The King Judges Us – Part 2 of 2

Let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith. Many believers go about life unaware that their every deed, good or bad, will be reviewed by Jesus.

Every argument, every unkind word, every impure motive. Today, more on the judgment of believers. From the Moody Church in Chicago, this is Running to Win, with Dr. Erwin Lutzer, whose clear teaching helps us make it across the finish line. Pastor Lutzer, some believers think their judgment is not a big deal, since they're saved anyway.

What would you say to them? Dave, I would have lots to say to them, but I do want to emphasize that once sin is totally forgiven, if it's dealt with properly, I don't think that it's going to show up on the judgment seat of Jesus Christ. But one thing I like to emphasize is this, just because we are justified legally, that does not mean that God is not going to judge the way in which we lived. So that's the reason why it is that I preach with so much conviction about the judgment seat of Jesus Christ. We're making a resource available to you. It's entitled The King is Coming. Of course, it has a chapter on the judgment seat. For a gift of any amount, it can be yours.

Go to RTWOfferer.com or call us at 1-888-218-9337. Please remember, there are events in the future in which you and I will participate. This is the final place where adjudication takes place. If you think I'm exaggerating, what about 1 Corinthians chapter 4? Paul says, don't judge anything ahead of time, because he says, the Lord will come who will judge even the motives of men's hearts.

Can you get any more thorough than that? And it's there at the judgment seat that finally these matters are going to be resolved. That's why it's so important, you know, for us as believers to take care of all of these issues while we are on earth so that there are fewer issues to take care of when we get to heaven. You know, when the Bible says that we should not have to avenge ourselves, vengeance is mine. I will recompense, says the Lord. We think that relates only to the unsaved.

Oh no, no, no. The reason that you don't have to avenge yourself even with another Christian is why? Because we shall all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, and it is there that Jesus is going to set the record straight. Now, if you're thinking theologically, this is the question that's on the tip of your mind.

I can read it. You're saying, are you saying that we are going to see our sins, sins that have been cast into the depths of the sea? To quote John Murray again, he said that if we do, we'll certainly see them as having been forgiven because it is true that our sins no longer are held against us. This is not a point of punishment. There's nothing like that.

It is to determine rewards. But here's what I think possibly could happen. What if Jesus took all of your works and translated them either into gold, silver, and precious stones or wood, hay, stubble, and you see all of this pile, and then he were to torch it, would give you a pretty good evaluation of your life without you having to see any of your sins? However it is done, it is a thorough judgment. You say, well, is Jesus going to be angry?

No. All the anger of God was taken out when Jesus Christ died on the cross. But I can't help but think that he might be disappointed. He might be disappointed in the way in which you live with all that he gave you because there you are. And if you are saved so as by fire and the house collapses behind you, wouldn't that disappoint him?

Paul says we should live in such a way that we please him, which means that we can also live in such a way that displeases him, even though he loves us just as much because his love is independent of our performance. You know, there's a man who had a dream that went like this. He said that in the dream all of his life was there in one big heap, various materials that he could not identify, because you know how dreams are.

They can be very flighty and very confusing. But he says that then Jesus took a match and lit it. And he said everything went up in smoke, and when it was done there was just a pile of ashes. And then he said he began to go through the ashes, and the deeper he got, he noticed little nuggets of little bit of gold, little bit of silver, little bit of precious stones.

And so he took a little brush and he took all the ashes away, and then he just brushed his little pieces of gold, silver, and precious stones into a little tin. Maybe that's the way it's going to be. We're talking about serious business here, folks. We shall all appear before the judgment seat of Christ. Now you say, well, Pastor Lutzer, what is Jesus going to be looking for? Excellent question. Glad you asked it.

I wasn't going to answer that question, but I received an email from someone who watches us on the internet. So Bill, thanks for your email, because I'm going to respond to that question. Sometimes when I preach on this topic, I preach a separate message on the question of what Jesus will be looking for. But since this is the only message on the judgment seat, I'd better give you four or five things that Jesus will be looking for, because you should know what's going to survive the fire.

I mean, is there any question in all the world that would be more important than knowing what is going to be the gold and the silver rather than the wood, hay, and straw? So let me give you four or five things Jesus is looking for. First of all, the joyful acceptance of injustice and false accusations. The joyous acceptance of injustice and false accusations.

Did you know that in the last year or two, seven books at least have been written saying that Christians are the real jihad and we are the ones that America should really fear, filled with false accusations? Listen to the words of Jesus. Blessed are you when men revile you and persecute you and say all manner of evil against you falsely for my name. For great is your reward in heaven.

It'll survive the fire if you respond to it with joy. Something else, and that is, of course, financial generosity. The sixth chapter of Matthew.

We won't even mention it because you know it there. Jesus says lay up for yourselves treasures not on earth where moth and rust doth corrupt and where thieves break through and steal but lay up treasures in heaven and he's talking there about our gifts. To think that you are a stingy Christian should make you wonder whether you're a Christian at all because Christians are generous people. And so I need to ask you, are you generous in your giving?

