Take your Bible and turn to 2 Corinthians 5:9–11. In a moment or two, we’ll celebrate the Lord’s Table together. But, before we get there, I want to begin a two-part, two-week sermon on the judgment seat of Christ. We’re in a series, if you are visiting today, on prophecy. It’s called Things to Come. We’re looking at the events that are unfolding around us. We’re trying to get a sense of where we’re at in redemptive history. We know that Jesus’ return for the church is imminent. We’re looking at the Middle East on fire. We’re looking at globalism and trends within societies. We’re seeing biblical prophecy come to life.
So far, we’ve looked at several subjects, and the last time we were together on this before Christmas, we looked at the rapture. And, this morning and next Sunday morning, we’re going to look at the judgment seat of Christ, the fact that you and I will appear before Christ to give an account of our service for Him. I’ve called the message “Held to Account” because someday Jesus will hold us to account.
It’s the beginning of 2024. Unless you’ve been sleeping, I think it’s a time when you and I typically take a look at ourselves. How did we do in 2023? What’s the state of our marriage, our relationship with our children? What are we doing in life? Are we on track? Are we doing the things that are most important? So, given all of that, it’s a time of inventory, stock-taking. I don’t think there could be any better subject than the doctrine of the judgment seat of Christ for this week and next week—just to put our heads on straight and make sure that our lives are on track. Follow along. I’m reading from the New King James translation of Scripture.
Second Corinthians 5:9–11: “Therefore we make it our aim, whether present or absent, to be well pleasing to Him. For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, that each one may receive the things done in the body, according to what he has done, whether good or bad. Knowing, therefore, the terror of the Lord, we persuade men; but we are well known to God, and I also trust are well known in your consciences.”
I was reading this week of a story related to a leading London newspaper and the frustration of the editorial team. They found on a regular basis that many of the early editions had typological errors in the newspaper. It was embarrassing. It was not a quality product. They addressed this issue on several occasions from several angles, and yet the mistakes kept being made—until one of the editors landed on this idea. He shared it with the whole newspaper team. His idea was that the first copy of the newspaper going forward would be personally delivered to the king.
Guess what happened? The typological errors disappeared overnight. A new and renewed sense of personal responsibility was created by the thought that what they were producing, what they were working on, would be handed to and read by the king himself. So, that scrutiny brought about a certain quality of work.
Now, there’s spiritual parallel to that story, isn’t there? Do I need to remind you this morning, as we stand on the doorstep of 2024, that each day you and I live, we live under the scrutiny of the King of kings? Our lives do not go unexamined. The Bible says that God’s eyes go “to and fro throughout the whole earth, to show Himself strong on behalf of those whose heart is loyal to Him” (2 Chron. 16:9) and also to behold the good and the evil that’s being done (Prov. 15:3).
God is watching you and me. He’s watching to see whether we live up to the standards of His Word or we live down to the standards of the culture. God is watching our actions. God is weighing our attitudes. And, someday, after the any-moment rapture of the church, we will be held accountable for the lives we lived.
Hebrews 4:13 has a little phrase at the end of it that I’ve always found challenging. We’re going to have to deal with Him “with whom we have to do” (KJV). What you do now counts for eternity. What you do on any given day counts forever. In fact, it was this thought that defined and drove the life and ministry of the apostle Paul. Paul served tirelessly. We would agree on that. Paul sacrificed much, managed his time wisely, repented often. We’d agree with that. He obeyed immediately. He persevered greatly. And he judged others very slowly. Why? Because of his forthcoming accountability before God. Paul lived in the light of what he’s teaching us here in 2 Corinthians 5:9–11, that he must, as we must, appear before the judgment seat of Christ and be held accountable.
In fact, one writer says this about the apostle Paul, just getting an insight on what defined him and drove him: “The resurrection of Jesus had made the issue of death largely irrelevant for Paul.” Pause. The point of that is Paul didn’t live with any fear of death. He wasn’t bothered by the grave, because the resurrection had taken care of that. Let me repeat: “The resurrection of Jesus had made the issue of death largely irrelevant for Paul—whether he was at home in the body or at home with the Lord—but it made the issue of final judgment all the more pressing. It was not going through the valley of the shadow of death that bothered him, but facing the assize that awaited him on the far side of that valley. ‘For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ.’”
That’s why he says in verse 11, “Knowing, therefore, the terror of the Lord . . .” He was driven by the fear of God—not a cowering, crushing fear but an inspiring, activating fear and respect—that someday the God who had given him life will take that life back, and he will give an account for the gift of the life given. That’s sobering. That’s animating.
