“Some people suppose that every sinner who goes to heaven will have the same joy and happiness. But that is not true. In Revelation 20, we find that sinners who go to hell are judged, every man according to his works, according to the things written down in God's books. The torment of unsaved people in hell will differ, each one according to his opportunity and according to his sin.
Likewise, the Bible makes it abundantly clear that not all Christians will enjoy the same position and have the same honor and responsibility and blessing in heaven. It is true that each one who trusts in Christ has the same salvation and goes to the same heaven. But beyond salvation there will be rewards for Christians according to their service, and Christians must give an account for their sins. Let no Christian think that he is getting by with his worldliness, his sin, his disobedience, his carelessness about soul-winning.
THE CHRISTIAN MUST MEET HIS DEEDS, GOOD AND BAD, AT CHRIST'S JUDGMENT SEAT
Read with me the shocking passage of Scripture in 2 Corinthians 5:9-10:
Wherefore we labour, that, whether present or absent, we may be accepted of him. For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ; that every one may receive the things done in his body, according to that he hath done, whether it be good or bad.
Here we know why Paul worked so hard, why he endured such persecution, gave up home, family, good name, ease, honors, in order to win souls. He was laboring to be acceptable to Jesus Christ!
...Do not explain away the plain statements of the Scriptures. The Christian is still to come face to face with his past. I know that the Christian has his sins forgiven as far as the destiny of his soul is concerned. It is true that all his sins are laid on Jesus and paid for on the cross. But God is still against sin. And up in heaven no Christian will think it did not matter that he sinned. Every Christian will find how terrible are the results of his sins. He will face what he has done, whether it be good or bad.
...Do not confuse salvation and rewards. Salvation is free. Those who trust in Jesus Christ and are born again already have salvation. But those whose works please Christ will receive a reward for them when they face the dear Saviour in heaven.
But many, many Christians will see how useless their lives were. Not a soul did they win to meet them in heaven! Not a thing did they do to bring glory to Christ through the endless ages! Such people will suffer loss at the judgment seat of Christ in heaven.”
SOURCE: Evangelist John R. Rice, When A Christian Sins, pp. 60-66; Sword of the Lord Publishers; Copyright 1954.Amen! I've heard many Christians and preachers teach that believers won't have to give account in Heaven for their sins, but that is only partly true. The Christian who does bad things will answer to God for it. Romans 14:12, “So then every one of us shall give account of himself to God.” Although it is possible to live above reproach, no one can live above sin! We all still sin every day, one way or another, even the best saints of God. Sinless perfection is a false teaching (popular with Holiness Methodists). The Bible says in 1st John 1:10, “If we say that we have not sinned, we make him a liar, and his word is not in us.” I am a wretched sinner, and so are you dear friend!
Not all believers face their sins in this life. 1st Timothy 5:24, “Some men's sins are open beforehand, going before to judgment; and some men they follow after.” Everyone has a Skeleton Closet of sins! I know believers who've hurt other people, and seem to have gotten away with it. God will hold them ALL accountable at the Judgment Seat of Christ! 2nd Corinthians 5:10, “For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ; that every one may receive the things done in his body, according to that he hath done, whether it be good or bad.” Carefully notice that the Holy Bible does not say we will give account for our “SINS”; but rather, for the “GOOD OR BAD” done in the body. The big difference between the saved and the unsaved is that God CHASTISES His children so we can learn and grow; but GOD PUNISHES the unsaved in Hell as criminals, who have no hope whatsoever. I plead with you to come to Christ for salvation friend, if you have never done so, because you literally HAVE EVERYTHING TO LOSE!!!
Jesus took the burden of our sins upon Himself on Calvary's cross, so that we would never have to be punished in Hell for them. Yet, the Bible teaches that believers still have to give an account for the “GOOD OR BAD” done in the body. No one ever escapes having to give account to God in eternity! In fact, Jesus warns that men will be held accountable even for their idle (wasted) words. Matthew 12:36, “But I say unto you, That every idle word that men shall speak, they shall give account thereof in the day of judgment.” I don't know about you, but that convicts me! My friend, you and I are going to give account for the words that we speak (and don't speak). I tell you, if God were to justly give us WHAT WE DESERVE, the ground would open beneath us immediately, and swallow every one us into the fires and torments of Hell forever!!! Thank God for the blood of Jesus! Romans 5:9, “Much more then, being now justified by his blood, we shall be saved from wrath through him.”
Every human being will answer to God in eternity for the sins in our life (Hebrews 9:27; Ecclesiastes 12:14). The $64,000 question is: Will we give account to God the Father as an unsaved Christ-rejecter; or will we give account to Jesus Christ, as our personal Savior? We will all give account for our works, whether good and evil. The difference is that there is NO CONDEMNATION for the believer in Christ Jesus! Who is he that condemneth? The implied answer is absolutely NO ONE! Only Jesus has the nail-scared hands, feet and side! Christ is our blessed Redeemer.
