin no more."
Lather, in John 14, He said "If you love Me, you will keep My commandments." I don't believe there's anything ill-defined about that. He made it abundantly clear. Once you have been forgiven of your sin, go and sin no more. There's nothing in Scripture that says, "You're forgiven, no go and continue in the sin you were committing before you were forgiven. Grace is not a license to sin.
That doesn't mean we won't be tempted, even Jesus was tempted. But He over came that temptation with the Word of God.
In I Corinthians 10, Paul teaches us "No temptation has overtaken you but such as is common to man; and
God is faithful, who will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you
are able, but with the temptation will provide the way of escape also, so that you will be able to endure it."
We should not be confused, I believe we have to make a choice. Are we going to continue to live for the world, and deny Christ. Or are we going to live for Christ and deny the world. If we choose the latter, we cannot continue to tolerate evil and wickedness within the church. I believe the Church of Christ is struggling with notion today. The challenge is not the unsaved, the pagan, or unrepentant sinners of the world. The problem is in the church. We cannot expect those who do not know Christ to behave as though they do. We've been called to a higher standard.
Laws can restrain evil, but they can't produce righteousness. Only the Holy Spirit can do that! We've relied upon the government to solve our problems, and we've neglected the responsibility of the church. Freedoms do not come to us from government, they come from God. We're confused. We've been trapped in darkness, chasing personal contentment and satisfaction. We've honored Him with our lips but not our lives.
You can say the sinners prayer and sit in a church and not be a Christ follower. You can volunteer, be generous and tithe and no be a Christ follower. We have to make a decision to yield to His Lordship. We must surrender our will to His.
Ephesians 5 says "Let no one deceive you with empty words, for because of these things the wrath of God comes upon the sons of disobedience. Therefore do not be partakers with them; for you were formerly darkness, but now you are Light in the Lord; walk as children of Light (for the fruit of the Light consists in all goodness and righteousness and truth), trying to learn what is pleasing to the Lord. Do not participate in the unfruitful deeds of darkness, but instead even expose them; for it is disgraceful even to speak of the things which are done by them in secret. But all things become visible when they are exposed by the light, for everything that becomes visible is light."
We been trying to please ourselves rather than learning what is pleasing to the Lord. We've strayed from the path. The good news is God has placed before us and open door. But it's up to us to choose to walk through it. The problem isn't because of everyone else, it's within us. We have to ask Christ for a spiritual evaluation. We have to be willing to accept His diagnosis. Not just disregard it because we dislike it or disagree. We must be honest with ourselves about who God says we are.
As the people of God, I believe we have to do better. And, I'm convinced we can. The Holy Spirit assures me of the that. But we have to be willing to humble ourselves, repent and clothe ourselves with the righteousness of Christ.
II Peter 1:5-7 says "Now for this very reason also, applying all diligence, in your faith supply moral excellence, and in your moral excellence, knowledge, and in your knowledge, self-control, and in your self-control, perseverance, and in your perseverance, godliness, and in your godliness, brotherly kindness, and in your brotherly kindness, love."
The objective of the enemy is to diminish our faith and ultimately extinguish our hope. I believe that the determining factor is not the strength of our opponent, but the plans and purposes of God. However, we have to trust Him enough to yield to our own will to His, lest we miss the opportunity we've been given.
Heavenly Father,
Father, we thank You for Your Word, though we must confess these are terrifyingly sobering words, words that cause us to weep over the lost, especially for those of us with loved ones who are not yet saved. Lord, we pray that You would send Your Spirit, to do a mighty work of conviction in the hearts of the lost. Disturb their peace until they surrender to Christ as Lord and Savior, lest they not perish and suffer eternal death in hell, but join us in eternal life in Your glorious Kingdom. Father, we rejoice for the unmerited salvation that is ours today because of Christ.
