To Listen ‘Open Message from Title’ and click on Listen Now or To Save: Right Click and ‘Save Target as’ Have you ever wondered what we will be doing in heaven for all eternity? I don’t believe the rendition of people floating about on clouds is accurate. When we get to heaven, after facing the judgment seat of Christ, what will there be for us to do? Several years ago I went with several of the men from this valley to a Promise Keepers event in Seattle. We all gathered in a large domed sports arena. There thousands upon thousands of men from all over the northwest and beyond came together to learn more about the Lord and to worship Him together. Have any of you ever been gathered together with thousands of other worshippers, worshipping God in song and prayer? What was it like for you? How did it make you feel? For me the worship times together were incredible as thousands upon thousands of men raised their voices up in songs of worship and praise to God. Often after the songs were finished there would be outbreaks of clapping or stomping of feet in praise to God, seemingly shaking the foundations of the building. There were many times when the praise went on and on with little care to stop it from any. There were no clock watchers there. Most every man that came desired to worship more and more as the day went on. There was a deep desire to become more intimate with God through worship, a desire to lift His name up on high. Do you think this is what it will be like in heaven for us for all eternity, praising and worshipping God there at His throne? For those who are truly blessed, this is what waits for them, Rev. 7:9-17 Those who persevere through the Tribulation Period will be rewarded for their faithfulness to God and to Jesus, because they served even at the risk of their own lives. The thing is, that those who are given this privilege will desire to be there worshipping God for all eternity. This will be their area of service to Him for all eternity. What about the rest of us, what will we be doing for eternity? As we will see much of that will be determined by how well we do serving in the little things for the Lord here on earth, now, before we get to heaven. Let me ask you this; if you truly love someone what is that you will want to do most for them? If we truly love someone we will desire to serve them to the best of our ability. It will be our desire to give to them, help them, protect them and serve them because of the depth of love we have for them. Vs 43-45. Person who says they love you but actions show otherwise. The words we use will give them some clue of our intent to love them but our actions will speak volumes to them about how we truly feel. Vs 42. Do you know this is the same principal with God and His love for us? His word tells us that He loves us and that He wants the best for us. Jer. 29:11 For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the LORD, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. But God also followed up His words with actions to prove out His love for us; John 3:16 “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. Jesus said; John 15:13 Greater love has no one than this, that he lay down his life for his friends. Many of us say we love the Lord but what have we done to show Him our love for Him? Now, you may be wondering what all this has to do with what we will be doing in heaven for all eternity? That’s where we are going. How we manage our lives here, out of love for the Lord, how we serve, will determine a lot of what we will be doing in eternity, how much we will be allowed to serve Him there. The clue to how this will work is revealed to us in several parables Jesus told about being good servants, stewards, of what God has entrusted to us. There is a difference between servants, slaves, and stewards, both have responsibilities, both work for a wage. The difference is that a steward is charged with managing his master’s property, or part of it, while the master is away. The steward is given opportunity to multiply what he has been put in charge of or fail to do so. This is even a greater responsibility for us because we are managing the family business as heirs. Gal. 3:26-4:7 When the master returns he will reward each steward according to their work. Matt. 16:27 For the Son of Man is going to come in his Father’s glory with his angels, and then he will reward each person according to what he has done. Jesus has given each of us a commission to manage an asset for Him; we are to manage our lives for Him, the sum of our talents, strengths, personalities, interests and gifting. What we do with our lives for the Master will either increase His kingdom or deduct from it. This leads us to ask ourselves, “How well have we, I, been doing with what the Master has put under my care and control? Everyday our actions and attitudes tell how well we are managing His assets. Are we serving as Jesus did? You know it takes a lot of faith to be a good steward. Because our Master is not present with us our good stewardship requires faith that He is who He says He is. John 20:29 Then Jesus told him, “Because you have seen me, you have believed; blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.” We need to also have faith that what He has asked us to do now will matter when He returns. This even requires faith, faith that He will return. 2500 predictions. The Bible uses the word faithful more than any other to describe the conduct of a good steward. 1 Cor. 4:2 Now it is required that those who have been given a trust must prove faithful. Jesus told 2 well known parables that bring forward this idea of a faithful steward; the parable of the Minas and the parable of the Talents. Both begin with ordinary people who are given an extraordinary privilege. Both give insight to what we will be doing in eternity. Luke 19:11-27. Here a nobleman has to leave town. He calls 10 of his servants and makes them stewards by giving each a mina, 60 ounces of gold each. He tells them to put it to work until he returns. When he returns he calls the stewards to account for what they had done with what he entrusted to them. The 1st comes and tells how he had turned the 1 into 10. He is honored with a well done and is rewarded with the reign over 10 cities. The 2nd comes and tells how he turned the 1 into 5. He too is rewarded with the reign of 5 cities. Not sure why he was not commended like the 1st. Maybe the master thought he could have done better. The 3rd comes and gives the master back what was given to him with no gain at all. Can you imagine the shame this man felt when his master calls him wicked for not doing anything with what his master had entrusted to him? Then something surprising happens, the master tells those there to take what the wicked servant has and give it to the one who has earned 10. The 3rd steward suffers loss for not doing anything with what was entrusted to him. Do you think this is fair? Let me ask you this; when we make decisions as parents, managers or owners, don’t we always give the greater opportunity to those who has shown incentive to use what they have well? If we think about what Jesus is telling us here we can gain insight to what we have to look forward to, or not, when we get to heaven. These are life changing insights if we pay attention to them. There are 3 common misconceptions Christians have today; “1st, we know God has given us gifts and talents to use but it does not bother Him if we don’t make the most of every opportunity given.” But from what Jesus tells us here the truth of the 1st steward shows us that God expects us to take the resources of our lives and greatly multiply them for His kingdom. 2nd misconception; Most Christians believe is that if God does reward us for serving Him, those rewards will be a general commendation that will apply to everyone and will not make a difference for our future opportunities in His kingdom. The 2nd steward shows us that God will reward our works for Him but it will be done in proportion to how well we have used what was entrusted to us here and now. How He responds to us then will have a major impact on us for eternity future. 3rd misconception is that we think that if we don’t serve God with what we were entrusted with the worst that could happen is that we just don’t get a reward. The 3rd steward shows us that if we don’t use what God has given us for His kingdom we will suffer loss of what we could have earned and in opportunity to serve God more fully in eternity. 1 Cor. 3:15 If it is burned up, he will suffer loss; he himself will be saved, but only as one escaping through the flames. So, this leads us to ask ourselves; “how well are we using what God has entrusted to us to manage for His kingdom here and now?” Are we serving like the Gentile rulers did or even as our politicians are now or are we serving as Jesus did? Will we see great reward for how we worked with what we were entrusted with here and will it give us greater opportunity to serve Him in His kingdom in eternity? Remember the passage we began with shows us that God looks at things differently than we do. If we serve Him well here by serving others we are building on what He has entrusted to us and there is great reward there for that. Next week we will look at the other parable and gain insight from it as well to what we will be doing for God in eternity. Benediction: Phil. 2:5–8 Your attitude should be the same as that of Christ Jesus: Who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be grasped, but made himself nothing, taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness. And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself and became obedient to death— even death on a cross!
