Christ’s Final Judgment Return Rev. 20:11-15 David Rountree 1. To relate more to Rev.20:11-15 imagine the scene in Matt.28:3. 2. Imagine also Matt.24:27. Deity Shinning (v.11) 1. Remember Satan’s new home (v.10). What would we expect? 2. Usually, the father is on the throne (Rev.4:2-3; 5:1,7). Both color and judgment point to Christ. 3. The color of this throne here is white and that is the color for Christ. On a white cloud (14:14); a white horse (Rev.6:2; 19:11); white throne (Rev.20:11). 4. The judgment from the throne has typically been ascribed to Christ (Matt.25:31; 2Tim.4:1). Dead Standing (v.12,13) 1. The judgment is upon the dead (see v.5). 2. “Great & small” = all classes regardless of how they died. 3. Luke 12:47,48 4. We can judge a tree by its fruit and a genuine Christian by their works. 5. When does this judgment happen? Is it a 70AD judgment or an end-of the-world judgment? 6. The scripture speaks of the righteous and unrighteous being resurrected at the same time and then face judgment at the same time creating a great contrast between believers and unbelievers in one hour (John 5:28,29; Matt.13:26-30; Matt.13:47-50; Matt.25:32,33). 7. The dead that were judged were both in the “sea” and in “death and hades.” Death Suffering (v.14,15) 1. “Death and Hades” are thrown into the lake of fire. 2. The “last enemy to be destroyed is death” (1Cor.15:26). 3. First Death & Second Death: The first death is the death of the flesh. “The second death” is the damnation of the lost in the “lake of fire”. 4. For the believer, there is no second death (Rev.20:6). 5. The lake of fire is hell. This is a necessary reality or there is no necessity for Christ or the gospel. 6. Mark 9:43-48. 7. Luke 16:22-24. 8. Blessed and holy are those with the first resurrection—conversion in Christ. Over these, the second death has no power (Rev.20:6). 9. Being in the book of life is salvation. 10. The end of world history has come. It all occurs after the millennium. Applications: 1. There will definitely be a time in which Christ comes to earth again—a final return. We know it is final because it happens after the millennium. It will be a time of judgment but also a time for deliverance into the coming new heaven and earth. Let us rejoice that our God has a plan and knows where he is taking us! 2. Christ sits on his throne. He is all about justice. Will he redeem us or punish us for an eternity? Let us see Jesus and seek his grace. Jesus is our only hope. 3. Let us not put our hope in this sky and earth, they will vanish. Our hope is in Christ ruling over a new heaven and earth. 4. Christ throwing the devil into the lake of fire does make a difference. Imagine a world with no devil or influence of the devil. Adam and Eve have probably been imagining this for a long time. We get to live in this world thanks to the judgment throne of Christ. Give Jesus praise. 5. Both the Apostles’ Creed and the Nicene Creed speak of Christ coming to judge the “living and the dead.” For the redeemed, the judgment is redemptive. For the dammed, it is dreadful (John 5:24). 6. There is damnation by works (Ps.62:12; Prov.24:12; Matt.16:27; John 5:28,29; Rom.2:6-13; 14:12; 1Cor.3:13; 2Cor.5:10; Eph.6:8; Col.3:25; Rev.2:23; 22:12). 7. When the book of life is opened, names are listed as having been redeemed from the foundation of the world (Eph.1:4). Give God praise! 8. No one anywhere, no matter how buried or disposed, escapes the judgment of Christ. 9. In the final return of Christ, death is destroyed and we live forever and ever in Christ and with Christ!
