In this article we will be looking at a very sensitive topic that is supposed to shape our lives and our daily living as we walk on the earth. What we'll be looking at today is very sensitive and important, and it helps us to transit, and for some of us that have transited, it helps us to position ourselves in this place of understanding that our hope does not end here.
So, what are we looking at? We are looking at ‘The Throne, the Judgment, and the Cross’. How does these three (3) link together? As believers and followers of our Lord Jesus Christ, what is the throne about? What is the relevance of that throne to us? What is the judgment? Is there going to really be judgment? What would the Judgment look like and how is the throne and the judgment linked to the cross? I want to start from Isaiah chapter 6:1-3, it says;
“In the year that King Uzziah died, I saw the Lord sitting on a throne, high and lifted up, and the train of His robe filled the temple. Above it stood seraphim; each one had six wings: with two he covered his face, with two he covered his feet, and with two he flew. And one cried to another and said: “Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of hosts; the whole earth is full of His glory!”
Isaiah had a revelation, and it happened at the time that king Uzziah died. He said, ‘I saw the Lord’; did he see the Lord in the flesh? No! He saw the Lord in the Spirit. And he said when he saw the Lord, He was sitting on a throne. So, this established the fact that God sits on a throne. Isaiah gave this testimony about the revelation he had, that he saw the Lord sitting on a throne, high and lifted up. That's the description of what he saw.
I want us to see the link between Isaiah chapter 6:1, and Psalm chapter 11:4. Isaiah described the Lord that he saw sitting on a throne and he said it was high and lifted up and His robe filled the temple. Now, see what Psalm 11:4 says “The Lord is in His holy temple, the Lord’s throne is in heaven (high and lifted up was the word Isaiah used); His eyes behold, His eyelids test the sons of men”. His throne is in heaven, so He has a throne, and the location of His throne is in heaven; high and lifted up. The Lord is in His holy temple: the word temple there is what the two writers could use to communicate the sacredness. The word temple was the word that he can use to communicate. Because, there are certain things you will see spiritually that you will lack words, humanly speaking to describe.
In the book of Revelation, when John the beloved was writing the things he saw, he could only describe them in terms of what he has seen on the earth. So, here, he was describing the throne of God; He said, the Lord is in His holy temple, where I saw is a holy place, the sacredness, the purity, the way the place is, can be described as a temple, and it is in heaven.
So, two things we are going to infer from there: that the Lord sits on a throne, in a very sacred place that we can compare, or liken to a temple. So why is the Lord seated on a throne? Why is He not just floating? Because there are a lot of people that assume that God is just floating. God is so big, that He just floats in the atmosphere; in the universe. The Bible says that in the mouth of two or three witnesses, a matter shall be established that God actually sits on a throne, God is not floating, God is not positionless; He is in heaven. Even though He is omnipotent, and omnipresent because He is spiritual, He has a location where He judges.
And that's why you will see in Psalm 11:4 that he said ‘the Lord’s throne is in heaven, His eyes behold’; His eyes see. The reason why God is going to judge is because He beholds; there is nothing that is done anywhere that He does not see. And that's why God is the best judge because He sees all. If I am asked to judge between two people: how they live every day, will I be able to do it successfully? No! Why? It won’t be successful because I can't behold; to judge, I must be able to behold and that's why the judges of the earth sit on their seats and there are lawyers that bring cases and say, judge behold, this is the evidence we present before you, behold it; because without the judge beholding the evidence he cannot judge. But amazing as God is, evidence is brought before Him and He is a just Judge because beyond the evidence, He sees and He knows. So, His eyes behold, His eyelids test the son of men. That's why God is a just judge.
Now let's see Psalm 47:8, “God reigns over the nations; God sits on His holy throne”. So, this establishes the fact that God has a throne. And we're going to look at the significance of that throne in judgment. We have looked at three Scriptures that have described to us, great similarities between the throne of God and the location of that throne. Then we'll look at how that throne is relevant in judgment. Let's see 1 Kings chapter 22:19, “Then Micaiah said, therefore, hear the word of the Lord, I saw the LORD sitting on His throne, (Every time there is a revelation of God, He is sitting on His throne.) and all the host of heaven standing by, on His right hand, and on His left”. So, God is not perturbed about the issues of the earth. One of the things that the throne of the LORD signifies is that when someone is seated, another word you can use to represent is that the person is in authority. God is not running helter-skelter trying to defend His throne, He is always sitting and that shows us that God has authority on His throne, number one. Number two, God is at rest on His throne. When you are seated, it shows that you are at rest. God is at rest on His throne.
