Expounds on the judgment seat of Christ, emphasizing that it is a review and reward event for believers, not a condemnation for the unsaved. It clarifies that salvation is a free gift based on Christ's foundation, while rewards are earned through works done in fellowship with God after salvation. The message distinguishes this from the Great White Throne judgment and uses the analogy of an Olympic Bema to illustrate how faithfulness to God's rules in life leads to rewards, with all glory ultimately returned to Christ.
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Second Corinthians five and verse ten. For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, that every one may receive the thing done in his body, according to that he hath done, whether it be good or bad. Now back to First Corinthians. where we've been studying. First Corinthians chapter three. And verse nine. First Corinthians three and nine. For we are laborers together with God.
Ye are God's husbandry. Ye are God's building. According to the grace of God which is given unto me as a wise master builder, I have laid the foundation, and another buildeth thereon. But let every man take heed how he buildeth thereon. For other foundation can no man lay than that is laid, which is Jesus Christ. Now if any man build upon this foundation, gold, silver, precious stone, wood, hay, and stubble, 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.
If any man's work abide which he hath built upon, he shall receive a reward. If any man's work shall be burned, he shall suffer loss, but he himself shall be saved, yet so as by fire. Know ye not that ye are the temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwelleth in you? If any man defiles the temple of God, him shall God destroy, for the temple of God is holy, which temple ye are?
Now tonight we want to speak on the subject of the judgment seat of Christ. In order to get it clear, there are two foundations being spoken of here, and the one is the foundation upon which the whole church is built. And the Lord Jesus laid that foundation. He laid the foundation at Calvary by his death and resurrection. And the whole church is built upon that one foundation. other foundation can no man lay, say that which is laid, which is Christ Jesus. No view and being had anything to do with building or laying the foundation upon which the church rests.
Christ did that work. But now in common decorum, he's speaking about a foundation that he laid. The Apostle Paul, he says, as a wise master builder, he says, I have laid a foundation. He's talking about the church in Corinth. He went in there as a pioneer, and he laid the foundation of a local church. And wherever there's a church, according to Scripture, been planted, it has been built on a foundation according to the Scripture. And Jesus Christ is to be the foundation of any church gathering.
you'll have nothing to build on unless Jesus Christ is the foundation of a local church. And Paul, by winning souls to Christ and getting those souls together and they're gathered together as a fellowship in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, there you have the foundation for a future work. And he's pointing out that those who follow him, they build upon that foundation. and he warns them about building the same material that's in the foundation is to go into the superstructure. I will say more about that a little later on. There are a number of texts relative to the judgment seat of Christ.
I'm going to give them to you. If you want them, I'll just quote them, and you can jot them down. There's one over Matthew, chapter twelve and thirty-six, he says. But I say unto you that every idle word that men shall speak, they shall give account of often the day of judgment. And also you have in Romans chapter ten, Romans fourteen and ten, but why dost thou judge thy brother? For why dost thou seteth not thy brother? For we shall all stand before the judgment seat of Christ. And over in Ephesians six. And eight, knowing that whatsoever good thing any man doeth the same shall he receive of the Lord, whether it be good bond or free.
Now there are the Scriptures giving us the fact of a judgment seat of Christ. When will this judgment take place? The Bible gives us a number of Scriptures as to when the judgment seat of Christ will be in session. We have one in Matthew, sixteen, twenty-seven, for the Son of Man shall come in the glory of his Father with his angels, and then he shall reward every man according to his work. You'll notice the word reward here. Salvation is not a reward. Salvation is a free gift, but he's coming, and when he does come, this is his rapture.
He's going to come and reward every man, those who are born again, according to their work, how they've lived and what they've done after they were saved. And we also have another scripture, and this is in Second Timothy, for, henceforth there is laid up for me a crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, shall give me at that day, and not to me only, but unto all them also that love his appearance. Now the Apostle Paul was saved under Damascus Road, given us in Acts chapter nine. No one questions Paul's conversion. That's when he was saved.
