[Originally preached 29 February, 2004]
Revelation 20.11-15
We are now coming to the closing scenes of the book of Revelation. John now writes about what happens after Jesus returns. John tells us about his vision of the great white throne and how all of humanity – both great and small, those alive at Christ’s return and those who had died, every person who ever lived – will stand before God. And he tells us what will happen when God gathers all flesh before Him. All will be judged. Everyone will have his life evaluated by God. Everyone. Now, if Revelation is only intended as a book to encourage speculation about the future then our text may be only vaguely interesting. But if Revelation is preeminently a practical book intended to affect lives then we need to pay close attention to our text. It has lessons that we need to heed. Let’s take a look at some of those lessons.
First of all, our text reminds us of the certainty of judgment. Every single person will stand before God and hear His evaluation of their lives. Now, is that good or bad? It all depends, doesn’t it? For the saints, the faithful, that is a tremendously good thing. Do you see why? There will be justice – full, complete and final justice. On that day, the saints and what they endured will be recognized by God. One of the problems that the saints have had to deal with over the centuries is the injustice that has been heaped upon them without due cause or any remedy. What is Peter’s first letter all about? It is about suffering unjustly and taking it. It is about waiting patiently for the time of God’s justice. The promise of our text is that the time of justice is coming. Every wrong will be righted. Your suffering for the sake of the Gospel, your self-denial for Jesus, the battles you have fought for the kingdom and that against uneven odds – all of that will be recognized by God and rewarded. You will hear, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant.’ While walking on this fallen earth you have endured loss and ridicule and the disparagement of the world for the choices that you made as a faithful disciple. But on that day, before that same watching world, you will be praised by God Himself. You will experience the truth of the promise of Jesus, ‘Whoever finds his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life for my sake will find it.’ [Matthew 10:39] In this world we lose our lives, but we gain them in the next.
Now, I’m guessing that some of you have tender consciences that are making you feel uncomfortable. ‘But what about my sin. Surely, God won’t be pleased with me. I’m afraid of being evaluated by Him.’ To those of you who are dealing with such thoughts let me say that you needn’t feel timid or fearful of judgment day. Yes, there is the matter of your sin. In fact, it’s worse than you know. But there is good news. Jesus has come and His death covers it all. The just rage of God against your sin, the promised punishment for your disobedience, has been fully satisfied. Jesus has died for you. Have you entrusted yourself into the care of the Savior? Is your hope of eternity rooted in what He has done? Then there is nothing to fear. On the day of judgment the Father will welcome you with open arms. It will be a time of great rejoicing. After all, one of His children has made it home. The coming day of judgment holds great things for the saints.
But what does the certainty of judgment say to the wicked? The hope of the wicked is that, for one reason or another, God will not call them to account. Some just assume that there is no God to call them to account. ‘The fool says in his heart, “There is no God.” ’ [Psalm 14.1] Then there are those who think that God doesn’t notice what they are doing. ‘[The wicked] says in his heart, ‘God has forgotten, He has hidden His face, He will never see it.” ’ [Psalm 10.11] As a result, these sin without a second thought. God hasn’t called them to account so far and they assume that He never will. But our text reminds us that there will be justice. Our God is patient as He calls all men to repentance from their sins and faith in our Lord Jesus. But He is patient only so long. The day of judgment is a certainty. Every life will be examined and evaluated by God. And our text tells us what will happen to those who fail the test. They will be thrown into a lake of fire to suffer the justice due to their sin. Judgment day is certain.