I just read a book recently, a small little book on peace by Bill Crowder. It was a publication of Our Daily Bread, Discovery House, and in it, he says this: “When the popular band The Eagles prepares a new song for concert, they sit in a circle with acoustic guitars and unamplified voices and rehearse their intricate vocals. They call this exercise ‘The Circle of Fear’ because there is no place to hide and no way to conceal any errors they might make in the harmonies.”
What an interesting little insight. The Eagles sit down in a circle, and you know what? Every chord that’s missed, every vocal that’s out of tune is heard. It’s embarrassing. You better come to deliver. You better come with quality because you’re in a circle of fear, the fear of embarrassment, the fear of being shown up to be less than appropriate. Paul lives in the circle of fear, in the sense that the thought of standing before God, being exposed, having his life looked at and sifted through causes him to look at his sin and repent, causes him to look at his service and work all the harder, causes him to reach the lost even more urgently. I think you get the point.
Listen, do you realize that you are deciding your next life every day of this life? I’ll tell you, that’s worth the drive here this morning. That’s worth writing down just that one sentence and thinking about it. Do you realize that you’re deciding your next life, that long one, every day you live this life? Because on the basis of every day you live this life, you’ll be held accountable, and you will receive according to your works. Do you realize that the life you live today will determine the quality of the life you live in eternity? Paul did, and it defined him, and it refined him, and it drove him forward.
So, with that in mind, let’s come and turn to 2 Corinthians 5:9–11, as we look at the judgment seat of Christ in our series Things to Come. This is the sobering truth, that we will stand before Christ on a future day and give an account of our stewardship and our service within time for the purpose of determining our eternal reward. I don’t have time to go here, but if you’re taking notes (and many of you do, and I love it), write down Romans 14:10–13 and write down 1 Corinthians 3:11–15. Those are parallel passages dealing with the same doctrine.
By the way, there’s an idea in Christian circles that teaches that there’s one resurrection and one judgment: the general resurrection and the general judgment. You’ll hear language like that often out of the Anglican prayer book or an Anglican funeral service, talking about the general judgment and the general resurrection. With all due respect, I don’t agree with that. I don’t think there’ll be one resurrection. There’ll be several. I don’t think there’ll be one judgment. I think there’ll be several. There’s not a one-size-fits-all approach to judgment in the Bible. There are several judgments. Can I run down them, just quickly? I think they’re separated by time. I think they’ve got different audiences, and I think they’ve got different outcomes. I pose this to you to think through.
There’s the judgment seat of Christ (2 Cor. 5:10). That’s the church age believers who will appear before the judgment seat of Christ after the rapture to determine reward or loss of it.
Then you’ll have the Old Testament believers’ judgment (Dan. 12:1–3). They’ll be resurrected and rewarded at the coming of Jesus in power and glory at the revelation, at His second coming.
You’ve got Tribulation believers (Rev. 20:4–6). Those are those who have trusted Christ during the Tribulation, who were martyred for their faith, and who will be resurrected and rewarded at the end of the Tribulation.
Then you have the Jews, or the nation of Israel, living at the Second Coming (Ezek. 20:34–38). All Jews who survive the Tribulation will be judged in the wilderness right after the Second Coming, and they will enter the millennial kingdom in their physical and natural bodies. The lost will be purged.
Then, you have the judgment of the sheep and goats (Matt. 25:31–46). This is the Gentile nations who survive the Tribulation, who will be judged after the Second Coming when Christ sits on His glorious throne. Those who are saved will enter the millennial kingdom, and the lost will be cast into hell.
Then, later on, you’ll have this judgment of Satan and the fallen angels (Rev. 20:10). That’s the final judgment of Satan, and it will take place after the millennial kingdom.
And then, you have the great white throne of judgment of Revelation 20:11–15. That’s the judgment of the unsaved of all ages, and that will occur at the end of the millennium. They will be judged according to their works, and the degrees of punishment in hell will be meted out. And they will be cast into the lake of fire. That’s the judgment of the wicked alone, and it’s for the purpose not of determining who’s going to hell but determining the degree of punishment, as the books are opened.
Now, you’re going to have to wrestle with all of those passages that seem to be indicating judgments at different times, with different audiences, for different purposes, with different outcomes. That’s why I believe that that general judgment idea is false.
In fact, A. W. Pink calls it erroneous and absurd. In fact, what he does in this passage I’m about to read is he compares what seems to be the judgment seat of Christ, where believers only are judged for their service to Christ, and later on the great white throne, which consigns people to hell. That can’t be one and the same judgment, and here’s why.
