Before I jump back in a second, John, I want to share a story with you. It comes from 1912. It's a quiet message amidst the scandal. A small but prestigious university nestled in the ivory-covered walls of New England, a wave of scandal was beginning to engulf the campus. The bright-eyed young men and women who had been accepted in the university, long considered future leaders of society, now faced an unspeakable breach of trust. Words spread quickly of a cheating scandal. Final exams were compromised and some of the brightest students, those who seemed to have everything, were accused of using illicit aids, cheat sheets, and collusion to secure their grades. The university, its reputation was tarnished, was in a crisis. In the midst of the chaos, one student, a sophomore named Samuel Turner, found himself at the heart of the storm. Samuel, a quiet and diligent young man from a small town, had worked tirelessly to make it to this esteemed institution. His classmates were divided, the campus was abuzz, and Samuel's future seemed uncertain. Samuel's father, Jonathan Turner, a respected local businessman who had attended that same university many years before, was not unaware of the situation. Having built a life based upon honor and hard work, Jonathan was determined that his son would not be swayed by the corruption infecting the campus. But Jonathan knew that his son didn't need a long, drawn-out lecture on right and wrong. He understood Samuel's nature, his quiet strength, his resilience in the face of adversity. And so rather than writing a lengthy letter filled with advice, Jonathan kept his message simple. A single letter arrived at Samuel's room on a rainy Thursday afternoon when the weight of the scandal had never felt heavier. The handwriting was familiar, the envelope plain, but the message within would be one Samuel would carry with him for the rest of his life. The letter, April 14, 1912, said, My son, stay the course. With love, your father, Jonathan Turner. Just those three words his dad wrote to his son was stay the course. What a encouragement, what a compliment to his son that he knew that his son just needed to be reminded, just remain faithful, stay in your integrity. Son, I know that you're doing, I know that it's right, I want you to stay the course. A simple message. That's what we find in the book of 2 John in this epistle unto a church. It's a short encouragement to continue in the way. Don't lose on what you're doing. Stay the course. Holy Spirit through John, second John to a church then, and now the Holy Spirit through his worm, today for us, I wanna encourage you to stay the course. So we call this letter, it's from John the Elder, and we've talked at length about the fact that he's older in years, in his late 80s, maybe in his early 90s. John, when he was younger, didn't understand so much the relationship of truth and love, and referred to as a son of thunder, we looked at, but as he grew older, his message became more clear, And one of the things he knew for sure is that you need to stay away from the wanderers, those false teachers who pull you away from believing in Jesus Christ. And they were active in that day, and they're very much active today using all the resources available to them to help pull us away from this message of Jesus. And in the midst of this letter, he gives a verse that you read with me that gives a motivating factor which says this. Look to yourselves, that you lose not those things which you have wrought, but that you receive a full reward. That thought of a full reward should have been a motivating force for those people, and it should be for all of us today. So I want to see, first of all, that we should all live our lives with the full reward and view. The full reward and view. If you have this thought, I can understand the sentiment. I can understand the logic that would get you to this idea, which is this. I don't care where they put me in heaven, all right? I don't care where I'm seated. I don't care if I get any rewards. As long as I'm there, that is okay with me. See, I can understand the logic that would get you to that, you know? Some of you might be Georgia fans or Georgia Tech fans, and this weekend was a crazy game, and it didn't matter if you had the best seats or if you had any seat, you could say, I was at that game. Well, heaven we feel the same way, right? If I get in by the skin of my teeth or whatever expression we would use, which there's no getting in in any of those ways, right? We only get in by faith in Jesus Christ. But I can understand how you feel that way. And even though I say it's logical and I understand your perspective, I also want to remind you that it's not biblical to think like that. You should desire and you should pursue to arrive in heaven to see Jesus and to receive a full reward. Yesterday, a good group of men, I would say 20 plus men, showed up to help Greg and Grace get their home ready to be sold and help Miss Latosha in that way. And I saw Scott coming down the hill, and he had a rake. I didn't