Expounds on the judgment seat of Christ, emphasizing that believers will be evaluated not for salvation, but for the quality of their works built upon the foundation of Christ. Using the analogy of building with gold, silver, and precious stones versus wood, hay, and stubble, the message distinguishes between works done for God's glory and those motivated by self-interest or tradition. The core lesson is that only works reflecting genuine fellowship with God, with His people, and dedicated service will endure the fiery test of Christ's judgment. The sermon concludes by urging believers to prioritize God's presence and genuine service, ensuring their lives yield eternal rewards rather than suffering loss.
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to view these verses again in detail for getting into our subject. Romans chapter fourteen. Did that this afternoon and it was very enlightening, very searching. Romans fourteen and verse ten. But why dost thou judge thy brother? Now we need to qualify that. If you'll notice what you have in verse two. For one believeth that he may eat all things, another who is weak eateth herbs. Let not him that eateth despise him that eateth not, and let not him which he doth not judge him that eateth for God of deceit.
In other words, it's a matter of time. Some Jews wouldn't eat pork until, or including by Judaism. Others perfectly fell free to eat and eat what they liked. And so Paul is telling those who are strong enough to see their position in Christ. They can eat what they like. All things are fit without eating. And God has us made us so as we find in the New Testament. All things were good. But there are those who didn't see that. In the Old Testament, a lot of them who were saved in the New Testament didn't see it. So he said, now you stronger brethren, don't you look down upon those other brethren. That's the unwise you to do that. Don't criticize them, don't judge them.
That's the meaning of this. Why doth thou judge thy brother? Doesn't it have anything to do with judgment of sinned in an assembly. For why doth thou shalt not thy brother? For we, and I want you to know this, we, or each, each shall. How definite that is. Each shall stand. We shall all stand. And that word stand, I understand, means to be placed. You don't have any choice here. You're going to be placed before the judgment seat of Christ. We, each one of them, it's very individual, personal. We shall, it's definite, and we're going to stand before the judgment seat of Christ.
First Corinthians three twelve. First Corinthians three twelve. Now if any man, or the same thought, each, Each man build upon this foundation gold, silver, treasure stone, wood, hay, stubble. Every man or each man's work shall be made manifest or exposed. That's what it means to be exposed. For the day shall declare it, because it shall be revealed by fire. And the fire shall try every man or each man's work of what sort it is, what quality it possesses.
Notice that little word, shall. We've already noticed one. Now here you have four or five. And in verse thirteen, 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. there you have four times. And then in verse fourteen, if any man, or the individual again, if each man's work abide which he has 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. So there are seven times, once over enrollment, here seven times you have shall, shall, shall, shall. You notice also in this passage how it's not worth, mentioned. Four times you have the word work there in verse. Thirteen, every man's work, but also down in verse, nor upon an adverb, shall try every man's work of what sort it is. And then verse fourteen of any man's work, John fifteen of any man's work, the whole life is summarized, not work.
Another, what is the purpose, the aim of your whole life? God's looking at it, your work. Not a little bit here and a little bit there, but what is your purpose, your aim, your object, your desire in life? That's it. God's looking at the whole thing, and four times over it. The episode works. Then again you have in chapter four and verse five. Therefore judge nothing before the time until the Lord comes, who both will bring to light the hidden things of darkness, and will make manifest the counsels of the heart. And then shall, there you find that word again, shall every man or each man have praise How wonderful that is.
God is going to find something in the Christian's life that he can pray. How bright that is. Life won't be altogether blank for a Christian. There will be something that God can see. Of course, there's a lot that he sees. He can pray before or commend before. Then also over in Second Corinthians five, ten, but I'll ask that. Second Corinthians five ten. For we must, here's this word again, this emphatic must, we must all appear or be placed before the judgment seat of Christ that everyone or each may receive a thing done in his body according to that he has done whether to be good or bad.
So we've gone over these texts and they're very searching because it shows that how definite this judgment is. And as we said before, and I'll say it again, this judgment is not for sinners. It's for sons. Our sins were judged at the cross. When we accepted the Lord Jesus as our Savior, the sin question was judged. But all my sins are put away. God remembers them no more forever. They're gone. And I don't worry about my sins anymore. They're gone. Now I'm a son. I'm in the family. And God is going to judge his family. We're going to be judged as servants.
