Doctrine of the Future Eternal Judgment [The Great White Throne Judgment]

The speaker discusses the importance of moving beyond the foundational principles of Christianity and growing towards maturity. They mention that after death, everyone will be resurrected and receive a new body. Some will receive a glorified body and live in heaven, while others will be resurrected to face judgment and be cast into the lake of fire. The speaker describes the great white throne judgment, where Jesus Christ will judge the dead based on their works. Those who have rejected Jesus Christ will be consigned to hell. The speaker emphasizes the importance of accepting Jesus Christ as Savior and having one's name written in the book of life to gain eternal life. And that's where we'll probably be most of the day. But we've been looking at these principles, these first principles, these foundations that every one of us should have. And if you study and read Hebrews, you will find that the end result is why He is worried about this, is because He's wanting us as Christians to grow to maturity and not stay immature. And it seems like sometimes if we're constantly dealing with these beginning foundations, then we're not building a building. We're not going forward with what we need to have. And so, He tells us in Hebrews 6 and verse 1 that He says... Let me get there right quick. I didn't actually do a slide for that this time, and I just about have done it enough. This is the tenth message in this passage of Scripture, so I can just about quote it. Therefore, leaving the principles of the doctrine of Christ, let us go on unto perfection, not laying again the foundations of repentance from dead works, of faith toward God, of the doctrine of baptisms, of laying on of hands, and of the resurrection of the dead, and of eternal judgment. And this will we do if God permits. Verse 3. And so we've been talking about these deals. We've covered every single one of them, and we got last week to eternal judgment. When we talked two weeks ago about the resurrection, there are going to be two resurrections. Everybody, every human being is going to be resurrected. Everybody is going to receive a new body. This is not our eternal body. This is our earthly body. But we will receive a spiritual body. We will receive another body of a different kind, of a different type. The Bible doesn't describe a whole lot about it or what it is. But every one of us is going to have a new body. The resurrection, some of us are going to be given a new body that's going to live eternally in heaven. That's going to be designed for the heavens and for that atmosphere. Others are going to be resurrected to eternity in the lake of fire. And that's what we're going to be talking about today. You're going to face one of them two judgments. You're either going to face the judgment seat of Christ in heaven, or you're going to face the great white throne judgment later on, and your destination will be the lake of fire. We read this morning verses 1-7, and so I'm not going to read them again to you, but I do want you to notice in verse 5, it says, the rest of the dead live not again until the thousand years were finished. Just to kind of set up the time frame, all of those that have believed in Jesus Christ, that have already died or were alive when Jesus Christ came for the rapture, have already been taken to heaven. They're already there. And so they've already received their glorified body. Then we have the Old Testament saints right before the second coming of Jesus Christ are resurrected. The first resurrection has ended. We go through a thousand year period of reign of Jesus Christ where He is reigning and fulfilling the promises that was made to Israel during that millennial reign. And then at the end of that millennial reign, that thousand years, Satan is going to be loosed for a short time. He's going to gather up an army of people, and he is going to fight against Jesus Christ. But it's not going to be a battle that is going to take long. Last long, it's going to be over with very, very quickly. The minute that battle is over with, if you read on there in Revelation 20, Satan is going to be cast into the lake of fire. And then in verse 5, all of the rest of the dead are going to come forward and stand at the great white throne judgment. And you skip down there to verse 11. He says, And I saw a great white throne, and Him that 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, stand before God, and the books were opened, and another book was opened, which is the book of life. And the dead were judged out of those things which were written in the books according to their works. And the sea gave up the dead which were in it, and death and hell delivered up the dead which were in them. And they were judged, every man, according to their works. And death and hell were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death. And whosoever was not found written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire. When we look at this throne room, we see this great white throne. And so I want you this morning to picture this courtroom where the dead will come and they will stand before Jesus Christ. When it talks about the great white, the great talks about the power of this trial. The power that is in this judgment that is fixing to take place. This white speaks of the purity that