Would you open your Bible, please, to Romans
chapter 14 and then to 2 Corinthians chapter
5. Romans chapter 14 and then we'll look at 2
Corinthians chapter 5. First we'll read verses
10 through 12 of Romans 14. But you, why do you
judge your brother? Or, you again, why do you
regard your brother with contempt? For we shall
all stand before the judgment seat of God. For
it is written, As I live, says the Lord, every
knee shall bow to me, and every tongue shall
give praise to God. So then each one of us shall
give account of himself to God. That word account
is the term of an accountant, a bookkeeper. And
what it says essentially is that God is going
to audit our lives. Now turn over to 2 Corinthians
chapter 5 where the Apostle is speaking regarding
our anticipation of our heavenly body. He tells
us that to be absent from our body now means
to be present with the Lord. Over these last
weeks, there are certain phrases that God has
written afresh in my heart that have become exceedingly
precious, and this is one of them, present with
the Lord or at home with the Lord. Another one
is in Philippians chapter 1. where the apostle
says that he desires to depart and to be with
Christ, which he says is very far better. I like
those three words. I'm not sure all that they
mean, but it's very far better to be there. And
then he says in verse 9, Therefore also we have
as our ambition, whether at home or absent, to
be pleasing to him. For, we must all appear before
the judgment seat of Christ, that each one may
be recompensed for his deeds in the body according
to what he has done, whether good or bad. Therefore,
knowing the fear of the Lord, we persuade men,
but we are made manifest to God. Let's pray together.
bow before you, humbly seeking that the Spirit
of God would open these texts to us this evening
as we think about the judgment seat of Christ.
And I pray that you will have the freedom to
say everything you want to say to each one of
us. Give our ears the ability to hear your voice
and our wills. a readiness to respond. In Jesus'
name, amen. Accountability is built into life.
That is true in nearly every realm that you can
think about. Two weeks ago tonight, for some
reason, a Northwest airliner taking off from
Detroit, Michigan was claimed by the law of gravity.
Whatever the reason, and I suppose ultimately
we shall find out, the law of gravity claimed
the lives of those people. They were held accountable
because that airliner did not attain airworthiness.
It was unable to attain its takeoff. Accountability
is written into life. I was working with one
of the men in our church a few weeks ago installing
a house fan. And as we were doing that we had
to wire it. I have a healthy respect for electricity.
I have learned it the good old -fashioned way.
And I was amazed as he was able to work so deftly
with the electrical system in our house and wire
that fan without fear. with a healthy respect
but without fear because he knew how to use the
laws of electricity. But if you abuse those laws,
if you break those laws, you will be held accountable.
And I suppose all of us have to some degree at
some point in our lives. Accountability is written
into life. That is what is said to us here regarding
the totality of life. The Apostle says we must
all appear. It says, every one of us shall give
account of himself. He is speaking regarding
what is called the Bema seat of Christ, the judgment
seat of Christ. I'd like for us to think about
this judgment that is in the future with respect
to several things. First of all, the one who
will judge. Who is the one who will be on the
judgment seat on that day of the Bema? The answer
is that the Lord Jesus Christ will be the one
who will be seated on that throne of judgment.
Now we know that because it is called the judgment
seat of Christ here in 2 Corinthians 5, even
as it is called the judgment seat of God by the
best readings in Romans chapter 14. There is
no contradiction there whatsoever for Jesus Christ
is God. It is His judgment seat. But we know
further that he will be the one on the throne
because of what is said in John chapter 5, and
I'd like for you to refer to that with me for
just a moment. In John chapter 5, in verses 22
and 23, our Savior has these words, For not even
the Father judges anyone, but he has given all
judgment to the Son. "...in order that all may
honor the Son, even as they honor the Father.
He who does not honor the Son does not honor
the Father who sent him." And then skip down
to verse 27 where it says, "...and he the Father
gave him the Son, authority to execute judgment,
because he is the Son of man." Our Savior is
the God -Man. He is fully God, but He is also
fully man. And as man, He is able to sit in judgment
perfectly over all men. And so God the Father
has committed to His Son, the Lord Jesus Christ,
God the Son incarnate, all judgment. And that
includes this which is called the judgment seat
of Christ. Because he is the son of man, he is
perfectly qualified in every respect to be our
judge. It is good to keep in mind that in the
future there are two general periods of judgment.
One period will be before the millennial reign
of the Lord Jesus Christ. when the judgment of
all of the righteous will take place. Now that
must be so because the righteous will enter into
that kingdom with varying degrees of responsibility.
