Facing Judgment 1 Cor. 3:10-15

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Have you ever had to stand before a judge or a group of people to bring a defense of why you have done something?  If so, what did you feel like? Were there others there watching what was happening? I can remember the time we, the church, were called before the VC town council to answer for the reason we put a cross on the tent without their permission. We went with much prayer to see why they were threatening us with a fine of $500.00 a day if we did not take it down. Because God was in it all the way we had a peace in our minds and hearts but butterflies in our stomachs. God had led us to use the hymn the Old Rugged Cross to explain why we felt the cross was exempt of Town regulations and sign permits.  We explained, while many looked on at the proceeding, that the cross is a symbol of our faith in what Jesus did for us so that we, sinners, could be saved by His work on the cross. After we had presented our case before them they said they would take it to their legal counsel and get back to us. I pictured a long drawn out process of court battles ahead over this issue, which we were willing to go through. But one day, not long after our hearing, the Town Counsel told us that they were not going to make an issue of it with us.  We rejoiced in the Lord for this finding in our favor. The day is coming when every Christian will be called to give account for what they did with their lives in Christ. All will stand before the judgment seat to have their lives tested for how they lived. There in heaven witnesses from every nation and every generation of the faith will watch with eager anticipation. It will be the end of the church age and at that time all who have not died will rise to come before the judgment seat to receive the payment due them for how we lived out our lives for Christ here. Who do the Mormons believe will judge them? Who do you think would be the best person to judge us and why? It must be one who understands the truths of heaven and the justice of it as well. It must also be one who understands what it is like to be a human, one who has lived here on earth and experienced all that life can dish out to us. There is only One person who truly fits this description and the requirements needed to be our judge. Heb. 4:15  For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are—yet was without sin.  John 3:12–13 I have spoken to you of earthly things and you do not believe; how then will you believe if I speak of heavenly things? 13 No one has ever gone into heaven except the one who came from heaven—the Son of Man.  Jesus, the Son of God and the Son of Man, is the only One who knows what is like in heaven and what life is like on earth as well, so He alone is the best judge of what we did with our lives here for Him. He also told the disciples that He alone is the one the Father has given this authority to. John 5:22 Moreover, the Father judges no one, but has entrusted all judgment to the Son, So the day is coming when we will stand before Christ to be judged for how we lived for Him. Is it a day we are looking forward to or is it a day that we are fearful of its coming? The Apostle Paul was looking forward to it with great anticipation; 2 Timothy 4:8 Now there is in store for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will award to me on that day—and not only to me, but also to all who have longed for his appearing.  No one will get a pass at being there for the judgment. Everyone will come and stand before the seat of Christ to receive their apodidomai, repayment, for what little things they have done. No one writes in detail more about this day in the NT than Paul. It most likely had to do with the event he had faced in Corinth a few years before he wrote the 1st letter to the Corinthian believers. Acts 18: 12-17  In the ruins of Corinth today there is a raised marble platform still visible where scholars believe Paul stood before Gallio for judgment. The platform in the Greek is called a bema, the Greek word for judgment. The bema represented authority, justice and reward. Men say it is no big deal when it really is. As Paul stood before the bema his enemies argued against him, accusing him, demanding punishment. But Gallio stops the proceedings and judges that no law has been broken and Paul is set free, knowing he can go on preaching Christ without worry of consequences from the Romans. Then about 3 years later Paul writes to the Corinthian believers and in his letter he mentions another bema seat in which all believers will stand before to be judged.  You can be sure that many if not all the believers there in Corinth remembered the incident a few years before. It would have been a familiar scene to them only with greater ramifications. 2 Cor. 5:6-10 Paul makes it clear that each of us will be judged independently of others and each will receive reward or repayment for what we did, the little things, with our lives for Christ. We will be judged for what we did here in the body, even though this judgment will take place in heaven before the bema, the judgment seat of Christ. A few years later Paul writes to the Roman believers with the same idea in mind, the bema seat; Rom. 14:10–12  You, then, why do you judge your brother? Or why do you look down on your brother? For we will all stand before God’s judgment seat. 11 It is written: “ ‘As surely as I live,’ says the Lord, ‘every knee will bow before me; every tongue will confess to God.’ ” 12 So then, each of us will give an account of himself to God.   When you were younger did you ever get caught doing something and you had to confess what you had done? How did you feel? In the Rom. Passage Paul is telling us that we will all stand before the judgment seat and have to give account of our lives before Christ. What does it mean though to give account? This brings us to our passage for today: 1 Cor. 3:10-15. This passage gives us some insight into what Paul meant. Here he pictures a building not a bema. The building represents the works of our lives being tested by fire. The foundation we are building upon is Jesus Christ, as our Lord and Savior. His death on the cross for our sin debt and our now submitting our lives to Him alone as Lord in love because of all He has done for us and continues to do. Vs 12-13 Paul tells us that the fire will make clear to all, revealing, what we have done for Christ and what we did out of selfish self-centeredness. He calls it the Day, meaning the judgment day of Christ, because on that day what we have done for God will be revealed and completely evident. Vs 13-15 The second part of the test is where we receive repayment for what we have done. A few things we need to understand here; what is being tested by the Lord is our works, the things we did for Him building on the foundation of His lordship over us, the gold, silver and costly stones we use, the little things and big things done in love for Christ. 1 Peter 1:7 These have come so that your faith—of greater worth than gold, which perishes even though refined by fire—may be proved genuine and may result in praise, glory and honor when Jesus Christ is revealed.  These works done in faith will be tested by fire so to shine brighter for us or to reveal the self-centered things they were, the wood, hay and straw which will be burned up leaving us no reward. Daniel 12:2–3 Multitudes who sleep in the dust of the earth will awake: some to everlasting life, others to shame and everlasting contempt. 3 Those who are wise will shine like the brightness of the heavens, and those who lead many to righteousness, like the stars for ever and ever. Something we must be careful about when looking ahead to that day is not to judge the works of others because only God knows the heart and will judge them for it. This is why Paul warns that we not judge what others are doing for the Lord.  1 Cor. 4:1-5 Only the test of fire will determine what was done for us and what was done for the Lord. There and only there will we see how a person’s life added up to eternity. The fire will make the truth obvious to all. When we see what makes it through the fire we will completely agree with Jesus about His judgment and the loss or reward that follows. Some will come through only as a stick being pulled from a burning fire. Amos 4:11 You were like a burning stick snatched from the fire,” declares the LORD. Which will we be? How can we make sure we are not that stick but a bright shining star as Daniel spoke of, receiving more reward than loss? This is what we will look at next time, how we can test ourselves now to be prepared for then. Psalm 127:1–2 Unless the LORD builds the house, its builders labor in vain. Unless the LORD watches over the city, the watchmen stand guard in vain. In vain you rise early and stay up late, toiling for food to eat— for he grants sleep to those he loves.

