Well, I want to speak, as I've already indicated, on 2 Corinthians 5, verse 10, with the sermon title, Will Christians Be Judged on Their Works? This is a one-off study to give me a bit more time to prepare for the next series, to be honest. But also, this was inspired, really, with a conversation I was having with Sharon about the judgment. What about Christians? Will Christians be judged on their works? Many Christians wonder whether there will be a final judgment according to their works. Our text, 2 Corinthians 5.10, helps us here. I want to begin, though, by reminding you about the doctrine of justification by faith alone. I hope and pray that most of us, if not all of us, know what that means. But a quick reminder, a very quick reminder, that justification by faith alone is that biblical teaching which says that if you are a true Christian, that is to say saved and born again, right now in this present time you have received the imputed righteousness of Christ Justification by faith is the doctrine that God declares sinners righteous even though they are sinful and deserve condemnation. It's a righteous status before God that we cannot obtain through our own works, neither is it obtained through a mixture of faith and works. It comes to us as a gift based on the sacrificial death and resurrection of the perfect, holy, righteous Son of God, the Lord Jesus Christ. And we receive it or accept it by faith alone. Faith really meaning trust or belief in Jesus and his work of salvation. And this faith is also a gift, the Bible teaches, which is worked into us by the Holy Spirit. who unites us in a way it's impossible really to understand, who unites us to Christ so that ever more we can say we are in Christ, we are in union with Christ. I hope you, I'm sure you knew all of that, but I just want to remind you of it and ask the question, how does that fit with what I think is a very clear biblical doctrine, that there will be a future and final judgment when all persons that have lived upon the earth shall appear before the tribunal of Christ to give an account of their thoughts, words and deeds. How do those two doctrines fit together? This is what the Bible teaches, 2 Corinthians 5.10, for we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ. So how do we square these two teachings? And I'm aware this causes a lot of worry for some Christians. And I'm pretty confident that by the end of tonight, if there is anyone who is worried, they won't be by the end. Otherwise, if that's not the case, you'll have to let me know. But I believe the best solution to these types of worries is to work through what the Bible teaches. Because being clear about scripture is normally the best medicine for lack of assurance or for concern or confusion. And if you still don't like it after that, I'm afraid at the end of the day we have to submit to scripture. Christianity is not a supermarket. We can't just pick pick what we want off the shelf and then not take what we don't like. Scripture doesn't adapt to us, we have to adapt to the scripture. And I think nearly everything we need to understand this teaching is found in our text, although we will wonder from it on occasion. So the basic teaching from this verse is that there will be a day when Christ shall judge every person who has lived according to their works. And the first thing that we notice from our text is that this is something which is definitely going to happen. For we must, underlined, we must all appear. It is an appointed day. It is one of God's unchangeable decrees. Acts 17 verse 31. Because he hath appointed a day, he hath appointed a day, in the which he will judge the world in righteousness by that man whom he hath ordained. A day's been set in God's calendar. It's an appointment that no one can reschedule or counsel. We must all appear before the tribunal of Christ. And the Bible teaches that powerful angels will gather everyone from the four corners of the earth and ensure attendance to this appointment. So what is the purpose of this day? What is it for? What is the main purpose of this day? And of course our minds naturally turn to punishment and the lake of fire and things like that, which is a significant part of this day. But looking at the Bible's teaching, there is, I would argue, certainly another critical aspect to it, but I believe the primary reason for this day, the main reason for this day, is so the Lord can publicly show his mercy towards his elect and justified people. And to do so in a fullness not previously experienced by the elect in this life. The primary purpose of this day is for the Lord to show his love toward the godly. Now I'm not saying it's the only reason, but I'm saying it's the primary. 