Once again, good morning. Open your Bibles, please, to Revelation chapter 20, as we continue in our verse-by-verse exposition of the book of Revelation, rapidly approaching the end. Been a long journey, hasn't it? but one of great blessing, we must always remember that it's the only book where we're promised a blessing to study it, and to read it, and to listen to it, and it has been a great blessing. Revelation chapter 20, commencing with verse one, we'll read the chapter. It's only 15 verses, we'll have the context. I saw an angel come down from heaven, having a key to the bottomless pit, and a great chain in his hand, and he laid hold on the dragon, that old serpent, who is the devil and Satan. and cast, excuse me, and bound him a thousand years and cast him into the bottomless pit. And he shut him up and set a seal upon him, that he should deceive the nations no more till the thousand years should be fulfilled. And after that he must be loosed a little season. And I saw thrones and they that sat on them, and judgment was given to them. And I saw the souls of them that were beheaded for the witness of Jesus and the word of God. And which had not worshipped the beast nor his image, neither had they received his mark in their forehead or in their hands. And they lived and reigned with Christ a thousand years. But the rest of the dead lived not again till the thousand years were finished. Blessed and holy is he that has part in the first resurrection. Upon such the second death has no power. But they shall be priests of God and of Christ, and shall reign with them a thousand years. And when a thousand years are expired, Satan shall be loosed out of his prison, and he shall go out to the sea of the nations, which are in the four quarters of the earth, Gog and Magog, to gather them together to battle. And the number of them is as the sand of the sea. And they went up on the breadth of the earth and encompassed the camp of the saints and the holy city. And fire came down from heaven, from God, and devoured them. And the devil that deceived them was cast into the lake of fire and brimstone, where the beast and false prophet are and shall be tormented day and night. forever and ever. And I saw a great white throne and him that sat on it, from whose face the heaven and the earth fled, and it was found no place for them. And I saw the souls of them that were 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 the 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 gave 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 the second death. whoever was not found, written in the book of life, was cast into the lake of fire. Let's pray. Father, thank you for your word. We thank you that it's eternal, immutable, infallible, inerrant, the word of God, miraculously inspired through your prophets and saints, given to us, Lord. We thank you that it's alive, that it's powerful, that it discerns the thoughts and intents of the heart. And so as we come before you this day, May our hearts hunger for you. May our souls thirst for you, Lord, I pray. Quench our thirst. Satisfy our hunger this morning. Edify every believer. Build us up in the faith, Lord, through the power of the Holy Spirit in your word. And Father, we pray earnestly for any unrepentant sinner. For those yet who know you, Lord, I pray that today you would convict them of their sin. Convince them the truth of the gospel. Draw them to yourself today. May this be the day of their salvation. Lord, thank you for the assurance that we have of eternal life in Christ, that you've delivered us from death, hell, the grave, and Satan. Thank you, Lord, for victory over hell. Lord, speak, may we obey. In Jesus' name, for yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever and ever. In Jesus' name, amen. We come this morning to probably one of the most solemn passages in all of scripture. It is a frightening passage. It's one that gives us all pause and causes us to stop and to think and to contemplate the judgment day, the truth and the reality of hell, the reality that it is forever and ever a place of torment, a place of punishment for those who reject Christ. But our hearts can also rejoice that we're not as believers to be partakers of that. For Jesus said to them on his left hand, depart from me you workers of iniquity into hell prepared for the devil and his angels, Matthew 25, 41. Hell was not prepared for mankind. It wasn't prepared for us. It was made for Satan who had rebelled against God and those angels that fell with him, but those who reject Jesus Christ. Those who refuse the conscience who speaks to them and convicts them of their sin. Those who refuse to live up to the standard of morality that God has given. Those who see the truth but turn their back on it and love their sin. For men love darkness rather than light because their deeds were evil. John 3.19. For those who reject the light that they have, for those who refuse to come to Christ, refused to turn their lives over to God and to acknowledge His existence, His superiority, His supremacy, His Lordship, that He is omnipotent, well, they'll pay a price. And we see that today, and it is sobering. It is heartbreaking. It is frightening to realize the fate of those who reject Christ. Whether it be friends, family, coworkers, people we don't know, people without Christ, they have an awful eternity. Their future is certain, just as certain as those who believe in Christ, our future is heaven. For those who reject Christ, their future is hell. It's not an easy message to preach. It's not one that people love to preach. It's not one that I want to preach. but it is the truth that must be preached, it must be proclaimed, for the Bible speaks more of hell than it does of heaven, because it warns sinners, repent, come to Christ before it's everlastingly too late. Put your faith and trust in Him, for Christ has died on the cross for your sin, and all you need to do is confess and call upon His name. Put your faith in Christ and His shed blood on the cross. and hell can be avoided. And you too can have an eternal destiny of joy and peace. So as believers, we rejoice as we look at these scriptures, knowing that our destiny is different. We're those who have part in the first resurrection and upon such the second death has no power but we should be priests of God and of Christ. And we shall reign with him a thousand years or our destiny is glorious. Our destiny, we can rejoice, rejoice, rejoice for we are not going to be consigned to eternity in hell. We are not going to suffer and pay for our sins for Christ has paid for our sins on the cross. for He has made Him to be sin for us who knew no sin, that we might be made the righteousness of God in Him. 2 Corinthians 5.21. Christ has redeemed us from the curse of the law, being made a curse for us, for He has written, curses everyone that hangs on a tree. Galatians 3.13. Who His own self bore our sins in His own body on the tree, that we being dead to sins should live into righteousness. By whose stripes you are healed. 