“The Judgment Seat of Christ” Revelation 19:1-10

TRANSCRIPT

Date: May 21, 2023 Author: Wayne J. Edwards

The Rapture of the Church is not just the Christian’s “Great Escape” from tribulation, as some believe. The rapture is the fulfillment of the promise Jesus made to the church of Philadelphia, “Because you have kept My command to persevere, I will also keep you from the hour of trial which shall come upon the whole world, to test those who dwell on the earth.” (Rev. 3:10) That “hour of trial” is the seven years of Tribulation when God will pour out His wrath upon those who rejected Jesus as the Christ and instead embraced the Antichrist. Since, by definition, Christians have already confessed Jesus as our Savior and Lord, the wrath of God that we deserved was satisfied by our faith alone, and in the Person and work of Christ alone. However, before we are given our harp and assigned our cloud, ( wink, wink) each Christian “ must appear before the judgment seat of Christ, that each one may receive the things done in the body, according to what he has done, whether good or bad.” (2 Corinthians 5:19). We will explain this further in our next sermon entitled “The Judgment Seat of Christ.”

The Rapture of the Church is not just the Christian’s “Great Escape” from tribulation, as some believe. The rapture is the fulfillment of the promise Jesus made to the church of Philadelphia, “Because you have kept My command to persevere, I will also keep you from the hour of trial which shall come upon the whole world, to test those who dwell on the earth.” (Rev. 3:10)

That “hour of trial” is the seven years of Tribulation when God will pour out His wrath upon those who rejected Jesus as the Christ and instead embraced the Antichrist. Since, by definition, Christians have already confessed Jesus as our Savior and Lord, the wrath of God that we deserved was satisfied by our faith alone, and in the Person and work of Christ alone.

However, before we are given our harp and assigned our cloud, ( wink, wink) each Christian “ must appear before the judgment seat of Christ, that each one may receive the things done in the body, according to what he has done, whether good or bad.” (2 Corinthians 5:19). We will explain this further in our next sermon entitled “The Judgment Seat of Christ.”

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Old Testament Reading – Jeremiah 17:5-10 New Testament Reading – Ephesians 5:22-23

In 1 Corinthians 15:20-23, the Apostle Paul said, “But now Christ is risen from the dead, and has become the first fruits of those who have fallen asleep. But each in his own order: Christ the first fruits, afterward those who are Christ’s at His coming.”

However, those who have received Jesus Christ as their Savior and Lord since the beginning of the Church Age (Acts 2), including those who have died and those who will be alive on that day, will soon be raptured from this earth.

The New Testament describes five different crowns or heavenly rewards Christians may receive.

The Bible says believers will be judged and rewarded regarding:

Just as the 24-elders bowed before the Lord, and worshipped Him, casting their crowns before Him, so will we, for we will recognize it was not our work for Christ that accomplished anything of eternal value, but rather His work through us.

The Marriage of the Lamb will occur in heaven, after the Judgment Seat of Christ, but before the Lord’s return.

Once we have received the free gift of salvation by God’s grace alone, that issue is settled, once and for all, and forever. However, while our salvation cannot be lost by something we do or do not do, the crowns and rewards awaiting us at the Judgment Seat of Christ can be lost by what we do or do not do.

In Matthew 24:4-5, Jesus told His disciples that one of the signs of the end of the age would be spiritual deception. “Take heed that no one deceives you, for many will come in My name, saying, ‘I am the Christ,’ and will deceive many.”

In Romans 10:9-10, the Apostle Paul codified the essential elements of a true soul-saving, life-changing salvation experience. “If you confess with your mouth, Jesus is Lord, and believe in your heart God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved, for with the heart one believes unto righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.”

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