1 Peter 1.13, wherefore gird up the loins of your minds, be sober and hope to the end for the grace that is to be brought unto you at the revelation of Jesus Christ. Of course we experience God's love and mercy now. But at the final judgment, Christians will experience God's love and mercy to a degree not previously experienced. It says in Acts 13, 19, Repent ye therefore and be converted that your sins may be blotted out when the times of refreshing shall come from the presence of the Lord. This is going to be a day of heightened love and grace and refreshing from the presence of the Lord. Because we will be in his immediate presence in our new glorified bodies. We will have been raised from death and we will be given our new bodies and we will be before the judgment seat of Christ. We will be in the presence of the King. He will say unto them on his right hand, come ye blessed of my father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world. And these things, I say, are the main business of the day. The Lord is a God of grace. Isaiah 28, 21, for the Lord shall rise up as in Mount Perizim. He shall be wrathen as in the valley of Gibeon, that he may do his works, his strange work, and to bring to pass his act, his strange act. God is a God of mercy and love, but he is also a God of judgment and wrath. He's a God of judgment and mercy. And the other purpose of this day is, of course, for the wicked, the reprobate, to be clearly shown their guilt and judged against the standard of God's perfect righteousness. That is also a major part of this final day. Of course, none of us could stand that examination without our precious salvation, could we? It will be like God's law being held up against the wickedness of every unbeliever. And by the end of it, no unbeliever will be in any doubt about their guilt before God. Paul said, for by law is the knowledge of sin. That will be the case on that day too. And the publicity and transparent fairness of God's judgments will highlight and magnify God's righteousness before men and angels. Because angels are also to be judged. Justice will be fair and it will be seen to be fair on that day. Another purpose of this day of judgment is for the Lord to put everything right. It's not a very academic way of putting it, is it? He will put everything right. You see, at the moment, everything is the wrong way up in this world. And on the day of judgment, everything will be put the right way up. Here and now, the wicked prosper and the godly suffer. That's the wrong way around. It won't be like that after the day of judgment. A difference will finally be made between the wicked and the righteous. And there's great comfort for us in this. We don't need to take revenge on those who persecute us or even upset us now, because we can rest in the fact that there's going to be a day when everything's going to be put right. All the persecuted Christians, we could say, well, we'll go to war over it. No, we wait for the judgment day, because vengeance is mine, saith the Lord. The Lord sees what is happening in this world, and he keeps a record. He keeps a record of the injustices that need to be put right. Because in his patience and mercy, there's a kind of great imbalance between the Lord's temporal judgments against wickedness and the degree of wickedness in the world. You think of all the terrible wickedness in the world and you think of how infrequent really there are great disasters or temporal judgments. There's not that many Sodom and Gomorrahs. floods and what have you, but there was only one flood. God's very measured and reserved when it comes to temporal judgments compared to the amount of wickedness. We would expect a lot more. Much injustice is left to be dealt with. And it all will be on that day. The scales will balance. All sins left unpunished will be dealt with on Judgment Day. Matthew 12, 36, But I say unto you that every idle word that men shall speak, they shall give an account thereof in the day of judgment. For by thy words thou shalt be justified, and by thy words thou shalt be condemned. The Lord also said, as recorded in John 5, 28 and 29, marvel not at this, for the hour is coming in which all that are in the graves shall hear his voice and shall come forth, they that have done good unto the resurrection of life, and they that have done evil unto the resurrection of damnation. I don't get those verses. Christian cards do, they miss those sorts of verses off. So this judgment, according to deeds done in the body, whether good or bad, described in 2 Corinthians 5.10, will happen, definitely will happen, and will fulfil specific divine purposes, some of which have been delayed, or at least not fully implemented until this Omega point in history, this final day when everything that is wrong will be put right. It's a cause for rejoicing, isn't it? Another thing that this text confirms is that the second person of the Trinity, the God-man, Jesus Christ, will be the judge on that day. It says, for we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ. Christ is the judge. Now that's interesting. Acts 10, 42, and he commanded us to preach unto the people and to testify that it is he which was ordained of God to be the judge of quick and dead. Christ therefore has the authority to be the judge because the Father appointed him to be judge as the God-man. Now that doesn't automatically follow unless God designed it that way because by nature, by order, the Father is the judge of the whole