R243 The Judgment Seat PT.2

Welcome to The Encouraging Word with Dr. Don Wilton as he brings to a close the Judgment Seat Series from 2 Corinthians 5. In just a moment we'll be opening God's Word together, but we want you to know we're open to speak and pray with you and connect with resources anytime.

We can do that on the phone at 866-899-WORD, that's 866-899-9673. Many are calling about the new book with Dr. Don Wilton's son, Dr. Greg Wilton, about how everything starts with God. You can see more details on our website as well at www.tewonline.org.

That's www.tewonline.org. While you're there, be sure and sign up for the daily email from Dr. Don, a powerful devotional thought. Just click on Devotional at the top of the website. Now, let's open God's Word to 2 Corinthians 5 with Dr. Don Wilton.

The Encouraging Word That everyone may receive the things done in his body according to that he hath done, whether it be good or bad. Isn't that remarkable to think that God tells us that as believers it is possible to do both good and bad? You'd say to me today, Pastor, how's that possible?

I wonder if there's a Christian here today who has not been living for the Lord Jesus Christ. I'm so glad that you've come to God's house, notwithstanding that we are all sinners saved by the grace of God. But because the Bible teaches, my friend, that as a born again believer, I am not immune from sin, rather I'm sensitized to sin, so that because the Spirit of God dwells within me, when evil and when sin seeks to penetrate my life, there is a revulsion, there is a revolt. There is an argument that occurs between the Spirit of God who dwells within me and the very semblance of sin which would seek to penetrate the believer's soul.

So the Bible says in verse 11, knowing therefore the terror of the Lord, we persuade men, but we are made manifest under God, and I trust also are made manifest in your consciences. For we commend not ourselves again unto you, but we give occasion to glory on our behalf, that you may have somewhat to answer them which glory in appearance and not in the heart. For whether we be beside ourselves, it is to God, or whether we be in our own minds, it is for your cause.

Why? Because the love of Christ constraineth us, because we thus judge that if one died for all, then we're all dead, and here it is. And because Jesus died for all, they that which live should not henceforth live unto themselves, but unto him which died for them and rose again.

May the Lord write his word upon our hearts today. If you're saved, my friends, if you have repented of your sin and by faith given your heart to Jesus Christ, I want to give you a biblical guarantee. You can know that you know that you know beyond any doubt that you're going to heaven to be with Jesus Christ, but you do not have a license to live and to do exactly what you want to do. The Bible says you have been set free from the burden of sin unto service in the army of our Lord Jesus Christ. The Bible points amongst many other places to eight criterion by which all believers are going to be held accountable. Number one, whether or not we sought to live for God's glory or for ourselves. Number one, whether or not we sought to live for God's glory or for our own glory. That's what 2 Corinthians 5 and verse 15 is all about. You see, Paul was reminding the people at Corinth that because of what Jesus Christ had done upon the cross, that the mandate for all of those of us who have been recipients of the love of Christ is to do everything that we do for the glory of God. Now folks, that's not always the easiest thing to do, isn't it?

I could give to you so many illustrations and so many challenges. I wish that you could have been with me and Dr. Pounds this week. We had such a wonderful privilege, a dear precious family. Mr. and Mrs. Fook lost their precious little boy Julian in a tragedy on Monday. How much we love that family and how grateful we are to God that he has allowed our paths to cross. And how grateful we are to have had the privilege and continuing privilege of being able to minister to them during this time of their bereavement.

On Wednesday, they gave to me and to Dr. Pounds the greatest privilege when they invited us to conduct the funeral and memorial service for this little boy. You know, during that time, Mary Morrell played the piano so beautifully. Mrs. Libby Russell got up to sing, great is thy faithfulness.

Oh God, my Father. You know, as I watched her sing and as I listened to Dr. Pounds speak from his heart, and as God moved right there in that chapel and as our hearts grieved and as we bound together in the Lord Jesus Christ, I thought to myself, isn't it a wonderful thing to be able to serve and to be available to people and to love one another, not because of anything that you or I should gain, but in order that Jesus Christ should receive all the praise and all the glory. That's what I love about our church. Choir, I wish I could just give you all just a big hug.

You know why? Because every time I see you and the orchestra and I watch you play the instruments and sing and I think of our people in the congregation and our Sunday school teachers and the missions programs and the outreach programs and I think of the staff, how they go morning, noon and night and the opportunity that we have to come and to worship God in spirit and in truth. The Bible says we will all one day give an account of ourselves before God, first and foremost, to see whether the real motive of our heart is to bring glory to the name of the Lord Jesus Christ.

