The Judgement Seat of Christ - 1/4/26 - Pastor Charlie Branch

Welcome to the podcast of Meadows

Baptist Church of Walnut Cove, North

Carolina. We're so glad you joined us

today. If you enjoy today's message, be

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with your friends. Now, let's join

Pastor Charlie Branch with a word from

God.

When you find your seat this morning, if

you would turn with me to the book of

First Corinthians, 1 Corinthians,

1 Corinthians 3 · chapter mention

chapter 3,

1 Corinthians chapter 3, and I'm only

1 Corinthians 3 · chapter mention

preaching today uh in the worship hour

out of chapter 4. And I was just praying

about where the Lord have us to be for

Sunday school. Not really ready to uh

enter back into Daniel as of yet. I

don't know that the Lord's going to let

us finish that. But uh I just been

trying to mind the Lord as he gives me

liberty. And I think it's been

beneficial to us and we not been staying

in the same place every week and just

kind of trying to keep it uh changed up

and stay where the Lord wants us to be

at. And I want to deal with a subject

this morning if I could. Uh, I want to

deal with the subject and I want to look

at it from this text. We'll look at it

from another text and then maybe compare

it to some other text here. And I really

just got a thought on my heart. I don't

have a whole lot of u notes per se, but

I want to share with you what what I

believe the Lord's put on my heart here

in 1 Corinthians 3 verse number 11. 1

Corinthians 3 verse number 11. And uh,

Amen. Good to see brother Doug here with

us this morning. And uh amen.

All right, let's look here. 1

Corinthians 3 verse number 11.

Love this verse. Amen. Bible says, "For

other foundation can no man lay than

that that is laid, which is Jesus

Christ." Now if any man build upon this

foundation, gold, silver, precious

stones, wood, hay, or stubble, every

man's work shall be made manifest. For

the day shall declare it, because it

shall be revealed by fire. The fire

shall try every man's work of what sword

it is. If any man's work abide which he

hath built thereupon, he shall receive a

reward. And if any man's work shall be

burned, he shall suffer loss. But he

himself shall be saved, yet so as by

fire. And I want to deal this morning,

if you know this text, you know what

we're talking about today. I want to

deal with the judgment seat of Christ.

And uh I'm not going to say probably not

going to say anything that you don't

already know, but I want to refresh our

minds concerning this topic. Now, I

really believe that it is the the

judgment seat that is the driving force

of the believer. And I think I think

that Paul emphasizes that. We'll deal

with that in just a minute. But I I

really believe the reason why Christians

in this day and time are so apathetic is

because they do not have a good

understanding of the judgment seat. I

think that it's not in the forefront of

their mind. Now, I'll say this. When it

comes to the fact of the judgment seat,

it ought to be something that crosses

our mind every day of our life because

you understand that everything you do in

this life is going to stand at this

place. If you're born again, you will

stand here at the judgment seat. And I

want to lay out just a couple of things

here uh just a minute. I want to give

you three things here and then we'll

talk about this. And I kind of want to

just take some time, maybe if you have

some questions about the judgment seat,

take time and answer those this morning

if I may. But I want you to notice here

in our text, 1 Corinthians 3, verse

number 10, there is a there's a burden

that's expressed in verse number 10. And

uh you need to see this, okay? To

understand uh where we're headed here.

The Bible said in verse 10, Paul, of

course, is talking to the Corinthians

here. through the Corinthians in this

chapter, they've had trouble with uh

distinguishing themselves based upon the

men that were preaching to them or their

pastor or who it was that was preaching

when they got saved. And he tells them

they're carnal. He said, "You're you're

divided because of who you were saved

under." And he says this in verse number

nine, he said, "For you're laborers

together with God. You're God's

husbandry. You're God's building

according to the grace of God which is

given unto me as a wise master builder.

I have laid the foundation, and another

buildth there on. Verse, let's that last

phrase. But let every man take heed how

he buildth their own. Now, the literal

interpretation of this, I believe Paul

was dealing with some men in the

Corinthian church that were trying to

undermine the doctrine that Paul had

preached unto them. and they were

building a foundation or they were

building a building that did not fit the

foundation that Paul was trying to lay

for this church. But I believe the

application sense of this that I want to

make this morning and I believe that

it's really seen in verse number 10.

