SPEAKER_01: This sermon was recorded at Faith Evangelical Free Church in Grand Forks, North Dakota.
SPEAKER_00: Let's open our Bibles to Second Corinthians five, chapter nine.
SPEAKER_00: First Second Corinthians chapter five verse nine.
SPEAKER_00: Therefore, we also have as our ambition, whether at home or absent, to be pleasing to him.
SPEAKER_00: For 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.
SPEAKER_00: Dear Heavenly Father, I pray for our time here in the Word.
SPEAKER_00: I pray, God, that you will open our eyes and our hearts and our minds to comprehend these wonderful truths that you have set out for us in Scripture.
SPEAKER_00: May we respond and consider the implications of these truths in our daily lives, and may we adjust and realign our lives to your truth.
SPEAKER_00: I pray this in Jesus' name.
SPEAKER_00: Amen.
SPEAKER_00: Desertion during World War II became a big problem.
SPEAKER_00: Considering the brutality of the war, we don't want to be too judgmental on those who deserted, but it did seem that many soldiers lacked the motivation to serve the country.
SPEAKER_00: One example is that of the 25-year-old private with a criminal past from Detroit named Eddie Slovak.
SPEAKER_00: Slovik joined the war effort simply to avoid jail time.
SPEAKER_00: Lacking the ambition and the motivation to serve his country and be faithful to the call of duty, he deserted from G Company during the early parts of the Battle of the Bulge.
SPEAKER_00: Slovak was sentenced to death after a quick court martial led by none other than the Supreme Allied commander, General Dwight D.
SPEAKER_00: Eisenhower.
SPEAKER_00: Slovak pleaded for clemency, but his execution was carried out at 10.04 a.m.
SPEAKER_00: on January 31st, 1945 by firing squad.
SPEAKER_00: Now Eisenhower would come under heavily, heavy scrutiny for his unsympathetic actions.
SPEAKER_00: But one historian, Charles Glass, made a good point.
SPEAKER_00: He said the following: He said it was not the moment for the Supreme Allied commander to be seen as one who condones desertion.
SPEAKER_00: Fear of firing squad from that point loomed over the heads of every soldier, and it should have been a good motivator.
SPEAKER_00: I'll tell you later how that turned out.
SPEAKER_00: But for now, we are aliens and sojourners in our own battle.
SPEAKER_00: Many aliens and sojourners, however, lose the motivation to be faithful to the call of duty.
SPEAKER_00: In fact, some have become less than motivated, and some have actually become entangled in the affairs of the world, to which 2 Timothy 2.4 warns us.
SPEAKER_00: No one serving as a soldier gets to entangle himself in worldly affairs.
SPEAKER_00: His aim is to please his commanding officer, 2 Timothy 2.4.
SPEAKER_00: It seems that those enlisted by none other than the Supreme Commander Jesus Christ actually rewards faithfulness.
SPEAKER_00: Behold, I am coming quickly and my reward is with me, Revelation 22, twelve.
SPEAKER_00: Our mission, our motivations, our passions, our desires is to please the Lord.
SPEAKER_00: We will certainly be compromised in our faithfulness and our service to the Lord will become lackluster.
SPEAKER_00: You see, we as Christians are seldom taught about faithfulness and its reward.
SPEAKER_00: Faithfulness seems such a simplistic thing, but it's not.
SPEAKER_00: It is actually very hard to be faithful to the Lord.
SPEAKER_00: We seldom think about faithfulness with the prospect of a reward in the end.
SPEAKER_00: Faithfulness motivated by the prospect of reward seems treasonous.
SPEAKER_00: But it is not.
SPEAKER_00: Today's message is about faithfulness with its reward.
SPEAKER_00: Think of this.
SPEAKER_00: Choosing between vanilla ice cream and chocolate ice cream.
SPEAKER_00: Very few of us will pay attention or any consideration to the underlying motives and motivation for choosing one above the other.
SPEAKER_00: I always choose vanilla over chocolate because of the taste sensation.
SPEAKER_00: It's far more exhilarating to me.
SPEAKER_00: And perhaps vanilla has maybe less calories than chocolate.
SPEAKER_00: But in the end, my decision for vanilla is based on the rewards I receive.
SPEAKER_00: And so when we think about our motivation and our motivation to do things for the Lord Jesus Christ, and we base it off the prospect of reward, somehow people think you are crazy.
SPEAKER_00: We should just serve the Lord and forget about the reward.
SPEAKER_00: Well, I'll show you that it will be far harder than you think.
SPEAKER_00: Motives and motivations are often overlooked truths in the Christian journey.
SPEAKER_00: But so is reward.
SPEAKER_00: Reward is a powerful motive and a powerful motivation towards faithfulness.
SPEAKER_00: Motivation and motive come into play in the Christian journey, which in the end will be evaluated at the judgment seat of the Lord Jesus Christ.
