In this sermon, the speaker emphasizes the importance of human responsibility and the accountability we will face for our actions. He explains that every word spoken and every act committed will be revealed and judged by God. The speaker also discusses the concept of judgment and highlights three essential factors for understanding it. He concludes by emphasizing the significance of faithful work and service in the church, as well as the importance of helping others and being a testimony for Jesus Christ. The sermon references various Bible verses to support these teachings.

If you're growing like I am, something, anybody beside you, a person I've ever asked to show a hand in a while has let me go. Romans chapter 14, Romans the 14th chapter and the 7th verse say this, Father, we come in the name of the Lord Jesus, with thy word open before us, and we ask thee to speak to our hearts. O Lord God, we pray, I know it's our ears to hear our hearts go down. For Jesus' sake, amen. For none of us lives for himself, and no man dies for himself. For whether we live, we live under the Lord, and whether we die, we die under the Lord. Whether we live, therefore, or die, we are the Lord. For to this end, Christ first died, and rose and was raised by his better rendering. Christ has died and lived again, that he might rule over both dead and living. Whether thou judge thy brother, or whether thou set it not thy brother, for you shall all stand before the judgment seat of Christ. For it is this that I live, saith the Lord, every knee shall bow to me, and every tongue shall confess to God. So then, if any one of us should give account of himself to God, let us not therefore judge one another any more, but judge this brother that no man put his thumb in God for an occasion to fall in his brother's way. 2 Corinthians chapter 5, verse 8, We are comforted, I say, in willing rather to be absent from the body, and to be present with the Lord. Therefore we labor that whether present or absent we will be accepted of him. So, we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, that everyone may receive that which he has done in his body, or through his body, according to that which he has done, whether it be good or bad. 1 Corinthians chapter 3, verse 6, 1 Corinthians 3, verse 6, I have planted a pot of water that God gave me in peace. So then, neither he that planteth anything, neither he that watereth, but God that giveth the empty. He that planteth and he that watereth will run, and every man shall receive his own reward according to his own labor. So, we are laborers together with God. You are God's husband, and you are God's children. According to the grace of God which is given unto me as a wise master builder, I have made the foundation, and another built thereon. But let every man take heed, I will build upon it. For the foundation can no man lay, than that it lay with his Jesus Christ. I will then build upon this foundation gold, silver, precious gold, wood, hay, stubble. Every man's work shall be made manifest, that is, open to sight. For the day shall be perished, because it shall be revealed with fire. And the fire shall try every man's work of what form it is. When a man's work of God which he hath built thereupon, he shall receive a reward. When a man's work shall be burned, he shall suffer loss. And he himself shall be saved, if so as by or through fire. Know ye not that ye are a temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwells in you? If any man befile the temple of God, then shall God destroy him. For the temple of God is holy, or the temple in which it lies, that is, the local church. This temple ye are. Now, in chapter four, verse one, Then a man shall count of us as of the ministers of Christ, and stewards of the ministers of God. Whatever is required in the stewards of a man be found faithful. But with thee it is a very small thing that I should be judged of you, all of men's judgment. For I judge not mine own self, but I know nothing by or against myself, yet am I not hereby justified. And he that judges me is the Lord. Therefore judge nothing before the time until the Lord comes, who both will bring to light the hidden things of judgment, and will make manifest the counsels of the heart. And then shall every man have praise of God. One of the clearest doctrines spoken in power of God, which is a source of real comfort to every genuine believer, is the fact that no true Christian shall ever be in the judgment of God, desiring the penalty of his sins. For the Bible makes it so abundantly clear that everyone who receives Christ as Savior, and sets an included goal here of receiving and trusting Him as salvation, there is no possibility of that individual ever being in the judgment in regard to the penalty of our sins. The doctrine of eternal security or everlasting salvation applies only, of course, to those who are genuinely possessive of eternal life, and not to those who are mere possessors. We should always be careful when teaching the doctrine of eternal security that we do not leave the careless and injustice-possessing believer any room for comfort. When a sinner is well-pivoted, we ought to strive and sigh and pray and plead with God, and prepare for preaching that comforts the afflicted and affects the comfortable. Because, as long as the truth of our eternal security and the fact that we are saved by the grace of God and can never be in the judgment of God in relation to the penalty of our sins, this truth that is so wonderful to our hearts, we ought to remember that in the word of God there is a divine code of balance given to us. It does not make sense for us to threaten people who are saved by the grace of God for the possibility of being ultimately lost if they get out of fellowship or away from the Lord. It is not the will of God, nor the word of God, neither is it logical to threaten people with something that cannot possibly happen, such as a children of us being lost eventually. But what we need to do is to keep what the word of God gives to us, the divine code of balance against the doctrine of eternal security, to keep us as believers in Christ from being