1 Corinthians chapter 3. We'd like to continue in studying the judgment seat of Christ. The judgment seat of Christ. And we want to ask ourselves this question, is it going to burn? Is it going to burn? And the judgment seat of Christ for the believer, yes, is indeed a Well, not a concerning topic, but definitely a serious topic, a topic that can be a bit of a burden. But at the same time, I believe God rather wants us to see it as a motivator. You know, I use the illustration so many times. I can beg, I can plead, I can command. You know, if my children, you know, to clean up their room or whatever else they need to do, But boy howdy, if I put an incentive in there, if there's a treat at the end of this, all of a sudden those little legs are flying and things are happening, amen? And you know, I believe God knows that we as adults work the same. We are much more motivated when there is a reward. Amen? And so that's, I think, that God is wanting us to focus upon in regards to the judgment seat of Christ. And we read there in 1 Corinthians 3 in verse 11. 1 Corinthians 3 in verse 11. For other foundation can no man lay than that insulated. 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. 15 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. We've looked already last week at who will be at the judgment seat of Christ and who won't be. The judgment seat of Christ, we compare to a bit of an Olympic prize judgment, so to speak, and where different medals or awards are being given out. Or, well, you don't win the race. You don't get that medal. And only the believer in Jesus Christ, those who are saved, will be there. We have also looked at the purpose of the judgment seat of Christ, that God wants to motivate us to get involved into the great work of His harvest. He wants to motivate us to, with pure spiritual motivation, give Him thanks, to offer those sacrifices of our lips, as it's called, to preach the gospel or to spread it in the world. He wants us to trust Him. Every day that you and I live by faith, do you know what that is? It's an opportunity. It's an opportunity to win a medal, so to speak, amen? To win a reward for obeying Christ, trusting Him by faith, and serving Him out of the right motivation. We also saw that Jesus will judge us not as a judge that condemns a criminal. Amen? Anything that is worthy of condemnation was already condemned in Jesus Christ on the cross. Remember that? Amen? Praise the Lord for that. Romans chapter 8 makes it very clear. There's now therefore no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus. Amen? And so, We see how we will be judged as sons or as daughters, as children of God. And in regards to how we've obeyed, have we been a wise servant, a wise son to our Father. And this morning, we want to focus upon that fire of the judgment seat of Christ. If you could possibly take any verses of Scripture out of context and twist them in that way, this may be one of the very few, if any, to be honest, that you could maybe misuse to justify the idea of a purgatory, I guess. And to be honest with you, that Catholic idea of the purgatory has always stunned me. I can't even remotely see that anywhere in Scripture. That was an idea that really started with a lot of the church fathers, some of those heretics, to be honest. I don't see the apostles believing that anywhere. But if you take that out of context, you may think, okay, well, there could be some kind of purging of a fire after the Christian's death, before we go into heaven. And yet, that is not what we see here. All right? Purgatory is not in the Bible. Let me be very, very clear about that, okay? Rather, what we see here is that God is giving us an illustration. The Apostle Paul uses the illustration of a race. He uses the illustration of a building there in verse 10, of a husbandry, of labors together in God's form, in God's vineyard, so to speak. And we see in verse 12, excuse me, in verse 11, the foundation of that building. What is the foundation of our spiritual building before God? Jesus Christ and Him alone, amen? And so, now Jesus Christ, you know, is not an actual physical foundation as such, amen? He is the spiritual foundation. He's the rock upon which our soul rests for eternity and is saved from the condemnation of our sins. And so it is very obviously, very clear that God is using an illustration, a picture. We see those different things that are being tested, are being proved by the fire, the wood, hay and stubble, and the gold, silver and precious stones. Now nowhere do we see God expecting the believer to, you know, make sure you dig in the earth, you find as much gold there, you find as much jewels as you can, and you make sure you clutch those while you die and bring them to heaven, all right? So you can have some jewels to present to God before the judgment seat of Christ. We understand that he's using physical terms to illustrate spiritual truths to us, all right? And the same we also see in regards to that