THE GREAT WHITE THRONE JUDGMENT AND THE LAKE OF FIRE
Little, if anything, is mentioned today about the Great White Throne judgment. It is hidden in plain sight in the book of Revelation, a disclosure about Jesus avoided by most readers because of the symbolism and catastrophic judgments described within its chapters. Yet, in the opening verses of the book, Jesus promises a blessing to those who read it:
Taking Him at His word, I began reading Revelation again, as it had been a while since the last time I read its pages. What I encountered this time was revolutionary! Because we are clearly in the Last Days, its words took on new significance! Such is the reason for this writing.
We often are led to believe that condemnation to hell is the final end of people because they do not receive Jesus as their Savior. How wrong a concept that is! In his book, Paths to Power, A.W. Tozer says that
"...the doctrine that the only damning sin is the rejection of Jesus is definitely a contributing cause of our present weakness and lack of moral grip."
People enjoy their sin! Every individual has his or her own pattern of sinning and doesn't want to alter the source of their pleasure. Sin likes to hide from exposure. Perhaps that is why so much sinning occurs at night. Also, sin takes pleasure in wrong doing and will not give up without a struggle. That is why in today's society God's word is being stamped out and trampled under foot! It exposes sin!
Howard Storm was one such individual. He tells his story of personal atheism and total disregard for other persons who did not directly salve one of his own needs. In an interview about his experience, he says he was not a very nice person unless he intended to be for his own gain!
While in Europe as a professor touring with a group of students, he collapsed with a serious ailment that demanded emergency surgery or he would die. No surgeon was available for hours, during which time Storm was taken to hell. One by one his sins were exposed before him. As well, so were the feelings and hurts of those whom he had spurned or castigated. He tasted every one! Finally, when Jesus was going to take Storm to heaven to see it, Storm said he was too unfit for that trip!
Instead of dying, Storm lived to give up his role as a university professor to attend seminary, after which he pastored a church for 30 plus years. It was a replay of his prideful sins of unkindness and mimicking of things godly and Christian that made such a revolutionary change in Storm's attitude and life. Now a man of years, he still feels the fire of his conversion burning in his inner man! God spared his life and his not remaining in hell because he repented of his terrible unkindness!
Storm has researched well his near-death experience (NDE) and that of so many others. He concludes that in these last days, thousands of people are having NDEs. Perhaps God is emphasizing the reality of hell today through live witnesses, because there is such a lack of warning people about hell and sin's consequences. Storm's experience of God's using his owns sins to speak against him reflects what is going to happen at the Great White Throne Judgment.
On that awful day, Jesus will be seated on the Throne. It is not whether or not a sinner received Jesus as Savior that will be the issue. Every person's sins will be revealed one at a time with the effects each sin had. A person's sins are what keep him from coming to Christ for forgiveness. It is their pride that does not want those sins uncovered and bared before God.
Jesus Himself told Nicodemus one dark night:
However, one must either come to God and repent of their sins in this life or have those sins judged at the Great White Throne judgment. Jesus said it this way:
Jesus will be seated as Judge and the evidence of every sin a person ever committed during his or her lifetime will condemn for all to see. It is a person's own sins and deeds that will speak against him, not Jesus. The final piece of condemning evidence will be the Book of Life and whether a person's name appears on its pages. If not, his final destination will be the lake of fire that Revelation calls the second death.
So complete and so just will be the court room hearing at the Great White Throne judgment that even the most vile person who ever lived will ultimately bow to Jesus:
Then comes the final finality for each sinner found guilty: the lake of fire! Sinners who were not intended to perish forever will be the last to meet that fate! The beast of Revelation and the false prophet will be the first to be thrown into the lake of fire and brimstone (Revelation 19:20). Next will be the devil or satan who deceived the nations (Revelation 20:10), followed by Death and Hades (Revelation 10:14). Human souls will be the last ones to meet that destiny.
The order in which God reveals events in His word is of utmost importance. After disclosing the Great White Throne judgment in chapter 20, Revelation 21 begins with a new heaven and a new earth. It talks about God's wiping away every tear, sorrow, pain and comforting His own. Suffering for Jesus' sake will last for a season, but then comes the solace and wiping away of all memories of what verse 4 calls "first things" that have "passed away." THEN comes the zinger! Jesus tells the Apostle John who is penning the words of the book:
Notice that those who are thrown into the lake of fire, the cowardly are mentioned first. Why first? In Matthew 10:32-33 Jesus said:
Friend, the secret is: OVERCOME! That is the admonition Jesus gave to each of the seven churches early in the book. The body of Revelation discloses the wrath of God being poured out on the earth, the humanity that rebels against God and against all the judgments He pours out on them. They refuse to repent and they persecute and execute the followers of God and Jesus. Who, then, is a coward?
Remember Peter in the courtyard on the night of Jesus' trial? Peter denied that he knew Jesus or was part of his band three times! He was a coward! He boldly proclaimed he would die for Jesus until the chips were down and his own reputation was on the line. Then he backed down horribly and let Jesus down in the process! Peter was not yet baptized in the Holy Spirit. Then came Pentecost! Peter became a flame of fire and 3000 souls were born again with his one sermon! Peter died by being crucified upside down! He wasn't a coward after he was baptized in the Holy Spirit!
The next type of person to be thrown into the lake of fire will be the unbelieving. While it's true that the world does not believe God, what is more fearsome is that many who profess to know Jesus are not willing to live by and step out in faith when God puts a proposal before them. They do not believe God can bring them through the assignment! They back off in disobedience because they do not believe God!
If you wait until times get really rough to work on being faithful to Jesus and to believe Him for your protection and enablement in seemingly impossible situations (and in the last days there will be very difficult battles to endure!), you will not make it when you are thrown into the mix! You must begin right now to go all out for Jesus and God! You must walk in the baptism of the Spirit, you must walk in strict, immediate obedience to all He tells you. The rest of the list of those who will be thrown into the lake of fire are clearly the unsaved and sinners. The balking Church folks are listed first!
What is most frightening is that hell is NOT the worst a sinner will receive as retribution for his sins. He or she must face the Great White Throne judgment where they will be declared guilty by their very own sins and for not having their name written in the Lamb's book of life. They will be thrown into the lake of fire and that chapter in God's purpose slams shut!
When I read chapters 19 ad 20 of Revelation, my heart was stirred by the severity of the eternity lost souls will suffer forever. I asked God about it and wondered especially about Death and Hades being thrown into the lake of fire, a mystery too profound for me to understand. God gave me a dream that night about hell. It was so horrendous that the next morning I knew I should not ask Him about the lake of fire anymore: it is too awful in its catastrophe to handle. Depth of knowledge about it is, mercifully, for God alone.
Therefore, in these last days there are two things about which we must warn people:
- The coming of Jesus for His Church, commonly called the Rapture. It is VERY close and we must warn even believers about the time at hand so they are ready.
- The lake of fire. While it is awful, hell is just the beginning of their punishment for sin. We must do all we can in our power to prevent any and every one from going there. We must uphold God and His righteousness before lost sinners in the hope they will repent. Eternity has no way back!
We MUST be faithful to God! We must warn souls! We must overcome!