Well, we're almost finished. Well, we will be finished today, 4th chapter 20, Revelation 20, verses 11 through 15. And then I saw a tremendous white throne, and the one who sat on it, from whose face the earth and the sky fled away, and no place was found for them. And I saw the dead, great and small, standing before the throne, and books were opened, and another book was opened, namely of life. And the dead were judged according to their works by the things that were written in the books. The ocean gave up the dead who were in it, and death and Hades gave up the dead who were in them, and they were judged each one according to their works. And death and Hades were thrown into the lake of fire. This is the second death, the lake of fire. And if anyone is not found written in the book of life, he was thrown into the lake of fire. Amen. Father, we thank you for your word and I pray that as we dig into it, that you would quicken that word to our hearts, that you would bless this exposition of your word, enable me to faithfully, clearly communicate it, and I pray this in Jesus' name, amen. Well, this past week I really got a kick out of the title of a book. It was Jesus May Come Today. It was a reprint of a 1943 book by John R. Rice. And here's what the advertisement said that was trying to get us to buy it. This booklet will give you a new excitement as you realize that the Savior may return at any moment. So just for kicks, I clicked on the add to cart button to see how long the shipping would take. It was not any moment shipping, believe me. They guaranteed it would arrive in 9 to 15 days. Now, what's wrong with that picture? We saw last week that part of what's wrong with that picture is that the second coming is guaranteed by the Bible to not take place until the thousand years is finished and until An enormous number of prophecies have been completely fulfilled. There has never been an imminency doctrine that is central to Christianity. When the Bible says that something is going to be soon, near, about to happen, it always happens soon. And the parousia, which means the appearing of Christ, did happen in A.D. 30 when God appeared in the sky, on the clouds, and brought judgment upon Israel, ended the old covenant, and began this process of conversion of the nations and the bringing in of all things new. But when the Bible speaks of things being a long ways away, a thousand years, or other figures of vast amounts of time, you know it is not going to be imminent. I doubt very much that any first century saints thought that the end of the thousand years, whatever that meant, was going to be imminent. I doubt any of them thought that way. Now, last week we looked at Christ coming down to earth, Greek word, erchemai, in fiery flames. That's the second coming. And He came down to begin the judgment of the resurrected nations. And now in verses 11 through 15, It'll show him resurrecting the rest of the dead and judging all before the great white throne. Now if any passage in the book of Revelation talks about the second coming, verses seven through 15, I think clearly do so. Now before we look at this description of the final judgment, I do wanna look at two minor puzzles that have troubled a lot of commentators. They're major, major puzzles for other positions. It's just a minor puzzle for me. But the first puzzle is, how could heaven and earth pass away in verse 11, and yet the sea and those buried in it still be in existence in verse 13? There would be no sea or earth to get resurrected from if the heaven and earth passed away. Many commentators have puzzled over this. One commentary I wrote said, well, he doesn't know what the answer is, and it's ridiculous to even require an answer. It's utterly meaningless, he said. I think it's just a very cavalier attitude that he took. He just said, it's out of order. Who cares? He wasn't going to comment on it. Others have said that it is simply metaphorical of what happened in AD 70, or it's metaphorical of what happens at the end of history. But either way, it's not really heaven and earth passing away. It's a metaphor of something else going on. But that doesn't help either, because chapter 21, verse 1 says that the sea itself is part of the things that were done away with in verse 11. the sea itself, and yet you have the sea still in existence in verse 13. So even if you take it 100% as symbolic, what was symbolically passed away in verse 11 is still symbolically present in verse 13. You still cannot escape the conundrum there. Others say that there are three parallel descriptions of the same event with verses 7 through 10 describing the last day of history, then verse 11 describing exactly the same event, but from a second perspective, and then verses 12 through 15 describing the exact same event again from a third perspective. And so they base that on the repetition of, and I saw, in verse 11, and again in verse 12. So they say these are three snapshots of exactly the same event. Now, that actually would resolve the conundrum, and it may be a true explanation of it. It just doesn't seem natural to me as I'm reading and reading and reading through this text, and it seems that John's usage of the word chi indicates that there must be some kind of a sequence in every section in each one of these snapshots, and on my interpretation there is. Another explanation is that it should be translated this