The Lord’s Work – Part 53
And conversely, do you know how a man can subtract from his account? To kill souls, to lose souls?
Acts 15:24 Forasmuch as we have heard, that certain which went out from us have troubled you with words, subverting your souls, saying, Ye must be circumcised, and keep the law: to whom we gave no such commandment:
Ezekiel 13:19 And will ye pollute me among my people for handfuls of barley and for pieces of bread, to slay the souls that should not die, and to save the souls alive that should not live, by your lying to my people that hear your lies?
WORDS save souls, and WORDS slay souls.
You will give account of every word that you spoke. Not just those you spoke out loud, but those you spoke in secret, in private: in your heart. He’s going to judge the words that you THINK in your thoughts. He is going to judge what you believe!
We are going to be judged “ACCORDING TO” works, but we are going to be judged “BY” words.
What is the difference?
To be judged “ACCORDING TO works” works means that we will receive the due reward of what we have worked. We will receive proportionally to what we worked. Whether good things, we will receive AS MUCH again. And whether evil things, we will receive AS MUCH again. Maybe exactly what we worked, or maybe a multiple of it. But whatever we’ve worked, whatever the finished work is, we will receive as much in return. “According to” means “agreeing to”. It means as X goes, so will Y go. Maybe Y = X, or maybe Y = 2*X. As you did good, so will you receive good. And as you did evil, so will you be rewarded with evil. You will be REWARDED/RECOMPENSED according to your works.
To be judged “BY words” means that we will either be found innocent or guilty, determined to be righteous or wicked, set on the left hand or the right hand, based on WORDS. You will either be condemned and imprisoned, or justified and set here, based on words. To be judged BY words means we will be either justified or condemned BY WORDS that have been spoken. Both The Lord’s words, and our own words.
You will be judged “in agreement with” your works. But it is not WORKS that will be used to determine whether a man is justified or condemned. That will be determined BY WORDS.
The verdict (justified or condemned) will be established “by” (based on) WORDS.
The sentence (rewards or punishments) will be “according to” (proportional to) one’s works.
The reward, which you will be given “according to your works” will be EITHER in proportion to GOOD you have done OR in proportion to EVIL you have done – but not both. Both is impossible. You are either found to be good or evil based on WORDS and THEN the reward is based on the AMOUNT of your EITHER good or evil works – but not both.
First The Lord will assess the type of fruit, in order to know/to prove the type of tree, and THEN He will gather up and count up the fruit.
Every tree is known by his fruit. The tree will be judged BY the type of fruit it produces.
Matthew 13:30 Let both [the wheat and the tares] grow together until the harvest: and in the time of harvest I will say to the reapers, Gather ye together first the tares, and bind them in bundles to burn them: but gather the wheat into my barn.
The Lord will separate men based on what they produce. Based on what type of fruit they bring forth. Based on, what they ARE.
Then, when gathered into the barn, the Lord will count the fruit. And who are the wheat, and who are the tares?
Matthew 13:38 The field is the world; the good seed are the children of the kingdom; but the tares are the children of the wicked one;
Where you will go, is based on who your father is.
Your work is according to what you are. Your works, your work, is either good or evil. Not both. “It be” of one sort.
1 Corinthians 3:13 Every man’s work shall be made manifest: for the day shall declare it, because it shall be revealed by fire; and the fire shall try every man’s work of what sort it is.
2 Corinthians 5:10 For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ; that every one may receive the things done in his body, according to that he hath done, whether it be good or bad.
Not whether THEY ARE, but whether IT BE. It is only of one SORT. It is all one work.
And not whether it WAS, but whether it BE. We are talking about something present, not something passed away. We are talking about the finished work. What is done.
The things (plural) you have done, your finished work, will be tried to reveal whether IT be, either good or bad. Then you will receive ACCORDING TO the amount of that work.
- This is not the summation or the difference. This is not the average. All of a man’s works are the same KIND. They are all one SORT.
Man’s doingS are not evaluated and judged individually, but as one product of one sort. This is the finished work. This is the FRUIT of your tree.
