The Judgment Seat of Christ. My theme to-night is the Judgment Seat of Christ. I have selected eight texts: (Revelation 22: 12. Romans 14: 10, 12. 2 Corinthians 5: 10. I Corinthians 4:5. Matthew 25:21. 1 Corinthians 3:15. Revelation 3:11. James 5:9.) Together these texts read: "And behold, I come quickly; and my reward is with me, to give every man as his work shall be." "For we shall all stand before the judgment seat of Christ." "So then every one of us shall give an account of himself to God." "That every one may receive the things done in his body, according to that he hath done, whether it be good or bad." "Therefore judge nothing before the time, until the Lord come, who both will bring to light the hidden things of darkness, and will make manifest the counsels of the hearts: and then shall every man have praise of God." "Well done, thou good and faithful servant; thou hast been faithful over a few things, I will make thee ruler over many things; enter thou into the joy of thy Lord." "If any man's work (any Christian's work) shall be burned, he shall suffer loss: but he himself shall be saved; yet so as by fire." "Behold, I come quickly: hold that fast which thou hast, that no man take thy crown." "Behold the judge standeth at the door." Before presenting the theme I shall give as briefly as possible an exposition of the Bible doctrine of judgment. I shall then lay down certain propositions to prove that our Lord Jesus Christ is coming to take the Church to His judgment seat and that Christians will there be tried not for life and salvation but for work and service as Christians. The Lord will reveal Himself as judge. Each Christian will have to render a personal account of himself. Those who have been faithful in service will take part in the joy of the Lord. Those who have failed to meet the standard will suffer loss. The imminency of the judgment is indicated by the fact that the Lord is represented standing before the door ready to judge. The Bible is a book of judgments. These judgments are manifold and recorded in fullest detail. Some are immediate and brief. There are others extending in their course over a thousand years. There are four great and distinctive judg ments. The judgment of the cross. The cross was neither the place nor the act of a suicide. It was not a martyrdom. It was something more than a brutal murder (though murder and brutal it was). It was a judgment. It was the judgment of God against man. It was God's judgment against man's nature as well as deeds. It was God's judgment against the world considered as a system. On that cross God was judging Christ His Son as the representative of the natural man and his system called the world. From the beginning God had been pursuing |