We Must All Appear Series

Life is filled with certain events that we want to make sure we don’t miss: jury duty, court appearance for a speeding ticket, April 15th. There will be tremendous consequences if we choose to ignore important appearances. Paul reminds us that there are also going to be appearances that we cannot avoid even if we wanted to: our death(unless rapture occurs) and JUDGMENT.

• You would think that the most certain appearance of our lives would be the one we would prepare for the most but the truth is that many are not prepared.

10 For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each one may be recompensed for his deeds in the body, according to what he has done, whether good or bad.

11Therefore, knowing the fear of the Lord, we persuade men, but we are made manifest to God; and I hope that we are made manifest also in your consciences.

• We can easily break these two verses up three ways:

1) Our Judgment Appearance will be a Certainty

2) Our Unjust Actions will be a Casualty

3) Our Just Attitudes are to be our Concern

OUR JUDGMENT APPEARANCE WILL BE A CERTAINTY:

10 For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, (There is an appointment book with my name in it. I don't know when but I do know where)

The future is something which everyone reaches at the rate of 60 minutes an hour, whatever he does, whoever he is. C. S. Lewis

HEB 9:27….it is appointed for men to die once and after this comes judgment,

appear – to make manifest or visible or known what has been hidden or unknown, to manifest, whether by words, or deeds, or in any other way

judgment seat of Christ – bema – a step, pace, the space which a foot covers, a foot-breath; of the official seat of a judge; of the judgment seat of Christ; Herod built a structure resembling a throne at Caesarea, from which he viewed the games and made speeches to the people

In Paul's day, in every city there was a place called the Bema, or judgment seat. It was from this raised platform, usually in the center of town, that announcements were made, judgments rendered and commendations handed out. All public proclamations came from this Bema seat.

1 Cor.4:4-5 “For I know nothing against myself, yet I am not justified by this; but He who judges me is the Lord. Therefore judge nothing before the time, until the Lord comes, who will both bring to light the hidden things of darkness and reveal the counsels of the hearts. Then each one's praise will come from God.”

Remember that Paul is not writing to the lost people in Corinth but to the church. We need to remember that although we tell those around us that they will stand before God someday for their sins that we also will stand before Him to answer for our lives as well.

They will discover they are lost but we will discover what we have lost.

1 Cor 3:11-15 For no man can lay a foundation other than the one which is laid, which is Jesus Christ. Now if any man builds on the foundation with gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, straw, each man's work will become evident; for the day will show it because it is to be revealed with fire, and the fire itself will test the quality of each man's work. If any man's work which he has built on it remains, he will receive a reward. If any man's work is burned up, he will suffer loss; but he himself will be saved, yet so as through fire

• Seat of Christ: Not Joseph Smith as Mormons believe.

There are those who are going to stand before Him that has continually used His name as a curse word in this life.

Others took His name in vain by living a casual apathetic religious life and professing to have done it in His name.

I want to stand before Him having told the world that His was the ‘only Name by which they could be saved’ and that His Name was the ‘sweetest Name I know’.

OUR UNJUST ACTIONS WILL BE A CASUALTY:

so that each one may be recompensed for his deeds in the body, according to what he has done, whether good or bad.

When I was a kid my family went to Six Flags and one of the ways they were able to determine whether you had paid the park entrance fee was to stamp you with a stamp that was only visible under a certain type of light. When you came to the entrance you put your hand under the light and there appeared there what was already there but unable to be seen in normal light with normal eyesight. One day all our actions and attitudes, words and works will all be seen in the light of God’s holiness and will be shown to be what they truly are.