(Disclaimer: This transcript is auto-generated and may contain mistakes.)

to us in Jesus name we pray amen amen all right we're in second John look down at your Bibles at verse number seven it says here in verse number seven for many deceivers are entered into the world who confess not that Jesus Christ has come into flesh this is a deceiver and an Antichrist look to yourselves that we lose not those things which we have wrought but that will receive a full reward whosoever transgresseth and abideth not in the doctrine of Christ hath not God he that abideth in the doctrine of Christ hath both the Father and the Son and the time of my sermon this morning is a full reward a full reward of course it's from verse number eight where the Apostle John is telling his converts to look to themselves that he loses not his reward or excuse me that he lose not those things which he has wrought but that he receives a full reward now here in second John the Apostle John is essentially writing to his converts we see there in verse number one that refers to himself as the elder who's speaking to the elect lady referring to a woman who is saved a woman who has believed on Jesus Christ and her children and he's just kind of giving her some basic truths they're telling her about the love of God and and and just things reiterating specific doctrines but then he kind of gets into verse number seven all the way through verse number nine the importance of making sure that they look to themselves so that he doesn't lose his full reward and I want to explain this morning what that's referring to but before we get into that terminal thing for what to Matthew chapter number six Matthew chapter number six this morning I want to preach on the subject of rewards okay I want to talk about rewards and in the Bible that term is used interchangeably with recompense it's used with riches it's used with treasures in heaven and it's essentially referring to the fact that in the Christian life God is essentially hiring us to do a work for him and he's hiring us and what that means is that he's gonna pay us something when all this is said and done with everything is finished when we go to heaven when we essentially go into the millennial reign we get a reward for the labor that we've done and you know that's a blessing because of the fact that God doesn't owe us anything you know God doesn't owe us anything he's given us salvation for free he's been he's our God he's our Savior the Bible tells us that he loads us daily with benefits there's all types of blessings that are attached to being a Christian but even on top of that he even lays out the fact that we can labor for him we can work for him we can have him as our boss so to speak where he's keeping track of our work he's keeping track of our hours he's keeping track of our labors so that we can be recompensed and at the end of our life and that is a huge blessing and I'm gonna explain to you why I'm gonna give two things in this sermon before I get into the introduction here I'm gonna talk about what are the rewards and then how do we get those rewards but first before I get into that I want to talk about some of the reasons why we serve God okay what are some of the reasons why we serve God reason number one would be because we love the Lord Jesus Christ right you know the Bible tells us that the love of Christ constraineth us and what that means is that it constrains us to live the Christian life to obey his commands to keep his commandments to win souls to Christ to fulfill God's will according to the Word of God we do it out of a love for the Lord and that's really should be the prime motive as to why we do things it's not always the reason why but that is essentially one of the reasons why out of gratitude after everything that he's done for us we want to serve him because we love him and we know it's because he first loved us so that's reason number one whose baby is that that's my baby happened it on Thursday I'm gonna say it again that's my that's my daughter there she just does not like my preaching I don't know why she's bothered by what I'm saying so first it's out of a love for Jesus Christ but secondly we serve God because we fear him okay you see anybody who has any understanding of the Bible has read it understands that there's consequences to our actions and there's consequences to our disobedience to God and his word and that is a good motive for us to serve him and obey him because we don't want to suffer the consequences of our rebellion against God we know that God will punish us the Bible tells us that whom the Lord loveth he chases it that scourges every son whom he received it and so over and over again we see that God will punish his people for their disobedience for their unwillingness to serve him you know there there's consequences to that the Bible tells us that it is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God and in context of that in Hebrews chapter 10 it's actually referring to God's people okay when God's people live in rebellion they're involved in sin they're just not fulfilling the will of God you know it motivates God to punish his people in order to bring them to a place of repentance to get them right with him and so we serve him out of a love out of love for Jesus Christ we serve him out of fear but then also we serve him because of the promise of reward and we often talk about the blessings of the Christian life and essentially what that means is that when we do what God tells us to do it's not like God's just like yeah and that's it you know just do what I tell you to do and there's absolutely no recompense to that there's no reward no and in fact there's a massive reward for believers there are so many blessings that are attached to our obedience to him and his word it motivates us to stick it out in the Christian life it motivates us to win souls to Christ to disciple others to fulfill his word because of the fact that we know that there is a rich reward attached to our obedience and I would say that that one right there is probably the main reason why we serve God okay obviously we love the Lord obviously we fear him but knowing that we're gonna receive a reward one day is a great motivator to stick it out in the Christian life and in fact it helps us when we have to endure the hardships of the Christian life you know when the going gets tough and we go through tribulation we go through trials we go through heartaches you know we're reminded that it will be repaid one day and it kind of it kind of motivates us to stay on track and keep serving God you're in Matthew chapter 6 I'm gonna read to you from Matthew 13 in verse number 44 it says here again the kingdom of heaven is like unto a treasure hid in a field the which when a man hath found he hideth and for joy thereof goeth and selleth all that he hath and buyeth that field what is the Bible telling us here well Jesus Christ is given this parable of a man finding a treasure in a field and because the treasure is so valuable because it's worth so much what he does is he hides it and then he essentially collects all his resources all his treasures all his riches and he sells it all he just allows himself to go broke so to speak temporarily in order to buy the field in which the treasure is found knowing full well that his sacrifice pales in comparison to the treasure that he's gonna receive at the end of that transaction okay and what this is essentially telling us is that the sacrifice of serving Christ is worth the reward my friends you know the sacrifice of living the Christian life of loving your husband of loving your wife of raising your children and the nurture and the admonition of the Lord of you know spending your Sundays winning souls to Christ of just living the Christian life the sacrifices that come with that is well worth the reward you're gonna receive at the end of the day okay and he the Bible tells us there that for the joy thereof so it's not like it's a grief to him to sell all his possessions and all his resources like oh man I got to give all this up it's like no I know what I'm gonna get in return it's gonna be a hundredfold you know whatever resources I have really pales in comparison to this great treasure that I'm gonna receive if I buy this field so what I'm trying to say here is that you know my admonishment to you this morning is to buy the field okay buy the field look at the Christian life not as a grief that you have to endure look at coming to church and you know winning souls to Christ not as a responsibility and just a grief and it's just oh man so laborious and it's just so boring and always see it as a joy because that field has great treasures in it okay when you come when you go to the field of lost souls there's a lot of treasure in that field when you buy the field of you know raising your family and and for the glory of God and seeking to raise your children in the right way that is a worthy