The Two Judgments
Introduction: In basketball there is what is called a shot clock, it is a clock that counts backwards allowing a team a set amount of seconds to shoot the ball. Life's “shot clock” began when we were born. God knows what year, month, day, hour, minute, second our time on earth is up. When we are born that clock begins to tick. Here is your life. . . Go. At some point our time is done and a judgment is coming for all of us.
The late Adrian Rogers shared a story about a mean spirited man from a small mill town where a he thought it was his job to humiliate and humble every preacher, he was a pseudo intellectual, his name was Bert Olney. And when the new preacher came into town, He spied out the new preacher and said “I understand you are our new preacher” the young preacher said “Yes. I am.” He then said “I want you to know I think you are a fake and a fraud. I don't believe anything you say and I think the church does more harm than good. So what do you think about that!?” the Preacher quoted Hebrews 9:27 “….it is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment.” Olney said “Don't quote that Bible to me I don't want to hear it. What do you think about what I said. The preacher said “….it is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment.” Olney got louder and said “I told you once to quit quoting that Bible to me I think you are to stupid to defend your position!” The preacher said “….it is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment.” Olney was infuriated “You stupid man you can't do anything more than quote the Bible.” The Preacher said “….it is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment.” Olney was so angry that he walked off because he couldn't humiliate this young preacher and get an argument going.
Later after he himself had come to Christ, he said that after he left that preacher and headed home that one word keep ringing in his mind and as he was crossing the old wooden bridge he said that even the frogs sounded like they were saying “Judgment Judgment” But that word transformed his life and brought to a point of repentance
It is good to know that there is a coming judgment! Judgment is coming for all of us. My prayer is that you make it to one judgment and escape the other.
Transition: Did you know that there will be two judgments? There is a judgment for the unsaved and there is a judgment for the saved. This morning we are going to look at the two judgments that are found in the Bible first for the saved and then for the unsaved. First is the judgment seat of Christ
The judgment seat of Christ
In Romans 14:10 we read “You then why do you judge your brother or sister? Or why do you treat them with contempt? For we will all stand before God's judgment seat.” The judgment seat of Christ is also commonly called the Bema Seat judgment.
The Bema seat was a raised platform at the Greek Olympic games where an official, referee, umpire, or judge could clearly see who the winners and losers were and they would then determine who was awarded what prize (first, second, third, etc.) This is what Paul is talking about in 2 Corinthians 5:10
“For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, that each one may receive what is due him for the things done while in the body whether good or bad.” 2 Cor. 5:10
Paul said “we must appear” the pronoun “we” refers to himself and the Christians that he was writing to, so the analogy here is that one day all Christian lives will be appraised. Those who are not saved will not go through this judgment, this judgment is only for those who are saved. All of the things we have done after salvation will be evaluated and brought before the judgment seat of Christ. There is some debate as to when this judgment will happen. Some say that it happens right when we die, but more than likely it will happen after the rapture of the church because your influence, though no one may remember your name will go on past your life and into others. Like dominoes the first one falls but the effect of it still goes on. We will be judged for what happens to those who we have influenced even after our lives are done, therefore it makes sense that this judgment will be after the rapture, when the dead in Christ will rise first and meet us in the air and while there will be tribulation on earth, our works will be judged before the judgment seat of Christ. So it wouldn't make sense to judge your works when the effect of your works are still living on past you.
Think of Charles Spurgeon, John Bunyan, Johnathan Edwards, A.W. Tozer, Leonard Ravenhill, reformers like John Calvin, John Wesley, and of course Martin Luther, their quotes and sermons are still encouraging, teaching, informing and inspiring people today. Consider the great missionaries like Adoniram Judson, Hudson Taylor, David Livingstone and the effect of their lives are still being felt in those countries where they devoted their time and labor. Or even those like John Newton who wrote the hymn Amazing Grace, how often do we still feel the power of the Holy Spirit in that song? Or Sabine Bearing-Gould who was thinking of a simple song for the children to sing at his church and we still sing it today “Onward Christian soldiers” that song was chosen by Winston Churchill to be sung at the signing of the Atlantic Charter. When they wrote those songs they had no idea that they would be cherished so much. You see all of our influences live past us so we must wait until after the rapture for all our works to be fully considered.
