But the fact still remains that the Bible promises us rewards. While the Bema is going on in heaven (with the church in the Lords presence) a series of terrible judgments will begin to unfold on the earth for a period of seven years to be culminated by the return and manifestation of Christ to earth as the Great White Horse Rider of Revelation 19. Some of these suggest the judgmental character of this period. Such would be inconsistent with the finished work of Christ on the cross because He totally paid the penalty for our sins. Key Scriptures: Isaiah 24:1; Joel 1:15; Zeph. In 1 Thessalonians 2:19-20, the Apostle Paul drew courage and was motivated by the fact of rewards at the return of the Lord for the church which he mentions in every chapter in this epistle and becomes the primary subject of 2 Thessalonians. All judgment has been placed into His hands as the perfect Son of man, Son of God, the one qualified to judge by virtue of his sinless humanity and defeat of Satan and sin through the cross (Rev. This is the good news of the Bible, the message of the gospel. Isaiah 44:22 I have wiped out your transgressions like a thick cloud, And your sins like a heavy mist. This verse undoubtedly refers to the Bema and shows there will be both boldness as a result of abiding, and shame before the Lord as a result of failing to abide. In Romans 14:10 the Apostle called this examining time the Bema of God while in 2 Corinthians 5:10 he called it the Bema of Christ. 3:1-5; 5:5-15; Jer. (a) The verb is what we call in Greek an aorist subjunctive, and with the basic meaning of this verb, the grammar points to a future act, but not a continuous state. Since the events mentioned in Daniel 9:26 (the cutting off of Messiah and the destruction of city and sanctuary) had to occur after the 69 weeks of years had run their course but before the seventieth week begins, there has to be a space of time, the parenthesis of the church age, between the conclusion of the sixty-ninth week and the beginning of the seventieth. How do we know who falls into the category of swine, those incapable of appreciating the truth, if we do not make certain judgments? Understanding these various judgments will give insight into Gods program, but the goal here is not just information. This always results in moral devolution and degeneration. Some Bible teachers view the judgment seat as a place of intense sorrow, a place of terror, and a place where Christ display all the believers sins (or at least those unconfessed) before the entire resurrected and raptured church. While the following is not exhaustive, it demonstrates that sin in the life of a believer is not a small issue. This is caused by the realization of what his own failure and sin has cost him in terms of the loss of rewards and loss of glory to the Lord. Compare the following passages: 1 Corinthians 15:10 But by the grace of God I am what I am, and His grace toward me did not prove vain; but I labored even more than all of them, yet not I, but the grace of God with me. Self-centeredness or selfishness is preoccupation with self at the expense of others and Gods will in ones life. Scripture teaches that for the believer Gods justice has already been fully and forever satisfied at the Cross in relation to the believers sins. Hope will at last become reality for all those who are delivered from the bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of the children of God (Rom. Romans 5:8 But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were sinners, Christ died for us. The sea and death (i.e., the ground) contain the bodies and Hades contains the souls. (c) There are two views: (1) The believer who fails to abide is made to feel shame by the Lord, i.e., the Lord puts him to shame. To overdo the sorrow aspect of the judgment seat of Christ is to make heaven hell. 14 Nevertheless death reigned from Adam until Moses, even over those who had not sinned in the likeness of the offense of Adam, who is a type of Him who was to come. Rev. One of the prominent doctrines of the New Testament is the Doctrine of Rewards and the Judgment Seat of Christ. 13; 17); economically (Rev. For it is time for judgment to begin with the household of God; and if it begins with us first, what will be the outcome for those who do not obey the gospel of God? 2:8), but a reward for enduring trials and overcoming temptation. Selfishness ought not to be defined simply as the pursuit of our own self-interest. And now little children. John is writing to believers. 3:11-15; 2 Cor. Because of His love, grace and mercy He has not left us without hope and a solution. The Bible describes one judgment that takes place at the return of Jesus and two judgments that people will face after death. The details of this will be developed in a summarized fashion in the material that follows. When He appears. The when points to the imminency of the return of the Lord. 1:10; Rev. Though believers are saved and justified by faith in Christ as the crucified Saviour, the Scriptures assume that Christians will battle with sin and will not always be victorious. Compare also Romans 16:20; Ephesians 1:20-21; Colossians 2:14-15; Hebrews 2:14-17. (3) The resurrection (rapture) and Bema of the church concludes this parenthesis, the church age, but Old Testament saints (the righteous dead) are not resurrected and rewarded until after the seventieth week when God concludes His program with Israel as far as the seventy weeks of Daniel are concerned. But when he saw many of the Pharisees and Sadducees coming for baptism, he said to them, You brood of vipers, who warned you to flee from the wrath to come? John 3:18 He who believes in Him is not judged; he who does not believe has been judged already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God. Within the church, there exists a good deal of confusion and disagreement concerning the exact nature of the Bema. So it is necessary for believers to judge their own sins in the light of Scripture.2. The Principle. 