SPEAKER_00: And so this is of crucial importance that we as Christians consider our motives and what motivates us towards faithfulness.
SPEAKER_00: And we should keep this thought of reward as a means of motivating us to faithfulness in mind as we journey the earth as aliens and sojourners.
SPEAKER_00: Let me tell you how I'm going to explain this to you today.
SPEAKER_00: And in the end, I'm going to try and tie it all together in this passage that we read this morning, 2 Corinthians 5, verses 9 and 10.
SPEAKER_00: You see, when it comes to the Christian life, the Lord rewards faithfulness, not greatness.
SPEAKER_00: There is a heavy emphasis in Scripture on faithfulness.
SPEAKER_00: Faithfulness with reward, not success.
SPEAKER_00: You see, we always think in terms of the Lord will really reward the successful Christian or the really important Christian or the Christian who accomplished a lot.
SPEAKER_00: But really, what the Lord is rewarding is our faithfulness.
SPEAKER_00: So let me show you from Scripture.
SPEAKER_00: Are those big enough to read?
SPEAKER_00: I can hardly read them on that screen, but maybe I just die, you're in power.
SPEAKER_00: Okay.
SPEAKER_00: Faithfulness.
SPEAKER_00: Let's look at faithfulness.
SPEAKER_00: And we're going to look at faithfulness in terms of eternal rewards.
SPEAKER_00: And probably the best illustration there is the parable of the talents.
SPEAKER_00: Matthew 25, verses 20 and 21.
SPEAKER_00: The one who had received the five talents came up and brought five more talents, saying, Master, you entrusted five talents to me, in parentheses, and you expected me to be faithful with those.
SPEAKER_00: See, I have gained five more talents.
SPEAKER_00: This was a reasonable outcome.
SPEAKER_00: And as we look at the context of Matthew 25, what is rewarded here is not greatness or success.
SPEAKER_00: What is rewarded here is faithfulness.
SPEAKER_00: In response to very modest gains here over the span of a lifetime, Jesus says in this parable in verse 21 of Matthew 25, his master said to him, Well done, good, and faithful.
SPEAKER_00: He doesn't say successful or impressive or high-performing slave, just faithful slave.
SPEAKER_00: You were what?
SPEAKER_00: Faithful.
SPEAKER_00: And so I will put you in charge of many things.
SPEAKER_00: Enter into the joy of your master.
SPEAKER_00: So here's the sense that faithfulness is rewarded.
SPEAKER_00: Let's turn back to last week's passage in First Corinthians, and I'll show you something else there.
SPEAKER_00: First Corinthians chapter four, verse two.
SPEAKER_00: In this case, moreover, moreover, it is required of stewards that one be found faithful.
SPEAKER_00: And some of your translations will read trustworthy.
SPEAKER_00: I like the ESB King James Version NIV, who uses the word faithful.
SPEAKER_00: Paul wants his audience to reconsider rewards and why they're working for the Lord.
SPEAKER_00: He wants for a moment to consider the motivation, because motivation and motive will impact faithfulness.
SPEAKER_00: Look at verse 5.
SPEAKER_00: He says they therefore do not go on passing judgment before time, but wait until the Lord comes, who will do what?
SPEAKER_00: Bring to light the things hidden in darkness and disclose the what?
SPEAKER_00: The motives of men's hearts.
SPEAKER_00: And each man's what will come from God?
SPEAKER_00: Praise.
SPEAKER_00: The reward will come.
SPEAKER_00: You see, at the judgment seat of Christ, works done with the right motive will be considered as faithful service that will be in the end duly rewarded.
SPEAKER_00: Each man's praise.
SPEAKER_00: It doesn't say each man's punishment, it says each man's praise.
SPEAKER_00: And I will tell you later on about that word praise.
SPEAKER_00: It is a very, very strong word, a word of reward.
SPEAKER_00: Now let's consider motives for a motive.
SPEAKER_00: For a moment, not for a motive.
SPEAKER_00: It's considered, well, that sounded good actually.
SPEAKER_00: Someone can be generous, for example, towards another person.
SPEAKER_00: But actually, they can be serving themselves.
SPEAKER_00: Like being noticed by other people as being generous.
SPEAKER_00: Right?
SPEAKER_00: Somebody does something and they're like, I hope really they think I'm a very generous person here.
SPEAKER_00: Our motives and our motivation for any work, ministry, mission, act of generosity, or display of kindness can be very well being noticeably pious.
SPEAKER_00: But inwardly, the motives and the motivation for doing it is merely self-serving and pleasing to self.
SPEAKER_00: Let's think about motives and motivation in light of faithfulness and reward.
SPEAKER_00: As we think of the Jews and the religious people of Jesus' time, the scribes, the Pharisees, and their ilk, John 12, 43 says they love the praises of men more than the praises of God.