The responsibility in the kingdom will be determined
at the judgment. So all of the righteous will
be judged prior to the beginning of the millennial
or the 1 ,000 year reign. of the Lord Jesus Christ.
There is a second general period of judgment
and that follows the Millennium when all of the
wicked will be judged. At that time there will
be established the great white throne judgment
that is mentioned to us in the book of the Revelation.
That is a judgment not of believers at all but
of those whose names have not been written in
the Lamb's book of life, that is, those who are
unsaved. It is certain that you and I will stand
at some judgment. There is no question regarding
that. At some judgment, every person who has
ever been born into the world will stand before
Jesus Christ for an accounting. And on that occasion,
the all -seeing, piercing eyes of our Savior,
His loving, compassionate eyes, yet described
as eyes like flaming fire, those eyes will peer
into ours and through our eyes into our hearts
and every hidden area of life. is possible to
be exposed will be exposed at that judgment.
And I say that will happen to every one of us.
Whether Christian or non -Christian, saved or
lost, we shall all stand before some judgment.
And Jesus Christ will be the one on the throne.
Now let's ask a second question. Who are those
who will be judged at the Bema? That is the judgment
seat of Christ. The answer is believers. And
more specifically than that, it seems only the
believers during this age, those who are a part
of the Church of the Lord Jesus Christ, those
who will be caught up in the glorious rapture
of which we have sung this evening and heard
sung. It is we who are a part of this elect body
being composed in this age from all of the nations
of the world. It is we who shall stand before
the Savior at this particular judgment of the
righteous, which is called the Bema seat judgment.
We who are believers in the Lord Jesus Christ
have basically three judgments that we face.
The first one is the past judgment when we were
sinners. That is a judgment that we faced at
the cross of our Savior when we came to Christ.
It was a judgment upon our sin at that moment
when we saw our sinfulness and we saw the cross
of the Lord and we understood His work there
on our behalf, His shed blood for the remission
of our sins. At that moment our sins were dealt
with. That is the past judgment. That's why it
says in Romans 8 -1, there is therefore now no
condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus
because the judgment of sins is in the past.
It's over. There will not be a judgment of sin
in the future for us. That's a blessed truth.
We have already passed from death to life. The
sin question is settled once and for all at the
cross. When we bow there, we bow our hearts and
receive Jesus Christ. Then there is a present
judgment when we are judged not as sinners but
as sons. This is a judgment that is described
in Hebrews chapter 12 as chastisement. It is
the work of our Lord bringing into our lives
His discipline to cleanse us, to teach us, to
instruct us in the ways of the Lord. It is a
type of judgment now, and in fact it is a kind
of judgment of which we share by self -examination
as we talked about this morning. 1 Corinthians
11 commands us to examine ourselves before we
partake of the Lord's table. That, too, is a
part of this present judgment process. We are
judged as the sons of God. We are chastened by
Him as those whom He loves. And then there is
the future judgment when we will be judged not
as sinners or as sons, but rather as servants.
For at this future judgment of the Lord, we will
stand before Him to give account for our service.
This is the Bema Seat judgment of Christ. Now
let's think regarding the nature of this judgment
on that day at the Bema Seat. I want to re -emphasize,
because there are some who worry about this,
that this is not a judgment to determine salvation.
The judgment seat of Christ is not a time to
determine punishment for sins because the Lord
Jesus has paid for sins. Those will not be held
to our account any longer because of His payment
on our behalf as our substitute. The judgment
seat of Christ does not deal with our eternal
destiny, but it does deal with our earthly deeds.
It does not deal with our salvation, but it does
deal with our service. As I suggested when we
read the scripture in Romans chapter 14, we will
give an accounting to God. That is a term that
should be very meaningful to those of you who
have studied accounting or who are CPAs. It means
that the ledger books will be opened and that
our Lord will then Do an accounting process of
our lives at the judgment seat of Christ. You
say, well, what about our sins? Well, I am thanking
God tonight as surely you are that all of our
sins, past, present, and future are under the
blood of the Lord Jesus Christ. Our sins will
not specifically be brought before us there at
the judgment seat of Christ. Now, if we are living
in sin, it means that we are wasting time. And
as our lives are examined, as the books are opened
on that occasion, it may be that there will be
blank pages because we have not been living for
Christ. You see, the sins themselves may not
be there. They're paid for. But the sad fact
on that day is that we may not have anything
in the book. I believe that's why the Apostle
Paul says as he does in 2 Corinthians 5 and verse
11, knowing the fear of the Lord. The Apostle
said as he himself pondered that day that there
was an awe about it to him. The word here is
our English word phobia. Here is a healthy phobia.
