The Judgment Seat of Christ

We're back in our series now on the judgments, the seven judgments, and tonight we're discussing this tremendous judgment known as the judgment seat of Christ. You recall, those of you who were with us last week, that this judgment is closely related to the one that we discussed last week, the judgment of self, the judgment of the believer himself, where you can be the judge.

And last week we saw how a sin in a Christian life is taken care of. God does not save people and then turn them loose to live as they please. That's the accusation that's sometimes made against the doctrines of grace, that they sometimes sing that hymn, you know, this way, Free from the law, O happy condition, sin as you please, for there is remission. Well, that's not the way it goes. It isn't sin as you please, for there is remission, because the spirit of God dwelling in the believer's heart creates a condition of misery when sin is not judged. And not only misery, but uselessness.

And so the way to deal with sin in the Christian life is to judge yourself. Now we saw last week that sin in every Christian heart affects you two ways. It affects your enjoyment of your salvation and your effectiveness as a Christian. That is, you lose the, the glory, the radiance, the joy, the happiness of being a Christian when you fail to face the things that the spirit of God points out are wrong in your life. And many, many a Christian is going through life year after year after year, filled with gloom and misery and unhappiness, simply because they refuse to face some of the things the spirit of God has brought to their attention. And not only that, you lose your effectiveness as a believer. And the power is gone. The ability to change lives, the influence that dispels the darkness around is gone, as you fail to judge these things.

And the answer, of course, is self-judgment or confession. As John puts it, if we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. And we're filled with the spirit again.

Now we're going on a step further in that. What if you don't do that? What if, as a Christian, you fail to judge yourself? And on some point, you just get stubborn with the Lord. You say, now look, Lord, I've given in on this and this and this and this and this. Isn't there something you can keep your hands out of, in my life? Let me have this anyway. And you just get stubborn about it. And you say, now, I'm just not going to give in on this. This is something I want myself. I'll give you all the rest, but I don't want you to fool with this area of my life.

And it's surprising how often Christians do that very thing. I suppose all of us have at one time or another, and some go on for year after year after year. Well, what happens? Well, as we saw last week, God has a way of bringing chastisement to bear. Now, he doesn't do it maliciously. He doesn't do it with intent to harm or injure. He does it because he's grieved, and his heart longs for the fellowship of every believer. And he will not, in faithfulness, let you go on that way. And so sometimes there comes sickness, and as we saw last week, even death.

But now supposing that even you resist that, and you just refuse to look at the thing, or judge it in the light of the Word of God at all, and you don't want the Lord talking to you about it. Maybe you stay away from the meetings when this subject is announced, and other things like that. Well, then what?

Well, you die sometime. Death comes to all of us, whether we're believers or not, and you have lived your life in a state of no fellowship and little usefulness for the Lord. Now, does death change that? I think some of us have the idea that when a Christian dies, that immediately when he goes to glory, everything is all fixed up. That he is just in a perfect state of bliss and happiness and contentment from then on. I don't think so. I don't think the Word of God supports that idea at all. Death, you see, doesn't change anything. Death is an incident in the Christian's life. Eternal life doesn't begin at death. It's already begun. It begins when you believe in Jesus Christ, and death is just a change of location, that's all. You move into another place.

You don't stop growing as a Christian. You don't stop learning lessons as a Christian. You have better, in some ways, better opportunity. In other ways, you have less opportunity after death to grow in the likeness and the image of Christ. And you're not just suddenly changed from a weak, wavering, uncertain, jellyfish type of a Christian unto a glowing, brilliant, marvelous Saint of God, simply by dying and going to be with the Lord. Now, what then does take place? Well, if you live out of fellowship with God here, and you refuse to judge the things that the Spirit of God brings to your attention, then God has provided another thing. He's provided the judgment seat of Christ.

You see, God doesn't have any intention of going around for all eternity, and every time he sees you coming down the street of heaven, ducking across the street or around the corner so he won't have to talk to you. He has no intention of doing that. This thing must be faced, and all the faithfulness of God is behind the fact that he's going to bring it to the place where you face it in your life, either here or there.