fire. Fire, throughout the scripture, is a picture of judgment. It is a picture of purification and of testing. And so that's where we see here in verse, verse 13 it says because it shall be revealed by fire and the fire shall try that means test prove examine shall try evidence work of what sword it is notice in verse 15 but he himself shall be saved and so as by fire So again, we see he's using a physical illustration. And so, first and foremost, we can set our souls at rest, all right? God is not changing his mind and saying, well, if you messed up a bit too much, you didn't do enough good things for me, you know, I'll act like a fire, you go. That is impossible, all right? Once you're saved, you're kept by the power of God for all eternity. 1 Peter 1, amen? Amen. Very good. We need to know that, amen. If you don't know that, get the assurance and the peace of Christ's salvation from the scripture today. We also know that it's not talking about some purgatory here, about 500 or 900 years where we're being somehow tortured, even though we are saved until we get pure and holy enough for heaven. That idea, quite frankly, is ridiculous. Because in our current nature, in our current human form, it is utterly impossible to ever be holy enough for heaven. Did you know that? The only thing, or rather the only one, who can make us good enough and holy enough for heaven is Jesus Christ himself. The only thing that would ever be pleasing and acceptable before God is what Jesus did on the cross, amen? And when he brought the precious blood of a lamb without spot and blemish, sinless and innocent, into the Holy of Holies there in heaven, and presented it for the atonement of our sins, praise the Lord, it was fully accepted. And that's the only thing that can make us holy in regards to qualifying for heaven, amen? I think if you press it twice on the top, it should, all right. There we go. You're a little bit chilly? All right. Okay. Well, we can fix that. Amen? Now then, what is the fire? What is the fire? And I believe we can see this very clearly pictured throughout the Bible. The first thing I want to bring out here as we go through our study, by the way, in our study books, it would be on page 137. You follow along in that. I believe we see that the fire refers to Christ's omniscience, or He knows everything. Amen? He sees everything. When you are following along in our study in Revelation on Thursday nights, you remember how we've been talking about the eyes as a flame of fire that the Lord Jesus Christ has there. In Revelation chapter 1 verse 14, for example. And so he sees through all our human hypocrisy, through all our trappings and facade, and he knows everything about what we do and what we don't do for real, about our motivations, about what is going on in our hearts and our minds, and the secrets of the human heart. It is not my fellow Christian who will judge us. It is not your pastor who will judge you. It is not your church, not your parents, not even your wife or your husband, not your children or your parents. It is Christ that we will stand before and give an account. There's two other passages of Scripture that specifically refer to that. I want to encourage you to write those down if you want there, together with 1 Corinthians 3 in Romans 14, verse 10. We read how we shall all stand before the judgment seat of Christ, Romans 14, 10. And then also in 2 Corinthians 5, in verse 10 and 11, 2 Corinthians chapter 5, verse 10 and 11, Again, that's a Greek word, bima, right? So if you hear people talking about the bima seat of Christ, that's what that is. We must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, that everyone may receive the things done in his body, according to that he hath done, whether it be good or bad. Knowing therefore the terror of the Lord, we persuade men," Paul says. So that ought to put the fear of God into our heart a bit, amen? But at the same time, thankfully, we're not judged according to whether we've done good or bad for our salvation, amen? It is rather a judgment on our obedience and our love and our trust in the Lord. We see in Hebrews chapter 4 in verse 13, the Bible says, talking about the omniscience of Christ there and how he sees even down into our heart, and we'll go to Hebrews 4 later again, but Hebrews 4 verse 13 says this, Neither is there any creature that is not manifest in his sight. In other words, it's all open. It's all revealed to him. Amen? Neither is there any creature that is not manifest in his sight, but all things are naked and open unto the eyes of him with whom we have to do. But I think, secondly, that fire very clearly also refers to how our works are being tested by the Word of God. In Jeremiah 23, verse 29, the Bible says, Is not my word like as a fire? Is not my word like as a fire, saith the Lord? Jeremiah 23, 29. It is the Word of God that all of our actions, all of our words, all of our omissions, the things that we should have done and didn't do, we're