The day has come. This devotional reading looks at standing before the throne for judgment.
Nuggets
- Heaven’s majesty is clearly seen in the Judge’s throne.
- Judgment will be a process.
- Where we may say we are the author of the book of remembrance, Jesus is the author of the book of life.
- All dead will be resurrected and judged.
When we just chased our rabbit about what others said about the day of the Lord, we talked around the remaining verses in Revelation 20. We’re going to take a little more in-depth look at them in this devotion.
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Devotions in the The Day of the Lord series
The Dead Standing before the Throne
“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” (Rev. 20: 12 ESV)
Heaven’s majesty is clearly seen in the Judge’s throne.
When we think of a monarch sitting on a throne, we think of honor. Sometimes, that is through ceremony. Planned — usually traditional — activities are occurring for the monarch’s viewing pleasure and tribute.
Sometimes, that is through everyday activities. We think about the olden days when subjects lined up for hours to have the monarch settle some disagreement.
Kind of like what Moses was doing when his father-in-law came to visit. “The next day Moses sat to judge the people, and the people stood around Moses from morning till evening” (Ex. 18: 13 ESV).
I used to think that disciples would bypass the judgment throne because we wouldn’t be considered dead anymore after conversion. “Truly, truly, I say to you, whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life. He does not come into judgment, but has passed from death to life” (Jn. 5: 24 ESV).
How do we reconcile that with “So then each of us will give an account of himself to God” (Rom. 14: 12 ESV). Every person, every generation, every socioeconomic status, every level of education — whether physically dead or alive or spiritually dead or alive.
The way I see it now is we will all be standing before the throne waiting to be judged. This is where we are going to be judged as sheep, goats, or goats masquerading as sheep.
For the sheep, it isn’t a judgment. It is an acknowledgment that we have made a genuine profession to receive Jesus as our Savior and Redeemer and lived our lives accordingly.
It is a reward.
But there will be some who made profession of faith that either wasn’t genuine because they didn’t live submitted to Sovereign God.
“Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. On that day many will say to me, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and cast out demons in your name, and do many mighty works in your name?’ And then will I declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from me, you workers of lawlessness’” (Mt. 7: 21-23 ESV).
Macdonald was correct in saying that we will no longer be able to hide our true character. We might think we can from each other, but we can’t from God.
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That is the scariest passage in God’s Word for me. How many disciples are going to be gobsmacked because they didn’t get it right?
But what have we been saying justice is all about? Justice is bringing order back to God’s creation so that all people receive the rewards He has for His children.
That is what the Day of the Lord is all about — bringing us back into a right relationship with God.
Yes, it has to happen through the dissolution of the whole material world, as Bradley said. Sin and temptation have to be totally removed.
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But that is what all our existence has been about.
Hutchings believed we will be standing in front of the great white throne in bodily form, not in our glorified bodies. I don’t see that. I can see the sheep getting our glorified bodies in a twinkling of an eye (I Thess. 4: 16) before we get there.
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But those who haven’t genuinely ABCDed won’t be in a glorified body. I think it will just be their souls standing there. We never hear of them getting a new body to be thrown into the lake of fire. This physical body isn’t going to last through eternity.
Hamilton compared the great white throne to the throne we say in Revelation 4. “And he who sat there had the appearance of jasper and carnelian, and around the throne was a rainbow that had the appearance of an emerald (Rev 4: 3 ESV). He wrote,
“It is ‘a great white throne.’ It is vast, shadowy, undefined. No rainbow of the covenant girdles it; no suppliants or penitents sue before it; no pardons are issued from it. It is a tribunal throne. ‘He hath prepared His throne for judgment.’ It is occupied. There is One, that ‘sitteth upon it.’ This is often characteristic and distinctive of the Father. There is no manner of similitude. Nothing at first appears to guide us in the present discrimination. There is no form. It seems essential, and not distinguished, deity.”
