{"id":18223,"date":"2016-06-12T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2016-06-12T05:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sugar-land-bible-church.local\/sermon\/2-timothy-033-well-done\/"},"modified":"2016-06-12T00:00:00","modified_gmt":"2016-06-12T05:00:00","slug":"2-timothy-033-well-done","status":"publish","type":"sermon","link":"https:\/\/slbc.org\/es\/sermon\/2-timothy-033-well-done\/","title":{"rendered":"2 Timothy 033 – Well Done!"},"content":{"rendered":"","protected":false},"featured_media":0,"template":"","book":[100],"series_event":[454],"sermon_service_type":[472],"speaker":[6],"class_list":["post-18223","sermon","type-sermon","status-publish","hentry","book-2-timothy","series_event-2-timothy","sermon_service_type-main-service","speaker-dr-andy-woods","no-post-thumbnail"],"acf":{"sermon_title":"2 Timothy 033 - Well Done!","sermon_date":"20160612","sermon_month":"6","sermon_year":"2016","sermon_notes":3664,"sermon_slides":3670,"sermon_mp3":3688,"sermon_id":"612161093410","series_or_event":454,"service_type":[472],"speaker":6,"books_of_the_bible":100,"chapter_and_verse":"4:7-8","sermon_transcript":"Andy Woods\n\nWell Done\n\n6-12-16\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 2 Timothy 4:7-8\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Lesson 34\n\nGood morning everybody.\u00a0 If we could take our Bibles and open them to the book of 2 Timothy, chapter 4, and verse 7.\u00a0 The title of our message this morning is Well Done.\u00a0\u00a0 I\u2019m going to go ahead and fast-forward through my very catchy introduction, which you guys have all heard about 10,000 times.\u00a0 But what a week it was around here with VBS.\u00a0 You\u2019ll notice a lot of people wearing their VBS shirts. I was going to wear mine but I didn\u2019t think it went well with a suit and tie.\u00a0 But if you were involved in VBS can you just stand for a moment so we can recognize you.\u00a0 [clapping]\u00a0 Thank you.\u00a0 Thank you!\u00a0 It was just a tremendous week ministering to the children in our church and in our community. \u00a0And one of the things that sort of blows you away as pastor is seeing the gifting\u2019s in people, people having gifts, like acting, organizing, countless things went on where God just really\u2026 I was so proud to see God use people in this flock in a ministry setting, and so it was just a wonderful week.\u00a0 It was a tiring week so let\u2019s just close in prayer and call it day\u2026 NO, we won\u2019t do that.\n\nOne of the things that did happen yesterday evening, it hasn\u2019t shown up on the news too much, it has shown up on social media, is there was yet another terrorist attack later last night on the East Coast or in Florida I should say, in Orlando.\u00a0 Apparently another, in this case it was a same sex bar of some sort that was targeted and I woke up this morning and it said 20 people are dead and the latest report is actually 50 people dead.\u00a0 And apparently it is another ISIS type, what scattered reports I\u2019ve read, another ISIS type situation.\n\nSo people ask, is America going to war and the fact of the matter is America is at war and has been at war for several years now.\u00a0 America is under attack through terrorism.\u00a0 And I bring that to your attention, not to say let\u2019s do A, B and C to solve it because I don\u2019t really know how it can be solved.\u00a0 But I bring it to your attention just to kind of highlight the serious times we\u2019re living in and if there\u2019s ever a time when America is sort of on the delicate tipping scale it would be today.\u00a0\u00a0 So I just ask for your prayer for our country and beyond that I ask just for your awareness of what is happening.\u00a0 It\u2019s so easy to just sort of keep the Lawrence Welk music playing with our head in the sand and act like nothing is happening but we\u2019re living in a very, very delicate and a very serious time.\u00a0 And yet it\u2019s a time when the light of God can shine as never before because light has a tendency to stand out in the midst of darkness.\n\nWe are wrapping up our section where Paul has instructed young Timothy, a\u00a0 young man who is overwhelmed by the task of ministry.\u00a0 Have you ever been overwhelmed by life, overwhelmed by what God places in front of us, overwhelmed by the task of ministry.\u00a0 To a large extent he\u2019s thinking about throwing in the towel.\u00a0 It\u2019s very clear Timothy is a believer, he\u2019s called Paul\u2019s \u201cson in the faith,\u201d [1 Timothy 1:2, \u201cTo Timothy, my true child in the faith: Grace, mercy and peace from God the Father and Christ Jesus our Lord.\u201d]\n\nSo this is not a book about salvation; it\u2019s a book about completing the race or the task that God has given us.\u00a0 We all have different callings in God.\u00a0 If we find ourselves, by faith, in Christ this morning the issue isn\u2019t are we going to heaven or not, the issue is are we going to hear these words \u201cwell done\u201d when we are evaluated in heaven.\n\nThe final reason on this list of nine that Timothy is to teach the Word of God, and preach the Word of God is the necessity for Timothy to complete or finish his task.\u00a0 Verses 5-8 are essentially in that light or in that vein, finish the job Timothy.\u00a0 And by extension that message is coming to us, finish the job, finish the task.\u00a0 There\u2019s a charge, verse 5, where we ran into four imperatives: be, endure,\u00a0 do and fulfill.\u00a0 Now I was one of the crew leaders at VBS last week so someone put on a list for me on a little tiny note card, be, endure, do and fulfill.\u00a0 And I put it in my name tag and it got stuck upside down and so every time I got frustrated with these kids I looked down at this name tag, it said be, endure, do, fulfill.\u00a0 So be careful what you preach, God has a way of boomeranging it back to you.\n\nSo there\u2019s the charge, verse 6, is the reason for the charge, Paul\u2019s not going to be around forever.\u00a0 In fact, Paul is getting ready to die, verse 6, we\u2019ve already seen his life is ebbing away as he is being poured out as a drink offering.\u00a0 What\u2019s going to happen to Christian truth once the apostles leave the scene.\u00a0 That\u2019s what\u2019s on Paul\u2019s mind.\n\nVerses 7 and 8 which is our focus this morning is the notion of a reward.\u00a0 Timothy, you should continue in your calling in spite of adversity because there\u2019s actually a reward in it for you.\u00a0 This reward has two facets to it.\u00a0 The first is in verse 7, satisfaction of a life well spent; and the second reason is in verse 8, he begins to unpack this doctrine of rewards at the coming Bema Seat Judgment of Christ, something I\u2019ll try to explain a little bit about today.\n\nNotice verse 7, as we focus this morning on just verses 7-8.\u00a0 Paul says, \u201cI have fought the good fight, I have finished the course, I have kept the faith.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0 You know, we read these words and we think that these words are uttered by every single believer at the end of their lives, earthly lives.\u00a0 And the answer is these words are not spoken by every believer.