The Judgment Seat of Christ

Let’s look at the Judgment Seat of Christ, 2 Corinthians 5:10-11. We know about verse 10 but we tend to forget about verse 11. Verse 10 states: For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, the word “judgment seat” is actually one word, the “bema.” It’s the seat of Christ. that each one may receive what is due him for the things done while in the body, whether good or bad.  The word “bad” is the word “cochros” which means “worthless.” Whether it’s profitable or worthless. We all do a lot of worthless things. How many times have we concerned ourselves with things heavy upon the heart today, that were meaningful to us today, but eternally they were worthless. I cannot emphasize too much what this passage means, and verse 11 is the addendum.

11 Since, then, we know what it is to fear the Lord, we try to persuade men. What we are is plain to God, and I hope it is also plain to your conscience. Many Christians do not understand the fear (or terror) of the Lord. We certainly should not be afraid of Him, but we seem to have the understanding that somehow God is going to wink at all the things we are doing now. Somehow, we have the idea but fail to grasp the fact that God is going to give exactly what one deserves at the judgment seat. This is when God is a fair and a just God. There will be no grace at the judgment seat.

Then those who gain their reward at this particular point will come back to earth with Him and consummate the second coming of the Lord Jesus Christ. Those who lose their rewards at the Judgment Seat of Christ will be judged once as having lost their rewards. For 1000 years they will be in the shadow of the light, they will suffer remorse. Then in Revelation 21 He comes back and wipes all tears from their eyes forever, and so they will ever be with the Lord. Grace, they don’t deserve it, but then neither do we.

Now all this leads into another point. I cannot emphasize enough that we will get what we deserve. We will be judged upon what we’ve done, not what we’ve said we’ve done, not necessarily on what we wanted to do but never did. Now if God gives us an opportunity and we do not accept it, then we’ve lost it.

When Jesus comes back, He’s going to be King of kings and Lord of lords. That means, through the very connotation of the phrase that there will be other kings and other lords.

 The Parable of the Talents

This is a very well-known parable. God even does a play on words here with the fact that we are given talents by God. Matthew 24 begins with what we call “The Olivet Discourse.

The Olivet Discourse

Matthew 24:1-31 is purely to Israel.  If you interpret it in light of any other group of people, you’re going to find yourself very confused in the Scripture. Matthew 24:32-25:30 the church is seen in its reference, and that’s very important. Matthew 25:31-25:46 we have the Gentile nations.

The Parable of the Talents
Matthew 25:14-30

Again it (the kingdom of heaven) will be like a man going on a journey, who called his servants and entrusted his property to them. To one he gave five talents of money, to another two talents, and to another one talent, each according to his ability. Then he went on his journey. The man who had received the five talents went at once and put his money to work and gained five more. So also, the one with the two talents, gained two more. But the man who had received one talent went off, dug a hole in the ground and hid his master’s money. After a long time the master of those servants returned and settled accounts with them. The man who had received the five talents brought the other five. ‘Master,’ he said, ‘you entrusted me with five talents. See, I have gained five more.’ His master replied, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant! You have been faithful with a few things; I will put you in charge of many things. Come and share your master’s happiness!. “The man with the two talents also came. ‘Master,’ he said, ‘you entrusted me with two talents; see, I have gained two more.’ “His master replied, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant! You have been faithful with a few things; I will put you in charge of many things. Come and share your master’s happiness!’ “Then the man who had received the one talent came. ‘Master,’ he said, ‘I knew that you are a hard man, harvesting where you have not sown and gathering where you have not scattered seed. So I was afraid and went out and hid your talent in the ground. See, here is what belongs to you.‘ “His master replied, ‘You wicked, lazy servant! So you knew that I harvest where I have not sown and gather where I have not scattered seed? Well then, you should have put my money on deposit with the bankers, so that when I returned I would have received it back with interest. ” ‘Take the talent from him and give it to the one who has the ten talents. For everyone who has will be given more, and he will have an abundance. Whoever does not have, even what he has will be taken from him. And throw that worthless servant outside, into the darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.’

