Is the bema the, 'Judgement Seat,' where the true disciples and the false found within the household of God will be separated at Christ's return? With rewards being given to faithful servants but punishments including the condemnation to hell being meted out to evil servants? Or should it instead be known as the, 'Reward Seat,' which only true believers will stand before at the return of Christ? Where each believer will only be assessed according to the level of reward each one may or may not receive for the deeds they did during their life here on the earth? But nothing else. And certainly, nobody will experience punishment or condemnation to hell once they are standing before it?

The Bible clearly teaches that when Jesus returns to this earth, He will sit upon His judgement seat and we will all appear before Him for some form of judgement (II Cor.5:10). A verse clearly directed towards the church. What that judgement will be like or whether it will involve any form of condemnation for some, is debated. And that is something I will be looking at in detail here. The word for 'judgement seat' is the Greek word 'bema' which is invariably translated as 'judgement seat' in our Bibles.

For some they see this as the judgement of what is known as 'the church' or 'the household of God.' The time when God judges His people (Heb.10:30). Not really a judgement upon the world which will come later at the Great White Throne judgement, as mentioned in Revelation 20:11-15. No, rather a judgement between all those who consider themselves to be, or who present themselves to others as believers in Christ. From Popes, Cardinals, pastors, priests and prophets, to ordinary men and women found in the church. Of all who call themselves and consider themselves to be Christian or followers of Christ. What some would call the professing church today. To see which of them is a true believer, and which of them is actually false. With the true being rewarded, whilst the bad are punished.

So, the judgement seat of Christ will be a place where believers in Christ, whether false or true, give account for our lives. And eternal destinies are decided, either bad, or good. And so, believers should be sober and serious, and get ready for that Day when they appear before Christ. Lest they be found by Him to be unready for His coming and they shrink with shame from before Him at His bema. Or find that they have caused a brother to stumble in their faith and possibly caused their fall and destruction, as conveyed in Romans 14:10-15, where it links such a scenario with us, church people, appearing before the bema of Christ.

Other scriptures used to support this view would be John 5:28-29 in which Jesus talks about all in their graves hearing His voice and coming out, some for a resurrection of life, and some to a resurrection of condemnation. A separation that is being made at the time Jesus returns and He commands the dead to appear before Him. Also, the scripture in Daniel 12:2 which details much the same thing, and many of the kingdom parables that detail an accounting and separation that specifically occurs between God's household or between His servants at His return.

But to others, the bema seat does not have the same level of potential threat or seriousness to it. They don't see it as a judgement seat at all really, but more as a 'reward seat.' A seat of 'sort-of judgement' that only true believers will stand before. A seat where nobody will suffer condemnation to hell or be separated into groups of either the righteous or the unrighteous. The only judgement will be as to the different levels of reward that will be given out to these genuine believers.

The separation between true believers and the false is usually said to be made instead at the rapture or the gathering in of the elect of God. When one is taken and the other is left. So, the false believers are not really judged as a group at all at that time, but are instead left behind with all the non-believers to face the Great Tribulation (that is, if they hold to the pre-tribulation rapture theory). And genuine believers are examined in the sense of what they did in the body and whether these deeds merited eternal reward or not. But not really examined in the sense of whether they are genuine or not. As if their ultimate salvation depended upon it. No, instead they are often encouraged to relax from thinking they may or may not be ready for appearing before Christ's judgement seat in terms of their ultimate salvation. Because effectively such a scenario will never happen according to this view. One of the main scriptures used to support this type of thinking is found in the gospel of John:

"Most assuredly, I say to you, he who hears My word and believes in Him who sent Me has everlasting life, and shall not come into judgment, but has passed from death into life," John 5:24.

Jesus says that someone who hears His Word and believes in Him who sent Him shall not come into judgement. Which seems to suggest that as Christians we will not experience any form of judgement. Of course, true believers will not come into judgement in the sense of being condemned in that judgement, as Christ has been judged for them in their stead. But there is a difference between appearing before Him for judgement and then coming into that judgement. We will explore this difference later on.

So, the point is often reinforced that appearing before Christ's judgement seat has nothing whatsoever to do with our salvation, and whether we may or may not be found to be in Christ at His coming. No, believers are encouraged to relax about the judgement seat of Christ to some extent, but instead to look towards being ready for the rapture, more so than for appearing before Christ's bema. So, all sense of being assessed when standing before God with the possibility of not being ready to be received by Him, is taken away. Because the only assessment we will go through is how much or how little of a reward we will get in heaven. And this is pictured as a relatively serious time, but not that serious in the sense that we might not make it into heaven.

And often the whole concept of being assessed at all is minimised or diminished by the constant focus instead on the point that Christians aren't subject to God's judgement, and that we're all going to be raptured straight into heaven anyway, with no reference to Christ's judgement seat at all.

So, if we're going to be raptured straight into heaven anyway, why concern ourselves too much with what's going to happen at Christ's judgement seat? After all, no-one is being pre-assessed in person as to whether they are able to enter heaven, when they're told that they will be raptured straight into heaven anyway. As already said, usually with no reference to Christ's judgement seat at all. And according to this view, once anyone is standing before Christ's bema, they are effectively safe for all eternity. It's almost a formality. A box that has been ticked, because at the very least, they will squeeze through the door by the skin of their teeth. But they won't be condemned to hell. A classic scripture that is used to advance this scenario is I Cor.3:12-15 which seems to focus upon the judgement of genuine believers only, and doesn't refer to anyone being cast into hell.

Most people I've come across who consider themselves to be Christian and who believe in the rapture of the church, generally assume that they will be taken by Jesus at that time. I've met very few who question whether they will be taken or not. Most tend to assume that because they believe they've been saved or they have been told they are a Christian, they will be raptured when Jesus returns. So, often I have found, believers tend to have a rather blasé or relaxed approach to the rapture, because most people assume that they'll be taken in it. Which can tend to lead to a rather blasé or relaxed approach to their Christian walk possibly as well? So, most people I've met seem to have a rather set position on the rapture, and a certain confidence that they will be taken up in it. But not the same level of confidence about the possibility of having to appear before Christ's judgement seat.

The subject of the bema of Christ is very different to the subject of the rapture in believer's minds today. From what I've seen there is a real ignorance and uncertainty in people as to what will happen there. And I think there are two main reasons for this uncertainty. One, because we don't really know what is going to happen there. Or at the very least, we are uncertain of what is going to happen there. And two, because there are so many scriptures that clearly seem to indicate that there is going to be a great separation that occurs between true believers and the false ones at the return of Jesus. Specifically, between those who considered themselves to be believers in Christ. And not so much at the time of the rapture, but when we stand before Him at His bema, to give account for what we did in our lives. With the false believers (who thought that they were genuine believers) actually experiencing terrible judgement and punishment when brought before their Master. So, what could these scriptures be referring to if the bema is just the reward seat and nobody will experience proper judgement and possible condemnation there, as we are usually told? Thus, there is uncertainty.

So, should the, 'bema,' that Christ sits upon at His coming (invariably translated as the, 'judgement seat,' in the Bible), more accurately be named as the, 'reward seat,' then? Or is it correctly named as the, 'judgement seat'? Will it be a place where the Light of Christ shines upon us and who we really are is revealed for all to see? Where the true and the false in God's household are actually separated and rewarded or punished depending upon whether they are found to be in Christ or not? What will actually happen there? What does the Bible actually teach on the subject?

I have to say, I've rarely heard a sermon that even mentions the judgement seat of Christ, let alone majors upon it. Yet the eternal judgement is a foundational truth of our faith (Heb.6:1-2), and it is vitally important that we know what is going to happen there. After all, the whole of our lives is heading towards this absolutely critical moment. When we are summoned to appear before Christ's judgement seat to give account for our lives that we lived. And what happens there will determine our eternal destiny. Not just the next 10, 20 or even 30 years. Eternity. It is the eternal judgement, not the temporary judgement. The decision made here will affect us forever. There are no appeal courts. After all, who is there to appeal to? God's decision is final and binding. And what He determines will stand for all time. So, isn't it rather important for us to know exactly what will happen there?

I'd say that apart from the knowledge of how to be saved and how to walk in that salvation, the eternal judgement is probably the most important subject area a believer should know about. In my mind it is absolutely fundamental and critical that we know exactly what God says about it. Because our knowledge of what is going to happen at Christ's Judgement Seat will inevitably profoundly shape our attitude to life and therefore, whether we will be ready for that day, or not.

If any of us received a summons to court, we would make sure we read exactly what we were being accused of, where the hearing would take place, what was at stake in terms of possible penalties and how the hearing would proceed. We would take pains to pour over the evidence being stacked against us and go to great lengths to ensure that we have the best legal representation that money can buy, so that we either avoid the fine or punishment due, or lessen its effect upon as much as is humanely possible.

We would have the date of the hearing entered into our diary and quite possibly a whole file of notes we'd put together to help us on the day. And yet most of us are completely ignorant of the eternal judgement. When we must all appear before God's judgement seat. Not a man-made chamber in which a mere man sits as judge. No, the heavenly court in which the Judge is none other than Jesus Christ Himself, the King of all kings and the Lord of all lords. The most serious and fearsome place in all of creation. And the judgement that is to be ruled upon is the eternal judgement, not the temporary judgement. All sentences or rulings given there will never be rescinded or changed in any way. Rulings that will have extreme consequences for us, either for good, or for bad. Either being rewarded greatly and inheriting a heavenly kingdom, experiencing the greatest joy and bliss a man could ever know? Or undergoing grave punishment and being banished into outer darkness or thrown into a lake of fire? Experiencing the greatest fear, terror and regret a man could ever know instead?

Wouldn't it be crazy to go through life either completely oblivious to what is coming, or to limit our sketchy knowledge to some person's opinion we found in a book, or to a sermon given which covers only small aspects of what the Bible actually teaches about this subject? It is crazy, but we do it all of the time. Giving little thought to what lies ahead. Quite possibly to our own eternal hurt and immense regret? Or if we are a leader in the church, how will we be treated at the judgement if we are found to have misrepresented the whole event to our congregations, giving them a false sense of security, which meant they were not minded to get themselves ready for that great day?

God's Word does speak quite a lot about what is going to happen at Christ's Judgement Seat. Probably more than most of us realise. Only I think we often tend to miss the significance or seriousness of what is being said, perhaps because we usually think that what is being described does not apply to us? Because if the Bible is describing something bad that will happen to someone at Christ's Judgement Seat, surely it must be speaking about someone else, right? After all, if I'm saved it can't be talking about me? Can it? But then Jesus seems to talk a lot about people being surprised at His Judgement Seat because they thought they were saved or were ready to appear before Him, but they actually weren't. But they assumed that they were.

This matter of whether we are truly saved or not, naturally feeds into the area of the bema. And that's because one man says if you're saved, you won't experience any form of possible judgement at Christ's bema, whereas another person will say that we will. But often each person is meaning different things by the word 'saved'. Words that can mean different things according to the context in which they are spoken.

For example, Biblically speaking a person is truly saved in the fullest sense of the word once they have been raised from the dead and given a new resurrection body. Once they have been gathered up at the return of Christ and given a new body. A spiritual body. They are fully saved from their old sinful fleshy nature, from the world and from hell itself. They are saved in the fullest sense of that word. Saved forever. They are a part of God's flock, His elect who did endure in the faith till the end. The apostle Peter describes this, 'fully saved,' state, as receiving the goal of our faith, the salvation of our souls (I Peter 1:9). So, something we are looking towards and are to receive in the future, at the revelation of Christ.

But equally, a man can consider himself to be saved, or maybe more accurately, in the process of being saved, if he genuinely comes to the faith and then endures in that faith till the end as well. As long as they remain in the faith, they are secure for all eternity. Enduring in the faith till the end is the litmus test of whether they were actually a part of God's elect or not (Matt.24:13).

But the issue is, many people in the church today automatically assume that they are saved or are of this elect of God, because they have had a religious or spiritual experience which they equate to being saved. Or because they have accepted Christ into their heart, or have been baptised and told that they are now saved. An assumption which is easy to make, because people are rarely caused to question whether they are truly saved or not. Whether they genuinely passed from death to life when they accepted Christ. Or whether they are still on the narrow path that leads to life, or have wandered off it perhaps without even realising it?

This then becomes a bit of a grey area in which some people say a true believer in Christ can never fall away. So, if a person has fallen away, they were never saved to begin with. But others say a believer can fall away. They may not be of the elect of God, but somehow or other they were connected to God by faith for a time. I would say there is truth in both positions.

If someone falls away from the faith, they were never a genuine member of God's elect saints. They were never one of God's plants that He has planted (Matt.15:13). They may have been called, but they were never the chosen of God (Matt.22:14). They were not Jesus's sheep (John 10:14) that He holds firmly in His hand (John 10:28). And He will say He never knew them at His coming (Matt.7:23). But somehow or other they had been connected to God by faith. They had received and known the forgiveness of sins. Like the parable of the unmerciful servant who initially had his debt wiped clear by the Master, but it was later re-instated because of his unmerciful actions towards his fellow servant (Matt.18:23-35). Or like the man who does not make his calling and election sure by adding virtue, knowledge, self-control and perseverance to his faith. The Bible says he has, "forgotten that he has been cleansed from his past sins," II Peter 1:9. He had come to the faith. But he never added anything to it. He had known this past cleansing, but unfortunately for him he had not walked in the good of it but had instead forgotten about it.

Or like the unfruitful branch that is connected to the vine but is then broken off (John 15:1-2). It is connected to the vine for a time. But it is then broken off because it bears no fruit. There is not enough of a connection to enable the transfer of sufficient life from the vine to or through the branch in order to form any fruit. But there was a connection for a time and a season. Or like the shoot of new growth in the shallow or stony soil, or among the weeds in the parable of the sower. There is growth. The plant does begin to grow. But then the lack of a good root system or the choking caused by the weeds ends up killing the plant (Matt.13:5-8).

We could go on and on with scripture after scripture, but the Bible teaches both seemingly contradictory positions. The genuinely saved are the elect of God who endure to the end. But a man can also be a believer and in faith somehow or other, but then fall from that secure place he was once in. To say they were never saved to begin with is not wholly accurate. It is only accurate if we define the saved as being God's elect alone, those who will endure to the end in their faith. Those who will be saved in the fullest sense of that word. But it is not accurate if we are talking about those who seem to have come into some form of faith or salvation in Christ, but who then fall away from that secure position they were once in. Remember how Peter warned his dear friends not to fall from their secure position, but to instead grow in the grace and knowledge of the Saviour Jesus Christ?