out of balance in our future lives. It is not the threat of being lost if we do not live righteously to God, but it is the judgment of Jesus Christ. Now, the Bible, I wish to say, is faithful to that, and as we have been told already, that is abundantly clear. No real believer in Jesus Christ who has been saved by entering into the law will ever stand before the judgment of the great white book. So, what a comfort it gives a poor sinner tonight saved by the grace of God to know that there is therefore now no condemnation of Him that owns Christ. But that does not mean, from the heart of a tender believer, that the desire to live is here as she may please, because while the Bible teaches that no real victim shall be in the judgment of God in the end, the same book teaches that no true believer in Jesus Christ shall escape the judgment of Christ. And this is human responsibility. This is a solemn and assured reminder that, for every word spoken, for every act I have committed, for all that I have done, for my entire life shall in a hundred days, and it may be right away, put on display and in full release, and may manifest and open to sight through the eyes of Him with whom we have to be. That which should have a sobering effect upon us is that our whole life as a believer, from the moment we receive Christ until we leave this world, is going to be examined by the eyes of the Lord Jesus, and we will know in the word of God that His eyes are as a flame of fire. Now, in connection with the judgment programs of God, I believe we are correct in saying that there are at least three things absolutely essential to an intelligent understanding of that particular judgment. One thing that was always, I would explain, and seem necessary is that we do not need to over-emphasize this truth, and we must never confuse the various judgments in the Bible. In the judgment of the nations, which I would love to take a little time off, a minute is stripped, when the Lord Himself shall appear and sit upon the throne of His glory, then shall be gathered before Him all of the living nations, and there, in the Lord Jesus' sitting upon the throne of His judgment, there is a judgment involving people of a lot of indivisible incomes. There's no resurrection connected with it, and that's what is called the judgment on both of the sheep on the right hand and the goats on the left. This judgment, we call it in use, consists of one resurrection and one deal of judgment. But, quite contrary to that truth of the word of God, some Bible scholars have distinguished at least seven different judgments in the word of God. There are only three or four that concern us tonight. Number one is the judgment of a believer's sins, and that's what Jesus tells us. Whenever the Lord Jesus died upon the cross, there are sins that are judged. God made Christ to be sin for us. He who knew no sin would not have made the righteousness of God in him. And the only reason the Bible says that there is therefore now no condemnation for those that are in Christ is simply because that judgment of our sins was borne by the Lord Jesus upon the cross. That's one judgment, and I thank God that I could say that Jesus Christ borne my sins in His own body on the cross. Then, next, the judgment that concerns people in the world today is the judgment of the great rightful. That judgment replaces those who died without receiving Christ. At this time, this judgment and the basis of it is not to determine whether they are saved or lost, but simply to establish the degree of their punishment in the length of time. Salvation from sin is always established in this life as dependent entirely upon whether we receive Christ or not. And the other one is the one we're considering tonight, the judgment of the great right of the judgment seat of Christ. Now, as we look at this subject tonight, simply we want to establish the time that this judgment will take place. Now, I'll remind you that when we speak of the time, we're not trying to say that it takes place exactly at this particular moment, but the sequence of events in general indicates that the time of this judgment will be immediately following the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. As we establish the time this judgment takes place, we look at those who are the subjects of this judgment, those involved in it, and then further the purpose of the basis of this judgment. Now, regarding the time, I'll give you just three passages of scripture which I believe will suffice for this point, and we're going to hear it right over the first two, because the main part of our message and purpose for tonight is the basis and the purpose and the character of this judgment. As regards the time of the judgment seat of Christ, we read in Romans that we shall all stand before the judgment seat, and then it could be the judgment seat of God in Romans chapter 14, or it could go on later to say we shall all stand before God. But, here in 2nd Corinthians chapter 5, it is the judgment seat of Christ. One says we shall stand, the other says we shall appear. And this makes it very clear that, somewhere out in space, there's going to be a judgment song set up, and all believers are going to stand there, and we'll see that in a moment. Now, the time of this judgment will be shortly following the coming of Christ. I'll give you one revelation from the truth, and verse 12. Therefore, Jesus says in one of his last promises in the world, he says, Behold, I come quickly, and my reward is with me, to give every man according as his works should be. Notice that when we come to the purpose, the basis, and the character of the judgment, we'll notice that both the judgment of the great works shown and the judgment seat of Christ are according to their works. Because, in both places, the principle of the judgment is the same, and the judgment of the great works is only to the degree of punishment, and the judgment seat of Christ is to the degree of reward. I either win or I lose, or I suffer the loss of the reward. That's why it's said that works in both cases is the principle of this judgment. Now, another verse. Remember this? Jesus