FACING YOUR final JOB

REVIEW
The Judgment Seat of Christ, Salvation, and Eternal Rewards

WOODROW KROLL
“As I’ve written and spoken about eternal rewards over the years, I’ve often wished
this vital doctrine wasn’t so ignored and misunderstood. Woodrow Kroll brings
biblical clarity to this immensely important subject. I’m happy to recommend Facing
Your Final Job Review.”
—Randy Alcorn, author of The Law of Rewards and Heaven

“The Judgment Seat of Christ is an event I studied very early in my Christian life—and
have taught ever since. Why? Once the ‘Job Review’ is over, there’s no going back and
doing the job over! This is why the subject Wood has written about it so critical. How
thankful I am for this timely and much needed book. May 2 Corinthians 5:9 become
our ambition as a result of it.”
—Kay Arthur, Bible teacher and Co-CEO of Precept Ministries International

“What a masterful book on such a misunderstood topic—the judgment seat of

Christ. Kroll shows how ‘starting every day at the judgment seat of Christ and working
backwards’ will infuse a new perspective and purpose for your life. This motivating
book—filled with the biblical detail and insight we expect from Back to the Bible—will
inspire you to be all, yes all, that God created you to be!”
—June Hunt, Founder and CEO, Hope for the Heart

“Kroll makes a convincing case that the most important day of our lives is not in our
past, but is yet to come. Are you ready? Perfect for anyone interested in what God’s
Word says about heaven, hell, and Bible prophecy. Readers will find clear direction
and ample hope for their concerns in this life and the next.”
—John Ankerberg, host of the John Ankerberg Show;
President and Founder, Ankerberg Theological Research Institute

“Woodrow Kroll packs a wealth of biblical insights into the often-neglected subject
of future judgment and rewards. I highly recommend this book to all living in our
instant-gratification society who wish to live ‘today’ in light of ‘that day.’ This is a
sobering yet stimulating book that will encourage all followers of Christ to live lives
pleasing to the Lord.”
—John H. Munro, Senior Pastor, Calvary Church, Charlotte, NC

“The best book I’ve ever read on the judgment seat of Christ. I say that because
reading Facing Your Final Job Review made me think about that great day when I
must stand before the Lord and give an account of my life. In a series of short, eas-
ily readable chapters, Kroll brings us face to face with the reality of rewards for the
believer. What we do today counts for eternity. You’ll never forget that once you’ve
read this book.”
—Ray Pritchard, President, Keep Believing Ministries;
author of Credo, The Healing Power of Forgiveness, and Stealth Attack
“Why haven’t more people written on this subject, and why don’t more Christians
know about the practical implications of the bēma judgment seat of Christ? Now
Woodrow Kroll has answered those questions by writing an extremely practical
book to help every believer understand what he or she will face at the judgment
seat of Christ.
If every believer read and understood that the final ‘job review’ will be the judg-
ment seat of Christ, they would serve more faithfully and live more righteously. May
God use this book to stimulate faithfulness in us all.”
—Elmer L. Towns, Cofounder, Liberty University, Dean, School of Religion

“According to a recent religious survey poll, more books have been written during
the past several decades on biblical prophecy than on any other subject. Much of
the material in those books deal with the rapture of the church, the great tribulation,
facts concerning the Antichrist, etc. Tragically, very little has been written in regard
to what is undoubtedly the most important subject of all, namely, the judgment seat
of Christ.
Dr. Kroll’s book effectively bridges this gap, challenging all Christians to so order
their lives today in light of that sobering ‘Final Job Review’ tomorrow. I cannot
recommend this book too highly.”
—H. L. Wilmington, Dean, Wilmington School of the Bible,
Liberty University; author of Wilmington’s Guide to the Bible
 Facing Your final Job
Review
The Judgment Seat of Christ,
Salvation, and Eternal Rewards

WOODROW KROLL

CROSS WAY BOOK S

WHEATON, ILLINOIS
Copyright © 2008 by Woodrow Kroll
Published by Crossway Books
a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers
1300 Crescent Street
Wheaton, Illinois 60187

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system,

otherwise, without the prior permission of the publisher, except as provided for by USA
copyright law.

First printing 2008

Printed in the United States of America

Scripture quotations are from , copyright © 2001

by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission.
All rights reserved.

New King James Version. Copyright © 1982,

added by the author.

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Kroll, Woodrow Michael, 1944–

rewards / Woodrow Kroll.

p. cm.
Includes index.

BT883.K76 2008

2007030368

DP 16 15 14 13 12 11 10 09 08
9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
 To my wife,
Linda.

Forever friend,
faithful fellow laborer,
and my greatest encouragement.
 Contents

Acknowledgments 9
Introduction: The Most Important Day in Your Future 11
Prologue: It’s Too Late Now 17

Part 1: Salvation and Rewards 21

1. What Is God’s Salvation? 23
2. How Are Rewards Different from Salvation? 29
3. Should I Be Concerned about Eternal Rewards? 37

Part 2: The Judgment Seat 45

4. What Exactly Is a Judgment Seat? 47
5. Who Are Judged at the Judgment Seat? 51
6. Who Is the Judge? 57
7. When Will the Judgment Take Place? 61
8. Where Will the Judgment Seat Be? 67
9. Why Would God Judge Me? I Thought He Liked Me 71
10. Does Judgment Mean I’ll Be Condemned? 77
11. What Is the Purpose of Heaven’s Judgment Seat? 85

Part 3: Our Performance Evaluation 91

12. Is the Evaluation Universal? 93
13. Is the Evaluation Necessary? 97
7
 CONTENTS

14. Is the Evaluation Private? 101

15. Is There Real Fire at the Evaluation? 107

Part 4: Losing Eternal Rewards 115

16. Is It Possible to Lose Rewards? 117
17. What Does It Mean to Lose a Reward? 123
18. What If I Haven’t Chosen Gold? 127

Part 5: The Criteria Used to Judge Us 131

19. Do My Sources Matter? 133
20. Does My Faithfulness Count? 139
21. What If I Have Limited Opportunity or Ability? 145
22. How Important Are My Motives? 149

Part 6: What Our Eternal Rewards Will Be 157

23. Are Eternal Rewards Just a Pat on the Back? 159
24. Can People Be a Reward? 163
25. What about Reigning with Christ? 167
26. What’s All This about Crowns in Heaven? 173
27. What Is the Crown of Victory? 177
28. What Is the Crown of Boasting? 183
29. What Is the Crown of Righteousness? 187
30. What Is the Crown of Glory? 191
31. What Is the Crown of Life? 195
32. Will I Cast My Crown at Jesus’ Feet? 199
33. What Will Be My Greatest Reward? 203

Epilogue: Avoiding Highway Robbery 207

Notes 213
Scripture Index 219

8
 Acknowledgments

I want to express my gratitude to those who have

assisted me in bringing this book to your attention.
First, there was that student who more than thirty-five years ago asked
me a question about what Jesus would be looking for at the judgment seat
and launched me on a lifelong quest to better understand this important
event.
Then there was the always valuable editorial assistance of my friends
at Back to the Bible International, Tami Weissert and Allen Bean, and
the checking of the manuscript by my administrative assistant Cathy
Strate.
Of course, no book gets into your hands without a publisher. My
thanks to Lane Dennis, president and publisher of Crossway Books,
to Allan Fisher, senior vice president for book publishing, and to Tara
Davis, editor.
Primarily I want to acknowledge the Lord Jesus, “who loved me and
gave himself for me,” without whom there would be no reason for the
judgment seat of Christ.

9
 Introduction
6
The Most Important Day
in Your Future

“Do you not think that it would make a difference to you

if you really believed the thrilling consciousness that every
act of the present was registered, and would tell, on the far
side beyond?”—Alexander Maclaren

While being interviewed on radio once I was asked, “What’s

the most important day in your life?” I thought for a minute before I
answered. October 21 is my birthday, so that was a biggie. My wife, Linda,
and I were married June 26, 1965; surely that day impacted everything.
And, obviously, there was that cold, snowy night when I was five years
old and walked down the aisle in a little country church to trust Christ
as my Savior. That day changed my life forever.
But before I could get my answer out, the interviewer clarified, “I mean,
what’s the most important day yet in your life? What’s the most important
day in your future?” Oooh. That will take some more thought.
Maybe the day I die. Certainly that day will bring big changes to me.
Or what about the day the Lord returns? That’s an important day in
11
 I N T RODUCT ION

the future. Have you done any thinking about this question yourself?
What’s the most important day you have yet to face? If you could single
out one day in the eternity that awaits you, which day would be the
most important?
I discovered the answer in the Bible. The most important day in my
future, the day that will have the greatest impact on eternity for me, is the
day I stand before the judgment seat of Christ. And, if you’re a follower
of Christ like me, that’s the most important day in your future, too.
So, how much do you know about that day? What is the judgment
seat of Christ? What will happen there, and what impact will it have on
the never-ending years of eternity? Good questions. Do you know the
answers?
If you’re at all a little fuzzy about the where, when, why, and so
on of the judgment seat of Christ, you’ve picked up the right book.
We’re going to answer all those questions, and we’re going to answer
them from the Bible.
For example, did you know that the Bible mentions two future
judgments? One of them is the judgment seat of Christ, which we’re going
to talk about. The other is the great white throne judgment mentioned
in Revelation 20:11–15. One judgment will be glorious; the other will
be horrific. One will open eons of eternity in heaven; the other will open
eons of eternity in hell. One brings reward; the other brings punishment.
At the judgment seat of Christ, the RSVP is only for people of faith,
those who have trusted Jesus Christ as their Savior. At the great white
throne judgment, only unbelievers, those who have rejected Jesus, will
be ordered to appear.

The Judgment Seat of Christ

This book is about the judgment seat of Christ, salvation, and eternal
rewards. Those are not three randomly-chosen subjects. They are as
interrelated as Athos, Porthos, and Aramis (the Three Musketeers) or José
Carreras, Plácido Domingo, and Luciano Pavarotti (the three tenors).
The judgment seat of Christ is the place where every Christ-follower
will one day stand. Our salvation is our ticket. We will be there because of
what Christ Jesus did when he saved us. No one who has failed to come
12
 Introduction

to grips with his sin will be invited. No one who has refused to exercise
faith alone in Christ alone will be present. In fact, all who have rejected
Christ as Savior have their own judgment—at the great white throne.
The judgment seat of Christ is the believer’s judgment. Only those who
have been born again will stand there. This is a day for people of faith.

Eternal Rewards
The reason Christ-followers stand before this judgment seat is to
have our lives evaluated. It is to have the service we’ve done for the Lord
Jesus appraised and, for what’s deemed acceptable, compensated. This
is where eternal rewards are awarded for faithful service. This is where
the Master says, “Well done.” This is where the determination is made of
what we will enjoy for all eternity. Now if that’s not the most important
day in your future, I don’t know what is.
But if what we enjoy for all eternity is judged acceptable at the
judgment seat of Christ, don’t you think we ought to know now what
the Judge is looking for, rather than to wait until then to find out?
Makes sense, doesn’t it?
At the judgment seat of Christ our eternal rewards are determined
and awarded based on the criteria established by God himself. So what
is he looking for? What criteria will Jesus use when he judges your life
and your service? Don’t you think it’s a little risky not to be sure? We’re
talking about eternal rewards here. I want to know now what he’s looking
for then so if I need to I can make some adjustments in my life.
But a huge question remains: If our eternal rewards are determined
at the judgment seat of Christ, isn’t the most important issue you face
right now making sure you stand before this judgment seat and not the
great white throne judgment? That makes sense, too.

Salvation
Eternal rewards are determined at the judgment seat of Christ. But
the judgment seat is dependent on our salvation. So what do we have
to do to be saved?
13
 I N T RODUCT ION

That’s a question people have been asking for a long time. When the
apostle Paul was thrown into jail in the city of Philippi in northern Greece,
and an earthquake jolted open all the prison doors, the jailer was about
to commit suicide thinking all his prisoners had escaped. When Paul
assured him they were still there, the jailed asked the most important
question anyone can ask: “What must I do to be saved?” (Acts 16:30).
That’s the question we’re asking here.
Once a young rich man who was a religious leader in Israel came to
Jesus and asked a similar question: “Good Teacher, what must I do to
inherit eternal life?” (Luke 18:18). Jesus directed the man’s thinking
to whether he had kept all the commandments. The man had done his
best, but he knew something was still lacking. Salvation never comes
by keeping commandments, doing good things, or hoping your good
works outweigh your bad.
Do you see what’s wrong with both the Philippian jailer’s and the
young religious leader’s questions? They assume there is something you
must do in order to be saved from sin. Fact is, there is nothing you can
do. Paul describes us as being “dead in the trespasses and sins” of our life
(Eph. 2:1). Not sick, dead. What can a person who is spiritually dead
do to earn salvation? Nothing. Dead means dead. You can’t even lift a
little finger to save yourself. If you’re to be saved from sin, salvation must
come from outside of you.
That’s why the gospel is such good news. The gospel is the story of
Jesus’ death, burial, and resurrection. What you can’t do, Jesus already
did for you. When Paul responded to the jailer’s query, “What must I do
to be saved?” the apostle said, “Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will
be saved . . .” (Acts 16:31). It’s not what you do that brings salvation; it’s
what Jesus has already done for you.
When Jesus died on the cross, he didn’t belong there. He hadn’t
sinned. He wasn’t guilty of anything. Pilate knew that ( John 19:4, 6);
the centurion knew that (Luke 23:47); God knew that. “For our sake he
[God the Father] made him [God the Son] to be sin who knew no sin, so
that in him we might become the righteousness of God” (2 Cor. 5:21).
Jesus was dying in your place, for your sin. He paid a debt he didn’t owe
because you owed a debt you couldn’t pay.
14
 Introduction

What’s in Your Future?

Before you begin reading about the judgment seat of Christ you have
to ask yourself, is this the judgment in my future? If only those who
have trusted Christ as Savior appear before the judgment seat of Christ
for reward, and all others must appear before the great white throne for
punishment, how do I know I am headed for the right judgment?
The answer is faith. “Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved.”
The only requirement God makes for you to enjoy eternity in heaven is to
have faith that what Jesus did for you at Calvary is all that God required
to pay the penalty for your sins. It’s not a matter of getting your life in
order. It’s not undoing all your bad karma. It’s simple faith, the kind of
faith a little child would have.
If you’re not certain you’re saved, here’s what you should do, right
now, before you read any further.

1. Acknowledge that you have sinned against a holy God and

that you know there are bad consequences to your bad
actions (Rom. 3:23). Genuinely feel the pain of your sin and
be willing to turn from it (repent) and give God free access to
your life (Acts 3:19).
2. Believe in your heart and mind that Jesus is the Son of God,
that he died on the cross for you ( John 3:1–18) in your place,
and was raised back to life blazing a trail for you to follow
when you die. There is no one else you can turn to ( John
14:6). “There is salvation in no one else, for there is no other
name under heaven given among men by which we must be
saved” (Acts 4:12).
3. Confess that you are trusting Jesus as your personal Savior.
Since Jesus is alive, you can talk to him. This is called prayer.
So talk to him right now, in your own words, and accept his
invitation to know him. Invite him not just to save you from
hell but to take control of your life as the One who has saved
you (Rom. 6:23; 10:9–10).

There. It’s really as simple as A-B-C. If you followed the steps above
and sincerely meant it, you have encountered Jesus in a saving way. You
15
 I N T RODUCT ION

have been born again, born from above. “For by grace you have been saved
through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a
result of works, so that no one may boast” (Eph. 2:8–9). You have become
a follower of Christ. Now you’re ready for the next verse, Ephesians 2:10:
“For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works,
which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.”
What you do can never save you. But once you are saved, what you do
plays a huge role in what happens when you stand before the judgment
seat of Christ. God saved you for a purpose—to glorify him through your
life. It’s that life of service that will be evaluated at the judgment seat of
Christ and, when found acceptable, will bring you eternal rewards.
So, are you ready? Salvation first. Then the judgment seat. Then eternal
rewards. Are you ready to stand before the judgment seat of Christ? What
do you have to show for your life here on earth? Jesus said, “Do not lay
up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and
where thieves break in and steal, but lay up for yourselves treasures in
heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not
break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be
also” (Matt. 6:19–21).
It’s true that you can’t take it with you, but you can send it on ahead.
Are you satisfied that you’ve done all you should have done before it’s
too late?

16
 Prologue
6
It’s Too Late Now

“We’ll have all eternity to celebrate our victories, but only

one short hour before sunset to win them.”—Robert Moffat

Who was really ready? None of us! We had been waiting

for this day, sung about it, read about it, longingly anticipated it; but when
it finally came, we were caught completely off guard.
There was so much more to do. We had so many good intentions, so many
good plans. There were study groups to meet, events to be planned, outreach
programs to be organized. Our church had just initiated a ten-year strategic
plan. We had so much potential for growth. Now, all those plans, those
preparations and programs, all that potential, is meaningless.
I know this should be the happiest day of my life, but I’m so apprehensive.
Oh sure, the instant it happened, my mind was overwhelmed with wonder.
To think that after years of anticipation and anxious waiting, I have actually
experienced the Lord’s return! I am with him! He really did come back, as
he said he would.
A split second ago I heard the deafening blast of the trumpet. The sweetest
voice ever heard called me to come up to him. Jesus Christ has returned and
17
 PROLOGU E

now time has yielded to eternity. It all happened before you could bat an
eyelash, and I was astonished.
Yet, with so much to think about, my mind still slips back to the colossal
amount of things I had planned to do. Trying to tell myself not to worry about
them, or even think about them, just doesn’t work. What I could have done
for the Lord and didn’t do will now never get done. I just can’t put this out
of my mind.
I keep asking myself, “Why didn’t I do more when I had the chance?
What was the matter with me?” I knew better. Why did I spend so much time
on foolish things? How could I have allowed my service to the Lord to be so
minimal? But all this questioning is useless. “Forgive me. Please forgive me,
Lord Jesus, for letting other things take up so much of my time. Forgive me
for not getting around to all the things I knew I should be doing. Forgive
me, for it’s too late now!”

The world has not yet witnessed this agonizing drama, but it’s as certain
as sunrise that one day it will. That day cannot be far off. Jesus Christ is
coming back for his church, and most of us aren’t ready. Soon, in a split
second, in the twinkling of an eye, life as we know it is going to change
forever, and we will be caught up into the air to meet him. It will all
happen so fast. It will all be so final.
But does this knowledge make any difference? Does the possibility
of facing a scenario like this tomorrow change anything you do in the
next twenty-four hours? For most of us it likely won’t. We believe in
the Lord’s return, but we live each day as if it weren’t really going to
happen.
Maybe if we had a keener appreciation for how quick and final
that day will be we would drastically change our plans for tomorrow.
If we caught a glimpse of that day and what follows it, maybe—just
maybe—we would have a greater sense of urgency in how we live for
Jesus now.
Facing Your Final Job Review explores the reality of the judgment
seat of Christ. This largely neglected teaching is the real “sleeper” in
our Christian thinking. While playing a major role in our future, it has
been pushed to the back burner of our minds. That’s the way Satan
wants it.
18
 Prologue

In this book, we’re going to bring the subject to the front burner and
turn up the heat. We want to see how important our court date at the
judgment seat is and how knowing this day is “out there” should shape
our lives today. We need to work diligently, faithfully, and fruitfully for
Jesus now because, after all, when it’s too late, it’s too late!

19
 part one

Salvation and Rewards

6
Most of us are familiar with job reviews. Regardless of your occupation
or career, you’ve probably survived a job review or two. Generally, at
least once a year your supervisor calls you into his office and evaluates
your work performance. There you sit, fidgeting, with sweaty palms,
wondering whether your boss will be pleased and reward you or, with
the skill of a surgeon, he will slice and dice you, and there will be no pay
raise, no bonus, no promotion.
But there’s one job review that’s more significant than any you’ve faced
in your career. It’s the job review that takes place as you stand before the
judgment seat of Christ, and the Lord Jesus reviews your performance as
a Christian. Because this event is so crucial to eternity, we need to get a
handle on what the judgment seat is and what the Judge will be looking
for when reviewing our job performance.
Of all the questions people ask about the judgment seat of Christ,
eternal rewards, and the future, perhaps the ones that reveal the most
confusion are related to the difference between salvation and rewards.
It’s easy to see how this could be so confusing. Those who understand
the Bible rightly never use the word “work” in the context of salvation.
Yet when we talk about facing our final job review, we often speak of
working for rewards. If working plays no role in our salvation, why does
it play a role in our eternal rewards? That’s a good question and one we
will address in this first section of Facing Your Final Job Review.
 1
6
What Is God’s Salvation?

“There is no inconsistency in saying that God rewards good

works, provided we understand that, nevertheless, men
obtain eternal life gratuitously.”—John Calvin

For those of us who have come to believe that salvation is by

grace alone, through faith alone, in Christ alone, it is sometimes difficult
to square salvation with the concept of rewards. They just don’t seem
compatible. So, to demonstrate that salvation is not itself a reward,
consider these facts. Salvation is provided for all sinners and is the same
for all sinners. Salvation is God’s gracious gift to us, and it is a present
possession. Salvation is not earned, and it is not universal. It is God’s
unique gift to us.
Since we’re answering questions about eternal rewards in this book, it
will be good for us first to spend some time thinking about how eternal
rewards differ from our eternal salvation. If we’re confused here, we’ll
not see rewards in the same way the Bible does.
23
 S A L VA T IO N A N D R E WA R D S

Salvation Is Provided for Sinners

One of the fundamental precepts in the history of God’s salvation for
humans is that everyone—no matter who he or she is—needs salvation.
The Bible depicts humans as rebellious creatures who chose to disobey
their Creator. Given the opportunity to live in a perfect, pollution-free
environment in harmony with God and nature, Adam and Eve instead
listened to the faulty advice of Satan and rebelled against God. Thus the
fellowship that was such an important part of their Eden relationship
with God was lost. Humans became alienated from God, separated
from fellowship with their Creator. People no longer enjoyed God or
his company.
But God’s plan has always been to redeem men and women from
their sin. The God who created us and owned us would buy us back
from the bondage of sin we had fallen into. He would do this through
the payment of a ransom, the blood of his own Son. God would restore
us to the divine fellowship that we lost, and he would renew our mind
so that we could understand the things of God and live at peace with
him. Thus, salvation is provided to sinners:

• John 1:12: “But to all who did receive him, who believed in
his name, he gave the right to become children of God.”
• Luke 19:10: “For the Son of Man came to seek and to save
the lost.”
• Romans 5:8–9: “But God shows his love for us in that while
we were still sinners, Christ died for us. Since, therefore, we
have now been justified by his blood, much more shall we be
saved by him from the wrath of God.”
• Romans 6:23: “For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift
of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.”
• Galatians 3:22: “But the Scripture imprisoned everything
under sin, so that the promise by faith in Jesus Christ might
be given to those who believe.”
• 1 Timothy 1:15: “The saying is trustworthy and deserving of
full acceptance, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save
sinners, of whom I am the foremost.”
24
 What Is God’s Salvation?

Salvation Is the Same for All Sinners

A major tool in law enforcement has become the science of DNA
testing; the genetic code of our DNA reveals that we are distinct
individuals. This is true for all of God’s creation. No two snowflakes,
trees, or blades of grass are exactly the same.
When people are miraculously born again by the Spirit of God, the
circumstances from which they are saved aren’t identical to those of any
other person. Some have not committed felonies or serious crimes. Others
have. Some haven’t stolen from their parents or robbed a convenience
store. Others have. Some haven’t slept with a different person each night.
Others have. Some have never set foot inside a church. Many have.
The backgrounds from which God calls and saves his people are not at
all identical. Many times they’re not even similar. If salvation depended
on the effort of the individual, some would have to strive much harder
to gain it. Their salvation would be a much greater achievement. But
this has never been the case. Salvation does not depend on us. Salvation
is the gracious act of God whereby he lifts us out of the horrible pit of
sin, cleanses our life, and establishes us on the solid rock—Christ Jesus
(Ps. 40:1–3).
Salvation is deep enough and full enough to cover completely the
most terrible sinner as well as the sinner who has committed crimes
judged less heinous by our society. God’s salvation is the same to every
man, woman, and child who receives it, because God is the same to all
who receive him.

• Malachi 3:6: “For I the Lord do not change; therefore you,

O children of Jacob, are not consumed.”
• Acts 13:37–39: “But he whom God raised up did not see
corruption. Let it be known to you therefore, brothers, that
through this man forgiveness of sins is proclaimed to you, and
by him everyone who believes is freed from everything from
which you could not be freed by the law of Moses.”
• 2 Corinthians 5:17: “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is
a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has
come.”
25
 S A L VA T IO N A N D R E WA R D S

• Hebrews 13:8: “Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today

and forever.”
• James 1:17: “Every good gift and every perfect gift is from
above, coming down from the Father of lights with whom
there is no variation or shadow due to change.”

Salvation Is God’s Gracious Gift

Basic to a biblical understanding of salvation is the fact that salvation
is a free gift from God. People are saved by the grace of God, by trusting
that Jesus’ death paid the price for all the things they’ve done wrong.
Salvation is gracious in that it is provided for us apart from any personal
merit. No honest person can advance one good reason why he or she
should be the objects of God’s love and salvation. I know I can’t, and
I’m pretty sure you can’t either. This can be chalked up only to God’s
grace. God, who is all-worthy, saves mankind, who is unworthy. Such is
the grace of our God.
Paul describes salvation to his friends in Rome, acknowledging that
“all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God” (Rom. 3:23), but that
we “are justified by his grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in
Christ Jesus” (v. 24). Don’t miss the “power words” in that short phrase.
We are justified (made right before God) by his grace (not by something
we do), as a gift (the original word means without strings attached or
no prior conditions having been met) through the redemption (ransom
paid) that comes to us in Christ Jesus. Not much room for us to take
any credit there.
Salvation is a gift; not only is it unmerited by our self-worth, it is
not earned by our labors. You can’t earn a gift. But you can thankfully
receive it. The fact that salvation cannot be earned is clearly the teaching
of the following verses:

• Romans 6:23: “For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift
of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.”
• Ephesians 2:8–9: “For by grace you have been saved through
faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not
a result of works, so that no one may boast.”
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 What Is God’s Salvation?

• 2 Timothy 1:9: “Who saved us and called us to a holy calling,

not because of our works but because of his own purpose and
grace, which he gave us in Christ Jesus before the ages began.”

Salvation Is a Present Possession

The Bible speaks of salvation as past, present, and future. We have
been saved from the penalty of sin at the time of our new birth (Eph.
2:5, 8); we are presently being saved from the power of sin in our lives
(Rom. 6:14); and one day we will be saved from the very presence of sin
(Rom. 8:23). It is important to realize that salvation is not only a future
possession. It is real in the life of those who follow Christ at this present
moment. You and I don’t look forward to the day when our sins will be
forgiven: they have already been forgiven.
If salvation were not a present possession, we could do no valid service
for God now that would earn a reward later. Salvation must precede
service. It is presently and permanently ours by God’s grace. Notice in the
following verses how salvation is always spoken of in the present tense:

• John 3:36: “Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life;

whoever does not obey the Son shall not see life, but the
wrath of God remains on him.”
• John 5:24: “Truly, truly, I say to you, whoever hears my word
and believes him who sent me has eternal life. He does not
come into judgment, but has passed from death to life.”
• John 6:47–48: “Truly, truly, I say to you, whoever believes
has eternal life. I am the bread of life.”
• 1 John 5:11–12: “And this is the testimony, that God gave us
eternal life, and this life is in his Son. Whoever has the Son has
life; whoever does not have the Son of God does not have life.”

Salvation is God’s pure act of grace, motivated by his perfect love,

whereby he paid the penalty for your sin through Jesus’ death on the
cross and invites you to receive the benefit of Christ’s death freely when
you come to grips with your sin and express faith in Christ.
It just doesn’t get any better than that!
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 2
6
How Are Rewards Different
from Salvation?

“Blood washed believers will be spotless in God’s sight,

but not all will have the same service record. God is after
obedience. Salvation gets us to heaven, but works determine
what we do after we get there.”—C. S. Lovett

Think of things that stand in opposition to each other. Ford

drivers don’t buy Chevys. Pepsi drinkers don’t drink Coke. Mac users
never consider buying a PC. You’re either a Yankees’ fan or a Mets’ fan,
but not a fan of both. Democrats see Republicans as elitist, right-wing
conspirators. Republicans see Democrats as spendthrift socialists. Let’s
face it: this world has a lot of contrasts that we deal with every day.
The same thing is true in your spiritual life. Standing in contrast to
the believer’s salvation are the believer’s rewards. By carefully examining
the character of our rewards and contrasting that with the character of
our salvation, we can easily see the sharp distinction.
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 S A L VA T IO N A N D R E WA R D S

Rewards Are Awarded to Saints

Salvation is provided for sinners. In contrast, eternal rewards are
awarded to saints. So what is a saint? In some religious traditions the
church honors the life of certain people by declaring, after they are dead,
that they have attained such a high degree of blessedness they deserve
to be called saints. This is called beatification, and was applied to many
of the early church fathers such as Ambrose, Augustine, and Bernard of
Clairvaux. But the New Testament word “saint” always refers to a believer
who has been set apart to serve God. So, if you’ve trusted Jesus Christ as
your personal Savior—if you’re a follower of Christ—you are a saint.
Unlike salvation, which is applied to the lives of sinners, rewards
are given to saints at the judgment seat of Christ. These rewards are
reserved for believer-saints and for them alone. Just as a person cannot
receive a paycheck until he or she is legally and gainfully employed, so
also a person cannot receive God’s rewards until he or she becomes
God’s servant.

• Luke 6:22–23: “Blessed are you when people hate you and
when they exclude you and revile you and spurn your name
as evil, on account of the Son of Man! Rejoice in that day, and
leap for joy . . . for so their fathers did to the prophets.”
• 1 Corinthians 9:24: “Do you not know that in a race all the
runners run, but only one receives the prize? So run that you
may obtain it.”
• Ephesians 2:8–10: “For by grace you have been saved
through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of
God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast. For we
are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works,
which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in
them.”

Rewards Are Proportionate to Service

Remember, salvation is the same for everyone. The Bible speaks of
just two classes of people. These are not the black or white, rich or poor,
30
 How Are Rewards Different from Salvation?

moral or immoral. These classes are saved and lost—those who have
trusted God’s Son as their Savior and those who have not. The apostle
John said it this way: “Whoever has the Son has life; whoever does not
have the Son of God does not have life” (1 John 5:12). Either you are
completely, wonderfully saved, or you are completely, hopelessly lost.
Unlike salvation, however, there are varying degrees of rewards. Some
will receive great rewards, others will not. Our rewards are proportionate
to our acceptable service.
You may remember the Enron scandal. While the company’s leaders
were dumping their Enron stock, they assured their employees that the
company was sound. When Enron filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy,
pension plans and lenders were left with at least $5 billion at risk. More
than four thousand Enron employees lost their jobs and their 401(k)
savings.
Enron’s top three executives all went to jail, but they didn’t all receive
the same length of sentences. Jeffrey Skilling, a former Enron CEO, was
convicted of federal felony charges and is serving a twenty-four-year, four-
month prison sentence. Kenneth Lay, CEO and chairman of Enron at
the time of its collapse, was found guilty on ten counts of conspiracy and
fraud and could have faced twenty to thirty years in prison. However, Lay
died of a heart attack before he was sentenced. Andrew Fastow, Enron’s
chief financial officer, was largely behind the complex web of limited
partnerships that Enron controlled and used to conceal the massive
losses. He is serving a prison sentence of sixty years, followed by two
years of probation. The difference in the prison sentences reflects the
judge’s understanding of the degree of guilt each man bore.
There have always been degrees of punishment in just societies. This
concept is seen in one of the great masterpieces of literature, Dante
Alighieri’s La Divina Commedia (The Divine Comedy).1 Dante wrote his
work in three parts, or canticles. (A canticle is a hymn from the Bible.) In
his first part, the Inferno, Dante depicts hell as having deepening circles
of condemnation and punishment. The more horrific your sin, the more
torturous your punishment for eternity.
The concept of a more sever punishment for a more sever sin and
greater reward for greater service is a biblical concept. Frequently Jesus
Christ spoke of rewards in proportion to labor, counseling his disciples to
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labor for a “great” reward. John speaks of a “full” reward. If such adjectives
as “full” and “great” can be used to describe our rewards, then not all
rewards are alike, as these verses indicate:

• Matthew 16:27: “For the Son of man is going to come with

his angels in the glory of his Father, and then he will repay
each person according to what he has done.”
• Luke 12:47–48: “And that servant who knew his master’s
will but did not get ready or act according to his will, will
receive a severe beating. But the one who did not know, and
did what deserved a beating, will receive a light beating.
Everyone to whom much was given, of him much will be
required, and from him to whom they entrusted much, they
will demand the more.”
• 1 Corinthians 3:8: “He who plants and he who waters are
one, and each will receive his wages according to his labor.”
• 2 Corinthians 5:10: “For we must all appear before the
judgment seat of Christ, so that each one may receive what is
due for what he has done in the body, whether good or evil.”
• 1 Timothy 5:18: “For the Scripture says, ‘You shall not
muzzle an ox when it treads out the grain,’ and ‘The laborer
deserves his wages.’”

Rewards Are a Gracious Wage

Remember from our last chapter that salvation is a gracious gift. The
Bible teaches we are saved by grace, through faith, plus nothing! This
means that we are saved by grace apart from works. Yet, after we have
been born again to a new life in Christ, we are to engage in the good works
that Jesus himself has prepared for us in advance (Eph. 2:8–10).
Rewards are given to us for faithful service rendered after salvation. The
reward is a wage paid in respect to the service performed. If no service
is performed, or if it is unacceptable service, no wage is paid.
After Hurricane Katrina ripped through the Gulf Coast of the United
States, those homes that weren’t entirely destroyed were often severely
damaged. Suppose one of them were your house. If you needed a roof
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 How Are Rewards Different from Salvation?

repaired, and some guy showed up on your street with a pickup saying
he was a professional roofer and would fix your roof, would you pay him
upfront before he did any work? Of course not. Payment comes after
work is done, not before. If the work he did was unacceptable, or only
partially complete, would you pay him in full? No, you wouldn’t. Wages
are the promise of work completed satisfactorily.
Can you earn a reward for your service to God? Yes, but it’s only by
God’s infinite grace that you can perform any acceptable service at all.
Your reward, then, is a gracious wage paid for being a willing and useful
servant. Unlike salvation, of which we are but recipients, we are active
participants in earning our reward.

