By Terry James
We,
as human beings, are, of course, earthly minded. We look, during these hurried
and harried days, for moments of rewards as counterpoint to the frustrations
of our daily interactions with the world
around us. We want that gratification to be instant, immediate, now!
Our
moments of reward, when they do come, are brief, fleeting, and more often than
not leave us looking for the next high that must be more intense, longer in
endurance –more gratifying.
We
will never be satiated in this flesh –at least most of us won’t.
Considering
those of great wealth From as far back as Solomon, and even before him, we can
get understanding of just how unsatisfying life can be, no matter how much
money and material wealth we garner, no matter how much we achieve.
Elvis
once recorded a song called, I think, “Fame and Fortune.” In it were the lines:
What good is fame and fortune? they are just fleeting things…” Elvis, of course
did enjoy the fame and fortune about which he sang. And, he died at 42. they
were for the king of rock and roll,
indeed, just fleeting things.
The
writer of Ecclesiastes, who almost certainly was Solomon, wrote that after he
had tasted all of the world’s delights –both those that were allowed, and those
forbidden—he found them all to be self-centered, and in vain. He then gave his assessment of life in this human flesh,
and what really matters: “Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter: Fear
God, and keep his commandments: for this is the whole duty of man.
For
God shall bring every work into judgment, with every secret thing, whether it
be good, or whether it be evil.” (Eccel. 12: 13-14) We will all come to the end
of our fleshly lives. We will stand before God. This is what is called sometimes
jokingly, but with a serious undertone, “going to our Eternal Rewards”. I wrote
the following as a chapter a few years
ago for my book “Prophecy Power: Strength from God to face your future.” You
can see at the end of the article where you can get a copy of the book, if you
wish.
This
is Your Life!
Key
Prophetic Truth: “For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ;
that every one may receive the things [done] in [his] body, according to that
he hath done,
whether
[it be] good or bad” (2 Cor. 5:10).
We
who are of a certain generation remember a TV show in the late 1950s called
“This is Your Life!” Each week the
host, Ralph Edwards, would
come
on the air, whispering, usually holding a large book under one arm, and a
microphone in the other. He would look directly at us through our black
and
white TV screens and then glance nervously around him while the camera panned
from him, to see if it could locate the guest of honor for the evening’s
program.
Finally,
someone would walk into the bright glare of the television spotlights on some
sidewalk in New York, or elsewhere. That person would have another
person
in tow, and would tug him or her toward Ralph Edwards.
The
person in tow would appear to be greatly surprised, his mouth and eyes widening
in disbelief when he realized he had been tricked into coming to the
spot
so “This is Your Life!” could spend the next 30 minutes –minus
commercials—going over his life for the TV viewers.
Our
Turn is Coming!
We
who are Christians have a review of our lives coming that will be much greater
in scope than the biographies that Ralph Edwards did on any of the celebrities
he
reviewed for many years. Not one moment of our lives will be missed by our
Reviewer because the One who will review our lives from start to finish will
be
none other than the Lord Jesus, Himself!
We
will look in this lesson, of course, at the Judgment Seat of Christ, and all it
will encompass. Only the saved will be at this judgment, which is not
a
judgment for sins committed, but a judgment that will be for determining our
eternal rewards.
Have
you ever thought about how it will be on Judgment Day? Many think that when
that day comes, everybody will stand in a long line, perhaps one that will
circle
the Earth many times.
The
thought seems to be that we will all wait our turn. When our name is finally
called, we will approach the throne, where an angry looking old man with
white
hair, his eyes on fire, a scowl on his face, will say something like: “Let’s
have a look at how bad you’ve been, and whether you’ve done anything
good
at all.”
An
angel, or someone, will come from somewhere, carrying a large balance scale.
Somehow, using some sort of measure, our good deeds will be put on one side
of
the scale. Our bad deeds will be placed on the other side.
Depending
upon whether the scale dips toward the “good” side, or the “bad” side, will
determine our eternal fate. If we’ve done more good than bad we go
to
Heaven. If it tilts the other way we go to…well, you know that result… No one
seems to consider what might happen if things balance perfectly.
As
one prophecy teacher I know says: “You’ll find that description of Judgment Day
in the Bible in the same place you’ll find the story of Rudolph the red-nosed
reindeer.”
Sadly, there are far too many Christians who have no more idea of what God’s
review of their lives will be like, than that described above.
This
study is meant to help us understand, as thoroughly as God’s Word allows, what
one of the major judgments following life on this planet, will be like.
Each
person who has ever been born has a destiny that includes standing before
Almighty God. There’s no escaping it. You and I will stand before the one,
true
God, the Creator of all things. The writer of Hebrews tells us: “it is
appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment” (Heb. 9:27). Make
no
mistake, we will one day stand before the Supreme Court!
Not
only will there not be one long line, where we stand in dread for a few
thousand years awaiting our turns, there will not be one judgment, but two.
The
first judgment to take place will be the Bema Judgment, also called the
“Judgment Seat of Christ.” The second, the final judgment, will be the “Great
White
Throne Judgment.” You do not want to be at the second of these two
judgments--not unless you are there as witness to God’s righteousness, rather
than
as one who is being judged. You definitely want to be at the first, however. The
reason this is so is because only the saved stand before Christ at
the
first judgment, and only the lost stand before God at the second.
