Every time I look at it, I get transported away in that moment and I experience such awe and longing for the reality thereof. To see Jesus, my Lord and Saviour, to hear His voice and see His face, to touch Him and embrace Him, to feel the undiluted waves of His love washing over me in that moment of inevitable and perfect reunion...
...However, let's come back to the 'now', ... Sigh! ...
I'd like to comment on a few points regarding the 'Bema Seat' and bring some things to your attention while we are still here in the present.
◾ What is this event all about?
The Judgement Seat of Christ (aka, the Bema Seat) will take place soon after
the Rapture of the Church, the body of Christ. (2 Cor.5:10, Rom.14:10). The participants in the judgment seat of Christ are members of the
Body of Christ, identified as all people who have responded in faith to Paul's
grace gospel. (It does not include saints from the Old Testament or the
Gospels. They will have a separate time of judgment and reward). The Bema
Seat is not a judgment to determine guilt and who will enter heaven or not.
Just the fact that you are at the Bema Seat means you have eternal salvation
and are in perfect right standing with God through Christ.
The purpose of this judgement is for rewards, not for condemnation! The
sins of these believers will not be an issue at the judgment seat of Christ.
Why? Because the moment they got saved by faith in the grace gospel, the Holy
Spirit immersed them (without water!) into the Body of Christ (Eph.1:13-14, Eph.4:30) as a permanent member and all their sins (past, present and future -
Eph.1:7-8, Eph.4:32, Col.1:13-14, Col.3:13) were completely removed by the atoning cross-work of Christ.
◾ How do you participate in this moment?
There is only ONE way to participate in the rapture. We must believe in the message of the gospel of grace that saves today. That is it! We must hear the gospel message and respond to it with the faith that it generates in your heart (Rom.1:16). There is NOTHING you can do in your own power or energy to get saved. You cannot work for it or earn it or buy it! Salvation is given to you as a free gift from God by His grace alone. You respond to it by faith alone which is simply believing the gospel message and trusting that it alone is sufficient for your salvation. The message of the gospel is that through Jesus Christ alone, through His cross work, (His death, burial and resurrection), your sin debt has been paid for in full and you have freely been imputed His righteousness for your sin and guilt. (See more details here).
Paul sums up the gospel perfectly in his letter to the church at Corinth.
1 Cor.15:1 Moreover, brethren, I declare unto you the gospel which I preached unto you, which also ye have received, and wherein ye stand; 2 By which also ye are saved, if ye keep in memory what I preached unto you, unless ye have believed in vain. 3 For I delivered unto you first of all that which I also received, how that Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures; 4 And that he was buried, and that he rose again the third day according to the scriptures:
That is it! There is nothing else to know, there is nothing else to do; you don't need to work for it or earn it. The only thing you do is believe that God made a way through His Son and that what Jesus did fully satisfied the debt of sin. His death "for us" paid our sin-debt liberating us from its burden. His death "as us" liberated us from 'the dominion and power of Sin'. It is a complete work achieved by Christ and offered as a gift from God.
Eph.2:8 For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of
yourselves: it is the gift of God: 9 Not of works, lest any man should
boast.
◾ What should you do, in the present, to merit receiving rewards at that ceremony?
The purpose of the "Judgement Seat of Christ", is to examine the nature of the "work" done by the believer, and not the condemnation of the worker as a person. In this context of dealing with work and its reward, it is important to understand that loss is a loss with respect to reward, not loss of salvation. The judgment is not designed to punish believers, but rather to reward them for their faithful service. All of us will give an account of what we have done after trusting Christ as our Saviour. Therefore, the judgment seat of Christ is a judgment of our works after salvation. Paul gave this analogy.
1 Cor.3:10-15 According to the grace of God which was given to me, as a wise master builder I have laid the foundation, and another builds on it. But let each one take heed how he builds on it ... Now if anyone builds on this foundation with gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, straw, each one's work will become manifest; for the Day will declare it, because it [your works] will be revealed by fire; and fire will try [test] each one's work, of what sort it is. ... If anyone's work is burned, they will suffer loss; but they themselves will be saved, yet so as through fire.
It is my conviction that the works of gold, silver and precious stones, (that which is NOT burned up and rejected as worthless) are works of obedience by being led (or influenced) of the Holy Spirit. The 'good works' that we do out of our own strength (no matter how 'good' they are in your eyes) are like filthy rags before God (Isaiah 64:6). We are incapable of producing good works (according to God's standards) by ourselves. Everything we do by our own goodness and motives is tainted before a supremely righteous and holy God (Mark 10:18). Therefore, the good works that result in gold, silver and precious stones is that which is produced by the Holy Spirit within, and through us (Phil 2:13 - For it is God which worketh in you both to will and to do of his good pleasure). It is useful to note that not everyone will receive the same reward as we see in v.15. At the judgment seat of Christ, there will be those who suffer loss (of reward) by the works of wood, hay and stubble, which can relate to works from a motive of self interest, or promotion. Know however that this is not a loss of salvation, but probably a loss of privilege or position within the scope of our functions in heaven in the ages to come.
Consider that fire purifies gold, silver, and precious stones, but burns up wood, hay, straw. The reason that our works must be subjected to the flames is because it's not the works that are being judged as much as it is the motives of the heart behind the works. The Bible is clear that God will reward us for our deeds (Matt.16:27; Rom.2:6; 2 Cor.5:10; Eph.6:8; Rev.2:23), our words (Matt.12:36-37; Jas.3:1-12), and our motives (1 Cor.4:4-5; 10:31; Col.3:23-24). As our perfect Judge, He will take all these areas into consideration and render a just reward. As for us, it is a great motivation to know that we will receive reward for the time and effort we have put into obedience and faithfulness, but surely even these are by His strength and Spirit. The rewards that the believer receives will be proportionate to the faithfulness they show in this life. The key is faithfulness to the gifts God has given. Let our service to our Lord and to his body be rather from a heart of love and thankfulness for all He has done for us.
1 Cor.4:2 Now it is required that those who have been given a trust must prove
faithful.
◾ To Conclude
To conclude this post, let me say that I consider this judgement to be very soon. As I keep my eyes on the news and world events and consider how they line up with the signs of the end, the birth pains of labour, (that do not subside, but only get more frequent and intense), I can only acknowledge that we are on the threshold of a new dispensation; one which we will not be involved in as we will have been raptured from this planet before the tribulation begins. While the world will suffer under God's justice, we who have trusted in Christ and His grace gospel will be in heaven, being judged and rewarded for our works of obedience and faithfulness to his Spirit.
Let us make use of the short time we have left, to be the ambassadors He has called us to be, to live and move and have our being under the influence of His Spirit, and to be witnesses, the spokespersons, to a world of people who so desperately need to know about the cross work and the love of Jesus Christ.
God bless.
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