WEBVTT 00:00:01.669 --> 00:00:04.049 Welcome to the official podcast of the Church 00:00:04.049 --> 00:00:06.570 of Christ Wheeler area. We're so glad that you've 00:00:06.570 --> 00:00:09.050 tuned in for today's message. Whether you're 00:00:09.050 --> 00:00:11.269 on your morning commute or if you're relaxing 00:00:11.269 --> 00:00:13.269 at home, we're here to share the strength and 00:00:13.269 --> 00:00:16.250 truth of God's Word with our community. If you're 00:00:16.250 --> 00:00:17.890 in the neighborhood, we'd love to meet you in 00:00:17.890 --> 00:00:21.510 person. Come see us at 1500 South Allen L. Bean 00:00:21.510 --> 00:00:24.489 Boulevard right here in Wheeler, Texas. We gather 00:00:24.489 --> 00:00:27.570 every Sunday morning at 1030 a .m. and in the 00:00:27.570 --> 00:00:30.390 afternoon at 230 p .m. We meet again on Wednesdays 00:00:30.390 --> 00:00:33.969 at 7 p .m. Right now, let's open our Bibles together 00:00:33.969 --> 00:00:41.469 and dive into today's sermon. Taking a look at 00:00:41.469 --> 00:00:44.829 salvation from 30 ,000 feet, getting that broad 00:00:44.829 --> 00:00:48.530 overview so that we can better understand salvation 00:00:48.530 --> 00:00:51.850 and so they can better equip us to understand 00:00:51.850 --> 00:00:53.689 other things of the Bible and that's what we're 00:00:53.689 --> 00:00:56.070 going to talk about this evening. Whenever we 00:00:56.070 --> 00:00:58.210 look at our diagram we said at the beginning 00:00:58.210 --> 00:01:00.390 we're going to start from the time that we're 00:01:00.390 --> 00:01:03.450 a sinner and we want to study salvation all the 00:01:03.450 --> 00:01:07.510 way until the resurrection of life or the resurrection 00:01:07.510 --> 00:01:10.650 of condemnation that Jesus talks about that day 00:01:10.650 --> 00:01:12.849 when all that are in the graves are going to 00:01:12.849 --> 00:01:15.329 hear the voice of the Lord and some are going 00:01:15.329 --> 00:01:17.549 to be resurrected to life and some are going 00:01:17.549 --> 00:01:20.680 to be resurrected condemnation and that will 00:01:20.680 --> 00:01:23.920 bring to completion God's redemption work here 00:01:23.920 --> 00:01:26.599 upon the earth. Well this evening we want to 00:01:26.599 --> 00:01:29.819 go a little bit further in that as we go back 00:01:29.819 --> 00:01:31.799 and review kind of what we've where we've come 00:01:31.799 --> 00:01:34.700 from whenever we look at ourselves as sinners 00:01:34.700 --> 00:01:36.939 and again if you're here tonight and you are 00:01:36.939 --> 00:01:40.219 a sinner as we talked about you can't save yourself 00:01:40.219 --> 00:01:43.000 there's no good thing that you can do because 00:01:43.000 --> 00:01:47.000 God is perfect He's perfect in His holiness He's 00:01:47.000 --> 00:01:50.640 perfect in His righteousness God is the standard 00:01:50.640 --> 00:01:54.040 by which we are all judged and measured and I 00:01:54.040 --> 00:01:55.859 know you're tired of me telling you this but 00:01:55.859 --> 00:01:58.340 I'm going to say it again don't look at me and 00:01:58.340 --> 00:02:01.469 think as good as me you may be and if you are 00:02:01.469 --> 00:02:04.250 God bless you but you know how much that's going 00:02:04.250 --> 00:02:07.629 to get you as it goes in a dollar and you can 00:02:07.629 --> 00:02:10.370 get a cup of coffee with it because it gets you 00:02:10.370 --> 00:02:14.449 nowhere because before God how you compare to 00:02:14.449 --> 00:02:18.060 me makes no difference to God It's all about 00:02:18.060 --> 00:02:21.860 you and God and He's perfect and you're not and 00:02:21.860 --> 00:02:24.439 once you're not perfect you can't go back and 00:02:24.439 --> 00:02:27.419 be perfect again. You can fill your life with 00:02:27.419 --> 00:02:29.840 all types of good works and things like that 00:02:29.840 --> 00:02:33.000 but you're still in the guilt of your sin. Now 00:02:33.000 --> 00:02:35.319 we might look at that and think well surely it 00:02:35.319 --> 00:02:37.759 just seems like if you do more good than bad 00:02:37.759 --> 00:02:40.080 God's gonna you know He's gonna love you and 00:02:40.080 --> 00:02:44.240 He's gonna count you righteous. But God's holiness 00:02:44.240 --> 00:02:51.120 is so perfect. God's holiness is so majestic 00:02:51.120 --> 00:02:57.500 that just one sin, one sin separates you. from 00:02:57.500 --> 00:03:01.300 that holy God and you're living under the condemnation 00:03:01.300 --> 00:03:04.939 of sin and death and so because of that you need 00:03:04.939 --> 00:03:08.039 to be justified. To be justified means to be 00:03:08.039 --> 00:03:11.659 pronounced as righteous and you can't do enough 00:03:11.659 --> 00:03:14.020 good where one day the Lord's going to look at 00:03:14.020 --> 00:03:17.539 you and say okay you're righteous. That day will 00:03:17.539 --> 00:03:20.740 never come in your life. The only way that you 00:03:20.740 --> 00:03:24.020 can be declared righteous is by giving up yourself 00:03:24.020 --> 00:03:27.580 and coming to the cross in belief and repentance. 00:03:28.189 --> 00:03:31.650 and being baptized with your Lord or being baptized 00:03:31.650 --> 00:03:34.449 into the Lord's death so that the Lord's death 00:03:34.449 --> 00:03:37.830 becomes your death the Lord's death becomes the 00:03:37.830 --> 00:03:41.069 payment for the penalty of your sin and now God 00:03:41.069 --> 00:03:44.349 can look at you and say your sins have been paid 00:03:44.349 --> 00:03:48.650 for you are now righteous and then you become 00:03:48.650 --> 00:03:53.789 a saint but the story of salvation doesn't end 00:03:53.789 --> 00:03:57.509 there because whenever the Lord justifies us 00:03:57.509 --> 00:04:02.330 and He saves us, He does so for a purpose. And 00:04:02.330 --> 00:04:05.430 we talked about that last, this past, last evening. 00:04:05.870 --> 00:04:08.810 And that the purpose for which God saves you 00:04:08.810 --> 00:04:12.229 is not so that you can just go to heaven. Again, 00:04:12.490 --> 00:04:15.530 we think that salvation is all about us going 00:04:15.530 --> 00:04:19.339 to heaven. Salvation Going to heaven is a big 00:04:19.339 --> 00:04:23.139 part of salvation, but there is even a greater 00:04:23.139 --> 00:04:27.360 purpose in our salvation. You see, whenever we 00:04:27.360 --> 00:04:30.160 make our salvation all about us going to heaven, 00:04:30.199 --> 00:04:36.379 who are we making salvation about? Us. Who should 00:04:36.379 --> 00:04:40.680 salvation be about? Who should everything that 00:04:40.680 --> 00:04:45.699 we do in faith be about? God. And so there's 00:04:45.699 --> 00:04:49.019 a greater purpose to our salvation in not just 00:04:49.019 --> 00:04:52.579 us going to heaven, but as we studied last evening, 00:04:52.839 --> 00:04:56.759 that we be fruitful to glorify God. God saves 00:04:56.759 --> 00:05:01.920 us to glorify Him. God saves us to glorify Him 00:05:01.920 --> 00:05:05.620 by being fruitful, by doing good works. As Paul 00:05:05.620 --> 00:05:08.660 said, that He saved us by grace through faith. 