In this sermon, the preacher emphasizes the seriousness of opening up the Word of God and proclaiming it. They pray for God to speak directly to their hearts and reveal His truth. The sermon discusses two judgments mentioned in the Bible that have not yet taken place, the judgment seat of Christ and the Great White Throne judgment. The preacher emphasizes that salvation is a free gift from God, but also highlights the importance of the judgment seat of Christ for Christians, where they will receive rewards based on their actions in the body.

OK, tonight we're going to start out in second Corinthians, chapter five. Second Corinthians, chapter five, and we're going to look at the judgment seat of Christ. The judgment seat of Christ in a subtitle tonight is going to be, does it matter? The judgment seat of Christ, does it matter? Especially for us as Christians. Second Corinthians, chapter five. Let's begin reading in verse six. So we are always confident knowing that while we are at home in the body, we are absent from the Lord. For we walk by faith, not by sight. We are confident, yes, well pleased, rather to be absent from the body and to be present with the Lord. Therefore, we make it our aim, whether present or absent, to be well pleasing to him. For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ. That each one may receive the things done in the body according to what he has done, whether good or bad. Knowing, therefore, the terror of the Lord, we persuade men. But we are well known to God, and I also trust are well known in your consciences. Let's pray again, please. Now, Heavenly Father, it's such a serious thing to open up your word. It's such a very serious thing to proclaim it, Lord. And we're asking you, Father, I just pray that as we come together, we could be in one accord and asking you, Lord God, to speak to us directly from your word and to speak directly to our hearts. Would you give us ears to hear what your spirit is saying to us tonight? I thank you, Father, that not a single one of us is here by accident or coincidence, but you have brought us together on purpose and you've put us together on purpose for such a time as this. And anyone who listens to this message online, it will be on purpose, it will be because you, Lord God, have opened up the door and have appointed it to be so. You're a sovereign God and you're good and you're gracious, Father. So we take very seriously opening up your word tonight, and I pray, Father, for your grace to be upon us. I ask you for the power of your Holy Spirit that you would reveal to us, O Lord, your very truth, that you would grip our hearts. Many have had busy, busy days and busy weeks, and it's. It's difficult, Lord, not to get just so consumed with everything that's going on down here in this world. It's difficult not to get consumed by the things of this world. Would you help us tonight to lift our eyes and to fix them upon you, Lord Jesus? And would you speak your very words of life to us? I thank you for this, for all of our trust is in you, Lord, all of our hope, all of our confidence is in you, Jesus. And it's in your holy name, I pray. Amen. There are two judgments mentioned in the Bible that have not yet taken place, but both will assuredly occur. Let me just tell you how this message came about. I love it when another brother or sister comes to me if and ask questions, or maybe there was some confusion or misunderstanding, and we can talk and we can open up the word together. And in this particular case, it seemed that there was some misunderstanding on the judgment seat of Christ, and I couldn't shake it hardly all night. And so that's how this has come about. It's so vital, brothers and sisters, that you and I learn and know what this judgment seat of Christ is about. It's so important. My subtitle tonight is, does it matter? There are many Christians who don't really believe that it really matters that much. I mean, if you're saved, you say going to heaven. What is it? What does it matter? What difference does it make? There are two judgments mentioned in the Bible. There is the great white throne judgment mentioned in Revelation chapter 20, where Almighty God sits upon a great white throne. And because of his glorious face, his majesty, just for who he is, the Bible says that earth and heaven fled away from his face. This is a terrifying judgment day, the great white throne judgment. And that is a day when God Almighty will judge every unbeliever according to their works. Every unbeliever, that is every single sinner whose name was not found written in the book of life, will be judged at the great white throne judgment. And they will be cast into the lake of fire. Brothers and sisters, that should grip our hearts for the loss. It really should, that there is a real judgment to come. There is a very real hell and very real people are going there without Christ. A terrifying judgment. I thank God and I praise him that if you're here tonight and you're in Christ, and I think most are here tonight in this crowd, we don't have to go to that judgment. We will not have to stand before God at the great