Well, good morning. Good morning. My name is Jeff. You got it. My name is Jeff.
Jeffrey Heine:I'm the pastor of teaching and discipleship here at Redeemer. I feel like I have to introduce myself because I've been gone for a while on sabbatical. And I'd like to thank you all, those of you that have been praying for for me and for my family during this time. I've missed you all a great deal, and it's it's really great to be back. During my sabbatical, one of the things that I loved doing was listening to the Redeemer podcast and hearing our summer series in the 7 letters to the churches in Revelation.
Jeffrey Heine:And I I would just like to say thank you to Dwight and to Matt, to Phil, to Thomas, to Colin for their faithful work as they preach those texts so well. We're continuing that series, that series in Revelation, but we're gonna take a pretty big jump. We're gonna jump to this week, chapter 20, next week, chapter 21, as we dig into, kind of the the climactic prophecies that happen with the final judgment and the beginning of God's eternal kingdom being established. And so if you would turn with me to Revelation chapter 20. Revelation chapter 20.
Jeffrey Heine:We're gonna start off with verse 11. Verse 11, and let us listen carefully, for this is God's word. Then I saw a great white throne and him who was seated on it. From his presence, earth and sky fled away, and no place was found for them. And I saw the dead, great and small, standing before the throne, and books were opened.
Jeffrey Heine: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, and the sea gave up the dead who were in it. Death and Hades gave up the dead who were in them, and they were judged, each one of them, according to what they had done. Then Death and Hades were thrown into the lake of fire. This is the second death, the lake of fire.
Jeffrey Heine:And if anyone's name was not found written in the book of life, he was thrown into the lake of fire. The word of the Lord.
Connor Coskery:Thanks, Lord.
Jeffrey Heine:Let's pray. Heavenly Father, by your Spirit, you bring us life, and we need that now. As we hear these these words that are difficult to hear and difficult to take in, we we ask that you would speak with us and meet with us. Awaken dead hearts, stir us up to trust and obey you today. You know us, Lord.
Jeffrey Heine:You know everything about us. You know us better than we know ourselves. You know our deepest needs, and you know that those needs are met only in you. Help us to know that. Speak to us, Lord.
Jeffrey Heine:Your servants are listening. Amen. If you have ever taken a child to a restaurant before, you know the priceless value of a coloring sheet. You can buy a decent amount of time before a total meltdown with a good coloring sheet and 3 primary color crayons. In some restaurants, they even display these pictures up on a wall.
Jeffrey Heine:Now, we should not mistake that for art, because that is not art. Some of those kids don't even take the time to figure out what an animal is actually colored. But to be fair, the 3 primary colors is a limited palette. And we see some of those pictures that were unquestionably colored by the parents. And they're still put up on the wall.
Jeffrey Heine:But if you take a step back and you look at those walls with all of those coloring pages taped up, you'll see the same picture over and over and over again, but none of them will look the same. They'll they'll all be colored differently. And that's kind of what it's like to hear someone explain the prophecies of Revelation. It's the same picture. Jesus, the dead, Satan, tribulation, battles, victory, judgement, the kingdom, it's the same picture colored in different ways.
Jeffrey Heine:And that's because the book of Revelation is full of pictures that are challenging to color and comprehend. And chapter 20 begins with a description of the binding and ultimate judgment of evil, death, and Satan. The language and the images in these verses have been colored and debated for centuries, but these first few verses of chapter 20 describe an event really that's already happened. It's happened in the victory of the cross, when Jesus bound and restrained Satan through his victory, as the news of the gospel, the news of his resurrection would go out and the church would be built up. And John goes on to give a picture of the future.
Jeffrey Heine:It's the final judgment of evil and the casting of Satan and death into the lake of fire. And this is a picture of forever wrath, a picture of God's forever judgment of evil. The primary message in these first verses of chapter 20 are are not there for us to to argue with our uncles about pre tribulation, post tribulation rapture, although it might seem like that's why they're there. They're there to explain to you, to warn you, and really to promise you that God will deal with all evil justly. John, the disciple whom Jesus loved, is seeing this terrible day of the Lord, and John is describing his vision as a warning and a beautiful hopeful promise of justice.
