Now turn with me in your Bibles
to the book of 2 Corinthians chapter 5. 2 Corinthians chapter 5. I want
to spend a few moments this morning speaking on this subject, the
judgment seat of Christ. The judgment seat of Christ.
From 2 Corinthians chapter 5, as you know, the scripture teaches
that it is appointed unto men once to die, and that's an appointment
that God has made for us. And after that, the judgment.
The judgment. I heard Brother Mahan years ago
preach a message when she had four points about the four certainties
of our existence. And those four certainties were
number one, we have a life to live. We have a life to live. God's given us a life. Maybe
a short life, maybe a long life, as men say it. But it's a life. How are we going to live it?
Number two, we have a death to die. It's appointed. Sin brought about death. How are we going to die? Thirdly,
we have a judgment to face. That's what this passage is talking
about here. I'm not going to get into the
issues of, you know, some people talk about this judgment, that
judgment. This happens in this. I'm just going to talk about
judgment. A judgment I know that you and I will have to face.
How are we going to face it? And then fourthly, the fourth
certainty of our existence is we have an eternity to spend.
Now how are we going to spend it? Well, let's look here beginning
at verse 9. I ended last week here, but I
want you to see this. The judgment seat of Christ.
I have three points in this message. Number one is the labor of grace. the labor of grace look at verse
9 wherefore or for this reason what reason I'll show you in
a minute wherefore we labor in your concordance in your Bible
might have the word endeavor either way it means that we put
a lot into this that's what it means we we whoever the we is
we labor he says we labor that whether present or absent we
may be accepted of him accepted there means well-pleasing to
him so that's the labor of grace verse 10 now here's a second
point the judgment of grace they're actually There's a judgment of
grace here, but there's also another judgment in this same
judgment I'll show you in a minute. He says, For we must all appear
before the judgment seat of Christ, that everyone may receive the
things done in his body, according to that he hath done, whether
it be good or bad. I want to talk to you about the
judgment of grace and then verse 11. Here's the third point the
persuasion of grace the persuasion of grace He says in verse 11
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 So there you have it The labor of grace,
the judgment of grace, and the persuasion of grace. Now let's talk about this labor
of grace. Paul writes, wherefore, that
means for this reason, for this reason we labor. Well, what is
the reason? Well, Paul had been talking about
leaving this life. That's what he'd been talking
about. Talking about in verse 1 there, our earthly house of
this tabernacle, if it were dissolved. That's death. That's a way of
describing death. This earthly tabernacle, this
earthly body, this physical body that houses our souls and our
spirits. He says, if it were dissolved.
And he says, if this body, talking to believers now, and I want
you to understand this, This is written to people who had
heard the gospel, the true gospel, not a false gospel. There were
false preachers who had crept in to try to draw them away from
the true gospel. But these were people who professed
to believe in Christ. And he says, if our earthly house
is dissolved, we die, there's something better for us. Now,
a lot of people don't believe that. I think the famous quote
by the communist Karl Marx, he said, religion is the opiate
of the people. He said, that's just something
you all believe because it makes you feel better. It helps get
you through this life. So we know that there's a lot
of people who don't believe, but there's a lot of people who
do. There's a lot of people who say, when I die, I know there's
something better. They may not know exactly what
it is, but it's going to be better. Got to be better than this. Uh,
I've heard people say that it's got to be better than what I'm
going through now, you know, and all that. But you see, we don't
have to go by man's thoughts and ideas and speculations. We
have the word of God. And that's what Paul's talking
about here. He's talking about leaving this life and going to
something better based upon what he has been taught by God. And so what he's speaking of
is the certain assurance of final glory. The certain assurance. Not just a wishful thought, but
a certain assurance of having a spiritual body. He says that we have a building
of God in verse 1. That's talking about the spiritual
body. He said, a house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens. He's talking about... He describes
it over in 1 Corinthians 15 as this corruptible. We know this
is corruptible because we see it, we feel it. It's a dying
body. This corruptible must put on
incorruption. That is a body that cannot be
corrupted, cannot be destroyed. No sickness, no death, no sorrow,
no pain. And you know, that does sound
like pie-in-the-sky religion to a lot of people, doesn't it?