Once the type of tree is determined, based on its fruit. That is, based on WORDS… The only remaining question is: how much fruit?
Jeremiah 17:10 I the LORD search the heart, I try the reins, even to give every man according to his ways, and according to the fruit of his doings.
You will receive a recompense in proportion to the fruit that you bring forth. Man’s spirit within him WORKS. And his works bring forth his fruit. And a man’s fruit is only of one sort.
Carnal works within the heart of a man bring forth DEATH. Good and true spiritual works within Jesus Christ bring forth LIFE. Those are the only two sorts of fruits there will be on that day.
And a man’s KIND OF, OR TYPE OF, OR SORT OF WORKS are based on his WORDS (his fruit).
Matthew 7:15-16 Beware of false prophets, which come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ravening wolves. 16 Ye shall know them by their fruits. Do men gather grapes of thorns, or figs of thistles?
Matthew 7:19-20 Every tree that bringeth not forth good fruit is hewn down, and cast into the fire. 20 Wherefore by their fruits ye shall know them.
How is God going to divide men? Based on their fruits. How is God going to show righteous judgment when He judges? He is going to REVEAL every man’s fruit. That is how we will KNOW that God is just. That is how we will KNOW on that day that those who we perhaps thought were Real Christians were not, before they are cast into the fire.
Matthew 12:33 Either make the tree good, and his fruit good; or else make the tree corrupt, and his fruit corrupt: for the tree is known by his fruit.
The Lord will know the tree by the singular SORT of fruit that it makes. I wonder what a man’s fruit is? Well, why don’t we look at the very next verse:
Matthew 12:34 O generation of vipers, how can ye, being evil, speak good things? for out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaketh.
The things that a man SPEAKS out of his heart are his fruits. His WORDS. An evil man cannot bring forth good fruit.
Luke 6:44 For every tree is known by his own fruit. For of thorns men do not gather figs, nor of a bramble bush gather they grapes.
The Lord will know the tree by the singular KIND of fruit it makes. I wonder what a man’s fruit is? Well, why don’t we (again) look at the very next verse:
Luke 6:45 A good man out of the good treasure of his heart bringeth forth that which is good; and an evil man out of the evil treasure of his heart bringeth forth that which is evil: for of the abundance of the heart his mouth speaketh.
Whether a man is a good tree or an evil tree is determined based on WORDS. It is based on one’s own words that come out of his own mouth.
They are of one sort, either good or evil. Not both.
Matthew 7:19 Every tree that bringeth not forth good fruit is hewn down, and cast into the fire.
Once this is manifested, then and only then, is the weight/portion calculated.
No one will go to heaven because they DID good, but rather because they ARE good: Because they bring forth good fruit – eternal life.
Likewise no one will go to the LoF because they DID evil, but rather because they ARE evil: Because they bring forth evil fruit – eternal death.
We will be rewarded according to our works (our finished works that is, the amount of fruit). We will be rewarded according to our account (how much fruit is on our account).
But.. we are going to be judged BY, either JUSTIFIED, or CONDEMNED… BY WORDS.
Psalms 1:5 Therefore the ungodly shall not stand in the judgment, nor sinners in the congregation of the righteous.
You will be judged by WORDS. And the only hope you have to stand, is by WORDS. No sinner will stand. Only the righteous will stand. And they will only stand BY the WORD of God.
Jude 1:14-15 And Enoch also, the seventh from Adam, prophesied of these, saying, Behold, the Lord cometh with ten thousands of his saints, 15 To execute judgment upon all, and to convince all that are ungodly among them of all their ungodly deeds which they have ungodly committed, and of all their hard speeches which ungodly sinners have spoken against him.
In the judgment, the Lord is going to convince every single unsaved man, that he is ungodly. He is going to convince every sinner (every man who CAN sin), that they are an ungodly sinner. How?
He is going to use WORDS that have been SPOKEN. He is going to use speeches. He’s going to use testimonies, testaments.
The first word/testimony that He will use is HIS word of the law. He will use the OT. He will use the law (for those that are under the law) to convince a man that he is a sinner.
