Stewardship and the Judgement Seat of Christ Part II

Philippians chapter 2 first of all, and we're hoping to get through as much of this last final outline that we can on the judgment seat of Christ. Tonight we want to think about reward, what things there will be reward for, and then also what the reward will consist of, and although I know you don't want to hear about it, what reasons there will be loss and the divine displeasure and disapproval as well, and then the outcome of it all, the result, the divine placement in the kingdom. Now last night there was a lot of what might call heavy-duty material being looked at, the challenge that every one of us who are Christians must appear before the judgment seat of Christ and give an account, and that account will comprise our whole Christian life.

It will be opened up in his presence and revealed and reviewed and assessed and rewarded, and so what we are looking at tonight will be the outcome of that assessment, and so we want to understand what things he will be appreciating in our lives. Now first of all, in looking at Philippians 2 and then also in Hebrews 13, we're going to connect it with the presence and power of God within us. So notice verse 13, Philippians 2 and verse 13, it says, for it is God which worketh in you both to will and to do of his good pleasure.

Now a very similar thought is found in Hebrews chapter 13, and we'll read verse 20 and 21. It says, now the God of peace that brought again from the dead our Lord Jesus, that great shepherd of the sheep through the blood of the everlasting covenant, make you perfect in every good work, to do his will, working in you that which is well-pleasing in his sight through Jesus Christ, to whom be glory forever and ever. Amen.

Or literally, to the ages of the ages. Amen. Now this is a very important foundation for what we're going to be thinking of tonight.

Basically, God is going to reward us for what we have cooperated with him in, the work that he desires to do in us and through us. You are focused only on the service, the outward service that we do for him. I'm sure you've heard this sometimes, that God is more interested in what he is doing in you than in what he's doing through you.

But really both things are significant, and in both aspects we can glorify God by our response to him, our appreciation of him, and in the measure in which we actually reproduce the quality of life that is his. And so Philippians chapter 2, when it says, for it is God who is working in you both to will and to do of his good pleasure. Well that really makes life serious, doesn't it? We should be very careful about our attitudes, very careful about our behavior, because God is working within us, and he is endeavoring to lead us in pathway of life that is honorable, that is noble, that is beneficial, that is good.

And there's a tremendous range of possibilities of goodness in which we can honor God. I'm going to run through some of this. What I have down on the outline is just a bare minimum of the large number of examples that could be given, and I listed in my own notes about 28 different things God will reward us for, different passages and so on, and so we're going to be kind of combining some of them together.

Now in light of the fact that we're talking about stewardship, stewardship being the idea of something entrusted into our care, into our responsibility, God has entrusted it to us and we are to manage it for him. And that's what we've been spending the last two weeks developing, is the various aspects of life which have been entrusted to us. And I'll just remind you of some of them, but the first principle that is taught relating to stewardship is faithfulness.

In 1st Corinthians chapter 4 verse 2, Paul says, it is required in stewards that a man be found faithful. Are you willing to accept that your life as a Christian is really not yours? It is really a stewardship of a life that belongs to someone else. Remember what 1st Corinthians chapter 6 closes with? You're not your own.

You're really not. You've been bought, you've been purchased, you've been actually redeemed with a tremendous price. He says, so therefore glorify God in your body.

So no matter what you can claim for your qualities, your abilities, everything about yourself, if you have been saved, you are a rescued individual who really owes his or her existence to the Savior. But as I said before, the amazing thing is, even though he really owns us and we belong to him by right of possession, yet he considers that he's hired us and he's going to pay us for everything that we are and everything that we do for him as a Christian. And his rewards are tremendous.

So that's what we want to really look at. So the idea of faithfulness is that we will be loyal to him. We will be devoted to his interests.

And so let me just remind you again of Luke chapter 12, and we have read this previously, but the basic principle of reward is taught to us here. Luke chapter 12, again the parable of the steward. The context is of someone, a master who is a way and his servants have been left with responsibilities, and he's arriving at a time when they don't really know.