Jeffrey Heine:The evil one and all who answer to him will one day answer to the triune God, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, and be judged. It's a promise. It's a it's a promise that the evil done to you, and I know that many of you have experienced terrible evil in your life. You have been wronged, and this is a promise that justice is coming, ultimate perfect justice. And it's a warning.
Jeffrey Heine:It's a warning that no evil will go unpunished. Not one evil act in all of history will go unpunished. God will judge evil with His perfect justice. And this justice has been long warned and long promised to the people of God. We we read of this warning and promise in Psalm 96, which says, they will sing before the Lord, for he comes.
Jeffrey Heine:He comes to judge the earth. He will judge the world in righteousness and the peoples in his truth. The people are warned and promised that God is the rightful judge. We also read about it in the the next psalm, Psalm 97, which says clouds and thick darkness are all around Him. Righteousness and justice are the foundation of His throne.
Jeffrey Heine:People are warned and promised that God's judgments are perfectly righteous. In His judgment, God vindicates the wrong, and He punishes the wrongdoer. And chapter 20 is a chapter on judgment, And John gives us a glimpse into what the prophets called the great and terrible day of the Lord. You might have noticed that our opening scripture was a little bit different than usual. From Zephaniah, for one thing.
Jeffrey Heine:When was the last time when was the last time you read Zephaniah? Right? And also, if this is your first time here, if you're if you're a guest today, first off, welcome. Secondly, most of our opening scriptures don't have to do with bodies rotting. It's just we try to avoid it, but this time, it's necessary.
Jeffrey Heine:He's giving this picture of the great and terrible day of the Lord, and he says it like this. That terrible day of the Lord is near. Swiftly it comes, a day of bitter tears, a day when even strong men will cry out. It will be a day when the Lord's anger is poured out, a day of terrible distress and anguish, a day of ruin and desolation, a day of darkness and gloom, a day of clouds and blackness, a day of trumpet calls and battle cries. See, essential to to how we think about God, the picture of God that we have in our minds and hearts, essential to that is his role as judge.
Jeffrey Heine:See, Jesus has been given this role by the Father. We read in Acts 17, speaking about the Father, because he, the Father, has fixed a day on which he will have the world judged by a man whom he appointed, and of this, he has given assurance to all by raising him from the dead. See what's being said there. Jesus judges. He judges.
Jeffrey Heine:And his resurrection his resurrection from the dead, is the assurance that we have, the confidence that we can have. It confirms for us that he has been given this role by the father to judge. So it's Jesus who will punish the wrongdoer, and it's Jesus who will vindicate the wronged. And this text, Revelation 20, is the basis for a lot of controversy and confusion within the history of the church. What I want us to do together today is to look at the raw materials, to see what can easily be seen and reckon with those things, because I think we can process through them together, and we pray that the spirit will lead each one of us to a place of deeper trust and love and obedience to Jesus, our righteous judge and king.
Jeffrey Heine:So look with me at verse 11. Then I saw a great white throne, and Him who was seated on it. From his presence, earth and sky fled away, and no place was found for them. See, John is is being given this vision of the day of judgment, and throughout the Old Testament, the prophets called this that great and terrible day of the Lord, because what we read in Zephaniah is that this day would be full of vindication and punishment. And the great white throne that John saw was great and white, because the throne represents this perfect righteousness of the one who is seated on it, and the perfect power that would proceed from that throne.
Jeffrey Heine:John says that the very earth and sky fled the presence of the one who is seated on that throne. And this highlights that perfect power that Jesus has. In Psalm 102, we hear, of old, you laid the foundation of the earth, and the heavens are the work of your hands. They will perish, but you will remain. They will wear out like a garment.
Jeffrey Heine:You will change them like a robe, and they will pass away. But you are the same, and your years have no end. The earth and the sky, the very world around us, the world that Paul references in Romans chapter 1, saying that people have given up worshiping Yahweh, they have given up worshiping God, they have started worshiping the creation around them. That world will flee the presence of the throne of Jesus. John sees Jesus seated on this throne, perfectly righteous, perfect in power, seated to judge.
Jeffrey Heine:John goes on, verses 12 and 13. And I saw the dead, great and small, standing before the throne, and the 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. And the sea gave up the dead who were in it.
