Revelation 20:13, commentary and pictures

The sea and the grave give up all their dead, small and great, to stand bodily before God at the great white throne for judgment. This is the second resurrection at the close of the thousand years after Christ's return, when the wicked dead who have slept in the dust are called forth to be judged and perish with Satan and his followers. Every person is judged individually according to deeds done in the body as written in the books, measured by God's holy law as the unerring standard of right and wrong. Punishment is proportioned to works and is final without appeal, and all not found in the book of life are cast into the lake of fire, which is the second death from which there is no resurrection. Because all are daily laying up the record for that day, each must now repent, confess sin to Christ for cleansing, and form a faultless character by faithful obedience.

Resurrection from Every Place

The sea gives up the dead in it, and death and hell, that is the grave, deliver up the dead in them, so that the dead small and great stand before God at the great white throne for judgment. When time with its burden of record passes into eternity there comes a soon-coming, final, searching judgment in which every person is judged individually according to works as written in the opened books. The dead are restored to life for that judgment before God's presence, inspiring awe and stillness, and those not found written in the book of life face the lake of fire, called the second death. Day by day and hour by hour human beings are laying up the material for that judgment, for the whole work of life is bound up for eternity. The judgment is followed by the earth's cleansing from evil through fire, as the old world was destroyed by a flood.

The raising is bodily and universal, from every place, with the sea and death and the grave giving up those they hold. At the end of the thousand years the wicked dead come forth at Christ's voice from rocky caverns, from dungeons, from caves of the earth, from the waters of the deep, even from the deepest parts of the ocean, and not one is overlooked. This is the second resurrection, after the first resurrection of the just to life eternal upon whom the second death has no power, when Jesus calls the wicked dead from their graves and those who have done evil rise to face judgment according to works. They rise in the same feeble, sickly bodies that went into the grave, still bearing the marks of the curse, while the dead remain in their graves until the resurrection. People of every rank and learning then stand together before Christ in kingly majesty and recognize Him as the one they crucified and mocked.

Hell in the verse means the graves of those who persisted in sin until death overtook them, which with the sea and death give up their dead in the solemn day of reckoning when each case is examined personally.

The dead sleep in the grave until the Life-giver raises them and have not already entered eternal happiness or misery at death, with the righteous dead leaving the grave bodily to receive immortal life. The final judgment is therefore not a second judgment of people whose fate was already decided at death, but follows the raising of the dead. What happened in final moments at sea is unknown, for those who perished in peril may have called on God and been heard, as the thief who called on Christ was heard. Until the sea gives up its dead the reasons for affliction and loss may remain an impenetrable mystery, and the dead belong to the Lord to be entrusted to His care by grieving families.

Judged According to Works

Every person is judged individually according to works or deeds done in the body, as written in the books, and each receives sentence, reward, or punishment corresponding to service in this life. The dead are brought forth and stand before God at the great white throne, with the books opened including the book of life, and the whole work of life is bound up for eternity. Day by day and hour by hour human beings are laying up the material for that searching judgment, when God will discern between him that serves Him and him that serves Him not. The dead are restored to life for this final reckoning, and the judgment is followed by the earth's cleansing from evil through fire, as the old world was destroyed by a flood.

What counts is fruit of character formed by actions, not mere profession, church registration, or claim of faith. Right actions are the fruits of true godliness, requiring watchfulness, prayer, self-denial, and sacrifice, and there is little time to secure the immortal crown by doing good and fulfilling duties which are recorded in heaven. Those with only false outward religion are not acknowledged, even dishonesty that escaped detection during probationary life is laid open, and those found unfaithful and unworthy of eternal life cannot be trusted with greater responsibilities in heaven. People are rewarded according to works for faithfulness in the work entrusted to them, though they are justified by faith.

The punishment of each wicked person is measured in proportion to works, compared with God's word as the statute book, determined by Jesus together with the redeemed saints, and recorded in the book of death against the name. During the thousand years between the first and second resurrections in the holy city before it descends, Jesus and the saints made immortal sit together with books opened, the book of life containing good deeds and the book of death containing evil deeds, and reigning as kings and priests they examine lives and mete out to each according to deeds done in the body. What each must receive at the execution is set off against the name, and that sentence is then executed after the thousand years when the wicked are raised to see Him in glory. Satan and his angels are judged as well, with Satan receiving a far greater punishment than those he deceived and continuing to suffer after they have perished.