SPEAKER_00: These folk were motivated by the accolades that they would receive in society.
SPEAKER_00: They loved the praises of God, the praises of men rather than the praises of God.
SPEAKER_00: Give you an example, Matthew 6, 1.
SPEAKER_00: It is noticeable that they prayed long prayers and they did good things to poor people, but they did it with this motivation of what?
SPEAKER_00: Being noticed.
SPEAKER_00: There is something off with the motive and the motivation.
SPEAKER_00: Outwardly pious, but inwardly they want a pat on the back.
SPEAKER_00: Look at Matthew 6:1 there.
SPEAKER_00: Beware of practicing your righteousness before men to be what?
SPEAKER_00: Noticed by them.
SPEAKER_00: That is a dangerous thing.
SPEAKER_00: Whether you do missions or ministry or serve at a soup kitchen, beware.
SPEAKER_00: Do not do it to be noticed by people.
SPEAKER_00: Otherwise, you have what?
SPEAKER_00: No reward with your Father who is in heaven.
SPEAKER_00: The warning here is to the followers of Jesus, the serious people, to do good things, but not with the wrong motives, like the religious leaders do.
SPEAKER_00: Why?
SPEAKER_00: Because motive impacts one's reward.
SPEAKER_00: Humble, righteous, holy actions can often be done with unholy motives.
SPEAKER_00: Selfish motives.
SPEAKER_00: Flesh-pleasing motives to be noticed by others' motives.
SPEAKER_00: Here is a warning about what appears to be faithfulness on the outside, but is nothing more than an ostentatious display of pride.
SPEAKER_00: Notice in verse 2 there of Matthew 6 what Jesus says here.
SPEAKER_00: So when you give to the poor, that is a pretty good thing, right?
SPEAKER_00: Do not sound a trumpet before you as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets, so that they may be honored by men.
SPEAKER_00: So again, they doing these things to be noticed, these things to get the pat on the back and say, Oh, you are such an inspiration to us.
SPEAKER_00: Well, thank you.
SPEAKER_00: I don't try to be an inspiration.
SPEAKER_00: But nevertheless, Jesus says, Well, they have their reward.
SPEAKER_00: There's a reward for these guys who do religious things to get something out of it for themselves, like to be noticed or to be honored.
SPEAKER_00: Jesus says, they have their honor.
SPEAKER_00: They have their reward.
SPEAKER_00: Where is their reward?
SPEAKER_00: The end of verse 2.
SPEAKER_00: Truly I say to you, they have their reward in full.
SPEAKER_00: And you can put that in parentheses in this present life.
SPEAKER_00: They do it to be noticed, guess what?
SPEAKER_00: Your reward is, you'll be noticed.
SPEAKER_00: If you're doing something around here to impress people, guess what?
SPEAKER_00: People will be impressed.
SPEAKER_00: And that's your reward.
SPEAKER_00: That is your complete reward.
SPEAKER_00: Now let's make a few quick observations here as to what Jesus is saying.
SPEAKER_00: He says here they have their reward, but it will not be an eternal reward, but rather a temporal reward, something that will fade away.
SPEAKER_00: They will be rewarded, but not by God.
SPEAKER_00: God will not be the reward or people will.
SPEAKER_00: And number three, their character, their character and conduct would not be rewarded by Jesus because it will not be considered faithful.
SPEAKER_00: And therefore, it will not be considered pleasing to the Lord.
SPEAKER_00: You see, these religious hypocrites, their ambition was about pleasing people and pleasing themselves.
SPEAKER_00: The higher priority was not God.
SPEAKER_00: And my dear brothers and sisters, dearly beloved, perhaps here is a moment that we should ponder and think.
SPEAKER_00: That the Lord knows everything about us, every detail, every thought, every word, every deed, every work, every secret thing.
SPEAKER_00: And the Bible says everything will be judged accordingly.
SPEAKER_00: Now, Lord indeed, when he comes, will bring to light the things hidden in darkness, and he will also put to grand display your motives and motivations for doing something, even if it's a good thing.
SPEAKER_00: He will put it on grand display.
SPEAKER_00: That's why we are not to judge each other too quickly, because we do not know the motives of the heart.
SPEAKER_00: But as 1 Corinthians 5.5 says, Christ will put the motives of the heart to display.
SPEAKER_00: And then each man's praise will come to him from God.
SPEAKER_00: And that word praise is a very interesting word.
SPEAKER_00: It's an interesting Greek word because it speaks of recognition, to receive a commendation, an applause.
SPEAKER_00: It's often used of a word applauding somebody.
SPEAKER_00: And so what is Paul saying here is there will be a commendation, a reward, an applause for faithful service coming at the judgment seat of Christ.
SPEAKER_00: And so, dear brothers and sisters, whatever act of altruism, humility, generosity, it may in fact receive recognition.
