God has appointed a day in which
he'll judge the world, not the Church, the world. And he'll
judge the world in righteousness, in perfect holiness. By that
man whom he hath ordained, Jesus Christ our Lord, and he has given
proof by raising him from the dead, there will be a judgment. Let's turn to Revelation 20,
and John on the Isle of Patmos wrote of that awful day in which
God would judge the world. And he says in Revelation 20,
verse 12, I saw the dead, small and great, stand before God,
and the books were open. And another book was opened,
which is the book of life. And the dead were judged out
of those things which are written in the books, according to their
works. And the sea gave up the dead
which were in it, those buried at sea, those shipwrecked, gone
to the bottom. Death and hell, death and the
grave, the word hell is grave, delivered up the dead which were
in them, and they were judged. every man. We shall all, he said,
the world, appear before the judgment, every man, according
to their works. But not believers, because there
is therefore now no judgment to them who are in Christ Jesus.
That's what Paul declared in Romans 8, verse 1. And in Hebrews,
for your comfort, turn to Hebrews 9, for your comfort and encouragement
Believers will not stand before this judgment. Our sins have
already been judged in the person of Christ, and he paid for them.
Because it says here in Hebrews 9, verse 26, speaking of Christ
our Lord, for then must he often have suffered since the foundation
of the world. But now once in the end of the
world hath Christ appeared to put away sin. Whose sins? The sins of his people, the sins
of the church, the sins of believers. He put away our sins by the sacrifice
of himself. And as it is appointed unto me
and wants to die, and after this the judgment, so Christ, he died. And he was judged, not for his
sin, but for ours. So Christ was once offered to
bear the sin of many. And unto them that look for him,
that believe in him, that rest in him shall he appear the second
time without sin, unto salvation. So there's no judgment to them
who are in Christ, because there's no sin. When he went to the cross,
he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities,
by his stripes we're healed. God says there's sins I'll remember
no more, because Christ put them away. Our sins are separated
from us as far as the east is from the west. They cast them
to the depths of the sea. He said, I'll cast them behind
my back. There's no judgment. You can't have judgment for sin
if there's no sin. So that's so. But the world,
he's going to judge the world. Verse 10, We all must appear
before the judgment seat of Christ, that every man may receive the
things done in the body, the world, according to what he's
done, good or bad. It'll all be there. Knowing, therefore, the terror
of the Lord. Paul says, our gods are consuming
fire. Now, I don't claim to have any
special revelation of that great judgment. Paul didn't claim that.
I know the terror of the Lord from reading his words. Knowing
the terror of the Lord because I've seen in the word of God
the terror of the Lord. God's wrath upon sin, upon unbelief. The flood is a preview of judgment. God destroyed man. Sodom, God
rained fire from heaven and burned the wicked cities of the plains.
The death of the firstborn in Egypt, where there was no blood
on the door. The firstborn in every home,
even the cattle in the fields. The death of the firstborn, that's
God's judgment against unbelief. When Israel, the people of Israel,
at that terrible day when they delivered their Messiah into
the hands of the Roman soldiers to be crucified, he came to his
own, they received him not. And he stood before them, and
Pilate sitting on the judgment seat, and he said, Shall I crucify
your king? They said, We have no king but
Caesar. He said, What shall I do with Jesus, which is called King?
They said, Crucify him. He said, I find no fault in him.
Shall I crucify an innocent man? They said, Let his blood be on
us and on our children. And 70 years later, the emperor
Titus came into Jerusalem, and he leveled that city. He leveled
that city. The blood flowed down the streets
of that city. And that's the last of the Jewish
nation until 1948. 1900 years later, when they began
coming back, and Harry Truman recognized them as a nation. It may be God's doing something.
I hope so. But judgment came upon, they
said, let his blood be on us. And that nation has been a nation
of blood and suffering and tribulation and affliction since they uttered
those words. I know the terror of the Lord.