earth. but he has appointed his son, Jesus, to be the judge. And Christ, the Lord Jesus, is fully qualified to be the judge. He's been appointed, but he's qualified to be the judge. Just imagine the task, well, we can't imagine it, it's a silly thing to say, but if we could imagine that the task of having enough wisdom, enough knowledge, enough discretion, enough judgment, enough knowledge to judge the whole world, the lives of every single person that has ever lived, all their good and all their bad, and to do it perfectly fairly, what amazing gifts, what amazing capacities you would need. But you know the Lord Jesus Christ is fully qualified to be the judge. During his humiliation in his human nature, the Lord Jesus had limits to his knowledge. He is a real human being. We should never say Jesus wasn't. I often hear people saying Jesus was a real human being. He is a real human being now. But in his state of exaltation, his human nature has knowledge way beyond the measure of any other human or angelic creature. In other words, he now has a glorified human nature. He knows as much as it is possible to know in his glorified human nature. And then, of course, in his divine nature, He has always had infinite knowledge, wisdom, and power. He is the God-man. He has all the wisdom, judgment, and knowledge required to be the judge of the whole earth. There's a rather academic debate, I think it's a bit silly really, whether Christ could be the judge just purely in terms of his human nature, whether he would now have enough knowledge and wisdom purely in his glorified human nature without his divine nature, but I think that's just theologian beyond all limits. The fact is that Jesus is the God-man. He is one person with two natures, a glorified human nature now and his divine nature which he has always had, which he never has lost. And of course, because of that, he has all the wisdom, judgment, and knowledge required to be the judge of the whole earth. And then imagine what is required of this judge in terms of being righteous and perfect. If he's going to judge the whole world, then it better be the case that none of the sins or faults that he's judging others on are in him. But we know that our Lord Jesus Christ is perfect, that he is righteous and holy. Of course, in his divine nature, he is holiness. He's not just holy, he is holiness. He is what we aspire to be and what we are being changed toward. And also in terms of his glorified human nature because of something called the hypostatic union, that personal and mysterious joining of the divine and the human natures in the one person Jesus. We know that Christ's human nature when he first became a man was sanctified. And though he was tempted in every way that we have been tempted, We believe that he couldn't, in actual fact, have ever sinned because his human nature was sanctified by his divine nature in the hypostatic union. This is a doctrine called the impeccability of Christ, which we've spoken about before. Therefore, Jesus, the God-man, is qualified to be the righteous judge in terms of righteousness and holiness on both counts. He has a perfect human nature. And of course, he's God. He's divine as well. He's the God-man. And of course, we won't stay on this point, but he's qualified to be the judge because he has the necessary divine power. When he comes to judge, he will come, the Bible says, with power and great glory. Our text, going on to another point, makes clear how Christ's judgment will be rendered. How Christ's judgment will be rendered. It will be rendered, our text says, according to things done in his body. According to that he hath done, whether it be good or bad. which is an almost identical teaching to Matthew 16, 27. For the son of man shall come in the glory of his father with his angels, and they shall reward every man according to his works. And then John, in John's vision in Revelation 20, 12, it says, and I saw the dead, small and great, stand before God, and the books were opened, and another book was opened, which is the book of life, and the dead were judged out of those things which were written in the books according to their works. So obviously and clearly the role of works is central to the final judgment of believers and unbelievers. There is a divine examination of every person's works. with God rewarding or condemning according to the character of those works. And this will result in God being glorified and his righteous judgments vindicated. Now, as soon as you say what I have just said, that Christians will be judged according to their works done in the body, all sorts of confusions and concerns arise. And this is what I really, the whole point of this sermon is to deal with that. Because there are two things to be clear about in order to understand the teaching in this verse. The first point is this, is that although believers and unbelievers will appear before the judge alike, there will be very different results. That's the first point. Remember that Christ's right to judge is granted to him by the Father, whose natural right it is to be the judge. Christ is