 Our sermon title this morning is Walk by Faith. Walk by Faith. We are in 2 Corinthians chapter 5, specifically in verses 6 through 10. This second half, if you will, of a paragraph, a concept that runs from verses 1 through 10. And now looking specifically at verses 6 through 10, both last Lord's day and this morning. In 2 Corinthians chapter 4, verse 7, Paul describes us as weak earthen vessels. We are clay pots given stewardship over a glorious treasure. That treasure, verse 6, is the light of the knowledge of God in the face of Jesus Christ here referring to the gospel. We are given this great commission, this glorious treasure, of preaching the gospel to the lost and making disciples. And then in addition to preaching the gospel to the lost, we are given the responsibility, the great commission of ministering the gospel to those disciples teaching them to obey all things he has commanded us. That work, the work that every single Christian has been called to in the cause of Christ, is often very hard, difficult work. Verses 8 and 9, chapter 4, verses 8 and 9, we are often hard pressed, perplexed, persecuted, struck down. We always, verse 10 and 11, always carry about in our body the dying of the Lord Jesus. We are always delivered to death for Jesus' sake. Verse 16, our outward man, this flesh, is literally perishing, wasting away. In chapter 5, verse 1, we may one day be called to die for the cause of Christ. Christians are called to deny themselves, to take up their cross daily, and to follow the Lord Jesus Christ. So in light of these difficulties, this affliction, we live on this earth in what Paul calls our earthly tent, this earthen clay vessel. And chapter 5, verse 2, we groan. We groan under hardship. We groan under affliction. We groan under the wasting away of this body. But while we may groan through the difficulties of this life, we earnestly long for and desire to be raised with Christ, don't we? Closed with our glorified body in the resurrection and with Him at home forever in the new heavens and in the new earth. This side of heaven, we walk by faith, not by sight. And we hold those two realities, those two biblical truths in a kind of balance and a kind of tension. By repentant faith in Christ, a believer is brought into the kingdom of God in this difficult life. Already in the kingdom, that believer looks forward with great anticipation to the not yet of his future, that future which is promised, hoped for, laid up in heaven for him, reserved in heaven for him, that resurrection life with Christ. We are to hold these two truths in tension, the already and the not yet. We live and labor for Christ now while we trust and hope in Christ for the future. Hebrews chapter 12 verse 28 says it this way. Therefore, since we are receiving a kingdom which cannot be shaken, we are receiving it now and we will fully receive it in the future, he says then, let us have grace by which we may serve God acceptably with reverence and godly fear. Why? Because our God is a consuming fire. In 2 Corinthians chapter 5 verses 6 through 10, Paul is expressing those truths in biblical balance. And he's saying this is what drives and motivates my ministry even in the context of tremendous affliction, tremendous difficulty. So what motivates the Christian to serve Christ diligently and to serve him with joy in this life despite difficult circumstances? What motivates the Christian is what God has done in Christ, what God has done for him in Christ, what God has promised in Christ and the fact that we are accountable to him. That's expressed in Hebrews 12 28. We are receiving the kingdom, we will receive the kingdom and we are accountable to our God who is a consuming fire. Peter says it this way, 1 Peter chapter 1 verse 3. Turn there with me quickly. 1 Peter chapter 1 verse 3. 1 Peter chapter 1 verse 3. Peter says it this way, Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ who according to his abundant mercy has begotten us again to a living hope, not a lifeless fight dream, but a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead. He has begotten us again to that living hope, which verse 4 is an inheritance and inheritance is something we'll receive in the future, right? To an inheritance incorruptible and undefiled that does not fade away reserved in heaven for you who are kept by the power of God through faith for salvation ready to be revealed in the last time. Verse 6. In this, 9 what specifically, right? In this living hope, in this future inheritance, in this salvation, you verse 6 greatly rejoice even though now for a little while if need be you have been grieved by various trials, even in the midst of difficulty, even in the midst of hardship and affliction, because of the hope that is laid up for us, we can rejoice and persevere, enjoy, even in the midst of circumstances, despite our circumstances, serving the Lord Jesus Christ to the end, persevering to the end, because we know that we have a living hope. This future inheritance is salvation laid up for us. Verse 7. These trials are so that the genuineness of your faith being much more precious than gold it perishes though it is tested by fire may be found to praise, honor, and glory at the revelation of Jesus Christ, whom having not seen you love, we live by faith, not by sight, right? Though now you