It is not that I did choose thee,
Lord, for, Lord, that could not be. Todd's Road Grace Church would
like to invite you to listen to a sermon by our pastor, Todd
Niver. We are located at 4137 Todd's
Road, two miles outside of Manowar Boulevard. Sunday services are
at 1030 a.m. and 6 p.m. Bible study is at
945 a.m. Wednesday services are at 7 p.m. Nursery is provided for all services.
For more information, visit our website at toddsroadgracechurch.com.
Now here's our pastor, Todd Nibert. In 2nd Corinthians, chapter 5,
verses 10 and 11, Paul writes, For we must all appear before
the judgment seat of Christ, that everyone may receive the
things done in his body according to that he had done, whether
it be good or bad, knowing therefore the terror of the Lord, we persuade
men." I've entitled this message, The Judgment Seat of Christ. Now, one thing is for sure, you
and I will die. I don't know when, It may be
years away. It may be in the next five minutes.
But you and I will one day die. And we read here of an appearance
that we all have to make before the judgment seat of the Lord
Jesus Christ, the Son of God, the God-man. Every man is going
to have to stand before Him. Life is not going to go on. We're
all going to stand before Him in judgment. Now, the word appear
is the word that is generally translated made manifest. We all will be made manifest
before the judgment seat of Christ. You see, the judgment seat is
going to show what we really are. I like what one preacher
of the past said when he had the epitaph of his life put on
his tombstone. It said, Here lies George Whitefield. What manner of man he was, that
great day will tell. On that day, what we really are
will clearly be seen. Now, interestingly, if that is
the proper word to use, men speak of three or four different judgments. They talk about there's going
to be the judgment of believers when they will be rewarded according
to their works here on earth. And then there's going to be
the great white throne judgment where all men will be judged.
And there's something called the judgment of the nations.
And men make these different judgments, but I don't see that
in the Scripture. There is only one judgment. Paul says we must
all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, that we may receive
the things done in the body according to what we've done, whether it
be good or bad. Now, interestingly, this verse
of Scripture is used to teach what people call the judgment
of the believer. They say, well, all your sins
are paid for. You don't have to worry about paying for your
sins, but there's going to be a judgment where you will be
rewarded according to your personal obedience on earth. You'll either
be given a higher reward or you'll be given a lower place based
upon your works. If you believe you deserve a
reward, I hope you get one. But do you really believe, if
you believe that way, do you really believe that you deserve
a reward? And is this what the Bible actually
teaches? In Matthew chapter 20, we have
the parable of the workers in the vineyard. Now, at that time,
Peter had asked the question, we've forsaken everything. What's
in it for us? How will we be rewarded? He was looking for a higher reward. And we read beginning in verse
1 of Matthew chapter 20, for the kingdom of heaven. And remember,
here is where the Lord is dealing with this subject regarding rewards. He says in verse 1, for the kingdom
of heaven is likened to a man that's a householder, which went
out early in the morning to hire laborers into his vineyard. And
when he had agreed with the laborers for a penny a day, He sent them
into his vineyard. And he went out about the third
hour, nine o'clock in the morning, and saw others standing idle
in the marketplace, and said unto them, Go ye also into the
vineyard, and whatsoever is right I will give you. And they went
their way. And again he went out about the sixth hour, noon,
the ninth hour, three p.m., and did likewise, and at about the
eleventh hour, five p.m., an hour before quitting time, He
found others standing idle, and saith unto them, Why stand ye
here all the day idle? They said unto him, Because no
man hath hired us. He saith unto them, Go ye also into the vineyard,
and whatsoever is right, that shall you receive. So we had
some who worked twelve hours, some who worked nine hours, some
who worked six hours, some who worked three hours, and some
who worked only one hour. So when even was come, six o'clock,
the Lord of the vineyard said unto his steward, call the labors
and give them their hire beginning from the last unto the first.