And as sons, there's relationship there. And there is responsibility. Here is son, relationship. Service, responsibility. And it's our responsibility that God is going to bring into review at the judgment of the Father. We've been pointing out, I think, last week and a little this morning, about the gold, the silver, the precious gold. What does the gold speak of? Gold speak of that area of our life, the strength closest to God. As we pointed out in the tabernacle, you'll find the place where the most of the gold was in the tabernacle, the golden table with the shoulder knot.
and the golden candle shift, the golden altar, and the golden mercy shift. There's where the presence of God walks. That's where they're kind of going. And the Christian who spends the most time there and lives in the light and power and grip of it is going to have most that will stand the test of the presence of God in eternity. For that very present, in that holy of hope, is the fire that's going to attack every man's work. Will it defy the presence of Almighty God for our God is a consuming body?
From my own life, I have said things, maybe even a little light sometimes, but when you get on your knees in the presence of God alone and begin to have dealings with God about souls going to hell and needing to be saved, There's no foolishness there. You won't get away with any thought there. You've got to get down to this. The very fact you're kneeling in the presence of God is so big. And there's no imitation. There's no putting off. There's no faith to be there. This is the presence of God.
And in the measure that we know something of his presence in our life and earth, that will stand the test of his presence at the judgment seat of Christ. And so the gold, speaking of the holy of holy, speaking of a life lived in close fellowship with God. Take men such as Andrew Murray, George Mueller, men whose lives have gone down in history as men who knew the presence and power of God. Yet, when a person is living in that atmosphere, in close fellowship with God, There'll be much to reward at the judgment of Jesus Christ.
You have the hundredfold, sixtyfold, thirtyfold in Matthew chapter thirteen. Uncertainly, here is the hundredfold. A life lives in the presence of God. Then you come to the syllabus. And we pointed out last Sunday, here is life in fellowship with the people of God. Life goes forward, we mentioned this morning round about the tabernacle, made of that acacia wood, seeking all the Christians, but covered with gold, but sitting on two sockets of silver. Prevent, here you have the Christians and how they're closely mixed together.
Fellowship with the people of God. And I believe in the measure we can enjoy the fellowship of God through and love God to you, and enjoy God to you. In that measure, we will be rewarded at the judgment of God. How wonderful to know then that this is available to you. It's open to every child of God. First of all, make the presence of God your main object in life. It's a top priority. And the more you get to know God, the more you want to know God's people and have fellowship with him. Then you come down to the precious stone.
Or we'll get the precious stone. I've thought of this this afternoon about fellowship with God's people. I believe that worship meeting will be come together because the body is represented there in the Lord. This is the true fellowship at the worship meeting where the whole body of Christ is represented in that Lord. Now that body is figurative. When the Lord Jesus said to us, the sight was in the upper room and he tripped the loaf, he said, This is my body. It wasn't his literal body. It was figurative. Many a time I've been in a home and they've had some pictures there.
One would say, Well, that's my mother. No, it isn't. Literally, it's not the mother. It's figurative. It's a picture of the mother. My mother's been dead for twenty years, twenty-one years. I have her pictures. I could point to that picture and say, that's my mother. Literally it isn't. Figuratively it is. And the Lord Jesus said, this is my body, he was speaking figuratively. When he spoke of himself as I am the door, he was speaking figuratively, not literally. And so in reference to the worship meeting, this is my body.
my body. Take it in this season as speaks of the whole body of Christ, all who are born again subject to him the head. Then we come to the precious story. Here you have our service. We mentioned this this morning, our service, our soul with us. God wants us to engage in this glorious work of giving precious souls. These are things that last. When you spend time in prayer, that's going to last. There's something solid and something substantial about communion with God.
It's going to last. And the more that you're in fellowship with God's people, I know something of that intimate relationship that exists for freedom. That is going to last. It's substantial. That's not fixed. Temporary, transitory, no. This is solid. And when you read verse so with it, and you see the power of gospel demonstrated in people getting saved, this is something that's going to last. A person who is really born again, that person is going to be in heaven. That person can never be lost. Professors, of course, if they're not really born again, just made a profession, that won't last.
