The Great White Throne Judgment - Steve Lawson

if you would take your Bibles and open it to the book of Revelation Revelation chapter 20 and I want to begin by reading the text that we will be looking at tonight it is one of the most sobering and most weighty passages of scripture in the entire Bible I want to speak to you tonight on the great white throne judgment Revelation chapter 20 and beginning in verse 11 we come to the end of the Bible and we come to virtually the end of God's redemptive story as it relates to time the new heavens and the new earth as we heard this morning will begin in chapter 21 and so as we come to the end of Revelation chapter 20 in reality we come to the end of time we come to the end of God's eternal purposes within time for the human race and we come to the final judgment beginning in verse 11 then I saw a great white throne and him who sat upon it from whose presence earth and heaven fled away and no place was found for them and I saw the dead the great and the small standing before the throne and the books were opened and another book was opened which is the book of life and the dead were judged from the things which were written in the books according to their deeds and the sea gave up the Dead which were in it and death and Haiti gave up the Dead which were in them and they were judged every one of them according to their deeds then death and Hades were thrown into the lake of fire this is the second death the lake of fire and if anyone's name was not found written in the book of life he was thrown into the lake of fire many today do not want to think about eternity especially when they are young because eternity seems so far away but like Jonathan Edwards if we would think about eternity heaven and hell it will change the very way we live our lives today as Jonathan Edwards for sued holiness in his life he resolved to live not only with one eye upon heaven we spoke about that this morning but he was resolved to live every day with one eye upon hell Edwards purpose to turn one ear to hear the Hallelujah of heaven and with the other ear he purposed a strain to hear the shrieks and the groans of tormented souls in hell already both heaven and hell occupied his constant attention even as an 18 year old young man so we read in resolution 55 quote resolved to endeavor to my utmost so to act as I think I should do if I had already seen the happiness of heaven and hell tormented in other words n-words intentionally chose to think about those already confined in the bowels of hell and suffering under the wrath of God it would affect the way that he would preach it would affect the way that he would pray it would affect the way that he would live his life such a sober estimation and meditation on these tormented damned souls already in hell gave Edwards eternal perspective that marked his life every step of the way these verses in Revelation chapter 20 tell us very clearly that there is looming across the horizon of time a final judgment it is known as the great white throne judgment that this world is currently spinning through space and it is on a collision course with God's final judgment the book of Romans calls it the day of wrath the book of Jude calls it the judgment of the great day of the book of Romans also calls it the day of judgment and Pete and Paul speaking in acts 17 says God has fixed a day in him in which he will judge the world in righteousness that day is fast approaching and there is coming a final judgment day in which God will hold court and all the world will be on trial before God in this final judgment God will open the books and God will present his case and every loss center will be judged and God will announce his verdict and God will execute perfect justice and he will condemn every unbeliever to hell are seized Farrell says modern man is betting his eternal destiny that there is no final judgment my friend that is a bad bet because the holiness and the righteousness of God demands that on the final day God executes his perfect justice this is precisely what this text presents for us this judgment will occur at the end of human history after the Great Tribulation after the second coming of Christ after the Thousand Year reign of Christ and before the new heavens and the new earth this final judgment stands at the end of time after God's plan for a redemptive history has been fulfilled and in these verses what is described for us is the final courtroom scene if this is the highest court in heaven and earth if this is the Supreme Court of the universe it is the court of no appeal every lost sinner will be individually summoned to take their stand before this judgment bar and every lost sinner will have their day in court before the Lord Jesus Christ the evidence will be presented and it will be irrefutable there will be no rebuttal offered there will be no defense rendered there will be no sympathetic judge there will not be one drop of mercy there will be no grace there will be no advocate to defend the sinner there will be no mistrial of justice there will only be perfect judgment there will be no successful appeal by the guilty no parole in prison from which any sinner will ever escape this scene is described for us in these new words but how Laden they are with truth and we must hear this tonight as we are focusing this conference upon heaven and hell we must come to the end of time tonight we must enter into this courtroom with those who will be condemned