is going to be laid out. What does God require of every individual to do? Be holy as He is holy. And so God is going to lay out our life to whether or not we are holy or not. And the word throne speaks of its purpose because the sovereign Savior, Jesus Christ, is going to be the One that judges this judgment that takes place. In John 5, verse 22, He says, For the Father judges no man, but hath committed all judgment unto the Son. In Revelation 1, verse 13, we are given a description of Jesus Christ. It says, In the midst of the seven candlesticks, like unto the Son of Man, clothed with a garment down to the foot, and girt about the paps His chest with a golden girdle. His head and His hairs were white like wool, as white as snow, and His eyes were as the flame of fire, and His feet like unto fine brass, as if they burned in a furnace, and His voice as the sound of many waters. And He had led His right hand seven stars, and out of His mouth went a sharp two-edged sword, and His countenance was as the sun shineth in its strength. Neither is there any creature that is not manifest in His sight, but all things are naked and opened unto the eyes of Him with whom we have to do." Notice that this is Jesus Christ. He cannot be deceived. He cannot be discredited. He cannot be disputed. He is there to judge everything and everyone. And this scene is so great, it is so powerful, that it says the earth and the heavens run, flee from the presence of this judgment. This is a judgment that you do not want to be at. You don't want to be at this judgment. It says there in verse 11, "...Jesus Christ that sat on it, from whose face the earth and the heavens fled away, and there was found no place for them." So notice we see the great white throne judgment, but notice who is going to be there. Notice this requisition. The ones that are going to be there, over and over in this passage, it refers to the dead. Now, we know that not all of the dead are going to be there. Because why? We've already discovered that what? Those that died in Jesus Christ were resurrected to the judgment seat of Christ, where we are going to be judged. We talked about that last week. The dead that he's referring to here are those that have rejected Jesus Christ and they are awaiting trial in hell. To be absent from this body for the Christian is to be present with the Lord. Our spirit immediately goes to be with Jesus Christ, but our body, what? Decays in the ground, waiting for the day that we will be resurrected and receive a new body. No matter where you are, no matter how destroyed your body is, no matter what has taken place to your body, it doesn't matter. This physical body is not important because God has got us an eternal body that He wants to give us. Those that die, however, and do not die with Jesus Christ or have never placed their faith and trust in Jesus Christ, guess what? Immediately upon their last breath, they are gone to eternity. They are gone to hell. And they wait for this judgment. They are there in torment. We read the story that Jesus said of the rich man and Lazarus. And you remember He described hell. He said it was so hot and it was so strenuous and so bad. He asked Abraham, He said if you would just dip your finger in water and let that drop fall to my tongue. He said, man, I would have a little bit of relief. And Abraham said, I can't do that. You made your decision. And so, man, it's a place of torment. It's a place of torture. It's a place of fire and this. And you are awaiting this great white throne judgment. But there's going to come a time at the end of the millennial reign when God is going to call those forth out of hell and He's going to judge them. Notice what He says in verse 5. Again, the rest of the dead, those that have died without Jesus Christ, live not again until the thousand years were finished. This is the first resurrection. So if you are saved, you're in the first resurrection. If you are lost, you're in the second resurrection at the end of the millennial reign. Now we come to verse 12 of Revelation 20. And He said, and I saw the dead, small or great, it doesn't matter who you are, how famous you are, how smart you are, how rich you are, how poor you are, how uneducated you are, it doesn't matter. If you have died without Jesus Christ, small or great, guess what? You're going to stand before God. You're going to stand before God and notice the books, plural, were open. And another book, singular, was open. And that singular book is the book of life. And out of these books, the dead are going to be judged out of those things which are written in the books, plural, according to their works. And so the determination of their consignment to hell will be determined not upon their works, but upon their rejection of the gospel of Jesus Christ. See, if you are saved, if you accept Jesus Christ as your personal Savior, then your name is written in the book of life. And it can never be unwritten. It can never be blotted out because you have been written. And that gives you eternity. But guess what? If you're not there, then you stand before the judgment seat of Christ. And the end result is that we'll see in just a minute is the lake of fire. The severity of punishment will be determined based on the nature of your evil work. Jesus Christ said it's going to be worse for the Pharisees in hell than it is for those in Sodom and