Who Is That Judge Seated On The White Throne? Series

Revelation 21 is brutal on the conscience, its a Tough subject, not a fun message about God's judgment, the verdict and punishment for sin. However it is in the Word of God, to ignore its message means we not tell truth of impending judgment and the end times. We warn people we love, warn our friends, family, children, warn them about how words and actions have consequences. if you will tolerate wrong thoughts, they result in wrong actions, one action can sow behavior patterns, become habits and addictions and ultimately these will not end well,

the warning in Revelation is not given to be mean, but to alert us, God reveals His righteous standard one day will be fulfilled. This message is not intended to terrorize or invoke unnecessary fear, but to warn us! Hebrews 9:27, reminds us of God’s promise, its God's promise of justice, “It is appointed unto man once to die and then comes judgment,” Jesus instructed John in chapter 1, "write down what you see, what was, is, and will be to come, Chapter 21 is what will be to come, Jesus reveals events of the future, where John sees the image of a judge, who is high and lifted up, seated on a great white throne, and all people dead and alive, great and small stand in judgment, The judgment place will be a great white throne, and the judge seated on the throne is Jesus! I hope this message will spur your desire to be faithful,

For its warning is not intended to terrorize or paralyze but to challenge you to be a fully devoted follower and witness, speaking with clarity and sensitivity because this is the stuff of eternity. Read Rev. 20:11-15

Years ago I entered a tennis tournament, same day as a wedding I was to officiate, dilemma, time match scheduled, was 10 am, could potentially conflict with the promise I made to officiate a wedding which would start at 1:30 pm, I set a plan, calculated the drive time, decided If I played fast, I can finish match in time to get back, shower and dress for the wedding, I would need to finish by 12:30, allow for a 20 minute drive, 15 minutes to shower, dress and get to the church, and I would have 10 minutes cushion to spare before the bride walks the aisle,

But the match went long, I wasn’t done at 12:30, with competitive juices running, I recalculated, justified I can keep playing as long as I finish by 12:40, eliminate the 10 minutes cushion, at 12:50 it wasn't done, but I could smell the finish, I justified staying, "I really do not need to take a shower, could just put a preaching robe over my clothes, and still officiate the wedding, no one will notice." Finally at 1 pm, I reluctantly had to forfeit the match, jumped in the car, drove home fast, arrived at 1:25, ran a comb thru my hair, pulled a robe over my sweaty shirt, shorts and tennis shoes,

The anxious bride had been worrying if the pastor had forgotten, it didn’t help her to see me drive up 5 minutes before the wedding, in smelly t shirt shorts and tennis shoes, I told her it would be alright, and with a robe concealing the inappropriate garments, I walked into the church, to officiate this holy event.

but boy did I feel embarrassed. Everybody else was dressed in their finest clothing. guys wore tuxes, looked handsome, girls were dressed in beautiful wedding garments. Here was the one representing God, wearing sweaty, smelly clothing, and officiating at a beautiful formal event and my clothes partially concealed by a robe were absolutely inappropriate.

In Revelation 20 John receives a vision which follows a wedding, from chap 19, the invited guests are given wedding garments appropriate, and are dressed for the formal occasion, It is critical we hear and understand this warning, because one day we will stand before Jesus, seated on the throne! we will see clearly the Contrast between His holiness and our dirty garments! this contrast is well described in Isaiah 64: Isaiah 64:6 “All of us have become like one who is unclean, and all our righteous acts are like filthy rags.”

All our sacrifice, our generosity, our good actions, kind words, acts of forgiveness, noble deeds, they will all seem even shabbier than dirty clothes. Isaiah’s vision, “I saw the Lord seated on a throne, high and exalted, and the train of his robe filled the temple. Angels were calling: ‘Holy, holy, holy is the LORD Almighty; whole earth is full of his glory.’ doorposts & thresholds trembled before Him, the temple was filled w smoke.” When Isaiah saw and experienced this Holy God, his response was immediate: "Woe to me! I am ruined! I am a man of unclean lips, I live among a people of unclean lips, and my eyes have seen the King, the LORD Almighty." When Isaiah saw Holy God, All he could sense was the contrast, There was the purity and holiness of God. and then there was a man with unclean lips, dressed inappropriate for a holy God. O how that purity and holiness contrasted with his humble sinful nature, even his best actions paled in comparison to God's purity and standards of righteousness, it frightened him. God was pure, I am not. God is righteous, I fall so far short.