A. W. Pink says, “How erroneous then the prevailing conception; and how absurd! Shall the apostle Paul, who has already been in Heaven for more than eighteen hundred years, yet have to appear before the judgment-bar of God, in order to ascertain whether he shall spend eternity in Heaven or in the Lake of Fire? How could this be, when we are distinctly told ‘There is therefore now no condemnation (judgment) to them which are in Christ Jesus’ (Rom. 8:1). Furthermore, observe that it is said of the sleeping saints they are ‘raised in glory’ (1 Cor. 15:43). How then could a glorified saint be consigned to the Lake of Fire? And if there is no possibility of him going there, then what need is there for any Assize to decide his eternal destiny?”
Look, there’s a lot to chew on there, and you can start doing that as soon as the service is over. But I’m making an argument that there are several judgments, and this is one particular to the saints of God. Now, let’s put it in context. Then, we’re going to begin this two-week sermon and look at several things related to the judgment seat.
But, I like, as you know, to look at the verses within their context. Notice that this section, verse 9 of 2 Corinthians 5, begins with a “therefore.” What does the “therefore” do? It pushes us back to what has been said prior to what is about to be said. Now, what’s the proceeding context? Well, you’ll notice from verses 1–8, Paul has been talking about what happens to Christians when they die, and he has told us that they leave their body and they go to be at home with the Lord. When we’re present in the body on the earth, we’re away from the Lord. When we’re absent from the body, we’re with the Lord. You’ll see that language even as he ends verse 8: “We are confident, yes, well pleased rather to be absent from the body and to be present with the Lord.”
He’s talked about being clothed, being naked, and being further clothed. What does he mean? Well, he’s using the idea of clothing in relation to our flesh, our physical body, which dresses our soul. And there’s a time when we are clothed, when we’re alive. Prior to our deaths, we’re clothed in our body. And then, we die, and we bury our body and become naked, in the sense that we’re simply a spirit. And so, Paul’s addressing what’s called the intermediate state. Where are Christians when they die? What happens to Christians when they die? And, according to 2 Corinthians 5:1–8, they are separated from their bodies, but their spirit is alive. It’s not sleeping, and it’s before the throne of God, awaiting the resurrection at the rapture when we’ll be further clothed with a new body better than the old body. You get it? Clothed, naked, further clothed.
Now, having talked about all of that, having talked about death and absent from the body and present with the Lord, you’ll notice he picks up that language in verse 9: “Therefore we make it our aim [our purpose, our goal in life], whether present or absent, to be well pleasing to Him.”
So, Paul moves the hands of the prophetic clock forward to the time after the rapture, when we will stand before the judgment seat of Christ. Paul says, you know what? Whether absent or present, in the body or in heaven waiting for a new body, we want to live to be found well pleasing to Him. And why do you want to live in a manner that honors God? Because someday you’re going to stand before Him. He’s going to take a look at your life, and it’s going to be determined whether it was good or bad, useful or useless, worthy or worthless. So that’s where we’re at.
Okay, we’ll cover what we can this morning. We’re going to look at several things about the doctrine of the judgment seat, or as I’m calling it, “Held to Account.”
First of all, the participants. That’s our first thought. If you’re looking at your outline here, it starts with the participants. Who will participate in this event called the judgment seat of Christ? Well, there are two participants: Christ and Christians. Our text makes it clear. Notice in verse 10, the personal plural pronoun for “we.” Who’s the “we?” Paul’s addressing the church. Paul’s addressing the Corinthian Christians who live in that city. “For we [Christians] must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ.” There are the participants: Christians and Christ.
So, let’s unpack that just for a moment. Number one, Christ. The Judge presiding over this event is Christ. The Lord Himself shall descend with a shout, with the voice of the archangel. We’re told in John 5:22 that God has given all judgment into the hands of His Son. Acts 17:31 reminds us that there’s been a day appointed wherein this man will judge the people. We read from 2 Timothy 4:1 that the Lord Jesus at His coming “will judge the living and the dead.” The living will be translated, and the dead will be raised. But I want you just to be clear about this. Jesus is the Judge.
Now, aren’t you thankful that when Jesus came the first time, He didn’t come to judge you? He came to allow God to judge Him on your behalf. John 3:16–18: He didn’t come “into the world to condemn the world [or judge the world], but that the world through Him might be saved.” So thankful that the judgment you and I deserve, the wrath of God that you and I merit, fell on Him. So glad when He came the first time, He came as a Savior. But make no mistake about it. When He comes the second time, He’s coming as a Judge. He’s going to judge you and me.