Gomorrah. With much knowledge, with much responsibilities, you get more punishment and all that. So there is going to be a stage of punishment just like we saw in the judgment seat of Christ. What are we going to be rewarded on? Our works. There's going to be different levels of that. There's five crowns at least that are mentioned in the New Testament that we looked at last week. We saw in Daniel 3 that He described that we are going to shine with the glory of Jesus Christ. Part of that is we get through and what's left is gold, silver, and precious stones. What happens to it the more it gets pure? The more it goes through the fire, it gets purer and purer and brighter and more expensive. We're talking about the quality. That's what's going to happen to us as believers. And so He said, depending on how well you do here with your works is what you're going to rule over and your position is going to be there. The same thing is true when it comes to hell and the lake of fire. Your severity will be determined. Notice what He says in verse 13 of chapter 20. He says, "...and the sea gave up the dead which were in it, and death and hell delivered up the dead which were in them, and they were judged every man according to their works." Notice here their determination of their consignment to hell is determined not upon their works, but on their rejection of the Gospel. And so, I don't know what these books are. It just says books plural. Now, when we know that it's plural, we know that there's more than one, right? And so there's going to be multiple books. There has to be at least two. We don't know how many. And so this part, I took and looked at the Word of God, and I found five different things that people are going to be judged on in this life. First of all, there are going to be those that are going to be judged that are the haters of God. If you go back and you read Romans 1, you remember Romans 1 says when they knew God, they did not worship God. And so what did God do? He turned them over to become a fool in their destiny. Those that hate God, that despise God, those that want to claim to be atheists and agnostics and all of that, guess what? I think there's going to be a book that is going to be kept that is going to show, hey, you hated God, and it's going to show everything that you did away from God. Everything that you sought knowledge for. Everything that you strived for apart from God Himself. But I also believe He's going to judge the self-righteous. Notice in this requisition, it says in Titus 3, verse 5, not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to His mercy He saved us by the washing of regeneration and the renewing of the Holy Ghost. There's going to be a lot of Pharisees that thought they were doing everything, checking off the boxes and doing what they're supposed to be doing, but guess what? Our righteousness is as filthy rags. Our righteousness doesn't cut it. We are saved by the righteousness of Jesus Christ. We trust in what He did and it is imputed onto us. It is placed upon our account. And so there's going to be a lot of self-righteous people that are going to be there in hell. There's going to be some procrastinators there in hell. We see in Proverbs 27 that it says, Thou knowest not Thyself of tomorrow, for Thou knowest not what a day may bring forth. You look at Proverbs 29.1. It says, He that being often reproved hardeneth his neck shall suddenly be destroyed and that without remedy. There's going to be some procrastinators there. You know, in the Bible, I think of one procrastinator by the name of Agrippa. You remember King Agrippa? When Paul told him about the Gospel of Jesus Christ, King Agrippa looked at Paul and he said, Almost thou persuadest me. Almost. You've almost convinced me. Maybe I'll make that decision on down the line. And Paul said, Oh, almost, don't cut it. You're going to die and go to hell if you stay almost. See, procrastinators putting it off. We don't know. Proverbs says that guess what? The more God convicts us and the more that He does, there's going to come a time instantaneously that God is going to quick convict us. There's going to come a time to the end. We don't know when that is. It says there is a day appointed unto death and after that, the judgment. And so we don't know when that is. And so when is the time to be saved? When is the time to accept Jesus Christ? Now is the day of salvation. And so there's going to be procrastinators. You can't wait. You can't put it off. You don't want to do that. There's also going to be religious people there. People that thought they were there. You know, they had their name on Kentucky Missionary Baptist Church's roll. They've been baptized. They're part of the membership. But guess what? They never have been in Christ. They never have accepted Jesus Christ as their personal Savior. As a matter of fact, it tells us in verse 15, Whosoever was not found written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire. It's not the membership book of Kentucky Missionary Baptist Church that gets you to heaven. It's the book of life. It's the book of Jesus Christ and trusting in Him. One of the saddest Scriptures in Luke, it says, And in that day they will say to me, Lord, Lord, did we not cast out devils in Your name? Did we not do many mighty works in Your name? Did we not do this? Did we not do that? And he looks at them and he