God has an encouraging word for you and me today through the Bible-based teaching of Dr. Don Wilton as we head to study the book of John. Dr. Wilton takes us to John chapter 5 in a minute, but remember you can also connect with us not only hearing this broadcast, but many more at our website, www.tewonline.org.
That's www.tewonline.org. And now Dr. Don Wilton. In John chapter 5 in the first several verses, you will notice with me that Jesus did something not unusual for you and for me, but horrendously unusual for the religious leaders of his day. Jesus healed the man at the pool of Bethesda. The Bible tells us, my friends, that the problem as far as the religious leaders was concerned was that Jesus had healed this man on the Sabbath day. Now I'm going to be quite frank with you as a congregation, it really puzzles me and I'm sure it puzzles you why these people would have been so upset with the Lord Jesus Christ for having done something so magnificent to this man.
The Bible tells us that he was a man who was lame all his life for some 30-odd years and Jesus intervened in his life in the way that he is doing with countless millions of people all over the world even as we speak. And yet this was a day that was held sacred by these religious leaders. I'm convinced, my brothers and sisters, that the reason why these people were so upset with Jesus was not because of the observance of the Sabbath day.
They were upset with him because he had threatened their dictatorial policy concerning a day that was set up not for the benefit of God, but rather for the benefit of man. And it was as it were here in John chapter 5 that Jesus began to defend himself and in fact you and I will remember that from verse 17 right through the end of this great chapter in John, Jesus begins to defend himself, not because he had to defend himself. Jesus does not have to defend himself because he is God and what Jesus was saying to them was, listen, gentlemen, you may be upset because I've done what I believe I need to do, but I've done it because I am God, that's why. He said to them, listen, you have a problem with me doing what I have been sent to do, you've got a problem not because of what I've done, you've got a problem because of who you are.
You are the problem, not me, I'm the son of man. Jesus confronted these religious leaders, my friend, with a paucity of their own spiritual condition. These people had all the trappings, these people were the religious zealots, these were the people who made the rules as far as God's word was concerned. And yet Jesus was reminding them in essence, he was saying to them, my friends, I want you to know that I'm doing what I have been sent to do because I have been sent to seek and to save the lost.
It seems to me almost unimaginable that these people would be upset with the fact that this man had found healing, that he had been made completely whole. After all, I would ask in 1994, what in the world would we come into the presence of the Lord Jesus Christ for to begin with? What in the world do we have the church?
What in the world do we meet for? What is the mission of the church but to reach people for Christ, to heal them, to bring them to life eternal in the Lord Jesus Christ? And it is at this juncture that Jesus responds. And in verse 22, Jesus makes a remarkable statement. He says to them, for the Father judgeth no man, but has committed all judgment unto his son.
Could I summarize that for you? What Jesus was saying to these people, he was saying, I've got news for you. You are judging me or I want to tell you something.
I'm the only one who can judge and I am judging you. Have you ever met someone who has a lot to say about somebody else? But meanwhile, back at the ranch, they're the ones who have the problem. My dad always used to say to me, son, every time you stand in that pulpit and you point a finger at somebody, remember there are three big fat ones pointing back at you. You see what Jesus was saying to these religious leaders. He was saying to them, you are standing in condemnation and you are standing in condemnation because of your own spiritual paucity, because of your lack of relationship with me, the Lord Jesus Christ.
And so it is that Jesus begins to embark on an explanation of this great judgment. Jesus has told us, and we've looked at this, that there are two categories of people. There are those who love the Lord Jesus Christ and there are those who have rejected him. There are those who are born again of the Spirit of the living God. And there are those who have said, I will have nothing to do with the Lord Jesus. The Bible says, my friends, that there are two judgments. If you have said no to Jesus Christ, according to God's word, when you die or if Jesus were to come again first, you are going to stand before the great white throne judgment. And the Bible says that at the great white throne judgment, all those who have said no to the Lord Jesus Christ will be cast into outer darkness where there will be wailing and gnashing of teeth. And that Jesus will say these faithfully eternal words, depart from me. You do of iniquity because I never knew you. Because you see, my friends, the Bible teaches us that there is not one person here today.
There's not one person watching by way of television. Not one person in this world today who needs to suffer the consequence of having said no to Jesus Christ. In fact, in just a few moments, we're going to give you an opportunity to say yes to the Lord Jesus. We're going to invite you right where you are to say, Lord Jesus, I know that you died upon the cross for me. I know that you gave your life for me.
