EPIC: High-Impact Truths in the New Testament – Part 19

It's called Epic High Impact Truths in the New Testament. We've had quite a journey, haven't we? Starting in the Four Gospels and now finishing with the Book of Revelation. And today we're going to be in Revelation chapter 20 and 21. And we're also going to combine that with a couple of, a few bonus passages, if you will, a sense of this final judgment event. And by the end of this message, my hope, my prayer is that everything will be crystal clear about your place at the final judgment. That there's no cause for fear, that you can have absolute confidence. We're going to have a lot of fun looking at Revelation 20 and 21. And as I said, we're also going to journey into passages like Matthew 25, the sheep and the goats. And we're going to journey into the Book of Corinthians as we look at this final judgment. So we start in Revelation chapter 20 and here we go with verse 11. He says, "Then I saw a great white throne and him who sat upon it from whose presence, earth and heaven fled away and no place was found for them." The great white throne, we've all heard about it, but what happens there? We know it's great, we know it's white. Maybe you've heard that there are two different judgments. You know, the great white throne judgment, and then maybe the Bhima seat judgment. Well, remember that the Bhima is great and white. That's what we believe our conviction is that there is one final judgment, not two. God gets it done. He gets it done and he can get it done easily in one big event at the end of the age. It's the great white throne. It's the Bhima seat judgment. And God makes declarations about humanity. Now, look at verse 12. He says, "And I saw the dead, the great and the small, standing before the throne, and books were opened, and another book was opened, which is the Book of Life." All right, so notice.

We got a bunch of books, and then we got the Book of Life. We got a bunch of books over here, and they're opened, and then there's the Book of Life. So, this is going to be really important because the plural books, the group of books, it represents what it means to be judged as an unbeliever. According to your deeds, that's what's in the books. And then what we have over here on the other side is the Book of Life, and only believers are in it. Now, here's the catch. If you're in the Book of Life, then you don't need to worry about the books. If you're in the Book of Life, then you're not judged according to your deeds. If you're in the Book of Life, you have nothing to worry about at all. He remembers your sins no more. He's removed them as far as the east is from the west. He keeps no record of your wrongs. So, it's all or nothing. You're either in Adam or in Christ, and if you're in Christ, there is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. So, do you see it? I mean, it's going to be crystal clear by the end of this message that we believers have nothing to fear. There's two kinds of people on planet Earth, the sheep and the goats. And if you're the sheep, if you're the bride of Christ, if you belong to Him, you are free from condemnation, not just now, but then, at the end of the age, you are free from condemnation. So, we've got to pile of books over here. I don't know how many books God needed, right? For all that sin and all those deeds of the flesh, all those unbelievers committing all those heinous acts throughout the ages. These many books that John sees in his vision, they represent the record, the sin record of humanity.

Now, I want you to notice something important here, and that is that we have to recognize these are deeds. They're judged according to their deeds, not just their unbelief. Unbelievers are judged for what they've done. Yes, they're judged because they're not in the book of life. Yes, they're judged because they've rejected Christ. Yes, they're judged because they don't believe, but it is their deeds that come up at the judgment, right? You see my point, because many of us may be, even in grace communities with good intentions, we've been told that the only reason people go to hell is their unbelief, and therefore, the only thing that is judged at the final judgment is their unbelief. Well, that's not the case. I mean, it says multiple times that they, the unbelievers are judged every one of them according to their deeds. So keep that in mind, just hold that in your attention and now we journey on to verse 13. Here, John says, "And the dead were judged from the things which were written in the books according to their deeds." Now again, you don't have to worry if you're in Christ, right? I mean, you don't have to worry because if you're in Christ, then you have had all your sins removed, past, present, and future. Oh my goodness, he keeps no record of your wrong. So you're not involved in this. In fact, we're gonna see, in just a moment, we're gonna see that you're involved in the judging, not the being judged, but in the judging.