Now, we’ll come to this, but I’ll put it down as a marker. He’s not coming to judge our sins, thank God. They’ve already been judged in the cross. But He is coming to judge our service, our life, our contribution to God’s kingdom.
Now, here’s the thing. Wouldn’t you agree with me that Jesus is a competent and qualified judge? I don’t know if it’s been your experience where you’ve sat before an incompetent judge, a heartless judge—someone who just doesn’t seem to be fit for the job although they wield that authority and that power. But this Judge is qualified and competent because of two things: His divinity and His humanity.
Remember, Jesus is God and man permanently. And so, when we stand before Him, we’ll be standing before a judge who is human and divine. We’ll stand in our resurrected bodies before Christ and His resurrected body. He’s perfectly fitted to judge us because, one, He’s divine, which means He’s got omniscience. He knows all things. There are no blind spots. There’s no unfairness. He’s going to read it right. On the other hand, I’m so glad that He’s a man who was tempted on all points, like us yet without sin (Heb. 2:17–18). And He went through those trials and tears and temptations so He might qualify as what? A sympathetic High Priest. So, listen to me, church. On the one hand, He’s divine, which makes Him a suitable judge. On the other hand, He’s human, which makes Him a sympathetic judge. That’s not bad, right? The one who’s going to judge you is suitable and sympathetic. He’s got no blind spots. Jesus will judge you and me perfectly.
I read the story of a Catholic academy and the cafeteria line. At the start of it, there was a basket of apples, delicious red apples, and one of the nuns had written a little card that said, “Take one apple. God is watching.” And you got to the end of the cafeteria, and there was this basket of beautiful chocolate chip cookies. And on that, one of the students had written, “Take as many as you want. God’s watching the apples.”
Well, they need to go to catechism class because that’s not true. The eyes of the Lord go to and fro throughout the earth, beholding all the good and all the evil. When you and I stand before Him, we will stand before one who’s the perfect Judge, who’s got all the information He needs, and He’s going to process it perfectly and with a heart of love for you and me.
Move on. Number two, Christians. We’re talking about participants: (1) Christ, (2) Christians. I’ve hinted at this. The judgment is for the church age believers only. This is not a general judgment. This is a particular judgment of the church age believer, and I argue that from several quarters.
Number one, the personal plural pronoun “we”: “For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ.” That’s used 26 times in 2 Corinthians 5. And in every single occasion, we’re dealing with saved, sanctified, Spirit-indwelled believers.
Here’s another argument. If you go to the parallel passage in 1 Corinthians 3, Paul deals with the judgment seat of Christ. He kind of casts it with a building metaphor, and you and I are building a life on top of the foundation of Jesus Christ. And the question is, what kind of life are we building? Are we building with quality materials or with poor materials? Will our house stand under inspection? These are the kinds of questions. And what quality of life did we live? Paul talks about this in verse 13: “Each one’s work will become clear; for the Day will declare it, because it will be revealed by fire; and the fire will test each one’s work, of what sort it is. If anyone’s work which he has built on it endures, he will receive a reward. If anyone’s work is burned, he will suffer loss; but”—notice this—“he himself will be saved.”
This is a judgment of the saved. Now, no one will lose their salvation, but some will lose their reward. Some will suffer loss. But I just want you to see that this is a judgment in which everybody comes out of it saved. This is not a general judgment. This is not the great white throne. This is not the sheep and the goats.
I’ll give you one other verse, if you’re taking notes. Write down 1 Corinthians 6:2. You know what that says? It says that the church will judge the world. What a day that will be! What a message, what a thought, what an expectation to the persecuted church, to the Master’s minority—to the suffering saints who have died at the end of an Islamic sword, who have looked down the barrel of a gun and been martyred for Jesus Christ, or who have been judged and thrown into some dank, dark room . . . and the key’s been thrown away, maybe in North Korea. Someday they will stand judgment on those who judge them.
But here’s the point. If the church is going to judge the world at the coming of Jesus Christ, wouldn’t the church need to be judged first before it judges the world? So, I think this is a judgment after the rapture in heaven, regarding the church alone, preparing us to return with Jesus in Revelation 19. We’ll come to that in a moment.
Couple of other little things regarding Christians that participate. You’ll notice that we will be judged individually. It’s Christians who are going to be judged. It’s the church that’s going to be reviewed. But it will be done individually. Go back to our text, 2 Corinthians 5:10. You’ve got the plural pronoun “we,” but go on: “For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ . . .” But notice: “that each one may receive the things done in the body [or give an account].” We will appear before the judgment seat in single file.
