Grace Thoughts

Guest (Male): Hello friends, welcome to Grace Thoughts, the radio ministry of Grace Connection Church with Pastor Tim Kelley. Grace Thoughts has been dedicated to preaching the clear gospel of grace for over 20 years. Here is Pastor Kelley.

Tim Kelley: I'm blessed because I live and work within the body of Christ, and I have for a long time now. I don't have a lot of exposure to the world system. Some of you are thinking, "Lucky for you." But when I did, I remember every time I punched that time clock to go work at that place, I thought, "This is my mission field."

And it was. I acted as such. I acted in a way, I spoke in a way, and I behaved in a way where my life would be a testimony to those people around me. That was when I was in my early 20s. I had an eternal worldview back then that this is what I live for. It was a job I got paid for, but I had something bigger. This was just part of a bigger picture. I was a member of the body of Christ. I was a member of the church.

The eternal burden prepares us for what we call the great moment. An eternal burden is constrained by a forward view. It sees things in the distance. It doesn't look over its shoulder necessarily. In Hebrews 11, verses 10 through 16, it says Abraham was confidently looking forward to a city with eternal foundations, a city designed and built by God.

All these people died still believing what God had promised them. They did not receive what was promised, but they saw it from a distance and they welcomed it. They agreed that they were foreigners and nomads here on earth. Obviously, people who say such things are looking forward to a country they can call their own.

If they had longed for that country where they came from, they could have gone back. But they were looking for a better place, a heavenly homeland. This is why God is not ashamed to be called their God, for he has prepared a city for them. I love those verses. It talks about this elevated view that the patriarchs had. They had a burden for the future that was always before them. It kept them focused in the present.

Life was in its proper perspective. They lived for a higher purpose and a higher ideal. Contentment never comes by ridding ourselves of a burden. Contentment comes when we add an eternal burden. We cannot fix a dissatisfied heart by fixing a place of displeasure in our lives. We have to elevate our hearts out of it. We often think, "I'd be happy if..." but that is not usually the case because there will always be more "ifs."

If this burden disappears, a new one will find you tomorrow. If this pressure over here dissipates, more pressure will find you here. If you have a place of dissatisfaction here and you do everything you can to satisfy that, you'll find yourself dissatisfied over here. In other words, God has designed us so we never really find this place to be our home. We are never quite comfortable here.

There's always something missing in me, or maybe something in you that's bugging me. It is never a place where I can just say, "Yep, I've arrived." We always have to reach a little bit more and elevate our eyes. Sometimes in our marriage, when we go through difficult times, we have to look above the current and the present to see something eternal there.

I'm in this for the long haul. I'm committed. I'm going to be the husband or the wife that I need to be, or the parent that I need to be. I'm not going to cash out because I have a different way of looking at life. There is a burden there. I have become dissatisfied with the things of the world and what the world says about me. I understand it cannot do for me what Christ and Christ alone can do.

Lastly tonight, I want to speak about probably the greatest burden of all. This dovetails right off what we've been saying. I use the word "burden" as a compelling point of motivation in my life. That's meeting Christ face to face. I speak about this a lot now. Let me read you these verses from Romans chapter 14: "So why do you condemn another believer? Why do you look down on another believer? Remember, we will all stand before the judgment seat of Christ."

That judgment seat there is not the word "throne." It's the word "bema," B-E-M-A. That word represents a judgment of rewards. It is not a judgment of condemnation; it is a judgment of commendation. It is the word used in the Greek games. When you won a race, you would stand before the bema seat and they would put the wreath on your head to give you the award.

This is not a Christian standing in a judgment of eternal destiny. These are Christians standing in a judgment of eternal quality where God looks at our life and judges it based upon the fruit that we have borne. There will be no sad Christians in heaven. There will be no cans being kicked down the street. We are not going to be going down the streets of heaven saying, "Oh, rats." It won't be like that.