• 1 Corinthians 9:24–25: “Do you not know that in a race all

the runners run but only one receives the prize? So run that
you may obtain it. Every athlete exercises self-control in all
things. They do it to receive a perishable wreath, but we an
imperishable.”
• 2 Timothy 4:6–8: “For I am already being poured out as
a drink offering, and the time of my departure has come. I
have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have
kept the faith. Henceforth there is laid up for me the crown
of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, will
award to me on that Day, and not only to me but also to all
who have loved his appearing.”
• Revelation 22:12: “Behold, I am coming soon, bringing
my recompense with me, to repay everyone for what he has
done.”

Rewards Are a Future Possession

In contrast to salvation, which the Bible indicates is enjoyed now,
eternal rewards are reserved for the future. Eternal rewards are awarded
only as a result of your service being judged acceptable. That won’t happen
until the judgment seat of Christ, and since that’s still a future event, your
eternal rewards are future rewards.
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 S A L VA T IO N A N D R E WA R D S

This is not to say that we don’t presently enjoy many blessings in

serving Jesus. We do. There’s great pleasure in pleasing the One who
loved us and gave himself for us. But the blessings we now enjoy are only
temporal blessings—things like good health, amiable friends, passion
for our work, or fulfillment in doing a good job. They are not eternal
rewards. There’s a big difference. It is satisfying to know that we are doing
the will of the Lord. This knowledge brings great comfort and blessing.
But it is not a reward like having the Lord himself say, “Well done, good
and faithful servant.”
Notice how Paul speaks of rewards as a future attainment:

• 1 Corinthians 3:14: “If the work that anyone has built on the
foundation survives, he will receive a reward.”
• 2 Timothy 4:7–8: “I have fought the good fight, I have
finished the race, I have kept the faith. Henceforth there is
laid up for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord,
the righteous judge, will award to me on that Day, and not
only to me but also to all who have loved his appearing.”

Our Lord also speaks of rewards as a future attainment:

• Matthew 16:27: “For the Son of Man is going to come with

his angels in the glory of his Father, and then he will repay
each person according to what he has done.”
• Luke 14:14: “And you will be blessed, because they cannot
repay you. For you will be repaid at the resurrection of the
just.”

So, do you see that salvation and rewards are very different things?

• Salvation is provided for the sinner; rewards are awarded to

the saint.
• Salvation is identical for all who by faith receive it; rewards
are different for each person because they are proportionate
to our life of service.
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 How Are Rewards Different from Salvation?

• Salvation is a gracious gift, given by God to the lost; rewards

are a gracious wage paid by God to those who are saved.
• Salvation is now, to be enjoyed forever; rewards are not
received until the race is won and we are in the presence of
our great Reward Giver, God himself.
• Salvation is by faith, but the evaluation of our service is by
works.

As we progress through this book together, the distinction between

salvation and rewards will become even clearer. For now, make sure in
your own life that the judgment seat of Christ is on your future agenda.
It is if you’ve placed your faith in Jesus Christ as your Savior. That’s where
you must begin your journey to eternity.

35
 3
6
Should I Be Concerned
about Eternal Rewards?

“The Christian doctrine of reward is too often lost sight of or

kept in abeyance, as if it were not perfectly consistent with
the freest bestowment of heavenly glory.”—John Eadie

In the last chapter I mentioned the Enron scandal that

rocked the financial world in the early years of the twenty-first century.
Although the charges against the Enron executives were conspiracy,
fraud, and making false statements, the underlying problem was just
plain old greed.
First listed by Pope Gregory the Great (AD 540–604) and later in
Dante’s epic poem, The Divine Comedy, the so-called “seven deadly sins”
are like the FBI’s Most Wanted List of transgressions. Although all of
these deadly sins are present in our world today, none of them is more
so than greed.1
In the wake of the Enron debacle, Alan Greenspan, then chairman
of the Federal Reserve Board, told a senate banking committee in
Washington that “infectious greed” had gripped the business community
and that “too many corporate executives sought ways to harvest some of
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those stock market gains.” Greenspan added, “It is not that humans have
become any more greedy than in generations past. It is that the avenues
to express greed have grown so enormously.”2
With greed so prevalent in the world today, it’s legitimate for Christ-
followers to be concerned about wanting to earn eternal rewards. Won’t
just making it to heaven be reward enough? Shouldn’t that satisfy us?
Why should we care about tangible rewards? After all, it seems so greedy
to think about receiving payment for serving the Savior.
If you’re part of the paid workforce in this country, you may enjoy
your job and the team you work with and you may even get a sense of
accomplishment from what you do, but without your paycheck, you’d
be looking elsewhere for work. We all look forward to getting paid for
two reasons: (1) we feel we’ve worked for it, and we’ve got it coming to
us; and (2) we can’t pay our bills without some form of income.
But should we view our eternal rewards the same way? There are those
who argue, “I don’t think we ought to talk about our rewards. Salvation is
by grace, and it sounds so mercenary to be talking about rewards.” That
sounds spiritual, but it isn’t biblical. There is nothing mercenary about
eternal rewards. It’s thoroughly scriptural, and we have every right to talk
about our rewards and every reason to anticipate them. Here’s why.

Rewards Are a Frequent Theme in Scripture

You may be surprised how often the Bible addresses rewards. So
if the Bible is interested in the subject of rewards, don’t you think we
should be, too? Think about the Old Testament examples below. These
verses are not exhaustive but are representative examples of how God
rewards the faithfulness of his servants:

• Genesis 15:1: “After these things the word of the Lord came
to Abram in a vision: ‘Fear not, Abram, I am your shield; your
reward shall be very great.’”
• Ruth 2:12: “The Lord repay you for what you have done,
and a full reward be given you by the Lord, the God of Israel,
under whose wings you have come to take refuge!”
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 Should I Be Concerned about Eternal Rewards?

• 1 Samuel 24:19: “For if a man finds his enemy, will he let

him go away safe? So may the Lord reward you with good for
what you have done to me this day.”
• Psalm 19:9–11: “The rules of the Lord are true, and
righteous altogether. More to be desired are they than gold,
even much fine gold; sweeter also than honey and drippings
of the honeycomb. Moreover, by them is your servant
warned; in keeping them there is great reward.”
• Psalm 58:11: “Surely there is a reward for the righteous;
surely there is a God who judges on earth.”
• Isaiah 62:11: “Behold, the Lord has proclaimed to the
end of the earth: Say to the daughter of Zion, ‘Behold, your
salvation comes; behold, his reward is with him, and his
recompense before him.’”

The New Testament is even more enthusiastic about rewards.

Consider these verses:

• Matthew 5:12: “Rejoice and be glad, for your reward is great

in heaven, for so they persecuted the prophets who were
before you.”
• Matthew 6:3–4: “But when you give to the needy, do not let
your left hand know what your right hand is doing, so that
your giving may be in secret. And your Father who sees in
secret will reward you.”
• Matthew 10:41: “The one who receives a prophet because he
is a prophet will receive a prophet’s reward, and the one who
receives a righteous person because he is a righteous person
will receive a righteous person’s reward.”
• Matthew 16:27: “For the Son of Man is going to come with
his angels in the glory of his Father, and then he will repay
each person according to what he has done.”
• Mark 9:41: “For truly, I say to you, whoever gives you a cup
of water to drink because you belong to Christ will by no
means lose his reward.”
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 S A L VA T IO N A N D R E WA R D S

• Luke 23:40–41: “Do you not fear God, since you are under
the same sentence of condemnation? And we indeed justly,
for we are receiving the due reward of our deeds; but this man
had done nothing wrong.”
• Colossians 3:23–24: “Whatever you do, work heartily, as for
the Lord and not for men, knowing that from the Lord you
will receive the inheritance as your reward. You are serving
the Lord Christ.”
• 1 Timothy 5:18: “For the Scripture says, ‘You shall not
muzzle an ox when it treads out the grain,’ and, ‘The laborer
deserves his wages.’”
• 2 John 8: “Watch yourselves, so that you may not lose what
we have worked for, but may win a full reward.”

The Bible doesn’t avoid the subject of rewards, and neither should
we. Paul told us we are to think about “whatever is true, whatever is
honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever
is commendable” (Phil. 4:8), and God-given rewards surely fall into
these categories.

Rewards Confirm Our Salvation

When Christ died for us on Calvary’s cross, he cried out, “It is finished”
( John 19:30), because all that needed to be done to pay the penalty for
our sin us was complete. He paid in full our debt. Three days later, his
resurrection proved that God had accepted his Son’s sacrifice on our
behalf. Redemption was accomplished.
If you’ve ever listened to me on radio you’ve probably heard me
say, “You should never quote Ephesians 2:8–9.” And then, after a long,
agonizing pause I continue, “without quoting verse 10.” Ephesians 2:10
gives the purpose for our salvation recorded in verses 8 and 9. Why is
the believer in Christ saved from sin? To live a life filled with meaningful
and enjoyable service to the one who saved us. The reason we have been
given new life in Christ is to apply all that we have and all that we are
toward a useful life for our Savior. This is what brings glory to God.
As author Randy Alcorn notes,
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 Should I Be Concerned about Eternal Rewards?

Somewhere we’ve gotten the erroneous idea that to God ‘works’

is a dirty word. This is totally false. While he condemns works
done to earn salvation, and works done to impress others, our
Lord enthusiastically commends righteous works done for the right
reasons. . . . God created us to do good works, has a lifetime of good
works for each of us to do and will reward us according to whether
or not we do them. Indeed, Scripture ties God’s reward-giving to
his very character: ‘God is not unjust; he will not forget your work
and the love you have shown him as you have helped his people and
continue to help them’ (Heb. 6:10).

We should be interested in eternal rewards because they are the

confirmation that our completed salvation was also a meaningful
salvation. Rewards are God’s way of saying, “You followed through. You
discovered the reason I saved you and lived up to it. Nice going.”

Rewards Demonstrate More than Love

If you’ve heard people say, “Forget all this talk about eternal rewards.
We should serve Jesus just because we love him,” I agree. We should serve
Jesus because we love him, but as spiritual as those comments sound,
they aren’t very logical.
Suppose you want to build an apartment for your aging widowed
mother on the back of your house so she’ll be close to you and your
family. You love your mother, and you want her to live her golden
years in comfort and joy. But you’re not a builder, and you aren’t at all
knowledgeable about construction. Nonetheless, for months you spend
every spare minute framing and finishing the apartment. Then comes the
day when she moves in. It’s rather traumatic, because your dad and mom
had lived so long in the house they had built with their own hands.
What eases the move is that she has pictures to hang and knickknacks
to place around the apartment that will help her feel at home. When she
pounds a nail in the wall and misses the stud, she asks, “Help me find
that board behind the wall, so I can hang your father’s picture.” You begin
pounding away, one hole after another, until the new wall looks like Swiss
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cheese. When your neighbor arrives and asks, “Didn’t you set those studs
sixteen inches on center?” your puzzled face answers his question.
You see, you built an apartment for your mother out of love, but you
didn’t follow the rules. You didn’t pay attention to code. You just loved
your mom so much, you wanted to serve her.
Some Christians are like that when it comes to serving the Lord.
They love him so much, yet they don’t stop to get directions or guidance
from his “house plans” found in the Bible. They want to serve, but they
don’t know how, where, why, or when. Their service becomes haphazard,
undependable, sometimes even useless.
Rewards demonstrate more than love. They demonstrate obedience,
understanding, following the rules, and building a Christian life that’s up
to God’s code. They are the Masterbuilder’s “certificate of occupation”
indicating that he approves of the way you have built your life. That’s
why you should think about your eternal rewards.

Rewards Provide Motivation

Loving Jesus is motivation for serving him. But God doesn’t stop
there. His gracious rewards are a strong and legitimate motivation for
us to serve our Savior.
Jesus commands us to lay up treasures for ourselves in heaven (Matt.
6:20). He urges us to become “rich toward God” (Luke 12:21). It’s a
healthy ambition, a holy ambition. In fact, it’s an ambition that, rather
than fostering selfishness, frees us from selfishness because it motivates
us to seek the pleasure and glory of God.
If we never think about rewards, or if we hold the foolish notion that we
shouldn’t think about rewards, we will fail to grasp God’s motivation for
our life. The only thing that will provide us with the motivation we need
is the truth. If you really want to be motivated to serve the Lord, factor
God’s eternal rewards into your thinking, and you’ll be more motivated
than the football players competing on Super Bowl Sunday.
Paul demonstrates this kind of motivation in his counsel to the
Corinthians who were having some trouble running the Christian
race. He knew rewards were a key motivating factor in their spiritual
growth (1 Cor. 3:1–3). He knew rewards would help them lay the right
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 Should I Be Concerned about Eternal Rewards?

foundation and build the right building on it (1 Cor. 3:9–10). But the
apostle outdid himself when he compared our heavenly rewards to the
laurels won at athletic contests. He said, “Do you not know that in a
race all the runners run, but only one receives the prize? So run that
you may obtain it. Every athlete exercises self-control in all things. They
do it to receive a perishable wreath, but we an imperishable” (1 Cor.
9:24–25).
Rewards should be important motivation to us because our Lord
and his apostles made frequent appeal to them as such. Think about
these examples:

Christ Jesus: “Beware of practicing your righteousness before other

people in order to be seen by them, for then you will have no reward
from your Father who is in heaven” (Matt. 6:1).
Paul: “Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only
one receives the prize? So run that you may obtain it” (1 Cor. 9:24).
James: “Blessed is the man who remains steadfast under trial, for
when he has stood the test he will receive the crown of life, which God
has promised to those who love him” ( James 1:12).
Peter: “And if you call on him as Father who judges impartially
according to each one’s deeds, conduct yourselves with fear throughout
the time of your exile” (1 Peter 1:17).
John: “Watch yourselves, so that you may not lose what we have
worked for, but may win a full reward” (2 John 8).

Abraham was the patriarch of faith. He was the patriarch because from
him came the Hebrew nation. He was a man of faith; when an unseen
God made promises for an uncertain future, Genesis 15:6 records, “And
he believed the Lord, and he counted it to him as righteousness.” Godly
men of the Old Testament desired “a better country, that is, a heavenly
one. Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God, for he has
prepared for them a city” (Heb. 11:16). That’s the motivation of eternal
reward.
Moses chose rather “to be mistreated with the people of God than to
enjoy the fleeting pleasures of sin. He considered the reproach of Christ
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greater wealth than the treasures of Egypt, for he was looking to the
reward” (Heb. 11:25–26). That’s the motivation of eternal reward.
Rather than being ashamed of talking about rewards, the Bible
writers often spoke of them as motivation for right living. If they were
so interested in the subject, shouldn’t we be interested, too?

Rewards Were God’s Idea

Rewards are God’s doing. They were his idea, not ours. God is the
one who developed the rewards, determined the criteria for awarding
them, and demonstrated his grace by providing them for faithful service.
Rewards arise from the heart of God.
Another thing—rewards aren’t about us; they’re about pleasing him.
They reflect God’s gracious character more than they reflect our useful
service. Thankfully, what it takes to earn eternal rewards—our motives,
disciplines, and characteristics—all lead to a more intimate relationship
with our heavenly Father. That’s why he promises us rewards—they are
incentives to know him better and gifts for serving him through knowing
him.
Remember Jesus’ words: “If anyone serves me, he must follow me; and
where I am, there will my servant be also. If anyone serves me, the Father
will honor him” ( John 12:26). Honor from the Father was the Father’s
choice to compensate faithful service, not ours. So don’t be ashamed
to talk about eternal rewards; Jesus wasn’t. Most of all, you take care of
your service, and God will take care of your reward.
Remember, “without faith it is impossible to please him, for whoever
would draw near to God must believe that he exists and that he rewards
those who seek him” (Heb. 11:6). Focus on faith. Focus on pleasing
him. Focus on drawing near to God. And remember, too, that he is the
rewarder of those who do.
Fathers love to reward their children. They do it out of love. Don’t
rob God of the joy of being a rewarding heavenly Father because you
tell him you don’t care. You should care. It’s okay to think about your
heavenly reward. God does.

44
 part t wo

The Judgment Seat

6
The judgment seat of Christ has the potential either to bring a
Christ-follower to his or her knees in terror or to cause them to stand
and shout “glory!” How can one event evoke such a diverse response?
Misunderstanding.
The judgment seat of Christ is the most important day in your future
and an important subject often neglected in Christian literature. More
than thirty-five years ago when I was a young college professor, a student
came to me and asked a question about the judgment seat of Christ. I
answered his question to his satisfaction, but not to mine. So I went to the
college library to see what I could find on the subject. I found virtually
nothing. Although the library had some theology books that included
a paragraph on the crowns, almost nothing was written specifically on
this subject.
Since that time several books have been written on the topic. I’m
happy to add this to their number. But the question still remains: why
do we Christ-followers not know more about the most important event
in our future? The day that shapes so much of our eternity is a puzzle to
so many. Why is that?
In this section we will answer questions about what the Bible means
by the “judgment seat of Christ.” We want to know now, while there’s
still time to labor for our reward.
 4
6
What Exactly
Is a Judgment Seat?

“It ought to be the business of every day to prepare for our

last day.”—Matthew Henry

The English words “judgment seat” well describe what the

judgment seat of Christ is all about. It’s the location where our final job
review as Christians will take place. But to gain a better understanding,
let’s go back in history, stop to rest in front of a real judgment seat, and
think about what happened there.
The image of a judgment seat came from the Greco-Roman world
where judgment took place on a platform or tribunal from which a
judge would hear and decide cases. There are two words in the New
Testament that indicate a “judgment seat.” The first, used in James 2:6
and 1 Corinthians 6:2, 4, is kritēriōn, which means the rule by which
one judges or the place where judgment is pronounced. Our English
word “criterion” is derived from this word: A form of the word kritēriōn
is used three times in the Bible:
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 T HE J UDGM EN T SE AT

• 1 Corinthians 6:2: “Do you not know that the saints will
judge the world? And if the world is to be judged by you, are
you incompetent to try [kritēriōn] trivial cases?”
• 1 Corinthians 6:4: “So if you have such cases [kritēria], why
do you lay them before those who have no standing in the
church?”
• James 2:6: “But you have dishonored the poor man. Are not
the rich the ones who oppress you, and the ones who drag
you into court [kritēria]?”

A Raised Platform
A form of the second word, bēma, is more common. Bēma actually
means “to step,” “to stride,” or “the space that a foot covers.” It came to
mean a raised platform mounted by steps. In ancient Greece, the bēma
was a dais, a rostrum or raised platform from which judgments were
announced.
A form of this word is found in a dozen verses in the New Testament.
Once it is used in the context of a step or the space that a foot covers:
Acts 7:5.
Twice a form of the word bēma refers to Pilate’s judgment seat:
Matthew 27:19 and John 19:13.
Once it is used of Herod’s judgment seat: Acts 12:21.
When Paul stood before Gallio, the proconsul of Achaia, the Corinth
a form of the word bēma is mentioned three times: Acts 18:12; Acts
18:16; and Acts 18:17.
The judgment seat of Porcius Festus, Roman governor of Judea, is
referred to twice in Acts 25: Acts 25:6 and Acts 25:17.
Because Festus was an official of the Roman Empire, Paul refers to
this judgment seat as Caesar’s bēma: Acts 25:10.
Search any of the verses above and you will see that none of them
refers to an athletic contest. They all refer to the tribunal or official seat
of Greek and Roman judges where political orations or judicial decisions
were announced. But don’t think of the bēma as a judicial court where
judges sat with black robes and a jury waited to issue a verdict. It wasn’t.
The judgment seat was where cases were made before a single judge, and
48
 What Exactly Is a Judgment Seat?

his decisions were announced. Often the bēma was simply where orations
were delivered to the crowd or public announcements were made.

The Bēma of Christ

The final two references to the judgment seat are specifically to the
heavenly bēma: Romans 14:10 and 2 Corinthians 5:10.
If you visit Corinth today you can still see its bēma, a large, once
elaborately decorated platform located on the edge of the agora, the
ancient Greco-Roman marketplace. The platform was raised to allow
crowds to hear the judgments as they were announced.
But Paul was aware of other such raised platforms where announce-
ments were made. The bēma on which judges sat during athletic contests
to observe the events and announce the victors undoubtedly came into
play in Paul’s reference to the bēma of Christ. Specifically well known to
the apostle were the Isthmian games, which were held on alternate years
to the Olympics in ancient Greece.
If you drive from Athens to Corinth today, you can see a huge oval-
shaped field where the Isthmian games were held. In fact, you can still
locate buried in the ground the stone used for starting blocks at the
races. When the races were over, the victors would come to the bēma to
be announced as winners and be awarded their prizes.

The Heavenly Bēma

The alert apostle Paul draws on his firsthand knowledge of the bēma
at Caesarea, Corinth, Athens, etc., when he describes the judgment seat
of Christ. There was a natural correlation between them.
In the Greek athletic games, victorious athletes appeared before the
bēma to receive their laurel crown and hear the commendation of the
judge. At the heavenly bēma, victorious Christians will appear before
the bēma of Christ to receive their crowns and hear the “well done”
commendation of their Judge. In the Greek and Roman tribunals, those
who appeared before the judge were there to be scrutinized and hear
the announcement of the judge.
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 T HE J UDGM EN T SE AT

At the heavenly bēma, we will also appear to be scrutinized and hear the
announcement of the Judge. We will not stand before Christ’s judgment
seat to be judged on our guilt or innocence. That question was settled long
ago at the cross of Calvary. There Jesus Christ made atonement for our sin
with his own blood. The judgment seat of Christ is not to decide whether
we are saved or lost, but to judge the true merit of our performance for
the Lord. During our life of service we are being closely scrutinized as a
contender for the faith. At the heavenly bēma, the rewarding Judge will
announce his findings and pass out rewards for faithful service.

50
 5
6
Who Are Judged
at the Judgment Seat?

“We’ll hardly get our feet out of time and into eternity
than we’ll bow our heads in shame and humiliation. We’ll
gaze on eternity and say, ‘Look at all the riches there were
in Jesus Christ, and I’ve come to the judgment seat almost
a pauper.”—A. W. Tozer

Who will stand before the judgment seat of Christ to receive

the commendation of the Judge? The analogy with the bēma of Greece
and Rome is still helpful. Greek athletes were rewarded, not for being
athletes—all who entered the race or arena were athletes—but for their
performance on the field or in the ring. So, too, we will be judged and
rewarded for our performance as servants of the Lord.
At the heavenly bēma, only God’s children will appear. Only those who
have come to faith in Jesus Christ will be present, because this is not a
judgment for everyone. This is a judgment for the church.
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 T HE J UDGM EN T SE AT

Every Scripture passage in the New Testament that relates to the

bēma or to heavenly rewards pertains to born-again believers of the
church:

• Romans 14:10–12 • 1 Timothy 6:18–19

• 1 Corinthians 3:12–15 • Titus 2:12–14
• 2 Corinthians 5:9–11 • 1 John 2:28
• 1 Thessalonians 2:19–20

The New Testament uses the word “church” to indicate that group
of people who have repented of their sin and received Jesus’ sacrifice at
Calvary as payment for their sin. Thus “church,” in the New Testament,
does not apply to a building. It does not apply to a particular denomination
or religious group in general. It refers only to those who have received Jesus
as their Savior, regardless of where they are or to which denomination
they belong.
Not all who claim to be Christians are really “Christ’s ones,” purchased
from sin by his precious blood. Many people have the mistaken idea that
if they are not Jewish, Muslim, Buddhist, or something else, they are
automatically a Christian. But the Bible says there is nothing automatic
about being a Christian. Only those saved from sin and set apart to a life
pleasing to God are Christians and included in Christ’s “church.”

A Strong Relationship
The relationship between Jesus Christ and his church is both unique
and blessed. A oneness between Christ and his church exists that is
unparalleled in human history. The Bible uses several metaphors to
describe this relationship. The church is a body of believers of which
Christ is the Head (Eph. 1:22; 5:23; Col. 1:18). The church is a building
made of living beings (the saints) of which Christ is the Foundation and
Chief Cornerstone (1 Cor. 3:9; Eph. 2:19–22). The church is a branch
that, in order to survive, must be rooted in Christ the Vine ( John 15:5).
And the church is the bride of whom Christ is the Bridegroom (Eph.
5:23).
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 Who Are Judged at the Judgment Seat?

With this close association and unity it is reasonable to expect that

Christ and his church would live together in the same place. Bodies
and heads are together; buildings and foundations are at the same site;
brides and bridegrooms live together—why would not Christ and his
church?
Presently, however, this is not the case. This doesn’t mean Christ has
abandoned his church or no longer loves those for whom he died. Quite
the contrary; he loves us so much that he is currently preparing an eternal
dwelling for us. His promise is, “[since] I go and prepare a place for you,
I will come again, and will take you to myself, that where I am you may
be also” ( John 14:3). Jesus Christ will come back to remove his church
before he exercises his wrath in judgment on the earth (1 Thess. 5:1–11).
From that point on we will live forever with him.

Personal Pronouns
Since only servants of the Lord appear at this judgment seat, and
since we cannot be the Lord’s servants unless we are saved from sin,
only those who are saved will stand before the righteous Judge at the
heavenly bēma.
In those portions of Scripture dealing with the judgment seat, the
first-person plural pronoun (we) occurs frequently. For example, in
Paul’s second letter to the Corinthians, he uses “we” no less than eighteen
times in the first ten verses.1 He is addressing “the church of God that is
at Corinth, with all the saints who are in the whole of Achaia (southern
Greece).” Both the words “church” and “saints” are terms reserved for
believers, followers of Christ.
Paul could not possibly have included the unbeliever in the “we” of
2 Corinthians 5 for the following reasons: the unbeliever has no building
from God (v. 1); he has not the guarantee of the Spirit (v. 5); he does
not walk by faith (v. 7); he has no confidence in being present with the
Lord upon death (v. 8); and he does not make it his aim to please the
Lord (v. 9). Consequently, the person who is not a follower of Christ
does not appear before the judgment seat of Christ (v. 10).
It is evident that those who are judged at the bēma of Christ belong
there. This will be a judgment of the church, not of mankind in general.
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 T HE J UDGM EN T SE AT

Only those who qualify will be able to stand there, and we qualify solely
through the death of Jesus Christ on our behalf. We will be judged for the
things done in our bodies, whether good or bad. We will not be judged as
sinners or even as sons. At the judgment seat of Christ we will be judged
only as servants of the living God.

Won’t Unbelievers Be Judged?

But what about those who have rejected Christ? Won’t they be judged?
Yes, but as mentioned in the introduction, they will appear before the
great white throne judgment, pictured in the book of Revelation.
Here is the apostle John’s description of what happens at the great
white throne in Revelation 20:11–15:

Then I saw a great white throne and him who was seated on it.
From his presence earth and sky fled away, and no place was
found for them. And I saw the dead, great and small, standing
before the throne, and books were opened. Then another book
was opened, which is the book of life. And the dead were judged
by what was written in the books, according to what they had
done. And the sea gave up the dead who were in it, Death and
Hades gave up the dead who were in them, and they were judged,
each one of them, according to what they had done. Then Death
and Hades were thrown into the lake of fire. This is the second
death, the lake of fire. And if anyone’s name was not found written
in the book of life, he was thrown into the lake of fire.

Does that sound like the same event as the judgment seat of Christ?
Obviously not. When the book of life is opened, those standing before
the great white throne will be shown that their name is not included.
They have rejected God and his gospel. They have decided they didn’t
need Jesus as their Savior, and the absence of their names will prove they
indeed belong at this solemn judgment.
Notice these who have not followed Christ will also be judged
“according to what they had done.” As was said before, there are degrees
of punishment in hell just as there are degrees of reward in heaven. But
the end result of the great white throne judgment will be that all who
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 Who Are Judged at the Judgment Seat?

stand before this judgment bar of God will be condemned to the lake
of fire. Anyone whose name is not found in the book of life is consigned
to the lake of fire forever.
How different is the scene at the judgment seat of Christ. It leads to
the blessedness of reward in heaven with God forever. It is clearly the
Christian who will one day stand before the judgment seat. The world
will have no more a part there than a non-athlete would have had before
the bēma of ancient Corinth, begging to receive a laurel.
Make sure you’re ready to stand at the right judgment.

55
 6
6
Who Is the Judge?

“It is my happiness that I have served Him who never fails

to reward His servants to the full extent of His promise.”
—John Calvin

Answering the question, who is the Judge? is not rocket

science. If the heavenly bēma is called the “judgment seat of Christ,”
shouldn’t it be evident that the Judge is Jesus Christ? He is the most
qualified person to discern if our service to God is acceptable, and the
Father has charged Jesus with that responsibility.1
Judges are usually elected or appointed officials. The qualifications
for this high office supersede simple party considerations. Most people
want to know: “Is this the best man or woman for the job?” “Does he
or she have good judgment?” and most importantly, “Is this a person
of integrity?” Judges should be of high moral fiber and unquestionable
character. They should be sympathetic and responsive to the needs of
those they judge.

Qualifications to Be a Judge
These characteristics were foremost in the minds of the early
Jews when electing a man to the Sanhedrin, the Supreme Court of
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 T HE J UDGM EN T SE AT

Judaism. It was a requirement that the Sanhedrinist should be married

and probably a father as well. This, it was felt, would give him the
proper sympathy for his fellow man so he would temper justice with
mercy. Today a good judge is one whose character allows him or her
to mete out justice with love and tenderness. A good judge cannot
stay necessary punishment, but neither can a judge be unreasonably
severe in assigning it.
If these requirements are recognized for a good judge in our society,
should not the requirements for the Judge at the judgment seat of Christ
at least meet or exceed them? The Judge sitting at the heavenly bēma
must be one who is acquainted with the trials of men. He must be kind
and compassionate, yet fair and just. In short, he must be better qualified
than your average judge.
Actually, such a Judge should be God. He would be fair and accurate in
discerning the validity of our service, and he would be entirely honorable
when handing out rewards. By the same token, it would be ideal if this
Judge were a human so he would be sympathetic and understanding
toward the difficulties we have had in serving God. This would mean
that the perfect Judge would be both God and man. But where would
you find someone like that?

The Perfect Judge

That is exactly what Jesus Christ is—the perfect God-man. In keeping
with God’s commitment to justice and righteousness (Gen. 18:25; Job
8:3; Ps. 89:14), the Judge at the judgment seat is indeed the perfect
Judge, Jesus Christ.
The Lord Jesus, who is God in the flesh, will certainly make honest
and holy judgments when awarding rewards, because it is the essence
of God to be honest and holy ( John 14:6; Heb. 7:26). As a man, Jesus
knows men ( John 2:24–25). As a human being, he was tempted in all
points like we are, yet he did not fall victim to sin (Heb. 4:15). He is
sympathetic with, and understanding of, the problems we encounter in
living a pleasing life to God.
The fact that the name of this heavenly bēma is the judgment seat of
Christ (bēmatos tou Christou), leaves no doubt as to whom the Judge
58
 Who Is the Judge?

is. Of the two references to the judgment seat of Christ, the first (Rom.
14:10) is more literally translated “judgment seat of God.” This is no
problem, however, for Jesus Christ is God, and it would be entirely proper
to refer to his bēma as the judgment seat of God. Paul is more specific in
2 Corinthians 5:10 when he mentions the same bēma as the “judgment
seat of Christ.” There can be no question that Paul is referring to the
same judgment seat.

Jesus as Judge
Furthermore, there are a number of biblical references to Jesus as
Judge. Jesus himself said, “All authority in heaven and on earth has
been given to me” (Matt. 28:18). That power or authority includes the
authority to judge all the people of the earth. Jesus will be a righteous
and fair judge. The answer to the question, “Shall not the Judge of all the
earth do what is just?” (Gen. 18:25) is, yes he will. Of course he will.
How could we think otherwise?
Looking forward to the time of his departure, Paul thinks about the
crown of righteousness “which the Lord, the righteous judge, will award
to me” (2 Tim. 4:8). Peter says of Jesus that “he is the one appointed by
God to be judge of the living and the dead” (Acts 10:42).
Luke records in Acts 17:31 that God has appointed a day in which
he will judge the world in righteousness “by a man whom he has
appointed.” As we have noted, the only man qualified to be that Judge
is Jesus Christ.
Here’s an express statement of Scripture: “The Father judges no one,
but has given all judgment to the Son” ( John 5:22). It is quite evident,
therefore, that we will be dealt with fairly at the judgment seat of Christ.
Any reward that is earned and proven worthy will be awarded to us
because of the very nature and integrity of the one who judges us, the
Lord Jesus Christ.

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 7
6
When Will the Judgment
Take Place?

“There are only two days on my calendar: Today and that

Day.”—Martin Luther

Since everything we enjoy for all eternity is judged acceptable

and awarded at the judgment seat of Christ, you wouldn’t expect a fair God
to allow us to go halfway through eternity before we began enjoying our
rewards. I don’t think he’ll make us wait at all. It makes the most sense to
believe the event of the heavenly bēma will take place soon after time gives
way to eternity. The writer of Hebrews reminds us of this fact when he
says, “It is appointed for man to die once, and after that comes judgment”
(Heb. 9:27).
While we may not be able to pinpoint the time, perhaps we can
determine a not-later-than date and a not-earlier-than date for the
judgment seat. The Latin expressions for these two dates are terminus ad
quem and terminus a quo. Just remember “not after” and “not before.”
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Terminus ad Quem
What is the absolute latest time the judgment seat could occur? Well,
it must come before the marriage of the Bridegroom and his bride. As
Christ’s bride, we will be adorned with clean, fine, white linen, which the
Bible says is the righteous deeds of the saints. Here are the apostle John’s
words in Revelation 19:6–8 describing this glorious scene:

Then I heard what seemed to be the voice of a great multitude,

like the roar of many waters and like the sound of mighty peals of
thunder, crying out,

‘Hallelujah!
For the Lord our God
the Almighty reigns.
Let us rejoice and exult
and give him the glory,
for the marriage of the Lamb has come,
and his Bride has made herself ready;
it was granted her to clothe herself
with fine linen, bright and pure’—

for the fine linen is the righteous deeds of the saints.

