Respect Unto the Recompence of the Reward

I want to direct your attention to Hebrews chapter 11 verse 24.! Refused to be called the son of Pharaoh's daughter, choosing rather to suffer affliction with the people of God than to enjoy the pleasures of sin for a season.

Esteeming the reproach of Christ's greater riches than the treasures of Egypt, for he had respect unto the recompense of the reward. And so, just for a few minutes, I want to preach from this thought, respect unto the recompense of the reward.

Let's pray. Lord Jesus, your word is anointed, and I pray, God, that that anointing flows today. God, let it have free course to our hearts and to our minds.

God, let it help us be conformed today, Jesus, to the mold that you're trying to mold us into. God, to be followers of you. God, help us with your word today. In Jesus' name, amen.

Amen. You may be seated. Hebrews chapter 11 is in the New Testament, but chapter 11 is like a highlight reel of key figures of faith that's found in the Old Testament.

Instead of the Hall of Fame, though, it's the Hall of Faith, the faith of the forefathers that can be found in this Bible. Many of the scripture verses in Hebrews chapter 11 begin with, by faith, by faith, Abraham, by faith, Isaac, by faith, Jacob, by faith, Joseph.

And the Bible would speak of their decisions that they made that demonstrated their faith. And so today I want to highlight Moses for just a few minutes.

Moses was born during a time the people of God were enslaved to Egypt, born during a time when the Pharaoh of Egypt had ordered all of the Hebrew boys to be killed at birth.

There was an active threat against Moses' life from the very beginning of his coming into the world. And so he was born to a woman that served in Pharaoh's palace as a servant.

And you can read the story and find that miraculously his life is spared through the faith of his mother.

Amen. The faith of a mother is important in a child's life. Amen. His sister and mother, with the help of God, created an opportunity for baby Moses' life to be spared and taken in by Pharaoh's daughter.

We don't have time to get into the story exactly. But Moses, through a miraculous hand of God and a plan created by his sister and mother, Moses ends up being raised in the palace by Pharaoh's mother.

I'm sorry, by his own mother, but was somewhat adopted by Pharaoh's daughter. So Pharaoh's daughter finds Moses and it was all orchestrated. And then Moses' mom got to raise him while in the palace.

And so God worked it all out. It's an amazing story. You should take time to read it if you're not familiar. But by faith, Hebrews 11, 24 says, By faith, Moses, when he was come to year, so he's grown up now, he refused to be called the son of Pharaoh's daughter, choosing rather to suffer affliction with the people of God than to enjoy the pleasures of sin for a season, esteeming the reproach of Christ, greater riches than the treasures in Egypt, for he had respect unto the recompense of the reward.

By faith, Moses abandoned all the best the world had to offer during that time. Egypt was a powerhouse. Egypt was the superpower of the world in that day.

And to be raised in a palace of a superpower nation of that time, you had all the luxuries of life. You have everything that you would ever need is provided and available to you, raised in the best of conditions.

But the Bible says by faith. He abandoned all of that, all the best the world could offer. And he reached for something greater than he could even imagine.

To try to put yourself in his shoes today, think also on Peter and Andrew. In the New Testament, we find Jesus approaches them and calls them to follow him.

And Peter and Andrew drop their nets and walk away from all the life that they had known, everything that they knew. And on a dime, they chose to follow Jesus, leaving behind everything else and with no hesitation.

And in the Old Testament, God called people by name. And in the New Testament, God in flesh called them by name. And today, his spirit calls us by our names today to drop what it is that we're doing and to follow him.

The calling is still there. God is still reaching for people. God is still looking for those that would drop what they're doing and follow him. He's still looking for followers today.

Amen. And to convince someone to stop living the way that they have chosen to live, to stop your plans in life and to take on a new plan, that's a tough sell.

That's a tough sell. That alone is tough to convince someone to do. Then throw on the fact that the way that you are calling them to live will come with persecution.

