2 Corinthians 5:9-11 (KJV) Wherefore we labor, that, whether present or absent, we may be accepted of him. 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. 11 Knowing therefore the terror of the Lord, we persuade men; but we are made manifest unto God; and I trust also are made manifest in your consciences.

2 Corinthians 5:18-20 (KJV)And all things are of God, who hath reconciled us to himself by Jesus Christ, and hath given to us the ministry of reconciliation; 19 To wit, that God was in Christ, reconciling the world unto himself, not imputing their trespasses unto them; and hath committed unto us the word of reconciliation. 20 Now then we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God did beseech you by us: we pray you in Christ’s stead, be ye reconciled to God.

Proverbs 13:17 (KJV) … a faithful ambassador is health.

Audio of sermon: 

Every believer in Jesus Christ is an Ambassador from Heaven.

I looked up the word “ambassador” in Webster’s and found this definition:

“an official envoy; especially : a diplomatic agent of the highest rank accredited to a foreign government or sovereign as the resident representative of his or her own government or sovereign or appointed for a special and often temporary diplomatic assignment”

The Ambassador Is SENT To A Foreign Country

Though you may have been born on this earth and have a Social Security Number and a license with your address on it, the day you were born again things changed. You changed. You were dead in sin and in trespasses, but now have been made alive. The Scripture says:

2 Corinthians 5:14-15 (KJV)14 For the love of Christ constraineth us; because we thus judge, that if one died for all, then were all dead: 15 And that he died for all, that they which live should not henceforth live unto themselves, but unto him which died for them, and rose again.

Before we knew Christ we lived for ourselves in selfishness and deceit. We justified our sin. We made ourselves the center of the universe. But once we received Christ as Lord and Savior our lives changed. We became new creatures – the people of God.

2 Corinthians 5:17 (KJV)17 Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new.

If you are a Christian, saved by the Blood of the Lamb, then you are a new creature. You are not like the Child of Adam, but you are now a Child of God. When Jesus prayed for His Church He prayed … listen to His Words now …

John 17:15-17 (KJV) “I pray not that thou shouldest take them out of the world, but that thou shouldest keep them from the evil. {16} They are not of the world, even as I am not of the world. {17} Sanctify them through thy truth: thy word is truth. {18} As thou hast sent me into the world, even so have I also sent them into the world.”

An Ambassador is SENT. Jesus was SENT from Heaven to tell us of the Father’s Will. Jesus came not representing Himself but the Father. He said “If you have seen Me, you have seen the Father”. A good Ambassador is SENT to REPRESENT the desires of His Country’s leaders. Jesus said “as You (Father) have sent Me, I send them”. We are Ambassadors of Christ, the King of Kings and Lord of Lords.

… a faithful Ambassador is health

If God left you on this earth as His Ambassador (and the Scripture seems to teach this) then when you do as you are called you will spread health. A lost person is not healthy. A lost person is in bondage to sin, to satan, to self. The Bible says:

Romans 6:23 (KJV) For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.

The good Ambassador carries the message of the Heavenly Kingdom to this world so that others may enter into His Kingdom.

The Ambassador Is Sent To CARRY THE KING’S MESSAGE

No good Ambassador makes up his or her own message, but carries the message given by God to this world. We are like the Angel Gabriel who announced the birth of Christ:

He shall save HIS PEOPLE from their sins

The message we carry to the world is not the simplistic message that “God is love”. God is love. God loves. But sin separates us from God. The Apostle said:

2 Corinthians 5:11 (KJV) Knowing therefore the terror of the Lord, we persuade men; but we are made manifest unto God; and I trust also are made manifest in your consciences.

We know the terror – the TERROR – of the Lord. What does this mean? The word TERROR is the Greek φόβος phobos which means FEAR. What does the Bible say about fearing God? I’ve heard people say that “fear” just means to “respect God”. The Bible uses the word FEAR in reference to God some 300 times, so we shouldn’t minimize it. It is true that “perfect love casts out all fear” (1 John 4:18) but this is a reference to those who are born again by faith in Christ, born into the family of God. When people have no fear of God they do foolish things.

They live as if they will live forever without eternity.

They make themselves gods, ignoring the Creator.

They never consider the next life which is certain.

They do immoral things and mock God’s Word.

Jesus spoke of a certain rich man who lived in luxury, heartlessly ignoring the poor around him. He lived “clothed in purple and fine linen, and fared sumptiously every day” (Luke 16:19). When that man died he “lifted up his eyes in hell, being in torments” (Luke 16:23). He had no fear of God in this life – and no fear of being blessed by God in the next. Our Lord Jesus said:

Matthew 10:28 (NKJV) And do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. But rather fear Him who is able to destroy both soul and body in hell.