You know, you're just frustrated with life and you just want something
better. Well, there is something better. We know. You know what
the greatest proof of the afterlife is? You know what the greatest
evidence of the afterlife is. It's not somebody who died and
came back because they didn't walk into the light. The greatest
evidence of life after death, a glorious life after death for
God's people is the resurrection of Jesus Christ. That is a historical
fact. That's not just a myth concocted
by men. In fact, I believe one old scholar
said that there was more historical proof that Jesus Christ lived,
died, was buried, and rose again than there is really historical
proof that George Washington was the first President of the
United States. And yet none of us questioned that. But Jesus
Christ, the Lord of glory, God in human flesh, proven by his
life and death, burial and resurrection. That's the greatest evidence
of a life after death, a glorious life for the people of God. So
this is what Paul's talking about. He's talking about the certain
assurance, and I emphasize that because a lot of people don't
see it that way. A lot of people promote doubts
and misgivings as if that's humility and holiness, but it's not. You
see, we believe God. We believe God, and you know
what? It dishonors God not to believe Him. If you tell somebody
something that you know to be true, and they say, well, I don't
believe you, doesn't that offend you? It does me, when I know
it's true. Well, what do you think about
God? The Bible says Abraham believed
God, and in that, you know what he did? He gave glory to God.
It dishonors God not to believe Him. God is true. Let God be
true in every man alive. God is faithful. Great is thy
faithfulness. So Paul is just simply saying
here, I believe God. I don't believe what these other
fellows are saying. I believe God. And what is he talking about? The certain assurance of salvation. The certain assurance of final
glory. By the grace of God, by the grace
of God, you see that? Not by the works of men, but
by the grace of God in the Lord Jesus Christ. Those are your
three things right there. The certain assurance of final
glory by the grace of God in the Lord Jesus Christ. There
they are. Don't interject your works into that in any way, shape,
form or fashion as forming any part of the ground or the cause. of this whole thing of salvation
and final glory. It's all of God. It's all by
grace. It's all in Christ. It's all
based on what Christ did, not what you did. It's based on,
as I told somebody, it's not based upon what you do for God.
It's based upon what God has done for his people in Christ.
That's the important thing. So Paul writes here, this is
the labor of grace now. He says, for this reason, Because
of this certain assurance of final glory by the grace of God
in the Lord Jesus Christ, we labor, we work hard, we endeavor,
we put a lot into it. What's he talking about? Well,
he's talking about the life of grace, he's talking about the
labor of grace, he's talking about the ministry. The ministry
that God had given him, the ministry of the church, He's talking about
obedience. He's talking about character.
He's talking about conduct. We labor. We labor hard, work
hard, endeavor in the ministry of the gospel. That whether present
or absent, whether I'm with you or not with you. That's what
that means. Whether I'm here or there, listen
to it. He says, whether I'm here or
there, we may be accepted of God. We're laboring to be accepted
of God. Now you say, preacher, that doesn't
make sense. Over here in Ephesians chapter 1, let me just read this
to you. It speaks of being accepted with
God. And it says that we've been predestinated
unto the adoption of children in verse 5 of Ephesians 1, by
Jesus Christ to Himself according to the good pleasure of His will,
to the praise of the glory of His grace, wherein he hath made
us accepted in the Beloved." We're accepted of God in Christ.
Now, Paul's saying here, well, we're laboring to be accepted
of Him. Now, which is it? Are we accepted
of God in Christ or are we to work to be accepted? Which is
it? Well, here's what you need to understand now. And this is
what we have... This is where people go awry
when they try to read the Scripture. Paul's talking about two different
things. In Ephesians chapter 1, He's
talking about how a sinner is saved and justified before a
holy God. And in 2 Corinthians 5 and verse
9, he's talking about something different. He's talking about
how saved sinners, already saved, already justified, endeavor to
please God. They're two different words in
the original. In Ephesians chapter 1 and verse
6 when he talks about being accepted in the beloved, that's being
accepted of God in Christ. You want that word? You could
translate that word by graced. We're graced in the beloved. Listen, we're forgiven. We're
justified. We're made righteous before a
holy God, accepted eternally and unchangeably in and by the
Lord Jesus Christ. But that's not what he's talking
about here in 2 Corinthians 5 and verse 9. What he's talking about
here, this word accepted here means well-pleasing to God. In
other words, here's what he's saying. I'm not laboring to be
accepted of God. He's saying, because I am accepted
of God in Christ, I want to please God. That's what he's saying.