Anyone not found written in the book of life is cast into the lake of fire, which is the second death. That second death means death without hope of a resurrection, inflicted for the good of the universe. Those raised at the second resurrection after the thousand years are called forth to receive their reward and suffer that death, including Thomas Paine.

The decision is final and without appeal. Christ seated at God's right hand is Judge of all the earth, each case is decided forever in light of knowledge and privileges received, and conduct in this life determines the eternal outcome which claims or theories cannot change. The rebellious have no further probation after their acknowledgment of God's righteousness, but perish together with Satan and his followers after the resurrection. Even a ruler of the world must answer before that tribunal, as shown by Nero's terror at being arraigned, with mercy offered but opportunity for repentance closed when finally rejected and retributive judgment following. No transaction is hidden from God, and every act of unfaithful stewardship such as robbing His treasury, exacting high wages, betraying His cause, and claiming money for selfish purposes beyond what faithful workers receive is recorded for sentence and will prove the dearest money ever possessed.

Timing and Order

The events belong to the close of the thousand years after the second advent of Christ. The wicked dead lie mouldering to dust until the end of the thousand years, remaining in their graves until the resurrection, with the righteous rising in the first resurrection and those who have done evil rising in the second after the thousand years. They are then called forth in the second resurrection to be judged every man according to works, receiving sentence then and not before Christ comes, and afterward perishing together with Satan and his followers. The sentence upon the host of Gog and Magog is to depart into everlasting fire prepared for the devil and his angels, as the final sentence of judgment. At that second resurrection Thomas Paine is called forth to receive his reward and suffer the second death, and the claim that he is already in heaven and highly exalted is a satanic deception used to undermine the Bible and the hope of judgment, denying this judgment and making no difference between the precious and the vile, between the most holy apostles and the vilest infidel.

The judging of the wicked dead takes place during the thousand years between the first and second resurrections in the holy city before it descends to the earth. After the saints are made immortal and taken to the city, Jesus and the saints sit together in judgment with books opened before them, the book of life containing the good deeds of the saints and the book of death containing the evil deeds of the wicked. Those books are compared with the Bible as the statute book, and by that standard judgment is passed upon the wicked dead as the righteous, reigning with Christ as kings and priests, examine deeds and decide each case according to what each person did in life. The saints in unison with Jesus mete out to the wicked according to deeds done in the body, the punishment assigned to each wicked person being measured according to works and recorded in the book of death, with what each must receive at the execution set off against the name, and Satan and the evil angels are judged by Christ and the righteous. That sentence is then executed after the thousand years, when Jesus descends with angels and saints and the city comes down to the plain and its gates are shut, and the wicked dead are raised to see Him in glory.

Jesus and the saints are together on top of the wall of the city while the curse is pronounced upon the wicked outside and the wicked see what they have lost. Every wicked person then receives according to what was meted out during the thousand years, and fire breathed from God consumes them and purifies the whole earth. The same fire melts the mountains and the atmosphere with fervent heat and consumes all stubble, cleansing the earth from evil as the old world was destroyed by flood. This takes place before God's great white throne, with the dead judged from the books and those not written in the book of life cast into the lake of fire. Then the saints inherit the whole earth made new, completing Christ's and the church's triumph and bringing the destruction of Satan and his followers, which final event is the only sure revealer of God's plans.

The day is soon coming and just upon the world, the great and solemn day of God when the judgment is set and the books are opened and the dead are judged according to things written in the books. At that time the sea will give up the dead in it, and death and hell will give up the dead in them, and every man will be judged according to works, with God discerning between him that serves God and him that serves Him not. With the coming of the Lord and the nearness of the end each person individually must meet God's moral standard of righteousness to be without spot or wrinkle or any such thing. Soon every person will be judged by what he has done, with Christ coming to each name in the record books of heaven and passing judgment upon every unchristlike word and deed, so people must wake up and get ready before that time comes instead of hurrying to and fro with business without thinking of it.

The judgment is not of one person or of one nation but of a whole world of intelligent beings, of all orders and of all characters. It is held in the presence of the world, when the law of God's government is vindicated, His name glorified, and His wisdom acknowledged as just by believers and unbelievers, with the whole universe assembled to hear the sentence. It takes place first upon the dead, then upon the living, laying the solemnity of eternity upon the message of warning given to the world. At Christ's appearing in His kingdom He will judge both the living and the dead before His tribunal, with the judgment sitting and the books opened and each person sentenced on the basis of deeds, so that those who stand in pride and self-glorification cannot stand.