Being dressed in the righteous deeds of the saints means that we will
stand dressed in what, by the grace of God, we have been allowed to keep
as a result of our works being deemed acceptable by the Lord Jesus. In
order to determine what is acceptable, an evaluation of our life of service
must occur first. That’s the judgment seat of Christ, and so it must come
before the marriage supper of the Lamb.
The marriage supper is at the beginning of the earthly kingdom of
God. The celebration and jubilation of this wedding will usher the saints
into the millennial kingdom (Rev. 20:6). Since the judgment seat must
occur before the marriage supper, the bēma must be before the beginning
of the millennium. That’s the not-later-than date for the judgment seat
of Christ.
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 When Will the Judgment Take Place?

Terminus a Quo
So, if the judgment seat cannot occur after the beginning of Christ’s
earthly rule during the millennium, what is the earliest time it could
occur? This is the terminus a quo, the first point in time. Obviously, the
judgment seat of Christ cannot take place before the rapture of the
church, when the Lord shall “catch up” his bride to heaven (1 Thess.
4:13–18). Luke 14:14 makes it clear that followers of Christ will be
rewarded at the resurrection of the just. Since the rapture involves the
resurrection of the bodies of those Christ-followers who have died and
the removal of those still living from the earth to heaven, the judgment
seat cannot come before this. If we were to be judged before the rapture,
conceivably there would be opportunity for service between judgment
and rapture. This would mean some of our life and service would go
untried and unrewarded. That would never do.
Thus, sometime between the rapture and the beginning of the
millennium all Christians who are caught up to meet the Lord in the
air must stand before the heavenly bēma and have their lives of service
evaluated. It is the greatest event in our future. This day gives opportunity
for us to be rewarded and, as we shall see later, one of those rewards
relates specifically to continued and enhanced service in the kingdom
of God.

What about Those Who Have Already Died?

If you are like me, you may have parents, grandparents, siblings, or
children who came to faith in Christ and lived their lives for Christ. Their
service for the Lord as we know it ended when their life ended. So what
about them? Have those who predeceased us already appeared at the
judgment seat of Christ?
No. In the Bible Jesus Christ is portrayed presently as being an
intercessor, not a judge (Heb. 7:25; 1 Tim. 2:5). Those who have died
in Christ are absent from the body and present with the Lord, but
much of the information that relates to our eternal rewards relates to
our bodies. To cast your crown at Jesus’ feet takes hands. To hold a
place of administration in his earthy kingdom, which is a genuine, real-
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time kingdom, will require a body. Second Corinthians 5:10 reminds us

that at the heavenly bēma we will receive the things done in our bodies,
and it doesn’t seem likely that judgment and eternal reward would be
done before those who have died in Christ were reunited with their
resurrection bodies.
The Bible is very clear that Christ-followers who are yet living will not
have an advantage over those whose lives have ended. Those who are
“dead in Christ” (i.e. they trusted Christ as Savior during their lifetime
but have since died) will be raised to join those of us still alive when
Christ returns. That’s the essence of Paul’s teaching in 1 Thessalonians
4:13–18:

But we do not want you to be uninformed, brothers, about those

who are asleep, 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 fallen
asleep. For this we declare to you by a word from the Lord, that we
who are alive, who are left until the coming of the Lord, will not
precede those who have fallen asleep. For the Lord himself will
descend from heaven with a cry of command, with the voice of an
archangel, and with the sound of the trumpet of God. And the dead
in Christ will rise first. Then we who are alive, who are left, will be
caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the
air, and so we will always be with the Lord. Therefore encourage
one another with these words.

All who make up the church, all who are Christ’s bride, will stand
before the judgment seat of Christ at the same time. So, Jesus has not
yet entered the courtroom and ascended the steps of the bēma. He will
not do so until he has retrieved to himself in heaven all those whose
works are to be judged.

What the Scriptures Say

Most imposing is the list of New Testament references that indicates
rewards are not given out until the Lord’s return. The rewarding of the
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 When Will the Judgment Take Place?

saints is spoken of in association with “that day,” which refers to the

glorious day when we will be gathered into Christ Jesus’ arms:

• 1 Corinthians 4:5: “Before the Lord comes. . . . Then each

one will receive his commendation from God.”
• 2 Timothy 4:8: “Henceforth there is laid up for me the
crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge,
will award to me on that Day. . . .”
• Revelation 22:12: “Behold, I am coming soon, bringing my
recompense with me. . . .”

It is evident that rewards are not a present possession, and they are
not awarded at the servant’s death. They will be awarded only after the
servant is judged, and that event occurs at the judgment seat of Christ.
The verses above demonstrate an emphasis on the future, the day in
which the Lord will come. There are other Scripture passages that do
the same:

• Matthew 25:19: “Now after a long time the master of those

servants came and settled accounts with them.”
• Luke 14:14: “You will be repaid at the resurrection of the
just.”
• Philippians 2:16: “I may be proud that I did not run in vain
or labor in vain.”
• 1 Thessalonians 2:19: “For what is our hope or joy or crown
of boasting before our Lord Jesus at his coming? Is it not
you?”
• 1 Peter 5:4: “And when the chief Shepherd appears, you will
receive the unfading crown of glory.”
• 1 John 2:28: “And now, little children, abide in him, so that
when he appears we may have confidence and not shrink
from him in shame at his coming.

A simple reading of God’s Word leads us to understand that we are

still awaiting the day when we will stand before the heavenly bēma and
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the heavenly Judge will evaluate our works and our lives. The judgment
for our sins is past; the judgment for our service is yet future.

Simultaneous Judgments
There is an interesting footnote to the timing of the judgment seat of
Christ. It will occur simultaneously with the worst period the earth has
ever seen or will ever see—the tribulation period.1 Think about these
two events together.
God has promised to keep us from the day of wrath (1 Thess. 5:9)
because he has chosen us for salvation. Christians have been caught
up to meet the Lord, but once we’re gone, chaos will break out on the
earth. This is the time of Jacob’s trouble ( Jer. 30:7). Satan hates Israel
because this nation was God’s channel to bring the Savior into the world.
Satan, who has relentlessly persecuted Israel throughout her history, will
intensify his persecution during the tribulation. In fact, his attacks on
God’s covenant people will become even more vicious when he realizes
that the end of his long war against God is in sight.
Two judgments will take place simultaneously. One is a judgment of
God’s people, the church. The other is the judgment of God’s people,
Israel. One occurs at the heavenly bēma; the other occurs on earth.
One occurs at the judgment seat of Christ; the other occurs during the
tribulation period.
Now we await Christ’s coming as a bride awaits the coming of her
Bridegroom. The judgment seat cannot be long after the rapture, for the
wedding is not long after the Bridegroom receives his bride. The events
of the rapture and bēma occur in a very short space of time. There will
be no anxious waiting for an examination. The Bridegroom will see to
that at once, and we will enter into our marriage with him fully clothed
in the garments of service that have withstood the trial by fire.

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 8
6
Where Will
the Judgment Seat Be?

“[The judgment seat] is not a declaration of gloom, but

an assessment of worth, with the assignment of rewards to
those who because of their faithfulness deserve them and a
loss or withholding of rewards in the case of those who do
not deserve them.”—Philip Edgcombe Hughes

Everything has to happen somewhere. The inauguration

of the president of the United States takes place on the front steps of the
Capitol in Washington, DC. Space exploration is guided by a team of
highly skilled individuals at the Johnson Space Center in Houston. In 2012
the host city for the Games of the XXX Olympiad will be London.
Certainly the most important event in the future of the believer, with
regard to what we enjoy for all eternity, is the judgment seat of Christ.
Where will the bēma be? It has to be somewhere, and that place is in
heaven.
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Caught up from the Earth

If the time of the judgment seat of Christ must be immediately after
Christ snatches away his church from this world and before our marriage
to the Lamb (discussed in chapter 7), the place of judgment can scarcely
be anywhere but heaven.
To his friends at Thessalonica, the apostle Paul describes the rapture
of the church in hopeful language (1 Thess. 4:13–18). Paul’s words
imply the judgment seat of Christ cannot occur on earth because we
are going to be swiftly removed from the earth before the bēma event. A
judgment of the church that occurs after the rapture, therefore, cannot
occur on the earth.
Paul refers to our removal from this world as our “blessed hope.” Here’s
what the apostle says to Titus, one of the men he mentored in “things to
come”:

For the grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation for all people,
training us to renounce ungodliness and worldly passions, and
to live self-controlled, upright, and godly lives in the present age,
waiting for our blessed hope, the appearing of the glory of our great
God and Savior Jesus Christ, who gave himself for us to redeem us
from all lawlessness and to purify for himself a people for his own
possession who are zealous for good works.

That’s Titus 2:11–14. But this was not the first time Paul addressed the
idea that we may be redeemed out of this lawless world without tasting
death. Remember the apostle’s words to the Corinthians: “Behold! I
tell you a mystery. We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed,
in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the
trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised imperishable, and we
shall be changed” (1 Cor. 15:51–52). If you begin reading in Genesis
and read through the Pentateuch (the first five books of Moses), you
will never encounter any teaching stating that it’s possible we might
go to heaven without dying. It just isn’t there. In fact, you can read the
whole Old Testament, and while you’ll find a strong belief in bodily
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resurrection, you will never encounter the idea that you could enter
eternity without dying.
What’s more, read all four of the Gospels (Matthew, Mark, Luke, and
John). They, too, are silent on this blessed hope. It’s not until you get
to 1 Corinthians 15 that you get a clue that the potential exists that we
could be taken out of this earth to live forever with the Lord without
experiencing the pain or sadness of dying. That’s why Paul talks about
the blessed hope being a mystery, a truth that has always existed but
has never before been revealed.
The judgment seat of Christ cannot take place before this mysterious
event. But it would be inconceivable that Jesus would hold a probative
inquiry into your life “on the way up,” so to speak. Our rapture will
happen in the twinkling of an eye, and there’s no need to get the
judgment seat of Christ in before we reach heaven. So when Paul says
that after we go to be with Christ we will forever be with our Savior
and the bēma appointment will take place wherever the Judge is—and
that’s in heaven (Rev. 4:2).

Present with the Lord

Furthermore, 2 Corinthians 5:1–8 encourages us to face our own
death with confidence because we know that “while we are at home in
the body we are away from the Lord.” With Paul, our desire is to “be
away from the body and at home with the Lord.” Death isn’t the end;
death is simply a transition from one life to another, from one place to
another. For the believer, whether taken to Jesus by death or by living
rapture, one thing is sure—we will most assuredly stand before him as
our Judge and Rewarder. This event must occur in heaven, for judgment
can only take place where the Judge and judged are.
The Bible indicates that after our translation from this earth we will
live in heaven with our Savior ( John 14:1–3). While we are destined for a
new heaven and a new earth,1 that’s quite a ways down the road. Since the
time of the judgment seat of Christ is immediately after the rapture, and
the new heaven and new earth are a thousand years away, the only logical
place for our judgment to occur is in God’s present home—heaven.
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It is an awesome thought that the rewards judged appropriate at the

judgment seat will determine our possessions and standing for all eternity.
That’s a very long time. What is even more awesome is that the service we
do now for the Lord will be the basis for that judgment at the heavenly
bēma. This makes our present work for the Lord of the greatest human
importance because when we are present with the Lord, all opportunity
for service to earn rewards for eternity will cease forever. That’s a sobering
thought. We have all of eternity to enjoy what is judged acceptable at
the judgment seat, but a very short time before he comes to earn those
rewards. We’d all better get busy.

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6
Why Would God Judge Me?
I Thought He Liked Me

“We need not therefore be surprised if the Psalms and the

Prophets are full of longing for judgment, and regard the
announcement that ‘judgment’ is coming as good news.”
—C. S. Lewis

Why does God have to judge us? If we’ve earned a reward, he

ought to just give it to us, right? Besides, if God likes us so much, why
would he do this to us? Why is this most reflective event in our future
even on God’s calendar?
The judgment seat of Christ will happen because God does like you.
Even more, he loves you ( John 3:16). By nature, God is holy, just, and
fair. Everything he does arises from his character and is in keeping with
his character. The judgment seat is on God’s calendar because of his
character.
God cannot act contrary to who he is. Because he is holy, he cannot
allow anything to exist in heaven that is unholy, including any service we
perform in this life that is unacceptable. Because he is just, he cannot allow
any acceptable deed we’ve done to languish unhonored. And because he
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is fair, God cannot allow uncorrected impressions or misperceptions to

continue throughout eternity; God must set the record straight. That’s
what the judgment seat of Christ does.1
As the apostle Paul notes, “We know that the judgment of God rightly
falls on those who practice such things” (Rom. 2:2). Since God alone
knows what is ultimately true because he is the source of ultimate truth,
God alone is in a position to make a holy, just, and fair determination of
our lives of service here on earth.

The Judgment of Others

Paul speaks of three types of judgment we all experience (1 Cor.
4:1–5). First, he says we all will be subjected to the judgment of other
people. People make judgments about us all the time. Sometimes their
perceptions are true and accurate; sometimes they are not. But because
other people rarely possess all the facts, when it comes to importance,
the judgment of other people is on the bottom rung of the ladder. That’s
why in verse 3 Paul says, “But with me it is a very small thing that I should
be judged by you or by any human court.”
The judgment we receive from others includes everything from those
decisions handed down in a court of law to critical assessments made
by neighbors or church members. We are all prone to make judgments.
Everyone comes to conclusions about others based on what we see or
hear. We all do it. But sometimes our judgments are just flat wrong, and
we can do a lot of damage to others when we make judgments about
them.
There are times, though, when the judgment of others is valuable,
such as when your friends or family see things in you that you don’t see
yourself. But typically the judgment of others is often inferior to self-
judgment, and it is always is inferior to God’s judgment.

The Judgment of Ourselves

Paul also speaks of self-judgment. He says, “I do not even judge
myself. For I am not aware of anything against myself, but I am
not thereby acquitted . . .” (1 Cor. 4:3–4). If we can be honest with
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ourselves, self-judgment is better than judgment by others. We possess

the facts, good and bad, that relate to our attitudes, our motives, and
our actions.
Self-judgment occurs when we make a mental assessment of what we
do and why we do it. For example, in the story of the prodigal son, the
naïve younger son left his father and home. He wanted to run his own life
his own way. He likely saw his father as restrictive and old-fashioned. But
when reality hit him in the face, and he was completely tapped out and
hungry, the son engaged in some mental self-assessment. He thought to
himself, You know, it wasn’t as bad at home after all. Why, my father’s hired
servants have it better than I do. I’ve been so stupid; I need to go back to my
father and see if he’ll take me back (see Luke 15:17–19).
Self-judgment is an examination of our behavior, our attitudes, and
our motives. But even our own judgment is sometimes skewed either by a
lack of understanding or by an unwillingness to admit the facts. Truth be
told, it’s easy to deceive ourselves. “If we say we have no sin, we deceive
ourselves, and the truth is not in us” (1 John 1:8). That’s why Paul did
not even trust his own judgment in the important issue of how well he
was doing in serving the Lord. He could let his conscience be his guide,
but Paul knew better than to trust himself.

The Judgment of God

Paul finally speaks of our judgment by God himself. In 1 Corinthians
4:4 he says, “It is the Lord who judges me.” God is not just our Creator,
he is also our Judge. In some sense, every time we judge someone else’s
motives, we are presumptuously assuming a role that belongs to God
alone.
You have to be struck with Paul’s ranking of these three judgments. Paul
did not place much value on the ability of others to judge his service. He
didn’t even place a great deal of stock in his own ability to judge himself.
So his best option was to reserve the judgment of others and himself and
let God do it rightly.
Why did the apostle value the divine judgment of God so much? First,
God sees all things. Only God is aware of all the circumstances. He sees
the struggles you have in serving Christ. He sees the good that could
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have come from your labors if only outside influences hadn’t impacted
them so adversely. Judgment is best left to God because only he sees
everything that has happened.
Second, God knows all things—all things actual and all things potential.
God knows your attitudes; he knows your motives; he knows your heart.
“Man looks on the outward appearance, but the Lord looks on the heart”
(1 Sam. 16:7). Man sees the deed but God sees the intention.
It’s because God is in a much better position to discern why we do
what we do and to assess the real outcome of what we have done that
Paul concludes, “Therefore do not pronounce judgment before the time,
before the Lord comes, who will bring to light the things now hidden in
darkness and will disclose the purposes of the heart. Then each one will
receive his commendation from God” (1 Cor. 4:5).

Enjoying God’s Judgment

The purpose of the judgment seat of Christ is to discern the validity
of our life of service to God. No one is in a better position to do that
than God himself. His judgment will be fair and balanced. His judgment
will be right.
For this reason, if you live rightly before God and the world, you
should not fear the judgment seat of Christ. In fact, you should approach
God’s justice and his judgment with longing. This will be a great day for
all who are unjustly judged today.
In the Old Testament the Hebrew word for judgment (mishpat) is not
always used to convey condemnation; sometimes it is used in the sense
of justice. For example, Psalm 37 offers encouraging admonitions and
precious promises: “Trust in the Lord, and do good; dwell in the land
and befriend faithfulness. Delight yourself in the Lord, and he will give
you the desires of your heart. Commit your way to the Lord; trust in
him, and he will act” (Ps. 37:3–5).
Too often that’s where we stop—one verse too soon. The next verse
says, “He will bring forth your righteousness as the light, and your justice
as the noonday” (v. 6). The word translated justice is mishpat. The thought
here is exactly the same as the judgment seat of Christ. God rewards
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those committed to him, but sometimes we have to wait for “noonday”

when he will make all things right.
Psalm 96:12–13 says, “Let the field exult, and everything in it! Then
shall all the trees of the forest sing for joy before the Lord, for he comes,
for he comes to judge the earth. He will judge the world in righteousness,
and the peoples in his faithfulness.”
Why is God’s creation so happy? Because the day of God’s judgment is
coming when all that is wrong will be made right, all that is misunderstood
will be comprehended, and all that has been unjustly criticized will be
appreciated. All who have lived obedient lives for God anticipate the
judgment seat; we long for it, welcome it. It will mean justice.
If you feel you’ve ever been judged unjustly, you’ll enjoy God’s
judgment. If you want rewards that come only from acceptable service,
you’ll enjoy God’s judgment. If you don’t trust how others judge you
or how you judge yourself, you’ll enjoy God’s judgment. The judgment
seat of Christ levels the playing field, and that may never have been the
case before. God judges with righteousness and with truth, and that’s a
cause for rejoicing.
Why is God so willing to judge us? If, as the ancient Greek philosopher
Socrates said, the unexamined life is not worth living, wouldn’t it also be
true that the unexamined life is not worth rewarding? God won’t let you
go through eternity with rewards that you didn’t earn, nor will he keep
from you that which rightfully belongs to you. An examination of your
life of service is necessary to make sure everything is done right.
For the faithful Christian, God’s judgment is a good thing. You should
look forward to it.

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6
Does Judgment Mean
I’ll Be Condemned?

“He who provides for this life but takes no care for eternity
is wise for a moment but a fool forever.”—John Tillotson

In the twenty-first century, we’re generally interested in

the bottom line. We want to know, “What’s it all about?” and “What does
it mean to me?” So when we face the judgment of God, does that imply
that we will be condemned if we haven’t been perfect? Is the judgment
seat of Christ a place of condemnation?
The straight answer is no. The judgment seat of Christ is not a place
of condemnation. Rather, it’s a place of evaluation.
The condemnation (judgment) that is necessary because of your sins
was paid in full by Jesus Christ at Calvary. When he suffered and died
on the cross, he did all that God required to pay the penalty for your sin,
and he did it so you wouldn’t have to. He took the fall for you; he was
condemned so you would not be. “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 Cor. 5:21). As the old gospel song says, “Jesus paid it all, all to
him I owe. Sin had left a crimson stain, he washed it white as snow.”
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Here’s a verse you’ll want to put on the sticky side of your mind and
never forget: “There is therefore now no condemnation [judgment] for
those who are in Christ Jesus” (Rom. 8:1). Condemnation is past, it’s
over, and it’s never coming back. It was poured out on Jesus Christ as
he hung on the cross and endured all the condemnation for your sin.
When you believe that Jesus is the Savior and ask him to be your Savior
and to apply the work of his atonement on the cross to your account
with God, condemnation is for you forever gone. It never becomes an
issue again.
So the judgment at the judgment seat of Christ is not for the purpose
of condemning you. It is for the purpose of evaluating your life of service
to him. No condemnation; now evaluation.
When Paul said the purpose of judgment seat of Christ is “so that
each one may receive what is due for what he has done in the body,
whether good or evil” (2 Cor. 5:10), he did not use the usual words
for bad. Rather, he used a word that does not imply ethical or moral
evil, but rather a sense of good-for-nothingness or worthlessness. The
judgment seat is where our works for the Lord will be closely scrutinized
to see if they are valid or not, acceptable or not. The Judge is concerned
with what sort of work we have done, what sort of life we have lived as
a Christian servant.

Discernment, Not Condemnation

The purpose of the heavenly bēma is to evaluate us, not condemn
us. This is an evaluation that leads Jesus, the righteous Judge, to discern
what is pure and what is impure. First Corinthians 4:5 is very instructive
in this regard: “Therefore do not pronounce judgment before the time,
before the Lord comes, who will bring to light the things now hidden
in darkness and will disclose the purposes of the heart. Then each one
will receive his commendation from God.”
The righteous Judge will see through all the things we have done
in his name. Likely he will discern that many things we did, which we
felt were very valuable, were actually quite worthless, perhaps because
of the attitude with which we did them. He will sort out the works of
our lives done through a pure motive and allow them to stand. At the
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same time, those things done with an improper motive will perish in the
unquenchable fire (which we’ll discuss later).
We all know some Christians who show little desire to serve their Lord
wholeheartedly or fervently. And, we know others who serve God their
entire lives with little or no recognition, rarely faltering in their dedication
to the Master. Sometimes these people are even criticized for what they
do, or their motivation is misjudged. This is unjust, but God is a God of
justice. He will not allow injustice to prevail forever.
In the case of our service to the Lord, the heavenly bēma is the place
where God will discern the quality of our work and reveal it to us. Jesus is
simply there to evaluate what sort of service we’ve done for him. However,
in what he discerns, there may be disappointment.
A contractor supposedly built a lovely house for a rich friend. But
while building the house, the contractor threw his friendship to the wind
in favor of cutting corners. Skimping in quality wherever it wouldn’t
be noticed, he put cheap material into the foundation, knowing that it
would not be revealed for many years. The house looked imposing, but
it was unsubstantial and unsafe.
You can image the contractor’s disappointed surprise when he finished
the house and the rich friend handed it over to him as a gift, with the one
stipulation that the contractor had to live in it for the rest of his life! This
foolish builder had inherited the fruit of his own unfaithfulness. Actually,
in robbing his rich friend, he had robbed himself.
Sometimes that’s true with us. If our present service for the Lord is
faulty or insincere, we are not only robbing the Lord, but we are robbing
ourselves of reward. The discerning fire of the judgment seat of Christ
will test and verify our works.
Since Jesus will discern what kind of work our lives have produced, we
need not worry about condemnation, but we should be concerned about
loss. We can cheat ourselves out of much reward if we’re not careful. In
that sense, we condemn ourselves.

Keep Clear of Being a Castaway

Paul expressed concern about this in 1 Corinthians 9:27: “But I
discipline my body and keep it under control, lest after preaching to
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others I myself should be disqualified.” Paul was not worried about losing
his salvation. He was worried that his service to the Lord would be found
to be good for nothing.
The Greek word Paul chose for “disqualified” in 1 Corinthians 9:27
is the word castaway and indicates something that is tested for proof. If
what is tested is found enduring, it is approved. If, however, when tested
it is found to fail, it is disapproved or rejected. It becomes something you
throw away. Paul does not want his labors to be in vain, to be rejected at
the judgment seat of Christ. He doesn’t want to be a castaway (the word
the King James Bible translators chose). That’s why he brings his body into
subjection and does not allow his labors to be done in his own strength
or for his own gain.
The apostle knows that the judgment seat of Christ is an evaluation,
a discerning of quality. And Paul is eager that none of his service for the
Lord be judged unworthy. When tested by fire, he wants his service to
endure and be judged as acceptable. The only way to be sure that would
happen was for Paul to live in the power of God’s Spirit and not in the
power of the flesh. That should be our attitude, too. It’s the only acceptable
attitude for rewardable service.
Don’t let yourself become a castaway. Make certain now that all
your service for the Lord is genuine and able to be judged and found
approved.

Misconceptions Corrected
If you’ve been unjustly praised for service you have not performed
or have performed for your own self-advancement, your work will be
exposed for what it truly is and stripped away from you. If, on the other
hand, you have labored in some dark, unnoticed corner of God’s vineyard,
where never any praise was heard nor thanks received, your service will
finally be seen through the just eyes of the righteous Judge, who will
recognize that you have done a valid work for him. At the judgment seat
of Christ all misconceptions will be corrected because the heavenly bēma
is all about discernment, not about condemnation.
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Dr. Harry Ironside, beloved Bible teacher and for eighteen years
pastor of the Moody Church in Chicago, summarized this thought as
follows:

Have you ever as a Christian stopped to think of what a solemn

thing it will be when your life’s work is ended, when all further
opportunity for witnessing for Christ on earth will have gone
by forever, when you stand in your glorified body before his
judgment-seat, and he will go back over all the way you have come,
and will give his own estimate of all your service, of everything
you have attempted to do for him? Will he have to say at such a
time, “You had a very wonderful opportunity to glorify Me, but
you failed because you were so self-occupied, you were so much
concerned about what people would think of you, instead of
being concerned about pleasing Me; I will have to blot all that
out, I cannot reward you for that, for there was too much self in
that service”? And then he will point to something else, maybe
something you had forgotten altogether, and he will say, “There!
You thought you failed in that; didn’t you? You really thought you
blundered so dreadfully that your whole testimony amounted to
nothing, but I was listening and observing, and I knew that in that
hour of weakness your own desire was to glorify Me, and though
nobody applauded you I took note of it and will reward you for it.”
What a joy it will be to receive his approval in that day. If we learn
to live as Paul did with the judgment-seat of Christ before us, we
will not be men-pleasers, but we will be a Christ-pleaser.1

In that day we will know what sort of work we have really done. Perhaps
we will be shocked to see how little of our labors has been judged valid.
Perhaps, too, we will receive rewards for something we thought was
useless to the Lord.

Not Home Yet

Perhaps you can identify with the story of an old missionary couple
who had been working in Africa for years and were returning to New
York to retire. Henry C. Morrison and his wife had served the Lord
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in obscurity for forty years. Age had caught up with them, and it was
time to come home to the United States. They had no retirement
funds, no insurance; they were defeated, discouraged, and afraid. They
wondered if anyone would even be there to greet them. But when the
ship steamed into New York harbor, they couldn’t believe their eyes.
Thousands of people were there cheering. Bands were playing. There
were signs, banners, and billboards everywhere saying, “Welcome
Home.” But the hoopla was not for the Morrisons. President Teddy
Roosevelt was also a passenger on the ship. He was returning from
a big game hunt in Africa. The signs, the cheering crowds, and the
hoopla were all for him.
No one was there to meet this missionary couple. No one greeted
them. No one noticed them. They quietly slipped off the ship and found
a cheap flat on the East Side, hoping the next day to see what they could
do to make a living in the city. That night the lack of appreciation got
to Henry. He said to his wife, “I can’t take this; God is not treating us
fairly.” His wife replied, “Why don’t you go in the bedroom and tell that
to the Lord?”
A short time later he came out of the bedroom with a completely
different countenance. When his wife asked what happened, Morrison
said, “The Lord settled it with me. I told him how bitter I was that the
president received this tremendous homecoming, when no one met us
as we returned home. It seemed as though the Lord put his hand on my
shoulder and said, ‘But Henry, you’re not home yet!’”
I hope this is an encouragement to you. On that great evaluation day,
at the judgment seat, the righteous Judge will discern what sort of work
we have actually done. All service that crumbles in the trial by fire will
prove worthless. But all service done through the constraining love of
Christ will bring reward. Let’s live our lives in light of this, knowing that
Jesus Christ will be able to discern our actions, our motives, and our
attitudes for service and will reward us accordingly.
It is at the judgment seat when we will fully appreciate the truth of
David’s words: “The Lord is merciful and gracious, slow to anger and
abounding in steadfast love. He will not always chide, nor will he keep
his anger forever. He does not deal with us according to our sins, nor
repay us according to our iniquities. For as high as the heavens are above
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the earth, so great is his steadfast love toward those who fear him” (Ps.
103:8–11).
With condemnation behind us and eternity ahead of us, the judgment
seat of Christ is not something to be dreaded. It’s something to be
anticipated.

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6
What Is the Purpose
of Heaven’s Judgment Seat?

“God is not going to measure your intellect or ministry.

He is going to try your life with fire.”—Leonard Ravenhill

Do you know the purpose of baseball’s World Series? It depends

on who you ask. To the fans, it’s to watch a game and enjoy a fall day. To
the players, it’s to win the series and maybe feather their financial nest
while strengthening their bargaining power for the next season. To the
baseball commissioner, the purpose may be to garner more fans to insure
the future of America’s pastime. And to the advertisers who pay to televise
the games? It’s the bottom line. They want to sell a product.
But what’s the real purpose of the game? While it may accomplish
all these goals for various interested parties, the purpose of playing the
World Series is to determine the best team in baseball.
That’s the way it is with the judgment seat of Christ. While it is designed
to provide a forum to judge our life of service and reward us for eternity,
it accomplishes many other things as well. Let’s investigate.

The Bēma Demonstrates the Presence of Salvation

In a valuable article, John Piper asks two significant questions about
the judgment seat of Christ. Piper ponders, “Is the aim of this judgment
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to declare who is lost and who is saved, according to the works done in
the body? Or is the aim of this judgment to declare the measure of your
reward in the age to come according to the works done in the body?”1
The answer is “yes.” The heavenly bēma both demonstrates that we
are Christ-followers (for we would not be there if we weren’t), and it
demonstrates through the giving of rewards the measure of our service
to our Master. If someone stopped you on the street and said, “How can
I know you are a Christian?” would you say, “Just trust me when I tell
you I am”? I don’t think so; they would have no reason to trust you on
your word alone. The apostle James says, “I will show you my faith by
my works” ( James 2:18).
The heavenly bēma is an appointment we must keep to be rewarded for
our service to Christ, but just by being there it will also declare that we
are servants of the Lord. We would not be invited to the judgment seat of
Christ if we were not Christ-followers. If we had chosen to reject Christ
and his gospel, our appointed judgment would be the great white throne
judgment at the end of the millennial reign of Christ (Rev. 20:12–15).
So, in some respect, the judgment seat of Christ confirms to all that we
have followed the Lord Christ.
The heavenly bēma is the Supreme Court of judgment for the Christ-
follower. It doesn’t get any higher than that, and there are no courts of
appeal beyond that. So, the judgment seat of Christ is the final public
declaration that we have been people of faith, and that faith is proved
by our works. Our service to the Lord will be the public evidence
Jesus uses to demonstrate the varying degrees to which we have been
obedient to walk in faith (cf. Rom. 12:3; 1Thess. 1:3; 2 Thess. 1:11).
But the fact we are there demonstrates our faith in Christ as the only
Savior of the world.

The Bēma Determines the Quality of Our Service

A second major function of the judgment seat of Christ is to evaluate
and declare the genuine quality of our service to the Lord. First Corinthians
3:13 affirms that at the bēma each of us will be evaluated, and Christ the
judge will determine the quality of our work. What sort of work did
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we do? Was it acceptable? Was it rewardable? That’s the purpose of the

bēma in heaven.
In a later chapter we will focus on the process by which Jesus judges
whether our work for him is the quality of gold, silver, or precious stones,
or whether our service turns out to have the lesser value of wood, hay,
or stubble. Let’s think more about how we can evaluate our service
“on the fly” as we live today. Evaluation now can save a great deal of
emptiness later.
Here are some questions you may wish to ask yourself about your
service to the Lord. They address the kinds of issues that Jesus will take
into account in determining the quality of your work.
Am I allowing the Holy Spirit to work through me, or am I just working
my heart out to get as much done as I can? Working in the flesh profits
us nothing ( John 6:63). It is only as we are filled with the Holy Spirit
(Eph. 5:18) that the quality of our work is bēma-acceptable quality.
“Not by might, nor by power, but by my Spirit, says the Lord of hosts”
(Zech. 4:6).
Is the fruit of my work for the Lord the fruit of the Spirit, or is it just
personal fruit that is satisfying to me? “But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy,
peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control:
against such things there is no law” (Gal. 5:22–23). When Jesus said, “You
will recognize them by their fruits” (Matt. 7:20), he did not mean that
we would be personally fulfilled and happy about what we were doing,
but that others would benefit from the character of our service.
Am I working for the Lord with the same intensity that he went to the
cross for me? The Bible reminds us of the need to throw ourselves into
whatever the Lord gives us to do and not work halfheartedly. Ecclesiastes
9:10 says, “Whatever your hand finds to do, do it with your might, for
there is no work or thought or knowledge or wisdom in Sheol, to which
you are going.” The New Testament makes that even more specific for the
Christ-follower: “Whatever you do, work heartily, as for the Lord and not
for men, knowing that from the Lord you will receive the inheritance as
your reward. You are serving the Lord Christ” (Col. 3:23).
Do a heart check today. Be tough on yourself. Examine all you do for
the Lord, and ask the right questions to ensure the quality of your service
is not something you will be ashamed of one day.
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The Bēma Determines the Distinctive Rewards We Receive

The heavenly bēma will do more than just determine the quality of our
service and rewards; it will also pair rewards to service. Both Paul and
Jesus taught that those who follow Christ in obedience would receive
differing rewards according to the degree that their faith expressed
itself in loving acts of service. For example, in 1 Corinthians 3:8 Paul
says, “He who plants and he who waters are one, and each will receive
his wages according to his labor.” Again in Ephesians 6:8 the apostle
promises, “Whatever good anyone does, this he will receive back from
the Lord.”
If Christ gives to the church a variety of offices (Eph. 4:11–12) and
a diversity of gifts (1 Cor. 12:4) for the work of the ministry, isn’t it
logical that this same diversity carries through in the rewards he gives for
faithfully exercising these offices and gifts in various ministries? As head
of the church he and he alone determines who receives which gift (1 Cor.
12:11), so as the judge at the judgment seat he and he alone determines
what rewards we receive based on how we engaged those gifts.
Later in this book we will answer the question about the various kinds
of rewards that will be awarded at the heavenly bēma. The distinctiveness
of each reward reflects the distinctiveness of each servant, each spiritual
gift, and each degree of effectiveness in exercising those gifts.

