Alright, let's take our Bibles
and turn to 2 Corinthians chapter 5. This is one of those chapters,
I think, that Peter may have referred to when he said that
the Apostle Paul taught some things which are hard to be understood. And it gets down and deals with
things that we, I guess if you just look at it
and take it at face value, and have no spiritual understanding
whatsoever, you're going to walk away from it and be confused.
And some believers have read these verses and walked away
confused. But there's several controversial
verses of Scripture in chapter 5. But I titled the lesson this
morning, in keeping with what he's been teaching, The Heart
of the Matter. And it begins in verse 9 with
a wherefore. And he uses this word, for, and
wherefore, and therefore, thirteen times in the fifth chapter of
2 Corinthians. And he does this because everything
that he is saying is based on what has already been established. So, here he starts this verse
out, wherefore. That means, if we back up, in
his epistles, this wherefore is based on these facts, seeing
that in Adam all die, and in Christ shall all be made alive. Wherefore? Wherefore, seeing
we've been chosen in Christ and redeemed in Christ, made righteous
in Christ, called by the gospel of Christ, regenerated by the
Spirit of Christ, look to Christ by faith and trust in Him and
wait for His return. Wherefore, seeing we've been
enlightened as to the means of the calling out of His elect,
we labor, we labor, that whether present or absent, we may be
accepted of Him. Now, this verse does not teach
work salvation. I've had preachers who preach
work salvation turn over to this verse and read this verse and
say, this verse here is teaching work salvation. No, this verse
is not teaching work salvation. It's not teaching progressive
sanctification. Or that believers, once born
of God, might have some chance of falling into perdition. But
we labor, what Paul's talking about here, we labor, as Peter
states it, making our calling and election sure. That's what
we labor at, to make our calling and election sure. We labor to
rightly divide the scriptures. I don't want to be wrong about
eternal matters, do you? Brother Mahan, he greeted a fellow
one Sunday morning. I'll never forget this. A guy
was coming in the door and he reached out his hand and greeted
him. And it's just a Southern polite expression, but he said,
is everything all right? And the man stopped and looked
at him. He said, if what you've been telling me is true, everything's
all right. I don't want to be wrong about
eternal matters. I don't want your blood on my
hands, and I don't want my soul to be lost forever because I
had no understanding of the Scriptures. I want to rightly divide the
Scriptures, and we labor to do that. We labor knowing that our
time is short. It's so brief. You know, at the
beginning, when you're young, it looks like an eternity out
there. But boy, you get a little older and that clock, it goes
fast. And you get on a fast track and
before you know it, you're retired. And then you're facing death.
I mean, it comes so fast. So we labor knowing that our
time is short and that men and women will surely perish if they
do not hear and believe the gospel of Jesus Christ. We labor to
let go of this world, to let go of this flesh, to let go of
its empty promises and be found in Christ, not having our own
righteousness, but His righteousness and His shed blood, His salvation,
His redemption. And we labor to persevere in
the faith. I don't want to be moved away.
I want to be grounded and settled and be not moved away from the
hope that was set before us. in the gospel of Jesus Christ.
Then look at 2 Corinthians 5, verse 9. Wherefore, we labor
that whether present or absent, we may be accepted of Him. Verse
10, 4. Drawing upon all that we've already
seen, 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." Well, preacher,
you've got yourself in a box now. This is talking about works
of salvation. This is talking about believers
having to face the judgment based on their works. No, sir, that's
not what this verse teaches. Not at all. It doesn't teach
that believers shall be judged according to their works. Believers
have already been judged in Christ according to their good deeds
and according to their bad deeds. Just exactly the way this verse
reads. All of that which is considered
good was accomplished by their representative and substitute.
