The Beema of Christ

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To those who would maintain that the Bride of the Lamb will be glorious only by imputation, not by actual transformation, we ask you: Do you really believe the Lamb is ravished with a counterpart whom He cannot relate to except as He refuses to see her actual personality? Do you actually believe this? Do you truly believe the Song of Solomon is speaking of a bride who is beautiful by imputation? If not, then you suppose at some point she will be transformed in personality into that which would actually ravish the Lamb. And this is all we are saying.

The issue is, however, that we are maintaining this program begins now and is what salvation is. We have no scriptural promise that we can ignore what the Spirit wants of us now in the hope that when the Lord comes everything will suddenly be made right. The illustrations of the foolish virgins and the man who buried his talent tell us the currently expressed hope of Christian teaching is not based on the Scriptures.

Whether Christ brings us through such total deliverance in the present hour or at some future time is not an issue, as far as the Bible is concerned. The all- important issue is that we obey Christ at each moment today. If we do not we shall be judged as an unfaithful, disobedient servant. It is not permitted to us that we can disobey now and then be saved from our sinful nature at some future point.

Today is the only day of salvation as far as we are concerned. All there is, is now. There is no tomorrow with the Lord in the sense in which we are speaking. In today's Christian ministry we are overemphasizing belief. At the Judgment Seat of Christ we shall be judged according to "the things done in the body. We may notice in the second and third chapters of the Book of Revelation, the chapters telling of the rewards to the overcomer, that little or no emphasis is placed on our beliefs. The rewards are given to us according to what we have done.

How about the rewards to the overcomer? These promises are staggering. They range from eating of the tree of life all the way to sitting on the Throne of Christ. There can be no greater reward than to sit on the Throne of Jesus Christ! This is not what the Bible proclaims. This is the sort of destructive ignorance that fills the United States of America in our day.

This is why the true testimony of Christ has all but vanished from our country. And this is why our government, our schools, and our courts are in such an undesirable condition.

Don Stewart :: What Is the Judgment Seat of Christ? (The Bema)

Considering for a moment the parables of the foolish virgins and the man who buried his talent, precisely who are these people? Are the unsaved Jews the ones who will have the door shut in their face because they do not have enough of the Holy Spirit? Whomever Jesus is addressing must be born again in order to enter the Kingdom of God; must abide in Christ if they are to bear fruit, and will be removed from Christ if they do not bear fruit.

If it is the Christians who must be born again and who must abide in Christ, then it is the Christians who are in danger of having the door shut in their face and who will be thrown into the outer darkness if they bury their talent. There absolutely is no scriptural basis whatever for chopping up the Words of Jesus Christ in this fashion.

We have been overcome with Humanism, the love of man for himself. It will be too late to do anything about this when the Lord returns. Now is the time to change what we are sowing. Every one of us shall appear before Christ and give an account to Him for the way we have lived since we have received Him. Have we each day counted that we have died with Christ on the cross and have risen from the dead with Him and have ascended with Him to the right hand of the Father?

Have we earnestly desired the best gifts of the Spirit that we might build up the Body of Christ until it attains the stature of the fullness of Christ? Have we followed the Spirit of God as He has guided us in putting to death the actions of our sinful nature? Have we endeavored to maintain peace and love in our local assembly, gathering together on a regular basis with fervent believers?

Have we come boldly to the Throne of Grace for help when we understood we were not obeying the commandments of Christ and His Apostles?

The above behaviors constitute the normal Christian life. We shall suffer and our family shall suffer because we have not been faithful to the Lord.

We have not kept the word of His patience and so He is not obligated to keep us from the hour of temptation. These is no greater joy in life than to turn from the spirit of the world and serve the Lord with a perfect heart. It certainly is a life of discipline, but to not serve the Lord is to suffer as a sinner. The way of the transgressor is hard, the Bible says, and so it is. Drugs and alcohol are the problem they are because the life of the sinner is hard and he is trying to survive.

Serving Christ with a perfect heart brings the best life has to offer now, and blessing and glory in the life to come. Neglecting to serve Christ now with a perfect heart results in a life filled with pain and remorse, followed by corruption and destruction in the life to come. This is what the Bible teaches and it cannot be changed in any manner. We shall receive the good we have done.

We shall receive the bad we have done. Let him who is teaching "another gospel" now turn to the Lord. Otherwise he may find himself standing before Christ one day, surrounded with his followers, and be required to answer why he led people into destructive error. This indeed would be a dreadful future for us.

Let us return to the Bible and begin to believe and expound the Scriptures, not repeating the vain, ear-tickling traditions that have accumulated during the twentieth century. We were expounding on the following passage from the Book of Galatians: Jesus Christ shall judge all people, including Christians.

Rather, what we shall be judged for are the actions over which we do have control. The Lord Jesus Christ actually has the power to deliver us from the lusts of our flesh and soul. The sinful, adamic nature is a blemish. How about being cast into the outer darkness? How about having the Lord say, "I never knew you. How about having the door shut in our face when the Lord returns? The servants of Christ, all in glorified bodies, will be gathered there. From every corner of the earth, from various paths of toil and warfare: Hidden ones, whose days on earth were spent in lone corners appointed by the Lord of the harvest!

