I recently preached a sermon and the passage, Revelation 20:11-15, scared and confused the heck out of me.
Then I saw a great white throne and him who was seated on it. The earth and the heavens fled from his presence, and there was no place for them. And I saw the dead, great and small, standing before the throne, and books were opened. Another book was opened, which is the book of life. The dead were judgedaccording to what they had done as recorded in the books. The sea gave up the dead that were in it, and death and Hades gave up the dead that were in them, and each person was judged according to what they had done. Then death and Hades were thrown into the lake of fire. The lake of fire is the second death. Anyone whose name was not found written in the book of life was thrown into the lake of fire. (NIV)
Seriously, this scares me
It scares me because it says we’re going to be judged “according to what they had done.” It says it twice!
I don’t know about you, but I have done some not good things. And I don’t just mean in my “pre-Jesus days.” The things I say, do, and think, are still something that would make some blush at times. I am, after all, a sinner.
So there’s a white throne and somebody’s seated on it. Not only is it a throne, but it is “great.” The Greek word is megas; literally where we get our English ‘mega’ from. It’s not just a little bit big – it’s huge; monstrous; awe-inspiring.
Revelation has seven ‘throne room scenes,’ and in six of them, they’re filled with all sorts of imagery. Rainbows, lampstands, multiple thrones, people or angels singing, etc. Here in this, the final throne room scene, there is a MEGA white throne and somebody that sits on it. That’s it. The white represents holiness; so holy that the earth and heavens had to flee. The throne and the person on it demand all our attention.
Oh, and then there’s the dead, standing in front of this MEGA throne waiting to be judged. “Great and small.” That means everyone. Nobody is too important to escape this lineup for final judgment and nobody is too unimportant.
Everyone stands, waiting to be judged. You. Me. Great.
Seriously, this confuses me
Sorry, but it does. Because don’t we have to just believe in Jesus and that makes us free from judgment?
John 3:16 says, “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.” In other words, believe and you won’t die! You’re not going to be judged! You get off – you get to go FREE!!!! But here we are in this throne room and John says in Revelation that everyone is going to be judged.
Salvation by Faith alone, through God’s grace alone, found in Christ alone, for the glory of God alone! That’s the way it’s supposed to go, John! That’s good theology.
Now you’re telling me I need to work my way into heaven?
In his book Discipleship on the Edge, Darrell Johnson points out that Paul consistently talks about justification by faith in his writings. But, Johnson points out, Paul also consistently talks about accountability based on deeds. In Romans 2:6 Paul says that God in final judgment “will render to every one according to his or her deeds.”
He mentions it a lot of other places, too. And a perfect example is the son & stepmother in 1 Corinthians 5 who are in a sexual relationship. If faith was enough, and deeds didn’t matter, would Paul call them out?
Faith without works is dead, James says. That’s the point. If you profess to have faith but you live a life that tells a very different story, then you are simply lying to yourself.
Good works, good deeds, good thoughts . . . they’re all the fruit of faith.
“On the final accounting, it will be according to our deeds because deeds are the most reliable indicators of where our faith lies,” Johnson says. He’s right.
Books will be opened . . .
I recently finished reading a biography on John Wayne. When I was a little kid who idolized cowboys John Wayne was a hero. Now that I’ve read about his private life I’m not so sure.
You can learn a lot about people by reading a biography. But at the same time, you can only learn so much. You can only learn as much as has been made known to others, either by the person who the biography is on, or close friends, relatives, co-workers etc.
As informative as that book on John Wayne was, there are secrets that he took to the grave with him on June 11, 1979 … or so he thought.
“The dead were judged according to what they had done as recorded in the books.” Books. Plural.
Each one of us will have our own biography waiting at the great white throne. None of us might ever be important enough to have a biography written on us here on this earth … but there is one that’s already been started.
And there is nothing that will escape its pages.
I’m not looking forward to that book being opened and read.
But, there’s another book waiting. “Another book was opened, which is the book of life.” Book. Singular this time.
We will be standing there with our biographies. Everything we’ve thought, said, and done – good and bad – will be brought up. And we will give an account. And good news – line after line in your biography will be crossed out if you’ve confessed it to God and repented – turned from that sin – sought his forgiveness and grace and turned from that sin and turned towards Jesus.
Line after line after horrible line will be crossed out.
1 John 1:8 says, “If we say we have no sin, we are deceiving ourselves, and the truth is not in us.” 1 John 1:9 says “But if we confess our sins, God is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.”
My book is not good. Darrell Johnson says his book is not good either. Darrell and I are the same.
Each of our pages are filled with sin after sin after sin. And then . . . it is followed by confession after confession after confession. And that means it is filled erasure after erasure after erasure because of the one who sits on the MEGA throne. Because Christ paid for those sins and made a way for me to come before that throne.
My name is in the Lamb’s book. Your name is in the Lamb’s book if you’ve placed your faith in Jesus – if you’ve confessed your sins and repented of them, and are following after Him, your name is in that book.
The Lamb’s book lists our names, and it lists the Lamb’s deeds. His deeds: that he lived a perfect and blameless life; that he died on the cross for our sins; and that he rose from the grave defeating death.
In front of a MEGA throne, there is MEGA good news!
In front of that MEGA throne, my book is opened. Then the book on Jesus is going to be opened, and I love the way Darrell Johnson describes the scene: Jesus’ book – the Lamb’s book – is placed over top of my book, and the judge – God & Lamb – look at the Lamb’s deeds on my behalf.
Your book will be opened. And if your name is in that book of Life, then that Lamb’s book goes over top of yours, just like mine.
This is not good news … This is MEGA good news!
John 3:16 “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.”
Do you know what it says after that?
Verses 17 and 18 say, “For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him. Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned already because they have not believed in the name of God’s one and only Son.”
Do you believe? Then you are not condemned.
This is not good news … This is MEGA good news!
Confess your sins before the throne of God. Allow Christ to work in your life. He came to die for you (and all of creation) so that one day He could place His book of Life over your book and welcome you into his presence.
This is not scary or confusing.
This is the best news we could ever hear. It is the best news we could ever share with others!
The MEGA good news that our sins are forgiven, and we are called to new life.
Darrell Johnson’s Discipleship on the Edge has been an amazing resource as we’ve been preaching through the book of Revelation at Trinity Baptist Church. Every good ‘nuggett’ here is not from my own words, but Darrell’s. I highly recommend checking the book out. It will open up Revelation for you in a whole new, and easy to understand way. You can purchase it here:
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