Part 3 // Biblical Principles, Part 2 // Mike Bickle, A Biblical Overview of Eternal Rewards

session three of an eight part series of a subject that Jesus talked about more than anybody else did in the Bible and it's one of the subjects he emphasized the most in all of his teaching it's not number one but it's at the top fifty different passages by the mouth of Jesus on heavenly rewards fifty very few subjects did he repeat with that kind of emphasis and yet the body of Christ mostly ignores this subject and they're illiterate of it and there's so much in the scripture on it well just a quick review of what we covered last week very quick review and again if your first time here and you want to catch up with this all the notes of the videos on the website why should a believer desire eternal rewards first of all rewards my favorite definition of rewards or purpose of rewards it's Jesus expressing how he feels about the way you loved him in this life he is so enthusiastic about the small ways we love him he wants to reward us for it he wants to express it rewards are about partnership about working in close proximity to the Lord I want more eternal rewards because I want to work in closer proximity I want to be closer to him now we all will have access to him by the Holy Spirit his presence but Jesus in his physical body will only be one place at one time and I want to be occasionally working close to him and he says according to responsibilities and authority he gives them according to how we said yes to him in humility and obedience etc rewards are about Jesus celebrating righteousness he is so zealous for righteousness that it's impossible that righteousness could be done in this age without him wanting to celebrate it and make it known in the age to come his name is called righteousness number four the truth Jesus said I am the way I am the truth the life where who when we are in his presence whatever is true about us will come to light and our small weak love which we often just us you know kind of dismiss it will come to light in his presence because it's true though our love is weak it's still real and it's real to him it doesn't seem that real to us but the truth of it will come to light number five I understand when people say I'm not interested in eternal rewards what they mean is the secular paradigm about showing their superiority or their status over others but that's not the reason for the biblical I mean that's not the biblical reason for which rewards are offered so though I've had many believers say I don't want them they're thinking of the secular paradigm and I understand that but there's the biblical paradigm and that's exciting and I just gave a snapshot of some of it paragraph B we looked at seven principles of how to interpret eternal rewards because the eternal rewards are given in just real brief phrases descriptions and it's like Jesus is saying go look at the word go ask the Holy Spirit to show you there's a lot more behind that simple phrase and it's for you to discover because it's within the book and it's by the Holy Spirit I'll give you more insight and so I've identified 15 principles 7 last week and we're going to look at 8 tonight that through these 15 principles and it's my personal experience that I have a I'm more equipped to see the larger framework of what eternal rewards are about and their implications because I look at them through the grid of these 15 different principles and if you don't do that you just see the simple phrase you know the one I've been using is Jesus says to the overcomer I will give them a white stone with their name on it you might think well it's a nice I'm sure it's a pretty little rock it's got my name engraved on it cool no it's far more glorious than you can imagine principle number one we looked at that eternal rewards are expressions of the grace of God it is impossible to deserve the measure of the rewards that he gives us his rewards are far beyond anything we deserve we take a step of obedience he gives us a mile of reward so there's no sense of earning it at all we developed that a bit last week principle number two the eternal rewards are giving according to our works there's a strong correlation to what we do to how he rewards us that our works don't earn the love of God they express the love that he's put in us our good works express love and Express grace they don't earn grace or earn love matter of fact our record of good works and by the way our good works are very small typically very giving someone a cup of cold water helping encouraging somebody serving in little ways most of our service is very very little things but our record of our service is our love gift to him the the gift of gratitude we offer him on the last day there's no element of deserving or boasting in it principle number three we looked at it in our last session all of our works are written in God's books meaning they're so valuable our small little cup of cold water we give someone is so valuable to God he writes them in his book our names our actions our conversations are important to such a degree he writes them in the book because they have a lasting value and the only ones that are in the book are the good ones by the way to the redeemed the other ones have been forgiven and I believe that in those books there's never going to be a book burning in heaven those books are eternal and it's like biographies that I'll be able to go up to you know King David's life and read the larger statement of his life not just first and second Samuel what all the books say about him and all of the different people through history I mean there's I'm guessing there's gonna be several billion believers and they will all have a bio in the heavenly library and I want to see some of the stuff you did that you forgot about that he remembered that cup of cold water you gave twenty years ago you don't even remember you gave it that money you gave 15 20 30 years ago those kind words you spoke to somebody discouraged you don't remember they're written in the book I want to read your biography we got billions of years they have plenty of time I'll read it a couple times number four there's many types of rewards I mentioned in our last session that in Revelation chapter taught two and three there's 18 distinct rewards identified 18 but when you take the Gospels as well as the teaching of the Apostles that there's another 10 or 15 rewards that you could possibly identify I mean it depends on how you categorize them but there's been somewhere between 20 or 30 distinct rewards again depending on how you categorize them and why so many because our life in the New Jerusalem will have many diverse facets to it we're not just going to be on a floating on a cloud playing a harp we will have many many facets to our life in the New Jerusalem with our resurrected body raining on the earth when the New Jerusalem comes down to the earth just like your life now has many facets your life then your physical resurrected body and your relationships you will have many more facets of life and there's rewards that interface with many facets of those of our life and it expresses God's creative design he's so creative he's going to express the way he feels about the way you loved him in many ways of in your