In this sermon, Pastor Babij further explores the believer’s reward mentioned by Jesus in Mark 10:28-32. Pastor Babij explains the coming judgment of believers described in 1 Corinthians 3 and 2 Corinthians 5 and how believers can ensure the best outcome; this judgment is about gaining or losing reward, not gaining or losing salvation.
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the greatness true greatness that will be next time so the who are making that note website it’s going to be uh this morning part two really of the reality of True Discipleship uh costly yet rewarding Mark chapter 10 and let me read verse 28 through verse 3 one Peter began to say to him behold we have left everything to follow you Jesus said truly I say to you there is no one who has left house or brothers or sisters or mother or father or children or farms for my sake and for for the sake of the Gospel or the gospel sake verse 30 but that he he will receive a 100 times as much now in the present age houses and brothers and sisters and mothers and children and Farms along with persecutions and in the age to come eternal life but many who will Who are first will be last and last first let’s pray Lord this morning I do pray that as we look at your scriptures as we look at the word God that Lord the word of God may be a mirror to us that as we look into it we may see ourselves and Lord anything that we need to adjust that you would allow us to do that any sin that we need to repent of that you would clearly make that something we need to change and put to death and then Lord if we learn something of your great character and your work let us meditate and think about that during the week and Lord help us to incorporate it into our daily living so we always are thinking on things that are from above things that come down from your wisdom because Lord we get bombarded every single day with the with the devilish wisdom of the world and Lord it just will overtake you if we don’t have your wisdom taking over that so I pray that for us today help us to take the truth of these words this morning take them serious in Christ’s name amen so that’s what I preached on last week so you’re going to have to get all the details of that but as I was looking at this I wanted to focus in on something specific to the text and so last time I left you in the gospel of Mark we were introduced to a question that was raised actually by the apost Apostle and um the question was is it worth it to follow Jesus is there anything in it for us to be Believers to be Christians in this world is there anything that comes with following Christ Faithfully well I would like to revisit that question and flesh that out a little bit this morning now the last time that we met just by way of review from verse 28 through verse number 31 we we saw that we learned that number one there is a cost connected to real discipleship that a disciple of Christ and a disciple is someone who’s simply who’s a Believer who wants to learn and follow Jesus Christ and learn from him but there is a a cost to it uh here it says Peter says that we left everything to follow Jesus J see Jesus wants priority over careers and priority over families it’s really should get to the point where knowing Jesus loving Jesus resembling Jesus serving Jesus should become the Supreme passion of our life and the reason for that is that we’re going to be with Jesus for eternity so get to know him now and of course in the midst of that the question came up within the statement in verse number 28 where Peter says began to say behold we have left everything to followed you remember he did not and the disciples did not walk away like the Rich Young Ruler walked away all right in fact the Gospel of Luke says that if anyone comes after me and does not hate his own father and mother and wife and children and brothers and sisters just even his own life he cannot be my disciple and whoever does not carry his own cross and come after me cannot be my disciple and I said that listen that that means by comparison uh how is it Jesus calling us to hate well that we follow him so fully with such intensity and so with such endurance that all other attachments in this life look like hate in comparison so discipleship is costly but that cost brings a dilemma to it and that dilemma is the question is it worth it in fact in Matthew chap 19: 27 that gospel actually brings it up where it’s says in Matthew 19 then Peter answered and said to him behold we have left everything and followed you and then he says this what then will be there for us see so there’s nothing wrong with that question I think all of us at one time will ask it or have asked it is it worth it but so Jesus answers it in this way that there’s reward connected to real discipleship in verse number 29 and 30 there’ll be compensation for sacrifice it says in verse 29 Jesus said truly I said to you there is no one who has left house or brother or sisters or mother or father children or farms for my sake and for the gospel’s sake that but that he will receive in other words there will be compensation for sacrifice and there will be reward for sacrifi sacrifice in following Jesus and in verse number 30 there’s three things he says about that number one there’s present reward if you notice it says but that he will receive a hundred times as much now in this present age houses and brothers and sisters and mothers and children’s and farms and I explained that last time so this is a hyperbolic statement a hundred times in other words it will be an over an unn numerable amount of reward that you will receive for being