The end-time crisis before that final bringing forth of the dead, when each person is judged according to works, is a time when God protects His faithful people from death and violence and delivers them as He punishes the inhabitants of the earth.

Judges Records and Standard

Jesus together with the redeemed saints, reigning as kings and priests, examines lives against God's word and determines the punishment each must suffer in proportion to works, with Satan and his angels judged as well and Satan receiving a far greater punishment than those he deceived and continuing to suffer after they have perished. During the thousand years between the first and second resurrections, in the holy city before it descends, Jesus and the saints sit together with books opened and mete out to each according to deeds done in the body, setting off against the name what each must receive at the execution after the thousand years when the wicked dead are raised to see Him in glory. The book of life contains the good deeds of the saints and the book of death contains the evil deeds of the wicked, and the punishment assigned to each wicked person measured according to works is recorded in the book of death. As each case passes in review before Christ, moral worth is weighed, with angels ministering to those who cooperate with Him, and Christ seated at God's right hand is Judge of all the earth whose decision cannot be appealed.

The judgment sits with books opened, including the book of life with good deeds, the book of death with evil deeds, and the ledger of heaven, and those books are compared with the Bible as the statute book by which judgment is passed. When time with its burden of record passes into eternity, the sea gives up the dead in it and death and hell deliver up the dead in them, so that the dead small and great stand before God at the great white throne and every person is judged individually according to works as written in the books. The dead are restored to life for this final judgment, judged from the books, and those not found written in the book of life are cast into the lake of fire, which is the second death, followed by the cleansing of the earth from evil by fire as the old world was destroyed by flood. No transaction is hidden from God and every act of unfaithful stewardship is recorded for sentence from which there is no appeal, applying to robbing God's treasury, exacting high wages, betraying God's cause, and claiming money for selfish purposes beyond what faithful workers receive, which will prove the dearest money ever possessed.

God's holy law is the only unerring standard to judge every soul and to decide fitness of every character for heaven, and every case is decided by obedience or disrespect of that law and disregard of His requirements. That law was written by God's finger on the stone tablets given to Moses and placed in the ark, expresses God's character, and sentences each person according to whether deeds are good or evil. To do God's will is to obey His commandments including the definite day specified to be kept, and keeping the commandments is a life-or-death question while a man is still within reach of forgiveness, so eternal interests and salvation of the soul must be first and no one can trample the law with impunity or trifle with sacred interests. The wicked are convicted by the Ten Commandments they rejected, seeing their actions came from depraved character carrying on the rebellion begun in heaven, dishonoring the Creator and bringing misery into the world, when the law if obeyed would have preserved happiness and peace and produced sanctified love and beautiful character, and people are accountable for whether they give God the whole heart and live by light received. Impressions, feelings, emotions, dreams, and ideas are no criterion and are unreliable; God's Word alone is the rule of faith and action, and everything must bear the test of what the Scriptures say.

The record judged includes secret thoughts and deeds, motives and spirit behind words and actions, conduct, influence, and results of good and evil, with sentence against the wicked as exclusion from the city of God and destruction. Each life's record will be met in that day, including how people used means entrusted to them for which they must answer personally for stewardship, business transactions with motives and spirit, fraud such as selling worthless stock, framed falsehoods faithfully registered in heaven, dishonesty that escaped detection during probationary life laid open, injustice and injury as done to Christ Himself, and neglect of professed truth, so that those found unfaithful and unworthy of eternal life cannot be trusted with greater responsibilities in heaven. A person must put his own heart in order rather than rely on the wrongs of others as excuse.

Each case is examined personally in the solemn day of reckoning, when the sea gives up its dead and death and hell, that is the graves of those who persisted in sin until death overtook them, give up their dead. God's present government takes notice of human conduct, and the Judge of all the earth speaks the words written in the books in a just, close, and accurate separation of each case, not in loose or mixed handling and not by averaged measurement, and the Judge of all the earth will do right. Every man and woman will be judged and punished according to deeds exactly as the Word declares, a certainty to be believed without human reasoning to make it other than what the Word says, assuring that not one sinner shall ever enter the courts of heaven and that pride and self-glorification cannot stand. The ledger of heaven is opened about the great white throne and those about the throne are judged according to deeds done in the body, with each name registered with its verdict, whether weighed in the balance and found wanting as a transgressor of the commandments. Cases of those who held positions of influence and received great light are tried, especially when they refused that light to follow their own desires, revealing the measure of guilt in counter-working messages to the church, hindering by a negative position when the Lord says advance, and criticizing every movement others try to make, whose arguments to quiet conscience will not appear at the judgment as they appeared to self or to those blinded.

