Overview
Rev. Jerry Weller presents “Hope Conference #6: Joy Set Before Us,” beginning with god bless you all in the wonderful name of Jesus Christ. The teaching draws from 1 Corinthians 3, Job 231, 2 Corinthians 5, Romans 14 and applies these truths to faith, spiritual growth, and daily Christian living.
Transcript
Understanding Joy Set Before Us
God bless you all in the wonderful name of Jesus Christ. It is definitely an honor and a privilege to be able to share God's Word with you this morning. Please take your Bibles and turn to 1 John chapter 4. The joy set before us rewards. What is it that motivates a person? There are two great motivators, love and fear. Our Heavenly Father uses love. The motivation of love is a far more powerful motivator than any other thing that we know about. 1 John chapter 4 verse 18.
For there is no fear in love, but perfect love casts out fear, because fear hath torment. He that feareth is not made perfect or fully mature in love. We love Him because He first loved us. That is our great motivation. That is our motivator. He loved us first, therefore we follow His example and we love Him. 1 Corinthians chapter 3. 1 Corinthians 3. Now we all know that salvation is by the grace of God and that no one can earn it. It is a gift from God.
But God has also laid out an incentive plan, if you will, for us that is joyful and rewarding. As a child of God, He has thoughtfully and intentionally provided rewards and blessings for us to enjoy not only in this life, but throughout all eternity. The thought of what God has in store for us can motivate us for a lifetime of Christian giving. We serve God out of love as fellow laborers with Him and He recompenses us with eternal rewards.
Now let us take a look at some of what God has in store for us and a little bit of how it works. So 1 Corinthians chapter 3 and in verse 9 we'll begin. We are laborers together with God. Ye are God's husbandry. Ye are God's building. Verse 11. For other foundation can no man lay that is laid which is Jesus Christ. Now, if any man build upon this foundation gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, stubble, every man's work shall be made manifest, for the day shall declare it, because it shall be revealed by fire.
Fire is like a cleansing agent. And the fire shall try every man's work of what sort it is. If any man's work abide which he had built thereon, he shall receive what? Reward. That's right. And that reminds me of Job 2310 where it says, when I am tried, I shall come forth as gold. Boy, that's something to look forward to, isn't it? We want our work to be acceptable by Him. Now anything that isn't, it says it gets burned up, the wood, hay, stubble, right? 2 Corinthians chapter 5. 2 Corinthians 5 and verse 7.
The Biblical Foundation
For we walk by faith and not by sight. You know, the senses deceive us, but God never does. We walk by faith, not by sight. We are confident, I say, and willing rather to be absent from the body and to be present with the Lord. What's that talking about? The hope, right? It's great. Just think about how awesome and how great it is going to be to be with our God. And it's going to pale in comparison to anything that happens in this mortal body, in this flesh entity, right? Verse 9.
Wherefore we labor, that whether present or absent, we may be accepted of Him. That's that gold, silver, and precious stones. We want our work to be accepted. I mean, in the future when we're with Him, you know, we want to be a blessing. And even now, we want our works that we do out of love to be a blessing to our Heavenly Father. Verse 4, or verse 10. 4. We must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, that everyone may receive the things done in his body, according to that he hath done, whether it be good or bad.
Now, this word judgment in here, it makes me think in our culture, it has kind of a negative connotation. Like if you were to go to a traffic court and there is a judgment against you, you're going to have to pay a fine, right? But that's not at all what's being indicated here. This word, judgment seat, both in Romans 14.10 and 2 Corinthians 5.10 speak of the judgment seat. This is the translation of one Greek word, judgment seat, one Greek word, bema, B-E-M-A.
Now, while in the Gospels and Acts, which are written by other people besides Paul, that is a raised platform where the Roman rap magistrate or ruler sat to make decisions and pass sentences. It is used in the epistles by Paul because of its many allusions to the Greek athletic contest. It is more in keeping with the original usage among that Greek culture. This word was taken from the Isthmian games of Corinth, where the contestants would compete for a prize under the careful scrutiny of the judges who would make sure that every rule of the contest was followed or obeyed.
And we can read about that in 2 Corinthians 2, or 2 Timothy 2.5. Now, even these judges had to study for 10 months to be accepted as a judge to make sure that they could watch all the rules. And then the contestant also had to say that he had trained for at least 10 months, knew the rules, and was ready to compete. The victor of a given event who participated according to rules was led by the judge to that raised platform called the bama.
Examples and Spiritual Lessons
There the laurel or the garland was placed on his head as a symbol of victory, which is also what we can read in 1 Corinthians 9, 24 and 25. In all these passages, Paul was picturing the Christian believer as a competitor in the spiritual contest. Just like the victorious Grecian appeared to receive his perishable reward, we will appear before Christ's judgment seat to receive our imperishable reward. The judge at the bama bestowed rewards on the victors. He did not punish the losers. In other words, it is a reward seat and betrays a time of rewarding.
