Stewardship and the Judgement Seat of Christ

important subject. It's really an almost overwhelming subject, a very sobering subject to think about, the judgment seat of Christ. And I want to turn with you first of all to Romans chapter 14.

Romans chapter 14, and if anyone doesn't have one there are outlines at the back that you can look at that will give you an idea of the passages that we're looking at and some of the thoughts involved in it. Romans chapter 14, now the subject of the chapter is issues of conscience and personal freedom as Christians and it says in verse 4, who art thou or who are you that judges another man's servant? To his own master he stands or falls, yea he shall be holden up or held up for God is able to make him stand. Drop down to verse 10, but why dost thou judge thy brother? Or why dost 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 account of himself to God. Let us not therefore judge one another anymore but judge this rather that no one put a stumbling block or an occasion to fall in his brother's way.

I'm going to read some of the other passages as well because we have to sort of look at these together. Let's go then to 1st Corinthians chapter 3. 1st Corinthians chapter 3, now the subject of this chapter is really the establishing of the assembly in Corinth and the work involved in establishing it and developing the Christians. It's looked at as a picture of a cultivated field and then as a building in verse 9. We are laborers together with God you are God's husbandry or like a cultivated field you are God's building.

According to the grace of God which is given unto me as a wise master builder I have laid the foundation and another builds thereon but let every man take heed how he builds thereupon for other foundation can no man lay than that is laid which is Jesus Christ. Now if any man build upon this foundation gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, stubble, 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 or remain which he has built thereupon 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. Chapter 4 in verse 1, let a man so account of us as of the ministers of Christ and stewards of the mysteries of God. Moreover it is required in stewards that a man be found faithful but with me it is a very small thing that I should be judged of you or by you or of man's judgment.

Yea, I judge not my own self for I know nothing by myself or that is about myself negatively yet am I not hereby justified but he that judges me is the Lord. Therefore judge nothing before the time until the Lord come who both will bring to light the hidden things of darkness and will make manifest the counsels of the hearts and then shall every man have praise of or from God. Now let's turn over again to 2nd Corinthians chapter 5. 2nd Corinthians chapter 5. Now Paul has been speaking about the fact of suffering affliction at the end of chapter 4 and he mentions the possibility of death at the beginning of chapter 5 and he speaks about the prospect of being with the Lord and let's notice verse 8 where he says we are confident I say and willing rather to be absent from the body and to be present with the Lord.

Now that expression literally means at home with the Lord. Wherefore we labor that whether present or absent we may be accepted of him or that is well pleasing to him 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 has 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 I trust also are made manifest in your consciences.

Now if you can handle another verse or two let's go over to Colossians chapter 3 where we have another brief reference to the idea of service and reward. Colossians chapter 3 has been taking up relationships among Christians and then our natural relationships of wife and husband of children and parents and then servants and masters and verse 23 it says and whatever you do do it heartily as to the Lord and not unto men knowing that of the Lord you shall receive the reward of the inheritance for you serve the Lord Christ but he that doeth wrong shall receive for the wrong which he has done and there is no respect of persons. And then chapter 4 and 1 says masters give unto your servants that which is just and equal knowing that you also have a master in heaven.

Now one final little spot in 1st Timothy chapter 5, 1st Timothy chapter 5 in the context of this section is of appointing elders and recognizing men who are worthy to lead the people of God in service and one of the cautions that he mentions is down in verse 24 and 25 where he says some men's sins are open beforehand going before to judgment some men may follow after likewise also the good works of some are manifest beforehand and they that are otherwise cannot be hid. Now if you look at the outline for a moment you'll see that I have tried to sort out the different aspects of the judgment seat of Christ in this way. You could call the judgment seat of Christ the steward's accounting day.

As I said at the beginning of this series a steward is simply a manager and a manager has something or some facet of a business or sometimes it's even property entrusted to him to take care of and the owner has put it in his hands left him with the responsibility and he's accountable to that owner for his care of what has been entrusted to him and so that is the basic concept that is involved and it's really teaching us that those who have come to know Christ have become Christians. The Lord has actually hired us for the rest of our life. You know we should be working for nothing because he has rescued us from destruction.