says what? Depart from me, you workers of iniquity. I never knew you. They were religious, but they never accepted Jesus Christ as their personal Savior. We have a lot of religious people today in our world that have never accepted Jesus Christ as their personal Savior. And so notice there's also going to be, of course, the sinner. The sinner. Well, is that fair for God to let somebody die and go to hell who has never heard the Gospel? What about those people that have never had an opportunity to hear the Gospel? Are they saved? You know, if they don't hear, if they don't ever get the Gospel, I think the bigger question is are you saved if you don't want to tell them? Because what is our goal as a Christian? We're left here to tell. We're left here to share. Instead of focusing on what's going to happen to the person that don't hear, what is our commission? Go into all the world and preach the Gospel, right? It's our responsibility. And so the Bible teaches that those without Jesus Christ are going to be judged. Whether they hear the Gospel or they don't hear the Gospel, they're going to be judged the same way that you and I are going to be judged. Listen at Luke 12.47, And that servant which knew his Lord's will and prepared not himself, neither did according to his will, shall be beaten with many strikes. But he that knew not and did commit things worthy of strike, shall be beaten with what? Few strikes. Whether they knew the will of God or they didn't know the will of God, whether they heard it or they didn't hear it, guess what? They're still going to be judged. They're still going to be beaten. For unto whomsoever much is given, of him shall much be required. To him whom men have committed much, of him they will ask the more. So back in Revelation 20, verse 12, He said, I saw the dead, small and great, stand before God, and the books were opened. And another book was opened which is the book of life. In verse 13, the sea gave up the dead which were in it, and death and hell delivered up the dead which were in them. I said we had that conference yesterday at the Defenders Conference and we had a conference over this, and I actually went to the class on the resurrection. And they made a point that I never had thought about that ties in to this part right here. Notice that he mentions the sea gave up the dead. It's kind of unusual, isn't it? Because we don't bury people in the sea, do we? We bury people in the graveyard. But how many people have died in the sea? And what he's brought out is the statistics is that those people that are put into the sea, depending on the climate, depending on the depth, depending on the area, a body can decompose in less than two days in the sea. And the bones, the microorganisms and stuff in the sea can completely eliminate the bones. In other words, there is absolutely nothing left of that body. But guess what? They're going to be resurrected. They're going to receive a new body. And so the resurrection is for everybody. So that's what he's telling you. The sea gave up the dead which were in it. And death and hell delivered up the dead which were in them. Hell is the holding place. When you think about our court today, when you commit a crime, what is the first thing you do? You have to be arraigned on that crime, right? You have to go and stand before a judge. They hear the evidence. They hear what you are. And then the judge sets the bail. He decides is your crime okay for you to go back to public because we're innocent until we're proven guilty, right? And so we have a right to our day in court. And so the judge determines though what? He determines are you safe enough is your crime of the type that you are okay to go back into the community. If your crime is something horrible or horrific, then guess what? Until your trial day, you are not allowed to go back into. And so what do you do? You go spend time in county jail. And so you hold in the county jail. Hell is like the county jail. That's where they are being held. Until what? They're going to get their day to stand before the judge. They're going to have their opportunity. And all of the facts and everything is going to be laid out there. And when all the facts are laid out, the judge is going to make the verdict. Depart from Me, you workers of sin. I never knew you. And so when we look at hell, we need to understand that hell today is real. We don't hear a lot of people talking about hell today. We don't hear a lot of people talking about hell as a destiny today. But as terrible as it is, guess what? There is that day and that opportunity for a moment of relief when you stand before Jesus Christ. Because then it gets worse. Because death and hell are cast into the lake of fire. And what does He say? This is the second death. There is no more opportunities for eternal life. There is no more opportunities to be saved. And so notice this rendering. Who is it that sits on the throne? Jesus Christ. Jesus Christ takes and opens these books. He says He opened the books and another book was opened, which is the book of life. And the dead were judged out of those books. They were judged every man according to their works. And death and hell were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death. And so you are taken out of hell and you are placed before the Judge. We see the presentation of evidence. Everything that is there, He says