field to purchase because it has great treasure within it okay and so you know God will compensate us for our service here on this earth you know he's not he's not gonna forget your labor of love he's not gonna just forget you know the works that you've done here on this earth and the service that you've accomplished he will compensate you in the long run now you're in Matthew chapter 6 now let's talk about the rewards what are the rewards that we receive okay and I would say that this is one of my favorite subjects in the Bible because of the fact that you know we all like to get paid okay and you know whenever someone gets a job or they they apply for a job you know one of the things they do look at is how much are they gonna get paid right because I want to see if it's even worth it you know it's like well what's the pay like what's the salary or how much do they pay hourly or what's what are the benefits okay well that's what we're doing this morning we're gonna look at the pay okay now the pay as far as rewards are concerned can be broken up into two categories okay category number one is that which is temporal category number two is that which is long-term category number one that which is temples referring to the immediate rewards that we receive when we serve Christ here on this earth okay the Bible tells us in Proverbs 11 31 behold the righteous shall be recompensed in the earth the Bible says much more the wicked then or excuse much more the wicked and the sinner the Bible tells us so God is telling us that God will recompense us even while we're here on this earth now here's the thing is that God could easily say well I'm gonna pay you someday you know you're gonna be in eternity a lot longer than you are here so you're not gonna get anything here but you know what the reason he allows us to get paid even here is because you know it encourages us to keep serving God you understand it kind of motivates us and encourages us and it confirms that what we're doing is right so therefore he gives us temporal blessings immediate rewards to kind of motivate us to stay in the fight to keep serving God etc now let me give you some examples again your mark Matthew 6 I'm gonna read to you from Mark chapter 10 and verse 20 verse 28 it says then Peter began to say to him lo we have left all and follow thee Jesus answered and said verily I say to you there is no man that hath left house or brethren or sisters or father or mother or wife or children or lands for my sake in the Gospels but he shall receive a hundredfold in this time houses brethren sisters mothers children lands with persecutions and in the world to come eternal life what is he saying you know people who sacrifice everything that they have so they can serve God it's not like God doesn't take notice of that okay he takes note of the sacrifice do you make and then he's gonna give you a hundredfold in this lifetime now prosperity preachers love this chap they love this passage here because they want the houses the mansions the helipad the yacht they want all these things but you know what someone who is living for God and serving God those things aren't necessarily important to them mansions are not important to them yachts are not important to them those things are not important and in fact the Bible commands us not to be covetous it commands us to be content with such things as we have and whatsoever state that we're in therewith to be content so this is not a contradiction Bible's not telling us here Jesus is not teaching his disciples hey if you forsake all these things I'm gonna give you mansions I'm gonna give you real estate I'm gonna give you helipads and yachts and beamers and Bentley's and all these things he's not telling them that okay what is he saying he's essentially saying that whatever sacrifices you make here as far as possessions and relationships are concerned he's gonna reimburse you that in this lifetime with what with relationships and resources now why would he do that well number one to confirm that what we're doing is right but number two so that we can continue to serve God you see God is not a God in heaven who just wants you to be broke all the time or something where he just wants you to be broke he just wants you to be poor no you want you to enjoy the things that you have but he also wants us to understand that these things are temporal and then we shouldn't attach ourselves to the possessions of this world because we can become entangled with the possessions of this world and it can render us useless for the cause of Christ okay and so God is reimbursing you on what you miss out on you see when you forsake all your friends and people who you enjoyed being around well he reimburses you with other relationships that are far more meaningful you know if you have family that has forsaken you who no longer loves you or you know they they don't like your beliefs they don't like you come to this church they don't like what you do they don't like the fact that you became a Christian that's fine God reimburses you with other friends he reimburses you with mothers and sisters not wives you know brothers and sisters family amen and you know there's something about a church family okay there's something about having brothers and sisters in Christ and I think many people could attest to the fact that sometimes we feel closer to our church family than we would feel to our blood blood family where it's like we have more in common with Christians more specifically with those in a local New Testament Church then we would have with our own blood family and you know what that's biblical my friends okay you say well you know do I have to forsake all my friends well you know there's plenty of principles that we can teach on this morning regarding friendships and who you should fellowship with and who you should not but most of the time if someone asked me do you think I should be friends with this person they're basically already answering their own question they already know they probably shouldn't have that person around okay you know possibly because they're a bad influence on them they're gonna lead them astray whatever it may be but the point that I'm making is that God is reimbursing you for what you miss out on you know you're maybe you're missing out on the riches of this world that's fine he's gonna reimburse you with other riches and I want you to notice that it says that he will give us all these things with persecutions now why is that well because persecutions produces blessings right I mean the Bible tells us in Matthew chapter 5 blessed are they which are persecuted for righteousness sake for theirs is the kingdom of heaven blessed are you will mention revile you and persecute you and shall say all manner of evil against you falsely for my sake rejoice and be exceeding glad for great is your reward in heaven so the blessing of just sacrificing in order to serve God is that he reimburses us with more resources and relationships and persecution that produces more rewards in other words he gives us abundantly above all that we can ask or think and so you know those are the immediate rewards the immediate rewards are meaningful relationships my friends and you know if you're in here and you're like well I don't really consider that like a really great reward then you're just a shallow person you're a shallow covetous person that you know you must love the things of this world too much because you know possessions and things material things don't mean anything these inanimate objects in this world are meaningless they're only supposed to help us to serve God and serve our families and serve those around us the most important thing in this world is the people that we know okay is the meaningful relationships that we cultivate in this life you know your wife your husband your children your brothers and sisters in Christ this is where the blessing is and look folks the world out there wants relationships that's why they always want to get the most followers and the most friends the most people to follow them but at the end of the day most of you know I got like 6,000 followers on Instagram but most of them don't even know me okay and let's just be honest you know most of them wouldn't do jack squat for me if I really needed something let's just be honest oh but you guys are friends on Instagram that doesn't mean anything it means that my post is gonna show up on their grid and I might get a heart it means that you know it means there's people who are following me that won't visit my my grid but they'll watch my stories because they're nosy or something you know and they might give me like a fire emoji or thumbs up or something like that they might confirm their love towards me or something let's just be honest those aren't meaningful relationships you know meaningful relationships is when you're talking to someone face-to-face when you're actually going out to eat together