What is the Great White Throne Judgment?

The judgment described in this scripture forms the conclusion of all God's ways with man. The kingdom of Christ on earth has been brought to a close; all enemies have been put under His feet; the devil himself has received his final doom; and there remain only the wicked and unrepentant dead to be dealt with, before the introduction of the new heaven and the new earth. It is this last session of judgment that John here portrays: "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. And I saw the dead, small and great, stand before God."* (vv. 11, 12.)

Who will appear at this throne? Clearly it is not a judgment of living people such as we find in Matt. 25, where they are separated as sheep from goats, etc. No! the passage plainly states that it is "the dead, great and small," who are found here. It is the dead out of Christ, the unsaved dead, and only they. At this throne everything is done in perfect righteousness and justice, and the judgment is according to works. We must all be before God either in Christ, in all the worth and value of what He has done; or we must have to do with God as unsaved, standing on our own merits. Now to appear in our own merits involves certain condemnation, for our works could not stand the searching light of that day. Moreover, this is not a throne of grace, or sprinkled blood to meet the sinner's need, but of stern unbending judgment and nothing but judgment. The day of grace will have passed away for ever, and the issue for every soul will be final, according to the demands of the righteousness and glory of God. Against the sentence there given there can be no opposition, and from it there is no appeal.

The dead are judged out of those things written in the books. This conveys to us, in a figurative manner, the idea of records of works known to Him who searches all hearts; and these works are not perfect before God. Then the book of life is referred to; but mark, it is not in order to write anyone's name there "Could it be that any of their names were written in that book? No, this could not be, since none of those whose names are inscribed by God Himself in the book of life, appear at this throne. These saved ones had long since been raised from their graves, and had shared with Christ in His reign of a thousand years, and therefore they do not appear at the great white throne at all. And what is the solemn end of it all? It is to be "cast into the lake of fire." It is true that men do not like to hear of this, and Satan is doing all he can at the present time to hide and obliterate the fact; but it is a remarkable thing that we find this very expression, "the lake of fire," three times in this part of Revelation (Rev. 20:14-15, and Rev. 21:8).

Then comes the Great White Throne Judgment of Revelation 20:11-15. Please read these solemn verses. All the dead unsaved of all times are resurrected to stand before God—before the Lord Jesus Christ (John 5:22) who sits on His judgment-throne. White speaks of the absolute purity or righteousness of the justice to be meted out there. There will be neither mercy nor revenge: only justice. Christ is there as the Judge of people, not as their Savior.

The books are opened: an accurate and complete record has been divinely kept of each person. Each person is judged according to his or her works, to determine his or her degree of punishment (Luke 12:48). They have been judged or condemned already as to their persons because they did not believe on the name of the Lord (John 3:18, 36). To prove the truth of this fact, the book of (eternal) life is opened: none are found in it: none have life in Christ. The trial is over.

Rev. 20:11-15. The fourth and last judgment is of the dead. The thousand years will have rolled their course, the millennium will be over, the great white throne will be set up. There will be nothing there but judgment and condemnation. All who stand there will be those who are dead in trespasses and sins — the ungodly — and they will be judged according to their works; and every one will leave the great white throne to go to the lake of fire.

The Great White Throne . This will be the last judgment, the judgment of the dead who have died in their sins, all who stand there have but one judgment; they are shut off from the God whose mercy they had refused and cast into the lake of fire, where the devil is whom they had served (Rev. 20:11-15).