ordained or appointed to be the judge, and the Father grants this as part of Christ's reward for purchasing the salvation of his people. Therefore, for those united to Christ by faith, the final judgment will not be a terrifying experience, but a blessed one. Christ will be a terror to the wicked, but he will be a comfort to his people. You see, this would never be the case in a human court. This judge will be our brother. He will be our high priest. He will be our saviour. He will be our best friend. He will be our lord. This judge will be the one who died for our sins. You see, therefore, When the elect are judged, Christ will confess them before God, men, and angels as his own. Revelation 3.5 He that overcometh the same shall be clothed in white raiment, and I will not blot out his name out of the book of life, but I will confess his name before my Father and before his angels. He's talking there about the judgment day when the books of judgment are open. He's saying on that day I'm going to confess the names of those in front of my father whose names are written in the book of life. So Christ will punish the wicked based on their evil works. He will condemn unbelievers to eternal perdition based on the evidence of their sinful thoughts, words, and deeds. That is a very different result than the result of the judgment upon the believer. So that's the first point. very different results. Second, in contrast, believers, in contrast to unbelievers, believers will have no punitive judgment due to their union with Christ. There will still be an accounting of their deeds, resulting in the distribution of rewards according to their faithful labors, but it will not be a punitive judgment. This will be a judgement for the purpose of rewards. And these are additional rewards to the gift of eternal life. Because we have already been given the reward, if you like, or the gift of eternal life through faith in Christ alone now. That is not what is being given here. These are additional rewards to that. This is what Christians get confused about. They think, well, I'm going to appear before the judgment seat of Christ, and I'm then going to find out whether I've been given eternal life. No. If you haven't been given eternal life, you will be judged punitively. because you won't be a Christian. Your name will not be in the book of life. If you're a Christian, you have eternal life now, and you will not be judged according to that. This is a different judgment, type of judgment. So why are works Why are works, things done in the body, good or bad, produced or exhibited at the final judgment? That's the method, really, of this Judgment Day. Why did God choose that method of judging? Well, I believe the short answer is to manifest the glory of God. That it was the best way to manifest the glory of God. by judging mankind on that basis, the Lord can most fully display his glorious attributes. First, just think how this is going to display the Lord's holiness, for example. He will display his holiness by rewarding those who believed in Christ's word, obeyed his commandments, and sincerely battled against the flesh, the world, and the devil. He is going to delight in the holiness of his people on that day. And by so doing, he's going to display his own holiness. Second, judging based on things done in the body will magnify the covenant faithfulness of the Lord. You see, all the people that will appear on that day, they will be judged according to the terms of the covenant they were under in life. Or you could say the covenant that they died under. Either the covenant of works or the covenant of grace. you live and die under one of those covenants. And you will be judged according to the terms of either one of those covenants. If you are a believer in the covenant of grace, you will be judged by the law of liberty according to which the Lord accepts our sincere, though imperfect, obedience. We detect the spirit of this type of law, this New Testament law, if you like, in Hebrews 6.10. It's not really directly connected, but I think the spirit of this is there. It says, for God is not unrighteous to forget your work and labor of love. which ye have shewed toward his name. In other words, you haven't done anything perfectly, you Hebrew Christians, by any means, but you've made a real, you've really tried, you've really been sincere in your attempt to follow the Lord and to look after his people. And the Lord's not gonna be unrighteous to forget your work and labor of love. I think that's what it's gonna be like on Judgment Day for the Christian. It's in that generous, gentle spirit that the believer's works will be judged on that day. But how different it will be for the wicked, because they will be judged under the strict justice of the covenant of works. Judgment without mercy. There's no mercy under Moses. Thank the Lord that we take the law from the hand of Christ. I wouldn't want to take it from the hand of Moses. No, thank you. The soul that sins will die. That's the terms of the covenant of works. And our Lord's faithfulness to his covenant of grace will be evident on