1 Peter 2.24. He has healed us from our sin. That doesn't mean physical healing. It means He has healed us from our sin. He has delivered us from the consequences of our sin. And we are sinners. For all have sinned that come short of the glory of God, Romans 3.23. All of us are sinners. But Christ has paid the price to redeem us, to pay the price to satisfy the righteous and holy and just demands of God. And if you will not bend the knee now and repent, you will bend the knee in eternity. You will bend the knee at this judgment seat of God for His appointed unto men once to die. And after this, the judgment, Hebrews 9.21. What will you do when you stand before God? Will you claim Christ and His blood and His death, burial and resurrection as your only hope, the only remedy, the only cure for your sin? Or will you stand before Him saying, I went to church, I was baptized, I walked an aisle, I gave money to church, I taught a Sunday school class, I'm an okay person. I'm okay. I think I'll be all right. You talk to people all the time. If you were to die today, would you go to heaven? Well, I think so. Why? Well, I'm a good person. You know, I never murdered anybody. I try to live by the golden rule. I hear it all the time. Do unto others as you would have them do unto you, but it is insufficient. For God has said, be you therefore perfect, even as your father in heaven is perfect. Matthew 5, 48, Jesus said those words. Are you perfect? Have you ever sinned? Have you ever sinned even once? For James tells us, whoever keeps the whole law, yet offends in one point, he is guilty of all, James 2.10. No, it's insufficient. But as he who has called you is holy, so be you holy in all manner of life. 1 Peter 1 15, be you holy. Are you holy? Are you perfect? Do you dare think you can stand before the throne of God at the judgment seat of Christ, at the great white throne, standing before God and the books were open and every work of your life is brought before God. Will you stand there and will you proclaim, I'm worthy of heaven? Why? I've done it on myself. I am self-righteous and I've done it. Not a single one will stand before God and brag. We'll all stand before Him in humility. We'll all stand before Him knowing that we are sinners and we're only saved by His grace, His unmerited favor, His undeserved blessing. This is love found in His only son, Jesus Christ, that has delivered us from our sin and its consequences. But we are delivered. We are forgiven. For the promise of scripture for a believer is, and I will be merciful to their unrighteousness and their sins and iniquities will I remember no more. Hebrews 8, 12. God says for us as believers, our sins and iniquities, He'll remember no more. We often remember them. We're accused by Satan, the accuser of the brother, but God does not remember them. Oh, praise the Lord. Our sins are washed. They're in the deepest sea. They're as far as East is from the West, Psalm 103, 12. They're removed from us and we are clean. We are holy. We are righteous. We are a new creation. We are children of God. We are citizens of heaven. And one day we shall be with him and we shall rule and reign. For blessed and holy are they that have the part in the first resurrection, that is, every believer. Remember, as we studied last week, who is it that has part in the first resurrection? Well, it's every saint from all of time. It's the Old Testament saints. It's the saints who were contemporaries of Jesus Christ and believed on Him as the Messiah. It is the tribulation saints who are martyred during the tribulation period. It is the saints during the church age. It is all the saints throughout all the ages. We shall all be a part of the first resurrection. And upon such the second death has no power, praise the Lord, but they should be priests of God and of Christ and shall reign with him a thousand years. What a privilege, what joy we have. But how it sobers the heart. how heavy a burden it is when we realize those without Christ face this eternal judgment, eternal punishment. He that believes on the Son is everlasting life, but he that believes not the Son is condemned already because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God, John 3, 18. He that believes on the Son is not condemned, but he that believes not is condemned already, and the wrath of God abides on him. The wrath of God abides on him. It's already on you without Christ. It'll only be removed by faith in Christ. And so we must believe. There is no other remedy. For there is no other name under heaven given among men whereby we must be saved, Acts 4.12. There is no other deliverer. There is no other means. Self-righteousness is inadequate. Self-righteousness is insufficient. I don't care how upright you are, how moral your character is. Without Christ, you are short of the glory of God and we all fall short. But thank God he's made a way. Thank God he's made a provision for our sin. And it's the person of Jesus Christ on the cross of Calvary, as he hung there bleeding and beaten for six hours in agony and pain, rejected by God because of our sin imputed to him, rejected by men. Dying alone is the only mediator between God and man, the God-man, Christ Jesus, 1 Timothy 2, 5 and 6. Well, thank God for our Savior, Jesus Christ. He says that the rest of the dead live not till the thousand years were finished. In verse 5, who is that? That's all the unsaved. That's all who refuse Christ. They didn't live until the end of the millennial reign. At the end of the millennial reign, they'll be resurrected as we see here in these verses. They will come back to life and they will stand before the judgment seat of Christ. They didn't have part in the first resurrection because they knew not God. They'll have part in the second resurrection, which is a resurrection unto judgment. For the saints, they shall come forth. They that have done good unto the resurrection of life, they that have done evil unto the resurrection of death. Matthew 5, 28. Both will be resurrected, the just and the unjust. Both have eternal life, but both have entirely different destinies. The unjust, those who refuse to believe in Christ, have a destiny of eternity in hell without Christ. Those who know Christ as Savior has eternity in heaven, ruling and reigning with Him as kings and priests, rewarded for our service for Him, rewarded because we have loved Him, because we have put our faith and trust in Him. And we do not pay the price for our sin that has been paid in full by Christ. There's nothing left for us to pay. There is no debt left upon the life of a believer. There is therefore no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus, Romans 8, 1. None, zero, it's gone. The guilt and the weight and the stain of guilt is removed from our hearts. The guilty stain has been washed away by the blood of Christ. We're no longer guilty. We no longer bear the guilt of our sins for Christ has paid it all. He has relieved us so that we can sing rejoice, rejoice, rejoice, even as we realize we will face death and we will stand before the judgment seat of Christ, but not that seat, not the judgment seat of Christ, but the judgment seat, the Bema seat. where believers stand to get rewards predicated on our works. We're saved by faith, but we're rewarded on works. So what have you done for Christ and what are you doing for Christ? Is there a reward for you in heaven or do you just sit on the premises