Trials and Tribulations

If Jesus is God incarnate, why did he need to learn obedience?

This is a great question and not one I'm sure I can answer adequately but I will try. Let's look at the verse again:

Hebrews 5:8 Although he was a son, he learned obedience from what he suffered.

That immediately reminded me of this verse:

Luke 2:52 And Jesus grew in wisdom and stature, and in favor with God and men.

We know that Jesus was and is God, therefore He was already perfect and He didn't have anything to "learn" so to speak. Remember he was speaking with the wisdom of a scholar in theology at the Temple when He was only 12 years old! So we know that Jesus has always been God and always will be God, BUT He had never been a "man" before--by that I mean He had never been a human being before. I think it was that, that He had to learn--that and suffering as a human. He learned what it is to be human and to suffer as we do. The actual living of His life and the actual suffering, gave the Lord the experience of what He already "knew". With that experience, suffering became a reality for Him, just as it is for us.

Remember this verse?

Hebrews 4:15 For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are—yet was without sin.

This too is showing that Jesus went through this life to gain the experience of humans so that he could truly relate to us. It wasn't that He didn't "know" or "understand" before, but simply that He didn't have the life experience itself.

Hebrews 2:10-11 In bringing many sons to glory, it was fitting that God, for whom and through whom everything exists, should make the author of their salvation perfect through suffering. Both the one who makes men holy and those who are made holy are of the same family. So Jesus is not ashamed to call them brothers.

It's not that Jesus wasn't "perfect" before, He had to be because He was and is God. But he needed to be made "like us" in order to be the "perfect" High Priest for us so that He could better relate to us. This is also referring to making Him "perfect" in a "legal" sense in the fulfillment of the prophecies of the Messiah. In order for Him to be the Messiah, He had to meet certain qualifications and those qualifications included that He had to suffer.

Now for the "obedience" part of it. Jesus did everything He did in obedience to the Father. He tells us that Himself, so we know it's true. Again however, Jesus had never been human, nor had He ever had to be obedient in spite of circumstances in His life like we do. As we said before, being God, He had the "knowledge and understanding" but He didn't have the experience. Now he has that too. As the Messiah, bringing salvation to us, He also had to teach us what to do after we were saved. He knew it would not be an easy road for us, so He not only taught us in words what we needed to do, but modeled it in His life.

So I think this is simply saying that Jesus "humanity" was completed or "perfected" by living as a human and suffering. He "learned" I think could be translated as He "experienced" instead and make more sense to us. Like that verse about Jesus "growing in wisdom and stature", it too is talking about Him growing in His experience of life, not in "what He knew and didn't know" because since He is God, He obviously already "knew" everything. The only thing He could have been said to lack was the experience of living a life as a human being.

God is just amazing! 

For my personal "testimony" for lack of a better word, about Trials, if you're interested in what the Lord has been teaching me about them, I posted about it here:

Our God still works miracles!

 

Trials and Tribulations

Trials and Tribulations

1 Peter 1:3-9 Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! In his great mercy he has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, and into an inheritance that can never perish, spoil or fade—kept in heaven for you, who through faith are shielded by God’s power until the coming of the salvation that is ready to be revealed in the last time. In this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while you may have had to suffer grief in all kinds of trials. These have come so that your faith—of greater worth than gold, which perishes even though refined by fire—may be proved genuine and may result in praise, glory and honor when Jesus Christ is revealed. Though you have not seen him, you love him; and even though you do not see him now, you believe in him and are filled with an inexpressible and glorious joy, for you are receiving the goal of your faith, the salvation of your souls.

Why does our Lord allow us to go through such terrible trials during our lives?  We know without a doubt that He loves us because He sent Jesus to die because He loved us so much.  Wait a minute…He sent Jesus to die….Jesus suffered greatly, both physically and mentally/emotionally during that time.  That is the most painful death anyone could ever go through, and yet His loving Father not only “allowed” it, it was His Will!  How did the Lord deal with this?  What does the bible have to say about this?

Hebrews 5:7-8 During the days of Jesus’ life on earth, he offered up prayers and petitions with loud cries and tears to the one who could save him from death, and he was heard because of his reverent submission. Although he was a son, he learned obedience from what he suffered.

Hebrews 12:2-4 Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. Consider him who endured such opposition from sinful men, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart. In your struggle against sin, you have not yet resisted to the point of shedding your blood.

We are told that Jesus learned obedience because of his sufferings and trials.  He didn’t try to get around His Father’s will for Him, nor did He complain and grumble about it.  Instead, He endured all His trials, right up to and including death on a cross for us.  How did He endure it all though?  I can’t even imagine (and don’t want to) what He went through for us!  He did it all because of the joy set before Him.  He knew that He would soon be with the Father again and sitting on His throne.  More importantly He knew that because of His obedience that now we would be able to join Him in heaven.  We’ve discussed the fact that the joy of the Lord is our strength too in other studies so I won’t cover that again here.

This weeks promise: God promises to fill you with joy!

If Jesus Himself had to go through trials and suffering, then why would we expect to get through our lives without them?  Especially if we are really God’s children?  We cannot have it both ways.  Either we believe that God loves us and that we are born again and now His children or we don’t.  If we really are born again then God Himself assures us that He will  discipline us because He really does love us.

Revelation 3:19 Those whom I love I rebuke and discipline. So be earnest, and repent.

God’s word tells us in the passage from 1 Peter that our trials and suffering cause our faith to be strengthened and deepened proving the reality of our faith.  This then is so we can “know” and not just “believe”.  These trials prove that our faith is genuine and not some counterfeit.  It proves to all who know us that we are indeed born again and saved for eternity.  In turn, this brings glory to the Father.

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Getting Ready or "While we wait"

So what do we do while we're waiting for the Lord to come and get us? Does the Bible tell us anything about how we should be preparing for the rapture? I believe the bible actually has quite a lot to say about it. Let's look at just a few things for now:

1 Peter 1:13-17 Therefore, prepare your minds for action; be self-controlled; set your hope fully on the grace to be given you when Jesus Christ is revealed. As obedient children, do not conform to the evil desires you had when you lived in ignorance. But just as he who called you is holy, so be holy in all you do; for it is written: “Be holy, because I am holy.” Since you call on a Father who judges each man’s work impartially, live your lives as strangers here in reverent fear.

For those of you who have the KJV, the first line is stated in a very old fashioned way but means the same thing:

1 Peter 1:13 Wherefore gird up the loins of your mind, be sober, and hope to the end for the grace that is to be brought unto you at the revelation of Jesus Christ;

So how do we prepare our minds for action? Remember, we should always let God's Word interpret itself, that way we're not putting our own meaning on things. God tells us over and over how we are to do this, and it's really quite simple. It's the daily practice of it that is difficult to get into, especially at first, but it's imperative that we do so!

2 Timothy 2:15 Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a workman who does not need to be ashamed and who correctly handles the word of truth.