He has saved us. We're never going to be in hell. We're never going to have to face the penalty, the consequence of our iniquity.

We're cleared. We're justified. There's amazing things told us about what Christ has done for us on the cross of Calvary.

Now when we think about our lives, our lives now are to be lived for him. Now that's logical, isn't it? But he is not only using us to serve him, he's going to pay us. He's going to reward us.

So that idea is taught over and over again in the New Testament but yet we are accountable to him and I want to make some important distinctions because I think this is one area of truth that I have at least noticed the most confusion and conflicting opinions among Christians about what is really involved at the judgment seat of Christ and I have read a lot of verses tonight and then we're going to kind of try to go back over them and pick up the key ideas. So tonight I want you to think about, as we have in the introduction, who is going to be at the judgment seat of Christ, when it's going to take place, where it's going to take place and why, and then the accountability, the accountability that we have to the Lord. And I'm going to spend most of the time on that actually and then part B is the evaluation, the divine assessment.

And what measuring sticks is the Lord going to use in evaluating our service to him? Now, Lord willing, tomorrow night I'm going to take up the reward and first of all what he will be rewarding us for, what things are we doing now that he will reward us for, and then secondarily what the reward will consist of. And I know you don't really want to find out about the loss and what there will be loss for but really you can see it basically from the outline what is involved in that and I might have opportunity to touch on that a little bit. And finally, the final outcome of the judgment seat of Christ is the placement in his kingdom.

Now one perspective that I like to use to help Christians think about what is really intended in the judgment seat of Christ is simply to think of the judgment seat of Christ as promotion day. The Lord has an eternal kingdom. He is going to rule over all things.

The world doesn't know it yet but it's going to happen. And we're actually going to be involved with the Lord in his kingdom in a thousand-year millennial reign as it's called and then for the ages upon ages to come. And he wants to be able to entrust us with part of his kingdom.

So our lives now are actually like a probationary apprenticeship where we are being trained for the kingdom of God for the ages to come. And the judgment seat of Christ is going to be his assessment of our Christian life here and how we will be fitted to be his servants and to glorify him in the kingdom for the ages to come. That is really I think the true context that is involved in it.

So then the first question is who's going to be there? Well from Romans chapter 14 and from these other passages it's very very obvious every Christian is going to be at the judgment seat of Christ. Why do I specify every Christian? Well very simply if you were just to look at this chart behind me here and way up at the top you see judgment seat of Christ. There's another judgment way over here called the judgment of the great white throne.

Those are two totally different judgments. The judgment seat of Christ belongs only to Christians who have been saved by the grace of God and when we are standing before the Lord Jesus to be reviewed and assessed we are going to be reviewed and assessed as his servants. We are going to be looking into the eyes of our Savior and our Lord and we are going to know that every sin that we have ever been guilty of he has paid the penalty at the cross.

If there was one sin still outstanding that we would be legally accountable for when we were in his presence we would have to be cast into the lake of fire but we'll never be there because of his grace in dying for us bearing our judgment. My accountability at the judgment seat of Christ is a moral accountability as an employee to an employer as a servant to his master not as a sinner before God to be judged and punished. When we come and we think about the judgment that is called the great white throne that is for those who have never accepted the Savior and who finally at the end of all the ages if they have died and gone to hell they will be raised out of death.

They will be brought before the eternal God and the Lord Jesus will be that one on that great white throne and all those who come before him at the great white throne their destiny is already known. It's the eternal lake of fire. They also will be judged according to their works but there will be no mercy or grace shown to them because they have despised the Savior who could have delivered them from judgment.

So there are two completely contrasting judgments. Now looking for a moment at Romans chapter 14 maybe I should just go over with you some of these terms that are that are used. In Romans chapter 14 the term is give account.

Verse 12 so then every one of us shall give account of himself of himself to God and this is really teaching us the uselessness of us evaluating one another. You know it's amazing what insight we have when we're looking at each other. We know what each other should be doing.