It's the labor of grace. God has saved this old sinner
who didn't deserve salvation. God has justified me based on
a righteousness that I had no part in producing. It was the
one my Savior, my Lord produced on Calvary's cross by His obedience
unto death. I didn't earn it, didn't deserve
it, cannot earn it, cannot deserve it, and God has given it all
to me in Christ. I'm blessed with all spiritual
blessings in Christ. Therefore, because God has freely
and unconditionally given me all of salvation and the certain
assurance of final glory in Christ, you know what? I want to please
God. I just want to please God. If
somebody gave you a huge gift, Let's say if somebody paid off
all of your monetary debt for you. Just wiped the books clean
for you. And then gave you a million dollars
to the good. Let's say somebody who was your
enemy did that for you. Who you looked at as an enemy.
Now what the scripture says, Christ died for his people when
we were yet enemies. We were enemies in our minds
by wicked works. Somebody who you hated came along
and wiped your debt clean and gave you a million dollars to
the good. Would that change your mind towards
them? You bet it would. Would you want to thank them?
You bet you would. I tell you what, if you wouldn't,
you'd be the most ungrateful wretch that ever walked this
earth. Isn't that right? Wouldn't I be if I didn't? If
somebody did that for you, who you hated, who you looked upon
as an enemy, did that for you, for no reason other than his
good will and pleasure, would you want to please him? That's
what Paul's saying right here. That's the labor of grace. that
we may please God and not ourselves. You see, God has saved His people
not so that we can live unto ourselves and draw attention
to ourselves and benefit ourselves. He saved us by His grace so that
we might honor Him and please Him and glorify Him. That's what
Paul's talking about. Salvation, what's he saying here?
Well, he's saying that salvation by grace is more than a doctrine
we proclaim. It is a doctrine. Don't ever
put down doctrine. Don't ever deny it or diminish
it. It's the word of truth. But it's more than just a doctrine
we profess. It's a life we live by the power
of God in Christ. That's what he's saying. We labor.
Grace is not only what Christ has done for us on the cross.
Now listen, you cannot overemphasize what Christ has done for His
people on the cross. It's impossible for a preacher,
in all of his lifetime of preaching the truth, to overemphasize the
work of Christ on the cross for us. You can't do that. That's
the heart of the gospel. That's the ground of salvation.
He is everything what he accomplished on Calvary in putting away the
sins of his people and bringing forth everlasting righteousness.
My friend, you can't preach the gospel without preaching that.
The gospel is the power of God unto salvation to everyone that
believeth, to the Jew first, the Greek also. For therein is
the righteousness of God revealed. And that righteousness of God
is the entire merit of the obedience and death of Christ. that's given
and charged and imputed to his people, which we receive by faith.
You cannot overemphasize that. But grace is not only what Christ
has done for us on the cross, it's also what the Holy Spirit
does in us in our hearts in the new birth. That's the fruit of
what Christ did on the cross. By his death, we have what? Life. Life given. And that grace in
the life given is a dynamic. What does that mean? That means
it's a power. A power for what? It's a power for living the life
of faith and obedience, not to attain salvation by our works,
you can't do that. Not to establish a righteousness
of our own by our works, you cannot do that. But because we're
already saved and already graced and already accepted and already
made righteous before God in Christ. The Bible says, for by
grace are you saved through faith, that not of yourselves. It's
the gift of God, not of works, lest any man should boast. For
we are his workmanship created in Christ Jesus unto good works. Unto labor, not because of, unto
which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them.