We are to study and reflect on His Word and strive to become mature in Christ. If we do not do this, then we simply will not be able to fulfill His will for us here. We also will not be ready for Him when he comes back for us which is a real shame. In the verse above Paul tells us that if we study then we will not be ashamed of ourselves when Christ returns for us. Remember the first passage from 1 Peter he says that we are to: "set your hope fully on the grace to be given you when Jesus Christ is revealed." How can we do that if we don't understand it? How can we understand it if we don't spend time with Him and in the study of His Word? In Romans he tells us that God's Word was written for us for a reason:

Romans 15:4 For everything that was written in the past was written to teach us, so that through endurance and the encouragement of the Scriptures we might have hope.

So the Lord, knowing we would need encouragement, endurance and hope, gave us His Word and He expects us to make use of it and to know it well.

The only way we can "prepare our minds" is through spending time with the Lord and through the study of His Word. How can we be obedient, or handle His Word correctly or do His Will if we don't know what His Word says or if we don't understand His Word? How can we truly look forward to the rapture even if we don't really understand what is going to happen at the rapture? It would be like telling a baby about Christmas and expecting them to get really excited when they won't have understood a word of what you're saying. It's the same with the rapture and the rest of God's Word.

The more we study and learn, the more excited we get because we have a better understanding of what's going to really happen.

God doesn't lie to us. He says that He came to give us life and give it to us more abundantly.

John 10:10 The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full.

He tells us not to fear, not to be anxious, not to worry etc and the Bible tells us that as Christians we really shouldn't be having to deal with those kinds of feelings. Yet many still are. I'm not saying that Christians don't have trials and problems, we do! At the same time however, Christians shouldn't be getting super depressed, worried anxious, and stressed out because of them. So why are we? It's because we don't know and understand His Word! He meant those things and He still does!

Even Paul got frustrated because the people weren't learning:

Hebrews 5:11-14 We have much to say about this, but it is hard to explain because you are slow to learn. In fact, though by this time you ought to be teachers, you need someone to teach you the elementary truths of God’s word all over again. You need milk, not solid food! Anyone who lives on milk, being still an infant, is not acquainted with the teaching about righteousness. But solid food is for the mature, who by constant use have trained themselves to distinguish good from evil.

We wonder where God's blessings are but the greatest blessing He could ever give us, sits gathering dust in our homes.

We sing the song, Christ is my All in All, meaning every word, and yet for someone who is supposed to be our All in All, we spend very little time with Him or His Word. If you made up a chart showing what you talked about every day in general, what percentage of your daily time would be spent talking about your "all in all"? If you had a chart showing who you spent your days talking to in general, what percentage of your time every day would you generally spend talking to your "all in all"? If you had a chart showing how much time you generally spent every day in doing things like "being at work, " "cleaning house", caring for your children, and studying God's Word, what percentage of your time would you be spending daily in the Word of your "all in all'? Kind of eye opening isn't it?

Do you know the Truth of these words? Do you experience them in your life, or are you still dealing with depression, anger, worry, and anxiety?

Philippians 4:12-13 I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want. I can do everything through him who gives me strength.

Philippians 4:19 And my God will meet all your needs according to his glorious riches in Christ Jesus.

That is a good picture of someone who could really say, "Christ is my all in all"! Paul kept his eyes on Jesus which is what we should be doing. He studied God's Word and spent time reflecting on it and spent time with the Lord. He didn't "just believe", he "knew" what his hope was! He knew what his future held because he really truly knew the One who held his future! Join me then and let us take his advice and follow his example:

Philippians 3:17-21 Join with others in following my example, brothers, and take note of those who live according to the pattern we gave you. For, as I have often told you before and now say again even with tears, many live as enemies of the cross of Christ. Their destiny is destruction, their god is their stomach, and their glory is in their shame. Their mind is on earthly things. But our citizenship is in heaven. And we eagerly await a Savior from there, the Lord Jesus Christ, who, by the power that enables him to bring everything under his control, will transform our lowly bodies so that they will be like his glorious body.

Let us resolve to truly make Christ our all in all this year so that we can be prepared and make Him proud of us, when he returns!

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Waiting on the Lord –what does it mean?

Waiting on the Lord –what does it mean?

Yesterday we looked specifically at what waiting on the Lord means for us today in relation to this being the end times and the command that we are to wait and watch for the Lord’s return. Today we’re going to look at other ways we are to wait on the Lord. And what it means for us today.

Psalm 39:1-13 I said, “I will watch my ways and keep my tongue from sin; I will put a muzzle on my mouth as long as the wicked are in my presence.” But when I was silent and still, not even saying anything good, my anguish increased. My heart grew hot within me, and as I meditated, the fire burned; then I spoke with my tongue: “Show me, O Lord, my life’s end and the number of my days; let me know how fleeting is my life. You have made my days a mere handbreadth; the span of my years is as nothing before you. Each man’s life is but a breath. Man is a mere phantom as he goes to and fro: He bustles about, but only in vain; he heaps up wealth, not knowing who will get it. “And now, Lord, what do I wait for? My hope is in You. Save me from all my transgressions; do not make me the scorn of fools. I was silent; I would not open my mouth, for you are the one who has done this. Remove your scourge from me; I am overcome by the blow of your hand. You rebuke and discipline men for their sin; you consume their wealth like a moth— each man is but a breath. “Hear my prayer, O Lord, listen to my cry for help; be not deaf to my weeping. For I dwell with you as an alien, a stranger, as all my fathers were. Look away from me, that I may rejoice again before I depart and am no more.”

In the first passage we’ll look at, David is the one writing. He starts off by saying that he vows to guard his ways so that he won’t sin by saying things he shouldn’t. Every thing seemed to get worse for him after that. When he says his heart grew hot within him, he’s saying that he is being convicted of his sins. That conviction caused him to meditate or reflect on God and His laws. It was then that he began to recognize that the things that were happening to him were discipline from the Lord,. He asks God to show him and remind him of just how short our lives really are, so that he can get his priorities straight. He doesn’t want to be running around busy doing things that aren’t of value to the Lord. He wants to please God.

Thinking on all he is going through and suffering as discipline, David cries out to the Lord asking Him, “What do I wait for now Lord, my hope is in You!” In other words David is telling God that he is aware that his only hope comes from Him and that He is the only one that can save him and forgive him. He begs God to remove the discipline, to end it as it is just to much for him to bear any longer. When David says that God’s correction makes mans beauty (KJV and “wealth” NIV) melt away like a moth, he is referring to his health and strength being taken away from him by the Lords discipline. So whatever the Lord was permitting, it must have been pretty heavy.

Notice however that David never says or implies that God is wrong or bad or mean for having disciplined him in such a harsh way. Instead David agrees with God that the discipline was necessary because he needed correction. He says that because of God’s correction he now understands that without God, life is vain and not worthwhile at all. Although David was obviously feeling overwhelmed by the discipline of the Lord and feeling that he just couldn’t take it anymore, his reason for asking the Lord to remove the discipline from his wasn’t just because of that. He asks to have it removed so that he won’t be a reproach to the Lord any longer. He wanted to be a good witness for the Lord instead.

How was David “waiting on the Lord” here? He was waiting for the Lord to hear his cry of repentance, forgive him and remove the discipline from him. David was undergoing what we might also refer to at times as “a time in the desert” when no matter how much you cry out, the Lord doesn’t seem to hear you. We can see from this psalm though that although it might seem that way, the Lord really does hear our cries.