In His name we pray
Amen
Today's Message: There's A Great Day Coming
This is the last and final judgment of history following the end of the
Millennium. It is a stunning and solemn scene and one which should cause
us deep concern to our hearts for those who have never received Jesus Christ as their Savior. I believe that many of them will be our friends and family, because we don't want to be offensive, we don't want to be critical of those who believe differently than ourselves. Therefore, we don't speak to them about the life saving truth of Jesus Christ. Let's be honest, the truth is offensive. And, the mantra of our society has become "I'm offended." Being offensive did not seem to be high on Jesus’ list of priorities. He was compassionate but He always spoke of grace and truth, Jesus was a stumbling block to many. In fact, Jesus offended so many people, they crucified Him.
However, we find it t is much easier for us to talk about how loving Jesus was, than to be as loving as Jesus calls us to be. Though Jesus demonstrated the perfect love of God , because He spoke the truth of God, He was also offensive. He didn't sugarcoat the truth to protect peoples feelings. In Matthew 5, Jesus said "Love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’ But I tell you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you." Seriously?, that's the last we feel like doing when someone has wronged us. Then, in Matthew 6, Jesus even took it much further when he said, "But if you do not forgive others, then your Father will not forgive your transgressions." Jesus expected His followers to live by the highest moral standard. That has not changed today. He still has the highest standards of sexual purity, justice, righteousness and humility, and confronting our culture today with those subjects never goes over well. Remember, He even confronted the religious leaders of His day on their hypocrisy and their arrogance.
Allow me to point out, Jesus defended children, tax collectors, adulterers, and the lame. I'd like you to notice, He never defended Himself. Today, I want to challenge you to discern what offends you about Jesus. If you find yourself defending yourself, your actions,
your motives, then you are in a place to feel offended
by Jesus. If you are willing to be honest with yourself and
discover these weak areas, then you need to lift them up to God in
prayer, and humbly ask for God’s forgiveness, guidance ask Him to show you how you can
let go of your offense.
Let's go back to Revelation. 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." Thrones are mentioned approximately fifty times in the book of Revelation. This throne is a very different throne. In chapters 1, 4 and 5, it’s the throne of God in heaven, a majestic throne of rule and reign. This throne, is a throne of judgment and furious activity, somewhere in the midst of an uncreated universe. All of those who have scoffed at God, denied His existence, rebelled at His rule, or rejected His sovereignty and His Son, must now stand before His throne to be condemned to eternal judgment.
Notice John describes it as a "great white throne." Great is the Greek word "megas," which indicates its size, and the intensity or degree of something. Then he sees "Him who sat upon it, from whose presence earth and heaven fled away, and no place was found for them." Bear in mind, humanity no longer exists, all sinners have now been destroyed. There's no reason for the physical universe that has been stained by sin to exist. Satan, along with the beast and the false prophet
are gone, into the lake of fire, and all of
his demonic forces. This is the uncreation of the universe.
Verse 12, "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." In one straightforward, unembellished statement, John sets the scene. John sees the myriads of sinners awaiting their sentence before a Holy God. Look at John's description of those he sees, "the great and the small," here we see that God is no respecter of persons.
Then he says "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." These books symbolized God’s ability to remember accurately and precisely all of the evil deeds of the unbelievers, for which they now stand condemned. I have lost count of unbelievers and Christians who have said, "God isn't going to send me to hell! I have been basically a good person all of my life. My good deeds far outweigh my bad ones." Allow me to remind you that God demands perfection. Your best, isn't good enough! Do not be deceived. Your deeds will include every thought, every word, and every action. That's why we need a Savior.
God is the judge, and God sits on the throne in the form of Jesus Christ and judges through Christ .I believe this affirms that Jesus and God are one, beyond contradiction. God, in the form of the glorified Christ, sits on the throne in judgment, the One who was man to judge man. This is a staggering truth for those who have denied His deity.
