The Dead are Judged (Revelation 20:11-15)

Revelation of Jesus Christ and the Voice of Prophecy

OPEN IT

1. What is one time you remember getting in trouble as a child?

EXPLORE IT

2. What vision begins this portion of John’s revelation? (Rev.20:11)

3. How will creation react to the “great white throne” judgment? (Rev.20:11)

4. What will be the effect of God’s presence on “Earth and sky” at the great white throne judgment? (Rev.20:11)

5. Where will the final judgment of all people take place? (Rev.20:11-12)

6. Who will be involved in the final judgment? (Rev.20:12)

7. What records will be used to judge everyone? (Rev.20:12)

8. How does God keep track of what people do in this life? (Rev.20:12)

9. On what basis will people be judged at the end of time? (Rev.20:12-13)

10. From what diverse places will the dead assemble for this judgment? (Rev.20:13)

11. What will happen to death and Hades? (Rev.20:14)

12. How did John describe the lake of fire? (Rev.20:14)

13. What will hell be like? (Rev.20:14)

14. What will happen to those whose names are not found in the book of life? (Rev.20:15)

15. Who will be thrown into the lake of fire? (Rev.20:15)

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16. What is the value in knowing that we will be judged for the way we live

17. How should the certainty of future judgment affect the way we live?

APPLY IT

18. What can you do to remind yourself of the reality of a future judgment?

 

Commentary

This passage describes the final sentencing of the lost and is the most serious, sobering, and tragic passage in the entire Bible. Commonly known as the Great White Throne judgment, it is the last courtroom scene that will ever take place. After this there will never again be a trial, and God will never again need to act as judge. The accused, all the unsaved who have ever lived, will be resurrected to experience a trial like no other that has ever been. There will be no debate over their guilt or innocence. There will be a prosecutor, but no defender, an accuser, but no advocate. There will be an indictment, but no defense mounted by the accused; the convicting evidence will be presented with no rebuttal or cross-examination. There will be an utterly unsympathetic Judge and no jury, and there will be no appeal of the sentence He pronounces. The guilty will be punished eternally with no possibility of parole in a prison from which there is no escape.

No one at the Great White Throne judgment will have the slightest grounds for complaint about his or her sentence. Those who reject God’s grace and mercy in this life will inevitably face His justice in the life to come. God said of wayward Israel, “My people did not listen to My voice, and Israel did not obey Me” (Ps. 81:11). To their equally stiff-necked descendants Jesus declared, “You are unwilling to come to Me so that you may have life” (John 5:40) and “You will die in your sins; for unless you believe that I am He, you will die in your sins” (John 8:24). Unrepentant sinners will experience God’s justice at the Great White Throne judgment.

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, (Rev.20:11-12 a)

In one brief, straightforward, unembellished statement, John describes the appalling, terrifying scene before him. The apostle is shown the Judge seated on His throne of judgment, and all the accused standing before Him. The familiar phrase kai eidon once again introduces a new vision in Revelation (vv. 1, 4; 6:1; 7:2; 8:2; 10:1; 13:1, 11; 14:1, 6, 14; 15:1; 17:3; 19:11; 21:1).

This vision of the Great White Throne judgment follows those of the Millennium (Rev.20:1-10), and the Second Coming (Rev.19:11-21), and immediately precedes that of the new heaven and the new earth (Rev.21:1ff.).

The first thing John saw was a great white throne. Nearly fifty times in Revelation there is the mention of a throne. In this case it is the seat of God’s sovereign rule (Rev.4:2-6, 9; 5:1-7, 13; 6:16; 7:10, 15; 19:4; 21:5). It is called great not only because of its size as greater than the thrones mentioned in Rev.20:4, but also because of its significance, majesty, and authority. That it is white symbolizes its purity, holiness, and justice. The verdict handed down from this throne will be absolutely equitable, righteous, and just. “The Lord abides forever,” wrote David, “He has established His throne for judgment, and He will judge the world in righteousness; He will execute judgment for the peoples with equity” (Ps. 9:7-8). 

