Rewards Promised to the Believer

Transcript

GR 1806
05/10/2015
Rewards Promised to the Believer
2 Corinthians 5:10; Selected Verses
Gil Rugh

We've been studying the book of 2 Corinthians as a regular part of our study, talking about the matter of resurrections, future things, particularly the resurrections and judgments that are unfolded in Scripture. So we've moved out a little broader than the specific section in Paul's letter, looking at the matter of resurrections and judgments. The living God has told us, not only about the wonders of His salvation, but what is entailed in that salvation, what is the future for those who have entered into that salvation through faith in the finished work of Christ and what is the destiny and future of those who do not experience the salvation that He has provided.

In 2 Corinthians 5 where we are, we're not going to move this far along, but in verses 14-15 the Apostle Paul wrote, “For the love of Christ controls us, having concluded this, that One died for all, therefore all died. And he died for all so that those who live,” live by faith in Him, “might no longer live for themselves, but for Him who died and rose on their behalf.” And this ministry of proclaiming salvation in Christ, forgiveness of sins, being brought into right relationship with God leads us to talk about what God has prepared for those who love Him. What is the future for us in light of the fact God has provided salvation for us in His Son. We've talked about the resurrections. Why don't you put the chart up there for everyone to see, just as a reminder. This is just an overview, we have the cross of Christ, that's when Christ came and suffered and died to pay the penalty for our sins. He was raised victorious from the dead so that now salvation and new life can be provided to those who will place their faith in Him alone. He was raised from the dead and as 1 Corinthians 15 tells us, that resurrection assures the fact there is coming bodily resurrection. We've looked at verses that talk about the resurrection of the dead and the judgments associated with resurrection. The Scripture’s general principle is “it is appointed unto man once to die, after this comes judgment.”

We're backing up, the last judgment of Scripture is here. This is those who have not placed their faith in Christ, have not experienced God's salvation. We looked in Revelation 20, that means they must be sentenced to an eternal hell, to the terrible, awful conclusion. But it is reality. It is so terrible, that's why God has provided salvation in His Son Jesus Christ, that we might experience forgiveness of sins. All unbelievers from all history will be raised and stand before Jesus Christ in what is known as the Great White Throne judgment and be sentenced to an eternal hell.

There are other resurrections. There is a resurrection here of Old Testament saints and those saved in this seven-year period. What we're talking about is the church. The church began in Acts 2 following the resurrection and ascension of Christ, and down until what is called the rapture. There will come a time when Christ will descend in the air and call for the resurrection of the bodies of all who have been part of the church. Not churches, but the church as the body of Christ, who have experienced God's redemption, been saved by God's grace by placing their faith in the death and resurrection of Christ. Those who were alive will be caught up to meet Christ in the air.

But there is a judgment that we must face. In 2 Corinthians 5 Paul talks about that judgment. It is not a judgment to determine our eternal destiny. Romans 8:1 says, “There is now therefore no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus.” When you place your faith in Christ and experience His forgiveness and His cleansing, your eternal destiny is settled. You will not be going to hell, you will be going to spend eternity in the glory of the God who has saved you. But there is an evaluation of your life as a believer. So in 2 Corinthians 5:9 Paul wrote, “Therefore we have as our ambition, whether at home or absent, to be pleasing to Him. For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ so that each one may be recompensed for his deeds in the body according to what he has done, whether good or bad.” Now again this is not a judgment to determine your eternal destiny. That is settled when you place your faith in Christ. If you don't place your faith in Christ, your destiny is firm and settled—you are going to spend eternity in hell. When you do place your faith in Christ, you are forgiven your sins, you become a child of God, and you are going to spend eternity in the glory of God's presence. But now He is going to evaluate your faithfulness to Him as His slave, as His servant. So we will be evaluated according to what we have done, the end of verse 10, “whether good or bad.” We noted there are two Greek words for evil, the one kakos means evil, bad in the sense of evil, wicked. The word here is falas and it's a word that basically means worthless. And we looked in previous study at the judgments of believers, three key passages—Romans 14, 1 Corinthians 3 and 2 Corinthians 5. And we noted in 1 Corinthians 3 that all that we have done as believers in Jesus Christ will be tested and that which is worthless will be consumed and burned up, that which was done for the honor of God in obedience to Him will be rewarded. But everyone at this judgment is going to glory. But there are rewards going to be given. We have been saved by God's grace, cleansed from our sin, made new, promised eternal glory in His presence.

