R244 The Judgement Seat of Christ

We all could use some encouragement, and we'll find it together today in the Bible itself, God's Encouraging Word, with Dr. Don Wilson. Today's message is the judgment seat of Christ. We'll head to 1 Corinthians chapter 3 in just a moment, but know that we're available to connect with you right now on our website www.tewonline.org. A number of great new fresh resources to find out today.

And now, Dr. Don Wilson. In John chapter 5, Jesus healed the man at the pool of Bethesda. Unfortunately, the religious leaders reacted rather poorly to this because it was a violation of all their religious ideology and their religious ritualism. And so in John chapter 5, Jesus responds to them, and He begins to defend Himself, not that He has to, but because He chose to do so. We came across the statement in verses 16 and 17 and following that Jesus reminded these people that all judgment is entrusted to Him by the Father.

There is so much material in God's Word, and it is so enriching, and it is so purposeful and so meaningful. I want you to turn with me in your Bibles to 1 Corinthians chapter 3. The Bible says that the judgment of God applies to two groups of people. Number one, to those who have said no to Jesus Christ. The Bible says that if you die, or if Jesus were to come back before you die, and you have rejected the grace of God, that you are going to stand before the great white throne judgment, and you will be cast away from the presence of God, the great white throne judgment being the final consummate moment in time at which a confirmation of your alienation from God will take place in eternity. It is eternal judgment.

The second kind of judgment is what the Bible refers to as the judgment seat of Christ. This applies to those who love the Lord Jesus Christ and who by faith have repented of their sin and have trusted in Jesus. The Bible says that if you are a born again believer, you do not have license to be a law unto yourself. The Bible says that it is not good enough just to say, well, I have trusted the Lord Jesus Christ as my Savior. I know that my name is written in God's book in heaven. I know that my sins are forgiven. I know that I'm going to heaven. And therefore, I can just do whatever I want to do, not according to God's word, not according to God's word. And so this message today, the judgment seat of Christ, we are going to pick up where we left off last week.

And I want to remind you very briefly about the line of direction that we've been taking. The Bible teaches, my friend, that there are going to be five things that will take place with regard to the judgment seat of Christ. There are going to be five events woven into the fabric of our existence upon this earth. And then when we die, that are going to take place in the lives of born again believers, none of which, and I want to run that by again, none of which have anything to do with the fact of your salvation, nothing of which takes place at the judgment seat of Christ is even remotely a suggestion that a born again believer can lose his or her salvation. Once you're born again, once you're saved, you're always saved. The issue is not whether or not you can lose your salvation. The issue is whether you've been saved to begin with.

That issue has been settled in God's word. There are going to be five things that will take place. Number one, at the judgment seat of Christ, there will be a great revelation. The Bible says, we, those of us who are in Christ will be seen as we really are. Number two, there will be a great accountability. And over the last two weeks, we looked at this, we will be held accountable for whether or not we sought to live for God's glory or our own glory according to 2 Corinthians 5. Number two, we will be held accountable for how we have used our time according to Ephesians 5, 16 and 17. Number three, we will be held accountable in terms of how we have used our money, our possessions and our property according to Matthew 6 verses 19 through 21. Number four, we will be held accountable whether or not we have witnessed to lost people according to the word of God in 2 Corinthians 5 and verse 11. Number five, we will be held accountable as to whether or not we have been faithful in prayer according to Luke chapter 8 and verse 1. Number six, we are going to be held accountable according to all the words which we have spoken according to Matthew chapter 12 and verse 36. Number seven, we will be held accountable for our attitude toward one another. Jesus said, by this shall all men know that you are my disciples in Galatians chapter 6 and verse 1 speaks most eloquently at this junction. Then number eight, we will be held accountable for all the things we do, our works. According to the Bible in 1 Corinthians 3 and verse 13, some of you are going to say to me, well, Dr. Wilton, that confuses me. I believe, I thought that the Bible says that you're saved by grace through faith and not of works.

You're quite correct. You cannot be saved by what you do, but the Bible says that your works become the proof of your salvation. Once you have been saved, you and I are going to be held accountable for the manifestation of the outpouring of the grace of God through our lives. Our works are the evidence of our salvation. There will be a great revelation, there will be a great accountability, but the Bible says in the third place, at the great, at the judgment seat of Christ, that there will be a great testing. Now, I want to read this passage of scripture to you in 1 Corinthians chapter 3 and beginning at verse 12.