life in the age to come principle number five eternal rewards are glorious this is a really important one all I mean all of these are Paul said in first Corinthians two that we looked at last week he says eye has not seen ear has not heard it's never entered the imagination of anyone the measure of the glory of what he's prepared so whatever the rewards are they're far beyond the measure of glory that you can even imagine so whatever you do don't reduce these rewards though they're in the Bible described in such a simple phrase don't reduce them to something you can easily imagine they're far more glorious than you imagined that little white stone with your name on it has many dimensions of glory I am confident of it far beyond what we're thinking the garments have many dimensions of glory far beyond what we're thinking they are so glorious they have to be commensurate they have to they have to be befitting of the life in the New Jerusalem so you're not gonna have kind of dull garments in a glorious celestial diamond like City in walking around in dull garments it's not that they're going to be commensurate with the city we live in and the king that we're married to number six we could compare Scripture with Scripture to get insight into some of the implications like the the illustration I use we go back to Ezekiel 28 God said this is God's idea Moses make garments for beauty and garments for glory and put him on the priests god it was God's idea to make garments for beauty that's in his heart when he has garments for his eternal priesthood they will be beautiful and glorious so we can go back to the scripture and get hints as to what this might be like in the age to come principle seven the last one we looked at last week we can gain insight by looking at the natural realm King David said we look at just the natural on the Stars and we see the glory the beauty of God we see the thumbprint of God the handiwork of his beauty through the works of creation so we can look at some facets of creation and as John Piper says I love it it goes our eyes run up the beam of the beauty of creation to the original beauty and we can imagine how glorious facets of creation are I can imagine it the Holy Spirit say imagine what the new creation is like if you think that's glorious so whenever you think of rewards see to it that you're interpreting through them through these seven principles plus the eight more principles that we're going to look at in just a moment but let's look down a paragraph e on your notes on page one the writer of Hebrews said in verse chapter eleven verse six he who comes to God must believe he is a rewarder of those who seek him and the reason I see I'm pushing this is that Jesus told us I mean with real clarity no timidity lay up treasure for yourself don't have some false religious humility no I just want a little cabin on the edge of glory I just love and that's enough for me and and the Lord says no I want to show you how I feel about the way you love me and I'm rule rich and I'm real kind and I'm really generous so let me reward you and show you what I see and think about the way you loved me but there's a kind of a logic that I've heard over the years of people so I'm not I don't really go for that I don't care about that and that's it I just want to be clear I want to be nice about it but I want to be clear that's a non-biblical mindset jesus said v may 50 references to this almost it's one the mote is one of the subject he emphasized the most not the most but one of the of the most so my point is don't allow some simple arguments that people have that are I would have Satan Heisley biblically shallow arguments where they steal this truth out of your heart because there's really an important truth to Jesus in the Apostles and there's this kind of pseudo nobility and a lot of believers go out oh you know I'm just not into that and I say no get rid of that you know they don't they don't want to get rid of it that's their business but don't let them steal it from you with shallow little arguments and as I've talked about this over the years they're typically two basic arguments that I hear all the time they are the idea that they're so noble they don't care about them they do everything for love and the second argument is that if we get rewards that somehow diminishes or undermines the doctrine of grace those are basically the only two arguments I've heard over many many years of discussing this but when I bring these 50 verses from the lips of Jesus I rarely get any good answer as to why that's those are not valid and so most people just kind of listen to those ago I don't know about that I just know that I'm really noble and I just I don't I'm into grace and I go that those are really shallow arguments lay hold of this glorious reality but my real point to you is don't let someone steal this from you by simple shallow little arguments that don't answer the biblical narrative on the subject because this is an anchor in your soul and you don't want to lose sight of it and most believers I know don't have a grid for this because they're easily tripped up and distracted from this glorious subject well let's look at page 2 let's go on now to the 15 principles we're at number eight we looked at 1 through 7 last week number 8 read though eternal rewards are befitting God's royal family they are befitting God's royal family what do I mean that see when you see these simple little phrases from the lips of Jesus about rewards think right for the beginning they're glorious like the New Jerusalem but also think would my definition of that simple phrase is it befitting to the royal family what a royal family have a reward like that in their context because we are the royal family and that's not just a neat little kind of poetic phrase this is reality you are the aristocracy of the New Jerusalem you are truly the royal family and you're truly the eternal companion of the King of Kings this is real this isn't just poetry so ask yourself when you read through what the rewards and you're trying to imagine them would what you're thinking be fit that which would fit in the royal family would the royal family even in the natural would they be excited about what you're imagining as a gift because these are rewards for service and so meaning you need to have a high standard because there's a royalty dimension to it paragraph B Psalm 45 talking about the Bride of Christ this is a prophetic passage Psalm 45 the royal daughter that's the Bride of Christ is all glorious within the palace everything about her is glorious in her life in the palace her clothing is woven with gold now this is a natural picture but it's pointing to something more than natural again my point is all these descriptions of eternal rewards we're going to be looking at starting in our next session they have to be befitting of royalty or your imagination what you're thinking is far too low they have to be glorious enough to fit in the New Jerusalem and royal and dignified enough to fit in a royal family or you're not thinking the right thoughts that's the point I'm trying to make paragraph C Isaiah 62 God says you will be a crown of glory a royal diadem which is the same thing as a crown it's another word for a crown in the hand of God so you are a