The Bēma Determines the Degree of Rewards We Receive

Finally, there is more to our heavenly rewards than distinctive qualities.
The Quantity of rewards will also be determined at the bēma of Christ.
Isn’t this what the parable of the minas (or pounds) in Luke 19:12–27
teaches? Jesus compares his going to heaven and returning to a nobleman
who, before going away, gave to each of his ten servants one mina to
invest for him while he was gone.2 They were to invest the mina so that
the nobleman’s estate would advance during his absence. When the
nobleman returned, one servant had invested so wisely that he turned his
mina into ten. He traded well, and the nobleman said that, as a reward, the
servant would have authority over ten cities. Another servant turned his
mina into five. The nobleman was pleased with him, too, and rewarded
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his efforts with authority over five cities. But another servant kept his
mina and did nothing with it. To this one the nobleman said, “I will
condemn you with your own words, you wicked servant!” And he took
the one mina from him.
Jesus’ parable teaches exactly what Paul taught: just as there are
distinctive rewards that correspond to distinctive service, there are
varying quantities of reward for the faithfulness of our lives. The judgment
seat of Christ determines both the quality and quantity of our heavenly
reward.
It should be becoming more evident that for all who are faithfully
serving the Lord today, the judgment seat of Christ is something to be
welcomed, not feared. Just thinking about it ought to get you up every
morning.

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 part three

Our Performance Evaluation

6
Performance evaluations are good things. The ministry I serve, Back
to the Bible International, has used employee performance reviews for
many years as a way to evaluate and measure our employees’ on-the-
job performance against our performance expectations. This is done
to identify training needs and establish a mechanism for employee
growth and development. Job reviews also encourage periodic and
structured communication between supervisors and employees about
their tasks, and they document a defendable rationale for decisions
involving promotions, demotions, career development, terminations,
salary increases, etc. Virtually all organizations in the private sector use
some form of performance evaluation today. Supporters of nonprofit
ministries expect top performance for their investment.
There are four primary types of employee performance evaluations.
Peer-to-peer evaluation is popular today. This requires employees at the
same level to evaluate each other. In 360-degree performance reviews, many
different types of people are consulted about an employee’s performance,
including customers, suppliers, etc. With self-assessment reviews employees
rate their own performance. Since this can be quite subjective, it is often
used in conjunction with the final job review technique—the top-down
employee performance evaluation, where the boss does the evaluation
and rewards the employee according to his or her findings.
While there is evidence of each of these kinds of job reviews in the
Christian’s life, there is no question that the judgment seat of Christ is
of this final type of performance evaluation. It is definitely top-down, as
we’ll see in the following chapters.
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6
Is the Evaluation Universal?

“Whatever this judgment seat is, we shall all stand before

it. This scripture admits of no question at this point.”
—L. Sale-Harrison

Previously we have been interested in the participants and

physical setting of the heavenly courtroom. Once aware that Jesus Christ
is the righteous Judge, and as Christ-followers we are the judged, it is
only natural for us to wonder about the actual process of judgment at
the bēma of Christ.
We are certain this judgment will come. Many of the Gospel parables
teach that on the appointed day the Master will require his servants to
give an account of their lives of service to him (Matt. 18:23; 25:19;
Luke 16:2). Jesus promised rewards to his disciples (Matt. 5:3–12; Mark
9:41; 10:30). Judgment, in the form of evaluation, and the gain or loss of
rewards are certain. The question is, what will that evaluation be like?

Universal and Exclusive

Since those judged at the judgment seat of Christ are only those who
have expressed faith in Jesus Christ as Savior, it is safe to say that the
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appraisal of works at the heavenly bēma is both universal and exclusive.

It is universal to all who have been born again by the Spirit of God and
exclusive of all others. All believers will be present for this evaluation,
and only believers.
Romans 14:10–12 declares, “Why do you pass judgment on your
brother? Or you, why do you despise your brother? For we will all stand
before the judgment seat of God; for it is written, ‘As I live, says the Lord,
every knee shall bow to me, and every tongue shall confess to God.’ So
then each of us will give an account of himself to God.”
As if the Roman believers would not understand the universality of
the believer’s evaluation, Paul emphasizes, “We will all stand before the
judgment seat of God” and “each of us will give account of himself to
God.” There was no doubt in Paul’s mind. As the servants in the Lord’s
parables had to stand before their masters, so, too, every believer must
stand before God and give account of his life and deeds. If you are a
genuine Christ-follower, you have a divine appointment at the judgment
seat of Christ. No Christian is excluded, regardless of how weak or strong
his Christian life was.

All Must Appear

Paul picks up this same theme in 2 Corinthians 5. This phenomenal
passage speaks of future hope and the believer’s present purpose. The
apostle compares the realities of his present suffering, which were
significant (see 2 Cor. 11:16–33), to the promise of an “eternal weight
of glory,” which is even more significant (2 Cor. 4:17). He speaks of a day
when he will receive a new body, “a house not made with hands, eternal
in the heavens” (2 Cor. 5:1). For now, however, Paul knows painfully
well that he is still in his body, aging and aching and, for the sake of the
gospel, withstanding tortures that would do in a man half his age. The
promise of heaven is someday for the Christ-follower, but the pain of
earth is today. “So whether we are at home or away, we make it our aim
to please him. For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ,
so that each one may receive what is due for what he has done in the
body, whether good or evil” (2 Cor. 5:9–10).
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Paul uses the language of family when he says “we” must appear or be
made manifest. The “we” excludes any who do not belong to the family
and includes all who do. Everyone who has been washed clean in the
blood of the Lamb will stand before him as a servant before his Master
and will give account of his life of service to the Lord.
And who will do this? All who have followed Christ as their Lord. The
deacon who taught your Sunday school class will be there. The college
student whose life was snuffed out by a crazed gunman at Virginia Tech
University will be there. The person who led you to the Lord will be
there. Paul will be there and so will Peter and John. Martin and Katharina
Luther will be there. So will John and Charles Wesley. The known and the
unknown. The famous and the forgotten. All who have trusted Christ as
their Savior must appear before their Savior as their Judge at the judgment
seat of Christ. It should be quite a company.
If you are a Christian today, you won’t miss this appointment. The
honor of your presence is not requested, it is commanded. But then
again, who would want to miss this?

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6
Is the Evaluation Necessary?

“Though the mills of God grind slowly, Yet they grind

exceedingly small; Though with patience He stands waiting,
with exactness He grinds all.”—Friedrich von Logau

William Cowper wrote, “God moves in a mysterious way, his

wonders to perform.” This, however, does not mean that God is illogical.
The mystery of his movements may be a mystery only to us. We may
not completely see the logic in God’s saving men and women who have
rebelled against him, but we can certainly see the logic in our separation
and estrangement from God because of our sin.
So let’s take logic one step further. If we must all stand before the
judgment bar at which Christ evaluates us, is there some kind of logic
behind this? Is the whole concept of the heavenly bēma just a motivational
straw man, or does it stand the tests of logic, grammar, and more?

The Logical Conclusion

Maybe one of your many early morning classes in college was
Philosophy. For me, a lot that I heard in philosophy class flew right over
my head. It wasn’t my professor’s fault; he was a gem. My philosophy
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professor was an Episcopal priest. I can still see him riding to class in
his white collar with his clerical robes flowing off the back of his Harley.
Of the many things I remember from his class, the use of a syllogism
stands at the front of my mind. A syllogism is a contrast of one premise
or simple statement with a second premise or statement, resulting in a
conclusion. Even if you never had any classes in logic, you’ll be able to
follow this syllogism:

Major Premise: God is holy and can dwell only in a holy environment
(Lev. 20:7; Deut. 26:15).
Minor Premise: Man is unholy and can dwell only in an unholy
environment (Rom. 3:10, 23; Isa. 6:5).
Conclusion: God and man cannot dwell together (Isa. 55:8–9; Ps.
115:16).

That’s Philosophy 101. If it is true that God is holy, and to live in an

unholy environment would completely destroy his holiness, and if it is
likewise true that mankind is unholy, and to live in a holy environment
would only defile that environment, then the only logical conclusion is
that God and man cannot live together unless something changes. That’s
why Christ Jesus came to die—to pay the penalty for our sins. He came
to make the unholy holy in God’s sight, to make it possible for us to live
in heaven with him.
We were created in God’s image (Gen. 1:27), and we walked with
God (Gen. 3:8), but because of our sin, we became separated from his
holiness and from his presence (Gen. 3:24). Jesus Christ came to bridge
the gap between holy God and unholy man. He made it possible for us
to live again with God ( John 14:3). It’s because of his death that we’ll be
able to enter heaven, but we can’t take anything unholy with us. Since we
may not have done some things in our life as we should have, we need to
be examined before we embark on an eternity in God’s holy presence.
That’s what the heavenly bēma is all about.
Can you handle another syllogism? Try this one on for size:

Major premise: A holy God can reward only service done in righ-
teousness and faith (Matt. 6:1; Heb. 11:6).
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Minor premise: Not all of our service for God is done in righteousness
and faith (Matt. 6:2, 5, 16; John 18:10–11).
Conclusion: A holy God cannot reward all of our service (Matt.
25:26–28; Mark 10:13–16).

God’s holiness is complete, not partial. Being holy is like being perfect;
you cannot be mostly perfect—either you’re perfect or you’re not. Either
you’re holy or you’re not. A holy God cannot possibly reward unholy
service done for him. The only logical conclusion is there has to be a
judgment day, one that casts out everything that is unacceptable, before
we are presented faultless to God. We enter heaven carrying some stuff
with us that was done in our own strength. Everything done in the flesh
has to be discarded to preserve the integrity of everything done in the
Spirit. This is why the judgment seat of Christ is necessary.

The Grammatical Conclusion

But there’s an even stronger argument for the necessity of the Lord
evaluating our life of service. The actual words of Scripture make it
conclusive that each of us must present ourselves at the judgment seat
of Christ.
Paul reminds us, “For we must all appear before the judgment seat
of Christ” (2 Cor. 5:10). His language is firm in the original Greek.
Grammatically, the main verb of Paul’s statement does not emphatically
indicate that judgment is necessary. But it doesn’t have to, because the
main verb is accompanied by an impersonal verb (dei) that is always
used to denote a strong compulsion or necessity. A simple rendering of
the word is “must.”
This is frequently used in Scripture to show necessity. Here are some
examples:

• Mark 8:31: “And he began to teach them that the Son of Man
must suffer many things and be rejected by the elders and the
chief priests and the scribes and be killed, and after three days
rise again.”
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• John 3:7, 14: “Do not marvel that I said to you, You must
be born again. . . . And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the
wilderness, so must the Son of Man be lifted up.”
• 1 Corinthians 15:53: “For this perishable body must put
on the imperishable, and this mortal body must put on
immortality.”
• 1 Timothy 3:2, 7: “An overseer must be above reproach. . . .
Moreover, he must be well thought of by outsiders. . . .”
• Hebrews 11:6: “And without faith it is impossible to please
him, for whoever would draw near to God must believe that
he exists and that he rewards those who seek him.”

Each event mentioned in the verses will come to pass because it must
come to pass. Paul literally tells us, “It is necessary that we all be revealed
before the judgment seat of Christ.” There is no doubt.
Furthermore, we are assured that “we will all stand before the judgment
seat of God” (Rom. 14:10) and that “each of us will give an account of
himself to God” (Rom. 14:12). Both of these verbs denote that nothing
will prohibit the evaluation of our deeds.
Standing before the bēma of Christ is an event that is not only universal
in nature for all believers, but is also absolutely necessary for all who
follow Christ. It’s necessary that our service be evaluated because of
God’s holiness and justice. All believers must stand before Jesus Christ
the Judge.

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 14
6
Is the Evaluation Private?

“The greatest thought that has ever entered my mind is

that one day I will have to stand before a holy God and
give an account of my life.”—Daniel Webster

You and I live in a day when security is a high priority. As a result,

many public places have become saturated with personal surveillance
devices, closed-circuit televisions, and other sophisticated technologies
that may well end privacy as we have known it. Facial recognition
technology is being widely used. It you attend a football (soccer) match
at The City of Manchester Stadium, your face will be photographed and
image stored in a collection data device. The same is true on London’s
streets and at Heathrow airport. Germany started issuing biometric
passports in 2005 using the same facial recognition technology. The
U.S. Department of Homeland Security has spent millions of dollars
on “smart” cameras that attempt to identify people based on their facial
images.
All of this has increased our concerns about personal privacy. If you
look at the bottom of most websites, you will see the words “Privacy
Policy.” This policy exists to inform you, the user, of the procedures that
organization uses to collect data, how it is and is not used, and whether
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the organization shares that data with others. It’s your assurance that
when you click on a site, you are not allowing others to know things
about you they have no business knowing.
The privacy issue carries over to our questions about the judgment
seat of Christ. People ask: “Is everybody in heaven going to know all the
things I’ve done? Will my life be flashed onto a huge screen for everyone
to see? Are my friends and family going to know what I did in life that
embarrasses me?” Let’s face it. Anyone who is serious about the heavenly
bēma is serious about this question. So what’s the answer?

Our Service Record Will Be Visible

There is no question that our life of service for the Lord will be
made visible at the judgment seat. Again the key verse is 2 Corinthians
5:10: “For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so
that each one may receive what is due for what he has done in the body,
whether good or evil.”
In the beginning of this verse, the principal verb is “appear.” There is
more to this word than first meets the eye.
The word “appear” does not simply mean to “show up.” We will not
just put in an appearance at the judgment seat. This word more strictly
means “made visible” or “to be clearly seen and explicitly discerned.”
When as a servant we stand before our Master, our lives of service will
be totally revealed. Since the word is passive, we understand that we
are not revealing ourselves, but he is revealing us. We are revealed not
only to the Judge, but we are revealed to ourselves as well. Suddenly,
perhaps for the first time, we will truly see what our life of service
was like.
In this key verse, we gain deeper insight into the actual evaluation of
our service. The verse says, “For we must all appear.” Notice it did not
say our works or our service must appear before the Lord, but “we” must
appear before him. This is more personal. As individuals we are revealed
in that heavenly courtroom.
There is an inseparable link between our service for the Lord and
our life in the Lord. As a matter of fact, our service is our life, the deeds
done in our body. Not only will what we have done for him be judged,
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but also what we are. We are presenting for judgment and reward what
the Lord has been allowed to do with our life. Our motives for service,
our capabilities for service, our desire for service, and our service itself
are all wrapped up in one package that we will present for evaluation.
This package is our life. At the bēma, the entire scope of our Christian
life and service will be revealed.

The Revealing Day

First Corinthians 3:13 adds depth to our understanding of the visibility
of this heavenly evaluation: “Each one’s work will become manifest, for
the Day will disclose it, because it will be revealed by fire, and the fire
will test what sort of work each one has done.”
Bear in mind the word “work” here, and implied in Romans 14:12
and elsewhere, represents the totality of our Christian life as well as our
service. In this verse we learn that “the Day” will reveal our life. What
is this day when our lives will be made transparent so that nothing is
hidden?
Paul must be referring to a day he mentioned previously in this letter,
in which he advises that we “wait for the revealing of our Lord Jesus
Christ, who will sustain you to the end, guiltless in the day of our Lord
Jesus Christ” (1 Corinthians 1:7–8). When Jesus comes to take his bride
away, he will usher us directly to the heavenly bēma and will judge our
lives according to what we have allowed the Lord to do with them. That
is the day in which the Lord “will bring to light the things now hidden
in darkness and will disclose the purposes of the heart” (1 Cor. 4:5).
It is in that day that “God judges the secrets of men by Christ Jesus”
(Rom. 2:16).
The implication is clear. On that day we will have our lives made visible
before Jesus Christ our righteous Judge, and truly “all are naked and
exposed to the eyes of him to whom we must give account” (Heb. 4:13).
There shall be nothing hidden, as the verbs “manifest” and “disclose”
indicate (1 Cor. 3:13).
Just as day brings light from the sun to reveal the hidden things of
darkness, so will that day bring light from the Son to reveal the hidden
things of darkness done in our bodies. However, many hidden things
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that are good will be revealed as well. Many services performed that
went unnoticed will be seen. This will be a total revelation of our life
and service to the Lord. It will be both a day of vindication and a day
of disappointment.

The Evaluation Is Private

Although as believers our lives will become an open book on that day,
and everything we have done in our body, both good and bad, will be
revealed, I believe our judgment will remain a private matter. There will
be no giant screen revealing to everyone the dirty laundry of our life.
There is no public record read aloud. This is between the Judge and us.
Also, we will not be judged en masse or by groups or classes, but we will
be judged as individual servants. Jesus the Judge will personally evaluate
our life of service and reward us accordingly. This is an evaluation, not
a circus. I believe this for several reasons.
First, although the Bible does not specifically state that we will stand
one-by-one before the righteous Judge, many verses give that distinct
impression. For example, Romans 14:12 says, “Each of us will give an
account of himself to God.” Our account deals with our life of service,
and it’s of private concern to Jesus our Judge. “For the Son of Man is
going to come with his angels in the glory of his Father, and then he will
repay each person according to what he has done” (Matt. 16:27). “For
we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each one
may receive what is due for what he has done in the body, whether good
or evil” (2 Cor. 5:10).

God Is Interested in Individuals

Second, God is very interested in the individual. He has already
set a precedent. Many books of the Bible center around one person
(e.g., Ruth, Job, Philemon, etc.). The Lord speaks to Satan directly
and inquires of one of his children by name: “Have you considered my
servant Job, that there is none like him on the earth?” ( Job 1:8). The
psalmist tells us,
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O Lord, you have searched me and known me!

You know when I sit down and when I rise up;
you discern my thoughts from afar.
You search out my path and my lying down
and are acquainted with all my ways.
Even before a word in on my tongue,
behold, O Lord, you know it altogether. (Ps. 139:1–4)

The Lord is so interested in the individual that “the hairs of your

head are all numbered” (Matt. 10:30). All of Jesus’ disciples, even Peter
and Andrew who were found together, were called individually and
personally (Matt. 4:18–22; see also 9:9). Jesus spoke frequently to people,
often calling them by name, such as Peter ( John 21:15–17); Zacchaeus
(Luke 19:5); and Lazarus ( John 11:43–44). The individual judgment of
believers at the heavenly bēma is a personal matter between servant and
Master, between creature and Creator, between the judged and the Judge.
Because Jesus Christ has dealt with personal matters in a personal way in
the past, we should expect that the matter of such private consequence
as judging the stewardship of our lives would be a personal and private
matter as well.
Besides, a private evaluation of our life and work is only natural. It
is really nobody else’s business what we have done for the Lord or why
we have done it. This is a matter that concerns just you and your Judge
(see John 21:20–23).
But if Jesus judges us privately, individually, and personally, how
long must it take him to judge every servant who stands before him?
You can see the process lasting more than the seven years of the
tribulation. But the judgment seat of Christ need not cover a great
expanse of time, for the Judge is the God who knows everything. If
humans like you and me can multitask, don’t you think the Judge of
all the earth will have the ability to judge us individually, privately,
and simultaneously?
At the heavenly bēma, you won’t be concerned about what others
think anyway. The focus will be on your life of service for the Judge. If
Christ can see what went on in your life and why you did the things you
did, no one else matters.
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6
Is There Real Fire
at the Evaluation?

“All will be in heaven, but the differences will be eternal.

We may be sure that the consequences of our character will
survive the grave and that we shall face those consequences at
the Judgment Seat of Christ.”—Donald Gray Barnhouse

I was born and raised in a small steel town in western Pennsylvania.

Almost every worker was employed by one of the large steel companies.
My father-in-law was a crane man over the open hearth. During one of
my summers home from college, I, too, became a “steel man” working
in one of the mills as a summer job. It was quite a learning experience
for me. Watching my colleagues work with liquid steel demonstrated the
power humans have over the elements by simply applying fire to them.
High above the floor a giant crane carried the huge ladle of liquid
steel from the blast furnaces and poured it into the waiting mold. These
furnaces produced such intense heat that periodically the bricks that
lined the inside had to be replaced because the heat caused them to
crumble. As a matter of fact, just about everything that entered that
furnace crumbled because of the intense heat.
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Of course, the use of fire for melting and purifying purposes has been
around for a long time. King Solomon built smelting plants at a city
called Ezion-Geber, on the tip of the Gulf of Aqaba in southern Israel.
The prevailing north winds caused a natural draft for his blast furnaces.
Because the area of southern Palestine is rich in mineral wealth, especially
copper, Solomon became the “copper magnate” of the world through
his own ingenuity and by the grace of God.
Paul traveled through many of the industrial sections of Palestine and
Asia Minor. He obviously was well acquainted with the refining qualities
of fire. Probably he had this in the back of his mind when he wrote 1
Corinthians 3:13: “Each one’s work will become manifest, for the Day
will disclose it, because it will be revealed by fire, and the fire will test
what sort of work each one has done.”

The Refining Fire

It is important to understand that in 1 Corinthians Paul was not
speaking of fire in a purgatorial or punishment sense. This is not an
avenging fire but a refining fire. It does not burn people; it tests their
lives. It is not disciplinary in character; it is discerning. This fire is not
a form of torture in a nether world. It is an instantaneous fire that will
disclose immediately “if the work that anyone has built on the foundation
survives” (1 Cor. 3:14).
But Dr. Erwin Lutzer, pastor of the Moody Church in Chicago, asks,
“Why do our works have to be subjected to the flames?” He then answers,
“The natural eye cannot easily tell the difference between these building
materials. Not even Paul was confident that he could always separate junk
from gems. From our perspective, a believer might have nothing but an
impressive pile of combustible material; but when torched, nuggets of
gold might be found embedded in the straw. Conversely, what we thought
was a gold brick of some notable saint might just be the end of a wooden
beam. Only the fire can separate the real from the fake.”1
This fire takes place on “the Day” that reveals our work, the day of
evaluation at the heavenly bēma. Paul was speaking of a fire that will
separate the destructible from the indestructible, the unacceptable
from the acceptable, and the inferior from the praiseworthy. This fire is
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suggestive of what happens when something unholy comes into contact

with the holiness of God.
Frequently in Scripture God is associated with fire. Often he appears
to men in fire:

• Exodus 3:2: “And the angel of the Lord appeared to him

[Moses] in a flame of fire out of the midst of a bush. He
looked, and behold, the bush was burning, yet it was not
consumed.”
• Exodus 13:21: “And the Lord went before them [the
Israelites] by day in a pillar of cloud to lead them along the
way, and by night in a pillar of fire to give them light, that they
might travel by day and by night.”
• Ezekiel 1:4: “As I looked, behold, a stormy wind came out of
the north, and a great cloud, with brightness around it, and
fire flashing forth continually, and in the midst of the fire, as it
were gleaming metal.”

God is even referred to being like “a refiner’s fire” (Mal. 3:2).

Also, God’s judgment is associated with fire:

• Genesis 19:24: “Then the Lord rained on Sodom and

Gomorrah sulfur and fire from the Lord out of heaven.”
• Leviticus 10:1–2: “Now Nadab and Abihu, the sons of
Aaron, each took his censer and put fire in it and laid incense
on it and offered unauthorized fire before the Lord, which he
had not commanded them. And fire came out from before the
Lord and consumed them, and they died before the Lord.”
• Numbers 11:1–3: “And the people complained in the
hearing of the Lord about their misfortunes, and when the
Lord heard it, his anger was kindled, and the fire of the Lord
burned among them and consumed some outlying parts of
the camp. Then the people cried out to Moses, and Moses
prayed to the Lord, and the fire died down. So the name of
that place was called Taberah, because the fire of the Lord
burned among them.”
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Particularly, fire is associated with the holiness of God. Holiness is

the opposite of impurity, and where God is present, holiness is present.
At the heavenly bēma God is present in the person of the Judge, Jesus
Christ. Thus the trial by fire that our lives and works must endure
may possibly be the simple presence of the Holy God in judgment. It
is not necessary to assume that this is a literal fire. Literal fire is not
needed because tangible material isn’t being tested, but rather it’s
our very lives and what has been done with them. It may be that the
glorious presence of our holy Judge will be enough to show our lives
and service for what they really are.
Imagine how useless those things we have done with selfish motives
will appear when they are exposed to the presence of God’s holiness.
Everything not done for his honor and glory will “melt” into insignificance
and shame.

The Blazing Gaze

Revelation 1:14 describes Jesus Christ in this way: “The hairs of his
head were white, like white wool, like snow. His eyes were like a flame
of fire.” Revelation 2:18 describes him as “the Son of God, who has eyes
like a flame of fire.” Is it possible that the fiery trial of our works will be
accomplished simply through the blazing gaze of the Master on our life
of service? Certainly he will be able to see through any service we have
rendered to gain self-acclaim. His gaze will penetrate any work we have
done out of impure motives, and his judgment will follow.
Likewise, his gaze will certify as pure any work that has been done
faithfully and properly. The holiness of his presence and his scrutinizing
look at our lives, with eyes “like a flame of fire,” seem to be all that is
necessary to burn up any unjust work or any glory-seeking service. The
holy Judge will single-handedly and instantaneously be able to discern
the true motive for our service and will melt away anything that smacks
of insincerity or impurity. Likewise, he will reward that which stands
the test of the refiner’s fire.
Whatever this fire is that tries our lives, or whatever form it takes,
its purpose is to test “what sort of work each one has done” (1 Cor.
3:13). Many Christians are constantly involved in a whirlwind of activity
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for the Lord. But perhaps what they are building is nothing more than
wood, hay, and straw because their motives are unworthy or they have
sought the acclaim of men rather than the praise of God. The purpose
for revealing our lives before the judgment seat of Christ is so “that each
one may receive what is due for what he has done in the body, whether
good or evil” (2 Cor. 5:10). This evaluation by fire will discern whether
the works we have done were good or bad, fruitful or unfruitful.

Surviving the Fire

When Jesus looks at our life of service and evaluates it in a split second
of time, he will be assessing the character of our work. It is difficult to find
words to describe just how our service will measure up to God’s standard,
but Paul falls back on an analogy he knew everyone could identify with.
He likens our service to the construction of a building. The foundation
of our building is Jesus Christ. We are just builders; it is his redemptive
work at Calvary that is the foundation (1 Cor. 3:11).
We work hard for years. We conduct Bible study groups. We teach our
children important lessons about God. We assist the pastor and others in
our church. We try to serve the community and, by doing so, to serve the
Lord. But when all comes under the blazing gaze of the Judge, what will
be left? When our life of service is tested by fire, what will survive?
Paul speaks of two types of building materials—one that varies in
quality but survives the fire and one that varies in quality but is burned
up. He taught that the survivable category included nuggets of gold, silver
bullion, and costly stones. That which is not survivable included boards
of wood, chopped hay for mortar, and highly flammable roof thatch.
It is evident Paul is using these materials as analogies because, let’s face
it, no one would build a house out of gold. Gold is precious but not very
hard, just as silver is precious but not very hard. And costly stones such
as diamonds, jade, and alabaster are beautiful but unsuitable building
materials. Still, each of these materials can survive the refining fire,
whereas wood, hay, and straw stubble could not. Gold, silver, and costly
stones all represent the profitable, rewardable service that withstand our
Savior’s scrutiny. The others represent those things we have done that,
for various reasons, are improper and cannot be rewarded.
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A Tragic Illustration
Some time ago I was speaking at a Bible Conference on the East Coast
of the United States. The concert musician that week was Steve Green. I
have always enjoyed Steve’s music and his humble spirit, and this concert
was no different. Steve told a story that touched my heart. Afterwards I
said, “Steve, that story is tragic, but it’s a perfect illustration for a book I
am writing about eternal rewards. Do you mind if I tell it to my readers?”
So, with Steve’s permission, here it is.
On February 1, 2003, we watched in horror, glued to our television
sets, as a disaster unfolded before our eyes. President George W. Bush
addressed the United States and announced, “This day has brought
terrible news and great sadness to our country. . . . The Columbia is lost;
there are no survivors.”
The Space Shuttle Columbia disintegrated over Texas during re-entry
into the Earth’s atmosphere shortly before concluding its twenty-eighth
mission. The loss of the Columbia was caused by damage sustained during
launch when a small piece of foam insulation broke off the main propellant
tank and struck the leading edge of the left wing. Columbia was manned
by seven brave astronauts including Commander Rick Husband, a U.S.
Air Force colonel, and Payload Commander Mike Anderson, a U.S. Air
Force lieutenant colonel. Husband and Anderson were men of faith
and attended Grace Community Church in the southeastern Houston
suburb of Clear Lake.
Rick Husband was a close friend of Steve Green’s. Their friendship
had begun years earlier when Rich and his wife Evelyn had stood in line
to meet Steve after a concert in Houston. Steve sang at the Columbia
launch just two weeks earlier. The spouses of the crew members each
pick a song for them to wake up to one morning while they’re in space.
Evelyn had picked Steve Green’s “God of Wonders.” At the concert I
attended, Steve played a tape of Rick Husband communicating with
Mission Control after the song was played.
Next Steve showed a photograph of his “God of Wonders” CD that
Rick actually took into space with him on that fateful mission. After
the Columbia disaster there were more than two thousand debris fields
stretching from southeast of Dallas to western Louisiana and southwestern
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Arkansas. Amazingly, Steve Green’s CD was among the recovered debris.

When Steve showed the photo of the CD, its edges were jagged, as if
someone had repeatedly cut it with a pair of scissors. It had been tested
by fire, but when it was found among the debris, it was scarred but in
tact. Steve was kind enough to send the before and after photos of the
CD to me.

The Bottom Line

Every time I look at those frayed edges I am impressed with the
tremendous heat and pressure that CD was subjected to, and yet it
survived. That’s what the testing at the judgment seat of Christ will be
like.
Here’s the issue. Each of us begins our new life in Christ with the same
foundation—the Lord Jesus. Each of us is responsible to build upon that
foundation. And the selection of material with which we build is our own
choice. We can choose what we build, and we can choose what impact
our life has on eternity. The Lord will evaluate us, the fire will test us,
but no one will be able to say that we weren’t given ample opportunity
to earn a full reward.
No Christ-follower will lose his or her eternal life at the judgment
seat of Christ. We have been given this eternal life in Christ, and it is just
that—eternal. Even if some of our service does not survive the fire, our
salvation will. We escape through the flames by the sovereign God out
of whose hand no one will ever be able to snatch us ( John 10:28–29).
So build for eternity. Be like the CD that Commander Rich Husband
took into space. Live wisely now so that your life of service will survive
being tested by fire and you can enjoy a full reward forever.

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 part four

Losing Eternal Rewards

6
Well-known comedian, former host of The Tonight Show, and fellow-
Nebraskan Johnny Carson will be remembered for a lot of things, not the
least of which were his “I have good news and bad news” jokes. When
thinking about the subject of eternal rewards, there is a good news/bad
news scenario.
The good news is that at the judgment seat of Christ, everyone will
receive some reward. The bad news is that at the judgment seat of Christ,
everyone will fail to gain all of the reward we could have. Facing loss is
never a pleasant experience, but it is reality. Not all that we do in our
lives of service to the Lord will make the cut as we face our final job
review. Some things, perhaps some unexpected things, will be denied
eternal reward because they will not measure up to the divine standard.
And other things we didn’t expect to amount to much, Jesus will judge
acceptable and worthy of reward.
In the chapters that follow, we will deal with questions about the
painful potential of losing reward for unacceptable service. Bite your lip
if you must, but losing eternal rewards is as real as receiving them.
 16
6
Is It Possible
to Lose Rewards?

“He has given every Christian a job. Those ignoring His

orders will feel awful when He appears.”—C. S. Lovett

At the judgment seat of Christ there will be ecstatic joy.

We will see loved ones in the Lord whom we haven’t seen in years. We
will see our spiritual offspring. Most importantly, we will be with Jesus
Christ forever.
But joy will not be the only emotion we feel. We will undoubtedly shed
some tears that are not tears of joy. God has promised us that ultimately
he will wipe away every tear from our eyes (Rev. 21:4), but there would be
no tears if the purpose of the heavenly bēma was only to receive reward.
Two possibilities arise from the fiery trial: “If the work that anyone has
built on the foundation survives, he will receive a reward. If anyone’s
work is burned up, he will suffer loss, though he himself will be saved,
but only as through fire” (1 Cor. 3:14–15).
If each of our works for the Lord withstands the trial by fire, we will
have nothing but rewards to look forward to. But it’s not likely that 100
percent of what we have done has been done in a rewardable way. The
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more likely possibility is that we will be rewarded for some things, but
we will not be rewarded for all. There will be some things done in our
lives that will be judged unacceptable. What will become of these?
According to 1 Corinthians 3:15, “If anyone’s work is burned up, he
will suffer loss.” God cannot reward us for those works that prove to
be unworthy or unacceptable. That would be contrary to his character
(Gen. 18:25; Rom. 2:1–6). God must deal justly at the judgment seat
of Christ. Justice demands that we suffer loss for those labors that are
but wood, hay, and stubble.

Abiding and Rewards

The apostle John also implies that some of our works will be judged
unworthy. The beloved disciple warned his “little children” in the faith
about the pitfalls of saying they labored in love if they really lived in
hatred (1 John 2:8–11). He admonished them to live a life of love and
purity. But John also instructed these believers to “abide in him” ( Jesus
Christ): “And now, little children, abide in him, so that when he appears
we may have confidence and not shrink from him in shame at his coming”
(1 John 2:28).
“Abide” is a synonym for fellowship, which is the subject of John’s
letter (1 John 1:3–7). It means to remain in Christ or live in him in such a
way that you draw on his life as the source of your own. It means you are
totally dependent on him for your salvation and your spiritual strength.
This is the basis of rewards or the cause of their loss—remaining in the
Christ-dependent life. John is concerned that his friends live in the Lord
and labor for him.
John continues by giving his reasons for urging us to abide in the Lord.
He says “that when he appears we may have confidence, and not shrink
from him in shame at his coming.” When Christ comes to snatch his bride
away and usher us to the judgment seat, we want to appear confidently
before him as our Judge. “Confidence” in the Greek means “courage or
boldness to speak.” John’s point is that although we are not sufficient in
ourselves, we can be confident of reward if we find our adequacy in our
dependence on Christ.
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The apostle also prays that we will “not shrink from him [Christ]
in shame at his coming [presence].” In Greek the verb translated “to
shrink” from him in shame is in a form that means that the shame will
not be a continuous state; it’s a one-time feeling, and then it is forever
cared for.