And verse 40 says, be therefore ready also for the Son of Man cometh at an hour when you think not. Verse 41, then Peter said unto him, Lord speakest thou this parable unto us or even to all? And the Lord said, Who then is that faithful and wise steward whom his Lord shall make ruler over his household to give them their portion of meat in due season? Blessed is that servant whom his Lord when he cometh shall find so doing. Of a truth I say unto you that he will make him ruler over all that he has.

Now if you recognized that if you faithfully fulfill your stewardship that God has committed to you here in this present world, that he wants to be able to set you over some part of his kingdom, do you think that would give a different value, a greater value to what you're doing today? If you knew that as he looks at your faithfulness now, and it doesn't matter what realm of stewardship we're talking about, in looking at it over the past couple of weeks we have looked at the stewardship of spiritual gift, the fact that to each one of us has been entrusted some ability or abilities to serve him spiritually. There is the stewardship of the truth of God, the Word of God, the revelation especially of Christ in the New Testament that has been entrusted into our care, our safekeeping, our obedience. And I spent quite a few nights on the stewardship of our relationships, our marriages, our families, our relationships as Christians.

And then we were looking at our possessions. All of these aspects of life are aspects of management responsibility. And in the measure that we are faithful, now we will be entrusted with something in his kingdom.

And if you remember the parable of Luke chapter 16 of the parable of the unjust steward, in talking about our money, which for many of us we probably think is so far removed from any spiritual issue, he says, if you have been faithful in that which is the least, you will be faithful also in much. If you have not been faithful in that which is the least, you will not be faithful in that which is much greater. And so this fundamental truth that if we are faithful to our present responsibilities, he is going to entrust us with something much greater, much more honorable and significant in the future.

Now John chapter 14. John chapter 14, this focuses upon our relationship to the Lord Jesus. And in verse 21, the Lord Jesus is speaking to the disciples in the upper room just shortly before he is going to go out and be betrayed and be crucified.

John 14 and 21, he that has my commandments and keepeth them, he it is that loveth me. And he that loveth me shall be loved of my Father, and I will love him and will manifest myself to him. Again in verse 23, Jesus answered and said unto him, If a man love me, he will keep my words, and my Father will love him, and we will come unto him and make our abode with him.

Christianity is fundamentally a relationship with the Lord Jesus. And there is nothing more important than your attitude towards the Lord Jesus Christ. And he is able to assess our love to him by our obedience to him.

So love and obedience are united together. You see, in a love relationship, it depends on who is head, who is in authority over, who is in subjection. And we as those in subjection to Christ show our love to him by our submission and our obedience to his word.

Now that really triggers something in the Father. And we'll be looking at that when we look at what the reward will consist of. And it shouldn't be any surprise that part of the reward itself will be this love of the Father toward us.

And so it says here, he that has my commandments and keepeth them, he it is that loves me, and he that loves me shall be loved of my Father. Now, do you think that's hard to understand? Let's put it in a different framework. John chapter 3 says, the Father loves the Son and has given all things into his hand.

The Father loves the Son and has committed everything into his hand, into his authority and administration. And I can tell you, if you want to get to the heart of a mother or father, you just say something nice about his son or daughter. And it works even for grandparents, maybe even more so.

If you want to get on the good side, you say something appreciative, you express some affection for that one that is so precious in his or her sight. And God is telling us this great reality, that all his dealings with us flow through his Son to us. God gave his Son in order that we might be saved.

God brought his Son to a place of tremendous sorrow, tremendous suffering at the cross of Calvary. Our sins were laid on his Son. God has a tremendous loyalty to his Son, a tremendous appreciation for his Son.

And God is going to exalt him above everything in the universe. And I didn't mention this yet, but this is really the key to everything that we're talking about. Christ is the pattern, both of a faithful servant and steward of God, and of the reward that is to be experienced from the hand of God.

And just as Christ honored his Father and served him, even willing to die in obedience to him, and God has honored him and exalted him and made everything under his administration, so we correspondingly will be blessed and rewarded as we honor his Son. In another place, Lord Jesus said, if any man serve me, him will my Father honor. So let's just put it very, very simply.

