Your Eternal Reward: Triumph and Tears at the Judgment Seat of Christ - Softcover

Lutzer, Erwin W.

Softcover

ISBN 10: 080241317X ISBN 13: 9780802413178

Verlag: Moody Publishers, 2015

Inhaltsangabe

<div><b>When we reflect on how we lived for Christ, we might weep on the other side of the celestial gates.</b><p>To their own detriment, many Christians have emptied the judgment seat of Christ of its meaning, living like they will never meet His knowing gaze. For this they may have tears in heaven.</p><p>In this provocative book, Dr. Erwin Lutzer argues that remorse in heaven awaits those who don&#8217;t live fully for God on earth. Exploring the often-overlooked Scriptures about reward and judgment for Christians, Dr. Lutzer answers questions like:</p><ul><li>How will believers be judged?</li><li>Do rewards for faithfulness vary?</li><li>If heaven is perfect, why do rewards even matter?</li></ul><p>His answers are immensely practical. <i>Your Eternal Reward </i>will prompt you to live more faithfully, whether in your conduct, your speech, or even your use of money, that you might enjoy heaven all the more.</p><p>What is sown on earth is reaped in heaven, and Dr. Lutzer will have you taking this truth to heart.</p></div>

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Über die Autorin bzw. den Autor

<div><b>DR. ERWIN W. LUTZER</b> is Pastor Emeritus of The Moody Church in Chicago where he served as the Senior Pastor for 36 years. A renowned theologian, Dr. Lutzer earned his BTh from Winnipeg Bible College, a ThM from Dallas Theological Seminary, a MA in philosophy from Loyola University, and an honorary LL.D. from the Simon Greenleaf School of Law. He is an award-winning author and the featured speaker on three radio programs that can be heard on more than 1000 outlets in the United States and around the world. Dr. Lutzer and his wife, Rebecca, live in the Chicago area and have three grown children and eight grandchildren.</div>

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<div><b><i><p></p></i><P>When we reflect on how we lived for Christ, we might weep on the other side of the celestial gates.</P></b><p>To their own detriment, many Christians have emptied the judgment seat of Christ of its meaning, living like they will never meet His knowing gaze. For this they may have tears in heaven.</p><p>In this provocative book, Dr. Erwin Lutzer argues that remorse in heaven awaits those who don&#8217;t live fully for God on earth. Exploring the often-overlooked Scriptures about reward and judgment for Christians, Dr. Lutzer answers questions like:</p><ul><li>How will believers be judged?</li><li>Do rewards for faithfulness vary?</li><li>If heaven is perfect, why do rewards even matter?</li></ul><p>His answers are immensely practical. <i>Your Eternal Reward </i>will prompt you to live more faithfully, whether in your conduct, your speech, or even your use of money, that you might enjoy heaven all the more.</p><p>What is sown on earth is reaped in heaven, and Dr. Lutzer will have you taking this truth seriously.</p></div>

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Your Eternal Reward

Triumph and Tears at the Judgment Seat of Christ

By Erwin W. Lutzer

Moody Publishers

Copyright © 2015 Erwin W. Lutzer
All rights reserved.

ISBN: 978-0-8024-1317-8

Contents

1. Tears in Heaven, 9, 
2. You'll Be There, 23, 
3. What We Can Gain, 39, 
4. What We Can Lose, 57, 
5. What Christ Will Be Looking For, 79, 
6. Taking It with You, 97, 
7. Run to Win, 109, 
8. Standing in Line to Receive Your Reward, 123, 
9. Reigning with Christ Forever, 137, 
10. The Great White Throne Judgment, 155, 
Notes, 165, 

CHAPTER 1

TEARS IN HEAVEN

Tears in heaven!

In the minds of many Christians, tears and heaven simply do not belong together. Like war and peace, light and darkness, health and sickness, these simply cannot coexist.

But I believe there are good reasons why there will be tears in heaven. When we reflect on how we lived for Christ, who purchased us at such high cost, well might we weep on the other side of the celestial gates. Our tears will be those of regret and shame, tears of remorse for lives lived for ourselves rather than for Him who "loves us and released us from our sins by His blood" (Revelation 1:5 NASB). Perhaps we would never cease crying in heaven if God Himself did not come and wipe the tears from our eyes (Revelation 21:4).

The judgment seat of Christ is, to our shame, almost universally ignored among Christians. Most whom I have talked with think it will not be a very significant event. When I ask why, I usually get one of several reasons, often based on some misconceptions that have found their way into the minds of so many.

False assumptions die hard. I discovered that I could not teach the subject of the judgment seat of Christ until I had dislodged some impressions that had largely emptied this doctrine of its significance. Until we are willing to set aside these opinions, we will not be able to appreciate the rich teaching of the Bible on this topic. Nor will we be transformed by a doctrine that should impact our daily lives.

