The Lord’s Work – Part 50
Romans 8:9 But ye are not in the flesh, but in the Spirit…
There are consequences for sin in the flesh, in the flesh. But at my final judgment, why should I receive for my sins in my body?
Romans 7:20 Now if I do that I would not, it is no more I that do it, but sin that dwelleth in me.
According to Scripture, I didn’t even do them! Someone else did them! Throw this case out. This man is innocent. We have identified the real criminal!
The same is not so for an unsaved man, but for a saved man, he is not complicit.
Why should I receive for my sins in my body? No matter how much I try to do good, my flesh still sins. I should have had to pay for my sins, but I was told I was forgiven, justified. So am I forgiven or not?
Acts 13:39 And by him all that believe are justified from all things, from which ye could not be justified by the law of Moses.
No matter how much I sin, I am not dealt with according to my sins. No matter what lifestyle I live, at my judgment, I will be justified, having received mercy and been forgiven. I am not judged according to my sins. I don’t have to PAY for my sins: death.
This is liberty from sin and death. This is Bible Salvation.
BUT, if we are talking about what things have been done in HIS body, that is, in my resurrection body… okay, I could stand before Him and be judged according to what was done IN THAT body. Because that body will have just been raised incorruptible. That body will have just had eternal life worked in it. And if any evil WERE rewarded to it, if there were any “harsh judgments” rewarded to it, it wouldn’t harm it one bit. Jesus told His disciples..
Luke 10:19 Behold, I give unto you power to tread on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy: and nothing shall by any means hurt you.
This, I think I can believe. And in fact, I do believe that I will not be judged in this carnal body, but in my resurrection body.
When was Jesus raised from the dead? On the third day…?
Luke 9:22 Saying, The Son of man must suffer many things, and be rejected of the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be slain, and be raised the third day.
Luke 18:33 And they shall scourge him, and put him to death: and the third day he shall rise again.
Luke 24:46 And said unto them, Thus it is written, and thus it behoved Christ to suffer, and to rise from the dead the third day:
Acts 10:40 Him God raised up the third day, and shewed him openly;
1 Corinthians 15:4 And that he was buried, and that he rose again the third day according to the scriptures:
Jesus was not raised “on the third day”. Every time it is, that He was raised “the third day”.
Jesus was not raised the 3rd hour, or the 9th hour of the 3rd day. Jesus was raised at the very beginning of the 3rd day. Right at the very transition from Saturday to Sunday.
Matthew 28:1-2 In the end of the sabbath, as it began to dawn toward the first day of the week, came Mary Magdalene and the other Mary to see the sepulchre. 2 And, behold, there was a great earthquake: for the angel of the Lord descended from heaven, and came and rolled back the stone from the door, and sat upon it.
That is when Jesus was raised. At the very beginning, at the dawning of the day.
Likewise, we are not going to be raised “on the last day”, we are going to be raised “at the last day”.
John 6:40 And this is the will of him that sent me, that every one which seeth the Son, and believeth on him, may have everlasting life: and I will raise him up at the last day.
Not IN the last day, or ON the last day.
John 6:44 No man can come to me, except the Father which hath sent me draw him: and I will raise him up at the last day. … 54 Whoso eateth my flesh, and drinketh my blood, hath eternal life; and I will raise him up at the last day.
John 11:24 Martha saith unto him, I know that he shall rise again in the resurrection at the last day.
There are two resurrections on the last day. The first resurrection is of the righteous AT the last day, i.e. at the beginning of the day. The second resurrection is of the wicked, near the end of the day.
Revelation 20:4-5 And I saw thrones, and they sat upon them, and judgment was given unto them: and I saw the souls of them that were beheaded for the witness of Jesus, and for the word of God, and which had not worshipped the beast, neither his image, neither had received his mark upon their foreheads, or in their hands; and they lived and reigned with Christ a thousand years [one day]. 5 But the rest of the dead lived not again until the thousand years were finished. This is the first resurrection. 6 Blessed and holy is he that hath part in the first resurrection: on such the second death hath no power, but they shall be priests of God and of Christ, and shall reign with him a thousand years.
We will be resurrected at the very beginning of the third day. Just as the Son (the Sun) is starting to rise.
But the lost, they are resurrected too late. The door is already shut.
