Introduction

Revelation 20:11-15 ESV  Then I saw a great white throne and him who was seated on it. From his presence earth and sky fled away, and no place was found for them.  (12)  And I saw the dead, great and small, standing before the throne, and books were opened. Then another book was opened, which is the book of life. And the dead were judged by what was written in the books, according to what they had done.  (13)  And the sea gave up the dead who were in it, Death and Hades gave up the dead who were in them, and they were judged, each one of them, according to what they had done.  (14)  Then Death and Hades were thrown into the lake of fire. This is the second death, the lake of fire.  (15)  And if anyone’s name was not found written in the book of life, he was thrown into the lake of fire.

• Well this morning we finish out chapter 20 of Revelation.
  • After this we have only two chapters left, in which we will talk about the New Heaven and the New Earth.
    • We will talk about our eternal dwelling place in New Jerusalem there will be no more sorrow and no more pain.
    • And we are going to talk about the River of Life flowing from the throne room of God.
    • We will talk about how wonderful it will be to dwell with God for eternity!
    • Finally, after John’s vision is over, he encourages us that the events of Revelation will happen that JESUS IS IN FACT COMING BACK! MARANATHA LORD!
  • But before we get to the amazing, wonderful conclusion of Revelation… we need to deal with all the wicked people of the world… all those who have perished either through history, or at the last of days…
• You see at this point all of the holy people of the earth are already with Christ, they either are with him through death and resurrection, or through rapture.
  • They have had the wedding feast of the Lamb.
  • They have fought beside the Lamb at the Battle of Armageddon and conquered the beast, the false prophet, and Satan.
  • They have ruled with Jesus, the Lamb, the Messiah, the KING OF KINGS… the saints (at least the tribulation saints but likely all the saints) they ruled with Him on earth for 1000 years on earth.
  • And after the 1000 years God finally destroys Satan, sending him to hell for eternity…
• But do you remember what Revelation says at the end of the verses about the millennial reign of Christ? It says there is a difference between those who were raptured or resurrected in Christ, there is a difference between them and the rest of the dead.

Revelation 20:5-6 ESV  The rest of the dead did not come to life until the thousand years were ended. This is the first resurrection.  (6)  Blessed and holy is the one who shares in the first resurrection! Over such the second death has no power, but they will be priests of God and of Christ, and they will reign with him for a thousand years.

• So there are two resurrection, two great gatherings of people into the afterlife.
  • The first group of people are those who are holy and blessed, those who are born again and live holy lives pleasing unto the Lord by the power and grace of the holy spirit.
    • This group, the born again, the Bible refers to them as saints…
    • We (and I say we because I pray and believe most of us here today are born again), we saints are resurrected first. 1 Thessalonians 4:16 tells us that…

1 Thessalonians 4:16-17 ESV  For the Lord himself will descend from heaven with a cry of command, with the voice of an archangel, and with the sound of the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first.  (17)  Then we who are alive, who are left, will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and so we will always be with the Lord.

• So at this point in Revelation we have seen the dead in Christ rising and those alive in Christ being raptured.
  • But that still leaves the dead who are not in Christ, the wicked people of the earth.
  • They have all been slain and defeated, and now it is time for them to rise and be judged.

Revelation 20:13 ESV  And the sea gave up the dead who were in it, Death and Hades gave up the dead who were in them, and they were judged, each one of them, according to what they had done.

• Their resurrection is not called blessed and holy like our resurrection is, but instead, they face judgment from an infinitely Just God.
  • And for those who are not under the mercy of God, for them it is a very terrible thing to be under Judgment of God.

• A Just and Merciful Judge; Examining Judgment Day.
  • Because that is what we are talking about today, we are talking about Judgment day, the day in which all of mankind is appointed to be judged.
  • Hebrews 9:27 makes this clear…

Hebrews 9:27 ESV  And just as it is appointed for man to die once, and after that comes judgment,

• So, everyone dies… Benjamin Franklin wrote “In this world, nothing can be said to be certain except death and taxes.”
  • And I would agree, that death is certain in this world, except for those lucky few who are raptured… and then I would add that in the NEXT world, what is certain is judgment.
  • We will all be judged. Verse 12 from our key passage this morning shows us that just as clearly as Hebrews 9:27 did…

Revelation 20:12 ESV  And I saw the dead, great and small, standing before the throne, and books were opened. Then another book was opened, which is the book of life. And the dead were judged by what was written in the books, according to what they had done.