Notice that those first four words of

that phrase, but let every man you see

you are responsible for your Christian

life this morning.

>> And that is the burden of the child of

God. You are responsible for what you

do, and you're responsible for what you

don't do as a child of God. And notice

what he says. Let every man take heed

how he buildth their pawn. Now, I I'm

going to try not to give away my message

today and giving you this, but you

understand that Paul is is entrusted. He

was entrusted, he was inspired by the

Holy Ghost to write at least 13 epistles

of the New Testament. The foundation of

the church is built upon what Paul

preached and what he taught in his

letters. And when he says in verse

number 11, notice what the Bible says.

He says, "For other foundation can no

man lay than that is laid, which is

Jesus Christ." And of course, Paul here

has taken the foundation of the gospel,

the mysteries, Amen. We'll deal with

that in the worship service today. But

these mysteries that were revealed unto

him, he has taken that and laid the

foundation for the church. And so there

is this this burden here. He says, "Let

every man take heed how he buildth there

upon." So there's the responsibility

that you and I have to build properly

upon that foundation. And then I would

say this, there's not only the the the

burden here, but there's the building.

Okay? So the foundation is laid in verse

number 11. Now notice verse 12. Now if

what any man so once again this thought

is again relayed here that it is a

personal responsibility

not only for us it's the burden is

personal but the building is personal.

If your life is going to be built up in

Jesus Christ it's going to be up to you

to do that personally. Now you say

preacher isn't it up to you to preach

the word? It is up to me to preach the

word to you. But what you do with that

word that I preach is totally up to you.

There's people that have can sit under

the best preaching in the world uh their

entire life and because they choose not

to to receive it and to apply it. There

is no building that takes place. Now

notice what he says here in this text.

Now verse 12, he says, "Now if any man

build upon this foundation which is

Jesus Christ, that is salvation, gold,

silver, precious stones, wood, hay, and

stubble." Now this is speaking here of

our life. You've got three different

descriptions here of those things which

are holy and then three different

descriptions here of things which are

unholy. And this begins the the doctrine

here of the judgment seat. This is the

first place that you see this dealt with

in scripture. And so this here is is the

the doctrine of this building. Okay? The

building of our life. Now I've mentioned

preached this here before at the church

there in the book of Timothy. I'm going

to go there for just a minute. The book

of Timothy, 2 Timothy,

chapter number two, verse number 19.

Now, I love I love Paul's writings. They

just coincide one with another. 2

2 Timothy 2:1

Timothy 2:1 19. Nevertheless, the what?

The foundation. That's Christ. Stand

assure having this shield. The Lord

knoweth them that are his. And let

everyone that nameth the name of Christ

depart from iniquity. Verse 20. But in a

great house there are not only vessels

of gold and of silver but also of wood

and of earth and some to honor and some

to dishonor. So the imagery is the same.

There are things that are holy and there

are things that are unholy. There are

things that are righteous and things

that are unrighteous. Now we understand

that in our life there's things that are

necessity. All right? Bible says Bible

teaches if any man doesn't work he's not

going to eat. Amen. That's paraphrasing.

That's just what the Bible says. And so

we know that there's necessary evils.

Okay, there's the the necessity of

labor. There's the necessity of money.

We we talked about that here before at

the church that money is a necessary

evil that was given to us because of

sin. There would be no need for

currency. If there had not been sin,

we've dealt with that here before

because if Adam and Eve hadn't sinned in

the garden, the garden would have

supplied the needs of the entire human

race. And so the all of these necessary

evils that we have are not necessarily

sin in themselves, but when they get out

of order is when they become sin. Now

back to our text in 1 Corinthians 3, he

says, "Now any if any man build upon

this foundation," and this is what I

want you to get before I go any further.