instead of standing on the promises? There's reward for us to work for Jesus. There's rewards for those who will serve the Lord. Will you? Or will you just say, well, I have fire insurance and I'm done now, I'm adequate. Each of us can serve the Lord. We have different capacities at different points in our lives. Sometimes we'll no longer be able to serve Him the way we did when we were younger, but we can still pray. We can still be a witness. We can still serve the Lord in many ways throughout our entire life. We never retire until He calls us home. There's no retirement plan, only service. We serve Him until we can't serve Him anymore. Again, our circumstances can change, our health can change, and we serve Him in different ways, but we're to serve Him until He calls us home. And so the question is, is there a reward for you in heaven? If not, they can change it today. Repent and begin to serve him. He says, as we pick up where we left off last week, in verse seven, when a thousand years are expired, Satan shall be loosed out of his prison. Where is Satan? Well, remember it said that the angel came down with the key to the bottomless pit. He had a great chain in his hand and says he bound him and cast him into the bottomless pit for a thousand years. And what did he do? It says he shut him up and set a seal upon him that he should deceive the nations no more. So where is Satan during the millennial kingdom? He's not loose. He is bound. He is so bound in chains that it says he even shut him up. And not he just shut him up, but he set a seal on him that he said, deceive the nations no more. So during the millennial kingdom, Satan cannot be there. Post-millennialists, I'm a millennialist. If this is the millennial kingdom, Satan is not bound. He's a roaring lion seeking who may devour, 1 Peter 5a. He is the God of this world. He is doing his work now. We're not in the millennial kingdom. The millennial kingdom comes when the king comes back. Until then, we're to serve the Lord. We're to occupy till he's come. Satan is not bound yet, but during the millennial kingdom, he'll be bound. There'll be no more temptation, no more outside temptation. For men, there'll be no excuse for sin because there'll be no temptation from demonic forces or Satan. The civilization will not be designed to draw you into sin. He will no longer be the God of this world. He'll be bound during the millennial period. His chain won't be loose and long. He is chained and sealed. And therefore we're not in the millennial kingdom. And we will not usher it in by the church. The world's not gonna get better and better until Christ comes back. As pre-millennialists, we believe things will get worse and worse until Christ comes back. They will continue to degenerate. That's the witness of Scripture, as it was in the days of Noah. Know this also, in latter times, men shall become worse and worse, deceiving and being deceived, 2 Timothy 3, 13. That's what's happening in the last days. We see wickedness abounding. We see things getting worse and worse. Every day you go, that's crazy. I can't believe I'm hearing that on the news. I can't believe I'm seeing that. Things have become crazy. It's bizarro world. And so it should be before Christ returns. That's the promise of scripture. It's going to get worse, but when he comes, it'll be better. It'll be a new kingdom. It'll be rebuilt. It'll be Eden restored, not just in one place in Mesopotamia, but the whole world will be like Eden. There'll be no more sin happening from outside temptation. There will be unbelievers who will be born into the kingdom because Only believers will enter the kingdom, but during that, they will enter the kingdom in their natural body, I believe, just like we saw Elisha, who was translated and he was still alive four or 5,000 years later when he appeared at the Mount of Transfiguration with Jesus. They can still procreate, they'll repopulate the earth, but there'll be no more pain, no more sorrow. There'll be no more health issues, no more cancer. No more disease of any kind, heart attacks, strokes. When a man dies at 100, they'll think he's a baby. There'll be no more weeds to worry about in the garden. No more pests that will eat your crops. Everything will grow beautifully, perfectly, just like the Garden of Eden. It'll be phenomenal, fantastic. Crime will be dealt with, or if there's any sin, immediately by the judge with a rod of iron, and we shall rule and reign with him with a rod of iron. That's the promise of scripture to the church of Thyatira. And so we look forward to that day when Christ comes back. Six times, he says 1,000 years. And if he says 1,000 years, we must take it literally, six times. Tell me one reason contextually why I would not take this as a literal 1,000 years. There is no reason. There's no logical reason to allegorize the 1,000 years. He says it six times, 1,000 years, 1,000 years, 1,000 years. It's 1,000 years, it's a millennium. It's a millennial reign of Christ and it's 1,000 years. There's no contextual reason to take any allegory. You have to read into it. It's not eisegesis, it's exegesis. You're reading into the text to make this anything but a literal 1,000 years. It's plain sense. It's right there. Satan will be loose then. Why? He's gonna be loosed to test those who have gone through the millennial reign. They have not had Satan to tempt them. They have not had demonic influence. The civilization is all built on Jesus Christ and Christianity and righteousness and holiness and goodness and morality and decency. But men are still born in total depravity. Unless they're born again, they still have the capacity to sin. and it will be dealt with swiftly and dealt with justice, not injustice. It won't be meted out one way or another. There will be no favoritism, but he that does wrong shall receive for the wrong which he has done and there's no respect to persons, Colossians 3.25. Knowing the also of a master in heaven and with him, there's no respect to persons, Ephesians 6.9. There'll be no respect saying, well, it's just me, Lord. No, sin will be dealt with swiftly and with justice. There's no respect to persons. And what will Satan do? Well, he shall go out to deceive the nations. That's what Satan does, right? He's a deceiver. He's going to deceive. Remember, we're told when he was cast down, it said in that great dragon, the old serpent was the devil and Satan who deceives the whole world. He was cast down to the earth and his angels were cast down with him. Revelation 12, nine. He is the deceiver. He is the deceiving one. Paul said when he went to the church of Corinth, but I fear less by any means of Satan deceived Eve, so your mind should be corrupted by the simplicity that is in Christ. Second Corinthians 2, 11. He's a deceiver. He's a liar from the beginning, John 8, 44. For there shall arise false Christs and false prophets and shall show great signs and wonders, insomuch that if it were possible, they shall deceive the very elect, Matthew 24, 24, but it's not possible to deceive the very elect. We'll see what's happening. We'll understand what's happening. We have it written for us. We can know the future. What a privilege it is to know the future. How would people love to