says, Behold, I come quickly, and my reward is with me, to give every man according as his works shall be. And, if we believe in the imminent return of Christ, if we believe that the rapture are going to be written and spoken about this morning, it will take place at any moment. If this doesn't have a coping effect upon me as a believer, and deliver me from a spirit of indifference and carelessness, nothing ever will. And that is the prospect of being before the Lord Jesus within a matter of days, looking in his face and giving a mouth-to-mouth, a face-to-face account of the life that I have lived as a believer on this earth. That word, account, in Romans 14 where we read, so that everyone else may give an account of himself, is a word that means an account which is given by word of mouth. And, the prospect of the possibility of being in the presence of the Lord Jesus within a matter of days or hours, looking into his face, there arise to be stripped of all of the facade of false piety, and be seen in full relief before his eyes, exactly as I really am now. Not like I appear to be real, not like I would love to appear to be real or sound in repentance, but the real world. And, at the judgment he decides that program that we hear oftentimes of the real Mr. Jones stand up, at the judgment he decides it will be the real Mr. Ellis that stands there, and not the one that you know in church fellowship. It'll be the real you that stands there. Every thing that you have ever done, every motive, every word, every deed, every attitude will be judged in the light of the countenance of the face of Jesus Christ. There'll be no way to put on, nowhere to go, face-to-face confrontation with the Lord Jesus, and this shall have a sobering effect upon my life. In 2 Timothy chapter 4, you remember where the apostle was confined as far as his death, his faith in Christ? Write into his son Timothy in verses 7 and 8. He says, And I have walked the good fight, I have finished my course, I have kept the faith. Henceforth has laid up for me a crown of righteousness, which the Lord the righteous judge shall give unto me at his appearance." Give unto me, not only unto me, but also unto all of you that love his appearance. There it is. Reward and crowns are related to the coming of the Lord Jesus. Now, here in this passage, in 1 Corinthians chapter 4 and verse 5, you read, These words, therefore, judge nothing before the time until the Lord comes, and split the dead through gold for grains of light, the hidden things of darkness, and they make manifest the countenance of the heart. And, if that doesn't make you a criminal, then nothing ever will make a believer criminal. So, know that whenever I stand before the judgment seat of Christ in that day, he is going to bring the light, the hidden things of darkness, and will make open to sight the very thoughts and intent of my heart. But, notice, it's in connection with the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. Now, this is a pyramid of judgment. It is immediately connected with the return of Christ, or the rapture of the Church. The subject of the judgment is full of Christians and Christian Romans. Other passages in the word of God that have to do with the day are we give an account for our stewardship to contact heroes with prayers that only believers are involved at the judgment seat of Christ. Simple reason is, it's the time when we shall there have our lives evaluated, and the light of his countenance and the reality of the opposite of our service, of our life and everything else, will be brought out and the bone will leave. Now, that only Christians will be there, and you ought to remember this, that the Christians' sins will never be brought up at the judgment seat of Christ. The Christians' sin, regardless of cause, the Christians' service, is that we shall be judged at the judgment seat of Christ. I tell you, I am eternally grateful to God tonight for that promise in John's epistle that, if we confess our sins, he has hastened and doth to forgive us our sins and may cleanse us from all unrighteousness. And, I have this blessed assurance that, day by day, in my failures, in my stumblings as a believer in Jesus Christ, in my relationships with my fellow believers, that if I keep short accounts with them and short accounts with God, and keep all my sins confessed and forsaken by the grace of God, all that is put away and made right on this earth will never be brought up in heaven. That's a wonderful thought. For, if I thought I had the faith of the Lord Jesus, and public ridicule and display before everyone else, and all the evil sins of my life, not as a sinner, but as a Christian, I had to be exposed to those. I don't want to soon go to hell or to heaven, but I had to be exposed to such ridicule. But, thank God, the blood of Jesus, like God's Son, cleanses us from all other sins. And, one thing I do love, I believe, is the fact that I'm going to give an account to Him and no one else but to Him for my life that I have lived here on this earth. Now, when it comes to the purpose of the judgment, we've already read that and stated it, that Christians may give account of their stewardship, and that's in Romans chapter 14 and in verse 12. Now, in the word of God, stewardship, unfortunately, is almost always applied to money and to giving. And, this is a tragedy indeed. Of all of the things that God has entrusted us with, and these things, fortunately, the aggregate of them, are said to be called as stewardship, the least important expense upon money of everything that God has ever given to us is a person entrusted to us for our management. A steward is one who has been entrusted with the management of that which belongs to someone else. This word is autonomous. It primarily denotes the management of the whole order of an estate. A steward is a person who is a manager or a superintendent of that which belongs to another who has been entrusted to his care. In 1 Peter chapter 4 and verse 10, we have this word, "...as every man hath received a gift, even so minister the same unto another." A good steward is that word again. It's a good manager. It's