• So, what will this judgement day be like?
  • Who makes heaven?
  • Who goes to hell?
  • Why?
  • That’s what we are going to talk about this morning, and by the end of this message I pray that EVERYONE in here understands what is Biblically necessary to be found innocent on Judgment day and to be welcomed into heaven.
  • I am going to be honest, todays message is the Gospel, and many of you have accepted it and live in it. If that is you, let todays message be a teaching to firm up the truths of the Gospel in your head, so when you go out into the world you can share it with a firm understanding of the Word of God in concerns to judgment. Listen, learn, take notes, then use these truths to lead people to Jesus.
    • But more over, if you are not born again this morning, I pray that you don’t just understand what I am going to teach, but I pray you accept it as true and that you chose this day to give your life to Jesus… let’s pray.

• Point one this morning is that Justice is “Blind”

Point One – Justice is “Blind”

Revelation 20:12-13 ESV  And I saw the dead, great and small, standing before the throne, and books were opened. Then another book was opened, which is the book of life. And the dead were judged by what was written in the books, according to what they had done.  (13)  And the sea gave up the dead who were in it, Death and Hades gave up the dead who were in them, and they were judged, each one of them, according to what they had done.

• Look at that last line again… “and they were judged, each one of them, according to what they had done.
  • You know in my title slide I used a picture of lady Justice… would you bring that title slide back up?

• Lady justice is the symbol many courthouses in America and the UK use to depict justice.
  • And truthlyfully this is a Pagan symbol, and it pains me to put a pagan symbol on our screen in God’s holy sanctuary…
  • BUT! If the Pagans can understand this concept to be true, than certainly we… the servants of an all knowing all powerful all just King, we certainly can know this to be true.
• You see lady Justice is depicted as having a blindfold on, why? Because, as the saying goes, Justice is blind.
  • This means, that in a fair court, a just court, that justice does not consider how rich someone is, or poor, how famous they are or are not, their race, background, language, age… None of that should matter to justice.
  • All that should matter is the facts of the case. What did and did not happen.
    • Thus Lady Justice is blindfolded, but has a scale in her hands to weigh out the facts of a case.
    • All she cares about is where that scale ends up, innocent or guilty.
• And well, we know, that unfortunately this isn’t always true… our court system isn’t blind… our judges, juries, and law enforcement are not blind, and sometimes injustice is done.
• BUT IN A PERFECT WORLD WE UNDERSTAND THAT JUSTICE SHOULD BE BLIND, AMEN?!
  • Well guess, what, GOD IS PERFECT. And His throne room is perfect! And His Judgment seat is perfect.
• And we know from scripture that God does not see race, age, wealth, or status when making judgments.
  • He doesn’t judge some people with one set of standards, and others with a different set of standards.
  • He judges rich and poor alike.
  • Famous and unknown, He treats the same.
  • He doesn’t consider race, age, strength, beauty, or anything else.
  • He judges with JUST judgment.

Romans 2:11 ESV  For God shows no partiality.

This verse is more famously quoted in the King James version… sometimes you just need the King’s English to hit it home…

Romans 2:11 KJV  For there is no respect of persons with God.

• In fact, let’s read this verse in context, because it’s all about the Judgment of God…

Romans 2:8-11 KJV  But unto them that are contentious, and do not obey the truth, but obey unrighteousness, indignation and wrath,  (9)  Tribulation and anguish, upon every soul of man that doeth evil, of the Jew first, and also of the Gentile;  (10)  But glory, honour, and peace, to every man that worketh good, to the Jew first, and also to the Gentile:  (11)  For there is no respect of persons with God.