How very differently David handled “waiting on the Lord” then we usually do. Perhaps I should say then “I usually do”. I know for myself that when the Lord’s hand is heavy on me in discipline, that my reaction is usually to whine, cry, make excuses for my past behavior, say it’s not my fault, say how unfair it is, etc. That most certainly is not the godly way to deal with it. When we do that, making excuses and saying it’s not fair etc, that just causes our time of waiting to last longer. Like any good father, the Lord is not going to stop the discipline until we have recognized the fact that we are being disciplined and why and have repented from our sins.

This is especially difficult for us today because we simply aren’t taught much about the Lord’s discipline, if we’re taught about it at all. It’s as though most would simply like to pretend that it doesn’t happen any more, which is just plain silly. God doesn’t change and He doesn’t lie. He tells us right out that He disciplines those He loves and He tells us why:

Hebrews 12:5-10 And you have forgotten that word of encouragement that addresses you as sons: “My son, do not make light of the Lord’s discipline, and do not lose heart when he rebukes you,because the Lord disciplines those he loves, and he punishes everyone he accepts as a son.”Endure hardship as discipline; God is treating you as sons. For what son is not disciplined by his father?If you are not disciplined (and everyone undergoes discipline), then you are illegitimate children and not true sons.Moreover, we have all had human fathers who disciplined us and we respected them for it. How much more should we submit to the Father of our spirits and live!Our fathers disciplined us for a little while as they thought best; but God disciplines us for our good, that we may share in his holiness.

Revelation 3:19 Those whom I love I rebuke and discipline. So be earnest, and repent.

How are we to respond when the Lord disciplines us? That’s what the psalm we’re looking at today teaches us. We should turn to God’s Word just as David reflected on God’s ways and the scripture he knew. We need to turn to God in prayer, not admitting to Him that we have sinned and that His discipline is deserved. We need to show Him, just as we would our earthly father if he was the one disciplining us, that we have learned our lesson, and we need to ask His forgiveness. When we’ve done that, we need to then “wait on the Lord” patiently, knowing that everything that is happening is happening for our good (even though we don’t like it). Like David, we need to humble ourselves before the Lord, asking Him to show us His ways and teach us to walk on His paths, to show us what He would have us do. Then we continue to wait patiently and humbly for the Lord to answer our prayer.

If you recall from yesterdays study, when the phrase “wait on the Lord” is used, it is talking about a “hopeful waiting”, not a discouraged one. So when we are waiting on the Lord in a situation like this, our wait should still be hopeful and expectant because we know that the Lord is good, all the time!

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How do we wait for the Lord to come?

How do we wait for the Lord to come? Waiting on the Lord –what does it mean?

Often throughout both the Old and New testament we see the phrase, “wait on the Lord”. This is something that has always been hard for people to do but I think it’s especially hard for us now because now our lives are lived in such a fast pace. We are taught by the world from infancy to expect instant gratification and waiting is generally seen as a “bad” thing and something to be avoided if at all possible today. I even find myself getting annoyed at waiting for a full minute to heat my dinner in the microwave at times, so waiting is not something that comes easily to me either! Let’s look at some of the ways we see this phrase in God’s Word today and see how it applies to us and what if anything we gain by “waiting” on the Lord.

Jude 20-23 But you, dear friends, build yourselves up in your most holy faith and pray in the Holy Spirit.Keep yourselves in God’s love as you wait for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ to bring you to eternal life.Be merciful to those who doubt;snatch others from the fire and save them; to others show mercy, mixed with fear—hating even the clothing stained by corrupted flesh.

1 Corinthians 1:7 Therefore you do not lack any spiritual gift as you eagerly wait for our Lord Jesus Christ to be revealed.

The type of waiting for the Lord mentioned in the above verses is something we’re especially familiar with since we all know that the Lord will be coming for us soon. Don’t let that first verse confuse you; even though we are already saved and in effect already have eternal life, that life begins when Christ comes for us at the rapture. That is when He brings us eternal life by instantly changing our bodies into new, immortal, incorruptible bodies.

I know most of us here are eagerly waiting for Jesus to come for us, and be revealed to us as He really is and that’s exactly what will happen at the rapture. The Lord tells us that even creation itself “waits” for this moment:

Romans 8:19 The creation waits in eager expectation for the sons of God to be revealed.

When Christ returns for us at the rapture, He is revealed to us as He really is and we who are His children, will also be revealed for what we really are then—His children, complete with immortal, incorruptible bodies!

Did you notice in the first verse that it says we’re waiting for the mercy of our Lord to give us these bodies and eternal life? This shows us once again that when we do receive our new bodies at the rapture and begin our new lives, that it is only because of His mercy and not because of anything we have done to “earn” it.

Now each of these verses gives us a little hint of “how” we are to wait. Let me post the first one again so we can look at it once more.

Jude 20-23 But you, dear friends, build yourselves up in your most holy faith and pray in the Holy Spirit.Keep yourselves in God’s love as you wait for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ to bring you to eternal life.Be merciful to those who doubt;snatch others from the fire and save them; to others show mercy, mixed with fear—hating even the clothing stained by corrupted flesh.

The first one tells us that we are to build ourselves up in our faith while we wait. Notice here that he doesn’t tell us to go to church or Sunday school so that the pastor or teacher can build us up in our faith. He tells us to do it ourselves for ourselves relying on Him to teach us and guide us. The word “and” is included in that showing us that part of building ourselves up in our faith is done through prayer in the Holy Spirit.

Praying in the Holy Spirit here is not talking about praying in tongues. By this he is telling us to pray in the power of the Spirit as our hearts our indwelt and enlightened by Him. In other words, praying as we are led by God not just about the things we normally would pray for. When we do that it draws us ever closer to the Lord and our relationship with Him deepens.

The third thing he tells us to do is to keep ourselves in God’s love while we wait. Since we’ve just been studying 1 John we already have a good background for understanding what he’s saying here. We know that the way to keep ourselves abiding (living) in the love of God is by keeping ourselves in a close relationship with the Lord Himself. These are all linked together because we build our faith through the study and reflection on God’s Word and through prayer and we also build our relationship with the Lord, making it a closer relationship and deeper one through those very same things.

So in those first two sentences we are given 4 exhortations: to build, to pray, to keep, and to wait. Now what does it really mean to wait? I’d like to share the definition of “wait” with you from a bible dictionary as I think it gives us a much better picture of just how we are to “wait”.

WAIT. (Lam. 3:25) qavah (kah-vah); Strong’s #6960: To wait for, look for, expect, hope. This verb is found some fifty times. Qavah is the root of the noun tiqvah, “hope” or “expectancy.” Qavah expresses the idea of “waiting hopefully” (Gen. 49:18; Job 30:26; Ps. 40:1; Is. 5:4; 25:9). In the present reference, even in the overwhelming tragedies Jeremiah experienced, he had hope in God’s salvation and was willing to wait for it. Also (Mic. 7:7) yachal (yah-chal); Strong’s #3176: To wait, tarry, hope, trust, expect; be patient; remain in anticipation. Yachal appears thirty-eight times in the Old Testament. Its first occurrence is in Genesis 8:10, in the account of Noah’s waiting seven days, from the time he first sent out the dove until he sent her out again. Yachal is often translated “hope” (Pss. 31:24; 33:18; 130:5, 7; 147:11). The correct way to hope and wait for the Lord is to steadfastly expect His mercy, His salvation, and His rescue, and while waiting, not take matters into one’s own hand (compare Gen. 15:1-17:22).
[1] [2]Hayford's Bible handbook.