It's the beam of phobia. Paul said, as I think
about the Bema seed of Christ and the fact that
I must be exposed before the Lord and will give
an accounting of myself, there is an awe in my
heart of that day. There is a healthy fear of
that day. And so he says, we persuade men and
are made manifest to God. He says we live an
open book all the time. We allow our hearts to
be made known to God. We are manifest to God
and we persuade men because someday we will stand
before him for judgment. The BEMA, B -E -M -A,
what is that? The BEMA was a platform, a raised
platform and a seat for the judge of athletic
contests in those days. If any of you have ever
traveled to Greece and have gone down to Corinth,
you see the Bema that is there, which the Corinthians
certainly had in mind as Paul wrote these words
to them. It is still there today in ruins, the
Bema, where the judge would stand to decide cases
or in the case of athletic games where he would
pass out the awards and that seems to be the
primary thrust of Paul's words. Now in those
days the one who would pass out the awards would
give out a garland of some kind of greenery that
would go on the head of the athlete and of course
it would quickly pass away but the honor was
bestowed you see at the Beamer. Now what he says
to us is that there is a Bema that God has established
for us when we will come before him and how we
have run our race will matter because we will
then be awarded our prize by the Lord Himself.
He tells us that there will be an uncovering,
a laying bare. a revealing of the total fruit,
the total worth of each believer's life. Now
from the negative standpoint, it means that we
will not be judged by what we want to do and
can, but what we ought to do and don't. But from
the positive standpoint, it means that everything
that we have done in our lives in the name of
the Lord Jesus Christ with pure motives that
God is going to examine that on that day and
pass judgment on it and we will be rewarded accordingly.
There have been times perhaps when you have served
the Lord sincerely and in the power of the Holy
Spirit. And you have received no acclaim for
that. No one has awarded you anything. You have
no plaque on your wall. Indeed, maybe something
has been so small as we count things that no
one would ever give you an award for it. Let
me tell you, there's not a cup of cold water
given in the name of Christ. But that shall not
be exposed on this day. There's a wonderful word
in 1st Corinthians 4 or 5. In fact, it's worth
going back to look at in your own Bible. 1st
Corinthians chapter 4. You remember the Corinthians
were judging Paul. They were evaluating Paul
and Apollos and Peter and dividing up sides and
saying, well, this guy's a better preacher than
that one and this one is better than the other
one. And Paul says to them in verse 5 of chapter
4, Therefore do not go on passing judgment before
the time, but wait until the Lord comes, who
will both bring to light the things hidden in
darkness and disclose the motives of men's hearts.
And then each man's praise will come to him from
God. Paul is saying to the Corinthians, your
praise of me or your judgment of me does not
matter. He says, I don't care for it. The important
thing is there's a time coming when the Lord
will examine me and each one of us will have
praise not from men, but from God. I'm encouraged
by that fact that it seems that the Lord is going
to find something at least in all of us on that
day for which to give praise and to reward us.
Why, you may say, does it need to wait that long?
Why aren't we rewarded now? Wouldn't that be
a greater incentive as we go along to know the
Lord's rewards? Well, in one sense, maybe it
would. But you see, our Lord wishes to wait until
that time so that the totality of our lives can
be determined. That all the worth of them All
of the good that you have set into motion can
then be adequately measured. He does not want
to shortchange you. He is waiting until that
future time after the rapture of the church so
that all of the good that you have done in His
name may at that time then be adequately and
fully praised and rewarded at the judgment seat
of Christ. What are the crowns that will be given
on that day? Well, there are certain crowns named
in the Bible. I don't know that these are the
only crowns to be given, but there is mention,
for example, in 1 Corinthians 9, verses 24 to
27, the incorruptible crown, which is said there
will be given to those who practice self -control.
In 1 Thessalonians 2, verses 19 and 20, there
is suggested the soul -winner's crown. for those
who are faithful and witnessing for Christ. In
2 Timothy 4, verses 5 through 8, the crown of
righteousness, says Paul, will be given to all
of those who love and look for the appearing
of Christ. In James 2, 12, and again in Revelation
2, 10, the crown of life will be given to those
who endure trial. because of their love for the
Lord Jesus and their faithfulness to him. And
then in 1 Peter 5 verses 1 through 4, the shepherd's
crown to be given to elders who faithfully feed
the flock of God and live exemplary lives before
them. Now these are the specific crowns that
are mentioned in the New Testament, but surely
these will not be the only ones. For our Lord
knows perfectly how to reward us on that day,
so that we will sense the excitement and the
fulfillment of having served Him faithfully in
this world. The wise Christian therefore will
judge life's issues with this prospect in view.
