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Independence From Sin

2 Corinthians 5:10 “For we must all appear qbefore the judgment seat of Christ; rthat every one may receive the things done in his body, according to that he hath done, whether it be good or bad.” [1]

I.   Christians

     A. All

     B. Appear

II. Christ

     A. Arbitration

     B. Accommodation

III.     Conclusion

     A. Accomplishments

     B. Absolution

Introduction:  When I was a child in the city the fourth of July was a time for backyard fun and fireworks in the evening.  We had sparklers and some of those things that you stomp and they would make a bang.  There might be a bottle rocket and some Roman candles but firecrackers and the other powerful fireworks were things that we only heard what other people had.  There were parades and fire engines and then the nighttime fireworks shows.  Everybody knew that it was the fourth of July. 

It wasn’t until I moved here with my parents that cherry bombs and M80s and the other real fireworks were in my reach.  They were against the law in North Carolina too but we were close enough to South Carolina to get them across the border.  We took the fun for granted but I really didn’t catch on to the idea of Independence Day.  The older I get the more important Independence Day is.

Last year the thing that we were brainwashed into believing was that a virus was the only thing worth thinking about.  There were no fireworks or parades or people getting together to celebrate.  We were forced to believe that to have independent thought was against the law.

It is amazing when you really get down to what today represents.  This nation was already several hundred years discovered and yet the “colonies” were ruled by others who didn’t represent our beliefs.  After a great long battle The United States of America declared that we were only dependent on God and nobody could rule us from afar again.  That was then.

Now there are arguments about whose freedom matters.  There are even arguments about the founding of this nation.  We are in a time of flux.  Flux is important.  Without flux solder won’t move and adhere to the two pieces of copper to hold the two pieces of metal together.  But for flux to work the joint has to cool or else the two sides will never come together.

This afternoon we will meet in the fellowship hall for a good old American hotdog meal.  I pray that you might at least watch a fireworks show if only on TV later on.  We are celebrating the independence of a nation today.  If you are a Christian every day is Independence Day because to depend solely on Jesus is to be independent from sin.

My old mentor passed on and went home last week.  Aubrey Clyde Watson is responsible for many of the things that God has brought into my life.  Clyde had been suffering with many illnesses for the past several years.  As much as he loved flying, his diabetes prevented him from passing the flight physical.  This happened several years ago.  Though he tried many things to get his health to the place where he could again legally fly, it was not to be.

He did fly a few weeks ago when a friend brought a plane that he could get into more easily.  A flight instructor was along for the ride and Clyde flew again for a short time.  He has won his independence from suffering and now he is bound no more.

Scripture:  The scripture today is 2 Corinthians 5:10.  Please stand if you can for God’s written word.

Prayer:  Please be seated.

Message:  Gary McCollough is the pastor for Flat Springs Baptist Church in Deep River where Clyde was a member for so many years.  That is the church that commissioned me to attend Bible College.  Gary and I delivered the messages for Clyde’s memorial service.  Gary said he had been told that he somehow used unconventional scripture when he preached a funeral.

The scripture that we will expand on today is the text that I used for Clyde’s memorial.  Usually there is John 14 and at the graveside it is always Psalm 23.  Gary talked about the lady during the famine that shared with Elijah and I talked about the judgement seat of Christ.  Strange text for a funeral?  I can’t speak for Gary but I was up most of the night about this text.  Funeral message and an Independence Day sermon?  How did the Holy Spirit get us here?

The church in Corinth was in turmoil when Paul wrote his first letter.  In the Bible we understand this to be the second letter to that church.  We can agree that it is the second letter to the Corinthians that we have which is included in the New Testament of the Bible.  Some believe that there were other letters that have not been included.  Other texts that were omitted by the council who decided the sixty-six books of the Bible are known as apocrypha which means left out.

We are living in a time when the apocrypha seems to be growing in some denominations and churches.  The particular text we are using today is not preached much because some feel it to be too controversial.  People are more comfortable thinking that God is forgetful.  He is not!

When Jesus died on the cross He carried the penalty for our sin.  If God could have simply forgotten Jesus would not have had to go through what He went through.  We are now Christian because we have decided to accept that free gift that cost Jesus so much.  Did Jesus’ dying on the cross make us not guilty?  NO!  We received a pardon for something that we are guilty of.  If you accept that then you are a Christian.

