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Whatever God's blessing.
Father, our God is opposed to now before this morning, this time that's been set aside to continue in this passage. And Father, we consider crews that Apostle Paul is ready for the Corinthians that we can take into ourselves. We pray the Holy Spirit would take the same truths and apply it to us. We would be an enjoyment of these things. We consider the fact that indeed, any moment we can shed these bodies of mortality and take on these truths that we're reading about. So we pray that we may have open hearts to hear these things.
Pray for the Holy Spirit to have free liberty and guidance in the meeting. And we do. Lovely Lord Jesus, we look forward to that coming, perhaps even today. My name we pray, Amen.
The reading this morning is in Second Corinthians chapter 5 and verse 10.
2nd Corinthians chapter 5, starting at verse 10.
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. 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. For we command not ourselves again unto you, but give you occasion to glory on our behalf, that she may have somewhat to answer them, which glory in 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're 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. Wherefore henceforth know ye no man after the flesh? Yeah, 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, and all things are of God, who hath reconciled us to Himself by Jesus Christ, and hath given to us the ministry of reconciliation.
To wit, that God was in Christ reconciling the world unto himself, not imputing their trespasses unto them, and hath committed unto us the word of reconciliation. Now then, we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God did beseech you by us. We pray you in Christ stead be ye reconciled to God, for he hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin, that we might be made the righteousness of God in him.
At the end of the last meeting our brethren were remarking about verse nine that it is not a positional thing, it is a practical thing that the Christian laborers to be agreeable to the Lord and and seeks to please the Lord and all that He does.
And the verses that the verse that we began with gives us, it leads right. It follows right from that thought.
We labor to be agreeable to the Lord, knowing that there are things that are going to come under review in a coming day when we have gone to be with him when he has taken us home to be with himself when all of the redeemed from this present age and from the Old Testament Saints as well that heavenly companies together but and then primarily in this context with having to do with those of us.
Who are part of the Bride of Christ?
When there will be that time when there's a judgment seat of Christ, where he brings under review a number of different things, there are a number of scriptures we could look at. It might be profitable for us to do so, but this being one of them.
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Where?
Where the deeds that are done in our body will come under review, we have in other places. I'll just list a few of them. I don't know if I can remember all of them off the top of my head. Others here will be able to help. Then Matthew 12. Every idle word shall be reviewed.
In Romans chapter 14, our convictions on on having having to do with spiritual exercises those things that the Word of God does not does not outline and give us rules for that we need to be before the Lord about and and exercise discernment and and and do those things with a view to pleasing him and not stumbling our brethren and in view of the fact that he is our Lord.
So our convictions there in Romans 14.
And then going on to.
Chapter three of Second Corinthians.
The the work that we do in the Kingdom will come under review at the judgment seat of Christ, and in the 4th chapter of Second Corinthians our motives will come under review.
All these things the Lord is going to go over with us and.
And the Scripture says, Then shall every man have praise of God?
It'll not be with a view to judgment.
Certainly will not be punitive, but it's with a view to reward those things that were agreeable to him, those things that pleased him. He looks forward to commending you dear Christian saying well done, good and faithful servant.
Yesterday after the meeting.
There was a little conversation about verse nine and.
And I just like to asked him if he wouldn't mind sharing what he shared then because I think it ties into.
What you were just saying, Steve, and I think that entire chapter that he was referencing is a beautiful picture.
So I'll leave it to you, brother.
So.
I'm going to read the verse again in our chapter, Chapter 9, then in the new translation. Wherefore also we are zealous, whether present or absent, to be agreeable to him. And I was just thinking of of the description that we have of the mighty men in Second Samuel. I believe it's chapter 23.
Turn there just briefly.
Second Samuel chapter 23 and I'll just read 1/2 a dozen verses starting with the verse 13.
And three of the 30 chief went down and came to David in the harvest time under The Cave of Adolam. And the troop of the Philistines pitched in the valley of of referendum. And David was then in in hold. And the Garrison of the Philistines was then in Bethlehem. And David longed and said, Oh, that one would give me drink of the well of Beth of Bethlehem, which is by the gate. And the three mighty men breakthrough the host of the Philistines, and drew water out of the well of Bethlehem.
There was by the gate and took it and brought it to David. Nevertheless, he would not drink thereof, but poured it out under the Lord and he said, be it far from me, O Lord, that I should do this. Is not this the blood of the men that went in jeopardy of their lives? Wherefore he would not drink it. These things did these three mighty men and I was just thinking of this in relation to what we have here in in verse 9, where if we labor that whether present or absent, we may be.
Accepted of him or agreeable to him. This example that we have in these three mighty men is David's wish was their command. They were driven by affection for David. And he said it. It's almost like he thought it. And they took that as a direct command. And they went and they brought a great.
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Potential for harm to themselves. They went and drilled that water of that well of Bethlehem and brought it to David.
And I believe that that is a beautiful example of what we have here in verse 9 there's.
What's our motivation? Steve is talking about the motivation. What's the motivation that we have?
For this, and you know a little bit further down, we'll talk more about it. It says in verse 14, For the love of Christ constraineth us.
