As I prepare this message, we are looking forward to reopening church fully, on Sunday 25th July, once the government have lifted the restrictions on the 19th. So, if you are reading this and you live in the area (and do not go to any other church fellowship) we give you a big welcome to come and join with us from the reopening date onwards.
Two or three people have come to me recently and asked about what the Bible says about judgements, and it has caused concern for some; so I thought we’d have a brief look at the subject through this message.
The Bible talks about a number of judgements but, for the sake of time and space, we will limit our look to just two specific ones: the judgement of believers, and the judgement of unbelievers.
THE BEMA SEAT OF CHRIST
Many Christians are surprised (and concerned) at the prospect of a judgement of believers. Yet the Bible makes it very clear that such a judgement will take place, almost certainly following the ‘rapture of the Church’. The Bible records:
“For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each of us may receive what is due us for the things done while in the body, whether good or bad.” (2 Corinthians 5:10).
“For we will all stand before God’s judgment seat.” (Romans 14:10).
However, we must understand that the bema seat is not a judgement whereby we will be judged as to whether we go to heaven or hell, because Jesus has already been judged in our place, and we have been saved through placing our faith in Him - our crucified and risen Saviour. The bema seat is a tribunal, or a court, for rewards.
In the large olympic arenas in ancient times, there was a raised seat on which the judge of the contest sat. After the contests were over, the successful competitors would come before the bema seat to receive their rewards or crowns. It was not a judicial bench where someone was condemned: it was a reward seat. Likewise, the Judgment Seat of Christ is not a judicial bench.
“Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.” (Romans 8:1).
The Christian life is a race, and the divine umpire is Jesus Christ. After the race is over for each believer, He will gather every member before the bema seat for the purpose of examining each one and giving the proper reward to each.
God loves to give rewards to his children. So much so that even someone who gives a cup of cold water to a child will be rewarded (Matthew 10:42).
Now, I have been impressing upon our own church here that our salvation is only the starting point of our relationship with God, who wants us to; grow in our relationship with Him; to honour Him by our lives as new Creations in Christ; to share the good news of the gospel with others, and to serve Him in whichever area of service he calls us into. In fact, I have been preaching repeatedly that ‘we are saved to serve’ - and it is our Christian living, together with our service, which will be judged at the bema seat of Christ.
Let’s look further at what God’s Word says about our coming judgement as believers step by step:
“By the grace God has given me, I laid a foundation as a wise builder, and someone else is building on it. But each one should build with care. For no one can lay any foundation other than the one already laid, which is Jesus Christ. If anyone builds on this foundation using gold, silver, costly stones, wood, hay or straw, their work will be shown for what it is, because the Day will bring it to light. It will be revealed with fire, and the fire will test the quality of each person’s work. If what has been built survives, the builder will receive a reward. If it is burned up, the builder will suffer loss but yet will be saved—even though only as one escaping through the flames”. (1 Corinthians 3:10-15).
It is the foundations of any building are the most important. And praise God that the foundation was firmly laid down the moment a person commits his/her life to Christ and receives Him as Lord and Saviour. That solid foundation in our lives is Jesus Christ. No other foundation can be laid.
However, each of us is then fully responsible for what is built upon that foundation. The building material we use is vitally important. Some foundations are combustible such as wood, hay and straw - while others are actually purified when they go through the fire, such as gold, silver and precious stones. Notice, the day (of judgement) will bring everything to light. Everything we do, how we live our lives, our motives, everything will be tested in the fire, and whatever survives will bring reward from God. (and please note, it is the quality, not the quantity of those foundations).
But notice, this is NOT about heaven or hell. (If a believer’s foundations are burnt up, he/she will suffer loss of any rewards he/she would have received, but yet will still avoid hell) - and eternity is an awfully long time to suffer that loss for when others are enjoying their eternal reward!
I will finish this section by adding that, surely, it should be a Christian’s pleasure and privilege to give ourselves full into God’s service: not primarily for any reward but simply in response to the terrible price He paid for us on the Cross of Calvary. Surely, we all want to hear The Lord say:
“Well done, good and faithful servant! You have been faithful with a few things; I will put you in charge of many things. Come and share your Master’s happiness!” (Matthew 25:21).
THE GREAT WHITE THRONE JUDGEMENT
I must also touch on the other judgement in question today which is indeed a judgement of all those who have not personally put faith in Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of sin. This is called the “great white throne judgement”:
“Then I saw a great white throne and him who was seated on it. The earth and the heavens fled from his presence, and there was no place for them. And I saw the dead, great and small, standing before the throne, and books were opened. Another book was opened, which is the book of life. The dead were judged according to what they had done as recorded in the books. The sea gave up the dead that were in it, and death and hades gave up the dead that were in them, and each person was judged according to what they had done. Then death and hades were thrown into the lake of fire. The lake of fire is the second death. Anyone whose name was not found written in the book of life was thrown into the lake of fire.” (Revelation 20:11-15).
I would much rather talk about the bema seat judgement than this one, but this one will take place just as surely as the first one.
In simple language, the great white throne is where those who have refused Jesus, and the salvation He freely offers, are sent to their eternal home which is hell, not heaven. It hurts me even to type this out because God in His wonderful grace, love and mercy has done everything possible to save you from this. Please think these simple points through.
God is pure and holy and cannot look upon sin; every human being is born in sin; and the sin in our lives separate us from God in His holiness.
There is absolutely nothing we can do in ourselves to get rid of our sin and make ourselves acceptable to God.
God could have left us in that terrible place to pick up our just rewards. But He didn’t! God Himself sent His Son, to pay the price demanded for our sin and to set us free – death on the cross! On the Cross, Jesus completely defeated sin, death and the devil and then rose victoriously from the dead.
So what do we have to do? Let’s allow God’s own Word to give us the answer:
“For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.” (John 3:16).
I truly would not wish for any human being to have to face this judgement - and you don’t have to, as long as you are willing to come to God His way. That is to repent (to turn away from our sin and from our own ways) and to open your heart to God and receive Jesus Christ as your Lord and Saviour. Then you can look forward to the bema seat judgement rather that the great white throne judgement.
Please look elsewhere on our website here for the ‘What is the Gospel?’ page and that will give further help and explanation. Please feel free to get in touch with us via our contact page and, of course, you are VERY welcome come and join with us any Sunday morning at 10.30am.
Comments