I want us to see Revelations chapter 4:2-4, “Immediately I was in the Spirit; and behold, a throne set in heaven, and One sat on the throne (Everybody sees Him sitting). And He who sat there was like a jasper and a sardius stone in appearance; and there was a rainbow around the throne, in appearance like an emerald. Around the throne were twenty-four thrones, and on the thrones; I saw twenty-four elders sitting, clothed in white robes, and they had crowns of gold on their heads”.
God is the One that sits on the throne. And our God is not trying to defend His authority or trying to defend the legitimacy of His throne; He is always seated. In Revelations chapter 4 that we read, it said that ‘He who sat there was like a jasper and a sardius stone’. So, he saw an appearance of the One seated. God is a sovereign God. We can't talk about the throne without talking about the Person that sits on it. The throne of God is synonymous with God. Everything that God is, His throne is. If God is sovereign, it is a sovereign throne. If God is righteous, it is a righteous throne. If God is holy, it is a holy throne. There are several descriptions of that throne, and it is the same as the description of the Person sitting on it. So, God and His throne are synonymous because He is the only one that sits on that throne. So, when we talk about the throne of God, we are talking about the Person: The King that sits on that throne. In Psalm 47:8, he says the Lord reign over the nation, He sits on His holy throne. And when He sits on His holy throne, He is reigning. No matter where you are, that throne reigns.
How many of us were familiar with the time when there was colonial era in Nigeria? The Queen of England was not physically in Nigeria but she was reigning. Presently, they have a king, they have colonies around the world. Australia, Canada and Bahamas are still under them. The queen still had Influence because it is about Influence; the queen was still reigning at the time she was alive and now they have a King and they are still reigning. What does these mean? The physical throne is in England, but the Influence of the throne is across those nations; that is the same thing with God. God physical throne is in heaven. For God to reign in your home, He does not need to relocate His throne from heaven to your house. What will come to your house is the Influence of that throne. Once His reign is over you, whatever is throne represents will become a reality or a possibility for you; that's how it works.
So, the physical location of the throne of God is in heaven. Every of these Scripture we have read as re-established that fact that His throne is set in heaven. Even when Jesus was physically on the earth, God did not relocate His throne. How do I know this? When He was teaching His disciples to pray, He didn’t say in this wise pray: Our Father that is on the Mount of Olives or our Father in the Garden of Gethsemane, but He said, our Father who is in heaven, Jesus re-established the fact that His throne is in heaven.
Our Father who is in heaven, that is where He is, not ‘was’ but ‘is in heaven’ and always will be in heaven, but His reign is over the nations. Someone can say, if God is truly God, and He wants to show Himself as God, let Him relocate His throne and bring it to my house; that won’t happen, no matter how much you pray; because when His Son was on the earth, He didn't relocate His throne. His throne is heaven, and that's why Jesus led us to pray like this; our Father who is in heaven, hallowed be Your name, thy Kingdom come. What does that mean? Let Your reign, let Your Influence, let the extension of Your hand; let it come. Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven; that's how the throne operates. Let Your will be done in my house, Let Your will be done in my family, let Your will be done in my marriage just as it is been done in heaven where Your throne is: where You rule, where You reign, where You have dominion.
So, we understand how the throne operate that the throne is in heaven. When we say the spiritual location of the throne, and that's why you will understand the kind of Influence the throne has; the throne in itself is spiritual, and the One that sits on it is spiritual. And what He does is that He extend spiritually His Influence. And that's why in Ephesians chapter one, it says, He has blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ Jesus. What do we do to access what He has given to us in the heavenly places? We pray let Your Kingdom come, let your will be done on earth as it is in heaven. That is how we relate with the throne.
As a believer, if you don't know how to relate with the throne, you will be robbed. It's not enough to say I have confessed the Lord Jesus as my Lord and Savior. How do you understand the throne? Do you understand the presence of God? Do you understand how to relate with the throne? In the Yoruba land, there is an Oni in Ile-Ife, his physical throne is in Ife. If you want to go to the throne of the Oni, you will go to Ile-Ife in Osun state, to go to the physical throne of that king. But you see, every Yoruba person all over the world will take instruction, direction, from the body language and the speech of that man. Is his physical throne in all the places where Yoruba people are? No! But his Influence is there. That is much more, in much greater dimensions, how we relate with God, the throne of God physically is in heaven but when we, as the children of God, as the heirs of God will want to enjoy the throne; what we look forward to on the throne is that, what is the body language of God? What is the instruction that God is giving in this season to His children? Once you can connect to that, you are legitimately walking in the authority and the Influence of God on the earth.