Listen carefully. If any man builds on this foundation using gold, silver, and costly stones, or using wood, hay, or straw, these two are juxtaposed against one another. The Bible says that, by the way, this passage here is to Christian people, ladies and gentlemen. Paul is talking to men and women who love the Lord Jesus Christ, and here Paul is saying, if you build this foundation, now, what is the foundation, do you suppose, that Paul is talking about? He's talking about the rock of our salvation.

He is talking about that unbelievable, unmistakable, eternal, solid rock upon which we stand in and through the Lord Jesus Christ. And so it is at this juncture, if you read verse 11, no man can lay any foundation other than the one already laid, which is Christ Jesus. If your life has been laid upon the foundation of Christ, if you are a born again believer, verse 12, if any man builds on this foundation using gold, silver, costly stones, wood, hay, or straw, I've got to stop again. You see, the Bible says it is possible to be a born again believer with a life that is built upon the foundation of Christ, and yet to build upon that foundation using things that could just burn up overnight. Bible says what God expects of us is to build upon this foundation using gold and silver and costly stones, that which is undeniably precious and sacred and holy and honorable in the presence of the King of Kings and the Lord of Lords.

Well, what will happen to them? Verse 13, his work, there it is, his work will be shown for what it is because the day will bring it to light. By the way, in my Bible it's capitalized, if you can see from over there. The day is capitalized.

That word day is not referring to Monday through Sunday. That word the day is referring to the judgment seat of Christ, the day of ultimate reckoning when all born again believers are going to stand in the presence of Almighty God, not being judged for their salvation, but being judged according to the quality and the exercise of their salvation. And so the Bible says because the day will bring it to light, it will be revealed with fire and the fire will test the quality of each man's work. If what he has built survives, he will receive his what, his reward. If it is burned up, he will suffer loss. Now my friends, there are many people who use this passage to say that a person can lose their salvation. They don't read this passage properly. The Word of God says he will suffer loss. He himself will be saved, but only as one escaping through the flames. Some people have said to me, they've said, Pastor, I don't understand this. I don't understand exactly what the purpose is for the judgment seat of Christ. Let me explain it perhaps like this.

You may find it helpful. I love school awards days. As a former high school teacher myself, together with my wife, it was very much a part of what we did. When I think of school awards days, I think of people like Travis Johnson. I think of people in our congregation, young people in our congregation, that we would stand before them and salute them.

Do you know why? Because they have attained and achieved the highest honors possible. But what is the purpose of a school awards day? Is it to denigrate those who have not scored the highest, or is it to honor those who have? Now I want you to know, I hope you got the same answer as me, folks, because I didn't get anywhere near where Travis Johnson got at Dorman High School. I was one of those who sat out there and watched everybody else walking up there.

A man of my caliber. But I want you to know something, folks, there was never a time in my life that I ever did not understand the fact that that award ceremony was not to put me down, it was to honor those who had achieved. One of the greatest movements and organizations we have in America are the Boy Scouts of America. We've got an incredible Boy Scouts organization right here in our church. And do you know that the highest award that can be given to a Boy Scout is called the Eagle Scout Award? And did you know that when the Eagle Scout Award is made or given, the occasion is called the Court of Honor. Did you know that we've got four Neely brothers who are Eagle Scouts? Did you know that we've got many men in our church who when they were coming up became Eagle Scouts? Well, what happens to the rest of the Scouts? Are the rest of the Scouts not worth anything? Are they anything less than those who have achieved the highest honor?

No, the Court of Honor is designed to honor those who have achieved the highest honor and to give them that which is due to them because of the work they've done. But not in any way to say anything less about those who have not achieved what has been set before them. And so the question comes, the judgment seat of Christ, there will be a great revelation, there will be a great accountability, and there is a continuing great testing. This valuable will survive and the worthless will be burned up. But I want you to notice my friend in the fourth place that there will be a great reward on that day.

And I want us to camp here for the next few minutes. There's so much to say. You see, friend, the judgment seat of Christ is the time at which God is not going to punish unfaithfulness as much as He is going to reward faithfulness. If you don't understand and I don't understand that the judgment seat of Christ is to reward those who have loved the Lord thy God with all of thy heart and all of thy soul and all of thy mind, you will never understand it. Now I'm going to tell you something quite frankly. When I get to heaven one day, if my sweet little mother does not get a million times more reward from God, I don't know.