As Paul says, "We are invited to judge with God as we participate in the judging of the angels and the world." All right, verse 13, "And the sea gave up the dead which were in it, and death and Hades gave up the dead which were in them, and they were judged every one of them according to their deeds." All right, what is this referring to? I mean, the sea, the sea in a place called hell. Death and Hades, they gave up the dead. So where are these dead coming from? These are unbelievers who are in hell being pulled up from hell and judged every one of them. Once again, I mean, how many times does he have to say it according to their deeds? So I want you to notice there's a group in Revelation 20, and then there's another group in Revelation 21. "Never the two shall meet." That's the whole point as we look at this final judgment. It is black and white, it is sheep and goats, it is no middle ground, no gray area, no room for confusion. If you are in Jesus Christ, Christ Himself puts it this way. He who believes in me is not judged. He who does not believe in me stands judged already because he's not believed. So, do you see it? It is crystal clear, it is staring us in the face. One chapter is telling the story of unbelievers pulled up from hell, judged according to their deeds. And then we'll see in the next chapter, the story is no more tears, no more sorrow.

Enter into eternity with me. You're the bride adorned for her husband. You are pure and holy and righteous and blameless. So, we got a lot to celebrate 'cause the final judgment is gonna be epic. It's gonna be off the chain. It's gonna be incredible. It's something we can look forward to and anticipate and eagerly await not something we need to be scared of. Maybe you've been scared about the final judgment. I remember growing up being scared out of my wits because of the big movie screen in the sky. I've shared with you over the years the story of me being in youth group and all the kids freaking out because they thought Jesus was coming back in the next morning, our youth pastor told us that. We were freaked out because we thought the big movie was gonna be shown. All of our sins as we are humiliated and embarrassed in front of everybody else. But the great news of the gospel is that there is no movie. There is no movie. God destroyed the real. He keeps no record. Now or then? So, we got a lot of rethinking to do. It's the unbeliever who needs to be concerned and that's why getting the gospel out is so urgent and so important.

All right, verse 14, he says this, then death and Hades were thrown into the lake of fire. This is the second death, the lake of fire. Now, pardon me, but I think it's worth noticing who's in the lake of fire, death and Hades. Whom is it that's judged and the verdict is given and they're punished? It's death and Hades. It's not the church. It's not the bride of Christ. There's no fear in God's perfect love. Perfect love casts out fear. Fear involves punishment. If you're fearing, then you're imagining punishment. But God is saying there is no condemnation. There is no punishment. So, we continue in verse 15. And if anyone's name, here's the criteria, look at it. If anyone's name was not found written in the book of life, he was thrown into the lake of fire. because it speaks of the reality of God's judgment and who wants to dwell on God's judgment of the world. But I do want you to notice the the criteria is you're in the book of life or you're not in the book of life. You're in or out. And it's again black and white, no gray area, no middle ground, no confusion, nothing to worry about. And so we got to know this because simultaneously in the same book of the Bible, he tells us God tells us I'll never delete you from the book. Nobody is going to blot you out of the book. Nobody can snatch you out of my hand. Even if you're faithless, I remain faithful to you. Throughout the New Testament, we see these promises. Nothing separates us from the love of Christ. So even when we're faithless, even when we're doubting, even when we feel nothing, even when we feel dirty and distant, we can't afford to believe our emotions. Our emotions go up and down and all around. Our emotions are all over the place. We can't afford to live

by our emotions. What we need to know is if you're in the book, you're in the book always. And if you're in the book, then you're never punished, never condemned. He who believes in me is not judged. All right, now some of you might be thinking, "Well, wait a minute, aren't our works judged? Aren't our works appraised? Aren't our works assessed?" Well, Paul talks about his ministry and also the ministry of Apollus. He says, "I planted." And then Apollus came along and watered and God caused the growth. And then he basically says, "There's false teachers out there. There are good teachers, sound teachers, and then there are false teachers," Paul would say. And so, you know, he's critiquing the false teachings that are out there. And he's saying false teaching won't endure. It won't last. It won't stand the test of time. It will burn up like wood, hay, and stubble. And so will any deeds of the flesh? For that matter, right? Any deeds of the flesh will burn up. They won't be celebrated. They're not going to be in God's trophy case, are they? Because they're of the flesh, not of the Spirit. But that's not you being judged. That's not you on trial. That's not you in question. That's not you being punished. That's not a verdict about you. It is simply the eternal truth that God hates sin and will not celebrate it, but God loves you and will celebrate you. So do you see the difference? You are never judged as a person. You, a person in Christ, a child of God, you are never in question. And we need to know that. Can you imagine if I told my son Gavin, Gavin, someday I'm going to judge you? And he says, well, what do you mean? Well, I'm going to pull up everything you ever done. And I'm going to judge you. Now, we can't always use human examples. But my point is, what would that cause in any child? Anxiety, fear, confusion. What's he talking about? What's going to happen to me? What's going to be the verdict? Am I going to be okay? God doesn't want his children fearful about that day. In fact, the Apostle John says we can have confidence in the day of judgment, because as Jesus is, get this, as Jesus is, so also are we. So we can have as much confidence as Jesus because we are as safe as Jesus at the final judgment. Did you know that? That you're as good as Jesus at the final judgment? That you are secure and safe from condemnation as Christ himself? What are you going to inherit? You're a co-air with Christ. What do you think that means? Christ receives an inheritance. He's an heir. And you're a co-air with Christ. Whoa. Now that is something to think about. All right. We continue in Revelation 21. He's switching gears. We're going to see a totally different group. We're going to see the church, the bride of Christ, coming down from heaven. And you got to notice the stark contrast, the difference, because it really is radically

