Alright, we're here in Revelation chapter 20, and we're gonna be here for a while, actually.
If you notice when we're reading the chapter, it talked about a lot of different things.
The battle of Gog and Magog, the great white throne judgment, the millennial reign of Christ.
So there's a lot of information here, and I could just kinda hit a few highlights from
everything, but I'm gonna just spend one sermon on all the different types of topics.
Notice what it says in verse number one of Revelation 20.
And I saw an angel come down from heaven, having the key of the bottomless pit, and
a great chain in his hand.
And he laid hold on the dragon, that old serpent, which is the devil, and Satan, and bound him
a thousand years, and cast him into the bottomless pit, and shut him up, and set a seal upon
him, that he should deceive the nations no more, till the thousand years should be fulfilled.
And after that he must be loosed a little season.
And so what the Bible teaches is during the thousand years, during the millennial reign,
Satan is gonna be bound up, okay?
Next week we will talk about the millennial reign of Christ.
But before this actually takes place, there's actually an event that Revelation 20 doesn't
really talk about, but it's actually in the timeframe right around this time period, okay?
Notice what it says in verse four.
And I saw thrones, and they sat upon them, and judgment was given unto them.
And I saw the souls of them that were beheaded for the witness of Jesus, and for the word
of God, in which had not worshiped the beast, neither his image, neither had received his
mark upon their foreheads, or in their hands.
And they lived and reigned with Christ a thousand years.
And so the Bible tells us that the believers are gonna live and reign with Christ during
this millennial reign, during this thousand years, okay?
And so the determination of how you reign and your responsibility is gonna be what's
taking place at the judgment seat of Christ, okay?
That is when believers are gonna be getting their rewards right before the millennial
reign of Christ.
The determination how you rule and reign with the Lord is gonna be based on what did you
do, okay?
And so the judgment seat of Christ is actually taking place during this time period, right
before the thousand years, even though Revelation 20 is not really mentioning it during this
time period, okay?
Verse number five.
But the rest of the dead lived not again until the thousand years were finished.
This is the first resurrection, okay?
Blessed and holy is he that hath part in the first resurrection, on such the second death
hath no power, but they shall be priests of God and of Christ, and shall reign with him
a thousand years.
Now, go to Psalm 103, Psalm 103, Psalm 103.
And I think probably all of us have heard of the judgment seat of Christ, and later
in the sermon, we will go to 1 Corinthians 3, which is the famous passage about it, and
we'll use that in this sermon.
But the judgment seat of Christ is where we're gonna be getting rewards based on the work
that we did, okay?
And the first thing to understand about the judgment seat of Christ and the rewards that
we're gonna be getting, what happens at that judgment is this, that, you know, we are impeccable,
which means we are flawless, which means no sins are gonna be brought up at the judgment
seat of Christ.
All of our sins are gone.
There's a lot of churches that will teach that when you get to that judgment seat of
Christ, everything you ever did wrong is gonna be shown before everybody, right?
When I was nine years old and I pulled that chair out from underneath the girl and she,
you know, fell on the ground, that's gonna be shown in front of everybody to embarrass
me, something I did, you know, 25 years ago, okay?
Everything you've ever done wrong, every cookie you stole out of the cookie jar, every secret
sin, everything's gonna be shown.
Now, first of all, if all of our sins were being shown, I mean, wouldn't that be a little
bit perverse?
Like, why would God show all of your sins?
I mean, because people have done things that are wrong, that's not something He's gonna
broadcast.
I mean, maybe with the Catholic church that jives with the Catholic priests that are used
to that sort of garbage, but that doesn't make sense with the character of God.
We are flawless.
Our sins are gone when we get saved, 100% forgotten.
Notice what it says in Psalm 103 verse 10.
He hath not dealt with us after our sins, nor rewarded us according to our iniquities.
For as the heaven is high above the earth, so great is His mercy toward them that fear
Him.
And what the Bible says here is this, He didn't deal with us after our sins, and what He means
is this, we should have gotten a lot worse than we actually get.
God's very merciful to us.
Look, if we got what was coming to us, for one, we would spend forever in hell, but even
in this life, God is very merciful to us.
I mean, we break His rules every single day, and we understand the thought of foolishness
is sin, but quite honestly, all of us willfully choose to sin sometimes, and we do things
that we know are wrong, and we justify it in our minds, and you know what, we do that
all of the time.
You know, God is merciful toward those that fear Him.
He understands we're gonna make mistakes, and you know what, when we get saved, all
of our sins are gone, every single one.
Notice what it says in verse 12, as far as the east is from the west, okay?
As far as the east is from the west, so far hath He removed our transgressions from us.
Now what does it mean as far as the east is from the west, okay?
Now here's the thing, if you believe in a flat earth, you know, it's probably not gonna
make much sense to you, okay?
And if you believe the earth is like a pyramid or something else, you know, whatever you
might believe, or a tetrahedron or whatever, it's not gonna make sense in this example,
okay?
You know, obviously we believe the Bible teaches it is He that sitteth upon the circle of the
earth, but I want you to understand something.
The earth is spherical, and if you started going east from here, if you started traveling
east from Manila, you're gonna get to Guam, then you're gonna be just above the Marshall
Islands, then you're gonna be just below Hawaii, you're gonna go through Mexico, Belize, Jamaica,
Africa, India, then you'll get to Thailand, then Vietnam, and then you'll be back in Manila.
And the whole time, when you went from Manila to Guam, you're traveling east.
When you went from Guam to the Marshall Islands, or just above there, you're traveling east.
As you go from just above the Marshall Islands to just below Hawaii, you're traveling east.
You're traveling east the entire time period.
You never start traveling west, do you understand that?
And if you start going east on a spherical globe, okay, a spherical earth, you will go
east and east and east and east and east as far as the east is from the west.
What is the Bible teaching?
They never meet.
You start going east, you will go east for your entire life.
You'll never start going west.
But why does it not say as far as the north is from the south?
Well, think about this.
If you started to travel north from Manila, you'd get to Taiwan, Shanghai, Russia, the
Arctic Ocean, and then you reach the top.
And what happens when you get to the top?
Now you're going south.
Now you're going down.
See, north does meet south because there's a north globe and there's a north pole and
there's a south pole.
But, you know, there is not an east and a west pole when you're going east.
You're still going east, okay?
It's permanent.
The Bible's using this analogy as far as the east is from the west.
What he's trying to teach you is this.
Your sins are completely gone.
I think if you travel east and east and east and east, you're never going to come across
them.
And when you get saved, your sins are 100% gone forever.
They will never be brought up, okay?
Now realize this, that when people do things that are wrong, let's say for example you
got a marriage and two people get in a fight.
It's very common for someone to say, well, you know, five years ago you did this.
We were having that fight and you said this and everything like that and you threw that
spaghetti at my face and everything.
And it's just like, this is very common in life.
People bring up stuff from the past.
Isn't that true?
People get into an argument and, well, you did this to me six years ago.
You did this to me four years ago.
And it's like, man, have you held bitterness in your heart that long, right?
That is not the way God operates because we've done Him wrong.
You know what?
Our sins are completely gone.
Now we understand in this life if you do something wrong tomorrow, you reap what you sow, you're
going to pay for that.
But what I want you to understand, He's not going to at this judgment, oh, here's everything
you did.
Let's start from when you were five years old, right?
You're five years old.
You're playing that game of basketball and you got mad and threw that ball at that kid's
head.
It's like, is that what you really think is going to happen, the judgment seat of Christ?
