Welcome to the In Touch Podcast with Charles Stanley for Friday, February 14th. If you've ever felt like no one notices your efforts to serve and follow God, stay with us for an encouraging reminder. God is paying attention and He will reward those who live godly. Rewards are very important in the eyes of God. In fact, as you begin to look at the Scriptures, you realize how many verses there are in the Bible that concern our rewards. God has not forgotten our labors. He doesn't overlook the good things that we do for others. God is very concerned about that.
And He is faithful to reward His children for their service. Now, I want to name three different areas in which our rewards will be given. And one of them, let's use the idea that Paul uses here about crowns when he talks about receiving particular crowns. And reminds you before you get your set in place today that what will happen is when you and I do receive crowns, the Bible says we're going to place them at the feet of Jesus, giving him all the glory and the praise and the honor. One of the first crowns is the crown, the incorruptible crown, which is what Paul refers to in First Corinthians nine when he talks about those who get mastery over the flesh. Now, what in the world does that mean?
That simply means this. As you and I endeavor to live a godly life, we don't always live a godly life. There are times when we sin against God. We fail because we're children learning to grow in the Christian life. But he says he will give a crown to those who, listen, who I believe this crown is given to those whose heart's desire is to walk obediently before God and who go through struggles at times in their life.
But that's where their heart is. He says that incorruptible crown. Then he talks about, for example, the crown of life in James Chapter one, which he gives to those who endure through troubles and trials and heartaches and difficulties and persecutions in life.
But don't give up and don't lose heart and hang in there and stand in there no matter what. He talks about the crown of life. Then he talks about the crown of righteousness, which he says belongs to those who love his appearing.
Who are those who love his appearing? Those who want to walk godly, those who live godly in Christ Jesus. Then he talks also about the crown of glory, which he says belongs to those in First Peter Chapter five, who feed the flock. He said, Well, is that just talking about pastors? No, because when you as a Sunday school teacher, are you a discipling someone?
What are you doing? You're sharing the word of God with that person. As you share the word of God with that person, he says God is going to reward you. So whether you're living a righteous life, whether you're winning someone else to Jesus Christ, sharing the word of God, walking holy before him. He talks about these crowns that God will give us as a result.
Now, in essence, what Paul is saying is simply this. We will be rewarded for every single aspect of service, no matter what it is. Now we're talking about the nature of these rewards now.
And there's a second thing that I want you to think about here. And that is one of the rewards that you and I are going to receive is a reward which I call our capacity to manifest the glory of God. Now you think about this, the life that we are now living. Listen, it's the life that we are now living is either enlarging or decreasing our capacity to manifest to reflect the glory of God throughout all eternity. Now, his glory is the manifestation of all that he is. That is, you and I will be living, walking trophies of the grace of God. We will be living, walking trophies of the goodness and grace and mercy and love of God for all eternity. And so God will receive glory because of the life that we have lived. And part of our reward is going to be, as we've walked obediently before him, our capacity to manifest that. As somebody says, well, now, are we all going to receive the same reward? No. Well, does that mean that some people will be happier in heaven than others?
No, doesn't mean that. When you and I get to heaven, we're not going to be looking and saying, well, he's got more than I've got. I wish I'd have worked harder. My goodness. And then you'd be looking back at your life and thinking, if I'd have done this and if I'd have done that, you'd have been all eternity.
You'd have said, if I'd have, if I'd have, if I'd have, if I'd have. There'll be none of that. Then there are going to be any unhappy people in heaven. That's why lost people aren't going.
That's not the primary reason. A lost man wouldn't be happy in heaven. My goodness, praising the Lord and rejoicing and serving him and worshiping the Lord, manifesting his glory throughout all eternity. Listen, if a fellow won't even go to church, won't read the Bible, won't pray, doesn't like Christians. In fact, not even interested in the things of God. How in the world do you think you're going to die and be happy in heaven when there's nothing about God and his worship and his glory and his praise and his honor and his work you're interested in now?
Doesn't even make sense. So my friend, if you want to be happy in heaven, you better come to Jesus. You're not going to get there without him, number one. And secondly, you wouldn't be happy. Listen, you think about taking a lost person who's lived like the devil all their life and getting in the middle of about 50 million of us for all eternity. Well, how unhappy could a person be? And you see, when you and I are among the people of God and we're rejoicing and praising the Lord and singing and working and serving him, we're happy and we're delighted to be among the people of God. A person who hates God, he wouldn't be happy. So you see, those who think, well, all of us are going to get there somehow.
No, you're not. Apart from Jesus Christ and the cross, you will never make it. You'll never be able to work hard enough, long enough because our acceptance by God has nothing to do with performance and behavior.