Now, the judgment seat of Christ is the provision made for stubborn saints. That's only one aspect of it. We'll speak of another aspect a little later on, but that's certainly one very clear aspect of it.

Now, let's get some Scripture before us and we'll see what we mean. First of all, Romans 14, verse 10. But why dost thou judge thy brother? the Apostle asks. Or why dost thou set at nought thy brother? For we shall all stand before the judgment seat of Christ. Now, that's simply a reference to the fact, you see, that our dealings with other Christians down here, if not settled here, will have to be settled up there. That's very clear.

Now, turn over to 2 Corinthians, the fifth chapter, where you have another reference to this same event, and these are the only two verses in which the phrase, the judgment seat of Christ, occurs. But in chapter five of 2 Corinthians, we read, 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. And you'll notice that in both verses, a stress is laid upon the word all. We all must appear. And of course, this refers to believers. In both cases, the letter is written to believers in Jesus Christ. He's not talking about the unsaved, those who have no fellowship with God, but believers. And we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ. You remember how Peter puts it. He says, The time has come when judgment must begin at the house of God. And God's not going to start judgment on earth until he's finished the judgment seat of Christ with the house of God.

Now, you see, let me make something clear here. The question at the judgment seat of Christ is not the question of whether you have the right to enter heaven or not. That's not going to be discussed there at all. It isn't discussing the question of whether you have the right to belong to the family of God or not. That isn't before the court at all. That question was settled when you believed in Jesus Christ. It'll never be brought up again. As we pointed out last week, there are two links that unite us to Christ. That link of union that is formed when you receive the Lord Jesus as Lord and he became your savior. He formed that link, that link of union, and nothing can break that in heaven or earth or hell, anywhere in all the universe. Even the Russian Sputnik can't do anything about that. That cannot be broken.

But there's also the link of communion, fellowship, enjoyment, and that is a very delicate link. Just an unjudged evil thought will snap it like that. And it's not restored until you confess. And you can let the thing go on day after day after day, and it'll never be restored until you confess it, until you face it, you see. That's what we're talking about here. And that's the question that's brought up at the judgment seat of Christ.

Not whether you have the right to heaven. That's not questioned. The question there is, have you agreed with God about everything in your life, all the issues of life, you see? Your question of salvation is answered in Romans 8, verse 1. There is therefore now no judgment, no condemnation to those which are in Christ Jesus regarding the question of salvation. But the question of communion is what is discussed at the judgment seat of Christ.

Now, let me also point out that God at the judgment seat of Christ has no intention of punishing you. That isn't the reason for it at all. To listen to some preachers on the judgment seat of Christ, you'd think that this was sort of a Protestant purgatory where you have to pay for your sins after all, regardless of whether you thought you were delivered at the cross or not, and that there's an awful lot of punishment goes on there. Now, there isn't any punishment there at all. God isn't interested in punishing you at the judgment seat of Christ. All he's interested in doing is getting you to face things that you won't face down here, that you refuse to face, and agreeing with him about it.

And so the judgment seat of Christ is the place where the whole of our life is laid out before us, and then the Lord Jesus himself gives us his appraisal of the value of the things that we've done all through our life. You can see how that is referred to here in 2 Corinthians 5.10. We must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ; that everyone may receive the things done in the body according to that he hath done, whether it be good or bad. He's going to look at the things that you did in the body, life reviewed before you.

Some people question whether this can be so. I don't think people do very much, anymore. We men have devised means by which we can record our thoughts, our words, and our actions, and review much of our outward life before us. We've got tape recorders that tape every word and every tone of voice that we utter. We've got cameras that record every facial expression, every change of feature, every step we take. And surely God in his might and wisdom can do the same thing. I've often reminded people of how they would feel if they knew that there was a little gremlin following them around with a camera, taking a record of everything they said or thought or did. For one week, just supposing this last week now, some little gremlin was following you around recording everything you thought, and everything you did, and everything you dreamed, and all that. And we announced that we're going to run this off on a film up here tonight. How many of you would have been here tonight to see it? You see, that's what happens, isn't it? God is able to record our life for us, and there at the judgment seat of Christ it's unfolded before us. And the things that we have failed to see in the light of the word of God are brought to our attention, and we're faced with it there if we refuse to face it here.

