This message was preached by Colin D'cruz at Word of Grace Church on March 18th, 2018. To listen/download the audio please click here. To listen to the Sunday's worship and prophetic contributions please click here.
In life you will find 2 kinds
of teachers. One kind wants to set difficult papers and their aim is to see
you falter and fail. They don’t want to see you succeed. They are trying to
trip you up. On the other hand there is a teacher who wants to see you succeed
exceedingly and gives you the paper at the beginning of the year, and
prepares you for everything. One day we will be evaluated by God himself. In
the Bible there are 7 different
judgements.
Revelation 20:11- 15 “Then
I saw a great white throne and him who was seated on it. The earth and the
heavens 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 they had done. Then death and
Hades were thrown into the lake of fire. The lake of fire is the second death.
Anyone whose name was not found written in the book of life was thrown into the
lake of fire.”
This is happening at the end of
time. Time is linear and it started in eternity past and one day Jesus will
come back. Books were open- there were 2 sets of books- one was the book of
life and there were other books. Every time we say something, think or do
something, God records it in these books.
Like in a court of law, it will
be read out. It will not be like any court on earth where justice is
perverted. God cannot be cheated. If you have trusted in Jesus, this
judgment is not for you. That is the Good News! If you have believed in Jesus
as God who rose from the dead our name is written in the Book of Life.
Q. What about Believers?
2 Corinthians 5:10- “For
we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each of us may
receive what is due us for the things done while in the body, whether good or
bad.” Here Paul is addressing believers. We have another judgement. We
must all appear before Christ.
Romans 14:10 “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.”
There are different judgements-
Judgement of the believer and the judgment of the unbeliever.
1. The
great white throne Judgement is not for us. If there is anyone who has not
put their trust in Jesus, today is the day of Salvation. No one comes to the
Father except through Him.
2. For
those who have put their trust in Him, God has justified us. The
righteousness of Jesus is credited to us. We are going to heaven because of
what Jesus has done.
3. We
still cannot live any which way we want to... we make it our desire to
please God. God’s love for us is unconditional. But we can please him or
displease him by how we live. 2 Corinthians 5:9 “So we make it
our goal to please him, whether we are at home in the body or away from it”.
Colossians 1:10 “so that you may live a life worthy of the Lord and
please him in every way: bearing fruit in every good work, growing in the
knowledge of God”.
At the end of our lives when
Jesus comes, He said Revelation 22: 12 ““Look, I am coming soon! My
reward is with me, and I will give to each person according to what they have
done.” Our salvation is free. But our rewards are given according to
what we have done.
We don’t like that word-
Judgement- because we are fearful of what we have done. It is not a judging
of our sins. Our sins have been judged on the cross. But this is like an
appraisal and evaluation. He is going to evaluate and give bonus’ to everyone
who has worked. The word of this Judgement seat “bima” is taken from the
victory stand at athletics. The Good News is that we will all get our turn.
Everyone will be rewarded. God wants to bless us, so we will stand before
this judgement seat of Christ- not to bring up our sin, it is dealt with, but
to reward us for the good things we do in obedience.
Q. If the next 24 hours of
your life will determine the next 100 years, how would you live?
How we live on earth will
determine our entire eternity. Jesus is the kind of teacher who wants us to
succeed and so he wants to show us how we can earn our rewards. 1
Corinthians 3: 1- 4 “Brothers and sisters, I could not address you as
people who live by the Spirit but as people who are still worldly—mere infants
in Christ. I gave you milk, not solid food, for you were not yet ready for it.
Indeed, you are still not ready. You are still worldly. For since there is jealousy
and quarreling among you, are you not worldly? Are you not acting like mere
humans? For when one says, “I follow Paul,” and another, “I follow Apollos,”
are you not mere human beings?”
There are 2 kinds of Christians- baby
Christians and mature Christians. Baby Christians are worldly, and can’t
handle solid food.
1 Corinthians 3: 5-9 “What,
after all, is Apollos? And what is Paul? Only servants, through whom you came
to believe—as the Lord has assigned to each his task. 6 I planted the seed,
Apollos watered it, but God has been making it grow. 7 So neither the one who
plants nor the one who waters is anything, but only God, who makes things grow.