Jeffrey Heine:Death and Hades gave up the dead who were in them, and they were judged, each one of them, according to what they had done. John sees now. So he's seen the throne, the great white throne. He has seen the throne. He has seen the earth and the sky flee, And now he sees the dead standing before the throne.
Jeffrey Heine:All the dead, John says. From the greatest in history to the smallest. To the names of history that we know from history classes in elementary school and onward, all the names in the record books and the history books, all of those names, and the people we've never heard of. He says, everyone. No one escapes this moment of judgment.
Jeffrey Heine:This is a certain experience for all of humanity. And in verse 13, he says that the sea gave up the dead, and death and Hades gave up the dead. Some ancient traditions believe that if you died at sea, or if your ashes, if you were cremated and your ashes were scattered at sea, then the gods of the afterlife could not reach you. But John says that even those lost at sea, even those scattered around, were given up. And so this also happens in death and Hades.
Jeffrey Heine:And what John is describing in all of this, the images in 12 and 13, what he is describing here is the totality of humanity is standing before the great white throne of King Jesus with the purpose of being judged. And one of the reasons that I believe we we don't like to think about judgment is because we don't really want to believe that we are sinners deserving judgment. Other people? Definitely. Other people, for sure.
Jeffrey Heine:They they are sinners. Those people, they they're sinners, and they deserve judgment, but not us. It's difficult to keep an honest view of our own sinfulness. And we are sinners not just in what we do, but also in who we are. And that's a tough thing to understand, and Paul helps us when he speaks of it in his letter to the Ephesians, when he says, and you were dead in the trespasses and sins in which you once walked.
Jeffrey Heine:Following the course of this world, following the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience, among whom we all once lived in the passions of our flesh, carrying out the desires of the body and the mind. And we were, by nature, children of wrath, like the rest of mankind. This summer, Jess and I got to go on a vacation, just the 2 of us. We went to Alberta, Canada, in the Canadian Rockies, and we were staying in this mountain town called Canmore. And one morning, Jess got up really early to go for a run.
Jeffrey Heine:And I did not that day, because I don't exercise. But I did walk to town. I walked into town, and I got a cup of coffee, and I waited for the bookstore to open, because that's what I do. And, and I've mentioned this before. One of the things that I love to do when traveling is to find local book stores.
Jeffrey Heine:And and I found this this little bookshop, and, and once it opened, I went inside. And and I like to look at what the bookseller, what they what their recommendations are. And so I looked through all of them, and and I came upon this book called Smoke. Smoke by Dan Valletta, and the story centers around, an English boarding school in the Victorian era. And when when the people in smoke, when they become angry, or when they want to harm someone, whenever they sin or even think sinful thoughts, they begin to emit this visible evidence of their sin.
Jeffrey Heine:They begin to smoke. In one scene, a character is speaking words of hatred. He despises this other character, and he wants to do him harm, and as he's speaking, smoke begins to rise from his tongue, and then from his skin, and he's left with soot in his teeth. We don't have such measurable ways of telling our own sinfulness. And it's because of that that we so often justify our actions.
Jeffrey Heine:No matter how wrong or damaging or hurtful our sin is to the people around us, if we can justify our sin, then we can dismiss the need for judgment. If we can justify our sin and therefore not judge ourselves anymore, then we can dismiss the notion that God would ever judge us. You know, that phrase that you hear sometimes of only God can judge me, It's usually said in a way of, and God probably won't judge me. Right? If we can justify our sin, then we dismiss the need for judgment, and we can busy ourselves with other things.
Jeffrey Heine:And we can even do that in our Bible reading. We can do that in our Bible reading. We can just busy ourselves with things of the Bible that we don't understand to avoid dealing with the things that are so plainly stated. And so that's where we stand now in chapter 20. Now we are in that yellow wood where 2 roads diverge.
Jeffrey Heine:And we could go down that road of exploring all the literary devices, pull the history out of every image, and make some giant timeline of the end times, and spend our attention on theories, and speculation, and delight and confuse ourselves about these fascinating ideas of the end times. And that isn't altogether wrong, not at all. In fact, I spent a fair amount of my week studying those things exactly. And if you wanna get together and get coffee this week and talk about it, we can. We could dedicate the rest of our time to talking about those concepts, Or we can take the road less traveled.