Did you notice that several other words are always used in conjunction with the word “wait”? We are to wait with hope and with expectation of receiving, and we are to do this “steadfastly”. To wait steadfastly means to wait determinedly, immovable in our hope and in waiting. Immovable meaning not allowing scoffers or doubters to move us or cause us to change our minds or waver in our responsibility to wait and not to allow them to cause us to lose our sense of anticipation.

Finally he tells us to be merciful to those who have doubts, meaning that we should help build them up and encourage them in their faith so that they can grow to maturity in Christ. With those who are wandering off into heresy however we are to snatch them from the fire to save them, meaning again that we are to show them the errors of their ways so they can repent and turn back to the Lord. He continues saying show mercy mixed with fear.. Here he isn’t talking about worldly fear but Godly fear, “the fear of the Lord”. We are to show them mercy by showing them the error of their ways doing so in the fear of the Lord reminding them this way that the Lord is not someone to be trifled with.

The last verse we’re looking at today shows us again that we are to wait eagerly:

1 Corinthians 1:7 Therefore you do not lack any spiritual gift as you eagerly wait for our Lord Jesus Christ to be revealed.

This makes me think of how my children waited eagerly for Christmas morning to come each December. They would get so excited and so eager that they always had trouble sleeping those last couple of nights! This is how we should be feeling as well!
Every day when we see the news, although it’s “bad” news and shows how bad things are getting here, instead of getting us down, we can instead see them for what they really are: signs pointing to the soon return of our Lord. Just like children waiting for Christmas morning, every sign brings us closer to our Lord’s return! How can we not be excited about that!

In conclusion today we can see that as we wait, we are only to be passive in the sense that we are not to try to take matters into our own hands. Other then that though our waiting should be spent in excitement as we work hard to build our faith and strengthen our relationship with the Lord.

Maranatha! Even so come Lord Jesus!

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Our Blessed Hope

Our Blessed Hope

Titus 2:13-14 while we wait for the blessed hope—the glorious appearing of our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ,who gave himself for us to redeem us from all wickedness and to purify for himself a people that are his very own, eager to do what is good.

I quite honestly have never really understood why others don't accept the pre trib view when it's so obviously biblical, at least to me. I think the only one that I've ever come even close to understanding was the mid trib view. Now though I think I've finally realized the crux of the matter for all of them and it's really surprising in a way because it's a mistake I made too for a very long time.

Most of us when we think or talk about the rapture, we are thinking of it being God's "rescue mission" in a way. We're thinking of it in terms of the whole purpose of the rapture being to rescue us from having to go through the Tribulation, but that's only a part of what the rapture is all about!

The rapture is the culmination of our spiritual journey. It's the completion of our salvation as the disciples called it. That's why it's called "our blessed hope!" This is the part that all the other views are missing as well. They're not taking this into consideration with everything else, which is why many of them don't understand what it means when we say it's "our blessed hope". In fact, I think many of us didn't understand why the rapture was and is our blessed hope either.

When we accept the gift of salvation, we are saved, 100%. This is when we are given the new nature, which is also referred to as a new spirit. This is our eternal incorruptible spirit which the Lord gives us; a spirit that cannot die, cannot be damaged or corrupted by sin in any way.

However, because we already have another spirit/nature, we are constantly being torn between the two of them. The old spirit doesn’t just “disappear” when we receive our new ones. It will remain with us until we die or are raptured. At that time, because it is corruptible, it will die and that will leave us with only one nature/spirit. The spirit we will be left with is the incorruptible spirit, the one that can never die.

So now here we are, we’re saved and we have that incorruptible spirit to prove it. It will live forever, which means that we too will now live forever. It is pure so it will live with God which means that we too will live with God, but something else still has to happen first before we can live there physically. We must get rid of that corruptible spirit and we must get our incorruptible bodies.

This is the “salvation” we are eagerly waiting for. It’s not just that we will immortal bodies, fly through the air and escape the tribulation, although that’s usually what we focus on. We cannot have those perfect bodies until the old spirit is gone. So what we are waiting for as well is the final death of our old spirit so it will no longer plague us.

As we’ve said, the death of our old spirit happens either at our physical death, or if we are still alive at the time when the Father sends Jesus to get us in the rapture, then it will happen at that time. In an instant, the twinkling of an eye, our old spirit will die, so we will only have the one perfect one left, and our old physical bodies will be remade to match our new spirit. We will finally be “whole” and our salvation will be complete. We will be ready for heaven!

This then is the time line if you will of salvation as seen if the person dies before the rapture:

• the instant we are saved we receive a new spirit; we become a new creation
• we then spend whatever time we have left in this lifetime studying to show ourselves approved and doing our best to please the Lord, denying ourselves and making our lives our sacrifice to Him; preparing ourselves for our eternal lives.
• We die leaving this corruptible body behind and when we die, our old nature also dies so it will no longer plague us. We are in heaven immediately on death in our spiritual bodies enjoying heaven and the Lord. We are free of sin forever!
• The rapture happens and in an instant we receive our incorruptible physical bodies which match the incorruptible spirit we received so long ago when we were first saved, and our salvation is now complete and we live with the Lord forever in our new bodies.

Obviously if the rapture happens before we die, then at the instant of the rapture we receive our new bodies as it says in number 4 and our old spirit dies as it says in number 3. Either way, whether we die first or are taken in the rapture, we along with all other believers will receive our physical incorruptible bodies at that point in time.

This is why the rapture is our blessed hope. When we die we do get rid of our old nature, but we do not yet have our incorruptible bodies. It is at the rapture that our salvation becomes totally complete; totally finished, because at that moment we are both rid of our old natures and receive our new bodies and we will be like Him! That is our blessed hope, that we will finally truly be like Him! Not divine as some heresies would have us think, but complete, immortal, sin free, and living with Him forever!

I find God’s plan for us more and more amazing as I read and study God’s Word. The studies, no matter what subject or book in the bible that I’m studying, have shown me over and over how His plan for our redemption began at the beginning of creation and ends with the rapture. It’s also shown me how very very important our lives right now are. Now is the ONLY time we have to prepare for our eternal lives that we have ahead of us. There will be no second chances for that either, just as there are no second chances after death for salvation. If we don’t make the best of this life after our salvation, to prepare for our real lives, then we will miss out on a very important and very necessary part of our training that will not be available for us again. Whoever made up that quote that this life is like school for us was not far from the truth. I don’t know about you, but I want to come out at the top of my class so I can have even more to do and enjoy in my real life!

