People God Trusts: Trust with Rewards
People God Trusts • Sermon • Submitted
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Intro:
12 “And behold, I am coming quickly, and My reward is with Me, to give to every one according to his work.
Today, we will conclude our series, [People God Trusts], the title of my message is [Trust with Rewards].
Jesus issues a promise— I am coming quickly and my reward is with me to repay all people according to their deeds.
We will see what Jesus meant when He spoke these words, but before we do that, let’s think of the concept of rewards for a moment.
I notice the word rewards often.
Credit card companies offer rewards in the form of cash back if I use their card.
Restaurants offer rewards if I eat their food.
Gas stations offer rewards if I download their app and use their gas.
But what I have realized about the rewards that they offer is that the reward is never of greater or equal value to what I have spent.
Credit cards might offer 2-5% rewards for using their card, but then they will charge 25% interest.
Casey’s will offer one free pizza for every TEN that we buy.
Gas stations give will take a few cents off as a reward.
Credit Card companies do not say, you charged $100, we will reward you with $1000!
Casey’s will not give me 20 pizzas if I buy 10.
Gas stations will not offer a two free tank of gas as a reward for every one time we will our vehicle.
Rewards do not work that way. They are there to keep people coming back and spending more money.
Likewise, when someone has lost or stolen property, they offer a reward, but not for the full amount of their possessions.
If someone’s $50,000 pick up is stolen, the owner does not offer $50,000 for the one who has any leads.
In our life, rewards never equal what is spent, lost, or stolen.
What then did Jesus mean when He promised, I am coming and my reward is with me?
Rewards in Scripture take on a different light than rewards in the world.
One similarity is that we receive rewards based on what we have done. One difference is that our rewards are of greater value than what we do.
Furthermore, we often view rewards from the lens of the good that is done, but in the Bible people are rewarded for the good or evil they do.
11 So that men will say, “Surely there is a reward for the righteous; Surely He is God who judges in the earth.”
8 Only with your eyes shall you look, And see the reward of the wicked.
What does this tell us, there is something coming ahead of all of us. Rewards that await us are about the completion of a deed. The reward is the culmination or the finale of our lives.
The way we live now determines our rewards. In fact it is probably better to so the ONE we serve now will determine our rewards.
God gives us a choice— follow Him, He rewards us.
Do not follow Him, we will still receive a reward.
One reward is an eternity spent with Him another reward is an eternity a part from Him.
One author defined rewards— a gift, repayment or retribution offered to an individual or a people in response to a particular action, good or bad. It can be positive of negative based on the given action.
Just think, the last recorded words we have of Jesus include a promise to return and a guarantee of rewards for everyone.
As we’ve noticed every week, throughout Scripture, God desired to fulfill His plan and purpose. For some reason, instead of just doing what He wanted to do, He decided to use people.
He opted to work through people He could trust to accomplish His will.
It is easy to trust God, but does God trust us?
He can never love us more than He does right now, but He can trust us more!
Are we living in a way that God can trust us with the rewards He has prepared for the righteous! Let’s look at Jesus’s words and see more about how to obtain the good rewards.
I have three points, [The Rewards of the Righteous], [The Rewards of the Wicked], and [The Response of the Church].
Let’s begin
1. The Reward of the Righteous
1. The Reward of the Righteous
12 “And behold, I am coming quickly, and My reward is with Me, to give to every one according to his work.
13 I am the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End, the First and the Last.”
Notice the promise of Jesus, I am coming quickly. Why would He preface this before promising His rewards?
Believers are to live with the constant awareness and consistent expectation that Jesus will appear a second time. The promise of His coming will shift the way we live and the way we think.
We should never doubt that Jesus will come again. Furthermore, we should hope and desire for Him to return quickly.
The moment we begin to minimize His coming is the moment we start to get off track. We live in a day where many question if Jesus will come.
3 knowing this first: that scoffers will come in the last days, walking according to their own lusts,
4 and saying, “Where is the promise of His coming? For since the fathers fell asleep, all things continue as they were from the beginning of creation.”
Even though people might mock and doubt that Jesus will come again, we choose to hold on to His promise.
Why should we long and desire for Him to return? When He comes He will bring His reward with Him.
After promising to return and guaranteeing that He will bring the reward with Him, He provides insight into who He is:
the Alpha and Omega
the Beginning and the End
the First and the Last
What is His point, He encompasses everything. There is hope for the future. There is a promise ahead of us. In other words, let us not get our eyes of what is most important.
The righteous, those in right standing with God, choose not to get distracted by what takes place around them. Instead, we are to have a long view on life.
We will not always see what we see right now
We will not always feel how we feel right now
We will not always want what we want right now
No wonder Paul encouraged us to:
2 Set your mind on things above, not on things on the earth.
3 For you died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God.
4 When Christ who is our life appears, then you also will appear with Him in glory.
We keep looking to Him, the author and the finisher. When we do that He will bring the reward of the righteous with Him.
Until then, we follow His commandments and keep living for Him every single day!
There is a reward for the righteous! But what about...
2. The Reward for the Wicked
2. The Reward for the Wicked
14 Blessed are those who do His commandments, that they may have the right to the tree of life, and may enter through the gates into the city.
15 But outside are dogs and sorcerers and sexually immoral and murderers and idolaters, and whoever loves and practices a lie.
There is a promise— those who have Christ in their lives and follow HIs commandments will gain access to the city.
What city?
