Gold, Silver, or Bronze? - Part B

It is the evaluating and rewarding of service rendered to Christ from the moment you're saved until the day you go to heaven.

All of that will be evaluated. Again, we're not saved by good works. But we are saved to do good works. Exactly what Paul writes in Ephesians 2 10. For we are His workmanship created in Christ Jesus to do good works. And throughout the New Testament, it's plain to see that in heaven there will be differences of rewards and differences of position because of our works. What's in it for me? That's often the motivating factor for most of us when choosing what we should get involved with.

If we're going to expend time, energy, and money on something, we want to know how it will benefit us. Well, today here in Connect with Skip Weekend Edition, Skip Heitzig examines what's in it for those of us who have chosen to follow Christ and who's ultimately come from a destiny as heaven. If you've ever wondered if this Christian journey will be worth the trip, stick around. We'll examine that issue in just a moment.

But first, we want to let you in on this month's Connect with Skip resource offer. Who comes to mind when you think of great godly women? Probably Jesus' mother Mary. Maybe Ruth, the unlikely ancestor of Christ.

But what about you? Here's New York Times bestselling author Eric Metaxas. Clearly, if God created us male and female in His image, it's leaning into who we are as women. If we're women, that is going to show God's greatness. Discover how the lives of some of the greatest women in history can show you the path to true greatness in your own life as a woman made in God's image. That's what you'll find in this month's inspiring resource by Eric Metaxas. In every one of the seven women, I think you see a different side of femininity. Seven women is our thank you for your gift of $35 or more today to help connect more people to God's Word. And right now, we'll also send you a special bonus resource, Pastor Skip's six message CD collection on prominent women from Scripture. Visit connectwithskip.com slash offer to give online securely or call 800-922-1888.

Visit connectwithskip.com slash offer to give online securely or call 800-922-1888. That's great to watch, though I like to bicycle. We're talking 2,000 miles of bicycling through the mountains of France, grueling.

One of the participants called it the annual madness. When it's all said and done, you know what you get if you win the Tour de France? You think, what, $100,000? Maybe $10,000?

Nope. You get a nice little bicycle jersey. Isn't that great?

2,000 miles of working, working, working a little bicycle jersey and the ability to say, I finished and won the Tour de France. That's marvelous. But it's short lived. That's Paul's point in that text I just read. It's a short lived in a perishable crown. We work for an imperishable one. All right, back to this judgment seat of Christ. What kind of judgment will this be?

Let me first say what it will not be. When we're talking about standing before the judgment seat of Christ, this is not referring to the great white throne judgment in Revelation 20. That's for unbelievers only. That's where Christ judges the wicked and they're banished forever.

It's not speaking about that. You and I will never face judgment for our sins ever. That's already settled. Romans chapter 8, verse 1. And Jesus said in John chapter 5, So this is not a judgment for our eternal fate. That's already settled. And by the way, we're not saved by any works, right? We're saved.

The Bible says Ephesians 2. So it's not that. Nor is the Bema Seat some kind of competition to see if you can outlive your friend or get a bigger, my mansion's bigger than your mansion. We're not going to be doing that in heaven. You know, some people get the idea that in heaven, God's going to throw in the DVD, the video of your life and the whole world.

Sees every little thing you've done and you get them all embarrassed because of it. I heard about a preacher who died and he went to heaven and there was Peter. Of course, he's always in every lame joke like this. And Peter was there. And the preacher noticed a New York taxi driver also in heaven who got a bigger reward than the preacher did. And the preacher was miffed over this. He said, look, Peter, I've given my whole life to love my congregation and this cab driver gets like the biggest reward I can imagine, bigger than mine.

What's up with that? Peter said, look, Reverend, here in heaven, it's our policy to reward results. Preacher was all ears. Peter continued, Reverend, when you gave a sermon, what would often happen? Preacher hung his head and said, I know a lot of people fell asleep when I would speak. Peter said, exactly. That's different with this guy.

Anybody who got in this guy's taxi cab, they stayed awake. Not only that, but they prayed the whole time. Well, I don't think the Bema Seat judgment is going to be like that. It's not an idea of comparison. It talks about in verse 10 receiving something and it's put in Greek in the middle voice.

It's reflexive. It would be best translated each will receive for oneself. This is an individual evaluation between you and Christ. So what is the judgment seat? Here's what it is. It is the evaluating and rewarding of service rendered to Christ from the moment you're saved until the day you go to heaven.

All of that will be evaluated. Again, we're not saved by good works. But we are saved. To do good works. Exactly what Paul writes in Ephesians 2 10. In Matthew 25, Jesus gave a parable of the talents, which is like a big bag of money.

These are temporal resources. And he said, I will say, well done, good and faithful servant. You are faithful over a few things. So I will make you ruler over many things. Enter into the joy of your Lord. The joy will be at that point, the reward that is given. Revelation 22 verse 12.