Jeffrey Heine:And for us today, the road less traveled is to see ourselves in the multitude in John's vision, to remember that each one of us, me and you, we will be judged. We can take time to meditate on the reality that we will stand before the perfect and powerful throne of Jesus, and we will be judged because that moment will not escape any of us. And I think we need to take that road. No matter how challenging it might be for us, we will walk that road together, asking that the Spirit would guide our thoughts and reflections as we go. So as we walk down that road, a big question comes up.
Jeffrey Heine:How will we be judged? John gives us more glimpses of that day of judgment. You recall in 12 and 13, he said, and I saw the dead, great and small, standing before the throne, and books were opened, and another book was opened, which is the book of life. In particular, John says that Jesus opens this book of life, and the and the dead would be judged by what's written there, according to what they have done, in John's words. All of humanity standing before Jesus, and that book, what is written in that book, is how we are judged.
Jeffrey Heine:So we need to find out as much as we can about this book, because it plays such an important role in our judgment. John goes on in verse 14. Then death and Hades were thrown into the lake of fire. That is the second death, the lake of fire. And if anyone's name was not found written in the book of life.
Jeffrey Heine:He was thrown into the lake of fire. Death and Hades are given the same eternal punishment as Satan was. In chapter 20, where we are, earlier in verse 10, it reads, 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. And then in 15, we learned that this fate of being cast into the lake of fire where Satan, the beast, and the false prophet were tormented day and night forever. Anyone whose name was not found written in the book of life, they are cast into the lake of fire too.
Jeffrey Heine:So we're learning more about this book that matters so much. So now we know what is written in this book. Names. They're names. And we learn why it's so significant.
Jeffrey Heine:If your name is not written in the book, you are cast into the same place as death and Hades and the evil one. So now we need to know, and we need to find out together, how do we get our names in that book? We are judged according to what we have done, and the primary concern becomes if our name is in the book or not. In the book of life. This book of life, it was mentioned in John's revelation earlier in the book of Revelation in chapter 13.
Jeffrey Heine:And there, John refers to the book of life with its full title. See, we had the shorthand version that's being referenced here in chapter 20, the book of life, but the full title is described in chapter 13, in which John records this. And all who dwell on earth will worship it, everyone whose name was not written before the foundation of the world in the book of life of the Lamb who was slain. That's the full title. The book of life of the Lamb who was slain.
Jeffrey Heine:And the Lamb who was slain, this image has occurred earlier in John's revelation. In chapter 5, John describes the lamb and why he was slain. He writes this. And they sang a new song, saying, worthy are you, Jesus, to take the scroll and open its seals, for you were slain, and by your blood, you ransomed people for God from every tribe and language and people and nation. The lamb, Jesus, was slain to ransom people for God, People from every nation, nationality, race, upbringing, bloodline, they were ransomed, redeemed by the blood of Jesus.
Jeffrey Heine:The book of the lamb who was slain is a book of names of the people ransomed by God by the blood of Jesus. So now we know what the book is called, why it is called that, and what is inside? Names. So now we have another question. How do we get our names in that book?
Jeffrey Heine:What work is good enough? What could we have done? What could we have done to get our name in that book? And again, John has told us, not in Revelation this time, but in his gospel, the life of Jesus. In chapter 6, John records the words of Jesus when the crowds follow him to Capernaum, and they ask him in John chapter 6 verse 28, what must we do to be doing the works of God?
Jeffrey Heine:And Jesus, full of love and compassion, looks to them, and He answers, this is the work of God, that you believe in him who he has sent. This. This is how we will stand before the great white throne of judgment, without fear of wrath and punishment. It's not because we have gotten our lives together. It's not because we've turned over a new leaf or started trying harder or got a second or third or fourth chance.
Jeffrey Heine:No. All who believe, who receive the gift of faith in Jesus, who repent from sin and from trying to save themselves, who give up on being good enough to deserve God's love, those who plead the blood of the Lamb who was slain, those are the ones whose names are in the book of life. There's no other name by which you can be saved but Jesus. When we are judged according to what we have done, our only hope will be what Jesus has done. When we are judged for what we have done, our only hope will be what Jesus has done, and what he has done is the perfect will of the Father.