On top of that, there are rewards going to be bestowed. And I want to talk about some of that with you today. In verse 10, “We must all appear before the judgment seat.” We noted the bema seat, Paul is writing to a church in Corinth, they would have their Olympic games here. Naturally these Greeks lived in the city where these games were held; they are familiar with that bema seat as the Greek word is here where awards would be given. Different awards for different accomplishments. That's what we are talking about for believers.

They are sometimes called crowns and what I want to talk with you about are the crowns that God promises for believers. Hopefully we’ll follow these in enough of an order that it won't be too confusing. Why don't you put up the slide on the crowns, just crowns, the diadem and the stephanos. We have two different slides. I just put these up so you can remember the distinction. In Greek they talk about two different crowns—a diadem and a stephanos crown. A diadem is the crown of a ruler That's a royal crown, a king's crown. The stephanos crown is the crown of a victor. It would be awarded, for example, to the winner of an athletic contest. And we do that today, we give different medals. They received that garland to symbolize victory in an area. When the Scripture talks about the crowns that God is going to give to believers for different areas of functioning, he talks about the stephanos crown. Now someone like Jesus Christ can have both crowns. He is King of kings and Lord of lords, so He has diadem; but He is also the victor who has conquered sin and death and Satan, and He can also wear the stephanos crown. But when we talk about the believers, we're talking primarily about the stephanos crown, what God will award to believers for their faithfulness in serving Him.

So we've made a slide and we're going to walk through these crowns. There are five specific crowns mentioned. That doesn't mean these are the only rewards given or only crowns given, but they give us a sample of what God will be rewarding. Remember He is going to judge the motives for what we do, as we saw in 1 Corinthians 4, what was done with a desire to honor God. I can preach a sermon and I can do it with a desire to be honored, to receive glory, to pump up my pride; or I can preach a sermon with a desire to honor God, to present His truth clearly so He might work in lives. So He'll evaluate what we are not able to see—the motives and reasons for what we do, not just what we do.

So let's walk through some of these different crowns, the believer's crowns. The first is the incorruptible crown, as we call it. Come back to 1 Corinthians 9, and you get a sense of how Paul views this. In 1 Corinthians 9:24, “Do you not know that those who run in a race all run, but only one receives the prize. Run in such a way that you may win.” That idea of being in an athletic contest, which again the Greeks would identify with in their Olympic games, the Corinthian games. Everybody runs in the race, but it's not enough just to run in the race. You don't get the prize unless you run according to the rules and you win. “Everyone who competes in the games exercises self-control in all things, they do it to receive a perishable wreath.” There is our word :stephanos, crown. “They do it to receive a perishable crown,” because the award given was that wreath, that garland that you see in movies and sometimes history or in books that was rewarded. It wasn't the value of the crown, it was what it represented—the victory, the work, the toil, the self-discipline, self-control that went into that so you would win.

“Therefore,” Paul says, “I run in such a way as not without aim. I box in such a way as not beating the air.” So he mixes different athletic events here, but the point is the same. I don't run not knowing where I am going. Somebody outrunning in a foot race and he is running around in circles, he doesn't have any idea what he is doing. Or someone who is boxing and he is just flailing at the air, what's that? “I run in such a way as not without aim, I box in such a way not beating the air. I discipline my body, I make it my slave so that after I have preached to others I, myself, will not be disqualified.” It takes self-discipline. Paul says I do what I believe God wants me to do, Do it with all my effort and energy. I am not motivated, well, I don't feel like doing that today, I don't feel like getting up and doing this. Paul says I don't let my body dictate what I do. I discipline my body and make it my slave. And you'll note, you have a little marginal note in verse 27 probably in your Bible with the word discipline. It means to bruise. Literally it means to hit someone under the eyes. And what happens when you get hit in the eye? It turns black and blue. So that's the picture here, I discipline my body, I beat it black and blue, I make it my slave. I don't make my service for the Lord determined by what do I feel like. I don't feel like getting out of bed this morning and going to church, so I think I'll just lounge around, read the paper, have an extra cup of coffee because the day is busy. Paul says that is not what I do. He says my body is my slave, I'm not a slave to my body. My body is my slave. And sometimes I have to beat my body. My body says I don't feel like doing that, I'm tired. Paul says I make it do what I believe God wants me to do to carry out the responsibility He has given me.

