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  WE ALL WILL STAND BEFORE THE JUDGMENT SEAT
  by K.P. Yohannan
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Summary: We must live in the fear of God and obey His purposes in order
to be well pleasing to Him and experience the blessing of friendship
with the Lord.

Topics: "Judgment", "Obedience"
Scripture References: Genesis 12:1-3, Psalm 25:14, Matthew 1:1-2, Romans 14:10-12, 1 Corinthians 3:13-15, 2 Corinthians 5:9-10, Hebrews 11:8-10, James 1:12, Revelation 22:12

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DESCRIPTION
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K.P. Yohannan emphasizes the importance of living in the fear of God as
we anticipate standing before the judgment seat of Christ, where our
lives will be evaluated not for punishment but for reward, akin to the
Olympic games. He draws parallels with Abraham, who exemplified total
obedience and reverent fear of the Lord, leading to his blessings and
becoming a blessing to many. Yohannan encourages believers to follow
Abraham's example by embracing God's call and living a life that is
well-pleasing to Him. The sermon highlights that true obedience stems
from a relationship with God, where His grace and fear guide our
actions. Ultimately, friendship with the Lord is promised to those who
fear Him, revealing the depth of His covenant with us.

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CONTENT
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Let us look forward to the day spoken of in 2 Corinthians 5, where Paul
reminds the believers to live in the fear of God because we all will
stand before the judgment seat of Christ. This is not a punitive
judgment; it is not as though we are being tried for a crime that was
committed. Rather, it is like the Olympic games, where one receives the
gold medal, another the silver and another the bronze. We will stand
before the judgment seat of Christ, and He will evaluate the life we
have lived--our words, our attitudes and motives, the way we obeyed, how
we spent the resources He gave us, the things we did and the things we
did not do.

"Therefore we make it our aim . . . to be well pleasing to Him" (2
Corinthians 5:9). This is what Abraham did. In total obedience he walked
away from everything comfortable and familiar and lived his life for the
purposes of God. And he could only do this because within him was a
reverent fear of the Lord. Because of that fear, he was blessed and
became a blessing, being the father of many nations. In fact, when we
open the New Testament, the first words we read are: "A record of the
genealogy of Jesus Christ the son of David, the son of Abraham: Abraham
was the father of Isaac, Isaac the father of Jacob, Jacob the father of
Judah and his brothers . . ." (Matthew 1:1-2, NIV, emphasis added).

Everything began with Abraham. He is the starting point of all of God's
purposes and of His plan of redemption. Abraham was called out of
terrible darkness and idolatry and given the call to follow the living
God. And because he obeyed, he was changed and his life became a
blessing to the many who came after him. This is the same call of
blessing the Lord extends to us today. May we follow in the footsteps of
Abraham. To do so, we must let the fear of God and the grace of our Lord
Jesus Christ lead us into this kind of obedience. We will never be sorry
for it, for "friendship with the LORD is reserved for those who fear
him. With them he shares the secrets of his covenant" (Psalm 25:14,
NLT).

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Source: https://sermonindex.net/speakers/kp-yohannan/we-all-will-stand-before-the-judgment-seat/
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