The Tribunal of Christ

For we must all appear before the tribunal of Christ, so that each may be repaid for what he has done in the body, whether good or worthless. 2 Corinthians 5:10

I feel incredibly unprepared in writing on such a weighty topic that is the judgment of Christ.  I’ve lost sleep over this verse, this is not a verse that any Christian should skip over lightly but should consider very carefully what it’s saying here. In short, Paul is saying that we all will face judgment. And I say this, especially Christians will face judgment. Why do I say that? I say that because firstly consider the Lord who entrusts us with the eternal truths of the gospel. Our Lord will ask us “what have you done with the grace that I’ve given you?”

The greatest knowledge anyone can retain is knowledge of the gospel. It is also equally the greatest message anyone can share with another. It holds more weight than any political or royal speech. Its message has the power to save! (Romans 1:16) And therefore it trumps the most cutting words that have made way for change in political agendas. We as Christians have been entrusted with the knowledge of salvation. Of course, it is God who awakens the dead, but we have the duty to share this beautiful message.

Before Paul tells us that we will all be judged, he also tells us what we will be judged by. In 2 Corinthians 5:7-8 Paul tells us that we walk by faith and not by sight, aiming to please the Lord in whatever it is that we’re doing. This is what we’re judged by my friends! We should humbly consider the way in which we are walking and pause to ask the question “am I aiming to please God in what I am doing?” It’s humbling isn’t it, to consider our Lord in everything that we’re doing. We will not be perfect (that’s not the point of what Paul is saying here) but with our walk in Christ comes repentance. We are daily turning away from our Lord and daily needing correction from Him! What a magnificent display of His sovereign grace, our Lord who gives us air to breath when we have sinned against Him!

Brothers and sisters we would do well to consider Christ in all that we do! That is in how we interact with our friends, family, amongst non-believers and when we’re alone, for we will give an account of what is considered good and what is considered worthless. Let us consider the beauty of the gospel and be humbled by our Lord through His word knowing that we will face the tribunal of Christ. Let us rightly fear our Lord, not in a way that we hide under the covers, but a fear knowing that we can only turn to Him. Simon Peter answered, “Lord, who will we go to? You have the words of eternal life John 6:68

Our Trip to China

I was greatly encouraged to hear that my church was praying for both my wife and I, even people whom we hadn’t met were praying for us! I can assure you that we needed all the prayer we could get. My wife and I made it our goal prior to going to China to share the gospel with numerous people our first encounter at sharing the gospel was at our wedding reception. I had prayed considerably for God to grant me the words to say to these people (of course my wife would translate this). I had written enough down but I couldn’t finish my speech at all, this is not uncommon for me. I was praying on the night before our reception and then it hit me hard. We shared the parable of treasure in the field (Matthew 13:44). We preached a hard word and called people to repent of their sin and turn to Christ.

I would have to say 99.5% of people at the restaurant hated what we had to say. We were sharing the gospel with 150 people and I have to admit I was terrified! I had no idea what would happen in sharing the gospel in a closed country. There was the fear of being arrested for what we did and even the fear of my in laws being in trouble by the authorities as well. The fear increased when I heard that a communist party member was at our reception who also gave a speech! I was praying constantly, reminding myself of the fear of God! Praise be to God, who withheld the restraints of the wicked and allowed us to share the gospel openly!

This was not our only opportunity to share Christ in China; we had many more that followed! During the reception I met two women who were my wife’s uni friends (Li Ling and Shichong). I got onto talking to them about the gospel and the history of the protestant church. They were both interested to know more of Christianity so my wife and I arranged with them to meet at a coffee shop. We met up with them and we also met a fellow who said his name is Bruce. He overheard us talking about a topic on children’s autism in Australia. He asked us what we were doing here and we said that we were here to share the gospel with Liv’s uni friends. He asked if he could join in the conversation, he too was interested to know more about Christianity.