Loss and Remorse

So how does this work? How could you possibly feel shame at the
future judgment seat of Christ? Let me assure you it’s not by the Lord
Jesus shaming you. This is an investigative judgment bar; it is not the
purpose of the Judge to shame you. Shame comes when we realize what
our own failures in living the Christian life have cost us. Our shame
accompanies our loss of reward, but it will only be momentary. We do
not bear shame throughout eternity. Passages like Revelation 7:17, 21:4,
and Isaiah 61:7 show us that the shame of loss is short-lived.
While we all will reflect on our lives with some regret at missed
opportunities or botched service, we will also realize what is ahead for
us throughout eternity, and that will quickly dry our tears and be a source
of endless joy. The perspective of E. Schuyler English helps: “Joy will
indeed be the predominant emotion of life with the Lord; but I suspect
that, when our works are made manifest at the tribunal, some grief will be
mixed with the joy, and we shall know shame as we suffer loss. But we shall
rejoice also as we realize that the rewards given will be another example
of the grace of our Lord; for at best we are unprofitable servants”1
Do you remember your high school or college graduation ceremony?
It is a bit like the judgment seat of Christ. At that ceremony you may
have been disappointed that you didn’t work better or harder to achieve
better grades and maybe graduate with honors or at least with a higher
class standing than you did. But the knowledge that you made it, you
graduated, and you are moving on into your future overshadows any
remorse you feel. At graduation ceremonies you celebrate what you did
achieve, not what you failed to achieve. The same is true of the heavenly
bēma.
In his second epistle, John expresses the same thought only in much
stronger language: “Watch yourselves, so that you may not lose what we
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have worked for, but may win a full reward” (v. 8). The expression “watch
yourselves” means “watch out” or “beware.” That’s how it’s translated in
Mark 8:15 and 12:38. John warns each of us to beware lest something
nullify the works we have done. If what we’ve done has been made
unacceptable, it will not bring a full reward. In fact, it will not bring a
reward at all.
A similar idea is expressed by Jesus in the Revelation. The Lord of
Glory says, “I am coming soon. Hold fast what you have, so that no one
may seize your crown” (Rev. 3:11). As believers we are exhorted to hold
fast those labors we have done for him. This means we should keep hold
of what is ours so others will not receive it. We are not to allow our crown
to be in danger of being snatched by another.

Loss by Default
But how is this possible? How can someone else receive our reward?
Can they steal our crown? Not a chance. What is rightfully ours cannot
be justly given to another. The only way we can lose a reward to someone
else is by default, not theft.
Judas Iscariot, had he been a believer, had a wonderful opportunity to
serve the Lord faithfully. But much of the work that could have been done
by Judas was actually done by Matthias, the man chosen to replace him
(Acts 1:26). Matthias did not steal Judas’ coveted position as a disciple;
he received it by default.
The Jews were God’s chosen people. To them were committed the
words of God (Rom. 3:2). To them was given the promise of blessing
(Gen. 12:2). To them was given the knowledge of salvation (Luke 1:76–
77). But Israel was a stubborn people with a heart of stone, and they
rejected their Messiah, Jesus (Matt. 21:42). This opened the way for the
gospel message to be given to the Gentiles. The Gentiles did not steal
the gospel from the Jews. They received it by default.
Likewise, no one can steal our reward from us. That which we do
for the Lord, judged pure in the refiner’s fire, is ours and can never be
taken from us. However, if we do not seize those opportunities, we will
lose these rewards by default. Lost opportunities mean lost reward. It’s
no wonder that both the Lord Jesus and the apostle John advise us to
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watch carefully what we do and beware that no one receive by default

the opportunities that could be ours, and the reward as well.

Loss by Defect
Losing rewards is possible in two ways. We may lose them by default
by not seizing opportunities that are presented to us. But we also may
lose rewards by defect, by living our lives in such a way that what we do
does not meet the criteria to qualify for reward. This means that at the
judgment seat of Christ, some of our service to the Lord could be burned
because of the defective quality of the materials we used in building a life
of service for the Lord. With this in mind, in the next chapter we’ll look
more closely at what it means to lose a reward by defective service.

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6
What Does It Mean
to Lose a Reward?

“That a crown may be lost to a believer is as certain as any

truth in the Holy Scripture.”—D. M. Panton

Since the loss of reward affects what we enjoy in the forever years
of eternity, to lose even one little reward is a serious matter. Therefore,
when the Bible speaks of losing our reward, what does it mean?

Loss Is Not Repossession

We should never conceive of the loss of rewards as a repossession.
God does not take back something he has already awarded us. At the
heavenly bēma, we do not suddenly have a quantity of rewards ripped
from our hands by the righteous Judge. We are not stripped of rewards
as an erring soldier is stripped of his stripes. Not at all.
The Lord grants heavenly rewards when this life is over. Remember
our Lord says, “For the Son of Man is going to come with his angels in
the glory of his Father, and then he will repay each person according to
what he has done” (Matt. 16:27).
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Since rewards are not awarded during our lifetime, the Lord could
not have earlier given us a reward that would have to be returned at
the judgment seat of Christ. Loss of reward is not like handing back a
trophy that was mistakenly given to you. It’s not returning something
you earned. It’s forfeiting a reward that you could have earned but failed
to do so.
The judgment seat of Christ is not a time for sour grapes. We will
clearly see why we have forfeited rewards, and our loss, shame, and tears
will be real. That’s why it’s important that our Savior wipe away all our
tears at the beginning of our eternity with him.

The Positive Loss

Losing a reward involves more than simply failing to gain a reward.
Losing a reward is not just the absence of a reward. At the judgment
seat each of our works that survive the fire will bring reward and much
rejoicing. Likewise, each of our works that are burned will bring more
than loss and sadness. Suddenly, a great sense of shame will come
over us as we stand before our Master and realize both what we could
have done for him and didn’t and what we did that was unacceptable
to him.
I believe the shame that will engulf us will be greater than any of
us can imagine. On that day, we will have to look the Lord in the eye.
We will face him and know what he knows. Maybe this is why the
apostle John counsels us to “abide in him, so that when he appears
we may have confidence and not shrink from him in shame at his
coming” (1 John 2:28).
Perhaps the Lord will reprimand us for not laboring more faithfully.
As pure service brings commendation, so impure service may bring a
reprimand. Remember, in the parable of the talents, the lord commended
his faithful servant by saying “well done, good and faithful servant” (Matt.
25:23). But at the same time he called the unprofitable servant a “wicked
and slothful servant” (v. 26). Losing a reward is not simply the negative
of gaining a reward. It carries with it all the shame and reproach due an
untrue service and an unfaithful servant.
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No Loss of Salvation
As we’ve seen, salvation is entirely different from rewards. When
speaking of the loss of reward Paul says, “If anyone’s work is burned up,
he will suffer loss, though he himself will be saved, but only as through
fire” (1 Cor. 3:15). Fortunately, when one loses his reward, he doesn’t
lose his eternal life (Rom. 8:35–39).
The expression “but only as through fire” simply means “as though
you came through a fire.” This should be of some comfort to us. Even
though you or I have not been as faithful as we should have been in
serving the Lord, our salvation will not be jeopardized. This will be like
a man who escapes from a burning building and has to leave everything
behind. Smoking embers are falling everywhere. The heat of the fire can
be felt on his face. He scrambles down the staircase and darts through the
door safety. He is able to grab only his laptop and a few photo albums.
Everything else, all that he treasures, all his stuff, is burned up, but he
himself escapes amid the flames. We may lose some rewards at the
judgment seat of Christ, but we will never lose our souls. Salvation is
ours for eternity.
Whether we receive a great reward or a small reward, we will still be
“heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ” (Rom. 8:17). Because of
God, we have been born again “to a living hope through the resurrection
of Jesus Christ from the dead, to an inheritance that is imperishable,
undefiled, and unfading, kept in heaven for you” (1 Peter 1:3–4). Nothing
can remove that from us.
Imagine the consternation, however, of those who, in a split second of
time, will see a great portion of their life’s work vanish before their eyes
because their service did not pass the trial by fire. How much will this
resemble Lot. When judgment came to Sodom, Lot escaped the fire but
lost nearly everything he had—his home, his goods, his wife, and even
his integrity and honor (Genesis 19).
That’s why the apostle John makes a final appeal to all of us. He begs,
“Watch yourselves, so that you may not lose what we have worked for, but
may win a full reward” (2 John 8). This is a warning to Christ-followers
not to become complacent about how we serve the Lord. We need to
be vigilant right to the end.
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Amid the shouts of joy there is bound to be some sobs of remorse and
shame at the judgment seat of Christ. Each of us should be encouraged
to take every opportunity to serve the Lord Jesus that comes our way,
and make sure that it is done in a manner pleasing to him, the righteous
Judge. “If the work that anyone has built on the foundation survives,
he will receive a reward. If anyone’s work is burned up, he will suffer
loss, though he himself will be saved, but only as through fire” (1 Cor.
3:14–15).

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 18
6
What If I
Haven’t Chosen Gold?

“For my part, what I have done in the past troubles me

no more, for it is repented of and mercifully put under the
blood of Christ; but what I have not done troubles me.”
—Leonard Ravenhill

Taipei 101 in Taipei, Taiwan, is the world’s tallest building. The 1,666-
foot skyscraper tops the previous record holder, the Petronas Towers in
Kuala Lumpur, by 183 feet. What made designing this 101-story building
for an earthquake- and typhoon-prone region such a challenge is that the
tower stands about 650 feet from a major fault line, and it faces winds of
one hundred miles per hours. The engineers who designed it, however,
give assurance that the building will be able to deal with either of these
tests.
When the apostle Paul wants to explain how our service to the Lord
survives the test by fire, it’s no surprise, then, that he uses the metaphor
of a building. He says, “For no one can lay a foundation other than
that which is laid, which is Jesus Christ. Now if anyone builds on the
foundation with gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, straw—each
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one’s work will become manifest, for the Day will disclose it, because it
will be revealed by fire, and the fire will test what sort of work each one
has done. If the work that anyone has built on the foundation survives,
he will receive a reward. If anyone’s work is burned up, he will suffer
loss, though he himself will be saved, but only as through fire” (1 Cor.
3:11–15).

The Foundation Matters

The most important section of a building is the foundation. It really
doesn’t matter how well you build or how much you spend on quality
building materials if you erect a building on a faulty foundation.
Recently I again visited the Leaning Tower of Pisa. Construction
on this beautiful freestanding bell tower began on August 9, 1173. But
within five years the Italians knew they had a problem. The tower was
leaning noticeably to the North. The lean was first discovered during
construction of the third floor. During the building of the next three
floors, the lean was corrected by building the floors parallel to the
ground, and not level with the leaning building. During this phase,
however, the tower started to lean the other way. At this point, all the
adjustments in the world couldn’t prevent the famous bell tower of Pisa
from leaning. Why? It was built on unsuitable ground for such a heavy
and tall building. It is only about six feet above sea level and built on a
riverbed. The underlying ground is made up of layers of sand and clay.
The Leaning Tower of Pisa is one of the best-known examples that prove
the foundation matters.
The foundation matters in Christian living, too. The psalmist asked,
“If the foundations are destroyed, what can the righteous do?” (Ps.
11:3). But the foundation for our lives and our service to God is Jesus
Christ himself. No Christian can lay any foundation other than the
one that has already been laid for us. We don’t build the foundation;
we construct the building on that foundation, and the quality of our
building depends solely on the quality of material we use in construction,
not on the foundation.
Our foundation isn’t faulty, but the construction we do on that
foundation may be.
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The Materials Matter

In the metaphor of our life as a building, the materials matter just
as the foundation does. One day our building will be burned, and only
the appropriate building materials will survive the fire. All others will be
consumed and lost forever. In view of the fact that the material we use
in building our lives of service to God will be tested by fire, the apostle
Paul urges us to construct our lives of gold, silver, and precious stones,
which won’t burn, in contrast to wood, hay, and straw, which are easily
ignited and burned up by fire (1 Cor. 3:12–13).
While some writers have offered fanciful interpretations of the meaning
of gold, silver, and precious stones, Scripture itself assigns no meaning. I
believe they are used simply as examples of valuable building materials,
just as wood, hay, and straw are used as examples of less valuable building
materials. We don’t need to speculate on why Paul chose these materials;
we do have to make certain our lives match the right materials.
Gold has been a highly sought-after precious metal throughout history.
It has been used for millennia as money, in jewelry, and it now forms
the basis for a monetary standard used by the International Monetary
Fund. While never deemed as precious as gold, silver also has been
known since antiquity as a soft white lustrous precious metal. It, too,
has been used in currency, ornaments, and jewelry, as well as utensils
(hence the term silverware). A precious stone is a rare stone of high value.
Gemologists usually divide stones into two categories, precious and semi-
precious. Examples of precious stones are diamonds, emeralds, rubies,
and sapphires. Semi-precious stones are opals, lapis-lazuli, turquoise, and
topaz. The breastplate of the high priest in the Old Testament contained
twelve precious and semi-precious stones, one each for the twelve tribes
of Israel.1
On the other end of the building materials spectrum are wood, hay,
and straw. While we often use wood in the construction of our homes, we
know the tragedy of house fires that are fueled because of the common
use of wood in floors, walls, ceilings, etc. Even more combustible are
hay and straw. Buildings constructed from such materials aren’t very
good—just ask the three little pigs. Buildings made of gold, silver, and
precious stones are far better.
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The Choice Matters

The selection of building materials for our life of service to God is a
personal choice. We each decide what kind of service we will have by
the kinds of materials we choose. I can choose to serve in the spotlight
so everyone sees me and praises what I do. I can choose popularity,
pleasure, and wealth. I can choose to get by with as little service to God
as possible. When I come to a fork in the road, I can choose the easy
path, the well-paved road, and the one with fewer obstacles. I can opt for
style over substance, less over more, ease over difficulty. But in doing so,
I may well be choosing straw over silver, and that’s a choice I will regret
significantly at the judgment seat. The choice matters.
That’s why Paul is so eager to remind us: “Each one’s work will become
manifest, for the Day will disclose it, because it will be revealed by fire,
and the fire will test what sort of work each one has done. If the work that
anyone has built on the foundation survives, he will receive a reward. If
anyone’s work is burned up, he will suffer loss . . .” (1 Cor. 3:13–15).
If all that you and I enjoy for eternity is determined at the judgment
seat of Christ, and if the quality of the work (building materials) will be
tested by fire on that day and the true character will be revealed, what
must we do to insure that we will not suffer a horrible loss in the fire? We
have to become aware of what Jesus our Judge is looking for in our lives.
We need to gain some biblical insight into what constitutes acceptable
service and what is just a bubble floating toward a waiting pin. In short,
we need to steel our minds with what the Bible says about the judgment
seat of Christ so we minimize the sorrow and loss we could experience
on that day. We need to know what criteria Jesus will use to judge our
lives acceptable.

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 part five

The Criteria Used to Judge Us

6
As a student for many years and later as a college and university
professor, I noticed a lot of interest in a system of justice known as
“grading on the curve.” The curve system allows the student’s grade to
fluctuate according to the scholastic ability of the class. What might
earn a student a C in one class could be an A in a class with less gifted
students.
God, however, does not grade on the curve. With respect to salvation,
God does not say, “I know you’re all failures, but I’ll take the top third of
you failures into heaven.” God grades against a standard of excellence.
He explicitly says, “For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God”
(Rom. 3:23). God’s criterion is Christ. When we are compared with
the perfect life of God the Son, we just don’t measure up. God doesn’t
overlook that; he does something about it. He makes us measure up by
imputing to us the righteousness of Jesus Christ (2 Cor. 5:21). We who
have fallen short of the minimum requirement for acceptance into heaven
have been made fit for entrance by receiving Jesus Christ as Savior.
Just as God has a criterion for accepting us in salvation, he has certain
criteria for judging our service to be acceptable. As has already been noted,
not all that we do in Jesus’ name will be accepted by him as legitimate
service. Only that which proves authentic through the fiery test will last.
Only what our Judge discerns as measuring up to the criteria will be
acceptable. So what are the criteria by which our life of service will be
judged? What is Christ the Judge looking for? Answers may vary widely,
but let me suggest the most obvious.
 19
6
Do My Sources Matter?

“I value all things only by the price they shall gain in

eternity.”—John Wesley

Do you remember Jayson Blair? People in the cubicles at the

New York Times do. On April 28, 2003, the Times national editor, Jim
Roberts, questioned Blair about similarities between a story he had
written two days earlier and one written by San Antonio Express-News
reporter Macarena Hernandez on April 18. Hernandez contacted the
Times after details and quotes in Blair’s story appeared exactly the same
as hers.
Blair had plagiarized the San Antonio reporter’s article. The Times
editors commissioned an internal report from a committee of twenty-
five staffers and three outside journalists. The investigators discovered
that thirty-six of the seventy-three national news stories Blair had written
since October 2002 were suspect, ranging from fabrications to copying
stories from other sources. It was a significant embarrassment to the
New York Times and a smudge on the integrity of one of the nation’s
leading newspapers.
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Jayson Blair got himself into trouble because he was not honest about
his sources. His sources were not inaccurate, but he ascribed work to
himself rather than to another reporter.
God is very interested in our sources. He wants us to use the power
of an appropriate source when we serve him and to recognize that we
are not that source. Like Jayson Blair, we can ascribe our work to the
rightful source, or we can claim to be that source ourselves. If we claim
to be our own source, we are headed for devastating disappointment at
the heavenly bēma.

The Christ-in-You Principle

Of all the criteria the Lord Jesus will use at the judgment seat of Christ
to discern the acceptability of our service, the first is what we might call
the Christ-in-you principle of Galatians 2:20. It gets to the heart of who
actually did the work you are presenting at the bēma, Christ or you.
Paul declares in Galatians 2:20, “I have been crucified with Christ.
It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now
live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave
himself for me.” Two key clauses in this verse produce the Christ-in-you
principle: “I have been crucified with Christ” and “Christ lives in me.”
The order in which the words appear in the first clause is significant.
The text actually says “with Christ I have been crucified.” This order, with
Christ being first, puts the emphasis on the crucified One and not on
the process of our crucifixion with him. Many get this turned around.
They talk all the time about dying to sin, which sounds very spiritual, but
attribute little of their power to the Christ who died for their sins.
Our Lord’s death and resurrection are inseparable. The major tenet
of the “Christ-in-you principle” is our special union with Christ and
the fact that he is the resurrected Lord of our lives. Our service is only
acceptable to God if this union exists.
The second key clause is “Christ lives in me.” Paul’s fellowship with
the Lord began with the crucifixion of his own will on the Damascus
road and his conversion from sin and death. But that fellowship would
soon have dwindled if there had not been more to it than the Damascus
road experience.
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The basis for your conversion is the substitutionary death of Jesus

Christ, atoning for your sins. But, the basis for your Christian life is
“Christ in you, the hope of glory” (Col. 1:27). What makes living the
Christian life at all possible is the knowledge that “Christ lives in me.”
He, and he alone, is the source of acceptable service.

The Battle Rages

We should remember that Christ not only gives us life, but Christ is our
life (Col. 3:4). When we are reconciled to God by Christ’s death, we find
our lives so intertwined with his that we strive not to continually engage in
the deeds of the flesh. However, since we are yet sinners and prone to sin,
there is a constant battle raging inside us. Our flesh prods us to do those
things that embarrass the Spirit who resides within us. Our new Christ-
like nature moves us to live in righteousness, but since we still live in the
flesh, we are prone to do those things that satisfy the flesh. Paul describes
the battle in Romans 7.
In his struggles with himself, Paul learned that although Christ lived
in him, on occasion he didn’t act like it. This is our experience today.
Christ lives in us through the presence of his Spirit, but sometimes we
do things, say things, or think things that do not glorify our Savior. The
happy, rewarding, successful Christian life is one in which our lives are so
wrapped up in his that we constantly push our flesh into the background
and engage in “Christ-in-you” activity instead.
When our life is tried by fire at the judgment seat, all that we have done
for the Lord will be scrutinized by his holiness and righteous presence.
Jesus Christ will approve only those of our works that meet the criteria
that he has set. One of his initial concerns will be who did the work. Did
we do the work in our own strength or in his strength? As a pastor, did
you rely on your innate talent, your charm, or your personal speaking
ability to carry you Sunday after Sunday, or did you fall on your knees
each Sunday morning and ask the Spirit of God to fill you with his power?
As a servant of the Lord did you just “tough it out” and hope for the best
results, or did you ask God for strength that was not your own? Here’s the
question: did you do the work or did God do the work through you?
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The Hunt for Acceptable Service

Many Scriptures indicate the Judge will approve only that which is
done by his power. He will judge as worthy of reward only that which
he was allowed to do through us. Anything we were able to accomplish
on our own will be burned up in the fire. Consider these Scriptures:

• John 15:5: “I am the vine; you are the branches. Whoever

abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for
apart from me you can do nothing.”
• 1 Corinthians 15:10: “But by the grace of God I am what I
am, and his grace toward me was not in vain. On the contrary,
I worked harder than any of them, though it was not I, but the
grace of God that is with me.”
• Ephesians 6:5–8: “Slaves, obey your earthly masters . . . as
you would Christ, not by the way of eye-service, as people-
pleasers, but as servants of Christ, doing the will of God from
the heart, rendering service with a good will as to the Lord
and not to man, knowing that whatever good anyone does,
this he will receive back from the Lord. . . .”
• Philippians 1:9–11: “And it is my prayer that your love may
abound more and more, with knowledge and all discernment,
so that you may approve what is excellent, and so be pure
and blameless for the day of Christ, filled with the fruit of
righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ, to the glory
and praise of God.”
• Philippians 4:13: “I can do all things through him who
strengthens me.”
• Hebrews 13:20–21: “Now may the God of peace . . . equip
you with everything good that you may do his will, working
in us that which is pleasing in his sight, through Jesus Christ,
to whom be glory forever and ever. Amen.”

These verses all teach the same thing. In our lives, that which is
acceptable to God is done by Jesus Christ, not by us. In our lives, that
which is acceptable to God brings glory to the Father through Jesus
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Christ, not glory to us. Any service we have rendered for the sake of the
gospel that has been done independently of him will not bring ultimate
glory to God, nor will it bring reward to us. Much of what we do, even in
the Lord’s name, may appear in the eyes of men as great service to God,
but if it was done on our own power, apart from his indwelling strength, it
will be of no value. It will not be able to withstand being tested by fire.
Jesus Christ is looking for people who will be vessels. He wants to fill
us with himself; he doesn’t want us to be full of ourselves. He wants to
win the lost through us; he doesn’t want us to try and win the lost. He
is the worker; we are the vessels. The work is his when we are his. The
work is ours when we are ours. We must live in the Spirit of God, but
more importantly, he must live in and work through us.
When our labors for the Lord are judged at the heavenly bēma, they
will be judged according to whether we have done them or Christ has
done them. A major criterion for reward is the source of strength through
which our life of service has been lived. Things done in the flesh will result
only in the disappointment of rejection. Things done in the Spirit will
result in the delight of reward. The glory will be Christ’s, but the reward
will be ours. Without the Christ-in-you principle, there is no reward.
God is interested in the source of your life of service because only when
he is the source is your service rewardable.

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6
Does My Faithfulness
Count?

“[The Judgment seat] is meant for us professing Christians,

real and imperfect Christians; and it tells us that there are
degrees in that future blessedness proportioned to present
faithfulness.”—Alexander Maclaren

Webster defines faithfulness as loyalty, reliability, or

dependability, marked by a strong sense of duty or responsibility. But
faithfulness is not always evident in our society today. Look around you.
Examples abound.
Profiles International, a human resources specialist, estimates that in
a company of one hundred employees, typical absenteeism costs that
company about $1,899 per day.1 Today’s families are being torn apart
by a lack of faithfulness. The divorce rate in the United States hovers
around 0.38 percent divorces per capita per year.2 And now there
is another threat to faithfulness in marriage—virtual unfaithfulness.
Pornography allows people to be mentally unfaithful to their spouse; the
availability of pornography, thanks to the Internet, is prolific. “We live in a
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Pornotopia,” says J. Budziszewski, associate professor in the Government

and Philosophy departments of the University of Texas at Austin.3
The Christian religion places great importance on the faithfulness
of the follower of Christ. We can’t excuse our infidelity to the Lord
because “everybody’s doing it” or because we don’t see faithfulness in
abundance around us today. We are called to be different. Unlike those
who stumble at every opportunity for sin, the apostle Peter says, “But
you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his
own possession, that you may proclaim the excellencies of him who
called you out of darkness into his marvelous light” (1 Peter 2:9). For
the believer, faithfulness counts.

Faithfulness Means Trustworthiness

In the Bible, God values faithfulness. He equates faithfulness with
trustworthiness. God views faithfulness as a character trait that belongs
to quality people or things. In fact, the Bible reserves the word “faithful”
for three things: (1) God himself; (2) God’s Word; and (3) God’s people
who are faithful to God and his Word.
God often asserts his own faithfulness as evidence of his character.
God’s faithfulness is never-ending (Deut. 7:9; Pss. 89:1; 119:89–94). It
is a renewable resource (Lam. 3:22–26), reflected in all he does. God’s
faithfulness keeps us from evil (2 Thess. 3:3; 1 Cor. 10:13) and helps us
up when we fall (1 John 1:9). God’s faithfulness is evident even when
bad things happen to us (Ps. 119:71, 75, 81–82, 88). He is faithful in
all he does because God is faithful in all he is (1 Thess. 5:24; 2 Tim.
2:7–13; Heb. 10:23).
God’s Word reflects the same character as its author. The psalmist knew
this when he said, “All Your commandments are faithful . . . . Forever,
O Lord, Your word is settled in heaven” (Ps. 119:86, 89, nkjv). He said
again in verses 137–138, “Righteous are you, O Lord, and right are your
rules. You have appointed your testimonies in righteousness and in all
faithfulness.” The prophets knew what the psalmists knew: God’s Word
is trustworthy. “O Lord, you are my God; I will exalt you; I will praise
your name, for you have done wonderful things, plans formed of old,
faithful and sure” (Isa. 25:1). Notice the link between God and his faithful
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plans, which are revealed in his faithful Word. The apostles knew this,
too. Paul said of an elder, “He must hold firm to the trustworthy word as
taught, so that he may be able to give instruction in sound doctrine and
also to rebuke those who contradict it” (Titus 1:9). Again, notice the
link between the trustworthiness of God’s Word and the trustworthiness
of those who give instruction from it.
God’s servants are also sometimes called faithful in the Bible—servants
who do not cheat their master or usurp their master’s position. The Bible
describes many faithful servants: Moses (Num. 12:7–8; Heb. 3:2), Abraham
(Gal. 3:9), Daniel (Dan. 6:4), Paul (1 Tim. 1:12), Tychicus (Eph. 6:21),
Epaphras (Col. 1:7), Onesimus (Col. 4:9), Silvanus (1 Peter 5:12), and
others. After the wall of Jerusalem was rebuilt by Nehemiah and his dedicated
workmen, Nehemiah wanted to reward his brother, Hanani, by giving him
charge over Jerusalem, “for he was a more faithful and God-fearing man
than many” (Neh. 7:2).
John tells us in Revelation 17:14 that those who accompany the Lamb
into battle and are victorious are “called and chosen and faithful.” The
Lord commended a certain Antipas and the church in Pergamum: “I know
where you dwell, where Satan’s throne is. Yet you hold fast my name, and
you did not deny my faith even in the days of Antipas my faithful witness,
who was killed among you, where Satan dwells” (Rev. 2:13).
Paul counseled young Timothy to commit the precious truths that he
had heard from him and other witnesses “to faithful men who will be able
to teach others also” (2 Tim. 2:2). The Scriptures place a premium on
faithfulness, and nowhere will that character quality be more important
than at the judgment seat of Christ.

A Faithful Steward
Paul reminds the Corinthians that he must give an account of himself
as a minister of Christ and a steward of the mysteries of God (1 Cor.
4:1). A steward is a manager or superintendent of another’s household
or property. He is not a butler or a custodian, but more of a guardian
or overseer. This was a very respectable occupation in Bible times, as
witnessed by the prominent people who had stewards; for example,
Abraham (Gen. 15:2); Joseph (Gen. 43:19); King David (1 Chron.
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27:25–31); Israel’s King Elah (1 Kings 16:9); and King Herod Antipas
(Luke 8:3).
As the parable of the talents (Matthew 25) indicates, a good steward
not only oversees that which is entrusted to him, but also uses it, invests
it, and makes it produce for his master.
As a steward of the mysteries of God, those divine truths known
only by revelation, Paul knows that he must put to work what he has
experienced in Christ and produce fruit from it. So he warns, “Moreover,
it is required of stewards that they be found trustworthy” (1 Cor. 4:2).
Paul’s desire was to be found a faithful steward in the sight of his fellow
believers and especially in the sight of God.
This is the command of John to Gaius: “Beloved, it is a faithful thing
you do in all your efforts for these brothers, strangers as they are” (3 John
5). As stewards of the knowledge of salvation and as servants of the Most
High God, we must be faithful to our service for the Lord. “Be faithful
unto death, and I will give you the crown of life,” says the Master (Rev.
2:10). The Lord expects us to be faithful. He judges us accordingly.
When I came into the family of God, God entrusted to me a sovereign
deposit (like the talent in the parable) and said, in effect, “Now take it
and trade with it. Use it. Show me what kind of commitment you have to
advancing my kingdom. If you do nothing with it, you will get nothing
from it.” That’s also the meaning of 1 Corinthians 3:12–15.
We are to be found faithful whether our service for the Lord is large
or small. Jesus gave us a principle when he said, “One who is faithful in
a very little is also faithful in much, and one who is dishonest in a very
little is also dishonest in much” (Luke 16:10). If we love the Lord as we
should, we will then be faithful in a small, unnoticed task just as we would
in a large, spotlighted task. Our faithfulness doesn’t stem from the nature
of the task but from our love for the Master. If the Lord truly has control
of our lives, we will be faithful in any task, large or small.

Increased Stewardship
Yet there is something more. In the parable of the talents the master
said to the servant who received five talents and doubled them, “Well
done, good and faithful servant. You have been faithful over a little; I
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will set you over much. Enter into the joy of your master” (Matt. 25:21).
When we are found faithful in performing a small service for the Lord, he
will entrust us with a greater service, which, in turn, will bring a greater
reward.
Luke records Jesus’ parable of the unjust steward in which Jesus cautions
the steward, “If then you have not been faithful in the unrighteous wealth
[money], who will entrust to you the true riches? And if you have not
been faithful in that which is another’s, who will give you that which is
your own?” (Luke 16:11–12). Responsibility breeds responsibility; if
the servant is unfaithful, he may not be given additional opportunity
for service.
This should be a great incentive for each of us to be faithful in whatever
the Lord has given us to do as servants and stewards. Whether it brings a
reward or not, “it is required of stewards that they be found trustworthy”
(1 Cor. 4:2). But faithfulness is one of the criteria Jesus will use in judging
rewardable service. God is interested in your faithfulness, and you should
be, too.

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6
What If I Have Limited
Opportunity or Ability?

“With many disciples the eyes are yet blinded to this

mystery of rewards, which is an open mystery of the Word.
It must be an imputed righteousness whereby we enter;
but having thus entered by faith, our works determine our
relative rank, place, reward.”—A. T. Pierson

The thought of faithfulness and greater responsibility

naturally prompts a question about another criterion used by Jesus at
the heavenly bēma—the criterion of proportion.
“Some of us,” muses Erwin Lutzer, “have had more widespread
influence than others. Many who have served in mission fields can claim
but few converts after lives of hardship and intense personal cost. Others
are called to vocations in factories, farms, and within the home; some
serve for many years, others for a few. We will not be rewarded by a
scale that asks for the number of souls saved, the number of sermons
preached, or the number of books written. Comparisons with someone
else will be off-limits.”1
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Perhaps the most encouraging of the criteria used by Jesus at the

judgment seat is proportion. By proportion I mean that Jesus will judge
your work for him in relation to your ability to work. If you are simply
unable to sing a song for his glory, the Lord will not condemn you for
declining to sing in the church choir. And he won’t condemn the choir
director for not asking you. If you weren’t genuinely called to be a preacher
of the Word, the righteous Judge will not deny you a reward because you
were a Christian farmer. If you have a friend of limited mental ability,
your friend may love the Lord deeply but will not be denied reward
at the heavenly bēma because he or she lacked the ability to serve the
Lord in a capacity greater than they did. “Far be that from you! Shall not
the Judge of all the earth do what is just?” (Gen. 18:25). The righteous
Judge does not deny us rewards because we lack opportunity or ability.
He judges us only in proportion to our abilities and the opportunities
he has given us.

Proportion of Ability
We are told at the beginning of the parable of the talents in Matthew
25 that the lord of the servants “gave . . . to each according to his ability”
(Matt. 25:15). It wasn’t the man with the greatest ability who received
only one talent, but the man with little ability. He who had the least
ability also had the least responsibility. The same is true with our Lord.
He does not ask us to do more than he will enable us to do. He does not
ask, however, any less.
Notice, too, the lord rewarded his servants in proportion to what they
had accomplished. The man who received five talents worked faithfully
and produced five more talents, doubling his original holding. His lord
was pleased (Matt. 25:21). The man to whom the lord gave only two
talents worked just as faithfully and doubled his talents. The lord was
also pleased (Matt. 25:23).
Was the master any less pleased with this man than with the first?
Not at all. His response to both was identical (Matt. 25:21, 23). He did
not chastise the second man because he had only four talents to the first
servant’s ten. No, this wise lord looked at the proportion of their service.
He judged them according to their ability to produce for him.
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It is said that George Washington Carver once asked the Lord to

tell him all there was to know about the universe. According to Dr.
Carver, the Lord said, “George, the universe is just too big for you to
understand. Suppose you let me take care of that.” Humbled, George
Carver replied, “Lord, how about a peanut?” The Lord said, “Now,
George, that’s something your own size. Go to work on it and I’ll
help you.”2
From the simple peanut Dr. Carver developed three hundred derivative
products—among them cheese, milk, coffee, flour, ink, dyes, plastics,
wood stains, soap, linoleum, medicinal oils, and cosmetics. He made
a great contribution to society, but did so in proportion to his human
ability to understand what God had placed before him. Performance is
judged according to proportion of ability and opportunity.
Jesus is not so much interested in the talent or ability we have as he
is with what we do with that ability. It has been said that he does not
look at the check but at the balance on the stub. The Lord is concerned
with what proportion of our ability to serve him we actually use. He
will reward us in that proportion. It was only the unprofitable servant
of Matthew 25 who displeased his lord because he put no portion of his
talent to work.
In the parallel parable of Luke 12, an additional element is added to
proportion as a criterion for our reward. Here Jesus relays a story about
a manager who was set over his master’s household. That manager would
not slough off his duties until the day before his master returned because
that could be on the day he least expected. From this the Savior taught
that God is interested in those servants who are faithful day in and day
out right to the end and adds, “Everyone to whom much was given, of
him much will be required” (Luke 12:48). What a frightful thought for
any unfaithful Christian!
We should be thankful for all the talent, abilities, and knowledge that
the Lord has given us. However, Luke’s account clearly indicates that we
will be required to produce for the Lord only in proportion to whatever
talent, ability, and knowledge he has given us. Responsibility walks hand
in hand with ability and opportunity. Are you using all the talents the
Lord gave you? Paul cautioned Timothy, “Do not neglect the gift you
have, which was given you . . .” (1 Tim. 4:14). Using the ability the Lord
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has given us for his service will make that ability shine like a much-used
plow. Neglecting it will allow it to rust.
On that great day when all of our earthly labors for the Lord will be
judged, Jesus Christ will deal with us in utter fairness. No one will be able
to say, “You judged me too harshly,” for we will be judged in proportion
to our capacity to serve him. May we always serve him to full capacity.

