<p>16:27&nbsp;<i>For&nbsp;the Son of Man shall come-&nbsp;</i>There is a powerful practical result of the connection between the cross and the judgment. The Lord brings it out when He gives three reasons for denying ourselves and taking up the cross; the final and most compelling is &ldquo;<i>For</i>&nbsp;(because) the Son of man shall come in the glory of his Father with his angels; and then shall he give every man according to his works&quot; (Mt. 16:24,27). Take up the cross, do what is hard for you spiritually, because this is the basis upon which you will be judged- how far you took up the cross, really denied yourself. Before the cross of Christ, we know the way we ought to take. Before the judgment seat, we will know likewise. But we make the answer now.<br />
Luke adds that the Lord will be &ldquo;ashamed&rdquo; of those who have been ashamed of Him in this life. If we are&nbsp;<i>now</i>&nbsp;ashamed of our Lord before men, we will be in the condemnation process (Lk. 9:26 cp. 1 Jn. 2:28).</p>
<p><i>In the glory of his Father with his angels</i>- The intention of this phrase may be to demonstrate that the Lord will execute judgment with the full authority of the Father. Or perhaps the language is to remind us of the awesomeness of the day of judgment, and how inappropriate it would be to stand there and think that before the light of that moral and physical glory, with all the Angels present, we could suggest giving our wealth as an exchange for our soul.</p>
<p><i>And then shall he repay every man according to his deeds</i>- The Greek refers to payment, and this is how the word is usually translated in the Gospels. And this is in keeping with the metaphor used here- of trading, gaining, losing and exchanging. The payment to us is for our loss of material advantage in this life; the attitudes which led to this are therefore the &ldquo;works&rdquo; which shall be paid back. It could be argued that the idea of paying a reward implies that the &ldquo;every man&rdquo; in view here refers to the group of faithful believers. For it is those accepted into the Kingdom who shall be given payment. In one sense, the penny a day refers to salvation, which all the same requires us to resign seeking the reward of this world. Or it could be that in another sense, the nature of eternity will indeed be according to the works we have done, in that one star differs from another in glory, and the servants were rewarded with different levels of reward according to their trading on their Master&rsquo;s behalf.</p>
<p>The &lsquo;deeds&rsquo; of the context refer to taking up the cross, not wanting to gain the world for ourselves but seeking to gain men for Christ. These &lsquo;works&rsquo; appear largely to be mental attitudes rather than deeds physically performed. The work of God is to believe in Christ (Jn. 6:29). The outcome of the day of judgment is according to human works in the sense that it is only a confirmation of the decision and judgment about ourselves which we ourselves have decided in this life- see on 16:25&nbsp;<i>lose it</i>.</p>