Doctrine of the Future Eternal Judgment [Judgment Seat of Christ]

The main idea of this information is that there will be a future judgment for both believers and non-believers. The judgment seat of Christ is specifically for those who have placed their faith in Jesus Christ. The judgment will be based on our works, not for salvation but for rewards. We will be judged on our attitude towards serving and our submission to authority. It is emphasized that we cannot lose our salvation, but we can suffer loss of rewards if our works are not up to standard. When we talk about the doctrine of the future and the eternal judgment, we're talking about the judgments that are going to come. And there are some other judgments that we're not going to mention and talk about, but these are the two major judgments that are going to take place. And the writer of Hebrews tells us in chapter 9 and verse 27, he says, It is appointed unto man once to die, and after this, the judgment. So we all know that we're all sinners. The wages of sin is death. And so therefore, all of us are going to die. It's what we do with Jesus Christ while we're alive that determines whether we are going to have life everlasting or if we're going to die a second death that we will look at next week. And so the main deal is that, guess what? Whether you are saved or whether you're lost, you are going to stand at a judgment. In Ecclesiastes, Solomon said, For God shall bring every work into judgment with every secret thing, whether it be good or whether it be evil. And that verse ought to scare us to death. We look at our salvation, we look at our eternal life, and we're saved and we're going to heaven. And we seem like there's this idea that, you know, that's all I want out of life and that's all that we need out of life. However, Solomon understood that, guess what? Even as a saved person, God is going to look at your life. Even those things you think you've held back from the preacher and from everybody else and that nobody knows about, guess what? God knows. And God's going to judge us. And so this morning, I want us to look at this judgment seat of Christ. And I want you to understand from the very get-go that the judgment seat of Christ deals with those that are saved. And what I mean by saved is those that have placed their faith and trust in Jesus Christ as their personal Savior. We've gone through these steps in Hebrews 6 with what? Well, first of all, we repent from our dead works. We have faith toward God. That is salvation. Then there's baptisms and then there's the laying on of hands. That is in this present sanctification, the authority that Jesus Christ has given the church, the world we serve, the world we labor. But guess what? One of these days in the future, there's going to be a judgment. And that's where we're going to have our glorification. That's where when we see Jesus Christ, we are going to be like Him. In the Old Testament, there's quite a few passages that deal with the judgment. Everybody knew that there was going to be a judgment that's going to take place. In Ruth 2, verse 12, it says, "...the Lord recompense thy work, and a full reward be given thee of the Lord God of Israel, under whose wings thou art come to trust." And so we're following God, but guess what? God is going to reward us later on, or we're not going to have any rewards. And we'll see that here in just a minute. In Romans 14, verse 10, He says, "...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." And so that's where we get this phrase, the judgment seat of Christ. Then also He tells us in 2 Corinthians 5 and verse 10, "...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 hath done, whether it be good or bad." And so if you have your Bibles this morning, in 1 Corinthians 3, I want you to understand this morning, we've talked about this foundation of Jesus Christ. 1 Corinthians 3, verse 11 says, "...for other foundations can no man lay than that which is laid, which is Christ Jesus. 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 a man's work abide which he hath 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." I want you to understand and underline that in your Bible. You will not lose your salvation. You cannot lose your salvation. But what did he say? He said if your works are not what they're supposed to be, then guess what, you can suffer loss. You can lose the rewards that God has for you. But you cannot lose your salvation. You are going to be saved through that fire. Just like Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, you remember when they were thrown into the fiery furnace? What happened in the midst of that fire? He said we threw in three, but we see four. And there's one walking around in the midst of them that is as the Son of God. And so we know that that was Jesus Christ there with them. Well, guess what? If you have repented of your dead works, and you have had faith toward God, and you are a child of God, nothing can make you lose that salvation. You are eternally secured. The Bible says you are placed into the hand of the Father. You have been sealed with the Holy Spirit. And nothing can pluck us out or separate us from the love of Jesus Christ. And that is our security. That is our excitement. However, in the future, we are going to be judged based on our works. We are not saved by our works, but we live by works. And so, as we think