We are here in 1 Corinthians chapter 3, continuing the Alphabet of Bible Doctrines. J is the Judgment Seat of Christ. Some of these things I have talked about kind of recently, so we are going to fly through the points that are probably pretty obvious and focus on the things I have not talked about as much. The Judgment Seat of Christ is about getting rewards in heaven, and I want you to get rewards. I want you to live a successful life where God is going to really bless you one day. So it is important to try to see what the Bible says and try to follow it.

Point 1: Believers Only

Everybody at the Judgment Seat of Christ is going to be a believer — they are going to be saved. 1 Corinthians 3:15: "If any man's work shall be burned, he shall suffer loss: but he himself shall be saved; yet so as by fire." The Bible speaks about a person whose works get burned up — they are not getting any rewards — but he himself shall be saved. If somebody has no good works to show and no rewards that they are getting, he is going to be saved. Why? Because everybody at the Judgment Seat of Christ is a believer. Everybody is saved. This is not a judgment of innocent or guilty — everybody is guilty, everybody sinned. The determination of what judgment you go to is based on what you believe. If you are at the Judgment Seat of Christ it shows you are saved.

When the Bible says believe in the Lord Jesus Christ and thou shalt be saved, we get saved by believing. So when do we get saved — the moment we believe, or when we die? Obviously the moment we believe, because that is how we get saved. You do not have to wait until you die to find out about heaven or hell. The moment you believe, you are saved according to the word of God.

By the way, that verse in 1 Corinthians 3:15 is perhaps the most prominent verse the Catholic Church uses for purgatory. They say he is going to be saved by fire, meaning he is going to spend time in purgatory and then be saved. But the context we are going to see in this sermon is that it is talking about good works being burned up and not getting rewards — it does not say the person is going to be burnt. And purgatory is not in the Bible. There are only two places you are going to go.

Go to Hebrews 11. Hebrews 11:6: "But without faith it is impossible to please him: for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him." There are two things mentioned after that colon. You must believe that he is — that is number one. And that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him — that is number two. You must believe those things to please God. Not to be saved — to please God. It is possible to be saved and not please God. Think about your children — are you always pleased with your kids? No. There are times you are upset and not pleased with them when they do wrong. A person can believe on Christ and it does not mean that God is pleased with them. If somebody is saved and never goes to church, never reads the Bible, never goes soul-winning, and does every sin under the sun — God is not pleased with them. But they still believe that he is. They are still saved.

It is also possible to fear God and not be saved — Cornelius in Acts 10 feared God but he was not yet saved. You must believe that he is, you must believe that Jesus is the Messiah, the Christ, the way to heaven. There is not a single Muslim on this planet that God is pleased with. There is not a single Hindu on this planet that God is pleased with. But there are people in false religions that fear God — they just do not know the truth. And the idea of believing that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him is that you are striving to follow God because you know there are rewards at the Judgment Seat of Christ. That is what it is about — it is about God saying, here you go, this is your trophy, this is your reward for what you did. That is what the Judgment Seat of Christ is about.

Point 2: A Bonus for the Work That You Do

Go back to 1 Corinthians 3. I want you to get rewards in heaven. Honestly, I do not care if you get more rewards than me — I do not feel like I am in competition with anyone. I would seriously doubt that I am going to get more rewards than everybody in this room. Just because you are preaching does not mean you get the most rewards. You can be a church member with no desire to go into the ministry, or you can be a woman who is obviously not going to be a pastor but who is zealous, and you are going to get a lot of rewards. It is not a competition between any of us. I hope we all get a lot of rewards.

1 Corinthians 3:8: "Now he that planteth and he that watereth are one: and every man shall receive his own reward according to his own labour." Your reward, your bonus, is based on your labour. Just because you are at a church that is doing a lot of work does not mean that you are going to get rewards. What is your labour? What is your work? It is based on what you individually did.

Verse 13: "Every man's work shall be made manifest: for the day shall declare it, because it shall be revealed by fire; and the fire shall try every man's work of what sort it is. If any man's work abide which he hath built thereupon, he shall receive a reward." The Bible speaks about getting a reward, getting a bonus based on the work you do. It is going to be revealed by fire — God is going to show your works and what abides or lasts through the fire.