faithful to following Jesus Christ but then again he says in verse number 30 he couples that with this but there will be persecutions and it says along with persecutions so here is the Paradox the reality the honesty of Jesus call to discipleship that Jesus never promises that there will be an easy Road never does he do that he says there will be a cost so he puts before those who repent of their sin and believe in Jesus that there will be a Cause some loss some deprivation some suffering some uncomfortable uneasiness some humbling of self some killing of our passions some personal goal ended because we’re following Christ some loss of possession a loss of job a loss of a marriage a loss of a child a loss of a dream something’s going to be lost just to follow Christ but then Jesus as this adds this in verse 30 there will be future reward in the age to come eternal life so see there in other words a disciple knows there’s an age to come something’s going to come and of course an age to come which is a vast unending season of existence that eternal life is not a reward for forsaking our outward Rel ations or our inward affections or enduring the difficulties of life for Christ eternal life is always and only out of the pure mercy and grace of God that anyone could be saved and receive any reward so in other words Jesus is saying to his disciples the reward is certain during our Earthly lives but it will not be paid out in full it will be paid out in full in the life to come so see if you endure if you’re faithful even why is that because thirdly there’s an irony surrounding real discipleship and if you notice in verse 31 it’s this but many who are first will be last last first in other words the results may be quite different than anyone would ever expect at the end for this reason because God’s the judge because God is the one who knows everything he knows all about your life he knows all about your thoughts he knows all about what you did what you didn’t do he knows everything in your life so that means listen God’s judgment will upset the cart but we decide deciples of Christ really need to distinguish between what is necessary to hold on to and what is not we need to see things from God’s perspective we need to say to ourselves from God’s perspective to hold on to Pride to hold on to our stuff to hold on to our position would be foolish if it meant to lose it all that would be wise that doesn’t make sense but that’s exactly what’s being told here see there will be some loss but there will be much greater gain in light of that loss so one of the most intriguing things about being a disciple of Jesus Christ is that there is a glorious future there’s a glorious future for all those who to follow Christ that the pop so our future specifically will include the things only jesus’ disciples will hope for and enjoy and one of the things we should hope for and all theology is bringing us to is to be with Christ Jesus Promised his disciples listen I’m going to go and prepare place for you and if I go and prepare a place you for you I will come again and receive you to myself and where I am there you may be also so really the kingdom the only thing that really matters is faithfulness to Christ when it comes to entering the kingdom of God and yes faithfulness is what matters in the Christian Life in your life in my life being a disciple of Jesus Christ future reward in light of these truths I must also inform you that how how you and I live as a disciple of Jesus Christ will be evaluated how Faithfully you and I run the Christian race will be judged by God so this morning I want to look at judgment and the Christian judgment in the Christian and to do that I’d like you to take your Bibles and I want you to turn over 1 Corinthians chapter 3 1 Corinthians chapter 3 and as you’re turning there I would would like to say that yes all Christians will be rewarded for their service as disciples but they will also be evaluated in other words judgment for the believer is certain and sometimes follower of Christ should want to should want want to be a approved Workman at the Judgment seat of Christ disciples should every day perform their deeds of service for Christ until he returns and I believe at least the Bible speaks of two general judgments the Judgment seat of Christ which we’re going to look at here and then also the great white Throne judgment the Judgment seat of Christ is the Judgment for the Christian the great white Throne judgment is the Judgment for the unsaved now I would like to focus this morning on the Judgment seat of Christ by looking at this passage but before we look at that passage I also like you to turn to that each one may be recompensed for his deeds in the body according to what he has done whether good or bad now of course the word there for judgment seed is a word from the Greek that it’s pronounced beima beac and of course that was a beac seat was a a tribunal seat or a a bench that a judge sat on in fact the beima was a raised platform which was reached by steps and kind of resembled a throne just think of a judge sitting on a throne and he’s above everybody else and usually a judge or a king is always raised above the people that are under him all right so in this the judge sat to watch the athletic events and then from the beima they handed out Awards to those who won their individual competitions so that’s the picture that we have here in this case it is Jesus who’s sitting on the throne it is we who are in his audience Believers and it’s the Lord who’s making the evaluation to either give reward or not give reward so the passage gives us