Seven Literal, Historic, Personal and Prophetic Churches

The Seven Churches In Revelation

The agora in Ephesus, built around the first century BC and
continued in construction through the early church era

Revelation 1:4-20

Tim McKeown

What thou seest, write in a book, and send it unto the seven churches which are in Asia; unto Ephesus, and unto Smyrna, and unto Pergamos, and unto Thyatira, and unto Sardis, and unto Philadelphia, and unto Laodicea.  Revelation 1:11

The primary recipients of the book of Revelation were seven actual literal churches, located on the western end of Asia, now modern-day Turkey. They were near the isle of Patmos. There were likely dozens if not hundreds of churches in existence by that time to whom Jesus could have written. He strategically chose these churches  and gave them commendations, condemnations, commands, and consequences of their conduct (see chart). Over the next few sessions, we will see these churches historically and prophetically, and how they apply to us today.

v. 4 - Why seven churches? Seven is a number for God’s holy completion. We must remember that these were literal, existing churches at the time of John’s writing, and they were the primary recipients of the letters. However, we can also see these seven churches are representatives of churches over the past 2,000 years. Even the very names of the locations where the churches were have significance.
Seven Spirits-Not literally seven different personages of the Holy Spirit, but even in the Old Testament we see that God’s Spirit has seven distinct attributes (Isa. 11:2 – Spirit of the Lord¹, wisdom², understanding³, counsel⁴, might⁵, knowledge⁶, and of fear of the Lord⁷).

v. 5, 6 - The Prince who makes us kings. The word is “archon” arcwn  which is also translated ruler. Jesus is described as the Prince of life (Acts 3:15), a Prince and Savior (Acts 5:31), and Daniel calls Christ the Prince of Princes (8:25) and the Prince of Hosts (8:11). Peter says that we are a royal, holy priesthood (1 Pet 2:5, 9). Some versions have “freed” us from our sins, rather than “washed”. The differences in words in Greek is one letter (lusanti=freed; lousanti=washed). Both have the same effect—His blood cleanses (1 John 1:9) and Christ frees us (Gal. 5:1). The original word was likely washed since it was used in several instances in reference to our sins (Eph. 5:26, Titus 3:5, Heb. 10:22, John 13:10). Being “freed” using this word is never used in relation to our sins or to the power of Christ’s blood.

v. 7 - He comes with clouds is a reference to numerous Old Testament passages of God’s judgment. Ezek. 30:3, Joel 2:2, and Zeph. 1:15 say the Day of the Lord will be a day of clouds. Dan. 7:13, “One like the Son of Man, coming with the clouds of heaven! He came to the Ancient of Days…” Jesus said in Matthew 24:30 and Mark 14:62 that the Son of Man will come in the clouds of heaven, clouds with “great power and glory” (Mark 13:26). The importance of Rev. 1:7 cannot be overstated, as John is telling his readers early on that this book is about the terrible and great day of God’s wrath, even though it is not fulfilled until Rev. 19. All will see Christ, living and dead and the unsaved will wail and mourn. The saved, like John, say, even so, amen (so be it)!

v. 8 - The first two of the seven “I AM”s of the Revelation with “Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the ending,” Alpha a and Omega O are the first and last letters of the Greek alphabet, and designate Jesus Christ (Rev. 22:13-16). Jesus affirms He is all-powerful, “Almighty,” linked everywhere else in the New Testament to God, the Lord, or the Lord God Almighty, thus being yet another proof that Jesus is God Almighty.

We have seen the I AM statements (see links here and here) in the gospel of John. The Greek form is ego eimi, but in Hebrew, "I AM" sounds like "Yahweh," the holiest name of God which stems from Moses asking God, “Who shall I say sent me?” at the burning bush in Exodus chapter 3.

¹³ And Moses said unto God, Behold, when I come unto the children of Israel, and shall say unto them, The God of your fathers hath sent me unto you; and they shall say to me, What is his name? what shall I say unto them? ¹⁴ And God said unto Moses, I AM THAT I AM: and he said, Thus shalt thou say unto the children of Israel, I AM hath sent me unto you.

v. 9 - John is a companion in tribulation, but obviously not the “great tribulation” which is yet to be. Yet, Jesus said, “In this world, you will have tribulation, but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world” (John 16:33). Certainly the days of John were filled with trouble, but even those were not as severe as what will be in the “great tribulation, such as was not since the beginning of the world to this time, no, nor ever shall be.” (Matt. 24:21). The reason for John’s exile to Patmos was two-fold: the Word of God and the testimony of Jesus Christ.