Go to Psalm 103. Why is this the way it works? Because when you got saved you were given a gift. One hundred percent free, no strings attached, 100% free for the receiver — obviously it was the blood of Jesus that paid for it, but it is one hundred percent free for us. So when you get saved, it is not like you have to pay back the gift after you get saved. You could not pay it back — it is impossible. But receiving that gift, when you do good God is going to reward you, because he truly gave you a gift. Sometimes somebody can give you something in life and say it is a gift but they expect something in return. That is not salvation. It is 100% free when you get saved. That being said, when somebody gives you a gift you ought to have the attitude that you want to return the favour. We ought to have gratitude. Any good you do is not paying back that gift — it is getting a reward, getting a bonus for the work that you do.

Point 3: The Bad Is Overlooked

Some people teach that as a saved person, one day God is going to show everybody the sins that you committed. When you were five years old you cheated on a math test. When you were 15 you drank alcohol. That is not what the Bible teaches. The Bible teaches the bad is overlooked — it is gone, it is not going to be shown. God is not going to let everybody know about it.

Psalm 103:8–12: "The Lord is merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and plenteous in mercy. He will not always chide: neither will he keep his anger for ever. He hath not dealt with us after our sins; nor rewarded us according to our iniquities." What we really deserve is hell. We are guilty. But "as far as the east is from the west, so far hath he removed our transgressions from us." What does that mean? If you are travelling north on a globe, at some point you switch to travelling south — because of the North Pole and South Pole, north and south are linked. But if you start going east, you can keep going east and east and east and east forever — you are never going to be travelling west. It works differently. The Bible is saying your transgressions are completely gone. With God, forgiving and forgetting are linked together. You say you forgive someone but you will never forget — according to God, you have not really forgiven them, because those two are linked. God has forgiven us because he has forgotten. It is gone, completely gone.

At the Judgment Seat of Christ they are not going to show every sin. That is not what is going to happen as God gives out rewards. Verse 13: "Like as a father pitieth his children, so the Lord pitieth them that fear him." When you are saved you are a child of God, and God treats you as a child. All kids do wrong — I believe in spanking — but you do not see me spanking my kids in front of everybody. When my kids do wrong I talk to them in a quiet place and explain it to them. I am not trying to embarrass my kids. If you embarrass your kids you are going to raise kids that hate you and are bitter. God loves you like a father loves his children. He does not want to embarrass you. When you are saved, the bad is overlooked at the Judgment Seat of Christ.

Point 4: Before the Millennial Reign of Christ

Go to Revelation 20. The Judgment Seat of Christ will be before the 1,000 year period of Christ ruling and reigning. Revelation 20:4: "And I saw thrones, and they sat upon them, and judgment was given unto them: and I saw the souls of them that were beheaded for the witness of Jesus and for the word of God, and which had not worshipped the beast, neither his image, neither had received his mark upon their foreheads, or in their hands; and they lived and reigned with Christ a thousand years." The determination of how you rule and reign with Christ is based on the Judgment Seat of Christ. Based on what you have done is going to determine how you rule and reign. If you have done more good works you are going to get more rewards and rule more. The basis of the Thousand Years — who is in what position — is: what did you do? And so the Judgment Seat of Christ is going to be before that thousand years.

The Great White Throne Judgment is after the thousand years. So the Judgment Seat of Christ for saved people is before, and the Great White Throne is after. If a saved person dies right now, they have the same heaven as everybody — an equal level. Likewise if somebody dies unsaved they are burning in hell in equal amounts to anybody else. But God is a just judge. So if everybody is equal, how is he giving rewards? What takes place is at the Judgment Seat of Christ he is going to give out rewards for what you have done. For the unsaved people at the Great White Throne Judgment, obviously a pedophile will burn more than just an average unsaved person that did not know the gospel. They are going to be rewarded based on their sins and works. But the Judgment Seat of Christ is before the millennial reign of Christ.

What is interesting is that if people really want to rule and reign now — if people want to be in authority and be a leader now — they are actually not going to rule and reign much during the millennial reign of Christ.

