And we are looking in 2 Corinthians
5. And we are going to read a passage
here that has caused some difficulty in the minds of many of the Lord's people over
the years. Actually, I believe if we come
to this passage of Scripture without preconceived ideas, that
it is pretty plain what Paul is saying here. But nonetheless,
we approach it just like we hopefully approach all Scriptures, and
that is not desiring to either add anything to it, to twist
it from what it is, or to take anything away from it, but to
look at it straightforwardly and desiring that the Lord might
teach us what it is He'd have us to know from it. Paul's been speaking here about
the fact that he was sent to preach the gospel and that He
didn't have regard to his earthly life or the preservation of his
earthly life in the process of doing that. In other words, he
said, I have given myself over unto this by the grace of God. Whether I live or whether I die,
it doesn't make any difference to me. I'm sent to proclaim and
declare the glory of the kingdom of God found in Jesus Christ."
And he said, I'm doing this not for my own sake, but for yours.
And he said, the only reason I am doing this is by the grace
of God, because I've been called to do this and I can't do anything
else. You know, if a man can do something else, then he ought
to. I mean, that's just a fact. I mean, if a man can take it
or leave it, then he ought to leave it. But you see, Paul said,
I can't leave it. Because he said, woe is unto
me if I preach not the gospel of Christ. He says, I've got
to do it. He says, it's not up to whether
or not I want to do it in the flesh. He says, I've got to do
it. And he says, I'm giving over unto this. And he said, but I'm
not depressed. He says, I'm not down in the
dumps about this. Because he said, we know that
if our earthly house and this tabernacle were dissolved, that
we have a building of God, a house not made with hands, eternal
in the heavens. Remember, he said, we're thronged
about. He said, we're those that are
persecuted, we're troubled on every side, he said. We're thronged,
we're mashed. But he said, we're not mashed.
He said, we're distressed, we're perplexed. He said, we're in
great troubles night and day. But he said, we're not in trouble.
Because he said, we're doing that which the Lord has sent
us to do. And we know that in this body, we're passing away. And he said, we know that even
if this body be destroyed, he said, if the earthly house of
this tabernacle were dissolved, we have another building of God,
not made with hands, that is not seen by men. It's not that
which can be understood by mortal men. But we have in this body
we grown earnestly desiring to be clothed upon with that house
which is from heaven." Now he goes on down here and he says
in verse 7, "...we walk by faith, not by sight. We are confident,
I say, willing rather to be absent from the body and to be present
with the Lord. Wherefore we labor that whether
present or absent we may be expected of Him." It is vitally important
that we understand the mindset that the Apostle Paul has in
those words right there if we are going to possibly understand
what it is that he says in the next few verses. He says here
that we labor, that is our work, our effort, all that we do, we
are doing in order to be accepted of the Lord. Did he mean by that
that he was doing that in hopes that the Lord would say, well,
Paul, you've done a good job, I'm going to let you into my
kingdom. Or, Paul, you've done a good job, I'm going to give
you a reward. I mean, is that what Paul is saying when he says
that we labor to be accepted of Him? I mean, does Paul think
that he's going to gain the Lord's favor by doing what he's doing?
Well, it sounds that way. I mean, to the flesh and to a
man who is of the mindset that a man has within his ability
to seek the Lord, to do things at the Lord, to gain favor inside
of God, then he would pursue down that path, and that would
be the mind that he has. But Paul is not saying that we
be accepted of the Lord in the sense that the Lord is going
to reward us for what we have done, but it's that we just want
to please the Lord. We want to do it because we love
Him. We want to do that because that's
what is in us. We can't help it. I mean, that's
what he's been saying the whole time. We labor that we may be
accepted of the Lord. We just want to please Him. That's
our desire. It's not what we're going to
get. How can a man earn anything before
the Lord? Now, think about this. The Lord
said that when you have done all that the Master has required
you to do, what did He say? He said you're an unprofitable
servant because all you've done is what the Lord said for you
to do. So you see, there is nothing that a man is going to gain before
the Lord in the efforts that he does. And if you are doing
the things that you do with that in mind, then you are barking
up the wrong tree. Because that is not what Paul
is talking about here. He says, by the grace of God,
I am what I am. And he said, because of His grace
that works in me and works in us as the children of God, we
labor desiring to walk in a fashion that would be pleasing before
the Lord. Now, is that not a true thing? I mean, is it true? As what he said, the Lord has
given us the earnest of the Spirit and we walk by faith, not by
sight. Is it a true thing that a man
is born again by the Spirit of God and then he has no regard
as to whether or not the things that he does are pleasing in
the Lord's sight? I mean, is that the way that
idea is? Now, surely, in our flesh, In
our flesh, well, it's no good thing. Our flesh is what it is.