Do you enjoy giving because God has given so much to you and you give in such a way that you will meet it again in heaven? Let me give you another real, real important way to have gold, silver, and precious stones. Hospitality. Fourteenth chapter of the book of Luke. Jesus makes this remarkable story. He says when you hold a feast don't invite your friends because they might have you back. He says go out and find the lame and the blind and the infirmed and have them over because they're too poor to repay you. And then Jesus says this if you do that and these are his words. We shy away from rewards being thought of as payment but Jesus didn't. He says if you do that you will be repaid at the resurrection of the righteous.

Look for somebody who can't pay you back and invest in their lives and you'll have something that will survive the fire. A few more. Faithfulness in your vocation. Let's suppose that you go to work tomorrow and you don't like your job at all. You don't like the boss.

Paul says in the book of Colossians he says that whatever you do, do it heartily for the Lord and not for men. You don't like your boss? Don't work for him. Work for Jesus instead and work for your boss as if he were Jesus.

This is what the text says. For from the Lord you will receive the reward of the inheritance. A joyful attitude, heartily working, merits reward. And then another one, loving the unlovable. Jesus said this in Luke 6 35.

He says love your enemies, do good and lend, expecting nothing in return and your reward will be great. God brings somebody into your life who is unlovable, completely unlovable. Maybe they're sitting beside you today.

Why that? God says I bring them into your life because I want you to have lots of rewards. So start loving them and your reward will be great. Do you realize how faithful Jesus is? The Bible says that even a cup of water given in my name and you will not lose your reward. That's why the Bible says in 1 Corinthians chapter 4 when it's talking about Jesus revealing the motive of men's hearts, it says that then shall every man have praise from God. Everybody is going to have some thing that God is going to praise them for.

Every Christian will have something amid the ashes. Now I do need to clarify something at this point because some of you who are listening may not be believers in Jesus. You've never trusted him as your savior and you're misinterpreting everything I'm saying. You're saying to yourself so this is the way to get in good with God. You are kind, you take in the poor, you give money, you learn to love those who are unlovable. Maybe that's the way to heaven.

It isn't. All of our works are tainted with sin and that's why the Bible says that we are saved not by works. As long as you are looking into your life to find some reason why God should accept you, you are looking in vain and all of us want acceptance.

I just heard this past week that in Japan for example in a shame culture where there's an emphasis on shame that many people when they are fired from their job don't tell their families because they want to save face and within time they may not even go home. They may become street people because they want acceptance and this is such a blow to their acceptance that they can't handle it. We all want acceptance and most assuredly we want acceptance from God but it only comes through Jesus Christ and receiving him as savior because he was accepted and so we get to be accepted on the basis of his merit. You say well Pastor Lutzer why is it that before a person is saved his works are of no value to God and yet after he is saved they become so important to God. A couple of things, first of all because after we are saved it is an expression. It is an expression of our devotion to Jesus as his children.

That's the first thing. Secondly, even now as believers all of our works are still tainted with sin and Jesus takes them, cleans them up, and makes them acceptable to the Father. The Bible says that we are to offer spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ.

There's no other way to be accepted even in these works. My friend to bring it down to the bottom line there is no good in us. Any good that is in us is Jesus Christ. That's what it comes down to.

And now I'm back talking to believers again. A couple of lessons that should transform our lives we should leave here today and listen to this message as many times as we need to until we internalize what I'm going to say right now. First of all it's very clear that every day is either a plus or a minus.

Every single day is either a loss or a gain so far as rewards are concerned. Whitfield was a great preacher in the United States of America and he died and wanted this on his tombstone. He didn't quite get it but I understand that the quote is close by. The manner of man George Whitfield was that day shall declare.

Takes your breath away. Whitfield was criticized for his preaching. He had disagreements.

The newspapers sometimes didn't like him and wrote articles against him. In that day nothing like that will matter because the manner of man George Whitfield was that day shall declare. The manner of man Erwin Lutzer was that day shall declare. And the manner of person you were that day shall declare. Nothing but reality.

Wow. One day Diane Sawyer was interviewing Billy Graham and she said to Billy how would you like to be remembered and Billy just looked away. He didn't really answer the question. He kind of looked away and said well I'd like to hear well done thou good and faithful servant but I don't think I will and then he turned away and if I remember correctly that was the end of the interview.

Two thoughts immediately crossed my mind. Number one Billy humility is good but aren't you overdoing it just a little bit that's what came to mind. And then the second thought was this Billy if you're not sure that you're going to do well what about the rest of us?

