Pathway to Victory

David J. Mullins: Hey podcast listeners. Thanks for streaming today's podcast from Pathway to Victory. Pathway to Victory is a non-profit ministry featuring the Bible teaching of Dr. Robert Jeffress. Our mission is to pierce the darkness with the light of God's word through the most effective media available, like this podcast. To support Pathway to Victory, go to ptv.org/donate or follow the link in our show notes. Now, here's today's podcast from Pathway to Victory.

Dr. Robert Jeffress: Hi, this is Robert Jeffress, and I'm glad to study God's word with you every day on this Bible teaching program. On today's edition of Pathway to Victory, today we're going to answer the intriguing question: will heaven be the same for every Christian? The answer to that is no. God's justification exempts us from God's condemnation, but it doesn't exempt us from God's evaluation of our lives.

David J. Mullins: Welcome to Pathway to Victory with author and pastor Dr. Robert Jeffress. Most people believe that heaven is going to look like a divine commune where everyone shares the same experience. But today on Pathway to Victory, Dr. Robert Jeffress explains that the kind of heaven we experience in the next life will be largely determined by how we live as Christians in this life. But first, let's take a moment to hear some important ministry updates.

Dr. Robert Jeffress: Thanks, David, and welcome again to Pathway to Victory. All this month, we've been looking at Scripture to learn about a place called heaven, and our teaching series will conclude this coming Friday. While there is still time, please get in touch with Pathway to Victory because I'd like to send you the comforting book I've written for you. My book is titled Encouragement From a Place Called Heaven.

You might already own a copy of my bestselling book, A Place Called Heaven, but this book is entirely different. This one is intentionally designed to lighten your daily burden and help you look forward to the glories of heaven. It's the perfect gift of encouragement for anyone going through stressful times. When you give a generous gift to fuel the ministry of Pathway to Victory, I'll make sure you receive a padded, hardbound copy.

The title again is Encouragement From a Place Called Heaven. I'll give more details after today's message, but right now let's open our Bibles to the book of Revelation as we answer another common question about a place called heaven. I've titled today's study with a question: Will heaven be the same for everyone?

Jim Marshall was a defensive lineman for the Minnesota Vikings in the 1960s and 70s. Although Jim Marshall was a Super Bowl champion, Marshall is best known for the mistake he made on October 24th, 1964. In a game with the San Francisco 49ers, Jim Marshall saw a fumble. He picked up the football and he began running the length of the field.

His football team started running along with him along the sidelines, yelling for him to run the other way. Marshall didn't realize he was running toward his own end zone. Although Marshall ended up having a fairly good game and even though the Vikings won the game with the 49ers, Marshall will always be remembered not for his success but for his mistake that day. From that point on, the rest of his life, he was always known as Wrong Way Marshall. What a title.

Making it to the end zone is the goal in a football game, but making it to the right end zone is the goal of winning. It's the same way in the Christian life. The fact is, if we have placed our faith in Jesus Christ, we are all going to make it into the spiritual end zone, into heaven. But some will make it there only after spending some time running in the wrong direction.

Some who make it into heaven will be celebrated by God for the way they played the game. Other Christians will be evaluated by God for having done little to contribute to the success of the team. As we continue our series, A Place Called Heaven, in which we're answering ten of the most common questions about heaven, today we're going to answer the intriguing question: will heaven be the same for every Christian?

The answer to that is no. Not every Christian will have the same experience in heaven, and this is such an important truth to comprehend that instead of rushing through the message and cutting out things left and right, we're going to divide this message in two parts. Today we're going to begin looking at the evaluation that we are all going to face as Christians.

Let's first of all establish the reality of the judgment of all Christians. One thing the Bible is very clear about is that everybody after death will be judged by God. Hebrews 9:27 says, "It is appointed unto every person once to die and then the judgment." We're all going to be judged, not just some people, all of us. In 2nd Timothy 4:1, the Apostle Paul talked about the Lord Jesus Christ who will judge both the living and the dead.

Everyone, both Christians and non-Christians, will be judged by God. But we will not all be judged in a single judgment. There is one judgment for non-Christians. That judgment is called the Great White Throne Judgment. It's described in Revelation 20, verses 11 to 15. The Bible says at the end of the thousand-year reign of Christ on the earth, there will be a judgment before the new heaven and the new earth. It's described in Revelation 11 through 15.