I mean, that's ridiculous.
It's not what the Bible teaches because He's removed our sins, our transgressions as far
as the east is from the west.
What He's trying to do is use symbolism in an example to help us understand, hey, they
are permanently gone.
Travel east and east and east, they are completely 100% gone.
You say why?
Verse 13, like as a father pitieth his children, so the Lord pitieth them that fear Him.
You know, God cares about us as His children.
He doesn't want to bring up all of our past mistakes and show, well, this is what you
did here and here.
No, He loves us.
He cares about us.
He's merciful to us.
Turn to Proverbs 17, Proverbs 17, Proverbs 17.
You know, what that teaches us is this, because you've heard this expression, forgive and
forget.
That is what the Lord does.
He forgives and he forgets.
It's gone.
And that's the model of how we should be towards people.
You say, well, I forgive them, but I'm never going to forget about it.
You don't forgive them.
These go hand in hand, my friend, you say, well, I forgive them, but I'm never going
to forget about it.
And the next time they do me wrong, I'm going to bring it up and everything like that.
You don't really forgive them then.
Okay.
If you're holding that inside of your heart, they just, you know, you're going to remember
that and be mad at them that the next time they do something, hey, this is the second
time you've done this.
Well, why didn't you just forgive and forget the first time?
You say, well, how many times?
Until seven times?
No.
How about seven times 70, right?
490 times.
So what about on 491?
Well, you know, start counting now.
Once you get to 491, we'll talk about it.
Okay.
We'll go from there.
We'll have the counseling and we'll figure it out.
I think you'll be okay.
You know, I don't think you'll get to 490.
All right.
Proverbs 17 verse nine says he, he that covered the transgressions seeketh love, but he that
repeated the matter separated very friends.
And the Bible says this, you know, we as believers, if we seek love for a situation,
the Bible says we're going to cover a transgression, which means we're not going to reveal it.
We're not just going to tell people everybody's faults that they do wrong and try to embarrass
them.
Okay.
And this is, I mean, this is how God acts with us.
Our sins are forgiven.
They're forgotten.
They're completely gone.
Okay.
Now turn to Hebrews eight, Hebrews chapter eight, Hebrews eight, Hebrews eight.
I mean, the judgment seat of Christ is something where we're going to get rewarded for the
work we did.
And look, there's a lot of Christians that are scared to go to the judgment seat of Christ
because they believe that all their sins are going to be brought up.
It's like, oh man, I hope I never die.
I'm just so embarrassed.
It's like, and look, it's a time for you to get rewards.
Okay.
This is not the great white throne judgment.
It's a different judgment for another sermon and several weeks from now, right?
This is something to be excited about for the great things that you've done, right?
You're going to be rewarded for all the accomplishments that you, that you did.
Hebrews eight verse 12, for I will be merciful to their unrighteousness and their sins and
their iniquities will I remember no more.
He forgives and he forgives.
Turn to first Corinthians three, first Corinthians three, first Corinthians chapter three, first
Corinthians three.
So point number one at the judgment, realize we are impeccable.
No sins are going to be brought up.
Okay.
Now on the contrary, which we'll see in several weeks at the great white throne judgment,
anybody who's unsaved is going to be at their great white throne judgment and it doesn't
matter how many good things they did.
Doesn't matter how much they donated, how much charity work they did, how many people,
you know, little old ladies, they helped across the street or whatever they did and volunteer
work.
Look, none of their good deeds are going to be shown because that's going to be a time
where everything bad you've done comes up and this makes sense.
If somebody's on trial for a crime, you don't bring up all the good things they've done.
That's not what they're on trial for and see, those are the great white throne judgment
are on trial for denying Jesus Christ.
Well, let's look at all the sins you said you're going to work your way to heaven.
Let's look at everything you did wrong to pay for it.
Us that are saved though, it's a judgment where basically everything you did wrong is
not going to be there because it's a time to reward us for the good that we did.
Okay, so number one, we are impeccable at this judgment.
Number two, realize this is an individual judgment.
This is an individual personal judgment where you are judged for what you did.
First Corinthians three verse five, who then is Paul and who is Apollos, but ministers
by whom he believed, even as the Lord gave to every man.
Now notice the end of verse five where it says as the Lord gave to every man.
Okay.
And what it said in this verse is this, Paul saying this, you know, there's Paul, there's
Apollos and he's like, you know what?
We preached the gospel and some of you got saved from me.
Some of you got saved from Apollos.
You I mean, cause you got saved from somebody, right?
Isn't that how salvation works?
You heard the gospel from somebody and then it says this, even as the Lord gave to every
man.
What does that saying?
It's saying that every single person in this world, God has designated someone to preach
the gospel to them.
The Lord's given to every single man, someone to preach the gospel to them.
Now we know not everybody gets saved and you know what, not everybody hears a clear
presentation of the gospel, but God intends everyone to hear a clear presentation of the
gospel.
It means that you personally, God has designated people for you to talk to and he said, who
would those people be?
Well look, we're a church that's reaching people and getting people saved and look,
if you don't go sowing with us on Sunday, you know, someone's probably going to knock
that same door and someone's going to get a chance, but what about your cousin?
I'm probably not going to get your cousin saved, right?
I'm probably not going to get your grandmother saved.
I'm probably not going to get your in-laws saved.
I'm probably not going to get your relatives saved.
You're probably not going to get my relatives saved.
You say, why?
I'll probably never meet most of your relatives or any of them necessarily, unless they visit
our church, unless you trick that Catholic.
No, no, it's a Catholic church.
Don't worry.
It's a Catholic church.
It just says Baptist on the sign.
This is, this is, you know, Verity John the Baptist Catholic church.
Oh, okay.
Yeah.
All right.
Look, I'll probably never meet your relatives unless it's at a wedding or some event or
something.
Maybe they'll hear the gospel.
I don't know.
But look, I'll probably never meet your relatives.
You'll probably never meet my relatives.
So who do you think God is designated to preach the gospel to your brother or your sister
or your cousin?
Probably you.
Because for most of us, we don't have a ton of soul winners in our family.
Praise the Lord if you have, you know, if you're a family with several people come to
this church, I know we do have some people that have a lot of family comes to this church,
but the reality is, you know, for most of us, you know, you're kind of just here with
your husband or your wife and your immediate family, but not like your brothers and your
sisters and everybody else.
So who is going to be meant to preach the gospel to your personal family or your coworkers?
Who do you think is meant to preach the gospel to your coworkers that I'm never going to
see?
Are any of the other coworkers at your office like these sold out soul winners that just
love the things of God?
No, it's probably your job.
And the Lord has given to every man.
This doesn't even matter the location.
Now it's an interesting thought when you think about countries like North Korea and,
you know, these, these countries that are really hardened to the gospel where it's not
even legal and things like that, but look, God intended everybody to hear the gospel
in those countries, but he does not force people to preach the gospel.
Doesn't the Bible say, I sought for a man among them that should make up the hedge and
stand in the gap before me for the land, but I found none.
And that's the sad reality that sometimes God can just not find somebody to go and preach
the gospel, right?
There's not, there's not a church like this in every part of the world, right?
I mean, you look at all over the world.
I mean, where are the church?
Even in the Philippines, this is, this is one of the, I guarantee you this country has
probably one of the highest percentage of safe people in the world.
Probably top five right outside of the U S you know, maybe Australia, the UK, New Zealand
would be the other ones.
Maybe.
I'm not really sure, but you know, we're near the top.
I promise you we have a higher percentage of safe people than any Muslim country or
any Hindu or Buddhist country.
