I would like to read this evening in Second Corinthians chapter five. During these messages this week you probably have noticed that all of them are in the threefold form. First of all we were dealing with three great doctrinal passages concerning the Lord's coming and then three lovely titles of the Lord Jesus concerning his coming. And then we were looking at the symbols concerning His coming. And last night, again, we had a threefold message concerning the coming again of the Lord Jesus, three beautiful, beautiful symbols. First of all, the bright and morning star, and then secondly, the Son of Righteousness with healing in His wings, and then the stone cut out without hands that smote the image upon its feet. Now again tonight, I want to take a threefold message concerning judgment. It's not a very pleasant subject, but I believe in relation to the Lord's coming, it's something that we have to consider that one day all of us that are here, saint and sinner, all of us will have to appear before Almighty God. And there are three judgments that I want to speak about tonight. When I was young, the first school that I attended, The man in charge of the school was a Presbyterian clergyman, a dear, godly man. I'll never forget some of the things he taught us in those days. His name was Dr. Workman. Every Friday he used to come in, and he gave us a simple gospel message on some of the things that were unflinted in my mind at the time have remained with me to the present day. But he believed in what he called covenant theology. And he believed that there would be one general judgment at the end of time. I suppose that is the general idea with many, many people today. And they get the idea that we'll never be able to know whether we're going to be in heaven or in hell until the end of time. And our good deeds will be placed on one side of a scale. And our evil deeds on the other side. And if the good deeds outweigh the bad deeds, then we'll be able to go into eternal bliss. Now that's the idea that many, many people have today concerning judgment. But I want to look at a judgment, first of all, for the believer. And then I want to look at another judgment that will take place at the end of the tribulation. It's called the judgment of the living nations, the survivors after the tribulation. And then I want to look at the great white throne judgment. The only one that will appear before the great white throne are those that have rejected Christ and gone out into the dark. Now these are very solemn passages of the Word of God, and I want to speak on the fear of God tonight concerning them. First of all, the judgment of the believer, the Bima. And I just want to read one passage connected with it and then later refer to some others. Second Corinthians chapter five. And for, again, a context will start from the beginning of the chapter. For we know that if our earthly house of this tabernacle were dissolved, we have a building of God and a house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens. For in this we groan, earnestly desiring to be clothed upon, with our house which is from heaven, is so be that being clothed we shall not be found naked. For we that are in this tabernacle do groan, being burdened, not that we should be on clothes but clothed upon, that mortality might be swallowed up of life. Now he that hath wrought us for the very same thing is God, who also hath given unto us the earnest of the Spirit. Therefore we are always confident, knowing that while we are at home in the body, we are absent from the Lord. For we walk by faith, not by sight. We are confident, I say, willing rather to be absent from the body and to be present with the Lord. Therefore we labor that whether present or absent we may be accepted of him. Now this is the verse, verse ten. For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, that everyone may receive the things done in his body. according to that he has done whether it be good or bad. At the judgment seat of Christ, the technical term for it is the Bima, not the great white throne, the Bima. And it's only the believer that will appear before the Bima. The second passage I want to read is the judgment of the living nations in Matthew chapter twenty-five and verse thirty-one. Matthew chapter twenty-five, verse thirty-one. When the Son of Man shall come in his glory, and all the holy angels with him, then shall he sit upon the throne of his glory, and before him shall be gathered all the nations, and he shall separate them one from another, as a shepherd divideth his sheep from the goats. And he shall set the sheep on his right hand, but the goats on the left. Then shall the king say unto them in his right hand, Come ye, blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world. For I was hungry, he gave me food. I was thirsty, he gave me drink. I was a stranger, he took me in. Naked, and he clothed me. I was sick, and he visited me. I was in prison, and he came unto me. Then shall the righteous answer him, saying, Lord, when saw we thee hungry, and fed thee, or thirsty, and gave thee drink? When saw we thee a stranger, and took thee in, or naked and clothed thee? Or when saw we thee sick, or in prison, and came unto thee. And the king shall answer and say unto