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[0:00] 15. 1 Corinthians 15. Today we're starting a new topic, under living in the real.

[0:24] One of the realities of life that we need to consider is the fact that we've been talking about our relationship with God and the different ways that we interact with Him and He interacts with us. And one of the ones that's coming up, you notice behind me, is Christ will reward.

[0:42] He will reward us. And think about it. An award ceremony. Why is the past always more important than the future? Got an award ceremony going on. Why is the past more important than the future?

[0:58] It's not a trick question. I know you're thinking, well... For what you did. We know what you did. We don't know what you're going to do in the future.

[1:14] We don't know what you possibly could do. We think you might do this and this and this, but you may not. But in the past, we know what you did already. So the award's based on the things that happened in the past.

[1:27] And once the ceremony arrives, there's nothing more that can be done to earn an award. It's you did this and you did this and you did this. Okay, now we're going to determine what you get for an award.

[1:39] This next couple of weeks has to do with the judgment seat of Christ. There's going to be a time when we can stand before Christ and he's going to reward us for the things that we have done here on this earth.

[1:55] Once the day of that ceremony arrives, we can't go back and change anything. It's already been done. We don't worry about the future because our future actually, at the judgment seat of Christ, is going to be with Christ.

[2:08] So everything will be fine from then on in. So what did we do for Christ up to that point? You know, a lot of people believe that the blessings of heaven, you know, are something that, something we're all going to get, something we're all going to have, but it's, you know, we don't think that our lives are going to affect eternity a lot of times.

[2:36] We don't think that what we're doing now, today, is going to have any bearing on the future. But it is. When we arrive at that judgment seat of Christ, it's the things that we have done up to this point that's going to be talked about.

[2:52] And this has nothing to do with our salvation. You don't get to the judgment seat of Christ unless you're saved. You have to be saved to get there. So this has nothing to do with salvation.

[3:03] This has to do with the rewards that Christ has for us because of the life we had here on earth. And unlike the earthly rewards we might get, you know, Chuck is going to win an Academy Award for his performance as a contractor in his life's movie.

[3:30] I'm making this up as I go. You can tell, huh? He's not going to win an Emmy for perpetuating a contractor on TV. He'd have to go up against Tim Allen, you know, and that would just, you know, when they work, so on home improvement.

[3:45] It has nothing to do with those things. It has to do, and those are rewards that we get. Some people get their star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, you know, type thing and stuff.

[3:59] And then people walk all over it, you know, and going back and forth. The reward that we get at the judgment seat of Christ will never lose its luster. It will never be diminished.

[4:11] And never be tarnished like the rewards we get down here. We're going to get to have them and enjoy them forever. The lesson is we need to focus on living for the Lord while we have the opportunity.

[4:30] Are we focusing on what God has for us today, now, and the things that we do? Once we get to heaven, we'll be forever grateful for the rewards that we get.

[4:42] But we won't get any more than what we've already earned here on earth. You know, in the previous stuff that we've looked at, we've seen God equip us for service. We've seen God equip us to be able to speak for him.

[4:54] We've seen all these different things. But now it's reward time. Number one, Christ will reward us for our service. He will reward us for our service.

[5:06] And one of the things along with that, letter A there on your thing, timing. The timing of the ceremony. We're going to have the judgment seat of Christ and the timing of that. When does that take place?

[5:17] Well, the next event on God's calendar, the rapture. The rapture is going to take place. Christ is going to return for his bride, the church. He's going to take us back to heaven.

[5:29] And we're going to be a part. And that includes everybody from the day of Pentecost. Until now. Until Christ returns. Why didn't include people before Pentecost?

[5:45] Remember what happened on the day that Christ was crucified? Grades were opened. So, everybody in the church age, from Pentecost on, part of the rapture.

[5:58] Now, when he returns, he doesn't come all the way to earth that time. The rapture, remember, we're going to meet him in the air. Somebody, Bonnie, will you look up 1 Thessalonians 4, 15, 17?