Proportion of Opportunity
“But what about me?” you ask. “I didn’t become a Christian until
later in life. Am I to be penalized throughout eternity because I did not
have the years of service my neighbor had who was saved in his teens?”
No, you are not!
Again proportion is the key. Not only are we judged according to
the proportion of our ability to serve the Lord, but we are also judged
according to the proportion of our opportunity.
Rewards are gained through service. Service can be done only by a
servant; that is, one whose Master is Jesus Christ. You can’t be a servant
until you first receive the Master as Savior and Lord. Service begins when
the Lord begins to take account of your ability and opportunity to serve
him. If you have only been saved for three years, you will not be cheated
because someone else had thirty years of service. Your reward will be in
proportion to the opportunity you have had to be a loyal servant.
It appears from the teaching of Matthew 20:1–16 that a believer
who lives for but a few years is able to earn as much reward as the one
who lives for many years. Each of the workers, although they became
laborers at different times during the day, received no less than they were
promised. Each steward will receive no less than he has been promised
by the Reward Giver, whether he lives a short time or a long time.
Proportion, as a criterion for our judgment, assures you that you are
at no handicap if you but “fear the Lord and serve him faithfully with all
your heart. For consider what great things he has done for you” (1 Sam.
12:24).
So, take every opportunity you have. Use every ability God has given
you. Don’t worry about others. If you do all that God enables you to do,
the judgment seat will be a welcome experience.
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6
How Important
Are My Motives?

“If we would have people who have come to faith in Jesus

Christ focus more on the judgment seat of Christ . . . they
would agree with Paul that these light momentary afflictions
are producing for them an eternal and exceedingly heavy
weight of glory.”—Earl Radmacher

Motivation plays a critical role in what is judged acceptable

at the judgment seat of Christ. It is fine to be faithful in laboring for the
Lord, indeed it is required, but it is also necessary that faithfulness arise
out of pure motivation.
We have all been exposed to motivational speakers and books on
motivation and motivational theory. There is a huge discussion in
psychology circles today about the root causes of motivation. When
Abraham Maslow introduced his five-tiered “hierarchy of needs” in
1943, the discussion had seemed to come to an end. But many have
challenged the ability to rank our personal needs, and Maslow knew
nothing of Spirit-controlled motivation. Most motivational theory
among secularists tends to focus on the self; motivational theory
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among Christ-followers must steer away from self and focus on serving
the Savior.
A Bible study group leader may be extremely faithful in the preparation
and presentation of her study. She may build the biggest group in the
state. But if the group leader’s primary motivation is to be invited as a
speaker at some national conferences, her motive cancels any possibility
of receiving praise from the Lord.
A pastor and his people may work very hard visiting, ministering to,
and evangelizing their community, but if their motive is to be known as
the fastest growing church in the city, their faulty motives preclude the
possibility of reward at the heavenly bēma. Jesus said, “Truly I say to you,
they have received their reward” (Matt. 6:2, 5).

Using the Right Criterion

Please do not misunderstand. This is not to say the church that is
the fastest growing is improperly motivated. God blesses his work, and
many churches who desire to bring glory to God through the salvation
of the lost have indeed become the fastest growing. There will come a
day when they shall be rewarded. But the criterion used at the judgment
seat of Christ is not size or fame but motivation.
Paul cautions the Corinthian believers against judging the standing of
other Christians: “Therefore do not pronounce judgment before the time,
before the Lord comes, who will bring to light the things now hidden
in darkness and will disclose the purposes of the heart. Then each one
will receive his commendation from God” (1 Cor. 4:5). There may be
things praiseworthy about some believers that we have never noticed.
In fact, some Christian workers we have criticized most severely could
receive more praise and reward than we do.
The Lord will bring to light, as well, things that all of us would rather
have remained in the darkness—things we’re not very proud of. On that
day there will be cause both for praise and for shame. Since we don’t
know the proportion of each in our fellow laborers, we are best advised
not to do much finger pointing now.
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Open Heart Scrutiny

Paul also warns that the Lord “will disclose the purposes of the heart”
(1 Cor. 4:5). There is little doubt but that he is talking about our motives.
Not only will our service be brought to light but also the reason behind
that service.
In all probability there will be cases in which some service may be
worthy of reward but will be nullified by the shameworthy motive that
produced it. It’s easy for Christians to be puffed up in pride over what
they are doing for the Lord. If the Lord has blessed you with a pleasing
personality, good platform ability, or unusual talent, there is a real danger
that you could fall victim to self-glorification instead of directing the
glory heavenward. When our labors begin to bear fruit, how much more
frequently are we tempted to count hands and cards than to count God
faithful. God counts hearts, not hands. He is pleased with what he can
do through us, not what we can do for him.
Don’t be fooled, however. God is not pleased with those who claim
to be fruitful but have no fruit to attest to it. We cannot and dare not
excuse our failures by saying, “Oh well, at least I’m faithful.” Neither can
we say, “I may not be bearing fruit but at least my motives are pure.” God
is looking for faithful, successful servants who have both God-honoring
methods and motives.

Always on Guard
Jesus spoke of people who do good for the wrong motive. Our Lord
said:

Beware of practicing your righteousness before other people in

order to be seen by them, for then you will have no reward from
your Father who is in heaven.
Thus, when you give to the needy, sound no trumpet before you,
as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets, that they
may be praised by others. Truly, I say to you, they have received
their reward. But when you give to the needy, do not let your left
hand know what your right hand is doing, so that your giving may
be in secret. And your Father who sees in secret will reward you.
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And when you pray, you must not be like the hypocrites. For
they love to stand and pray in the synagogues and at the street
corners, that they may be seen by others. Truly, I say to you, they
have received their reward (Matt. 6:1–5).

Alms-giving and praying were two commendable practices, but the

reasons they were practiced were contemptible. Good done for the wrong
reason is no good at all.

God-Worthy Motivation
So what should our motivation be? Does the Bible give us any help?
It does. There are many motivating factors to serving the Lord, but
these “Top Ten” ought to get us started.

• Motivation 1: The Desire to Love the Master. Jesus said,

“If you love me, you will keep my commandments” ( John
14:15). Also, there is this in verse 21: “Whoever has my
commandments and keeps them, he it is who loves me.
And he who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I will
love him and manifest myself to him.” And don’t forget
John’s words: “For this is the love of God, that we keep his
commandments” (1 John 5:3).
• Motivation 2: The Desire to Avoid God’s Discipline. This
is the flip side of service out of love, but it is nonetheless a
motivation for acceptable service. This is sometimes referred
to as serving with “the fear of the Lord.” Acts 9:31 notes, “So
the church throughout all Judea and Galilee and Samaria had
peace and was being built up. And walking in the fear of the
Lord and in the comfort of the Holy Spirit, it multiplied.”
Philippians 2:12 says, “Therefore, my beloved, as you have
always obeyed, so now, not only as in my presence but much
more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear
and trembling.”
• Motivation 3: The Desire to Have a Clear Conscience.
Let’s face it: often we are motivated to serve the Lord in order
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to have a clear conscience. Paul says, “The aim of our charge

is love that issues from a pure heart and a good conscience
and a sincere faith” (1 Tim. 1:5). Paul himself admits to this
motivation when he says, “I thank God whom I serve, as
did my ancestors, with a clear conscience, as I remember
you constantly in my prayers night and day” (2 Tim. 1:3).
And Peter admonishes us, “always being prepared to make a
defense to anyone who asks you for a reason for the hope that
is in you; yet do it with gentleness and respect, having a good
conscience, so that, when you are slandered, those who revile
your good behavior in Christ may be put to shame” (1 Peter
3:15–16).
• Motivation 4: The Desire for Usefulness. The apostle’s
words ring with clarity: “Now in a great house there are not
only vessels of gold and silver but also of wood and clay,
some for honorable use, some for dishonorable. Therefore,
if anyone cleanses himself from what is dishonorable, he
will be a vessel for honorable use, set apart as holy, useful to
the master of the house, ready for every good work” (2 Tim.
2:20–21). What’s the point in being Christ’s vessel if we aren’t
fit to be used?
• Motivation 5: The Desire for Friends and Family to
Be Saved. A chief motivating factor for our acceptable
service to the Lord, if we are properly motivated, is to see
the lost be born from above, born again by God’s grace into
eternal salvation. Peter’s words to believing wives reflect
this motivation: “Likewise, wives, be subject to your own
husbands, so that even if some do not obey the word, they
may be won without a word by the conduct of their wives,
when they see your respectful and pure conduct” (1 Peter
3:1–2). And Peter’s words in 1 Peter 3:15–16 quoted above
also display this motivation.
• Motivation 6: The Desire for a Deeper Walk with God.
The apostle John warns, “If we say we have fellowship with
him while we walk in darkness, we lie and do not practice
the truth. . . . Beloved, if our heart does not condemn us,
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we have confidence before God; and whatever we ask we

receive from him, because we keep his commandments and
do what pleases him” (1 John 1:6; 3:21–22). This reflects the
motivation of the sons of Korah when they wrote in Psalm
42:1–2, “As a deer pants for flowing streams, so pants my
soul for you, O God. My soul thirsts for God, for the living
God.” Pleasing God and thirsting for him will bring more
motivation to serving him than rewards ever will. Our service
to God is out of a desire to walk so closely behind him that
even our gait resembles his.
• Motivation 7. The Desire to Do the Right Thing. The
psalmist didn’t say, “I desire to do your will, O my God; your
law is within my heart” for what he would get out of it. We
don’t do God’s will merely for reward; we do it because it’s
right. It’s God’s will. Paul says, “Finally, brothers, whatever is
true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure,
whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any
excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about
these things” (Phil. 4:8). God wants our minds to be focused
on those things that can receive impulses about his will. We
must concentrate on those things that will count for eternity
and not just think about things that benefit us in time. When
we desire to do the right thing, we will desire to do the
rewardable thing.
• Motivation 8. The Desire for Personal Peace. Paul
continued, “What you have learned and received and heard
and seen in me—practice these things, and the God of peace
will be with you” (Phil. 4:9). The writer of Hebrews seems
to be alluding to the desire for peace and joy as a result of
serving the Lord acceptably when he says, “Therefore, since
we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also
lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let
us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking
to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the
joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the
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shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God”

(Heb. 12:1–2).
• Motivation 9. The Desire for Present Blessing. Peter
understood this desire when he wrote, “Do not repay evil
for evil or reviling for reviling, but on the contrary, bless,
for to this you were called, that you may obtain a blessing.
For ‘Whoever desires to love life and see good days, let him
keep his tongue from evil and his lips from speaking deceit;
let him turn away from evil and do good; let him seek peace
and pursue it. For the eyes of the Lord are on the righteous,
and his ears are open to their prayer. But the face of the Lord
is against those who do evil’” (1 Peter 3:9–12). In order to
obtain a blessing we must first be a blessing.
• Motivation 10. The Desire for Eternal Reward. Jesus said it
best: “Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where
moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal,
but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither
moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in
and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will
be also” (Matt. 6:19–21). Consider also Luke 19:17–19; 1
Corinthians 3:12–15; and 2 Corinthians 5:9–10.

Each of us must constantly examine the motives for our service to

the Lord. We cannot be rewarded for that which does not meet the
criterion of pure motive—to glorify God. That which is self-motivated is
unmerited. That which is motivated by a love for Christ (whether or not
those around us deem us a success) is deserving of reward. Success has
little to do with awarding praise at the judgment seat of Christ. Motive
has everything to do with it. So, what motivates you to serve the Lord?

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What Our Eternal Rewards

Will Be
6
If you have ever been to a Nebraska/Oklahoma football game, or an
Alabama/Auburn or an Ohio State/Michigan game, you know there is
one thing you’ll never find in the stands—a neutral person. You either
cheer for one team or the other, but never both. When you leave the
game, you will be either delirious or dejected, but your emotions will
not be untouched. You cannot be apathetic after such an event. There
is too much at stake.
The same will be true after the judgment seat of Christ. When you
have seen your life of service for the Lord pass through the refining fire
of judgment, you will not be able to leave that bēma unaffected by it. Your
labors will be accepted or rejected, rewarded or unrewarded. There will
be no neutral ground.
Even if you haven’t thought much about your eternal rewards until
now, you won’t be able to put them out of your mind after the heavenly
bēma. Let’s do some thinking about them here so we’re ready when the
day comes up there.
The Bible hints at various types of rewards that are available to the
Christ-follower. If our work abides, we shall receive a reward. The greater
the number of abiding works, the greater the number and variety of
rewards. Let your mind go for a while and consider what rewards await
you at the judgment seat of Christ.
 23
6
Are Eternal Rewards
Just a Pat on the Back?

“Every reward suggested is a prize of a value inconceivable

by us at present, and can only be appreciated at the judgment
seat.”—J. H. Lowe

Have you noticed how many expressions in English relate to

the back? When you want your supervisor to let you alone, you wish
he would get off your back. Maybe there are people in your office you
can’t trust. You don’t dare turn your back because of what they may do
behind your back, or even worse, they could stab you in the back. As
you can see, most of our “back” expressions have a sinister feel to them.
That’s why I like the expression “pat on the back.” It seems more positive
(but not always).
Your work team is given a challenge. You slide up to the conference
table, coffee mug in hand, and bat some ideas around. As usual, some
have better ideas than others. Finally a plan is conceived, and each team
member is given an assignment. You work hard at your assignment.
Others slough off on theirs. As usual, you have to do your job and
someone else’s just to get the project completed. You see, however, that
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the team leader is watching, and you expect she will notice the extra
work you are doing.
When the plan is finished and your program is launched, it’s time
for the boss, the supervisor, and the team leader to congratulate each
of you. There are handshakes all around. High fives. Even some kudos.
But that’s it. No recognition for prime performers. No special thanks to
you or others who made it happen. All you get is a pat on the back. You
are deflated.
Is this how it is at the judgment seat of Christ? The Master tells you
how much he appreciates your service to him and gives you a little pat
on the back? Does this depict what’s going on at the heavenly bēma?
Hardly.

The Praise of People

Much of the apostle Paul’s ministry was spent vindicating his
apostleship. He was not one of the original twelve apostles (Matt. 10:1–
4), nor was he chosen to replace the traitor Judas (Acts 1:15–26). As
a matter of fact, Paul was called to preach the gospel not to the chosen
Jews, but to the heathen, the Gentiles (Gal. 1:15–16; Acts 9:15).
There were many charlatans in the first century who came to the newly
formed churches and preached false doctrines. Thus, Paul frequently invited
the first-century believers to investigate his apostleship. His argument was,
“Am I not free? Am I not an apostle? Have I not seen Jesus our Lord?”
(1 Cor. 9:1).
To the believers in Galatia, Paul said, “For am I now seeking the
approval of man, or of God? Or am I trying to please man? If I were still
trying to please man, I would not be a servant of Christ. For I would have
you know, brothers, that the gospel that was preached by me is not man’s
gospel. For I did not receive it from any man, nor was I taught it, but I
received it through a revelation of Jesus Christ” (Gal. 1:10–12).
As is the case with many of God’s servants, Paul was not properly
appreciated during his lifetime. He did not receive the praise of men and
women. But that didn’t bother him. Paul knew a day was coming when
all things would be made right.
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The praise Paul coveted was not that of men anyway. This was the
sentiment he expressed in 1 Corinthians 4:3–5: “But with me it is a very
small thing that I should be judged by you or by any human court. In fact,
I do not even judge myself. For I am not aware of anything against myself,
but I am not thereby acquitted. It is the Lord who judges me. Therefore
do not pronounce judgment before the time, before the Lord comes, who
will bring to light the things now hidden in darkness and will disclose
the purposes of the heart. Then each one will receive his commendation
from God.”
The apostle Peter echoed this same thought. He, too, spoke of the
trial of our faith—a trial by fire. In his first epistle to Christians scattered
throughout Asia Minor, Peter comforted them in their hour of suffering
by saying, “So that the tested genuineness of your faith—more precious
than gold that perishes though it is tested by fire—may be found to
result in praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ”
(1 Peter 1:7).
Peter knew that the suffering we may presently receive is of little
consequence compared to the praise awaiting us after our life is tested
by fire. The commendation of the Lord that Paul longed for was the
same “praise and glory and honor” that Peter knew would accompany
the appearing of Jesus Christ.

Better Than the Praise of People

In the parable of the talents, one of the rewards given to the two
faithful servants was the commendation of their master. They had served
their lord equally well and had been good stewards of that which their
master had entrusted to them. Thus, after their service ended, the lord
said to each, “Well done, good and faithful servant. You have been faithful
over a little; I will set you over much. Enter into the joy of your master”
(Matt. 25:21, 23).
How much a commendation by our Lord means to us after the
judgment seat will depend on how much we love and respect him. The
praise of men did not mean much to Paul, for he had not served them, and
they were not qualified to judge him. But the praise and commendation
of the Lord meant a great deal to him. Paul’s entire life as a believer was
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spent in service to the Master, and the Lord is the most qualified Judge in
the world. To have Jesus commend him was not just a pat on the back for
Paul. It was the acclamation of the only person who mattered to him.
So who matters to you? You work well for people you admire, but when
you work for the One who loved you and gave himself for you, to hear
him say, “Well done, good and faithful servant,” is not just a gold watch
and a certificate to hang on your wall. These are the most meaningful
words you can hear. If they are the only eternal rewards you and I receive,
it would be enough. But wait; there’s more.

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6
Can People Be a Reward?

“The person I am becoming today is preparing me for the

person I shall be for all of eternity.”—Earl Radmacher

Some of the sagest advice of all time is recorded in Galatians

6:7–9: “Do not be deceived: God is not mocked, for whatever one sows,
that will he also reap. For the one who sows to his own flesh will from
the flesh reap corruption, but the one who sows to the Spirit will from
the Spirit reap eternal life. And let us not grow weary of doing good, for
in due season we will reap, if we do not give up.”
The theme of sowing and reaping is found throughout the Bible. The
wise Solomon observed, “For everything there is a season, and a time for
every matter under heaven: a time to be born, and a time to die; a time
to plant, and a time to pluck up what is planted” (Eccles. 3:1–2). Just as
there is a season of sowing, so there is always a season of reaping. The
one season depends on the other.

An Unbreakable Law
Paul said, “Whoever sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and
whoever sows bountifully will also reap bountifully” (2 Cor. 9:6).
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Although the apostle was speaking about giving money to the work of
the Lord, this principle applies in every aspect of our lives. The more we
put into something, the more we get out. The more we sow, the more
we reap. The more service the Lord does through us, the more reward
we receive.
As believers, we are to sow the gospel message universally (Matt.
28:19). We are to sow it unashamedly (Rom. 1:16). We are to sow it
continually (1 Peter 3:15). If we do, what can the faithful servant of the
Lord harvest at the judgment seat of Christ? We’ll see the physical fruit
of our labors. We’ll meet our spiritual children as they, too, appear at
the judgment seat. We’ll be rewarded with seeing what God has done
through those whom we were influential in leading to him. It will be the
spiritual equivalent of looking at pictures of our grandchildren.
Throughout his life, Paul was concerned that he not preach in vain. He
wanted to know the Lord was blessing his ministry. He pictures himself
as “holding fast to the word of life, so that in the day of Christ I may be
proud that I did not run in vain or labor in vain” (Phil. 2:16).

People Bring Joy

What was it that would cause Paul to rejoice? Speaking to the believers
of Corinth he said, “Just as you did partially acknowledge us—that on
the day of our Lord Jesus you will boast of us as we will boast of you”
(2 Cor. 1:14). These carnal believers caused Paul much heartache during
his life of service. Still, they will be the object of his joy. Why? Because
he will meet them at the heavenly bēma and will be rewarded with the
satisfaction of knowing that the Lord used the apostle’s labor to bring
them there.
Paul had similar feelings for the Thessalonian believers. Of them he
asked, “For what is our hope or joy or crown of boasting before our Lord
Jesus at his coming?” (1 Thess. 2:19). Paul was on a manhunt for the
Lord. Through his ministry many thousands had come to know Christ
as Savior, and Paul anticipated the joy that would be his when he saw
them at the believer’s bēma. The apostle wasn’t bragging over the saints;
he wasn’t planning to parade them around the streets of heaven. He was
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expressing pure unalloyed joy at knowing God had used his life as a means
to capture these people for eternity.

Make Some Joy

Several years ago I spoke at a Bible conference in Great Britain. Back
to the Bible has had an office in the United Kingdom for more than
fifty years. In fact, this conference was part of our fiftieth anniversary
celebration.
We knew there would be men and women there who did not yet
know the Savior, but one of the men who had received the most prayer
for salvation was the husband of one of our own staff members. We’ll
call him Bill. Bill came along to the conference because he loved his
wife, and part of her responsibilities was to staff the bookstall during
the weekend retreat. The first night I preached on being below zero,
not even having enough faith to believe that Jesus existed, that he died
for our sins, that he was real. This is living with faith below sea level,
stifled by doubt and disbelief.
At the end of the message I did not call for those who wanted to believe
to come forward but simply asked them to open their eyes and raise their
head, making eye contact with me. That way I would know who to pray
for. Several people did, and to my surprise, Bill was one of them.
The next morning I again spoke to those who knew something was
wrong in their relationship with God but couldn’t bring themselves to
believe what the Bible says is the cure for that broken relationship. This
time, at the end of the message, I asked any who wished to talk with me
to hang around after the session and I would hang around as well. Bill
did not; in fact, no one did.
Later that morning, Bill came to me privately. He said, “I needed to
talk with you, but after the session I had to help my wife at the bookstall.”
I asked Bill if he would like to take a walk on one of the trails of the
retreat center. We walked and talked about the need for faith in order to
be saved. The more the Spirit of God spoke to Bill through my words,
the more agitated Bill became. Finally, he broke down and bawled. This
giant of a man turned and gave me a big bear hug. It was evident that
Bill was gloriously saved from his sin.
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No one is more grateful to the Lord than Bill’s wife, who had lived
wholesomely before her husband and prayed for his salvation every day.
The family now attends an evangelical church in Britain, and Bill continues
to grow in his faith. Someday, I expect another big bear hug—again from
Bill, but this time in heaven. The joy of anticipation is killing me.
What about you? Are you anticipating the smiles of joy on the faces
of your spiritual children at the heavenly bēma? Will you enjoy a harvest
of souls at the judgment seat of Christ? Remember, you only reap what
you sow. To harvest then, you need to sow now. So, sow.

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6
What about Reigning
with Christ?

“Whatever good thing you do for Him, if done according

to the Word, is laid up for you as treasure in chests and
coffers, to be brought out to be rewarded before both men
and angels, to your eternal comfort.”—John Bunyan

One of Jesus’ most fascinating parables is that of the pounds or

minas recorded in Luke 19:11–27. You may remember that a mina is
equivalent to three months’ wages for a common laborer. This parable
occurs in conjunction with the conversion of Zacchaeus. The reason for
sharing this parable is given in verse 11: “As they heard these things, he
proceeded to tell a parable, because he was near to Jerusalem, and because
they supposed that the kingdom of God was to appear immediately.”
Jesus Christ was in Jericho, the city of the palms, just a short journey
from the Holy City. Soon he would enter Jerusalem triumphantly, and
many would proclaim him the “King who comes in the name of the Lord”
(Luke 19:38). Enthusiasm was building. Excitement ran high. Many Jews
thought at last they had found a political personality who would deliver
them from the yoke of Roman bondage. They hoped Jesus Christ would
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unfurl his banner, proclaim himself king, and return the nation to the
prominence of David’s kingdom.
That’s why the Lord spoke this parable—to paint a picture of what
actually lay ahead of them—much long, hard, faithful work in his
absence.

The Parable of the Minas (Pounds)

Briefly, the parable is this:

A nobleman went into a far country to receive for himself a

kingdom and then return. Calling ten of his servants, he gave them
ten minas, and said to them, “Engage in business until I come.” . . .
When he returned, having received the kingdom, he ordered these
servants to whom he had given the money to be called to him, that
he might know what they had gained by doing business. The first
came before him, saying, “Lord, your mina has made ten minas
more.” And he said to him, “Well done, good servant! Because you
have been faithful in a very little, you shall have authority over ten
cities.” And the second came, saying, “Lord, your mina has made
five minas.” And he said to him, “And you are to be over five cities.”
Then another came, saying, “Lord, here is your mina, which I kept
laid away in a handkerchief;” . . . He said to him, “I will condemn
you with your own words, you wicked servant! . . . Why then did
you not put my money in the bank, and at my coming I might have
collected it with interest?” (Luke 19:12–13, 15–20, 22, 23).

Jesus knew that those following him from Jericho would be able to
identify with this parable. During their lifetime the noble Archelaus had
literally gone from Jericho to a far country. He had traveled to Rome to
be awarded a kingdom from Caesar. Archelaus, too, was not well received
by the citizens of Judea. They hated him and sent a hostile deputation of
fifty protestors to complain to Caesar about his choice for their future
king. The protest was quite successful, because Archelaus never received
the coveted title of king but returned to another tetrarchy. All of these
events were well-known to the Jews.
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But the real meaning of the parable goes much deeper than these
events. Jesus was speaking of himself as the nobleman. In correcting the
flawed belief that he would immediately establish his kingdom, the Lord
told those following him that he must go away, and his servants would
have the responsibility of looking after his interests while he was gone.
What was he doing? Jesus Christ was foretelling that he would ascend
into heaven, and those who loved him would be left behind to await
his return. Like the hostile citizens in the parable, the Jewish leaders
hated our Lord. They crucified him, persecuted his church, and spoke
facetiously of his coming again. But, as in the parable, Jesus will come
again and reward his servants ( John 14:3).

What Does It Mean?

Since each servant received just one mina, it is probable that the mina
or pound represents the gospel message. Each of us is entrusted with the
good news that Christ came to die for sinners and is coming again to
reward his saints. This mina is “the faith that was once for all delivered
to the saints” ( Jude 3). It is our deposit in trust, and we are to be skillful
stewards in handling and dispersing it.
In the parable, the servants were told by the nobleman to “engage in
business until I come.” The word for “engage in business” occurs only
here in the New Testament and means to “gain by trading” or “to do
business with.” The essential meaning of the word is seen in Ezekiel 27:9,
16, 21–22. Jesus asks us to trade in the gospel, to invest it, to make use of
it. We are not by any means to hoard it or keep it to ourselves.
When the nobleman returned he immediately commanded his servants
to give an account of what they had done with what was entrusted to
them. The first servant said, “Lord, your mina has made ten minas more.”
There was no air of superiority about him; this servant was not bragging.
As fiery Georgia politician Zell Miller would say, “It ain’t braggin’ if it’s
the truth.” The faithful servant did not say, “I have caused this mina to
become ten minas.” He didn’t even refer to it as “my mina.” Instead,
he recognized the service for which he was about to be rewarded was
really not his but his lord’s. He only did what was asked of him and thus
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rightly said, “Lord, your mina has made ten minas.” He had been a wise
steward.

A New Responsibility
Then something new is added. In giving a reward to this servant, the
nobleman said, “Well done, good servant!” But the servant was given
more than a fine commendation. He was given the authority to govern
ten cities in the kingdom of the nobleman. After praising his servant, the
nobleman continued, “Because you have been faithful in a very little, you
shall have authority over ten cities.” Apparently this was in proportion
to the service he had rendered: ten pounds, ten cities.
Note that the servant whose pound gained five pounds was given
authority over five cities in the nobleman’s kingdom. He, too, was
rewarded proportionately. Only the servant who had gained nothing
received no governing authority. No service, no reward. He received in
proportion to what he gave. This slothful servant even had any future
opportunity for service taken away (v. 24).
What does this mean for us? Well, for those who are caught up to meet
the Lord in the air, as well as those who will come to trust Christ in the
tribulation (Rev. 7:14), Christ will give the privilege to reign as his fellow
rulers during the millennial age. We human beings were created by God to
enjoy fellowship with him and to rule over his creation (Gen. 1:26). One
day we’ll have opportunity to do both to the fullest, when Christ shares
his regency with us, his servant-friends. Those believers who remain
faithful to Christ in this age will be rewarded with a place of leadership
in the age to come. This is evident from a number of Scriptures.
In Matthew 25:21, 23 (as well as in Luke19:17, 19) the good and
faithful servants were given authority over many things (in Luke, authority
over cities). The faithful servant in Matthew 24:47 was set “over all his
[the master’s] possessions.” The martyred saints who refuse to worship
the beast or to receive his mark also can look forward to sharing in the
reign of Christ for one thousand years (Rev. 20:4).
To the overcoming saints in Thyatira, the Lord Jesus promised, “The
one who conquers and who keeps my works until the end, to him I will
give authority over the nations” (Rev. 2:26). The overcomers in the
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church of Laodicea, those who abandon the lukewarmness that is so

characteristic of that church and follow the Lord faithfully, receive this
special promise from the Lord: “The one who conquers, I will grant him
to sit with me on my throne, as I also conquered and sat down with my
Father on his throne” (Rev. 3:21).1
Can this really be true? Is it possible that one of our future rewards
for faithful service now is actually to share in Christ’s reign on the earth?
Well, what do you suppose being a fellow heir with Christ means (Rom.
8:17)? The clearest expression that one of our future rewards is that we
will reign with Christ is found in 2 Timothy 2:12, which says, “If we
endure, we will also reign with him. . . .” So whatever you have to endure
now in being faithful as a steward of what God has given you, endure it
because there’s a throne in your future.

The Coming of the Great King

Jesus’ parable of the minas (pounds) is a perfect picture of our
relationship with Christ as servant to Master. Like the nobleman, he has
gone away to receive a kingdom. He will soon return, and immediately
we will give account of what we have done with what he has entrusted
to us—the message of the gospel. We will be rewarded proportionately
for our service to him, as were the servants in the parable.
Just as the nobleman gave his faithful servants governing authority
over cities in his new kingdom so, too, Jesus Christ will award similar
authority to us in his new kingdom. After the years of tribulation that
follow the rapture of the church, the Lord, like the nobleman, will return.
This time Jesus Christ will not appear as a babe in Bethlehem. This time
he will come to establish an earthly kingdom and to institute a reign of
peace on earth that will last for one thousand years (Acts 15:15–17; Rev.
20:1–6). This kingdom, prophesied in the Old Testament, will feature
Jesus Christ as the absolute ruler.
This description of the kingdom closely parallels what Isaiah predicted
hundreds of years before. Speaking of the Messiah, the prophet said, “For
to us a child is born, to us a son is given; and the government shall be
upon his shoulder, and his name shall be called Wonderful Counselor,
Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. Of the increase of his
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government and of peace there will be no end, on the throne of David and
over his kingdom, to establish it and to uphold it with justice and with
righteousness from this time forth and forevermore” (Isa. 9:6–7).
Although the seat of government for this political, geographical earthly
kingdom will be Jerusalem (Isa. 24:23; Matt. 5:35), the King will reign
over the entire world (Ps. 72:8), over all the nations of the world (Ps.
72:11). What is more exciting is that as a reward for faithful service, King
Jesus has promised us a position of authority in his kingdom. It doesn’t
get any better than that.
If you are serving the Lord faithfully today, and your service is evaluated
as worthy at the bēma, you will one day reign with Jesus on this earth.
You may not be smoozing with high society today, but one day you’ll be
governing with Christ (Rev. 5:10; 2 Tim. 2:12).
An administrative position in his earthly kingdom is ours if the service
we presently do is his. The more service that withstands being tested by
fire at the judgment seat of Christ, the more authority will be awarded
to us in the administration of the Lord’s reign of peace on this earth.
Being a part of that age, in our glorified bodies, is exciting enough. But
the prospect of administering the universe with him should cause us
to make full use of whatever gifts, skills, and opportunities he entrusts
to us today. In that day, we will not be just trusted servants, but trusted
rulers as well.

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6
What’s All This
about Crowns in Heaven?

