The Judgment of the White Throne
(Rev 20:7-15)
A 104-year-old Australian ecologist Dr. David Goodall was reported to have chosen euthanasia just because of his old age. Does the free will that God allowed human beings include choosing death on their own? If it does, it could only occur if theres no life after death. God judges the world, his handiwork through his sovereignty. Lets see when his precise and flawless judgment occurs.
1. It occurs from the white throne during the war of Gog and Magog. Revelation 20:7 through to the end describes Satans fall and Jesus second coming. The completion of a thousand years means that the number of the people to be saved is filled up and Gods time of salvation has arrived. At this time, Satan is released by God just for awhile. Thus God releases Satan in our life also because suffering makes the gospel more strengthened and brings us hope. Gog in verse 8 refers to the leaders who stand against God and Magog refers to their followers. Coming out of the thousand-year confinement, Satan gathers people for battle. Satan uses all means to tempt us. Its up to us whether we are deceived by him or not. Its not a matter of circumstance but of character. No matter what dreadful disease comes upon us, we need to be ready to be a martyr like Jesus, knowing that its from Satan and God will save us. The indescribable suffering we are under could bring us the glory that wed never experience in our ordinary life. Dr. Goodall chose euthanasia because he wanted to get rid of suffering without understanding the true meaning of suffering and redemption history. His choice was against the providence of God and His salvation project.
2. It brings eternal punishment to evil. God protects Christians as his people when they are besieged by Satans power. He protects them, his beloved temples through the rod of men and the floggings inflicted by men. We dont need to worry because God will win the last victory, send fire from heaven to devour the devil and his evil, and throw them into the lake of burning sulfur. To me, my husbands death in a day was the most dreadful war of Gog and Magog or Armageddon driven by Satan. Yet the Satan in my husband, who had urged him to deny God was finally hurled into the lake of burning sulfur when my husband accepted Jesus at his last moment. Thus God dispelled the fear and sorrow within me as well as Satan itself to the benefit of many churches. The more desperately Satan goes on a rampage in our life, the closer we are to God. God gave us our power in the world so that we can use it for his glory. As for those who use it for themselves, the smoke of suffering will go up from them for ever and ever. Judas Iscariot, the betrayer of Jesus, and Assyria and Babylon, the rods of Gods discipline for Israel were put to Gods judgment and destruction. The judicial officers who judge good and evil in our society actually have risen to their current post with their Babylon values as conquerors bent on conquest. Although they are bright enough to memorize the whole legal provisions, their mission of judging people with life-or-death authority is far beyond their intellectual capability. The white throne judgment has neither misjudgment nor wrong judgment because the Lord is the chief justice.
3. It brings Gods judgment of good and evil. There will be Gods unavoidable judgment, where everything in heaven and earth will disappear because of mens great sins. Everyone, believers and non-believers, will stand before the white throne after death. On the throne is seated the Lamb, the only savior and the judge. Those who believe in Jesus and were forgiven by Him will have no recording of their sins in the book of life. They are enrolled in the book by the priceless grace of God. Yet those who rejected the grace of Jesus Christ will be judged according to the record of their sins. Faith life requires our labor until, as in Revelation 14:13, we rest from our labor and our deeds follow us. We have the labor of facing the suffering that Satan brings us throughout our life. Believing in Jesus is a life-bearing project and the keeping of truth, in which we often fail and shed tears, and suffer troubles. A deaconess has a daughter, who rejects going to church and feeds her puppies with chicken and vegetables while she herself lives on noodles. The deaconess says that her current suffering of watching her daughter seems to last forever even though she believes that God will save her daughter. Last week one deacon decided to find a chauffeur service for his new life, throwing away his old life full of lies after being sentenced in a court. His wife took this incident as invitation of the feast of the Lamb and decided to hold on to her cross. Their humble tears and repentance are the marks of those who are enrolled in the book of life. Our visible dwelling places are not eternal. They are the places we will leave one day. There surely is judgment, for which we need to prepare every day. May God bless us not to fall apart before the new heaven and earth and fall into eternal destruction by rejecting Him!
Then I saw a great white throne and him who was seated on it. Earth and sky fled from his presence, and there was no place for them. (Rev 20:11)
