Judgment Day

Judgment Before the Bema Seat of Christ

I invite you to take out your Bibles and turn with me to the book of 2 Corinthians as we continue our study, our verse-by-verse study of this important epistle from the Apostle Paul. And as you're turning to chapter 5, find your place at verse 10.

I want to invite you to stand for the reading of God's holy, inspired, and inerrant word. The Apostle Paul writes, under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit,. For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each one may receive what is due for what he has done in the body, whether good or evil.

Father in heaven, even now, Lord, I pray that you would keep me from error as I preach, that you would open the eyes and the ears and the heart of those who hear. For the believer, Lord, that this message would be challenging and yet comforting.

But for the unbeliever, that this message would either terrify them, Lord, or melt their heart. Either way, Lord, use this to draw men and women and children to your son. We pray this in Jesus' name. Amen.

In 1994, O .J. Simpson was arrested for murder. The case gained national attention and became one of the most publicized and extensively covered trials in American history. I remember it well. I was 14 years old.

And I remember every day seeing on the news what happened this day in the court trial. It allowed for the public to watch the arguments being made, to see the evidences being brought forth, and finally to hear the verdict read.

The case itself became a pop culture phenomenon. And once it was over, there was a great deal of controversy. And the question which was on many people's minds was this. Did O .J. escape justice? Well, today, as we examine this text of scripture, we're going to be reminded that no one ever truly escapes justice because every person, according to this text, will stand before the judgment seat of Christ.

It's been a few weeks since we've been in 2 Corinthians. And again, I want to thank our elders for preaching over the last two weeks, giving me an opportunity to minister with my family and also to minister out of town at a conference.

I'm very grateful for that. But the last time that I preached in this text, if you remember, I had intended to preach verse 10, but I stopped at verse 9 simply because I felt like I had said all that I needed to say and I felt like there was no way I would get to say all the things I wanted to about verse 10 if I would have tried to push it into the last part of the last message.

So I said it would be the better part of wisdom to simply make this its own message. And as I went back and revised my notes and reconsidered things that I wanted to say that I wasn't going to get to say before, I think that I've made the right decision because there is so much that needs to be said about this text.

As always, it's important to be reminded of the context of this passage, especially since we've been out of 2 Corinthians now for two weeks. I want to mention our academy class and our academy class. We've been teaching hermeneutics, which is the art and science of studying the Bible.

And one of the things we've talked about in that class is context. And there are two ways in which context needs to be used in understanding a passage. The first is called the literary context, and the second is called the historical context.

Literary context is the words as they are used within other sentences and paragraphs around those words, the literature of the text. We call that the grammatical context. But then there is also the historical context.

That is how this book fits into history. The historical context of 2 Corinthians is that this letter was written just a little less than two years after 1 Corinthians. And it was written because there were those in Corinth who were questioning the authority of the apostle Paul and his teachings.

There were those who were coming behind Paul and saying the things that he had taught were actually wrong, that Paul's gospel was not the true gospel and that they had a better message from God. And so Paul is writing in defense of his ministry.

That's the historical context of 2 Corinthians. But the literary context of this passage that we are in today is that Paul is addressing his singular ambition as a servant of Christ. Paul has a singular ambition.

And do you remember what it is? He gives it to us in verse 9. He says, whether we are at home or away, we make it our aim to do what? To please him. That is to please the Lord. Paul is saying that is my ambition.

That is my desire. And when he talks about being at home or away, he's not talking about traveling. He's not talking about whether or not he's in Antioch or Corinth or Ephesus or whatever. He's talking about being alive or being dead.

Because if you'll remember the immediate context before this, he talked about being at home in the body and away from the Lord or being away from the body and at home with the Lord. And so here he, using that context, he says, whether I'm at home, meaning whether I'm here in the body or whether I'm with the Lord, either way, my ambition is the same.

My ambition is to please the Lord. And then he adds a statement on to that, which is our verse for today, that tells us why he has this ambition. He says the reason why he has the ambition to please the Lord is because one day his works are going to come under divine judgment.