You’re going to sing solo at the judgment seat—no families, no couples, no nations, no pastoral team, not the church. You are going to give an account for you, not for me. I’m going to give an account for me, not for you. That’s sobering because we like to kind of measure ourselves against others. But, that day, the measurement is you and Christ and the holy standards of God, the expectation that God has for His people, and that which He desired from them while they were alive.
It’s not about what people did to you. I’m not discounting that. But if you’re in a counseling room and someone’s going on about, “You know what, he’s a mess.” Or he’s going on about her: “She’s trouble.” And “they did this” and “he did that” and “she did the other thing.” Well, that certainly has to be addressed, but by golly, there’ll be none of that going on. It’ll be you giving account for what you did or didn’t do in the light, regardless of what others did to you.
I got into my fair share of trouble when I was at school. I know you wouldn’t believe that, but I did. They were mostly in my days as a nonbeliever. And I lived during the era of capital . . . of corporal punishment. I think my teachers would’ve liked capital punishment, but it was the day of corporal punishment. And so, when you messed up, which we often did, the teacher would say, “Hey, De Courcy, Murr, Doyle, down to the headmaster’s office.” You know, acting brave with a bit of bravado, you stood up, and you pretend that it didn’t matter. And the three of you headed out as the tough guys in the classroom. You headed down the long corridor, and you got to the headmaster’s office, which you knew where it was.
There was always a row of seats up against the wall of his office. And you sat there, and again, there was that sense of “we’re the boys”—until that moment came when the door opened and all you would get is: “De Courcy, it’s your turn.” And you go in by yourself. And you weren’t such a big boy in the headmaster’s office by yourself.
Now, that illustration falls down in that we’re not going to be called into the headmaster’s office at the judgment seat and give an account for the things we did wrong, our sins. Remember, that’s taken care of in the cross.
That’s where it falls down. But at least that idea. You know what it’s like when you have to stand and give an account by yourself. In any given situation in life, it’s sobering, and I want us to take that on board. You and I will be judged individually. Each one will receive according to the things done in the body. Try and stop measuring yourself against others. Try and stop making excuses for your behavior in the light of someone else’s behavior—because that’s all going to be nothing on that day. It’s just you and what you did, regardless of what others did or didn’t do.
By the way, one other little thought. Given that we are going to be individually adjudicated or reviewed or judged, this judgment is private, not public. So, write that down. The judgment seat of Christ is private, not public. There’s something very encouraging about that. I have fallen into the trap—and preachers have given me the impression, I think, at times—that there’s going to come a day when we’ll stand before God and all of our sins will be exposed. And they’re going to be flashed up on some big screen, and the whole church will be there. And they’ll be aghast. “I can’t believe he did that. I’m surprised she did that. I’m feeling good. I think they’re worse than I am.”
So, that kind of nonsense needs to be ruled out. It’s you in the presence of both God, in Jesus Christ, and a sympathetic High Priest, where He’s going to look fairly but justly at your life of service by yourself—no big screen, no public shaming.
Now, you and I can be individually embarrassed. I want to keep that for next week. We can suffer loss, and I would make an argument there may be tears in heaven at the judgment seat of Christ. First John 2:28 talks about being ashamed at His coming, embarrassed. Tears aren’t wiped away till the new heaven and the new earth. Maybe we’ll shed some tears, just you and me alone with the Lord, over the life we lived instead of the life we should have lived or the life we could have lived—but no public shaming. And I’m so thankful for that. My sins have been taken care of. No big screen, no kind of public hanging. He hung on the cross for you and for me. But there will be this standing before Him that I don’t want to minimize.
But, to this point, I love the words of a pastor called Andrew Davis. He pastors a church in North Carolina. In his book on heaven, The Glory Now Revealed, he says this: “God will not shame his glorified people. There will be no ‘scarlet letters’ embroidered on our radiant white robes. Public shame for sin is one of the most painful experiences that any human being could ever endure. Thomas Watson [the Puritan], in his treatise The Doctrine of Repentance, argues that shame is essential to true repentance. . . . However, while shame is a necessary and beneficial part of the ongoing work of our sanctification, it has absolutely no place in heaven.”
Think about this. While we’re on earth, during the church age, there can be church discipline. There can be a public shaming, in a sense, or a public declaration of someone’s sin and the need to put them out of fellowship for the desire that they might be humbled and brought back. That’s a painful experience for anybody to go through, and it needs to be handled with great care. While that’s necessary on earth while we’re being sanctified, it won’t be necessary in heaven when we’re glorified. He goes on: “Just as physical pain is necessary and helpful now on earth but will not be needed in heaven, so also the psychological pain of shame will become obsolete in heaven. As we discussed earlier, there will be no more death, mourning, crying, or pain in heaven. This includes the pain of shame for our sins.”
