Michael Koulianos emphasizes the significance of redemption and the necessity of appearing before the judgment seat of Christ, where believers will be rewarded for their deeds, whether good or bad. He warns against the misconception that grace exempts the church from judgment, urging the congregation to value scripture and the teachings of church history. Koulianos highlights that our lives and actions on earth matter, as they determine our eternal rewards and proximity to the Lord in heaven. He encourages believers to live righteously and engage in good works, reflecting the grace of Jesus, who redeemed us from our sins. Ultimately, he reassures the congregation of their secure salvation and the hope of eternal life with Christ.

All right, take your Bibles to 2 Corinthians 5, 9 through 10. We left off last week at 1 Corinthians 3, 9 through 15. I actually preached on this in Nashville the other night. I had a, the night before last, had a chance to be with my friends at Legacy up there in Nashville with Heidi and Heidi was there and she's coming south soon. I can't wait. And Michael Miller was there with Larissa and our whole Upper Room fam and it was just great. We got to see the, our friends, the Binions and it was just a good, good, good, wonderful time of us all weeping in the presence of Jesus. So, actually taught on 1 Corinthians 3, 9 through 15, which is where we left off last week here and so now I'm going to continue with 2 Corinthians 5, 9 through 10. 2 Corinthians 5, 9 through 10. Therefore we make it our aim, whether present or absent, to be well-pleasing to Him. For we must all, say 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. Today again we're talking about the judgment, or the second coming of the Lord and the judgment seat. It's difficult to separate those two. But here Paul says, and this is the first point I want to make, that we, listen very closely, must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ. There's a teaching that's gone around under the guise of grace, that there is no judgment for the church. That is a result of, number one, not reading your Bible, first and foremost. Secondly, not valuing 2,000 years of church history paid for in blood. So whenever you're looking for truth, first and foremost, you go to the scriptures. Period. And as you've heard me say many times, the scriptures stand the test of time. They were here before you. They will be here after you. You meaning us. Me too. So you always want to ask yourself before... I'm trying to get better at saying you so you don't feel called out. But maybe that would... We. We. We should always ask ourselves, by what merit are we justifying what's coming out of our mouth? On whose authority are we standing? What you'll find in the church is that people like to get really spiritual at some point and stop hanging out with other people and they just say, I want to spend time with God. What they don't realize they're doing is signing up for deception. Like that. The moment you cut yourself off of fellowship, away from people for an extended period... I'm not saying you shouldn't go away and pray. This is different than that. This is the spirit that sounds like this. They won't say it this way, but it sounds like this. They're just not deep enough for me. So I'm just going to do my own thing. And I don't need to be taught or submit or be led because God speaks to me and those people there don't recognize my anointing. Well, nobody owns the anointing. It's his anointing. Does this make sense to you? When you become that secluded, and that's why Paul said, forsake not your assembly. And the scriptures call the church the pillar of truth. The church. What does that mean? It doesn't mean the church is truth. It means that the truth belongs to the church because it belongs to Jesus and the church is his body. In that you need the church if you are going to fully receive the truth of the scriptures. So you don't just take the Bible with one verse. This is what I'm saying. You don't take one verse. It finally... I forget the we thing. Finally, you figure it out and you start to believe everyone else must have missed this verse for the last 6,000 years. Or let's say 2,000. The scriptures aren't that old. Mankind is. It's really at the root of it. It's pride, you see. And so we start, for instance, the grace teaching. Which grace is a person named Jesus? So if our vision of grace doesn't look like the Lord Jesus, by the way, Jesus did not come to being in Matthew and disappear in Acts chapter 1. Which means you don't get to throw out the Old Testament and build a separate view of Jesus and very conveniently throw out the book of Revelation. You follow me? No. Grace, for instance, is the person of the Lord Jesus. So if you don't see it in Him, you don't want it. Does that make sense to you? So here the Bible says we must all stand before the judgment seat of Christ. We must all appear. Has anyone here ever been summoned? It's pretty exposing. It doesn't matter if it's your second grade teacher. Anyone ever sat outside your principal's office? I did. I could have moved in. I could have moved in. We all knew each other, you know. Our families were all friends. So, I mean, I don't know