[6:14] And, Trish, would you look up 2 Corinthians 5, 10? Okay, so, he's going to return. He doesn't come all the way.

[6:24] He doesn't touch the earth. He's going to raise us up. Those who died in Christ, the rapture happens, and what's going to happen? 1 Thessalonians 4, 15 to 17.

[6:36] 15 to 17. For this we say unto you by the word of the Lord, that we which are alive and remain unto the coming of the Lord shall not present them as you are asleep.

[6:49] For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with a voice of the archangel, and with a trump of God, and the dead in Christ shall rise first. Then, we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with him in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and so shall we ever be with the Lord.

[7:07] Okay? So, he's going to come. We're going to be called up. The dead in Christ will rise first, and we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with him in the air, and we'll ever be with the Lord.

[7:20] All believers will immediately have glorified bodies and will return to heaven with Christ. I'll read a section in just a second.

[7:32] Christ will then judge each believer at the judgment seat of Christ. We must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ that everyone may receive the things done in his body.

[7:43] According to that, he hath done so that he did it for bad. Second Corinthians 5, 10. We're going to appear before the judgment seat of Christ, and we're going to receive rewards for things we've done, whether they're good or bad.

[7:58] Bad. What does he mean by bad? Well, he has reference to the service we do for God that's not worthy of a crown.

[8:13] We did it in our own strength. We did it in our own will. We did it in we weren't focusing on the glory of God when we did it. The rapture is going to mark the end of the opportunities that we as living believers have to do things in service for the Lord Jesus Christ and to earn rewards at the judgment seat of Christ.

[8:33] First Corinthians 15, beginning at verse 50, it says, Now, this I say, brethren, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God, neither doth corruption inherit incorruption.

[8:49] Behold, I show you a mystery. We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed. In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump, for the trumpet shall sound and the dead shall be raised incorruptible and we shall be changed.

[9:04] And for this corruptible must put on incorruption and this mortal must put on immortality. He says, at the moment that rapture takes place, we're going to be changed. Now, the rapture is going to happen instantaneously.

[9:21] Do you notice it uses the word moment. It said there that we're going to be in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump. The word moment there means an indivisible amount of time.

[9:37] An indivisible amount of time. What's the smallest time we have? What? Hmm? Like a blink of an eye. Talk about that. As a matter of fact, you mentioned that in the next verse, well, that verse, in the moment, in the twinkling of an eye.

[9:51] How long does it take an eye to twinkle? You know, when we measure time, we go down to seconds. Well, I guess now they do nanoseconds. I guess it's a nanosecond is how long it's going to take.

[10:04] When the rapture takes place, it's going to be that fast. You know, in the twinkling of an eye, it's, you know, how can you time the twinkling of an eye?

[10:18] You can't. That's how fast the rapture's going to take place. As a matter of fact, in Revelation, you know, I've turned there, but Revelation 22, 12, he talks about his coming being quickly. Why would Jesus want us to know that that rapture will happen instantaneously that fast without warning?

[10:41] Why does he want us to know that? He'll be ready. So he'll be ready. He can come at any time.

[10:52] And he can come as long as it took me to do that is longer than it takes for the rapture to take place. We can all be just sitting here and all of a sudden we're gone.

[11:06] Can you imagine? Jared's at the jail and he's talking to all those different people who come in and the other officers there and stuff. And they're going, actually, you guys had a conversation about this.

[11:22] You tell us about that. Tell us about that. Yeah, during recreation time because they're allotted to five hours every single week. If we don't give them the five hours, they make it up on the weekend. But anyway, I was sitting there with them and I had a chair because I was pretty tired.

[11:36] So I'm watching over them and stuff and one of them was like, Corbyone, is it true that the rapture is going to happen? I was like, absolutely. Absolutely. Absolutely. God's worth it. And he's like, well, when is it?

[11:48] I was like, no man can know. No one knows. Only God knows that. And they're like, so we could be talking and they're like, so you're gone. No, I wasn't sitting. I'm sorry, we were outside. And the gentleman was like, so we could all be talking and he's like, Corbyone, you could just disappear.