Because living for God is, like I said, it's not a cruise ship. We're not on a cruise ship. It's a battleship. And the forces of darkness and the forces of hell is not going to be pleased with your decision to want to live for the Lord.

Don't think for a second that when you make up your mind that you want to follow God, that everything is going to get easier for you. No, it's the opposite.

There's going to be persecution. It's promised. Amen. Jesus was persecuted. And as our master, his servants are not going to be without their share in it.

There's a cross for us to bear as well. There's a cross that you're going to have to carry as a disciple of Jesus Christ. And so to give up your riches, give up your pleasures, and to take on the hardships of being hated by the world.

Take on the persecution that comes with being a true believer. That puts into action what they believe. There's a difference between someone that believes and sits on their hands and someone that believes and actually puts what they believe into action.

Amen. And then, which do you think the Lord is calling you to do? And so how is someone convinced to suffer affliction with the people of God instead of enjoying the pleasures that feed the flesh and the pleasures that sin brings?

But that is what we're asked to do. And in all examples, Old Testament and New Testament, we can see that when God calls you out of your life into a life of service to him, there's persecution, there's hardship, there's turmoil, and all sorts of things that would be nice to avoid that comes along with it.

Now, I'm not here just to be negative. There's a lot of good things. It's a life more abundant. I would not, after living for God for 35 years, I would not want to make any other decision in my life.

But I have a specific point I'm trying to make today. Paul gave a list of things that he experienced after choosing to follow Jesus. Here's a summary for you.

Labor's abundant. Beatings beyond counting. Frequently in prisons. In danger of death. Often. Given 40 stripes. Five times.

Three times beaten with rods. Once he was stoned. Three times shipwrecked. He spent 24 hours, a whole night and a whole day, drifting at sea.

Perils of robbers. Wariness. Painfulness. Sleepless nights. Hunger. Thirst. Being cold. Being naked without clothes. These are all things listed.

And the list goes on of the things suffered following the choosing of following Christ. Amen. I think our hardships pale in comparison. But what did Paul say about it all?

In Romans 8, verse 18. For I reckon that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us.

2 Corinthians 4 and 17. He wrote, For our light affliction. All those things that he that was just listed. He called it a light affliction. For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, worketh for us far more exceeding in eternal weight of glory.

Paul, like Moses, esteeming the reproach of Christ. Greater riches than the treasures in Egypt. For he had respect unto the recompense of the reward.

He called all that stuff. He went through a light affliction. And only for a moment because it is incomparable to the eternal weight of glory.

Amen. This time that we have on the earth and the struggle is real. I'm not here to minimize what we go through. I'm not here to minimize it at all.

It is for everyone. It's different. And we all have different tolerances in life and what we can put up with and what we can deal with. But we got to be able to trust the Lord that he's not going to allow more to come upon us than that we can handle when we trust in him.

And so although the struggles are real and the hardships are real, I'm telling you, it's just for a moment. This life is short, but eternity is forever.

And so the recompense of the reward, what does that mean? It means that the repayment or the due reward that God would give Moses and would give Paul for their choice of faith over continuing to enjoy all they had before they were called to God's purpose.

That's what it means. He had respect unto the recompense of the reward. That means Moses looked away from the best that the world had to offer.

And he fixed his eyes on the future reward that God had to offer. And he recognized that I should have greater respect for the eternal than for the temporary.

I should have greater respect for the rewards that I can earn from the Lord. You know, with some delayed gratification, in a sense, than what I could ever get from the world today.

And Paul did the same. Peter and Andrew did the same. And so does every disciple of Jesus Christ has to make the decision that I'm going to have respect unto the recompense of the reward. Amen.

I might be able to gain more here in this world by walking away from living for God. I may be able to gain more while I'm here in this time. But it's just going to be for a moment. Amen.

All the persecution that we would have to go through, all the fighting and the spiritual warfare that we're going to have to fight and being part of this thing called the body of Christ. And to be part of the church.

Amen. The things that we're going to have to go through, the cross that we're going to have to bear, it's all going to be worth it all in the end. Amen. It's not going to compare to the glories that lie ahead.