meet him at the mailbox and say, Scott, I'm glad you're here. But I know you're only here for the pizza. I sent out an email. I said, if you come and help, there'll be some pizza. And let's just be honest, Scott. You're here for the pizza. You're not here to really help. Just take your pizza and leave, all right? That would be quite insulting. I don't even think he had any pizza. That's why I chose you for this one, all right? But that would be quite insulting because obviously he wasn't there for just for pizza, right? And he wasn't even really there to rake leaves, was he? He was there because his actions communicated something to people that we care about, that I'm here for you in your time of need. Something greater was going on. I want to tell you that's the same thing when we're talking about rewards in heaven. I'm not asking you to get yourself some kind of prize on top of all that God's given. I'm talking about an expression of your love for the Lord that can be communicated and a full reward there. So before we look at a biblical understanding of this, I want to give to you some ways in which I was anxious. You say, you're not supposed to be anxious. I'd say, I know, all right, but I was. And I wrestled with this anxiety about speaking on this topic of having rewards in heaven. And I thought, why is it that I feel so uncomfortable speaking along those lines? First of all is this, is that we have There's such a tendency of fallen man to see a works-based salvation, that when you speak about there being a work and a reward, some people could gravitate towards saying, I knew that's what they were saying. I need to work my way so that I can get into heaven. And I fear that. I do not want to accommodate that type of false teaching. So I always become anxious on the topic. Second of all, the Bible tells us that it's not wise for us to compare ourselves among ourselves. But that's another thing that we often do. And so when I'm here and I'm talking about a full reward in heaven, some of you may think, well, I have more than the other person or I'll have less than another person. I want to tell you that's not wise. And then here's one, there's attention. Now, we have verses in the Scripture that give us three different things. One verse will tell us that every tear will be wiped away, and we know that to be true. We have another verse, Romans 8, 1, who will tell us there's no condemnation. Then we have other passages that says that you'll be ashamed, don't be ashamed before His coming. And so there's things that I don't fully understand about my time and when I will be in heaven and this judgment seat before Christ. And then lastly here, one of the things that make me anxious and you think, well, it shouldn't, and I agree with you, is that there's going to be a confrontation in this passage with some of my friends, and you're going to realize that in all you're getting and all the things that the world has to offer you, you're missing out on many opportunities that would give you a full reward in heaven. That you come face to face and say, I've lived according to what this world considers winning, but I don't have anything waiting for me on the other side. Before some of my friends, Tyler and Gretchen, got married, they were making a video in the rehearsal the day before. Somebody was going around with a camcorder. That was before the camcorder and the phone came together, okay? And they were walking around with the camcorder, and they said, do you have any advice to this couple that's getting married? And since that, seeing that I haven't been married yet, I had all kinds of opinions on what I needed to tell them. And everybody else said funny things like, One of your arms are always going to be uncomfortable. There's four arms. You have two and your wife has two. And when you're cuddling together, one arm is always going to fall asleep. All right? If you don't understand what I'm saying, it's going to take me too long to explain it, but that's some practical marriage advice for you, okay? But they were explaining, just giving all these lighthearted things. Well, I was all pumped up on listening to, like, Leonard Ravenhill and Tozer and all these people. And when the camera came to me, I looked right at it and I said, unless the two of you bring more glory to God together than you would separately, then you have no right to get married. And everybody just thought, well, that's awkward, right? I just kind of ruined the vibe that was going on with this wedding. I was like, so intense. And Stephanie remembers that about me, that I just, this intensity of this idea is that I wanted our lives to give the Lord maximum glory. And that's what we had inscribed in our wedding bands. And that was the terms in which I thought was the maximum glory, because I knew that I had received salvation as a gift from God, had not earned it, and that Satan couldn't do anything to take that away from me. But I was fully aware that He decided to do everything He could to take anything that wasn't nailed down in my