about that, notice what he says in verse 16. Know you not that you are the temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwelleth in you. We talked about that temple a few weeks ago, and that Jesus Christ is doing what? He is the foundation. He is the cornerstone. Peter said that we are stones within that temple. We are all made up. We're a dwelling place for Jesus Christ. And when we come together, we are creating this great big global temple for Jesus Christ. And so, when we look at this judgment seat of Christ, I want you to notice, first of all, it will be a time of revelation. A time of revelation. If you notice there in chapter 3 and verse 13, he said, every man's work shall be made manifest. Manifest means that it is now revealed. It is now shown. It is opened up. It is laid out there for everybody to see. When is this going to happen? He said, 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. In other words, what's going to happen is, for the first time in all of our life, we are going to look at our life from the perspective of God through His lenses. And that's why in Corinthians, Paul told the church there at Corinth, when they were about to observe the Lord's Supper, he said what? Examine yourself. Because guess what? If we don't see ourselves the way God sees us, we're going to be surprised when we get there and God shows us our life based on what He saw. And so, notice the word there, this phrase, what sort it is. It doesn't say what size it is. It doesn't say that you have to have this big, tremendous work. What does it say? It says a sort. There's a difference between sort and size. What is the sort? And what he's focusing on is it's more about the quality of your work than it is the quantity of your work. In other words, Jesus Christ didn't actually have recorded but three years of His ministry. But what an impact He had during those three years, right? He lived until He was approximately 33 years of age. But three years, He really worked and He really did and He made an impact. And so what God's talking about is our quality, not our quantity. And so notice some things that we're going to be judged. He says what sort it is. And so here's the three things that I want to give you this morning that I think the Bible teaches us that we're going to be judged on. Remember, we cannot be judged on our sin. 1 Corinthians says that once we are saved, there is now therefore no condemnation. And so my sins are never going to be remembered anymore. However, what I do now that I've been saved will be reviewed and judged by the fire of Jesus Christ. First of all, I believe we're going to be judged according to our attitude. In 1 Corinthians 9, Paul says this, he says, "...For though I preach the gospel, I have nothing to glory of, for necessity is laid upon me. Yea, woe is unto me if I preach not the gospel. For if I do this thing..." Notice the phrase, "...willingly, I have a reward. But if against my will, a dispensation of the gospel is committed unto me." In other words, Paul says, guess what? God is going to judge me at the judgment seat of Christ for my ministry of service. What I do. God called Paul and placed him in the ministry and enabled him for that job. And so notice, sometimes people are forced into service. You know, sometimes we're forced to sing. Sometimes we're forced to teach. Sometimes we're forced to serve. And we have to do it out of obligation because we don't want the church to die. We don't want this to go out. But yet, there's also this serving willingly. And there's this attitude of service. Some people think it's a privilege to serve. Some look for ways to serve. And so we're going to be judged on our attitude. What do you think about serving? How do you think about serving? Do you do it because you have to? Or do you do it because you get to? I made this statement, and don't tell Brother Eric he's not paying attention right now. He's fishing in his mind. But I've made this statement several times that I would do this even if I wasn't paid. Because that's what God called me to do. I look forward to it. I anticipate. Paul said, woe unto me if I preach not, right? Woe unto my wife if I don't preach every Sunday, Sunday night and Wednesday because she would get a lot of messages and stuff. And so it's our attitude. It's being there willing. Being willing to do that. Another thing that we're going to be judged by is according to authority. Authority. You remember now we talked about the sanctification process, the present ministry. We talked about authority. Baptism and laying on of hands. Both of them deal with the authority. Subjecting ourselves to the authority of the church that God has instituted. God is the one that instituted the church, not the disciples. Peter did not start the church on the day of Pentecost. Jesus Christ had already started the church and He commanded them to baptize and to make disciples. And so that's what that middle section of Hebrews 6 has to do with. And as we think about that, does our ministry have heaven's authority behind it? In other words, are we acting upon our own self or are we under the headship and the lordship of Jesus Christ that is there? God never asked and God never wanted us to do things that He hasn't commissioned. We've got a lot of people out there that are ministering on their authority and not on the authority of Jesus Christ. And guess what? When