00:05:09.319 --> 00:05:13.060 and that his workmanship created in him in Christ 00:05:13.060 --> 00:05:16.980 Jesus to walk in good works which God before 00:05:16.980 --> 00:05:21.060 ordained that we should walk in them before you 00:05:21.060 --> 00:05:24.839 and I were ever around, before creation was ever 00:05:24.839 --> 00:05:28.379 around. God in eternity past determined in his 00:05:28.379 --> 00:05:32.279 mind, I want to save a group of people that is 00:05:32.279 --> 00:05:35.920 going to walk in good works and be fruitful in 00:05:35.920 --> 00:05:40.230 righteousness to bring glory to me. And that's 00:05:40.230 --> 00:05:45.189 why He saved you. Now obviously, if we do that, 00:05:45.850 --> 00:05:51.790 we can go to heaven. But if we don't understand 00:05:51.790 --> 00:05:56.850 that principal purpose of salvation, then we're 00:05:56.850 --> 00:05:59.550 going to misunderstand a lot about what we're 00:05:59.550 --> 00:06:04.490 going to talk about this evening. In Ecclesiastes 00:06:04.490 --> 00:06:08.959 12 verses 13 through 14, the preacher Solomon 00:06:08.959 --> 00:06:12.199 said, let us hear the conclusion of the whole 00:06:12.199 --> 00:06:15.480 matter. Fear God and keep His commandments, for 00:06:15.480 --> 00:06:19.220 this is man's all. For God will bring every work 00:06:19.220 --> 00:06:22.420 into judgment, including every secret thing, 00:06:22.480 --> 00:06:26.100 whether it be good or evil. So as the preacher 00:06:26.100 --> 00:06:29.110 goes through Ecclesiastes and he says, All of 00:06:29.110 --> 00:06:32.490 the things of the earth are vain. All is vanity 00:06:32.490 --> 00:06:35.550 and troubling to the spirit and you can pursue 00:06:35.550 --> 00:06:37.790 those things all you want and it's just going 00:06:37.790 --> 00:06:41.709 to be a continually grasping of the wind. And 00:06:41.709 --> 00:06:45.209 so there's no truth, there's no reality in this 00:06:45.209 --> 00:06:48.649 world, of this world that gives meaning and purpose 00:06:48.649 --> 00:06:52.769 to life. That basically the preacher said our 00:06:52.769 --> 00:06:56.839 time here is just a waste of time. So Have a 00:06:56.839 --> 00:07:00.660 little bit of fun while you're here if that's 00:07:00.660 --> 00:07:04.680 all life is about. But at the very end of the 00:07:04.680 --> 00:07:08.279 book he says that life does have meaning and 00:07:08.279 --> 00:07:12.180 life does have purpose. And why does life have 00:07:12.180 --> 00:07:15.040 meaning and have purpose? Notice what he says 00:07:15.040 --> 00:07:18.879 in verse number 14 because God will bring every 00:07:18.879 --> 00:07:22.639 work into judgment including every secret thing 00:07:22.639 --> 00:07:26.829 whether good or evil. We're gonna be accountable 00:07:26.829 --> 00:07:34.709 We're gonna be accountable and So you see that 00:07:34.709 --> 00:07:37.689 he says this is the conclusion of the whole matter 00:07:37.689 --> 00:07:40.850 Fear God and keep his commandments for this is 00:07:40.850 --> 00:07:43.589 man's all so in other words the preacher says 00:07:43.589 --> 00:07:47.050 the meaning and the purpose of your life in my 00:07:47.050 --> 00:07:50.629 life is Rooted in the fact that we're going to 00:07:50.629 --> 00:07:57.800 be accountable to God As you lived your life 00:07:57.800 --> 00:08:01.480 today, did you ever stop and think about your 00:08:01.480 --> 00:08:06.199 accountability to God? Did you even think about 00:08:06.199 --> 00:08:11.399 the judgment day today? The preacher says that's 00:08:11.399 --> 00:08:16.160 the one truth that should be the foundation of 00:08:16.160 --> 00:08:19.649 our meaning in our... existence here is that 00:08:19.649 --> 00:08:22.829 we're going to be accountable to God and then 00:08:22.829 --> 00:08:27.389 therefore we should fear Him and keep His commandments. 00:08:30.060 --> 00:08:33.779 And so that brings us to a spiritual reality 00:08:33.779 --> 00:08:38.100 beyond this realm of flesh that speaks to us 00:08:38.100 --> 00:08:41.159 that we're going to be accountable and it's implied 00:08:41.159 --> 00:08:43.379 that if we're going to be accountable there's 00:08:43.379 --> 00:08:47.279 going to be some type of reward, some type of 00:08:47.279 --> 00:08:52.230 consequence for how we live in this life. The 00:08:52.230 --> 00:08:55.090 Apostle Paul said in 2 Corinthians 5 verse number 00:08:55.090 --> 00:08:58.149 10, for we must all appear before the judgment 00:08:58.149 --> 00:09:00.710 seat of Christ. Did you think about that today? 00:09:02.070 --> 00:09:04.490 That there's coming a day just as sure as you 00:09:04.490 --> 00:09:06.769 and I are sitting here today and breathing the 00:09:06.769 --> 00:09:09.929 air that we're breathing. That we're going to 00:09:09.929 --> 00:09:15.169 stand before Jesus and we're going to give an 00:09:15.169 --> 00:09:19.830 account. That each of us will receive the things 00:09:19.830 --> 00:09:24.240 done in the body what he has done, whether good 00:09:24.240 --> 00:09:27.929 or bad. Paul says that again in Romans 14 and 00:09:27.929 --> 00:09:30.429 in verse number 10. He says, Why do you judge 00:09:30.429 --> 00:09:32.889 your brother? Why do you show contempt for your 00:09:32.889 --> 00:09:35.990 brother? For we shall all stand before the judgment 00:09:35.990 --> 00:09:37.690 seat of Christ. Now we're going to look at these 00:09:37.690 --> 00:09:40.269 texts a little bit later, a little more in depth, 00:09:40.269 --> 00:09:43.450 but what Paul is saying in both of these instances 00:09:43.450 --> 00:09:47.110 is that understanding that you're going to stand 00:09:47.110 --> 00:09:50.669 before Christ in the day of judgment should affect 00:09:50.669 --> 00:09:56.580 how you live in this moment right now. And if 00:09:56.580 --> 00:10:00.700 we don't give thought to the judgment, if we 00:10:00.700 --> 00:10:03.659 think that, well, you know, I've obeyed the gospel, 00:10:03.720 --> 00:10:06.559 I've been baptized, judgment is taken care of, 00:10:06.559 --> 00:10:10.940 it's not something I need to worry about. It's 00:10:10.940 --> 00:10:12.879 something that we need to be concerned about 00:10:12.879 --> 00:10:17.779 every day. And I want to illustrate tonight how 00:10:17.779 --> 00:10:21.320 a misunderstanding of salvation can lead us to 00:10:21.320 --> 00:10:24.440 some very grave misunderstandings about just 00:10:24.440 --> 00:10:28.379 judgment. I had someone send me a video here 00:10:28.379 --> 00:10:30.500 about three or four weeks ago, and the title 00:10:30.500 --> 00:10:34.740 of the video was, Why is God going to judge Christians 00:10:34.740 --> 00:10:41.759 if we're already forgiven of our sins? Think 00:10:41.759 --> 00:10:45.000 about that for just a moment. That that question 00:10:45.000 --> 00:10:49.080 is born out of a view of salvation that makes 00:10:49.080 --> 00:10:54.360 judgment almost seem Unconsequential and irrelevant 00:10:54.360 --> 00:10:58.159 like it's a waste of time In other words, I've 00:10:58.159 --> 00:11:00.980 obeyed the gospel and I've been baptized Therefore 00:11:00.980 --> 00:11:03.740 all of my sins are forgiven which means that 00:11:03.740 --> 00:11:06.159 I'm going to go to heaven So why do I need to 00:11:06.159 --> 00:11:09.200 stand before Jesus and be and go through all 00:11:09.200 --> 00:11:11.779 of my works? Just to tell me what I already knows 00:11:11.779 --> 