Whatever your attitude is towards Christ, that is going to be the attitude of God towards you. It is going to bring the attitude of God upon your life. If you love the Lord Jesus, if you serve him faithfully, if you are obedient and submissive to Christ, you will receive the greatest of honor from the Father.

Now, in Hebrews chapter 11, we find another very interesting expression where it says, Hebrews 11 and 6, without faith it is impossible to please him. For he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him. Now, I could have put the word faith in here as well as diligent seeking of God.

You know, at times I'm frankly embarrassed when I examine my own life. I'm embarrassed at what occupies my thoughts, what occupies my interest, my focus. When the living God is waiting to be known, he says here that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him.

Have you ever sought God? You say, well, yeah, I got saved at such-and-such a time. Well, do you still seek him? Is he still the greatest thing in your mind, in your heart, in your life? He is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him. God is infinite.

He is the source of life. He created life. Remember this, he made us for himself.

He made us to know him. And so, in the measure that we again respond to God as he is, we will find out that God is that great, great rewarder. In fact, there is a verse that we will hopefully get to, for the meeting is over, when the Lord speaks to Abraham and he says, fear not, I am thy shield and thy exceeding great reward.

I can tell you this, from my personal experience as a Christian, I have never ever regretted whatever measure of desire and endeavor that I have put in to seeking God and drawing near to him. And of course, the word faith is also linked in this verse in that faith is recognizing God for who he is. Faith is taking God to be true, is acknowledging him and in what he has revealed of himself through the creation and through Christ, through the Word of God, and faith is laying hold of that and embracing the invisible God.

Now there are so many different verses, maybe let's just go over a couple of chapters to Hebrews chapter 13. Hebrews chapter 13 and verse 15 and 16 says, by him, that is by Christ, therefore let us offer the sacrifice of praise to God continually. That is the fruit of our lips, giving thanks to his name.

But to do good and to communicate, that is to share with others, forget not, for with such sacrifices God is well pleased. Did you know that praise and thanksgiving and worship are really the highest form of service that we can give to God? To honor who he is, to draw near to God, to worship him. In fact, one thing that we learned from the temptation of the Lord Jesus in the wilderness by Satan, do you remember what Satan was really after? What does Satan want? Satan wants worship.

Worship is actually the ultimate prize of the universe. Who is worthy to be worshipped? Who deserves praise and honor? Who is the giver of life? Who is the giver of all things? Upon whom does everything depend? Well, it really is God. All life depends upon the creator, upon his providential care and goodness.

We exist because he has made us and he provides for us and cares for us. And it is right, it is suited that we would respond to him in thanksgiving and worship. It belongs to him.

But it is interesting that it says here that these are like sacrifices of worship to him, to be thankful, to praise him. And then to do good, to do good. And to share with others.

Why does he say with such sacrifices God is well pleased? It is because if you as a Christian do good things and you share with other people in their need, what you are really doing is you are reflecting God. You are manifesting his character in his loving compassion and his goodness. And God considers that to be a worship of himself.

You see, you go in for what you value. And that is what I see as being so tragic today in lives that are being lived for wickedness, being lived for trivial entertainment. What a declaration of what we value and what we are willing to give our lives for.

And so all of these aspects are really showing to God what we think of him. Now included in that, as we see in verse 16, is the idea of giving, whether it is giving to the Lord for his work. In Philippians chapter 4 and verse 18, when Paul writes to thank the assembly for their gift to him, he says, not that I desire a gift for myself, but I desire fruit that may abound to your account.

Now what on earth is he talking about? Well, he is talking about that account that is being kept in heaven and that is being added to as you live your Christian life. And even as what you give to the Lord, there is a credit being put in your account in heaven. And he says, this is fruit that will abound.

It will be multiplied to your account in heaven. And so God will honor and reward according to his own greatness. In Proverbs 19 and 17, there is a very interesting proverb that says, he that has pity on the poor lendeth to the Lord, and that which he has given will he pay him again.