And when they came that were hired about the eleventh hour,
they'd only worked one hour, they received every man a penny. But when the first came, They
supposed that they should receive more. I mean, you know, we worked
12 hours. They worked one hour. Of course,
we will be rewarded more handsomely. We did more things and we should
make more money. But what happened? And they likewise
received every man a penny. They got the exact same thing. And when they received it, They
murmured against the good man of the house, saying, These last
have wrought but one hour, and thou hast made them equal unto
us, which have borne the burden and heat of the day. They were
saying, This is not fair, we should get a higher reward. But
he answered one of them and said, Friend, I do thee no wrong, didst
not thou agree with me for a penny? Take that thine is, and go thy
way, and I will give unto this last even as unto thee. Is it
not lawful for me to do what I will with my own? Is thine
I evil? Because I am good." Now, everyone
in glory, everyone who is saved, receives the same reward. We're
saved by the righteousness of the Lord Jesus Christ if we're
saved. That is my obedience before God, His righteousness. And I can't take some work that
I've done and add it to what he has done and expect that I'm
going to get a higher reward in heaven, how can you improve
on the work of Christ? Why, such thinking is repugnant. It's not according to the Scriptures. Believers receive the same thing
because they're saved the same way. Now, it's true there are
different degrees of torment in hell because salvation is
according to works. But there's not different degrees
of glory in heaven because salvation is all of grace. If I'm saved,
it's not because of any work I've done. It's because of what
Christ did for me. As far as that goes, when he
says, knowing therefore the terror of the Lord, we persuade men,
is this talking about men who are saved and yet they experience
the terror of the Lord because their works weren't good enough
or because they're going to be given a low place in heaven and somebody
else is given a higher place. Why? You know better than that. There's no terror associated
with judgment for the believer, but boldness. Confidence. We have boldness on the day of
judgment, John tells us, because as he is, so are we in this world. I don't have anything to fear
on judgment day because I stand before God without sin. So this is not talking about
some kind of judgment for believers. And I'm thankful it's not. Well,
what is he saying? For we must all appear before
the judgment seat of Christ that everyone may receive the things
done in his body according to that which he hath done, whether
it be good or bad. Now, this can be understood in
two ways, both of which are consistent with the gospel. First, if I'm
in Christ, I'm in his body. Whatever he did in his body,
I did. If I'm in Christ, what He did,
He did as a representative man. When He kept the law, I kept
the law. When He died under the wrath
of God, I died. When He was raised from the dead,
I was raised from the dead. And when He rewards me for the
things done in the body, it's because of the righteousness
of Christ really is mine. Now, do you remember when The
Lord, in Matthew chapter 3, came to John the Baptist to be baptized. John the Baptist said, I have
need to be baptized of thee. Comest thou to me? And the Lord
replied, Suffer it to be so now, for thus it becometh us to fulfill
all righteousness." You see, what Christ did, He did as an
us. And everybody He kept the law
for, they also kept the law, and they stand justified before
God. Now justification is not just
some kind of piece of paper that gives me a legal standing before
God, but yet we know that's not the way I really am. No, I have
no sin before God's holy law because Christ took away my sin,
He washed it away, and His righteousness is given to me, and when I receive
the things done in the body, it's all good. Because I have,
I am the very righteousness of God in Christ. That's what He
did. 2 Corinthians 5.21 says, For
He hath made Him to be sin who knew no sin, that we might be
made the righteousness of God in Him. So, it's all good if
I receive the things done in my body if I'm in Christ, and
it's all bad if I'm outside of Christ. I will be judged strictly
according to my works. Now, we read of this judgment
in Revelation chapter 20, beginning in verse 11, And I saw a great white throne.
This is John's view of this judgment seat of Christ. And I saw a great
white throne, and him that sat on it, from whose face the earth
and the heaven fled away, and there was found no place for
them. And I saw the dead, small and great, stand before God. And the books were opened, the
books that record all of our works. And another book was opened,
which is the book of life. And the dead, the dead in sins,
were judged out of those things which were written in the books
according to their works. If I'm outside of Christ, every
sin I've ever committed, and I couldn't even begin to name
how many sins that would be, is recorded in these books. And the sea gave up the dead
which were in it, and death and hell delivered up the dead which
were in them, and they were judged every man according to their
works. And death and hell were cast into the lake of fire. This
is the second death. And whosoever was not found written
in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire. Now, knowing, therefore, the terror
of the Lord, we persuade men. Now, the first view is consistent
with the gospel, what I just said. But this is also true,
and this is what I think this passage of Scripture is talking
about. On the judgment seat of Christ,
when every believer is made to stand before and every unbeliever
is made to stand before the judgment seat of Christ, there will be
things done in this body that give evidence as to whether or
not the Lord had ever really done anything for us. Now, Matthew chapter 25 is the
great commentary on this passage of Scripture. In 2 Corinthians
chapter 5 verses 10 and 11, we must all appear before the judgment
seat of Christ, that everyone may receive the things done in
his body. Matthew chapter 25 gives the
light as to what actually takes place. Now, there are three parables
or stories regarding judgment in Matthew chapter 25. The first
is the story of the five wise and the five foolish virgins,
which all had lamps. Five had oil in their lamps and
five did not have oil in their lamps. And they all slumbered
and slept, the wise as well as the foolish. And when the bridegroom
came, which refers to Judgment Day, the five with Oil in their
lamps, something that you could not see, were received. And they were brought in, and
the others were told, depart, I don't know you. The difference
was the oil. The difference was the grace
of God. Now, the next parable, it demonstrates
where the great King, the Lord Jesus Christ, gave three different
men three different gifts. won five talents, won two talents
and won one talent. He said, you go and trade. And
he went off. And when he comes back, which
is talking about Judgment Day, the one with the five talents
said, Lord, your five talents have gained five others. These
are things he did in the body. And the other said, Lord, thy
two talents have gained two others. And these were things done in
the body. And he said to both of them, well done, thou good
and faithful servant. Enter thou into the joy of thy
Lord, you've been faithful in a few things, I'll make you ruler
over many." There were things done in the body that demonstrated
this, but this one who didn't do anything. His Lord said unto
him, verse 24, Then he which received the talent came and
said, Lord, I knew thee that thou art a hard man, a harsh
man, an inhumane man. That's what he thought of his
Lord. reaping where you've not sown, and gathering where you've
not strawed. And I was afraid, and I went and hid thy talent
in the earth. I didn't do anything. Lo, there thou hast that is thine.