We talked about spiritual gifts that God has given us. I pour my life into it. I discipline my body so that I can carry out the responsibility and ministry God has given me. For that we will receive an imperishable crown, an incorruptible crown. It's the crown for those who practice self-discipline, self-control. They carry out what God has called them to do with diligence. The analogy is an athlete who disciplines his body, who is prepared so he can do the best in what he is to do. That's the way we are to be with what God has given us. That's an incorruptible crown for self-discipline, self-control.

A second crown is over in 2 Timothy 4:8, it's called the crown of righteousness. In 2 Timothy Paul is at the end of his life. He is in his final imprisonment. It is sure to him that this will culminate in his execution. You'll note the context here, “in the future there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness.” Verse 7, he “fought the good fight,” he “finished the course,” he “kept the faith. There is laid up for me the crown of righteousness.” He is talking about in 2 Timothy 2 that he “endured all things, he suffered all things.” In 2 Timothy 4:7, he fought the good fight, he finished the course so he gets a crown of righteousness. For what? Living in light of the coming of the Lord, enduring because of that. He's looking for the Lord's coming, he has been living for the Lord so he gets a crown of righteousness. And it will be given to all those who love His appearing. You live in light of His appearing. We find ourselves constantly emphasizing this. The world lives focused here and now, what you accomplish to be successful—how much money you make, what position you acquire. All those things. We live in light of what is future. We've seen earlier in our study of 2 Corinthians, we walk by faith and not by sight. So we are looking forward ultimately to His appearing and our glorification in His presence, our rewarding in His presence. So the crown of righteousness of verse 8 is the stephanos given for loving His appearing and faithfully living in light of the Second Coming.

The third crown is the crown of life, over in James 1:12, “Blessed is the man who perseveres under trial, for once he has been approved he will receive the crown of life which the Lord has promised to those who love Him.” The consistency, the perseverance, you see that comes in in all these areas because foundational to everything, now as a child of God, His slave, how do I live? Well there are various areas but underlying it all takes that determination to be faithful to Him in light of what He has promised, in light of the rewards He assures. So enduring, living righteous lives, the crown that will be given for perseverance under trial. God puts us to the test. He allows trials to come into our lives.

Not only James 1, but Revelation 2:10 talks about this crown, the crown of life. In Revelation 2:10 the church at Smyrna, Christ says, “Do not fear what you are about to suffer. Behold the devil is about to cast some of you into prison so that you will be tested, you will have tribulation for ten days. Be faithful unto death, I will give you the crown of life.” Same crown mentioned in James 2 in the context of enduring, persevering, passing the test. Stay with it, it's going to get worse, the church at Smyrna is told. But that's all right; you get the crown of life, the stephanos of life if you are faithful.

The crown of rejoicing, so come back to 1 Thessalonians 2:19, A“For who is our hope or crown of exaltation? It is not even you in the presence of our Lord Jesus at His coming?” Crown of rejoicing. Over what? Well Paul had been gifted of God to carry the Gospel to the lost, particularly the Gentiles. Here this church at Thessalonica, a Gentile church who had been established as a result of Paul's ministry. People have come to know Christ. What did Paul say? In the presence of the Lord Jesus men stand to give an account to Him. You will be there, I will receive the crown of exaltation, rejoicing. I mean, that's what I anticipate, to be rewarded, because you are a testimony to my faithfulness, he says. Indeed I endured whatever suffering it took. Remember when he went into Greece at Philippi what happened? He is beaten. He is imprisoned. He left Philippi and went on to Thessalonica and he did the same thing as he did at Philippi—he preached the Gospel. And people were saved. So he will be given the crown of rejoicing for leading people to Christ. It's God's Word, He changes the heart, but Paul was faithful in persevering, in applying himself, disciplining himself and he will be rewarded accordingly.

The crown of glory, so let's look at 1 Peter 5. The order of these crowns is not of particular significance. I've put them on the list that you have on the screen the way they come up in Scripture, moving toward the back of Scripture. 1 Peter 5, this is a crown promised to spiritual leaders. When we talked about believers' accountability to God, we looked at Hebrews 13 and there believers are told to follow their leaders. And their leaders have to give an account for them. And if they have to say these people were rebellious, they didn't follow the biblical teaching we taught and so, that wouldn't be profitable in the Day of Judgment. Now you have the other side. The leaders aren't without accountability. They have a responsibility.