I read in his words. And to this day, the veil is
on their faces when their scriptures are read. You see Christ in their
scriptures, but they don't see him. They're blind. Blindness
is in part to Israel. When the day of the Gentiles
is complete, God may lift the veil. I don't know. But God will
have to lift it because God put it down. But he did what they
asked him to do. Let his blood be on us and our
children. Very well. Terror of the Lord. So I know the terror of the Lord,
not that I have any special revelation or insight into judgment. But
I tell you, God's always judged unbelief. Unbelief. And God's always shown mercy
to faith. So I persuade men. You see, Paul
is saying, I persuade men. I persuade men of four basic
facts. My ministry is dedicated to four basic facts, which I
receive from the apostles, which they receive from Christ. Number
one is the nature and state of all men because of Adam's father. We are under the curse. By one
man's sins entered this world. And death by sin, so death passed
upon all men. We're sinners. From the sole
of our feet to the top of our heads. There's no soundness in
us. We're guilty. And the second
basic fact I know is God is God. And God is holy. As sinful as
I am, he's holy. As dark as I am, he's light.
As dead as I am, he's life. Distance from east to west is
the distance between me and God. He's perfectly holy, I'm perfectly
evil. God is light, I'm darkness. He's
life, I'm death. We are hopelessly, helplessly
corrupt and God is unchangeably, incredibly, immutably holy. Can't even imagine how holy God
is. The third thing, basic truth that I've persuaded and try to
impress upon me, and there is a covenant of mercy. There's
mercy for the guilty. If God should mark a nickname
to who would stand, but there's forgiveness with God. He said
to Moses, Moses said, show me your glory. He said, I'll show
you my glory. I'm going to be merciful. But I'm going to be
merciful to whom I will be merciful. I'm going to be gracious, but
I'm going to be gracious to whom I will. That's exactly right. That's what he said. There is
mercy. Mercy for the miserable is grace for the guilty. There's
salvation for sinners. It's that. The sure mercies of
David have been purposed by God Almighty. God's going to have
a people. He visited the Gentiles to take
out a people for his name. He's going to have a people.
That's exactly right. I want to be one of them, don't
you? I don't have anything to claim or plead except Christ.
And that brings me to the fourth fact of my ministry. One, we're
lost. Two, God is holy. Three, there's
mercy to be had. There's going to be some people
around the throne of God in the image of Jesus Christ, someday
eternally glorified, eternally holy. And I want to be one of
them, desperately. But that's only found in Christ.
I know that beyond a shadow of a doubt. I have no qualms about
it whatsoever. The salvation is of the Lord,
and it's in his blessed Son, who said, I'm the way, I'm the
truth, and I'm the life. And no man, Jew or Gentile, intelligent
or unwise, male or female, nobody comes to God except by Christ.
He's the high priest. He's the atonement. He's the
mercy seat. He's the Savior. He's the Redeemer. He's the giver of life, quick
in whom he will. That's so. In verse 11, Paul says, I know
the terror of the Lord, and I persuade men, and I'm made manifest to
God. I'm made manifest to God. This
question appeared to me, occurred to me, while I was preparing
this message. Who do I think I am? Who am I to stand up here and
preach to you? What am I and who am I to take
upon myself such an awesome task to tell you what you are and
who God is and God's judgments and God's salvation? Who do I
think I am? Well, I'm nothing. But Paul says
we are manifest to God. God knows who I am. God knows
who I am. God sent me. God called me. God knows the sincerity of my
heart. God knows the sincerity of my mission. God knows the
truthfulness of my message. He gave it to me. He gave it
to me. And I preach not myself. That's
not what I'm up here to do. Look over here at chapter 4,
right across the page, verse 5. Paul says, I preach not myself. I preach not myself. We preach
not ourselves, we preach Christ Jesus the Lord, ourselves your
servants for Jesus' sake. So God, we manifest to God. Every faithful, elder, pastor,
preacher who stands in a pulpit this morning, ordained of God,
called of God, sent of God, with a broken heart, a humble spirit,
a sincere, sincere heart, God will own his message. God alone
is message, because he manifests to God. God sent him. God sent
him. And then Paul says, I trust also
I may manifest in your conscience. I hope, I pray that our faithfulness
and truthfulness and sincerity is evident to you. And your discernment, are you
able to discern a true messenger? You know, some people just follow
anybody that says God. They just get all raptured with
everybody that says Jesus, oh sweet Jesus. They just get all
flustered and fluttered and follow after them, but are you able?