And he tells us several times in the Acts. That was when he became a child of God. But from that moment on, he lived for Christ. His motto was for me to live Christ. And the Apostle Paul is going to be rewarded in the judgment of the great, not the judgment of our seat of Christ. He'll be rewarded for what he did and how he lived after his conversion. And he refers to that in the text we have just read in Second Timothy four. Then again in Revelation twenty through twelve. And behold, I come quickly and my reward is with me to give every man according to as his work shall be.
Now you hear in these texts clearly that the judgment seat of Christ will take place when Jesus Christ comes and catches the church. All were born again up to be with himself. Then the judgment seat of Christ will be in session. Why? What we're going to have? Why this judgment seat? What's it for? Because There is a purpose. It's not to say so that's done here on earth. Here's a judgment that takes place in heaven. And it's not the Great White Throne judgment. The Great White Throne judgment takes place at the end of the millennium, and only unsaved people will be at the judgment of the Great White Throne.
Only unsaved people. No sinners will be at the judgment seat of Christ. Only children of God, those born again, will be at the judgment seat of Christ. It's going to be in heaven. And no sinner can enter there. And so the judgment seat of Christ in heaven will be for Christians only. And rewards will be given there for how Christians have lived after they were saved. At the great white throne, at the end of the millennium, That's the great white gold. And everyone from Cain unto them who has died without Christ, who without the knowledge of the living God, will be sentenced and consigned to their eternal abode.
No sin at the judgment seat of Christ. No sin at the great white gold. At least a thousand years separate these two events. So I trust that fear in your mind. You'll notice in this judgment seat of Christ, it's a case of reviewing and rewarding. The Lord is going to review our lives after our conversion, until he comes or till death takes us away. He's going to review our lives and reward that which he approved. Salvation is a free gift. Rewards are earned. You can't earn salvation.
Salvation is a free gift. The foundation that Jesus Christ laid is free. He laid that foundation. No man can work for that. It's laid. All you have to do to be saved is step on that foundation. The foundation that he laid when he suffered, dead, and died, and goes again, he tells you that in Matthew Blessed out thou, Simon, bar Jonah, flesh, and blood hath not revealedeth unto thee, but my Father which is in heaven. And upon this what? This foundation. I will build my church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.
How safe and secure is the church, its foundation, and all who are on that foundation. You get on that foundation by faith in Christ. Once you're on that foundation, you're the Christian, safe and secure forever. Now says God builds. Build. And up to us the build. After we're saved, because what we're building is going to be brought into the view at the judgment seat of Christ. And what is according to the word of God and pleasing to God, he will reward. Otherwise there'll be no reward.
This is very clearly taught in your Bible. Salvation, forgiveness of sins, peace with God, eternal life, these things are not earned. You can't earn them. They're given to you. All your works before you are saved are filthy rags in the sight of God, but these things are gifts. God gives you these things when you accept Jesus Christ. They are undeserved, unmerited, a free gift. By grace are you saved through faith and not of yourselves. It is the gift of God, not a work. Now works are the main thing at the judgment seat of Christ, the works of the Christian.
That's what's going to be rewarded. Before you're saved, your works don't amount to a thing. After you're saved, they amount to a whole lot. That's how you're going to be rewarded at the judgment seat. And so we're saved by grace, waiting without work. And it's not what we are. Our salvation is the gift of God. Now this is very clear, it's very plain. I trust you're taking that in. Eternal life is a gift. But you also read about life as a crown, the crown of life, the pain of not away. Salvation, eternal life as a gift, You get that.
You take it free. The gift of God is eternal life. If you take that, and you have eternal life. But when it comes to the crown of life, you've got to earn that. The crown of life that paid is not away. Righteousness is a gift. We read about the gift of righteousness. The moment we receive the Lord Jesus, we have divine righteousness. And Christ is made unto us wisdom, righteousness. I'm made righteous before God. The moment I accept Jesus Christ, I'm saved. My name goes down in the Lamb's book of life. But the Bible speaks of a crown of righteousness. That crown will be worn by those after their salvation, their lips of Christ, they'll win the crown of righteousness.
