Phil 2:17-18, Paul's Motive of Rejoicing

This message originally delivered June 23, 1991PM.

Episode Transcript

Kimber Kauffman (00:00):
Please take your Bibles if you would, and

(00:02):
open them to the book ofPhilippians.
The Book of Philippians chaptertwo, we're going to study in
this tremendous epistlePhilippians chapter two, and
follow along as I start withverse 12. And read through verse

(00:22):
18, realizing we're juststudying verses 17 and 18. This
morning, okay. Philippianschapter two, starting with verse
14, not 1214. I'll read throughverse 18. Follow along as I
read, through everything withoutcomplaining or arguing, so that
you may become blameless andpure children of God without

(00:42):
fault and a crooked and depravedgeneration, in which you shine
like stars in the universe, asyou hold out the word of life in
order that I may boast on theday of Christ, that I did not
run or labor for nothing. Buteven if I'm being poured out
like a drink offering on thesacrifice and service coming
from your faith, I am glad andrejoice with all of you. So you

(01:04):
too, should be glad and rejoicewith me. Does it seem to you
like it does to me that so manyChristians just struggle to get
by? It seems like the majorityof Christians are always in a
struggle. If you ask them. Howare you doing home when it is
just tough? You just wouldn'tbelieve how tough it is. Now,
actually, I give everybody abreak, because I sound like that
a lot, I'm sure. But AlexanderWhite said, as I told you last

(01:27):
week, he was never going to lethis congregation as long as he
lived. It was pastor of thatchurch, get out of x or Romans
chapter seven. What's Romanschapter seven? The tremendous
passage on the great struggle inthe Christian life. The things
which I want to do, I don't andthat which I do, I don't, you
know, all that which we all canstill relate to, if there was
ever scripture that we go,that's me. That's me. We see
that in Romans chapter seven.
But you know, one thing is wesing of power, we sing of a

(01:51):
change life, we talk about it,we hear stories about it, but so
often, deep in our hearts,there's sort of that emptiness,
and we're wondering, Where's thepower? Where's the strength from
God? You know, Paul, who wroteRomans chapter seven, is also
Paul, who writes Philippians,two verses 17 and 18, that we're

(02:12):
going to study today. And youknow what these are? This is
Paul being an example of greatvictory. If you wanted to know
the main clause of verses 17 and18. It's this is the last part
of verse 17. I am glad andrejoice with all of you.
Actually, it shouldn't say this,I rejoice and I rejoice with all
of you. It's the same word, bothplaces, in fact, all four times

(02:32):
in the same word. Look at verse18. So you too, should rejoice
with me, and rejoice again withme. Be glad and rejoice with me
four times the word rejoice isthere. Now ask your question.
Does that make sense to you?
Listen, Paul was in prison, in aforeign country, under the

(02:53):
sentence of death any minute theexecutioner's could come in and
say Your time is up. He is awayfrom those that he loved. And
yet he says in verses 17 and 18,to these people, I rejoice. I
rejoice. Now, this is a Biblecharacter, right? Oh, you say
Kim, it's easy. Those the wayBible characters are Bible

(03:13):
characters just that way.
There's always rejoicing thatthey wouldn't be in the Bible if
they were. No, my friends listento the point I want you to see
is this rejoicing came from Paulunderstanding something you see,
naturally speaking, no one inprison in a foreign country
under the sentence of death awayfrom those He loves is going to
be rejoicing in the Lord. No oneis that's naturally speaking, no
one is supernaturally speaking.

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Yes. But no one actuallyspeaking is going to be that
way. That Come on. We all knowthis, that Paul was in prison,
we may not have been in prison.
But we all know that life isfull of sorrow and trouble and
heartache. There's not a personhere that hasn't had ache in
their heart, to some degree oranother. And if you haven't had
much, hang on, because more iscoming your way. I guarantee it.
We live in a sin cursed world.