And yet even here, there's not a lot of great churches.
That's a scary thought.
But look, that means there's a lot of work for us to do as a church and for us to do
as individuals.
Verse six, I have planted a Paulist water, but God gave the increase.
So not then neither is he that planet anything, neither he that water, but God that giveth
the increase.
Now he that planet and he that water are one and every man shall receive his own reward
according to his own labor.
Okay.
Now some people have wrongly used this verse and they say, well, you know, I never get
anybody saved, but I'm a planter, right?
That's my job.
I'm just a planter.
Just preach the gospel.
Hey, some people plant.
No, no.
It's not saying that's all you do.
What it's saying is when you're preaching the gospel, there's some Sundays you preach
the gospel, nobody got saved, but you're still partaking in that work.
If that person eventually gets saved, they hear it again and they end up getting saved.
Some people hear the gospel several times before they get saved.
So any soul winner, you're not always going to get people saved when you go out.
You go out on a Sunday or Saturday, hey, some doors you knock, they don't want to listen.
Right?
So sometimes we're a planner and sometimes we're water, but here's the thing, you're
awarded for the work you do.
So basically, you know, a year ago when we go to K Psalm Memorial Circle and get 50 plus
people saved every Saturday versus you doing the same amount of soul winning now, but getting
less saved, you get the same amount of reward.
Why?
You did the same labor.
You did the same amount of work.
Now we're in a very receptive country to the gospel, but realize there are a lot of unreceptive
countries.
Right?
Let's say for example, you know, let's say Brother Matthias goes soul winning for five
hours here in Manila versus five hours in Poland, right?
He's going to get more people saved here in Manila, but he's still going to get the same
reward because of the fact it's the same amount of labor.
Okay.
It's based on the work that you individually do because some areas are just more receptive
to the gospel, but it's an individual judgment because you're rewarded based on your own
labor.
You say, well, I go to a soul winning church, Verity Baptist Church Manila.
Hey, you know what?
But the question is how many of these 2,500 people in the bulletin did you get saved?
How much time did you go soul winning?
How much work did you do?
Just because the church is getting a lot of people saved, you don't automatically get
rewards because you're going to the church that preaches the gospel.
The question is how much work are you doing?
Okay.
It's an individual judgment.
Now we understand that, you know, as a family, as a married couple to become one and obviously,
you know, sometimes like on Sunday when I watched the kids and my wife went out soul
winning, you know, obviously I believe God, I don't know how God exactly would designate
that.
Obviously he would have that figured out, but I'm just trying to help you understand
this.
You know, just because of the fact that you go to a church that goes soul winning or just
because of the fact that you have relatives that go soul winning, you don't get rewards
for that.
The question is what work are you doing individually?
Notice what it says in verse 9, for we are laborers together with God.
You're God's husbandry.
You're God's building.
Whenever we're going soul winning, we're not doing it alone.
We're doing it with God.
What it said in Mark 16 was the Lord working with them.
They went forth everywhere and preached the gospel, the Lord working with them, it says
in the end of Mark chapter 16, right?
So whenever you're going soul winning, you'll always actually notice this kind of mentioned,
just, you know, you sometimes can kind of miss it, but it mentions the Lord actually
working with us.
So here's the thing.
The Lord does not work without us, but he works with us.
If we're not working, he's not going to be doing it because he works with us.
Okay.
What it said is this.
We're laborers together with God.
So look, if we don't go in labor, God's not going to labor because he works with us.
We have to actually be out there and he is with us helping us.
That's why we pray for God's spirit.
We pray for God's power as you go out soul winning because we know he's out there working
with us.
We want his power upon our lives, but look, we're not Calvinists.
If we don't do the work, what it always says in the soul winning examples, when it talks
about the great commission and whether it's Mark 16 or in Acts one, look, it always kind
of highlights the fact that the Lord is working with us, but he does not work without us.
Nobody gets saved unless we preach the gospel.
Okay.
That's what we see in this entire passage.
Then it leads into verse number 10 where it says, according to the grace of God, which
is given onto me as a wise master builder, I've laid the foundation and another build
a Theron, but let every man take heat how he built a Theron upon.
For other foundation can no man lay than that is laid, which is Jesus Christ.
Now if any man build upon this foundation, gold, silver, precious stones would haste
double.
Now in verse number 12, it mentioned six different things here.
It mentions gold and silver and precious stones.
Then it mentions wood, hay and stubble.
And so I believe you can divide this into kind of two categories, gold, silver and precious
stones, which are things that are very valuable.
Gold is valuable.
Silver is valuable.
Obviously a precious stone is valuable.
Okay.
And then there's wood, hay and stubble and wood, hay and stubble.
Honestly, they don't really have a whole lot of value.
Okay.
But if you realize this also, it's going to give us the example of these things lasting
through the fire.
And you know what?
Gold and silver and precious stones can last through a fire.
Wood, hay and stubble are going to be burned up, right?
I mean, hay gets burned up, stubble gets burned up, wood gets burned up, but gold, silver
and precious stones are valuable things.
They actually last through the fire.
Now I don't know whether this is going to be something that's literal or how exactly
this works or if this is symbolism, but he's driving home an example of the fact that we're
going to find out at this judgment what rewards that we actually got.
This is an individual judgment.
Now go to Galatians chapter six.
We'll go later on.
We'll go back to this passage, but go to Galatians chapter six and remember the Bible says for
the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our
word.
What we need to understand and remember is that God gave us a gift.
A gift is something that's 100% free and you do not have to pay it back and any good things
you do, you are not helping pay back the gift.
You can't pay back that gift.
What you are doing is getting rewards for the good that you did.
You don't have to pay back the gift.
Now as I said on Sunday, you know what?
If you're saved, you should feel an obligation to decide to live for God, but any good things
you do, God says, I'm going to give you a reward.
You're not paying back the gift because it was a gift.
And so we understand that it's a gift that we're given.
Now in Galatians six, notice what it says in verse seven, be not deceived.
God is not mocked for whatsoever man soweth that shall he also reap.
Usually this verse is used to basically scare you if you've committed some sin.
And look, I use that verse all the time for that.
It's a great application.
But when it says that whatsoever you soweth, you're also going to reap.
It's not just for something bad.
It's also for something good.
Okay.
So look, yes, if you commit adultery, God's going to lay down the hammer in your life.
But you know what?
If you're doing something good in your life, you're going soul-winning, you're reading
the Bible, you're serving God, you're going to be rewarded for that as well.
You're going to reap for that as well.
Verse eight, for he that soweth to his flesh, so of the flesh reap corruption, but he that
soweth to the spirit, so of the spirit reap life everlasting.
And so look, there are things that you can do that have a spiritual, eternal reward and
you'll reap life everlasting.
I don't think that means receiving the gift of everlasting life, but I think it means
you did things that were good, that lasted forever, so your reward, you're going to get
up in heaven.
Right.
So the good things you do, you're going to reap life everlasting.
Every time you go soul-winning, you're going to reap life everlasting.
You're going to get rewards for the work that you did.
Okay.
Now, I'll be honest with you.
I don't know exactly how the reward system works.
Okay.
There are certain things that, you know, that we need to do that are not necessarily a spiritual
thing.
If you're doing a job, you have to make money.
Okay.
But it's not something that's a spiritual reward you're going to get.
Now, at the same time, though, if you have a family and you're providing for your family,
maybe you would get a reward for that.
I'm not really sure.
Okay.
I don't know how the reward system works exactly.