Number two, number two, how we have used our time, how we have used our time. In Ephesians, Paul writing again, in the letter to the Ephesians and chapter 5 verses 15 and 16, here's what the Bible says, See then, Christians, Paul here at this juncture is talking about the walk of the children of light. In chapter 5 and verse 1, he sets the entire pattern. He says, Be ye therefore followers of God, walk in love. And this unbelievable passage in which there is so much instruction about the fruit of the Spirit, the apostle says, See then that ye walk cautiously, not as fools, but as wise people redeeming the time.

Why? Because the days are evil. I believe that the apostle would say to us today, How wise are we with our time? Probably one of the biggest challenges of my life is to use my time profitably. By the way, just in case any of you got any doubt about it, a profitable use of time is to take a good well-earned nap. That's being profitable. Being profitable is spending time with your children. Men, beginning with me, all of us get so busy, we begin to neglect our families and our children. A profitable use of my time as a born again believer is to prioritize. You pray for me as I pray for you that together as families, we would use our time profitably.

We need to use our time profitably at work, at home and at play. But the Bible says that we must not walk as fools, but rather as wise people saying, Oh, God, as a believer. You're listening to Dr. Don Wilton, our teacher here on The Encouraging Word.

Please don't go away. He'll be back to complete today's message, The Judgment Seat, in just a moment. But as we launch this brand new year together, many are asking about resources that we have that will help you be a little more disciplined, a little more intentional in spending time in God's word every single day. We have a number of resources. One of them is the wonderful blue leather bound devotional book called Heaven, Life and the Resurrection. As you invest in those, buy those to give to friends and use yourself, you're fueling the ministry of The Encouraging Word.

But we also have a free option. You can sign up for the daily devotional email from Dr. Wilton on our website right now at www.tewonline.org. That's www.tewonline.org. Click on the devotional tab at the top of the website and you can choose to receive an email of phonically, so to speak. Or as my bride prefers, you can get a hard copy, a quarterly version of it sent to you right away. Just let us know at www.tewonline.org or you can call about your copy at 866-899-WORD.

That's 866-899-9673. Now back to today's great teaching with Dr. Don Wilton. Allow me in every expression of my being to use my time wisely. Number three, the third criterion by which we will be held accountable, whether and how we have used our possessions. You see, friends, the Bible says that it's not an optional extra. What kind of possessions do we have?

Well, we could talk about that all day, couldn't we? All of us have money. Some have more money and some have less money. Money is that which we have to live on. But I'm going to say to you, my beloved friends, out of the love of my heart, if you are a born-again believer, and if you belong to this church or any other church, you don't have an optional extra as far as giving is concerned. The Bible says that the tithe is the Lord's. And you'd say to me today, pastor, how much is a tithe?

What is that? That means that you give your money to God's work in God's storehouse. And people say to me all the time, Dr. Wilton, how much should I give? The Bible says you should give at least one-tenth of your gross income to the Lord Jesus Christ. That means one-tenth of everything that God has given to you.

Some people say, well, is it before or after taxes? The tax is God's. Everything that we have belongs to God. My car, my home, my money, my everything is God's, everything is God's.

And my financial situation, it needs to come out of the very top. In other words, if you earn $30,000 a year, no less than $3,000, my friend, should come into God's storehouse. You earn $50,000 a year, no less than $5,000, minimally should be given to the Lord's work. You earn $500,000, no less than $50,000 should come to God's house.

That is an absolute minimum according to God's Word. That's how the work of God goes on. And I thank God for First Baptist Church of Spartanburg, South Carolina, in which our people have for years been a giving people.

That is why this church is able to minister and to go out into the four quarters of the earth and reach people for Christ. But God's Word says, as a born again believer, I do not have a mandate to tip God on Sunday mornings. I have a mandate to give of my tithe, my talent and my time. I need to give of my possessions, my property. I need to give of everything that I am.

Stewardship goes so far beyond the dollar sign, so far beyond. And how much I thank God for each one of you and for your faithfulness and for your accountability before God. Is it any wonder why God is choosing to bless this congregation? Not because anybody in this congregation is perfect, but because there is a vast number of men and women and boys and girls who understand what it means to love the Lord Jesus Christ with all of their heart and all of their soul and all of their mind. I love you today, my friends.