(04:00):
There is problems all around. Infact, one man said if tears were
indelible ink, instead of clearfluid, we would all be stained
for life. Because we live in aworld where there is trouble
there is sorrow, there issuffering. But what's the
difference between those thatjust struggle or all the time
struggle if you look at and theylook like defeated Christians
all the time, compared tosomebody who rejoices while in

(04:23):
prison under the sentence ofdeath away from his friends and
family. I'm gonna tell you whatit is. Listen. It's no great
secret. The reason Paul couldrejoice was because Paul on a
please get this. Paul was led byhis theology. I hope you're
listening. He wasn't led by hisemotions in the circumstances.

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The reasons why so manyChristians today are often
discouraged and defeated,including myself and I'm not
saying that at all. You are thisway. I know I struggle with the
two. But the reason thedifference between us and Paul,
is this Paul I understood Godbelieved with all of his heart
and he believed what God's wordsaid about him more than even

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his feelings or circumstancesdictated. That is so important
for us to understand thepsalmist understood this when he
said to himself, why are thoucast down for my soul, and wired
thou disquieted within the hopethat when God you see what is
good theology, but this, youhave hope in God. There's a

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reason to live. There's a Godwho cares. He's involved in our
life. What are some things thatPaul knew just from Philippians?
Well, he knew this, he knew thathe was a sinner saved by the
kindness and grace of a lovingGod who sent His Son Jesus to
die for him. And his responsewas gratitude. If you read
Philippians, two, one and two,flip back there, and look at the
first two verses of chapter two,it says this, is there any
encouragement from being unitedwith Christ? Well, yes. Is there

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any comfort from his love? Ofcourse? Is there any fellowship
with the Spirit? Is there anytenderness and compassion? Yes,
the tender isn't compassion, orthe merciful, kind, loving God
toward sinners. Paul says, I'vetasted it. I deserved how he was
gracious to me. That changed hislife. Guess what it did? It made
him want to get along in unitywith other people. If you see
our ties in with verse three.
You also knew that God wassovereign over all the

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circumstances. Did you knowthat? How about you? How about
you? Come on, you got a boss,you don't like? You got trouble.
You got a spouse, you don'tlike? You got some kind of
trouble or heartache in yourlife? Is there some kind of
uncomfortable situation whichyou were in? You know what Paul
would tell you? He would saylook at chapter one, and verses
12. Look, go back. And look, itsays he would say this. Now I
want you to know, brothers. Thatwhat has happened to me has

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really served to advance thegospel. As a result, it's become
clear throughout the wholepalace guard and everyone else,
that I am changed for Christ.
And because of my chains, mostof the brothers in the Lord have
been encouraged to speak theword of God more courageously
and fearlessly to the point. Hesays, Look, even though the
greatest mystery of the churchis in prison, God is sovereign,
gotta so sovereign, that thewhole Patriot Guard is now

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hearing a group of young men allthrough Rome are now hearing the
gospel. Hey, God is sovereign,even if I'm in prison, if it
furthers the cause the gospelpraise God, I'll go on. You also
knew who Jesus was go to chaptertwo. And look at verse six. He
knew who the pre incarnate Jesuswas, who beat in the very nature
God did not consider equalitywith God, something to be

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grasped. He knew the incarnateJesus was looking for seven that
made himself nothing, taking thevery nature of a servant being
made in human likeness and beingfound in appearances. man, He
humbled Himself and becameobedient death and get this we
already studied this, but heknows know who the post
incarnate Jesus was. And that isthis if you can say that term. I
don't think theologically that'scompletely correct. But anyway,

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you look at verse nine,therefore, God exalted him to
the highest place and gave him aname that is above every name,
that is the name of Jesus, everyknee shall bow and every tongue
shall confess to that Allah, youknow, the passage. Hey, he was
led by his theology. One lastthing. Look at verse 16, verse
16, sets up verse 17, and 18,verse 16, says this, as you hold