Amen. God help us have respect for the reward that he's going to offer us as repayment for rejecting the world around us. Amen. We have to stop trying to enjoy the pleasures of the world around us.

We have to get our eyes off of carnality and of the world. And we have to get our eyes on what God has to offer in eternity. Amen. Respect his calling and his reward for faithfulness to him.

Amen. Egypt, keep your treasures. I don't want any of the treasures or the pleasures that Egypt has to offer or this world has to offer. Amen. I've got a greater riches coming for me.

Amen. It's coming my way in the future. And we're the people of God and we are called by his name. We are the people with the name of the Lord Jesus applied to us.

I wasn't baptized in titles. I was baptized in the name of Jesus Christ. Amen. I know who my God is. And so we are people of the name of God, the people, the one true name, the one true God in his name is Jesus.

And there are places in the world where that will get you killed. There's an article today. It's not more than 12 hours old that I think 30 something Christians were executed in their church service today.

I don't remember the name of the country. I believe it's somewhere in Africa. Just this morning when I woke up, one of the first news articles were being a Christian, being someone that has the name of Jesus applied to you will get you killed.

But regardless of any affliction that we may experience or that I may experience, I have to have respect unto the recompense of the reward. My respect goes to the reward that God has for me, not for any reward that I can obtain here in this world.

Amen. God has in store for us a greater reward. And God has called us, Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Joseph, Moses, all the patriarchs of the Bible, all the forefathers that we read about in the Bible.

In the Old Testament and in the New Testament, Andrew, Peter, Paul, all of them were called by God into his kingdom and into his purpose. And they all answered the call and their stories are captured in Scripture.

And you should be excited today that you, too, have been called by the Lord. I mean, I don't know if we if we understand that or not. I don't know if we recognize that or not, that that that that we are called of the Lord.

I mean, it is it is an it is our honor to be able to be in truth today. I mean, there's there's a whole world out there that doesn't have what we have and the knowledge that we have.

They don't even think about God on Sundays. Amen. But amen. We're the people of the name of God. What a privilege, what an honor it is that for whatever reason, however, God has orchestrated it in our lives, that somehow we've come to this place of knowing God.

I mean, what are the odds of that? All the billions of people in the in the world. Amen. And somehow we have been called and and and chosen of the Lord to bear his name.

And and salvation has come to our houses. Light has come to our house. Amen. It's come into our dark situations. And now the question is, how will your story unfold?

And when we can read all the scriptures, the stories and scriptures, but we're we have our own story. Amen. I'm so thankful today that God is the author and finisher of our faith. But if but if you're here today and in truth and and the knowledge of God, you have been called out of those the world and into his purposes.

But but our chapter hasn't been written fully. It's still being written. And I wonder today what my story will be and what your story will be.

God has called us by name out of the world, just like he did all the examples we have in his word, just like all the disciples in the New Testament stories.

Jesus knows us. Jesus has called us by name. Nobody knows us like our creator and savior. It it should be incentive enough for me knowing that he is my creator and I am his creation, but also that he knows our name.

The Bible says he knows every sparrow that falls. He in how much more valuable are we than many sparrows? The Bible says the Bible tells us he knows the number of hairs on our head.

The word of God goes on and on about how well our savior knows us. The word of God makes us makes mention that we that he knows us.

He knows my beginning from the time I was formed in my mother's womb. He fashioned me to his liking. He's well aware of my relationship status with him. He knows where I am.

He knows the conditions of my heart. He knows my thoughts. He knows my worries. He knows the actions that I have. He knows the words that I speak.

He knows my ways. He knows my goings and my comings. He knows my weaknesses and the numbers of my days that remain. He knows more about me than I know about myself.

Amen. He knows more about you than you know of yourself. And so we are of great value to him. He created us. He loves us. And he lost us because of our own doing in the garden.

But he died for us to purchase us back. He found us. He called us. And if you're sitting here today, you've answered that call. And he's saved us.

