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Okay, we're in second Corinthians chapter number five look down at your Bibles at verse number ten It says for we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ that everyone May receive the things done in his body according to that he hath done whether it be good or bad Knowing therefore the terror of the Lord we persuade men But we are made manifest unto God and trust also are made manifest in your Consciences and the title of the sermon this morning is the judgment seat of Christ I want to preach on the judgment seat of Christ now turn with me to Romans chapter 14 Hold your place there in 2nd Corinthians chapter number 5. We're gonna look at a couple verses real quick in Romans chapter 14 the judgment seat of Christ deals with primarily the Saved believers who are gonna receive a reward When all this is over basically and I'm gonna explain to you when this actually takes place But there is a judgment seat there is a judgment for Christians now the misconception is that that this judgment is for You know the sins that we've done, you know People think well the judgment seat of Christ Jesus is gonna judge us for every single sin that we've committed and the stuff that we've done bad on this side of this side Of eternity God's gonna judge us for it, but nothing could be further from the truth You know The judgment seat of Christ is not to judge us for the sins that we've committed in this lifetime as Christians But rather it's a judgment of what type of rewards we're gonna receive now Look at the Bible says in Romans chapter 14 verse 9 It says for to this end Christ both died and rose and revived that he might be Lord both of the dead and the living But why does thou judge thy brother or why does thou set it not thy brother for we shall all stand before the judgment? seat of Christ For it is written as I live saith the Lord every knee shall bow to me and every tongue shall confess to God So then every one of us shall give an account of himself to God so the Bible is telling us here that there will be a time where we give an account to God for the things done In our body whether they be good and whether they be bad and people want to use that to say well Yeah, it says bad, you know all the bad stuff that we've done No, it's referring to the quality of work that we've that we've done in this world So he's gonna judge our work the things that we've done the labors that we've been involved in and he's gonna judge it to see if it's a good quality work or It's bad quality work. You said what happens if it's good quality, we receive a reward What happens if it's a bad quality work, then we don't receive anything. In fact, the Bible tells us that these things shall be burned Probably the only thing that we shall suffer is shame. Okay So contrary to popular popular belief the judgment seat of Christ is not to judge us for our sins You know, there's a lot of groups out there that will say, you know Oh, you got to make sure that you're enduring to the end so you can be saved, you know They teach a works-based salvation and they'll use that scripture to teach that we need to stay in church Stay in our Bibles not sin so that we can be saved You know spiritually speaking in the end times or when we die, but that's not what the Bible's teaching us at all Okay, and in fact the Bible's teaching us the Bible teaches us that when we get saved Christ Righteousness is imputed unto us. What does that mean? His perfection is given to us now That doesn't mean that we're perfect. We're sinless What that means is that when God looks at us when we're saved He looks at us through the righteousness of Jesus Christ Now if that were not if that were the case if the case was that God is judging us for our sins at the judgment Seat of Christ then that doctrine goes out the window Because at that point we don't have the righteousness of Jesus Christ to be imputed upon us So then when God looks at us, you know, he sees the blood of Christ No Instead what we see here is that God is gonna judge us Jesus Christ is gonna judge us in order to determine what type of rewards we're gonna receive. Okay Now, let me just say this is that there are many reasons why we serve Christ many reasons and in my opinion There are three major motives as to why we serve the Lord Okay Now number one go back to 2nd Corinthians chapter 5 if you would number one The cheapest reason as to why we serve Christ is because we love him. Okay, we love him You know the Bible tells us in verse 13 of 2nd Corinthians chapter 5 It says what for whether we be beside ourselves it is to God or whether we be sober it is for your cause for the love of Christ Constrainteth us because we thus judge that if one died for all then we're all dead So the Bible is telling us here that it's the love of Christ that motivates us to serve him Right and motivates us to stay in church to love our families to be able to go soul in to disciple people It's God's love that is shed abroad in our hearts that motivates us to do these things, right? This should be the prime motive as to why we serve the Lord and look This is the reason why we need to stay in our Bibles This is the reason why we need to continue to pray We need to continue to have close fellowship with the Lord in order to keep and cultivate that love for God. Okay? So that's one of the reasons and that's the prime reason But the second reason would be out of fear of the consequences if we don't You know, God is greatly to be feared. He's a terrible God The Bible tells us he is a terrible God and you know what? The fact is is that the Bible teaches us that there's consequences to our actions And you know what that does that causes us to stay right with God because we don't want to suffer the ramifications of disobedience to God's commands You know when we see the Bible and how God smites the fornicators and he pronounces judgment on people who are involved in wicked sin It causes us to fear and say I don't want to be judged. I don't want God to chastise me I don't want to die. I don't want God to just judge me and for his wrath to fall upon me in this world Therefore I'm gonna make sure that I live a clean life I want to make sure that I live a life that's in obedience to Christ because I don't want to suffer those ramifications And look that's a good thing. Amen To fear the Lord is a good thing And in fact the Bible says the fear of the Lord is to do it when when men fear the Lord they depart from evil Okay, you know when we fear God we try to stay away from that which is evil and wicked because we know that they're there There are consequences that come with that But the third reason this this is the reason we're going to talk about this morning Is that we serve the Lord because he offers us a reward and in fact, he offers us rewards Okay, and it says there in verse 10 for we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ that everyone May receive the things done in his body according to that he hath done whether it be good or bad Now turn with me if you would to mark chapter number 10 mark chapter 10 This is a great reason to serve the Lord Amen, and the reason for that is because you know people sometimes think all the Christian life is so boring It's just all about obedience and just you know obeying God's commands and there's no fun And it's just God up in heaven telling us pointing the finger at us telling us to do this do that If not, I'm gonna punish you not necessarily You know because the person who is just used to serving the Lord and being in church and doing all these things They're not always fearing that something bad is gonna happen to them Right because the Bible tells us that the wicked flee when no man pursue it But the righteous are bold as a lion So, you know if you're in church if you're doing that which is right You didn't you shouldn't necessarily always be afraid that something bad is gonna happen to you And in fact the greatest one of the greatest incentives to serve the Lord is knowing that God will recompense Us for the labor that we do You know the Bible tells us that in due season we shall reap if we faint not He's providing that incentive to say hey don't quit on the Lord. Don't quit on church Don't quit on winning people to Christ don't quit on discipling people Why because God is going to reward you for the labor that you do But you just got to make sure that you don't faint you got to make sure that you endure the afflictions and the hardships and Even the mundane of serving the Lord because it can be mundane sometimes. Okay now you're in Mark chapter 10 I'm gonna reach you from Revelation 22 12 it says and behold I come quickly and my reward is with me To give every man according as his work shall be the Bible tells us for the Lord God is a son and a shield No good thing will he withhold from them that walk uprightly. Look. I believe God's telling us the truth there I believe that he is telling us that every good thing That we can receive He will not withhold from us if we just seek to walk uprightly if we seek to serve the Lord The Bible tells us that without faith It is impossible to please God for he that cometh to God must believe that he is and then he is a rewarder of them That diligently seek him over and over again in the Bible. You see God telling us. Hey, I'm gonna reward you I'm gonna reward you I'm gonna give you this I'm gonna give you that but you got to make sure you have faith You got to make sure you adore you got to make sure you labor Okay, look in the blessing of the Lord and maketh rich and he addeth no sorrow to it We know that when God rewards he rewards heavily And he often rewards us far more than what we really deserve, right? So one thing that we can see over and over again is that God is giving us an incentive to labor for him Let me read to you from Matthew chapter 16. You're in Mark chapter 10 It says in Matthew 16 verse 21 then said Jesus unto his disciples if any man will come after me Let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me now, what is the implication there? Well, if he's saying you have to deny yourself and take up your cross. What he's saying is this you have to die to self Just as Jesus took up the cross and was willing to die the Bible tells us that we are to be a living sacrifice Holy acceptable unto God which is a reasonable service It goes on to say for whosoever will save his life shall lose it and whosoever will lose his life for my sake shall find it you know if you live in this world only worried about how what you can get out of it and the money that you can make and the fame that you want and Possessions that you can accumulate the Bible tells us you're gonna lose your life But if you're willing to lose your life for Jesus sake to deny yourself to take up your cross Then you're gonna find your life. Okay, it goes on to say for what is a man profited? He shall gain the whole world and lose his own soul Or what shall a man give in exchange for a soul for the Son of Man shall come in the glory of his father with His angels and then he shall reward every man According to his works now this can be interpreted in both ways because when Christ comes we are rewarded Now the judgment seat of Christ does not happen when he comes at the rapture It actually happens after that, but how are we rewarded by the glorified body that we receive? You know, we'll talk about that in just a bit But let me say this he does reward other people as well because reward basically means he's gonna give you what you deserve And you know what the day of the Lord, which is also the rapture is not only the redemptions of our bodies It's God's wrath being poured on this world. It's when God rewards the unsaved for their works. Okay So the great thing about the rewards that God gives is that there's future rewards But there's also immediate rewards because wouldn't it be difficult to just serve the Lord But not get anything for it this side of eternity, you know, you just have to think well one day You know in a thousand years or something or whenever this takes place, you know I'm gonna receive that reward the great thing about serving God is that you see immediate results sometimes Okay, you know there are immediate rewards that we receive in this lifetime. Look at Mark chapter 10 verse 29 and Why does he do that? Well, he does that to keep you motivated Right, he does that to reward us in order to keep us motivated to say, you know what it's worth serving God It's worth being in church It's worth going soul-willing because he is rewarding me even even now look at verse 29 says in Jesus answered and said verily I say unto you there is no man that hath left house or brethren or sisters or father or mother or wife or children or lands for my sake in the Gospels, but he shall receive a hundredfold now in this time Houses and brethren and sisters and mothers and children and lands by the way, notice it doesn't say wives Okay Some people were like polygamy amen no and children and lands But look what it says with persecutions and in the world to come eternal life so what does he say look if you forsake all these things if you're willing to serve the Lord and Forsake that which needs to be forsaken. God says I'm gonna reward you in this lifetime Now this is not people will try to use this to try to teach a prosperity gospel Right, you know serve God and he's gonna make you rich and healthy and everything's gonna be a bed of roses No, because it says there with persecutions The prosperity gospel is absent of the element of persecution They tell you well if you live for God, no persecutions gonna happen to you No, the Bible tells us he ate all that will live godly in Christ. Jesus shall suffer persecution He said well, I don't suffer any persecution. Well, what does that tell you then? According to that verse, okay You know what? It's telling us here is that God will provide for our needs sometimes in miraculous ways Right. God's gonna manifest his power in your life provide for your needs and look sometimes God not only gives us what we need Sometimes he even gives us what we want Now not all the time because at that point, you know, we'll just be like spoiled little brats But he does give us what we want sometimes, you know we pray and ask for things and God provides them for us and that causes us to increase our faith and to realize I Should not faint. I want to endure I want to keep serving God because if he's willing to reward me immediately How much more when I just ride this thing out and I stay in it for the long haul, you know I stay in the marathon I run my race with patience knowing that I'm gonna receive also another reward Once I get to heaven once I meet the Lord face to face Go to Colossians chapter number three Colossians chapter three So he tells us there we shall receive a hundredfold in this time. He said how does I don't understand that? How does that make sense? Well, it tells us houses and brethren and sisters Let me say this once I got saved. I inherited a bunch of brothers and sisters in Christ and sometimes Brothers and sisters in Christ are often actually closer We actually have a greater affinity a greater, you know closeness than even our physical families Okay Now it's even better when your families get saved amen when you have your family in church When you have your sister your mom and dad your brother, you know your cousins your aunts, you know Whoever may be that's a huge blessing. That's like cherry. That's the cherry on top Okay, but let's say you don't have that you say well, I'm the only one saved in my family Well, you know what? You got yourself a big family here You know, you have people who love you who care for you who will be here for you and so on and so forth So that and look that's what's most important. You understand possessions are not important Possessions are gonna burn up, you know, they're not gonna remain forever. What's important is the souls of people What's important is the church. What's important is what we do for the Lord. Look at Colossians 3 verse 23 It says here and whatsoever you do do it heartily As to the Lord and not into men knowing that of the Lord Ye shall receive the reward of the inheritance for you serve the Lord Christ So he's saying there look whatever you do when you're serving God When you're throwing out the trash When you're fixing the chairs when you're doing even the most minuscule things when you give a cup of water To