And his Lord answered and said unto him, Thou wicked and slothful
servant, you knew that I reap where I sowed not, and gather
where I have not strawed. Thou therefore oughtest to have
put my money to the exchangers. And then at my coming I should
have received mine own with usury. Take therefore the talent from
him, and give it to him that hath ten talents. For unto every
one that hath shall be given, he shall have abundance. But
from them that hath not shall be taken away even that which
he hath. And you cast the unprofitable servant into outer darkness.
There shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth." Now that's what's
going to happen to that man who had nothing done in his body. He's judged according to the
things done in his body. And then the next story, I think,
gives us so much light as to what Paul meant. Verse 31 of
Matthew chapter 25, When the Son of Man shall come in His
glory, and all the holy angels with Him, then shall He sit upon
the throne of His glory, and before Him shall be gathered
all nations. You and I are going to be at
this great judgment, whether I'm a believer or I'm an unbeliever. all races, all men to ever live
will be here. And before him shall be gathered
all nations, and he shall separate them one from another, as a shepherd
divideth his sheep from the goats. Everybody is divided into sheep
and into goats. And he shall set the sheep on
his right hand, but the goats on his left." Who are the sheep
and who are the goats? The sheep are the people that
Christ died for. He said, I lay down my life for
the sheep. Not everybody is a sheep. He
said to the Pharisees, you believe not because you're not of my
sheep. As I said to you, my sheep hear
my voice. I know them. They follow me.
My Father which gave them me. is greater than all, and no man
can take them out of my Father's hand." The sheep are God's elect. The sheep are those who believe. The sheep are those for whom
Christ died. God sets them on the right hand,
the place of favor. What about the goats? The goats
are those who don't believe, and they're placed in the left
hand, the place of disfavor. Now, let's go on reading. Verse
34. Then saith the king saying to
them on his right hand, the sheep come, not go away. There's no terror. There's no
fear. Come ye blessed of my father. Oh, if you're saved, how you've
been blessed of God. If the Lord has saved you from
your sins, if He's paid for your sins and given you everlasting
righteousness, if He's given you His grace and His mercy and
His favor, if He's given you a new heart, if He's done something
for you, how blessed you are. If God be for us, who can be
against us? Then shall the king say to them
on his right hand, the sheep come, ye blessed of my Father,
inherit. Inherit, I love this word inherit.
Have you ever known someone who inherited a large sum of money
or a lot of property or something like that when they didn't do
anything to earn it? They got it simply because of
their connection in a family. Well, that's salvation. I am inheriting something given
to me freely because of my connection with the Lord Jesus Christ, because
of what He did for me. What I have, I have by way of
inheritance. Heaven is an inheritance. Inherit
the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world. Now, He says to these people
who are accepted, this kingdom has already been prepared for
you before time ever began. Ephesians 1.4 says, regarding
God's elect, according as He hath chosen us in Him before
the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without
blame before Him. 2 Timothy 1.9 says, God saved
us and called us with a holy calling. Speaking of every believer,
God saved us and called us with a holy calling, not according
to our works, but according to His own purpose and grace which
was given us in Christ Jesus before the world began. Now this
salvation, this inheritance that is going to be seen on Judgment
Day was all given to me before I was ever born. And I like what
one dear lady said, She was talking about election, God choosing
who would be saved. She said, I know that He had
to save me before I was born because if He waited to after,
there was no reason for me in me that He would choose me. I'm
so sinful and helpless. This is good news to a sinner
that God freely chooses sinners for Christ's sake. He says, inherit
the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world
and then he goes on to give evidence of things done in this body that
proved he'd done this for them. He said, four, I was in hunger
and you gave me meat. I was thirsty and you gave me
drink. I was a stranger and you took
me in. I was naked and you clothed me.