way. Then I saw a great white throne, and him who sat on it, the one from whose face the earth and the heavens flee away." In other words, verse 11b isn't giving time sequence. It's just stating who is this one that's sitting on the throne. Oh, it's the one who at some point the entire heavens is going to flee away from. That may be a solution. I don't think it's necessary. One other strange explanation is that of the premillennialist Mealy who claims that there is a gap of 1,000 years between verse 12 and verse 13. I read and read and read that passage. I just don't see a thousand-year gap there. And that verses 11 through 15 that we just read are parallel to verses 4 through 10. So on his interpretation, verses 4 through 6 are the first resurrection before the millennium. I say, yep, check. And then he says, but Verse 11 is also the first resurrection. I said, no, not correct. Then he says verses 7 through 10 are the second resurrection. Check. And then he says verses 12 through 15 are also the second resurrection. That is correct, but he does not see sequence in the passage. So this, of course, forces him to hugely downplay the vanishing of heaven and earth in verse 11, because he sees that simply as the preparation of the earth for some future premillennial 1,000-year reign of Jesus on the earth. But here's one of the problems. Since there will be death and sin, on his view, in that future 1,000 years, I fail to see how there is a complete vanishing away of the old. I just don't see how it fits. And full preterists, by the way, have exactly the same problem. They claim that the heaven and earth passed away in AD 70. In fact, they say this whole chapter was fulfilled in AD 70. So the premial and preterist interpretations are perhaps the most convoluted interpretations I've seen so far on this passage. But here's the point. Every commentary that I own that I have read has struggled with how to place verse 11b. It's a puzzle for just about everybody. I think my interpretation is the most straightforward and takes seriously the sequential progression in the passage, and you don't have to retranslate anything. Here's how I break up the passage. Verses 4 through 6 is the first resurrection before the millennium. Then verses 7 through 10 is the resurrection of Gog and Magog after the millennium, on the last day of history, along with the releasing of Satan. And then verses 11 through 15 occur one hour after Gog and Magog are raised, or at the end of that hour-long rebellion that we looked at last week. So they're a sequence all the way through this chapter. Now what about verse 11b? Well, the literal translation doesn't actually make 11 be sequential. It would just describe which one sat on the throne. But I think there really is a good reason why he introduces that right at this juncture. I see the whole of verse 11 as a summary heading of the last section of verses 11 through 15, 12 through 15. So how do verses 12 through 15 occur after verse 11? Well, they definitely occur after verse 11a, Right? So there is sequence there. But I, verse 11b states the end result of this judgment on the last day of history. So I've just written beside verse 11, summary title. Summary title. And then verses 12 through 15 amplifies that. Now can I guarantee that my interpretation of this is correct? No. The three-snapshot theory may be the correct one. The retranslation theory may be correct. Maybe somebody else will come up with a better explanation. But to me, this interpretation I gave seems to be the most straightforward approach, and it takes four things seriously that the others do not. First of all, it takes seriously the multiple times that John 6 says that everyone is going to be raised on the last day of history. It takes seriously John 5's twice-repeated statement that within the space of one hour, everybody would be raised, whether believer or unbeliever. Third, it takes the sequence in the chapter seriously. Verse 11 definitely takes place after verses 7 through 10, and verses 12 through 15 definitely takes place after 11a. So there is sequence all the way through. Now, I'm going to save my exposition of 11b for next week when I get into chapter 21 because It introduces such an encouraging concept that I want to spend an entire sermon developing that together with verse 1 of chapter 21. It's showing that just as 1 Corinthians 15 does, the second coming of Christ finishes this long process of making all things new by destroying the last enemy, death, And so when the last enemy death is done away with, the all things of the old order are finished, and all that remains is the new order. But we'll get to that next week. And then finally, it takes seriously John's use of headings throughout this book to summarize what he's about to talk about or has been talking about in that paragraph. And it's not uncommon for him to summarize everything within a paragraph in one sentence. Everybody agrees he did that in verse 5. He does it in verse 3, and we've seen him do it in other places in this book. My interpretation is totally consistent with John's use of headings to summarize paragraphs. So verse 11a begins the discussion of verses 12 through 15. Verse 11b shows the end result of verses 12 through 15. And by the way, it can't be just metaphorical. Chapter 21, verse 1 talks about even the ocean, the sea being passed away. There is a literal fulfillment of