I don't think it's just soul-winning, although that's definitely a large part of it.
But you know what?
The Bible says that if you do good, you're going to be rewarded for it.
Verse nine, and let us not be weary in well doing.
Basically, don't get tired when you're doing what's right.
And what he's trying to tell you is this, living the Christian life, you will get weary
sometimes.
You will get tired sometimes.
You will get exhausted sometimes.
That's why you need to be a part of a church so on a day where you don't feel like going
soul-winning, you still go.
Look, on Sunday, we had 20-some soul winners out from our church.
Do you really think that every single person was just really excited to go soul-winning?
Now, some people went just because that's their routine.
And you know what?
The thing is, when other people are going, it encourages you to go.
But I don't always feel like going soul-winning when I'm out soul-winning.
Sometimes I just don't feel like doing it.
But when you're around like-minded people, it encourages you.
It keeps you going.
Okay.
It helps you.
It says, let us not be weary in well doing.
Why?
For in due season, we shall reap if we faint not.
And so look, if you continue to do the work of God, you will reap.
Now, that doesn't mean that you're going to make a ton of money here in this life or have
these amazing rewards that are going to happen in this life.
I mean, it could.
But you know, we're talking about spiritual rewards, and you're going to get something
that's far more valuable and something that's temporal that's going to vanish away, rewards
that are going to last forever.
Verse 10, as we have therefore opportunity, let us do good unto all men, especially unto
them who are of the household of faith.
So according to this, part of our reward is going to be based on when we do good to
those that are of the household of faith, those that are already saved.
Okay.
Now, I don't know exactly how that works, but you know, the Bible is telling us we should
have more care for people that are saved than people that are unsaved.
You ought to pray for people that are saved more than people that are unsaved.
By all means, pray for your unsaved relative.
But by all means, when you're a part of a good church, pray for those that are like-minded
people at your church.
Okay.
Have the same love for one another.
Have the same care for one another.
Don't grow weary in that well-doing.
Do good unto all men, especially unto them who are of the household of faith, the Bible
says.
Now, turn back to 1 Corinthians 3, 1 Corinthians 3, 1 Corinthians 3.
So when it comes to the judgment seat of Christ, realize that we are impeccable.
Realize it's an individual judgment and realize it's a judgment of the interior.
Okay.
What's inside the heart of man, not just what's on the outside, but what's actually on the
inside.
1 Corinthians 3 verse 13, every man's work shall be made manifest.
Okay.
What does that mean?
It means it's going to be basically shown openly.
God was manifest in the flesh, referring to Jesus Christ.
Okay.
Every man's work shall be made manifest for the day shall declare it because it shall
be revealed by fire and the fire shall try every man's work of what sort it is.
Okay.
And there are certain works that we do, but if we do not do them for the right reason,
we will lose our reward.
Go to Matthew chapter six, go to the sermon on the mountain.
I'll show this to you, Matthew chapter six.
So the, the, the judgment seat of Christ, it is going to reveal to us, it's going to
make it manifest what is on the interior of every person, including ourselves.
Okay.
Matthew six verse one, take heed that you do not your alms before men to be seen of
them.
Otherwise he have no reward of your father, which is in heaven right now.
Alms giving is not referring to your tithe.
Okay.
Your tithe is 10% and one of these days I'll preach a whole sermon on it.
Maybe in five years, I don't know one of these days, but alms giving is when you go above
10%.
Maybe for example, somebody, you know, struggling with something and you decide, Hey, I'm going
to give them a thousand pesos.
Praise the Lord.
That's a great work you did.
That's called alms giving.
That's a great thing you did.
But if you do it to be seen of men, then you're not going to have a reward from your heavenly
father, which is in heaven.
Your reward was a fact that people think that you're really spiritual.
Your reward is the fact that everybody saw you do it.
Okay.
And so basically if you make it known, say, Hey man, I'm giving money to someone.
Here it is.
Thousand pesos.
There you go.
Right.
Straight from my pocket, my personal money.
Right.
You don't have a reward.
Okay.
Verse two.
Therefore, when thou doest thine alms, do not sound a trumpet before thee as the hypocrites
do in the synagogues and in the streets, that they may have glory of men.
Verily I say unto you, they have their reward.
So I'm assuming this is kind of figurative.
I'm assuming they didn't actually sound a trumpet to let people know they're giving
people money.
I don't know.
Maybe they sounded a trumpet to round up the people that were poor and say, well, here's
money we're giving them.
I don't know.
Maybe they did.
Okay.
Verse three.
But when thou doest thine alms, let not thy left hand know what thy right hand doeth.
Now, look, obviously we understand that your left hand and your right hand, I mean, you're
going to know.
But he's just trying to use an extreme example to say, basically, just like, don't even let
anybody know.
You know, and you could look at it as to your left hand or to your right hand.
So basically if there's an offering plate or whatever, you kind of just give discreetly.
You don't make it known what you're doing.
That's why we have the little envelopes.
So, you know, you can be discreet about it, right?
If you're giving money, nobody knows what you're putting inside of there, right?
You know, basically, you're not supposed to make a big show.
You're not supposed to make it a big public thing where basically everybody knows how
much you're giving.
Okay.
And look, if you choose to do that, that's fine.
We will accept your money, but you will not get a reward.
So look, hey, you want to give us like $20,000, hey, go for it.
Okay.
If you make it known what you did, you know what?
You have no reward coming.
Notice what it says in verse four, that thine alms may be in secret and thy father which
seeth in secret himself shall reward thee openly.
The Bible says that if you do this in secret, God is going to reward you openly.
Okay.
Now, look, that could take place only at the judgment seat of Christ, or it could take
place both of the judgment seat of Christ in here that if somebody was a very generous
and giving person, God might actually allow people to know, hey, this is what this person
did.
Kind of an example of this, not related to money.
But for example, you know, when I worked at Verity Baptist Church in Sacramento, you know,
we'd have three set soul winning times, Thursday, Saturday, and Sunday.
But obviously, people are going sometimes during the week and everything, and I made
the soul winning maps.
And so basically, if somebody needed soul winning maps, or we with invitation, sometimes
we had little Bible Way to Heaven DVDs and stuff, we'd give various things.
You know, they'd come to me quietly, and I'd give them a soul winning map and everything.
And nobody really knew that they were going soul winning.
It was just two guys or two girls who just want to go soul winning together.
And I said, Well, here's your map and everything like that.
And you know, those people, you know, I know people at Verity Baptist Church, and really
nobody at the church knows this, that basically went soul winning all the time, all the time,
all the time.
And you know what, it wasn't known.
It was done in secret.
Right?
And then maybe, you know, just about six months ago, I actually mentioned this one person
on Facebook, because somebody was trying to criticize them because they were against repentance
of sins for salvation.
So they're standing up for easy believe-ism.
And I said, Hey, you know what, that person went soul winning more than anybody I knew
at Verity Baptist Church.
That person always was asking me for soul winning maps and never told a single person.
What is that?
It's being known openly to everybody, Hey, this person in quiet went soul winning all
the time.
And guess what?
Rewarded openly.
And see, the Bible says that if you are doing things for the right reason, you're going
to be rewarded openly.
Now it could just come at the judgment seat of Christ, and we as believers, we need to
be okay with the fact if we never get credit in this life.
If you do the greatest thing for God ever, if you just donate so much money and nobody
ever finds out about it, you know what, you need to be okay with that.
God will reward you openly.
That might only happen at the judgment seat of Christ.
But it also might happen in this life.
But if you seek to be known openly for the good things you do.