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Do you know what a good credit risk is? It usually someone who has the ability to pay back what was loaned to them by another person or business.   Often when a person goes for a loan there is a great amount of paperwork that has to be filled out. It looks at the track record of the person asking for a loan, how well they have  paid off previous debts, how good their character is and so on. If someone borrows money from another their ability to pay it back is always taken into consideration before the money is given out.

A similar principle applies when it comes to the kingdom of God, when we do little things out of our love for God, to others; God is always willing to pay us back for them. I believe He has the greatest credit rating ever; He can be trusted to pay back what He says He will. One Sabbath, Jesus was invited to the home of a prominent Pharisee, along with other distinguished guests. Who’s, Who of the Pharisaic world. Vs 7. Jesus watches them as the jockey for the best seats, closer to the host. It seams each of them thought very highly of themselves.  So, Jesus offers up some unsolicited advice; vs 8-11.  We can just imagine the indignant looks Jesus would have received from them who thought so much of themselves, that they were better than the others there and should have a better seat. Vs 12 But, Jesus doesn’t stop there, He goes on to tell the host that all the people he had invited to this dinner were just a waste of space as far as God in concerned. God won’t be indebted to him. Don’t misunderstand, God cared about them as He does any of His children but they were able to pay back the host by reciprocating, having him over for dinner at their place. Then the host would have no reward from God in heaven because he was paid back here. Matt. 6:2

Vs 13-14 After this, Jesus tells the host that if he wants God to be indebted to him for a good deed done, then invite those who can not pay him back, if he does this he will be blessed by God. Do something for someone who couldn’t do it for themselves? Makes you feel good inside. Don’t we feel good when we help someone who could not help themselves? That little thing done in love.

Jesus reveals, here, why there will be blessings for an act of loving kindness; the blessing will come at the resurrection of the dead. Who would you rather have indebted to you; God or man? With all the people that were in the room, none of them would have missed what Jesus said and meant. Jesus was saying that God will repay us for a loving act after we are dead.

I am sure most of them thought as many of us do today; that God pays us back here on earth for the little things we do. But, Jesus is telling us just the opposite. He says that when we do a good deed for a person who can not pay us back, we will be repaid in the next life and when we receive it we will be blessed. By the way this principle will not work at the bank. Again, don’t misunderstand, this does not mean that God does not bless us here and now by His grace. Yes, God gives us blessings now for the right choices and faithful service to Him. But the rewards Jesus is telling us about are different. These are God’s guaranteed response to the loving little things we do that will continue to pay out for us throughout all eternity.

We must understand the difference or else we will become disappointed, questioning God’s goodness. God does not promise us that if we labor for Him here that we will always have gain from it here. We saw that last week in the message on Matt. 16:24-27. God never promises us a rose garden here on earth, He does promise us troubles for our faith. John 16:33 “I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.” Acts 14:22 “We must go through many hardships to enter the kingdom of God,” they said. But, we are guaranteed rewards later when we go to be with the Lord for what we did for Him here. 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.

What does Jesus mean by reward? The Bible uses 2 different words to describe Jesus’ reward; the word in Luke 6:23, persecution for our faith, used for reward is ‘misthos’. It is the same word Jesus uses in Matt. 20:8 where the laborers are paid their wages and which Paul uses in 1 Tim. 5:18  For the Scripture says, “The worker deserves his wages.”  Everyone who was at the dinner that evening would have understood what Jesus meant when He said, “ when you labor on earth, your employer gives you misthos, wages, and when you labor for me I will pay wages too.” No tips for B&B’s. A tip guide say’s not to tip B & B’s. Jesus never describes His rewards as charitable tips for a job well done. He called them misthos, wages, something earned for something done. The second word used for reward in heaven shows up here in our passage, the dinner party story. Jesus uses the word ‘apodidomai’. It is a Greek word compound; the first part ‘apo’ means back and the ‘didomai’ part means give. Combined together they mean to give back or repay. Vs 14

When Jesus uses the word ‘apodidomai’ it takes on a deeper meaning; what He is saying is that when we are apodidomai, we are being reimbursed for what we did in His behalf. It is not just for the big things that we do for the Lord that will give us great reward but the little things done as well. Mark 9:41 I tell you the truth, anyone who gives you a cup of water in my name because you belong to Christ will certainly not lose his reward.  No little thing we do for others will be overlooked by the Lord, instead they will be rewarded.

