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"I saw a great white throne"

Text: Revelation 20:11

THE VISION OF A GREAT WHITE THRONE

The Apostle John was shown a vision of “a great white throne”. He also caught a glimpse of the Lord who sat on this throne.

“Then I saw a great white throne and Him who sat on it,
from whose face the earth and the heaven fled away.
And there was found no place for them.
And I saw the dead, small and great,
standing before God, and books were opened.
And another book was opened, which is the Book of Life.
And the dead were judged according to their works,
by the things which were written in the books.
The sea gave up the dead who were in it,
and Death and Hades delivered up the dead who were in them.
And they were judged, each one according to his works.
Then Death and Hades were cast into the lake of fire.
This is the second death.
And anyone not found written in the Book of Life
was cast into the lake of fire.”
Revelation 20:11-15

1. A great white throne.

a) It is a throne of judgment.

b) It is white because it reflects purity and righteousness.

2. The Lord.

a) He will be sitting as the Judge.

b) He will judge with perfect impartiality.

c) Earth and heaven will flee from the Lord.

i) This is to reflect the awesome majesty of the Lord.

ii) All who are wicked and evil will not be able to stand before the Lord!

iii) They are afraid of the Lord whom they had rejected and resisted all their life.

3. The people who were summoned to appear before God.

a) The dead who were brought back to life.

b) The small and the great in life would be made accountable to the Lord.

4. The books.

a) All the things done in life are recorded in the books of heaven.

b) This would include the sins that have not been repented of and thus they are unforgiven.

5. The Book of Life.

a) All who have believed in the Lord Jesus.

b) Their sins have been purged and they have been justified by the Lord.

c) Their past sins will not be remembered for they have been mercifully removed (Psalm 103:10-12).

d) Their names are written in the Book of Life.

e) They will not appear at the Great White Throne.

6. Others that would be duly judged.

a) Those who were drowned in the sea.

b) Death and Hades were judged and cast into the Lake of Fire.

c) All whose names are not found in the Book of Life would suffer the same fate.

d) This is called “the second death”.

i) The first death is experienced by one and all.

ii) The second death is experienced by those whose names are not in the Book of Life.

iii) They will receive their sentence at the Great White Throne.