"You therefore, beloved, since you know this beforehand, beware lest you also fall from your own steadfastness, being led away with the error of the wicked; but grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. To Him be the glory both now and forever. Amen," II Peter 3:17-18.

The word for, "steadfastness," is, 'sterigmos,' in the Greek, which literally translates as, 'secure standing and stability'. They were in a secure position in Christ, but they could fall from it. By being led away with the error of the wicked.

Or how Paul warned the Galatian believers not to become cut off or alienated from Christ by trying to be justified by the letter of the Law? That means they had been connected to Christ by faith, but were now, "estranged," or severed from Christ through attempting to be justified by keeping the letter of the Law instead. If someone is estranged, severed or cut-off from someone, that means they were originally connected to them first. They had, "fallen from grace." That means they were formerly in grace, but had then fallen from that grace. They had not fallen from almost having grace.

"Indeed I, Paul, say to you that if you become circumcised, Christ will profit you nothing. And I testify again to every man who becomes circumcised that he is a debtor to keep the whole law. You have become estranged from Christ, you who attempt to be justified by law; you have fallen from grace," Gal.5:2-4.

If the Galatian believers Paul was referring to had continued trying to walk according to the letter of the Law rather than by faith, they would have remained severed from Christ. They would ultimately not be counted as one of God's sheep. But they were in some way connected to Him by faith for a time, and were a part of the household of God, again for a time.

Saying someone who falls away from the faith was never saved to begin with may be accurate if we're talking in terms of being saved in the fullest meaning or sense of that word. If we're only talking about the elect of God. Those individuals God has foreknown and predestined to be saved according to His Sovereign choice. But it is not accurate when we apply it in a blanket way to cover anyone who seemed to be, or was a believer at some point or other. Such people could accurately be termed as being saved temporarily, in the sense of being in Christ for a time and a season. In a temporal sense. But they were not saved in the ultimate sense of that word because they did not endure to the end in their faith.

But I have noticed that some believers are all too ready to comfort themselves with the thought that because they believe in Christ, they can never lose that salvation. Because that's what they are told time and time again. And because they rationalise that they can't be one of those who were never saved to begin with, because they actually do believe in Christ. They consider that they are saved, because they can remember their salvation experience. Such assumptions can be dangerous to make.

For me, the biggest problem I've seen is people taking the view that a believer cannot lose their salvation. Which has truth in it, but is not the whole truth on the matter. But they then think, "Well, I'm definitely saved, so I can't lose my salvation. So, any scripture which seems to contradict that position must be wrong. Therefore, if I ever come across any scripture like that, I just need to ignore it because it's not referring to me. Or I need to give it another meaning because it can't mean what it seems to be saying, because that would go against my logic or what I believe." I've personally heard quite a number of people express such sentiments in order to justify why they are often so willing to effectively change what the scripture is really saying, into something that will support their belief that they cannot lose the salvation which they think that they have.

So, such people can often comfort themselves with the idea that they are eternally secure and can never fall away. But what they have often done is just assume that they are of the elect of God when they may not be at all. They may have been 'saved' (depending upon our definition of the word) or come to the faith at some point. But whether they will endure to the end to evidence their genuine position as one of God's elect flock, is another matter entirely. Or they may not have come to the faith at all, but assumed that they did. Which is also a very bad position to be in.

There is a way of knowing that we are eternally secure. That is by entering and remaining in the rest of faith. Something believers are called to do (Heb.4:11). Where the constant witness of the Holy Spirit in our hearts testifies to us that we are a child of God (Rom.8:16). Where the supernatural peace of God guards our hearts and minds in Christ Jesus at all times (Phil.4:7). This may not be our experience initially when we are babies in Christ. We may experience His peace at times and then a lack of peace at other times. But the idea is to grow up in our faith so that this supernatural peace and rest within our hearts becomes the norm for us. But many people don't have such an enduring peace in their hearts, or that Divine testimony of the Spirit in them. But they instead rest upon the assumption that they are saved and eternally secure. This is uncertain and quite possibly dangerous ground to be standing upon.

It is my conviction from studying God's Word, that all those who consider themselves to be a servant of God will be brought before Christ's bema or judgement seat when He comes, in order to find out who is actually a genuine servant and who is not. Who is of God's elect and who is not. Who endured to the end to be truly saved, and who did not. Because the purity of God's own people is more important to God than the purity (or the lack of purity) in the people of this world. Of course, both things are important in and of themselves. But the purity of God's people is of far greater importance. Because in everything He does, God is looking to show Himself holy through those who draw near to Him. Which will be absolutely wonderful for those who have walked in His holiness. But equally will be terrifying for those who have chosen not to, but have claimed to walk with Him. And He will take whatever time is necessary in order to prepare His people for that great calling. That He might show Himself holy through them.

God is the Judge and He is just. And as a Just God, He does not enact eternal punishment upon anyone or give eternal reward to anyone before judging them first. His Divine justice demands that He judge all men before giving them a reward or a punishment. So, no-one gets access to heaven or gets thrown into hell before they appear before His judgement seat first. The scripture says that all of us must appear before His judgement seat. Not just some of us. All of us. Whether we die or are raptured up and do not actually taste physical death.

"For we must all appear before the judgement seat of Christ, that each one may be recompensed for his deeds in the body, according to what he has done, whether good or bad," II Cor.5:10.

I've met many believers who just assume that whoever gets raptured at the return of Christ, enter heaven automatically. There's usually no mention of God's judgement seat at all. This is typically skipped completely. But is this the truth? Do we just get to go to heaven without appearing before Christ's judgement seat? It seems not. The scripture clearly says that we must all appear before His judgement seat first, so that we may be recompensed for the deeds we did whilst in the body, whether good or bad.

"It is appointed to men to die once but after this the judgement," Heb.9:27.

The scripture does not say, it is appointed to men to die once and then go to heaven or hell straight away. No, it says that it is appointed to all men to face the judgement once they die. To determine where they will go and in what manner they will go or be sent there. And this scripture does not just apply to non-believers. It applies to all men. To believers as well. The idea that we just get raptured into heaven without appearing before Christ's bema first is false. We are all appointed to die once, and then comes the judgement. Which for believers will be before the bema of Christ.

So, first we must appear before His judgement seat so that He can examine us. And here's the bit we don't usually consider. That He will recompense us according to the works we did whilst in the flesh. Whether they were good or bad. So, not just for the good things. The bad also. And according to many scriptures, whether we are found to be in Christ at that time, or not? And perhaps more contentiously in some people's eyes, whether we are 'worthy' of eternal life or not? As Jesus said,

"But those who are counted worthy to attain that age, and the resurrection from the dead, neither marry nor are given in marriage," Luke 20:35.

So, if some are counted, "worthy to attain that age," surely there must be others who are counted as, "not worthy"? Not worthy to attain to the resurrection from the dead and the Kingdom age to come. The parables of Jesus certainly give that impression. And where will this accounting take place if not at the bema of Christ? Where will people be found to be, "worthy," or, "unworthy," of attaining to the resurrection from the dead, if not at the bema of Christ? Because such an assessment and separation will certainly not be happening in a rapture that just whisks us straight up into heaven.

Of course, Jesus is the only one who is worthy to attain to the resurrection from the dead. No man is worthy of eternal life in and of themselves. But in one sense a man will be counted as worthy to attain to that age by trusting in and walking with Christ who is worthy. We are counted worthy on the basis of His worthiness that we have walked in and demonstrated in our lives. If we have the fruit of the Spirit in our lives which is the evidence that we have done so. Something that will be checked and assessed by Christ at His bema.

The Bible has quite a lot to say about the eternal judgement and what will happen there. It is referred to throughout the Old Testament. Jesus mentioned it numerous times in the gospels. And it features in many of the epistles and certainly in the book of Revelation. Yet it is almost never mentioned in any church I've been in. And in the very few times I've heard the judgement seat of Christ mentioned in the West, it has almost always been in the context of it being the 'reward seat,' rather than the 'judgement seat.'

I've heard some people say that there are two judgement seats. The first being the judgement seat of Christ which is the 'bema' in Greek. Bema literally being translated as 'judgement seat.' The seat in which the judge would sit in order to hand down his justice based upon the evidence presented before it. Some translations call it the Tribunal which is a Roman name for this particular seat of justice. So, for example, when Pilate the Roman governor sat on the 'bema' it is described as the Tribunal in Matt.27:19 and John 19:13. In the rare event that it is actually mentioned in church, it is usually said that believers will appear before the bema of Christ. And this will happen at the return of Christ. Exactly when is usually not clarified. And it usually fades in importance when we are instead told over and over again, that Jesus is going to rapture us straight into heaven, without any real consideration of or mention being made of us needing to appear before Christ's bema seat first.

And then there is the Great White Throne judgement described in Revelation 20:11-15 which happens some 1,000 years later after the millennial reign of Christ and the Gog and Magog rebellion. It is described as a fearsome place where the dead will be judged. Certainly, a judgement of all those souls who have not already appeared before the bema of Christ.

The Great White Throne judgement is often described as the 'Krino,' judgement seat by people today. 'Krino' being the Greek word for judgement. 'Krino' is not a word for judgement seat. It is just the Greek word for 'to judge' or 'judgement'. But people today commonly call the Great White Throne judgement the 'krino judgement,' in order to distinguish it from what they call the 'reward judgement' at the bema. One is pictured as the bad place where judgement happens and people get thrown into hell (the Great White Throne 'krino judgement'). But the other (the bema) is pictured as the nice place where believers will stand and get welcomed into heaven and rewarded according to what they have done. Personally, I think this view is Biblically incorrect and far too simplistic. But it's understandable that many ascribe to this view because it is an area many know little about and this is the only theory really mentioned or popularised today.

What is sure is the bema judgement happens at Christ's second coming, whereas the Great White Throne judgement occurs after the 1,000-year millennial reign of Christ on the earth. So, the Bible describes two distinct judgements that will take place.

But as has been mentioned previously, people today usually say that only Christians will be brought before the bema of Christ. And it won't be anything to do with whether we're saved or not. Just about how big or how small our rewards will be that are given out. So, naturally people with this mindset tend to call it the 'reward seat' rather than the 'judgement seat' because it fits the narrative they believe. That only rewards will be given out at the bema. And so, people who consider themselves to be 'Christian' tend to dismiss any of the bad things that seem to happen there as recorded in the Bible (the wicked or lazy servant being cast out into outer darkness, the foolish virgins being denied entry to the wedding feast, the goats being thrown into hell-fire etc, etc) as occurring to other people and not to them. Quite who these other people are, they are often not that sure about. But certainly, someone other than themselves. This seems to be the unquestioned and almost universally accepted belief around the bema today. Certainly, in many of the Western church circles I've been around. But not so much in other places around the world.

I also used to follow this almost unchallenged logic. And the main reason I did so was because I didn't really know what was going to happen there. I think most people are like this. We don't really know what is going to happen so we rely on what we're told to try and fill in the blanks. For me, I read in a book that this was how it would all work out. So, it was easier to just follow what the book said, because in reality I didn't know enough myself to be able to think anything else.

That was, until I kept coming across verses in the Bible which seemed to contradict that version of events. And the more I looked, the more problems I seemed to find with it. Instead, the Bible seemed to clearly indicate that when Jesus returns and sits upon His throne of judgement, the bema, anyone who is considered to be His servant in some way or other, will be brought before it. And Jesus will examine them there. And they will be judged according to their deeds (Rom.2:6). The motives and intents of their hearts being revealed. And on the basis of their works and the motivations they had for their works, Jesus will separate the true disciples from the false. Bearing in mind we are not saved by our works but by our faith. But a genuine faith will produce good works. If there are no good deeds, that means the faith the person possesses is a dead faith that cannot save them (Jam.2:14-26). A genuine faith is evidenced by good works.

I kept coming across verses which did not fit with the 'reward seat' version of the bema or judgement seat of Christ. And so, eventually I decided to write down some of these verses I came across, where the Bible didn't seem to fit with this 'reward seat' only viewpoint. I thought if I write them down, others who are interested or possibly confused about this issue could then consider them in their own time and see what conclusions they come to? In the end, it's not that important what I say, or what the popular books say. It only matters what the Bible says. God's truth is the only thing that should matter to us, however difficult, awkward or perhaps unpalatable that truth might seem to us and to others. Because one thing is for sure, God will do what He has said He will do in His Word. Whether we choose to believe it or not. May the Spirit lead you as you read.



1. The Bible teaches that the consequences for people who follow God for a time but then turn away from Him will be a lot worse than for somebody who never believed in Him in the first place. That's why there has to be a judgement of God's people at the bema first.

The Bible teaches that it is worse for a person to believe in God but then to turn away from that belief, then to have never believed in Him in the first place.

"For if, after they have escaped the pollutions of the world through the knowledge of the Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, they are again entangled in them and overcome, the latter end is worse for them than the beginning. For it would have been better for them not to have known the way of righteousness, than having known it, to turn from the holy commandment delivered to them," II Peter 2:20-21.

Peter is clearly talking about a believer here. Not one of God's elect, but certainly a believer who has known something of Christ and the way of righteousness. Someone who has been washed of their previous defilements (v.22). No-one is washed from their sins unless they have first come under the blood of Jesus at some point in their lives. He says it would have been better for them not to have known the way of righteousness, than having known it to then turn from it. Their latter end will be worse for them then at the beginning before they knew anything of Jesus.

It will be worse because they will appear before the bema of Christ to be judged before anybody else. And the judgement they will receive will be worse, because they are more responsible before God then those who never really knew anything of the way of righteousness. The more light we receive from God in this life, the more responsible we are before Him for what we did with that Divine enlightenment that we received.

For example, Jesus said that the people of Nineveh would stand at the judgement and condemn the people of Jesus's time because they had repented at the preaching of Jonah, but the people listening to Jesus did not. No doubt those listening to Jesus thought themselves better than the men of Nineveh who were unclean gentiles to them. Yet Jesus said the people of His generation, the religious, God-seeking Jews would be treated harsher at the judgement than the men of Nineveh, because they had received more light than the Assyrians but had not repented as the men of Nineveh had.

"The men of Nineveh will rise up in the judgement with this generation and condemn it, because they repented at the preaching of Jonah; and indeed a greater than Jonah is here," Matt.12:41.

