The Word of God - A Survey of the Bible - Part Eighteen - B Jan 19, 2020 by: John Herbert | Series: The Word of God - A Survey of the Bible Audio Study Notes PDF https://s3.amazonaws.com/cornerstonejax/sermonfiles/T003_20200119.mp3 Refresh A Recap from the Sermon 2Co 5:10 For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, Will we continue to look at the Christian's appearance at the Judgment Seat of Christ. The full text of this message can be found by clicking the PDF button Sunday January 19th 2020 The Word of God A Survey of the Bible – Lesson 18B ‘I Know Your Works….’ 1). Ac 16:30 And he brought them out and said, “Sirs, what must I do to be saved?” 31 So they said, “Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and you will be saved, you and your household.” 1 Th 4:16 For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of an archangel, and with the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first. 17 Then we who are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And thus we shall always be with the Lord. These verses from Acts 16 and 1 Thessalonians 4 set out the 2 great events in the Christian life – the beginning of our life through believing on the Lord Jesus Christ and the conclusion of the earthly part of that life when we will stand in the presence of the One in whom we have believed through the resurrection/rapture for judgment with respect to the Kingdom to come. One of these events is past and we are waiting for the imminent arrival of the second to identify the Bride for Christ as the precursor to the Kingdom Age. a). Because of the first, eternal salvation, the second, the resurrection/rapture is absolutely certain and will be experienced by every Christian at exactly the same time, irrespective of how they have lived their Christian life. b). And the first, eternal salvation, has been provided for a specific purpose and the second will reveal whether or not that purpose, for us, has been realized - 2Co 5:10 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. 11 Knowing, therefore, the terror of the Lord, we persuade men; Paul’s use of the word ‘we’, inclusive of himself, makes abundantly clear that it will be ‘all’ Christians who will appear before Christ at His Judgment Seat. And the purpose for our appearance there is so that we may receive the ‘things’ we have done in our human body, during our Christian lifetime, ‘whether good or bad’, and in conjunction with the latter, the bad, Paul references ‘the terror of the Lord’, something we have already seen from our study of the Book of Hebrews where the same Greek word is used in – Heb 10:30 For we know Him who said, “Vengeance is Mine, I will repay,” says the Lord. And again, “The Lord will judge His people.” 31 It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God. And because Paul knows ‘the terror of the Lord’ that will be manifest to those who ‘fall into the hands of the living God’, he said, ‘we persuade men.’ And that which ‘men’ are to be persuaded about must encompass 2 things – the certainty of every Christian’s appearance at the Judgment Seat to determine either reward or loss and the necessity of doing ‘good’ in the Christian life following eternal salvation in order to overcome the world, the flesh and the devil, in anticipation of that appearance and the judgment that accompanies it. c). And this sequence is exactly what he makes clear in – Eph 2:8 [eternal salvation] For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, 9 not of works, lest anyone should boast. 10 [following eternal salvation] For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them. Not only then do we see that ‘good works’ are to follow eternal salvation, but we also see that we have been ‘created in Christ Jesus’, the new creation in Christ, for the purpose of walking in those ‘good works’, works that ‘God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them.’ These are not then works of our own invention but those that God makes known to us through the Scriptures, in which we are to be faithfully obedient. d). This is pictured for us through the type of the faithful Christian in the Book of Ruth – Ru 2:15 And when she rose up to glean, Boaz commanded his young men, saying, “Let her glean even among the sheaves, and do not reproach her. 16 Also let grain from the bundles fall purposely for her; leave it that she may glean, and do not rebuke her.” 2). Receiving ‘the things done in the body whether good or bad’ at Christ’s Judgment Seat following the resurrection/rapture of all Christians is the subject of – 1 Co 3:11 For no other foundation can anyone lay than that which is laid, which is Jesus Christ. 12 Now if anyone builds on this foundation with gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, straw, 13 each one's work will become clear; for the Day will declare it, because it will be revealed by fire; and the fire will test each one's work, of what sort it is. 14 If anyone's work which he has built on it endures, he will receive a reward. 15 If anyone's work is burned, he will suffer loss; but he himself will be saved, yet so as through fire. Here in 1 Corinthians we find all Christians spoken of in 2 Corinthians Chapter 5, and all Christians appearing here are seen divided into those Christians who will receive ‘a reward’ and those who will ‘suffer loss’. a). And the basis for the distinction made between the two is seen through the outcome of the testing of ‘each one’s work of what sort it is.’ This is the same thought as we have previously encountered in all Christians receiving the things done ‘in the body’, ‘whether good or bad’. b). In 1 Corinthians 3 walking in the ‘good works prepared beforehand for us to walk in them’, works emanating out of faithfulness to our calling is equated with producing works of ‘gold, silver, precious stones’. Works produced that do not emanate from faithfulness to our calling are equated with ‘wood, hay, straw’. c). The works of all Christians will become clear in that Day, the Day of the Lord, of what sort they are because they will be revealed ‘by fire’, a picture of the judgment by which all works will be tested. d). For the Christian whose works endure there will be reward – Col 3:23 And whatever you do, do it heartily, as to the Lord and not to men, 24 knowing that from the Lord you will receive the reward of the inheritance; for you serve the Lord Christ. 25 But he who does wrong will be repaid for what he has done, and there is no partiality. But for the Christian ‘who does wrong’, whose works are burned, that Christian will ‘be repaid for what he has done’, he ‘will suffer loss’. There will be a just recompense of reward for every Christian. Each will receive exactly what they deserve based on what they have done in the body whether good or bad. Although some Christians’ works will be burned that Christian will himself ‘be saved’, literally delivered, ‘yet so as through fire’. e). In other words, the unfaithful Christian will not be ‘burned’ up with his works because he is eternally saved. Rather he will be delivered from the fire but will still suffer loss. f). The experience of Lot provides the type for this – Ge 19:15 When the morning dawned, the angels urged Lot to hurry, saying, “Arise, take your wife and your two daughters who are here, lest you be consumed in the punishment of the city.” 16 And while he lingered, the men took hold of his hand, his wife's hand, and the hands of his two daughters, the Lord being merciful to him, and they brought him out and set him outside the city. 17 So it came to pass, when they had brought them outside, that he said, “Escape for your life! Do not look behind you nor stay anywhere in the plain. Escape to the mountain, lest you be destroyed.” The destruction of the cities of the plain presents one of the types for the destruction of Gentile world power through the judgments of the Tribulation. g). Lot, as a type of the unfaithful Christian, was removed from Sodom before the destruction of the city could begin. In the same way, in the antitype, the unfaithful Christian along with the faithful Christian will be removed from the earth, ‘we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ’, before the Tribulation begins – Lk 17:26 And as it was in the days of Noah, so it will be also in the days of the Son of Man: 27 They ate, they drank, they married wives, they were given in marriage, until the day that Noah entered the ark, and the flood came and destroyed them all. 28 Likewise as it was also in the days of Lot: They ate, they drank, they bought, they sold, they planted, they built; 29 but on the day that Lot went out of Sodom it rained fire and brimstone from heaven and destroyed them all. 30 Even so will it be in the day when the Son of Man is revealed. The warning in v26-27 is for the nation of Israel who will go through the Tribulation, pictured through Noah going through the flood and the warning in v28 and 29 is for Christians pictured through Lot who ‘went out of Sodom’ before the city and its inhabitants were destroyed. h). And we are told that the events typified in these 2 examples will come to pass ‘in the day when the Son of Man is revealed.’ And we will remember from last time that the Book of the Revelation is a Book about the revealing or unveiling of the Christ, the Son of Man, and that the revealing of the Christ will begin with the resurrection/rapture of the Church for the purpose of all Christians being judged. i). And if we return for a moment to the foundational types that lay out the sequencing for these events, we will remember this – Ge 5:23 So all the days of Enoch were three hundred and sixty-five years. 24 And Enoch walked with God; and he was not, for God took him. Enoch was the 7th generation from Adam, with the number 7 giving us completeness of that which is in view. So, after a complete period of time, Enoch, providing the foundational type all Christians, was removed from the earth alive into heaven. Then – Ge 6:13 And God said to Noah, “The end of all flesh has come before Me, for the earth is filled with violence through them; and behold, I will destroy them with the earth. 14 Make yourself an ark of gopherwood; make rooms in the ark, and cover it inside and outside with pitch. Noah is the 10th generation from Adam, with 10 being another number showing completion. So, after a complete period of time, a period of time completed after the removal of Enoch alive into heaven, God would destroy the earth with a flood, with Noah and his family taken through the flood to a new beginning, typifying the nation of Israel who will come through the Great Tribulation to the new beginning of the Millennial Kingdom. j). And this sequence of events is succinctly put in the type from the Book of Ruth – Ru 3:6 So she went down to the threshing floor and did according to all that her mother-in-law instructed her………..11 And now, my daughter, do not fear. I will do for you all that you request, for all the people of my town know that you are a virtuous woman…….18 Then she said, “Sit still, my daughter, until you know how the matter will turn out; for the man will not rest until he has concluded the matter this day.” So, the sequencing of events given through the Scriptural types is very clear. All Christians, the dead in Christ and all those alive at the time, both faithful and unfaithful, will be removed into the heavens [for judgment] prior to the Tribulation. j). Let’s go back to the account of Lot for a moment – Ge 19:25 So He overthrew those cities, all the plain, all the inhabitants of the cities, and what grew on the ground.26 But his wife looked back behind him, and she became a pillar of salt…………… Lk 17:32 Remember Lot's wife. 33 Whoever seeks to save his life [soul] will lose it, and whoever loses his life [soul] will preserve it. 34 I tell you, in that night there will be two men in one bed: the one will be taken and the other will be left. 35 Two women will be grinding together: the one will be taken and the other left. 36 Two men will be in the field: the one will be taken and the other left.” Lot and his wife present 2 facets of the same picture. In the verses from Luke Chapter 17 remembering Lot’s wife is directly linked to saving our soulical life now and losing that life in the age to come or losing our soulical life now, denying our self and taking up our cross, and gaining that life in the age to come. k). In the Genesis account Lot’s wife is consumed along with the very thing to which she gave her attention. She looked back longingly to that which was about to be destroyed, seeking to save her soulical life, and consequently was overcome by it – Ro 12:2 And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, 1 Jn 2:15 Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. 16 For all that is in the world—the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life—is not of the Father but is of the world. 17 And the world is passing away, and the lust of it; but he who does the will of God abides forever. Jas 4:4 Adulterers and adulteresses! Do you not know that friendship with the world is enmity with God? Whoever therefore wants to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God. And in being overcome by that which was about to be destroyed, Lot’s wife typifies the unfaithful Christian of 1 Corinthians Chapter 3 whose works are burned. However, we will also remember from those verses, that the Christian whose works are burned will himself be delivered from that burning, and in this we find the other facet of the picture given to us through the experience of both Lot and his wife – Ge 19:30 Then Lot went up out of Zoar and dwelt in the mountain, and his two daughters were with him; for he was afraid to dwell in Zoar. And he and his two daughters dwelt in a cave. Lot was removed from the city before the destruction of Sodom and the cities of the plain, but his subsequent location, although on the mountain to which he had been told to flee, was in a cave – in a place of darkness and shame. l). And the teaching derived from the typology is pretty clear. If our focus is on the world, allowing ourselves to be governed by our soulical man, then we will be overcome, pictured through Lot’s wife, and this will be the cause of our suffering loss at the Judgment Seat when our works are tested and subsequently burned – we will be overcome by that to which we have given our attention, and consequently, rather than having a position of honor and glory with Christ in the Kingdom Age we will find ourselves in a place of darkness and shame, pictured through Lot. m). However, should our works emanate from faith and be found to be of gold, silver, precious stones when tested by fire, then our experience will parallel the experience of Abraham whose location, following the destruction of the cities of the plain, was diametrically opposite to that of Lot – Ge 19:27 And Abraham went early in the morning to the place [in the hill country, on top of the mountain] where he had stood [and had been standing for a long time] before the Lord. 28 Then he looked toward Sodom and Gomorrah, and toward all the land of the plain; and he saw, and behold, the smoke of the land which went up like the smoke of a furnace. 3). And it is that Day when the works of every Christian will be tested by fire that the Book of the Revelation of Jesus Christ finds its beginning – Re 1:9 I, John, both your brother and companion in the tribulation and kingdom and patience of Jesus Christ, was on the island that is called Patmos for the word of God and for the testimony of Jesus Christ. 10 I was in the Spirit on the Lord's Day, and I heard behind me a loud voice, as of a trumpet, 11 saying, “I am the Alpha and the Omega, the First and the Last,” and, “What you see, write in a book and send it to the seven churches which are in Asia: to Ephesus, to Smyrna, to Pergamos, to Thyatira, to Sardis, to Philadelphia, and to Laodicea.” 1 Th 4:15 For this we say to you by the word of the Lord, that we who are alive and remain until the coming of the Lord will by no means precede those who are asleep. 16 For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of an archangel, and with the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first. 