they stand at the judgment seat of Christ, they're going to be staying according to their authority. Who gives you the authority? I don't have the authority to do anything except to preach the gospel. Every one of us has that authority to do that. But guess what? I baptize, I pastor. All of this is under the authority of Kentucky Missionary Baptist Church. Everything in my life and ministry is under Her authority. And so man, what authority are we doing it by? Paul told Timothy in 2 Timothy 2.5, he says, if a man also strives for masteries, yet is he not crowned except he strives lawfully? In other words, what's he talking about? He's talking about here, and he's using this athletic contest. And he's saying if you compete in an athletic contest, what is the number one thing that you have to do? You have to abide by the rules. If you're running in a race, it doesn't matter how fast you are and how far ahead of the pack that you run, you're going to be disqualified if you don't do it according to the rules and to the authority. And so the authority is very much important. In that day, they would do it for an olive branch, a laurel, that they would take and they would crown and put around their head. And this laurel, by the end of the day when the heat hit it, it would start wilting. It would start going down. You couldn't save it. It didn't last very long. And so God is giving us this rule book. And God has looked at this rule book and He's given it to us and we have to ask our question. Is what am I doing? Is my ministry according to His rules? We have to do it lawfully. That's where we're going to be judged according to our authority. But then we're also going to be judged according to our ability. God is going to require more from some people than He does from other people. The greatest example in the Bible is in Luke 12. Luke 12, it says, "...but he that knew not and did not commit things worthy of stripes shall be beaten with few stripes. For unto whosoever much is given of him shall be much required. And to whom men have committed much of him they will ask the more." Is there anybody here who can't do what I can do? Or what you can do? Is there anybody here that can't do what you can do? Do you remember the parable of the three men that God gave one five talents? He gave one three talents and He gave one one talent? And what happened? The one with five talents did what? He did what he could only do. He only had five. So he went and he worked with the five that he had and what did he do? He made five more. And God said what? Well done, my good and faithful servant. The one that had three talents, guess what? He couldn't get five because he only started with three. But he did what he was supposed to do and what happened? He gave back three. His three doubled. And so what did Jesus Christ say? Well done, my good and faithful servant. The one that was given one, he didn't do all that he could do. What did he do? He went and he buried it. And he hid it and he said, I've kept it there in the ground until when you come back. And instead of coming back with two, he came back with one. And God rebuked him and said, oh, you lazy, slothful servant, because God only expects you to do what you can do. He doesn't expect me to be Billy Graham. He expects me to be Donny Haynes. And I can only do what Donny Haynes can do. But am I doing everything that Donny Haynes can do? That's this idea that we're talking about that is here. God is not going to compare me and my ministry to anyone else. That's great. Amen? I am glad I'm not going to be compared to some of these other ministers. It's not how big we are. It's the attitude that we have under the authority that we have to do what we can do with ourselves. And so all of us are in different situations. All of us are in different circumstances in the ministry. If you remember King Saul, when he went in and he defeated the city, God told him to do what? Destroy everything that was in the city. But what did Saul do? He decided to keep the best stuff, right? And so they're plundering through and they're taking all the stuff that is really good, and all of a sudden, God approaches them and says, Saul, what are you doing? What are you doing? And Saul said, well, we're saving this best stuff because we're fixing to offer this huge sacrifice to you. We're fixing to give you all these spoils that are there. And God looked at Saul and said, Saul, I would rather have obedience than sacrifice. When we think about that, do you serve Him according to what He gave you? Is the question that we're asking. One of these days, I'm going to give an account for the ability that God has given me. Whether it's good or bad. Did I take every advantage of my ability to serve Him? And so it is going to be a time of revelation. But it's also going to be a time of reward. When we think about it, and this is the part that we like to look at. This is the part that we like to study. It's 1 Corinthians 3.14. He says, if any man's work abide, if after you have been examined, after your life has been opened up based upon your attitudes, your authority, and your ability, if anything is left which you have built thereon, you shall receive a reward. And so here is where the reward comes. 