do not see him yet believing you rejoice with joy inexpressible and full of glory receiving the end of your faith, the salvation of your souls. Brothers and sisters, if we want to live faithfully for Christ, if we want to diligently serve him in this life with an inexpressible and unquenchable joy, despite difficult circumstances, then we must lay hold of that living hope. If you want joy, if you're fighting apathy, if you're fighting indifference, right? If you've grown cold, if your love for Christ has waned, you need to lay hold of that living hope in him. What Christ has done, what God has promised in Christ. And remember, we are accountable to him. Paul gets it. Paul gets it back in 2 Corinthians chapter 5 verses 6 through 10. Paul has tapped into a wellspring, a fountain, if you will, of strength and hope and zeal and perseverance and joy. Knees truths applied by the Spirit of God then fuel his ministry. First, 2 Corinthians chapter 5 verses 6 through 7, it produces in him, this hope produces in him a bold trust. Look at verse 6. So then Paul says, we are always confident, knowing, knowing that while we are at home in the body, we are absent from the Lord, for we walk by faith, not by sight. Paul's confidence in the resurrection fuels his conduct as he lives by faith in Christ. Next, Paul's confident faith fuels a bold hope in verse 8. Verse 8, we are confident, yes, and well pleased rather to be absent from the body and to be present with the Lord. Paul's confidence, Paul's courage is fueled by a faith-filled hope that when Paul dies, he will be with the Lord that day in paradise. This is Paul's settled preference. This is Paul's determined hope. Is it your settled preference? Can you say without compromise this morning, unequivocally, that you would far rather to be absent this body, absent this world, and to be present with the Lord? Is that your hope? To live as Christ, to die as gain, right? It's infinitely better. To be with Christ, Paul says, is infinitely better than anything this wicked world has to offer. Paul cultivates through keeping his eyes fixed on eternal unseen things. Paul cultivates within himself, within his heart, a settled preference. It's a settled hope to be with the Lord Jesus Christ. With that settled hope, that determined resolve, Paul can abandon himself to ministry. Freeze him up to, with abandon, serve Christ in this life. He is free then to lay down his life, to deny himself daily, to take up his cross, and to follow Christ, right? You and I brothers and sisters, we can do the same thing. With that settled hope, laying hold, apprehending, that settled hope, that determined resolve, we can abandon ourselves to serve Christ in this life knowing that even if we die, we have a building from God, a house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens. Third, I want you to note with me that Paul's hope in death, to be absent from the body and to be present with Christ, motivates then a bold ambition in verse nine, a bold ambition in verse nine. Look into verse nine with me. Paul essentially says, right? Because I would far rather be absent from the body and present with Christ, therefore, verse nine, we make it our aim, whether present or absent, to be well pleasing to him. Now, verse nine, I want you to see is loaded, loaded with light and heat, loaded with light and heat in the light of the knowledge, faith, understanding, reason, wisdom that the Word of God gives us, right? In that light, dwells the heat of holy ambition, zeal, pervincy, diligence, earnestness, desire, love, perseverance, right? In that light, dwells the heat. If you have grown apathetic, if you've grown indifferent, lukewarm, dull-hearted, cold, if you have lost your first love, then listen up, right? Listen up. If you find yourself prioritizing anything in this godless world apart from Christ, if you find yourself prioritizing anything else other than living fervently and faithfully for the Lord Jesus Christ, then listen up. You need this light and you need the heat that proceeds forth from it, right? Light and heat. Verse nine, whenever you see it there for, you have to look back and see what it's there for, right? When you consider what it's there for, verse nine, you see the light that fuels the heat of Paul's bold ambition in verse nine. Look at verse eight. In verse eight, I know, Paul says, I know that to be absent from the body is to be present with the Lord. Back in verse six, so then, we are always confident. We always have this confidence, this courage. Verse five, we've been given the indwelling Holy Spirit and the guarantee of God is a pledge of our inheritance. Back up in verse one, so I know then that when I die, I will be raised in the last day to a resurrection body eternal in the heavens. Because I know, chapter four, verse 14, that he who raised up the Lord Jesus will also raise us up with Jesus. You understand the heat, the light, right? That's the light, the knowledge, the understanding, the wisdom. The light, Paul says of my future resurrection, follow Paul's train of thought, fuel the heat of my ambition to live for him. My hope, my overwhelming preference is to be with him, to have communion with him, to fellowship with him unfettered by sin in heaven for eternity. That's my hope. Verse nine, therefore, therefore, based on what