It's seeking itself. But you see, when a man is born
again, there is a working of the Spirit within him wherein
he desires to walk in the things of God. Is it not the grief of
the children of God when they don't follow the Lord? When they
don't do the things God says to do, didn't Paul say, you know,
I find within myself this own working of the flesh that is
contrary to the working of my mind. And he says, I desire to
walk in the things of God, but because of the weakness of the
flesh I often find myself going contrary to it. But he said,
my desire is to walk in the things of God. I want to be found pleasing
unto Him. I mean, I believe it's impossible
for a man to be born again and desire to walk contrary to the
way of God. I mean, to wake up every morning
and say, well, man, I'm just going to go out here and, you
know, serve the flesh and I don't care nothing about what God said.
I mean, is that the working of the Spirit of God in a man? I
mean, is that how God works in His children? No. He works in
us both willing to do of His good pleasure. And Paul says,
I want to be found well-pleasing in His pleasure. I want to be
doing that which is found acceptable in His sight. Wherefore we labor,
we are working. whether in the body or out of
the body. He said whether we're living
or whether we're dying. He said that may differ. He said
our desire is to serve Him. Now, I might say this, you know.
Now, the goal, the joy, the rejoicing of the saints of God is that
we will be freed from the restrictions that these fleshly bodies place
upon us and this old fleshly mind that sometimes would seek
to overcome us, that we'd be free from that. And so whether
present in this earthly body or absent from this earthly body,
our desire is the same, is it not? I mean that working of the
Spirit of God, it's the same whether we're in the body or
whether we're out of the body. Because being in this body is
the only thing that is that which we've grown in. We're not going
to grow in that body which we are given from heaven. But he
says, we're confident and ready to be absent from the body and
present with the Lord because in either event, whether present
or absent, we desire to be accepted of Him. That's just how the Spirit
of God works in a man. Now listen to what he says here.
For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ.
Now let's just take that verse out of its context. Don't look
at anything else. Let's just pull that out and
say we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ.
Now, isn't that what they told us ever since we were little
boys? Now y'all be good, because if you don't, The Lord is going
to see it, and He is going to get you. I mean, that is the
mind, is it not? That is the working of the law.
We show the work of the law written in our heart. That is not what Paul is saying
here. Now if you take that passage of Scripture and you just let
it stand on its own, and you don't look at what he's saying,
or you don't know anything else about what the Scripture said,
you could come to the conclusion that what he's saying in this
passage of Scripture is that one day, God's people are going
to each one stand individually before the Lord, and He's going
to wag His finger in our face, and He's going to say, now you're
going to get this because you did this, and you're not going
to get that because you didn't do this. We're going to all stand
before the judgment seat of Christ. Now brethren, the Lord said,
and there is no backing up from this, this is absolutely true,
that every idle word that a man speaks, he's going to give an
account for it. Now, that's a fact. Every deed done in the body is
going to be accounted for. Now, the glorious thing that
is revealed to us in the gospel of Jesus Christ is not that that
is not true. That is true. The glorious thing
that is revealed to us in the gospel of Jesus Christ is that
He, have borne our sins and carried our sorrows. And a full accounting
has been made when Christ hung on Calvary's cross. A full accounting
has been made when Christ prayed in the garden. And the weight of our sin bore
upon Him so heavily that He sweat as it were great drops of blood.
And the Scripture says he has resisted unto blood. You see,
the Lord Jesus Christ has borne our sins and carried our sorrows,
and the full accounting in that respect of judgment has been
made. Now if that is not true, then
we better quit preaching what we are preaching. And we'd better
go out here and try to tell folks, now brother, you'd better get
your life in line, because the Lord's going to come and He's
going to judge you based on everything that you've done, and if you've
done good things, He's going to reward you for the good things,
but He's going to punish you for the things that are bad.