a child in the name of a disciple in the name of Christ You know what do it heartily as unto the Lord Because you will receive a reward even for that the Bible tells us and it says the verse 25 But he that doeth wrong shall receive for the wrong which he hath done and there is no respect a person as you said Well, how does that tie in I thought we're not gonna be judged for our sins Well, here's the thing at for a Christian. We will be judged for our sins here on this earth So we will receive the reward and the recompense of our sins on this work in this world It's called chastisement. It's called the consequences. We just won't receive it in hell. Amen But the Bible tells us according to Hebrews chapter number 12 that God does chastise and scourge every son whom he receiveth Whom he loveth So if you are a Christian you're involved in sin and things that are just destructive things that are just going to destroy your life God's gonna allow you to be punished why because he doesn't want his children to live in sin He doesn't want his children to live in a destructive life that will cause them to get away from the Lord So sometimes he just allows trials and tribulations and things to come upon them to try to get them to repent Amen, you said well, how far is he willing to go? You know, I don't know but I've seen in the Bible where he just kills people You said will that be me I don't want to find out I Rather not find out. Oh, that's not right. How can God kill people? You can think it's not right or it's right It doesn't matter. He's gonna do it anyways Because he doesn't ask permission from anybody You know the judgments of the Lord are right and if he sees fit to take someone's life But look a safe person if their life is taken away. What's what what happens if they go to heaven? He says so, how is that a punishment? Well, it could be a punishment in the sense of you go home early and now you don't have this time this side of Eternity to rack up rewards You know you live with regret in a sense. Okay that you were not able to win more people to Christ You were not able to see your family saved. You were not able to do great exploits for the Lord Okay, you know the night come is when no man can work the Bible says now go with me if you would to Go to Revelation chapter 20 Revelation chapter 20 so we shall receive a reward even this side of eternity But we also will receive a reward for the wrong to read the wrong that we do this side of eternity as well Now if you're saved, you know, the Bible tells us that you've been forgiven of all sin Amen, the Bible tells us that he has separated our transgressions as far as East is from West He's cast our sins in the deepest part of the ocean. They're no longer remembered. They're washed away and Here's the thing people want to use like 2nd Corinthians 5 to say Oh, yeah, you're gonna receive you know that which is done in your body whether it be good or bad God's gonna put like a panoramic scream, you know in heaven and just like show off to everyone all the sins you've done Remember when you did this like you're not getting reward now, it's like oh you're just kind of looking around like oh man This is embarrassing You know, oh you thought no one saw you when you did that, huh? Like well you just scrolling through like the film of like your life going through each one. That's nonsense God's not gonna do that. Okay now if you're not saved if You're not saved if you have not trusted Christ as your Savior The Bible says that you will experience what's called the white throne judgment and at that point Yeah, there's kind of like a panoramic scream of the sins that you've done You're gonna be judged according to your sins the Bible says that the book was open and the books were open referring to the Bible itself the 66 books and you're gonna be Judged out of the things written in the book now that throne that white throne judgment is not to judge whether you're gonna go to Heaven or hell because here's the thing everyone who's being judged at the white throne has already been in hell Okay, they've already been in hell from the beginning of time Whoever was not saved then up until you know, the end of the millennial reign So they'll be in hell during that time and then they actually get taken out of hell To be judged at the white throne judgment and to be relocated to what's called the lake of fire So that judgment is basically to confirm the condemnation of those who are already damned Kind of stinks, but I mean that's that's why it's important you get saved. Amen So The judgment seat of Christ will get it more into that just a bit The judgment seat of Christ should not be confused with the white throne judgment now look at Revelation chapter 20 As I mentioned this is God's final roll call for the condemned. Look at verse 11 This is that I saw a great white throne and him that sat on it from whose face the earth and the heaven fled away And there was found no place for them and I saw the dead small and great Stand before God and the books were open and another book was open Which is the book of life and the dead were judged out of those things which were written in the books according to their works Now again, this is not teaching us That God's gonna weigh in the balances the good works that you've done and the bad works that you've done Okay, the Bible says there's none that do with good. No, not one There's none righteous. No, not one. There's not a just man upon earth that do with good and sin is not the Bible says There's none good but God amen The Bible tells us that our righteousness are as filthy rags in the eyes of God So even the best that you can do is still not good enough for God because for all have sinned and come short of the glory of God the Bible says He said so, why is he judging us according to our works basically to just confirm to you? This is why you're going to the lake of fire For the things that you've done. Okay verse 13 says in the sea Gave up the dead which were in it and death and hell Delivered up the dead which were in them and they were judged every man according to their work So keep in mind if someone dies today Okay, let's just can you turn on the AC it's getting kind of warm in here if someone dies today, right? They're not saved They go to hell according to the Bible, you know, it's appointed for a man wants to die but after this the judgment right and This judgment that it's referring to is the condemnation that a person receives because they don't believe on Christ if you don't believe on Christ for your salvation you're trusting in yourself. You're trusting in your works You're trusting and coming to church or repenting of your sin or being a good person all these things, you know If you're trusting on those things the Bible says that the day that you die Your soul will descend into a place called hell that's that's located in the center of the earth. Okay, this is fact, okay You go to this place called hell and you go there through the vehicle of death, okay at the white throne judgment Both death and hell hell and that the vehicle that takes people there are Relocated to the lake of fire basically a bigger hell is what it is Okay, because you got to think about it, you know Hell is pretty big and the Bible tells us that hell is enlarging itself The more people go there the more it begins to enlarge itself But at the end of days when all this is said and done You have billions and billions and billions of people who are going to go to hell and therefore it needs to be relocated to a Place called the lake of fire. Okay, it says in verse 14 and death and hell were cast into the lake of fire This is the second death and whosoever was not found written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire You say how can I avoid that? How can I flee from the wrath to come you have to believe in the Lord Jesus Christ And thou shalt be saved. You don't have to repent of your sins. You don't have to do good works You don't have to keep coming to church every single Sunday. You don't have to read the Bible cover to cover You don't have to even serve Christ All you have to do is believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and thou shalt be saved Trust in his death