In Touch Ministries

Dr. Charles Stanley: When we look into the eyes of the Son of God, we're going to see ourselves just the way He sees us. In that moment, when we see Him and He looks at us, we will agree 1,000% that what He sees is absolutely true. Everything that is wood, hay, and stubble will vanish in a moment, and only what is left will be that for which you and I will be rewarded.

Guest (Male): The Apostle Paul tells us in 1 Corinthians that for believers, works of service will either be like gold, silver, and precious stones or like wood, hay, and stubble. Today on In Touch, the teaching ministry of Dr. Charles Stanley, we'll learn about the kinds of things that have lasting value as we continue our series Countdown to Judgment.

Dr. Charles Stanley: This is the message in our series on Countdown to Judgment. You'll recall we said in the very beginning, the moment you were born, the countdown started. Every second, every minute, every hour, every day, every week, every year, until one of these days, God's going to call you home to give an account for your life.

There'll be no excuses. There'll be no lates. There'll be no early. You'll be right on time. You'll stand in the presence of the Lord Jesus Christ, who is the just eternal Judge. He and you will deal with the final exam of your life. That's what I want to talk about in this message. I want you to turn, if you will, to 1 Corinthians 3.

Begin with me, if you will, in verse five. "What then is Apollos? What is Paul? Servants through whom you believed, even as the Lord gave opportunity to each one. I planted, Apollos watered, but God was causing the growth. So then, neither the one who plants nor the one who waters is anything, but God who causes the growth."

"Now he who plants and he who waters are one, but each will receive his own reward according to his own labor. For we are God's fellow workers. You are God's field, God's building," speaking of the church there. "According to the grace of God which was given to me, like a wise master builder I laid a foundation, and another is building on it. But each man must be careful how he builds on it."

"For no man can lay a foundation other than the one which is laid, which is Jesus Christ. Now if any man or woman builds on the foundation with gold, silver, or precious stones, or wood, hay, straw, each man's work will become evident. That is, it's going to be shown, declared, manifest, revealed. For the day will show it because it is to be revealed with fire, and the fire itself will test the quality of each man's work."

"If any man's work which he has built on it remains, he will receive a reward. If any man's work is burned up, he will suffer loss, but he himself will be saved, yet so as through fire." Let's think about the gold, silver, and precious stones for a moment. A person who's building on the foundation of Jesus Christ—that is their salvation experience—is a person who's doing this.

You are studying, listening, applying the word of God to your life. You're building into your life the principles, the statutes, the commandments, the laws, the will, the purpose, the plan of God in your life. You're building that in because you want your best for yourself and for the kingdom of God. On this foundation, what's happening is that God is allowing us and directing us to build on the foundation a lifestyle that is consistent with the foundation.

Jesus did not lie, steal, cheat, nor was He lazy. Nor did He ignore other people and pass by those who were in trouble. What you and I are to do is to build on this foundation those characteristics that are like His. Every day of our life, we have the awesome privilege of building on our life and instilling within our life those activities that God sees as those things that are consistent with the foundation. He's going to reward us for every single one of them.

That's why godly living is so very important, besides the fact that's who we are. When we live a godly life, when we do those things that are simple and commonplace, and oftentimes things that you and I wouldn't even think about being rewarded for, that's who we are. We don't have to sit down and say, "If I do this, this, this, and this, Jesus is going to reward me."

No. Because you and I are indwelt by the Holy Spirit, when we obey the promptings of the Spirit of God, we'll see that person who's in need. We'll sense that person we can give them something that will help them. We will sense the Spirit of God convicting us to talk to them about Jesus Christ. He sent His Son to the cross to die for you and me that you and I could be godly.

We could take His place in this life. That's why He said the church is the body of Christ. We're here, our eyes, our hands, our feet, our resources, our gifts, our talents, our skills, doing the work that He called us to do because He's seated at the Father's right hand. Then, of course, there's wood, hay, and stubble.