At the close of the millennium, the present earth and heaven flee away before the great White Throne, and Him that sat on it. This is an important point, because it proves that the Lord coming in the clouds of heaven, when every eye shall see Him, when Israel, and all the tribes of the earth, will mourn because of Him, cannot be at this time, but must be pre-millennial, because Israel's restoration and the earth's blessing follow the judgments then executed upon the living. The time we are contemplating, of the great White Throne, seems connected with the created heaven and earth passing away, as if it were to make room for this great Throne and great judgment. Not a word, therefore, is here put forth about the Lord's coming, but about One sitting upon a great White Throne. It is not the throne of grace which we now know, nor the throne of peace which the millennial glory will know, but it is the throne of final and eternal judgment; and although myriads may be brought before it, there shall not be a single case that will not have its special investigation; for we are told that John saw in the vision, that "they were judged every man according to their works." The throne is described as "white" to show its infinite holiness and unsullied purity; and the awful extent and eternal importance of the business it will transact are enough to show why it is called "great." The class judged are "the dead, small and great," and the character of the judgment is according to their works. The Lord Jesus is, doubtless, the Judge; for while we know that God is Judge of all, we are further told that the Father hath committed all judgment unto the Son. From His face the heaven and the earth flee away. His Church will not be before the throne to be judged; for she has already been reigning with Christ a thousand years, and the judgment of her sin and guilt the Saviour bore for her in matchless grace upon the cross. This judgment will be but a continuance of the regal power and authority of Christ; for He will reign till He hath put down all authority and power; and the last enemy which shall be destroyed is death. We expect, therefore, to be associated with Christ, sitting on His throne with Him in this concluding part of His reign and execution of His mighty power. (See 1 Cor. 6:2; Rev. 3:21.) It is, I say, a judgment of men according to works — a final judgment of sinners. They had died Christless, and now they must render an account to Him who is able to judge righteously. And who can stand such a process? "If thou, Lord, shouldst mark iniquities, O Lord, who shall stand?" The hidden things are now made manifest, and the secrets of men's hearts judged by Him from whom no secrets are hid.

Question: Would you explain the difference between the great white throne and the judgment seat of Christ? Well, the time is nearly up, but I can say a few words. It is plain enough from Rev. 20:11-15 that the judgment of the great white throne is the closing act of Christ in His mediatorial kingdom, and that those judged before the great white throne are the dead only. You have only to read the verses to be satisfied about this. The word translated in 2 Corinthians 5:10, "judgment seat" is not "throne," but "Bema," in the original Greek, which signifies a tribunal. The apostle Paul speaks of the Lord, the righteous judge, giving him a crown of righteousness, and not to him only, but to all them also who love His appearing. We have already seen that the saints are caught up to meet the Lord, and will be changed in an instant when He descends into the air: and it is plain that their places in the Kingdom must be settled according to righteousness, before they come out with Him after the Marriage Supper of the Lamb, in Revelation 19. So that the important difference between the great white throne and the saints appearing before the judgment seat of Christ is, that the former is a judgment of the dead as to their persons, by their works, and the penal consequence is eternal perdition. The latter is not a judgment of the persons of believers for they will be there in glorified bodies like Christ, and there can be no penal consequences, for Christ has borne all their sins, and all the penal consequences attaching to them. But there will be righteous awards for the things done in the body. Not a cup of cold water given in the name of a disciple will lose its reward. All that has been of Christ will be owned by Him, and for all that has been of the flesh we shall suffer loss. All will not have the same place in the Kingdom, though all will be like Christ in glory, as the result of sovereign love and grace and the work of Christ. But each Christian lives his own individual life and is responsible for his own acts and each will be rewarded according to his own deeds. The poor widow who put her two mites into the treasury will get her reward, and the martyrs who were burnt at the stake will get theirs. Good works ought to characterise Christians, though love should be the motive and spring of everything done to Christ or His people, yet the knowledge of His recognition of all service to Himself in His day acts as an encouragement and a stimulant in this heartless and selfish world. Look at the various promises of reward to encourage the Lord's people in the addresses to the Churches in Rev. 3 and 4. But we must never confound the good deeds of the saints with what people often call "good works," as if it were possible for unconverted persons to please God in one single thing. "They that are in the flesh cannot please God." "Without faith it is impossible to please him." But when truly converted to God and sealed by the Spirit, "the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, long-suffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, temperance," "and they that are Christ's have crucified the flesh with the affections and lusts." A person who thinks he can have any part in saving himself will be damned, for Christ must have all the glory of saving the sinner and bringing us into glory.