“I cannot think of a final divine reckoning which shall

assign the same rank in glory, the same degree of joy to
a lazy, indolent and unfruitful Christian as to an ardent,
devoted, self-denying Christian.”—A. J. Gordon

The apostle Paul was fond of making comparisons between

the Christian’s life of service to the Lord and a runner competing in a
race. He tells the Philippian Christians, “Brothers, I do not consider that
I have made it my own. But one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind
and straining forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal for
the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus” (Phil. 3:13–14).
Galatians 2:2; 5:7 and Philippians 2:16 reference “running” well. And
the writer of Hebrews counsels us to “run with endurance the race that
is set before us” (Heb. 12:1).
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Ancient Gamers
Games and athletic contests were common in Palestine during Bible
times.1 And the apostle would have been even more familiar with the
Isthmian Games, part of the Pan-Hellenic Games2 held during the four-
year period associated with the Olympic Games.3 Given their frequency
and proximity to ancient Corinth, it’s likely he even saw an event or two.
Paul knew the importance of these games and of winning. The race was
the thing. The winner knew that years of training and faithfulness to his
discipline had finally paid off. No winners who stood before the dais
were lazy, undisciplined, or out of shape. The Greek word for “race” is
the root of our word “agony.” You had to endure to conquer. But having
won the race, the pinnacle of human achievement was awarded to the
runner—the victor’s laurel.
The Olympic victor received his first awards immediately after the
competition. Following the announcement of the winner’s name, a judge
placed a palm branch in the victor’s hands while red ribbons were tied on
his head and hands as a symbol of victory. The gallery of spectators would
cheer wildly and throw flowers to the winner. The official award ceremony
took place on the last day of the Games, at the elevated vestibule of the
temple of Zeus. A herald would stand on the dais, and in his strongest,
loudest voice announce the name of the Olympic winner. After this, the
judge placed an olive tree wreath on the winner’s head.4

The Christian’s Counterpart

As Paul viewed these frequent athletic contests, his mind was naturally
drawn to the race in which he was involved—the race of the Christian life.
It’s understandable that he would compare the two races and especially
the laurels that awaited the victors. Hence he says, “Do you not know
that in a race all the runners run, but only one receives the prize? So run
that you may obtain it” (1 Cor. 9:24).
As any competitor knows, the purpose of running a race is to win.
Careful guarding of our lives is necessary to make sure that we are running
the best race possible. The Isthmian runners had to watch their diet, their
lifestyles, and their habits. A Christian runner too “exercises self-control
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in all things” (v. 25). Paul further says, “I discipline my body and keep
it under control” (v. 27). He did this so he would not be counted as a
loser when he finished the race.
The apostle knew that by constantly taking inventory of his service
for the Master and seeing if he was faithful and his motives were pure, he
would not be running “aimlessly.” In fact, nearing his death, he exclaimed,
“For I am already being poured out as a drink offering, and the time of
my departure has come. I have fought the good fight [literally, “I have
struggled the good contest”], I have finished the race, I have kept the
faith. Henceforth there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness,
which the Lord, the righteous judge, will award to me on that Day, and
not only to me but also to all who have loved his appearing” (2 Tim.
4:6–8). The apostle sounded quite confident.
Like Paul, Peter was more concerned with the heavenly crown, which
will be awarded to victorious servants, than with the earthly crown that
was worn by the Greek athletes. The crown we will inherit as faithful
servants is described as “imperishable, undefiled, and unfading, kept in
heaven for you” (1 Peter 1:4; see also 5:4).
I think it’s significant that both of these biblical writers mention there
is a tangible crown that awaits faithful servants of the Lord. This crown
is “imperishable,” that is, it will never die or shrivel up like the Greek
laurel.

Two Categories of Crowns

We’ve already discussed the reason we receive the crown. It’s a crown
earned by faithful service. The very words used in Scripture for “crown”
indicate that this crown is earned.
There are two words the Bible uses for crown. One is stephanos, a
crown awarded to the conqueror or victor. It is a crown that is attained or
won through achievement. In reality, it’s an honorary wreath or garland
(see 1 Cor. 9:25 and 2 Tim. 2:5) made of a simple branch wound into a
leafy “crown.” This is the familiar garland crown that adorns the heads
of victors in Greek and Roman statuary.
The other word is diadema, a crown not awarded for achievement, but
a kingly or royal crown. This crown is worn because of who you are—the
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king. A king wears his crown by virtue of the fact he is king. The diadema
is mentioned only three times in the New Testament, all in Revelation.
It is worn by the usurpers of the true King’s authority, the red dragon
(12:3) and the beast (13:1). This reveals Satan’s ultimate goal of receiving
the diadems that are legitimately worn only by the true Christ and King,
the Lord Jesus. And, as if to stress that Jesus Christ alone is King of kings
and Lord of lords, the word is also used of the many diadems the Lord
will wear at his return when “the kingdom of the world has become the
kingdom of our Lord and of his Christ, and he shall reign forever and
ever” (Rev. 11:15).
This means that whenever a New Testament writer speaks of a crown
given to a faithful servant, it is the stephanos, that crown that is earned.
The stephanos is the crown of 1 Corinthians 9:25; Philippians 4:1; 1
Thessalonians 2:19; 2 Timothy 2:5; 4:8; James 1:12; 1 Peter 5:4; and
Revelation 2:10. When Jesus Christ, the righteous Judge, commends
us with “well done,” he will also show us in a more tangible way that we
have earned that “well done.” He will present to us one of the crowns
mentioned below.

Real Crowns
These crowns are not merely symbolic of achievement. They are not
speculative. Each crown mentioned in the New Testament is found in a
passage that deals with specific roles or characteristics of the Christian.
They all come out of real-life situations. Since the crowns seem to be
paired to various experiences of the believer, the crowns appear to be
awarded as the result of being victorious through those experiences.
Some crowns are awarded for faithfulness in serving the Lord. Others
come as the result of enduring a hardship or trial. Still others relate to
hope and expectation. It is significant that at least five different crowns
are mentioned in the Bible. Each crown is awarded for a different event,
a different kind of race, a different experience in living for the Lord. Just
like the champion downhill skier receives a different “crown” than the
athlete who runs the one hundred meters, we, too, will receive different
crowns for different accomplishments. Real-life situations result in real-
life crowns.
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What Is the Crown
of Victory?

“I have held many things in my hands, and I have lost

them all. But whatever I placed in God’s hands, that I still
possess.”—Martin Luther

The crown of victory is perhaps the one that relates most

closely to our day-to-day living. It’s given to those who know that living
the Christian life is more of a marathon than a hundred-meter dash. They
know the first half-dozen miles or so are relatively easy, but “heartbreak
hill” is coming.
This crown speaks of toil and hardship, the ups and downs of life. It
identifies the hairpin turns that can cause us to wipe out or the potholes
that can cause our ride to be a little more than bumpy. But the crown of
victory goes to those who are ready. They’ve steeled themselves in God’s
Word so they won’t have a meltdown when things get tough.

Healthy Discipline
In 1 Corinthians, Paul was writing to a church that he had planted on
his second missionary journey. Although the believers at Corinth had
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a good start, the sin so prevalent in their city had infiltrated the church,
and growth was, to say the least, slow. Corinth was a worldly church;
it failed to achieve spiritual maturity. By the time Paul wrote a letter to
the church, the congregation was already split by dissention. It had deep
divisions, and sin had been allowed to fester unchallenged.
In chapter nine of Paul’s first letter, the apostle describes the disciplines
that are part of every healthy Christian’s life. These are the things believers
do to grow to maturity in Christ. At the end of the chapter, Paul uses the
example of an athlete who disciplines himself in order to be at the top of
his game. Here’s what he says in 1 Corinthians 9:24–27:

Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one
receives the prize? So run so that you may obtain it. Every athlete
exercises self-control in all things. They do it to receive a perishable
wreath, but we an imperishable. So I do not run aimlessly; I do
not box as one beating the air. But I discipline my body and keep
it under control, lest after preaching to others I myself should be
disqualified.

Rules of the Race

Paul had many concerns. First, when we watch a race, we anticipate
who will be the first to cross the finish line—there will be only one
number one. However, that doesn’t mean there can’t be other winners.
Consider the New York Marathon. Tens of thousands run; one comes
in first; thousands win. In a marathon, which is more like the Christian
life than a sprint, there is more than one winner, because anyone who
finishes the race is a winner. Paul wants the Corinthians to know they
can all be winners, but they first have to run.
Second, the apostle believes that everyone should run to win. You
don’t enter the race to drop out; you enter to win. Not everyone is able to
finish a marathon for a variety of reasons, but no one enters a marathon
for the purpose of quitting. You run to win.
Third, everyone who runs is moderate in all things. That means a
runner doesn’t sit down to a Thanksgiving dinner, get up from the table,
and hit the streets for the marathon. Eating a Thanksgiving dinner and
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running a Thanksgiving marathon within minutes of each other is not a

good idea. Runners have to be temperate, restrained, and sensible. They
eat in moderation as they train. If you want to win a race, you have to be
sensible in how you prepare for it.
Fourth, Paul tells the Corinthians to run deliberately. This is not a
practice run; this is the real thing. Christians dare not forget what their
goals are if they want to win the race. You can’t get sidetracked or waylaid.
To achieve your goal demands a certain awareness, both of the subtleties
of your enemy, Satan, and of the strengths of your Helper, the Holy Spirit.
It demands a SWOT analysis (Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities,
and Threats) of the likelihood of your success. Successful completion of
your race requires the presence of mind to know how far you’ve come,
how far you have to go, what environmental factors help you, and what
factors hinder you. Simply put, it demands you be both practical and
determined.
Finally, the apostle asserts the necessity of disciplined living for
successful running. People don’t just decide to run twenty-six miles
one day. Successful marathon runners practice, practice, practice. They
run. They watch their diet. They check their heart rate. They make sure
they’re healthy and fit. Runners are losers if they are not disciplined. It’s
the same for us as Christians.
In running the Christian race we have to keep an eye on our self-control,
too, especially with regard to our fleshly appetites, our lusts, and our
penchant to sin (Rom. 6:6). To live your life in self-control with victory
over the sinful passions of your flesh is an accomplishment that cannot
be achieved until you break the tape at the end of the run. It’s a lifetime
of starving those appetites that cause you not to be strong—appetites
such as sexual immorality, impurity in your thoughts, and flashes of anger
(Col. 3:5–11). In place of these you want to feast on beneficial things like
compassion, kindness, meekness, and love (Col. 3:12–14). And how do
you do this? Each day of your race until the final day when you finish,
you “let the word of Christ dwell in you richly” (Col. 3:16).
When you run life’s race as a disciplined athlete, you get the victor’s
crown at the goal line. It’s the winner’s crown, the runner’s crown. And
it’s not a perishable crown like the Greek athletes received at the end of
the Isthmian Games or the Olympics. It’s an imperishable, incorruptible,
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eternal crown. It’s the crown worn by those who have “gutted it out” and
lived a life that pleased the Lord Jesus right to the final tape.

Finishing Strong
What does it look like when you’ve run this kind of life? It looks just like
Jesus’ life. It’s when the Spirit of God knocks off some rough edges as you
run, when you learn to run more like the Champion Jesus ran, when you’re
conformed to the very image of Jesus Christ (Rom. 8:29). And what’s the
reward for those who run such a race? It’s the winner’s crown, the runner’s
crown, the incorruptible crown. This is the crown of those who finish the
race strong, though exhausted. And it’s a crown you can win, if you “press
on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus”
(Phil. 3:14).
Perhaps you recognize the name Adoniram Judson? His sweet wife,
Ann, and he were missionaries in India and Burma during the first half
of the nineteenth century. Adoniram was arrested as an enemy agent
and thrown in prison when Burma and England severed diplomatic
relations. The tiny cell in which he was incarcerated was so crowded that
prisoners had to take turns sleeping. There was not enough room for all
of them to lie down. The combination of the hot sun beating down on
them and the fact the men were never allowed to bathe made the odor
almost unbearable.
One day the soldiers hoisted Judson into the air by his thumbs to
torture him. Pain filled his body as he remained suspended in mid air
for hours at a time. His precious Ann would come by the cell daily, look
inside, weep and encourage her husband by saying, “Hang on, Adoniram.
God will give us the victory.” But as the days turned into weeks, Ann’s
visits stopped and Adoniram’s loneliness increased. No one told him
that his dear wife was dying. All he had was the memory of her words:
“Hang on, Adoniram. God will give us the victory.”
Months later, Adoniram Judson was finally released. Immediately
he searched for Ann. As he approached where they had formerly lived,
he saw a child so dirty he failed to recognize that it was his own. When
he found Ann, she was so frail and weak from malnutrition that she
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appeared to be a skeleton. Her beautiful flowing hair had fallen out, and
she was bald.
Adoniram called to her but she didn’t respond. He took her in his
arms and wept. The hot tears dropping on her face revived Ann, and
she mumbled in a bare whisper, “Hang on, Adoniram. God will give us
the victory.”
Adoniram Judson lost his sweetheart, but not his faith and courage. He
continued for forty years to minister among the people of Burma under
the most difficult circumstances. When this man of God finally finished
his race and was buried, scores of churches testified to the faithfulness of
his labors. Adoniram and Ann Judson knew what it was to finish strong
even though in the world’s eyes they finished in weakness.
You and I are in that same race. We may not be miles from home,
malnourished, or mistreated, but we are runners nonetheless. What will
keep you from the victor’s crown? Do your own SWOT analysis and
determine what needs to be done for you to finish strong. “Therefore,
since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay
aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with
endurance the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus, the founder and
perfecter of our faith . . .” (Heb. 12:1–2).

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What Is the Crown
of Boasting?

“Let us live, then, in the light of eternity. If we do not,

we are weighting the scales against our eternal welfare.”
—Donald Gray Barnhouse

The crown of boasting is awarded to those who have

invested their lives in others. Often it is called “The Soul Winner’s Crown”
because those who receive this crown are those who have carefully,
thoughtfully, and specifically invested their lives in sharing the gospel
with others.
Daniel 12:3 reminds us, “Those who are wise shall shine like the
brightness of the sky above; and those who turn many to righteousness,
like the stars forever and ever.” These are Christ’s servants who have taken
action and then have taken comfort in the promise of James 5:20, “Let
him know that whoever brings back a sinner from his wandering will
save his soul from death and will cover a multitude of sins.”
The crown of boasting is for you if you are motivated by love for people
and have a talent for sharing your testimony for Christ and the gospel
with others. You may not have come to grips with the deep truths of the
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Word, or you may never have been a leader in your church, but you have
held tightly to Proverbs 11:30: “Whoever captures souls is wise.”

Deliberate Lifestyle
Each of us has opportunity to bear a witness of our faith to others.
There are some Christians, however, who are more purposeful in their
witness. Sometimes witnessing for Jesus just happens; but it’s more
frequent when we deliberately seek out opportunities to tell others of
him.
Abe and Marj Van der Puy served their Savior for many years as
missionaries in South America. I never met two finer, more humble
servants of the Lord. Marj was Marj Saint, widow of Nate Saint, the pilot
who was killed, along with four others, by the Auca Indians in 1956. After
Nate’s death, Marj served as a nurse at the Voice of the Andes Hospital
in Quito, where she brought up her three children. Abe had also been
widowed when his wife Dolores died of cancer. God brought Abe and
Marj together when Abe was president of HCJB World Radio, and they
served the Lord together until Abe’s death in 2003. I officiated at Abe’s
graveside service that year at a Florida cemetery.
Dr. Van der Puy served Back to the Bible as a board member for many
years and was our “voice of missions” on the radio for a dozen years. When
this couple came to Lincoln, Nebraska, for board meetings, they always
flew on the same plane, but never in seats next to each other. In fact, they
deliberately chose different seats on the plane. The reason? They wanted
to create an opportunity for sharing their faith with others.
The crown of boasting is for people like the Van der Puys. If you
are eager and consistent in sharing your faith with others, the crown of
boasting is for you, too.

Human Crowns
Speaking of those in Thessalonica whom Paul had led to the Lord, the
apostle says, “For what is our hope or joy or crown of boasting before our
Lord Jesus at his coming? Is it not you? For you are our glory and joy”
(1 Thess. 2:19–20). In addressing the Philippian believers, Paul also refers
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to them as “my brothers, whom I love and long for, my joy and crown”
(Phil. 4:1).
The closing words of the book of James are powerful: “My brothers,
if anyone among you wanders from the truth and someone brings him
back, let him know that whoever brings back a sinner from his wandering
will save his soul from death and will cover a multitude of sins” ( James
5:19–20). The human soul is of immeasurable value to God. While God
is sovereign even in the planning and execution of our salvation, it brings
God no joy when sinners turn their back on God and refuse to come
home to him. The prophet Ezekiel reminds us, “As I live, declares the
Lord God, I have no pleasure in the death of the wicked, but that the
wicked turn from his way and live . . .” (Ezek. 33:11). Jesus himself tells
us, “I tell you, there is joy before the angels of God over one sinner who
repents” (Luke 15:10).
It’s difficult to imagine now, but there will be significant rejoicing when
we see among the company of believers at the judgment seat those whom
we’ve had a hand in bringing to salvation. “Those who sow in tears shall
reap with shouts of joy! He who goes out weeping, bearing the seed for
sowing, shall come home with shouts of joy, bringing his sheaves with
him” (Ps. 126:5–6).
Just imagine the reunions that will take place on that day. Imagine the
tears. Imagine the shouts and hugs. All because we have been faithful in
sowing the seed. One of the joys of appearing before the judgment seat of
Christ is seeing others there who were reaped from seed we had sown.

Just Tell Your Story

And sowing isn’t as difficult as Satan would have you believe. While
there are many methods for sharing your faith, the best method is your
method. Just tell your story.
Remember the account of the Gadarene man who was possessed by
multiple demons? When Jesus came to the eastern shore of the Sea of
Galilee and cast the demons out of him and into a herd of swine, the
man begged to get into the boat with Jesus and follow him as a disciple.
Jesus’ response was classic: “Go home to your friends and tell them how
much the Lord has done for you . . .” (Mark 5:19).
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Paul wasn’t always successful when he shared the gospel, but that
didn’t stop him. He said to his Thessalonian friends, “Just as we have
been approved by God to be entrusted with the gospel, so we speak, not
to please man, but to please God who tests our hearts” (1 Thess. 2:4).
One day at the heavenly bēma God will test your heart to see if you have
pleased him or men. Every time you sow even the tiniest seed, it pleases
God and benefits those in your life.
It’s true that not all are called to preach the gospel or serve in a far
corner of the world. But all of us can go home to our friends and family
and simply tell them what the Lord has done in saving us. When you
and I are consistent in doing that, the crown of rejoicing awaits us. This
is a crown every one could receive at the judgment seat of Christ. It’s a
crown everyone should receive.

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What Is the Crown
of Righteousness?

“Every reward suggested is a prize of a value inconceivable

by us at present and can only be appreciated at the judgment
seat.”—J. H. Lowe

The crown of righteousness is also known as “the

watcher’s crown.” It’s awarded to those who are longing for and anticipating
the return of the Lord.
Paul had a long and fruitful life. He had much to look back on with
satisfaction. Yet when he neared the end of his life, he was looking ahead,
not back. He knew that because he fought a good fight, finished the
course, and kept the faith, there would be laid up for him “the crown
of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, will award to
me on that Day . . .” (2 Tim. 4:8). Paul was confident that a crown of
righteousness was awaiting him.
But the apostle adds another dimension to awaiting this crown when
he says, “not only to me but also to all who have loved his appearing”
(2 Tim. 4:8). When Jesus ascended to his Father, those present “were
gazing into heaven.” They were promised that Jesus would one day
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return “in the same way” (Acts 1:10–11). Believers who have become
wrapped up in earthly things have their allegiance on earth. But believers
who realize they are but strangers and pilgrims here and have set their
affections on things above will not be contented until the Lord comes
again. If you longingly anticipate that day, there is a reward for you.
Do you yearn for the Lord’s appearing? Or have you become so
comfortable, so invested in this world, that you no longer look for another?
Do you watch for the Lord’s coming, or is his return just something you
talk about in your study group? There are some people who’ve become
so wrapped up in Bible prophecy they know nothing else. These folks
flock to conferences, buy CDs and DVDs of their favorite prophecy
preachers, and become certified prophecy buffs. But I don’t think that’s
what loving the appearing of the Lord is all about.

Expectations and Godliness

In the context of 2 Timothy 4, the Lord’s appearing was not a platform
for speculation about the end times but an incentive for righteous living.
Paul fought the good fight, finished the race, and kept the faith (4:7).
Based upon knowledge that he had lived righteously, he anticipated the
Lord’s return. And motivated by his love of the Lord’s appearing, he was
looking forward to being awarded a crown of righteousness by a righteous
Judge. The apostle declared that all who are living righteously and who are
anticipating Christ’s return will share in the watcher’s crown with him.
The crown of righteousness literally means “a crown for doing right.”
Anticipation and purity go hand-in-hand. You cannot longingly look for
Christ’s return and live a life that is displeasing to him at the same time.
All who long for the Lord’s return live like they long for it. Those who
genuinely long for the “blessed hope” of the return of the Lord are the
same people who live “self-controlled, upright, and godly lives in the
present age” (Titus 2:12).
Note what Paul did not say. He did not say, “If you keep the faith,
you will receive the crown of righteousness” or “If you are really into
praise and worship you will receive the crown of righteousness.” Instead,
he says, “to all who have loved his appearing,” this crown is for you
(2 Tim. 4:8).
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That’s why 1 John 3:2–3 says, “Beloved, we are God’s children now, and
what we will be has not yet appeared; but we know that when he appears
we shall be like him, because we shall see him as he is. And everyone
who thus hopes in him purifies himself as he is pure.”
Think about this. Adulterers, drunkards, extortioners, homosexuals,
drug addicts, child abusers, wife beaters, liars, and the like are not anxiously
awaiting Christ’s return. If they were, they would purify themselves from
their sinful habits.
Holy living is the sure sign of heavenly longing. Are those who own a
Bible—the only book God ever wrote—but rarely read it ready for the
judgment seat of Christ? What about those who have never considered
the claims of personal holiness on their lives? Are they ready for the
rapture? And what about those who have become comfortable in this
life? Do you think they’re genuinely longing for the soon return of the
Lord and are purifying themselves as a result? Sometimes it’s easy to
say we are looking for our Lord’s return but difficult to live in personal
holiness while we wait.

Changing Our Tune

A century and a half ago the slaves of the old South had a very difficult
life. They were mistreated and abused. Families were often broken up.
They were treated inhumanely. And still, most of the spirituals they
sang had to do with heaven and the return of the Lord. Have you ever
wondered why? “Swing Low, Sweet Chariot. Comin’ for to carry me
home.” “Nobody knows the trouble I’ve seen. Nobody knows but Jesus.”
Why were spirituals like these so important? Because for the African-
American slaves, this life held no promise, no pleasure, no reward. They
were looking to a distant land, a far better home. “Dis train am bound
for glory, dis train.”
Yet, today, the affluent evangelical rarely sings about heaven. Why?
Because we have it too good down here. We’re not anticipating the return
of the Lord and consequently are not purifying ourselves in preparation
for his return.
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Stay the Course

If you’re anxious to see your Savior, anxious for him to return and
catch you up forever to be with him, and if you are doing your best to be
spiritually ready for his appearance, you have something awaiting you at
the heavenly bēma. It’s the crown of righteousness or watcher’s crown.
In writing to Timothy, Paul reminds him that there will come a time
when people won’t want to hear the sound teaching of God’s Word
(2 Tim. 4:3). Instead, they will crave sound bytes instead of sound
doctrine, gummi bears instead of green beans, style instead of substance.
We are already there. Yet, Paul encourages Timothy to stay the course
and tells him that there will be a reward at the finish line—the crown of
righteousness (2 Tim. 4:8).
The crown of righteousness is awarded to all those who practice a
life of righteousness and are constantly “waiting for our blessed hope,
the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ”
(Titus 2:13).

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What Is the Crown
of Glory?

“All will be in heaven, but the differences will be eternal.

We may be sure that the consequences of our character
will survive the grave and that we shall face those
consequences at the judgment seat of Christ.”—Donald
Gray Barnhouse

The crown of glory is a reward presented to genuine,

faithful, godly, and pure shepherds of the flock. It is the crown for service,
sometimes referred to as “the shepherd’s crown.”
As anyone who is a pastor will tell you, being the shepherd of a local
congregation is not an easy task. I know. I grew up in a pastor’s home.
My father pastored the same church for thirty-three years. I began my
ministry as a pastor. I have an older brother who is a senior pastor. My
son is a senior pastor. And others in my family have pastoral duties as
well. I am surrounded by pastors. It’s one of the most difficult jobs in
the world.
This crown is set in the context of a shepherd caring for his sheep.
Shepherds are hardworking people. I’ve never been a shepherd (although
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I did own three sheep once as a boy), but I often have watched shepherds
tending flocks large and small in the Holy Land. Their work with their
flocks is more of a way of life than a job. They literally live with their flock
24/7, spending time with them and constantly caring for their needs.
Sheep are not particularly brilliant animals. They tend to wander off, and
they have no real sense of impending danger. Once I saw a young shepherd
on one of the high cliffs above Petra carefully descending from the top
to a ledge where one of his sheep had wandered. To say the least, it was
a precarious climb, but sheep need a caring, consistent, compassionate
shepherd, or they will often destroy themselves.
The Bible likens the pastor to a shepherd and his people to a flock. It’s
a tough job. Sheep wander everywhere simultaneously. It’s like herding
cats. Special service, however, brings about special reward. Peter indicates
that the pastor will receive a reward for his endeavors in feeding the
flock of God.

Not a Done Deal

The crown of glory is a reward presented to the genuine, faithful, and
godly shepherds of the flock. “And when the chief Shepherd appears, you
will receive the unfading crown of glory” (1 Peter 5:4). These are men
who have a pure desire to see others grow in the Lord. They do this out
of love for their sheep. They don’t do it for denominational recognition
or to write a book on how to pastor a successful church. A special crown
awaits pastors for such a giving, caring life.
This crown is, of course, not automatic. When you accept the call to a
local church, unpack your books, and straighten the papers on the desk
in your study, you don’t automatically qualify for the shepherd’s crown.
To be rewarded, pastors have to possess a pure desire to see others come
to know the Lord and then grow them in the body. Pastors sacrifice their
time, their money (Acts 20:33–35), their energy, and sometimes even
their health to see those in their charge become mature saints. Pastors
do this out of love and out of conviction. They do not do it for selfish
motivation; if they do, they have no reward.
A special reward of glory awaits those who care for people and
demonstrate it in their pastoral ministry. But not all pastors meet
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the exacting requirements for the shepherd’s crown. Some will be

disqualified.
The prophet Zechariah had stern warnings for the shepherds of God’s
people. He called those who had disqualified themselves by their actions
“foolish shepherds” and alerted them, “Woe to my worthless shepherd,
who deserts the flock! May the sword strike his arm and his right eye!
Let his arm be wholly withered, his right eye utterly blinded!” (Zech.
11:17).

Problems and Possibilities

Peter notes both restrictions and cautions that apply to the pastor.
“Shepherd the flock of God that is among you, exercising oversight,
not under compulsion, but willingly, as God would have you; not for
shameful gain, but eagerly; not domineering over those in your charge,
but being examples to the flock” (1 Peter 5:2–3).
There are plenty of pastoral pitfalls listed in those two short verses.
And there are other portions of God’s Word that instruct us with regard
to pastoral qualifications and duties. Paul enumerates these qualifications
to his young friend Timothy in 1 Timothy 3:1–7:

The saying is trustworthy: If anyone aspires to the office of overseer

[pastor], he desires a noble task. Therefore an overseer must be
above reproach, the husband of one wife, sober-minded, self-
controlled, respectable, hospitable, able to teach, not a drunkard,
not violent but gentle, not quarrelsome, not a lover of money. He
must manage his own household well, with all dignity keeping his
children submissive, for if someone does not know how to manage
his own household, how will he care for God’s church? He must not
be a recent convert, or he may become puffed up with conceit and
fall into the condemnation of the devil. Moreover, he must be well
thought of by outsiders, so that he may not fall into disgrace, into a
snare of the devil.

In that list of qualifications are many things that would disqualify some
pastors today, if we took them seriously. A pastor cannot have skeletons
in his closet; he must be blameless (not sinless), above reproach. A pastor
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must not be a womanizer. He must have his body and mind under control.
He must have the gift of teaching (not just leadership skills), and he must
exercise that gift regularly in order to remain a pastor.
It’s evident that being the pastor is fraught with danger. One of these is
at the judgment seat of Christ. Pastoring the people of God is a gargantuan
task; but if faithfully undertaken, it has its rewards. Peter continues, “And
when the chief Shepherd appears, you will receive the unfading crown of
glory” (1 Peter 5:4). But the Bible implies that a man can be a colossal
success as a pastor in everybody’s eyes now and still be a colossal failure
in Christ’s eyes at the judgment seat.
Pastors have special responsibilities, and they have a special reward for
faithfully exercising those responsibilities. The crown of glory does not
imply any greater or lesser degree of glory, simply that a glorious calling, if
faithfully executed, brings a glorious crown. If you’re a pastor, accept the
responsibility and someday the crown. If you love your pastor, pray that
he will faithfully execute his responsibility so he can earn the crown.

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What Is the Crown of Life?

“The figure of the Crucified invalidates all thought that

takes success for its standard.”—Dietrich Bonhoeffer

The crown of life has also been called “the sufferer’s crown” or
even “the martyr’s crown.” It is the crown that is given to those who have
suffered for their faith, even to the point of losing their life. The crown of
life recognizes the value of a life well lived but torturously lived.
Has it come to your house yet? Have you seen it in your life? If not, hang
on. It’s on its way. What is “it”? Trouble. Trial. Testing. Tribulation.
The twenty-first century is filled with difficulty. But who am I kidding?
Every century is filled with difficulty. This is why Jesus promised his
disciples, “In the world you will have tribulation. But take heart; I have
overcome the world” ( John 16:33). Every life in every generation faces
difficulty—sickness, poverty, pain, disease, dealing with unreasonable
people, injustice—the list is endless.
But the Christian suffers from a unique form of difficulty—persecution.
God has a special reward for those who endure suffering. It’s the sufferer’s
crown, the crown of life. You don’t have to go out looking for trouble to
receive this crown; if you’re a Christian, it will come looking for you.
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No Question
Have you ever wanted to change one word in the Bible? If I could
change a single word in the sacred text, it would be a word in 2 Timothy
3:12. I would change, “Indeed, all who desire to live a godly life in Christ
Jesus will be persecuted” to “may be persecuted.” There’s just something
so certain about the way Paul says it, as if every Christian must expect
to be mistreated.
But it’s true. There are many in our life, in our family, in our classroom,
who despise the Lord. Because of this they will “persecute you” (Matt.
5:44). Frequently we’ll endure ridicule, persecutions, afflictions, and trials
for Christ’s name’s sake. It’s not easy to bear up under these trials. No one
likes to be laughed at. But we receive strength and comfort to hang in there.
And the Bible says we will be rewarded for our faithfulness: “Blessed is
the man who remains steadfast under trial, for when he has stood the test
he will receive the crown of life, which God has promised to those who
love him” (James 1:12).

Faithful unto Death

Let’s face it. We live in a time when trouble is an almost constant
companion. Think of the things that plague our society today. Drive-by
shootings. Muslim extremists. Car jackings. Identity theft. Computer
viruses. Terrorists. We now live with threats posed by what used to be
just simple combinations of letters: STDs, ALS, ADHD, RLS, SIDS,
HPV, and AIDS. This new century began with Y2K and has been filled
with trials and troubles ever since.
Physical, financial, emotional, spiritual, and stressful challenges we
face daily are pretty much a routine part of life. But persecution? Should
we have to endure being persecuted for what we believe in addition to
facing the glut of daily troubles everyone experiences? You might expect
followers of Christ to knuckle under, give up, and be crushed under the
heavy load of open persecution for their faith. But, amazingly, some
believers grow in their dedication and single-minded devotion to the
Lord Jesus in spite of all these things. They appear to be keenly aware
that there is a coming day when Christ will reward all those who have
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suffered more than their share of life’s troubles because they’ve had to
endure the added stress of persecution for their beliefs.
What an encouragement and incentive this should be if you’re enduring
the stress of publicly announcing your belief in a Creator in a classroom
where any odd belief is acceptable as long as it isn’t biblical. What an
encouragement if you’re scorned by members of your own family, but you
remain faithful as a witness for the Lord to them. God is paying attention.
He sees, he understands, he cares, he remembers, he rewards.
The apostle John passes on to the saints at Smyrna what Jesus said:
“Do not fear what you are about to suffer. Behold, the devil is about to
throw some of you into prison, that you may be tested, and for ten days
you will have tribulation. Be faithful unto death, and I will give you the
crown of life” (Rev. 2:10).
Yes, trials are to be expected, if we’re living for Christ. Persecutions
are a natural consequence of a consistent Christian witness. But we need
not fear, for the Lord will reward those who are faithful in enduring
such trials and persecutions. He promises us that it will be worth it all.
The crown of life is only for the saints who are willing to suffer for the
cause of Christ.

It May Be Friday, but Sunday’s Coming

This sufferer’s crown is promised to every believer who remains faithful
under trial and does not cave in when Satan’s attacks are most severe.
When you love the Lord in spite of your trial and are not embittered
because of them, you are on your way to winning the crown of life.
Jesus’ summary to his teaching of the beatitudes was this: “Blessed are
you when others revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil
against you falsely on my account. Rejoice and be glad, for your reward
is great in heaven, for so they persecuted the prophets who were before
you” (Matt. 5:11–12). There is clearly a connection between bearing
the cross and wearing the crown.
When he suffered and died at Calvary, Jesus demonstrated the hope
that each sufferer has. For his disciples, despondent and dejected, it
looked as if all they believed in, all they had worked for, all they held
dear had come crashing down around them. We call the day Jesus was
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crucified “Good Friday,” but there wasn’t much good about it to our Lord’s
disciples. Yet Jesus reminded them that it may be Friday, but Sunday’s
coming. There was a reward for continuing faithfully to the end, and that
reward was the bright promise of the future. More than one dear saint
of God has clung to that hope in the darkest hours of life.
You don’t have to read Foxe’s Book of Martyrs to grasp what a special
group it is that suffers for its faith. Just talk to a pastor in the underground
church in China, a poor Christian woman who’s been beaten and raped
by Muslim marauders in Darfur, or an old man in prison in Indonesia
for speaking out about his faith. These people are what General William
Booth, founder of the Salvation Army, described as the aristocracy of
heaven accompanying the King.
None of us seeks out religious persecution. Only a fool would do that.
But often when and where it’s least expected, being mocked, ridiculed,
or even persecuted for your faith can invade your quiet life. The key is
to endure it with grace and dignity, to make the Lord proud, who “for
the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame,
and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God” (Heb. 12:2). For
all who endure to the end, God has a special reward—the crown of life.
Hang in there. As Jesus demonstrated to his struggling disciples, it may
be Friday, but Sunday’s coming.

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Will I Cast My Crown
at Jesus’ Feet?