We hear so often that “WORKS” are not necessary to go to Heaven, that I think we often forget about the fact that OUR WORKS WILL FOLLOW US INTO ETERNITY! Revelation 14:13, “And I heard a voice from heaven saying unto me, Write, Blessed are the dead which die in the Lord from henceforth: Yea, saith the Spirit, that they may rest from their labours; and their works do follow them.” We are still going to be judged according to our works as believers, but it will be AS BELIEVERS! There is no danger of condemnation or going to Hell for the Christian. I like to explain it as Civil Court versus Criminal Court. The unsaved will appear at The Great White Throne Of Judgment, which will be their appearance in court as criminals in the sight of God. What saith the Scripture?
Revelation 20:11-15, “And I saw a great white throne, and him that sat on it, from whose face the earth and the heaven fled away; and there was found no place for them. And I saw the dead, small and great, stand before God; and the books were opened: and another book was opened, which is the book of life: and the dead were judged out of those things which were written in the books, according to their works. And the sea gave up the dead which were in it; and death and hell delivered up the dead which were in them: and they were judged every man according to their works. And death and hell were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death. And whosoever was not found written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire.”So we see that “THE DEAD” (i..e, the unrepentant person who didn't get saved), will be judged and sentenced in the Lake of Fire, “ACCORDING TO THEIR WORKS.” That is very frightening dear reader. Hebrews 10:31, “It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God.” This ungodly world is filled with fools, who have no fear whatsoever of God. I greatly fear Him! I thank God for sending His only begotten Son to pay for my sins on the cross, or else I'd be terrified. But even as a redeemed child of God, I fear God. I mean I am literally afraid of God, afraid of disobeying Him and hurting another person, for which I would be held accountable. That scares me immensely. I am not afraid in the least of going to Hell, I simply fear standing before the holy God of the universe, my Creator, and having to give account for doing something stupid (more stupid than things I have already done).
When I was a young boy, I was a jumper and climber. I climbed the walls...lol. I was a normal kid, having fun and somewhat rambunctious (especially when my father went to work)! Mom was easy on me. My father was a carpenter and loved to build things. He built a homemade book case the length of the living room wall. It was fresh wood and hadn't been painted yet. My father had a hot-temper at times, but he was touchy, and you never knew what would set him off. So one day I was jumping around and playing with a can of stain (paint). The lid came off and paint went all over the bookcase, wall and floor. I was so scared that I was crying: “Dad's going to kill me!” My mother my smart. She knew better than wait until my father came home and saw the bookcase all splattered with paint. So when he called from work, she told him what had happened, and told him I was crying. She told him that I was afraid, thinking that he was going to kill me (by beating me to death with a belt). But when my father heard my sobbing, and perceived that I was sorry for what I did, he asked for me to come to the phone. He told me he wouldn't punish me, and comforted my worried soul. My friend, that is exactly what God does to us. 1st Corinthians 11:31, “For if we would judge ourselves, we should not be judged.”
Our heavenly Father doesn't want to discipline us anymore than He has to! But God WILL scourge and chastise His children (Hebrews 12:6-8) until we make things right. If we make reconciliation and if need be, restitution, with those we have hurt, then God won't have to do it. 1st Thessalonians 4:6, “That no man go beyond and defraud his brother in any matter: because that the Lord is the avenger of all such, as we also have forewarned you and testified.” I have been financially cheated out of tens of thousands of dollars in my life, and I forgive those people, but God will deal with them, because NOT ONE of them has ever made things right with me.
I am 10,000 times thankful though, that they defrauded me, and not me them! I can live with that. I am divorced, but I didn't file, she did. I can live with that. I did not ostracize, reject and shun Harvest Baptist Church on Guam, they did all that to me. I can live with that, because the blood is on their hands, not mine. They are one's teaching the Satanic lie of Lordship Salvation, and promoting the Devil's corruptible seed of the Alexandrian Bible revisions. I have told THE TRUTH from the very start, and I humbly stand boldly with righteous confidence before the Lord. Romans 3:4, “God forbid: yea, let God be true, but every man a liar; as it is written, That thou mightest be justified in thy sayings, and mightest overcome when thou art judged.” The truth matters! It is not okay to sanction dozens of Bible revisions that originate from two different ancient sources. That is insane!