you're spending time with one another you know you're actually verbalizing communication one with another in person okay those are the meaningful relationships and so you know that is a blessing especially in 2022 people don't know how to like have friends anymore they don't necessarily know how to have relationships anymore they don't know how to have friendships because of social media and the way technology works today so this reward is definitely great you know it's an important immediate reward that we need now okay it's friendships persecutions that produce more rewards but what's another immediate reward that we receive well think about this one thing that human beings want and I would say probably men more than women but I think in general everyone is honor and recognition I think everyone in this world wants some form of honor understand what is honor it's respect you know someone who holds you in high esteem or high regard and you know this is a reward that we receive in this lifetime when we serve Christ now given you know not by the world by the way you know because the world does not honor Christians right you know we are made the off scouring of this world the Bible says the world hates Christianity the world hates Christians it hates the Bible it hates God we're talking about honor amongst brethren author honor amongst Christians and churches this is a reward that we receive for the labor that we do and although this may seem trivial the reality is this is that deep down inside every single person desires some form of honor for the things that they do they want to be recognized for the labor that they do they want to have the reputation as being someone who is a person of diligence and and and integrity and you know a hard worker and a person who is godly everyone wants that type of honor if you would be honest with yourself look at Matthew chapter 6 this is a biblical concept here look at verse number 1 of Matthew 6 it says here take heed that you do not your alms before man to be seen of them otherwise you have no reward of your father which is in heaven therefore when thou doest thine alms do not sound a trumpet before thee as the hypocrites do in the synagogue and in the streets that they may have glory of men barely I say unto you they have their reward so what is the reward that they receive well the fact that everyone just gets to see what they're doing because they are proclaiming their own works when it says they sound a trumpet doesn't really mean they have a trumpet and they're just blowing it the modern term would be they're they're tooting their own horn okay they're just kind of bragging about their works they're bragging about how good they are how godly they are well they got the reward because now you know everyone knows how godly they are apparently verse 3 but when thou doest alms let not thy left hand know what thy right hand doeth now obviously from a physical perspective that would be impossible what this is emphasizing here is that you should be so discreet with your works and with the labors that you do it would almost seem as though your left hand does not know what your right hand is doing it says in verse 4 that thine alms may be in secret look what it says and thy father which seeth in secret himself shall reward thee openly this is an immediate reward with the same you will be honored openly when you do things in secret look what it goes on to say in verse number five and when thou prayest thou shall not be as the hypocrites are for they love to pray standing in the synagogues into the corner of the streets that they may be seen of men this reminds you of Jack Treiber from North Valley Baptist Church where he literally posted on a Facebook post him praying on the corner of a street in front of his church it's just you know because of course someone just randomly with a really nice camera was just walking by and just saw him praying on the corner of a street like wow look how godly and I'm talking about on his knees to the ground just like the perfect angle well you know what he has his reward it says verily I say to you they have the reward what is the reward that he got likes the thumbs up on Facebook the heart on Facebook the little comment on Facebook that said oh man this guy's so godly looking and praying for him he's standing for righteousness and you know that's his reward verse 6 but thou when thou prayest enter into thy closet when thou has shut thy door pray to the father which is in secret and thy father which seeth in secret shall reward thee openly so what is the Bible telling us here is telling us that there's an open reward for people who do things in secret and that open reward is honor and recognition but it's not because you are proclaiming your own goodness right you're not boasting of what your capabilities are you're not boasting of you know your gifts you're not boasting of your talents you're not boasting of your work ethic you're not boasting of those things you do those things in secret and allow God to boast of you you allow other people to boast about you okay look at verse 16 moreover when he fasts be not as the hypocrites of a sad countenance for they disfigure their faces that they may appear a men unto men to fast barely I say unto you they have their reward so the Pharisees are like fasting for like a day and they're just like it's like what's wrong nothing I'm fasting for the Lord and I was like wow this guy's godly you know verse 17 but thou will now fastest anoint thine head and wash thy face that thou appear not into men to fast but until the father which is in secret and thy father which seeth in secret shall reward thee openly so I think you can see here that honor and recognition is an immediate reward that we receive in this lifetime but we got to get it the right way you know it's not like hey you know I just wanna let you know I'm going soul winning but I'm going for like a really long time though me and Vitor we're gonna we can't join you guys cuz me and Vitor are gonna be so winning for like five hours I just wanna let you guys know that but it will catch up later you know it's just like what are what are people doing when they do that they are they want a reward they want honor and recognition so that people walk away we're like wow I'm not so winning for like five hours I'm not doing that but he is or she is wow I mean that's that's pretty godly well guess what guys you got your reward you know don't boast of your works don't you know boast of your work ethic and I'm not saying you can't talk about you know work and when you when you're you know working at your job and how many hours you're putting in or whatever it may be but if you're looking for honor and respect and recognition do it the right way and in fact you don't have to turn there first Timothy go to John chapter 12 first Timothy 4 15 says meditate upon these things give thyself holy to them listen to this that thy profiting may appear to all you know one thing I've noticed is that the people who just labor in the Word of God they pray you don't see it they win souls to Christ people just seem to recognize that that person is just a legitimate godly individual and they didn't have to say anything about it why is that because God has a tendency to shed light upon a person who is laboring quietly not boasting about it not boasting about their soul not boasting about their prayer let not boasting about their Bible reading they just do it and God exalts them in the eyes of people they he magnifies them in the sight of others and they receive honor and recognition which is an immediate reward for serving God so he's supposed to work their profiting appears to all and you know this is important because of the fact that you know potentially a lot of people lose out on rewards immediate rewards because of how much boasting they do look at John chapter 12 and verse 26 it says here if any man serve me let him follow me where I am there shall also my servant be if any man serve me him will my father honor the Bible says I don't about you but I want to be honored by God I want God to honor me I want the I want God to honor me and recognize me and praise me for my service to him but we have to do it in the right way my friends okay and the honest truth is that when someone boasts of their labors a mature Christian just sees right through it they're kind of like okay this person is just being proud proud this person is just being arrogant to being prideful they just want to talk about everything that they do and how much did they do it you know and it's that it's actually off-putting I mean it's very pharisaical we see that in Matthew chapter 6 but you know it's an it's a it's a honest thing to want though you know we can't blame people for wanting recognition and honor because that is an immediate reward that God offers to people here but you have to get it in the right way the Bible says in Matthew 23 and verse 12 and