Though the Father and the Son share the throne, it is the Son who is uniquely in view here, since Scripture teaches that He will judge sinners. In John 5:22 Jesus said, “Not even the Father judges anyone, but He has given all judgment to the Son,” while in verses (Rev.21:26-27 He added, “Just as the Father has life in Himself, even so He gave to the Son also to have life in Himself; and He gave Him authority to execute judgment, because He is the Son of Man.” In Acts 10:42 Peter declared that Jesus “is the One who has been appointed by God as Judge of the living and the dead.” The apostle Paul warned the pagan philosophers of Athens that God “has fixed a day 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” (Acts 17:31). In Romans he wrote of “the day when, according to my gospel, God will judge the secrets of men through Christ Jesus” (Rom. 2:16), while to Timothy he noted that “Christ Jesus … is to judge the living and the dead” (2 Tim. 4:1). It is God in the Person of the glorified Lord Jesus Christ who will sit in final judgment on unbelievers.

After describing the vision of the Judge on His throne, John noted the startling reality that from His presence earth and heaven fled away. That amazing, incredible statement describes the “uncreation” of the universe. The earth will have been reshaped by the devastating judgments of the Tribulation and restored during the millennial kingdom. Yet it will still be tainted with sin and subject to the effects of the Fall—decay and death; hence it must be destroyed, since nothing corrupted by sin will be permitted to exist in the eternal state (2 Pet. 3:13). God will in its place create “a new heaven and a new earth; for the first heaven and the first earth passed away” (21:1; 21:5; Isa. 65:17; 66:22; 2 Pet. 3:13). The present earth and heaven will not merely be moved or reshaped, since John saw in his vision that no place was found for them. They will be uncreated and go totally out of existence. This is nothing less than the sudden, violent termination of the universe (Ps. 102:25-26; Isa. 51:6; Matt. 5:18; 24:35; Luke 16:17; 21:33; Heb. 1:10-12; 12:26-27).

  The dead pictured here standing before the throne of divine judgment are not just from the millennial rebellion but include all the unbelievers who ever lived. This is the “resurrection of judgment” (John 5:29), the resurrection “to disgrace and everlasting contempt” (Dan. 12:2), the “resurrection of … the wicked” (Acts 24:15). The Bible teaches that no believer will ever face God’s judgment, because “there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus” (Rom. 8:1). Everyone “who believes in Him is not judged” (John 3:18); they have “eternal life, and [do] not come into judgment, but [have] passed out of death into life” (John 5:24). Far from being judged, all the godly participants in the first resurrection (20:6) will have already received their rewards (v. 4; 19:7-9; 1 Cor. 3:12-15; 2 Cor. 5:10).

To emphasize the all-encompassing scope of the judgment, John notes that the sweeping mass of unbelievers before God’s throne includes both the great and the small. All will face judgment, the somebodies, and the nobodies, “for there is no partiality with God” (Rom. 2:11; Deut. 10:17; Job 34:19; Eph. 6:9; Col. 3:25; 1 Pet. 1:17). 

And the sea gave up the dead which were in it, and death and Hades gave up the dead which were in them; (Rev.20:13a)

As the next scene in this ultimate courtroom drama unfolds, the prisoners are summoned from their cells to appear before the Judge. Since their deaths, their souls have been tormented in a place of punishment; now the time has come for them to be sentenced to the final, eternal hell. Before the sea was uncreated and went out of existence (Rev.21:1), it gave up the dead which were in it. The sea may be singled out because it is seemingly the most difficult place from which bodies could be resurrected. But God will summon from its depths new bodies for all who perished in the sea throughout human history, including those who drowned in the Flood, those who went down with the Titanic, the Lusitania, the Arizona, and the countless other ships that have sunk, as well as all the millions of other people who met their end at sea. Death symbolizes all the places on land from which God will resurrect new bodies for the unrighteous dead. The sea and death are pictured as voracious monsters that have swallowed those bodies and will be forced to disgorge them before their uncreation.

Hades is the Greek equivalent of the Hebrew word sheol. Both words describe the realm of the dead. Sheol, used sixty-seven times in the Old Testament, describes the realm of the dead in general. Hades is used ten times in the New Testament, always about the place of punishment (Luke 16:23) where the unrighteous dead are kept pending their sentencing to hell. In this incredible scene, Hades is emptied of its captive spirits, who are reunited with resurrection bodies before the bar of God’s justice. Unbelievers, fitted with resurrection bodies suited for hell, will then be ready for their sentencing to the lake of fire where their punishment, unlike that in Hades, will last forever.