“The deepest reward is in the very fact that we will become

what our Creator intends us to become.”—Iosif Ton

Perhaps you’ve heard the Christian pop group Casting

Crowns. They’re a popular contemporary Christian band whose lyrics
cut through the clutter and find a home in your heart. But what I like
most about them is their name—Casting Crowns. What a great moniker
to have for anyone who wants to serve the Lord faithfully.
Have you ever wondered about wearing those crowns we’re promised
in heaven? Since there are multiple crowns, and it’s possible you could
win more than one, how would you wear multiple crowns on your head
at the same time? But will we really wear our crowns, or will we do what
the Bible suggests and lay those crowns at the feet of Jesus?

Casting Crowns
Revelation 4:10–11 answers this question. Here the twenty-four
elders, who are symbolic of the church, are pictured as falling down
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before the almighty Creator and worshipping him. As the officials of

the church today, no better symbol than the elders could be used in this
vision to represent the whole church (Acts 15:6; 20:17; James 5:14).
Not only are the twenty-four elders engaged in worship, they are pictured
as casting their crowns before the Lord’s throne, saying, “Worthy are
you, our Lord and God, to receive glory and honor and power, for you
created all things, and by your will they existed and were created.” This
illustrates that the people of God recognize that their ability to serve God
and every single crown that results is a token of God’s grace.
As the elders worship the Creator, they cast at Jesus’ feet their most
prized possessions—their crowns. Think about it: casting your crown
at the feet of the one who made it possible for you to be at the judgment
seat of Christ. It will be a most satisfying feeling to cast your tangible
reward at the feet of the King of kings.
Now you may be thinking, But I earned it. That’s correct, you did; but
don’t forget that without his saving grace that provided your salvation,
you would never have become a servant in the first place. No service, no
stewardship; no stewardship, no crown. You would have had no capacity
to earn any reward. Besides, the reward is not given for what you’ve done,
but for what he’s done through you. You were just a willing vessel. It was
always his work.
Since everything of value in our lives is the result of Christ working
in us, it’s entirely fitting and altogether appropriate that in casting our
crowns before his throne we acknowledge the Lord Jesus as the source of
anything of merit in us. In the end, all the praise belongs to him for what
he did through us. I don’t think we will want to hold onto our crowns at
the judgment seat of Christ when we realize it’s by his grace that we are
even there. We don’t need the crowns. We need Christ.

Your Greatest Gift

What’s the greatest gift you can give your Master? No question—it’s
your very life. Paul said, “I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the
mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and
acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship” (Rom. 12:1). The
word translated “spiritual” worship in Greek is logikos. It’s the word from
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which we get our English word “logical.” Your service to Christ is spiritual
because it is reasonable; it is logical, because Christ died to give you life.
You owe your spiritual life to him. Every Christian does. You were given
life to bring glory to God.
When your earthly life is past, what better way to continue bringing
glory to God than to make a secondary sacrifice by laying your crowns
at his feet? The very act of placing these tangible rewards at the Lord’s
feet is an act of transferring the glory to the one who truly deserves
it—Jesus Christ.
There is no better way to demonstrate your thankfulness to Christ than
to present him with the crowns you’ve received. By working faithfully and
thus obtaining more crowns, you will be able to honor him even more.
As those bought by the blood of the Lamb, our eternal destiny is to
bring glory to him. “For you were bought with a price. So glorify God in
your body” (1 Cor. 6:20). Let’s do the absolute best we can for him now
and anticipate the day when we can make a more tangible demonstration
of our gratitude by casting our crowns at his feet.

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What Will Be
My Greatest Reward?

“Christians do not practically remember that while we

are saved by grace, yet that so far as the rewards of grace
are concerned, in the world to come, there is an intimate
connection between the life of the Christian here and the
enjoyment and the glory in the day of Christ’s appearing.”
—Arthur T. Pierson

There is a final reward that is often overlooked when people

write about our eternal rewards. It’s the bottom line—the most important
reward we will receive.
Living a life of service for the Master is more than just a demanding
responsibility; it’s an exciting privilege. The sovereign God could have
written the gospel message in the stars or commissioned legions of angels
to share it with people. Instead, he chose inept, unworthy individuals
like you and me. Unto us have been committed the words of eternal life.
The gospel story, which can change the destiny of our friends and family,
has been entrusted to us. It is quite an awesome thought.
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When our duty as a servant has been faithfully discharged, we will

stand before the judgment seat of Christ and hear our Lord say, “Well
done, good and faithful servant.” Feelings of satisfaction and joy will well
up within us. Just hearing those words will be an awesome reward.
Likewise the Lord will entrust to us greater responsibility than we’ve
ever known. He will award us with a position of authority in his earthly
kingdom. We who today follow him will one day reign with him. Ours
will be the responsibility of administering his kingdom on earth. Again,
there will be a certain gratification in knowing the Lord has entrusted to
us such great responsibility and privilege. This will be a very satisfying
reward.
When we see those whom the Lord has saved through our labors,
however, a feeling of thankfulness will overtake us, and it will be
impossible to stop praising him. It will be like a grand family reunion,
the likes of which we’ve never seen before. Seeing our spiritual offspring
will be a most delightful reward.
Then the righteous Judge will award the victor’s crowns. We’ll feel like
the ancient Greek athletes who have received the coveted laurel, only a
thousand times more grateful. And when we cast our crowns at Jesus’ feet
to honor him, we may wonder if anything could surpass these rewards.

Above All Else

Can anything be more wonderful than receiving the Lord’s
commendation or reigning with him? Can there be any greater reward
than seeing your spiritual children or casting your crowns? I think there
can be.
When Jehovah revealed himself to Abraham as the Most High God,
he spoke to the patriarch in a vision saying, “Do not be afraid, Abram. I
am your shield, your exceedingly great reward” (Gen. 15:1, nkjv).
Above all else, what we shall treasure most throughout eternity, will
be our intimate fellowship with the Most High God. We’ll know him
as it is not possible to know him now. We’ll walk with him as it is not
possible until all our unworthy works are burned up in the fiery trial.
We’ll worship him as we’ve never been able to do before. He indeed will
be our greatest reward.
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The Morning Star

When the Lord promised a position of authority in his earthly
kingdom he said, “The one who conquers and who keeps my works
until the end, to him I will give authority over the nations” (Rev. 2:26).
Just two verses later the promise continues, “And I will give him the
morning star” (2:28).
What a strange thing to say. What does the Lord mean by “the morning
star”? The answer is found in Revelation 22:16: “I, Jesus, have sent my
angel to testify to you about these things for the churches. I am the root
and the descendant of David, the bright morning star.” The Lord Jesus
Christ said, “I . . . am the bright morning star.” The apostle Peter also
refers to Jesus in this way (2 Peter 1:19).
The greatest possible reward, the greatest treasure we will have
throughout all eternity, is the presence of our eternal God. To know
him and be with him forever is the ultimate reward. Who can say what
internal fountains of happiness you’ll be unable to suppress when he
says, “Enter into the joy of your master” (Matt. 25:21).
If nothing else excites you about the eternal rewards promised to
faithful servants of the Lord, this certainly must. We will be with him,
enjoying his fellowship and love forever! Surely it will be worth it all
when we see Christ.

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 Epilogue
6
Avoiding Highway Robbery

“Consider, to provoke you to good works, that you shall

have from God, when you come to glory, a reward for
everything you do for him on earth.”—John Bunyan

All who have come to faith in Christ as Savior are

following him on that narrow road that leads to heaven. Some are
following more closely than others. It’s not an easy road. “For the gate is
narrow and the way is hard that leads to life, and those who find it are few”
(Matt. 7:14). The simple truth is the highway to heaven is a minefield,
as John Bunyan’s character, Christian, discovered. Satan knows he can’t
change the direction of the road or keep us from our destination, but
he’ll do everything he can to rob us of joy on the journey and reward at
the end of the road.
In this epilogue I want to share a little trick of my own about how to
keep Satan from diverting you from what’s really important in life. It’s a
simple principle, really. Start every day at the judgment seat of Christ and
work backwards. Take everything you do today, every thought you think,
every word you say, to the judgment seat to check out its eternal impact.
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 EPI LOGUE

Traveling life’s road with the heavenly bēma as a constant evaluator will
help you avoid Satan’s “highway robbery.”

Imminent Interruption
Do you remember when you started reading this book? Did you
shudder at the thought that Jesus may come again at any moment? When
you realized the return of the Lord could interrupt your life’s plans, how
did you feel? Well, now you’ve come to the end, and you’re closer to his
return than you have ever been before. Your time to earn eternal rewards
has never been shorter.
The most exciting news in this life is that Jesus Christ is coming back.
What makes it even more exciting is that his return is imminent. He
may come back at any time. Dr. G. Campbell Morgan, the distinguished
pastor of the Westminster Chapel in London in the 1930s, used to say
that he never began his work without thinking that Jesus may interrupt
that work and begin his own. When you constantly live with the reality
that Jesus may return at any moment, you want to make every moment
you have count for eternity.
So why aren’t we more intentional? Why don’t we serve the Lord
more diligently? Why do we spend so much time doing so many things
with so little meaning? There are many reasons, of course, but I think
the real culprit is none other than the old serpent, the devil. We dare not
use this as an excuse, but he is a master of deceit. He knows nothing can
prohibit you from entering heaven. If you’re a follower of Christ and have
trusted him as your Savior, your salvation has been made secure by the
Spirit of God (Eph. 1:13; 4:30). But the devil is like a little weasel. He’ll
do whatever he can to prevent you from enjoying heaven to the fullest
extent. Don’t let him.

The Devil’s Device

So what tricks does Satan have in his bag? Plenty, but he rarely needs
them all. For most of us, one trick is enough. Not temptation, greed, or
jealousy. Those are too obvious. To rob you of eternal reward the devil
uses something far more subtle—diversion.
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 Epilogue

Satan didn’t stop attacking you when you became a member of the
family of God. He just shifted his emphasis. He doesn’t try to lead believers
astray as much as he tries to lead them aside, getting them wrapped up
in trivial pursuits. When he succeeds, he keeps us from valuable service
and from greater eternal reward.
Richard Baxter, the great Puritan preacher of the seventeenth century,
asked, “What have we our time and strength for, but to lay both out
for God?” He’s right. We’ve been saved to serve our Lord. We are the
workmanship of God, “created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God
prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them” (Eph. 2:10).
The devil doesn’t always try to keep us from the good works God
has prepared for us. He doesn’t have to. Instead he drags red herrings
across our path, gets us off into spiritual cul-de-sacs. He lets other things
become more important to us. He gets us bogged down in what seems
like good activity, but is really meaningless with respect to eternity. He’s
very clever that way.

Diverted Demas
A good example of someone the devil diverted is Demas. We know
very little about him; Demas is mentioned only three times in Scripture.
In his letter to Philemon, Paul indicates that he is anxious to say hello
to those who have labored with him for the gospel. He concludes this
short letter by saying, “Epaphras, my fellow prisoner in Christ Jesus,
sends greetings to you, and so do Mark, Aristarchus, Demas, and Luke,
my fellow workers” (Philem. 23–24). This gives us evidence that Demas
was a worker with Paul and was engaged in spreading the gospel wherever
he went. Again, in the closing verse of Colossians, Demas is mentioned
in the select company of Aristarchus, Mark, Justus, Epaphras, and Luke
(Col. 4:14). That’s pretty good company!
The third and final reference to Demas is found in the last letter the
apostle ever wrote—2 Timothy. From his writing you can tell that Paul
is aging, sickly, and nearing death. It’s in this state that Paul writes, “For
Demas, in love with this present world, has deserted me and gone to
Thessalonica” (4:10). There it is. A fifteen-word description of Demas
that will endure for eternity (Ps. 119:89).
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 EPI LOGUE

It’s not likely that Demas abandoned the faith. Paul doesn’t indicate
that his friend fell into some sort of sin. Paul simply said Demas had
forsaken him because he was “in love with this present world.” Perhaps
Demas returned to Thessalonica to become a junior partner in his father’s
business. Maybe he had a job offer that would pay well and still permit
him to be an outstanding Christian citizen of Greece. There is no hint
that Demas did anything illegal, immoral, or wrong. He was just diverted
to something of lesser eternal importance.
What happened to Demas happens to far too many Christians. Maybe
it’s happened to you—you’ve had the unfortunate experience of becoming
content with just being a Christian. You go to church and get your weekly
spiritual buzz, but you’re not changed, motivated to serve, energized to
make an eternal difference. You’ve become sidetracked, bogged down,
diverted, empty.
Remember, Satan doesn’t have to defeat you—he only has to divert
you. Is his plan working? Look around you. Do you have a ton of stuff
but little to show for your life? Are you busy at the gym, the club, even
at church, but you have nothing of eternal value to show for it? What
about your checkbook or debit card? How do they reflect your priorities?
Do you see any evidence of beginning your day at the judgment seat of
Christ and working backward? Is the devil diverting you, sidetracking
you from living with eternity in view?

Good Advice
Jesus gives us some very poignant advice when he says, “Do not lay
up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and
where thieves break in and steal, but lay up for yourselves treasures in
heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not
break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be
also” (Matt. 6:19–21). I don’t know any better advice than that.
The Lord Jesus is speaking about your priorities; what’s most important
in your life? If you spend all of your time gathering treasures (rewards)
on earth, how do you expect to have any time left to gather treasures
(rewards) for heaven? Is it more important that you live the good life, or
that lives are changed for good? Is it more important that you invest your
210
 Epilogue

money in Wall Street or in the eternal work of the Lord? What really is
most important to you? And where does the priority of the judgment
seat of Christ fit in your list of today’s priorities?
Starting every day at the judgment seat of Christ and working
backwards means your start there and work back to your Blackberry,
your calendar, your checkbook, your “to do” list. How does what you do
today change what you will enjoy for all eternity? Start at the judgment
seat—every day.
One day we’ll all face our final job review. We’ll give account to our
Master of our lives. Are you ready? When you face your final job review,
all chance to earn rewards will be behind you. So today is your day. It
presents the chance of a lifetime. Who knows, it may be your last chance
of a lifetime. Don’t squander it.
What have you learned in this book that could help you face that final
review with anticipation and confidence? Remember, “Whatever your
hand finds to do, do it with your might, for there is no work or thought or
knowledge or wisdom in Sheol, to which you are going” (Eccles. 9:10).
Whatever you do today that has no impact on eternity is a waste of today.
Start at the judgment seat. Work backwards. Live confidently.

211
 Notes

Chapter 2: How Are Rewards Different from Salvation?

1. Dante Alighieri, The Divine Comedy: Inferno; Purgatorio; Paradiso (New York:
Knopf [Everyman’s Library], 1995).

Chapter 3: Should I Be Concerned about Eternal Rewards?

1. The seven deadly sins are lust, gluttony, greed, sloth, wrath, envy, and pride.
2. Alan Greenspan, quoted in Caroline Overington, “‘Infectious Greed’ the
New Corporate Sin: Greenspan,” Happiness Online, July 8, 2002. http://www.
happinessonline.org/InfectiousGreed/p2.htm.

Chapter 5: Who Are Judged at the Judgment Seat?

1. “For we know that if the tent that is our earthly home is destroyed, we have
a building from God, a house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens. For in
this tent we groan, longing to put on our heavenly dwelling, if indeed by putting it
on we may not be found naked. For while we are still in this tent, we groan, being
burdened—not that we would be unclothed, but that we would be further clothed,
so that what is mortal may be swallowed up by life. He who has prepared us for this
very thing is God, who has given us the Spirit as a guarantee. So we are always of
good courage. We know that while we are at home in the body we are away from
the Lord, for we walk by faith, not by sight. Yes, we are of good courage, and we
would rather be away from the body and at home with the Lord. So whether we are
at home or away, we make it our aim to please him. For we must all appear before
the judgment seat of Christ, so that each one may receive what is due for what he
has done in the body, whether good or evil” (2 Cor. 5:1–10).
213
 NOTES

Chapter 6: Who Is the Judge?

1. Jesus taught, “The Father judges no one, but has given all judgment to the
Son, that all may honor the Son, just as they honor the Father. Whoever does not
honor the Son does not honor the Father who sent him” ( John 5:22–23).

Chapter 7: When Will the Judgment Take Place?

1. The tribulation period is that future time between the Lord’s return for
his church and his second coming to earth in power and glory at the Battle of
Armageddon. It will be a time of unprecedented trouble for the world ( Jer. 30:7;
Matt. 24:21–22, 29). Those who have not followed Christ will suffer from intense
divine judgments, Israel will be persecuted severely, and Gentiles who do follow
Christ will be martyred. The entire period will be seven years long and will be that
part of the Day of the Lord when God will judge his enemies and establish a new
world order (see Isa. 13:6–16; Joel 2:1–11, 28–32; Zeph. 1:7–2:3; Zech. 14:1–13;
1 Thess. 5:1–9; 2 Thess. 2:1–3 [in Greek]; and 2 Peter 3:10).

Chapter 8: Where Will the Judgment Seat Be?

1. When John received the Revelation it wasn’t just about things that would
take place in the future here on earth. It also was about a new future with a new
heaven and a new earth. He wrote, “Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth,
for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and the sea was no more
(Rev. 21:1). The apostle Peter informs us that this new heaven and new earth will
appear after the present heaven and earth are purged from sin (2 Peter 3:10–13).
Following the judgment on this earth called the Day of the Lord (Isa. 13:10–13;
Joel 2:1–2, 30–31), God will create a restored heaven and earth, a glorious place
for the righteous to dwell. Read about it in Revelation 21 and 22.

Chapter 9: Why Would God Judge Me?

1. There are many judgments mentioned throughout the Bible. Some of them
are still future, but don’t relate to those who have come to faith in Christ as Savior.
Major judgments of the future that do not relate to the follower of Christ are:
(1) the judgment of Israel—a judgment of the Jews during the tribulation to come
(Ezek. 39:29; Zechariah 14); (2) the judgment of the nations—when Jesus purges
the earth of rebels at the close of the tribulation period (Matthew 25); and (3) the
great white throne judgment—commonly called “the great judgment day” that
results in the eternal damnation of those who have rejected the Lord Jesus Christ
(Revelation 20).

Chapter 10: Does Judgment Mean I’ll Be Condemned?

1. H. A. Ironside, Addresses on the Second Epistle to the Corinthians (Neptune,
NJ: Loizeaux Brothers, 1964), 134–35.
214
 Notes

Chapter 11: What Is the Purpose of Heaven’s Judgment Seat?

1. John Piper, “What Happens When You Die? ‘All Appear Before the Judgment
Seat of Christ,’ 2 Corinthians 5:1–10,” Sound of Grace, Aug. 1, 1993. http://
soundofgrace.com/piper93/8-1-93.htm.
2. A mina was a Greek coin equal to one hundred denarii in Roman coins. A
denarius was the equivalent of a common laborer’s wage for one day’s work. The
mina, therefore, was equal to about three month’s salary and was a considerable
amount of money.

Chapter 15: Is There Real Fire at the Evaluation?

1. Erwin Lutzer, Your Eternal Reward (Chicago: Moody, 1998), 65.

Chapter 16: Is It Possible to Lose Rewards?

1. E. Schuyler English, “The Church at the Tribunal,” in Prophetic Truth Unfolding
Today, ed. Charles Lee Feinberg (Old Tappan, NJ: Revell, 1968), 29.

Chapter 18: What If I Haven’t Chosen Gold?

1. Exodus 28:15–21, “You shall make a breastpiece of judgment, in skilled work.
In the style of the ephod you shall make it—of gold, blue and purple and scarlet
yarns, and fine twined linen shall you make it. It shall be square and doubled, a
span its length and a span its breadth. You shall set in it four rows of stones. A
row of sardius, topaz, and carbuncle shall be the first row; and the second row an
emerald, a sapphire, and a diamond; and the third row a jacinth, an agate, and an
amethyst; and the fourth row a beryl, an onyx, and a jasper. They shall be set in
gold filigree. There shall be twelve stones with their names according to the names
of the sons of Israel. They shall be like signets, each engraved with its name, for
the twelve tribes.”

Chapter 20: Does My Faithfulness Count?

1. “Employee Absenteeism,” Profiles International. http://www.
profilesinternational.com/SYC_absenteeism.aspx.
2. Information on the total numbers and rates of marriages and divorces at the
national and state levels are published in the National Center for Health Statistics’
National Vital Statistics Report. However, these numbers do not include states that
no longer record such data, such as California, Georgia, Hawaii, Indiana, Louisiana,
and Minnesota.
3. J. Budziszewski, “Virtual Unfaithfulness: Pornography Use in a Marriage,”
Pure Intimacy. http://www.pureintimacy.org/cs/couples/a0000083.cfm.

Chapter 21: What If I Have Limited Opportunity or Ability?

1. Erwin Lutzer, Your Eternal Reward (Chicago: Moody, 1998), 37–38.
215
 NOTES

2. Adapted from his life story in Rackham Holt, George Washington Carver: An
American Biography (New York: Doubleday, 1963).

Chapter 25: What about Reigning with Christ?

1. There are those who understand the “overcomer” to be in a special category
of super saints, those who have engaged in a deeper life with God that the ordinary
Christ-follower knows nothing about. They say that overcomers alone are permitted
to enter the kingdom of God, while other believers are kept out because of their
inferior relationship with God. But this is not the case. In his kingdom, Christ
doesn’t have a Christian caste system like the Hindu caste system in which some
are “outcasts.” “Overcomer” is a general description of what a normative life of
service to the Lord should be like. It is a description of all who are true followers
of Jesus Christ. The apostle John asked and answered a pertinent question in his
first epistle: “Who is it that overcomes the world except the one who believes that
Jesus is the Son of God?” (1 John 5:5). While the judgment seat will determine
our place of service in Christ’s millennial kingdom, it will never exclude those who
belong there from being there.

Chapter 26: What’s All This about Crowns in Heaven?

1. The apocryphal book of Maccabees (1:14) informs us that the Seleucid king,
Antiochus Epiphanes, built a gymnasium in Jerusalem. Later Herod the Great
erected a theater and amphitheater both at Jerusalem and Caesarea where races,
gymnastics, etc., were held. The amphitheater at Caesarea is wonderfully preserved,
though not excavated, and can be seen today.
2. The Pan-Hellenic Games was a series of four games held during the Olympiad,
the four-year period associated with the Olympic Games. The four games were the
Olympics, held every four years near Elis in honor of Zeus; the Pythian Games,
held every four years near Delphi in honor of Apollo; the Nemean Games, held
every two years near Nemea in honor of Zeus; and the Isthmian Games, held every
two years near Corinth in honor of Poseidon.
3. Every four years most of us are glued to our televisions watching the Olympic
Games. That event is a reminder that the Olympics apparently began in 776 BC
at ancient Olympia. Although the Romans orchestrated the games in Paul’s day,
they had about the same flavor as given them by the ancient Greeks. Most of Paul’s
knowledge of ancient athletic contests came directly from his travels in Greece.
The Olympic Games, as well as the other Pan-Hellenic games, flourished until the
time of Theodosius 1 in AD 393 or his grandson Theodosius II in AD 435, when
all such games were suppressed as being pagan.
4. In his Isthmian Odes (bk 2, line 16 and bk 8, line 64), the greatest of the lyric
poets of ancient Greece, Pindar, indicated that the winners of the Isthmian games
received a wreath of celery adorning their head instead of olive or laurel. At first the

216
 Notes

Romans shunned the idea of wearing wreaths. However, they retained a fascination
with the idea, and soon the upper classes were wearing garlands of oak, laurel, and
olive leaves. When Julius Caesar was crowned, it was with a wreath of fresh laurel.
Eventually wreaths gave way to crowns, which were created for royalty. The word
“crown” is derived from the Latin word corona, which means garland or wreath.

217
 Scripture Index

Genesis Ruth 72:8—172

1:26—170 2:12—38 72:11—172
1:27—98 89:1—140
3:8—98 1 Samuel 89:14—58
3:24—98 12:24—148 96:12–13—75
12:2—120 16:7—74 103:8–11—82–83
15:1—38, 204 24:19—39 115:16—98
15:2—141 119:71—140
15:6—43 1 Kings 119:75—140
18:25—58–59, 118, 146 119:81–82—140
16:9—142
19—125 119:86—140
19:24—109
1 Chronicles 119:88—140
43:19—141
27:25–31—141–42 119:89—140, 209
119:89–94—140
Exodus
Nehemiah 119:137–38—140
3:2—109
7:2—141 126:5–6—185
13:21—109
139:1–4—105
28:15–21—215
Job
Leviticus Proverbs
1:8—104
10:1–2—109 8:3—58 11:30—184
20:7—98
Psalms Ecclesiastes
Numbers 11:3—128 3:1–2—163
11:1–3—109 19:9–11—39 9:10—87, 211
12:7–8—141 37:3–5—74
37:6—74 Isaiah
Deuteronomy 40:1–3—25 6:5—98
7:9—140 42:1–2—154 9:6–7—172
26:15—98 58:11—39 13:6–16—214
219
 SCR I P T U R E I N DE X

13:10–13—214 Malachi 25:26–28—99

24:23—172 3:2—109 27:19—48
25:1—140 3:6—25 28:18—59
55:8–9—98 28:19—164
61:7—119 Matthew
62:11—39 Mark
4:18–22—105
5:3–12—93 5:19—185
Jeremiah 5:11–12—197 8:15—120
30:7—66, 214 5:12—39 8:31—99
5:35—172 9:41—39, 93
Lamentations 5:44—196 10:13–16—99
10:30—93
3:22–26—140 6:1—43, 98
12:38—120
6:1–5—151–52
Ezekiel 6:2—99, 150
Luke
1:4—109 6:3–4—39
6:5—99, 150 1:76–77—120
27:9—169 6:22–23—30
27:16—169 6:16—99
6:19–21—16, 155, 210 8:3—142
27:21–22—169 12—147
27:24—170 6:20—42
12:21—42
33:11—185 7:14—207
12:47–48—32
39:29—214 7:20—87
12:48—147
9:9—105
14:14—34, 63, 65
Daniel 10:1–4—160
15:10—185
10:30—105
6:4—141 15:17–19—73
10:41—39 16:2—93
12:3—183
16:27—32, 34, 39, 104, 16:10—142
123 16:11–12—143
Joel
18:23—93 18:18—14
2:1–2—214 20:1–16—148
2:1–11—214 19:5—105
21:42—120 19:10—24
2:28–32—214 24:21–22—214
2:30–31—214 19:11–27—167
24:29—214 19:12–13—168
24:47—170 19:12–27—88
Zephaniah 25—142, 147, 214 19:15–20—168
1:7–2:3—214 25:15—146 19:17—170
25:19—65, 93 19:17–19—155
Zechariah 25:21—143, 146, 161, 19:19—170
4:6—87 170, 205 19:22–23—168
11:17—193 25:23—124, 146, 161, 19:38—167
14—214 170 23:40–41—40
14:1–13—214 25:26—124 23:47—14
220
 Scripture Index

John 12:21—48 1 Corinthians

1:12—24 13:37–39—25 1:7–8—103
2:24–25—58 15:6—200 3:1–3—42
3:1–18—15 15:15–17—171 3:8—32, 88
3:7—100 16:30—14 3:9—52
3:14—100 16:31—14 3:9–10—43
3:16—71 17:31—59 3:11–15—128
3:36—27 18:12—48 3:12–13—129–30
5:22—59 18:16—48 3:12–15—52, 142, 155
5:22–23—214 18:17—48 3:13—86, 103, 108, 110
5:24—27 20:17—200 3:14—34, 108
6:47–48—27 20:33–35—192 3:14–15—117, 126
25:6—48
6:63—87 3:15—118, 125
25:10—48
10:28–29—113 4:1—141
25:17—48
11:43–44—105 4:1–5—72
12:26—44 4:2—142–43
Romans
14:1–3—69 4:3–4—72
14:3—53, 98, 169 1:16—164 4:3–5—161
14:6—15, 58 2:1–6—118 4:4—73
14:15—152 2:2—72 4:5—65, 74, 78, 103,
2:16—103
14:21—152 150–51
3:2—120
15:5—52, 136 6:2—47, 48
3:10—98
16:33—195 6:4—47, 48
3:23—15, 26, 98, 131
18:10–11—99 6:20—201
3:24—26
19:4—14 9:1—160
4:12—104
19:6—14 9:24—30, 43, 174
5:8–9—24
19:13—48 9:24–25—33, 43
6:6—179
19:30—40 9:24–27—178
6:14—27
21:15–17—105 6:23—15, 24, 26 9:25—174–76
21:20–23—105 7—135 9:27—79–80, 175
8:1—78 10:13—140
Acts 8:17—125, 171 12:4—88
1:10–11—188 8:23—27 12:11—88
1:15–26—160 8:29—180 15—69
1:26—120 8:35–39—125 15:10—136
3:19—15 10:9–10—15 15:51–52—68
4:12—15 12:1—200 15:53—100
7:5—48 12:3—86
9:15—160 14:10—49, 59, 100 2 Corinthians
9:31—152 14:10–12—52, 94 1:14—164
10:42—59 14:12—100, 103 4:17—94
221
 SCR I P T U R E I N DE X

5—94 5:18—87 2 Thessalonians

5:1—53, 94 5:23—52 1:11—86
5:1–8—69 6:5–8—136 2:1–3—214
5:1–10—213 6:8—88 3:3—140
5:5—53 6:21—141
5:7—53 1 Timothy
5:8—53 Philippians 1:5—153
5:9—53 1:9–11—136 1:12—141
5:10—32, 49, 53, 59, 2:12—152 1:15—24
64, 78, 99, 102, 104, 2:16—65, 164, 173 2:5—63
111 3:13–14—173 3:1–7—193
5:9–10—94, 155 3:14—180 3:2—100
5:9–11—52 4:1—176, 185 3:7—100
5:17—25
4:8—40, 154 4:14—147
5:21—14, 77, 131
4:9—154 5:18—32, 40
9:6—163
4:13—136 6:18–19—52
11:16–33—94
Colossians 2 Timothy
Galatians
1:7—141 1:3—153
1:10–12—160
1:18—52 1:9—27
1:15–16—160
1:27—135 2:2—141
2:2—173
3:4—135 2:5—175–76
2:20—134
3:9—141 3:5–11—179 2:7–13—140
3:22—24 3:12–14—179 2:12—171–72
5:7—173 3:16—179 2:20–21—153
5:22–23—87 3:23—87 3:12—196
6:7–9—163 3:23–24—40 4:3—190
4:9—141 4:6–8—33, 175
Ephesians 4:14—209 4:7—188
1:13—208 4:7–8—34
1:22—52 1 Thessalonians 4:8—59, 65, 176, 187–
2:1—14 1:3—86 88, 190
2:5—27 2:4—186 4:10—209
2:8—27 2:19—65, 164, 176
2:8–9—16, 26, 40 2:19–20—52, 184 Titus
2:8–10—30, 32 4:13–18—63–64, 68 1:9—141
2:10—40, 16, 209 5:1–9—214 2:11–14—68
2:19–22—52 5:1–11—53 2:12—188
4:11–12—88 5:9—66 2:12–14—52
4:30—208 5:24—140 2:13—190

222
 Scripture Index

Philemon 3:1–2—153 Revelation

23–24—209 3:9–12—155 1:14—110
3:15—164 2:10—142, 176, 197
Hebrews 3:15–16—153 2:13—141
3:2—141 5:2–3—193 2:18—110
4:13—103 5:4—65, 175–76, 192, 2:26—170, 205
4:15—58 194 2:28—205
6:10—41 5:12—141 3:11—120
7:25—63 3:21—171
7:26—58 2 Peter 4:2—69
9:27—61 1:19—205 4:10–11—199
10:23—140 3:10—214 5:10—172
11:6—44, 98, 100 3:10–13—214 7:14—170
11:16—43 7:17—119
11:25–26—44 1 John 11:15—176
12:1—173 1:6—153–54 12:3—176
12:1–2—154–55, 181 1:8—73 13:1—176
12:2—198 1:9—140 17:14—141
13:8—26 2:8–11—118 19:6–8—62
13:20–21—136 2:28—52, 65, 118, 124 20—214
3:2–3—189 20:1–6—171
James 3:7—118 20:4—170
1:12—43, 176, 196 3:21–22—153–54 20:6—62
1:17—26 5:3—152 20:11–15—12, 54
2:6—47–48 5:5—216 20:12–15—86
2:18—86 5:11–12—27 21—214
5:14—200 5:12—31 21:1—214
5:19–20—185 21:4—117, 119
5:20—183 2 John 22—214
8—40, 43, 120–21, 125 22:12—33, 65
1 Peter 22:16—205
1:3–4—125 3 John
Maccabees
1:4—175 5—142
1:7—161 1:14—216
1:17—43 Jude
2:9—140 3—169

223
“Woodrow Kroll brings biblical clarity to this immensely important subject. I’m
happy to recommend Facing Your Final Job Review.”
 Randy Alcorn, author of The Law of Rewards and Heaven

“The Judgment Seat of Christ is an event I studied very early in my Christian

life—and have taught ever since. Why? Once the ‘Job Review’ is over, there’s no
going back and doing the job over! That is why this subject is so critical. How
thankful I am for this timely and much-needed book.”
 Kay Arthur, Bible Teacher and Co-CEO, Precept Ministries International

“What a masterful book on such a misunderstood topic. Filled with the biblical
detail and insight we expect from Back to the Bible, this motivating book will
inspire you to be all that God created you to be!”
 June Hunt, Founder and CEO, Hope for the Heart

“Kroll makes a convincing case that the most important day of our lives is not
in our past, but is yet to come. Perfect for anyone interested in what God’s Word
says about heaven, hell, and Bible prophecy.”
 John Ankerberg, Host of The John Ankerberg Show; President and Founder, The
Ankerberg Theological Research Institute

“Kroll packs a wealth of biblical insights into the often-neglected subject of

future judgment and rewards. I highly recommend this book to all living in our
instant-gratification society who wish to live ‘today’ in light of ‘that day.’”
 John H. Munro, Senior Pastor, Calvary Church, Charlotte, NC

“The best book I’ve ever read on the judgment seat of Christ. In a series of short,
easily readable chapters, Kroll brings us face-to-face with the reality of rewards
for the believer.”
 Ray Pritchard, President, Keep Believing Ministries; author of Credo,
The Healing Power of Forgiveness, and Stealth Attack

WOODROW KROLL has written more than fifty books and is the president
and senior Bible teacher of the international media ministry Back to the Bible.
Its radio program can be heard daily by half of the world’s population—
3.6 billion people—and is broadcast on more than 1,250 outlets in the U.S.
Dr. Kroll also airs on the popular short feature program The Bible Minute.

CHRISTIAN LIFE / PERSONAL GROWTH