People who say the bema is the reward seat only, say the separation between believers and unbelievers will happen at the rapture of the church. So, the unbelievers will be left behind and have to go through the Great Tribulation, and this will be their punishment. But how are they experiencing a worse or stricter judgement then the other unbelievers by just having to go through the same thing as everybody else? They're not.

We see the same principle in the book of Hebrews. The writer is talking of believers who walk in unrepentant sin. Again, these are not the elect of God who could not walk in sin for any length of time without the conviction of sin becoming unbearable for them. But they are believers who have received a knowledge of the truth and had known the blood of the covenant sanctifying their hearts. The writer says that such people should be treated more severely than others who were found guilty and punished under the Law of Moses.

"For if we sin wilfully after we have received the knowledge of the truth, there no longer remains a sacrifice for sins, but a certain fearful expectation of judgement, and fiery indignation which will devour the adversaries. Anyone who has rejected Moses' law dies without mercy on the testimony of two or three witnesses. Of how much worse punishment, do you suppose, will he be thought worthy who has trampled the Son of God underfoot, counted the blood of the covenant by which he was sanctified a common thing, and insulted the Spirit of grace? For we know Him who said, "Vengeance is Mine, I will repay," says the Lord. And again, "The Lord will judge His people." It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God," Heb.10:26-31.

We often consider people were treated more strictly under the Mosaic Law than under the New Covenant. I think that's because we often read about the children of Israel being punished for their sins, and we compare that to the grace we now enjoy under the New Covenant. But that's not the whole story. The standard under the New Covenant is a lot higher than that expected under the Law of Moses. Because it is the standard of the Spirit, the standard of love.

So, for example, a man could lust after women in his mind or heart but still consider himself to be keeping the commandment, "You shall not commit adultery," under the Law of Moses, as long as he did not actually have physical sexual relations with her. But Jesus said a man would be guilty of breaking that commandment in such a situation under the New Covenant. Because he had committed adultery with her in his heart.

"For I say to you, unless your righteousness exceeds the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees, you will by no means enter the Kingdom of heaven," Matt.5:20.

It is a clear Biblical principal that God treats people who bear His Name a lot more strictly than He treats the people who don't bear His Name. The children of Israel were constantly being examined, tested, tried and indeed judged as they went about their daily lives. In a way that the surrounding nations were not. It is true that God would judge the surrounding nations harshly at times. For example, in the killing of every Canaanite man, woman or child in the Exodus, or during the flood, or in the overthrow of Sodom and Gomorrah. But these were relatively rare events. Often the gentile nations would seem to escape God's judgement but it would fall harshly upon the Jews.

We see this in the case of the sin of Peor, when the plague broke out specifically against Israel and not against the Midianites for engaging in profane sexual idol worship with them (Num.25:1-9). They'd both engaged in the same sin. Only the Israelites were targeted by God's judgement at that time, but not the Midianites. Or when the pestilence came upon Israel for complaining against God in the wilderness in the case of Korah's rebellion (Num.16:1-50). We don't see gentile nations being judged because they indulged in the sin of complaining. Or the way the pestilence came upon Israel when King David unwisely ordered the fighting men of Israel to be numbered (I Chron.21:1-30). The scripture never mentions a gentile nation undergoing such a judgement if they would order a census of their fighting men. But Israel had a greater responsibility before God than the surrounding gentile nations did, and so were held up to a higher standard than them also.

The apostle Paul says such things happened to the people of Israel in order to teach us in the church, lessons that we need to pay attention to today (I Cor.10:11). Lessons that we in the church need to listen to. Lessons written in the blood of God's people who experienced God's judgement over and over again, exactly because they were His people. And in a similar way, the people of God today, or what we could call the professing church, will experience a stricter judgement than those who never came to the faith or who never bore His Name at all. And this will be at the bema of Christ. Not so much by being left behind to face the Great Tribulation. Something which will affect everybody upon the earth and not just the false believers.

The idea that God's judgement upon His people who turn from the right way is that they will just be left behind along with everybody else at the rapture, does not follow with this Biblical principle. Especially if they have turned and abused His true saints, caused many to stumble because of what they do, or have caused God's Holy Name to be profaned before the Gentiles by their actions.

Judgement begins first at the household of God. Those who say they are His teachers will be judged more strictly than others (Jam.3:1). The Lord is coming specifically to judge His people. True believers will not come into that judgement of condemnation. But they will see that judgement enacted upon others who thought that they were believers, or pretended to be, but had no evidence to back up their claim at the time when it was to be examined. At the bema of Christ.

"And that servant who knew his master's will, and did not prepare himself or do according to his will, shall be beaten with many stripes. But he who did not know, yet committed things deserving of stripes, shall be beaten with few. For everyone to whom much is given, from him much will be required; and to whom much has been committed, of him they will ask the more," Luke 12:47-48.




2. God's holiness demands that He be honoured through those who draw near to Him or who say they belong to Him. So, His character demands that He separate the wicked from among His people, or from those who call themselves His people. And as we have already mentioned, the consequences for people who follow God for a time but then turn away from Him will be a lot worse than for anyone who never drew near to Him in the first place.

Everything our God does is based upon His Divine character. Every decision He makes, every act He performs is directed and guided by who He is. And every Divine quality of our God is enshrined by the all-encompassing quality of His holiness. The fact that He is set apart and exalted above anything else in all creation. And so, every quality He reveals to us about Himself is also set apart and exalted above anything mere man could show or exhibit. Our God is Holy. In all that He is and in all that He does. His love is a holy love and His mercy is a holy mercy. And equally His justice is a holy justice, and His anger is a holy anger. When Jesus died upon the cross, He was a holy sacrifice, demonstrating the holy love and mercy of God, achieving a holy salvation through the appeasement of the holy wrath of a holy God. Our God is Holy. And everything He does is holy. And He wishes to demonstrate His holiness most of all through His people. Through those who draw near to Him.

After all, this is one of the main reasons He created man in the first place. To demonstrate the greatness and the glory of His manifold qualities through us. Literally to demonstrate His holiness and the excellencies of who He is, through us. And this can go one of two ways. Either to the great benefit of the worshipper if they draw near in the correct way, as revealed by His great blessings upon the people of Israel when they walked with Him. Or to the great harm of the worshipper if they do it in the wrong way. As revealed so tellingly through the example of Aaron's sons, Nadab and Abihu in the time of the Exodus.

"And Nadab and Abihu, the sons of Aaron, took either of them his censer, and put fire therein, and put incense thereon, and offered strange fire before the LORD, which he commanded them not. And there went out fire from the LORD, and devoured them, and they died before the LORD. Then Moses said unto Aaron, 'This is it that the LORD spake, saying, "I will be sanctified in them that come nigh me, and before all the people I will be glorified."' And Aaron held his peace," Lev.10:1-3 (KJV).

Nadab and Abihu had just gone through an elaborate and painstaking process of being prepared for the priesthood of Israel. They had been clothed in the robes and anointed for service. But they were then presumptuous and offered profane fire before the Lord. So, the Lord consumed them with fire from His presence. Most of us would think, "Poor Nadab and Abihu. It was their first day of proper ministry and they were only trying to present an offering to God. Why would God be so harsh towards them?" But God's holiness is more important than their offering or even then their very lives for that matter. And He is also more concerned with His holiness than with what we think about His holy actions. If a man chooses the great yet fearsome responsibility of drawing near to the Lord Almighty, they must then accept the fact that God is holy and approaching Him in an unholy or profane way could well have consequences.

When Uzzah tried to steady the Ark of God as the oxen who were transporting it stumbled, God struck him down for his irreverent act (II Sam.6:7). Many of us today would ask why was God so seemingly harsh towards Uzzah? Wasn't he trying to do a good thing? But that's because we often don't really know God as Holy, and how important His holiness is to Him. And God wishes to reveal His holiness through those who draw near to Him. Something which will be the greatest blessing and give unspeakable joy to those who draw near in the correct way. But will also bring swift judgement and destruction upon those who do so in a profane or common way.

"And I will sanctify My great Name, which has been profaned among the nations, which you have profaned in their midst; and the nations shall know that I am the LORD," says the Lord God, "When I am hallowed in you before their eyes," Ez.36:23.

God didn't primarily save us so that He could have a relationship with us. This is one of the benefits of His great plan of salvation. But it is not the primary reason He provided salvation in the way He did. No, the primary reason He has saved us was and is to sanctify His great Name in us, and to hallow His Name through us. To reveal aspects of His Holy character both in us and through us. Leaving false believers behind to face the Great Tribulation just like everybody else, is not sanctifying His great Name in us. Because it is just treating us in the same way as everybody else.

God says through the prophet Ezekiel that He will specifically hallow Himself in His people on the day He returns as Judge and King. This can only happen by judging His people with a Holy judgement at the bema of Christ. By revealing the thoughts and intents of the heart and separating between the wheat and the chaff. Between the sheep and the goats. Between the wise servant and the wicked, lazy servant. And God will reveal His holiness in those who are found in Him by blessing them greatly. But He will also reveal His holiness in those who didn't get ready or listen to Him by punishing them strictly. No wonder there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth at the bema of Christ, as false believers will see how the true sheep are treated as opposed to how they will be treated. The contrast will be stunning because God's holiness demands it to be so.



3. Jesus and the apostles warned believers time and time again to be ready for when they had to stand before the Son of Man. This is clearly talking about standing before His bema seat and whether we will be found to be in Christ at that critical juncture, or not.

A common theme running throughout the Bible and especially in the New Testament, are warnings given to believers to make sure they are ready for Christ's return. Specifically, that they may stand before Him when He sits on His judgement throne, and not have the ignominy of having to shrink from Him in shame instead.

"And now, little children, abide in Him, that when He appears, we may have confidence and not be ashamed before Him at His coming," I John 2:28.

It could be said that those who only just make it through the bema seat by the skin of their teeth, "As through the flames," according to I Cor.3:15, will be the ones who will be ashamed before Christ at His coming. This is no doubt true. Who wants to be embarrassed before Christ that though they held onto their faith, they never managed to do any good work that would bring them reward on that Day?

But it seems the apostle John is not just speaking here about these individuals, but also about those who have not actively practiced righteousness or walked in the light of God. This is the context of this chapter. John is speaking here about those who say they are in the light but actually are not (I John 2:9). About those who may say that they know God, but who don't obey His commandments (v.4). About men who say they love God, but don't even love their own brothers (v.11). He's talking about the false believers in the church. False brethren who will be ashamed before Him at His coming. Specifically at His bema or judgement seat.

If the false believers are just left behind at the rapture, why would they be ashamed before Christ at His coming? They may fear that now they have to face the Great Tribulation. But they wouldn't be ashamed before Christ because they won't be appearing before Him at His bema.

"Watch therefore, and pray always that you may be counted worthy to escape all these things that will come to pass, and to stand before the Son of Man," Luke 21:36.

Jesus tells His disciples to watch and pray that they may be counted worthy to escape all the bad things He had just described in relation to His second coming. Jesus had been talking about His disciples being persecuted in the last days, and being betrayed by friends and relatives. Sometimes even to the death. Being hated by all because of the Name of Jesus. Some may take this to mean that Jesus was actually talking about us escaping this persecution through partaking in the rapture of the church. But the context really does not seem to bear that out.

Jesus says clearly that persecution is going to happen to His people in the last days. But He doesn't talk about being raptured out of that persecution. No, He then says, "By your patience possess your souls," Lk.21:19. In other words, they would escape these things by patiently enduring and overcoming these trials and the things of this world by holding onto their faith through the persecutions and afflictions. They would escape these things by overcoming them by their faith. They might be persecuted and even killed. But they would escape the danger of falling away from the faith which will happen to many in the years immediately preceding the return of Christ. And if they were still alive and remained at the return of Christ, they could then,

"Look up and lift up your heads, because your redemption draws near," Lk.21:28.

But then Jesus makes the telling statement,

"And to stand before the Son of Man," Lk.21:36.

Watch and pray always, that we might be able to stand before the Son of Man. This is not talking about the rapture, but what happens after the rapture. It's talking about when we have all been gathered in to appear before Jesus when He takes His seat on His throne of judgement and authority. It's talking about standing before the bema of Christ. Before the Son of Man seated upon His glorious throne.

The whole focus seems to be upon being able to stand before Christ as opposed to not being able to stand before Him. We are only able to stand if we are in the faith. If we are in Christ Jesus and clothed with His righteousness at His return.

The apostle Paul spoke about wanting or desiring to be found in Christ at His return. Someone will only be found to be in Christ or not, by undergoing a process of examination first. Where they are examined by the Judge at the bema. And the findings of the Judge will depend upon the evidence He receives. A person will be found to be in Christ, if the fruit of Christ is found in their life. But equally if such fruit is missing, they will have been found to have not been in Christ at His coming. It all depends on how He finds us at His return. Do we have the evidence that Christ actually lives in us, or not?

"Yet indeed I also count all things loss for the excellence of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and count them as rubbish, that I may gain Christ and be found in Him, not having my own righteousness, which is from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ, the righteousness which is from God by faith," Phil.3:8-9.

How will we be found? In Christ or not in Christ? And how will this finding out occur, if the bema is just the reward seat only?




4. Many of the Kingdom parables clearly describe an accounting and separation among God's servants at the return of Christ. With the wise servants being rewarded whilst the false or lazy servants being punished. They don't paint the picture of His people just getting raptured into heaven and that's it.

A fair number of the Kingdom parables detail an accounting and separation of God's servants, or those who seem to be His servants, at the return of Jesus. None of these parables even remotely fit into a scenario where the bema seat is just the reward seat. Or into a scenario where all believers get rewarded or granted entrance into heaven at Christ's coming, but the wicked are dealt with 1,000 years later at the Great White Throne judgement. Or, for that matter, a scenario where the separation occurs during a secret rapture. The separation always occurs at the return of the Master, the Bridegroom, the King (Jesus). These include all the Olivet parables, including the parable of the wise and evil slave put over the Master's household (talking about leadership in the church) in Matt.24:45-51, the parable of the wise and the foolish virgins in Matt.25:1-13, the parable of the talents in Matt.25:14-30, and the parable of the sheep and the goats in Matt.25:31-46.