in verse 12, He opens the books and the book of life and we are judged out of that. The presentation of evidence. What kind of evidence will be presented at that throne room? We want to look at every single action that you have ever done. And say what actions? In Revelation 12, notice what He says. According to your works. Solomon said in Ecclesiastes 12 and verse 14 that God shall bring every work into judgment with every secret thing, whether it be good or bad. You know, there's things that we do that we think we've hidden and kept from people. But guess what? God's writing it down. God knows what it is. And guess what? If you don't accept Him and have Him forgive you and cleanse you of your sins, one of these days, He is going to open it up. And everything that you thought you hid, everything that you thought nobody knew about, guess what? It's going to be brought back up in front of everybody that is there. Romans 2 and verse 16 says, In the day when God shall judge the secrets of men by Jesus Christ according to the Gospel. God has a record of every single sin that you have ever committed. Sins that you have forgotten. Sins that you don't even remember anymore because you have repressed them in your mind. You have put them and you thought maybe because I don't remember them anymore, the statue of limitations is already up, right? And so it's already passed. Nobody can remember that or bring that up. Well, guess what? It's going to be brought up at the great white throne judgment. But not every action, but also every articulation. Do you realize everything that you say will be brought up? He says, I say unto you that every idle word that men shall speak, they shall give an account thereof in the day of judgment. What's an idle word? Just talking to be talking, right? Everything you say, whether you mean it. How many of you have told a little white lie, right? You've said something and, oh, I didn't really mean that, right? I was just joking. I was just kidding. Guess what? God writes it down. It was a lie. And He's keeping record. He's watching and He's waiting until the day of judgment. It says in Matthew 12.37, By thy words shalt thou be justified, and by thy words shalt thou be condemned. What you say will either justify you or will condemn you. What did Jesus Christ say? Jesus said out of the abundance of the heart, the white, the mouth speaks. If Jesus Christ is living in us, then guess what? Our words should change. What we say should change. How we say it should change. But guess what? Our mouth sometimes proves whether or not Jesus Christ is in us or not. Every cuss word. Every blasphemous word that you have said about Jesus Christ. Everything that you have said. Luke 12.2 says, There is nothing covered that shall not be revealed, neither hid. Thou shalt not be known. And verse 3 says, Therefore, whatsoever you have spoken in darkness shall be heard in the light. And that which you have spoken in the ear, in closets, shall be proclaimed upon the housetops. Think about it for just a minute. Not only everything that you have done in life, but think about everything that you've said. Think about every cuss word, every blasphemous thing that you have said against God. And understand that He is keeping a record. He knows what's there. Every abnegation. That's a word used for alliteration, but it actually means what John 12.48 says. Abnegation means rejecting Jesus Christ. Rejecting His words. And He says, He that rejecteth Me and receiveth not My words hath one that judgeth him. The word that I have spoken, the same shall judge him in the last day. Faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by what? The Word of God. And so how you respond to the Word of God, guess what? God is writing it down. He's putting it in the book. And then when He gets through with these books of our words, of our deeds, of our lack of responding and our disobedience, then He is going to take every single action. He's going to open up that book of life and He's going to look for your name. And guess what? As He strolls through there, He said, Whosoever was not found written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire. When God does this, when God looks at your works, He looks at what you have said, He looks at how you've been obedient to what you have heard and what you have read in the Word of God, how are you going to respond? What's going to be your defense? What are you going to say? The only thing that we're going to be able to say is guess what? We are guilty! We're guilty! We are not holy as God is holy. We are sinners. We are rebellious because of what? The Bible says, For all have sinned and come short of the glory of God. The great white throne judgment is going to prove and open up your life and show how you was against Jesus Christ the whole time He was here on this earth. And so your defense is guilty. However, if you're a Christian, guess what your defense would be? You won't be there because of why? You've accepted Jesus Christ. And when you accept Jesus Christ, what does He do? He washes away and wipes away everything that was written in them books, every sin, every word, every fault, everything that you have that you've done in secret. Guess what? When you confess Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior, He takes and covers every bit of them sins never to be brought up anymore. But that has