For most people, the book of Revelation is filled with mystery. It's filled with uncertainty and it's filled with intrigue. But that was not God's intention when he had the Holy Spirit inspire the Apostle John to write this book when he was an old man. This is a book about the future. It's a book that's not just a collection of mysteries to the unconverted and untrained reader, but it's full of declared glory to those in our world who have been brought to faith in Christ. The last few chapters of this book are more clear. And here in this 20th chapter, we see a great white throne and a holy judge. And he sits on that throne. The day of final judgment is a terrifying reality to unbelievers. And if it's not, it should be. It should be. But it's also a refreshing reminder of divine mercy. You look at that throne. You better be thankful for mercy. Thankful. All God's children of grace will share in its blessings and benefits. And I want to preach to you this morning, if the Lord will help me, a little while, a message that I have titled, The King's Throne of Justice. Just a couple of things I want you to see. First of all, looking at verse 11, I want you to see the scene that John saw on that day. God gave John a vision of this day. And he had him write it down so that saints through the ages and saints in the present and saints in the future can read about this until the time that God brings it to pass. And I saw, I saw a great white throne and him that sat on it. quite a sight. I don't know if you've ever been to court or not. I'd soon not go, but I have been. And you're sitting there in the courtroom, or sitting in the jury, or hopefully you're not sitting in the defendant's chair, and the judge opens and the bailiff says, all rise. And this fellow walks in, he's got on a black robe, hanging down to the floor, and he sits down on the chair. Everybody can be seated now, we're ready to do business. Now if you're there as a casual observer, it's just interesting to watch what goes on. If you're there as a lawyer, you're trying to make money. If you're there as an employee of the court, you're just doing your job. But if you're sitting in that defendant's seat and you're guilty and this guy is fixing to send you to jail or to the death chamber, it's a lot more impressive. John saw this great white throne and him that sat on it. It was a, What he saw was a scene of the last wondrous day of justice. God's absolute justice. He saw the throne of moral judgment over the world. I'm already tired of hearing about all these people marching against the president. millions according to the newspapers but then they lie about other things. They're all of an opinion that's different and they want to be recognized for their differences. I'm telling you at this judgment there won't be any difference of opinions. There'll just be one opinion. And it'll be a just opinion. The judge here presides over every individual who's ever lived in this world. Not just the men, not just the women, not just the children, not just the communists, not just the liberals or the conservatives, everybody. everybody. That sinner who is blind in their guilt sees nothing in divine majesty. You've never been arrested. You've never been to court. You've never had to hire a lawyer. You've never sat in a courtroom. You probably don't understand our system of justice. If you ever have an opportunity to do that, and I hope you don't, You'll find out that our system of justice is about as unjust as a billy goat rattling his horns in a tin barn. But at this judgment, at this great white throne, the God of heaven, who is absolutely sovereign in all things, will have justice. Pure, absolute justice. The King eternal will sit on his throne and he will govern over all people. Donald Trump is president of the United States. He's not president of England. He's not president of Russia. He's not president of Germany. He's not president of Columbia, South America. He's not president of, uh, Republic of South Africa, not president of India. God is the king of everything and everywhere and everybody. This governor is armed with power and he holds authority over creation. I can just see a headline tomorrow, millions of people March in the streets of Frankfort, Kentucky, because the governor did not keep it from raining on Monday, the 23rd of January. Fools. What's a governor got to do with it raining? But God does. He makes it rain when he wants it to rain. He makes it dry when he wants it to be dry. God has an undisputed right to reign and to rule in sovereign and absolute holiness. Nobody can dispute God's right to rule rigidly on this throne. I hear people say this about certain judges and certain court officials and certain politicians. They're just too rigid. Don't tell God that. He's as rigid as His wholeness demands that He be. He's the judge of all who must do right as is necessary by His nature. And our God has an invincible level of might as well as infinite right on his side. He's almighty. There is none who can escape the power of divine justice, not a person. I'm here today and I stand