and we must grasp the gravitas and the magnitude of this scene and this day is more real than the day in which you and I are living this very moment this is no imaginary scene this is a day that is fixed on God's prophetic calendar and we are moving irreversibly towards this final day there are four truths that I want you to note with me out of these verses as we will work our way through this graphic text I want you to note with me first in verse 11 the setting described in verse 11 this scene begins in a stark and sobering and straightforward manner as John records then I saw a great white throne great speaks to its power white speaks to its purity throne speaks to its purpose John's eyes are riveted upon this stark reality it is a terrifying scene that is unveiled before his eyes it is the highest court in the universe it is the court of heaven and earth these three words great white and throne describe this setting it is great it towers over every other throne this throne it possesses universal jurisdiction over the entire created order it overrides every decision of every lower court this is it is great in its power it is great in its authority its summons when it is issued is irreversible its verdicts are final its sentences cannot be overturned it is the greatest courtroom in the history of the world it is called white great speaks to its power white speaks to its purity it is a court of absolute holiness and inflexible justice all of its judgments are perfect all of its verdicts are perfect there is no injustice at this throne and there is no partiality every sinful deed will be presented as it actually was the secrets of men's hearts will be exposed and presented exactly as they were there will be no exaggeration in this courtroom and every bit of evidence for every sinner thought mind motive deeds will all be presented exactly as it was the word throne speaks of its purpose it is a judges tribunal this throne is a seat of judgment every wrong will be presented here and will be judged every injustice will be made known here and it will be brought into account the entire Bible has looked ahead to this final scene of divine judgment let me give you some verses Psalm 9 verses 7 and 8 but the Lord abides forever he has established his throne for judgment did you hear that God has established his throne for judge and he will judge the world in righteousness he will execute judgment for the people's with equity Psalm 7 verse 11 hear the word of the Lord God is a righteous judge and a God who has indignation every day if a man does not repent God will sharpen his sword if a man God has bent his bow and made it ready God has prepared for himself deadly weapons he makes his arrows fiery shafts and every one of them are aimed at the heart of lost sinner's and as Spurgeon says God never misses his target in this final judgment the God who has indignation every day with sinners will be the subject of the righteous anger and fury of Almighty God Psalm 11 verse 6 upon the wicked God will rain snares fire and brimstone and burning wind will be the portion of their Cup don't kid yourself this day is coming and it is necessary that the holiness and the righteousness and the perfect justice be vindicated in the last day and would you note the judge in verse 11 and I saw a great white throne and him who sat upon it stop right there this one who sits upon this throne is none other than the Lord Jesus Christ himself he is seated meaning he is actively presiding he is enthroned he is ruling he is rating reigning and he is ready to judge in this day all of Scripture identifies this one as the Lord Jesus Christ Jesus said himself in John 5 verse 22 for not even the father judges anyone but he has given all judgment to the son Peter said in acts 10 verse 39 they put him to death by hanging him on a cross God raised him up on the third day this is the one who has been appointed by God as judge of the living and the dead Romans 2 verse 16 on that day when according to my gospel God will judge the secrets of men through Christ Jesus in acts 17 verse 31 God has fixed today in which he will judge the world in righteousness through a man whom he has appointed having furnished proof to all men by raising him from the dead this judge of heaven and earth is none other than the Lord Jesus Christ himself and in this day the lamb shall become a lion a lion captures his prey by his mighty jaws and once it is caught he crushes his prey and conquers his prey and consumes his prey so it will be in this last day for the Lion of the tribe of Judah as he will capture and crush every unbeliever outside of himself so terrifying as this scene in verse 11 then we continue to read from whose presence earth and heaven fled away so terrifying that all unsaved guilty people when they see the awesomeness of this scene they will do all that they can to retreat and to pull back in apps Lootera and we read and there was no place found for them know this throne and this judge and this judgement are inescapable all guilty men must appear before this judge and they will have no place to hide in the final day all their lives they have ignored Christ they have denied Christ they have cursed Christ they have blaspheme Christ they have marginalized Christ they have played games with Christ they have put off Christ and now in this final day every lost sinner will stand face to face chorim deo in the very presence of this of this lion the Lord Jesus Christ and as