Romans 2:12 For as many as have sinned without law shall also perish without law: and as many as have sinned in the law shall be judged by the law;
Man is not going to be judged BY WORKS, but he will be judged BY the law. The words of the law. That is, as many as have sinned in the law.
For those that are not under the law, this will not be true. They will not be judged by the law.
But for the unsaved, for the sinners, the Old Testament will testify against man.
Romans 3:19 Now we know that what things 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.
The Lord is going to convince every sinner that he is ungodly. He is going to prove man’s guilt. How? With WORDS.
Starting, with the words of the law. That is why the law was given: to convince man of sin. They were already sinners. They were already condemned.
John 3:18 He that believeth on him is not condemned: but he that believeth not is condemned already, because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God.
I think of the OT saints… how could they NOT be condemned? “By faith Noah…”
The only hope anyone has ever had of not being CONDEMNED with the world is by believing the word of God.
Romans 5:18 Therefore as by the offence of one judgment came upon all men to condemnation; even so by the righteousness of one the free gift came upon all men unto justification of life.
All men that are born of Adam are already judged and condemned. All men that are born of Jesus Christ are already justified. So what good is the judgment?
The Judgment is not to prove to God who is righteous and who is wicked. The judgment is to convince men. And angels. All other beings. Even without the law, men were condemned already. But the law was given, for this very purpose: 1 – to convince men that they are sinners, 2 – to lead men to Jesus Christ.
And that is what the words of the law will do to those who are under the law in that day of judgment. It will convince them of their guilt.
James 2:8-9 If ye fulfil the royal law according to the scripture, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself, ye do well: 9 But if ye have respect to persons, ye commit sin, and are convinced of the law as transgressors.
He will use the law (His words), to convince sinners of sin. The law will testify against sinners, and it will convince them of sin.
Romans 5:20 Moreover the law entered, that the offence might abound. But where sin abounded, grace did much more abound:
The Bible indicates that our sins will testify against us.
Isaiah 59:12 For our transgressions are multiplied before thee, and our sins testify against us: …
Jeremiah 14:7 O LORD, though our iniquities testify against us, …
But if so be that sins will testify against men, I would say that this is not the works of sin that will testify, but it is the finished work, that is, the fruit of sin that will testify against man.
James 1:15 … sin, when it is finished, bringeth forth death.
It is not the past sins, it is the end of, the fruit of, sins. Death.
But sin could not testify against man without the WORDS of the law.
1 Corinthians 15:56 … and the strength of sin is the law.
For Christians, who are “not under the law”, sin and death have no power to testify against us.
1 Corinthians 15:55 O death, where is thy sting? O grave, where is thy victory?
And at the judgment, the first witness to be called against man will be the WORDS of the law. These that will convince man of sin.
Romans 3:20 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.
The law will not be used to justify a righteous man, but the law will be used to condemn a sinner.
The law, the words of the law, will witness against the ungodly.
Deuteronomy 31:24-26 And it came to pass, when Moses had made an end of writing the words of this law in a book, until they were finished, 25 That Moses commanded the Levites, which bare the ark of the covenant of the LORD, saying, 26 Take this book of the law, and put it in the side of the ark of the covenant of the LORD your God, that it may be there for a witness against thee.
By the WORDS of the law, The Lord is going to convince every ungodly man that he is a breaker of the law.
Romans 2:25 For circumcision verily profiteth, if thou keep the law: but if thou be a breaker of the law, thy circumcision is made uncircumcision.
If you are not made righteous by faith, by being born of Jesus Christ, the words of the law will witness against you, as one that is born of Adam, that you are a breaker of the law. Men will be convinced of the law as transgressors.
WORDS will testify against men. Firstly, the words of the law will testify against men.
But oh, no, no, no, no! That is not enough. The Lord will present more than one witness.
Numbers 35:30 Whoso killeth any person, the murderer shall be put to death by the mouth of witnesses: but one witness shall not testify against any person to cause him to die.
The words of the law will not testify alone. Man will be condemned by the mouth of witnesses! Notice: by the MOUTH of witnesses.
