Video Transcript: Judgment

And so we'll look at those two things in Revelation 20 verses 7 through 15. Revelation 20 verse 7 begins with the judgment that comes upon the devil himself as he marshals all of his forces and his last might against the power of God. And when the thousand years are ended, Satan will be released from his prison and will come out to deceive the nations that are at the four corners of the earth, Gog and Magog, to gather them for battle.

Their number is like the sand of the sea. And they marched up over the broad plain of the earth and surrounded the camp of the saints and the beloved city. But fire came down from heaven and consumed them, and the devil who had deceived them was thrown into the lake of fire and sulfur where the beast and the false prophet were.

And they will be tormented day and night forever and ever. In reading that passage in the great final judgment on the devil, we read about Gog and Magog. What in the world is that? Let's just start with that strange phrase, Gog and Magog.

If you haven't read the whole Bible or don't remember certain things, Gog and Magog may not make any sense at all to you. But Revelation 20 is echoing a prophecy from Ezekiel 38 and 39 where it speaks of Gog, an evil ruler, and of the land that he rules, Magog. And we're going to look at just a little bit of what it says there about Gog and Magog, these mysterious powers.

Set your face against Gog of the land of Magog. I am against you, Gog. I will bring you out with your whole army.

So, it's not just the devil who's bringing out Gog and Magog. God is also bringing them out or luring them out. I will bring you out with your whole army, the many nations with you.

In the latter days, I will bring you against my land that the nations may know me. When through you, O Gog, I vindicate my holiness before their eyes. In my blazing wrath, I declare, on that day there shall be a great earthquake in the land of Israel.

All the people who are on the face of the earth shall quake at my presence, and the mountains shall be thrown down. I will rain upon Gog and his hordes and the many peoples who are with him, hail stones, fire, and sulfur. So, I will show my greatness and my holiness and make myself known in the eyes of many nations.

I will give you to birds of prey of every sort and to the beasts of the field to be devoured. That prophecy in Ezekiel speaks of these forces of Gog and Magog and all of the nations and of the terrible judgments that come upon them. And when you read through the book of Revelation, you find these similar judgments being described in a variety of visions throughout the book, and then all coming together in this final vision in which the devil himself is the target.

When we read of these judgments in the book of Revelation, they are speaking largely of the same end of the world. They are different visions of the same end, and they give different angles on that end. At first, you'll just see a great judgment of the earth, and then when you hear of the dragon and the beast and the false prophet and of Babylon, you get some visions dealing with each of them.

They're mentioned as first dragon, then beast, false prophet, Babylon. When the judgment comes more specifically in the visions, then you get a judgment on Babylon, a judgment on beast and false prophet, and a judgment on the devil. It's not that these are all separated by vast periods of time.

It is like a camera focusing on different parts and angles of the end of the world and who's being affected by them. So, it's the same basic end being pictured, but you get a number of different visions. Let's highlight the seven visions.

The sixth seal, and then later on you read of what happens with the seventh trumpet. Then it speaks of the harvest of the earth and pictures Christ and angels with a sickle. The sixth and seventh bowls of God's wrath describe the end of the world, the burning and judgment of Babylon, the rider on the white horse who comes and punishes the beast, and then this final vision of Satan himself.

Satan kind of, in a sense, disappears from Revelation for much of the second half of it. The dragon appears, and then for a lot of the book, the dragon's henchmen who you see, the beast, the false prophet, Babylon, and so forth, and then all of a sudden, by the end of the book, you say, well, what about the dragon? And here in Revelation 20, you get the camera focusing in on, in that last battle in the end of the world, what becomes of the dragon. So, let's look at just snippets of each of those visions, and one of the things I want to highlight is that the judgment that comes against Gog in Ezekiel 38 and 39 is echoed in all of these visions of judgment in Revelation, and there are some who think that these refer to very different events, sometimes separated by a thousand years, for instance.

The rider judging the beast and the false prophet would happen a thousand years before the devil is judged. I think it's more accurate to understand it as the same event, with different angles on that same event, because when you read about the judgment of Gog and Magog, you're going to read that judgments are going to sound an awful lot like what's described in these various visions, and yet you know that it's Gog and Magog when the devil is judged. And so, I think that all these judgments are describing the same battle, the same end of the world.

The sixth seal is open. There was a great earthquake. Does that sound familiar? The sun turned black and the stars in the sky fell to earth.

