Welcome to Turning Point. In a culture that seems obsessed with the giving and receiving of awards, you might think they have no place in heaven. But you'd be wrong. Today, Dr. David Jeremiah reveals how and why Christ Himself will reward believers as we stand before Him in heaven.
continuing the series The Promise of Heaven. Here's David to introduce his eye-opening message. Five crowns.
Well, if you believe that it's unrighteous to be motivated by a reward as you head toward heaven. You are going to have to answer some very pointed passages of Scripture. The Bible promises God's people some certain rewards for certain things. In the future, and we're going to explore those in these next two days. And let me tell you, there's one of these available to everyone of you who are listening.
You don't have to be without a reward. And if you listen carefully, you'll discover: okay, I'm in and running for that one. And you will find out that God will help you do that. We are having a wonderful time talking about heaven based on a book called The Promise of Heaven. which is coordinating almost all the passages in the Scripture about heaven.
Many of the questions that people have asked over the years are answered in full chapters like, If a person commits suicide, can they still go to heaven? What about people who are cremated? What happens to them? Are children going to be in heaven? What about animals?
Will there be animals in heaven? Oh, I know some of you like that. What about marriage? The Bible says that in heaven we will neither marry nor be given in marriage, we'll be like the angels. Then some of you say, Well, am I not going to be married in heaven?
How does that work?
Well, there's a whole chapter on that with a very honest answer. And I think as you meditate upon it, it will help you understand the answer to that question. This book was meant to help all of us wrap our arms around this incredible subject and be. more intelligent about it as we make our way to this glorious place and get excited about heaven in a new and fresh way. I know you'll be encouraged by the book.
It will add value to your life as a Christian. And you can have a copy by just sending a gift to Turning Point during this month and saying, send me the book.
Well, here we go. This is part one of five crowns, what the Bible says will happen as we head toward eternity. Lately it seems There's an award show on TV just about every week. Have you noticed that? There's the Emmys, the golden globes.
The Academy Awards, People's Choice Awards, Screen Actors Guild Awards. the Country Music Awards and the Grammys. And those are just the big ones. Word is out that they're coming up with a new award for the best presenters in award ceremonies.
Now, I'm not sure if that's true or not. But if you turn on the T V the chances are that you're going to see somebody Walking a red carpet or giving a thank you speech, and somehow the world keeps coming up with more ways. to hand out trophies.
Well, today I want to talk to you about the most important trophy ceremony you will ever. Be a part of. And it's a subject that is spoken about very little because There just are a lot of people who think that Trophies and rewards are incompatible with a biblical lifestyle and truth. One such viewpoint was expressed in this quote that I found: In our day, we encounter those who deplore the idea of heaven as a place of rewards. They regard the promise of reward as a low and carnal incentive to righteousness.
entirely unworthy of a mature person. They liken it to offering candy to a child if he will just be good, and they view this as inferior strategy. Such people say we should not be lured into goodness by promises of a bonus. for goodness is its own reward. And that sounds pretty good, pretty logical.
But the problem is It's out of tune with the Bible. The Bible doesn't give you any opportunity to believe that. Not only is the idea of rewards accepted, it's at the core of the growth of the early church. If you study history, you discover that the thing that made the early church prosper Well, there were four or five things. The zeal of the early Christians.
Number two, the belief in future rewards and punishment. Number three, the power of miracles. Number four, the pure morals of Christians and the compact church organization. As you read through the Bible, what you discover is. That rewards are never defended, they're just accepted.
It's a part of the culture. For instance, Psalm 58, 11 says, Surely there is a reward for the righteous. Psalm 62, 12 says, You, O Lord, render to each one according to his work. The New Testament opens with the Lord's promise of rewards. In the Beatitudes, listen to this.
Blessed are you when they revile and persecute you. and say all kinds of evil against you falsely for my sake. Rejoice and be exceedingly glad, for great is your reward in heaven. And when you get to the end of the New Testament, in Revelation 22, 12, one of the last verses in the Bible. Here's what the Bible says.
Jesus is speaking. Behold, I am coming quickly, and my reward is with me. to give everyone according to his work. and throughout the New Testament. Rewards are assumed to be a part of the Christian's future experience.
Hebrews 6 says, for God is not unjust to forget your work. And your labor of love which you have shown toward his name, in that you have ministered to the saints and do minister. And Mark 9:41 says, For whoever gives you a cup of water in my name, because you belong to Christ, assuredly I say to you, he will by no means lose his reward. I mean, even a small act of kindness, like giving a cup of water in Jesus' name, won't be forgotten. The Bible said God sees it, and one day He will reward it.