I don't know. If I could just in one little way measure up to the life that my mother has led, I believe that I would stand in line to receive these crowns that God talks about. What does the Bible say about rewards? Let's look at them very quickly. There are three basic commendations according to Scriptures. You're going to have to be quick with your Bibles. Number one, at the judgment seat of Christ, according to God's Word, many will hear the word of divine approval. Many will hear the word of divine approval. I want you to turn with me very quickly to Matthew chapter 25.

I'm going to read to you these verses, verses 21, 22 and 23 of Matthew 25. His master replied, Well done, good and faithful servant. You have been faithful with a few things. I will put you in charge of many things. Come and share in your master's happiness. And so the man with two talents also came. Master, he said, You entrusted me with two talents.

See, I have gained two more. His master replied, Well done, good and faithful servant. You have been faithful with a few things. I will put you in charge of many things.

Come and share in your master's happiness. You know, every time I think of the word of divine approval, I think of football. This past week for the first time in my entire career, I put on a crash helmet to go out there and try and catch a ball. It's given me a brand new appreciation for quarterbacks all over America. My sons love football. But I want to tell you something, my friends, on a football team. No matter what anybody has to say about it, the coach can commend you for a great game. Your players can commend you for a great game.

But you can ask any young man, he will tell you the greatest commendation and the one he wants to hear most of all is the commendation that comes from his mother and father. Is there anything like walking out of a ball game and dad is standing there to say, Son, I was proud of you today. He knows that I dropped the ball three times.

He knows I did this and didn't do that and I could have scored when I didn't. But it's dad. And dad just says, Son, proud of you.

Just proud of you. You know the Bible says at the judgment seat of Christ that many are going to hear a word of divine approval. Do you know why? Because when God reached down from heaven, he gives to each and every individual believer gifts. God has no giftless children. If we were to go around this congregation, I could guarantee you, my friend, I can show you people who have the gift of hospitality and the gift of giving and the gift of consolation and the gift of comfort and the gift of giving other people joy and the gift of lifting others up and the gift of doing things and the gift of this and the gift of that. And the Word of God says the issue is not whether or not you have been given anything of God.

The issue is what are you doing with what God has given you? Forgive the interruption. We'll be back with the rest of today's message with Dr. Don Wilton in just a moment. But speaking of Dr. Wilton, if you haven't seen the book called The Origin of Everything from Dr. Greg Wilton, Dr. Don Wilton's son, it's a remarkable and insightful opportunity to gain in some ways perspective on the very beginning of our world, the Genesis, and how that affects us in the Genesis of our new life.

All the details are on our website, www.tewonline.org, that's www.tewonline.org. Now back to today's great teaching with Dr. Don. That's what the Bible is saying. Many will hear the word of divine approval, but I want you to notice in the second place many will receive promotion. In Luke chapter 19 verses 17 through 19 and also in Revelation chapter 20, I'm not going to read these passages for the sake of time, but I'm going to say to you, my friend, that the Word of God is abundantly clear that on that great day at the judgment seat of Christ that those who have been faithful with that which God has given to them will receive promotion in the eyes of God. God has entrusted you with so many.

Now He is going to entrust you with so many. From time to time, as I speak to young people, we get onto the subject of finances. I think it's important. I believe it's important for our young people to understand biblical and spiritual giving.

I don't apologize for that. I believe it's important for our young people to understand that this church has an incredible ministry that reaches into the four quarters of this beautiful state of South Carolina that people's lives are being changed. This church is an active church. This church is a church that is on a mission. This church is a church that is endeavoring to keep the main thing, the main thing, but I'm going to say to you, my friend, as a member of this church, you and I do not have an optional extra as far as our giving is concerned. Dr. Neely said it best of all, what an investment of our tithe.

What an investment of our time. What an investment of our talent and God's word teaches, my friend, that at the judgment seat of Christ, that those who have been faithful in that which has been given to them will receive a word of divine promotion and you will be placed in the seat of honor. And I have no doubt in my mind, my friend, that God by His grace in the echelons of heaven is going to reward those publicly and unashamedly within the fabric of the joy of our heavenly body in the presence of God for all to see. But I want you to notice in the third place, not only will many hear a word of divine approval, not only will many hear and receive a word of divine promotion, but I want you to note in the third place that according to the Scriptures, many will receive crowns. Many will receive crowns. There are five crowns in Scripture. I want to give them to you. Ready for this?