about y'all, but I remember when the principals could paddle you. Ours had a paddle with holes in it hanging on the wall. It was glorious. Some people on Instagram could use that. Those kind of schools. But you sit out there outside the office and all of a sudden, Michael Koulianos for the fourth time this week. You're summoned and you walk in the office and just stand there for a little while and he just stares at you. If you happen to take a seat without their permission, they ask you to stand back up. And then the moment you stand back up, just so you look like a toolbox, they say you can sit back down. This is the exposing nature of being summoned. You feel like you're under a microscope. And in many ways, so will be the appearance before the throne of God. This does not have to do with your salvation, if you are a believer. But it does have to do with your experience in eternity. And that matters. I said that matters. Specifically and most foundationally, what will be determined is your eternal reward. We're going to get into some of these scriptures today. What type of reward? What's the greatest reward you'll receive in glory? Proximity to the Lord himself. Proximity to the Lord himself. That's why in the book of Revelation, the martyrs cry under the altar of God, when will you avenge our deaths? So regarding the second coming as a side note, every time somebody or someone touches someone who is married to Jesus, they are signing up to be dealt with, should they not repent and yield as Saul of Tarsus did. The Lord will have his day. That's what the Bible teaches. He will avenge the elect. He will avenge those, specifically the martyrs in the largest way, who gave their all. Now where were they? Under the altar of God. They had a front row seat. Forever. Why? Because of the life they lived here. They paid the ultimate price. So your life here does matter. There are certain people in heaven who will carry more glory than you. Should they yield more than you? Should they love more than you? Should they be obedient more than you? Good works are not bad. The Bible says right here that we will be judged, that we may receive the things done in the body according to what he's done, whether good or bad. God will never forget the $5 bill you give the homeless person. Never. I feel like the offering that we received, that I'm so proud, never been more proud to be your pastor than in over the last week. From this house alone, almost half of the budget needed internationally for the entire need, almost half of the entire budget came in less than three or four days. That's amazing. Do you know that when we left last Sunday, I thought to myself, we should probably bring the video down because I don't know how long YWAM is planning on stewarding these funds. I didn't know what their plan was. So I didn't want the money to just come in continuously because they had asked for a certain need and we wanted to stand with them. Somehow, miraculously, between services, after the video was down, $20,000 more dollars came in from this house within the hour of us dismissing. That's the Lord. I don't think I've seen greater amounts of money come in, but I don't think I've ever felt the wind of God and God's protection over those Afghan people. What I learned there is if God wants to protect His people, He'll raise up people across the world to step in and go, not on our watch. Not on our watch. Not happening. And if the devil pushes, we're going to push back harder. If He swings, we're swinging back. We're not just going to lay down and watch our brothers and sisters suffer. And then Sunday night, another $80,000 came in. Then I had a pastor call me from Dallas and say, I want to give $20,000. And a pastor from Nigeria. Nigeria. Not Lake Mary. All the way in Nigeria. He said, I'm in for $20,000. Another pastor lives an hour from here and says, I'm driving $5,000 down. I'm going, oh my gosh. Do you know what I felt in my soul? This is an eternal memorial before the throne. This will never be forgotten. It matters. These are good works. These are holy good works that Jesus told us to do so that our light would shine. He said before men. And that's the beauty of spirit led good works. So we'll all stand before the judgment and give an account. Titus 2 verses 12 through 15. Titus 2, 12 through 15. Teaching us that denying ungodliness. So that's legal. You can do it. I said, you can do it. Sin is not stronger than you. Unless you fuel it with distraction, treat it as it is a dead, disgusting bag of slime. It is useless. Teaching us that denying ungodliness and worldly lusts. That means the passions of the world. We should live soberly. That means alert righteously. That means the righteous one, Jesus living through it and godly in the present age, looking for the blessed hope and glorious appearing of our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ, who gave himself for us that he might redeem us from every lawless deed. Aren't you glad that Jesus redeemed you and took your death penalty and sin and literally purchased you and put to death your lawless deeds from the past? Every one of them. That should make you really happy. You should give the Lord praise for that. Every lawless