When the Holy Spirit applies the life of Christ within us,
spiritual life in the new birth, You know what He does? He gives
us a new heart, a new spirit, new ears, new eyes, new way of
thinking, new motives. He gives us a desire and a motivation
and an energy to seek to obey God, to please Him. And here's
your three keys. Here's your three motives right
here. Now listen very carefully. It's laboring not in order to
earn God's favor. It's laboring because of God's
favor, laboring out of love, out of grace, and out of gratitude. There's your three motives. Love. Look down at 2 Corinthians 5
and verse 14. Paul says, for the love of Christ
constraineth us. What drives Paul? What drove
Paul in this labor? He wasn't trying to... It wasn't
fear of punishment. Christ took His punishment on...
Christ took the punishment, the full penalty of the wrath of
God as a substitute for all His people. It wasn't fear of punishment. It wasn't promise of mercenary
reward. That's popular today. You see,
people want you to serve God for what you can get out of Him.
No. Serve God for what He's already
given you in Christ. We're not mercenaries. We're
willing, loving, bond servants, bond slaves of Christ. That's
the key. Grace, gratitude, love. Thank you, Lord, for saving my
soul. Thank you, Lord, for making me
whole. You see, I'm not serving to be
whole. I'm thanking Him because I've already been made whole
in Christ. I'm completing Him. Thank You, Lord, for giving to
me Thy great salvation so rich and so free. So here we come
to this point. How do I know that Christ died
for me? How do I know that His righteousness
has been charged to me? Well, has the Holy Spirit given
you life, convinced you of sin and of righteousness and of judgment? Do you glory only in the cross? God forbid that I should glory
save in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ. Paul said, for
that reason, we labor. I told the Sunday school class,
I said, you know, anytime somebody tells you character and conduct
doesn't matter, they don't know the scriptures. It does matter.
But not as the ground or the cause of my salvation. They matter
as the fruit. and the evidence of my salvation.
That's the labor of grace. This is the labor of love. This
is the obedience of faith. This is the labor of a child
of God. And you know it's interesting
because the scripture teaches us that when we come to Christ
for salvation, what do we do? We enter into what? Rest. Well, Paul says we labor. But
it's a labor of rest. How's that so? we're resting
in christ for all salvation resting in christ for all forgiveness
we're resting in christ for all righteousness we're resting in
christ for all life and glory so that we're not laboring for
any of those things all we're simply laboring for is we want
to please the one who has blessed us so abundantly when we didn't
earn it and didn't deserve and you know what Still haven't earned
it. Still don't deserve it. Can you
grasp that? I tell you what, that's amazing
to me. I've been preaching this gospel for 30 years. Still don't
deserve it. Still haven't earned it. It's
still all of Christ, you know that? And I'm seeing that clearer
more and more as I look at myself and read the scripture. It's
still all of Christ. It's a labor of grace. So I look
at verse 10. Here's the second thing, the
judgment of grace. Now I want you to see this because what
we're going to do, I want to show you this today and then
next week we'll continue on to 2 Corinthians 5. We're going
to talk about the ministry of reconciliation. And here's the
judgment. This is the... I want to talk
to you about the judgment of grace. But there's more than
that here in verse 10. Now he says, look at verse 10,
he says, for we must all appear. We must all be manifested. That which men cannot see shall
be made known. That's what that means. We're
going to appear. The word appear, it means more than just you'll
be there. It means that everything that
I am will be made known. So whatever you are, when you
appear at the judgment, everybody's going to know what you are, or
what I am. It's going to be made manifest. And it says, before
the judgment seat of Christ, the Father hath committed all
judgment unto the Son. This is part of His mediatorial
offices. Prophet, Priest, and King. Christ
is our great High Priest, who appeared before the Lord for
His people. with the blood of His own own
death. By His own blood He entered in
to the holiest. And He's our advocate. And on
the ground of what He accomplished in putting away our sins and
establishing righteousness, He was made both Lord and Christ. He was always Lord in Himself,
but now He's the God-man who sits on the throne. He's the
King and He's our prophet to reveal God unto us. So it's the
judgment seat of Christ. And it says here, now listen,
it says, that everyone may receive the things done in his body.
