Mike Bickle introduces the sermon series on Eternal Rewards, emphasizing the significance of the Judgment Seat of Christ, a theme often overlooked in the church. He shares a transformative personal encounter with the Lord that instilled in him a deep awareness of the potential regret believers may face if they do not live purposefully for Christ. Bickle stresses that every believer will stand before the Lord to give an account of their lives, and that rewards are not merely about recognition but reflect how Jesus feels about our love and obedience to Him. He encourages the congregation to consider their eternal assignments and the importance of living with a heavenly perspective, as the choices made in this life will have lasting implications in the age to come.

I'm beginning an eight-part series on Eternal Rewards. In this first session, although I'm doing it on Sunday, the rest are going to be on Friday night, I'm wanting to just bring our whole local church and our body here into just a broad strokes kind of overview of this subject. And I'm going to break down the details of it in a far more detailed way on Friday night for the next seven Friday nights. This subject of the Judgment Seat of Christ and Eternal Rewards is one of the most important themes in the Word of God. Jesus talked on this subject more than any other teacher in the body of Christ, I mean in the Word of God because He knew the most about this subject. Therefore, He saw its value like nobody else. This theme is referred to, I mean like every other page in the New Testament. Maybe not exactly, but I mean it's a major theme. But it's mostly neglected in the teaching of the body of Christ. I've been really captured by this subject over the years. I'm going to share an experience I had about 40 years ago that really stirred my heart up. And I've since that time, I've looked every time I go somewhere to another city and go to a Christian bookstore or now online, I look for books on this subject and there's not very many of them. And the body of Christ, by neglecting this subject, it brings us into a place of real weakness and it's a real missed opportunity. Even godly believers don't talk much about this subject, but it was a subject talked often about and taught about by the apostles. In October 1978, about 40 years ago, I was a young pastor and I had a powerful, life-shifting supernatural encounter. I've shared this many times over the years because it's marked me that dramatically. I think of this encounter on a regular basis, not every day, but I mean many times in a week I'll think about this encounter. It's as vivid and real in my mind today as it was near 40 years ago. I went to bed one night, it started in a dream, but it ended up in a visionary kind of encounter. It's hard to describe exactly what the term is. But I was in this dream, yay more than a dream, and I was kneeling before the Lord. I literally saw the Lord in this dream experience. It's the only time I've ever had an encounter of this level, of this kind like this. And He was looking right at me with a very serious look. He wasn't angry, but He was sober, He was serious. He said the most startling, shocking words to me. He said, you're saved, but your life was wasted. I was really troubled by that. Because I know I'm kneeling before the Lord. Again, I've never seen the Lord in a dream like it, directly face-to-face like this, except for this one time at this level. And I'd been a dedicated, devout believer for maybe six, seven years at that time. And I thought, I was seeking the Lord hard as far as I knew. And I thought, my life was wasted. And I began to protest this idea in my mind. I didn't say it because of who I was in front of. I said, this is a mistake. This is a mistake. You've got the wrong person. I'm reading biographies of the great missionaries and fasting and praying and seeking the Lord and giving money and really pouring myself out in every way I knew. Serving people and trying to be humble and da-da-da-da-da-da-da. Notice I said trying. Then a thought rose up in me by the Holy Spirit, very strong, resounding in me. It is impossible to manipulate the man Christ Jesus. Because what I was saying in my mind, you've got the wrong person. The Holy Spirit says you'll never change his mind about what he's evaluated. So I was panic-stricken. I mean, I had this sense of dread. So I cried out, can I have another chance? Can I have another chance at life? Natural life. And then the next thought that rose up in me by the Holy Spirit, it was more than a thought. It was a resounding word in my spirit. The verse Hebrews 9, 27. It's appointed unto a person to die once and then they're evaluated. You don't get a second chance. You can't go back and do it again. So I was left in this tremendous sense of loss and regret. I mean, I was weeping. I mean, I was heartbroken. It was wrenching. And as I'm weeping and I'm kneeling before the Lord in this dream experience, tears are flowing down and my T-shirt that I'm wearing is wet in this dream. But suddenly I wake up. I'm not in bed. I'm a couple steps over in the room. I don't know how I got there. I don't remember getting up and going there. And I'm kneeling in the exact same posture I was in that dream, and my T-shirt is wet with tears. And I go like, what? How did I get from there to here? And what was that? It was very disturbing. And I sat there for a while very sad but perplexed. And I go, Lord, I don't understand. Why would you say this to me? You know, I'm in my early 20s and young pastor and very, again, sorrow, regret, pain, perplexity. And the Holy Spirit made it clear to me that he was allowing me to feel that regret and sorrow so I would live in a way