Romans 8:23-24 Not only so, but we ourselves, who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly as we wait eagerly for our adoption as sons, the redemption of our bodies. For in this hope we were saved. But hope that is seen is no hope at all. Who hopes for what he already has?

Galatians 5:5 But by faith we eagerly await through the Spirit the righteousness for which we hope.

Hebrews 9:28 so Christ was sacrificed once to take away the sins of many people; and he will appear a second time, not to bear sin, but to bring salvation to those who are waiting for him.

Philippians 1:6 being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus.

1 John 3:2 Dear friends, now we are children of God, and what we will be has not yet been made known. But we know that when he appears, we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is.

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The principles of all genuine fellowship with God

The principles of all genuine fellowship with God

1 John 3:21-24 Dear friends, if our hearts do not condemn us, we have confidence before God and receive from him anything we ask, because we obey his commands and do what pleases him.And this is his command: to believe in the name of his Son, Jesus Christ, and to love one another as he commanded us.Those who obey his commands live in him, and he in them. And this is how we know that he lives in us: We know it by the Spirit he gave us.

I wanted to include the last couple of sentences from yesterdays study so that the thought would flow more clearly for us today. It’s so much easier to read things in context. I’ve underlined the portion for today.

John had just told us that a confident and effective prayer life is founded on obedience to God. Now he sums those up by saying that God’s command is a combination of our faith in Jesus and the acting out of that faith in love toward each other. He also reminds us that these commands are not from him, but are rather from the Lord Himself.

John 14:12-15 I tell you the truth, anyone who has faith in me will do what I have been doing. He will do even greater things than these, because I am going to the Father.And I will do whatever you ask in my name, so that the Son may bring glory to the Father.You may ask me for anything in my name, and I will do it.“If you love me, you will obey what I command.

What John tells us here is also backed up by the other apostles:

1 Peter 3:12For the eyes of the Lord are on the righteous and his ears are attentive to their prayer, but the face of the Lord is against those who do evil.”

James 5:16Therefore confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous man is powerful and effective.

James 1:6-8 But when he asks, he must believe and not doubt, because he who doubts is like a wave of the sea, blown and tossed by the wind.That man should not think he will receive anything from the Lord;he is a double-minded man, unstable in all he does.

I would like to address one thing here that is often misunderstood. I know I too misunderstood what this was saying for a very long time. With the word of faith heresy that’s going around it makes it even easier for people to misunderstand this. John, Peter and James are saying that we must have faith when we pray. They are talking about faith in Jesus, and faith in who Jesus is, and even faith that your prayer will be answered, but NOT faith that you are going to get what you ask for. God is not a vending machine or a slot machine that if you put in the right combination of things that you will always get what you want. To me the perfect illustration of the correct way to pray in faith and even to live in faith is the example of when Peter walked on the water to Jesus. Do you remember the story?

Matthew 14:28-31 “Lord, if it’s you,” Peter replied, “tell me to come to you on the water.”“Come,” he said. Then Peter got down out of the boat, walked on the water and came toward Jesus.But when he saw the wind, he was afraid and, beginning to sink, cried out, “Lord, save me!”Immediately Jesus reached out his hand and caught him. “You of little faith,” he said, “why did you doubt?”

This is one of my favorite stories and it awes me every time I read it. Notice that the disciples are frightened at first when they see Jesus walking to them on the water. It’s night time and the seas were rough so it was hard for them to see. They aren’t sure who it is and their first thought is that it might be a ghost. Jesus calls to them and tells them it’s Him so they won’t be afraid. That’s when Peter replies, “if it is you Lord, then tell me to come to you on the water”.

Notice that Peter isn’t asking Jesus to “let him walk on the water” or to give him the “power to walk on water”. He says “if it is you”, tell me to do this. Peter was putting all his faith in Jesus, not in some miracle or in himself or in an answer to prayer or anything else; just in Jesus. Jesus goes along with him and tells him to come to Him, and Peter steps out on the water and begins to walk to Him!!!! Can you even imagine that???? How awesome that must have been! Remember now, the waves were rough, and it was dark. We’re not talking about daylight on a calm sea! (although that too would have been a miracle!) Suddenly, when he’s already within arms length of Jesus, what does Peter do? He takes his eyes off Jesus and instead begins to focus on the wind and the rough seas! As soon as he does that, doubt overcomes him and he begins to sink! So Peter calls out, Lord! Save me!, and of course Jesus immediately—did you notice that? He immediately reached out and saved him!

You’d think after his disciple accomplished the miracle of walking on water, even a little ways, that Jesus would congratulate him, but instead Jesus rebuked him and said, “why did you doubt?”

This is what Jesus and the disciples are talking about when they talk about having faith when you pray. Peter did not have or need to have faith that he could walk on the water. He had faith in Jesus that Jesus could cause anything to happen that He wanted, including making him walk on water and so he did. It was only when he took his eyes off Jesus, when he took his focus off Jesus and put it on his surroundings and what he was doing that he started to sink because doubt crept in.

So our faith is to be in God, that God will always do what is right and good; and that He will always answer our prayers; that Jesus is who He says He is and that He can do all that He says He can do and that He will do it. Do you see the difference?

John puts it pretty straight forward in the verses we’re studying when he says we obey His commands and His commands are to believe in Jesus and to love one another. Then when we are living right, in a close personal relationship with the Lord, being obedient to Him, we wouldn’t dream of asking Him for something that wasn’t His will. Therefore since we are praying according to His will, just as we are living according to His will, then He will give us what we ask for.

That’s what this entire letter has been about so far; explaining the difference between those who are really saved and who are living in a close relationship with the Lord and those who are simply pretending to and explaining how we can tell the difference between them. He explains both what the true Christian looks like as well as what someone who is just pretending looks like, and encourages us to continue to grow in Christ always becoming closer to the Lord. He uses this letter both to teach us how to discern the false teachers that had crept into the church and to reassure us that we are saved and can rest secure in our salvation, and to encourage us to continue to grow in Christ.

Finally in today's verses he reminds us yet again that those who are being obedient are abiding in God and that God is abiding in them and that we can be assured of this because of the Holy Spirit who dwells in us. This is just like what Jesus told us:

John 15:5-8 “I am the vine; you are the branches. If a man remains in me and I in him, he will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing.If anyone does not remain in me, he is like a branch that is thrown away and withers; such branches are picked up, thrown into the fire and burned.If you remain in me and my words remain in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be given you.This is to my Father’s glory, that you bear much fruit, showing yourselves to be my disciples.

Notice that when Jesus talks about this He says too that He will give us whatever we ask when we are abiding in Him. He clarifies what that means with the next sentence, because if we are abiding in Him, then the things we ask for will be to the Father’s glory and we will be bearing much fruit for Him both through our lives and through what we ask for. It all ties together and cannot be separated.

 

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The principles of all genuine fellowship with God

The principles of all genuine fellowship with God

1 John 3:19-22 This then is how we know that we belong to the truth, and how we set our hearts at rest in his presence whenever our hearts condemn us. For God is greater than our hearts, and he knows everything.Dear friends, if our hearts do not condemn us, we have confidence before God and receive from him anything we ask, because we obey his commands and do what pleases him.