The body. We see our bodies here. Our hands, our feet, our eyes,
our ears. And it says, according to that
he hath done, whether good or bad. Whether it's good or bad. Now again, now look at it. This
is the judgment of grace. He says, all of us will be manifested,
declared and made known what was hidden before. Things that
people don't know about you. And that will be at the judgment
seat of Christ, we will be revealed and declared to be children of
God, or we will be exposed. as being children of damnation
that's what this is saying one of the two and he says how is
this going to come about? well he talks about that it may
that everyone may receive the things done in his body according
to that he hath done whether it be good or bad now what are
the things done in his body? well that refers to actions performed
by the body as instruments of the heart That's what it is. In other words, the actions of
the body determined by the heart, the motives, the desires of the
heart, the will of the heart, the mind, the affections and
the will. So as to expose one of two things. A person standing
in himself upon the ground of his own works. Now think about
that. Are you right now expecting God
to save you and bless you and uh... say well done thou good
and faithful servant based on your works is that what you're
expecting well now that's going to that you may say no you may
say yes i don't know but whatever it is it's going to be exposed
right there at the judgment or it's going to reveal a true believer
standing in christ upon the ground of Christ's blood and righteousness
imputed alone. And thereby it will expose the
state of a person's heart. Let me show you what I mean.
Look over Romans chapter 7. Now to one group, those standing
in themselves expecting God to bless them and say, enter into
glory based on their works, to them it's going to be a judgment
of law. A judgment of works. But to those
who are standing in Christ and in Him alone, pleading His blood
and righteousness alone, it's going to be a judgment of grace.
That's what I'm talking about. Look at Romans 7 and verse 4.
He says, Wherefore, my brethren, you also are become dead to the
law by the body of Christ. Now what does that mean to be
dead to the law? It means the law can no longer condemn you. It means the law cannot demand
any obedience from you in order to be saved. You're dead to the
law. The law has no claim upon you. The law has been fulfilled in
your behalf. Somehow, the law has been satisfied. You see, when a sinner comes
before God based on his works, what's the standard of judgment? The righteousness of the law.
You either do and live or disobey and die. If there's any sin,
the law says, damned forever. But he says, you're dead to the
law. The law has no claim upon you. Now, how did we get that
way? If I'm dead to the law, how did
I get that way? Well, I turned over a new leaf. Or I reformed my life. Or I joined
the church and got baptized when I was 12 years old. Or I've never
missed a service. Or, I've given a lot of money
to charity. Is that how a sinner becomes dead to the law? Well,
not according to this verse. Look at it again, verse 4. You
are become dead to the law, how? By the body of Christ. That's how a sinner becomes dead
to the law. By the death of the Lord Jesus
Christ under the law. Just stay right there in Romans
7. But down in 2 Corinthians 5 and
verse 21, remember Paul says, He hath made him sin Christ who
knew no sin for us that we might be made the righteousness of
God in him. That's how a sinner becomes dead to the law. Christ
took the place of his sheep. He said the good shepherd gave
his life, giveth his life for the sheep. He, listen, the sins
of his people were charged to him and he went under the law
he went under the wrath of God's law and satisfied it by his death
by the death of his body on the cross he died and justice was
satisfied And the law was kept in perfect fulfillment of every
jot and tittle of it. Righteousness was established.
And all who are in Christ are dead to the law. The law has
no claim upon them. The law cannot condemn you. There
is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus.
Now, he says, verse 4 of Romans 7, he says, Wherefore, my brethren,
you are also become dead to the law by the body of Christ, that,
or in order that you should be married to another. Married to who? Married to Christ. That's the great union of faith
right there. Even to him who is raised from
the dead, he lives. that we should what? Look at
it. That we should what? Bring forth
what? What is that word? Fruit! What's fruit? That's the result.
That's not the cause, the ground, you see. It's the result. That you should bring forth fruit,
and fruit unto what? Fruit unto you? Fruit unto me? No. Fruit unto God. Married to
Christ. Now, Men and women, when you
got married, did your life change? I hope it did. When you got married, your life
changed, didn't it? Hopefully for the better. But
that's what marriage does to a couple. It changes their life.
Things you did before, you don't do now. Hopefully. And you're one. One flesh. You
know, when you take the marriage vows, you're one flesh, right?
I always say it when I perform a wedding. I say, now, it's no
longer what will please me or what will please me. It's what
will please us. You see, it's the marriage union.