17 Then we who are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And thus we shall always be with the Lord. Re 4:1 After these things I looked, and behold, a door standing open in heaven. And the first voice which I heard was like a trumpet speaking with me, saying, “Come up here, and I will show you things which must take place after this.” All 3 sets of verses here make reference to the sound of a trumpet in relation to Christians and the trumpet on each occasion signifies only one thing – the resurrection/rapture of the Church for the purpose we have already seen in 1 Corinthians Chapter 3 and 2 Corinthians Chapter 5. a). The trumpet of God which precedes the dead in Christ rising first and then those who remain caught up together with them to meet the Lord in the air, is the same ‘loud voice, as of a trumpet’ that John heard, as he recorded in Revelation Chapter 1 and Revelation Chapter 4. And John, having heard the voice like a trumpet – Re 1:12 Then I turned to see the voice that spoke with me. And having turned I saw seven golden lampstands, 13 and in the midst of the seven lampstands One like the Son of Man, clothed with a garment down to the feet and girded about the chest with a golden band. 14 His head and hair were white like wool, as white as snow, and His eyes like a flame of fire; 15 His feet were like fine brass, as if refined in a furnace, and His voice as the sound of many waters; 16 He had in His right hand seven stars, out of His mouth went a sharp two-edged sword, and His countenance was like the sun shining in its strength. And that which John saw as he turned was the glorified Christ seen to be the One from everlasting, the One who is the Judge of all the earth. And we are not left in any doubt as to what this scene portends as the mystery of the 7 stars and the 7 golden lampstands is opened to our understanding – Re 1:20 The mystery of the seven stars which you saw in My right hand, and the seven golden lampstands: The seven stars are the angels of the seven churches, and the seven lampstands which you saw are the seven churches. What John saw then as he turned around after the voice like a trumpet is the Christ, the Ancient of Days, arrayed as Judge ‘in the midst’ of the 7 churches. What he saw was that which Paul made known in 2 Corinthians Chapter 5, all Christians appearing before the Judgment Seat of Christ to give an account of what they had done in the body whether good or bad. b). The One into whose hands all judgment has been committed is seen to have ‘eyes like a flame of fire’, which can only reference the ‘fire’ that will test each one’s work of what sort it is from 1 Corinthians Chapter 3. c). Every Christian then will be judged by the Word made Flesh in accordance with the written word which is alive. c). So then, following the voice ‘like a trumpet’ the complete Church pictured through the 7 Churches, is seen in Christ’s presence, a scene that is entirely judicial, entirely to do with the just recompense of reward as the Lord deals with all His household servants –Mt 25:21 His lord said to him, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant; you were faithful over a few things, I will make you ruler over many things. Enter into the joy of your lord.’………….26 “But his lord answered and said to him, ‘You wicked and lazy servant,………….. 30 And cast the unprofitable servant into the outer darkness. There will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.’ d). In the verses from Revelation Chapter 4 the beginning point is the same, And the first voice which I heard was like a trumpet speaking with me, saying, “Come up here – it is the resurrection/rapture of the Church for the purpose of judgment, but Chapter 4 then moves to events that will follow the completion of judgment - I will show you things which must take place after this.” And let’s be quite clear that what John saw and then recorded in his letter to the 7 churches was the judgment of all Christians at the end of this dispensation exactly as it will take place. e). How is such a thing possible? Because with God, as Man has been allowed to glimpse, time is relative and the key to understanding this is found in - I was in the Spirit on the Lord's Day, [Lit. the Day of the Lord]. John was on the island called Patmos for a specifically stated purpose – Re 1:9 I, John, both your brother and companion in the tribulation and kingdom and patience of Jesus Christ, was on the island that is called Patmos for the word of God and for the testimony of Jesus Christ. As the Scripture says, he was there ‘for the word of God and for the testimony of Jesus Christ’. And in order for him to receive that which God had for him he was moved, by the power of the Spirit, through time and space to the events of the Judgment Seat of Christ, finding himself in the Day of the Lord as it exists in heaven. An experience not unlike Paul’s when he was taken from Arabia into the third heaven – 2 Co 12:2 I know a man in Christ who fourteen years ago—whether in the body I do not know, or whether out of the body I do not know, God knows—such a one was caught up to the third heaven. 3 And I know such a man—whether in the body or out of the body I do not know, God knows— 4 how he was caught up into Paradise and heard inexpressible words, which it is not lawful for a man to utter. At the end of this dispensation all Christians, the dead in Christ and those who remain, will be removed from Man’s Day, which will continue on the earth for approximately another 7 years, and having been removed from Man’s Day all Christians, like John, will find themselves in the Lord’s Day. f). With respect to heaven it has always been the Lord’s Day as Man’s Day is something peculiar to the earth alone during the time it is ruled by Satan. g). In that future Day, the Day of the Lord, as it presently exists in heaven, will then be manifest in the earth and it will be the Lord’s Day on earth as it is in heaven. h). And as we have noted before with John’s experience comes the somewhat shocking realization that when John saw the 7 churches, all Christians, we were there. i). That which John recorded about the judgment of the Church was not an insight into what may happen, it is a record of what did happen and therefore an exact record of what will yet take place as we find ourselves as participants in it. What has already been seen to have taken place cannot change and will be fulfilled just as John recorded it. We will continue with this next time though – if the Lord is willing. The Word of God - A Survey of the Bible - Part Eighteen - B Jan 19, 2020 Speaker: John Herbert Series: The Word of God - A Survey of the Bible Category: Sunday Morning https://s3.amazonaws.com/cornerstonejax/sermonfiles/T003_20200119.mp3 Download Audio x