In the last part of this study we saw that Jesus Himself is the perfect expression and example of what true love is and how those of us who are saved are to follow His example by showing that kind of love toward our brothers and sisters in Christ. We also discussed the fact that it isn’t our deeds that save us but rather our deeds prove we are saved because they are born out of our love for Jesus. Another example of what John was saying Is found in James:

James 2:15-17 Suppose a brother or sister is without clothes and daily food.If one of you says to him, “Go, I wish you well; keep warm and well fed,” but does nothing about his physical needs, what good is it?In the same way, faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action, is dead.

In other words, no one who is really saved could continually see a brother or sister in Christ who was in great need and not do whatever they could to help them.

John also shows us that he realizes that none of us are perfect and that we all slip up and sin. We see that he even includes himself in this because he uses the term “we” instead of saying “you”.

We can know for sure that we belong to the truth means simply (and amazingly) that we can be sure that we are saved forever. He begins the sentence with “This then is how we know”. The words “this then” are referring to what he has been saying to us throughout this entire letter and really ties this all together nicely:

1 John 1:5-10 This is the message we have heard from him and declare to you: God is light; in him there is no darkness at all.If we claim to have fellowship with him yet walk in the darkness, we lie and do not live by the truth.But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus, his Son, purifies us from all sin.If we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us.If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.If we claim we have not sinned, we make him out to be a liar and his word has no place in our lives.

1 John 2:1-6 My dear children, I write this to you so that you will not sin. But if anybody does sin, we have one who speaks to the Father in our defense—Jesus Christ, the Righteous One.He is the atoning sacrifice for our sins, and not only for ours but also for the sins of the whole world.We know that we have come to know him if we obey his commands.The man who says, “I know him,” but does not do what he commands is a liar, and the truth is not in him.But if anyone obeys his word, God’s love is truly made complete in him. This is how we know we are in him:Whoever claims to live in him must walk as Jesus did.

1 John 3:11This is the message you heard from the beginning: We should love one another.

1 John 3:14We know that we have passed from death to life, because we love our brothers. Anyone who does not love remains in death.

1 John 3:18Dear children, let us not love with words or tongue but with actions and in truth.

John is saying then that this love we have for each other is one way we can know that we are truly saved. John knows however that there will be times when we won’t show this kind of love. He knows that we do still sometimes sin and includes himself in that. He has been telling us all along that our relationship with other believers affects our relationship with the Lord. With that in mind he says that when our hearts condemn us, when our conscience isn’t clear, we can trust the fact that we can go boldly into His presence and confess our sin and be totally forgiven for them. Even though our hearts may continue to beat us up over our sin, we can know for sure that the Lord has forgiven us because we are not supposed to be relying on our own character but rather on the character of the Lord who is greater then our hearts.

When we walk in love with each other, we grow in our understanding of God as well because we are abiding in Him when we do this; therefore we are experiencing His heart more and more. Because we are walking that closely with Him and each other, we will experience confidence in His presence. When we slip and our hearts begin to condemn us, we need to confess and get back into a right relationship with the Lord and each other so that our growth isn’t stunted.

Sometimes however our hearts accuse us wrongly. This is yet another reason why we need to remember that God knows everything, always. He knows the Truth, even when we don’t. Therefore we can go to Him, confess and know for certain that everything is OK between us. We don’t have to listen to our hearts then because once we have confessed if we feel it’s necessary, we know that the Lord has already taken care of it because God never makes a mistake and will never judge us wrongly.

Jeremiah 17:9 The heart is deceitful above all things and beyond cure. Who can understand it?

Remember when John denied the Lord three times just before our Lord’s death on the cross? I’m sure that from the moment that rooster crowed the third time that John was miserable and that his heart condemned him. He knew what he had done and he knew it was a sin. I’d ask if you can imagine how he felt, but I’m sure you can just as I can. It’s a horrible horrible feeling when you know you have let your Lord and Savior down. I don’t think there is any worse feeling then that, and our hearts often grab onto that and beat us up with it over and over again even after we have confessed.

Luke 22:61-62 The Lord turned and looked straight at Peter. Then Peter remembered the word the Lord had spoken to him: “Before the rooster crows today, you will disown me three times.”And he went outside and wept bitterly.

Like us, John most likely lived with that awful condemnation from his heart until Jesus Himself relieved him of it after His resurrection. The point is that he didn’t need to live with that because his heart was falsely condemning him. John had already repented of his sin. We know this because the verse above says “he went outside and wept bitterly”. If that isn’t an example of godly sorrow which leads to repentance, then I don’t know what is! God knew that John had repented the very second he did so; in fact God knew he would repent before he had even sinned! So there was no reason for John’s heart to condemn him any longer, his heart, just like ours, was deceitful. This is why we should place our confidence in God and not in ourselves.

Finally John tells us that when we are living in right relationship with the Lord and with each other then we will also be praying according to His Will and not our own. Therefore He will give us anything we ask. What a wonderful promise to spur us onward toward always living (abiding) in a close personal relationship with the Lord!

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The principles of all genuine fellowship with God

The principles of all genuine fellowship with God

Today we’ll pick up from where we left off before we got side tracked on the part about prayer.

1 John 3:16-18 This is how we know what love is: Jesus Christ laid down his life for us. And we ought to lay down our lives for our brothers.If anyone has material possessions and sees his brother in need but has no pity on him, how can the love of God be in him?Dear children, let us not love with words or tongue but with actions and in truth.

Right at the very start here John shows us what true love looks like. He minds us that Jesus is the personification of love and of course our goal is to be like Him. Since we’ve had some time away from the original text, like me remind us here too that when John speaks of “brother”, he is referring to other true believers in Christ, not to our neighbors or even our families. I am not saying that we shouldn’t be this way with non believers too, I just want to make sure we remember the context that we’re reading this in. Jesus laid down His life for each of us who has accepted Him. Therefore we should be more then willing to do the same for any other believer.

John goes on to bring the point more down to earth since it’s unlikely that many will be asked to die for another believer. He reminds us that when we are aware of another believer who is in need, if we have what that person needs, we need to share it with him. John says, if we don’t do this, not out of “duty” but out of love and pity for the person, then we can’t possibly be in a close relationship with Christ. As believers the Lord shows us His heart and little by little changes our hearts to be more like His. The word translated “pity” is splanchna and means a deep seated emotional concern or sympathy. This is one area that I’ve noticed that the members of Fresh Hope really seem to excel in. I’ve lost count of how many people have been helped by members here both financially as well as emotionally by our members. It always makes me feel so honored to be part of the body of Christ that is working the way it’s supposed to be! John tells us here, that we should show our love for other believers with our actions as well as our words whenever we can, and this is something that our members don’t seem to have any problem with at all!

Note too that John isn’t telling us that we “must” give in order to be saved. He’s saying instead that those who do love their fellow believers and show it this way are obviously saved. This kind of love comes from the Lord, not from our old natures. Again, works do not save us, but are the “proofs” that we are saved.

