There is something about God's
Word in there. You know, some songs, you can
only hear them so many times before they get old. But God's
Word is a living Word. And it is just precious every
time we get to see it, read it, think on it, sing it. Turn with me, if you would, back
to 2 Corinthians 5. 2 Corinthians 5. We call this declaration, okay,
here I stand. We call this declaration delivering
a message. Isn't that what we call this?
Delivering a message. Men who have been called of God
to stand up and declare His word. Those men are referred to in
the Scriptures as messengers. The point of this is not to stand
up and deliver a sermon. We are messengers, right? A messenger is a person who brings
word from one to another. The messenger is technically
not involved In any other way then, he's called on to bring
word from one to another. Right? He doesn't make up the
word. He just brings it. He's a messenger. I do have a
message today. A message from our God. God did
not speak it to me out loud like men foolishly say He does. He does not do that anymore.
There was a time when He did. But He said in Hebrews 1 that
in those days He spoke to us by the prophets, but now He's
spoken to us by His Son, through His Word. He has given this message
to all of us right here in His Word. right here in his word. I must deliver the message that
he has given to us. What would a messenger be if
he didn't bring the message? Let's say you called on somebody
to go deliver a message for you and he didn't go deliver the
message. Or what if he changed the message midway? What would
you do to that? Would you call on that messenger
again? Well, I think I'll keep using him. No. I must deliver
the message that God has given to us. I must. But I do want
to prepare us for the fact that this is a very serious message.
This is a very sobering message. Verse 11 says, 2 Corinthians
5 verse 11 says, Knowing therefore, The terror of the Lord. Knowing therefore the terror
of the Lord. It is such kindness. It is such
mercy that God would reveal to anybody the terror of the Lord. That's so kind of him to do that. So kind. Not all men and women
know the terror of the Lord. The scripture says it's actually
few. And we know that so don't we?
It's actually very few. Who know that it is a fearful
thing to fall into the hands of the living God, very few people
know that. Very few people. Look with me
if you would at Hebrews 10. Hebrews 10 verse 28 says, He that despised Moses' law died
without mercy under two or three witnesses. The law that Moses
delivered. The one who disobeyed it, ignored
it, despised it. The punishment came. I mean,
the punishment truly came. They died under two or three
witnesses. Verse 29 says, Of how much sorer
punishment suppose ye, shall he be thought worthy who hath
trodden underfoot the Son of God, stepped on Christ, and hath
counted the blood of the covenant wherewith he was sanctified an
unholy thing, and hath done despite unto the Spirit of grace For
we know him that hath said, Vengeance belongeth unto me, I will recompense,
saith the Lord. And again, the Lord shall judge
his people. Every person on earth belongs
to him. He owns them. He created them. In that way, every soul is his
people and he's going to judge his people. Verse 31 says, It
is a fearful thing. to fall into the hands of the
living God. Man's thoughts toward God are
so flippant. They're so flippant. They are
so foolish. They are so arrogant, man's thoughts
toward God are so proud and arrogant, isn't that something? But once
a sinner comes to know the terror of the Lord, he's a changed man
forever. If a sinner ever truly comes
to see and know the terror of the Lord, that's a changed man
or a changed woman forever. Isn't that right? We know that
from experience forever. The soberness of eternity comes
over that soul. That's what happened to every
single one of us. That's why we're here. It's because
a soberness of eternity has come over us. The guilt of sin consumes the
soul that has seen the terror of the Lord. The guilt of sin. Humility, that proud, arrogant
soul, now all of a sudden humility lays so heavy on him. Brokenness. That's what happens. Fear, the
fear of the Lord, it influences everything he does, everything
he believes, everything he says. The fear of the Lord influences
everything a child of God says. It sinks in to that child that
the Lord Himself said in Matthew 12, 36, He said, and this is
something, listen to this, He said, Every idle word that men
shall speak they shall give an account thereof in the day of
judgment." Can you imagine how long judgment's going to last?
Can you imagine? Every man, every single woman,
they're going to have to stand up before God and they're going
to have to give an account of every single word that they ever
said. Not only out of the mouth. We
say words in our mind that never make it out of the mouth. Isn't
that right? Words in our heart. God sees
it all. Every man, every woman is going
to have to give an account of every single word. Look with
me at Revelation 20. Revelation 20 verse 11, And I
saw a great white throne, and him that sat on it, from whose
face the earth and heaven fled away. Why did they flee away?