[12:02] I was like, that could happen. That could happen if you don't want to do. If you put your faith and trust in Jesus Christ you're going to take it, absolutely. You'll go with me and I want you guys to go with me. So it was, yeah, it was amazing.

[12:13] He was like, wow. I could like, I don't know, make you guys think that I don't believe in God. But like, I feel like you and I will be gone. Maybe they'll just follow us. And I'm like, well, it doesn't necessarily, it doesn't work like that.

[12:24] But it was, it's, God is certainly working. It's amazing. But they had this conversation in the jail, of all places. They're having a conversation. And Jerry could be there and boom, he's gone.

[12:36] When are all those inmates and all those other officers going to go? Where'd Young go? I was just looking at him. Where is he? Where'd he go? He's going to be a pile of clothes and they're going to say, well, he was telling us the truth.

[12:48] Yeah. So, you don't have to take your radio. So, so Christ is coming back and that should affect our lives. It should affect the way we view things that we do and the way we handle things.

[13:02] You know, to think that Christ is coming back at any time. The imminent return of Christ, right? Yep. Which could be. Anytime. Yep. It could be anytime.

[13:14] That should affect everything about our lives and the way we live them. He could come at any time. Titus, chapter 2, in verse 11, it says this, For the grace of God that bringeth salvation hath appeared to all men.

[13:31] Think of that first. The grace of God that bringeth salvation hath appeared to all men. We've all had a chance. Verse 12, Titus 2, teaching us that denying ungodliness and worldly lust, we should live soberly, righteously, and godly in this present world.

[13:54] He can come at any time. Therefore, denying ungodliness and worldly lust, we should live soberly, righteously, and godly in this present world.

[14:05] How should the coming of Christ affect our lives? Well, we should deny ungodliness and worldly lust, it says. Shouldn't be living according to the world's things.

[14:18] We should live with self-control. That's what soberly means. We live with self-control. We don't let ourselves get caught up in the moment.

[14:28] We don't let ourselves get caught up in the temptation of sin. We live with self-control, soberly. Then, we should live righteously, or uprightly, in our relationship with others.

[14:39] That's what righteously means. We should live uprightly in our relationship with others. we should always treat them in a way so that we can present the gospel to them at any time.

[14:53] We treat them and live in such a way that nothing about us could be a hindrance to them knowing the gospel. And then, we should live rightly in our relationship with God.

[15:07] That's what godly means. There in Titus 2.12. He says, denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, and godly in his present world.

[15:19] Why? Verse 13. I probably should have had you go there. Titus 2. Verse 13 says, looking for that blessed hope and the glorious appearing of the great God and our Savior, Jesus Christ.

[15:34] Why should I live like this? Why should I live denying ungodliness and worldly lusts? Why should I live soberly, righteously, and godly in his present world? Because I'm looking for that blessed hope and the glorious appearing of our great God.

[15:49] Looking for means the idea of receiving something favorably. I'm looking forward. Can most Christians say that? I'm looking forward to Christ coming again.

[16:06] I remember, and I understand it, there was a couple that was getting ready to be married. They're like, we can't hardly wait for the Lord to come again.

[16:17] But can you wait until after we get married? So, you know, and there's sometimes people have things like that. But are you looking forward to Christ coming again?

[16:29] And why would someone not look favorably upon that? why would someone be hesitant about Jesus coming again?

[16:41] Why would they be, yeah, hesitantly, it's a good word. Why would they be hesitant? because we grab onto the things of the world and we're not ready to let go of it.

[16:55] Okay. Somebody else? They know they're not ready. They know they're not ready. Okay. They know they're not ready.

[17:08] They're living in the things of the world. They're living as Christ will never return. How many Christians say, yes, I believe Jesus is coming again, but not today?

[17:21] Yes, I believe Jesus is coming again, but not anytime soon. A lot of people think that way, don't they? Live their lives that way. I believe he's coming again, but it'll probably be sometime after I die.