If someone who wasn’t saved were to read these passages and attempt to love others in this way and really worked hard at it, they would be doing much good, but they still wouldn’t be saved. True believers don’t have to “work” at doing these things because these things are all fruit of the spirit that are born out of our love for what the Lord has done for us.

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What are we going to feel when we finally stand before Him face to face?

What are we going to feel when we finally stand before Him face to face?

What are we going to feel when we finally stand before Him face to face? Whether it's due to the rapture or death, all of us who are born again will experience life in heaven. We know some of what that life will be like from what scripture says, but I'd like to take a look at what our first immediate experience might be like. I think we're all familiar with the verse that tells us that there will be no more pain, death, sorrow etc. and many apply that to their entire "life to be". In fact, until recently, I did too. Lately however I've come to understand that this isn't necessarily true for the first part of our experience.

Revelation 21:4 He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away.”

For one thing, what the Lord says in Rev 21:4 happens after the millennium not the second we all arrive in heaven.

The more I study the more I realize that what we do here will affect our lives there a LOT and that what we won't be able to "make up" for what we didn't do here once we get there, like so many think they'll be able to. Let's first take a look at the parable of the talents in Matthew:

Matthew 25:14-30 “Again, it will be like a man going on a journey, who called his servants and entrusted his property to them.To one he gave five talents of money, to another two talents, and to another one talent, each according to his ability. Then he went on his journey.The man who had received the five talents went at once and put his money to work and gained five more.So also, the one with the two talents gained two more.But the man who had received the one talent went off, dug a hole in the ground and hid his master’s money.“After a long time the master of those servants returned and settled accounts with them.The man who had received the five talents brought the other five. ‘Master,’ he said, ‘you entrusted me with five talents. See, I have gained five more.’“His master replied, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant! You have been faithful with a few things; I will put you in charge of many things. Come and share your master’s happiness!’“The man with the two talents also came. ‘Master,’ he said, ‘you entrusted me with two talents; see, I have gained two more.’“His master replied, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant! You have been faithful with a few things; I will put you in charge of many things. Come and share your master’s happiness!’“Then the man who had received the one talent came. ‘Master,’ he said, ‘I knew that you are a hard man, harvesting where you have not sown and gathering where you have not scattered seed.So I was afraid and went out and hid your talent in the ground. See, here is what belongs to you.’“His master replied, ‘You wicked, lazy servant! So you knew that I harvest where I have not sown and gather where I have not scattered seed?Well then, you should have put my money on deposit with the bankers, so that when I returned I would have received it back with interest.“ ‘Take the talent from him and give it to the one who has the ten talents.For everyone who has will be given more, and he will have an abundance. Whoever does not have, even what he has will be taken from him.And throw that worthless servant outside, into the darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.

First Jesus gives us His gift of salvation, and has given us each of us abilities and talents.

Ephesians 1:3 Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in the heavenly realms with every spiritual blessing in Christ.

Then Jesus left for a long time. Isn’t it interesting how He has warned us in several places in His Word that once He ascended that He would be gone a long time in our way of thinking before he returned again?

Notice in the parable what the first man did when the Master left? Does it remind you of what happened when Jesus called his disciples? (Remember how when Jesus called each of them, it says in the bible that they “immediately” got up and followed Him? Like that, the first man goes “at once” and put his money to work and earned more, as did the next man. Jesus is showing us here that when we are saved, He expects us to immediately live up to what we have already attained, just as Paul said in Phil 3:16.

Philippians 3:16 Only let us live up to what we have already attained.

The only way we can do that is through spending time with God in prayer and studying God’s Word. The only way we can “invest” what Christ has given us is also through studying His Word, so that we can then share that knowledge with others. Therefore when we receive this wonderful gift of salvation, our very first requirement is to study!

2 Timothy 2:15 Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a workman who does not need to be ashamed and who correctly handles the word of truth.

When we study and spend time in prayer, we begin on the path to spiritual maturity. The closer we become to the Lord through prayer and study, the less likely we are to be fooled by false teachers, and the more grateful we’ll be for our own salvation because we’ll actually understand it better! Because we are more grateful and more knowledgeable, our testimonies will be all the more powerful too!

Matthew 13:12 Whoever has will be given more, and he will have an abundance. Whoever does not have, even what he has will be taken from him.

In the parable of the talents we see first how two different believers are rewarded. Then we discover that the final person was never saved to begin with. That person claims to be born again, but isn't.

Matthew 25:41 “Then he will say to those on his left, ‘Depart from me, you who are cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels.

He did nothing at all with what the Lord had given him! Jesus, instead of rewarding him as he expected in his arrogance, took back what He had given him and cast him into hell. This man is an example of a false follower of Christ. He is a picture of what a “goat” would look like. We'll have to look at other verses to determine what happens to those who are born again but who choose to do nothing or practically nothing for the Lord. First let me share another verse that shows that we may very well experience shame at first if we're not careful:

1 John 2:28 And now, dear children, continue in him, so that when he appears we may be confident and unashamed before him at his coming.

John is telling us that as long as we continue in our close fellowship (relationship) with the Lord that we will be able to be confident and unashamed when He comes for us at the rapture. Of course this means then that those who do not maintain that close personal relationship with the Lord and wind up wandering off into false teachings, those who do not take the time to become mature in Christ through studying His Word and spending time in prayer, etc, will not be confident, and will instead be ashamed of themselves when they are finally face to face with their Lord. This does NOT say they will lose their salvation, it simply says that when they face our Lord, and finally see the “real truth”, that they will be ashamed of themselves. When I say they'll see the “real truth” I mean that when we are finally with Him, we will know Him just as He knows us:

1 Corinthians 13:12 Now we see but a poor reflection as in a mirror; then we shall see face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known.

So to me the question is, what are we going to feel when we finally stand before Him face to face? Will we feel confidence as John says because we have spent time growing that personal relationship with Him and our Father, because we've spent time getting to know Him through His Word which He gave us, because we've used the discernment of mature believers to avoid false teaching and stayed on the narrow path of faith, or will be we ashamed of ourselves because we haven't done these things? Let's look at 1 Cor. first.

1 Corinthians 3:12-15 If any man builds on this foundation using gold, silver, costly stones, wood, hay or straw, his work will be shown for what it is, because the Day will bring it to light. It will be revealed with fire, and the fire will test the quality of each man’s work. If what he has built survives, he will receive his reward. If it is burned up, he will suffer loss; he himself will be saved, but only as one escaping through the flames.

This passage makes it quite clear that some who are born again will only miss hell by a hair's breadth! It shows in fact that they will suffer loss! That doesn't sound at all like the description of our lives in heaven that we tend to focus on to me. So what does this mean? This takes place at the Bema judgment and is not about our eternal destiny because that is already taken care of. We already know that we are destined to live in heaven with the Lord. This is strictly to determine what rewards or our loss, and what we will be doing throughout eternity. Long ago pastors preached about the fact that there can be loss, but today we rarely hear about this. People joke about this all the time but Paul was dead serious when he wrote this. Let's see what else we can find about this:

Philippians 1:20 I eagerly expect and hope that I will in no way be ashamed, but will have sufficient courage so that now as always Christ will be exalted in my body, whether by life or by death.