John 12:48 He that rejecteth me, and receiveth not my words, hath one that judgeth him: the word that I have spoken, the same shall judge him in the last day.
At our judgment, we will have bodies. Mankind will not receive the things done in their bodies, without our bodies being present. We will have our bodies. But WE, will have the body of Christ. We will have new bodies. We receive them AT the last day. At the very beginning of the day, when the cock crows, when the trumpet sounds, the dead in Christ are raised incorruptible.
Resurrections and raptures in Scripture are often associated with trumps and earthquakes.
Matthew 27:50-53 Jesus, when he had cried again with a loud voice, yielded up the ghost. 51 And, behold, the veil of the temple was rent in twain from the top to the bottom; and the earth did quake, and the rocks rent; 52 And the graves were opened; and many bodies of the saints which slept arose, 53 And came out of the graves after his resurrection, and went into the holy city, and appeared unto many.
There was one earthquake when Jesus died, which opened the graves of the saints. There was another that woke them up, and while opening Christ’s grave.
Matthew 28:2 And, behold, there was a great earthquake: for the angel of the Lord descended from heaven, and came and rolled back the stone from the door, and sat upon it.
There were two earthquakes. Remember that.
Another earthquake is shown to free prisoners, just like they are used to loose the prisoners of death.
Acts 16:26 And suddenly there was a great earthquake, so that the foundations of the prison were shaken: and immediately all the doors were opened, and every one’s bands were loosed.
That’s a very interesting earthquake. Its kind of like someone had a key to the doors and bands.
Revelation 1:18 I am he that liveth, and was dead; and, behold, I am alive for evermore, Amen; and have the keys of hell and of death.
Another earthquake accompanies the resurrection of the two witnesses in the tribulation.
Revelation 11:11-13 And after three days and an half the Spirit of life from God entered into them, and they stood upon their feet; and great fear fell upon them which saw them. 12 And they heard a great voice from heaven saying unto them, Come up hither. And they ascended up to heaven in a cloud; and their enemies beheld them. 13 And the same hour was there a great earthquake, and the tenth part of the city fell, and in the earthquake were slain of men seven thousand: and the remnant were affrighted, and gave glory to the God of heaven.
That “come up hither”? That is the voice of a trumpet. A trumpet calls to the dead to wake up!
Revelation 4:1-2 After this I looked, and, behold, a door was opened in heaven: and the first voice which I heard was as it were of a trumpet talking with me; which said, Come up hither, and I will shew thee things which must be hereafter. 2 And immediately I was in the spirit: and, behold, a throne was set in heaven, and one sat on the throne.
1 Corinthians 15:52 In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump: for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed.
The sound of a trumpet from heaven, invokes an earthquake, and the dead (which are in the earth) wake up.
Matthew 25:5-7 While the bridegroom tarried, they all slumbered and slept. 6 And at midnight there was a cry made, Behold, the bridegroom cometh; go ye out to meet him. 7 Then all those virgins arose, and trimmed their lamps.
That cry is a trumpet and an earthquake. That is what wakes dead men up. What wakes up sleeping men in a city under attack? A trumpet. What wakes up men each day with the rising sun? A cock crowing.
These trumps and earthquakes, I believe, are “cock crowings”. The cock crows when the Sun rises. And when the cock crows, men wake up!
Mark 13:35 Watch ye therefore: for ye know not when the master of the house cometh, at even, or at midnight, or at the cockcrowing, or in the morning:
Whenever it is, the cock will crow (the trump will sound) and the dead in Christ will wake up! That is what a spiritual cock crowing is.
This little piece of understanding is very important. Do you know why? It’s the answer to one of the biggest “problems” in the whole Bible.
Matthew 26:34 Jesus said unto him, Verily I say unto thee, That this night, before the cock crow, thou shalt deny me thrice.
Luke 22:34 And he said, I tell thee, Peter, the cock shall not crow this day, before that thou shalt thrice deny that thou knowest me.
But in Mark, we have “contradiction”.
Mark 14:30 And Jesus saith unto him, Verily I say unto thee, That this day, even in this night, before the cock crow twice, thou shalt deny me thrice.
And in Mark 14:66-72, the cock indeed crowed once after only one denial, and the second time after the 2nd and 3rd denials.
