Subject: The wicked dead

Time: Close of the thousand year reign of Christ on Earth, during the renovation of the earth by fire

Place: Before the Great White Throne, possibly just outside the gates of Heaven, for Revelation tells us that the wicked will be outside the gates

Basis or reason: Works

In the judgment of rewards we learned of the good works that will be judged and rewarded; now we learn about the judgment of the works of the wicked dead.

Contrast the judgment of the nations, the fourth major judgment, with this fifth judgment of the wicked dead:

1. No resurrection in the judgment of nations; but the Great White Throne Judgment will involve a resurrection of the wicked dead.
2. Living nations will be judged in the judgment of nations; resurrected dead will be judged in the Great White Throne Judgment.
3. The judgment of nations will take place on Earth; the Great White Throne Judgment in Heaven.
4. For the judgment of nations, no books will be involved. The Great White Throne Judgment will see the opening of books.
5. Three groups of people will be involved in the judgment of the nations: sheep nations, goat nations and their treatment of the brethren Jews. Only one group will be judged in the Great White Throne Judgment, the wicked dead.
6. The judgment of nations will take place just before the thousand year reign of Christ; the Great White Throne Judgment just after the close of the thousand year reign.
7. Christ will judge the nations. God the Father will judge the wicked dead, for by this time, Christ will have completed His mission. Then cometh the end, when he [Christ] shall have delivered up the kingdom to God, even the Father; when he shall have put down all rule and all authority and power. For he must reign, till he hath put all enemies under his feet. The last enemy that shall be destroyed is death. For he hath put all things under his feet. But when he saith all things are put under him, it is manifest that he is excepted, which did put all things under him. And when all things shall be subdued unto him, then shall the Son also himself be subject unto him that put all things under him, that God may be all in all (I Corinthians 15:24-28).

Satan Bound a Thousand Years

What a judgment this Great White Throne Judgment will be! To put things in perspective, let’s backtrack from that time to when Lucifer will be thrown into the bottomless pit. And I saw an angel come down from heaven, having the key of the bottomless pit and a great chain in his hand. And he laid hold on the dragon, that old serpent, which is the Devil, and Satan, and bound him a thousand years, And cast him into the bottomless pit, and shut him up, and set a seal upon him, that he should deceive the nations no more, till the thousand years should be fulfilled: and after that he must be loosed a little season (Revelation 20:1-3). While Satan is bound a thousand years in the bottomless pit, the earth will flourish in the Perfect Age. The sheep nations will enter the Perfect Age because they were kind to the Jewish brethren. However, even in the Perfect Age some people of those sheep nations will be disobedient to God. Serving God only because they’re forced to, they will not be converted; they were never saved. The only reason they were allowed into the Perfect Age was that they were good to the Jews. Being good to the Jews is not a qualification for Heaven. The Bible makes no reference to salvation offered during that period of time.

And when the thousand years are expired, Satan shall be loosed out of his prison, And shall go out to deceive the nations which are in the four quarters of the earth, Gog and Magog, to gather them together to battle: the number of whom is as the sand of the sea (Revelation 20:7,8). After a thousand years when the devil comes out of the pit, he will have no trouble gathering the rebellious together. Come with me, he persuades. Here I am. I’m free. Obviously I have all power. Don’t be a loser; come over to my side. We’ll destroy this Jesus who has been punishing you for a thousand years by making you worship Him while I was shut up. The unsaved of the sheep nations will gather around that great holy city of Jerusalem. But Jesus will be there to call fire down from Heaven to destroy them. And they went up on the breadth of the earth, and compassed the camp of the saints about, and the beloved city: and fire came down from God out of heaven, and devoured them (verse 9).

Two Resurrections

Two resurrections are spoken of by Daniel: And many of them that sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake, some to everlasting life, and some to shame and everlasting contempt (Daniel 12:2). In the resurrection of the righteous, the righteous will awake to everlasting life with the Lord. And I saw thrones, and they sat upon them, and judgment was given unto them: and I saw the souls of them that were beheaded for the witness of Jesus, and for the word of God, and which had not worshipped the beast, neither his image, neither had received his mark upon their foreheads, or in their hands; and they lived and reigned with Christ a thousand years…This is the first resurrection (Revelation 20:4,5).