In the parable of the wise and evil slave put over the Master's household (Matt.24:45-51), the Master returns and separates the wise slave from the foolish one. This is clearly talking about leadership in the church and how God is going to deal with leaders who feed and care for those placed under their authority, as opposed to those leaders who instead abuse those under their care. So, it's talking about pastors, bishops, elders, overseers, vicars, priests or ministers in the church. Anyone tasked with the oversight of a congregation and with feeding those under their rule and care.

Whilst the wise slave who obeyed his Master is put in charge of all of His possessions, the evil slave who abused the slaves under his care and ate and drunk with drunkards, is instead cut into pieces and assigned a place with the hypocrites where there is weeping and gnashing of teeth. That doesn't mean they were left behind at the rapture. It means the Master assesses how His slaves have conducted themselves at His return, and rewards the wise with great authority, but punishes the evil slaves severely. All at the coming of their Master. When He assesses our works at His bema, to find out who was wise and who was evil.

In the next parable, the wise and the foolish virgins (Matt.25:1-13), we see a similar principle but from a slightly different angle. Again, there is a separation that occurs within the household of God. Between the true and the false within God's kingdom. Between those who are ready for their Bridegroom and those who are not. Of course, the wise virgins are the true representatives of God's kingdom whereas the foolish are the false. But like the parable of the wheat and the tares or the good and bad fish in the dragnet, both are mixed together within the Kingdom until the time of the harvest or the coming of Christ. And it's at Christ's bema where such things are assessed and this separation shall occur.

"Then the kingdom of heaven shall be likened to ten virgins," Matt.25:1.

All ten virgins represent the Kingdom of God. Both the wise and the foolish. But it is a Kingdom which has been infiltrated by foolish virgins. So, Jesus the Bridegroom is coming to separate the true from the false, the wise from the foolish.

Only the wise virgins who have oil in their lamps are ready to be welcomed into the wedding feast. But the foolish who have no oil in their lamps are locked out instead. All at the coming of the Bridegroom. The parable does not specifically mention the bema of Christ because it is more focused upon the angle of the wedding feast. But we see in it a similar pattern to the other Kingdom parables. A separation between the good servants and the bad at the return of Christ.

Then in the parable of the talents, the good and faithful servant is made ruler over many things, whilst the wicked and lazy servant is cast into outer darkness where there is weeping and gnashing of teeth (Matt.25:14-30). That doesn't mean the wicked and lazy servant got left behind at the rapture. No, it can only be talking about a specific judgement Jesus will mete out at His return to the wicked and lazy servants who don't put their talent to work but bury it instead. They will be cast into the outer darkness where there is weeping and gnashing of teeth. This parable shows clearly that both the good and the wicked servants of the Master are assessed at the return of their Lord, when He comes to settle accounts with them. And both get rewarded or punished at this time. At the judgement seat of Christ. No other explanation is plausible.

And then in the parable of the sheep and the goats. Both groups appear before the Lord's judgement seat and are judged according to their actions in this life. Whether they showed practical love and mercy to their fellow brethren, or not. Whether they had the good deeds that evidenced a faith that was alive in their hearts, or not. The sheep did have such evidence to back up their claim to faith. They did show love and mercy to their brethren whilst in this life, and so they inherit the kingdom of their Lord. Whilst the goats who did not show love and mercy, are cast away into the everlasting fire prepared for the devil and his angels. All at the same or similar time. When,

"The Son of Man comes in His glory, and all the holy angels with Him," Matt.25:31.

When He sits on the throne of His glory which is the throne of David, His seat of authority and judgement. His bema seat (Matt.25:31-46). The throne He will sit upon at the time when God the Father puts all His enemies under His feet (Ps.110:1).

Other parables detail a separation between the good fish and the bad fish in the dragnet of the kingdom (Matt.13:47-50). The dragnet represents the kingdom of God. It is cast into the sea which represents the nations of this world (Rev.17:15). Evangelism is like fishing. Jesus said to His disciples,

"I will make you fishers of men," Matt.4:19.

The gospel is proclaimed and many people enter the kingdom. Both good fish and bad fish are caught together in this dragnet. In the net of God's kingdom. It doesn't only contain good fish. No, it contains both good and bad fish. All swimming together in the net of the kingdom.

But when the dragnet is full, it is then dragged out of the sea. This can only be referring to the great gathering in of God's people at the return of Christ. What is known as the rapture. But what happens to them? Do they all go to heaven at that point? No. The angels separate them. All at the same time. They separate the good from the bad. The true from the false. The good fish are gathered into vessels but the bad are thrown away.

When Jesus returns, He's going to send His angels to gather together His people before Him. To gather them before His bema seat. To see who is a true disciple and who is not. Who is a good fish and who is a bad fish.

"So it will be at the end of the age. The angels will come forth, separate the wicked from among the just, and cast them into the furnace of fire. There will be weeping and gnashing of teeth," Matt.13:49-50.

Jesus doesn't say, "The angels will come forth to take the just straight into heaven or to be rewarded at My bema seat, and then 1,000 years later I'll deal with the wicked." No, the wicked are described as being, "Among the just," but are then separated from them. At that time.

We have exactly the same principle on display in the parable of the wheat and the tares (Matt.13:36-43). When the servants of the owner of the field suggest removing the tares from His field straight away, He says to His servants instead,

"Let both grow together until the harvest, and at the time of the harvest I will say to the reapers, 'First gather together the tares and bind them in bundles to burn them, but gather the wheat into My barn," Matt,13:30.

Both the wheat and the tares are dealt with, "At the time of the harvest." At the same time. At the time of Jesus's return. And like the parable of the dragnet, the bad are dealt with immediately before the good. First the tares are gathered in for burning. And then the wheat is gathered into His barn. Jesus explains it in this way:

"The Son of Man will send out His angels, and they will gather out of His kingdom all things that offend, and those who practice lawlessness, and will cast them into the furnace of fire. There will be wailing and gnashing of teeth. Then the righteous will shine forth as the sun in the kingdom of their Father," Matt.13:41-43.

They are gathered out of His Kingdom. They were in His Kingdom and the angels are tasked with removing them from God's Kingdom. The enemy specifically planted the tares, "among the wheat," (Matt.13:25) not far away from the wheat as if they represented the people of the world who have no connection to the church at all. The tares looked like the wheat from the outside and that's the reason Satan planted them within God's kingdom. So that they might infiltrate the church and cause mayhem from within. But they will be removed out of His kingdom at the bema seat of Christ, where the tares, the sons of the evil one will wail and gnash their teeth, whereas the wheat, the true sons of the kingdom will shine forth as the sun in the kingdom of their Father.

The tares are not the people of the world who are unconnected to the church. No, they are specifically the people of the world who pretend to be believers or who think that they are believers, but are not. They are in His kingdom but are not really of it. And this separation in God's household or in His kingdom will occur at the bema of Christ.

If the bema is just the reward seat, then who is wailing and gnashing their teeth at it? And if the bema is just the reward seat, where are those who are being gathered out of His Kingdom being judged instead? Because God doesn't throw anyone into hell unless He judges them first.

"It is appointed to man to die once, then the judgement," ('krisis' in Greek which is almost the same as 'krino', meaning 'judgement' and 'to judge' respectively), Hebrews 9:27.

They can't be being judged before the Great White Throne, because that judgement happens 1,000 years later. They are also not being judged by being left behind at the rapture. Those left behind at the rapture in order to go through the Great Tribulation are just experiencing what unbelievers at that time will experience. Not a personal judgement before Jesus who is the Judge of all men.

It is clear from these parables that the separation of both parties will take place before Jesus at the same or similar time. At the end of the age, when the Son of Man sends out His angels to gather them. Which of course is known today as the 'rapture,' but very different to how the 'rapture' is usually presented today. And the bad fish and the tares don't make it into heaven by the skin of their teeth, "as through the flames," (I Cor.3:15). No, they get thrown into the furnace of fire. The wicked slave over the Master's household gets cut into pieces and assigned a place with the hypocrites where there is weeping and gnashing of teeth. The foolish virgins are locked out of the wedding. The lazy servant who buried his talent is not just told off, but is cast into the outer darkness where there is weeping and gnashing of teeth. The goats are told to depart from Jesus into everlasting fire prepared for the devil and his angels.

In the parable of the wedding feast (Matt.22:1-14), when the King comes to look over His dinner guests (akin to us appearing before Christ's bema seat and being examined by Him), there is someone there who is not clothed in the correct wedding garments. The King orders him to be bound hand and foot and cast into outer darkness where there is weeping and gnashing of teeth. Certainly not squeezing into heaven as through the flames. This guy had been gathered into the wedding hall as a guest of the King, but had not prepared himself properly. The wedding feast occurs at the return of Christ, not 1,000 years later at the Great White Throne judgement. The guests who are clothed correctly are welcomed into the wedding feast at the same time as the man who is not clothed correctly is thrown out.

"Those slaves went out into the streets and gathered together all they found, both evil and good; and the wedding hall was filled with dinner guests (both evil and good)," Matt.22:10.

This man was not clothed in the correct garments. He had not listened to Paul's exhortation to all believers that we clothe ourselves with Christ. He was one of the, "evil," guests brought into the wedding hall. One of the tares who looked like wheat from the outside, but inside was poisonous and unfruitful. He considered himself to be one of God's servants, but he was not. It is not talking about the people of the world who give no thought to God or to His ways.

To say the bema is the reward seat only is to ignore all of these parables, and what they clearly all say. Which is that Jesus is coming to judge His church, His people at His return. Certainly, those who think they are His people. To see who actually is His sheep, and who just looks similar but is actually a goat. To see who is evil and who is good in the wedding hall. To say only rewards are given out at Christ's bema would be to ignore or to have to twist the obvious, consistent and clear picture given by all of these parables. In order to fit a completely different narrative.

It always amazes me when ministries that are trying to present the bema as the reward seat only, quote these kingdom parables to back up their statements. When the detail contained in many of these parables completely contradicts what they are actually trying to say.





5. Paul warns believers that we should make it our aim to be pleasing to God at all times because we must all stand before the judgement seat of Christ, to receive our due for the deeds we have done in the body, whether good or bad. So, not just to be rewarded for the good things only.

"Therefore we make it our aim, whether present or absent, to be well pleasing to Him. For we must all appear before the judgement seat of Christ, that each one may receive the things done in the body, according to what he has done, whether good or bad. Knowing, therefore, the terror of the Lord, we persuade men," II Cor.5:9-11.

If the bema seat is the reward seat only, how then will God reward our bad deeds at it? Because Paul clearly says we will all appear before the bema of Christ that we may receive or be recompensed for the deeds done in the body, whether they are good or bad. Not just for the good ones. Something that should put the fear of God into us (translated 'terror' in the NKJV)? How does God recompense bad deeds? With less of a reward? And why should we be in fear about the bema of Christ, if the worst that happens is that we make it into heaven by the skin of our teeth?

Or is it not more accurate to say the evidence of our lives will be examined at the bema, the judgement seat of Christ? And that those who have deeds that evidence an alive faith will be rewarded with good? But that those who have no such evidence but only bad deeds, show that they have a dead faith that cannot save them? And that they will be recompensed for such deeds by God's wrath and judgement? Exactly as it is described in the Kingdom parables mentioned previously?

And the fact that we will be examined in this way before the judgement seat is one of the main reasons why we make it our aim to be well pleasing to Him whether in life or in death (v.9). Because only those approved in the faith (who are pleasing to God) are acceptable before God. As Paul so vividly put it when talking about how he disciplined his own body rigorously in order that he might be approved at the bema rather than found unapproved by Jesus when he stood before Him.

"But I discipline my body and make it my slave, so that after I have preached to others, I myself will not be unapproved (literal translation and better than 'disqualified' which is the word usually used)," I Cor.9:27.

The ancients were approved in their faith because they had the evidence of the good deeds that they had done by faith. They pleased God by their genuine faith.

"And all these, having gained approval through their faith, did not receive what was promised, because God had provided something better for us, so that apart from us they would not be made perfect," Heb.11:39-40.




6. Paul connects the judgement seat of Christ with a warning not to judge our brethren or to treat them with contempt. Why make such a connection if the bema is just a reward seat?

"But you, why do you judge your brother? Or you again, why do you regard your brother with contempt? For we will all stand before the judgement seat (bema) of God. For it is written, "As I live, says the Lord, every knee shall bow to Me, and every tongue shall give praise to God." So then each one of us will give an account of himself to God. Therefore let us not judge one another anymore, but rather determine this—not to put an obstacle or a stumbling block in a brother's way," Rom.14:10-13.

If the bema is the reward seat only, why does Paul talk about it in relation to judging a brother or treating a brother with contempt? If we do these things, will it somehow lessen our overall reward at the judgement seat? Like we would get points knocked off for bad behaviour? Or is it more likely that to judge a brother or to treat them with contempt is a serious sin that could lead us into walking in wilful sin? Which would mean no sacrifice for sins is left for us (Heb.10:26)? Considering that the apostle James says that if we speak evil of a brother or judge them, we are speaking evil of the law and judging it? Effectively making ourselves like God. We are exalting ourselves to be like God rather than keeping His law. Something that is a serious sin in God's eyes.

"Do not speak evil of one another, brethren. He who speaks evil of a brother and judges his brother, speaks evil of the law and judges the law. But if you judge the law, you are not a doer of the law but a judge. There is one Lawgiver, who is able to save and to destroy. Who are you to judge another?" Jam.4:11-12.

Paul speaks about the importance of not putting a stumbling block before a brother in view of the bema of God. Because later in Romans 14:15 he says our brother could be destroyed by our selfish eating of food sacrificed to idols. Destroyed does not mean they only squeeze into heaven by the skin of their teeth. No, destroyed in terms of possibly falling away from the faith by being emboldened to eat food that has been sacrificed to idols, when their faith cannot allow it (so defiling their conscience and upsetting their faith rest in Christ). Or possibly leading them to criticise and speak evil of us which would be a sin to them.





7. The Greek word 'bema' literally means, 'Judgement seat,' and not, 'Reward seat.'

The Greek word 'bema' is translated, 'judgement seat,' because that's exactly what the word means. It literally translates as 'judgement seat' and means the place of authority where the judge sits. No-one else is allowed on the bema because that's where the judge sits in order to hear the case that is before them. To listen to the evidence presented, and then to hand down the judgement or verdict. And their authority for handing down the judgement is because they are sitting upon the judgement seat, the bema.

