The Judgment Seat Of Christ;

“For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each of us may receive what is due us for the things done while in the body, whether good or bad. “-2 Cor 5:10

Let there be no doubt, for the follower of Christ at death we immediately make it to Heaven to be with Him. And  know there is purpose  for your life here below before you head there. You can falsely think that what you do is of no significance, you don’t have a “big spotlight ” on your life, you can feel you are not doing some “great thing for God.” And sometimes it begins with well meaning people telling you “God has a great plan for your life,” and at times that “God is going to use you in a great way,” and the way that is interpreted is you are going to be a “star,” going to do something wonderful, extravagant, that will set the world alight because of… you! You become the star, the centerpiece to the story, you are “the man!” And so off you begin your Christian life waiting for that Big moment, the unveiling of God’s huge plan, that propels you into “stardom,” great significance, excitement as it were, only to wake up one day to crying babies and changing another dirty diaper, and washing more clothes and cleaning more dishes and it seems relentless and daily and because you were sold a line, “God has got great things in store for you,” you feel let down and as tough you are missing some great adventure, event in your life and are left disappointed with life as it were.

And whether it was a false representation, not  to purposely deceive you, but just someone’s way to try and boost your confidence and passing on something perhaps they had heard at one stage in their lives and thought its the done thing to say, “God is going to use you in a great way,”as a way to try and get you excited,  and that greatly appealed to you that you would be used by God and give, what up on till that point had been a fairly unexciting life perhaps, now would change with great miracles happening and like some  exciting biography of some missionary story you had heard or read, you too would be part of that ensemble! You would be the next greatest… and instead life has been “…mundane,” as it appears to you!

Perhaps the years have passed and you look back on your life and it seems so uneventful, mundane even, that there was no big revelation of God using you and doing something great with your life, as you perceive “greatness!” You conclude it hadn’t happened and you were running out of time as most of your years on this earth are behind you and despair, disappointment has, like a fog slowly crept in  and has settled  in over the years in your thinking, as the “Big thing God was going to do with you” never, it seems happened!

  • Indeed you  have suffered in some way, deeply, painfully,
  • You have been ostracized by some, not of your own doing
  • You it seems have been taken for granted as you preferred others  for years and years, silently serving, un-noticed, unappreciated, unrewarded.

But here my dear friend, has been part of the Great thing God was, has and is doing with and through  you.

For some He has gifted you with suffering! Paul was “gifted” with the “gift to suffer for Christ; “But the Lord said to him, “Go, for he is a chosen instrument of Mine, to bear My name before the Gentiles and kings and the sons of Israel;  for I will show him how much he must suffer for My name’s sake. -{Acts 9:15-16}. The church at Philippi was gifted to suffer- “For to you it has been granted for Christ’s sake, not only to believe in Him, but also to suffer for His sake,”-{Phil 1:29}. “Indeed, all who desire to live godly in Christ Jesus will be persecuted.“-{2 Timothy 3:12}. “Beloved, do not be surprised at the fiery ordeal among you, which comes upon you for your testing, as though some strange thing were happening to you;”-{1 Peter 4:12}.

Some of you too have suffered and as God has comforted you, we read in 2 Corinthians 1:4 to those who have suffered and being comforted by the LORD one way they can use it for good to help others, with these two words,”SO THAT,” through you, as He has comforted you He has entrusted you with the ministry to comfort others  with the comfort which He Himself has comforted you with. You have known crushing, comfort and you have been given the ministry of comfort and you have comforted others. You have been a shoulder to cry upon, a vessel to encourage and comfort with a tear to identify, a word of Scripture to strengthen and remind of Him whom also suffered, the Man of Sorrows, you have been someone others have confided in when they have walked in the shadow of death, the trail way of tears, and though un-noticed by the masses not unnoticed, or un appreciated by the suffering souls whom God has used you to comfort one of His own. He Has  been using you in a great way- to achieve His purposes. No, you never would have chosen this path, but He has chosen it for you to greatly comfort someone else in pain. Your suffering has not been in vain!