00:11:16.820 gonna happen. I'm going to heaven Is that what 00:11:16.820 --> 00:11:22.539 the Bible teaches I want to talk this evening 00:11:22.539 --> 00:11:25.220 mainly about some misconceptions of judgment 00:11:25.220 --> 00:11:27.460 and then tomorrow evening we're going to get 00:11:27.460 --> 00:11:30.460 into what judgment is going to be. I want to 00:11:30.460 --> 00:11:32.799 address these two misconceptions this evening 00:11:32.799 --> 00:11:36.399 and maybe these are misconceptions that you think 00:11:36.399 --> 00:11:39.940 and I'll be honest with you these are some misconceptions 00:11:39.940 --> 00:11:43.480 that I once held about judgment because I had 00:11:43.480 --> 00:11:46.259 a view of salvation and then I'd read these passages 00:11:46.259 --> 00:11:49.580 about judgment and just think well you know that 00:11:49.580 --> 00:11:54.620 just doesn't work out and so then rather than 00:11:54.679 --> 00:11:57.100 Looking at my view of salvation and thinking, 00:11:57.220 --> 00:11:59.159 you know what, I may not be understanding this 00:11:59.159 --> 00:12:01.919 right. I tried to take judgment and to distort 00:12:01.919 --> 00:12:05.059 it into something as that question implied. It's 00:12:05.059 --> 00:12:08.000 really just a formality and not something that 00:12:08.000 --> 00:12:10.840 I have to be concerned with because after all 00:12:10.840 --> 00:12:13.559 I want to have confidence in my salvation. I 00:12:13.559 --> 00:12:16.360 want to have assurance in my salvation and many 00:12:16.360 --> 00:12:18.840 times we think having confidence and assurance 00:12:18.840 --> 00:12:21.620 in salvation means that we have no concern for 00:12:21.620 --> 00:12:27.419 judgment and that's just not right. If your view 00:12:27.419 --> 00:12:31.840 of salvation causes you to look towards the idea 00:12:31.840 --> 00:12:34.799 of standing before Christ in the day of judgment 00:12:34.799 --> 00:12:37.899 as something to not really be concerned with, 00:12:39.200 --> 00:12:44.860 your view of salvation is incorrect. Here is 00:12:44.860 --> 00:12:48.470 the popular view of where I say popular and again 00:12:48.470 --> 00:12:50.409 you may not have even heard of this and I hope 00:12:50.409 --> 00:12:53.309 you haven't but if you haven't you probably will 00:12:53.309 --> 00:12:55.549 and especially some of our young people because 00:12:55.549 --> 00:12:58.830 it's a view about salvation that if you were 00:12:58.830 --> 00:13:01.929 to go to the internet and Google and AI to try 00:13:01.929 --> 00:13:04.289 to find out information about the judgment seat 00:13:04.289 --> 00:13:07.330 of Christ this is what you're going to be told. 00:13:09.169 --> 00:13:12.210 In 2nd Corinthians 5 and verse 10 Paul says for 00:13:12.210 --> 00:13:14.590 we will all appear before the judgment seat of 00:13:14.590 --> 00:13:19.299 Christ. Romans 14 10 will all stand before the 00:13:19.299 --> 00:13:21.480 judgment seat of Christ. Now we have over here 00:13:21.480 --> 00:13:25.559 in our heading the Bema. What is a Bema? It's 00:13:25.559 --> 00:13:31.539 not a car. That's a beamer. This is a Bema. The 00:13:31.539 --> 00:13:35.460 word, the Greek word for judgment seat is Bema 00:13:35.460 --> 00:13:39.179 and it's a raised place mounted by steps. It's 00:13:39.179 --> 00:13:43.559 a platform, a tribune used of the official seat 00:13:43.559 --> 00:13:47.590 of a judge. And so it was a platform that the 00:13:47.590 --> 00:13:51.450 judge would sit on, and so in this picture of 00:13:51.450 --> 00:13:54.389 Christ's judgment, Christ is going to be seated 00:13:54.389 --> 00:13:58.389 on what is called a bima, a judgment seat, and 00:13:58.389 --> 00:14:01.970 people are going to come before him for judgment. 00:14:05.049 --> 00:14:08.230 But what I want to point out is, is that our 00:14:08.230 --> 00:14:11.549 understanding about salvation influences our 00:14:11.549 --> 00:14:15.110 understanding about judgment. And I want to illustrate 00:14:15.110 --> 00:14:19.850 it. Again, going back to the idea, why is God 00:14:19.850 --> 00:14:22.269 going to judge us if He's already forgiven us 00:14:22.269 --> 00:14:27.210 of our sins? What's the judgment for? And so 00:14:27.210 --> 00:14:31.049 the idea is, if I've obeyed the gospel, or in 00:14:31.049 --> 00:14:34.190 denominational circles I have accepted Jesus, 00:14:34.570 --> 00:14:38.679 then I'm saved. And I've always been told I'm 00:14:38.679 --> 00:14:41.500 to have confidence and assurance in my salvation 00:14:41.500 --> 00:14:44.840 So since I've been forgiven here that means I'm 00:14:44.840 --> 00:14:50.700 going to heaven And so whenever I go to heaven 00:14:50.700 --> 00:14:54.299 How does this judgment seat thing worked in if 00:14:54.299 --> 00:14:57.779 it's already determined going to happen to me? 00:14:58.659 --> 00:15:01.759 So if you do some research on what the judgment 00:15:01.759 --> 00:15:05.320 seat of Christ you'll get something like this 00:15:05.659 --> 00:15:10.299 The Bema seat takes its name using imagery from 00:15:10.299 --> 00:15:14.139 Paul's day. During the ancient Olympics, the 00:15:14.139 --> 00:15:17.559 judge sat along the finish line. His purpose 00:15:17.559 --> 00:15:21.320 was not to determine whether or not the participants 00:15:21.320 --> 00:15:26.399 actually ran the race. If they got that far, 00:15:26.620 --> 00:15:30.600 then they completed the course. But the judge 00:15:30.600 --> 00:15:33.799 at the Bema seat determined how they came in 00:15:33.799 --> 00:15:37.919 first, second, and so on, and he handed out the 00:15:37.919 --> 00:15:42.679 rewards. That is the imagery that the Bible gives 00:15:42.679 --> 00:15:46.679 us of the believer's judgment. It is at the judgment 00:15:46.679 --> 00:15:50.919 seat of life that Christ meets out the rewards, 00:15:51.399 --> 00:15:58.279 not the punishments that we earn in life. In 00:15:58.279 --> 00:16:01.740 other words, the judgment seat of Christ is not 00:16:01.740 --> 00:16:09.100 a place of judgment, but of reward. And in this 00:16:09.100 --> 00:16:12.580 idea, if you are standing before the judgment 00:16:12.580 --> 00:16:16.860 seat of Christ, you're already saved just because 00:16:16.860 --> 00:16:20.740 you're there. You're a winner because you ran 00:16:20.740 --> 00:16:24.889 the race. And so just like the judge in the Olympics 00:16:24.889 --> 00:16:27.490 would stand up on this platform and give out 00:16:27.490 --> 00:16:30.610 the awards to all of the winners, Jesus is going 00:16:30.610 --> 00:16:33.330 to stand up on the platform and He's going to 00:16:33.330 --> 00:16:37.029 give each one of us our reward. That when we 00:16:37.029 --> 00:16:39.529 come before the judgment seat of Christ, we're 00:16:39.529 --> 00:16:43.950 not coming before a judge to be judged in a judicial 00:16:43.950 --> 00:16:47.610 sense, we're coming before a race official that's 00:16:47.610 --> 00:16:50.049 going to give us our ribbon for running the race. 00:16:53.259 --> 00:16:56.279 And again, that's a very popular view of judgment. 