Ephesians 2, verse 10, then we'll flip right over to 2 Corinthians 5, 10. Ephesians 2, 10, for we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them. 2 Corinthians 5, verse 10 has been really our theme verse for this series, your eternal reward. 5 10 of second corinthians for 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 may the lord's blessing to the reading of his word is pray for just a moment lord help me this morning as i speak just Help us to think about what you'd have us to do. What will Christ be looking for when we stand before him? Lord, help us to see that there are rewards, there are things we should be doing, and Lord, help us to live with eternal values in view. Lord, help us not to become so encumbered with this earth and all the things that go along with it, and the struggles, et cetera. May we look forward to time with you forever, and Lord, may we be seeking to serve you however possible. In Jesus' name I pray, amen. I think the more honest we are as Christians, we are tempted at times to conclude that we're not going to receive much of anything really of reward because I know my heart and you know your hearts. Most of us see ourselves as at least, and to some degree, as representing the attitude of the unfaithful servant who possibly buried his talent and, Lord, you can just use what I really don't have much to offer, so I'm just going to sit on my hands and twiddle my thumbs. I think that was his mindset in some degree. but he was reprimanded by his master. As we ask God to search our hearts, we can really see, honestly, I look at it, it's not really that much good in there. Now, we want to think ourselves as pretty good, but are we? What are the motives that I have for serving the Lord? The thought of a thorough judgment that exposes our hidden motives and our private thoughts is possibly more frightening than comforting. We're going to stand before God. We're not held accountable for our sins. We understand that as Christians, but we are going to be held accountable for what we did for the Lord after our conversion. Have we served him? And when the flames come to our works, will there be anything left? Now, I imagine and I hope to think that yes, there'll be a few golden nuggets in there somewhere among all the flames that will be left. I did it for the right motives, etc. And perhaps if we're honest, we sometimes might feel like that. Truthfully, our motives are seldom as pure as we would like them to be, and if our inner lives are going to be exposed to everything else in the world, or even to God, we sometimes want to move to a deserted island and never have to face anyone ever again. But God wants to reward His children, and He's going to reward us as we serve. So the positive, now there's not room on the back of the bulletin today, but if you want to take down notes, the first number one is the positive. It's time for encouragement. Sometimes pastors, I think I probably tend to speak more on getting right instead of encouragement. So a little encouragement today, the motive. Let's keep in, I think the value of the deeds that we do is gonna be the attitude of the heart. If we wanted to do more for Christ but could not, I think Christ may well reward those who wanted to do more but could not. I heard someone, I heard a pastor speak one time and he said, when the Christ comes back for the young people who are teenagers, God is going to possibly reward them for what they would have done had they lived an entire life of service for the Lord. We don't know how it's all going to work out. Moreover, it is required and stewards that a man be found what? Faithful. We are to be faithful, and God's going to reward. In 2 Corinthians chapter 8, it says, for if there be first a willing mind, it is accepted according to that a man hath, and not according to that he hath not. And in 2 Corinthians 9, 7, It says, every man according as he purposes in his heart, so let him give, not grudgingly or of necessity, for God loveth a cheerful giver. So our heart attitude and how we're serving the Lord and what we're doing. Someone has said if you were to give $10, but you would have given more if you had it, God may reward you for the more. And if you're intending on giving only $1, and you actually put a 50 in, He's only going to reward you for the dollar because your heart attitude. Well, where in the world would you get that, pastor? Well, Mark chapter 12, 43 and 44. They're at the temple, they're sitting in the background, sort of, and he sees this widow come up, and he says, he called him to his disciples, instead of them, verily, verily, I say unto you, that this poor widow hath cast in more than all that which cast into the treasury, for out of They cast out of their abundance her two mites, but she out of her want did cast in all that she had, even all her living, rewarded better for two mites than for $500,000. That's a big difference, but $500,000, two mites. She would have cast in everything that she had. The heart attitude. Her gift was especially precious because I don't think she knew that Christ was watching. I think she would have done it whether Christ was watching or not. He knows our hearts. And sometimes we like that because we do it the right motive and people take it the wrong way. And I've said it, Lord, you know my heart. The heart was right. And sometimes I don't want to say that because my heart was pretty much black