Great ones who stood before the world on the pinnacle of fame! All will be gathered there, to hear from their Heavenly Master's lips what value He has put upon their earthly service. The works I Cor. Christ will publicly avow His approval of all that has been pleasing unto Him, the rest will be burned up I Cor. Much that in "man's day" had been accounted great, will appear as "hay and stubble" there.

Much that passes now as "'zeal" and "faithfulness," in that day, when the hidden springs and motives are disclosed, will be seen to be only self and sin. Deeds that were blazed abroad through the Church and the world, may be of little value there; but that which was of no esteem in the eyes of men, though it may have met the world's displeasure, will receive the Master's "well done.

The servants of Christ will be all possessed of their Master's mind, and able in His light to see light clearly. Each and all will say "Amen" to His verdict, and thus they will pass on from the judgment-seat to other scenes of glory, with wondering gratitude and praise. The "Victor's Crowns"—for such is the meaning of the word used by the Spirit in describing them see Newberry's Bible, margin —which will be given to the faithful servants, will be according to their service here.

Amid all the glories of the ages to come, they will be the remembrancers and memorials of their toil and conflict here. The Crown of Life Rev. When the period of David's rejection was over, and the day of his power and glory was about to shine forth, he called before him those of his faithful followers, who had been with him in the cave of Adullum, who had shared the sorrows of his lowly path, and appointed them to places of honour in his kingdom. Essentials - Word Searching 4. Help Quick Nav Advanced Options. Old Testament New Testament. Search Results in Other Versions.

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Advanced Options Exact Match. Subscribe to our Newsletter. Daily Bible Reading Plans x. Recently Popular Pages x. Spurgeon's Morning and Evening O. Recently Popular Media x. What Is the Judgment Seat of Christ? Greek, like English, uses the word "judge" in two senses. One sense in condemnation, while the other sense is the giving out of rewards. The Bible says unbelievers will be judged in the first sense - condemnation, while believers will be judged in the other sense - rewards.

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Judgment Seat The Bible speaks of a special judgment that God will hold for believers only. It is known as the judgment seat of Christ, or the judgment seat of God. For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, that each one may receive the things done in the body, according to what we have done whether good or bad 2 Corinthians 5: All believers will stand before God and be individually judged.

Why do you pass judgment on your brother or sister? Or you, why do you despise your brother or sister?

For we will all stand before the judgment seat of God Romans What will happen at this judgment seat? Who will be judged? The Scriptures have the following to say. These are people who have trusted Christ as Savior from the Day of Pentecost, until the coming of Christ for His church. It does not include the Old Testament believers.

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They will have a separate time of judgment and reward. Surely You will reward each person according to what He has done Psalm 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 He has done Matthew Knowing that whatever good we do, we will receive the same again from the Lord, whether we are slaves or free Ephesians 6: He will change their bodies from corruptible to incorruptible. But we do not want you to be uninformed, brothers and sisters, about those who have died, so that you may not grieve as others do who have no hope.

For since we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so, through Jesus, God will bring with Him those who have died. For this we declare to you by the Word of the Lord, that we who are alive and remain until the coming of the Lord, will by no means precede those who have died. For the Lord Himself, with a shout, with the archangel's call and with the sound of God's trumpet, will descend from heaven, and the dead in Christ will rise first.

Then we who are alive and remain will be caught up in the clouds together with them to meet the Lord in the air; and so we will be with the Lord forever. Therefore encourage one another with these words 1 Thessalonians 4: After this event, those believers will go to the judgment seat of Christ. Judgment always comes after resurrection. Not Judged For Sin This is not a judgment to determine who will enter heaven. The sins of believers will not be an issue at the judgment seat of Christ - they have already been forgiven.

He has not dealt with us according to our sins, nor punished us according to our iniquities.

For as the heavens are high above the earth, so great is His mercy toward those who fear Him; as far as the east is from the west, so far has He removed our transgressions from us Psalm Our sins have been removed. He will again have compassion on us, and will subdue our iniquities. You will cast all our sins into the depths of the sea Micah 7: There is no condemnation for those who have believed in Christ.

There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus Romans 8: Have Eternal Life Those who have trusted Christ now possess eternal life. I tell you the truth, whoever hears My word and believes him who sent Me has eternal life and will not be condemned; He has crossed over from death to life John 5: Curse Removed The curse against believers has been removed. Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us, for it is written: Price Paid Jesus has paid the price for our sins.

He himself bore our sins in His body on the cross, so that, free from sins, we might live for righteousness; by His wounds you have been healed 1 Peter 2: Sin Offering He presented Himself as a sin offering on our behalf. For our sake He made Him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in Him we might become the righteousness of God 2 Corinthians 5: The believers judgment, with respect to sin, is long past. Rewards Therefore, the judgment seat of Christ is not designed to punish believers, but rather to reward them for their faithful service.

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