a sense that the judgment is definite that Christians will give an account before God now when does this take place well there’s a passage in scripture while I uh that just reminds us that it will take place most most likely it will be after the Rapture of the church when the church is translated from the earth and between that event and his glorious return with his Saints to the Earth the Lord will reward Believers according to their works so it’s in between that period in fact uh Thessalonians tells us that when that happens that Believers will stand in front of or in the presence of the Lord Jesus Christ he in a sense will be sitting and we will be standing we will be standing in the presence of God and Believers will stand before the Lord Jesus Christ and they will be evaluated and the context in Thessalonians is and the emphasis is that the Saints will be in appear there now saying all that let’s turn back to Corinthians chapter 3 because I want to say first of all this judgment it is not a judgment for sin that must be very clear sin will not not be the issue at the Judgment seat of Christ and the reason why is that the sin question for the believer has already been settled for Keeps see the moment you and I repented of our sins and turned to receive Jesus Christ as our own Lord and Savior the Judgment that was du us because of our sinsi the Justice of the father he bore the penalty of all the sins of the Saints and so your account and my account is now marked paid in full by Christ’s death and your sins have been transferred to the cross and Christ’s righteousness have has been transferred to your account so now you and I are saved not by our own righteousness but by the righteousness of Jesus Jus Christ his righteousness is is on our account he died in our place he bore our sin he satisfied the justice of God and turned the father’s wrath away from us see all that has been taken care of so that means that those who are in Christ as Romans chapter 8 informs us I love this passage for there is now what no oh condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus and then further in the Gospel of John chapter 5 it says to us truly truly I say to you he who hears my word and believes in him who sent me has eternal life and does not come into judgment but has passed out of death into life and of course Hebrews tells us this their sins and iniquity will I remember no more so those are truths that should be you your mind should be just basking in just settling in those truths all right however these G these truths as great as they are if they are stressed without balancing them with the understanding that we are also saved for good works and then the reason of the Judgment seed of Christ could be greatly obscured the Epistle of Ephesians keeps the balance between those truths when it says this for by Grace you have been saved right through faith and that not of yourselves it is a gift of God not as a result of works that no one should boast and then it says this for we are his workmanship created in Christ Jesus for good works which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them so why then the Judgment seat of Christ it is a judgment for service and works it is a judgment for service and works in other words when you become a Believer you’re not off the hook you just don’t go along and live your life the way you want to remember discipleship is costly it’s going to cost you something but it’s also greatly rewarding to his own labor in verse number nine of Chapter 3 of 1 Corinthians it says for we are God’s fellow workers you are God’s field God’s Building according to the grace of God which he which was given to me like a wise master builder I laid the foundation and another is building on it but each man must be careful how he builds on it for no man can lay a foundation other than that which is laid which is Christ Jesus now if any man builds on the foundation with gold silver precious stone wood hay and straw each man’s work verse 13 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 and verse 14 If any man Works any man’s work which he has done built on it remains he will receive a reward so right there in this passage of scripture the Bible is saying this to all Disciples of Jesus Christ whether you like it or not whether you know it or not you are Builders you are Builders you are building something no it’s not the kind of that builds houses but it is you are building as you live for and serve the Lord you are building in fact there’s a Greek term used all through this passage of scripture it’s ooo all right which really is two words one oos meaning house and demo meaning to build see it literally means to build a house now this is a term that the Apostle Paul chooses to figuratively describe to us building spiritual houses for God now if you notice again in verse number eight it says now he who plants and he who walk waters are one but each will receive his own reward according to his own labor and so we are not laying any foundations the foundation has already been laid we’re not saving anybody the saving has been done by Christ see we are building upon the foundation that has already been laid and what we are building each of us is contributing to building up Christians in the faith now get that we are all responsible for building up others in the faith you get that see we are all responsible to do that so the Judgment of Jesus Christ is going to focus in on how we have done that or have we done that at all so each true disciple has work has service that must be accounted for now notice in verse 13 it says this in 1 