Certainly, the Old Testament, along with the New, abounds with warnings about upcoming divine judgment. Sometimes the words are kind and loving. But then sometimes those warnings are full harsh realities and threats – with specific sins mentioned.
There are in fact many different judgments described in the Word of Lord. The two major judgments are those of the lost and a separate judgment for the redeemed. In Revelation 20 we have one which usually described as “The Great White Throne Judgment.” It’s quite likely the judgment of the saved, at the “Bema” will be from a Great White Throne as well. But these two terms are generally used to differentiate these major judgments. Here in Romans, along with a few other passages, we have reference to the “Judgment Seat of Christ.” As I have said, the Greek word is “bema.” There are other major judgments as well, including the judgment at Calvary and the judgment of nations. But it’s the bema that we are concerned with tonight.
Two other major passages which gives us incite into the Bema are found in the two books to the Corinthians. “We are confident, I say, and willing rather to be absent from the body, and to be present with the Lord. Wherefore we labour, that, whether present or absent, we may be accepted of him. For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ; that every one may receive the things done in his body, according to that he hath done, whether it be good or bad.” And “for other foundation can no man lay than that is laid, which is Jesus Christ. Now if any man build upon this foundation gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, stubble; 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. If any man’s work shall be burned, he shall suffer loss: but he himself shall be saved; yet so as by fire.”
When it comes to this bema there are many things to consider – Let’s summarize – First, who are the souls that will stand before this Judgment Seat? II Corinthians 5:10 agrees with Romans 14 – “We must ALL appear.” All those who are truly children of the King will have to stand before Him. There will no exemptions; This is judgment of the godly and the semi-godly. All of the Lord’s sheep with participate – white and black, clean and dusty. Those spotted by the world and the ringstraked; speckled and pure. We will not be able to hide as Saul tried to hide from Samuel, or Adam tried to hide from Jehovah. Father Adam and Mother Eve will stand with shameful Lot and perhaps Achan. Those from Babylon and Rome; barbarian and Scythian; black and white – all the saved. And you will be there whether looking forward to it or fearing it – assuming that you are a child of God. And we shall “appear” there – without disguises and masquerade. You will be seen as you really are; your hypocrisy will be measured. Your works will be weighed in the balances and perhaps found wanting.
Of course the Judge will be the Lord Jesus Christ, who gave His life for our sins. U.S. and British law says that a man shall be tried by his peers, but you can forget that in this case. And this Judge will show no favoritism. He will not be hindered by myopic sight or tunnel vision. He will not be impressed by past performances and later laziness. And there will be no lawyers present to distort the truth as in the case of O.J. Simpson.
The rule of this judgment will be the action or lack of action in your life, as proscribed by the Word of God. This implies that everything in our lives is now known and could then be shown – if it was really necessary. “Every man’s work shall be made manifest: for the day shall declare it.” If sin will be revealed, it will include more than just what we have confessed, but sin may not be involved. The sins of the believer have already been judged on Calvary, and will probably not be mentioned again. This judgment appears to be dealing with service or our lack of service (which of course is sin-related). When you claimed to be serving the Lord, but you really weren’t – that will be made known. If you did things in the name of the Lord, but you were hoping for your own glory through it, that will be the sort of work consumed by the fire of God’s judgment. For every idle word that men shall speak will they have to give an account. Your gracious actions may be on display as proof of your faith. For some people it will be a time of great joy. But for most of us, it will be a time of sorrow, as we look at our wasted lives. The Lord will have to wipe away many a tear. And the time that we spent criticizing our brothers for eating pork, or meat in general, and in their celebration of birthdays and New Years, these things too will be examined by God.
And what will be the purpose of this judgment? Ultimately it will be for the glory of Christ – the Judge. But the means to that shall be that every one may receive the things done in his body, whether good or bad. When God’s servants are glorified, it will mean more glory to Christ. And when unfaithful servants are chastised, once again, the perfection of the Lord will be magnified. In this regard the Bible speaks of crowns being given to God’s faithful servants. We may assume that they will be given at the Bema. And in order to approach our thoughts about this Bema from a slightly different angle than we have in the past, let’s think about those crowns.