Now you can see another instance of that over here in 1 Corinthians, the third chapter, this well-known chapter here that has to do with the judgment of our works. And you remember in 1 Corinthians 3, verse 11, Paul says, For other foundation can no man lay than that is laid, which is Jesus Christ. Now that's your salvation, you see. The foundation is settled and sure. And you remember how Paul wrote to Timothy, and he said, for the foundation of the Lord standeth sure, for the Lord knoweth them that are his. And nothing can change that.

Ah, but now what? Look, now if any man build upon this foundation, gold, silver, precious stone, wood, hay, or 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. Not quantity, you see, but quality here. 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. Now this is the judgment seat of Christ again.

Let me share with you a quotation from Dr. H. A. Ironside about this, because he says it so beautifully.: When we stand before that august or judgment seat of Christ, everything will be brought to light. All the self-seeking, all the carnal egotism, all the fleshly energy, all the self-confidence that so often is back of our ministry, will be made manifest, and all of this will go for nothing when our blessed Lord is looking for that which he can reward. On the other hand, much that is looked upon with contempt by high-minded and heady brethren will then be seen in its true character, and of many a hidden saint who has been passed by as insignificant and doing nothing of any real moment, the Lord will say, as he said of Mary of Bethany so long ago, she hath done what she could.

Now that's the judgment seat of Christ. A careful analysis in the light, the searching light of the Lord himself, of what our life has been down here on earth. Now you say, what is this wood, hay, and stubble, and this gold, silver, and precious stones that are mentioned here? What distinguishes between those? How do we know when we're building one and building the other? How can we know whether we're building precious stones, gold and silver, or whether we're just building wood, hay, and stubble? Well, the answer is very simple. The answer is, the wood, hay, and stubble is the result always of anything done in the flesh. The gold, silver, and precious stones is the result of anything done in the spirit. And we can only build gold, silver, and precious stones when we're filled with the spirit.

That's the answer, you see? Now, you may be doing wonderful work before the eyes of men. You may be very busy with all kinds of church work, and all of it very necessary and very effectual, very faithful work. But unless you are doing it filled with the spirit, you are building wood, hay, and stubble, and not gold, silver, and precious stones. You see, that's what marks the difference here. It's the filling of the spirit that makes the difference. Now, how are you filled with the spirit? Well, we looked at that last week. Remember, you are filled if you're a believer in Christ, you are filled with the spirit when sin is judged and your members are yielded to God. When you face the things in your life that have grieved the spirit and hindered the spirit, and you have confessed it, you've faced it in your life. And then you say, Lord, here I am. Now, it's not very much to offer you, but here I am, such as I am. Take me in you. And at that very moment, you're refilled with the spirit of God.

It isn't any experience. You're not going to have any electric flashes run down your back or bells ringing in your head or anything like that. It's a quiet, simple, swelling, moving, rising of the fountain of the spirit within that transforms your work. You've had the experience every believer has, sometimes saying things for God in which every word seems to be packed with a marvelous power. Everything you say seems to strike home to the heart. Well, that's when you're filled with the spirit. Now, you're not always aware of it. I don't want to imply that you always realize when you're filled with the spirit. It isn't a question of feeling, you see. It's a question of having faced sin in your life or not. And when you have, then you're filled with the spirit. There's nothing standing in the way. And everything you do then is gold, silver, and precious stone.

On the other hand, if you're trying to work when there's some area of your life shut off from the control of the spirit of God, or some area not yielded to him, or some area in which you're refusing to face something that the spirit of God has his finger on, it doesn't make any difference what you do. Everything you do will turn out to be wood, hay, and stubble, fuel for the flames on that day.

Now, I think we need to be very clear about this. So many Christians remind me of, well, they're what I'd like to call flat-tire Christians, as if a man bought a whole new set of tires for his automobile, brand new tires, and put them on but didn't put any air in them. And you can imagine how rough a ride that would be, to be driving down the street with your tires not filled with air. The tires are all right, nothing wrong with them, but they lack the filling of the spirit. And it's interesting, isn't it, that the word for spirit is the same as the word for wind in the Greek. You need wind in your tires, you need spirit in your life. And if we're not filled with the spirit, we're flat-tire Christians, and we can't get very far or very fast through life until we've come to that place of the infilling of the spirit of God.