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out the word of life, in orderthat I may boast on the day of
Christ that I did not run, orlabor for nothing, oh, don't,
don't let that pass you by theirfriends, that I may boast on the
day of Christ that I did not runa labor for nothing. The reason
he can rejoice is this, his goalwas to be found pleasing to God
at the Bema Seat. And that iswhat led him. Now friends, I'll

(08:22):
tell you something, one of thebiggest concerns of my heart is
to see that people are not justled by their hormones, by their
emotions by their feelings. Butthere are people that are read
by their theology. If you wantto understand what you keep
Jeremiah going, if you want tounderstand what you keep Paul
going into the severes depresscircumstances of Second
Corinthians, If you want to knowall the trouble, how could these
guys hang on? If you want toknow about people, even in our

(08:44):
church, that are suffering, andyou say, but they're so sweet,
and they're suffering? They seemlike they're doing so well? What
is it? I want to tell you everytime there's one reason,
theology is given to our minds,revelation comes in the form of
a book so we can read it andunderstand it. And as it's in
our minds, we apply it to ourlives. So do we go around stoic
is if there is no emotion to it?
Like being God loves me that istrue. Now, as we understand that

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God loves us, we say, Great. Atthe modern vernacular, they used
to say hallelujah. You see, wesay fantastic, because it moves
us emotionally. But first andforemost, we've got to
understand truth. Let me giveyou a little illustration. This
is an overhead made up forsomething else the law of sowing

(09:29):
and reaping, but I want you tosee it in a little different
way. So here was thought inprison. Problems needs
questions, questions, theflippin church lets Paul do it
in prison. Oh, man, he got us toChrist, what's going on? God
must not be working through usanymore. Now, Paul said, Look,
when you have these things comeinto your life. There are
decisions that you must makeyour decisions and your outlook,
the way you think about life isgoing to be dependent upon your

(09:52):
theology. Now friends, today,there are a lot of people that
say, Hey, be happy man. Don'tworry, be happy. Right, we can
sing the song. I don't know howit goes, but don't worry, be
happy. You know, the thing is wecan listen, some preacher says,
Hey, think positive, alwaysthink loving thoughts. Well, you
know it, how do you do that?
If there's nothing to draw onwhen you see the death of a

(10:14):
little baby? Or you see, you seetremendous tragedy and sorrow
Oh, well just forget all that.
It's really not there. We'lljust think and be happy. No. But
you see, what's the center oftheology in the Christian
circles? What is it, my friendsis the cross is the cross of
Jesus Christ. What is that thecenter of our theology is the
Holy Son of God was nailedviciously to a cross and was
killed for our sins. So when itcomes to decisions, what's going

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to rule us? Well, if self isruling us, look what's going to
happen. We are going to makedecisions based on man's ways.
That is reason circumstances,emotions, environmental things,
philosophy, religion, what otherpeople think codes, self
concepts, old attitudes, oldhabits, but if Christ is really
in our life, we will makedecisions. And notice it's

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pretty simple. Two things here,friends, based upon God's word,
and based upon the direction ofthe Holy Spirit. That's it. One
leads the life one leads todeath. You want to know about
people that make it throughsuffering and trials, and you
say, how do they do it? Myfriends, there isn't a lot of
guesswork. I want to tell yousomething. They understand God's

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revelation, and they apply it totheir life, even when it's
difficult, even when it's hardto even when it seems that
circumstances dictated Paulcould have said, Hmm, I thought
God loved me and had a wonderfulplan for our life. After all,
you all use the Romans wrote,I'm the one that wrote Romans. I
thought he loved me and had awonderful plan for my life.
What's the deal? I'm here inprison, I may get killed. It

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didn't even shake Paul. Itdidn't even shake him. Do you
know why? Because Paulunderstood something at the Bema
Seat judgment. If you died as amartyr, you are going to get a
great reward. And so when hesays in verse 17, I rejoice
guess what the first point is, Irejoice with what it says, even
though I'm being poured out likea drink offering. What without a
reference to martyrdom, he'sabout to die. And he says, even