Then at the end of the thousand year Perfect Age, the wicked dead will awake to shame and everlasting contempt, and there is nothing they can do about it—the resurrection of the wicked. But the rest of the dead lived not again until the thousand years were finished…death and hell delivered up the dead which were in them: and they were judged every man according to their works (Revelation 20:5,13).

Heaven and Earth Flee

John the Revelator tells us, 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 (Revelation 20:11). The wrath of the One on the throne is so terrible that Heaven and Earth flee from before it. This is the God with no mercy. This is the God who said: I also will laugh at your calamity; I will mock when your fear cometh; Then shall they call upon me, but I will not answer; they shall seek me early, but they shall not find me: For that they hated knowledge, and did not choose the fear of the LORD: They would none of my counsel: they despised all my reproof (Proverbs 1:26,28-30).

And I saw the dead, small and great, stand before God; 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 (Revelation 20:12). Will there be degrees of torment in hell? According to this verse, yes. People will be judged according to their works. There will be degrees of torment in hell just as there will be degrees of reward in Heaven.

And the sea gave up the dead which were in it; and death and hell delivered up the dead which were in them: and they were judged every man according to their works. And whosoever was not found written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire (Revelation 20:13,15). Those who deny a fiery hell are denying what God has said.

A Stream of Fire from the Throne of God

Daniel saw this fearful Great White Throne Judgment; never has there been a judgment like it. He writes in Daniel 7, I beheld till the thrones were cast down and the Ancient of days [God the Father Himself] did sit, whose garment was white as snow, and the hair of his head like the pure wool: his throne was like the fiery flame, and his wheels as burning fire (verse 9). What a sight this is! A fiery stream issued and came forth from before him: thousand thousands ministered unto him, and ten thousand times ten thousand stood before him: the judgment was set, and the books were opened (verse 10). A fiery stream—it may be miles wide. For our God is a consuming fire (Hebrews 12:29). Picture our God with a fiery stream flowing forth before Him, a consuming fire. Thousands and thousands of angels minister. One hundred million people stand before Him to be judged.

We don’t know how long this judgment will last or how many groups of one hundred million will be gathered for judgment. In this vision Daniel saw part of the judgment, probably the opening judgment. Will God judge one hundred million at a time? A billion? God can do anything.

When I was a boy I thought God would take time to judge every person individually, but I’ve come to realize not so. Whatever the number of the crowd, one hundred million or more, they will all hear the voice of the Lord in a separate way as they are told their crimes to their faces at one time. Look what computers today can do, but all the computers in the world cannot compare to one tiny particle of the mind of God.

God will operate His judgment in such a way it will be the most unbelievable thing that has ever happened to man. People filled with intricate knowledge of man will never have seen anything like this judgment. Think of a court in session: no jury, no attorneys to plead one’s case—just one Judge. No one being tried can give an alibi or excuse; no one can lie—they will lack that power. All deceit will be uncovered.

What the wicked are headed for will be terrible indeed! The cry goes out to them today: Turn back before it’s too late! Turn back! But they mock and scoff. The devil tells them they needn’t listen to the voice of God dealing with their hearts, there is nothing to it. But we know that the Bible is true. We know that everything God has said will be fulfilled.

God’s dispensation ended when Jesus came to launch the dispensation of grace. Almost two thousand years the grace period has lasted, and very soon it, too, will come to an end. Of the millions of people who have been offered Jesus Christ, few, Jesus said, will enter that strait gate and walk the narrow road to Heaven; many, however, will walk the broad road to destruction. Enter ye in at the strait gate: for wide is the gate, and broad is the way, that leadeth to destruction, and many there be which go in thereat: Because strait is the gate, and narrow is the way, which leadeth unto life, and few there be that find it (Matthew 7:13,14).

Vengeance Is the Lord’s

For we know him that hath said, Vengeance belongeth unto me, I will recompense, saith the Lord. And again, The Lord shall judge his people (Hebrews 10:30). The Lord shall judge. It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God (verse 31). For the righteous to be in the hands of God is not fearful, only for the wicked. The righteous do not fall into His hands; they walk into His hands through the grace of Jesus Christ. But the wicked will fall into His hands, hands without mercy. They will fall into hands full of all the wrath that God has ever poured out upon the earth—and more. So fearful they dare not lift their eyes, those standing before God awaiting judgment will not be able to look upon Him. The Bible tells us that without God’s holiness, no man shall see Him.