What type of works will you be judged for? Everything you did after being saved will be judged at the Bema seat. We read about it again in I Corinthians 3:11-15:
“For no man can lay a foundation other than the one which is laid, which is in Jesus Christ. If any man builds on this foundation using gold, silver, costly stones, wood, hay, or straw, his work will be shown for what it is, because the day will bring it to light. It will be revealed with fire, and the fire will test the quality of each man's work. If what he has built survives he will receive a reward. If it is burned up, he will suffer loss; he himself will be saved, but only as one escaping through the flames.”
I Cor. 3:11- 15
If you have forever trusted in Christ and his work on the cross to save you then you are eternally secure from hell, but some people say “Well hallelujah I'm saved! Now I'm just going to keep sinning and sit back and take it easy and ride life's train to glory.” I should warn you that God will never condemn sin in the sinner and condone it in the believer. So He may be saved but only as one escaping the fires of hell but his works burned up and wont benefit him in eternity in Heaven. What causes one work to be burned up and another not?
We read two types of materials. 3 are good and 3 are bad.
The gold, silver, and costly stones are the good works that we all want to be judged on that day. Just like any metal or stones, whenever these works go into the pressure cooker of God's holy judgment they do not burn. Like Shadrach, Meshach and Abed-nego that survive the fiery furnace, these good works come out tried and proven for the glory of God. The secret works of Christlike devotion and the hidden acts of obedience when no one saw but God will finally be rewarded. There was no one around to give you a pat on the back for handing a homeless man some money. No one offered to pay you for helping out one that you loved, you volunteered because you thought of them before yourself. No one saw the secret struggles you had with those inner demons of jealousy, rage, greed, lust, resentment, and bitterness and you resisted Satan's temptation; no one knew but God when you obediently denied the flesh . . for his glory; and with a smile, God has never forgot. When you wept for someone else's pain and not your own, he was counting your tears as precious stones and putting them to your credit in the bank of Heaven. That one act of righteous anger when others mistreated your savior, you rushed to his defense, will go through the fire and be like silver as bright as lightning, and the time you loved when others hated you, the time you forgave in the name of Christ all those who hurt you, abused you, took advantage of you; those will be like the warm and subtle beauty of Gold at the judgment seat of Christ.
This is the wonderful moment when we will receive our crowns if we earned them. Our works do not save us but they will be rewarded if they are done with the right spirit and some will receive the crown of righteousness (2 Tim. 4:8) for those who lived expectantly and loved his appearing, this crown is for those who are anxiously hoping and praying for the return of the Lord and are found this way at his return. Some others will receive the incorruptible crown, (I Cor. 9:25-27) given to those who were faithful and endured sacrifices of self-denial for him. There will be Christians who will win the crown of rejoicing, (I Thess. 2:19,20) these are the soul winners, those who have won others to the Lord. There will also be the crown of glory (1 Peter 5:1-4) the shepherds crown or some call it the undershepherds crown that is the Elders of the church, those who attend to the needs of the tormented, sick, grieved, or troubled. And finally some Christians will receive the crown of life, (James 1:12) This is the sufferer's crown given to all who have endured testing, trials, persecution, even death. Those who are martyred receive this crown. Such as Plycarp, Huss, and Ignatious.
