Transcript

Turn over to 1 Corinthians 3, as we continue studying verse by verse through this very practical New Testament book, as the apostle Paul is writing a letter, that’s what 1 Corinthians is, its the letter written by God’s apostle, the apostle Paul, to this church in the Gentile city, of the Roman empire called Corinth. Paul is dealing with the church that is a very immature church and a very carnal church and has a whole lot of problems. As we looked lasted week, and the week before last, we saw that Paul has been dealing with the problem of preacher worship. In the church at Corinth, which is very typical of a carnal church. They begin exalting the messenger above the master. The servant above the Savior.

Paul has been saying to them, now listen, I’m not anything special, God called me to a special office, but its because of his grace, there’s nothing in me, so quit exalting me, and some of you out there quit saying, I’m of Paul, we’re Paul’s followers. And then Apollos, well, he’s nothing special either, he had a special role and ministry there, as your overseer, behind me, but he’s just a servant of God, and everything good in him is by the grace of God, quit looking at us men in leadership and look to Christ. He’s the most important one. Now Paul journeys on down to where he is saying, even though its all of God and he ought to receive all of your attention and focus and worship, there is a day coming where God is going to hold his people in accountability for what they did with their lives as his children. Specifically here in chapter 3, he’s talking about church leaders.

I want to deal tonight with the judgment seat of Christ. I’ve entitled the message simply “Facing the Fire.” Let’s begin in verse 12. “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. 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.”

First of all I want you to notice that the judgment seat of Christ is a time of evaluation. It is a time of evaluation. Verse 13 says, “Every man’s work shall be made manifest.” The word manifest means to be made known, to be clearly seen for what it is. And then it says, “it shall be revealed by fire.” Now the judgment seat of Christ is not a judgment for sin. If you are here tonight and you are a child of God, you have been saved by the grace of God through faith in Jesus Christ, you will never face judgment for your sin. Praise God for that. Because Jesus took the judgment for our sin at Calvary. When he hung on that cross and cried “it is finished,” that word meant the debt has been paid in full. There’s no more payment to be made.

So when we stand before the judgment seat of Christ, we’re not standing there to be judged for our sin. We’re standing there to be evaluated on our service and our faithfulness to the Lord after we were saved. It’s like an awards ceremony. You know, at the end of the school year or at the end of a sports season, they have an awards banquet. Everybody who played on the team is there. Their position on the team isn’t being questioned; they are already on the team. But now they are being evaluated to see who receives what rewards or what honors based on their performance and their faithfulness.

Notice the materials Paul mentions in verse 12. He says there are two types of building materials. There’s “gold, silver, and precious stones,” and then there’s “wood, hay, and stubble.” Now think about the difference between those two groups. Gold, silver, and precious stones are expensive, they are beautiful, and most importantly, they are fireproof. Wood, hay, and stubble are cheap, they are common, and they are highly flammable. Paul is saying that the way we live our lives and the way we serve in the church can be categorized into these two groups. There is that which is of eternal value, and there is that which is of no eternal value.

The fire of God’s holiness and his truth is going to “try every man’s work.” It’s going to test it to see what sort it is. Not how much of it there is, but what “sort” it is. You see, we are so often impressed by quantity. We think if someone is doing a lot of things or if a church is real big, it must be gold, silver, and precious stones. But God looks at the quality. He looks at the motive. He looks at the heart. He looks at whether it was done in the power of the Spirit or the power of the flesh. A man might have a pile of hay as big as this building, but when the fire hits it, it’s gone in a second. Another man might only have a handful of gold, but when the fire hits it, it remains. It might even be purified and shine brighter.

Secondly, I want you to notice that the judgment seat of Christ is a time of reward. Verse 14 says, “If any man’s work abide which he hath built thereupon, he shall receive a reward.” God is a rewarder of those who diligently seek him. He doesn’t have to reward us. We are his servants; we are just doing what we’re supposed to do. But in his grace and in his goodness, he chooses to reward us for our faithfulness. Now, I don’t know exactly what all those rewards will be. The Bible speaks of different crowns: the crown of righteousness, the crown of life, the incorruptible crown. But I believe the greatest reward will be to hear the Master say, “Well done, thou good and faithful servant.” To know that we have pleased the one who loved us and gave himself for us.

Thirdly, notice that the judgment seat of Christ is a time of loss. This is the part we don’t like to talk about as much. Verse 15 says, “If any man’s work shall be burned, he shall suffer loss.” This doesn’t mean he loses his salvation. Paul is very clear on that: “but he himself shall be saved; yet so as by fire.” He is saved, but he’s like a man who barely escapes from a burning house. He’s safe, but everything he worked for, everything he built, all his “wood, hay, and stubble” is gone. He stands before the Lord empty-handed. He has no rewards to cast at the feet of Jesus.

Think about the tragedy of that. To spend your whole life as a Christian, but to spend it on things that don’t matter. To be busy, but not productive for the kingdom. To be successful in the eyes of the world, but to have nothing of eternal value when you stand before Christ. You suffer the loss of the reward you could have had. You suffer the loss of the joy of presenting something to your Savior.

The question for us tonight is: what are we building with? When you look at your life this past week, your attitudes, your service, your witness, your use of your time and your money—was it gold, silver, and precious stones? Or was it wood, hay, and stubble? Are you living for the temporary or are you living for the eternal?

You will be saved, but your salvation was never the question here. The question is, after he saved you, what did you accomplish while down here in these bodies for his honor and for his glory. Let me end with a precious story I read earlier. After the Crimean war, in the middle 1800s, there was a great celebration in London, England, to honor the heroes of the war, England was fighting Russia. Queen Victoria was present to give out the medals. Some of the soldiers came into Queen Victoria’s presence and the sleeves on their coats were gone. Some came wobbling in on crutches, and some came in with bandages across their heads. To each one she gave the same sweet smile and pinned on them their medal, their reward.

Finally the last one came in. And he was much more seriously injured than any of the others. Both arms were missing and both legs were missing, he was badly cut and bruised and had bandages all over. At the sight of him tears began to stream down Queen Victoria’s face and she went over to him and she pinned the medal on his lapel, and with great emotion, leaned over and kissed that soldier on the brow. Said well done, good and faithful servant. And that not even to be compared to the day we will stand before our Master. Possibly beaten and bruised and battered and rejected and scorned and persecuted down here. But to hear him say, well done, well done, my good and faithful servant. May we all hear that from our Lord on that day. Let’s stand together.