THE CHURCH IN HEAVEN
THE JUDGMENT SEAT OF CHRIST
We must not pass judgment on any brother of ours, because we shall all stand before the judgment seat of God (Romans 14:10-12).
The basis of this judgment, which will take place after the rapture of the church, and which will be presided over by Christ, will be the works done in the body (II Corinthians 5:10). It is not the believer's sin which will be judged, for its penalty has been paid once and for all on the cross, and there is now no condemnation for them that are in Christ Jesus (Romans 8:1). It is rather a matter of reward on the basis of deeds, where the following aspects will be considered:
Doctrine: according to the conscience of each one, and his knowledge of the Word of God (Romans 2:13-16).
Social conduct: what he did, or failed to do, to his neighbour (e.g. Luke 14:13-14, Ephesians 6:7-8, Colossians 3:25).
Purity of life: the measure with which the virtues of the Spirit were cultivated (Romans 14:17-21), and the desires of the flesh were mortified (Galatians 6:8).
This is illustrated in I Corinthians 3:10-15, as a building in which we each take part. The cornerstone of this building was laid by Christ, the foundations were set by the apostles, and each one of us builds upon it (our works) things of value, comparable to gold, silver and precious stones, which endure the test of fire (a symbol of judgment), and things of little or no value, which burn up when tested, like wood, hay and straw. Verse 15 makes it clear that salvation is not at stake. Quality comes before quantity: it is not a matter of how much work we do, but whether it is of a kind which is precious to the Lord, e.g., sacrificing our body for his use, using our talents for the glory of God, behaving always in obedience to his Word.
Those who spend all of their time working hard for their own benefit, for example, will find that all that effort was useless and they will suffer loss, for there will be no reward for it. The Lord Jesus told the parable of the ten minas to illustrate the point (Luke 19:11-26).
As to the nature of the rewards, I Corinthians 9:24-25 states that we run a spiritual race in order to attain an incorruptible crown: this is a translation of the Greek word stephanos, a crown which used to be given to a victor, one who won a race. In those days, this crown, usually woven out of laurel leaves, assured honour and praise to the person who wore it. Those who are victors in the Christian life, controlling their bodies and minds, walking in the Spirit and not in the flesh, living according to the Word of God, are candidates to this crown.
In the parable of the ten minas, the man of noble birth (a figure of the Lord Jesus himself), when he came back as king, rewarded his servants (a figure of Christians) with authority over his realm in proportion with their trustworthiness; we are promised that we shall reign with him when he comes to take up his kingdom on earth (II Timothy 2:12, Revelation 5:10): we shall be given authority as a reward for our faithfulness now.
Other crowns are mentioned in the Bible:
The crown of righteousness for all who keep the faith and look forward to the coming of the Lord (II Timothy 4:7-8).
The crown of life for those who endure trials and suffer martyrdom (James 1:12, Revelation 2:10).
The crown of glory for the faithful leaders who minister to the flock (I Peter 5:2-4).
The apostle Paul regards the souls he won for Christ as his hope, his joy and his crown in which he will glory on the coming of the Lord Jesus Christ (I Thessalonians 2:19).
THE MARRIAGE OF THE LAMB
REVELATION 19:6-9
The marriage of the Lamb to his bride - the raptured church - is foreshadowed in the Old Testament in the search for a wife for Isaac, the servant's finding of Rebecca, and her being taken from her home to be married to Isaac.
The Song of Solomon is a poem depicting the longing of the church for Christ during his absence: the church is held captive in this world and is being constantly solicited by the offers of wealth and splendour to withdraw her love from Christ, her Shepherd and fiancé, and to consort with the kings and governments of the world, as does her sister the harlot church. But she cannot give Him up: at times she is sorely tempted, then she sees Him with the eye of faith, and dreams of Him as spiritually present, is charmed by the vision of His beauty, and longs for the time approaching when she will be caught away from the earth to meet her bridegroom in the air.
The Lord Jesus frequently dwelt on the theme of the marriage of the Lamb. It is recorded in the parable of the ten virgins (Matthew 25:1-13), the parable of the marriage feast (Matthew 22:1-14), and he prophetically refers to it and gives us a fore view of it.
It should be noted that the emphasis is on the marriage of the Lamb - not of his bride, or of the church: the wonderful event will be not so much the realisation of the hopes of the Bride, as it will be the implementing of the plan of God for His Son, arranged for Him before the foundation of the World (Ephesians 1:4-6). It will fulfil his joy as a Son of Man, for only in his humanity can he be united in marriage to the human beings making up the church of God (he took his human nature back to heaven with him - I Timothy 2:5).
A Jewish marriage, in New Testament times, started with the father of the groom making arrangements for the marriage, and paying a price for the bride. This could take place in her infancy, or at any time later up to maturity. As still happens in many eastern cultures today, sometimes the bride and groom only met each other on their wedding day. Shortly before the wedding, the groom would go to the home of the bride in order to bring her to his home, and this was followed by the wedding ceremony, to which a few relatives and friends would be invited. It was followed by the marriage feast, lasting for as many as seven days, in which many more people participated.