00:16:58.500 --> 00:17:03.620 And it's a view that I've encountered among the 00:17:03.620 --> 00:17:08.980 churches. Because it is a view that is consistent 00:17:08.980 --> 00:17:14.579 and works well with an idea of salvation that's 00:17:14.579 --> 00:17:21.630 not right. Whenever you look at the Bema, How 00:17:21.630 --> 00:17:25.150 is it used in Scripture? If you want to understand 00:17:25.150 --> 00:17:28.430 how a word is used in Scripture, obviously the 00:17:28.430 --> 00:17:30.970 best thing to do is to look at every place where 00:17:30.970 --> 00:17:33.809 that word is used. And so what we're going to 00:17:33.809 --> 00:17:36.410 do real quickly is just kind of make a run through 00:17:36.410 --> 00:17:39.069 the New Testament where the word DEMA is used 00:17:39.069 --> 00:17:44.269 sometimes and see if it has anything to do with 00:17:44.269 --> 00:17:49.200 a judge just simply handing out rewards. Well 00:17:49.200 --> 00:17:52.940 whenever we go to Matthew 27 19 while he Jesus 00:17:52.940 --> 00:17:57.859 was setting on the judgment seat the Bema his 00:17:57.859 --> 00:18:02.720 Pilate's wife sent to him saying Now when Jesus 00:18:02.720 --> 00:18:04.920 was standing before pilot was Jesus standing 00:18:04.920 --> 00:18:09.579 before pilot to get a ribbon Was Jesus standing 00:18:09.579 --> 00:18:14.660 before pilot to get an award no He was standing 00:18:14.660 --> 00:18:19.569 before pilot to be judged by pilot according 00:18:19.569 --> 00:18:23.150 to the cries of the Jewish mob that delivered 00:18:23.150 --> 00:18:28.869 Jesus there. It wasn't a place of celebration 00:18:28.869 --> 00:18:33.269 because he was a winner standing before the Bema. 00:18:34.309 --> 00:18:38.569 It was a very somber and sober occasion as he 00:18:38.569 --> 00:18:42.049 stood before the one who was going to make the 00:18:42.049 --> 00:18:45.869 decision about his life or death. Again in John 00:18:45.869 --> 00:18:48.789 19 verse 13, when Pilate therefore heard that 00:18:48.789 --> 00:18:52.450 saying, he brought Jesus out and sat down in 00:18:52.450 --> 00:18:57.650 the Bema, the judgment seat. Again, not a place 00:18:57.650 --> 00:19:01.619 for reward, but a place of judgment. In Acts 00:19:01.619 --> 00:19:05.339 chapter 18, verse number 12, when Galio was procounsel 00:19:05.339 --> 00:19:08.660 of Achaia, the Jews with one accord rose up against 00:19:08.660 --> 00:19:11.619 Paul and brought him to the judgment seat. When 00:19:11.619 --> 00:19:13.799 Paul was preaching the gospel and that Jewish 00:19:13.799 --> 00:19:16.460 mob came and got him and they drug him before 00:19:16.460 --> 00:19:19.480 Galio, did they bring him there because they 00:19:19.480 --> 00:19:25.539 wanted Galio to give Paul a trophy? No. They 00:19:25.539 --> 00:19:30.039 brought him there to be judged. And he drove 00:19:30.039 --> 00:19:32.759 them from the judgment seat, again in the same 00:19:32.759 --> 00:19:35.839 context. Then all the Greeks took Sosthenes, 00:19:36.000 --> 00:19:41.180 the ruler of the synagogue, and beat him before 00:19:41.180 --> 00:19:46.380 the judgment seat. This judgment seat was not 00:19:46.380 --> 00:19:49.859 a place of reward. It wasn't a place of celebration. 00:19:50.059 --> 00:19:53.140 It was a place where you stood before someone 00:19:53.140 --> 00:19:57.680 who had the power of life and death in their 00:19:57.680 --> 00:20:03.369 hands. In Acts 25 and verse number 6, when he 00:20:03.369 --> 00:20:05.730 festus had remained among them more than ten 00:20:05.730 --> 00:20:08.990 days, he went down to Caesarea and the next day, 00:20:09.049 --> 00:20:13.130 sitting on the judgment seat, they commanded 00:20:13.130 --> 00:20:15.490 Paul to be brought. And then Paul said, I stand 00:20:15.490 --> 00:20:19.670 at Caesar's judgment seat where I ought to be 00:20:19.670 --> 00:20:26.279 not rewarded, but judged. Therefore, when they 00:20:26.279 --> 00:20:28.920 came together without any delay, the next day 00:20:28.920 --> 00:20:32.099 Festus sat on the judgment seat and commanded 00:20:32.099 --> 00:20:38.140 the man to be brought in." When you look at these 00:20:38.140 --> 00:20:41.079 other New Testament references where the word 00:20:41.079 --> 00:20:46.140 Bema is used, there is no reference whatsoever 00:20:46.140 --> 00:20:49.640 to that idea that we just read a few slides back, 00:20:49.819 --> 00:20:56.380 is it? It was not a place of reward. It was a 00:20:56.380 --> 00:21:00.200 place of judgment. And so whenever Paul is talking 00:21:00.200 --> 00:21:03.099 about standing before the judgment seat of Christ, 00:21:03.259 --> 00:21:06.359 he didn't speak that reality to the Romans and 00:21:06.359 --> 00:21:09.140 the Corinthians in order to create within them 00:21:09.140 --> 00:21:13.240 some type of celebratory heart in anticipation 00:21:13.240 --> 00:21:16.980 of a reward. He spoke that to them as a truth 00:21:16.980 --> 00:21:19.660 that was to bring sobriety to their thinking 00:21:19.660 --> 00:21:23.539 so that they would act act right as Christians. 00:21:25.220 --> 00:21:28.980 And it has to have the same effect on us today. 00:21:34.640 --> 00:21:37.759 Well, again, in investigating this, even though 00:21:37.759 --> 00:21:40.779 in the New Testament the word always refers to 00:21:40.779 --> 00:21:44.440 a place of judgment, Did some investigating maybe 00:21:44.440 --> 00:21:48.000 there's something in in historical writings that 00:21:48.000 --> 00:21:51.380 refers to this that maybe when Paul uses this 00:21:51.380 --> 00:21:53.799 he's not using it in the normal sense that it's 00:21:53.799 --> 00:21:56.500 used in the New Testament and maybe it's possible 00:21:56.500 --> 00:22:00.900 that it is just you know that it is a an athletic 00:22:00.900 --> 00:22:05.200 understanding But this is what I found there 00:22:05.200 --> 00:22:09.759 is no ancient primary historical sources that 00:22:09.759 --> 00:22:13.109 state that the It's the specific location where 00:22:13.109 --> 00:22:16.869 athletic winners were rewarded. There's not any. 00:22:17.849 --> 00:22:21.609 There's not any. I'll confess, I used AI on this. 00:22:21.910 --> 00:22:24.509 You know, you pull this stuff up and you get 00:22:24.509 --> 00:22:26.369 all of these people telling you, oh, the Bema 00:22:26.369 --> 00:22:28.769 is an athletic award thing and the judgment seat 00:22:28.769 --> 00:22:31.509 of Christ, we're all going to be rewarded. And 00:22:31.509 --> 00:22:33.690 then you type in, okay, what are the historical 00:22:33.690 --> 00:22:38.210 sources for this understanding? None. In fact, 00:22:38.210 --> 00:22:40.589 that's a copy and paste from what I was told. 00:22:40.890 --> 00:22:45.789 There are none. There is no historical record 00:22:45.789 --> 00:22:49.789 that says that the judgment seat was just simply 00:22:49.789 --> 00:22:54.160 a place of reward. and that there is no direct 00:22:54.160 --> 00:22:57.880 archaeological reports that identify a structure 00:22:57.880 --> 00:23:02.380 explicitly labeled as Abema dedicated to or primarily 00:23:02.380 --> 00:23:06.160 used for awarding rewards and prizes in ancient 00:23:06.160 --> 00:23:08.359 athletic games. In other words, in all of their 00:23:08.359 --> 00:23:10.680 digging, they didn't dig something up and say, 00:23:10.940 --> 00:23:15.039 oh look, okay, here's this stand, here's this 00:23:15.039 --> 00:23:19.599 athletic facility, and then we find something 00:23:19.599 --> 00:23:24.720 that says there's nothing. There's nothing. So 00:23:24.720 --> 00:23:26.920 we might ask, well why do people come up with 00:23:26.920 --> 00:23:30.640 this idea? Well really what it is, it's a reading 00:23:30.640 --> 00:23:34.559 into and an overstatement of a few statements 00:23:34.559 --> 00:23:40.660 that some people made along the way about rewards 00:23:40.660 --> 00:23:45.440 in athletic events that in no way spoke certainly 00:23:45.440 --> 00:23:50.319 and specifically to the term judgment seat meaning 00:23:50.319 --> 00:23:58.279 reward only. And in fact, here is an archaeological 00:23:58.279 --> 00:24:04.500 find. That's a Bema. The Bema or judgment seat 00:24:04.500 --> 00:24:08.759 was a promise elevated platform located in the 00:24:08.759 --> 00:24:14.039 center of the ancient Agora in where? Corinth. 