person who will be living in a royal environment and everything about you will be commensurate and befitting to royalty your clothing your diet your dining talking about fine dining I mean the Foods good and it's all healthy and you never watch any calories and you never have to work out and you never get sick and it's fantastic and it's free and the environment of the dining don't think you're just gonna get some little carryout you know through a drive-through I mean I'm imagining the the dining and experiences in the palace in the New Jerusalem that's befitting of the king who loves to host banquets see when I'm getting ahead of myself that's for future sessions but anyway Ephesians 1 Paul said now catch this think of eternal rewards with this very familiar passage Paul prays that the father of glory would give you living understanding the spirit of Revelation you would know the riches of the glory of being his inheritance the riches of the glory of what you inherited by being his inheritance the riches of the glory so whatever your view of eternal rewards whatever your imagine those garments are and those those that residents and dwelling place and Thrones and crowns lift up your the standard of what your imagination is what you're pondering now we're never going to get the details down clear we're never going to get all the specifics the Bible does it give them to us but the Bible gives us enough even in these kind of phrases that we have a framework to think big think glorious think royalty think amazing and splendor think fascination those are the grid of which you should be thinking I mean the garments that again I met the fine dining the protocols just the way people come and go in life and the way people interact at various levels of society the vehicles the royal courts I mean with the Angels serving the angels are such glorious radiant beings with such bright righteousness they're the royal household they're the court that serves the royal family oh I just can't wait I mean the more I read this like okay just stay steady might just don't don't get in a hurry this this is what it's supposed to do it's supposed to awaken in you a longing for that age but again just stay steady down here and in this age okay paragraph D Solomon's wisdom was manifested in the way he established the royal household now Jesus is the greater Sullivan he's the greater David the greater Moses the greater Josh would the greater Elijah the greater Sullivan you can go down the list so we look at the biblical record of the splendor of Solomon in his royal household and take it up a thousand degrees of glory or whatever and you're getting a glimpse of Jesus's royal household here's what it says this amazing passage in 1st Kings 10 the Queen of Sheba she came up to Jerusalem two visits element and she saw all the wisdom of Solomon now notice there's seven aspects highlighted she saw the house his residence and went Wow not just the splendor of it the architecture the the wisdom and the creativity behind it and the functionality then she looked at the food at his table not just the quality of the food but the service and the coming and the going of the whole royal court related to food then she looked at the seating of the servants and how they were honored and how there was such dignity and honor and and even well the way they were honor not just verbally but the gifts that were given in the way they were seated in the way they were presented then she looked at the service of the royal court all the which in the New Jerusalem that would be the Angels then she looked at their apparel their garments then she looked at the cup bears meaning even the most even the most kind of the out-of-the-way detail that would not be the biggest thing a queen would look into she said even the smallest details the entryways the ways you go into the house the the big four years and and the the grand entrance issue and the stairways she went everything is amazing she saw these and there was no more spirit in her she was overwhelmed as these seven things are mentioned and I'm sure there could be fifty on this list she was overwhelmed she said verse six your wisdom exceeds your wisdoms far beyond what I was thinking your prosperity is remarkable and then in verse 13 King Solomon gave the Queen of Sheba all she desired ever they she asked besides what he had already given her according to the Royal generosity and that's the word but royal generosity so the Queen was overwhelmed by his wisdom his wealth and prosperity in his generosity beloved I have good news for you you are going to be overwhelmed at the King's generosity and wisdom and his prosperity in the way that he conducts his royal household of which you are part of the royal family and eternal rewards are a fashion are a part of that they're not the whole of it theirs but they are a part of it and again there's a twenty or thirty of them identified in the Word of God so principle number eight whatever you're imagining these rewards are they have to be befitting of a royal family in a royal court if they're lower than what a queen and her court would accept that you're thinking too low go higher okay Prince number nine rewards are eternal and they never ever diminish their eternal and they never diminish paragraph a Jesus said provide for yourself treasure in heaven that does not fail now it would be easy for a lot of folks to kind of run past that little there you go that's great without catching the more of a weightiness of this now for people who have treasure not so many people in the earth have a lot of treasure but for that small percent of the people of the earth that have treasure how to secure their treasure how to multiply it how to keep it from being destroyed is a major major concern to them so if you're not a person with a couple million dollars you probably don't think about it that much but people that have millions of dollars they are consumed with this idea of how it's protected preserved and multiplied how does this happen and so because a lot of believers don't think much about the reality of the treasure they're going to have they don't think that much about what Jesus says about it but when you're making investments in this age you want investments with the highest returns possible you want investments with the lowest risks you want investments with the most security that are protected from theft from political or or just economic corruption you want investments protected from inflation that are backed by the federal government the Federal Reserve well beloved Jesus is saying you're wealthier than you know and because you don't know what you don't think about it but let me assure you this you have the highest return for your investment your little acts of obedience have the highest return of any investors in human history there's no risk you're totally secure you're protected from theft from all kinds of corruption and it's backed by the New Jerusalem bank forever and forever you will never ever diminish you have a most glorious portfolio and that sounds cute and the reason it sounds cute because we're so unfamiliar with how real this is this is real and when Jesus addresses the permanence of the treasure he's talking to the mindset of wealthy people who this is their biggest