John says every unbeliever who has ever died since the time of Adam will be raised and will stand before this Great White Throne Judgment. If any person's name was not found written in the Lamb's Book of Life, he was cast into the lake of fire and tormented day and night forever and ever. Ladies and gentlemen, if you have not trusted in Christ as your Savior, if you have not turned to Him for the forgiveness of your sins, it doesn't matter how good you are. You can't be good enough.

None of us can be good enough. The only way we can escape God's eternal judgment is by trusting in Christ as our Savior now before we die. The Great White Throne Judgment will be the judgment of all unbelievers who have said, "I'm good enough. I don't need Jesus' death for me. I'm good enough to make it into heaven on my own." Nobody will be found to be good enough. That is the Great White Throne Judgment.

But there is another judgment for those of us who are Christians. It is a judgment called the judgment seat of Christ. It is a judgment that results not in condemnation but in God's commendation for the lives we have lived for Christ. Paul describes that judgment in 2nd Corinthians 5, verse 10. He says, "For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, that each one of us may be recompensed, rewarded for his deeds in the body according to what he has done, whether good or bad."

Notice he says we must all appear. He was writing to Christians in Corinth. He said, "Christians, you too have a judgment to face before God." It's a different judgment. It's the judgment seat of Christ. What did Paul mean when he talked about the judgment seat of Christ? If you want to get into Paul's mind to understand what he meant, you need to turn over to Acts chapter 18. That word "judgment seat" is a very particular word in Greek, and we're going to discover the meaning of it right now.

Acts chapter 18 recounts Paul's second missionary journey. On that second missionary journey that many of us have retraced before, he spent 18 months in the city of Corinth. You will remember there in Corinth he had a very productive ministry. Many of the Jewish people were coming to faith in Christ. Remember Paul was a Jew. Jesus was a Jew. Paul, after he came to faith in Christ, won many of the Jewish people to Christ there in Corinth as well as the Gentiles.

He had great success. Many were won to Christ, but not everybody was happy with him. Some were so incensed by what he was doing, especially in winning Jews to Christ, that they arrested him and they dragged him before the Roman governor of the province, a man named Gallio. Look what happened in verse 12. "But while Gallio was proconsul of Achaia, the Jews with one accord rose up against Paul and brought him before the judgment seat," underline that word "judgment seat," "saying, 'This man persuades men to worship God contrary to the law.'"

The word translated "judgment seat" is the word "bema" in Greek. B-E-M-A. It refers to a raised platform on which the governor would sit. Sometimes he would hand out rewards. If somebody had been successful in an athletic event, he would receive a reward. Sometimes it was a place where justice was meted out. It was a raised platform. So the Apostle Paul is brought in in chains and he's looking at Gallio seated on that raised platform, the judgment seat.

When Paul was about to open his mouth, Gallio said to the Jews, "If it were a matter of wrong or of vicious crime, oh Jews, it would be reasonable for me to put up with you. But if there are questions about words and names of your own law, look after it yourselves. I'm unwilling to be a judge of these matters," and he drove them away from the judgment seat. Gallio was saying, "This is a Jewish dispute. You all handle it. I'm not interested in getting involved."

But what was interesting is Paul didn't know what he was going to say. Paul stood there realizing, "Here is the man who has the power to extinguish my life." 10 years ago, I stood in that very spot where Paul stood. I looked at that judgment seat and I thought to myself, "What is it that gave Paul the courage to stand there undaunted by the threats against him? What made him so faithful and courageous?"

As Paul stood there and looked at that judge Gallio, I believe he thought to himself, "One day I'm going to stand in front of another judge on the judgment seat and I'm going to have to give an account to him for the way that I lived my life. I would much rather be found commended to him rather than to this human judge who has no power other than what God gives him." Paul had that mindset: "I'm going to live my life to please the true judge because one day we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ."

We all have times in our lives where we rededicate our lives to God. I remember 10 years ago standing in front of that. Our group was wandering around different places. I stood there. I was in the process of coming to this church to be your pastor. Some of you were on the trip with me. As I stood there, I prayed, "Lord, help me the rest of my life to have a bema mentality, to evaluate everything I do, to give me the courage to stand for you knowing that someday I'm going to give that account to you."

I wrote down in my journal "The Bema Mentality: living with the judgment seat of Christ in view." That's exactly what Paul had in mind here. We must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, and that affected his life until the day God called him home. Let me make a distinction between the Christian's judgment and the non-Christian's judgment.

The judgment seat of Christ is for the commendation of believers, while the Great White Throne Judgment is for the condemnation of unbelievers. The result of the judgment seat of Christ will be eternal rewards. The result of the Great White Throne Judgment will be God's eternal punishment. Here is what makes the judgment seat of Christ different than the Great White Throne Judgment: only those who are saved will be at the judgment seat of Christ.