Paul spoke to a church that was in trouble yet they were a church so there were Christians there.  When Paul said that we must all appear, he included himself.  We Christians must all appear.  If we are Christians we will have no choice in that meeting.  We will all appear!

We know that Jesus will be there.  It is the judgement seat of Christ and Jesus is The Christ.  It is His seat.  There is accommodation for Him.  We will be there but it is His seat.

There is another judgement that is mentioned in other places.  The Great White Throne Judgement is where those who are guilty with no pardon will hear their fate.  If your name is not written in the Lamb’s Book of Life you will be there at the Great White Throne Judgement.  You don’t want to be there.

When we appear at the Judgement Seat of Christ we will not have sentences read.  We are guilty and that is that but Jesus paid the penalty.  What will be there is arbitration.  We will hear that which we have done whether it is a good thing or a bad thing.  Jesus will tell us everything we did while we walked this life whether it was a good thing or a bad thing.

You see, Jesus is God.  God is omniscient.  That means that even though others might have told that your sins are forgotten they are not forgotten.  The penalty for your guilt has been forgiven.  If God could have just forgotten then why did Jesus have had to come here to die.  God does not forget and the miracle of forgiveness means that He loves you so much that though He remembers what we did He still forgives because of what Jesus did.

I can’t speak for everyone so I must talk about my childhood.  Daddy worked away from home most of the time before we moved here.  We would see him on the weekends and sometimes we would stay at my grandfather’s bay house when Daddy was working near and around Baltimore.  Believe it or not I used to get in trouble, a lot.  If Momma didn’t get me right away she would use those dreaded words, “Wait until your Daddy comes home!”

Those were the longest waits.  She often used words instead of punishing me when the thing happened and those words were worse that a spanking.  I knew that I had messed up but maybe she would forget to tell Daddy.  The apprehension was worse than the spanking.  She knew that.

After Daddy came home and it was finally over, it was over.  Relief!  I faced up to what I knew that I was guilty of and now I felt independent of the crime that kept me from the relationship that I could have with my dad.  Now we could go fishing and riding on his boat.  It was OK.

It was OK before really.  I was still his little boy.  He knew it and I knew it.  But how much better it was after I heard what a good boy I had been and how he understood even when I messed up.

At the Judgement seat the waiting has come to a conclusion.  Jesus is ready to tell us what He died for.  He is ready to tell us the wonderful accomplishments that He did through us as we ministered to those He led us to.  Absolution!  The relationship has been put back together and the pain of the guilt has even been explained and now we understand how much Jesus loves us.

Yes Jesus loves you.  Yes Jesus loves you.  Yes Jesus loves me.  For the Bible tells me so.  What a wonderful Independence Day that will be.  Happy Fourth of July!

Prayer:

Invitation:  We are about to go to the fellowship hall for our celebration of this country’s independence.  Today we have heard more about another celebration that perhaps has been the source of dread for some Christians.  We can rest in the assurance that Jesus loves us so much that he has given us a way of returning to the relationship that we lost.  He loves us that much.

There is that guilt that we carry.  We all have it.   It is there and it won’t go away until you put it away.  It you can’t forget it why would you think for a minute that God would forgive and forget.  He has forgiven you even though He cannot forget.  If He can do that then so can you.

There are things that you have done and there are things that have been done to you by others.  God has not forgotten any of them and yet He still loves you.  What He led you through is to build you into that Spiritual Temple that is strong enough to withstand all that this world and the devil can throw at you.  Now it is time for you to forgive.  Forgive yourself because He already has.  Before we go and eat hot dogs we are going to sing an invitational hymn.  It is your opportunity to bring those things to Jesus that you can’t forget.  He has already forgiven you.  Let Him make you independent of that thing that is weighing you down.  Let Him deal with you as we sing…

q Rom. 14:10.
r See Ps. 62:12.
[1] The Holy Bible: King James Version. (2009). (Electronic Edition of the 1900 Authorized Version., 2 Co 5:10). Bellingham, WA: Logos Research Systems, Inc.