to be decided now. That has to be decided today while we are alive. And so what will your defense be in Acts 16 when they realized that they were sinners? They said, what must we do? And the apostles said, believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and thou shalt be saved in your house. See, salvation can come. Eternal life can happen. But it happens with Jesus Christ. Remember, we're talking about these foundations of Jesus Christ. What was the first thing that we did? We repented from what? Dead works. Dead works. The dead that die in their works, that die in what they do, the procrastinators, the religious, the sinners, all of these, the self-righteous, these are dead works. And they die and they will stand at the great white throne of judgment. We repent from our works. Our dead works. And what do we do? We have faith toward God. We trust God. We trust in Jesus Christ. And then what does it say? We go through sanctification. It's a process. God has declared me righteous spiritually. But now, He begins to work on me physically in the flesh. It's one of my favorite psalms. I told somebody coming out of the conference yesterday and two guys that I've had in my seminary classes, I told them after the conference, I said, you guys behave. And he said, behave? Why would we do that? We're imperfect and all of this. And when I come back by them, I said, yep, my favorite psalm. Is He still working on me to make me what I ought to be and try to get control of my flesh? It's a lifelong process. We do that through the washing, through the laying on of hands, through the authority of the church, the accountability, the discipline that's associated with that. And then what? We are prepared for the resurrection and judgment. And so, notice the verdict of this evidence. Notice the verdict in Matthew 10, verse 33. But whosoever shall deny Me before men, him will I also deny before My Father, which is in heaven. In Matthew 7, verse 23, He says, and then will I profess unto them, I never knew you. Depart from Me, you that work iniquity. All these people that have lived, that have done, that have thought they were doing good works, that thought they were doing great things, even in the name of Jesus Christ, He says, I never knew you. You never accepted Me. You never repented from your dead works and had faith in Me. And so notice the ruling. The ruling. When the judge speaks, death and hell, along with Satan and all of his angels, are going to be cast into the lake of fire. And he says this is the second death. The sea gave up the dead. They were judged, every one. And death and hell were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death. And whosoever was not found written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire. I want you to understand this morning the surety of this ruling. It's going to happen. It is going to take place. What happened? They had their day in court. But guess what? They were guilty. They were guilty. What are they guilty of? They never accepted Jesus Christ as their personal Savior. And so the guilt stands. So the verdict is just waiting. They're just waiting for the opportunity to be heard. Romans 14 says, for it is written, as I live, saith the Lord, every knee shall bow, and every tongue shall confess to God. See those at the great white throne judgment? Guess what? When their whole life is opened up and they never accepted Jesus Christ, they're going to bow to Jesus Christ, but guess what? It's going to be too late. It's going to be too late to bow. It's going to be too late to confess. The destiny is already set. He says in verse 12, so that every one of us saved or lost shall give account of himself to God. The judgment seat, eternal judgment, is going to happen. It's going to take place. And since it is in the eternity and it is a judgment, that makes it very serious. It makes it serious because it's going to happen. In verse 13 it says, and the sea gave up the dead which were in it, and death and hell delivered up the dead which were in them, and they were judged every man according to their works. In Hebrews 10, in verse 28, he said, he that despised Moses' law... Now remember, in the context of Hebrews, what are we doing? We're discussing, the author is writing to these people that have not accepted Jesus Christ as their personal Savior, that have rejected Him, those that have accepted Him, but are wanting to go back into the Old Testament to sacrifices and all of that, and those that were wanting to run from suffering and persecution. And he goes back to Moses' law and he says, those that despised Moses' law died without mercy with two or three witnesses. All they had to do was have two or three people that proved that they were an adulterer and guess what? They were stoned. There wasn't no mercy. Take time and let me listen to your situation or your circumstance. It didn't matter the situation or circumstance. They were found guilty. They were stoned. And it only took two or three witnesses. Now look at what the author says. Of how much sore punishment suppose you shall he, you, be thought worthy who have trodden under foot the Son of God and have counted the blood of the covenant wherewith He was sanctified an unholy thing and hath done despite unto the Spirit of grace. What's the author saying there? He's saying how much worse when Jesus Christ, who gave up all of the glories