Final Judgment – Part 1

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Now, here's today's podcast, From Pathway to Victory. God's Word with you every day on this Bible teaching program. On today's edition of Pathway to Victory, the Bible tells us there is a final judgment coming for all those who don't know Christ. And it's that final judgment that we've come to in our study of the book of Revelation. If you have your Bibles, turn to Revelation chapter 20, beginning with verse seven, as we look at God's final judgment against unbelief. Welcome to Pathway to Victory with author and pastor, Dr. Robert Jeffress. Saint or sinner, rich or poor, none of us escapes this earth alive.

But some people will experience a second death, a fate even more permanent and terrifying than being buried six feet under. Today on Pathway to Victory, Dr. Robert Jeffress describes the ultimate destiny of all who die apart from faith in Jesus Christ. Now, here's our Bible teacher to introduce today's message.

Dr. Jeffress. Thanks, David. And welcome again to Pathway to Victory. I don't know of anything that expands our respect for God's majesty quite like the ocean. I'm sure that's why David referred to the sea in many of his Psalms. Well, this coming May 2025, I want you to join me on the Pathway to Victory Journeys of Paul Mediterranean Cruise. The spectacular beauty, the warm sea breeze, the laughter and fellowship with other believers will restore your soul and create memories for a lifetime. Now, the dates for this exquisite Mediterranean cruise are May 5th through 16th.

Go to ptv.org and take a look at the fabulous vacation we've prepared for you and then reserve your spot while there's still room. Well, this coming Friday marks the conclusion of our study in the Book of Revelation that began October 1st. We've had quite an adventure together, watching the triumphant glory of Jesus unfold right before our very eyes. I'll remind you that I've written a commentary that captures our study in Revelation.

It's called Final Conquest. This book represents a lifetime of personal study, preaching and teaching, and now you can request your copy for your own personal library. When you give a generous gift to support the ministry of Pathway to Victory, I'd be pleased to expedite a copy to your home. Please get in touch right away while there's still time. We're in the final stretch of Revelation, and today we're looking at the 20th chapter.

Turn there with me as I present a sobering message about the final judgment. In 1992, Robert Alton Harris, a man convicted of murder in California, was finally executed. He had spent 14 years on death row before his execution.

Why so long? Well, an endless series of appeals and stays kept the sentence from being executed. The most dramatic stay of that execution actually happened the night that he died.

On Monday evening, the prisoner had his final choice meal, pizza without anchovies, Kentucky Fried Chicken extra crispy, and a Pepsi. He was then taken to the execution room. As the press, his family, and the victim's family looked on from the viewing area, they saw Harris strapped into the gas chamber. At 3.56 a.m., the prison officials begin mixing the acid in which the cyanide pellets would be dropped to produce the lethal fumes. The prisoner looked up one last time at his family as he prepared to die.

Five minutes later, at 4.01 a.m., 60 seconds before the tablet was to be dropped, the telephone rang. The Court of Appeals had granted one more restraining order. The execution was stopped, the prisoner unstrapped, and returned to death row. Finally, a few hours later, the prisoner was executed 14 years after the crime. You know, there are many weaknesses in our judicial system, but perhaps the greatest one is this. There is no such thing as a swift and certain judgment for those who are guilty. The fact is, every prisoner on death row knows that the chance of actually being executed are slim to none.

Most prisoners behind bars know that they probably won't serve out their full sentence. The mistake we make, though, is assuming that God's justice is just as arbitrary as our justice system is. We get the idea that sure, God wished everybody would come to know Christ as Savior. I know God has said those who die without Christ are going to hell, but perhaps just maybe, at the final moment, God will pronounce a pardon for everyone and welcome everyone into heaven.

But God is not like we are. The Bible tells us there is a final judgment coming for all those who don't know Christ without any promise of pardon or parole. And it's that final judgment that we've come to in our study of the book of Revelation. If you have your Bibles, turn to Revelation chapter 20, beginning with verse 7, as we look at God's final judgment against unbelievers. Revelation chapter 20. Let me remind you where we are in our study of Revelation.

Last time, we looked at the first six verses of chapter 20 that describe the millennium, the thousand-year reign of Christ upon the earth. The primary feature of this period known as the millennium is that Satan is going to be bound. He is no longer free like he is now to roam up and down the earth and to deceive believers and unbelievers alike.