that phrase. Now, the second puzzle stated by commentators is how could the dead be judged in verse 12 before the judge or even raised in verse 13? They can't really be judged until they get resurrected, can they? Well, if you take the three snapshot view, that's not a problem. And on my interpretation, there's absolutely no problem either because we saw that Gog and Magog were resurrected for this last rebellion And then an hour later, verses 11 through 15, the rest are raised. So just as the first resurrection had two phases, the first fruits and then the full harvest, the last resurrection is going to have two phases separated by about an hour. Now let's spend the rest of this sermon looking at the central theme of these verses. This is really, I think, an amazing description of the final judgment. There's a courtroom, a judge, evidence that's looked at, a standard by which the evidence is judged. There's a defense of some, no defense of others. There's a verdict, a sentence, and a happy result. Let's look at the courtroom first. Verse 11 says, then I saw a tremendous white throne. The Greek word, epic ring, translates as tremendous, as simply megos, it's great. So it's a great white throne, and it speaks of the power of the judge. The lost who will stand before this throne on the last day of history will be struck with terror, and believers will be struck with awe at the greatness of their God. There are a lot of people nowadays who talk flippantly about what they will say to God, you know, when they speak to Him face to face. But when they stand before this throne, all braggadocio attitudes will vanish. They will weep. They will tremble before Him. All jokes about hell will vanish as the reality of Judgment Day sinks in. Hebrews 10.31 says, it is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God. Hebrews 12.29 says, for our God is a consuming fire. So it's a great throne. It also says it's a great white throne. And that white shows the absolute, unapproachable purity of this judge. Those who thought that their good deeds would outweigh their bad deeds are suddenly, when they're confronted with the purity of God, are going to realize how black, how wicked their souls are at. They're going to stand before this judge and tremble, and they will have no doubt in their minds that they do not even remotely measure up to God's standards of holiness and purity. In fact, the only way that we could stand before that throne without wanting to run from that throne is if we're cleansed in the blood of the Lord Jesus Christ. Isaiah 118 says, Come now, and let us reason together, saith the Lord. Though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow. So every man, woman, and child is going to have to come before the absolute brilliant purity of this white throne. And the only way to do so successfully is cleansed in the blood of Christ. And then the word throne itself indicates both rule and judgment mingle together. This judge is the king of the universe. Second dictionary definition of thronos is supreme power over a political entity, dominion, sovereignty. So those who right now think of themselves as captains of their own fate, will suddenly stand before the One who undeniably is calling all of the shots on that final day of history. 1 Timothy 6.15 calls Jesus the blessed and only potentate, the King of kings and Lord of lords. If we do not bow the knee before Jesus in this life, then we will shrink in terror from that throne on judgment day. So that's the courtroom. That is the courtroom. It'll reveal God's great power, His brilliant purity, His sovereign judgment, before which no one can stand. Now let's look at the judge himself. Verse 11 says, And the one who sat on it, from whose face the earth and the sky fled away, and no place was found for them. Now it doesn't say who this one is, so many commentators take it as God the Father, because earlier in the book of Revelation, God the Father is sitting on a throne. But I agree with those commentators who say, no, this has to be Jesus. In John 5, verse 22, Jesus said, for the Father judges no one, but has committed all judgment to His Son. Now, of course, since the Son and the Father and the Holy Spirit always do everything together, it's not really an either-or situation. They're all involved. So Acts 17.31 says of God the Father, because He has appointed a day in which He will judge the world in righteousness by the man whom He has ordained. So yes, the Father does judge the world, but how does He do it? He does it by the man, Jesus. So I think it's just crystal clear that it is Jesus who will be on this throne. And I've given you several scriptures. I'll just read you a sampling. Matthew 25, verse 31 and 32. When the Son of Man comes in His glory and all the holy angels with Him, then He will sit on the throne of His glory. All the nations will be gathered before Him. He will separate them one from another as a shepherd divides his sheep and his goats. Acts 10.42 says Jesus, quote, was ordained by God to be judge of the living and the dead. 2 Timothy 4 verse 1, the Lord Jesus Christ who will judge the living and the dead. So it's Jesus, Jesus on this throne. The next thing that we see in this courtroom is the ones being judged. Verse 12 says, and I saw the dead, great and small, standing before the throne. Great and small. So little children will be judged, and great presidents