know the future? They go to fortune tellers. They call for seances. They go to so-called prophets and pay the money to tell them their future. We know the future, it's right here. It is written. What a joy it is to know the future, but he'll be loosed. God's gonna let him out. He's gonna be bound for a thousand years. There's gonna be the rapture at the end, before the tribulation period, the seven year period of tribulation. Christ will come back. He will call, come back with his saints, but those who are unbelievers will be cast out. They'll be judged. Those many will be killed, millions at the battle of Armageddon. When he comes back at the end of the tribulation period, But throughout the earth, it seems that every unbeliever will die. Only believers will enter the millennial kingdom. But again, they can procreate and natural human beings will be born that can procreate and continue to repopulate the earth. That's how we get that there's many of them as a sand to the sea who come to battle against God in verse eight. Where do they come from? Well, it comes from the procreation of those who in their natural bodies enter the millennial kingdom and continue to procreate. And it'll go out in verse eight, to deceive the nations, which are in the four quarters of the earth. That doesn't mean the earth is flat and there's four corners. It just means all the earth, they'll go out to all the earth. Gog and Magog, to gather them together to battle. Who are they gonna battle? They're coming to battle against God. And the number of them is as the sand of the sea. That's an innumerable host. Can't even count them, there's so many. Where did they all come from who can rebel against God? They have to be natural men who were born and women who were born during the millennial kingdom, but yet had not been born again like their parents had or their grandparents or their great-grandparents. They had not been born again. and they rebelled against God and they followed Satan. They were deceived. Showing the depravity of man, the total depravity, even without outside influence of temptation from Satan and demonic forces, they still followed Satan. After having seen Christ on the throne for a thousand years, after living in the Garden of Eden worldwide, the curse reversed and the beautiful wonders of earth that is under God's control and rule and reign, they rebelled. It's startling, but that's how depraved man is, to rebel. Even when men were experiencing the wrath of God and God being poured on the earth, they didn't repent. We're told that, After experiencing the trumpet judgments, it said, and the rest of men who were not killed by these plagues, repented not of the works of their hands, that they should not worship idols made of gold and silver and bronze and stone and wood, which can neither see nor hear nor walk. Neither repented they of their murders, sorceries, fornications and thefts. Revelation 9, 20 to 21. And then we're told in the bulge of this, men were scorched with great heat and they blasphemed the name of God who had power over these plagues and they repented not to give them glory. Revelation 16, nine, they knew full well God was doing this. They repented not. to give God glory, they just shook their fist at God and blasphemed His name. And men blasphemed the God of heaven because of their pains and sores, and they repented not of their deeds, Revelation 16, 11. They repented not of their deeds, they just blasphemed God. They knew the pains and the sores came from God as judgment, and they refused to repent. Harden their heart, harden their heart, harden their heart. And so it is just for God to judge the world. It is just for what he's about to do. God is just, it is his nature, it is his character. He can do nothing but be just. He is nothing but just for he is holy and his holiness demands justice. It is his very character and nature. He is not just because it's a good thing to do. He is not just because he wants to please men or he wants to receive accolades. Wow, God is just. No, God is just, that's who he is. That's his character, that's his nature. And what he's going to do is just. And so they gathered together, they followed Satan. In verse nine, it says, they went up to the breadth of the earth and compassed about the camp of the saints and the holy city. There they are. They're circled around the holy city. They're circled around Jerusalem, where Christ is reigning from. The word in the Greek is kukuleo. It means to encircle or to completely encircle around. They encircled Jerusalem, the camp of the saints and the holy city where Christ is reigning from. They camped around them. The word in the Greek is paralimbole. Indicative of an army on the march or engaged in battle. And it says they were devoured. Kadesai style, eat up, consumed completely in the Greek, devoured. So fire came down from heaven and just devoured them. They were just wiped out. They were gone. There was no battle. It was just finished. They came out shaking their fist at God, thinking they could fight against God, but they were devoured. They were eaten up. They were consumed completely by the fire of God. and they died, it devoured them. And so now we see the devil's fate, his fate now for eternity is in verse 10. And the devil that deceived them was cast into the lake of fire and brimstone where the beast and false prophet are and should be tormented day and night forever and ever. Remember that's what happened to the beast and the false prophet. And the beast was taken and with him the false prophet that wrought miracles before him with which he deceived them that worshiped the beast and received the mark of his name. And these both were cast alive into the lake of fire and brimstone, Revelation 19, 20. Cast into the lake of fire and brimstone. That's where the beast and false prophet have already been taken. That's now after Satan has been held in the bottomless pit for a thousand years, chained and sealed, unable to deceive the nations anymore. So the thousand years are finished. Then he must be loosed a little season. God lets him out. He deceives the nations. They follow him. They come to this battle. Fire comes down from heaven and devours them. It's not impressive. Remember when they sent armies to bring Elisha and they came to Elijah and Elijah said, if I be a man of God, then let fire come down from heaven and devour you and your 50. And fire came down from heaven, devoured the captain and his 50. It happened three times, 2 Samuel 1, 12. Fire came down from heaven and devoured them. They just, they were gone, completely devoured. And verse 10 says, the devil then was cast into lake of fire. So that's his destiny. But it's also the destiny for unbelievers, as we'll see in these verses, how tragic it is. There'll be a tormented night and day forever and ever. We're told that that's the fate of those who received the mark of the beast. For remember, when we studied earlier, And we looked at the fate of those who would receive the mark of the beast, what would happen to them in Revelation 14. It says, the third angel followed saying, whoever worships the beast in his image and receives his mark in their forehead or hand, the same shall receive of the cup of the wrath of