white throne judgment. That is a judgment for unbelievers. A terrifying judgment. It will happen, but there's another judgment that is for the believer. There's another judgment that you and I will we have an appointment to make. This is a judgment day that none of us is an exception to. None of us will escape. We will all stand before the judgment seat of Christ as Christians, as believers. The Bible says so very clear here in verse 10. For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, that each one may receive the things done in the body according to what he has done, whether good or bad. Notice the certainty of it. We must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ. The Bible says in Hebrews 9, 27, that it is appointed unto man once to die. And after this, the judgment that applies to all. Every single one of us, unless Jesus comes first, we will all face death. It is appointed unto man. Ten out of ten people die in the same way. Ten out of ten people will stand before the judgment of God, either the great white throne judgment or the judgment seat of Christ. It is appointed unto man once to die after this, the judgment. Now, I want to make something very clear. Please listen. This judgment seat of Christ is not talking about salvation. There is no mention of being cast into hell here like there was at the great white throne judgment. There is no mention here of trying of opening the book of life and seeing whether or not your name was written there. This is not a judgment that is talking about salvation or eternal life, but rather one of rewards or loss thereof. But nevertheless, it is a judgment. It is a judgment that we will stand before. First, please do not misunderstand and let no one be deceived. Your works cannot and will not save you. Cannot be done. You can never be good enough to get to heaven. You can never do enough to get to heaven. Isaiah 64, verse six says, but we all like an unclean thing. We are all like an unclean thing and all our righteous acts are like filthy rags. The very best that we could do is like filthy rags in the sight of a holy God. You cannot be good enough. Jeremiah 17, nine. The heart is deceitful above all things and desperately wicked. Who can know it? That's the human heart without Christ. Filthy rags. That's the human heart without Christ. That's our very nature without Christ. Romans 310 says there is none righteous. No, not one. Romans 323, for all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God. Romans 623, for the wages of sin is death. But the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus, our Lord. The key word I want you to underscore tonight is gift. The gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ, our Lord. That is, it is free to you and me, though it costs God everything. Salvation is a free gift. It is free gift, just as the children quoted earlier, for God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son. This is a free gift given to us by Almighty God. Salvation is a gift to be received. You cannot buy it. No matter how much money you ever put in any offering plate or any charity, you cannot buy your salvation. You cannot earn it. You do not and cannot deserve it. You cannot merit it. However, a good person thinks they have been or might have been. However, many good works or good deeds you think you've done, you still remain a wretched, hell deserving sinner apart from Christ. Never good enough to get to heaven. You cannot save yourself. There's only one who can only one worthy enough, only one righteous enough to pay for your sins and mine. And that is the Lord Jesus Christ. And that is what Jesus, the son of God, did when he died on the cross. He suffered the wrath and judgment of God upon himself for sins that he did not commit, but sins you committed and that I committed. Jesus died in our place. He endured the wrath of God. He was judged for us. He died and rose again that you and I can be saved and receive this free gift called everlasting life. Thanks be to God. Amen. Praise his holy name. The salvation is a free gift given to us by God. Jesus paid it all all to him. I owe sin had left a crimson stain. He washed it white as snow. Praise be to God. Ephesians chapter two. Ephesians chapter two and verse eight. For by grace, you have been saved, that means you didn't deserve this. You cannot earn it. You cannot merit it by grace, grace, grace. You have been saved through faith and that not of yourselves. It is the gift of God. There that word is again. Salvation is a gift. The gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast. Romans eight chapter one says there is therefore now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus. Do you believe those truths? Do you believe those promises? If any man is in Christ, he's a new creation. Old things are passed away. Behold, all things have become new. Jesus Christ paid it all. That's the only way to be saved. Only way, brothers and sisters. Then why is there a judgment seat of Christ before which we must all appear? Why is there a judgment day for Christians? Why should Christians be judged if Christ has already been judged for us? And if there is now no condemnation, then why is there a judgment day for us as believers? Should we even be concerned about such a day? Does it even matter? There are many professing Christians who do not take it seriously at all. But the Bible says we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ. I can tell you on the authority of God's word tonight that it does matter. It does matter, not in the sense that it's a judgment as to judge as to whether you are saved or lost. We've already settled that. He's talking about works here. He's talking about things done in the body and us giving an account and us receiving. So it's not it's not coming before God and saying, oh, am I going to suddenly be shocked that here I trusted Christ as my Lord and Savior, and I believed it was all of grace and I put my faith completely in him. And then suddenly now I'm judged for my deeds, and he brings up sins from the past that I thought were washed away in the blood. No, that is not going to happen. Jesus Christ is never going to bring up sins of your past that have been washed away in his blood. For God, our Father promised that he chose to remember them no more. Then why is this judgment seat of Christ so serious? And what is it that he's going to really judge all of your sins? Every sin that you've committed against Christ, when you came to Christ, when you put your faith in him, you were saved, you were born again, your sins were forgiven, they were washed away in the blood of Christ and every sin that I ever have committed since I was saved has been forgiven by Christ. But this new life that Jesus Christ has given to us all from the moment of your conversion, this new heart and this new life that has been given to you, this gift of eternal life and much more that we'll talk about in a moment that has been entrusted to you as a born again child of God. You, my brother and my sister, will give account for that. I will give an account for that. We will give an account as to what we have done with what God has given us. Do you believe the same Bible that says we are not saved by works? And the very next verse says, look at it with me, Ephesians 2, verse 10. We are his workmanship created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them. Do you believe the same Bible that says you're not saved by works, but once you're saved, you'll work? That's what the Bible says. How many people want to stop? We're not saved by works. I say, amen. Praise God. That's the truth. But once you are saved, you work saving faith works. You will serve the Lord. You will you you were created in Christ Jesus, his workmanship to do good works. Why? Because you love him, you love him and you belong to him. You want to serve him and therefore it does matter. It does matter if it's your ambition to be well, pleasing to Christ. And that's what Paul said. We make it our aim to be pleasing to him. For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ. That's the context of it. Paul lived with this truth burning in his heart. Someday I will see my savior face to face. Therefore, I make it my aim every day to glorify his name. Why? To gain his approval so that he might save me? No. Because I am saved. Because he loves me. Because I love him. I want to give me his all. I want to give him my all. And I know that I will be held accountable for what I've been given. To whom much is given, much is required or expected. Does it matter this judgment seat of Christ? It does if you love God. It does if it is your aim like it was the apostle Paul to be pleasing to Christ. It does if you believe the whole Bible and the part that says we're created for good works. Which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them. Good works follow true saving faith like heat follows fire. Like the thread follows the needle. Like cold comes from ice. Like the cart follows the horse. But faith without works is dead. It is dead. Is it possible for a person to have a saved soul and yet waste their life? It is possible. And you will see that later in Scripture. You can have a saved soul and yet a wasted life. We'll see that in Scripture in a moment. But first, I want you, brothers and sisters, if you would just follow me for a moment somehow by faith. May the Holy Spirit of God help us to to receive even just a glimpse. Of what it will be like on that day that you and I appear before the judgment seat of Christ, because that is what the Bible says. We must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ that each one may receive the things done in the body according to what he has done, whether good or bad. Let's go there. We're coming before Christ on this day. This is the Son of God that you will see. Who is adequate to talk about this? Who is sufficient to talk about these things? It has to be the Spirit of God that enlightens our heart, that opens our eyes. One day I will be in the actual, tangible, physical presence of Jesus Christ. The one who is absolutely, perfectly pure, perfectly just, indescribably beautiful and holy and magnificent and full of majesty and glory. The one