Point 5: A Broadcasting of Results

Go to 1 Corinthians 4. Most of the rest of this sermon is going to be on this point. There is going to be a broadcasting of results at the Judgment Seat of Christ — we are going to find out what rewards we get. 1 Corinthians 4:1–2: "Let a man so account of us, as of the ministers of Christ, and stewards of the mysteries of God. Moreover it is required in stewards, that a man be found faithful." Verse 3: "But with me it is a very small thing that I should be judged of you, or of man's judgment." Paul says I do not really care what people think about me. That ought to be the attitude of all of us. People can think whatever they want, they can judge me or look at me in whatever way they want — okay, that does not change anything.

And then Paul says, not only that: "Yea, I judge not mine own self." The Bible says we do not know how many rewards we are going to get in heaven. We do not. If you say, well, I am going to get the most rewards — how do you know? The Bible is saying you actually do not know. Now there are certain things that can get you rewards — soul-winning, keeping the commandments, reading the Bible. But why does God say you do not really know? I think there is a reason God makes it not super transparent, because it would be very easy to be prideful if you knew — hey, I am the greatest Christian in the world. The reality is, you do not know that.

Verse 4: "For I know nothing by myself; yet am I not hereby justified: but he that judgeth me is the Lord." When it is talking about judging here, it is not saying do not judge people who are breaking commandments. It is saying do not judge in terms of how many rewards people are going to get — you do not know. Verse 5: "Therefore judge nothing before the time, until the Lord come, who both will bring to light the hidden things of darkness, and will make manifest the counsels of the hearts: and then shall every man have praise of God." We are all going to have praise of God because this is believers only. No one is going to be upset — everyone is going to be happy, obviously, we are in heaven forever and ruling and reigning with Christ. But the Bible says we do not know, because God is going to make manifest the counsels of the hearts.

Here is the thing: it is not just what you do — it is why you do it. This is what the Bible teaches. Somebody could do more good works than anyone at our church, but that does not tell me why they are doing it. I cannot see your heart. You cannot see my heart. If somebody goes soul-winning a lot, that is great, but it does not tell us why they did it. That is why we judge nothing before the time. Somebody could do a lot more good works than somebody else, but we have no idea why they are doing it. Even Paul said I judge not mine own self. There is a little bit in all of us of wanting to be prideful or get recognition for the things we do. The heart is deceitful above all things and desperately wicked — who can know it? You do not fully understand or know your own heart. It is not just who got the most salvations — it does not work that way. Of course if you do not do any works for God then nothing is going to abide the fire. But simply because you do good works does not mean you are going to get rewards for them.

Verse 6: "And these things, brethren, I have in a figure transferred to myself and to Apollos for your sakes; that ye might learn in us not to think of men above that which is written, that no one of you be puffed up for one against another." Be very careful about thinking too highly of certain people, because you do not know what is in their heart. You do not necessarily know how right with God they are. I have no idea if you read the Bible this morning. I might know if you go soul-winning later today, but I am not going to know whether you read the Bible or prayed, and even if I knew that you did pray, I do not know why you prayed. I do not know your heart. I do not know my own heart. That is why I judge not mine own self — and when I say I have no idea if I am going to get more rewards than people, I mean it. There are a lot of people that love God in this room. It is also a foolish thing to think well, I think so-and-so is going to get more rewards. We have no idea. It is impossible to actually know that.

Go to 2 Corinthians 10. It is a foolish thing to compare yourself to other people. 2 Corinthians 10:12: "For we dare not make ourselves of the number, or compare ourselves with some that commend themselves: but they measuring themselves by themselves, and comparing themselves among themselves, are not wise." Did you know it is a foolish thing to compare yourself to other people? You might look at yourself and say, I think I am a better Christian than so-and-so — I read the Bible more, I go to church more, I go soul-winning more. But have you been saved longer? I mean, it is a foolish comparison. None of us are in the same situation in life, so how can you really compare yourself with somebody else? It can go badly in two ways — you can compare yourself to lift yourself up, or you can compare and feel like a failure. Either way it is not wise.