According to the book of Revelation, the heavenly saints will be lavishly attired in white robes. That’s Revelation 19, and that takes me back to that opening statement I like, that there will be no scarlet letters embroidered on the saints’ radiant white robes.
Okay, that was all the participants. Number two, the place. We’ve got a few things to cover here before we’re done. The place. I’ve said it, but now I’ve got to justify it. I think it’s heaven. I believe it’s heaven. This will take place somewhere in heaven before the throne of God. Why would I say that? Well, given the fact that after the catching away of the church, or the rapture, which we looked at, the church will go to where? The Father’s house. That’s John 14:1–3: “I will come again,” says Jesus, “and receive you to Myself ”—listen—“that where I am . . .” Where is He? The Father’s house. “. . . there you may be also.”
So, the rapture lands us in the Father’s house. It’s another term for the third heaven or the presence of God. First Thessalonians 4:17, the rapture. We’ll “be caught up . . . to meet the Lord in the air. And thus we shall always be with the Lord.” So, just understanding that, I would have to conclude that the judgment seat takes place after the rapture. And, if the rapture takes us to the Father’s house, to the third heaven, to the presence of God, that’s where the judgment seat will take place. I don’t know if it’s a hill to die on, but some have argued that it might take place in the air, instantaneously in some manner, before we’re ushered into God’s presence. But I would think more it’s going to be in heaven.
It’s interesting: “For we must all appear before . . .” (2 Cor. 5:10). The word “before” carries the idea of appearing before a person or a thing. If we run with that, could that be hinting at what we see in Revelation 4:2–10, where we have the 24 elders before the throne of God? And they’re casting their crowns before him in a preview or in anticipation of you and I being judged before the throne of God? And, as we win the crowns of life for glory, we cast them at Jesus’ feet? We’ll come back to that next week.
Number three, the period. Who? Christians in the presence of Christ. Where? Heaven. When? Well, as I’ve just argued, I think it’s best to see the judgment seat of Christ taking place immediately after the calling of the church home to heaven. I’ll give you a couple of verses for that. If you go over to 1 Corinthians 3, which we did a few moments ago, we’ve got the doctrine of the judgment seat of Christ.
As Paul delves into some more thinking in chapter 4, he picks that theme up, and he reminds us, “Therefore judge nothing before the time.” Pause. Paul’s talking about judging each other here. In fact, he says to the Corinthians, “It is a very small thing that I should be judged by you.” Being judged by you doesn’t scare me. Being judged by Christ scares me, alerts me, makes me awake.
He tells us, in judging each other, there’s a place to do that. Be careful how you judge. You’re not omniscient. You don’t know the orientation of a heart, or you maybe don’t have all the information present at hand. And so, be careful how you judge. That would be Matthew 7:1–5: “Judge not, that you be not judged. For with what judgment you judge . . .” By the way, you need to go to verse 2 when you read verse 1. Many times you hear people say, “Judge not that you be not judged. Don’t speak about people. Don’t call sin ‘sin.’ Judge not that you be not judged.” But Jesus didn’t stop there. He said, because with the measure by which you judge others is the measure by which God will judge you. So before you lay a two-by-four on someone’s back, make sure there’s no plank sticking out of your own eye. But you get the point.
So, be hesitant to judge. Be slow to judge. Be measured in your judgment because as human fallen creatures, we can be off. We can be harsh. We can be overbearing. And Paul is not saying not to judge, but he is saying, “Hey, we maybe want to hold most of our judgments until the day of the judgment.”
But notice when that will happen: when “the Lord comes.” 1 Corinthians 4:5: “Who will both bring to light the hidden things of darkness and reveal the counsels of the hearts.” If you want another passage, it would be James 5:7–9, which talks about “the Judge is standing at the door.” This means that Jesus’ coming is soon, and His judgment of His people is at the door. Therefore, be ready to appear before Him.
Then, I’ve got 2 Timothy 4:8 to wrap this up: “Finally,” says Paul, “there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will give to me on that Day.” There it is. We’re going to be judged, and the crowns and the rewards are going to be meted out on that day. What day? Well, it goes on to clearly identify it. It’s not the day of your individual death but the day of Jesus’ return: “. . . on that Day, and not to me only but also to all who have loved His appearing.” So, hopefully, you’ve got that. Our rewards are attached to the coming of the Lord for His people. Another verse would be Revelation 22:12. What did Jesus say? “I am coming quickly, and My reward is with Me, to give to every one according to his work.”