You have been ostracized by some, perhaps even by members of your own house for your allegiance to the LORD Jesus, like the young college student whom when she told her family she had come to the LORD they threatened to withdraw fundingher education unless she stopped attending a Bible study. She wasged dishes now at hiome, and was changing and they did not like this new person, but she would not compromisecontinued to love and follow Him. Perhaps in work you are left out of the inner circle, the jokes and maybe you have become the but of thise jokes, but you ahve not entered in because you ahve a higher allegianceto the crowm yours to the Maker of Heaven and erath, and you have suffered emotionally  as a result, bit your stand for Him has been great in His eyes like Moses you have counted Him who is unseen of greater value than the wealth of this world including the friendhip and applause of those who do wrong and like thse in Peters day who suffered adn were miockked as a result, It says, ” In all this, they are surprised that you do not run with them into the same excesses of dissipation, and they malign you; but they will give account to Him who is ready to judge the living and the dead.”- {1 Peter 4:4-5}. Jospeh suffered at the hands of an evil sensual woman when he refused to sleep with her and ended up in prison on a false charge… he suffered for His stand for righteousness, and sometimes you suffer as the result of someone elses lies and before the world it seems you were guilty as the results show, he ended in prison, but judge no prerson before the time, for God knows the truth, We do not read of his bitternes, resentment towards her  or the unfaitness of being betrayed and solf into slavery by his brothers earlier. but we do see in the end the kinness , empathy , forgiveness as he tells his brother who are in gret need standing before him- what you meant for evil, God meant for good… God’s great plan for his life including suffering unjustly at the hands of others aand eleavting him to not only provide physiclly but to TESTIFY of thr grae of GOD IN HIS LIFE THAT HE SOUGHT NOT VENGENCE BUt their highest good, his goal and aim. And you too having suffered t the hands of others ahve  Testified in your haart before Him with your forgiveness of those who have ostracized, hurt you. 

For years you have served, like the young college student who would stay behind and wash dishes after  BIBLE STUDY EVEN WHEN IT WAS NOT HER WEEK TO DO SO, NO ONE NOTICED IT SEEMED BUT ONE. sHE WAS THE GREAT ONE, FOR jESUS SAID THE  GREATET AMONG YOU WILL BE THE SERVANT.”yOU AHVE quietly served consistently and though un nociced by many  have not been un noticed by Him who says” the greatest among you will be the servant,”

 Yous ee th disciples wante to be gret, one mothers amabition was to ahve her sons sit next to Jesus on the thrones as it were… we tend to see greaness from position, authority, fame and acclaim by others, recognition, while Jesus flips our undersanding upside and down and says the great one is not the exalted but the one who humbles themselves’

 the grea tone is not he one who has countless people serve them but the one who like the MASTER STOOPS TO WASH THE FEET OF OTHERS,, THE UNLOVELY, PROUD ONES. STOOPING WRapping the towel arounf you and taken the basin of water an cleaning their feet and meeting them in their need… you ahve done this and from Heaen youa re GREAT! For you are reflecting your LORD

You see we upon saying or hearing'”God ahs a great plan for your life” tend to view it through natureal eyes of erthly fame, acclaim, is coming our way. like someoen is promising us we are going to win the next lotto and be a multimilionareire rolling in cash and all our mateiral needs will be met nad much more… and we have mis judged greatness from a self seeking view with God’s view and definitin of greatness.

Great things for the LORD come according to what He says is “Great”

“The greatest among you will be your servant.”-{Matthew 23:11}

“Instead, whoever wants to become great among you must be your servant,”-{Matthew 20:26}

“And if anyone gives even a cup of cold water to one of these little ones who is My disciple, truly I tell you, that person will certainly not lose their reward.”-{Matthew 10:42}

LOVING HIM – IT’S ALL ABOUT RELATIONSHIPS;

God equates loving Him, whom you cannot see by helping His people whom you can see!

“God is not unjust; He will not forget your work and the love you have shown Him as you have helped His people and continue to help them.-{Hebrews 6:10}.