Jun 12 2022
The Lord’s Work – Part 53
Downloadable Word document:
The Lord’s Work – Part 53
The Lord’s Work – Part 53
And conversely, do you know how a man can subtract from his account? To kill souls, to lose souls?
Acts 15:24 Forasmuch as we have heard, that certain which went out from us have troubled you with words, subverting your souls, saying, Ye must be circumcised, and keep the law: to whom we gave no such commandment:
Ezekiel 13:19 And will ye pollute me among my people for handfuls of barley and for pieces of bread, to slay the souls that should not die, and to save the souls alive that should not live, by your lying to my people that hear your lies?
WORDS save souls, and WORDS slay souls.
You will give account of every word that you spoke. Not just those you spoke out loud, but those you spoke in secret, in private: in your heart. He’s going to judge the words that you THINK in your thoughts. He is going to judge what you believe!
We are going to be judged “ACCORDING TO” works, but we are going to be judged “BY” words.
What is the difference?
To be judged “ACCORDING TO works” works means that we will receive the due reward of what we have worked. We will receive proportionally to what we worked. Whether good things, we will receive AS MUCH again. And whether evil things, we will receive AS MUCH again. Maybe exactly what we worked, or maybe a multiple of it. But whatever we’ve worked, whatever the finished work is, we will receive as much in return. “According to” means “agreeing to”. It means as X goes, so will Y go. Maybe Y = X, or maybe Y = 2*X. As you did good, so will you receive good. And as you did evil, so will you be rewarded with evil. You will be REWARDED/RECOMPENSED according to your works.
To be judged “BY words” means that we will either be found innocent or guilty, determined to be righteous or wicked, set on the left hand or the right hand, based on WORDS. You will either be condemned and imprisoned, or justified and set here, based on words. To be judged BY words means we will be either justified or condemned BY WORDS that have been spoken. Both The Lord’s words, and our own words.
You will be judged “in agreement with” your works. But it is not WORKS that will be used to determine whether a man is justified or condemned. That will be determined BY WORDS.
The verdict (justified or condemned) will be established “by” (based on) WORDS.
The sentence (rewards or punishments) will be “according to” (proportional to) one’s works.
The reward, which you will be given “according to your works” will be EITHER in proportion to GOOD you have done OR in proportion to EVIL you have done – but not both. Both is impossible. You are either found to be good or evil based on WORDS and THEN the reward is based on the AMOUNT of your EITHER good or evil works – but not both.
First The Lord will assess the type of fruit, in order to know/to prove the type of tree, and THEN He will gather up and count up the fruit.
Every tree is known by his fruit. The tree will be judged BY the type of fruit it produces.
Matthew 13:30 Let both [the wheat and the tares] grow together until the harvest: and in the time of harvest I will say to the reapers, Gather ye together first the tares, and bind them in bundles to burn them: but gather the wheat into my barn.
The Lord will separate men based on what they produce. Based on what type of fruit they bring forth. Based on, what they ARE.
Then, when gathered into the barn, the Lord will count the fruit. And who are the wheat, and who are the tares?
Matthew 13:38 The field is the world; the good seed are the children of the kingdom; but the tares are the children of the wicked one;
Where you will go, is based on who your father is.
Your work is according to what you are. Your works, your work, is either good or evil. Not both. “It be” of one sort.
1 Corinthians 3:13 Every man’s work shall be made manifest: for the day shall declare it, because it shall be revealed by fire; and the fire shall try every man’s work of what sort it is.
2 Corinthians 5:10 For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ; that every one may receive the things done in his body, according to that he hath done, whether it be good or bad.
Not whether THEY ARE, but whether IT BE. It is only of one SORT. It is all one work.
And not whether it WAS, but whether it BE. We are talking about something present, not something passed away. We are talking about the finished work. What is done.
The things (plural) you have done, your finished work, will be tried to reveal whether IT be, either good or bad. Then you will receive ACCORDING TO the amount of that work.
Man’s doingS are not evaluated and judged individually, but as one product of one sort. This is the finished work. This is the FRUIT of your tree.
