Page 149 - Eschatology - Masters revised

The third servant in the parable of the talents is a servant of Christ. He was entrusted with something to
invest for His Lord. Unbelievers are not. He was not rebuked for lack of faith. He was not told that the
Lord never knew him as unbelievers are told.

The Bible clearly teaches that believers who are faithful to sacrificially serve Jesus Christ will be
rewarded much differently than believers who are unfaithful. The reward spoken of here is ruling with
Christ for eternity. Remember that God originally created man in the Garden of Eden to rule over His
creation and be a steward of it. Jesus told His disciples that they would have reward in heaven for
serving Him here and that they would sit on twelve thrones and judge the tribes of Israel (Matt. 19:28).

Matthew 19:28 (NIV84)28 Jesus said to them, “I tell you the truth, at the renewal of all things,
when the Son of Man sits on his glorious throne, you who have followed me will also sit on twelve
thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel.

Ruling in God’s eternity will be much different than the corrupt and selfish worldly ruling we have in our
world. There we will be sinless, servant rulers, with delegated responsibilities that are opportunities to
serve our King.

Will some believers be scolded on evaluation day? Yes. There will be no greater regret than what could
have been. Therefore, we see here that there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth, even in heaven.
But Jesus is telling us how to avoid that.

Judgments of Believers

Not all uses of the word “judgment” in the Bible are synonymous with “punishment”. Because the word
judgment in today’s English language has such a negative meaning we often use the word “evaluation”
when talking about the “Bema seat of Jesus Christ”.

2 Corinthians 5:10 (NIV84)10 For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, that each
one may receive what is due him for the things done while in the body, whether good or bad.

Church Age Believers
Believers from the Church Age will be evaluated by Jesus Christ up in heaven between the Rapture and
the Second Coming of Christ. Our works as a Christian believer here on earth will be evaluated and
either be eternally rewarded or denied reward.

1 Corinthians 3:10–15 (NIV84)10 By the grace God has given me, I laid a foundation as an expert
builder, and someone else is building on it. But each one should be careful how he builds. 11 For no
one can lay any foundation other than the one already laid, which is Jesus Christ. 12 If any man
builds on this foundation using gold, silver, costly stones, wood, hay or straw, 13 his work will be
shown for what it is, because the Day will bring it to light. It will be revealed with fire, and the fire
will test the quality of each man’s work. 14 If what he has built survives, he will receive his reward.
15 If it is burned up, he will suffer loss; he himself will be saved, but only as one escaping through
the flames.

147