1 Corinthians 3 and verse 8 says, when he started this section, he said, now he that planteth and he that watereth are one, and every man shall receive his own reward according to his own labor. In other words, somebody carries the water bucket and puts the water on the seed. Some sow the seed. Some get to do the harvest. The problem is, is are we doing what we are supposed to do? Are we doing what God has asked us to do? Because we're going to be rewarded according to our labor. As I read this morning in chapter 22 of Revelation, in verse 12, he says, and behold, I come quickly, and my reward is with me to give every man according as his work shall be. Matthew 6.20, Jesus told us in the Sermon on the Mount, He said, lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven where neither moth nor rust doth corrupt and where thieves do not break through and steal. The Bible actually mentions, you know, when you think about these rewards, the Bible is very vague on what these rewards will be. However, Paul gives us a glimpse into some of these rewards. He mentions five crowns. He mentions four of them. Peter mentions the fifth one. Five crowns that you and I are going to be able to earn. The first one is an incorruptible crown. He says right here in 1 Corinthians 9.25, Every man that striveth for the mastery is temperate in all things. Now, they do it to obtain a crown, but we an incorruptible. Again, he's using this athlete in the Olympic Games would discipline themselves. They would discipline their lifestyle in order that they might run a race. And the victors would be crowned with this maid of olive leaves, but it was perishable. It would begin to wilt in the midday sun. Paul says the Christian is not subjecting himself to all of this discipline for a crown that's just going to wilt and fade away. No, we're doing it for an incorruptible crown. A crown that is going to last and not perish. And so where does it come to? Notice what the qualification is for receiving this crown. He says he must be temperate in all things. We have to do what God tells us to do according to what God gives us to do and the rules that He has. That's temperate, under control, self-discipline. And so if you are self-disciplined serving God, you will receive an incorruptible crown. The second crown he mentions is to Timothy in 2 Timothy 4.8, the crown of righteousness. The crown of righteousness. He says in verse 8, he says, Henceforth, there is laid up for me a crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, shall give me at that day, and not to me only, but unto all them also that love His appearing. So how do we get the crown of righteousness? We love the appearing of Christ. How many of you really do want Christ to return right now? How many of you are living according to Christ returning right now? Because guess what, when Christ comes, then stands judgment. And we're going to stand before Him. And so that's why he talks about righteousness. See, I'm not righteous because of what I do. Jesus Christ declared me righteous when I trusted Him. However, guess what? Now I am living and I'm sanctifying myself to be righteous in the flesh. I haven't got there yet, but I'm working on it. I should be getting more and more like Jesus Christ and more and more holy every single day. So that we can say like John said, after John didn't deny Him, after John ended up in a vat of oil, they tried to boil Him to death, He finally put Him out on the Isle of Patmos. And what did John say? After he saw all of the judgment, all of the wrath poured out in Revelation, he saw the new city, the new heaven, he saw Jesus Christ there, he saw the judgment seat of Christ, he saw the great white throne judgment, what did he say? Even so, Lord, come quickly. I'm ready. I'm prepared. I have lived my life. I'm ready to face You. That's the crown of righteousness. Then in Revelation 2.10, he mentions the crown of life. He says, And fear none of those things which thou shalt suffer. Behold, the devil shall cast some of you into prison that you may be tried, and you shall have tribulation ten days. Be thou faithful unto death, and I will give thee a crown of life. And I think this crown has to do, and what he's doing it in the example that he's showing us here, this crown has to do with those that do not compromise their witness for Jesus Christ. In other words, when you stand before the courts for your witness of Jesus Christ, do you bow to the courts? Or do you stand faithful to God? And so it has to do with this martyr. It has to do with this idea of our witness. And he says, Then you shall be given the crown of life. And James, he mentions it, he says, Blessed is the man that endureth temptation, for when he has tried, he shall receive the crown of life, which the Lord hath promised to them that love him. And so here this crown of life is those that love him. How do we know we love him? It's agape love, right? And what did Jesus Christ say when He used that word? He said, if you love Me, you'll be willing to lay down your life for Me. And so that has to do with your witness, your representation of Jesus Christ is this crown of life. The last crown was mentioned by Peter in chapter 5 and verse 4. He says, And when the chief shepherds shall appear, you shall receive a crown of glory that fadeth not away. This is the only reward that you probably won't be able to get because this reward is only for pastors. It's for those that have shepherded, those that have led well, will receive the crown of glory. In other words, God has put me here as a