Sometimes you... year of campaign, in fact, that is referred to one of my own lives, where eleven hundred cards were handed in of those who made professions. And when it was examined by a number of the local pastors, they couldn't find one who stood up as a trained person. That's that. When people are truly born again, they're going to laugh. They'll turn up in heaven, although they may. sit away in our backside. Nevertheless, the grace of God stands firm, and that person who is saved by his grace will turn up in the glory. These are kings at last, and they will abide the fire in that coming day.
Well, what a saint is, and it's assured you thought, modernism is not included in the building on this foundation. Why? The foundation is built upon the deity of the Lord Jesus Christ. Christ not saved the Peter when Peter said, Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God. And he said, Blessed art thou Simon Barjona, for flesh and blood hath not revealed this unto thee, but my Father which is in heaven, the church rests upon the tears of our Lord Jesus Christ. Those who are modernists and don't believe in the deity of the Lord Jesus Christ are not even on the foundation.
They're not even saved by the So how could they build on it? It's only those who are saved by grace that can build on this foundation. And that's real. Now you come to the fourth thing. You have those three, they're the things that are indestructible. Gold, silver, precious gold. The other three are grouped together. They are destructible. Wood, hay, stubble. What about the wood? Well, wood's a wonderful thing. You can make some lovely furniture. A prudent furniture can be made out of wood.
Practically, all our homes have furniture, wooden, and very comfortable, some of the furniture is. So there you have the wood, something that's solid you can keep. But remember, that's going up in flames just like the storm. It's good. It's telling you. Some furniture, very haze, as you might say, has an antique value. Oh, yes, go back three or four centuries. There's a danger today of having an antique religion, going back to some orthodox tree.
Something in the way of tradition. And, oh, you're so firm about that. and it is lost in smoke as it does to the people of Christ. Nothing. Nothing. God wants us to be clear as to what we're working at. Are we working at something that's going to be destructible at the judgment seat of Christ or something that's going to remain and last forever? So here you have the wood. How are you going to describe the wood? As to the Lord's work today, I believe the wood refers to those religious activities which look impressively ugly, but it just wood.
It lacks spiritual reality, it lacks spiritual thought, and just so much activity seemingly appearing of man. That lovely piece of furnace is going up in smoke. I don't care how much money you put into it, or how much time and labor you put into it, how much it represents in the way of activity. Spiritual and religious activity, you see, going up in smoke. Then you come something else. Hay. Hay is a little more inferior. Animals can live off hay.
And so there is some value to hay. But hay is also the muster and the structure. What do we arrive at in thinking of this hay as we have it in the Bible? I believe it suggests that service wherein the flesh plays a dominant part. Some and some who can treat like angels with the tongues of angels, but they lack the love. The love for souls and the love for Christ. God said it's a kink and kink and kink.
Yes, self is the one that people take it. Insert that so much cake. What about the straw? Now you come down with something lesser. Stubble or straw. This can be blown away by the wind. Not the furniture, it's more substantive. The hay might remain, but here the stubble, the straw, regular. You might use it to bed down your animal. Here's the straw. What's the difference? I believe you have this.
And it's tough for Christians to be given to compromise. the world. See it, the religious world, even the evangelical world, the business world, and even other types of the world. A Christian compromise and compromise and compromise is the truth of God. God says that a lot of soap, a lot of soap will not abide, God says. God wants his people to stand for truth and not yield. Good hay and stubble was on this foundation, meaning this.
And this will not construct me one day, let's give it. I've never thought of it before or read of it. The good hay and stubble here is put on by Christians, for it's on the foundation. And only Christians are going to build on this foundation. You've got to be honest before you can build on it. So it's a very searching thing to realize that either a Christian can build a lot of wood, hay, and stubble on this foundation. Only the seed grew up in smoke in the day to come. It causes one to search his own heart because in the light of what he said here, if any man's work abides, Verse fourteen, which he has built along, gold, silver, and precious gold, he shall receive a reward.
Verse fifteen, if any man's work shall be burned, he shall suffer loss. Life goes up with him, stubble, and smoke, but he himself shall be saved, yet so as thy father. A life gone. Nothing... to be rewarded for at the judgment seat of Christ. A brother was seeking to illustrate the judgment seat of Christ as a camp for young people. He made it quite realistic. The first morning he went to the trouble of having a little foundation concrete laid about four feet square.