disobedient, that even the intentions and thoughts of our hearts are going to be judged by. Amen? Let's turn to John chapter 12, please. In John chapter 12, verse 48. Who'd like to read that for us this morning, please? Yes, John 12, verse 48. Please. Oh, sorry. Oh, yeah, go ahead, brother. Thank you. John 12, 48. Thank you. The words of Jesus Christ will be the test of judgment will be what will judge all mankind. And by the way, it is so comforting to know that when we're rejected by man, they're not rejecting us. I mean, maybe they think they are, but at the same time, really what they're rejecting is the Lord Himself. And that's where we shouldn't take that personal. Now, that's hard sometimes, we need to ask the Lord's help for that. But folks, at the end of the day, we realize that really we need to be brokenhearted for the people who reject the Lord. Because I often have to think back and say, you know what, they may for all eternity remember this moment. where I'll, in love, sought to reach out to them with the gospel, with the hope for them, with the forgiveness in Christ, and they were not interested. And so that's why we pray for people to be saved. That's why we seek to reach them with the gospel and the word of God, amen? It is the Word of God that will judge all of mankind, and I believe will also be the test that we will be judged by in that judgment seat of Christ as far as for the Christians is concerned. Let's turn back to Hebrews chapter 4 in verse 12, please. Hebrews chapter 4 in verse 12. Who has that for us this morning, please? Sure, go ahead, brother, thank you. For the word of God is quick and powerful and sharper than any two-legged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit and of the joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart. Thank you. So once again, we see the physical illustrating the spiritual here, of course. And we see how the Word of God is the one who will judge and can reveal, or will one day clearly reveal in the all-knowing eyes of God what's going on in our hearts. And so then verse 13, again, we see how all things are open unto the eyes with whom we have to do. And now, folks, sometimes we want to get scared of that. Then maybe I won't even attempt to do anything for God because I'm just scared to mess it up. Or, oh man, it's almost harder to be a Christian than not because now I'm going to have to stand at the judgment seat of Christ. Well, first of all, the judgment seat of Christ will always be a billion times better than the Great White Throne judgment. where the books will be open and it will be justified to the condemned how the eternal torments of the lake of fire will be just and will be righteous for the rejection of Christ. Folks, the judgment seat of Christ will always be a million times better than that. Amen? But I love verse 14, if we keep reading the Hebrew chapter 4. Folks, these things ought to, yes, purge us, ought to, yes, put the fear of God in our hearts, even as Christians, but at the same time, ought to not discourage us, or put the fearful fear, into all hearts. Perfect love casts out all fear. Notice verse 14. This is not a reason to get discouraged or to shrink back or to be scared before Christ. Rather, we realize that He who judges our performance, if you will, as a believer, is also the same who intercedes for us before the throne of God, the Father in heaven. He's also the same who's paid the blood that not just covers, but completely washes away for all eternity. All our failures and shortcomings and sins and regrets, amen? and how we ought to rather be so much more motivated to go ahead and burn out for Jesus, so to speak, and not shrink back, you know. Oh, lest I mess it up somehow. No, let's rather hold fast our profession. Amen? It is the Word of God, though, that our performance will be measured against as believers. 2 Timothy chapter 3, verses 16 and 17 teaches us that all scripture is given by inspiration of God and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness. Notice, first of all, the Bible is profitable. Now God knows already what the Bible says, all right? So when you and I read the Bible, memorize the Bible, meditate upon the Bible, study the Bible, it must not be God that's profiting from that, you know? Sometimes we act, and I do that too, sometimes we act like we're doing a favor to God when we're living like a Christian, right? And we're walking with Him. We're doing a favor to ourselves, actually, amen? Did you know that God doesn't need church, but I do? We do, amen? Do you know that God knows everything that's in the Bible, but I don't, and I need it, amen? It's profitable unto me, amen? So first of all, it's profitable. It's good and beneficial for me. But secondly, notice in verse 17, that the man of God may be perfect. That means nothing lacking, complete. truly furnished unto all good works." What does that mean? It means fully equipped. We've given everything that we need to live unto good