It is not a time of punishment where believers are judged for their sins. Such would be inconsistent with the finished work of Jesus Christ on the cross because he totally paid the sin or the penalty for all of mankind. Hebrews chapter 12. It cannot be too strongly emphasized that the judge that the bama is for rewards and not a time of sorrow because of the works that were tried by fire and loss. Any sorrow experience would be momentary. Remember Revelation 21 verse 4.
And God shall wipe away all their tears and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain for the former things are passed away. That's right. What will there to be to cry about in paradise restored? I can't think of anything with perfectly renewed minds. We'll just be thankful. You know, it reminds me of Thanksgiving dinner because, you know, everybody eats and some eat more. But in either case, I'm not jealous of the guy that ate more. I'm just thankful for what I received.
It's going to be just like that at the bama as well. I'm going to be thankful for what I received and I'm not going to be jealous of what anyone else receives. We're all going to be thankful for what we get from our heavenly father. And it's going to be more amazing than we can possibly imagine. So the bama. No judgments, just rewards. So let's focus on serving and giving out of a pure heart. And not worry about the sin problem that has already been solved by Jesus Christ. Hebrews chapter 12 and verse one.
Now, you'll read along in your version. I'm going to read from Barry's in the linear New Testament. That's the Greek New Testament or from the Greek verse one. Therefore, also we having so great a cloud of witnesses encompassing us. And we heard a little bit about that earlier, about that great cloud from Hebrews 11. Having laid aside every weight and the surrounding sin. In this culture in the world that we live in, is there serene surrounding us? Yeah, let's just lay it off, lay it off to the side. And with endurance, we should run the race lying before us.
Faith in Action
What is the race is like? What is our course? It is whatever God inspires in you to do to bless his people. And it could be people that are Christian, that are non-Christian, whoever they are. We just live our lives trying to do our very best to do what God has called us. And we carry out our long suits and our different abilities. And in that, there are great blessings that come from that. That is our course. Remember what we heard earlier about acting upon every positive thought? That's your course. Verse two, looking away to Jesus.
The leader and completer of faith who in view of the joy lying before him endured. That's that Greek word, hupomeno. He remained under the challenge and did not flee. The cross, the shame having despised and at the right hand of the throne of God has, past tense, set down. What was the joy set before the Lord? What would he have known about that would have motivated him to not only go through the worst time of his life, but the worst time that any human being had ever endured up to this point.
And then after that, what could he have possibly held in his mind? The joy that was set before him to give him strength to go in. No, we can't possibly know all that was in the Lord's heart. But Psalm 16 can help. So let's go to Psalm 16, please. Once again, I'm going to read from a different version. While you all read along in your Bibles, I'm going to read from the Septuagint, which is the Greek Old Testament. And I want you to keep in mind that we're going to be thinking about practicing the presence of God.
That would have been the joy set before him. What was he focused on that would have helped him to have the strength to endure? And if you go home and look at this in your own Septuagint at the house, it's going to be Psalm number 15. There's a little bit of a number difference between the two, your Bibles and the Septuagint. So in the Septuagint 15 and your Bible 16. Verse one, a writing of David. Keep me, O Lord, for I have hoped in thee. Verse five, the Lord is the portion of mine inheritance. What is our portion?
We heard earlier, we're heirs of God and of my cup. And a cup is a serving, it's a portion. So God is our portion. Thou art he that restores my inheritance to me. Verse six, the lines have fallen to me in the best places. Yea, I have a most excellent heritage. Well, thinking about us, what is our heritage? We know that there's going to be some crowns or garlands in the future, treasure in heaven, right? Now, this is where it says the lines have fallen to me in the best places. I think about my dad's property.
Walking in Love and Confidence
His street is bookended by two principal roads. And when the surveyors go from Route 30 or the White Horse Pike, and they measure to the edge of my father's property, there's a stake there with a nail in it, and it's a landmark. But if they were to go to the other end and pull from the other street, it comes up 18 inches short, a foot and a half difference between Jimmy Leeds Road and the one that comes from the White Horse Pike.
When it says the lines have fallen to me in the best places, it's like God is measuring from the White Horse Pike, and he wants to give us the best, the absolute most that he can in reward for what we've done in this life. God chooses this way because he loves us so incredibly. The lines have fallen to me in the best places for my inheritance. Man. Verse 8, I foresaw the Lord always before my face. He is on my right hand that I should not be moved. You want to talk about practicing the presence of God?
Keep that in the front of your mind. Verse 9, therefore my heart rejoiced and my tongue exalted. Moreover, also my flesh shall rest in hope, because that will not leave my soul in hell. Neither wilt thou suffer thine holy one to see corruption. And we know that that means total corruption. Jesus Christ knew that he was going to die, but his body would not totally rot into dust. He would not see total corruption. Verse 11, thou hast made known unto me the ways of life. That will fill me with joy with thy countenance.
