The Healing Word

Pastor Jack Morris: Some of these days, it's going to be made public and God's x-ray machine—the scripture says in Revelation chapter 1, verse 14, that the eyes of Jesus Christ burn like a flaming fire—he's going to look through you through and through. He sees right through us and our excuses, and our shortcomings, and our apathy, and our holding back.

He knows us. He sees us with a vision like no one else has ever envisioned before. This is our God and he's going to stand.

Guest (Male): One day every believer will stand before the Lord. Today on the Healing Word, Pastor Jack Morris teaches on judgment and reward. Not a judgment for salvation, but a time when the Christian life and our service for God will be examined and rewarded.

Pastor Jack Morris: There are going to be two deaths or two types of death. Two types of people are going to die. We're going to divide it into two great camps. There are going to be people who die who are believers, and there are going to be people who die who are unbelievers.

There are people who are going to die who are Christians, non-Christians, people who accepted Jesus and people who refused to accept Jesus. Two deaths. There's going to be two resurrections. There's going to be people who are resurrected who know Jesus and people who are resurrected who don't know Jesus.

There are going to be believers resurrected and unbelievers resurrected. Christian, non-Christian. Everybody's going to be resurrected and as you die, so will you be resurrected. You're not going to die and go off somewhere and repent and get right with God in a place called purgatory or something like that.

Look at what the scripture says. Paul said in his word, "If we live, we live unto the Lord, and if we die, we die unto the Lord. And whether we live therefore or die, we are the Lord's." This is it, neighbor. This is it.

This is the day of salvation. This is the time to repent. This is the time to make your decision for Christ. To be absent from the body is to be present with the Lord. When you die, wherever you're going, you're going there right then.

That's what the Bible says, not the church, but the Bible. The Bible is the inspired, infallible, unerring word of God. I must listen to it and not to some doctrine or some teaching or some theory or something that I have conjured up on my own.

This is the word of God and Jesus tells it exactly like it is. That's why I have to listen to it with humble heart and mind and hear and receive and respond to what thus saith the Lord. The scriptures talk of these two resurrections. It says that there's going to be 1,000 years between the first resurrection, which is the resurrection of the Christians, the believers, those who have followed Jesus.

There'll be 1,000 years and then those who rejected Jesus and went against his teachings, heard the gospel, refused the gospel, put it off for another time—whatever their reason, they just didn't accept Jesus—they're going to come out of the grave exactly like they went into the grave. But there'll be 1,000 years between the first resurrection and the second resurrection, between the believer's resurrection and the unbeliever's resurrection.

It says in John chapter 5, "Do not be amazed, for a time is coming when all who are in the grave will hear his voice and come forth, those that have done good unto life and those that have done evil unto condemnation or damnation." As you go in the grave, as you die, when you draw your last breath, that's it.

You will come out just like you went in. So now is the time to give our hearts to Christ, live for the Lord, know him, for we know not what a day is going to bring forth. We know not. We just need to be ready.

The scripture says in that first resurrection, "Blessed and holy is he that hath part in the first resurrection," meaning that person who has been blessed with salvation in this life. That person will come forth from the grave hearing the voice of God to be blessed with salvation forever and ever in the afterlife.

Blessed and holy. If you now know Christ, then you are in a state of well-being. If you have received Jesus as your Savior and know a supreme joy, you're going to go into the grave in a state of well-being. They're going to bury you in a state of well-being. You're going to go into the grave with supreme joy.

Your body will go there, but you will go into the presence of the Lord when you die. Now we are waiting on the coming of Jesus Christ. That's when the rapture is going to take place and that's when the first resurrection will take place and that's when Christian believers will be judged.

I pray by the Holy Spirit that I will be able to make this clear to you today. When you die, if I were to die today—let me use myself because I know Jesus as my Savior. I'm thankful, not because I've done anything. I'm a sinner. And if I had not repented of my sins, I would have been lost forever.