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We called the Revelation 4 throne the throne of grace. This is the throne of judgment.
They are two separate things.
Jesus is on the throne because He is Judge. He is coming, though, in the glory of His Father. “For the Son of Man is going to come with his angels in the glory of his Father, and then he will repay each person according to what he has done” (Mt. 16: 7 ESV).
Books Were Opened
Judgment will be a process.
The next important nugget from this verse is that the books will be opened. We talked that Malachi called one the book of remembrance.
Yes, that’s right. Books – plural – are opened before the book of life is opened, but we aren’t told what they all are. They seem to be where our actions have been written down as we each are judged “… by what was written in the books, according to what they had done” (Rev. 20: 12 ESV).
Thought we were going to be able to hide things from God? Wrong! “Therefore do not pronounce judgment before the time, before the Lord comes, who will bring to light the things now hidden in darkness and will disclose the purposes of the heart. Then each one will receive his commendation from God” (I Cor. 4: 5 ESV).
Alexander said that not only would we have a perfect memory in judgement, but we would also have a perfect perception. There will be no justification, no gray areas, and no difference of opinions.
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Macdonald had a good description regarding what will be judged. He wrote, “Works, words, thoughts, motives, should be ever examined here in anticipation of the more imposing court.” Carey included feelings, desires, and purposes to the list.
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I wonder if David was right. Is there going to be a book of tears? “You have kept count of my tossings; put my tears in your bottle. Are they not in your book?” (Ps. 56: 8 ESV).
In a way you can say that we are writing our biographies.
It is more than that, though. If it is just a recounting of what we had done, would that be any good?
Mac told us what the more is. He wrote, “God’s memory and God’s heart must become a record for or against him.”
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Remember, this is judgment, also. It is God showing us where we went wrong.
So, is there going to be a book of unforgiving sins? Talmage thought so — at least for worldview people that haven’t ABCDed.
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I agree and disagree. Disciple’s sins are pardoned at conversion, but we continue to sin and are expected to ask forgiveness for those.
What if we haven’t? No, I’m not saying keep-us-Heaven consequences.
In his first epistle, John talked about disciples and sin.
“But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus his Son cleanses us from all sin. If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. If we say we have not sinned, we make him a liar, and his word is not in us” (I Jn. 1: 7-10 ESV).
We know Jesus’ blood covers all sins from gossip to murder. Does that mean conversion is a one-time-fits-all-sins deal?
What does God’s Word say? “Whoever conceals his transgressions will not prosper, but he who confesses and forsakes them will obtain mercy” (Prov. 28: 13 ESV).
Salvation is all about confession. If we sin and feel we no longer have to confess — or change our ways — we are hurting our fellowship with God.
Back to opening the books. I called it a process, didn’t I? Isn’t it?
We are judged by God’s laws. We are judged by the condition of our souls. Bradley said we are even judged by the laws of His universe. He even says there are books of memory and conscience.
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Everything is fact that has been recorded for this Day.
Did you catch that we have to go through the opening of all the other boos before we get to the book of life? How can we think we escape judgment?
We are all going to be accountable to God in every way He requires.
The Book of Life
Where we may say we are the author of the book of remembrance, Jesus is the author of the book of life.
Where the other books show our lives, this book will tell us if we have eternal life. It is only through belief in him that we have our names written in this book.
On the flip side, it can also be called the book of condemnation. That is our state since Adam and Eve committed the original sin. “Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only Son of God” (Jn. 3: 18 ESV).
That is the purpose of the book: to show who has ABCDed and who is still condemned. The outcome there shows who will live in Heaven for eternity and who will live in hell for eternity.
I can see where it is, called the book of life instead of the book of condemnation. God sees the positive. “Jesus said to her, ‘I am the resurrection and the life. Whoever believes in me, though he die, yet shall he live, and everyone who lives and believes in me shall never die. Do you believe this?’” (Jn. 11: 25-26 ESV).