different. The whole situation for the church, it has nothing to do with judgment and condemnation. the book that matters, the book of life, and therefore Revelation 21 is about you. All right, here we go. Revelation 21 verse 1, "Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth for the first heaven and the first earth passed away and there is no longer any sea." All right, so he's introducing this with the word then. That's a transition word. "I told you what happens to the world with regard to judgment. Then I saw the church. Then I saw this city, this new Jerusalem, this heavenly people coming down a totally different group with a totally different outcome." Verse 2, he says, "And I saw the holy city, the new Jerusalem coming down out of heaven from God made ready as a bride adorned for her husband." Where's the ridicule? It's not there. Where's the condemnation? It's not there. Where's the assessment, the judgment? It's not there. It is a celebration. Look, my bride adorned for me. This is God celebrating his church because he's made a spotless and blameless, and that's you, not just us corporately, but the gospel is for you and me. We can't afford to just say it's about us. Oh, it's about us. Don't get me wrong. It's about us, but it's also about you, and it's about you, and it's about you. It's about every one of us, and we have been adorned as the bride of Christ, and there's no room for criticism. God won't have it. There's no room for a movie screen with our sins on it. God remembers them no more. And so we got a lot to celebrate here. Revelation 21 is glorious because it's about the church. It's about you and me. Verse 3, he says, "And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, 'Behold, the tabernacle of God is among men, and he will dwell among them, and they shall be his people, and God himself will be among them.'" He's talking about this future heaven and earth, new heaven, new earth, this tabernacle, this dwelling, but please do not forget that you right now are the dwelling place of God. Christ in you, your only hope of glory. Don't forget that you right now are a tabernacle, your spirit, soul, and body, and at the core of your being you are indwelt, so that God himself, the Yahweh of the Old Testament, who was in the holy of holies, now dwells inside of you in the person of Jesus Christ, so that you're a tabernacle, you're a temple, and he wants to express himself now, not just later, but right now, you're the holy of holies, you're a walking tabernacle, you're a walking temple. In fact, when Paul addresses sexual immorality, you know, fornication and adultery and other things, what does he do? What's his rationale? Does he play the blame and shame game? No, he does the opposite. He doesn't say shame on you, he takes the shame off of you. And what he says is,

do you know who you are? Because sin is beneath you, you're above sin, you're better than sin, your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit, or do you not know? Do you not know that this vessel, that this tabernacle, that this temple, it is an earthen vessel that contains glory, the glory of Christ, his very presence. And that's his rationale when he says then, don't offer your body to sin, does that make any sense? Don't offer your body to sin, offer your body to God, because if we live by the Spirit, let us also walk by the Spirit. That's just common sense. And so, he steams us and he builds us up, he doesn't tear us down or belittle us or criticize us or condemn us to try to get us whipped into shape. Religion says, we got to whip you into shape, so we're going to shame you and blame you and tell you that you're dirty and distant so that you try harder and then you'll slowly get clean and closer. I'm not going to lie to you and act like the finished work of Christ is not finished. I'm going to do the opposite. I'm going to say you're forgiven and you're cleansed and you're holy and you're righteous and you're blameless and you're perfect. Therefore, walk in a manner that is worthy of your calling. So what does God do? He shows us our calling. He shows us our rightness with Him. He shows us our union. He shows us our glory. Yes, our glory. Jesus said it. The glory that you have given to me, Father, I have given to them. We have this treasure in earth and vessels and it's not of us, but God has allowed us to participate. We didn't cause it, but God invited us to it. So that's the rationale for upright living and that's why the grace of God works. The grace of God works because you start believing I'm clean and close and then you start acting like a person that's, guess what, clean and close. All right, now it's time to finish up chapter 21 and see what his final words are to the bride of Christ, to the church. He says in verse four and he will wipe away every tear from their eyes and there will be no longer any death and there will be no longer any mourning or crying or pain. The first things have passed away. That's great news. That's a relief. God's saying, wipe those tears, take away that pain. That's what I'm going to do for you. There's no pain and no sorrow and no mourning. You know, we get questions all the time on our radio broadcast. Well, you know, am I going to be able to see the turmoil of those on earth or those who don't believe or those who am I going to see the pain of history and my loved ones? Look, no, no tears, no sorrow, no mourning. If we see anything, we will see it through the eyes of God and we will know his completeness and get this. We will know his perspective and his perspective is perfect love