By the way, if that’s true, if the judgment seat happens immediately after the rapture in heaven, I would remind you that that judgment is imminent. Since we’re asking when . . . When? After the rapture. It begs another question. When’s the rapture going to happen? At any moment, which means the judgment could happen tonight, tomorrow, Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday.
You and I need to be ready to meet that moment. You and I need to be doing the things we ought to be doing now. We ought to be deepening our discipleship now. We ought to be giving generously to the Lord’s work now. We ought to be reaching the lost who are perishing now. We ought to love our neighbor now. We ought to forgive our enemies now. We need to make sure we’re not falling in love with the things of this world, the material things that submerge us here in Orange County now.
The final exam will be a pop quiz. When I went to The Master’s Seminary, John MacArthur, usually in whatever class I was taking—theology, hermeneutics, prayer—you were given a class schedule. And throughout that class schedule for autumn or for spring, there were exams that were identified to take place on a certain day. But there were certain professors who we had to love more greatly who would give us pop quizzes that weren’t on the schedule. You didn’t know they were coming, but there you were. You come into the class. “Got a quiz to start today!”
The judgment seat of Christ is a pop quiz. You don’t know when it’s going to happen. Now, it’s scheduled in the sense we know it’s going to happen after the rapture, but it’s a pop quiz in the sense we don’t know when the rapture’s going to happen.
Okay, the last thought here, and this is kind of where we’ll wrap up. In fact, we’re only going to begin this thought—what I call the purpose. If you’ve been following . . . The participants: Christ and the church. The place: heaven. The period: after the rapture.
The purpose. The purpose of this judgment, as we said, but I repeat, is to assess a Christian’s service within their life and then to apportion eternal rewards according to their works. You’ll see in the passage we’re looking at: “For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, that each one may receive [or be paid in full for] the things done in the body.” And we’ll get to this next week: “whether good or bad.” The word “bad” there is not the word for “evil.” It’s the word for “less than good.” It could be translated “useless” or “unworthy.”
Again, it’s not our sins or any evil we did that’s going to be judged. It’s what we did in the body. Was it worthy of reward, or was it unworthy? But you’ll see the focus is on Christian service within life for the apportionment of eternal reward. You’ll notice in 1 Corinthians 3:13 that our works will be judged to determine what sort they were. You’ll read from Revelation 22:12: “I am coming quickly, and My reward is with Me, to give to every one according to his work.”
So, let’s be clear. Heaven is not a reward. But let me also be clear. There are rewards in heaven. It’s a nice little phrase just to play with. Heaven’s not a reward; you don’t merit it. It’s a gift. Eternal life is a gift. For by grace are we saved, through faith, not of ourselves. “It is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast” (Eph. 2:8–9). What about Titus 3:5? It’s “not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to His mercy He saved us.” So, heaven’s not a reward, but when we get to heaven as the saved, our lives will be looked at to determine our reward according to our works. For do remember that while we’re not saved by works, we’re saved unto good works (Eph. 2:10). Those are going to be looked at post-conversion, and the weight of them and the quality of them will determine our eternal happiness, in that sense. The judgment seat of Christ, or the Bema Seat, is not to determine who gets into heaven. The issue is not where will you spend eternity. The issue is how will you spend eternity.
That’s why I’ve decided to do this over two weeks. Next week you’re going to be fascinated by the different elements of rewards. What are these rewards? Well, don’t miss next week. But there’s a question that they raise. I’m just going to throw it your way because I was really struck by it in reading one of the commentaries this week. How much of heaven do you want? Now, you’re going to get there, but how much of it do you want? Because there are degrees of reward. Keeping that for next week. But, on the basis of your works, they will determine the quality of your eternal rewards.
I’m amazed at times when Christians just say, “I’m just happy to get there, pastor.” That’s funny. They like to drive nice cars and live in big houses here on earth, but they’re just happy to get to heaven. Now, why would you think like that? Don’t you want all that God has for you? Don’t you want to enter into His kingdom with an abundant entrance? So, this is the purpose, not to determine who gets to heaven but how we will spend eternity.
See, there are three judgments in the Christian’s life, right? There’s one past, one present, one future. I think I stole this from Lehman Strauss. There’s a past judgment as a sinner. That’s past. That’s the cross. That’s what Jesus did for us. That was accomplished. It’s finished. And there’s therefore now no condemnation to those that are in Him, because our condemnation fell on Him. We’re not going to come into judgment. We have passed “from death into life” (John 5:24). That’s past judgment as a sinner.
