Standing Before Christ The Judge

Every man, woman, boy, & girl will one day stand before Christ, as judge, to give an account of his or her life. From this, there is no escape. The question is, “When?'

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Rev 20:11-15

11 And 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.

12 And I saw the dead, small and great, stand before God; and the books were opened: and another book was opened, 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.

13 And 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 works.

14 And death and hell were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death.

15 And whosoever was not found written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire. (KJV)

I) The Great White Throne Judgment

Only the wicked shall appear at this judgment. They will be judged for their rejection of Christ.

All of the works they've done, even for the Lord, cannot save them.

Matt 7:21-23

21 Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven.

22 Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? and in thy name have cast out devils? and in thy name done many wonderful works?

23 And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity. (KJV)

They never accepted the grace of God which brings Salvation through Faith in Christ.

Their fate – eternal separation from of in the lake of fire.

On the other hand, the believer will go to...

II) The Judgment Seat Of Christ

1 Cor 3:8-15

8 Now he that planteth and he that watereth are one: and every man shall receive his own reward according to his own labour.

9 For we are labourers together with God: ye are God's husbandry, ye are God's building.

10 According to the grace of God which is given unto me, as a wise masterbuilder, I have laid the foundation, and another buildeth thereon. But let every man take heed how he buildeth thereupon.

11 For other foundation can no man lay than that is laid, which is Jesus Christ.

12 Now if any man build upon this foundation gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, stubble;

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.

14 If any man's work abide which he hath built thereupon, he shall receive a reward.

15 If any man's work shall be burned, he shall suffer loss: but he himself shall be saved; yet so as by fire. (KJV)

The question that the believer must ask is, “Will I have anything to lay at His feet, or will I show up empty handed?”

Remember...

Eph 2:8-9

8 For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God:

9 Not of works, lest any man should boast. (KJV)

No, we're not saved by works. However, gratitude can be expressed through the actions, choices, & motives of our lives.

2 Cor 5:9-10

9 Wherefore we labour, that, whether present or absent, we may be accepted of him.

10 For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ; that every one may receive the things done in his body, according to that he hath done, whether it be good or bad.

(KJV)

Verse 9 in the NIV says, “So we make it our goal to please Him...”

Some have said, “Just so I miss the Great White Throne Judgment, I'll be okay.” or “If I just make it by the skin of my teeth, at least I made it.”

You Will Be Disappointed!!!

Francis A. Schaeffer said,

“We must never live in the perspective of this life alone, but should affirm that our present existence has a horizontal extension into a life to come.”

He continues...

“A Christian has only one foundation: Jesus Christ his Savior. And on that foundation he builds with either combustible or non-combustible material. I picture it as a great prairie fire which sweeps along burning everything in it's path. Suddenly it comes to a great rock, leaps up over it, and passes on. Everything on that rock which can be burned, the wood, hay, and stubble is consumed; everything that cannot be burned, the gold, silver, and precious stones stand for eternity. The Spirit inspired Paul to make it plain that this does not concern salvation. The building may be destroyed, but the builder still alive. The tragedy is that after we are born again, we can build upon the Rock, things that are going to be consumed, so that after we have stood before the Lord Jesus Christ as Judge we have little left.”