them, Verla, say unto you, inasmuch as you have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, you have done it unto me. Then shall he say also unto them on the left hand, Depart from me ye curse it, into everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his angels. For I was hungry, you give me no food. I was thirsty, you give me no drink. I was a stranger, you took me not in. Naked, and he clothed me not. Sick and imprisoned, and you visited me not. Then shall they also answer him, saying, Lord, when so we thee hungry, or a thirst, or a stranger, or naked, or sick, and in prison, and did not minister unto thee? Then shall he answer them, saying, Verily I say unto you, In as much as you did it not, to one of the least of these, ye did it not unto me, and these shall go away into everlasting punishment, but the righteous, into life eternal. The passage that we've read together, you don't get any resurrection and you don't get the dead. But it's the living nations that are being judged immediately after the great tribulation days before the kingdom is established. Now the final passage, a very solemn passage in the book of Revelation chapter twenty and verse eleven. And I saw a great white throne on him that sat on it. from whose face the earth and the heaven fled away. And there was found no place for them. And I saw the dead, small and great, stand before God. And the books were opened. And another book was opened, which is the book of life. And the dead were judged out of those things which were written in the books, according to their works. And the sea gave up the dead which were in it. And death and hell delivered up the dead which were in them. And they were judged every man according to their works. On death and hell were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death. And whosoever was not found written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire. And may God again add his blessing to the reading of his precious word. I want to speak for a little while at the beginning concerning the believer. those that know and love the Lord Jesus, that have been regenerated by the Holy Spirit of God. And we know that when he comes, when Christ comes back again, the church will be complete and entire, and will be raptured up into the presence of the Lord. We've already gone over that ground. But here we find that immediately after the Lord's coming, and were raptured up into the presence of the Lord, The next item on the program is the judgment seat of Christ, the Bima, when every believer will be examined before the Lord himself. I should say at the commencement in John chapter five, we're told all judgment whether of the believer or the unbeliever is committed to the Son. And we're told the reason for that is that he is the Son of man, the Son of man. And the one who will be the judge in the three passages we have read together is that one who is not only the Son of God, but the Son of man. He will be the one that will sit upon the Bima and also the one who will judge at the great white throne. Now these are solemn passages, and I want to speak in the fear of God connected with them tonight, not in any hard or unkind way. But I believe that we should examine very carefully what the Word of God has to say about judgment. Every one of us here, both saint and sinner, is destined to appear before Almighty God. The believer for his works to be just, his life down here. And thank God the one who sits upon the Bima is the one who died for each believer upon Calvary's cross. You know, there's one little passage in the Word of God that I have held on to with both hands. And if that passage in First Corinthians where we read, And then shall every man have his own praise of God. You know, as far as the believer is concerned, there's a three-fold judgment concerning him. First of all, he's judged at the cross as a sinner. And when he comes to Christ and confesses his sin in true repentance, and accepts Christ as his Savior, his sin is judged there. He's judged at the cross as a sinner. And thank God, as soon as he puts his faith and trust in Christ, he's clean every way, and sins are taken away, and he's placed before God in that wonderful position of being a child of God and the nearer of the kingdom. So the first judgment of the believer is at the cross, and there he's judged as, A sinner. But Hebrews chapter twelve tells us that a believer is also judged down here as a son. And the fact that we are sons in the family of God, discipline is exercise. And the Bible tells me that if a person is not disciplined, if he doesn't receive that discipline from God, he's not a legitimate child at all. All of us who are believers will know a little bit about this. Day after day in our life, Sometimes God lays his hand upon us in discipline and we're judged there as a son. First of all, as a sinner at the cross and then as a son in our life down here. But then finally at the Bema, that the judgment seat of Christ were judged as a servant. It's our service under our life down here that is judged at the Bema. Now there are three passages. concerning the judgment seat of Christ that I just want to briefly refer to tonight. They're very important. There are some other passages that I would love to refer