00:24:16.059 --> 00:24:19.019 Where was one of our references to the Bema? 00:24:21.279 --> 00:24:24.539 Second Corinthians. that when the Corinthians 00:24:24.539 --> 00:24:29.039 heard Bema, that's what they thought of. And 00:24:29.039 --> 00:24:31.599 that wasn't a place where athletes were rewarded. 00:24:31.839 --> 00:24:35.119 It served as the official tribunal where Roman 00:24:35.119 --> 00:24:38.619 cons - proconsuls and magistrates sat to address 00:24:38.619 --> 00:24:43.539 the public, preside over legal cases, and deliver 00:24:43.539 --> 00:24:49.660 judgments. And so if our view of salvation takes 00:24:49.660 --> 00:24:53.500 the judgment seat of Christ and makes it into 00:24:53.500 --> 00:24:56.680 something that the Bible says that it's not, 00:24:56.880 --> 00:25:01.759 then my view of salvation is wrong. You see, 00:25:01.900 --> 00:25:04.440 so many times we can take, whenever we hold a 00:25:04.440 --> 00:25:08.539 certain biblical view that's in, that conflicts 00:25:08.539 --> 00:25:12.049 with clear biblical teaching, The general rule 00:25:12.049 --> 00:25:16.049 of Bible interpretation is if it violates clear 00:25:16.049 --> 00:25:18.690 biblical teaching then you need to go back and 00:25:18.690 --> 00:25:23.109 you need to change your view. But sometimes our 00:25:23.109 --> 00:25:27.349 view about salvation gives us so much assurance 00:25:27.349 --> 00:25:30.450 and so much confidence we don't want to change 00:25:30.450 --> 00:25:32.509 it so what we're going to do is we're going to 00:25:32.509 --> 00:25:35.329 take things about the judgment and we're going 00:25:35.329 --> 00:25:37.829 to distort them to fit our distorted view of 00:25:37.829 --> 00:25:44.339 salvation. Don't do that. Don't do that We're 00:25:44.339 --> 00:25:47.819 going to stand before Christ and Christ is not 00:25:47.819 --> 00:25:51.680 going to give you a participation trophy He's 00:25:51.680 --> 00:25:57.200 going to judge you He's going to judge you Well, 00:25:57.200 --> 00:26:00.079 let's go back to 2nd Corinthians 5 verses 9 through 00:26:00.079 --> 00:26:03.180 11 and just look at the context and the context 00:26:03.180 --> 00:26:06.750 will show to us clearly that the judgment seat 00:26:06.750 --> 00:26:10.670 of Christ, that reality is to bring sobriety 00:26:10.670 --> 00:26:15.150 to our minds where we live the way we're supposed 00:26:15.150 --> 00:26:22.150 to live. Therefore we make it our aim, whether 00:26:22.150 --> 00:26:25.829 present or absent, to be well pleasing to Him. 00:26:26.029 --> 00:26:30.650 Paul said, my aim in life, whether I'm with you 00:26:30.650 --> 00:26:33.609 or I'm not with you, is I want to be pleasing 00:26:33.609 --> 00:26:37.170 to Him. Well, Paul, why do you want to do that? 00:26:39.210 --> 00:26:44.579 What does the word for mean? Four is always making 00:26:44.579 --> 00:26:48.180 a statement that refers back to the... four gives 00:26:48.180 --> 00:26:50.940 the reason for the previous statement. Why did 00:26:50.940 --> 00:26:53.579 Paul say that he always wants to be well pleasing 00:26:53.579 --> 00:26:56.900 to him? Because Paul knew we're all going to 00:26:56.900 --> 00:26:59.960 appear before the judgment seat of Christ. Do 00:26:59.960 --> 00:27:02.779 you see how that the truth of the judgment seat 00:27:02.779 --> 00:27:05.559 of Christ influenced the way that Paul lived? 00:27:05.640 --> 00:27:08.880 He got up every day with a great sense of accountability 00:27:08.880 --> 00:27:12.740 towards Jesus, and he said, in this day I I want 00:27:12.740 --> 00:27:15.099 to please the Lord. Did you want to please the 00:27:15.099 --> 00:27:17.019 Lord today because you know that you're going 00:27:17.019 --> 00:27:19.200 to stand before the judgment seat of Christ? 00:27:22.059 --> 00:27:24.519 That each one may receive the things done in 00:27:24.519 --> 00:27:27.079 the body according to what he has done, whether 00:27:27.079 --> 00:27:30.640 good or bad. Before the judgment seat of Christ, 00:27:30.700 --> 00:27:33.180 Jesus is not going to deal with just the good 00:27:33.180 --> 00:27:36.160 and all the winners. He's going to consider the 00:27:36.160 --> 00:27:42.990 good and the bad things. Notice the next statement, 00:27:44.349 --> 00:27:49.950 knowing therefore the terror of the Lord. As 00:27:49.950 --> 00:27:51.849 we said the other evening, when you see the word 00:27:51.849 --> 00:27:56.029 therefore, ask, what is it there for? And again 00:27:56.029 --> 00:27:58.789 it points back to what's previously been said, 00:27:59.309 --> 00:28:05.569 that this idea of terror of the Lord is tied 00:28:05.569 --> 00:28:07.990 directly to the fact that we're going to stand 00:28:07.990 --> 00:28:11.950 before the judgment seat of Christ. Now again, 00:28:12.089 --> 00:28:15.849 we live in a world of Christianity today where 00:28:15.849 --> 00:28:18.809 these things are almost scandalous to us. You 00:28:18.809 --> 00:28:24.349 mean I've got to be afraid of the Lord? Yes. 00:28:25.650 --> 00:28:30.490 You do. Because here's the thing. If you don't 00:28:30.490 --> 00:28:33.730 have a true genuine fear of the Lord, you will 00:28:33.730 --> 00:28:37.809 never fully appreciate the goodness of His love 00:28:37.809 --> 00:28:40.730 and grace towards you and the salvation that 00:28:40.730 --> 00:28:44.190 He extends to you. You will never take seriously 00:28:44.190 --> 00:28:47.289 serving Him and being fruitful to Him and glorifying 00:28:47.289 --> 00:28:52.809 to Him. And whenever we talk about terror here, 00:28:52.809 --> 00:28:56.170 it's not a paralyzing terror and it's not a panic. 