Beloved friends, we greet you in the precious name of the Lord Jesus, our Saviour, with a welcome to the ministry of God's Word. The present theme is the judgment seat of Christ, reminding us that we who are believers in the Lord Jesus, we shall not only have before us the glory of that blessed rapture of the church, but that every one of us, every believer from the beginning, To the end of the church's history, we shall each individually be standing before the Savior for divine appraisal of our life for the Lord. The sum total of our Christian life will be reviewed, and it will be appraised by the Lord Himself. The admonition and the appropriate advice that has been given by some saint of old can certainly be appropriately taken to our heart. When someone so blessedly wrote these words, Only one life twill soon be passed. What's done for Christ only will last. May all the believers, may we take the words to our heart and conscience. We have considered some facts regarding the judgment seat of Christ. The time of it, the judge who will be the person of Christ himself, and the persons who were to be judged And also we sought to cover the severity of that judgment. Now we consider a fifth fact, the standard of that judgment, the standard by which the Lord will appraise every believer. First of all, may I lead the list by emphasizing it will be a standard, an appraisal on the ground of our faithfulness. There are two scriptures of importance I would like to read. One in First Corinthians chapter four, reading verses one through five, Paul writing by the Spirit saying, Let a man sow a count of us, as the ministers or the servants of Christ and stewards of the mysteries of God. Moreover, it is required in stewards that a man be found faithful. But with me it is a very small thing that I should be judged of you, or of man's judgment. Yea, I judge not mine own self, for I know nothing by myself, yet am I not hereby justified. But he that judges me is the Lord. Therefore judge nothing before the time until the Lord comes, who both will bring to light the hidden things of darkness, will make manifest the counsels of the heart, then shall every man have praise of God now our second scripture we quote is found in Matthew twenty five two verses there twenty one and twenty three but we quote only one of the verses both of them are very similar here are the words the Lord Jesus saying in this parable his Lord said unto him well done thou good and faithful servant thou hast been faithful over a few things. I will make thee ruler over many things. Enter thou into the joy of thy Lord." These words were spoken by the Lord Jesus when he was upon the earth. They concerned his servants and their work during his absence. Now you take both the Scriptures, First Corinthians four and Matthew twenty-five. Both of them have one special standard for the judgment. The faithfulness of the servant. The master's commendation is not successful servant, but faithful servant. Let us not use the standard of outward success for its measurement. When this may oftentimes does seem disappointing, but be sure that we are faithful, my beloved believer, to the master, to his word, and to his word. But may I be permitted also to enumerate other standards that will be involved in this appraisal by the Lord in that day. Number one, the complete achievement of our Christian life, the whole of our life, showing the fruit of it in its Christian development and maturity, will be revealed. How much we have grown, my fellow believer? How much of you? How much have I grown since the day that the Lord saved me? My beloved, think of the day you were saved. The judgment seat of Christ, your spiritual development will be fully revealed. Second, we shall also see not only the total of our good deeds, but also the possibilities that we could have done. We shall not have only revealed what we were, but what we might have been. Not only what our actions were, But surely we shall also be revealed some of the omissions that we fail to do. Ah, my beloved, not only the total, but the many things that we may have omitted to be or to do. Then third, may I point out, it will not only be revealing the works that we have done. Now listen to this carefully. Not only the works that we have done, but even the worker himself and herself will be revealed. What kind of a worker we were. Not just what we did. God did. Let me quote the words that we find. May I suggest this. Have we worked in an unselfish or a selfish way? Not only have we possessed possessions, but what we have employed with those possessions in our service for the Lord. The work and the worker will be compared. And forth, not only the number of the deeds that we have done, but the weight will be measured. Let me quote the words of the mother of Samuel, Hannah. In her prayer of First Samuel chapter two, she declared, The Lord is a God of knowledge, but by him actions