But I know that I'm saved. I know my name is in heaven. I know, thank God, I know and everybody can know. I know if I were to die today, my spirit would go to be with heaven. I would be alive, I would know Jesus, I would see my loved ones. That's not the time of the reward, although I'm already getting a great, wonderful reward. I'm in heaven in the presence of the Lord, praying for my loved ones to come, praying for the church to come.

But I'm waiting. I'm waiting. I'm waiting. More people are coming. I'm waiting for Jesus to come back and when he comes back—it may be today, it may be next month, it may be 10, 100 years, no one knows the day or the hour—but when he comes back, all who died and went into the grave will be resurrected and they will come into his presence for judgment.

We will stand in his presence to be judged, not for our sins, not because we need to deal with our sins. My sins were dealt with when I was a young, young teenager many years ago. I confessed myself a sinner. I judged myself. I brought myself into judgment and I said, "Here stands a sinner in need of your salvation and forgiveness."

My sins at that moment were put on Jesus, who paid the penalty, who took my judgment 2,000 years ago at Calvary. The judgment of the Christian sin is gone forever. It's been swept away. You'll never be reminded again of your sin. You will not be resurrected to deal with sin.

The purpose of the resurrection is to reward you for the good Christian life, the sacrifices, the intentions of your heart, the opportunities you have availed yourself of, the responsibilities that you carry graciously. You see, heaven's keeping a record of you right now and the way you and I live today, that's what we're going to be judged by and according to.

To receive a reward, not whether or not we're going to go to heaven, not whether or not we're going to live in heaven forever and ever. We already know that. That's past. We already know that. Your name is in heaven in the Book of Life. You're guaranteed by Jesus and by his death at Calvary that you're going to go to heaven when you die.

Isn't that wonderful? Do you know that? Do you have that assurance? All of us here today in the choir, do you have that assurance? We can have that assurance in Jesus because of what he has done for us. Now, I hope that part has been laid to rest that you'll never again deal with your sins. If you deal with them now, they're gone. They're swept away. They're gone forever.

But look at Romans 14, verse 10. "You then, why do you judge your brother or why do you look down on your brother?" Pick it up, read it with me there. "For we will all stand before God's judgment seat." We will all stand. Paul is the apostle who is writing these words. He says, "we." I'm one of them, Paul says. I'm going to stand, you're going to stand, we're all going to stand, the church is going to stand.

When he says all, he's not referring to a mass meeting, he's talking about individuals. Time is going to be of a completely different essence when we stand in the presence of God. But every Christian will stand and give an account of how he lived or she lived her life here since becoming a Christian.

It's not because we're saved because we were good people. Again, that's all been taken care of because of Jesus and because we confessed our sin. But you know and I know that there are some Christians who are so sincere, who are so dedicated. They give their time, they give their money, they never complain. They're always there. Ready. Ready. Ready to do the will of God, ready to give of themselves to God.

Then there are other Christians who—they're Christians, they're going to go to heaven when they die—but they try to get out of everything they can get out of. They'll let you tithe and pay the bills. They'll let you work and teach and sing or whatever. They'll warm the pew. Now they're going to go to heaven when they die, but should they get what the first Christian got?

I heard of this lady who lived for the Lord, a good Christian woman. Her husband left her, I think she had either two or three children. The church was in a building program. The church was doing so much for the young people and for the children of the community. They were building something for the youth and she stood up and pledged, I think it was either two or three thousand dollars.

Everybody knew this woman didn't have much of an income and she had these three children and she's a divorcee and her husband had left and I'm not sure whether he was giving child support or not. But she believed in the church and she believed in what the church was doing for the youth, particularly those three that she had, and she pledged that much money.

You know what that woman did? She went out and got a part-time job and every paycheck she gave until that $3,000 was paid off and then she quit the part-time job. Now there are other people, they give out of the overflow of their time, of their energy, of their money. They give God the crumbs. Now they're going to go to heaven when they die, but don't you think that one woman who did that, who was that sincere, don't you think God's going to reward her differently?