\u00a0 Certainly every believer in Christ is going to heaven but not necessarily every believer can look back on his or her life and say these things about themselves, \u201cI have finished the course, I have kept the faith,\u201d \u201cI have fought the good fight.\u201d\n\nIn fact, the Bible is filled with stories of people who at the end of their lives are heaven bound but could not utter these words in honesty.\u00a0 I think of a man named Solomon who was so strategically used by God in the construction of the temple, a man endowed by wisdom from above and yet what became of Solomon\u2019s life at the very end.\u00a0 It says in 1 Kings 11:1, \u201cNow King Solomon loved many foreign women\u2026.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0 1 Kings 11:2 goes on and it says how he disobeyed the Lord\u2019s command, \u201cYou shall not associate with them, nor shall they associate with you, for they will surely turn your heart away after their gods.\u00a0 Solomon\u201d however, \u201cfast to these\u201d women \u201cin love.\u201d\n\n1 Kings 11:3 says, \u201cHe had seven hundred wives, princesses, and three hundred concubines, and his wives\u201d plural \u201cturned his heart away.\u00a0 [4] For when Solomon was old his wives turned away his heart after other gods, and his heart was not wholly true to the LORD his God, as was the heart of David his father.\u201d\u00a0 1 Kings 11:6 says, \u201cSolomon did what was evil in the sight of the LORD, and did not follow the LORD fully, as David his father had done.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0 1 Kings 11:8 says, \u201cThus also he did for all his foreign wives, who burned incense and sacrificed to their gods.\u201d\n\nWhat a tragic way to leave this earth, a man who had accomplished so much but at the end of his life basically decided that the rules of God applied to everyone else but not him and he flagrantly disobeyed the Mosaic Law.\u00a0 He flagrantly disobeyed Deuteronomy 17:14-15, he put himself above the law of God, practiced polygamy with foreign woman and how they turned him away from God at the very end of his life.\u00a0 [Deuteronomy 17:14-15\u201cWhen you enter the land which the LORD your God gives you, and you possess it and live in it, and you say, \u2018I will set a king over me like all the nations who are around me,\u2019, \u201cyou shall surely set a king over you whom the LORD your God chooses, one from among your countrymen you shall set as king over yourselves; you may not put a foreigner over yourselves who is not your countryman.\u201d]\n\nYou take, for example, a man named Lot, we\u2019ve talked about Lot, I like to ask the question, are you a lot like Lot?\u201d\u00a0 A man who was very clearly a believer, 2 Peter 2:7-8 tells us that as clearly as it can be told. [2 Peter 2:7, \u201cand if He rescued righteous Lot, oppressed by the sensual conduct of unprincipled men, [8] (for by what he saw and heard that righteous man, while living among them, felt his righteous soul tormented day after day by their lawless deeds).\u201d\u00a0 Yet how does the story of Lot end?\u00a0 With him in a drunken state of mind as he was committing incest with his two daughters, through whom came forth the Moabites and the Ammonites, perennial enemies of Israel.\n\nYou think of a man named Moses who only could see the Promised Land from a distance, having died never entering the Promised Land.\u00a0 You think of Ananias and Sapphira who were slain in the Holy Spirit.\u00a0 A lot of people think being \u201cslain in the Holy Spirit\u201d is a good thing; may I say to you it\u2019s not a good thing when you study Acts 5:1-11.\u00a0 I clearly believe Ananias and Sapphira were believers because the church fell into fear as a result of the maximum divine discipline God brought upon them.\n\n[Acts 5:1-11, But a man named Ananias, with his wife Sapphira, sold a piece of property, [2] and kept back some<\/em> of the price for himself, with his wife\u2019s full knowledge, and bringing a portion of it, he laid it at the apostles\u2019 feet. [3] But Peter said, \u201cAnanias, why has Satan filled your heart to lie to the Holy Spirit and to keep back some<\/em> of the price of the land? [4] \u201cWhile it remained unsold,<\/em> did it not remain your own? And after it was sold, was it not under your control? Why is it that you have conceived this deed in your heart? You have not lied to men but to God.\u2019 [5] And as he heard these words, Ananias fell down and breathed his last; and great fear came over all who heard of it. [6] The young men got up and covered him up, and after carrying him out, they buried him.\u00a0 [7] Now there elapsed an interval of about three hours, and his wife came in, not knowing what had happened. [8] And Peter responded to her, \u2018Tell me whether you sold the land for such and such a price?\u201d And she said, \u201cYes, that was the price.\u2019 [9] Then Peter said<\/em> to her, \u2018Why is it that you have agreed together to put the Spirit of the Lord to the test? Behold, the feet of those who have buried your husband are at the door, and they will carry you out as well.<\/em>\u2019 [10] And immediately she fell at his feet and breathed her last, and the young men came in and found her dead, and they carried her out and buried her beside her husband. [11] And great fear came over the whole church, and over all who heard of these things.\u201d]\n\nYou think of the church at Sardis, the dead church, where Jesus says in Revelation 3:2, \u201c\u2026for I have not found your deeds completed in the sight of my God.\u201d\u00a0 Apparently the Bible is giving us stories of examples to follow, examples to reject, because the Bible wants us to finish well. The Scripture wants us to be able to look back honestly on our lives in Christ and having not led a perfect life at least be satisfied with what God did in and through us.\u00a0 Could you honestly if you were to die today could you honestly say these words about yourself: \u201cI have fought the good fight, I have finished the course, I have kept the faith.\u201d\n\nI was raised in the home of\u2026 my mother and father were runners so I remember as a young child being taken to 10K\u2019s, 5 K\u2019s, in some cases marathons, and I remember watching those runners at the beginning of the race, seeing all of the excitement and the exuberance.\u00a0 But then when you get to the end of the race and those same runners cross the finish line it\u2019s a totally different picture, isn\u2019t it?\u00a0 The excitement is gone, the exuberance is gone, it\u2019s nothing but fatigue, and in some cases agony, trying to get across the finish line.\u00a0 The starting line is one thing, the finish line is something completely different.\n\nAre we going to allow the Lord work in and through us to such a degree that we can look back on our lives in Christ and in a sense be proud, not in an arrogant sense but in a spiritual sense, of what God did in and through us.\u00a0 I\u2019m reminded of this famous quote from one business man who put it this way:\u00a0 I have spent my entire life climbing the ladder of success, only to discover that the ladder was leaning against the wrong wall.