![]() So let's see what we can discover about the Bema of Christ. It sounds like that's going to be a rather important event, and maybe we need to know a little more about it. We're going to receive according to what we've done in this body, in this life. This verse should be becoming familiar to you now: "For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, that each one may receive the things done in the body, according to what he has done, whether good or bad." We're going to be here about six times this morning, so take one of the green slips from the pew in front of you and mark your place here. Now, just as those prizes in the Olympic games were given but at a place called the Bema-or judgment seat-by the president of the games, so prizes for Christians are going to be given out at the Bema of Christ. We're talking about wonderful, glorious, eternal rewards in heaven. We're not talking about a balloon or a box of Cracker Jacks for the winning the pie eating contest at the Sunday School picnic. He says, "Run the race in such a way as to win the prize." And if almighty God uses the promise of prizes to motivate us, you can be sure He will make it worth the effort it takes to win them. ![]() He uses the promise of rewards to motivate us. My answer to that is that it can hardly be immature when God tells us to do it. Aim for the top! Go for the gold!" Some people think it's selfish and immature to serve the Lord for rewards. God is saying to us here in 1 Corinthians 9:24, "Run the race, live the Christian life, in such a way as to win the prize. In a group this size, there are without a doubt some winners and there are some losers. Some will receive rewards, and some will not. Some are going to have prizes, and some are not. We like to think that everybody in heaven will be equal and enjoy exactly the same benefits, but they won't. Every Christian can finish the race and win the prize if he wants to. The Christian race is different in that respect. There could only be one winner in each event, and that winner would likely be the athlete who was most faithful in self-discipline and in rigorous training. You see, he has transported us mentally into the stadium where the famous Greek games were in progress. The Apostle Paul writes about that in 1 Corinthians 9:24, when he says, "Do you not know that those who run in a race all run, but one receives the prize? Run in such a way that you may obtain it." And just as in any race, there are winners and there are losers. ![]() ![]() This is not a 100 yard dash this is a marathon. The gun sounded the day we trusted Christ as Savior, and we were off and running, and we will continue to run until the day God calls us home and we see Jesus face to face. “For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.Purpose: To encourage us to live our Christian lives in such a way as to win the rewards which God offers us. And we will discuss them hoping that we can gain insight and perhaps direction and focus as we run towards the Bema, our final hurdle. Is all of life on earth merely reactionary or optional for us, sort of “love God and do as you please?” Or is there an intentional plan and opportunity for each believer’s participation in God’s plan and eternal consequences that will be affected by our understanding and actions? We will explore these questions looking to the scriptures for guidance and the understanding that we will offer no legalistic, “hang on the fridge” answers but many clues. So, what are they? What are the “good works” that we are to do? And what difference will it make whether we understand this concept and seek God’s plan for us or not? “By faith” is how we are saved and step onto the track of the race of life (Ephesians 2:8,9) (Hebrews 12:1) and we cannot be saved by works, but the very next verse in the book of Ephesians (v.10) tells that we are “His workmanship created in Christ Jesus to DO good works that God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them.” We are not saved by works but we are saved to do works. There is a general mis-understanding that because our salvation is sure in Jesus that the whole of our eternal destiny is fixed and too many are unaware that how we live on earth as Christians will have an impact on what we experience in heaven. The event is the judgement of the works of the believer at The Judgement Seat of Christ or The Bema. It is certain and promised to every believer but is under-taught and generally poorly understood in our contemporary culture. This study will connect some Biblical dots concerning an extremely important event that is a promised part of the continuum of our lives as Christ followers.
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