life, salvation was, but anything that wasn't nailed down, like my joy and those other things, He wanted to rob me from it. But I want to live a life, and you do as well, we want to live a life where we say, I've given it my all, for the Lord, for that full reward. So we're going to look at a few passages out a second, John, because the original audience, the reader, when they would have heard that verse, it would have been informed. When they would have heard that idea of a full reward, their understanding of that would have been informed by other writings of scriptures and other teaching that they knew, and that's the same for us. you know that there's red letters in the book of Revelation? Who are the red letters reserved for in the Bible? Those are the words of Jesus. You know that we have red letters in the book of Revelation, and one of those is in Revelation 22, verse 12, and in this verse it informs us that said, Behold, I come quickly, and my reward is with me, to give every man according as he has his work shall be. And so Jesus here in these red letters, he says, My reward is with me. So one of the things I want to inform this idea of a full reward is that Jesus is the judge who will give out the rewards. Jesus is the judge who will give out the rewards. And this truth, it doesn't first show up in the book of Revelation, because we know that being the last book of the Bible, the last book that John is going to write, but the apostle Paul is familiar with this teaching. He says in 2 Timothy 4 verse 7, he says, I have fought a good fight, I have finished my course, I have kept the faith, and henceforth there is laid up for me a crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, shall give to me at that day." So that day is a day in which 2 John is referring to as well. And so when Jesus comes for His church, it will be immediately followed by a time of rewards. And so this is in all the life, this is in your future if you're a believer. It may be on your calendar, it may not be, you could write it down. There's something that's in your future. We will leave this world, we will meet Jesus if God comes in the rapture, if Jesus comes for us through the rapture, we will meet Jesus in the air, because it says in the like manner that he went up, he will return. We will meet him in the air, we will go to the Father's house, and there is a time of reward. That will happen. That's in our future. I think about that around Christmas. It was in my prayer this morning as I was thinking about how when Jesus came to earth, there was no room for him. But when we go to heaven someday, he says that he has prepared a place for us. How wonderful is that? That we will be in the Father's house and a place prepared for us. And so you ought to consider any time you put something on your calendar between now and the time that that event takes place, that you could leave this world, meet Jesus in the air, go to the Father's house, and receive this reward. So the Apostle Paul, who has an understanding of it, he teaches about it. He refers to it as the judgment seat of Christ. Paul does on a couple of occasions. One is in 2 Corinthians 5.10, where it says, We must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, that everyone may receive the things done in his body, Romans 14.10, he goes on and says, but why dost thou judge thy brother? Or why dost thou not set at nought thy brother? For we all shall stand before the judgment seat of Christ. In the context of those passages, when you hear those words like we, you're going to see that he's speaking to fellow believers. In those letters and in those moments, he's addressing other Christian people, and he tells them, all of us in here are going to stand before Jesus someday, and that's referred to as the judgment seat of Christ. That term is scary for it, isn't it? The judgment seat of Christ is scary. Well, it's as wild because the word seat isn't scary. Sitting is one of my favorite things to do. This weekend, I did very good. I sat a long time, all right? The word seat is not scary. There's nothing scary about Christ as wonderful and gracious But it's this word judgment that is so concerning for you. And when we anticipate the coming of Christ, and you should, every one of us should be desiring the glorious appearing of Christ. You shouldn't hardly ever walk out on a beautiful day like this and not look up and say, surely Lord, come quickly. We must also anticipate a time of reward for the service that's been rendered on the hill. As I said, when we talk about judgment in Scripture, we typically think in terms of sin. Each judgment is distinct with its own timing, location, and purpose, and it demonstrates God's organized and specific plan for judgment. You know how when you make a birthday card for kids, you put out the card and you say, this is where, and when, and what time, and the location, that's usually the way that the card goes down? I thought about doing that today for these judgments I'm going to talk about, but I thought it might be a little