He's a righteous God. He's a righteous judge. I want you to know, Jesus wants you to know that you and I are being looked at and heaven is recording and we are going to stand and we are going to receive a reward or not receive a reward in that day when we stand in the presence of the Lord. Now turn with me in your Bibles. You're never going to remember all of this if you don't get in here right now and work at it and look at it and follow along.

Turn with me to first Corinthians chapter 3, verses 11 through 15. We're going to look at these rewards that God is going to give and they are given in crowns that are going to be given. But look at it. We right now are building a Christian life and building Christian character and learning how to follow the Lord, learning how to give to the Lord, learning how to work for the Lord. We're learning that, we're getting more and more and more involved in our Christian life.

The Christian life, the Apostle Paul says, is like a house being constructed or a building. But look at it, I'm going to start reading from first Corinthians chapter 3, verse 11. "For no one can lay any foundation other than the one already laid, which is Jesus Christ." Now he, that's been done for us.

The foundation has been laid. We didn't do anything to lay it. Our redemption now is secure. Now we're going to start building Christian character, Christian life. Now notice verse 12. "If any man builds on this foundation using gold, silver, costly stones, wood, hay, straw"—King James it says stubble—there are listed six building materials.

His work will be shown for what it is because the Day—you see that capital D? That's the day of the coming of the Lord—there's only really one day that remains. That is D-Day, the day Jesus comes back, the day you're resurrected and I'm resurrected and the day we stand in his presence. Because the day will bring it to light and some will say, "I wonder if anybody knows what I've done." God knows. It's going to be brought to light.

Or if you hadn't done it, God knows and that'll be brought to light too. There's going to be some embarrassed Christians maybe in heaven. It will be revealed by fire and the fire will test the quality of each man's work. Now here's what I was saying a moment ago. If what he has built survives, he will receive a reward.

If it is burned up, he will suffer loss. He himself will be saved, but only as one escaping through the flames. We're not talking about salvation. There are some people who are going to make it in by the skin of their teeth. They're going to use heaven and salvation almost like a fire escape. They're just going to make it. But there's other people who are going to get into heaven and receive an abundance of reward.

Now gold, that's a precious stone. Think about it for just a moment. Building gold into your life, building real quality into your life. Gold, the most precious of metals, that speaks of purity and steadfastness. You're no longer a wishy-washy Christian bouncing around. Everything that comes along, you're tempted to believe it and you follow it for a while and you swallow it for a while.

No, you're steadfast. You can be counted upon. There's a lot of Christians who can't be counted upon. God said you're building gold into your life and you're going to get a gold reward one of these days for it too. Look at the other, what else is here? What is the next one? Silver. Silver. There's some people who are building silver into their life.

Silver means sacrifice. Like that woman who went out and got that part-time job just so that she could pay her pledge because she believed in her church and she wanted to do her part. She built silver into her life. Now very few people knew about that woman, very few, but I tell you heaven kept a record.

Jesus one time stood at the treasury. The widow came by and dropped in her two mites. Other people came, they put in their abundance. The Lord said, "It's this woman." Not because of the amount she gave, but she didn't have any more. She gave her all. Silver. See, the Lord's looking and he knows the people who really have their heart in it and they're willing to pay any price or sacrifice because they know that they're going to receive it again. They're putting treasure in heaven.

What is the next one? Costly stone. That means that you're just giving in abundance. You don't just do it one time. You've given your heart today, you continue to give your heart, you never stop giving your heart. You are all, every hour. You somehow more keenly realize than other people that you belong to him, that you've been bought with the blood, that you have a master, that he owns you.

Some people are so keenly aware of that and others are not. So much of what is going on is going on in secret. That gold, that sacrificing, those costly stones. But I tell you heaven's going to be revealing it. Some of these days it's going to be made public and God's x-ray machine—the scripture says in Revelation chapter 1, verse 14, that the eyes of Jesus Christ burn like a flaming fire—he's going to look through you through and through.