of heaven and came and died on the cross, took upon Himself flesh and died for your sins, how much worse is it going to be when you stand before Him rejecting the grace of the Gospel, the gift that He gave you and lived your own works and did your own thing. And then look what he says in verse 30. For we know Him that hath said, Vengeance belongeth unto Me. I will recompense, saith the Lord. And again, the Lord shall judge His people. And then he says this, It is a fearful blame to fall into the hands of a living God. You don't want to be at the great white throne of judgment. You don't want to make it that far because it's not going to turn out good. Let me share one verse right quick before we go. We all know verse 16, don't we? John 3.16 For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but what? Have everlasting life. What was the purpose of God? He loved us, so what did He do? He came and He died for us who were sinners in order that we might be holy as God is holy. But then look at verse 17. These three verses we don't talk about very much. But notice what he says. He says, For God sent not His Son into the world to condemn the world. God is not wanting you at the great white throne of judgment. That was not His purpose for coming into the world. He didn't come to condemn you. Why was hell and the lake of fire designed? It was designed for Satan and his angels. Those that went away from God. God made this place of torment for them to live in. He created them and put them in heaven. Put them in power. And what did He do? He rebelled. And so God made this place for them. It was not intended for us as human beings. It was not intended for us. But guess what? When we act like Satan and we reject Jesus Christ, guess what? The result is the same. But God did not come to condemn us. No, He came that what? The entire world might be saved. He came to offer us a gift. He came not giving us what we deserve as death and hell and the lake of fire. What did He come? He came to give us life. He said I didn't come to steal, kill, and destroy. I came to give life and life more abundantly. But then look at verse 18. He that believeth on him is what? Not condemned. What takes away all of these books of my sins? What takes away all of this of everything that God wrote down? Whether or not you believe today. But he that believeth not is what? Condemned already. Do you realize that by not accepting Jesus Christ as your personal Savior, you are already as good as in the lake of fire? That's your destiny. That's your choice. That is your decision. And God has given you the ability to make that choice. He says, come unto Me, all you that labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you what? Rest. He has made that invitation to everybody, but guess what? Not everybody wants to respond. Some say, I'll do it later. Some say, well, I'll make you proud of me. Some say, I'll make you happy with me. I'll do this or I'll do that. And He says, depart from Me, you workers of iniquity. I never knew you. But then look at verse 19. And this is the condemnation. That light has come into the world. Jesus Christ has entered in with a gift. But men love darkness rather than light. We love making our own way and doing our own thing. Right? We love that. We don't want to do what Jesus did. We'll do that later, you know. We'll wait until we're real old to start serving God. How does that work out for us, right? I've got right now a person that's laying there that I went by to visit this week that's in the hospital that they are making the decision right now to take off of a ventilator. Guess what? I went in to talk to them about their salvation this week, and guess what? They were already on the ventilator. They were already sedated. They could not respond. I have no idea about their eternal destination. Guess what? They didn't realize this week that they were going to be on a ventilator either. What if they were thinking just last week, I've got plenty of time. I don't know, they may be saved, and I pray that they are. But you see what happens when you procrastinate? You see what happens when you wait? Now there is no opportunity. His destination, when they take the ventilator off here in a minute, His destination is already decided. The judgment seat of Christ or the great white throne of judgment? It's already there. For every one that doeth evil, hateth the light, neither cometh to the light, lest his deeds should be reproved. Let me remind you of Hebrews 9.27. It is appointed unto man once to die, but after that, judgment. Judgment. The judgment seat of Christ or the great white throne of judgment. But guess what? You're going to stand in judgment. You're going to stand in judgment. 