SPEAKER_00: Maybe not at this point in life, but certainly at the end of time.
SPEAKER_00: However, there's a caveat.
SPEAKER_00: The compass needle of the heart must always point to the pleasure of God.
SPEAKER_00: We must make sure that we are God pleasers, not people pleasers.
SPEAKER_00: Or else we will have our praises and reward here.
SPEAKER_00: We need to reconsider perhaps our ambitions, our motivations, our passions, whether they are pleasing to the Lord at all times.
SPEAKER_00: People pleasers have a hard time with this because they are so after the reward.
SPEAKER_00: Here and now.
SPEAKER_00: If I do this, that person over there will be impressed with me.
SPEAKER_00: That's a good reward.
SPEAKER_00: No, not actually.
SPEAKER_00: It is not a good reward.
SPEAKER_00: At the judgment seat of Christ, whatever good thing we did, whether it was going on a short term missions trip, whether it was doing ministry or some act of mercy or some kindness, Jesus will put on grand display the motive of our hearts.
SPEAKER_00: He will not just judge what we did, but why we did it.
SPEAKER_00: I remember many years ago I was at a school function and they had a dentist there, a retired dentist, come to speak to us about missions.
SPEAKER_00: And he was telling us all about the good things he was doing in Nicaragua and Honduras and all the kind things.
SPEAKER_00: And you're waiting here for the punchline.
SPEAKER_00: Why did he do it?
SPEAKER_00: And I'm just so excited because he's going to inspire these kids to do the same.
SPEAKER_00: And in the end, he says, I do it because it makes me feel good.
SPEAKER_00: And I wonder, is that a good motive to feel good?
SPEAKER_00: What is the reward?
SPEAKER_00: I want to feel good.
SPEAKER_00: I wonder if that will be considered as faithful service, but then in the end, Jesus says, do not be quick to judge.
SPEAKER_00: Let's turn to 2 Corinthians chapter 5.
SPEAKER_00: Let's go back there.
SPEAKER_00: 2 Corinthians 5.
SPEAKER_00: Because I want to connect all these passages on the judgment seat of Christ.
SPEAKER_00: So as you can think of 1 Corinthians chapter 4, it mainly speaks about not only what we do, but why we do it, and that will be duly judged and rewarded.
SPEAKER_00: But let's think about this idea of reward a little further as we look at 1 2 Corinthians 5 10.
SPEAKER_00: It says, For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each one may be what?
SPEAKER_00: Recompensed, so that we might, that each one may be recompensed and hang on to that word, for his deeds in the body according to what he has done, whether good or bad.
SPEAKER_00: Let's look in light of eternity, this idea of reward and to do things with the right motive and right motivation.
SPEAKER_00: Let me say this.
SPEAKER_00: Every time you speak about the judgment seat of Christ, it is not speaking of judgment unto condemnation, but rather judgment unto compensation.
SPEAKER_00: Why?
SPEAKER_00: What does Romans 8.1 say to us?
SPEAKER_00: Those who are in Christ, therefore there is no more condemnation.
SPEAKER_00: You are not being judged in terms of condemnation or salvation.
SPEAKER_00: You are being judged as a believer in Christ in the end for your faithfulness.
SPEAKER_00: And it's not a judgment unto condemnation, but rather a judgment unto compensation.
SPEAKER_00: The Christian will appear before the judgment seat of Christ, period.
SPEAKER_00: You can't reason that away.
SPEAKER_00: We will all appear before Jesus, where he will judge what we did with our lives here on this planet.
SPEAKER_00: And he will probably judge you from the moment that you were saved onwards.
SPEAKER_00: And he will evaluate what you did with your life as a Christian, as a believer, and he will not punish you, but reward you.
SPEAKER_00: There's no sense here in terms of punishment in verse 10.
SPEAKER_00: It speaks of a judgment, an a judgment for believers exclusively, and it's a judgment for compensation, not common condemnation.
SPEAKER_00: The Greek word there is very specific.
SPEAKER_00: That word recompense is all over the Bible, Old Testament and New Testament.
SPEAKER_00: The Greek word here is komitsomi, kommitsomai.
SPEAKER_00: It sounds like commission.
SPEAKER_00: And I thought that's not a bad idea.
SPEAKER_00: And it entails the receiving of something as a payment.
SPEAKER_00: In the Greek sense, it was used for the payback of a loan with interest.
SPEAKER_00: It is like the payment of a person's salary plus a year and bonus or commission added to the check.
SPEAKER_00: That is what it's speaking about here.
SPEAKER_00: That same word is used in Ephesians 6 8.
SPEAKER_00: Knowing that whatever good thing each one does, good thing each one does, this he will receive back.
SPEAKER_00: There's a commission payback.
