The Crown of Righteousness (Part 2 of 2)

Did you know that only bad people go to heaven to find out why that is today on Truth for Life. As Alistair Begged teachers about an urgent warning and an undeserved reward in a message titled the crown of righteousness from the series guard the truth were in second Timothy chapter 4 verse eight, the work of God within us is not perfected and is not brought to completion until we raise from the dead. That's why we teach our children is not every teach one another that three tenses of salvation so that we are able to put it very straightforwardly that in Jesus we have been saved, past tense from sin's penalty. We are being saved present tense from sin's power and one day we will be saved, future tense from sin's presence. But in the meantime, in Christ were still sinners were still sinful and there's not a day goes by without a fight that we are aware of that and the evil one comes to accusers in several you know if you really wear a proper believing person surely would have thought that Shirley would've said that I thought you would've done that you've left it on.what is the answer to that. Will the answer is that we have been saved from the penalty of sin and one day we will be saved from the presence of sin. But in the meantime we are wrestling with the power of said is not a question about ultimate victory, but it is a question about the ongoing battle. That's why Paul elsewhere says were not wrestling against flesh and blood, but against spiritual wickedness in the heavenly places.

That's why he says for the Ephesian church.

They gotta make sure they have a whole armor of God that their head is secure by the helmet of salvation and the breastplate of righteousness is protecting them from the attacks of the evil one.

There's nothing for your back is all for the front the belt of truth and the sword of the spirit in prayer and so on. All of that is necessary not calling into question the crown that is there, but it is acknowledging the reality of what it's like to get there now to come back to this George Carlin thing.

If I may. Life is tough and then you die said in a way that's that sort of defines life in that way you know you die and there's nothing more to be concerned about. You know oblivion.

What the Bible says and this is what is so striking is that it is appointed unto man once to die, and after this comes judgment. We see this is how Paul has framed this exhortation to Timothy you notice what he says I charging the presence of God and of Christ Jesus is the next phrase. Who is to judge the living and the dad the reason he says it so important Timothy that you tell people this good news is because there is a judgment is going to come and now he comes back to it. He's back again at the righteous judge to talk like this is to make oneself immediately vulnerable.

And whether you're in a pool but as I am now kind of one of our whether you're talking to somebody on the bus or on the train or whatever else it is great is a great temptation is there just a drawback just to just a pull out a couple of the little blocks just not to just not to say it all because it's very unappealing to people, and especially if you are intelligent friends. They want you to be as intelligent as they are and they decided that if you're going to be as intelligent as they are. You have to give up on some of the silly stuff.

I know you do. Why don't you take a couple of those breaks out well because you can't when Paul, who wasn't exactly a dunce was invited to address the intelligentsia in Athens even pull any punches is very skillfully was gracious. Remember what he did ask chapter 17. You can read it for yourself. He said to them well I am delighted the opportunity to speak to you, and I was wandering around the place. This afternoon I noticed that you are a very religious group of people and that you have various altars and shrines and statues to all kinds of gods and goddesses, and I noticed that you have one you actually made to cover your bases to the unknown God is pretty clever. Don't want to miss out and said I'm glad you have that one because it gives me an introduction to my talk the God that you don't know. I want to tell you about. I want to tell you about the unknown God. You can imagine their ears going up. They got a new everything will turn to tell us about the unknown God never does he do. He starts with the doctrine of creation, the God who made the world and everything in so we are created by God.

Yes, and you are accountable to God. He's not accountable to you. I can just imagine pausing, taking a breath and sank centimeters wrap this up by pointing out quote God commands all people everywhere to repent. How comprehensive is that exactly God commands all people everywhere to repent.

And I'll tell you why he says because he has fixed a day when he will judge the world in righteousness by a man he has appointed the words he doesn't back off from the reality of this because he realizes that a world that does not ultimately reckon with the execution of justice is a meaningless world when things are broken, they need to be fixed and to get them fixed. Somebody has to pay the do not get fixed without payment coming from somewhere, and our broken world is not going to be repaired apart from a payment, the execution of that which is necessary in order to restore that which is broken which is dysfunctional, which is warped and so he says he is established this day and it is this day that is referring to here day when he appears verse eight of chapter 4 and this righteous charge will judge the living and the dead. Verse one. Now, just in case you think it is going to be very you know you built a slight buyer will dislike by know it's it's much worse than that to member Ecclesiastes. The Old Testament book which probably is. You know that the Old Testament equivalent in a longer version of Paul's speech to the Areopagus, and I chapter 17 insofar as it begins with secular man and says you are probably tempted to explain yourself in terms of intellect or in terms of your physical prowess or by growing plants in establishing gardens and wine women and song in and he goes down all those Avenue diseases, a dead end down there in a dead end down there in a dead end down there is the chapter 12 and he says you better remember your creator before everything falls apart do memory finishes and the close of the book is what he said okay here's the end of it all. He says let me give it to you in a nutshell, fear God and keep his commandments. Fear God and keep his commandments. And then he explains why quote for God will bring every deed into judgment with every secret thing, whether good or evil.