(12:10):
though I'm about to besacrificed, I rejoice. And by
the way, he didn't die then. Butif you read Second Timothy,
chapter four, verses six througheight, you find out that he did
die then and guess what he said,I am now being poured out like a
drink offering the same thing.
The time of my departure is athand, I have fought a good
fight, I have kept the faith Ihave finished the course

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Henceforth there is goodness,henceforth, there is laid out
for me a crown of righteousness.
What's it talking about? TheBema Seat judgment? What's he
talking about here? directlybecause of the Bema Seat
directly, because of hissalvation directly, because of
all the things promised aboutChrist, and told us about Christ
and Philippians chapter two,Paul says this, I rejoice. I
rejoice. We are told today thatour emotions lead us we just

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feel God. My friends, you'regoing to find out that that's
going to let you down. Not thatyou don't ever are overwhelmed
with the Spirit of God, and havewonderful feelings. That's not
what I'm saying. Don't throw thebaby out with the bathwater. But
what I am saying is this, ourunderstanding of who God is, and

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his character is to lead us evenin the darkest hour. He says, I
rejoice. Even though to getthis, I rejoice, even though I'm
being poured out like a drinkoffering because I see
something. I see the sacrificeand service that your faith is

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rendering. You know what washappening to the flippin church
as a result of this they weresending a Pafford itis to him
with love gifts, that wassacrificial service. The Bible
tells us clearly there's nolonger room for burn offerings
we don't have to offer what ifyou came to church today that
all right we got the altar ofthe knife and Mike Martin steps
over Ned give it they got thesebig butcher knife so sharpen me
and they get the fire going andyou kill the old you guys think
you guys think this is not a NewTestament Church? Right? I mean,

(14:01):
at least I hope you have somekind of knowledge of the Bible
that you would least think thatright? So whenever you see the
knives getting out in the It's apig roast, usually you see. All
right, but their sacrifice now.
Hebrews 13 says the sacrifice iswhen you share with others. Look

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over to Philippians four andverse 18. Here's the same word
sacrifice use look what it says.
He says Philippians four verse18. I have received full payment
and even more I am amplysupplied now that I have
received from a Pafford itis thegifts you sent they are get this
the gifts they said they are anacceptable sacrifice pleasing to
God. Mark down there we willtake time to look at Hebrews

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1315 and 16. Guess what else youwould find there? Listen, when
you have people over to yourhome to try to minister to them
for the Lord. When you spendtime working in the nursery,
when you sign up to go down tothe toddlers, you and go down to
the garbc conference and workdown there at the convention
center. And you do it and yousay, even though as I think

(15:04):
about it, I can smell the aromaof urine coming off the carpet,
you know, I still, I still willdo this for the Lord. And you
look at it from thatperspective, guess what it is to
God, just like when they burntthe lamb on the altar, after
they'd cut it up, there was aaroma that would come from that
that was unmistakable. The Jewcould spot it from miles away,
they could smell the tabernacleand the smell of sacrifice. You

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know what the point is, as youlive a life of love Ephesians
five, one and two, it's afragrant offering to God, what
is it? Now we don't have to makesacrifices, because Christ was
once and for all sacrificed forus. But now, as you make
sacrifice to love people, as youmake sacrifice in giving things
to people, when you hear aboutsomebody in need, and you send
things to help them, when youhear someone's discouraged, and

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you call them up and give them agood word, when you do all those
kinds of things. It's asacrifice. And Paul said, Look,
I rejoice even if I'm dying,because I see it's causing you
to live a sacrificial life. Andit's stemming from this faith
that's in you, helping others.