v. 10 - The Lord’s Day can mean “Sunday” or, if John still esteemed the Sabbath, Saturday, or it could be “the Day of the Lord.” However, at this point of his vision, John is not yet transported to heaven or the future to see events unfold. So this is not yet “the Day of the Lord” in the sense of Christ’s coming in judgment. Nowhere else does John use “the Lord’s Day” to refer to that “Great Day” (see Rev. 6:17 and 16:14).

v. 11 - The third “I AM” is “the first and the last.” John is told to write the things in a book, a “biblion,” the word from which we get Bible. The seven churches are the “called out ones.” There are four applications to the seven churches:

1) Particularly. To the local churches actually addressed in the day John wrote.

2) Pervasively, to all churches in all times

3) Personally, Jesus applied his letters to all who “has an ear, let him hear.”

4) Prophetically, disclosing seven phases of the spiritual history of the church

Strong parallels can be seen in the seven churches and eras of the church. Tim LaHaye gives the seven periods as:

1.      Ephesus—Apostolic church (30-34 to 100 AD, beginning with Jerusalem)

2.      Smyrna—Persecuted church (100-313)

3.      Pergamos—State church (313-590)

4.      Thyatira—The Adulterous church (590-____)

5.      Sardis—Reformed church (1517-____)

6.      Philadelphia—Missionary church (1730-____)

7.      Laodicea—Apostate church (1900-____)

This does not mean those "types" of churches only existed in those time periods or years, (think about it...all of the churches literally existed in John’s day). But there are clear similarities in the eras given.

v. 12-17 - John hears the Lord’s voice like a trumpet and turns to see Jesus. Remember in the Old Testament when God spoke from Mount Sinai, it sounded as a loud trumpet (Exodus 19:19, Heb. 12:19) Portions John’s description of Jesus will be repeated to each church and we will discuss those descriptions then. That John would fall down as dead is not surprising, especially after so many years of Christ’s absence and upon seeing Him in such grandeur. Jesus places his right hand upon John and tells him to not fear.

v. 18 The fourth through seventh “I AM” statements differ from the previous three. The first three refer to Jesus’ eternality and deity. The final four “I AM” declarations refer to Jesus’ relation to humanity.

I AM … 

“He who lives, and was dead, and …alive forevermore” Rev. 2:23, 

“He who searches the minds and hearts”; Rev. 22:16, 

“the Root and the Offspring of David” Rev. 22:16, 

“the Bright and Morning Star.”

v. 19-20 - John explains some of the imagery in the vision. The implication is that there are other symbolism in Revelation which are not necessarily spelled out or explained. However, caution should be used to avoid making the Revelation too allegorical. The stars and lampstands represented literal objects.

The next seven sessions will cover the seven churches and the letters.

Kindle afresh your spiritual gifts

In 2 Timothy 1:6, Paul reminded the young pastor to kindle afresh his spiritual gift. While teaching this passage last week, I thought about how it has been a long time since I have heard about spiritual gifts in the church. If we don’t talk or teach about spiritual gifts, how can we “kindle afresh” (NASB) our gifts.

In 1 Corinthians 12:31, Paul said, “But earnestly desire the higher gifts,” indicating that some gifts are higher or greater than others, and also that we can desire or seek after gifts of the Spirit from God. He again tells the Corinthian church and us today that we should “earnestly desire the spiritual gifts, especially that you may prophesy,” in 1 Corinthians 14:1.

Every believer is gifted with at least one spiritual gift, or a supernatural grace to build up other believers. Every BELIEVER! If you are a Christian, God has endowed you with a spiritual grace for you to help other believers. Not just a natural talent or an ability or a learned passion. A spiritual gift is supernatural and to be used especially for the edification within the church or such as in the case of the giftedness of an evangelist, to bring people into the family of God.

You likely know what your natural talents are or even what you have learned to do through experience or education. Those are natural and normal and useful in everyday living. But do you know what your spiritual giftedness is? The main differences between natural gifts and spiritual gifts are 1) Spiritual gifts are supernatural and 2) Used primarily if not exclusively for the edification of the church body.

Here is an example: You may not have any desire to teach vocationally in a career and may hate learning, studying, and research in the secular, worldly realm. But regarding Christianity, you cannot wait to read, study and prepare to share with others what you have learned from God’s Word. And what’s more, people eagerly seek you out to tell them about God’s truths.