God, which is poured out without mixture into the cup of his indignation. And they shall be tormented with fire and brimstone in the presence of the holy angels and of the lamb. And the smoke of their torment ascends up forever and ever. And they shall have no rest, night or day, whoever worshiped the beast in his image and whoever received the mark of his name. Revelation 14, nine to 11. Those who received the mark of the beast, those who reject Christ and think they'll compromise during the tribulation period and receive the mark that they might buy and sell and feed themselves and keep themselves from being beheaded, keep themselves out of prison, keep themselves from being persecuted for Christ and martyred and receive the mark where their fate is sealed. They're going to be tormented with fire and brimstone in the presence of the holy angels and the lamb. How long? Forever and ever. Those who teach annihilation, that when you die, it's over. That you simply live and die like an animal. You have no soul. There's no eternal life to man. You don't go beyond this life. You are wrong. You are going to spend eternally in hell or eternally in heaven. There is no other option. You are an eternal being and you will live forever in hell or in heaven. Where will you live? It's all predicated on what you do with Christ. Not your goodness, not your self-righteousness, but on Christ. What a fate awaits those who reject Christ. Tormented day and night forever and ever. It was prepared for the devil's angels, but those who reject Christ. are gonna have a similar fate. And we come to verse 11, and I saw a great white throne, and he that sat upon it, from whose face the heaven and the earth fled, and there was found no place for them. How can you hide from God? God is omnipresent, he is everywhere. You can't hide from him. It reminds me of what happened in the seal, excuse me, in the opening of the seals, in the seal judgments. Remember what happened then, it said, after the sixth seal, it said, and the kings of the earth, and the mighty men, and the rich men, and the chief captains, and the great men, and all men, both free and enslaved, hid themselves in the dens and rocks of the earth, and cried to the mountains and rocks saying, fall on us, and hide us from the face of the lamb who sits upon the throne, for the day of his wrath has come. Revelation 16, 9, 11. Revelation 6, 9, 11. Yes, they wanted to hide from the wrath of God. They wanted to hide from the wrath of lamb, but you can't hide from God. They shall all come forth, all of them. None will be forgotten as we'll see, whether they were in the oceans or whether they were under the earth or in the earth, they're all going to come forth. None will be forgotten. None will be left behind. All of them shall come to the judgment of God. And how awesome, how awful, how frightening, how horrific their fate. They sought to flee from him. The white throne, leukos in the Greek means white, a shining white. It means like the judgment is pure. The judgment is righteous. The judgment is good. It's indicative of purity. It's going to be an accurate judgment. And white is a symbol of purity, a symbol of accurate, true justice. It's the white throne. It's the great white throne. And him that sat on whose of his sits on it, it's God himself, from whose face the heaven and the earth fled. You can't run from God. You can't hide from him. You think you can hide your sin? You think you can hide from God? You're so wrong. God knows everything. For nothing is secret that shall not be made manifest, neither anything hidden that shall not be known and come to light. Look, page 17, it's going to be known. It's going to come. You can't hide your sin. You can only confess it and have it forgiven and cast in the deepest sea so that it's remembered no more, or you will answer for it at the judgment seat of Christ. Which will it be? Will you take your chances? Will you roll the dice? Will you think I can get through? Will you be so deceived? Will you be so fooled to think that you can enter heaven without the blood of Christ, without putting your faith and trust in Him? How foolish, how deceived. Many will say in that day, Lord, Lord, didn't we do many works in your name, cast out demons and prophesy? Depart from you worker of iniquity, I never knew you, how sad. And he shall send forth his angels and they shall gather together all things that offend and do iniquity. And they shall be cast into a lake of fire and there should be wailing and gnashing of teeth, Matthew 13, 41 to 42. Wailing and gnashing of teeth. because the fire is so hot, because you're burning forever and ever, because there's no hope to ever get out. You're gonna gnash your teeth in pain and agony without Christ in eternity in hell. You're gonna weep and wail because you rejected Christ, remembering all the sins that you committed, remembering the life that you lived and how you lived for your own self, for your own flesh, to satisfy the lust of the flesh, the pleasures of this world. Rejecting Christ, rejecting the Savior, rejecting true righteousness, which comes only by faith, imputed to our account. There's no place to hide, no place to run. You will face the judgment seat of Christ. And I saw the dead small and great. That means everyone. It doesn't matter if you were infamous, if you were unknown, if you were just somebody that lived day in and day out, nobody knew your name. You were just to live an anonymous life, going to work every day, going home. thinking you were doing okay in this world, or you were great, you were famous, you were rich, whatever, a captain of industry, a political chief, famous entertainer, it doesn't matter, all, small and great, you will not escape. It doesn't matter how rich you are. You can't buy your way out of this judgment. You cannot bribe this judge. There'll be no corrupt judgment from this judge. It will be just, it will be accurate. What does it say? The books were opened. There's books in heaven. Now I'm sure it's not literal books, but God writes them in heaven. I'm sure his computer is far better than ours. Today, we used to write them in books. Today it's done on computers, whatever, but God knows everything. It's all written. I don't know how it's written, but it's written. It says books. Okay, there's books. Biblias, books. The books were opened. That's the book where all the works that we've done Listen, Jesus said, I say unto you, that every idle word that men shall speak, they shall give account thereof in the day of judgment. For by your words you shall be justified, and by your words you shall be condemned, Matthew 12, 36 to 37. Even your idle words will be judged. Not believers. It's already been judged at the cross, but unbelievers, every idle word they speak will be judged. Nothing will escape him. God is omniscient. I had a friend the other day ask me, well, God doesn't know your thoughts, does he? Well, of course he does. He knows the things you think. As a man thinks in his heart, so is he, we're warned. So watch what you think. Remember when God was looking and having, Samuel, anoint a king for Israel. And then when they wanted to pick this handsome, tall, and God said to Samuel, look down on his countenance around the height of his stature, for I have refused him. For man looks on the outward appearance, but God looks at the heart. 