Okay? All of this stuff, okay? the good,

the bad, the righteous, the unrighteous,

the holy, and the unholy. It can all be

used to build. It's just like the

imagery. I was thinking about this when

I was studying this, but you remember

the story of the three little pigs.

One built his house with straw, one

built his house with wood, one built his

house with bricks. What was the

difference?

this text here. He's talking about what

we're going to walk through the judgment

with. So, I'm going give you the the

third thing here and then we'll talk a

little more about the judgment seat.

Okay? So, there's the burden here.

There's the building. What's built upon?

We're the foundation is Jesus. What we

build upon it is either that which

pleases God or that which displeases

God. But then there is the burning.

Notice this in verse 13. Every man's

work shall be made manifest. For the day

shall declare it. That word declare

means to make plain. It's going to show

up clearly. It's going to be obvious

what people did in their life at the

judgment seat. Look what he says.

Because it shall be revealed by fire and

the fire shall try every man's work of

what sort it is. If any man's work abide

which heath built thereupon, he shall

receive a war reward. And if any man's

work shall be burned, he shall suffer

loss. But he himself shall be saved yet

so as by fire. Okay. So, the judgment

seat, what is it? Who's going to be

there? When is it? What does it apply

to? Well, first of all, the judgment

seat is this. The judgment seat is the

judgment of those who are saved by the

grace of God in the dispensation of

grace. All right? Those who have trusted

Christ from the time when the Holy

Spirit was given in the book of Acts

until the time that Jesus returns again

in the rapture, that period is going to

be every person that's saved will stand

before the judgment seat of Christ. The

church, it is the judgment of the

church. Okay? And so what what is it?

It's the judgment of the church. When is

it? It's going to happen immediately

after the rapture. All right? that when

the rapture takes place, there's the

seven years of tribulation. There's a,

you know, we don't know exactly the

amount of time that's going to transpire

between the rapture and then the

beginning of that seven years, but I

believe it's really I I think it's kind

of the marking point. I think when the

rapture takes place, it's immediately

going to go into that seven years. And

so during that seven years, we're going

to be in heaven with Christ. And so

there's the place of the judgment seat.

We'll be there with him in heaven, and

we will be judged there. We will stand

before him. The Bible says to receive

the things that were done in our body,

whether they be good or bad. Paul deals

with that in the book of 2 Corinthians.

I'm going to go there in just a minute.

All right. Now, a common misconception

about the judgment seat. All right.

Most people, all right, I've heard a lot

of preachers say this. Okay. There's a

lot of people that believe at the

judgment seat that God is going to put

all of our works on display.

that every sin a child of God commits,

that every time they omitted to do the

will of God and they committed sins

against the will of God, that God will

put that on display for the entirety of

Christendom to see at the judgment seat.

Well, there's one problem with that.

That's not Bible.

>> And you say, "All right, well, what's

going to happen?" Notice the text again.

Verse 13. Every man's work shall be made

manifest. Now, it doesn't say that it's

to who it's going to be made manifest.

Look what the Bible says. 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.

Okay? So, I'm not going to te sit here

and stand here and tell you this morning

that others are not going to see what

you did. But I am going to tell you

this. This is what I'm going to tell

you. When you walk through that fire,

the only thing that's going to be left

is what you did for God. You're

>> right. And so the fire is going to take

care of all the sin.

>> Now, let me ask you something. All

right? You say, "Preacher, but I've been

told my whole life that my sin,

everything I did wrong is going to be

put on display." Well, let me ask you

this. All right? If Christ died for your

sin on the cross, does that not mean

that it's paid for?

>> And does the Bible not talking about

hide that that love will hide a

multitude of sins?

>> Right?

And if God is infinite in love, Christ

is the embodiment of love, and he takes

us to heaven, we're saved by grace, why

would God bring up our sin again?

>> To display that before the entirety of

the Christian, of the Christian people,

of the church. Why would he do that?

Because he died to save us from our sin.

The devil is the one that reminds us of

our sin.

And so why is it when we get there, why

would God declare what we what we did

before the entirety of of the church? I

just don't I really don't believe that.