SPEAKER_00: A payback plus interest from the Lord, whether you're a slave or free.
SPEAKER_00: Wow.
SPEAKER_00: This is profound.
SPEAKER_00: Knowing that whatever good thing each one does, of course, with the caveat, with the right motive and out of the right motivation, he will receive payback from the Lord.
SPEAKER_00: And whether you're a slave or a free person, doesn't matter.
SPEAKER_00: Whether you're the CEO of a company or the sweeper of a floor, you will get your payback from Jesus.
SPEAKER_00: Luke 18, 3, Jesus says, whatever thing you do, whatever good thing you do, you will receive back in this time and the age to come.
SPEAKER_00: There's no sacrifice that you or I will make in this life for Jesus Christ that He will not pay back plus interest.
SPEAKER_00: I can give you an example of that.
SPEAKER_00: I came here in 2004 to the United States to receive a seminary training.
SPEAKER_00: I had a meager amount of money saved up over a period of 10 years.
SPEAKER_00: I put that money, all that I had, and I put it aside and I said, we're going to the United States, my wife.
SPEAKER_00: And I've got this amount of money set aside for my studies, my seminary training.
SPEAKER_00: And in the back of my mind, Jesus, you know, I'm giving a lot here.
SPEAKER_00: This is costing me a lot.
SPEAKER_00: So I go through four and a half years of seminary training, and in the end on the last day, I wrote my last exam, I get a call from a gentleman.
SPEAKER_00: And this guy says, Come over to my house, I wanted to talk things through with you.
SPEAKER_00: I'm like, what?
SPEAKER_00: Did I do something wrong here or whatever?
SPEAKER_00: He gives me a check and he says, I don't want to ever talk about this.
SPEAKER_00: Well, he gives me an envelope.
SPEAKER_00: He just says, I don't want to talk about this.
SPEAKER_00: And I thought, well, this is going to be a scathing rebuke.
SPEAKER_00: I get in the car, open up the check, the envelope.
SPEAKER_00: There's a check.
SPEAKER_00: The check is for the exact same amount that I came with to the United States.
SPEAKER_00: And here, in a sense, Jesus is giving back.
SPEAKER_00: I didn't give anything that he wouldn't give back.
SPEAKER_00: There's no sacrifice that he will not pay back with interest.
SPEAKER_00: He says in Luke 18, 30, whatever you sacrifice, you may get some of it back now, but you will for sure give everything back.
SPEAKER_00: He will give everything back with interest.
SPEAKER_00: So, what have we learned so far?
SPEAKER_00: Faithfulness with the right motive will ultimately be rewarded.
SPEAKER_00: Faithfulness, not greatness, will be rewarded.
SPEAKER_00: Faithful motives and faithful motivations oriented towards being pleasing to the Lord, that will ultimately be rewarded.
SPEAKER_00: The reward for faithfulness should be a motivation and a motivator.
SPEAKER_00: And you would go, Anton, you you don't put this carrot in front of us.
SPEAKER_00: Don't get with this idea of we should serve and do things because we will get a reward from Jesus.
SPEAKER_00: That's the wrong motive, you would say.
SPEAKER_00: Should we not just be faithful regardless of reward?
SPEAKER_00: Well, see how far that takes you.
SPEAKER_00: I'll give you an example.
SPEAKER_00: Hope my wife still talks to me afterwards.
SPEAKER_00: But in any case, the the one day we went to this pastor's conference, okay.
SPEAKER_00: And we walk like pastors, talk talk pastors, greet like pastors, and whatever.
SPEAKER_00: And uh we in this hotel, and we like at the top floor, and we go down.
SPEAKER_00: And my wife is telling me how prideful I was, and that I have no humility in me, and that I'm responding with pride, not humility, to the things that she pointed out to me.
SPEAKER_00: And so here we get to the fourth floor, and the district pastor, the kind of the high-up guy, walks into the elevator with his wife, and he says, Hey, Anton, the most humble man I know.
SPEAKER_00: And I'm like, Yes! Vindicated in this life.
SPEAKER_00: And just to seal the deal, I said to him, Well, you should ask my wife.
SPEAKER_00: She doesn't quite agree with you here.
SPEAKER_00: And then it even gets sweeter.
SPEAKER_00: He says, and Anton, when we tell you you are humble, you respond with more humility.
SPEAKER_00: And I thought, yes.
SPEAKER_00: We did not talk for the next three floors.
SPEAKER_00: You see, this idea of reward as a motivation, I think, is what keeps us going.
SPEAKER_00: People will say, Well, I gotta sorry for the Lord Jesus Christ because He did so much for me.
SPEAKER_00: I need to be thankful.
SPEAKER_00: It's all a matter of gratitude.
SPEAKER_00: Yeah, have you got kids and have you had Christmas?
SPEAKER_00: How quick does that that gratitude thing wear out?