Once the type of tree is determined, based on its fruit. That is, based on WORDS… The only remaining question is: how much fruit?
Jeremiah 17:10 I the LORD search the heart, I try the reins, even to give every man according to his ways, and according to the fruit of his doings.
You will receive a recompense in proportion to the fruit that you bring forth. Man’s spirit within him WORKS. And his works bring forth his fruit. And a man’s fruit is only of one sort.
Carnal works within the heart of a man bring forth DEATH. Good and true spiritual works within Jesus Christ bring forth LIFE. Those are the only two sorts of fruits there will be on that day.
And a man’s KIND OF, OR TYPE OF, OR SORT OF WORKS are based on his WORDS (his fruit).
Matthew 7:15-16 Beware of false prophets, which come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ravening wolves. 16 Ye shall know them by their fruits. Do men gather grapes of thorns, or figs of thistles?
Matthew 7:19-20 Every tree that bringeth not forth good fruit is hewn down, and cast into the fire. 20 Wherefore by their fruits ye shall know them.
How is God going to divide men? Based on their fruits. How is God going to show righteous judgment when He judges? He is going to REVEAL every man’s fruit. That is how we will KNOW that God is just. That is how we will KNOW on that day that those who we perhaps thought were Real Christians were not, before they are cast into the fire.
Matthew 12:33 Either make the tree good, and his fruit good; or else make the tree corrupt, and his fruit corrupt: for the tree is known by his fruit.
The Lord will know the tree by the singular SORT of fruit that it makes. I wonder what a man’s fruit is? Well, why don’t we look at the very next verse:
Matthew 12:34 O generation of vipers, how can ye, being evil, speak good things? for out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaketh.
The things that a man SPEAKS out of his heart are his fruits. His WORDS. An evil man cannot bring forth good fruit.
Luke 6:44 For every tree is known by his own fruit. For of thorns men do not gather figs, nor of a bramble bush gather they grapes.
The Lord will know the tree by the singular KIND of fruit it makes. I wonder what a man’s fruit is? Well, why don’t we (again) look at the very next verse:
Luke 6:45 A good man out of the good treasure of his heart bringeth forth that which is good; and an evil man out of the evil treasure of his heart bringeth forth that which is evil: for of the abundance of the heart his mouth speaketh.
Whether a man is a good tree or an evil tree is determined based on WORDS. It is based on one’s own words that come out of his own mouth.
They are of one sort, either good or evil. Not both.
Matthew 7:19 Every tree that bringeth not forth good fruit is hewn down, and cast into the fire.
Once this is manifested, then and only then, is the weight/portion calculated.
No one will go to heaven because they DID good, but rather because they ARE good: Because they bring forth good fruit – eternal life.
Likewise no one will go to the LoF because they DID evil, but rather because they ARE evil: Because they bring forth evil fruit – eternal death.
We will be rewarded according to our works (our finished works that is, the amount of fruit). We will be rewarded according to our account (how much fruit is on our account).
But.. we are going to be judged BY, either JUSTIFIED, or CONDEMNED… BY WORDS.
Psalms 1:5 Therefore the ungodly shall not stand in the judgment, nor sinners in the congregation of the righteous.
You will be judged by WORDS. And the only hope you have to stand, is by WORDS. No sinner will stand. Only the righteous will stand. And they will only stand BY the WORD of God.
Jude 1:14-15 And Enoch also, the seventh from Adam, prophesied of these, saying, Behold, the Lord cometh with ten thousands of his saints, 15 To execute judgment upon all, and to convince all that are ungodly among them of all their ungodly deeds which they have ungodly committed, and of all their hard speeches which ungodly sinners have spoken against him.
In the judgment, the Lord is going to convince every single unsaved man, that he is ungodly. He is going to convince every sinner (every man who CAN sin), that they are an ungodly sinner. How?
He is going to use WORDS that have been SPOKEN. He is going to use speeches. He’s going to use testimonies, testaments.
The first word/testimony that He will use is HIS word of the law. He will use the OT. He will use the law (for those that are under the law) to convince a man that he is a sinner.
