Twenty years ago, it was estimated that some forty billion individuals had lived upon this earth since Adam. In the vast multitude of humanity, there are men of every ethnicity and race, demonstrated by a multiplicity of skin colors. Through the centuries, men have explored and settled veritably every corner of our earth. The variety of languages and the practice of multitudes of religions and the formulating of numerous cultures set us apart from one another in great diversity. But there is one vital thing that every single human being shares – our purpose of life upon earth and our eternal destiny afterward depend entirely upon our personal relationship with the Lord Jesus Christ. It truly is impossible to overemphasize the importance of His life, and the key question of the universe continues to be, “What think ye of Christ?”

The name “Christ” comes from the Greek word Christos, meaning “to anoint” or “the anointed.” Certain individuals, set aside for some specific purpose (priest, king, etc.), would be anointed in a special ceremony indicating their consecration to that purpose. Kings of Israel were thus called anointed (1 Sam. 16:6; 24:6, 10) from their mode of consecration. But the term especially referred to the Messiah of Israel (Mt. 1:1; Rev. 22:21 and 530 verses between them). The Hebrew word for “Christ” was Messiah, and their meanings are the same – anointed. Sometimes the term “the Christ” is used, and it is perfectly legitimate to do so (Mt. 16:16; Jn. 1:41). “The Christ” is God’s “Anointed One,” and is the title given to the Lord Jesus (Jn. 20:31; 1 Jn. 2:22; 5:1). This is the One whom God chose and placed in this world to do His will fulfilling the initial promise of a Messiah (Gen. 3:15). The question is still pertinent – “What think ye of Christ? Whose son is he?”

“Serve the LORD with gladness: come before his presence with singing.” What simple words, and yet, what a profound message! “Serve the Lord with gladness.” This is not a slavish fear under the spirit of bondage, as many Jews viewed life under a legal dispensation. The psalmist encourages us to serve the Lord with spiritual joy and a complete freedom of soul – readily, willingly, cheerfully – taking delight in His person and pleasure in His service. Our Lord said, “My yoke is easy and my burden is light.”

Next, the writer tells us to “come before his presence with singing.” When we come into God’s presence, it is to the throne of grace, with thankfulness for mercies received as well as to plead before the Lord for others. However, there seems to be a sense here of coming into His house, beginning public worship with singing of hymns, songs and spiritual songs. In Psalm 95:2, we are encouraged, “Let us come before his presence with thanksgiving, and make a joyful noise unto him with psalms.” This is a description of sacrificial praise with thanksgiving – with a melodious voice and grace in the heart, with psalms and hymns and spiritual songs (Eph. 5:19). This is a distinct thing from prayer and giving of thanks, as evidenced in the next verse – “Giving thanks always for all things unto God and the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ” (Eph. 5:20). It is not an internal, mental praising of God for it is called “speaking,” “teaching and admonishing” (Eph. 5:19; Col. 3:16). Rather it is the praising of God with the tuning of the human voice. And, it is rightly performed when the heart and the voice agree, when there is melody in the heart as well as on the tongue. The end in view is ultimately, that God be glorified (1 Cor. 10:31).

Far too many Bibles are dust-collectors on the shelves of Christian homes. They are picked up and carried off to church on the Lord’s Day, only to find their spot once more on the shelf when services are over. God’s Word was not given for simply satisfying our academic curiosity. Paul told Timothy that the God-breathed Scriptures were profitable for “doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness: that the man of God may be perfect, throughly furnished unto all good works” (2 Tim. 3:16-17). Obviously, God intended His Word to have far greater impact in our lives than to serve as a stage prop for Sundays. Today’s text resembles another passage much like it in Ephesians 5:18-19. The main difference between the two is that, instead of saying “be filled with the Spirit,” Paul says “let the word of Christ dwell in you richly.” In other words, being filled with the Spirit and being filled with God’s Word are both requisites for living joyful, useful, fruitful lives. In reality, we will not be filled with the Spirit unless we are saturated with God’s Word, and the study of God’s Word will not be effective unless we yield our inmost being to the control of the Holy Spirit. It is reasonable then to conclude that to be filled with the Spirit means to be filled with God’s Word.

Furthermore, the Scriptures are to dwell in us. They are to have a constant, fixed place in us as an inhabitant who takes up residence, never to depart. The Psalmist hid God’s Word in his heart in order that he might walk in righteousness and not sin against his Lord (Psa. 119:11). A well-used Bible is the sign of a Christian who is feeding on the Word and allowing it to dwell in him richly. May we be such Christians.

God’s Word is true, absolutely – absolute truth! It is free from imperfection or lack; it is complete, whole, not limited in any way. The truth of God’s Word is unchanging. It does not shift with the course of time or the transitioning of cultures. According to today’s text, the Word of God is “quick, and powerful,” meaning it is living and active. The Bible speaks powerfully, with relevance to its audience, no matter who they may be or when they may hear. It has the power to reach into the inmost parts of our personalities, and it is capable of judging the inmost thoughts. The Word pierces, like a sword, to the very depths of our soul and spirit. Not only is God’s Word living, but it is a quickening word. It is able to make dead sinners, living Christians (Eph. 2:1).