So in 1 Peter 5, Peter, who identifies himself as an elder, and he was also an apostle. He says, “Therefore, I exhort the elders among you as your fellow elder, witness of the sufferings of Christ, partaker of the glories revealed, “Shepherd the flock of God among you, exercising oversight. Not under compulsion, voluntarily, according to the will of God; not for money but with eagerness; not as lording it over those allotted to your charge, but proving to be examples to the flock. And when the Chief Shepherd appears, you will receive the unfading crown of glory.” So it's a crown promised for faithfulness in fulfilling the leadership responsibilities God gives.

These five crowns are just examples of crowns given as rewards for being faithful in various areas. It doesn't mean these are the only ones but these five are specifically mentioned. We are warned and exhorted to be careful in Scripture that we are faithful and not lose any awards or crowns.

Come over to the letters to the churches in Revelation 2-3. And in Revelation 2:10 there is a crown of life. We’ve talked about that crown. When you come to Revelation 3, and he is addressing a different church here, the church at Philadelphia, note what he says in verse 11. “I am coming quickly, hold fast what you have so that no one will take your stephanos.” Strong warning. We have to finish well. The danger that they get turned aside, that they would be led astray. That's an issue in some of these churches, a danger in the church at Philadelphia and the influence there. Paul's teaching—hold fast to what you have so that no one will take your crown, your stephanos. It's not enough to start out and run well for ten years. I think I've done a lot, I've been faithful, it's all right now if I decide to let someone else do it and I'm going to park. If it's a three-mile race and you run well for one mile and you quit, you don't get the prize. You have to finish well! Remember it is our life's work as God's children, from the time we are saved to the time we finish our life's course that will be put to the fire as we saw in 1 Corinthians 3. Well, earning this crown or this crown, or this crown, and then to find out you lost it. You weren't faithful. That's why Paul and others in the New Testament give continual reminders. You must keep on, you must keep on, you must keep on, the race is not over. That's why Paul used that analogy in 1 Corinthians 9 where we started. You must discipline your body, you must bring it into subjection. You have to have that disciplined pursuit, otherwise I quit looking at the goal and I end up with works that are burned up and of no value.

So crowns are promised to believers. While you are in Revelation look in Revelation 4:4, and here we're talking about the twenty-four elders. Around the throne where twenty-four thrones, upon the thrones twenty-four elders, sitting. In other studies, particularly in Revelation we walked through this. I take it the twenty-four elders are here representative of the church. Perhaps drawn from 1 Chronicles 24 where of all the priests that were present in Israel, they were divided and represented by twenty-four representatives. And so here the church is represented, I take it. The twenty-four elders are clothed in white garments and they are crowned with golden crowns, stephanos, which indicates the church here. Remember in Revelation the first three chapters talk about the churches, particularly chapters 2-3. Then chapters 4-5 talk about heavenly scenes, what is going on in heaven. And chapters 6-19 talk about that seven years that will climax with the return of Christ to earth. You'll note here before that seven-year tribulation the church is seen in heaven, having been judged. As we'll see in a little bit here, the white garments symbolize the righteous works of the saints. So they have been judged, clothed not in the righteousness of God here that their white garments represent, but in the works they have done. Now we are in heaven because of the righteousness of God credited to us in Christ. But we are rewarded on the basis of our faithful service and here they have the white garments and they have the golden crowns on their heads.

And then down in verse 10, “the twenty-four elders will fall down before Him who sits on the throne, will worship Him who lives forever and ever and cast their crowns before the throne saying, ‘worthy are you, our Lord and our God to receive glory, honor and power. You created all things, because of your will they exist.’” Our crowns, we acknowledge all that we are, all that we have done is because of You, You are the One worthy of the honor, the glory. So we are rewarded and in that context we are privileged to bow before Him and cast our crowns before His throne.

We are rewarded with crowns. We are also, in this context, rewarded with positions of ruler-ship in the kingdom. Go back to the chart on resurrections. Now remember the church is in here, we may be right down about . . . The rapture of the church could occur at any time. That's when we will be caught up to meet Christ in the air. We will be judged and rewarded. Then you have the seven years and then the return of Christ to earth to establish the kingdom. And in that kingdom believers will rule and reign with Christ. In our study in Daniel we looked at some of these matters, in Daniel 12. We looked at the fact that Daniel will be resurrected to reign, so Old Testament saints and New Testament saints alike.