I love you with all my heart. I thank God for every person in this congregation, for everything that goes on behind the scenes, those who are out in public that others can see you, those who are behind the woodwork that nobody can see you. I thank God for your giving. I thank God for our Sunday school teachers and our prayer ministry. I thank God for the very fabric of our being and the Word of God says that God expects no less of those who love the Lord Jesus Christ.

Yes, we will be held accountable for whether or not we live for God's glory, how we used our time, how we used our money and possessions, but number four, whether or not we witnessed to lost people. The Bible says in this passage, 2 Corinthians 5 and verse 11, knowing therefore the terror of the Lord, we persuade men. Knowing therefore the terror of the Lord, we persuade men. I hope my friends that you've come to understand that God is the God of grace. Every time we talk about judgment, there is a sense in which there ought to be a terror that grips our hearts.

Do you know why? Because there are people who are lost. There are people who are lost and the Bible says that you and I are accountable for those in our community, our neighbors and our friends and those around about us who are lost. How serious are we about telling people about Jesus? Every staff meeting in our church begins with a discussion about our witnessing.

How are we talking to people about Jesus Christ? Number five, whether or not we've been faithful in prayer. Luke chapter 18 and verse 1, Jesus said, lay up. Jesus said just simply this, men ought always to pray and not to faint. The Bible right throughout Scripture and in the New Testament, the Word of God exhorts us as born again believers to be prayer warriors.

Probably the greatest weakness in my own life as your pastor is my prayer life, the times that I spend alone with God. We get so involved. What a tremendous joy. What a tremendous joy. A young lady called this past week. My wife spent an hour and a half speaking to her on the verge of suicide, crying and weeping 26 years of age. And what joy to be able to speak to her about Jesus. And what joy to be able to counsel her with regard to the power and the presence of prayer. You may be watching us right now.

There's a number that you can call. We've got people in this church who would pray with you, who would seek God's face and implore God by His mercy that He would intervene in your life. I came into church this morning and there was a lady, precious lady, just lost her brother. And we prayed right back there in the pew at 8.30 this morning.

What a tremendous privilege just to be able to pray. How countable are we? How countable are we? Whether we live for God's glory, how we use our time, how we use our possessions, whether we witness to the lost, whether we pray. But there's a sixth criterion by which we're going to be judged, all the words which we have spoken. I want you to turn with me to Matthew chapter 12 and verse 36. Here's what Jesus said.

Here's what Jesus said. But I say unto you, but I say unto you that every idle word that men shall speak, they shall give account thereof in the day of judgment. Have you ever met somebody who is always criticizing? Have you ever met somebody who is always breaking down?

Have you ever met somebody who is always finding fault? Have you ever met somebody who through the words of their mouths are bringing discredit to the name of Jesus Christ? I want you to know, friends, that the Bible says that every word which we speak, we're going to be held accountable for. You know, sometimes we can say one thing with our mouths, but inside our hearts there is a different story altogether. Oh, my beloved friends, what an incredible challenge within the context of God's church as men and women who love the Lord Jesus Christ, that we be found faithful to the words which we say.

I want you to know, my friends, that a person can be assassinated, a character can be destroyed with just one word, with one little rumor, with one suggestion, with one innuendo. I want you to know before the throne of grace that we have a biblical mandate that we are going to stand before the judgment seat of Christ, and we will be judged for every word which we have spoken. But there's a seventh criteria, our attitude toward one another, our attitude toward one another. Galatians chapter 6 and verse 1, turn with me in your Bibles, Galatians chapter 6 and verse 1. Here's what the Bible says. The Bible says, Brethren, if a man be overtaken in a fault, ye who are spiritual. Now, folks, I wish I could preach a whole message on this one and see how I have trouble getting through the series on the judgment. I said there's no way I'll be able to preach on the rewards this week as well as accountability. But just look at this. Here's what the Bible says. Brethren, talking to Christians, if a man or woman is overtaken in a fault, you who claim to be spiritual restore such a one in the spirit of meekness. Why?

Here it is, considering thyself whether or not you also become guilty of the very thing you are accusing the other one of being guilty of. Boy, that's a challenge. I'm going to make an announcement, Mr. Chairman of Deacons, Jim Ballou, love you so much, my brother. I'm going to make an announcement, Dr.