now so that I would not have regret on the last day when I stood before the Lord. It was like the Holy Spirit was saying, let's fast forward many years. If you live at a certain low level of dedication, which is common in the body of Christ, if you are content with that standard of dedication, fast forward some decades, you will stand before the Lord and you will have regret. So I got to feel the anguish and the sorrow of that feeling. It was, in retrospect, one of the most gracious encounters that the Lord could give me because it wounded my heart way back then. And as I understood that, I said, Lord, I fear regret more than anything else in life. I don't want to regret on that day. And I believe that there are many believers that when they stand before the Lord on that day, they will be aware of how they wasted their life in a negative sense. Beloved, the greatest appointment in your life is yet future. It's with a man. He's a great king. He's Christ Jesus. Every one of you that are a believer, you will meet him on that day. There is an appointed day. It is the most significant appointment in your life. And when your eyes meet his eyes on that day, whatever he is thinking about you is the most significant evaluation of your life in this age. I don't care how many people are applauding you or how many people are criticizing you, one extreme or the other or both. None of that will matter. Only what is in his mind when you meet eye to eye. Not so far from now, I will meet him face to face, and he will remember that day. And I will understand then how gracious it was that he let me have that heart-wounding, piercing experience. Again, I've thought about that day thousands and thousands of times. Let's look at Romans 1, Romans 14 on the notes here. Again, today it's just a broad strokes overview. We're not going to go into the detail, but on Fridays we'll break down many of these details with a lot more verses and a lot more elaborate explanation of them. Paul gives a very important declaration. It's very gracious that we are aware of this ahead of time. Romans 14, verse 10, Paul says, We'll all stand, every one of us, before the judgment seat of Christ. Each of us will give an account of himself to the Lord. We will give an account for what we did with what he gave us. Now, every one of us have a different, a very unique life situation. Every single person does. Your life situation is based on your physical abilities or lack of, your giftings or the giftings you don't have, the finances, your emotional makeup, your family situation, life circumstances, the generation you live in. All of these go together to form a unique setting and context for every individual. And the Lord says, I will only have you answer according to what I gave you and that composite of all those things. And the Lord's very gracious in his evaluation. He's very merciful. He's very, very tender, very loving towards us. Now, it's interesting that the word judgment seat here, which is, Paul uses it two times, here in Romans 14, then again in 2 Corinthians 5, we'll look at it in a moment. It's the word, the bema seat. Judgment seat is bema seat. And the bema seat, in the Greek culture, was a very familiar term. The bema seat wasn't the place where the judge stood to give penalties to a criminal. It's not where a criminal was tried and then sent to prison. The bema seat's a very different word. It's where the judges stood, like in the athletic contest, the Olympic Games, to give an award. So even in the term judgment seat, bema seat, this Greek word, it has a very positive connotation. The Lord is eager to reward even the smallest things that we do to show our love towards him. He said, surely I say to you, even if you give a cup of cold water, surely I will reward you. Because rewards are Jesus expressing the way he feels about the way we love him. Rewards are Jesus expressing how he feels about the way you loved him in this life. And the bema seat, the place of the judge to give the gold, silver, bronze medal, that's where we'll stand. It's mostly very positive. The negative comes in when there's, we understand that we lost opportunities because of our neglecting the will of God or making wrong choices, even as believers. Look at the second time the judgment seat is used by Paul. He emphasizes this theme. 2 Corinthians 5, verse 10. He says we must all appear before the bema seat. Again, the bema seat is the stand where the judge was that gave the Olympic awards, the medals, the wreaths. I'm using contemporary terminology. We must all appear there. Again, it's a profoundly positive reality that each one would receive the things done in their body, the things they actually did. It's according to what they have done. Not just their intentions. Intentions are important, but it's what they actually do, whether good or bad. Now this phrase, whether good or bad, has created a certain amount of perplexity to believers that we look at that and go, good or bad? Bad? How did the word bad? Paul, what are you talking about? Paul, haven't you read the book of Romans that salvation is by grace? How did bad get in there? Well, I'm not going to address that right now, but I will on one of the Friday nights. We'll put about six or seven verses together and describe what this means, at least my understanding of it from the Scripture, the good and bad dimensions. Eternal rewards are a significant part of our destiny, our life, God's plan for our life. God's plan for your life doesn't end when you die physically. God's plan for your life goes on for billions of years. God has a plan for your 70 years on the earth. Not that everybody lives that long, but you know, Psalm 90 says, God has given unto men 