One passage in the Old Testament, Isaiah 32, we'll just limit it to this one for time, then we'll jump to some New Testament passages. Isaiah 32:1, and this is talking about the coming kingdom. “Behold, a king will reign righteously.” And that's Christ who is the Messiah, who will rule in the kingdom, “and princes will rule justly.” So you see there are others ruling with Christ. A king and then princes, rulers under Him will also rule justly or righteously.

Come over to Matthew 19 in the New Testament. Peter asks the question in verse 27, he asks Christ, “Behold we have left everything and followed you. What will there be for us?” What do you have for us? What did Jesus say? “Truly, truly I say to you that you who have followed Me, in the regeneration,” referring to His coming kingdom, “when the Son of Man will sit on His glorious throne, you also shall sit on twelve thrones judging the twelve tribes of Israel.” What? You're going to be given a place of ruler-ship in the kingdom and your particular place of ruler-ship will be over the twelve tribes, each of you having authority over one of the tribes. It's a position of honor and recognition.

Come over to Luke 19. These all point to the same thing, that believers are going to rule with Christ in the millennium and their place of ruler-ship will be part of what their rewards are. Luke 19, this is a parable and verse 11 gives you the context. “They were listening to His teaching. Jesus went on to tell a parable because He was near Jerusalem and they supposed that the kingdom of God was going to appear immediately.” I mean, they are back here going to Jerusalem, but they are confused. The Old Testament talked about a suffering and death of the Messiah, but it talked about the ruling and reigning in glory. They didn't know how to put it together so they think we're going to Jerusalem, we're getting near Jerusalem, He must be ready now to declare Himself king and set up the kingdom.

So He tells them a parable. “A nobleman went to a distant country to receive a kingdom for himself, then returned. And he called ten of his slaves and gave them ten minas and said to them, do business with this until I come. And his citizens hated him, he sent a delegation after him saying, we don't want this king to reign over us. He returned after receiving the kingdom, he called his slaves.” The picture is of course Christ coming, being rejected, leaving, but he leaves responsibility with his slaves while he is gone. Indication here they are not going there to set up the kingdom, Christ is going to be leaving but they are going to be left with responsibilities to carry out and then they will give an account, So when he returned after receiving the kingdom, he ordered these slaves to be given the money. So he called to them so he can give an account. This is not about money. People try to find money everywhere in Scripture so they can have reasons to be whatever. This is about faithfulness of service, just illustrated with the use of the money.

So the different servants have been given different amounts and were responsible for what they had been given, not what someone else had been given. So the first one, I have gained ten, I have made ten more, verse 16. What does he say? “Well done good slave, because you have been faithful in a very little thing, you are going to be in authority over ten cities.” Do you see what the king is doing? In his kingdom he has come to establish, because of faithfulness of service in his absence, now they are rewarded. So you see you are given authority over ten cities in the kingdom. The second one came and said I made five more. Well, you are to be over five cities. You'll note they are not particularly in competition with one another, each has to be faithful. I can't be faithful with someone else's gifts, someone else has a greater gift and ability than I do. I may admire them, I may learn from them, but I can't fulfill their responsibility. But I have to do the absolute best I can with what God has entrusted to me. And so he is made ruler over five cities. Then there is the servant, he didn't do anything. And he is shown to be unfaithful and rejected from a part in the kingdom. So you see the principle established—faithfulness will be rewarded and involved in that reward is ruler-ship in an area of the kingdom.

Come over to 1 Corinthians 6. The problem here is in the church at Corinth, they are one another about various things. Some of them were even taking another believer in the church to court. Paul says that is unacceptable. “Does anyone of you when he has a case against his neighbor dare to go to law before the unrighteous and not before the saints?” Something between two believers, obviously, as the context makes clear. “Do you not know that the saints will judge the world?” Doesn't mean I'm going to be the judge before whom everyone comes, in that sense, but I am going to share in the ruler-ship, so I will be exercising that kind of authority—making decisions. Saints will judge the world. “Do you not know,” verse 3, “that we will judge angels.” We're not going to judge them as we will be judged by the Lord, but we will share in the ruler-ship, we will make decisions, we will administer justice as we read in Isaiah 32:1, we will rule justly in His kingdom. The angels will be under our oversight because remember Hebrews 2 says, angels were created to be ministering spirits for those who are the heirs of salvation. So we come to the kingdom, then we will function as God's sons with authority over the angels. That's why he says, can't you make these small, in light of eternity, decisions among yourselves.