they look up they will see this judge Christ standing as with feet as glowing in a furnace seeing with eyes of fire and when this judge speaks he will speak with the sound of many waters and he will drown out every excuse and every word that would be offered to him and his verdict alone will be heard this is the setting described I cannot think of a more terrifying scene than to appear at this great white throne and to have your day in court with the great judge of heaven and earth and to stand and receive perfect inflexible justice I want you to know second the summons delivered because what power this judge has to summon the guilty he has no red tape to go through he but issues the summons and they will all come and appear this court date is enix capable so we read in verse 12 and I saw the dead the great and the small standing before the throne these are all the unsaved dead since the beginning of time they will be summoned to appear in this courtroom before this judge that all of the great will be there and so the small the great refers to those great men of history who lived with great power over others here will be Alexander the Great here will be Napoleon the great here will be Hitler and Stalin and so many other notorious sinners whose sinned on a grand scale with the world as their stage but even they will be summoned to give an account to the judge of heaven and earth and then the small are standing here as well small in stature small and visibility small and influence they live lives of obscurity these are men and women whose lives amounted to very little on the grand scheme they just drew their breath and drew their salary they are people like your next-door neighbor they are people like your work associates they are people like your classmate no one else really knows who they are they live rather common lives but the Lord sees and the Lord knows and the Lord will summon them to come and appear before his judgment on the last day as we look at the greatness small I want to divide this out yet further who is it who will stand at the great white throne when this summon is issued and I want to set before you five groups of people perhaps represented even here tonight who will be summoned to appear before this great white throne first of all the out-and-out sinner will be there those who have sinned violently against God those who have broken God's law with a high hand those who have all but spit onto the face of the Lord Jesus Christ and who hate God who hate the church who hate the Bible who hate any form of morality 1st Corinthians 6 in verse 9 says or do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God do not be deceived neither fornicators nor idolaters nor adulterers nor effeminate nor homosexuals nor thieves nor covetous nor drunkards nor revilers nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God those who have lived lives of open shameless sin will be brought to stand before the great white throne judgment and have their day in court there's a second group that will appear here not only the out in out Center but second the self-righteous those who prided themselves in being so good and so moral this is the one who thinks the gospel is for the thief the gospel is for the prostitute the gospel is for the out-and-out sinner but not me this person has never been born again but they think that they are good enough in and of themselves in their own morality and in their own good works to commend themselves to God they are assuming that God will grade on the curve they are assuming that they are better than others therefore God will surely accept them but the fact is they have been weighed in the balances and found wanting they have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God and they will be brought to stand in this last day there's a third group that will appear at the great white throne judgment among the great and the small not only the out-and-out center and not only the self-righteous but the religious cult members will be here those who have followed after other religious leaders those who have followed Mohammed those who have followed Buddha those who have followed Joseph Smith those who have followed Reverend Sun Moon those who have followed the Virgin Mary those who have followed every other religious leader except Jesus Christ they will be summoned and they will stand before the Lord because Jesus said I am the way and the truth and the life no one comes to the Father but through me there are not many roads that are leading up to heaven and Christianity is but one of those roads you just have to be sincere and get on one of these religious roads that will take you to the top no there is one God and one mediator between God and man the man Christ Jesus who gave himself a ransom for all the testimony born at the proper time Peter said there is salvation in no other name for there is no other name under heaven given among men whereby we must be saved no every follower of false religions will be summoned to stand before this great white throne judgment there's a fourth group that will be there in that day and that is the procrastinator those who know that they are sinners those who know that Jesus Christ is the son of God and it is a savior those who intend to be saved one day but they keep putting it off and they keep putting it off and they say one day when I get out of college one day when I get married one day when we have children one day once my career gets going