70 years, 80 due to strength. God has a plan for your 70 years, but God also has a plan for your thousand year career, your assignment on the earth in the millennial kingdom. Every believer has a assignment on the earth with a physical resurrected body, living in the New Jerusalem, but the New Jerusalem comes down to the earth, reigning on the earth for a thousand years. Beloved, your thousand year assignment is as real and profound and powerful as your 70 year assignment is. Most people don't think of their thousand year assignment. They only think of their 70 year assignment. I want to encourage you to think beyond. I think often of what I will be doing in 300 years. You think, oh, that's kind of cute. No, no, this is real. There's enough information, a framework of understanding surrounding the issue of eternal rewards and describing reigning on the earth and various facets of it. There's a lot of details we don't have, but there's a general framework from Genesis to Revelation that if we're hungry for it, we can put it together and get a broad framework of understanding about what some of our life will be like at that time. Not all the details, but we can know more than just a little bit. And I'm going to be alive in 300 years and so are you. And you're going to have a physical resurrected body living and reigning on the earth for real. And you will have a work assignment. I'd rather call it your career. It's more than an assignment. It's more than a job. It's really like a career. It's a vast part of who you are. And then we have one past the Amaladim. That's a bigger subject. Paragraph B. We'll look at this real brief just to get you kind of a working knowledge of some of the key verses without going into detail this morning. But just so we're all kind of on the same page. This is one of the more elaborate detailed passages on the judgment seat of Christ. 1 Corinthians 3, verses 8 to 15. This is about the most important appointment in your life that is yet future. Beloved, you won't be one minute late to that appointment. And it will be the most significant appointment of your life. I want to be prepared for it. I say, Lord, shock me now. Don't shock me then. I don't want to be shocked then. I don't want the Lord to say, Your life is wasted. I love you. You're in my family, but your life is wasted. I don't want to hear those. Shock me now. Tell me my blind spots now, Lord. Get my attention now. Don't make me wait till then. And that's one reason I'm taking eight sessions on this subject because, again, most of us are very unfamiliar with this topic. But there's a lot in the Bible on it. Verse 8. Paul says, Each one will receive his own reward according to his own labor or his own work. Verse 11. So there's no confusion. Paul says, There is no other foundation that anybody can lay except for the foundation of Jesus, meaning salvation is by faith, the free gift of God. We receive the gift of righteousness as an absolute free gift based on what he did, not on what we do. That is the foundation reality of the kingdom of God. So Paul, who obviously is very clear about that, he goes, I want you to not lose sight of that, but don't think that's the end of the story either. Verse 11. There is no other foundation but this. But verse 12. But anyone who builds on this foundation, that means your life choices as a believer. You build on this foundation. And your life choices will be esteemed by God as gold, silver, precious stones or some of your life choices will be esteemed by God as wood, hay, and straw. Verse 13. Paul said, When each person's life work, which is the composite of thousands and thousands of little choices. He's talking about your work. It's more than just your ministry to other people. It's your life that you've built upon the foundation. It's going to be revealed the nature of it. The truth of it will be revealed by fire. God's fire. Again, we'll look at this passage in far more detail on Friday night. Verse 14. But if anyone's work, which he builds upon the foundation of the grace of God, the foundation of Jesus, if that work endures or it lasts through the fire of God, that man, that woman will receive a reward. Meaning, my words and my deeds, the way I spend time and the way I spend money. Let's just break it down real simple. My words and deeds, my conversation later on today, tomorrow, the next day, and what I do and how I spend time and money, the composite of them. The Lord tests the nature of them with His fire. Some of those, God will call gold, silver, and precious stones. And fire doesn't hurt gold and silver. But some of them will be outside of the will of God, not in obedience to the scripture, scriptural principles, sermon on the mount type lifestyle. They will be like wood, hay, and straw. And wood, hay, and straw, when the fire comes, it consumes it. He goes on in verse 15. He goes, if anyone's work is burned up, their life choices, that believer, though they're in heaven, they're in the family of God, God loves them and they love God, that believer in heaven will suffer loss. But he himself will be saved. Yet as though through fire. And again, we'll break this down in more detail. He will suffer loss. That's a theme I've almost rarely heard about in my entire Christian life. Almost nobody will break down that passage. A few teachers have. Again, I've studied it from various ones. I'm very grateful for the little bit out there. But it's like we don't want to deal with that. We think it will go away if we don't deal with the ostrich effect. It puts our head in the ground. And the problem, if we don't look at it, there's no real problem. There will be people that will suffer loss. Believers. Meaning, I believe that