One day he is going to face the Lord and he is going to face a divine evaluation. He says, that's why I seek to make it my ambition to please the Lord, because I know one day I am going to face him. One day I am going to stand before him and I am going to give an account for every idle word.

The doctrine of divine judgment is probably one of the most controversial, if not the most controversial, among Christians today. Because quite frankly, I believe it is that many people think that there is no judgment coming.

Many people have created in their minds a God who will never judge. A God who accepts everything and everyone just the way that it is. In fact, if you are unfamiliar with church, national and international church life and things that are going on, things that I tend to look at in the news and follow, you may not know that just this past week, the United Methodist Church had their general conference.

And in that general conference, they have essentially abandoned anything that would appear to be orthodox Christianity. They have accepted full and outright sinful lifestyle as acceptable and not only acceptable, but laudable.

And ones to be not only included as equal, but even to be celebrated. And if you think I am exaggerating, just wait for church soup when it comes out. I am going to talk all about it. Because this is real.

The things that have happened, the things that have been said, the things that have been pronounced from the floor are outright insanity. And the only way I can comprehend that anyone could come to such a conclusion is that they have come to the point that they believe they serve a God who will not judge sin.

That's the only way that I could ever come to that conclusion is that they believe God just, either they don't believe it is sin, which I think that's part of it, or that God's not going to judge sin, and either one of those is not true.

The doctrine of divine judgment needs to be understood and preached in the church. The Bible is clear that God Himself is the judge of all the earth. Genesis chapter 18, verse 25. When Abraham is speaking to the Lord about Sodom, he says to the Lord, Will not the judge of all the earth do right?

And the answer is implied, absolutely. The God of all the earth will do right. But then what did God do? He rained down fire and brimstone upon Sodom. Because that was right. The God of this earth is the judge of all men.

And if you serve a God who is unable or unwilling to judge, you do not serve the God of the Bible. If you serve a God who is too nice to ever judge, you do not serve the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.

The Psalms are replete with reminders of God's judgment. Psalm chapter 9, verse 7 says,. But the Lord sits in throne forever. He has established His throne for justice, and He judges the world with righteousness.

He judges the people with uprightness. Notice the words that are in that Psalm. Justice, righteousness, uprightness. That is the standard by which God will judge. And He is the standard. He is the righteous one.

He is the just one. He is the upright one. And we will be judged by that standard. Psalm 58, verse 11. Mankind will say, surely there is a reward for the righteous. Surely there is a God who judges the earth.

Psalm 96, verse 13. The Lord comes to judge the earth. He will judge the world in righteousness and the people in faithfulness. Psalm 98, verse 9. Before the Lord, for He comes to judge the earth, He will judge the world with righteousness and the peoples with equity.

God has promised in the Old Covenant that He is a God who judges. And He judges rightly. And He judges faithfully. But the clearest words of God's judgment. The clearest words about His judgment are found in the New Testament Scriptures.

Our text is one such passage. And we are going to look at several as we examine this text. We are going to compare it to some other verses. But ultimately, this passage by itself is completely unambiguous.

It says what it says. And it says it clearly. And what it says is a day of judgment is coming. In fact, I have an outline for you today. And it's really just two parts. The first part is this. Judgment is universal and inescapable.

Judgment Is Universal and Inescapable

Judgment is universal and inescapable. Notice what the text says. For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ. In Roman cities, the governor would sit on a seat. And he would hear cases brought before him.

And he would render a verdict regarding those cases. And that seat had a particular name. It was called the Bema. Many of you have probably heard the phrase, the Bema seat. Christ's Bema seat. The Bema was often located in the Agora, which was the public square.

So that everyone could see and hear the announcements of the governor. Paul's readers would have been familiar with this because it was common in Greco-Roman culture. In fact, it was so common that Paul himself had already, by this time, had already stood before an Bema seat.

When he stood before Galio in Acts chapter 18 and verse 12. And we are reminded of the Lord Jesus Christ. Who stood before Pilate in Matthew chapter 27, 19. Who himself rendered a verdict against our Savior.