I was sick and you visited me. I was in prison and you came
to me. You did these things in your
body. Now here's an interesting response.
Then shall the righteous, the sheep are the righteous, those
made righteous by the righteousness and merits of Christ, those given
a new nature, a holy nature given to them in the new birth, they're
called the righteous. Then shall the righteous answer
Him saying, Lord, when? We didn't know we had done any
of these things. We weren't aware of doing anything
like this. Now, let me say something. If you look at your life and
say, yeah, I measure up, I give evidence, I've got so many good
works and I'm such a good person and I've done so many things
and I've turned things around so much that I believe, I give
evidence that I'm a real Christian. You sound like that crowd to
whom our Lord said in Matthew 7, many shall say, Lord, Lord. Have we not preached in your
name? In your name have we not cast out demons? And in your
name have we not done many wonderful works? Then shall I say unto
them, Depart from me, ye that work iniquity. Now God's people
don't look at their works as good in and of themselves. These
people didn't know they'd done these things. Then shall the
righteous answer him, saying, Lord, when saw we thee and hungered
and fed thee, or thirsty and gave thee drink? When saw we
thee a stranger, and took thee in, or naked, and clothed thee?
When saw we thee sicker in prison, and came unto thee? And the king
shall answer, and say unto them, Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch
as you have done it to the least of these, My brethren, you have
done it to me. Now, two things I see in that.
First, union with the Lord Jesus Christ. He says, the least of
these, my brethren, if you did it to them, you did it to me. This is how real this union is. Whatever you do to me, you do
to Christ if I'm united to him. And if you treat me well, If
I'm in Christ and united to Him, if you come and visit me when
I'm sick, if you feed me when I'm hungry, that means you're
doing it to the Lord Jesus Christ Himself, because every believer
is united to the Lord Jesus Christ. In Revelation chapter 14, you
see, there will be evidence that God's done something for you.
It's going to be seen in how you treat other people. In Revelation
chapter 14, verse 13, we read, And I heard a voice from heaven
saying unto me, Write, Blessed are the dead which die in the
Lord from henceforth. Yea, sayeth the Spirit that they
may rest from their labors and their works do follow them. The things they did in this body,
they don't come out front as being the cause of salvation.
They don't come to the side as being rewarded a different position
in glory. They come behind as evidence. that God had done something for
them. The Lord says, Then shall I say
unto them, Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as you have done
it unto one of the least of these my brethren, you have done it
to me. You are going to receive the
things done in the body. And then shall he say unto them
on the left hand, Depart from me, ye cursed, into everlasting
fire. And note that word everlasting.
Some people talk about hell as if it's annihilation. It won't
last forever. Yes, it will. Because you can
never satisfy the justice of God. Even the flames of hell
will not satisfy his justice. Depart from me, ye cursed into
everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his angels. And
then he talks about things done in the body. For I was hungry
and you gave me no meat. I was thirsty and you gave me
no drink. I was a stranger, and you took me not in. Naked, and
you clothed me not. Sick and in prison, and you visited
me not. Then shall they also answer him, saying, Lord, we
thought we did. When saw we then, hungered or
thirst or stranger or naked or sick or in prison, did minister
to thee? We thought we did. Then shall he answer them, verily
I say unto you, inasmuch as you did it not to one of the least
of these, my brethren, you did it not to me. And these shall
go away into everlasting punishment, but the righteous into life eternal."
Now, back in our text, Paul said, for we must all appear before
the judgment seat of Christ. That's for sure. To receive the
things done in the body according to that he hath done, whether
it be good or bad, knowing therefore the terror of the Lord, we persuade
men. What do we persuade men to do?
I want to persuade you to look to Christ only as the only reason
you'll hear God say to you, well done, thou good and faithful
servant, because you're in Him. I want to persuade you to believe
the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ, because if you trust
Him, if you believe who He is and what He did is all that is
needed to make you without sin before God, There's no terror
for you. But if you look to yourself in
any way, all there will be is terror. Now, we have this message
on DVD and CD. If you call the church or write,
we'll send you a copy. This is Todd Kniper praying God
will be pleased to make himself known to you. To request a copy of the sermon
you have just heard, send a request to messages at toddsroadgracechurch.com. Or you may write or call the
church at the information provided on the screen.