And he gave us a purpose. And he gave us his spirit inside of us. And he has promised us a great reward and glory. Amen.

I have respect unto the recompense of my reward today. We are valuable to him. And we can tell how valuable we are to him because of what it cost him.

What he was willing to pay for us and to redeem us back unto him. And so in every example that we have, when Jesus called the disciple, they were left with a choice to decide.

We get to see the stories unfold of many of those that hear their name and call to follow him and said, I will follow you. I have respect unto the recompense of the reward. However, we also see example of a rich young ruler.

In Mark chapter 10, verse 21 through 23, it says, Then Jesus beholding him, loved him and said unto him, One thing thou lackest, go thy way, sell whatsoever thou hast and give to the poor.

And thou shalt have treasure in heaven and come, take up the cross and follow me. It's exactly what what I'm talking about today. Have more respect for the recompense of the reward that will come.

Have treasures in heaven. Yeah, you're rich right now. You have everything you have right now. And you've checked all the boxes and you think that you're doing well. But there's one thing that you lack. You need to sell everything you have and you need to give it to the poor and then come follow me and pick up a cross and follow me.

Amen. And what did he say? The Bible says that he was sad at the same and went away grieved for he had great possessions. And Jesus looked around about and saith unto his disciples, How hardly shall they that have riches enter in the kingdom of God?

And then Jesus beholding him, loved him. That was the first thing we read. And that Jesus beholding him, loved him. Jesus loved that guy. The scripture is plain about it.

Jesus, Jesus beheld him and loved him. And Jesus called that guy to abandon all the treasures and all the pleasures of the world and to pick up a cross and follow him.

But he didn't. He didn't have respect for the recompense of the reward that Jesus was offering.

And the thing is, God's commended his love toward us and that while we were yet sinners, the Bible says Christ died for us. Greater love hath no man than this, that a man laid down his life for his friends.

Jesus could say that because he did that. And so it is it's special that Jesus loves us. It's special to to me and it should be special to you that Jesus loves us.

But there's nothing really uncommon about him loving us, because even though the rich young ruler rejected him, he still loved him. There's nothing uncommon about having the love of God.

It's special and I want it for sure. But it's it's not uncommon because he loves us. There's nothing unusual, unique about Jesus loving us. He loves the world.

He loves everyone. And the thing that makes the difference is if when he beholds us and loves us and calls us to abandon the treasures and pleasures of the world and to pick up a cross.

In other words, join the afflictions of the people of call by his name and follow him. Are we going to be willing to do that? That's what really makes the difference. Do we do we love him enough to die for him?

Yes, he loves loved us enough to die for us. But do we love him enough to die for him? And so are we willing to do we do we love him enough? And he that loveth not knoweth not God for God is love.

That's the only thing that makes a difference. It's not his love for us. It's our love for him. And if we have recompense for the reward. Amen.

I love him because he first loved me. Amen. And let's all stand. I love him because he first loved me and he died for me. And I today I want us to think about the respect that we have unto the recompense of the reward that's promised to us.

Where's our respect today? Is our respect unto the things of the world, into what we could try to gain from the world or a lifestyle to live here in the world?

Or is our respect unto the recompense of the reward? That means the delayed reward, the reward that's promised at the end. And so that's the question today that we have.

And so today I ask us to find, let's find a place and pray. And let, I mean, I'm sorry this isn't a good closing and I haven't maybe made it emotional and got you to a place where it's easy for you to repent and ask God to help you and whatever.

But, you know, as mature Christians, let's find a place to pray and let's apply this word today. Let's really inspect ourselves. Where is our respect?

Is it to the things of the world or is it to the things that God's promised us? And yes, we recognize that God loved us enough that he would be willing to die for us. But how much do we love him?

What are we willing to do for him? What does he, we know what we get when we call on the name of Jesus. But what does he get when he calls us, when he calls our name? And so that's what I want to leave us with today.

Let's find a place and pray and ask God to help us today. Amen.