1 Samuel 16, seven. God knows the heart. He knows our thoughts. He hears our words. He not only sees our actions and the things we do, but he knows our motives. He knows our attitudes. And for the unbeliever, they're all gonna be judged. They're all written in the book. Every one of them, can you imagine? How ashamed, how embarrassing the thoughts that you had, if they would come up for all to see. The things that you've done, the things that you've said, the attitudes you've had and the motives for what you did, the things that seemed to be good, all brought up for judgment. If you don't know Christ, they're all gonna be brought up for judgment. They're all gonna stand and you're all gonna answer for every one of those things one day before the judgment seat of Christ. Oh, how terrifying that is. But is your fate without Christ? Thank God with Christ, our sins are buried in the deepest sea. And our sins and iniquities, He'll remember no more. Oh, hallelujah to the Lamb of God who bore our sins on the cross, who washed us and made us clean, made us righteous and holy. And it's forgiven us and given us a home in heaven with Him. The books were open and another book was open, which is the book of life. and the dead were judged out of the things that were written in the books. It's all written there and they're gonna be judged from things that are written in the books. God keeps books. Remember we told them Malachi. And they that fought upon the Lord talked often one to another, and the Lord listened and heard. And a book of remembrance was written before the Lord for them that feared the Lord and fought upon his name, Malachi 3.16. One of the great 3.16s of the Bible, Malachi 3.16. God has in his book those of us who think upon him, who talk about him, who meditate upon him, who give him honor. Jesus said, when the disciples came back and said, Lord, even the demons are subject to us. Jesus said, rejoice not that the spirits are subject to you, but rather rejoice because your names are written in heaven. Luke 10, 20. Don't rejoice because you can cast out demons, rejoice because your name is written in heaven because your fate is not this to answer at the judgment seat of Christ. Paul, when he wrote to the church at Philippi, he said, help those women who labor with me in the gospel, with Clement also, with other my fellow workers, whose names are written in the book of life, Philippians 4.3. And Hebrews says, to the general assembly, the church of the firstborn who are written in heaven, Hebrews 12.23, the name's written in heaven. And all that dwell upon the earth shall worship him, whose name's not written in the book of life, but the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world, Hebrews 13, Revelation 13.8. And the beast that you saw that was and is not and shall ascend out of the bottom of his pit and go into perdition, all that dwell upon the earth shall worship him, shall wonder rather, whose name is not written in the book of life from the foundation of the world. Revelation 17, eight. All whose names are not written in the book of life from when? The foundation of the world. And so God has a book, a book of life for those who know Jesus Christ as Savior, written there from the foundation of the world, the divine elect. Those who know God as Savior, those who are born again, those who put their faith and trust in Him, they're written in that book. But he has another book, a book of judgment that has all the sins that every sinner has ever committed, thought, words, or deeds, all going to be brought up and all to be accounted for, unless you come to Christ. And they're gonna be judged on the things that are written in the books, how according to their works, according to their deeds, they shall be judged. There is degrees of punishment in hell. I think it's worthwhile for us to look at why we can say that, that there's degrees. Because does Hitler, should he get the same punishment that somebody who just lied once in a while and told a fib and maybe they had some thoughts they shouldn't have had and did some little things in this world. Should Hitler receive the same punishment that they do? Should Hitler receive the same punishment that someone in Africa who never heard the gospel, or someone in China who never heard of Jesus Christ or His name, or in India? Should they receive the same punishment? It doesn't seem that they should. They all share hell, and they're all going to be punished, but to different degrees. And let me show you why. I want you to look at a couple of scripts. Look with me at Matthew 10. It's worthwhile for you to look at this because I want you to realize that we can say that there is degrees of punishment. Now, no verse in the Bible says everybody should be punished at different levels or different degrees, but we can get this from these verses. Matthew 10, 14, whoever shall not receive you nor hear your words, when you depart out of that house or city, shake off the dust of your feet. 10, 15, for truly I say to you, it shall be more tolerable for the land of Sodom and Gomorrah in the day of judgment than for that city. So you see, he's saying a greater punishment for them who heard the gospel, who saw Jesus, who heard them, who heard the truth of the gospel and rejected it. They're gonna be punished more than even those in Sodom and Gomorrah because they had more light, more truth of the gospel and they refused to believe it. A degree of punishment. Look at me, just flip over to Matthew 11 and verse 22. Flip the page, Matthew 11, 22. We'll actually look at, let's pick it up at verse 21. Woe unto you, Corazin. Woe unto you, Bethesda. For if the mighty works which were done in you had been done in Tyre and Sodom, they would have repented long ago in sackcloth and ashes. But I say unto you, it should be more tolerable. You see that more tolerable for Tyre and Sidon at the day of judgment than for you and you, Capernaum. which are exalted unto heaven shall be brought down to hell. For if the mighty works which have been done in you had been done in Sodom, it would have remained until this day. But I say unto you that it shall be more tolerable for the land of Sodom in the day of judgment than for you." So a degree of punishment, Sodom, They were blown up by God, as you know. He rained fire on them. The city was blown up. They died. All the citizens of Sodom and Gomorrah died. But God said, it'll be more tolerable in the day of judgment for Sodom and Gomorrah than for you who heard the gospel and you rejected a degree of punishment, more tolerable. And then one last thing. Look with me at Mark 12. Mark 12, let's pick it up at verse 36. 