means they lost potential rewards. Paragraph D. I like to say this over and over. Rewards are about expressing how Jesus feels about the way we loved him on the earth. In this life. Because we'll be on the earth in the next life, too. Again, live in the New Jerusalem, raining on the earth. But the New Jerusalem is coming down to the earth. So it's one big reality. Now, the reason I say this is because I've taught on this subject for 40 years. Ever since I had that encounter with the Lord about 40 years ago. It's a very important subject to me because it's very important in the Scripture. And I think about this a lot. I've had a number of believers say, I don't like that reward thing. And I understand a little bit what they're saying. But first I tell them, I go, actually you don't get to vote on whether it's real or not real. There's a man named Jesus that's established it. So you liking it or not liking it doesn't change any of it. But what most people, I think, mean, I'm giving them the benefit of the doubt. When they go, I don't like the idea of rewards. And I mean, people get real stirred up by this subject. Because it makes them feel pressure. And it makes them think, well, I've got to live different. Wait, whoa, that means it really matters what I do. I don't, that's heavy. One guy said, this creates pressure on me. This doctrine. I go, so? Well, we're Americans. American culture, we don't like pressure. So therefore, can't be in the Bible if we don't like it. The culture of heaven is not the Western culture of today. And godly pressure is called the fear of the Lord. I go, you can't dismiss biblical truth because you don't like how you feel about it when you think about how you're living. It doesn't go away because you don't like it. I go, it's way better to see what the Bible means. It's a glorious reality. But the reason some don't like it is because they have a secular view of eternal rewards. A secular paradigm. They're thinking of eternal rewards as, I'm going to get rewarded in the age to come on the millennial kingdom and I'm going to be strutting in front of people. Or I'm going to be over people and I'm going to be bossing them around. Or I'm going to have more treasure, more stuff than others. Or I'm superior in my dedication on the earth and my superiority is going to be trumpeted aloud. That's a secular view of eternal rewards. I understand them not being interested in that but that is not what eternal rewards are about. They're reading a biblical truth but they're interpreting it to a secular paradigm. Jesus said it really clear in Matthew 20. He goes, the Gentiles, the unbelievers approach authority and honor that way. Not the kingdom of God. But rewards is how Jesus feels about the way we love Him. You know, Jesus is so wealthy. He has so much treasure. He can afford to be lavish with His rewards because He has so much treasure. He has so much. We give a cup of cold water because we love Him. We take one step of obedience, we get a mile of blessing. It's like Jesus. Like some person says, do we earn these rewards? I go, no, no, you can't take a step and get a mile of blessing. That's not earning it, trust me. It's way beyond anything you could earn because the extravagance of the reward is so great. You know, it says that God loves a cheerful giver. Beloved, Jesus is the ultimate cheerful giver. You will never out give Him. You give a little bit in humility and service and sacrifice. Again, a step of obedience is a mile of blessing. He can afford it. He loves it. He goes, I want you to know how I feel about that little thing you did because you love me. I'm filled with love and I'm really rich and I really like you and I'm going to make a big point out of it because that's who I am. Eternal rewards, paragraph D, are also about working in close proximity with Him, with that which is precious. What I mean by that is that God the Father has given Jesus a mandate in the Millennial Kingdom to fill the earth with His glory. I mean, in the fullest sense. I mean, that mandate is even now in this age, but it happens in fullness then. He's going to rule all the nations and He's going to have resurrected believers partnering with Him in ruling the nations. And in ruling the nations, we'll spend a whole session on that. There's a whole lot of Bible verses and a lot of implications to that. When believers rule the nations, they will do it in partnership with Him. He will actually have leadership meetings with His people at various levels. And they will be together working, just like in ministry now. We make leadership choices in ministry and the Lord's with us and even our personalities are reflected in those choices. It's not like we're robotic, just echoing a read-off of a piece of paper. Okay, we make this choice. We're really going to rule and our personalities will be involved. We'll be interfacing with Him in a close and personal way. And the greater the sphere of authority, the more of the interaction will be necessary. That's a big, big subject. I don't want to develop it now. But think of the people that you love and admire the most. Do you want to work closely with them? Yeah, of course you do. And everybody won't work in the same proximity to Jesus. It will be related to our responsibilities. And our responsibilities will be related to our humility and obedience in this age. Not our gifting in this age, but our humility in this age. Our diligence, our faithfulness. You can be the most ungifted person. Nobody's paying attention to you. Not making any impact on anybody hardly. And if you're obeying the Lord and walking humility, you can be called great in the Millennial Kingdom. God will call your choices, your life choices, great. It's