Foundations of the Christian Life.
Chapter 38: - JUDGMENT # 3: - THE JUDGMENT OF CHRISTIANS.
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As we noted in the last chapter there are two phases to God's judgment:

(i) In Time.
(ii) At the End of the Age.

This is true also for the Christian as well as for the non-Christian, however judgment for the Christian is not to do with sin as much as it is to do with rewards. The question of our sin has been dealt with at the cross, God no longer judges us on that. If we sin the universal consequences of our actions will come upon us, that is spiritual and moral law written into the fabric of the universe, but that in itself is not God judging us.

One of the key issues we need to settle in our hearts as Christians is this:

Do we want God to deal with us according to justice, i.e. according to what is right and wrong, what we deserve, what is fair; Or do we want God to deal with us according to his MERCY.

We can, even as Christians, choose to be dealt with on the basis of justice, but we will have to live by Law if we do so.

Because Christ has already dealt with the justice question, God only wants to extend mercy to us, and all of his dealings with us must be seen from this light - they are acts of mercy, not acts of justice.

However it is still true that God is involved in judgment with the Christian. However it is more in the sense of evaluation as to how well we are fulfilling his plan and purpose for our lives, and in that judgment he sets about to bring about things in our lives which will cause us to adjust towards him. However there are times when he will judge the sinfulness of his people.


JUDGMENTS IN TIME NOW.

1 Corinthians 11:29-32.
“For anyone who eats and drinks without recognizing the body of the Lord eats and drinks judgment on himself. That is why many among you are weak and sick, and a number of you have fallen asleep. But if we judged ourselves, we would not come under judgment. When we are judged by the Lord, we are being disciplined so that we will not be condemned with the world.”

1 Peter 4:17.
“For it is time for judgment to begin with the family of God; and if it begins with us, what will the outcome be for those who do not obey the gospel of God?”

Hebrews 12:7-11.
“Endure hardship as discipline; God is treating you as sons. For what son is not disciplined by his father? If you are not disciplined (and everyone undergoes discipline), then you are illegitimate children and not true sons. Moreover, we have all had human fathers who disciplined us and we respected them for it. How much more should we submit to the Father of our spirits and live! Our fathers disciplined us for a little while as they thought best; but God disciplines us for our good, that we may share in his holiness. No discipline seems pleasant at the time, but painful. Later on, however, it produces a harvest of righteousness and peace for those who have been trained by it.”

James 3:1.
“Not many of you should presume to be teachers, my brothers, because you know that we who teach will be judged more strictly.”

Judgment comes to the Christian as the discipline of a loving Father. Its aim is our good, our maturity. God knows our frame perfectly and only allows discipline to come on us:
(i) To the extent that we can endure (1 Corinthians 10:13), and
(ii) According to the depth of the sinful habit patterns in our lives that he wants to root out.

THE DEPTH OF GOD'S DISCIPLINE IN OUR LIVES DEPENDS ON THE DEPTH OF OUR OWN SINFUL NATURE.


NOTE: - Not all calamity or suffering that comes into our lives is the judgment, or discipline, of God. The Bible makes it clear that there are other reasons for suffering, including:

(i) Sharing in the Messianic Sufferings.

Colossians 1:24.
“Now I rejoice in what was suffered for you, and I fill up in my flesh what is still lacking in regard to Christ's afflictions, for the sake of his body, which is the church.”

Paul here talks of Messianic Sufferings, sufferings because we are Christians, sufferings for the sake of the Gospel and the Church. Paul appears to be saying here that there is a set amount of Messianic sufferings, determined by God. Christ endured his share, but there is a measured amount for the Church also. When it is all used up there will be no more. Paul rejoiced in the fact that he could suffer for Christ, because in doing so he used up Messianic sufferings, meaning that there was less suffering for others to have to experience.

(ii) Attack from the Enemy.

Job 1:1,6-12.
“In the land of Uz there lived a man whose name was Job. This man was blameless and upright; he feared God and shunned evil...
…One day the angels came to present themselves before the LORD, and Satan also came with them. The LORD said to Satan, "Where have you come from?"
Satan answered the LORD, "From roaming through the earth and going back and forth in it." Then the LORD said to Satan, "Have you considered my servant Job? There is no one on earth like him; he is blameless and upright, a man who fears God and shuns evil."
"Does Job fear God for nothing?" Satan replied. "Have you not put a hedge around him and his household and everything he has? You have blessed the work of his hands, so that his
flocks and herds are spread throughout the land. But stretch out your hand and strike everything he has, and he will surely curse you to your face."
The LORD said to Satan, "Very well, then, everything he has is in your hands, but on the man himself do not lay a finger."
Then Satan went out from the presence of the LORD.”

