What is Your Goal in Life?
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Please turn with me in your Bibles to 2 Corinthians Chapter 5:6. And if you don’t have a Bible, I want to invite you to use one of the Bibles under the chair in front of you. You can find our passage this morning on page ______.
Scripture Introduction
Scripture Introduction
And as you’re making your way to our passage this morning, I want you to ask yourself a question.
I want you to ask yourself, “what is my goal in life?” What is my goal in life?
And I want you to be brutally honest with yourself. I promise you, there’s no quiz at the end… no one is going to grade the answer… I’m not going to ask you to turn to the person sitting next to you and share it with them.
I want you to be brutally honest… it’s between you and the Lord, and He already knows. So be honest…
I asked the same question to one of the teens in our church a few weeks ago… I turned to him and said, “what is your goal in life?”
And he looked at me and he said, “well, I know what I’m supposed to say.” And I said, “well, what are you supposed to say?”
And he said, “I’m supposed to say that my goal in life is to follow Jesus.”
And I said, “Okay… that’s a great answer… but is that really your goal?”
And he looked at me and said, “well honestly, I really don’t know.”
And I bet that for a number of us today, we’ve probably never really thought about that question in a deliberate way. We’ve never asked ourselves, “what is my goal in life?”
So I want you to ask yourself that question, and I want you to think about the answer as we go through out text this morning.
And as I thought about the answer to that question… and just I want you to understand… the way you answer that question is really important, because the way you answer that question really determines the way that you live your life.
It influences your choices… it determines your priorities… it influences how you allocate your resources and how you spend your time and your money.
Your goal in life…
And as I thought about that question, I asked myself… does the Bible have anything to say about this? Does the Bible help us to answer this question?
Now, we know in the Scriptures that God has given us all things that pertain to life and godliness… so the answer is obviously, “yes”.
And as a matter of fact, we’ll find the answer in our passage this morning… and the Word of God says,
6 So we are always of good courage. We know that while we are at home in the body we are away from the Lord, 7 for we walk by faith, not by sight. 8 Yes, we are of good courage, and we would rather be away from the body and at home with the Lord. 9 So whether we are at home or away, we make it our aim to please him. 10 For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each one may receive what is due for what he has done in the body, whether good or evil.
This is God’s Word…
Prayer for Illumination
Prayer for Illumination
Let’s pray.
Introduction
Introduction
So I was online recently and I found this survey…
And the survey asked the same question that I just asked you… “What is your goal in life?”
And as I read through the answers… there were about 20 of them… I realized that the answers were very revealing… but really not all that surprising.
They were very revealing because one’s goal in life is like a window into what they’re putting their hope in. Your goal in life is like a window into what you believe will ultimately satisfy you.
Now, I’m not going to read all 20 of them… but I’ll give you the Top 3. These are people’s Top 3 goals in life, according to the internet…
Enjoyment of Life… pleasure… that’s the number 1 goal.
To be happy. By and large, people want to be happy. That’s the number 2 goal.
To be healthy…
So people want to enjoy life… they want to be happy… and they want to be healthy.
And as I thought about those answers… yes, they’re very revealing, but they’re really not all that surprising.
Why? Because we live in a world that is consumed by love of self. We live in a world where the chief end of man is one’s own personal happiness.
And then I asked myself, “Is there anything inherently wrong with these things? Is there anything inherently wrong with wanting to enjoy your life… is it inherently wrong to be happy or to be healthy?
And of course, the answer is no… there’s nothing inherently wrong with those things… but what if they rule you? What if they control how you live your life?
I once heard author and speaker Paul Tripp say something very profound… he said, “even a good thing can become a bad thing if it becomes a ruling thing.”
“Even a good thing can become a bad thing if it becomes a ruling thing.”
If it rules you…
Now, make no mistake about it… if somebody’s #1 goal in live is pleasure and that’s the thing that rules them… they will make decisions that bring them the most pleasure… they will allocate their time and their resources to the pursuit of this goal.
If somebody’s #1 goal in live is health, they will make it a priority to lead a healthy life at the cost of other things… they will allocate their time and their finances and their resources and order their lives in such a way as to maximize their health…
And I’m sure that many of you are aware that it’s a losing battle… one day our health is going to run out…
We need look no further than Hollywood… If we look at Hollywood, what do we see?
We see an abundance of wealth… we see people in pursuit of their own pleasure… basically, people that can have anything in the world that they want… lots of money, beautiful houses… a lifestyle of luxury… and so on and so on…
But what do you see when you look at Hollywood? You see misery… you see drug addiction… you see sexual immorality… you see divorce… suicide…
And you would look at them and say, how is it that people who could have whatever it is that they want, how are they not happy?