The terror of the Lord. It goes on to say, There was
found no place for them. And I saw the dead, small and
great, stand before God, And the books were opened. And another
book was opened, which is the book of life. And the dead were
judged out of those things which were written in the books according
to their works. And the sea gave up the dead
which were in it. And death and hell delivered
up the dead which were in them. And they were judged every man
according to their works. And death and hell were cast
into the lake of fire, this is the second death, and whosoever
was not found written in the book of life was cast into the
lake of fire. That's terrible, isn't it? Knowing
therefore the terror of the Lord. This is the terrible part. This
is the terrible part. It's the terror of the Lord. It's the terror of the Lord,
Jesus Christ, the Lord. The only hope for sinners, the
only one who is able to save. The Lord, the only one who is
able to deliver from wrath and terror. God's provided land. Men and women are going to have
to hear him say. Does that not strike you? Men and women are
going to have to hear God's provided lamb say, depart from me. I never knew you. I never knew
you. Go with me back to 2 Corinthians
5. Verse 11 says, Knowing therefore the terror
of the Lord, we persuade men. Because we know the terror of
the Lord, we persuade men. Persuade means to cause to believe
by urging. It means to convince one By words
to believe. This morning I have words to
believe. These words must be believed. Must be believed. Verse 11 says,
Knowing therefore the terror of the Lord, we persuade men,
but we are made manifest unto God, and I trust also are made
manifest in your consciences. Manifest is what? What are God's
messengers manifest as? Tellers of truth. Tellers of the truth. Tellers
of the truth. This word will make manifest
who is a messenger of the truth. This right here is the truth.
I'm not the truth. John the Baptist, he said, I'm
not him. I'm not worthy to tie his shoes. He's the one. There
is nothing in me worthy to listen to. Unless. I am the messenger of his word.
This is the truth. Verse 11 says, knowing therefore. Therefore means because of what
was just said, knowing therefore. Because of what was just said,
look at verse 10. For we must all appear before
the judgment seat of Christ. The reason men and women do not
naturally know the terror of the Lord. is because they do
not know who is sitting on the throne. That's the reason. They do not know who they have
to stand before. They don't know God. They know
the Word and they have this general blanket thought in their mind,
but they don't know who God is. They don't know who is sitting
on that throne. They don't know who they're going
to have to stand before. Go with me if you would to Romans
14. Romans 14 verse 10 says, But
why dost thou judge thy brother? Or why dost thou set it not thy
brother? For we shall all stand before
the judgment seat of Christ. The judgment seat of Christ.
Look with me if you would at Matthew 25. Matthew 25 verse 31 says, When the Son of Man, that's the
Lord Jesus Christ, when the Son of Man shall come in His glory
and all the holy angels with Him, then shall He sit upon the
throne of His glory. And before him shall be gathered
all nations, and he shall separate them one from another, as a shepherd
divideth his sheep from the goats." And he goes on to say he's going
to put the sheep on his right hand and the goats on his left.
Verse 41 says, Then shall he say also unto them on the left
hand, Depart from me, ye cursed, into everlasting fire prepared
for the devil and his angels. It's terrible. People leave this
world having been told all their lives that this man, Jesus Christ,
is a man who has a very pleading countenance on his face. And his arms are stretched out. And he's saying, won't somebody
have me? Won't somebody receive me? And
then they're catapulted before his judgment throne. And they
see him. There he is. And they know him. They know that's who it is. And
they realize all of a sudden He is not begging and pleading. He is judging and damning. Knowing therefore. Knowing therefore. God in His grace has revealed
this to us. Knowing therefore. Go with me
if you would back to 2 Corinthians 5. Verse 10 says, For we must all appear before
the judgment seat of Christ, that every one may receive the
things done in his body according to that he hath done, whether
it be good or bad. What that means is, everybody
is going to get what they deserve. Everybody is going to get what
they deserve based on the things that they do. Isn't that what
it means? Everybody is going to get what
they deserve based on the things that they have done in their
body. All right, now what have we done? What have we done? Those of us
who are right here in this room, let's just keep it right here.