This is one of the most highly counted “contradictions” or “errors” in the Bible. This is used to destroy men’s faith in a perfect Bible. Not just by unbelievers, but by “Christians”. And I’ve never heard an actual answer. This is a pretty big problem for Bible believers. This is a pretty obvious “error” in the Bible.
But this is no error at all.
In Mark, Jesus was speaking of the earthly cock, which in fact crowed ONCE before Peter denied thrice, but did not NOT crow AT ALL before he was finished denying Christ.
In Matthew and Luke, Jesus was speaking of the heavenly/spiritual cock crowing, the resurrection calls, which in fact did NOT occur until Jesus was on the cross – and then again there was a 2nd call when He was resurrected – both happening well AFTER Peter had been done denying Christ.
The simple answer to this “insurmountable contradiction”, is that there were two different cock crowings in question. One earthly, One heavenly.
At the very beginning of the day, when the Son rises, the cock will crow, the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised incorruptible.
I conclude that we will be judged in our resurrected, perfected, new bodies. It is in that body that we will stand before the Lord glorified. It is in that body that we will “receive the things done in His body” – the body of Christ.
There will be two types of bodies at the time of man’s judgment.
2 Timothy 4:1 I charge thee therefore before God, and the Lord Jesus Christ, who shall judge the quick and the dead at his appearing and his kingdom;
We will not be the dead. We will be the quick.
Ephesians 2:5 Even when we were dead in sins, hath quickened us together with Christ, (by grace ye are saved;)
We will not be judged in the old body and then be given a new body if we are deemed worthy. We will be judged as we are raised; that is, in a new and perfect body. In a body like His body. In fact, it is His body. Members of the body of Christ. We will be judged as sons of God.
1 John 3:2 Beloved, now are we the sons of God, and it doth not yet appear what we shall be: but we know that, when he shall appear, we shall be like him; for we shall see him as he is.
As soon as he comes back, at the beginning of the day, we will be raised, and/or changed, to be LIKE Him.
I believe that my new body will be judged. And that’s a pretty important detail, because… No flesh is standing up to the day of His coming.
Revelation 6:15-17 And the kings of the earth, and the great men, and the rich men, and the chief captains, and the mighty men, and every bondman, and every free man, hid themselves in the dens and in the rocks of the mountains; 16 And said to the mountains and rocks, Fall on us, and hide us from the face of him that sitteth on the throne, and from the wrath of the Lamb: 17 For the great day of his wrath is come; and who shall be able to stand?
And that’s a pretty important detail, because… that body will be tried by a consuming fire.
Malachi 3:2 But who may abide the day of his coming? and who shall stand when he appeareth? for he is like a refiner’s fire, and like fullers’ soap:
Psalms 130:3 If thou, LORD, shouldest mark iniquities, O Lord, who shall stand?
This sinful body would not be approved in the judgment. It would not stand in the judgment. It would not stand when the Lord marks iniquities.
The only other instance of “who shall stand” in the Bible:
Psalms 24:3-5 Who shall ascend into the hill of the LORD? or who shall stand in his holy place? 4 He that hath clean hands, and a pure heart; who hath not lifted up his soul unto vanity, nor sworn deceitfully. 5 He shall receive the blessing from the LORD, and righteousness from the God of his salvation.
Do you know who shall stand? The saved. The saved by grace, and no one else.
1 Corinthians 3:11-15 For other foundation can no man lay than that is laid, which is Jesus Christ. 12 Now if any man build upon this foundation gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, stubble; 13 Every man’s work shall be made manifest [whatever works were done in the body of Christ, those are the works that will be manifest]: for the day shall declare it, because it shall be revealed by fire; and the fire shall try every man’s work of what sort it is. 14 If any man’s work abide which he hath built thereupon, he shall receive a reward. 15 If any man’s work shall be burned, he shall suffer loss: but he himself shall be saved; yet so as by fire.
Whatever carnal things were done in the old body, they will be lost to the saved. What spiritual things were done in the body of Christ, those will be counted gain. That is the body that will be tried, and that is the body that we will be judged in – Christ’ body.
And… being in our new bodies, if any evil works, fleshly works, which we had previously done in our carnal body WERE rewarded – returned upon our own head – how could they possibly hurt us?
1 Corinthians 15:54-55 So when this corruptible shall have put on incorruption, and this mortal shall have put on immortality, then shall be brought to pass the saying that is written, Death is swallowed up in victory. 55 O death, where is thy sting? O grave, where is thy victory?