• What it is saying is simple: Evil people should be punished with wrath… regardless of who they are Greek, Jew, Rich, Poor, Slave, Free… whatever… evil people should be punished.
  • And Good people should be given glory, honor and peace… Greek, Jew, Rich, Poor, Slave, Free… whatever! Good people get good things, evil people get wrath and punishment.
• Justice is blind. And GOD IS JUST.
  • And this truth is HUGELY problematic for most of the world.
  • Because most of the world says things like “I know I mess up sometimes, but I am a good person”.
    • Listen, when I would do street evangelism in Seattle, I asked thousands of people over years of witnessing… I asked “Why do you think you should go to heaven” you know what most people said? “BECAUSE I AM A GOOD PERSON”.
  • The problem is GOD DOESN’T CARE WHAT KIND OF PERSON YOU ARE. He is not a respecter of persons!
    • He cares what you have DONE. He cares about the facts.
    • Are you guilty of breaking His law or not?
    • Because if you are guilty, it doesn’t matter how good of a person you think you are,  if you are guilty then you will be punished… and the punishment for breaking God’s law is an eternity in hell.
• And people get this wrong all the time… this is how they think that it works…
• You know they see those scales in Lady Justice hands and they think that they are scales that weigh Good Deeds and Bad Deeds then they make it to heaven… so they think it works something like this…

• They say someone like this who has more bad deeds, they deserve hell, because there bad deeds outweigh their good deeds.
  • I mean this person is a liar, a thief, a gossip, a pervert, an adultery, and they are full of themselves…
    • Sure they are kind, and from time to time they tithe and read their Bible… but their bad deeds outweigh their good deeds, so they deserve hell.
• Now these same people, with a false idea of justice, when they think of themselves they think their good deeds outweigh their bad deeds… they think it is like this…

• They think “yeah, sometimes I gossip, and I struggle with lust sometimes, and I probably have too much pride in my life… BUT… I am a kind person, I love my neighbor after all…
  • And I tithe, not only that but I give offerings too, did you see how big my missions faith pledge was this month?
  • I go to church almost every Sunday! Unless of course it is raining, or snowing, or sunny out… and if my kid doesn’t have a sportsball game that Sunday… but I try my best…
  • Plus I read my Bible every day… have you seen my Streak on the Bible app, it’s at 600 days in a row!
  • And, let’s not forget that missions trip I went on to visit that orphanage in Africa!
  • SEE! I AM A GOOD PERSON I DESERVE HEAVEN!
• Church!  This is how most of the world thinks… but don’t think like the world! THE WORLD IS WRONG.
  • THIS IS NOT JUSTICE.
  • This is feel good self esteem boosting, participation trophy, NONSENSE. It is not justice!
  • THIS GARBARGE WOULDN’T EVEN HOLD UP IN A COURT OF LAW HERE IN IOWA, LET ALONE IN HEAVEN.
    • Let me prove it to you, why don’t you try this if you ever get pulled over by the cops for running a stop sign… see if you still get a ticket or not…

• “Officer I know I ran THAT stop sign… but I have legally stopped at 37,894 stop signs and stop lights before this… SURELY my 37,894 good deeds of stopping outweigh this one bad deed of not stopping… right?”
  • The cop would be like “A-huh… so you admit that you ran this stop sign though… here’s a ticket…”
• I mean imagine if OJ Simpsons lawyers tried to pull this in court…

• “Ladies and gentleman of the jury… it is true that my client, OJ “The Juice” Simpson murdered this one person… but think of the 7.95 billion people in the world that he didn’t murder! Surely those nearly 8 billion good deeds of not murdering people outweigh this one tiny murder he committed, right?”
  • The jury would have given OJ life in prison if that was his defense… because they don’t care about all the times you didn’t break the law, they just care about the 1 time you did.
  • (The glove defense was a much better defense)
• Obviously, this is not how justice works… no, this is how justice sees things…

• You see obeying the law is not considered a good deed, that’s a neutral deed.
  • Obeying the law doesn’t outweigh NOT obeying the law. YOU ARE EXPECTED TO OBEY THE LAW!
  • Not murdering someone, that’s a neutral deed. There is no deed that outweighs that.
  • Stopping at stop signs and stop lights, those are neutral deeds… ALL PEOPLE ARE EXPECTED TO DO THAT!
• The problem is that people think that obeying the law makes them a GOOD PERSON but it doesn’t it just makes them neutral, that’s the standard.
• You know the story of the good Samaritan, he wasn’t actually good… that title was added much later by biblical editors…
  • The Bible never calls the Samaritan good… because he wasn’t doing above and beyond… he was doing what he was supposed to do, anything less would be sin.
• Listen, you love your neighbor, good.
  • You tithe, and give offerings, good.
  • You come to church, good.
  • You serve at church, good.
  • You give to the poor and needy, good.
  • You read your bible and do what it says, good.
    • The Bible calls these things and many more things like them “good works”
  • And they are good. In contrast to the wickedness of the world, they are good.
  • In contrast to the other travelers on the road, the Samaritan was good.

