|
The Reign of the Servant Kings By Joseph C. Dillow A Review-Summary-Outline
Chapter 22—Tragedy or Triumph?
This chapter opens with an author-envisioned account of what possibly could transpire between Jesus Christ and two believers—one prepared and one unprepared—at the Judgment Seat (Gk. bema) of Christ, which “envisioned account” is five pages in length.
The Judgment Seat
At the archaeological excavation of the city of Corinth one may view the judgment seat in the town square, which represented the forum in the Apostle Paul’s mind when he wrote the following.
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. (2 Corinthians 5:10)
The judgment seat in Corinth was a large richly-decorated rostrum, centrally located in the market place, from which rewards were dispensed for victory at the isthmian games. Also, punishments were administered from this location. The apostle draws the parallel between this seat and its functions with the Judgment Seat of Christ.
At the Judgment Seat of Christ believers will be judged according to both the good and the bad things they have done while on earth in their physical bodies. Although Christians, both layman and leaders, tend to gloss over this, Christ warned in Luke 12:2, 3: “For there is nothing covered that will not be revealed, nor hidden that will not be known. Therefore whatever you have spoken in the dark will be heard in the light, and what you have spoken in the ear in inner rooms will be proclaimed on the housetops.” (see also Luke 8:17; Matthew 10:26; Mark 4:22) Paul spoke of God bringing to light the hidden things of darkness (1 Corinthians 4:3-5), and Peter spoke of the fact that judgment must begin with the household of God (1 Peter 4:17, 18). Paul’s reaction to the Judgment Seat of Christ was, “Knowing therefore the terror of the Lord” (2 Corinthians 5:11).
Paul refers to a believer’s life’s works as a building that will be subjected to a careful examination (1 Corinthians 3:14, 15). He warns them that all of them will appear for this accounting (Romans 14:10-12). Therefore, they should not judge others now, for the Lord will judge their hidden motives then (1 Corinthians 4:5). He often compared the Christian life to that of the athlete who pursues the victor’s crown (1 Corinthians 9:24-27; 2 Timothy 2:5).
Jesus continually exhorted His followers to full discipleship by reminding them that one day they would face an accounting for their stewardship (Matthew 10:26-42; 16:27; 24:45-51; Mark 8:38; Luke 12:42-48). He challenged them to pursue rewards (Matthew 5:11, 46; 6:1-6, 16-18) and treasure in heaven (Matthew 6:19-21; 19:21; Mark 4:24, 25; Luke 12:13-21; 16:1-13).
Throughout the New Testament this theme repeatedly emerges:
My brethren, let not many of you become teachers, knowing that we shall receive a stricter judgment. (James 3:1)
For the time has come for judgment to begin at the house of God; and if it begins with us first, what will be the end of those who do not obey the gospel of God? (1 Peter 4:17)
Love has been perfected among us in this: that we may have boldness in the day of judgment; because as He is, so are we in this world. (1 John 4:17)
The Criteria of Judgment
It is vitally important that believers understand precisely what Christ will look for in their lives when they come before His judgment seat. There appears to be three criteria for passing this test: (1) deeds, (2) faithfulness, and (3) words.
Deeds
Otherwise known and labeled “works,” Scripture everywhere stresses their importance:
Each one's work will become clear; for the Day will declare it, because it will be revealed by fire; and the fire will test each one's work, of what sort it is. (1 Corinthians 3:13)
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. (2 Corinthians 5:10)
And I will give to each one of you according to your works. (Revelation 2:23b)
How will it be determined that a “work” is either good or bad? There appears to be two criteria for passing this test: (1) Scripture alignment and (2) proper motivation.
Do you not know that those who run in a race all run, but one receives the prize? Run in such a way that you may obtain it. (1 Corinthians 9:24)
And also if anyone competes in athletics, he is not crowned unless he competes according to the rules. (2 Timothy 2:5)
Of course, in some instances there may be differing interpretations of Scripture. When deeds are performed based upon a particular interpretation of Scripture, the Lord will look to the person’s motive in arriving at that interpretation. Was the true motive to discern the single intent of the original author of Scripture? Was the true motive to find out what the Bible truly said and do it no matter what the cost? Or was the person making the Bible fit into a beforehand prescribed belief system? These questions give rise to the second criterion.