bit weird. All right? So let me just walk through here. The Bible talks about this term judgment on seven different occasions that I'm going to cover with you, and I'm just going to go over them briefly. Maybe we'll look at a course seminar and get into each one of these a little bit more. But let me explain to you what I'm talking about. I think you're thinking, seven, what are they? Well, listen, you know these. One is the judgment of sin. When did that happen? Well, for me, that happened around A.D. 30, when Jesus Christ, He went to a cross, and upon the cross, the judgment of my sin was paid for. Who was made sin for me, who knew not sin, but because of that, we might be made the righteousness of God in Him. The judgment of my sin took place upon the cross. And there's another way in judgment is used that takes place on earth by us believers, and we reference this often around the Lord's Supper in 2 Corinthians 11. It says, if we judge ourselves, we should not be judged, that we are continually judging our lives compared to Scripture. We're allowing the Holy Spirit to search our hearts, or as David would pray, Lord, search my heart, see if there'd be any wicked way in me. There is that self-examination that takes place. And then the third one is the one we're focusing on today. It's the judgment of believers. It happens after the taking up. It happens after the rapture. It happens in heaven. And this is where believers' deeds are judged for rewards and not for salvation. I've already read it, but we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ. Everyone may receive the things done in this body. And then there's a few more, the judgment of Israel, we read about in Ezekiel at the end of the tribulation before the millennial kingdom, the judgment of nations at that same time, and then the judgment of Satan and his demons, Satan and all the angels will be cast in this eternal torment and lake of fire, and then the great white throne of judgment for unbelieving people And whoever was not found in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire. So it's all those teachings in the Bible about judgment that has given you this understanding of where you form this word judgment. But in the judgment of the believer that we're looking here today, we're looking at God giving rewards. based upon the things that He has given us to do in this life. So let's look at it a little closer here. This judgment seat of Christ in 2 Corinthians 5, 10, you've heard this word before. It's the literal Greek term, or transliterate would be the word, bima seat. It's this raised platform that's used. In the book of Acts 18, it's used where a judge is going to sit up there. It's a place of honor, a place of prestige that is given, a place of authority in his life. In modern days, and ever since the beginning of the Olympics, and it would be an understanding that the Corinthians would have, is that it's that pedestal in which somebody would be set upon, and the wreath would be put upon around them, and the show honor under them. And so, here's a summary of what's going to happen at that time. First Corinthians 4 or 5 says, isn't that incredible? A summary statement of what's going to happen to believers at the judgment seat is that every man shall have praise of God. You see, there's no losers in Christianity. It's a can't-lose proposition. We all receive praise of God. We all go up to that reward stand at this judgment seat. It's overwhelming. It's humbling. What is it? It's the grace of God. It's the grace of God that He would give. But I want to remind you here is that everything we invest our time in will not lead to a reward in heaven. Everything you invest your time in is not going to lend itself towards that full reward. First Corinthians 3.15 tells us, If any man's work shall be burned up, he shall suffer loss, but he himself shall be saved, yet so as by fire. The Bible describes these things in which we do as wood, hay, and stubble. Wood, hay, and stubble, even when they're not morally wrong, they're not eternal. We invest our lives in many things in life that are not of any eternal nature, all right? They're things that we do, and at that time, these things will be burned up, but then that reward will come, which with encouragement here is, we are doing things right now that are eternal. We're doing things right now that have eternal consequences. And that is sobering and exciting. So as believers, there should be nothing on earth I want more than a full reward in heaven to be able to worship at the feet of Jesus. That brings me to the second point here, is that knowing this, that we should remain mindful of the investments that have already been made. Because compromise with false teaching leads to a loss of reward. A loss of salvation is not in view here, but a loss of full reward, that we lose not the things which we have wrought. What he's saying here is, I'm afraid that if you don't start being vigilant about who you love and who you let into your house and who you expose yourself to, that