In Matthew 10, Jesus said, "Fear Him who is able to destroy both soul and body in hell." Here, we witness the haunting reality of that warning. This is a court unlike any court we've ever experience. In This court, there will be no jury, no defense attorney. Nor is there a presumption of innocence. There will be no trial, only a concise and perfectly accurate rendering of the indictment against those who stand before the judge. In our society today, the holiness of God is ridiculed, there is nothing sacred in our culture, they suppress these truths in unrighteousness because it's offensive. They refuse to acknowledge their sin. Tragically, many Christians have been deceived. They cannot believe that God would judge sin and evil. I have heard many people say, "I disagree with this doctrine." God anticipates such ignorance and arrogance. However, this distorted perspective of God, is not the God of the Bible.
In verse 13, "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." These are the unbelieving dead that have existed down through the ages. Their immaterial souls have been in torment and now they are reunited with a resurrected body. The sea was that place where billions perished in the judgment of the great flood. Scripture teaches that at immediately upon death, the souls of unbelievers go to eternal punishment and torment. You will recall in Luke 16 where the rich man pleaded for Lazarus to dip the end of his finger in water and cool his tongue. God is going to summon the DNA found in the bodies of these unbelievers whether it be in the sea, the land or the grave.
In John 5, Jesus warned, "Truly, truly, I say to you, an hour is coming and now is, when the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God, and those who hear will live. For just as the Father has life in Himself, even so He gave to the Son also to have life in Himself; and He gave Him authority to execute judgment, because He is the Son of Man. Do not marvel at this; for an hour is coming, in which all who are in the tombs will hear His voice, and will come forth; those who did the good deeds to a resurrection of life, those who committed the evil deeds to a resurrection of judgment."
I must confess, this is hard to preach knowing that there may be ones that I love, who be among those gathering of the damned. As I prepared this message, I found myself repeatedly wiping tears from my eyes, crying out to the Lord, begging Him to be merciful to those that I love. Frequently pausing to pray that He would save them by His grace.
In verse 14, we come to a terrifying scene, "Then death and Hades were thrown into the lake of fire. This is the second death, the lake of fire." These have died once, and their spirit immediately went into torment; and they will now, in a sense, die again when spirit and body go into eternal torment. This is the second death. In the New Testament, it refers to the fires of hell, more than twenty times, most of those time were from Jesus Himself. You need to understand, it's not enough to know it's a lake of fire, this fire represents will be something that in incomprehensible. It is a place of fearful, frightening, horrifying pain, agony, and torment in which those who have rejected God's grace and mercy, will be thrown to burn alive for eternity!
That brings us to verse 15, in John tells us "And if anyone’s name was not found written in the book of life, he was thrown into the lake of fire."
The writer of Hebrews 10, verses 26-27 tells us " For if we go on sinning willfully after receiving the knowledge of the truth, there no longer remains a sacrifice for sins, but a terrifying expectation of judgment and the fury of a fire which will consume the adversaries."
In Closing..
I encourage you to make a decision. You can choose to say no to God and no to Jesus Christ's sacrifice for your sins, and with all certainly you will be looking forward to a terrifying expectation of judgment and the fury of a fire. I earnestly pray that no one receiving this message will be a part of that number.
If you want to know Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior, I beseech with you as a pastor of the Word of God, to pray, crying out to Him for forgiveness of sins, because if you haven’t, before the day of judgement, we've been studying.
If you consider yourself a Christian, claiming the name of Christ, but living in disobedience to His commands, continuing the sinful ways of your past, may I remind you that Jesus has said that not everyone who calls me Lord
will enter the kingdom, that there will be more deceived, than authentic Christians. Utilize this opportunity to ask Him to examine your heart and convict you of anything that is displeasing to Him. Then turn from your sin and place your faith in the Living Christ and be saved.
May it be so..
the Lord make His face shine upon you,
And be gracious to you;
The Lord lift up His countenance upon you,
And give you peace.
Now and forever, in Jesus' name
Amen
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