Romans 14:10-13
“…For we shall all stand before the judgment seat of Christ. For it is written: "As I live, says the Lord, Every knee shall bow to Me, and every tongue shall confess to God." So then each of us shall give account of himself to God’.
All people will appear before the judgment seat of Jesus. All who claim to be believers will also have to appear there though they will not face the judgment of the lake of fire if all is well with them. What do you think it would be like to stand before the judgment seat of Jesus? What do you think he would tell you? What kind of atmosphere do you think would exist there? Many people’s ideas of what Jesus would say and how he would respond to them are based upon their understanding of who he is. This article will show what will happen before the judgment seat of Jesus and will explain how to fare well there.
WHO IS JESUS?
In these days, even those who identify themselves as Christians are blasé about the deity and position of Jesus Christ. They call him, the man upstairs, JC, the dirty God and other epithets that are not befitting the glorious one who died in the place of mankind. Some may say these are not epithets for they are not meant to be derogatory. Would you address your mother by her initials, call her the woman upstairs or the dirty woman, irrespective of the meaning you intend to convey, wouldn’t it be considered disrespectful and dishonorable to her? How then do these words express respect to Jesus, one so exalted?
Jesus is not on our level. He is the highest being in the heaven and earth. The apostles regarded him as Lord and Master even though he served them for he says in John 13:13, “Ye call me Master and Lord: and ye say well; for so I am”. We have a familiarity with God, in these days, that breeds contempt and the world has absorbed it, these things ought not to be. It is this familiarity that would cause people to think that he would accept and excuse their sins and behavior in the judgment but he will not.
Jesus is the image of God, the Potentate and authority of the universe, the creator—all things were created by him and for him even thrones and principalities. He is the Word of God, the one who upholds the universe by his powerful word, the King of Kings, the Lord of Lords, the Lord of the living and the dead, the one that purged mankind’s sins and he is the judge. There is none higher than he and these words barely describe the majesty that is Jesus. See Hebrews 1:3, 1 Timothy 6:15, Colossians 1: 15-17, John 1:1, Matthew 28:18, Romans 14:9 and John 5:22 for confirmation of these facts.
WHAT WILL HAPPEN AT HIS JUDGMENT SEAT?
Many perceive that Jesus will respond to them in the judgment in the same manner in which he responded to the woman caught in adultery in John 8:1-11. They think that he will excuse them because of their giving to the poor or some charitable work even though they have held on to certain sins without remorse. An example of this would be one who gives readily to the poor but maintains an adulterous relationship and uses love as justification for that relationship. This will not hold up in the judgment.
Standing before Jesus is not like standing before any other. He is the highest being in the universe. He will never judge by appearance, false evidence or hearsay. He will judge justly and he cannot be deceived, cajoled or bribed. If you have done wrong and have not repented, there is no chance for you at the judgment seat of Christ. Jesus is not soft on sin as some think, Hebrews 1:9 informs us that he loves righteousness but he hates sin. All will bow the knee before him and confess the deeds that they have done in their bodies. Nothing will be covered on that day. Mark 9:43-48 shows that those who sin, that is, those who break God’s Law, will be thrown into the lake of fire where the worm never dies and the fire is never quenched.
Many read Matthew 25:31-46, see the nations judged according to their charitable works to mankind and think that this is the only manner in which the nations will be judged but such is not the case. Each individual will also be judged for his other deeds. Ecclesiastes 12:13-14 states, “…Fear God and keep his commandments, for this is the whole duty of man. For God will bring every deed into judgment with every hidden thing whether it is good or evil”. Revelation 20:12, 15 states, “And I saw the dead, great and small, standing before the throne, and books were opened. Another book was opened, which is the book of life. The dead were judged according to what they had done as recorded in the books. If anyone’s name was not found written in the book of life, he was thrown into the lake of fire”. Revelation 21:7-8 states, “He who overcomes will inherit all this, and I will be his God and he will be my son but the cowardly, the unbelieving, the vile, the murderers, the sexually immoral, those who practice magic arts, the idolaters and all liars—their place will be in the fiery lake of burning sulfur. This is the second death.
Matthew 13:24-30 is a parable that shows how the enemy positions his people among the people of God. They look and act like God’s people but are positioned to accomplish the devil’s purposes. The explanation of this parable is in verses 37-43, it announces, “He answered and said to them: "He who sows the good seed is the Son of Man. The field is the world, the good seeds are the sons of the kingdom, but the tares are the sons of the wicked one. The enemy who sowed them is the devil, the harvest is the end of the age, and the reapers are the angels. Therefore, as the tares are gathered and burned in the fire, so it will be at the end of this age. The Son of Man will send out His angels, and they will gather out of His kingdom all things that offend, and those who practice lawlessness, and will cast them into the furnace of fire. There will be wailing and gnashing of teeth. Then the righteous will shine forth as the sun in the kingdom of their Father. He, who has ears to hear, let him hear!”” We see, then, that these ones will be brought to the judgment seat of Christ also and it will not go well with them. It is at the judgment seat that sentence is pronounced.
Not even stalwart believers in the Lord who have lived for God all their lives will escape the judgment seat. God’s servants, those who work for him, that is, those who prophesy, preach, teach and administer in his name, for the furtherance of his kingdom, will also be brought to the judgment seat. There are several examples of this in the scripture. I will cite two. Matthew 24:45-51 shows that if the servant of God feeds the people of God with the word at the time that he is supposed to he will be rewarded but if he does not he will be eternally punished. Verses 48-51 state, “But if that evil servant says in his heart, “My master is delaying his coming,” and begins to beat his fellow servants, and to eat and drink with the drunkards, the master of that servant will come on a day when he is not looking for him and at an hour that he is not aware of, and will cut him in two and appoint him his portion with the hypocrites. There shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth”. Matthew 25:14-30, the parable of the talent, shows the servants that did well were rewarded but the servant who hid his talent and did not make use of it was thrown into the darkness where there will be gnashing of teeth. An example of this would be someone who fails to preach the word that God has given him such that those for whom it was intended were not saved. Having their blood on his hands, as is mentioned in Ezekiel 3:17-21, he would be cast out of God’s presence.
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