you might lose what we've labored so hard to accomplish. You're going to go in reverse. You're going to undo what's been done in your terms of your spiritual development. And this is happening all around us all the time. You know, just as we will gather together on a celebration Sunday, and many times we have watched somebody be baptized, and they are a first-generation Christian and their family, and then they have an opportunity to raise their kids, and the Lord, at the same time, we would hear families mourning as they have family members that are no longer following after Jesus. that it's not promised from generation to generation that we want to remain what has been invested into us. Many want us to turn away from the truth. Satan wants you to turn away from the truth. An infamous criminal named Willie Sutton once was asked why he robbed banks, and his reply was simple. He said this, when asked, why do you rob banks? He says, because that's where the money is. All right. Pretty smart move. All right. If you're considering robbing a bank, let me tell you, more people get money from gas stations than banks. All right. I'll explain that to you at another day. But don't rob gas stations or banks. But if you're forced to decide, don't rob the bank. All right. And so there he said, why do I rob banks? Because that's where the money is. In a parallel reasoning, That motivates our enemy. You know you have an enemy, right? And so why does Satan work so hard at deceiving believers in Jesus? Why, in every generation, does he continually unleash legions of false teachers upon the church? And the answer is, because that's where the worship is. The devil hates to see God honored. He will do anything to stop this. In fact, he would really like to steal this affection for himself. This is how the Apostle Paul says in Colossians 2.18, speaking to believers, let no man beguile you. That means deceive you. Let no man beguile you. Don't let no man deceive you of your reward, involuntarily humility, and worshiping of angels, or intruding into these things which hath not seen, vainly pumped up, and not fleshly mined. So many times you may have seen this, where somebody begins to study something, they're introduced to something, and they begin to add upon what they first knew about Jesus, and they come to them in many different ways. False teachers come. Everywhere the truth goes, Satan sends them, and they preach their gospel. I was in Ecuador with Brother John and several 20-plus years ago, and we were out. We took a little bitty plane out to a little bit of area, and when we were out there, and it felt to be like primitive as anywhere that I'd ever been before, and they were showing us how to use a blow dart gun and all these cool things. And, you know, when it came time to eat, you know what they offered me? Coca-Cola, all right? I had never been anywhere in the world that Coca-Cola has not already got to and set up shop. It's unbelievable. They're always ahead. Can I tell you, in like manner, everywhere our messengers are sent, not just the ones on those walls, but the ones in the seats today, everywhere our messengers have been sent, false teaching has already arrived there. It's already there, wanting the corrupt and understanding of the gospel. And so this deception works because we think that we will be happier if we turn away from Christ and embrace sin. That is always the game plan of deception, is that there's something here that if you have this, plus what you already have, you will be much happier. starts in the garden and hasn't stopped the day, that's the deception. So one of the safeguards we have in our lives, the second John's been teaching us about, is that living together in love, even when we're surrounded by things that are anti-Christ, surrounded by being anti-Christian thoughts, We live together in love is a happy way to live. It's a wonderful way to live with other people that are committed to the same truth. So you and I have been blessed to learn the gospel from people who know Jesus and know that He's all satisfying. And so we've seen here in 2 John 6 and 7, He says, this is love that you walk after commandments, and this is the commandment that you've heard from the beginning that you should walk in it. So you should love, that's the commandment, and the commandment is they should love, and we said how that's a beautiful completeness there. And one of the reasons that you need to walk in love and truth with other people is verse 7, for many deceivers are entered into the world. Many deceivers are entered into this world, and they don't confess that Christ has come in the flesh. So you might consider that. You know, Ben and Kristen have started working on a small project where they want to provide a small library inside of the church for families to use, especially with small children. And because, one, because books are expensive, and also because it is important that kids get good teaching, right? That we know what kids are reading. And they do that. in the same manner that Scott