that day. He has promised eternal life to the righteous and he will keep his covenant promises on that day. And I say, even to the weakest and most undeserving believer. If they're a true believer, they can be the weakest, but God will keep his covenant, even to them. Not everyone is going to be a George Whitfield or John Wesley. Some of them are going to be a Rod Mitchell. But he's going to keep his covenant to every one of us. And by doing so, once again, what's going to happen? All the glory is going to go to God. He is the faithful covenant-keeping God. Even to that one. He was such a failing, miserable Christian. Even to that one, the Lord keeps his covenant. His faithfulness will be magnified. And then third, judging on this basis will amplify the Lord's mercy and grace. The saints will be rewarded for good works, for faithful service. But these good works are sin-tainted, weak and poor compared to the standard of God's law. And the rewards given can only be described as further acts of grace. Because for very incomplete and very inconsistent works, we are going to be rewarded with astounding bounty and generosity. And by so doing, what's going to happen? All the glory goes to God. This is a God of mercy. This is a God of grace. Look at this Lord, this great God, giving these great, bounteous gifts to such unworthy people, and yet they are his people. So the first substantive reason why the Lord will judge according to works done in the body is to bring glory to himself. That's really how we frame all the reform doctrines. That's where you begin. How does this teaching bring glory to God? It's the only real theological tradition that does that. Think of it this way then. There is a second reason. There's a second substantive reason why the method of judgment is to use as evidence these things done in the body, whether good or bad. And the way I think of it is this. Unless the evidence put forward for either reward or condemnation was the things done in the body How would those being judged be convinced that their sentences or their rewards were just? You see, once an unbeliever on that day watches the videotape of their life played before men and angels. Once their life is, the film of their life is played and then they receive the sentence according to the perfect and holy law of God, all mouths are going to be shut. There's going to be no room for any argument or comeback. The justice of the sentence is going to be obvious to everyone and to the person being judged. And we don't need to dwell on that tonight. But that's a dreadful thing to imagine. But how does that point apply to us, to believers? And I'll repeat the point I made earlier. For the believer, the judgment is not punitive. The saviour said in John 5.24, Verily, verily, I say unto you, he that heareth my word, and believeth on him that sent me, hath everlasting life, and shall not come into condemnation, but is passed from death unto life. So you don't need to worry about that. You shall not pass into condemnation. So I think I must say that it is at the very least confusing. Some people do this. Some teachers do this. It is confusing to speak of the believer's judgment on this day as a second or a final justification. I think that's confusing. Because for Christians, The final judgment will not declare a person righteous. It will not declare a person justified by faith, because that has already happened. Christians are being judged for rewards, not for punishment, because they are already members of the New Covenant. However, it is true to say that the believer's judgment according to works will demonstrate his true justification. It will demonstrate it. This is demonstrated through their good works, incomplete and imperfect though they are. And this is why we must say, the Lord only knows who is his own. And the reaping angels will know who God's elect truly are. And the way a believer has lived to a greater or lesser degree will demonstrate that true regeneration has taken place. There's a sober warning here, of course, in our Lord's teaching that many who made a profession of faith in life on the day of judgment will be judged to have had a barren faith and will be condemned. But judgment according to works or deeds done in the body will distinguish between those in the visible church who have been truly converted and those who have made a false profession of faith all through their life. That will be the end of the charade. Then it will all be made clear who were really the Lords. Not everyone, Jesus said that saith unto me, Lord, Lord shall enter into the kingdom of heaven, but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven. And this is, you know, I really want to build up people's assurance of faith. because I know people do struggle with their assurance of faith. But we cannot just think that we can make a decision to be a Christian or put our hand up one day or go to the front of an evangelistic meeting and then live like a sinner and expect to be a true Christian. You may live very imperfectly, very inconsistently, but there has to be some evidence of a new life. We