Continuation of Great White Throne Judgment (Rev. 20:13-15)

SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR

11/22/2005

My Worship Time                  Focus:  Great White Throne Judgments Continued

Bible Reading & Meditation             Reference:  Revelation 20:13-15

            Message of the verse:  “13  The sea gave up its dead, and death and the grave gave up the dead which were in them. And men were judged, each according to what he had done.  14  Then death and the grave were themselves hurled into the lake of fire, which is the second death.  15  If anyone’s name was not found written in the book of life he was thrown into the lake of fire.”

            The following is how the Message reads on verse 13:  “Sea released its dead, Death and Hell turned in their dead. Each man and woman was judged by the way he or she had lived.”  The last part of verse 13 speaks of how man will be judged at this Great White Throne Judgment and that seems to be by what they had done.  There may be some who come to this judgment and tell the Lord how good of life they had lived while they were on planet earth, they may try to justify themselves, but God will show them what exactly their true motives were to live the kind of life that they lived and prove to them that it was not good enough.

            I was very confused about verse 14 and began to look at what others had written about it, but did not find anything.  While I was searching in a commentary it seemed that the Lord revealed what this verse means.  When God created man on a perfect earth, living in a perfect environment there was no need for a grave because there was no death.  Death and the grave were a result of sin and that seems to be the reason that they were both thrown into the lake of fire.

            The most sobering of all of these verses, for it tells of the fate of those who do not have their names written in the book of life, and that is they were thrown into hell.  It must be remembered that God did not make hell for man, but for Satan and those evil angels who followed him, and now it will be used for those of the human race who followed Satan and his evil angels.

            Jesus spoke of this resurrection of the dead in John 5:28-29, “28  "Do not marvel at this; for an hour is coming, in which all who are in the tombs will hear His voice,

29  and will come forth; those who did the good deeds to a resurrection of life, those who committed the evil deeds to a resurrection of judgment.”

            Spiritual meaning for my life today:  In light of the sure coming of this judgment I would like to quote a verse that Paul wrote while he was in prison for serving the Lord, praying that it will be true of my life:  “and pray on my behalf, that utterance may be given to me in the opening of my mouth, to make known with boldness the mystery of the gospel,”

The Word of God was very sobering to me as I read and studied it this morning.

My Steps of Faith Today:  That God will put a burden on my heart for those who are lost and that God will bring seekers into my life and then, as Paul writes, give me the utterance in the opening of my mouth, to make known with boldness the mystery of the gospel.