Going back to the Scriptures we read, it says, the Lord is seated in heaven, and His host with Him. What are the host of God doing? Yes, they are praising and worshiping God. But the Bible says that angels are ministering spirits, ministering to the saints. Who are the saints? The saints are those that have connected with God, that have become citizens of the Kingdom of heaven where God is a King. So, what are they ministering with? They are ministering with the word in the mouth of God. Remember, when Gabriel went to Zacharias, and was giving the word from the Lord, and Zacharias was doubting. He said, I am Gabriel, the one who stands in the presence of God. He said, I'm not coming on my own authority, I am not ministering to you in my strength, I am coming as instructed by God.
So, when angels are discharged, they are discharged to minister to the saints according to the word of the King, and they can minister to the degree of the instruction that God has given to them. Why? This is in relation with the throne. If you are not connected to the throne, you can't have a dispatch in your direction; because it is the throne that dispatches. God is in heaven, but God is not blocked away from us. That's why one of the things that happened when Jesus died is that the curtain of the temple was torn; meaning that when Jesus said it is finished on the cross, so many events happened. And if you look at those events that happened, there are series of transitions that happened in the spirit. First, the whole place turned dark; meaning that before the dawn of a new day, there must be darkness, meaning that there was a darkness that was revealing the new: that was revealing the light to come. Another significant thing that happened was that the veil of the temple was torn into two; meaning that the holy of holies that have been kept away from people; access denied is now access undenied.
So, the throne of God is accessible and that’s why the Bible says, we can now boldly approach the throne of grace. What the death of Jesus did for us again is that He gave us access to the throne. When God was dealing with Moses, He said, no man can see me and live. Howbeit when Jesus came, the Bible says it pleased God, that in Him; Christ Jesus, the fullness of the Godhead should dwell bodily, because it is when you see Him in the spirit that you will not leave, but when His fullness dwells in a man bodily, and you see Him; you will live. That's why nobody saw Jesus and died, even though He was hundred percent God.
So, access to the throne was given by Christ Jesus, so that boldly, we can come to the throne of grace, that we might obtain mercy. Mercy, because we are unqualified; mercy because we need it. If we're coming on our own right, we will be denied but mercy because we are hiding in Christ. When God told them to build the tabernacle, after an order, one of the things that was built in that tabernacle was the mercy seat. And what they do is that, they hide whatever it is they want to present under the mercy seat, then the access to the spiritual is placed over the mercy seat; because it is until mercy is extended. I want us to look at the story of the King Ahasuerus and Queen Esther, because that particular story was intentionally written because of its spiritual connotation.
Now King Ahasuerus, although a physical king but he was like a representative of God, because the code of conduct in his palace was something that will help us understand the throne of God. He said, if the king does not ask you to approach and you come, even though you are the queen, you will die; but once he extends his staff, even though you are coming unannounced, without appointments, once the staff is extended, what happens? The person lives; there is mercy. The staff that King Ahasuerus will stretch out to such an individual means mercy, when you now receive mercy, then you can now find grace, and ask for whatever it is you want the king to do for you, then he will now do it in his benevolence. So that's how God is; when you come to God, don't come feeling good, that I am made in the image and likeness of God.
In fact, I look like God, God and I are buddies: that's not how you come. He said with boldness, let us approach the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy; once we approach, let there be an extension of God’s hand saying, My mercy is over you, then you will now find grace. Whatever it is, you have come to that throne for, you can find it. Whatever you have come seeking, because for you to find means you were seeking. Whatever you were seeking that brought you to the throne, you will now find it. But what must precede what you are seeking is the mercy that comes on the platform of Christ Jesus. And that's why the significance of the throne to us is everything that the Kingdom represents. We obtain nothing without coming to the throne, we have nothing without resorting to the throne.
So, the throne of God is the presence of God, and that's why the Bible says in the presence of God; there is fullness of God. What do you want that is not there, but there is a protocol of approaching the throne. There is mercy; and what makes you qualify for mercy is that you have believed the Lord Jesus as your Lord and Savior, that extends mercy to you, then you now find grace. As we see the mercy of God, there is the severity of God. The throne is about protocol, and you can't break the protocol; no matter who you are. I was reading the book of Job, and the Bible says, the sons of God came to present themselves before God. I read it again and it looked as though there was an appointment, they didn't just decide to present themselves that we are coming before God today.