in this pulpit and I hold my hand up and affirm to you the truth. Yesterday when I was going to Danville, I was speaking. Not too much, but nobody did anything about it. In fact, a policeman passed me like I didn't have wheels. And he was from another county, and I know he didn't have any authority here. I'm telling you, when God belays his power on this great white throne, all will know he is king. You'll never escape justice in the great day of his judgment, never. Psalm 139 verse 7 says, whither shall I go from thy spirit? Or whither shall I flee from my presence? If I ascend up into heaven, thou art there. If I make my bed in hell, behold, thou art there. He's the king. He was on jury duty one day and he got up and got dressed. Went to court. Checked in, went and sat in the jury room. Bailiff came in and said, you folks can go home. The judge is sick. He won't be here today. We'll put the trial off for a week. OK, I like that. Nobody's ever said that at God's throne. Nobody ever will. He's the king of glory. If you go to heaven, he's there sitting on a throne. If you go to hell, he's there sitting on a throne. There is no hiding from God who sits on this throne of glory. I saw a great white throne and him that sat on it. This text also tells us about this throne that is white. Now, the throne is white. In the Bible, white's usually a picture of purity. It's white to reflect God's holy being. God is absolutely holy. We live in a generation of people. I'm one of them and you're one of them. We don't know what holiness is. We know what morality is. keeping the law most of the time is. I'm telling you, God's holy. The depravity of earthly monarchs colors their thrones either black with sin or crimson with shed blood. There are men and women who sit on thrones of authority over human beings in this world that are so cruel and harsh and heartless that they have no concern if they kill one or a ten or a hundred or a thousand or a million. They're ruthless and selfish, but God's holy. God is too great to be unjust. He demands perfect holiness here. I was listening to the news the other day and they were talking about all the marches after the inauguration. And I thought to myself, I wonder what would happen if God came down and became president of the United States. I tell you, you think they march on Donald Trump? If God was president of the United States and they read this book and saw what kind of God he is, they'd be marching in the street. They would be marching in millions. Maybe billions. And it would do them no good. Not a bit. The throne must be perfect. because the law that is dispensed here is perfect. The law is not a way for men and women to be saved. It never has been, it is not now, and it never will be. But the law has always been perfect. It tells us that we are not perfect. In the judgment of Christ, no law will be considered too harsh or too enduring. I'm getting to be an old man and I'm not as stable as I used to be and I don't drive as fast as I used to be, but I used to I'll never forget the day Ruth went by here. She had a red Camaro with T-tops and she had a T-tops out. She went by here and that black hair was blowing up in the wind. I said, there goes Jehu. The truth of the matter, I shouldn't have made fun of her because I drove faster. She did her faster. I'll never forget the night I was going to Lexington. I was running about 120 and I thought, I better slow down, there's a cop sits down here at the bottom of this hill and I slowed down to 85. And sure enough, there was one, he pulled out and followed me. You know how hard it is to drive 49 miles an hour? That's back when speed limit was 50. He followed me about two miles before he pulled me over and said, you know your speed? And I said, you're kidding. That's what depravity does to you. I thought that law was too low, too binding, that the speed limit was too low. Let me tell you something, none of God's laws are too harsh. None of them. We don't like them. We're like beasts of burden. We don't like the harness. At this throne, there'll never be any mistakes. No mistakes of ignorance. No mistakes of injustice. Every day in this country, a court system somewhere either puts somebody in jail or sends somebody to prison who's as innocent as they can be. But every day in this country, the court system also, every day, turns loose 100 or more that are guilty. Not in God's court. There has never been a verdict that came down from His throne that could be disagreed with in its integrity. You know what the gospel will do to you? It will make you take sides against yourself. It will make you stand in God's corner and say, I'm guilty. God should have sent me to hell. Thank God for His mercy. This white throne will also be imminently conspicuous. You know, there's some things you see and some things you don't see. Marquita said she saw me the other day. I didn't see her, but I don't see lots of things. Every once in a while, I see something and I thought, how long that's been there? I've never seen that before. When I had a stroke in 1985 and I started walking I'd driven