But what greater motivation do we need than that?
In connection with verse 9 and 10 in our chapter, I would like to read 2 verses in Philippians chapter 2.
Second part of verse 12.
But now much more in my absence, workout your salvation with fear and trembling, for it is God who worketh in you both who will and to do at His good pleasure. And we know in recent time they are believers talking about doing good works and labour to the labour they have to do before they appear before the Judge Masita Christ. But as it was mentioned yesterday, for the believer, the judgment is behind us. It took place.
2000 years ago and.
To use the verse about our own to work out our own salvation in fear of the judgment seat of Christ, we have immediately after that verse 12 second Philippians, we have verse 13 for it is God who worked in you both to will and to do of his good pleasure. So in the end God is taking all the glory for everything for our own salvation for the labor we do for.
For for everything from A-Z.
So it's going to be a day of manifestation of all those things that we've done in our body. And it's interesting that the new translation, Steve, maybe you can help me with this, but I think it says for we must all be manifested before the judgment seat of Christ. Is that right? Yeah. So that's the point is the Lord is going to not only are we going to appear before the judgment seat of Christ, but it's going to be a day when when Christ will manifest.
Those things that we have done in our bodies, as to whether or not they meet his approval or not. And as to your point, Steve, it's not in a punitive way.
Not at all, but it's it's in view of reward and what he could commend as being done for himself. And to your point, brother Radutes, it's amazing to think that he will.
He'll reward us for those things that he gave us the motive to do and the power to do and.
At the end, it was all of him, and yet he's going to turn around and reward us for that. It's, it's, it's amazing the, the grace of God shows out the heart of God, doesn't it?
What is amazing to me is that even after we get the new nature, the divine life from Christ, after He imparted, that was after we are born again, even when we are sealed and indwelled with the Holy Spirit, it is still of Him, the will and the ability to do the work for Him. So how much more before we are saved? Everything depends on Him.
There's a picture of this in First Corinthians three. Yeah, First Corinthians 3, verse 13, it says every man's work shall be made manifest, for the day shall declare it, because it shall be revealed by fire, and the fire shall try every man's work of what sort it is. If any man's work abide which he hath built, thereupon he shall receive a reward, which is what we've been talking about. If any man's work shall be burned, he shall suffer loss, but he himself shall be saved yet so as by fire. And as we see all the creatures around us. Somebody was asking me the other day.
Beaver Dam because they saw a pile of sticks. Beavers have to build a good dam. They don't have a choice.
Robins have to build a good nest. They don't have a choice.
Deer run as fast as they can run. That's the way God made him. But man has been given the choice to choose how we're going to live. And it's all, it's those two things, God's sovereignty, man's responsibility, God's sovereignty is 100% true, but it's also true that we have responsibility. God's entrusted these things to us. The the parable of the 10 talent shows us that. And so we have a choice. The Lord's entrusted these things to us, and if we use them for him, we're going to be rewarded.
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And all of us, as our brother Steve said, all of us are going to get some reward. But there are so many people that waste their life, they live their lives for themselves. And it's not a happy path here. Being selfish is not happiness.
Living for others. The happiest people I know on this earth love other people. They serve other people. They give to other people.
Taking and taking and taking is not a happy pet. And there.
There's coming a day when it's all going to be manifest and what we did for Him is going to be beautiful. It's going to be awesome for his glory.
And what we did for ourselves is going to be lost.
Apostle Paul.
An axe is still in. I think that Indians.
By him relieved and move and breathe every day when we wake up is because he wants us to wake up and because he has a reason for us to wake up. He has a job for us to do. If he don't have nothing for us left in this world, he just take us home. But if you wake up this morning and you're breathing and you're walking and you're thinking, it's because he has something for you in this world still.
And he gave us the ability like the brother was mentioning.
He given us the he put the good works in front of us that we walk on it, that we walk and, and make that good, good works. And he give us the ability and he give us the strain and the knowledge to do that good works. And he's the one who is doing everything in us. He give you the ability to do it, even though the strength he give you the the the brain to do the things and also.
He's giving, he's doing everything, and he got to reward you for it.
What an amazing God we got.
And we need to do that thing somebody in the morning and the prayer was mentioned that verse that.
Who sees something? I don't remember exactly the birds, but maybe somebody can help me with hands to do good and don't do it is for him is sin so.
It's many things we can do to do well and to do the good works that the Lord wants us to do.
And He's giving you the ability to do it, and He got to reward you for it. And you know, one day when you have a crown and we see all that and we see His glory, what an amazing time we're going to be to take your crown off and throw in His beard and recognize that He did everything. All the glory is His. All the glory is His.
Brother Richard Hagen, I appreciate you turning us to 1St Corinthians 3.
Does it help me to realize that I gave a wrong reference earlier 1St Corinthians 3? I said Second Corinthians 3 for our work in the Kingdom and it is First Corinthians 4 for the motivations that we that because of the fact that we have within us the flesh and our motives may not always be pure as we seek to serve. And the apostle Paul addresses that in first Corinthians 4 and I.