As we run the race, sometimes the track seems
pretty long, doesn't it? And we wonder, will
there ever be a finish line? Is there ever a
time when rewards are given out? And the answer
is absolutely yes, there is. You and I may not
be able to see the finish line, but we see the
one who stands at the finish line, our Christ,
and he stands there waiting for us to arrive
at this occasion, and then will give us appropriately
what we have earned. by our service for Him.
Moses lived this way. Don't lose 1 Corinthians
3 because I want to come back there, but turn
over to Hebrews chapter 11 for just a moment.
And look in verse 24 of this great chapter of
faith where it says, By faith Moses, when he
had grown up, refused to be called the son of
Pharaoh's daughter. Choosing, rather, to endure
ill treatment with the people of God than to
enjoy the passing pleasures of sin. Considering
the reproach of Christ greater riches than the
treasures of Egypt, for He was looking to the
reward. By faith He left Egypt, not fearing the
wrath of the king, for He endured as seeing Him
who is unseen. Someone has said Moses chose the
imperishable, saw the invisible, and did the
impossible because he was a man who lived by
faith. Now why did Moses do what he did? Because
he looked beyond the temporal power he might
have had as the son of Pharaoh's daughter, the
next Pharaoh. He looked beyond the passing pleasures
of sin. He looked beyond the rewards he might
have... have experienced the possessions. And
he saw him who was invisible and he looked to
that reward. What reward is that? Well, in the
context of Hebrews 11, it seems to be the fulfillment
of all the promises of God in that city whose
builder and maker is God, that place that Abraham
looked for in Isaac and Jacob and all the faithful
through the ages. Moses looked ahead and he saw
that reward coming. He said, anything in this
life that would detract me from that is not worth
it. It's nothing in comparison to the eternal.
And so he pressed on. Beloved, as we think about
the judgment seat of Jesus Christ, while it certainly
does create awe in our hearts as we ponder that
day of our exposure. our auditing. Let it also
stimulate us now. Let it spur us on to serve
the Lord with eternity's values in view and be
wise and full of faith as was Moses. The rewards
will be given according to 1 Corinthians chapter
3, going back there now, as much on the quality
of our work and our service as anything else.
Notice what it says, and we have here another
key text in the New Testament regarding this
judgment seat of Christ. Paul is here writing
about his own work for the Lord and the foundation
upon which he has built Christ Jesus, verse 11.
And now he says in verse 12, if any man builds
upon the foundation with gold, silver, precious
stones, that's one set of possibilities. Wood,
hay, straw, that's another set of possibilities.
He says each man's work will become evident.
That is manifested. For the day, what day? The
day of the judgment seat will show it, will make
it plain and visible. because it is to be revealed
with fire. And so now he enters into a certain
picture of that judgment. We're not to think
of this as some kind of a purgatory experience.
It is not that. But Paul says that that judgment
will be as it were by fire. And he says the fire
itself will test the quality of each man's work.
Now that's interesting. The fire will test what
sort or what kind of work each one has done.
It may be possible to have a huge pile of materials
there on that day, to have a massive structure,
but for the fire to consume it all. So you see,
on the one hand, it's not how much we do. But
it's of what quality we do what we do. It's possible
for us to serve the Lord in such a way that we
become famous. It's possible to serve the Lord
in such a way that what we do becomes big. Now
if God brings bigness, if God brings fame, to
any of us because of our service for Christ,
and that's God's pleasure. But that's not the
important thing. The important thing is the quality
that goes into what we're building. Boy, that's
important. Now he says the fire is going to reveal
it. If any man's work, which he has built upon
it, the foundation remains, he shall receive
a reward. If any man's work is burned up, he
shall suffer loss." Paul said something very
similar in the earlier text in 2 Corinthians.
We don't fully understand what he means by suffering
loss. It does not mean loss of salvation, but
perhaps there will be some indication to us of
that which we might have been awarded. Had we
done it the way that God would have been pleased
with and will suffer the loss of what we might
have had You say well, I thought there are no
tears in heaven well it it says in Revelation
and after a certain point there are no tears
But I believe there may well be tears at the
judgment seat of Jesus Christ And he says he
himself shall be saved so there's no question
here regarding salvation notice that yet so as
through fire. The idea is as one who dashes through
the fire and still has the smell of smoke on
him although he's not burned up. The wood, hay,
and stubble seems to be, in Paul's thinking here,
a structural frame building. It seems to be connoting
brick walls and thatched roofs, which were common
in that day of ordinary homes. Homes which were
not lasting. Homes which could be easily destroyed.