Now, it is important, again, to remember who John’s audience is. It’s the seven churches. And it’s also important to remember the purpose of this letter. It’s a warning to those churches lest they join the nations, lest they become one of the wicked. And so, we need to bear in mind that the wicked are not just those who are outside the Church. Not everyone who claims to be a saint really is one. And that will be revealed on the day of judgment as well. On that day, God will make a distinction even within His Church. He will remove from within the Church those who are actually among the wicked. And so, that means that each of you needs to be certain that you really are one of the saints. Thus this question. How will God make that division between the saints and the wicked? What test will He use to evaluate you? It is here that we come upon a striking fact about our text. What we would expect as the key question of the test isn’t to be found here. Nowhere in our text do we hear God ask, ‘Do you believe in Jesus?’ The eternal fate of every soul will be determined at this point and, according to what John writes here, God doesn’t ask about faith in Jesus. Instead, John reports, ‘And I saw the dead, great and small, standing before the throne, and books were opened. … And the dead were judged by what was written in the books, according to what they had done.’ What is this? Our eternal fate is to be decided by our works, the things that we have done? Have we misunderstood the Gospel? What is John teaching us?
Once again, I need to remind you to keep those seven churches in clear view. Remember how some were flirting with the world. Now, what if John was told to write that the judgment on the last day depended on a profession of faith – ‘I believe in Jesus’? Who in those seven churches would have said, ‘Oh, well I don’t believe in Jesus so I need to change’? All of them would have made a very orthodox profession. So, what good would that kind of warning have been? As a result, God has John write that the evaluation of the last day would not be according to words but according to works. God isn’t interested in what you say as much as He is interested in what you do. And so, He will evaluate you on that basis. And this fits with a theme of the Scriptures that is too often forgotten: true saving faith will be obvious by what it does. The letter of James is especially clear on this. A faith that is without appropriate works is a dead faith. It is a faith to be sure, but it is a faith that will not save. And sad to say, the Church today abounds with people who can make a profession of faith, even with a stirring testimony of their conversion, and yet the faith they profess makes no obvious difference in what they do. Such a faith, merely saying the right words, will not save. God is not mocked. On the day of judgment He will reveal who the phonies are, those who hoped in the magic of saying some special words to get them into heaven. And how sad that will be.
According to the picture that John paints for us in our text, when God evaluates you He will not ask, ‘Do you believe in Jesus?’ Rather, He will open the books. He will read the record of your life and evaluate you according to what you did. He will do that because a true saving faith will always show itself by the way life is lived. Right now the books are being written. The actions of your life are being recorded. God is interested in what you do. This fits with Jesus’ parable on the sheep and the goats, where Jesus separates the real ones from the phonies. The determining factor there wasn’t about ‘believing in Jesus’. The sheep and the goats were separated for all of eternity because of what they did and didn’t do. On the day of judgment God will be looking for the evidence of a true saving faith and He will decide your fate based on what He sees in the books.
If you are putting yourself in the picture of our text you’re probably going to ask this question. How does a true faith evidence itself? What should I be looking for in my life to be assured that I really do have a true faith? The essence of saving faith is this. ‘Lord, I trust You. Because I trust You I believe whatever You tell me.’ What has God told us? What has He said that we need to believe? He has made many promises in His Word. True faith hears the promises of God and believes them. Now, when I refer to belief here I am not talking about mere mental agreement. Belief is done as a whole person. It involves the thoughts, the emotions and the actions. So, there is the promise,
But now thus says the Lord, he who created you, O Jacob, he who formed you, O Israel: "Fear not, for I have redeemed you; I have called you by name, you are mine. When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and through the rivers, they shall not overwhelm you; when you walk through fire you shall not be burned, and the flame shall not consume you. For I am the Lord your God, the Holy One of Israel, your Savior. I give Egypt as your ransom, Cush and Seba in exchange for you. Because you are precious in my eyes, and honored, and I love you... Isaiah 43:1-4
Now, let’s say that you encounter some fear. What does faith look like in that situation? First, faith prays, ‘Lord, help me. I want to trust You in this situation, but I’m so very afraid. Help me, Lord, so that I might live as becomes a Christian.’ Then, despite the fear but in light of the promise, faith acts and strives for faithful living, depending on God to keep His promise. Saving faith strives, the power of the Spirit, to believe God.
Now, please note carefully what I said. I talked about striving for faithful living. The works of true faith are not examples of perfection. God knows that we are all sinners, after all. But those who do strive like this because of faith are what the Bible calls ‘the righteous’. They are working at believing God. My favorite example of this kind of faith is the father in Mark 9, who said to Jesus, ‘Lord, I believe. Help my unbelief.’ That’s us every day as we strive to believe God.