God will bring every deed into judgment, including every secret thing, whether good or evil. While and who's going to do this, the righteous judge when is he going to do this when he appears so sedated is fixed.

Yes.

Will he do it fairly absolutely. He's righteous. Will there be any second chances no its final will lose who is going to love his appearing. You are going to love his appearing. The righteous judge is going to come and execute judgment to be completely fairly will get anything wrong. The absolutely final he can fiddle with unless there's a way to deal with this. We are without exception, completely lost it.

Every one of us agreed to here find some way of dealing this one waited… I don't believe I just avoid the on everyone. Thank you.

Have a great afternoon. Asad Nana Nana not enough talk today and talk to the interventional that I have. Why couldn't convention the spirit of God can convince you spirit of God will say to you in your heart you better listen to this because of the person speaking because of the truth is conveyed. Have you followed that silk Road trial. As I have done with that young man who built as a result of his amazing genius billion plus marketing strategy through all the world to sell to sell drugs and they caught him, and Friday, or Thursday. They sentenced they found him guilty as charged 31 years old clever from a privileged background with all of his life in front of to call for his genius and applied it in this way, his parents were present for the sentencing measure? Do you think that he was sitting out in the anteroom, waiting to be brought back into the dark and he was saying to himself, you know, I'm really looking forward to the reappearing of the judge. I can't wait to she comes in. Now course, not because the guilty verdict had already been determined only the sentencing remain, and he bowed his head and listened as Judge Catherine Forrest gave him a life sentence without the possibility of parole. Okay, so that's it, but without any desire for rhetoric or emotional manipulation, may I say to you on the authority of the Bible that that is nothing compared to the right execution of the judgment of God upon sin that will bear punishment that lasts eternally.

My loved ones. That is why this is so crucial. That is why the urgency of it is so real.

This is why Paul says listen I am going to die. Timothy, you must tell these people tell them the amazing good news. What is the amazing good news. The amazing good news is this that the judge the righteous judge Jesus has come from the bench and has taken all of his role and has put himself in the place of the one judged and has borne the punishment of the judge deserved and has paid the dad that the judge cannot possibly pay. That's the story of the gospel that it is the story of first of all, realizing the predicament in which I find myself and then the amazing news that God loves sinners that, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us, only bad people go to heaven. Only bad people go to heaven if you are going to happen because your good which is the standard Bible I damn probably good enough. You ain't going. I can tell you but if you know your bad there's a chance provided you look to the righteous judge who is done for you when you can do for yourself. I mean you gonna come up with something to say what I've always done my best. I've never really harmed anybody at all, as if any of us could reach a standard whereby we could seriously argue before you could argue our goodness before God. How could you argue your goodness before God even your spouse know you're not that good.

You know you're not that good.

Goodness gracious. How many times a day do we do do we realize how messed up we are. And then we got to somehow another face about of judgment go like I think I can plead in my defense, know the wonder of the good news is the wonder of good news. If I have time and I don't I'll take you all the way through Paul and show you a radical transformation in Saul of Tarsus who was so stuck on his own righteousness he what he regarded himself in relationship to law keeping as blameless as what he said sorry we was right up there in the in a hype high 90% he was doing a really good job and then he said his but I regard that is a lot of trash now why for the surpassing worth of knowing Jesus Christ as my Lord, I suddenly he says, I suddenly got it that although my righteousness could never be put together in a way that I would be acceptable to God, a righteousness from God. Romans 321 has now been granted to it is by faith for all who believe he does it again in Philippians 3 he got the Titus is the same story when the goodness and lovingkindness of God our Savior appeared, he saved us, not because of works done by us in righteousness, but according to his own mercy seat in the starkest of terms.

The reason that we may look forward to a crown is because Jesus had a crown.

His crown was a crown of thorns in order that we might have a crown of right, he bears our punishment is Isaiah puts it, he was crushed for our iniquities. He was bruised because we were the bruised ones the thieves on the cross.