Clearly in the book of Job God allowed suffering and sickness to come on Job but there was no sin in Job's life that caused it. The reason it came was simply that Satan had challenged God's assessment of Job's spirituality, so God allowed Satan to test it out. In fact the whole of Job’s suffering originated in the fact that God boasted to Satan about how righteous Job was!
The whole point of the book of Job is that sometimes the righteous suffer, and the reasons for it are hidden in God. We will not know until the judgment what the reasons were. However one reason is simply in Satan's slander, which God has to allow to be tested.

There is a popular teaching, repeated often in the book of Job by his three friends, that goes something like this: “If you serve God everything will go well with you.”

The implication is, of course, that “If things are not going well for you then there is necessarily sin in your life”.

This was the theology of Job’s three friends. It is a strict application of the “Law of Sowing and Reaping” which, while being true, is not the only factor operating in our lives. In the final analysis God evaluated this teaching in:

Job 42:7.
“After the LORD had said these things to Job, he said to Eliphaz the Temanite, "I am angry with you and your two friends, because you have not spoken of me what is right, as my servant Job has.”

They had not “spoken right” because they made a legalistic application of one Divine principle into a situation where it did not actually apply, but they presumed to know that it did apply and didn’t consider other possibilities.

In other words, the idea has problems. Of course it may be true that some particular calamity in your life is a result of sin, yours’ or somebody else’s। And in that case repentance will begin the process of restoration। But the problem Job’s friends had was that they were using a reverse argument which did not necessarily hold true in every case. In terms of logical argument it looks like this:

“A” (if you serve God) implies “B” (Things will go well with you).
Therefore: “Not B” implies “Not A”.

There are three things wrong with the argument:
१. “A” does not always imply “B”. There are times when serving God will lead to persecution, even martyrdom. One might lose everything and have to flee for one’s life because of persecution.
२. "B" may be true even if "Not A".
2. “Not B” could be caused by “Not A”, but it could also be caused by many other factors, namely "C”, “D”, “E”, “F” etc., where:
“C” = persecution (sharing in the Messianic sufferings),
“D” = spiritual warfare (as in the case of Job),
“E” = the sin of other people against you,
“F” = the dealings of God in your life,
And so on.

So it is unwise to automatically work back from calamity to personal sin, though a good counselor will investigate this as a possibility. It is equally unwise to ignore the possibility that the calamity is directly related to sin. It is a possibility.
We must remain aware of the possibility that calamity in a person’s life may well be God’s judgment on a sinful lifestyle they have pursued and the calamity may be removed by thorough repentance. This is as true for Christians as it is for anyone else.

One area in particular we need to be aware of is division in the Church. Those that cause division in the Church come under a judgment of God. This is because the whole integrity of the Gospel is undermined if we are divided.

Paul says this in two different ways in 1 Corinthians, because the problem in Corinth was repeated divisions:

1 Corinthians 3:16,17.
“Don't you know that you yourselves are God's temple and that God's Spirit lives in you? If anyone destroys God's temple, God will destroy him; for God's temple is sacred, and you are that temple.”

* Here Paul uses the image of the temple।
* The “you” in the passage is the second person plural in each case so the passage refers, not the individual, but the Church as a whole।
* The “anyone” and “him” in the passage are singular, referring to an individual।

Hence it reads literally like this:
“Don't you know that you all are God's temple and that God's Spirit lives in you all? If any person destroys God's temple, God will destroy him; for God's temple is sacred, and you all are that temple.”

Paul repeats the warning, using a different image:

1 Corinthians 11:29-32.
“For anyone who eats and drinks without recognizing the body of the Lord eats and drinks judgment on himself. That is why many among you are weak and sick, and a number of you have fallen asleep. But if we judged ourselves, we would not come under judgment. When we are judged by the Lord, we are being disciplined so that we will not be condemned with the world.”