Now if that is a true thing, brother, we'd better start preaching
it, had we not. But oh my, what if that is true? Let's just think for a minute
if it is true. How many of you are going to
be glad for the Lord to come back? Huh? I mean, how many people
would really be looking forward to going into the presence of
the Lord if you knew that you were going in there and He was
going to bring up everything that you'd ever done? That would
be the worst thing I could think of. I mean, you know, I've gone
to the principal's office before. And I know that feeling of I
was fixed to be told what I had done wrong. And I knew I had
done wrong. There were no excuses or nothing
else. And I knew there was nothing
that was going to happen that was going to be good. But dear
brethren, that is not where the children of God are. And Paul
is not saying that. But he is saying this. See, we,
by the work of the Spirit of God, desire to walk in a manner
pleasing to Him. And we know that we must stand
before the judgment seat of Christ. Now, he's not talking about a
future sense of the Word. There is a future sense in it. But what he's talking about is
the fact that we are standing in that place right now. We must
answer to Him, basically, is what he's saying. Now, if you
look at the context of what he goes on to say, I think it's
pretty clear that that's what he means. But 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. Now, let's pause for a minute.
Now, you'll notice that there's two words in here that are in
italics, and the words are done and his. Now what it says if
you leave that out, it says, "...may receive the things in
body according to that he hath done, whether it be good or bad."
Now, we know this as the children of God who desire to be acceptable
before the Lord, that our accounting is to Him. And Paul goes on to
say that, now bear with me. Knowing therefore the terror
of the Lord, we convince men, we persuade men, but we are made
manifest unto God, and I trust also made manifest in your consciences."
And he says, I want you to think on that. For we commend not ourselves
again to you, but give you occasion to glory on our behalf, that
ye may have some what to answer them with glory and appearance,
and not in heart. For whether we be beside ourselves
it is to God, or whether we be sober it is for your cause. For
the love of Christ constraineth us, because we thus judge that
if one died for all, then we are all dead. And that he died
for all, that they which henceforth live should not henceforth live
unto themselves, but unto him which died for them and rose
again. Wherefore henceforth know ye
we no man after the flesh, yea, though we have known Christ after
the flesh, yet now henceforth know we him no more. Therefore,
if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature, old things are
passed away, behold, all things are become new." Now, let's take
all of what he said there in the context of what he said. We must all appear before the
judgment seat of Christ. You're not going to stand before
the judgment seat of Mike. You're not going to stand before
the judgment seat of Al. You're not going to stand before
the judgment seat of yourself. But we're going to answer, we
desire to be pleasing, that is those things that we walk in,
we desire to honor Him, and He is the one we desire to please.
And so it is His judgment. Now, we don't need to think of
judgment in the sense that most people think of the final judgment.
There is a final judgment. And what's going to happen at
the final judgment is that the Lord is going to separate between
the sheep and the goats. Now, what's the basis upon which
that separation is going to take place? That's exactly right. Those who are in Christ are going
to be put on His right hand, and those who are out of Christ
are going to be on His left. And there is a judgment. There
is a separation. There is a final accounting.
But it does not have to do with the deeds that men do in this
world, because if it does, dear brethren, where would we stand? How could we stand? Now, is it
a greater impetus to walking according to the truth of God,
is there a greater impetus and greater power given to the sons
of God by the grace of God, constraining them by the earnest of the Spirit
to walk in those things? Is there a greater power in that
or is there a greater power in the threat? If you don't do this,
you're going to be in trouble. And if you want a good reward
when you get to heaven, you're going to do these things. Because
if you don't, you're going to get bad things. You know, the
same old thing about the stocking full of ashes and switches if
you don't, you know, at Christmas time, if you don't do right.
I mean, you better be right. You better do good or you're
not going to get anything. See, that's the same mindset.
That's the work of the law written in our heart. But Christ came. in order to teach us that He
has undertaken our deliverance. Now, does that mean then that
God's people don't have any responsibilities? Well, in the sense that most
men use responsibility, I'm going to comment on that. The work of grace causes men
to desire to be responsible for the Lord, does it not? I mean,
we desire to be acceptable in His sight, to look at our actions
and see them for what they are. Is that not what David did when
he wrote the 51st Psalm? I mean, was he not doing what
Paul said right here? Did he not come before the Lord?