Given the wrong reference for that earlier as well, so I appreciate you pointing us in the right direction.
Like our brother has spoken of motives. I have to admit I'm lacking a bit of confidence today. But that verse you referred to as James 4 and 17 brother and it reminds me of Romans chapter 12.
When we speak of motives.
First one. I beseech you, therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service.
And be not conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God.
It's very similar to the verses we have in Hebrews chapter 13.
Yeah.
That I like very well verse 20 Now the God of peace that brought again from the dead our Lord Jesus Christ, that great shepherd of the sheep, through the blood of the everlasting covenant, make you perfect.
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In every good work to do his will, working in you that which is well pleasing in His sight, through Jesus Christ, to whom be glory forever and ever, Amen. And we know in Romans 14 it says so that every man shall give account of himself unto God.
And so it should be our reasonable service to do that good thing.
That we should be being trained up for it should be our.
Our desire.
I read a little pamphlet one time and I'm not sure I spoke of this to somebody yesterday, I think. I think it might have been Mr. Darby, but I'm not sure. And he spoke of when he.
Gets before that judgment seat.
We often think that there might be this little mound there of our sins, but he said no. It's like that little hymn. My sins were as high as a mountain. And it's going to stretch so far up. It's going to be so far up. We don't contemplate the things that that we do wrong. We try to consider the things that we do right so much. But we should be.
Focus so much on doing His will like the Lord Jesus did. I do only those things which are pleasing or righteous in His sight.
Chapter Brown.
Read somewhere he gave an account of a dream that he had and you'll remember the chapter. Brown was a labouring brother and no slouch in the things of the Lord. And he had a dream that he was standing at the judgment seat of Christ and there was a huge pile that was being burned and.
He was just at a loss his whole life.
Is there and it's giant bonfire and he was really discouraged and the Lord was standing there and he turned him and said, don't worry Brown, we'll find something. And so he I I like that story because it really brings out the fact that what the brethren have been talking about that the focus of the judgment seat of Christ is on reward and all that we will suffer loss. That's what first Corinthians chapter 3 says there will be that which is burned away.
And, and in and of itself, that's should be a disappointment to us. We'll recognize missed opportunities that we could have provided service for the Lord and, and there will be lost and that will hang our hearts. But the focus of the judgment seat of Christ is on reward.
As we've been saying, the Lord who knows all, He knows our hearts, He knows everything we've done, He knows our thoughts. He's going to search high and low and he's going to find everything.
Because that's his heart.
And we can't forget to when we are at the judgment seat of Christ. It's not like how we are right now.
How do we get there? When does the judgment seat of Christ happen? It's after we rapture. It's after we're with them. And what happens at the rapture?
Will become like him.
I don't like to when I visualize the judgment seat of Christ for to believe her.
I don't see it as a face to face. I see us standing next to the Lord and Him having his arm around us. It will be like Him. How could there be judgment in the sense that we think of judgment generally because we're like Him. It's impossible. He would have to judge himself. It's impossible. And so there will be the aspect of reward that we've talked about, but I think even more than that, it'll be the act, the aspect.
The magnifying of the grace of God when we see that pile burned up and for the first time we see how truly bad we are, how truly sinful we are.
We're going to be able then to say and you still went to that cross.
We want the judgment seat of Christ. We really do. It will have its effect for all eternity that we have a proper appreciation of how great the grace of the Lord Jesus is that He went to the cross. For a Sinner like me, because I don't know what kind of a Sinner I am, I have somewhat of an idea, but it falls far short because I'm accustomed to sin. I was born in it. I I practice it and I'm surrounded by it. I'm accustomed to it.
In a way you kind of get in the almost numb to it to a certain degree. But when we stand there beside him.
Like him? Then for the first time we'll have a full view. We'll see things through his eyes. We'll have a full view of what we were and how great his love and his grace were now.
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It is the judgment seat of Christ, and this is not the only aspect of it.
For those that have not accepted the Lord Jesus Christ, it is a fearful thing. And then the next verse will speak about that, but it goes all the way from here. I believe this will happen probably pretty quickly after the rapture. But the judgment of Christ, it goes all the way to the great white throne, and that's the final judgment. And there it says very clearly that they will appear before the throne. There's no standing at the side of the Lord Jesus. There won't be an arm put around those people there. He will act in the character of a judge.
And every single one will receive their their proper judgment.
It's a very solemn thing to read of that in Revelation 20, but here?
It's brought before us something that would motivate us in our pathway, not something that would scare us. The judgment seat of Christ for the believer is not a scary thing at all.
I'd like to be the 1St and the 1St epistle of John. Thinking about what you said, Mark.
The first Epistle of John in the first chapter.
2 verses maybe first John chapter one, verse 5. This is the This then is the message which we have heard of him. And declare unto you that God is light, and in Him is no darkness at all.
Verse six. If we say then that we have fellowship with him and walk and walk in darkness, we lie and do not the truth. But if we walk in the light as he is in the light, we have fellowship one with another.
The blood of Jesus Christ, your Son, cleanseth us from all sin I was thinking about.
