Parmenter, Eric: Ambition And Assessment 2Cor 5

For the remaining twenty minutes. What will motivate us... to work out all that has been said to us... during this afternoon's ministry? I turn you, please, to two Corinthians chapter five and verse number nine. Again, Paul is addressing the church of God at Corinth. But perhaps the second letter does not lend itself to the easy analysis of the first. But at least there is truth there that will challenge and which ought to motivate us in relation to what we've heard. For, says Paul in two Corinthians chapter five and verse nine, wherefore we labor, whether present or absent, that we might be accepted of him. For We we must must. all appear before the judgment seat of Christ. In verse nine it's ambition. Wherefore we labor. Mr. Darby translates that word like this, therefore we are ambitious. In verse ten, it's not ambition, it's assessment. And before you conclude the chapter, we're faced with the great truth of ambassadorship. For we are ambassadors of Christ. But in twenty minutes, we cannot cover all that ground, but just seek to bring before you this motivation that Paul has given to us to heed the word of God. That personally, we might be accepted. The word is that we might be well pleasing unto him. And just to remind you, we must, there's no exception. Appear, that is, be manifested before the judgment seat of Christ. When Paul thinks about the planting of the Church of God at Corinth in chapter 1 and verse number three, he tells us what he planted was three things in one unity: a garden, a building, a holy temple. What Paul planted was this. A congregation of people in their relationship to God. God's husbandry. God's building. God's temple. In relationship to Christ, says one Corinthians chapter twelve, Body of Christ. In two Corinthians chapter three, epistles of Christ. And just in chapter eleven of that second epistle, a chaste virgin unto Christ. That's what Paul planted in Corinth when he arrived, they were, of course, the temples of the Gentiles, the synagogue of the Jews. When he left, they were Jews and Gentiles and Church of God. In order that we might be encouraged to face up to the challenge of the word of God to our hearts this afternoon. We need to remember, we must all appear, be manifest at the judgment seat of Christ. Will we appear there as sinners, and therefore have to answer to our sins? Not so. Says the Apostle Paul as he opens up the Roman epistle. Once we were like guilty criminals before the bar of God, Condemned. condemned. But on the basis of the redemptive work of Christ, God judicially has cleared us of every guilt, of every sin. Past, present, future, God has dealt with us as to our sins in the death of Christ, once and for all. So we will not appear there as sinners to give account unto God or unto Christ of our sins. But then will we appear there as sons? For as we learned from the Bible reading yesterday, we are, after all, the sons of God. Will we have to appear at the judgment seat of Christ in that character of sons of God, that we might experience the chastening hand of God at the judgment seat of Christ? Oh no, says Hebrews chapter twelve. If God dealt with us as sinners, in the cross of Christ, when we came to Christ by faith, then God is dealing with us as sin- as sons, but now not as a judge, but as a father. And therefore every son whom the Father loveth, he chastens, he brings under his discipline. A chastening and a discipline that is educative for us as sons of God. In what character then must we stand before the judgment seat of Christ? Well, if not as sinners, and not as sons, it must be as servants. The Apostle Peter, writing that second letter, introduced himself like this: Simon Peter, a servant, an apostle of Jesus Christ. As a servant, he was a man under authority. As an apostle, he was a man with authority. And we are servants, all of us. And as servants, we should be moving under the conscious experience of being subject unto Christ. So what about these personality problems? Which Brother David referred to as a personality cult. Well, says Romans chapter fourteen, The judgment seat of Christ will deal with that side of things. You might think you're one of the strong Christians, or you might see yourself as one of the weak Christians of Romans chapter fourteen. Paul linked himself with the strong Christians. But, says the Apostle Paul, you weak Christians who've taken to yourself the judgment seat, and looking upon those, uh, strong Christians, you judge them and say, if they go on like that in that liberty which they're enjoying in Christ, they'll fall. Yes, the weak Christian, with his outsized conscience, taking his place on the judgment seat, judging the strong Christian, moving in the full liberty that the gospel of Christ has brought him into. But then, what about those strong Christians? They did not take the judgment seat of, of position. They simply looked down on these poor weak Christians with their outsized conscience who didn't quite see things as they saw it, and they despised them. That's the problem. We're taken up just too much today with judging one another on the one hand, or despising one another on the other. Of course, there are matters that must be judged. That's what one Corinthians chapter five is all about. But the Lord Jesus does sound a sa- a note of warning in that upper room, sorry, in that Sermon on the Mount in chapter seven. Judge not one another, because with the measure that ye mete, it shall be meted unto you. We ought not to sit in judgment on one another in that sense in which the Lord Jesus Christ taught in Matthew chapter seven. We ought not to despise one another just because you cannot see the thing as I see it, and I despise you. Or because you cannot rise to the enjoyment of what we have in Christ as another might arise to it, and you judge them. Or, says Paul in Romans fourteen, you see, it matters not whether we're strong or weak. We must all stand before the judgment seat of Christ. And those personal attitudes that rise up in personal relationships will all be assessed by the Lord Jesus Christ, before whom we must stand. So what about this business of the local assembly and its testimony? Can I be