38, I'm sorry, let's pick it up at 36. For David himself, Mark 12, 36. For David himself, by the Holy Spirit, the Lord said to my Lord, sit on my right hand until I make enemies the footstool. David himself calls him Lord, and where he is then his son. And the common people heard him gladly. So the common people heard Jesus gladly, they believed his word. And he said unto them in his doctrine, beware of scribes, those who are religious, but didn't believe in Christ as the Messiah. Beware of the scribes, which love to go in long clothing and give long prayers in the marketplace and the chief seats in the synagogues and the uppermost rooms of the feast, which devour widows' houses and for a pretense makes long prayers. What does it say? What's the next phrase? These shall receive greater damnation. These shall receive greater judgment, greater punishment. The more religious you are and reject Christ, the greater punishment you're going to receive. Turn back to Revelation 20. The more light you have, the more punishment you'll receive if you reject it. So we can honestly say, and this is a horrible thing to say, it's better for an unbeliever to die as soon as possible if they're gonna reject Christ, because the longer they live and the more light they receive, the more they refuse Christ, the greater their punishment is gonna be. So if they were to die sooner, it'd be better off. because they're gonna suffer even more. There are degrees of punishment in hell, but they're all going to be punished who have not received Christ as Savior. That's why we have the impetus of taking the gospel to the world. That's why it is up to us to let everyone hear the truth of the gospel. We're called to be witnesses. Then some will believe, some won't, that's in God's hands, but we're to witness because they're to receive the truth. They must hear it. And woe to us who have the remedy and the cure and refuse to give it to those who need it so badly. But there's degrees of punishment in hell. But Jesus said of this, of hell, he said, where the worm dies not and the fire is not quenched, Mark 9, 44. Where the worm dies not and the fire is not quenched, Mark 9, 46. Where the worm dies not and the fire is not quenched, Mark 9, 48. The fire is never quenched. It's forever and ever and ever. You will live forever. either in hell or heaven. They shall come forth, some to everlasting life and some to everlasting damnation. But they'll come forth. There's a judgment, there's a resurrection, both of the just and the unjust. For the unjust, it is a horrible resurrection. For the just, it is an awesome resurrection. Eternity with Christ. And then verse 13, the sea gave up the dead rich in it. I've heard people say, well, I want to be cremated. I want you to take my ashes and spread them out in the ocean so God can never call me back to judgment. Have you ever heard people say that? Yeah, God will never find me. I'll be, you know, thrown in the sea. Well, it doesn't matter if they died in the Titanic or if they're another shipwreck or they drowned or they were carried out to sea or they fell off, whatever it is, all that are in the sea, whether their ashes were spread there after they died or whatever, all that are in the sea, the dead's gonna give up, the sea's gonna give up the dead. All that are in the earth, that is, they've been buried in the earth. And all that are in Hades, the word there is Hades. It's the place where temporarily unbelievers have been since they died. Since the Old Testament, unbelievers, those who were contemporaries of Christ, those in the church age who have rejected Christ, those in the tribulation period who reject Christ, who have died, they're in a place called Hades. It's not the place of their eternal damnation. It's not their final resting place. It's a place of torment. Remember the rich man, he saw Lazarus and he said, just send Lazarus that he might dip the tip of his finger in water, put a drop of water on my tongue for I am tormented in this flame. It is real folks, hell is real. Don't go there. Put your faith and trust in Christ. He's the answer. He's the solution. He is the remedy. He is the cure. He is the deliverer and he is mighty to save. Doesn't matter what your sin is. Doesn't matter how far you've gone. Doesn't matter how much you played the game. Come to Christ in faith and in truth, repent, call upon his name. Hell is real. Don't go there. I warn you in the name of Jesus. I warn you on the authority of God's word. Hell is forever and it's real. Make sure, make sure you know Christ as Savior. Make sure you're born again. Make sure your faith and trust is in Him and in Him alone. Excuse me. And so the seer gave up the dead. Death, those in the grave, those in Hades, they're gonna come back. Hell delivered up the dead which are in them. And what happened? They were judged. This is the second time he says this. They were judged according to their works. Verse 12 says, they were judged according to their works when the books were opened. Verse 13 says, they were judged every man according to their works. How are they gonna be judged? According to their works, according to their deeds. And they're going to receive judgment or punishment predicated on their works and their deeds. And there's degrees of punishment, I believe. But there's still punishment. It's still without Christ. It's still eternity without God. It's still cast into the lake of fire. Maybe not as hot as Hitler's, or Mussolini, or Stalin, or Khrushchev, or Mao Zedong, but it is still hell. And then verse 14, here it is. Here's their final fate. Death and hell were cast in the lake of fire. Now this is the second death. They died the first time physically. Now they're going to die forever and ever in the lake of fire, the fire of brimstone, where the beast and false prophet and Satan are now contained. And whoever was not found written in the book. What happened to them? The book of life, the book of the born again, the book of the redeemed, where it was not found written there, their name was not there. Lord, is my name there? Is my name there, Lord? Am I written there, Lord? Am I forgiven? Am I one of your children, Lord? I've been to church, Lord, is my name there? No, depart from me, you worker of iniquity. I never knew you. Your name is not written in the book. Is your name written in the book? Do you know for sure your name is written in the book today? Have you put your faith and trust in Christ? If not, call upon his name. He will save, he is mighty to save. For he shall call upon the name of the Lord, shall be saved. Romans 10, 13, will you call? He will save. He's done the work on the cross. Believe, put your faith in him. It is true, it is real. He that believes on me, Jesus said, has everlasting life. He that believes not me, shall not have life, but is condemned already. This is a complete dissolution of the universe. This is uncreation taking place. God has created the heavens and the earth. The whole universe is going to pass away. That's what Peter said. Nevertheless, we look for a city whose builder and maker is God. Abraham said he looked for that city. He wanted to see that city. And that city is a city in which dwells righteousness, 2 Peter 3.13 says. But he also says that yourselves know perfectly, the day of the Lord shall come as a thief in the night in which the heaven shall pass away with a great noise. The elements also shall melt with fervent heat and the earth shall be burned up, 2 Peter 3.10. The universe is gonna be burned up. It's gonna be dissolved. After the millennial reign, During the millennial reign, the earth has been renewed. The curse has been reversed around earth. But then we go to the eternal state at the end