Now, let's go a little further in this matter of the judgment seat of Christ. How does the Lord proceed at the judgment seat? How does he bring it about for us to face these things? Well, let's turn to another passage, right across the page, 1 Corinthians 4, verse 5. Writing now to the Corinthians, who were so filled with problems of this nature, Paul says these words, Therefore judge nothing before the time, until the Lord comes, who both will bring to light the hidden things of darkness, and will make manifest the counsels of the heart. And then shall every man have praise of God. Now, you notice there are two things that the Lord intends to do at his judgment seat. He's going to bring to light the hidden things of darkness. What are those? Why, those are the things that you didn't think anybody knew about in your life, those secret things that you didn't tell anybody at all. You remember back in Luke 12, you have a reference to this very same thing. You remember these opening verses of the chapter? In the meantime, when there were gathered together an innumerable multitude of people, insomuch that they trod one upon another, he began to say unto his disciples, First of all, beware ye the leaven of the Pharisees, which is hypocrisy. That is, pretending to be something that you're not. Now beware of that. For there is nothing covered that shall not be revealed, neither hid that shall not be known. Therefore whatsoever ye have spoken in darkness shall be heard in the light, and that which ye have spoken in the ear in closets shall be proclaimed upon the housetop. You know that little story that you told somebody the other day, when you said to them, now promise not to tell anybody about this. And they turned right around and told somebody else, and they said, now promise not to tell anybody. And they went to someone else and said, now promise not to tell anybody about it. That thing is going to be proclaimed from the housetops in that day. Those secret things, the hidden things of darkness.

Now that's the first thing. The second thing that he's going to do is to make manifest the counsels of the heart. What does he mean there? Well, these are the motives for which you do things. You know, sometimes we can look before men as though we're doing some wonderful things, but when it turns out, when we find out why we did them, we discover that actually it was a selfish reason. Sometimes many of the things we do that seem to be such sacrificial things in the light, in the eyes of others, are really nothing but an effort to gain the attention of somebody around us or a grandstand act, something of that sort. You know how children are so uninhibited in stating their reasons for doing this.

I was so interested in getting a letter from my mother the other day, and my little daughter Sheila had written her a letter. And mother told me what she'd written, and I smiled at it. Sheila had written to her grandmother and said, Dear Grandma, I know I should have written to you sooner, but I had a lot of other things I'd rather do. And it'd be refreshing if we could get that kind of honesty in our own lives, wouldn't it? I think of the little boy who rescued a friend of his who fell through the ice, and this little chap dove in after him and pulled the boy out. And when they were praising him about it afterward, they said, How in the world did you ever find the courage to do such a brave thing? And Willie said, Well, I had to. He had my skates on.

And you see, when our motives are exposed, sometimes they're so different from what we thought they would be. You recall that story of the old Scotsman who was sitting in church when the collection was passed. And when the basket went by, he took out a coin out of his pocket and very ostentatiously dropped it in. And he settled back in his seat, and just as the basket went by him, his quick eye noticed that what he thought was a shilling was really a gold sovereign. And he reached out to try to get it, but it was too late. The basket had gone by. So after the service, he went to the head usher, and he said, You know, he said, when the basket came by, he said, I dropped in a sovereign, and I thought it was a shilling. And he said, I'd like to have it back. But the usher was a Scotsman, too. And he said, Oh, no. He says, What's given to the Lord cannot be given back. And the old Scotsman said, Oh, Willie. He said, I'll get credit for it in heaven. And the usher says, Now you will. You'll get credit for the shilling. That's what you thought you put in.

And I'm afraid that's the way it's going to be. Our motives are to be brought out. The hidden counsels of the heart, the reason why we did things, will be exposed. And it's interesting, that's the very word that's used here. We'll bring to light, he says, these things he will make manifest. And that's the word in the Greek, to expose.