Paul says, I manifest to God. God who searches the heart and
the motive and the intent and the will, God knows me. God knows he sent me. God knows
I'm telling the truth. We're manifest to God. And I
trust, I pray, that you have the judgment and discernment
and the conscience to recognize the truth when you hear it. A
lot of folks don't. They believe a lie. Christ said
that to the people to whom he was preaching. He said, I come
in my Father's name and you receive me not. Let another come in his
own name and him you will receive. And that's the way natural men
are. But the believers differ. Our spirit bears witness with
your spirit that this is the truth of God. But verse 12, listen
to Paul, I commend not myself. We commend not ourselves again
unto you. We commend not ourselves. We
don't brag on ourselves. We preach not ourselves. We commend
not ourselves. We defend not ourselves. Actually,
this godly man, the Apostle Paul, listen to what he says in 1 Corinthians
3. He was talking to these people
that were enamored with preachers. They were all taken up with their
preachers. In 1 Corinthians 3, verse 4, one said, I'm Paul's
follower. Another said, I'm Apollos. I
like Apollos. He's the golden archer. I am a Cephas. Who is Paul? Look at verse 5. Who is Paul?
Who is Apollos? They are ministered by whom you
believe, even as the Lord gave to every man. I planted, Apollos
watered, but God gives the increase, so then, neither is he that planteth
anything. I'm nothing. Neither is he that
watereth. Apollos is nothing. God gave
the increase. But he that planteth and he that
watereth, they are one. And every man shall receive his
own reward according to his own labors, but we are labors together
with Christ. We are nothing. And Paul says here in verse 12,
look it, I commend not myself, I preach not ourselves, we defend
not ourselves, but what I'm doing is giving you an occasion to
glory on behalf of this message we're preaching, on behalf of
the Christ we're preaching, on behalf of the gospel we're preaching,
and that you may have somewhat to answer them with glory in
appearance and not in heart. Now listen, true religion, true
faith is a heart work. We worship God in spirit, in
truth, in the gospel, in sincerity, not with visual aids. We worship
God. We don't need any candles burning
or crosses, and we don't need any fancy pictures on the windows,
and I don't need a robe up here to impress you with my piety.
I don't need all these things now. These things are hindrances
to worship. Worship God in spirit, rejoice
in Christ Jesus, have no confidence in the flesh. But there are a
lot of people who glow in appearance. They glory in appearance. They
glory in... Our church has such a... I can
tell you about their building. It has such a worshipful decor. Our pastor wears a robe, and
our choir sings, and all these things, and we have the crosses,
we have the processional coming down the aisle with the candles,
and everybody following, little boys with books open, you know,
like a wedding. Fancy. That's appearance. Paul says, I'm saying these things
to you, telling you the truth from God's word, that you may
have a reply, you may have an answer, you may have somewhat
to answer these people who do not glory in Christ, who do not
glory in heart, who do not glory in faith, but they glory in how
many? Outward showing. How many? If you've got ten that worship
God, you're better off than in the midst of ten times. Who glory
in appearance, who glory in outward show, who glory in their numbers,
who glory in their works, but not in heart. Had ten thousand
people there. Was God there? The quietest saints
of beauty. Was Christ preached? Did the
heart of the people burn within them as he opened the scriptures
to them? Were there tears of joy and tears of faith and tears
of comfort? Was there that worship of God? Or did the preacher entertain
you? And the song leader tell a better joke than the preacher
did? And recognize folks for all their different anniversaries
and birthdays and put pennies in the jars, you know, and have
our little children all run up here in their Easter garbs and
put on a little show for everybody, you know. I'll tell you, it sounds like
it was written this morning, that I don't preach myself. We commend not ourselves to you.
I'm not commending my denomination or I'm not commending our church
or our creeds or confessions of faith. We commend not ourselves.
But I'm trying to tell you the truth so you can have something
to answer those people you work with and you're related to and
your next-door neighbors that It says, y'all don't do anything,
your church is dead. You don't run up and down the
aisles and holler and yell and throw psalm books. We were dead,
but now we live in Christ. We were dead in religious works.