one day when I get a little further down life's path then I will finally give my life to Christ but that day never comes proverbs 27 verse 1 says buz not your self of tomorrow for you do not know what a day may bring forth the Bible says behold now is the accepted time behold today is the day of salvation procrastinators who died with that Christ will be summoned to stand before this great white throne and there's a fifth and final group that will be there that day lost church members will be summoned to appear before the great white throne they have their name on a church row but their names has never been written in the Lamb's Book of Life they profess to know Christ but they do not in reality possess Christ they are attached to a church but have never become attached to the Lord Jesus Christ they have a form of religion but they deny the power thereof these are those who will say Lord Lord did we not prophesy on your name did we not cast out demons in your name did we not perform many wondrous works in your name and Jesus said I will say unto them and that day depart from me you who work iniquity for I never knew you truly truly I say unto you he hears these words of mine and acts upon them is like a wise man who built his house upon the rock and when the rains came and the winds blew and beat against the house it did not fall because it was built upon the rock he who hears these words of mine and does not act upon them it's like a very foolish man who built his house upon the sand and when the rains came and the winds blew and beat against the house great was its fall because it was not built upon the rock unconverted church members lost church members will be summoned to appear before this great white throne judgment because they have never been born again jesus said except you be born again you will not see the kingdom of heaven and so as this summons is issued in verse 12 I want you to also note in verse 13 how powerful is this summons to raise the dead we read in verse 13 and the sea gave up the dead which are in it in this day and time as someone was lost at sea and went down with a ship the sea was a place in which one would be irretrievable the body would go all the way down to the depths of the ocean and the sea never to be seen from again never to be recovered by any man but on this last day God has the power to raise the dead and the Lord Jesus Christ will issue his summons from this great white throne and the sea itself will give up the dead that lay at the bottom of the sea and the end death and Hades gave up the Dead which were in them death and Hades refers to the grave and those places on land where their body lies they're buried their soul and spirit already tormented by God in a bottomless place but on this day their their body will be raised up to be reunited with their tormented soul to have their official day in court and there they will stand before this fearsome and awesome scene on the last day now I want you to note third I want you to see the sins disclosed at the end of verse 12 and at the end of verse 13 we see that the evidence will be presented at this great white throne as Jesus Christ will present his case against every lost sinner I want you to note in the middle of verse 12 Exhibit A the books we read and books were opened these books contain God's precise and accurate record for every life God has been keeping inscrutable books the omniscient God who sees all and knows all has been recording in his books every thought every word every deed of every unsaved person who has ever lived every sin is recorded every useless word has been written down in permanent ink by God himself every selfish deed every sensual thought every smutty joke every carnal comment all that the sinner should have done and failed to do all that he should not have done but did every influence that he exerted upon his brothers and sister growing up every deed that was done in college everything that the sinner thought that that no one else saw no one else knew about even sins long since forgotten by that person will be presented in this day in court and skeletons will come dancing out of closets everything that was done in secret will be shattered from the housetops on this last day please yes T's 11 verse 9 says know that God will bring you to judgment Ecclesiastes 12 verse 14 God will bring every act to judgment did you hear that God is not an idle talker God is not a babbler all that God says is true God will bring every act to judgment everything which is hidden whether it is good or evil jesus said in Matthew 12 and verse 36 every careless word that men shall speak they shall render account for it in the day of judgment jesus said in luke 8 verse 17 for nothing is hidden that will not become evident nor anything secret that will not be made known and come to light the Bible says there is no creature hidden from his sight but all things are open and laid bare to the eyes of him with whom we have to do Hebrews 4 and verse 13 so there it will be in this last day there it will be at the great white throne judgment the judge seated upon his throne the sea giving up the dead Hades and death giving up their dead every lost sinner standing before the Lord Jesus Christ called out individually and God will open the books Christ will open the books and everyone's life will be measured against the perfect holiness of Almighty God Matthew 5:48 therefore you are to be perfect as your heavenly Father is perfect God