SPEAKER_00: Okay, put away the papers.
SPEAKER_00: Let's pick up the papers.
SPEAKER_00: Ah, I don't want to do this, I'm tired.
SPEAKER_00: Well, I just gave you a lot of gifts.
SPEAKER_00: How many, how many lippers that got cleansed by Jesus came back to be thankful?
SPEAKER_00: Just tell me.
SPEAKER_00: One out of who?
SPEAKER_00: How many?
SPEAKER_00: Ten.
SPEAKER_00: Okay, so statistically, we don't do too well.
SPEAKER_00: We need a little more motivation.
SPEAKER_00: This idea of an eternal reward is a good motivation because and a good motivator to serve faithfully because it is a matter of faith.
SPEAKER_00: Go home and take me up on this offer.
SPEAKER_00: See if it is easy to believe in this thing that Jesus will pay us back with interest, that he will reward us.
SPEAKER_00: Try and put your mind around this idea of reward.
SPEAKER_00: It's a matter of faith.
SPEAKER_00: It is a matter of faith, not uh side.
SPEAKER_00: It takes a strong faith to conceive this idea of reward.
SPEAKER_00: So it is not works, it's a faith.
SPEAKER_00: When we give something up, when we make a sacrifice for Jesus, remind yourself of Mark 10, 30, he will give you back some in this life, but mostly in the life to come.
SPEAKER_00: Secondly, faithfulness and reward is not a matter of sheer human willpower.
SPEAKER_00: Do you think we can just be faithful because we decided, we made a decision that we want to be faithful?
SPEAKER_00: Come on, let's let's let's not fool ourselves.
SPEAKER_00: We are people who are driven by reward.
SPEAKER_00: That's who we are.
SPEAKER_00: We can't pick chocolate from vanilla without making some calculations.
SPEAKER_00: Even when I'm at my peak of altruism, I would go to my wife and say, honey, can I get you some ice cream?
SPEAKER_00: And she's like, Oh, you're such a servant.
SPEAKER_00: And as I scoop the ice cream out, I pick out the ice cream with the most chocolate pieces in, right?
SPEAKER_00: Or I weigh it.
SPEAKER_00: I don't like, right?
SPEAKER_00: There's no, we we always act in in the sense of what will be rewarding to us.
SPEAKER_00: But this matter, this reward here, should be something labored for and in utter dependence on the grace of Jesus Christ and in the power of the Holy Spirit.
SPEAKER_00: Paul says to Timothy, encouraging him to faithfulness, in 2 Timothy 2.1, he says, before you can think about faithfulness, you've got to think about being strong in the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ.
SPEAKER_00: This is not a matter of sheer will.
SPEAKER_00: This is a matter of depending on the grace of Jesus and surrendering ourselves to the power of the Holy Spirit.
SPEAKER_00: Thirdly, do you perceive from the passages that we read here that Jesus is a threatening master or a rewarding master?
SPEAKER_00: How does he want to be perceived by his followers?
SPEAKER_00: One who says, I'm gonna get you if you don't?
SPEAKER_00: Or is he one who says, I'm gonna give to you if you do?
SPEAKER_00: You think about this.
SPEAKER_00: Jesus is not the threatening master.
SPEAKER_00: He does not motivate us by fear of punishment, loss, or some, well, you'll you'll lose your salvation if you don't.
SPEAKER_00: No, he's a master that rewards faithful servants.
SPEAKER_00: Our Lord is indeed not a threatening master, but a rewarding master, period.
SPEAKER_00: You see, General Eisenhower wanted to make a strong statement by executing it Slavic, so that the prospect of death by firing squad would serve as a motivator to faithfulness.
SPEAKER_00: How did that work out for the Allied forces?
SPEAKER_00: Let me tell you this.
SPEAKER_00: Around 50,000 American soldiers deserted.
SPEAKER_00: Over 100,000 British soldiers deserted.
SPEAKER_00: 150,000 Allied troops were unfaithful to the call of duty and deserted regardless of the prospect of firing squad.
SPEAKER_00: These deserters were not motivated by threats.
SPEAKER_00: They were motivated by the prospect of pleasure.
SPEAKER_00: It is said that these deserters simply fell into the arms of some French or Italian woman while others became black market pirates.
SPEAKER_00: We gotta think about motivation.
SPEAKER_00: And what is a good motivator?
SPEAKER_00: Reward is a good motivator, and Jesus uses reward.
SPEAKER_00: If you were the owner of a company and you had two sales managers, and each sales manager wants to inspire loyalty and faithfulness to the company, who do you think would you favor?
SPEAKER_00: The despotic, unreasonable sales manager who believes that threatening his salespeople with punishment or job loss will be the best motivator?
SPEAKER_00: Or do you think the generous sales manager who motivates his sales team with the prospect of a fat commission payout at the end of the quarter?