Here “the body of the Lord” can be interpreted two ways:
(i) Referring to Christ’s body that died on the Cross.
(ii) Referring to “the Body of Christ”, i.e. the Church. This is how the phrase is used everywhere else in 1 Corinthians so it must be allowed here.
Taking this second meaning in the context of Paul’s discussion, which is about divisions in the Church over various matters, the meaning is plainly that if we take Communion while practicing sin, particularly the sin of disunity, we eat and drink judgment on ourselves.

This all goes back to the concept I discussed in chapter 16, The Prophetic Action.
A prophetic action is an action that conveys a message, but it in some way causes the message to become true.

There I talked about how Passover (and the other Festivals of Israel) were prophetic festivals. In the festival the history was re-enacted in such a way so as to relive the story again. In this way every Jew since those events thousands of years ago has become part of the original events. The purpose of this acting out, this remembering, is to bring the events of the past into the present in such a way that the past events become personal and real to the present generation. The story is told again in a prophetic way.

As a result these are no longer just memories, no indeed - every Jew was there. They were all in Egypt, they all went through the plagues and the Passover, they all crossed the Red Sea and came to Sinai, they all suffered under Haman in the days of Esther. And so on. And this “remembering” every year has served to make the events so real in their consciousness that their national identity will never die out.

So the idea of remembrance in Jewish thinking is not simply to have a memorial to remember past events, but a remembrance is a recreation of the original events in such a way that the participants in the remembrance actually are participating in the original events. They were there. They are prophetic actions.

Communion was instituted by Christ at a Passover meal. He did not change the nature of the meal from being a prophetic action, a remembrance, but he did change the meaning of the action. The Bread he called “his body”, the wine he called “his blood”. The Communion is a “New Covenant” celebration. In Communion the story is told again of Christ’s death and resurrection in such a way as to transport us back in time so that we are united with the original disciples in that upper room – we were there! In this way there is only one body of Christ, one Church, that spans all ages and all nations. We were there!

Communion is thus an eternal act, it transcends time. Every time we take Communion we touch Eternity.
It is an action that preaches a message.
In some way doing the action makes the message come true for the participant.
It brings the past events of Christ’s death and resurrection into present experiential reality.

When we take Communion one of the things we preach in the act is this:
1 Corinthians 10:17.
“Because there is one loaf, we, who are many, are one body, for we all partake of the one loaf.”
We preach a message of unity.

If, while taking Communion, we are guilty of the sin of division we contradict ourselves. Thus we eat and drink judgment on ourselves. The division we are guilty of bringing to the body of Christ is visited on our own body - “That is why many among you are weak and sick, and a number of you have fallen asleep.”
“If any person destroys God's temple, God will destroy him…”

It is my conviction that much of the sickness found in Christians is rooted in divisive attitudes. And many have died early deaths (i.e. before they reached 70 years) because of division in the Church.

Psalm 90:10.
“The length of our days is seventy years- or eighty, if we have the strength; yet their span is but trouble and sorrow, for they quickly pass, and we fly away.”

Unfortunately it is not always those who cause the division who get sick and die. We are an army and we are only protected from the attacks of the enemy when we stand in rank together. When division comes in the Body of Christ the Enemy is able to attack many members of the body, not just those who cause the division. I have seen instances where people who were healed of incurable diseases by the power of God in a miraculous way, had immediate relapses when there was division in the leadership of the church they attended – even though they personally didn’t know that there was a division and were Not part of it or its cause!

It is a very sobering thought.

GOD'S JUDGEMENT OF THE CHURCH AT THE END OF THE AGE.

Usually called "The Judgment Seat of Christ".

When Christ comes there is a judgement of Christians. This is to evaluate our works and to allocate to us our rewards and positions in the Eternal Kingdom. This judgement has nothing to do with the wrath of God, i.e. with sin.

1 Thessalonians 5:9.
“For God did not appoint us to suffer wrath but to receive salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ.”

“Wrath” in the Bible occurs on the “Day of the Lord” and is on those who have refused the offer of salvation in Christ.

Our judgment is to evaluate how much we grew spiritually so we can be usefully employed in the Eternal Kingdom. What we are entrusted with in the life to come is dependent on how fruitful we are now. The five principles of judgement still apply (see Chapter 15), but only to the allocation of rewards and service, the question of eternal destiny is already settled.

Romans 14:10-12.
“You, then, why do you judge your brother? Or why do you look down on your brother? For we will all stand before God's judgment seat. It is written: "`As surely as I live,' says the Lord, `every knee will bow before me; every tongue will confess to God.'" So then, each of us will give an account of himself to God.”