we know, based on what God has revealed to us in his word, based on what we know is true, right? Revealed by God, revealed by God, based on what we hope for, based on my inheritance, based on what God has promised, we make it our aim, we make it our ambition, whether present or absent, to be well pleasing to him. The word there, we make it our aim, translates the Greek word phila timaomai, phila timaomai is a compound word from philas, meaning love, philadelfia, brotherly love, philas, meaning love, and timae, honor. Love and honor. Paul says essentially, I consider it my life's honor. I have a love for and a passion for that which is most honorable, namely in verse nine, to be well pleasing to him, right? Same word, that same word, phila timaomai, used by Paul in Romans chapter 15, verse 20, where Paul said, I've made it my aim. I've made it my ambition to preach the gospel. It's used in 1 Thessalonians chapter 4, verse 11, where he told those in Thessalonica to make it their ambition to lead a quiet life, right? Not to be busy bodies, but to work with their hands. Now, as light produces heat, knowledge produces passion, love, joy, faith produces zeal. What here is Paul's great desire? Verse nine, Paul's great desires, whether present in the body, here on earth, present in the body or absent from the body with the Lord, right? Whether present or absent to be well pleasing to him, I would submit to you that any other ambition, any other ambition is a sinful and idolatrous ambition. You know, ambition, the word ambition often has very negative connotations, doesn't it? And those negative connotations are well deserved. Often when ambition is talked about or mentioned, ambition is negative. Any other ambition other than that ambition, Paul references here in verse nine, is a sinful and idolatrous ambition. I challenge you to think about that for a moment, right? Meditate on it for a moment. Someone says, I want to climb the corporate ladder. Why do you want to climb the corporate ladder? So you can have more influence for Christ in your company? Well, that's an ambition that's pleasing to the Lord, isn't it? So your good example of working hard serves as a good testimony for Christ on the job. Well, that's an ambition, a name that's well pleasing to him, isn't it? So you can provide even better for the family that God has given you stewardship over. So you can have more money to give to missions. Or, or is it for the pride of being VP one day? I just want to make it to Vice President. You want the ability to run things the way that you think they ought to run. Sick and tired of having this boss over me, I want to be the boss. I can do a far better job. You like the way that it feels to be a big wig, to be over other people, to have power or influence or command over other people. You like the way that people look like, look at you when you're in charge. You like the way that it feels to have that power, right? You want to make more money so that you can buy more stuff, more stuff that you think will make you happy. Do you see the difference between the two? If your ambition ultimately terminates on anything other than pleasing him, your ambition is sinful and idolatrous. I think about Paul's statements, for example, in Ephesians chapter 5, Ephesians chapter 6, wives, Paul says, wives, submit to your own husbands. Why? Wives? Because your husband is worthy of your submission? Yeah, you chuckle and you smile because you know that's not true, right? No, but because Christ is worthy of your submission. Christ is worthy of your submission to your husband. Your submission to your husband pleases the Lord. What does Paul say? Paul says, wives, submit to your own husbands as to the Lord, right? That which is well pleasing to him. Paul says, husband, love your wife. Love your wife. Why? Because all you need is love, right? Love makes the world go round. Love is a many splendid thing. No, but because your love for Christ, your love for your wife, is to be a picture of the sacrificial love that Christ displays in the gospel. You're to portray that in your love for your wife. In other words, the command of Paul to love your wife doesn't terminate in your wife. Do you see? The command of the Lord through the writing of Paul in Ephesians chapter 5 for husbands to love their wives terminates on the Lord Jesus Christ. It's for his glory. It's to be well pleasing to him. Doesn't terminate on you. It doesn't terminate on your wife. Husbands, Paul says, love your wives just as Christ also loved the church and gave himself for her. Kids, kids, you need to live to please your parents for your parents' sake, right? They raise you. Their life makes your life possible. So you should live to please them. No. No. Kids, listen. Paul says, children, obey your parents in the Lord. If your obedience, if your love for your obedience to your submission to your parents terminates on your parents, then that ambition to obey or to please your parents is sinful and idolatrous. Your obedience to your parents should terminate in the glory of God for Christ to be well pleasing to him. Bondservants or employees, employees, be obedient to those who are your employers. Paul says, with fear and trembling, be obedient with fear and trembling. He goes on to say, not with eye service, right? Not as men-pleasers. That's