an administrator of the ministry of God. You notice we read in 1 Corinthians 4.1 that a man took account of us as of the ministers of Christ and stewards of the ministry of God. Beloved brethren and sisters, tonight what we need to remember is this, that the word of God nowhere teaches or even anticipates an active member in the body of Christ. That every believer in the Lord Jesus Christ has a strong responsibility to make a contribution to the building up of the other members of the body. Waterboys and tent warmers and seers who never get involved in the things of God are not found in the Bible. The word of God emphatically teaches that every one of us has been given something to do for the Lord, and if I do not discover what God has given me to do, and I do not get in harmony with the will of God and function effectively as a contributing member to a local church, then I believe that I have missed the entire concept of a Christian life. Now, in the word of God, I want to call your attention tonight to a connection with our stewardship campaign that has been a real help today. I want you to know this, first of all, in Matthew's gospel, and then we'll look at the corresponding parable of connection with stewardship and service, and we have in the twenty-fifth of Matthew. Now, here's something for our instruction on our church for our empowerment. You might say, while you're turning there, that very quickly, it is obvious that in the twenty-fifth of Matthew, the parable of the talents, and then in the nineteenth of Luke, the parable of the towns, are pictures that the Lord Jesus gives us prophetically of our stewardship and our ministry as believers, and our reward, and the basis of our reward. Now, remember the time of the judgment day, as immediately after his coming, those involved were believers in Christ. Now, open to notice in verse 14 of chapter twenty-five of Matthew, "'For the kingdom of heaven is as a man traveling into a far country to call his own servants, and to never enter in his door.' And he gave one five talents, another two, and another one. From the land he brought to every man." Now, take those attentions. "...to every man according to his several abilities." Every man according to his several abilities. Remember that this is a picture of Jesus Christ, the risen head, giving gifts to the members of his body to do business with him here on earth until he comes. Now, these words here, "'He gave to every man according to his several abilities, but emphasized the sovereignty of God in the bestowal of gifts for service in the body of Christ.' And, open to notice, he gave five to one, and to another he gave two, and to another he gave one. In other words, he gave whatsoever he pleased to every man according to his will, but according to that one's ability." Now, you see, he gave them that sovereignty which he wanted to use in service in him. And, the fifth principle that entails in the Church today, "'To some is given a greater measure of gift than another. To some is given a different type or a lesser degree of ability.' But, I remember this in Ephesians 4-7, "'Blessed comes to my soul until every one of us is given grace according to the measure of the gift of Christ.' And, you see, that other brethren and sisters, whatever the Lord Jesus gives us in the way of gifts and abilities, he gives gifts of grace sufficient to carry it out. And, so let me prove to you that it is God that works in you both to will and to do all these good pleasures. And, you see, God has given to each one of us a certain work to do, a gift, and we'll see a little later on that the principle of healing responsibility is in the corresponding passage in Luke, chapter 19. Now, if you'll notice in this section, we'll go into it in detail, but here everyone is entrusted with responsibility according to that person's ability. And, if you'll notice it, and in each case the reward is exactly the same. A man who has been given a five-pallet, that's that windchill, doozle piece that thrills audiences and packs them out and jams them, hangs them out the window and makes them hang on his dresser, every dresser, every work, he's an orator, he's a spellbinder, he's that man that gifts a man of God. Like Dr. Thomas Jackson that was here a few months ago teaching the Word of God. God had me have enough talents for all of us to have a thousand keys and fifteen or twenty left for himself. God had given that man many powers, you see. But, Dr. Thomas Jackson would tell you, he'd be the person to tell you that he hasn't got a pay in the world, if there's God's business with the Lord Jesus Christ daily. He has given it to every man separately, as he will, but according to each person individually who is a philistine. Now, if you'll notice in verse 21, the five-pallet man gains five pallets more because with this five-pallet ability he can increase it one hundred percent. And, as a result, the Lord made him rule over many things. But, in verse 22, the one who gains two pallets, in verse 23 in the latter part, was made rule over many things. See the principle? And then this poor man who had his one pallet in the ground and suffered terrible loss of his earnings, exercised the gift that God has given him, the undoubted, and has reached the very same reward. Whether it was the five-pallet man or the two-pallet man, whether it was the outstanding orator, the preacher that helped people fell down in the gallows, whether it was the great scholar, whether it was the Sunday school teacher that deepened the elbow, whether it's the man that cleans up the building, if he takes the gift that God has given for the edifying of the body of Christ and he just does exactly according to the gift that God gives, the reward is always the same. Now, this is a word of encouragement for those of us who are not unusually gifted. I think one problem with us, most of us, is that we are too shy and we are too timid. Now, I'm not sure if our shyness and timidity is a result of our laziness or not, but how often people are asked to do something when they either don't have any gift to do it or something else. I sometimes wonder if that old