You see… ultimately… if you are putting your hope in those things, they will never truly satisfy you. They will never satisfy you…
People do some pretty terrible things to themselves and one another in the pursuit of happiness…
But make no mistake… your goal in life… whatever it is… it’s the thing that rules you.
It determines how you live… it influences your choices and your decisions… it sets your priorities… you order your life in such a way as to serve that thing…
And that’s exactly why Jesus tells us that if we are to be His disciples, we must deny ourselves, pick up our cross and to follow Him.
What he’s basically saying is, we have to die. A cross was an instrument of death. We have to die to ourselves… we have to stop living for ourselves and start living for Him.
Why? Because Jesus knows that if we’re living for anything else… if we’re living for anything other than Him, we’re worshiping and serving an idol and ultimately, it will lead to our destruction.
So the question becomes, if Jesus is the One we’re living for, what should be our goal in life?
Look with me at Chapter 5:9… it says,
9 So whether we are at home or away, we make it our aim to please him.
The goal of the Christian life is to please the Lord.
The Westminster Shorter Catechism puts it this way… in answering the question, “What is the chief end of man?”
“The chief end of man is to glorify God and enjoy Him forever.”
So how do we glorify God? We glorify God by living a live that is pleasing to Him.
When our goal in life is to please the Lord, we live in a way that honors Him and brings Him glory.
And as we look at our passage today, it gives us three insights about this goal… it gives us three insights about living a life that pleases the Lord…
First we’re going to look at why… why is the goal of the Christian life to please the Lord?
Second, we’re going to look at how… exactly how do we please Him?
And third, we’re going to look at when… when do we make it our aim to please Him?
So why… what’s the motivation...
Then how… how do we do it…
And then when…
So first the why…
Why do we make it our aim to please Him?
Why do we make it our aim to please Him?
Look with me at v. 10… it says,
10 For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each one may receive what is due for what he has done in the body, whether good or evil.
It says that we must all appear before the judgement seat of Christ…
Yes, that includes Christians…
We will appear before the judgement seat of Christ…
Now, this is a passage that is heavily debated among theologians, and the reason why it’s heavily debated is because we know on the one hand that if we are in Christ, if we have turned to Him in repentance and faith… if we are trusting in Him to save us from our sins and the wrath that is due, we have no fear of condemnation.
We have no need to fear condemnation at the judgement seat of Christ…
Romans Chapter 8:1… I’ve heard it said that this is the greatest verse of the greatest chapter in the Bible… it says,
1 There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.
So whatever v. 10 means, if you’re in Christ, when you stand before Him on that day you have no fear of condemnation…
So on the one hand, we know that is true… but on the other, what does it mean that we will have to stand before Him and give account for what we’ve done in the body, whether good or evil?
Now, the prevailing view among theologians and the one I personally believe is correct is that it’s talking about various degrees of reward.
The idea that Christians will stand before Christ on that day and lay their crowns at His feet and Christ will reward us based on what we did in the Bible, either good or evil…
That’s the prevailing view, but what I want you to understand is that is a theological conclusion… it doesn’t actually say that in that passage.
The truth is, it’s not abundantly clear. But what is abundantly clear is this…
What we do in this life matters to Jesus…
What we do in this life matters to Jesus…
And because what we do in this life matters to Jesus, we make it our aim to please Him.
Now, I want you to think of someone you admire in this life… someone you look up to.
Maybe it’s a teacher… a parent… a coach… a friend… somebody that maybe mentored you through a particularly thorny season of your life… somebody that you admired…
Now, because you admire that person, you care about what matters to them…
When they ask you to do something, you want to do it well because you want them to be pleased… you want them to think well of you…
And at the same time, you probably don’t want to disappoint them…
I think a time in my life when I went on a job interview, me and the person just hit it off… I accepted the job and years later we were talking bout it and he told me that he felt we were kinda like kindred spirits…
I really liked this guy, and it seemed like he really liked me. As time went on, he started to trust me more and more and give me greater and greater responsibility.
I was here in New York heading up the operation and he was back in Missouri at the company headquarters… and every time I talked to him on the phone, he would encourage me and tell me what a good job I was doing…
And because I had this admiration for him, I wanted to do a good job for him because I knew it mattered to him. I wanted to do a good job and I didn’t want to disappoint him.