We know how faithful one another is. We seem to have great insight in what each other should be doing for the Lord but this is emphasizing that each one of us will give an account of himself. I will have to explain the reasons for my life as a Christian, why I have permitted the things that I have, the motives of my life.

I will give an account as a steward to God concerning myself. Now what we have emphasized over in 1st Corinthians 4 is actually the idea of when this is going to happen. There again the Apostle says I want you to account of me as a steward of God.

Recognize that I have a responsibility to God to teach the Word of God, to communicate the truth of God. He was a steward of the mysteries of God but he says it's actually a very very small thing with me to be judged by you. Now that's kind of blunt isn't it? Whatever you think of my service he says doesn't matter too much.

In fact he says I don't even judge myself. Now what is he getting at here? Are we not supposed to judge our lives? Well of course we're to judge wrong and to turn away from it but this is to assess, evaluate my service before God. I can't even assess my own service.

I am not competent to even analyze and assess my own service before God. But what he does say is this, judge nothing before the time until the Lord come. So in other words the judgment seat of Christ is not going to take place until the Lord comes.

And so I believe according relating other scriptures that following what we call the rapture when we are caught up to meet the Lord we are taken into heaven into what is called the Father's house and we will be there evaluated and assessed in the Lord's presence. So one thing to understand we will already have been brought into his presence we will already be in heaven. So the issue of going to heaven or not will not be an issue there we will already be in his presence.

The issue involved will be our service and his evaluation of it and his reward of it. But notice some of the significant things that he says here. He says don't judge before the time until the Lord come who both will bring to light the hidden things of darkness and will make manifest the counsels of the hearts.

I want to ask you a few questions. Who is he going to bring it to light to? Who is he going to make it manifest for? Again relating 2nd Corinthians chapter 5 where he says we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ it's actually the same expression again we must all be manifested. What does it mean to be manifested? Well it really means to be revealed, to be brought out into the open, to be made public.

And if there's one thing that I find very odd in much of what I have heard of some of my good brethren who have given teaching on the judgment seat of Christ is that in fact I just in the last couple of years I heard a brother talking about the judgment seat of Christ and he said it's going to be personal and private between myself and the Lord. Well that's exactly what it's not. All of these passages teach the principle of it being exposed, of made manifest, of being revealed.

He will bring to light the hidden things of darkness. Does that sound like a secret little meeting with the Lord? Not at all. We are, as 2nd Corinthians chapter 5 teaches, Paul says we are made manifest unto God.

I'm already perfectly exposed to God. I'm already an open book to him. So what does it mean that he is going to make us manifest in his presence? It's actually going to be manifest in front of all the saints.

There's some important reasons for this and I really want to try to relate all of this together and hopefully I can make it understandable. The word that we've often heard used for the judgment seat of Christ, I'm sure you've heard the term the bima. Well that's just the Greek term.

It doesn't explain anything. It's just the word, bima. It's the same word that was used for the Olympics and the judges would sit on an elevated platform.

That's really what the word means, this elevated platform. And they would watch the participants as they're running the races and as they're whatever activity they're doing. The judges would be there watching.

They're watching, evaluating. And then at the end of the race, then there is the crowning of the ones who have won, the victors. It is public.

It is a public honor. And if there has been a disqualification, that's also public before all. I still remember the day when all the Canadians were rejoicing in an athlete over in Japan who had won the 100 meters.

His name was Ben Johnson. I don't know if that name means anything to you. He was the hero in Canada for about 48 hours.

He broke a world record in the 100 meters until his test proved that he'd been taking some kind of anabolic steroid. He was coming home from Japan on the plane when it all came public. And he came home, instead of to glory and honor, he came home to disgrace.

We all must appear before the judgment seat of Christ. We are all going to be manifested before the judgment seat of Christ. And these expressions that are used in all of these passages do not give me any option but to understand that when I have been assessed and reviewed before the presence of the Lord, you will know me as I really am.

