Psalms 50:1-6 “The Mighty One, God the Lord, has spoken and called the earth from the rising of the sun to its going down. … (4) He shall call to the heavens from above, and to the earth, that He may judge His people: (5) “Gather My saints together to Me, those who have made a covenant with Me by sacrifice." (6) Let the heavens declare His righteousness, for God Himself is Judge.”
In the passage of scripture quoted above, again the Holy Spirit has spoken clearly to let us know that our Lord Jesus will judge His saints when He returns to set up His millennial reign on the earth, for our Lord says that His angels will gather His saints to Him when He returns so that He may judge His people. And He tells us in this passage that His saints will be gathered from both heaven and the earth, which clearly refers to the first resurrection. And so this passage confirms what Paul taught, which is that even though Paul was assured that he would receive the crown of righteousness as his reward; Paul knew that he would not receive it when he went to be with the Lord, but rather he would only receive his crown on the appointed day when all Christians will receive their rewards according to their works done on the earth.
Luke 14:14 “And you will be blessed, because they cannot repay you; for you shall be repaid at the resurrection of the just.”
In the passage of scripture quoted above our Lord Jesus has plainly taught us that we will only be rewarded for our works at the resurrection of the just and not before. We have already seen that the resurrection of the just is the first resurrection, which will take place at the second coming of the Lord. When He was on the earth, our Lord Jesus also plainly taught the disciples that thrones will only be given to His saints at the time of the regeneration, again referring to the time of the first resurrection (Matthew 19:28). Clearly that time has not yet come, and so no saints have received any rewards from the Lord because no saints have been judged yet.
1 Corinthians 4:5 “Therefore judge nothing before the time, until the Lord comes, who will both bring to light the hidden things of darkness and reveal the counsels of the hearts. Then each one's praise will come from God.”
In the passage of scripture quoted above the Holy Spirit reveals to us that our Lord Jesus will only judge His church when He returns to the earth and not before, for He counsels us through the apostle Paul to judge nothing before the time until the Lord comes. And so we see that scripture is very clear that there is a set day in the future when all the Lord’s saints will be judged by Him at the same time. That set day will occur at His second coming, which is when the resurrection of the saints will occur. It is only on that day of judgement that the saints will then be rewarded for their works, which will include any crowns and thrones that may be given to the saints. Until that day however, scripture again plainly teaches us that all saints who fall asleep in the Lord go to be with Him and to enter into His rest. Sadly just as there have been false visions and fables spread in the church that the saints in heaven are praying for the saints on earth, so there have also been false visions communicated to the church of saints who have already received their crowns and thrones from God. None of this is true however, for all crowns and thrones will only be given on that set day of judgement.
Michael E.B. Maher
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