What about the person who says they can not do much for the Lord because of their situation? Ask, can they pray or give or both? Matt. 6:3-6  Heb. 11:6 And without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him. God will reward us for praying and giving. He will also reward us for submitting to our employers as a faithful steward; Eph. 6:8 because you know that the Lord will reward everyone for whatever good he does, whether he is slave or free. For denying self in service to Him; Matt.16:24-27  For those times when we suffer for His name sake;  Luke 6:22–23 Blessed are you when men hate you, when they exclude you and insult you and reject your name as evil, because of the Son of Man. 23 “Rejoice in that day and leap for joy, because great is your reward in heaven. For that is how their fathers treated the prophets.  God will reward us for sacrificing for His cause; Luke 6:35 But love your enemies, do good to them, and lend to them without expecting to get anything back. Then your reward will be great, and you will be sons of the Most High, because he is kind to the ungrateful and wicked.  Jesus even said that when we sacrifice greatly for Him we will be paid back a hundred fold; Matt. 19:29  And everyone who has left houses or brothers or sisters or father or mother or children or fields for my sake will receive a hundred times as much and will inherit eternal life. God will reward each of us for sharing our time, talent and treasure to further His kingdom. Matt. 6

When you look at these things do you feel encouraged for doing the little things for the Lord already? Do you feel convicted for what we are not doing? As long as we are sensitive to the leading of the Holy Spirit in our lives for what we should be doing, we will have great blessing waiting for us in heaven. God does not expect us to do it all on our own, by ourselves, but just what He is calling us to do. The need does not always constitute the call. Do you feel like you deserve all the blessings promised? OR; Just grateful that Jesus died for our sins. Luke 17:10 So you also, when you have done everything you were told to do, should say, ‘We are unworthy servants; we have only done our duty.’ ” This passage shows us that above all it is our duty and privilege to serve God. But;

Remember the parable Jesus told about the man who hires workers for his vineyard, going out different times of the day and hiring more? When he pays them they all get the same pay. Some grumble at the owner’s generosity. God is a generous God, who desires to bless His children for all that they do for Him. If we try to argue with God about His generosity to us it may be because goodness and generosity are lacking in our lives.  Remember God is a rewarder of those who seek Him in faith.

Interestingly, the word rewarder in Heb. 11:6 in the Greek is only used once in the Bible. It is neither the word misthos nor apodidomai, but an unusual combination of the 2 together. It is misthos-apodidomai – the rewarder who pays back your wages in return. God chooses to reward us because it is an expression of His own generous nature. His plan is to reward like His provision to save us from sin. It is a display of His amazing grace to us. Who would you rather have indebted to you, God or man. God has the greater credit rating as far as I am concerned. He will pay us back for all the little things we do in love for Him. Benediction: Heb. 11:6 And without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him.

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What are the stages of a child’s life development that you can think of?  If you think about these different stages of development that children go through do you ever wonder what part of them sets the personality and character for that child for the rest of their lives?

As parents we have the ability to make our children secure, sensitive and responsible for the rest of their lives by the decisions we make for them in their earlier years. We can have confident responsible adults or insecure and irresponsible adults by the choices we make when they are growing up. I know this seems like a lot of pressure but what happens early on in a child’s life will determine much about who they will be in their whole adult life. The things they experience and learn will form their character which will be with them until they die.

Can you imagine that the little decisions we make in our children’s early years will impact them for the rest of their lives? WOW!!! Every child goes through developmental stages as they grow up and these stages will determine who they will be in the future.

In our verses Jesus is describing a series of events in every believer’s life that will lead to another series of events that will determine what our entire experience for eternity will be like.That is; When He returns how well we lived out vs 24-26 will determine what we receive as rewards from Him. Every step we take, every act we commit will have an impact on what happens in the final stage of eternity. You wouldn’t think that the little goof ups we make when our kids are young would affect them all that much later on but they can. Even though who we are and what we do here is only a grain of sand on the beach of our lives in eternity, everything we do here affects what happens there.

Jesus often talked about how what we do here and how we act here will matter for all eternity. If we were to take a broad look at the stages every human being goes through spiritually, we would find there are several commonalities for all according to the scriptures. This overview will not be based upon what one believes or does not believe. All will go through these stages, where we end up will be determined by what we believe and how we behave.

The first stage is birth. All people are created in the image of God and were created for a purpose. Gen. 1:27 So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them.  The Westminster Catechism says; “the chief end of man is to glorify God and enjoy Him forever.”  None of us has existed forever. We were all born and we will all die, unless Jesus returns before that appointed time. We all exist on earth in 3 forms; 1 Thess. 5:23 May God himself, the God of peace, sanctify you through and through. May your whole spirit, soul and body be kept blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.  We can not connect with God unless we connect with Him through our spirits, because God is spirit. John 4:23–24 Yet a time is coming and has now come when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for they are the kind of worshipers the Father seeks. God is spirit, and his worshipers must worship in spirit and in truth.”  This is why we are told that unless we have Jesus in our hearts as Lord and Savior we are spiritually dead in our transgressions. So this first step is birth, physical and hopefully spiritual when we find Christ. How many ways are there to enter into life on earth, 1 birth, then why is it so difficult to believe there is one way to get into heaven? The 2nd stage of life is death. Seems kind of quick doesn’t it? Birth gives us a brief entrance into life on earth and death is an instantaneous exit from it. Heb. 9:27  Just as man is destined to die once, and after that to face judgment, There is no 2nd chance at life on earth. The Bible makes it clear that we get one shot at it here there is no reincarnation. The 3rd stage, where we go after death, is determined by what we believe before we die. If we have not received Jesus as Lord and Savior of our lives, confessing our sins to Him, then we will be eternally separated from God. Matt. 25:46 “Then they will go away to eternal punishment, but the righteous to eternal life.” But because we are more than a physical body our life as soul and spirit goes on into eternity. When we die physically we go to 1 of 2 places, we are either with God in heaven or apart from Him in Hades. Luke 23:43 Jesus answered him, “I tell you the truth, today you will be with me in paradise.” Rev. 20:13 The sea gave up the dead that were in it, and death and Hades gave up the dead that were in them, and each person was judged according to what he had done. If we are not with God then we are separated from Him until the final judgment.