These are the kinds of works that God will be looking for on that last day. These works will be far from perfect, but they will come from hearts that do believe God and want to believe Him more. And bit by bit their faith shows more and more. If these things are true of you, then you have a true saving faith. The works first of your heart and then of your body reveal it to be so.
Now, I need to include one last thought. I’ve mentioned the books that God will open. But there is one other book that John tells us about. It’s the book of life. We’ve seen this before in Revelation. This is not a book filled with deeds. It’s a book filled with names, the names of all the saved. And it is a book that was written before the foundation of the world. This is the book of the elect, those whom God had chosen to save before the existence of anything. Why is it here? It’s true that God will make His decision to include us in heaven based on our works as the evidence of a true saving faith. But at the end of the day none of us will ever say, ‘I’m here in heaven because of my works.’ We won’t even say, ‘I’m here because of my faith.’ Such thoughts will never occur to us at all. We will all know that there is only one reason that we will enjoy the unimaginable bliss of heaven. ‘I’m here in heaven because God wrote my name in that book. I’m here because of the shear grace of God in Jesus, my Lord.’ The doctrine of election is always a good antidote to pride.
So, let me ask you something. If God were to open His books today, if He were to evaluate your life based on what you do, what would He see? Is evidence of a true saving faith being recorded in those books in heaven? Look at your life. Do you see the evidence of the kind of faith that trusts Jesus, the kind of faith that shows in what you do day to day? If there is, give thanks, and continue on faithfully. Glory awaits. But if there isn’t, be afraid. The day of judgment is coming. The lake of fire is real. At the same time, bear in mind that it isn’t too late. It isn’t the Last Day yet. God hasn’t called you to account yet. So, there’s time to repent of your sins and to believe the Gospel of Jesus, to really believe it with your heart and with your life and not just with your words. And if you do that, the works that God will look for will be there. And the day of judgment will not be a day of terror for you but a day of incredible joy.
Revelation 20.11-15
We are now coming to the closing scenes of the book of Revelation. John now writes about what happens after Jesus returns. John tells us about his vision of the great white throne and how all of humanity – both great and small, those alive at Christ’s return and those who had died, every person who ever lived – will stand before God. And he tells us what will happen when God gathers all flesh before Him. All will be judged. Everyone will have his life evaluated by God. Everyone. Now, if Revelation is only intended as a book to encourage speculation about the future then our text may be only vaguely interesting. But if Revelation is preeminently a practical book intended to affect lives then we need to pay close attention to our text. It has lessons that we need to heed. Let’s take a look at some of those lessons.
First of all, our text reminds us of the certainty of judgment. Every single person will stand before God and hear His evaluation of their lives. Now, is that good or bad? It all depends, doesn’t it? For the saints, the faithful, that is a tremendously good thing. Do you see why? There will be justice – full, complete and final justice. On that day, the saints and what they endured will be recognized by God. One of the problems that the saints have had to deal with over the centuries is the injustice that has been heaped upon them without due cause or any remedy. What is Peter’s first letter all about? It is about suffering unjustly and taking it. It is about waiting patiently for the time of God’s justice. The promise of our text is that the time of justice is coming. Every wrong will be righted. Your suffering for the sake of the Gospel, your self-denial for Jesus, the battles you have fought for the kingdom and that against uneven odds – all of that will be recognized by God and rewarded. You will hear, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant.’ While walking on this fallen earth you have endured loss and ridicule and the disparagement of the world for the choices that you made as a faithful disciple. But on that day, before that same watching world, you will be praised by God Himself. You will experience the truth of the promise of Jesus, ‘Whoever finds his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life for my sake will find it.’ [Matthew 10:39] In this world we lose our lives, but we gain them in the next.