a remarkable reality. I call the judgment seat of Christ the great equalizer. Because some people in this age that are great in the eyes of men, now making a big impact, if they're not responding to the Lord in diligence and humility, their lifestyle won't be called great in the age to come. I mean their life choices. But somebody else, a little guy nobody ever heard of, the Lord says, your choices were great. Everything will flip around. It's a glorious reality. I want to be in some of those leadership meetings with Jesus. You know, Jesus, though by the Holy Spirit, He'll be omnipresent, He'll be everywhere by the Spirit, but He will still have a physical body where He and His physical person is one place at one time. His physical body won't be in a thousand places at one time. Just like in His earthly ministry. He was in Galilee, then later He was in Jerusalem. He wasn't in Galilee and Jerusalem the same time in His physical body. And He interacted with people at various levels. And again, by the Holy Spirit, we'll have communication and feel His presence and know His heart and communicate with Him by the Spirit. But there's more than that. He's ruling the nations and His people will be involved with them. What a remarkable reality. Another reason God gives rewards, because God so loves righteousness that He vindicates every choice of righteousness, even though it's unnoticed and out of sight of others. He so loves righteousness that He's going to make known and He's going to manifest His zeal over your righteous choices. He goes, I have to, I love righteousness. I can't let the seeds of your small acts of righteousness to go unnoticed. But I'm going to bring them to fullness and I'm going to celebrate them in front of you. Because that's who I am. Well, some folks say, I don't like eternal rewards. They can't say it's not in the Bible because it's all through the Bible. They can say they don't like it. And mostly because they're not familiar with the subject. And again, their idea of people strutting in their superiority and being the boss over people, that is not at all the biblical view of eternal rewards. Look here in Matthew chapter 25. This is talking about at the last day when Jesus says, I'll make you ruler over many things. Notice what He says, enter into the joy of the Lord. People, believers, will have greater satisfaction and joy when these rewards are released than they could ever imagine. So I've shared this verse with something, I don't like it, I go, I think you're going to. I think you've got a big surprise coming. I think you're going to love the way He's moved by the way you loved Him. I think you're going to love it. I've got a feeling you've got a surprise coming ahead of you. Because you can disregard the study of them and still live godly and it still works right. But I find the study of them is motivating. And that's why Jesus taught on it so often, and the apostles did, because the apostles built their life around this reality. Paragraph E. Jesus, He told them, buy gold from me. He says, be unashamed about it, be bold about it, be upfront about it. I mean, don't like in a corner like, Lord, I kind of would like those, but I don't want to, I don't want to be selfish. He goes, selfish? This is about you and me, and how I feel about you, and our proximity together, and our connection together. No, no, this is about love, this is not about selfish. Well, I don't know, I don't want to buy gold. What if I just get a couple little copper coins? The Lord says, no. Do you know who I am, how generous I am, how wealthy I am? I want you to go all the way. Look what He says in Matthew 6, right in the heart of the Sermon on the Mount. Lay up treasure in heaven. He urges us to do this. He urges us to think on this. He urges us to make decisions with this in view. I make, not all choices, I need to make more of them, but I make choices, a number of them, based on this verse. I want treasure. I would give up treasure in this age, because I want treasure in that age. And you can have treasure in this age, but you need to use it right to convert it. Beloved, the exchange rate is really high right now. You can use your money in this age, and it can be exchanged, converted to treasure. You've got to use it kingdom ways, though. I want it. I'm unashamed about it. I want to go for this. After I had that encounter with the Lord, and studied it out in the Bible, and found out how important this was to Jesus and His teaching and the apostles, I said, I'm going for this. You know, I've heard the story, or the phrase you have too, that guy or that girl, they're so heavenly minded, they're no earthly good. Now here's the, it's kind of a cool little phrase, but here's the problem. I've never met that human being. Never. I've never met a heavenly minded person that is no earthly good, because the more heavenly minded are, the more impact they make in righteousness on the earth. I don't mean the numbers are bigger, but the depth of holiness and purity is real. They have a way bigger impact if they're heavenly minded. What I think people really mean by that phrase, which is okay to use that if they want, they mean if they're spacey and disorganized. But I think it's better if somebody is spacey and disorganized to say they're spacey and disorganized. Don't say they're heavenly minded. Because if you're heavenly minded, you will be greatly effective on the earth. Again, I'm not talking about numbers, but you will move people to righteousness because it's a part of your life in a deep way. Paul said the same thing. Colossians 3. Seek those things above. He says it again in verse 2. Colossians 3, verse 2. He goes, set your mind on it. Think on