So let me just talk with you for a moment about the day of heaven's rewards. The Bible is very clear about how this happens, even though there's so much misunderstanding about it. The Bible tells us that after the church is taken to heaven, by the rapture and the resurrection. Individual believers will stand before the judgment seat of Christ. This is a time when the Lord will evaluate the lives of his people.
and reward them for their faithfulness, their service, and their obedience. This is the clear teaching of the New Testament, especially in the writings of the Apostle Paul. Romans 14:12 says, So then each of us shall give account of himself to God. 2 Corinthians 5:10 says, For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ. That each one of us may receive the things done in the body according to what he has done, whether good or bad.
And Ephesians 6:8 says, Knowing that whatever good anyone does, he will receive the same from the Lord.
Now, the Bible teaches that at the judgment seat, Jesus Christ will see through all of our posturing and our spinning, and He will see into our hearts' motives for all that we have done. There will be no second-guessing of any of these rewards, they will all be given out with the absolute assurance of integrity. And the distinction of heaven's rewards is like this. This important truth is that The judgment seat of Christ is not the final exam for heaven. If you're at the judgment seat of Christ, you're already in heaven.
So you don't have to worry about. Oh, if I don't have this, I'm not going to get in. The judgment seat isn't about whether you get in. Let's take a closer look. Number one, the judgment seat of Christ is not the final exam for heaven.
Because believers have placed their faith in Christ and what He did on the cross. We will never be condemned for our sins. Once you accept Jesus Christ, you get eternal life. When does that start? The moment you believe.
And eternal can't be interrupted. In other words, eternal life begins when you accept Jesus Christ and it is never interrupted. You will spend eternity with God from that moment. Christ took our place, bore the judgment we deserve, so we can stand before God, forgiven. and secure forever.
Galatians 1.4 says, who gave himself for our sins. that He might deliver us from this present evil age. according to the will of God our Father. He who Himself bore our sins in His own body on the tree. How shall he not also freely give us, says the scripture, all things.
Listen to me. When you became a Christian, you entered into a contract for heaven. When you said, I trust Jesus Christ as my Savior, what does the Bible say? The Bible says you get the gift of eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord. And that gift can never be rescinded.
It can never be taken away. I know some people believe you can lose your salvation. I don't think the Bible teaches that. I think you can lose your fellowship with Jesus, but you can't lose your salvation.
So the judgment seat of Christ is not about Whether or not you get into heaven. When you're at the judgment seat of Christ, be thankful, even though you might be a little bit worried, you're already in heaven because that's where that takes place. When a wildfire is coming, Firefighters sometimes set a small fire on purpose. It burns the grass before the fire gets there, and when the fire comes, it can't burn that spot again.
So it passes right over. That's like what Jesus did on the cross. God's judgment like a fire. fell on him instead of us. And if we stand with Jesus at the cross, we're standing in the one safe place.
The judgment already came there and it won't ever come again.
So I just want to assure you: the judgment seat of Christ is not about whether or not you go to heaven. The judgment seat of Christ is for Christians who are already in heaven. One of the questions people often ask then is, if our sins are forgiven, Why do we have to Stand before the judgment seat of Christ. And the answer is found in the fact That forgiveness is about justification, it's about being made right with God. Through Jesus Christ.
But rewards. are based on the works a believer does. after he has been saved. These are not works done to gain salvation. These are works that flow from a life that has already been saved.
Paul explains this in a couple of key passages I want you to never forget. Ephesians 2, 8 through 10 says, For by grace you have been saved through faith. and that not of yourselves. It is the gift of God. Not of works.
Lest anyone should boast.
Now listen. For we are His workmanship. Created in Christ Jesus for good works. Which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them. Notice: we are not saved by good works, we are saved for good works.
We are not saved by the works that we do, but once we're saved, God expects us to live a certain kind of life. The works that we have as Christians are what comes before the judgment seat of Christ. Titus 3.5 says it another way. not by works of righteousness which we have done. But according to his mercy, he saved us.
Through the washing of regeneration and renewing of the Holy Spirit.
Now, watch this. This is a faithful saying, and these things I want you to affirm constantly: that those who have believed in God. should be careful to maintain good works. For these things are good and profitable to men.
So the Bible tells us That works. are in the whole process. Works are not in the process to be saved, not by works, lest any man should boast. But once we're saved, God expects us to live in a certain way. And the judgment seat of Christ.
will determine whether or not we've wasted our Christian life. Or We have been faithful. God wants us to do good things. with our lives. We should never just view our salvation as an escape ticket from hell.
The Bible says that even if someone doesn't have many good works to show, they can still be saved, but it will be like escaping through a fire. Many people I know become Christians. I believe they're genuinely born again. But then they kind of go into autopilot. You never know anybody like that?
They just sort of go along with the flow. They never stand out for anything they're doing for the Lord. They never seek to do anything for the Lord. Their attitude is: I'm going to heaven, that's all that matters. and I'll live my life the way I want to.