to, but just again for the sake of our time, I want to confine myself the three great classic passages that deal with the judgment seat of Christ and with the judgment of the believer. Now, the first one is this one in Second Corinthians, chapter five. You notice that the commencement, there's an outline here of the intermediate stage. We know that if our earthly hearts of this tabernacle were dissolved, we have a building of God and hearts not made with hands eternal in the heavens. And then we read that lovely, lovely statement further down the chapter that when we leave this life, we are at home with the Lord. Now to me that is the life. At home. That's a wonderful thing to be at home. I've been away from home a good part of my life. had been in exile. And many, many times, lying on the broad of my back, beside a fire in the middle of Africa, and hearing the African people chattering all around me, my mind was far away. I was thinking about home, and I would say to myself, my, what is it like at home tonight? You know, home is a wonderful word. It means to be among one's own people. and the delightful term we get here of that intermediate state, that is before the Lord's coming, where a person is in that on-clode state, the body, of course, in the grave, but the person at home with the Lord. So we get the intermediate state at the beginning of the chapter, and then at home with the Lord, and then we get a statement concerning the Bima, the Jesuit seat of Christ. And this is the way it's put. for we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ that everyone may receive the things done in his body. According to that he has done whether it be good or bad. You know, some people get the idea that the only thing that will be examined at the judgment seat of Christ is anything devotional or anything that's done out of love for Christ and that is genuine and real. This is what... is made manifest at the judgment seat of Christ. But I believe that my whole life as a believer from the moment I trusted Christ up until the present time and up until the moment that the Lord takes me home is my service. And I believe that's my whole life, both private and public, that will be examined at the judgment seat of Christ. He will be upon the V-man. And I believe individually we will appear there to receive the things done by means of the body, whether they be good or whether they be bad. Now there's a lot of things in my life that I'm ashamed of. Will it be brought to light at the judgment seat of Christ? Certainly not on any way of condemnation. My Bible tells me in the epistle of the Romans, there is therefore no condemnation to them that are in Christ Jesus. Thank God. sends her under the blood. They're completely wiped away. But you know, sometimes our life down here, there are things that have had repercussions on other people, whether it be good or whether it be bad. And I believe that our whole life, both private and public, is our service down here. And I believe that the Lord, in a panoramic view, will be able to show us just what our life has amounted to us. So I think that this passage is very important. The things done by means of the body, whether they be good or whether they be bad. And I believe that things in my life that have had repercussions in the life of other people, the Lord will show me what it amounts to. Someone might say, is it individual or is it collective? Well, I certainly believe that it will be individual. but possibly other things may be collective. But thank God the object of the judgment seat of Christ is to find out just what our lives are wanted to and then whatever has been according to the mind of God and that can be rewarded, it will be rewarded at the judgment seat of Christ. I thank God for that. There are some things I would like to forget. But you know, if I only realize that my whole life is going to be reviewed and assessed and evaluated at the judgment seat of Christ. I have been very careful of my behavior. I wouldn't care very much what people thought about me or what they said about me. You know, sometimes people, they jump to conclusions and they say unkind things about the people of God. And if they said anything like that about me, it doesn't matter very much. But the point is, what does the Lord think of me? and that my whole life is going to be reviewed and evaluated and assessed, I think it would mean that my whole life would be, I would be very careful in my whole life just how I behave. And if we only got that in mind, I think it would revolutionize our thinking and revolutionize our life. So this is the first passage. And every word of it is most important. We must appear before the bema, before the judgment seat of Christ, that we may receive the things done by means of the body, whether they be good or bad. The second passage I want to refer to is First Corinthians chapter three. And the Apostle Paul there is looking at the judgment seat in an entirely different context. He's speaking there to the church of Corinth, and he's speaking of the fact that he was the pioneer, the man who went into Corinth, And for eighteen months, labored in the gospel. He said, when I came there, he said, the time that I was there, he said, I had the opportunity of laying a