And 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 they were judged, every one of them according to their deeds. Rev.20:12b, 13b)

The books contain the record of every thought, word, and deed of every unsaved person who ever lived. God has kept perfect, accurate, and comprehensive records of every person’s life, and the dead will be judged from the things which were written in the books, according to their deeds. Sinners’ deeds will be measured against God’s perfect, holy standard, which Jesus defined in Matthew 5:48: “Therefore you are to be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect.” In his first epistle Peter wrote, “Like the Holy One who called you, be holy yourselves also in all your behavior; because it is written, ‘You shall be holy, for I am holy’” (1 Pet. 1:15-16). To the Galatians Paul wrote, “For as many as are of the works of the Law are under a curse; for it is written, ‘Cursed is everyone who does not abide by all things written in the book of the law, to perform them’” (Gal. 3:10)—a truth also taught by James: “For whoever keeps the whole law and yet stumbles in one point, he has become guilty of all” (James 2:10).

God’s justice demands payment for every person’s sins. Christ paid that penalty for believers: “He was pierced through for our transgressions, He was crushed for our iniquities; the chastening for our well-being fell upon Him, and by His scourging we are healed. All of us like sheep have gone astray, each of us has turned to his own way; but the Lord has caused the iniquity of us all to fall on Him” (Isa. 53:5-6). “Christ redeemed us from the curse of the Law, having become a curse for us—for it is written, ‘Cursed is everyone who hangs on a tree’” (Gal. 3:13). God “made Him who knew no sin to be sin on our behalf, so that we might become the righteousness of God in Him” (2 Cor. 5:21). “[Christ] Himself bore our sins in His body on the cross, so that we might die to sin and live to righteousness” (1 Pet. 2:24). But unbelievers, not having Christ’s righteousness imputed to them (Phil. 3:9), will themselves pay the penalty for violating God’s law—eternal destruction in hell (2 Thess. 1:9).

God’s judgment of impenitent, unbelieving sinners’ evil deeds will include their thoughts. “God … knows the secrets of the heart” (Ps. 44:21), and He “will judge the secrets of men through Christ Jesus” (Rom. 2:16), “For nothing is hidden that will not become evident, nor anything secret that will not be known and come to light” (Luke 8:17). Sinners will also be judged for their words. Jesus said in Matthew 12:37, “For by your words you will be justified, and by your words you will be condemned.” Finally, unbelievers will be judged for their actions: “God will bring every act to judgment, everything which is hidden, whether it is good or evil” (Eccl. 12:14); “The Son of Man is going to come in the glory of His Father with His angels, and will then repay every man according to his deeds” (Matt. 16:27). Nor will anyone be able to claim ignorance of God’s standards, because both creation (Rom. 1:20) and the conscience (Rom. 2:14-15) reveal God’s righteousness. Those without knowledge of God’s law will be judged based on the knowledge they did have (Rom. 2:12).

The absolute, unerring accuracy of God’s judgment will ensure that unbelievers’ punishment in hell fits their iniquity. Each person’s life will be individually evaluated, and each person’s punishment will be consistent with that evaluation. Thus, Scripture teaches that there will be varying degrees of punishment in hell. When He sent the twelve out on a preaching tour Jesus told them, “Whoever does not receive you, nor heed your words, as you go out of that house or that city, shake the dust off your feet. Truly I say to you, it will be more tolerable for the land of Sodom and Gomorrah in the day of judgment than for that city” (Matt. 10:14-15). 

Rebuking several cities for their unbelief, Jesus declared: “Woe to you, Chorazin! Woe to you, Bethsaida! For if the miracles had occurred in 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. And you, Capernaum, will not be exalted to heaven, will you? You will descend to Hades; for if the miracles had occurred in Sodom which occurred in you, it would have remained to this day. Nevertheless, I say to you that it will be more tolerable for the land of Sodom in the day of judgment, than for you.” (Matt. 11:21-24)

The hypocritical scribes “who like to walk around in long robes, and like respectful greetings in the market places, and chief seats in the synagogues and places of honor at banquets, who devour widows’ houses, and for appearance’s sake offer long prayers; these will receive greater condemnation” (Mark 12:38-40). Describing the final judgment in the parable of the faithful steward, Jesus taught that “[the] slave who knew his master’s will and did not get ready or act in accord with his will, will receive many lashes, but the one who did not know it, and committed deeds worthy of a flogging, will receive but few” (Luke 12:47-48). The writer of Hebrews asks, “How much severer punishment do you think he will deserve who has trampled underfoot the Son of God, and has regarded as unclean the blood of the covenant by which he was sanctified, and has insulted the Spirit of grace?” (Heb. 10:29).