Then the King will say to those on His right, ‘Come, you who are blessed of My Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world.  For I was hungry, and you gave Me something to eat; I was thirsty, and you gave Me something to drink; I was a stranger, and you invited Me in;  naked, and you clothed Me; I was sick, and you visited Me; I was in prison, and you came to Me.’  Then the righteous will answer Him, ‘Lord, when did we see You hungry, and feed You, or thirsty, and give You something to drink?  And when did we see You a stranger, and invite You in, or naked, and clothe You?  When did we see You sick, or in prison, and come to You?’  The King will answer and say to them, ‘Truly I say to you, to the extent that you did it to one of these brothers of Mine, even the least of them, you did it to Me.’”-{Matthew 25:34-40}

LOVING HIM BY – MEETING THE NEEDS OF OTHERS;

We know love by this, that He laid down His life for us; and we ought to lay down our lives for the brethren. But whoever has the world’s goods, and sees his brother in need and closes his  heart against him, how does the love of God abide in him?  Little children, let us not love with word or with tongue, but in deed and truth.”-{1 John 3:16-18}

LOVING HIM BY – COMFORTING THE AFFLICTED,

“Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and God of all comfort who comforts us in all our affliction so that we will be able to comfort those who are in any affliction with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God.”-{2 Corinthians 1:3-4}

LOVING HIM IN YOUR TRIALS BY – PERSEVERING ;

“Blessed is a man who perseveres under trial; for once he has been approved, he will receive the crown of life which the Lord has promised to those who love Him.”-{James 1:12}

Love Him well Today… be helping others!-

LOVING OTHERS IS A CHOICE- TO DENY YOURSELF IN ORDER TO PREFER OTHERS

Do nothing from selfishness or empty conceit, but with humility of mind regard one another as more important than yourselves;  do not merely look out for your own personal interests, but also for the interests of others.”-{Philippians 2:3-4}

THE MOTIVATION FOR LOVING OTHERS?- “ FOR JESUS SAKE!”

 For we do not preach ourselves but Christ Jesus as Lord, and ourselves as your bond-servants for Jesus’ sake.”-{2 Cor 4:5}

 You have been great and are great and continue to pursue greatness as said in 2 Cor 4:5??/ ourselves your servants… and the motivation… for Jesus sake!

more illustrations Paul in prison… others convered because eh was there Phil :13… eph 3:1…. Galatians through illness he stopped there… God in contrl as with Josepjs circumstances…

The Judgement seat of Christ is all about your faithfulness to opportunities that you did what you did  for Jesus sake! It is not always about the “Great plan God has for your life, that God is going to do something wonderful with you.”And He has and is and will….. He affords you opportunities in the daily “mundane” of life, and in those  the motto to keep before you is,

“So whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God.”-{1 Corinthian 10:31}

“Whatever you do, do your work heartily, as for the Lord rather than for men,”-{Colossians 3:23}

Do it for the LORD’S Fame, and His Name to be exalted! And when you appear before the LORD Jesus at the Throne of EVALUATION for your works- of faithfulness, with the motive for His Honor, out of love for Him -{Read John 14:21}… you will hear “well done good and faithful servant!”… and no matter who noticed you or didn’t, He noticed and He will reward you!

But what if you or me, have not been faithful? Confess it as sin, he is faithful to forgive and cleanse from all unrighteousness, turn away from sin and living for self and turn to Him and ask Him to remind you why you are living and to live in light of eternity and He will be faithful and will give you opportunities be it changing a diaper, taking out the trash, helping a neighbor, bee kind to a child, sharing the Gospel, working hard at your job, doing your taxes accurately, suffering, caring for a sick person, whatever you do, do your work as unto the LORD and for HIS Glory and He will be faithful to honor you, so you in turn may honor HIM! Be encouraged, God will help you,…”

“For God is working in you, giving you the desire and the power to do what pleases Him.”-{Philippians 2:13 nlt.) And it pleases Him, you live for His glory both in thought and deed!

 

title?_”When God’s got a plan for your life goes peer shaped!”

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or you misinterpreted what it meant. Well God doed have a plan for you and it is the cross. To daily deny yourself take up your cross and follow Him. !

didnt happen and perhaps dsepiar setles in and you wonder what went wrong! But perhaps it is because you misunderstood “God is going to use you in a great way!”

Let me encourage you;

Yoru life has matetred,a nd does.

YOU AHVE SERVED OTEHRS BY DENYING YOURSELF MOTIVATED TO DO IT FOR jESUS SAKE- {Read 2 Cor 4:5??}

You have been Great in His etes as you have served others by denying yourself anfd preffeing them-

You have been a good citizen. Peter writes to those who have suffered and commends them for their citizenship as testimonies to Christ in a hostile enviroment.