I will not carry any false reputation. I will not carry any false honor into his kingdom. He will manifest.

He will bring out to light what is true, what is real, what is of God in my life. And what is not, what was not worthy of his name and service will be judged, disapproved, and it will be removed. And so there will be this evaluation and assessment and so this accountability and the terms that are used here are very, very important for us to grasp.

So in 1 Corinthians 4, when he says this, he says don't bother judging today. Wait. Wait until the Lord comes.

He will bring to light the hidden things of darkness. He will make manifest the counsels of the heart. And then you will have a true assessment.

You know, I think this is going to be an awesome, amazing time in God's presence. I believe that the judgment seat of Christ is going to be the ultimate reality. It is going to be the ultimate expression of grace and truth.

Now I have to, in being faithful to you and to the Word of God, I have to be faithful to tell you about the truth side so that we confront that reality. But I also want you to appreciate the grace side that is involved in it. The truth side is this.

He is the God of truth, the God of reality, and it is impossible for anything that is false to pass by his scrutiny, his examination, and ever go into his kingdom and be allowed to remain. Only what is worthy of him will ever be allowed in his kingdom, forever and ever. And that is what the Apostle Paul consciously geared his life towards.

Now if you go through 2nd Corinthians, it's a very, very deep, almost agonizing epistle. As Paul seeks to convey to the Christians at Corinth his true heart in his love and care for them, and he makes a number of statements that emphasizes that he consciously sought to live his Christian life in the sight of God. In 2nd Corinthians 2 and verse 17, he says, we are not as many who corrupt the Word of God, but as of sincerity, but as of God.

So I better read that, quote that again because I'm not getting it quite right. 2nd Corinthians 2 and 17, for we are not as many which corrupt the Word of God, but as of sincerity, but as of God. In the sight of God speak we in Christ.

And in the chapter 4, he makes a similar statement where he says this, verse 2, we have renounced the hidden things of dishonesty, not walking in craftiness, nor handling the Word of God deceitfully, but by manifestation of the truth, commending ourselves to every man's conscience in the sight of God. In other words, he is saying, I am seeking to live my life personally and to teach the Word of God consciously as being in his presence. I am seeking to live as in the presence of God, in the sight of God.

And that makes perfect sense when you think of this final ultimate reality that we are going to be brought into that divine presence and our life as Christians is going to be manifested, revealed in his presence. So the key terms that we have as give account, as stewards, made manifest, revealed, and then another one is the word receive. And that's emphasized in 2nd Corinthians 5 and also in Colossians chapter 3 where it says, 2nd Corinthians 5, for we must all appear, and again that's we must all be made manifest before the judgment seat of Christ, that everyone may receive the things done in his body according to that he has done, whether it be good or bad.

The word to receive here means to receive back as a reward, as a recompense. So how does this work? Why is all of this so necessary and so important? Well I'm going to try to take you through a few suggestions and again let me just make, again so I hope you're perfectly clear on the distinction between salvation and service in relation to the issue of judgment upon ourselves. As to salvation, let me give you a few verses.

In Acts chapter 13 we are told that those who believe in Christ are justified from all things from which we could not be justified by the law of Moses. To be justified is to be legally cleared. There will not be one legal charge of guilt upon us.

That's a very important reality. Romans 8 and 1 teaches us there is therefore now no condemnation to them who are in Christ Jesus. Again that is no legal condemnation concerning sin in any sense.

Another very precious verse is found in Hebrews 8 and 12 where it says, and this is the terms of the new covenant, their sins and their iniquities will I remember no more. Again that is really in the sense of a legal accountability. Don't ever imagine that God has forgotten anything, but what it means is I will not remember them against you anymore.

What a wonderful promise. Their sins and their iniquities will I remember no more. Now some have thought because of a verse like this, and I have heard it taught by some of our very best preachers, so I'm being honest with you tonight that not everybody agrees with what I'm saying, that there will be absolutely no mention of sin or failure at the judgment seat of Christ.