fear in life is losing their treasure he's saying no this is this is more than you think so again folks that don't have much money don't take much about this but this is a huge point a very very big point paragraph B that our bodies here in Daniel chapter 12 we'll look at this verse many times in this series verse 2 of Daniel 12 those that sleep in the dust that's means physical death they will awaken that's the resurrection they all awaken to everlasting life some of them and others to everlasting damnation verse 3 is the point I'm wanting to make those that awake in the resurrection the godly that are wise they're gonna shine but here's the point I'm making here there's many points to make in this passage the brilliance and the splendor of the shining in their being will last forever it will never ever diminish remember the time when Moses in the book of Exodus he saw the glory of God in his face shone the brightness of the glory he had to put a covering over his face because all of Israel was so troubled when they looked at him because he had a glory on his face that was supernatural but it faded over time well this will not fade at all that our bodies will shine with a luster that continues forever and forever paragraphs see the crowns are imperishable there's no overthrows the crown can't be taken by a revolt you know in the area that you're ruling it's imperishable it's a permanent it can never be lost once it's given paragraph D a lot of treasures in the ancient world even today can be destroyed by rust or moth just the natural processes of a fallen a fallen earth that valuable things are diminished by rust error or these that's what he's pointing to the whole realm of creation diminishing the glory of valuables or they can be stolen and jesus said those these will never ever happen not only will your investment secure and it won't be lost to inflation or a economic crash or any of these things nobody can steal it at all and no environmental corruption can slowly diminish its glory okay page top of page three it's like a principle number ten eternal rewards are given in varying merit measure infer in first Corinthians chapter 15 Paul addresses this he says there's one glory of the Sun there's another glory of the moon there's another glory of the stars for one star differs from another star in glory so also is the resurrection of the dead this is a very profound statement it says for one star differs from another star in glory there are billions and billions of stars no two stars are the same just like no two human beings are the same no two angels are the same that we have any record of in the Bible God's creativity is such there is diversity in all of us of his creation I mean just look at the human race the angelic realm has so much diversity in it the Stars have billions and billions the mass the way the energy the brightness of every star is radically so different from the stars that are that are near them so when he says in verse 42 so also is the resurrection I don't think he only means the resurrected body I think he means so also is the whole realm of the resurrection body garments Thrones crowns you name it on and on and on the whole realm of the resurrection I believe that's what Paul is saying here has diversity of glory each area of our life in the resurrection will have a different measure of glory your garments your dwelling place crowns Thrones your interact with people your capacity to learn your rule your reigning your responsibilities all of them will differ just like they do in this age it's not an accident our diversity in this age is not because of the fall our frustration and our dullness and our sin is but diversity was always in God's plan it was in his plan so that isn't a mark of the fall the fall has taken advantage of that and created strife among nations etc look at paragraph 2 there are billions of stars I just wanna always like the highlight this from the pistil start 10 million times brighter than our Sun I mean I like our Sun I mean I'm really impressed I look up and go wow you know today I could have said hey go a little bit softer so easier than today it's really hot out there but the pistil star 10 million times brighter and Paul said as one star or one Sun differs from another Sun and glory the resurrection the whole realm of the resurrection will follow this principle I don't believe there'll be any two believers that are identically the same in their responsibility and the glory the capacities for the glory of God in their relationships in their skills and their authority in their thrones and their crowns it we'll be this way like it is in this age the diversity but in but with no sin in it with total love and honor and unity and no jealousy no competition the diversity will dwell in context of perfect love and gratitude and humility paragraph B some in the kingdom will be called least this is in the Millennial Kingdom this isn't just in this age Jesus talking about the age to come about born-again believers they will be called least some will be called great now here's my theory is that I don't know that you know someone like David comes on the stage and somebody goes he is great I think the way I interpret it is the Lord will say his life choices were great his life choices were great they were steamed by God I believe I am assuming if God calls a godly man or woman's life choices great the Angels do - the angels will interface with the Saints like they do now but it will be open and face-to-face right now the angels are helping us in serving us all the time hebrews chapter 1 verse 14 they are the they are the servants the royal court so to speak the royal household that's serving the royal family i thing i think the Saints will know the stories of one another their lives are written in the books in the heavenly libraries and I don't think people will will focus on whose least and say oh boy you release but then if the distinctions will be clear now that's a verse that is commonly overlooked but it's a glorious verse Matthew chapter 5 verse 19 I love the word whoever whosoever whosoever breaks the lease it doesn't these commands will be called least in the kingdom it doesn't mean they stumble one time it means they settle into compromise on an area of their life that they're aware of their you're a small area nobody's paying attention and they settle into compromise that's I don't think it's a one time's stumble that's not what is talking about it's talking about I consistent like hey I'm okay with this and the Lord is saying don't be okay with something and make it an acceptable part of your life if you're not sure the Word of God will back it out because I'm really clear what's happening because you know right now in the body of Christ there's all kinds of folks that are promoting doctrinal views of the grace of God where compromise is normal and acceptable and even celebrated and as long as a lot of people are applauding and they all go to the same and they all go to church people go out must be okay don't buy it if it's not in agreement with the Word of God don't settle into any small areas of compromise don't do it stumble yes I don't mean I'm gonna tell you to stumble get back up repent push delete the Lord will market from your book but be found is