The Great White Throne

The subject now before us is a deeply solemn one, and we would earnestly entreat you to sit down as in the very presence of God, Bible in hand, and study carefully Rev. 20.
“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 lead 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 ire. This is the SECOND DEATH. And whosoever was not found written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire." Rev. 20:11-15.
In the first place, Christ does not here come to the earth at all. Instead, we read, "From whose face the earth and the heaven fled away." How different this s from Matt. 25:31, 32 when He comes to the earth! "When the Son of man shall come in His glory, and all the holy angels with Him, then shall He sit upon the throne of His glory: and before Him shall be gathered all nations: and He shall separate hem one from another.”
In the second place, the dead only are here judged, and this again is quite different from Mathew 25 where the living only are judged. But what ghastly throng this will be! They rise from their graves; there sits the Judge and before Him they stand; a guilty conscience loudly accuses them within. The earth they loved so well, the scene of all heir pleasures and their sins, the scene too of their rejection of the Savior so often offered to them, this earth has fled away forever. And they stand already n an endless but a lost eternity.
What records! Every thought, every word and feed of the misspent life will then be brought out, exposed in the light of that dazzling glory "And the dead were judged... according to their works." How different from the judgment seat of Christ, where the redeemed will appear to receive reward or suffer loss according to what their works have been!
Here the wicked dead are judged according to their works, and if the writer or reader of these pages were judged according to his works, he would certainly be cast into the lake of fire. If the salvation of the most devoted Christian that ever lived were to depend on his works, he must inevitably be lost, for whose life would stand the scrutiny of His all-piercing eye? "Enter not into judgment with Thy servant: for in Thy sight shall no man living be justified." Psa. 143:2.
It is most important to see that the believer is never said to be judged according to his works. His works are judged, but not his person, and he receives reward accordingly. But at the great white throne, the wicked dead are themselves judged according to their works. With what result? "Whosoever was not found written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire." v. 15.
"Peace I leave with you,
My peace I give unto you: not as the
world giveth, give I unto you.
Let not your heart be troubled,
neither let it be afraid”
John 14:27