— “From whose face the earth and the Heaven fled.” One could readily imagine that the present scene,‎ so marred and wrecked, would at once disappear before the glory and majesty of such a One, but that is not what is seen here. It is the earth and the Heaven constituted by the Lord Himself as spheres to display His glory and righteousness that cannot abide the glory of His face. The millennial scene, both in its higher and lower departments,‎ is at the best an imperfect condition. “The earth and Heaven fled” — not passed out of existence, not annihilated.‎ The next clause carefully guards against any such unscriptural deduction — “place was not found for them.”‎ It does not intimate the complete disappearance of the millennial earth and Heaven. Consequent upon the removal of these, new heavens and a new earth fitted, furnished, and constituted for eternity take their place — are made, not created* (Isa. 66:22; 2 Peter 3:13). Between the passing away of the millennial scene and the introduction of the eternal worlds, material in both cases, the great white throne is set up. This consideration imparts profound solemnity to the scene before us. For the throne is not set on the earth, nor in relation to its dispensations and times. It is a scene outside human history entirely. We have passed out of time into eternity. The judgment therefore of the throne is final, and in its very nature eternal.‎ We are in God’s eternity. There can be no measures of time nor limitations bounded by the globe, for that by which all is measured and limited has passed away. The judgment is of persons in their individual relation to God, and is consequently final and eternal.‎

All the vast multitude of the unregenerate dead, from the earliest ages down to the termination of the kingdom of Christ on earth, will be raised by the mighty power of God, and be brought before the great white throne to receive the award of their eternal doom. And to show that not one sinner who has ever passed away, wherever he may have died, shall escape, it is added in verse 13, "And the sea gave up the dead which were in it; and death and hell [hades] delivered up the dead which were in them." At the mighty voice of the Son of God, just as the fish came at his bidding into the nets of His disciples, and Lazarus came out of his tomb, so will all this countless throng "come forth" out of their graves, or from their last resting-places, unto the resurrection of judgment. (John 5:28-29.)

We have, in the next place, the principles of the judgment: "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." (v. 12.) Again we read, "And they were judged every man according to their works." (v. 13.) The first ground of judgment then is the actual works, the deeds of every soul while living on the earth. And, let it be remarked, that positive evidence as to these is adduced from the "things which were written in the books." All the "works" of men are therefore recorded, and recorded by Him, before whose omniscient eye the nature of every action is revealed. Deeds long since forgotten, sins which, apparently trivial in human estimation, have faded away from the memory, all will be produced as the ground of condemnation. Not only so; but the book of life will also be opened, and if the names of those arraigned before this solemn tribunal are not found in it (v. 15) the sentence is passed, and the judgment executed. There are thus two kinds of evidence — positive and negative, both condemnatory, and both alike precluding all ground of appeal.

And be it remembered that "every man will be judged according to his works." The solemn session of the judgment referred to in Revelation 20 will not be an indiscriminate act. Let none suppose this. There are "books" — rolls — records. "Every man" will be judged. How? "According to his works. Nothing can be more precise and specific. Each one has committed his own sins, and for them he will be judged and punished everlastingly. We are aware that many cherish the notion that people will only be judged for rejecting the gospel. It is a fatal mistake. Scripture teaches the direct contrary. It declares that people will be judged according to their works. What are we to learn from the "many stripes" and the "few stripes" of Luke 12? What is the force of the words "more tolerable" in Matthew 11? Are we not plainly taught by these words that there will be a difference in the degrees of judgment and punishment? And does not the apostle most distinctly teach us in Ephesians 4 and Colossians 3 that the wrath of God comes upon the children of disobedience (or unbelief) "because of" certain sins against which he solemnly warns the saints?

No doubt the rejection of the gospel leaves people on the ground of judgment, just as the true belief of the gospel takes people off that ground. But the judgment will be, in every case, according to a man's works. Are we to suppose that the poor ignorant savage, who has lived and died amid the gloomy shades of heathen darkness, will be found in the same "book," or punished with the same severity as a man who has lived and died in the total rejection of the full blaze of gospel light and privilege? Not for a moment, so long as the words "more tolerable" stand on the page of inspiration. The savage will be judged according to his works, and the baptised sinner will be judged according to his works, but assuredly it will be more tolerable for the former than the latter. God knows how to deal with people. He can discriminate, and He declares that He will give to each according to his works.