I was reading an article by Pastor Greg Morse of Desiring God Ministries the other day called “Over Our Dead Bodies – Embracing The Cost Of Warning The Lost”. In the article he spoke of a funeral where a woman was being buried. Greg wrote:

“The woman before him lived as worldly as they come, blaspheming God and His Word whenever the opportunity presented itself. … the Pastor proclaimed that – deep down – she was a good person and was with the Lord in Heaven. It was at that moment when all sat pleased at the Pastor’s words that a young woman {in the audience} spoke up.

“It’s a lie! Do not believe him. We will not all be in a better place! That hope is false. Only those who believe in Christ, the son of God, the One Who died and was raised, will be saved! Only those who repent and believe and follow Him until the end will be in a better place. Wrath awaits all who die in sin! He stands ready to forgive you!”

What courage this took! People tried to quieten her. The usher tried to expell her. But she spoje the truth in love.

God is love, but as HE defines love. If we leave this life without being reconciled to God then we go to a place of eternal torment, a place without peace or without hope, a terrible place, a place of judgment. God has left us ambassadors in this world to share His message of reconciliation to whosoever will believe.

2 Corinthians 5:18-19 (KJV) And all things are of God, who hath reconciled us to himself BY JESUS CHRIST, and hath given to us the ministry of reconciliation; 19 To wit, that God was in Christ, reconciling the world unto himself, not imputing their trespasses unto them; and hath committed unto us the word of reconciliation.

We who are reconciled to God by faith in Christ are to invite others to be likewise reconciled. Jesus Christ laid His life down for this fallen world. He calls all who will to lay their lives down for Him.

Salvation is entirely attained by receiving Christ. What does the Scripture say?

John 1:12-13 (NKJV) But AS MANY AS RECEIVED HIM, to them He gave the right to become children of God, to those who believe in His name: 13 who were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God.

He died for this world so that this world might live.
This is the message we preach and teach.
There is no life in denominations.
There is no life in works.
There is no life in the keeping of the Law.
Wherein is life? It is in Christ alone. In loving Him.

Romans 3:23-24 (KJV) For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God; 24 Being justified freely by his grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus:

We are justified – made upright – by the grace of God that is available in Christ Jesus.

Romans 8:1-4 (KJV)1 There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit. 2 For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus hath made me free from the law of sin and death. 3 For what the law could not do, in that it was weak through the flesh, God sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, and for sin, condemned sin in the flesh: 4 That the righteousness of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit.

We are with condemnation before God because we follow after Christ and are in Christ. Look at the Scripture:

2 Corinthians 5:9 (KJV) Wherefore we LABOR, that, whether present or absent, we MAY BE ACCEPTED OF HIM.

Salvation is all of faith in Christ. Jesus Christ is the …

1 John 2:2 (KJV) ….. propitiation (covering) for our sins: and not for ours only, but also for the sins of the whole world.

But the saved love Jesus and love to work for Jesus. Ambassadors are honored to be called. They are not forced into service, but love Him with all their hearts.

The Ambassador Is Sent To Carry The King’s Message FEARLESSLY

As good Ambassadors we do not add to nor remove from the message we have been given. God so loved the world that He gave His Only Begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life. (John 3:16). We as Ambassadors represent the Kingdom of God, and we others to come into this Kingdom while there is time. They must come by Christ.

2 Corinthians 5:14-15 (KJV)14 For the love of Christ constraineth us; because we thus judge, that if one died for all, then were all dead: 15 And that he died for all, that they which live should not henceforth live unto themselves, but unto him which died for them, and rose again.

The way of life of the world is dead.

Proverbs 14:12 (KJV) There is a way which seemeth right unto a man, but the end thereof are the ways of death.

The way of the world is the way of selfishness, lovelessness, and death. There is no life in this world, but there is life in Christ. Jesus was very clear when He said:

(John 10:8-11 KJV) “ALL THAT EVER CAME BEFORE ME ARE THIEVES AND ROBBERS: but the sheep did not hear them. {9} I AM THE DOOR: BY ME IF ANY MAN ENTER IN, HE SHALL BE SAVED, and shall go in and out, and find pasture. {10} The thief cometh not, but for to steal, and to kill, and to destroy: I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly. {11} I AM THE GOOD SHEPHERD: THE GOOD SHEPHERD GIVETH HIS LIFE FOR THE SHEEP.”