saying, well, I just don't have any gift, and I haven't been exercised, it looks as if it ain't conclusive about the matter. And, well, I remember this, and I learned one thing. So, when I hear a man who has a superior gift in mind, and when God is pleased that he's sovereign to the youth and afraid of measuring without faith, I can look at him and look at him, too, and see his results. And I say, well, old boy, you ain't got nothing to brag about. You ain't got a thing to rub with what the Lord gave you. That's all you've got. And, you see, this keeps me from being envious of people who are more successful in the service of God. But, not only that, but to hear that the diligent opportunity of myself through the thing that God does give us will give me just as much reward as a great person of God who is in the public eye. This keeps me from worrying, from being jealous of others, and this will keep me also from sitting down and saying, well, I can't do anything. I pull on me. I don't have any gift, and I don't have any talent. Well, I don't know what's pulling on me. It's just my time looking around to see if you've got one, you see. This is a terrible rush for us, boys. But God wants to impress us with our hearts, and I think every day it's time for us to get up, off of our laden seats, and go to work. It's time for us to get our eyes off of one another, and get our being hypocritical of everything that goes on, and of everybody, and take those attacking attitudes, where I don't think it's going to forever go, so I'm just going to sit and watch and wait for the undertaker. It's time we get on, to get up and get going, to get our eyes off one another, and get on with the Lord Jesus. And, the time is last month, last year. Occupation with my fellow believers has caused me more sorrow in my Christian life than any other one thing. Occupation with Christ has brought me nothing but joy unspeakable in front of me. And, I appeal to you tonight, I'm telling you, the light of the tragedy that's life, and it's time for us to get looking at all of our brethren and sisters under a magnifying glass, which has been put before us, and get on with the work of Christ. Get on with it. Let me remind you of this, that some of your days, you know what I mean, have to give an account to God, for the hours I've spent warning the people, for the hours I've spent being critical of everything that God's people are trying to do. And, you hand off attitude, and say, well, you never amount to anything. And, I'll wait until it gets going, then I'll get on the bandwagon, and let me tell you this, there's nothing conceived like success in anybody that's going to a party after the food has been taken. And, it's clear that man will pretend to go on his own goodness for the faithful man who can come. And, stewardship is faith. One of the qualifications of a promise is that it's yours to be found faithful. And, you see, you have something to give. And, all in the world we've got to do is give. Every man in his own place, every woman in her own place, has a God-given ability. And, you see, the sovereignty of God means that he gives to one man this gift to another that. I have no right to get jealous or angry for that man, because he doesn't got anything that God gives him. And, let's remember this. Now, let's look at Luke chapter 19. And, here you have the palable of the pounds. It's sovereignty and the distribution of gifts, and the degree of the magnitude of gifts, which appears to be the responsibility of the man or the individual when the gift is given. In the 19th chapter of the Gospel of Luke. Now, notice in verse 11, it gives you the reason why I spoke this parable. This is why I said a moment ago that these parables are given prophetically regarding our stewardship and our ministry as believers. Verse 11 of Luke 19, As they heard these things, he added and spoke a parable. Number one, because he was near to Jerusalem, because they thought the kingdom of God should immediately appear. Now, where was the king going to establish his kingdom instead of destroying Jerusalem? The Jews looked for a king. They weren't prepared to receive a suffering Messiah, and that's the reason they missed the whole thing. And, you see, because he was near to Jerusalem, they thought the kingdom was going to immediately appear. He spoke a parable to them, and you don't have to stretch restrictions. You see, since the prophet kicked off the rejection of Christ, of his going away to a far country, and in his absence he submitted certain responsibilities to different of his servants. Look in verse 12. And, therefore, a certain nobleman went into a far country to receive a kingdom and to recur. And he called his ten servants with less than ten pounds, and said unto them, other than this word, Occupy till I come. Now, that word, Occupy, means to busy oneself with betrayal, to realize burdens that you didn't possess until I come, to refuse to trade you with it until I return. And here the Lord Jesus tells us, or wants to remind us of our responsibility as stewards, that when I run away into heaven, I'll be abused certain things I won't be doing here. Now, notice the distinction. In Matthew, he gave one five, and one two, and one one. But here he gave each one of his servants, all ten of them, one talon apiece. Now, be careful, and don't get the idea that he gave them ten talons, because it's ten servants, and he gave each one of them a talon apiece. A talon apiece, rather. Now, if you'll notice this, that where he gives each exactly the same amount, the reward is exactly in proportion to the increase. Here it is full of responsibility. Every one of them got one talon apiece, and when they came and gave a report of their trading with it, and what they had accomplished with that talon or talon, the gift that the Lord had given them, every man's reward was in exact proportion to the amount of the increase of his trading. So, you see, even whenever the Lord gives to one a talon or one gift, a thing to give, and another the same thing, and another the same thing, what I learn here is this. That is, we diligently apply ourselves to whatever the Lord gives