Romans 2:12 For as many as have sinned without law shall also perish without law: and as many as have sinned in the law shall be judged by the law;
Man is not going to be judged BY WORKS, but he will be judged BY the law. The words of the law. That is, as many as have sinned in the law.
For those that are not under the law, this will not be true. They will not be judged by the law.
But for the unsaved, for the sinners, the Old Testament will testify against man.
Romans 3:19 Now we know that what things 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.
The Lord is going to convince every sinner that he is ungodly. He is going to prove man’s guilt. How? With WORDS.
Starting, with the words of the law. That is why the law was given: to convince man of sin. They were already sinners. They were already condemned.
John 3:18 He that believeth on him is not condemned: but he that believeth not is condemned already, because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God.
I think of the OT saints… how could they NOT be condemned? “By faith Noah…”
The only hope anyone has ever had of not being CONDEMNED with the world is by believing the word of God.
Romans 5:18 Therefore as by the offence of one judgment came upon all men to condemnation; even so by the righteousness of one the free gift came upon all men unto justification of life.
All men that are born of Adam are already judged and condemned. All men that are born of Jesus Christ are already justified. So what good is the judgment?
The Judgment is not to prove to God who is righteous and who is wicked. The judgment is to convince men. And angels. All other beings. Even without the law, men were condemned already. But the law was given, for this very purpose: 1 – to convince men that they are sinners, 2 – to lead men to Jesus Christ.
And that is what the words of the law will do to those who are under the law in that day of judgment. It will convince them of their guilt.
James 2:8-9 If ye fulfil the royal law according to the scripture, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself, ye do well: 9 But if ye have respect to persons, ye commit sin, and are convinced of the law as transgressors.
He will use the law (His words), to convince sinners of sin. The law will testify against sinners, and it will convince them of sin.
Romans 5:20 Moreover the law entered, that the offence might abound. But where sin abounded, grace did much more abound:
The Bible indicates that our sins will testify against us.
Isaiah 59:12 For our transgressions are multiplied before thee, and our sins testify against us: …
Jeremiah 14:7 O LORD, though our iniquities testify against us, …
But if so be that sins will testify against men, I would say that this is not the works of sin that will testify, but it is the finished work, that is, the fruit of sin that will testify against man.
James 1:15 … sin, when it is finished, bringeth forth death.
It is not the past sins, it is the end of, the fruit of, sins. Death.
But sin could not testify against man without the WORDS of the law.
1 Corinthians 15:56 … and the strength of sin is the law.
For Christians, who are “not under the law”, sin and death have no power to testify against us.
1 Corinthians 15:55 O death, where is thy sting? O grave, where is thy victory?
And at the judgment, the first witness to be called against man will be the WORDS of the law. These that will convince man of sin.
Romans 3:20 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.
The law will not be used to justify a righteous man, but the law will be used to condemn a sinner.
The law, the words of the law, will witness against the ungodly.
Deuteronomy 31:24-26 And it came to pass, when Moses had made an end of writing the words of this law in a book, until they were finished, 25 That Moses commanded the Levites, which bare the ark of the covenant of the LORD, saying, 26 Take this book of the law, and put it in the side of the ark of the covenant of the LORD your God, that it may be there for a witness against thee.
By the WORDS of the law, The Lord is going to convince every ungodly man that he is a breaker of the law.
Romans 2:25 For circumcision verily profiteth, if thou keep the law: but if thou be a breaker of the law, thy circumcision is made uncircumcision.
If you are not made righteous by faith, by being born of Jesus Christ, the words of the law will witness against you, as one that is born of Adam, that you are a breaker of the law. Men will be convinced of the law as transgressors.
WORDS will testify against men. Firstly, the words of the law will testify against men.
But oh, no, no, no, no! That is not enough. The Lord will present more than one witness.
Numbers 35:30 Whoso killeth any person, the murderer shall be put to death by the mouth of witnesses: but one witness shall not testify against any person to cause him to die.
The words of the law will not testify alone. Man will be condemned by the mouth of witnesses! Notice: by the MOUTH of witnesses.
By Pastor • Christian Doctrine, The Judgment • 0