shows up with a rake at a house, because it's a way of communicating that we love your families, that we love the kids. So that's one of the blessings of walking with people in truth, is not only are they on guard for lies, but they're also on guard for lies for you as well. And so walking in together in the truth and in love helps bring a protection against this false teaching. And so much had been invested in my life by so many people, We share this in testimony service, but today, we could stand and you would say names of people that I never have met, but they invested in you in a big way. And God's doing such a wonderful work among us. Our kids are blessed to have people who care for the truth all around them. But I want to remind you, because Scripture brings us to this point, is that what we have is continually under attack. So what you need to do is you need to look to yourself and examine yourself because you have a role in this fight for truth. And so we should all renew our commitment to not lose these things. Paul expresses it in a similar fashion when he says in Colossians 3, 23, and whatsoever you do, do it heartily, as unto the Lord, and not in the men, knowing that the day of the Lord, that judgment that we've talked about, you shall receive the reward of your inheritance, for ye serve the Lord Jesus Christ. All throughout history, this challenge has been echoed to churches, is that we walk in the truth, that we love one another, and we stay on guard for the false teaching that is coming, because we want to live lives that give us this full reward on that day that comes. It wouldn't surprise you if I was to read passages in Hebrews 13 that talk about how a pastor will one day give an account for the way in which he cares for the people that he had placed in his congregation. Every one of you, you'd say, well, that makes complete sense, and you might even say amen to that. But every one of you in here should have the same sense of calling in your life. There is a full reward away to you. There's also a potential of you not receiving that full reward. And God's will for your life, it's not a mystery. It's revealed in His Word. We're guided by the Holy Spirit and then make application to the Word. So a motivating factor in our lives is, I want to arrive that day standing before Jesus with a full reward. And then what is it that we see in scriptures that happen? I'm not sure, and maybe some of you will tell me, and maybe I'll grow in my understanding. I know the Bible speaks to different crowns that are available, and I don't know that's all that's taking place in the full reward, but I know that that day when I stand before Jesus, that I want the things that I've done that are eternal to be worshipped to Him. And so we have an example in Revelation, chapter number 4, verses 10 and 11, where the elders take the reward, the crown that are given, and what do they do? They fall down before Jesus, they cast the crowns at His feet, and they say that they're worthy. If I could have an opportunity, and the Bible says that I do, that I could have an opportunity to stand before Jesus someday and to worship Him in that manner, then that ought to be something that I think about every day in my life. That moment is something that you ought to think about every day of your life. And then lastly here, take care of yourselves for the sake of the work we're doing together. You're like, that sounds pretty similar to the second point, that's true. But here's the little difference here, is what I want you to see is it says, look to yourselves, tie personal responsibility, look to yourselves because we lose not those things which we have wrought. You and I, our lives are interconnected together. when we should imagine, when Pastor Bell took us through 1 Thessalonians, the end of chapter number 2, talked about, for what is our hope and what is our joy and what is our crown? And it's this, that even in the presence of the Lord Jesus Christ at His coming, for we are glory and joy. Something I should think about every day of my life is that one day when I will stand before Jesus Christ on that day, I will not be standing alone. I will be standing beside each one of you in His presence. And so, Ty, look to yourself that we lose not these things, that we are connected in this work together. I need you to continue the walk in truth. I need you to continue the walk in this love because the ministry in which God has given us, we need each other in. that if you fall away, it will hurt me. If you fall away, it will hurt this church. So look to yourself. I'm talking to all of you, not just Ty, but Ty really feels it right now, doesn't he? All right. And so the next verses here explain how the doctrine of Jesus is where the battle is won or lost. So after the things that I shared with you in verse number eight, it says, then whosoever transgresseth and abideth not in the doctrine of Christ hath not God, and he abideth not in the doctrine of Christ, and he has both He hath both the Father and the Son. If you do not have