“judgment seat”
Greek: = bema = a raised platform used for public address.
Elsewhere in the NT it is used of the place of judgement used by the Roman emperor or his deputies.

1 Corinthians 3:10-15.
“By the grace God has given me, I laid a foundation as an expert builder, and someone else is building on it. But each one should be careful how he builds. For no one can lay any foundation other than the one already laid, which is Jesus Christ. If any man builds on this foundation using gold, silver, costly stones, wood, hay or straw, his work will be shown for what it is, because the Day will bring it to light. It will be revealed with fire, and the fire will test the quality of each man's work. If what he has built survives, he will receive his reward. If it is burned up, he will suffer loss; he himself will be saved, but only as one escaping through the flames.”

This judgment is made on the basis of our deeds. There is a record kept of our deeds. Our sins are covered, but our deeds of faithful service, or our failure to act in this way, are recorded.

Three things are examined:
(i) Our Motive for service, for God's glory or ours.
(ii) Was it out of obedience to God or our own initiative and effort?
(iii) Was it in God's power or our own?

TWO PARABLES:

(I) Matthew 20:1-16.
"For the kingdom of heaven is like a landowner who went out early in the morning to hire men to work in his vineyard. He agreed to pay them a denarius for the day and sent them into his vineyard. "About the third hour he went out and saw others standing in the marketplace doing nothing. He told them, `You also go and work in my vineyard, and I will pay you whatever is right.' So they went. "He went out again about the sixth hour and the ninth hour and did the same thing. About the eleventh hour he went out and found still others standing around. He asked them, `Why have you been standing here all day long doing nothing?'
"`Because no one has hired us,' they answered. "He said to them, `You also go and work in my vineyard.'
"When evening came, the owner of the vineyard said to his foreman, `Call the workers and pay them their wages, beginning with the last ones hired and going on to the first.'
"The workers who were hired about the eleventh hour came and each received a denarius.
So when those came who were hired first, they expected to receive more. But each one of them also received a denarius. When they received it, they began to grumble against the
landowner. `These men who were hired last worked only one hour,' they said, `and you have made them equal to us who have borne the burden of the work and the heat of the day.'
"But he answered one of them, `Friend, I am not being unfair to you. Didn't you agree to work for a denarius? Take your pay and go. I want to give the man who was hired last the same as I gave you. Don't I have the right to do what I want with my own money? Or are you envious because I am generous?' "So the last will be first, and the first will be last."


Here every believer gets a reward, the issue in this parable is not the type or amount of service, but whether the person was a servant at all. All true believers will be there and will receive some basic reward in common with all the others।

This reward includes several things: -
John 3:16. Eternal life.
"For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.”

1 Corinthians 9:25 - a crown.
“Everyone who competes in the games goes into strict training. They do it to get a crown that will not last; but we do it to get a crown that will last forever.”

2 Timothy 4:6-8.
“For I am already being poured out like a drink offering, and the time has come for my departure. I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith. Now there is in store 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 longed for his appearing.”

"crown" = stephanos = a wreath, placed on the heads of winning athletes. The modern equivalent is a medal.

1 Peter 1:4,5 – an inheritance.
“… and into an inheritance that can never perish, spoil or fade- kept in heaven for you, who through faith are shielded by God's power until the coming of the salvation that is ready to be revealed in the last time.”

Colossians 3:24.
“…since you know that you will receive an inheritance from the Lord as a reward. It is the Lord Christ you are serving.”

However the Apostle Paul indicates that for some this reward may be very small।

1 Corinthians 3:15.
"If what he has built survives, he will receive his reward. If it is burned up, he will suffer loss; he himself will be saved, but only as one escaping through the flames.”

It seems that some will be saved "by the skin of their teeth" - and some will lose even the skin off their teeth!

