What He Will Do with His Own, Part 2

In this part of the sermon: Martin begins by reading Luke 19:11-27 and reminds the congregation of the certainty and centrality of Christ's return, reviewing previous sermon points on the event itself, its…

The return of Christ is likened to the main stem of a cluster of grapes, with various events clustered around it, helping to collate and understand the manifold events of the last day.

Amen. Amen. the events that will occur at the coming of the Lord Jesus, or I use the illustration of a cluster of grapes. His coming is the main stem, and Scripture shows a number of events clustered around the return of our Lord Jesus. And I suggested that there are several categories into which they naturally fall. Category number one, what will happen to the people of God when Jesus returns again? What will happen to unbelievers and to the devil and to those described in the passage read in our hearing as his enemies who refuse to have his rule over them? And then category number three, wha...

7:16 - 8:12 Read in full sermon

Driving home: Why? Because the bride is comprised of true Christians who, when Christ saves them by his grace, not only clothes them with his own perfect righteousness, but of him are you in Christ Jesus who is made wisdom to us from …

Martin quotes Lutheran commentator Lenski on Revelation 19, who, despite being zealous for free grace, affirms that the 'righteous acts of the saints' are given by grace and comprise the bride's adornment, showing no contradiction between imputed and acquired righteousness.

And His bride will be comprised of those who are found in fine linen, bright and pure, and that linen being the righteous acts of the saints, and all the imperfections of their efforts to please Him and serve Him and to conform to His will. All of those deficiencies are cleansed in His own blood, and those righteous deeds are viewed through the perfection of the undergarment of His own perfect righteousness, so the bride is glorious without and within. Listen to the Lutheran commentator, Lenski. Few commentators are more jealous to preserve intact the biblical doctrine of the free grace of God...

17:57 - 19:05 Read in full sermon

Driving home: If you do not regard yourself as a servant who has a debt of love that you owe to your Master, and you are indifferent to the investment of what is entrusted to you, you'll be banished to hell.

Martin refutes the teaching that an unfaithful Christian will merely get a 'second-class apartment somewhere on the back street in heaven,' arguing that utter unfaithfulness indicates a lack of true faith and leads to hell, not a lesser reward in heaven.

Breathed, when I hear this wretched teaching, you can be a Christian, utterly unfaithful with whatever God's entrusted to you, and all you'll get is a second-class apartment somewhere on the back street in heaven. And someone says, at least I'm going to make it. No, my friend. If you do not regard yourself as a servant who has a debt of love that you owe to your Master, and you are indifferent to the investment of what is entrusted to you, you'll be banished to hell.

34:23 - 34:57 Read in full sermon

In this part of the sermon: Expounding 1 Corinthians 3:5-15, Martin explains that Christian workers build on the foundation of Christ with either 'gold, silver, costly stones' or 'wood, hay, stubble.' Their…

The metaphor of building with 'gold, silver, costly stones' versus 'wood, hay, stubble' is used to illustrate the quality of work done by Christian ministers and its endurance (or lack thereof) under the fire of Christ's judgment.

Gold, silver, precious stone. Nobody builds buildings with gold. The whole thing is metaphor and imagery. But the emphasis is clear.

45:37 - 45:46 Read in full sermon

Driving home: This is the closest thing I found in all of my study of the relevant passages, that approaches anything that we could call a measure of shame and sense of loss.

Martin states that some refuse to conform to church fads because they 'don't want to labor for smoke,' referring to the 'wood, hay, and stubble' that will be consumed by fire at Christ's judgment, leaving no reward.

But this passage, in my judgment, is one of the clearest passages that points particularly to the rewards that will be given or withheld from those who are the servants of Christ doing work in the church of Christ. And if you want to know why some of us seem so intransigently stubborn, in refusing to conform to fads and fashions in church work, a day is coming when all the pay and stubble of the work of the church being done on the basis and by means of human wisdom, human personalities, it will all go up in smoke. Some of us don't want to labor for smoke. We want to see our Lord say to us, in...

50:39 - 51:53 Read in full sermon

In this part of the sermon: Martin quickly references 1 Corinthians 4:5 and Ephesians 6:5-8 (and Colossians 3:23-25) to further establish the biblical teaching on rewards, even for mundane acts of service…

A hypothetical story of a slave feeding pigs 'as unto the Lord' is used to illustrate that even the most mundane, unglamorous tasks done with the right motive will receive a reward from Christ.

