A Biblical View Of The End Times #8
Revelation 20:11-15
NOWHERE TO HIDE
Intro: Some time ago there was a young foreign student
who flunked out at the University of Michigan. In shame
he decided to disappear. For the next four years he hid
in the unused attic of an Ann Arbor church. Taking
great pains to conceal himself, he quietly prowled
around only at night, living off food and water from the
kitchen. He never left the building or spoke to a soul.
No one ever suspected he was there. Then one day a
slight mistake gave him away. Accidentally the young
recluse made some noise, the police were called, and
he was finally discovered.
How foolish this young man was to try and hide from
his failure. Yet, he is not as foolish as the person who
seeks to hide from God! The world is filled with people
who live as though they have no sin. They live as
though God did not exist. They live as though they will
never face God is judgment.
Unfortunately, what they hope will happen will never
come to pass. You see, these verses, which we have
read this morning, tell us about a time when every lost
sinner will face the Lord in judgment. There will be
nowhere to hide on that day. No one will hide behind
excuses, ignorance, false professions, etc. Every one
will face Jesus Christ as Lord and Judge and they will
all receive a just sentence for their sins.
This morning, I want to examine the facts
concerning an event that is known as The Great White
Throne Judgment. Before I begin, I want you to know
that there will not be one single born again individual
that will stand in judgment here. This is a judgment
seat for the lost. Let's notice the facts surrounding this
judgment as I preach on the thought Nowhere To Hide.
I. V. 11 THERE WILL BE NO
HIDING FROM THE JUDGE ON THE THRONE
A. The Picture In This Throne - There are two
adjectives used to describe this throne.
1. It is called Great - This word refers to its
power. This is the highest court in the
universe! When judgment is rendered from
this throne, there is no appeal to a higher
court, for there is no higher court! This is the
place of highest authority and final judgment.
(Ill. The closest we can come to
understanding this court is our Supreme
Court. There is no higher court in the land
and judgments rendered there are final. This
is this as the Supreme Court of the
Universe.)
2. It is called White - This speaks of the purity
of this court. All human courts are stained by
sin, prejudice and fallibility. This court, on the
other hand, is absolutely perfect and the
judgment rendered here is always fair and
righteous. The Judge who occupies this
bench is infallible. He is no tainted by sin or
prejudice, but He renders judgment in perfect
righteousness and fairness.
(Ill. Not a single person judged here will cry
"unfair". Every sinner judged and sentenced
will know that they have received perfect and
fair judgment.)
B. The Person On This Throne - The Bible tells us
that this throne is occupied by a person.
However, His identity is not revealed here.
However, the Bible does tell us in other places
just Who is on this throne.
1. His Name - The man on this throne is none
other that the Lord Jesus Christ Himself,
John 5:22-23, 27, 30; Acts 10:40-42; 2 Tim.
4:1. The Savior will be the Sentencer in that
day!
2. His Nature - This is no lowly Nazerene who
occupies this throne. This isn't a poor,
humble carpenter. This is a resurrected
conqueror. This is the King of Kings and the
Lord of Lords. His appearance is described
for us by the prophet Daniel, Dan. 7:9-10.
(Ill. His presence is so terrible and powerful
that even the heavens and the earth flee
from before Him. Nature has the good sense
to bow before this judge! Why is it that
sinners have such a difficult time doing the
same?)
(Ill. I just want to remind you that we still live
in the day of grace. During this time in
history, a sinner can come before God and
cry out for forgiveness and the Lord will
receive them and save them by His grace.
Today is the day of grace. Today is the day
of forgiveness. Today is the day of
repentance. Today is the day of salvation.
Today is the day of mercy. There will be
none of those things dispensed in that day!
Only judgment, swift and sure will issue from
this great white throne and from the Lord
Jesus Christ!)
C. The Perception Of This Throne - The Bible
tells us here that there was found no place for
the heavens and the earth to hide from the gaze
of the One on the throne. It needs to be
remembered this morning that this righteous
Judge sees all and He knows all. There is no sin
hidden from Him and no thought has ever been
concealed. There will be no pretending and no
pretense on that great judgment day, but only a
sure recounting of every sinful deed and every
sinful thought. Nothing will be hidden!
(Ill. Some think they are getting away with things
now, but the truth is, God knows all about you
and what you have been doing and thinking. He
knows everything there is to know about you! Ill.
Psa. 33:13-15; Psa. 44:21; Pro. 5:21; Pro.
15:3; Pro. 21:2; Heb. 4:13. Friend, you haven't
hidden a thing from God! And, you can be sure,
one day, those sins will come back to haunt you
- Num. 32:23; Gal. 6:9.)
Friend, you will not hide from this righteous Judge!