on that one. I'm still struggling with the cats next door. You have to help me. Does anybody have a BB gun? It's teasing. A little bit. A little bit teasing. But her generous character was counted. She should notice in passing that the good motive does not mean that we're going to enjoy a particular deed. Surely the slaves in Paul's day did not enjoy serving these cruel masters, some of them, with joy. They were not joyous in that. And God often asked us to do hard things, to suffer unjustly, and to endure suffering of every sort. The test of the motive is not whether we like it or not. It's was it done for Christ? but pleasant or not. So not only the positive is the motive, secondly, the acceptability. Now keep in mind that Christ takes our deeds, if done in his name, and makes them acceptable to the Father. Truth is, even if we serve with a motive that is selfless as humanly possible, there's gonna probably be a little bit of a tinge of the wrong motive in there somewhere, a little bit tainted by sin. We help a woman across the street, look at me, watch me while I'm doing it, and when I get home at supper table, hey, did you know I helped the old lady across the street today? Want somebody to know about that? I'm just saying that's what we might do because we want people to know and to hear We want the church to hear that, you know, I gave a really big offering. I just want you to know, the whole church, I'm one of the biggest givers here. And so we lose all of the reward if we do it that way. Pastor Lutzer in Chicago said he was driving down the road one day, and a lady was walking down the road, and he stopped, and she had run out of gas. And so he drives to the gas station, buys a can, and fills it with gas, takes it back, and starts putting in her car, and he's standing there in his business suit, and he's putting the gas, he said, I hope all the people of Moody Church come riding by while I'm here so they could see me now doing this selfless act. So how does this become, as you're turning to 1 Peter 2.5, how do these words become acceptable to God? Can we be rewarded for deeds done with motives that are not entirely loving and entirely free of self-interest? Yes, I think we can. I'm glad we can, because otherwise I probably wouldn't have next to nothing. We have next to nothing when we stand before the Lord. We are not to work for Christ as an employee for an employer. We are to work for Christ as sons and daughters. We're part of the family. He's our heavenly father. Christ works for us. to please the Father. He takes our actions, I think, and our good intentions and cleanses them and makes them palatable, if you would. It says in 1 Peter 2, verse 5, you also, as living stones are built up in a spiritual house, a holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God by Jesus Christ. He's making intercession for us. And Satan says, did you see what Tim did? He went blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah Thus, after our conversion, our deeds should no longer originate in the flesh, but the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, temperance, against which such there is no law. So that's part of the fruit of the Spirit. He works in us. Our service for him, it says in Ephesians 2.10, we're created unto good works. So our good works are what he's gonna be looking for to give us reward. It says in John 15.4, abide in me and I in you as the branch cannot bear fruit of itself except it abide in the vine. No more can you except you abide in me. I am the vine and you are the branches. He that abideth in me and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit. For without me ye can do nothing. Now. Without him, we can do a lot of things, but they're not things that count. Without him, we can do nothing that will stand the test of time. We're wanting the fruit that is eternal. We want the fruit that lasts forever. That's what we want. The one thing that we see, I just saw somewhere passing that there's a very popular singer, her last name is Swift, and she's building an $85 million home. I mean, you have to have like an intercom system or some kind of telephone to ring the other part of the house. You're like, whoa, up there. Just give me a cabin, a lake, and a rocking chair in the front, and a lot of books to read, and a fishing pole, and fish in the lake. There we go. We don't want to empty it. We want to fish in the lake, OK? And I like smallmouth bass. I have a running stream that runs through there. OK, back to our message. Let's not get so focused on the earth, Pastor Tim, that we lose what the purpose is here. The works that are most acceptable are those that are done with the conviction that there's no merit in us without Christ. I can do all things through Christ which strengthens me. You can do a lot of things, but they're not worth a hill of beans. I'm not sure where the hill of beans came from, but that's just a... I guess you do put... Do you put beans in hills? Are there beans in those hills there? No, it's not worth that even. Good deeds of Christ we'll be looking for has some common characteristics. How about sacrifice? I was listening to some guy, I like him, I don't even know what flavor he is, but he has some good things about the Christian walk. He said, obedience sometimes is far costlier than sacrifice. See, I can sacrifice. I can put my $10 in and I've justified my actions and go on and live