works, the design that Christ has designed for us in our life through the Scriptures. And therefore, we can be accountable for what we've been given as well, amen, at the judgment seat of Christ. It is through the Bible that we find the good and perfect will of God and are enabled, are instructed how to, and are empowered how to live out God's plan, God's design for our life, amen? And so when we sound like a broken record or a, I don't know, your podcast on repeat, on loop, you know, for those who don't know what records are anymore, It's like, read your Bible, pray every day. Read your Bible, pray every day. Amen? Read your Bible, pray every day. That's not because, you know, we don't know anything better to do as Christians. It's because it is actually essential for us. Not just because one day we'll be measured and judged according to that Bible, but also because it's profitable for us right here and right now. Amen? 2 Peter 1, verse 3 and 4 says that in those exceeding great and precious promises in God's Word, we've been given all things that pertain unto life and godliness. Amen? So I believe that this fire of the judgment seat of Christ is referring to the Bible by which we will be judged as well. It is in the Bible that we find the mind of God. It is the Bible that makes us capable and with that also accountable to live the Christian life. You see, that's actually good news, by the way, because this means that I do not have to wait all the way until I stand before the judgment seat of Christ to know what God thinks about my life. I can know that already right here, right now. It's not going to be a surprise who's going to win the medal, so to speak. We can already know God's standard by which He will judge today in the Bible. We have His judgments in God's Word and it's that same book that will test our work on that day. That's why God wants us to continue to abide in the word, as John 15 says, each and every day. That's why God wants us to know and love and obey his word, amen? Folks, let's be honest. Sometimes the Bible gets boring, right? Or just difficult at least, right? And it aggravates our flesh. Now, I'll be honest, when we're living in the Spirit, the Bible never gets boring. I mean, the book is inexhaustible, amen? I mean, sometimes I've literally spent a month just on one phrase or on one verse and it's still, well, even the message we're going to have later tonight, literally, I could have preached at least four or five messages on what we're going to talk about, amen? Because it's so much. But then at the same time, though, our minds sometimes want to wander. Our minds sometimes get weary. Our flesh sometimes doesn't feel very spiritual, does it? And I'm just being honest. Because, you know, the Bible says we're all facing the same things, common to man. Make yourself read through Psalm 119. when you lose your love and your interest in the Bible. That's what's really helped me. I can't read too much, too long of Psalm 119 and not get a renewed interest and love and a zeal and desire for the Bible. It's just something there from personal experience. Psalm 119, man! I mean, really, we ought to chisel that in stone and hang it up everywhere. That chapter of the Bible is just tremendous, amen? Psalm 119 will ignite your love for the Bible again. Folks, prayer, that's why that is so important as well. That knowledge that we are accountable for the privilege of the Word of God that we've been given and God's instructions for life in it. ought to cause me to humble myself in prayer every day before God, as the psalmist prays in Psalm 139, then verse 23, and in verse 24, Psalm 139. Search me, O God. Amen? Search me, O God, and know my heart. Try me, and know my thoughts. And see if there be any wicked way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting. God, I can sometimes deceive myself about my own motivations, amen? But your word says, as we read there in Hebrews chapter 4, your word can identify and reveal even the thoughts and intents of my heart. So God, I need your help. Purify my heart, amen? Cleanse my thoughts. Help me to run the race in such a way that I may win the prize, amen? Help me to keep that motivation ahead in my eyes, amen? Just like we learn about the Lord Jesus Christ, for the joy that was set before Him, amen? He endured the cross there in Hebrews chapter 12. We ought to be always eager to, when we have sinned, confess our sins again to the Lord, get things right, and then move on through the help of God's Word. You know, I always say it's better to do the corrections now than 100 kilometers down the road when you're much further off course. Does that make sense? I'm not a pilot, but I've learned apparently from pilots when your instrument is off or you accidentally set your course wrong by just maybe half a degree or a degree, you know, because they travel such long distances, it can literally, you know, put you all the way in the middle of the ocean, running out of fuel, so to speak, instead