us. The good, as we said a moment ago, our reward and the things over there, great as that from whom the Lord has conferred a most spectacular and outstanding gift, well, that's mainly because the basis of our judgment, that the judgment we defy, is not so much success but faithfulness. Now, my brother Dennis Curran taught me this word one night here at a midweek prayer service. I have never forgotten that. I've never forgotten. Brother Dennis was sitting right here, and I was sitting right over there. One of those midweek services, when you had what was called an open, take-your-best-coat service, which sometimes can be an abomination, sometimes a blessing, do take your coat. Anyway, that night the discussion was on the family, the home, and about the rearing of children. And the discussion seemed to me to be going along this line, that if you raise two of them up according to the word of God, then they will turn out in time, and they'll go on well for the Lord. And how often I've heard this expression quoted to me from the fathers, that if you train up a child in the way you should go, when he is old, he will not depart from you. Now, for some of you, you see, a lot of you say, I won't come help with that verse. If that verse had been recorded just by the Holy Ghost, I could understand it. I wouldn't have any problem. Now, if you train up a child in the way you should go, when he is old, he'll come back to us. I could understand it better, because that's more than people with human experience in the earth. But the verse said, they shall not depart from you. And I told that to the taker of the people that night, and I said, I know too many people that have been taken in the rearing of their children, and their children have not turned out well. They have often broken their hearts and crushed their spirits completely. And Brother Dennis said something that night I have never forgotten, and I'll pass it on to you. He said, Brother Spencer, remember this. Brother Spencer did it because faith is word of God, and lead the results of the Lord. And I've never forgotten it. And hence is that man a Roman who has the courage to take a stand on what he knows the word of God teaches, and lead the results with God of peace. So, you see what we have here? This doctrine of the fact that God gives to people the same degree of ability, and it's our exercise against it, and our faithfulness in the administration of this stewardship is the basis of our knowledge of our justice. Faithfulness. You know, I'll tell you, I don't know much about faithfulness. I was concerned with meeting the first prince in Sicily. Where were we a moment ago? I just don't know much about faithfulness, because my life has been one characterized by vacillation, that has got them down, and so on. But, I admire consistency. I have known two or three or four sisters in my experience who have been here for thirty-two years, and I never knew them to slow off to take a fat good look when the baby got sick. It hasn't been my experience. But, here in this passage, in 1 Corinthians, chapter 3, we notice this, and here again we are reminded of the fact that, ultimately, how it's all left up to God. The apostle tells us that he planted, in the first of our readings tonight, in verse 6, God planted upon this water. But, here's something we need to remember, that it's God who is the increase giver. So, then, neither he that planted it, nor he that watered it, it's God that gives the increase. Now, he that planted it, he that watered the water, it may be for heaven's sake to remember this. You may be what God wrote among his people. Then, he commanded five talents, two or one. God wants us to remember that we are two of them, that we work together. We are tied together for the faith of the gospel. And, this is what the Lord wants to remind us. He that planted it, he that watered the water. Here, again, it says that every man shall receive his own water according to his own labor. Now, in the tenth verse, notice, it says, I have laid the foundation of a building thereof. Mr. Peasebright, let every man take heed how he built it thereof, and then he goes on to tell us that there are two kinds of material we can build on earth. Wood, hay, and stubble, which the fire easily consumes, and gold, silver, and precious stones. So, we are reminded here, in verse 13, the overriding principle. Now, listen very carefully, beloved fellow believer in Jesus Christ. And, again, when you and I stand at the back of the seat of trust, and when I stand there, and you stand there, and look in face-to-face, the overriding principle at that judgment will be not how much we did, but how we did it. It will not be quality. I point it to, rather, the character and the quality. Now, this whole, let us do something, even if it is wrong, is not out of the Bible. Look in verse 13. Every man's work shall be made manifest, for the days shall declare it, because it shall be revealed by fire, and the fire shall try every man's work of what sort it is, not how much he did, of what kind of work he did. Oh, let me remember this. You see, therefore, we need to know what the work is. Because it says, If any man's word of God is yet built thereupon, he shall receive a reward. If any man's word shall be burned, he shall suffer loss. I don't know if I've gotten anybody to agree with me yet on this, but I haven't tried too hard. I'm persuaded that, in the light of this passage here, and the one and first principle that we read, that it is possible. I'm not going to be dogmatic, but I believe it is possible for a Christian... Listen carefully. For me, as a Christian, to have my entire life of service birthed up at the judgment seat of Christ, and not one single, solitary reward. I believe that. I believe it's taught in these two passages right here. Now, I've heard this old saying that every child of God will get at least one chance of trusting Jesus Christ. Well, it's so back-salvaging my work that I can get a reward for believing in the Lord Jesus as absolute or beyond my comprehension. And I believe, and I'm going to share with you what I see here, and you do whatever you please with