Psalm 40…The Lord Inclines: (Part 4: The Judgement Seat of Christ)

June 22, 2010 at 11:09 pm (About Sin, Assurance, Devotional Thoughts., Forgiveness, Judging, Lighter Burdens., Our Unchanging God, Parenting, Praise, Sins, Sovereignty of God, When you are afraid, When You Feel Like Crying., Wisdom)

Scripture Reference;

I waited patiently for the LORD; and he inclined unto me, and heard my cry.  He brought me up also out of an horrible pit, out of the miry clay, and set my feet upon a rock, and established my goings.  And he hath put a new song in my mouth, even praise unto our God: many shall see it, and fear, and shall trust in the LORD.  Blessed is that man that maketh the LORD his trust, and respecteth not the proud, nor such as turn aside to lies.  Many, O LORD my God, are thy wonderful works which thou hast done, and thy thoughts which are to us-ward: they cannot be reckoned up in order unto thee: if I would declare and speak of them, they are more than can be numbered.  Sacrifice and offering thou didst not desire; mine ears hast thou opened: burnt offering and sin offering hast thou not required.  Then said I, Lo, I come: in the volume of the book it is written of me, I delight to do thy will, O my God: yea, thy law is within my heart.  I have preached righteousness in the great congregation: lo, I have not refrained my lips, O LORD, thou knowest. I have not hid thy righteousness within my heart; I have declared thy faithfulness and thy salvation: I have not concealed thy lovingkindness and thy truth from the great congregation. Withhold not thou thy tender mercies from me, O LORD: let thy lovingkindness and thy truth continually preserve me. For innumerable evils have compassed me about: mine iniquities have taken hold upon me, so that I am not able to look up; they are more than the hairs of mine head: therefore my heart faileth me. Be pleased, O LORD, to deliver me: O LORD, make haste to help me. Let them be ashamed and confounded together that seek after my soul to destroy it; let them be driven backward and put to shame that wish me evil.  Let them be desolate for a reward of their shame that say unto me, Aha, aha. Let all those that seek thee rejoice and be glad in thee: let such as love thy salvation say continually, The LORD be magnified. But I am poor and needy; yet the Lord thinketh upon me: thou art my help and my deliverer; make no tarrying, O my God.  Psalm 40 KJV

Today I am proceeding to verse 7 of Psalm 40.  Here it is below:

^“Then said I, Lo, I come: in the volume of the book it is written of me,”

…What can I say about this? We all have a story, and the versions can vary depending on who is telling it. We read about people and events in history books, but we are often left wondering how accurate these accounts really are. But the book referred to by David was 100 percent accurate. The Lord makes no mistakes. This is not the only Psalm that mentions that our life is recorded in a book.  It is funny how something that I think can be simple can become complicated. There are many books in the Bible that mention David including one called  “The Lamb’s Book of Life”. I had wondered if that was the book to which he was referring.  I have heard preachers over the years mention this book. It contains the names of all the people throughout all the ages that have known the Lord as their personal Savior. I had always thought that it was just a list of names,  and like the chorus to that popular old hymn says, “When The Roll is Called Up Yonder I’ll be there.”, but when David speaks he makes it sound like there is more to it than that.

Last Sunday I was in church and the pastor was preaching about the role a parent has in a child’s life, and that it is very important that one should strive to bring their child up in the nurture and admonition of the Lord. He explained how parents should teach and model for their children what it means to live a Christian life. While he was preaching he quoted a couple Bible verses that convicted me and made me worry a  little, because I was not sure how to interpret them. I have been to many different types of churches in my life, and some of them interpreted scripture in a way that caused me to have a “type” of fear that I now believe the Lord does not desire  His children to have. The verse has to do with what many Christians refer to as “The Judgment Seat of Christ”. Here are the verses below.

“³⁶But I tell you that men will have to give account on the day of judgment for every careless word they have spoken. ³⁷For by your words you will be acquitted, and by your words you will be condemned.” Matthew 12:36-37 NIV

I became concerned about the whole subject of “The Judgment Seat of Christ” and wrote to him about it. He wrote me back and I was so comforted by his reply that I  got his permission to share this correspondence with you.  Here it is below:

Howard,

I believe the Lord has laid a few things on my heart today (with your help) that have been of great comfort and encouragement to me. One of the things that was on my mind was “The Judgment Seat of Christ”, the “day” of judgment. This came to my mind when you mentioned the verses in Matthew below. I am sure that when it comes to this subject you probably know a lot more than I do, and there is probably a whole lot of scripture that speaks about it. However, I wanted to look at that passage from Matthew as well as another passage. Here they are :

“³⁶But I tell you that men will have to give account on the day of judgment for every careless word they have spoken. ³⁷For by your words you will be acquitted, and by your words you will be condemned.” Matthew 12:36-37 NIV ”