of, you know, the airport you were heading for, so to speak, you know. And so, hey, let's do the corrections, rather, as soon as we can, Amen? And run into those eager, waiting, loving, forgiving arms of the Father in heaven, Amen? And confess our sins, repent, get it right, Folks, that's what 1 Corinthians 11 is all about, by the way. Amen? We judge ourselves, we should not be judged. They're at the judgment seat of Christ. Amen? We also see then that that fire will judge everything. It says, every man's work shall be made manifest. In 1 Corinthians 3, verse 13. I usually don't go too much into the Greek. I think Well, we do a lot, actually, just maybe not without mentioning in particular, because I always want to encourage us to feel and believe that all of us can know the Bible, amen? We don't need to be some scholar to know what God says. But at the same time, this Greek word here for the word manifest is very fascinating. It's phaneros, which means to make, to shine, to cause, to appear. It lays open. It makes things known. Even those things that we thought would be hidden, but not before the eyes of the Lord. Amen? It makes things appear and makes them clear. And so, at the judgment seat of Christ, the Christian's works, his service to the Lord will be exposed through that light of God's Word, so to speak, and which is his measure stick for, you know, winning the medal, the prize, the reward. And He will reveal to us how He sees my works. He knows everything already, amen? Now, God also knows the growth path that I'm on, the level of spiritual maturity. And, you know, I believe God, in a sense, will hold us accountable primarily only for the things we know. You know, sometimes we look at wonderful Christian this or that, or big saints of days gone past, this and this, and like, oh man, they got so much, you know, deep spiritual secrets that I can't even think about. It's like, whoa, how can I ever get to that level, you know? about that. Work on the level that you're at, amen? And just grow day by day through the grace of Christ. And just do your dead level best to do what you do understand from the Word of God, amen? And do that day by day. And so God knows where we're at in our maturity level, so to speak. He can see my love for Him, amen? We see it there in the example of the Apostle Peter in the Gospels. He also knows my hypocrisies. He knows every secret thing. We see that there in Acts chapter 5 with Ananias and Sapphira. He can see my motives. Christ knows what I do, and he also knows why I do it. And I wanted to close a little bit here by comparing the materials that are being used to illustrate here the judgment. So we want to go back there to 1 Corinthians chapter 3 for just another minute here please. And read once again there in verse 12. There's Six materials in total, two different kinds, that are being contrasted here in that illustration, of course, for spiritual truths the Lord gives us. 1 Corinthians 3, verse 12. Now, if any man build upon this foundation gold, silver, or precious stones, that's the first one, and then the alternative would be the second thing, stones, wood, hay, stubble. No. What am I reading here? Forgive me. I said six. I counted correctly. Gold, silver, precious stones, and then wood, hay, stubble. All right, let me get this right. What do they symbolize? What's the difference between those? I think it's very interesting to consider. The wood, hay, and the stubble are the things that are above the ground. They're things that are easily visible. They catch the eye. Let's say if somebody has $10,000 and they invest it into wood, they invest it into hay or into stubble, you'll get a much bigger pile, a much bigger amount than you would, let's say, per ounce for $10,000 in gold or even in silver or precious stones. And yet, the wood-hanged stubble is the sort of material that fuels the fire and does not withstand the test. Folks, a lot of big, impressive public ministry and a lot of man-reliant, impressive Christianity, a lot of popular Christians that may have gotten all the accolades of the Christian world in this life, may stand down in ashes through their ankles, so to speak, at that judgment seat. But now let's compare that with the gold, silver, and precious stones. Those three things all come from below the ground. They're not very visible. They're much harder to get to. They're much more valuable. They take a little more effort. They take much more investment. And those are materials that are not burned up by the fire, the test. They're rather refined in the fire. I believe when we look at the wood-hanged stubble, we look at those things that are associated with this world, with the temporal, that are perishable, that burn up in fire, so to speak, that we would associate with the life of a carnal or unfaithful Christian. A Christian who rather serves more himself than he would serve Christ, who puts his own will or his own pleasure above the will of Christ. A Christian who's