cannot just live how we fancy without sincerely seeking to obey the will of God. Matthew 7 is important because it reminds us that it is not the amount of Works is not the publicity of good works which will demonstrate a true Christian faith. Jesus said, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? And in thy name have cast out devils. And in thy name have many wonderful works been done. Well, there's things there I've never done. I've never cast out devils. I've never done miracles. Actually, one of the jobs I did, it seemed like a miracle to get through the day. But you see, you can be an exorcist. You can be a big name preacher. You can be a miracle worker. And you get to the judgment day, and you're not included. They've done many works, very public works. But it's not about the visibility of your works. It's not about the number of them. It's not about the showmanship. It's not about any of that. You see, the Lord looks at the heart. He looks at the motives for good works. Do they spring from grace and love of Christ? You see, the Lord sees whether our holiness is all external show. or whether good works flow from true holiness within. That's where, I'm not saying our holiness just stays in silence, it's some kind of quiet poetism, and we never do anything in the world, but it does start from within. If it's not within, if your holiness is not within, everything you do without is just hypocrisy, it's a show. Only good works undertaken in a justified state while in the body will demonstrate a man's justification at the final judgment. Does that make sense? You see, the Christian is not someone who conjures up some dazzling shows of charity every now and again, but someone who lives his life every day being filled with the fruits of righteousness. Yes, it's very imperfect sometimes, but it's sincere. There's a love for Christ. There's a true faith. And if you haven't got that, then you're not really saved. So I pray that you often, in closing, think of this final day of judgement, not in fear, if you are the Lords, but as inspiration to live ever more obediently to the Lord Jesus Christ. Avoid being paralysed by fear of finally being condemned. If you truly love and trust in Jesus as your saviour, Because if you sincerely seek to obey the Lord, even though you may be weak, you're His and you'll be His forever. But if you're not walking closely with the Lord, if you don't walk closely with the Lord, you're not going to enjoy assurance of faith. because you're not even going to have enough evidence for yourself that you're a true Christian. It's when you find yourself doing things and thinking things and longing for things that you know doesn't come from you, that you know, well, this is the Lord. I'm changed. I never used to be interested in prayer, but now I want to pray. If you live in the world, you're not going to have any of that. Of course people say that's legalism, but it has nothing to do with legalism. It has to do with a normal Christian life. Seek a closer walk with God, not just for the rewards it will bring, but because it will please the one who died for you and ever lives to make intercession for you. Avoid also The complacency and the arrogance of some Christians who constantly say, once saved, always saved, without really knowing what that means. You can't just go around saying, once saved, always saved, and then live like a pig. It doesn't work. It's just words. You will have to give an account of yourself to the judge of all the earth. be sober and serious. And let's all of us be encouraged that persisting in obedience, we as believers will have a crown put on our heads. to Timothy 4, 7 and 8, I have fought a good fight, I have finished my course, I have kept the faith, henceforth there is laid up for me a crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, shall give me at that day, and not to me only, but unto all them also. That love is appearing. On that day of days, we will be so grateful for being covenant people. It's why it's important and I think we have for quite a long time hammered home reformed covenant theology and teaching because it's life and death. If you're not in the covenant, you're going to die in your sins. On that day it will be our joy and safety. The goats will be separated from the sheep, the righteous from the unrighteous. But by bestowing rewards to Christians based on their good works, God's grace will be magnified because it will show to men and to angels that not only does our Lord freely justify sinners, he enables us to do good works for him and to be rewarded for those works after being justified. All the glory, all the manifold wisdom goes to God. Who could have invented any of this? It's all his plan. And so, tonight let us not fear, but be comforted and inspired and challenged by the truth that we will one day appear before our saviour on that final day. Amen. Feel free to contact us at Sovereign Grace Church in Tiverton. Email us at grace2seekers at gmail.com. That's grace2seekers at gmail.com. Alternatively, you can visit our website at www.sovereigngracereformedchurch.co.uk.