Go to 2 Corinthians 11. I want to help you understand what I am saying. I started listening to Pastor Steven Anderson in 2008. I had been saved for several years and was already soul-winning but was trying to find preaching that motivated me. Him and Pastor David Berzins went to Washington DC for a political rally and said if we wanted to come meet him on the Saturday we could. My friends and I were literally worried about what to wear — I was thinking if I wear shorts and a t-shirt is he going to look down on me, do I need to wear a tie? I remember dressing in a dress shirt with no tie, and when I got there he was dressed in shorts and a t-shirt. And what I realised that day is he is just a human being like anybody else. You are not going to walk away thinking he is so much different than anyone else. When Pastor Roger Jimenez came here, many of you met him — he is a normal person, is he not? We all put our pants on one leg at a time.

What I am trying to express is what you are going to see in 1 and 2 Corinthians — Paul the Apostle was an ordinary person. If Paul visited our church for three months and was not preaching sermons and just told you his name was Paul, you would never guess he was Paul the Apostle. You would think well of him, but you would not think he was the greatest thing ever. Why? Because he is just an ordinary person. He is not self-promoting. But I thought of another pastor I met who gave off a completely different impression — everybody thought he was the friendliest guy ever, your best friend from day one. He later got disgraced from the ministry for prostitution, going to casinos, and doing drugs. You can only make so good of a first impression if it is real. If you get the feeling that someone is the greatest person ever — red flag. A normal person is not going to self-promote or lift themselves up. You would just think of them as a normal person.

People started looking down on Paul because he was not self-promoting, and other people were lifting themselves up and making themselves out to be great leaders. Now people were thinking less of Paul simply because he was not letting everyone know what he had been doing. 2 Corinthians 11:16–17: "I say again, Let no man think me a fool; if otherwise, yet as a fool receive me, that I may boast myself a little. That which I speak, I speak it not after the Lord." He is saying — I do not even know if God thinks this is the right thing to do, but I am about to tell you how great I am. He is going to boast. Why is he doing this? Because in 1 Corinthians the church is a mess and Paul does all the work, saves that church from losing their candlestick. And then in 2 Corinthians, throughout the book, people are lifting themselves up and making themselves out to be these great people, and now people are thinking lowly of Paul simply because he is not letting everyone know what he has done. Verse 19: "For ye suffer fools gladly, seeing ye yourselves are wise." That is a backhanded comment — ye yourselves are so wise, you think you are so great. He is saying all right, I am about to act like a fool and boast right along with these people.

Be very careful about people who appoint themselves as leaders. Let me give you a couple of examples from our own church — without naming names. There was a person who was later disfellowshipped who was going soul-winning with someone at our church, I will call him Juan De La Cruz. I had already been soul-winning with Juan De La Cruz. His presentation needed some changes — not in depth enough, not explaining eternal security. I was perfectly fine with that because everybody starts off needing to learn, and someone who is zealous and humble is going to grow. In fact Juan De La Cruz even told me he realised he needed to make changes after hearing me give the gospel — I never criticised him, because my attitude is unless someone is preaching heresy, people are learning and growing and they will make the changes as they go. But this other person — who was just a church member, not working for the church — trashed his soul-winning and told him he needed to make changes. Because you yourself are so great at soul-winning? I would feel too ashamed to act that way even as the one who runs this church. Why would you make someone who is zealous and trying feel horrible about it?

Another example — a different person was criticising the soul-winning of someone I will call Maria De La Cruz, and literally told her she was not allowed to go soul-winning with our church until she got better at it. Did Brother Stucky say that? Did Brother Stucky give you the authority to do that? Someone who is just getting into soul-winning and trying to learn and get up the courage — you just kick them down for not being good enough? How do you get better if you do not practice? And by the way, that person Maria De La Cruz is still soul-winning today and is one of the most zealous soul-winners from our church. Instead of kicking them down, give them a chance to learn.

Another example — the same person literally told someone they were not allowed to visit our church. You are not welcome here because of this situation. And they made it seem as if this is what I said. I never said that. How do you have the right to tell someone they are not allowed to come to our church? Let me help you out — the decisions made at this church are by me. You do not tell people they cannot go soul-winning or join our church. That is not how we work at Verity Baptist Church.