The 4th stage is resurrection, one phase of it. It is either the resurrection of the body to be with Jesus for all eternity or the 2nd resurrection of the dead who will go off to eternal judgment separated from God for all eternity. John 5:28–29 “Do not be amazed at this, for a time is coming when all who are in their graves will hear his voice and come out—those who have done good will rise to live, and those who have done evil will rise to be condemned. Our new bodies will be immortal, never experiencing physical death again. The 5th stage after resurrection is where we will receive payment for what we did with our lives, in these physical bodies, here on earth. Vs 27. That payment will go with us throughout all eternity. 2 Cor. 5:10  For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, that each one may receive what is due him for the things done while in the body, whether good or bad.  Rev. 20:11-15 Both believers and unbelievers will be judged at the resurrections for their actions here on earth. The outcome of the judgment will determine the degree of reward in heaven or retribution, punishment, in Hell.  Jude 13 They are wild waves of the sea, foaming up their shame; wandering stars, for whom blackest darkness has been reserved forever. Because of what we believed and how we behaved, because belief determines behavior, we will experience the consequences for our beliefs and actions. They Removed 10 Commandments from school. Some will go away to eternal punishment, separated from God while others will be in the eternal presence of God. This is not a state of mind or an existence but a real place we will experience.

So, we can see what we choose to believe and how we act upon that belief will have great impact on how we spend eternity. This is a spiritual law established by God, unbreakable and unchangeable, like gravity. We may deny it but the reality hits when we fall from a roof and hit the ground. No matter where we go or what we do, we can not avoid the consequences of it. The choices we make every day will matter for all eternity. There is no little decision that will not matter. Remember, what we believe will determine where we are in eternity and how we behave will determine how well we spend eternity, the eternal compensation for the consequences of our behavior. Jesus wants us to understand the positive consequences our actions can bring based upon our belief in Him and submission to Him.  He does not want us to waste another minute on things that don’t matter. There is an illustration that may help us understand better what all this means; a dot . and a line ——–. We live and exist in the dot while here on earth. Every choice we make about what to believe and how we act will determine the consequences of how we will exist in the eternal. Even the smallest decision will eternal consequences.  Jesus warns us that if we are ashamed of Him He will be ashamed of us when we get to heaven. Luke 9:26 If anyone is ashamed of me and my words, the Son of Man will be ashamed of him when he comes in his glory and in the glory of the Father and of the holy angels.

There is something to think about as we come to the close of this message; in verse 26 Jesus compares the life of a man to the contents of the whole world. In actuality the word for world is translated kosmos, meaning the universe. If a person’s life is more important than the universe, what is the greatest gift we can give to Jesus here on earth? The greatest and most precious act we can give to Jesus is the soul of another person to whom we have shared Christ and led them to choose Him as Lord and Savior.  This is an act that will pay great benefits for them and for us in all eternity.

Benediction: Romans 2:7–8 To those who by persistence in doing good seek glory, honor and immortality, he will give eternal life. But for those who are self-seeking and who reject the truth and follow evil, there will be wrath and anger. What are some of the stages of child development you can think of

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Luke 6:22-23 Have you ever heard someone say that when it comes to relationships; “It’s the little things that matter”? What do you think they mean by that? For me it is how we live and act day in and day out toward another person that says what we think about them, how we feel about them and so on.

It is not the big things we do, like bringing flowers once or twice a year, the big gift at Christmas, birthdays and so on but the little thoughts we put into action day after day. These are the things that tell someone what we truly think about them, whether we truly love and value them and enjoy being with them. The way we act day in and day out tells others what is in our hearts and minds, what we really care about.

Have you ever considered that the little things we do on a day to day basis can make a difference for all eternity? How we treat the people we live with, work with, go to school with and even those we invite for dinner, all can make a difference in eternity. Every action we take as Christians has an eternal consequence both positive and negative.

In this new series we are beginning we are going to see how this works out. We will look at what Jesus and the Bible teach about the rewards we will receive in heaven, to be enjoyed for all eternity. When it comes down to the teaching about what happens when we leave this earth in death or by rapture, no one speaks or teaches more about it than Jesus. When He taught the people they were in awe of His teaching because He taught like no other they had heard.  From the time He was 12 the people were in awe of His understanding of the scriptures and spiritual things.

Luke 2:47 Everyone who heard him was amazed at his understanding and his answers.

Later, when He formally began His public ministry in Galilee, people were again amazed at His teaching, the authority He taught with. When Jesus gave the message we know as the Sermon on the Mount, where our passage comes from, the people were again in awe; Matt. 7:28–29 When Jesus had finished saying these things, the crowds were amazed at his teaching, because he taught as one who had authority, and not as their teachers of the law. People knew there was something different about Him.

It is amazing that as many times as people have read our passage, that they have missed a great truth in it. 1 out of 10 commentaries picked up on what we are going to study. Many people believe from this passage that if we suffer persecution for being a Christian or taking a stand for Christ, that they should be joyous over the persecution that comes from it. Maybe they look at the example of the early disciples and how they reacted for being persecuted and think that is the way we need to respond, the attitude we need to have.

Acts 5:40-43 Wouldn’t it be great if we could have this kind of attitude toward suffering for Christ? Is this the reality of it though?

But, when we look at our passage I don’t think this is what Jesus is telling us we should rejoice over. Why, because of the 7 or 8 words in our passage, depending on the translation, that tell us we should rejoice because of another reason; Luke 6:23  “because great is your reward in heaven.” The little things we do here, like putting up with religious persecution, will have great consequences for us in heaven, for all eternity.  Jesus is saying that because we stand up for Him He will reward us when we get to heaven to be with Him. Matt. 10:32  “Whoever acknowledges me before men, I will also acknowledge him before my Father in heaven.