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The way of showing that type ofsacrifice. And I remember this
whole idea of Paul rejoicing isbased upon the fact that he
wants to not run in vain or abelaboured thing. See verse 16.
Ties right in. But I want you tonotice this running, he says
that I did not run in vain. Iwant you to remember the
illusion you remember firstCorinthians 924 to 27, that

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famous passage, where Paul says,I beat my body. I actually says
in the Greek, I give myself ablack eye. I go into strict
training is the way the NIV saysit. Why listen, because the
Olympic athletes, he says, I'mquoting you this passage now the
Olympic athletes, he says theydo it so they could receive a
corruptible crown. You know whatthey got? A reef. There was a

(16:51):
kid you get a trophy, how proudyou are? Well, they got to
Reese. Well, guess what? Whathappens to a reef? It dries up.
But we get an N corruptiblecrown. Now, listen, please don't
miss the point. Paul said I beatmy body. I keep it in
subjection. I strive as hard asI can not to be led by anything

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other than the Spirit of God.
For what reason? That I may getan incorruptible crown, the
Olympic athletes getting to geta crystal crown, I do it to get
an anchor for crown. In otherwords, he did it for the reward.
The BBC led him he said, Hey,there's more to this life than
just this life. I've got toremember, I am going to stand
and give account of myselfbefore God. He said the same

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thing I've already quoted to usenegativity for six to eight, I
fought a good fight. I've keptthe faith I finished the court
get this henceforth there's laidup for me a crown. Why was he
rejoicing? Because Paul lookedat death, Venus, I will then go
and be with the Lord. My friendsremember something? I am not
talking about this. You do abunch of good works, and
therefore you make it intoheaven. The Bema Seat is only

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for Christians. It's only forthose who are once and for all
had their sins forgiven. They'vecome to Christ for salvation.
And it is a judgment of works.
It's what God looks at your lifeand judges your life for how
you've lived. Have you kept thefaith? Have you fought a good
fight? Have you finished thecourse? Or have you griped and
complained? Like it says back inverse 14? Have you gone around

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murmuring and complaining, whichis basically saying this when
you murmur and complain? Godisn't sovereign. He really
doesn't think isn't in control.
I want to ask you this question.
Do you understand the place theBBC judgment you'd have in your
life? Do you really understandit? Think of how our society
thinks about this. When theythink of God's judgment. They

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always say this, oh, man, don'tgive me this hellfire and
brimstone stuff. Think aboutthat they you know, they say
they look at that at all. Man,that is just ridiculous. The
fact that we're going to bejudged by God, that's
ridiculous. That has nothing todo with our life. That's typical
what the world says. Listen,when marriage counselors
counseling any different if theyrealized, the Bema Seat in their
minds, that God is pleased whenyou struggle through a difficult

(19:05):
marriage, and he may give agreat reward for that. With
pastors because so concernedabout numbers in their church,
when the Scripture clearly saysabout the Bema Seat, each man's
work will be tried for thequality of its work. You see, it
would make quite a difference.
Is it really a factor in thedecisions you make? Do you ever
make decisions? Do you ever sayNO to temptation? For this

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reason? Boy, I would love togive into this thing. But you
know what? One day I'll have toface Jesus and he's gonna have
to ask me about that. So I'llsay no. Because I love him
because I don't want to. If itisn't the goal of your life,
then don't be expecting torejoice when sorrows come and
when troubles come. I challengeyou to get out of red pen and

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open up your New Testament andread through it as fast as you
can. Marking every time there isan illusion. In a reference or a
phrase to the Bema Seatjudgment, and you know what, my
friends, you are going to beshocked.
Because one of the absoluteleading motivations in the life

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of the men and women and in theBible was the Bema Seat, but
they would be found pleasingthat they will say, Well done,
thou good and faithful servant.
Listen. Colossians three saysthe way you work for your
employer will be judged as theBema Seat. It's not just how
much you prayed, and how muchyou gave it, the missions
conference. It's how you worked.