2 Thessalonians 1.9 says, Who shall be punished with everlasting destruction from the presence of the Lord and from the glory of His power? Just tamp out there for just a minute. Everlasting destruction. Jesus said, I came to give you everlasting life and life more abundantly. But guess what? You rejected Jesus Christ, so now you live in everlasting destruction. Constantly in the state of death. Dying. Detained. You will never experience the power of God. What is the power of God for us? We're going to celebrate it in two weeks. It's the resurrection of Jesus Christ, right? Because Helium, Paul said, man, I want to know your power. And he says that power of your resurrection, I want to know that when I die, my hope is, my future and my expectation is when I die, that one of these days, my body is going to be resurrected and I am going to stand before Jesus Christ and He's going to judge me according to my works. And at the end of it, He's going to say, well done, my good and faithful servant. I'm proud of you. You served Me. And because you was faithful over a few things, you was faithful over a few members there at Kentucky Missionary Baptist Church, I am going to make you ruler over many. That's my hope. That's my expectation. Because why? I put my faith and trust in Jesus Christ. I believed in Him when I was nine years old. I recognized that I was a sinner. If I went to the great white throne judgment when I was nine years old, guess what? I would have been guilty. I'd have been guilty. I'd have been cast into the lake of fire. And so immediately I realized, guess what? I can't get to heaven on my own. And so I accepted the sacrifice and the gift of Jesus Christ. And at that age, not only did I believe in His death, burial, and resurrection, but I also accepted Him as my Lord. Lord, You know what's right for me. You are my leader. And I have followed Him, not perfectly, not without sin, but I have stayed committed to Him and faithful to Him for my entire life. See? Mature. And when suffering and when problems and all of that, if you go and you read Hebrews, Hebrews 12 lays it out for us. The whole reason we go on into maturity is because why? Suffering is going to happen. Bad things are going to happen. And when bad things happen as a Christian, what is the first thing you should do? Trust God. Trust God. But what is the first thing that we do? We're immature and we question God. Why? Why? We shouldn't question God. All things work together for good to them that are called according to His purpose and His plan. See? No matter how bad it gets, guess what? Even if I end up with a disease that is so bad I die, guess what? I have the hope and the expectation of knowing that to be absent from this body is to be with Jesus Christ. The suffering stops. The suffering stops. There's going to be a day that I'm going to suffer no more. But guess what? If you don't have Jesus Christ, guess what? You have no hope. There is no power of Jesus Christ. There is no resurrection. There is no other opportunity. There is no relief. It's eternal punishment and destruction. In Mark 9 and verse 44, he describes it. He says, "...where there are worms, dieth not, and the fire is not quenched." And listen to this. This is how serious the great white throne judgment is. He says, "...if your foot offend thee, cut it off." If your foot offend thee, cut it off. It is better for thee to enter halt into life crippled on a cane or in a wheelchair and enter into life than having two feet and be cast into hell and into the fire that never shall be quenched. And again, he says, "...where the worm dieth not, and the fire is not quenched." And if I eye offend thee, pluck it out. It is better for thee to enter in the kingdom of God with one eye than having two eyes and be cast into hell. Where there are worms, dieth not, and the fire is not quenched. In Matthew 25, verse 46, it says, "...and these shall go away into everlasting punishment, but the righteous into eternal life." How am I made righteous? By believing on Jesus Christ. My righteousness, I can't do it. All I can do is receive the righteousness that Jesus Christ did and have it imputed unto me. Listen to me this morning very, very carefully. Your destiny with judgment is determined today. Today. You're not promised tomorrow. You're not promised next week. You're not promised next month. Your destiny is determined today. So the question becomes, will you choose Jesus today? You can choose Jesus and stand at the judgment seat of Christ where only the good things that you've done are going to be left. Every bad thing that I do is going to be disposed of. It's going to go up in smoke and it's not going to be remembered or brought up anymore. It's going to be there. And I'm going to go in to live life abundantly in eternity. But guess what? If I don't accept the righteousness of Jesus Christ, I'm going to live in eternal punishment and destruction in the lake of fire. It all comes down to what are you going to do with Jesus Christ? And when you stand there before Jesus Christ, there's going to be no excuse. It's going to be acceptable. Because He gave everything up in order to die and pay the way. And all He asked us to do is to receive it. For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord, Lord, I recognize You are boss. You're the Sovereign. You're the One that's in control. Recognize Him as Lord and believe in His death, burial, and resurrection. Thou shalt be saved. Repent from dead works and have faith toward God. It's automatic. You can't have one side of the coin without the other. You cannot repent. You cannot disbelieve on Jesus Christ, death, burial, and resurrection. James says even Satan believes that. And he believes it that he shudders, he trembles. But guess what? Satan doesn't accept Jesus Christ as Lord. He's spent an eternity in the lake of fire. You've got to have both. You've got to have repentance, but you also have to have faith toward God. What will you do today with Jesus Christ as we stand and have a verse of invitation? 2 Samuel 2.