Revelation 20:15

And whosoever was not found written in the Book of Life was cast into the lake of fire.

In a few bold strokes the prophet sketches the picture of the last Judgment: And I saw a great white throne and Him that sat upon it, from whose presence there fled the earth and the heaven, and a place was not found for them. This is the throne of Christ, to whom the Father committed the Judgment. It is a white and pure throne of everlasting innocence, holiness, and justice. He is, however, no longer the poor Son of Man in His state of humiliation, but the exalted King and almighty Judge, before the aspect of whose face the very earth and heaven itself turned away and fled, because they could not endure those flaming eyes with their awful portent of judgment. he heavens, being on fire, shall be dissolved, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat, 2 Peter 3:12.

The Judge being present, the last great trial may open; all men must appear before His judgment-seat: And I saw the dead, the great as well as the small, standing before the throne; and the books were opened: and another book was opened, which was that of life. And the dead were judged according to what was written in the books, according to their works. And the sea gave up the dead that were in it, and death and hell gave up the dead that were in them; and they were judged, every one according to their works. No matter where men may have found death, whether on sea or on land; no matter where their souls may be on that day, whether in hell or in heaven, they must be reunited with their bodies to appear before the judgment-seat of Christ. And then the record-books will be brought out and opened, the books of guilt and damnation, where the names of those are recorded that remained in unbelief and enmity until the end, as well as the Book of Life with the lists of those that were faithful unto death. Not one name will be omitted; every man's name will be found in either the one or the other group. As their faith or their unbelief manifested itself in their works, so will the Lord render His sentence. And from that sentence there will be no appeal, that will decide the eternal fate of every person that ever lived in this world. It is the inevitable doom.

The bliss of the believers having been indicated above and a description following in the next chapter, the doom of the enemies of God is very briefly indicated: And death and hell were thrown into the lake of fire. These two great enemies of mankind, that have dogged its footsteps ever since the first sin, will be disposed of forever in a punishment which fits their crime: This is the second death, the lake of fire. From this death all children of God are free, since they are partakers of the first resurrection, since the second death, eternal damnation, has no power over them. But as for the unbelievers: And if anyone was not found written in the Book of Life, he was thrown into the lake of fire. In the Book of Life are recorded the names of all those that are in Christ Jesus. These not even death can separate from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus, our Lord. The absence of any one's name from this book, however, means that he is condemned forever to the place where their worm will not die, neither will their fire be quenched, and they will be an abhorrence to all flesh.

Summary

The seer describes the era of comparative quiet, during which the Church of Christ will be propagated, followed by the loosing of Satan, his subsequent attempt, with the aid of all antichristian forces, to overthrow the Church, and his condemnation to everlasting torment; the chapter closes with a brief description of the lest Judgment.