burial and resurrection and the Bible tells us that he gives you the gift of eternal life For by grace are you saved through faith and that not of yourselves? It is the gift of God not of works that any man should boast You know, I would hope that if there's someone here who's not saved that they will receive that gift today You don't have to become a member of our church You don't have to sit through hours of preaching to be saved All you have to do is place your faith on Christ and that's it to avoid and to flee from this Terrible place called the lake of fire to flee from hell itself. So these two judgments are not the same. Okay? Jesus is giving us according as our work shall be in order for us to receive a Reward now go with me if you would to 1st Corinthians chapter number 3 1st Corinthians chapter number 3 So what are the rewards let's talk about just the judgment seat of Christ, okay What are the rewards? Well, the rewards can basically be broken up into two categories number one being the glory of our resurrected body and Number two is the distribution of authority that we receive when Christ sets up his millennial reign, okay? You know basically the highest ranking positions in the millennial reign. This is what he distributes at the millennial reign So what is the millennial reign? Well, the Bible highlights seven years in the end times of events that are gonna take place half of those seven years The Bible tells it tribulation or great tribulation at the beginning of sorrows in the last 75 days great tribulation The last half is the wrath of God at the end of those seven years you have Christ Establishing his earthly millennial reign he comes here to establish his kingdom and he's gonna rule the world basically Okay, he's gonna rule the world you say how is he gonna rule the world or with who with us? We actually get rewarded by Reigning over cities all over the world. Okay. This is in the Bible. This is not fiction. This is not Harry Potter This is not Lord of the Rings. Okay. This is Lord of Lords and King of Kings. Amen And look you say why would he use that as a reward to distribute authority because everyone wants authority Right. We all want to be delegated authority and responsibility, especially from the Creator okay, and this is The greatest honor that God can bestow upon a person is to say I'm gonna leave you in charge of Compton This is your area to rule and reign over He's like, yes, sir You know We are responsible for executing the laws of God in that area and the Bible even tells us that we shall judge angels This could potentially mean because angels are not just referring to angelic beings This is angels also referring to just people who are messengers evangelists, right? So there can be an order of Messengers because the gospel still gonna be preached during the millennial reign people are still gonna be getting saved and we could potentially be judging Their work. Okay. This is why it says that we shall judge angels So the glory of our resurrected body and the distribution of authority in the millennial reign Now only one of these takes place at the judgment seat of Christ Which is the distribution of the ranking positions both are rewards one is received at the redemption of our bodies Okay, so when are these rewards distributed? Well, as I mentioned the first one is at the rapture Okay, what is the rapture is the gathering together? It's when Christ comes back. It's what's referred to as his second coming When he comes the Bible tells us that we will receive our glorified bodies the redemption of our bodies in other words You know the dead in Christ shall rise first then we which are alive and reign this is referring to our physical bodies It will be forever transformed and this glorified body Will be upgraded basically so that you can be in the presence of God. Okay, it will be sinless. It will be perfect It will be without sin. Okay. He said well, what can I do? Can I fly and stuff like that? I don't know. Hopefully, you know, you go through walls fly you can fight. No, I'm just kidding You know, you can you can do all kinds of stuff. Okay, it's a glorified body that never dies Okay, and it's absent of sin the presence of sin So I can't even imagine that I know no one we can no one can Because we've lived with sin our whole entire lives and even after salvation we will continue to live with sin Until we receive that redemption of our body, so it's it it's a body that is no longer tempted by sin Okay, and it's perfect. This is received at the rapture So when Christ comes back if you die prior to that, you're you'll be bursting it out of the graves So make sure you wear a nice suit to be buried in your coffin. Amen go out with style you know, you'll be bursting out of your coffin and It'll meet your soul in the air and at that point is when you receive your glorified body And if we're if I were to try to conjecture what our glorified bodies is or what they look like It would basically be like our inward man manifests It's basically our inward man manifests, you know flesh and blood shall not inherit the kingdom of God the Bible says, you know What keeps us alive eternally when we receive the redemption of our body is the spirit, you know The flesh profiteth nothing. It is the spirit that quickeneth my words They are spirit and they are life the Bible says so the life of the flesh right now is the blood If we drain you of all your blood you just you die, right? Well when we receive our glorified bodies, we no longer have blood. It's the spirit that keeps us alive eternally Okay It's that power. Okay, and the Bible tells us in first John 3 2 it says beloved Now are we the sons of God and it does not yet appear what we shall be But we know that when he shall appear we shall be like him for we shall see him as he is So this glorified body gives us the capability to actually be able to behold God to be able to behold Jesus Christ and I don't want to get too deep into it But it is interesting to think about this like for example, you know when Jesus Christ resurrected He had his glorified body But notice that there's times in the New Testament that after his resurrection some people like his own disciples did not recognize him Right like he's on the road to Emmaus and he saw those two disciples and they didn't recognize him and it wasn't until later That they realized. Oh, this is Christ What about Mary right when she saw him at the at the tomb and she thought he was like the gardener and it wasn't until He spoke he and she said rabbi master, you know, she finally realized that it was him. So it could be that You know these people were in the spirit and that's how they were able to recognize Christ at the resurrection Therefore is like they were able to behold Christ With their inward man, you understand? So when it says here when he shall appear we shall be like him for we shall see him as he is It's referring to the fact that our inward man is manifest. That's our glorified body That's why we're able to see him as he is understand. We can't see him with our physical bodies You know a human being cannot see God face to face they can see Christ, but they cannot see God face to face You know, we're sinful creatures now you're in 1st Corinthians chapter 3 So when are these rewards distributed number one at the rapture number two at the beginning of the millennial reign? So look at 1st Corinthians 3 verse 11. I Believe this is something that's gonna take place at the initial beginning the start of the millennial reign Look what it says in verse 11 for other foundation can no man lay then then that is laid which is Jesus Christ in other Words, the only way you're gonna be saved is through Christ, right? That's the foundation Now if any man build upon this foundation Gold silver precious stone Stones would hey stubble every man's work shall be made Manifests the teaching here is this the foundation is the most important thing, right? So if you don't have Jesus Christ as your foundation, he's not your Savior. You can build whatever you want upon that. You're gonna burn You're gonna go to hell because at the end of the day, it's the foundation that matters now, there's Scores of people in this world that have that foundation, which