Somebody might have Bible for that

better than myself, but I really don't

believe that. And so I believe here

what's going to happen is is that as we

go through that fire, all of the

wickedness is going to be burned up.

Everything that was done with the wrong

motive, the wrong method, the wrong

means, all of that's going to burn up.

Okay? I'll say more about that. Gold,

silver, and precious stones in a minute,

but all of that's going to burn up. And

what we come out the other side with is

what they're going to see.

>> So, here's what's going to be the

difference. What people's going to see

is whether or not you did anything for

Christ or not.

>> Whether or not your life exemplified a

fruitful ministry for the cause of

Christ. And so, I believe that's one of

the biggest misconceptions about the

judgment seat. But I will say this. All

right. The judgment seat is something

that we should fear. And when I say

fear, I don't mean that we should be

afraid of it. I think it's something

that should cause us to should cause us

to be stirred. Notice 2 Corinthians

2 Corinthians 5 · chapter mention

chapter 5.

Paul here deals with the doctrine of the

judgment seat. Once again,

2 Corinthians 5.

2 Corinthians 5 verse number N.

Wherefore we labor that whether present

or absent, we may be accepted of him,

not for salvation, but just that Christ

would be pleased with our ministry.

Verse 10. For we must all appear before

the judgment seat of Christ, that

everyone may receive the things done in

his body, according to that he hath

done, whether it be good or bad. Now

notice verse 11,

knowing therefore, notice that, knowing

therefore the terror of the Lord, we

persuade men.

Now, there's two schools of thought on

verse number 11. Some say the terror of

the Lord is the judgment of sinners in

hell and thus they are persuading

sinners to be saved. But I don't believe

that's the context of the scripture. The

second school of thought is that that

terror there is not speaking that the

word terror in the Bible literally

speaks of the greatness great and

terrible. You've heard that the great

and terrible king. So it means the

greatness, the holiness, the

righteousness of God. Knowing the terror

of the Lord, we persuade men. He so

basically what he's saying here is that

we are we are expressing to you all

right I'm telling you that you're going

to stand before God in his greatness in

his holiness he is the great and

terrible God and he said knowing that

greatness he said we persuade men notice

what he says but we are made manifest

unto God and I trust also are made

manifest in your consciences and so he's

he's vindicating his ministry to them he

says my desire is to persuade you, to

push you. Now, people would say this,

you know, well, that what you preach is

too pushy. What you believe is you're

trying to push that on me. Well, be

honest with you, if you're saved, a man,

you ought to desire to have truth placed

in placed in your lap.

>> Here's the thing about it. I've never

seen a true child of God that desired to

get close to God. When somebody placed

biblical truth in their lap that they

said, "No, I don't want to do that."

Anybody that wants to draw closer to God

will take truth and listen to that.

>> I'll say this in my life and and I'll

give this example and we'll move on here

this morning. But in my life, I I have

tried my very best in my short ministry

to take advice from just about every

preacher that I've come across

for this reason because I know that

they're in the ministry that I have. Mo,

they've been doing it longer than I

have. And you know what? I always take

their advice. And you say, "Well, what

if it's bad?" Well, I take their advice

and I put it up with this book.

>> You see, here's the thing about it. Just

because something don't sound right to

me, does not mean it's wrong.

>> Right?

>> Just because something doesn't fit the

narrative, see, here's what happens. All

right? And I I'm not on a soap box this

morning. I'm just trying to help you.

Okay? What happens is is we have a

presumption about the word of God. We

have a presupposition.

All right, about the Bible. Okay, and we

look at the Bible through Baptist

glasses, right?

>> But when you take the Baptist glasses

off and you say, "What does the Bible

really say? What does it really mean?"

Regardless of what mom and daddy said,

regardless of what preachers and pastors

of days gone by said, "What does the

Bible say?"

>> Yeah.