whosoever shall exalt himself shall be abased these are often the individuals who get humbled because they're exalting themselves however he that shall humble himself shall be exalted it's typically the people who just work quietly and just serve God they're the ones who get recognized and get honored and get the respect that they want okay now those are the temporal rewards and obviously there's probably a lot more that we can talk about but I want to get into also the eternal rewards because obviously the eternal rewards are far more important in the sense of long term that's really what we're striving for so we work for the immediate rewards because we need to be confirmed we need that confirmation that what we're doing is right we want people to praise us and say hey you're doing a good job I see your labor of love I see that you're out soul-winning I see that you're just learning I know that you're reading the Bible based upon your conversation based upon your questions I see that you're trying your best to lead your family I see that you're trying to be faithful and I just want to say you're doing a great job and and you know it's a blessing to have you in our church that's the kind of honor that we should give people right when we observe them doing those things and it helps them to say you know what I'm doing what I'm doing is right then I'm gonna keep this up but then there's also an eternal reward and this is mainly through listen to this the resurrection and the millennial reign now I'm not gonna spend too much time on this only because I've preached many sermons on this in times past but look at Romans chapter number 8 if you would Romans chapter number 8 I'll read to you from Matthew chapter 6 verse 19 it says lay not up for yourselves treasures upon earth where moth and rust doth corrupt and where thieves break through and steal but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven where neither moth nor rust doth corrupt and where thieves do not break through nor steal for where your treasure is there where your heart be also so God's not against you being rich he just wants you to be rich towards God he just wants you to have riches and wealth spiritually he's just telling you to invest in the right type of wealth don't invest in the monetary wealth of this world that's only a momentary type wealth you should get yourself some eternal wealth okay he says in Romans chapter 8 look at verse 17 and if children then heirs heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ if so be that we suffer with him that we may be glorified that we may be also glorified together so when we believe on Jesus Christ for salvation we become heirs of God okay however if we choose to live the Christian life and suffer persecution tribulation hardships then we become a joint heir with Christ in other words there's a reward for that look at verse 18 for I reckon that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory that shall be revealed in us now glory when we think of it from a practical perspective is referring to brightness something that shines but it's synonymous with recognition praise and honor so that same honor that you receive here on this earth that we that we strive to get when we serve the Lord you know this is the honor that we're also going to receive in the eternal okay the difference is is that it's manifested through our resurrected bodies okay go to 1st Corinthians chapter 15 1st Corinthians chapter 15 so when you serve God according to the Bible at the resurrection also known as the rapture you receive a glorified body but there are some glorified bodies that are going to shine brighter than other glorified bodies say why well because the vast majority of Christians don't serve Christ so they're gonna be like you know one of those night lights or something like that not very bright at all but then there's others who are serving Christ they're gonna shine brightly they're gonna shine brightly and in fact the Bible tells us in Hebrews chapter 11 that there are certain people in times past who refused deliverance because they wanted a better resurrection they understood I want a better glorified body and they were willing to be martyred for the cause of Christ because they knew the doctrine of being glorified in the resurrected bodies in the glorification that they were going to receive because of it look at first Corinthians 15 39 all flesh is not the same flesh but there's one kind of flesh of men another flesh of beasts and another flesh another fishes another birds there are also celestial bodies and bodies terrestrial but the glory of the celestial is one and the glory of the terrestrial is another there is one glory of the Sun another glory of the moon another glory of the stars for one star deferred from another star in glory this is all in context of the resurrection and he's essentially saying those stars have a certain brightness the Sun has a certain brightness the moon has a certain brightness even planets have certain brightnesses to them okay and when you look at the sky and you look at the stars you obviously see that some stars shine brighter than others and what he's trying to say is that when the day comes when we are resurrected some people are just going to shine brighter than others and that's obviously a testament to their labor here on this earth so what should that encourage us to do well it should encourage you here on this earth to let your light so shine before men that they may see your good works and glorify your father which is in heaven okay go to 2nd Corinthians chapter 4 2nd Corinthians chapter number 4 now we see through a glass darkly right now so we don't really know how that works right we've only known that which is terrestrial we only know that which is here on this earth so we don't really know what a resurrected body would look like but at the end of the day doesn't really matter okay you know it doesn't really matter you know how we're gonna look at the end of the day we just know that what we're gonna receive is obviously it gonna be a great reward it's it's worth sacrificing and serving and fighting for look at 2nd Corinthians 4 and verse 16 it says for which cause we faint not but though our outward man perish yet the inward man is renewed day by day for our light affliction which is but for a moment worketh for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory now notice the Apostle Paul said light affliction now I don't know if you know this but he did not suffer light affliction it I mean according to our standards the guy's being like stoned and shipwrecked and I mean he's falling to the countrymen and trying to kill him I mean he went through a lot of suffering a lot of persecution but yet out of his own mouth he said these are light afflictions and they pale in comparison to the glory that shall be revealed in him he says it worketh for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory so the eternal reward that we receive is a resurrected body okay that's why we shouldn't necessarily worry about you know people today they they care too much of how they look you know they get all this plastic surgery and all these piercings and tattoos and they're always you know those people who want to just switch races now and just like they want to be Korean they want to be this and that you know you got you got the you got the ages who just don't want to have slanted eyes so they put tape you know you guys know what I'm talking about they literally have tape for their eyes to kind of make them open up wider how many know what I'm talking about I know my personal experience not because I did it but because I have family who's done it you know they're they're they're Chinese and they used to do it and so that's how I even learned about it you know but you have people who like want to change their appearance there's something wrong with improving your appearance but some people just want to change it completely because they're just dissatisfied with how they physically look but folks at the end of the day doesn't matter okay God made you that way you know can the thing formed say to him that formed it why hast thou made me thus why'd you make me Mexican why do I gotta be so dark why do I gotta be so white why do I gotta be so yellow why do I gotta be so black why cuz guys that's the way God made you stop whining about it stop complain why do I gotta be so short why do I gotta be so fat now that one you can you know God don't you know don't don't charge God foolishly now why do I gotta be so skinny why do I gotta be so you know why do my feet look like this already this they're complaining about their appearance when in actuality you're complaining about the way God made you that's the way God wanted you to be and we're fearfully and wonderfully made now some people they're like yeah I know some people are like on the other side of the spectrum they're like well there's nothing wrong