On the other hand, God may give the supernatural gift of teaching to those who are by their profession teachers, but when they teach with their spiritual giftedness in the context of the church, their lessons and effectiveness will be on a different level. It is will be empowered by the Holy Spirit of God.

There are several lists of gifts in the Scripture, but no two are alike and I do not believe the lists are exhaustive. You can find them in Romans 12, 1 Corinthians 12 and 14, Ephesians 4, and 1 Peter 4. There are other places where spiritual gifts are mentioned. That’s another reason why I don’t believe that the gifts are fully listed or limited to solely in the Scriptures. But certainly, the gifts in the Bible are worthy to be studied and sought after.

One final thought on your spiritual gifts: If you notice, I referred to 1 Corinthians 12:31 and 1 Corinthians 14:1. In between is a well-known passage of chapter 13, also known as the love chapter. As we pursue gifts of the Holy Spirit, it should always be used in the context of the greatest of all virtues and spiritual fruit: Love. If you gift does not lead to love of God, the love of others, and the love of yourself (yes, the Bible says you are to love yourself so that you can love others), the gifts are not being used in the way that God desired.

Obviously, America, like all of humanity, is sometimes beautiful

A certain newspaper is being criticized for having the keen grasp of the absolutely obvious. The New York Times selectively points out the faults and successes of "America the Beautiful" in a July 4th, 2019 editorial.

Our nation and citizens are indeed endowed by their Creator with much beauty in its landscapes and people, but our truest unalienable right is we are an inherently imperfect people. We celebrate our independence, but must also admit that we are not freed from our nature to be fallen, flawed and far from perfect.

Our states have never been fully united and due to our humanity, we shall ever be to some degree always divided. Such is the lot of all of us. We are created in God’s image, yet we have fallen to the degree that we cannot deny our failures. The Bible states that “all have fallen short of the glory of God.”

Our Creator’s question at the Fall remains to the totality of humankind today. “Who told you that you were naked?” (Genesis 3:11).

That question to Adam and Eve seems at first glance to be as equally obvious as The New York Times opinion column. We as a nation are sinful enough to know we are flawed and yet have enough of the reflection of God's image to aspire to be perfect.

Who told The New York Times we are sometimes beautiful? What standard do its editorialists raise to show the mirror of our imperfections? What flag do they wish to proclaim our beauty or ugliness, our nakedness or our fig-leafed clothing?

Our flag has always been tattered. Our banner has repeatedly failed to wave. The admitted and retained slavery and sexual discrimination in our founding documents have been continued by selective moral superiority in all three of our governmental branches, and elected by our fallen citizenry. Our rights to life, liberty, and pursuit of happiness have been exchanged for rights to abort the unborn, to enslave the underprivileged with injustice, and to pursue the indulgences of immorality.

We will always strive to form a more perfect union but by whose standards? By whose banner? Whose flag shall we implant upon what turf to claim our arrival at such perfection?

The knowledge gained from the forbidden fruit endowed us to know that we are naked, prone to fear, and prone to hide from our Creator. Adam’s first response to God’s question was to point the blaming finger not to himself but to the woman, whose finger then blamed the beguiling serpent.

Today, our fingers, and yes, I include all ten of my own, point out the imperfections of others but few point our fingers inwardly. The newspaper in New York City admits our country’s nakedness but fails to sew for itself even some semblance of responsibility for the ugliness. We have all contributed to polluting our spacious skies. Those who cry out against its editorial pages’ audacity are also fouling our amber waves. All of us who do nothing but curse the darkness rather than light candles are dulling our purple mountains.

Every twilight’s gleaming is followed by night but inevitably there comes the dawn’s light. God shed his grace on us; let us pray that He mend our every flaw. Let us then pledge to be the answer to that prayer.

3. The Bema calls us to persuade others (2 Cor. 5:10-11)

This is the Temple of Athena Nike that I took at sunset during the supper
on the first night we arrived in Greece. It was within eyesight as Paul preached at "Mars Hill"

The Bema seat of Christ reminds us to (1) prepare ourselves, to (2) prioritize our good works, and (3) we are to persuade others.

Turn to 2 Corinthians. 5:10-11

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; but we are well known to God, and I also trust are well known in your consciences.

You may wonder why it says “Since, then, we know what it is to fear the Lord, we try to persuade others.” NIV. You may ask, “Why should the terror of the Lord cause us to persuade others?” 