IF The Lord DOES reward my carnal evil works to me (“harsh judgment” where He rewards me with stripes, hunger and thirst, and even death), but they are rewarded to me while I’m not in the body of flesh, but in a new incorruptible spiritual body, made like unto the angels of God, quickened by the Spirit, being LIKE HIM, and being a living part of the body of Christ, how could those things hurt me? How can anything hurt me? Death itself cannot hurt me!
That is a big IF, and I don’t believe it is going to happen. Because my iniquities have been removed from me as far as the east is from the west.
1 Corinthians 3:10-14 According to the grace of God which is given unto me, as a wise masterbuilder, I [e.g. Paul] have laid the foundation, and another [e.g. Apollos] buildeth thereon. But let every man take heed how he buildeth thereupon. 11 For other foundation can no man lay than that is laid, which is Jesus Christ. 12 Now if any man build upon this foundation gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, stubble; 13 Every man’s work shall be made manifest: for the day shall declare it, because it shall be revealed by fire; and the fire shall try every man’s work of what sort it is. 14 If any man’s work abide which he hath built thereupon, he shall receive a reward.
The house is NJ – the body of Christ – the church, and the foundation is Jesus Christ. If one is joined to the foundation, a part of the foundation, an everlasting foundation, he is a saved man and part of the Church. We build the house with people, and with wisdom. We build it according to GRACE. But if any man (preacher or teacher) attempts to build the house with carnal things/works/wisdom, then those things will burn up, but the man (the foundation, the saved man) will be saved. But if he builds spiritual things, in the Lord Jesus’s body, things which abide the fire, they will abide, and he will receive a reward.
If there are any true good works (which are the living stones of the city itself, the members of the body of Christ), they will come through the fire. And for those works that abide (The Lord’s works), we will receive a reward.
1 Peter 4:17 For the time is come that judgment must begin at the house of God: and if it first begin at us, what shall the end be of them that obey not the gospel of God?
The house of God will be judged first. We will be judged based on what we did in that house, not in our earthly house.
May 15 2022
The Lord’s Work – Part 50
Downloadable Word document:
The Lord’s Work – Part 50
The Lord’s Work – Part 50
Romans 8:9 But ye are not in the flesh, but in the Spirit…
There are consequences for sin in the flesh, in the flesh. But at my final judgment, why should I receive for my sins in my body?
Romans 7:20 Now if I do that I would not, it is no more I that do it, but sin that dwelleth in me.
According to Scripture, I didn’t even do them! Someone else did them! Throw this case out. This man is innocent. We have identified the real criminal!
The same is not so for an unsaved man, but for a saved man, he is not complicit.
Why should I receive for my sins in my body? No matter how much I try to do good, my flesh still sins. I should have had to pay for my sins, but I was told I was forgiven, justified. So am I forgiven or not?
Acts 13:39 And by him all that believe are justified from all things, from which ye could not be justified by the law of Moses.
No matter how much I sin, I am not dealt with according to my sins. No matter what lifestyle I live, at my judgment, I will be justified, having received mercy and been forgiven. I am not judged according to my sins. I don’t have to PAY for my sins: death.
This is liberty from sin and death. This is Bible Salvation.
BUT, if we are talking about what things have been done in HIS body, that is, in my resurrection body… okay, I could stand before Him and be judged according to what was done IN THAT body. Because that body will have just been raised incorruptible. That body will have just had eternal life worked in it. And if any evil WERE rewarded to it, if there were any “harsh judgments” rewarded to it, it wouldn’t harm it one bit. Jesus told His disciples..
Luke 10:19 Behold, I give unto you power to tread on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy: and nothing shall by any means hurt you.
This, I think I can believe. And in fact, I do believe that I will not be judged in this carnal body, but in my resurrection body.
When was Jesus raised from the dead? On the third day…?
Luke 9:22 Saying, The Son of man must suffer many things, and be rejected of the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be slain, and be raised the third day.
Luke 18:33 And they shall scourge him, and put him to death: and the third day he shall rise again.
Luke 24:46 And said unto them, Thus it is written, and thus it behoved Christ to suffer, and to rise from the dead the third day:
Acts 10:40 Him God raised up the third day, and shewed him openly;
1 Corinthians 15:4 And that he was buried, and that he rose again the third day according to the scriptures:
Jesus was not raised “on the third day”. Every time it is, that He was raised “the third day”.