careless? If I read one Corinthians three right, then I would understand that in that chapter, Paul is speaking about the work of the gospel. Who he says, I have planted, Apollos watered. In other words, when Paul went to Corinth in Acts chapter eighteen, he went with this assurance from the Lord who appeared unto him in the night and in a vision and says, be not afraid, but speak, for I am with thee. He went there with a consciousness of the presence of the Lord. And no man shall set upon thee to hurt thee. He went there with the promised protection of the Lord. I have much people in this city. He went there with the assured blessing of the Lord. It says, Paul, I planted, Apollos watered. I went there and preached. What was my preaching? Why, says one Corinthians chapter, I preached the gospel of, I preached the, the cross of Christ. In one Corinthians chapter fifteen, he said, I preach the death and resurrection of Christ. That's what he preached. The cross of, the cross of Christ, that which man gave to Christ, which spells out the condemnation of the world. And he preached. Therefore, says Acts chapter eighteen and verse eight, and many of the Corinthians hearing. That's what they heard, a preaching of the cross that proclaims the condemnation of the world and reminds us that to become a Christian, it calls for a separation from the world that gave to Christ that cross. And he preached the death of Christ and its subsequent resurrection that proclaims salvation. And many of the Corinthians hearing that message believed. In other words, the substance of the apostles' preaching gave them substance upon which they could place their faith. They believed. When they heard what Paul preached, they not only believed, they were baptized. They said, Paul, I planted. Of course, Apollos came behind me. He watered. In other words, with that very eloquent ministry that Apollos brought with him, he, he fostered and he furthered the work that Paul had commenced in the gospel that planted this marvelous thing, a garden for God, a building and a holy temple. But then, says Paul, you see, I planted, Apollos watered, but you know, each one shall receive his own reward according to his own labor. At the judgment seat of Christ, according to one Corinthians chapter three, the Lord will take into account the effort and the energy that we put in to the work of the gospel, as Paul refers to it, as he opens up that chapter to us. And the Lord will assess where we put our energies, what efforts we've made. Was it for the interest of Christ in this world, or for our own aggrandizement? He then looks at the work of the ministry within the local assembly. He says, you see, there's only one foundation upon which we can build, that's Jesus Christ. On that foundation he laid the foundation of the Church of God at Corinth. He says, I laid that foundation, but another buildeth thereon. Therefore he says, watch where you build. Watch how you build. And just watch with what you build. You can build with wood, hay, stubble. It doesn't take very long to amass a tremendous pile, a mountain of wood and hay and stubble. But when that man who spent his life in a local assembly, building into it that popular ministry that is nothing but wood, hay, and stubble, when it comes under the searching glance of those fiery eyes of the Lord Jesus Christ, it will be reduced to ashes. And yet, the man himself shall be saved, so as by fire. And the man will stand. Not saved. Just by, uh, the, uh... Well, just saved with the naked, no, no. What would the man be saved, although his work of ministry has been consumed? Because he stands upon the foundation of the sacrifice of Christ. That's why the man will be saved. But his work gone. There's nothing more solemn, nor serious, than to be privileged by God to build into a local assembly. But we must take account of what materials we build with. with. Fancy spending years building with wood, dead trees, hay, dead grass, stubble, dead corn, a life's work marked by deadness, and yet so popular. Now, says Paul, there are other materials. There's gold and silver and costly stones. And so he not only looks at the work of the gospel in relation to the local assembly, he looks at the ministry within that local assembly, and we can use these different materials. Gold. Well, of course, gold in scripture has more than one application. It can refer to that which relates to the deity of Christ, or it can relate to that which, uh, deals with the righteousness of Christ, or to the personal glory of Christ. For when I read my Bible, I find there is pure gold in the vessels of the tabernacle that display the glory of his deity. I read of gold that covered the boards of the tabernacle, that displayed the righteousness of that man that moved in this world, whom Paul refers to as Je- is is Jesus Christ the righteous. I think that fine gold of Song of Solomon, chapter five and verse number ten— Oh, his head and his feet as the most fine gold. Oh, to build into the assembly of God's people a ministry of gold. That Christ may be exalted in the thoughts and minds and hearts of the believers. It's a solemn thing, isn't it? A serious thing to stand even like this this afternoon, to present unto you the truth of God's word. No wonder James says this in James chapter three, and be not many masters, that means, and be not many teachers, brethren, for we shall stand in the greater judgment. Yes, even the men who've spoken to you this afternoon will stand at the judgment seat of Christ. And because men who stand like this to teach the people of God influence the minds and the hearts of God's people, we stand in a greater judgment. So we build with gold. With silver. I don't need to remind you of what silver means, or how it speaks of the ransom price as far as Israel was concerned in those early days of its history. Or as Peter says, we are not redeemed with such corruptible things as silver or gold, or by those vain traditions received of the fathers, but by the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot. Oh, for a ministry that lays in the hearts and souls of the saints of God the great doctrine of the redemption that is in Christ Jesus. Ever wondered why? When you're reading through Exodus