The bema of Jesus will be the throne of David which God promised Him before He was even born (Luke 1:32-33). Currently Jesus is seated to the right-hand of the Father, awaiting His command to return in glory with His powerful angels, and to put all enemies under His feet (Ps.110:1). He is awaiting the throne of David, the throne of authority, the throne of His Kingdom. He is waiting for the time that the bema is to be given to Him. The seat of eternal judgement. And once He sits upon His glorious throne, His bema, the eternal judgement shall begin. Because the Judge is now, "in session," so to speak.

The bema doesn't mean 'reward seat.' If it did, the New Testament translators would have translated it that way. They didn't because it doesn't mean 'reward seat'. That's a meaning modern Christians have given it to suit their viewpoint that once someone is saved, they can never be lost. The bema does not mean reward seat, in the same way that a judge's seat in court is not called the reward seat. It's the judgement seat, because that is where the judgement will be meted out. For good or for bad.

The Greek word for reward is 'misthos' ("If anyone's work which he has built on it endures, he will receive a reward ['misthos']," I Cor.3:14). If the judgement seat of Christ was really the reward seat of Christ only, surely it would have been called the 'misthos seat,' and not the 'bema'?

Regarding this portion of scripture in I Corinthians 3, many people quote it in order to try and prove that the bema of Christ is just a reward seat. Because it only talks about rewards being given or being lost. It does not mention the separation of the false servants and their subsequent condemnation before the bema.

"For no other foundation can anyone lay than that which is laid, which is Jesus Christ. Now if anyone builds on this foundation with gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, straw, 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. If anyone's work which he has built on it endures, he will receive a reward. If anyone's work is burned, he will suffer loss; but he himself will be saved, yet so as through fire," I Cor.3:11-15.

Paul is specifically speaking here about how we build upon the foundation stone which is Jesus Christ. How we build upon it with the work we do in His Name. He's not trying to describe how the whole process of judgement will work. He was certainly not trying to give an overview of everything that will happen at the bema. He was focusing upon one particular aspect of the judgement at the bema which was directly connected to what he had just been talking about to the believers at Corinth. So, it is understandable that whilst talking about a specific topic, he would not then veer from that topic to start describing elements of the judgement at the bema that didn't apply to what he was actually talking about.

He was not specifically trying to teach about the bema as his main subject of conversation, and nor was he talking about the difference between false disciples and the true, so that it would have been logical for him to then discuss how each would be treated at the bema. No, he had just been talking about genuine ministries in the church, and how different people have different jobs in the kingdom. He was an apostle who planted the seed of the gospel first. Then Apollos had come along to water that seed. But God was the one who gave the increase (I Cor.3:6). So, Paul was looking at how such service or work in the kingdom would or would not be rewarded at the bema. Nothing more and nothing less.

So, Paul was specifically looking at the area of how genuine believers would be rewarded according to how they had done their work. He's zoning in on one aspect of the judgement, not trying to describe how the whole judgement will take place overall. It is a snapshot of a part of the bema seat judgement and how it will affect genuine believers, not a study into how the whole process of that judgement will pan out. So, to take it as the complete teaching on the subject would be incorrect

It's a bit like taking one of the parables of Jesus dealing with His second coming and using this as the only picture of what His coming will be like. So, for example, we might read the parable of the sheep and the goats and realise that it is important to give practical help to brethren that are in need. Because we read about that in the parable. But then we take no thought for making sure our lamps are full of oil like the wise virgins in the parable of the wise and foolish virgins. Or we take no thought for being clothed in the correct wedding garments as in the parable of the wedding feast. Because all we look at is the parable of the sheep and the goats. And these things are not mentioned in that particular parable.

The scripture mentions the bema seat judgement at other times and presents other details which are not included in I Corinthians 3:11-15, including the fact that it will be a time of a great separation between the true disciples of Christ and the false (Matt.13:41-43 and 49-50). It will be a place where punishments are enacted upon wicked slaves (Luke 12:47-48) and a place where there will be weeping and the gnashing of teeth amongst those who are found to have not got themselves ready for the Bridegroom's appearance (Luke 13:48). It will also be a place where Christ will finally sit upon His glorious throne as Judge and King (Matt.25:31). A place where God the Father will stretch out His strong sceptre commanding Him to exercise His rule as King in the midst of His enemies (Ps.110:2). And a place where the secrets of men will be revealed and shouted from the rooftops (Luke 12:3).

We need to read every scripture that is talking about the judgement seat of Christ in order to gain a proper overview of it. Not just take our understanding from one portion of scripture only, whilst ignoring the other verses that are just as important.





8. The Bible defines or portrays the bema as the, 'Judgement Seat,' and not as the, 'Reward Seat.'

The Bible interprets itself. So, the word 'bema' is used a few times in the New Testament. For example, Jesus appeared before the bema of Pilate in Matthew 27:19 and John 19:13. If bema means reward seat only, what reward was Pilate thinking to give to Jesus? Obviously, he wasn't there to see how great His reward would be. It is an absurd thought. Yet if we're seeking to change the meaning of a word in the Bible, surely, we must do that in every situation where the word is used? And, if that doesn't work in the context (as it clearly does not in this case), maybe we are incorrect with our interpretation of what that word actually means?

The scribes and the Pharisees wanted to do away with Jesus, and the only place that could realistically happen was at Pilate's bema. And so, Jesus was appearing before Pilate's bema because that was the place of authority, of judgement, where the evidence was presented and justice was meted out. As in a normal court of law. The place of authority where only the judge was allowed to sit.

Or the apostle Paul appeared before the bema of the Roman Governor, Festus in Acts 25:6,10,17. Was Paul there to be rewarded by Festus for spreading the gospel so well in the Roman empire? Or was he on trial for his life, awaiting the decision from Caesar's bema which could have meant death or imprisonment for him? The Jews specifically tried to get Paul to stand before the bema of Gallio so they could do away with him (Acts 18:12-17). They certainly were not trying to reward him for how well he'd been turning people away from their dead rituals and religious practices.

The people who talk about the bema being the reward seat invariably talk about the ancient Olympic games where the victors were presented with victory laurels before a rostrum which was also called the bema. So, the logic goes, because they only gave out rewards at the Olympic games, it will be the same at Christ's bema. But why do we take the Olympic games as our template of what a bema is? Surely the Bible is our template?

The people who use the Olympic games as their template will often quote Paul referencing the strict training athletes of his day went through in order to win a perishable wreath at such games. And how we should do the same in order to win the prize in the race of faith that is before us all.

"Now they do it to obtain a perishable wreath, but we an imperishable," I Cor.9:25.

But Paul is not referencing the operation and workings of the bema here specifically. He's making a general point about our need to discipline ourselves in running a successful race. And using the preparation athletes would go through in order to compete at the Olympic games as an example to help the Corinthian church understand this point. He was not detailing how the judgement at the bema is going to pan out. And certainly, it is not a basis for saying the bema seat is the reward seat only, as Paul says just two verses later that like the athletes he was referencing, he too disciplines his body severely in order that he should not become unapproved in his own race of faith. He's not talking about his potential reward at the bema. No, quite the opposite. He's talking about the potential of being unapproved before God or rejected before Him if he did not discipline himself as he was encouraging the Corinthian church to do. Something that will occur at the bema of Christ.

"But I discipline my body and bring it into subjection, lest, when I have preached to others, I myself should become disqualified (literal translation, 'unapproved')" I Cor.9:27.





9. Jesus talks about false believers whom He will speak with at His return and cast away from His presence. How can these conversations occur if the bema is the reward seat only?

In Matthew chapter 7, Jesus is speaking about His return and the day when some people will be granted entry into the Kingdom of heaven, but some will not. And He mentions people who thought they were believers but they weren't. They refer to Him as 'Lord' and they then list the things they did in His Name. To which He replies that He never knew them.

Jesus is referring to what is going to happen at His second coming. Not what's going to happen 1,000 years later at the Great White throne judgement. Or what's going to happen at the rapture for that matter. It is picturing the time when He sits upon His bema or judgement seat at His second coming. If the bema is just the reward seat for believers, how can a conversation like this take place before it? Jesus tells them to depart from Him because He never knew them. Where will these false believers depart to, if the bema is just the reward seat only?

"Not everyone who says to Me, 'Lord, Lord,' shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father in heaven. Many will say to Me in that day, 'Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in Your name, cast out demons in Your name, and done many wonders in Your name?' And then I will declare to them, 'I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness!" Matt.7:21-23.

Depart from Him to go where? According to other places in the gospels it will be to depart to the place of outer darkness (Matt.25:30), or to the place of everlasting fire (Matt.26:41). If someone is told to depart from Christ, that does not mean they are just squeezing through the door into heaven, as through the flames. They're being cast away and punished, not rewarded. A judgement that will be handed down by Christ at His bema.




10. Jesus talks about having His enemies who did not want Him to reign over them, killed in front of Him at His coming. How can that be if the bema is a reward seat only?

In the parable of the minas (Luke 19:11-27), Jesus is talking about His return and the accounting He will then conduct amongst His servants. Once He judges the, "wicked servant," by removing the mina from him, Jesus says,

"But bring here those enemies of mine, who did not want me to reign over them, and slay them before me," Lk.19:27.

If the bema is the reward seat only, how can Jesus say this? Who is He having executed in front of Him if His bema is the reward seat only? The context of the parable seems to indicate they are the Jewish people of His day who rejected Him ("His citizens," Lk.19:14, His people, the Jews, who were actually not His people in reality). If the bema is the reward seat only, then how can this be happening at it?

Jesus does not elaborate as to where the wicked or worthless servant is sent once the mina is removed from him. The inference is that he is cast away from the Master's presence or possibly included among those who are to be executed before Him at His judgement? But, if we believe the bema is the reward seat only, how is a, "wicked servant," appearing before Him there? If Jesus calls someone a, "wicked servant," will that individual still make it into heaven? If it is true that the bema is only for believers who will all get into heaven one way or another? The Bible says,

"The righteous will never be shaken, But the wicked will not dwell in the land," Prov.10:30.

The Bible certainly doesn't say that the wicked will enter heaven. Even by the skin of their teeth. They will not dwell in the land. They will have no place nor any inheritance in the Kingdom of God.




11. Jesus said He would be ashamed of those who were ashamed of Him at His coming, and would deny anyone who did not confess Him before men. Something He spoke to believers, a warning specifically meant for them.

Jesus said,

"For whoever is ashamed of Me and My Words, the Son of Man will be ashamed of him when he comes in His glory, and the glory of the Father and of the holy angels," Luke 9:27.

Jesus is clearly talking about His second coming, when He will come in His glory, and in the glory of His Father and of the holy angels. The time when He will sit on His judgement seat, the bema. He is not talking about the Great White throne judgement, nor about leaving unbelievers behind at the rapture. So, if the bema is the reward seat only, does Jesus allow disciples who are ashamed of Him and His Words into heaven anyway? Because He says He will be ashamed of such disciples when He comes in His glory, and the glory of the Father and of the holy angels. Undoubtedly at the time of His second coming.

Or how about this scripture?

"And I say to you, everyone who confesses Me before men, the Son of Man will confess him also before the angels of God; but he who denies Me before men will be denied before the angels of God," Luke 12:8-9.

Plainly speaking about the return of Christ and the bema judgement. And clearly spoken to disciples. If the bema is the reward seat only then what happens to those who are ashamed of Jesus or who deny Him before men? If we are, "denied before the angels of God ("before My Father who is in heaven," according to Matt.10:33)," then does that mean we just squeeze through the door anyway? Doesn't sound like it to me. Jesus is talking about denying such people before the angels and the Father. Clearly before His judgement seat.

"If we deny Him, He also will deny us," II Tim.2:12.

It could be said that a true disciple would not deny Jesus which is true. In the long run. Simon Peter denied Jesus, but later repented of what he had done and was forgiven. But these are general warnings to all disciples and an indication of what will befall a believer who is either ashamed of Christ, or who denies Him before men. In the early church those who offered up incense to Caesar were considered to be those who denied the Lord Jesus Christ. Because by doing so they had denied His Sovereignty as the One true God, effectively acknowledging Caesar to be a god as well. Which it seems will also be the test for the last days church, when the antichrist is declared to be 'god' and all will be commanded to take his mark to acknowledge that.

If a believer denies the Lord Jesus Christ, or takes the mark of the beast, does that mean they just squeeze through the door somehow at the bema?

"They profess to know God, but by their deeds they deny Him, being detestable and disobedient and worthless (literally: 'unapproved') for any good deed," Titus 1:16.

It seems not according to the scripture.





12. God says He will judge or, 'krino,' His people. So, the idea that believers will not experience God's, 'krino,' is not supported by scripture.

"For we know Him who said vengeance is Mine, I shall repay. And the Lord shall judge His people," Heb.10:30.

The word for judge here is 'krino'. So, this New Testament scripture literally says, "The LORD shall 'krino' His people," referring in the first instance to the church. The people to whom the book of Hebrews was written. This completely contradicts people who say that believers do not experience God's 'krino' because they appear before the bema which is the reward seat rather than the judgement seat.

God says He will 'krino' or judge His people. If the bema is the reward seat only and the 'krino' judgement is solely going to happen at the Great White Throne, does that mean Christians will appear before the Great White Throne then? Obviously not, because we are told all believers are to appear before the bema of Christ. And if we are to appear before His bema, surely that means at the bema there will be some of 'His people' that will experience judgement ('krino,' as it clearly indicates in many of the Kingdom parables)?

In the context of this verse (Heb.10:26-31), the writer is talking about believers. Those who have received the knowledge of the truth but who then decide to walk in unrepentant sin. By walking in wilful and unrepentant sin, they deny the faith they profess that they have. And before God they are much more responsible for their actions than a person in the world who has never known the cleansing of the blood of Christ. To say they were never saved to begin with is not wholly accurate and certainly not fitting the context.

If we classify 'saved' as someone who is of the elect of God who will persevere to the end, then yes, under this definition they were never 'saved' to begin with. Under such a specific and narrow definition of the word 'saved.' But the Bible also speaks in terms of believers and those in the faith who may or may not be a part of the elect. We tend to assume they all are. But it is clear the Bible can talk about believers differently to how it speaks about the elect of God. And a believer shows they are a part of the elect by persevering to the end and finishing their race having kept faith and a good conscience (I Tim.1:18-19 and II Tim.4:7).