⁶Therefore we are always confident and know that as long as we are at home in the body we are away from the Lord. ⁷We live by faith, not by sight. ⁸We are confident, I say, and would prefer to be away from the body and at home with the Lord. ⁹So we make it our goal to please him, whether we are at home in the body or away from it. ¹⁰For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, that each one may receive what is due him for the things done while in the body, whether good or bad.¹¹Since, then, we know what it is to fear the Lord, we try to persuade men. What we are is plain to God, and I hope it is also plain to your conscience. ” 2 Corinthians 5:6-11 NIV

You might find it interesting that prior to 1999 I had been under the teachings of various churches that all taught that a person’s salvation was not always permanent. These people seldom spoke about “the judgment seat of Christ”. They didn’t seem to believe in the idea of receiving rewards. They usually spoke of “the great white judgment” that was for the unsaved, and that was the only type of judgment they really seemed to think about. Then I came to believe that salvation is always permanent, and not long after that we joined a type of Baptist church simply because we did not know that there were other denominations beside Baptists that believed that saved people always stay saved. I know I have already told you about our history of church experiences, and I will now try to get to my point. The pastor of that particular church believed that it was of utmost importance  that we never forget that believers would definitely appear before “The Judgment Seat of Christ” and he would warn us continually that we should be very concerned about that. I am sure you know me well enough by now to know that as a result I went from being very afraid of losing my salvation to being afraid of getting a rebuke instead of a reward at the Judgment Seat of Christ”, as well as bouts of fear that my sins proved that I might have failed to put my faith in Christ in the first place ( I still battle that one some.) We all had two verses memorized.  Here they are :

^“11Knowing therefore the terror of the Lord, we persuade men; but we are made manifest unto God; and I trust also are made manifest in your consciences.” 2 Corinthians 5:11 KJV, and “⁷Be not deceived; God is not mocked: for whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap.” Galatians 6:7 KJV

Well, I had an experience one night that affected some of my thinking on this subject. I hope you will not consider what I am about to say as heresy. The first thing I want to say is that the verses I have mentioned so far in this letter clearly teach that there will be a day when our life here on the earth is over when we will certainly appear before that judgment seat, so please don’t think that I am rejecting that truth. One night while I prayed silently before going to sleep I was feeling afraid of facing the Lord on that day of judgment, and I said something to the Lord that might be a little humorous, but I really was sincere. I said “Lord, I’m scared…I’m scared to face you that day.” I was talking to Him as if he were two different people (one to whom I could run to for comfort whenever the need arose and one to run away from, one who I was so afraid of finally facing on that day ). Then something happened that does not happen to me very often.  Right after I made that statement to the Lord a thought surfaced in my mind. It said  “You just were.” Then I remembered the verses below.

¹ O LORD, you have searched me and you know me.  ² You know when I sit and when I rise; you perceive my thoughts from afar. ³ You discern my going out and my lying down; you are familiar with all my ways. ⁴ Before a word is on my tongue you know it completely, O LORD. ⁵ You hem me in—behind and before; you have laid your hand upon me. ⁶ Such knowledge is too wonderful for me, too lofty for me to attain. ⁷ Where can I go from your Spirit? Where can I flee from your presence? ⁸ If I go up to the heavens, you are there; if I make my bed in the depths, ^[a] you are there. ⁹ If I rise on the wings of the dawn, if I settle on the far side of the sea, ¹⁰ even there your hand will guide me, your right hand will hold me fast. ¹¹ If I say, “Surely the darkness will hide me and the light become night around me,” ¹² even the darkness will not be dark to you; the night will shine like the day, for darkness is as light to you.  Psalm 139:1-12 NIV

Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows. James 1:17NIV

It occurred to me that all of the attributes that I find in my Savior that are so comforting will still be there when I face Him on the day of judgment after I die.  The next thing that occurred to me was that Jesus is on the throne:   “²¹To him who overcomes, I will give the right to sit with me on my throne, just as I overcame and sat down with my Father on his throne.” Revelation 3:21NIV.  Therefore when the Holy Spirit convicts me of my sin, and I feel that anguish and go to Him in prayer I have in a sense been to the Judgment Seat of Christ, and perhaps in a moment in time have been both condemned and acquitted, but I still really am not sure how to interpret this verse:

^“37 For by your words you will be acquitted, and by your words you will be condemned.” Matthew 12:37 NIV.