\n\nAnd it\u2019s interesting, you talk to\u00a0 people at the end of their lives and it\u2019s not too often you actually hear somebody say I\u2019m satisfied; what they say is if I had it to do all over again I would do this differently and that differently.\u00a0\u00a0 And this is where the warnings of the Bible speak to us because we can make choices and changes now so that we won\u2019t have to get to the end of our lives having climbed the ladder which is leaning against the wrong wall.\n\nHave you ever seen what Mark Twain wrote at the end of his life in his autobiography?\u00a0 It\u2019s staggering what he says here.\u00a0 He says: \u201cA myriad of men are born; they labor and sweat and struggle for bread; they squabble and scold and fight; they scramble for little mean advantages over each other. Age creeps upon them; infirmities follow; shames and humiliations bring down their prides and their vanities. Those they love are taken from them and the joy of life is turned to aching grief. The burden of pain, care, misery, grows heavier year by year. At length ambition is dead; pride is dead; vanity is dead; longing for release is in their place. It comes at last - the only unpoisoned gift ever had for them - and they vanish from a world where they were of no consequence; where they achieved nothing; where they were a mistake and a failure and a foolishness; where they have left no sign that they had ever existed - a world that will lament them a day and forget them forever.\u201d\n\nSort of a life without God, a life \u201cunder the sun,\u201d a life looking back and seeing really nothing of content, nothing of value, nothing of eternal existence.\u00a0 How different Paul\u2019s words are when he utters, \u201cI have fought the good fight, I have finished the course, I have kept the faith.\u201d\u00a0 [2 Timothy 4:7]\n\nIt\u2019s interesting here in verse 7, Paul uses three metaphors to describe this reward had, a reward that he wants Timothy to experience of a life well spent.\u00a0 The first two are athletic; he uses number 1, the example of it\u2019s either a boxer or perhaps a wrestler.\u00a0 Second, he uses the example of a runner, and then he uses a non-athletic metaphor, the metaphor of a steward.\u00a0 Let\u2019s look at these just for a minute.\n\nThe first example Paul uses is that of a boxer or a wrestler, and that\u2019s what is bound up in this statement, \u201cI have fought the good fight.\u201d\u00a0 It is a reference or a metaphor that Paul uses elsewhere in his writings, for example, in 1 Corinthians 9:26 he says, \u201cTherefore I run in such a way, as not without aim; I box in such a way, as not beating the air;\u201d there he\u2019s describing the strategic effectiveness of his ministry.\u00a0 He didn\u2019t just work hard but he worked smart.\u00a0 He made the talents that God gave him count.\u00a0 The man had an eternal impact and that\u2019s essentially what he\u2019s saying here.\n\nAnd it\u2019s so interesting that we advertise the Christian life as some sort of easy life, struggle-free existence.\u00a0 Paul never describes his life in Christ that way; he said it was a fight.\u00a0 There was a fight and there was a struggle the whole way through.\u00a0 Why was it a fight?\u00a0 Because you, as a Christian you inherit three enemies you didn\u2019t have before you were saved: the first enemy is the world, more on that in a little bit; the second enemy is the flesh, the third enemy is the devil himself.\n\nJude in verse 3\u00a0 uses an active verb, \u201cearnestly contend for the faith.\u201d\u00a0 [Jude 3, \u201cBeloved, while I was making every effort to write you about our common salvation, I felt the necessity to write to you appealing that you contend earnestly for the faith which was once for all handed down to the saints.\u201d\u00a0 It\u2019s a struggle that\u2019s on.\u00a0 Now fortunately we\u2019re not fighting on our own resources but clearly the New Testament, and the Old Testament for that matter, presents the life that we have in Christ as a struggle, as a conflict.\u00a0 The Bible tells us that right out of the gate.\u00a0 Paul looks back on this struggle and he says you know, I\u2019ve fought the good fight.\n\nHe goes on with his second metaphor and he describes the metaphor or uses the metaphor of a runner, he says, \u201cI have finished the course.\u201d\u00a0 There was a course, he analogies his projects in God to a running race and he says I got to the end of those projects that God gave me and I completed them, I finished them, I crossed the finish line.\u00a0 Well, what a race it was that Paul ran when you look at his three missionary journeys, when you look, in the book of Acts how he took the gospel all the way to Rome, you look at the churches that he pastored, you look at the 13 letters (that we call the Pauline letters of the New Testament) that he wrote, I mean what a course it was.\u00a0 And yet he finished!\n\nHow different the church at Sardis, as I read earlier, where Jesus says I have not found your deeds complete in the sight of my God.\u00a0 If you were to die today what would God say about your life in Christ; is it a life that\u2019s incomplete?\u00a0 It is a life where God has given you multiple projects to finish and you just never did under His power.\u00a0 Or is it a life where you can look back and say the race that God gave me to run I completed it, I crossed the finish line?\u00a0 Timothy was on the edge here.\u00a0 Was he going to finish the job or not?\u00a0 Timothy, your reward is contingent upon this.\u00a0 The satisfaction that you have looking back at your life is in a state of contingency, not your salvation.\n\nHe uses a third metaphor here, the metaphor of the steward, that\u2019s found also in verse 7, where he says \u201cI have kept the faith.\u201d\u00a0 Charles Ryrie, regarding this expression, \u201ckept the faith\u201d says this:\u00a0 \u201cThe faith, the recognized body of Christian doctrine; Paul kept the faith in two senses.\u00a0 Number 1, he was obedient to it, and number 2, he passed it on as he received it.\u201d\u00a0 What are we called to do in Christ?\u00a0 What is our lives in Christ supposed to be?\u00a0 We are to be people who keep the faith, obey what God has told us to do as revealed in His Word under His power and we are to take every opportunity that\u2019s ever presented to us to pass that truth on to other people.\n\nYou know, some people, it\u2019s tragic, they just never pass the truth on.\u00a0 A lot of people don\u2019t evangelize their own children.\u00a0 Can\u00a0 you imagine that?\u00a0 How sad that is, to have the words of life and never share it with anybody else, never share it, like we heard earlier with Jim Meyer, in other parts of the world, never get behind missionaries that are doing it if we are not called to be missionaries ourselves, never evangelizing people at work, never bringing up or talking about spiritual things, talk about any number of issues, the weather, the sports, politics, whatever, personalities, but never really get to the subject of eternity.\n\nPaul was a steward in the sense that he not only obeyed the truth but he passed it on, which is what a steward is.\u00a0 A steward is not an owner; a steward is a manager.\u00a0 We do not own this truth, we did not invent this truth, this baton of truth has been placed into our hands by the sovereignty and the providence of God and we are to manage this truth that we have been so privileged to receive on God\u2019s behalf.