the way I want to live. I paid my dues. Obedience is, I've got to follow what God has said every day. So sacrifice is one thing. Obedience might be a much higher call than even sacrifice. How about faith, joyous faith? A commitment to persevere. It says in Hebrews, but without faith, it is impossible to please him, for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that, what? Diligently seek him, right, diligently. The root of our service is love for God, a willingness to serve, knowing that whatever the Father gives us is good for us. Now there's some, that's the positive, and there's gonna be, practically, there's the performing, and we've got five Ps. They're not in a pod, but there's five Ps. First of all, there's patience, as you're turning to Matthew chapter five, verse 11 to 12. Does anybody raise Ps anymore? Do people raise Ps? Does anyone? We have one person that raises Ps. I remember shelling those peas down in McLaughlin County, and my dad would raise a slew of everything, and we'd sit in the front porch for hours. It seemed like hours, probably wasn't that long. Isn't it something how things in the past were always worse than they actually really were? I walked five miles in the rain through the snow to go to school. I never had to walk one time to school in my life. Anyway, let's get back to the point. Matthew chapter five, perform it to patience, joyous acceptance of injustice. Straightforward about the reward here, Matthew chapter 5, verse 11. Blessed are ye when men shall revile you and persecute you and shall say all manner of evil against you falsely for my sake. Rejoice and be exceeding glad. For what? Great is your reward in heaven. For so persecuted are the prophets which were before you. You want to be rewarded? Go through some persecution. If you're fired on your job because of your faith in Christ, or if you're ostracized from the company perks because you've been bypassed because of the pay scale because you are a Christian and you won't be this honest, then rejoice! God will reward you for that. I was offered this past Monday some ladies passing out goodies, and it was a whiskey bottle and a shot glass and cards. So I said, no thank you, give it to somebody else. Don't you realize? I said, no, I'm sure I would not use that. And so she took it and gave it to somebody else. Now, that's not going to cost me anything, but there are some people who have cost their jobs because they stood for what is right. There are. The author of Hebrews warned the readers that if we did not suffer for Christ successfully, they would be the losers. Cast not away, therefore, your confidence. which hath great recompense of reward." The deep conviction that God was testing them in a distress would give them the courage to remain loyal even though the property was being seized or they're being ostracized for the faith. The recompense of reward, God is going to reward you if you suffer patiently for Him. 1 Peter 2.19, for this is thankworthy if a man for conscience toward God endured grief, suffering wrongfully. So the trouble or the cross is simply the trouble we would have had if we were not Christians. We would not have had if we were not Christians. As a Christian though, you take your stand and sometimes there's going to be some struggles with that. Patience, the second thing, what will Christ be looking for? Priority, financial generosity. Please look with me at chapter six, just a moment, chapter six, verse 19. The Bible speaks a lot about money and possessions. Over 2,300 times, the Bible speaks about money and possessions. So he spoke about the test of loyalties. In fact, if we cannot be trusted with the mammon of unrighteousness, we should not think that we're going to be given more. You want to know possibly why God has not given you more responsibility? Are you being faithful to the responsibility he's given you now? I want a pastor of church. I don't want 5,000 people. I don't know why I don't want to. But that could be the young pastor starts out and says, you know, I'm pastoring a church of 30. I want to be a pastor of 5,000. So Lord, please give me a church of 5,000. You don't want that, but please give me a church of 5,000. Are you faithful in the 30? Then he may give you a church of 40. He may give you a church maybe of 80, maybe even. Be faithful where he's called you now. Lay up for yourselves, 619, treasures upon earth. Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon earth, where moth and rust doth corrupt, and 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. For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also. And our churches typically, and we try in our church to keep giving as confidential as possible. There may be some reasons for that. One is that we might give in secret so we reward openly. Other reason might be that we're not tempted to treat the large donors where so-and-so gives this much money so we gotta give him a preferential treatment. We gotta give him the chief seat wherever he wants it. One pastor suggested we don't tell people what they give because we don't want them to be embarrassed about what they don't give. So we find we keep that in secret. But God is going to reveal what you have done for him. He's going to repay you, and I've looked for it, the disciples are going to repay you a hundredfold. for what you have done for him. Peter asked that question in their exact context, but God