>> And you know what? That's where the

final authority comes from. It's not

about what's always been done. It's not

about what always has been said. It's

about what the Bible says. And so when

Paul says here, he says, "Knowing the

ter of the Lord," that ought to be the

ending of all of our decisions when it

comes to scripture. When we make a

decision about what the Bible says, all

right, this is this ought to be the

first thing that we say in our heart,

okay? Is this is what I'm what I believe

this text means. Is this going to draw

me closer to God? Because if it's if

it's breeding if it's breeding

complacency and contentment, I'll be

honest with you, it's probably not of

God.

>> Right?

>> You say, you say, "Preacher, well, well,

content Bible says that godliness with

contentment is great gain." I'm not

talking about contentment in worldly

things.

>> I'm talking about contentment in

spiritual things. You see, we're to

never stop growing.

>> We're to never stop going. But the

reason many do is because they have

misconceptions about what the Bible

really says. And so let me give you this

this thought about this burning here.

Verse number 12 of 1 Corinthians 3.

Okay. So we mentioned here Paul is

burdened about the judgment seat. I'm

burdened by the judgment seat. You

understand? I give an account for what

goes on at this place there.

>> That's a fearful thing.

And he says this, "Now if any man build

upon this foundation, gold, silver, and

precious stones, wood, hay, or stubble,

every man's work shall be made

manifest." So let me ask you this

question. How much of what you've done

in your life to this point is going to

burn up?

Let me ask myself the question. How much

of my life, what I've done in my life to

this point is going to burn up? You say,

"Preacher, well, I've tried my best to

do the will of God." Well, you know, it

goes beyond that.

>> This is what this is where we really

really miss this on the judgment seat.

You see, it's not just what we do. It's

not even just how we do it.

>> It's why we do it,

>> right?

>> I could stand here and preach to you for

the rest of my life and preach truth and

never miss a service, never miss a

sermon, never say anything wrong. But if

I do it with a motive of pride in my

heart of always just wanting to be right

>> or always just wanting somebody to hear

what I have to say. But you see, it goes

beyond my preaching. It goes to my

family.

>> If my motive to lead my wife and to

guide my children in this life is just

so I look good,

Amen.

then that that's going to burn up.

You're

>> right.

the works that I do with a motive for

self-promotion and self-gratification

will burn up. Now, notice this. All

right? What is built? There's gold,

silver, precious stones. There's wood,

hay, and stubble. Now, this is not mine.

I borrowed this, but I think this is

very good. Okay? So, the description

when you think about the first there

that's mentioned, I don't know if you

have a Scoffield Bible, but if you have

a Scoffield Bible, I love the way that

this is laid out. You notice there that

gold is right above the wood, silver is

right above hay, and the precious stones

there, that precious starch right above

the stubble. Now, what does that mean?

Okay, so I'm not saying that that's

literal, but there is a correlation.

Okay, there's a step down. Gold, silver,

precious stones, wood, hay, and stubble.

We'd all agree that wood's better than

hay

>> and hay's better than stubble. Okay, and

that gold's better than silver. Okay,

let's let's just put that aside. That's

what the point I'm trying to make. So

what does gold represent in the

scripture? Well, gold represents deity.

It's God.

The purest of all pure elements is gold.

Then what does wood represent?

Represents man.

You see when you look in the tabernacle

that that altar, what was it? It was it

was that wood overlaid with gold. What

was that representing? It was

representing the person of Jesus Christ.

that there was deity, God the Father,

Amen, in humanity.

And so what you have here in this text

is that gold represents the works of

God. What I do for God and what God does

through me for him. That gold if you

build upon this foundation go, that's

the works of God. Well, would and vice

versa is the works of man.

>> It's the works of the flesh. It's what I

accomplish on my own in my own power.

See, here's the thing about it. You can

accomplish a lot on your own.

>> I' I would say this, and I think I said

this just the other day at the church. I

would say it's a greater failure to be

successful in something that is not the

will of God than it is to just be a

failure.

>> Because it's something that's going to

burn up. You say, "Well, wood's better

than hay." But the truth is wood will

burn up in the same fire that hay will.