What's an example of this?
Well, you know, if you make a post about how, Hey, I found this homeless person on the side
of the street and look at me, I fed him and I gave him a haircut and I can't remember
what else, you know, that that that pastor said or whatever.
It's like, Hey, you know, everybody knows what you did.
It's like, there's your reward.
Okay, you're not getting a reward when, well, obviously, if you're not going to heaven,
then you're not getting a reward anyway, but that's a whole nother topic.
Verse number five, and when thou prayest, thou shalt not be as the hypocrites are, for
they love to pray standing in the synagogues in the corners of the streets that they may
be seen of men.
Verily I say unto you, they have their reward.
And the Bible says that, you know what, some people love to pray standing in the synagogues.
They like to be seen of men.
They make a show.
Look at me.
I'm praying.
Hey, by all means, if we if we have lunch as a church somewhere, you know, if we go
to Jollibee or whatever, you know, we should pray before the meal.
But you know, we don't have to be super loud to make it known to everybody at Jollibee.
It's like, all right, we got people praying in here.
It's like, what's the purpose of doing that?
Okay.
And so look, an example of this, and you might not know, you might not even know who this
person is.
And you might not know he's born in the Philippines.
But there's a famous US athlete that was born in Mindanao.
His parents were independent Baptist names, Tim Tebow.
Who knows Tim Tebow?
You know, Tim Tebow, right, brother June?
No, Tim Tebow?
No, the football player?
I guess football is not a big sport here.
But he was born in the Philippines.
His parents were independent Baptist missionaries.
I don't know if he's saved or not.
He was born over in Mindanao.
And he was very famous in the US, became the most famous athlete, like right there with
LeBron James about in America, like six, seven years ago.
And he was like, known to be a famous like Christian.
And I don't know if he was saved or not.
I've never seen his testimony.
So I'm not going to say whether he was or not.
But what he was really known for is the fact that he would kneel down in the middle of
the stadium and just be praying.
And just like everybody saw him.
They always take pictures.
He had like John 3 16, like up here on like his something with his football gear or whatever.
And basically, he was always just like making it a point to just pray in front of everybody.
Just kneeling down in the middle of the statement and just like, look, you're doing that to
be seen him in.
And I don't know whether the guy was saved or not.
I mean, I usually assume guilty until proven innocent, but I don't know.
I don't know what his salvation testimony is.
But you know what, when you do that, you're doing it to be seen him in.
You're not going to get a reward for that.
And look, if there's a saved person who's a famous athlete or whatever, and they just
make it a big point to just go down on their knees and just make it a point, they're praying
in front of everybody.
There's no reward for that.
Okay, why?
Because when you pray, you're supposed to do it quietly in secret.
You're not supposed to make a big show.
And look, by all means, I think it's great to go down on your knees and pray to God and
close your eyes and everything.
But that's something you do at home when nobody's around.
If you're out in public, you can pray to God in your head.
You don't have to make it a point to let people know.
Hey, look at me.
You know, I'm praying right now.
Okay, verse six, But thou when thou prayest, enter into thy closet, and when thou hast
shut thy door, pray to thy father which is in secret, and thy father which seeth in secret
shall reward thee openly.
And so notice, you are praying in secret, and guess what?
The Bible says you're going to be rewarded openly.
I will say this, and I preached this before, it does not say you're going to be rewarded,
whereas people are going to find out what you did.
It says you're going to be rewarded openly.
It could be a different reward, okay?
It does not say, hey, if you pray in secret, everybody's going to find out about and that's
your reward.
It doesn't say that.
It says you're going to be rewarded openly.
I don't think it's necessarily going to be a reward for the exact thing you did.
It could be something else.
So realize in life, if you're doing something really good, and you're doing lots of soul
winning, and you never get credit for it or something like that, God might be rewarding
you in another way, okay, openly, where people know about it, because I think in general,
this is going to take place in this life, you're going to be rewarded openly.
That doesn't mean that everybody's going to find out about the thing you did, though.
You could be rewarded in another way.
You know, I don't really know, okay?
But what I do know is this, if you're praying to be seen of men, there is no reward.
You say, but Brother Stuckey, I mean, how are we going to have the altar call?
Because we come down here and we pray and everybody sees us.
Well, that's a whole other sermon, all right?
If you were here four months ago, I already preached on it.
Matthew six, verse 16, moreover, when he fast, be not as the hypocrites of a sad countenance,
for they disfigure their faces that they may appear unto men to fast.
Verily I say unto you, they have their reward.
And see, the Bible says this, that there's people when they fast, they make it a point
to make themselves look like they're like the walking dead.
Like they're about to die, like a zombie at the point of death, okay?
It's like, yes, yeah, yeah, yep, I'm fasting.
Yep, you're wondering.
Yep.
Basically make it a point to look terrible, okay?
Look, I mean, if you're going to the house of God, by all means, I mean, try to look
your best.
And it's just like, but some people would make it a point to let people know that they're
fasting.
Verse 17, but thou when thou fastest, anoint thine hand and wash thy face, that thou appear
not unto men to fast, but unto thy father, which is in secret, and thy father which seeth
in secret shall reward thee openly.
Now go in your Bible to actually look at verse 19.
You know, I know a pastor in California, and I don't know him personally, I never met him,
but he's kind of a famous pastor.
He's pretty well known in the IFB ranks, and he did a 40 day fast, 40 days, no food for
40 days.
You say, Brother Stuckey, how do you know that?
Well, he told everybody.
It's like, you literally went 40 days, I'm sure it was difficult, you're tired and everything,
and then all of a sudden you just threw away your reward.
It's like, why would you do that?
Right?
I mean, the Bible says you're getting no reward if you do it openly.
It's like he did it for 40 days, and then just everybody in the US, everybody in the
IFB ranks knows that he did a 40 day fast.
It's like, there goes your reward.
Okay?
It's like, why would you do that?
And he let everybody know about it.
It's like, no, if you go on a fast, you know, the Bible says, don't make it a point to let
people know that you're fasting, otherwise, you know what, you have your reward.
And people are going to look at you and say, hey, so and so is such a spiritual person.
Okay?
Now, I do want you to understand something, and this is not really part of the sermon,
but oftentimes you'll see people that seem very spiritual.
And the reason why they seem very spiritual is because they're making it a point to be
seen a minute.
You know everything that they do, and it seems like they're super spiritual because you're
hearing about it.
But that doesn't mean that there's other people that aren't doing the same thing.
Right?
Like in this room, I don't know how much everybody's reading the Bible, but somebody in this room
might read the Bible.
I don't know, for two hours every day.
And it's just like, you know, if people don't make it a point to let people know about how
much they read it, people just kind of assume you just don't know.
Right?
Oftentimes the people that are making it a point to look at the good things I've done,
they seem like they're super spiritual, but in reality, it's just that they're arrogant,
letting you know about all the things they did.
I knew somebody at Verity Baptist Church who got kicked out, and you know, people were
really surprised when he got kicked out because they're like, man, this person was like the
most dedicated soul winner of Verity Baptist.
And I'm like, this person was the most dedicated person?
No, he just posted on Facebook about it all the time.
There's someone at Steadfest also got kicked out several years ago, and everyone was shocked
because this guy was such a zealous soul winner.
It's like, no, he just let everybody always know on Facebook.
And so everybody in the US and around the world, this is one of the great soul winners
in all the world.
It's like, no, he's just an arrogant, prideful person that's basically telling people everybody
about it on Facebook.
Right?
And so the Bible says this.