foundation. But he said, let every man take care of how he buildeth there upon. You know, sometimes we take this passage and we apply it individually. And just the same as we find here in Second Corinthians five, we apply it in the same way. But notice the context here is our church life. In Second Corinthians five, it is our personal life. But in First Corinthians chapter three, it is our church life. Paul said, I lay the foundation. Now let every man take care of how he builds on that foundation. He speaks about Apollos. He speaks about Cephas. These were the men that came afterwards on the built upon the foundation that the apostle himself had laid. He's speaking about a New Testament church, a New Testament assembly, and his warning. of the materials that can be put on the foundation that was laid. Now he said, if any man lay on that foundation gold, silver, precious stone. Now that's the genuine material laid on the foundation of that local church. But then he speaks of other material that is not genuine. The wood, the hay and the stubble. And he said, it shall be revealed in fire. And he's speaking here of the judgment seat of Christ. The fire will pass over. The work that we have done in our personal church life, and I believe that whatever is genuine and real will be rewarded. Someone might say, just what is the goal? I have always thought that the goal that's mentioned here is the doctrine of Christ. I can't think of anything more important than in any local church. For the great doctrines of Holy Scripture, especially concerning the person and work of the Savior, this is the goal. that precious, precious teaching. In the pastoral epistles, it's called a good deposit. And it always delights our heart to see any man getting up and speaking about the person of Christ and warming our hearts. I think that that is the goal. You know, at the present time, there's some things said about the person of Christ. I don't think we'll stand the fire. We have to be very careful. not only to study the Word of God and what it has to say about the Savior, but to be absolutely faithful to Him in our life and testimony down here, the gold. And then the silver. Silver in Holy Scripture, it always speaks of redemption. You remember the half-shank of redemption money? And wherever silver is mentioned in the Bible, it speaks about the precious blood. It speaks about redemption, and I believe it refers to the gospel. I believe that every church, every New Testament assembly have a responsibility to make the gospel known. We love to hear it well preached. And very often today it's quite common in some places that you seldom hear the gospel preached and the precious blood mentioned. But that again is the second material. First of all the gold, and then the silver, and then the precious stone. I used to think that the precious stones here were diamonds and rubies and sapphires and precious stones of that kind. But notice here he's speaking about living stones. He's speaking about the building of a New Testament church. And we have to be very careful in the building of any New Testament church that it is the living stones that are placed upon that foundation. That is most important. When we turn over to First Peter chapter two, we find the foundation laid there. Peter is speaking about it. And he speaks about the living stone, Christ himself. And then he said, He also, as living stone, are built up a spiritual house to offer up spiritual sacrifices to God by Jesus Christ. So here are three things that are genuine in any local church. And I think we have to be very careful to see that the man responsible for building, and there is human responsibility here, the elders, the overseers, the shepherds in the assembly. They have to be very careful that on the foundation that these things are genuine and real exist upon that foundation. But then there's the wood, the hay, and the stubble. What does that mean? Well, there's both there, but it won't stand the fire. Wood, hay, and stubble. What is stubble? Stubble is all that's left. after the harvest has been raked, the stubble, on it will not stand the fire. You know, this has searched me to the core of my being and the work that we have tried to do over in Central Africa. Thank God we have had the opportunity again and again of going at the virgin soil where the name of Jesus never had been mentioned. And I can't think of a greater joy or a greater privilege for any man to go into virgin soil and preach the gospel. And souls have been saved. Thank God the living stones have been brought in. And many a time I have asked myself the quest, What kind of a foundation have you laid? Have you the gold and the silver and the precious stone? Or is it just wood, hay and stubble? You know there's a lot of superficial work being done today. But at the judgment seat of Christ, I think the background, the thrust of the passage in First Corinthians chapter three, is that at the judgment seat, those that have the responsibility of building local assemblies, local churches, particularly the men who have the opportunity and the privilege of leadership in the Church of God today, I believe their work will be examined on that day. As far as we are concerned, the fire has already passed over. I was back