rtf1ansiansicpg1252deff0deflang1033fonttblf0fnilfcharset0 Georgia;f1fnilfprq2fcharset0 Padua; colortbl ;red0green128blue0; viewkind4uc1pardf0fs24 par b The Great White Throne.b0 par par cf11ulbf1fs22 Rev_20:11-15cf0ulnoneb0f0fs24. par par This ought to have begun a new chapter, or formed a separate section. It is a new sceneu8212?following, no doubt, close on the judgment terrors of the preceding verses, but still separate from them. It is a scene of infinite grandeur and solemnity; a scene from which the world shrinks back, but which shall one day be realized on this very globe. John 'saw' itu8212?in vision, no doubt; but in a vision presented by God Himselfu8212?a true picture of coming realities to man and man's world. All this scene shall one day come true. It is the 'vision,' and it shall be one day the reality ofu8212? par par b (1) A THRONEb0 u8212?YES, a royal seat, a seat of judgment, the seat of the great King and Judge of all. There have been many thrones on earth, but none like thisu8212?one throne in place of the many. par par b (2) A GREAT throneb0 u8212?All earth's thrones have been little, even the greatestu8212?Nebuchadnezzar, or Alexander, or Caesar, or Napoleonu8212?but this is 'great;' greater than the greatestu8212?none like it in magnificence. par par b (3) A WHITE throneb0 u8212?White is purity, truth, justice calmness. Such is the throne to beu8212?unsoiled, untainted, incorruptibleu8212?no one-sidedness nor imperfectionu8212?no bribery nor favor there. All is 'white'u8212?transparent and spotless perfection. par par b (4) One SEATED on itb0 u8212?It was not empty or unoccupied, nor filled by a usurper, or by one who could not wield the power required for executed its decrees. God was seated there; that very God before whose face heaven and earth flee away; that God whose presence melts the mountains, and made Sinai to shake (See cf11ulbf1fs22 Psa_102:26cf0ulnoneb0f0fs24; cf11ulbf1fs22 Isa_34:4cf0ulnoneb0f0fs24, cf11ulbf1fs22 Isa_51:6cf0ulnoneb0f0fs24; cf11ulbf1fs22 Jer_4:23cf0ulnoneb0f0fs24, cf11ulbf1fs22 Jer_4:26cf0ulnoneb0f0fs24; cf11ulbf1fs22 Rev_6:14cf0ulnoneb0f0fs24, cf11ulbf1fs22 Rev_16:20cf0ulnoneb0f0fs24). In the last two passages we find men upon the earth, and hail falling from heaven upon them, after it had been said that all had fled away; which shows that it is not annihilation that is meant in any of them. Nothing is annihilated. Our bodies return to dust, but return out of dust into themselves again; so earth will undergo changes, but will come out of these the same earth, only purified. For our bodies there is resurrection, for earth restitution, but for neither annihilation. If annihilation is the portion of the wickedu8212?what then, does their resurrection mean? He who sits on this throne is the mighty God, able to judge and to carry out His decrees in spite of all human or hellish resistance. How terrible to stand unready before such a Judge and such a throne! All justice, all perfection, all holiness! Who can abide His appearing? par par But besides the Judge and the throne, there are the millions to be judged. They areu8212?(1) The dead; those who did not rise in the first resurrection, called 'the rest of the dead' (cf11ulbf1fs22 Rev_20:5cf0ulnoneb0f0fs24). They remained behind the dead in Christ, but they must rise at last. (2) Small and great; from the youth to the old man, from the feeblest to the strongest, all are there. 'They shall not escape.' They have to do with unerring eyes. par par These 'stand before God.' There are others who 'stand before God,' or 'before the throne of God,' but for very different purpose. par par 'The angels stood before God' (cf11ulbf1fs22 Rev_8:2cf0ulnoneb0f0fs24); the two witnesses 'stood before God of the whole earth' (cf11ulbf1fs22 Rev_11:4cf0ulnoneb0f0fs24); the great white-robed multitude 'stood before the throne' (cf11ulbf1fs22 Rev_8:9-15cf0ulnoneb0f0fs24); the elders 'sat before the throne of God' (cf11ulbf1fs22 Rev_11:16cf0ulnoneb0f0fs24). But all these are very different from the 'small and great' who stand before 'the great white throne.' The former stand for honor and glory and gladness, the latter for judgment. par par The process of judgment is also seen. (1) Books are openedu8212?books probably containing God's history of the sinner's life. His record of the sinner's deeds. How different from man's! How different God's story of our great men, our literary men, our poets, our philosophers, our captains, our kings, from man's! The divine version of human historyu8212?how unusual it will be! How unlike all earthly annals! Most of the leading facts the same, yet how differently told! Most of the scenes and events and actions the same, yet how differently put the interpreted! What a strange thing will be a biography, a human life, seen by divine eyes and recorded by a divine pen! What 'books' these will be! Alongside of these is another book, called the book of lifeu8212?the register of those whose portion is life eternal, whose home is to be the land and city of life, whose heritage is to be that God in whose favor is life. (cf11ulbf1fs22 Phi_4:3cf0ulnoneb0f0fs24; cf11ulbf1fs22 Rev_3:5cf0ulnoneb0f0fs24, cf11ulbf1fs22 Rev_13:8cf0ulnoneb0f0fs24, cf11ulbf1fs22 Rev_17:8cf0ulnoneb0f0fs24, cf11ulbf1fs22 Rev_21:27cf0ulnoneb0f0fs24).par par The books first mentioned contain the materials for the Judge's decision. Out of them the individuals are judged, 'every man according to his works.' The 'things written in these books' being thus connected with the 'works' mentioned, lead us to conclude that they are the record or annals of the works of each. All things are written down. God keeps His diary of every soul's doings and sayings and thinkings. Nothing is forgotten! Every deed awakes from its slumbers and speaks on that day! What a resurrection of each buried thought and word at that great white throne! par par The judgment will be just and fair; nothing overrated, nothing underrated. Every fact will speak exactly for itself. Each word will be weighed in perfect balances. No one shall be able to complain. God will be justified in all. What a scrutiny! What impartiality and calmness, yet what exactness and minuteness! par par It shall be universal judgment then. Sea and land shall give up their dead. Death and the grave shall part with their victims. Each region of earth shall furnish its thousands or millions of the dead for judgment. And again it is said, 'according to their works.' On these each man's judgment is to turn. par par Then death and the grave are utterly destroyed. They exist no more, but are consumed. The lake of fire is their portion; and in this lake there is the second death. The first death passes away only to give place to a second far more terrible; a death that never dies, that has no grave, and no end. The second death! The lake of fire! What words of horror are these! Yet they are not exaggerations, but God's own calm and solemn language. It indicates real punishment, not annihilation. par par And all who are not found in the book of life are cast into this fiery lakeu8212?handed over to this second death, this eternal mortality, this never-ending dyingu8212?this death that is always both present and to comeu8212?the worm that never dies, the fire that is never quenched. Such is the eternity of the lost, according to God's account of it. Man may dilute or disbelieve or allegorize the statement, but there it stands. Eternal sorrow or eternal joy! par par (1) Is it all true? Do we believe it? All this about the great white throne, and the Judge, and the books, and the lake, and the second death? Are all these things true? par par (2) Does it bear upon us? Have these scenes of judgment any bearing upon us? Are their terrors for us? Has humanity anything to do with that lake of fire? Or is it only for lost angels? par par (3) Is it rousing to us? If anything could awake us, it would be a futurity like this. That Judge, that judgment, that woe!