It should be noted that while there are varying degrees of punishment in hell, everyone there will suffer intolerable, indescribable misery and torment. All sinners in hell will be utterly separated from God and all that comes from His goodness. Thus, they will be miserable, but not equally miserable.

After the books containing the prisoners’ evil deeds were opened, another book was opened, which is the book of life. This book’s imagery corresponds to the registry of citizens kept by ancient cities; it contains the names of all those whose “citizenship is in heaven” (Phil. 3:20). It is referred to several times in Revelation (v. 15; 3:5; 13:8; 17:8; 21:27). The book of life is the record of God’s elect (Dan. 12:1; Mal. 3:16; Luke 10:20; Phil. 4:3; Heb. 12:23), and all whose names are not recorded in it will be eternally damned.

Since their names were not in the book of life, the prisoners before the Great White Throne were judged, every one of them according to their deeds. Some, in shock and horror, will protest, “Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in Your name, and in Your name cast out demons, and in Your name perform many miracles?” (Matt. 7:22). But they will hear in reply the most chilling, terrifying words that any human will ever hear: “I never knew you; depart from me, you who practice lawlessness” (Matt. 7:23). Those who refuse to plead guilty to their sins in this world, repent, and ask God for a pardon based on the substitutionary work of Christ will face trial after they die. And on that day, they will be pronounced guilty.

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. (20:14-15)

The evidence is irrefutable, the verdict rendered; judgment will be swiftly carried out. As the sentence is passed, death and Hades (the grave, and the temporary place of punishment for everyone whose name was not found written in the book of life) were thrown into the lake of fire, meaning that they will go out of existence, swallowed up by the final hell. Their inmates, currently suffering in their spirits only, will be united with specially designed resurrection bodies and cast into eternal hell (Matt. 10:28). That final hell, described as the lake of fire, may already exist (Matt. 25:41), but if so, it is currently unoccupied. Its first two occupants, the beast, and the false prophet, will not arrive until the end of the Tribulation (19:20).

The clearest and most vivid of the New Testament terms used to describe the final hell, the lake of fire, is geenna (Gehenna). Gehenna is the New Testament word for the valley of Ben-Hinnom (also called Topheth; 2 Kings 23:10; Isa. 30:33; Jer. 7:31-32; 19:6), located southwest of Jerusalem. In Old Testament times, idolatrous Israelites burned their children in the fire there as sacrifices to false gods (Jer. 19:2-6). In Jesus’ day, it was the site of Jerusalem’s garbage dump. The fires kept constantly burning there gave off foul-smelling smoke, and the dump was infested with maggots. Sometimes the bodies of criminals were dumped there. The valley of Ben-Hinnom was thus an apt picture of eternal hell, one used repeatedly by Jesus (Matt. 5:22, 29, 30; 10:28; 18:9; 23:15, 33; Mark 9:43, 45, 47; Luke 12:5). Hell will be God’s eternal cosmic dump; its inmates will be burning as garbage forever.

The blessed and holy participants in the first resurrection will not experience the second death (20:6). But the rest of the dead, who did not participate in the first resurrection (20:5), will face the second death, which is defined here as the lake of fire. Those who die in their sins in this present world of time and space will die a second death in eternity—they will be sentenced to the lake of fire forever.