We were dead in appearance. We were dead in a false religious
system. We live now. We live by the faith
of the Son of God who loved us and gave himself for us. You
see the difference? There's a difference. Paul said, I'm trying to give
you an occasion to glory in Christ and not in what you have, in
your riches and strength and works and righteousness and goodness. Verse 13, Paul, you're beside
yourself, you're a fanatic. Everybody out in the town knows
you're a fanatic and knows you're radical. I passed the church
billboard out here the other day and Ronnie had on there,
Jacob ever loved and Esau ever hated." And I thought, boy, I
want the church in town to put something like that out there.
But it's written, you know what you, it is written, Jacob ever
loved, Esau ever hated. You people are crazy. Paul said,
am I beside myself? Am I? Am I fanatic? Am I radical? It's to God. It's to God that I'm a radical.
I'm going to tell the truth. I'm going to tell the truth.
When I prepare a message, and these elders too, I don't have
any consideration whatsoever of who's going to be here, whether
they like it or not. That does not enter into the
study of this picture and the Word of God. What does God say?
If he says it, you're going to hear it. If he doesn't say it,
you're not going to hear it. If God commands it, we're going
to do it. If he doesn't, it's not going to be done. Are we
beside ourselves? They said that about my Lord.
He's crazy. He's a fanatic. Let me show you
that. They said that about Christ. Turn to Mark 3. Mark chapter
3. This may shock you, but Mark
chapter 3. Mark chapter 3. Do you know who said this about
him? Now, hold on to your pee there a minute. His brothers,
Mary's children said that. You know, Mary had other children.
Christ was the firstborn, born of the Virgin. Then she had Judah,
Joseph, and the others, brothers and sisters. They didn't believe
in him. His brothers didn't believe him.
They did later, but they didn't hear. Now, listen to this. And Judas Iscariot, which betrayed
him, also betrayed him, they went into a house, Christ and
his disciples. And the multitude come together
again so that they could not so much as eat bread. They went
in there to eat, and they couldn't eat. The multitude was all around
the house, in the house, just thronging Christ like they did
in Jericho. And when his friends, you see
that word, friends, his kinsmen, his kinsmen heard of it. They went out to lay hold, they
went out to get him. This is in the early days of
his ministry. They said, he's beside himself. This is his purpose. He's beside himself. That means
he's slipped a dish or a disc or something. He's beside himself.
These are the same ones down here in the same scripture, Mark
3, verse 31. Then came his brethren. And his
mothers, standing without, sent unto him, calling him. And the
multitude said about him, they said, your brothers, your mother
and your brothers are out there seeking you. They want him to
come home and quit this preaching. That's exactly right. That's
why they were there. Probably not Mary, but the boys
were putting a little pressure on the mother. They came, he's
beside himself. And our Lord said, who is my
brother? Who is my mother? These who do the will of God,
not those fellows. You read that. He's beside himself. They really thought he was. He's
a man who grew up in the home with them. He was a carpenter
working the carpenter shop. Mary hid all these things. She kept
them pondered in her heart. She knew the promise that God
gave her. Imagine a time or two she had
some doubts just like Peter and the apostles did. This man, we
thought he was going to be the Christ. But his brothers, they
didn't believe on him. He said he decided himself. Look
at John 10, same thing. They said the same thing of Christ
in John 10. Listen to this. In John 10, verse
17. Therefore does my father, John
10, 17, my father love me because I lay down my life and I might
take it again. No man takes it from me. I lay it down of myself.
I have power to lay it down. I have power to take it again.
This commandment have I received of my father. There was a division,
therefore, again among the Jews for these sayings. Many said,
he has the devil. He's mad. Why do you hear him? So, you know, when somebody says,
well, your preacher's mad, your preacher's beside himself. You preachers not playing with
a full deck or something like that, you know, well, that's
all right. They said that about the Lord. They said that about
the Apostle Paul. Who was the fellow? Festus, noble
Festus. He listened to Paul. He listened
to Paul. talk about man's fall, God's
holiness, Christ's sacrifice, shedding of his blood, perfect
obedience, Christ our salvation. And he got so upset, he said,
Paul, much learning has made you mad! So Paul says, Am I mad? Verse
13, Am I beside myself? Well, it's to God. Or whether we be serious or sober,
calm, collected, cool, it's for your cause. Well, here's what
motivates a true preacher. Verse 14. The love of Christ
constrains me. The love of Christ impels me.