The only way to life is through Christ. This is the message we carry. It is not a popular message. The Apostle Paul asked the Church at Ephesus to PRAY for him, saying:

Ephesians 6:20 (KJV) For which I am an ambassador in bonds: that therein I may speak boldly, as I ought to speak.

He was an ambassador in BONDS – in chains – for preaching the Gospel. Nonetheless Paul did not fear. He knew that God was in charge, and God was in control of what happened. Paul focused on the message, not the mess he was in.

As good Ambassadors we must NOT bend nor compromise. We do not belong to this world, but to Another. We are not citizens of this country permanently, just temporarily. We are “strangers and pilgrims” (1 Peter 2:11; Hebrews 11:13) on this present earth.

My heav’nly home is bright and fair,
I feel like traveling on;
Nor pain nor death can enter there,
I feel like traveling on.
Yes, I feel like traveling on,
I feel like traveling on;
|My heav’nly home is bright and fair,
I feel like traveling on.

We are here as long as God needs us here to be His Ambassadors. As Ambassadors we speak for Him and for our only Home. The Bible says:

Philippians 3:20 (KJV) “For our {citizenship} is in heaven; from whence also we look for the Saviour, the Lord Jesus Christ:”

Our citizenship is in Heaven. We are but visitors to this planet offering God’s peace to whosoever will receive it. We obey the Laws of our land as long as they do not conflict with the Laws of our King. But our King’s Laws are NEVER replaced by the Laws of mortal man. The Pharisees came to Jesus one day to try and entrap Him. They asked:

Matthew 22:17-21 (KJV) “Tell us therefore, What thinkest thou? Is it lawful to give tribute unto Caesar, or not? {18} But Jesus perceived their wickedness, and said, Why tempt ye me, ye hypocrites? {19} Show me the tribute money. And they brought unto him a penny. {20} And he saith unto them, Whose is this image and superscription? {21} They say unto him, Caesar’s. Then saith he unto them, Render therefore unto Caesar the things which are Caesar’s; and unto God the things that are God’s.”

No Christian has the right to break the Law of the land he is in unless the law of the land is contrary to God’s Law. We obey God first. We as Ambassadors represent God first. The Apostle wrote:

Romans 13:1-4 (KJV) Let every soul be subject unto the higher powers. For there is no power but of God: the powers that be are ordained of God. {2} Whosoever therefore resisteth the power, resisteth the ordinance of God: and they that resist shall receive to themselves damnation. {3} For rulers are not a terror to good works, but to the evil. Wilt thou then not be afraid of the power? do that which is good, and thou shalt have praise of the same: {4} For he is the minister of God to thee for good.

The Ambassador Will One Day Be Judged For His Or Her Stewardship

Again in our text we read:

2 Corinthians 5:9-10 (KJV) Wherefore we labor, that, whether present or absent, we may be accepted of him. 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.

As Ambassadors we will never stand before that terrible Great White Throne of Revelation 20.

Revelation 20:11 (KJV) 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.

The Great White Throne is a place where TERROR will reign. People will run from the Judge on that Throne. Another name for the Great White Throne is “The Terror of the Lord” as we mentioned before. When we return home – our real home in Heaven – our works will be judged. Let us be good Ambassadors for Him. Let us live our lives knowing that our destiny is with Jesus. Let us work to please the One Who saved us.

2 Corinthians 5:6-8 (KJV) Therefore we are always confident, knowing that, whilst we are at home in the body, we are absent from the Lord: 7 (For we walk by faith, not by sight:) 8 We are confident, I say, and willing rather to be absent from the body, and to be present with the Lord.

There will come a time when God will call His Ambassadors home. No Ambassador stays forever in the place he is sent. There will come a time when we – each and every one of us who are His – will go into yonder glory. If we live until the Time God will remove all His Ambassadors at once from this earth in an event we call “The Rapture”. When all Ambassadors are removed from a country it is tantamount to a declaration of war. Our removal will start the Great Tribulation, the Great Purging of the earth.

But until that day we honor our God by serving as faithful Ambassadors. We are to always remember the words of our Lord:

John 16:33 (KJV) “These things I have spoken unto you, that in me ye might have peace. In the world ye shall have tribulation: but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world.”

Jesus Christ has and will overcome the world. Be His Ambassador. Live for Him. Let Him live through You. Pray. Read His Word. Do good. Love. Share. His. Gospel.

May God touch your hearts with His Word.