Moses Quaked at the Sight

Israel could not stand before the voice of God. When God came down on Mount Sinai, the Israelites asked Moses to tell God never to speak to them again. And the sound of a trumpet, and the voice of words; which voice they that heard entreated that the word should not be spoken to them any more: (For they could not endure that which was commanded, And if so much as a beast touch the mountain, it shall be stoned, or thrust through with a dart: And so terrible was the sight, that Moses said, I exceedingly fear and quake:) (Hebrews 12:19-21).

Think of the thousands and thousands of angels that were at Sinai, the chariots and horses of fire, the trumpet being sounded by the angel of God that seemed to shake the whole earth. The Maker of Sinai had come down. If Moses, that great servant of God, said he exceedingly feared and quaked at the sight, what will it be like for the wicked dead when they face their Maker? What will it be like when their crimes are told to their faces, their secret sins and disobediences uncovered? They will not be able to deny their acts. God the Judge of all (Hebrews 12:23).

[God] whose voice then shook the earth: but now he hath promised, saying, Yet once more I shake not the earth only, but also heaven (Hebrews 12:26). An angry God, a God without mercy, a God with no Jesus standing between the sinner and His wrath will judge the wicked. Jesus at this time will have stepped aside, and now it will be nothing but judgment. No more longsuffering, no more patience. The angel declares time to be no more. In the book of Revelation, an angel, not a man, preaches the last message of salvation.

Adam and Eve Hid in Fear

Adam and Eve heard the voice of God, and Adam and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the LORD God amongst the trees of the garden. And the LORD God called unto Adam, and said unto him, Where art thou (Genesis 3:8,9)? Think of the fear overwhelming Adam now. He had never felt fear before when he heard the voice of his God, the God who had come down in the cool of the day to walk and talk with him and Eve. They had loved His voice—but now they were sinners. Willfully they had sinned against God. God had told them that if they partook of the forbidden fruit they would surely die.

Adam said to God, I heard thy voice in the garden, and I was afraid (Genesis 3:10). Adam was afraid, and he hid; but there will be no hiding place for the wicked dead. So he [God] drove out the man; and he placed at the east of the garden of Eden Cherubims, and a flaming sword which turned every way, to keep the way of the tree of life (verse 24). A flaming sword protected the tree of life in Adam’s day; man was shut outside the gate of Eden. It would take a different gate—the gate of the Old Rugged Cross—to let man become reconciled with his God. But at the Great White Throne Judgment, the Cross door will be no more; it will have vanished. Calvary is out of reach of the wicked dead. For about two thousand years it had been within their reach, but after death no longer will the wicked have a way to get back into the second Eden to the tree of life. It’s death, death, death.

Murdered Blood Cried out from the Ground

Listen to the arrogance of Cain as he talked to God: And the LORD said unto Cain, Where is Abel thy brother? And he said, I know not: Am I my brother’s keeper? And he said, What hast thou done? the voice of thy brother’s blood crieth unto me from the ground (Genesis 4:9,10).

The blood of every murder victim will cry out to God. Some murderers have not been caught, but they will not escape the Great White Throne Judgment. No one will get by with sin. Because they wouldn’t accept the plan of redemption, the plan of forgiveness that Jesus died to give man, sinners will force God’s judgment. God has no alternative plan to redeem; there never will be such a plan.

God said to Cain, And now art thou cursed from the earth, which hath opened her mouth to receive thy brother’s blood from thy hand; When thou tillest the ground, it shall not henceforth yield unto thee her strength; a fugitive and a vagabond shalt thou be in the earth (Genesis 4:11,12). What was Cain’s response to such a judgment? And Cain said unto the LORD, My punishment is greater than I can bear (verse 13). This is a light punishment compared to that set for the wicked dead at the Great White Throne.

Life from the Breath of God

And the LORD God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul (Genesis 2:7). Man became a living soul. He will live eternally after the physical life is over, either in Heaven or in hell. Man’s soul came from the very breath of God. Without God, there is no life, only a living death in hell. Jesus said, I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly (John 10:10). You who are dead in trespasses, I have come to give you life while there is yet time. But there is no life at the Great White Throne Judgment for the billions of people who will appear there. The universal sentence handed down is death. The soul that sinneth, it shall die (Ezekiel 18:20).