We should not let our works to be seen in men.
Okay, now, Matthew Chapter six, verse 19, Matthew six, verse 19, Matthew six, verse
19.
And look, this is not something that I've seen as a problem at our church.
I'll be honest.
You know, we don't post online about it.
Sometimes we make videos of events, and I think that's cool and everything.
We don't post on Facebook to just let everybody know outside of our church.
Hey, this is how many people I got saved and I got saved.
You know, as a church, we motivate each other, we encourage one another, but we shouldn't
be trying to impress people in other countries about all the works we're doing.
Okay.
And look, the thing is that the judgment seat of Christ is going to reveal what's on the
interior of us, and we better make sure why we're doing things is for the right reason,
because otherwise we could lose our awards.
So the first point is this.
When it comes to the judgment seat of Christ, we are impeccable.
We are flawless.
Okay, there's no sins that are gonna be brought up.
It's also an individual judgment.
Okay, so basically you're awarded for the work that you did, not for being at a church
that's preaching the gospel, but the work that you did.
Number three, it's for the interior.
Okay, God looks at the inside.
The man looketh on the outside appearance, but the Lord looketh on the heart.
Okay, number four, this judgment will inform us of basically the credit that we get, because
here's the truth.
None of us knows how much rewards we're gonna get.
None of us knows right in this room right now.
We have what we had about.
I think we have 15 people here tonight, including my kids.
15 people.
Nobody knows.
Here's number one in our church.
Here's number two.
Here's number three.
We have no idea.
Okay, and the reason why is because it's something that's on the interior, so I can't see the
interior of you.
I don't know what's in the inside of your heart.
You don't know what's on the inside of my heart.
We could be doing good things, but is it for the right reason?
And we don't know that, and this judgment, it is gonna inform us individually of the
rewards we get, because honestly, we don't really know how much rewards we're gonna get.
Matthew 6 verse 19, lay not up for yourselves treasures upon earth where moth and rust doth
corrupt and where thieves break through and steal, but lay up for yourselves treasures
in heaven where neither moth nor rust doth corrupt and where thieves do not break through
nor steal.
So the Bible says basically just do good works, do things that get you eternal rewards, and
one day we're gonna find out the treasures that we have in heaven.
But I think this is why God doesn't tell us.
One hour of soul winning equals 1.5 pesos or whatever, whatever the reward be up in
heaven.
He doesn't give us an exact number because he wants us to do it for the right reason.
And so we don't know.
Go to 1st Corinthians three, 1st Corinthians three, 1st Corinthians three.
You say, Brother Stuckey, how would God compare an hour of prayer time versus an hour of soul
winning versus an hour of Bible reading versus, you know, 5000 pesos almsgiving versus two
days of fasting.
I have no idea.
I know all those things have a reward that's gonna last, but I have no idea how much each
of them is.
And so basically we should just strive to do what's right.
And one day we're gonna find out what rewards we get.
We do not know and realize something that when it comes to us, we're not in the same
situations in life, right?
Not everybody's in the same situations.
Not everybody has the same skills and abilities.
I mean, wouldn't it be ridiculous for basically, you know, me to automatically get more awards
than you just because I preach the sermons.
Look, not everybody necessarily has an ability to preach sermons.
It's not the gift that they've been given.
That doesn't make them less, though.
Okay, it's like, you know, we're given different abilities in the question is, what did you
do with that?
And so somebody might be given less abilities where they might have a much more difficult
situation in life to really serve God and what they might do much better with what they've
been given than what I do.
Even if I might seem higher on the totem pole or whatever, just because I'm preaching sermons
or whatever.
You know, it's like we don't or let's, let's say you look at someone who lives in a country
where it's actually dangerous to preach the gospel.
They might in their heart want to go soul winning more than us and they might go more
if they had the opportunity, but they might only be able to go.
It's like, all right, I got an opportunity.
I'm going to preach the gospel.
This one person.
They might have to wait every four or five days to preach the gospel when there's they're
alone and there's no Muslims around or something, right?
I mean, it's like it would be foolish to try to compare us that are able to do a soul winning
marathon event.
So I don't I don't really know how God would judge that.
Obviously, we know God is the just judge and he's going to do it fairly.
But what I'm trying to tell you is this.
We don't really know how many rewards we're going to be getting.
Okay, first Corinthians three, verse 14.
If any man's work abide which he hath built thereupon, he shall receive a reward.
If any man's work shall be burned, he shall suffer loss, but he himself shall be saved.
Yet so as by fire.
Now, we know that there's a lot of people here in first Corinthians three that they
see the word fire and see, I mean, you could go to hell.
Okay.
Well, first off, even if you thought that was referring to that, it still says he himself
shall be saved.
So I really do not understand how first Corinthians three fifteen is one of the big like loss
of salvation verses.
Even if you thought that was referring to hell fire, it still says he himself shall
be saved.
Okay, so I don't know how you could interpret that that all see, he's going to be thrown
in the fire says he himself shall be saved.
So even if that was referring to it, but it's not referring to hell fire.
It's an example given to the fact that, you know, gold, silver, precious stones, wood,
hay, stubble are going to be thrown in the fire.
What is going to last?
Okay.
And so it has nothing to do with us being going to hell.
But what I'm showing is this in first Corinthians three, we're going to find out the rewards
that we get.
Go to second Corinthians chapter ten, second Corinthians chapter ten, second Corinthians
ten, second Corinthians chapter ten, second Corinthians chapter ten.
And in second Corinthians chapter ten verse twelve, the Bible says, for we dare not make
ourselves of the number or compare ourselves with some that come in themselves.
This is Paul the Apostle speaking, and he says, you know what?
I don't try to compare myself to other people.
Now, if there's anybody who could compare himself to other people, Paul the Apostle
would probably be the best person, right?
I mean, he accomplished a lot in his life, but he says, you know what?
We're not trying to compare ourselves with those that want to come in themselves.
And what he's saying is a lot of people try to lift themselves up and look spiritual and
everything.
He says, you know what?
We shouldn't compare ourselves to one another.
They measuring themselves by themselves and comparing themselves among themselves are
not wise.
It is a foolish thing to compare yourself to other people.
Now I would say this, though.
I think every single Christian in the world, at least on the inside, has compared themselves
to other people before.
And you say, why is that?
Well, remember when the twelve apostles were arguing with something on the road and then
Jesus says, Hey, what were you guys arguing with back there?
And everyone's quiet because they're arguing who was the best.
Or remember James and John, the sons of Thunder, and then they got mad at them because...
So look, multiple times they're basically in ways comparing themselves among themselves
saying, Hey, look how spiritual I am.
And look, it's kind of natural as people that we do this, right?
I mean, if you play in a sport, you know, I played soccer my whole life and you go out
on the field and in the back of your mind, you're saying, okay, you know, this is how
good I am compared to other people, right?
Or you play basketball five on five, and in your mind you're thinking, I'm the second
best player out here, right?
It's natural for us to compare ourselves.
And look, I don't think it's a wise thing to do outside of the spiritual realm, but
definitely do not do it in the spiritual realm, okay?
One mistake people can make is when they come back from soul winning, you know, and look,
here's the truth.
When we go soul winning on a Sunday and we go out soul winning, every single one of us,
there's a little part of our flesh that wants to have gotten the most people saved.
I mean, isn't that true, or am I the only like non-spiritual one?
You want to be able to say, hey, you want to have gotten a lot of people saved, right?
I mean, it's just like, think about it, you go soul winning with your soul winning partner
and you get five people saved and one of you gets three and one of you gets two.