Bruce made these distinctions. He said, Our eternal destination is the consequence of what we believe on this earth. But our eternal compensation, our rewards, is the consequence of how we behave on the earth.
So Bible history is filled with people. who began the race with great success. but failed at the end because they disregarded God's rules. You know their stories. They did not lose their salvation, but they did lose their rewards.
happened a lot to Samson. To Saul. to Ananias and Sapphira. And it can happen to us. if we become careless about our walk with Christ.
So the judgment seat of Christ is not the final exam for heaven. Number two, the judgment seat of Christ is not found to be judging one believer by another. Because all believers will stand before the judgment seat of Christ, each of us is giving an account of himself. To God. Do you hear that?
We give account of ourselves to God. We have no right to judge the work of another believer. We do not even know what rewards we will receive for ourselves. How will we ever know how another person will be rewarded? We do not know enough about anyone else's heart or motives or faithfulness to know what rewards.
given or whether or not they're deserved. This is what Paul was talking about when he wrote these words to the Corinthians. Listen carefully. Therefore judge nothing before the time. Until the Lord comes, who will bring both to light the hidden things of darkness.
and reveal the counsels of the hearts. then each one's praise will come from God. Listen, if we knew what was in everybody's heart, there would be a lot of judgment that we would never make. We would know, we don't have any right to judge that person. Look at that person's heart.
But we can't see their heart, can we? We don't know what's inside a person's heart. We don't know what their motives are, what their mindset is.
So oftentimes we make flipped judgments And many times they're hurtful. and destructive. The Bible says God is the judge. Don't usurp his authority. Let him be the judge.
You be the servant that you've been called to be. The day of heaven's rewards and the distinctions Now let's describe heaven's rewards. We often wonder. What will be the nature of these rewards? What will they look like?
I want to talk to you about five crowns. These are the crowns that are mentioned specifically in the Bible. These are five things that will be awarded at the judgment seat of Christ. First of all, the victor's crown. 1 Corinthians 9 says, Everyone who competes for the prize is temperate in all things.
Now they do it to obtain a perishable crown, but we for an imperishable crown. Therefore, I run not with uncertainty. I fight not as one who beats the air, but I discipline my body and bring it into subjection, lest when I have preached to others, I myself should be disqualified.
Now, this is based upon the culture that Paul wrote to at that time. There were two kind of Olympic Games that took place during Paul's day. There was the Olympic Games themselves, and there was another set of games called the Isthmian Games. and the Isthmian Games were held at Corinth.
So, when Paul writes this letter to Corinth, they already know all of this. They see the background. The contestants in the games had to prove rigorous training for 10 months. The last month was spent at Corinth. And it was supervised.
Every day in the gym and on the athletic fields. They didn't just get judged at the event. They were judged as they prepared for the event, getting ready for the race. And the race was always a major attraction at the games. That is the figure Paul uses to illustrate the faithful Christian life.
He says, those who run in a race Run all but only one receives the prize. No one would train so hard for so long without at least having a thought that you might win. You run, you train to win. Yet out of the large number of runners, only one wins. The prize indicates that the apostle had in mind service and rewards, not salvation and life.
The Isthmian athletes disciplined themselves to win an insignificant prize. How much more ought we to discipline ourselves to win The crown. the victor's crown that's going to be presented at the judgment seat. The thought, of course, is that of personal discipline. I don't know if you've noticed it, but walking with God demands a bit of sacrifice.
sacrifice of things not necessarily evil. but which prevent the full devotion of the soul to God. In an age of luxury, Like the present time, these words have real significance. A great difference between those races and the Christian race is that every Christian who will pay the price of careful training can be a winner. You can be a winner.
I can be a winner if I'm willing to discipline myself to do that. In a sense, every Christian runs his own race. enabling each one of us to be a winner in winning souls to Christ. Paul therefore challenges all believers to run in such a way that you may win by setting aside anything that might hinder the reception of the gospel. In the estimate of the games, In Paul's day, the prize was Pretty pathetic.
It was a pine wreath. The contestants competed for more than that, of course, but the wreath that they got represented fame, acclaim, and the life of a hero. Winners of that race were immortalized, much as they are today. But that immortality was just as mortal as the wreath itself because they died, and if they hadn't know Christ, they didn't get any reward for sure. The one who disciplines his body, like Paul, said was a candidate for the victor's crown.
Most people, including many Christians, are instead slaves to their bodies. Their bodies tell their minds what to do. Their bodies decide when to eat, what to eat, how much to eat. when to sleep, when to get up, and so on. An athlete cannot allow that.
