Revelation 20:11-15


A time is coming when God will put the final period upon the final page, upon the final book of human history, and those who are not Christians, whether they die or are still alive, will face the '“Great White Throne”—final judgment. God at last settles the score and judges the wicked according to their deeds. I know some will disagree with this message, but it comes straight from the Word of God. 


Before this judgment, the Lord appears to catch away His bride, the Church, in the Rapture before the Tribulation, when the wrath of God is poured out. God has not appointed His Church to wrath (1 Thessalonians 5:9). But what happens to those who are not Christians? First they go through the Tribulation, then face final judgment. The unsaved dead will be raised to join them at the Great White Throne. Read it in Revelation 20:11-15. Here’s an excerpt:


Then I saw a great white throne and Him who sat on it...And I saw the dead, small and great, standing before God, and books were opened…the dead were judged according to their works…And anyone not found written in the Book of Life was cast into the lake of fire.


This is the Great White Throne, the final judgment. There are four basic things to understand about it.


A Fearful Setting (v. 11-12). The throne is “great” in awesome power, “white” in purity, and “throne” in purpose: judgment. Only those who are not Christians stand before it.


Jesus Christ Himself sits as judge on this throne.

  • He wears the regal robes of a judge and a king. 

  • His white hairs speaks of His purity. 

  • With eye like fire, He sees right through us. He knows it all (Hebrews 4:13). 

  • His “feet like brass” symbolize judgment. 

  • His voice is like the sound of a hundred cascading waterfalls. 


A Forceful Summons (v. 12-13). God summons all unsaved who have ever lived:


  • The out and out sinner.

  • Procrastinators. You intended to be saved but never got around to it. 

  • Unsaved church members, religious but without Jesus. 

  • Those who never heard the Gospel. God deals with them differently from others.

  • The self-righteous. People who think the Gospel is for “bad people,” not them. 


Most people think they’re too good to be damned. The worst form of badness is human goodness when human goodness becomes a substitute for the new birth. There’s no one so bad he cannot be saved and no one so good he need not be saved. 


Fatal Secrets (v. 12). God is keeping a book on you. He has your life recorded. Nothing escapes His knowledge. God’s camera is recording. Skeletons will come out of closets when the unsaved are judged.


A Final Sentence (v. 14-15). What happens if you’re not a Christian? 


  • Evidence will be presented: every idle word, thought, deed.

  • You have no defense: you trampled underfoot the precious blood of Jesus, 

  • The verdict: Broken-hearted, Jesus will say, “And then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness!’” (Matthew 7:23). Your soul will drop into the lake of fire. 


You’ll be judged according to your works. Hell lies at the end of a Christ-less life. The tragedy is, you didn’t have to go! Mercy is yours for the asking, but only in this life. 


I’ve got wonderful news: 

  • you can settle out of court. 

  • God doesn’t want you to go to Hell. 

  • Jesus paid your sin debt in full.


“Who shall lay anything to the charge of God’s elect?” (Romans 8:33).


“There is therefore now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus” (Romans 8:1).


Settle out of court today and receive the One who saves you and who daily fills your life with blessedness and joy, assuring you an eternal Heaven. 


Go to lwf.org/discover-Jesus to learn more.