The Last Judgement

We don't hear much about the Last Judgment today. You sure won't hear about it on the evening news, and you won't hear much about it in church either because a few churches will preach hard on the subject because it's a disturbing message and somebody might get upset and we can't have that. This is Message Friends on the Last Judgment, and I'll do my best to be faithful to the text as it's found in the book of Revelation.

You can turn your Bibles to the book of Revelation, friends, which has the Last Judgment and the last words of God's written Word. We will be in chapter 20, beginning in verse 10. The book of Revelation is a book of last things.

It is the last book in the Bible where we see the last civilization as we know it. We see the last overthrow of Satan and the last judgment of all mankind. We see the last destination of man, either in heaven or in hell.

On the last page of my Bible there is even a last invitation given to come to Christ for salvation as seen in Revelation 22, 17. And the Spirit and the bride say, Come, and let him that heareth say, Come, and let him that is athirst come, and whosoever will, let him take the water of life freely. This sermon, for some, may be the last sermon you will ever hear, for death is nearer than we realize.

My message today is entitled, The Last Judgment, because that is our subject today, friends, as I want to walk you over to the edge of eternity and let you peer out into that large black expanse while you ponder where you will go when you die, either to be with Christ in heaven forever, in a state of bliss, or to die in a Christless state, and to be thrust into a devil's hell where you be tormented forever and ever. This is a very solemn subject, friends, so you won't hear any jokes from me or any funny stories because I'm not here to amuse you or entertain you, but to awaken and alarm some of you of your great and grave danger of dying in your sins and standing at that last judgment before the judge of all the earth, the risen Christ. Let me read us this striking passage of scripture, friends.

Here now is the Word of God, and may the Spirit of the Lord attend the reading of His Holy Word. And the devil that deceived them was cast into the lake of fire and brimstone, where the beast and the false prophets are and shall be tormented day and night forever and ever. Let me pause here to say that this is a vivid picture of hell and its occupants with the destiny of all evil spirits and Satan's final overthrow and defeat.

I don't know about you, friends, but for me that's shouting time because the devil gets his due. We don't have old-time shouting in churches much anymore, but I wouldn't be surprised to hear a multitude in glory go to shouting on that day, and there'll be a multitude in hell shouting too, but they'll be shouting for a different reason because their new cellmate is the devil. 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 person speaking here is the apostle John as he received this revelation from the risen Christ while John was in exile on the isle of Patmos in Greece. Years ago I went to Patmos and walked around that mountainous and barren island and visited the cave where tradition has it that it was there where John received these remarkable visions of the end times. This scene before us in verse 11 shows us a great white throne which speaks of God's purity and majesty.

It's an intimidating white throne. I wouldn't be surprised if it's made out of the purest ivory, but on that magnificent throne sits a man. A man who is deeply familiar with the heart of men and who knows what it's like to walk this earth as a man.

While on earth he was the man of sorrows, but now he sits as a judge on that throne ready to hand out justice to every woman, man, and child that has broken his holy law because the sentencing of the law must be carried out upon all guilty lawbreakers. It almost breaks my heart to go over this scene, friends. John Wesley called this terrible scene the grand decise because it is one huge courtroom where cases will be tried, evidence will be presented, and lies will be reviewed.

The judge on that throne is the judge of all the earth and shall not the judge of all the earth do right? You bet he will, friend. His law is strict and his sentencing severe. He has eyes of fire and he sits on that white throne with such majesty and authority in his hand that even the earth and heaven flee at his awesome presence.

Do you think for a skinny minute that an atheist will stand there and shake his fist in that judge's face on that day? A man told me once that he and his buddies were standing outside a convenience store when three police cars came roaring down the street with their sirens on and pulled right in front of them in that parking lot and jumped out of their cars with their guns ready. My friend said he and his companions began to tremble at the knees so bad in fear that they could hardly stand up before that scene. You multiply that ten thousand times and you'll get a sense of how severe the face of that judge is sitting on that throne.

Well, let's look and see who is standing before that throne. 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. Everyone there at the last judgment will have an opportunity to stand before the judge and plead their case but it won't do them any good if their name's not found written in the book of life.

This is a day of accountability for every man who stands at that throne and faces that terrible judge. Books will be opened. Believe, friends, that God keeps a book on everybody and it's their biography.

Every page speaks in detail of every moment of one's life. The first page is their birth. The last page is their death.

And every page talks about every day, every moment as they walk this earth. Every thought, every deed, every moment, every motive behind every action is recorded in those books. Sins of commission and sins of omission are there in black print on white paper.

That judge won't be in any hurry for he has all the time in the world to review each case of every human since creation. There'd be a big crowd there on that day, friends, and I believe angels will be in attendance as well. Every life would be held under the utmost scrutiny of that heavenly courtroom on that day of review.

The verse in this passage, friends, that sends chills down my spine is verse 15, which declares, and whosoever was not found written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire. That's the future punishment of the wicked dead, all those who have died in their sins, whether church members or not, and have died outside of Christ, beyond Christ's blood. I don't like to be burned by fire.

I still carry a mark on my hand from a burning punk when I was a boy lighting firecrackers. I accidentally put that hot punk on my hand. I still have a white scar there from that burn today.

I wouldn't want to burn forever in that lake of fire and brimstone as it boils and smokes with the stench of burning flesh and sulfur. When Sodom was reduced to heaps of smoke and piles of bones and bricks, I believe the smell was awful. Believe me, friend, when I say you don't want to die in your sins apart from Christ and enter a Christless eternity and stand guilty at the last judgment.

But for all believers who die in Christ, they will have a different situation. They will have a review at the judgment seat for believers, and it won't be a terrible courtroom where sentencing is carried out, but it'll be more like a flower show at a county fair where blue ribbons will be handed out for excellence, and I believe Jesus Christ will unfold before us the personal blueprint of our life, and as he unrolls that blueprint, he will smile and say, just according to plan, let us pray.