So this idea that Paul is bringing to mind is a picture that everyone reading this in Corinth would have been very familiar with and understood what Paul was saying. We must all appear before the Bema of Christ.

And the word appear there is also very important. Because the word appear comes from the word, it's a Greek word, thonoroi. And the word literally means to be made manifest. And it's not just saying that you are going to be there.

But what it is saying is that you and your life are going to be put on display. That you are going to be made manifest before the judgment seat of Christ. You will not escape this moment. You will not be absent on the day of judgment.

This is something that all men, according to the text, all people. For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ. Now, some people believe that Paul is referring here to only the judgment of believers.

This is a very popular teaching in what is known in the dispensational view. Because in dispensationalism there are multiple judgments that are pointed to in scripture. And they say this is not this and this is not this.

And this judgment is only for believers. And this judgment is for unbelievers. And they separate the Bema seat of Jesus, what they say is only for believers. From the great white throne, which they say is for unbelievers.

I do not agree. One, because I am not a dispensationalist. And two, because when you compare this text with other texts in scripture that talk about judgment. It certainly shows that at the judgment seat both believers and unbelievers are going to be brought for judgment.

In fact, just to show you, if you have your Bibles open. Turn to Matthew chapter 25 and go to verse 31. In Matthew chapter 25 and verse 31 it says this. When the Son of Man, who is Jesus, comes in His glory, that is His return.

And all the angels with Him, that is the picture of Revelation 19, His return. He will sit on His glorious throne, that's the seat, the Bema seat that's being mentioned. And before Him will be gathered all the nations.

And He will separate people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. And He will place His sheep on His right and the goats on His left. Beloved, that's everybody. That's also what Paul is referring to here.

It's the seat he is referring to. I can't imagine you coming to the conclusion that this is a different event. This is Jesus on a throne giving judgment. Paul is talking about Jesus in a seat giving judgment.

It's the same thing. And what happens first at judgment is a distinguishing between those who are His and those who are not. A separation between those who are called the sheep and those who are called the goats.

And let me tell you this, beloved. That is the most important distinguishing mark in all of human history. There is nothing in this world that matters more than that. People make a big deal about all the things that divide us.

Economics divide us. Color divides us. Social culture divides us. And all of those things matter not. But what does matter is whether you are a sheep or you are a goat. Because on that day the sheep will be taken on His right side.

And as we will see later, His sheep will experience the blessing of going into His kingdom. And the goats will experience being cast into outer darkness. This is the most important divide in all of human history.

Beloved, this is the beginning of the judgment. Not the end, but the beginning. First thing, He separates the sheep from the goats. And as we will see, because we are going to come back to this. This is a way Jesus is giving a parable.

But He actually tells the story of what is going to happen at judgment. Later He is going to say, these people on this side demonstrated their faith by what they did. These people on this side demonstrated that they didn't have faith by what they did.

So works come into play. But first and foremost the question is, are you a sheep or are you a goat? In Revelation 20 it is the same thing. We don't have to turn there. But in Revelation 20, the great white throne.

What happens at the great white throne? The book is brought and it is opened up. And what separates the saved from the lost? The ones who were saved had their name written in the book of life. Right? That is the distinction.

And those whose name were written in the book of life are taken into glory. And those whose names are not are cast into the lake of fire. That is the distinction. So the distinction of judgment here is very clear.

It begins with the question of Christ. Beloved, I cannot stress to you more today the importance of asking this question. What have you done with Jesus Christ? Because that will be the determiner in that moment.

Are you His sheep or are you a goat? What does the Bible say? In John 10, 27. My sheep hear my voice. I know them and they do what? They follow me. Brother Andy preached it two weeks ago. What do the sheep do?

They hear and they follow. I give them eternal life. They will never perish. No one will snatch them out of my hand. Why? Because they are mine. They have heard my voice. They have followed me. They are the sheep and they are distinguished from the goats.

Have you heard the voice of the Savior? Have you heard through His word, His call to repent of your sins and trust in Him? Are you a sheep this morning? That is a question which you ought not leave this place without knowing the answer.