What we do because of what we believe will be rewarded. There is a difference between believing and doing. We will be rewarded for behaving in a certain way, standing in our belief rather than running away from those who persecute us or because we receive pressure for our faith. The act of doing, our behavior, comes from what we truly believe. James 2:14-18  Saying; “Cowboy up or Cowgirl up” when we get hurt. Jesus isn’t telling us to Cowboy up through the pain and suffering of persecution, He is telling us that we can rejoice in the fact that when we suffer for His sake He will reward us for our behavior.

Knowing that Jesus appreciates what we put up with here, in all the little things we do for His sake, can and will make it easier for us to walk through them.  Maybe this is what the disciples were rejoicing about when they were flogged for preaching Jesus at the hands of the religious leaders. Ever notice that the persecution that hurts the most is from those who are supposed to be your allies?

By the way this is not the only place Jesus talks about the rewards we will receive for the little things we do here;

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.

Matt. 19:21  Jesus answered, “If you want to be perfect, go, sell your possessions and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me.”

Luke 14:14  and you will be blessed. Although they cannot repay you, you will be repaid at the resurrection of the righteous.”

The little things we do for Jesus will make a difference for all eternity and they won’t be missed because God is keeping track of them for us; Rev. 20:11-12

Another thing we will learn, in our series, is that we will gain more by serving the Lord than we could ever imagine.

There are 2 keys that the Scriptures point out that will determine everything about our eternal life, the life we have after death or rapture;

“Not what you know but who you know that gets us places.”

The first key is belief, belief determines where we will spend eternity, either with God in heaven or apart from Him in Hell.

John 1:12 Yet to all who received him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God—

The second key is behavior; the little things we do daily will determine how we spend eternity. Matt. 25:34; “Then the King will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world. 45–46 “He will reply, ‘I tell you the truth, whatever you did not do for one of the least of these, you did not do for me.’ “Then they will go away to eternal punishment, but the righteous to eternal life.”

Behavior is the key we will be focusing on in the series we are beginning today. Behavior includes the actions we make and the work we do. Remember though that belief always precedes behavior and the behavior determines the rewards.

What we believe should determine how we behave and determine how we approach daily life differently than we used to.

Rom. 12:1 Therefore, I urge you, brothers, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God—this is your spiritual act of worship. The little decisions we make, like how we spend our time and money, can become opportunities of great promise. What we do today and everyday following can and will matter for all eternity. One of the first things Jesus did when He began His public ministry was to set right the wrong understandings people had about God and His word and will. It was something He continued to do throughout His ministry.

I believe He did this because He was concerned about where and how we would spend eternity. God sent Jesus to teach us the whole truth about living for Him and the wondrous prospects of it, now and especially in eternity.

The rewards Jesus promises for our behavior as believers are a comfort to those who are committed to Him when troubles come for our faithfulness to Christ.

Benediction: Heb. 12:1–3 Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles, and let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us. Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. Consider him who endured such opposition from sinful men, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart.

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Have you heard the saying Two Faced? What does it mean to you? Two Faced: when a person acts a certain way in one place and differently in another. Can you think of any examples? Do we as Christians tend to act one way when we are in church or at a Bible study and then differently when in another place? If so then do we fit the definition as being Two Faced? How then should we act everywhere? One of the greatest blocks for our walk in a loving relationship to God is the duality of life we try to live in, being 2 faced. It seems for many Christians spiritual things go in one part of our lives while secular things go in another part. We act differently in the 2 different worlds we live in. In other words we act as Christians at worship service and Bible studies and the rest of the time we live and act in a secular manor, that is; not controlled by a religious body or concerned with religious or spiritual matters. We live a worldly life.

This leads to a divided, two faced, lifestyle instead of a unified life, of Christian witness, bringing little peace in us as we move back and forth between them.  Yes, we can partly blame this on the sin nature and the sin in the world which we struggle against its effects in daily life. But, when we come to faith in Christ as Lord and Savior we have entered in to a second world, the spiritual. In the spiritual we find hope and a sweeter life spent in fellowship with Christ. There are joyful times of worship and experiencing the presence of Christ, being discipled, learning from Him through the Holy Spirit, from the word of God. But, then there is the other world we must walk in, the secular. This includes our jobs, our relationships with non Christians and all the ordinary activities of life, eating, drinking, bathing, sleeping, and taking care of our physical needs and so on; the mundane things of life here on earth in the flesh. Too often we find that when we come to the end of the day we have much to confess from these daily activities and where they took us, because we acted two faced in them. Worse yet 2 faced in worship and fellowship with the Lord.  Isaiah 29:13 The Lord says: “These people come near to me with their mouth and honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me. Their worship of me is made up only of rules taught by men.  Often we may go about our day to day works longing for the day we will be with the Lord enjoying His eternal presence. Verse 8

It seems we are caught in a trap we desire to be at home with the Lord but know we are not yet finished here. So, we walk the fence between the 2 worlds, spiritual and secular. Still there is no peace, little joy or strength while trying to manage life on the fence, often being 2 faced about which world we live in.

The Lord wants us to know that this is not biblical at all. The scriptures tell us we will have this longing for the other side while we are stuck in this one. Vs 1-5. But we are also told we can live in the spiritual the whole time we are in the secular. Vs 6-10.  Jesus is the perfect example of one who was never 2 faced while He walked the earth. During His life here He lived in the knowledge and understanding that the Father was with Him every moment of every day and there was no distinction between His living in the secular and the spiritual. John 8:29 The one who sent me is with me; he has not left me alone, for I always do what pleases him.” As Jesus walked the earth dealing with the problems of the secular world He always acted in peace and poise. Even when the weight of the world’s sin pressed upon Him as He get closer and closer to the cross, He still was certain of the spiritual and its realities. He never acted differently when in different places. He was always mindful of His Father’s business, seeking to glorify Him.