You ahve done good as you ahve had opportunity and helped otehrs-{read  Gal6: 10}

So dont belive the lie taht God ahs a great plan for your life and Going to use you in a might way,” as somethingthat eevryone sees and satnds and applaudes you for…. No, probably mnot, you go about your dy, honoring Him, in the enviroment you live in….a testimony of Grace… Titus 2:11-13 showing the effects of Grace….

And the motivation “whatever you do do all for the Glory of God.”

Can you change dirty diapers and it be a good work? Sure it can and is when the motive is right, you are prefering someone els. Wah dishes, do laundry and it count? Sure! Do your work heartily unto the LORD not to be seen my men…{Col 2???}

It is about faithfulness! faithful in the little things for Jesus sake,,,, and He will reward you!

We find this in 2 Corinthians 5:10 where we read,

“For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each of us may receive what is due us for the things done while in the body, whether good or bad.”- {2 Cor 5:10}

The  Judgement  Seat. The word “Judgment,” is the word “Bema” Seat, the word means “step,” a raised platform or seat,where awards was handed out or where  a Roman magistrate sat to judge…

The “Bema Seat” of Christ is about EVALUATION not DESTINATION. Our DESTINATION has been taken care of , It is  not  for CONDEMNATION. Jesus bore that. – {Read Rom 8:1-2}.

The “Bema Seat,” is a place of EVALUATION for our works where good or “bad”-{worthless, the idea no true gain can come forth }

wE Must all appear- This is not optional, it is inevitable, all followers of the LORD Jesus  go to be “with Him” and we will be EVALUATED by Him, not for condemnation as He bore that on the cross for us, but for EVALUATION. Where HE will judge rightoeusly, accurately, truthfully, lovingly our works while we lived on earth in our body!

Note we appear before the Judgment Seat, “SO THAT” here is the reason, explanation, “…each of us” note there are non excluded bbut all included,”…may receive what is due us.” We are before The Throne to Receive from Him..”For  the things done while in body, whther good or bad,”

We are there to “Receive,” some translations say “Recompense.”  …The word {Komizo} ” conveys the thought of getting something for oneself and carrying it off as wages or a prize. The verb implies, not mere obtaining, but receiving and carrying away for use and enjoyment which is interesting in the context of heaven and eternity! Each believer will receive his due and his just recompense will not only be related to the quantity of service, but the quality including even our motives.”-{preceptaustin

The word “Good” -{Agathos,} means

 

The word  “Bad,” {Phaulos} “means worthless, corrupt, good–for–nothing, depraved, mediocre, unimportant, of no account, vile, evil, wicked, foul, depraved. Worthlessness is the central notion (see Trench below). The word indicates the impossibility of any true gain ever coming forth. Phaulos pertains to being low-grade or morally substandard and thus base. It means being relatively inferior in quality.”

Trench explains that

there are words in most languages, and phaulos is one of them, which contemplate evil under another aspect, not so much that either of active or passive malignity, but that rather of its good-for-nothingness, the impossibility of any true gain ever coming forth from it… This notion of worthlessness is the central notion of phaulos… which in Greek runs successively through the following meanings,—light, unstable, blown about by every wind… , small, slight, mediocre, of no account, worthless, bad; but still bad predominantly in the sense of worthless” Trench goes on to mention some secular uses that illustrate the intent of phaulos: “phaule auletris (Plato, Conv. 215 c), a bad flute-player; phaulos zographos (Plutarch, De Adul. et Am. 6), a bad painter.” (Bolding added) (Trench, R. C. Synonyms of the New Testament. Hendrickson Publishers. 2000)

The idea is not that God will reward us for the good things we did and punish us for the bad things we did, for Romans 8:1 clearly teaches us that Christ has paid for our sins and they can never be held against us. Rather He will reward us for the worthwhile things we did (see discussion of good works above) and not reward us for the worthless things we did. To reiterate, the believer’s sins will not be brought into review for judgment at this solemn time. That judgment took place some 2000 years ago, when the Lord Jesus bore our sins in His body on the tree, paying the price in full (Jn 19:30 “It is finished” means “Paid in full”). In summary, in 2Cor 5:10 phaulos describes deeds that have no possibility of procuring eternal gain and thus are designated as worthless.