I know that you love me and I know that I need you more than anyone else. And right now, Lord Jesus, by faith, I receive you into my heart and life. And the Bible says when you do that, there is now therefore no condemnation to those who are in union with Christ Jesus.
And so that's that. Does that mean to say that once you've given your life to Christ, that you can just live exactly as you want to live? Does the Christ life according to Jesus mean that you and I have license to be able to do and to say and to be anything we want to be? No, not according to God's Word. You see, friends, the Bible says that as a born again believer, I am judged in three ways.
We've looked at this. I'm going to be brief. Number one, I'm first of all judged as a sinner. I'm judged as a sinner. According to John chapter 5 and verse 24, right here in this passage that we've been dealing with, the Bible says all of us have sinned and come short of the glory of God. There is none righteous, no, not one.
In fact, if you are perfect this morning, I would love to meet with you immediately after church. The Bible says none of us is righteous, not one. The Bible says the first beginning point at which I need to find myself is in the judgment of God as a sinner. That is the entire reason why Jesus died upon the cross. The Bible says for God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believes in Him, here it is, you're ready, should not die but should have eternal life. For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might believe and might be saved.
There are literally hundreds of us here this morning who have settled the issue of our personal relationship with Jesus Christ. But there's a second way in which you're going to be judged. You're not only going to be judged as a sinner, but you're going to be judged as a son or as a daughter. The Bible says in 1 Corinthians chapter 11 and verses 28 through 32 that we are to examine ourselves in the progressive walk that we have as born again believers to see whether we be found in the faith, to see whether we be found in line with the limits that God has set before us. But then there's a third judgment that is awaiting for all believers, and that is the judgment that we will receive as stewards. You see, friends, the Bible says in Romans, you might want to just turn over there with me.
In Romans chapter 12, chapter 14, Romans chapter 14 and verse 12, so every one of us shall give an account of himself to God. You see, friends, the Word of God teaches us very clearly that just because I'm a Christian, that I do not have license to do anything that I want to. In fact, the Bible teaches us that there are three kinds of Christians.
Are you ready for this? There are three kinds of Christians. Now, the Bible says there are two types of people as far as God is concerned. You're either for God or you're against God, but the Bible says having given my life to Christ, that I fall into one of three categories as a Christian.
I want you to write these down because they're very, very important. Number one, there are faithful Christians or unfaithful Christians. I want you to turn with me just very quickly to Matthew chapter 25.
There's a pew Bible in front of you and I would encourage you to look there with me. Matthew chapter 25. Here in the parable of the talents, Jesus tells a remarkable story. Now, what is a parable? A parable is an earthly story that has heavenly significance.
It is a story that Jesus gives to us in order to understand the wonderful truths of God's rich grace. Now, here in Matthew chapter 25, Jesus says in verse 14, the kingdom of heaven is as a man traveling into a far country who called his own servants and delivered unto them his goods. Now, we will discover from verse 15 all the way through to verse 21 that some he gave this and some he gave that. It culminates in verse 21. Listen to what he says. His Lord said unto him, Well done, thou good and faithful servant.
Thou hast been faithful over a few things. I will make you a ruler over many things. And here it is. You ready for this? Enter thou into the joy of the Lord.
Isn't that a tremendous thing, that? You see, the Bible teaches us, my friends, that there are three categories of Christians. All of us here fall into one of these three categories. There are faithful and unfaithful Christians. Friends, listen to me. Faithfulness is not something that I decide to be.
Faithfulness is something that I am because of who I am in and through the Lord Jesus Christ. Please forgive the interruption. We'll be back in just a moment with the rest of today's message with Dr. Wilton. But Dr. Don wants me to remind you we're here for you. Happy to pray for you anytime.
Dr. Don's expression is we all need some 2 a.m. friends. And if you'll jot this number down, 866-899-WORD, that's 866-899-9673, you can be assured that any time, day or night, when you call, we'll be there to meet you, to talk and pray with you, and even connect with great resources. If you haven't been to our website lately, tewonline.org, there's a splendid new resource called Everything Starts with God, a book by Dr. Wilton's son, Dr. Greg Wilton.
Again, the details are on our website at tewonline.org. Now back to today's great teaching with Dr. Don Wilton. Jesus is going to say, welcome, thou good and faithful servant, enter thou into the joy of the Lord. But you know the Bible says there are such people as Christians who are unfaithful. There may be some of those here this morning, I don't know. Have you ever met someone who knows Jesus Christ? Sunday morning they come to church, but from Monday through Saturday night, neither God nor the preacher nor the church nor the Lord's work smell them for dust.