And I’m sure that you have somebody in your life that fits that bill… a relationship that’s similar…
But what I want you to realize is, these are mere creatures… how much more when we stand in the presence of the creator? How much more when we stand in the presence of Jesus?
What will it be like? What will it be like to stand before Christ on that day?
My mind can’t even fathom it, but fortunately for us, Scripture gives us some examples… I can think of 2…
Isiah 6:1… Now, before I read this passage, I want you to understand that Isaiah was a righteous man. He was a righteous man… He was a prophet…
Now, that’s not to say that he was sinless… that’s not to say that he didn’t bear the curse of sin because of Adam’s disobedience…
But, he lived among a people who were in abject rebellion against God… and he would have been looked upon as a holy man… a righteous man…
And he has a vision of Christ on His throne, and as he recounts his vision he writes,
1 In the year that King Uzziah died I saw the Lord sitting upon a throne, high and lifted up; and the train of his robe filled the temple. 2 Above him stood the seraphim. Each had six wings: with two he covered his face, and with two he covered his feet, and with two he flew. 3 And one called to another and said: “Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of hosts; the whole earth is full of his glory!” 4 And the foundations of the thresholds shook at the voice of him who called, and the house was filled with smoke. 5 And I said: “Woe is me! For I am lost; for I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips; for my eyes have seen the King, the Lord of hosts!”
So here’s this righteous man… this holy man… this prophet… Isaiah… and he comes and he’s faced with the glory of Christ on His throne and He says, “woe is me, for I am lost.”
The NKJV renders that verse, “woe is me, for I am undone… for my eyes have seen the King.”
Then we have the Apostle of John… toward the end of his life, the Apostle John was exiled to the island of Patmos because of his testimony for Christ…
Depending on how you date the book of Revelation, this was written somewhere between 30 and 60 years after Christ ascended…
All of the men whom John had followed Jesus with had died… he’s the only one left… and he has this vision, and he writes,
12 Then I turned to see the voice that was speaking to me, and on turning I saw seven golden lampstands, 13 and in the midst of the lampstands one like a son of man, clothed with a long robe and with a golden sash around his chest. 14 The hairs of his head were white, like white wool, like snow. His eyes were like a flame of fire, 15 his feet were like burnished bronze, refined in a furnace, and his voice was like the roar of many waters. 16 In his right hand he held seven stars, from his mouth came a sharp two-edged sword, and his face was like the sun shining in full strength. 17 When I saw him, I fell at his feet as though dead. But he laid his right hand on me, saying, “Fear not, I am the first and the last,
Revelation 1:12
The Apostle John was so overwhelmed by the glory of Christ that he fell at his feet as though dead…
And when we stand before Him on that day, and our lives are laid bare before Him… and we give account for how we lived… and we stand in the presence of His great glory… and we see for the first time… with unveiled face what true holiness is… aware in that moment of the depths of our sin, but also aware of the heights of His great mercy and love…
How much more would we have wanted to please Him than mere creatures?
Jesus tells us that if we love Him, we will obey His commands… and because what we do in this life matters to Jesus, we make it our aim to please Him…
So that’s they why… now the how…
How do we please the Lord?
How do we make it our aim to please Him?
How do we make it our aim to please Him?
By faith!
We please the Lord by faith…
In fact, the Bible says in that without faith, it is impossible to please Him.
So what does it mean to have faith?
The Bible defines faith like this…
1 Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen.
That’s the Biblical definition of faith… faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen.
So how do we live by faith? How do we please the Lord by faith?
We please the Lord by faith by believing the Word of God and acting upon it, no matter how we feel, knowing that God promises a good result.
It’s believing the Word of God and acting upon it, no matter how I feel, knowing that God promises a good result.
That’s a good working definition of faith and one that I use a lot in counseling.
So let’s unpack that a bit… what does it mean to believe the Word of God?
It means to believe that what this book says is true. It means to believe that what’s written in here isn’t merely words on a page but the very words of God Himself.
Listen to what Paul wrote to Timothy concerning the Word of God…
16 All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, 17 that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work.
Paul was convinced that the Scriptures contained the very words of God Himself…
-17
Paul was convinced that not only are the Scriptures the very words of God Himself, not only did they reveal God to us, but they contained instructions for how we ought to live… how we are to live lives that please to Him… lives of godliness…
And very often this challenges our thinking… it challenges the way we think about God and about life.
And when the Word of God challenges our thinking… it leads to repentance… or at least, it should.