Come over to 2 Timothy 2:12, “If we endure, we will also reign with Him.” We reign with Him, that's part of the result. Now what role we will have in reigning has to do with our faithfulness as we saw.

Come to Revelation 3. Revelation 2 addressing the churches here, remember, Revelation 2:26, “He who overcomes, who keeps my deed,” my works, “until the end.” You see faithfulness of life is important, is my life's work for Him. What? “To him I will give authority over the nations. He shall rule them with a rod of iron as the vessels of the potter are broken to pieces, as I also have received from my Father.” Referring back to Psalm 2, the authority that the Son of God will have when He comes to rule. We will share that rule. Then the enforced righteousness of the millennium, we will have authority over the nations. Remarkable.

Revelation 5:9, you have the twenty-four elders falling down before the Lamb along with others. “Worthy are you to take the book, break its seals. You were slain, purchased for God with your blood. People from every tongue, tribe, people, nation, you have made them to be a kingdom, priests to our God. They will reign upon the earth.” Is there any doubt? They will reign upon the earth.

Come over to Revelation 20, remember the first resurrection? That includes all believers. The first resurrection includes church saints resurrected here, Old Testament saints and tribulation saints are resurrected here. That's why we call it the first resurrection, it's the resurrection that includes all believers. Separated in time, but it is a quality of resurrection. The only other resurrection there is, is here and it's unbelievers to an eternal hell. In Revelation 20:5, “this is the first resurrection. Blessed and holy is the one who has part in the first resurrection, over these the second death has no power. They will be priests of God and of Christ and will reign with Him for a thousand years.” So what we are doing with our lives and how we are living as God's children is of crucial importance. We get caught up in this short time, but it's a very valuable time. You say, I have to pour my energy, what has God called and gifted me to do as His child, how can I serve Him most effectively. Not what do I feel like doing, and do I feel like doing it. I'm doing this because of the ultimate reward. Think of Paul, he died as a criminal being beheaded in Rome. He didn't have much to leave behind. Think of the crown, think of the position he will be given that dwarfs anything in this life.

That's why over in Revelation 22:12 Christ exhorts, “Behold, I am coming quickly. My reward is with Me to render to every man according to what he has done.” I am coming, that's why we live in light of His coming, His return. He repeats again in verse 20, “Yes I am coming quickly. My reward is with me.” If Christ would come this afternoon, we would be called immediately into His presence to give account, to have our life evaluated. It's so easy for the church to settle down into the world, get absorbed into things that are of no eternal value. That's why we are constantly reminded, live with our focus on what God has promised. We're not going to quit living here, but more involved in the ways that God would have me involved. We're not talking about busyness, the Bible doesn't say there is any reward for busyness, that could be wood, hay and stubble. We are rewarded for that which is done for His honor, to carry out His purposes in my life as part of His people. The rewards given—crowns, positions of authority in the kingdom.

One other thing happens following our resurrection, just want to mention it, and that is the marriage of the Lamb. We are the bride of Christ, the church. We don't have time to go through passages, but Ephesians 5 is the most familiar. But back up to Revelation 19, I'm going to just put this into context. We are the bride of Christ. Now you have to have the oriental pattern of a wedding, not our weddings today. But what were weddings like in biblical times? They had several steps. The first step was the wedding was arranged, usually by the parents. And that was a firm commitment. Then it would become a matter and time would go by. When the appropriate time was come, by that time the bridegroom was to have prepared a place for his bride. So Ephesians says that Christ loved the church and gave Himself up for it, His bride, so she could be perfect.

Then remember He promised His disciples in John 14, “In My Father's house are many dwelling places, if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you, if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you to Myself, that where I am there you may be also.” We can follow this. There is the bride, at a certain time the people who have become part of the bride of Christ, awaiting for Him, He will come to get them, to take them back to His Father's house, the place He has prepared for them.