Now, I’m guessing that some of you have tender consciences that are making you feel uncomfortable. ‘But what about my sin. Surely, God won’t be pleased with me. I’m afraid of being evaluated by Him.’ To those of you who are dealing with such thoughts let me say that you needn’t feel timid or fearful of judgment day. Yes, there is the matter of your sin. In fact, it’s worse than you know. But there is good news. Jesus has come and His death covers it all. The just rage of God against your sin, the promised punishment for your disobedience, has been fully satisfied. Jesus has died for you. Have you entrusted yourself into the care of the Savior? Is your hope of eternity rooted in what He has done? Then there is nothing to fear. On the day of judgment the Father will welcome you with open arms. It will be a time of great rejoicing. After all, one of His children has made it home. The coming day of judgment holds great things for the saints.
But what does the certainty of judgment say to the wicked? The hope of the wicked is that, for one reason or another, God will not call them to account. Some just assume that there is no God to call them to account. ‘The fool says in his heart, “There is no God.” ’ [Psalm 14.1] Then there are those who think that God doesn’t notice what they are doing. ‘[The wicked] says in his heart, ‘God has forgotten, He has hidden His face, He will never see it.” ’ [Psalm 10.11] As a result, these sin without a second thought. God hasn’t called them to account so far and they assume that He never will. But our text reminds us that there will be justice. Our God is patient as He calls all men to repentance from their sins and faith in our Lord Jesus. But He is patient only so long. The day of judgment is a certainty. Every life will be examined and evaluated by God. And our text tells us what will happen to those who fail the test. They will be thrown into a lake of fire to suffer the justice due to their sin. Judgment day is certain.
Now, it is important, again, to remember who John’s audience is. It’s the seven churches. And it’s also important to remember the purpose of this letter. It’s a warning to those churches lest they join the nations, lest they become one of the wicked. And so, we need to bear in mind that the wicked are not just those who are outside the Church. Not everyone who claims to be a saint really is one. And that will be revealed on the day of judgment as well. On that day, God will make a distinction even within His Church. He will remove from within the Church those who are actually among the wicked. And so, that means that each of you needs to be certain that you really are one of the saints. Thus this question. How will God make that division between the saints and the wicked? What test will He use to evaluate you? It is here that we come upon a striking fact about our text. What we would expect as the key question of the test isn’t to be found here. Nowhere in our text do we hear God ask, ‘Do you believe in Jesus?’ The eternal fate of every soul will be determined at this point and, according to what John writes here, God doesn’t ask about faith in Jesus. Instead, John reports, ‘And I saw the dead, great and small, standing before the throne, and books were opened. … And the dead were judged by what was written in the books, according to what they had done.’ What is this? Our eternal fate is to be decided by our works, the things that we have done? Have we misunderstood the Gospel? What is John teaching us?
Once again, I need to remind you to keep those seven churches in clear view. Remember how some were flirting with the world. Now, what if John was told to write that the judgment on the last day depended on a profession of faith – ‘I believe in Jesus’? Who in those seven churches would have said, ‘Oh, well I don’t believe in Jesus so I need to change’? All of them would have made a very orthodox profession. So, what good would that kind of warning have been? As a result, God has John write that the evaluation of the last day would not be according to words but according to works. God isn’t interested in what you say as much as He is interested in what you do. And so, He will evaluate you on that basis. And this fits with a theme of the Scriptures that is too often forgotten: true saving faith will be obvious by what it does. The letter of James is especially clear on this. A faith that is without appropriate works is a dead faith. It is a faith to be sure, but it is a faith that will not save. And sad to say, the Church today abounds with people who can make a profession of faith, even with a stirring testimony of their conversion, and yet the faith they profess makes no obvious difference in what they do. Such a faith, merely saying the right words, will not save. God is not mocked. On the day of judgment He will reveal who the phonies are, those who hoped in the magic of saying some special words to get them into heaven. And how sad that will be.