all you are if your obedience terminates on your employer. You're a man-pleaser, right? Not with eye service as men-pleasers, but as bondservants as slaves of the Lord Jesus Christ, right? Specifically, this well-pleasing life spoken of in the context of serving the Lord in ministry. In 2 Corinthians chapter 2, our chapter 5 verses 6 through 10, verses 1 through 10, chapter 2, chapter 3, chapter 4, chapter 5 are in the context of pleasing the Lord in your labor to the lost with the gospel and your labor toward God's people with the gospel to love them and to minister to them, right? Paul made it his aim, verse 9, whether present or absent, to be well-pleasing to him. And light is the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ. That light leads to heat, leads to heat in your love too, your love for, your devotion to, your obedience to the Lord Jesus Christ. Now notice with me from verse 9. I want you to notice three primary observations from our text here, three primary observations from verse 9. First observation is this. Driven by the word therefore at the beginning of verse 9, the knowledge, the light, right? The light, the knowledge that we will see him soon will fuel the heat, will fuel our ambition to live a life that is well-pleasing to him. Do you see the connection? In other words, faith in Christ, for that promise, specifically of one day being with him, trusting him that one day you will see him face to face, will produce a strong desire in the heart of a believer to always please him. We've got to see that connection. First John, chapter 3, verse 3, John says this. We know that when he is revealed, we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is. And everyone, every single Christian who has this hope, what's the hope that John is referring to? It's the hope of seeing him, right? Of being with him, fellowship with him, communion with him, right? Seeing him face to face. Everyone who has this hope in him, in Christ, purifies himself just as Christ is pure. Now notice the heart of Paul with respect to this in verse 9. Paul is essentially saying, or this is a glorious promise. This is a tremendous blessing, my hope of being in heaven with you, a once dead sinner by the enemy of God, by wicked works that you have reconciled to yourself, and you have saved me, delivered me to a living hope of being one day with you in heaven with Christ, face to face. Thank you, Lord, for this glorious promise. Thank you, Lord, for what you have done for me on the cross, forgiven me of my sins, reconciled me to God, justified me, declared me righteous, imputed, credited your righteous system to me so that I can stand before you, clothed in the righteous robes of the Lord Jesus Christ, steamed by you as if I had not sinned. Thank you, Lord, for what you have done for me on the cross. Thank you for the wondrous and eternal blessings that you have secured for me through your cross. My strongest desire, then, in that light, my strongest desire, my overwhelming ambition, my aim in life, the chief, preeminent priority for me as a slave of the Lord Jesus Christ, my singular aim, whether on earth or with you forever in eternity, will be to be well pleasing to you, right? To live my life as a sweet smelling sacrifice on the altar of your everlasting glory. Light leads to heat, right? A bold hope leads to bold ambition. The second observation, the second observation, the aim of the Christian life is to be well pleasing to him. Verse nine communicates that, and that aim is ambitiously pursued. It is ambitiously pursued. The Christian should be consumed with the pursuit of that which pleases him. We're not talking about earning merit, right? Or earning favor with Christ, working to try to think with me, right? When the Lord saved you, when you turn from your sin, put your faith in him, when the Lord saved you, delivered you from sins, forgave you, reconciled you to himself, justified you in the sight of God. When the Lord saved you, you at that moment became as favored as you ever will be. Why? Because you're in Christ and as he is, John says, so are we in this world. What a glorious thought, right? It's not that somehow on the spectrum of God's favor, you're somewhere down here and you've got to scratch and claw your way to get to that which is up there. You have his favor, his undying favor, his unwavering favor, his unquenchable favor. You have his full favor because you're in Christ, you're wrapped in Christ's righteousness. The Christian doesn't live the Christian life to earn favor or to earn merit, but by virtue of the person and work of the Lord Jesus Christ, right? By virtue of his finished work on the cross, by virtue of his perfect life credited to us, we have already have his favor. However, however, the greatest desire of the Christian is to enjoy communion with Christ and to enjoy communion with Christ specifically in heaven, unfettered by sin, right? Without sin, without the corruption, the inward corruption of our flesh. If that is truly your desire, if that's what you desire is fellowship with Christ, then that will motivate your desire to commune with him now, to commune with him now through obedient faith. You know that your sin grieves God, grieves the spirit of God. Your desire, your hunger, your thirst is to cast off the old man with its