Jesus says, I am coming quickly. My reward is with me to give to everyone according to their works. And then how many times in the Sermon on the Mount did Jesus talk about doing something so that people will see you versus doing it privately when no one sees you? Whether it's giving alms or praying. Don't do it publicly because Jesus said you already have your reward.

But do it in secret. Your Father who sees in secret will reward you openly. When will he reward you openly? At the beam of seed judgment of Christ.

That's when all of those rewards are given to believers. I'd like you to turn one book back with me. Go to 1 Corinthians Chapter 3 for a moment. I trust you brought your Bible.

You'll certainly need one to look at that. As to what we're reading this morning. Same guy, Paul, writing to same church, the Corinthians. Verse 9 of Chapter 3 says, for we are God's fellow workers. You are God's field. You are God's building. According to the grace of God, which was given to me as a wise master builder, I have laid the foundation and another builds on it. But let each one take heed how he builds on it. Speaking about building your life and what things you do.

And the analogy will be different materials that you use that will last or not. For no other foundation can anyone lay which is laid. That's Jesus Christ. So the foundation we build on isn't Peter. It's not any institution or organization. It's Christ himself. Now, if anyone builds on this foundation with gold, silver, precious stones, those are long lasting and valuable.

Wood, hay, straw. You can see those are very temporal and not very valuable. 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 endures, he will receive a reward.

It's the Bema Seat, the reward seat. If anyone's work is burned, he will suffer loss. But he himself will be saved.

Yet so as through fire. So this is the reward seat. Everything will be evaluated, tested and a verdict will be rendered based upon works that we do in life for Christ. Now, the judgment seat of Christ takes a load off of us now. What it means is you and I don't have to look at other believers works and what they do in the church and get all myth because nobody's volunteering like I am. You don't have to do that. You don't have to ever get angry at another brother or sister for performing or not performing because it says in Romans 14, verse 10, Why do you judge your brother?

Why do you show contempt for your brother? For we shall all stand before the judgment seat of Christ. Here's the bottom line then. There is a record kept in heaven of everything done on earth by saved and unsaved, and we will be rewarded accordingly. God will be the judge, Christ himself, who is impartial and perfect. There's a great text out of the last chapter of the Old Testament, Malachi chapter three.

It goes something like this. Those who feared the Lord and who meditated on his name, the Lord heard and a book of remembrance was written before the Lord for those who feared his name. God keeps a record of all those things said and done for him. Another question about this bema seat, this bemitas, judgment is when is this going to take place in the future? At what point?

Well, there's a lot of disagreement on that. Some say the moment you die, it's a one by one judgment. So the moment you die, you're in Christ's presence. That's when it takes place for you. Next person who dies, it takes place for them.

That's one thought. Some think it will happen in the intermediate heaven from between the moment of your death and the coming of Christ at the rapture of the church. Others believe it will take place at the rapture when we receive our resurrection body because they say we're being judged for what we did in this body. Others say it will take place during the tribulation period between the rapture and the second coming while the tribulation is going on on the earth, we'll be being rewarded in heaven.

There's another thought I'd like to propose. It could take place at the end of the tribulation period after the second coming but before the thousand year millennial reign of Christ on the earth. I'd like you to turn to a passage of scripture, Daniel chapter 12. Let's turn to Daniel 12 and look at just a couple of verses together quickly. Daniel chapter 12 is about the end of days, the end of the end. And then that last chapter of the book of Daniel chapter 12 verse 9, he said, Go your way, Daniel, for the words are closed up and sealed until the time of the end.

Many shall be purified, made white and refined, but the wicked shall do wickedly, and none of the wicked shall understand, but the wise shall understand. Now watch this, from the time that the daily sacrifice is taken away and the abomination of desolation is set up, there shall be 1290 days. Blessed or oh, how happy is he who waits and comes to the 1335 days.

What on earth is he talking about? Well, we know something from other portions of scripture and we've studied this before. We know that in that last period of history, the tribulation period, seven years, Daniel 70th week, there will be three and a half years from the midpoint, the abomination of desolation to the coming of Jesus Christ. And it will be, according to Revelation 11 and 12, exactly 1260 days. That's three and a half years in 360 day per year increments, the ancient reckoning. So here in verse 11, we have an additional 30 days. What's going to happen during that 30 days?

Here's a possibility. Matthew 25 could happen during that period, the judgment of the nations and how the nations of the world treated the nation of Israel, the brethren of Christ. But then look in verse 12, 45 more days, because now you have 1335 days and blessed is the one who makes it to the end. What happens during that time?