Refresh A Recap from the Sermon 2Co 5:10 For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, Will we continue to look at the Christian's appearance at the Judgment Seat of Christ. The full text of this message can be found by clicking the PDF button Sunday January 19th 2020 The Word of God A Survey of the Bible – Lesson 18B ‘I Know Your Works….’ 1). Ac 16:30 And he brought them out and said, “Sirs, what must I do to be saved?” 31 So they said, “Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and you will be saved, you and your household.” 1 Th 4:16 For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of an archangel, and with the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first. 17 Then we who are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And thus we shall always be with the Lord. These verses from Acts 16 and 1 Thessalonians 4 set out the 2 great events in the Christian life – the beginning of our life through believing on the Lord Jesus Christ and the conclusion of the earthly part of that life when we will stand in the presence of the One in whom we have believed through the resurrection/rapture for judgment with respect to the Kingdom to come. One of these events is past and we are waiting for the imminent arrival of the second to identify the Bride for Christ as the precursor to the Kingdom Age. a). Because of the first, eternal salvation, the second, the resurrection/rapture is absolutely certain and will be experienced by every Christian at exactly the same time, irrespective of how they have lived their Christian life. b). And the first, eternal salvation, has been provided for a specific purpose and the second will reveal whether or not that purpose, for us, has been realized - 2Co 5:10 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. 11 Knowing, therefore, the terror of the Lord, we persuade men; Paul’s use of the word ‘we’, inclusive of himself, makes abundantly clear that it will be ‘all’ Christians who will appear before Christ at His Judgment Seat. And the purpose for our appearance there is so that we may receive the ‘things’ we have done in our human body, during our Christian lifetime, ‘whether good or bad’, and in conjunction with the latter, the bad, Paul references ‘the terror of the Lord’, something we have already seen from our study of the Book of Hebrews where the same Greek word is used in – Heb 10:30 For we know Him who said, “Vengeance is Mine, I will repay,” says the Lord. And again, “The Lord will judge His people.” 31 It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God. And because Paul knows ‘the terror of the Lord’ that will be manifest to those who ‘fall into the hands of the living God’, he said, ‘we persuade men.’ And that which ‘men’ are to be persuaded about must encompass 2 things – the certainty of every Christian’s appearance at the Judgment Seat to determine either reward or loss and the necessity of doing ‘good’ in the Christian life following eternal salvation in order to overcome the world, the flesh and the devil, in anticipation of that appearance and the judgment that accompanies it. c). And this sequence is exactly what he makes clear in – Eph 2:8 [eternal salvation] For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, 9 not of works, lest anyone should boast. 10 [following eternal salvation] For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them. Not only then do we see that ‘good works’ are to follow eternal salvation, but we also see that we have been ‘created in Christ Jesus’, the new creation in Christ, for the purpose of walking in those ‘good works’, works that ‘God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them.’ These are not then works of our own invention but those that God makes known to us through the Scriptures, in which we are to be faithfully obedient. d). This is pictured for us through the type of the faithful Christian in the Book of Ruth – Ru 2:15 And when she rose up to glean, Boaz commanded his young men, saying, “Let her glean even among the sheaves, and do not reproach her. 16 Also let grain from the bundles fall purposely for her; leave it that she may glean, and do not rebuke her.” 2). Receiving ‘the things done in the body whether good or bad’ at Christ’s Judgment Seat following the resurrection/rapture of all Christians is the subject of – 1 Co 3:11 For no other foundation can anyone lay than that which is laid, which is Jesus Christ. 12 Now if anyone builds on this foundation with gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, straw, 13 each one's work will become clear; for the Day will declare it, because it will be revealed by fire; and the fire will test each one's work, of what sort it is. 14 If anyone's work which he has built on it endures, he will receive a reward. 15 If anyone's work is burned, he will suffer loss; but he himself will be saved, yet so as through fire. Here in 1 Corinthians we find all Christians spoken of in 2 Corinthians Chapter 5, and all Christians appearing here are seen divided into those Christians who will receive ‘a reward’ and those who will ‘suffer loss’. a). And the basis for the distinction made between the two is seen through the outcome of the testing of ‘each one’s work of what sort it is.’ This is the same thought as we have previously encountered in all Christians receiving the things done ‘in the body’, ‘whether good or bad’. b). In 1 Corinthians 3 walking in the ‘good works prepared beforehand for us to walk in them’, works emanating out of faithfulness to our calling is equated with producing works of ‘gold, silver, precious stones’. Works produced that do not emanate from faithfulness to our calling are equated with ‘wood, hay, straw’. c). The works of all Christians will become clear in that Day, the Day of the Lord, of what sort they are because they will be revealed ‘by fire’, a picture of the judgment by which all works will be tested. d). For the Christian whose works endure there will be reward – Col 3:23 And whatever you do, do it heartily, as to the Lord and not to men, 24 knowing that from the Lord you will receive the reward of the inheritance; for you serve the Lord Christ. 25 But he who does wrong will be repaid for what he has done, and there is no partiality. But for the Christian ‘who does wrong’, whose works are burned, that Christian will ‘be repaid for what he has done’, he ‘will suffer loss’. There will be a just recompense of reward for every Christian. Each will receive exactly what they deserve based on what they have done in the body whether good or bad. Although some Christians’ works will be burned that Christian will himself ‘be saved’, literally delivered, ‘yet so as through fire’. e). In other words, the unfaithful Christian will not be ‘burned’ up with his works because he is eternally saved. Rather he will be delivered from the fire but will still suffer loss. f). The experience of Lot provides the type for this – Ge 19:15 When the morning dawned, the angels urged Lot to hurry, saying, “Arise, take your wife and your two daughters who are here, lest you be consumed in the punishment of the city.” 16 And while he lingered, the men took hold of his hand, his wife's hand, and the hands of his two daughters, the Lord being merciful to him, and they brought him out and set him outside the city. 17 So it came to pass, when they had brought them outside, that he said, “Escape for your life! Do not look behind you nor stay anywhere in the plain. Escape to the mountain, lest you be destroyed.” The destruction of the cities of the plain presents one of the types for the destruction of Gentile world power through the judgments of the Tribulation. g). Lot, as a type of the unfaithful Christian, was removed from Sodom before the destruction of the city could begin. In the same way, in the antitype, the unfaithful Christian along with the faithful Christian will be removed from the earth, ‘we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ’, before the Tribulation begins – Lk 17:26 And as it was in the days of Noah, so it will be also in the days of the Son of Man: 27 They ate, they drank, they married wives, they were given in marriage, until the day that Noah entered the ark, and the flood came and destroyed them all. 28 Likewise as it was also in the days of Lot: They ate, they drank, they bought, they sold, they planted, they built; 29 but on the day that Lot went out of Sodom it rained fire and brimstone from heaven and destroyed them all. 30 Even so will it be in the day when the Son of Man is revealed. The warning in v26-27 is for the nation of Israel who will go through the Tribulation, pictured through Noah going through the flood and the warning in v28 and 29 is for Christians pictured through Lot who ‘went out of Sodom’ before the city and its inhabitants were destroyed. h). And we are told that the events typified in these 2 examples will come to pass ‘in the day when the Son of Man is revealed.’ And we will remember from last time that the Book of the Revelation is a Book about the revealing or unveiling of the Christ, the Son of Man, and that the revealing of the Christ will begin with the resurrection/rapture of the Church for the purpose of all Christians being judged. i). And if we return for a moment to the foundational types that lay out the sequencing for these events, we will remember this – Ge 5:23 So all the days of Enoch were three hundred and sixty-five years. 24 And Enoch walked with God; and he was not, for God took him. Enoch was the 7th generation from Adam, with the number 7 giving us completeness of that which is in view. So, after a complete period of time, Enoch, providing the foundational type all Christians, was removed from the earth alive into heaven. Then – Ge 6:13 And God said to Noah, “The end of all flesh has come before Me, for the earth is filled with violence through them; and behold, I will destroy them with the earth. 14 Make yourself an ark of gopherwood; make rooms in the ark, and cover it inside and outside with pitch. Noah is the 10th generation from Adam, with 10 being another number showing completion. So, after a complete period of time, a period of time completed after the removal of Enoch alive into heaven, God would destroy the earth with a flood, with Noah and his family taken through the flood to a new beginning, typifying the nation of Israel who will come through the Great Tribulation to the new beginning of the Millennial Kingdom. j). And this sequence of events is succinctly put in the type from the Book of Ruth – Ru 3:6 So she went down to the threshing floor and did according to all that her mother-in-law instructed her………..11 And now, my daughter, do not fear. I will do for you all that you request, for all the people of my town know that you are a virtuous woman…….18 Then she said, “Sit still, my daughter, until you know how the matter will turn out; for the man will not rest until he has concluded the matter this day.” So, the sequencing of events given through the Scriptural types is very clear. All Christians, the dead in Christ and all those alive at the time, both faithful and unfaithful, will be removed into