The Bible says they came to present; it sounds formal. They did not say the sons of God showed up, but that they came to present themselves, and the devil: who was the only person that was informal in that description because it looked like he joined them to come, he wasn’t invited. And guess what? Until God spoke to the devil, he could not speak. We need to fear God and we must understand that God is a God of order, He is a God of protocol, no matter the mess the devil is trying to do on the earth; he knows his Creator. The Psalmist says God has spoken once, twice I have heard this that power belongs to God.
Until God spoke, the devil could not say anything. And God said, devil you came at me, have you considered My servant Job, that there is none that is perfect like him? And God started talking and he said God, does he fear You for nothing? Is it not because you have made a hedge round about him? And God permitted the devil to try Job but not to touch his life. And in the madness of the devil, he could not touch Job, because God is God. Someone used to say madness has method. That you will not see a madman, and as mad as he is and suddenly, he will just jump into the ocean, he should not be able to see the water and assume that it is sand; madness has method. As mad as the devil is, he knows that God is God; and he knows that the throne of God is not one that you can just quickly enter like that because you are mad. The madness of the devil has boundary set by God.
So, let us look at the throne and the judgment. Revelation chapter 20:11-15, “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”.
Now, the Bible says in verse 11, ‘then I saw a great white throne’; when something is white, it is holy; that's another description. We had established earlier, that these were things that they could use to describe what they were saying. So, the throne of God is the throne of judgment. We have spoken about that throne, it has the throne of grace, where you come to approach boldly, obtaining mercy and finding grace; it is also the throne of judgment, and what happens at the throne of judgment, people are being judged. He said, I saw the dead small and great standing before God, whether you were queen of England, or king of England, or you were king of France, or king of Spain, whatever title that you had on the earth irrespective, everyone is going to stand before the throne of judgment.
If you have not come to the throne for grace, you will come to that throne for judgment; and that's the truth. Everyone will appear before the throne, and it is best you appear before the throne for grace, before you appear before it for judgment. Because it is in that, that you are saved. He said and I saw the dead, the 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, no matter what you have done on the earth, Jesus said, for every idle word you speak, you will give an account. When? Before the throne of judgment. So, for all your works and your words, you will give account before the throne. What is God sitting to do on that throne? He is doing everything He has beheld. When you see Him, you will worship Him because you will forget about your request and worship Him. And it is before Him all the nations will gather and He will judge.
In 1 Kings 22:19, he said, I saw the Lord sitting on His throne, and all the host of heaven standing by, on His right hand and on His left; and He will judge. When you see creatures of God in their glory, you don't understand what their legs look like, their wings are dazzling, and their eyes are fiery; how much more God. Everyone will be silent before Him. In Revelation chapter 20:11, he said, then I saw a great white throne and Him who sat on it, from whose face the earth and the heaven fled away: that is before the One that we will all report. So, if you are feeling like a big boy, or a big girl on the earth; doing the way you like, you will give an account. Is that what I sent you to the earth to do? Is that why I sent you? Is that the assignment that I asked you to do? Is that how I commanded you to speak? Is that where I commanded you to go? You will give an account, and remember He is a just judge. And you know the amazing and fearful thing about the judgment of God is that He's not going to only judge you based on the books. He said, and the books we opened and another book was open which is the book of life and the dead were judged according to their works.
Remember where we read in Psalm 11, he said ‘His eyes behold and His eyelids test the sons of men’. He is looking at all of us. Don't think God is too busy and He won’t even mind what I'm doing; He minds and sees you crystal clear. If the angels of God have eyes all around, how many do you think the eyes of God will be? They have eyes everywhere, meaning they see 360 degrees; then God that created them is much more. When you see the creation of someone, it gives you an idea of how magnificent the creator is. That throne is the throne of judgment and we will all appear before that throne, and we will be judged. If only in this world we have hope, we are of all men most miserable; our hope transits here. That's why we can’t live our lives as if everything ends here; it does.
Psalm 9:7, “But the Lord shall endure forever; He has prepared His throne for judgment”. Sometimes we sit down in our myopic thinking and we say how many people will God judge; and won’t He be tired? Do you know how many generations that have gone before us? And we don't know how many generations that are coming after us. The answer is in the Scriptures Psalm 9:7, but the Lord shall endure past all the generations forever; He has prepared His throne for judgment. That's why there is enough space for everybody to appear, because even His angels are in billions and nobody will hide in the crowd. His eyes behold, He will call your name, and you will come forward and He will judge you according to your works. And guess what! He beheld the works, and He was seeing you as you were doing it. That's why Jesus said don't fear those that can only destroy the body. But fear the One who can destroy both your soul and your spirit in hell. That's why when they were stoning Stephen, Stephen understood that his hope is not in this world; he has seen the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God: welcoming him into glory. The throne of God is also the throne of judgment; we must not forget it. As much as it is the throne of grace, it is also the throne of judgment; for He has prepared His throne for judgment.