will repay us. It'll be revealed in that day, and revealed also will be, what is my checkbook? You wanna know what's important to you? Pull your checkbook out, if you still have a checkbook. So electronic nowadays, I've not balanced my checkbook for, Stephanie, she's listening. I've not balanced a checkbook for two or three years. No, I keep track of everything. It's in there. So I keep a basic running total, but I've not balanced it for two or three years. I had it balanced to a penny and then COVID hit. And then from then on, I was like, here. So anyway, here we go. But we keep track of the money, but I know where it goes out. But anyway, I know it goes out. It seems like a lot better than it goes in. Let's never forget that all that we have belongs to God. So as you're giving, as you're serving, this is really all of his. And he can take it in a moment's notice if he wants to. We are a pass-through agency where I work at 5Co. We're a pass-through agency. Now I struggle with that. What's a pass-through mean? It means that if someone wants to go on Medicaid and has someone who's disabled, then they work with the government. And we are the pass-through, we are the ones who send them the money. Now, we're not employing them, but here's the person getting the money, here's the government sending the money, and they pass through us to get the money. If a person wants to apply for a grant, or the city of Ashton has a big water SRF loan, so they're going to get the money. the KIA, Kentucky Infrastructure Authorities, over here with the money, and so it's going to pass through me because I'm going to submit the draw for them to draw down the money and it goes to their checking account. So, I'm a pass-through agency. You are a pass-through agency for God. God blesses you and you put it on to somebody else. So often though, we take and we close the end of the can and God blesses, God blesses, Our can gets fuller and fuller, and we're not passing it on. We should pass it on. The wonder of what God has done for us. Sharing our faith. Helping others. Giving to others. Teaching others. Encouraging others. You're a pass-through agency for God. Now let's pass that on. Now you should be learning. and growing, but then that translates into giving as well. And so that's part of that giving. So not only patience, priority, thirdly is purpose, hospitality, what Christ will be looking for. Matthew 25, 35, please. Matthew 25, 35. 25, 35, hospitality. Suppose Christ was to pay a visit to a local church. and the pastor was looking for a home in which Christ could come for lunch. And everybody, oh, let me have, let Jesus come to my house. Please, don't have him come to my house, because I really don't want, my house is dusty, and there's some things probably in my house that I would not. If He was coming to your house, there would be some things you'd throw out, or not watch, or not read. I'm thinking there are. Or not watch on the videos. All of us would have those things. By the way, He is at your house. When you're there, He's there in the person of the Spirit. But we just can't see Him. So, if I can't see Him, if I can't see Him, I don't hear, can't see, can't speak anything, so I don't look over. No, He's there. He's listening the whole time. We forget that. Wouldn't it be something if we had a chair at our table and had like the Holy Spirit was sitting right there? Wouldn't you think our conversation would be different? We're riding in a car, our music we listen to, I don't even hardly speak on music, but it might be a little bit different. The words we're saying to our whoever, our cats, that might be awful, but our cats, would it be different? Yes, but he is. So how about hospitality? Verse 35, this is the end, I believe, of the tribulation in context. For I was a hunger, 35, and he gave me the meat. I was thirsty, and he gave me drink. I was a stranger, and he took me in, naked, and he clothed me. I was sick, and he visited me. I was in prison, and he came unto me. And the people are startled because they do not remember having done this. And he responds in 25, 40, he says, And the king shall answer and say unto them, Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me. I don't know if you read The Call of Glory on May 7th of this past month. May the 7th is a story of an orphanage, and there was, the kids were sitting around the table, and one of the boys prayed for supper. He said, come, Lord Jesus, be our guest, and bless what thou hast provided. And one of the little fellows looked up and said, do tell me why the Lord Jesus never comes. We ask him every day to sit with us, but he never comes. And the director of the orphanage said, dear child, only believe and you can be sure he will come for he does not despise our invitation. And he said, I'll set him a seat. And just as he set the seat at the table, a knock came at the door and a poor frozen man came inside looking for lodging for the evening. And he was made welcome, and the chair that stood empty is not going to be filled. And all the boys wanted to give him their plates. And one of the little boys was sorry that his bed was too small for the frozen stranger to sleep in. The little one said, Jesus could not come, director, and so he sent his poor man in his place. Is that it? And the director said, yes, dear child, that is just it. Every piece of bread and drink of water that we give to the poor or the sick or