The judgment brings hidden things to light before the eternal Judge, as the dead emerge from the graves and things hidden with the dead are brought to light. The graves giving up their dead means a final judgment scene where dark deeds and secrets hoped to be hidden forever are revealed as a panorama, for His eye which sees all things reads the soul and brings to light mysteries supposed to be hidden with the dead, bringing sentence according to works. Every act with its motive is revealed, the secrets of every heart and every thought, word, and deed are tested, and each person receives sentence accordingly. Those who refuse to confess sins now will have wrongdoing exposed before the assembled universe and face punishment, and those who supported or excused another's unrighteous deeds or sustained a man in delusion by calling evil good and good evil share guilt and punishment for unfaithfulness unless they come out of the snare, with chapters of experience opened before the universe where light reveals every phase of companionship with satanic agencies and exposes miscalculation of self and fellow workers.

The reckoning centers on making void God's law and on rejection of Jesus Christ as God's own messenger to the world, when the judgment shall sit and the books shall be opened and every man shall be judged according to things written in the books, according to works. Those who now make void the law will then view their work as it will appear with terror seizing professedly wise and holy men, and those who crucified Christ and all who have crucified the law Christ came to magnify and make honorable will meet together in that judgment. Men who now reject God's law crucify the Son of God afresh and identify with those who crucified Him on Calvary between two thieves, nailing to the cross One who came as a living epistle of the law, who lived the law of God's government and expressed God's character, with every person accepting Christ the truth or accepting Satan the first great rebel, apostate, robber and murderer. The final judgment is held in the presence of the world when the law of God's government is vindicated, His name glorified, and His wisdom acknowledged as just by believers and unbelievers, not of one person or nation but of a whole world of intelligent beings of all orders and characters, first upon the dead, then upon the living, with the whole universe assembled to hear the sentence, laying the solemnity of eternity upon the message of warning.

The word of God stands as the decisions of an infallible Judge, divine maxims and specified laws for the last days, and is the standard of that judgment before the great white throne where the judgment sits and the books are opened. No one can safely sit in judgment on that word to review, criticize, reverse, cancel, or shape it to liking, and no one can depart from God's plans and disregard His directions and commandments except at peril of the soul; all must heed and do the word to form character for immortal life. Words and deeds have eternal consequences, and professed Christians who neglect searching Scripture and those who distort it or teach human commandments must answer for the people they have led into error and apostasy.

Call to Ready Living

Day by day and hour by hour human beings are laying up the material for the final searching judgment when the dead in the sea and in death and hell are given up and every person is judged according to works, for the whole work of life is bound up for eternity. It is the great and solemn day when the judgment is set and the books are opened and the dead are judged according to the things written in the books, a day of God just upon us and soon to come, and everyone should live with reference to that great day instead of hurrying to and fro with business without thinking of it. Because judgment is according to deeds, those who are saved must form characters without fault in the sight of God and Christ by doing the work God has given to every person, cooperating with Christ, wearing His yoke and not a yoke of human manufacture, and learning His meekness and lowliness with a daily experience of the divine beatitudes, and angels welcome and minister to such in every phase of life history. Soon every person will be judged by what he has done, with Christ coming to each name in the record books and passing judgment upon every unchristlike word and deed, so people must wake up and get ready before that time comes. The scene belongs to the final judgment when the unprepared who have not depended on God face the great day of decision in confusion, and the warning is to make calling and election sure. Since each person is judged according to works, repentance and conversion are urgent, because it is too late to delay turning to God once the opportunity has passed.