1 Corinthians 11:1: "Be ye followers of me, even as I also am of Christ." Paul says follow me as I follow Christ. I would say the same thing today — follow me as I follow Christ. We have programmes for reading the Bible, going soul-winning, and if you follow these examples you are going to be successful. At the same time, there is God-ordained leadership at churches. People who are ordained men of God. I was ordained for a reason. The standard at Verity Baptist Church for ordination includes reading through the Bible ten times. We have different talents, different abilities — this does not make me better than you, but it does mean I am the ordained leader of this church and we do things decently and in order.

The Key to Getting Rewards: Not for the Praise of Men

Go to Matthew 6. Matthew 6 and the Sermon on the Mount is really about not doing your works to be seen of men — and this is the key on getting rewards.

Matthew 6:1: "Take heed that ye do not your alms before men, to be seen of them: otherwise ye have no reward of your Father which is in heaven." Now alms is not your tithe — your tithe is ten percent. Alms is basically helping out the sick, helping out the poor, or giving above ten percent. Imagine you decide to give extra money to church or help somebody out, but you want people to know about it — and you make it obvious as the offering plate goes around. What a foolish thing. You gave all that money to church and lost your rewards instantly. Anything you do for God takes time and effort. What a foolish thing to throw it away because you had the wrong heart about it.

Verse 2: "Therefore when thou doest thine alms, do not sound a trumpet before thee, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets, that they may have glory of men. Verily I say unto you, They have their reward." They have the reward — meaning that is the only reward they are getting. Verse 3–4: "But when thou doest alms, let not thy left hand know what thy right hand doeth: that thine alms may be in secret; and thy Father which seeth in secret himself shall reward thee openly." There are people at our church that I know give a lot more than ten percent — but you probably do not know that. Why? Because they are not doing their works to be seen of men.

Verse 5: "And when thou prayest, thou shalt not be as the hypocrites are: for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and in the corners of the streets, that they may be seen of men. Verily I say unto you, They have their reward. But thou, when thou prayest, enter into thy closet, and when thou hast shut thy door, pray to thy Father which is in secret; and thy Father which seeth in secret shall reward thee openly." Why? Because the word reward is used — it is in the context of the Judgment Seat of Christ. You are going to get no reward if you are doing works to be seen of men. It is not just what you do — it is why you do it.

Verse 16: "Moreover when ye fast, be not, as the hypocrites, of a sad countenance: for they disfigure their faces, that they may appear unto men to fast. Verily I say unto you, They have their reward." I remember being in grade school and seeing someone with black ash on their head for the first time and having no idea what was going on. Then I started seeing other people with black stuff on their heads. That is Ash Wednesday — putting black ash on their head to let everybody know they are participating in Lent. They have their reward, the Bible says. Verse 17–18: "But thou, when thou fastest, anoint thine head, and wash thy face; that thou appear not unto men to fast, but unto thy Father which is in secret; and thy Father, which seeth in secret, shall reward thee openly." It actually says to make it look like you are not fasting if you are fasting.

I think this is important preaching for all of us because it is really hard to do good things without self-promoting yourself. We all naturally want people to know what we are good at and what we are doing. We get back from soul-winning on a really good day and somebody says they got four people saved, and something inside says I got five. You want people to know. Even as we do something spiritual, it is easy to want to let people know you are better than somebody else. I certainly struggle with pride. I certainly struggle with this. And the danger is: bye bye rewards. Because you had to tell everybody how great you are.

When you do works and when you serve God, just be content with saying you know what, I am just a member of church, I am just part of the body of Christ. Not telling everybody about all the things you are doing. Not for the praise of men — but for the Lord.

Dear Heavenly Father, thank you for allowing us to be here today and getting to see this topic of the Judgment Seat of Christ. I ask you to help everyone in our church to get a lot of rewards in heaven, help us to be very successful in serving you, but not do it to be seen of men or to get credit — just because we love you. I ask you to help us all change, not just the outside but the inside. Help us to change our heart, help us to love you and serve you. We pray this in Jesus' name. Amen.