What a magnificent thought. This is why Jesus said in Matthew 6:19-21 “Do not store treasures on earth, where moths and vermin destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys, and where thieves do not break in and steal, for where your treasure is there your heart will be also.” unfortunately some Christians hearts are only in the moment and only on earth and we read about the second group of works that will be judged on that day
There will be the works of wood, hay, and straw. Where metal and precious stones do not burn, hay wood and straw burn very easily and quickly. Whereas Gold, Silver, and costly stones are valuable, hay, wood, and straw are worthless. Job describes the wicked in Job 21:18: “stubble before the wind, and as chaff that the storm carrieth away.” There is no weight to these works and just as they, themselves flutter and float through life with little substance, so will their works. Time eventually carries away their life just as wind carries away the chaff with little or nothing to show for it. Hay speaks of worthless service. Like the large bags of leaves to be taken to the organic land fill, these works appear showy and bulky, but they don't cost anything in terms of service or sacrifice and are good for nothing more than to be hauled away. There was an episode of Little house on the prairie, when Laura and her friend thought they had found a bunch of gold in the creek and they skipped school to collect it, all the time having dreams of helping their families and living the rich man's life and when they finally took their treasure to the local bank, the banker regretfully informed them that what they had collected was 'fools gold'. I feel bad for anyone who may think their treasure in heaven will be worth something it isn't. Some think their works will bring abundant treasure, when in reality the only thing it will be good for is being burned.
These works signify the tasks which are done with selfish motives in mind. Like the hypocrite who disfigured his face so everyone would know that he was fasting, Jesus said he received his reward, he wanted the praise of men and He got it, but if that work were to make it before the Judgment Seat of Christ it would burn faster than dried out straw.
Christians will be judged concerning their doctrines, their conduct to others, their carnal traits, their words, the things they did that affect others, the things that affect themselves, and the things that affect God. Adrian Rogers appropriately said “the day of judgment will be a day when all of the skeletons will come out of the closets! And each of us will be standing there to face the record.” All of those things we did in secret that we thought no one knew or would care about. Maybe even things we ourselves have long forgotten about or never realized we did, all of those things you secretly hid from your husbands and wives, those acts of disobedience you hid from your parents at a friends house as a teenager, the promiscuous behavior of your youth, the things you did overseas when you served in the Navy perhaps, the secret affair you had and thought time had covered it up. The animosity you have toward other people and the mean things you said about them when they were not around. Or what we think are just “small things”, like taking the LORD's name in vain “You shall not misuse the name of the Lord for he will not hold anyone guiltless who misuses his name.” Ex. 20:7 and Jesus said “But I tell you that everyone will have to give account on the day of judgment for every idle word they have spoken.” Matthew 12:36 Every spiteful comment, every insult, every piece of gossip, every irreverent joke, every broken promise or contemptuous and idle word spoken will have to be accounted for. All the neglected opportunities, your gifts and talents wasted, your loose living, lack of spirituality, your dishonesty, disobedience, cruelty and failure to cooperate and yield to the Holy Spirit will go before the judgment seat of Christ.
I Corinthians 4:5 says “Therefore judge nothing before the appointed time; wait until the Lord comes. He will bring to light what is hidden in darkness and will expose the motives of the heart. At that time each will receive their praise from God.”
Those whose works are like hay, wood, and straw may have built their house upon a rock of Jesus but they built a very poor house on top of it. They didn't learn the lesson of the 3 little pigs that we all remember as children that you can't build your house out of straw and sticks when there is a big bad wolf in the woods that has the wind to knock it down. Matthew Henry said “Let's not dare to join a merely human or carnal life with a Divine faith,” Let's not build our lives of light and empty works on the foundation of Jesus; that will just burn up when Jesus himself tests it.
Evangelist Joseph Clark said “what a dreadful experience it will be to see one's so-called service for God go up in flames and then to have the unutterable shame of picking up the charred embers of a careless, worthless, useless life and press them into the pierced hands of our Master.”
What a shame it would be to get to heaven saved and stand before the one who saved us, helped us, encouraged us, and we might see all of those times when He was blessing, serving, and protecting us and we have nothing, absolutely nothing that will survive his testing judgment. It is our goal to have works worthy to be gold, silver, and precious stones - This is a judgment that we all should look forward to. This is the time that all of our Christian efforts will finally be rewarded. This is the time when the roll will be called up yonder and all our works on earth are done. This is the time when we get to lay it all at the Savior's feet before we enter into eternal paradise.
Transition: If the Bema seat was for the judge to see who the winners and losers were then you at least had to be in the game. This next group never qualified because they never registered to get in the race. It's important not to confuse the Bema seat judgment with the Great White Throne judgments.