Scripture vividly portrays the various aspects of the final, fiery hell. Fire is used more than twenty times in the New Testament to depict the torment of hell (vv. 10, 15; 14:10; 19:20; 21:8; Matt. 3:10-12; 5:22; 7:19; 13:40, 42, 50; 18:8-9; 25:41; Mark 9:44; Luke 3:9, 16-17; John 15:6; Heb. 10:27; Jude 7). Whether the fire of hell is literal, physical fire is unknown since the lake of fire exists outside the created universe as we know it. If the fire here is symbolic, the reality it represents will be even more horrifying and painful. The Bible also depicts hell as a place of total darkness, which will isolate its inmates from each other (Matt. 8:12; 22:13; 25:30; 2 Pet. 2:17; Jude 13); as a place where the worm (possibly emblematic of an accusing conscience) devouring the wicked will never die (Isa. 66:24; Mark 9:48); as a place of banishment from God’s kingdom (Matt. 8:12; 22:13); and as a place of unending sorrow, where there is “weeping and gnashing of teeth” (Matt. 8:12; 13:42, 50; 22:13; 24:51; 25:30; Luke 13:28).

There is only one way to avoid the terrifying reality of hell. Those who confess their sins and ask God to forgive them based on Christ’s substitutionary death on their behalf will be delivered from God’s eternal wrath (Rom. 5:9; 1 Thess. 1:10; 5:9). For those who refuse to repent, the somber warning expressed by the writer of Hebrews will apply: For if we go on sinning willfully after receiving the knowledge of the truth, there no longer remains a sacrifice for sins, but a terrifying expectation of judgment and the fury of a fire which will consume the adversaries. Anyone who has set aside the Law of Moses dies without mercy on the testimony of two or three witnesses. How much severer punishment do you think he will deserve who has trampled underfoot the Son of God, and has regarded as unclean the blood of the covenant by which he was sanctified, and has insulted the Spirit of grace? For we know Him who said, “Vengeance is mine, I will repay.” And again, “The Lord will judge His people.” It is a terrifying thing to fall into the hands of the living God. (Heb. 10:26-31)

Hell

Hell is the place of eternal judgment (Matt. 5:29; Luke 12:5; 16:23). Further, it is the only place of eternal torment, as opposed to the extra-scriptural idea of purgatory (1 Cor. 3:12-14; 2 Cor. 5:6, 8; Phil. 1:23; Heb. 1:3; 1 John 1:7). Scripture readily affirms the existence of hell (Matt. 23:33; Luke 16:19-31; 2 Peter 2:3-4) and notes that it is the place where the bodies and souls of men are afflicted. Hell has many names that underline its nature. It is described as an unquenchable fire (Luke 3:17), a furnace of fire (Matt. 13:42; Dan. 3:21-22), a lake of fire (Rev. 19:20), eternal fire (Jude 7), outer darkness (Matt. 22:13), the blackness of darkness forever (Jude 13), and chains of darkness (2 Peter 2:4).

Some object to preaching and teaching on the doctrine of hell, supposing that its teaching is the antithesis of the New Testament emphasis on Christ’s message of the gospel. However, all protest is laid aside when it is noted that the doctrine of hell is more clearly set forth in the New Testament than in the Old and that, further, it is found most often on the lips of Christ Himself. Furthermore, an understanding of the continual torment of body and soul in hell is meant to startle the drowsy consciences of those unbelievers yet living (Matt. 10:28; 2 Cor. 5:11). Instilling a biblical fear of hell is therefore necessary and useful.

Two realities demand this awful judgment for the unbeliever. First, hell is necessary because of the filthiness of sin against the infinite and holy God. It is mandatory that a proportionate punishment be executed according to God’s justice. Second, hell is required because Christ did not satisfy the justice of God for the wicked, who must themselves bear the full wrath of God in hell. This tormenting wrath of God in hell has two qualities. First, the judgment is an eternal deprivation. The presence of God (Matt. 25:41); the company of saints and angels (Matt. 22:13; 24:41); the blessedness of heaven (Luke 16:23); the mercy of God and Christ, and the godly with them (Prov. 1:26); and all hope for recovery forever (Matt. 3:12; 25:46; 2 Thess. 1:9; Jude 7; Isa. 33:14; 66:24; Luke 12:59)—all are shut out by the gates of hell. Through eternity the ungodly become increasingly more and more impoverished in hell. 

Second, there is a multitude of ways in which the damned are made more miserable as the wrath of the holy God is exercised in its fullest degree. This suffering is eternally augmented by: the universality of torments affecting the wicked in body and soul; the extremity of torments that can neither be quenched nor tolerated; the continuity of torments, having no cessation or intermission; the society of torments, those with whom the wicked suffer; the quality of torments, a misery devoid of all comfort and pleasure; the cruelty of torments at the hands of the Devil and his demons; and the eternity of torments that will forever be heaped upon the wicked. 