Everyone
at the first judgment will go into Heaven to live eternally in God’s presence.
Everyone who stands before God in the second judgment will go into
Hell,
apart from God for eternity.
“Prophecy
Power” will cover the Great White Throne Judgment in a later study. We will
look at the Judgment Seat of Christ for now, to get a handle on exactly
what
Bible prophecy says awaits each of us who name the name of Jesus in the
intimate way essential for salvation.
Have
you ever admired a great athlete, and wished you had that kind of ability? The
super athletes of our time make the big bucks, garner great attention,
and
seem to thrive with rewards of their tremendous feats.
God’s
Word tells us that we are competing in a contest that is supernatural, and that
has eternal consequences. All who are on God’s team are expected to
give
it their very best effort in this great race we call life. Paul the apostle
likens our competition to a number of athletic events. The analogy is
to
the competitions of the Olympic games of ancient times.
Christians
are in competition that involves far more profound consequences than do the
athletic feats accomplished by even the world’s greatest athletes
in
earthly sports events. The competition is with ourselves. It is individual. We
should strive to achieve our utmost potential in order to give honor
and
glory to our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom and for whom we were made.
Paul
was a man of many facets, not just some guy walking around spouting pious
things. He was a tremendous scholar, a great missionary and evangelist, and
a
tentmaker. He was also a terrific sports fan. We know from his writings that
Paul was indeed a fellow who followed the athletic competitions of his day
with
great relish. He used analogies and allusions to sport terms in his
instructions on how God wants us to live. He refers in the following to such a
sports
analogy: “Wherefore seeing we also are compassed about with so great a cloud of
witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth
so
easily beset us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us,
Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith; who for the joy
that
was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at
the right hand of the throne of God” (Heb. 12:1-2).
Paul
based much of his sports analogy on his knowledge of the Bema of athletic
competitions of his day. One writer clues us to what Paul was talking about
in
this analogy. “In the large Olympic arenas there was an elevated seat on which
the judge of the contest sat. After the contests were over, the successful
competitors
would assemble before the Bema to receive their rewards or crowns. The Bema was
not a judicial bench where someone was condemned. It was a
reward
seat. Likewise, the Judgment Seat of Christ is not a judicial bench. The
Christian life is a race, and the Divine umpire is watching every contestant.
After
the Church has run her course, He will gather every member before the Bema for
the purpose of examining each one, and giving the proper reward to
each”
(Levin Strauss, God’s Plan for the Future, Zondervan, p.111).
The
great apostle indicated that at the end of his own life he was satisfied he had
given all he had for his Lord, who is also his Judge. “For I am now
ready
to be offered, and the time of my departure is at hand. I have fought a good
fight, I have finished my course, I have kept the faith: 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 appearing” (2 Timothy 4:6-8).
How
thrilling! Did you catch that?
Paul
says in this prophecy that not only he, but we who run the race with all we
have will also receive great rewards. But he says more than that. He prophesies
that
there is a special reward for Christians who “love His [Jesus’] appearing. Now
that’s an empowering truth for those who look for the Lord Jesus at
any
moment in the Rapture!
A
person, at the moment he accepts Christ, is instantly placed upon a rock-solid
foundation. The Truth of that foundation is found in the following: “He
saith
unto them, But whom say ye that I am? And Simon Peter answered and said, Thou
art the Christ, the Son of the living God. And Jesus answered and said
unto
him, Blessed art thou, Simon Barjona: for flesh and blood hath not revealed it
unto thee, but my Father which is in heaven. And I say also unto thee, That
thou
art Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church; and the gates of hell
shall not prevail against it” (Matt. 16:15-18).
Jesus
was not saying here that Peter was the rock upon which salvation is based, but
that Jesus is that Rock. This foundation stone is the same stone that
will
smash all anti-God, Antichrist humanistic government at Christ’s Second Coming
(Dan. 2:34-35).
Paul
says about Jesus, the foundation: “For other foundation can no man lay than
that is laid, which is Jesus Christ” (1 Cor. 3:11).
Some
teach the error that we must work to earn and maintain our salvation. The
Scriptures above plainly teach otherwise. There is no other foundation whereby
we
can become God’s children: “Neither is there salvation in any other: for there
is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved”
(Acts
4:12).
So,
our immortal souls can never be in danger of facing God’s wrath, once we are
upon the foundation, which is His blessed Son, Jesus. Nonetheless, our
eternal
destiny is still subject to influence, based upon how we live our lives while
still in this realm of earthly existence.
You
see, we, when we are set upon that unshakable foundation–the Lord Jesus
Christ—we immediately begin building on that solid Rock. We send the materials
ahead
of our trip to glory –whether that trip be through death or the Rapture-- for
constructing our eternal dwelling place, and for making our heavenly
wardrobe.
In that sense, our works while in this life do affect our eternal destiny.
The
building materials we send ahead in the form of our works on this earth will
have to pass God’s test to determine their worthiness for heavenly
construction.