the prisoners for Jesus' sake, we give to him. What a wonderful story. Those who had next to nothing wanted a chance to give that to someone who is in greater need. Brother, I say unto you, inasmuch as you have done it unto one of these, the least of my brethren, you have done it unto me. And what do you get in return? I think what we get in return depends on our heart attitude. In Luke chapter 14, verse 12, Luke 14, 12, then he said also unto him that bade him, when thou makest a dinner or a supper, call not thy friends, nor thy brethren, nor thy kinsmen, nor thy rich neighbors, lest thou also bid thee again, and recompense be made thee. But when thou makest a feast, call the poor, the lame, the maimed, the blind, and thou shalt be blessed, for they cannot recompense thee. Thou shalt be recompensed at the resurrection of the just. Christ was not shy about saying recompense and reward. If you serve me and do these things in the right motive and help those who are in distress, I will reward. If you're tempted to empty, what about the prophets in the Old Testament? They're gonna get some great reward. Yes, but he says in 10, 40 of Matthew, he that receiveth you receiveth me and he that receiveth me receiveth him that sent me. He that receiveth a prophet in the name of a prophet shall receive a prophet's reward. But the Lord's got a reward for service. Edward Markham wrote a little poem, How the Great Guest Came. These words are, his poem is this. Why is it that your feet delay? Did you forget this was the day? Then soft in the silence a voice is heard. Lift up your heart, for I have kept my word. I was the beggar with bruised feet. I was the woman you gave meat to eat. I was the child on the homeless street. Christ wants us to be His hands and shoe leather to a world that is in need. I'm not saying the answer to every ill is social gospel. I'm saying that might be a way in to present the gospel. That's what changes lives. But sometimes you've got to be a friend first before they'll ever listen to you. I tell you, anyone will rarely listen to you, so it does behoove you. You want to witness to somebody, treat them right and be a friend to them. Pity, the fourth P is pity, what Christ is looking for, loving the unlovable. Jesus taught that there was a difference between divine love and human love. Pretty much human love often depends on the one who is loved. If you meet my needs, and if I find you still attractive, and if our personalities are compatible after all these years, I'll stay loving you. Understandably, human love changes Well, you're not the woman I married. A man shouts in the divorce court, you're not the woman I married. In contrast, divine love, divine love depends upon the one who is loving. The divine love says, I can go on loving you even when you have stopped loving me. Divine love is based on a decision that continues even if the one who is loved changes. I still remember, I can't remember his name, but a quote I heard, love is more an action to be learned than a feeling to be felt. An action to be learned than a feeling to be felt. Christ's words, but I say unto you with cheer, love your enemies. Do good to them that hate you. Bless them that curse you and pray for them that despisefully use you. Love those who are unlovable. We are to love even our enemies. If you want to know whether such love is possible, he goes on and says in Luke 6 35, love your enemies and do good and lend, hoping for nothing again, and your reward shall be great. And you shall be the children of the highest for he's kind to the unthankful and to the evil. Your reward shall be great. to love the unloving, to love the unlovable. Then before we think that you are escaping, sometimes perhaps you are the one who's very difficult to love, and you are the one who's difficult to like even sometimes. Perhaps God gives you a quarrelsome co-worker. Someone told me, said, I actively despise that person. Anyway, suppose you have that. And you're praying, Lord, please remove. But perhaps you've already been praying, dear Lord, make me godly. And the way he wants to make you godly is by giving you that quarrelsome coworker who causes you no end of grief and problems. And every night you come home and you tell your wife or your husband, oh, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no. Perhaps, I want to become godly, but maybe that's the way God has for you, and you're just not working, you're not getting the message yet. Finally, the fifth P is perspective. What's Christ looking for? Perspective, acceptance of suffering. Acceptance of suffering. One pastor was speaking on the West Coast and he said, I met a man whose wife had a rare debilitating disease, the pastor says. He had been giving her constant care for she was confined to a wheelchair. Worse than the physical limitations, he says, however, were her mental and emotional states of anger and continual discontent. If they went to church, she might appear pleasant. But on the way home, she would berate him for everything from his own conversations with people to his driving. He said, told the pastor, the speaker, I receive no thanks, no kind words, no sense of teamwork at all. And the guest preacher was so moved by the man's story, he said to the man, he said, I don't expect to see you in heaven. And the guy was shocked. He went on quickly. He said, you'll be so close to the throne and I'll be so far from it. I won't see you. The acceptance of suffering, accepting. There are some people whom God calls to a special kind of suffering. Faithfulness is great. 