First, I think in some respects we should be afraid of not doing enough works to please the Lord and earn rewards in heaven. Imagine, forever in eternity and a recurring question could be "what did you do for eternity?" What would your response be?

   I believe it would be a fearful thing to say, "I was saved and I did a few kind things, but they did not impact eternity." When our works are tested by the fire of eternity, what will last, and what will be burned. 

   Bob Hartman wrote the following about the Bema.

When from our labor, we retire

There will be a trial by fire.

Will your treasure pass the test?

Or will it burn up with the rest?

You may build upon a sure foundation

With your "building" in dilapidation;

When it all come down in rubble

Will it be wood, hay, or stubble?

Or precious stones -- gold and silver --

Are you really sure?

Every talent will be surely counted,

Every word will have to be accounted.

Not a story will be left untold;

We will stand watch the truth unfold.

Every score will be evened;

Nothing will be left to defend

Every building will be shaken

Every motive will be tried.

He'll give reward to the faithful;

Will you receive or be denied?

And we all will stand at the Bema Seat

All will be revealed - it will be complete

Will there be reward in the fiery heat

When we see our lives at the Bema Seat?

Quotes about rewards in heaven.

   But I think there is another reason why Paul says that we should think about the fear of the Lord or even as NKJV translates it as “the terror of the Lord.”

   The only two judgments there are in the afterlife is the judgment of the living and the judgment of the dead.

   The Living are those who are saved, and notice that Paul says “We MUST ALL appear before the judgment seat of Christ.” And in Rom. 14:10 that "we SHALL ALL stand before the judgment seat of Christ." 

   If we do not persuade those who are lost to stand before the judgment seat of Christ, they will stand before another seat that is described in Revelation 20. 

  A couple of weeks ago, I just mentioned the book of Revelation and someone said, “Oh, I don't read Revelation. That’s a scary book.” It’s not, if you are saved. It’s not, if you are among the spiritually "living"; that is, if your name is in the Book of Life. It is only a scary book, a terror-filled book, a book to lead to fear, IF you are among the "rest of the dead." Jesus called this in John 5:29 "the resurrection of condemnation."

   There are plenty of references that there is going to be a judgment of the living (those who are in Christ, born again) and those who are dead (those whose names are not written in the book of Life). Paul, Peter, John, and even in the Old Testament, Daniel wrote about two judgments. In Daniel 12:2-3, the prophet stated that "some who sleep in the dust of the earth will awake to eternal life, and others will awake to disgrace and eternal contempt."

The Bema steps at Berea, Greece (steps at the center of the photo)

   Peter also wrote about the judgments of the living and of the dead. 1 Peter 4:5-6, “⁵ They will give an account to Him who is ready to judge the living and the dead. ⁶ For this reason the gospel was preached also to those who are dead, that they might be judged according to men in the flesh, but live according to God in the spirit.”

   If you are too afraid to turn to Revelation in your own Bible, look below about the second judgment, the Great White Throne Judgment, which is reserved for the dead, those who are not saved. The Great White Throne judgment will come 1,000 years after the Bema seat judgment. John wrote:

    ⁵ But the rest of the dead did not live again until the thousand years were finished. This is the first resurrection. ⁶ Blessed and holy is he who has part in the first resurrection. Over such the second death has no power, but they shall be priests of God and of Christ, and shall reign with Him a thousand years.

 ⁷  Now when the thousand years have expired, Satan will be released from his prison ⁸ and will go out to deceive the nations which are in the four corners of the earth, Gog and Magog, to gather them together to battle, whose number is as the sand of the sea. ⁹ They went up on the breadth of the earth and surrounded the camp of the saints and the beloved city. And fire came down from God out of heaven and devoured them.  ¹⁰ The devil, who deceived them, was cast into the lake of fire and brimstone where the beast and the false prophet are. And they will be tormented day and night forever and ever.

 ¹¹ Then I saw a great white throne and Him who sat on it, from whose face the earth and the heaven fled away. And there was found no place for them.  ¹² And I saw the dead, small and great, standing before God, and books were opened. And another book was opened, which is the Book of Life. And the dead were judged according to their works, by the things which were written in the books. ¹³ The sea gave up the dead who were in it, and Death and Hades delivered up the dead who were in them. And they were judged, each one according to his works. ¹⁴ Then Death and Hades were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death. ¹⁵ And anyone not found written in the Book of Life was cast into the lake of fire.