with me I don't know what you're talking they think all glorified bodies like they're the template to all glorified bodies or something what I'm saying is that you know at the end of the day if we live to be 80 85 it pales in comparison to eternity because we're gonna be in our resurrected bodies obviously a lot longer than we are in these physical bodies we shouldn't worry about those things you know instead you know channel that energy and that effort into serving God you know and by the way no you're not gonna get a six-pack in the resurrect in the resurrection either okay if you were like what kind of resurrected body is this you know we get six-pack or do I have do I finally have hair and then you know can I get a beard you know the purpose of the resume see he cannot but speak the things no skin you know at the end of the day the glorified body the reason it's glorified it's not necessarily appearance it's the ability okay to be absent of sin it's the ability to be in the presence of God because if we were to be in the presence of God now we just completely fry we just disintegrate okay cuz we're such corruptible flesh whereas the glorified body gives us the ability to be in the presence of God because it's sinless okay that's the most important thing now what's another reward that we get with the millennial reign okay God distributes authority to Christians in the millennial reign to rule over cities and states nations some people will be allies and corners you know based upon the works that they've done okay and again I preached on that multiple times before so I'm not gonna spend a whole lot of time on that now but you know you see throughout the Bible or specifically the New Testament that crowns are given to people who do specific works and crowns signify authority someone who wears a crown is typically a king a monarch and so the implication there is that in the millennial reign God rewards us with a specific crown because he's distributing authority unto us to rule over the nations and in fact the Bible tells us that he that overcometh and keepeth my works into the end to him will I give power over the nations and he shall rule them with a rod of iron as the vessels of a potter shall they be broken to shivers even as I received of my father so you know if you ever aspire to be a politician you're like I want to me I want to make change in this world lasting change I want to be the governor of California one day and and make it a conservative state one day phooey with that be a mayor in the millennial reign it's better you know forget being the mayor the governor forget being the president I rather just rule and reign with Christ for a thousand years where God's laws are being instituted and I get to be the one who institutes them with a rod of iron you know I'll be in there and be like see this rod I just have a podcast named after this that's how serious I took this stuff you know but that is a great blessing and so you know that's part of the eternal reward now if there's Christians out there to say well that doesn't sound very appealing it's because you're just carnal you're fleshly you're carnal you care too much about the things of this world and you're not prioritizing the things of God you see it should be that we as God's people love the things that God loves and hates the thing that God hates esteem the things that God is themes and despises the things that God despises so if God said this is a great honor for you to have authority in the millennial reign to have a resurrected body and you're just like meh you know something wrong with your heart okay you need to get your heart right and in fact you know it's possibly it's a possibility that maybe the the word of God is being choked in your heart because the Bible tells us that the deceitfulness of riches the cares of this world the lust of other things entering in choke the word and that person becomes unfruitful become entangled with the things of this world therefore they don't necessarily value spiritual things anymore you want to get to a point where you're valuing spiritual things where it determines where your priorities go amen all right go to Colossians chapter 3 if you would Colossians chapter number 3 so we talked about the temporal rewards honor resources relationships persecutions that produce more rewards talked about the eternal rewards which is a resurrected body that shines brighter you know authority over the nation's in the millennial reign now the question is how do we get them look at Colossians 3 verse 23 servants obey in all things your masters according to the flesh not with eye service as men pleasers but in singleness of heart fearing God and whatsoever you do do it heartily as to the Lord and not into men knowing that of the Lord you shall receive the reward of the inheritance for you serve the Lord Christ verse 23 says whatsoever ye do so what does this mean it means you're always on the clock when you are serving Christ it's not like you clock out and you clock in you're always on the clock serving God is literally a full-time job when you're here when you go home when you're at your job when you're at school when you're at an outing no matter where you're at you're constantly serving God and to some people it's like oh man so I gotta be a Christian all the time it's like but to others they recognize whoa this is actually really good because since I'm always on the clock everything I do can potentially render a reward and this is true you know you give a cup of cold water hey those guys who give me a cup of cold water when I when I'm sitting here they're racking up rewards for that you're like what yeah the Bible even says if you give a cup of cold water to a prophet in the name of a prophet shall receive of a prophets reward so even the littlest things the littlest blessing the littlest service do you do for another brother or sister in Christ you're rewarded for that God keeps track of it I saw that you know he gave this person a dollar or he paid for a meal or he took him out to Starbucks he did this he gave him water he did you know whatever it is God keeps track of that because you're always on the clock therefore you're just racking up rewards if you're serving God whatsoever you do okay now luckily you know because whatsoever is just like man but where do I start though like where do I start well the good thing is when it comes to the Bible you know God essentially gives us some entry-level type services that a brand new Christian can say well I can start doing this first just to kind of get into the groove of serving God one of them being soul winning because there's certain things when you think of whatsoever is like yeah but where do I start well the Bible says you can start with soul winning look at John chapter 4 if you would John chapter number 4 and this is the most basic form of serving God that anybody can do and you can rack up a ton of rewards you can get a bunch of people saved you can I mean you grow as a Christian I mean it's one of the most rewarding things to do in the Christian life is soul winning what is soul is when you preach the gospel when you get people saved it's when you win a soul to Christ okay the fruit of the righteous is a tree of life and he that win its souls is wise why are they wise well number one because of the fact that they are racking up rewards they're doing the most important thing that we as Christians are to do which is to win the loss to Christ look at verse 43 of John chapter 4 Jesus speaking to his disciples says say not ye there are yet four months and then cometh harvest behold I say unto you lift up your eyes look on the fields for there are white already to harvest now he isn't talking about a literal harvest he's talking about a spiritual harvest and is essentially saying because this is a story where he's talking to the Samaritan woman and you know the one who had five husbands well she goes back to her town to talk about Jesus Christ and essentially what I believe is taking place here is the men are coming out to see him and he's telling his disciples look at the harvest it's it's white it's ready these people are coming to us to hear the gospel being preached and this is a great principle in verse 35 because you know this is an attitude that a lot of people get I'll wait about a couple months before I start preaching the gospel I'm gonna wait four months or so wait a couple months before I really get serious about going out there and go soul winning and do this but you know what now's the time now's the time lift up your eyes look on the fields for they are white already to harvest don't wait four months they're out there right now they just need someone to go pick off the the lost souls that are out there to give them the gospel and get them saved it needs to be done now okay he says in verse 36 and he that reapeth receiveth wages he said the soul is actually go out there and they're reaping