And he faded it away. And the first morning when the young people gathered round, he impressed the importance of that foundation. And of course the red is indicating the blood of Christ. And he said, now, how do you get on that foundation? Well, the chorus out, step on it. Some almost with a tone of disgust. Why ask that simple question? How do you get on the foundation? Step on. That's the only part a human being can have in God's foundation step on. It may seem simple, but it is simple.
A man has not yet stepped on that foundation. He's yet a man in a room. Yes, many of us. They haven't taken that step of faith. They haven't trusted the precious blood of Christ for their eternal salvation. He went ahead the next day after, first of all, getting a cart, the cart of the foundation. How important to be on that foundation before he can build on it. The second day he had some bricks, painted gold, and he put three or four rows of them around the outside of this, rather this platform, or this, the concrete slab foundation.
And then he spent the second morning speaking about some gold. How wonderful to have that gold in your life, that which speaks of time spent in the presence of God and that time spent out in your life to the glory of God. And that was a good point. The next morning he had some silver bricks and they were on top of the gold. And he got across the truth of the silver. Tell us the thing with God's people. enjoying the saints of God, uniting together to remember him and to engage in service more.
The next day he had some stones, different sizes, colors, and he put them around the top of these bricks. He left the hole on each side for draft. The next day he said, now I want you young folks to gather up some wood. some hay and some stubble. And he gathered pieces of wood, and some hay and stubble, and slayed through it all in. And he gave a message to them. The next morning he said, Well, we're going to see what's going to happen. And through one of those draft holes he lit a match and stopped.
And up went the wood hay and the stump. He said, There goes your life. Young people stood and they looked. He saw the smoke. Now he says, go and see what left. And they peered in a little heap of ashes with a curl of smoke. There goes all the duke done of the fellowship of God. But he fed the lotus, the gold, the silver, the precious of heaven. They're the only things that will stand the test of the presence of God.
Our God is a consuming vine, and the more we get to know of God's presence here, the more we'll be prepared for his presence here. And only what we do in fellowship with him today is going to count forty-one. This test definite, discriminate, and it is a fight. God is going to test every man's work. Of what sort it is, that is what sort it is, what quality it is. Try to think of a person's life going up in smoke.
Nothing for God. You'll notice some text. The fire shall test. try every man's works of what sort it is in verse thirteen. Over in Jeremiah verse chapter seventeen and verse nine you read these words, the heart is deceitful of of all things and just from the wicked who sent them. You learn the deception of a human heart, how deceiving it is, makes you think you're doing the right thing, and you can almost convince yourself that you're doing the right thing. or you're thinking of it, only to find that you've been tripped up.
It'll set the place of the human heart, and the devil using it, the weakness of human nature is a deceiver from the devil. Thou shalt not shriek out. Go ahead. Go ahead. Do it. And then reach the conclusion. It says here, After that verse, the heart is as equal of all things and desperate as it is. Who can know it? I, the Lord, touch the heart. Here's the judgment to be described. I try the rain, even to give every man according to his ways and according to the fruit of his truth.
Searching her heart as to our mood. Why is that easy? that I do solely for the glory of God or the promotion, exaltation of death. Just pleasing men enter into what I am doing, for I do I please God only, for the gods of men. Then there is another passage in Malachi three, two. But who may abide the day of his coming? And who shall stand when he appeareth? He is like a refiner's fire and like fuller's soap. He shall sit as a refiner and purifier of silver.
He shall purify the sons of Levi and purge them as gold and silver that they may offer unto the Lord an offering in righteousness. Sons of Levi, the gold associate with the worship that is here, helping the priest. They had that place of nearness to the Lord. God says that such a thing is aniquity and the holy thing, and I'm going to refine these men. They may have an offspring of righteousness to offer unto me. During the time of a spiritual awakening, one of the men who is in on this time of so-called revival, he fell asleep, and he thought he had taken a good part and been very balanced in this effort.
And he fell asleep. While he was asleep, he had a dream. And he saw a man coming to him with weights and measures and chemical apparatus, who said to him, I want, I want to analyze your deeds. Minutes about that time, I know I'll have a good breath. I've been felt. I'm sorry he said, why? examine and analyze my deal. And this was the result. Digitory, ten parts. Personal ambition, twenty-three parts. Love of praise, nineteen parts.