the Son, you do not have the Father. If you do not have the Son, you do not have a place in the Father's house. If you do not have the Son, you do not have salvation. So that is where the battle must be fought for us. That just simply means to move away from revealed truth. Do you remember when we had with Grant at the end of James? Remember, Grant, if you'll come back up here, we're in the book of James. And we were talking about the end of chapter number five, and it says, if any brother does ever err from the truth, and this is where he started to walk this way. And I'm like, no, come back, Grant. Don't be going that way, all right? Don't be going that way. We're walking in this thing together. Don't be pulled away from other things. And then he begins to keep going in that direction. And I'm walking. I'm not paying attention. And I'll say, where is Grant? All right? He's about there. And what we said was, and then James is, I don't know where he stands before the Lord. I thought I knew where we stood before the Lord, but now he's being pulled away. And so as my brother, I'm gonna say, Grant, come back, all right? Get back here, Grant. I hate this illustration. It makes me sad. I know it's pretend, but it still makes me sad. I don't wanna see you go that direction ever away from this wonderful teaching about Jesus Christ. Here in 2 James, I say, hey, look to yourself, brethren, because we're involved in a work and it's absolutely wonderful. Grant, look at me. One day you and I will stand in the Father's house before Jesus that we love, and He's going to come up to you and He's going to say, You have done a wonderful job in the way that you taught those kids this morning. Grant came in early, he set these cups up, they put a book together, and they don't have to be in a hurry. Remember, it's eternity, all right? And then you say you're imagining. I know the Bible calls for us to imagine here. It tells us to think of that day. So I'm gonna take all the things that I do know, and then I'm gonna have to fill in some blanks about what I don't know, but this is what I'll tell you. Whatever I express, it's far better. all right? It's just far better. I'm not going to overshoot this moment, I promise you. Nobody's going to get there and say, well, Pastor Trent said this is going to be a lot better than it really is, all right? I promise you that's not going to be the case. But Jesus, not me, Jesus will look at you and say, I remember when you went in that day and you early and you set that things up for those kids because none of those deeds are going to go unnoticed by Him. And that reward And then I believe in whatever way that's given to us, either through the crowns or different ones, that Grant will have that opportunity to put them back at the feet of Jesus. Which means that if I'm Grant, and if I'm Trent, and if I'm Josh, and I'm Brother Doris, or I'm Jeff, I'm all of you in here, I want the full reward. I want the full package. I want everything he has available to me. Because on that day, I want to be able to take that, say, Jesus, this is for you. This is why I lived the way in which I did. Which means when somebody's going away, I call them back because I say, I need you to look to yourself because the life you're living isn't just about you, Grant. We're in this thing together. My life is connected to you. If you fall away, it will hurt me. If you fall away, it will hurt this church. And so we care for one another. And so here we see that there's this interconnected that happens, the care of yourself for the sake of the work that we are doing together. If any brother fall away from the air of truth, you convert him, let him know that converted the sinner from the air of the way shall save his soul from death, hide a multitude of sins. We continually call each other back to the gospel. And since I said Satan can't take your salvation, he wants to take everything else from you. The reward is coming from Jesus, Revelation 22, 12. And behold, I come quickly, and my reward is with me, to give every man according as the work shall be. That moment I just had there with Grant, one of the most encouraging moments in my life. I did this program in Boulder, Colorado, where we went out, we did neighborhood Bible time. I know Mindy's church did this, and some of you, you might have, it was a vacation Bible school. So 75 of us trained, and then we went across America doing vacation Bible schools for churches. Then we would come back for a week of training. And in that week, we would line up, there's 75 of us, and we went out two by two, and we would stand there, and Dr. Holmsher would come by, and he would have a list of things, and he would look at us, and he would look us in the eye, and he would say, son, I'm proud of you. At this little church that normally had 50 in Vacation Bible School, you had 200 this year, and Lord did something. And he would just read these reports. And we would just praise. And then he would say, I know that's not the whole story, but there was moments that were lost that