He will be bound for a thousand years. And then notice the last phrase of verse 3, after these things, Satan must be released for a short time. Why must Satan be released? I mean, you would think God has him. He's bound him up. He's thrown him in the abyss. Surely, that's the end. No, there's one final rebellion that must take place. But before we get to that, look at verses 4 through 6, because John describes something else we need to understand as well, and that's the concept of the two resurrections.

We talked about this at length last time. But remember, John said there are two resurrections. By the way, that word resurrection in Greek, anastasis, always refers to a physical resurrection of our physical body. The saved are going to have their bodies resurrected and changed so that they can experience God's blessing forever. That's the first resurrection, the resurrection of the saved. But there is a second resurrection, the resurrection of the unsaved that we'll look at in just a moment.

And God raises them up. He gives them a new body, not to experience God's blessing, but to experience God's judgment forever and ever and ever. And that's why the Bible says, Revelation 20, verse 6, blessed is the person who is a part of the first resurrection, the resurrection of the saved, because over him, the second death has no power. We saw last time from 1 Corinthians, chapter 15, that the first resurrection, the resurrection of the saved doesn't happen all at once.

It's four stages throughout history. But the second resurrection, the resurrection of the unsaved, as we'll see in a minute, happens at one time. There's one point in history when all the unsaved will be raised to experience God's judgment. And that's what we come to when we come to verse 7. Before, John describes the final judgment of the unsaved in one of the most terrifying passages of all the Bible.

John describes a curious happening that occurs at the end of the millennium. Look at this in verse 7. And when the thousand years are completed, Satan will be released from prison. In fact, verse 3 says he must be released after the thousand years.

Why? To lead one final rebellion. Look at verse 8. Who are the participants in this rebellion? Satan will come out to deceive the nations which are in the four corners of the earth, Gog and Magog.

To gather them together for the war, the number of them is like the sand of the seashore. Now, the terms Gog and Magog sometimes in the Bible refer to specific nations, but here is just a generic reference showing that there will be people from every nation of the world who will choose to rebel against God. This is the final rebellion of man against God. Now, remember, this happens at the end of the millennium. So the natural question is, who is it at the end of the millennium that would choose to rebel against God and follow Satan?

And here's the disturbing question. Is it possible that you or I, after being saved, after experiencing the rapture, or after being saved during the tribulation and giving our life for the Lord, after going through the thousand-year perfect reign of Christ on earth, is it possible right before the new heaven and new earth you and I could slip, stumble, make a mistake, be deceived by Satan, and spend all eternity in hell? Is that possible?

Thank God it's not possible. John 10, 28, and 29 says, I give eternal life to them Jesus promised, and they shall never perish. No man shall snatch out of my hands those whom the Father has given me. If you have trusted in Christ as your savior, you are saved, you are secure forever, and you have been sealed with the Holy Spirit of God. Well, then who is it, pastor, that could be deceived? After all, you've taught us that only Christians are going to enter into this millennium. So we'll see next time there are judgments at the beginning of the millennium, and only Christians enter into the millennium.

So who is it that can be saved? Well, the answer to that is found when you understand there are two different groups of believers who enter the millennium. One group is going to be people like us who have already received their resurrection bodies.

We received it either at the rapture of the church, or if you're saved during the tribulation and you're martyred, you'll receive it at the second coming of Christ. But there'll be a whole group of us who are in our resurrection bodies. But the second group of people who enter the millennium are those who enter in their natural bodies. These are people who were saved during the tribulation. They weren't martyred. They survived the tribulation with their faith intact and their bodies intact.

God doesn't kill them at the end of the tribulation. They enter the millennium in their natural bodies. And so there'll be two groups. You and I will have our new bodies. We'll have a group of people who have their natural bodies.

You say, now, that's kind of weird. I mean, how could people in their resurrection bodies walk alongside and have fellowship with people in their natural bodies? Well, remember the resurrection of Jesus? After he was raised into his new body, he spent 40 days on earth with his disciples. They fellowshiped together.

They ate together. Jesus had his new body. The disciples had their old bodies. It'll be that way in the millennium.

And it is those Christians in their natural bodies who do what people do in their natural bodies. They get married. They procreate.