corruptions, with its pollutions, and to put on the new man, renewed. Charles Hodges says it this way, as ambitious men desire and strive after fame, so Christians long and labor to be acceptable to Christ. Love to him, the desire to please him and to be pleasing to him animates their hearts and governs their lives and makes them do and suffer what heroes do for glory. We do that for Christ. It's the heart behind Romans chapter 12 verse 1 where Paul says, I beseech you therefore brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service. One pastor said this, like that young businessman with his sights set on the corner office, like the politician who devotes himself to planning and strategizing to achieve his goal, like the athlete who shapes his entire life in order to lay hold of glory for himself. The Christian plans and strategizes and shapes his entire life around bringing glory to Christ and enjoying the enjoyment, right? Enjoying his favor. We want nothing more than to bring a smile to his face and to hear well done, good, and faithful slave. So then what do we do? What do we do? If that is our aim, we diligently, zealously, fervently, earnestly strive to pursue our sanctification. Holiness, conformity to his image, right? First test, chapter four verse three, for this is the will of God, your sanctification. You want to know what the will of God is? Here's the will of God, your sanctification, your sanctification. We labor to put off sin, putting to death the deeds of the body, by the spirit, right? We strive to obey. We exercise ourselves for Godliness. All of those words, right? All of those statements in the New Testament prevent us from imagining that the Christian life is a mere coasting, right? We sort of float along flowery beds of ease while the faith has come down to us on bloody seas. We pour ourselves into his word, right? We immerse ourselves in prayer, knowing that these means are means through which he conforms us by his spirit into the image of Christ, right? We have this great and glorious promise, and that's what God has saved us to. He has predestined us to be conformed into his image. And what God sets out to do in the gospel, God will accomplish. Having begun a good work in you, God will complete it. But what is our responsibility in that? Our responsibility is to strive. I guess I got to strive then, hard work. No. Why is that not, why is that not, or why isn't it a begrudging duty to strive? Because it's the believer's delight to be well pleasing to him. All of my desire, all of my heart, I want to live well pleasing to him. If it is a begrudging duty to you to obey the Lord, there are a couple of potential problems. All of them exist within your heart. It's not a begrudging duty. It is our delight to please him. You find yourself making excuses with regard to your sin, making excuses with regard to your lack of zeal and fervency and earnestness in serving him faithfully, either to the loss with the gospel or to the people of God with the word of God. You've got problems and those problems exist within your own heart. It may mean that the problem you have is you need a new heart. You've not received one yet. You need to cry out to God to make you alive in Christ. It may mean, brother, sister, we need to lay hold of those promises. These are glorious promises, glorious truths. We need to live with our gaze fixed upon eternal and unseen things, like these blessings that are reserved for us by God in heaven through Christ. Third observation, third observation, a life that is not marked by the singular driving ambition of living well pleasing to him by delighting in and striving to obey all his commands. That life is inconsistent with a genuine profession of faith in him. Do you get that? A life that is not marked by this singular driving ambition is a life that is inconsistent with a genuine profession of faith in him. Anything less than striving to be well pleasing to him betrays a lack of faith in him for his promises, betrays a lack of joy in him for what he has done. It demonstrates unbelief. Unbelief. Hebrews chapter four speaks of that. We're in verse two speaking of the disobedient and damned Israelites who refused to enter the promised land. Our author says that the gospel was preached to us as well as to them. However, the word which they heard didn't profit them. Why? The author says there in chapter four, it was not being mixed with faith in those who heard it. In other words, those disobedient Israelites who fell in the wilderness after seeing his work in the wilderness 40 years, the miracles of God poured out before their very eyes, the deliverance of God over and over again, they heard the gospel just like we hear the gospel. The gospel was preached to them as well as to us. The difference between the two is, if you're in Christ today, the difference between you and that disobedient damned Israelite that fell in the wilderness, the difference between the two is the word that they heard wasn't mixed with faith. It wasn't mixed with trust. It wasn't mixed with believing God at his word, believing God for the promises. It didn't profit them and God swore in his wrath they would not enter his rest. Do you see? Genuine faith, genuine faith always leads to a faithful obedience. Always. It is guaranteed by virtue of God's