Every bit of it. In Christ, I'm perfectly faithful,
perfectly loving, perfectly righteous. In Him. In Him. All of the good. There is none good but God. But
in Christ, who is God, I have a goodness, a perfect goodness,
a perfect righteousness, a perfect holiness. All of that which is
considered good was accomplished by our representative and covenant
purity. And all of that which is considered
bad was judged, condemned, and punished in our substitute, the
Lord Jesus Christ. We were judged in Him. Judged
according to the good things and judged according to the bad
things. Listen to Paul. After this very controversial
chapter, Romans chapter 7, where he's talking about the old man
and the new man. He's talking about that old man
of sin, that natural man, and he's talking about this new man,
this man of faith, this man of Christ. And Paul says, oh, wretched
man that I am, who shall deliver me from the body of this death? I thank God through Jesus Christ
our Lord. So then, with the mind, that
is the mind of faith, the mind of Christ, I myself serve the
law of God. I look at that law and I see
it honored. I see it perfectly kept in my
Savior. There it is. And I serve that
law with this mind, knowing that Christ, my representative, honored
that law and exalted that law. There's no other way to keep
the law, and there's no other way to admire the law except
in Christ. I myself serve the law of God,
but with the flesh, the law of sin. This flesh is flesh, and
all it's ever going to do is sin. It ain't going to get any
better. It's not getting better. It may
be more constrained now than it was then, but it ain't getting
any better. It's still the same flesh, and it's still capable
of doing anything that old flesh ever did. And then Paul said, there is
therefore, based on that, based on this great truth of this accomplished
redemption of Christ, there is right now at this present time
no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus who walk
in the full revelation of grace. according to the Spirit and not
according to the flesh. Believers shall be justified
at this judgment as fully and freely and upon the same basis
as they were when Christ was raised from the dead." There are two types of people
in this world. Those who fell in Adam and were
justly condemned. justly left to themselves, justly
left under the wrath of God, and justly given over to a reprobate
mind to believe a lie and be damned. This world is full of
people just like that, who would believe not on the Lord Jesus
Christ. They see the light of creation
and turn from that, and they see the light of conscience and
they hear it. As they transgress that law of
God, they hear that conscience telling them, this is wrong,
this is wrong, this is wrong. There's one who's going to judge
you for this. It's wrong. And they ignore that
light of conscience. Or they hear the gospel and they
pull the shoulder. They jerk away from it. They
reject the gospel of Jesus Christ. And God gives Him over to a reprobate
mind. And He's just when He does it.
Natural men, God-hating men. And then there's a people, God-chosen
Christ for the glory of His name, for whom provision was made,
mercy was shown, and grace was given. And those who will not
believe on the Lord Jesus Christ shall stand before God and be
judged for every idle thought, every false motive, Their fallen affections, their
affections for Christ, they're going to be judged by that. Every
transgression that they ever committed, they'll stand in the
awful presence of infinite holiness, justice, and righteousness in
the fallen nakedness of their unclothed soul. And they'll give
an account to God. And it's not my desire to see
anyone stand before God without Christ. And this is what he's
telling us here in verse 11. Look back at II Corinthians 5,
verse 11. Knowing, therefore, the terror
of the Lord. Knowing this. Knowing this. We persuade men, but we're made
manifest unto God, and I trust also we're made manifest in your
consciences. My friend, my children, and your
children, and my relatives, and your relatives, and my neighbors,
and your neighbors are all running down a broad road, this broad
road of fallen ignorance, and darkness, and deceit, believing
everything's going to be all right. False prophets, and false
teachers, and anti-Christ religion in general. has not only stated
it, but have confirmed it, and have told those lies time and
time and time again until people have swallowed them hook, line,
and sinker. And they're running down that
road feeling good. Feeling good. I'll fly away.
That's what they're singing. I'll meet you in glory. I'll
see you there where the circle be unbroken and on and on and
on it goes. They all think everything's just
fine. Everything's going to work out
all right. Believing God will accept their best efforts, and
believing God will put his stamp of approval on their good-naturedness. And all the while, they're on
the road of destruction, damnation, and everlasting hell. There's
a way that seemeth right unto a man. It did. I was on that
road. I walked that road. And I know
that it seemed right to me at the time. Didn't it, you? It
seemed right. But the end thereof is destruction. and misery, and separation from
God in everlasting hell. Let me tell you something. Paul said, knowing the terror
of the Lord. A part of the revelation of grace
is the revelation of sin. Now, my friend, if you have never
had a revelation of sin, if God the Holy Spirit has never convicted
you of sin, Showed you what it is. Let you smell it. Let you
smell the corruption of it. Let you taste the awful corruption
of it. The rest of these things are
insignificant. They're insignificant. They don't
have a meaning to you at all. To save his elect, God spared
not his own son, but delivered him up for us all. None other
name unto heaven given among men whereby we must be saved.