whose face shines brighter than the sun, the one whose eyes are like flames of fire. The one who knows everything about me, the one who will see straight through me. The one who loves me deeply. I'm coming before him on judgment day, but it's such a judgment that it's not the kind of judgment like the great white throne where God is ready to unleash his wrath and his anger and rightly so upon sin. This, my friends, is the one who will judge you now is the same one who saved you. The same one who gave his life for you, the one who loves you beyond description, the one who longs right now to give you rewards, longs, longs to say, well done, thou good and faithful servant. You're in the presence of the one. Imagine the atmosphere breathes holiness, holiness unto the Lord. We're going to stand before him. We're going to fall before him. I believe we're going to be on our face before the Lord Jesus Christ. That day is coming. It's a reality. You will be there and you will be there by yourself. Each one must give an account. There will be no one to hide behind. There will be no one to blame. There will be no one to blame. You will stand in the presence of Jesus Christ, just you and Christ and. The judgment will begin, I want to ask you as you see the face, the one you've walked with and talked with for a whole lifetime by faith. Yes, you've known him, you've trusted him, but you've never yet seen him. Now you see now you see it. Can I ask you, does it matter now on this day what you did with the time he gave you? Does it matter what you did with the talents that he gave you? Does it matter now on this day what you did with the treasures that he gave you that he entrusted to you? Does it matter on this day what you did with His holy word? Does it matter on that day what you did with His people? Does it matter what you did with the family, the children that He entrusted to you? The lost people that He placed specifically in your path and you knew without a shadow of a doubt He had called you to minister to that one and that one. Does it matter on that day? It matters immensely. It matters. It matters. There you are alone in the presence of the Lord. That each one may give an account. This is a thorough judgment. A thorough judgment. Remember you're before the eyes of Him with whom we have to do. The eyes of whom nothing is hidden. Nothing is hidden. He sees everything. A thorough judgment. Turn now with me to 1 Corinthians chapter 3. And follow me here. 1 Corinthians chapter 3. And you'll see as we read throughout this chapter that this is another description of the same day that we're talking about the judgment seat of Christ. We start in verse 1. And I, brethren, could not speak to you as to spiritual people, but as to carnal, as to babes in Christ. I fed you with milk and not with solid food. For until now you were not able to receive it. And even now you are still not able, for you are still carnal. For where there are envy, strife, and divisions among you, are you not carnal and behave like mere men? Now, let's stop there before we go any further. Does it matter on that day if I have a division, a strife, envy, a break in fellowship with a brother or sister, an unresolved conflict, unreconciled? Will it matter? Of course it will matter. Of course it will matter on that day. See, there's something about us living in light of eternity, living in light and reminding ourselves of the judgment seat of Christ, that makes it very easy for us to make decisions today. What are we supposed to do? Should I or should I not reach out and attempt to reconcile? Should I or should I not forgive? Should I or should I not seek for restoration? Of course, it's easy in light of the judgment seat of Christ. And listen, here's a day, do you think that here's a brother or sister or even a husband or wife, any relationship, but both are believers? There's division that comes between them. There's strife, there's conflict, things are not right. There's division. Do you suppose both are believers, both are saved, they never resolve that, the day comes they die, they come before the judgment seat of Christ, now we go into heaven. Is that just sort of glossed over and it's never dealt with? Well, as long as that brother stays on that side of heaven and I stay on this side of heaven, then we'll get along. Is that going to fly? God will leave nothing undone. I believe even relationships, let's say divorce, but now let's say that man is saved and that woman is saved, but you can't unscramble the egg. But what do you do? On that day, every wrong will be made right. Every wrong. Because you're spending eternity with your brothers and sisters. Eternity is forever. I don't think anything will be left covered. Everything will be uncovered. Someone that was mistreated, and the truth never came out. No one ever really knew the truth, but that person, the one who did them wrong, and God. On that day, it will all be made clear. The truth will be known. The truth will be manifested. Now, I want to just follow this just a little bit longer and then we'll come back and continue reading. In 1 Corinthians 11, when