The sky receded like a scroll. They called to the mountains and to the rocks, fall on us and hide us from the face of him who sits on the throne and from the wrath of the Lamb. When the seventh trumpet is sounded, it said the nations were angry and your wrath has come.

The time has come for judging the dead and for rewarding your servants. So, the judgment of the dead actually comes at the great white throne at the end of Revelation 20, but it also comes here. It's same end, different vision.

The time has come for judging the dead and for rewarding your servants and for destroying those who destroy the earth. And there came flashes of lightning, rumblings, peals of thunder, an earthquake, and a severe hailstorm. The harvest of the earth comes.

The hour of his judgment has come. Fallen, fallen is Babylon the great. Actually, almost nothing has been said about Babylon the great up to this point in Revelation, and you hear the fall of Babylon declared before you even get the visions of the prostitute and of the fall of Babylon.

Fallen is Babylon the great. If anyone worships the beast, they will be tormented with burning sulfur in the presence of the holy angels and of the Lamb, and the smoke of their torment arises forever and ever. Then when the sixth bowl of God's wrath is poured out, it speaks of things looking like frogs coming out of the mouth of the dragon and the beast and the false prophet and says, these are demonic spirits performing signs who go abroad to the kings of the whole world to assemble them for battle on the great day of God the Almighty.

And they assembled them at the place that in Hebrew is called Armageddon. And when they gather at Armageddon, what happens? A loud voice from the throne said, it is done. The seventh bowl gets poured out.

And there were flashes of lightning, rumblings, peals of thunder, and a great earthquake such as there had never been. And no mountains were to be found. And great hailstones fell from heaven on people.

You see these tremendous visions of the end of the world as we know it, and how they all seem to echo each other and go back to that vision from Ezekiel and similar Old Testament predictions. Then when Babylon falls, the wicked begin to devour themselves. The beast hates the prostitute, the evil ruler Gog, or the beast hates Babylon, the civilization.

They will burn her up with fire, for God has put it into their hearts to carry out his purpose. Fallen, fallen is Babylon the great. She has become a dwelling place for demons.

She will be burned up with fire, for mighty is the Lord God who has judged her. And then when you, the camera shifts from the destruction of Babylon to what happens to the beast and the false prophet. We've already had some hints, but now the camera zooms in on them in Revelation 19.

And in this vision there before me was a white horse whose rider is called Faithful and True. With justice he judges and wages war. I saw the beast and the kings of the earth with their armies gathered to make war against him who was sitting on the horse and against his army.

But the beast was captured and with it the false prophet. The two of them were thrown alive into the fiery lake of burning sulfur. The rest were killed with the sword coming out of the mouth of the rider on the horse.

And all the birds gorged themselves on their flesh. And it goes on in some detail about the feasting on the dead bodies, just as it does if you read in more detail at the end of Ezekiel. There's this terrible judgment and that's what becomes of the beast and the false prophet.

Remember earlier when I was speaking about the enemies of God, the dragon, the beast, and the false prophet. I asked the question, of all the facts about the beast or the Antichrist or the man of sin or God or whatever you want to call him, what's the most important fact to know about him? He loses. And so here is where the camera focuses in, in Revelation 19 especially, to show the white horse shows up and the rider on the white horse, Jesus Christ.

And when that happens, that's it for the beast and the false prophet. And in this vision of Christ returning as that dazzling rider on the white horse, we sometimes speak of the battle of Armageddon. I'm not sure we ought to call it that.

The beast and his armies show up at Armageddon. Then the rider shows up at Armageddon and there isn't much of a battle. Maybe some of you still remember old classes where you had to read Paradise Lost.

And there it's describing one of the earlier battles of where the forces of Satan and the rebel angels are battling against the angels of God. And it's kind of trying to portray the original fall into wickedness of the demons. And so the battle goes on for a day and then it goes on for another day.

And then on the third day of the battle, then God, instead of sending forth Michael and his angels, sends forth his son. And the enemy forces are put totally to flight in an instant. And the poet says, and he put forth not half his strength.

That's the battle of Armageddon too. He put forth not half his strength. He's there and they're gone.

And that's what happens when you get into direct battle against the direct power and majesty and might of the Lord. He came to us in his weakness and in his humility and in the season of grace. His church too lives under the banner of the cross and under the banner of suffering.