will be judged, and all will be forced to stand. They probably wish they could flee, but they are going to be fixated in place, forced to stand trial. Verse 12 goes on and says, the dead were judged. Verse 13, the ocean gave up the dead who were in it, and death and Hades gave up the dead who were in them. They were judged each one according to their works. Verse 14 speaks of those not found written in the book of life. And when you put all of those phrases together, you realize everybody from Adam to the end of history Whether they are alive when He comes back, or they've died and been given new resurrected bodies, everybody is going to be judged at Christ's coming. And notice the two references to the Book of Life. Those not found in the Book of Life are the non-elect. The non-elect. Now, the reason I say it's the non-elect is that Revelation 13, 8, 17, 8, and chapter 20, verse 15, all describe them as those whose names are not written in the book of life from the foundation of the world. So those burning in hell are those whose names were not written in the book of life from the foundation of the world. Now, this helps to settle a controversy, by the way. There are five-point Armenians who believe that because it says they will not have their names blotted out of the book, that implies somebody maybe could have their names blotted out, and they believe you can lose your salvation. But if that was the case, then there would have been people who had their names written in the book of life from the foundation of the world and later got those names erased. But this indicates, no, the ones burning in hell did not have their names in that book from the foundation of the world. So, To me, this indicates that this is talking about the reprobate, not written in the book of life, the elect who are written in the book of life. What Revelation affirms is that believers will not have their names blotted out. It's not stating what is a possibility. It is emphatically denying what can happen. They cannot be blotted out. So before time began, God had a book that he wrote the names of the elect in, and he gave those names to Jesus to die for. Now, theologians call this the covenant of redemption. There was a covenant before there was even a world created. It was a covenant that involved the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, and It showcases their redemptive plan, and that book then informs the spirit of whom He will regenerate. And only those will be saved, and all those will be saved. As the Westminster Confession words it, by the decree of God, for the manifestation of His glory, some men and angels are predestined unto everlasting life, and others foreordained to everlasting death. These angels and men, thus predestined and foreordained, are particularly and unchangeably designed, and their number so certain and definite that it cannot be either increased or diminished. So those whose names are in the book of life are simply those who have been predestined to life. Now, I know some people find the doctrine of predestination pretty scary. I find it an incredibly encouraging doctrine. But they think, well, what if I'm not predestined? What if my name is not written in the book of life? That's kind of a scary thought. Well, the answer is really actually pretty easy. Romans 3, 9 through 18 says that no unregenerate person can ever seek after God, can ever have faith on their own. It has to be a gift of God. They cannot come. So, if you have come to the Lord in faith, it is a proof positive that the Holy Spirit, who only works in giving regeneration to those whose names are in the book, is at work in your life. He has—that's how you know you're in the book of life. Another way that you can tell that you're in the book of life is since faith is something that is an ongoing activity that causes righteousness to develop, the more we mature in our Christian life, the more we will be assured of our election. Let me read to you from 2 Peter chapter 1. It tells us that God the Father starts the process by giving all of His elect faith. we're responsible to use that faith to receive from the throne of Christ virtue, and with that faith to continue diligently furnishing out knowledge. And we're supposed to add to knowledge self-control, to self-control, perseverance, to perseverance, godliness, to godliness, brotherly kindness, to brotherly kindness, love. Now, I want you to listen to the confidence we can have in both our internal calling by the Holy Spirit and our eternal election when we pursue Christ with that kind of diligence, which, by the way, is the fifth point of Calvinism. It's not true Calvinism when you say, once saved, always saved, you know, you could live like the devil, no. True Calvinism believes you will, you must persevere, and by God's grace, you will persevere. But anyway, it says this. For if these things are yours and abound, you will be neither barren nor unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. For he who lacks these things is short-sighted, even to blindness, and has forgotten that he was cleansed from his old sins. Therefore, brethren, be even more diligent to make your call and election sure. That's how we have assurance that we are elect, how we have assurance that we are called by the Spirit to make your call and election sure, for if you do these things, you will never stumble, for so an entrance