Those who have already been declared not guilty by God are the ones who stand at the judgment seat of Christ. This judgment we're talking about is not to determine whether somebody goes to heaven or hell. If you're a Christian, that has already been decided by your faith in Jesus. If you wait until after you die to choose whether you're going to go to heaven or hell, you've waited too long. That's a decision you make now by placing your faith in Jesus Christ.

The moment you trust in Jesus as your Savior, you are justified in the sight of God. When you become a Christian, God no longer sees your sin. He sees the righteousness of His Son, Jesus Christ. That's what it means to be justified, to be in a right relationship with God. What does the Bible say? Romans 8:1, "There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus." If you are a Christian and been forgiven by God, you never have to worry that one day God's going to condemn you.

God's justification exempts us from God's condemnation, but it doesn't exempt us from God's evaluation of our life. When you become a Christian, you don't ever have to worry about God's condemnation, but you still need to be mindful of His evaluation of our life. That's why 2nd Corinthians 5:10 says, "For we Christians must all appear before this judgment of Christ." I checked the Greek on it this week, by the way. I looked up that word "all" in the Greek language. Do you know what the word "all" means? All.

It means every one of us is going to stand before the judgment seat of Christ, no exceptions. That's why Paul writes in verse 9, before verse 10, "Therefore we have as our ambition, whether at home or absent, to be pleasing to him." Paul said knowing that we're going to stand before that evaluation, we ought to have as our one aim in life to be pleasing to God.

When does this judgment take place? It doesn't happen the moment we die. Although the Bible doesn't tell us exactly the moment it happens, I believe it happens at the rapture of the church at the beginning of the tribulation on earth. I have two reasons for saying that. First of all, Revelation 4, verse 10. The Bible says before the tribulation begins after the rapture, there's a picture of the 24 elders in heaven wearing their crowns praising God. Now, the 24 elders represent the church, that is you and I.

So apparently, the church has already been rewarded at the beginning of the tribulation. The second reason is Revelation 19, verse 8. The Bible says at the end of the tribulation on earth at the great battle of Armageddon, suddenly the skies will part, Christ appears and we are with Him. Notice what verse 8 says, "And it was given to her," that is the church, "to clothe herself in fine linen, bright and clean, for the fine linen is the righteous acts of the saints."

Apparently by this time, we have been judged. We have received our rewards. It's described as bright linen, but it is tied to our righteous acts after we became a Christian. That leads to an important distinction of the importance of good works in a Christian's life. Do our works really matter to God? Some people say yes, some people say no. We've got to distinguish between the value of our works before we are saved and the value of our works after we are saved.

What is the value of our good works to God before we become a Christian? Zero, zilch, nada. Isaiah said our righteousness, the best we can do before God, is like a filthy rag to God. Our works are worthless to God. That's why Ephesians 2:8 and 9 says, "For by grace you have been saved through faith and that not of yourselves, it is a gift of God, not as works that no one should boast." God doesn't allow us to work for our salvation. If He allows us to work for our salvation, then salvation is something He owes us, and God refuses to owe any man or woman anything.

Salvation is simply a measure of God's grace to us. Our value of our good works before we are saved is nothing. We cannot earn our salvation. However, there is value to our works after our salvation. While our works are worthless in securing us a place in heaven, they are integral in determining our experience in heaven. We are not saved by good works, but look at Ephesians 2:10. "For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them."

Before we are saved, the only value of our works is our works are sufficient to condemn us before God. But after we are saved, our good works are sufficient to commend us to God. That's why Paul says in 2nd Corinthians 5:9 and 10, "Therefore also we have as our ambition, whether at home or absent, to be pleasing to him. For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, that each one of us may be recompensed for his deeds in the body according to what he has done, whether they be good or bad."

Now, this is an unfortunate translation: "good or bad." Because we think that judgment is based on a moral good or a moral bad. No, that's not what the word means. The word "good" here refers to that which endures, is lasting. The word "bad" isn't moral bad; it is "phaulos." It means worthless. This judgment is not determining whether we go to heaven or hell. This is a judgment of rewards, and the standard by which we're going to be judged is: was our life spent on those things that were important, that have eternal consequence, or did we spend our lives on those things which were worthless?