steward over this flock. What do I do while Jesus Christ waits His coming? How well do I rule? How well do I do? If you go back to the context of chapter 5, you'll be able to see that. And then He mentions the last crown as the crown of rejoicing. In 1 Thessalonians 2.19, He says, For what is our hope, our joy, our crown of rejoicing? Are not you even in the presence of our Lord Jesus Christ at His coming? This is the reward that every single believer ought to get. If you don't get any of the rest of them, you ought to get this one if you are a believer and a child of God because this crown is for those that faithfully witness and bear fruit of the Holy Spirit. If the Holy Spirit is within you, what are you going to do? You're going to bear fruit. What is the fruit of the Spirit? Love, joy, peace, goodness, gentleness, patience, self-control, right? And Jesus Christ said, By your fruit shall all men know you. That's your witness. Your fruit is what witnesses to the fact that you are no longer you, but you are now in Jesus Christ and Christ is in you. And so if you're living what you're supposed to be doing, and you're being submissive to that Holy Spirit that is already in you, then you ought to receive the crown of rejoicing. In John 15, verse 16, He says, You have not chosen Me, but I have chosen you and ordained you that you should go and bring forth fruit and that your fruit should remain that whatsoever you shall ask of the Father in My name, He will give it to you. And so when we stand at the judgment seat of Christ, it's going to be a time of revelation. It's going to be a time of reward. But I want you to understand, it's also going to be a time of regret. You go to Revelation and read, we like to talk about God wiping away every tear and sorrow. That is not until after the millennial reign. That is after the great white throne judgment that we are looking at next week for the lost. It's not until finally when they have received their second death and all those that did not believe and trust in Jesus Christ along with Satan and his angels are cast into the lake of fire. He says this is the second death. After this event, then it says Jesus Christ will wipe away every tear. Then there will be no more sorrow. There will be no more pain. There will be no more heartache. We like to put that before the millennial reign. But guess what? When we stand at the judgment seat of Christ, it's not going to be a happy moment. It's not going to be a time of excitement and joy. As a matter of fact, look at what He says back in 1 Corinthians 3.15 in our text. If any man's work shall be burned, he shall suffer loss. If we can gain reward, He also says that guess what? We can lose reward. We can suffer loss. But He Himself shall be saved, yet so as by fire. Has any of you ever been in a house fire where you lost everything? I haven't. I've been with some families that have though. And it's kind of a good illustration. You lose every bit of your possessions. They're all burned up. But guess what? You made it out alive. Right? You've got to start over. You've got to dig from scratch. Well, guess what? When we get to Jesus Christ, there's going to be no start over. Whatever's left is left. That's what you have. That's what you've got going into eternity. So it's going to be a time of regret. There's going to be a lot of people that are just going to be there by the skin of their teeth, by the clothes and what they have on their back that is there. So what is our foundation? How do we know if it's going to be a time of rejoicing or is it going to be a time of regret? Well, notice, the whole thing that we've been studying in Hebrews 6, verses 1 and 2 has been focused around one individual and one individual only. And who's that? Jesus Christ. He tells us in 1 Corinthians 3.11, For other foundation can no man lay than that which is laid, which is Jesus Christ. And we've been looking at this foundation. What is this foundation in Hebrews 6, verses 1 and 2? First of all, there is repentance from dead works, faith toward God, baptisms, identifying with Jesus Christ, laying on of hands, living for Jesus Christ under the authority that He has been giving us. Then guess what? Then comes the resurrection. And then comes eternal judgment. And so if Christ is the focus and the center of every stage and every area of your life, then guess what? You're going to get there and it's going to be a time of rejoicing. It's not going to be a time of regret. But notice what He says in 1 John 2.28. He says, And now, little children, abide in Him that when He shall appear, you may have confidence and not be ashamed before Him at His coming. Now, little children, abide in Him. Who is the Him? Jesus Christ. You remember in John 14, Jesus Christ gave an illustration of a grapevine? And what did He tell us? He said, I am the vine, you are the branches. He that abideth in Me will do what? Bear much fruit. But he that abideth not in Me, what's going to happen? It's going to be a limb with no fruit. He said that limb is going to be cut off and it's going to be burned. You're not going to hell. That burning is not talking about hell. Because if everyone that's there is already saved, but He's talking about your relationship with Jesus Christ after salvation. And if you are obedient to Jesus Christ and you are attached to Jesus Christ and you are living for Jesus Christ, then guess what? You