chapter twenty six and you come to those boards of the tabernacle, that each board has two hands, and beneath each board was put two silver sockets, so that each of those hands on each board would grasp hold with firm hold on those silver sockets. Why two hands? Why two sockets of silver? Because when we think about the great doctrinal truth of redemption, there are two sides to that great subject. Says Exodus chapter twelve, when I see the blood, I will pass over you. Says the Apostle Paul in Ephesians one verse seven, in whom we have redemption through his blood. We're redeemed by blood. But when we come through the book of Exodus to chapters thirteen and fourteen, and these people so recently redeemed by blood are faced with the waters of the Red Sea behind- before them, and the armies of Pharaoh behind them, and hemmed in on either side by the mountains of that wilderness part. God says, stand still and see the salvation of God. And Moses stretched forth the rod of God, and the waters of the Red Sea were parted, and they went through on dry land. And when Pharaoh's mighty military, uh, army followed through, then Moses was commanded, went on the other side of the Red Sea to stretch forth that rod again, and the waters came, and Israel saw their enemies dead upon the seashore. How are they redeemed? They were redeemed by the mighty power of God. And there is in redemption not only redemption by the blood of Christ, but by the mighty power of God who hath translated us out from the kingdom of darkness, says Colossians chapter one, into the kingdom of the son of his love. And redemption in Colossians one is by the mighty power of God to deliver us from one kingdom and puts us into another. Oh, says Paul, you see, we must all stand before the judgment seat of Christ, and the gospel preacher, and the man that stands to teach the word of God. Their work will be brought under review, assessed by the Lord Jesus Christ. Will it stand the test? Are those eyes like flaming fire? For all that fire would do to the gold and the silver and those costly stones will be to remove the dross. And the gold stands still. And the silver. And the costly stones, and says Paul, each one shall have his own reward. So says the Apostle Paul. Our ambition should be to wa- to be while pleasing to him. But to get us there, he says, we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so that our personal attitudes might be sorted by the Lord. And our labours for him within the confines of the local assembly, if I just take one Corinthians three as the example and the illustration, that will come under his assessment and his review. But what about this body in which I stand? What about that body which you've been given. What about the things done in the body? Well, says Paul, even the things done in the body will come under review and receive the divine assessment. So the things that we have done in this body, whether good or worthless. We shall receive the perfect assessment of the Lord Jesus, whether what we've done in these bodies was good or worthless. If only that man, in one Corinthians chapter five had realized the sanctity of the human body, which the Apostle Paul reminds us in this very same epistle, the first epistle to the Corinthians, that these very bodies in which we live, temple of the Holy Spirit, and the very presence of the Holy Spirit dwelling in you and in me, as we may be believers in our Lord Jesus Christ, renders these very bodies in which we move, in which we live and have our being, the temples of the Holy Spirit. And if the Spirit of God is holy, who indwells us, then it makes these bodies holy. If only that man had remembered his body was a temple of the Holy Spirit. No wonder the Apostle Paul, dealing with that great sin at Corinth, which is common today and more so, said in relation to that sin of fornication, it is a sin against the individual's own body. We cannot use these bodies as we would. We must use them in the light of the judgment seat of Christ. The tempter has not changed. He came to the Lord Jesus Christ in that wilderness and said unto him, if thou be the Son of God, make these stones bread. What was he saying? Why don't you satisfy yourself? And the tempter hasn't changed. He still comes alongside and says to young men and young women and older men and older women, listen, why don't you satisfy yourselves? Oh, says Peter, this great salvation which we've received through faith in our Lord Jesus Christ has actually saved us from the corruption that is in the world through lust. And again, to take you back to one cr- to Matthew chapter five and the Lord's instruction, when he brings before us those six precepts, as he says, I am not come to destroy the law and the prophets, but to fulfill them. In other words, I've come to fill them out. He said it had been said in verse twenty one, and again in verse twenty seven, and again in verse thirty one, and again in verse thirty three, and again in verse forty three. He says, it has been said. He takes them back to the law and to the prophets. But then he says this, but I say unto you, he deals with the matter of murder and takes us behind the scenes to look into the heart of a man or a woman, and he talks about anger. He talks about the sin of adultery. It hath been said, they shall not commit adultery, and takes us behind the scenes again and looks into the heart, and he says, if a man lust after a woman, he hath already committed adultery with her in his heart. If ever there was a day when we need to sound a clarion call to a life of purity and holiness, because everything around us would seek to encourage a life that is not holy and a life that is not pure. This is Paul. The things done in the body will come under the assessment of Christ. As the late Mr. E. W. Rogers of London used to tell us, what we do is just like a boomerang. It goes out. It will return at the judgment seat of Christ. And from the Lord we shall receive his assessment. Was it good? Or worthless? The ministry this afternoon is going to take effect. Which we've listened to from the three previous speakers. It will only take effect if the judgment seat of Christ is a reality in your heart and in mine. And may God bless his work.