the heavens [for judgment] prior to the Tribulation. j). Let’s go back to the account of Lot for a moment – Ge 19:25 So He overthrew those cities, all the plain, all the inhabitants of the cities, and what grew on the ground.26 But his wife looked back behind him, and she became a pillar of salt…………… Lk 17:32 Remember Lot's wife. 33 Whoever seeks to save his life [soul] will lose it, and whoever loses his life [soul] will preserve it. 34 I tell you, in that night there will be two men in one bed: the one will be taken and the other will be left. 35 Two women will be grinding together: the one will be taken and the other left. 36 Two men will be in the field: the one will be taken and the other left.” Lot and his wife present 2 facets of the same picture. In the verses from Luke Chapter 17 remembering Lot’s wife is directly linked to saving our soulical life now and losing that life in the age to come or losing our soulical life now, denying our self and taking up our cross, and gaining that life in the age to come. k). In the Genesis account Lot’s wife is consumed along with the very thing to which she gave her attention. She looked back longingly to that which was about to be destroyed, seeking to save her soulical life, and consequently was overcome by it – Ro 12:2 And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, 1 Jn 2:15 Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. 16 For all that is in the world—the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life—is not of the Father but is of the world. 17 And the world is passing away, and the lust of it; but he who does the will of God abides forever. Jas 4:4 Adulterers and adulteresses! Do you not know that friendship with the world is enmity with God? Whoever therefore wants to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God. And in being overcome by that which was about to be destroyed, Lot’s wife typifies the unfaithful Christian of 1 Corinthians Chapter 3 whose works are burned. However, we will also remember from those verses, that the Christian whose works are burned will himself be delivered from that burning, and in this we find the other facet of the picture given to us through the experience of both Lot and his wife – Ge 19:30 Then Lot went up out of Zoar and dwelt in the mountain, and his two daughters were with him; for he was afraid to dwell in Zoar. And he and his two daughters dwelt in a cave. Lot was removed from the city before the destruction of Sodom and the cities of the plain, but his subsequent location, although on the mountain to which he had been told to flee, was in a cave – in a place of darkness and shame. l). And the teaching derived from the typology is pretty clear. If our focus is on the world, allowing ourselves to be governed by our soulical man, then we will be overcome, pictured through Lot’s wife, and this will be the cause of our suffering loss at the Judgment Seat when our works are tested and subsequently burned – we will be overcome by that to which we have given our attention, and consequently, rather than having a position of honor and glory with Christ in the Kingdom Age we will find ourselves in a place of darkness and shame, pictured through Lot. m). However, should our works emanate from faith and be found to be of gold, silver, precious stones when tested by fire, then our experience will parallel the experience of Abraham whose location, following the destruction of the cities of the plain, was diametrically opposite to that of Lot – Ge 19:27 And Abraham went early in the morning to the place [in the hill country, on top of the mountain] where he had stood [and had been standing for a long time] before the Lord. 28 Then he looked toward Sodom and Gomorrah, and toward all the land of the plain; and he saw, and behold, the smoke of the land which went up like the smoke of a furnace. 3). And it is that Day when the works of every Christian will be tested by fire that the Book of the Revelation of Jesus Christ finds its beginning – Re 1:9 I, John, both your brother and companion in the tribulation and kingdom and patience of Jesus Christ, was on the island that is called Patmos for the word of God and for the testimony of Jesus Christ. 10 I was in the Spirit on the Lord's Day, and I heard behind me a loud voice, as of a trumpet, 11 saying, “I am the Alpha and the Omega, the First and the Last,” and, “What you see, write in a book and send it to the seven churches which are in Asia: to Ephesus, to Smyrna, to Pergamos, to Thyatira, to Sardis, to Philadelphia, and to Laodicea.” 1 Th 4:15 For this we say to you by the word of the Lord, that we who are alive and remain until the coming of the Lord will by no means precede those who are asleep. 16 For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of an archangel, and with the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first. 