The fact that it is the “living Word” does not mean that it is changing and adapting to the culture around us. We are not free to put our own twist upon the Word of God – to think that it will “grow” and “adjust” to the theological tone, or cultural relevancy, or the moral degeneracy of the day. God’s Word is forever settled in heaven (Psa. 119:89). The word settled signifies that it has been stationed; it is established and set up. It is not fluctuating and changing. We must understand that when we read the Scriptures, the abiding principle is “let God be true, but every man a liar” (Rom. 3:4). The stability of God’s Word is affirmed. Men may question the truth of the Word, yet in heaven, it is sure and settled (Isa. 40:8). It is the revelation of God to mankind and is sufficient to meet every human need, both to bring sinners to Christ and to equip saints for a godly life.

In the book The Bible, Science and Creation, authors Maxwell and Coder contend, “The Bible is the only ancient book that is accurate in all scientific details. Other ancient holy books from the East include legends and errors too childish for consideration.”For instance, Plato thought the world to be a living soul – a vast, visible animal – and earthquakes resulted when the creature shook itself. The Greeks believed that a giant, Atlas, stood astride the earth and held the broad heavens with his head and arms. The Egyptians taught that a sun-god was born on a flower or from an egg on the ocean, and this sun-god had four children who were instrumental in governing the earth. Remarkably then, we read that Moses was “learned in all the wisdom of the Egyptians” (vs. 22), but thank God, he was kept from this fanciful account of creation, as the clear, simple and splendid account in Genesis shows.

There is no reasonable explanation for the accuracy of the Bible on matters of science, but that the Book was given directly by God. It is amazingly free from the superstitious, mythological, childish accounts of all other ancient religious books.  In a day when most people taught that the earth was flat, the Bible stated (Isa. 40:22) that God “[sits] upon the circle (sphere) of the earth.” Job cried out that “He…hangeth the earth upon nothing (Job 26:7), accurately describing the poising of our globe in space – a statement which has stood for 3,500 years. Jesus’ statement in Luke 17:34-36 strongly intimates that it will be simultaneously night, morning and midday at His coming, a clear reference to the rotundity and revolution of the earth, since His coming is elsewhere pictured being instantaneous everywhere – “in a moment in the twinkling of an eye” (1 Cor. 15:52). Again, we concur that God’s Book is true.

Not only does internal evidence prove God’s Word to be true, but external evidence, like that of the archaeologist’s spade, supports it as well. Jewish archaeologist, Nelson Glueck, said, “It may be stated categorically that no archaeological discovery has ever controverted a biblical reference.” Biblical accuracy has been illustrated over and over again. When it was argued that Luke erred in the account of events surrounding the birth of Jesus (there was no census, Cyrenius was not governor of Syria at that time, people did not return to their ancestral home), archaeological discoveries proved every one of those claims to be true! Quirinius (Cyrenius) was governor according to an inscription found in Antioch. The Romans did have a regular enrollment of taxpayers. A papyrus found in Egypt gives directions for the conduct of a census, including the return of people to their ancestral homes. Many different books could be recommended for further study on the subject of Biblical Archaeology.

In addition to the internal claims of the Bible for itself and the external evidences from archaeology, prophecies (especially those concerning the Lord Jesus Christ) present clear testimony to the absolute veracity of the Bible. The Scriptures present at least 333 prophecies about Jesus Christ, most of them centuries before He came. For instance, Isaiah’s 53rd chapter concerning Him was given about 700 years before He came. Thirty-three prophecies were fulfilled just on the day He died on Calvary. Considering the sheer volume of prophetic utterances concerning Christ, the idea that they were fulfilled by chance is preposterous. One defender of the faith said, “Any man who rejects Christ as the Son of God is rejecting a fact proved perhaps more absolutely than any other fact in the world.” God has not abandoned the Bible to the assaults of degradation and dismemberment after having given it. God’s Word is true; it stands forever.

Is the Bible the Word of God?  Ultimately, on that question hinges the eternal destiny of our souls. Does God say what He means and mean what He says? If He does not, then everything we, as Christians, have been taught is suspect. A. B. Simpson wrote a simple poem entitled The Bible Means What It Says, the last verse of which states, “It is strange we trust each other, and only doubt our Lord; we will take the word of mortals, and yet distrust His Word. But, oh, what light and glory would shine o’er all our days, if we would always remember THAT HE MEANS JUST WHAT HE SAYS.” God has not had to correct, revise, adjust or change His Word since its going forth from the Holy Spirit to “holy men of God who spake...” (vs. 21). Textbooks often have to be changed because of data or theories proven incorrect, thus rendering them outdated and in need of abandonment -the Bible (an ancient book) never! God means just what He says.

Is the Bible the Word of God? Voices from the past remind us that “God’s Word is its own best argument” (Vance Havner) and that “The best evidence of the Bible’s being the Word of God is found between its covers” (Charles Hodge). How true! The most powerful evidence that the Book we hold in our hands is, indeed, God’s Word is found in the claims it makes for itself. Around 3,800 times, the Bible claims to be the Word of God. Such terms as “Thus saith the Lord” and “The word of the Lord came unto me” are common expressions of those claims. We are clearly informed in 2 Timothy 3:16 that “All scripture is given by inspiration of God…” God means just what He says!

As with the previous two judgments considered, the Great White Throne judgment is future. It occurs at the close of the Millennium, a thousand years after the judgment of the nations. This is not a scene which takes place on earth, but will take place during or after the renovation of the earth by fire (2 Pet. 3:7). The judgment of the Great White Throne is the judgment of the wicked dead of all ages past by God the Father and the Son (vv. 11-12). Job declares that the wicked are reserved to the day of destruction and will be brought forth to the day of wrath (Job 21:30). The resulting judgment will see the lost cast into the lake of fire (vs. 15).

The question before the Great White Throne for the wicked or ungodly dead will not be whether they are entitled to eternal life, but to ascertain their degree of punishment. The “book of life” is opened verifying the eternal destiny for each of the wicked, while the “books” are also opened in which the deeds of all men have been recorded – thus verifying the life which each one lived in rejection of Christ. Sadly, there will appear at this judgment many whom we would call kind, loving and lovable - “good” or “not so bad” people, who were not saved. They will be classed with the “ungodly” and spend eternity in the lake of fire (vv. 14-15) because they are “without God” and “without Christ” (Eph. 2:12, 11), having rejected Jesus Christ as Savior. “Every man [will be judged] according to [his] works” (20:13). As a result, some will be sentenced to a more severe punishment than others, but none will escape. Friend, consider a serious question – Where will you spend eternity, in heaven or hell? Please receive Christ as Savior today – be assured of heaven!

As saved people, we need to be aware of our present responsibility to the Lord and of our future accountability to the Lord Jesus Christ. Unlike the past judgment of our sin as it was borne by our Sin-Bearer, this judgment does not have to do with condemnation for sin. The Judgment Seat of Christ will be a place of commendation for service. A determination of reward or loss will be made for each believer as to his service for Christ (vv. 14-15). This judgment is future, and it will take place at the rapture, in the air before the “Bema” (Greek term) – Judgment Seat of Christ (2 Cor. 5:10).  As suggested by the place of judgment, the Judge will be the Lord Jesus Christ (Rom. 14:10), and believers are the persons judged. It will not be a judgment in the sense of a trial to see whether the judged are innocent (saved) or guilty (lost), for it is a judgment of the saved only. Christ bore “our sins in His own body on the tree” (1 Pet. 2:24), and God has entered into covenant with us to “remember them no more” (Heb. 10:17). Yet every work must come into judgment; that is why we labor to be well-pleasing to Him (2 Cor. 5:9).

In the final analysis, we will receive either reward or loss of reward. The basis of judgment appears to be threefold – motive (1 Cor. 4:5), quality (3:12-13), and quantity (3:10b). Everyone’s work will be “revealed by fire” – perhaps the “flame of fire” of His eyes (Rev. 1:14). The result of this judgment is reward or loss at the Bema of Christ. The foundation of our lives is laid (vs. 11); let us be careful how we build and with what materials we build. “Look to yourselves…that [you] receive a full reward” (2 Jn. 8).

As saved people, we need to be aware of our present responsibility to the Lord and of our future accountability to the Lord Jesus Christ. Unlike the past judgment of our sin as it was borne by our Sin-Bearer, this judgment does not have to do with condemnation for sin. The Judgment Seat of Christ will be a place of commendation for service. A determination of reward or loss will be made for each believer as to his service for Christ (vv. 14-15). This judgment is future, and it will take place at the rapture, in the air before the “Bema” (Greek term) – Judgment Seat of Christ (2 Cor. 5:10).  As suggested by the place of judgment, the Judge will be the Lord Jesus Christ (Rom. 14:10), and believers are the persons judged. It will not be a judgment in the sense of a trial to see whether the judged are innocent (saved) or guilty (lost), for it is a judgment of the saved only. Christ bore “our sins in His own body on the tree” (1 Pet. 2:24), and God has entered into covenant with us to “remember them no more” (Heb. 10:17). Yet every work must come into judgment; that is why we labor to be well-pleasing to Him (2 Cor. 5:9).

In the final analysis, we will receive either reward or loss of reward. The basis of judgment appears to be threefold – motive (1 Cor. 4:5), quality (3:12-13), and quantity (3:10b). Everyone’s work will be “revealed by fire” – perhaps the “flame of fire” of His eyes (Rev. 1:14). The result of this judgment is reward or loss at the Bema of Christ. The foundation of our lives is laid (vs. 11); let us be careful how we build and with what materials we build. “Look to yourselves…that [you] receive a full reward” (2 Jn. 8).