But if God unleashes his full power and Christ displays his full glory, there is no battle at Armageddon. And then the final vision or camera angle focuses in now on the dragon. And when the thousand years are ended, Satan will be released from his prison and will come out to deceive the nations that are at the four corners of the earth.

Gog and Magog to gather them for battle. They surrounded the camp of the saints and the beloved city, but fire came down from heaven and consumed them. And the devil who had deceived them was thrown into the lake of fire and sulfur where the beast and the false prophet were.

And they will be tormented day and night forever and ever. So you have all of these different visions portraying the same end. And you have the scene of, okay, what happens to Babylon? Now what happens to the beast and the false prophet? Now what happens to Satan? That's how the last three visions are arranged.

And as we saw these terrible judgments described in Ezekiel and in Revelation, they're all the same. They're all the same judgments falling at roughly the same time. And when you read in the book of Ezekiel, you'll find that all of these judgments are coming on Gog and Magog.

So if, you know, again, if you hold a different view, you know, it's not mandatory or heresy to have different views on these things. But I don't think it's accurate to say that the judgment on Gog and Magog comes a thousand years apart from the judgment on the beast and the false prophet. I believe it's the same end of the world portrayed with different visions.

And when, of course, the dragon himself is leading those forces, the Bible does not speak of it as much of a battle. You have all of the events leading up to it, and all the marshalling of the forces, and all of the strength of Satan gathered. But when actually the Lord shows up, it is obliteration of his enemies.

There is no tussle or long struggle. When God puts forth his strength, all else flees. Our God is a consuming fire.

When the Bible says fire fell from heaven, it doesn't just mean that there's physical fire. It means that the one who is a consuming fire has showed up and no wicked person can see him and live. No wicked person can stand in his presence.

No demon, no evil power can resist when God puts forth his full strength and his glory. So when we, just to flash back again to a previous message and think about the enemies of God, I want to try to make sense of how the book of Revelation and the rest of the Bible describes them. When it speaks of the prostitute, it means Babylon.

And when it speaks of Babylon, it also means Magog, the realm that is ruled by the wicked power, a world civilization gathered in resistance and rebellion against God. When it speaks of a final evil ruler, different terms are used, but it's referring to what the Apostle Paul called the man of sin or the man of lawlessness or the lawless one. He can be described as the beast out of the sea.

He can be described as Gog. He can be sometimes referred to more popularly as Antichrist, but it's all referring to a very powerful political ruler. The earth beast that first appears in Revelation chapter 13 is also called the false prophet, a very deceptive, miracle-working power or person, even at the end of time, who's working in league with the beast.

The dragon, there's no mystery. Revelation says he is that ancient serpent, the devil who leads the whole world astray. And then joining with those enemies are the nations and rulers of the earth who choose to be allies of evil.

Now, when it speaks of these things in the book of Revelation and the rest of scripture, it's not doing so just to satisfy our curiosity about the end of the world, although it is important always to keep in mind the end of the world. When you get too attached to what's going on in this world or too tempted by its powers, remember that it ends and that it's judged. But it doesn't tell us just so that we can have our curiosity satisfied about how things play out at the very end.

These threats are already at work in the world. Many Antichrists have already gone out into the world. Many beasts and persecutors are opposing the people of God right now.

Babel has been there since the Tower of Babel, and Babylon will still be there at the end, but not beyond the end. But from Babel through the end of the final Babylon, there will always be this enemy civilization or civilizations arrayed against God and his ways. So, we need to know that these threats exist right in our own time, in our own situations, and they will gather and have full strength when Satan is released at the end, when the demonic powers have a greater power at the end, greater power to deceive, greater power to marshal all the forces on earth that are wicked and in rebellion against God and marshal them against God's people and against the Lord Himself.

When we read in Revelation, the sound of how they gather for Armageddon sounds very, very similar to the gathering of Gog and Magog at the very end of the age. Demonic spirits, those frog-like things coming out of the mouth of the dragon, the false prophet, and the beast, these are demonic spirits performing signs. They go abroad to the kings of the whole world to assemble them for battle on the great day of God the Almighty.

That's how it's described just before they assemble at Armageddon. How is it described in chapter 20? Satan will be released from his prison and will come out to deceive the nations that are at the four corners of the earth, Gog and Magog, to gather them for battle. So, when you look at what's happening with those enemy powers and this global attack against the people of God, one thing that's going on is that Satan and his demons have been released.