Glorious again. The Lord Jesus said in John seventeen, the glory which thou has given me, I have given them. So glory is a gift, free, without money, without price. But you read about the crown of glory. And so in all these three instances, life is a free gift, but there's a crown of life to be won. The one is at the beginning of the race, the other is at the end. If you go to these Olympic Games, you've got to qualify. You don't get out on that course. And when you accept Jesus Christ, you're qualified for the race. The rewards are given at the end.
Life to begin with, and a crown of life to end with depends on how you've run the race. Righteousness is given you at the beginning. And the crown of righteousness is at the end. That's what Paul was referring to in Second Timothy four. There you have the crown of righteousness. And also glory, the moment we accept Christ, we have a foretaste of coming glory. But the crown of glory is at the end of the race. It'll be given at the coming again of the Lord Jesus Christ. Salvation is a present possession, something I possess here and now. without a doubt.
It's mine. But rewards are a future, are something that's future and are attained when Jesus Christ comes. Now these are very clear, and I trust we have them firmly in our minds. I can't say right now I have the crown of life. I don't. No one could say in this life I have the crown of righteousness. I don't. The crown speaks of reigning. No, we have salvation here, and now we'll have the crown or the prizes at the end of the race, and that will be when the Lord Jesus comes and he'll come bringing his reward to us. No teaching for the Christian is more important than this teaching.
This was the controlling factor in Paul's life. He lived with disinanticipation and expectation. that is the judgment seat of Christ. He bent all his effort, all his energy in that one direction. What am I going to have at the judgment seat of Christ after my life is over? I fought a good fight. I finished my course. I kept the faith. He said that after his many years of serving the Lord, henceforth, It has laid up for me a crown of righteousness that the Lord, the righteous judge, shall give me in that day, and not till Paul's head goled from his body on the block.
Not till then, and he was swept into the presence of God. He awaits that day when all the redeems are together, and that day when the crowns, the prizes, the rewards will be handed up. Why are we there? And who will be there? And what are the results? I wonder if you can say, I'm going to be there. Well, if you're born again Christian, you can. Say it with all your heart, I'm going to be there. I'm saved by His grace. I'm kept by His mighty power. And He'll give me the energy day after day.
He'll be the source of my strength. to serve him. And later on we get to the judgment seat of Christ to show you what we're going to do with all the crowns we win at this session, at this tribunal. And it's a wonderful story. It's a searching story. We all must appear, it says in Second Corinthians five, ten, we must all appear. No Christian to be answered. Every Christian is going to be at the judgment seat of Christ, when your light will be shifted. And God will test every word, every thought, every deed.
The fire of his presence will be the criticizing factors. And everything is going into the balance. What has glorified God, what has pleased him, what's been done according to his book, will meet with his approval, that will be the gold, the silver, the precious stone. Then you'll be rewarded accordingly, and you'll have your reward in that coming blessed day. Be sad to be there and no reward. Wasted your life. You threw it away. That's the sad thing about seeing old people get saved. Saved in the radio.
Only lived a few years, or appointing someone to Christ on their deathbed in a hospital that had done many times. Thank God their soul was saved, but their life was lost. They didn't do anything for Christ. They didn't have the time. They spent their life for themselves, for the world, and for the devil. Right at the end, the Lord in His grace saved them. Yes, their soul saved. but their life is lost. Nothing to be rewarded for at the judgment seat of Christ. When you think of this judgment seat, some people, especially because of the English word, the judgment seat of Christ, they think this is some tribunal where sentences are going to be pronounced upon guilty people.
A scenery, tribution, punishment, no. There's nothing like that here at the judgment seat of Christ. All at this judgment are seen in heaven with their glorified body. That verdict is. All at this judgment are seen in heaven in their glorified body. And sin is not going to be brought up there. And this is a comforting thought. Some people talk, I've heard that men talk about, oh, they get into an argument, sparks flew and everything else, well, we'll settle it at the judgment seat of Christ. They won't do any such thing.
Sin is not going to be brought into God's heaven in any fashion or form. At heaven, at the judgment seat of Christ, what you've done in fellowship with God, you'll be rewarded for. And what you didn't do in fellowship with God, or when you were out to fellowship with God, is law, law. Some say, well, I think that there'll be some things you'll have to confess there, that we didn't confess on her, no. If you're living in unconfessed sin now, you're out to fellowship with the Lord.