There's a little part of our flesh that would be happy to get more people.
Why?
Because naturally we try to compare ourselves.
Now that's the wrong attitude, but you know, it is something that you see throughout the
Bible with the apostles comparing themselves multiple times and things such as that, but
the Bible says it's an unwise thing.
Now why would it say it's not wise?
Why is that a foolish thing to do?
Well, let me give you a couple of reasons.
Let's say for example, because people kind of go to two extremes with this.
People will either compare themselves to people that are less than them in their mind or people
that are greater than them.
Some people will look at somebody who's basically, let's say for example, you've been saved for
a year.
Let's say you have a goal to be a preacher and you say, man, I'm never going to be able
to preach like Pastor Hermanus.
Well, I mean, he's been preaching for over 10 years.
Wouldn't it be foolish to compare how good you're going to be as a preacher when you
just started?
Wouldn't that be a foolish comparison?
I mean, you just pick up a basketball for the first time.
Man, I'm not as good as Michael Jordan.
Well, of course you're not as good as Michael Jordan, right?
It's just like, you know, it would be foolish to compare yourself to someone who has experience
who's been doing a lot of times.
Let's say you got saved two weeks ago.
Man, I don't know the Bible as well as Brother Stocky.
Well, yeah, you got saved two weeks ago.
That's a foolish comparison to make.
Sometimes people have this sort of defeated attitude where basically they just think less
of themselves and they just think I could never be like so and so.
I could never be like so and so.
You know, when we have preaching nights in Verity Baptist Church in Sacramento, I'm always
most encouraged by people that are preaching for the first time because what happens when
somebody steps up to preach for the first time and they step up here and they're, like,
you know, shaking and they're nervous and they drop the water bottle, everything like
that.
And then, you know, they forget to pray or whatever, forget to read the or whatever.
They make mistakes.
You know why that's encouraging?
Because everybody looks at it and says, Man, if that person had the guts and the boldness
to step up there and get over their fears, you know what?
I can do that, too.
It's the same way with soul winning.
I mean, somebody goes out so winning for the first time and they're scared and then they
drop their Bible and everything.
They're nervous and everything.
They forget their face mask, their face shield and their astronaut suit and everything before
they go out.
It's just like, you know, that's encouraging.
You know why?
Because you're seeing somebody take a leap of faith.
And look, the goal in our life should be always that we're getting out of the boat to some
degree, stepping out in faith.
And you know what?
When I see somebody step out in faith, you know, who's basically new at something and
they're scared and they do it, it encourages me.
You know what?
I need to step out in faith in an area in my life.
Because I'll be honest with you, I never get nervous when I preach now.
But, you know, I used to get nervous every single time I preach.
Now I didn't get nervous here because I had preached a lot of sermons before I came here.
But dead sure when I preached in Verity Baptist Church, it's like, yeah, there are often times,
you know, I got very nervous beforehand and people said I didn't look like I was nervous,
but I was always nervous.
You know, I got to preach, you know, a few years ago at Faith Word Baptist Church and
I was nervous.
So I forgot to thank Pastor Anderson for allowing me to preach.
And it wasn't because I was being rude, but I was just like nervous and I wasn't thinking
and everything.
Why?
Because, you know, honestly, naturally, I'm not really an outgoing person.
I wasn't even good at public speaking when I was in college.
But you know, sometimes you can learn things and you can become good at them.
And what I'm trying to tell you is this, that it's foolish to compare yourself with someone
who is more experienced at something because of course they're going to be better, okay?
They have more experience.
There's no need to compare yourself with people.
If you just got saved recently or just started living for God recently, of course it's foolish
to compare yourself to someone who's been doing it for a long time.
But usually when people compare themselves, what they do is they compare themselves with
someone who's like lesser than them, right?
I mean, they'll look at someone.
It's like, look at me, man.
Look how spiritual I am.
I've read the Bible so much and everything like that.
And they'll always compare themselves to someone who's been saved for like a year or just knew
a church or something like that.
Look, that's a foolish comparison.
I mean, obviously, you know what?
If you're already better than everybody, you know, you're not gonna be motivated to actually
serve God.
And what the Bible is trying to say is just don't compare yourself to anybody.
Just realize that, you know what?
All of us have areas we can grow.
Like I said on Sunday, you know what?
When you hear the word of God, obey from the heart.
Have an honest and good heart.
And so look, I promise you every single one of us, we hear sermons and there's changes
we know we need to make.
So don't compare yourself.
The sermon is going on and say, man, brother so and so.
It's like that person's a gossiper.
He really needed that sermon.
Right.
Me, on the other hand, it's like, you know, why are you comparing yourself to other people?
And usually the people I found that always are critical of other people, they really
needed that sermon.
It's just like, man, they needed that sermon.
It's like, you're the one who needs that sermon, right?
It's like oftentimes the people that are guilty of stuff, it goes straight over their head.
It blows my mind sometimes.
You know, you preach sermons and everything, and it's just like, you're thinking, man,
this person could really use this sermon.
And then they'll come up to you, that was a great sermon, that was a really good sermon
for brother so and so.
He really needed that.
It's like, what?
It's like, it doesn't make any sense.
But look, the Bible says it's just foolish to compare yourself.
So I think at the judgment seat of Christ, we are going to be informed of basically the
rewards we get.
Go to Proverbs 27, Proverbs 27, we'll look at a few more places, Proverbs 27.
We live in this social media generation.
This is a dangerous time in a lot of ways as Christians, because honestly, people are
overly zealous sometimes, and they can destroy their futures on Facebook.
It's like they'll post things just ripping the Catholic church to shreds and everything.
And it seems cool.
And people will, and people will say, man, that's great, brother, you're bold, etc, etc.
And seems real cool until you get interviewed for a professional job by a Catholic, and
then they pull up what you posted on Facebook, and you don't get hired because you're extra
zealous.
Social media can be a dangerous thing, right?
And it can also be dangerous because oftentimes it can lead to us trying to promote ourselves
and be looked at.
And what you have to understand is Facebook is not reality.
It's fake book, fake book.
It's not real.
And look, it's amazing to me.
You know, oftentimes we'll see people, it's like, man, so and so they have the greatest
marriage.
I mean, these two people have the greatest marriage.
Look, they're always going to places, they're always smiling for the pictures, and then
all of a sudden it's just like, oh, so and so was caught with prostitutes and people
like that.
It's like, yeah, so much for having a great marriage, right?
Or someone will call like, man, they have such a great I mean, I knew somebody in West
Virginia, and these two people, they were always posting on Facebook about how great
their marriage was.
And so I knew someone who was close friends, or he knew them from church related and everything.
And he told me, he's like, yeah, they have the worst marriage.
He's like, they are very close to getting a divorce.
But on Facebook, everybody thought they had the greatest marriage.
Because every it's like people overcompensate.
That's often what takes place.
It's like, they're so worried, people are going to find out their marriage is terrible
that they overcompensate and just say, look at how great our marriages.
And the sad thing is this, people spend their lives paying attention to other people's lives
that aren't real, that are fake, and they get depressed about something that is fiction.
It's not even real.
I mean, they look at it, they're just like, man, so I mean, look at anything with this.
I mean, you look at all these celebrities.
It's like you see all these pictures.
These people are so beautiful.
See them in public without the makeup.
See them in public without all the I don't know, hairspray, whatever they do, I don't
know, you know, what to change the way they look.
And it's like, because it's like, it's not real.
It's fake.
And like with social media, people are faking things.