deed. Every time you broke the law in thought, word and deed, Jesus has redeemed you from that. He bought you. That's what the word redeem means. Has anybody ever traveled overseas here and you had to exchange currency? All right. That is a great example of redemption. You take a dollar. We used to get way more for our currency. That's a separate combo. You take a dollar and you get a different currency back. Your currency was redeemed. You lost your currency and received another. That's what happens at redemption. For someone to be redeemed, they must be purchased by someone much more valuable. You'd be a fool to redeem a $100 bill for a penny. What Jesus did is he took your penny and gave you the $100 bill and then some by infinity. Amen? So we've been redeemed from every lawless deed and purify for himself his own special people. Say, I am one of his special ones. Now that would depend on how you define special, but let's just hope you have a healthy view of that. There are special people, probably a few sitting next to you. I'm not talking about those. Zealous. Listen. Zealous for good works. Zealous for good works. Speak these things. Exhort. Oh, this one, this one's not legal in the church, is it? And rebuke with all authority. Let no one despise you. So here we have what lifestyle should look like. What life should look like preceding the coming of the Lord. What church life should look like. It should be filled with the awareness that Jesus has redeemed us. Filled with good works that are birthed, sustained, and unto the glory of Jesus. We don't just go about doing good works so that we get the glory or that we earn our salvation. No, no, no. What He is saying here is that those who have been redeemed it is natural to live a life of holy and good works so that Jesus be glorified. Right? Also with all authority rebuke. You are like the other stuff was so much more exciting. Church life does look a little different than, let me say this, it was different then than it is now. For instance, Jesus says regarding sin if somebody sins go to him. If your brother sins against you go to him. Jesus said if your brother sins against you go to him. Go to him. Talk to him. Confront him. Call it out. If your brother doesn't repent get a couple more people and go to him. If that doesn't work bring it before the church. You are like no, no, no. That would be just so rude. I know. But the nicest being in the cosmos said to do it. The most loving love itself said call it out publicly. Happens every time. Happens every time. It is a special phone. And you are special for having it on. I love you. All right. Perfect. All right. What a wonderful morning. Oh, I love family. You know when we do make announcements we actually mean it, especially on Sunday night. We are like do not get up and leave unless you have to. Sure enough every Sunday night 15 people right after the worship. What an awesome concert. And they walk out. All right. I just played my air guitar. How did I do Cam? Was it good? All right. All right. So the Lord said call it out publicly. No, I am just playing. Just joking. Somehow this is connected to the coming of the Lord in that it gives us a window into what church life should look like. Why should it be called out publicly? Because it makes a declaration that sin is unnatural. And as Paul said, listen carefully, is viewed as a yeast in the bread. Paul told the church remove the yeast from among you for Christ our Passover Lamb has basically died for you. In other words, the Passover is connected to the feast of unleavened bread. It is the feast, the feast of purity. So if you feast on the lamb and the blood, the end result should be a loaf free from yeast, a loaf free from mixture, free from sin. Paul actually said call out that sexual sin that was going on in the Corinthian church. Call it out so that the yeast will be removed. He actually, actually rebukes them for not dealing with it. Now at the same time, we're to deal with people who fall gently and in love. Does that make sense? The scripture says you who are spiritual, strengthen. In other words, walk through, help reconcile the lives of those who are weak and unspiritual. It's not to say you should be mean. However, this is in the word. And so Titus here is commanded to rebuke with all authority. And then Paul ends it by saying, let no one despise you. Like Timothy, for instance, was a young leader, a young Bishop. He had to remind Timothy, do not allow your youth to keep you from doing your job. Let no one despise your youth. Just to be honest and transparent with you, that has been a challenge for me. I've got into the ministry very young because honor is so instilled in my DNA. It was often hard for me to correct until I realized if I didn't correct, I was tolerating. Now listen carefully. In the book of Revelation, Jesus confronts the church for tolerating Jezebel. So he goes after two people there. The first group, the first person, he says, that Jezebel, if she does not repent, I will cast her upon the sickbed and she'll die. This is the same Jesus that you read about in little coloring books at the doctor's office. He said, if she doesn't turn, I will cast her upon her sickbed and she will die. You