1 Peter 1.7, that the trial of your faith, being much more precious than that of gold that perishes, though it be tried with fire, might be found unto praise and honor and glory at the appearing of Jesus Christ. What will Christ be looking for? How you use your spiritual gifts? Have you served me with those? Have you done what He wants? Are you serving? Are you doing what He wants you to do? We may not have that same opportunity, but we all can be serving whatever God's called you to do. And I'm thinking sometimes that God knows that you couldn't handle certain things, and so he's not given to you yet. Perhaps you get more mature. You wonder why some people are facing some things, probably because they've gotten to a level of maturity that maybe you're not there yet, just to say it plainly. We're not there yet. I remember Laman Strauss, excellent speaker of extraordinary Bible knowledge, and at the very last of his life, he's caring for his wife for I don't know how many years it was. He gave up traveling, I believe it was, for that. There are many ways to receive rewards. We've listed several. Probably not all can even do any of all of those things, but we're not be chided for deeds we could not perform. But I think we'll be called onto account for how faithfully perform those things that we could do that God asked us to do for him. We do not know everything we would like to know about our rewards, but we simply do not understand how Christ will balance the good deeds with those that are worthless. We must be content to know that Christ is going to be fair, just, and true, are thy ways, thou King of saints, Revelation 15, three. He's gonna be just in his judgment. In 1934, almost, that would be what, 90 years ago, when John and Betty Stan were killed by the communists in China, A former president of Moody Bible Institute wrote these words in regards to the stamps. He said, so this is life, this world with its pleasures, struggles, and tears, a smile, a frown, a sigh, a friendship so true and love of kin and neighbor. Sometimes it's hard to live, always to die. The world moves on so rapidly for the living, the forms of those who disappear are replaced, and each one dreams that he will be enduring, how soon that one becomes that missing face. Help me to know the value of these hours, help me the folly of all waste to see, help me to trust the Christ who bore my sorrows, and thus to yield for life or death to Thee. They gave up their lives as missionaries. I think they were beheaded. We used to do it at Tennessee Temple. Matter of fact, at Berean, we did it for this cause. It was a play, a drama about their lives, how they gave their lives for Christ. He may not ask us to do that, but are we even doing what He has asked us to do? All that you have is His. Now, how are you using it for Him? If we would catch a glimpse of heaven, we must strain to see the opportunities God has for us. Whereas you know not what you shall be on the morrow, James says, for what is your life? It is even a vapor that appears for a little time, and then it's gone. So what have you done for Christ with the time He has given you? For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works. Your eternal reward. There's much that waits for us on the other side. So what Christ will be looking for should be the things that we are looking after. What Christ will be looking for are the things that we should be looking after. So I wonder about yourself. Can you say for sure, Pastor Tim, I know I've trusted Christ as Savior. He's my Savior. Well, if you have done that, have you been baptized? Have you followed that next step? And if you've done those things, are you united with a local church? Are you serving? Are you giving? Are you growing? Are you doing those things? I'm telling you, this life is going to soon be passed. Only what's done for Christ will last. Someone said that many years ago. He is no fool who gives what he cannot keep to gain what he cannot lose. I'm telling you, I spent a lot of foolish hours being so belabored with this life. May we lay those things aside, looking unto Jesus, the author and the finisher of our faith. Let's lay that thing aside and serve Him. And I promise you, based on God's Word, He will reward you. Let's pray. Lord, we're thankful for not only do you love us and you died for us and you and dwell us in the person of the spirit, but you want to use us. And then as we do the things you want us to do, you're going to reward us for that. It is a win, win, win, win for us. Lord, help us to see it that way. May we not be so discouraged. May we not be just sitting on our hands and twiddling our thumbs. May we be about doing your business. May we be serving you, whatever you've called us to do. We all can't be missionaries, we all can't be pastors, but we all can be Christians serving you, whatever you've given us to do at work, at home, at the street, people we meet in the store. So Lord, help us to be burdened. to take what you've given us and use our talents for you. Then, Lord, if it would be even one person this morning, under the sound of my voice, if they don't know Christ, would they please convict their heart, may they come to know you as personal Savior. I ask all these things in Jesus' name I pray, amen.