Paul said it motivates. It's not fear of hell. That's
not the motivation. It's not desire for reward. That's not the motivation. The
least in the kingdom of God is greater than he. It's not for gain or glory. It's the love of Christ. I live
for him, he has love for us. You'll never forget what your
friend did for you. You'll love him as long as he
lives. Why? His love for you. My Lord,
my love for him, no, his love for me. And here it is, listen,
because I judge this, if he died for all, we were dead. If he died for us, then we were
hopelessly dead. If he died for us, there must
have been no other way for God to give his only Son to such
indignity. ignominious agony and suffering,
death. If he died for us, we were dead,
there was no other way. If he died for us, the Father
willed it and sent his Son to perform it. If he died for us,
he loved us with an incredible love, with an indescribable love,
with an everlasting love. Would not such love be enough
motivation for me to live and labor and serve him and his people? The love of Christ for me is
my motivation. That's just it. It's love for
Christ. You love him, you love his people. You love him, you
love his word. You love him, you love his gospel. You love him, you love the labor
that he gives you. to perform. Verse 15 is the sum and substance
of this message. Listen. And that he died for
all, that they should live, that they should, let's read it this
way, that they should live, no longer dead, no longer dead to
God, no longer without hope, without Christ in this world.
We live, we'll never die. But now what? He died for all,
not only that we should live, but that we should live not henceforth
to ourselves, but to him. That we should live not to ourselves,
but for ourselves. I see people making decisions.
It frightens me when they make the decision. Our decisions ought
to be made not to satisfy or pacify or please ourselves. but please Him who died for us,
to satisfy Him, to serve His best interest and the best interest
of those who know Him and love Him. When I make a decision,
I ought not to consider, well, what's this going to mean to
me, what kind of happiness and joy and pleasure, what's it going
to mean to them? How is it going to affect them,
what I'm about to do, how is it going to affect Christ and
truth and his gospel and his people and his church. Is he
going to affect them in an adverse way, an unhappy way? I'm not
going to do it. If you have it, it will cost
you. Don't give a hoot what it costs.
Let it cost me and not them. Let it cost me and not him. That's
what he said when he died for us. Let it fall upon me. Father,
let it fall upon me. Not them. I tell you, this day,
my rights, I'm tired of hearing about people's rights. You don't
have any rights if it crosses his rights, his crown rights,
and your family's rights, and the gospel rights, and the church's
rights. You don't have any rights. That's exactly it. That's right.
And I'm sick of it. I'm just tired of selfishness. Old Ralph Hudson, back in 1850,
he caught the spirit of Paul. He said the love of Christ The
love of Christ impels me, motivates me. He died for me, and if he
died for me, I shouldn't live any more, any longer for myself,
but unto him who loved me and gave himself for me. Ralph Hudson wrote, My life,
my love, I owe to thee, thy Lamb of God who died for me. Oh, may
I ever faithful be to my Savior, my God. O Thou who died on Calvary
to save my soul and set me free, I consecrate my all to Thee,
my Savior, my God." Brother Gruber and I were riding
along one day in Mexico, going out to Pueblo to preach, our
wives and us, and I looked over at him. Faithful missionary,
35 years down there in a culture that's not his, a country that's
his now, but it wasn't when he went there. A language, a people,
dedicated his whole life. I said, you, are you happy down
here? Classic reply. Happiness hadn't
got anything to do with it. I'm where God sent me and God
wants me. That's what counts. And I'll
tell you this, I'm where God sent me. I'm with whom God put
me. By his grace I'm going to stay
there because, you know, that's for his glory. That's the whole
consideration. That's what he says there. Live
not to themselves, but to him. And I tell you, it's worth it.
Sacrifice, whatever it may be, whatever sacrifice you may be
called upon to give, to make, it'll be worth it. It may be costly, but it'll be worth
it. Therefore, henceforth, know we no man after the flesh. What's
Paul talking about there, we know no man after the flesh?
