Key points
- 1
1Believers will stand before the Bema Seat — not to determine salvation, but to receive reward or loss based on what they built their lives with after coming to Christ.
- 2
2The foundation is Christ alone; what matters is whether a believer builds on that foundation with things of eternal value or things that will burn up.
“every one of us that has a relationship with Jesus is gonna stand before judge Jesus. Not judge Judy, judge Jesus”
- 3
3God will ask every believer what they did with the time, talents, treasure, and testimony He entrusted to them.
- 4
4The millennial reign of Christ — a literal thousand-year kingdom on earth — precedes the final judgment, fulfilling God's covenant with Israel and demonstrating His grace.
- 5
5At the Great White Throne, everyone whose name is not in the Book of Life is judged by their own deeds and sentenced to the lake of fire — the complete and permanent removal of God's presence.
“God is love. Love is not God. God is more than love. God defines love, not the other way around”
“he didn't send anyone to hell. God wants you. The question at the great white throne is not whether God wanted you, it's whether you wanted him”
- 6
6Hell is not God torturing people — it is God withdrawing His presence entirely, leaving every longing, fear, and anxiety without any hope of relief.
“The absolute removal of God's presence completely, and that should terrify you”
“the king that sits in judgment over us in both of them is the suffering servant who went to the cross for us. We shouldn't be afraid of trusting him. Because the one that's gonna judge is the one that wants you”
Illustration
A man in Chandler, Arizona hit and killed a zebra that had escaped from the ostrich festival, used to illustrate how strange-sounding prophetic events do in fact happen
A story from life
The preacher describes avoiding his tax appointment two years in a row despite never having owed, used to illustrate how believers avoid thinking about judgment even when they have hope
- 7
7Salvation is available right now: confessing Jesus as Lord and believing God raised Him from the dead rescues anyone from the Great White Throne and brings them into relationship with God.
Related passage
“if I know what's happening next, it should impact what I do now”
Application
Pastor Bill calls everyone to honestly answer two questions before God: Which judgment seat are you heading to, and how are you doing with what He gave you? For those who already know Jesus, the challenge is to stop building with wood, hay, and straw — the temporary things the world celebrates — and to invest time, spiritual gifts, finances, and personal testimony in things of eternal value. That may look foolish to the world, but it is the wisest thing a believer can do. For those who are not yet sure they know Jesus, the invitation is simple and urgent: confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord, believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, and trust what He did — not what you've done — to make you right with God. The Judge is also the Savior, and He wants you.