5:1; 8:1; 1 Cor. It is significant that among the final words of Revelation, the last book of the Bible, we find these words of the Lord: Rev. (2) The second book will be the book of works or deeds. 2:9-12; Rev. While bema is used in the Gospels and in Acts of the raised platform where a Roman magistrate or ruler sat to make decisions and pass sentence (Matt. 11:31-32; Ps. II, Abridged Edition, John F. Walvoord, Editor, Donald K. Campbell, Roy B. Zuck, Consulting Editors, Victor Books, Wheaton, 1988, p. 501. The rapture is the means of our deliverance from the wrath he discusses in chapter 5:1-3. (4) It is a day of destruction and global catastrophes (Joel 1:15; 2:3; 1 Thess. Still others today see only the very tail end of the events of Revelation to be the outpouring of the judgment of God and assert that the rest of the events constitute only the wrath or wickedness of man. While people are saying peace and safety, then sudden destruction will come as birth pains upon a woman in travail. 2 Lewis Sperry Chafer Systematic Theology, Vol. 3 Samuel Hoyt, The Judgment Seat of Christ in Theological Perspective, Part 1, Bibliotheca Sacra, January-March, 1980, electronic media. Some people are troubled by the doctrine of rewards because this seems to suggest merit instead of grace, and because, it is pointed out, we should only serve the Lord out of love and for Gods glory. Charles Lee Feingberg [Old Tappan, NJ: Fleming H. Revell Co., 1968], p. 29). In all of these passages, Paul was picturing the believer as a competitor in a spiritual contest. 24:31; Ezek. (2) Diadem. 4:4-6, 22). 3:13-15 each mans work will become evident; for the day will show it, because it is to be revealed with fire; and the fire itself will test the quality of each mans work. It is called a throne because here the Lord Jesus Christ will sit in absolute majesty and sovereign authority to consign a Christ-rejecting world to the eternal Lake of Fire. They teach us the basic cause of discipline is failure to examine and confess known sins because that hinders our fellowship with God. (2) In Revelation 19:8, when the Lord returns with His bride at the end of the tribulation, she is seen already rewarded. A strength to those who repel the onslaught at the gate. 2 Tim. 5 Dwight Pentecost, Things to Come, Dunham Publishing Co., Findlay, OH, 1958, p. 411. For instance, many do not understand that instead of one final judgment, the Bible teaches that there are a series of five to seven future judgments (depending on how they are categorized) that differ in respect to time, purpose, subjects, and circumstances. 18 Samuel Hoyt, The Judgment Seat of Christ in Theological Perspective, Part 2, Bibliotheca Sacra, electronic media. 1:24f, moral degeneration and the gradual breakdown in the moral fiber of men when they turn away from God. This word was taken from Isthmian games where the contestants would compete for the prize under the careful scrutiny of judges who would make sure that every rule of the contest was obeyed (cf. (1) All the passages dealing with the Bema or rewards are addressed to believers or pertain to believers of the church (Rom. 10 For they disciplined us for a short time as seemed best to them, but He disciplines us for our good, that we may share His holiness. the word - judge - appears 191 times. Revelation 20:14 And death and Hades were thrown into the lake of fire. Why did Christ have to die for us? (7) It is a time of death (Rev. All fall short of the glory of Godthe immoral, moral, and religious (Rom. (2) It is part of the training process by which Gods children are brought into the experience of Gods holiness (Heb. 17); politically (Rev. It occurs 107 times in the Old Testament, but 93 times in the book of Ezekiel. 9 Lewis Sperry Chafer, Major Bible Themes: 52 Vital Doctrines of the Scripture Simplified and Explained, rev. The Bible describes one judgment that takes place at the return of Jesus and two judgments Without the abiding life, the life of faith and obedience to the Savior, we can do nothing (John 15:1-7). 14:4), but Ezekiel 20:34-35 shows God brings Israel out from the nations where she has been scattered throughout the times of the Gentiles (gathers her to the last person, Ezek. John 12:48 is very pertinent here: He who rejects Me, and does not receive My sayings, has one who judges him; the word I spoke is what will judge him at the last day. But by His word the present heavens and earth are being reserved for fire, kept for the day of judgment and destruction of ungodly men. 24). 5:1-14). Related Topics: Dispensational / Covenantal Theology, Eschatology (Things to Come), J. Hampton Keathley III, Th.M. 4:1). But if we judged ourselves rightly, we would not be judged. This is why earlier the Apostle called them fleshly (the Greek sarkikos, adapted to, controlled by the flesh) (3:3). Though believers are under no condemnation in respect to their sins, having been justified by faith (John 3:18; 5:24; Rom. 4:8; Rev. There was a rich man who was clothed in purple and fine linen and who feasted sumptuously every day. (1) Christs judgment for sin, dying in the place of the sinner, bearing his sin and judgment on the cross as the sinners substitute. 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