SPEAKER_00: Which one do you think will have the most success?
SPEAKER_00: I've worked for both of them, I can tell you.
SPEAKER_00: That is how he viewed Jesus.
SPEAKER_00: What did he do with the talent?
SPEAKER_00: Was he faithful with that single talent?
SPEAKER_00: He wrapped it in a banke and he buried it.
SPEAKER_00: He was unfaithful.
SPEAKER_00: Even the fear of reprisal, of punishment from a despotic master did not motivate him an inch towards faithfulness.
SPEAKER_00: So fear is not a good motivator, and Jesus does not use fear as a motivator.
SPEAKER_00: He buried the talent, Matthew 25, 25.
SPEAKER_00: But in Matthew 25, 23, to those who were faithful, he says, faithful slave, I will give you more.
SPEAKER_00: That's a generous master, not a despotic master.
SPEAKER_00: I gave you five, what did you give me back?
SPEAKER_00: Five more.
SPEAKER_00: Well, that's a hundred percent increase.
SPEAKER_00: I want five hundred percent, lousy loser.
SPEAKER_00: That's not what Jesus is saying.
SPEAKER_00: He's just merely looking at faithfulness and it rewards faithfulness.
SPEAKER_00: Let me take you here to a verse that you've been looking at up there.
SPEAKER_00: 1 Samuel 26, 23.
SPEAKER_00: Finally, David's time come.
SPEAKER_00: Saul falls into his hands, he's gonna slit his throat or not.
SPEAKER_00: Look at what motivated David to do the right thing.
SPEAKER_00: 1 Samuel 26, 23.
SPEAKER_00: The Lord repay each man for his righteousness and his faithfulness.
SPEAKER_00: For that the Lord delivered you into my hand today, but I refuse to stretch out my hand against the Lord's anointed.
SPEAKER_00: This is a good example.
SPEAKER_00: You know what?
SPEAKER_00: I'm gonna wait for the payout here.
SPEAKER_00: I'll let God deal with this matter here.
SPEAKER_00: He will take care of this rascal called soul.
SPEAKER_00: But I'm motivated by this prospect of being rewarded by God.
SPEAKER_00: C.
SPEAKER_00: S.
SPEAKER_00: Lewis wrote about the frailty and the fickleness of the human nature and our lack of motivation.
SPEAKER_00: And he says, where there's uh no reward, there's no motivation.
SPEAKER_00: He says, if we consider the unblushing promises of reward and the staggering nature of the rewards promised in the gospel, it would seem that our Lord finds our desires and motivation not all too strong, but rather all too weak.
SPEAKER_00: Doesn't that say something about the Lord Jesus that knows that we are people who generally go the extra mile if there's the prospect of reward?
SPEAKER_00: And if it's a heavenly reward, it's not a bad prospect, right?
SPEAKER_00: And it's not a bad motivation.
SPEAKER_00: So let's tie it all up here.
SPEAKER_00: 2 Corinthians 5 9.
SPEAKER_00: Let's wrap it up.
SPEAKER_00: Verse 9 of 2 Corinthians 5 says, Therefore, we also have as our ambition, whether at home or absent, to be what?
SPEAKER_00: Pleasing to him.
SPEAKER_00: I just love the ring of that.
SPEAKER_00: Paul's ambition is to be pleasing to the Lord.
SPEAKER_00: And I think that encapsulates everything here.
SPEAKER_00: If we aim to be pleasing to the Lord every moment, every second of life, guess what?
SPEAKER_00: You will build a life that is based on faithfulness.
SPEAKER_00: And on faithfulness will be built, faithfulness will be built faithfulness.
SPEAKER_00: But we got to look at our ambitions.
SPEAKER_00: Our drive.
SPEAKER_00: Humility was a bad virtue in Hellenistic culture.
SPEAKER_00: Paul says, to the contrary, our ambition, my drive, my motivation, my passion is to be pleasing to the Lord.
SPEAKER_00: The primary focus of Paul's life was to be pleasing to the Lord in all things.
SPEAKER_00: And dear brothers and sisters, the question about whether you are going to do the right thing or the wrong thing or doing something that is faithful or unfaithful will depend really, really, whether it is pleasing to the Lord.
SPEAKER_00: Every decision boils down to this thing.
SPEAKER_00: Am I trying to please the Lord and will the Lord be pleased by my actions?
SPEAKER_00: It's that simple.
SPEAKER_00: Or am I pleasing myself?
SPEAKER_00: As Richard Baxter speaks about the flesh-pleasing.
SPEAKER_00: We can live flesh-pleasing lives or God-pleasing lives.
SPEAKER_00: But our ambitions can get a little motivator from a little more motivation from this thought of reward, verse 10.
SPEAKER_00: It's interesting that following verse 9 comes verse 10.
SPEAKER_00: And there's a logical connection there.
