1 Corinthians 4:5 – “Therefore, don't judge anything (or judge nothing) before the time, until the Lord comes, who will bring to light the hidden things of darkness and reveal the counsels of the heart. And then each one's praise will come from God”.
It's saying: “don't judge things before the time” - there is a time when the Lord comes, and He will bring out into the open everything: what people have done; and why they did it. The hidden motivations of the heart will be exposed to view; not to condemn people, but to see is this work a work that is qualifying for reward or not. Any works that originated from a self-centred motivation (full of pride, or there's a hidden ambition, self-promotion) - that will all be exposed; and this was a problem Jesus found with the Pharisees. He said: “when you pray, don't pray like they do - they pray to be seen of men”. Notice the works (they pray), but the motivation is not for the honour of God. It's not for a priestly ministry; it was to be seen by people.
He said: “they have their reward now”. People saw them, and they looked very spiritual - and many people are like that. They can look very spiritual, they can speak very ‘spiritual’; but God looks on the heart, what the true nature of it is. So the hidden motives of the heart will be revealed. In Matthew 6, Jesus is talking about giving. He said: “don't let your left hand know what your right hand is doing”, meaning: do your work, do your giving secretly – “not like the Pharisees do”. They do it to be seen by men. We can do our works secretly and quietly, out of love, and out of inspiration by the Holy Spirit - being directed by God to do things; or we can do it with a different motivation - the same activity, different motivation. We can do it with a motivation to be recognised, affirmed or celebrated by people - what a great person you are!
God is not just looking at the works. He's also looking at the motivation of the works: are these works of divine origin and nature - gold, silver, precious stones? Are these works of human origin, and human nature - the wood, hay, stubble? Are these works inspired by the Holy Spirit, and with a pure love, with no hidden motive? These are gold, silver, precious stones; or are these works done, and it's just you're trying to get yourself ahead, and trying to impress people - wood, hay, stubble? The Holy Spirit will test and reveal exactly what it is. Works which are evaluated upon whether we're building our own kingdom, or whether we're advancing the kingdom of Jesus, and His concerns. Paul wrote (in Timothy), that “everyone seeks their own, and not the things which be of Jesus Christ”. God is looking for people who have a heart after Him, to bring pleasure to Him, to please Him; and we should, in all that we do, seek to please Him - not please people.
If our works endure Jesus' scrutiny, we receive reward. Also, if they don't endure His scrutiny, then we lose reward. Works that are done out of love for Jesus, that are inspired by the Holy Spirit, and have a pure motive - they're going to be rewarded. He says: “…if our works endure, then we receive reward” - and the Judgement Seat of Christ is exactly that. The Bema Seat is the place of awards. It's the place of Eternal Judgement, the Bible tells us.
Hebrews 6:2-3 talks about the foundational doctrines of Christ, and one if those is Eternal Judgement. The judgement that's made at the Bema Seat of Christ is a final judgement - there's no reversing it! Once the decision is made, you can't make a change in the outcome. Even if you're sorry at that point, it's too late to do anything about it. If we live on earth for 70, 80 years, 90 years, this period passes by very quickly; and everything we do, once we become a believer, start following Christ, is being kept a record of. God keeps a record of it, knows exactly what we've done, and why we've done it - and all of this is laying up either a reward in heaven that accumulates, and qualifies us for reward in eternity.
Or, what we've done has not been of divine nature - we never have changed from a self-centred orientation. Those kinds of works won't receive any reward, won't be acknowledged in any way – they will be burnt! This is very, very significant for us! God's desire is not just that you be saved - that's just the first step. That puts you back into the family of God, but His purpose is that we grow into the image of Jesus Christ. We grow to become like Jesus Christ in our nature - and that requires a daily putting off the self-centred nature, so we can live out of a desire to please God, and out of a relationship with Him.