We are saved by grace, through faith. And as long as we're in the faith we're 'saved' as it were, in a temporal sense. And as long as we remain in the faith and add to our faith virtue, knowledge, self-control, perseverance, godliness, brotherly kindness and love, we will never stumble (II Pet.1:5-9). But if we are not diligent to add these qualities to our faith, we may very well stumble and possibly fall from our faith, having forgotten the purification we experienced from our former sins.

"For if we sin wilfully after we have received the knowledge of the truth, there no longer remains a sacrifice for sins, but a certain fearful expectation of judgment, and fiery indignation which will devour the adversaries," Heb.10:26-27.

The writer of Hebrews is clearly warning believers not to walk in unrepentant sin in view of the coming Day of the Lord. He's not warning those who have nearly come to the faith but have not yet been saved. This is the attempted explanation people give to try and get around these awkward verses by those who don't want to accept that a believer (not an elect believer) can fall away from the faith.

The writer is warning those who he'd just exhorted to draw near to God in full assurance of faith (v.22), to hold fast the profession of their faith without wavering (v.23), who he encouraged to consider one another to provoke each other to love and good deeds (v.24), and urged them not to forsake their assembling together as a body of believers (v.25). Such people are definitely believers. They may not be the elect. They may not realise that they are fallen from the faith or have denied Him who bought them. But they are believers. The writer then includes himself in the warning not to continue in unrepentant sin, saying,

"For if we (he says, 'we,' not, 'you') sin wilfully after we have received the knowledge of the truth, no sacrifice for sin remains," Heb.10:26.

He then talks about how people who do this have counted the blood of the covenant by which they were sanctified as an unholy thing. Not the blood of the covenant by which they might soon be sanctified. By which they were sanctified. God holds such people much more responsible for their actions, a principle we see throughout the scriptures (Luke 12:47-48, Luke 10:12, II Pet.2:21).

People who have trodden the Son of God underfoot, and who have insulted the Spirit of grace, by walking in unrepentant sin despite the riches of God's grace that had been given to them, will face the fury of God's 'krino' at the Bema of Christ. As is indicated by so many of the Kingdom parables. Unlike true believers who are in Christ by virtue of their faith and do not come into God's 'krino,' these former believers fall into the hands of the Living God who now treats them as His enemies or adversaries.

"It is a terrifying thing to fall into the hands of the Living God," Heb.10:31.






13. Jesus is going to judge ('krino') the living and the dead at His coming. He's not just going to judge ('krino') the dead only.


"I solemnly charge you in the presence of God and of Christ Jesus, who is to judge ('krino' in Greek) the living and the dead, and by His appearing and His kingdom: preach the Word. Be ready in season and out of season; reprove, rebuke, exhort, with great patience and instruction," II Tim.4:1-2.

The apostle Paul tells Timothy that Jesus Christ is going to judge, to 'krino' the living and the dead. The inference is that this will happen at His appearing and the establishing of His kingdom. Not so much 1,000 years later at the Great White Throne judgement. As with the previous point, this contradicts those who say Jesus will not 'krino' or judge His people. He certainly will.

And Paul solemnly charges Timothy to preach the Word in view of this. Because Jesus is going to 'krino' the living and the dead which includes those people in the church. And Paul directs Timothy to reprove, rebuke and to exhort as necessary in that preaching. Warning believers. Something a minister is supposed to be doing. Warning the world, but even more so, warning the church that they also must be ready to appear before Christ's judgement seat.

So, if believers are only going to get rewarded at Christ's bema and will not in any way come into 'krino,' why would Paul say these words to Timothy? Is he just referring to situations where Timothy would only be evangelising non-believers? Is this verse only meant for when reaching the lost in evangelism? The clear inference is that Paul is speaking about Timothy's ministry as a whole here. His ministry to the church and to the world.

So logically, Paul is talking about Timothy's whole ministry. To the church and to the world. That Jesus is going to judge or 'krino' both groups. And therefore, Paul was solemnly charging Timothy his young disciple to preach every aspect of the Word to both groups. Not just focusing on the nice or positive bits of the gospel that made people feel good about themselves.

And who are the living and the dead spoken of here? Are the living those who are currently alive physically, and the dead those who have physically died? Is the scripture saying that Jesus will judge both those who are alive at His coming and also those who have fallen asleep in death also? Or are the living those who have been made spiritually alive in Christ, and the dead those who are still dead in their trespasses and sins? Personally speaking, I would say the term refers to both groups. Like so much of the scriptures, it applies both physically and spiritually. Jesus will 'krino' the physically alive and the physically dead. But He will also 'krino' the spiritually alive and the spiritually dead. God has committed all judgement ('krino') to the Son (John 5:22). And the scripture says, "The Lord will judge ('krino') His people," Heb.10:30.





14. Jude says that Jesus is specifically coming to remove the false believers from the true ones. Not just to reward us or to take us all up to heaven.

In the book of Jude, the writer talks about contending earnestly for the faith that was once for all handed down to us. And he then goes on to speak of one of the main dangers to the integrity of the gospel being the false brethren that had sneaked into the church unawares, who turn the grace of God into licentiousness and deny our only Sovereign and Lord Jesus Christ. Men who were in the church, seemingly accepted as believers. But they are not. Like the tares that look like the wheat from the outside, so these men look and act like believers from the outside, but inside are poisonous, taking part in the church's love feasts but feeding only themselves.

After talking much about the danger posed by these false brethren, the tares or the goats within God's flock, the writer then quotes from the book of Enoch.

"Enoch, the seventh from Adam, prophesied about these men: 'See, the Lord is coming with thousands upon thousands of His holy ones to judge everyone, and to convict all the ungodly of all the ungodly acts they have done in the ungodly way, and of all the harsh words ungodly sinners have spoken against Him," Jude 14-15.

Enoch prophesied about Christ's return in judgement as specifically relating to, "These men."

"Enoch, the seventh from Adam, prophesied about these men," Jude 14.

Which men is Jude referring to? All the false brethren he'd just been talking about. Those who had snuck into the church unawares and were turning the concept of God's grace into lewdness and a licence to sin, and who were denying the lordship of Jesus Christ.

Enoch is talking about the return of the Lord Jesus Christ to the earth, His second coming. And he specifically links this event with the judgement and removal of these false brethren from the church. He's not talking primarily about the judgement of the world. That's almost an afterthought. A secondary issue. He's talking specifically about Jesus returning in power and glory in order to root out these tares from His field of wheat. The goats from His flock of sheep. The bad fish who are mixed with the good fish in the net of the Kingdom of God.

Clearly this is talking about what will happen at Christ's bema. That when He comes, there will specifically be a separation between the false brethren from the true within the church, the household of God. Not just rewards only given out to those who appear before the bema.





15. James, the brother of Jesus says specifically that all believers are to be judged ('krino') at the Great Judgement. But this is different to the concept of 'coming into' that judgement.

"So speak and so do as those who will be judged ('krino') by the law of liberty. For judgement ('krisis') without mercy will be given to him who has shown no mercy," Jam.2:12-13.

If believers aren't subject to God's 'krino' judgement, then why does James say that we are? I agree that true believers will not 'come into' God's 'krino' or judgement in the sense of being condemned in that judgement. Jesus said those who hear His Word and believe on Him who sent Him will not come into judgement ('krino'), John 5:24. But they will still experience the judgement ('krino' and 'krisis'). It's like somebody who appears in a court but are found not guilty. They experience the judgement, but they do not come into the judgement. They don't get condemned and sentenced by the judge.

It is incorrect to say believers will not experience God's judgement ('krino'). All of us will experience the judgement ('krino' and 'krisis') of God (II Cor.5:10). The eternal judgement before Christ's bema. And we will all have to give account for our lives there. And the evidence for our faith will be demanded as proof that it exists. That we have a faith that is alive. Because only a faith that is alive will produce good works. This is the evidence Jesus will be looking for at His bema. But only those who don't have such evidence from their lives will actually come into this judgement.

As the person found guilty in the courtroom, they will experience the judgement of God and then come into that judgement by being found guilty and being sentenced by the Judge who is Jesus Christ. Coming into the judgement of God is different from experiencing the judgement of God. We will all experience the judgement of God. But only those found to be faithless and fruitless will come into God's fearsome judgement.

James refers to us being judged by the law of liberty. This is a whole different area which most people these days seem to be unaware of. Though in Christ Jesus we are free of the Mosaic Law and the letter of the Law, we are not free from law completely. No, once we become a disciple of Jesus, we are freed from the letter of the Law but now serve in the new way of the Spirit. According to what is known as the Law of the Spirit (Rom.8:2). Which is also referred to in scripture as the Law of Christ (Gal.6:2 and I Cor.9:21), the Royal Law (Jam.2:8), the Law of liberty (Jam.2:12) and the Law of faith (Rom.3:27).

As believers we are obligated to walk in the way of the Spirit, which is to walk in love toward God and toward one another. It is the law of liberty because we are now liberated from walking according to external laws. Instead of obeying external laws, God, the King, now writes His Royal Law upon the tablets of our human hearts. Written upon our hearts by His Holy Spirit (which is why it is called the Law of the Spirit). Effectively it is the law of love poured out into our hearts by the Holy Spirit (Rom.5:5) and is articulated in the two greatest commandments Jesus ever gave us. To love the Lord our God with all our heart, all our soul, all our mind and all our strength (Matt.22:37). And to love our neighbour as ourselves (Matt.22:39).

All believers are in effect under this law. This spiritual law. And will be judged according to how we kept this law spiritually, at the bema seat of Christ. According to how we kept up to the obligation that God's love puts us under. The obligation of God's love in our hearts.

Did we love the Lord our God with all of our hearts? If we did, the evidence from our lives will show it. We will have lived our lives carefully, walking humbly before our God, looking for ways in which to please Him. And did we love our neighbour as ourselves? If we did, our actions in this life will bear this out. We put others before ourselves by what we did. And we repented if ever we fell short of this high standard.

At the bema of Christ, it won't just be our deeds which are assessed, but our motives behind the deeds. What was the spirit behind each good work we did? Was it to impress others, to gain things for ourselves? Or did we do them because we loved God?

"Therefore do not go on judging anything before the time, but wait until the Lord comes who will bring to light the things hidden in the darkness and disclose the motives of men's hearts; and then each man's praise will come to him from God," I Cor.4:5.

This is talking about the judgement of believers before Christ's bema. The people of this world will not receive praise from God at the judgement. Only believers who have walked in love will do so. Those who have walked by the Spirit and who have therefore fulfilled the Law of the Spirit. Such people will receive a rich welcome into the Kingdom.

If we are under a law, the law of the Spirit, not the Law of Moses, it follows that it will be necessary to be judged or assessed as to whether we kept this law or not. Which is what James is talking about. That we should speak and act as those who are going to be judged or assessed before God according to the standard of the law of liberty. The law of the Spirit. Whether we walked in love toward God and toward our fellow man. Or whether we did good deeds because of other motivations such as impressing others, deceiving people or trying to obtain things? The true children of God will walk in His love, but the false believers won't.

This principle is shown most clearly in the parable of the sheep and the goats. The sheep walked according to the love of God. They fed the hungry and gave drink to the thirsty. They welcomed the strangers and they clothed the naked. They visited the sick and those who were in prison. They showed love and mercy to their fellow brethren. And therefore, they receive mercy at the judgement. The goats did not show such mercy. So, judgement will be merciless upon them. Exactly as James says it will. At the bema of Christ.





16. James also says that we, his brethren should not complain or groan against each other so that we don't come under condemnation. Why would he say such a thing if the bema seat is the reward seat only?

"Do not grumble against one another, brethren, lest you be condemned. Behold, the Judge is standing at the door!" James 5:9.

James is speaking to church people. His own brethren. And he warns them not to complain (literally 'groan') against one another lest they be condemned. The word translated as, 'condemned,' here is the Greek word, 'katakrino,' which means to judge against, to sentence, to condemn. In other words, to come under God's Divine judgement or condemnation. But how can this be if the bema is the reward seat only? Where will this condemnation occur if we are guilty of this particular sin in our lives?

People may say that the word translated as, "condemned," here is a bit too strong, and should actually be translated as, "judged," as this is how most Bibles seem to translate the word. But the word, 'judged,' is, 'krino,' in the Greek, not, 'katakrino,' which is more than judged. It literally means to have already passed sentence upon, to condemn. This word is used 19 times in the New Testament, and every time it occurs it is directly and obviously meaning, 'condemned,' and not just, 'judged.' For example, in the gospel of Mark:
"He who believes and is baptized will be saved; but he who does not believe will be condemned ('katakrino')," Mark 16:16.

So, the word seems accurately translated as condemned in the New King James Bible. Some may then try and say that this judgement or condemnation is something that will happen in this life rather than at the bema. Perhaps by us coming under God's judgement of weakness, sickness or even death, as had been experienced by the church at Corinth (I Cor.11:29-31)? But James seems to place this judgement or condemnation squarely at the bema of Christ as he immediately then ties what he is saying to the phrase,

"Behold, the Judge is standing at the doors," James 5:9.

This is clearly a reference to the second coming of Jesus Christ. Jesus Himself used exactly the same phrase when describing the imminency of His glorious coming in His great end-times sermon given to His disciples on the Mount of Olives (Matt.24:33). And we are warned that the Judge is standing at the doors. Not the Saviour or the Master, but the Judge.

Of course, Jesus is the Saviour and the Master of His true sheep. And He is coming as Saviour and Master for His true sheep. But first He is coming as the Judge in order to separate His true sheep from the false. And this is what James is warning us about. The Judge is at the doors. He's coming to judge His people and a great separation is going to take place first. Be ready for it. Be serious about your Christian walk. Live humbly before God and live in the Light at all times. And be aware that groaning or complaining against one other could result in our condemnation at the bema, if we should choose to walk in such a sin.

So, James is warning us to be careful not to get so relaxed in our Christian walk that we allow ourselves to practice what some might consider to be relatively unimportant or 'small sins.' Instead, we are to maintain a soft heart and to be careful to keep a clear conscience before God at all times. To keep short accounts with Him and to be quick to repent of all such sins, because the Judge is standing at the doors. And He's coming to sit on His judgement seat, not His reward seat. He will greatly reward His true servants that is true. But only once the false servants have been removed from His presence first.





17. Psalm 50 talks about God judging His people when He returns to the earth. It doesn't just talk about Him rewarding His people only.