You see, these two things are inseparably linked… repentance and faith. The two ideas are linked and we can’t separate them…
The word repentance means “to have a change of mind.” The Greek word for repentance is Metanoia, and that’s what it means. It means “to change your mind.”
Now, there’s certainly more to it than that, but it doesn’t mean anything less than that. It begins with changing our minds… so that’s repentance. It begins with changing our minds…
And faith is believing the Word of God and acting upon it, no matter how I feel, knowing that God promises a good result…
So what happens is, I come to the Word of God and it challenges my thinking… and by faith I believe the Word of God and I allow it to change my thinking… and I begin to think to act and to speak in new ways… in ways that please the Lord…
I allow it to shape my behavior… and I do this no matter how I feel…
And I begin in ways that please the Lord
Why? Because I knowing that God promises a good result. So we obey the Word of God by faith rather than by our feelings.
That’s repentance and faith. Do you see how the two are linked? The go together.
Repentance is a change of mind that leads to a new way of living… a way of living by faith rather than feelings.
You see, all too often we have it the other way around… we live life by how we feel. We allow our feelings to determine what we do.
Now, I’m not saying that feelings are bad. They’re not… God gave us emotions and we do interact with God emotionally. But our emotions don’t determine what we do.
The truth of the Word of God does… or at least it should. And if it doesn’t, the beautiful thing about repentance is we can decide today to live differently…
So, let me give you an example of what this looks like…
Say you’re the type of person that’s easily offended… and you’ve got a short fuse… Somebody says something that you don’t like, and it just sets you off…
You’re easily offended… your natural response is to get defensive…
Monday morning rolls around and you get up and you decide to open up your Bible and read… even though you don’t really feel like it… because you remember yesterday that the preacher said that faith is believing the Word of God and acting up on it… no matter how you feel… so you open up your Bible and you begin to read…
And you come across this passage in 1 Peter in Chapter 2… and you begin to read starting in v. 21… and it says…
21 For to this you have been called, because Christ also suffered for you, leaving you an example, so that you might follow in his steps. 22 He committed no sin, neither was deceit found in his mouth. 23 When he was reviled, he did not revile in return; when he suffered, he did not threaten, but continued entrusting himself to him who judges justly.
So you read that verse and you start thinking about it… you’re rolling it around in your mind… you meditate on it a little bit… it challenges your thinking…
You get in your car and you start driving to work… You’re headed down the LIE and all of a sudden, someone cuts you off…
Now immediately, the verse is gone and you’re pounding on the horn, screaming at the driver through the windshield, even though they can’t hear a word you’re saying…
That’s how you react…
Then you finally get to work… you pull into the parking lot… you see that somebody’s parked in your favorite spot… so that means you’re going to have to park somewhere else and you’re going to have to walk… and now you’re more annoyed.
You walk into work and you pass buy a couple of guys and they’re talking about how they got together the night before and watched the football game… and what a great time they had and they didn’t invite you… so you’re offended.
You sit down at your desk and you turn on your computer… you open your email and the first email you see is from your boss… and it’s not a good one.
In fact, it’s critical… it’s about the project you handed in the week before and he’s criticizing you… telling you that it wasn’t your best effort… it really wasn’t what he expected…
Meanwhile, you worked really hard on that project… you put in a lot of hours… made a lot of sacrifices to get it done on time… and you really thought you did a good job…
And immediately you feel that energy welling up in your chest… that anger… and your hands fly to the keyboard and you’re about to start typing… what might not have been a good email… because your natural response is to defend yourself…
But instead, you remember what the preacher said… that faith is believing the Word of God and acting upon it, no matter how I feel, knowing that God promises a good result…
And you remember that verse that you read this morning… that Jesus, when he was reviled he did not return; when he suffered, he did not threaten but continued entrusting Himself to the One who judges justly… and you stop…
Now, the anger’s still there… you fell that knot in your stomach… but you exercised some self-control in that moment, and you didn’t send the email.
You go home that evening… you wake up the next morning and you read your bible again because you remember what the preacher said about believing the Word of God and acting upon it, even when you don’t feel like it…
You read that verse from 1 Peter again, because you don’t quite remember what it said but you remember that it was helpful… so you read it again…
You go to work that day… somebody cuts you off in traffic… your hand’s about to go to the horn but then you think… “when He was reviled, He did not revile in return; when He suffered, He did not threaten, but continued entrusting Himself to the One who judges justly”… and He’s my example…
Weeks go by… and then months… You continue reading your bible… and you realize, you’re actually enjoying it… you want to keep doing it…
You get in your car and you go to work… somebody cuts you off and you barely even notice… and you say, “you know what, that guy’s probably having a bad day… I’m going to pray for him.”