The Great White Throne Judgment
“Then I saw a great white throne and him who was seated on it. Earth and sky fled from his presence, and there was no place for them. And I saw the dead, great and small, standing before the throne, and books were opened. Another book was opened, which is the book of life. The dead were judged according to what they had done as recorded in the books. The sea gave up the dead that were in it, and death and Hades gave up the dead that were in them, and each person was judged according to what he had done. Then death and Hades were thrown into the lake of fire. The lake of fire is the second death, If anyone's name was not found written in the book of life, he was thrown into the lake of fire.” Rev. 20:11-14
Let's first look at who this judgment is set for? It is for those who didn't get raptured and weren't converted during the tribulation reign of the Antichrist after the rapture. Sometimes even saved people might mention the great white throne in a very flattering way. Adrian Rogers pointed out that some people might innocently pray: “Oh Lord, Please grant that one day we might stand before your glorious white throne!” He then said “Don't pray that for me! And don't pray it for your self if you know anything about the Bible.” Because the Great White Throne mentioned in the book of Revelation is for all those who rejected Christ. You do not want to be at this judgment. If you find yourself at this judgment there is no hope for you. Those who stand before the Great White Throne are eternally damned.
There are many fools in the world that think of the possibility of there being a God and they think “If there happens to be a God I will talk my way out of hell and into heaven.” They think that since they were able to get everything on earth this way they will do the same in heaven. But the Great White Throne judgment damnation is already set. It is a mere formality. All those in hell will be called up to the heavenly courts after the millennium and will be judged.
The common question is “Why bring people out of hell just to put them back in?” First of all, hell and the lake of fire are separate things. Those who reject Christ as their Lord and savior and then die are in a holding space called Hades. Think of it this way if you are arrested for a crime you are indicted by a grand jury and because you are so dangerous there is no bond so you go into the county jail and you are held captive there until you get your day in court where the judge moves you to the prison. Hades is the jail cell that holds you until God sends you to the lake of fire.
Secondly, Everyone must face the record. Everyone must see that God is fair. Everyone must understand why they are being punished for their sins. God will not allow them to carry the thought with them in eternity that He was unkind, unfair, unjust God who never gave them a chance, they will see how they had multiple chances and multiple opportunities and they will see how it was their own sin that condemned them. Some might want to throw themselves upon the mercy of the court but it will be too late then. Mercy is for right now. You are living in the age of mercy and grace now. That is why we should ask the Lord to come into our hearts today.
Every man both sinner and saint must face judgment. I would rather face it as a believer before the Bema seat than as a sinner before the Great White Throne. The difference is they stand before Jesus as a criminal, where we stand before him as his bride. He will judge our works as a follower, at the Judgment seat, but he will judge their lives as an unrepentant sinner at the Great White Throne
Who is the judge at these judgments? It is Jesus. You might think “I thought Jesus is the savior.” He is. But he is the judge as well. John 5:22 “The Father judgeth no man, but hath committed ALL judgment unto the son.” And there is no bribing this judge. Some filthy rich people may have been able to buy their way out of trouble on earth but the record will not allow this Holy judge to do it.
Conclusion: Jesus will be the judge! It won't be your church. It won't be your mother. It won't be your friends. It will be Jesus Christ! You will meet Jesus either as a lamb or as a lion. You will meet him in salvation as the lamb of God or you will meet him in judgment as the Lion of Judah. As surely as the sun rises, someday YOU WILL MEET JESUS. Jesus said “No man can see the kingdom of God unless they are born again.”
He desires to see you at the Bema seat. He wants you to follow him. He wants you to make it to heaven and be with him forever. It is never his desire to judge anyone at the Great White Throne, He gives you a chance today. He wants you to receive those heavenly treasures, He even said so. He wants you to live in paradise with him, so much so, that He even died a miserable humiliating death to make it happen!
If you don't have Christ as your Lord and savior this morning it takes nothing more than to ask him to save you. It isn't complicated, He hears the hearts of the sincere and he will hear yours.