And they go to verses like this to prove it. I think they're simply mistaking two things that are completely distinct. As to sin judicially, legally, before God, that has been settled.

If there was even one sin, I would be hurled from his presence into everlasting fire. That would be where I would belong. But in the mercy of God, that will never be.

And so legal accountability concerning sin is forever settled. That does not deny the reality that my whole Christian life is going to be assessed, not as to legal accountability of judgment of sin, but as to its worthlessness, as to its value as service. And I will give account.

And these verses, as far as I can see, do not give me the option of imagining that somehow anything negative is just going to be passed over in silence, and then only positive comments are going to be made. Only positive assessment will be given. Let's appreciate what God has said in direct passages relating to the subject.

And so, very, very simply, nobody gets away with anything. There will not be any inequality. And let me just take you to 1 Timothy chapter 5 and the verses that are given there to appreciate this sense that is given.

1 Timothy 5 verses 24 and 25, where he says, some men's sins are open beforehand, going before to judgment. Some men, they follow after. Likewise, also the good works of some are manifest beforehand.

They that are otherwise cannot be hid. Now that is true to a certain extent here in this life. But there are people who have done things for God and no one else has ever heard about it.

No one else knows about it here in this life. While somebody else may have done the very same kind of service, but everybody's heard about it. And you know how you say, often when I'm just, I go, you know, because I travel around different assemblies and so on, I'll hear, oh, he's a good brother.

She's a great sister. Well, they must have a reason for that opinion. Well, it's because of what they know about them.

It's because of what they've heard about them. And so a reputation travels much farther than our little local sphere, and we get to hear about one another. But it's all very incomplete, very unequal.

Everything is going to be equalized in that presence of the Lord. Everything that has ever been done for the Lord is going to be brought out into display, and we are all going to get to see and to hear the Lord's appreciation, the Lord's approval, the Lord's honor of that brother or that sister for their life. And our appreciation is going to be raised to the level of his appreciation for that brother and sister.

You see, the judgment seat of Christ is going to draw us into harmony in the mind of God, in our appreciation of one another. And the sober counterpart that these passages also teach us, that even if there is something that has been carefully hidden from the eyes of other people, it's going to be exposed. It's going to be brought out, and his disapproval is going to be expressed.

And we will recognize that the Lord is righteous in his dealings. There is no one who is going to, in eternity, be able to say, there's that fellow over there, he got away with murder. Here he is in an honored place in the kingdom, and, you know, no one ever found out what he did.

None of that will be possible. The Lord is, in all ways, the God of truth, the God of reality. We must acknowledge that.

We must recognize that. And the more that we can live our lives today in the simplicity of this awesome reality, we live before him. We live in the light of his presence.

And I'm going to just relate together another verse that is connected to this, in a sense, in 1st Corinthians chapter 6, in the context, in a totally different context, where he says, he that is joined to the Lord is one spirit. Each one of us who are saved have been united to Christ. He has shared every moment of our Christian life.

In a sense, it's going to be like standing with the Lord and having him go back over the experience of our life as Christian, and we will experience his approval, his disapproval, of what has been in that life. Now, I've been emphasizing this because I think it needs to be emphasized, that we would grasp that tremendous reality of our complete, total accountability to the one who is truly Lord of my life, Lord of your life. And the judgment seat of Christ will certainly establish that absolute Lordship, an absolute accountability to him.

Now, I know that this is what many Christians find the most difficult to accept or to take in, in relation to the judgment seat of Christ. Why must things that are failures be brought up and dealt with at the judgment seat of Christ? Let me give you at least three valid reasons that I believe that they must be, even if we have acknowledged them and repented of them here on earth. First, in the first case, everything that we have done that is called bad or wrong or sin, according to these verses that have been given here, it must be assessed and judged as to its harm, its dishonor to his name that it has caused.

So it's not just a matter of me confessing my sin and it being forgiven, and then that's the end of every consequence of that sin. Thank God for forgiveness. But just like the experience of King David back in the Old Testament, the moment that he acknowledged his transgression, he was forgiven.