“Again, it (the kingdom of heaven) will be like a man going on a journey, who called his servants and entrusted his property to them.  It’s vital to understand that these are his own servants. So many people look at this parable and they will say that this master called two who were saved and one who was lost. That’s not true, all 3 men were saved, because all 3 men are his servants.

And entrusted his property to them. God doesn’t give the forces of evil His goods. We’re going to see what kind of goods these are, and there is no way God would ever allow a lost man to have what He is going to give these people.

What is it that this man gives? He gives talents. The talenta in the Greek. The talenta was a form of Greek exchange. It was the money they used.

To one he gave five talents of money, to another two talents, and to another one talent, (and then the key) each according to his ability. “Ability” there is the word “power,” The Greek word dudamas. So, what he is saying here is that he gives to every man according to his own ability, according to his own power.

Then he went on his journey.

And so we find the story: The man who had received the five talents went at once and put his money to work and gained five more. So also, the one with the two talents gained two more. But the man who had received the one talent went off, dug a hole in the ground and hid his master’s money.

So, we are talking about money. We are talking about the idea of power. We are talking about the fact that each person is different. Did you know that God requires something of you that He does not require of your wife, husband, friend, children? By the same token He requires other things of them that He may not require of you. One of the things we try to do in common Christendom is to make everybody alike. But God expects you to bloom where you’re planted. Don’t try to be something you’re not. But try to be all that you can be in Him.

What we see here is that God has called different people to different things. He has given each to his own ability and power. You might have the power to lecture, teach English, do hair, teach children, type fast, wire houses. But we are all different, with different abilities and powers. And because we’ve got different powers God wants us to use those and He is only going to hold us accountable for what He’s given us the power to do. The ability. The word “ability” is good if we keep it in the context of the power that we each can do. It’s not the power that someone else can do. It’s not even the power that God can do. It’s the power that each one of US can do.

The Idea of Grace

We have so accustomed ourselves to the idea of grace, and grace is very true and real, that we think that once we’re saved we can live any way we want. We don’t have to do what God tells us to do. We can go where we want to. We can eat, chew, drink, or do anything we want to, and God doesn’t care. However, God does care and God’s going to hold us accountable.

“After a long time the master o those servants” Notice He’s the Lord of all those servants.  He is not the Lord of the lost. In fact, He’s coming to destroy those who are against Him.

returned and settled accounts with them. He’s going to balance the books. The debits and credits will balance out. The assets and the liabilities.

The man who had received the five talents brought the other five. ‘Master,‘ Notice he called him “Master” or “Lord.” The Bible says in 1 Corinthians that no man can call God Lord except by the power of the spirit. So, we know he’s saved.

“he said, ‘you entrusted me with five talents. He didn’t say “you did,” he said, “I have gained.”Why? Because it’s his power. It’s the power that God gave him, but it’s his power. And God did not rebuke him because God said, “I’ve given to you according to your power, your ability.”

(We are Making Our Bridal Gown)

The bride prepares herself, she dresses herself. The fiancé, or the groom, does not come in and try to dress the bride. What many of us are doing is waiting for Jesus Christ to come dress us and He’s not going to do that. He is saying “you dress yourself.” We are making our wedding garment right now in effect or refusing to make it. Many believers at the wedding feast are going to be naked. They will not have on the right clothes. They will not be able to go in, and that’s sad.

This man said: See, I have gained five more.‘

And look what God said: ‘Well done, good and faithful servant! You have been faithful with a few things; I will put you in charge of many things. Come and share your master’s happiness!’

He will never allow us to be powerful in His will until He knows He can trust us with not only material things but also with spiritual things. Money is a little thing, and a lot of people have the wrong idea about money. When we have the wrong idea about money we will never grow spiritually because even though it’s a little thing we get hung up right there. The people who are powerful in the spirit and are in obedience to God are people who walk by faith, sight unseen, and material things mean absolutely nothing. Look at the lives of some missionaries. Fleshly people will not understand their actions but that’s the way they walk.