So it begins with recognizing that we will all be made manifest or all appear before the Bema, the judgment seat of Christ. That's number one. Now number two. Judgment will evaluate works done in the body and render to each the due reward.

Judgment Will Evaluate Works Done in the Body

Judgment will evaluate works done in the body and render to each the due reward. Notice what the text says. So that. That's that clause that I mentioned a few weeks ago. That purpose clause in Greek. It's hena.

It's called a hena clause. And the clause gives the purpose which connects the first statement from the second statement. So the first statement is that all must appear before the judgment seat of Christ.

In order that each one may receive what is due for what he has done in the body, whether good or evil. Right away, right away this tends to rub against our typical way of thinking. Especially if we be a reformed Calvinist and we be.

Or at least I be. But it rubs against our theological grain because we have this question. And maybe you don't but I know it comes to my mind. If judgment is based on whether or not I trust Christ, why does this say that it's going to be based on an evaluation of my works?

That's a huge and important question and one I hope that I will be able to clarify for you today. Because I want you to understand three realities. In fact I'm going to put them up on the board. There are three realities that must be understood.

Number one. Salvation is for those who trust in Christ. Condemnation is for sinners outside of Christ. But evaluation comes for everyone. Salvation is for those who are in Christ. And let me tell you how salvation works in case you don't know.

And by the way, Martin Luther said I preach the gospel every week because every week my people forget. I feel the need to say it every time because it's so important. And if you think it's repetitious, understand repetition is the key to learning.

And that's why we need to repeat it. But the way that you are ultimately saved is Christ came and He actively kept the law of God in your place. And He died a substitutionary death whereby your sin was paid for through Him on the cross.

His passive obedience as He took the punishment of God on the cross in your place. Thereby paying the price for your sin and providing the righteousness that you needed to be righteous before God. The righteousness of God is revealed from faith to faith as it is written the just shall live by faith.

Amen? That's it. Salvation is based upon the work of Christ. Alone. We believe the soul is, right? By grace alone, through faith alone, in Christ alone. Condemnation. Condemnation rests upon those who are not in Christ.

But I want you to understand something. And this is going to maybe create confusion and I hope it doesn't. I hope you will understand what I am about to say. Condemnation rests upon those outside of Christ but not because they are outside of Christ.

Condemnation rests upon those who are outside of Christ because they are sinners and they deserve God's punishment. That's why it rests upon them. You say, well what's the difference? Christ saves those who believe in Him but those who do not receive the just penalty of what they deserve.

Is unbelief in Christ a sin? Yes. And they deserve punishment for that too. But they also receive the just punishment for all of their sins. Here's the deal. Either Christ has paid for all of your sins or He has paid for none of your sins.

And if Christ has paid for all of your sins, there is, as Romans 8 tells us, no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. If you don't know, I'm pointing at our banner. By the way, law and grace.

Law. The law of the Lord is perfect converting the soul. How does the law convert the soul? It shows you that you're in desperate need of a Savior. It shows you that you're a sinner. The law points your sin out and Christ takes your sin and in Christ there's no condemnation.

But guess what? Guess what the adverse of that verse is? The adverse of that. If there's no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus, what about those who are not? There is condemnation for those who are not.

And therefore we have condemnation for all who are outside of Christ. But evaluation for all. Evaluation for all. The first, are you in Christ? Separating the sheep from the goats. Is your name written in the Lamb's book of life?

And by the way, it's been written there since before the foundation of the world. Because God ain't up there with a pencil and an eraser. He knew you before you knew Him. Loved you before you loved Him.

And chose you when you did not want Him. And drew you when you were outside of Him. But if we look at Revelation 20. In fact, turn there very quickly. I do want to show you something though. Because when we talk about the evaluation.

Even though we are saved based upon whether or not we are in Christ. We are still evaluated by what we do in Christ. Notice what the text says in Revelation chapter 20. Beginning at verse 11. Then I saw a great white throne and Him who was seated on it.

