What have we learned about rewards?

We are commanded to pursue rewards We are accountable for the way we live To get rewards we need to live a rewardable life Our Judge is both just and merciful Those who show mercy will receive mercy We will be judged on how much we achieve our God-given potential Faithful believers will rule with Christ forever

Which Judgment Day will you face?

Three Major Judgments Bema Seat? Great White Throne Sheep and Goats Eternal State Israel Church Age Tribulation Tribulation Kingdom OT NT 7 Years 1,000 Years

Dan and Cheryl - Just before Dallas Seminary - 1978 The Great White Throne

Follows the 1,000 reign of Christ, the Millennium (Rev. 20:1-6) Follows the judgment of Satan (20:10) Unbelievers are judged (with few exceptions) No believer will take part in this Basis of judgment is works Anyone not in the Book of Life ends up in the Lake of Fire Revelation 20:11-15

Dan and Cheryl - Just before Dallas Seminary - 1978 The Bema Seat

It can be the greatest Day of our lives! As ominous as “Judgment Day” sounds… It can be the greatest Day of our lives!

‘Well done, good and faithful servant; ‘You were faithful over a few things, I will make you ruler over many things. Enter into the joy of your Lord.’

Basis of judgment is works, both good and bad For believers Basis of judgment is works, both good and bad Creates motivation and accountability Can result in reward Timing is uncertain, yet must follow the rapture and precede the Kingdom Reign of Christ 2 Corinthians 5:10

Dan and Cheryl - Just before Dallas Seminary - 1978 The Sheep and the Goats

Three Groups in the Church Age The Natural Man This is an unbeliever who does not possess eternal life or the Holy Spirit The Spiritual Man This is a believer who has eternal life, possesses the Holy Spirit and lives by His power The Carnal Man This is also a believer who has eternal life, possesses the Holy Spirit, but lives with his focus on the flesh Both Believers Unbeliever The Carnal Man is not a disciple

Two Groups in the Tribulation The Natural Man This is an unbeliever who does not possess eternal life or the Holy Spirit The Spiritual Man This is a believer who has eternal life, possesses the Holy Spirit and lives by His power The Carnal Man This is also a believer who has eternal life, possesses the Holy Spirit, but lives with his focus on the flesh The unique conditions of the Tribulation force all believers to live like disciples. Unbeliever

The judgment comes when Christ comes for the Kingdom (v. 31) Church Age believers are now gone (1 Thess. 5:1-10; Mt. 24:36-44) Living Gentiles (“nations”) are gathered before the Throne and placed into two groups During the Trib, conditions are extreme and unusual (Mt. 24:22) Matthew 25:31-44

Today, there are both carnal believers and spiritual believers (1 Cor Today, there are both carnal believers and spiritual believers (1 Cor. 2:14- 3:3), but during the Trib, there are no believers who are not disciples Many believers will collapse under the pressures and suffer the judgments of the Tribulation (Mt. 24:13) Matthew 25:31-44

The “sheep” are Gentile believers who care for their Jewish “brethren”, probably primarily the Jewish missionaries who spread out to spread the gospel during this time (Rev. 12:17; 14:1-7; Mt. 24:14) These Gentiles will be one of the only resources for survival for these men Some of these Jews will be martyred but will later reign with Christ (Rev. 20:4) Matthew 25:31-44

Now, a wonderful future waits for the “sheep”. Since the King had sought to reach the world through the brethren, those who cared for them, cared for Him. Now, a wonderful future waits for the “sheep”. However, while flesh and blood can enter the Kingdom, it cannot inherit the Kingdom (1 Cor. 15:50; 1 Jn. 3:3) Matthew 25:31-44

All believers have eternal life when they believe in Christ (Jn. 6:47) However, inheritance awaits the faithful now, and these faithful believers enter eternal life with transformed bodies, just as will living Christians at the Rapture of the Church (1 Cor. 15:51-53; 1 Thess. 4:15-18) The “goats” are unbelievers who are immediately sent to the Lake of Fire Matthew 25:31-44

These Tribulation participants form a unique group whose judgment is separate from others, just as their lives have been during this unique period of judgment on the earth This passage is not, as so many have used it, one that teaches how we live and are judged today Not only does it produce strange theology, it’s time-frame is quite clear (Mt. 25:31-32) Matthew 25:31-44

Conditions today are simply different than they are during the Tribulation the context of this passage Many articles and sermons have been produced gauging whether or not someone is a Christian based on whether one feeds the poor or visits people in jail Not everyone in jail or who is poor can be called Christ’s “brethren”, though they are loved by Him Matthew 25:31-44

Dan and Cheryl - Just before Dallas Seminary - 1978 The Great White Throne Unbelievers will be judged by their works.

Dan and Cheryl - Just before Dallas Seminary - 1978 The Bema Seat Believers judged for their works.

Dan and Cheryl - Just before Dallas Seminary - 1978 The Sheep and the Goats The judgment of Gentiles who survive the Tribulation.

Which Judgment Day will you face?

One thing is certain: No one escapes evaluation. If you haven’t believed in Christ Great White Throne If you have believed in Christ Bema Seat If you live during the Tribulation Sheep and Goats One thing is certain: No one escapes evaluation.