You pull into the parking lot at work, and someone’s parked in your spot again… and you say to yourself, “you know, walking’s not so bad… I could probably use the exercise.”
You come into work and you overhear the guys talking about the game the night before… and you walk up to them and say, “Hey, what are you guys doing for lunch? Let’s go grab something…”
Instead of waiting for them to reach out to you, you make the effort to reach out to them…
You open your email and there’s another one from your boss… except, this one’s not so bad…
It says, “Hey, I just wanted to say that I’ve noticed a difference in your attitude over the last few weeks, and I really appreciate it… you’ve been doing a great job, keep it up!”
You open up social media… you go on Facebook and you notice a post… a political post… one that would normally would have set you off… but you say to yourself, “why am I wasting my time reading this junk anyway…” and you turn it off.
You see, that’s how change happens… When you believe the Word of God and act upon it, no matter how you feel, knowing that God promises a good result… the Spirit of God works through the Word of God and He changes you… He conforms you into the image of Jesus…
That’s how change happens… and it starts with having a goal to please the Lord…
Why? Because what I do in this life matters to Jesus… and I want to honor Him and bring Him glory…
How? By faith… by believing the Word of God and acting upon it, no matter how I feel, knowing that God promises a good result.
So the why… we please the Lord because what we do in this life mattes to Jesus… and we want to honor Him and bring Him glory.
The how… we do it by faith…
Now the When…
When do we make it our aim to please Him?
When do we make it our aim to please Him?
Look with me at v. 9. It says…
9 So whether we are at home or away, we make it our aim to please him.
Whether we are at home or away…
Now, what Paul is doing here is he’s comparing and contrasting 2 extremes… He’s talking about whether we are at home or away…
He’s comparing life here on this earth… in these bodies… to life in the age to come when we’re in the presence of the Lord.
Look with me at Chapter 5:1… it says,
1 For we know that if the tent that is our earthly home is destroyed, we have a building from God, a house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens.
What he’s doing is likening life here in the body to a tent…
Now, you’ve spent any amount of time in a tent, what do you know about the tent?
They’re not really all that stable and they’re not really all that sturdy… they’re not built to last. Eventually they start leaking…
And that’s how he describes this life… it’s temporary. It’s not meant to be permanent. And he contrasts that with life in eternity…
In eternity, you’re not going to dwell in a tent… you’re not going to dwell in a building made with hands but… made by God.
So what he’s doing there is he’s drawing two extremes… he’s saying whether we are here in this tent or we’re at home in a building made by God… we make it our aim to please him…
Whether we are at home or away… no matter what… we make it our aim to please him…
31 So, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God.
Do all to the glory of God…
See, when you make it your goal in life to please the Lord… because what we do in this life matters to Jesus… and you live by faith…
Believing the Word of God and acting upon it, no matter how you feel, knowing that God promises a good result… you bring glory to the Lord… you glorify Him.
Now, how does this work out practically? How does this work out, practically-speaking?
Let’s say you’re a husband and a father… Most of the time, when you come home from work, you’re just wiped out… you’re exhausted…
And on this particular day, you’re especially tired… you had a long day. You’re driving home… you’ve got a pretty long commute…
And all the while, you’re just looking forward to coming home, eating dinner and plopping down on the couch and vegging out in front of the TV for a couple of hours… That’s what you’re looking forward to…
You come home, you open the door and walk in… and there’s your wife… she’s cooking dinner. Dinner’s not quite yet done…
You look over at the table… the kids are around the table… they’re supposed to be doing their homework, but instead they’re acting like a bunch of goofs…
You go to greet your wife… (I’m speaking from personal experience… been there, done that… got the teeshirt)
So you go to greet your wife… she turns to you and says, “honey, I’m sorry that dinner’s not done yet… but I’m really stressed out right now, I had a really hard day… the kids… they’re just not listening, they’re not doing their homework…
Would you mind going over there and helping them?
And all you wanted to do in that moment is plop down on the couch and watch TV… but now… you know homework, that’s about two hours…
Your plans are gone… done… what do you do? What do you do in that situation?
Well, you know what the Bible says… the Bible says, “Husbands, love your wives as Christ loved the church and gave Himself up for her…”
Christ sacrificed Himself for His bride… so what do you do?
