Revelation 20:11-15

(Rev 20:11 KJV)
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.

Now comes the judgment of the unbelievers. John sees a great white throne and because the earth and universe are still under sin curse, they are seen as fleeing from the Lord Jesus Christ. There will be no future place for a sin cursed world and universe. If you recall in Revelation 18 we saw many people standing afar off watching the great whore be destroyed. Here we are seeing a parallel picture of it. The unbelievers are standing before the judgment throne of Christ and are seeing their beloved kingdom fade as it is judged. They may be seeing the complete dissolution of the earth and entire universe as it will be remade in righteousness once the final judgment of the unbelievers has been completed.

(Rev 20:12 KJV)
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.

Now John sees the final judgment of all the unbelievers in the world. There will be no favoritism based upon anyone’s status they held in the world. Both the small and the great will be standing for judgment as all will be equal at this judgment. The books which were opened are the ones which recorded the lives of each individual. Of course, God knows perfectly the lives of every human being but these books are symbolically being used to inform everyone that everything that they do in this life will have an accountability factor. Not only were the books opened which contained the works of each person but also the book of life was opened. This book of life is the lamb’s Book of Life which contains the names of every one of the redeemed of God. (Rev 13:8 KJV) And all that dwell upon the earth shall worship him, whose names are not written in the book of life of the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world. (Rev 17:8 KJV) The beast that thou sawest was, and is not; and shall ascend out of the bottomless pit, and go into perdition: and they that dwell on the earth shall wonder, whose names were not written in the book of life from the foundation of the world, when they behold the beast that was, and is not, and yet is.

(Rev 20:13 KJV)
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.

The reward of a works gospel is judgment! Since we already saw that the earth had been destroyed because it “fled away” from the Lamb on His throne, the language in this verse is teaching us that the resurrection is going to be total. No matter where a person died or what shape their body was in at death, they would be resurrected. Some people choose to be cremated and have their ashes poured over some symbolic site but it will not matter because they will be resurrected to stand at the judgment in the last day. The sea would have delivered up all its dead at the final resurrection and it does not matter if a fish ate the body, they will be resurrected. Death will give up all the people because not even death has a stronger hold than the Lord Jesus Christ and the dead will become the living again. Hell, which in this instance represents the grave, will forfeit its hold on everyone and all those who were buried will be brought back to life to face the judgment. Those who commit suicide in belief that all their problems will end will soon find out that all their problems have just begun.

(Rev 20:14 KJV)
And death and hell were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death.

Here we read that both death and hell will be cast into the lake of fire. No longer will there be any sin, so the consequences of sin which is hell and death will also be cast into the lake of fire. This is called the second death or eternal damnation. (1 Cor 15:26 KJV) The last enemy that shall be destroyed is death. The Apostle Paul had given us prior knowledge that death would be the last enemy and in 20:14 we see that death will be destroyed. No longer will anyone die in the New Heaven and New Earth because only the redeemed of God will be there and they have been granted eternal life through the shed blood of the Lord Jesus Christ.

(Rev 20:15 KJV)
And whosoever was not found written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire.

Death and Hell have now been cast into the lake of fire and now anyone who is not written in the Lamb’s Book of Life will also be cast into the lake of fire. It must be noted here that this verse does not say, “And whosoever did not accept Jesus was cast into the lake of fire.” The ones who will become truly saved are only those who were written in the Lamb’s book of life from before the foundation of the world. No one will be able to will themselves into Heaven because free will does not exist. The lake of fire is the final abode of the wicked of this world. No one who opposed Christianity on this earth will ever get away with it, all unbelievers will be accountable to God for their actions. Part of the great deception of Satan is that he gets people to believe there is no God and therefore no accountability for their actions. These few verses at the end of Revelation 20 should serve to neutralize that lie.