it. Study it. Talk to God about it. Talk to people about it. Give yourself to this. Don't make this a peripheral, casual, secondary idea. Make this important. Now, the things above are not only eternal rewards. It's the new Jerusalem. It's the kingship of Jesus. It's the glory of God covering the earth. There's a number of things that are involved, but eternal rewards are clearly a part of this. Again, you maybe think of your 50-year career. You know, maybe you're 20, and you're thinking, I got 50 more years. That's my career. That's good. That's wisdom. Book of Proverbs tells you that's good. But, beloved, think of your 1,000-year career too. For real. For real. You will be doing something in your physical resurrected body in 300 years. Prepare for it now. Nobody thinks it's odd that a young med school student will go to 10 years of university and med school and residency, pay a couple hundred thousand dollars. I mean, work night and day and give a couple hundred thousand dollars to be a physician for 10 years because for 50 years they got a career. That's wise to go hard for 10 years for 50. Beloved, use the same math. Go hard after God for 70 years for 1,000. The numbers are better, actually. And the glory is far more intense. Now, you can do both, actually. I believe in planning for the future and preparing in both ages. Again, to some folks, they go, that sounds pie in the sky. It's just plain Bible. Read Paul, John the Apostle, Peter, Jesus. This thing was on their minds. They taught it. The body of Christ needs to be equipped in this glorious, important subject. Look at Romans 2, top of page 2. Now I have, I'm mentioning here, which I'll just give you a minute on each one or less, seven different types of rewards. Jesus mentions 18 different rewards in Revelation 2 and 3, so there's way more than seven. In two chapters, Revelation 2 and 3, He mentions 18 distinct ones. He gives them as simple little phrases. Then you gotta compare the Scripture with the Scripture to develop the thoughts in a greater way. Because you compare the Scripture with the Scripture and just go an inch below the surface, there's a lot of implications that the Bible sheds on these phrases, these 18 rewards that are just simple phrases. But I would guess, I haven't counted, there's another 10 or 15 rewards that are in addition to those 18 that Jesus mentioned. Jesus mentioned a few in the Gospel. He didn't mention in the book of Revelation. Well, we're gonna try to cover all of them and see what the Bible says to elaborate our understanding. I'm gonna quote 1 Corinthians 2, verse 9. Here's what Paul said. Here's the grid of which we look at eternal rewards. 1 Corinthians 2, verse 9, here's what Paul says. Eye has not seen, ear has not heard, it's never even entered in the imagination of man the dimension of the glory that's coming. So that's the grid. That's premise number one. That you take Walt Disney plus Steven Spielberg plus the next 10 guys times a thousand and these rewards are more spectacular than they could ever imagine. Paul says it's never entered the heart of a man the spectacular dimension of the glory of God. So that's the grid we're gonna be looking at these. They're spectacular. Then the second idea I compare when I look at I put together with 1 Corinthians 2, verse 9 the fact that it's more glorious than we've ever imagined. Then I put the reality that Jesus is the designer and the architect of the new Jerusalem. So this man who's fully God he's the one that came up with the creative design of the new Jerusalem. I mean the streets are transparent gold there's gardens, there's rivers, there's tree of life there's a spectacular dimension of glory and Jesus says let that just be a down payment everything I do has my personality and my creativity on it. So when you read one of these rewards like one in Revelation 2, verse 17 it says I'll give you a white stone. Read one commentator says well we get a little rock I go I don't think so. I think this white stone is more spectacular than what's ever entered the mind of a man. And this white stone just like the garments you'll have were designed by the man that designed the new Jerusalem. His personality never changes. His creativity is vast. I mean look at the sky and the heavens he goes oh I'm more creative than you know I have far more power than that. And you are the ones I gave my life for. So beloved whatever you do don't dumb down those rewards to simple little phrases and be content I'm saying Lord, Holy Spirit show me the word and let me just my mind just understand a glimpse more of what this might be. I love this subject. Well paragraph B Jesus said there will be some Matthew 5, verse 19 that will be called least in the kingdom and some will be called great in the kingdom. He's talking about in the millennial kingdom the thousand year reign when Jesus returns. And what I think it, I believe it means that God will call their life choices least and God will call some people their life choices he will call them great. It's God who's calling them least and great. It's the saints that are recognizing least and great. I don't think anybody will be comparing anybody we'll all be so overwhelmed with gratitude and love. Nobody will be comparing. But there will be a large diversity and range of difference of people's experience even in the family of God and in the New Jerusalem. Look at the next one, 1 Corinthians 15 It says there's one glory of the sun there's another glory of the moon. 1 Corinthians 15, verse 41 there's another glory of the stars. For one star differs from another star in glory so also is the resurrection the whole realm of the resurrection has diversity of glory. No star, there's billions