okay you're gonna get paid for that and gathereth further unto eternal life that both he that soweth and he that reapeth may rejoice together now what is this saying well here's the thing is that when you go out there and preach the gospel you know you get someone saved sometimes people might think they might think to themselves oh man you know I got this person saved they were so receptive they're just low hanging fruit but what they fail to understand is that someone probably gave them the gospel many times before that they sowed a seed many times before that they labored and then other people came and watered that seed you had just the privilege of being there to reap it but here's the thing you get paid the guy who watered gets paid and the guy who's sewing gets paid too so when you're in heaven you're like high-fiving each other you're rejoicing you're like I got this guy saved you're like I'm the one who planted the seed I'm the one who watered he's like well how much do we get paid here's the rewards and all of you guys get paid for that labor for that one soul hearing is that saying true one so is and another reapeth I sent you to reap that whereon you bestowed no labor other men labored and ye are entered into their labors so we see that soul winning is a great way to earn rewards and we never want to downplay the importance of Sony here okay I mean we're called first works Baptist Church what does that mean it means it's the most important labor to be a part of okay now here's the thing though go to second John where we started in the beginning of the sermon this is why we go so winning you know we have so many times on Sunday on Saturday on Thursday and as the years go by we're gonna add more so many times as the church grows to give you more opportunities to actually go out and get people safe now if you're a brand new person in our church and you're just like knock on a stranger's door well don't worry you're so many partner knocks on a stranger's door okay and people are often intimidated by Sony because they think well you guys are gonna send me out there and I don't know what to say how am I gonna do it but we don't just throw you into the you know the deep end of the water you know we give you floaties first okay and then someone you know you're so wanting partner preaches the gospel you get to see it done many times and you know sometimes for even months okay before you can officially feel like you can actually knock on the door and start giving the gospel getting people say let me say this once you get your first person saved then you're gonna catch the bug okay and I don't mean like a virus but I'm talking about the soul-winning bug where it's just like I want to win more people to Christ I want to get more people saved I want to improve my soul and then what are you doing you're just racking up the rewards racking up the rewards okay now the title of the sermon is a full reward okay now what do I mean by a full reward well although sowing is the most important work it's not the only work so if you want a full reward you need to go beyond solely understand and in fact you know if you only do Sony as a form of service then you're only gonna get a partial reward because there's a lot more in the Christian life that you have to do to get reward you see that sometimes people get the mentality of well I'm just gonna do a ton of soul-winning I don't care about anything else I don't even want to get married because all these kids are gonna weigh me down my wife's gonna weigh me down and I'm not gonna be able to get any soul-winning done but it's it's it's a it's a messed up way of thinking let me explain to you why because they think well you know the guy who's married he can't go as Sony as much as I can right and there are they're right about that but here's the thing now that he's married with kids he has other avenues to earn rewards avenues that the person who's single who's not married does not have because he only has Sony I mean he has other ways in the sense of like being blessings to others and in serving others however the guy who's married not only does he get rewarded when he goes soul-winning he gets married by serving his wife by raising his children nurture ammunition of the Lord I mean he's with those he's with that family 24-7 raising them and he gets to raise them to be soldiers because we not only get rewarded for the people we win we actually get rewarded for the people that they win as well so if you raise a family of soldiers I mean you're gonna be a rich man a very rich man and so it would do you well to want to get married obviously okay but also to recognize you need a full reward okay don't just put all your eggs in one basket and say well I'm gonna get all my rewards from so many no you need to do everything that God commanded you to do you need to do everything because you're only gonna get a partial reward if that's all you do now look at 2nd John 7 they said well you give me give me a practical explanation or a practical example okay the person you went to Christ get them baptized that's pretty practical and once that person is baptized help that person to be faithful in church you get rewarded for that you're like why because the Bible also tells us that God rewards us for turning people to righteousness when you help people live a godly life you get rewarded for that look at 2nd John 7 it says for many deceivers are entered into the world who confess not that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh this is a deceiver and an Antichrist look to yourselves that we lose not those things which we have wrought but that will receive a full reward now I believe what he's specifically saying here because he's talking to this convert that he has the elect lady I think he's basically saying you know there's a lot of people out there who are just deceiving individuals and they're causing people to kind of go astray and he's basically telling them you better make sure you don't apostatize because if you apostatize then I don't get a full reward because what does that mean if the elect lady and her children apostatize and they don't abide in the doctrine of Christ does that mean they lost their salvation no because you can't lose it what does it mean they were never safe to begin with because if they're if a person doesn't abide in the doctrine of Christ if they don't believe in salvation by grace through faith if somewhere along the line they start believing some weird doctrine about Jesus he's like the brother of Satan or something just weird so that he's the father that person who goes apostate and now the person who supposedly one of them loses part you know they don't get a full reward they get a partial reward for the labor but they don't get the full reward because the person was never saved to begin with so what's the point that I'm trying to make you know that's why it's important that when we do so when we were thorough you understand and I also believe you can sometimes people can be a little too thorough where it's just like you're just confusing people at that point like they gave you they give you the right answer about five times and you're like well let me give you another example though and it's just like they give you the right answer like ten times you're like okay before I move on though I just want to make sure let me give you another example and it's just like you and after a while people are gonna be like well maybe I'm not giving the right answer or something that and then they start giving you wrong answer like I see you didn't you didn't get it and then you're there for like 45 minutes you know giving this person the gospel because you're confusing them you don't want to do that but you also don't want to just be careless and not be thorough in your gospel presentation now let me say this a lot of that can just be avoided if you just learn how to read people that's what you got to learn how to do most one of the most important virtues that you as a soul winner can learn other than illustrations versus way of wording things that's important one of the most important thing I would say if not the most important thing is how to read an individual because sometimes so owners can get so mechanical they just want to say everything that they got in their script that they've memorized they just want to they just want to get through their gospel presentation but they don't spend time to actually just like actually talk to the person you know I mean they they kind of see them as a number sometimes you know what I mean whereas what you should do is just see them as a soul speak to their heart speak to their soul and read them say you know I think this person is getting it or this person is not getting it at all I'm wasting my time here you know you say what do you mean like you know sometimes you knock on a door and people are just kind of like going along to get along but their eyes are kind