John K. Jenkins Sr - The Sinner's Court

That 's what I’ve entitled my message today: The Sinners' Court. As a matter of fact, I know all over television there are so many shows, so many court shows. The first was Judge Joseph Wapner and The People’s Court. It has been followed by a string of people; now The People’s Court has Judge Marilyn Milian. There 's also Judge Greg Mathis, Judge Joe Brown, and, of course, Judge Judy Sheindlin. The Divorce Court was headed by Mabellyne Ephraim, and now it’s Judge Lynn Toler, along with Judges Glenda Hatchett, David Young, Mills Lane, Maria Lopez, Larry Joe, and Alex Ferrer. We can go on and on — television airwaves are lined with court cases.

But I thought, instead of talking about these cases, we ought to discuss the real court that all of us must stand before: an almighty God. If you have your Bibles, I invite you to turn to Revelation chapter 20. The scene of this particular court case is outlined right here in verses 11-15. I won’t hold you long; I promise to have you out of here by about 3:30 or 4 at the latest. Revelation 20, beginning at verse 11, paints a picture of another court scene. Here 's what it says:

Verse 11: «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. 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.»

In this day and age of court shows, I thought it was important to talk to you today about the real Judge, the real Court, and the real situation. In this Book of Revelation, the Apostle John writes and paints a picture of the end times. This whole book prophetically speaks to the end times, and as he approaches the close of it in chapter 20, just a couple of chapters from the end, he paints a picture of the Day of Judgment. In this picture that he paints, I want to talk about three components that I see here.

The first thing I see is the throne-somebody say, «the throne.» Here we have the throne, the Throne of God revealed here in the Book of Revelation. As a matter of fact, the name Revelation means unveiled or disclosed. John describes what he sees, and what he sees is the throne. The scripture says it was a great white throne, and Him who sat on it was a real Judge. That throne was not set by Judge Joe or Judge Greg or Judge Judy but by Jesus Christ Himself. He is the true and righteous Judge.

What you and I need to worry about is not an earthly judge; you need not worry about the judge in the circuit court, or the district court, or in a small claims court. The real Judge you need to be concerned about is the Judge that has the power to condemn you to hell or grant you life. The Judge Himself, Jesus Christ, is sitting on the throne. The scripture says His face is so awesome and His presence so mighty that even Heaven and Earth flee from His very presence. He is the creator of Heaven and Earth, and it is from that throne that all sinners must stand before God and give an account of their lives. At that throne, we will have to stand and be judged according to truth.

Now, that’s an important point. Romans chapter 2, if you get a chance, lays out the principles by which we’ll be judged. He says we will be judged according to truth-not according to your opinion of truth, not according to what you say is right or what you believe in, but according to what real truth is. I don’t know if you’ve met anyone who thinks they have a corner on the truth, but the reality is they’ve been deceived and are full of lies. You will be judged according to truth, and also according to your deeds. According to Romans 2:6, you’ll be judged based on the acts and deeds you performed. In Romans 2:11, it says every person will be judged. In other words, God is not a respecter of persons; you won’t be able to slip past that judgment based on who you know or what you can work out. It doesn’t matter who you are or where you’re from; everybody will have to be judged.

Verse 12 says you’ll be judged according to light, meaning according to the knowledge that you have. God will not judge you for something you have not heard. But if you have heard, if you’ve been exposed to truth…