can't help but bear fruit. However, if you don't bear that fruit, then guess what? When you stand at the judgment seat of Christ, you're going to burn up wood, hay, and stubble because there's nothing there worth having. But you're still going to be saved. You're going to be there at the throne. You're going to be there with Jesus Christ. But yet, you're going to be standing there ashamed because Jesus Christ gave His life for you. And you weren't willing to give Him anything back. And He's not saying work. He just says abide in Me. Just put Christ first. And you'll naturally work. You'll naturally do because Jesus Christ is working through you. Matthew 5.19, look what He says, Whosoever, therefore, shall break one of the least commandments and shall teach men so, he shall be called the least in the kingdom of heaven. But whosoever shall do and teach them, the same shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven. In other words, He tells us in the Sermon of the Mount that guess what? There is going to be different stages of heaven. There'll be different positions. Some are going to be least. Some are going to be greater. And so this is in eternity. This is there. In other words, you can lose your accrued reward if you do not continue to be faithful. In 2 John 8, He says, look to yourselves that we lose not those things which we have wrought, but that we receive a full reward. Paul told Timothy, he said, Timothy, I've beat myself into subjection that when I am finally judged, I won't be considered a reprobate. Paul's saying, you know what? It doesn't really matter what I've done in my past. What I do today can take away everything that I've done in my past. See, it's not how you start. It's not how you run. It's how you finish. And that is the foundation of Jesus Christ. That's what He teaches us. And so when the prodigal son returned back to the father, what did the father do? He killed the fatty calf. What did the elder son do? He got mad at the father. Why? Because the elder son said, I've been with you all these days, right? I've stuck with you. I have served you. I have done everything that I was asked of you, but you've never had a big party for me. And the father just looked at the son and said, Son, when did you want a party? It was all yours. You could have had a party anytime you wanted to, right? But he said, we're time of rejoicing. And what? The father restored the son back to his position that was there. It's not how the son started. It wasn't what happened in the son's life. It was his repentance and returning back to the father that made him his position. And so guys, I want you to understand that we need this understood in Christianity today. Yes, you are saved, but don't stand there at the judgment seat of Christ. You won't be able to say, and Brother Donnie never told me that I would be judged, because you will that's there. Revelation 3 and verse 11. He told the church there, Behold, I come quickly. Hold that fast which thou hast, that no man take thy crown. See, we can lose what we've got. We can lose what we have. What God has given us. What we've already accrued that is there. But look at Romans 5 and verse 1. Therefore, being justified by faith, we have what? Peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. Where's our peace come from? The fact that it's not me standing before God, but it's that Jesus Christ is standing before God on my behalf. I don't have to worry about what I'm doing or what I do, because why? The peace of God. What's the very last verse of Psalm 23? You remember Psalm 23, The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want. Right? He leadeth me beside greedy pastors. He maketh me to lie down. Right? All of these things. Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil. For why? Thou art with me. Thy rod and thy staff, they comfort me. One's for correction. One's for protection. He said, I've corrected you. I've done this. He said what? He said, and then I've prepared a table before you in the presence of your enemies. I've anointed your head with oil. But here's the cool part about that. The last verse says, Surely, grace and mercy shall follow you all the days of your life. What is grace? Grace is God's unmerited favor. Grace is God giving me what I don't deserve. What is mercy? Mercy is God withholding what I do deserve. And see, the whole key to that 23rd Psalm is the Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want. Therefore, what am I doing? I am following God. I am doing what God wants me to do. But guess what? I'm a sheep. Is the sheep always the smartest critter? No. Does the sheep always make the right decisions? No. That's why he has to have that staff. Because the sheep will wander. The sheep will get away from the flock. And what happens when a sheep gets away from the flock? He becomes more vulnerable. He becomes an easy target for the lion to get in, right? And so we're going to make mistakes, but guess what? With Christ as our shepherd, if we're abiding in Him, then guess what? His grace, He's going to give us the things that we don't deserve. But when we make mistakes, guess what? He's going to withhold what we do deserve. He's not going to take that sheep that's out there by itself, standing on the edge of the cliff, and just go out there and push that sheep off the cliff and say, you dumb thing, you just need to die and get this over