We read in 1 Corinthians 3 that people could be rewarded, or they could barely scrape in, and everything has been burnt up. There's no work they've done that qualifies for any acknowledgement or reward, apart from their salvation by faith in Christ. This is talking about it again - a similar thing, put a different way.
You can have an ‘abundant’ entrance, or you can have a ‘barely gotten in’ entrance. The abundant entrance means abundant honour and glory in the kingdom; a barely gotten entrance means very little honour and glory, which is why there are both small and great in the coming kingdom. That would be a whole study of its own, in 2 Peter 1. What are the things I need to begin to work on building into my life? What should I be intentional about developing and putting on in my life? These are done by the power and the influence of the Holy Spirit.
Number 8 – The words we speak.
Matthew 12:36 – “I say to you, that for every idle word man may speak, they will give account of it in the day of judgement”.
The words we speak, and our actions, are the overflow of our heart, and our life. Jesus said He's going to consider all the words: kind words, loving words, encouraging words, building words, harsh words, critical words, negative words, unbelieving words. The words we speak will be considered.
Number 9 - the revelation God has given us.
I think that we are responsible to grow in revelation, to grow in insight and understanding, but the more God gives to us, the more is expected of us. If you've sat in a church, and you've been exposed to great teaching, and great revelation was given to you, then a lot more is required of you, than the person down the road who got very little revelation and insight, but they walked fully in what they were given.
Luke 12:48 – “Everyone to whom much is given, much will be required; and to whom much has been committed, of him they will ask more”.
Clearly in that scripture, talking about the servant of the Lord, if much has been given to you, then more is required of you. It's echoed again…
James 3:1 – “My brethren, let not many of you become teachers, knowing that as teachers we shall receive a stricter judgement”.
Both scriptures seem to indicate that, if a lot has been entrusted to us, more is going to be expected of us. As he puts it in James, a higher standard is required, if you're going to be a teacher of others. He's not saying: don't be a teacher; he's just saying: make sure you live up to what you teach - live out what you're teaching. If you're saying one thing, and living another, a higher standard of judgement will be required.
Number 10 - how we have judged others.
James 2:13 – “For judgement is without mercy, to the one who was shown no mercy; for mercy triumphs over judgement”.
In the course of our life, there are many failings of people around us, and we can either show mercy and compassion to those people, or we can choose to focus on where they've failed, or what they've said or done wrong, and then be harsh or demanding on them. God considers whether we have walked in mercy or not. You see that in Matthew 18, where He teaches about the servant who was forgiven much. It was expected of him that he would show mercy to the fellow servant, and when he didn't show mercy, then more was required. There was a whole judgement he went through. It's a very clear scripture, that in our dealings with people, we need to show the nature of God, show the mercy of God - and that is considered, when we're judged for what we do.
There are 10 things there. Ten is a complete number (the number of completion), so I felt those give a breadth to God's evaluation. We must remember that God is a Just God and He will judge rightly, He will do what is right. At the Judgement Seat of Christ, He is looking for: what is there in you, and in your service, that I could identify, honour and then reward in a major way. Going back over them very briefly…
How aligned are we with His will and purpose?
Are we intimate, and listening, and doing what He's called us to do; and walking in the revelation He's given?
What about our motivation? Is it a motivation of love, pure, no agenda? Are we doing things because we love the Lord, and are passionate to show His love to people?
Our faithfulness, what are we doing with what opportunities we do have? Are we fulfilling them and doing them well?
What about our diligence, how diligent are we in our prayer, our application to what we do - or are we very casual about it?