And that is what the Lord is primarily interested in of us. God doesn’t really need many dying Christians, bur rather living saints. David cried at the death of his son,”O my son Absalom, my son, my son Absalom! would God I had died for thee, O Absalom, my son, my son!” No David, both you and your son would have been better off if you had lived more consistently for God. It is one thing to die TO sin, its entirely another to die serving sin, and even Christians can do that. Faithfulness, that is what this is talking about; “be thou faithful unto death.” And if that faithfulness means your martyrdom, well, that’s just fine. Because physical death is just a transportation to a better world. Amen? Faithfulness is the grounds for winning this crown;
The Greek word for all these “crowns” is not the kingly crown or “diadem.” Rather it’s crown given to of the winner of a race: “stephanos.” The idea is not of a dynasty but of a victory. We should all be in the contest of faithfulness. What made George Washington the great general of the revolution? It was not his tactical skill in the battlefield-planning-tent. It was not his ability with musket or bayonet. It was fact kept his people together during the terrible early days of the war. The man was faithful, and has been rewarded with all kinds of crowns ever since. Likewise Admiral Horatio Nelson was faithful to his command at the Battle of Trafalgar. But in his case his life was lost; he died in that battle. So who should receive the greater crown? Neither. They both died doing their duty. Our duty is obedience to Christ every day, every hour of our lives – or in our deaths. “Be thou faithful unto death and I will give thee a crown of life.”
I wont spend time on this crown, because it is appropriate only to the elder, or shepherd. Yet at the same time, it has to be mentioned, because it is my hope that from this church will eventually come other pastors. Let it suffice to say that there is no more noble way to spend one’s life. The Lord will not forget those who have given up wealth, fame and privilege to serve in the Word of God. When the chief shepherd shall appear a few shall receive a special crown of glory which will never fade away.
By the way, this hints at the time when this Bema will take place – shortly after the coming of the Lord. The question is: to which aspect of the Lord’s coming does this apply. “And when the chief Shepherd shall appear, ye shall receive a crown of glory that fadeth not away.” I am of the opinion that it will take place during the Tribulation shortly after the transfiguration of the saints.
As Lyman Beecher lay dying, someone asked him, “What is the crown of your accomplishments?” The old preacher replied, “It has nothing to do with the doctrine that I have preached. It is not the controversy that I have earned or the controversy that I have defeated. It is not the sermons that I’ve preached or the books that I’ve written. The crown of my life is the souls that the Lord has saved through my ministry.” I know that there is debate whether this refers to people being the crown or if they are the criteria for which the crowns are to be given. But either way, we cannot dodge fact that the redemption of souls can’t separated from the Lord’s crown. And you can’t deny also that very, very few Christians shall wear this crown in glory. Will you? Have you ever lead a single soul to Christ? Can you tell me why you haven’t. Are you ready to make explanation? If there are questions asked at the Bema, then this might be one of them. There are some expositors believe that there aren’t six crowns, but only a couple. The Christian who is faithful unto death will be a winner of souls – that is a part of his crown of life. The one who is faithful unto death will satisfy the criteria for several of these crowns. Are you going to be crownless at the Judgment Seat of Christ?
This seems to point out the fact that there will be no losers at the Bema. When earthly “stephanos” were given, they lasted only few days and then were gone. Most were made of wild vines, knitted into wreaths. These wreathes were then placed on the heads of the men who won their races. Paul mentions this to point out that our “stephanos” are eternal.
But in this case he doesn’t really say for what reason they are given. In the Olympics great stress is laid on the number gold, silver, bronze each country or person wins. I personally think it’s an unfair waste of time. China – 200 gold metals, USA – 199; Canada – 25; and Nigeria – 4. How often do the commentators consider the comparative populations, poverty, and opportunity in each of those nations? Just the fact that someone is competing ought to be satisfaction enough. Are really any losers in such competitions? Not for most athletes – only for the really elite.
Christian, to receive a crown from hand of Christ is wonderful, but isn’t Heaven great enough in itself? In the Christian race there are no losers, and perhaps the incorruptible crown is given to everyone. The fact that we are resident in God’s glory is one aspect of the victory.
Do you love the thought of Jesus’ at-any-moment appearance? If you do not, then likely you are to some degree an idolater. You are likely laying up treasurers on earth, rather than glory. You are more interested in your glory than the glory of Christ. And quite likely you will miss nearly all these crowns, if indeed they are blessings beyond salvation itself.
This reward of righteousness will be given to those who are watching. It is indeed special and privileged. You can’t look for Him if you don’t love him. You can’t love him unless you’ve met him.
Years ago I read a fanciful story of a woman who was wandering about Heaven. She found a building into which no one was permitted to enter. She protested that this just wasn’t right, and demanded know what was special about this forbidden place. An angel then agreed to give her a tour. It turned out to be a vast vault – full of the treasures of the Lord. There were rooms of artifacts like David’s sling and Moses’ rod. There were rooms of books, and pictures and other things. Finally they came to the biggest room of them all – filled with crowns. As she looked about she saw three there with her name on them. The Angel said, “These were reserved for you, but you wasted your life, and you will never receive them.”
Will there be any unclaimed crowns in Heaven with your name on them?