What have we done? Go quickly to Romans 3. Romans 3 verse 10 says, as it
is written, there is none righteous, no not one. There is none that
understandeth, there is none that seeketh after God, they
are all gone out of the way, they are together become unprofitable,
there is none that doeth good, no not one. Their throat is an
open sepulcher, with their tongues have they used deceit, the poison
of asps is under their lips, whose mouth is full of cursing
and bitterness, Their feet are swift to shed blood, destruction
and misery are in their ways, and the way of peace have they
not known. There is no fear of God before
their eyes. Verse 23 says, All have sinned
and come short of the glory of God. Now I know, I know, I really
did enter into this. I know. that people see themselves
as being good. And I understand why. This flesh
always compares to something worse. Always. Our flesh. I know that people
see themselves as being good. I know. Here I just read these verses.
How many times have we read these verses? I know. that when people
hear this directly out of God's Word, they don't believe it. I know that. I know that. And I understand why. That's
what the flesh does. I know that when people look
inside and assess themselves, they see a relatively good person. But the only problem is, God
says we're not. It does not matter what we see.
It doesn't matter if I think I'm better than somebody. God
says we're not. It doesn't matter if I know if
I have an awareness of my sin. It doesn't matter if I'm feeling
guilty about it or not. God says we're not. Isn't that enough? God says,
whether I see it or not, God says, from the crown of my head
to the sole of my foot, I'm nothing but wounds, bruises, putrefying
sores. Isn't that right? God says all
of our good deeds. Well, how can you call me a bad
person when I did this, this, this, and this? God says all
of our good deeds are filthy rags in his eyes. That's what
God says. It doesn't matter what I think
about him. I like him. He's a good man. He does good
things for good people. It doesn't matter what I think.
It doesn't matter who I like. God says the truth of the matter is the
person who looks at himself or herself and only sees just a few spots
of sin. Well, yeah, OK. All right. I will confess. But
it's just a little bit. The person who looks within himself
or herself and only sees a few spots of sin, that person is
in worse condition than the addict laying out in the gutter. And
the reason is because, here's why, the reason is because pride
is telling that person, you only have just a few spots of sin
in you. And God says the number one thing he hates is pride. Men and women will be judged
and damned for pride faster than anything else. The fastest, quickest
pride. There is none righteous. There
is none that doeth good. Not Mother Teresa, not Gandhi,
not the Pope. Tons of people will hear that.
At some point they'll hear somebody say that and say, I can't believe
you said that about the Pope. I didn't. I didn't say that.
I'm just the messenger. God said there is none righteous. There's none that do good. Not
even the Pope. No. Not one. None. All have done bad. Now if you don't turn anywhere
else this morning, make sure you turn to this. Go to Hebrews
10. Hebrews 10 verse 7 says, Then
said I, Lo, I come, in the volume of
the book, it is written of me to do thy will, O God." Jesus
Christ came into this world for one reason only. It was to trade
places with His people. Those sheep that we read about. The ones who were written in
that Lamb's Book of Life that we read about. The ones who have
been recorded for all eternity. The ones who were chosen of the
Father. The ones who were given to Him,
put inside Him. He came to trade places with
those people. There is no hope of fixing us. There is no hope of reforming
us. Not only are we bad, we are flat
ruined. The message is not. The message is not. We need to
cut out the bad so we can salvage the good. That's not the message.
That is not God's message of hope. That's not the message
I have to deliver. The message is not, well, what
we need to do is nurture and heal the bad. You know, the body
can heal itself. So let's nurture it and let's
heal it so we can make the whole thing good again. That is not
the message. We are flat, ruined. There is no hope now for our
condition. Here is the message from God
Almighty to a ruined sinner. Psalm 14 says, The Lord looked
down from heaven upon the children of men to see if there were any
that did understand and seek God. They are all gone aside. They are all together become
filthy. There is none that doeth good.
No, not one. He said in Isaiah 40, All flesh
is grass. God, the Trinity looked down.