(II) Matthew 25:14-30.
"Again, it will be like a man going on a journey, who called his servants and entrusted his property to them. To one he gave five talents of money, to another two talents, and to another one talent, each according to his ability. Then he went on his journey.
The man who had received the five talents went at once and put his money to work and gained five more. So also, the one with the two talents gained two more. But the man who had received the one talent went off, dug a hole in the ground and hid his master's money.
"After a long time the master of those servants returned and settled accounts with them.
The man who had received the five talents brought the other five. `Master,' he said, `you entrusted me with five talents. See, I have gained five more.' "His master replied, `Well done, good and faithful servant! You have been faithful with a few things; I will put you in charge of many things. Come and share your master's happiness!'
"The man with the two talents also came. `Master,' he said, `you entrusted me with two talents; see, I have gained two more.' "His master replied, `Well done, good and faithful servant! You have been faithful with a few things; I will put you in charge of many
things. Come and share your master's happiness!'
"Then the man who had received the one talent came. `Master,' he said, `I knew that you are a hard man, harvesting where you have not sown and gathering where you have not scattered seed. So I was afraid and went out and hid your talent in the ground. See, here is what belongs to you.' "His master replied, `You wicked, lazy servant! So you knew that I harvest where I have not sown and gather where I have not scattered seed? Well then, you should have put my money on deposit with the bankers, so that when I returned I would have received it back with interest. Take the talent from him and give it to the one who has the ten talents. For everyone who has will be given more, and he will have an abundance. Whoever does not have, even what he has will be taken from him. And throw that worthless servant outside, into the darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.'”

* Here Believers get differing rewards। The issue here is the servant’s STEWARDSHIP of his gifts। Good stewardship means greater reward. Here we see that there will be differences in our functions in Heaven. A man who has shown greater ability to use God's resources wisely on earth will be given greater responsibility in Heaven.

* Notice that the man who was condemned was only given one gift. By not using it he seems to have missed out on an Eternal Reward in Heaven. This parable has caused much controversy. The following is my interpretation of what it means.

Some people are only given one gift, the gift of new Life in Christ, and are to live that life to the full. In doing so they will receive more gifts. This man despised the gift of new life and buried it. He really only "took it out as fire insurance" against Hell. In such cases people will find that their supposed "faith" will not save them. In the final analysis this parable tells us that some people who received the gift of God's will go to Hell because they did not live according to the life they were given, and hence their works did not prove their faith. Faith is A present tense verb, and is thus Not guaranteed by A single past act.

WHEN IS THIS JUDGEMENT?

It appears that Christ catches us up (raptures us) with him as he descends at Armageddon. We then descend with him. The Judgement Seat of Christ seems to follow almost immediately.

It is part of the seventh trumpet

Revelation 11: 16-19.
“And the twenty-four elders, who were seated on their thrones before God, fell on their faces and worshiped God, saying: "We give thanks to you, Lord God Almighty, the One who is and who was, because you have taken your great power and have begun to reign. The nations were angry; and your wrath has come. The time has come for judging the dead, and for rewarding your servants the prophets and your saints and those who reverence your name, both small and great - and for destroying those who destroy the earth."
Then God's temple in heaven was opened, and within his temple was seen the ark of his covenant. And there came flashes of lightning, rumblings, peals of thunder, an earthquake and a great hailstorm.”

Revelation 14:1-5 - seems to be describing the event.
“Then I looked, and there before me was the Lamb, standing on Mount Zion, and with him 144,000 who had his name and his Father's name written on their foreheads. And I heard a sound from heaven like the roar of rushing waters and like a loud peal of thunder. The sound I heard was like that of harpists playing their harps. And they sang a new song before the throne and before the four living creatures and the elders. No one could learn the song except the 144,000 who had been redeemed from the earth. These are those who did not defile themselves with women, for they kept themselves pure. They follow the Lamb wherever he goes. They were purchased from among men and offered as firstfruits to God and the Lamb. No lie was found in their mouths; they are blameless.”

The identity of the 144,000 we discussed in Chapter 24 so we won’t cover that again. They are the Church, the Bride of Christ.

A parallel Jewish writing indicates that this event is the judgment seat of Christ.

2 Esdras 2:42-47.
"I, Ezra, saw on Mt Zion a crowd too large to count, all singing hymns of praise to the Lord. In the middle stood a very tall young man, taller than all the rest, who was setting a crown on the head of each of them; he stood out above them all. I was enthralled at the sight, and asked the angel, "Sir, who are these?" He replied," They are those who have laid aside their mortal dress and put on immortal, those who acknowledged the name of God. Now they are being given crowns and palms." I asked again, "who is the young man setting crowns on their heads and giving them palms?', and the angel answered," He is the Son of God, whom they acknowledged in this mortal life."