he's talking about partaking of the Lord's Supper, coming to the table, he says in verse 19, let's go to verse 18. He says, For first of all, when you come together as a church, I hear that there are divisions among you, and in part I believe it. For there must also be factions among you that those who are approved may be recognized among you. Therefore, when you come together in one place, is it not to eat the Lord's Supper? Now, they were partaken in an unworthy manner. But follow me down to verse 27. Therefore, whoever eats this bread or drinks this cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner will be guilty of the body and blood of the Lord. But let a man examine himself, and so let him eat of the bread and drink of the cup. For he who eats and drinks in an unworthy manner eats and drinks judgment to himself, not discerning the Lord's body. For this reason, many are weak and sick among you, and many sleep. For if we would judge ourselves, we would not be judged. But when we are judged, we are chastened by the Lord that we may not be condemned with the world. Now, I do believe in that context there is a judgment that takes place here on earth where God chastens His children. He disciplines His children. He disciplines those He loves. But could it not also be true that those who refuse to judge themselves are storing up judgment at the judgment seat of Christ? He's saying, deal with it now. Deal with it now before you get there. For if we would judge ourselves, we would not be judged. It's a very important command to take heed to. Now we go back to 1 Corinthians 3. Verse 4. For when one says, I am of Paul, and another, I am of Apollos, are you not carnal? Who then is Paul, and who is Apollos, but ministers through whom you believe? As the Lord gave to each one. I planted, Apollos watered, but God gave the increase. So then neither he who plants is anything, nor he who waters, but God who gives the increase. Listen, if you're ever tempted to esteem a man or put a man on the pedestal, that's what was happening here. Paul, Apollos. Well, I belong to Paul. I follow Apollos. Okay, now let's come to the judgment seat of Christ. Remember the one in whose presence we stand. Who is Paul? Who is Apollos? Who is any man on any pedestal? They don't belong there, brothers and sisters. Let them be brought down. Be it me, be it anyone. So then neither he who plants is anything, nor he who waters, but God who gives the increase. Now he who plants and he who waters are one, and each one will receive his own reward according to his own labor. So now we're talking about receiving rewards again. Verse nine, for we are God's fellow workers. You are God's field. You are God's building. According to the grace of God, which was given to me as a wise master builder, I have laid the foundation and another builds on it. But let each one take heed how he builds on it. For no other foundation can anyone lay than which that which is laid, which is Jesus Christ. So we're talking about believers. The foundation is Christ. He he will not sink. He will not fall out from under you when your faith faith is completely in Christ. We're saved in him. But how are we building on him? That matters. Verse 12. Now, if anyone builds on this foundation with gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, straw, each one's work will become clear for the day will declare it. What day? The judgment seat of Christ Day, the day of judgment that you and I have an appointment with. The day will declare it because it will be revealed by fire. Someone says, well, God is love. He is love. He's also a consuming fire and everything we've done and lived for will be revealed by fire and the fire will test each one's work of what sort it is. If anyone's work which he has built on it endures, he will receive a reward. If anyone's work is burned, he will suffer loss, but he himself will be saved. Yet so as through fire. There's the proof that, yeah, this person that was saved, God saved their soul. They were saved by grace through faith in Christ alone. But he says here they suffered loss. They suffered loss. They were saved, yet so as by fire. What a tragedy. I mean, wonderful to be saved, but you have to see the grief that must be in the Savior's eyes. What could have been? Had you trusted him? Had we obeyed him? Had we been faithful with what he had given us? Who here says, well, I just want to be saved. I just want to get in. I can't imagine having that mentality when you see Christ who gave His all for you. And you say, well, I just want to slip in. No, Jesus, I wanted to give You all because You're worthy of all. I mean, I can imagine like a daddy, myself wanting to do something for my children. And I have it. I want to give them something. Something very, very special. And they come to the house. We're waiting for this day. Christmas or whatever it may be. And I'm so excited to give this to them. And they come in and there's no interest. It's just like I just want to go play with Johnny or whatever. That's a poor illustration, but you follow me the grief in the Savior's heart for His child who had to