is Jesus Christ They're saved, but they're not building They're not living for the Lord. They're not serving Christ and look they're gonna be saved. They're still gonna go to heaven They just not you're not gonna get anything. Okay, so What are we doing in this life? We're building on that foundation, right? We're laboring we're soul winning. We're seeking to be a blessing to other people. We're serving in our church We're doing everything that we can to accumulate these rewards and that's what it says in verse 13 Every man's work shall be made manifest for the day Shall declare it because it shall be revealed by fire and the fire shall try every man's work of what sort it is If any man's work abide, which he hath built there upon he shall receive a reward If any man's work shall be burned He shall suffer loss, but he himself shall be saved yet. So as by fire so picture this we're in the millennial rain Okay There's this huge bonfire going on And everyone's lining up in this holy bonfire this consuming fire, right to try your works You line up and you and you're like man. I didn't I never went to church I don't think I remember I don't even think I want anybody on accident Christ Like I just lived a fleshly worldly life. I knew I was supposed to be in church I knew I was supposed to read the Bible. I knew I supposed to go so but I never did so Somehow our works are manifest in this realm called the millennial rain Where God is able to manifest our works and the things that we did for Christ? He's able to manifest them and then they're gonna be tried in the fire They're gonna be placed on the fire if it completely consumes it basically means that it was worthless He said what I get he's gonna tell you hey you're saved though Yet so as by fire So it's almost like one of those it's it's not you know, I'm not I'm not trying to downplay salvation at all Obviously salvation is the most important thing right, but you know what anybody who's saved in the millennial rain They're gonna wish they did something after that You know, there's a song I'd wish I'd given him more You know is I'd wish I had given him more more so much more More than I ever had before It's basically saying like when that day comes I'm gonna regret not living for Christ Because I'm gonna see everyone with the rewards the distribution of the authority and then they're gonna they're gonna have that everlasting contempt Versus like man, I wish I just why don't I just go to church when I supposed to go to church? Why don't you just go so winning when I was supposed to go? Why didn't I disciple people when I had an opportunity to I just wasted my life Okay, this is the person who is saved yet so as by fire verse 16 says no You're not the year the temple of God and that the Spirit of God dwelleth in You so by the way verse 15 is a perfect verse to teach you that you can't lose your salvation You know people who teach that you can lose your salvation and you have to do good works to go to heaven Well, that's funny because this person did no works and yet the Bible says they were saved Yet so as by fire, okay Showing us that you don't have to work in order to go to heaven The Bible tells us that it's by grace alone by faith alone Go to Revelation chapter 11 if you would for revelation chapter 11. So what we saw in 1st Corinthians chapter 3 I believe is a manifestation of what we're gonna see in the millennial reign. I Don't know exactly how it's all gonna pan out how it's gonna look but here we saw that we see through a glass darkly What this is gonna entail what it's gonna look like Okay, the Bible says in Revelation 11 verse 16 and the four and 20 elders which sat before God on their seats fell upon their faces and worshiped God Saying we give thee thanks Oh Lord God almighty which art and was and was and art to come because thou hast taken to thee thy great power and has reign and the nations were angry and thy wrath is come and the time of the dead that they should be judged and that thou shouldest give reward and to the servants the prophets and to the Saints and them that fear thy name small and great and shouldest destroy them which destroy the earth so this is referring to now that millennial reign and At this point it's payday. Amen. Let's look at another passage. Go back to Revelation. You're in Revelation 11 Go back to Revelation chapter 20. This takes place after aren't what's called Armageddon When Christ comes the third time on a white horse With all his saints and he's basically coming to just wipe everyone out, okay With his glory and the sword of his mouth This is he's basically coming to reclaim the earth. It's his He's like this is mine. Now. I'm just gonna and if you don't like it, then you're just gonna be whacked This is when he comes to whack everyone who's not on board with him. Okay, no ecumenical movement here You know people view Jesus Christ as being just this really nice guy who's wearing a long dress He has that Pantene Pro V long hair. He's just a really nice guy And he's just like he's very tolerant of everybody. Not really Not really You need to read Revelation 19 and 20 and it'll show you it depicts Jesus Christ is coming and he's just gonna take the earth by force He's not asking for permission for anyone He's gonna say hey you guys mind if we take this little part of the earth here you guys could you know? And I'll give you a thousand years to really think about if you want me as your Savior Nope He's coming and if you're not on board you're not with the program you're getting whacked You're done. Okay. Now look there's gonna be unsafe people that go into the millennial rain. They're just unsaved Okay, but you know what the the promoters and propagators of false religion and false Christ and false doctrine They're getting wiped out. No tolerance zero tolerance. It's the law of Moses being reenacted in the millennial rain You know, just look up in the Bible in the Old Testament let thine eye let not thine eye pity Where God tells his people you better not pity the false prophets and the wicked people of this world Your eyes should not pity them. Well, guess what when he comes he's not pitting them either in fact The Bible is telling us that he's gonna rule with a rod of iron and at the end of Revelation Chapter number two, it tells us that we ourselves also are gonna rule with that rod of iron as well So he expects us to rule as he does which is strictly enforcing his laws and his rules Yeah, I don't agree with that. I mean, sorry. What do you want me to say? You know, you cannot believe in gravity if you want But you know if you jump off the ceiling of this roof of this roof claiming not to believe in gravity You're gonna suffer the consequences of not believing in gravity I'm gonna fly. I know I can fly gravity doesn't exist. Okay, go prove it Go jump off the building. Let's see how that works out for you Okay look at Revelation 20 verse 4 says and I saw thrones and They sat upon them and judgment was given unto them. Oh, you shouldn't judge people Judgment was given unto them What does that mean means Christ comes to us and says Here's your judgment. This is the this is what you're supposed to judge You are now the mayor of El Mani You know the mayor the the governor of California, okay? This is the judgment that you receive and I saw the souls of them that were beheaded for the witness of Jesus and for the Word of God and which had not worshiped the beast neither his image neither had received his mark upon their foreheads or in their hands And they lived and rained with Christ a thousand years So this rain is a the reason it's called a millennial range because it lasts for one thousand years This is basically to get this out of our system in a sense. We're gonna be eating me We're gonna be judging the nation's ruling with a rod of iron and we do it for a thousand years people are living and dying During this time whereas we ourselves are everlasting. We cannot die. So when does this take place? Well, the first reward which is the redemption of our body we receive at the rapture we go to heaven for three and a half Years when we come back with Christ is when in Christ just wipes everyone out all his enemies and establishes his millennial rain at that