Every Imagination Was Evil

GOD saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually. And it repented the LORD that he had made man on the earth, and it grieved him at his heart. And the LORD said, I will destroy man…But Noah found grace in the eyes of the LORD (Genesis 6:5-8). God spared eight souls because Noah found grace in the eyes of the Lord, but at the Great White Throne Judgment, no one will find grace. Every thought, every imagination—like those in the days of Noah—will have been given over to the devil.

We read of a miniature judgment—miniature compared to the judgments to come—in Genesis 19:24,28, Then the LORD rained upon Sodom and upon Gomorrah brimstone and fire from the LORD out of heaven; And he [Abraham] looked toward Sodom and Gomorrah, and toward all the land of the plain, and beheld, and, lo, the smoke of the country went up as the smoke of a furnace. Not only is there fire in the judgment of hell, there was fire in this judgment here on Earth. God recorded judgments in the Bible to convince all that He means what He says.

He fashioneth their hearts alike; he considereth all their works (Psalm 33:15). All your works will be considered, good or bad. The wicked are warned that God shall likewise destroy thee for ever (Psalm 52:5).

After God had been so good to Israel, read how He felt about their disobedience: Therefore was the wrath of the LORD kindled against his people, insomuch that he abhorred his own inheritance (Psalm 106:40).

A Laughing, Mocking God

Israel was defiled with her own works. Every person of the billions at the Great White Throne Judgment will be those defiled by his or her own devilish, hideous works. God despised the disobedient Israelites, and on that Judgment Day He will despise the wicked dead. Not one spark of love for them will He feel, no pity. He will be the laughing, mocking God. But ye have set at nought all my counsel, and would none of my reproof: I also will laugh at your calamity; I will mock when your fear cometh (Proverbs 1:25,26). God will laugh; God will mock. The devil has deceived people, made them arrogant toward God until they want nothing to do with Him. At the Great White Throne Judgment, God won’t want anything to do with them. Then they will crave His help, His love, just one drop of mercy. But they’ve used it all up. They spilled His mercy out on the ground without a thought, dumped it as though it were something unholy. The last drop of mercy….

Because I have called, and ye refused; I have stretched out my hand, and no man regarded (Proverbs 1:24). God stretches out His hand. My Son died on Calvary, He is saying; but you put thorns on His head, you spit in His face—you crucified Him and trampled His blood underfoot. How did you do it? In every act of rejection, in your arrogance, your hate. The devils took you over, caused you to spit into the eye of God.

Woe unto them that seek deep to hide their counsel from the LORD, and their works are in the dark, and they say, Who seeth us? and who knoweth us (Isaiah 29:15)? People are the same today. In the night they do their deeds, thinking God isn’t paying attention, that they’re covering up. They aren’t. The soul that sinneth, it shall die. When God’s voice roars out judgment through a stream of fire going forth from the throne, the earth will shake.

The soul that sinneth, it shall die! That was the message in the Garden, the cry of God’s voice. It was a voice of love, a voice of warning, of tenderness and great care. All the love of Heaven was in that voice, and Adam and Eve didn’t take heed. So it is today. Much of the love of God is evident. God doesn’t strike down people the moment they sin. But one day suddenly life is snuffed out. Suddenly God has had enough, and the person is in eternity with no more mercy, waiting. For deliverance? No, for the Great White Throne Judgment.

Weighed and Found Wanting

In the fifth chapter of Daniel, the writing on the wall sealed King Belshazzar’s fate: death. In the same hour came forth fingers of a man’s hand, and wrote…Then the king’s countenance was changed, and his thoughts troubled him, so that the joints of his loins were loosed, and his knees smote one against another (Daniel 5:5,6). The king was terrified. His knees knocked together. If fingers writing on the wall brought a king such fear that his knees knocked together, what will the judgment of the wicked dead be like?

Through Daniel the voice of God was lifted: God hath numbered thy kingdom, and finished it. Thou art weighed in the balances, and art found wanting. Thy kingdom is divided, and given to the Medes and Persians (Daniel 5:26-28). That night Belshazzar died without hope and without God.