neglecting the work that he's been called to in the harvest for the gospel. It's a Christian that may be half-hearted and lukewarm. Now, he may look very impressive outwardly to all the other Christians, but God sees the heart, doesn't he? Amen? It's a life that is built on the wisdom of man rather than the Word of God. Notice there, if we go just a little further down in 1 Corinthians 3, in verse 18, Let no man deceive himself. If any man among you seem to be wise in this world, let him become a fool that he may be wise. For the wisdom of this world is foolishness with God. Many times, the things that look very wise and impressive in this world, God has a completely different view, amen? And He rather looks for those things that are much less visible, and yet much more precious. The gold, the silver, and the precious stones. So we don't want to fall into the trap of just following man's thinking or following religious traditions and this world's philosophy and psychologies and the culture and pragmatism of this temporal unsaved world. No, we rather want to go for what Jesus sees as gold, silver, and precious stones, amen? Those things that are imperishable, that have eternal value. like the pure gold in the heavenly Jerusalem. I believe that refers to a Christian life that is obedient to the Lord in the heart and outwardly. It's a Christ-centered life. It's a life that keeps eternity in mind. As those preachers of old used to pray, God stamp eternity on my eyeballs, amen? Give me a perspective, the way that you see my life, the way that you see the souls around me. They're not content with the cheap things of this world. They seek for things of eternal value. It's talking about the life of a pilgrim that's not at home here, but rather focuses upon heavenly things. That is willing to live a surrendered life to Christ in pursuing God's will. And it's being changed more and more. into the image of Christ. I think maybe the most beautiful contrast that we see between the wood, hay, and stubble, and the silver and precious stones, we see in 1 John chapter 2, as we close here this morning. In 1 John chapter 2, close towards the end of the New Testament there, Now once again, the emphasis is very important. This is not in order to be saved and go to heaven. This is rather only because we're saved, after we're saved. And now we have a run to race, and a reward, and a medal to win. Now that's a privilege, not a duty. That's a blessing, that's a motivator, amen? To give it all in obedience to the Lord, because we love Him, because He first loved us, amen? Do you know that Jesus loves you this morning? Wow, what a precious truth, amen? Despite knowing who you are or who I am, amen? Praise the Lord for that. 1 John 2, verse 16. For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world. And the world passeth away, and the lust thereof, those things that perish up in the fire, the test of God's word in his judgment seat. The world passed away in the luster of, but he that doeth the will of God abideth forever." Those are things of eternal value. Amen? I believe, in closing, that we could understand the gold as our devotion to God. The things in the temple, the tabernacle, they were always, almost all, dressed in gold. I think we could understand that as our devotional life. A walk with the Lord, the most precious thing to the Lord. Folks, sometimes we can fall into a trap to do a lot of things for Jesus, but how much are we actually doing with Him? Anyone? The silver we could reference to in regards to our words. that it will be tried at the judgment seat of Christ there. Every idle word, the Bible says, will be tested, will be tried. The tongue of the just is as choice silver, verse 10, verse 20 says. And I think the precious stones could remind us of the high priest's breastplate in Exodus 28. They were dressed with the precious stones in intercession and in prayer there in the tabernacle for the tribes of Israel. And folks, I believe one of the most precious things in the eyes of God is our prayer life. Lennon Ravenhill always said, no man is greater than his prayer life. That is so true. That is so true. How's our prayer life, amen? Folks, in Revelation chapter 5, verse 8, we see that there's those golden vials full of odors which are the prayers of saints. I wonder how full or how empty my bowl up in heaven is full of prayers, amen, that is sent as a sweet-smelling Savior before the Lord. So God sees things so differently, doesn't he? And we need to learn to be motivated by the things that he looks for in our life and ask him to help us with that. Father, we pray that you would help us to run the race, Lord, by faith in a way that would be pleasing to you, or help us to chase after the things that you see as gold, silver, and precious stones. And Lord, may we face you one day, Lord, with joy. And we have the privilege, Lord, of laying many rewards of faith, of love, and obedience before your precious feet. We pray this in Jesus' name.