Corinthians 3:3 each man’s work you see that and then at the end of the verse because it says it will be revealed with fire and the fire itself will test the quality of each man’s work so each disciple has work to do also if you notice that the true disciple’s work or service will be open to his sight It also says in verse number 13 each man’s work will become evident for that day for the day and it says it will show it because it will be revealed right with fire and of course fire is the picture of taking something to test its quality just like when they take metals and they boil them by fire and all the dross all the impurities rise to the surface and they scoop it off all right of course if the fire if the material is not strong enough to Bear the the fire then it will burn up all right so what we have here is that each true disciple work or service will have its value plainly revealed so the Lord is concerned about several things when it comes to our service or our work he’s concerned about its quality and he’s concerned about its durability its quality and its dur durability see we can either build with flimsy nondurable material and the end will be no reward or loss of reward look at verse number 12 it says now if any man builds upon the foundation with gold silver precious stone all right so that is the strong material that is the durable material that can take the flame They will receive a reward verse 14 if any man’s work which he has built upon it remains he shall receive a reward or there is the flimsy non durable building material that we could also use and what is that in verse number 13 it would be wood hay and straw and then if you notice in verse 15 it says if any man’s works is burned up he shall suffer loss so this passage is emphasizing that when a Believer stands before the Lord to have his life evaluated others will be rewarded according to the way they built on that believer’s life in other words we are all responsible to build his church and his church comprise is comprised the people and we’re to build into other people’s lives so we can present them to the Lord see so the bottom line in 1 Corinthians chapter 3 is placed on what a person has done in another person’s life in turn this is how the church is actually built a person will be a wise Builder or they will be a poor Builder now what I’d like to do is I want to look at some who will build with flimsy and nondurable material how does that look so some people say well I don’t even know what that means and you should ask that question well the Bible does go to describe it you have to kind of Flesh it out a bit from scripture all right or do you want to build with strong durable material like gold silver and precious stones that when it Bears the heat it actually will produce reward all right so I want to look at the poor Builder then I want to look at the wise Builder and I want to kind of contrast them by using actually First Corinthians to do that now if you’re going to be a poor Builder and you’re going to build with material that’s going to actually not endure wood hay and straw you are not going to build in someone’s life if you remain first of all a carnal or a baby Christian a babe in Christ in other words see it it is it’s expected when someone first comes to Christ that they’re considered new converts they’re considered infants in Christ reborn of the spirit but still spiritual infants but that should never stay the same there has to be growth beyond that because now we have the spirit we have the word we have the church and God’s going to grow us that’s the whole point of becoming a Believer that’s where we’re born again into God’s kingdom and we become a kingdom child and begin to to uh grow spiritually and I want you to notice in chapter three of 1 Corinthians verse number one and two it says this and I Brethren could not speak to you as spiritual men but as to Men of flesh as to infants in Christ verse two I gave you milk to drink not solid food for you were not able to receive it indeed even now you are not able to receive it and then in verse three you are still flesh fleshly for since there is jealousy and strife among you you are are you not fleshly and are you not walking like Mere Men now what he is saying there is that listen you have been under the word of God for a while and you’re still behaving like people characterized by the Flesh and that is shocking to me the Apostle has a rebuke coming to them because by this time they should have been behaving like people characterized by the spirit but they were not that’s why he says in verse number three you’re still fleshly why because there’s jealousy and strife among the body there’s no Unity here there’s disunity and how can I build in someone else life if I’m the one causing the disunity and The Strife in the church so listen he’s saying you’re still walking walking like those in the world around you and not with an understanding of God’s wisdom so in other words growing in true knowledge will lead to growing in love for the Lord and love for his children remaining carnal means to remain selfish and of course self-centeredness selfishness is what the main problem has been in the church at Corinth and he deals with that in great length in chapter 8 of 1 Corinthians so in contrast to that a wise builder in other words a person who grows out of factionalism and worldly wisdom and Contin contines to feed on the solid food of the word of God or Godly wisdom will become spiritually mature will be led by the Holy Spirit and will build wisely with strong and durable materials like gold silver and precious stone so in