And as long as you're at the fellowship with the Lord, you're not pleasing God, and that will be a block. That will be an empty space in your life when you come at the judgment seat of Christ. It's a total blank. No reward. You read that in the eleventh of Hebrews, the children of Israel, nothing is said from the time they crossed over, and the walls of Jericho fell. Nothing is said from the time they went into the land until into the desert, until they crossed over Jordan, forty years of unbelief. In those one or two verses in Hebrew, a blank of forty years in the history of Israel, nothing is recorded in that chapter of faith because in Hebrews it's faith in action, it's faith working, and it's that kind of faith that's going to be rewarded at the judgment seat of Christ.
And here is a blank Here's a state of forty years of Israel without the fellowship with God wandering in the wilderness in unbelief. And not a word is said about that forty years in Hebrew. To think of a person being saved without a fellowship with God for a whole year, some for a lifetime. They didn't do one thing to glorify the Lord. Grace. Faithful to God will be faithful in his grace to save the one who trusted Christ, but then for that person to live for himself, a backsliding, out of fellowship with the Lord, when he gets to the judgment seat of Christ, would pay stubble, all to be burned.
We have a lot to say about that. The six things. spoken of at the judgment seat of Christ, gold, silver, precious stone, wood, hay, stubble. And although he mentions six things, there are really only two. One that is consumable and one that is not. The gold, the silver, the precious stone is indestructible. All the wood, hay, and stubble is destructible. So at the great white gold, it'll either be that which is, for God, indestructible. That's your reward forever.
On the other hand, what wasn't done to the glory of God is destructible. It's consumed. But God says, you shall be saved so as by fire your works have been burned up. These are solemn things. He's blank. For there's a day out of fellowship with God. It's wrong. Whatever you did during that day that was out of fellowship with the Lord, it's wrong. Nothing to be rewarded for in that coming day. How sad this is. All our sins were punished at Calvary. God blotted them out. So sin is not going to come up at the judgment seat of Christ.
A lot of people think sin will. No, it will. sin will not come up there. All our sins, those of us who were saved, God says, I've blotted them out to be remembered against you no more forever. I've cast them into the depths of the sea. They're gone. I don't worry about it. I'm not worrying about it. What I'm concerned about now is not going to heaven. I'm just as sure of being there as I'm sure of standing here according to the Bible. That's what the Bible says, and I believe it. But I'm interested in and concerned about that judgment seat of Christ when I as a Christian stand before my Lord, and my life is reviewed, and he's going to search the refiners' fire.
He's going to search in my life and see what I did by faith to glorify him, not to glorify myself. But the glory by him, from what stands the pest of the fire of his presence, the gold, the silver, the precious stone, he will reward. And what was good, hay, and stone, is gone. It may be all right here. Man may see something in your life. What does God see, and what will abide his presence in that coming day? This passage over in Second Corinthians five, the very word there, the judgment seat of Christ in the original, the word is Abima, B-E-M-A.
And this gives a proper explanation of the judgment seat of Christ. This word, the Abima, was very familiar with the Corinthians and were taking up the Corinthian epistle. Because outside Corinth, there was a great big olympic stadium a huge affair and in that stadium where athletes from all over greece used to come together occasionally there they got into a contest one with the other well inside that huge stadium there was a platform and it was above the spectators, the other spectators around there, and on this platform there were seated a lot of notable people and men of higher state, men who were high up in the government and so on.
Some were citizens of high honor, celebrities, and there they sat. They were a select group, and they sat upon that platform, and they looked down upon the game. That was called the Bima. Now the judge, he went down on the field while these games were in process, that he might get a close view of each athlete to see that he followed the rules. And that was one thing they were strict about in those recent games, those Olympic games. Every athlete had to run according to the rules.