A “deed” (“work”) has two aspects to it: the deed itself and the motive behind it. God will look deeper in His evaluation of the works themselves. He will search “the minds and hearts” (Revelation 2:23)
Therefore judge nothing before the time, until the Lord comes, who will both bring to light the hidden things of darkness and reveal the counsels of the hearts. Then each one's praise will come from God. (1 Corinthians 4:5)
Jesus too emphasized that it was the inner motivation that determined the value of a deed:
Take heed that you do not do your charitable deeds before men, to be seen by them. Otherwise you have no reward from your Father in heaven. Therefore, when you do a charitable deed, do not sound a trumpet before you as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets, that they may have glory from men. Assuredly, I say to you, they have their reward. But when you do a charitable deed, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, that your charitable deed may be in secret; and your Father who sees in secret will Himself reward you openly. (Matthew 6:1-4)
In one of the most sobering passages of the book of Hebrews, it states that believers will one day give an accounting and at that time “the thoughts and intents of the heart” will be the crucial issue:
For the word of God is living and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the division of soul and spirit, and of joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart. And there is no creature hidden from His sight, but all things are naked and open to the eyes of Him to whom we must give account. (Hebrews 4:12, 13)
The Lord will primarily want to reveal whether or not what the believer did was motivated by a desire to bring honor to Christ, which comes from a sincere heart that fears (“honor”) God:
And whatever you do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through Him. . . . Bondservants, obey in all things your masters according to the flesh, not with eye-service, as men-pleasers, but in sincerity of heart, fearing God. And whatever you do, do it heartily, as to the Lord and not to men, knowing that from the Lord you will receive the reward of the inheritance; for you serve the Lord Christ. But he who does wrong will be repaid for what he has done, and there is no partiality. (Colossians 3:17, 22-25)
Therefore, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God. (1 Corinthians 10:31)
Faithfulness
Faithfulness is the second criterion of the test that the believer will need to meet when he stands before the Judgment Seat of Christ.
Who then is a faithful and wise servant, whom his master made ruler over his household, to give them food in due season? (Matthew 24:45)
His lord said to him, “Well done, good and faithful servant; you have been faithful over a few things, I will make you ruler over many things. Enter into the joy of your lord.” (Matthew 23)
He who is faithful in what is least is faithful also in much; and he who is unjust in what is least is unjust also in much. (Luke 16:10)
Moreover it is required in stewards that one be found faithful. (1 Corinthians 4:2)
Be faithful until death, and I will give you the crown of life. (Revelation 2:10)
A faithful man is of high value to God. One cannot always be successful, but he can always be faithful. There will be many reversals in heaven. The first will be last, and those seemingly destined for high honor will be distant from the throne. Those unknown to history, who were perhaps insignificant in this life but who were faithful servants, will reign with the servant kings in the coming kingdom.
Words
The third major criterion that the Lord will employ to evaluate the worthiness of the believer’s life is the words he has spoken. This is appropriate because words are often reflections of the motives and attitudes in the heart.
For there is nothing covered that will not be revealed, nor hidden that will not be known. Therefore whatever you have spoken in the dark will be heard in the light, and what you have spoken in the ear in inner rooms will be proclaimed on the housetops. (Luke 12:2, 3)
For we all stumble in many things. If anyone does not stumble in word, he is a perfect man, able also to bridle the whole body. (James 3:2)
There is a third party present in every conversation involving a Christian, the Holy Spirit. The Scriptures have much to say regarding the tongue and the impact of a person’s words. Control of the tongue is presented as evidence of depth of character in the books of James and Proverbs. But, as the apostle says, it is a fire and difficult to tame (James 3:1-8). But God will reward greatly those who succeed in taming it.
Rewards and Merit
Perhaps no issue was of greater importance to the Reformers than the question of merit. Having broken with the works-righteousness of Rome, they were very sensitive to any intrusion of merit into the system of theology they were fashioning. Given this strong aversion to works-righteousness, it is easy to see how they may have been troubled with the many passages in the New Testament that offer rewards on the basis of merit.
Calvin was committed to proving that justification by works could not be inferred from the doctrine of rewards, and so the motivation of rewards was blunted in his system. He therefore mixed Great White Throne passages with passages about rewards to believers. He feared the use of the word “reward” because it harkened back to the system of works-righteousness that he and the other Reformers were attacking. If he could have acknowledged that the reward of the believer’s works is in view in these passages, and not entrance into heaven, then he would have in no way surrendered justification by faith alone.
Calvin’s argument fails anyway, because even though God purposed that believers would do works, He purposed that these works would be done jointly by the believer and God. On the other hand, God purposed that the gift of salvation would be His work alone. In other words, God purposed that rewards would come as merit and salvation as a gift.
If the Bible teaches that the believer can merit a reward, so be it. This implies no necessary contradiction to the doctrine of justification by faith alone. It simply ascribes more to the new man in Christ than the adherents of perseverance can allow. But the Scriptures clearly allow this and in fact assert it in scores of places.