\n\nPaul, in 1 Corinthians 4:2 says, \u201cit is required of stewards that one be found trustworthy.\u201d\u00a0 I don\u2019t think God is going to evaluate us for our success at this judgment of rewards, which I\u2019ll talk about in just a minute, I think it\u2019s largely going to be faithfulness.\u00a0 Were we faithful with what He had trusted us with.\u00a0 You say to yourself well, what do I have?\u00a0 You\u2019ve got three things beside the truth:\u00a0 number 1,\u00a0 you\u2019ve got time; number 2,\u00a0 you have talent; number 3,\u00a0 you have treasure, three \u201cT\u2019s, Time, Talent, and Treasure.\u00a0 And how those things are spent or prioritized, or are expended, is largely your call as a steward.\u00a0 But as we\u2019ll be seeing here in just a moment God is going to hold us accountable for those things that we were given.\u00a0 Will we be found trustworthy?\u00a0 Timothy, are you going to be found trustworthy by God, and indirectly the message goes to us.\n\nSo Timothy, there\u2019s a reward in it if\u00a0 you become what God has called you to become through His power.\u00a0 You have the ability to look back at a whole life with satisfaction that you spent your life the right way.\u00a0 It\u2019s like have a hundred dollars in your wallet; you can spend that hundred dollar bill any way you want to spend it, but you can spend it one time.\u00a0 Once it is spent it\u2019s spent.\u00a0 Paul has spent, he was spent, he was being poured out as a drink offering.\u00a0 And he looked back and he says you know, I spent it the right way, Timothy; it\u2019s a satisfaction that I have that I want you to have as well.\n\nHe moves on in verse 8 and he begins to describe a second facet of the reward and this is something called the Bema Seat Judgment of Christ.\u00a0 The word Bema Seat Judgment is not found here; you\u2019ll find it in places like Romans 4:10 and following, 1 Corinthians 3:10-15, 2 Corinthians 5:10, and many other passages.\n\n[Romans 4:10, \u201cFor we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each one may be recompensed for his deeds in the body, according to what he has done, whether good or bad.\n\n1 Corinthians 10:3-15, \u201cAccording to the grace of God which was given to me, like a wise master builder I laid a foundation, and another is building on it. But each man must be careful how he builds on it. [11] For no man can lay a foundation other than the one which is laid, which is Jesus Christ. [12] Now if any man builds on the foundation with gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, straw, [13] each man\u2019s work will become evident; for the day will show it because it is to be<\/em> revealed with fire, and the fire itself will test the quality of each man\u2019s work. [14] If any man\u2019s work which he has built on it remains, he will receive a reward. [15] If any man\u2019s work is burned up, he will suffer loss; but he himself will be saved, yet so as through fire.\u201d\u00a0 1 Corinthians 5:10, \u201cFor we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each one may be recompensed for his deeds in the body, according to what he has done, whether good or bad.\u201d]\n\nPaul lived his life with the notion that there was a judgment coming; not a judgment to determine heaven or hell, but a judgment to determine the degree of reward he would receive in heaven and also authority that he would wield in the coming Kingdom.\u00a0 Notice what he says here in verse 8, \u201cIn the future there is laid up 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 loved His appearing.\u201d\n\nI looked at that and I said Lord, there\u2019s so much there, how am I supposed to teach this?\u00a0 The Lord said to me break it up into phrases.\u00a0 No, it wasn\u2019t an audible voice but it was a strong premonition (if I can use that word) that I had.\u00a0 So I divided this up into seven phrases; it\u2019s such a magnificent truth and all seven contribute to the majesty of what Paul is talking about here.\n\nYou\u2019ll notice first of all he says [8] \u201cin the future\u201d it\u2019s interesting how Paul often thought about the future.\u00a0 Remember 1 Timothy 4:1, \u201cI solemnly charge you in the presence of God and of Christ Jesus, who is to judge the living and the dead, and by His appearing in His kingdom.\u201d\u00a0 What\u2019s Paul thinking about?\u00a0 A future judgment, a future kingdom.\u00a0 People say quite frequently, you people are so heavenly minded you\u2019re no earthly good.\u00a0 The fact of the matter is that statement could not be more wrong; the person that is the most heavenly minded becomes the most earthly good.\u00a0 You know why?\u00a0 Because they start understanding eternal priorities.\u00a0 They start to understand the things that are actually going to last, the things that matter.\u00a0 And they invest their lives according to those priorities.\n\nWe believe that in the future there is coming something called the Bema Seat Judgment of Christ, not to be confused with some of the other judgments spoken of in the Scripture, like the sheep and the goat judgment, Matthew 25, the judgment of the Jews in the wilderness, Ezekiel 20, the Great White Throne Judgment, only for the unbeliever, Revelation 12, but a special judgment for the Christian, for we are, in essence, caught up and we have a seven year destiny with God in heaven as the Tribulation period is manifesting itself on the earth below.\n\nAnd it\u2019s not an inactive time, it\u2019s a time of many things, one of the things is an evaluation, where God doesn\u2019t put us through a fire, but apparently He puts our works through a fire to test their quality, because every day of my Christian life I have the ability to go back to the sin nature and live according to its dictates or live for the things of God.\u00a0 I have that choice.\u00a0 And those things that I have done through carnality are wood, hay and stubble.\u00a0 What do those have in common?\u00a0 They\u2019re all combustible, they incinerate.\u00a0 And yet those things that I have done with right motives, with right empowerment, are gold, silver and costly stones.\u00a0 What do those have in common?\u00a0 They\u2019re noncombustible.\u00a0 And whatever is finished or exists after this fire has finished its work is part of some kind of reward we either receive or don\u2019t receive, above and beyond simply the privilege of being in heaven.\u00a0 All those rewarded are Christians but not all Christians are equally rewarded.\u00a0 That\u2019s the message that Paul here is giving to young Timothy.\n\nNotice this second clause, \u201cthere is laid up for me the crown of righteousness.\u201d\u00a0 A lot of people misconstrue verses like this and they this is salvation.\u00a0 This can\u2019t be salvation because everywhere Paul taught the doctrine of salvation, like Ephesians 2:8-9, he always taught that salvation is a free gift.\u00a0 [Ephesians 2:8-9, \u201cFor by grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is<\/em> the gift of God; [9] not as a result of works, so that no one may boast..\u201d]\u00a0 Here there\u2019s a crown given to the person that loves Christ\u2019s appearing.