other words he is saying to the Believers here listen if you want to come before the Judgment seat of Christ Christ then you have to be building in someone else’s life and how that starts out is by you growing yourself you can’t be satisfied with what you know from last year as a Christian or even last month you have to be looking at yourself and saying am I growing in the Lord am I moving forward am I gaining knowledge am I serving the lord better and more frequent and with more joy and peace than I have in the past because if you have then you’re building with the right material and not only that you’re building me up you’re building the person sitting next to you up you’re building the church when you do that but if we remain selfish and self-centered and carnal we’re building nobody up and not only that the point is this listen the way you live your life will be a value but evaluated by the Lord if you say you’re a Christian then get on what the program with the Lord called us to so we can build in each other’s lives so we have something to offer the Lord that’s going to last and not be burned up a second way to look at the poor Builder is found in 1 Corinthians chapter 8 and I’m just pulling these out so we can just get an examp example of what he’s talking about when he’s talking about building with materials that will burn up like wood hay and straw or materials that will endure the heat like gold silver and precious stone and so the poor Builder will be one in other words that you will you are not going to build in someone’s life if you demand your rights if you insist on your own rights shows that you’re not concerned about others and again the through these passages we’re going to see the same word build in there and if you notice in 1 Corinthians 8 verse number 10 it says this it says for if someone sees you who have knowledge dining in an Idol’s Temple will not his conscience if he is weak be strengthened there’s that word there it’s translated strengthened but it’s the word build won’t it be built it says there to eat things sacrificed to Idols in other words how is that going to build anybody you’re actually tearing down what God’s trying to do in someone’s life instead of building them up and then notice in verse number 11 for through your knowledge he is he who is weak is ruined the brother for whose sake Christ died in verse 12 and thus by sinning against the Brethren and wounding their conscience when it is weak you sin against Christ so in other words that is not the way to build it’s not to hold on to your rights so in contrast a person who gives up their rights because they’re concerned with another believer’s spiritual well-being and their spiritual maturity they’ll they’ll want to have they’ll have such a concern that they will give up their particular rights that shows them that it’s not necessarily sin to be doing a certain thing but it would be sin if I wound my brother’s conscience so in other words the wise Builder is always conscious of who’s around them as his brothers and sisters in Christ even where they’re at spiritually here’s a new believer over here they they don’t know a whole lot yet and they may be involved in some things that are not you know what they ought not to be doing at that particular point and here’s a mature person over here and here’s somebody who’s been a Christian for a certain period of time so they’re aware of in other words people around them in what their spiritual growth is all right and they are sensitive not to lay any obstacle or any kind of uh thing in front of them that would prevent that person from growing from being built up in the faith or specifically for not ruining or wounding their conscience that has not been formulated by biblical truth yet and they’re weak in that particular area all right in other words a wise person is going to say you know what I’m willing to give up all my rights to do that all right and notice how far Paul goes with that look at verse number 13 of 1 Corinthians 8 he says this therefore now we’re talking about in the context food offered to Idols uh a mature Christian would know food offer to Idols is nothing you can eat that you know but somebody who’s a weak Christian would say wait a minute food offered to Idols there’s demons in that all right and look what Paul says in verse number 13 therefore if food causes my brother to stumble I will never eat meat again that I might not cause my brother to stumble see in other words that’s how you build with precious stone with gold with silver is you’re concerned about where your brother’s at Spirit spiritually you’re very conscious of that and I want to build in that person’s life I don’t want to be an obstacle to that person I don’t want to to you know confuse that person if I don’t have to I want to be somebody who’s bringing them along of course that means if I want to bring someone else along I must be moving one step ahead of them I must be growing spiritually right so in other words it it benefits them and me and then it benefits the whole body and it brings glory to God and in my mind God’s going to be pleased with this and I’m going to get a reward for it so there’s a motivation there there’s nothing wrong with that kind of motivation reward is always a motivation right you you work because you get paid of course those those are wages but I mean wages are kind of a motivation I’m going to do work if I don’t do work I don’t get paid right so in this case yes I am doing work for the Lord I am building in your life you’re building in my life now that means too you have to be present you have to be into it you