Have you ever thought of lending to the Lord? Again, this is that same idea. If you give to the poor, you are doing the Lord's work. You are providing some of the care that the Lord has in his heart towards those who are in distress.

He says, if you give to the poor, you're really lending to the Lord and the Lord will recompense you again. Now let's move over to our daily work, Colossians chapter 3. Now we read these verses last night, I think as well, on the emphasis on our accountability to the Lord. But after talking about relationships among Christians in the earlier part of the chapter, our marriage relationships, our family relationships, and then employment.

In verse 22, it says, servants obey in all things your masters according to the flesh. Now just remember that the context here of that time was actual slaves. Here were people who didn't have any choice as to what kind of job or career that they were going to choose.

And here's an encouragement to these people who had gotten saved, but they were in this economic situation. They were actually slaves. Bond servants is the word.

Obey in all things your masters according to the flesh, not with eye service as men pleasers. That means don't just work when the boss is looking. But in singleness of heart, fearing God, and whatsoever you do, do it or work heartily as to the Lord and not unto men, knowing that of or from the Lord you shall receive the reward of the inheritance for you serve the Lord Christ.

Now a Christian really does have the best. If you work honestly at whatever your job responsibilities are, and this includes, you might as well widen this out to every one of us who work in any kind of sphere of life, whether it's at home doing the dishes, making the beds, all the family responsibilities, whatever the job is, work honestly, work heartily as if you're doing it directly for the Lord. Whatever you get paid, maybe you think you've got slaves wages, especially if you work for yourself.

If you do your job well, with honesty, integrity, sincerely, you're going to get paid twice. You'll get something from your employer. But this passage is saying beyond all of that, you are serving the Lord Christ.

And he is going to reward you for honorably laboring in your occupation. You know, that really would revolutionize the work ethic that many people have. To recognize that every day matters, every job responsibility that I have matters.

I remember when I was growing up on the farm, one thing I hated was weeding the garden. And so whenever I would be sent out to the garden, because usually we were sent to do that when there was a lull in the other work, and I would take that hoe and I would hack away rather carelessly and reluctantly and spitefully. And then I would start to rethink, well, if I've got to do the job anyway, I might as well do it right.

And by the time I got to the end of the first row and so on, I'd changed my attitude and actually started to enjoy it, doing a good job. You know, you might as well enjoy doing what you're doing. And what better incentive to enjoy what you're doing than to know that you can please the Lord by how you do your work.

To do it honorably, to do it well, you are pleasing Him. And so what I see in going through this tremendous range of things that the Lord has said He will reward us for is that there's really nothing in life that needs to be useless, pointless, purposeless. You see, the Lord needs Christians in every kind of work.

He needs witness-bearers. He needs us to reach other people in all aspects of life. And so He wants people in all the trades.

He wants people in all the various careers. He wants us to be serving Him and His interests and to shine the light of His grace so that others also might find salvation, even through our testimony. Now there's another aspect that is taught very clearly in the Word of God, and this is a quite a wide-ranging one, so I'm just going to turn to Matthew chapter 5 and remind you of a few of the Beatitudes.

And there's far too much material to read in both this section and in Revelation chapter 2 and 3, but if you happen to remember, Revelation 2 and 3 is the messages to the seven churches. And the Lord speaks to each one of the seven churches. He has a message for each one, but all of them get to hear what He says to each one.

So in some sense, I like to look at that as a bit of a preview of the judgment seat of Christ. And you could go through that and think, but there's a characteristic expression in those chapters, to Him that overcometh, to Him that overcomes, and then He expresses a reward. So what I'm thinking of is simply this, and we see this also in Matthew chapter 5 in the Beatitudes, in these characteristics that He describes a blessing upon.

These are attitudes and behaviors which stand in contrast to the world that we are surrounded by. We are not living in a neutral world. We are living in a world that is actually in rebellion against God, in a world that is ignoring God and is rejecting His principles.