But what Billy said is true from this standpoint. He's not going to hear well done because he preached to large crowds. That was his calling. The real question is not going to be how large the crowds were or the number of people who accepted Christ as Savior under his ministry. The real question is going to be Billy were you faithful with what I gave you and that's why we can say with truthfulness that the people who are going to be rewarded the greatest are not necessarily the people that you have heard about. It's going to be the car dealer who actually ran an honest shop. It's going to be the missionary who was in far-flung corners of the world that nobody ever heard of but was faithful with what God gave him or her.

Those are the ones who are really going to be rewarded and every day is either a loss or a gain so far as rewards are concerned. One day a man took me to an airport whose wife had a disease and she was very, very difficult to get along with. The stories that he told me as to why he continued to love her were overwhelming. I won't go into detail but when he dropped me off I said to him, tongue in cheek, I don't expect to see you in heaven. He was a little surprised at that but I said no I really don't expect to see you.

I said I think that you're going to be so close to the front and I'm going to be so far back that we'll probably not meet and I know I meant it half humorously but I also meant it truthfully. The people who are going to be most rewarded are not those that you hear about but those who are faithful in their calling whatever it may be. But every day is either a plus or a minus. It is true you know that little ditty that we sometimes sing, only one life will soon be past, only what's done for Christ will last. Second, what is it that we are able to gain?

What can we gain? Well what we can gain is the approval of Christ and reigning with him. I'm not suggesting that all Christians will not reign with Jesus but it is very interesting that in the Bible there is frequently a connection of reigning with Christ and faithfulness. For example Paul says if we suffer with him we shall also reign with him. In the book of Revelation you have repeatedly said he who overcomes to him I will grant to sit with me on my throne. Now there's one sense in which all Christians are overcomers because they have believed in Jesus Christ as Savior but I cannot believe that somebody who is saved yet so as by fire as we illustrated, I can't believe that somebody whose life was lived selfishly for themselves is going to be rewarded obviously the same way as somebody who was faithful. You say well will everyone in heaven be happy? Everyone happy. Just like a chandelier that may have bulbs of different intensities, in the very same way everyone contributing to the glory of God, everyone serving, but not everyone in the same position of responsibility because they were unfaithful here on earth and didn't care as to what would survive the fire and what wouldn't. So we can gain ruling with Jesus.

What an honor, an unthinkable privilege. What is it that we can lose? Well I take the point of view and some people disagree with me but I take the point of view that not everybody is going to hear well done. Again I refer to that selfish Christian who is saved and who thinks to himself I can live now however I wish because my salvation is secure. I don't think, I don't think you're going to hear well done.

Maybe I won't either. We shouldn't take it for granted. You know in India there's a story that they like to tell about a wealthy raja. He was coming along in his beautiful expensive chariot and there was a beggar along the side of the road and the beggar had his bowl of rice and the beggar thought I wonder if he might stop to give me something and so he held out his bowl as the raja went by. To his surprise the raja got off of the chariot and went over and said to the beggar beggar give me some of your rice.

The beggar was angry who is this man to ask me for some of my rice but gingerly and with anger he took one grain of rice and gave it to the wealthy man. The raja said beggar give me more of your rice. By now the beggar was furious but he did take another grain of rice and handed it over to the raja. Raja said beggar give me more of your rice. By now the beggar was in a fury. He took one more grain of rice and gave it to the wealthy man who then got on his chariot and rode off.

In his anger the beggar looked into his bowl and noticed something glitter. It was a grain of rice. It was actually a grain of gold I should say the size of a grain of rice.

Well he looked more carefully and found just two more grains of gold the size of his rice. When we come to Jesus we trade our rice for his gold and it's the kind of gold that will survive the fire. So my question is what are we withholding from Jesus anyway? What are we hanging on to that we say this belongs to me not Jesus when eternity is coming and we shall all appear before the judgment seat of Christ to give an account for the deeds done in the body whether good or evil. I can't help but think that this message has touched many many hearts and those of you who feel a great sense of conviction I encourage you to get on your knees no matter where you are.

Of course if you're driving a car that would not be possible but ask God to grant you a heart of repentance to give him everything knowing that someday we shall stand in his presence and give an account for the deeds done in the body. That's why I've written the book entitled The King is Coming. It's to help believers to prepare for eternity because eternity is much longer than time and what we do today impacts what's going to happen tomorrow in our lives. For a gift of any amount we're making this book available to you here's what you do go to rtwoffer.com that's rtwoffer.com or pick up the phone right now and call us at 1-888-218-9337 because this is so critical I'm giving you that contact info again go to rtwoffer.com do that right now rtwoffer.com or pick up the phone and call us at 1-888-218-9337. You can write to us at running to win 1635 North LaSalle Boulevard Chicago Illinois 60614 in Revelation 19 a voice from the throne of God says right blessed are those who are called to the marriage supper of the lamb these called ones have an engraved invitation to attend the wedding feast of all time on our next running to win listen as the king marries his bride thanks for listening to our series on the return of Christ this is Dave McAllister running to win is sponsored by the Moody Church