John Calvin helps us understand “bad” works writing…

The service of the Lord does not only include implicit obedience, but also a willingness to put aside our sinful desires, and to surrender completely to the leadership of the Holy Spirit.

Wiersbe writes that…

1Cor 3:101112131415 gives another picture of the Judgment Seat of Christ. Paul compared our ministries with the building of a temple. If we build with cheap materials, the fire will burn them up. If we use precious, lasting materials, our works will last. If our works pass the test, we receive a reward. If they are burned up, we lose the reward, but we are still saved “yet so as by fire.” How does the Christian prepare for the Judgment Seat of Christ? By making Jesus Lord of his life and faithfully obeying Him. Instead of judging other Christians, we had better judge our own lives and make sure we are ready to meet Christ at the bema (see note below) (see Lk 12:41-48He 13:17; and 1Jn 2:28The fact that our sins will never be brought up against us should not encourage us to disobey God. Sin in our lives keeps us from serving Christ as we should, and this means loss of reward. Lot is a good example of this truth (Ge 18-19). Lot was not walking with the Lord as was his uncle, Abraham, and as a result, he lost his testimony even with his own family. When the judgment finally came, Lot was spared the fire and brimstone, but everything he lived for was burned up. He was saved “yet so as by fire.” (Bolding added) (Wiersbe, W: Bible Exposition Commentary. 1989. Victor)

Wayne Barber explains why Paul brings up the Bema Seat in Romans 14. Why does he seem to interject this topic in a chapter that has to do with discussion of relationships? Wayne’s explanation, although a bit lengthy, will help you understand one aspect of the Bema Seat judgment, an aspect that we can put into practice immediately in our Christian walks… before that awesome day when we must stand before Jesus our Righteous Judge and give an accounting!

Ro 14:10 says, “But you, why do you judge your brother? Or you again, why do you regard your brother with contempt? For we shall all stand before the judgment seat of God.”

The present tense is used (you are continually judging). This is spiritual pride. Some of the saints have understood the message of grace and they are hammering the people who don’t understand, making them look stupid, scorning them, shunning them. Paul is saying, “You had better stop doing that.” As a matter of fact, the emphasis here is like, “Who are you to judge anybody? There is a Judge and you are going to stand before Him one day, but you are not Him. What do you mean judging?”

The word for “judge” is krino and we have seen it in Ro 14:345 and it means to come to a decision that you execute upon someone based on what you see and what you know and probably in front of their peers. Now, to apply that to Ro 14:10, you have judged that your brother in Christ is wrong and is hung up in legalism. But rather than choosing love him by gently instructing, exhorting and praying for him, you make him look bad in front of his peers. Isn’t it kind of fun to do that sometimes? Have you ever had a bad day and done that? Some of you have had those days in which you just won’t repent and just sort of feel the luxury of ripping your brother and tearing him down and saying things because you have picked up a weakness in that brother and you just enjoy talking about it. By your talking about his weakness, you are making yourself look better. All of us have done that, haven’t we? The Apostle Paul is saying, “Folks, you don’t seem to understand.” We are going to be held accountable for the things that we say and the way we treat the weaker brother or in any other relationship of our life. We will stand before a Holy God one day.

“Who are you,” he says, “to judge your brother?”

He goes on and asks the second question. He says, “Who are you to regard your brother with contempt?” The word “contempt” means to treat him as if he is nothing, to despise him. Again it’s the same attitude. The principle or the reason he says this is found in the last part of the verse. He says, “For we shall all stand before the judgment seat of God.” That is a sobering statement. If we stopped right there, every one of us would just have to start repenting. We are all going to stand. There is going to be a reckoning. There is going to be an accountability that God is going to hold us to one day in the future. And there are many Christians who treat this thing lightly. Their families are split apart. They go through life with bitter relationships. They don’t really care what they say about people. They always are somehow building themselves up without understanding they are going to answer before a Holy God one day for what they have said and how they have treated their brother. We shall all stand before the judgment seat of God.

That is in the future tense. There is an event coming. There is an appointment you and I have to keep. We are going to stand before God one day and we are going to give an account of how we live. He says, “We shall all stand before the judgment seat of God.” “Stand before” is the word paristemi. It means to be made to stand before the presence of an authority who has the power to judge.