The Judgement Seat Of Christ

APRIL 3O, 2023 STUDY NOTES JUDGMENT SEAT OF CHRIST 1 CORINTHIANS 3:9-15 BIBLE TEACHER: CLIFTON JONES INTRODUCTION Christians who die before the return of Christ to the earth immediately go to be with Christ, 2Co 5:8 We are confident, I say, and willing rather to be absent from the body, and to be present with the Lord. Christians who are still upon the earth when Christ returns will be caught up to meet the Lord in the air, 1Th 4:17 Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord. But many Christians are not aware of what will take place when we meet the Lord in the air, 2Co 5:10 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. The fact that we will one day stand before the Judgment Seat of Christ should influence our life today Because the judgment will be according to the things we have done in our body, whether good or bad We are accountable unto God for the opportunities of today to do good Good identifies with quality, the thought is that which is profitable, useful, beneficial to others Christians will be rewarded at the Judgment Seat of Christ for all good deeds done in the body The good is that which was done through Christ in us, for the spiritual and eternal good of all There will be a loss of reward for the bad deeds done in the body The main point of bad is of no value, worthless, unimportant, good for nothing The things we do each day which are of no spiritual value for today and of no eternal value Paul was motivated to live for Christ, Gal 2:20 I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me. Because of the faithful life he lived for Christ he was ready to stand before the Judgment Seat of Christ, 2Ti 4:7 I have fought a good fight, I have finished my course, I have kept the faith: 2Ti 4:8 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. Do you realize how important it is to live a daily Christian life? Do you know how important it is for others to see you live a daily Christian life? Paul is going to show us how important our daily Christian life really is The Christian life is of daily importance, earthly importance, and it is eternally important The importance of our daily Christian life will be made known at the Judgment Seat of Christ Paul describes the Judgment Seat of Christ for us in 1 Corinthians 3:9-15 1Co 3:9 For we are labourers together with God: ye are God's husbandry, ye are God's building. As Christians we are laborers together for God, coworkers, we are all working together for God It is important that we all work, the work that God has given each of us to do is eternally important Our work is for God, for His Glory, for His Kingdom, according to His Word and His will We are God’s husbandry, like tilled farm fields, cultivated, ready for planting seed, ready for growth Through our Christian life God is planting spiritual seeds of life and growing that life spiritually The field of evangelism is preparing hearts to accept Christ as Savior and receive eternal life Spiritual soil must be cultivated, seeds must be sown, plants must be watered, fruit must be harvested Page 1 of 5 We are God’s building, God is preparing each one of us spiritually to be of spiritual benefit to all others God works through us to develop Christ-like lives in one another, to be a witness for Christ 1Co 3:10 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. Paul often refers to that which God has bestowed upon us by His Grace, service for God is God given What God is doing in us is “according to the grace of God,” which we could not do without God’s grace Salvation is by God’s Grace, Eph 2:8 For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: Our work for God is through the grace of God working in us, Eph 2:10 For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them. It is our responsibility to use what God has graced us with, “as a wise masterbuilder” The masterbuilder would be the one we call today the general contractor who oversees the work The one who directs the building process, seeing that all is according to the blueprints The one who makes sure the right material is being used, Paul is speaking of our spiritual life God furnishes the building materials, and we are responsible for their proper use Remember that we are laborers together, we must work together with what God has given us Someone must lay the foundation, someone must witness to the lost, someone must preach the Gospel Which Paul did when he came to Corinth, 1Co 2:1 And I, brethren, when I came to you, came not with excellency of speech or of wisdom, declaring unto you the testimony of God. 1Co 2:2 For I determined not to know any thing among you, save Jesus Christ, and him crucified. To lay the foundation is what Paul was saying in, 1Co 3:6 I have planted, Apollos watered; but God gave the increase. Paul said, I have laid the foundation and another buildeth thereon, which is known as “follow up” New converts must be taught, instructed, and encouraged, Paul planted, Apollos watered Paul said, I did my part, Apollos did his part, and he tells us we must do our part Christians must hear Paul, “let every man take heed how he buildeth thereupon” “Every man,” not one elected Church leader, not one church member is left out or exempt Every Christian serving Christ must “take heed,” which places an emphasis upon our work That which is being built must be according to the blueprints, according to the Word of God Don’t attempt to build by world standards, by current popular attractions, or by past traditions Paul’s point is the importance of the project, the spiritual maturity of the saints who will serve Christ 1Co 3:11 For other foundation can no man lay than that is laid, which is Jesus Christ. The foundation must be the same as identified in verse 10, now identified as Jesus Christ The foundation of life is Jesus Christ, Act 4:12 Neither is there salvation in any other: for there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved. The saved are the NT Church, a spiritual superstructure, Eph 2:20 And are built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ himself being the chief corner stone; The True Church is the uniting together of all believers in Christ and must be built upon Christ The foundation of the Church was laid through the teaching of the apostles and prophets Scripture explains to us the building process of the Church, the process that must continue today Between the resurrection and the ascension of Jesus He instructed the Apostles, Act 1:2 Until the day in which he was taken up, after that he through the Holy Ghost had given commandments unto the apostles Page 2 of 5 whom he had chosen: The early church was taught the doctrine of the apostles, Act 2:42 And they continued stedfastly in the apostles' doctrine and fellowship, and in breaking of bread, and in prayers. The early church grew from the leadership of the “apostles and prophets,” 1Co 12:28 And God hath set some in the church, first apostles, secondarily prophets, thirdly teachers, after that miracles, then gifts of healings, helps, governments, diversities of tongues. The “apostles and prophets” were the first gifted men given to the church, Eph 4:11 And he gave some, apostles; and some, prophets; and some, evangelists; and some, pastors and teachers; Truths of God that were