Revelation 20:5-11

Let those words sink in for a moment. If you think life is scary, death without a good God is absolutely terrifying.

The cave which is thought to be where John received and wrote the final chapter of the Bible.
Note the three-fold rocks overhead, bringing to mind a symbolism of the Trinity. 

   Paul knew about the two judgments. He said that knowing the terror of the second judgment should make us persuade people to be a part of the first resurrection and the Bema Judgment.

   In 2 Timothy 4:1, Paul's final epistle, he writes that Jesus will judge believers, the living, at His appearing on the Bema seat to reward us according to our works; and, He will later judge the unbelievers, the dead, at His kingdom, where Christ will sit on a Great White Throne.

I charge you therefore before God and the Lord Jesus Christ, who will judge the living at His appearing and the dead at His kingdom.

   2 Corinthians 5 ends with Paul's impassioned plea for those in Corinth to also passionately plea to others. Christ reconciled us, Paul says, and now it is Paul's job to reconcile those who are Corinth so that they can reconcile others. 

   As I conclude, I show two photos Melissa took of me, one from the Acropolis, the "high city", with the Areopagus, or "Mars Hill", in the background. The second photo is of me standing on the Bema in Corinth. 

Mars Hill in the background at the foot of the Temple of Athena in Athens

The Bema in Corinth

   Imagine the fears Paul overcame to share in this strange new world of Athens and Corinth. We think of Paul as a superhero, but he was a man, beaten, threatened, and suffered from "conflicts on the outside and fears on the inside," (2 Cor. 7:5). 

  And yet, the oldest denominations in Christianity are the Greek Orthodox and the Roman Catholic churches. Greece was where he lived so long and Rome was where he died. But despite the fears within, he persuaded others with the Lord's help.  He was able to face down his fears, so that others would not have to face the fear of the Lord.

   With the Lord's help, whom can we persuade?

2. The Bema leads us to Prioritize our work wisely (1 Cor. 3:11-15)

A depiction of John above the entrance to the monastery at Patmos.
What was his reward for living a martyr's life?
Jesus said his being faithful to death would earn him a crown of life (Rev. 2:10). 

The BEMA steps leading to the Judgment seat of Christ encourages us to PRIORITIZE wisely.

In 1 Cor. 3: 11-15, it says this, “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.”

    Even though we who are Christians will someday be brought before Christ to be judged according to our works, it is not for our salvation. Look at what this passage says in verse 11, “No other foundation can be laid than was already laid by Jesus Christ.”

    Christ and Christ alone is the only One who can save. So then, what would be the purpose of judgment? It is not for condemnation. Romans 8:1 says, “There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.” Later, in Romans 8:38, the Bible says that nothing can separate us from the love of Christ.

    Jesus used a gentler word in John 5:24, which is sometimes translated as "condemnation," but is mostly translated as "judgment". “Most assuredly, I say to you, he who hears My word and believes in Him who sent Me has everlasting life, and shall not come into judgment, but has passed from death into life.”

    It is not for eternal damnation nor judgment in the sense of punishment that we will face at the Bema Seat Judgment of Christ. We who have eternal life will have it for eternity and actually we have had it from eternity. Let’s think about that for a moment.

    Did God know before you accepted Christ that you would do so? He is, after all, God, so does He not know all things, being omniscient (a theological word meaning all knowing)? Let us think about what happened before Genesis 1:1, before the foundation of the world or “cosmos” occurred.

    John 17:24, Jesus said that God loved Jesus before the foundation of the world. The Greek the word for world is cosmos, and could be considered as universe. Ephesians 1:4 says that God chose you before the foundation of the cosmos. That being the case, notice that in Revelation 17:8, the Bible says that “those who dwell on the earth will marvel, whose names are not written in the Book of Life from the foundation of the world.” Not only did God choose us before the universe began, but he also had a Book of Life with names NOT written in it from the foundation of the world.

Hmm.

    Furthermore, Matthew 25:34 says a kingdom was prepared “for you, from the foundation of the world.”

    There are two resurrections, the resurrection of the “living” and the resurrection of the “dead”. Those of us who have eternal life will die physically, but will be raised. Those who are unsaved, will also die physically but will be resurrected to be judged for eternal judgment.

    Christians will be judged “according to” their works, but not “for” their works. Our foundation was laid by Jesus and will last for eternity. Don't you think that the things we are building upon that eternal foundation should also last for eternity and not be burned up? Of course they should.