in Angola eighteen months ago. and many, many places where we have the joy of spending years in laying foundations. Well, the fire has gone over it. Many have been executed, sent to heaven at the point of a gun, but the work is there. Do not rejoice in my heart to see that in spite of all that has happened, thank God in spite of the fire, the work remains. And there are five hundred and sixteen places today that I know of. in Angola, where there's a company of believers seeking to be faithful and true to the work of the Lord. But, oh, the wood of the hay and the stubble. The only thing that's worthwhile in their assembly work in building up a local church is to see that it's genuine and real. Now, there's a solemn warning here. And Paul, he said, if any man destroy the temple of God, notice again the building. If any man destroy the temple of God, him shall God destroy? As any man defiles the temple of God, him shall God defile. It's the same word in both cases, under the solemn warning. Any man that lays himself out to destroy a local church, and mind you, sometimes that have been done, someone with a very strong will wanting to get their own way, or unless they get their own way, they'll wreck and destroy the building. You have to be awfully careful. If there's one thing that I would like to be an ambition in my life or whatever is left of it, I don't know how long or how short the Lord is going to leave me here. But I want to give the rest of my life to three things. And the first thing is building. And the second thing is binding. And the third thing is beautifying the people of God. Building and binding and beautifying. And with God's help. I've never been responsible for introducing anything among the people of God that would cause tension or cause friction or cause division. It's the most serious thing. It has happened again and again in our church life. I don't need to tell you that. And sometimes men who have no conscience at all about dividing or splitting the people of God, God will deal with them. And sometimes it happens before they reach the other side. If any man defile the temple of God, him shall God defile. If any man destroy the temple of God, him shall God destroy. So in Second Corinthians chapter five, it is my personal life, whether it be good or bad, the things done by means of the body. My whole service found here, my whole life is my service. And then secondly, my church life and my relation to the local church of God. But the third passage we get in the Epistle of the Romans, chapter fourteen. And Paul says this, Why dost thou judge thy brother? Why dost thou set it not thy brother? For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ. Actually to the term that used there is the judgment seat of God. God is overall. Why dost thou judge thy brother? Why dost thou set it not thy brother? for when we all appear before the judgment seat of Christ. And that is my social relationships. Brother with brother, sister with sister. You know, if there's a person anywhere in the world, anyone that belongs to Christ, that I could not put out my hand and say, God bless you, I would like to know where they are. And if there's anything that has come between me and my brother, I would love to sit down beside them and say, Brother, this and that and the other thing has happened. Now let's sit down and just have a little talk about it. I think that problems and difficulties that crop up among us along social lines or even assembly lines. I think there's always a way to resolve. And if there's only that grace and kindness among us, and the love of Christ, I believe that many of our problems and difficulties could be resolved just by sitting down. and have a little talk, one with the other. Now these three passages are solemn. And I remember some years ago in the city of Durban in South Africa, I was having some meetings on the judgment seat of Christ. And after the meeting was over, her brother came to him and he said, the way you put it, it sounds like a court-martial. And I said, my dear brother, it's not a court-martial. I didn't mean that at all. It's not a court-martial, but it's not a Sunday school picnic. And I believe if we realize that our whole life, our Christian life down here is going to be revealed at the judgment seat of Christ, is going to be evaluated and assessed by the one who sits upon the beam of our Blessed Lord, we will be careful of our behavior. Instead of regulating our life with what people say about us, either good or bad, the important thing is what does Christ think of us? And when we realize that one day it's all going to be revealed. Now there's a very beautiful sight of the picture, and I'd love to occupy time speaking about that tonight, and that is the rewards that are going to be handed out. You know, there are five crowns, and they're up for every believer to either gain or lose. And practically every phase of our life, I believe there's going to be a reward offered for it. I made a little note in my Bible here of the different rewards, the different crowns that the Lord offers to those that serve Him. First of all, the crown of life. We find that in Revelation two ten, the crown of life. And that is the martyr's crown. You know, some of my friends have gained