“The man with the two talents also came. ‘Master,’ he said, ‘you entrusted me with two talents; see, I have gained two more.’

And again he said, “I have gained.” And again, the Lord said ‘Well done, good and faithful servant! You have been faithful with a few things; I will put you in charge of many things. Come and share your master’s happiness!’ Jesus said exactly the same thing to this servant that He said to the first. There’s no difference. This servant was judged by the powers he had, and he multiplied them or doubled them. Both servants had a 100% increase in profit. Both were working to full capacity and doing what God created them to do. That’s exactly what God expects of us today. If we are working any less than 100%, we are disobeying God.

“Then the man who had received the one talent came. ‘Master,’ he said, ‘I knew. And he goes on and says that you are a hard man, harvesting where you have not sown and gathering where you have not scattered seed. This man did nothing with his talent. What did he do with what God had entrusted him? He buried it. And where did he bury it? He buried it in the ground. What had God done to the earth back in the book of Genesis? He had cursed it. This man was putting his power back literally into the world that God had cursed. I don’t care what you do, but as a believer you are a minister first where God put you. So, each of us needs to ask the question: Am I doing what God wants me to do? Can I be the growing person, the mature person that God wants to believe that I am?

Notice he said in verse 25: I was afraid and went out and hid your talent in the ground. And he said: here is what belongs to you.‘ and he gave it back to him.

The first two men gained the exact same thing because they were responsible for what God had given them. But then we find that this 3rd man took his and buried it into the earth.

Now what does it mean here when he says to him: ‘You wicked, lazy servant! He calls him wicked. This is the Greek word which means “not your character,” but “your actions.” This man was saved so he was a new creation. But Jesus says “Literally you’re acting like the devil” because this Greek word is used occasionally for the very devil himself. It’s a word that literally means not a person’s character which would be the word “cacas, something bad through and through. But this means “you are acting evil. You’re doing something that is contrary to your nature and it’s wrong. He calls the servant wicked and slothful because he did not make use of his talent and power.

The key to not making use of his talent is seen in the passage where it says: you knew that I harvest where I have not sown and gather where I have not scattered seed? So he said in verses 27-29: Well then, you should have put my money on deposit with the bankers, so that when I returned I would have received it back with interest. ” ‘Take the talent from him and give it to the one who has the ten talents. For everyone who has will be given more, and he will have an abundance. Whoever does not have, even what he has will be taken from him. He’s going to lose what little he had. He was so afraid that he couldn’t do anything that one day he’s not going to get anything. And that’s the sad part about it.

And verse 30 says: And throw that worthless servant outside, into the darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.’ That means “in the shadow of the light.” Jesus Christ is going to be the light and these people are going to be in the outer fringes of that light. It DOESN’T mean they go to hell.

Concerning Ruling & Reigning

The person with no increase is not going to enjoy the first 1000 years at all. In fact, that’s why there’s going to be weeping and gnashing of teeth. But Jesus will come and wipe away that person’s tears forever and then he will enter into the joy. (Revelation 21:1-9)

Revelation 21:1-9:  1 Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth; for the first heaven and the first earth passed away, and there is no longer any sea. 2 And I saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, made ready as a bride adorned for her husband. 3 And I heard a loud voice from the throne, saying, “Behold, the tabernacle of God is among men, and He will dwell among them, and they shall be His people, and God Himself will be among them, 4 and He will wipe away every tear from their eyes; and there will no longer be any death; there will no longer be any mourning, or crying, or pain; the first things have passed away.” 5 And He who sits on the throne said, “Behold, I am making all things new.“

But for the 1000-year reign, for the millennial reign, the believer with no increase will have intense sorrow and sadness. Why? Because he was found unworthy, unprofitable, and he was not able to do with what God had given him as he should have.

As born-again believers in Jesus Christ let’s not get so engrossed in the pleasures and entertainments of this life that we are not using the talents we have as we prepare for eternity. Do what’s important so we will hear the Lord say “Well done good and faithful servant.” When we stand at the judgment seat of Christ. Don’t be lukewarm, this life is short.