If you're training for the Olympics, you're getting ready for an event. you follow the training rules, not your body. One thing I've learned: don't let your body tell you what to do, because you will do the wrong thing most of the time. The athlete runs when he would rather be resting. He eats a balanced meal when he would rather have a chocolate sundae.
He goes to bed when he would rather stay up. He gets up when he would rather stay in bed. And he leads his body, he does not follow it. It is his slave, not the other way around. It is to this kind of soldier that the victor's crown will be given.
The Bible says that there are some people who live the Christian life. with such great discipline that nothing else matters. They set their eyes on the goal of pleasing Christ and nothing else gets in their way. I've known a few people like that and so have you. Many of them find their way to the mission field.
Many of them are in churches.
Some of them are pastors.
Some are workers in the church. But the good news is that all of us can be candidates for the victor's crown if we're willing to live a disciplined life. and walk with Christ. Then there's the crown of rejoicing. The Bible says in 1 Thessalonians 2.19, For what is our hope?
or joy or crown of rejoicing. Is it not even you in the presence of our Lord Jesus Christ that is coming? Paul's love for these Thessalonians is very emotional. Not even our hope Or joy or crown of rejoicing. This is an allusion to the wreath or the garland of victory awarded to winners in the games.
And Paul's hope. And his only grounds for boasting was the thought of the souls he would present to Christ. This crown is sometimes called the soul winner's crown.
So, if God has given you the ability to talk to people about your faith, win them to Christ, when you get to heaven, there's going to be a special crown for soul winners. And there aren't too many people that have that gift from what I've observed, but some people really do. I've been with some people that have this gift so deeply ingrained that you're almost embarrassed to be with them because wherever they go, They talk to people about Jesus. You go into a restaurant with them, and before you can sit down, they have engaged the waiter in a conversation about whether they're going to heaven or not. I don't know where the line is.
But I know people, and I could name some that you would know. Who are so focused and motivated by winning people to Jesus Christ, that's all they live for. Every day they get up with that thought in their mind: how can I find someone? And tell them about Jesus.
Well, the Bible says. for a person like that. They can win the crown of rejoicing. The third crown is the crown of righteousness. You will find that in 2 Timothy 4, 8.
Finally, there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness. which the Lord, the righteous judge, will give to me on that day. And not to me only. but also to all who have loved his appearing. Paul said there's a special award that will be given at the judgment seat of Christ for people who look forward to the coming of Jesus Christ, who were focused on his coming.
Who didn't just believe it, but lived in light of it. I don't know very many people like that. I know a few. I suppose, in some way, I might be involved in that because I've preached so much on prophecy over the years. told so many people that Jesus coming back.
But since I've been teaching on heaven, Several people have told me they're almost embarrassed. One of them said, I haven't thought about heaven in a long time. And one person joked, why should I care about heaven? I haven't even been to Hawaii yet. That kind of comment shows how easy it is for our hearts to get focused on the here and now.
The Bible tells us that some people live with their hearts set on heaven. It's what motivates them every day when they get up. That's what they think about throughout the day. They're looking forward to seeing Christ and those are the ones who will receive this crown because they love and they long for His appearing.
Well More to come on this subject and we'll Grab hold of this again tomorrow when we meet together for Turning Point on this good station. And we have um Wonderful plan for the end of the year. For many of our partners and friends, we take this special cruise together to the Caribbean, this year to the Eastern Caribbean, and we'll be leaving on the 27th of December, right after Christmas, and we'll stay aboard this ship and in the Caribbean and celebrating together and enjoying fellowship over the New Year's holiday and return on the 3rd of January. We have a really robust group already signed up for this event, and there's room for you, but I wouldn't wait too long. I hope if you want to come with us, you'll make your decision and join us.
We're going to have a great time together. It's a wonderful way to close out the old year and begin the new year with God's people. A little bit of extra time for clarity in mind, and I hope you'll join us. We'll talk to you some more about it as we get closer to the date. Thanks for listening.
Join us tomorrow. For more information on Dr. Jeremiah's series, The Promise of Heaven. Please visit our website where we also offer two free ways to help you stay connected. our monthly Turning Points magazine, and our daily email devotional.
Sign up today at DavidJeremiah.org slash radio. That's DavidJeremiah.org slash radio. or call us at 800-947-1993. Ask for your copy of David's encouraging new book, The Promise of Heaven. 31 Reasons to Get Excited About Your Eternal Home.
It's yours for a gift of any amount. You can also purchase the Jeremiah Study Bible in the English Standard, New International and New King James Versions, complete with notes and articles from Dr. Jeremiah's decades of study. Get all the details when you visit our website davidjeremiah.org slash radio. This is David Michael Jeremiah.
Join us tomorrow as we continue the series The Promise of Heaven on Turning Point with Dr. David Jeremiah. I'm not sure if I'm doing this right or not.