you'll never have again. Let it motivate you as you go out this next month. He didn't dwell upon the ways we failed. He didn't dwell upon the potential that was lost. But what he said, this is what God has done. When we left that week, I wanted my every moment to count for the cause of Christ. And that day when Jesus says, this is for you from me for your faithfulness. Does this sound too good to be true? It sounds too good to be true. Some of you cannot handle how good this is. Ephesians 1 7 says this, in whom we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of his grace. Let me tell you something that I'm willing to fight over. God is more gracious than you ever dare to believe. Our God is more gracious than you ever dare to believe. So some of you are in here and say, I don't even deserve to be saved. None of us deserve to be saved. I definitely don't deserve to ever be in heaven. None of us deserve to be in heaven. And you say, well, I definitely don't deserve to receive anything if I do get there. He is more gracious than you ever care to believe. And he's saying, live your life remembering that all this that you're doing for him is going to give you a reward. And then with that, I will be worshiped. It ought to motivate us here. As your musicians come, and I want to pray with you before we do and solidify what God is doing in our hearts. And it says, look not to yourselves, look to yourselves that we lose not the things which you have wrought, but we receive a full reward. So what is all in mind here? I think it's certainly all the things that I've already mentioned about that coming day of the Lord. But I think there's also something else that is more short term, more temporary. 2 John 4, it says, I rejoice greatly that I found of thy children walking in truth, as we have received the commandment from the Father. Let us live our lives motivated for a desire for the full reward. But before I move on, can I just remind you that that wonderful aspect of heaven that I've told you about, that full reward, the result of living a life honoring the hymn, we haven't even had to wait till heaven to see it. We're seeing it right now. We're seeing it in people walking in truth. We're seeing it by helping people walk in truth. You're seeing it through your children and through your grandchildren. And what an incredible blessing. And so let's double down. Let's renew our commitment. And let's say in here that I understand and I know that I want to remain faithful because of the investment that is made in my life. I want to live my life considering that full reward. And don't be led astray from the truth that will cause you to lose out on so much in your life and the life to come. Let me encourage you in this. Stay the course. Stay the course. Stay the course. I thank you for your word. Lord, I thank you how it is not just the words of men, but it's your words written unto us for days and moments like this one. With heads bowed and eyes closed, on behalf of this church, but more importantly, on behalf of the God of heaven, I beseech you, I compel you, I call upon you to recognize the day. If you don't need to stay the course, Meaning that you're not following Jesus. You've never put your faith and trust in Him. And to you, I certainly wouldn't encourage you to stay the course. I would tell you to stop. Do not go any further. Do not consider anything else more important. Today is the day of salvation. Tomorrow is not promised, but today you can allow me the opportunity. here front or in my office, take the Word of God and show you why we love Jesus so much. Let us show you why we say Jesus is more gracious than you can ever imagine. But I do know, being the Lord's day and his people gathered, I speak to you as brothers and sisters. And today we stand at 355 Windy Hill, but one day we will stand together in the presence of Jesus. You know what a day that will be. And He has not overlooked a single thing that you've done in His honor. And that ought to motivate you. It ought to motivate you. It's motivating me. I want to live a life in view of that full reward. Let's pray before we sing. Heavenly Father, I thank you for your words. And Lord, I thank you that I get to walk in love and in truth with these people in this room. So many things pull me away, Father. So many things pull me away from the simplicity of the gospel. Sometimes, Lord, it's theological nature. Sometimes it's comfort. Sometimes, Lord, it is just anger or bitterness. It's so many things, Father, that cause me to pull away from this understanding who you are. And I want to thank you for a community of people that pull me back. Father, I want to thank you this week for Ben Mize, who prayed with me for my children. I want to thank you for people that have taught your Word to me. Lord, I am so very grateful. Father, I have not lived mindful of that full reward in a way that I should. So, Father, in my mind, in my heart, in all my being, I renew my commitment to live according to this manner. In Jesus' most precious name we pray, amen.