say, I don't like that side of him. I don't know what to say. It's right there. But then he turns his scope on the church and he says, and you tolerated her. Now that spirit was creating two things within the church. Division through unhealthy teaching. Somebody had the next best revelation. And number two, sexual sin. Those two merged and Jesus speaks up and says, I have an issue with you church. You didn't deal with it. When I read that, it actually took John Bevere to help me see this verse properly on a phone call. He said, if you don't learn to walk through church correction properly, you're going to answer to God for not dealing with it. You are tolerating it. I learned a big lesson. So pastoring looks really cool and fun. I promise you it's as challenging as you want it to be. It is the greatest honor, but it's not without challenge. Revelation one seven. So what's that have to do with second coming? Everything because it lends to purity in the church and Jesus returns for a pure bride. Revelation one seven, behold, he is coming with clouds. I love this. And every eye will see him. Even they who pierced him. I read this to you before. And all the tribes of the earth will mourn because of him. Why? They'll realize the one we persecuted was the one we needed. First Corinthians 15 verses 51 to 58. Are y'all bored? Okay. You're getting fed. Good. First Corinthians 15 verses 51 through 58. Behold, I tell you a mystery. We shall not all sleep. Oh, that's awesome. He's like, hey, I got news for you. Some of you are going to be awake when Jesus comes. Some of you will be living on the earth when Jesus returns. Some of you, hopefully not. We'll be stuck on. I for there'll probably still be construction, but we shall all be changed. So not all will be in the ground. Not all will be in graves. Some will actually be walking the earth alive, but I have news for you, whether in the ground or not all shall be changed. Say, thank you, Jesus. Say, I shall be changed. Well, how long will that take in a moment in the twinkling of an eye at the last trumpet for the trumpet will sound and the dead will be raised incorruptible. Oh my gosh. The dead will come out of their graves. They will be raised and given new bodies that will never die again. And we, whether in the ground or not shall all be changed. That means if you are on the earth at that time, you get a new body too. That's awesome. For this corruptible must, not I hope, must put on incorruption. And this mortal must put on immortality. Paul is going, this has to happen. This must happen because it happened to him. We are his body. He is the head. Well you can't have an incorruptible head and a corruptible body. You cannot be one in heaven forever actually unless you too receive a resurrected body. Paul is saying the incorruptible must put on incorruption and it will happen in the twinkling of an eye. And he begins this whole passage by saying, I tell you a mystery. In other words, God has something up his sleeve that he kept hidden from ages past until right now. Can we keep going? Give me ten more minutes. So when this corruptible has put on incorruption and this mortal has put on immortality, then shall be brought to pass that saying that is written, death is swallowed up in victory. Oh death, where is your sting? Oh Hades, where is your victory? The sting of death is, I feel the power of the Holy Spirit, the sting of death is sin. In other words, death itself bites you. What does it bite you with? Sin. And sin creates death. The wages of sin is death. And the strength of sin is the law. In other words, God's righteous written standard is so perfect that when we behold it, we are aware of our sin. The law doesn't say you are perfect. The law says you are imperfect and you need Jesus. Hallelujah. That is what he says here though. But thanks be to God who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. He says look, you look at the text, you look at the word of God, you look at the Sinai covenant, look at the scriptures and compare it to your life. Sin is what you are going to be highly aware of is the fact that you are imperfect. But thanks be to God. Thanks be to God who gives us the victory that is, let me paraphrase, that is broken sin, that has destroyed its power, that has destroyed death. But what does it come through? Our Lord Jesus Christ. Therefore, my beloved brethren, be steadfast. Oh gosh. Let me keep reading because I'm about to jump out of the seat. Immovable. Always abounding in the work of the Lord. Knowing that your labor is not in vain. Gosh, I wish that song was played off that phone. It would have been perfect. I'm good. Thanks. Be steadfast. Paul basically tells the entire church in the twinkling of an eye, you're going to be changed. Because of that, be immovable. Let nothing scare you except God himself. Let nothing deter you. Let nothing take you off of your calling and destiny. Nothing, nothing, nothing at all. Don't you realize that regardless of what the world throws your way, you are going to receive a new body that is incorruptible. Cancer cannot destroy that body. A virus cannot destroy that body. Politics cannot, war cannot destroy that body. Paul says, look, look to the age to come