will not grade on the curve in that day every sinner will be measured against the absolute infinite moral perfection of Almighty God you shall be holy for I am holy 1st Peter 1:16 we will all be weighed in the balances in that day who are there without Christ and foot be seen to fall short of the glory of God now God's justice demands payment for every sin of every unbeliever so much sin so much justice so much justice so much punishment Ezekiel 18 verse 4 the soul who sins will die Romans 6 verse 23 for the wages of sin is death do not be deceived God is not mocked for whatsoever a man says this he will reap Galatians 6 verse 7 I told you this morning every sin in the history of the world will be judged by God no sin will be overlooked by Christ on the final day from the sin of Adam all the way down through the end of the thousand year reign of Christ every single sin will meet God's perfect judgment every sin will either be punished in Christ and pardoned in Christ or will be punished in hell throughout all of the ages to come but every sin will receive a just recompense think about it in that day think of what it will be to stand before Jesus Christ without any white garments without any blood atonement without any forgiveness for God and in that day it will be too late there will be no second chance this is your day to stand before Christ there will be no appeal there will be no reversal of the verdict this is your day and every sin you have ever committed in the entirety of your life it will all be flushed out and there presented by Christ before himself as you see this whole record a mountain of sin and you will shriek back and say oh my god no and Jesus Christ will say this was your life this is the reality of the sin of your life this is the case that is presented before you and Jesus Christ with omniscience who knows all and who sees all Jesus Christ who never forgets who is the same yesterday today and forever he will present his case in that day against every lost sinner and it will be right and it will be just and it must come to pass and then Exhibit B that was Exhibit A we continue to read in verse 12 Exhibit B that Christ will present not only the books but the book of life and another book was opened which is the book of life revelation 13 verse 8 revelation 17 verse 8 tell us that the names of every believer all the elect of God their names are recorded in the book of life from before the foundation of the world names are not being added as each person is coming to Christ before time began before the foundation of the world in eternity past a sovereign God chose his elect he gave them to his son the Lord Jesus Christ to secure their salvation and their names were written in the book of life before time ever began and so the book of life will be opened and Jesus Christ will present his case and he will show every lost sinner that you have never believed upon my Holy Name that your name is not written in the book of life you have not come to cast yourself upon the mercy of the Lord Jesus Christ you have chosen to go your own way there is a way which seems right unto a man but the end thereof is the end of death and so Jesus Christ after he presents the books the entire record of their life every sin every iniquity every lust every immorality he will then present the book of life and the sinner will see that they have no claim upon the Lord Jesus and no claim upon his mercy or forgiveness or they have never to believe upon him and so we read and the dead were judged from the things which were written in the books according to their deeds understand this salvation is by grace and judgment is by works salvation is by grace and judgment is by works and here each sinner will be judged by the Lord Jesus Christ according to what they did and the justice that is required for that sin the result here at this point is pure unadulterated judgment and not one drop of mercy and so we read at the end of verse 13 and they were judged that they refers to the great and the small all who were summoned to appear before this great white throne none will walk away forgiven none will walk away with mercy none will walk away with a second chance no they were judged every one of them according to their deeds in fact men and women will be judged in that last day not only by the deeds that they have committed but also to the amount of light that has shined into their lives and the exposure that they have had to the truth and those who have had a greater exposure to the truth of the word of God and to the gospel will be held to an even stricter standard of judgment jesus said in Matthew 10 and verse 15 truly I say to you it will be more tolerable for the land of sodom and gomorrah in that day of judgment than for this city this city where Jesus preached the gospel this city where Jesus performed miracles to have heard the truth like that and then to reject it and to go one's own way Jesus said in the final judgment it will be more tolerable for Sodom and Gomorrah the most wicked culture that there has been upon the earth that lies beneath the bottom of the Dead Sea then for these who have heard the gospel listen if you're going to go to hell don't go to hell from resolv'd where the Word of God is so clearly made known to you if you're going to hell go to hell from some dark remote place where you would never hear the name of Jesus Christ Matthew 11 verse 21 jesus said the very same woe tu corazon woe to you bethsaida for if