I'm I'm not sure there's many a day goes by. I don't think about these two men, three men teases in the middle and the other two. The one fellow giving Jesus a bad time if you really are who you say you are and come down off the cross and get me off across your Messiah not be a good time to show up and saw us again. I think you will say to me all the time you want me to believe in Jesus Lamb do a miracle for me have them come down and do some he comes down to chagrin Falls. I believe on Tuesday. Let me tell you something know you wouldn't you wouldn't, and the other fellow sisters. Frannie says hey hey hey wait a minute we are up here getting what our sins deserve. We are justifiably up here on this cross, but this man has done nothing wrong. Why is he up here because he who knew no sin became sin for us, in order that in him we might become the righteousness of God that God pardons in Jesus all our sins accepts us as righteous in his sight only for the righteousness of Christ imputed to us and received by faith. If you are a believer today. Your righteousness is not a wee bit of you is not like a file in the computer of your existence whereby you open a particular file called a righteousness file and you see on March righteousness you've got in there. You don't have righteousness. Jesus is your righteousness. He's all your righteousness. I don't have any other righteousness except the righteousness which is mine in Christ. That's why poses is such an amazing thing if or if any man be in Christ he is a new creation the old is gone. The newest column he comes with all this debt in the column that Dennis canceled as a result of the credit of Christ to an amazing story and actually this story. Unlike most religious stories because most religionists are either proud or their despairing if you meet people or to religion you will find the one of the two Riley going around a while.

I'm pretty confident I've done such a great job and so on, or you will find a people are in absolute despair. I could never live up to it. I could never do it.

I don't know what I'm going to do the gospel deals with our pride and with our despair to rise in our pride.

It says both morally and intellectually. You don't have to rely on Jesus. That's going to take a humbling is and to our despair when we say I think I'm so bad there's no possibility. It says, did you ever hear about the thief on the cross. Imagine that we go to Niagara falls together and we go on the Canadian side is much nicer over there and like this.

It is nicer over there in those the flowers and never there are nicer. I don't know why they don't clean our site up that's that's another story for another day.

And as we got there together. I notice that you are standing perilously close to the edge and as I look at where you're standing. I realize that you're standing on a ship on a shaky foundation and so I say to you, hey, don't stand there that won't hold you and you say that my chances or maybe you're offended and you say hey don't tell me where to stand is no reach for me to apply the analogy by nature. We are standing close to the precipice on a rickety foundation and the Bible says that will not hold you here is solid ground on which to stand. Are you going to say update my chances are your say don't tell me where to stand or even say hey thank you so much. I didn't realize you saved my life. That's the story.

This was all wrapped up in this crown. In this day it's something tree is a certainty for those who come to him in believing faith I wonder have you done that I was at a wedding last night and you know they got married. We usually do. They did the do do do you do, do you take him. I do do take her. I do, and they doodled and that was it. There's all married up the whole the whole it was a great to do actually was a isle I like that analogy because I often use it on my you know to finally close with Christ's offer of salvation you have to do something is not enough simply to process intellectually.

What I'm saying to you. You've got to finally come down on one side or another. If you imagine the father.

It's a strange picture of imagine the father God, looking down on Christ in you, standing beside him and he says to his son son. You take the center in crisis.

Father I died for her and he says and you do take the Savior. Do you have you will you get off your rickety foundation.

I'm telling you it will not hold you neither in time and definitely not in eternity I'm telling you this because I have to, because I want to is Alastair Greg warning us of the coming judgment explaining how the gospel deals with our pride as well as our despair listening to Truth for Life weekend. Alastair will be back in just a minute to close in prayer so please keep listening. We just heard Alastair urging us to get off our rickety foundation. Seven. Take Christ as our Savior. If you'd like to know more about the firm foundation of the gospel, we invite you to the learn more page on our website you will find two videos there one video features Alastair explaining the gospel. The others in animated presentation called the story that will walk you through God's plan of salvation. Visit Truth for Life.org/learn more part of our mission, a Truth for Life is to encourage pastors so the local churches will be strengthened in addition to Alistair's messages we select books to help support this mission and that's why will recommending a book by Rico Tice called faithful leaders and the things that matter most. This is a book about Christian leadership. Rico gets right to the heart of the matter, explaining that as church leaders we need to get God's word right and get our character right faithful leaders is the perfect book for leadership retreats. It's short, it's only hundred and seven pages. There are questions at the back of the book to help you think about your personal, and ministerial strengths and weaknesses, so that you're able to improve as needed. Find out more about the book faithful leaders.

When you visit our website Truth for Life.org. Now here's Alastair close with prayer father, thank you that we are ultimately shut up to your word that none of his invented this is not is so easy to say something doesn't hold mass appeal and are contemporary culture. We know that you're the God who opens blind eyes shows is that if we are standing on rickety foundations you soften our hearts if we are tempted to say I don't want you telling me what to do or where to stand how your other pursuing God so pursuers Lord, like the hound of heaven. Some of us in our intellect pursued like Lewis others others in our despair, pursued like a woman of the well but pursuers and bring us to yourself.

We pray so that we may rest in the assurance that one day when we stand before you and may do so on a shame and all of our answer will be away from ourselves in Christ, in whose name we pray. Amen Bob peen. Thanks for listing. Join us again next week and when will learn what all Christians have the potential to backslide.

Find out how you can resist the world's pull Bible teaching of Alistair Begg is furnished by Truth for Life learning is prolific