Jesus was not raised the 3rd hour, or the 9th hour of the 3rd day. Jesus was raised at the very beginning of the 3rd day. Right at the very transition from Saturday to Sunday.
Matthew 28:1-2 In the end of the sabbath, as it began to dawn toward the first day of the week, came Mary Magdalene and the other Mary to see the sepulchre. 2 And, behold, there was a great earthquake: for the angel of the Lord descended from heaven, and came and rolled back the stone from the door, and sat upon it.
That is when Jesus was raised. At the very beginning, at the dawning of the day.
Likewise, we are not going to be raised “on the last day”, we are going to be raised “at the last day”.
John 6:40 And this is the will of him that sent me, that every one which seeth the Son, and believeth on him, may have everlasting life: and I will raise him up at the last day.
Not IN the last day, or ON the last day.
John 6:44 No man can come to me, except the Father which hath sent me draw him: and I will raise him up at the last day. … 54 Whoso eateth my flesh, and drinketh my blood, hath eternal life; and I will raise him up at the last day.
John 11:24 Martha saith unto him, I know that he shall rise again in the resurrection at the last day.
There are two resurrections on the last day. The first resurrection is of the righteous AT the last day, i.e. at the beginning of the day. The second resurrection is of the wicked, near the end of the day.
Revelation 20:4-5 And I saw thrones, and they sat upon them, and judgment was given unto them: and I saw the souls of them that were beheaded for the witness of Jesus, and for the word of God, and which had not worshipped the beast, neither his image, neither had received his mark upon their foreheads, or in their hands; and they lived and reigned with Christ a thousand years [one day]. 5 But the rest of the dead lived not again until the thousand years were finished. This is the first resurrection. 6 Blessed and holy is he that hath part in the first resurrection: on such the second death hath no power, but they shall be priests of God and of Christ, and shall reign with him a thousand years.
We will be resurrected at the very beginning of the third day. Just as the Son (the Sun) is starting to rise.
But the lost, they are resurrected too late. The door is already shut.
John 12:48 He that rejecteth me, and receiveth not my words, hath one that judgeth him: the word that I have spoken, the same shall judge him in the last day.
At our judgment, we will have bodies. Mankind will not receive the things done in their bodies, without our bodies being present. We will have our bodies. But WE, will have the body of Christ. We will have new bodies. We receive them AT the last day. At the very beginning of the day, when the cock crows, when the trumpet sounds, the dead in Christ are raised incorruptible.
Resurrections and raptures in Scripture are often associated with trumps and earthquakes.
Matthew 27:50-53 Jesus, when he had cried again with a loud voice, yielded up the ghost. 51 And, behold, the veil of the temple was rent in twain from the top to the bottom; and the earth did quake, and the rocks rent; 52 And the graves were opened; and many bodies of the saints which slept arose, 53 And came out of the graves after his resurrection, and went into the holy city, and appeared unto many.
There was one earthquake when Jesus died, which opened the graves of the saints. There was another that woke them up, and while opening Christ’s grave.
Matthew 28:2 And, behold, there was a great earthquake: for the angel of the Lord descended from heaven, and came and rolled back the stone from the door, and sat upon it.
There were two earthquakes. Remember that.
Another earthquake is shown to free prisoners, just like they are used to loose the prisoners of death.
Acts 16:26 And suddenly there was a great earthquake, so that the foundations of the prison were shaken: and immediately all the doors were opened, and every one’s bands were loosed.
That’s a very interesting earthquake. Its kind of like someone had a key to the doors and bands.
Revelation 1:18 I am he that liveth, and was dead; and, behold, I am alive for evermore, Amen; and have the keys of hell and of death.
Another earthquake accompanies the resurrection of the two witnesses in the tribulation.
Revelation 11:11-13 And after three days and an half the Spirit of life from God entered into them, and they stood upon their feet; and great fear fell upon them which saw them. 12 And they heard a great voice from heaven saying unto them, Come up hither. And they ascended up to heaven in a cloud; and their enemies beheld them. 13 And the same hour was there a great earthquake, and the tenth part of the city fell, and in the earthquake were slain of men seven thousand: and the remnant were affrighted, and gave glory to the God of heaven.