one reaching for full obedience all your days in your weakness sign back up for fullness that's what he's talking about but here's the first I like he says but whosoever oh I love it does the commands and teaches them will be called great you could take a guy that has apparently no gifting no money no education no platform nobody recognizes him no friends there isn't such a guy but just pretend that but in the privacy of his heart he is trying to obey God with all of his heart there's only one kid in the neighborhood that will even listen to him and he speaks to that kid about the word of God the Lord says you're gonna be called great when you stand before me the great equalizer is on the last day when the Lord says I don't care how big your impact was if you did it and you said it to others you didn't just go along with a popular flow of the conversation of the culture and just go ahead and wake it compromise but you were you are contending even in your conversations with people for obedience the Lord says I will call your life great I don't care how many people ignored you or how little impact you have you will be called great beloved this is the great equalizer standing before the Lord on that day because in the body can be great everyone in the church can ignore you everyone in your family reject you have no money no opportunity and your life can be great for ever beloved this is amazing man I look at this I go I'm going for it man I'm going for that I'm going for that now in Revelation 9 19 this is around the throne okay revelation 19 the voice says praise praise our God all you servants and it acknowledges the small and the great among the family of God and again I believe it's great in stature but also which means in essence that God called their life choices great it's not about being famous in this age it's about being obedient before the Lord that's what this thing is about so we have a little bit more on that I have a paragraph D at the butter at the bottom of it there'll be no competition no Envy no comparing I think people will be so preoccupied with the love of God and the beauty of Jesus and such gratitude because they will know the real story and even if their life is called Li single I'm in the kingdom I'm in the family I'm part of the aristocracy of the New Jerusalem I got it made I'm in this thing I don't think there's going to be the grid of the jealousy comparison Envy that we have in a sin filled culture and but because we're going to be preoccupied with beauty and gratitude but I but we still want to contend for a life that God says your choices were great and again don't imagine these are choices for real big events these are just everyday choices of small things most of our lives 99% of it is small little things we do through the day so don't imagine that well in a couple years I'm gonna go on a mission trip and maybe a thousand people will get saved that's my biggie at the judgment-seat the Lord says no no that's not if you touch a thousand people on a missions trip that's because I release the grace of God is that I you're not going to be rewarded by the number you're going to be rewarded by the heart response that way everybody can contend for greatness there are resurrected bodies there will be a diversity of glory in them Jesus talked about in Matthew 13 our bodies will shine like the Sun and I believe everybody's will every person will have a different capacity like the Angels do and Jesus is the ultimate but we will reflect Jesus's glory in different measures like we do now but it will be far more manifest but the diversity will be like it is in this age and even like it is in the angelic realm they have a diversity of capacity to express the glory of God you know in Matthew chapter 17 verse 2 it adds that Jesus's face and his garments shone bright not just his body but his face in his garments and so our garments they will shine and I believe that I have a written here in garments that they'll be varying measure of garments I think you'll have many types of garments we'll spend a whole session on garments there's so much in the Bible about this then again it's not you're gonna have the one glorious white gown t-shirt that's beautiful but only one for billions of years the King decreed that he wanted his Moses to make garments for glory and beauty that was in God's mind not Moses's that wasn't Moses as idea there'll be many different types of garments I have written here different designed fabric brightness color fragrance on and on I believe there will be many diverse occasions for different garments your wardrobe will be beyond what you can imagine your face your clothes your body will shine in the glory of God look here our authority will have different work assignments just like we do now there'll be different measures of authority and responsibilities many different roles in the emphasis structure of a nation I mentioned this last time there's 22 million people that have a role in the nash in the infrastructure of the government of this nation 22 million from federal state and local 22 million and so when the Lord says kings and priests and ruling and reigning he's not saying you know several billion people are all going to be Kings over the same nation there's going to be an infrastructure with a everyone's gonna have their sphere of responsibility and authority that's commensurate with their responsibilities but it's connected to our choices in this age look what he says here in Luke chapter 19 he says one man one persons over ten cities one persons over five cities there's a diversity that Jesus made clear and it's clear in many other places as well paragraph H the Angels have the same diversity in the angelic realm and you can just look at that on your own matter-of-fact paragraph I the principle is consistent in the resurrection in Hell in hell there's different types there's diversity of of condemnation some people will receive a far greater condemnation than others according to their works there are difference in terms of the power and the sphere of authority and the wickedness of demons I mean some are murderous I mean I don't know the details of this but some are far more powerful in their murder than others I mean I think they're all perfectly established and hatred and in wickedness but there's different levels in the demonic Kingdom and there's different levels in the resurrection of the Damned as well so this principle of diversity in the age to come is a clear biblical principle but a lot of believers are they they don't that's kind of read over those who they ignore that and you don't want to because you want to be aware now what the Bible says about them now the Bible didn't give us that much information but the Bible gives us a lot more information than most people believers know I mean there's a lot to know although there's a whole lot more we don't know and I want to know it like I've told the Lord many times like Oh Lord shock me now don't shock me then don't let me get there and then go oh my goodness I should have pressed into God when I was on the earth I go tell me now and that's what friends and family are all about they tell you okay that's the gift of God principle if they're faithful that is principle number eleven judge so don't be defensive