Who's the Him? Jesus. This is the same seat. This is the same judgment. This is the same thing that was in Matthew 25. It's the same thing in 2 Corinthians 5. This is the same. There's one judgment. I saw a great white throne and Him who was seated on it.

And from His presence, earth and sky fled away. No place was found for them. They couldn't get away. Remember, judgment is inescapable. No one could run. No one can get away. No one can hide. And I saw the dead, great and small, standing before the throne.

And books were opened. Then another book was opened. Which is the book of life. And the dead were judged by what was written in the books. According to what they had done. What's in the books? What they did.

And the sea gave up the dead who were in it. Death and Hades gave up the dead who were in them. And they were judged, each one of them according to what they had done. Then death and Hades were thrown into the lake of fire.

This is the second death, the lake of fire. And if anyone's name was not found, written in the book of life, he was thrown into the lake of fire. That is the condemnation that we just talked about. But notice the phrase that comes up twice.

What they had done. What they had done. Now, I'm sorry to keep making you turn. But turn back to Matthew 25. Because again, I think these passages all go together. Go back to Matthew 25. I want to show you something.

Go to verse 31 again. Or actually, now go to verse 34. We've just seen the separation of the sheep and the goats. Right? Notice what it says in verse 34. Then the king will say to those on his right, Come, you who are blessed by my father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world.

For I was hungry, you gave me no food. I was thirsty, you gave me no drink. I was a stranger and you welcomed me. I was naked and you clothed me. I was sick and you visited me. And I was in prison and you came to me.

Then the righteous will answer him saying, Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you? When thirsty and give you drink? And when did we see a stranger and welcome you? Or naked and clothe you? And when did we see you sick and in prison and visit you?

And the king will say, Truly I say to you, as you did it to one of the least of my brothers, you did it to me. Then he will say to those on his left, Apart from me you cursed into the eternal fire, prepared for the devil and his angels.

For I was hungry and you gave me no food. I was thirsty and you gave me no drink. I was a stranger and you did not welcome me. Naked and you did not clothe me. Sick and in prison you did not visit me.

I was a stranger and you did not welcome me. Naked and you did not clothe me. Sick and in prison you did not visit me. Then they will answer and say, Lord, when did we see you hungry and thirsty, and a stranger, naked or sick, or in prison and did not minister to you?

And he said, Truly I say to you, as you did not do it to the least of these, you did not do it to me. And these will go away into eternal punishment for the righteous into eternal life. So what are we seeing?

We are seeing here that the separation of the sheep and the goats is based primarily on whether or not they are sheep or goats. Sheep, my sheep hear my voice, follow me, we know who the sheep are, we know who the goats are, but their life is marked by faithfulness.

The life of the sheep is marked by work for the shepherd. Following the shepherd. Their life is changed when they have an encounter with the shepherd. I will say this to you. If your life has not been changed by your encounter with Jesus Christ, I genuinely have a suspicion as to whether or not you have had an encounter with Jesus Christ.

Because everything in the Bible says that when Christ comes into your life, it is a changed life. In fact, I'm going to preach next week. We're going to go into 2 Corinthians 5 further and we're going to get to that passage which says if any man be in Christ, what is he?

He is a new creation. And a new creation has new desires, a new will, and a new heart. Now I'm going to say it right now because I know many of you are thinking it. Now go ahead and say it. But I'm not perfect.

Amen. Thank you. We know. Because we ain't either. I'm not either. Neither is Paul. He talks even in the latter books about still pressing on. Still pressing on. Because he's still in the flesh. He's still fighting.

But his life has changed. We don't have to read it. But right above this, right above this in Matthew 25 is the parable of the talents. And do you remember the parable of the talents? The master comes and he has 3 servants and the first one he says, I'm going to give you 5 talents.

By the way, it's not talents like being able to sing or something. It's not that kind of talent. It's literally money. A talent was a form of currency. I'm going to give you 5. I'm going to give you 2.

I'm going to give you 1. And the first one went and he did what? He doubled his master's money by engaging in commerce. Second one had 2. He went and he doubled his master's money by engaging in commerce.