all over this town all my life, and I'd been on every street in this city, I think, and when I started walking, all of a sudden, I saw things that had always been there, but I'd never seen them before. I was going by them too fast. I tell you, this throne will be conspicuous. It'll stick out like sore thumb. All the millions of people who are raised up and stand at the judgment seat will see it clearly. They'll see him clearly. It's pure white will be in vivid contrast to the colors of sin that are in this world. It's whiteness will declare the character of not only the saint, but also the sinner. This throne is a great white throne because of the glory of the judge that sits on it. You know, flesh can be great. There have been some great men and women in our world. I'd like to meet Solomon. I never figured out how a man could be considered so wise to have all those wives and girlfriends. There were all the Caesars and they were some of the most glorious men who lived in their ages, and they were also some of the wickedest men who ever lived in their ages. There have been kings and queens and presidents and emperors, but they'll all be insignificant in the light of the greatness of Christ the Judge that sits on this great white throne. It's also great in the light of the billions of people that will be judged there. I've had people ask me this time or two. They were caught doing something or accused of something. They said, will Judge so-and-so give me a fair shake? Most of the time I've said, I think he will. But a couple of times I'd say, I'm not too sure. I believe I should get me a good lawyer. I'll tell you that if you stand before the great right throne, and you will, you will have an honest trial. and whatever judgment is issued will be righteous. You know, death lays us all in a common grave. I read this number the other day in a magazine, I don't know if it's true or not, said it was. So within two weeks after burial, the body is almost decomposed. Didn't know it was quite that fast, but however fast it is, it happens. Judgment finds everyone standing before this great throne because God is going to deal justice to everybody. This will be a great white throne because of the matters that are settled there. Our souls will be tried here with eternal results. Until you deal with this, you cannot grasp either eternal virtue or eternal vices. You who are believers will stand before the great white throne and the Lord Jesus Christ will say, I died for that one. And others, he will say, depart from me, I never knew you. The visit of the dark angels to Egypt was a night of either death or mercy. Every house in the land of Egypt was either filled with praises to God or the screams of mothers and fathers who watched their firstborn child die. That's the way it'll be at the Great White Throne. We must take notice of who sits on this throne. He's the most fitting person who could possibly sit there. You got a good lawyer, paying a lot of money for a lawyer, and you go to trial for something, he'll try to get you in a certain court, because there are certain judges that are known to be easier than others. I'm telling you, the judge that sits on this throne is not easy, but he's holy. How fitting that Christ shall judge us, not only as the God-man, but as God. Men and women in Christ are gonna be blessed. Men and women outside of Christ are gonna be condemned. It's a simple fact. I'm not complicated. I mean, this is simple. And only in the righteousness of Christ will you or will I pass this throne with joy in our hearts. But the unregenerate absolute justice will be done and they'll all be condemned. I'm always interested on the news when I see it occasionally. They're showing a courtroom, there's always somebody in the crowd out there that wants them to hang the defendant. And there's always somebody else that wants them to turn him loose. Second thing that I see in this verse of scripture is the intended effect that is produced by faith when we fixate on this vision. And there was found no place for that. I saw a great white throne, him that sat on it, from whose face the earth and the heaven fled away. And there was found no place for them. No place. If you see this great white throne, then I suggest to you that you ought to search yourself intently. Whatever your profession of religion might be, you must face this throne of justice. The Christian is involved with prayer and with the Bible and with the church and with the reality of their religion. I'll tell you something, mere pretense won't pass this throne. There's about 145 churches in this county, maybe 150. Most of them are filled with people that are just trying to get God to go along with them. Won't work. A Christian needs to know that. The voice of this judge will terrify mortal hearts in justice, and at the same time, he'll strengthen every believer in their prayers. Paul said in 2 Corinthians 13, 5, examine yourselves, whether you be in the faith, prove your own selves, know you're not your own selves, how that Jesus Christ is in you, except you be reprobates. Which are you? Are