What you said, Mark, standing at his side as that review of the life goes on. You know, righteousness really opens the doors to communion. Sometimes I'll speak for myself. I kind of think about it the other way. I think love opens the door for communion and righteousness as judgment of sins.
But you know, really it was the love of God that led the Lord Jesus Christ to the cross, took the judgment. It's the light that brings out community. And so, you know, when we stand at the Lords side and we have that review of our lives and there's plenty of instances in our own lives, we each know it. The things that that needs to be burned away.
Will be in agreement with.
You know, because righteousness leads to community. When the light shines in and everything is exposed, that's when you have communion. It has to be exposed. The more we allow it to expose our lives today, the more intimate that communion really is. The more we try to hide things, the less communion there is. And in that day and in that judgment, it's opening the doors wide open.
For the most intimate communion you'll ever have.
With the Lord and we can enjoy that in a certain sense today, and it's practical.
And it goes with one another to be an open book as much as we can. It's beautiful.
Yeah, I appreciate. I appreciate your comments, brother Keith so good. And Mark, like you said, you know, we really want the judgment seat of Christ. We really do deep down because to your point, it's going to bring out that intimacy, you know that we that we long for and you know, throw it all eternity and we'll have but I believe it's going to put.
The put us over the top, if I could put it that way, in praise, because when we look at what the Lord has done and we get a true.
Appreciation for what we were because we don't know how bad we really are. I mean really, let's be honest, I don't understand how bad my heart is. And it's the judgment seat of Christ that is going to reveal it all and that is going to put me into a place.
Of praise and worship to Him that I don't think we could have without the judgment seat of Christ. It is so necessary for eternity.
Read a verse in Revelation chapter 4 which what Josh is saying.
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The four in Revelation 4 verse 10, the four and 20 elders fall down before him.
That sat on the throne and the worship Him that liveth forever and ever and cast their crowns before the throne saying thou art worthy, O Lord, to receive glory, honor and power that has created all things and for Thy pleasure they are and were created. I think we'll realize that after getting those rewards and seeing that that really it was the Lord that created any kind of thought towards him or anything that we did for him, it was because of Him.
And because of that, we'll discuss our rewards.
So it might be helpful to have a picture in the Old Testament, and I think that the chapter that we were at earlier is a beautiful example of this.
The most of the chapter 23 of Second Samuel is is a picture, I think, of of a judgment seat we don't read in chapter 23 of any of the wrong things of David's mighty men.
I have no doubt that there were things that they did that were not pleasing to David. But in this review he talks about the things that were pleasing to David. And David is a beautiful picture of the Lord Jesus, and we've already spoken of that. But I think that there's also a little picture of this judgment seat that we've been talking about in the first couple chapters of First Kings.
And I just want to touch on a couple verses.
Because I think it it brings it out.
I can put my finger back on it.
And interestingly, before we read these verses in in chapter 23 of Second Samuel.
There's some people that are missing from that list that we might have thought were should have been in that list, and one of them is Joab.
And and so I want to just touch on a few verses here in the first chapter.
If I can put my finger on it.
Umm, yeah.
Sorry, I'm not seeing it right now, but he David.
Tells Solomon that he is to remember.
Those that helped David 27 Yeah, show kindness.
Unto the sons of Barzillai the Gileadite, and let them be of those that eat at thy table, for so they came to me when I fled of Absalom thy brother.
The solemn thing is the next couple verses. And behold, thou hast with the shimmy eye the son of Guerra, the Benjamite of Bahram, which cursed me with a grievous curse in the day when I went to man AM, and so on. And he says, Hold him not guiltless in verse 9.
And then he speaks of of Joab in verse 5.
And it's so sad to see.
And to read these verses because.
We are going to suffer loss if we have done those things that displease the Lord. And Joab, he, even though he was the captain of the host, he did things that displeased David and he suffered loss. At the end of David's life when there was a review made, Joab suffered loss. And I want to just encourage our hearts. We're going to those things that we've done for the Lord.
He knows about them and he's going to reward us for them.
But.
The opposite side of that is true. Those things that we have done that displays him are are going to be things that are are to our loss.
I was thinking of the same thing in relation to Hebrews Chapter 11. Hebrews Chapter 11 is a list of people that are commended for their faith and.
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There isn't any mention in that chapter of that which was wrong. There's a lot that we could find in Jacob's life that was was not commendable, and yet that's not mentioned in Hebrews Chapter 11. But I will say that there are descriptions in Hebrews Chapter 11 That are longer than others.
And went on. Isaac is very short. Well.
That may be similar to the judgment seat of Christ. There would be those that have long commendations and that some of us others that may be a little shorter.
Bart made a comment that I think.
Would do well to just.
Follow up and just emphasize how important it is and that is the distinction between the judgment seat of Christ and verse 11 where it talks about knowing that therefore the terror of the Lord. And Mark clearly laid out that there was a very stark distinction between the two. There is no terror of the Lord for the Christian. Why? Because of the last verse of our chapter. For He hath made Him to be sin for us. He knew no sin that we might be made the righteousness of God. In Him there is no terror.