A man may be the fastest runner. He may break the tape first, but somewhere in that race he stepped over a white line onto another competitor's path. He's disqualified. No pride for him. Another runner, he may be second in speed, but he hit an opponent with his elbows he went by. disqualified. The man who came in without breaking a rule, and he was first to break, or he may be the third to break the line, but he ran according to the rule.
He was the victor. God has given us his Bible, and here are the rules. And God says, I want you to run according to the rule. and will only be rewarded in the measure we run according to the rules laid down in Broadwood. And so this judge, he's down on the field, he's watching each athlete as he bends all his energy to be the first to cross the winner's line. And the victor, he's taken by the judge up to the bema. And one of those citizens or one of those people, chief of state, is selected.
What does he do? He takes that postural opening and he hands it to the victor. Or he puts it as a gaunt, either on his forehead, around his neck. He receives the prize. He ran. He came in first. He ran according to the rule. Put the others down there. And they didn't win. They didn't win. They didn't get a prize. The soldiers are going to run according to the rules that are going to win. And God wants you and me to run at the race according to the rules.
That is the BEMA. That's what is referring to. It's not a question of people being punished if they're being out there in reference to those Olympic Games. Those who ran and those who won, who obeyed the word, they are the ones that are going to be rewarded at the judgment seat of Christ. There will be undoubtedly differences as to prizes. I believe that. You take a huge chandelier. And I've seen some big ones in my life, but if you look at it, it looks like one mass of light balls. Now, some light balls may only be twenty-five watts.
Some may be a hundred. Some may be a hundred and fifty. But they're so located that you can't see a big hundred and fifty water, a few hundred with outshining all the rest. No, it's one grand display of light. And the little Bob only twenty-five watts, that's all its capacity. And he's given it all he's got. Another one's got a capacity of hundred watts, another hundred and fifty. But you see the whole thing is one vast display of light and brilliance. All Christians have the same capacity. Some have a small capacity. Others have been given more gifts and more ability, greater capacity.
Who much is given, much is received. Much is to be received from who much is given. The more responsibility a man has, the more he's got to give an account to God for. If God has given a man ten talents, he'll be held responsible for ten. If God gives a man five talents, he'll be held responsible for five. If God gives a man one talent, he'll be responsible to us. So we have different gifts and different capacities. But when at the judgment seat of Christ every Christian gets whatever reward he's going to get, it will be one final blaze and display of glory to the Lord Jesus Christ.
So not only did he give us the light, the stock, the race with, he gave us the strength to run us. That's why in Revelation four we get to the end of the judgment seat of Christ. They cast their crowns at his feet. Here are all the crowns that they won. Cast to the feet of the Lord Jesus Christ. After all, he gets all the gold. He saved my precious soul. After I was saved, I let him have what I possess, a body, a mind, any talent I possess. He gave me the strength to use what I have, but up to me to study the rules of the game, and see that I run according to the rules.
But in that day, all that I am able to win as a Christian at the end of the race is well done. Thou good and faithful, sir, and casting my crown at his feet, after all, the Lord gets all the treasure. nothing left for a man to glory in. We owe everything to Christ. What hast thou that thou hast not received? And if thou hast received it, why do you glory in it? A man has a gift. A woman has a gift. Is she right to glory in that gift and exalt herself because of it? She received it.
God gave it to her, or gave it to him. Well, if thou hast received it, why do you go in it? Glory in the one who gave it to you, and who gave you strength and ability to use it. That's the point. He's going to reward us for our faithfulness, for letting him use it. Instead of turning ourselves over to some of this wicked world and spend our time here making a big, fat living, getting wealthy, instead of... when in for greater riches, the riches of God which are in Christ's seat. So these are some of the things in connection with the judgment seat of Christ.
How wonderful it is, though in that day when the race resummaron, the Lord the righteous judge says, Paul, so did me in that day. He's a righteous judge. He sees if he holds the slightest infraction of the rule. He sees a foul, something done, disqualifying. We've got to run according to the rules of the rich and the rich. Those are remarkable things in this verse nine of First Thessalonians three.
Verse nine, for we are laborers together with God. Ye are God's husbandry, ye are God's children. That's a lovely verse. We are laborers together with God. Here you have the community idea of serving the Lord. It's not a one-man show. Playing hockey years ago, sometimes we had a player that he wasn't a team man. He was kind of a loner, a selfish player. He had an opportunity to pass to another player who had a better opportunity to score the groove.
