When we look to the Scriptures for the answer, we will see that it is not, after all, the same thing as the lake of fire

The Lord does not expect us to make a profit according to what He has not given us, but only according to what He has given us

We may either ”coin enormous future wealth” with the Lord’s gift to us in this age, or miss the opportunity to reign with Him in His kingdom

The Lord Himself warns us, through His parables, of how serious a discipline we may face when we stand before His judgment seat

The journey of the Children of Israel from Egypt to the Good Land, as Paul makes clear, is a very serious warning to the believers today

According to the Bible, the goal which is set before a person is twofold: when we are yet sinners, our goal is salvation; after we are saved and become believers, our goal is reward. For salvation is provided for sinners, whereas reward is provided for believers. The perishing should receive salvation, and the saved should win reward.— Watchman Nee, Aids to Revelation, page 41In this episode we continue our consideration of the very serious and sober matter of how we as the Lord’s believers may be either rewarded or disciplined by Christ when we stand before Him at His judgment seat (2 Cor. 5:10, Rom. 14:10-12, Rev. 20:4-6).=========== OUR WEBSITETheChristianFaith.org SUBSCRIBETheChristianFaith.org/subscribe SEND US A NOTEnotes@thechristianfaith.org FOLLOW US ON… Facebook YouTubeTwitter / X  ===========    Bible Verses for this Episode See Episode #146: “Rewarded According to Our Works” (2)  =========== RESOURCESThis Podcast Series: “The Judgment Seat of Christ”Previous Series: “Spirit and Soul and Body” This Podcast Series: “The Judgment Seat of Christ”Previous Series: “Spirit and Soul and Body” A Brief Note: “Suffering Loss to Gain Our Soul” (1)A Brief Note: “Suffering Loss to Gain Our Soul” (2)A Brief Note: “Suffering Loss to Gain Our Soul” (3)A Brief Note: “Suffering Loss to Gain Our Soul” (4) BooksD.M. Panton, purchase The Judgment Seat of ChristD.M. Panton, download The Judgment Seat of ChristWitness Lee, A Brief Definition of the Kingdom of the HeavensWatchman Nee, The Salvation of the Soul   =========== Recorded…in Chicago, Illinois on Thursday, 4 September 2025

As believers in Christ, we can never lose our eternal salvation, but we may very well lose the privilege of reigning with Him for the 1,000 years

Not everything in the Christian life is a free gift, for the Lord will reward us according to our works

To reign with the Lord in the next age, the 1,000 years, we must live under His authority in this age

There’s so much of the Bible we can’t understand until we see this matter of Christ bringing His kingdom to this present earth

The vision the apostle John sees in the book of Revelation begins when he hears a voice speaking to him:What you see, write in a book and send it to the seven churches….— Revelation 1:11He then turns around to see the voice that had spoken to him, and says,…When I turned around, I saw seven golden lampstands, and in the midst of the lampstands, one like a son of man….— Revelation 1:12-13We all need to hear such a speaking, and to have such a turn, today, so that we too may see Christ as the one standing in the midst of the “golden lampstands,” which are the churches of God (v. 20).That is, to really see Christ, and to really participate in His work, we must find Him as the one who is today caring for the churches of God as His testimony on the earth.So, in this episode we consider the churches of God as the golden lampstands, with Christ walking in their midst.===========To download the pamphlet we use asthe basis for this study, go to this page:“What Is God’s Purpose for the Church?”To view the pamphlet online,go to the “Look Inside” page. =========== OUR WEBSITETheChristianFaith.org SUBSCRIBETheChristianFaith.org/subscribe SEND US A NOTEnotes@thechristianfaith.org FOLLOW US ON… Facebook YouTubeTwitter / X =========== Bible Verses for this EpisodeSee Episode #141: “The Way of the Church (4): The Churches of God as the Golden Lampstands” ===========RESOURCES Pamphlet: “What Is God’s Purpose for the Church?”Look Inside: “What Is God’s Purpose for the Church?”Previous Episodes in this Series:Podcast Series: “What Is the Church?” Video: “How I Found the New Testament Fellowship.” The Website for the Church of the Chicagoans: ChicagoMeeting.orgBooksE.H. Broadbent, The Pilgrim ChurchWitness Lee, The Genuine Ground of OnenessWitness Lee, The Life and Way for the Practice of the Church LifeWatchman Nee, The Normal Christian Church LifeDavid Canfield, Writings on the Turmoil Among the Churches ===========Recorded…In Chicago, Illinois on Thursday, 10 July 2025

We all know that, as the believers in Christ, we need to meet together in churches with our fellow believers; the new life we have received in Christ drives us inwardly to seek such fellowship.And yet, as important as this is, the New Testament gives us no instructions regarding how to form churches. Rather, as Watchman Nee points out, what it shows us is that, wherever the gospel was preached and people believed in the Lord, these saved believers simply came together, without any planning or other consideration, to be the church in that place: the church in Jerusalem, the church in Corinth, the church in Ephesus, etc.This is the New Testament pattern, and if we desire to follow the Lord according to His desire, it will be our way as well. That is, we will simply meet together with our fellow believers in the place where we live as the one unique church in our locality.However, what we see instead among believers today are so many sects and divisions, which are different kinds of fellowships which are outside of, and in opposition to, the unique New Testament fellowship of God’s Son we have been called into as the believers in Christ:God is faithful, through whom you were called into the fellowship of His Son, Jesus Christ our Lord.— 1 Corinthians 1:9; cf. 1 Corinthians 1:2, 10-13, Revelation 1:11So in this episode, after stressing again the importance of simply meeting in the Lord’s name, we go one to consider some of these other kinds of fellowship that believers set up for their gatherings today. To download the pamphlet we use asthe basis for this study, go to this page:“What Is God’s Purpose for the Church?”To view the pamphlet online,go to the “Look Inside” page. =========== OUR WEBSITETheChristianFaith.org SUBSCRIBETheChristianFaith.org/subscribe SEND US A NOTEnotes@thechristianfaith.org FOLLOW US ON… Facebook YouTubeTwitter / X =========== Bible Verses for this EpisodeSee Episode #140: “The Way of the Church (4): Simply Meeting Together in the Lord’s Name” =========== RESOURCESPamphlet: “What Is God’s Purpose for the Church?”Look Inside: “What Is God’s Purpose for the Church?”Previous Episodes in this Series:Podcast Series: “What Is the Church?” Video: “How I Found the New Testament Fellowship.”The Website for the Church of the Chicagoans: ChicagoMeeting.orgBooksE.H. Broadbent, The Pilgrim ChurchWitness Lee, The Genuine Ground of OnenessWitness Lee, The Life and Way for the Practice of the Church LifeWatchman Nee, The Normal Christian Church Life =========== Recorded…in Chicago, Illinois on Tuesday, 30 June 2025  

The Old Testament history of the Children of Israel shows us that we must not make our own choices in the matter of worshiping the Lord

If we see God’s goal to have the church, and the nature of our oneness in Christ, we’ll know how we should meet with our fellow believers

The New Testament believers simply came together to be the church wherever they lived, and that is how we should meet today as well

I hope so many of my dear brothers and sisters in Christ will benefit from what the Lord committed to this servant of the Lord

It is the labor of the Lord’s servants that brings us into the genuine New Testament fellowship

Not only must we have the Spirit of God to be in the New Testament fellowship of God’s Son, but we ourselves must be genuinely spiritual persons

The fellowship of God’s Son (1 Cor. 1:9) must be worked out even in the messy situations we face in our practical church life

To have the fellowship of God’s Son in reality we must experience the cross of Christ and grow and mature in Christ