The Apostle Paul tells us that we should live as Jesus did, glorifying God in everything we do, even the mundane. 1 Cor. 10:31 So whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God. Every act of our lives, whether spiritual or secular can be done for the glory of God, living to please Him as it says in verse 9.  Knowing that we are God’s chosen people and that He provides everything thing for us, all our needs, we can give thanks and praise to Him for them.  What do we have that is truly a gift but taken for granted?  When we seek to live out the righteousness of the kingdom of heaven, giving thanks to God for our every meal, snack, drink, paycheck, clothes we wear, our sight and whatever else we have in the secular world we will glorify God.   Matthew 6:25-34 This living in the spiritual 24-7 will not be an easy task. We have life long habits that need to be broken. Sheri’s saying; took you a long to get the way you are, not going to change overnight. These bad habits of 2 faced behaviors will have to be conquered by prayer and dependence upon the Holy Spirit working in us. It will take conscious effort on our part to get the idea that the secular work and mundane acts we do daily can be an act of worship acceptable to God through Christ.

We will face opposition for our efforts to live to please and glorify God in our everyday living. Our sin nature will not cooperate easily nor will the devil like our decision to live to please and glorify God. 1 Pet. 5:8–9 Be self-controlled and alert. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour. Resist him, standing firm in the faith,  Between the sin nature and the devil, they will do all they can to trip us up from living to please and glorify God daily.  They will cause confusion and discouragement. But remember we have chosen to live to please and glorify God while we are stuck here in this body and because of that we will be rewarded for all our efforts to do so. 1 Cor. 3:12–14 If any man builds on this foundation using gold, silver, costly stones, wood, hay or straw, his work will be shown for what it is, because the Day will bring it to light. It will be revealed with fire, and the fire will test the quality of each man’s work. If what he has built survives, he will receive his reward. We must be steadfast in our faith offering all our daily acts up to God as worship, believing He will accept every one of them. We must plant in our minds that our every act, day or night, are for His glory, to please Him, because our walk in the spiritual far out weighs the secular.

Our prayers must be reminders to God that it is our desire that all we do be done for His glory and pleasure. Even the daily mundane tasks can be done in prayer thanking God for the ability He has given us to even carry these out. We must believe as Jesus did, that God is with us every minute of everyday and every act we commit is for His glory because we are living to please Him. Eph. 6:7 Serve wholeheartedly, as if you were serving the Lord, not men,  Don’t misunderstand though, not every act is of the same value as others. Paul worked as a tent maker during his ministry. This was not as important work as the epistles, the letters, he wrote to the churches to train them up in the Lord. The most important thing we can do, the only thing that will matter throughout eternity, is to lead someone to Christ. This will have effect for eternity. The rest will make a difference when we are tested for our faithfulness.  These will be the daily acts we do in moral and spiritual integrity, concerned whether we do them for the Lord or not. 2 Cor. 10:17–18 But, “Let him who boasts boast in the Lord.” For it is not the one who commends himself who is approved, but the one whom the Lord commends. When we do the secular duties in a way to please God and glorify Him there will be quality in our work, whatever it is. We must be careful not to be tempted to let our thoughts lead us to actions that are not glorifying to God. We do this by putting each one through the lens of Jesus. 2 Cor. 10:5 We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ. We must avoid thinking that the things we do are of less value than those of others. Each one of us has a gift to use from God and if we use it for His glory that is all that matters to Him.

If we live out our lives in both worlds with a true heart intent on pleasing and glorifying God we will not be 2 faced in our actions and always pleasing to Him because He judges our heart intent. Proverbs 21:2 All a man’s ways seem right to him, but the LORD weighs the heart.  Our motive is everything, if we sanctify ourselves to God, to live to please and glorify Him, there will be no common or mundane task we do. Every one will be done as a deed acceptable to God through Christ. Hen we will have peace and satisfaction while stuck in this earthly Tent of the body, living is a secular world, but acting only as the  Christian witness we are supposed to.

Benediction: 1 Thess. 5:23–24 May God himself, the God of peace, sanctify you through and through. May your whole spirit, soul and body be kept blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. The one who calls you is faithful and he will do it.

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Do you all know what a grandfather or grandmother clock is? Have you ever looked inside to see the workings of the clock? It is a maze of gears and rods and cogs, a projection on the edge of a gearwheel that engages with corresponding parts on another wheel to transfer motion from one wheel to the other. What happens if one of the cogs in the clock slips out of place or gets broken? The clock will either; not work or will work improperly, is this correct? Lets think of another example; what happens in the workings of a family when the children act like the parents making all the decisions for the family, how it will work and what it should do? I believe all we have to do to prove this out is look at our society today and see the wrecked homes and juvenile crime rate to see what happens in that context. For things to work properly there needs to be a right relationship in them. Take any part of creation; if there is not a right relationship between the parts then there is disharmony, it will not work properly.  It is the same for us as well in life as we have discussed. The reason there is so much disharmony in the world today is because people are out of sink with God.  This all began at the fall of man into sin. A sharp change entered into the relationship of man and God, our creator. When sin entered the world man adopted an altered attitude toward God, which damaged the Creator – created relationship. In which there was harmony, true happiness and fulfillment for man.

