1st Corinthians 3:10b-15, “But let
every man take heed how he buildeth thereupon. For other foundation can no man
lay than that is laid, which is Jesus Christ. Now if any man build upon this
foundation gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, stubble; Every man's work
shall be made manifest: for the day shall declare it, because it shall be
revealed by fire; and the fire shall try every man's work of what sort it is. If
any man's work abide which he hath built thereupon, he shall receive a reward.
If any man's work shall be burned, he shall suffer loss: but he himself shall be
saved; yet so as by fire.”
I humbly believe that there will be sorrowful believers in Heaven. Those
Christians who never shared the Gospel of free grace with lost sinners will rue
the day. Those pastor's wives who wore worldly pants, and by example encouraged
your girls in the church to wear worldly pants, will regret their foolishness
when rewards are denied them. And woe be unto the wicked pastor and his ungodly
wife who persecute the fundamentalist preacher who faithfully took a stand
against women wearing pants. If you have a cavalier attitude to dismiss such
matters as mere legalism, you are a darn fool.
Sermons on "rewards" by Dr. Jack Hyles...
I hope you will take the time to listen to those
helpful sermons. Certainly, every believer will rejoice to be in Heaven, but we
cannot ignore plain warning in Scripture such as Daniel 12:3, "And they that be wise shall
shine as the brightness of the firmament; and they that turn many to
righteousness as the stars for ever and ever." So, believers who don't mature to
bear fruit will NOT shine in Heaven. Luke 8:11-15 is a parable about
soul-winning, the parable of the Sower And The Seeds. We reap what we sow, not what we don't sow.
Those saints who lived idle lives, never sharing the Gospel with anyone, will
not be anywhere near as happy in Heaven as they could have been, had they let
their light shine before men. The world walks in darkness, but every child of
God is supposed to let their light shine (Matthew 5:16). That is, the light of
Jesus Christ who indwells every child of God (Romans 8:9).
We don't read about "every tear" being wiped away until AFTER the 1,000 reign of
Christ during the Millennium (Revelation 21:4). The Holy Bible teaches in 1st
Corinthians 3:11-15 that some believers will SUFFER LOSS at the Judgment Seat of
Christ, losing everything, except their eternal security. That won't be a happy
moment I assure you. Christ has already paid for
our sins at Calvary on the cross, so no amount of sin can hinder us from going
to Heaven. Eternal life is the free gift of God, which has absolutely nothing to
do with the sins we commit. Christ died on a cross for our sins, He does not
demand that we forsake those sins to receive His gift. The truth is the no one
has ever turned away from their sinning. You may clean up your life to live
above reproach, but you will still be a dirty minded sinner.
2nd Corinthians 5:10-11 says that the Lord will judge
the saints, "that every one may receive the things done
in his body, according to that he hath done, whether it be good or bad," and not
our "sins." So, we won't face the condemnation and punishment of our sins,
which Christ suffered on the cross of Calvary; but we will suffer
missed opportunities, time wasted, shame, lost blessings and eternal rewards.
When a pastor sins, perhaps committing a crime, that believer can be restored to sweet
fellowship with God. They can obtain the SAME Holy Spirit power and walk with
God as before, but they have forfeited the former position they held as a
Christian leader. They have
missed out on blessings and opportunities. Albeit, they can never lose their salvation. They can
claim the SAME promises. God doesn't have different promises to those who don't
go into sin, versus those who do go into sin. Dr. Hyles explains this truth in
this 1997 sermon, 'The
Recompense Of The Reward.'
There will be tears in Heaven. Rock 'n Roll "king," Elvis Presley
(1935-1977), lived a life of sin
and shame. I seriously doubt if Elvis ever led anyone to Christ. Dr. Hyles once
witnessed the Gospel to Elvis in an elevator in Dallas, Texas, and was convinced
that Elvis was saved. I believe he was too, from what I have read from Elvis'
family. If Elvis is in Heaven, he is rejoicing. His sins are under the blood,
but Elvis missed out on all that he could have done for God, wasting his life
here on earth. The worst thing about sin is not the sin itself, but the good
that it hindered us from doing. Elvis is sad in Heaven in his rejoicing, knowing
that he missed out on so many opportunities to use his fame and fortune for the
cause of Christ, but he DIDN'T. Elvis was a generous man, sharing his wealth
with his friends and family. But sadly, he didn't use his fame to share the
Gospel with his millions of loyal fans.
What would be the incentive to "lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven" (Matthew 6:19-20),
as Jesus said, if every believer will receive the same rewards? We can earn back
lost rewards while still on earth. We cannot lose our position in Christ, nor
the blessed presence of the Holy Spirit, nor our peace, nor our hope of a better
life in Heaven, nor of all the unconditional promises of God. Some promises are
conditional, like laying up treasures in Heaven. Certainly, the greatest
treasures of all is eternal life, our family in Heaven and our blessed Lord
Jesus Christ, which we can never lose. I don't claim to have all the answers. I
am not quite sure how it all works, but by examining the Scriptures I am
convinced that some believers will be happier than others in Heaven.
Albeit, since the Scripture tells us that every tear shall be wiped away at the
end of the Millennium, that must mean that there will be tears shed throughout
the Millennium. Yet, those tears and sadness over our
earthly failures must end too. How could the tears stop if the pain of our
failures didn't? Christ bore the punishment of our sins on the cross, but the
Bible says we must still have to give account for the good and the bad done in
our body as saints. I always compare the two judgment to criminal court verses civil
court. Thanks be to Christ, we can never be in danger of God's criminal court at
the Great White Throne of Judgment.
The Apostle Paul wrote these inspired words...
1st Timothy 1:12-14, “And I thank Christ Jesus our Lord, who hath enabled me, for that he counted me faithful, putting me into the ministry; Who was before a blasphemer, and a persecutor, and injurious: but I obtained mercy, because I did it ignorantly in unbelief. And the grace of our Lord was exceeding abundant with faith and love which is in Christ Jesus.”
This passage seems to strongly indicate that the sins we committed before we were saved were done in ignorance, but the sins we have committed as believers were done in the full knowledge that God expects us to walk in holiness. This can only mean that as saints we will be held accountable by God for our behavior, since the day we were converted, because we are no longer ignorant of our sins. I have never heard anyone teach what I am about to say, but I think it is a perfect illustration of the different coming future judgments. At the Judgment Seat of Christ, it will be a Civil Court, where there is no risk of punishment (i.e., no condemnation), but loss of rewards. In sharp contrast, at the Great White Throne of Judgment, it will be a Criminal Court, where all the lost sinners throughout human civilization will be judged and cast into the Lake of Fire forever to suffer day and night with rest or hope.
We can suffer loss in civil court, where we risk losing rewards at the Judgment Seat of Christ. The Bible says that if we have been faithful with little, God will make us ruler over much; but if we have not been faithful in that which is least, God will not trust us to rule over much. So, I believe that our position of leadership, as we rule with Christ over the earth during His 1,000 year millennial reign, will be decided by our faithfulness now on earth. Literally, our life on earth as Christians is our audition for eternity. Luke 16:10, “He that is faithful in that which is least is faithful also in much: and he that is unjust in the least is unjust also in much.”
“Now you say, 'Brother Hyles, you make an issue.' You dead sure better know I'll make an issue!” —BATTLE OF THE AGES (MP3, Dr. Jack Hyles, “The King James Bible crowd is going to come out on top!”)