Every single man, every single woman that would ever walk on
this earth, he looked down to see if there were any that understood,
sought Him and did good. With every one of them, he said,
did he do it? No. Did she do it? No. Did he do it? No. Did she do it? No. Every single one. Then said Christ,
I'll go do it. I will go do it. Lo, I come. In the volume of the book, it
is written of me to do thy will, O God. He said in Psalm 40, I
delight to do thy will. He was born, the scripture says,
a holy thing. A holy thing. born of the incorruptible
seed of the Holy Ghost. From the moment he entered this
world, everything he did was in complete agreement with God's
law. He said, I didn't come to destroy
this. I came to fulfill it. I love that. I came to obey God's
law. Throughout his life, he increased
in wisdom and in stature and in favor with God and man. God
loved him before the foundation of the world. God loved him when
he said, I'll go do it. God loved him when he was laying
in a manger. And it says he increased in favor
with God. God loved him more and more. On the day he began his ministry,
God the Father spoke out loud from heaven and said, This is
my beloved son in whom I am well pleased. Go with me over to Acts
chapter 10. Acts chapter 10 verse 37 says, That word, I say, you know, which
was published throughout all Judea, and began from Galilee
after the baptism which John preached, how God anointed Jesus
of Nazareth with the Holy Ghost and with power, who went about
doing good. and healing all that were oppressed
of the devil, for God was with him. Only one man has ever done
good. Yes, only one. Everything that we have ever
done and will ever do is bad. Everything he ever did and will
ever do is good. Verse 39 says, And we are witnesses
of all things which he did, both in the land of the Jews and in
Jerusalem, whom they slew and hanged on a tree. If everything
he ever did was good, why did they slay him and hang him on
a tree? is because after all of His good
was accomplished, Christ took every ounce of that good and
He traded it for the bad of His people. He gave them every ounce
of the good that He did in His body. And He took every ounce
of the bad that His people committed in their bodies. And with all
of that bad, He went and stood before the judgment throne. And
He was required to give an account for every bit of it. If God in His grace and mercy,
if He chose us, if He did this for us, every sin we have ever
committed, Christ had to give an account for it. Christ had
to give an account every word we have ever said. God asked
Him about every word that has ever come out of my mouth and
He had to give an account for it. You talk about humiliation. Every word, He had to stand there
and give an account for it. And when it was all said and
done, he was found to be guilty. And he was cast out. And he died. And God was satisfied. Therefore, verse 46, him God
raised up the third day and showed him openly. not to all the people,
but unto witnesses chosen before of God, even to us who did eat
and drink with him after he rose from the dead. And he commanded
us to preach unto the people." Watch this right here. He commanded
us to preach unto the people and to testify that it is He
which was ordained of God to be the judge of the quick, that
means alive and dead, sheep and goats. To Him give all the prophets
witness that through His name, whosoever believeth in Him shall
receive remission of sins. Whoever believes in him shall
receive remission of sin. Now here is God's word of persuasion. Persuade means to convince one
by words to believe. We don't persuade with our own
words, we persuade with God's words. God's words. God's words
are the words to be believed. Here is God's word of persuasion. Knowing the terror of the Lord. If we want to know the terror
of the Lord, if we want to know how sin will be dealt with every
single time, all we have to do is look to the cross of Calvary.
That's all we have to do. He spared not his own son. He
spared not his own son. But if we want to know what is
the only hope of eternal life, if we want to know where mercy
can be found, all we have to do is look to the cross of Calvary. He spared not his own son. Believe
on him. Believe on him. If we are going
to believe on him, it is God who will persuade us to believe
on him. Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ
and thou shalt be saved. Now I'm going to close with this.
What is it to believe on Him? Go with me back to 2 Corinthians
5. To believe on the Lord Jesus
Christ is to believe 2 Corinthians 5 verse 21. For He hath made
Him to be sin for us who knew no
sin. Number one, it's to believe that
I am as bad and as sinful as this Word says I am. That's the
first thing it is. It's why Christ had to die. It's
the whole reason for the cross. Number two, it's to believe that
every sin that I am and I have ever committed Every sin that
I have or will ever commit, Christ had to give an account for it.
Number three, it's to believe that he suffered the wrath and
the punishment of God for that account. And God is now satisfied
and it's over. There's one final component to
this, though. One final component. Not only
has He dealt with my evil, He gave me His good. My record is now all the good
that He committed in His body. And now, when I stand before
the judgment throne of God, I'm going to have to. God's going
to require it. He's going to require it. When I stand before
God, all of the good that Christ accomplished in His body, I'm
going to have to give an account for it. The books are going to be open. I'm going to be judged accordingly.
Well, it says here, you obeyed the law perfectly. Is that so? In Christ it is. Well, it says here, not one corrupt
word ever came out of your mouth. It says not one corrupt thought
ever entered your mind. It says right here, not one corrupt
motive ever entered your heart. Is that so? In Christ it is. It says here that everything
you ever did is in perfect agreement with the mind and the will and
the purpose of God Almighty. It says right here that God is
well pleased with you. Is that so? In Christ it is. In Christ I am. I find the defendant innocent. You're free to go. Verse 21 says,
For he hath made him to be sin for us who knew no sin, that
we might be made the righteousness of God in him. Be persuaded. Be persuaded. Believe it. Let's all stand together.