>> Notice this. There is the gold there. It

represents the the works of God. And

then there is the wood that represents

the works of man. Gold really would

represent, I guess you would say, the

work that God does through us. You see,

we're we're unable to do anything

without him. Jesus said that in John 15.

For without me, you can do nothing. You

got to abide in the vine. That's what he

said. Amen. So notice this. So then

there's the silver and then there's hay.

Now, when you look at silver in the

Bible, it's always a type of redemption.

Silver always represents the redemptive

work. And I've not got time to deal with

that this morning, but silver represents

the redemptive work of salvation. And

then hay represents, you think about

this, it's a it's a food. It's a what?

It's what fed the animals. You think

about the manger. That manger filled

with hay. The bread of life was laid in

the manger. And so that hay represents.

And so what this comes out to is is that

their silver is that redemptive work.

And hey, it's humanitarian aid.

It would be like feeding somebody a meal

versus giving somebody the bread of

life.

>> The foundation, gold, silver, precious

stones, wood, hay, or stubble. You see

that hay burns up because it's

temporary.

It supplies a need for own time. I can

give somebody a meal and you know what?

They'll get help for a period,

>> right?

But as that go as they go away from

that, if I do not fix their greater

need, they're going to need that over

again.

And you see, this is problem with a lot

of ministries in this day and time that

do the humanitarian stuff in the name of

Christ is because they do not operate in

the realm of spiritual things.

>> They're all about giving a meal. They're

all about, you know, you know, we want

to help, we want to clothe, you want to

feed, you want to do all of that. But if

they do not meet the spiritual need,

that person will continually come back

needing that same thing over again.

>> Right?

>> You understand it's spiritual people

that's the backbone of this nation, the

workforce. Amen. You realize that,

right? This this country fall apart if

it wasn't for Christians. It would work.

>> You're right.

>> I mean, that's just the truth. So,

there's the the gold and the wood, the

silver and the hay, and then there's

precious stones and stubble. Now, when I

think of stubble, I think of corn stalk

standing up in a field after a combine's

done went by. That's not what it is,

okay? Stubble is that mud, all right,

that they would use to make mortar and

brick in the word of God. They would use

it to build homes. They would use it to

build buildings. That stubble, that's

what that is. And so, the precious

stones, you know what that is? That's

all different manner of jewels and

things of that nature. Uh things that's

been made by fire. And so, here's what

that represents. Okay? Precious stones,

you've got you've got a separation here.

Precious stones, you know what those

are? Those are special distinct things.

>> You know, you think about a jewel, a

diamond, they all look different.

>> Not a single one of them is exactly the

same. But you know what? That stubble

they make that brick, you know what? All

them brick look exactly the same. You

know what? People that live, Christians

that live carnal lives, they all look

exactly the same. You're

>> right.

>> They're miserable. They're worldly. They

have no desire to serve God. And there's

no distinction. You see, this is what

we've lost in this day and time there.

The the preciousness of what's within us

is not showing on the outside. Salvation

is what creates in us new is what has

made us new, has given us new life. But

if we do not allow that new life to

show, this is what happens. We build

stubble instead of gathering up precious

stones. You know what? I would rather

I would rather have a box. All right,

let's just let's just make put this on

carnal terms. Make a carnal

illustration.

I would rather have a box that was full

of diamonds. It was this size

than have a building this size standing

full of bricks.

You're

>> right.

>> Bricks are good. You can build with

them. But you know what? After a while,

they're just going to deteriorate.

But you know what? Them boxes, ain't you

ladies? Those precious jewels, don't

they get passed down from generation to

generation, generation? You say, "What

are you leaving behind?"

>> You see, when you walk through the fire

one of these days,

you're either going to have something

that stays

or something that burns up.

>> You're either going to have something

that's valuable or something that's

worthless. Right?

>> You're going to either have something

that you can lay at the feet of Jesus

>> or you're going to have something that

leaves you the very minute you step foot

in that fire.

>> And so the judgment seat's going to

divide the men from the boys. It's going

to divide those who were serious and

those who weren't. You see, because the

opportunity is given to all of us. You

see, every person that walks through

that judgment seat is going to have the

exact same opportunity.