For the Christian because of that and then First Thessalonians chapter.
UH-5.
And verse eight it says, But let us who are of the day be sober, putting on the breastplate of faith and love, and for in home, at the hope of salvation. For God hath not appointed us to wrath, but to obtain salvation by our Lord Jesus Christ, who died for us, that whether we wake or sleep, we should live together with him. Or for comfort yourselves together, and edify one another, even as also you do, so we should be.
Encouraged to recognize that.
This terror of the Lord that we're Speaking of in verse 11 has nothing to do with the Christian. And it is, it's possible if you just read this without rightly dividing the word of truth, to come to the conclusion that they go together. And that's not correct. So for the sake of the young people, I just wanted to clarify that that the terror of the Lord has nothing to do with us, but it is something that should motivate us in our service for preaching the gospel.
And Acts Chapter 7, Acts chapter 17 and verse 31, it says because he hath appointed a day in which he will judge the world and righteousness by that man whom he hath ordained. And so there is a day coming of judgment, and we have knowledge of it. And like we were talking about a few reading meetings ago, it's like that train. We have knowledge of the trestle being gone. The trestle is washed out the train once it passes that certain point.
Is going to go into the abyss. And if we're on that train with knowledge of that, why would we keep ourselves silent? We have the responsibility of carrying that message of judgment and then also of hope.
Of the.
The escape from that judgment and we need to be faithful in that responsibility.
And separating those two in connection with what you said there, how does that relate to Hebrews chapter 12?
Verse 28 says Wherefore we receiving a Kingdom which cannot be moved, let us have grace, or let us hold fast, whereby we may serve God acceptably with reverence and godly fear for God as a consuming fire.
There is a place in a Christian's life for reverential fear, right? But there's a distinction between reverential fear and terror.
I'd like to hear further.
Position on that.
Well, I think that I think what you say is is correct, Tim. And you know, just going back to the scriptures of brother Matt brought out how in First Corinthians 13.
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Is that the day shall declare every man's work. Verse 13 Every man's work shall be made manifest, for the day shall declare it, because it that is, the day shall be revealed by or in fire, and the fire shall try every man's work of what sort it is. And so I think that links up well with Hebrews.
Chapter 12, verse 29, our God is a consuming fire. So again, to repeat what you said, Tim, it's again, the judgment seat is not a time of terror for the Christian at all, but God will judge. And again, fire is, is an apartment type of judgment throughout Scripture, the fire God will judge everything that is inconsistent with himself that manifests itself in the life of the believer and he will bring that out so morally, physically, spiritually, whatever.
That manifests itself in our life. God is going to.
Pass judgment on it in that day and again, not our sins. Our sins are not the.
The topic of discussion, if you will, at the judgment seat of Christ, it's the deeds done in the body and whether or not they receive a commendation for things being done for him or not. And, and Matt, you, you gave a good example yesterday about an art show. Can you maybe repeat that? I think that's helpful to give an idea as to, you know, what type of judgment we're talking about. Yeah, it's, it was explained to me. It's like a, a County Fair.
And the judge goes and he looks at each one of the exhibits.
And he gives ribbons. There's a blue ribbon and a red ribbon.
And he's giving rewards, as was explained.
Tim, I think he also answered it when you said that.
Reverential fear should be a motivation for us, like Steve mentioned at the very beginning of the meeting, that it's not only our actions, but our thoughts, our motivations and all things that will be taken up in that time. And so if we look at ourselves individually or look in the mirror, whatever way you want to address it, do we have a healthy reverential fear? A little him comes to mind once again. He sees what we do and he hears what we say.
My Lord is watching all the time, time, time.
That being said, I totally agree, but a higher motivation is love as a father.
I could be a a dictator and my children have a responsibility from scripture to obey your father and mother, and I could hold that over their head and I could probably accomplish some things, but how much more can we accomplish if I if I seek their affection?
And they do.
What I ask and they honor me based on the response of love from their heart. It's a much, much higher motivation. But you're right, we should have a referential fear, Paul told those ones in First Corinthians 16. To do all your things with charity in me.
I think that some of what we're saying is here. In verse 15 it says, and that he died for all the day which live should not henceforth live unto themselves, but unto him which died for them, and rose again. And in Galatians 6 verse seven, it says, Be not deceived. Don't kid yourselves. God is not mocked. For whatsoever a man soweth that shall he also reap. The universe is an echo. Whatever you send out, you're going to get back.
What goes around comes around and it picks up speed.
Be not deceived. And that is on both sides. There are people who sow bad stuff and they say, oh, this isn't going to happen. This is no one saw, no one knows. You're kidding yourself. Nobody gets away with anything. Even if you don't get caught right here, you carry that on your conscience.
So he says he that soweth to his flesh shall of the flesh reap corruption. Why are things wrong? Why is this wrong and this not wrong? It's wrong because it's bad for us. It's sin because it hurts us.