somebody tells you some blind spot give them ten dollars man I don't care if it's a hundred percent accurate let them tell you a little bit so you can clean it up even if they're saying it with the wrong spirit and half of what they're saying is wrong still give them ten bucks say thank you you're gonna get a lot more out of it if you make that change in the age to come believe me it's a goodness it's worth give him 20 bucks okay I'm actually not even joking okay principle number eleven judgment talking about believers now is stricter I put here four leaders what James actually said is judgment is stricter for teachers but I think the principle it's more than a teaching ministry I think it involves those that have a larger sphere of responsibility whether it's teaching or shepherding and I don't mean just in the church or charge just in the kingdom because many of God's best teachers and best Shepherds are in the marketplace teaching and shepherding and making disciples in the marketplace so don't imagine you have to be on the church staff but just know there is a stricter standard what does that mean paragraph B Jesus will require a greater response look at revelation I mean our Luke 12 verse 48 he says for every one to whom much is given that's leadership he's given a greater gifting with greater resources greater platform greater favour to impact people and people get excited about their greater finances they're great or gifting they're greater profile they get excited alerts as well there's another side to this it's good to be thankful but don't be thankful and presumptuous because if I give you a greater gifting greater finances greater impact greater favor more alliances with more people working with the in support you I'm gonna require more from you I'm gonna require a more consistent diligence I'm gonna require a greater humility in your responses I'm gonna require a more consistent generosity out of you etc etc that's that the whole list then he goes on and Jesus repeats it to the man or woman who's been whom much has been committed again they've been given a sphere of influence finance gifting personality whatever whatever he says I will ask more now the the principle is simple to understand that if I was to call a five-year-old to be diligent and a fifty-year-old to be diligent I would ask more from the 50 year old in their diligence I would ask for a greater response of faithfulness and diligence and humility than they would define a five-year-old can be very responsive in a right way but the measure of it's gonna be far smaller than the one that's trained and seasoned in life and and their their mind is mature they've got a lot of Kingdom experiences they're gonna have a lot greater capacity for humility for diligence for having the right perspective in Lords gonna require them to have it some folks are gonna they've been in the kingdom for years and they're still just you know really just indulging and self-pity all the time about how bad they got it no there's this man that you've been with me for years I'm gonna ask you to respond to me according to someone that's walked with me for 40 years who's been hearing teaching for 20 30 40 years whom I've done miracle through you can't just be self-indulgent in your bitterness and yourself penny you got to respond to me because I've given you more over the years and he's gonna say that to different people on the last day and some of them it's gonna shock them they're gonna go WOW you know they didn't like me very much the church in the Lord will say I liked you well they didn't pay attention no one did I paid attention to you well I didn't have anything yeah you got the Holy Spirit and I put people Freddie all the time broken and poor people you just ignored him because you were just always licking your wounds all the time well let's move on to the next point principle 12 principle 12 some will suffer loss at the judgment seat they and I don't think it's a reward they had they gained and then the Lord says sorry I'm taking that you know usually the Olympic analogy that Paul's using you know of the Bema seat where the athlete gives the gold silver medal or the bronze medal ish that's kind of the contemporary application of it but he's not gonna say hey you won the bronze medal I'm taking a back now because you did something a few years later I don't think that's what it is I think the loss of reward is the loss of rewards that could have been potentially received I think it's the loss of what would have been but that's real the loss does not involve physical the suffering of the loss had people ask suffering I mean are we gonna be is it like purgatory do we have a little timeout down in the hot section no no it's not talking about physical suffering I believe it's talking about the forfeiture of potential rewards look at second John eight and I give you a few verses actually and we'll look at this hopefully a bit more I'm hoping to spend a whole session on it in the eight sessions this whole idea of loss but there's so many rewards to cover and when we have five sessions to go okay but verse eight watch out he says second John eight watch out you do not lose what you've worked for that you may be rewarded fully and don't get in a trajectory of you're going in the right way walking in the spirit you're growing in humility you're growing it wisdom your diligence is increasing and then you stumble and compromise you get into bitterness alright you start licking your wounds I'm filled Sabra yourself you get into condemnation and you just put yourself into timeout for two years in that sense you pause you're losing that which was well within your reach that's the idea that I believe he's talking about look at paragraph B where revelation 3:11 Jesus says it really strong he says in verse 11 hold fast that no one take your crown a crown somebody takes it like what now he's not saying you got your crown and you're just enjoying yourself one day and some unsuspecting believer sneaks up behind you and steals it and runs you know to the other park or something he's not talk about that you're not talk about someone taking your crown off your head in the New Jerusalem here's what I think he means I have it written in paragraph B I think that if you allow somebody to influence you with their teaching their views of Scripture that promote compromise I mean and it's almost always in the grace of God it's like I've said it like a broken record I am most concerned by the distorted grace message that is exploding in the church in the last 10 years it's it's grievious beyond measure how many fiery Saints are getting captured by religious rhetoric with the words grace in it where they start drifting into compromise and they got a group of people applauding them so they go it must be right you accept that persuasion and set them to compromise beloved that teacher stole your crown from you because you gave yourself to that way of thinking that's what I believe he's talking about Jesus says it again in Matthew 16 a little differently blessed is he who watches and keeps his garments lest he walk naked and they see his shame again we'll look at this in more detail I'm thinking on the last session session 8 I'm going to for the whole bit of loss and and I believe they don't lose