That's the judgment that we're going to face. How did we invest our time? How did we invest our money? It's not that we invested them in bad things, but were they worthless things compared to the kingdom of God? That is the judgment seat of Christ. When I think about God's evaluation of our lives, I think about a very embarrassing evaluation I had some years ago. When I lived in Wichita Falls, I used to come to Dallas once a year for a physical at a clinic here in town.

Part of that physical involved me standing in my birthday suit before the physician, the physician's assistant. As I stood there, he'd take this little torture device and start pinching various parts of my arms and appendages to try to measure my body fat. That was humiliating. But even the worst part was putting back on my clothes and sitting down for the evaluation. It happened every year. He'd bring in this folder and he'd say, "Now we're going to talk about your health."

He would always start on a positive note. He would commend me for the good things I was doing: my exercise, the bran flakes that I gagged on every morning. There were some good things. And then his smile would turn to a frown and he would talk about, "You know, you need to shave off some points off that cholesterol. That blood pressure isn't exactly where we would like it." He would give a critique and evaluation of my life.

That's what the judgment seat of Christ is going to be. It's going to be an honest evaluation of everything we've done, whether it is good, lasting, eternal, or worthless. Luke 8:17, Jesus said, "For nothing is hidden that shall not become evident, nor anything secret that shall not be known and will come to light." Getting ready to enter the kingdom of God begins today, and each of us needs to become intentional about preparing for our eternal home. So let me give you a natural place to start.

I've written a book titled Encouragement From a Place Called Heaven, and time is running out to request a copy because our teaching series will conclude on Friday. Heaven is our greatest hope. It's not a figment of your imagination. Heaven is a real place that's prepared by our Heavenly Father, and my book will help you revel in this hope and it will help you keep looking up no matter what challenges come your way. While there is still time, be sure to request a copy of Encouragement From a Place Called Heaven.

A copy is yours when you give a generous gift to support the growing ministry of Pathway to Victory. Your gift today does far more than cover the cost of this padded hardback book. In fact, I've been excited to tell you about the ways God has expanded our ministry to reach more men and women than ever before. In recent days, we have welcomed a whole new family of Pathway Partners into the fold.

A Pathway Partner is someone who agrees to give an automated contribution to support the ministry of Pathway to Victory. I am so excited about our new Pathway Partners. You often hear me say it's my voice that you hear on this program, but it's our Pathway Partners and all those who give generously that make this program possible. I couldn't do it without you. There's always room for more. To become one of our Pathway Partners today, just follow the simple instructions at ptv.org. Here's David with all the details.

David J. Mullins: When you support the ministry of Pathway to Victory by giving a generous gift, you're invited to request a copy of the book from Dr. Jeffress called Encouragement From a Place Called Heaven. To request your copy, call 866-999-2965 or visit online at ptv.org. You can also support this ministry by texting PTV to 78800. And when you give $75 or more, you'll also receive both the CD and DVD teaching sets for A Place Called Heaven. You'll get those plus the original bestselling book by that same title.

To request the complete package of resources, call 866-999-2965 or visit ptv.org. If you'd prefer to contact us by mail, write to PO Box 223609, Dallas, Texas, 75222. Again, that's PO Box 223609, Dallas, Texas, 75222. I'm David J. Mullins. Join us again next time when Dr. Jeffress presents part two of this message: Will Heaven Be The Same For Everyone? That's Tuesday here on Pathway to Victory. Pathway to Victory with Dr. Robert Jeffress comes from the pulpit of the First Baptist Church of Dallas, Texas.

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You made it to the end of today's podcast from Pathway to Victory, and we're so glad you're here. Pathway to Victory relies on the generosity of loyal listeners like you to make this podcast possible. One of the most impactful ways you can give is by becoming a Pathway Partner. Your monthly gift will empower Pathway to Victory to share the gospel of Jesus Christ and help others become rooted more firmly in His word. To become a Pathway Partner, go to ptv.org/donate or you can follow the link in our show notes. We hope you've been blessed by today's podcast from Pathway to Victory.

Oh, and one last thing before we go: have you reserved your spot yet for the 2026 Pathway to Victory cruise to Alaska? You've been hearing me and Dr. Jeffress mention it, so what are you waiting for? Just picture yourself on the deck of Holland America's elegant Koningsdam and stepping out on deck to witness nature's grandeur. It's beautiful. These moments in God's creation will deepen your faith in powerful ways. Experience five-star dining, luxurious staterooms, and visiting iconic ports like Juneau, Ketchikan, and Skagway. We're also bringing along our own Christian entertainment, you'll love it. Seats are filling up, so book your spot today at ptv.org.