promise, by virtue of God's work, by the virtue of saving faith, by virtue of the indwelling Holy Spirit within the believer. Genuine saving faith always leads to faithful obedience and a life that is well pleasing to him. So don't be deceived. Don't be deceived. You may profess to be a Christian. You may utter with your mouth, right? I'm a Christian. I'm following the Lord Jesus Christ. You may confess that your greatest desire is to be with him in heaven. You can say all of these things, but if your primary aim in this life is not loving obedience to him, demonstrated by or evidenced by fruit in that regard, then you don't love Christ. It doesn't matter what you say. Your profession becomes a sham, empty. That's a diamond dozen in our age, isn't it? People all the time who make some simple decision, they go through the external ritual of some religious activity. They say some silly, superstitious little prayer. And all of a sudden now, based on that one moment or one momentary act of their will, they believe themselves to be a Christian, no matter how they live after. You can walk out the front door of the church. That was the stupidest thing I've ever done. And yet if anyone asked them, I'm a Christian. If anyone asked that church, those deacons, those leaders, are they a Christian? Oh, they're a Christian. I was there when they prayed that prayer. If your primary aim in this life is not loving obedience, is not living well pleasing to him with a heart to back it up, right? The heart to back it up. Your primary aim isn't your sanctification, loving the brothers, making disciples, taking up your cross, following him. Then you don't love Christ. It doesn't matter what you say. Your profession is a sham. The genuine Christian is consumed with the driving ambition of being well pleasing to him. Does that mean we're going to be well pleasing to him every moment of every day? No. Well, listen, the genuine Christian whose genuine desire is to be genuinely pleasing to him will be genuinely grieved when he's not, right? It will grieve your heart. You know, someone might say, where's the joy in all this, right? Where's the joy? You're always convicted over sin, dealing with your sin, battling your sin, fighting your sin. Where's the joy? Listen, the joy for the Christian is living a life that is well pleasing to him. But if you are living a life that is not well pleasing to him, and you know it because your conscience is accusing you at every turn, you're wallowing in your sin, wallowing in unrepentance, then you've forfeited joy while you're in your sin. Your joy will be fleeting if you're unrepentant. Turn from your sin. Turn from your sin, put your faith and trust in him. David, upon his repentance from sin, cried out to God, right? Restore to me what? The joy of my salvation. The joy of my salvation. So many people today. The world's definition of joy. Joy is just a fleeting passing fancy, right? Joy is the absence of anything that makes me mad. The absence of anything that makes me feel bad, which includes a lot of preaching in this church. Joy is the absence of anything that's going to disappoint. Joy is that which makes me happy. Joy is that which fulfills my desires, fulfills my lust, fulfills my pleasures. That's real joy. No, that's the joy of this world. And many want to claim Christ, claim his name, claim salvation while pursuing that kind of joy. That kind of joy is fleeting. Joy in Christ comes from laying hold of those promises by faith in Christ that God has secured for the believer in Christ. It's loving the Lord Jesus Christ, desiring from the heart to be well pleasing in him. And yes, living with the bittersweet reality, the bittersweet understanding that on this side of eternity, we still have our sin to deal with. And it gives us great joy in Christ when we make progress against our sin. And sometimes we are grieved when we don't, but we have a joy in him because we know that even when we sin, we have an ad ticket with the Father, Jesus Christ, the righteous. Who, if we confess our sin, he has promised to forgive us our sin, to cleanse us from all our iniquity. We have been made acceptable in his sight. We should have joy inexpressible on a continual basis because of those truths. That's real joy, real joy. Next, I want you to consider with me how absolutely amazing it is and such a testimony of the power of God's spirit, such a testimony of the exceeding riches of God's grace that we former blasphemers, former idolaters, former liars, adulterers, fornicators, drunkards, thieves and cowards can actually live a life now through faith that is well pleasing to him. Isn't that a miracle of God's grace? That we, we can live a life that is well pleasing to Almighty God, that we can please him who bore the wrath of God that you and I deserve. He bore that, took that upon himself that we can please him. The wrath directed against me for my sin was poured upon him. I was, when that wrath was poured out, utterly displeasing to him. That he took my guilt, he took my shame, declared me righteous by faith in him, and now once an enemy of God, I can live a life that is well pleasing to him. The first step toward living that life is to acknowledge that apart from him, you never have lived that life. You never have lived a life that is pleasing to him. Upon an encounter