you in or are you out? I'm not being flippant. I mean this is a serious question. Y'all think seriously about it. If you're in, rejoice. If you're out, you better beg God to do something for you. He's the only one that can. In preparation for the throne, we must be careful to avoid mortal hypocrisy. There are a lot of people that are tempted to be baptized who have no redemption. Probably 25% of those churches or more in this county that everybody comes, makes a professional face, they dunk them in the water. They go in a dry center, they come out a wet center. God won't accept that. There are many who embrace religion to help their business or make them appear respectable to flesh. There's an awful lot of business people in this county go to church every Sunday just because it's good for business. Makes them appear respectable. I've been a pallbearer and I've conducted funerals for some wealthy men and women in this county. and everybody just moaning and groaning about how much they'll miss him in their church, this, that, and the other, and I'm thinking to myself, I don't know what y'all do here, but I might miss the fella because I had a good business relationship with him, but I ain't gonna miss him because of this. Hypocrites are gonna be damned to the deepest corner of eternity. And all people ought to judge their actions by this last great day. Everybody's judging their actions by today. Listen to me, standards change. Now listen now, I'm not being critical, but I'm going to make a point. I look across this congregation this morning, and I can tell you times have changed. When I started preaching in 1968, all you men would have had on a suit and a tie or a sport coat and a tie. And all you ladies would have been dressed in a very conservative dress. You'd have had a hat on or a veil on. That's the way we were all over this country. But we got comfortable. Now, I don't have any problem with getting comfortable. But I'm telling you that we judge ourselves by the standards of the world. Well, everybody else is doing it. Why can't we? Well, I guess you can. But the standard on the day of the great white throne will not be what everybody else said, or everybody else thought, or everybody else felt, or everybody else did. It will be God's holy word. There's no curtain between you and your sins. He'll expose them. Now, I've heard preachers tell this, and I don't believe it for a minute, that they're gonna have a big movie screen up there, and everything you ever did when you get there, they're gonna show a movie your whole life. Everybody's gonna know everything you ever thought, everything you ever did. I don't believe that. But I do believe God's gonna have justice. We must deal with his throne on that last day of justice. How would you change your mind in that day? How few would there be who have no condemnation on that serious day? If we had no condemnation, we wouldn't need Christ. The one wrote, bold shall I stand in that great day, for who anything to my charge shall lay, while through your blood absolved I am from sin's tremendous curse and blame. That's my hope. Just him. Trying times will rip assurance out of most people's hearts. This throne appears to us as we read it in the Bible to be far, far away, but it's probably not so. Probably not so. When you get older, it makes that throne look a lot closer. Looks closer to me than it did 50 years ago. We'll all be at God's judgment bar soon. Be ready for it. Be ready for it. Ponder this question well. Will you be among the flames? May God help you to come to Christ. Simply trust him. The way to come is to simply trust Christ. Simply trust Him. Cast your souls on Him. Because if you're in this world, you have nothing else to trust. And I mean nothing. There's nothing else to trust. Embrace Christ. Stand under the shower of his crimson blood. The Lord's not going to smite any who are under his blood, not a one. I saw a great white throne, him that sat on it, from whose face the earth and the heaven fled away, and there was found no place for them. This great white throne will be the most terrifying scene in the world. to every mortal who stands before it and does not have life in their soul from the Lord Jesus Christ. But it will also be the most profound hope of every true believer in the Lord Jesus. I'm excited about it. The lesson to be learned from this throne must be paid attention to. and they must be applied. This throne will generate exalted glory to Christ, Christ the Lamb, and to God the King. I found these words in a songbook. I thought they worked. They said, return, O wanderer, to your home. Your father calls for you. No longer now an exile room in guilt and misery. Return, return, return, oh wanderer, to your home. Tis Jesus calls for you. The spirit and the bride say come. Oh now for refuge flee. Return, return. Return, oh wanderer, to your home. Tis madness to delay. There are no pardons in the tomb. and brief is mercy's day. Return, return. 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. This is serious business. Serious business. I suggest you listen. Amen.