And the sad thing is Christians spend their times paying attention to other people's lives,
and they think it's a reality.
And oftentimes the people that are really posting to do it, it's fake.
It's not even real.
It's the exact opposite of what reality is.
So I'm not saying it's a sin to be on Facebook.
Obviously I have a Facebook account, but you know, I also, I unfollow like 90% of people
I'm friends with now with people in my church.
I do follow because I like to know what's going on with people that are my friends and
people at church and like minded people.
Look, I never know anything that's going on in the US.
Say Brother Stuckey, he's got the inside information on the new IFB, right?
I never have the inside information.
I don't know what's going on because I'm unfollowed.
I'm not part of any of the new IFB groups or any of that stuff.
I I'm friends with like all these people.
I've unfollowed almost every single one.
And it's not because I dislike them or anything.
I don't want to spend my time worrying about other people's lives.
Now I don't unfollow like my friends from Verity, you know, that are, but you know,
most people from Verity don't really post a whole lot in line, to be honest, in Sacramento.
But what I'm trying to tell you is this, don't spend your life just caring about other people's
lives.
You don't even know if it's real.
Proverbs 27 verse one, Proverbs 27 verse one, boast not thyself of tomorrow, for thou knowest
not what a day may bring forth.
Let another man praise thee and not thine own mouth, a stranger and not thine own lips.
And the Bible says, excuse me, the Bible says, let somebody else praise you.
Do not praise yourself inside the heart of every single one of us.
Pride is probably something we all struggle with to some degree.
All of us have had problems before with pride and stuff like that.
And look, it's pretty common that people like to let people know the things that they're
good at.
And that's part of our sinful nature.
It's wrong.
But what the Bible says is this, let another man praise thee.
And here's the reality.
People do not like people that always brag, that always talk about how great they are.
Okay, let somebody else praise you.
And here's what you have to say.
But people have to know about this, how great I am at this.
And it's just like, you know, man, I can't get anybody to praise me for it.
Maybe you're not that great at it.
That's why nobody's praising you for it.
Right?
It's like, man, I'm the greatest soul winner ever.
People got to hear and nobody's letting.
Maybe you're not then.
Okay.
And it's just like the Bible says, let another man praise you.
And if nobody praises you, who cares?
Because why are you doing this to begin with?
Are you doing it to please God or to please man?
Turn to Ecclesiastes seven.
We'll close off Ecclesiastes chapter seven.
Ecclesiastes chapter seven.
Ecclesiastes chapter seven in your Bible.
Now, I did want to end on this one note, because by all means, I think that you should strive
to serve God as much as possible and get as many rewards as you can.
But at the same time, the Bible says not to compare to one another.
Look, if somebody reads the Bible five times per year, you don't have to read it as much
as them.
Okay.
By all means, if you can, that's great.
Don't feel like you have to equal everybody at our church at everything they do.
For one, we have different lives, we have different amounts of free time and everything
like that.
And you might be newer at it.
It might take you time.
Nobody goes from they just got saved to reading the Bible five times per year.
When you start, because you're climbing a mountain, you're slowly getting higher up
that mountain.
Like when you first start lifting, you don't just, man, I've never benched before, but
I'm going to put like three plates of 45 on each side.
It's like 315 pounds.
Boom.
You're going to die.
Okay.
You have to work up to those levels.
And so don't try to compare yourself to other people like, man, I got to read it as much
as brother so-and-so or as much as sister so-and-so.
I got to do as much so winning.
It's like, you don't have to.
Okay.
By all means, we should serve God as much as possible.
But remember this also, because the Bible says a false balance is an abomination to
the Lord.
Ecclesiastes 7 verse 16, be not righteous over much, neither make thyself over wise.
Why shouldest thou destroy thyself?
The Bible says be not righteous over much.
And you know, honestly, sometimes we could try to do too much.
Sometimes you could go a bit overboard where you feel like every...
And a good example of this is look at Baptist pastors' children.
Oftentimes they grow up and they don't serve God.
And I'm sure this is true in the Philippines too.
I mean, it's true in the US.
I mean, it was the preachers that were known 40 years ago, famous IFP preachers.
Famous IFP preachers.
And you saw their kids when they grew up and they didn't love God.
And oftentimes it was because those pastors were always traveling around and everything,
they weren't there for their kids.
It's not a shock why their kids didn't turn out for God.
And see, sometimes we can be righteous over too much.
Look, when you're married and you have a family, you got to spend time with...
You should spend time with your spouse.
You should spend time with your kids.
Obviously, you got to work a job and make money and everything like that.
I believe the Bible commands you to go soul winning every week.
Now, obviously we understand, you know, for health reasons or things like that, people
might not be able to go.
But the Bible tells us to go soul winning, you know, and I believe we should have it
as a weekly habit of going soul winning.
It doesn't say you have to go soul winning like two times or three times or four times.
Now, if you're able to do that, that's great.
If you're able to go soul winning as much as possible, praise the Lord, I'm not trying
to get you not to go.
But at the same time, don't compare yourself to other people.
It's okay if somebody is doing more for God than you.
It's okay if you're not the most spiritual person in every aspect of our church.
That's okay.
Worry just about yourself.
Make sure you're reading the Bible.
Make sure you're in church.
Make sure you're going soul winning.
But you don't have to make sure you're doing more Bible reading than everybody else.
Look, we don't have to have a chart on the wall that says, hey, here's how much I'm going.
Let's find out who reads the Bible the most.
And we're going to try to top that.
That's foolish.
And you're going to lose your reward because you're trying to do it to be seen in men or
to get credit or some other reason.
Okay.
So in terms of the judgment seat of Christ, what have we learned?
One, realize that we are impeccable.
There is no sin that's going to be brought up.
Number two, it's an individual judgment.
You are rewarded for the work that you personally did.
Number three, it's going to reveal what's on the interior because oftentimes, and look,
by all means, we understand that if you clean up the inside, the outside gets cleaned up.
And sometimes you look on the outside and you know what?
People are just godly people that are just dressed right.
They act right.
They act right because they're honestly clean on the inside.
But realize that somebody can put on a suit and be very dirty on the inside, right?
The outside can reveal what's on the inside, absolutely, but it can also be fake as well.
Okay.
The judgment seat of Christ, it's going to reveal what's on the inside and realize that
I can look in a mirror and see what's on the outside of myself.
I can see what I look like, what color of tie I have, what color of shirt or whatever.
I don't see what's on the interior of myself either.
And the heart is deceitful above all things, desperately wicked.
Who can know it?
And so look, it's not about me trying to figure out how many rewards am I going to get.
It's just called just you see what the Bible says, you try to obey, you try to do what's
right.
Okay.
And the judgment seat of Christ going along with point three, it will inform us of the
rewards we get.
None of us know how many rewards we're going to get.
And look, I've said this before and I think this is true, and I like to say it to try
to encourage people because I don't believe that the person preaching automatically gets
more rewards than anybody else and don't feel like I've got to become a pastor to get rewards
in heaven.
You don't have to become a pastor to get rewards in heaven.
What you have to do is just read the Bible, just apply the things you hear and try to
serve God the best as you can.
And you know what?
We're all going to find out one day how much did we really do for the Lord?
Let's close in a word of prayer.
Dear heavenly father, thank you for allowing us to be here today and we just ask you to
help us to apply this sermon to our lives.
God help us to strive to do as much as we can for you, but not to worry about trying
to compare ourselves and just try to do the best we can as individuals.
God, we pray this in Jesus name.
Amen.