Great White Throne Judgment
Revelation 20:15
And whosoever was not found written in the book of life
was cast into the lake of fire.
(scariest verse in the Bible)
Judgment(s)
This is not what many believe to be the one general judgment. There is no one general judgment.
This judgment is quite specific. The judgment seat of Christ is also quite specific.
Due to serious lack of Bible study, most Christians do not know how to distinguish between the two. And when I say most, I am including people who have been in Bible-believing churches for their whole life and have no clue what the judgment seat of Christ and the great white throne judgment are.
Unfortunately, they have not ever been in a Bible-studying church with a Bible-studying preacher. So they just don’t know and it is just as much their fault as it is their preacher’s fault.
Look at it this way. Christ died on a cross in the middle of two sinners (like you and me).
One accepted him, his sins were forgiven, and his soul took off to paradise (more about that later). He is headed for the judgment seat of Christ where he will not be judged for sin. Only his works since salvation will be judged of what sort they were for the purpose of eternal rewards. He won’t have much, but he did confess Christ in front of a bunch of people. So he probably has more than most Christians.
The other sinner rejected Christ, died with his sins on himself, and took off to hell. He is headed for the great white throne judgment at the end of the Millennium where his sinful life will be judged against the sinless life of Jesus Christ.
Acts 17:31
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.
He will be in hell for 1,007+ more years waiting for this hearing. If he measures up to Christ, which he obviously won’t, he goes to heaven on earth. When he doesn’t measure up, which is obviously the case, he goes to the lake of fire, FOREVER.
Revelation 20:15
And whosoever was not found written in the book of life
was cast into the lake of fire.
See the difference? They can’t possibly be the same judgment. Satan wants you to think so, so he has his new version Bibliolaters change “judgment seat of Christ” to “judgment seat of God” in Romans 14:10. See how it works? Change the words, change the doctrine. Get the saved person (including preachers) off-base a little now, and they wind up way off further down the road. In this case, they end up thinking they have to work for salvation and lose out altogether.
Thief On The Cross Sidetrack
Barabbas was a close second, but the thief on the cross was the luckiest guy that ever lived. He was moments from death and hell and the Lamb of God was physically next to him dying for the sins of the world.
And that’s indicative of what many unsaved people think is going to happen to them. They say they will get to it or they will start livin’ it someday. They know they have to take care of it sooner or later, but they are committing spiritual suicide.
What they don’t consider is that their life is as fragile as a spider on a web above a campfire (Look up “Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God” sermon by Jonathan Edwards). They can be killed, maimed, or just aged by life to the point that they can no longer comprehend the gospel. They will die unsaved because they did not accept the offer while it was on the table. Know anyone like that? Get their attention and let God go to work on them.
And another thing from this skinny-gene guy being chased by the AARP: You typical Americans that are eating, drinking, and/or smoking yourself to an early grave - you are taking “ten to twenty” off your life which may include the time period you need to realize spiritual things. Stay healthy as long as you can so you will at least have the benefit of God’s longsuffering to make the gospel message stick.
End of Thief On The Cross Sidetrack
When, What, Where, & Why
OK, we are at the end of the millennium, which is described in Revelation 20:7-10. Satan is loosed and goes out to gather an army to attack Christ in Jerusalem. God sends fire from heaven and devours Satan and his army. Satan is “cast in the lake of fire and brimstone, where the beast and the false prophet are, and shall be tormented day and night for ever and ever.”
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See what pride will do for you. |
Then comes the great white throne judgment:
Revelation 20:11-15
11 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. The earth and heavens have been burned up (II Peter 3:12-13). Those to be judged are suddenly suspended in space in front of God Almighty, from whose face the earth and the heaven fled away. The eternal lake of fire is somewhere below them.
Revelation 20:11-15
11 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. The earth and heavens have been burned up (II Peter 3:12-13). Those to be judged are suddenly suspended in space in front of God Almighty, from whose face the earth and the heaven fled away. The eternal lake of fire is somewhere below them.
12 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.