Here again Paul indicates that he doesn't want to feel ashamed when he is finally face to face with his Savior. He wants to be confident instead that he is doing all he can to please the Lord.

1 Timothy 3:13 Those who have served well gain an excellent standing and great assurance in their faith in Christ Jesus.

Prior to this statement, Paul is discussing how a deacon should serve. I think this last verse applies to us all though. When we are truly servants of Christ we gain an excellent standing here among other believers, but more importantly we gain that great assurance, that great confidence for when we come face to face with Jesus. So we will face Him with assurance, or confidence instead of being ashamed.

1 Corinthians 3:8 The man who plants and the man who waters have one purpose, and each will be rewarded according to his own labor.

Here it is only talking about rewards, but I wanted to point it out because where there are rewards there is also the possibility of losing those rewards. Plus I wanted to point out that the rewards we earn here are not like getting a new big screen TV for ourselves. These rewards we've heard so much about are all things that will glorify the Lord, that will please Him, not us. We need to remember that it's really not about us, it's all about Him. That's why those works which honor Him will remain and those that don't will be burned away.

Our world has become so selfish though that whenever we hear the word "reward" we do automatically think it's something for us. We may not literally think of a great big TV, but we generally think of a reward as though it would be something like we'd get as a birthday present from someone. In heaven however that's not how it works. Like so many other things, this too is the opposite of what the world teaches. Our "rewards" in heaven will be things that give honor and glory to the Lord, not ourselves! Hence the more rewards we earn, the more He is glorified.

About the only kind of reward that we might think of as being more for us, would be the various crowns we are promised. Such as the one in this verse:

2 Timothy 4:8 Now there is in store for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will award to me on that day—and not only to me, but also to all who have longed for his appearing.

If we think it through though we will see that this too honors the Lord, not us! Are we righteous or does our righteousness come from Christ? Of course it comes from our Lord! Not one of us would be in heaven if not for Him!

Romans 3:22 This righteousness from God comes through faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe.

1 Corinthians 1:30 It is because of him that you are in Christ Jesus, who has become for us wisdom from God—that is, our righteousness, holiness and redemption.

And what will we do with those crowns?

Revelation 4:10-11 the twenty-four elders fall down before him who sits on the throne, and worship him who lives for ever and ever. They lay their crowns before the throne and say: “You are worthy, our Lord and God, to receive glory and honor and power, for you created all things, and by your will they were created and have their being.”

Once again, it's all about Him! Let's look at another passage where Jesus explains what is going to happen:

Matthew 24:44-51 So you also must be ready, because the Son of Man will come at an hour when you do not expect him. “Who then is the faithful and wise servant, whom the master has put in charge of the servants in his household to give them their food at the proper time? It will be good for that servant whose master finds him doing so when he returns. I tell you the truth, he will put him in charge of all his possessions. But suppose that servant is wicked and says to himself, ‘My master is staying away a long time,’ and he then begins to beat his fellow servants and to eat and drink with drunkards. The master of that servant will come on a day when he does not expect him and at an hour he is not aware of. He will cut him to pieces and assign him a place with the hypocrites, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.

Jesus makes it pretty clear again here that there will be both rewards and loss! The last part of this passage is often thought to be referring to hell. However if you read it again you'll notice that the "wicked servant" calls Jesus "his Master". Even more importantly, when Jesus tells this parable He says "The master of that servant will come on a day when he does not expect him", of course referring to Himself. If He is that servants master then that servant is indeed saved, he simply hasn't done anything with his salvation! (which is why he is called "wicked".) Therefore this cannot be referring to hell, because we know from scripture that he cannot lose his salvation. This scenario is exactly what is referred to in this verse:

1 Corinthians 3:15 If it is burned up, he will suffer loss; he himself will be saved, but only as one escaping through the flames.

Now that we see it in that light it doesn't sound to good does it? From what I've seen so far, I think there will be a time right at first at least when we will feel ashamed of ourselves for not doing the things the Lord asked of us while we were here, for not trying harder to please Him. I think we'll finally understand why He asks what He does of us here and we'll feel remorse for not doing what we should have been doing.

I don't think however that there will be any sort of jealousy or anything like that for those who did do what the Lord asked and because of that are given rewards and wonderful opportunities and high ranking jobs (such as ruling over nations etc) to do there.

I used to say like many do that I would only get into heaven by the skin of my teeth, meaning of course that it is only through the grace of the Lord that I'm saved. But now I cringe when I hear that. Mainly because when I look back I see that when I said that myself in the past, I was also using it as a crutch kind of because I knew I wasn't doing the things the Lord wanted me to. I wasn't studying His Word like He asks us to etc. so now I'm ashamed of myself for thinking that way and instead try to do all I can to please Him and to earn as many crowns and rewards as I can. Not to glorify me because they won't glorify me. I finally understood that every single crown, and every reward only glorifies Christ, so the more we earn the more He is glorified. Knowing that, I want to earn all there is!

Again, the bible tells us that what we do here will determine our placement in heaven. By placement I mean what types of work the Lord will have for us and what rewards He will have for us; whether or not we will be ruling nations with Him, helping others, traveling, teaching, etc or if we will be scrubbing toilets as some like to say they won't mind doing there.

The point is that if we are scrubbing toilets because the Lord couldn't trust us while we were here to spend time with Him and study His Word, then I don't think I'd be to proud of my job. Grateful yes, but not proud of it because it would mean I had failed Him.


There are many other verses that show all of this as well and many that show what some of our other "rewards" will be. I'm just going to list some here for you now so that we can discuss them if you'd like to. Keep in mind as you're reading these that they are referring to us; to all who are born again. All of us will either be rewarded or we will suffer loss. I want to be one of those who is rewarded and will do all I can to please Him now so that I can give Him the glory later too!

1 Corinthians 6:3 Do you not know that we will judge angels? How much more the things of this life!

2 Timothy 2:12 if we endure, we will also reign with him. If we disown him, he will also disown us;

1 Corinthians 6:2 Do you not know that the saints will judge the world? And if you are to judge the world, are you not competent to judge trivial cases?

Revelation 3:21 To him who overcomes, I will give the right to sit with me on my throne, just as I overcame and sat down with my Father on his throne.

Matthew 25:21 “His master replied, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant! You have been faithful with a few things; I will put you in charge of many things. Come and share your master’s happiness!’

I do not think that there will be any continuous shame or any condemnation of those who do wind up scrubbing toilets so to speak though because after the Millennium the Lord says He will wipe away all our tears etc and there will be only joy and love and perfect companionship with Him and each other. So I don't think this will be at all considered "punishment" then. Then how long we will have to endure that shame of not having done even the least to please Him? That I don't know. Perhaps it will only last moments, but if that verse about wiping away all tears apply to this as well, then it may well last throughout the millennium. I haven't yet found anything in His Word to indicate for sure it going either way, except that the verse about wiping away our tears is definitely speaking of after the millennium. So to me this is a very good reason to get our bibles out and plan on spending more time with Him and studying His Word!

Let me conclude today with Johns warning to us:

2 John 8 Watch out that you do not lose what you have worked for, but that you may be rewarded fully.

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