This is where we are in Revelation 19, we are at the Second Coming of Christ. You see we are down here where Christ is returning. The church had been taken to heaven here, judged, rewarded, to be prepared, the marriage supper of the Lamb occurs. The marriage occurs up here, not the marriage supper, the marriage, and then we are ready to return to earth here with Christ. Verse 7, “Let us rejoice and be glad and give the glory to Him.” Remember back in Revelation 4 we saw the twenty-four elders representing the church casting their golden stephanos before His throne because they give Him glory. “For the marriage of the Lamb has come and His bride has made herself ready.” Now this doesn't mean it is time for the marriage ceremony to occur, that marriage of the Lamb has come is a past tense, it has occurred, it has taken place. We are now ready for the marriage supper of the Lamb.

So the bridegroom would come, get his bride, take her back to the home he had prepared for her and then sometime following will be the marriage feast where all the friends are invited. So here, the marriage of the Lamb has come, it has taken place. “The bride has made herself ready, has given to her to clothe herself in fine linen, bright and clean. For the fine linen is the righteous acts of the saints.” You see that is part of the judgment. They are rewarded for their works. The fine linen is the righteous acts of the saints. This is not the righteousness of God credited to us in Christ, but now this is the righteousness of our deeds. Remember we saw in Revelation 4, I've reminded you that the twenty-four elders clothed in that fine linen, here we are told it is the righteous acts of the saints. They are ready. The bridegroom is ready to unveil his bride, if you will, present her. “Then he said to me, ‘write blessed are those who are invited to the marriage supper of the Lamb.’” So the marriage has taken place, now we are returning, the bride returning, we are ready for the kingdom, the marriage supper where they will go in to celebrate.

Two passages. Matthew 25, remember the parable of the ten virgins. That's the picture, Matthew 25, and the picture here. “The kingdom of heaven will be compared to ten virgins who took their lamps, went out to meet the bridegroom.” They are not the bride, there are not ten brides here. These are the attendants, the friends of the bridegroom, the bridal attendants. Remember John the Baptist said, I am not the bride, I am a friend of the bridegroom. Five were prepared, five were not; the five who were not prepared are closed out. Verse 10, “they were going away, those who were ready went in with him to the wedding feast.” That's Revelation 19, “Blessed are those who are invited to the wedding feast.” The others are closed out. So this has to do now, Christ is returning with His bride for the celebration, but those who aren't ready won't get to go into the kingdom.

One passage, Romans 8:18, Paul talks about being a child of God. Then he comes to verse 18 and says, “I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory that is to be revealed to us. The anxious longing of the creation waits eagerly for the revealing of the sons of God.” And because of sin, creation itself is subject to its emptiness. Verse 22, “We know the whole creation groans and suffers the pains of childbirth together until now. Not only this, we ourselves having the first fruits of the Spirit, we groan within ourselves, waiting eagerly for our adoption as sons, the redemption of our body.” So all creation is here. What's going to happen in the kingdom? The curse is lifted from the creation, the desert will blossom like the rose or the crocus. They will not hurt nor destroy in all my holy mountain. The lion will lie down with the lamb. All that. So when is the bride unveiled here for all creation? When we return to earth in glory with the Son. That's what is happening in Revelation 19, and all creation has been anticipating this because we come to earth, the kingdom will be set up, the curse will be lifted, the celebration of the bride of Christ as we move into the kingdom.

All that’s promised to us, that's why we want to live for Him. We are not earning our salvation, you cannot earn salvation, by our works no one will be justified in God's sight. It's only by believing what He has done for us in Christ. When we place our faith in Him, we are made new now so we can live for Him. And only when we are there will we realize the wonder of being gifted by Him to serve Him so that we might be rewarded by Him. I don't think anybody will think on that day, I wish I hadn't worked so hard and had taken time to enjoy life. A Christian dies and people say, it's too bad he couldn't live to see his grandkids, too bad she couldn't have lived and they couldn't have enjoyed retirement together. Forget it. We are living for what is beyond this life and all that God has promised to those who love Him. And we keep our eyes on that and that's why we are willing to do whatever it takes to pour our energy and our lives into faithfully serving Him in whatever way He has gifted us.

Let's pray together. Thank You, Lord, for the riches of Your salvation. What a gracious, loving God You are to provide salvation by the death of Your Son so that we through faith in Him might be cleansed, forgiven, made new and now have the hope of eternity in the glory of Your presence, the promise of being rewarded for faithful, diligent service offered to You from our hearts. May we be faithful until Jesus comes. We pray in His name, amen.