SPEAKER_00: Look at verse 10 there in 2 Corinthians 5.
SPEAKER_00: He says, for we must appear before the judgment seat of Christ.
SPEAKER_00: Verse 9.
SPEAKER_00: Why?
SPEAKER_00: Because I'm going to appear before the judgment seat of Christ.
SPEAKER_00: That's why I do it.
SPEAKER_00: And at the judgment seat of Christ, guess what's happening there?
SPEAKER_00: It's not a judgment of condemnation, but a kind of judgment of compensation.
SPEAKER_00: Paul's ambition was driven by the sense of reward at the judgment seat of Christ.
SPEAKER_00: And therefore, everything in his life was driven and motivated by this thought of pleasing the Lord and being pleasing to the Lord.
SPEAKER_00: Beloved.
SPEAKER_00: We all have ambition.
SPEAKER_00: In the end, you must appear before the judgment seat of Christ.
SPEAKER_00: This is not a threat, this is a motivation.
SPEAKER_00: This is to spur us up and spur us on for greater accountability, greater faithfulness, greater commitment.
SPEAKER_00: This is not something to dread, but something to look forward to.
SPEAKER_00: The footprints of Paul's ambitions always led to the door of God's pleasure.
SPEAKER_00: My dear brothers and sisters, there's going to come a time when we all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, and all your motivations and all your deeds will be like footprints in the sand.
SPEAKER_00: To which door would that lead?
SPEAKER_00: Would it lead to a door of flesh-pleasing, self-pleasing or impressing other people?
SPEAKER_00: Or would it be every time hit the bullseye of God's glory?
SPEAKER_00: Richard Baxter says, he says, the importance of pleasing God in our daily battle with our fallen flesh, he says the following, but indeed, nothing but the love of pleasing God can truly cure the love of flesh pleasing.
unknown: Wow.
SPEAKER_00: Nothing but the love of pleasing God can truly cure the love of flesh pleasing.
SPEAKER_00: And such can this is the cure for every sin.
SPEAKER_00: Gaining victory over sin and living a life of the flesh is a matter of motivation.
SPEAKER_00: It is a matter of pleasing God rather than pleasing ourselves.
SPEAKER_00: David Brainert was a missionary to the Mohicans, and he echoed Paul's ambition.
SPEAKER_00: He said, My heaven is to please God and glorify him and to give all to him and to be wholly devoted to his glory.
SPEAKER_00: I think David Brainerd died at the age of 28.
SPEAKER_00: He died very young.
SPEAKER_00: But for about five years in his life, he gave everything to Christ.
SPEAKER_00: And Brainerd said, ministering to these Mohican warriors was just something amazing.
SPEAKER_00: He recalls the times that he would speak about the wrath of God.
SPEAKER_00: These warriors would look at him with stern faces because wrath and threats of death is the only thing they understood.
SPEAKER_00: But when he spoke about the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, tears poured down the eyes of these Mohican warriors.
SPEAKER_00: Jesus is not a threatening master.
SPEAKER_00: He's a rewarder of those who've diligently serve him.
SPEAKER_00: Hebrews 11 5.
SPEAKER_00: And without faith, it is impossible to please him, for he who comes to God must believe that he is, and that he is a what?
SPEAKER_00: A rewarder of those who diligently seek him.
SPEAKER_00: God is a rewarding God.
SPEAKER_00: Give him your best because he gives abundantly.
SPEAKER_00: Give him first place in your heart and in your service because he gives generously.
SPEAKER_00: Give him first place in all you do because he gives benevolently.
SPEAKER_00: Consecrate every part of your life to him because he is faithful to reward those who diligently seek him.
SPEAKER_00: Let's praise him.
SPEAKER_00: Lord, thank you so much for these wonderful truths that we do not have a master who says, I will reap where I never sowed.
SPEAKER_00: One, you are not a master who threatens us, but rather motivates us.
SPEAKER_00: You are so kind and so benevolent and so gracious and so generous.
SPEAKER_00: That all I want to do is do the things that is pleasing to you.
SPEAKER_00: May our lives be consecrated to you and a pleasure for you.
SPEAKER_00: May we all here, sitting here today, one day hear the words, good and faithful servant into my joy.
SPEAKER_00: You were faithful over a little, I will appoint you to more.
SPEAKER_00: We love you, Jesus, and we ask that you be patient with us and that you will graciously help us in our faith, our lack of faith in the reward, the eternal rewards waiting for us.
SPEAKER_00: We pray this in Jesus' name.
SPEAKER_00: Amen.
SPEAKER_01: That concludes this sermon from Faith Evangelical Free Church.
SPEAKER_01: Our mission is to declare the Word of God and disciple believers into mature, devoted followers of Jesus.
SPEAKER_01: You can learn more by visiting our website at faithfree.com.