00:28:57.500 --> 00:29:00.079 In fact in the New King James and the King James 00:29:00.079 --> 00:29:02.799 version the word terror here about a lot of people 00:29:02.799 --> 00:29:05.900 they think that's kind of a stronger maybe in 00:29:05.900 --> 00:29:09.019 translation than what it should be. But just 00:29:09.019 --> 00:29:13.259 a good healthy genuine fear to know that I'm 00:29:13.259 --> 00:29:15.759 going to be held accountable for the way that 00:29:15.759 --> 00:29:18.819 I live. So therefore every day I want to live 00:29:18.819 --> 00:29:24.480 in a way that pleases Him. And that's not bad. 00:29:25.200 --> 00:29:29.619 That's not bad at all. Whenever we read in Ecclesiastes 00:29:29.619 --> 00:29:32.500 chapter 12, whenever the preacher was telling 00:29:32.500 --> 00:29:35.519 us there at the very end, we're going to stand 00:29:35.519 --> 00:29:39.380 before the Lord in judgment, we're going to be 00:29:39.380 --> 00:29:43.079 judged, he said our duty is to fear God and keep 00:29:43.079 --> 00:29:47.099 His commandments. Because fear is the foundation 00:29:47.099 --> 00:29:51.420 really out of which all of the other characteristics 00:29:51.420 --> 00:30:00.180 that we experience with God flow. Well, let's 00:30:00.180 --> 00:30:03.759 look at Romans 14, 10 to 13. Here in Romans 14, 00:30:03.759 --> 00:30:06.319 10 to 13, you had some people at Rome that were 00:30:06.319 --> 00:30:08.279 condemning their brothers. You had some people 00:30:08.279 --> 00:30:10.599 at Rome that were showing contempt for their 00:30:10.599 --> 00:30:13.420 brothers. One group was looking at one group 00:30:13.420 --> 00:30:15.200 and saying, you're wrong. You're going to hell. 00:30:15.240 --> 00:30:16.960 And the other group was looking at the other 00:30:16.960 --> 00:30:18.559 group and saying, y 'all are just a bunch of 00:30:18.559 --> 00:30:22.880 dumb people. You don't matter. So how's Paul 00:30:22.880 --> 00:30:27.759 going to fix that? Notice what he says. Why do 00:30:27.759 --> 00:30:29.900 you judge your brother? Why do you show contempt 00:30:29.900 --> 00:30:33.920 for your brother? For we shall all stand before 00:30:33.920 --> 00:30:36.920 the judgment seat of Christ. You know whenever 00:30:36.920 --> 00:30:39.299 you're passing judgment on your brother or whenever 00:30:39.299 --> 00:30:41.380 you're holding your brother in contempt you need 00:30:41.380 --> 00:30:44.859 to understand this first before you say a word 00:30:44.859 --> 00:30:48.220 and form an attitude towards your brother. There's 00:30:48.220 --> 00:30:49.680 going to come a day when you're going to stand 00:30:49.680 --> 00:30:51.960 before Christ and he's going to be looking at 00:30:51.960 --> 00:30:54.019 you and he's going to be forming an attitude 00:30:54.019 --> 00:31:00.289 about you. Wouldn't that change the way you look 00:31:00.289 --> 00:31:05.650 at other people? For as it is written, as I live 00:31:05.650 --> 00:31:08.430 says the Lord, every knee shall bow, every tongue 00:31:08.430 --> 00:31:14.049 shall confess to God. Again, the word for. For 00:31:14.049 --> 00:31:16.410 we shall all stand before the judgment seat of 00:31:16.410 --> 00:31:20.880 Christ. Well, why did Paul say that? He said 00:31:20.880 --> 00:31:23.859 it because it is written as I live says the Lord 00:31:23.859 --> 00:31:26.500 every knee shall bow to me and every tongue shall 00:31:26.500 --> 00:31:28.599 confess to God. I think that's a reference to 00:31:28.599 --> 00:31:32.880 a passage in Isaiah 45 verse number 23. The statement 00:31:32.880 --> 00:31:35.359 every knee shall bow to me and every tongue shall 00:31:35.359 --> 00:31:38.720 confess to God is a statement that implies that 00:31:38.720 --> 00:31:41.240 everyone is going to be held accountable to the 00:31:41.240 --> 00:31:46.660 Lord. So Paul knows we're going to all stand 00:31:46.660 --> 00:31:48.920 before the judgment seat of Christ because the 00:31:48.920 --> 00:31:50.799 scriptures tell us every knee is going to bow 00:31:50.799 --> 00:31:55.480 and every tongue is going to confess. So then, 00:31:55.480 --> 00:31:58.400 I should have put a circle around so, then each 00:31:58.400 --> 00:32:01.900 of us shall give an account to God pointing back 00:32:01.900 --> 00:32:05.539 to this statement, therefore let us not judge 00:32:05.539 --> 00:32:10.509 one another anymore. The reality of the judgment 00:32:10.509 --> 00:32:13.869 seat of Christ as a place of judgment where you're 00:32:13.869 --> 00:32:16.089 going to stand one day and be held accountable 00:32:16.089 --> 00:32:18.869 and where I'm going to stand one day and be held 00:32:18.869 --> 00:32:22.529 accountable is a truth that we have to embrace. 00:32:23.390 --> 00:32:26.150 And if we have a view of salvation where when 00:32:26.150 --> 00:32:29.150 we think of the judgment seat of Christ it doesn't 00:32:29.150 --> 00:32:33.839 bring sobriety to our mind Where when we think 00:32:33.839 --> 00:32:36.259 about the judgment seat of Christ it doesn't 00:32:36.259 --> 00:32:39.339 create any urgency within our heart to serve 00:32:39.339 --> 00:32:42.460 the Lord And we just kind of step back and say 00:32:42.460 --> 00:32:45.059 oh well That's just a formality because I already 00:32:45.059 --> 00:32:49.339 know where I'm going if that's our view We're 00:32:49.339 --> 00:33:00.099 wrong The second misconception or not this leading 00:33:00.099 --> 00:33:02.920 into the next misconception is that Christ is 00:33:02.920 --> 00:33:05.759 the judge. Now we may look at that and think, 00:33:05.779 --> 00:33:09.559 well duh, it's the judgment seat of Christ. We 00:33:09.559 --> 00:33:11.759 all know we're going to stand before Christ. 00:33:12.720 --> 00:33:15.200 But you know what? Not everybody thinks that. 00:33:16.779 --> 00:33:19.160 Not everybody thinks that. I'll explain that 00:33:19.160 --> 00:33:22.700 to you in just a moment. John 5 -22, the Bible 00:33:22.700 --> 00:33:25.220 says, the Father judges no one but has committed 00:33:25.220 --> 00:33:28.359 all judgment to the Son. 2 Corinthians 5 -10, 00:33:28.500 --> 00:33:30.640 it's the judgment seat of Christ. Romans 14, 00:33:30.759 --> 00:33:32.880 verse number 10, it's the judgment seat of Christ. 00:33:33.880 --> 00:33:37.180 Paul says in Acts 11 -31, he's appointed a day 00:33:37.180 --> 00:33:39.460 on which he will judge the world in righteousness 00:33:39.460 --> 00:33:42.319 by the man whom he has ordained and he has given 00:33:42.319 --> 00:33:46.099 assurance of this to all. Raising him who? Jesus 00:33:46.099 --> 00:33:49.720 from the dead. Jesus is going to judge. 2nd Timothy 00:33:49.720 --> 00:33:52.519 4 verse number 1. I charge you therefore before 00:33:52.519 --> 00:33:55.859 God and the Lord Jesus Christ who will judge 00:33:55.859 --> 00:34:00.339 the living and the dead at his appearing in kingdom. 00:34:02.019 --> 00:34:05.539 So the Bible is very clear that Christ is going 00:34:05.539 --> 00:34:11.139 to be the one sitting on the judgment seat. Which 00:34:11.139 --> 00:34:14.880 leads me into the next misconception that I want 00:34:14.880 --> 00:34:20.760 to talk about and it's this misconception that 00:34:20.760 --> 00:34:24.860 in judgment Jesus is going to be standing by 00:34:24.860 --> 00:34:30.579 us and God is going to be on his throne and in 00:34:30.579 --> 00:34:33.260 judgment Jesus is going to be standing there 00:34:33.260 --> 00:34:37.619 and he's going to be pleading for us to God He's 00:34:37.619 --> 00:34:40.659 going to be interceding for us to God and He's 00:34:40.659 --> 00:34:44.920 going to implore God's mercies upon us and then 00:34:44.920 --> 00:34:48.099 God is going to look at Jesus in the day of judgment 00:34:48.099 --> 00:34:57.860 and say, okay Jesus, I'll let Him in. Well there's 00:34:57.860 --> 00:35:01.679 several things wrong with that. And obviously 00:35:01.679 --> 00:35:04.460 the first one is God's not going to be on the 00:35:04.460 --> 00:35:08.829 