it, but I believe it comes real close to the absolute fact that I can lose my entire life of service at the judgment seat of Christ. Now, notice he says that any man's works are burned. He shall cut the law, but he himself shall be saved, as God has done all through his time. Now, I believe that, as you said, the guiding principle of the judgment seat of Christ is the quality and the character of our work, and in turn, various things that determine the quality of our service. Number one, motivation. Why did I do it? It looks from that success in the eyes of man that it was the end of motivation of the heart. Now, in 1 Corinthians chapter 31, whether therefore you eat or drink or whatever you do, do all through the glory of God. You'd be surprised how easy it is for flesh to get the upper hand of a preacher, especially as a young person, and how he feeds on the compliments of people. Because, you see, when you get on a platform, it is not only the most glorious opportunity. You never have to display your abysmal ignorance and ineptitude in the things of God, but it's also a place where your flesh can get so exalted that if God didn't hold you down, you'd fly away. Lo and behold, here I am. I can preach. Poor ignorant man, I've had an education. Unlearned, ignorant, and unteachable. And, yeah, I can preach. And people look, and if you're not careful, just take seeds upon this thing. What is the motivating force and the power beyond our service to God? Number one, motivation. And the second, we're making it known that God has faith in that. Look at it. We heard a sentence before, too. The Lord is a God and a man. He found faith. I remember many years ago, and I wasn't really good enough to teach you on the subject, but the judgment of Jesus Christ, it must have been over 25 years ago, shouldn't it learn by experience of the servants of God and His families and fellowships and tenders in different places that the people of God in any church can be divided into three categories. First of all, you have shirkers. Secondly, you have shirkers, and thirdly, you have the workers. The shirkers are those who are always shirking everything that comes around. As I said a moment ago, they're not having a gift or being exercised about it, which is a cynical excuse for pure, sorry, common, low-down laziness to which I've been horribly afflicted from my childhood. And he said, But every time there's something to do, they always have an unusual way of disappearing. They can't find it. These are what he called the shirkers. Any of the shirkers, that's me, you get all stirred up, do some nasty thing here, and you tip off, you get off there, and you start your Christian life, and you're going to set the world on fire, and the first thing you know, you're going to fizzle out, and die, and you'll do it again. And your life is a series of ups and downs. Your life is a series of declines, and a series of spiritual head-rotations, and so they're constantly up and down, up and down, up and down. But, thank God, in every church you have the works, the good, faithful works. If you open the door amid great service, and flow it great deep, if you haven't put on the regular teasing that can challenge a tenth of the leaders, you depend on those people to do that. When there's something to be done, if they're not to have two legs broken, or in the hospital, or going to a funeral or something, you can count on them being there to help. You can count on them putting their children in the wheel and bearing their share of the burden. And one thing that really strikes a nerve, and limits to my heart, is this, that I am, in this local fellowship, a very definite weight and a burden that holds other people across back, for I am a help in the testimony of Jesus Christ. If I am not helping you in your Christian life, I am hindering you. If I am not putting my children in the wheel, if I am not taking my five feet, one pound, or one pound, whatever God has given me the ability to do, and exercising that under the leadership and control of the Holy Spirit of God, I am either pulling the consumer back, or I'm doing it to be helpful to you. Say to the Lord, Sir, I'll have something. Remember this. Not a pencil could have stripped through that, noted according to what sort we did. Paul said, He said, So, you see, dear children of God tonight, God wants to remind us that there is the strength within the house of David, now. We're going to stand before him, and I remind you again of my own convictions, based on third test and the fourth tier of the possibility of my entire life as a believer being burned up at the judgment seat of time, and entering into the eternal state without one single solitary reward. Now, I want to show you something here in this passage. In 2 Corinthians 4, notice in verse 3, it reveals a very small thing that I should be judged, as the viewer of man's judgment. Here, I judge up my own self. Now, notice the apostasy in verse 4. I'll give you a different rendering. For even though I don't know anything against myself, yet that does not mean that I am justified. And, in the view of his own servants, as far as I know, I have a right motive. As far as I know, I'm doing everything according to the word of God and the will of God. As far as I know, I'm building every piece I put in the building out of gold, silver, precious stones, but that doesn't mean that I am approved, because, you see, it is not I that judge myself. It's the Lord that judges me. Have you ever noticed that passage in 2 Corinthians 10, 18 where it reads, For not he that commends himself is approved, but whom the Lord commends. Now, notice, please, in this passage, in closing, that there are three kinds of judgment involved. First of all, Paul's captivity, his tendency to judge his own life, because that's not safe. Even though I don't know a thing against me, as far as I know, I'm doing the work of God exactly like the word of God said. But, he said, it's my right to object to my own life. That's a tendency. There's a danger in that. There's a danger in me trying to always be critical, analyzing everything I do for God that will lead me to occupation