"The Mighty One, God the LORD, has spoken and called the earth from the rising of the sun to it's going down. Out of Zion, the perfection of beauty, God will shine forth. Our God shall come, and shall not keep silent; a fire shall devour before Him, and it shall be very tempestuous all around Him. He shall call to the heavens above, and to the earth, that He may judge His people: 'Gather My saints together to Me, those who have made a covenant with Me by sacrifice.' Let the heavens declare His righteousness, for God Himself is Judge. Selah," Psalm 50:1-6.

This psalm is talking about a time when God will come to this earth, gathering His saints together to Himself in order that He may judge His people. Effectively an Old Testament snapshot of the second coming of Christ. It says that God is coming to judge His people. And there will be a difference in how He treats each one.

For some He will shine His glory, the perfection of beauty through them (v.2). He will deliver and save them and they will glorify Him (v.15). He will show them His salvation (v.23). But to others He will testify against them and reprove them for declaring His statutes but not actually walking in them (v.7). Of speaking about God's covenant but not actually obeying it (v.16-21).

So, it's not talking about the people of this world who don't give God's covenant and statutes a second's thought. It's talking about those people who act like they're disciples of His, but are not in practice. People who knew God to some degree, but who then forget about Him. It's speaking about those who consider themselves to be His people, but they are not in reality.

Such people talk about God and His commandments, but in reality, they hate His instruction and cast His words behind them (v.17). They consort with thieves and with adulterers (v.18). They give their tongue to lies, evil and slander, even against their own brothers (v.19-20). They forget God, imagining Him to be just like themselves (v.21). But God says He will tear them to pieces and there will be none to deliver them if they do not change their behaviour and order their conduct in a way that brings glory to Him (v.22-23). So, some of His people will be saved and glorified, at His coming. Whereas others He will reprove and even tear into pieces. How does this fit with the idea that when Jesus comes, He'll just be welcoming all His people into heaven and handing out rewards at His bema seat?





18. Ezekiel pictures a time when God will gather His own flock together in order to judge them, removing the fat and strong sheep from the lost, scattered and sick sheep. Making a separation between His flock, not so much between His flock and the people of the world.

Ezekiel 34:11-31 is talking about God's people in terms of them being, "His flock" (v.15). Some may say it's only talking about national Israel as it says, "Prophesy against the shepherds of Israel," Ez.34:2. But is not the church grafted into Israel and a part of the Israel of God today? Not physically, but spiritually. Jewish in the heart, and not just according to the flesh (Rom.2:28-29).

The scripture speaks in a number of places about national Israel being a template or type of the church. So, it is reasonable to view this passage of scripture as both talking about national Israel and the church. Especially given its emphasis on God's judgement being brought to bear when He sets one shepherd, His servant David, over His flock. Clearly talking about the Lord Jesus Christ our Good Shepherd and the Son of David, at the time when He comes again to rule over His people. Not just over the Jews but over the Gentiles also. So, it would be problematic to attribute this scripture solely to God's dealings with the nation of Israel and not to the church. Jesus as the Son of David is coming to rule over all His people, both Jew and Gentile. Not just over the Jewish nation.

So, it clearly seems to be speaking prophetically and referring to the second coming of Christ and the 'rapture' when God Himself gathers in His flock to the mountains of Israel, and, "My servant David," (speaking prophetically about Jesus Christ) will be Prince and Shepherd among them. And it describes a judgement at that time between the sheep and the goats, between the lost, the scattered, the sick and the broken sheep, and the fat and the strong ones who oppress them.

"I will seek the lost, bring back the scattered, bind up the broken and strengthen the sick; but the fat and the strong I will destroy. I will feed them with judgement," Ez.34:16.

God warns the fat and strong sheep that because they tread down the good pastures (spiritual food) and foul the clear waters (spiritual drink) with their feet, leaving muddied and dirty water for the rest of the sheep to drink, He will judge between the fat sheep and the lean sheep.

Effectively these fat and strong sheep are those who are strong in themselves, who then use positions of power or influence they have attained to in the church, in order to trample the good pastures of God's Word. And they do this by either pressurising the pastors and teachers to only preach nice, non-challenging messages, or by preaching another gospel themselves, or making the true message of no effect to those who listen. Perhaps saying it applies to other people and not to us? Or only focusing on the 'nice' scriptures whilst ignoring the challenging or difficult ones? Preaching error or twisting the Word of God in order to tickle people's ears, but not feeding the flock the true manna from heaven.

And they muddy the clear waters of God's Word by introducing human philosophies, wisdom and psychology to it, resulting in a diluted mix that benefits nobody. The apostle Paul said that preaching the Word according to human wisdom, and mixed that earthly wisdom into the message, effectively rendered the gospel message ineffective and powerless (I Cor.1:17). And God says He won't just judge those that do such things by allowing them through the door into heaven without any reward. As through the flames. No, God says He is going to destroy them for what they are doing to His Word and to His people. At the bema judgement when He comes to rule over His people.

"As for My flock, they must eat what you tread down with your feet and drink what you foul with your feet. Therefore, thus says the Lord God to them, 'Behold, I, even I, will judge between the fat sheep and the lean sheep. Because you push with side and with shoulder, and thrust at all the weak with your horns until you have scattered them abroad, therefore I will deliver My flock, and they will no longer be a prey; and I will judge between one sheep and another. Then I will set over them one shepherd David, and he will feed them; he will feed them himself and be their shepherd," Ez.34:19-23.

Very similar to the parable of the sheep and the goats. If the bema is the reward seat only, who are these fat and strong sheep who are being judged at the time of Jesus's return? When God brings His people back to Israel? They are not the people of the world because they are in, "His flock," (v.15), and yet are not really of His true flock (v.19). Exactly like the tares and the bad fish that are around the wheat or in the dragnet of the Kingdom. They are around the people of God and look the same as them, but they are actually not His true sheep. They are in the kingdom but not of the true kingdom. And as in the case of the wheat and the tares or the parable of the dragnet, the two parties are separated at the coming of Christ. At His bema seat.

The wicked are removed from among the righteous. Not the wicked who are far away from the righteous. They are not the people of the world. They are those in the church who feed on the good pastures and drink the clear waters (v.18) but then tread down the pastures and muddy the waters by twisting the Word and dumbing it down so that the other sheep cannot feed upon it or drink from it. Instead of loving their fellow believers, they push them aside so that they can prioritise themselves. So much like the ungodly men within the church written about in the book of Jude, who act like genuine believers but are actually hidden reefs who care only for themselves.

"Who are hidden reefs in your love feasts when they feast with you without fear, caring for themselves," Jude 12.

Personally, I have had the misfortune to meet quite a number of men in the church who accurately fit this description. Who are quite prepared to hurt and abuse others in God's house in order to protect their own positions of power in the church. Who think nothing of destroying a fellow believer's life as long as they are protected and their money, power or hidden corruption is left untouched. Yet they present themselves as caring pastors, elders or leaders in God's house. Such men are in the church but they are not His elect sheep. More often than not they are imposters who have deceived themselves that they are saved. But instead, they will be first in line to feel the full force of God's wrath at the bema, when Christ's righteous judgement is revealed.

The scripture states that God will judge His people, not just immediately welcome them all into heaven without any accounting or assessment of who they really are, or of how they lived their lives. No, He will separate the true from the false at the bema, and only the truly righteous, who are found at that time to be in Christ, will be welcomed into the Kingdom of heaven. The rest will be cast aside as the dross which is rejected and thrown away.





19. The prophet Zephaniah speaks about God's judgement upon His people at His return, when He separates the proud from the humble. Not just a coming in which He rewards all His people.

The book of Zephaniah talks about God's judgement upon His people Judah and Jerusalem, at His return. Again, it could be said that this is only referring to national Israel. But national Israel in the Old Testament is often speaking prophetically about the church as well as the nation state, especially when it has an end times flavour. Which is exactly the context of these verses in the book of Zephaniah.

Israel is often a picture of the congregation of God, the church (I Cor.10:1-11). And throughout the book of Zephaniah God is speaking about judging His people at the time of His great coming. How He will cut off,

"Those who have turned back from following the LORD, and those who have not sought the LORD or inquired of Him," Zeph.1:6,

and He will,

"Punish the princes, the king's sons and all who clothe themselves with foreign garments (rather than clothing themselves with Christ)....who fill the house of their Lord with violence and deceit," Zeph.1:8-10.

Not those who fill the world with violence and deceit, but who fill the house of their Lord with violence and deceit. It's talking about church people, those who are in and around the household of God. At that time, He will search Jerusalem with lamps,

"And I will punish the men who are stagnant in spirit, who say in their hearts, 'The LORD will not do good or evil (presuming to say what the Lord will do in disregard to what He says He will do in His Word)," Zeph.1:12.

God says,

"In that day you will feel no shame because of all your deeds by which you have rebelled against Me; for then I will remove from your midst your proud, exulting ones, and you will never again be haughty on My holy mountain. But I will leave among you a humble and lowly people, and they will take refuge in the Name of the LORD. The remnant of Israel will do no wrong," Zeph.3:11-13.

The proud and exulting ones from among us will be removed from us. Not so much the proud people of the world, but the proud and arrogant people in God's house, the church. The church will be cleaned out so that only the humble and lowly of heart remain. How does all of this fit into a scenario where the bema is the reward seat only? As a book, it's clearly talking about a separation between the proud and the humble amongst God's people on the Day of the Lord and at the return of Christ.





20. Isaiah speaks about God judging between His people at His return. Not just rewarding them all.

Isaiah chapters 3:13 to 4:6 is talking about God judging between His people at His return. He talks about afflicting the daughters of Zion who are proud and behave seductively. Whilst it could be talking about natural Israelites, it's highly likely to be speaking prophetically about the church also. The church is of Israel, grafted into the vine.

"For whatever was written in earlier times was written for our instruction," Rom.15:4.

Whatever was written was for our instruction. Not just some of what was written. The prophet Isaiah says,

"In that day the Branch of the LORD (Christ) will be beautiful and glorious, and the fruit of the earth will be the pride and the adornment of the survivors of Israel," Is.4:2.

The fruit of the earth is the harvest of fruit from true believer's lives which will be revealed and rewarded at Christ's bema. This will be the pride and adornment of the survivors of Israel, of those who make it through the bema judgement and are found to be in Christ at His return. In verse 3 He talks about, "he who is left in Zion and remains in Jerusalem," which is speaking about the sheep, the wise virgins, the wheat and the good fish who remain, once the goats, the foolish virgins, the tares and the bad fish are removed from their midst.

"When the Lord has washed away the filth of the daughters of Zion and rinsed away the bloodshed of Jerusalem from her midst, by the spirit of judgement and the spirit of burning, then the LORD will create over the whole area of Mount Zion and over her assemblies a cloud by day, even smoke, and the brightness of a flaming fire by night; for over all the glory will be a canopy," Is.4:4-5.

God will judge His people at His coming and will wash away the filth from the daughters of Zion and from Jerusalem. In Christ we are citizens of the heavenly Jerusalem. None of this fits with the idea that the bema seat is the reward seat only, and that there will be no separation there between the true disciples and the false at the return of Jesus. The tares, the chaff, the goats and the wicked, lazy servants are the filth which Jesus is going to remove from His people at that time. Brutal words, yet Jesus is coming for a holy bride who has made herself ready, not for one that couldn't be bothered and who preferred to walk in the darkness instead.





21. The prophet Malachi speaks about the Messiah coming to His temple, and sitting as a smelter and purifier of silver, asking who can stand at His appearing? Surely a picture of Christ sitting at His bema to judge His people and not just to reward them?

Malachi 3 verses 1 to 5 speak about the Lord suddenly coming to His temple (the church is the temple of God today). This is speaking about the return of the Messiah, Jesus, when He suddenly comes to His temple, to His people, gathering them together to appear before His bema. But the prophet then poses the question,

"But who can endure the day of His coming? And who can stand when He appears? For He is like a refiner's fire and like fuller's soap. He will sit as a smelter and purifier of silver, and He will purify the sons of Levi and refine them like gold and silver, so that they may present to the LORD offerings of righteousness," Mal.3:2-3.

Does this sound like the reward seat only analogy of the bema seat? The sheep, the wise virgins, the faithful servants, the wheat, the good fish and the good guests in the wedding hall will all be able to stand because they will be found to be in Christ at His coming. They do not come into God's judgement because Christ has been judged in their place and they are found to be in Christ. But the goats, the foolish virgins, the unfaithful servants, the tares, the bad fish and the bad guests in the wedding hall will not be able to stand in the judgement, because they have abandoned or fallen from the faith. Or perhaps were never in the faith properly at all? Which is why Jesus told us to pray like this,

"But keep on the alert at all times, praying that you may have strength to escape all these things that are about to take place, and to stand before the Son of Man," Luke 21:36,

and to be careful to abide in Him at all times:

"Now, little children, abide in Him, so that when He appears, we may have confidence and not shrink away from Him in shame at His coming," I John 2:28.





22. Judgement begins first at the household of God. So, before God judges the world, He will judge between His people. At Christ's bema.


The apostle Peter says,

"For it is time for judgement (Greek-'krima') to begin with the household of God; and if it begins with us first, what will be the outcome for those who do not obey the gospel of God? And if it is with difficulty that the righteous is saved, what will be the outcome of the godless man and the sinner?" I Peter 4:17-18.

Judgement begins with the household of God. Which is a principle we see throughout the scriptures. Remember Nadab and Abihu who offered strange fire before God and were consumed? God said,

"By those who come near Me I will be treated as holy, and before all the people I will be honoured," Lev.10:3.

The church does not somehow escape the judgement. We are subject to God's judgement as much as anyone else is. In fact, judgement begins at the household of God. It will start with us. Only after we have gone through the judgement will those in the world have to go through it too. Just those found to be in Christ at that judgement, will not come into that judgement. They will be declared righteous before God, because they are found to be in Christ. But that process of finding out whether we are in Christ or not, must first take place in the form of giving account for the lives we have lived at the judgement seat of Christ. And seeing whether the evidence that is presented, the deeds we did in this life, will match up with what we say or with what we believe. Or perhaps whether they match up with what we thought that we believed? But those of His people who are not found to be in Christ at that time, will most definitely come into that judgement. And it will be a terrifying thing to fall into.

