Attorney and Judge
A little while back I attended court on one of the cases that I investigated, and much to my surprise, sitting on the bench was this judge that I knew. I did not know him as a judge, I knew him when he was just an attorney. This man now sitting on the bench had represented me on a couple of occasions in civil court, but now he was the judge in this criminal case. Although I knew him and he knew me, this man gave me no preferential treatment. As a matter of fact, I would say that he was perhaps a little harder on me when it came to the technicalities of the case than any other judge. I think that the reason for this was that he knew that I was a good investigator and he was not going to allow me to get away with any sloppy or poor work. Does anyone here know where we are heading with this? Today we are going to explore this issue. Today we are going to talk about an attorney who becomes a judge. Let’s now turn to the word of God.
1 Timothy 2:5-6 - For there is one God, and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus; 6 Who gave himself a ransom for all, to be testified in due time.
Contrary to what many men think, there is but one God and one Savior. Paul tells us this fact and he is very clear on it. I want us to stop here for a second and let’s look at this word "mediator" closely. This word comes from the Greek word "mesites" which means: one who intervenes between two, either in order to make or restore peace and friendship, or form a compact, or for ratifying a covenant. I think this definition describes the role of an attorney very accurately. I do not know how many here have had to hire an attorney to represent them, but I can tell you that a good attorney is not cheap. However, by God’s infinite grace we have received not a good attorney, but the best attorney in the universe and his name is Christ Jesus. Although we did not deserve it, He gave His precious life for us on the cross, He died for our sins, and He is acting as our mediator with God. He is serving as our attorney right now between God and man.
This is actually where the problem begins for a great deal of people. This is the case for all those that live in the world, but it can also be applied to many people within the church as well. Please do not misunderstand me, I am not speaking about any one person in this church when I speak about the church I am referring to the entire church, not just this congregation. The problem like I said before is that many people fail to realize that now is the time to have the attorney. Let’s think about this for a second or two to see if it makes sense. As a person in need of an attorney we would not be very smart to hire him or her on the date that we are supposed to be in court. To do so would be silly, as we would jeopardize the entire case. In other words we would not be providing the attorney with the time that is necessary to prepare a defense or properly argue our case. Therefore, a prudent person will retain an attorney as soon as possible.
The same applies to all of us, now is the time to have our attorney argue our case. When we accepted Jesus, when He came into our lives, He took over our case. He took upon himself all of our sins and He went before the Father and we received eternal life. However, the case is not yet entirely closed. The reason why our case is not yet entirely closed is because we are still alive; we are still living in this world.
Like I said, this causes a problem for a great deal of people. First let’s address all of those that still live in the world. All we have to do is look around to see that we are not living in a very pleasant place. We all have seen or heard the atrocities that have been or are being committed and in many instances in the name of God. We are all aware of the things of this world, and I am sure most of us have experienced unpleasant or distasteful instances in our lives. But there is a great difference between the world and us.
The big difference is the one small word that packs the greatest punch; I am talking about the word repentance. This is the essential difference between the world and us. This is how we have been able to pay for our attorney. It is through our repentance and God’s infinite Grace and Glory that we have been absolved of all of our sins. The problem that the church is having is that there just isn’t enough repentance.
People just take for granted that we have a mediator and assume that there is no need for anything else. People assume that the cost for our defense was paid on the cross. I am here to tell you that it all began on the cross, but the bill has not yet been paid in full. Because we are not perfect, because we will never be perfect, we will always have to repent. By this I am not implying or saying that because we are nor perfect that we have a license to sin, as some religions would lead people to believe. What I am saying am that repentance is an inevitable part of our Christian living and it is the way that we are able to pay for our defense, and now is the time to do it.
Brethren if we do not truly repent, if we do not truly turn from the things of the world, then all we have done is gone through the motions and nothing else has happened. There are numerous people out there that have done just this. I am talking about people that have come to church, have accepted Jesus, have been baptized as mandated, but that continue to do the things that displease God. I tell you now that all they have done is gone through the motions. These people think that they are saved and that they have a mediator, but in fact this has not happened. In order to have a mediator we have to pay the retainer. The retainer is a genuine repentance. I am sure that we have all heard that expression "love is never having to say you are sorry," well, the same thing holds true for a genuine repentance. A genuine repentance is never having to ask for forgiveness for the same thing twice.
Brethren, the time to retain our lawyer is now, the time to pay our retainer is now. It’s now because at this point He is still available, He is still able to represent us and defend us; but the time is coming when He will not be able to take up our defense. The time and the hour no ones knows except the Father, but the time is drawing nearer with the passing of each second. I am not talking about the end of the world, but I am talking about the end of our lives. When we are called to His presence it will be too late. Why do I say this? Let’s look in the Word of God.
Revelations 20: 11-13 - And I saw a great white throne, and him that sat on it, from whose face the earth and the heaven fled away; and there was found no place for them. 12 And I saw the dead, small and great, stand before God; and the books were opened: and another book was opened, which is the book of life: and the dead were judged out of those things which were written in the books, according to their works. 13 And the sea gave up the dead which were in it; and death and hell delivered up the dead which were in them: and they were judged every man according to their works.
Do you see what I mean? It’s perfectly clear here. Here we have the scene which describes the final judgment. All men will be brought from the state of death, both the believing and unbelieving, and stand before God's throne to be judged. There are no exceptions here, we will all be judged by Christ. You see, while we live we are offered a reprieve, Christ can be retained to become our lawyer, He is willing to represent us no matter what we have done. But after our death, He will no longer be able to mediate between us and God, He will be the one judging us. Do you see what I mean now? It’s just like the day that I entered that court room and saw my lawyer sitting on the judge’s bench.
Had I wanted to retain him in that instance, had I the need for him to argue a case for me, he would not have been able to do it because now he had to judge. What will happen to a large number of people is more or less the same thing that happened on that day. A great number of people, believers and unbelievers alike, will be brought before the presence of God, will be brought to be judged, and they will be very surprised to find that the best attorney in the universe is no longer available because now He sits as the judge.
Let’s read this again, the Word of God tells us: "And I saw the dead, small and great, stand before God; and the books were opened: and another book was opened, which is the book of life: and the dead were judged out of those things which were written in the books, according to their works." I do not think there is anything clearer than this. Brethren, unless our name is written in the book of life we will not receive eternal life. The time to get our names written in this book is now. Christ is still available as the mediator to ensure that our name is inscribed in this book. Later will simply be too late. How do we do it? We do it by repenting, we do it by accepting Him as our Lord and Savior, we do it by doing the will of God. If we fail to do these things, if we wait until the last minute, if we continue doing the things that are displeasing to God, then on that day we will hear a message that we do not want to hear. We just might hear:
Matthew 7:22-23 - Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? and in thy name have cast out devils? and in thy name done many wonderful works? 23 And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity.
This is exactly what none of us would like to hear, am I right? We do not want that day to come when our name will not be found in the book of life. That is why now is the time to make sure that our name is listed, now is the time to reach for the greatest mediator in the universe. Now is the time that He is accessible. We do not want that day to arrive and be cast out, we want for that day to come and for Him to say:
Revelations 3:5 - He that overcometh, the same shall be clothed in white raiment; and I will not blot out his name out of the book of life, but I will confess his name before my Father, and before his angels.
This is what we must all strive for. We must make sure that on the day of judgment Christ will confess our names before the Father. How can we get this to happen? Again I say to you, repentance, repentance, repentance. The time to repent is now, tomorrow may be to late, one minute from now may be too late.
Preached: August 13, 2000
http://elnuevopacto.com