Have you ever met someone like that? Now folks, the issue here is that we are not calling into question their relationship with Jesus Christ as far as their salvation is concerned. God is the judge of that. But the Bible says, my friend, that you will be judged according to your faithfulness.
You will be judged according to your faithfulness. Over the years of ministry, I have met people who my friends in a New York second, they will tell you that they want to be involved. I've met Sunday school teachers who sign on the dotted line and within three to four weeks, they're backing out. I've met people who say, don't you worry, I'm going to be involved.
And within three to four weeks, they drop out and they know where to be found. I've met people who've walked down the aisles of churches in crusades and meetings who have said I've had a personal confrontation with God. And yet today they do be found nowhere in terms of their faithfulness. I want to submit to you today, my friends, if ever we're going to understand the judgment seat of Christ. We've got to understand that the call to serve the Lord Jesus is the call to be faithful. There are faithful and unfaithful Christians. Number two, there are spiritual and carnal Christians. If you turn with me to First Corinthians, First Corinthians chapter three. First Corinthians chapter three is a remarkable passage. The Bible tells us here at this juncture, as the apostle Paul is speaking to the Christians at the church at Corinth, that there are two categories of Christians in the congregation.
Now I'm going to ask you which category you fall into this morning. First of all, there are spiritual Christians. There are spiritual Christians. What is a spiritual Christian? A spiritual Christian, my friend, is not a perfect person. A spiritual Christian is not someone who has a halo around their heads. A spiritual Christian is not someone who just rubber stamps everything. A spiritual Christian is not someone who just flows along and doesn't want to rock the boat. A spiritual Christian, my friend, is someone whose motives are motivated by the mind and the heartbeat of God. Now you're going to say, well, Dr. Wilton, you're doing a lot of bragging about your church.
Well, I'll do it, brother. I want to tell you as imperfect as this congregation is, as your pastor, I thank God for this congregation, my friends, because I believe that we have an unusual depth of spirituality in this congregation, a group, a congregated group of sinners saved by the grace of God. But I have been so deeply moved as I have met with our deacons, the ladies of the WMU, the missions committee, all different organizations over and over as we have sought the face of God, the mark of a spiritual person is the willingness of that person to say, Lord, it doesn't matter what I happen to think about it. God, what do you think?
What do you think? A spiritual church is a church which is exemplified by spiritual unity. A spiritual church is one in which the deacons subject themselves unto the law of God. A spiritual church is one in which the congregation comes together and keeps the main thing, the main thing. Every program, everything we spend, everything we do, we ought to be asking ourselves, Lord Jesus, would you give us permission?
Do you know why? Because all we want to do is to do that which is well pleasing in God's sight. I'll pray for your pastor that I would be a spiritual man guided by spiritual mandates and motivated by spiritual things within my heart and soul, that everything that I do and everything that I say finds as its heartbeat the heartbeat of Almighty God. You'd say to me, pastor, what is the judgment seat of Christ? According to God's Word, my friend, we're going to be judged for our faithfulness and we're going to be judged for our level of spirituality. If ever as your pastor, God forbid, I had to ever come to anybody in this congregation and I had to admonish you because of sin in your life. The mark of your spirituality, my friend, is going to be measured by the way in which you respond to the Word of God, by the way in which you, together with this congregation, prostrate themselves before the throne of grace.
Oh, let's pray that God would send so much of a spiritual revival upon our people that we would grow in the grace and in the knowledge and admonition of the Lord Jesus Christ. The Bible says there are three categories, faithful and unfaithful, spiritual and carnal. Look at 1 Corinthians 3. I, brethren, Paul speaking to Christians now, I, brethren, could not speak to you as unto spiritual people, but rather as unto carnal people. Now you want to know what a carnal Christian is? Here's the definition. You ready?
Here it is. Even as unto babes in Christ. Paul reminds us from the heartbeat of God's Word that a non-spiritual, and I hope you understand my terminology, a person who loves the Lord but is behaving in non-spiritual means is a carnal Christian. And their behavior resembles the behavior, yes, of a baby.
It is possible, my friend, God expects more of us. That's where the judgment seat of Christ comes in. And what does He say here?
He even describes what these people are like. He says, I have fed you with milk and not with meat. That's what babies have, if you didn't know that. I haven't fed you meat, I've fed you milk, for hitherto you were not able to bear it, yet now are you still unable to bear it. Verse 3, for ye are yet carnal. Now watch what happens with carnality. Here is the result, my friend, when carnality rears its head in the congregation. Here is what happens. Here is what happens in a family when carnality rears its head. Here is what happens in a society when people say that they are Christians and they behave in unspiritual ways. Watch what happens. For whereas there is among you envy, strife and divisions, are ye not carnal and walk as men?