the miracles had occurred and tyre and sidon which occurred in you they would have repented long ago in sackcloth and ashes nevertheless I say to you it will be more tolerable for tyre and sidon in the day of judgment than for you in this final day in this final judgment those who have had a greater exposure to the truth will be held to such a strict accountability and the judgment that will be rendered to them will be so much more severe than for those who had not heard the truth so I want you to see finally in verse 14 and 15 the sentence delivered having examined the evidence and having documented the guilt of every loss Center the defendants now await the verdict of the judge it is now time for the judgment to be rendered and for the verdict to be issued and we read in verse 14 do you see it then death and Hades were thrown into the lake of fire it will be at this point that Jesus will say depart from me you cursed into the everlasting fire prepared for the devil and his angels Matthew 25:41 the primary image of Hell in the Bible is fire death and Hades were thrown into the lake of fire it is the most terrifying image that can be represented to us of what the eternal abode is in the place called hell the Bible repeatedly refers to Hell in these terms of fire Matthew 5 verse 22 the fiery hell Matthew 13 verse 50 the furnace of fire Matthew 9 verse 48 where the fire is not quenched mark 9 verse 49 for everyone will be salted with fire Hebrews 10 27 the fury of a fire which will consume the adversaries Jude 7 the punishment of eternal fire Matthew 18 verse 9 the fiery hell revelation 19 verse 20 the smoke or excuse me the lake of fire that burns with brimstone Matthew 3 and verse 12 the smoke of a great furnace an unquenchable fire revelation 20 verse 10 the lake of fire and brimstone stun and they will be tormented day and night forever and ever think about this every lost sinner when they are condemned by the Lord Jesus Christ the entirety of their life exposed before his all-seeing eyes and he renders perfect righteous judgment in that day and he says depart from me you who work iniquity I never knew you and they will be cast down into hell forever the lake of fire and brimstone that will never cease burning and there will never ever be escape second Peter 2 calls it pits of darkness Matthew 25:46 eternal punishment Matthew 8 verse 12 the weeping and the gnashing of teeth not just weeping and gnashing but vie weeping and the gnashing meaning the greatest weeping in all of history does not even compare with the weeping and the gnashing of teeth those grinding their molars against Almighty God as they spin for ever and ever under his wrath and Jesus Christ who is omnipresent who is everywhere present will be in Hell himself being the one to personally inflict the wrath upon the unbelievers revelation 14 verse 10 says that the unbeliever will not be separated from Christ they could only wish they would be separated from Christ but in Hell in the presence of the Angels Jesus Christ the righteous judge will be the sole afflict err of his vengeance upon them inhale this is a terrifying scene then death in Hades were thrown into the lake of fire this is the second death the lake of fire the first death is physical the second death is eternal and spiritual Jesus said in Matthew 10 do not fear Him who has power to kill the body fear Him who has power to kill and destroy the soul and the body in hell forever Luke 12 verse 5 for the one who after he has killed has authority to cast into hell yes I tell you fear him the writer of Hebrews in Hebrews 10 verse 30 vengeance is mine I will repay it is a terrifying thing to fall into the hands of the Living God and so verse 15 brings this terrifying scene to completion that is looming on the horizon that is fixed on God's calendar and if anyone's name was not found written in the book of life he was thrown into the lake of fire this fiery hell is forever it will never come to an end and throughout all of the ages and the eons to come those who are cast down into this bottomless pit this lake of fire and brimstone that burns for ever and ever there will never be any relief there will never be any escape but throughout all of the ages to come they will be the object of God's fury and God's vengeance and God's wrath and God's judgment so what should this say to us what should this require of us number one humility if you are a Christian tonight if you have been born again if you know the Lord Jesus Christ he has the son has life he does not have the son does not have life but if you have Christ as we look at this passage every one of us in Christ tonight should say there but for the grace of God I stand there but for the grace of God I am judged there but for the grace of God I am condemned there but for the grace of God I am damned forever the only thing that makes a difference between me and the one who stands here is the unconditional love and the unmerited favor of the Lord Jesus Christ every one of us here tonight deserves to stand at this great white throne judgment every one of us here tonight deserves to be cast down into the lake of fire because we have all sinned and fallen short of the glory of God the fact that we are in Christ tonight that Christ has taken our sins and placed them behind his back that Christ has removed our sins from us as far as the east is from the west that Christ has washed our sins away that Christ has imputed his perfect righteousness to us