"I don't have time," or things that we do with the wrong motive, or just passing right by somebody in need. I could name a whole bunch of sins, but that's not necessary. In other words, we're either going to build on this foundation things that are right and good and holy and righteous—things that are consistent with who He is and who we are—or we are not.

It really falls into two categories. You might want to jot it down. My actions are either worthy, or they're worthless. If they're worthy, I'm going to be rewarded. If they're worthless, I'm going to lose reward. When I see so many people who claim to be Christians and members of churches and who seldom go just so their name is on the roll, they think God doesn't expect—let me tell you what God expects.

He expects you and me to do our best. Will we do our best all the time? No, because sometimes you're sick and sometimes a person's going through some difficulty and hardship. But He knows exactly where we are. He knows exactly how you think. He knows His plan for your life. He has a plan for your life, and part of that plan is to reward you for all eternity.

He wants the best for us now; He wants the best for us for eternity. Shortsighted people only think about, "As long as I'm not worried about that out yonder in the future in eternity somewhere, I don't know about all that." It would be a good idea if you figured out what it's all about. One thing's for certain: the Bible says it's appointed unto man once to die, and after this the judgment, period.

It's not if I like it, not if I don't like it, not if I don't want it. I'm going to die, you're going to die, we're going to face the judgment. For those of us who are believers, the judgment seat of Christ, salvation is not in question, you and me in that particular judgment. But now it's a matter of being tested.

I want to turn you to two or three passages of scripture. First of all, I want you to read with me this verse again. Look, if you will, in verse 13. "Each person's work will become evident. That is, it's going to be revealed. Tops coming off. For the day—that is the day of judgment—will show it, declare it, manifest it, bring it to light. Will show it."

He says, "Because it is to be revealed with fire, and the fire itself will test the quality of each person's work. If the work remains, it'll receive a reward. If any man's work is burned up, consumed, he will suffer loss, but he himself will be saved, yet so through fire." Now, what does that mean? Very evident that we're going to be tested. Very evident that there's not going to be any question about what's real, what's not real.

Because we just read a few moments ago, He will bring to light the things that are hidden in the darkness and disclose the motives of men's hearts, and then each man's praise will come to him from God. What is the fire? How's He going to test us? Remember, He's not testing the foundation. He's not testing us as a person whether we're going to heaven or not. He's testing our works.

What have we done or failed to do since we trusted Jesus? I want you to turn, if you will, to the first chapter of Revelation. We'll look at about three verses here. Let's begin in the 12th verse. This is John the Beloved now on the island of Patmos receiving the revelation from God. Verse 12: "Then I turned to see the voice that was speaking with me."

"And having turned I saw seven golden lampstands, and in the middle of the lampstands I saw one like the Son of Man, clothed in a robe reaching to the feet and girded across His chest with a golden sash. His head and His hair were white like white wool, like snow, and His eyes were like a flame of fire. His feet were like burnished bronze when it has been made to glow in a furnace, and His voice was like the sound of many waters."

"In His right hand He held seven stars, and out of His mouth came a sharp two-edged sword, and His face was like the sun shining in its strength. When I saw Him, I fell at His feet like a dead man. And He placed His right hand on me saying, 'Do not be afraid. I am the first and the last.'" Here's what I want you to see, back to verse 14: "His head and His hair were white like white wool, like snow, and His eyes were like a flame of fire."

Intense, absolute omniscience. Second chapter of Revelation, look at that if you will, and the 18th verse: "And to the angel of the church in Thyatira write: The Son of God, who has eyes like a flame of fire, and His feet are like burnished bronze, says this: I know your deeds," and so forth. Verse 23: "And I will kill her children with pestilence, and all the churches will know that I am He who searches the minds and hearts, and I will give to each one of you according to your deeds."