Point he begins to distribute authority to every single person according as your works were in this world Okay, so if you serve Christ you were faithful. He's gonna give you five cities ten cities This is what the Bible is teaching us now go to You're in Revelation 20 go to 22. Oh, I'm sorry. Don't go to 22 go to 1st Corinthians 15 1st Corinthians 15 So, how are these rewards obtained It's like how do we get these rewards and I'm not gonna go too much into it because there's a lot that the Bible says about It but one thing we know for sure is that the Bible teaches us that it is according to our works, right? It says in 1st Corinthians 3 now he that plants it then he that waters are one and every man is a man Are one and every man shall receive his own reward according to his own labor You're in 15. I'm in chapter 3. So your labor determines what type of reward you will receive Now, I don't think we could be super dogmatic About how exactly we get these rewards like somebody will say well, that's why we only got to do so We only so in it. No, not necessarily Sony is very much important you do receive rewards because of sowing but it's not the only avenue of rewards Wherewith you can receive rewards and in fact discipleship Teaching people in the way of righteousness is an avenue of rewards Because turning people to righteousness is important to God folks Not just seeing them safe seeing them safe is important. But keep in mind the Great Commission is not just the gospel. It's Discipling people teaching them to observe all things whatsoever commanded you and lo I'm with you always even into the end of the world. Amen. The Bible says so Preaching the Word of God or even discipling others and teaching them in the way of righteousness Helping them to repent of their sins to get their life right to clean up their lives to live for God to know doctrine This actually gives you a great reward because you're teaching people you're showing them the way of righteousness Okay, so look at 1st Corinthians chapter 15. Let's talk about the glory of our bodies and how we get it Look at 1st Corinthians 15 verse 40 says There are also Celestial bodies and bodies terrestrial. This is not referring to aliens, by the way, okay Terrestrial means just basically it's from the earth. So there's celestial bodies angelic bodies, so to speak Okay bodies that are not of this world and then there's a terrestrial body But the glory of the celestial is one and the glory of the terrestrial is another so what is the glory of the terrestrial? Oh, you know if you're buff you got yourself a 12-pack You know, it really is based upon the the error that you're in at that time, right? Whereas the celestial one is not how much muscle you have but really how much glory You have the brightness of the glory. Okay, you see you don't think God's concerned with like muscles and stuff like that Well, here's the thing. I think he wants men to be strong. Amen physically speaking, but let me say this is that He's not muscling his way through anything He just he just destroyed people with the sword of his mouth You don't need to lift up a finger. He just opens his mouth and creates things or destroys them That's power right So he's making a distinction here. Look at verse 41 There is one glory of the Sun and another glory of the moon and another glory of the stars for one star Differeth from another star in glory so also is the resurrection of the dead So it's telling us it's trying to give us a picture here that some people will basically shine brighter than others You see the Sun how it shines brighter than the moon some stars shine brighter than others when like manner This is how the resurrection is going to be some people are just going to shine more brightly You know the recognition that you've always wanted you actually get it at the resurrection And you know what actions will speak louder than words at that point, right He must have done a lot of things that we just didn't know about he never said anything He never blew a trumpet never blew his horn. He never talked about all his works Yeah, but you know what he did him and that's why he's shining brightly Okay So it's the ultimate honor in a sense that you can receive when God just gives you a glorified body where your glory is just Emanating from you based upon the works that you've done go to Romans chapter number eight now How do we get this well number one could be through endurance? enduring affliction and suffering okay It's when you're persecuted and you endure it you don't wimp out like a little sissy at the first sign of someone persecuting you and people getting on you because of what you believe and your family's getting on you or You know the world starts persecuting you and saying all manner of evil against you You know I don't want to do this anymore. I'm so scared Little sissy and or just take it like a man Look at Romans 8 17 and if children and then heirs heirs of God So when we're saved were heirs of God, and then it says and joint heirs with Christ If so be that we suffer with him that we may be also glorified together So to be an heir of God the requirement there is that we're safe To be a joint heir with Christ in other words to rule and reign with Christ. We need to suffer With him well, how did Jesus suffer? He was persecuted. He was called the devil He was called Beelzebub. He was killed He was crucified Well in like manner if we're willing to endure those sufferings and those persecutions We will receive a reward look at verse 18 for I reckon that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared With the glory which shall be revealed in us So look all those hardships you go through in the persecution or whatever it may be doesn't even compare To the reward you're gonna receive when you actually receive your glorified body look folks. This is why it's important that you develop thick skin as a Christian Well, I just want to get along with everyone then you need to become a politician You need to run for office Because that's not what a Christian should be Because if you are pleasing everyone that means that means you're not pleasing God Because what God says and he commands actually goes against the grain of a lot of people in this world It goes against the grain and people don't like it Well, you know, I just try to have a balanced life brother media, you know I just try to be kind to everyone treat others as I always want to be treated. You're a hypocrite Obedience that God's Word will cause people to not like you to hate you to Persecute you and say all manner of evil against you if that's not being done then explain to me why the Bible says Yea, all that will live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution And I'm not saying if you live a godly life, you're just gonna be martyred tomorrow You know You know, that would actually be good for some people. I'm just being honest What I'm saying is this is that when you live godly you will suffer some persecution Whether at the hands of your family members Right. Oh you go to that hateful church You guys are a part of a cult You know, oh you listen to that one guy on the internet. Oh, man, you guys are you need to get right man That's weird. And you know, you're part of a cult and all this stuff, you know, and you just endure that you just take it Oh You're a hate preacher. Oh You're just you're just you know, you're just this and then you're a Bible believer like yeah You just take it Cuz look if people say these things about you, let it be a confirmation and you're like man. I'm doing I'm doing that which is right Cuz worldly people don't like me You know if worldly people like you and they like being around you that's not a good thing folks You know, we are not of this world Right, we're Christians. We're Bible believers. We're sons of God and Therefore, you know if if they're not if they're just if they just think you're just like the best Representation of a Christian because you just don't get involved in any controversy That's probably not a good thing Because that's probably what they say about Joel Steen and Rick Warren and all these other hypocrite pastors out there That you know, just try to please the masses instead of telling you the