suffer loss on Judgment Day because when His work was tested, it was burned up like wood, hay and stubble. What is the wood, hay and stubble? The wood, hay and stubble are those things that we live for that have no eternal value whatsoever. It's living this life, this precious life that God has given us and just wasting it on things that don't matter. Taking the money that God has given you and just wasting it on yourself when you could be pouring it into His kingdom. Taking the talents that God has given you when you could be glorifying Him with those talents. Instead, you use them for yourself or you don't use them at all. Taking time, how precious is time? And wasting it. Listen, time is something we will never get back. You will never get back 2012. It's gone. You will never get back 2013. It's precious. It's a gift from God. And yes, we will give an account as to what we've done with it. Some will suffer loss. I don't personally believe that everyone though there will be this embrace, of course, but I don't believe everyone will hear, well done, thou good and faithful servant. Every Christian. I don't believe every Christian is considered in Revelation an overcomer. Some will hear that. Some won't. Some will suffer loss. Some will receive reward. Now, think of the thief on the cross. Praise God that he was saved. He was spared. Eternity in hell. He's in heaven today. Praise be to God for that. But I also grieve for that man. There's a saved soul, but a wasted life. I don't think, if we're honest, any of us want to come to the end of our life knowing that we really wasted it. What are these rewards though? Should that be our motive? I just want to serve and glorify the Lord because I want a crown. He talks about these crowns. Can I tell you, brothers and sisters, I don't believe these are medallions at all. I believe it's a metaphor. Clearly, in Scripture, when you study the New Testament, a metaphor of positions of responsibility in His kingdom. Do you remember what He said? Well done, thou good and faithful servant. You have been faithful with little. I will make you ruler of much. In Luke 19, He gave the parable. He said the kingdom of God is like this. And I'm paraphrasing, of course, but in essence, He says He gave ten servants, ten minas, which was the amount of money. And this one took his and he made ten more. Oh, he says, well done, thou good and faithful servant. You're going to be ruler over ten cities. This one took his and he traded and changed it into five more. Well done, thou good and faithful servant. You're going to be ruler over five cities. And one says, well, I didn't do anything with it. And the Lord, the judge says, you wicked, lazy servant. In essence, you've wasted what I gave you. The grief. In the heart of God. Yes, the judgment seat of Christ does matter. Matters very much. Look at Matthew chapter 16 with me. Matthew chapter 16. And verse 24. Then Jesus said to his disciples, if anyone desires to come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. For whoever desires to save his life will lose it. But whoever loses his life for my sake will find it. For what profit is it to a man if he gains the whole world and yet loses his own soul? Or what will a man give in exchange for his soul? For the son of man will come in the glory of his father with his angels, and then he will reward each according to his works. There's a story about a rich man in India. I forget his title or position, but he was a very wealthy man and he came up to a poor beggar and this poor beggar had a little bowl of rice. And the rich man says to the poor beggar, give me some of your rice. Well, the poor beggar was insulted by that because he knew he was a rich man. So he took out one grain of rice and he gave it to the rich man. And the rich man said, give me some more of your rice. And again, he begrudgingly gave one more grain. A third time, give me some of your rice. He gave him one more grain. He was angry about it. The rich man took the bowl, took another bowl, and he put in three little grains of gold. One grain of gold for each grain of rice. Now, we're not talking about salvation by works, but he who seeks to save his life, to hang on to this for himself and to waste it on himself. What does it profit a man to gain the whole world and yet lose his own soul? That brother, that sister, that child of God that will hear well, well done, our good and faithful servant is the one who gave his all to live for the glory of God or her all. And not only what we do will be judged, but especially why we do it. You see. No one knows our motives like God. But God really. Why did I do that? Why did I give? Why did I serve? Why did I go? Why did I visit? Why did I love? Why? The motives will be made manifest on that day when everything is made manifest in the in the light of God's glory. Now, the loss. What can we lose? Eternal reward. Why does that matter so much? Because this again is not a judgment where God is ready to unleash his anger. But this is a savior who's longing, longing to pour out to lavish rewards. And for some, he will not be able to. For some, they will be