that crown. Some of the men that I've known for fifty years, but in the last ten years, they have died on account of their faith. And I look forward one day to seeing them. And I don't envy them one little bit to wear the crown of life. I thank God for those boys that gave their lives for Christ down in Ecuador so long ago. But from that time on, again and again, many of God's dear saints, they have not counted their life dear unto them and have given their lives for Christ. The crown of life, the martyr's crown. And then there's the crown of glory. for the shepherds. Thank God for the elders, the leaders among us today, the men with the shepherd's heart. They're going to have a crown of glory that fatheth not away. We get that in first Peter chapter five and the first four verses. Thank God for the shepherds, the men with the heart of love for the people of God. You know, sometimes they don't get very much credit and certainly they don't make anything out of it from a financial point of view. but all the men with a heart of love for God's people, they're going to have that crown of glory, that faith is not away, from the hand of the good shepherd himself. And then there's the incorruptible crown for the runner. That is the person who has observed the rule. And that race that we find in First Corinthians chapter nine, we find that the runner, that observed the rules in the race, thank God there's going to be an incorruptible crown for him. And then there's a crown of righteousness for those that love is appearing. Thank God for those that are looking for the appearing of Christ and the second coming again. There's going to be a crown for them. And then the crown of rejoicing for the soul winner. I wonder if all of us here tonight have had the joy of sitting down beside someone and pointing them to Christ. I don't know of a greater joy down here than to sit down beside a person one to one. and opening the Bible and pointing them to the Lord Jesus. And what a joy it is, the soul winner's crown. And then there's the commendation. As far as I'm concerned, that's all I'm looking for. That commendation. Well done. Good and faithful servant into the joy of thy Lord. And then another thing, there's going to be awards in the kingdom. And those that have been faithful in their work down here, I believe there will be a post of administration in the kingdom in the millennial age. There will be positions at that time for those that have been faithful in their work down here. And as we think of this, my beloved brethren and sisters here tonight, O do let us keep our eye upon Christ, on that day when he shall appear, that will appear in his presence with joy and not with shame. You remember that passage in first John chapter three? We read there, my little children abide in him, that when he shall be manifested, we may have confidence and not be ashamed before him. That is coming. It's possible for a person to arrive in the presence of Christ and to have shame when they think of their life down here. Oh, thank God. for all that the word of God has to say of the judgment of the believer. Now just a word about the other two. We can't take time to go into them in any detail at all. I'll leave it to your own personal investigation of what the word has to say about the judgment of the living nations in Matthew chapter twenty-five. Many in the religious world today that project this future and that mix it with the judgment of the Great White Throne. But if you notice it carefully, you'll find that it's something that takes place immediately after tribulation days. There will be a tremendous Holocaust. A large proportion of the earth and the population of the earth will be wiped out in those days. My Bible tells me that one-third of the world's population will be destroyed. And again, a quarter of the survivors will be annihilated. I believe the only thing that could do that is nuclear war. And it's possible today. For the first time in human history, man has the potential of wiping out every living thing on the planet in which we are today. And when we start to throw these things around, and some maniac presses a button at the wrong time, and they start to throw those nuclear weapons around, we know what could happen. I don't believe that we will be here when it does happen, but it will happen. If my Bible is true, and I know it is, when we look at the Book of Revelation in tribulation days, I believe that those weapons will be used, and at the end of that period, without going into detail about it here tonight, a large proportion of the world's population will have been annihilated. But there will be a testimony. and we'll read that the gospel of the kingdom will be preached at that time. And what we get in Matthew chapter twenty-five is the reaction to the gospel of the kingdom that will be preached by that one hundred and forty-four thousand of Jewish believers, men who have had their eyes opened to the truth of the gospel and that preached the gospel of the kingdom during those days. Someone might say, just what is the gospel of the kingdom? Well, we get an idea of it in the preaching of John the Baptist. He preached the gospel of the kingdom before the gospel of the grace of God was preached. And it had three great themes in