with myself and failure. Remember that. Motivation is the first thing. I don't care how many mistakes and blunders you make. I don't care if you're stupid, slumden, slumden, kicking boats with feet and mouth, and the only time you get one of them out is to put the other one in like me. I took care of that. If you do these things with a heart filled with love, Jesus Christ, and with fellow Christians, and for sinners you can take care, you can depend on the Lord to go about every mistake, providing the motive behind what you do with money. Love. All right. First of all is his own judgment, and then he says in verse 3, which means, in verse 4, then God should be judge of you, or of man's judgment. And, so, there are three kinds of judgment. There is the servant's judgment of his own service. There is the servant that will believe his judgment when he passes upon his service. Have you ever noticed how often you find yourself, if not vocally but mentally, critical of the service of God, of your local system? Now, come up here, Chris. Anybody in this area has never noticed how often, so, naturally, in time of need, I say it's not vocally, mentally critical of the way I've dealt with this institution. You know what I'm saying? Does anybody in this area in life that has never been mentally critical of the way a fellow believer lives and acts and works, raise your hands. That is still a liar in the building. How about you? Come up. Did we read in Romans 14 around don't listen? let us not judge one another in law. Let us set our eyes on one another. Let us judge one another because this is the law that judges us. And, he judges with a perfect judgment. My judgment of you is fallible. Judgment of his kingdom. The judgment of Christ is a judgment of Christ. It will be absolutely infallible. Our focus is let us not judge one another, but let us rather let us not put an occasion to call us crummy blocking the way of a fellow believer. And, the reason, see, we're not judging one another all the time is because it's the law that judges us. And, that's what the Apostle is saying here. Notice in verse 4. I love this. But, I know nothing by myself, yet am I not hereby justified, that he that judges me is the Lord. See, it's number one, the Apostle's judgment is on the right. Number two, the judgment of the fellow believer is passed on his right. And, finally, his blessed assurance came to his soul. He that judges me is the Lord. What a blessing. Oh, how hard we can be on one another. And, I don't mean for one moment to imply that there doesn't come a time when judgment is absolutely essential and cannot possibly be avoided. And, it must always be carried out. And, that is distinctly called, in the next chapter, chapter 5, that we have nothing to do with judging those that are without. In the world, or in the church, there's a moral responsibility for the church to judge evil and to deal properly with it according to the word of God. But, the point we're talking about here is not so much the judgment of open, potent acts of sin, but that business of passing judgment is constantly in the service of a fellow believer. Now, notice, he says, he that judges me is the Lord. I love that. I love it. Now, I'll tell you, I'm so thankful to God that the Lord is not as hard on us as we are on one another, aren't you? Man, if he were, what a miserable lot of us would be. I think of Satan when he numbered the people. Remember that? Satan means David to number the people because God, he's the devil, and he wanted to be judgment upon his people for their wayfarers and the sins they had made. He judged the people and he judged the punishment for it as a result of their suffering. God came to David and gave him three courses, if I can remember them right, I don't know if I need to talk about it. Three things. He said, now you can feed for so many days before you're innocent and as a result, you shouldn't fall in hell. He said, and you can stop the famine or the pestilence for so many days. And he gave the course for three things. And David said to that people, he said, I've got the answer. Let me fall into the hands of God and not into the hands of man, for God is gracious and merciful. And let me fall into the hands of God, and that's the only safe way. And you may wonder if you've known here, brethren and sisters, that ultimately, the one who judges our service here on earth is the same one who judges our sins. It'll be affirmed but attended in a compulsory judgment. Now, conclusion, verse 5, that we'll judge nothing before the time of judgment until the Lord comes to both to bring to light the hidden things of darkness, and we'll make manifest the counsel of the heart. And now, I'm going to give you a change in the last statement, and give it to you as you find it in the original, and also in Mr. G. N. Darden's good, little English translation. And then, the praise will be to each one from God. Just listen to that. And then, at that day, at the jackal-feet of Christ, then the praise will be to each one from God. And notice how the Lord says, at the end of it entirely, but does not say to everyone in that day to have his praise from God. But what it is simply saying is this, that a man, in that day, or a sister, or a woman, or a man, if he's got in his praise and approval and acclamation and reward coming, his approval will not be from himself, will not be from his fellow believers, but if he's got in his coming, it'll be from God. And that's what the tragedy is. I don't believe it teaches us that for one minute that everybody is going to have praise from God, but it teaches that if a man does have praise from God, then that day is going to come from the right place. God can tap himself on the back and listen to his fellow believers brag about his preaching, but it'll come from God. That's what I'm saying. Let me, above all, please God. And I'm sure that all of us who have this attitude should think that all is praise for the Lord. And I feel like we're enabled to somehow love the truth more than anything. So, here's a solemn prayer, isn't it? Brethren, sisters, we shall all appear before the God-fearing Jesus Christ.