The Coming Judgment of the Saved

II Timothy 4:1 – “I charge thee therefore before God, and the Lord Jesus Christ, who shall judge the quick and the dead at his appearing and his kingdom

I.   There are two ways to look at the coming judgment of the saved.

A.     The judgment seat of Christ is a time of rejoicing when all of God’s children will receive rewards from God.  There will be no weeping or sorrow at this judgment because all of our sins are paid for.

1.      Romans 8:1 – There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit

2.      The word condemnation in our text means, “damnatory sentence, condemnation”.

3.      Therefore it is supposed that there is no sorrow, trouble or tears at the Judgment Seat of Christ.

4.      A form of the Greek word for “judgment” is the translated into the English word “condemnation.”

B.     The judgment is a time of mixed sorrow and rejoicing because all of God’s children will receive the things done in this life, whether it is good or bad.  There will be weeping at the judgment seat of Christ.

1.      1 Peter 4:17 – “For the time is come that judgment must begin at the house of God: and if it first begin at us, what shall the end be of them that obey not the gospel of God?”

2.      Revelation 21:4 – “And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes; and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain: for the former things are passed away.”

3.      It is when the new heavens and new earth appear that all tears will be wiped away.  Therefore I conclude tears will be present until then.

II.   I believe there will be sorrow and tears at the Judgment Seat of Christ, not that anybody will be surprised about their salvation, as only saved people will be at this judgment.

A.     I Corinthians 3:13-15 – “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. 14 If any man’s work abide which he hath built thereupon, he shall receive a reward. 15 If any man’s work shall be burned, he shall suffer loss: but he himself shall be saved; yet so as by fire.”

1.      What is this “trying” in verse 13? 

a.      to test, examine, prove, scrutinize (to see whether a thing is genuine or not), as metals

b.      to recognize as genuine after examination, to approve, deem worthy

2.      Burn: to burn up, consume by fire

3.      What is this “suffering” spoken of in verse 15? 

a.      to affect with damage, do damage to

b.      to sustain damage, to receive injury, suffer loss

III.   The standard for the judgment of the saved is given in Luke 12:41-48.  See verse 41-48, especially. 

A.     Luke 12:13-40 – Christ has just finished exhorting the apostles to be faithful.

1.      Verse 13-21 – When Christ was asked to speak to a brother so the family inheritance would be divided up “correctly”, Christ gave the parable of the rich man who decided to build barns to put his abundance, but died that night.

2.      Verse 22-30 – Christ instructs his disciples to not be so concerned with the things of this life, because that is what worldly people consider.

3.      Verse 31-40 – Christ admonishes the people to consider where they treasure is, and to investigate whether they are looking for the return of Christ, or their welfare on this planet.

4.      Verse 41 – Peter asks whether Christ is speaking to the entire multitude (who are listening) or to the apostles alone.

5.      Verse 42-48 – Christ does not answer yes or no.  He answers so that any person who considers himself a servant of Christ will consider his faithfulness.

6.      Verse 48 – “But he that knew not, and did commit things worthy of stripes, shall be beaten with few stripes. For unto whomsoever much is given, of him shall be much required: and to whom men have committed much, of him they will ask the more.” 

B.     Verse 42 – If we are faithful in little, God will give us more to be faithful over.

1.      Luke 19:17 – In the parable of the pounds, Christ said to the faithful servant, “…Well, thou good servant: because thou hast been faithful in a very little, have thou authority over ten cities.” 

2.      Luke 16:9-13 – Verse 10 – “He that is faithful in that which is least is faithful also in much: and he that is unjust in the least is unjust also in much.” 

IV.   The standard for the judgment is individual.

A.     God has given to some more than he has given to others.

1.      According to Luke 12:47, God will reveal to every person what they are supposed to be doing for him.

2.      Luke 12:48 – If any person does not do what God wants him to do, that person will suffer loss.

3.      Ignorance is no excuse for unfaithfulness.

B.     Matthew 25:14-30 – In this parable of the talents, Christ calls his own servants, not the servants of another. The word “own” means “pertaining to one’s self, one’s own, belonging to one’s self”.  Christ casts the unprofitable servant into “outer darkness” where there is weeping and gnashing of teeth.

1.      First of all, whose servants are being judged?  They are all the servants of Christ.

2.      Next, has the time of the judgment changed between the faithful servants and the unfaithful?  No, it is the same time.

V.   What is outer darkness? 

A.     I have been told I believe in purgatory, because I believe there is suffering, weeping and gnashing of teeth with believers at and after the Judgment Seat of Christ.

1.      I do not believe in purgatory, because as the Catholics teach, purgatory is a place where the believer is purified of sin.

2.      The saved, unfaithful person will never be purified of sin after the judgment because they have already been purified of sin by the suffering of Christ, as revealed on the cross of Calvary.

B.     Outer darkness is not a place; rather it is a condition of the soul and mind, entered into when:

1.      We see how much of our lives are wasted in the wickedness of this world,

2.      How much we have been involved in the thinking processes of this world when we did not even know we were thinking like the world,

3.      How much we could have done when we were busy with the things of this world.

4.      Matthew 22 – “He also that received seed among the thorns is he that heareth the word; and the care of this world, and the deceitfulness of riches, choke the word, and he becometh unfruitful.” 

C.     The words “outer darkness” appears only three times in the New Testament, and is always associated with believers, never with unbelievers.

1.      Matthew 8:12 – “But the children of the kingdom shall be cast out into outer darkness: there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth.”  It is very apparent that the children of the kingdom will be cast into outer darkness, not the children of Satan.

2.      Matthew 22:13 – “Then said the king to the servants, Bind him hand and foot, and take him away, and cast him into outer darkness; there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth.”  Here the man without a wedding garment on was cast into outer darkness.  The wedding garment represents an invitation to the wedding of Christ.  In verse 12, Christ called the person “friend”, which means “a clansman, a comrade, a mate, a partner.  Using the word “friend” indicates a kindly address, not a stern rebuke.  Here is a man who is a believer, but is not invited to the wedding.  There will be believers like this.

3.      Matthew 25:30 – “And cast ye the unprofitable servant into outer darkness: there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth.”

D.     “Outer darkness” is associated with hypocritical servants.

1.      Matthew 24:51 – “And shall cut him asunder, and appoint him his portion with the hypocrites: there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth.”

2.      Verse 48 states that this servant is an evil servant.  Evil means:

a.      Of a bad nature: not such as it ought to be,

b.      Of a mode of thinking, feeling, acting: base, wrong, wicked,

c.      Troublesome, injurious, pernicious, destructive, baneful.

E.      Jesus did not say the evil servant was lost any more than he said Balaam, who is a very evil servant is lost.  II Peter 2:12-17.

VI.   So what happens at the Judgment Seat of Christ that makes people weep?

A.     II Corinthians 5:10 – “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.” 

B.     This verse makes it abundantly clear that all the saints of God will receive good or bad at the Judgment Seat of Christ.  I know of no other way to see it, because this is what the Bible states.