Pride of church and denomination, fifteen parts. Pride of talent, fourteen parts. Love of authority, eleven parts. Love of God, four parts. Love of man, three, total, one hundred parts. And the minister awoke. What was the reaction? I guess she was happy it was a three. And he cried out, O God, forgive me the record is reached. He saw his deed and all his activity in the light presence was lost.
It stood a straight, a great big pile of hay, and a lot of straw, and a lot of wood, and threw in a night diamond, and some other silver, and some precious stone, put a match, and there'll be a big black cloud filling up. In the end you'll just find those abiding things. those things that should depend on the plot. How did my life stack up against the presence of God? Henry Fickering tells the story of a professor who was sharing with his friend, Henry Fickering, who was the head of a great publishing house in England.
I've known about him all my life, that is the chief book from, still in operation by his son. showing to some of his friends or telling about a professor it is, and had various experiments with X-ways. Now he said, you know, it's fairly interesting. Here is a great audience of well-to-do gentlemen and ladies, and there are the ladies with all their best attire on and all their jewelry. Ah, he said, they're really dressed up. And of course she said they have All what they have is of value to them, but the average person doesn't understand the kind of analog fly.
But he says, when I can use my X-ray, and I've done it, I turn down the light, it's almost dark, and then I turn on to let go. He says, the diamond splitter, that much more, and the imitation diamond, say enough. the x-rays tell the difference between the truth and the walk when we are that we are christian stand at the judgment feet of christ on god turns on the x-rays his presence his searching eye what will stand holy night this has been godly for his glory on us not for my not for my growth, not for my life, but for his Lord's growth.
This was going to be a place and a judgment we will have. I hope, dear Christians, through the exercise of us, think of some of this. We're going to stand there, not with the cross, but alone, place and light. story, your life story opened up. That word exposed or revealed, manifested means to be exposed. God will expose. Sins are not going to come out. Sin has been dealt with.
This is in heaven and sin can't enter. But he will expose that which heated the story, that heated the men and the war. That which was done in fellowship with him, all of that, the pale and blue, the gold, the silver, the precious soul remained. That will be your reward forever. All the rest of your life, things done under fellowship and communion with him, gone up in smoke. You have your reward. This is what will happen. at the judgment of Jesus Christ.
And we've declared, you must, we must all stand at the judgment of Jesus Christ. We shall, nine times, we shall, we shall, we shall, no missile. We emphasize to the sinner, he's got to stand as a great white throne and be contented into a lofty throne. Are we just as anxious? emphasize as I as a triple, as God is standing as a judgment to the trust. The God who stand for no imitation of the sinner will not tolerate anything like that of the young people.
He does not tolerate it in the life of the poor. God wants reality. That's all we do, O Lord. O how our lives will shrink. in his friend. When he stopped, he did so much, and he said, Hold it. Then we'll give it a more for his glory. Our greatest enemy is our strength. If we could only get ourselves out of the picture and do everything we do, there's a glory of God in the honor of our Lord Jesus Christ.
And this is only going to be thought of as we spend time in his presence that some of his personality might rub off on me as all drifts into jade in this holy hour, the communion with you are. You know something of the silver of sleep, strength, and then the servant of the precious soul, the soul getting saved. said that remain. All the rest are nothing more. Leave us to say that group of young people left the camp, a subdued, sobered group of young people.
The lessons are across. I wonder if this is getting us off tonight. Our Father in heaven, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, we come into thy presence. We ask thy blessings upon thy holy will. Oh, how we shrivel up when we come into thy presence. Not that we doubt our salvation, we know this. Go, Father, we are so disappointed upon our lives. the happiest moments in life since I was saving, of in those moments we spent in fellowship disease, the unhappiest moments in days, of in those days of fellowship disease, may we, by reflecting on the past, see where true value lies, where true happiness is, living day by day, power by eye, the intelligence was lost.
Flesh, my words, to the one unsaved servant. May that one come to know Christ, sit on this solid foundation, and begin to build for the Holy Trinity, and we ask you to now say his name. Amen.