will be supplied to you abundantly into the everlasting kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Or we could look at it from another angle. The book of 1 John says that the Holy Spirit never gives assurance to those who are not walking faithfully with Him. Even if they're genuine believers, He didn't bother giving them assurance. Why would He give them the comfort of assurance when they're in rebellion against Him? So He says, how do we get assurance? By walking in the light, by clinging to Him. The non-elect don't want to come to Jesus and indeed cannot come to Jesus. In John 6, verse 44, Jesus says, No one can come to Me unless the Father who sent Me draws him, and I will raise him up on the last day. But praise God, in the same chapter, He says, all that the Father gives me will come to me, and the one who comes to me I will by no means cast out. Praise God! If you come to Him, you will by no means be cast out. Why? Because it's proof positive you're one of the ones that the Father has given to the Son. Okay? And those verses again indicate that 100% of those whom the Father gave to the Son—in other words, 100% of those whose names were written in the book of life—will be raised on the last day and spend eternity with Jesus. None will lose their salvation. None will have their names blotted out of the Book of Life. Now, I know I'm spending a lot of time on this, but this is a subject that many people struggle over. How do I have assurance? In fact, if you read the commentaries on passages like this, commentaries like Vic Reisner, it's an otherwise great commentary, but he's constantly pointing out, well, since it says, whose names will not be blotted out of the Book of Life, it must imply that some do get their names blotted, but that's not what it's saying. It's misreading those verses. But while those written in the book of life will be secure in Jesus, everyone else will be cast out of the universe and into hell. Clinging to Jesus is your only hope of salvation. There are other scriptures that indicate that there are various groups that will stand before this judgment throne of Christ. There will be atheists who stand before this throne who are suddenly no longer atheists. Instead, they are realizing what Psalm 14 describes them, that they are fools. The fool has said in his heart, there is no God. They're going to be kicking themselves and thinking, what a fool I was. There will be self-righteous Pharisees who think that God owes them for all of the sacrifices that they have made in life, all of the good things. And Jesus will look at them, and it will make Him sick. He sees nothing but stenchy, filthy rags. Why? Because not one of those righteous deeds was produced by Christ, by the Holy Spirit. They are not worthy to go into heaven. There will be professing evangelicals, according to Matthew 7, who will say, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in your name, cast out demons in your name, done many wonders in your name? And Jesus will say to them, I never knew you. Depart from me, you who practice lawlessness. And by the way, for the five-point Arminians who think you can lose your salvation, your name can be blotted out, I want you to notice in that passage, Jesus said, I never knew you." He did not say, oh yeah, I knew you once, but you lost your salvation. I don't know you now. No, he says, I never knew you. You were not one of those that was given by the Father to me to die for. I didn't die for you. I didn't pray for you. You're not written in the book. My life is dedicated to those written in the book by the covenant of redemption. In John 17 verse 9, Jesus prayed to the Father on behalf of those whom the Father had given to Him, saying this, I pray for them, I do not pray for the world, but for those whom You have given Me, for they are Yours. So we have seen everybody is going to be standing before the throne, believers, unbelievers, those whose names are in the book, those whose names are not in the book of life. And I'll just remind you again that Matthew 7, which we just read earlier, Jesus will judge all professing believers by the law of God. Now, this is something that confuses many Christians. They don't get it. They think, hey, all it means, we just get saved and that's all there is to it. But there are many scriptures that indicate believers will be judged by the law on that last day of history. So I want you to notice in these verses in Revelation, it also shows that everyone, whether they are believers or unbelievers, will be judged by their works. Okay, there is evidence introduced and a standard by which everything is judged. Verse 12 says, And books were opened, and another book was opened, namely of life. And the dead were judged according to their works by the things that were written in the books. Now, if there are books plural, plus the book of life, there are at least three books on judgment day. Because judged by what's written in the books, books plural means at least two, and the book of life, that would be three. I believe that the three books are the book of works, the Bible, and the book of life. First of all, the book of works. Who gets judged by the things written in it? And the answer is clearly everyone. Now that may come as a surprise to you, but Jesus does not distinguish between believers or unbelievers when He judges the book of works. Don't confuse the book of