It's not that God is up in heaven. And he says, well, I don't want you to have fun about this, but this is OK. But not too much of that. He looks over what he made and he said, you know what? This is how the universe works and I want you to be blessed. And he gives us a boundary and he says, you can go clear to the very edge. And dear, beloved brothers and sisters, we have the opportunity. Do we want to walk as close to Christ as we can, or do we want to walk as far away as we can without falling off?
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The edge may it be that our hearts burn within us, as our brother mentioned being willing, as our brother mentioned our motives.
I talked to a guy one time at the college and he said God has three wills in in Romans 12 is good, acceptable and perfect will. And I said, don't tell me that you don't want God's very best for your life because I don't even want to hear it. You got to be kidding me. God wants to bless you and you don't want it. You think you know better than he does.
You're kidding me. So he says right here, he that soweth to his flesh shall of the flesh reap corruption.
Where if we do what's wrong, we're going to reap that.
Nobody wants a harvest of weeds. Nobody does. And you have to think about this. When you plant evil, you are going to reap corruption. And then he goes on and says there's two sides of this. But he that soweth to the spirit shall shall of the Spirit reap life everlasting. What a hope. It's like our brother said, it's, it's not, it's not something about us. It's an opportunity that we have because he gave us the opportunity. He gave us the energy.
He gave us all that, but we get to choose. Are we going to live our lives for Christ? If we do, we're going to reap life everlasting. And it starts right now. Our brother mentioned about communion. When you speak kindly to people, what do you get? You get kindness. When you're mean to people, when you diss people, what do you get? That whatever goes around comes around. If you don't believe me, go up to somebody and say you look horrible today. What are they going to say back to you? If you say it's good seeing you, what are they going to say back to you?
There you go. And then he says right here, let us not be weary in well doing. Be encouraged dear beloved brothers and sisters, don't be weary in doing the right thing. Sometimes we look around and we say that guys cheating on his taxes, look at the house he lives in. That person is doing this. That person cheated on their test. They didn't do all their study and they got a better grade than me. It says don't be weary and will it in well doing for in due season we shall reap if we faint not and our brother just had a harvest.
And he came here because they got done with harvest. Well, he doesn't plant the crop and harvest it the next day.
The same is true in our lives, and so often we don't judge what we know is wrong because it's not harvest time yet, but the harvest is coming. Dear beloved brothers and sisters, don't let anything in your life go on that you know is wrong. It gets bigger and bigger and bigger and bigger. If God convicts you of something, stop. If you're driving the car, pull over. It's that important. And get right with the Lord and confess.
That the terror of the Lord does not apply to the Christian can be seen in the effect that it produces. The apostle Paul says, knowing the terror of the Lord, we persuade men, we preach the gospel, we give them the information they need about the love of God and the grace of God, that they would not have to be exposed to the terror of the Lord.
And someone might say here, but it's the Lord. The Lord is in relation with his people, isn't He? I'd like to turn you to Second Peter chapter 2.
Verse one, there were false prophets also among the people, even as there shall be false teachers among you, who privilege shall privilege shall bring in damnable heresies, even denying the Lord that bought them.
And bring upon themselves swift destruction the scripture is speaking about.
Thoroughly unbelieving people.
They come to you in the name of the Lord, bringing false doctrine.
And they are headed for swift destruction. And yet the scripture says the Lord bought them. He didn't redeem them, but He bought them. All men in this world, saved and unsaved, belong to the Lord on the by virtue of purchase.
And and so these that is not that that is something that helps us to understand I think this verse.
That it is the terror of the Lord. There is one universal Lord.
It is our Lord Jesus Christ.
And to the lost, what is coming is.
00:50:05
Is calculated.
To invoke sheer terror, the eternal judgment of God.
Is is is not something that can be taken lightly and you and I, who know the relief of our sins, forgiven.
We have a better perspective of what the terror of the Lord is because we've been given as we've been speaking about.
Divine life and the ability, the capacity to be able to at least enter in in some degree.
To eternal truth, to spiritual truth and realize what it is we've been saved from and what it is that the that the man of this world is headed for. And the apostle Paul says we persuade men. It's not that by persuasive arguments we can turn someone away from destruction. I don't think that's the idea because we realize that fallen man as we've been.
Had brought before us in the meetings here fallen man cannot respond, and so on have spoken of the sovereignty of God and salvation.
But I believe that what he means here is that.
That everything that he can do within his power to communicate to the lost center what lies ahead if he won't turn to Christ.
That's what he'll do. That's what we would do. When we give the gospel, it is in earnest appeal to the lost.
But we we feared, we feared the Lord with respect and love.
We fear him because we know that he's holy. Somebody was.
Saying one phrase Monday morning, Christians.
We need to be a Monday morning Christians because Lord's Day or being here is so easy to be a Christian. I mean, we are Christians. We believe in the Lord Jesus Christ, we say. But when we are between our brothers, it's so easy to speak about him, to praise him, to sing songs. But when we go back to the world and we got to work or you're going to school.
You need to.
Fear the Lord in the sense of you love him like the brother says we love him and we know who is who, who is he and by that love that fear. I respect him and I am a Christian. Even Monday mornings and Tuesday and Wednesday and Thursday and until the next Lord's Day. Brother was saying that and and when he he was preaching the whole week. We need to bring to our inner lives the Lord.