The scripture says it is hard for the righteous to be saved, not easy. Most people these days seem to think that once they've prayed a prayer to get saved and had some sort of religious experience, they're through the door. They've got their golden ticket. They're guaranteed to go to heaven. But that's not what the Bible teaches. It says that it is with difficulty that the righteous person is saved. Because when we stand before Christ's judgement seat our whole life will be brought into the light. And it's quite likely that there may well be things in our lives that have not been dealt with but have been pushed into the dark recesses of our minds and covered up rather than being confessed, renounced and forgiven. Things that will be exposed when the true light begins to shine into our souls and the things hidden will be revealed and even shouted from the rooftops.

"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.

When or where do we think that this uncovering or revealing will occur if we're all just raptured up into heaven?

Many of us have a very lax and blasé attitude to our sin, thinking that God really doesn't mind that much and that He'll definitely let us through the door because, after all, we'll be raptured straight into heaven won't we? So, once we're there, it doesn't really matter what happens at the judgement because at least we're in the door. But that's not how it is going to happen. This is a modern church mindset that is completely at odds with our Holy God, the Judge of all men. And completely at odds with what His Word actually teaches us.

No-one gets access to heaven before appearing before God's judgement seat first. God is a righteous Judge. And no righteous judge would give a reward to someone before judging that they are worthy of that reward first. If we are found to have spots and stains of wilful sin on our garments, we will not make it into heaven. Perhaps if we were ignorant of what we were doing it is another matter. But spots and stains of wilful sin will testify against us at the judgement if that's how we are found at that time. Walking in wilful and unrepentant sin. Only those who have clothed themselves with Christ as a daily practice will make it. Only those who live a repentant life and continue in that vein until the end will make it.

We all sin. None of us are perfect. We all have times when we walk according to the flesh rather than by the Spirit. But what do we do when we come to our senses and think about or realise what we've just done? Do we plan or facilitate doing it again? Do we 'repent' but make no provision to stand against it the next time we are tempted? Or do we repent and make provision to stand against our sin the next time such a temptation comes along? Do we put a guard over our mouths or over our eyes? Is our head covered by the helmet of salvation? Do we make use of internet filters and make sure we cannot bypass them? Do we make ourselves accountable to others? Do we walk in the light or in the darkness? True repentance is walking in the light, or coming into the light if we realise we have started walking in the darkness without realising it (John 3:21).

It is with difficulty that the righteous person is saved. Because faith has to be maintained and walked in every day of our lives. And there are many opportunities to stumble in our faith, to fall in our faith or even just to drift away from it over time. It is hard to maintain a faith walk with the Lord when passing through an evil world that hates God and all that He stands for. Which is why the reward God offers to those who endure to the end and overcome is so great.

Of course, there are different levels of responsibility and different reasons why we commit sin. Even human judges have realised this and incorporated different levels of crime with different levels of corresponding judgement that follows. In America they have murder in the first degree which is premeditated, wilful and planned. Then there is murder in the second degree which typically will be a murder committed in the course of carrying out another crime such as a robbery. There was no previous wilful, pre-meditated intent to kill. But the person was prepared to kill, if need be, in the course of carrying out their other crime. Very serious, but not quite as serious as murder in the first degree.

And then there is the catch-all, murder in the third degree which covers crimes characterised by recklessness or inattention. So, typically a crime of passion, in which an argument ends with one person being killed. Or a killing in which the perpetrator was being careless, as in vehicular homicide. They didn't intend to kill, but made it likely to happen through their irresponsible and reckless actions. Again, a serious crime has been committed, but there is less responsibility upon the perpetrator than if it were murder in the second degree or in the first degree.

A baby Christian is a lot less responsible than a more mature believer for example. And, the more light that we have received, the more responsible we are before God to walk in that light from now on. Some sins are committed in ignorance. And some are committed as a 'crime of passion,' where there was no previous intent. Yet the circumstances we found ourselves in caused us to stumble unintentionally.

But the intentional sins that we plan for and purposefully walk in are the most dangerous. Because they are the wilful sins that reveal a certain hardness in our hearts towards God and towards others. And these are the sins that will eventually lead us to the place where the sacrifice of Christ on Calvary, or any other sacrifice we might want to try and offer for our sins will be nullified or of no effect in our lives. If we continue to walk in them without genuine repentance. No sacrifice for sins will remain anymore. Just the expectation of a fiery judgement which will come one day. Because we are trampling the Son of God under our feet, we are counting the precious and holy blood of the covenant that sanctified us as a common thing, and we are effectively insulting the Spirit of grace (Heb.10:26-31). And our God will not be mocked (Gal.6:7).

The church are God's called out ones. We are the ones He has called out from this world in order to display His beauty, glory, splendour and holiness through. And He will show Himself holy through His people at His appearing. To those who are ready for Him, it will be the greatest day imaginable. God will shine forth His glory and goodness through them. We cannot even begin to imagine how great and how wonderful that will be for those who have got themselves ready and who therefore share in God's glory on that Day.

But for those who don't get themselves ready, it will be the worst. To be found to be a sinner before a holy God will be a most terrible thing. But to be found a sinner when you are supposed to be a child of the Light will be so much worse. That sense of shame and terror will be amplified immeasurably if we are supposed to be a child of God, a son or daughter of Zion, but are actually found to be a foreigner or a Canaanite in God's house instead.

"Moreover, the Lord said, 'Because the daughters of Zion are haughty and walk with heads held high and seductive eyes, and go along with mincing steps and jingle the anklets on their feet, the Lord will afflict the scalp of the daughters of Zion with scabs, and the Lord will make their foreheads bare,'" Is.3:16-17.

They are daughters of Zion in one sense, yet they are not the true daughters of Zion. Because they do not have the God of Zion in their hearts. They are full of their own pride and seduction. So, God is going to remove them from Zion. From His people. Something that will happen at the bema of Christ.

"Sinners in Zion are terrified; trembling has seized the godless. 'Who among us can live with the consuming fire? Who among us can live with everlasting burning?'" Is.33:14.

Sinners in Zion are terrified. It doesn't say that the sinners in the world will be terrified, although I'm sure they will be. But the scripture points out that the sinners that are in Zion are terrified. And rightly so. Those who dwell in Zion and consider themselves to be children of Zion, but they are not. But this is only discovered and revealed once the true Light of Christ starts shining at His coming, when He sits upon His judgement seat and judges His people. It's not going to happen if the church is just taken straight into heaven via a secret rapture. Who would then be saying, "Who among us can live with the consuming fire? Who among us can live with everlasting burning?" if they weren't seeing it right in front of them, and anticipating being thrown into it? Sinners in Zion will be rightly terrified on that day. For it will be the most dreadful day they could ever think to imagine. Beyond comprehension.

The prophet Isaiah is talking about the time of the end, when God arises in glory and judgement to be exalted in the earth. The first thing He is going to do is to clear His threshing floor. To deal with His people. Shining His glory and holiness through those who have got ready for His coming, whilst dealing severely with those who have not. Gathering His wheat into His barn, but burning up the chaff with unquenchable fire. As John the Baptist declared to the Jews:

"His winnowing fan is in His hand, and He will thoroughly clean out His threshing floor, and gather the wheat into His barn; but the chaff He will burn with unquenchable fire," Luke 3:17.

We usually read this verse as if the wheat represents all believers, whilst the chaff represents the people of this world. And of course, instinctively putting ourselves in the category of being a part of God's wheat. But that's not the context of John the Baptist's message nor the imagery he used.

The context was the wheat and the chaff that were to be found at God's threshing floor. The separating of the wheat and the chaff amongst His people. And the threshing floor is not the world. The threshing floor speaks of God's own place of separation. The place where He brings in His harvest. The place He brings His crop, His harvest, His people, in order to separate the true from the false, the wheat from the chaff.

The threshing floor was not His barn. It was the place the harvest was taken to first before it was to be stored in His barn. The Master's barn speaks of heaven or the kingdom of God. The threshing floor however speaks of Christ's judgement seat. His bema. Something that comes before His harvest is brought into His barn. And nothing would be brought into the Master's barn unless it had been through His threshing floor first.

The chaff was not some separate entity completely separate from the wheat. As if the chaff represented the world and the wheat represented the church in John the Baptist's preaching. No, John the Baptist was directing his preaching to God's people at the time. And certainly, it applies to God's people the church today.

The chaff was the outer husks or shell of the grain that needed to be separated from the grain. It was a part of the grain. Attached to the grain. Just it had no nutritional value whatsoever. And it had to be separated from the grain in order for the grain to be useful for grinding and baking into bread. The grain could not be used until the chaff surrounding it was removed first. And this was done by spreading the harvest out on the threshing floor and having animals trample it. This separated the dry outer shell from the valuable grain underneath. Then the farmer would take his winnowing fork and toss it all into the air. The heavy grains would fall to the floor whereas the lighter chaff would be blown away in the wind. The wheat and the chaff would be separated.

And so, when Jesus comes back, He's not coming to take His harvest straight into heaven via a secret rapture. No farmer in his right mind would bring his harvest straight into his barn. No, His harvest must first be brought into His threshing floor in order for it to be threshed properly. Then, and only then, once the chaff has been removed, would the grain be brought into his barn.

John the Baptist was warning God's people the Jews at the time. And he specifically pictures Jesus as coming with a winnowing fan in His hand, ready to thoroughly clean out His threshing floor. So, not a partial clean out but a complete threshing or judgement. His threshing floor speaks of the judgement and separation between His people. Possibly the Jews but certainly the church. Jesus is not coming like Father Christmas with sack-loads of presents or rewards for His people. As if the bema is the reward seat only. No, He's coming with a winnowing fork in order to thoroughly clean out His threshing floor. To remove the tares, the foolish virgins, the evil and lazy servants, the goats, the chaff from His threshing floor.

A complete purging that leaves none behind. In order that He might bring the wheat only into His barn. No chaff is allowed there. Only His wheat. Wheat that He planted, He watered, He cultivated and that He caused to grow and become fruitful. Some 30-fold, some 60-fold and some 100-fold. His field of wheat that He has prepared and will harvest at the end of the age. To be brought into His barn once Jesus makes sure the chaff has been removed from it first. At His bema seat.

Only those who are fruitful and useful to the Master will be allowed into His barn. The tares must first be removed so that He can dwell amongst a people who are pure and holy like He is. A holy and sanctified people through whom He can shine forth His glory, to the praise of His excellent Name.

"In that day there shall no longer be a Canaanite in the house of the LORD of hosts," Zech.14:21.

God wants His household to be full of true Israelites in whom there is no guile or deceit. Full of true sons and daughters of Zion. Not to contain Canaanites who think that they are Israelites. Or who pretend to be Israelites. Canaanites were people who occupied the Promised Land but were not supposed to be there. They were a corrupt and perverse people. And God told the Israelites to totally eradicate them from the land. He wants His household to be pure. To be full of men and women who walk holy as He is holy. Those who are blameless in their ways, who allow God's glory and goodness to shine through them with no shadow or spot of sin to defile its radiance.

"The Son of Man will send out His angels, and they will gather out of His kingdom all things that offend, and those who practice lawlessness, and will cast them into the furnace of fire. There will be wailing and gnashing of teeth. Then the righteous will shine forth as the sun in the kingdom of their Father. He who has ears to hear, let him hear!" Matt.13:41-43.

The righteous will only shine forth as the sun in the kingdom of their Father, once all those that offend or who practice lawlessness are removed first. This is why the bema seat of Christ is so important. It is the crucial time when God's cleans out His house for good and the only ones left in it are those who have proved themselves faithful in this life. A people He can entrust His kingdom to. Those who have been faithful in the little so that they can also be entrusted with the much. And this faithfulness has been tested and proven at Christ's bema.

"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. Therefore if you have not been faithful in the unrighteous mammon, who will commit to your trust the true riches?" Luke 16:10-11.

And they won't shine forth with their own light. As if they had earned it with their own strength. No, they will shine forth with the glory of their Father because He will dwell amongst them and reveal the fullness of His greatness, beauty and holiness through them. Something He has desired to do before the beginning of time. Something that He has been working towards for millenniums. Something His whole plan of salvation was designed to achieve. That He might show forth and reveal the fullness of His glorious and Holy person through us in the person of Jesus Christ. That we might be to the praise of His glory (Eph.1:12). The highest calling a man could ever have. The greatest experience he will ever have or could have. To be a vessel of God's glory. The vehicle which He reveals Himself in and through.

In finishing this look at the bema seat, and whether it is a reward seat or indeed a judgement seat, I think I need to reiterate the point again that genuine believers in Jesus Christ will not come into God's judgement. They will appear before Him for judgement, but not come into that judgement. There is a difference. A big difference.

By saying Jesus is going to separate the true disciples from the false at His bema in no way infers that true believers will come into God's judgement. They don't. I fully agree with John 5:24 which says that God's believers will not come into judgement ('krino'). There is a difference between being judged and found upright, and being judged and found guilty and therefore coming into that judgement.

The sheep, the wise virgins, the faithful servants, the wheat, the good fish, the good guests in the wedding hall are all judged before God's throne. But they do not come into God's judgement. They all appear before His judgement seat as the scripture says. In a sense they are judged and found to be upright in God's sight because they are found to be in Christ. But they personally don't come into judgement. They are not on trial for their sins. There is no penalty they incur.

They are found clothed with Christ and are judged according to whether they should receive any reward or not. They have built their lives upon the foundation stone which is Christ (I Cor.3:11). But the goats, the foolish virgins, the unfaithful servants, the chaff, the bad fish, the bad guests in the wedding hall do come into God's judgement. They thought they were OK and assumed that they were saved. But when God's Light shines upon them they are found to be unprepared. They are not found to be in Christ though they thought they were. They either never had the foundation of Christ in their lives, or they abandoned or fell from their secure position (II Peter 3:17).

And this judgement of God's people will all happen at the same time. At the bema at the return of Christ. The world will be judged later on at the Great White Throne judgement. I'm assuming this will also be the time those who live during the 1,000 year millennial reign of Christ upon the earth are judged too. Many of them will rebel against Christ but no doubt some will trust in Him and have their names written in the Book of Life. Which is presumably why the Book of Life is referred to at the Great White Throne judgement in Rev.20:15?

"Then I saw a great white throne and Him who 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, standing before God, and books were opened. And another book was opened, which is the Book of Life. And the dead were judged according to their works, by the things which were written in the books. The sea gave up the dead who were in it, and Death and Hades delivered up the dead who were in them. And they were judged, each one according to his works. Then Death and Hades were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death. And anyone not found written in the Book of Life was cast into the lake of fire," Rev.20:11-15.