truth, right? You know when people revile you, you know when your friends and neighbors revile you when the sodomites revile you just take it Yeah, that's good. Yeah, what else? Tell me more, you know, this is confirmation that we're doing is right The Bible tells us in Hebrews 11 35 women received their dead race to life again and others were tortured Not accepting deliverance that they might obtain a better resurrection Go to Matthew chapter 5 Matthew chapter 5 The Bible says in 2nd Corinthians 4 verse 16 for which cause we faint not But though our outward man perish yet The inward man is renewed day by day for our light affliction Which is but for a moment worketh for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory Look Paul the Apostle saying this and he suffered some really bad persecution. I Mean he was stoned. He was persecuted by his own countrymen. He was in the sea I mean the worst happened to him and yet he said that was a light affliction. This guy is like a man's man right He went through all those things. He was stoned to death and he actually came back to life And yet he said that was a light affliction Like What in the world you consider being stoned and beaten and scourged and given stripes and Hungering and fastings often and being persecuted by your own brethren and countrymen by false brethren Being backstabbed and all that you consider that a light affliction. Well, yeah, well in comparison to the glory which shall be revealed It's a light affliction So look when you go through I'm not just saying persecution to what if you just go through health, you know sufferings Difficulties and tribulation where you're just going through a tough time that's suffering, too so if you're going through a tough time an emotional tough time or You're going through some health problems that are causing you to Just be discouraged that's suffering as well and God expects you to endure that as well So, you know, obviously there's persecution and sufferings that stem from that but there's also other sufferings You know, whether it's a death of a family member that you have to endure it's financial loss that you have to endure It's health that you have to endure if you're not doing well as far as your health is concerned You know, God wants you to endure that as well He wants you to endure he wants you to push forward He wants you to be strong in the Lord and in the power of his might and to recognize this is a light affliction in comparison to what I'm gonna receive this is why the Bible tells us that I may know him and the power of his resurrection and The fellowship of his suffering being made conformable unto his death. Okay, look at Matthew 5 verse 11 says blessed are ye when men shall revile you this is Jesus speaking here and Persecute you and shall say all manner of evil against you falsely for my name's sake So what is he saying? He's not saying like if people say manner of evil against you and it's true. That's not good for you It's like yeah, they call me a cheat and a liar and a thief yeah, I did some of those things but you know I'm being persecuted for righteousness sake, you know, it's like no dude, you're guilty shit You're actually doing those things and what they're saying that's the reviling is when they're saying these things about you falsely Okay Yeah, they say all this about me and some of its true, but still, you know, they're a bunch of rapper Bates anyways Well, you know what if they're telling that they're saying the truth about you though, that's not good You ought to have a life that is above reproach that is not involved in these things right if we're gonna get persecuted it needs to be for things that are not true or if we're gonna get persecuted for being a Christian for living our lives that's pleasing unto the Lord as Daniel, right? It says rejoice and be exceeding glad For great is your reward in heaven for so persecuted they the prophets which were before you You other passages says leap for joy God wants you to be happy when you get persecuted, you know when people, you know Slatter me on social media or people show up to our church talking all kinds of mess. I am makes me happy This is great. This is awesome. That means our church is doing something. That means we're going somewhere. That means we're pleasing God because weird people Don't like the true message, you know wicked people don't like the message of God They don't like the contents of the Bible and they don't like anybody who's actually preaching they either Okay, but blessed are you the Bible says go to Daniel chapter 12 Daniel chapter number 12. So look suffering Suffering persecution, you know going through tribulation and enduring these things will accumulate Rewards for you at the resurrection and even at the millennial reign. How do we know that? Well, the Bible even says, you know I endure all things for the elect's sake that they may also obtain salvation Which is through Christ Jesus our Lord and it tells us if we suffer with him. We shall also what reign with him So you see how a lot of these have overlapped and we don't know exactly how God Determines how we get that our resurrected bodies or how much of these rewards are are Allocated to our resurrected bodies how much of it is allocated to us reigning and ruling and reigning and the reason why it's not clear I believe it's because God just wants just us to do all this Right, if it was already laid out for us we knew okay We got to invest more time in soul winning if that's the most important thing I'm not gonna do a whole lot of discipleship I'm not gonna do it But you know what? We don't really know which one's the most important as far as what accumulates the most rewards So for that reason we have many fishing poles and we put those lines and many ponds Because we don't know right we sow our seeds everywhere Hoping that at the end, you know, we're gonna get all these rewards here So what's another way why I mentioned this through so winning in discipleship. Look at Daniel chapter 12 verse 1 Or look at verse 2 and many of them that sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake This is referring to the resurrection some to everlasting life and some to shame and everlasting contempt I believe both of these are safe people The second group are those who basically did not do anything for the Lord Verse 3 and they that be wise Shall shine as the brightness of the firmament and they that turn many to righteousness as the stars forever and ever This is why discipleship is important folks This is why it's important to you invest in people's lives We have enough people here that you should find someone that you can disciple mentor and teach in the way of righteousness So you can earn a reward so you can shine She when you turn people to righteousness and you impart unto them the wisdom that God has given you through his word You actually earn reward because of that And then again, I'm not downplaying sewing because sewing is the first works are the most important works but it's not the only works and We need to learn how to disciple others mentor others care for others teach others not just in doctrine, by the way Just in Christian living right how to be better husbands how to be better wives how to raise children You know how to be better employees How to be an outstanding? Citizen of society how to be just a good Christian. These things are important to God You know, he said well God doesn't care about those things. Well, have you ever heard of the breastplate of righteousness? That God expects you to wear every single day to have a clean heart to do that That which is right with our hands. This is important The Bible tells us in James chapter 5 verse 19 brethren If any of you do err from the truth and one convert him let him know that he which converted the sinner from the error of his ways shall save a soul from death and shall hide a multitude of sins God wants us to convert people save people from living a bad wicked life to living a righteous life From a living a life that's unholy to living a life. That is holy. This is important to the Lord Okay, now go to Luke chapter 19. This would be the last scripture we Go to here. I quoted this but I'm gonna read I'm gonna read it