Matthew 5:16 ESV In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven.

• It is certainly possible to do good in THAT sense…
  • But we are talking today not about how you live your life, which you should certainly do these things… but we are talking about JUDGMENT DAY.
  • When you will be Judged for all the things you have done.
  • And I promise you that all the things that you think are good, in the laws eyes, they are just neutral. You are simply obeying the law.
• 1 John 3:4 defines sin for us…

1 John 3:4 ESV  Everyone who makes a practice of sinning also practices lawlessness; sin is lawlessness.

• Sin is the breaking of God’s law, if you break God’s law you are sinning!
  • James chapter four gives us more information about what is considered sin…

James 4:17 ESV  So whoever knows the right thing to do and fails to do it, for him it is sin.

• So, if you do the wrong thing, if you break God’s law… that is sin.
  • But if you fail to do the right thing, then that is ALSO sin, that is also breaking God’s law.
  • Which means that doing the right thing is not a good deed when considered by the law of God, it is simply a neutral deed… and that is problematic, because that means that most peoples scale of justice on judgment day is going to look like this:

• All of your good deeds, loving your neighbor, going to church, tithing, missions, whatever… those are NEUTRAL DEEDS, those are what you should be doing anyway.
  • That means if you have just ONE sin… just one bad deed, the scale is not in your favor and you will be sent to hell as judgment for your crimes.
• That means, that since the begging of eternity, there is only one way to make heaven… and it looks like this…

• To make heaven, you have to have NO BAD DEEDS. Because every good deed you do, as good as it is, is neutral in the eyes of the law…
  • And obviously this is problematic because we have all done bad things.
• To the idea of people being “good people” Jesus has this to say:

Mark 10:18b ESV  No one is good except God alone.

• So then, if no one is good, can anyone go to heaven? Let me read our key passages once again, because the answer lies within… Remember, we are in Revelation, at the great Judgment day of God, before His throne, after all evil has been defeated and heaven is starting to come to earth…

Revelation 20:11-15 ESV  Then I saw a great white throne and him who was seated on it. From his presence earth and sky fled away, and no place was found for them.  (12)  And I saw the dead, great and small, standing before the throne, and books were opened. Then another book was opened, which is the book of life. And the dead were judged by what was written in the books, according to what they had done.  (13)  And the sea gave up the dead who were in it, Death and Hades gave up the dead who were in them, and they were judged, each one of them, according to what they had done.  (14)  Then Death and Hades were thrown into the lake of fire. This is the second death, the lake of fire.  (15)  And if anyone’s name was not found written in the book of life, he was thrown into the lake of fire.

• Now look at verse 15… “If anyone’s name was not found written in the book of life” that means there must be SOME names written in the book of life.
  • The ones who’s name were written in the book of life, they weren’t judged on what they have done, as because as far as good is concerned, they haven’t done anything wrong ever.
• How is that possible? Well that’s my conclusion this morning… Mercy Triumphs over Judgment.

Conclusion – Mercy Triumphs Over Judgment

• Mercy Triumphs Over Judgment…
  • Mercy triumphs over judgment… this line shows us how bad people can become righteous in God’s eyes…
  • How it is that we who have sinned can get to the Judgment seat of God, watch Him open up His books, not find our name in the book of death with all our sins listed in it, but instead find our name in the book of life, completely sin free… completely “Bad deed free”
  • Because Mercy Triumphs Over Judgment.
  • That is what James 2:13 teaches us…

James 2:13b ESV  Mercy triumphs over judgment.

• And there are many verses like this “in wrath remember mercy” is what Habakkuk says.
  • “I cry out for mercy from my Accuser” that’s how Job says it.
  • All throughout the Bible we see this idea that YES God is Just, but He is also merciful.
    • And he does not want ANYONE to go to hell, that’s what 2 Peter 3:9 says.
• So what does a merciful God do to not compromise His justice, but to make a way for the sinner to become a saint. To make it so that mercy triumphs over judgment, without sacrificing justice?
  • What He does is He provides a sacrifice.
• You see Justice demands that when a law is broken, that discipline must be paid.
  • Sometimes it is paid through a fine, like a speeding ticked.
  • Sometimes it is paid through jail time.
  • But the worst crimes are paid for through death.
    • The death penalty is real, we understand it in America, murderers and the worst criminals in America get death.
  • But in God’s court, no matter the crime, the price to pay is ALWAYS death.
    • Not just reserved for the murderers… but for the thieves, and the liars, and the gossips, and anyone who has ever sinned.
    • The price that must be paid is always the death penalty.