are weighed. First Samuel two and verse three. My beloved, please, it's not the quantity, but the quality of those works. The Lord will weigh the actions. And then fifth, not only to what we may have attained will be known concerning our service for the Lord, but also the Lord will know and reveal what we were aiming for, striving for. But is it not oftentimes true? We may not always attain to the goal that we set out to fulfill for the Lord. He knows that. And I can think of some experiences of mine, where I was sadly disappointed in not being able to attain what I long to see for the goal, for my Lord's glory. For I tell you, frankly, the servant gets disappointed in the way some of these things go sometimes, and more so the way the Christians take it. The Lord knows that, and it matters to him. But six. One special fact must be emphasized. When the standards of his appraisal test our service for him, in relation to our works, it will also reveal how much did we sacrifice in doing these works. What was the sacrificial cost that we paid? For, oh, that can be bountifully amplified in many ways. For may I repeat again, I say it to my conscience, the sacrifice we pay, for it does cost if we serve the Lord. Now, beloved, please let me say, lovingly and thankfully, whatever it may have cost you to serve the Lord, whatever it may have cost me, any believer, that will come out of the judgment seat of Christ. He will look for it, and he will reveal it. and he'll understand it and he'll do something about it. Seven, let me finally, more things could be given, but let me refer to First Corinthians four and five. And those particular words, the Lord will bring to light the hidden things of darkness. He'll make manifest the counsels of the heart. Now the Lord will take notice not only of what we have done, but those inward hidden elements, the impulses of the heart. the motives of the heart, the counsels of the heart, the secrets that were hidden within the soul in darkness that no earthly one could reveal. Let me give you an example. Maybe two. In First Samuel chapter six, you remember when Samuel went to anoint one of the sons of Jesse to be king? He saw the great boys of Jesse come before him one after the other, and he says, surely one of them must be the Lord's anointed. And the Lord kept saying, No, no, no, none of them. And then the Lord said to Samuel, The Lord seeth not as man seeth. Man looketh on the outward appearance, but God looketh on the heart. First Samuel chapter sixteen in verse seven. And we well know David, the youngest one, was sent for and became the anointed king. Later on in David's life, for example, David wanted to build the house of the Lord. He said to Nathan the prophet, mentioning his desire, and then Nathan was told him, go ahead and do it, if it's on your heart. Later on, God sent the prophet back to David. Tell him not to build it. He's been a man of war. He shed much blood. And he said, I want his son to build it, Solomon. And so as the occasion came, Solomon later built the temple of the Lord and when he dedicated it Solomon reminded the people that David had it in his heart to build it and listen to these words that David said or rather that the Lord said to David which Solomon quoted and I read from first Kings eight and verse eighteen Solomon said the Lord said to David whereas it was in thine heart to build a house under my name thou didst well that it was in thine heart May I say, Solomon Aya built it, but God acknowledges David's heart was behind it. It was well that it was in thine heart. May I say how often our strenuous service for the Lord may never achieve the desire we would want to see, and God may do it some other way. But God looketh on the heart. The Lord will not only reveal the outward evidences of our service, but the inward motives. Oh, my beloved at the judgment seat of Christ. Now let me just raise the question. In the closing moment, I need it for my own conscience. Why am I serving the Lord? My fellow believer, if you are serving him, why? May I ask the question, above all, regardless of the outward circumstances in that service, is the motive from the inward heart. That's what God's looking at. You may feel that you're a failure, but have you got the right motive? He searches the hearts, for the word of God is quick and powerful, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the soul and spirit, the divining of thunder, of the soul and spirit, the joints and marrow, a discerner of the thoughts, and the intents of the heart. But to my unsaved listener, oh, that you would settle your eternal destiny, confess to Christ that you know you are a sinner. Confess you, know that he alone can save you through his atoning sacrifice on the cross. Tell him so, and then receive him into your heart and into your life to live for his glory. Father, in the name of the Lord Jesus, sanctify the word to saint and sinner. Amen.