He will know all there is to know about you before
you appear in His presence. He knows you
intimately!)
I. No Hiding From The Judge On The Throne
II. V. 12-13 THERE WILL BE NO
HIDING FROM THE JUSTICE AT THE THRONE
A. The Defendants Appearing At The Throne -
Here we are told that those appearing before the
throne are the "dead". This tells us, without
question, that there will not be a single born
again believer in the group. Why? The Bible
tells us that we who have trusted Jesus as our
Saviour have "passed from death unto life",
John 5:24. We have been given eternal,
abundant life through the blood of the Lamb and
can never lose that or be dead for ever. This
can only mean on thing: this mass of humanity
will be made up completely of those who are
spiritually dead, Eph. 2:1. Note also that this
group includes all the spiritually dead! None is
left out! The king, the pauper, the general, the
foot soldier, the master, the slave, the borrower
and the lender will all stand before God. None
will escape and none will hide, but all will face
the Righteous Judge in judgment that day!
Preachers, deacons, church members, popes,
priests, nuns, choir members, drunks, whores,
drug addicts, pimps, pushers, grandmothers,
grandfathers, teenagers, moms and dads, will all
stand together before the throne to face their
judgment! There will be no escape and there will
be no exceptions. Every person who died
without Jesus Christ will face Him in this
Judgment one day! Notice verse 13. It reminds
us that all who died, regardless of where they
died will appear. Even those who are in Hell will
be brought out for this judgment. Every lost
sinner from Cain to the last one will stand before
the Lord Jesus Christ! (Will you be in that
number?)
B. The Documents Used At The Throne - the
Bible tells us here that the "books" will be
opened. Only one of these books is named and
it is called the "book of life." I don't know all the
books that will be used that day, but I am sure of
a few that will be opened. Allow me to share
them with you for a moment.
1. The Bible - Jesus Himself reminded us that
we would be judged out of His Word - John
12:48. That's right! This Bible that sinners
mock and refuse to heed will be used to
render judgment upon their lives that day.
Better to believe it now and go to Heaven
than reject it and then face it in judgment and
go to Hell!
2. The Book Of Deeds - In Heaven, there is
record being kept of the deeds of all men.
One day, every lost men will stand before the
Lord and here the record of his life read from
the throne. Every deed, both good and evil
will be mentioned. Every sin will be read
aloud! Sins of commission, sins of omission,
flagrant sins, secret sins, sins of the heart
and sins of the mind. All will be brought out
into the open on that day. Verse 12 makes it
clear that the lost will be judged according to
their works.
(Ill. A man can either choose to stand on his
own record and face God in his sins, or he
can come to Jesus and have his record
expunged. Faith in Christ wipes our record
clean. It replaces the record of our sins with
the record of His righteousness. When our
book is opened all it says is "See Calvary and
an empty tomb - This man's record is clear!)
3. The Book Of Life - This is just Carr Theology
so you can take is for what it is worth, but I
am of the opinion that there is a book of life,
or a book of the living. Every name of every
person who would ever be born was in this
book, Rev. 3:5; Rev. 17:8. However, when
a sinner dies without trusting Christ as his
Saviour, their name is removed from this
book. While your name remains, there is
hope for you, but when you die, you are
numbered with the eternally dead and there
is no more opportunity for you to be saved.
4. The Lamb's Book Of Life - This book
contains the names of those who are
redeemed by the blood of Jesus. When a
sinner repents, their name is written in this
book. This is the reason Jesus told His
disciples to rejoice, Luke 10:20. This book
records who has and who has not accepted
Jesus as their Savior. When the Great White
Throne Judgment comes about, both this
book and the book of life will match perfectly!
(Ill. The horror of standing there that day and
hearing your sins recounted. Imagine being
forced to admit you sins and the fundamental
fact that you are a sinner. Then imagine
Jesus opening the book of life and showing
you where your name was removed. Then
imagine Him opening the Lamb's book of life
and showing you that every slot in that book
is filled and that your name does not appear!
Fantasy? I don't think so! But, it is a time of
such horror that nothing in life can compare
with it! You need to be sure you are saved
this morning! You need to be sure that your
name is written in the Lamb's book of Life. If
I were you, I wouldn't wait for the invitation.
If there was a doubt, I would get in this altar
and get it settled right now!)
(Ill. There may be other books that are used, nut
you can be sure that these will be opened. What
a terrible day that will be for the sinner!)
C. The Decision Made At The Throne - The last
phrase in verse 13 tells it all. When these books
are opened, judgment is rendered based on the
evidence found in the books. You can be sure
that the evidence is accurate, and that the record
is complete.
