Our rewards will determine how we spend eternity. This is very important! For all eternity, we will be known by how we lived our life on earth. You can't kind of say: well, I got to the judgement, I got through, and I'm okay - no one will ever know, it's just between me and Jesus. No!
Revelations 13:14 – “Then I heard a voice from heaven saying to me, write: Blessed are the dead who die in the Lord from now on. Yes, says the Spirit, that they may rest from their labours, and their works follow them”.
“Their works follow them”. In way, it will be acknowledged, for all eternity: the kind of life we have lived on the earth; the way we've honoured Jesus Christ; the character we've developed and formed - our works will follow us! If our works are burned, then we will suffer loss - and we cannot reverse it! If we get disqualified from receiving our Eternal Inheritance - sitting with Jesus on the throne, ruling with Him… there's no way we can change it! These rewards are Eternal, and Irreversible. They determine not just whether you get into heaven, but also: the quality, status, standing that you have in that kingdom; the level of intimacy with Jesus; the level of responsibility and authority; and the level of glory that you carry (we've seen this in the previous studies). If our works don’t endure Jesus' scrutiny, then there's going to be a loss.
The Bema seat, or the Judgement Seat, is the place of reward, or loss of reward; and every believer will stand there. Every believer has the appointment with Jesus; and at that appointment, we will exit that with rewards, where Jesus acknowledges in the most generous, abundant, and totally out of proportion to what we've done way. He will acknowledge what we've done with rewards, which are eternal; or, upon examination, we might find that our works don't qualify.
1 Corinthians 3:15 – “If anyone's work is burned, he will suffer loss; but he himself will be saved, yet so as by fire”.
Only believers appear before the Bema Seat of Christ; and at the other side of it, they are saved. The question is: whether their works, after evaluation, qualify for any reward; or whether we will suffer loss. What does it mean, to suffer loss? It means to experience some detriment, or to lose and forfeit what God had prepared for me. Paul talked about it in 1 Corinthians 9:27, where he feared that, having preached to others, he might be disqualified - not approved, or meeting the required standard, or standing up to the test. In the letters to John, John speaks about it too…
1 John 2:28 - “Now little children, abide in Him, that when He appears (that's the coming of the Lord), we may have confidence and not be ashamed before Him at His coming”.
It tells us there that it's possible to have total confidence, and boldness, and not be at all shamed when He comes; but the opposite is also true - that when He comes, we may lose all our confidence, and may be quite ashamed.
In the Amplified version… 1 John 2:28 – “Now little children, believers or dear ones, remain in Him (or remain in relationship with Him), with unwavering faith, so that when He appears at His return, we may have perfect confidence, and not be ashamed or shrink away from Him at His coming”.
It tells us: “abide in Him”, so we're not ashamed, and draw back, because we're embarrassed about our condition - He warns us about that. The consequences of abiding in Him will be a fruitful, productive life, bringing forth fruit that qualifies for reward; but the result of not abiding in Him means that, at His coming, we will be acutely embarrassed by the kind of life we lived, and what we have to present to Him. That's a huge challenge for us, not to live as lukewarm believers, but to live passionately full on for the Lord.
What does it mean to “abide in Him”? The word literally means ‘remain’, or to ‘closely be connected’, or ‘closely joined’. It means to have fellowship and intimacy with Jesus; to remain in close union with Him. Putting it another way, it means to draw on His life, as the source of our life; and to obey Him, out of the relationship we have with Him.
John 15:4 – “I'm the vine, you are the branches, abide in Me and let My word abide in you, and you'll produce good fruit, fruit that remains”.
‘Abiding’, then, is an issue of personal relationship; and it's also an issue of responsiveness to His words. We abide in Him, and let His word abide in us. To let His Word ‘abide in us’ means that we take seriously what Jesus has to say, and we do the best we can to apply it to our life. If we don't do that, the opposite to that is not abiding - our life with Him is very sporadic, or up and down; and it says: we will be ashamed at His appearing.