So shall it be at the end of the world: the angels shall come forth, and sever the wicked from among the just, And shall cast them into the furnace of fire: there shall be wailing and gnashing of teeth (Matthew 13:49,50). The devil has covered up hell and the horrors of its punishment. Many preachers claim hell is unreal, that there is no eternal fiery torment. Just a little love story is all they tell. Not often does one hear about the judgments of God to come.

Wherefore if thy hand or thy foot offend thee, cut them off, and cast them from thee: it is better for thee to enter into life halt or maimed, rather than having two hands or two feet to be cast into everlasting fire (Matthew 18:8). Jesus here is saying that losing your hands or feet is preferable to losing your soul in hell. Knowing the value placed on hands and feet, Jesus used this example to show how much greater the loss of a soul would be. In no way was He saying that people could avoid hell by amputating parts of their bodies.

Then shall he say also unto them on the left hand, Depart from me, ye cursed, into everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his angels (Matthew 25:41). How terrible to hear the voice of God saying that He wants no part of you, that He despises you, hates you! The voice of God in judgment….

And these shall go away into everlasting punishment: but the righteous into life eternal (Matthew 25:46). The righteous shall go into life eternal—what a beautiful statement that is!

Jesus, talking about hell, called it a place where their worm [soul] dieth not, and the fire is not quenched (Mark 9:44). Who would dare doubt God, dispute the words of Jesus Christ about the reality of hell? Jesus emphasized this in verse 46: Where their worm dieth not, and the fire is not quenched. Again in verse 48: Where their worm dieth not, and the fire is not quenched. Three times in this ninth chapter of Mark Jesus stated that the soul could not die in a hell where the fire is not quenched. The Lord wasn’t in the habit of repeating a fact over and over, but it seems this was something He couldn’t say enough. Jesus knew where man was headed, and He did everything He could to warn him.

For there is nothing covered, that shall not be revealed; neither hid, that shall not be known (Luke 12:2). These are the words of Jesus. Everything you have done wrong will be uncovered if you don’t let Jesus wash away your sins with His precious blood. You may have to deal with the problems your sins put into motion, but the sins will be pardoned when you ask Jesus to forgive you and come into your heart. In the eyes of God it will be as though you had never committed those sins.

Were the lights to dim, a screen appear and a projector turn on to review your life, what would it show? Nothing will be hidden from the audience. Would you plead with God to not show it all? Therefore whatsoever ye have spoken in darkness shall be heard in the light; and that which ye have spoken in the ear in closets shall be proclaimed upon the housetops (Luke 12:3). As the Great White Throne Judgment opens, the light of God will shine down on the secrets of lives.

And it came to pass, that the beggar died, and was carried by the angels into Abraham’s bosom: the rich man also died, and was buried; And in hell he lift up his eyes, being in torments, and seeth Abraham afar off, and Lazarus in his bosom. And he cried and said, Father Abraham, have mercy on me, and send Lazarus, that he may dip the tip of his finger in water, and cool my tongue; for I am tormented in this flame (Luke 16:22-24). Jesus relayed exactly what the rich man said; he was tormented in the flame of hell. He didn’t even dare ask for a drink of water, just for a drop on his tongue. It wasn’t to be. Either there is a flame in hell, or Jesus didn’t tell the truth when He was here on Earth.

No More Sacrifice for Sin

They profess that they know God; but in works they deny him, being abominable, and disobedient, and unto every good work reprobate (Titus 1:16). For if we sin wilfully after that we have received the knowledge of the truth, there remaineth no more sacrifice for sins, But a certain fearful looking for of judgment and fiery indignation, which shall devour the adversaries. He that despised Moses’ law died without mercy under two or three witnesses: Of how much sorer punishment, suppose ye, shall he be thought worthy, who hath trodden under foot the Son of God, and hath counted the blood of the covenant, wherewith he was sanctified, an unholy thing, and hath done despite unto the Spirit of grace (Hebrews 10:26-29)? No more Jesus sacrifice for you if you sin willfully and fail to repent; you will be one standing at the Great White Throne Judgment. Those who claim you cannot sin once you have found salvation are wrong; it’s a lie of the devil, the deceit of Lucifer. If you willfully sin, there is no more sacrifice for sin. Jesus is the only sacrifice that God accepts. A person can backslide.