it. First of all, repentance. Secondly, redemption through the blood. And thirdly, retribution for those that rejected it. And along with that will be, the king is coming. the king is coming. That is the gospel of the kingdom. And those men will preach that gospel around the world and there will be a mighty multitude that will be brought in as a result of that preaching. The survivors of the Holocaust during the Great Tribulation. And when Christ comes back in glory, he'll set up his throne and he'll judge the survivors at that time on the kind of what they did with the gospel of the kingdom that was preached. Someone might say, is it a gospel of works? It's not. But what we get here is the reception that these sheep gave to those that were preaching the gospel of the kingdom. It was an indication of their faith that those that rejected it and refused it. And despite the gospel that was preached, at that judgment, they will go into everlasting banishment from God. And those, the sheep on the right hand, They will go into the kingdom and they will be the survivors that will go into the kingdom at that time when Christ sets up his throne and reign during millennial days. So that is the second hymn and then the final one. The only one that will stand at the great white throne are those that have gone out into the dark rejecting Christ. You know, it's a most solemn saying. Many years ago it was quite common to read this passage of Scripture. It's not common today. And I believe that any man who has any feeling at all for perishing souls, I believe there should be a note of warning to them for those that go out into the dark rejecting Christ. That great white throne, the one who sits upon it, is the Savior himself, but here he is the judge. And believe that the books are open. And another book was opened, which is the Book of Life. And those whose names were not found written in the Book of Life, we read, were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death. It's only the unbeliever. Those that have rejected Christ, those that have refused to accept the good news of salvation, mind you, there will be no attorney for the defense there. It's all for the prosecution. And the books that are open there, I believe, first of all, will be the Word of God. I have no doubt about that. And then secondly, men's deeds are being recorded today. They will be judged according to their works. And then the final book is the Lamb's Book of Life. The Burgess Rules of Heaven. And those whose names were not found written in the Lamb's Book of Life were cast into it. the lake of fire and my Bible says this is the second day. I do believe today that the gospel preacher should be very careful not only in proclaiming the love of God and God's mercy and we love to do that but there should be that note of warning today. Many years ago there was a man in England who was condemned to death. Capital punishment was very common at that time in England and in most parts of the world. There was a man called Charles Peace, and he was a convicted murderer, and he was sentenced to behind. And the morning of his execution, as he was brought out of the death cell, there was a minister with the Bible in his hand and a prayer book. And he led the death march of that man to the Galilee. And while he was dreamily, sleepily, leading the little procession and reading from the prayer book, Charlie Peace, he leaned forward and he touched him on the shoulder. And he said, tell me. He said, do you believe there's a hell? He said, do you believe there's eternal banishment from God? And the minister, he nodded his head. He said, yes. Well, he said, if I believe that, he said, I'd go from one end of England to the other up on my knees, and I'd warn people about what would happen to them if they refused the gospel. And a few moments later, Charlie Peace was ushered into eternity. Beloved brethren and sisters, these are solemn things, and I believe we should pay heed to them. We ourselves, it will be the Bima, the judgment seat of Christ. And while on the one hand it will not be a Sunday school picnic, it's not a court martial. But the one who sits upon the Bima is the one who died for us upon Calvary's cross and loves us with a love that no human being ever had, and all that's in our life for God. All that's genuine and real, thank God there is a reward for it. And it comes from that hand that was nailed to Calvary Strauss. Let's win for that. Not for the superficial thing at all today, but for that that's genuine and real and our lives and everything about us. Looking forward to that time when we will appear at the Bema. to receive from his own hand a result of our little lives down here. May God bless his word. I shall be blessed. Our blessed God and Father, again we bow before thee reverently, and we thank thee for thy word. We thank thee, our Father, for the revelation of thyself, and for the Lord Jesus Christ who died for us upon Calvary's cross. We thank thee for his love. We thank thee for his compassion, for his mercy. And our Father, we thank thee for his keeping power these many years. We thank thee for salvation and all that has been done for us in our lives down here. And our Father, we do pray that from day to day we may lean hard upon life.