can’t be into your own stuff you got to be into the Lord that’s why the Lord’s at the center of all this and it’s so very important that we are wise builders in the church and for the reason is that we will be evaluated now let me just just give one more in 1 Corinthians chap 10 1 Corinthians chap 10: 23 the poor Builder in other words that you’re not going to build in someone’s life if you flaunt your Liberty without regard to the weaker brother or sister look what it says in verse number 23 here 1 Corinthians chapter 10 all things are lawful but not all things are profitable all things are lawful but not all things here it is edify what’s the the word builds up others it’s the same word all right so I’m concerned about building I’m building a spiritual house and you’re the house you’re building the spiritual house and I’m the house and the person sitting next to you and all the Believers we’re building in their lives so see we’re very conscious and we’re very aware of our own selves our own sin our own we weaknesses our own strengths and our own spiritual gifts so I can actually use it to build and then I’m not going to be concerned about selfishness or my rights or you know what I know what you don’t know and that kind of stuff that goes back and forth all right so here you and I have Liberty as we grow in our knowledge we actually have more Liberty to do things that are not sinful not sinful uh in other words things that are not prohibited by the word of God we’re able to do some things but that very thing that I have Liberty to do that’s not sin could be a stumbling block to my brother or sister in Christ and as I think of that and as I think of them then I’m not going to lay that stumbling block before them so in other words insisting on our rights and don’t we live in a culture that is all about insisting on your rights Christians have to learn to give up their rights for what reason for the sake of the kingdom of God for the sake of the growth of Believers right for the sake of all things we we need to give up our rights all right and not flaunt our liberties and if we try to and we want to do that if we dig into to do that then we will be building with flimsy non-durable material like wood hay and straw and when it comes to Christ judgment it will be burned up and we’ll lose our reward I don’t want to live there so see part of the cost of being a disciple is keep moving forward in the race and anybody who is a runner knows it takes endurance to get out there every day and run and run and I don’t think it’s always Pleasant some people I think people do that who think running is Pleasant if you’re running a long distance there’s something wrong with them it’s not pleasant no physical exercise is Pleasant especially when you’re going through it maybe at the end take a shower you feel refreshed you know the blood’s flowing through your veins say all right I’m glad I did that but before you do it there’s this wrestling in your mind saying should I do this should I go run another mile should I run every you know all that stuff goes on so there’s not not pleasant uh to run a race it takes endurance mental endurance physical endurance to continue to run not that you’re going to be first first in the race but you’re going to finish and that’s the point we’re going to finish this race so in contrast a person who is concerned to encourage other Christians in the faith is willing to give up their rights and not flaunt their Liberty and it shows that they are actually growing spiritually and as they grow spiritually they will build wisely with strong and durable materials like gold silver and precious stones so in all these things the scripture is emphasizing to us this concern of building up somebody in the faith and being very aware of that conscious of that and why is that because each true disciple their work and their service will have its value plainly revealed before Christ the motives will be revealed before Christ why you did or didn’t do something will be revealed before Christ and remember Christ is looking for the quality and the durability of your service so what is the result of the Lord’s inspection well the the result is going to be very very clear let’s go back to 1 Corinthians chapter 3 those all just there’s examples all through the book of uh the Epistle of First Corinthians I only showed you a few of them but in chapter three of 1 Corinthians verse number 12 you’re going to notice the re the results of the Lord’s inspection is going to be reward or loss of reward so in verse number 12 it says now if any man builds upon the foundation with of course wood hay and straw in verse 15 it says if any man’s work is burned up he shall suffer loss so those whose Works will not endure will suffer the loss of their rewards it’s like a person escaping from a burning home with none of his possessions he he escapes but all is lost in the house or we can build with strong and durable material which the Bible says brings a reward again in verse number 12 it says now if any man builds upon the foundation with gold silver and precious a stone then verse number 14 if any man’s work which he has built upon it remains he shall receive a reward he shall receive a reward and of course that’s future tense that’s the future judgment that the Lord will we will stand before the Lord and He will judge so the rewards will go to those who whose work will abide when God examines their service for him and for others it’ll stick it’ll it’ll abide so in other words what should be the motivation for the believer the motivation for the believer is listen number one I’m