It has to do with the grace, the goodness and love of God given to us as a result of his mercy toward us. That's the only way you're going to get there. So when you say, well, people be unhappy, no, you say, well, now, wait a minute. If we're all not going to have the same rewards, how's it going to be?
Well, let me give you an example. Your wife loves concerts. You don't like concerts, but you go because you want to please her.
And so you're sitting there beside her and you're nodding and you're both in the same place, hearing the same thing, one of you is enjoying it and the other one is not. Now, I don't want to liken that to heaven except to say that even though two people can be in the same place, this woman has a great capacity to enjoy that kind of music because that's the way she was trained. Now, it won't be that same degree of difference in heaven, but some people will have the capacity, listen to that, will have the capacity to enjoy heaven, I believe, more than others. But listen, they won't know they don't have the same capacity, so nobody's going to be unhappy in heaven. But to say that everybody's going to enjoy it the same, you can't say that. To say that everybody's going to receive the same reward, there's not a single verse in the Bible that even hints at that.
Not a single one. And so therefore, part of our reward by the life that we live here, it affects our capacity to enjoy to the absolute maximum. Now, listen carefully so you don't misunderstand. The fellow over here who hasn't served the Lord very long and didn't get saved, that he was 65 years of age and died at 67, not much reward. But you know what? He's going to enjoy heaven to the fullest of his capacity.
He just doesn't have the same capacity. And so our rewards are very important in the eyes of God because our capacity to manifest his glory for all eternity, the specific rewards that he wants to give us, and I don't think any of us can understand fully all the glory and the wonder and the amazement that heaven will be like, the rewards that God gives us. I think it's going to be absolutely totally overwhelming to us. But it'll be that which we can enjoy without a question. Now, there's one other aspect of this nature of his reward, and that's this. We will be given specific responsibility in heaven. Now, there are lots of verses you and I could look at, but let's go back to Matthew 25. And in this particular parable, you'll recall what Jesus said here.
And everybody knows the parable about the talents and so forth. And you'll recall that he said he gave one man five, one to another one. And here's what he said. When the master came back and the man who had five had doubled his to ten and one who had two doubled his to four.
And so here's what he said. He said in verse twenty-one, his master said to him, Well done, good and faithful slave. You were faithful with a few things. I'll put you in charge of many things. Enter into the joy of your master.
He says the same thing in verse twenty-three with a fellow who had two. Our reward in heaven will not only be specific recognitions as he speaks in terms of the crowns, also our capacity to manifest and glorify and honor him and magnify him for all eternity as trophies of his grace. But thirdly, we will be given specific responsibilities. Those responsibilities are going to be based on, listen, our faithfulness according to what God gave us to do down here now. So that our faithfulness now, whatever you're doing, I don't mean just standing in a church and serving God.
I'm talking about in your vocation, your faithfulness in your vocation, your faithfulness as a mother, your faithfulness as a father taking care of your children, taking care of the household, your faithfulness in serving God in all different ways. All of that is a part of our reward. Now, with all that in mind, let's think for just a moment about this whole idea of the methods by which He is going to determine what you and I do.
What is His method? Now listen carefully. We're going to be judged according to three things. The light of truth that we had. Secondly, the opportunity God gave us. And thirdly, our response to that opportunity so that no two people are going to be judged alike. All people don't have the same amount of truth. All people don't have the same opportunity. We will be judged by and rewarded according to how we responded to the light of truth that we had and the opportunity which God gave us.
Now, not the same for every person. I want you to turn to 1 Corinthians chapter three for a moment. And in this third chapter, 1 Corinthians, I think here is the best explanation in the Bible anywhere about our rewards.
We're talking about how He's going to decide this. And I want us to read this passage and then let's make a couple of comments about it. Paul now in the background of what he's saying here is this, that in light of his service to the Lord and with his friend Apollos and other servants among his days, here's what he said. He said in verse 10, according to the grace of God which was given to me as a wise master builder, I laid a foundation and another is building upon it. He says, I came along, established this church.
Other men came along and discipled those whom I had won. So it's the work we're all doing. He says, I laid a foundation and another is building upon it. But let each man be careful how he builds upon it, men and women. For no person can lay a foundation other than the one which is laid, which is Jesus Christ, which means the bottom foundational level of our life is when you're not trusted Him as our Savior. The moment you're not trusted Him as our Savior, from that moment on, we begin to build upon this foundation.
Here's what he says. Now if any man builds upon the foundation with gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, or straw, each man's work will become evident for the day will show it because it is to be revealed with fire. And the fire itself will test the quality of each man's work. If any man's work which he's built upon it remains, he shall receive a reward. If any man's work is burned up, he shall suffer loss, but he himself shall be saved, yet so as through fire. Now I want us to look at this passage because it's very important.