But there were still consequences that went on in his kingdom as an outflow of the evil that he committed as a king of Israel. And that is on public record, that is a sobering example for us to remember. But then also, the very fact of the manifestation itself is a significant part of the reward.

And you notice in 2nd Corinthians 5, that's how it is actually expressed, where it says, for we must all be manifested before the judgment seat of Christ that everyone may receive the things done in the body, according to that he has done, whether it be good or bad. And just as I said, we hear something good about somebody, and what happens? Well, our estimation, our appreciation of that person goes up. We hear something negative about a person, it may not even be true, but our estimation of that person goes down.

And so the manifestation of our life will bring its own reward. Isn't that right? You do something noble, you do something honorable, and it becomes known. That knowledge brings honor.

You do something stupid, wrong, foolish, harmful, that becomes known. Your reputation takes a nosedive. Everything we do brings its own recompense.

And in one sense, the Lord's manifestation in his presence is simply making everything carry its own reward. So that's a very important aspect of it. But then a third aspect, and this is where I want to emphasize the grace of God, and the reality that in every one of our lives, the grace of God has been at work from the moment we put our trust in Christ.

You know, you could maybe, in your more cynical moments, blame God for failures as a Christian, and say, well look, the Lord could have taken away evil and made me perfect when he saved me. He's going to make me perfect, why didn't he do it at the start? Well, it's a good question, isn't it? Life would be a lot easier. Our testimonies would be flawless.

There would be no question of the power of the gospel if every Christian lived an absolutely holy, perfect, flawless Christian life. But God hasn't chosen to do that. He has left us with a presence, a power of evil, until the day that we're changed.

But he has given us his grace. He has given us his spirit, and there is a power to overcome sin. And in one very wonderful way, the judgment seat of Christ is going to be the story of his grace in our life, as it has overcome that which once controlled our lives.

And so yes, it is vital that you deal with and respond to the challenges of the Christian life. And in the measure that you and I respond to the grace of God at work in our life, we will be honored in his presence. And the overcoming of sin, and I think really there will be that recognition as the record of our life is unrolled in his presence, that there will be, in a sense, the final outcome of that in each life will be appreciation and worship to the Lord Jesus for the triumph of his workmanship, the triumph of his grace in taking this person, with all that their sin has done in their life, and transforming them into his likeness in his presence.

And so at the conclusion of the judgment seat of experience for each believer, I believe there will arise worship and honor to the Lord for his grace manifested in that life. Now, I have labored on that. Hopefully it hasn't been over labored.

I promise you that tomorrow night will be more encouraging, because I want to focus tomorrow night on the things that he will reward us for. And it is simply astounding to realize that virtually everything in our whole Christian life is going to be part of the reward. But I want to just spend a few moments looking at part B, which is evaluation, the divine assessment, and what measuring sticks will he use.

Now, I'm not going to be able to really cover it very well because of the time, but in Matthew chapter 7 and James chapter 2, there's a warning for us not to be critical. Matthew 7 says, judge not that you be not judged, for with what measure you meet or you measure out, it will be measured to you again. In James chapter 2, I'll just read that passage, it says here, verse 12, so speak ye and so do as they that shall be judged by the law of liberty, for he shall have judgment without mercy that has shown no mercy, and mercy rejoices against judgment.

Now, these verses teach me to be gracious to fellow Christians. If I carry a hard, critical, judgmental attitude to fellow Christians, I am inviting the Lord to be hard on me. That's a very sobering thing.

If you knew that you were making your own measuring stick for how you are going to be measured in his presence, would that change how you evaluate others? Would that make you slow to give the harshest construction on their behavior? Would you be willing rather to show some mercy in your evaluation? I hope we understand that every one of us will need his mercy in his presence. We will be there in his mercy, and we will need his mercy in his evaluation of our lives as Christians. He will be very merciful, he will be very gracious, but he wants us to remember that our behavior now, our judgment of one another now, creates a negative atmosphere for his dealings with us.