life with the book of works. All will be judged according to their works. All. Psalm 56, verse 8 says that all of David's wanderings, all of his works, all of his tears are written in God's book. That's Psalm 56, 8. Psalm 139 says, Nothing can be hidden from God. First six verses say, O LORD, You have searched me and known me. You know my sitting down and my rising up. You understand my thought afar off. You comprehend my path and my lying down, and are acquainted with all my ways. For there is not a word on my tongue, but behold, O LORD, You know it altogether. You have hedged me behind and before and laid your hand upon me. Such knowledge is too wonderful for me. It is high. I cannot attain it." And then verse 16, he says this, and in your book, they are all written. This is a believer. This is a man after God's own heart, and yet every thought, motive, word, and action of David was being recorded in God's book, what I call the book of works. Now, that's a little bit scary when you think about it. It's unnerving. In Ezekiel 11, verse 5, Ezekiel says this, and the Spirit of the Lord fell upon me and said unto me, I know the things that come into your mind, every one of them. What are some of the thoughts that come into your mind that are going to make it into the book of works? 2 Peter 2 verse 14 says, having eyes full of adultery and that cannot cease from sin. If you have eyes that are full of adultery and that cannot cease from sin, you are stacking up all kinds of works, bad works, in the book of works in heaven. You might think, well there is absolutely no way that I could be judged by every thought that I have ever done on the last day of history. There wouldn't be enough time on the last day of history. Let me assure you, you will be judged. You've probably run across people who have had near-death experiences where they said their entire life flashed before their eyes. I know people like this. I had it happen to myself when I got into a car accident. It's like tens of thousands of memories just flashing through your mind in a matter of seconds. Things you hadn't thought about for years are there, just vivid, as if you are living them all out right now. I think something like that is going to be happening on the Day of Judgment, only it's not going to be just you who see it. Scripture indicates there's going to be deep shame as you realize that the angels see it, other people see it. Somehow God's going to make a panoramic view of your life exposed, all of that filthiness in contrast to the brilliant whiteness of Christ's purity. What angry words have you spoken this past week? Matthew 12, 36 through 37 says this. This is Jesus speaking. But I say to you that for every idle word men may speak, they will give account of it in the day of judgment. For by your words you will be justified, and by your words you will be condemned. This is the language of a courtroom. For believers, it's obviously not going to spell our doom in hell, but it's only because our names are in the book of life. They're secure in Jesus. But you will know the guilt of those idle words. Psalm 139 verse 4 says, For there is not a word on my tongue, but behold, O LORD, you know it all together. Hebrews 4.13 says, There is no creature hidden from his sight, but all things are naked and open to the eyes of him to whom we must give account. So we're going to give account to God for every idle thought, word, and action. Gossip, Slander, criticism, lies, evil jokes. They're going to be exposed as the black evil darkness that they really are. Luke 12, verse 2 and 3. For there is nothing covered that will not be revealed, nor hidden that will not be known. Therefore, whatever you have spoken in the dark, will be heard in the light. Ecclesiastes 12, 14 insists, for God will bring every work into judgment, including every secret thing, whether good or evil. When you secretly watch pornography behind closed doors, the angels who have been sent by God to guard your life are grieving. God the Father, God the Holy Spirit, God the Son are grieving. And on Judgment Day, you're going to be having great shame as these things are exposed. In fact, Scripture indicates some of the actions that we do may erase and undo, make us lose some of the rewards we might otherwise have had. In fact, I want you to turn with me, if you would, to 1 Corinthians chapter 3, and I want to give one of many passages that show a loss that believers will have because of the carelessness of their lifestyle. They've got a faulty view of the gospel. 1 Corinthians 3, and I'm going to begin reading at verse 11. Now verse 11, so encouraging, it says, for no other foundation can anyone lay than that which is laid, which is Jesus Christ. So we are secure in Jesus. We will get to heaven because of Jesus. That is true, but what do we build on this foundation by God's grace? That's the subject of the next three verses. Verse 12. Now if anyone builds on this foundation with gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, straw, each one's work will become clear, for the day will declare it, because it will be revealed by fire, and the fire will test each one's work of what sort it is. If anyone's work which he has built on it endures, he will receive a reward. If anyone's work is burned, he will suffer loss, but he himself will be saved, yet so as through fire." So evidence of whether your works are done