And that word generically, men, means are you not behaving as ones who are carnal? You are standing outside of the mandate of God. What an incredible challenge. What an unapologetic mandate for God's people. We're about to elect deacons.
This afternoon I'm meeting with all those who are being nominated. I want to say to you, my brothers, as your pastor, as the deacons of this church, as leaders in society, there is a biblical mandate upon which we must stand firm. The Bible says there are three categories of Christians. There are those who are faithful and there are those who are unfaithful. There are those who are spiritual and there are those who are carnal.
And then there's a third group. There are those who are diligent and those who are careless. Ephesians chapter 5 and verses 15 through 17, one of my favorite passages, the Bible says, be careful how you live. Be careful how you spend your time. Be wise. Be wise with your time. You know, Dorman High School, every time I drive by there, there's a big sign, a big white sign with a blue edge around it. And it's got a sign on there and I knew I had memorized it and I'd forgotten it, but I'm going to tell you what it is.
Anyway, the sign says something like this. Don't waste your time. Invest it wisely. Invest your time. I wish my beloved friends that I could go to every precious teenager. Teenagers, look at me. Don't waste your time.
Invest your time wisely. God's word teaches us, my friend, that frivolity of time is a blighted mark against the life of someone who loves Jesus Christ. Oh, there's many of us and I'm as guilty as anybody. Oh, we waste hours and hours in front of television sets. The sun is shining and God's earth is just reeking with the riches of his eternal grace and there we are in front of the goggle box. You know, God's word says, my friend, we either are diligent in the exercise of the mandate that God has called us to or we're living carelessly. You'd say to me today, well, Dr. Wilton, how does this apply to the judgment seat of Christ? You see, friends, it does matter how we live. It does matter how I live. My dear brother, Jim Ballouis, chairman of Deacons, I do not have a right, my brother, under your leadership and under this church's leadership, I do not have a right to just do whatever I want to do.
I do not have a right with my family and with my friends just to do whatever I want to do. God's word says I have been called not to save, but I've been called to serve him with all of my heart and all of my soul and all of my mind. And so there are five facts related to this judgment seat that is so rich, it is so full, it is so meaningful. Number one, the judgment seat of Christ. There will be a great revelation that takes place.
We began that last week. Number two, there will be a great accountability for which we will be held accountable. Number three, there will be a great test that takes place at the judgment seat of Christ, Christian, you and me. Number four, there will be a great reward which is given out. And number five, there will be a great longing that will take place at the judgment seat of Christ.
Such powerful teaching from Dr. Don Wilton. You've been listening to him as he has been preaching from the pulpit and teaching God's word, but I pray you'd open your heart now as he steps into the studio to just share from his heart. Are you ready to give your heart and life to the Lord Jesus Christ? Why don't you pray this prayer with me right now? Dear God, I know that I'm a sinner, and I know that Jesus died for me on the cross. Today I repent of my sin, and by faith I receive you into my heart. In Jesus' name. My friend, I welcome you today into the family of God.
This is exciting news. If you were praying along with Dr. Wilton moments ago to give your life to Christ, or maybe rededicate your life, or you're ready to do that right now, pick up the phone and give us a call. Our number is 866-899-WORD.
That's 866-899-9673. We'd love to speak with you, pray with you, and if you've given your life to Christ or rededicated your life to Jesus, Dr. Wilton has some wonderful resources he wants you to have absolutely free if you'll call us. 866-899-9673, or you can reach out on our website just as well at www.tewonline.org.
That's tewonline.org. Did you know The Encouraging Word has a YouTube channel? On this channel you can watch over 100 of Dr. Wilton's sermons. You can also listen to the weekly Words of Encouragement, a devotional series written by Dr. Wilton. Visit us on our YouTube channel today.
Our time's gone for today, but there's still so much to come in this series on judgment and the judgment seat of God. We'll continue that over the next couple of days of broadcast, but you need to know that the resources, including these broadcasts, are online and on demand. In other words, you can listen to it anytime on our website at www.tewonline.org. You can listen, you can watch, and I would encourage you to consider maybe sharing this with a friend. Sometimes the greatest tool of evangelism is just pointing somebody else to a great biblical scholar like Dr. Don Wilton. We believe strongly that this biblically based preaching is the answer to changing our culture for the good for Jesus. If you'd like to discover more about how you can prayerfully and financially support the ministry, visit our website www.tewonline.org.
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