Jeffrey Heine:What he has done is ransom us, carried us over from death to life, and this is a present reality for us. This has happened for all who are in Christ Jesus. Hear this. For those of you who believe, this great and terrible day of judgment in significant ways has already happened for you. First, it happened before the foundation of the earth.
Jeffrey Heine:As we read in verse 13, John says that the names of the book of life were written before the foundation of the world. Paul makes the same claim in that letter to the Ephesians, when he says, God, the father chose us in Christ before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before him. So in that sense, the the great and terrible day of judgment has occurred because your name was found in this book before the earth was even formed. And secondly, it happened for you when the righteous wrath of the father was poured out on the righteous son. Your judgment was declared when Jesus declared, it is finished.
Jeffrey Heine:Your verdict came down when He gave up His Spirit. And your name was confirmed in this book when he stepped out of that tomb and when he ascended to that throne in heaven. When you imagine in your mind the great and terrible day of judgment, which I hope you have been doing as we have spent this time together, when you when you imagine that day, when you see the great white throne of Jesus, do you see the cross of Jesus? When you hear that you will be judged and you see the throne of judgment, do you see the cross of the Lamb who was slain? In one of John's pastoral letters, he talks a lot about love.
Jeffrey Heine:And in one part, he contrasts love and fear, And he says that you don't have to be afraid anymore. Those who are in Christ Jesus don't have to be afraid anymore, because fear has to do with punishment. And Jesus took that punishment, and John says perfect love casts out fear. Can you stand at the throne without fear, but rather with love and praise to the one who is seated on that throne. When the book of life of the Lamb who was slain is open, it's not intended to be a surprise whether your name is there or not, because the Lamb was slain before the foundation of the your of the world, and you were foreknown by God before the foundation of the world.
Jeffrey Heine:You are called, then, to repent, to believe, to turn away from trying to save yourself and turn to the one who sits on the throne, who died on that cross. We are called to follow the lamb, as John puts it in Revelation, wherever the lamb may go, to confess continually, to trust continually, to obey the Lamb continually. Again, John tells us in chapter 1 of his gospel, to all who did receive Jesus, who believed in his name, he gave the right to become the children of God, who were born not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but the will of God. You are called to believe, to plead the merit of His blood. And we are called to remind one another.
Jeffrey Heine:That's that's that's why we are a church family together, to remind one another what it means to follow the lamb, to remind one another that you will never be good enough to stand before the throne of Christ on your own merit. You won't tip those scales. You won't volunteer enough or help enough or give enough. You won't work hard enough to be able to stand there and endure that judgment on your own merit. Your faith is the evidence of the work and will of God in your life to ransom you by the blood of Jesus that made you his own child.
Jeffrey Heine:A claim was made on you before the foundation of the world, and it's displayed in that divine writing of your name in the book of the Lamb who was slain. The good news of the gospel is that your only hope, the only hope that you have before that great white throne is that you are not your own, but you belong, body and soul, both in life and in death, to your faithful savior, Jesus Christ. He has fully paid for your sins by His blood and set you free. Every one of us will be judged. But when you see in your mind that great white throne of judgment, do you see the victory of his cross?
Jeffrey Heine:At the end of the road less traveled, we are left with the old, old question, and it bears repeating for every generation. And it is this. Is your name written in the book of the Lamb? Because if you are unsure this morning, I plead with you. Turn to Him.
Jeffrey Heine:Call upon the only name by which you can be saved, Jesus. Turn to Him, and find the fullness of His grace and love. Let's pray. God, these are heavy things that we have talked about together, but life is heavy. Sin, suffering, death, eternity, These are all heavy things.
Jeffrey Heine:And, spirit, we need your help in seeing them rightly and seeing ourselves rightly. We need your help. So, spirit, we ask that you would move in this time, that you would awaken dead hearts, that you would bring people to know your goodness and your graciousness. Those who do believe, spirit, we ask that you would fill us up with your presence, that we would know these truths and believe these things with all of that we are. We pray these things in the name of the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit, 1 God.
Jeffrey Heine:Amen.