Now, the similar thing is found in Matthew 18, in verse 35, where we have the truth of forgiveness and the challenge that if we aren't willing to forgive one another, again, we invite his attitude towards us to be demanding of justice. And just as James chapter 2 teaches, mercy glories over judgment. You know, it's one thing to be fair, one thing to be just, one thing to demand justice.

It's another thing to go beyond justice and to show mercy. Let's go to Luke chapter 12, because this is a very important one. Luke chapter 12, this is in the context of stewards.

Left, and it's in view of the Lord's coming. Verse 42 says, the Lord said, who then is that faithful and wise steward whom his Lord shall make ruler over his household to give them their portion of meat in due season? Blessed is that servant whom his Lord, when he comes, shall find so doing. Of a truth I say he will make him ruler over all that he has.

This is a very important principle that will apply to us as well. In the measure that we are faithfully fulfilling our stewardship here, he correspondingly is going to give us a larger responsibility and authority in his kingdom. But the point I'm getting at is down in verse 47 and 48.

Contrast to the faithful servant, and that servant which knew his Lord's will and prepared not himself, neither did according to his will, shall be beaten with many stripes. But he that knew not, and did commit things worthy of stripes, shall be beaten with few stripes. For unto whomsoever much is given, of him shall be much required.

And to whom men have committed much of him they will ask the more. And what this is teaching is that his assessment of us individually will be according to our knowledge and according to our ability. Now just to relate this personally to myself, I was raised in a Christian home where the Bible was taught to me right from infancy.

I have been given every privilege of knowing the will of God, of knowing the truth of God. I have had teaching from my earliest memory in assembly meetings. I am, I recognize I am one of the most responsible people on earth.

A heritage of truth that I have known all my life. I am very accountable to the Lord for what I know and for the privileges that I have had to serve him. There may be another person who never had any kind of background in the knowledge of God and they might get saved.

They might have a very limited knowledge of God and his ways and so on. And so the Lord is going to evaluate and assess according to our responsibility, according to our knowledge and our privilege. Now there's two other verses that are also listed here, two other sections.

Of course the ultimate yardstick of judgment is his own character. He is the God of truth and Romans chapter 2 gives principles of judgment, not particularly related to the judgment seat of Christ, but just principles of judgment. We are sure that the judgment of God is according to truth.

God will judge every man's work without partiality, without respect of persons. So there will be no favoritism. It won't matter who your last name is.

It won't matter who you think you are, who I think I am. He will be impartial. He will be according to his standards.

Another important verse is 2 Timothy 2 and 5 where it talks again about the one who is striving in the athletic games is not crowned unless except he strive lawfully. That is according to the rules, according to the Word of God. And so really, especially if we have been familiar with the scriptures and have had opportunity to know the Word of God, we really should know what the terms of reference are going to be at the judgment seat of Christ.

It's going to be his word. Have we lived our Christian life according to his word? Have we taught the principles of God according to his word? Have we obeyed his truth? Those will be the terms of reference in the assessment. Shall we pray? Our Father, we would draw near to thee and give thanks to thee for the marvelous mercy that has come to us through the Lord Jesus Christ, that our sins and iniquities which should have caused us to be consigned to eternal judgment in hell and the lake of fire, we thank thee that by the mercy of God these can be forgiven and our destiny be heaven instead of hell.

We are grateful to thee to know that the Lord Jesus upon the cross became accountable for us and he died bearing the judgment that belongs to us. Our Father, as we consider our Christian life and this wonderful Savior who has become our Lord, we pray that we may recognize that we are moment by moment serving him. Help us to recognize that we are not to serve sin any longer, but we are to serve our blessed Lord.

Help us to recognize this great truth that is waiting for us, that we must all be manifested before his judgment seat. We look to thee that we might have faithfulness and truth in our hearts and be eager to serve, eager to please, that we might honor him, that he might find pleasure in our lives. We commit ourselves to thee tonight and pray that thou would help us to absorb, to take in, and to acknowledge the truth that has been committed in thy word to us.

We ask thee for this in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ. Amen.