So lastly, why is it important for us to embrace the cross? We embrace the cross because the cross is the access that we have to the throne, and it is the cross that secures us from condemnation on the day of judgment. I want us to see Revelation Chapter 22:3, “And there shall be no more curse, but the throne of God and of the Lamb shall be in it, and His servants shall serve Him”. The reason why we have become a servant is because we have embraced the cross. We will not serve Him in hell, but we will serve Him in His presence. Hebrews chapter 12:2, “Looking unto Jesus (how do we look unto Him? We look unto Him on the cross.), the author and finisher of our faith, who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God”. And this is the lesson for us; Jesus endured the cross for the joy that was set before Him on the throne. In the same way as believers, we must endure our own cross because He said, pick up your cross and follow Me. We must endure our own cross in Christ for the joy that we have at the throne. And He will say to us on that day; well done, good and faithful servant, enter the joy of your Lord and Savior.
I don't know what you are going through as a believer, I don't know how the world is biting hard on you, I don't know whether like Stephen you're being stoned, I don't know whether like Peter you're being persecuted, I don't know whether, like Paul, you are suffering shipwreck; but endure the cross, because there is joy at the throne. The joy of the Lord your God, that money cannot buy, and persecution cannot take away from you. Apostle Paul says, what can separate us from the love of Christ, nothing!! We must be looking unto Jesus, the author and the finisher of our faith for the joy that was set before Him, He endured the cross, despising the shame and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. What qualified Him? The cross.
Imagine if Jesus didn't endure the cross, imagine if He did not despise the shame: He won’t enjoy the joy at the right hand of the throne of God. As believers, as followers of Jesus, this should be our template; that's why we must look to the cross, our example is the cross and not a man of God. Our example and our template is Christ Jesus; so that where He is, we can be there also; and that's why we follow Him. Our destination is sure following Him. Hebrews chapter 1:8, “Your throne, O God, is forever and ever; a scepter of righteousness is the scepter of Your Kingdom”. And that's why He said He has made us the righteousness of God in Christ Jesus; that's why we look to the cross.
Everything that we become in God is because of the cross, everything we qualify for in God is because of the cross: so, we must hold unto the cross not to be wearing the sign or the chain of the cross about; it is not in wearing all of these but it is in the heart. It is about looking unto Him not wearing. It's about looking, not tattooing. Some people can say, I have tattooed the cross so that He cannot depart from me. If He is not in your heart, He can't be in your life; even though He's on your body. Looking and don’t take your eyes off Him. The reason why we will be at the right hand is because we are with Him. The location of Jesus is strategic: He is at the right hand, and He would tell those on the right, who are those on the right? Those on the right are the ones with Jesus. All of us will be judged, no matter when you die. And that's why if only in this world we have hope, we are of all men most miserable. Our hope is beyond here, and that's why we must live with that consciousness. I'm living because I am serving a throne, and the One sitting on that throne is not blind; He can behold. Whatever we do, He is seeing it and He knows and it is being recorded; that as each person is standing, the books that are opened are being read and concerning what you have done on the earth.
I don't know if you have not accepted Jesus as your Lord and Savior. If you have not, you can't be on the right hand. To be on the right is to accept Jesus. If you have not accepted Jesus as your Lord and Savior, the throne of judgment will condemn you because God has given us the platform of Jesus as the escape from death, as the escape from hell, as the escape from the second death. If you have not accepted Jesus as your Lord and Savior; say with me, Lord Jesus, I accept You as my Lord and my personal Savior. I look to the cross, and I look to You, Jesus, the author and the finisher of my faith. Forgive me of all my sins, wash me with your blood, make me new and alive unto God today. I have made my choice and I have decided and I confess with my mouth, that I will follow You, I will heed to Your instructions, all the days of my life till I reign with You eternally. In Jesus mighty name, we have prayed. Amen.
If you have said that prayer, you are born again; because being born again is about confessing with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believing in your heart, that He is actually your Savior and your Redeemer. And as you have done that, you are saved. For some of us, we need to rededicate our lives and say, Lord, if I am transited from this world today, the throne of judgment will not be favorable to me. Lord, forgive me. The Bible says if anyone sins, we have an Advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous. He said He will forgive you of all your sins: ask Him to forgive you and have mercy upon you has you approach the throne of grace.