8 The one who plants and the one who waters have one purpose, and they will
each be rewarded according to their own labor. 9 For we are co-workers in God’s
service; you are God’s field, God’s building.”
Paul is asking them to be united
because we are all God’s fellow workers and have a role to play. Each will be
rewarded.
1 Corinthians 3:10 “By
the grace God has given me, I laid a foundation as a wise builder, and someone
else is building on it.”
The foundation in a believers’
life is laid and each one has to be careful how he builds. The foundation
of our Christian walk is Jesus. Now we have a responsibility to build well.
1 Cor 3: 12-15 “If anyone builds on this foundation using
gold, silver, costly stones, wood, hay or straw, 13 their 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 person’s work. If what
has been built survives, the builder will receive a reward. If it is burned up,
the builder will suffer loss but yet will be saved—even though only as one
escaping through the flames.”
You are saved. Now God says,
build on what I have given you. Different measure has been given to each of us.
It will be revealed with fire. In our lives, that is what is going to happen.
At the judgment seat, how we lived our lives will be tested by fire.
How we live our lives is being
recorded. As we live, we are building a house. On that day, if it is burnt
up, we will escape from the house just as one escaping the fire. Paul is
encouraging them to live in such a way that we will get rewards. This is the
final exam.
One day our lives will be
evaluated.
1 Corinthians 3:16-17 “Don’t
you know that you yourselves are God’s temple and that God’s Spirit dwells in
your midst? 17 If anyone destroys God’s temple, God will destroy that person;
for God’s temple is sacred, and you together are that temple.”
God will judge not just our deeds
but the motives of their hearts. We may even do good things, but if the motive
is wrong, it is burnt up. We want to live in such a way that we are building
with gold, silver and precious stones. When we stand before that throne, there
is going to be a fair judgement. We will be individually judged.
1. Matthew
5:11-12 ““Blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you and
falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of me. Rejoice and be glad,
because great is your reward in heaven, for in the same way they persecuted the
prophets who were before you.”
Q. Have you faced injustice?
When that happens, you are
blessed, because our rewards will be great in heaven. We need to keep our
perspective.
Luke 14:12-14
2. Hospitality-
we can have friends who are similar to us. We invite them and enjoy each others
company. But invite those who cannot repay you back. When you do that,
you will be repaid at the resurrection of the righteous. It is so important to
extend hospitality to those who cannot repay you. Even a cup of cold water, a
meal, will give you eternal reward.
3. We
maybe in a situation where you are not being recognised and rewarded justly. Colossians
3:23-24 “Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for
the Lord, not for human masters, 24 since you know that you will receive an
inheritance from the Lord as a reward. It is the Lord Christ you are serving.”
You work faithfully for a horrible boss and do your job well. You may
not be rewarded in the company, but one day before the judgement seat of
Christ, you will be rewarded.
4. Matthew
6:6- Praying and fasting; giving
Jesus wants to reward you- that
is His heart. Ephesians 2:10 “For we are God’s handiwork, created in
Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.”
Our job is to ask God what are
the good works he has given for you to do. There is a whole list of good works.
We need to keep our eyes on the rewards. Matthew 16:27 “For the Son
of Man is going to come in his Father’s glory with his angels, and then he will
reward each person according to what they have done.”
Q. How did Paul live in view of all
this?
1 Corinthians 9:24- 27 “Do you not know that in a race all the
runners run, but only one gets the prize? Run in such a way as to get the
prize. Everyone who competes in the games goes into strict training. They do it
to get a crown that will not last, but we do it to get a crown that will last
forever. Therefore I do not run like someone running aimlessly; I do not fight
like a boxer beating the air. No, I strike a blow to my body and make it my
slave so that after I have preached to others, I myself will not be
disqualified for the prize.”
The Christian life is not a cake
walk, it is a race. It is a thing of endurance. We have to put in effort. We
have to train- not try. You will not lose your reward. For those who
are weary and tires, do not lose heart. If we persevere, we will receive a reward.
I pray that our mind will be
changed and we look at every opportunity to gain this reward. Let’s pray.
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