REVELATION LESSON 51

REVELATION

LESSON 51

ARE WE LIVING IN THE END TIMES?

Revelation 20:11   ¹¹ 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.

This is the judgment seat of all mighty God. The one who will be seated on it is not identified, but we have already seen that all judgment has been committed to Jesus. When preachers say people will have to face the Judgment of God, this is the judgment most people think about. The only ones who will appear before this judgment seat are those who are lost.

When scripture tells us that heaven and earth will pass away, you can be sure that the world will definitely end. There will be a last baby born, a last marriage performed, a last kiss, a last song and a last hurrah.

Revelation 20:12   ¹² 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.

The dead will stand before Jesus as he sits upon the great white throne. They will come from all walks of life. Small and great, poor and rich, peasants and kings. They will stand before the courts judgment bar to be sentenced; several books will be opened. Each one is a book of works or a book of deeds.

These books will contain the thoughts, words and deeds of each individual, by these things will each be judged. Another book will be opened, the book of life. When a person is born their name is written in this book. If they never get saved they will die in a lost condition and their name will be removed. Some will deny Jesus so strongly while they are alive that their name will be removed. It will also be removed for taking the mark of the beast or if they add or take away from what the scriptures say.

The book of life is the list of all who were born once. The Lambs book of life is the list of all who were born twice. The ones who truly accept Jesus as Lord and Savior.

Revelation 20:13   ¹³ 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.

The bible teaches that man is destined to die once, then he will face judgment. Believers and unbelievers will be raised up separately and judged separately. Believers will go before the judgment seat of Christ, where their works will be judged.

This is a judgment for the purpose of receiving rewards or crowns. Unbelievers will also go before the white throne where their works will also be judged. The purpose of this is not salvation by degrees of punishment.

Revelation 20:14   ¹⁴ And death and hell were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death.

This will be the end of the first death “ the physical death”, this is good news for believers, but terrible news for the unbeliever they will want to die physically when they are raised from the dead, but that will not be an option because they will have new bodies also that cannot be destroyed in the lake of fire. Their suffering will be eternal.

Revelation 20:15   ¹⁵ And whosoever was not found written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire.

If you are wondering if a person ever ceases to exist the answer is no. the question to ask is where will that person spend eternity.

When a sentence is rendered your eternal destiny will not be determined by your deeds. It will be determined only by what is written in the Lambs book of life. God will make a careful search of the Lambs book of life to see if you have taken the Lord Jesus Christ as your savior.

The names of the ones who refuse to accept Jesus before they died will have been blotted out of the book of life. They will join Satan, the antichrist and the false prophet in the lake of fire forever.

Revelation 21:1   21 And I saw a new heaven and a new earth: for the first heaven and the first earth were passed away; and there was no more sea.

After revealing the church age, the tribulation period and the millennium, John focused on one last time period that most writher call eternity. God will create a new world that John compares to Jerusalem and Babylon. Get ready to see some of these comparisons.

Here John glimpsed a new heaven and a new earth. For the first heaven and earth passed away. The new heaven and earth will be different from the original creation. The new earth will not have a sea on it.

Revelation 21:2 ² And I John saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down from God out of heaven, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband.

In the original creation, God put Adam in the garden of Eden, in the new creation God will put his church in a special city called the new Jerusalem. This city will not be like ancient Jerusalem or Babylon, this will be a holy city.

This city is not heaven, it will come down from and out of heaven. This city is not the whole creation or the whole new earth, it is just one part or one city that will come to the new earth.

The new Jerusalem will be the bride’s new home after the millennium. It will be a real city with physical attributes, but it will also be like a bride in that it will be pure and radiant.

Revelation 21:3   ³ And I heard a great voice out of heaven saying, Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and he will dwell with them, and they shall be his people, and God himself shall be with them, and be their God.

In the original creation God came down from heaven to walk and talk with Adam in the wilderness. God in the new creation will come down with the holy city to remain and dwell with his people.

Revelation 21:4   ⁴ And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes; and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain: for the former things are passed away.

During the seal, trumpet, and bowl judgments of the tribulation period many will experience sorrow, pain and death. The new creation will be different in that everything that causes these things will be done away with.