You can't think like you did before. You can't act like you
did before. And that's what happens when
we're married to Christ by faith. We don't do things that we did
before. Now, we still have struggles
now. Don't get me wrong. We're not sinlessly perfect in
ourselves yet. That's what Paul's talking about
in 2 Corinthians 5 when he talks about that glorified body. We'll
be sinlessly perfect in ourselves. We still have struggles. We still
have lust to deal with. We still have all these problems
to deal with. I mean, marriage is work, isn't
it? You labor to please her. She
labors to please you. But you're already married. And
that's the way it is with Christ. We're married to Him. Not that
we should live unto ourselves, but that we should bring forth
fruit unto God. That's the labor. That's the
obedience of faith. That's the works that evidence
the grace of God, the power of God, that evidence the reality
of our faith in Him and our love for Him. You see? And at judgment, those works
will be declared. Not as what they do for you or
earn for you, they don't do anything for you or earn anything for
you, but what they say about you. What they say about me. That's what it's all about. Look
at verse 5 of Romans 7. He says, for when we were in
the flesh, when we were unbelievers, that's what that means. the motions
of sins which were by the law did bring... did work in our
members to bring forth fruit unto death all you could do then
was bring forth fruit unto death but now we're delivered from
the law we're dead to the law in Christ that being dead wherein
we were held that we should serve in what? newness of spirit that's
grace gratitude and love and not in oldness of the letter.
That's the whip of the law that beats up people and says either
do or die. See the difference? Go back to
2 Corinthians 5. Now let me put it to you this
way. At this judgment, what he's saying
is that our works will be manifested as either good which is the work
of God in Christ and the operation of His grace in us, or bad, which
is the work of unbelievers seeking to establish a righteousness
of their own. The issue, as I said, it's not
what our works earn for us. It's what our works say about
us. Even our works will be judged. That's what he's saying. They'll
be manifested. Are they the product and evidence
of the glory of God's grace in Christ? Works in obedience of
faith? Or are they the product and evidence
of self-righteousness and unbelief? Seeking to lift up the sinner
to a place where... You see, our works are not good
enough to make us righteous. Only Christ makes us righteous
before God. And if we stand on our works,
then we'll be judged based on our works and found wanting.
You know what the reward of that is? Eternal damnation. Eternal
separation from God. Our works do not measure up to
righteousness. That's what the scripture teaches.
God is going to judge the world in righteousness by that man
whom he hath ordained, and that he hath given assurance unto
all men, and that he hath raised him from the dead. Our works
cannot make us righteous. But let me show you this. Turn
over to 1 John 4. This is why I had Brother Joe
read this passage. I want you to see this. Now understand
what I'm saying here. Does our labor, does our character
and conduct, do our works give evidence of our standing in Christ
by the grace of God? of the fact that we're already
righteous in Him by His righteousness imputed? Does it give evidence
of the power of the Holy Spirit in the new birth who's driven
us to Christ and shed abroad in our hearts that love and caused
us to believe in Him? Or do our works give evidence
of self-righteousness? Unbelief. Well, look here. He's talking about love. Verse
10 of 1 John 4, he says, hearing his love, not that we love God.
You see, God's love to us is not conditioned on our love to
him. He says not that we love God, but that he loved us and
sent his son to be the propitiation, the satisfaction for our sins. There's the ground of salvation
right there. God's love sent his son into the world to satisfy
the justice of God so that we could be dead to the law, his
people. So he said, Beloved, if God so loved us, we ought
also to love one another. We ought to imitate that love
of God to us, unconditional love. You see, the moment we look at
somebody and say, I will love you if you will do what I want
you to do, or if you act like I want you to act, or if you
say what I want you to say, you're not imitating the love of God
for you. You're imitating the love of the flesh. Because if
God said that to any of us, we would be hated, not loved. That's right. But he says in
verse 12, no man has seen God at any time. If we love one another,
God dwelleth in us, and his love is perfected. That means completed. Love reaches its completion in
us. Doesn't mean we have perfect love for each other. We don't. We love one another, but it's
not yet morally perfect. Verse 13, Hereby know we that
we dwell in him, and he in us, because he hath given us of his
Spirit. And we've seen and do testify that the Father sent
the Son to be the Savior of the world. Now whosoever shall confess
that Jesus is the Son of God, God dwelleth in him, and he in
God. And we've known and believed that the love that God hath to
us, God is love. And he that dwelleth in love
dwelleth in God, and God in him. Now watch this verse 17. Now
look at this. Herein is our love, or love with
us, made perfect, made complete, the completion of love. What
is the completion of love? That's what he's talking about.