Well, now, who's it going to be exposed to? Just you? And here's something that perhaps some have differed with me on. But it's my deep conviction that at the judgment seat of Christ, the exposure is made to the whole assembled church of God, the body of Christ. Partly because of that verse we just read back there in Luke, that says, That which is uttered in the closet shall be shouted from the housetop. Everybody's going to know it. That which has been hidden away shall be revealed, manifest to everybody. And you remember the principle upon which the Lord works when we refuse to face things in our life? Look back in Matthew 18. You remember back there? Verse 15. Moreover, if thy brother shall trespass against thee, go and tell him his fault between thee and him alone. That's the first step. If he shall hear thee, thou hast gained thy brother. But if he will not hear thee, then take with thee one or two more, that in the mouth of two or three witnesses every word may be established. You see, if you refuse to face things the first time, then it has to be brought out into a wider circle. Ah, and if he shall neglect, if he will not hear thee, if he shall neglect to hear them, tell it unto the church. But if he neglect to hear the church, let him be unto thee as a heathen man and a publican.

Now you see, that's the principle on which the Lord operates. First of all, there comes something in our life that he says that we must judge, we must face, we must remove. And he says it to us alone. Ah, the Lord never broadcasts it around everybody else, runs to the neighbors with it. All the secrets he could tell if he did that! But he doesn't. He tells us alone. And then if we refuse to judge it, he'll go on sometimes for years and wait in patience, long suffering. But if there's still a refusal, sometimes he'll tell somebody else.

I had a young fellow come to me some time ago with a very serious problem in his life. And he told me that he couldn't get interested in reading his Bible. He seemed to have no spiritual initiative at all. And I met with him on several occasions and tried to stir up interest, and it seemed to be a block in there somewhere. And I couldn't find out what it was. I talked with him on several occasions. And finally, I went to the Lord in real earnest prayer about it. And I seldom have an experience like this, but while I was praying about that young boy, the Lord caused to come into my mind the reason for it. I knew what it was, some habit in this boy's life that he was not facing. And the Lord told me what it was. Not any visible voices. I've never heard voices, but I just knew that that was it. And the next time I met the young lad, I said to him, son, have you had a problem along this line? And his face colored and he dropped his head. And he didn't say a word for a moment. And then finally he said yes. And I said, well, you know, the Lord told me about this. And I said, there's where your trouble lies. And it wasn't very long before he began immediately to improve as he faced that thing.

Now, the Lord will sometimes tell somebody else about it. And yet, if that still is not enough, well, then there comes the day when he tells it to the church and everybody can know this thing that you've hidden away in the cupboard of your heart and refused to bring out.

I think this is what John has in mind when he writes to those people there in his first letter. You remember, and he says to them, in the second chapter of first John, he says, and now little children, abide in him. That is, keep the short accounts with God, stay in close fellowship with him. Why? That when he shall appear, we may have confidence and not be ashamed before him at his coming. Oh, there's going to be a lot of shame at the judgment seat of Christ, isn't it? Things that we thought had been hidden away for all eternity. Dirty linen that we hate to look at, is going to be taken out and washed there in the eyes of everyone at the judgment seat of Christ.

Well, then what? Well, then Paul says that they shall be burned up. I think that means that they're forgotten by everybody but you. I don't think anybody will think of them again. You will, because that's the means by which you'll remember the grace of God. Amazing grace, how sweet the sound that saved a wretch like me. And it's your consciousness of your guilt that is the black background to the glory and the grace of God in your life. But nobody else will know it. It'll be burned up. God will forget it. All the other saints will forget it. You're the only one that will know it.

And then notice verse five again of chapter four. But then shall every man have praise of God. I love this because this is the other side of the picture, you see. There's going to be a lot of darkness and blackness about the judgment seat of Christ.

But also this is going to be true. But what? There is something good left. There must be some time that you live, you work in the spirit, walk in the spirit. The Lord can catch you at some times where he can chalk it up to your account for gold, silver, and precious stones. And when all the rest is burned up, the wood and the hay and the stubble, well, there'll be some gold left and then every man shall have praise of God.