by your flesh or done by the Holy Spirit is being gathered minute by minute in the book of works. Nothing is left out, nothing crossed out. Even your attitudes toward the sermon this morning are being recorded right now. by the Father in this book. Let me end this section with two more scriptures for believers alone. Matthew 10, verse 42 says that believers will be rewarded for works done by grace. And whoever gives one of these little ones only a cup of cold water in the name of a disciple, assuredly I say to you, he shall by no means lose his reward. So when you moms change the diapers of the babies and you do it as unto Christ, you will receive a reward. Why? Because God the Father records that event in history. Now, on the other hand, The book of 1 John says that we can actually lose rewards that have been accruing when we engage in evil or we backslide. He says, look to yourselves, this is 2 John 8, look to yourselves that we do not lose those things we work for, but that we may receive a full reward. So take seriously the book of works. Both believers and unbelievers have everything about us recorded in them. Well, if the first book is the book of works, what about the other two? Now, I cannot prove this definitively, but I believe the second one is the Bible, as do many other scholars. And the reason I say this is because Jesus said, he who rejects me and does not receive my words has that which judges him. The word that I have spoken will judge him in the last day. Now, the last day is the day of judgment, so Christ's words They're recorded in Scripture, right? Those words will judge the person, and their works will judge the person. So those are the two books referred to in verse 12, when it says, the dead were judged according to their works by the things that were written in the books. Now this dovetails, I think, beautifully with what we've already seen in chapters 4 through 8, that every nation is judged by God's law, by the Old Testament, right? The scroll there. And it also dovetails with the fact that human judges are supposed to imitate God's justice by doing what? By judging according to God's Word. God says that's what He's going to judge us from. So Ezekiel 44, 24, God says to human judges, In controversy they shall stand as judges, and judge it according to my judgments. They shall keep my laws and my statutes." Now again, this is where many modern Christians get confused because of their antinomianism. They think, that just can't possibly be true of us because we're not under law, we're under grace. Surely we've been rescued from the curse of the law. And I say, absolutely. You have been rescued from the curse of the law. Why? Because your names are in the book of life. But You have not been rescued from the law's evaluation. From its curse, yes, but not from its evaluation. God continues to be a just judge. James 2 verse 12 tells believers, so speak and so do as those who will be judged by the law of liberty. Why would he say that if everyone gets rewarded equally in heaven? And that book appears to be our defense, the book of life. As I said earlier, it's the covenant record of the covenant of redemption between Father, Son, and Holy Spirit in eternity past. It records all those whom the Father has given to the Son and those whom Jesus would die for. And as to rewards, those are of grace as well. Let me just explain how that's all part of the covenant of redemption. The Spirit produces the works in us that Jesus died to purchase. And Jesus died to purchase the works that the Father had planned for before the foundation of the world. So Ephesians 2.10 says, Now we do have responsibility But Philippians 2, 11-12 says, we can only diligently work out what the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit have been working in us. Work out your own salvation with fear and trembling, for it is God who works in us both to will and to do of His good pleasure. So, our flesh cannot produce anything that will get into heaven. Nothing. So again, from beginning to end, the triune God working through Jesus in our lives is our only defense. Now the verdict that will be based upon our actions recorded in the book of works appears to be strictly according to God's justice, nothing swept under the carpet. Believers will gain rewards and lose benefits based on what the Spirit has produced within them. Their sins are dealt with in Christ, okay, so they're not going to go to hell. What was deserved, hell, is going to be cancelled out by the Book of Life, but rewards will be judged based upon what we have done, what we have not done, as recorded in the Book of Works, and God will be very just in giving those. For example, James 3, verse 1, tells Christians, My brethren, let not many of you become teachers, knowing that we shall receive a stricter judgment. Now think about that. I as a teacher am going to be judged far more strictly and severely than many of you. Why? Because I should know better, because of my office and privilege. With greater knowledge, with greater responsibility comes greater judgment. So, God is going to do strictly according to justice. That's why it's called the book of works. And for unbelievers, the same is true. They will obviously be judged worthy of death because of a lifetime of sin, rebellion, their not being united to Jesus, but they don't receive equal punishment. They don't receive equal