Guilty As Charged

I fear many pulpits in this country are doing individuals great harm by just speaking about a God of love and just having you accept Jesus as your personal Savior without ever showing you why you need Jesus as a remedy for sin. And I believe we do men a great disservice if we fail to warn them and tell them of their great danger of dying in their sins outside of Christ. Listen, friends, have you ever been made aware of the strictness and severity of the law of God? That's what I'm going to speak on today.

And my message is entitled Guilty as Charged. Every man will one day future at a common day of judgment be held up against that holy law of God. Do you not know that God demands perfection for man to get to heaven and that all men are sinners who have broken his law? Romans 3 23 declares for all have sinned and come short of the glory of God.

You, friend, will one day be held up against the utter strictness and severity of the law of God and you will fail that test. You have a ruined nature that's inclined to sin and you drink iniquity like it's water. If you'd been in the Garden of Eden, you would have pushed old Adam out of the way and tried to pull down God off his throne yourself.

You're a rebel against all things that are holy. You're completely unaware of your great danger when you will be exposed to the wrath of God for breaking his perfect law through sin. When your life, your thoughts, your actions, your motives are all placed alongside the utter strictness and severity of the law of God, you will fail that test because you'll be standing there in your own merits and you'll be guilty as charged.

I know I'm a sinner and I need a sin substitute in the person of Jesus Christ. And so do you, friend, so do you. Listen, you're not a sinner because you sin, rather you sin because you're a big sinner.

One day your mouth will be silenced against that law of God. The word of God states, now we know that what thing soever the law saith, it saith to them who are under the law that every mouth may be stopped and all the world may become guilty before God. Therefore, by the deeds of the law, there shall no flesh be justified in his sight for by the law is the knowledge of sin.

Listen, friend, there is a coming day of judgment for all mankind, and that includes you. And on that day, all men will be held up against the strictness of God's holy law. And that God is a sovereign king who demands perfection.

And man is a lawbreaker because of sin. And he stands guilty before that just God. And justice requires satisfaction.

When you break the law in this country and you were caught, you were brought before a judge and sentencing is carried out. And on that great day of judgment, you will stand before the judge of all the earth as he reviews your case and see the evidence stacked up against you. And you will stand there guilty before him without excuse.

There is no way to escape this common day of judgment, friend, for the Bible tells us and as it is appointed unto man wants to die. Yet after this, the judgment. Listen, friend, if a man is in good health and is offered free medicine by a doctor, the patient will not see any need for it.

But if that same man is dreadfully ill and near death and the doctor has medicine to save him, that patient will sell all he has to apply that remedy. The remedy to save you from God's anger and wrath is in the person of Jesus Christ. He is said to be a pearl of great price.

And he is friend. He is. I want you to take a moment and picture a scene in your mind.

It's a solemn scene that involves you particularly. Let me first read you a passage of scripture from the book of Revelation, which speaks of a future day of judgment, a day that concerns you and me. Let me read it to you now.

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. And I saw the dead, a small and great a 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. 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 and death and hell were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death and whosoever was not found written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire. Hell is a terrible place, friend.

It's described in horrific details as a place of burnings, a place of fire, where there's wailing and gnashing of teeth, wailing speech of great loss and regret, gnashing of teeth signifies anger and remorse. Those who break the law of God will be sent to that burning lake of fire. There will come a day, friend, when you will die.

You may die quite unexpectedly. You may die very suddenly. You will one day stand before the judge of all the earth who sits on that great white throne.

That throne speaks of the greatness and majesty of a holy God. His authority is so terrible that even the earth and sky flee from his presence. Now I want you to picture in your mind that heavenly courtroom scene with God sitting at the judge's bench.

The angels are the bailiffs. Satan is the prosecuting attorney and you are the guilty lawbreaker standing before that terrible throne. And you were guilty as all get out for you have broken the strict law of God.

Here comes Satan, the accuser, and he brings forth the evidence against you. All your sins, which you have sinned throughout your life are brought before that judge and Satan presents his case. He presents his case against you, friend.

Every piece of evidence stacks up and indicts you. It condemns you. God reviews your case very carefully.

The angels carefully turn the pages of the books that are opened, which tell of your life, all your actions and thoughts and motives while you were alive on planet earth. But now you stand in another realm, a realm of eternity, and you stand there guilty as charged. In fact, God asks you how you shall plead.

You look at the great surmounting evidence against you as the prosecuting attorney presents his case to the court and you realize that you are without excuse. Your mouth is stopped as you stand there guilty, a guilty lawbreaker. For every mouth is stopped and all the world is guilty before God.

Finally, you plead guilty as charged. For God stands as the judge. The law is the accuser.

Sin is your indictment. And you try to look upon God, but his face is turned from you for your iniquities have separated between you and your God and your sins have hid his face from you and he will not hear. There stands a mountain of evidence against you.

Your knees buckle under the fearsome terror of what is about to take place, which is your sentencing because the sentencing of the law must be carried out. Just then a voice is heard from the back of the courtroom and a hush falls over the assembled crowd. A solitary figure asked to approach the bench.

It is your defense attorney, your advocate. He walks over to the judge and faces him and he declares a holy one ancient of days. Look at this evidence which will pardon my client and set him free.

Just then Jesus Christ holds up his hands and shows his nail pierced hands to the judge who sits on that throne. Then Jesus motions for you to approach the bench. You slowly approach the bench and stand next to Jesus, your advocate with the father.

Jesus takes you by the hand and then he pleads your righteousness before the father and he says, who shall lay anything to the charge of God's elect? It is God that justifies. Then your advocate says to the judge, grant this malfactor pardon, a sinner as he is guilty, as charged as he is. He is under my blood.

Then Jesus turns to you, tenderly places his arm around you and hugs you as he says to all there, he's with me. And there's a great shout in the courtroom of hallelujahs. And the judge says to you, enter into my kingdom, my child to your rest.

Listen, friend, the word of God in Romans declares, but God commanded his love toward us in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us much more than being out justified by his blood. We should be saved from wrath through him. For if when we were enemies, we were reconciled to God by the death of his son, much more being reconciled, we shall be saved by his life.

And not only so, but we also joy in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom we have now received the atonement. You see, friend, the outcome of that day of judgment can be altered by your coming to Christ. Your sins drove the nails into his hands.

Your sins nailed him to a bloody cross. But he hung there because of his great love for you. He calls you now to come to him.

Listen to his free offers of mercy. Look on to me and be saved. All the ends of the earth for I am God and there is none else.

Seek ye the Lord while he may be found. Call ye upon him while he is near. Let the wicked forsake his way and the unrighteous man his thoughts and let him return unto the Lord and he will have mercy upon him and to our God for he will abundantly pardon.

Trust Jesus to save you, friend. Come to him in submission. Throw down your shotgun of rebellion and surrender to his great love.

But you must surrender to a king, friend. You must surrender to a risen Lord. Are you hungry for God? Are you thirsty for Christ? Are you weary of your sins? Then come, come to him.

Jesus says, come on to me, all ye that labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. And the spirit and the bride say come and let him that heareth say come and let him that is a thirst come and whosoever will let him take of the water of life freely. A dear friend, God's grace is free.

You can't work for it or do anything to earn it. All you can do is receive it. Ask God to give you the grace of repentance and faith so you won't have to stand exposed to that strict law of God on that coming day.

So you won't be standing there in your own merits against the strictness and severity of God's holy law. Jesus can be your advocate before the father on your behalf. He's a sin substitute, but you must submit to his lordship and turn from your sins in repentance.

Go to him now and beg him for mercy.