and let the revelation of the fact that you will be raised from the dead and death is destroyed, let that revelation make you immovable. Heidi told me a story the other night. As some of her people, her leaders, have suffered and paid the ultimate price there in Mozambique as radicals are taking swaths of land around her work. They're killing the children of the pastors in the most brutal and horrific ways. And one of pastors said, he said, Heidi, they can burn our kids, they can burn our homes and burn down our churches, but we've discovered something. They can't burn Jesus out of our hearts. Immovable. We serve a kingdom, we are part of a kingdom that cannot be shaken. And everything else in the world is being shaken. And everything that can be shaken, the Scripture says, will be shaken. So what? So what's that unto? So that the unshakable kingdom will be revealed. Amen. I've never had so much crowd help at the perfect moment. Songs and amens from little babies. That had to be the Lord. From the mouth of babes. One more Scripture and then I'm going to pray for you. And we're going to receive communion, right? First Thessalonians 4, 14 through 18. I think I should preach sitting down more often. First Thessalonians 4, 14 through 18. If you've ever been to a funeral, you've probably heard this. For if we, say that's me, believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so God will bring with him those who sleep in Jesus. In other words, when Jesus returns, he's not returning alone. The sky will not be void of his friends by the masses. For this we say to you by the word of the Lord, that we who are alive, raise your hand. Okay. If Jesus returns, that's you. That we who are alive and remain until the coming of the Lord will by no means precede those who are asleep. So now he's giving us the order. He's saying, look, let me tell you how this is going to go down. And then in a moment, I'm going to tell you what it's unto. It's at the end of the verse. He says, this is how this is going to go down. Jesus will return. And this is how the resurrection will take place. The ones who die first, they are resurrected first and they receive their new body first. Why? Say honor. Say that again. Say this out loud. It is honorable to pass away in faith. Okay. Say this out loud. It is great faith to breathe my last staring at Jesus. Amen. How many of you have ever been to a foreign nation without any friends and you got there and you were really anxious and a bit off and nervous? Anyone? I've had that happen many times. That's why I don't like traveling alone. I just like having people with me. Anytime you enter the unknown in any way, shape or form, faith is required. How much more so to close your eyes knowing that you are going to cross over that chasm into the eternal realm, holding onto Jesus. Listen carefully. Putting all trust and faith in Him for your forever. Now some here in the room have seen the Lord. But some haven't. And some will breathe their last having never seen Jesus. They are going to have to hold onto the Word of God and entrust their absolute eternity to His promises. Every time that happens it is worthy of honor. And so God will honor the saints who passed away first because they were the first ones sown into the ground. Jesus is the first fruit. The ones who passed away are the second, third, fourth, fifth, sixth, seventh, eighth, one millionth fruit. And Jesus will honor them. Isn't that beautiful? I think it is. For the Lord Himself, look down at your Bible, will descend from heaven with a shout and with the voice of an archangel and with the trumpet of God. I said a few weeks ago, everyone who loves the shofar is going to get so excited. And the dead in Christ will rise first. Then we who are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them. With your grandmother. I am serious. With your grandfather. With Elijah. You are going to have to live a pretty yielded life to hang out with Elijah up there. But really with Jeremiah and with the pastor who led you to the Lord and with your heroes, with Wigglesworth and Catherine and with Reinhardt and all our friends. We are going to be reunited as God's harvest. And we will be caught up together with them in the clouds to do what? To meet the Lord in the air. Oh my gosh. And thus, in other words, in that state as resurrected children of the Lord in the heavenly realm, thus we shall forever be with the Lord. Therefore, comfort one another with these words. Paul is saying, look, there is a lot going on up there. He is writing to the Thessalonians. They were being intensely persecuted. People were dying naturally and dying because they were being persecuted. And Paul calls them to the eternal age and says, hey look, one day Jesus will return. And when Jesus returns, you are going to be changed. You are going to meet Him in the air. The ones you love are going to meet you and Him in the air. And thus you shall ever be with the Lord. In these words, with these words, strengthen and comfort yourselves. I am here to tell you, based on the authority of the word of God, that you have, listen, listen carefully, you have a secure salvation. If you belong to Jesus, be strengthened in the word of the Lord today.