At these things, the unbeliever ought to fear and tremble so that he might be brought to repent and believe. Further, all men—and believers in particular—are thereby called to forsake the sins that lead to hell (Matt. 10:22-23; 23:14-15; Mark 12:40; Luke 12:47-48; Rom. 2:5; Heb. 13:4; 2 Peter 2:9-10). A glimpse of hell could only produce the desertion of all ungodliness. Additionally, the doctrine of hell brings the believer’s heart to rest more sweetly in the glories of heaven. When the bitterness of hell is recognized, the joys of heaven become of even greater value.

Heaven

Heaven is the dwelling place of God and the seat of His kingdom, high above all the kingdoms of this world (1 Kings 8:30; Isa. 66:1; Matt. 25:34; Acts 14:22; 2 Cor. 12:2). It is the place of His glorious presence forever and the eternal home of believers. Heaven is both privative and positive—the former, as a place free from all misery; the latter, as a place where all divine blessings are savored. Heaven is a paradise (Luke 23:43); an eternal habitation (Luke 16:9; John 14:2; 2 Cor. 5:1); a city to come (Heb. 13:14); a glorious inheritance (Col. 1:12); a place of joy (Ps. 16:11); and, above all else, a world of love. 

The triune God, the fountain of love (1 John 4:8), renders heaven a world of love. There dwells God the Father, the Father of love, who so loved the world as to sacrifice His only begotten Son. There dwells Christ, the Prince of love, who so loved the world that He shed His blood and poured out His soul unto death for men. There dwells the Holy Spirit, the Spirit of divine love, in whom the very essence of God, as it were, flows out and is breathed forth in love, and by whose immediate influence all holy love is shed abroad in the hearts of all the saints. In heaven this infinite fountain of love—this eternal Three in One—is opened without any obstacle to hinder its access, flowing forever in beams as light from the sun. 

God’s heavenly love is lavished upon lovely objects. Heaven is where love is not confined, for it flows out in innumerable streams toward all the saints and angels of glory. There is no odious, unlovely, or polluted person or thing to be seen there (Rev. 21:27). Nothing will offend even the most refined taste or the gentlest eye. The Father of the family is lovely, and so are all His children; the Head of the body is lovely, and so are all the members.

Christ loves all His saints in heaven. His love flows out to His whole church and to every individual member of it. Truly, heaven is not heaven without Christ. He is the very heaven of heaven. Moreover, the saints themselves not only will receive this love of Christ but will themselves love. They will love God for His own sake and each other for God’s sake. In heaven there will be no remaining enmity, distaste, coldness, or deadness of heart toward God and Christ. As the saints will love God with inconceivable fervor and to the utmost of their capacity, so they will know that He has loved them from all eternity, still loves them, and will continue to love them forever. 

The saints will love each other. There will be nothing external in heaven to keep its inhabitants at a distance from each other or to hinder their most perfect enjoyment of each other’s love. In heaven all will be united in close and intimate relationships. They will all be as brothers, for all will be one society, or rather one family, and all members of the household of God. There will be the infant, who lived only a few days, whom we have lost below, through grace to be found above; there will be the Christian father, mother, wife, child, and friend with whom we will renew the holy fellowship of the saints.

What a haven of rest to enter, after having passed through the storms and tempests of this world, in which pride, selfishness, envy, malice, scorn, contempt, contention, and vice are as waves of a restless ocean, always rolling and often dashed about in violence and fury. There “they shall hunger no more, neither thirst anymore; neither shall the sun light on them, nor any heat. For the Lamb, which is amid the throne shall feed them, and lead them to living fountains of waters, and God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes” (Rev. 7:16-17). May the believer long earnestly for this eternal state of blessedness, where he shall see his Redeemer with his very eyes, and see no other, for Christ will be all-consuming for him. 

THINK ABOUT THIS: Judgment day will demonstrate the truth of the statement, “By their fruits ye shall know them” (Matt. 7:20).What do your works, considered as a whole, say about who you are? Do they certify that you are a genuine believer in Christ, saved by His blood?