According to the picture that John paints for us in our text, when God evaluates you He will not ask, ‘Do you believe in Jesus?’ Rather, He will open the books. He will read the record of your life and evaluate you according to what you did. He will do that because a true saving faith will always show itself by the way life is lived. Right now the books are being written. The actions of your life are being recorded. God is interested in what you do. This fits with Jesus’ parable on the sheep and the goats, where Jesus separates the real ones from the phonies. The determining factor there wasn’t about ‘believing in Jesus’. The sheep and the goats were separated for all of eternity because of what they did and didn’t do. On the day of judgment God will be looking for the evidence of a true saving faith and He will decide your fate based on what He sees in the books.
If you are putting yourself in the picture of our text you’re probably going to ask this question. How does a true faith evidence itself? What should I be looking for in my life to be assured that I really do have a true faith? The essence of saving faith is this. ‘Lord, I trust You. Because I trust You I believe whatever You tell me.’ What has God told us? What has He said that we need to believe? He has made many promises in His Word. True faith hears the promises of God and believes them. Now, when I refer to belief here I am not talking about mere mental agreement. Belief is done as a whole person. It involves the thoughts, the emotions and the actions. So, there is the promise,
But now thus says the Lord, he who created you, O Jacob, he who formed you, O Israel: "Fear not, for I have redeemed you; I have called you by name, you are mine. When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and through the rivers, they shall not overwhelm you; when you walk through fire you shall not be burned, and the flame shall not consume you. For I am the Lord your God, the Holy One of Israel, your Savior. I give Egypt as your ransom, Cush and Seba in exchange for you. Because you are precious in my eyes, and honored, and I love you... Isaiah 43:1-4
Now, let’s say that you encounter some fear. What does faith look like in that situation? First, faith prays, ‘Lord, help me. I want to trust You in this situation, but I’m so very afraid. Help me, Lord, so that I might live as becomes a Christian.’ Then, despite the fear but in light of the promise, faith acts and strives for faithful living, depending on God to keep His promise. Saving faith strives, the power of the Spirit, to believe God.
Now, please note carefully what I said. I talked about striving for faithful living. The works of true faith are not examples of perfection. God knows that we are all sinners, after all. But those who do strive like this because of faith are what the Bible calls ‘the righteous’. They are working at believing God. My favorite example of this kind of faith is the father in Mark 9, who said to Jesus, ‘Lord, I believe. Help my unbelief.’ That’s us every day as we strive to believe God.
These are the kinds of works that God will be looking for on that last day. These works will be far from perfect, but they will come from hearts that do believe God and want to believe Him more. And bit by bit their faith shows more and more. If these things are true of you, then you have a true saving faith. The works first of your heart and then of your body reveal it to be so.
Now, I need to include one last thought. I’ve mentioned the books that God will open. But there is one other book that John tells us about. It’s the book of life. We’ve seen this before in Revelation. This is not a book filled with deeds. It’s a book filled with names, the names of all the saved. And it is a book that was written before the foundation of the world. This is the book of the elect, those whom God had chosen to save before the existence of anything. Why is it here? It’s true that God will make His decision to include us in heaven based on our works as the evidence of a true saving faith. But at the end of the day none of us will ever say, ‘I’m here in heaven because of my works.’ We won’t even say, ‘I’m here because of my faith.’ Such thoughts will never occur to us at all. We will all know that there is only one reason that we will enjoy the unimaginable bliss of heaven. ‘I’m here in heaven because God wrote my name in that book. I’m here because of the shear grace of God in Jesus, my Lord.’ The doctrine of election is always a good antidote to pride.
So, let me ask you something. If God were to open His books today, if He were to evaluate your life based on what you do, what would He see? Is evidence of a true saving faith being recorded in those books in heaven? Look at your life. Do you see the evidence of the kind of faith that trusts Jesus, the kind of faith that shows in what you do day to day? If there is, give thanks, and continue on faithfully. Glory awaits. But if there isn’t, be afraid. The day of judgment is coming. The lake of fire is real. At the same time, bear in mind that it isn’t too late. It isn’t the Last Day yet. God hasn’t called you to account yet. So, there’s time to repent of your sins and to believe the Gospel of Jesus, to really believe it with your heart and with your life and not just with your words. And if you do that, the works that God will look for will be there. And the day of judgment will not be a day of terror for you but a day of incredible joy.
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