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"If ye endure chastening, God dealeth with you as with sons" (Heb. 12: 7).
"Nevertheless afterward it yieldeth the peaceable fruit of righteousness unto them that
are exercised thereby" (Heb. 12: 11).
Whatever our relationships may be down here, however diverse our paths or opinions,
whatever our estimate of one another may be, whether we seek to help or to hinder, let us
never forget that:
"We shall all appear before the judgment seat of Christ",
and let us remember that His approval THEN will outweigh all that man has ever said or
done either in our favour or in opposition to us.
No.6.
What shall the believer "receive"?
pp. 118 - 120
We have seen sufficient from the Word to make it certain that the service of a believer
will be assessed at the Bema; that there will be a reward for faithful service, and that this
judgment of service must not be confounded with the question of the forgiveness of sins
or with the possibility of condemnation. The feature that demands much prayerful study
is related to the question not of `reward' but where the believers service has failed of the
that standard. From I Cor. 3:, we know that where the work does not pass the test the
believer will `suffer loss', and if these were the only passages we could say that there will
be either an award, or where an award could not be made, there would be some
deprivation but of a negative character. When, however, we read II Cor. 5: 10, a
problem meets us:
"We must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ; that every one may receive
the things done in his body, according to that he hath done, whether it be good or bad."
Not only so, but Gal. 6: 8 says:
"He that soweth to his flesh shall of the flesh reap corruption";
which not only raises the question of future `reaping' but adds the most disturbing word
`corruption'. In what way, and when will `things done in the body . . . . . whether good or
bad' be received? How can `corruption' be reaped in a state where corruption has given
place to incorruption, and mortality has been swallowed up of life? Further, how does
this possibility agree with the testimony of Scripture concerning the full and irrevocable
forgiveness of all sins? It is certain that the reaping of `life everlasting' (Gal. 6: 8) must
refer to the future, even as receiving `the reward of the inheritance' (Col. 3: 24) must
refer to the future also. Before attempting an explanation, or examining these and similar
passages in detail, let us seek in other spheres and by other examples some principle that
will apply to the problem before us.