They have children. And so there will be people born during the millennium. And it's these people born during that thousand-year period of time will have to face the decision we all face, and that is whether or not to follow God or Satan. And strangely, there will be some people born during the millennium who will actually choose, after experiencing the rule of Christ, the perfect rule of Christ, they will choose to follow Satan in that final rebellion. You say, now, how do you come up with that?

That seems awfully strange. People in two kinds of bodies and some being deceived. Well, understand three things about the millennium. First of all, there will be both birth and death in the millennium.

We know that. Isaiah 65, 20 says, talking about the millennium, no longer will there be in it an infant who lives but a few days. There's not going to be any infant death. There won't be an old man who does not live out his days, for the youth will die at the age of 100, and the one who does not reach the age of 100 will be thought accursed. Now, what is that period of time he's talking about?

It's certainly not now. We have infant death everywhere. Few people live to be 100. He's not talking about heaven because we know there is no birth in heaven. We know that there's no death in heaven.

He's talking about the thousand-year reign of Christ on earth. Second, it's obvious that there's no possibility of reproduction or death among those of us who are resurrected. In Luke 20, verses 35 to 36, Jesus said, but those who are considered worthy to attain to that age and the resurrection from the dead, if you're resurrected, they neither marry nor are given in marriage, for they cannot even die anymore because they are like angels. We're going to be like the angels in our resurrection body.

Now, hear me. We don't become angels. Jesus didn't say that. He didn't say Christians become angels when they die.

Somebody says, oh, poor old Gertrude. We're so sorry she passed away, but heaven has one more angel. No, heaven doesn't have one more angel. Gertrude did not become an angel when she died. There's a set number of angels. They're neither added to. Number of angels never increases.

They never subtract one. There's a fixed number of angels. And the same way for us in our resurrection bodies. There'll be a set number of resurrected believers. There's neither any more added to it or any more who die.

It's fixed, and that's how we are like the angels. And finally, only Christians enter into the millennium. So if you put those three facts together, the only explanation for those who rebel against God are going to be the children of those who are born during the millennium. Verse 9, look at the result of this rebellion.

Verse 9, and they came up on the broad plain of the earth and surrounded the camp of the saints in the beloved city, and fire came down from heaven and devoured them. They are judged in an instant because of their rebellion against God. By the way, the fact of this rebellion at the end of the millennium should dispel forever the myth you hear all the time that if you just will put people in the right environment, they will do the right thing.

Oh, if we can just improve our culture, our environment, surely people will do the right thing. These people will be living during the reign of Christ on earth when there is perfect social justice, and yet they will choose to rebel against God. Some of you are parents right now. Maybe you have a child who's wandered away from God, and you're plagued with guilt about that. If only I had done a better job training my child, maybe he or she would not have turned away from God. Remember this, God was a perfect father. His first two children grew up in a perfect environment, the Garden of Eden, and they both rebelled against God the Father.

Ultimately, we're not responsible for the decisions people make. Everybody has to make their own personal decision of whether they're going to follow God or not. And interestingly, in these final days, there are going to be some who are born during the millennium who will choose to follow Satan. And we see that judgment of the sinners in verse 9. And then notice in verse 10, the judgment of Satan. And the devil who deceived them was thrown into the lake of fire, where the beast and the false prophet are also, and they will be tormented day and night, forever and ever. Now remember, at the beginning of the millennium, when Christ returns to earth, remember what happened? The angel sees the beast and the false prophet, the antichrist and the false prophet, and dropped them into the lake of fire, the eternal place of torment for those who die apart from Christ.

But at that very same time, Satan was taken, and he wasn't put into the lake of fire at that time. He was held into the abyss to be held there for a thousand years. And at the end of the thousand years, he's released. He leads the rebellion.

Then finally, God says, enough. And he takes Satan here, and what does he do? He takes him out of the abyss, and he drops him into the lake of fire. And it says, the same lake of fire where the beast and the false prophet are.

I want you to circle that word, are. You know, some people think, well, hell's bad. It's certainly a terrible place, but if I end up there, I'll be thrown in the lake of fire, burned up, and I won't know the difference.

No. The torment of the lake of fire, hell, is forever and ever. And here's a good proof of that. The beast and the false prophet had been put into the lake of fire a thousand years before this occurs. A thousand years after they have been placed in the lake of fire and Satan is put there, John says, it's the same place where the beast and false prophet are, not where they were.