with. No, what does He do? He says Jesus Christ left the 99 and He went out there and He got the one sheep and He brought them back to the fold. And He restored them just like any other sheep. See, that's what Jesus Christ does for us. And so that's why we serve Him. That's why we love Him. He said in Romans 8, There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit. And so notice He's contrasting the Spirit and the flesh. What are we walking after? If Jesus Christ is in us, we are no longer physical, we're spiritual. And so we should be following the leadership and the guidance of Him. He said this world is not my home, we're just pilgrims passing through. We're just here as tourists, right? No, we're not here as tourists. We're not here to make it about us. We're here as ambassadors. We're here representing Jesus Christ to this community and this world that we are with. And so the Bible calls this judgment seat of Christ the Bema. The Bema. And what is with the Bema? If you go back in the Olympics time, and they had this big coliseum, and they had the track similar to a lot of our athletic menus today. But in the very center of the whole entire coliseum, there was a stage that was raised up. And it was called the Bema. And when they got there, they would step up onto the stage, and guess what? Before they were awarded for their efforts, they were also made sure that they kept all of the rules and did things properly. And there at the judgment seat of Christ, not only were they judged on the position that they came in in the race, but they were also judged in if they did right. And if they did everything right, and they finished in the right position, then what? They received the reward. They did that at the Bema. And that's what Jesus Christ says. One of these days, we are going to be standing at the Bema. But guess what? Here's the good news. We're not going to be standing there as sinners. We're going to be standing there as saints. What is a saint? A saint is the son or daughter of Jesus Christ. We're going to be standing there as children. We're not going to be standing there as sinners. We're going to be standing there as children. That is our sanctification. That is God making us into who we are supposed to be. And if we disobey, then what does He do? He chastises us. The last chapter of Hebrews talks about that. If you don't obey, guess what? You're not a child. Because if you're a child, God's going to chase you. He's going to correct you. He's going to use that rod against us. One of these days, we're going to stand before the Lord and we're going to be judged as servants. As servants. That's glorification. See, I'm a son and daughter. But Paul said, Paul never does when he writes, refers to his father. He never refers to his relationship with the father. You know what he always says? He always starts his letters off, I am a servant. And not just any servant, but a bond servant. There are some servants that serve out of willingness. Right? You go out to lunch today, and when your waitress comes, she is a servant by choice. She chose that career and she chose to serve you. That's her service. But Paul said, I didn't get a choice to be a servant. When God made me a son, then guess what? He made me a servant. He made me a servant. And so the question that we have to ask ourselves is if Christ returned right now, right now, are you prepared to see Him? Are you prepared to meet Jesus Christ? Are you doing... Is your attitude right? Is your authority right? Is your ability, your giving it all that you can possibly do? God doesn't expect me, if He only gave me three, He doesn't expect me to make five or six. He just wants me to do with what the three He gave me. And so I can't compare myself to you or anyone else. I've just got to say, am I doing everything to my potential? Am I doing everything that God has given me to do? And so, are we ready? Are we prepared if He returned right now? If we're not, then we have hope in the prodigal son. Because Jesus Christ said, guess what? If you repent, if you go back to the very basic and you repent from your dead works, have faith toward God, recognize His authority, then guess what? You'll be prepared for the resurrection and the rewards, eternal judgment. But if you don't, then guess what? You're not going to be prepared. You're going to get to go to heaven. You're going to be saved as by fire. You're going to be there, but you're not going to be very happy, at least until not after the millennial reign. We don't know exactly what we're going to be doing, what's going to happen in eternity. We've got this idea that all we're going to do is be sitting around the throne and singing and praising, but guess what? Even in the new heaven and the new earth, the Bible tells us over and over that how we live now is how we will rule then. So I don't know what's going on or what eternity's going to be like, but guess what? Jesus Christ died for me. And I want to give Him the best of Donny that He can have. And that ought to be your position. And if we'll just do the best that we can, then guess what? Eternity's going to take care of itself. We're not going to have to worry about it. But if we know we're slacking and we know we're not giving it our best, then guess what? Before we can go into eternity, there's a judgment. As we stand and have a verse of invitation, what page, Brother Phillip? Page 540.