Now, we thank the Lord for that promise that's given to us. Otherwise, we'd be pretty discouraged, some of us, about these things. But that isn't all. At the judgment seat of Christ, and I haven't time to dwell on this tonight at all, I'll just merely mention it, will be the giving forth of rewards for faithful servants. There's where the crowns are going to be bestowed. And as you read through the word of God, you'll find there are five different crowns that are in store for those who are faithful in various spheres of ministry down here on earth: the soul winner's crown; the crown of the man who has subdued his body and kept it under and is able to exercise self-control in his life, there'll be a crown for him; the faithful pastor's crown, that's the one I'd like to get; and some of the other crowns that are mentioned there in the word of God. And you know, crowns don't appeal, perhaps, very much to we Americans. But when you stop to think about it, a crown is the symbol of authority and power. And what it means here to us, it means there to God, too. And a crown is the greatest gift that one man can give another.

When Elizabeth was crowned queen of England, that was the greatest gift England could give her. She could never be given a higher honor than to be the queen of England. And I ask you to just use your imagination a little bit and think instead of in terms of a material crown that's jammed down on your head, that probably doesn't fit too well anyway, but instead think of what that means, what that crown stands for. And if a crown on earth is the greatest gift that can be given, what will it mean when the King of Glory, the Lord of the Universe, places a crown upon your head? I don't know. Imagination fails me at what that will mean. What a tremendous thing the rewards are, for faithful service down here!

Now, when shall it take place? Well, we've seen several verses that indicate it's when the Lord comes. Therefore, judge nothing before the time until the Lord comes, who will bring to light the hidden things of darkness and so on. And of course, Paul settles the question when he says, The time of my departure is at hand, Timothy. And 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 to all them also that love is appearing.

Now, it has to wait until the time when the Lord comes for his own. Now, why does it wait that long? Why don't we have our crowns at death when we go to be with the Lord? Why doesn't he give it to us there? You sometimes hear, you know, somebody says, well, so-and-so has gone to his reward. No, he hasn't. He won't get his reward until the judgment seat of Christ. You know why? This is a sobering thing and a thrilling thing - because the results are not all in yet. Do you know that Paul is still winning souls today? The influence of that man's life has continued on for two thousand years, and all this time the tremendous impact of the Apostle Paul has been influencing men and changing lives down here on earth.

D.L. Moody is still winning souls today. John Wesley, Martin Luther, all the great saints of God, little and great alike, are still, the influence of their lives is still continuing on today. And how can you figure up the accounts until the accounts are all in? You see, he has to wait until the Lord comes before he begins to total up the influence of a single human life upon this earth.

How tremendous that is. And what you do is going to go on after you're gone. But the other side of that is true too. I think of dear old William Miller, that fellow who got the idea that the Lord was coming back in 1844, and he was a poor, ignorant fellow. He didn't study his Bible very well, and he set a date for the Lord's return. And that thing became the foundation of the Seventh-Day Adventist movement. And the influence of William Miller and the Millerites is still going on today, and people are being confused, and saints are being led into darkness as a result of it. Now, he's in glory, no question about it. But the influence that he left behind is one of weakness and failure. And you see, that goes on to the end too. And it's all this must be brought out at the judgment seat of Christ. I hope you see from this the one tremendous essential thing, the need facing in our lives, that which is wrong.

Sin is a deadly thing. Have you realized how mighty and how enduring is the power of sin? If you want a good example of it, remember way, way, way back there at the beginnings of Genesis, when Abraham took an Egyptian maid as his wife, and she bore him a son, Hagar bore him a son. And that seemed to be a little thing. God didn't seem to hold it much against Abraham. But you know what the result of that is? Well, that son was named Ishmael, and Ishmael became the father of the Arab nations, out of which came Islam, Moslem, Mohammedanism, one of the greatest scourges against Christianity on the face of the earth today. And the Arab nations are today the nations that are standing against Israel there and their return to the land. All of that as a result of the sin of Abraham, years and years and centuries and centuries ago.

Now you see, this thing builds up and increases as it goes along. And how important it is, to keep short accounts with God, to deal with the things at the fountainhead, and as soon as they come into being, if they come, to deal with them immediately there. To walk filled with the spirit, that your life may be one of gold and silver and precious stone instead of the wood and the hay and the stubble. Well, somebody says, well, what about the things that I've forgotten all about? What do I do about those? Well, then you need to get down and pray David's prayer.