The chain has been taken off, so to speak. The lid of the pit has been lifted, so to speak. Satan, who is dangerous in this age already, but is severely curtailed by the restraint that God has placed on him, that restraint is lifted.

Remember what it says in Ezekiel. It says, I'm bringing you out. God is not just saying, I'm doing this so that they can release havoc on everything.

He's letting Satan out for a final showdown, and that's not going to go well for Satan. But in this global attack, then, he has power to deceive the nations, which he doesn't have now. You say, well, nations seem to be pretty messed up, but he does not have them all fooled at the same time and all on the same wavelength to do his will.

And he gathers against the saints, against the camp of the saints, against the beloved city. Some take that to be literally Jerusalem or Israel. That's possible that the focus of attack would be there.

But throughout the book of Revelation, Israel includes all of God's people from every tribe and language and people and nation. Nearly everything that is said about Israel in the Old Testament is said about the people from every nation who belong to Jesus in the book of Revelation. He has made them to be a kingdom and priests to serve our God.

Israel was the kingdom of priests in the Old Testament. And some say, boy, I don't like that theology at all. It just cast Israel to the side.

It does no such thing. Israel is still at the center. Israel is still the root.

It's not casting Israel aside. It's bringing in the believers from all nations. Israel is still included and precious to God.

And God has great plans for saving many Jews as portrayed in Revelation chapter 11. But that doesn't mean that everything now has to be focused just on prophecies made to Israel and those promises of the Old Testament. They're broadened.

Not that Israel is excluded, but they're broadened to include, we are the children of Abraham as well. That doesn't kick out the old children of Abraham. That just means that everybody who has faith in Jesus Christ, the Messiah of Israel, is a child of Abraham.

Everybody is a kingdom and priest to serve our God who belongs to Jesus Christ. And so that final attack will not just be on Jewish people. It will be against all who honor Christ as Messiah.

And as we've already seen, what's the outcome when you get these enemies and that global attack? Well, you get total defeat. And some of the details that you see again and again in these visions, an earthquake like no other, where the mountains themselves are disintegrating and everything is going to pieces. And God appears in holy might and in wrath.

There's hailstones. Sometimes it seems like the hailstones might be themselves made of fire, but hailstones fire from heaven. There's a bloody banquet for birds and beasts that's described.

And in all of this, the defeat of the beast at Armageddon is the final defeat that same day of God and of Satan. So again, the most important thing to read when you're reading the book of Revelation is simply Jesus wins, Satan loses. All the powers of evil are obliterated and that's what happens at the end of the world.

So to understand the time we're living in and the end that's coming, here's a quick overview. In a previous message, we looked at the thousand years, the millennium. And that millennium lasts from the first coming of Jesus Christ to the second coming, the last days.

And Jesus' kingdom reign has already begun. As Jesus himself said, the kingdom of God is among you if by the finger of God I cast out demons, then the kingdom of God has come. So Jesus' reign has begun.

Satan is already bound and limited. He cannot deceive the elect and he cannot marshal all the nations at this point in time. He's bound and cast down.

Millions are already refusing his temptations and the beastly powers that are out there. And many have already experienced the first resurrection. Every soul that's with Jesus Christ is not only with him but is reigning with him in heaven right now.

And so this period that lasts from Jesus' first coming to Jesus' second coming does eventually come to an end of what we often call the end of the age or the end of the world. And that's when Satan is released to do his deceiving and he and his demons, when the nations are marshaled and gathered together in unity against God and his people. And then that all comes to an end with the loud, visible coming of King Jesus.

And when Jesus appears in glory and splendor and power, one of two things will happen to every living thing. They will either rush up to meet him in joy and celebration or they will flee and be banished and destroyed. And so when believers on earth, the Bible says in other passages that those who are still living will have their bodies instantly transformed and glorified into a resurrection body, even though they didn't actually die while they were on the earth.

They were still living when he came, but instantly they'll be glorified. But even before that, split second before that, the souls of believers who've been reigning with Christ in heaven will be reunited with their glorious resurrection bodies. And so all of God's people will be gathered to Christ when he comes to judge the world.

That's what we sometimes refer to as the rapture. I don't believe in a secret rapture, though some of you may. I believe that it's going to happen as is described with the voice of the archangel and the trumpet call of God and a great deal of noise and a great deal of sight.