Well, the word know there is Paul is saying we acknowledge
we approve of and esteem no man just for the flesh's sake. I
was saying that he values no man after the flesh alone. from
a human point of view in terms only of natural standards and
natural attributes. He said, I know no man. Whether
he be a Jew or a Gentile, whether he be learned or ignorant, whether
he be rich or poor, whether he be weak or strong, I regard no
man solely with respect to his fleshly power, strength, or riches,
or learning. No man. You see, Christ has removed
those distinctions. Class and culture and color make
no difference. Christ has removed those distinctions
of the flesh and brought us into a spiritual kingdom. We're brothers,
sisters, same family, same father. So we know no man based upon
his fleshly attainments, his fleshly accomplishments, or his
fleshly wisdom. He said, I knew Christ that way
one time. He's the only man. Listen to
verse 16. I value no man after the flesh
because of his fleshly attributes or characteristics or attainments.
Though I knew Christ after the flesh, Christ was a man at that
time, a perfect man, the only man of whom the Father said,
I'm well pleased. And I could regard him that way.
But he said, I know him henceforth that way no more. Christ is glorified. So that means, based on human
strength, power, prestige, gifts, talent, wisdom, we value no man. All these things will pass away.
But the person who's in Christ, look at verse 17, but if any
man be in Christ, he's a new creature. I value him, esteem
him, Christ in him. He's different. God put a difference
between Egypt and Israel. There's no difference in natural
man, but there's a difference in a believer and a natural man.
God's made the difference. If any man be in Christ, he's
a new creature. You know what that word is? He's
a new creation. He's a new creation. Why would
he compare regeneration to the creation of the world, a new
creation. Well, first of all, the creation
of the world has the same author as the creation of a new man
in Christ. God said, let there be light,
and God has shined in our hearts to give us the light of the knowledge
of Christ. So he's the author of the worldly creation and the
spiritual creation. Secondly, both of them were created
by the Spirit and the Word. Scripture says, In the beginning
God created the heavens and the earth, and darkness was upon
the face of the deep, and the Spirit of God moved upon the
waters. And the voice of God said, Let
there be light. If any man be in Christ, he's
a new creation. The author of that creation is
God, and the means God used was his Spirit and his Word. The
Spirit moved over the waters, and the Word of God said, Let
there be light. That's what happened when God
visited you and me in grace. Thirdly, both were created out
of nothing. The heavens and the earth, Peter
said, were created out of nothing. And when God created us new creatures
in Christ Jesus, we were created out of nothing. He didn't start
with anything. That's right, a new man. If any man were in
Christ, he's a new creature. He didn't use anything old because
old things passed away and all things become new. And you know,
this world is kept in store by the Word of God. And you and
I are kept in grace by the Word of God. And one day this old
world will be burned up, and there will be a new heaven and
a new earth. And one day this old flesh will be buried. It's kept in store by the Word
of God and the power of God. We're kept by the power of God
through faith. But one day it will go back to the dust. and
there'll be a new spirit glorified to you. Creation, the original
creation by God by the Spirit and the Word out of nothing,
sustained by the Word of God, kept by the Word of God, kept
in store until the day of judgment. And then when that judgment passes,
there will be a new heaven wherein dwelleth righteousness. There
will be a new man wherein dwelleth righteousness. There will be
a new earth that will forever praise God. and a new voice that
will forever praise God. Never one slip of the lip. Wouldn't
that be something? I talked this morning. I shut
my mouth. Joe felt that way. That's what that means. If any
man gain Christ, it's a new creation. And this old world is just sitting
here trembling till God wipes her away and this old body It's
just down here trembling. Glory be to God in the new creation. Wherein dwelleth righteousness.
And verse 18 says, let's just close with this, reading this.
All things are of God. Nobody has any objections to
that here, does he? Who hath reconciled us to himself
by Jesus Christ. Nobody gets that. Reconciled means friendship accepted. Atonement. And he's given us
this message of reconciliation. Namely, here it is summed up,
that God Almighty himself was in Christ. Is God in Christ? Christ is God. Reconciled the
world to himself, not charging their trespasses and sins to
them, but charged them to Christ. And he had committed to us this
word, this message, this gospel of reconciliation. Now friends,
Paul says, I'm an ambassador for Christ, that's all I am,
a voice. As though God did beseech you
by me. I pray you in Christ's name,
lay down your shotgun, put up your sword, lay down your arms,
surrender, submit, receive Christ, kiss the Son, blessed be thy
name. That's the message. And here's your motivation. He,
God, hath made him, Christ, to be sin for us. He didn't know
any sin, that we might be made the holiness of God in him. That's the gospel. One more time.