The gospel isn’t about retribution — even though our consideration of that must be part of our Sanctification Road. We have to get to the point that we see we deserve retribution to know we need a Savior.
Macfadyen believed that God gives us new names in the book of life. (I think Abraham, Israel, and Peter were glad they got new names. I know Paul is probably really glad he is no longer known as Saul.)
Making the Connections #1
Carey was spot on when he wrote that “There are three great days connected with the history of our race.
‘1. The day the world was made.
‘2. The day the world was redeemed.
‘3. The day the world will be judged.”
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It was a great day when God made mankind anyway, knowing that we would disobey Him and turn so far away from Him. It was a great day when Jesus died to pay the price for our sins and make a way for us to have our relationships with God restored.
It will be a great day when justice will be served. God’s order will be brought back to chaos.
Making the Connections #2
If Judgment Day is to be only an awards ceremony for disciples, we shouldn’t fear it. In fact, it is an essential part of being a disciple.
If it wasn’t, it wouldn’t have been prophesied in the Old Testament. We’ve pulled verses from Psalms, Isaiah, Daniel, Malachi, Zechariah, and Jeremiah— if not more. In the New Testament, we’ve looked at Matthew, John, Peter, and Paul’s writings.
What makes it so hard? Why do we fear it so much?
True, this is a hard concept to grasp. John didn’t always make it any easier in Revelation. Our imaginations just aren’t that grand. But there are more personal reasons.
One reason is we don’t feel worthy. We see how badly we have sinned, and we see we have kept sinning after conversion. We don’t think God will stand for that.
The fact is we aren’t worthy. When we get a big head and think we are so wonderful is exactly the time God can’t and won’t forgive us.
Another is we are scared by Matthew 7: 21. We are afraid that is what we are going to hear.
But then, we are so set in our ways. We think what we believe is exactly what God means. We turn into Pharisees.
Those fears should turn us to God’s Word, not away from it. We can find confirmation of God’s love and forgiveness or His correction.
Making the Connections #3
Hutchings made an interesting observation about the need for a final judgment. He wrote,
“The reasons for the general judgment may be found in this — that the issue of our actions do not stop with the actions themselves. Not only actions, but their far-reaching effects, will form the subject-matter of that tribunal. The complete being, body and soul, must also be arraigned before judgment is complete.”
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Yes, it appears that Jesus rewarded the thief in the cross with immediate access to Heaven (Lk. 23: 43 ESV).
Think of the effects of our witnessing. Of course I can’t think of the name right now, but I read an account of where a missionary didn’t have any converts. When his child was real little, he was killed. The child went back as an adult and found the father’s teachings had made a difference.
We will be judged for our works — what we have done in God’s name. Sometimes, that takes a while to shake out.
Making the Connections #4
Casey brought up something I hadn’t thought about. Never before in pre-creation history or creation history and never again in eternal history will this assembly happen.
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All the angels. All mankind — good and bad. All the devils. Present and accounted for.
I can’t believe Casey was saying that every non-believer was going to turn into a demon any more than ever saint is going to turn into an angel.
But that would mean Satan and his demons may be present, too.
I don’t know. I’ll have to think about that one. They already got their punishment in Revelation 19 and 20.
How Do We Apply This?
- ABCD now.
- Always think of Judgment Day as being a ceremony filled with dignity.
- Evaluate our belief in the Second Coming to ensure that our faith is clear and vigorous by following Christ’s teachings and the revelations of the Holy Spirit.
- Ensure what we read and hear from God’s Word impacts how we live our lives.
- Study the life of Christ.
- Believe judgment is coming — and live that way.
- Ask God to search us as David did (Ps. 139: 23-24).
- Ask God to remove any evil thoughts we have harbored.
- Pray quickly when any unholy thoughts come.
- “Seek for a purer joy”, as Alexander advised.
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Father God. We don’t want to stand before the throne for judgment. We want to be sheep. Amen.
What do you think?
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