Probably the mop up after Armageddon, quite a slaughter. The setup for the millennial kingdom and the whole governmental structure will be set up and you and I are going to rule and reign with him during that time, the Bible says. So it could be that the bema seat, the bemitas judgment, the reward judgment takes place at that time in that transitional period between the second coming, the mop up of Armageddon. And just before we get into the millennial reign of Christ, seems to make sense because Jesus gave a parable in Luke 19 of the nobleman. And he said, you are faithful over a little, therefore I will give you authority over 10 cities. It's an administrative capability of serving during that time.

That's a possibility. Let's go back and finish up this text. Look at the last verse in our three verses that we chose this morning. Verse 11, 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. This last verse gives what is to be our earth word occupation. What happens in the in-between period from now until the day we enter heaven?

What should we be doing? Paul says, well, knowing the terror of the Lord, we persuade men. Now, there's a phrase in that verse that most people do not like.

Can you guess what it is? Terror of the Lord. People don't like to think of that. In fact, they will interpret this very differently.

They'll say, that's a bad translation. It should be rendered the fear of the Lord. That reverential awe that motivates us and gives us the impetus, et cetera.

And that is a possibility. Paul could simply be saying, knowing how awesome it's going to be to stand before Christ and be rewarded, that that prompts me to persuade Christians to live solely for Christ, to give it their utmost, to run the race. However, the word fear here, phobos in Greek, can range from reverential awe, fear of the Lord, all the way to panic and terror. And it could mean that he's not just thinking of how awesome it's going to be for us to stand before Christ, thus a reverential awe, but the terror for unbelievers who don't know Christ. It motivates us knowing that everybody's going to stand to give an account.

It's going to be really bad for them who don't know Christ. I'm going to read a text to you. This comes from Peter.

You can jot it down. It's out of 1 Peter 4, verse 17 and 18. Listen to what Peter writes. For the time has come for judgment to begin at the house of God. And if it begins with us, first, what will be the end of those who do not obey the gospel of God? For now, if the righteous one is scarcely saved, where will the ungodly and the sinner appear?

It could be the same thought that Paul is saying, I know how awesome it's going to be to be in glory and to be rewarded for what we do for Christ on earth. But for unbelievers, it's going to be sheer terror because of their future judgment. Therefore, with everything in me, I want to persuade as many men and women to come to saving faith in Christ as possible.

Either way, both are true, right? We always want to persuade Christians to wholeheartedly follow Christ, to make Christ their aim. We want to persuade as many unbelievers to get saved as possible. Christian, when you die, you're going to heaven.

We know that. But my question this morning is, what are you doing until you get to heaven? A preacher asked a group of Sunday school students, how many of you want to go to heaven?

They all raised their hand, except for one little boy, folded his arms, shook his head. Preacher noticed it, said, young man, you don't want to go to heaven? Shook his head, nope, I don't want to go to heaven.

The preacher, it was unbelievable. He said, no, wait a minute, you don't want to go to heaven when you die? And the kid said, oh, when I die, it sounded like you wanted to get a group to go tonight. Chances are you're not going to heaven tonight. God willing, you'll be with us for a long time and you have many years to live.

Until you go to heaven, what are you doing? Thomas Guthrie used to say, heaven will be for enjoyment, now is the time for employment. Jesus said the same thing. Work, he said, while it is yet day, for the night is coming when no man can work.

So as C.T. Studd used to say, there's only one life, it will soon be past. Only what's done for Christ will last.

And we'll stand before him, every one of us will appear and we'll give an account for everything we did. And Paul's hope is that none of us will ever have to say, oh, why did I waste my time and energy on that worthless pursuit that has nothing at all to do with eternal value? Well, the only thing that's certain in this day and age we live in is that things are uncertain. However, you don't have to have any uncertainty about eternity. You can know beyond the shadow of a doubt what will happen after you pass through the threshold of death. And if that's something you don't know yet, as Skip said, now's the time to change that.

All it takes is a humble heart and a willing mind to yield to Christ. Confess your sin, receive forgiveness and walk with God the remainder of your days. If you'd like to know how to do that, if you'd like to start that journey right now, please don't hesitate to call us. That number is 1-800-922-1888.

Or you can learn more when you click on the Know God link at connectwithskip.com. And I'd also like to remind you if you want a copy of today's message from Skip, gold, silver or bronze, all you need to do is call us at that same number, 1-800-922-1888. Each copy is just $6, including shipping.

You can also get this entire series from the edge of eternity for only $39 plus shipping. Call today, 1-800-922-1888. Or write the connection, that's P.O.

Box 95707 Albuquerque, New Mexico, 87199. And of course, the hub for all that is connectwithskip.com. What would it take for us to experience heaven on earth? We'll explore that some more next time here in Connect with Skip Weekend Edition, a presentation of Connection Communications. Make a connection, make a connection at the foot of the crossing. Cast your burdens on His word, make a connection, a connection, a connection. Connecting you to God's never-changing truth in ever-changing times.