Those who despised Moses’ Law died without mercy under two or three witnesses. At the Great White Throne Judgment, God will be the witness, the judge and jury as Jesus turns everything back to Him. A fiery indignation will devour the backsliders who have trodden underfoot the blood of the Son of God. The soul that sinneth, it shall die, doomed to eternal punishment.

Why the Great White Throne Judgment? Because the works of the wicked must be judged. It’s a teaching in the Word of God. There is no such thing as a good sinner. All sin is bad. If you without repentance are trampling the blood of Jesus underfoot, counting the covenant of His blood an unholy thing, despising the Spirit of grace, you are so tainted with sin that you will lift up your eyes in eternal hell. According to your works you will be judged. The Son of man shall send forth his angels, and they shall gather out of his kingdom all things that offend, and them which do iniquity; And shall cast them into a furnace of fire: there shall be wailing and gnashing of teeth (Matthew 13:41,42).

False Prophets

Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven (Matthew 7:21). Not everyone who claims to be of the Lord is one of His. The devil has deceived many about the conditions of their souls. We live in the most deceiving, the most treacherous of times. The devil is doing all he can to get every preacher to proclaim either that man cannot live free of sin or else that he cannot backslide. He knows even one little sin won’t enter Heaven; anyone committing sin is a sinner.

Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? and in thy name have cast out devils? And in thy name done many wonderful works? And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity (Matthew 7:22,23). Some deceive, making people think they are casting out devils in the name of Jesus—but no devils at all are being cast out. One devil cannot cast out another devil. Some with whom God has nothing at all to do claim to receive prophecies from Him. Only the holy can use the name of Jesus the way He wants. If you think you are doing things in the name of the Lord when you are not, obviously you are deceived by the devil. Ministers living unholy are on the road to hell. And no marvel; for Satan himself is transformed into an angel of light. Therefore it is no great thing if his ministers also be transformed as the ministers of righteousness; whose end shall be according to their works (II Corinthians 11:14,15). If Satan himself is turned into an angel of light, it’s no wonder that his preachers seem to be ministers of righteousness. According to their works, their evil works, they will be rewarded.

Astrology Is of the Devil

Let now the astrologers, the stargazers, the monthly prognosticators, stand up, and save thee from these things that shall come upon thee. Behold, they shall be as stubble; the fire shall burn them; they shall not deliver themselves from the power of the flame (Isaiah 47:13,14). These words hold true for our day as well as Old Testament days. Astrology is totally of the devil; it is not to be among God’s people. You can’t be of God and use the devil’s wares. Heaven will have no astrologers, for hell is their destiny. Astrology’s vomit is being spewed out in newspapers, magazines, on television and radio in this hour of the Antichrist, of Lucifer and of great deceit. Be not deceived; God is not mocked: for whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap (Galatians 6:7). God records every work, good or bad. One way or another, we’re all going to be judged. Astrology is of the devil.

The Great White Throne Judgment will be terrible, a living nightmare for the unsaved, one they will not be able to run from. They try to scream, and no sound comes. They try to run but can’t move. They want to hide, but there will be no hiding place.

Burned Alive for the Devil

I shall never forget Sister Florence Kinsley, a missionary who went to Africa when she was young, in the days when missionaries never knew if they would be coming back. In the wilds she was forced to attend a human sacrifice. She preached Jesus to the chief of the tribe in the hope of preventing the sacrifice, but he wouldn’t listen. “Don’t kill that beautiful girl,” she begged.

“She’s happy she’s been chosen,” the king said. “It’s an honor. Her family is proud that she is to be offered to her god.” A living, burning sacrifice….

“But King,” the missionary pleaded, “if I can persuade her to change her mind, can she be freed?”

“Yes,” the king answered.

Sister Kinsley said, “I went to her. She was beautiful, young. I talked to her, told her about Jesus. I told her how futile it was to give her life for nothing. She just laughed at me and told me it was an honor…an honor.”

The missionary went back to the chief and begged to be allowed to leave before the sacrifice began. The chief said it was against the law; no one could leave the village until after the sacrifice. The sight was hideous. Sister Kinsley said she never told the story unless the Lord moved on her to do so, for after it was told she would be unable to sleep for three days and nights; the memory was so terrible.