(20:34):
Chapter Four says employers, youbetter treat your employees
fairly because you have a masterin heaven. The idea is the Bema
Seat. They're sinker, these 510says every detail on the body.
Romans 14 says this. Don't yoube judgmental towards other
Christians because you have tostand before the Bema Seat. You
better not be judgmental,because the kind of judgment you

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give to Christians God and theygive to you. Or Hebrews 1317
elders, they must give accountfor the way they shepherded.
That's why George Whitfield saidthis. He said Please, Mr.
Whitfield, answer your critics.
They're saying all theseterrible things about you? And
he said no, I am perfectlywilling to wait until the
judgment day for the cleanup ofmy character. When I am dead. I
desire no other epithet. Butthis here lies George Whitfield.

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What kind of man he was thegreat day we'll discover.
There'll be a day The Bible sayswhen each man each woman,
listen, there's get this there'sa day when you will stand before
God and your life will beunfolded. Now listen, there's
always a balance here. You knowwhy I see all of that and I can
almost tell exactly what youguys are all thinking right now.
You know what you're thinking?

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Oh, man, this just makes me sortof sick. I feel sort of sick in
the pit of my stomach. Justbefore the courts of heaven. Oh
man, is gonna be terrible.
Because you've looked at theBema Seat for so long from a
negative perspective. This iswhat I mean. When you please
stand down and come before theBBC. So here's Jerry and his
thoughts you know All right,Jerry You scum you stink and

(22:01):
scum. I know what you did notTuesday 14th of May 1994. I
watched you you know all theangels in heaven go we watched
you we watched you. All thethrone all the throne of heaven
standing up and going down Jerryno good. That's that way some
people think of the BBC. But Iwill tell you something. This is

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one side. One side is this Thereought to be the fear of God in
our hearts. Remember thebalance. There's the balance.
Here's the far side. There oughtto be a fear of God, we will
give account of ourselves to Godin order to change the way we
live. When we're in prison. Ifwe just grew up and moan and
complain, remember how see howthis passage ties in verse 14 Do
all things without griping andcomplaining do all things
bitter, grumbling and arguing?

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Guess what? Paul was in prison.
He didn't just get by it andjust struggle. He rejoice. You
talk about fulfilling verse 14,he rejoiced why? One reason is
he had the fear of God and yourealize you would answer to him
one day and God was sovereignGod had him in jail, God may
have you and your job, God mayhave you and your marriage, God
may have you in some trouble inyour life, financially, whatever
it is, God has got you therebecause God is trying to teach

(23:11):
you a lesson. And for you togripe and complain about it will
mean failure, the Bema Seatbecause he says, I say all this,
so I would have rather laboredin vain at the Bema Seat. It's a
one thing is you ought to bescared. There are times in my
life, because I fear God, Idon't want to sin. But friends,
let me just for a minute, takesome time to go over to the
other side. Have you everconsidered the other side? And

(23:31):
that is this? God, who alreadydeclared you righteous in His
eyes when you were a filthy,rotten, stinking sinner? I just
described New Testamenttheology, by the way, and that
is without argument. We weredead in our trespasses and sins.
We were absolutely without hope.

(23:54):
And without straight, we wereguilty from the top of our head
to the bottom of our feet.
Everything about us. And youknow what God did? Even while we
were his enemies, he loved us.
While we were far from him, hesent his Son to die on the cross
for us. And here's my point. Doyou think if since you are an
enemy of God, He paid the pricefor your sins through Jesus

(24:15):
Christ. Do you think now thatyou're his child? That he's
going to bring you up in frontof the Bema Seat and go, Hey,
you scum? No, he's a loving God.
He cares about you. He lovesyou. He thinks about you more
times. There are Sanders in thesea. And he is awesome not to be
feared. But at the same time,listen, you are gonna be scared
to death to stand up there. Butat the same time, you are going