Well, if your goal in life is to please the Lord, you begin to think and say things to yourself like this… you begin to think and to say…
“My goal in life is to please the Lord in how I relate to my spouse and lead my family. Why? Because what I do in this life matters to Jesus, and I want to honor Him and bring Him glory. How? By faith… by believing the Word of God and acting upon it, no matter how I feel, knowing that God promises a good result.”
Even when I’m tired and worn out? Yeah… even when you’re tired and worn out.
What if you’re someone faithfully attends church… you’re here most Sundays, but other than that, you’re really not involved in the life of the church…
You don’t have many close, personal relationships… you’re not really serving in any meaningful way… You know that the Bible says in 1 Corinthians that God has gifted each and every one of us with gifts, and we’re to use those gifts for the building-up of the body…
You also know that Jesus says, “Love one another as I have loved you…” That’s the mark of the Christian.
And then somebody comes up to you and says, “Hey, we’d really love to have you serve in this ministry…” what do you do? What do you do?
Well, if your goal in life is to please the Lord, you begin to think and say things to yourself like this… you begin to think and to say…
“My goal in life is to please the Lord in how I serve the body of Christ and love my brothers and sisters. Why? Because what I do in this life matters to Jesus, and I want to honor Him and bring Him glory. How? By faith… by believing the Word of God and acting upon it, no matter how I feel, knowing that God promises a good result.”
When? In every circumstance. Even when I don’t feel like it? Yeah…
Now, what if you’re a teenager…
And if you’re anything like a typical teenagers, what do most teenagers think and do? They think, “my parents have no idea what they’re talking about… that is so 80’s”
You’re behind the times… you guys really have no idea what it’s like to live today as a teenager… and your typical reaction is to ignore what your parents say…
But you know that the Word of God says, “Children, obey your parents in the Lord, for this is right. Honor your mother and father. This is the first commandment with a promise that it may go well with you, and you may live long in the land.”
And your parents ask you to do something that you think is particularly dumb or annoying and you don’t want to do it. What do you do in that situation?
Well, you start to think and say things to yourself like this… you begin to think and to say…
“My goal in life is to please the Lord in how I obey my parents. Why? Because what I do in this life matters to Jesus, and I want to honor Him and bring Him glory. How? By faith… by believing the Word of God and acting upon it, no matter how I feel, knowing that God promises a good result.”
Even when I think what they ask me to do is dumb and annoying? Yeah… even then.
Conclusion
Conclusion
So I want to end the same way we began… I want to ask you this question once again… what is your goal in life?
Is your goal in life to please yourself, or is your goal in life to please the Lord?
Because we’re all going to have to stand before the judgement seat of Christ, and we’re all going to have to give account for what we did in the body, whether good or evil.
Now, as I mentioned earlier… if you’re in Christ… if you’ve turned to Christ in repentance and faith… if you’re trusting that He paid the penalty for your sins… you have no fear of condemnation on that day.
You will stand before Him as the righteousness of Christ… your sins being cast as far as the east is from the west… they were laid upon Him… His righteousness was given to you… so you have no fear of condemnation.
But what if you’re not a Christian? What if you haven’t turned to Jesus Christ in repentance and faith?
What if you haven’t called upon the name of the Lord to be saved? Unfortunately, that day… the judgement seat of Christ, will look very different for you…
says…
11 Then I saw a great white throne and him who was seated on it. From his presence earth and sky fled away, and no place was found for them. 12 And I saw the dead, great and small, standing before the throne, and books were opened. Then another book was opened, which is the book of life. And the dead were judged by what was written in the books, according to what they had done. 13 And the sea gave up the dead who were in it, Death and Hades gave up the dead who were in them, and they were judged, each one of them, according to what they had done. 14 Then Death and Hades were thrown into the lake of fire. This is the second death, the lake of fire. 15 And if anyone’s name was not found written in the book of life, he was thrown into the lake of fire.
So my question for you is this… is your name going to be found written in the book of life?
The bible says that if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved.
Saved from what? Saved from your sins… saved from the wrath of God that is to come… saved from condemnation at the judgement seat of Christ.
But the question I have for you is this… do you believe it? Do you believe it enough to act upon it, no matter how you feel, knowing that God promises a good result?
I want to implore you… believe today. Turn to Jesus Christ in repentance and faith today. Call out to Him and receive forgiveness for your sins today.
And if you’re not sure what that means, talk to me today after the service… I’d love nothing more than to talk to you about what it means to put your faith in Jesus Christ…
And I can promise you this… there is no greater act of faith… there’s nothing greater that you could to to please the Lord than believe in the One whom He sent.
Let’s pray…