According to the Bible, there is a day coming when Jesus Christ Himself will return from Heaven, and will raise those who have died in Him from the dead, and will change those believers who are living into His image. He will gather all these redeemed saints together and will take them back to His heavenly home, where they will abide forever with Him in a state of absolute joy and utter perfection. The Bible speaks of this event, called the “Blessed hope of the believer in several places.
Many hold the opinion that as soon as the rapture takes place; the saints are going to go to Heaven where they will be issued a halo, a harp and a pair of wings. Then they will spend eternity with God. However, before we get to enjoy all that heaven has to offer, we will have to appear, one by one, before God to give an account of the deeds done in these earthly bodies.
Since we are going to face Jesus in judgment, and since how well that goes depends entirely on how we behave here, it would do us all good to spend a few minutes looking at the Judgment Seat of Christ (Bema). It is important that we understand what it is, what will happen there and how we can prepare ourselves for that day when we will meet Jesus face to face.
WHO WILL PARTICPATE?
This will be a judgment for believers only! There will be no sinners here. They will face God at the Great White Throne (Rev. 20:11-15).
A. IT WILL BE UNIVERSAL
Every believer whether great or small will appear before the throne of Christ and will give account to Him for the deeds done in this body. Some think it will just be the preachers and the Christian workers. However, we will all appear and gave an account before God (Rom. 14:12).
B. IT WILL BE UNAVOIDABLE
Many believers live their lives as if they think they will never have to answer for what they do. In truth, every believer is slated to appear at this judgment seat. There will be nowhere to hide and nowhere to run. When your name is called, you will stand before Jesus and you will face the deeds done here on earth.
C. IT WILL BE UNDENIABLE
There will be no defense allowed before this judgment seat. Every deed will be exposed and will be accounted for in front of all the saints of God. We must understand that God in Heaven keeps perfect records (Matt. 12:36). God sees it all, hears it all, and knows it all (Heb. 4:13, Prov. 15:3). Nothing can be hidden from Him or His judgment.
D. FOR MANY, IT WILL BE UNTHINKABLE
Those things that were done in secret and so carefully concealed and hidden away will be exposed in all their ugliness (Luke 12:3).
WHAT IS THE PURPOSE? The issues will not be:
1. Salvation:
This was taken care of at the moment of conversion.
2. Sin:
Sin was taken care of at Calvary. When Jesus died, He died for the sin of the world (II Cor. 5:21).
Those who appear here will not be judged for salvation or on the basis of their sins. Those who appear here are already saved. The Bible does, however, give us a little insight into who will participate here.
It may help us to understand a little about what the judgment seat actually was. In Paul’s day, in every city there was a place called the Bema, or judgment seat. It was from this raised platform, usually in the center of town that announcements were made, judgments rendered and commendations handed out. All public proclamations came from this bema seat. So, we mustn’t think that it was only a place for fear and trembling. It was also a place of reward and blessing. Christ’s judgment seat is no different!
A. THERE WILL BE REWARDS: The Bible speaks of crowns that will be given to those who earn them.
1. The Incorruptible Crown: Awarded for faithfulness to the Lord (I Cor. 9:25)
2. The Crown of Life: For those persons who endured and overcame temptation.
3. The Crown of Rejoicing: This is the soul winners crown (I Tes. 2:19).
4. The Crown of Righteousness: This will be given to those who anticipate and live in the light
of His return (II Tim. 4:8).
5. The Crown of Glory: This will be given to the faithful ministers who give themselves to lead
and feed the flock of God (I Peter 5:4).
We need to understand that every deed done in the name of Jesus will be blessed and rewarded. Men may not see the value of your service, but rest assured that Jesus takes perfect note and that He will reward you fairly for your sacrifice for Him. (Mark 9:41, Matt. 25:34-40).
God will apply the fire of His judgment to our works and those that were done for Him and for His glory alone will pass the test and we will be rewarded accordingly.
B. THERE WILL BE REBUKES
1. All the motives, methods, attitudes and activities will pass beneath the microscope of God’s just judgment and will be brought to light.
2. The process that God will use can be found in II Corinthians 3:10-15:
a. Gold, Silver, Precious Stones, these represent that which is valuable, permanent, beautiful and hard to come by. It requires sacrifice to acquire these things.
b. Wood, Hay and Stubble, these represent that which is temporary, ugly, cheap and easy to obtain. What a difference there is in the things that honor God and the things which honor men
c. There is going to be many who will come before Jesus expecting great rewards, but will instead receive great rebuke. They will witness everything as it perishes before their very eyes. It will not affect their salvation, but it will affect the rewards they will receive.
C. THERE WILL BE REAPING
Galatians 6:7-8 will be fully realized in the life of every believer on that day. You see, there are things that we think are hidden, and covered up, but God knows all about them and He will drag all those secret things into the open. Many believers have wronged others and never make it right, have taken things and never made restitution, lied and never set the record straight, etc. God knows about it all and will bring it to light at the Judgment Seat.
D. THERE WILL BE REVELATION
When we arrive there, all pretenses will be taken away! We will finally be seen for what we really are. Down here, we are able to pull the wool over people’s eyes. Many times people will have an image of us that is false and misleading to who we really are. However, when we stand before Jesus, we will be seen in all our ugliness. We will be exposed.
HOW CAN A WE PREPARE?
A. MUST BE SAVED
First, you must be sure that you will appear there. As bad as this judgment may be, it will be nothing compared to standing before God at the Great White Throne Judgment and hearing him send you to Hell. If that is settled, then your greatest preparation is to practice self-judgment (I Cor. 11:31). I am not talking about judging your brother. Your primary concern is to look at your own life and heart. There are several areas where we need to practice this self-judgment.
B. IN OUR MOTIVES
Why do we do what we do? The Bible tells us there is only one valid motive for doing what we do in life (I Cor. 10:31). Everything should be done for the glory of God. If whatever it is you are doing cannot be done for His glory, then it will burn up in the judgment!
C. IN OUR METHODS
How do we do the things we do? The Bible teaches us that we are to be like lights shining forth into the darkness (Mat. 5:16). If the world cannot see Christ in what we are doing, then we can be sure it will burn up before Him. We should look at everything we do and ask ourselves:
1. Is this pleasing to God.
2. What kind of message is this sending out?
3. When I say that, or go there, or wear this, what statement am I making about Jesus and His Church?
D. IN OUR MANNER OF LIFE
Every activity must be laid alongside the Word of God. We must understand that the Word of God is like a plum line. If we are out of line with this Book, then we will experience loss at the judgment. If we are in line with it, then we can expect rewards when we arrive there.
E. It all comes down to this, we are called to live the best life for God’s glory that is humanly possible. If we do, then we need not fear meeting our Saviour at the Judgment Seat. After all, if we are living for the Lord, then we will be rewarded and not rebuked!
If you were to face Jesus today in the judgment, what would be the outcome? Would you see all your works and deeds go up in smoke? Would you hear Him have to rebuke the way you lived? Or would you hear Him say, “Well, done thou good and faithful servant. Enter thou it to the joy of thy Lord”. What can you expect there? If it isn’t what you want, now is the time to make the changes that are necessary.
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