    There will be some who have worked hard to amass a fortune in this life, but will have nothing to show for eternity. God’s going to judge how many times you won at computer solitaire, and then show you how you neglected your family, neglected your neighbors. 

    Christ is going to show you that all of that cheering and shouting at the television didn’t help your team win one little bit, but your silence in sharing the gospel will be deafening to those with whom you did not share.

The Bema Seat at Corinth, where Paul was brought before Gallio in 50 A.D.
Paul would write twice about the Bema Seat to the Corinthians (1 Cor. 3 and 2 Cor. 5)
At Christ's Bema Seat, we will be judged for our works before a Righteous Judge 

    You may feel great about clothing the naked, feeding the hungry, housing the homeless and those are all good and noble things, but it may be burned up under the fiery eyes of Christ’s judgment at the Bema seat, if it fed them for a day but did not lead them to the most important thing: eternal life.

    Several years ago, the former Mayor of New York Michael Bloomberg said the following in a New York Times article the following:

“I am telling you if there is a God, when I get to heaven I’m not stopping to be interviewed. I am heading straight in. I have earned my place in heaven. It’s not even close.”

    What will be his good works? Bloomberg told the Times that he spent $50 million to push gun control, that he took on issues to fight obesity and smoking and because of that and other accomplishments, he believes he’s earned a spot in heaven.

    Our salvation is determined by God, specifically by the foundation laid by Christ by His death, burial and resurrection. But our works are determined by us, and we will be judged “according to our works.” God has prepared you for good works (Eph. 2:10), but it is up to you do choose to walk in those good works. It is up to us to build on the foundation of Christ with things that will last for eternity.

    What will be our reward? I like what the Apostle Paul says, “For what is our hope, or joy, or crown of rejoicing? Is it not even you in the presence of our Lord Jesus Christ at His coming?” (1 Thess. 2:19). A soul led to the Lord and His salvation by your witness will be a hope, joy and crown of rejoicing that will last for all eternity. Paul again says that those in Philippi were his crown (Phil. 4:1).

An inscription showing the remnants of the church at Philippi.
Even though the church is gone, Paul wrorte that 
the church was his crown that would withstand the Bema test of fire. 

   There are imperishable crowns, 1 Cor. 9:25 says. Loving and longing for Christ’s appearance is a crown of righteousness, 2 Tim. 4:8 says. Remember when 2 Timothy was written: while Paul was languishing in a prison, deserted and forsaken by so many, awaiting his beheading by Nero. Paul was faithful to the end and he could have forsaken it all, but held to his righteous good works and for his efforts would receive a crown of righteousness.

   Paul was not the only one seeking a crown: James said that loving Christ will earn the crown of life (James 1:12). Peter said that good shepherds, pastors yes, but anyone who watches over others in the flock, would receive the crown of glory that never fades (1 Peter 5:2-4). John was told by a good Authority, Jesus Himself on the island of Patmos, that those who were faithful unto death, martyrs perhaps, would receive the crown of life (Rev. 2:10).

   What are you working for? Work for the One who brings His reward with Him for you. “And behold, I am coming quickly, and My reward is with Me, to give to every one according to his work” (Rev. 22:12).

1. The Bema leads us to prepare ourselves b. in Unity (Rom. 14:12-13, 16-17) and c. Charity (Rom. 14:15)

A Mosaic commemorating the Bema  likely used by
the Apostle Paul at the Berea synogogue around 50 A.D.

In the previous post, we saw that the Bema Judgment seat of Christ reminds us to prepare ourselves. First we should not mettle in matters that don’t matter. Instead, have liberty.

b.     Secondly we should not judgmentally disdain others or have contempt for others. Instead, have unity. (Rom. 14:12-13)

   If you look again in Romans 14:12-13, You will see that we should not disdain or have contempt or hurt other believers. 

 “¹² So then each of us shall give account of himself to God. ¹³ Therefore let us not judge one another anymore, but rather resolve this, not to put a stumbling block or a cause to fall in our brother’s way.”

   It is clear that Paul is talking about brothers and sisters in Christ only who will stand before Christ’s BEMA, giving an account not of what others have done or what others haven’t done, but what we have done and why we have done them. 

   The Bema seat calls us to prepare ourselves by seeking Christ, by following Christ, by obeying Christ, by loving Christ and loving others whom he has saved. There are certain things that we have to agree on as the essentials.