The third one went and he hid his talent in the dirt. And when the master returned for the evaluation, the man who had hid it in the dirt in this, I do believe, represents the unbeliever because he's cast into outer darkness and because of the way he sees the master.

What does he say? You're a harsh man. You reap where you don't sow. You take what really don't belong to you. Had no love for the master. So in my mind, that certainly represents a goat. But notice the 2 sheep.

Both of them had a different amount. Both of them actually did the same because they both had 100 increase. But in the end, they had less than the other to show. One had twice as much. But he started with twice as much.

But I love the phrase of the master because the words of the master to the one who had 10 and to the one who had 4 was the same. Well done, my good and faithful servant. Enter into the joy of your master.

Beloved, that should be the driving desire of the heart of every believer to hear the words, Well done!

That should drive our hearts in everything that we do.

And everything that we want to do to hear our master say, Well done! And this world is always trying to vie for our affections, to vie for our time, to vie for our talents, and trying to point them in every direction it can except Christ.

And in that evaluation, Paul says in 1 Corinthians 3, we will see what has eternal value. Because he says it's all going through the crucible. Some is gold and silver and precious stones. And some is wood, hay and stubble.

By the way, that's believers because he said they're all saved. We're talking about saved folks. But I ask you today, is your life marked by a pursuit of gold, silver and precious stones? What does that mean?

Things that have eternal value. Or is your life marked by the pursuit of wood, hay and stubble? That which will burn up in the crucible of God's judgment.

What motivates you?

I want to read a quote. This is from Paul Barnett who wrote a wonderful commentary on the book of 2 Corinthians. And he said these words. It is sobering to note that what each one of us has done will one day be made manifest at the judgment seat of Christ.

How faithfully have we used our time? How well have we pursued opportunities? How single minded have we been in our Christian service? The teaching about the judgment seat before which all must come, believers included, reminds us that we have been saved not for a life of aimlessness or indifference, but for a life of service to our Lord.

The balanced view of which the prospect of the Lord's judgment seat reminds us is that while we are justified by faith alone, the faith that justifies is expressed through love and obedience. We are saved not by good works, but beloved we are saved for good works.

Ephesians chapter 2 verses 8 through 10. One day each of us will stand before the judgment seat of the Lord and all that we are will be made visible before him. Beloved, have you thought about that day?

Have you thought about the fact that we waste so much time in pursuits that have no eternal value and yet we often shirk those things which have eternal value. Beloved, I've thought so much about this this past week and I don't want to leave you in despair for if you are in Christ and you have trusted him and he has changed your life then your salvation is based in him alone.

But can we not say that our desires have changed? And can we not say that it is so easy that those desires for Christ get clouded by the world? And is Sunday not the day to take stock in our lives every week as we come to the table, as we are told examine ourselves.

Is not Sunday the day? Every day is the day. I agree, brethren. I do not disagree. Today is the day of salvation. But is this day not a day that we can all be honest and say, Lord, remind me of what C .T. Studd said.

Only one life will soon be passed and only what's done for Christ will last. Beloved, what are we doing to serve Christ? Let's pray. Father, I thank you. I thank you for the opportunity to preach your word.

I thank you for the opportunity to be reminded that faith that is genuine will produce within us a desire for love and obedience. And I pray, Lord, that we would always remember that the foundation of our salvation is Christ himself.

But, Lord, our faith will be demonstrated. Lord, in our lives, sought to serve him. I pray, O God, that as we consider the divine evaluation that is coming, that we would be honest. First, about our relationship with Christ.

Lord, have we truly trusted? Have we turned from unbelief to belief? And have we seen Christ change our heart? And out of that, Lord, has it flowed a desire to serve him? Lord, in our imperfections, we now come to the table to be reminded of what Christ did to save us from our sins.

And that ultimately, our sins have been judged in him and we have been now able to face you without the condemnation of those sins. So, Lord, help us to be reminded of the gospel as we gather around this table.

In Jesus' name, Amen.