He says in verse 5, Slaves, be obedient to them that according to the flesh of your masters, with fear and trembling and singleness of your heart, as unto Christ, not in a way of eye service as men pleasers, but as servants, slaves of Christ, doing the will of God from the heart, with good will doing services unto the Lord, and not unto men. All the while, he says, knowing something. Verse 8, knowing, knowing that whatsoever good thing each one does, the same shall he receive again from the Lord, whether he be bond or free. So the master says, Hey, coolie!

54:37 - 55:18 Read in full sermon

Driving home: Where did we get that good work from? Well, Paul was very conscious where he got his good works from. In 1 Corinthians 15, it sounds like he's bragging. He compares himself even with other apostles and he says, to be hon…

The example of holy angels doing God's will perfectly is used to show that even their perfect obedience earns them nothing, reinforcing that any reward for humans is purely by grace.

And the parallel passage is Colossians 3, 23 to 25. Now, having demonstrated, I hope, to your persuasion from sufficient Biblical material that there are rewards to be portioned out by Christ at the judgment seat of Christ, I've used the term, that we shall receive the rewards of grace from Christ. Now, why have I called them the rewards of grace? Well, for the simple reason, if there's anything we do that is according to the will of God and done with the right motive as unto the Lord, done in dependence upon Him, Luke 19, 9 says, when you have done all, say, we are unprofitable servants. Thin...

56:21 - 57:32 Read in full sermon

Driving home: Where did we get that good work from? Well, Paul was very conscious where he got his good works from. In 1 Corinthians 15, it sounds like he's bragging. He compares himself even with other apostles and he says, to be hon…

Paul's statement about laboring more abundantly than other apostles (1 Corinthians 15:9) is used as an example of attributing all good works and their extent to the grace of God, not personal merit.

What would you think of a preacher that stood up and mentioned the name of 10 or 11 other preachers and said, they're good men, godly men, good servants of God. But to be honest with you, I've labored more than all of them. You'd say, hey, that guy's proud. No, he wasn't proud.

58:54 - 59:10 Read in full sermon

Driving home: Could it be that there will be nearer access to and a larger capacity for the enjoyment of God what greater reward could there be to a true child of God than to know he will be given a greater nearness and capacity to en…

The example of Gabriel being chosen to announce Christ's birth to Mary is used to illustrate that even among perfected angels, there are differing ranks and tasks, and no jealousy, which will also be true of glorified saints with differing rewards.

All of the present educational philosophy, notwithstanding, complete egalitarianism is not the will of God. Think of the angels. It's clear from Scripture there's only one angel called Gabriel. And when it came time to go down to Mary and say, Mary, you're going to be the mama of the son of David.

65:46 - 66:08 Read in full sermon

Driving home: Isn't it wonderful just to think it will be so perfect that jealousy and envy and condescension won't be possible. Isn't that wonderful?

Martin quotes Dr. Robert Raymond, who argues that differing degrees of rewards in heaven will not cause disharmony because glorified saints will be perfected in love, rejoicing in each other's blessings without envy or pride.

Listen to Dr. Robert Raymond, who addresses this issue head on. Some Christians recoil at the thought that they'll differ in the eternal state with respect to the degrees of rewards meted out, contending that such differences would be the basis for one Christian lording it over another Christian. But this is to forget that glorified saints will be perfected in their love, not only for God, but for one another.

67:45 - 68:10 Read in full sermon

Driving home: Isn't it wonderful just to think it will be so perfect that jealousy and envy and condescension won't be possible. Isn't that wonderful?

Martin recounts being told he was 'too idealistic' about church leadership, but thanks God he has 'seen' the grace of God subdue pride and foster harmony among strong-minded men, making him long for heaven's perfect harmony.

I can remember being told so many times when I was wet behind the ears and traveling around the country preaching in evangelical churches as an evangelist and a Bible teacher and began to see in my Bible what the church could be and what its leadership could be. Being beat down again and again and say, ah, you know, you're too idealistic. You can't have strong-minded men in leadership without somebody having to beat a kingpin in John. I said, can't the grace of God subdue those things?

69:17 - 69:49 Read in full sermon

The point: Be spurred to godly ambition to be as useful as grace can make you, that you might receive as large a reward of grace as God's grace will make you fit to receive.

The words of an old gospel hymn, 'It will be worth it all when we see Jesus,' are quoted to emphasize that the joy of seeing Christ will erase all earthly sorrows and struggles, making the pursuit of rewards worthwhile.

He's got a joy when He sees all His people finally gathered together and He invites us to enter into the measure of joy that is His. What will that mean? I'll tell you one thing, you're going to quickly forget having to bust your hump to pay the bills, fight the godless society you're in. I love the words of that old gospel hymn, it will be worth it all when we see Jesus.

72:39 - 73:08 Read in full sermon