But I do know that the Bible teaches that if we confess our sins He is just and able to forgive us, and all who call on the name of the Lord will be saved. The reason I have a hard time understanding the meaning of Matthew 12:36-37, and all of the other passages I mentioned about the Judgment Seat of Christ is because there are also verses in the Bible that say this:

“¹⁷ Surely it was for my benefit that I suffered such anguish. In your love you kept me from the pit of destruction; you have put all my sins behind your back.”  Isaiah 38:17  NIV

“¹⁰ he does not treat us as our sins deserve or repay us according to our iniquities.  ¹¹ For as high as the heavens are above the earth, so great is his love for those who fear him; ¹² as far as the east is from the west, so far has he removed our transgressions from us . ¹³ As a father has compassion on his children, so the LORD has compassion on those who fear him;” Psalm 103:10-13 NIV

³If thou, LORD, shouldest mark iniquities, O Lord, who shall stand? ⁴But there is forgiveness with thee, that thou mayest be feared. Psalm 130:3-4KJV

For I will forgive their wickedness and will remember their sins no more.  Hebrews 8:12 NIV

I know the passages at the top of this letter about the Judgment Seat of Christ are true, but I don’t understand how sins that have been taken away, that are behind God’s back, if the Lord doesn’t mark our iniquities,…then how will these sins suddenly be there again for the Lord to view?  I find that thought so disturbing. If you can help me with this I would appreciate it.

Sincerely,

Theresa

Theresa;

There is much to be said about the judgement seat of Christ and the “publication” of our sin.   Indeed it seems counterintuitive that sins would be separated from us as far as east is from west and that as Micah says, our transgressions would be cast into the depths of the sea, beyond remembrance and yet appear to testify against us on what will be one of the most glorious days of our existence.

Yet it must be noted that when God separates us from our sin and places them beyond remembrance, this primarily indicates that we experience release from the judicial consquences of our sin — in other words, our sins are not “counted against” us because they were reckoned upon Christ on the cross.    I like John Bunyan’s perspective best on the publication of our sin at the judgement seat of Christ — that it is not so much a publication of our sins which causes personal sorrow for us, but a publication of the glories of our Savior who bore every one and thus causes us to praise Christ.

At the judgement seat of Christ our focus will not be on our failings, but on Christ’s successes!   I sorrow over my sin every day.   It grieves me and there is a sense which I long to be with Christ so that I will sin no more.   Yet on the day when I stand before Christ, I stand there by grace alone.   Not by my ability to do what is right or to restrain what was wrong.   For I am a sinful creature without hope except by God’s grace.    When I stand before Christ, I stand in His grace.   I will not feebly try to explain my sin, but I will praise my savior for the depth of his love which, only then will be fully revealed to me.   There is a sense in which I experience this every week in worship — when I realize that I stand before Him, my sin is always before me, but then He reminds me that in grace I am invited to come boldly into his presence because I do not come alone without a mediator, intercessor, and surety.

Beloved, Theresa, do not fear that judgment if you trust in Christ’s mercy and flee to Him.   For on that day, your account will be read and after every transgression will be shouted, “paid in full.”   The Lord Jesus Christ will not look upon you with disdain and sorrow, but with the tender love of a husband for his beloved bride.

Those who stand before Christ without the covering of his grace will have nothing to say and no recourse to their works, for those works will only condemn them.   Those who simply trust in Christ in acknowledgment of their complete inability to rid themselves of their sin or the guilt of it and who rest upon Him will receive the reward for the gracious deeds that He has worked in us through the Holy Spirit ( Phil 2:13 )

We must constantly remember that the judgment seat of Christ is about Christ and not primarily about us.

Those who trust in their works and on their religious works are admonished time and time again in the OT prophets, “woe to you who long for the Day of the Lord.”   But for those who place no confidence in the flesh but flee to Christ’s mercy in grace we long for the “blessed hope, the glorious appearing of our Savior.”  Titus 2:11-13  The gospel is good news because it is utterly gracious.   Hebrews 7:25 is one of my favorite verses of Scripture because it reminds me that even in the midst of my continued war between the flesh and the Spirit, that Jesus is interceding for me for every transgression and will save me to the uttermost.

Let us long for the glorious appearing of our King especially since His glory is revealed in the publication of His grace through the publication of my sins.    And let me say this, on that day you will not hear my sins and say, “oh my, how could he have thought, said, done such a thing — after all he is a pastor.”   What you will say, is “glory to the Lamb who sits in the midst of the throne, for he has purchased, by his own blood, men from every tribe and nation and language and people.   Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of His Father!”   Praise Jesus who, “while we are yet sinning, died for us.”

Theresa, what good news is such a gospel!   When I think of it, Paul’s words in Romans 7:25-8:1 come to my mind!    What a glorious savior to shed his own blood for such sinners as I!   How glorious it will be when the depth of our savior’s love is revealed on that day because it will be made clear how great was our sin and how great is our Savior!    How can we not love such a Savior with all that we are!    Let your thoughts of that day of that judgment seat of Christ fan into flame your love for Christ and not your fear of Him.   It will not be a day of your shame but of His glory for those who trust in Him.

Now may the Lord of peace, Himself, give you peace at all times and in every way.   The Lord be with you.

In Christ,

Howard

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