(24:38):
to be so thankful to see yourLord Jesus face to face. pinata
motivate us to that we'd bepleased to him. Listen, if
you've got the thought about theBema Seat that scares you. Then
you're just like the man andJesus parable. You remember one
guy was given five talents oneguy was given two talents and
one guy was given one talent andyou remember what the guy was

(24:58):
the one talent Did he hit histalent in the ground? And when
the master came and said, theguy with five, give me five
more, the guy was two gave metwo more. Where's yours? He says
here I dug it in the ground. Hesays, Why didn't you at least
take it to the bank? And youcould have gotten some interest?
And you know what the answer is?
Let's know what the man said.
The man who was scared of theBBC, the gentleman when he said,
he said this, he said, You hesaid, I knew that you were a

(25:26):
hard taskmaster. I knew you wereone that was hard to please. And
I was so scared that I hid mytowel on the ground. You know
what that is friends. That's avery sick and perverted view of
God, that the loving HeavenlyFather is some guy that's too

(25:48):
hard to please, that the lovingHeavenly Father is somebody that
is going to stand up there here.
All right, next. He's a God thathas died on the cross for our
sins. He loves us. And myfriends, you don't have this on

(26:08):
to motivate me and you have amental note that you have about
this. You having a hard time atwork. But what have you found
out and see, by the way, mostemployees are the most
dissatisfied because they feelthis way. They don't get
noticed. And they don't getappreciated. So what happens,
you're there are working inthere, you're mopping the floor,

(26:29):
it's your work. Now all of asudden, you find out that ABC,
CBS, NBC, CNN, ESPN, channel 40,even all of them are going to at
the end of this year, film, ahuge banquet in your honor, in

(26:51):
which you're going to berewarded. And what you didn't
know is every time you had thatmop in your hand, and you
wouldn't even have the littlecrevice that no one saw the mop
the floor. God saw. And by theway, if you think I make it up,
he says he knows when you get acup of water in his hands, in
his name. He remembers it. Hellwas said sudden you would say
it's going to be worth it. Andone thing I want you to remember

(27:12):
friends is this we have got toabsolutely stay making the type
of decisions and living our lifebased on this idea that the BBC
leads us. That is why Paul couldsay in verse 17, I rejoice even
while I'm being poured out hisdrink offering because I see you
guys making progress. Andbecause I goal is that I would
not have run or labored in vain.

(27:39):
There's a tape that I was gonnaplay, but I'm just gonna tell it
to you this. I played it lasthour. I'm just gonna tell it to
you. There was a reverendFrancis Dixon in the early part
of this century. And somethinghappened to him, which I want to
tell you about, whichillustrates this point perfectly
listen. True story, we got totape on it. If you want to get a
copy of it, we can do thatsomehow, if it's legal. A man

(27:59):
from Noah stood up in his churchin England, to give a testimony
and said this. I was on businessin Sydney, Australia. And a
little old white haired manwalked up to me and said, Sir,
do you mind if I asked you thisquestion? If you died tonight,
would you go to heaven? Icouldn't get out of my mind. I

(28:24):
went back out to pasture becamea Christian. And the whole
church rejoiced. Reverend Dixonwent to Australia and was in
town preaching. A lady cameforward. He said to the lady
after she had received Christ,what made you want to come she
goes, I was walking down Georgestreets in Sydney, Australia.

(28:46):
And a little old white hairedman came up to me and said,
Ma'am, ask you this question.
You know, if you died tonight,if you'd go to heaven, she was I
couldn't get out of my mind. Idecided when I came back to my
town here in Australia had to goto church. I came to this
church. I heard you preach thegospel. And I came to Christ.
It's because of that man. Lateron that month, he was in another
town in Australia preaching. Hewas a famous preacher back in
the early 1900s. And he had tolunch with a deacon in the