Here are some common assumptions that must be challenged if we are to recapture the biblical teaching on the judgment seat of Christ.

THREE MISCONCEPTIONS

Leading the list of mistaken ideas is the belief that there cannot be a serious review of our lives at the judgment seat of Christ because as believers our sins are forgiven and "cast ... into the depths of the sea" (Micah 7:19). After all, the argument goes, as far as God is concerned, our past failures and sins do not exist. "Doesn't Calvary cover it all?" a friend of mine asked when I suggested that some people might experience deep regret along with lost privileges at the judgment seat of Christ. For him, the judgment seat of Christ is really no judgment at all. All believers will pass the judgment seat with flying colors.

Not so.

Let us hear the words of Paul. "For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each one may be recompensed for his deeds [done] in the body, according to what he has done, whether good or bad" (2 Corinthians 5:10 NASB). That phrase, "whether good or bad," rids us of the cherished hope that our failures can never return to haunt us. It reminds us that our Father in heaven judges us even though we are secure in the knowledge that we are His children forever.

Recall the story of Ananias and Sapphira, who lied about the price of some property they had sold so that they might withhold a percentage of the proceeds while pretending to give all the money to the church (Acts 5:1–11). Though they were Christians, they were smitten by God and instantly died for their dishonesty. Perhaps when they arrived in heaven they might have said to themselves, "How could this have happened? Peter told us that Calvary covered it all!"

This experience of Ananias and Sapphira, along with others like it in the New Testament, is a powerful reminder that God judges justified sinners. And if He judges us on earth, sometimes even to the point of physical death, it is certainly not difficult to believe that He will judge us in heaven for the way we lived here. As Jim Elliff says, "Such warnings virtually bleed from the pores to Scripture." So it is.

King David, who committed the twin sins of adultery and murder, was judged for his sin even after he had confessed it and was assured of God's forgiveness. Nathan said: "The Lord also has taken away your sin; you shall not die. However, because by this deed you have given occasion to the enemies of the Lord to blaspheme, the child also that is born to you shall surely die" (2 Samuel 12:13-14 NASB). If Ananias and Sapphira remind us that God judges us for unconfessed sin, David reminds us that God judges us for sins that have been confessed and forgiven. Judicial forgiveness is one thing, but the discipline the Father inflicts on His wayward children is quite another.

Yes, those who trust Christ alone for their salvation are redeemed, eternally forgiven, and legally perfect before God. We are not under condemnation but have "passed out of death into life" (1 John 3:14). We enter heaven with the righteousness of Christ credited to our account; we are accepted on the basis of His worthy merit. To this all Christians must say "Amen."

But—and this is important—we should not conclude that every Christian will do well at the judgment seat of Christ. We can suffer serious loss; many of us might stand in shame before Christ as we see our lives pass before us. It is not true, as some teach, that ten minutes after our personal confrontation with Christ our meeting will have little significance because all of us will essentially receive the same reward. What happens at the judgment seat can have permanent consequences.

There are degrees of punishment in hell and degrees of reward in heaven. This does not mean that heaven will be divided into the haves and the have-nots. Eventually, everyone will be happy in heaven because God will comfort us by wiping the tears from our eyes. Everyone will be a servant and enjoy the fellowship afforded to all who enter the presence of God through Christ. But we shall not all have the same privileges, for the way we live will have a ripple effect that will go on for an eternity. Paul did not see a contradiction between teaching justification by faith and the related fact that we shall be judged for all our "deeds [done] in the body" since our conversion. The hows and whys will be explained in later chapters.

A second misconception is the belief that even after we have been converted our works have no merit before God. When the Reformers preached (and rightly so) that we are saved by grace alone and not by works, some theologians went on to say that our works after salvation are also nonmeritorious. They concluded that in heaven all Christians will either receive the same reward, or else any differences will be due to God's sovereign will. Many Bible students since that time have accepted the same basic premise.

Almost all Christians agree that some believers will receive the approval of Christ, whereas others will receive censure and disapproval; nevertheless, it is argued, any negative consequences will soon be forgotten. If some would have a different status in heaven, the argument goes, that would imply that works had some merit, which God accepted, and this, it is said, would be contrary to the grace of God.

Let us test this premise.

Of course, I passionately agree that when we put our faith in Christ we are...

Details zur Ausgabe

• Verlag: Moody Publishers
• Erscheinungsdatum: 2015
• Sprache: Englisch
• ISBN 10: 080241317X
• ISBN 13: 9780802413178
• Einband: Taschenbuch
• Auflage: 2
• Anzahl der Seiten: 167
• Kontakt zum Hersteller: Nicht verfügbar
• Verantwortliche Person: Buchbär; info@buchbaer.de; ; Weberstr. 67; Osnabrück; 49084; Deutschland