The
testing will take place at the Bema –the Judgment Seat of Christ. Here’s what
God’s Word has to say about that moment of testing for each of us: “For
we
are labourers 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 thereupon.
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 stones, wood,
hay,
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” (1 Cor. 3:9-13).
Paul,
under divine inspiration, is quick to tell us that this judgment in no way will
determine whether the person being judged is allowed to enter Heaven.
The
one being judged is eternally secure from the very moment of salvation. Paul
writes about the Bema Judgment further: “If any man's work abide which
he
hath built thereupon, 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”
(1 Cor. 3:14-15).
We
must each stand before the Judgment Seat of Christ to give an account of what
we did while living on earth. We will either receive rewards or suffer
loss
of rewards. The good works we do in the sight of God are symbolized as made of
gold, silver, and precious stones. Our worthless works are represented
as
wood, stubble, and hay.
Heavenly
fire of righteousness will be applied to each work we did in life while we
stand before the Bema. The gold, silver, and precious stones will stand
the
test by fire, and all dross (useless, excess) will burn off. Only the pure,
refined works will remain. All other works will perish in the heavenly
fire.
Again,
this has nothing to do with salvation of our souls. That was settled the moment
we accepted Jesus as Savior, while still in physical life on earth.
Jesus
will then bestow upon each believer his or her rewards, based upon the refined
gold, silver and precious stone works that have been tested in the
fires
of supreme Judgment.
The
greatest reward of all will be to hear our Lord say to us the same thing the
master said to his servant in the story Jesus told while teaching. “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” (Matt. 25:21).
Although
it’s not easy to know exactly what goes into making a gold, silver, and
precious stone work, or a wood, hay, and stubble work, God’s Word informs
us
about certain, general areas of life where God is particularly
interested.
We
will look scripturally and in-depth in Session 12 at the crowns that will be
given at the Bema. We will, with equal scriptural intensity, look in Session
13
at the areas of living life on earth in which the Christian will be tested at the Judgment Seat of Christ.
For
now, it is the greatest banquet that will ever be held that takes stage-center
in God’s Prophetic Program.
The
Marriage Supper of the Lamb
What
a contrast this banquet will be to the feast-taking place on Planet Earth!
We
read about that grotesque earthly banquet: “And I saw an angel standing in the
sun; and he cried with a loud voice, saying to all the fowls that fly
in
the midst of heaven, Come and gather yourselves together unto the supper of the
great God; That ye may eat the flesh of kings, and the flesh of captains,
and
the flesh of mighty men, and the flesh of horses, and of them that sit on them,
and the flesh of all men, both free and bond, both small and great.
And
I saw the beast, and the kings of the earth, and their armies, gathered
together to make war against him that sat on the horse, and against his
army.
And the beast was taken, and with him the false prophet that wrought miracles
before him, with which he deceived them that had received the mark of
the
beast, and them that worshipped his image. These both were cast alive into a
lake of fire burning with brimstone. And the remnant were slain with the
sword
of him that sat upon the horse, which sword proceeded out of his mouth: and all
the fowls were filled with their flesh” (Rev. 19:17-21).
The
human carnage will be stupendous. But it will be righteous judgment that is
well deserved. The carrion of earth will indeed have their fill!
The
Church Age saints of God whom the Bible says have white robes of righteousness
will be the wife of the Lamb (Jesus Christ). This is the bride the Apostle
Paul
wrote about as follows: “Husbands, love your wives, even as Christ also loved
the church, and gave himself for it; That he might sanctify and cleanse
it
with the washing of water by the word, That he might present it to himself a
glorious church, not having spot, or wrinkle, or any such thing; but that
it
should be holy and without blemish. So ought men to love their wives as their
own bodies. He that loveth his wife loveth himself.
For
no man ever yet hated his own flesh; but nourisheth and cherisheth it, even as
the Lord the church: For we are members of his body, of his flesh, and
of
his bones. For this cause shall a man leave his father and mother, and shall be
joined unto his wife, and they two shall be one flesh. This is a great
mystery:
but I speak concerning Christ and the church” (Eph. 5:25-32).
A
number of views on exactly whom the bride will be has been a cause for debate.
The purpose here is to present what God’s Word says, advising each child
of
God to study, pray and seek Holy Spirit direction while considering this
awesome topic of prophecy yet future. The Scripture on the Marriage Supper
of
the Lamb we are given, specifically, says: “Let us be glad and rejoice, and
give honour to him: for the marriage of the Lamb is come, and his wife hath
made
herself ready. And to her was granted that she should be arrayed in fine linen,
clean and white: for the fine linen is the righteousness of saints.
And
he saith unto me, Write, Blessed are they which are called unto the marriage
supper of the Lamb. And he saith unto me, these are the true sayings of
God”
(Rev. 19: 7-9).
The
bride will forever be with her Lord, the King of all Kings. All saints of all
ages will have different duties to perform and offices to administrate,
but
the body of believers who constitute the Bride of Christ will be with Him
forever in a special relationship, while serving Him as He wills, based upon
Bema
rewards earned while during earthly life.
To
get a copy of “Prophecy Power: Strength From God to Face Your Future,” call
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