and billions and billions of stars incalculable number in the universe outside of the Milky Way galaxy they say the Milky Way galaxy has a hundred billion stars and it's the Milky Way galaxy is only one of a hundred billion galaxies in the known universe. Like what? I can't even and every star is unique in its characteristics its mass, its glory, its brightness many of its every single person in the New Jerusalem will be unique like the stars in their glory. Paragraph C I'm just giving you these seven I'm going to be ever so brief on them just to give you a snapshot of where this is going because again there's far more than seven Jesus said in Matthew 13 the righteous their bodies will shine their faces will shine some far greater than others there's different capacities in every single believer as one star differs from another star big subject we'll spend a good portion of time on this one there's a lot of verses on this paragraph D, the garments in Exodus 28 verse 2 God told Moses here's God speaking he goes, hey Moses make garments for glory and for beauty for the priesthood make them for glory and beauty the same God that told that to Moses is the God that created the New Jerusalem in splendor, beloved the garments are going to be glorious and beautiful and diverse beyond anything we can imagine it's not entered the mind of man the fullness some people, they read about the white gown and they think they're going to have this one beautiful white gown for billions of years at every context they will ever be in they got the white gown you'll be in thousands of different social and other contexts there'll be garments for everyone I believe they'll be different and diverse the fabric and the messaging and the glory and the splendor, we look at how God told Moses to make garments for the priest as a little hint as to where that same God is making garments of glory and beauty for his priest in the age to come again it's spectacular Jesus' personality is really big, he's really smart and he's really creative and he's got incredible wealth there's no end to his resource and he loves it he loves beauty and splendor so we all get the standard white garment to enter the city but the saints will have garments that are in accordance with their righteous choices in this age, look at it, Revelation 19 they will have garments that will reflect the way they loved God in this age, big subject paragraph E the authority, there's so many different levels of reigning and authority you know in our nation alone America I just looked this up on the internet the other day there are 22 million people in America that are employed somewhere in the infrastructure of our government federal, state or local, 22 million so don't think of several billion saints, all of them are kings there's only 200 nations, maybe there will be a few more in the age to come, I don't know, but there's not a billion nations and a king is over a nation but there's, in America alone there's 22 million positions in the infrastructure and that's all part of ruling and reigning everybody won't be a king over a nation, there's not a couple billion nations but people will all be involved in various levels of spheres just like in the whole infrastructure of a nation, big subject paragraph F and I love this one this is probably my favorite one then the Lord will praise each person and this word praise, the Lord's not going to worship them, He's going to affirm them beloved we love to tell the story of people who live in heroic love and noble virtue like I've read biographies over the years, I read this biography of this guy, or this gal excited I go to my friends, hey I got to tell you about this guy, over the years in messages, hey I read this one guy I love to tell the story of the person that lived in heroic noble love, it moves me, it moves people to hear it I love to tell the story of my friends and family members to tell about them to other people when they do things that are real special like I don't want to mention that my granddaughter got the Christ like award at her school I'm not going to mention that but she did in her class and I went all strutting around and my wife said oh calm down it isn't you and I slipped it into a couple conversations I was so excited Shiloh got the Christ like award we love to tell the story it moves us to tell it it moves the people that hear it I got a lot of home videos I can show you guys too and it moves the person the story is about and the Lord says I love to tell the story I don't want to tell it once on your entry day, I'm going to tell the story of your love for me there's many facets, many different angles I'm going to tell the story about how I feel about the way you love me it's a big story big subject we all won't have the same report and the same story crowns not synonymous with eternal life the gift of eternal life and receiving a crown are not synonymous treasures many verses on this the most wealthy man that's ever lived Jesus holy God, holy man tells us to get treasure I know what I'm talking about and I'll tell you how to get it you get it by obeying by diligence, by humility by generosity, by acting in purity, it doesn't matter how many people recognize it, if I recognize it it's in my book, and that's what matters, and then number 7 our communion with God, just like in this age, everyone in this room has a different capacity of communing with God, right now the same will be true in the resurrection there will be some that have far greater understanding than others but I have found through the years I know a lot more about the Lord and I have a lot more encounters in my 60's when I look back over 40 plus years than my 20's, but when I was in