And then he tells us this, if the righteous scarcely be saved,
where shall the ungodly and the sinner appear? Knowing something of the terror
of the Lord, the absolute helplessness, hopelessness of this flesh, we
persuade men. Try to. Try to. And preachers labor in the Kingdom
of God, and the churches labor in the support of these preachers
because they know something of the terror of the Lord and know
that they are the light. They are the light of this world.
That's what Christ called them, the light of the world. No light
apart from the church, is there? There's no light. Knowing these things, believing
these things, doing these things were made manifest. We're made
manifest unto God, and we're made manifest in the consciences
of God's elect. Verse 12. Go back to our text
now and look at verse 12. For we commend not ourselves
again unto you, but we give you occasion to glory on our behalf,
that you may have somewhat to answer them with glory in appearance
and not in heart. Let me begin here with this verse.
The salvation of the soul is a divine work. I read a statement
a preacher said right up at the beginning on a subject that I
was studying. And it didn't say what area he
lived in, but his writings seemed to be a bit more modern than
that of Spurgeon and some of them. But he said of that scripture
and that passage that I was studying, he said, now this is talking
about the divine side of salvation. Ain't no other side. Ain't no other side. Salvation
is altogether the work of God. It's the work of God. It's a
divine work. It's a work by the free and sovereign
grace of God to raise dead sinners. I can't raise dead sinners. It
wasn't for lack of trying. Oh, I'd try. Boy, back in the
day, I'd try. I'd get them down. I'd talk to
them for hours and hours and hours on end. Talk to them. Turn
over here. Look at this. Look at that. Make
statements, do this, do that. I tried every way in my power
to convert a sinner. You can't convert a sinner. He's
dead. It's a divine work. God, the
Holy Spirit, has to raise him. And he won't be raised by your
arguments and debates. It's a work of the free and sovereign
grace of God to raise dead sinners out of his spiritual death. You
hath equipped them who were dead. It's a divine calling of a sinner
out of spiritual darkness. I've called to sinners. I'm calling
to sinners this morning. But I tell you, if God don't
speak, they ain't going to come out of their darkness. They're
just going to keep right on in their blindness and darkness
and go on down the road. He calls men out of darkness
and ignorance into the full light of the revelation of Christ our
Redeemer. And then the salvation of the
soul is a divine intervention. God Himself steps in and arrests
the sinner. And there is nothing He can do
about it. Nothing He can do about it. He stops His forward motion. And He turns him another direction.
God be thanked, Paul said in Romans chapter 6. You were the
servants of sin. But you have obeyed from the
heart that form of doctrine which was delivered you. Being made
free from sin, you became the servants of righteousness." Preachers
are made manifest unto God and made manifest in the consciences
of men. And in this work which God does
with them and through them, he gives the church occasion to
glory on their behalf and to glory in the presence of those
who oppose them. Paul writes these things. Now,
all anti-Christ religion cries, you preach that doctrine, you
just give men a license to sin. A license to sin. Oh, if you
don't preach tithing, they're not going to give. Well, I tell
you 13th Street Baptist Church under the preaching of Henry
Mahan, and I said Now he never preached on tithing and he never,
if he even suspected that you were giving something half-hearted,
he'd tell you keep it. Put it in your pocket. God don't
need it and don't want it. Tell you real quick. And yet
that was the givingest church I've ever seen in my life. They
just give and give and give. Supported missionaries all over
the world. Evangelistic outreaches all over
the world. It's just unbelievable. And this
is what Paul is talking about. When these things are made manifest,
it gives you an occasion, an occasion to glory in how God
saves sinners. And we respond to it. How do
we respond? We respond in giving. We respond
in our attendance. We respond in our worship to
God. He writes these things that these
men of faith would have something to answer those false prophets
and troublemakers who gloried in an outward show, in ceremonies
like circumcision, in things like education and community
status. I'm going to tell you this, this
world knows nothing about heart conviction and heart repentance
and heart faith. Verse 13. For whether we be beside
ourselves, it is of God. Or whether we be sober, it's
for your cause. Now, as it is in most cases,
God's messengers are labeled as fanatics, overzealous, undereducated
fools, unreasonable, dogmatic, uncompromising. My sister said,
well, there's no talking to you. You think you know everything. Everything you say is just dogmatic. There's no room for a response. There's no room for an argument.