There will be no doubt when Jesus comes. Every eye will see him. Even those who pierced him in the nations of the world will mourn because of him, as Revelation puts it.

But those who have loved him are going to rush up to meet him and welcome him. And he's not going to make a u-turn at that point and take them back to heaven. He's going to bring about a new heaven and a new earth.

But in the meantime, it's the end of the age. The earth is undone. The sky is undone.

As the apostle Peter puts it, the heavens and the earth that now exist are stored up for fire, being kept until the day of judgment and destruction of the ungodly. The day of the Lord will come like a thief and then the heavens will pass away with a roar and the heavenly bodies will be burned up and dissolved and the earth and the works that are done on it will be exposed. There's this final undoing of the world.

And that is when God's enemies perish. In the beast, the false prophet, the devil, they're judged and perish. And then the Bible says that Satan and all his allies are cast into the lake of fire, which is the second death or hell.

And heaven comes to a remade earth. We'll see a lot more about that in the next message, about the new heavens and the new earth, because, you see, God didn't really intend to wipe out the world. Even when he brings this age to an end, a new age will emerge, just as with us.

We die, but in Christ we're resurrected. The world itself, the universe itself, will not perish forever. It will be resurrected as the new heavens and the new earth, the home of righteousness.

So that's how the Bible describes the end of the age. And we've seen how particularly the devil and the final assault are dealt with in those verses that we've been considering from Revelation chapter 20. And now let's consider the last verses of Revelation 20 about appearing before the judgment seat of God.

Then I saw a great white throne and him who was seated on it. The earth and the heavens fled from his presence, and there was no place for them. And I saw the dead, great and small, standing before the throne, and books were opened.

Another book was opened, which is the book of life. The dead were judged according to what they had done, as recorded in the books. The sea gave up the dead that were in it, and death and Hades gave up the dead that were in them, and each person was judged according to what they had done.

Then death and Hades were thrown into the lake of fire. The lake of fire is the second death. Anyone whose name was not found written in the book of life was thrown into the lake of fire.

So in those verses we read about judgment day. First question about judgment day, who's going to judge? Well, God is the judge, or God in Christ to be more specific. The Bible says that God has entrusted all judgment to the Son.

In this vision of Revelation, there is one seated on a great white throne. But earlier in Revelation, the Lamb is at the center of the throne. And so God in the Lamb, in the person of Jesus, is judging the world.

Jesus himself said the Father has entrusted all judgment to the Son, John 5 verse 22. The apostle Peter preached, Jesus is the one whom God appointed as judge of the living and the dead. The apostle Paul said, God's given proof of all this by raising him from the dead.

And he's shown that he's going to be the one to judge the living and the dead. So God is the judge, no doubt about that. Who's going to be judged? Well, some would see this great white throne judgment as a judgment only on unbelievers, and that's one possible understanding.

I tend to think that this is the judgment day of all, both believers and unbelievers. But whether or not the great white judgment is great white throne judgment is only of unbelievers, it's very clear from the rest of scripture that all people are judged. You say, well, I don't want to be judged.

Well, very often in the Bible, judgment is treated as great news. When you are the object of unjust oppression and cruelty, and a judge shows up and makes things right, that's good news. A judge makes, when the poor widow who's not getting justice finally gets justice from an unjust judge, does she say, oh no, I've been judged.

She's happy because finally he's rendered her the justice that she's been seeking. And the Bible says that God will do justice in response to the prayers of his people. So judgment is good news for some, terrible news for others.

Who's going to be judged? Well, everybody. The Bible says we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ that each one may receive what is due him for the things done while in the body, whether good or bad. 2 Corinthians 5 verse 10.

Well, what's the evidence? You know, when you're in a court, there's evidence. What's the evidence that's judged? Well, Revelation puts it this way, the books were opened. Well, what's in the books? Well, the books are the record or the memory of God, God's complete knowledge.

And those books include everything that we've done, everything we've said, everything we've thought or wanted, every motive. The Bible says of deeds, God will bring every deed into judgment, including every hidden thing, whether good or evil. That's the last verse of the book of Ecclesiastes.

Jesus said, men will have to give account on the day of judgment for every careless word they have spoken. For by your words, you will be acquitted. And by your words, you will be condemned.

