Secrets from Beyond The Grave

eternity: "You were faithful over a few things, I will make you ruler over many things. Enter into the joy of your lord." I once heard a person say that he did not care if he received a crown or a reward, just as long as he made it to heaven. One day while reading the Apocalypse, I noticed that the twenty-four elders will cast their crowns on the crystal floor of the throne room and begin singing a song of praise to the Lamb (Rev. 4-5). I realized that a crown on the head of an overcoming believer is an eternal sign to the Lord that the person wearing the crown loved Christ so much while on Earth that he or she willingly sacrificed time, finances, prayers, and works to help others enter the kingdom. Without a crown, you will have nothing to present to Christ, nothing to lay at His feet, and nothing that throughout the eternal ages demonstrates your faithfulness to the Lord. You will be ashamed at His coming. The Terror of the Great White Throne Then I saw a great white throne and Him who sat on it, from whose face the earth and the heaven fled away. And there was found no place for them. And I saw the dead, small and great, standing before God, and books were opened. And another book was opened, which is the Book of Life. And the dead were judged according to their works, by the things which were written in the books. --Revelation 20:11-12 This second judgment will take place at the conclusion of the one-thousand-year reign of Christ on the earth. There has never been, nor ever will be, such a major judgment on humanity as will occur at this particular time. The heavenly court will be called to session, and those standing in the courtroom will be individuals who lived on Earth since Creation until the end of the Millennium. The individuals present at this judgment will include: All unrighteous men and women who died, from the time of Cain to the time of the crucifixion of Christ All unrighteous men and women who died since the Crucifixion to the time of the Rapture of the saints All who died in the seven-year Tribulation period, including those with and without the mark of the beast All who lived during a part of the one-thousand-year reign of Christ on Earth and died before it was over All people who lived at the end of the one thousand years and must be judged All fallen angels, including Satan and his spirit rebels There is a rather peculiar passage in Revelation 20:12, which says, "The dead were judged according to their works, by the things which were written in the books." We know that those from the Old Testament era who died without faith in the one true God and those who died without a covenant of redemption from the time of the Crucifixion to the end of the millennial age are lost, so who are those judged by what is "written in the books"? The sea gave up the dead who were in it, and Death and Hades delivered up the dead who were in them. And they were judged, each one according to his works. Then Death and Hades were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death. And anyone not found written in the Book of Life was cast into the lake of fire. --Revelation 20:13-15