And so if we as Christians are going to live godly lives, God-fearing lives, we are going to have to overcome the characteristics of the world. And so each one of these qualities then really is an overcoming, either of what we call the flesh within us, that principle of evil that we each carry, or the evil that is in the world. Now let's just run down through some of these.

Matthew chapter 5, verse 3 says, Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are they that mourn, for they shall be comforted. Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth.

Blessed are they which do hunger and thirst after righteousness, for they shall be filled. Blessed are the merciful, for they shall obtain mercy. Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God.

Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called the children of God. Blessed are they which are persecuted for righteousness' sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are ye when men shall revile you and persecute you, and shall say all manner of evil against you falsely for my sake.

Notice what he says in verse 12. Rejoice and be exceeding glad, for great is your reward in heaven, for so persecuted they the prophets which were before you. You see, as Christians, we have to expect that whatever the true attitude of the world is towards God, we're going to get it.

We're going to be exposed to it, because we as Christians are to represent the character of God here on earth. And so, just looking at these then, thinking about verse 4, Blessed are they that mourn, for they shall be comforted. What kind of mourning is this looking at? Well, this is the grief, the sorrow, that there is within our hearts as we look at the evil and the rebelliousness of people.

As we look at all of the sorrow that sin has caused in our world, as we look at the tragic outcome of a world in rebellion against God, and all the multiplied consequences, even what is called the curse that has come upon the earth, sickness and death, all of that is due to the original rebellion of man against his creator. We've been plunged into this sad condition, and as we move among fellow human beings, we are saved. We are going to be in heaven.

We have everything to be grateful for, everything to be confident in our future, but there's a grief and a sorrow to see the perishing condition, the fallen condition of those around us. Blessed are the meek. Well, meekness is not a very high quality to be admired in the world.

Meekness is not weakness, but it is a submission to God and to what he allows in our life. It's a lack of self-assertiveness. It's a lack of self-defense.

It is a trusting in God to take care of us. Blessed are they which do hunger and thirst after righteousness, they shall be filled. Are we looking for what is right? Are we seeking to be righteous? These are the qualities which the Lord Jesus is letting us know now.

These are the qualities that are going to be honored in his kingdom, and so each of these implies the idea of overcoming what is of the flesh and of the world. Now, you can go down through each one of them and think through it. Let's turn to another, again, a separate kind of aspect, although it's somewhat related in 2 Corinthians chapter 4. 2 Corinthians chapter 4 and verse 17 says, For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, worketh for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory, while we look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen.

For the things which are seen are temporal, but the things which are not seen are eternal. Now, this is one verse that I am always very hesitant to speak to someone who's suffering, because this can sound like an insult to someone who's really suffering distress. Our light affliction, which is but for a moment.

Now, some afflictions don't seem like they're light, and you might be suffering day after day, week after week, month after month, year after year, and it sure doesn't sound like it's just for a moment. What perspective is this? This is the perspective of now and eternity. Whatever affliction, whatever distress or suffering that we are going through, and this is another thing that really touches me as I think about God's and interest in us as his people.

You know, just like last night I said, God could have just transformed us instantly and made us absolutely perfect and sinless the moment he saved us. He is going to accomplish that, but for now he has left us in a condition where there is an evil within us that we have to overcome to live to please him. But also, we are still left in this suffering world, and despite the ideas that some people have, Christians are not exempt from suffering.

And it is not a lack of faith if you happen to be afflicted with some disease, or something has come into your life that is very, very hard to endure. Rather, God makes use of all of these things which he allows to touch our lives, to work an inner transformation of character, to develop within us spiritual qualities that he is going to honor for eternity. And so it is only in that perspective that we can appreciate a verse like this, where it says that even our afflictions, which naturally are against us, and could even cause us to doubt the love of God toward us, they are actually working for us.

Because of his faithfulness, because of his eternal will to bless us, whatever suffering he permits us to experience, and I believe this even includes the loss of a partner in a marriage, loss of loved ones, all of these aspects of grief, of sorrow, of affliction, and loss, as we respond to him in faith and love. And let me just link James chapter 1 with this, because this brings it out a little more precisely. James 1 and verse 12, actually the whole section from verse 2 down is talking about temptations, which are really trials.