But you do know there’s a present judgment as a son. Hebrews 10 tells us that if God loves us, He’ll chastise us. He will allow affliction. He will purpose pain. He will allow suffering in our lives to shape us and humble us and refine us. Read about that in Hebrews 12:6–9.
And then, you’ve got this future judgment as a servant, when He’s going to look at our lives.
Now, just one more thought, and we’ll leave it for next week. We’re looking at the purpose, but there’s four things I want us to look at within the purpose: the exposure, the examination, the exaltation, and the embarrassment.
The first thought is quick, and I’m going to squeeze it in and wrap this up. What I call the exposure. The Greek word for “judgment seat” is bema. It speaks of a raised platform that was constructed for the purpose of adjudication. Now, sometimes it was a bema throne or a seat or platform where crimes were adjudicated and punishment was handed out. But that’s not where we are at, right? Because the cross has dealt with that. But often it was a raised platform at sports events, at their version of the Olympic Games. A raised platform had umpires and judges who judged the manner in which someone competed (that would be Paul’s point in 2 Timothy 2:5) and if they won and merited the stephanos, the crown or the wreath of honor (cf. 1 Cor. 9:26–27). And I think that’s our picture. We’re going to file by this judgment seat, this bema platform, and Christ is going to adjudicate how we ran and whether we won the crowns and the wreaths of honor.
By the way, the word “appear” is interesting. Don’t miss it. “For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ.” This is a word that means “to be made manifest, disclosed, made known.” That’s between you and the Lord. There’s no big public shaming, no big screens where our lives are plastered before the church or the world. But when we stand before Him, our lives will be made manifest. What others don’t know about us, what we even probably haven’t discerned truly about ourselves—it’ll all be made manifest. Our lives will be an open book. We will be open and naked before Him with whom we have to do (Heb. 4:13), stripped of every outward facade. What did Abraham Lincoln say? “You can fool some of the people all of the time, and all of the people some of the time, but you can not fool all of the people all of the time.” I want to add to Lincoln’s quote: “You’ll never fool God at any time.”
And someday you’re going to appear—where your life will be laid bare. Your life will be an open book. “Man looks at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart” (1 Sam. 16:7). That’s sobering and sanctifying, isn’t it?
Some years ago, I lost a friend to a bomb in Northern Ireland. She was a young Christian wife and mother—Sharon Frizzell. She later became Sharon McBride. I went to her funeral. She was working in her father’s fish and chip shop when the IRA laid a bomb to blow up an opposing party’s offices above, and her life was taken.
I went to Antrim Road Baptist Church. Sharon and I and a bunch of young Christians had run together for many years. And, on that cold and drizzly day, a bitter memory came back about a time when I was in the company of some friends. Somebody had kind of hinted about her and I being a match, and to deflect the embarrassment, I just said something pretty ugly about her. And I got away with it that night. But about a week later, at another youth event, Sharon came up to me, toe to toe, and she said, “Hey, if you’re going to say something about me, say it to my face.” Woo. Where’s the spade? I want to dig a hole right now and jump into it. It was embarrassing for me, but I respected her for coming and saying, “Hey, buddy, you professing man of God, if you’re going to talk, talk with integrity and sincerity.”
I remember the feeling, and it came back with a certain bitterness the day of her funeral. We were good friends after that, by the way. I was feeling exposed at that moment. She exposed me. My hypocrisy was laid bare. That’s not a nice feeling. It’s a challenging moment. And that’s, I think, what Paul is saying. You’re going to appear. You’re going to stand with your life laid bare before Christ. So let that be an incentive to get serious about the things of God.
Remember that moment in Luke 22:61? Peter denies the Lord. He curses for good measure, to give the impression he’s not a disciple or the follower of the Galilean. There was kind of a creek on the door, a door swung open, and they were leading Jesus away through that courtyard. And it says that Jesus looked at him as the cock crowed. And it says that Peter “wept bitterly” and ran out into the darkness. Jesus looked at him. Let that sober us. Let that sanctify us—because there’ll come a day when Jesus will look at us intently and measure our discipleship and our service and the opportunities that He laid before us. May God help us, as David Bernard said, not to loiter on our way to heaven.
Father, we thank You for our time in the Word this morning. This is a sobering doctrine. We thank You for its message at the beginning of 2024. This is a time of resolution. This is a time when we resolve to lose weight, to be a better husband, to be a better Christian, to live better, do better, be better. Lord, that’s a good thing. Paul tells us in 2 Corinthians 5:9—right before our study today—we make it our goal, we make it our resolve, we make it our aim to be found pleasing to Him. Lord, we want that to be true of us. “For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ.” These things we pray and ask in His name. Amen.