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 their works. The unsaved dead are judged according to their life works which are recorded in books. Their sinful life is compared to Christ’s sinless life. They have no righteousness of their own (Isaiah 64:6, Romans 3:10) and they now know why Christ died for the ungodly.
14 And death and hell were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death.
15 And whosoever was not found written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire. Verse 15 should be the scariest verse in the Bible to an unsaved person. If this is pointed out to them, they should at least ask how to be found written in the book of life. It obviously has to be the book of names of saved people. Since the saved have no sin imputed to them, their works are not judged for salvation. Their works since salvation were written in another book and were judged for the purpose of eternal rewards only. So the lake of fire is the final destination of the devil, his angels, and the unsaved dead.
Isaiah 66:23-24
And they shall go forth, and look upon the carcases of the men that have transgressed against me: for their worm shall not die, neither shall their fire be quenched; and they shall be an abhorring unto all flesh. Jesus himself said three times in Mark 9 that hell was “Where their worm dieth not, and the fire is not quenched.” And Isaiah 66:24 says the same thing in the context of verses 22-23 where the lake of fire can be viewed by others beyond the millennium. So one is no better than the other, the lake of fire just isn’t out of sight. It is somewhere for all to view.
Honestly, I can’t get my head around this. The unsaved dead are going to be in fire, as the carcass of a worm, “and the smoke of their torment ascendeth up for ever and ever” (Revelation 14:11).
Will unsaved "Betty Lou Smith" (faithful wife, soccer mom, PTA member, Red Cross volunteer, agnostic, good person) become a worm in a lake of fire and realize that she is a worm in a permanent lake of fire? Does the worm have some of the capacities and senses of the woman?
I don’t know, I don’t want to know, I just know it isn’t gonna be me. And it isn’t gonna be any of my family members and friends who accepted the gospel, and they have all been told.
Now, I don’t doubt the literal truth of the Bible for one second. I am just saying that I cannot envision something being on fire and knowing it is on fire and knowing why it is on fire for all eternity. It is agony beyond description for even five seconds.
There are people, religious people, who choose not to believe the doctrine of hell and the lake of fire because they can’t conceive of God doing such a thing to anyone, no matter what they did, even Adolf Hitler or the Boston Strangler. But they don’t believe that salvation is only through Christ’s finished work at Calvary either. They always add something to it, which corrupts it and possibly nullifies it.
But not believing something does not mean it is not so. It is what it is, no matter what anyone thinks about it.
I will write and speak about hell and the lake of fire exactly like Jesus described it and encourage all to avoid them in the exact manner prescribed in the Bible for today’s man.
Acts 16:31
Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ,
and thou shalt be saved, ……
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You must be saved from some thing and according to Jesus, hell is the thing. |
Revelation 1:18
I am he that liveth, and was dead;
and, behold, I am alive for evermore, Amen;
and have the keys of hell and of death.
One quick explanation: there will be tribulation and millennium souls at the great white throne judgment that will survive because of their faith along with good works. But today’s souls can only be saved prior to the rapture by believing the gospel of Christ, not of works, lest any man should boast. They will be raptured away and appear at the judgment seat of Christ.
Today’s unsaved souls will be thrust into the tribulation period. They must not take the mark of the beast to be saved. Otherwise, they will die and go to hell. Later they appear at the great white throne judgment. After that is the lake of fire.
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Anyway, be behind the judge at the great white throne judgment as a spectator, not in front of him as a guilty defendant. Your pride today obviously isn’t worth your eternal torment in flames.
Wow, that was depressing. Please don’t doubt the wrath of God (John 3:36), which is often literal fire (Genesis 19 – Sodom and Gomorrah, II Kings 1 – Elijah & the captain of fifty, Revelation 20:9 – army of Satan).
Isaiah 34:9-10
And the streams thereof shall be turned into pitch,
and the dust thereof into brimstone,
and the land thereof shall become burning pitch.
It shall not be quenched night nor day;
the smoke thereof shall go up for ever:
from generation to generation it shall lie waste;
none shall pass through it for ever and ever.
Photos courtesy of freedigitalphotos.net