that never disappoints. Oh, but what about a sense of justice? Won't we have a sense of justice and won't we recognize the punishment? Look, we'll understand God's decisions. Absolutely. At that point, we will see as he does. He will share with us his wisdom and his understanding and his perfect love and his sense of justice. We'll get a better sense of it because we're co-judges. Remember, we're going to be judging with him. So we'll understand it, but when we have his eyes, his perspective on all these things, there will be no tears and no sorrow and no mourning and no regret and no worry and no fear. All right, so now it's time for us to look at a single verse in 2 Corinthians chapter 5, because this is the verse, verse 10, which many have used to argue for a second and separate judgment. Is there going to be two judgments? You know, the great white throne, which we just read about, that's for the whole world, some say, and then Christians show up later at a second judgment. But wait a minute, in Revelation, didn't we already see what happens to Christians? You know, chapter 21, we already saw no more tears, no more sorrow. So let's look at 2 Corinthians 5, verse 10. Here it is, for we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each one may be recompensed for his deeds in the body according to what he has done, whether good or bad. Now, this ought to sound familiar to you. Why? Because it is strikingly similar to what we saw in Revelation 20 and 21. It is strikingly similar. It's not different. Who appears? It says, we must all appear. What does all mean? All means all. Every human, sheep and goats, chapter 20 and 21, of Revelation, we must all appear at the judgment seat of Christ. This is not just believers. I know what you've heard. Perhaps you've heard that this passage is just about Christians. Well, by the time we get to the end of the verse, it is impossible that it's about Christians. And I'll So what's going on in this verse? Well, reminiscent of Matthew 25 with sheep and goats, reminiscent of Revelation 20 and 21 with unbelievers and believers, here we're seeing the same exact thing. We must all appear everybody from every nation. All of humanity appears before the judgment seat of Christ. And then what happens? Well, the unbeliever is recompensed for their bad deeds. We saw that in Revelation 20. And then the believer is recompensed for their good deeds. Now, does the unbeliever have any good deeds? No, the unbeliever does not because their deeds are like filthy rags. Now, does the believer have any bad deeds? No, because they are remembered no more. Bad deeds are called sins. Sins are the reason that Jesus died. Your bad deeds, your sins have been taken away. He keeps no record of your wrongs. So why would a Christian be