throne in judgment. The way God is going to be 00:35:08.829 --> 00:35:12.170 on the throne in judgment is in the person of 00:35:12.170 --> 00:35:17.250 Jesus Christ So if we take Jesus Christ and we 00:35:17.250 --> 00:35:22.590 put him up there who's gonna be with us? We're 00:35:22.590 --> 00:35:28.590 gonna be by ourselves We're gonna be by ourselves 00:35:31.300 --> 00:35:34.199 You mean I'm going to stand before Jesus in the 00:35:34.199 --> 00:35:37.880 day of judgment all by myself? Well, if He's 00:35:37.880 --> 00:35:42.000 on the throne, and I'm standing in front of Him, 00:35:43.300 --> 00:35:49.210 who else is there to be there? You see Hebrews 00:35:49.210 --> 00:35:53.190 9 27 28 the scriptures tell us and as it is appointed 00:35:53.190 --> 00:35:56.110 for men to die once but after this the judgment 00:35:56.110 --> 00:35:59.210 so Christ was offered once to bear the sins of 00:35:59.210 --> 00:36:02.170 many to those who eagerly wait for him he will 00:36:02.170 --> 00:36:09.320 appear a second time apart from sin. What the 00:36:09.320 --> 00:36:11.880 Hebrew writer is saying is that the Lord has 00:36:11.880 --> 00:36:14.840 died for sin once and then after that the judgment 00:36:14.840 --> 00:36:17.920 and then whenever the Lord comes in judgment 00:36:17.920 --> 00:36:21.900 He is going to come apart from sin. What does 00:36:21.900 --> 00:36:27.320 that mean apart from sin? What it means is is 00:36:27.320 --> 00:36:30.360 that whenever the Lord comes back the second 00:36:30.360 --> 00:36:34.699 time He's not going to come back to deal with 00:36:34.699 --> 00:36:38.949 our sin He's not going to come back and bear 00:36:38.949 --> 00:36:41.969 our sin and make another atonement for our sin 00:36:41.969 --> 00:36:45.210 and offer another sacrifice for our sin, because 00:36:45.210 --> 00:36:51.429 He's already done that. When He comes back the 00:36:51.429 --> 00:36:55.349 second time, it's going to be to return not as 00:36:55.349 --> 00:37:02.380 Savior, but He's going to return as Judge. and 00:37:02.380 --> 00:37:06.380 bring the final realization of salvation to His 00:37:06.380 --> 00:37:11.199 people. And again, I know that's not a comforting 00:37:11.199 --> 00:37:14.260 thought to think in judgment, I'm going to be 00:37:14.260 --> 00:37:20.619 standing all by myself before Jesus Christ. Well, 00:37:20.679 --> 00:37:22.920 when we go into judgment, we'll hopefully have 00:37:22.920 --> 00:37:25.059 some things with us. We'll talk about that tomorrow 00:37:25.059 --> 00:37:28.119 night. But so far as Jesus being by your side 00:37:28.119 --> 00:37:30.440 and you think that all through this world you 00:37:30.440 --> 00:37:32.579 can live the way that you want to, because I 00:37:32.579 --> 00:37:35.239 know when the judgment comes, Jesus is going 00:37:35.239 --> 00:37:41.300 to beat me there and Jesus has got my back. No, 00:37:42.239 --> 00:37:48.840 that's just not right. When he comes again, He's 00:37:48.840 --> 00:37:51.840 not going to come deal with your sin. He's already 00:37:51.840 --> 00:37:54.420 dealt with your sin. He's already dealt with 00:37:54.420 --> 00:37:58.539 my sin He dealt with your sin and my sin over 00:37:58.539 --> 00:38:01.500 two thousand years ago and from that time He 00:38:01.500 --> 00:38:04.679 has been pleading with you and reaching out his 00:38:04.679 --> 00:38:08.219 hand towards you to accept the price that he 00:38:08.219 --> 00:38:13.039 paid for you and don't think that all your life 00:38:13.039 --> 00:38:16.900 and all my life we can reject that sacrifice 00:38:16.900 --> 00:38:19.239 but then in the day of judgment we're going to 00:38:19.239 --> 00:38:21.619 stand there and he's going to bail us out. He's 00:38:21.619 --> 00:38:28.099 not. He's not. That's why your decision today 00:38:28.099 --> 00:38:31.659 whether to be a Christian or not is so important 00:38:31.659 --> 00:38:34.840 because if you have it in your mind have it in 00:38:34.840 --> 00:38:37.579 my mind that someway somehow these things are 00:38:37.579 --> 00:38:45.099 just gonna all work out that's not true that's 00:38:45.099 --> 00:38:49.800 not true you see when the Bible talks about the 00:38:49.800 --> 00:38:52.300 judgment of our Lord it's always referred to 00:38:52.300 --> 00:38:57.260 as righteous judgment he will judge the world 00:38:57.260 --> 00:39:02.760 in righteousness the Lord the righteous judge 00:39:05.000 --> 00:39:07.239 You see, and this is what happens when we make 00:39:07.239 --> 00:39:11.480 salvation all about ourselves. We think the most 00:39:11.480 --> 00:39:15.719 important thing in salvation is that we get what 00:39:15.719 --> 00:39:21.059 we want. And so we come up with these ideas that 00:39:21.059 --> 00:39:25.920 we believe we can get what we want by sacrificing 00:39:25.920 --> 00:39:32.820 the righteousness of God. That some way, somehow, 00:39:32.900 --> 00:39:37.360 with a nod and a wink, The Lord's gonna say it's 00:39:37.360 --> 00:39:45.599 okay Everybody makes mistakes No Sin has to be 00:39:45.599 --> 00:39:49.760 paid for and the mercy of God has provided that 00:39:49.760 --> 00:39:54.119 sacrifice Today and if you reject that sacrifice 00:39:54.119 --> 00:39:59.440 the Lord's judgment will purchase and He's gonna 00:39:59.440 --> 00:40:03.340 look at you and he's gonna say you have not had 00:40:03.340 --> 00:40:11.539 your sins paid for You're lost. And so again, 00:40:11.659 --> 00:40:14.380 you know, I've heard of some pretty creative 00:40:14.380 --> 00:40:18.739 pictures of how judgment is going to work. Where 00:40:18.739 --> 00:40:22.480 some way, somehow we can be the best version 00:40:22.480 --> 00:40:25.960 of ourselves here. We can be true to ourselves. 00:40:26.099 --> 00:40:29.539 We can live out our authentic life all the time 00:40:29.539 --> 00:40:32.079 rejecting Jesus and then somehow we're going 00:40:32.079 --> 00:40:34.159 to stand before Jesus and He's going to say, 00:40:34.400 --> 00:40:38.219 enter in good and faithful servant. We're just 00:40:38.219 --> 00:40:44.079 being deceived We're just being deceived Psalm 00:40:44.079 --> 00:40:47.400 9 7 to 8 but the Lord shall endure forever. He's 00:40:47.400 --> 00:40:50.539 prepared his throne for judgment He shall judge 00:40:50.539 --> 00:40:53.619 old in righteousness and he shall administer 00:40:53.619 --> 00:40:56.940 judgment for the people's in his uprightness 00:40:56.940 --> 00:41:01.880 folks God loves us God loves us and he wants 00:41:01.880 --> 00:41:05.000 us to be saved. In fact, we had this day to day 00:41:05.000 --> 00:41:09.139 because God wants us to be saved Not willing 00:41:09.139 --> 00:41:11.679 that any should perish but that all should come 00:41:11.679 --> 00:41:14.780 to repentance But this is one thing God won't 00:41:14.780 --> 00:41:20.900 do he won't sacrifice his righteousness For you 00:41:20.900 --> 00:41:25.050 for me or for anyone to go to heaven because 00:41:25.050 --> 00:41:28.289 before God is going to be true and faithful to 00:41:28.289 --> 00:41:31.630 us, he has to be true and faithful to himself 00:41:31.630 --> 00:41:41.269 or he is not God. He is not God. So if we think 00:41:41.269 --> 00:41:44.329 some way that corners can be cut if we think 