And he says in contrast to that there is a palace.
The gold, the silver, the precious stones. Precious
stones seems in Paul's mind here to be that which
was expensive in that day and still is, granite
and marble. Not diamonds and rubies and that
sort of thing, but he's thinking here of building
materials that last. Materials that compose things
that are meant to endure. The palaces, the shrines.
And he says that you and I build one way or the
other. by the quality of our service for the
Lord Jesus Christ. It's possible for our life's
work to be imposing and mammoth as man views
it from this perspective, but my dearly beloved
people, the thing that counts is what Jesus Christ
will see on that day and what is left after the
fire has tested it. The inner qualities of the
heart will be exposed, the motives of the heart.
will be made manifest. You say, well what difference
does it really make when you come down to it?
Well, I hope already I've touched on that, but
it does say here that we can suffer loss. It
seems as though part of our reward at the judgment
seat of Christ is a determination as to how we
will be privileged to serve with the Lord in
His millennial reign on the earth. Those who
have served the Lord as wise and faithful stewards
will be given the privilege of reigning in an
exalted way with our Lord. Whereas the scriptures
seem to suggest that it's possible for the unfaithful
steward to not even share in a meaningful way
in that millennial reign of Christ. It makes
a big difference what we do in this world and
the motives with which we do those things. Because
it will determine our service for Jesus Christ
later. It is true that heaven is a place of rest.
But don't ever get the idea that we'll do nothing
for eternity to come. Because we're going to
reign with Jesus Christ. And we will reign with
Him in proportion to our faithful service for
Him in this life. It does matter. And so I encourage
you in your walk with God, I encourage you in
your service for the Lord. Let us all test our
motives and be sure they're right. Let's not
serve the Lord for temporary gain, for personal
fame in this world. That's hay, wood, and stubble.
But as we serve the Lord, let's be building with
silver and gold and granite and marble, so that
on that day when our lives and the work of our
lives are tested, we may receive our praise from
the Lord and not be ashamed at His coming. Someone
has written this poem, it's anonymous, but expresses
something of the thrust of the application of
this message. It's called His Plan for Me. When
I stand at the judgment seat of Christ and His
plan I begin to see, the plan of my life as it
might have been had He had His way with me, I
see how I blocked him here and checked him there,
and I would not yield my will. Will there be
grief in my Savior's eyes, grief though He loves
me still? He would have me rich, and I stand
there poor, stripped of all but His grace, while
memory runs like a hunted thing down paths that
I cannot retrace. Then my desolate heart will
well -nigh break with tears I cannot shed. I
shall cover my face with empty hands. I shall
bow my uncrowned head. Lord of the years that
are left to me, I give them to thy hand. Take
me and break me, and mold me to fit the pattern
that thou hast planned. It is an old saying and
true. Only one life will soon be passed. Only
what's done for Christ will last. You and I may
live our lives any way in which we desire. God
gives us that liberty. But the fact is, we can
only live them once. And so as we live our lives,
Let us live as did Moses, with view to the reward,
so that when we cross that finish line, and we
stand before Him at the Bema Seat of Christ,
we can rejoice. And whatever crowns He may see
fit to award us on that day, we may then cast
at His feet who is worthy. Let's pray. Lord,
we would not come to that day when we stand before
you face to face, empty -handed and ashamed.
To whatever extent we have failed you in the
past, whatever regrets may haunt us, perhaps
at this time, because of past decisions that
run wise. Whatever time has gone by that we have
sadly wasted we acknowledge to you But Lord of
the years that are left to us We pray that you
will break us and make us and Mold us to fit
the pattern that you've planned for us. I Pray
that none of us would weep over the past But
rather may we look to the future, to the opportunities
of this day and tomorrow, and live them out fully
with pure motives, and build on the foundation
wisely with materials that will persevere through
the fire of your test, so that on that day we
may receive the reward. and have something to
cast at your feet. Lord, you are worthy because
you were slain for us. We bless you, we adore
you, and we give ourselves afresh to you this
night. We do that not only individually, but
we do it as a church. And as we enter into the
fall with all of its opportunities, its possibilities,
I pray that you will enable us to buy those up
to make the most of our time so that we may reach
people, we may build up the body of Christ, we
may see your name glorified. exalted. And we
pray this in that matchless name. In the name
of Jesus, amen.