recompensed for their bad deeds when God doesn't remember their bad deeds? So do you see what's happening in 2 Corinthians 5, 10? It is just like all the other passages. Paul is saying the exact same thing as Revelation 20 and 21. Paul is saying the exact same thing as Matthew 25 with the sheep and the goats. He's saying everybody shows up to the final judgment. And then there is a difference between the two groups and the two outcomes. The unbeliever, they are judged according to their bad deeds. And the believer is rewarded or celebrated because of their participation in the fruit of the Spirit and the good works that God prepared in advance. You say, oh, I better have a lot of those. Oh, I'm worried about all my works. Oh, look, we all get paid the same. Do you remember the parable of the vineyard workers? There's not seven levels of reward. You're not achieving all kinds of heavenly loot that you'll cash in on as you visit heaven's gift shop. What we see is that even giving a cup of water in his name is celebrated because everything we do is an expression of Jesus except when we sin. We talk about this all the time. You're the righteousness of God. Everything is spiritual. Everything you do is an expression of Christ except when you sin. And all of the fruit of the Spirit, there are no levels. It is all valued. Everything you do is spiritual and everything you do is valued by God. Now, isn't that awesome to think about? Now, to understand this even further, let's take a few minutes in Matthew 25. Here we are, Matthew 25 in verse 32, who shows up, it says, all the nations. Sound familiar? Yeah, just like Revelation, just like Corinthians that we just saw who shows up, all the nations will be gathered before him and he will do what? Separate them from one another as the shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. So this is identical. Everybody shows up to the judgment and there's two different groups with two different outcomes. Is the great white throne and the beam of seed, the judgment seed of Christ? Are they different? No, the judgment seed of Christ happens to be great and it happens to be white and it happens to be a throne. It's all the same event. And so here we see in Matthew 25 with great clarity, we see there are two groups and they're going to have two outcomes. Watch this, verse 33, and he will put the sheep on his right and the goats on the left. Keep going, we'll look at verse 34 here, then the king will say to those on his right, come you who are blessed of my father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world. So does this look somewhat similar? It's nearly identical. Remember Revelation 21, what does God say to the bride of Christ? Enter into eternity. No more tears, no more sorrow. What do we see here in Matthew 25? We see, come you who are blessed of my father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you. Wow, great news. And then skipping forward to

It says in verse 41, "Then he will also say to those on his left, 'Depart from me accursed ones into the eternal fire,' which has been prepared for the devil and his angels." All right. Do you see it? I don't enjoy talking about verses like these. I'm sure you don't either. But do you see it? It's crystal clear. It's black and white. It's sheep and goats. It's Revelation 20, verses 21. It's the book of Corinthians as well. Those who are rewarded for their good deeds versus those who are punished or recompensed for their bad deeds. It is clear as day in every passage. The final judgment is not confusing. In fact, we'll finish with a little cherry on top today. The final judgment is something you're invited to participate in as a judge. Watch this. We'll see it in 1 Corinthians chapter six. And here we are in verse one. Does any one of you when he has a case against his neighbor dare to go to law before the unrighteous and not before the saints? Paul's logic here is that hey, did you know that there's gonna be all kinds

of trouble in the church? There's gonna be all kinds of difficulty in the church that we're gonna encounter arguments and fights and quarrels. And sometimes you're tempted to go to a courtroom to settle these. And Paul is saying, wait, don't you remember? You're a judge. You're gonna be a judge right next to God, a co-air with Christ and a co-judge with God. Therefore, do you really have to have all this bickering? Now let's keep going. Verse two, he says, or do you not know that the saints will judge the world? If the world is judged by you, are you not competent to constitute the smallest law courts? All right, this is incredible. All this time you've been worried about the final judgment and apparently you're one of the judges. Do you see this? You've been worried what will be the outcome? What will be the verdict? What will God say about me? Do I need to be afraid? And here Paul is revealing that you're gonna be one of the judges together with our father. Wow. All right, the final verse of the day, verse three, do you not know that we will judge angels how much more matters of this life?

Do you see it? I hope you see it. Have you been asking the wrong questions? Have you been asking, am I forgiven? Am I cleansed? Am I right with God? Is God mad at me? What does God think of me? Do I have peace with God? Maybe you should have been asking, how righteous am I? How holy am I? How blameless am I? What does it mean to be a co-air with Jesus? What does it mean to be a co-judge with the God of the universe? What does it mean to be qualified by the finished work of Christ? We've been asking the wrong questions. As we lay in the corner over there in the fetal position and try to deal with the condemnation and the accusation of the enemy, God is saying stand up, rise up, rise up in the strength of the finished work of Jesus in the confidence of all that the cross and the resurrection mean for you. Rise up, rise up out of that condemnation, rise up out of that accusation, rise up and recognize what Jesus Christ has done for you. You're asking the wrong questions. You're asking, am I gonna be okay?

And God's answer is you're off the charts. You are the righteousness of God, a co-air with Christ and a co-judge with the Father himself. Let's pray together. Father, we thank you for this radical truth that we can have confidence in that final day because we are as safe as Jesus and you really mean it. There's no record of our wrongs. You've removed everything as far as the east is from the west. You remember our sins no more. But even more, you do remember our righteousness. We thank you for this free gift that we are clean and close forever. We love you. We thank you in Jesus' name, amen.