17 Then we who are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And thus we shall always be with the Lord. Re 4:1 After these things I looked, and behold, a door standing open in heaven. And the first voice which I heard was like a trumpet speaking with me, saying, “Come up here, and I will show you things which must take place after this.” All 3 sets of verses here make reference to the sound of a trumpet in relation to Christians and the trumpet on each occasion signifies only one thing – the resurrection/rapture of the Church for the purpose we have already seen in 1 Corinthians Chapter 3 and 2 Corinthians Chapter 5. a). The trumpet of God which precedes the dead in Christ rising first and then those who remain caught up together with them to meet the Lord in the air, is the same ‘loud voice, as of a trumpet’ that John heard, as he recorded in Revelation Chapter 1 and Revelation Chapter 4. And John, having heard the voice like a trumpet – Re 1:12 Then I turned to see the voice that spoke with me. And having turned I saw seven golden lampstands, 13 and in the midst of the seven lampstands One like the Son of Man, clothed with a garment down to the feet and girded about the chest with a golden band. 14 His head and hair were white like wool, as white as snow, and His eyes like a flame of fire; 15 His feet were like fine brass, as if refined in a furnace, and His voice as the sound of many waters; 16 He had in His right hand seven stars, out of His mouth went a sharp two-edged sword, and His countenance was like the sun shining in its strength. And that which John saw as he turned was the glorified Christ seen to be the One from everlasting, the One who is the Judge of all the earth. And we are not left in any doubt as to what this scene portends as the mystery of the 7 stars and the 7 golden lampstands is opened to our understanding – Re 1:20 The mystery of the seven stars which you saw in My right hand, and the seven golden lampstands: The seven stars are the angels of the seven churches, and the seven lampstands which you saw are the seven churches. What John saw then as he turned around after the voice like a trumpet is the Christ, the Ancient of Days, arrayed as Judge ‘in the midst’ of the 7 churches. What he saw was that which Paul made known in 2 Corinthians Chapter 5, all Christians appearing before the Judgment Seat of Christ to give an account of what they had done in the body whether good or bad. b). The One into whose hands all judgment has been committed is seen to have ‘eyes like a flame of fire’, which can only reference the ‘fire’ that will test each one’s work of what sort it is from 1 Corinthians Chapter 3. c). Every Christian then will be judged by the Word made Flesh in accordance with the written word which is alive. c). So then, following the voice ‘like a trumpet’ the complete Church pictured through the 7 Churches, is seen in Christ’s presence, a scene that is entirely judicial, entirely to do with the just recompense of reward as the Lord deals with all His household servants –Mt 25:21 His lord said to him, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant; you were faithful over a few things, I will make you ruler over many things. Enter into the joy of your lord.’………….26 “But his lord answered and said to him, ‘You wicked and lazy servant,………….. 30 And cast the unprofitable servant into the outer darkness. There will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.’ d). In the verses from Revelation Chapter 4 the beginning point is the same, And the first voice which I heard was like a trumpet speaking with me, saying, “Come up here – it is the resurrection/rapture of the Church for the purpose of judgment, but Chapter 4 then moves to events that will follow the completion of judgment - I will show you things which must take place after this.” And let’s be quite clear that what John saw and then recorded in his letter to the 7 churches was the judgment of all Christians at the end of this dispensation exactly as it will take place. e). How is such a thing possible? Because with God, as Man has been allowed to glimpse, time is relative and the key to understanding this is found in - I was in the Spirit on the Lord's Day, [Lit. the Day of the Lord]. John was on the island called Patmos for a specifically stated purpose – Re 1:9 I, John, both your brother and companion in the tribulation and kingdom and patience of Jesus Christ, was on the island that is called Patmos for the word of God and for the testimony of Jesus Christ. As the Scripture says, he was there ‘for the word of God and for the testimony of Jesus Christ’. And in order for him to receive that which God had for him he was moved, by the power of the Spirit, through time and space to the events of the Judgment Seat of Christ, finding himself in the Day of the Lord as it exists in heaven. An experience not unlike Paul’s when he was taken from Arabia into the third heaven – 2 Co 12:2 I know a man in Christ who fourteen years ago—whether in the body I do not know, or whether out of the body I do not know, God knows—such a one was caught up to the third heaven. 3 And I know such a man—whether in the body or out of the body I do not know, God knows— 4 how he was caught up into Paradise and heard inexpressible words, which it is not lawful for a man to utter. At the end of this dispensation all Christians, the dead in Christ and those who remain, will be removed from Man’s Day, which will continue on the earth for approximately another 7 years, and having been removed from Man’s Day all Christians, like John, will find themselves in the Lord’s Day. f). With respect to heaven it has always been the Lord’s Day as Man’s Day is something peculiar to the earth alone during the time it is ruled by Satan. g). In that future Day, the Day of the Lord, as it presently exists in heaven, will then be manifest in the earth and it will be the Lord’s Day on earth as it is in heaven. h). And as we have noted before with John’s experience comes the somewhat shocking realization that when John saw the 7 churches, all Christians, we were there. i). That which John recorded about the judgment of the Church was not an insight into what may happen, it is a record of what did happen and therefore an exact record of what will yet take place as we find ourselves as participants in it. What has already been seen to have taken place cannot change and will be fulfilled just as John recorded it. We will continue with this next time though – if the Lord is willing.