This procedure is a model of the course followed in the marriage of the Lamb: God the Father made the arrangements and paid the price of the bride, the blood of His Son (Ephesians 5:25-27). There has been a long interval since then - nearly two thousand years - during which the bride has been growing to maturity, under the power and guidance of the Holy Spirit through His Word. It will not be long now before the Groom, the Son of God, comes for her (I Thessalonians 4:13-18) to take her to His home, which is in Heaven.
There, after the rewards are given at Christ's judgment seat (the bride is seen as dressed in white linen, the righteous works of the saints, therefore the wood, hay and stubble will have been burned away and all the gold, silver and precious stones will have been purified), the marriage ceremony itself will take place, before the second coming of Christ, in judgment, to the world. It is clear that the bride in this marriage ceremony is made up of the church saints only. The Old Testament and the Tribulation saints will be present at the marriage feast, or supper: Revelation 19:9 says they are blessed for being called to this last phase of the marriage, and it will take place on earth, after the end of the first resurrection, at the beginning of the millennium (20:5).
10 But why do you judge your brother? Or why do you show contempt for your brother? For we shall all stand before the judgment seat of Christ.
11 For it is written: "As I live, says the LORD, Every knee shall bow to Me, And every tongue shall confess to God."
12 So then each of us shall give account of himself to God.
Romans 14:10-12 (NKJV)
10 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 Cor 5:10 (NKJV)
1 There is therefore now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus, who do not walk according to the flesh, but according to the Spirit.
Romans 8:1 (NKJV)
13 (for not the hearers of the law are just in the sight of God, but the doers of the law will be justified;
14 for when Gentiles, who do not have the law, by nature do the things in the law, these, although not having the law, are a law to themselves,
15 who show the work of the law written in their hearts, their conscience also bearing witness, and between themselves their thoughts accusing or else excusing them)
16 in the day when God will judge the secrets of men by Jesus Christ, according to my gospel.
Romans 2:13-16 (NKJV)
13 "But when you give a feast, invite the poor, the maimed, the lame, the blind.
14 "And you will be blessed, because they cannot repay you; for you shall be repaid at the resurrection of the just."
Luke 14:13-14 (NKJV)
7 with goodwill doing service, as to the Lord, and not to men,
8 knowing that whatever good anyone does, he will receive the same from the Lord, whether he is a slave or free.
Eph 6:7-8 (NKJV)
25 But he who does wrong will be repaid for what he has done, and there is no partiality.
Col 3:25 (NKJV)
8 For he who sows to his flesh will of the flesh reap corruption, but he who sows to the Spirit will of the Spirit reap everlasting life.
Gal 6:8 (NKJV)
10 According to the grace of God which was given to me, as a wise master builder I have laid the foundation, and another builds on it. But let each one take heed how he builds on it.
11 For no other foundation can anyone lay than that which is laid, which is Jesus Christ.
12 Now if anyone builds on this foundation with gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, straw,
13 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.
14 If anyone's work which he has built on it endures, he will receive a reward.
15 If anyone's work is burned, he will suffer loss; but he himself will be saved, yet so as through fire.
1 Cor 3:10-15 (NKJV)
24 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.
25 And everyone who competes for the prize is temperate in all things. Now they do it to obtain a perishable crown, but we for an imperishable crown.
1 Cor 9:24-25 (NKJV)
6 And I heard, as it were, the voice of a great multitude, as the sound of many waters and as the sound of mighty thunderings, saying, "Alleluia! For the Lord God Omnipotent reigns!
7 "Let us be glad and rejoice and give Him glory, for the marriage of the Lamb has come, and His wife has made herself ready."
8 And to her it was granted to be arrayed in fine linen, clean and bright, for the fine linen is the righteous acts of the saints.
9 Then he said to me, "Write: 'Blessed are those who are called to the marriage supper of the Lamb!' " And he said to me, "These are the true sayings of God."
Rev 19:6-9 (NKJV)
1 "Then the kingdom of heaven shall be likened to ten virgins who took their lamps and went out to meet the bridegroom.
2 "Now five of them were wise, and five were foolish.
3 "Those who were foolish took their lamps and took no oil with them,
4 "but the wise took oil in their vessels with their lamps.
5 "But while the bridegroom was delayed, they all slumbered and slept.
6 "And at midnight a cry was heard: 'Behold, the bridegroom is coming; go out to meet him!'
7 "Then all those virgins arose and trimmed their lamps.
8 "And the foolish said to the wise, 'Give us some of your oil, for our lamps are going out.'
9 "But the wise answered, saying, 'No, lest there should not be enough for us and you; but go rather to those who sell, and buy for yourselves.'
10 "And while they went to buy, the bridegroom came, and those who were ready went in with him to the wedding; and the door was shut.
11 "Afterward the other virgins came also, saying, 'Lord, Lord, open to us!'
12 "But he answered and said, 'Assuredly, I say to you, I do not know you.'
13 "Watch therefore, for you know neither the day nor the hour in which the Son of Man is coming.
Matt 25:1-13 (NKJV)