\u00a0 So this cannot be the doctrine of salvation, this is something above and beyond salvation\u2014a reward of some kind.\n\nApparently at this Bema Seat Judgment of Christ there are going to be five crowns, maybe there\u2019s more, these are the only ones I know of in the New Testament, given or not given to the faithful believer.\u00a0 They\u2019re described at different times in the writings of Paul and other New Testament writers.\u00a0 There\u2019s the incorruptible crown, 1 Corinthians 9:24-27 for gaining mastery over the flesh, saying no to that sin nature by God\u2019s power, not becoming sinless but hopefully we\u2019re sinning less.\n\nThere\u2019s a reward given to the believer that does that.\u00a0 [1 Corinthians 9:24-27, \u201cKnow ye not that they which run in a race run all, but one receiveth the prize? So run, that ye may obtain. [25] And every man that striveth for the mastery is temperate in all things. Now they do it<\/em> to obtain a corruptible crown; but we an incorruptible. [26] I therefore so run, not as uncertainly; so fight I, not as one that beateth the air: [27] But I keep under my body, and bring it<\/em> into subjection: lest that by any means, when I have preached to others, I myself should be a castaway.\u201d\u00a0 KJV]\n\nThere\u2019s the crown of rejoicing, 1 Thessalonians 2:19-20 for the soul winner, perhaps the evangelist or the person that persuades people under God to think a different way.\n\n[1 Thessalonians 2:19-20, \u201cFor who is our hope or joy or crown of exultation? Is it not even you, in the presence of our Lord Jesus at His coming? [20] For you are our glory and joy.\u201d\n\nAnd then there\u2019s a crown I know many of you will be candidates for this, for simply enduring trials, the crown of life, James 1:12, Revelation 2:10.\u00a0 [James 1:12, \u201cBlessed is a man who perseveres under trial; for once he has been approved, he will receive the crown of life which the Lord has promised to those who love Him.\u201d\u00a0 Revelation 2:10, \u201cDo not fear what you are about to suffer. Behold, the devil is about to cast some of you into prison, so that you will be tested, and you will have tribulation for ten days. Be faithful until death, and I will give you the crown of life.\u201d]\n\nYou have a crown of glory, 1 Peter 5:2-4, for faithfully shepherding God\u2019s people.\u00a0 You say well, that\u2019s the pastors; yeah, they would be included but anybody that shepherds anybody, a mentoring one on one relationship, Sunday School teacher, I believe becomes a candidate for this crown of glory.\u00a0 [1 Peter 5:2-4, \u201cshepherd the flock of God among you, exercising oversight not under compulsion, but voluntarily, according to the will of<\/em> God; and not for sordid gain, but with eagerness; [3] nor yet as lording it over those allotted to your charge, but proving to be examples to the flock. [4] And when the Chief Shepherd appears, you will receive the unfading crown of glory.\u201d]\n\nAnd then there\u2019s the one that Paul is speaking of here, a crown of righteousness for longing for the appearing of Jesus Christ.\u00a0 [1 Timothy 4:8, \u201cin the future there is laid up 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 loved His appearing.\u201d]\u00a0 The ache of Paul\u2019s heart was Maranatha, which means Lord come, Lord come quickly.\u00a0 Paul was not in love with the world and its allurements; his love was for Jesus Christ and His soon return.\u00a0 And isn\u2019t it interesting that God actually rewards people for this.\n\nThe Bible is very clear that crowns can be forfeited or not rewarded.\u00a0 1 Corinthians 3:15 says \u201cIf any man\u2019s work is burned up, he will suffer loss; but he himself will be saved, yet so as through fire.\u201d\u00a0 2 John 8 says, \u201cWatch yourselves, that you do not lose what we have accomplished, but that you may receive a full reward.\u201d\u00a0 Revelation 3:11, Jesus says, \u201c'I am coming quickly; hold fast what you have, so that no one will take your crown.\u2019\u201d\n\nIt is interesting to me that those works that I do through human power are not recognized by God.\u00a0 Genesis 22:2 says this of Abraham and his son Isaac, \u201cHe said, \u2018Take now your son, your only son, whom you love, Isaac, and go to the land of Moriah, and offer him there as a burnt offering on one of the mountains of which I will tell you.\u2019\u201d\u00a0 A lot of interesting things to talk about there but the thing that jumps out at me is when God told Abraham, \u201ctake your son, your only son,\u201d and I say \u201cyour only son,\u201d wait a minute, hasn\u2019t God read His own Bible.\u00a0 Doesn\u2019t Genesis 16 talk about a strange relationship between Abraham and Hagar, and how that brought forth Ishmael?\u00a0 What about Ishmael?\u00a0 Why does God refer to Isaac as Abraham\u2019s only son?\n\nI think for the simple reason that Ishmael was a product of human works and manipulation and scheming.\u00a0 It was sort of an attempt by Abraham and Sarah, a plot hatched by them to help God out.\u00a0 Do we all understand that God doesn\u2019t need any help?\u00a0 And when we try to help God fulfill His Word we don\u2019t do anything but get ourselves into trouble?\n\nAnd then the child of promise was born, that child of faith, Isaac.\u00a0 And isn\u2019t that God is only recognizing Isaac and not Ishmael.\u00a0 I kind of correlate that with John 15:6 which says, \u201c\u2026and they gather them, and cast them into the fire and they are burned.\u201d\u00a0 Those aren\u2019t people being thrown into hell because it says there that \u201cthey,\u201d men, \u201ccast them into the fire and they are burned.\u201d\u00a0 Men don\u2019t have the ability to throw other men into hell; this rather, I believe, is the judgment of rewards.\u00a0 It\u2019s the same thing Paul spoke of in 1 Corinthians 3:15, \u201cIf any man's work is burned up, he will suffer loss; but he himself will be saved, yet so as through fire.\u201d\n\nThere are so many things that I do through human power.\u00a0 I try to, so frequently, do the ministry through my own strength and\u00a0 yet what we discover in the Bible is God doesn\u2019t recognize such a work.\u00a0 He recognizes, though, that branch that is connected to the vine in terms of moment by moment fellowship and the fruit is not something that the branch is producing, it is something that is coming forth through the nurturing relationship between the branch and the vine.\u00a0\u00a0 That\u2019s what God is going to reward.\n\nSo many times we do things with the wrong motive, wanting to be the center of attention, wanting the accolades of man.\u00a0 I don\u2019t think God will reward that either.\u00a0 These are things that we do in His power with right motivation.\u00a0 I have students that constantly say I don\u2019t care about rewards, as long as I\u2019m in heaven that\u2019s enough.\u00a0 Let me tell you why I think you ought to care about rewards.\u00a0 First of all, God spells out the doctrine of rewards clearly in His Word.\u00a0 And secondly, Revelation 4:10, of the twenty-four elders, which I interpret as a reference to the church, it says of those twenty-four elders, they will \u201ccast their crowns before the throne.\u201d\u00a0 What is a reward?