your salvation that's not what it's talking about it's talking about the forfeiture of that which could have been theirs and there's quite a number verses on it which again are mostly unknown in the body of Christ or just ignored but they won't go away when we stand before the Lord they will be there and so it's the same whole thing Lord shock me now it would shock me then I love your leadership whatever you say it is right and I'm gonna go with what you say so I want to learn it now I want to teach it now and I want to live as though what you said is true top of page five principle thirteen the fullness of rewards for overcomers I'm going to be brief on this because I'll leave it to you to read here Jesus mentioned 18 rewards in Revelation 2 and 3 and in Revelation 2 and 3 he tied these rewards specifically to specific actions he said if you do this you overcome this issue you will get this reward so the question is who are these overcomers because Jesus put forth the idea of being an overcomer related to a very specific issue to overcome that was predominant in that culture at that time at that part of the body of Christ who are these over comers if the overcomers are automatically if everybody's the overcomer then Jesus is warnings to you better repent they're empty they don't mean anything if everybody's automatically overcoming anyway because some Bible teachers present every believer is the overcomer and they get all these rewards in fullness therefore Jesus has specific warnings and exhortation you need to repent of this and overcome they mean nothing with that point of view and I think that point of view is is is a wrong one and it's it's one that did that that steals motivation I think that overcoming has very specific elements of response to it you could look a little bit more on that on your own but look at paragraph B in John's teaching John the Apostle he presents over comers in two different context number one context he talks about overcoming the world or overcoming unbelief he ties the sin with overcoming unbelief all believers are overcoming by this definition in this context Jesus John wrote of overcoming the world in the way he identified overcoming the world by believing in Jesus and refusing the heresies of that day that he wasn't the son of God and he didn't come in the flesh he goes if you believe in him as who he says he is you've overcome but in this context here in 1st John chapter 5 he's talking about overcoming heresy and unbelief but number two the second context which is the one we're referring to in the book of Revelation this is John again but it's the lips of Jesus it's talking about overcoming unfaithfulness unfaithfulness not all unbelief not all believers overcome unfaithfulness there's many believers they continue unfaithful in an area of their life to the end and so but they're still believers and they're still in the eternal city and again what I mean by their overcome by an area of unfaithfulness the Lord has convicted them the Lord's highlight them he's told him over and over they've just settled into a pattern where they're not gonna change it and they go Lord I love you you love me just deal with it he goes okay we'll deal with it but that's called not overcoming so paragraph C we overcome the world and unbelief the day were bored again but as believers we overcome unfaithfulness as we persevere to the end of our life so there's two different context of the overcomers and you can read more of that on your own top of page six principle 14 this is an exciting one this is a really exciting one our rewards have some correspondence with our earthly relationships meaning the people we know we interface with we serve the people we support and give money to the memory of it and the cherished value of that will be alive in our relationships in the age to come that's a beautiful thing Paul says in first Corinthians he says what's our hope what's our joy what's our rejoicing it's you because when we stand before the Lord and we see you Oh Lord you know bill he walked with God he came all the way through yes and you'll hug each other and the Lord will Lord will honor Paul in part for Bill's progress and honor bill and the love they had that will be real that our relationships in this age aren't all forgotten and the reason I'm saying this when we understand eternal rewards it needs to be in a relational context as well you will know these people the Lord will remember this teaching right here I will talk to some of you and we will remember this conversation in our resurrected Minds in the age to come we will remember this I hope one of you come up to me and say hey you know that one thing you said I did it it was right unbelievable well high-five each other with our resurrected bodies and say man we did it or something like that I don't know how it works but look at 2nd Corinthians 4 Paul says knowing this he all raises up with Jesus look he'll present us with you the people you're connected with in the kingdom in one way not your entire presentation standing before the Lord but there is a corporate demisch dimension of people standing together in their generation and their ministry assignment they rejoice and they stand together in an element of the report at the judgment seat on the last day I mean our we stand as individuals but we're presented together as a facet of our rewards on that day what we did together God gives churches and ministries mandates and assignments and they celebrate together when they stayed faithful to those assignments that's a beautiful reality paragraph B this is an interesting one Jesus taught the parable and then he gave the applique let me tell you what that parable means he goes make friends for yourself by giving your money so that when you fail physical death the people you blessed will receive you in their eternal dwellings in the age to come the money you're giving to somebody over there to do the work of the ministry is touching people and the people that is being touched by that missionary you're supporting they're gonna actually connect the dots and invite you over for dinner they're gonna invite you to their dwelling and say hey you don't even know this you supported Mel and Bill touch me thank you cuz all of the story will be told all of the dots will be connected so Jesus was exhorting his people to spend their money in a way to make friends the godly use of money will enhance our relationships because people will have fond remembrance of the money we gave they will with affection and fun this remembered say thank you and you'll go like giving that like this is amazing this is beautiful paragraph C talks about you can read that on your own but John talks about your fellow workers when you support people in a way that's worthy of the Lord financially your fellow workers not just in their Labor's but in their reward paragraph D Jesus talked about receiving a Prophet's reward receiving a righteous man's reward and that's by supporting and standing with prophets and righteous people there may be a person in your neighborhood not a part of your ministry at all but they're taking a stand and you're standing with them you can inherit some of their reward by standing with them not backing away but standing and taking some of the pressure you