I told you we could spend the rest of the year on this and maybe I'll come back and do a series on it in the next thirty years or so. All right, there are five crowns that God shares with us in His word. Number one is the incorruptible crown. Turn with me to 1 Corinthians chapter 9, 1 Corinthians chapter 9. Isn't it wonderful to hear all those rustling pages of God's word? I hope there's nobody here today who doesn't have a copy of God's word in front of them.

There's a pew Bible there for you, for your benefit. First of all, the incorruptible crown, 1 Corinthians chapter 9 and verse 24. Listen to what the apostle says, remember now that he's talking to Christians and let me say to you so that you don't have to guess. The incorruptible crown is designed for those who have led a disciplined spiritual life. If you were to say to me today, pastor, to whom will the incorruptible crown be given?

To those who have led a disciplined spiritual life. First Corinthians 9, 24, do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one gets the prize? Therefore run in such a way as to get the prize.

Everyone who competes in the games goes into strict training. They do it to get a crown that will not last, but we, those of us who are born again believers using this metaphorical expression, which Paul does so often throughout his letters about the games that these people were so familiar with, those of us who are running the spiritual race, we know better because we do it to get a crown that will last forever. Therefore says Paul, I do not run like a man running aimlessly. I do not fight like a man beating the air. No, I beat my body and I make it my slave so that after I have preached to others, I myself will not be disqualified for the prize, the incorruptible crown.

Oh my friends, what a challenge. One of the greatest challenges in my Christian life is to lead a disciplined spiritual life. A life, my friend, that is measured up to the standards that God has set before me. The second crown, the Bible calls the crown of life. Turn with me in your Bibles to James chapter 1, James chapter 1 and verse 12, the crown of life. Our choir sang so beautifully about this.

This is it, choir. This is it right here, James chapter 1 and verse 12, the crown of life. What is the crown of life for? The Bible says the crown of life is going to be given to those who endure trials. Verse 12, blessed. By the way, that word blessed means you are complete in Christ.

You are ultimately connected. Blessed is the man who perseveres under trial because when he has stood the test, that is when he arrives at the judgment seat of Christ, having gone through the tests that have been placed at his feet throughout his life, he will receive the crown of life that God has promised to those who love him. I wish I could get into the rest of that passage because the apostle begins to talk about the discrepancy between temptation and sin and testing and faith and the apostle is saying here that if you and I are to receive the crown of life, we need to measure up, we need to measure up to the standard that God has set before us and enduring trials must surely be one of the greatest. In the third place, there is the crown of rejoicing. First Thessalonians chapter 2 verses 19 through 20.

First Thessalonians chapter 2 and verses 19 through 20. The Bible tells us very clearly that we, for what is our hope, our joy or the crown in which we will glory in the presence of the Lord Jesus Christ when he comes, indeed you are our glory and our joy. There is the crown of rejoicing for those who have witnessed to others but there's a fourth crown. It is the crown of glory that there is a crown which is reserved for those who are willing to shepherd the flock, who are willing to subject their own lives as true servants in the service of the Lord Jesus Christ.

And the reward is available for everyone. Perhaps you haven't been serving the Lord like you know you should but today could be the beginning of a fresh new start. You've heard Dr. Don as he's been preaching now as he steps into the studio.

Hear from his heart next. Are you ready to give your heart and life to the Lord Jesus Christ? Why don't you pray this prayer with me right now? Dear God, I know that I'm a sinner and I know that Jesus died for me on the cross. Today I repent of my sin and by faith I receive you into my heart. In Jesus' name. My friend, I welcome you today into the family of God.

This is exciting news. Maybe you were praying with Dr. Wilton moments ago to give your life to Christ or you have questions and want to talk about giving your life to Christ with one of us. We're here right now at 866-899-WORD. That's 866-899-9673. If you're beginning your life with Jesus, we want to give you some free resources Dr. Don has prepared just for you.

Call us at 866-899-9673. We'd love to connect with you today. Did you know The Encouraging Word has a YouTube channel? On this channel, you can watch over 100 of Dr. Wilton's sermons. You can also listen to the weekly Words of Encouragement, a devotional series written by Dr. Wilton. Visit us on our YouTube channel today. Our time's gone for today, but tomorrow's message from Dr. Wilton called Special Ways in Which God Works is such a powerful one. Join us and bring a friend tomorrow. Between now and then, let's stay connected on our website, TEWOnline.org. The Encouraging Word.