It was at this point that salvation became a need for man to return to the state of harmony that existed previously with God, our Creator. A satisfying spiritual life will begin for us when we choose to change our relationship with God from sinful rebellion to a complete submission to Him and His will over our lives, honoring Him, our creator above all else. I am talking about after we have asked Jesus into our hearts as Lord and Savior, not the leading of us to the point of new birth in Christ. Rom. 12:1 Therefore, I urge you, brothers, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God—this is your spiritual act of worship. When we receive Jesus we are put right judicially before God opening the way for the Holy Spirit to come into our lives and begin His work. But is our whole attitude changed toward who will rule over us? The story of the Prodigal Son is a great illustration of this change of will that we all must have. The Prodigal brought a whole world of trouble upon himself when he turned his back on his father’s relationship with him, as his son, not the head over the father. When all was said and done the consequences of his poor decisions and rebellion against his father’s authority, he realized that he would be happiest in total submission to his father than in his sinful rebellion which only caused pain and strife in his life. When it comes to our relationships we must understand our place in them or they will not work well. For us as believers we must put God back in the place He was before our sinful rebellion. God must be the focal point of our lives, directing us just as the old time mariners used the stars to guide them on their journey and safely to their destination. Psalm 48:14 For this God is our God for ever and ever; he will be our guide even to the end.  Many of the problems we face in the church today are from the unwillingness of Christians, us, to allow God to be the director and guide of our lives, for Him to be our ruler.  It seems we are often diverting from the course laid out for us so we can indulge our sinful selfish appetites and carnal ways. We excuse them away as meeting our need or giving us satisfaction, when all the time we know it is against what God wants for us.

If we can get back into proper relationship with God, putting our will aside, being the cog, we will grow in love for the Lord and experience times of reverent admiration of God, knowing a joy unspeakable in our hearts.  So, just as the prodigal son had to discover his rightful place under his father so we need to put things back in order in our lives, exalting God as head over our lives, because all things exist for His glory and pleasure. Rev. 4:11 “You are worthy, our Lord and God, to receive glory and honor and power, for you created all things, and by your will they were created and have their being.”  This means we belong to Him and exist for His pleasure. We are cogs in the mechanism of God’s creation, be it highly loved and valued cogs.  We owe God every honor that is in our power to give and we will not find true happiness doing anything else. 1 Cor. 10:31 So whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God.  1 Peter 4:11 If anyone speaks, he should do it as one speaking the very words of God. If anyone serves, he should do it with the strength God provides, so that in all things God may be praised through Jesus Christ. To him be the glory and the power for ever and ever. Amen. We owe God every honor that is due Him. It is a voluntary offering of honor, exalting Him to His proper place. The moment we make up our minds to exalt God above all else, we remove ourselves from the rat race of the world. This means we will find ourselves out of step with the world and there will be heat for that, in spite of it we will find ourselves making progress toward the holy life we are called to.  1 Peter 1:13-21  When we choose to be the cog God designed us to be we will begin to see the world in a different light, a new power will take hold of us, surprising us by the new way we react and do things. Our break with the world will be in direct relation to our changed relationship to God. It will be clear and evident because the world does not honor God. There will even be those who call themselves Christians who pay little honor to God in their lives. God is exalted only in some areas of their lives and not all. They will criticize us for our stand. We need to make sure we are not among these by testing ourselves with a simple but straight forward test; we need to ask ourselves who or what is exalted above God in our lives?

The Prodigal son exalted worldly living above all else and became a slave to it until he hit bottom. John 8:34 Jesus replied, “I tell you the truth, everyone who sins is a slave to sin.  So, does God rank higher than money, the approval of men, personal ambition, self will and human love in our lives? If any of these things are exalted above God in our lives then we are truly not honoring God above all else in our lives. The proof of the test is proven out in the choices we make daily. Luke 16:13 Psalm 96:1-10a  When we live out our lives, shining this tune, we will have a victorious spiritual experience. When we can say “Be exalted O God above all else in my life” the thousands of minor problems of life will be solved at once. Our lives as Christians will cease to be complicated and the answers will become simple; will God be exalted in this decision or choice? When we do this, if something comes to knock us off course it will be easy to again regain because our spiritual compass will direct us back again quickly. Remember when we honor something above ourselves we become slaves to that thing or person. Rom. 6:22  But now that you have been set free from sin and have become slaves to God, the benefit you reap leads to holiness, and the result is eternal life. We were made in the image of God so it is not a long hard stretch to make Him our all in all again, submitting ourselves totally to Him. We were created for such a relationship and there we will be at home as the prodigal was when he returned there.  There is more to this; If we honor God above all we will be honored by Him as well. 1 Samuel 2:30b But now the LORD declares: ‘Far be it from me! Those who honor me I will honor, but those who despise me will be disdained.  John 12:26 Whoever serves me must follow me; and where I am, my servant also will be. My Father will honor the one who serves me.  Our lives given to honor God above all will find the fulfillment of being honored back by God. In our desire for God in our lives we must remember that God has a desire as well; those who will make a once for all decision to honor and exalt God above all else, are precious treasures to Him. In these He finds a canvas to display His kindness to us in Christ. With these God can work unhindered, being God over our lives. This is not an easy decision to make. If we choose God above all else we will experience grief from without and within. There will be a battle to fight with the flesh and the spirit. It will take some time to get our whole being in line. But if we will stay the course keeping our focus on who is in charge we will pass the test and win the war. It will mean that we have to pray over every detail seeking mercy from God to help us. But remember this is something that God desires for us so He will answer our prayers.  Benediction: Psalm 96:7-10a

Pursing God # 9

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This weekend we celebrate the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the grave. It is the culmination of what must have been the longest 3 days of the 1st disciples walk with the Lord. Having their great hopes in who Jesus was and what they could accomplish with Him, dashed upon the rocks of religious contempt, only to go to the heights of joy because they saw their Master alive again.

What a roller coaster ride it must have been for their emotions. When they watched the soldiers pound the nails into His wrists and feet and then raise Him up on the cross, bloody, beaten and disgraced, hanging naked upon the blood stained wood, how lost and hopeless they must have been. But then on the 3rd day the news comes from the women who had gone to the tomb that Jesus was not there, He had risen from the dead and was alive. One after another the testimony came of seeing Jesus alive. Once again their hopes rose up with in them and their faith, in who Jesus is, started to bloom and grow.