to you in full 2nd Timothy 2 verse 10 says Therefore I adore all things for the elect's sake that they may also obtain the salvation which is in Christ Jesus with eternal glory It is a faithful saying if we be dead with him We shall also live with him if we suffer we shall also reign with him if we deny him He will also deny us Us Now this is not referring to salvation people want to Try to misconstrue this to say well if we deny the Lord and we're not going to church then when we get to Heaven's gate God's gonna say I never knew you depart from me that work iniquity Okay, this is not what that's referring to when he says if we deny him in other words We're not witnessing because to be a witness is basically your testifying of Christ, right? so if we deny him the Bible says he's gonna deny us then I asked what rewards or The privilege of what we just saw to reign with him So if we suffer with him someone who's suffering someone who's not ashamed, right? The reason they're even suffering is because they're not ashamed of the testimony of Jesus Christ. They say they're a Christian They're an independent fundamental Baptist. They're King James only. Yes. This is what I believe I'm not ashamed of it and they suffer for that reason and God says I'm gonna reward you with Raining ruling and reigning with me in the millennial ring. However, if you deny him Well, yeah, you know, yeah, I'm a Christian but you know, I don't believe all that crazy stuff though, you know You just become a wimp of a Christian The Bible says he will deny you deny you what rewards So when you come before he's like, whoa, what do I get Lord? It's just like you get the mop You get the mop in the alley You get the broom and the alleyway that's what you get because you won like One person to the Lord and there's a time when you weren't ashamed of me But you know you spend your entire life not testifying not witnessing not be you know, you're just ashamed So now what you get you actually get the corner of the street You got to make sure the corner stays clean Okay, and that's all you get or some for some people. I just don't they probably just don't get anything It's like well, you know You have to you actually have to be under another ruler You're just gonna be told what to do for a thousand years Okay, this is what this is referring to look look at Luke chapter 19 Now a lot of parables in the Bible You can't take too literally, right? You can pull principles from them and learn things from them and you got to know what is the specific doctrine that's being referred to here, but I believe Luke 19 is The closest to being literal as possible And the only reason I say that is because of the fact that it works in conjunction with everything else that we're learning about The millennial reign look what it says in verse 12 He said therefore a certain nobleman went into a far country to receive for himself a kingdom and to return and he called his ten Servants and delivered them ten pounds and said unto them Occupy till I come now ten pounds is not referring to like how much you weigh Okay, he's referring to the resources that God is giving Okay So he tells him look here the resources you need to occupy till I come take those resources and use them But his citizens hated him and sent a message after him saying we will not have this man to reign over us And it came to pass that when he was returned having received the kingdom This is the millennial reign Then he commanded these servants to be called unto him to whom he had given the money That he might know how much every man had gained by trading the first Then came the first saying Lord thy pound hath gained ten pounds. This is us during Thanksgiving and Christmas. Amen. I'm just kidding So in other words, they took that that pound and they won souls They took the training that they received at first works. And what do they do? They just won a bunch of people to Christ Right. They took the preaching from first works Baptist Church and they used it to train others to develop other soul winners, right? Thy pound hath gained ten pounds Says in verse 17, he said unto them well thou good servant because thou has been faithful and very little Have thou authorities over ten cities That's cool right there He's like because you were faithful and you use what I gave you Here's ten cities for you to be ruler over. It's like man. That's legit. Okay Let's read on it says verse 18 and the second came saying Lord thy pound hath gained five pounds And he said likewise to him be thou also over five cities another came saying Lord behold Here is thy pound which I have kept laid up in a napkin for I feared that because thou are an austere man thou takest up that thou layest not down and Reapest that thou didst not so and he said unto him out of thine own mouth Will I judge thee that wicked servant thou knewest that I was an austere man taken up that I laid not down and reaping That I did not so wherefore then gave us not thou my money into the bank that at my coming I might have required mine own with usury and he said unto them that stood by Take from him the pound and give it to him that hath ten pounds and they said unto him Lord He hath ten pounds now the literal interpretation of what we're seeing here is actually referring to the Jews And the reason we know that is because of the fact that what's being stated here is The fact that unto them were committed the oracles of God there were not good stewards Managers of those oracles they did not propagate the gospel. They became selfish and kept it to themselves and This basically works in ten when we see when the kingdom of God is taken from them and given to a nation bringing forth the Fruits are thereof referring to believers, but there's another application to this because there's gonna be people Christians who had that pound they have a great church They have Bible knowledge and what do they do they put it under a napkin they put it under a bushel They don't use it and Then when at the coming of the Lord is like yeah, I'm King James. Holy Lord I'm gonna put up fundamental Baptist. It's just like but you didn't do anything with it You know you didn't use the Bible you didn't use your knowledge you didn't use the resources I gave you therefore go ahead and give up that pound real quick And I'm gonna give it to that guy right over there, and he's gonna own instead of ten cities eleven cities Okay, I don't want to be that person Where because I was not a good steward God takes away the city that I could have rained over And so I'm gonna give it to someone else who actually was doing a good job with this city No, I want to be the mate. I want to be the one that at the at the judgment seat of Christ You know I can say man I'm thankful that I get these rewards, and it was all worth it serving the Lord because at this moment right here So what is the main teaching that we want to get from the judgment seat of Christ? Well a practical thing is this don't faint amen Don't faint be consistent be faithful in Serving the Lord don't quit Church. Don't quit your Bible reading don't quit soul winning because you will receive a reward sometimes. It's immediate But we know for sure It's it's gonna be in the long run when we are judged at his seat to reign over specific cities amen What a glorious day that will be inspire heads and have a word of prayer a word of prayer father We thank you so much for your word, and thank you for the judgment seat of Christ I'm thankful this teaching is in the Bible because when we see it we can imagine we can think upon and recognize that You know the things that we're doing now. It may not seem as much but From the perspective of eternity. It's a lot and in fact much of what we're doing here determines our vacation in the millennial rain You know that's like a thousand year vacation right there where we get to reign over and just rest from our labors On this world I pray you help us to keep that in mind that we would labor We would win souls to Christ we would disciple people and do everything we can to accumulate as many rewards as we possibly can That when you come we're not ashamed And I pray God that you'd help us to keep that on the forefront of our minds and in Jesus then we pray