If Christ is there, there will be great joy and great peace. There will be no sin. But we know on the other side of the coin, there is a reward system for those who have remained faithful and run the race. It's a very clear, very compelling, and very profound Bible doctrine. We can't deny it. In my life, it has been something that has really helped me in the most difficult times.

One of the first thoughts I ever had as a young Christian was that I was a really good deceiver. I was a really good liar. I could lie with the best of them. My mom would believe anything I said. I was like Eddie Haskell from Leave It to Beaver. When I got saved, I realized that it doesn't make sense for me to lie to God because he knows.

If I'm lying to others, I'm really lying to God. That's a box to be in. I vowed at that point that I was going to have an honest, frank, open relationship with God where I laid my soul out and was as transparent as I could be. I wasn't telling God I was happy when I wasn't, because he knew my heart better than I did.

The scriptures say, "Surely as I live, says the Lord, every knee will bend and every tongue will confess and give praise to God." Each of us will give a personal account to God. Judgment for Christians is not for heaven and hell. It is a judgment of what I hold closest to my heart. It may be a judgment between the casual Christian and the captive Christian: those who are captive to the cause of Christ and those who are casual with it.

Herman Hoyt makes it clear in his commentaries that where there is unequal ability but equal faithfulness, the reward will be the same. In other words, it's not what I do, but being faithful to what God has asked me to do. I could be lying in a bed of affliction and get the same reward as a Billy Graham preaching the gospel because that's what God asked me to be.

He didn't ask me to be fruitful because he bears fruit. He asked me to be faithful in what he has laid at my feet to do. That's all it is. He teaches that where there is equal ability but unequal faithfulness, that reward will be graded. While consecrated living and serving bring a certain amount of reward now, the position in glory such merits will be determined at the judgment seat of Christ.

God looks at our hearts. He asked me to do this and he asked André Pinuto to do that. He knew who I was going to be married to. He knew my kids. He laid out this path for us and we walk this life of grace. I just want to honor God. I really believe because of this bema seat, someday I'll stand before God and be rewarded for it.

When I have taken a hit when I could have given a blow, I'll be rewarded for that. When I forgave when I would rather get revenge, I'll be rewarded for that. When I forgave my wife even though I knew I was right after losing a hundred battles in a row, I would be rewarded for that. God sees how we put our faith into action. If I'm living my life for myself and Christ is only a small part of my life, I get rewarded accordingly.

Imagine the scene: you're standing before God and we are defenseless. There's no argument. It's just truth and light. Our inner motives are spelled out in an understandable way. Norman Geisler once said, "Everyone in heaven will be fully blessed, but not everyone will be equally blessed. Every believer's cup will be full and running over, but not everyone's cup will be the same size. We determine in time, right now, what our capacity for appreciating God will be in eternity."

That encapsulates that judgment. I have that eternal burden for the day when I meet Christ, and I take that into my marriage. It helps me love my spouse. It helps me lay down my life for my kids. It helps me manage my money, my family, my relationships, and my friendships. It helps me manage my private times. It doesn't mean I'm perfect. I'm not a perfect husband or father. I'm not perfect in anything.

But God knows that I want to glorify him with my body and my time. That's what I get rewarded for. That's a burden on me, but it's a sweet, compelling, and safe burden. It causes me to stay focused and keeps me in the race because someday I'll stand before the Lord Jesus Christ alone. He will ask, "Tim, how did you do with the grace that I gave you? How did you perform in walking the steps I asked you to walk in?"

This relationship with Christ is the most important pursuit for any day. It is worth living every breath for Jesus Christ. We will never regret one moment in eternity for the time we've spent living for Christ. I'll never be at that judgment seat wishing I didn't love Christ so much so I could have gotten away with more stuff.

When he rewards us, he says he will reward us tenfold for anything we have ever given. I don't fully understand what the rewards are or how they will be manifested because they are eternal things we have not been given glimpses of. But when you are burdened for that moment and you know that day is coming, that burden will get you to the end. It will keep you in the race.