So we chatted with the three of them for a few hours. We exchanged email details and gave them the option to contact us if they had further questions regarding anything to do with Christianity. I was gratefully encouraged to see how much they wanted to know more about Christ! The thing I found about China’s culture and the religions there, is that the religions (Taoism and Buddhism) focus on the self. I said that Christianity is different; Christianity is about glorifying Christ and not the self. I was deeply angered when I heard that the prosperity gospel had already taken its toll in China. Plus I heard also from non-believers that many cults had arisen in Jinan (North China) out of Christianity. So I had to clear the air a bit before I could begin sharing the gospel with these people.

My wife and I had opportunities to share the gospel with her immediate family aunts, uncles and cousins. We shared the gospel with one of her aunties and her daughter, she really seemed unsettled when we mentioned hell, but we preached the gospel uncompromised. Not everything went smoothly though, one night we shared the gospel with my wife’s parents. My father in law was so angered by it, he started accusing my wife of believing in a false religion. He was angered that he ended up having to go for a walk just to calm down. We preached the gospel lovingly to my father in law; he was offended by God’s word.

 In Jinan the people are known for drinking very heavily. This made me and my wife quite uncomfortable since we both don’t drink that much. Our last night in Jinan was when my father in law’s cousin (Jun) became incredibly drunk. The next day he sobered up and apologised for his behaviour and as a way of saying sorry he gave me a gift. Liv and I had been handing out bibles to friends and family so I asked him if he had a bible and he said he didn’t have one. So we gave him and bible and proceeded to share the gospel with him. He looked like a broken man when we mentioned sin and that it needed to be condemned but when I mentioned the grace of Christ he assured me that he would read the bible.

After our time in Jinan we took a plane trip to Shanghai and I have to admit that we were both very uncomfortable in this city. Everywhere you go is advertising, shops that appeal only to the wealthiest people! They had speciality shops everywhere such as Prada, displaying handbags worth $12000 Australian. I felt spiritually sick in Shanghai, I missed my church greatly. We met with Ying and her husband (Ying is my wife’s friend). I met Ying for the first time in Sydney where I first heard that she was a Seventh day Adventist. I got onto sharing the differences of the doctrines of grace and what she believes. I encouraged her to read Romans considering Romans is the perfect exegetical letter regarding the gospel in such perfect detail.

Whilst we were in Shanghai my wife called her grandparents just to say hello. She and I were both encouraged to hear that they were already reading the bible we gave them. Our trip to China was filled with many opportunities, and I was so encouraged to see so many people who were hungry for real Christianity. It is so vital for us to know scripture in a way that Christ desires us to know, so that if or when we are called either overseas or closer to home. We can preach the uncompromised word of God with absolute confidence despite whatever may occur.

Sober Minded Judgment

If we were properly evaluating ourselves, we would not be judged, ³² but when we are judged, we are disciplined by the Lord, so that we may not be condemned with the world. 1 Corinthians 11:31-32

Often when we think of judgment, it is a topic that many Christian circles would prefer to avoid. Here in this verse Paul is making a statement with regards to a right judgment or evaluation. A right evaluation is necessary to our approach to the Lord’s Supper. This is incredibly important! As Paul mentions in verse 29 For whoever eats and drinks without recognizing the body,^[i] eats and drinks judgment on himself. A wrong approach is a heaping of judgment upon one’s self!

I don’t believe that Paul means to simply avoid sickness through a right evaluation either (1 Corinthians 11:30). I believe Paul means to spend much time with the Lord, knowing Him and knowing the sin we’ve committed. As in knowing that God gave us understanding of the sin we have committed against Him, the good evaluation is found in quality time with the Lord.

In verse 32 we see the result of God’s judgment leading to discipline. There are two responses from sin in this verse. The first response is God’s discipline, so going back to verse 30 we can see that God’s judgment results in illness. So the first response anyone who gets sick should humbly ask themselves “am I in sin?” The second response is God’s judgment leading to discipline. If illness is a result of God’s discipline, then we know the grace and mercy of our Lord when we are disciplined.