That's how unbelievers hear the truth. They look at these men,
and sometimes they're angry, and sometimes they're joyous,
and sometimes they're quiet, and sometimes they're loud, and
sometimes they're patient, and sometimes they're urgent. And
most false prophets believe God's ambassadors to be mad men. That's
what Paul's talking about. If you look up the meaning of
the word, where he's talking about these men, he said, being
beside myself. That's what he's talking about.
Being a madman. Possessed with an evil spirit
and an evil heart. And why do they think that? Why
do they think that? They think that for the very
same reason that they thought it about the Lord Jesus Christ. This world has never taken time
to go back and look at the response of natural men, and especially
that of natural religious men, to the preaching of the Lord
Jesus Christ. They said, we told you he was
a heathen and had a devil. Why'd they say that? Because
of what he told them. That's exactly right. He cast out demons out of legion. How many demons? Thousands of
demons he cast out of that man. And here's this man that no man
can tame. They couldn't even chain him
up. He'd break the chains. He was a wild man. And everybody
in the whole community knew it. And Christ cast out those demons. And they told those Pharisees
and those Pharisees, you know what they said? He cast out devils
by the Spirit of Beelzebub. That's the dumb God. Now that's
what they said of our Lord. And they said it because of what
He preached. Scriptures are full of examples
of how ungodly imposters respond to gospel truth. And Paul's telling
the Corinthians here in verse 13 that his zeal and diligence
were for the glory of God and the good of the church. And whether
we appear as being mad or beside ourselves, preaching with God's
authority, or whether we be calm and lowly, it's for the glory
of God and the salvation of His sheep. Verse 14. 4. Here we go. We're building another block.
4. The love of Christ constraineth us, because we thus judge. Now let me just stop here for
a second. I've told you this before, but I want to remind
you again. That word judge, he's not talking about a judge of
a court, but the principle is kind of the same. When he uses
this word judge, he's talking about judging the false from
the true. He's talking about understanding. Maybe a better word in our day
and time might be understanding. We thus understand. that if one
died for all, then we're all dead. They were all dead. 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. Believers, those saved
by divine intervention, those saved by divine revelation, those
called out of darkness, Convinced of sin and righteousness and
judgment satisfied. Those who truly know and understand
that they've been saved by God's free and sovereign grace are
filled with gratitude and love for Christ. And that's the only
way that it comes. Only way it comes. It's by an
understanding of who you are and who God is. And that God
sent His Son to be the propitiation for your soul. Oh my son. It's not fear of hell or promises
of reward that moves them into service. It's the love of God
in Christ Jesus their Lord. Now how does this love come to
sit in the high seat of the believer, in his heart? Verse 14. Because we thus judge. We rightly
divide the truth. We understand that if one died
for all, then we're all dead. If Christ died that we may live,
then all for whom He died were dead in trespasses and sin. Couldn't do anything about it.
Couldn't dig your way out. Couldn't think your way out.
Couldn't decide your way out. You're dead. Dead. If He was
made a curse for us, then we must all have been under the
curse. If He died for our sins, then
we must all be sinners. And this is true of every saved
sinner. He understands that except God
had chose him by His grace and sent His Son to die for him,
he would perish with the rest of this God-hating world. Listen to this. John said, Beloved,
let us love one another, for love is of God. And everyone
that loveth is born of God, and knoweth God. He that loveth not
knoweth not God. For God is love. And in this,
he tells us, was manifested the love of God toward us, because
that God sent His only begotten Son into the world that we might
live. through Him. And then He tells
us in verse 15, that He died for all, all of God's elect,
that they which live should not henceforth live unto themselves,
but unto Him which died for them and rose again. Do you reckon
God is going to have His way after sacrificing His Son? He
is going to have His way. Let me read you something. A
preacher friend of mine wrote years ago. I don't think anybody
could say it any better. He said, the end, that is the
goal of Christ's sacrifice, was to redeem his people from sin
and make them holy. It is then unreasonable to suggest
that one chosen by the Father, redeemed by the Son, and regenerated
by the Spirit, will disregard the will and means of his Lord
and live a self-centered, sinful, and worldly life.