\u00a0 What does it give you the ability to do?\u00a0 Does it give you some sort of extra standing before God?\u00a0 No.\u00a0 What it is, as I\u2019m understanding it, is a capacity to adore God, to worship God, to reflect\u00a0 the light of God to a greater degree.\u00a0 It\u2019s a greater capacity to draw attention to the glory of Jesus Christ who is both our redeemer and creator.\n\nTo me a reward is like what Mary did in John 12:3, which says, \u201cMary then took a pound of very costly perfume of pure nard, and anointed the feet of Jesus and wiped His feet with her hair; and the house was filled with the fragrance of the perfume.\u201d\u00a0 She had this costly perfume, to the point where Judas, in that story, got upset that such a lavish gift was being poured out on Jesus.\u00a0 But she had it and it was some sort of capacity that she had to adore Jesus, to worship Jesus even more.\u00a0 Not to win brownie points from Him, not to gain some sort of extra mileage or a higher standing from Him, just out of gratitude for what He had done and was about to do for her.\n\nThat\u2019s why I think we ought to be concerned about rewards, something that\u2019s in our hands and physical and real and tangible that can enhance our worship experience, not some sort of self-centered materialistic mindset which says I have more than you.\u00a0 In fact, I don\u2019t even know if we will even experience such a motive in the afterlife, since we will be resurrected the motives will be completely pure at that point. But having something to adorn Christ with; some believers apparently have a greater capacity with that than others.\n\nNotice this expression here, which \u201cthe righteous Judge,\u201d how interesting it is that Paul keeps thinking about judgment.\u00a0 We\u2019ve already made reference back to chapter 4 and verse 1 where he refers to Jesus as the \u201cjudge of the living and the dead.\u201d\u00a0 Paul understood that this life ends in judgment.\u00a0 This life is not something where we, as reincarnation teaches, that we somehow get recycled and come back in a different life form and this just goes on throughout the eons of time.\u00a0 That\u2019s not the biblical worldview; the biblical worldview is this: it is appointed for man once to die and then face the what?\u00a0 The judgment.\u00a0 [Hebrews 9:27, \u201cAnd inasmuch as it is appointed for men to die once and after this comes judgment,\u201d]\n\nNow we know that this is true for the unbeliever.\u00a0 They are headed for a horrific judgment called the Great White Throne Judgment, you can study that in Revelation 20:11-15.\u00a0 [Revelation 20:11-15, \u201cThen I saw a great white throne and Him who sat upon it, from whose presence earth and heaven fled away, and no place was found for them. [12] And I saw the dead, the great and the small, standing before the throne, and books were opened; and another book was opened, which is the book<\/em> of life; and the dead were judged from the things which were written in the books, according to their deeds. [13] And the sea gave up the dead which were in it, and death and Hades gave up the dead which were in them; and they were judged, every one of them<\/em> according to their deeds. [14] Then death and Hades were thrown into the lake of fire. This is the second death, the lake of fire. [15] And if anyone\u2019s name was not found written in the book of life, he was thrown into the lake of fire.\u201d]\n\nThat\u2019s not the judgment Paul is speaking of here; he\u2019s speaking of the judgment of rewards, the judgment of evaluation, the judgment where God is going to take stock, take account of our lives in Christ and how we spent those lives.\u00a0 And isn\u2019t it interesting, when you think about a performance appraisal you live differently, don\u2019t you?\u00a0 I remember going through college, those professors that just take a midterm, I had a tendency to study harder for those teachers.\u00a0 The teacher that just said well, I\u2019m going to give you a final and that\u2019s it, I had a tendency to get a little bit lax until the last 24 hours of the semester.\u00a0 This is what thinking about the next life and this inevitable judgment does.\u00a0 It makes us wiser in terms of how we\u2019re investing this brief time that we have on earth that James alludes to as mist that appears for a little while and then disappears.\n\nLook at this clause here, which \u201cthe righteous Judge, will award to me\u2026.\u201d\u00a0 As Paul looked at his life and his death that was imminent he was looking forward to the next life.\u00a0 He wanted to see Jesus Christ.\u00a0 Let me ask you a question, are you looking forward to this judgment or dreading it.\u00a0 That, and how you respond to that question is a barometer of sorts.\u00a0 I believe that it can be either an affirmation from the Holy Spirit or a warning from the Holy Spirit concerning our priorities.\n\nYou know, an exam in school is fun to a certain extent; I know that seems strange for me to say that but if you\u2019ve actually been diligent in\u00a0 your preparation you sort of look forward to an exam.\u00a0 The same with a performance appraisal at work; it\u2019s something you look forward to if you\u2019ve been diligent on the job.\u00a0 But the student that has not been diligent, the employee who has not been diligent, those exams that are on the horizon are a fear, a dread, in some cases a terror.\u00a0 And I don\u2019t want to turn heaven into hell either, as some sadly do.\u00a0 But there is this contingency of rewards and are we looking forward to this examination or not?\u00a0 That\u2019s only a question we can answer individually before God.\n\n1 John 2:28 says this: \u201cNow, little children, abide in Him, so that when He appears, we may have confidence and not shrink away from Him in shame at His coming.\u201d\u00a0 It\u2019s speaking clearly to the believer because he says \u201clittle children,\u201d what\u2019s it going to be \u201clittle children,\u201d are\u00a0 you looking with great confidence to the return of Christ, or are you running the risk of shrinking away from him in shame at His coming.\u00a0 The reality of the doctrine of rewards, the balance that we\u2019re trying to communicate theologically which says there is no condemnation for those that are in Christ Jesus. \u00a0[Romans 8:1, \u201cTherefore there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.\u201d]\u00a0 We\u2019re heaven bound, and yet faithfulness here on the earth as Christians has significance in some sort of way.\n\nYou\u2019ll notice also this expression here, \u201con that day;\u201d \u201cin the future there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness which the righteous Judge, will award to me on that day,\u201d what \u201cday\u201d is he talking about?\u00a0 I believe that he typically, Paul does, refers to as the day of Christ, when we see Jesus face to face.\u00a0 Philippians 1:10 says, \u201cso that you may approve the things that are excellent, in order to be sincere and blameless until the day of Christ.\u201d\u00a0 It\u2019s that day where we are, if we don\u2019t die before the rapture, where we\u2019re caught up and see Jesus face to face.\n\nIt\u2019s very different than the day of the Lord.