And love him and respect him because he I tell my kids he is everywhere. Like the brother was saying that song, he is watching you day and night. He's watching us day and night. I remember traveling with a brother from San Diego, Bill Worth that. Now he's with the Lord. We was traveling from Tijuana, visiting the assemblies, him and me.
And we get to an assembly. I don't want to say which assembly.
But we get to that assembly in Mexico and we were sitting at nighttime and we was about to read.
And in the wall was an antenna cable coming down, down, down, down, down, down to a little, a little table in the corner, but was nothing in the table. Yes, the cable coming down. And brother Bill said, ask the brother over there of the house. Brother, what is that cable over there?
And the brother said a cable antenna and what that is for?
For a TV in the corner and the brother said where is the TV? It's not there.
We know that you was coming, so we take it away and put it in the closet. And the brother says, brother, you shouldn't fear me, fear the Lord, fear the Lord. Don't hide from me. You cannot hide stuff from him.
The more in the He's seeing that in the closet. He knows that you hide it in the closet. Don't fear the brothers, fear the Lord and respect him.
Mr. Verse in first John Four that says there is No Fear in love. We love him because he first loved us. There's no terror and love. We still have due place for reverential fear. And I would just say that this terror that we're Speaking of here is a very real thing.
00:55:19
Very early in my career I went on a call one time where there was a very sick man and we were treating him and he wasn't very nice. We were, they called us. We didn't just show up at his house. He was having some health problems and difficulties. So they called us and we came and I was working with the rest of the crew to try and provide some relief for him.
And stop breathing. His heart stopped.
So we changed course and started working to resuscitate him and took about 6 minutes.
And by God's mercy, we were able to get him breathing again and get his heart started again. And for the rest of my life, we'll never forget the look on his face. It was abject terror. I have no idea where he was, but it was not a place of comfort and peace.
Thank God he had another opportunity, put him on an ambulance and he was gone. Never had another opportunity to interact with him but I made a very marked impression on my soul. There is reality to this terror.
Brother Keith, you were going to say something?
Think the word pictures given are more than accurate. Thank you.
I was mentioning because at the beginning that the judgment is behind us and because of that we could call God our Father. But being Father he's still in a position of authority and the government of God still applies to believers and non believers.
Like Matt said, there is always a consequence for everything we do.
We've been talking about the judgment seat of Christ, and we've been mainly talking about what it is, but here in the chapter.
I think for verse 11 shows us that it's not something that we enjoy, but it's something that should have a practical present effect on our life. And one of the effects has been talked about that we persuade men. How do we know a little about the terrible if we know that we as those who have been redeemed by Christ, who paid for sins, all, everything done in the body will still come up for review. Imagine not having a covering for one single one.
Of those sins that you've done, and you still have to face the holy God.
We have a covering for everything because the Lord Jesus died for our sins on the cross. But imagine the terror of 1 standing before the great white throne and their life will be in review too, because God opens the books that has the deeds, that has all the acts that man has done. He hasn't forgotten any smallest thing. And even for the smallest thing you have not covered, you know, speaks of those early in the chapter that are naked. You have no cover for their sins. And so that's the first practical effect that it should have on our lives when we think about the judgment seat of Christ.
That we realize there will be people that it will appear before the one who knows everything and if they don't believe in the Lord Jesus Christ, they'll have to answer for every single one of those sins. But there's a second thing here in verse 11/2. He says, but we are made manifest unto God and they trust also are made manifest in your consciences. I think that's the same word that's used in in verse 10 or speaks of us being manifest before the judgment seat of Christ.
And so another practical effect that it should have when we think of the judgment seat of Christ and we realize that everything will be put on display between US and the Lord. I don't think it's going to be a public thing that we're all watching, but everything will become in the open. I think Paul is saying here, I already tried today.
To lead my life in a way that's manifest. You know, in chapter four, in the first meeting, we talked about renounce the hidden things of dishonesty. He tried already now to live in view of that. They were everything would be manifest. And he didn't want to lead a life that put up a front that was different from what he really was. And so I think when we are occupied and and meditate upon the judgment seat of Christ and we realize there's going to be a day coming before the Lord where everything will be manifest. And as Alejandro said, he already sees everything today.
01:00:01
Why not lead our lives in an open way today? That's a great effect. That's that's something that motivates us in the pathway.
Considering the word persuade and.
I'm not an English major or anything, but I'm pretty sure that that's an action type word and you see that Paul uses it quite often. And so I listened to brother Matt over there and he was very persuasive to us to get right with God if we have something in our life, his voice elevated, he was adamant about it and expressive. And Alejandro the same way when he spoke a few moments ago. And, and so we spoke of that reasonable service.
The Lord Jesus went and did it all. We've accepted it. Should we not want to persuade? He said. I would have all men to be saved, and you can remember.
In Acts, when King Agrippa did say almost thou has persuaded me almost and so it should be that we would want to go and and speak like Matt Alejandro and and give it our very best. Not just all you need to know the Lord Jesus Christ as your savior.