Was he not before the judgment seat of Christ? Was he not? I mean, did not the work of the
Spirit of God bring him to the judgment seat of Christ? And
did it not cause within him a desire, Lord, don't take your Holy Spirit
from me? Restore to me the joy of thy
salvation. I mean, was that not the working of the Spirit of
God in him? Was he not brought there? I mean,
isn't that a glorious thing that the Lord has not left us to ourselves? But He does work in us, dear
brethren. And what He requires, He performs. Now, why was David brought to
repentance? Was David brought to repentance
because David just decided to repent? No, he was brought to
repentance because the Spirit of God worked in him and broke
his heart. And he says, you know, when the
Spirit of God broke his heart, he says, you know, what I did
was a terrible thing. And you know what he said? He
said, against thee and thee only have I sinned. Now, dear brethren,
I believe that is what Paul is talking about here. He is showing
us that we are indeed before the judgment seat of Christ.
And we are not there as those who
are under condemnation, but we receive from His hand those things
done in the body. Now, do you want the things done
in your body? What good thing in your body
has ever been done that you would desire? No, I believe that the
body, that is, that one who is in His body. Now see, Christ
was a man with a body, was He not? And He suffered for His
body, which is the church. And so indeed, those things which
we do in the present hour, whether they be good or whether they
be bad. Now notice that he does not say that there is a difference. See,
most people when they say, When they look at this, and they're
looking at it from that judgmental aspect, they say, well, see,
whatever he's done in his body, according to that he hath done,
whether it be good or bad. Now, if he's done good, then
he's going to get good things. If he's done bad, he's going
to get bad things. Now, it doesn't say anything about that, does
it? It just says that those are the things that are made manifest. And the Lord does indeed make
manifest to us in our body in the present time that we are
sinners. All of His children's Scripture
says that He will chasten. And how does He chasten us? By
convicting and convincing us of our sins. So that we don't
stand before Him and glibly say, well, we're not sinners. We didn't
do anything wrong. No, the Spirit of God in our
body, working in us, that is, in the present time, He causes
us to be mindful of the fact that we are sinners. Because
we are before the judgment seat of Christ. We can't escape it.
See, if you're one of God's children, you are before the judgment seat
of Christ. Because you see, He's correcting
you. He's directing you. He is showing
you what you are by nature and whether it be good or bad. Because you see, all these things
are the working of the Lord to teach us and lead us in the way
He'd have us to be. knowing therefore the terror
of the Lord." That is, we know that the Lord hates sin. Now,
do we get down here and we say, well, the Lord Jesus Christ,
He paid for all our sins, so buddies, let's just go out there
and just live it up in the flesh, do whatever you want to do. Is
that what we would preach? I mean, would that make any sense
at all? No, not at all, because why?
We know the terror of the Lord. We know our God is a consuming
fire. We know that it was sin that
put the Lord Jesus Christ on the cross. How can we then encourage
one another in that realm? No, brethren, we know the hatred
of God towards sin. He has taught us that. We stand
toward the judgment seat of Christ. He has given us the mind of Christ
so that we have a mind towards those things. And by the grace
of God, we desire to be free from them, to set back from them. Knowing the terror of the Lord,
we persuade men. Knowing who God is, knowing that
He is a great and terrible God. He is a mighty God. But we don't
go to one another and say, brother, the sword is hanging over your
head and any minute it will drop if you don't toe the line and
act right and do this, and this is what you need to do. No. No, we don't answer to one another
except insofar as we are as brethren. We do have that accountability,
I say, to one another as brethren, but ultimately, We answer to
the Lord, do we not? That's what Paul is saying here.
We must appear before the judgment seat of Christ. We are made manifest
unto God. That is, our mind is made manifest
unto God and to your consciences in the same way. He says, in
the same way in which the Lord has put in our mind to follow
the Lord, He has put within your mind to do the same thing. For
we commend not ourselves again to you to give you occasion to
glory on our behalf. We're not coming and telling
you these things so we'll be built up in your mind. But we're
just telling you this because it's the truth. But that you
may have to answer them with glory in appearance and not in
heart, because there are some who are more concerned with how
things look than how things are. You know, I heard a funny story. A fellow said that, you know,
he says, you don't ever want to take one Baptist fishing with
you. Because he says, you won't always
take two. Because he says, if you take
one Baptist with you, he'll drink all your beer. But if you take two of them,
it says they won't let either one of them touch it. See, that's glory in appearance. That's being concerned with what
somebody else is going to say about it rather than how you
are before the Lord. Now, I'm quite certain that there's
nothing in the Word of God that would say to a man, that he can't
drink beer. Now, I'm not promoting drinking
beer, because I don't even like the stuff myself, but those things
that come into our body are not the things that defile us, it's
the things that come out of our body. And so it's not those things
that other men see that are important, it's what we are before the Lord. And what's Paul saying here?