But it says in verse 12, blessed is the man that endureth temptation, and it's still the sense of trial or testing, for when he is tried, or actually approved, he shall receive the crown of life which the Lord has promised to them that love him. You see, when the Lord lets you suffer, that is going to test both your confidence in him and your love toward him. And as you remain committed to God, and you don't give up on your faith in God, and you keep living for him, he looks at that and he evaluates that as proof that you love him and that you trust him.

And that is going to be honored and rewarded forever and ever in his presence. Now let me just run quickly to another very interesting one in Matthew chapter 25, and I have this down on the outline as caring for his brethren. Matthew chapter 25, the context here is in the end of the Great Tribulation, when the most desperate time that the world will ever know will have been brought to its end by the coming of the Lord Jesus into the world and destroying the armies of the Antichrist.

And the Lord Jesus at this point is now setting up his kingdom, and it says that in verse 31, when the Son of Man shall come in his glory and all the holy angels with him, then shall he sit upon the throne of his glory. And this is the gathering of all the nations before him, the living nations to be judged. And then he speaks to those on the right hand, and it says in verse 34, then shall the king say unto them on his right hand, come ye blessed of my father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world.

For I was in hunger and you gave me meat. I was thirsty and you gave me drink. I was a stranger and you took me in.

Naked and you clothed me. I was sick and you visited me. I was in prison and you came unto me.

Then shall the righteous answer him, saying, Lord, when saw we thee hungered and fed thee, or thirsty and gave thee drink? When saw we thee a stranger and took thee in, or naked and clothed thee? When saw we thee sick or in prison and came unto thee? And the king shall answer and say unto them, Verily I say unto you, inasmuch as you have done it, unto one of the least of these my brethren you have done it unto me. Now I take a lot of encouragement from a passage like this. As I said, the context is really the Lord and what we would call the faithful remnant, probably of his Jewish brethren, but it applies equally to us in this sense.

The Lord Jesus has brought us into the family of God. We are called children of God, sons of God. Romans chapter 8, there is a day coming when we are going to be standing with him in his glory, and it says we're going to be conformed to the image of his Son, so that he might be the firstborn among many brethren.

So that's our relationship, our true relationship. Now looking at this and just applying it to ourselves, he says you did this for me. You fed me when I was hungry.

You visited me when I was sick. You came to care for me when I was in prison. I said, well Lord, when? When did we ever do this for you? You did it for one of my brethren, and in as much as you have done it to just one of the least of these my brethren, you did it to me.

Now this really gives to us an unlimited range of opportunity to serve the Lord Jesus. Do you want to do something for him? Do something for one of his brethren. Care for another Christian.

And the Lord will receive it as having been done directly to him. Now that also gives an incentive to treat one another carefully. And I've often thought if I could see the Lord in my brother, my sister, how would I care for them? How would I handle them? That's how the Lord is looking.

And watching our way of caring for one another. And in his presence, he will acknowledge it as having been done to himself. Now I'll have to go from there to the next aspect of what the reward will consist of.

And as I said, the Lord Jesus is really the pattern both for our service and also for reward. And if you just look at the list that we have there, I've put down approval, love, joy, authority, and there's really another word you could put in there too, association, and honor and glory. And sometime after I had done this, I looked at that list again and I realized all of these things that are going to be the reward are all the things that we as human beings crave.

Every one of us desires to be approved. For others to approve of what we are and what we do. When a little child is growing up, that little child, especially in the younger stages of life, wants nothing more than to please mom and dad.

That is one of the great yearnings of a little child, to please mom and dad. And just as that relationship expresses that, so we have this with God. And so to be approved.

And we have that, I'm just going to, my time is just about gone, so we'll have to just think through, maybe I should look while we're in Matthew 25, just back a couple of verses here, where in the story of the talents, where the talents are delivered to servants and one went and traded and made twice as many. You get the response in verse 21, his Lord said unto him, well done, thou good and faithful servant. Thou has been faithful over a few things.