He sees right through us and our excuses, and our shortcomings, and our apathy, and our holding back. He knows us. He sees us with a vision like no one else has ever envisioned before. This is our God and he's going to stand. Look at the other works. What are the other three building materials? Wood, hay, and stubble.

When the fiery eyes of Jesus are cast upon that Christian, when that Christian comes up—he's next, he's going to call your name—when you come up, you'll be before everybody, the whole church, and when he looks at you with the eyes that burn like fire, like the flame, you'll see a life go up in smoke. You'll say, "I've been saved 30 years."

He's going to say, "But you were worthless. You didn't pray, you didn't give, you didn't teach, you didn't witness. You were almost apathetic and indifferent. You were really never turned on." Now you're going to go to heaven, you're going to get heaven, but everything was showy and bulky like hay. Hay is fluffy and bulky.

Whatever you did, you may have done some things, but you wanted to flaunt it. You wanted everybody to see it. You're just puffed up like straw. You didn't get any glory from the Lord. You didn't do it for me to see it, you did it for people to see it. The Lord is looking at our heart today.

He's looking at our very innermost being. You can't argue with God nor with the word of God, can you? It's there forever. Are you still with me? Okay. Now here are the rewards that are going to be given out. You think about when I go through this list, you think about which crown you're going to have and that you're working on.

I see several of them that I'm working on. One of them I'm not too happy looking forward to getting, I hope I don't get it, but there's one crown. Okay, this very first one, the Crown of Life. That's enduring trial or suffering unto death. The Crown of Life.

The apostles are going to get that, the martyrs are going to get that, people who have been on the mission field and who have given their life for the gospel of Jesus Christ, who died a martyr's death, are going to receive the Crown of Life. There's about five crowns here that are spoken of in the scripture. These are the rewards.

There's the Crown of Glory. That, again, that's faithful and sacrificial ministry of the word. Those people who minister the word of God are going to receive a Crown of Glory. I hope I get that one. I hope every Sunday school teacher gets that one. I hope every choir member gets that one. Choir members, you gotta sing for Jesus. Sing for Jesus. Don't ask for time off so I can sit with my husband. Sing for Jesus.

I mean, he's keeping a record, is he not? Hey, let's get real, right? Sing for Jesus, teach for Jesus, I want to preach for Jesus, I want you to witness for Jesus to your loved ones and family members and where you work. It's for Jesus. You've got to do it for him, not for your own comfort, not for you. For him. A Crown of Glory.

Someone says, "Well didn't I do this for you?" Yeah. No, you didn't do it for me, you did it for you. Wood, hay, and stubble. Gone. A whole life. You never have a chance to repeat it again. Not going to come back again. There's the crown incorruptible. That's obeying the word of God and self-control.

The scripture says the spirit of God will give us self-control. He will take control and we will then be like Jesus in our behavior and in our action. There is the Crown of Righteousness. That's the person who is looking for the appearing of Jesus Christ. You live looking for his appearing. Those people are going to receive a Crown of Righteousness.

And then the last crown I want to mention is the Crown of Rejoicing. That's a soul winner's crown. Has anybody won a soul to the Lord? That's what we need to do. If we win souls to the Lord, we're going to receive a soul winner's crown. As the angels rejoice at the time of conversion, so will they rejoice when the crown is placed upon your head.

Those gifts, those crowns will be given out. So there's one, two, three—there's four of them I'm working for: Crown of Glory, the Incorruptible Crown, the Crown of Righteousness, and the Crown of Rejoicing. I want those four. I'm really now trying to send up material to get those four. Which ones are you after? You're going to get it, or not, depending on what we do now in this life, right here.

Guest (Male): Today's message reminds us that the way we live for Christ matters. Heaven is not earned by our works, but God does see every sacrifice, every act of faithfulness, and every opportunity we take to serve him.

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Next time, Pastor Morris continues this important teaching with Judgment and Reward, Part 2, looking deeper at the crowns and rewards prepared for faithful believers.