(29:10):
church. They had asked, Tell me,how did you come to Christ? He
said, It's a strange thing. Hegoes, I was visiting Sydney,
Australia, and I was walkingdown George Street. And a little
little white haired man came upto me and said, Sir, my mind if
I asked you this question, youknow if you died, and if you go
to heaven. He says, I went backnow the pastor received Christ.
Now I'm a deacon in this churchserving the Lord. He told that
message while he was speaking inthe conference in Europe. And

(29:33):
after the message, he told thestory of those people that he
met six people from Europe cameup, and they all said the same
thing. We were all on vacationsor in business or this or that
in Sydney, Australia. We all metthat little man. It was all on
George Street, and all of us arenow Christians as a result of
that testimony. He gave us somethought provoking question.
Later on, get this. He went to aconference in India, a missions

(29:56):
conference. He spoke One of theguys that was the head of the
mission said, you aren't gonnabelieve this. But I used to work
for the Indian government. Theysent me to Sydney, Australia on
business. I was walking downGeorgia street, a little wonder
man came up and asked me thequestion, though there it was
the story again. Finally, hewent to the West Indies. After
he told the story there for WestIndians came up and said, We

(30:18):
can't believe you said that. Wewere walking down George Street
in Sydney, Australia. We're notthe same guy. Every one of their
stories, they all came to Christby a piercing question that sent
them back to their homeland, toask someone who knew the gospel
to tell them the truth. Finally,Reverend Dixon went to United

(30:39):
States he met a Navy chaplain.
The Navy Chaplain said, told himthe story of how he's gonna
vote. He goes, Well, it allstarted when I was in the Navy
and stationed in Sydney,Australia. Reverend Dixon said,
Let me tell you the story. Youwere walking down George Street,
and a little white here, man,Caleb, how did you know? After

(31:03):
that, Dixon said, I've got to goto Sydney and find this old man.
He called the pastor friend whenhe got there. You know about
this man? Oh, yes, it's Mr. Ganall. That's his name. He's very
old and feeble. They went tofind them and he lived in a
little old house. Not much to itat all. And it knocked on the
door and a shaky old mantrembling 90 Some years old came

(31:24):
to the door. Remember, Dixonsaid, Mr. Gan Hall, I came all
the way here to tell you how Godhas used your witness around the
world. And he told him thestory, but I just told you. You
know what happened? Mr. Gan allbroke down and started sobbing.
Because I want to tell yousomething. Years ago, I was a

(31:47):
wicked sailor. I wish therewasn't a sin that I haven't
committed. And one night on thehigh seas, the midst of a storm,
I was so terrified for my soul,and God wonderfully saved me
through His Son, Jesus Christ. Imade a commitment to him that
night, that the rest of my lifeto the best of my ability, I
would be faithful to try to ask10 people a question that may

(32:11):
get them thinking about Christ.
The only thing is the reason I'mcrying so hard is this I never
knew until this moment that anyof them ever came to Christ. The
friends the reason I close withthat story is is first it's a
wonderful story. If that's all Itold you, that would be a
wonderful story. But the reasonI tell you that story is this. A
few months after thatconversation, Mr. Gan all died.

(32:32):
And he went from a little shackin Sydney, Australia, into the
portals of heaven. And I wantyou to know, there was a rich
welcome by one who is highlyhonored by God. And friends,
when it comes to this idea ofbeing able to rejoice in the
midst of any circumstance, youhave got to let the theology of

(32:54):
the Bema Seat lead you. And thatmeans this you can't always tell
on this earth. What ishappening, Mr. Ganahl didn't
know it. And secondly, you arejust called to be faithful. You
aren't called to be successfulbut faithful. Let's pray.

(33:22):
Father, I want so much to be aperson that isn't jerked around,
up and down by my emotions, butone that lives based upon my
theology, and especially I wantto pastor a church where there
are people growing and theirunderstanding of how the Bema

(33:43):
Seat and the fact that we willgive an answer ought to both
warn us and encourage us in theway we handle trouble now. In
Jesus name, Amen.