Here he's posted right outside the open net. This man comes down and says, a passing to that man so he has an open net. No, I want to score this groove. And he shoots and the puck is blocked. That's selfish. If there's anything, the trainer, more down on in the dressing room. Don't be selfish. Play the game as a team. Never mind if you score to the other fellow scores, we want to win. That's the frame of mind every child of God should be in. It is a team effort. I play my game and you play yours.
But let's play together as a team, if not as one man ever. A ball team is composed of nine men. I don't care who and how good the pitcher is. He may have the pitcher and the catcher, but he needs seven other men behind him. So without those seven other men, he's going to lose some game. All those men are important. And so it is all of us here, says in the book, we're workers together with law. Suppose him, for instance, and I might give you a verse in that connection.
It's over in Luke five, if you want to read it sometime, five and ten. And so was also James and John, the sons of Zebedee, which were partners with Simon. And Jesus said unto Simon, Fear not, from henceforth thou shalt catch men. Now this is remarkable. That word partners. In the original, it's the very same with what you've got over in first John seven. But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship or partnership, one with the other and the blood of Jesus Christ, his son cleanses us from all sins. This word partnership, the Lord says now here, James and John, your partners, the assignment here in your fishing business, Now he says, I want you to catch men, catch souls, be partners in that too.
Partnerships. God is the owner of the business. We're partners in the business. Not my workers together with God. For instance, here's a poor clerk, and he's summoned from his desk up to the front harvest, or maybe a Rothschild or Rockefeller Foundation. And he's informed there that he's going to be taken into partnership in the corporation. Equal partnership. He can't understand. But that's what he's told in the acceptance. To think of being made a partner on equal status with all other men in the system.
Friend, that is to be despised in comparison to be a partner. with God in eternal life. To be in partnership with men in big business making money may seem wonderful and attractive. It's far better to be without a dime in this world as far as wealth is concerned to be a partner in their greatest business on earth with the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, workers together with God. Would that man worry overnight the bill? liability next morning, thirty-five million has got to be paid.
Does he lose any sleep? No, why? This foundation, that keynote, we've got plenty of money to pay that thirty-five million. If you owe five thousand dollars, you sleep, you some sleep, you had to pay it the more. But if you were a millionaire, you wouldn't worry about five thousand dollars. And the Christian, also the Christian, has liability as a Christian. But remember, it's our asset. We're in business with the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. We're heirs of God and joint heirs with our Lord Jesus Christ. We're in partnership.
And I'm going to have liability, responsibility. But I'm not going to worry about it. I'll tell my father about it. We're all in the family. And we're all sharing a life. Isn't that wonderful? Yes, we're workers together with God. This is a team effort. And God wants every one of us. We're in the race. And we give all we've got energy, strength, time and talent. In that day, will share a life.
In this world, sometimes one man sticks out like a sore thumb. But in that day, like a gene, this one makes his contributions. It's small. Another one makes his contributions great. One has to call upon God for thousands, while another calls upon him for a day to do food. But in that day, we'll all be there. And each one receives his reward. And in that day it will make its contributions toward that huge chandelier, one blaze of glory that come from the faithful saints of God that he cast at the feet of our Lord Jesus Christ.
I wonder if we're tending all our energies in the direction of the end of the race. If you're not a Christian, you're not in the race of star, in a fall. You haven't started. You're not even on the foundation. Step on that foundation tonight. Have Christ beneath the feet of your soul. And then get in the race. Get into the game. And it's not millions of money. It's precious souls. And spiritual values that we're in for. May you be rich in spiritual things. Shall we pray? Our Father in heaven, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, we commend to thy presence.
We ask thy blessing upon thy word. How faithful thou art to thy beloved people, that either save us for nothing, and then pay us for everything we do for thee afterwards. O God, we praise you. Bless them, thy word, to all our hearts, and save any of you tonight. Who know not our Savior? We ask in his worthy name. Amen.