We don't want you, that you may have somewhat to answer them
that glory in appearance and not in heart. For whether we
be beside ourselves, it is for God, or whether we be sober,
it is for your cause. We desire your benefit. For the
love of Christ constraineth us, because we thus judge that if
one died for all, then we're all dead. Now he's just coming
back to the same old thing that he always does, does he not?
Christ died for all of his people. And if Christ died for all of
his people, then they are as good as dead. And they certainly
are not in danger of some condemnation, and they certainly cannot earn
the favor of God by the things that they do. Because they have
gained the favor of God by the things which Christ has done.
And that's the glory of the life of Christ that's been given to
us. by His grace, as He said, by the earnest of the Spirit
which has been given to us. And that He died for all, that
they which live should not henceforth live unto themselves, but unto
Him which died for them and rose again." So what is the message
Paul is giving here? That the purpose of our life,
And the impetus for our obedience unto His way is not because of
some threat that's laid over our head. It's not because of
looking at what other people may think of what we say or do.
But it is because Christ died. Why do we desire to walk with
Him? Because He died for us. What greater impetus can there
be in the sons of God who have been given the earnestness of
the Spirit and the working of the Spirit within them? Now,
you can threaten somebody, and it will work for a little while,
but I've never seen a threat yet that wouldn't wear off after
a while. I mean, you know, kids wouldn't
ever need a whipping if threats worked, would they? You can threaten
and say, now if you do this, this is going to happen. And
that will work for a while, but pretty soon, you know, they'll
get to looking and say, well, you know, I think I'll risk it. So threats, and that's not the
means through which the Lord has seen fit to motivate His
people to walk with Him. But rather, it is through what
Paul is saying here. and that He died for all, that
they which live should not henceforth live unto themselves. We are
not living just for our own sake, but unto Him which died for them
and rose again. Wherefore henceforth know we
no man after the flesh. Yea, though we have known Christ
after the flesh, yet now henceforth know we Him no more. simply talking
to you about the flesh. He said, we knew Christ in the
flesh, but now we are seeking to walk with Him in a different
manner. We knew Him after the flesh,
and that's a good thing. But now henceforth, we've been
called to something greater than simply an adherence to the things
that He has taught us in the flesh. Now, he told his disciples
how to pray, did he not? In the flesh, when he walked
with them. And he said, this is how you ought to pray. Now,
once he was gone away from them, was he teaching them that they
needed to go through that all the time? Now, I'm not saying
there's anything wrong with going through that in a rote fashion,
that's fine. But was that the lesson he was
teaching them? Well, now you need to say this.
Now a lot of people think that if you just say this thing over
and over again, it's somehow or other a pleasing thing unto
the Lord. And the more you say it, the
better off you are. And, I mean, we used to always say it before
we had a football game. And I'm not opposed to that per
se, but it was kind of like, well, you know, if you said that
enough, well, maybe the Lord might have you win. I mean, you
know, if you just go out there and do that. It was like a good
luck charm, sort of. We didn't want to go out there
if we didn't do that, you know. But that's not... We don't know
these things after the flesh. We desire the Lord to write the
prayer that He gave to His disciples upon a heart, do we not? I mean,
we desire that it would be the prayer of our soul, not just
the prayer of our lips, giving praise unto Him. And this sums it up. Now, if
anybody wants to argue with you about the business about standing
before the judgment seat of Christ and getting rewards or not rewards,
just take them to verse 17. It says, Therefore if any man
be in Christ, he is a new creature. Old things will pass away. Behold,
all things will become new. We walk not after the flesh.
We are not desiring to fulfill some religious obligation. But
we're desiring to walk in a fashion that would be pleasing in the
eyes of the Lord. Now how did we get like that? Did we learn that? Did we decide
one day, well, we're just going to turn over a new leaf and we're
going to walk with the Lord? No. If any man be in Christ,
he's a new creature. He can't help but have that mind. And if he does not have that
mind, then he has no reason to believe that the Spirit of God
dwells in him. I mean, a man who does not care
anything about the Word of God or the things that the Lord has
said, why would he think that he has been born again? He would
not have any grounds to think so, because Paul said, if a man
is in Christ Jesus, he is a new creature. Old things are passed
away. All things will come to you.
He's not the same.