If love finds it, the love of God in me finds its completion
in my heart. again i'm not saying we have
perfect love because we don't but if the love of god in me
finds its completion in my heart what is the evidence of that
look at that we may have boldness confidence assurance when in
the day of judgment in the day of judgment where everything's
going to be revealed manifested You know, preachers will tell
you that the judgment's going to be like this. They'll say,
well, you're going to get there and then there's going to be
a big movie screen put up there and everything you thought and
said and did is going to be flashed up before everyone. There's nothing
about that in the scripture. That's just something that preachers
use to scare you to get you down an aisle. I know because I've
been there. I've been on the receiving end
and on the aisle walking end several times. Oh, he's talking
about confidence, assurance, boldness in the day of judgment.
How is that possible for a sinner like me? Look at the next line. Because as He is, who's the He
there? That's Christ. As Christ is,
so are we in this world right now. Not after life, but right
now. What's he saying? He's saying,
listen, if you're in Christ, If you're washed in His blood
and clothed in His righteousness, you're like Him in that sense.
You won't be ashamed at judgment. You're going to plead Christ.
What are you going to plead when you stand before God at judgment?
You're going to say, well, I preached in your name, cast out demons,
did many wonderful works. Well, that's not good enough.
That's not righteousness. What are you going to say? Christ
and Him crucified. He's my only hope. He's my only
righteousness. Go back to 2 Corinthians 5. Let
me finish quickly. You see, what are you going to
plead? If I have Christ, I can have boldness in the day of judgment.
Love has reached its completion because I'm looking to Christ.
I'm resting in Christ. He's my righteousness before
God. And in Him, I don't have anything
to be ashamed or even nervous about. Standing before God at
judgment, I plead Christ. Paul wrote it. He said that I
may know Him and be found in Him, not having mine own righteousness
which is of the law, but that which is through the faith of
Christ, even the righteousness of God, which is by faith of
Jesus Christ. You see, I'm pleading the righteousness
of God. That's Christ. That's boldness,
you see, as He is. So am I in this world. I'm righteous
in Him. I'm forgiven. I'm unblameable.
I'm unreprovable in God's sight because of what Christ accomplished
on Calvary. Well, here's the persuasion of
grace. Verse 11, knowing therefore the
terror of the Lord, we persuade men. Now, as we know, we all
must face this judgment. What's the terror of the Lord
there? Well, the terror of the Lord is simply this. It's the
fact that all who are found in that day without Christ, without
His blood, without His righteousness, shall be damned. That's the terror
of the Lord. Eternal separation from God. We can't even imagine what kind
of terror that is. This terror Let me tell you this,
this terror was what Christ himself experienced when he was made
sin and died on that cross. When he said, my God, my God,
why hast thou forsaken me? We know this terror, not by our
own experience, thank God, but by looking to Christ who died
for our sins. He took our punishment unto Himself
for our sins charged to Him. And then Paul says, knowing that,
we persuade men. Now Paul knew that he, nor any
other man, could bring sinners to faith and repentance, true
conviction. That's the work of God the Holy
Spirit. But that didn't stop Paul from
trying to use the most sincere and scriptural truths to persuade
men of God's holiness, that sinfulness, man's sinfulness, and of Christ's
glory. The Gospel. We preach the Gospel.
and we command sinners to believe it. And he says we're made manifest
unto God. When we preach God's truth, we're
made manifest unto God. God knows our hearts, and I trust
are made manifest in your consciences. We pray and hope that you know,
know our sincerity, our love, our dedication by the truth that
we preach. And that's That's the judgment
seat of Christ, you see. That's the whole issue. Am I
in Christ or am I not? Okay.