I will make thee ruler over many things. Enter thou into the joy of thy Lord. Now, right in this passage, we get at least two or three of these aspects of reward, right in this little expression.

You have the approval, his expression of approval, well done, good and faithful servant. And then you have that other one, enter into the joy of thy Lord. It will be one of the greatest rewards that we can possibly ever have, to be able to actually share in the joy that the Lord himself has.

You know, there's a verse in Jude that says that when the Lord actually sets us in his presence, it's going to be with exceeding joy. Can you imagine the joy that is in the Lord's heart when he finally brings his people out of this world to himself and we are there before him completely set free from evil, arrayed in all the beauty and blessing that he can give us and we're exactly what he wants us to be. And so there will be that tremendous joy.

Every one of these examples that I have down here, the Lord Jesus is rewarded by the father with approval, with love. And that's mentioned in John chapter 10 and verse 17. And it's in a very interesting connection there because he says, I laid down my life and my father loves me because I laid down my life for the sheep.

So this love that is being spoken of here is more than just affection for, it is the love of esteem, of recognition, appreciation. And then we have in Philippians chapter 2, that wonderful passage of the servant who descended, who lowered himself, who humbled himself to the death of the cross, and then has experienced the recompense of God of being exalted above every name that is named and given supreme dominion over all of the creation. That's God's honor of his son.

And there will be authority and honor and glory. All I can do is ask you to look up the references that are given that show us that the same language is used of us. And the Lord said to the last of the messages to the seven churches in Laodicea, to him that overcometh will I grant to sit with me in my throne, even as I also overcame and sat down in my father's throne.

And so you have an association with him in his honor, in his authority, in his kingdom. One of the other ones in relation to the seven churches in Revelation 2 verses 26 and 27, just as the Lord Jesus in Psalm 2 is said to be given authority over all the nations, to rule them with the rod of iron, I find it astounding that the Lord makes that same promise to the overcomer, to him that overcomes, will I grant authority over the nations. Now we often are very vague in our understanding of where we're going to be at and what we're going to be doing when the Lord crushes the nations of the world and establishes his supremacy over the nations.

But whatever is involved in that verse, it's really telling us that we are going to share with him in his subjugating of the nations and the establishing of his authority over all the kingdoms of the earth. So that is just a little glimpse of some of the aspects of reward, the things that he will reward us for and what the reward will consist of. And I never even got to the crown, so you'll have to try to figure out what crowns are all about yourself.

And there is so much that he has given us to give us an incentive to look ahead and to live our lives in the awareness that what we do today matters. So trust the Lord will bless and help us to appreciate that we are stewards of God. Shall we pray? Our gracious God and our father, we thank thee that thou hast revealed these things in the word of God so that we are not left in complete confusion or darkness as to the connection between this life and the next.

And our father, we would thank thee that the Lord who has been here upon this earth and has served thee has given his life and has been received up into glory, that he is today still serving thee through us as thy people. And we pray that we might reflect at least something of the character of thy son, that the beauty of his life, that love that flowed out to mankind. Our father, we pray that we might express a true reflection of the love of God.

We pray as we think of the moment when we will be brought into the presence of our Lord Jesus and evaluated in his presence and then to be set in place for the ages to come in his kingdom. Our father, help us to put a value upon this and recognize how significant it will be at that time. We look to thee that we might serve thee now in light of the kingdom to come.

In the precious name of our Lord Jesus Christ, amen. Now I've really appreciated being able to be with you and I always hate to have to leave after I've gotten to know the Lord's people a little bit. You've become precious to me in the measure that I've gotten to know you.

It's kind of nice that whatever limitations there are on our ability to know each other now, we are going to have a long together and we will be together for ages upon ages to come. It's a tremendous reality. Let's sing together 376 and this is in relation to the Lord Jesus and the many crowns that he wears.

Crown him with many crowns the lamb upon his throne. Hark how the heavenly anthem drowns all music but its own. Awake my soul and sing of him who died for thee and hail him as thy matchless King through all eternity.

376.