with the Lord in Luke chapter five, Peter cries out, depart from me, for I am a sinful man, O Lord. Peter in that moment didn't desire communion with the Lord because of his own sin, because he saw himself, acknowledged himself as sinful. His response was for the Lord to depart from him. The sin-wrecked tax collector in the temple would not so much as raise his eyes to heaven, but he beat his breast, saying, God, be merciful to me, the sinner. The Lord says that the tax collector left the temple that day a safe man. He walked down to his house justified, God says. Forgiven of his sins, clothed in the righteousness of Christ, reconciled to God. Listen, if you will acknowledge your sin now, cry out to God for forgiveness, turn from your sin now, and trust yourself to him. You can walk out of this house justified today. That is a glorious offer of God's grace, a tremendous promise, a tremendous blessing. You'll turn from your sin, put your faith and trust in him. He will save you, deliver you from the wrath to come. The bold ambition of Paul in verse 9, to live well pleasing to him, is then driven in part by a bold motivation in verse 10, a bold motivation in verse 10, where 2 Corinthians chapter 5 verse 10 reads, For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, that each one may receive the things done in the body according to what he has done, whether good or bad. I want us to consider verse 10 in terms of one, our responsibility, two, our requirement, and three, our recompense, our responsibility, our requirement, and our recompense. We'll consider our responsibility briefly. We'll finish this next week. First point, consider verse 10 in terms of our responsibility. The desire to live a life that is well pleasing to Christ, in addition to being fueled by faith in Christ, in addition to being fueled by hope in the promises of God, it finds its formal basis in the fact that we are accountable to Jesus Christ as Lord. The future resurrection and the reality of seeing the Lord here reminds Paul of this responsibility, reminds Paul of his accountability. We will see Christ, and when we see him, we know we must all stand before the judgment bar, the bar of Christ's judgment, to give an account for the things we've done, whether good or bad. Paul begins verse 10 with that little preposition, four, and he connects the thought of verse 10 to verse nine. We make it our aim to be well pleasing to him, four, or because we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ. The we in verse 10 applies to all Christians, applies to all Christians. And you say, wait a minute, I thought that because Jesus Christ died on the cross for me, paid my penalty, imputed to me his perfect righteousness, there was no need for me to face judgment. Here all Christians, all Christians will stand before the judgment seat of Christ. They will give an account for the things done in the body according to what he has done, whether good or bad. Judgment isn't only for unbelievers. We will appear there for others and sisters. Not only some of us, it says there, but all of us, all will appear before the judgment seat of Christ. The judgment seat of Christ reminds us that we were not saved to continue in sin. The judgment seat of Christ reminds us that we're not saved to indifference. We're not saved to wallow in neglect. We're not saved to apathy or to coasting or to aimless wandering. The salvation that God secures for us in Christ is not a let go and let God's salvation. Chapter five, verse 15, drop down to verse 15. Christ there in verse 15 died for all that those who live should no longer live for themselves, but for him who died for them and rose again. Look quickly with me at Ephesians chapter two. Ephesians chapter two. Ephesians chapter two and drop down to verse eight. It's in the Paul here in verse eight. For by grace you have been saved through faith and that the salvation by grace through faith, all of it, all of it is not of yourselves. The salvation, the grace, the faith is not of yourselves. It is the gift of God, not of works. Verse nine, let anyone should boast for we are his workmanship created in Christ Jesus for good works. You could say verse 10, we were saved for good works for we are his workmanship created in Christ Jesus. That's your salvation. That's your becoming a new creation, so to speak, for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them. Right now, listen, while believers have been saved by grace alone through faith alone in Christ alone, apart from works, let anyone should boast, the faith through which believers are saved is never alone. That faith is never alone. The faith that saves, genuine saving faith is always, I'm going to use that word again, the faith that saves is always expressed through love and obedience, love for Christ, love for his people, love for his church, obedience to Christ, obedience to his commands, those good works which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them. Now Paul further explains back in 2nd Corinthians chapter five verse 10, Paul further explains that while we are saved by grace through faith apart from works, believers will be judged at the judgment seat of Christ according to works. You see the differentiation, right? We are saved by grace through faith apart from works, but Paul makes very clear