my 20's man, I thought it was happening I didn't even know what I did not know and what I did not feel so I wasn't walking around at age 20 going, oh I'm so sad, I don't have what I have when I'm 60, I didn't think about it, I think people will be happy and content because they, at different capacities, they won't even know what they don't know and don't feel compared to the different capacities just like today believers are like that, but there's quite a bit on this as well well anyway, I'm going to end with that have a worship team come up big topic I'm really excited about this but again, my goal is to get everybody to come to the meeting, my goal is to get you to access the web stream and the archives and over the next weeks and months to check out this subject for your own edification and your own good and I want to get this into the language, I mean godly believers many of them never talk about this subject Paul and Peter and James did it's in their writings I want to see this biblical reality in our words, in our language in our thought processes amen, let's stand before the lord now some of you are really excited right now, you're going ooh, yes others of you are, you're going oh my gosh, I gotta get with it oh my goodness this ain't going away on its own oh no, beloved it's not too late to start hard right now, I'm telling you oh man, it's already too late, no it's not, that's a lie, go start now, it's humility, it's purity it's generosity, it's faithfulness, it's servanthood it's those things that anybody could do third category, people are perplexed they're going, I don't even get any of this, but he seems really excited about it, maybe I need to figure this out and my prayer for those that are excited that you follow through, for those that are feeling troubled, that you start anew today, and for those that are perplexed you go Lord, I'm going to search this out and find out if this is really in the Bible Father, I ask you even right now that you would touch us, you would stir us as a community Lord, that we would see what you see and say what you say about this subject I ask you as a community that we would see what you see and say what you say about this subject thank you Jesus for the Bemissy the great rewards for the simplest cup of cold water that we've given your name I want to invite people to come up for prayer you might have a need for healing in your body or your heart, or maybe you're touched by this message in a certain way and you would just like someone to pray with you, or you've got a family situation you want prayer for, I would invite anybody, just come on up here to this front line here if you would like prayer, we'll have our ministry team come on up as well just come on up to the front row so the folks behind you can have room ministry team, come on up, and anybody in leadership, I'm urging anybody on the mission base or anyone in our FCF leadership team at any level, I'm asking you to come and join us come and join the ministry team, I'm always asking you to come and help No matter how small my hope may be I'm giving You all the rest the Lord says it's not too late it's not too late to start no matter how small my hope may be Push to lean on yesterday, start a new today a new zeal, a new faith Lord, I've gladly wasted Beautiful God, Beloved it's worth it to live in the light of I'm small but I'm big You're big, stay back You're me, cause you're beautiful Beautiful, worth it all Beautiful, beautiful Jesus, you know Cause I'm just your mother for myself There's something great that I can't see just ahead I want to Lord, I ask you to release your healing and renewing power in Jesus Release your healing Come like a wind, Lord, like a wave of your spirit in this room Come my way, come my way Again, I want to remind you of our Golden Friday Festivals It's a good time to really be in the presence of the Lord together Lord, release the wind of your spirit on our hearts Release the wind of your spirit on our hearts here Wave after wave, wave after wave Get a long refresher By your spirit, would you lead us Healing and strengthening It's gonna be worth it Beloved, it's gonna be worth it It's gonna be worth it all All that we pour out, I tell you it's going to be worth it It's gonna be worth it Paul said the surpassing great sin It's gonna be worth it It's gonna be worth it all If I lay it all down It's gonna be worth it It's gonna be worth it It's gonna be worth it all Oh, I believe it It's gonna be worth it Father, renew us, cleanse us, strengthen us with the truth It's gonna be worth it all So let the truth come, strengthen us, strengthen us The truth comes, strengthen us, strengthen us The truth comes, strengthen us Do lay it all down, lay it all down Let the truth come, strengthen us, strengthen us The truth comes, strengthen us, strengthen us The truth comes, strengthen us, strengthen us Lay it all down, lay it all down Lay it all down, lay it all down Lay it all down, lay it all down We give our thanks I open up my soul In back I open up my soul To you, oh Lord Holding nothing back I open up my soul Open up my soul To you, oh Lord Holding nothing back I open up my soul To you, oh Lord Holding nothing back I open up my soul To you, oh Lord Holding nothing back I open up my soul To you, oh Lord And it's gonna be worth it all It's gonna be worth it It's gonna be worth it all It's gonna be worth it It's gonna be worth it It's gonna be worth it all I believe it I believe it When I see your face It's gonna be worth it all Even through trials And tribulations When I see your face It's gonna be worth it all I believe it When I see your face It's gonna be worth it all Even through trials And tribulations When I see your face