Now, what does that mean? Simply this: we're standing in the presence of holiness. Things that are wrong and evil, things that are not right—anything that is unrighteous and ungodly cannot stand in the presence of Holy God. He makes it clear in the book of the Revelation that nothing will enter heaven that is evil in any way, unrighteous in any way.

So that when you and I stand before Him, it isn't going to be what we say. It's going to be simply this: when we look into the eyes of the Son of God, we're going to see ourselves just the way He sees us. We're going to see the things that are composed of wood, hay, and straw. We're going to see the things that He sees that are worthy of gold, silver, and precious stones.

In that moment, when we see Him, we look at Him and we see in His awesome eyes, we will agree 1,000% that what He sees is absolutely true. Everything that is wood, hay, and stubble will vanish in a moment, and only what is left will be that which we will be rewarded of. No question, no doubt, for omniscience knows everything. Standing in the presence of holiness is beyond our comprehension.

What happened to John was simply this. He said, "When I saw Him, I fell at His feet like a dead man. He placed His right hand on me saying, 'Do not be afraid. I'm the first and the last.'" Every single one of us will stand in the presence of Jesus Christ and gaze into the eyes of righteous, holy omniscience. All the stuff that is made up of wood, hay, and straw vanishes in a moment.

Gone in an instant, and only what is left will be that for which you and I will be rewarded. Imagine living your life carelessly, indifferent to God. Oh, you got saved maybe when you were 16 years of age. Maybe no one taught you. God will have that in store. That is, He will judge you, as you recall, on the light of three things: how much truth, how much light did we know, how much opportunity did we have, and what did we do with it?

So His judgment is going to be perfectly righteous. Imagine getting saved early in life and never going forward with it. Never learning the ways of God, but just saying, "Well, I'm saved and that's it." Standing in the presence of Jesus Christ, the righteous, holy Son of God, and all of a sudden, most everything evaporates, and you have little reward.

You and I are going to be there. When we look into His eyes, there's not going to be any argument, no excuse, no defense. We, in the presence of holiness, will be in absolute agreement with Him—what He sees and what He does not see. What will we do? I don't know what we'll do. Probably what John did: fell at His feet like a dead man. He'll place His right hand upon us.

Can you imagine how fearful and fearsome that'll be? Can you and I imagine how much shame we'll feel at the moment? How much regret we'll feel? But when all of that wood, hay, stubble lifestyle is gone, He will reward us. He says He'll wipe every tear from our eyes, and He will grant us our reward for all eternity. Will everybody's reward be the same? No.

That's going to be the next message. What's it going to be? How's it going to be? The issue right now is this: what kind of structure, spiritual structure, are you building on the foundation of Jesus Christ who is your heart and your life? It's foolish not to think about the future. It's destructive not to think about it.

There are consequences for not living a godly life here and now. My prayer for you is that you'll stop and do some thinking about your life. Are you serving God in any fashion? You say, "Well—" Excuses don't count. It's up to you and me to find those places and how we can serve, to be sensitive and to give of ourselves.

God will show you how and when. He'll empower you to do a good job, whatever He calls you to do. What He's looking for is your surrendered will to say to Him, "All to Jesus I surrender, all to Him I freely give. I will ever love and trust Him, and in His presence daily live." He'll show you what to do.

There are only two types of reward, and the consequence of both is eternal. You and I are the ones who make the choice about how we live, and He will make the choice of what our rewards are. Don't play the fool and ignore the Son of God in your life and die without Christ. For there's another judgment coming, and that is a judgment we don't even want to talk about at this moment.

But for the believer, you want to stand before Him with all of our faults and our failures and our sins and mistakes in life, but with pure motive, having done our best as best we know how, and we know that He will reward us in an awesome way. Amen.

Guest (Male): You're listening to In Touch, the teaching ministry of Dr. Charles Stanley. The Bible says to whom much is given, much will be required. Think about eternity and consider carefully what you're doing with the truth you've received. You can learn about investing your life in things with eternal value when you stop by our website, intouch.org.

