Sermon Central
-
The Judgment Of The Saints
Contributed by Stephen Belokur on Aug 27, 2014 (message contributor)
Summary: What will it be like when we as followers of Jesus Christ stand before the Judgment seat of Christ? What about the books that will be opened and the Lamb's Book of Life? Will the Lord be honored by what is in the books or will we be humbled?
A few weeks ago we took a look at the do’s and don’ts of judging others on earth whether they are Christians or not.
Two weeks ago we looked at the certainty of the judgment that is awaiting those whose faith and trust was not in Jesus at the time of their death.
Today we’ll be taking a look at the judgment that awaits the saints on the great and final day of judgment.
There IS a judgment day coming … even for Christians!
So, just who will be judged as Christians? There seems to be in the Bible a book that is used to determine who are the righteous ones going to be with the Lord and who are not.
This Book of Life is referred to 8 times in the Bible.
Some of these we read the two weeks ago when we were talking about the judgment of those whose faith and trust is not in Jesus at the time of their death.
First, let’s take a brief look at the verses about those whose names are not found in the Book of Life:
“All inhabitants of the earth will worship the beast - all whose names have not been written in the Lamb’s Book of Life, the Lamb who was slain from the creation of the world.”
“Anyone whose name was not found written in the Book of Life was thrown into the lake of fire.”
OK. Since we are looking at the judgment of the saints today, let’s just settle who is in the Book of Life and who is not.
If you are “in Christ” at the end of your life you are in the Book of Life and your eternal destiny is in heaven with the Lord.
If you are NOT “in Christ” at the end of your life your name will not be found in the Book of Life and your eternal destiny will be in the place prepared for the devil and his angels, separated from God, for all of eternity.
Quote John 15:5-8 and explain briefly about being “in Christ.”
So, let’s say you ARE in the Book of Life at the time of your death; what about your judgment?
“Then I saw a great white throne and him who was seated on it. The earth and the heavens fled from his presence, and there was no place for them.
“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.”
ALL of the dead are judged according to what they have done! Not just the unrepentant sinner but everyone!
I thought that when I was saved all of my sins were forgiven, never to be remembered again! Well, that is true, but what about the actions of your life after you are saved; what about them?
What a great question! And the question itself kind of reveals what we think about judgment, doesn’t it?
Does this verse ever imply that only the bad things we do will be recorded in the books that are opened?
If we look at this in the context of the Christian and the rest of the Scriptures there are two inseparable facets to what is recorded; the deed and the attitude of the heart!
You do something bad with a good intention
You are dancing in praise to the Lord and you hit your neighbor in the nose
You do something bad with a bad intention
You pretend you are dancing in praise to the Lord and you hit your
neighbor in the nose
You do something good with a bad intention
You help someone in need with the intention of getting noticed and gaining
praise
You do something good with a good intention
You help someone in order to bring praise to God and to extend His grace
to someone in need; to bring His kingdom on earth as it is in heaven!
So, we as Christians WILL be judged according to what we have done since we came to know Jesus as our Savior!
So, what do we see in these three Scriptures?
What about those whose name IS found in the book of life?
OK. So, being in the book of life is critical
Revelation 3:4-5 (NLT)
“Yet there are some in the church in Sardis who have not soiled their clothes with evil. They will walk with me in white, for they are worthy.
“All who are victorious will be clothed in white. I will never erase their names from the Book of Life, but I will announce before my Father and His angels that they are Mine.”