Sins confessed now go beforehand to judgment and Christ cleanses them so the evil record does not stand, and it is not too late for wrongs to be righted by undoing fraud, restoring what was taken, and confessing sin. Every business transaction is registered in the books of heaven with its motives, actions, and spirit, so unlawful dealing such as selling a brother worthless stock for which he receives no equivalent stands registered as defrauding a neighbor, and all who have dealt unlawfully will meet the exact record of it then, so men should tremble now that they may not quake and fear when every case appears just as it is. Those who refuse to confess sins now will ultimately have every act and even motives revealed and their wrongdoing exposed before the assembled universe and will face punishment, and those who supported or excused another’s unrighteous deeds share in the guilt and punishment. Those who sustain a man in his delusion will be judged according to works for unfaithfulness because they refused to heed warnings and upheld him in delusion, and unless they come out of the snare those who flattered him by calling evil good and good evil will find no place in the kingdom, for judgment opens chapters of experience before the universe where light reveals every phase of companionship with satanic agencies and exposes miscalculation of self and fellow workers as it is.

Faithfulness in the work entrusted decides each case, and people are rewarded according to works though justified by faith. The judgment at the great white throne with books opened includes an account of how people used the means entrusted to them, and each must answer personally for stewardship. The approaching judgment makes conduct and its heavenly record decisive, and wasted opportunities during probation bring eternal loss even for those ultimately saved. Present actions determine the future, and neglected duties, misuse of the Lord’s entrusted talents, and self-indulgence will be made plain, with good deeds appearing small beside what was left undone and what the Lord did for them, so even the saved will recognize the loss caused by wasted probationary time. Each life’s record will be met in that day, so each must put his own heart in order rather than rely on the wrongs of others as excuse.

No transaction is hidden from God, and every act of unfaithful stewardship is recorded for sentence from which there is no appeal at the great white throne where the dead small and great stand before God after sea and death and hell give up their dead and the books including the book of life are opened. This applies to robbing God’s treasury, exacting high wages, betraying God’s cause, and claiming money for selfish purposes, and any money so claimed beyond what faithful workers receive will prove the dearest money ever possessed.

Every injustice, injury, fraud, and pang of physical suffering is recorded in heaven as done to Jesus Christ, because He purchased humanity and sufferers are His by creation and redemption, so the cruel are held accountable for their treatment of Christ’s own. The coming judgment with heavenly records opened assesses giving or withholding practical help and spiritual privilege from the needy and suffering, especially Black people in the South, requiring impartation of blessing with self-denial and self-sacrifice and bringing accountability for neglect. Failing to use blessings to help the needy and suffering stands against the neglectful in the judgment when each is held accountable for deeds. Active opposition to God, such as burning small churches built in the Southern field, will stand as a witness against the doers at that judgment.

At the final judgment when sea, death, and hell give up the dead in their keeping and every person is judged according to works, those who rejected God’s sign and led others to honor a false Sabbath will recognize the sacrifice made through Christ and understand that they could have been saved by accepting the message of mercy, but they rejected the truth. This judgment when the dead are given up from sea, death, and grave to stand before judgment is part of God’s retributive judgments against unrepentant despisers of His law in the Sabbath controversy.

The wicked dead stay mouldered to dust until the end of the thousand years and are then called forth in the second resurrection to be judged every man according to works, and Thomas Paine will be so raised at the second resurrection after the thousand years to receive his reward and suffer the second death. The claim that he is now in heaven and highly exalted is a satanic deception used to undermine the Bible and deny this future judgment, making no difference between the precious and the vile, between the most holy apostles and the vilest infidel.

The Judge of all the earth has the case of every person written in the books, and judgment according to deeds will reveal the measure of guilt in counter-working the messages to be given to the church, hindering by a negative position when the Lord says Advance, and criticizing every movement others try to make in the work God has given them. The arguments given to quiet conscience for wrong actions will not appear at the judgment as they appeared to self or to those blinded by inability to give a clear interpretation.

Every case is decided with each justified or condemned according to obedience or disrespect of God’s law and disregard of His requirements, for God’s holy law is the only unerring standard to judge every soul and decide fitness of character for heaven, and to do God’s will is to obey His commandments including the definite day specified to be kept. No one can trample the law with impunity or trifle with sacred and eternal interests, so eternal interests and salvation of the soul must be first, and impressions, feelings, emotions, dreams, and ideas are no criterion and unreliable, for God’s Word alone is the rule of faith and action and everything must bear the test of what Scripture says. As judgment approaches everyone’s true character and company will become plain with books opened and judgment by deeds, and false accusations do not change standing before God unless they lead nearer to Christ.