If you think about it, of all the important things the Bible teaches, faith ranks high on the list. Faith is a principle that we see again and again in the scriptures. Heb. 11:6 And without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him. We have studied this in our series of pursuing God. Faith is an all important part of the life of a believer.

When the news of Jesus, raised from the dead, came to them it was faith that took this news and brought it home to their hearts so they could believe.  It was faith in Jesus that prompted them to move forward in belief to the next steps of their walk with Him, spreading the gospel. Faith, it seems, can get us anything and take us anywhere for the kingdom of heaven. 1 John 5:14–15 This is the confidence we have in approaching God: that if we ask anything according to his will, he hears us. And if we know that he hears us—whatever we ask—we know that we have what we asked of him. Think about it, without faith in Jesus Christ, raised from the dead, there is no forgiveness of sin, no deliverance, no salvation, no relationship with God and no true spiritual life at all.

Faith is so important and indispensible in our pursuit of God, we should be very concerned whether we have this gift or not.  But we might want to know what it is that we need so desperately. We need to ask what is faith and do I (we) have it.

There have been many attempts over the centuries to define what faith is; for some it is believing a promise, for others it is taking God at His word, believing all that the Bible says is true and then stepping out, in faith, acting upon that belief. Story of the priests stepping into the flood waters of the Jordan before they pile up so the people can cross. Joshua 3

The odd thing is that even though the scriptures put a high emphasis on faith, they make no great effort to define what it is. There is only one, somewhat, definition of faith found in the Bible; Heb. 11:1 Now faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see.  Notice that even here there is no real definition of faith but rather the function of it, how it works and not what it is. This passage shows the result of faith rather than to define what it is.

Maybe God in His wisdom knew it would be better for us to not have a clear definition of faith because we would then look for loop holes in it or look for ways we could work for it; increase it by our own strenuous efforts.

Instead He gives us the function of faith, how it works out in our lives. Faith is a gift we receive from God; it can not be worked for; Eph. 2:8 For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God—   Faith comes from hearing the word of God.  Rom. 10:17 Consequently, faith comes from hearing the message, and the message is heard through the word of Christ.

Again we see here that there is a function to faith, hearing of the word. Faith is better lived out functionally rather than defined literally. Faith is seen and understood when it is in action. James 2:14-18

In the passage we began with today we can see that Jesus shows us from the OT how faith works. He refers to Numbers 21:4-9. Using this passage Jesus explains to His hearers how they can be saved. He tells them that it is by believing, an action and function of faith.

To look, as Moses told the people to do, is the same, synonymous, with believing. Looking and believing are the same act of faith. While Israel looked with their eyes they believed with their hearts. Faith is the gaze of the soul on the saving act of Jesus and upon a loving, caring God.

There are several passages in the scripture which point this out; Psalm 34:5 Those who look to him are radiant; their faces are never covered with shame. Psalm 123:1–2 I lift up my eyes to you, to you whose throne is in heaven. As the eyes of slaves look to the hand of their master, as the eyes of a maid look to the hand of her mistress, so our eyes look to the LORD our God, till he shows us his mercy. Those who look to God are acting out in faith, believing Him to do what is right and what is needed.

So, when it comes to us and the faith we need to live in this world and walk in relationship with God, we must look to Jesus, believing in all He has done for us and looking to His example of how to do it. Heb. 12:2 Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. Believing, having faith in action and function, is directing our heart’s gaze upon Jesus. It is lifting the eyes of our minds to Him just as John the Baptist did with his disciples when Jesus returned from being tempted in the wilderness. John 1:29 The next day John saw Jesus coming toward him and said, “Look, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!  We must never let our gaze drift from Jesus, but keep focused upon Him for the rest of our earthly lives, because there we will find the faith needed to carry on. There will times when it is difficult because the distractions of the world will come, but the more we move our focus back to Him the easier it will become to look steadily upon Him.  Emergency services train so that actions become reflex. When we commit to look to Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, establishing our heart intent upon Him, God takes our intention and makes allowances for us and the thousands of distractions that come from an evil world. He knows the intent of our hearts, set upon Jesus and once we know we have done so it will become a reflex action to look away from the distraction to the living Lord once again. 1 Peter 4:1–2 Therefore, since Christ suffered in his body, arm yourselves also with the same attitude, because he who has suffered in his body is done with sin. As a result, he does not live the rest of his earthly life for evil human desires, but rather for the will of God.  Faith is the least of all the self regarding virtues. Its very nature is to be looking away from itself and to be even almost unaware of its own existence.Much like the eye which sees everything in front of it yet never sees itself and pays no attention to itself. When we look to God in faith we no longer see ourselves.

The person, who has struggled to purify themselves and experiences nothing but failure repeatedly, will only experience relief when they take their eyes off themselves and focus on God. When we look to Christ the very things we have been trying to do by self effort will get done. It will be God working then and not us.Faith is not a meritorious act, something we can gain for ourselves; the merit is in the One that faith directs its gaze at, in Jesus.  Faith is redirecting our sight from ourselves to God, focusing on the resurrection power that He has to work in us.For us to live in the resurrection power of Christ we must take our eyes off of ourselves and focus on Him from whom the power to believe flows.

For those who desire to climb to the highest heights of heaven in relationship with God, we must focus on God and His word to us because the word will help us lift our eyes up to the Lord, where faith has its beginning and its growth.Today we celebrate who Jesus is and what He has done for us by rising from death. If we take what we hear and apply it to our lives in faith we can live in the resurrection power He made available.

Benediction: Rom. 10:8–11 But what does it say? “The word is near you; it is in your mouth and in your heart,” that is, the word of faith we are proclaiming: That if you confess with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you confess and are saved.  As the Scripture says, “Anyone who trusts in him will never be put to shame.”