Pounds. I'm going to make an announcement, Brother Bob. I'm going to make an announcement in this church. If there is anybody in this church who has a fault or who has fallen because Jesus Christ has died for us upon the cross, you are welcome in God's house. And I want you to know, my friends, that the grace of God is the restoration grace of God that seeks to draw all men unto himself. What an incredible privilege. Oh, what a tremendous encouragement in the fellowship of encouragement to know that God is upon his throne.

What tremendous hope for you and me to know that despite our failures, despite our shortcomings, that God has made an announcement that we are welcome in his presence. You see, friend, accountability is not license. Because the Bible says that those of us who are spiritual are to restore someone who has fallen does not mean to say that those in the congregation or elsewhere can say, well, I can just go and do whatever I want because these people are spiritual, they'll just restore me. Paul puts it like this.

What? Shall we continue in sin that grace may abound? There is no exception to that clause. There is no excuse for our sin. There is absolutely no mandate, not the grace of God or anything else that we might conjure up in our minds. We are called to be accountable.

We are called to the highest level of expectation. Oh, I'm praying for our young people this year at school that they live lives which are accountable to God. I'm praying for our teachers and administrators that they live lives which are accountable to God. I'm praying for our college students as they go to all our fine colleges that they live lives which are accountable to God. I'm praying for our beloved deacons and our staff that together we live lives that are accountable to God. I pray and beseech you, my brothers and sisters in Christ, that you would pray that your pastor lives a life which is accountable to God. How about you today?

How about you? Lord Jesus, you're moving in this congregation. Lord, we stand in your presence, amazed at your grace, knowing that there is room at the cross for every one of us here today. Perhaps you've been lied to and you think there's no room for you at the cross.

Oh, there is room for you. I pray that you would open your heart just as you have to God's encouraging word and the biblically based teaching you've been listening to from Dr. Don Wilton. Open now as he steps away from the pulpit and steps into the studio to share with you from his heart next. Are you ready to give your heart and life to the Lord Jesus Christ?

I'm so happy to hear that. Why don't you pray this prayer with me today? Dear God, I know that you love me very, very much. And I know that the Lord Jesus Christ came and died on a cross so that I might be forgiven of my sin. Today, I repent of my sin.

I confess my sin to you. And I invite you to come into my heart and into my life by faith. In Jesus' name I pray. If you prayed that prayer, let me be the first one to welcome you to the family of God.

This is wonderful. I hope that you know how much I'm going to be praying for you and how very important this is for me. Call us so that we can talk to you and connect you in the right place so you can begin this wonderful journey.

And in just a moment, I'm going to come back with a final word. Perhaps moments ago you were praying along with Dr. Wilton to give your life to Jesus Christ or rededicate your life to Christ. You need to know we are here with you in the next steps.

We would love to pray for you, love to support you with wonderful resources. Dr. Don has chosen specific resources he wants you to have if you've just given your life to Jesus or rededicated your life to Christ. Call us now at 866-899-WORD and let us send these resources to you.

Our phone number again is 866-899-9673 or you can meet us online as well at www.tewonline.org. That's T-E-W online dot O-R-G. You'll discover a number of great resources right there, including a wonderful book by Dr. Don about his time with Billy Graham. Hello everybody. You know my friends know me as Don Wilton, pastor, friend, neighbor, dad, husband, grandpa. But I'm going to tell you people all around the world just like you know and identify Dr. Billy Graham as that man that God used to reach so many people around the world for the Lord Jesus Christ. I had the privilege of knowing Mr. Graham in a very personal and intimate way, both as his friend and as his pastor.

In fact, for many years, I drove up to his home in Montreat, North Carolina, and visited with him every Saturday. Just like friends do everywhere, we sat together and ate together, walked, talked. We discussed politics, friends, places, people. We laughed our heads off. We did everything one could possibly imagine. That's why I wrote this wonderful book, Saturdays with Billy.

It's all about a personal relationship. And I hope and pray that Saturdays with Billy will be a blessing to you, will inspire you, and will encourage your heart, just as Mr. Graham encouraged my heart and changed my life. God bless you, my friend. Our time's gone for today, but oh, there's so much more great teaching coming up next week, even over the weekend. If you'd like, go to our website, www.tewonline.org. You'll discover places like the Daystar Network and more where you can watch Dr. Don Wilton share God's word through the Encouraging Word Ministries. You'll find all the places to listen and to watch on our website at www.tewonline.org. And know that anytime, day or night, we're available to pray at 866-899-9673.