of like wandering all over the place or they're just like hey what's up I'll be over there yeah go ahead yeah I'm listening you know and they're just not really listening you know they're just kind of somewhere else okay well at that point you kind of need to move on okay but you know there's times when you're preaching the gospel and and sometimes people are just polite okay and they're gonna listen to you but maybe they're not necessarily catching it it's important for you to become thorough and here's one of the best ways to become thorough is to ask them questions just kind of interact with them you shouldn't be the only person talking throughout the whole entire conversation like what do you think about that what do you think would you believe that you know what do you think about this particular thing just get them to interact with you so you know that they're understanding what you're saying you say why why do you got to do all that well so that you get a full reward so that you know and by the way obviously there's gonna be times when we go out and preach the gospel where we thought we got someone say but they didn't get saved right but for the most part the vast majority of people I believe do get saved but we want to make sure that we receive a full reward my friends and we're not just partial in our gospel presentation we're not just blowing through and not paying attention to how they're responding how they're reacting do they understand we want to make sure that we get a full reward on that because you're gonna be rewarded for even going out you're gonna be rewarded for giving the gospel you're gonna be rewarded for doing that work but I want to get a full reward and that full reward comes when that person does actually get saved you know I'll give you an example there's there's a church back in the day it's still around but they were known as the one two three pray after me Church where it's just like to them the thoroughness was just not in part of their administration they were just like you're sinner you're going to hell and all these things and it's like all right hold my hand we're gonna pray real quick and it's just like I don't think that person got saved I mean I know for sure that person did not get saved you know they their ministry was more like how fast can I give the gospel how many people can I just get to pray with me or something and they would use these weird tactics of like squeezing the shoulder or squeezing the hand just to kind of get them to say what they wanted it's just weird stuff but you know what they wanted they wanted that reward but they they wanted that temporal reward of going to the church and say I got 10 saved today I got 15 saved I got 20 saved so people could be like whoa that person is just on fire so winner no they're not because those souls were lost that day or they were not one okay and so you know we need to get full reward go to Galatians if you wouldn't Galatians chapter 6 you know the Apostle Paul talked about this when he said you know I'm afraid of you lest I bestowed upon you labor in vain okay and I think this is one of the greatest fears for a pastor or for a church member is to be with someone to minister to someone for so long and then just find out they just weren't saved or something you know that's labor in vain right but also you get rewarded for sowing so that's an entry-level you can just get involved in that right away it just requires for you to just kind of learn with someone but also just enduring hardships will get your reward instead of complaining about the hardships you're going through view it as an opportunity to get paid to get some bank to get some money in that account spiritually speaking so what do you mean look at Galatians chapter 6 in verse number 7 it says be not deceived God is not mocked for whatsoever man soweth that shall he also reap for he that soweth to his flesh all of the flesh reap corruption but he that soweth to the spirit shall the spirit reap life everlasting and let us not be weary in well-doing for in due season we shall reap if we faint not now I used to believe that if someone was just living the Christian life and then they just fall off that they would lose all the rewards this is one of the reasons why I would believe that because it says we shall reap if we faint not but I believe what this is actually saying now is the fact that you're gonna reap what you could potentially could have reaped right if a person quits in the Christian life they will not reap what they potentially could have gotten in the future now they were they retain all those other rewards and here's the proof is that the Bible tells us that if you give a cup of cold water to a child he shall in no wise lose his reward no wise means for any reason so whatever labors you've done for Christ up until now they're locked in you're gonna you're gonna get them there's no thieves there's no moth they can take it away there's no amount of disobedience that you can do thereafter but here's the thing I'm not content with that I want to receive a full reward and I want to be able to reap in due season okay so that means folks when you go through a difficult time don't quit on God don't quit on church don't quit on the Bible reading don't quit on prayer don't quit on sony don't take a break stick it out grind your teeth and stick it out be not weary and well-doing because you want a full reward I want you to get a full reward but you're not gonna get it if you're just constantly quitting on God right okay and so enduring hardships gives us a reward the Bible tells us that in James chapter 1 verse 12 says blessed is the man that endured temptation for when he is tried he shall receive a crown of life God values a person who is able to just endure now what does it mean to endure it doesn't mean that like because you know a temptation a trial you can't really do anything about that right it's not like oh man I'm going through a trial I'm gonna get rewarded for this no you don't get rewarded for going through a trial you get rewarded for how you respond to that trial you get rewarded if you actually endure you have patience you just stick it out in spite of it he rewards you for that in fact he gives you a crown of life that's why it's important that you're in the Christian life for the long haul my friends make the decision no matter what happens no matter what I lose no matter what happens to my resources my family my health no matter what takes place in my life I'm gonna stick it out to the very end I'm gonna endure into the end you say why because you want a full reward and look the harder your trials get the more to get paid is it you know the harder the work is the more pay is available that over time right you know trials can be considered like over time it's like you're there and you're tired but you want to work that extra shift to get that time and a half amen so don't be weary and well-doing you will reap but you got to make sure you don't faint just just stick it out okay go to Luke chapter actually go to Matthew chapter 10 Matthew chapter 10 these are the basics of serving God that you can just know right away but just remember whatsoever things you do whatsoever things you do means everything you do in the Christian life you're just always on the clock you're always serving God you're always serving you know as you serve your husband you're earning rewards hey when you make your husband his favorite meal you get some rewards for that you know I mean I don't know if you get the reward if you don't make them his favorite meal you might get something you know hey husbands when you love your wife as Christ loved the church you're patient with them you get rewarded for that children when you obey your parents in the Lord you get an immediate reward because then your life is lengthened right but there's also an eternal reward for that as well I don't believe that okay then just be go to the welfare office then spiritually you know you just sound like a lazy Christian I don't believe you're gonna get rewarded for all those things then just go to the 405 freeway exit and go beg other Christians for their rewards then that's what people do spiritually speaking that's what people do they want to do they want to piggyback on other people's rewards but it doesn't work that way okay you want to talk about the rewards that other people are getting you get yourself some rewards get yourself some wages serve your husband serve your wife serve your kids serve your boss Matthew 10 40 says he that receiveth you receiveth me and he that receiveth me receiveth him that sent me he that receiveth the Prophet in the name of a prophet shall receive a prophets reward and he that receive at the righteous man in the name of a righteous man shall receive a righteous man's reward and whosoever shall give a drink unto the one of these little ones a cup of cold water only in the name of a disciple verily I say