>> You're given the same life. You're given

the same breath. You were given the same

salvation and the same space. You say,

"Preacher, well, I didn't get to live

very long. I didn't get to live as long

as such and such." Yeah, but you got

life. You got a chance to do the will of

God. And the reason many people's lives

get cut short is because they've decided

they're never going to do the will of

God. And God says, "If you're not going

to do what I want you to, I'm not

obligated to leave you here."

Children of God cut their life short all

the time because, you know, there's many

different reasons. I was listening to a

a podcast on yesterday. One my

father-in-law, they they did yesterday

on physical fitness and he was he was

talking about preachers that died early

because they didn't take care of their

body.

I mean, it's all of these truths, okay?

All of this stuff interlocks. And they

made this statement, okay? And I'm not

not indicting nobody by this, but he

said, "We will we'll preach against all

these sins. We'll preach against, you

know, the sins of fornication and and

and drinking and smoking and all of that

stuff." He said, "And all the while the

congregation," he said, none of us are

in good health because we've we've we've

wasted ourselves eating ourselves to

death.

>> Right?

>> And so the same truth applies across the

board. Across the board. Okay? It does

not change. It does not change depending

on your circumstance. If you do not take

care of your physical life, you are not

obligated to continue in that. You are

not going to be promised to continue in

that. God is not obligated to take up

where you missed the mark

>> in your spiritual life. If you waste

your younger years, if you wasted your

younger years, if you waste your

middleage years, if you waste your older

years, God's not going to give you that

back.

>> Right? You are given the same

opportunity

>> and the judgment seat's going to tell

what you did with it.

>> I don't know about you, but it makes me

want to do something.

>> Amen.

>> Makes me want I tell you, it makes me

want to get straight in line

in every part of life. Because if I

stand before him and I've got nothing to

give him, if I spend my life in the

ministry and I've got nothing to show

for the ministry when I stand at the

judgment seat, I'm a failure.

>> Amen.

>> If I say I'm called to preach and I'm

pastoring this church and I pastor it

for 40 years, I hope I do. Praise God.

But if I've got nothing after that time

to show, I've been a failure.

>> I've failed you. I've failed God. I've

failed the church. if I do not have

anything

to show for that at the end.

The judgment seat said we'd have time

for questions, but I I got time for one.

Anybody got a question about the

judgment seat this morning? Want to

answer?

Well, it's all those everybody that's

going to walk through the fires saved.

>> And so, you know, the stubble, that's

the works that we do. Those things that

are not going to stand in the judgment.

You know, we can build a mansion on this

side. You know, we go to heaven,

somebody else is going to get it.

That's what Solomon said. Ecclesiastes

Ecclesiastes 3 · chapter mention

chapter 3. He said, "There's a vanity

I've seen under the sun." He said, he

said, "All this work and all this labor

I've done under the sun." He said, "I'm

just going to leave it to the man that's

after me." And he don't want it. He

don't care nothing about it. He's not

going to take care of it. What vainness

that is, isn't it? We better take We

better build up something we can take

with us. Amen.

>> Amen.

>> Amen. Father, thank you for this time.

Please help us in the worship service

today. I pray. I thank you for speaking

to my heart this morning. And Lord, I

want to leave something behind. But

Lord, I want to take something with me

and have something to give you there.

Some crowns to cast at your feet. Some

gold, silver, and precious stones to lay

there at your feet. Lord, I sure love

you. Thank you for loving us. Pray you'd

help us in the worship hour. We give you

thanks in Jesus name. Amen.

>> Thank you for joining our service today.

We'd love it if you'd join us in person

the next time you are able at Meadows

Baptist Church. Our physical address is

2988 Stewart Road in Walnut Cove, North

Carolina. Our service times are Sunday

school at 10:00 a.m., Sunday morning

worship at 11:00 a.m., Sunday evening

worship at 6:00 p.m., and Wednesday

evening Bible study at 7:00 p.m. For

more information, visit us at

meadowsbaptisturch.com.

Thanks again for tuning in.