   1) The Bible is literally true. If you start to pick and choose what to believe and not believe about what the Bible clearly teaches, then we cannot have unity.  How else would we know what Christ taught if it were not for the inspired, inerrant, infallible Word of God. If we agree that the Bible is true, that really takes care of the following, but let's see what else unifies us in Christ and keeps us together.

   2) The deity of Christ. If Jesus was not God, then his death, however noble, would be the death of another mere mortal man. From the beginning, we see that Christ was "God with us" or Emmanuel, the name of Christ as first announced in Matthew 1:23. If anyone does not agree that Christ was and is God incarnate, there really is no unity.

   3) The Christ is the only way of salvation, and that there is no other way to heaven. This too was from the beginning, as seen in Matthew 1:21:

“And she will bring forth a Son, and you shall call His name JESUS, for He will save His people from their sins.”

   Jesus even prayed in the Garden of Gethsemane that if there was any other way, to let the cup of death pass, but God's will was done and Christ was crucified. 

   This is the gospel and Paul said if anyone preaches a different gospel, he and his message is to be accursed (see Galatians 1). 

   The early disciples said in Acts 4:12 that there is no other name by which we can be saved. 

   Acts 10:42-43 says that Christ will judge the living (Christians at the Bema Seat) and the dead (the unsaved at the Great White Throne Judgment Seat).

42 And He commanded us to preach to the people, and to testify that it is He who was ordained by God to be Judge of the living and the dead. 43 To Him all the prophets witness that, through His name, whoever believes in Him will receive remission of sins.” 

   4) The bodily resurrection of Jesus is not debatable among true Christians. If anyone does not believe that Christ was literally risen from the dead, we cannot have unity. Paul explains the gospel as simply as possible in 1 Corinthians 15:3-7 and then says the following in verses 13-19.

 13 But if there is no resurrection of the dead, then Christ is not risen. 14 And if Christ is not risen, then our preaching is empty and your faith is also empty. 15 Yes, and we are found false witnesses of God, because we have testified of God that He raised up Christ, whom He did not raise up—if in fact the dead do not rise. 16 For if the dead do not rise, then Christ is not risen. 17 And if Christ is not risen, your faith is futile; you are still in your sins! 18 Then also those who have fallen asleep in Christ have perished. 19 If in this life only we have hope in Christ, we are of all men the most pitiable.

  So while we are not to judge others in the non-essential matters that don't matter, there are some matters that do matter. There are more "essentials" of unity than the four above, but we will go forward from here. 

    In Romans 14:4, just above that, look, “Who are you to judge another’s servant? To his own master he stands or falls. Indeed, he will be made to stand, for God is able to make him stand.” 

    Now before you applaud that and shout amen, the point is that God through Christ will judge you and Christ will judge me. He will not judge by what is politically correct or what the 21^st century American society says.

    NO. 

    He will judge us by the same standard: the inspired, infallible, inerrant, unchanging, never fading, ever-living and ever-convicting word of God, the Bible.

    The BEMA seat of Christ reminds us to prepare ourselves to stand before God by faith in Jesus alone, but we will be judged by Christ according to our works for our rewards. Therefore we should have liberty and have unity.

c.     Don’t judgmentally destroy others who are weaker because you consider yourself spiritually superior. Instead, have charity. (Rom. 14:15)

    My favorite Billy Graham quote came to me after his death. 

It is God’s place to judge,
it is the Holy Spirit’s place to convict,
and it is our place to love. 

    We should prepare ourselves in liberty, we should prepare ourselves in unity and the Bema Judgment of Christ should prepare ourselves in charity. By Charity I mean “In love.” 

     Again in your Bibles, Romans 14 of is likely divided into two parts, the Law of Liberty and the Law of Love. My three subpoints that we need to prepare ourselves is an homage to a quote attributed to St. Augustine, “In essentials, unity; in non-essentials, liberty, in all things, charity. “           ”

    Notice what Jesus said in Luke 6:35. Luke 6:35 says, “But love your enemies, do good, and lend, hoping for nothing in return; and your reward will be great, and you will be sons of the Most High. For He is kind to the unthankful and evil.” If Jesus said we are to love our enemies for our reward, that even God is kind to the unthankful and evil, how much more should we love those fellow believers who are weak, who may stumble by our liberty and lack of unity.

Tomorrow we will see how to prioritize our "building" materials of our works wisely.