not living for myself I’m living for the Lord and I’m living for you that’s what I’m living for my whole life is about that matter of fact every Christian’s life should be about that and we’re always going to be tempted to be oh to depart from problems and to you know to retreat and to become self-centered again and get into our own things and and just let the whole thing go you don’t really want to do that you don’t want to think like that as a Believer so what happens to a Christian who builds with the wrong building materials do they lose their salvation well let’s take a peek back at 1 Corinthians CH 3:15 because that’s the dress it says this if any man’s work is burned up of course that that means that they have built with wood hay and straw they have built in the wrong manner he shall suffer loss and what he loses is reward but then notice what it says there at the end of 15 but he himself shall be saved yet so as through fire in other words so then the Unfaithful Christian will be saved but as by fire that his life’s Works anything that was wood hay and straw will be destroyed and there will be few or no rewards for that person so the question would be this morning when you face Christ will you be rewarded see this brings the Christian walk this brings discipleship into a very sobering realm because everyone has to put themsel there because it’s about each man’s work right so in other words up until this point in your life how have you been doing who have you been living for has there been any loss or cost to discipleship as a Believer we have to be honest with ourselves because when we stand before Christ it will all be laid bare there will be no stone unturned the Lord knows it all from the beginning to the end he knows every single detail so when you face Christ will you be rewarded or will there be many regrets regrets because you did not run the Christian race as well as you could have don’t waste don’t waste your life please young people don’t waste your life on things that don’t mean anything no matter where you’re where you are in your Christian walk right now from this day forward don’t waste any more time in frivolous things and selfish things in goals and Pursuits that have no Eternal value you don’t want to stand before Christ with regrets when you had all the opportunity to do what was right of course I am of the belief that someone cannot go through their whole life saying they’re a Christian and have never been engaged in anything that would be building in someone else’s life that could be possibly mean that they were never believer in the first place so run the race in order to win you got that run the race to be rewarded with many crowns as possible with as many crowns as possible now how could I say that well I can say that very emphatically because of 1 Corinthians chapter 9 verse 24 and 25 don’t turn there listen it says this do you not know that those who run in a race all run but only one receives the prize run in such a way that you may win and everyone who competes in the games exercises self-control in all things they then do it to receive a perishable Crown but we an imperishable Crown that’s where you want to run that’s where you want to live that’s where I want to live as a Christian and believe me you have to fight the spiritual battle to stay there because everything’s pulling at you to bring you away from that particular place so this morning I just pray that God would be able to use this in your thinking in your practice that you would never get far away from this particular thought that someday today we will appear before the Judgment seat of Christ that each one may be recompensed for his deeds in the body according to what he has done whether good or bad I believe that particular truth can prevent us from going down the wrong path and living our life for the right reasons and I believe this and I know this for a fact that as you put Christ first more and more every day actually your peace and your joy are contained and maintained by God himself because like I said before listen the whole world can be falling apart around you and you still have peace and joy it’s hard to understand but it’s true if you’re a Believer and I just pray that that for us as a church that we would really consider building in one another’s lives and living for the Lord to run the way race to win and so I want to leave you with that and I think next week I’m going to pick it up with another branch of this message because I think it’s needed and that that’s going to include what crowns are you talking about let’s pray Lord this morning I do thank you for I thank you Lord for the weight of this message Lord even when I was looking through and studying these truths I was thinking very seriously about my own life these are not truths that we can simply blow off these are truths that lay heavy upon our heart because they cause us to examine what’s really going on in our life what are we really about what are our goals what do we want in the end Lord we know that judgment for believers is sure it will definitely happen but Lord you’ve given us ample amount of information and truth and knowledge in the word of God to know how we can run the race well and know that in the end there will be reward for us I thank you for those truths and I pray Lord you would enable us every day to consider them seriously to the point it changes what we do it changes how we decide things it changes the level in which we love people and it changes our worship of you every day I pray that you would enable us to be people who run the race to win in Christ I pray amen