What saith the Scripture? 1st John 2:1-2, “My little children, these things write I unto you, that ye sin not. And if any man sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous: And he is the propitiation for our sins: and not for ours only, but also for the sins of the whole world.” This is one of the most encouraging and powerful truths in the Bible dear reader. The word “advocate” is the Greek word Paraclete and refers to one who runs to our side to help. The Greek word Paraclete appear 5 times in the New testament (4 times in the Gospel of John as “Comforter” and 1 time in the Epistle of 1st John as “Advocate”). Paraclete means Comforter, Advocate, Helper!
Greek, “{paraclete},” the same term as is applied to the Holy Ghost, as the “other Comforter”; showing the unity of the Second and Third Persons of the Trinity. Christ is the Intercessor for us above; and, in His absence, here below the Holy Ghost is the other Intercessor in us. Christ‘s advocacy is inseparable from the Holy Spirit‘s comfort and working in us, as the spirit of intercessory prayer. —Commentary Critical And Explanatory On The Whole BibleJesus Christ bore the weight of our sins upon the cross of Calvary. He suffered the penalty of our sins, so we wouldn't have to in Hell forever. Yet, the Bible teaches that we still have to “give account” as believers for the decisions we make throughout our life. What saith the Scripture? Romans 14:10-12, “But why dost thou judge thy brother? or why dost thou set at nought thy brother? for we shall all stand before the judgment seat of Christ. For it is written, As I live, saith the Lord, every knee shall bow to me, and every tongue shall confess to God. So then every one of us shall give account of himself to God.” Please pay careful attention to what the Scripture warns—if we judge our Christian brother or sister, condemning them for their sins, shunning and shaming them, making them feel guilty for forsaken past sins—we are sinfully elevating our self in the place of God. In particular, the Bible warns not to “SET AT NOUGHT THY BROTHER.”
Pastor Jack Hyles said: “The Christian army is the only army in the world that kills its wounded!” That is sadly very true! A person can fall into sin and leave a church, and then try to come back later on, but the people in the church won't receive them back. That is why a young wayward youth named, Todd Moffat, commit suicide at the First Baptist Church of Hammond many decades ago. Pastor Jack Hyles tells this heartbreaking story in his beautiful and needful sermon called: “If Thou Should Mark Iniquities, Who Could Stand?”
“Don't let the Pharisees scare you off! ...Brother, as long as you live and breathe, God has something that you can be and do! The Devil is the one who'll make you feel unworthy, and he'll use his little demons to help you! ...If God should mark iniquities, none of us would be worthy! But if God doesn't mark iniquities, all of us are qualified. God doesn't have anything to use but sinner!” —Dr. Jack Hyles, “If Thou Should Mark Iniquities, Who Could Stand?” (MP3)
Only Effective Soul-Winners Will Shine in Heaven
What will it matter if you witness to thousands of people during your life, but nobody ever came to Jesus Christ, because you didn't make the Gospel plain enough for people to understand? It's the CLARITY of the Gospel that makes it easy for people to believe and get saved!!! Daniel 12:3, “And they that be wise shall shine as the brightness of the firmament; and they that turn many to righteousness as the stars for ever and ever.” Notice that to “shine” in eternity you must turn many people to Christ's righteousness. This speaks of God's imputed righteousness, which is the only way to be saved (Philippians 3:9). Granted, 1st Corinthians 3:6-9 teaches us that God giveth the increase. Whether a man sows or reaps, their rewards will be the same, but if the shallow plan of salvation that you are teaching isn't clear, then people WON'T be saved.Obviously, not all believers will SHINE in eternity. Soul-winners here on earth, who lead many souls to Jesus Christ, will be greatly loved and admired by those people in Heaven. Wouldn't you greatly love, appreciate and adore the person who led you to eternal life, by faith in Christ Jesus? Why sure you would! I believe this is why effective soul-winners will shine in Heaven.
“God doesn't need a brilliant mind, He needs a voice!” —Dr. Jack Hyles, 'I Am A Voice!' (MP3)Notice that I said “effective.” I heard an independent Baptist missionary last year boast that throughout his lifetime, he has led 200,000 souls to Christ. If that be true, praise God!!! However, I have learned that many soul-winners are just wasting their time—dishing out a 1-2-3, follow-me, pray-along-with-me-to-be-saved, type deal. But they've never truly won anyone to Jesus Christ!!! May I say, kindly, you DON'T get saved by praying a prayer. You'd be SHOCKED if you knew how many churchgoers who profess to be saved, don't have a clue what “the Gospel” means. If you were to ask them “why” they think they'd going to Heaven, they'll say something like, “I'm trusting Jesus” or “I asked Jesus into my heart” or “I prayed a prayer.” NONE of these constitute the Gospel!!!
“People have just enough religion to be miserable!” —Pastor Dwight L. Moody
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