that we are covered with the blood of the Lord Jesus Christ that our sins will never be brought into account before God how humbly we should walk before our God what Thanksgiving we should offer to the Lord that there is now therefore no condemnation for them who are in Christ Jesus that nothing shall ever separate us from the love of God neither life nor death nor principalities nor powers nor things present nor things to come nothing will ever separate us from the love of God his mercy his forgiveness for us who are in Christ how this should cause us to treasure our eternal salvation in Christ consider the great sin that has been forgiven you consider the great sacrifice that has been offered to take away your sin how we should say with Paul I am what I am by the grace of God every one of us should walk out of this grand meeting room walking lowly before our God in great humility second evangelism as we read this text for each and every one of us there are people all around us who have yet to come to Christ who are outside of the kingdom of God and being outside of the kingdom of God they are already under the wrath of God God's love is restricted exclusively for those who are inside the Lord Jesus Christ and for those who are outside of Christ they are in a fearful place it is incumbent upon each and every one of us to go into the highways and into the byways and to compel them to come to the banquet that has already been prepared by the Lord Jesus Christ what responsibilities we have that we go to our family to our friends to our classmates to those who we work with to those who around us and with a sense of urgency to share with them the love of God in the cross of the Lord Jesus Christ how shall we escape if we neglect so great a salvation you may be the very one that God has placed in their lives to tell them about Christ you may be the only gospel witness to that person how incumbent it is for us to go into all the world and to preach to every creature repentance towards God and faith in our Lord Jesus Christ and finally for those of you who do not know Jesus Christ God has brought you here tonight for this divine appointment for you to hear of what your future holds if you continue to go down this path God has brought you here to speak the truth to you and if you are not yet saved if you have not yet entered through the narrow gate that leads to life I call upon you to come to faith in Jesus Christ to repent of your sin to turn away from the world to forsake your pursuit of sin to come to Christ humble yourself receive His mercy throw yourself upon him and say God be merciful to me the sinner enter through the narrow gate for the way is broad and the gate is wide that leads to destruction and many are those who find it but the gate is small and the way is arrow that leads to life and few are those who find it I call you to leave the broad path turn away from the easy road of sin come to the narrow gate who is Christ that gate is open right now his arms of forgiveness and mercy are extended to you right now in this Gospel message come to Christ believe upon him this moment and receive His mercy and if you do not believe upon Jesus Christ the infallible record of the Word of God says there is coming a final judgment both not yourself of tomorrow for you know not what a day may bring forth come to Christ come to the water of life and drink freely come to Christ and believe upon him or in that final day you will stand before him every knee will bow and every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of God the Father this is serious because this is your life and the eternity that is before you let us pray father in heaven we understand that you have appointed all judgment to your son the Lord Jesus Christ but you have fixed a day in which you will judge the world in righteousness righteousness through a man whom you have raised from the dead Jesus Christ father we understand the perfect justice that will be meted out in that day you are a God of inflexible holiness and righteousness and yet a God of mercy and grace and at this very moment through the gospel of your son you extend forgiveness you extend your saving grace lord I pray that in this great assembly Hall tonight there will be those who will come to their senses who will become sober enough to realize what I've heard tonight is the very truth of the word of God and I cannot put this off any longer how shall I escape if I neglect so great a salvation father would you open eyes to see their need to be saved open ears to hear this Gospel plea may tonight they be saved and father I pray for believers here tonight that there will be a new sense of urgency to reach those around us who know not your son Christ may we go to every length and effort that you would have us to expend to go to the corners of the earth even to preach and to proclaim the glorious gospel of peace in the name of Christ for there is salvation in no other name father so Burris tonight with the realization of heaven and hell' time and eternity salvation and damnation Jesus as Savior and Jesus as judge may these truths grip our soul in our heart tonight in Jesus name we pray amen you

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Keywords: steve, lawson, resolved, john, macarthur, grace, community, church, jonathan, edwards, great, white, judgment, throne

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Length: 64min 31sec (3871 seconds)

Published: Tue Oct 20 2009