Faithful Work is the Believer’s Duty
Perseverance in holiness is not the necessary and inevitable result of justification. It is necessary for rewards in heaven but not for entrance into heaven. It is, however, the believer’s “obligation” (Romans 8:12) and his “duty”:
And which of you, having a servant plowing or tending sheep, will say to him when he has come in from the field, “Come at once and sit down to ea”'? But will he not rather say to him, “Prepare something for my supper, and gird yourself and serve me till I have eaten and drunk, and afterward you will eat and drink”? Does he thank that servant because he did the things that were commanded him? I think not. So likewise you, when you have done all those things which you are commanded, say, “We are unprofitable servants. We have done what was our duty to do.” (Luke 17:7-10)
When the believer has done all that he can do, when he has been faithful to the end, he has still only done what is required of all servants, that they be faithful. “Now it is required that those who have been given a trust must prove faithful” (1 Corinthians 4:2). So the reward the believer receives is still a matter of grace. That God should reward believers for their work is not an obligation on His part, for they have only done what they should. It is a further manifestation of God’s unmerited favor!
This, however, does not mean that believers obey God only because it is their duty. That is the atheistic ethic, not the Christian one. The atheist maintains that good should be done only for the sake of good and with no reward for the doing of it. This is supposedly “higher” than the Christian view. Yet the Scriptures repeatedly hold out eternal rewards as a central motivation in Christian living (Colossians 3:23, 24; Hebrews 6:10; 11:26). When they are set in the context of gratitude for forgiveness of sins and the desire to say “Thank you, Lord, for dying for me,” it is difficult to see how this is “selfishness.”
Rewards Are Dispensed on the Basis of Grace
Part of the problem the Reformers had in regard to the place of merit in eternal rewards is that they construed “merit” in the Catholic and legal sense—a precise, legal obligation. The believer would in this sense put God in his debt, and for every work done God would be legally obligated to measure out some degree of reward. However, the Scriptures present the matter in a different light in the parable of the vineyard workers in Matthew 20:1-16.
In this parable concerning the kingdom of heaven the landowner pays the labors all the same amount, regardless of how long they are employed. Therefore, there is not a precise correlation between length of work and reward as there may be in a labor contract. The idea of legal merit is excluded; only mercy is emphasized. It is possible for a young Christian in terms of his time of service to receive the same crown as the aged who has served the Lord for fifty years. It is quality (faithfulness) and not duration that is the emphasis. The crown of righteousness, according to Paul, is not for him only but for all those who love Christ’s appearing (2 Timothy 4:8). Samson’s finest hour was his death (Judges 16:30), and despite his prior failing it earned him a place in the faith hall of fame (Hebrews 11:32).
The variety of gifts and rewards given in heaven is striking. It is important to note that all of these rewards are given for faithfulness, even in the midst of trial and difficulty. The rewards are given to the overcomer who perseveres in the midst of heresy, idolatry, immorality, pressures, and on-going stress. Rewards are given for being in the world but not of it.
Temporal rewards are dangled before us like shiny new trinkets that gleam and glow with hypnotizing allurement. Christians are taught by the world’s secularists and “success seminarists” to visualize their achievements and rewards. Biblically, the Lord tells us this is vanity and “chasing after the wind.” The Lord challenges the Christian to visualize the rewards of the future and to chase after Him alone.
The Duration of the Remorse
The Scriptures give no reason that unfaithful Christians will spend their eternity in remorse and regret. At the end of the millennial reign of Christ upon earth “. . .God will wipe away every tear from their eyes; there shall be no more death, nor sorrow, nor crying. There shall be no more pain, for the former things have passed away. Then He who sat on the throne said, “Behold, I make all things new." And He said to me, "Write, for these words are true and faithful.” (Revelation 21:4, 5)
The exclusion from the banquet is a temporary act of divine discipline and cannot be an eternal exclusion from fellowship with the King. Not even “things to come” can separate Christians from the love of Christ (Romans 8:33, 39). Yet it is true that Christians will reap what they sow (Galatians 6:7). There will be for some a time of profound sorrow, but it is not absolute. How long will this period of remorse and regret last? The Scriptures do not specify. But Hoyt (Negative Aspects, pg. 131) is correct in saying, “To overdo the sorrow aspect of the judgment seat of Christ is to make heaven into hell. To under do the sorrow aspect is to make faithfulness inconsequential.
The author makes these final statements in the closing of this chapter: “Differences in authority and intimacy with Christ will, however, remain throughout eternity. Nevertheless, everyone’s cup will be full, but the cups will be of different sizes. This is GRACE!” Reviewer’s Comment: There appears to be no basis for these assertions in Scripture. The issues of rulership, rewards, and sorrow seem to apply only to the 1,000 year reign of Christ upon earth. Afterwards, all sorrow will be eliminated and all things will be made new and the former things will have passed away (Revelation 21:4, 5).
|