[17:35] Well, you think of everybody who's ever thought that. It's a long time. Like, I'm saved that you talked to. Well, not now. I'll wait until I'm over. Yep. They don't have any time. They want to live their life their way.

[17:50] And there's even people who claim to be Christians that are like that. I believe he's coming again, but for right now, I'd just like to live my life the way I want to live it, do the things I want to do. You know, they're kind of indulging themselves and thinking that whatever they do right now has no bearing on the future.

[18:09] You know, I can live the way I want to now, but it's not going to affect my future. Yes, it is. That's why we're talking about the judgment seat of Christ. The way we live now is going to affect our future.

[18:22] We should look forward, it said there in Titus 2.13, looking for that blessed hope. The blessed hope. It should be a happy, blessed means happy, it should be a happy anticipation, the fact that Jesus Christ is going to come again.

[18:39] we should anticipate Christ's return more than any other event in our lives. We need to be careful how we serve.

[18:52] We talked about the fact that the gifts that he gives us, speaking gifts and service gifts, we should be careful how we use those gifts that he has given to us, because the way we use those gifts is going to affect what we get for rewards.

[19:10] And what are we going to get for rewards? Letter B, qualifications for the crowns. Qualifications for the crowns. Turn over to 1 Peter chapter 4.

[19:28] 1 Peter chapter 4. Peter is going to give us instructions about what service qualifies for the different crowns.

[19:40] And notice what he says in the beginning of verse 10. He says, as every man hath received the gift, remember we talked about this a couple weeks ago, about the gifts that God gives to us.

[19:53] As every man hath received the gift, even so minister the same one to another. God gives us gifts. We're supposed to use them in service of the church, helping one another, because different people have different gifts, and we make a well-rounded, well-functioning church by each way using our gifts.

[20:12] And we're supposed to do it, it says, as good stewards of the manifold grace of God. You ever think of yourself as a steward of the grace of God? God's grace is available to everybody.

[20:26] God has given you grace. And he says, look, you're a good steward. I want you to be a good steward of that grace that I've given to you. Remember when the parables he gave about the talents?

[20:40] You're supposed to use those talents, grow those talents, be able to share those talents. He says, you're stewards of the grace of God. Then he says in verse 11, he says, if any man speak, let him speak as the oracles of God.

[20:56] If any man minister or serve, let him do it as of the ability which God giveth. that God in all things may be glorified through Jesus Christ, to whom be praise and dominion forever and ever.

[21:10] Amen. We're supposed to get gifts, gifts of speaking and gifts of service. We talked about the last couple weeks. He says, what's the motivation for doing that?

[21:22] We should be able to glorify God instead of ourselves. It says there in verse 11, he says that God in all these things may be glorified through Jesus Christ.

[21:33] Peter gives instructions to make things clear. He says, look, we're to minister with God's ability. Did you notice it says there?

[21:44] Let him do it as of the ability which God giveth. Too much Christian work, and I can be guilty of this, all of us can be guilty of this.

[21:56] We try to do it in our own strength. We try to do it in our own wisdom. We try to do it according to our own personalities. We try to do things, and he says, no, he says, you're going to minister with God's ability so that God may be glorified.

[22:10] God I've watch Nathan grow up over the years. I remember having conversations with his dad.

[22:27] Nathan was a challenge at times. But Nathan, because of all the stuff he went through, because he was told he could not do certain things, had a desire to do them.

[22:41] But he was not going to do them without God's ability. The fact that he can fly planes now is a testimony to God, not to Nathan. And he says, look, you have the ability, why?

[22:57] So that God may be glorified. Nathan being up here today, talking today, it's a testimony to what God did. I asked him, I said, I was thinking about this the other day.

[23:09] He said, you Jaffrey kids, I remember when you and Addie, you can hardly get three words out of the two of you. And now you're getting up there, you're sharing things, Addie comes home and shares things.