That “come up hither”? That is the voice of a trumpet. A trumpet calls to the dead to wake up!
Revelation 4:1-2 After this I looked, and, behold, a door was opened in heaven: and the first voice which I heard was as it were of a trumpet talking with me; which said, Come up hither, and I will shew thee things which must be hereafter. 2 And immediately I was in the spirit: and, behold, a throne was set in heaven, and one sat on the throne.
1 Corinthians 15:52 In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump: for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed.
The sound of a trumpet from heaven, invokes an earthquake, and the dead (which are in the earth) wake up.
Matthew 25:5-7 While the bridegroom tarried, they all slumbered and slept. 6 And at midnight there was a cry made, Behold, the bridegroom cometh; go ye out to meet him. 7 Then all those virgins arose, and trimmed their lamps.
That cry is a trumpet and an earthquake. That is what wakes dead men up. What wakes up sleeping men in a city under attack? A trumpet. What wakes up men each day with the rising sun? A cock crowing.
These trumps and earthquakes, I believe, are “cock crowings”. The cock crows when the Sun rises. And when the cock crows, men wake up!
Mark 13:35 Watch ye therefore: for ye know not when the master of the house cometh, at even, or at midnight, or at the cockcrowing, or in the morning:
Whenever it is, the cock will crow (the trump will sound) and the dead in Christ will wake up! That is what a spiritual cock crowing is.
This little piece of understanding is very important. Do you know why? It’s the answer to one of the biggest “problems” in the whole Bible.
Matthew 26:34 Jesus said unto him, Verily I say unto thee, That this night, before the cock crow, thou shalt deny me thrice.
Luke 22:34 And he said, I tell thee, Peter, the cock shall not crow this day, before that thou shalt thrice deny that thou knowest me.
But in Mark, we have “contradiction”.
Mark 14:30 And Jesus saith unto him, Verily I say unto thee, That this day, even in this night, before the cock crow twice, thou shalt deny me thrice.
And in Mark 14:66-72, the cock indeed crowed once after only one denial, and the second time after the 2nd and 3rd denials.
This is one of the most highly counted “contradictions” or “errors” in the Bible. This is used to destroy men’s faith in a perfect Bible. Not just by unbelievers, but by “Christians”. And I’ve never heard an actual answer. This is a pretty big problem for Bible believers. This is a pretty obvious “error” in the Bible.
But this is no error at all.
In Mark, Jesus was speaking of the earthly cock, which in fact crowed ONCE before Peter denied thrice, but did not NOT crow AT ALL before he was finished denying Christ.
In Matthew and Luke, Jesus was speaking of the heavenly/spiritual cock crowing, the resurrection calls, which in fact did NOT occur until Jesus was on the cross – and then again there was a 2nd call when He was resurrected – both happening well AFTER Peter had been done denying Christ.
The simple answer to this “insurmountable contradiction”, is that there were two different cock crowings in question. One earthly, One heavenly.
At the very beginning of the day, when the Son rises, the cock will crow, the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised incorruptible.
I conclude that we will be judged in our resurrected, perfected, new bodies. It is in that body that we will stand before the Lord glorified. It is in that body that we will “receive the things done in His body” – the body of Christ.
There will be two types of bodies at the time of man’s judgment.
2 Timothy 4:1 I charge thee therefore before God, and the Lord Jesus Christ, who shall judge the quick and the dead at his appearing and his kingdom;
We will not be the dead. We will be the quick.
Ephesians 2:5 Even when we were dead in sins, hath quickened us together with Christ, (by grace ye are saved;)
We will not be judged in the old body and then be given a new body if we are deemed worthy. We will be judged as we are raised; that is, in a new and perfect body. In a body like His body. In fact, it is His body. Members of the body of Christ. We will be judged as sons of God.
1 John 3:2 Beloved, now are we the sons of God, and it doth not yet appear what we shall be: but we know that, when he shall appear, we shall be like him; for we shall see him as he is.
As soon as he comes back, at the beginning of the day, we will be raised, and/or changed, to be LIKE Him.
I believe that my new body will be judged. And that’s a pretty important detail, because… No flesh is standing up to the day of His coming.