We don't treat language that carefully, do we? If you think about every word that comes out of this mouth is going into a book, and it's going to be recorded and repeated, then how you use your tongue might change a little bit. If you realize that every action you take, whether an action of love or an action of cruelty, is not just an action of the moment, but it's going into a book, and you're going to be standing before the presence of the mighty God to answer for that action, then you might choose your actions with greater care. And not only actions and words, but even our motives and our thoughts.

1 Corinthians 4 verse 5 says, God will bring to light what is hidden in darkness, and will expose the motives of men's hearts. Jesus is so concerned about the heart, because it is possible sometimes to do a lot of the right things, and say what you're supposed to say, and have a heart totally out of tune with Him. So, God's books contain everything about what we do, what we say, even what we think, or want, or motivations that are hidden deep in our hearts.

And all of this will be part of the evidence that is in the books. Well, what's the going to be? And Revelation portrays two outcomes, either eternal horror, or eternal happiness. Those are the only two possibilities.

There's nothing in between. Either to be banished and lost forever, or to be with Christ and rejoicing forever. Daniel, whose prophecies kind of were a first version of Revelation in many cases, Daniel says, multitudes who sleep in the dust of the earth will awake.

Some to everlasting life, others to shame and everlasting contempt. Both are everlasting. Jesus says that the wicked will go away to eternal punishment, but the righteous to eternal life.

Eternal punishment, eternal life. Those are the two possibilities that lie before each one of us. And within those, there are degrees.

I said there's only two, so one is horror, the other happiness. But there are degrees of punishment, and there are degrees of reward and joy as well. The Bible speaks of degrees of punishment because those who have sinned more wickedly and horribly will be punished more severely.

Hell is not just one undifferentiated place. There are degrees of suffering and of punishment. And it's not only punishment based on how bad you were, and that's a big part of it, but another that Jesus brings out is what opportunities did you have? He says, you know, a grant you that Sodom and Sidon and some of those ancient pagan cities were really wicked, they're going to have it better on the day of judgment than Capernaum and the places where Jesus did his miracles because they didn't have near the opportunity as those who saw Jesus in action and heard his voice and knew his gospel.

And I hate to say it, but I must. That also means that people right here in this building who have repeatedly heard the word of God or people who grew up in Christian homes and had every advantage, people who were loved by godly parents and taught his ways and knew the scriptures, should they turn away, their degree of punishment is much more severe than somebody who never heard and really had much less opportunity to know Jesus as he really is and to know the full counsel of God. God is just, and so there will be degrees of punishment, and Jesus says some will be punished with few blows, some with many blows.

What does that mean for hell when it lasts forever? You know, I don't know how to map all of that out. All I know is that for some, hell will be a place of much less suffering than it is for others, and heaven will be a place of greater reward for some than for others. The Bible says the Lord will reward everyone for whatever good he does.

That's the positive side of those rewards in heaven. The less positive side is that heaven is going to be less of a joy for some than for others. Jesus says, hey, invest in heaven.

He says don't store up for yourselves just treasures on earth. Store up for yourselves treasures in heaven. Use worldly wealth to make friends for yourselves, so when all that worldly wealth is gone, you'll have friends to welcome you into eternal dwellings.

The Apostle Paul says be very careful how you build, because if you're building your life or building your ministry using wood and hay and straw and cheap stuff, when the fire comes, poof, it's gone. You'll be saved, but as one escaping from the flame. So it's kind of like having your house burned down and you made it out by the skin of your teeth.

Now that doesn't mean that for the rest of eternity you're going to be semi-miserable in heaven. That's not what it means, but it does mean that this life and how you live for the Lord gives rise to greater rewards for those who serve the Lord more wholeheartedly and built upon the foundation of Christ and the apostles the way that they were meant to build. It's not because we earn and, you know, all of the rewards that God gives are first of all based on the blood of Jesus Christ and his grace, but it is true.

It's there. I'm just telling you it's there in the Bible that some people are going to miss out on rewards because of their failure to build rightly in this life, and others are going to receive greater rewards. How to describe that or understand it is not always easy.