\u00a0 In my way of thinking the day of Christ is a completely different concept than the day of the Lord.\u00a0 The day of Christ is more of the destiny for the Christian; the day of the Lord, on the other hand, is that frightful time of judgment that will be poured out upon the earth through the various seal judgments and trumpet judgments and bowl judgments spoken of in the book of Revelation sometimes, a time period called the\u00a0 70th<\/sup> week of Daniel, sometimes it\u2019s called \u201cthe time of Jacob\u2019s trouble,\u201d a time of great distress and perplexity for the nations.\n\n1 Thessalonians 5:10 says, \u201cFor you yourselves know full well that the day of the Lord will come just like a thief in the night.\u201d\u00a0 This the day of judgment, this is not the destiny of the Christian; it\u2019s the destiny of the world.\u00a0 In fact, it\u2019s analogized to the flood; you know, God is pretty good at judgment, He\u2019s done it at least twice that I know of: number 1, the global flood; number 2, the city of Sodom and Gomorrah both experienced cataclysms from God.\u00a0 And what was the state of the world like before those judgments came.\u00a0 The Bible is very clear, they were eating, they were drinking, they were giving themselves in marriage and being married, and the moment those judgments came it swept them completely off guard.\n\nJesus said in For the coming of the Son of Man will be just like the days of Noah, Matthew 24. Matthew 24:38, \u201cFor as in those days before the flood they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day that Noah entered the ark, 39 and they did not understand until the flood came and took them all away; so will the coming of the Son of Man be.\u201d Just prior to this horrific day of the Lord will be a time of business as usual for the world, and they won\u2019t know what has happened to them until it is too late, having rejected the gospel, having rejected the perpetual warnings of God.\n\nGenesis 6:3 says, \u201cMy Spirit shall not strive with man forever, because he is mortal his days shall be one hundred and twenty years.\u201d\u00a0 Prior to the flood God was, I\u2019m not sure how He did it, perhaps through the preaching of Noah, warning, striving with lost man but eventually even the patience of God is exhausted.\u00a0 The 120 years came to its conclusion, the judgment of God came, Jesus said that\u2019s exactly how it\u2019s going to be in the end time.\u00a0 That\u2019s the day of the Lord.\u00a0 How different our destiny as children of light, for not the day of the Lord but the day of Christ. Seeing Him face to face, experiencing an evaluation from Him, not to determine eternity but Him wanting to reward us, Him wanting to say about our lives \u201cwell done.\u201d\u00a0 This is what Paul is speaking to Timothy about.\n\nNotice this expression here, \u201cnot to me only, but also to all\u2026.\u201d In the future there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness, which the righteous Judge , will award to me on that day; and not to me only, but also to all\u2026.\u201d\u00a0 This judgment of rewards, this Bema Seat judgment, is not something that you as a Christian can opt out of.\u00a0 You can\u2019t take a summer class and get out of this requirement.\u00a0 \u00a0This is coming for everybody.\u00a0 Paul is very clear it\u2019s not just for me.\n\n2 Corinthians 5:10 is even clearer, he says, \u201cFor we must all\u201d speaking of the church, universal church, \u201cFor we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each\u201d notice that word \u201ceach,\u201d 2 Corinthians 5:10, \u201cso that each one may be recompensed for his deeds in the body, according to what he has done, whether good or bad.\u201d\n\nPaul, I think actually through his sports metaphors says this is what makes our judgment different than the typical athletic contest in the world.\u00a0 In 1 Corinthians 9:24-25 he says, \u201cDo you not know that they that run in a race run all, but one receiveth the prize? Even so run; that ye may attain. [25] Everyone who competes in the games exercises self-control in all things. They then do it<\/em> to receive a perishable wreath, but we an imperishable.\u201d\u00a0 In the world of athletics you\u2019ve got winners and losers.\u00a0 There\u2019s not multiple gold medals given out for a single athletic contest in the Olympic games.\u00a0 But here he says \u201cwe,\u201d we \u201call,\u201d \u201ceach,\u201d so all of us can win the gold. \u00a0All of us can win the prize; all of us can hear from the Lord \u201cWell done, they good and faithful servant.\u201d\u00a0 All of us can have the potential of being deemed faithful as stewards of God.\u00a0 What an incentive for motivation; what an incentive for looking at the opportunities that God places in front of us.\n\nThe last expression there in verse, when he talks about this crown, he says, \u201cand not only to me, but to all who have loved His appearing.\u201d\u00a0 Loving, yearning for the appearing of Jesus Christ.\u00a0 Why would a person that simply loves and yearns for the appearing of Jesus Christ, why would such a person be rewarded?\u00a0 The answer is we\u2019re living in a world system that is constantly seeking to alienate our affections from God back to the things of the world.\u00a0 That\u2019s part of the good fight that we\u2019re in.\u00a0 The way the world system dangles carrots in front of us constantly to get our eyes off of Jesus and back onto the world.\n\nAnd yet the believer that under God\u2019s power resists that allurement is rewarded.\u00a0 This world system, I\u2019ll tell you, one of the great three enemies that we have, 1 John 2:15-17, \u201cDo not love the world nor the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. [16] For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh and the lust of the eyes and the boastful pride of life, is not from the Father, but is from the world. [17] The world is passing away, and also<\/em> its lusts; but the one who does the will of God lives forever.\u201d\n\nWhy is the world system the way it is?\u00a0 Why is it so anti-God?\u00a0 There\u2019s a simple answer to that: it\u2019s orchestrated by Satan himself.\u00a0 1 John 5:19 says, \u201cWe know that we are of God, and that the whole world lies in the power of the evil one.\u201d\u00a0 Ever since the fall in Eden Satan has been given temporary custody, authority over the world.\u00a0 I\u2019m not saying God isn\u2019t sovereign because He is.\u00a0 But in the little temptation in Luke\u2019s Gospel Satan offered to Jesus on a silver platter the whole enchilada.\u00a0 Luke 4:5-8. [ \u201cAnd he led Him up and showed Him all the kingdoms of the world in a moment of time. [6] And the devil said to Him, \u2018I will give You all this domain and its glory; for it has been handed over to me, and I give it to whomever I wish. [7] \u2018Therefore if You worship before me, it shall all be Yours.\u2019 Jesus answered him, \u2018It is written, \u2018YOU SHALL WORSHIP THE LORD YOUR GOD AND SERVE HIM ONLY.\u2019\u201d]\n\nSatan, in fact, said these kingdoms of the world have bene given to me and I can give them to whom I please.\u00a0 Jesus never argued with Satan on that point because it\u2019s true.