Here's what he says. Having trusted Jesus Christ as our Savior, every work that we do, our conduct, our service, it is all going to fall in the category, two different categories. He says gold, silver, precious stones, that is these are non-combustible items, and so they can stand the heat, shall we say. Then there are those things that are wood, hay, and corn shucks, stubble, straw. These things, just a little spark will set them on fire and they'll be burned up and consumed and they're gone. And so here's what he says, that our whole life from the moment you and I were saved, we either, listen, we either put into this life gold, silver, and precious stones, wood, hay, and straw.
Now it's not those things naturally, but they symbolically represent that which is good and lasting, non-combustible, and that which is good for nothing and does not last. And what is it that makes the determination? What makes the determination is our motivation.
Also what makes the determination is what we do. Listen, when you and I stand before him, he says we'll be tried by fire. Now what in the world does he mean by fire?
And here's what I believe he means. When you and I stand in the presence of the Lord Jesus Christ, remember we're standing in the presence of our missions. He knows every single solitary thing there is to know about us. Everything we've ever done, absolute perfect knowledge. In the presence of the Lord Jesus Christ, in the presence of perfect knowledge, and in the presence of absolute perfect holiness, it will be, as he says, as standing in the presence of fire. That is, that which is absolutely, absolutely purifying. When we stand in his presence, look into the eyes of the Son of God, who is absolutely holy and perfectly omniscient, knowing all things. There's not going to be any arguments going on. The test of fire is not a physical fire.
It is the test of the omniscience and the holiness of God. Did my conduct match up to his holiness? Was my motive pure or was it not?
Was this all I could have done or could I have done more? Now, it's not going to be a time of chastisement and scolding. It is just the fact that when you and I face the person of our Lord with our whole life, in that moment, we will see ourselves as he saw us. We will see our works and our labor and our conduct as he saw us and as he sees us. And we will, in that moment, be in absolute perfect agreement with him. And listen, when he looks at us and he sees us and his judgment will be not condemnation, but rather reward. And that is, in that moment, with all of his perfect knowledge and holiness, he will reward us for that which was good and that which was nothing and good for nothing will be absolutely of no consequence before him.
And what is left will be what you and I will have for all eternity. That is, whatever crowns he may give us, whatever capacity we have to glorify him and whatever service and worship will be our privilege for all eternity. When you and I stand before him, a lot of things that we've done will have no reward whatsoever.
Look at this. Let's say that we did a lot of good things, but our motivation was wrong. We will suffer the loss of reward that would have been ours had our motivation been love for him rather than trying to please someone else. And so when we stand before him, yes, we will be rewarded. At the same time, we are rewarded.
Now, I don't think any of us know this, but it's probably true. At that same moment, we will recognize what we did lose. God's judgment of us will not be based on what someone else did.
He's not going to judge us in comparison to someone else. When we stand before him, listen, it will be according to the truth that we know, the privileges that we had based on the capacity that God gave us when we were born and spiritual gifts. And then what we did with it.
We stand before him for future eternal reward for what is going on in the here and now and what is going to go on until the last moment we breathe our last breath. When you put all that together, there'll be gold, silver, precious stone, wood, hay, and straw mixed up with all of us. Now, if you were to die today and you had to take your life as it is and stand before the Lord Jesus Christ, how much of this would be gold and silver and precious stones, things that are not combustible, things that are lasting? What kind of reward would you have?
How much of it is wood, hay, and straw? Because you wasted God's time. You wasted your talent and your spiritual gifts. You were too busy doing this, that, and the other to serve other people and to serve the Lord. You never took a place of service in the church because you didn't want to. You had other things to do that didn't fit your schedule.
You just didn't have time. My friend here is the devil's trap. Listen, the devil's trap to get you to thinking short-sighted. Just think about today, not tomorrow, not eternity, just today.
What suits me today? Today is real short, 65, 75, 100 years, real short against the background of eternity. Wise men and women make sure that when they die, it's a settled issue.
They go into heaven by faith in Christ. Wise men and women are living today with the future in mind. And I want to challenge you to trust the Lord Jesus Christ as your personal Savior. And I want to challenge you, my friend, if you know Christ as your Savior, you cannot afford to waste your life, your time, your talents, your testimony. You can't even waste your trials keeping Him to yourself, your treasure. All of it belongs to Him to be invested for His glory. And the question is, what are you doing now that's going to affect your reward for all eternity? Thank you for listening to part two of Our Rewards. If you'd like to know more about Charles Stanley or InTouch Ministries, stop by InTouch.org. This podcast is a presentation of InTouch Ministries, Atlanta, Georgia.