(Ill. It is worthy of noting that every person will
stand on his own! Regardless of the excuse you
use to justify your not coming to Jesus today, in
that day you will stand under judgment by
yourself! It won't matter who hurt you, who stood
in your way, or whatever. It will come down to
you and Jesus. Better that it come to that in this
day when there is still hope for salvation, than in
that day when there is hope for nothing but
judgment! Be saved! Be sure!)
I. No Hiding From The Judge On The Throne
II. No Hiding From The Justice At The Throne
III. V. 14-15 THERE WILL BE NO
HIDING FROM THE JUDGMENT FROM THE THRONE
A. A Fearful Judgment - the sentence rendered
from this bench is "Death!". Not just physical
death, but the second death which is eternal
separation from God in the fires of the Lake of
Fire, 2 Thes. 1:9-10. This will be a death where
there is no dying! What I mean is that there will
be no end to the torment, to the hell, to the awful
nature of what the sinner will face. It will be an
eternal state of dying apart from the presence of
God or anything good! It will be Hell!
(Ill. Imagine the horror of hearing Jesus utter the
words that will send you away forever into
eternal torment! Imagine hearing Him say,
"Depart from me, ye cursed, into everlasting
fire, prepared for the devil and his angels:",
Matt. 25:41. Imagine living your life the way you
wanted, without regard for God or His will and
then having to here the Lord Who loved you
enough to die in your place speak those awful
words. There could be nothing so terrible!
Perhaps the only thing that equals that would
be for you to be a religious person, a church
member, a regular attender of the Lord's worship
services, and have to stand before Him and here
Him pass judgment on your life. This very scene
is spoken of in Matt. 7:21-23. My friend, don't
let this happen to you! Come to Jesus while
thee is time. Come to Jesus while there is
grace. Come to Jesus while there is hope!
Come to Jesus!)
B. A Final Judgment - There will be no appeals,
but al judgments rendered from this bench will
be final and they will be binding. This will be the
last day any of these sinners ever see. This will
be the end of the road for them, for they are
forever consigned to the Lake of Fire to suffer
torment for eternity!
(Ill. Many don't believe this is true. They deny
the reality of Hell and claim that it is old
fashioned and out of date. Well, the Bible tells
us that Hell is real and that lost sinners do
indeed go there to spend eternity. Psa. 9:17;
Luke 16:19-31.)
C. A Foolish Judgment - It is a foolish judgment
that is rendered only because it does not have to
happen! Any sinner who is will to repent and
turn to Jesus alone, by faith, can be eternally
saved. The Blood Jesus shed on Calvary is
sufficient to the saving of any sinner who calls
upon Him, Rom. 10:13. The grace of God is
sufficient for every sinner who will come,
regardless of the depths of their sins, Rom.
5:20. The love of God for the Lord is sufficient
to receive all who will come by faith, John 6:37.
Please don't do a foolish thing and die without
Jesus! Come to Him while the door is open!
Conc: I think that this is the most horrible scene
mentioned in the Bible. I think the concept of people
perishing forever is terrible beyond description.
However, as horrible as it is, it is true nonetheless!
Therefore, if you have never been saved, you need
to come to Jesus. You need to be saved today! If you
will just trust Jesus by faith, He will save you and spare
you from this terrible time of judgment that is coming
upon all the lost. Won't you come?
To those of us who are saved, this passage reminds
us of the terrible need of the world around us. If nothing
else, it ought to move us to come before the Lord and
cry out for the souls of our friends, neighbors and loved
ones who need Jesus. It ought to stir our hearts so that
we will not rest until we have tried to tell every lost
person we know that salvation is available to them if
they will come to Jesus! Surely we've not become so
hardened that the thought of Hell no longer moves us.
Won't you come?
Arnold Lewis worked as a supervisor in a shipyard.
His work took him from one ship to another all day long.
One day "an inspector who needed to consult with
Arnold about company matters had to search several
ships to find him. And of course he was impatient and
frustrated.
"'I've been looking all over hell for you,' he greeted
Arnold.
"'That's one place you will never find me,' came the
calm reply. 'I'll never be in hell because I've been saved
from hell by the blood of the Lord Jesus.'
"No more was said on the subject, and the two men
got the business settled. But at the end of the work
day, just before the whistle blew, the inspector again
looked for Arnold.
"'I've been thinking all day about what you said this
morning,' he said. 'I wish that I, too, could know that I
am saved from hell.'
"'You surely can,' Arnold assured him. With verses
from his pocket New Testament he explained God's
plan of salvation, and standing there on the deck of that
unfinished ship, the inspector prayed to receive Christ."
Friend that can be your testimony this morning!
Wouldn't like to be able to say about Hell, "That's one
place you'll never find me!" You can come to Jesus
right now!