that we will be judged at the judgment seat of Christ according to works. Judgment is according to works, the things there done in the body according to what each person has done, whether good or bad. Now that's the common teaching of the Bible, common teaching of the Bible. Matthew chapter 16 verse 27, the Lord says the son of man is going to come with his angels in the glory of his father and then he will repay each person according to what he has done. Recompense, he will repay. Jesus said in Revelation chapter 22 verse 12, behold, I am coming soon bringing my recompense with me to repay each one for what he has done, to repay each one for what he has done. What this means to you and I is that our lives for Christ on this side of eternity will not be indifferent towards sin and disobedience, will not be indifferent towards sin. The way that you live now is exceedingly important. In other words, don't allow that deceptive wicked thought enter your mind. Well, you know, I'm saved. So I can indulge in this or indulge in that. You know, you got sort of the unspoken sort of layered back in the subconscious, the notion that I can sit in this way. I'm going to ask for forgiveness. He's going to forgive me. That's what he does. He forgives. One commentator said this, if we hope to be conformed to Christ's glorious body in the next life, we must be conformed to his character in this life. It is our overarching, preeminent aim to be well pleasing to him. We have a responsibility. This is our responsibility. Our responsibility is to live obediently to him, to live faithfully for him, to walk worthy of the calling with which we've been called, not to coast. Brother, not to coast. Sister, to diligently, fervently, zealously serve him. We will be held accountable before the judgment seat of Christ for how we have lived. Verse 10, we must all appear. We must all appear. That's certainly true that every brother, every sister will appear before the judgment seat of Christ. Brother, sister, you will give an account, right? What you do on this side of eternity for Christ in his service matters. It counts. We're going to talk about that more next week. If you're here today and you've never turned to Christ from your sin, you've never put faith and trust in him, then you also will appear before the judgment bar of the Lord Jesus Christ. Verse 11 says, knowing therefore the terror of the Lord, we persuade men. The Lord is not a terror to his people, but the Lord will be a terror to you. You may not be terrified now that you will be. I pray, I pray that before that day comes, you will turn from your sin and put your faith in Christ. Why will you die? Right? God takes no pleasure in the death of a wicked, but that you wicked man, you wicked woman, you wicked child, that you would turn from your wickedness. You would turn from your sin and put your faith in him and be saved. You can be forgiven of your sin. Think about the filth of your sin. You can be washed clean of that filth, robed in Christ's righteousness, and you can say, you can say with the rest of us undeserving sinners, that as he is, so am I in this world, be converted that your sins may be blotted out, turned to him. And when you face the Lord Jesus Christ in the judgment seat of Christ, you can do so with joy. Let's pray, Father in heaven, Lord, thank you for these glorious promises. Thank you, Lord, for this beautiful hope. Thank you, Lord, for the gift of salvation, gift of your mercy and grace. Thank you, Lord, for the reality that that day doesn't have to terrify us, that we can stand before you righteous in him, him having paid our penalty, him having already dealt with our guilt, him having already forgiven us, having cleansed us, praise be to you. I pray, Lord, that as we consider being with him, seeing him, having fellowship with him, that we would consider that day, Lord, in light of the promises that you've given, that we will be raised in him, we will be glorified together with him, we are joint heirs with Christ, and we will inherit with him, we will rule and reign with him, we will be clothed in a glorified body like his, and we will be like him because we shall see him as he is. But also, Lord, as we live this life, help us to be mindful of the fact that we will stand before you in the given account for our lives, that what we do from this side of eternity matters in eternity, matters for eternity. Help us, Lord, to have is our singular aim, to live a life that is well pleasing to you. For those here, God, that just, they don't have that hope. This sounds like a bunch of idle, empty words to them. Oh, God, please open their eyes, unstop their ears, remove from their hearts and minds the blindness that the God of this age has dropped over them, cause them to be born again by your spirit, give them a new heart in Christ, indwell them with your spirit. God, cause them to mourn their sin, grant them in mercy and grace, faith and repentance, and reconcile them to yourself. God, for their eternal good, for your everlasting glory, for your worship, you are gracious, God, you are merciful. It's during this time that you've given your church charge to preach the gospel, such that your elect may be gathered from the four corners of the world. I pray that you would do that work now, Lord, the work that only you could do.