The tribe gathered, danced. The missionary watched and prayed. The fire rose higher and higher. At last the girl was brought in, wired to a pole like a hog. Dancing, shouting with glee, they held her over the flames, roasting her alive. The missionary said she had never heard such screams in her life, screams that haunted her as long as she lived. In an instant the hair was burned off. The girl screamed until she could scream no more, and then the natives took her off the fire and tore into her flesh like vicious animals, tearing off parts and eating them before the horrified missionary. She buried her face in her hands, but she couldn’t shut out the screams or the scene she had witnessed.

Look into the Face of an Angry God

Hell will be worse than the sight Sister Kinsley was forced to witness. The Great White Throne Judgment will be worse. That sacrifice was soon over, but God’s judgment will last eternally. The fire in hell will never burn out. The souls in hell exist in living death. You who die in your sins will hear the Lord say: You’ve committed whoredom…you’ve committed adultery…you’ve lied…you’ve stolen…you’ve committed fornication…you’ve rejected Jesus and His shed blood…and on and on.

Take a close look at God upon His Great White Throne. He has no more tears; He is an angry God. When the last person accepted His Son Jesus, God wiped the tears all away. The rest turned their backs on the Son of God and on God as well. God will never cry again over the lost.

I will never forget my experience with God some years ago. I was in the vision with the Lord, going through the nations. Crowds and crowds of people were everywhere as I shouted in great joy: Come to Jesus! Come to Jesus! People to my left, to my right as far as I could see, before and behind; and I had God’s message, preaching it with all my strength. It sounded as though my voice were going over a loud speaker. Multitudes could hear as I cried, Come to Jesus! Come to Jesus! Then one more time I started to cry, Come…. The words died in my throat. I had no more message. My Bible went down to my side, and then God started talking. God took up where I left off. He said to the people, I don’t want you. I’ll never want you! I despise you. My Son died for you. My Only Begotten Son died for you, but you wouldn’t accept Him. You didn’t want Him. You mistreated Him, now I don’t want you. I will never want you.

Oh, God! I cried. It was all over. In a vision God had let me experience what it would be like to have no more message. I had started preaching in my teens, and always God had given me a message. But now in the vision, the message was gone. The Book was closed to never be opened for sinners again. I held a closed Bible in my hands.

But today, God is still crying. He will cry as long as one day of grace remains. When that day of grace ends, no more tears from God. If you see that day, you never will have been so afraid; you didn’t know anyone could have so much fear. You try to pray, but no longer will God hear your prayers.

Left Standing Outside

He that is unjust, let him be unjust still: and he which is filthy, let him be filthy still (Revelation 22:11). After death there will be no chance for the wicked to repent. If you are filthy, you will be filthy for all eternity. Your opportunity to change will be over. Jesus said: And, behold, I come quickly; and my reward is with me, to give every man according as his work shall be (verse 12).

Why will the Great White Throne Judgment probably be outside the gates of Heaven? For without are dogs, and sorcerers, and whoremongers, and murderers, and idolaters, and whosoever loveth and maketh a lie (Revelation 22:15). Standing outside, the wicked will be denied Heaven. I wouldn’t be surprised if those to be judged who can’t look upon God are able to see the holy and righteous in that beautiful place called Heaven. I believe God will allow it. The righteous won’t see the wicked, but the wicked may see the righteous. The rich man in hell lifted up his eyes and saw Lazarus in Heaven. The wicked won’t forget the righteous, but the righteous will forget the wicked. God will wipe all unpleasantness out of the minds of His children, and they’ll just remember their loved ones who made it through to Heaven.

And if any man shall take away from the words of the book of this prophecy, God shall take away his part out of the book of life, and out of the holy city, and from the things which are written in this book (Revelation 22:19). The same thing holds true for the whole Word of God. If you take out anything from the Book of Life, you won’t get into Heaven. The wicked shall be turned into hell, and all the nations that forget God (Psalm 9:17).

A Piece of Hell on Earth

I remember some years ago a terrible hotel fire in one of the big cities. We watched the news. I had never heard of anything like it. The people were at windows pleading for someone to rescue them, but no one could. Crowds had gathered; screams were going up. People waited and waited to be rescued, some until they caught on fire. They would jump, burning torches. A few landed on electric wires and hung there burning until they fell to the ground. Others screamed all the way down until they smashed to the sidewalk. They knew they were jumping to their deaths. It was hell on Earth.