I think it was Jonathan Edwards, I might be wrong about that, but I think it was he who said, every one of us will be as full of happiness as we can be, but some vessels will be bigger than others, you know. Some, you know, you might be more like a teacup, other might be a, you know, a 50-gallon drum, and the Lord will fill each of us with happiness, but if your life was expanded in this life to include love for others and service to the Lord, there's going to be a lot more room in a sense for God and for his rewards than for those who lived a more constricted life. However, however you want to put that, the essence is that at the judgment there will be either eternal horror or eternal happiness, and there will be degrees of punishment and reward.

It's hard to read this part of the Bible without noticing book of life. The books are open, God's records of everything that happens, and that is enough, I think, to make all of us fidget, and do more than fidget, but there is also this book of life. What does the Bible say about the book of life? Well, it says that if your name isn't in the book of life, you'll be lost forever.

That's what it says in Revelation 20. If their names were not written in the book of life, they were thrown into the lake of fire. What do we read elsewhere about the book of life? Well, one thing about the book of life is that it means security.

The book of life is permanent. It is not written in pencil that can be erased at any time. It is written in ink that is permanent.

I will never blot out his name from the book of life. I will confess his name before my father and his angels. If your name is in the book of life, it's there to stay.

Eternal security. Another thing that's said is those whose name has not been written before the foundation of the world in the book of life of the lamb who was slain. So, there's something about this book of life that it's written before the world even started.

That God took the initiative. That in God's decision and choice and election, God wrote the book of life. John is not discussing the word election as we use it.

Revelation uses pictures. Book of life is a picture of that. Written before the foundation of the world in the book of life of the lamb who was slain.

And the final, you know, those are two important things to notice about the book of life. But the most important thing about the book of life is simply this. It is the lamb's book of life.

It's not an eenie meenie miney moe book or who knows whose name might be in that book or not. It is the lamb's book of life. It is the book of life of the lamb who was slain.

And that means that the book of life contains the name of every blood-bought believer in Jesus Christ. If you have put your faith in Jesus Christ, you do not need to wonder what is or isn't in that book of life. It is the lamb's book of life.

If you belong to the lamb, you're in it. If you don't belong to the lamb, well, it's possible that you yet will in this life that your name was in the book of life. But if you reach the end of this life and have never put your faith in Jesus Christ, it means your name is not in that book of life and you'll perish forever.

So when we read about the end of the world, we realize that all along God reigns. He reigns. OK, he does.

When God and his forces gather. Yeah, it's Satan and the demons who are leading them. And it's God who's luring them.

It's not that God said, oh, no, I didn't know that Satan and the demons and the evil powers were going to do all that. God is the one who released them to do that because he had a plan for them. The Bible says God has a plan for everybody, even the wicked for the day of destruction.

So you're not going to fool God or thwart him. He's going to deal with his enemies and he is going to save his people and he's going to do it in his own time and he's going to do it with great power and glory. But in the meantime, he gives us the day of grace.

He gives us this time when you can still come to the lamb. And when you come to the lamb, you find out. And yeah, it wasn't just me.

I did put my faith in him. I'm I've come to him. I find out that my name was written in permanent ink in the Lamb's Book of Life all along.

Salvation is of the Lord. Dear Lord, we praise you that you are the God of grace and mercy and that in your great love you have seen fit to call out of people by the power of your Holy Spirit. We read earlier, Lord, the fool says in his heart there is no God and there's no one who does good, not even one.

And we know, Lord, that if you had simply left us to our own devices, we all would perish in our foolishness and wickedness without you. So we thank you for the lamb. We thank you for his precious blood.

We thank you, Lord Jesus, that you came into our world in weakness, in humility, in suffering so that we could be redeemed and rescued from the plight that befalls the wicked. And we pray now, Lord, that as this message of the end of the world, of Judgment Day, of your coming again, of your ending one age and to bring a new age in which righteousness dwells in the earth and the heavens and all else is banished to the lake of fire, we do pray that while we live in this day of grace and opportunity, we may walk with you faithfully, that we may look forward to your blessing, to seeing your face, to enjoying your rewards. But right now, Lord, to keep bringing the gospel to the nations because you have a great plan that many, many more are going to be saved.

We'd love to hear those words from Revelation from every tribe and language and people and nation, people praising you, rejoicing in you. Your plans for salvation are so great, far greater than we dare to imagine. And even the number of the elect is far greater than we can know.

And so we do pray that you will accomplish your purposes, that you'll be pleased to make us part of that plan and purpose of spreading your gospel, that the fires of revival may come before the fires of judgment. We pray in Jesus' name. Amen.