Again, I say John Kent and.
You need this, you need this, you got to have this. And I can't quite do it like Matt did. But you know, I think Paul too said that I persuade men everywhere. And it's a, it's a type of trying to convince, trying to show, trying to sway.
And we're going to have those ones like King Agrippa that, say, almost persuaded me.
So I was thinking about that very thing a little bit here and how we had before us in the 4th chapter, how there's a testimony in the life of a believer, at least there should be. And sometimes we say, well, I'll, I'll let my life do the preaching for me or spend. There's an element of truth to that. If our life doesn't match up with our words, then we have no power or no weight behind what we say. But we have a responsibility not only to be a testimony in our life, but also to speak.
And to tell others about Christ as you've been bringing out, so we persuade man. We also get later on in the chapter that and it says at the end of verse 19 and hath committed unto us the word of reconciliation. So that implies that there's an element of of preaching that you and I are responsible to do to go out and tell souls about Christ.
I think it's a kind of a cop out when we just say, well, I'm just going to let my life just do the preaching for me. I, you know, I there's more to that.
We may not all have the same ability and gift, We may not all have the same charisma or passion, but what we do have is the Word of God.
Paul told Timothy preached the word.
Paul said to the Romans, Faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.
We're told that we're born again by the word of God.
Of his own will begat he asked by the word of God.
And while we may not be clever in our persuasive words.
We can give the word of God.
And it is that that the Spirit of God uses to impart life to begin with.
And then to convince, convict, excuse me, convict, the soul of their sins and of their need to convince them.
We all have that in our earthen vessels. If our vessels are willing and clean and broken and the light can shine out, it's the light of the Word of God and that is the active element. That is what's important here.
Romans 10/14 How then shall they call on him in whom they have no belief? And how shall they believe in him of whom they have not here? And how shall they hear without a preacher? We need to go and give the the word of the Lord you need to. You don't need to be gifted to read verses to a friend, to present to him the Lord Jesus Christ.
In his death and what he did for you.
I remember, and this is not to put the man, but I remember some years ago when I used to, I used to work on on the shop where I work and we was sitting at break time and and people knew that I was a Christian and and they asked questions. Sometimes they ask questions to trick you and to make you fall, but nevertheless they ask questions and we were I was telling about the Lord Jesus Christ.
01:05:14
In particular to two guys, two guys who was there hearing and they hear the gospel.
I tell him about the Lord Jesus Christ. They quit the job no longer after they quit the job, one of the guys who was sitting there who I tell him about the Lord Jesus Christ. He was drunk in his house. Neighbors called the police.
Police scam took two cars come two policemen tell him we're going to take you with us he say let me go upstairs and put a sweater the police nicely say OK go he goes upstairs he has.
A semi automatic rifle.
He comes out from that room shooting the police. He killed one of the policemen.
The other one going aside and the daughter of this guy was there and he was shooting that repeatedly, just shooting, shooting even when his daughter was there.
And police come out, shoot him and kill him.
You die.
The longest I know.
This guy never received the Lord Jesus Christ, but he here about the Lord Jesus Christ.
The other guy, months, years after that, one day I was eating lunch on the street and I hear Alex Alice screaming and I turned around and was Nick and he says blessed be the name of the Lord.
I know now that the Lord is true. I believe in Him and He saved me.
One belief.
One die and the longest. I know he is in the place of torment now.
We need to preach the gospel, brothers and sisters. We need to. It's a world who need to hear. Like I told you before, no, because we save anybody. We, you cannot save nobody. But he can.
We're out of time, but the children are all here and I just think, you know.
YouTube can tell people how to be saved and I knew this story of this one boy and he loved his friends so much.
And he wanted him to be saved so bad.
That they were playing one day and he told him that the Lord Jesus again and he told him how to be saved and the friend didn't quite know what to do about it and.
So the one that wanted them to be saved, he said OK, you have to get down on your knees. So the boy get down on his knees. Well, you have to close your eyes.
The boy closed his eyes.
He said now you have to ask the Lord Jesus to wash your sins away. So a boy said, well, Lord Jesus washed my sins away. He said you have to ask him to come into your heart. And so the boy asked him to come into his heart. He said now you have to say Amen. He said Amen. And I don't know if that boy really put his trust in the Lord Jesus or not, but the other boy sure was persuading him to do so. You can tell your friends how to love the Lord Jesus and to be saved too.
Let's pray, Lord Jesus, we just thank Thee for this time over thy word. We look forward to that coming day and thou put thine arm around us, go through our lives and that'll manifest thy rich and matchless grace and how it?
Took us through our life and Lord Jesus.
Thou receive the glory, we will cast any crown that we receive at thy feet.
And just praise Thee for all eternity or Jesus. We long for that day. We look forward to it. Perhaps today we will be caught up. Be with and like Thyself to start that process that we've been considering, which will only redown to Thy honor and glory throughout all the ages of eternity. We thank Thee, blessed Lord, for Thy grace and mercy to us. We just marvel at it. And so we praise Thy holy name. We pray thy worthy name, Lord Jesus.
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Amen.