2 Then I, John, saw the holy city, New Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband.
3 And I heard a loud voice from heaven saying, “Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and He will dwell with them, and they shall be His people. God Himself will be with them and be their God.
The city is the New Jersualem. This new city will come from the new heaven and will reside on the new earth. In that city will be the Tabernacle of God and God Himself will dwell with us.
But notice, John wrote that outside of the city are those who live contrary to God’s commands and plans.
Outside does not mean these will live right outside the gates of the city. Instead, it means outside the new heaves and the new earth, in outer darkness.
John describes the type of person who will not get to spend eternity with Christ.
The dogs— not literal puppies, but unclean people, who have not been washed in the blood of the Lamb.
The sorcerers— those who’ve opened the door to the influence of Satan in their lives
The sexually immoral— we live in a very illicit, perverse, and promiscuous society and it is not of the Lord
Murderers— there has been an increase of senseless violence that has taken the lives of many, the violent will receive their rewards
Idolaters— this one is interesting, for when people think of idols they might envision little statues that people worship. When in reality an idol is anything that takes the place of God in our lives.
Lovers and practicers of lies— describes everyone who has believed the lie of the devil that claims we do not need to live in relationship with Jesus.
44 You are of your father the devil, and the desires of your father you want to do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and does not stand in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaks a lie, he speaks from his own resources, for he is a liar and the father of it.
What is the reward of the wicked?
A life of eternal separation from God. It is also NOT part of God’s plan for humanity. God does not WANT to send anyone to hell.
I like the way Billy Graham explains, “Hell was not prepared for man. God never meant that man would ever go to hell. Hell was prepared for the devil and his angels, but man rebelled against God and followed the devil…Hell is essentially and basically banishment from the presence of God for deliberately rejecting Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior.” (Revelation, Life Application Commentary, p, 249).
There is a reward for the wicked, and they will receive this reward when Jesus returns!
We see that Jesus has a reward for the righteous and the wicked. What then is...
3. The Response of the Church
3. The Response of the Church
16 “I, Jesus, have sent My angel to testify to you these things in the churches. I am the Root and the Offspring of David, the Bright and Morning Star.”
17 And the Spirit and the bride say, “Come!” And let him who hears say, “Come!” And let him who thirsts come. Whoever desires, let him take the water of life freely.
Jesus made the options clear, there are just two ways, two futures, or two destinies.
His description of the available rewards reinforces every promise He has already made in Scripture:
Now we are at the end of recorded Scripture. He promises a reward for the righteous and wicked.
I have explained the reward of the wicked— eternal separation from God. But what is the reward of the righteous?
If Jesus is the rewarder, the one bringing the reward, what is the reward?
I think the better question is WHO is the reward?
The first time reward is mentioned in Scripture was to Abraham:
1 After these things the word of the Lord came to Abram in a vision, saying, “Do not be afraid, Abram. I am your shield, your exceedingly great reward.”
Now, the last time reward is mentioned, we see the same two words— I AM. Who then is the reward?
Jesus, He holds a dual position of rewarder and the reward.
What hope, what assurance, what a promise we have awaiting us THE reward, the moment we will stand face to face with Jesus.
It will truly be a reward to be in the city where God will tabernacle and dwell with us.
To live an eternity in a city where there is no night, for the lamb of God is the light of that city.
What a promise to get to spend forever and forever and forever and fore3ver with the One who provided this WONDERFUL gift of salvation.
His reward far outweighs what we could ever give Him. What then is our reasonable response:
COME LORD JESUS.
The Spirit places in us a desire to spend eternity with Him.
The bride of Christ should live with a daily hunger and expectation for His return.
What else is our response?
Drink of the water of life freely. We do not have to find our refreshing and help from this world. We have a river of God’s:
grace
presence
power
healing
help
hope
mercy
and freedom
So let us come to the waters and live in His presence!
Close:
He is trusting us with this reward.
We might wonder, but what about the mansion or room we will receive?
What about the crowns He will give us?
All those await us, but they are secondary to the main reward and that is HIM!
He gives us a place in His Father’s house so that we might be close to Him.
He gives us crowns for our work on earth, but all we will do with them is cast them at His feet and worship!
The reward that await us is ALL ABOUT JESUS.
He is our hope
He is our prize
He is our confidence
He is our assurance
He is our peace
He is our desire
He is our future
because He is our Savior!
and today He is trusting us. He is trusting that we will accept Him and live in such a way that at His return, we will receive the reward of being with Him forever!
But notice, God gives us a choice:
19 I call heaven and earth as witnesses today against you, that I have set before you life and death, blessing and cursing; therefore choose life, that both you and your descendants may live;
13 “Enter by the narrow gate; for wide is the gate and broad is the way that leads to destruction, and there are many who go in by it.
14 Because narrow is the gate and difficult is the way which leads to life, and there are few who find it.
There are to futures
There are two destinies
There are two eternities
But there is only one way and only one choice— let’s choose Jesus.
Let’s welcome Him
Let’s invite Him daily
What then do we do until we get to eternity?
Let’s live a life that He can trust. Let’s position ourselves that when God wants to do something, He can use us.
I want God to trust us to help bring others to redemption
I want God to trust us to help rescue our families from a life of sin
I want God to trust us to resurrect dreams and vision
I want God to trust us to help us grow in a relationship with Him
I want God to trust us to rebuild a place where His glory can dwell
I want God to trust us to to send revival
I want God to trust us to reward us with an eternity with Him!
Let’s be the people and the church that God can trust!