\u00a0 And how easy it is to allow the world to squeeze us into its mold.\u00a0 Romans 12:2 says, \u201cAnd do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may prove what the will of God is, that which is good and acceptable and perfect.\u201d\u00a0 I like one translation which summarizes it this way, \u201cdon\u2019t let the world squeeze\u00a0 you into its mold.\u201d\u00a0 The anti-God satanic philosophy of the world that works overtime in the life and mind of the child of God, that seeks to alienate our affections and attention from what really matters.\n\nYou say well do you have any examples of that.\u00a0 I\u2019m glad you asked, verse 10, \u201cfor Demas, having loved this present\u201d what? \u201cworld,\u201d cosmos, \u201chas deserted me,\u201d oh, well, Demas he was never saved.\u00a0 I beg to differ with you on that one.\u00a0 Colossians 4:14, this is what Paul says of Demas about seven years earlier, \u201cLuke, the beloved physician, sends you his greetings, and also Demas\u201d\u00a0\u00a0 Philemon verse 24 says, \u201cas do Mark, Aristarchus, Demas, Luke, my fellow workers.\u201d\u00a0 Who was Demas?\u00a0 He was with Paul, he was a co-minister with Paul.\u00a0 And yet sometime between A.D. 60 and 62 when Paul wrote these words, A.D. 67, Demas had fallen in love with the world and had left Paul.\u00a0 And consequently there is a reward at the Bema Seat Judgment for the believer that follows the pattern of Paul and not the pattern of Demas.\n\nWhere are you affections today?\u00a0 Where is\u00a0 your attention?\u00a0 Where is our priority?\u00a0 Do we understand that this world is not our home?\u00a0 1 Peter 1:17 says, \u201c\u2026conduct yourselves in fear during the time of your stay on earth;\u201d what is our time on earth equated to?\u00a0 Just a \u201cstay,\u201d a sojourn.\n\nI Peter 2:11 says, \u201cBeloved, I urge you as aliens and strangers to abstain from fleshly lusts which wage war against the soul.\u201d\u00a0 What is our position here in the world?\u00a0 We\u2019re just \u201caliens and strangers.\u201d\n\nHebrews 11:13 says we were \u201cstrangers and exiles on the earth.\u201d\u00a0 [Hebrews 11:13, \u201cAll these died in faith, without receiving the promises, but having seen them and having welcomed them from a distance, and having confessed that they were strangers and exiles on the earth.\u201d\n\nYou know, one of the doctrines that\u2019s in decline today is the doctrine of the pre-tribulational rapture of the church.\u00a0 According to LifeWay Research, only 28% of preachers 45 years old and younger hold to a pretribulational rapture.\u00a0 This compares to about 36% of preachers overall.\u00a0 The survey of 1,000 pastors was done by LifeWay Research.\u00a0 Why is it that the doctrine of the rapture, or the any moment appearing of Jesus Christ is in decline?\u00a0 Why should that be concerning?\u00a0 What that tells me is the Christian world is falling in love with the world, rather than the soon return of Jesus Christ to take us out of the world.\n\nIt\u2019s not the first time that this has happened, George Gunn of Shasta Bible College says, \u201cInterestingly, references to John 14:1-3\u201d that\u2019s the promise of the Lord in His Father\u2019s house are many rooms, He\u2019s gone to prepare a dwelling place for us,\u201d the first references to the rapture of the church in the Scripture, Gunn says, \u201cInterestingly, reference to John 14:1-3 virtually disappear when perusing the writings of the Nicene and Post-Nicene fathers.\u201d\u00a0 This was a few generations after the apostles left the scene.\u00a0 Gunn writes, \u201cThis is a bit surprising, given the abundance of material in these later writers when compared with the Ante-Nicene\u2019s.\u201d Early church fathers.\u00a0 \u201cI would assume\u201d Gunn says, \u201cthat with the rise of Augustinian amillennialism and its optimistic interpretation regarding the present arrival of the Kingdom of God, the kind of hope held out in John 14:1-3 ceased to hold relevance.\u201d [George Gunn, \u201cJohn 14:1-3: The Father's House: Are We There Yet?,\u201d 30, n. 24]\n\nWhat happened to the church?\u00a0 They fell in love with the world; this is the kingdom.\u00a0 The focus became what we\u2019re building now rather than focusing on the promise of the Lord of being taken from the world.\u00a0 And Paul simply holds out to Timothy the possibility of reward for the believer that resists this trend under God\u2019s power and\u00a0 yearns for the return of Christ.\n\nSpeaking of which, if Jesus were to come back today in the rapture would you go?\u00a0 I have a feeling that the Sunday after the rapture the churches will be just as jam-packed with people as ever because so many people, particularly here in the south, in the Bible belt, go to church because that\u2019s part of the ritual, the tradition, the culture.\u00a0 Jesus is not coming back for a denomination; He\u2019s coming back for the regenerated child of God.\u00a0 And the question is, where are you today with God?\u00a0 Are you one of His children or not?\u00a0 How do you become His child?\u00a0 You become His child through what we call the gospel; \u201cgospel\u201d means good news.\n\nWe call it good news because Jesus did all the hard work. \u00a0\u00a0He did everything that\u2019s necessary to bridge the gap between a holy God and sinful man through His death, burial, resurrection and ascension.\u00a0 The whole thing is paid for.\u00a0 The sin debt has been paid for.\u00a0 We simply receive what He has done as a free gift.\u00a0 You can receive that right now as I\u2019m talking.\u00a0 It\u2019s not something you can earn or work for, it\u2019s not something you give money to do, it\u2019s not something you join a church to do.\u00a0 It\u2019s a matter of privacy between you and the Lord, where the Holy Spirit places you under conviction and you respond by faith, which means trust or reliance in the promises of God.\u00a0 You are no longer trusting in yourself, you\u2019re trusting in what He has done.\u00a0 That\u2019s the only way to receive the gift of God which is by faith.\u00a0 God doesn\u2019t have any grandchildren.\u00a0 I can\u2019t get to heaven based on what my parents believe, I\u2019ve got to have my own faith in Christ.\u00a0 And you can have that faith right now simply by trusting as best you know how in the promises of Jesus Christ.\u00a0 If it\u2019s something that you need more explanation on I\u2019m available after the service to talk, our missionary, Jim Meyer and his wife are available after the service to talk.\u00a0 That\u2019s what it\u2019s all about, the gospel, the greatest news God gave to man.\u00a0 If the gospel is something you\u2019ve trusted in or are now trusting in then on the authority of the Word of God your whole eternal destiny is changed.\u00a0 Shall we pray?\n\nFather, thank You for this warning from Timothy and our walk as Christians; help us, Lord, to invest wisely in the brief time we have left; make us people of faith as we walk out Your promises.\u00a0 We will be careful to give you all the praise and the glory.\u00a0 We ask these things in Jesus\u2019 name.\u00a0 And God\u2019s people said\u2026 Amen.","series_sermon_number":""},"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t