punishment. Scripture indicates that the reprobate who have sinned ignorantly will be judged less severely than those who have sinned willfully. In John 19, 11, Jesus said that the Jewish leaders who had handed Him over to Pilate had far greater sin than Pilate had. Why? Because Pilate was being manipulated in this. Hebrews 10.29 says that those who deliberately trample underfoot the blood of Christ will receive, quote, much worse punishment, unquote. So there are degrees of punishment in hell. based upon the works of unbelievers. This is why Jesus told Chorazin and Bethsaida, it will be more tolerable for Tyre and Sidon in the day of judgment than for you, Matthew 11, 22. Why? Because God meets out punishment on the last day of history that is consistent with their works, consistent with their degree of knowledge and degree of responsibility. So it is a faulty view of justice that says all in hell will receive exactly the same punishment and that all in heaven will receive the same reward. Psalm 62.12 says of God, you render to each one according to his work. Isaiah 59 verse 18, according to their deeds, accordingly he will repay. Matthew 16.27 summarizes numerous scriptures when it says this, For the Son of Man will come in the glory of His Father with His angels, and then He will reward each according to His works." So there is overwhelming evidence that there will be degrees of punishment in hell depending on the verdict from the book of works, and there will be degrees of reward in heaven according to God's verdict from the book of works. Next come the sentences. The sentences that are handed out are two, and that is, whatever is deserved in the lake of fire for those who are not in the book of life, and whatever is deserved in the new heavens and new earth for those who are in the book of life. There will be no socialistic redistribution where everybody gets exactly the same reward. Unbelievers have degrees of punishment in hell. Believers have degrees of reward in heaven. According to 2 John 8, our bad behavior later in life can be wiped out In other words, the rewards we've accrued can be wiped out by backsliding. Look to yourselves that we do not lose those things we work for, but that we may receive a full reward. So I think too many Christians think when they get to heaven, it's all going to be equal, and we're all going to have mentions. But Jesus was quite clear that while getting eternal life is a free gift of God, we will be judged for our thoughts, words, and deeds. In fact, 1 Corinthians 3 indicates that some Christians will get into heaven but they will not have anything from this earth that they will take with them. Everything will be burned up as hay, wood, and stubble. Everything will be burned up. Others will have laid up huge amounts of resources in heaven because they weren't lazy socialists and they took seriously Christ's words, but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven. Matthew 6, 20. Give to the poor and you will have treasure in heaven. Matthew 19, verse 21. Parable of the Minos is an amazing passage on the rewards of heaven based on strict justice. One of those stewards, remember, was ten times more faithful and he was given rulership over ten cities. And there was another steward, five times more faithful, he was given rulership over five cities. And then the third steward, he didn't get anything. He wasn't faithful. But hey, it's going to be cool to be in heaven, no matter whether you get rewards or not. It's going to be wonderful. But let me tell you, those of you who are future minded enough to be laying up for retirement on this earth, and hopefully most of you are future minded enough that you're thinking about that even when you're young, you need to be even more future minded in laying up for heaven. for those eternal rewards, because it will impact the kind of dominion you can take throughout all ages. You're going to be starting off with next to nothing and little by little accumulating, or you're going to be starting off with a huge wad. What you start with is not mere empty symbolism. You really do want to lay up treasures in heaven. But 2 Peter 1 says that it takes your diligent faith to appropriate what Jesus has purchased for you in heaven. So keep in mind that there will be a real judgment of both believers and unbelievers. Book of Life makes the difference of whether you are—if He's died for you, that's the covenant of redemption. If He has died for you, you're going to be in heaven. If you're not in the Book of Life, you're going to be in hell. But the other two books make the difference in how well we start off in eternity. God's justice will not be arbitrary. You and I will face a day of judgment of our works, and it really should affect how we live right now. Amen. Father, we thank You that though we deserved hell, You gave us heaven. Though heaven alone is everything that we could hope for, Yet you enabled us to appropriate your grace in such a way that our good works can lay up treasures in heaven. I pray that you would help us to apply ourselves, to improve our baptism, to improve the Lord's table that we partake of, to receive from your throne the grace that we need day by day to be laying up treasures in heaven. I pray that you would bless this, your people, with an abundant rewards, not just in life, but in eternity. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen.