We are stating here that the Judgment Seat of Christ is part of the reconciliation stage of the marriage of the Lamb. It is not possible for us to be raised from the dead, to be changed into an immortal being, to ascend to meet the Lord and be ever with Him, to enter marriage with Him, shining in glory before all the world, and after that receive the bad we have practiced in our body (II Corinthians 5:10).

The members of the Wife of the Lamb must be made manifest before the Judgment Seat of Christ prior to the first resurrection from the dead. We must be revealed now—in the present hour—before the Judgment Seat of Christ.

Is it scriptural that the household of God is to be judged in advance of the world?

For the time is come that judgment must begin at the house of God: and if it first begin at us, what shall the end be of them that obey not the gospel of God? (I Peter 4:17)

Isn't it true that we are judged after we die (Hebrews 9:27)?

Yes, but consider that the death into which the true saint is brought, in being made conformable to Christ's death, is a true death. Although it is not a physical death, it is a genuine death of our first personality. The Spirit is bringing us to the point where we can say, "It is not I who am living but Christ who is living in me."

As we are brought down to death by the Spirit of God the work of judgment commences.

Do we receive the good and the bad we are practicing?

Yes, we do. From the bad we are practicing comes the tribulation we experience. This tribulation results from the judgment passed on our personality by the Lord. We suffer pain in this world (and no doubt in the next) because of the rebellion and lawlessness in us. This is the meaning of the fourth chapter of I Peter.

And notice carefully:

So that we ourselves glory in you in the churches of God for your patience and faith in all your persecutions and tribulations that ye endure: Which is a manifest token of the righteous judgment of God, that ye may be counted worthy of the kingdom of God, for which ye also suffer: (II Thessalonians 1:4,5)

What are our persecutions and tribulations? They are "a manifest token of the righteous judgment of God." They are God's judgment upon us.

God sends fiery judgments on us for the purpose of burning sin out of us so we may be counted worthy of the Kingdom of God. We are suffering so we may enter the Kingdom of God. We suffer so we will cease from sin (I Peter 4:1). The righteous are saved with difficulty as they work out their salvation with fear and trembling.

How about the good we have done. Do we receive the good also? Yes, we do. We do not always witness the outward manifestation of our rewards during our lifetime on the earth. We receive our rewards spiritually, and they enable us to pass from glory to glory in spiritual authority and life while we yet are in the world.

To be continued.