The great white throne Revelation 20v11-15.
"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 dead 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 fire. This is th4e second death. And whosoever was not written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire."
It was commented that verse 10 was one of the saddest verses in the bible; for sure the verses printed above are without doubt the most solemn ever written, because what we have here is the banishment of all sinners (fellow human beings), eternally from the presence of God. No expositor should treat this portion flippantly; no preacher should declare these verses without compassion; however all of us should proclaim their truth. A consideration of these words should cause us all to tremble, because the whole thing is outside of our hands and is at the decree of the living God. God said through the prophet Isaiah in chapter 66v2 "To this man will I look, even to him that is poor and of a contrite spirit, and that trembleth at My word." If ever there was a passage designed to make us fear the Lord it is this one.
The judgment of God upon all living creatures is without question. King Solomon closes the book of Ecclesiastes with these words "Let us here the conclusion of the whole matter: fear God, and keep His commandments: for this is the whole duty of man. For God shall bring every work into judgment, with every secret thing, whether it be good, or whether it be evil." We are all accountable to God. On investigation, it seems to me there are four stages of judgment.
"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 dead 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 fire. This is th4e second death. And whosoever was not written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire."
It was commented that verse 10 was one of the saddest verses in the bible; for sure the verses printed above are without doubt the most solemn ever written, because what we have here is the banishment of all sinners (fellow human beings), eternally from the presence of God. No expositor should treat this portion flippantly; no preacher should declare these verses without compassion; however all of us should proclaim their truth. A consideration of these words should cause us all to tremble, because the whole thing is outside of our hands and is at the decree of the living God. God said through the prophet Isaiah in chapter 66v2 "To this man will I look, even to him that is poor and of a contrite spirit, and that trembleth at My word." If ever there was a passage designed to make us fear the Lord it is this one.
The judgment of God upon all living creatures is without question. King Solomon closes the book of Ecclesiastes with these words "Let us here the conclusion of the whole matter: fear God, and keep His commandments: for this is the whole duty of man. For God shall bring every work into judgment, with every secret thing, whether it be good, or whether it be evil." We are all accountable to God. On investigation, it seems to me there are four stages of judgment.
- The judgment seat of Christ. Romans 14v10; 2nd Corinthians 5v10. This is not a penal judgment, more an assessment of work done with a view to rewards and will take place sometime in heaven between the rapture of the church and the return of Christ to the earth and involves believers both living and dead from the church period.
- The judgment of the living nations. Matthew 25v31-46. Concerning those who are on the left hand of the king, described as goats, this will be a penal judgment and will consign many to everlasting punishment. The imagery of the goats is of those who stubbornly refused the way of Christ and will receive their just reward. The others on the right hand who are called sheep as those who humbly submitted to Christ in life will go forward into the glorious kingdom. This will take place shortly after the second advent of Christ and involves all those alive when Christ returns to earth.
- The judgment of the saved dead. Daniel 12v1-3, Revelation 14v1-13, Matthew 6v1-21, Hebrews 11v6, Hebrews 11v13-16. This judgment will be for rewards and will take place shortly after the setting up of the millennial kingdom, and involves those resurrected of old testament saints and tribulation saints.
- The judgment of the wicked dead. Revelation 20v11-15, Daniel 12v2, John5v22. This will be a penal judgment only and will determine the destiny of all those outside of Christ. This judgment will take place at the conclusion of the millennium and will involve all who died without faith of all ages.
An in depth study of this portion is necessary for all believers and we will hang our thoughts on a number of pegs which will summarise the masses of thought which are here.
- The principle of the throne. The meaning of the throne in scripture.
- The pageantry of the throne. Although not mentioned here other scriptures reveal the whole picture of the splendour of this throne.
- The purity of the throne. The colour is white as the intensity of the holiness of God confronts the wickedness of man.
- The power of the throne. The ability of this throne to act in an awesome way.
- The people before the throne. All the dead of all ages.
- The purpose of the throne. Accountability to God.
- The proofs of the throne. The books were opened.
- The pathos of the throne. The mention of the book of life......what could have been.
- The punishment of the throne The second death.
Amazon bookshelf George Neilly
No comments:
Post a Comment