Revelation 6:15-17 And the kings of the earth, and the great men, and the rich men, and the chief captains, and the mighty men, and every bondman, and every free man, hid themselves in the dens and in the rocks of the mountains; 16 And said to the mountains and rocks, Fall on us, and hide us from the face of him that sitteth on the throne, and from the wrath of the Lamb: 17 For the great day of his wrath is come; and who shall be able to stand?
And that’s a pretty important detail, because… that body will be tried by a consuming fire.
Malachi 3:2 But who may abide the day of his coming? and who shall stand when he appeareth? for he is like a refiner’s fire, and like fullers’ soap:
Psalms 130:3 If thou, LORD, shouldest mark iniquities, O Lord, who shall stand?
This sinful body would not be approved in the judgment. It would not stand in the judgment. It would not stand when the Lord marks iniquities.
The only other instance of “who shall stand” in the Bible:
Psalms 24:3-5 Who shall ascend into the hill of the LORD? or who shall stand in his holy place? 4 He that hath clean hands, and a pure heart; who hath not lifted up his soul unto vanity, nor sworn deceitfully. 5 He shall receive the blessing from the LORD, and righteousness from the God of his salvation.
Do you know who shall stand? The saved. The saved by grace, and no one else.
1 Corinthians 3:11-15 For other foundation can no man lay than that is laid, which is Jesus Christ. 12 Now if any man build upon this foundation gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, stubble; 13 Every man’s work shall be made manifest [whatever works were done in the body of Christ, those are the works that will be manifest]: for the day shall declare it, because it shall be revealed by fire; and the fire shall try every man’s work of what sort it is. 14 If any man’s work abide which he hath built thereupon, he shall receive a reward. 15 If any man’s work shall be burned, he shall suffer loss: but he himself shall be saved; yet so as by fire.
Whatever carnal things were done in the old body, they will be lost to the saved. What spiritual things were done in the body of Christ, those will be counted gain. That is the body that will be tried, and that is the body that we will be judged in – Christ’ body.
And… being in our new bodies, if any evil works, fleshly works, which we had previously done in our carnal body WERE rewarded – returned upon our own head – how could they possibly hurt us?
1 Corinthians 15:54-55 So when this corruptible shall have put on incorruption, and this mortal shall have put on immortality, then shall be brought to pass the saying that is written, Death is swallowed up in victory. 55 O death, where is thy sting? O grave, where is thy victory?
IF The Lord DOES reward my carnal evil works to me (“harsh judgment” where He rewards me with stripes, hunger and thirst, and even death), but they are rewarded to me while I’m not in the body of flesh, but in a new incorruptible spiritual body, made like unto the angels of God, quickened by the Spirit, being LIKE HIM, and being a living part of the body of Christ, how could those things hurt me? How can anything hurt me? Death itself cannot hurt me!
That is a big IF, and I don’t believe it is going to happen. Because my iniquities have been removed from me as far as the east is from the west.
1 Corinthians 3:10-14 According to the grace of God which is given unto me, as a wise masterbuilder, I [e.g. Paul] have laid the foundation, and another [e.g. Apollos] buildeth thereon. But let every man take heed how he buildeth thereupon. 11 For other foundation can no man lay than that is laid, which is Jesus Christ. 12 Now if any man build upon this foundation gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, stubble; 13 Every man’s work shall be made manifest: for the day shall declare it, because it shall be revealed by fire; and the fire shall try every man’s work of what sort it is. 14 If any man’s work abide which he hath built thereupon, he shall receive a reward.
The house is NJ – the body of Christ – the church, and the foundation is Jesus Christ. If one is joined to the foundation, a part of the foundation, an everlasting foundation, he is a saved man and part of the Church. We build the house with people, and with wisdom. We build it according to GRACE. But if any man (preacher or teacher) attempts to build the house with carnal things/works/wisdom, then those things will burn up, but the man (the foundation, the saved man) will be saved. But if he builds spiritual things, in the Lord Jesus’s body, things which abide the fire, they will abide, and he will receive a reward.
If there are any true good works (which are the living stones of the city itself, the members of the body of Christ), they will come through the fire. And for those works that abide (The Lord’s works), we will receive a reward.
1 Peter 4:17 For the time is come that judgment must begin at the house of God: and if it first begin at us, what shall the end be of them that obey not the gospel of God?
The house of God will be judged first. We will be judged based on what we did in that house, not in our earthly house.
By Pastor • Christian Doctrine, The Judgment • 0