saved, yet so as by fire. They will suffer loss. I believe that that's when when he talks about him, wiping every tear from their eye. Speaking of heaven and revelation, could it be that there will be tears on Judgment Day? And the Lord has one final wiping away of tears. And of course, let's enter into the heaven. But I don't want to come to the end of my life. And I pray that you don't. Knowing. I just wasted it on myself. A selfish living, suffering loss. Listen to this. Jesus's words in Revelation 321 to him who overcomes. I will grant to sit with me on my throne as I also overcame and sat down with my father on his throne. That is an incredible promise for an overcomer. Jesus saying I want you to sit with me. I just I don't know how it's going to be, but I wonder sometimes in heaven if there'll be some that are just closer to him. I don't know. But here he says clearly he who overcomes, I will grant to sit with me on my throne. As I also overcame and sat down with my father on his throne, he wants to fill your basket. He wants you to sit with him. He wants to reward you to the fullest. And yet some will suffer loss and surely have to have tears wiped away. A.W. Tozer said to his dear friend Leonard Ravenhill, Lynn, you know what? He said, well, we'll hardly get our feet out of time and into eternity and gaze on eternity that we bow our heads in shame and humiliation and say, my God, look at all the riches that were in Christ Jesus. And I come to the judgment seat almost to popper. Wesley said when he preached Whitfield's funeral, preached a sermon at Whitfield's funeral and they had this disagreement, one's a Calvinist, one's an Arminianist. And someone asked him, do you think you'll see Whitfield in heaven? He says, oh, no, I don't think I'll see him. And many gasped. He said, I think he'll be so close to the throne and I'll be I'll be way back there. And. I think it I do believe. That this is a reality. Look at all the riches that were in Christ Jesus. And I come to the judgment seat. What could have been? It's not a message of condemnation, brothers and sisters. It's a message of hope saying. I still have breath in my body. I still have a life to live. Every single one of us does. And it is incredible what God can do with the. How much time do you have left? How much time do I have left? How many years do I have to preach to live? How many years do you have to live? How many days? In light of the judgment seat of Christ and His great, great love for you. Wouldn't you say it's important to give your all for the glory of God? To serve Him with your all because you love Him. Because He gave His all for you. I close with this. You've heard me read it before. One of my favorites. When I stand at the judgment seat of Christ and He shows His plan for me. The plan of my life as it might have been. Had He had His way and I see how I blocked Him here and I checked Him there and I would not yield my will. Will there be grief in my Savior's eyes? Grief though He loves me still? Would He have me rich and I stand there poor? Stripped of all but His grace. While memory runs like a hunted thing down the paths I cannot retrace. Lord of the years that are left to me, I give them into Thy hand. Take me and break me and mold me to the pattern that Thou hast planned. Brothers and sisters, I pray and I plead with you. Let us live in light of eternity. Let us live in light of the judgment seat of Christ. It is a reality. A reality, a real day that you and I will one day face. Some with unspeakable joy. Some with tears of sorrow. Because they will suffer loss. Yet be saved, yet so is by fire. Let's stand to our feet. Lord Jesus, I think of that wonderful, wonderful hymn that You gave to Isaac Watts when I surveyed the wondrous cross. At the end of that hymn, love so amazing, so divine, demands my soul, my life, and my all. Lord Jesus, my desire, Lord, and I believe many here, the desire of our hearts is to serve You because we love You. Is to do exactly what You tell us to do, Lord. Is to use the talents, the time, the gifts, the treasures that You've given us, and however much time we have left, to use all for Your glory, all for Your namesake. O Lord, how we long, every one of us must long to hear, well done, Thou good and faithful servant. Would You help us now, Lord, to be faithful with little. To be faithful in every area of our lives. And many of us, Lord, well, all of us fall short, but would You help us to get up and by faith to be quick to confess sin. To be quick to reconcile. To be quick to, slow to anger, but quick to hear and quick to love and quick to reconcile. Would You help us, Lord, to make it our aim and our ambition to be pleasing to You, Lord Jesus. Because we belong to You. Lord, I just pray that You would stamp eternity on our eyes and make the reality of this message, Lord, to be burning in our hearts. Help us to live in light of the judgment seat. Help us to live with our eyes fixed upon You. Help us, Lord, if we need to change our priorities. To let go of some things. To live and do exactly what You've called us to do. This is our prayer. In Jesus' name, Amen.