At thy right hand there are delights forever. So if you think about what he would have had to hold in his mind, thinking about being with God and the delights forevermore, man, that is pretty exciting motivation. Now this was a psalm of David, and David was Jesus Christ's progenitor or his ancestor or forefather. The words that David wrote would have given strength to Jesus Christ to endure. This could have been part of the joy that was set before him. You and I have to read the word as if we are participating in it too.
This is personally written to you and I, and we can take it personal. We have to see the immediacy of its implication and application as our motivation. Our lives and ministries are not just some erudite studying of the word or the minutia of the word, but we are transformed living examples of our Lord Jesus Christ. We are motivated by love and choose to serve our God with our whole hearts, knowing that he is keeping track of what we are doing on Christ's behalf with the intention of rewarding us for our loving service.
Applying the Teaching in Daily Life
Whatever challenges we face in this life are going to pale in comparison to the glory of the future. Remember Romans 8, 18, for I reckon that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory and the joy of the future. What are some of our rewards?
Well, obviously we are well acquainted with the joys of service and the things that we get us with now, but in the future there are going to be five different, at least five different categories of rewards noted in the word, and some of them are called crowns, or you may say that's translated as garlands in some versions, so this is providing just a glimpse of what we'll receive. The crown incorruptible. It is given for competing in the spiritual competition and experiencing self-control in order to win. First Corinthians 9, 25. The garland or the crown of rejoicing.
This is for the soul winner. It is given for reaching out to others with the word or with the gospel and with the power of the Holy Spirit. And that's First Thessalonians 2, 19. The garland of righteousness is given for fighting the good fight, for finishing our course, for keeping the household faith, which is to love His appearing. How many people are going to love His appearing? I do. And that's in Second Timothy 4, 8. The garland of life is given for loving the Lord by enduring temptation. James 1, 12.
And the fifth crown or garland is the one of glory and is given for feeding God's people the bread of life, willingly or voluntarily taking the oversight and with a ready mind living as examples. First Peter 5, 4. Please turn to Revelation 22 where we're going to get ready to close. What an incentive plan. Rewards and treasure in heaven. All that we invest in this life for the glory of God and His Son will be rewarded. You know, it reminds me of the parable of the good Samaritan.
Those that are bound by religious ritual and serve for reasons other than love will overlook those that are truly in need. But the Samaritan, the parable, the sinner that is looked down upon, the one who is well acquainted with the challenges of this life, like Hebrews 4, 15 says, aids the one that has been beaten down by the adversary. This man, Jesus Christ, if you will, comes to the broken down and he anoints him with oil and that was for healing reasons and uses wine as an antiseptic. And he takes him to the inn.
A Life Shaped by God’s Word
And let's think about that inn being us, the church, the body of Christ. And he says, take care of him. And whatsoever more you spend in this life, when I return, I will repay. Revelation 22, verse 12. And behold, I come quickly and my reward is what? With me. My reward is with me to give every man according as his work shall be. How exciting is that? Gold, silver, precious stones. It's exciting. What a bright future we have. Life can have its disappointments and challenges, but the God of all comfort provides a future filled with joy and rewards.
Crowns or garlands, treasure in heaven, a new body, everlasting life with him and his son. Oh, what a day. God bless you.
Key Takeaways
- God bless you all in the wonderful name of Jesus Christ.
- It is definitely an honor and a privilege to be able to share God's Word with you this morning.
- Please take your Bibles and turn to 1 John chapter 4.
- There are two great motivators, love and fear.
- The motivation of love is a far more powerful motivator than any other thing that we know about.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the main message of “Hope Conference #6: Joy Set Before Us”?
Rev. Jerry Weller presents “Hope Conference #6: Joy Set Before Us,” beginning with god bless you all in the wonderful name of Jesus Christ. The teaching draws from 1 Corinthians 3, Job 231, 2 Corinthians 5, Romans 14 and applies these truths to faith, spiritual growth, and daily Christian living.
Which scriptures are central to this teaching?
The teaching draws especially from 1 Corinthians 3, Job 231, 2 Corinthians 5, Romans 14, 2 Corinthians 2, 2 Timothy 2, 1 Corinthians 9, Revelation 21.
How can believers apply this teaching?
The motivation of love is a far more powerful motivator than any other thing that we know about.
Scripture References
1 Corinthians 3; Job 231; 2 Corinthians 5; Romans 14; 2 Corinthians 2; 2 Timothy 2; 1 Corinthians 9; Revelation 21; Hebrews 11; Psalm 16; Romans 8; James 1; Revelation 22; Hebrews 4
This text was prepared from the teaching audio or source document. Please verify scripture references against your own Bible.