To go over what you just heard, look for the link to "Today on Radio". For a copy of Dr. Stanley's complete message, "The Final Exam," or the entire "Countdown to Judgment" teaching set, open the bookstore page to place your order. Our web address again is intouch.org. Call or text to 1-800-INTOUCH. If you prefer, you can write to us at In Touch, Post Office Box 7900, Atlanta, Georgia, 30357.

When your life is over, will you be ready to stand before Jesus Christ? Hear the simple steps to salvation coming up in today's "Moment with Charles Stanley".

Guest (Male): We're not the first to seek a life of purpose. The Bible tells of many who followed a specific path, step by step, with courage, with surrender, for a deeper purpose, a stronger passion, a lasting peace. Introducing "Your Path to Purpose, Passion, and Peace," a new 90-day devotional inspired by the timeless teaching of Dr. Charles Stanley. Available now at intouch.org/store.

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Guest (Male): You're listening to In Touch. God intends for believers to be confident that their eternal destiny is settled. Here's a "Moment with Charles Stanley".

Dr. Charles Stanley: In order to get ready to meet the Lord—and none of us know when—there are several simple things a person needs to know, believe, and act upon. The first one is this. The Bible says in Romans 3:23 that all of us have sinned and come short of the glory of God, which means we've all disobeyed God.

A second passage of scripture is in the sixth chapter of Romans and the 23rd verse. Here's what He says. He says the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life. Now, what does He mean by that? The wages of sin—that is, what are the consequences of living a life of disobedience to God? It is death.

Now, there's more than just physical death. There is spiritual death, that is dead to the things of Almighty God Himself. Then the Bible speaks also about the second death, which is eternal separation from God. Now, somebody says, "But I don't believe that." Remember this: what you believe and what is true may not be the same thing. God's word is true. The wages of sin is death.

So you say, "Well, what can we do about this?" That is, if the wages of my sin is death and I have sinned against God, then I have good news for you right here. Here's what He says in the fifth chapter of Romans and the eighth verse. He says, "But God demonstrates His own love toward us in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us."

What is your hope? You've sinned against Him, and God hates sin. He says the consequences—so what's my hope? Your hope is His love. That love was demonstrated at the cross. When He died on the cross, He paid your sin debt and mine in full. That becomes applicable in your life and mine when we are willing to say, "Lord Jesus, I do believe that You're the Son of God. I do believe that Your death on the cross paid my sin debt in full."

"I do believe that now I can be made acceptable in the eyes of God, not because I'm good, but because He paid my penalty." If you'll notice what He says here, "God demonstrates His own love toward us in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us." You say, "Well, all right, I do believe that the Bible teaches that. You read these verses to me. Then what am I to do?"

Here's what He says, back to the book of Romans again and the 10th chapter. He makes it very, very clear. Here's what He says in the 13th verse of the 10th chapter: "Whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved." Now, what does that mean? That means that acknowledging that you've sinned against God, believing that Jesus Christ is the Savior and that He died for your sin and paid your sin debt in full.

Now you ask Him by faith to save you from your sins and believe it because the word of God says it. He never fails to keep His word. It is by faith that you and I come into a personal relationship with Jesus Christ. He did the work, not our works. There was just one work that gets us saved—that's the cross.

Now when you and I accept that as God's way of salvation and you receive Him as your personal Savior, you become a child of God, eternally a child of God, and forever you will follow Him all the days of your life. Visit us at intouch.org to learn more about becoming a Christian and following Jesus Christ.

Guest (Male): Tomorrow on In Touch, Dr. Stanley's series Countdown to Judgment continues with his lesson on our eternal rewards. Join us Tuesday for In Touch, the teaching ministry of Dr. Charles Stanley. This program is a presentation of In Touch Ministries, Atlanta, Georgia, and remains on this station through the grace of God and your faithful prayers and gifts.