not previously known was revealed to the apostles and prophets Those truths were revealed to them by the Holy Spirit, Eph 3:5 Which in other ages was not made known unto the sons of men, as it is now revealed unto his holy apostles and prophets by the Spirit; The process of the building of the Church has not changed, the importance of building it has not changed 1Co 3:12 Now if any man build upon this foundation gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, stubble; The time to build is now, the building process is through individual Christians, we are each one building It is important because we are building now for eternity, what we do today must be of eternal value The context of this passage is not how to get saved and go to Heaven Paul is telling us that we are saved, and we are going to Heaven, take heed how we live today Be sure you are daily using the right building materials, Paul uses symbols to instruct us Paul does not define each symbol for us, so interpretation is primarily that of speculation Some symbols are perishable, combustible, temporal, and worldly as opposed to spiritual And some are imperishable, incombustible, and spiritual, which are of eternal value The various symbols are used to describe our daily lifestyle, the character and deeds of our life Gold may represent glory unto God, the things we do to honor and glorify His Name The streets of New Jerusalem will be paved with works that glorify God, Rev 21:21 And the twelve gates were twelve pearls; every several gate was of one pearl: and the street of the city was pure gold, as it were transparent glass. Which could be telling us that the streets of eternity may be paved with the deeds that glorify God Silver may represent the witness of those who are saved, our witness by word and by life to the lost The things that we say or do as a witness to the lost will be eternally rewarded Precious stones identify with the jewels of our Christian life, spiritual character that shines forth Such as the fruit of the Spirit, Gal 5:22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, Gal 5:23 Meekness, temperance: against such there is no law. The deeds of our life symbolized by gold, silver, and precious stones will receive an eternal reward But Paul presents another category of deeds which are of different character and different results Wood represents things that are sometimes necessary which we make take beyond the necessary We must be careful about spending too much time on what we consider necessary at the time There are necessities of life such as food, clothing, and shelter (Matthew 6:19-34) But don’t stack the wood too high, Mat 6:33 But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you. (Allow God to measure the stack) Trust God for the necessities of life, there will be no eternal value in selfish worldly gain Hay, it is good to supply hay for those who need it, but there is a limit, all do not need it Hay may represent good things done by good people for good reasons which can help people Christians can help people with the things necessary for a better earthly life, which the lost can do also But only Christians can help with the necessities of the spiritual life which is what the world needs most Page 3 of 5 If our deeds are without spiritual value, they will burn up as easy as hay does Let the world do what they can do to help others, but the world must see what only the Christian can do Stubble is that which was not worth gathering, it was left in the field during harvest There is no value, it is worthless, it is a waste of time, there is no benefit from the effort Stubble represents the things we do, the time we spend on things that are of no value How much stubble is there in our daily life? It may seem good, but it is literally no good Our present generation is probably the most guilty generation of all times when it comes to stubble 1Co 3:13 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. The point of every man is made again, we each one will stand before Christ, one by one Work refers to the deeds of our life as a Christian, that which God gifted us to do for Him Which shall be made manifest, open to sight, meaning that we will be shown what God saw It will be seen in the day that God shall declare it, the day will be the Judgment Seat of Christ God will reveal to us the true character of our works that we claimed were done for Christ It shall be revealed by fire, scripture does not always use fire to designate punishment Here fire refers to purging and not punishment, meaning to burn up the impurities of life The good deeds of life will withstand the fire, the bad deeds will burn up The fire shall try everyman’s work of what sort it is, every deed of every Christian will be tested It is not the question of our salvation that is being tested, we are tested because we have been saved We are saved to serve God as long as we live on earth, and we are accountable for our service Of what sort it is, quantity is not the test, success is not the test, the purpose and quality are the test The motive, the desire, the will of the work, what, how, why was it done will be the test Paul now gives us the results of the Judgment Seat of Christ 1Co 3:14 If any man's work abide which he hath built thereupon, he shall receive a reward. When gold, silver, and precious stones are tested by fire the impurities are burned away That which is pure remains, the fire brings to light that which is pure A reward will be received for all works that pass the test of fire 1Co 3:15 If any man's work shall be burned, he shall suffer loss: but he himself shall be saved; yet so as by fire. There will be no reward for the works that are burned by the fire Wood, hay, and stubble will be burned up by the fire, he shall suffer loss The loss is not that of salvation, the test is not to determine if one is saved or lost The fire is not Hell fire, the test is not to determine if one is going to Heaven or Hell He himself shall be saved, he will spend an eternity in Heaven, but without some blessings Blessings that could have been earned through a faithful Christian life on earth Salvation is not just missing Hell, salvation means more than just going to Heaven Salvation is living for Christ and serving Christ every day of our earthly life, Eph 2:10 For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them. Faithfulness to those good works will be rewarded, there will be a loss of reward for failure to do them CONCLUSION Paul has used many different symbols to illustrate the importance of our daily Christian life Page 4 of 5 The foundation that we build our life upon must be Jesus Christ The set of blueprints that we use for the construction of our life must be the Word of God The blueprints will tell us what kind of material to use for every phase of construction What kind of materials are you using to build your daily life? How strong are they? The storms of life will test the strength and durability of the life that we have built But there is another test of our daily life, our earthly deeds of the spiritual life will be tested The results will be rewards received or rewards lost, which will it be for you? 2Jn 1:8 Look to yourselves, that we lose not those things which we have wrought, but that we receive a full reward. Page 5 of 5