say brother you know I don't know you that well but the stands you're taking it touches me and I'm I'm standing with you and the Lord says you do that you're going to share some of the reward not their full reward but some of it and finally last paragraph principle 15 the way we judge others will impact how we're judged now that's not the total standard but it does impact the way we're judged what do I mean by that Jesus said Matthew 7 worth what judgment you use against other people that's the standard that will be used against you so if you're a harsh and you're overly strict there's going to be an element of that judgment coming your way now that's a that's not a whole of our judgment isn't that way but he says I'll let your words determine some of what you believe is right and if you or zealous about putting that person in their place but you're doing something different but the same principle but a different application then let it be known by your own words that's a standard you think is worthy of negative judgment because you set it with your own mouth against her so it will be on your account it will be in the conversation and so it doesn't people don't lose their salvation over it but I want to stand before the Lord say man I was tender I was I was I was merciful to people and the Lord says yeah you vocalize that we got a lot of that in the book here you were tender and you were so couple times but you repented of it you went to the guy and said you're sorry so that's off the books that's good that's good because what you're really doing when you're judging that guy over there you're saying with your own words that's a standard of zealous righteousness I can't live with and the Lord says okay then we'll take you into account on that standard though it's a different application I'm gonna hold you accountable because it's your own words and that's a real a real issue paragraph C James - worship team go ahead and come on up he says James says speak so speak and so act as those that will be judged by the law of Liberty James is warning them talk and act by the law of Liberty judge people brought in law of Liberty because that's the law that you wouldn't be judged with and then in one of the para grows parables in paragraph d one of the servants he charged the Lord the lazy servant said you're an unfair King an unfair judge and the Lord says okay out of your own mouth if that's what you say about me then you're going to receive a judgment that's according to your own words and I don't know how all this works and how it all plays out but there's enough passages on it that our judgments play into it in part I mean our judgments aren't they don't know fi the gift of righteousness and the free grace of God are interested to heaven nothing like that but when it comes to rewards and we get more or less are the way that we considered others worthy of judgment by our own words the Lord will say I will take some of that into account when I measure you so I just want to be real careful the good news is you can get in a bad mood he's had brother blah blah you could repent of it get it off the record say that was wrong that was wrong go to the guy you said to say you know that was really wrong off the record notes is okay it's off the record then that's how if that's how you want to be about it it's off the record so if you get in a funny mood go clean it up amen and amen let's stand before the Lord I really hope that you'll go study this stuff because I this is kind of rapid-fire you know these two sessions fifteen principles like what and but I want this to to kind of germinate in your heart and your understanding ask the Holy Spirit what part of this is really you Lord I always tell people don't accept anything that you can't see with your own eyes in your own Bible find out how much of what I said it's really here and then say I gotta let this grow in me I got it this is gonna be read these Bible verses but I want to be ready I want to be prepared for that day father we say yes to your leadership we love your leadership or do we say we thank you for the grace of God we ask you just again tonight wash this with the grace of God Lord I just I want to renounce attitudes and words and compromises a hundred percent and when we pray we want to be specific not just general like I just was but Lord we want to be real specific we love your leadership we love your leadership so we're gonna take a few moments and just wait on the Lord here misty go ahead and lead us here and then I'm gonna invite people to come up from ministry Holy Spirit just come we ask you for your manifest glory even right now come and touch us now coming speak to us holy it's gonna be a it's gonna be worth it it's gonna be yeah [Music] it's never entered before notary mother's ever dreamt a dream of well this is cool my has not seen no dream is ever true the dream [Music] we say thank you [Music] it's gonna be we were safe it's gonna be [Music] holy spirit I ask you to touch us right now it's gonna be over zero [Music] dream [Music] this is gonna be [Music] indeed [Music] of where this is going [Music] because [Music] I ask you Father for the spirit of wisdom and revelation [Music] did you speak in [Music] wisdom that will be justified [Music] [Music] there's we're [Music] and [Music] let's go [Music] is worthless give it all whoa we can come in our weakness and he watch SEPTA's our weak lover weak repentance he says yes I will honor it it's gonna be [Music] [Music] [Music] I wanna pray for people the Lord has been speaking to you about a new measure of dedication a new beginning you've been walking with the Lord but you know it's the season for your dedication to go to the next level that means different things to different people but you know you're in that season in a special way right now I would like tonight to pray with you it to just say before the Lord Lord I'm accepting this season this is important I want invite you to come on out a prayer if you would like don't stand on the front row of you [Music] with the front rows folded on the second in the sea yes [Music] yes to you [Music] but release your glory right now release your glory right now a bothers room [Music] the Lord says it's not too late I'm commissioning people for a few I will record this day my books as you say yes to be in a new way let the past be the past walk away from it push the lead on your failure this is a new day a new beginning this is a new day you're royalty walk in who you are you have treasure waiting for you [Music] is my son soon I see yes to you [Music] oh so I give you my life [Music] I am for your kingdoms core [Music] release your glory just walk is one who has treasure [Music] surrender in your heart tonight you're one that has treasure and help open up your hands and satisfy em see me a lawyer no I need you [Music] and [Music] lady [Music] we can soon [Music] [Music] me [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music]

Channel: Mike Bickle Official

Views: 5,402

Rating: 4.8139534 out of 5

Keywords: ihopkc, International House of Prayer, Mike Bickle, Eternal Rewards, Biblical Overview of Eternal Rewards, Jesus, The Bible, Christianity, Christian, Biblical Principles

Id: BYvy-uw1IOI

Length: 76min 58sec (4618 seconds)

Published: Tue Oct 17 2017