00:41:44.329 --> 00:41:47.710 some way Compromises can be made if we think 00:41:47.710 --> 00:41:50.289 some way that awesome things can be overlooked 00:41:50.289 --> 00:41:53.809 and it's all gonna work out in the end God's 00:41:53.809 --> 00:41:57.670 gonna pull a few strings make a few no He will 00:41:57.670 --> 00:42:01.190 not sacrifice his righteousness because if he 00:42:01.190 --> 00:42:04.010 sacrifices his righteousness, then he's not God 00:42:04.010 --> 00:42:06.750 And if he's not God then we're all doomed anyway 00:42:07.920 --> 00:42:11.880 The only way that we can be saved is for God 00:42:11.880 --> 00:42:18.320 to honor His righteousness You know we live in 00:42:18.320 --> 00:42:20.920 a world today where we all feel entitled where 00:42:20.920 --> 00:42:24.199 my situation is special and we expect people 00:42:24.199 --> 00:42:27.300 to make compromises and we and to make concessions 00:42:27.300 --> 00:42:37.159 for us God can't do that He can't So what about 00:42:37.159 --> 00:42:39.800 mercy and righteous judgment? You know sometimes 00:42:39.800 --> 00:42:41.860 I think we have it in our mind and again I thought 00:42:41.860 --> 00:42:43.880 about this well in order for the Lord to have 00:42:43.880 --> 00:42:46.440 mercy He's gonna have to kind of turn his head 00:42:46.440 --> 00:42:50.820 away from what's right and wrong In order for 00:42:50.820 --> 00:42:53.539 the Lord to be merciful he's gonna have to sacrifice 00:42:53.539 --> 00:42:55.960 a little bit of righteousness because to be merciful 00:42:55.960 --> 00:43:00.860 He's gonna have to let some things go But that's 00:43:00.860 --> 00:43:06.230 not true God can be merciful and he can be righteous. 00:43:06.829 --> 00:43:10.230 God's mercy in judgment cannot violate his righteousness 00:43:10.230 --> 00:43:13.690 in judgment. We must trust in the gift of God's 00:43:13.690 --> 00:43:17.429 mercy now, the payment for your sins by Jesus 00:43:17.429 --> 00:43:20.989 Christ for his mercy in judgment to be righteous. 00:43:21.130 --> 00:43:24.130 And what I mean by that statement is in order 00:43:24.130 --> 00:43:27.750 for God to be righteous in judgment and still 00:43:27.750 --> 00:43:32.989 show us mercy, What he has done is he has extended 00:43:32.989 --> 00:43:38.889 his mercy to us now in the person of Jesus Christ 00:43:38.889 --> 00:43:46.550 It's God's mercy that he provided a payment for 00:43:46.550 --> 00:43:52.869 our sin So that he can accept us as righteous 00:43:52.869 --> 00:43:59.159 and still be righteous himself And so that's 00:43:59.159 --> 00:44:03.940 how God saves us by His mercy. Not by Jesus standing 00:44:03.940 --> 00:44:06.480 in judgment and He has our back in judgment, 00:44:06.860 --> 00:44:12.630 but by sending Jesus to the cross. So that whenever 00:44:12.630 --> 00:44:16.750 we come to judgment then the Lord sees us and 00:44:16.750 --> 00:44:20.110 he sees someone who has put their faith and put 00:44:20.110 --> 00:44:23.110 their trust as he sits there on that throne with 00:44:23.110 --> 00:44:26.449 the scars of his hand Reminding us of that time 00:44:26.449 --> 00:44:32.929 that I heard about him dying for me But I thought 00:44:32.929 --> 00:44:42.340 not now it can wait it'll be okay God loves me. 00:44:45.300 --> 00:44:52.300 And I let it go by. And all Jesus can do is be 00:44:52.300 --> 00:44:57.800 righteous. You rejected my payment. I have to 00:44:57.800 --> 00:45:02.400 reject you. He takes no pleasure in that. As 00:45:02.400 --> 00:45:04.719 the prophet says, God does not take pleasure 00:45:04.719 --> 00:45:10.179 in the death of the wicked. But it has to be 00:45:10.179 --> 00:45:15.179 done Because the Lord is righteous You cannot 00:45:15.179 --> 00:45:18.639 spend your life rejecting the gift of God's mercy 00:45:18.639 --> 00:45:22.460 The payment for your sins by Jesus and then expect 00:45:22.460 --> 00:45:26.219 his mercy in judgment It would not be righteous 00:45:26.219 --> 00:45:32.519 because your sins would not be paid for And so 00:45:32.519 --> 00:45:35.000 whenever we look at our outline there's coming 00:45:35.000 --> 00:45:40.980 this day, right Jesus is with us in our justification. 00:45:42.519 --> 00:45:45.719 Jesus is with us as we live every day to be fruitful 00:45:45.719 --> 00:45:47.860 to the glory of God, but there's gonna come a 00:45:47.860 --> 00:45:53.420 day when the person that's right here and right 00:45:53.420 --> 00:45:56.500 here is gonna be sitting right there and you're 00:45:56.500 --> 00:46:02.960 gonna be right there. What will it be? What's 00:46:02.960 --> 00:46:07.170 your answer gonna be? What's your answer going 00:46:07.170 --> 00:46:10.829 to be as to why on June? I forgot what today's 00:46:10.829 --> 00:46:16.070 date is June the 18th When that old guy from 00:46:16.070 --> 00:46:18.429 Arkansas was up there just ranting and raving 00:46:18.429 --> 00:46:22.170 about how that I need to accept the Mercy of 00:46:22.170 --> 00:46:25.750 Jesus and the price for my sin and I sat there 00:46:25.750 --> 00:46:30.690 and I thought oh You know, maybe later Maybe 00:46:30.690 --> 00:46:35.059 later. Oh, I don't really have to do that because 00:46:35.059 --> 00:46:39.460 you know God loves me and I put it off and I 00:46:39.460 --> 00:46:43.619 put it off and I put it off you see that putting 00:46:43.619 --> 00:46:45.679 something off is just like anything else that 00:46:45.679 --> 00:46:49.719 you do in life the more you do it the easier 00:46:49.719 --> 00:46:55.460 it becomes so that you begin to just subconsciously 00:46:55.460 --> 00:47:01.760 reject the Savior folks this is real again There's 00:47:01.760 --> 00:47:04.099 going to come a day just as sure as you're sitting 00:47:04.099 --> 00:47:08.059 there and I'm standing here that we're going 00:47:08.059 --> 00:47:11.059 to be standing right there. What will it be? 00:47:11.159 --> 00:47:15.920 What will your answer be? God extends his mercy 00:47:15.920 --> 00:47:19.059 to you right now and if you want God's mercy 00:47:19.059 --> 00:47:22.239 and judgment that mercy has to be righteous and 00:47:22.239 --> 00:47:26.340 it can only be You make the decision to put your 00:47:26.340 --> 00:47:29.519 trust in the blood of Jesus as the payment for 00:47:29.519 --> 00:47:33.219 your sins and to be buried with him in baptism 00:47:33.219 --> 00:47:41.920 into his death. Thank you for listening to today's 00:47:41.920 --> 00:47:43.900 sermon from the Church of Christ Wheeler area. 00:47:44.139 --> 00:47:46.880 We hope this message encouraged you and strengthened 00:47:46.880 --> 00:47:49.260 you in your faith this week. Don't forget the 00:47:49.260 --> 00:47:52.460 door is always open at 1500 South Allen L. Bean 00:47:52.460 --> 00:47:56.230 Boulevard. at 10 30 a .m on sundays 2 30 p .m 00:47:56.230 --> 00:47:59.429 on sunday afternoons and recharge with us midweek 00:47:59.429 --> 00:48:03.010 on wednesdays at 7 p .m for more information 00:48:03.010 --> 00:48:06.269 or to hear past messages follow us on your favorite 00:48:06.269 --> 00:48:09.889 podcast platform look us up on facebook and instagram 00:48:09.889 --> 00:48:12.349 we hope you have a blessed week and we'll see 00:48:12.349 --> 00:48:13.110 you next time