It's where they are. They continue to live in that lake of fire a thousand years later, and they will be tormented there day and night forever and ever and ever. And as we'll see in a moment, that is going to be the same place where non-Christians spend eternity.

They will be tormented there day and night forever and ever. That word translated forever is the Greek word ionon. It's used 69 times in the Greek New Testament. Sixty-two of those times, the word forever refers to the eternal blessings of those who know Christ as Savior. We will live with Christ forever and ever and ever. But that same word is used seven times to describe the eternal torment of unbelievers.

They will be tormented forever and ever and ever. Same word that describes the fate of the saved and the fate of the unsaved. I was reading this week a sermon by Dr. Criswell when he preached this passage back in 1963. And Dr. Criswell made an observation.

I've not read by any other commentator. He said, because the same word ionon is used to describe the eternity of the saved as the unsaved, they are inseparably linked together. You cannot subtract the amount of time an unbeliever spends in hell without subtracting the same amount of time that believers spend in heaven. You can't be intellectually honest and say, well, I just can't accept that unbelievers are going to spend eternity separated from God and tormented day and night forever and ever.

Surely God will reduce their sentence or surely they will be annihilated. No, if you say that, if you subtract time from their sentence in hell, you have to subtract the same amount of time from our sentence in heaven. The awful, terrible truth about hell is this. When somebody has spent 10 billion trillion years suffering that indescribable torment, after 10 billion trillion years, that occupant of hell will not have reduced by one second the time he has left to spend there.

That is the terrible, awful truth about the lake of fire. There's a reason we don't hear too many sermons on hell. It's a dreadful subject and tragically many people never hear the truth about this eternal destiny apart from God. At Pathway to Victory, we're committed to teaching the whole counsel of God's word, not just the parts we like. Well, you'll be glad to know that the revelation given to John is not all dark and gloomy. The book of Revelation contains a magnificent ending for those who choose to trust in Jesus Christ as their Savior.

In fact, the overarching theme of Revelation is the glorious unveiling of the person of Jesus Christ. I've written a bestselling book on Revelation and although technically it's a commentary, my book is written in a narrative style, making the complex imagery of Revelation easy to understand. I'm pleased to send you a copy of Final Conquest when you give a generous gift to support the growing ministry of Pathway to Victory. As a bonus, I'd also like to send you a booklet I've written called Bible Prophecy Made Simple.

It's only 40 pages in length so it won't take long to read, but my booklet will help you understand major world events like the Tribulation, the Millennium, and the Rapture. So, when you give a generous gift to Pathway to Victory, you're going to receive my commentary, Final Conquest, and the booklet called Bible Prophecy Made Simple. Thank you for investing in Pathway to Victory with your voluntary gifts. We live in fearful times when eternity hangs in the balance. Your support of Pathway to Victory will be used to keep our ministry strong for you, your family, and for listeners and viewers across the country as we awaken our world to the soon return of our Savior and King. David.

Thanks, Dr. Jeffress. Today, when you contact Pathway to Victory with a generous gift, you're invited to request your copy of Final Conquest, a verse-by-verse commentary on the book of Revelation by Dr. Robert Jeffress. Along with the book, you'll also receive the very popular booklet, Bible Prophecy Made Simple. Here's the phone number to call, 866-999-2965, or online, simply go to ptv.org. Now, when you give $75 or more, we'll also include the complete CD and DVD teaching sets for this month's series on the book of Revelation titled Final Conquest. This offer will end soon, so be sure to get in touch with us right away. Again, call 866-999-2965 or go to ptv.org. You could write to us if you'd like, PO Box 223609, Dallas, Texas, 75222.

Again, that's PO Box 223609, Dallas, Texas, 75222. I'm David J. Mullins, inviting you back for Part 2 of the message Final Judgment. That's Wednesday here on Pathway to Victory. Pathway to Victory with Dr. Robert Jeffress comes from the pulpit of the First Baptist Church of Dallas, Texas. You made it to the end of today's podcast from Pathway to Victory, and we're so glad you're here. Pathway to Victory relies on the generosity of loyal listeners like you to make this podcast possible. One of the most impactful ways you can give is by becoming a Pathway partner. Your monthly gift will empower Pathway to Victory to share the gospel of Jesus Christ and help others become rooted more firmly in His Word. To become a Pathway partner, go to ptv.org slash donate or follow the link in our show notes. We hope you've been blessed by today's podcast, from Pathway to Victory.