Romans 6:23a ESV For the wages of sin is death…

• But listen, EVERYBODY DIES. Two things in this life are certain, death and taxes.
  • Don’t think because you died once, getting hit by a Mac Truck, or having a heart attack, or dying of old age or whatever… don’t think that because you died once that you are off the hook, that is your FIRST death, the one you get because you are human… the one you have to die because of Adam and Eve’s sin that cursed us to have a limited life…
  • Don’t think because you died once you are off the hook for your sins… for the wages of sin are death! And this is the SECOND death we are talking about
• Our key scriptures today talk about this second death, calling the second death hell.
  • This is echoed in the next chapter of Revelation… in chapter 21

Revelation 21:8 ESV  But as for the cowardly, the faithless, the detestable, as for murderers, the sexually immoral, sorcerers, idolaters, and all liars, their portion will be in the lake that burns with fire and sulfur, which is the second death.”

• Everyone must die a first death, except for those who are raptured and the few like Elijah who have been raptured already… everyone dies a first death… THEN COMES THE JUDGMENT… and if we are found to have sin, we must die a second death, which is an eternity in the lake that burns with fire and sulfer… an eternity in hell.
• We are ALL DOOMED to this destiny, that is unless, of course, someone pays this price for us.
• Someone who didn’t have to die and had no sin…
  • Someone who was not under the curse of Adam, because He was not born of man.
  • And someone who did not deserve to die because He had no sin.
  • That someone is Jesus Christ.
• He paid the price of death for you an me, when He died on that cross, the Bible says He took the sin of the world upon Him, and paid the price of death for you and for me, if only we would accept it.
• In Isaiah 43 and 25 God says this in regards to those who accept salvation through the Messiah who is Jeus Christ…

Isaiah 43:25 ESV  “I, I am he who blots out your transgressions for my own sake, and I will not remember your sins.

• That means that if Jesus is your savior, if you have been born again, if Jesus has paid the penalty for your sins, if He died a death He didn’t deserve, but freely gave himself for you and you accepted Him… that means that GOD ERASES YOUR SIN FROM HIS BOOKS.
  • On Judgment day He will find your name not in the book of sinners with every sin you have committed, that section will be blank, because it has been literally erased by the blood of Christ.
  • God has chosen to forget those sins, because the price for them has been paid.
  • But instead He will find your name written in the book of life, a book reserved only for people who have never sinned.

Gospel Call

• Now a final word of encouragement for the saints in this room.
• KEEP DOING GOOD.
  • God DOES see the good that you do, it matters not when it comes to judging you innocent or guilty, but it matter GREATLY to God that even though life is hard, you still chose to do the right thing.

2 Corinthians 5:10 ESV For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each one may receive what is due for what he has done in the body, whether good or evil.

• The reward for evil is hell… no matter how much good you think you have done.
  • But for those of us found to be without sin, there is reward for the good that we do.

2 Timothy 4:8 ESV Henceforth there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, will award to me on that Day, and not only to me but also to all who have loved his appearing.

Revelation 2:10 ESV Do not fear what you are about to suffer. Behold, the devil is about to throw some of you into prison, that you may be tested, and for ten days you will have tribulation. Be faithful unto death, and I will give you the crown of life.

Matthew 6:20 ESV But lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal.

• KEEP DOING GOOD, CHURCH.
  • I don’t want this sermon seen as me saying it is impossible to do good, because it is not, I am only talking about good in the laws eyes on Judgment day.
  • We can do good.
  • We should do good.
  • We must do good.
  • KEEP DOING GOOD.
• Not to save you, it is Christ’s blood that saves you. But keep doing good, being the “good” Samaritan. GOD WILL REWARD YOU.
• KEEP DOING GOOD.

Galatians 6:9 ESV And let us not grow weary of doing good, for in due season we will reap, if we do not give up.