to you he shall in no wise lose his reward everyone's gonna be giving cold cups to kids today take it I'm not thirsty take it anyways but the boy here's the thing doesn't the Bible say as we therefore have opportunity let us do good unto all men but especially those of the household of faith what is he saying look for the always look for an opportunity to serve but here it's saying that when you bless those who are laboring for Christ you will be rewarded greatly and let me give you a personal illustration it was like two weeks ago I was out sowing with my family on Thursday and you know when you have a fairly large family obviously we only have four kids but in today's day and age that's like a really large family you know we're all walking to the sowing spot and obviously we don't look like Jehovah's Witnesses because we're walking fast so we got like purpose you know we're just like come on guys we're going you know whereas Jehovah's Witnesses they they're like snails it's got these funny-looking hats they got briefcases and they walk slow and then they stand on the corners oh isn't that what you know Matthew 6 talks about so we're walking to the sowing spot and this car drives up it turns it makes a u-turn and it pulls right in front of us and said and if this lady is in there and she's like are you a Christian I'm like oh snap she was another feminist right here cuz you know I've been getting a lot of like feminists like emailing because they don't like the series on the biblical home I'm like yeah I'm a Christian you know I'm like what gave it away you know and he's like she's like oh are you a pastor I'm like yeah I'm a pastor too she's all right and she starts going into her purse I'm like this lady's gonna shoot me I'm about to die I felt like I feel like a bimilac you know I mean like I don't want like a woman to kill me you know it's like you know I mean someone else is slaying me so they don't say like a woman took me out you know but she's there and and and I'm like can I help you with something she's like I'm gonna give you money and I was like I don't want money she's like no you're gonna take this money I was like I don't want any money and she's just like stop she's like I saw you guys from way over there and I humbled myself to come all over here to look for you guys because you guys are obviously serving God so I want to give you something for doing that okay and she cut out a check she cut out a check she's like just take it and I took it I was like all right you know but here's the thing like I took it and it was a hundred bucks she gave me a hundred bucks but here's the thing you're like wow that's a lot of money but you I'll be honest with you she's getting way more than that though in return way more the hundred bucks pales in comparison to the reward that she's gonna receive for blessing a soul winner who's going out there with his family that was a blessing to us immediately it's like oh cool there's hundred bucks we can use this for to be a blessing to someone else but for sure she's getting something out of it and she gave me a clear salvation testimony and everything and and she knew all the terminology and everything she's just like but she obviously understood this doctrine here she saw someone labor and she's like Oh payday right here she's like you know what she saw she saw a field she saw a field and she's like I'm gonna buy this field right now cuz no one's going up to any soul winner out there all these great pearls are just walking around the city preaching the gospel and no one's buying them so she's like I'm gonna I'm gonna buy me a field right now I'm gonna get me the great pearl right now because she knew that there was a great reward waiting for her immediately but even in the eternal as well why because when you bless those who are laboring for Christ you're getting paid okay so you know forget your lottery you know scratcher or whatever you know stop going to the store and buying the scratcher buying the lottery ticket stop investing in things that are just not gonna render you anything why don't you actually get a legitimate investment by investing in a church investing in soul winners investing in a man of God because you're gonna get paid way more oh you just want people to just like give you stuff well duh of course who doesn't want that right we all like we all like to be blessed don't we all like to be blessed don't we all like it when someone's just like let me just be a blessing to you of course but let's just be honest the blessing that they give is far greater than whatever blessing they give to us that's just true and so that's important that you support other churches you support our church but you also support the soul winners in our church those who are laboring for Christ in our church why because there is a reward for you how much I have no idea but I will say this it's probably a hundredfold because God pays good he pays well he pays good he's a generous Lord and you know and in fact you know whatever you think you're gonna get he's probably gonna give you more than that you sell how do you know because the Bible says he's able to give us abundantly above all that we can ask or think okay and then lastly of course we get rewarded for persecution now I'm not gonna read all these verses because we obviously know that but let me just say this is that you know pray for those and be a blessing to those who are being persecuted but you're not enough to hook either though you need to be persecuted as well it's not as like oh it's only the pastors to get persecuted no no you need some persecution as well now obviously it's different varying levels of persecution and don't think that it's just like well I just have to be persecuted by the sodomites it could just be persecution from your family when your family speaks ill of you they revile you they hate on you for being a Christian you know that's called persecution when they speak evil of you you know don't I know it's heartbreaking sometimes but you know what you should do is just like you know just take those that the spiritual hunters like my family you're just like all these hundred-dollar you know eternal bills you're just like those rewards right there and then and then you find out that your and your uncle and all this stuff and you just just grab those stacks of money like that's how you have to see it so if you have family or just like completely against you you're a rich man you're a rich woman that's just how it works my friends because and you know what what to God that more churches would talk about things like this because maybe Christians I actually start behaving like Christians instead of trying to please the world please all their friends and just kind of live a carnal life why don't you actually get serious about the things of God once you get serious about preaching the gospel not just this lifestyle evangelism once you actually go out there and open your mouth boldly to make known the mysteries of the gospel why don't you actually stand for truth and actually get some real money in your pocket my real money I'm talking about eternal money eternal riches you know instead of messing with this monopoly money that most Christians are messing with instead of just like getting this gold and red and blue paper money that means nothing once you actually start serving God and actually get paid my friends stop being a spiritual popper just in spiritually in poverty just not making any money whatsoever oh but you're rich towards your unsafe friends though you know you have the world respected you folks the Bible says that that which is highly esteemed among men is an abomination in the eyes of God the Bible says it's like getting serious about serving God so I can see you you said where do I start you're here first works we got plenty of places we got a lot of openings we can just start earning rewards today you can start getting paid today right now as soon as the service ends this is not an altar call as soon as the service ends you have an opportunity to start getting some rewards you know you better look at your bank statements say man what do I got on my bank account spiritually I'm kind of negative actually I need to well there's plenty of opportunities to do it here get yourself a full reward let's pray father we thank you so much for the promise that we have of getting rewarded Lord help us to take it serious help us to capitalize on it and just think of a dear friend of mine who's incapacitated right now he's just incapable of doing anything and what if we knew that at the age of 30 at the age of 25 at the age of 40 we would no longer be able to serve God how much different would we live today how much different how much more would we serve God now knowing that we only have a little bit of time well that's how we should always live I pray you help us to remember that and serve you and and look forward to the recompense that we shall