[23:22] You're focused on what God wants you to do, it makes a difference. You have the ability because you want to glorify God. The word that, he says, there in verse 11 of 1 Peter 4, he says, that God in all things, that introduces the purpose.

[23:47] Why are you doing these things? Why do you have these gifts? Why are you doing all this? That God in all things may be glorified. Serving God with God's strength, glorifying God through God's service.

[24:02] Everything we do brings glory to God and serves Him. You want to know how to get the rewards that you desire? Everything is done for the glory of God.

[24:15] Those who serve in their own strength, they want people to notice them. They want congratulations. They want to be well thought of. Those who serve in God's strength recognize God is the one who deserves all the glory.

[24:35] When people try to recognize us for our service, praise God for what He's done. Nathan, praise God for what He's done. I can do this and I can fly planes and I can work on planes and I can help the gospel go out by doing what I can do and what I'm good at.

[24:53] God has used Him. Those who serve God's strength, serving God's strength, God's glory, are going to get crowns at the judgment seat of Christ.

[25:05] One more place, I think, and we'll be done for today. 1 Corinthians, again, chapter 3. 1 Corinthians chapter 3. 1 Corinthians chapter 3, beginning at verse 10.

[25:23] According to the grace of God, which is given unto me as a wise master builder, I have laid the foundation, and other buildeth thereon. But let every man take heed how he buildeth thereon.

[25:38] For other foundation can no man lay than that which is laid, which is Jesus Christ. Now if any man build upon this foundation gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, stubble.

[25:52] Stop there. What's a fire do to things that are built out of wood, hay, and stubble? What?

[26:04] Consumes. Burns it up. You put wood, hay, and stubble in a building and you have them all there and laid out. Suppose you have it all nice. The building is built out of wood and there's hay in there and there's stubble in there, twigs and things and stuff like that.

[26:21] You put a fire in there. What do you got left when you're all done? Ashes. all of this building, if it were to burn up, you could probably put in a gallon bucket the ashes that are left.

[26:40] He says, look, those who are going to serve in their own strength for their own glory, trying to build on the foundation of God, are using some very combustible materials.

[26:52] materials, it's going to burn up. It's not going to last. That's bad news. Those materials will not stand up under the judgment of Christ.

[27:03] Look at verse 13, chapter 3 of 1 Corinthians. Every man's work shall be made manifest, for the day shall declare it, because it shall be revealed by fire, and the fire shall try every man's work of what sort it is.

[27:19] If any man's work abide which he hath built thereon, he shall receive a reward. If any man's work shall be burned, he shall suffer loss, but he himself shall be saved, yet so as by fire.

[27:34] Not affecting your salvation, only your works. Your salvation is secure. So, how much attention do we need to pay to what we use for building materials?

[27:50] We need to pay a lot of attention. to what we're using for building material. He says, gold, silver, precious stone, where's that going to come from? God.

[28:02] Those things will not burn up. We're using God's gift and God's ways. It'll last. Or as people like Chuck say, you're going to go someplace other than Home Depot to buy your two-by-fours.

[28:15] you're going to be careful of the things that you buy. There's a picture on YouTube, not YouTube, Facebook, I don't know if any of you have seen it or not, but it shows these trees that grow up and they're going like this and around like that.

[28:30] It says, the secret forest where Home Depot gets their two-by-fours. Salvation is not an issue. We have our salvation.

[28:42] When we get to the judgment seat of Christ, salvation is secure. But what are we going to get for rewards? How are we going to do when it comes to the reward time?

[28:56] You know, if we're doing it in our strength, we're going to forfeit reward. We're doing it God's strength, God's way, God's gifts to us. We will continue on from there.

[29:10] And it's already ten minutes to two. So I'm going to wait before I get into the next one because I'll give you what the title for the next one is and we'll talk about it next week. We talked about crowns.

[29:21] The description of the crowns is the next one. The description of the crowns. And we'll talk about those crowns next week. Okay? Any questions about anything?

[29:33]  Anything?