You wouldn’t stay at a hotel you knew was about to catch fire, a hotel that had no way of escape; and yet some of you know the way of God and still insist on holding to your sins. The devil is deceiving you; you won’t give your heart to God. Wait a little longer, the devil whispers. You have plenty of time. Billions will be at the Great White Throne Judgment whom the devil deceived into thinking they had plenty of time. Suddenly their time ran out, and it was too late to come to Jesus.

Not Fit to Live

Time one day will be no more; an angel of God will stop time. It will be all over. No one will plead with you any longer to come to Jesus. No one will cry and pray over you. You will not grieve loved ones’ hearts again; the tears won’t roll down their cheeks day after day, night after night as they pray for your soul. God will wipe away all their tears; they won’t remember the tears. They won’t remember you. Today is the day of salvation.

How horrible to be doomed. Think what it would be like to be led to the electric chair, the gas chamber. In a few minutes you will be killed. Guards all around, pushing you on. Death is waiting. Closer and closer it comes. Your mind screams: Oh, God I want to live! Please God! But you’re not fit to live. You’re covered with sin; and there is no more sin sacrifice for you, no more Calvary. God has no love for you. He used all His love to make Calvary. When God gave Jesus, He gave His whole heart. It was the only time He gave it all—on Calvary. That’s the reason there is no love left now for those who rejected His Son, no more tears.

What a Judge! A Judge without mercy, without love. Even though you don’t look, you know His eyes are burning right into you; you know nothing about you is hidden from Him. Your confessions, your prayers won’t do any good. Then you hear the voice of doom—louder than Adam heard it in the Garden, more piercing than the Israelites heard it at Sinai: Depart from me! You: Depart!

Oh God, no! Please God, one more chance!

Depart, ye cursed, into everlasting fire prepared for the devil and his angels!

Come to Jesus While There’s Yet Time

Flee the wrath of God, this awful judgment. Turn, turn to Jesus. If there is one sin in your life when you die, you will face the Great White Throne Judgment. But today He’s not a mocking God; He’s an all-caring, all-loving God, and He is calling to you. Come, come to Jesus. This is your hour. Don’t be one in that Great White Throne Judgment who was almost persuaded but not quite. No words could adequately describe the fear of that hour. Words are never so terrible as the real thing, never so terrifying as hearing God laugh at you and mock your calamity. Millions have already been deceived, millions scheduled for the Great White Throne Judgment. My God! Will you join that number?

You who are lost and undone without Christ are headed straight for this Great White Throne Judgment. Don’t you see the nail-riven hands reaching to you; don’t you hear the voice of the Lord warning you to stop? It isn’t the voice from the Great White Throne today but the voice of Jesus, the voice of mercy pleading, I died for you. I went to Calvary for you. I died in your place, and I will forgive you for all your sins if you only turn to me. Oh come! Whosoever will, come! Today there is still forgiveness for you.

Why not take this opportunity now to come to God? Cry aloud unto your Lord, and let Him help you; He is listening. Pray the sinners’ prayer with me: Oh, God, I have sinned against you. I am so sorry! I believe you. I believe your judgments. I believe your love. I believe your Calvary, and I confess that I am lost. I am undone. Forgive me, forgive me! You said if I would confess, you would forgive me. Take away all my sins. I know that Jesus died for me, and I will live for Him. I believe the blood of Jesus washes away all my sins, all my sins. Come on in, Jesus! Come on in!

If you meant that prayer, He has come. Jesus is yours. Hallelujah, Jesus is yours! Start praying; read the Bible. Fast some. Don’t be at the Great White Throne Judgment: you can be in Heaven!

The final judgment is the Great White Throne Judgment, the fifth major judgment.

Subject: Wicked dead

Time: Close of the thousand year Perfect Age

Place: Great White Throne somewhere outside the gates of Heaven

Basis for this judgment: Works

Result: All before the Great White Throne will be cast into the lake of fire forever

Death and hell delivered up the dead which were in them: and they were judged every man according to their works. And death and hell were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death. And whosoever was not found written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire (Revelation 20:13-15).