Paul wants us to be reminded that God’s discipline is not like His condemnation, but rather God is keeping us from being condemned. We all need to have a sober minded judgment when we approach the Lord’s Supper! Let us continually hold to the Lord’s commands, judging ourselves rightly so not to be judged by our Lord.

Suffering in Christ Leading to Comfort

For as the sufferings of Christ overflow to us, so through Christ our comfort also overflows. 2 Corinthians 1:5

Someone once said to me that Christians will go through hell before they get to heaven, and non-believers will go through heaven before they get to hell. I really believe this, in that heaven and hell on earth are displayed in a proverbial sense. But there is something powerful behind the suffering of a believer. Is Paul out of his mind by what he says in 2 Corinthians 1:5? Not at all! For Christ Himself has said also the same thing!

You are blessed when they insult and persecute you and falsely say every kind of evil against you because of Me. ¹² Be glad and rejoice, because your reward is great in heaven. For that is how they persecuted the prophets who were before you. Matthew 5:11-12

The command of Christ here is to rejoice in these sufferings because our reward is considered great in heaven. Paul is echoing the same point, that in our sufferings for Christ by which we endure, so too does the overflow of Christ’ comfort by which we are embraced with. This is the magnified power of Christ! That no matter what suffering a brother or sister endures, Christ’ strength to keep joy in their heart is far greater than the sufferings that are before them!

Friends we need not abandon Christ when we endure suffering. For in remaining in Christ through affliction we are displaying the power of Christ in us! Let us hold to the teachings of Christ and rejoice in the midst of suffering, for He is powerful to comfort us in whatever trials and afflictions that we will face.

Jun’s Sin Revealed

There’s much to share about my trip to China with my wife, but I wanted to share a particular event that took place whilst we were over there. During our last night in the city of Jinan, we had dinner with my wife’s family. The thing about the people of Jinan is that they enjoy drinking alcohol and to a point which made my wife and I a bit uncomfortable. My father in law’s cousin (Jun) was there and he is known for getting drunk at all these family gatherings. The following day Jun apologised and as a way of saying sorry for his drunkenness he gave me a gift. My wife and I had been handing out bibles to friends and family which we purchased at a church in China, so I asked Jun if he had a bible. He said he didn’t have one, so we gave him one, I then proceeded to share the gospel with him. As soon as I mentioned sin, his face fell. He could see that the pieces were fitting together, sin needed to be dealt with, judged and condemned.

But I didn’t leave it at that, I shared the cross of Christ with Jun and his eyes lit up. He was a man who knew the ugly behaviour he had displayed the previous day and he was in need of Christ! He took the bible from me and he said “I’ll take it home right now!” True to his word, he went home just to drop off the bible at home. I have no doubt in my mind that this man can be used by God for the proclamation of the gospel, why do I say that? He was completely broken when I mentioned sin. Now consider what it takes for God to use anyone, a broken soul in need of forgiveness! This was the first person mentioned in Matthew 21:44 Whoever falls on this stone will be broken to pieces; but on whoever it falls, it will grind him to powder! “ I admit I do not know if this man has truly turned to Christ, but I saw the conviction of sin in Jun and that is why I pray for this man.

We as Christians should never fall into the trap of telling ourselves “oh that person would never be a Christian!” The Apostle Paul was a living testimony against such silly statements! Consider the fact that he was a murderer, idolater and a blasphemer. But God shows His strength by using the weak, by using the people whom are considered shameful upon the world’s eyes. Although in Paul’s case, he was a celebrity amongst the Pharisees; his eyes were open to the sin that he committed. He never wallowed in his sin saying “God can’t forgive me of this…!” Nonsense! Paul murdered Christians and divided churches, yet his revelation of sin only leads him to give glory to God. And likewise we should learn from Paul in knowing that it is Christ who gives forgiveness that knows no bounds at all! Let us share the gospel with the toughest people whom God has put before us. Let us share the gospel with the most socially outcast people this world has ever known. Let us share the gospel unconditionally with all people, and let God decided who is fit to receive His mercy and grace.