of the millennial reign, after this judgment seat, and we enter eternity. It's not going to be the same earth. John says in the next chapter, I saw a new heaven, a new earth. For the first heaven, the first earth were what? Passed away. And there was no more sea. Revelation 21. It's going to all be dissolved. This earth is going to pass away. That's the promise of scripture. The elements shall melt with fervent heat. The earth that works therein shall be burned up, burned up, consumed. It's not going to exist anymore. God created it, now it shall all be dissolved. There'll be no more elements. It's going to all be gone. There'll be a new heaven, a new earth, completely different for the eternal state. And these who know Christ as Savior shall enter into that, into the kingdom of God. Giving thanks to the Father has made us fit to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints in light, Colossians 1.12 said, who has delivered us from the power of darkness and has translated us into the kingdom of his dear son, Colossians 1.13. That's what Paul preached. Paul said, for I know that you shall see my face no more, among whom I have gone preaching the kingdom of God. He's preached the kingdom, that's what his message was, the kingdom of God is coming, the kingdom of God is coming. That's what John said, repent for the kingdom of God is at hand. He said that in act to the church at Ephesus in Acts 20, 25. But Jesus shall be the judge. Jesus said, the father judges no man, but has committed all judgment to the son, John 5, 22. Because he has appointed the day in which he will judge the world by that man in righteousness whom he has appointed and has given assurance to all men and that he raised them from the dead, Acts 17, 31. He's gonna judge by Jesus Christ. He's given assurance to all men in that he raised him from the dead, that he will be the judge. He's the son of man and the son of God. Therefore he can judge man because he lived as a man for 33 years on the earth in perfect, sinless, holy perfection. He's gonna judge. And if you call on the Father without respect to persons, judges according to every man's work, pass the time of your sojourning here in fear, 1 Peter 1 17. And I'll close with a warning from Hebrews. For if we sin willfully, after we have received the knowledge of the truth, there remains no more sacrifice for sin. But a certain fearful looking-for of judgment and fiery indignation which shall devour the adversary. He that despised Moses' law died without mercy under two or three witnesses. Of how much more severe punishment, suppose you, shall he be thought worthy, who has tried to underfoot the Son of God, and has counted the blood of the covenant with which he was sanctified an unholy thing, and has done despite it in the spirit of grace. For we know him that has said, vengeance belongs unto me. I will repay, says the Lord. It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God. Hebrews 10, 26 to 31. It is a fearful thing for Jesus is the judge and without his blood applied to our sins, we will stand before him and we will be judged. And it's all written in the book, but it can all be blotted out. by faith in Christ. Have you put your faith in him? I urge you to do so. Don't wait another day. Don't wait another moment. Don't be fooled into thinking, well, I can always wait. Well, I got a little thing I wanna do yet. Well, I got a little sin I wanna enjoy, a little pleasure I wanna take on before, but I'll come to Christ before I die when I get old. No, you won't. If you harden your heart to the gospel, it's highly unlikely you'll ever repent. Very few people get saved in their old age. Some do, thank God, but very few. Very few, because you've hardened your heart, hardened your heart, and it gets so hard. Will you repent? Will you trust Him today? Will you call upon Him? Will you make sure that your sins are forgiven? Hell is real, but so is heaven. We anguish. It's terrifying thoughts to think of people entering hell and eternal fire. It breaks my heart. I hope it breaks yours. It is scary. It is frightening to think of such a destiny. But on the other hand, my Christian brothers and sisters, rejoice, rejoice, for your names are written in the Lamb's book of life, and heaven is your destiny, eternity with Jesus Christ, the millennial reign, and then forever and ever in the new heaven and the new earth. This one will pass away, but there's a new heaven, new earth. Jesus even said, heaven and earth shall pass away. But my word endures forever in Matthew 24, 35. This heaven and earth shall pass away. It shall melt with fervent heat. It shall dissolve. It shall be a new heaven, a new earth. Will you be there? Will you? Let's pray. Father, thank you for your word. Thank you for revealing the future to us. Thank you, Father, that you have given your only son, Jesus Christ, to die for our sins, that we might be forgiven, that our name would be written in the Lamb's Book of Life, that we would have the gift of eternal life. We'll never worship you enough. We shall never praise you enough. Eternity isn't long enough to worship you, to praise you, to thank you, to rejoice in you. For your mercy, for your grace, your unmerited favor, for your love that commended your son, Jesus Christ to die for our sins. Father, what love, what grace, what mercy. For we all deserve hell, for we're all guilty. We've all come short of the glory of God. We've all fallen in one point and therefore are guilty of all that are no better than any other sinner. But by your grace, Father, by your grace, by your love, by your mercy, you have made us a new creation. And we rejoice. We praise you that our fate, our destiny is eternity in heaven with you. We'll praise you, Father. Blessed be your name. Thank you, Lord, for eternal life. Lord, we pray for those who do not know you. Bring them to yourself today, not tomorrow. Help them to see the truth of the gospel. Help them to call upon your name. May they call upon you today. May they come to you today, Lord. May they not wait another hour, not another moment, for we never know when the end shall come. Father, I pray for this church, that we shall be a witnessing church, that we shall stand for Christ boldly, that we shall shine so brightly to family, to neighbors, to friends, to coworkers, that everyone who meets us should see Christ in us, the hope of glory. Lord, may we reach this world for Jesus. May we see souls saved and people coming to Christ in our community, even throughout America and our whole generation. Use the church to have an impact on this generation, Lord, for your glory. We cry out, Father, Hineni, Lord, use me. Hineni, Lord, be glorified in me. Hineni, Lord, give us fruit, much fruit, great fruit, abundant fruit, and fruit that remains for your glory, that we might lay it at your feet at the bama seed of Christ. Thank you, Father, for you're worthy. And worthy as a lamb that was slain to receive power and riches, wisdom and strength, honor and glory and blessing. Now unto him that is able to keep you from falling and to present you faultless before the presence of his glory with exceeding joy. Oh, the only wise God, our savior, be glory and majesty, dominion and power, both now and ever. Amen.