Choose Your Reward: Jesus on Rewards
Pastor Rollan Fisher
Focus: When our focus is on Jesus, we see that our public life is fueled by our secret life, which leads to a multiplication of lives impacted for the Kingdom of God.
The Public Life
The Secret Life
A Life Multiplied
The Public Life
What we do for Jesus in the public place will determine our reward in the eternal place.
People have made many foolish and costly decisions to publicly identify with groups without a sure reward.
https://fox4kc.com/news/70-of-chiefs-fans-who-suffered-frostbite-at-bitter-cold-playoff-game-need-amputations/
Matthew 5:9-12
”"Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God. "Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness' sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. "Blessed are you when others revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on my account. Rejoice and be glad, for your reward is great in heaven, for so they persecuted the prophets who were before you.“
Through the gospel of Jesus Christ, we are called to be peacemakers in the world around us.
We do this by introducing a peace with God through the gospel and peace between people with that same good news.
The Secret Life
What we do in the secret place builds who we are for Jesus in the public place.
Matthew 6:1-6 ESV
”"Beware of practicing your righteousness before other people in order to be seen by them, for then you will have no reward from your Father who is in heaven. "Thus, when you give to the needy, sound no trumpet before you, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets, that they may be praised by others. Truly, I say to you, they have received their reward. But when you give to the needy, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, so that your giving may be in secret. And your Father who sees in secret will reward you. "And when you pray, you must not be like the hypocrites. For they love to stand and pray in the synagogues and at the street corners, that they may be seen by others. Truly, I say to you, they have received their reward. But when you pray, go into your room and shut the door and pray to your Father who is in secret. And your Father who sees in secret will reward you.“
What you sow into when only God’s eyes are on you will determine your reward.
Jesus says that we should learn to give in secret, fast in secret and pray in secret, so that God might see what is done in secret and reward us.
It is about the motivation of the heart, where we think our rewards come from and whose reward you truly desire.
People say today that “if you don’t post about it, then it didn’t happen.”
We are pressured today to be a walking advertisement of our resume, our accomplishments and our experiences to convince others around us how good our lives are.
And we think that if we do this well, somehow we won’t feel left out and will quiet the nagging voice that necessitates us convincing ourselves that our lives are actually worth living.
But think about how fleeting is other people’s praise and how enslaving it is to validate your existence by continually feeding the beast of public approval.
God wants to free you from this and bring you into a quality of life that only he can provide.
In this way, your happiness is not determined by how much money you have amassed (or has passed through your fingers on pleasure seeking expenses), but on how much you have given - and your reward will come from God who cannot be outgiven.
Matthew 6:16-18 ESV
”"And when you fast, do not look gloomy like the hypocrites, for they disfigure their faces that their fasting may be seen by others. Truly, I say to you, they have received their reward. But when you fast, anoint your head and wash your face, that your fasting may not be seen by others but by your Father who is in secret. And your Father who sees in secret will reward you.“
How do you think God will reward your giving?
How will he reward your prayers?
How will he reward your fasting?
When you do these things without looking for public accolades, God rewards your with supernatural provision in your life, answered prayers and supernatural power to break yokes in your life and others.
Matthew 6:19-25 ESV
”"Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal, but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also. "The eye is the lamp of the body. So, if your eye is healthy, your whole body will be full of light, but if your eye is bad, your whole body will be full of darkness. If then the light in you is darkness, how great is the darkness! "No one can serve two masters, for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and money. "Therefore I tell you, do not be anxious about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink, nor about your body, what you will put on. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothing?“
Jesus said that we should lay up our treasure in heaven and not on earth.
Make no mistake about it, your heart will ultimately follow the places where you put your money.
You want to make sure that your heart is continually aligned with Jesus, sowing into eternal things, things that will last and that God will reward, and not just the temporary things that we would enjoy.
God created a mechanism for us to do this well by requiring the tithe from his people, where we acknowledge God’s provision with the first and best ten percent of all of our increase/income (Leviticus 27:30-33; Deuteronomy 26), sowing it into Christ’s Kingdom affairs and asking God’s hand of blessing to be upon all that we put our hands to.
Offerings go above and beyond the tithe to freely and joyfully contribute to the ongoing work of the Lord (II Corinthians 8+9).
An example of this is serving organizations like Safe Families that help keep children out of the foster care system that Ben and Kendall Foote can tell you about.
God also provides you with the ability to be free of the tyranny of money, knowing that he will provide for you as you serve him alone as your master.
How do we do this in our daily living?
Matthew 6:31-34 ESV
”Therefore do not be anxious, saying, 'What shall we eat?' or 'What shall we drink?' or 'What shall we wear?' For the Gentiles seek after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them all. But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you. "Therefore do not be anxious about tomorrow, for tomorrow will be anxious for itself. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble.“
Thanks to many of your faithful tithes and offerings over the years, we have been able to not only preach the gospel and make disciples faithfully, but we now have a church building in Roger’s Park that we will be calling our home for future services, to expand the impact of the gospel in Chicago, in addition to our continued Sunday morning services here in Lincoln Park.
As we continue to cultivate our relationship with Jesus in these manners, when only his eyes are on us, we will have the strength to walk with Christ when other people’s eyes are on us as well.
This will lead to lives multiplied as the gospel is preached by us and lived through us.
A Life Multiplied
Jesus laid down his life for us so that we might be reconciled to God - that the impact of his mission would be multiplied in us and through us.
John 12:20-36 ESV
”Now among those who went up to worship at the feast were some Greeks. So these came to Philip, who was from Bethsaida in Galilee, and asked him, "Sir, we wish to see Jesus." Philip went and told Andrew; Andrew and Philip went and told Jesus. And Jesus answered them, "The hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified. Truly, truly, I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies, it bears much fruit. Whoever loves his life loses it, and whoever hates his life in this world will keep it for eternal life. If anyone serves me, he must follow me; and where I am, there will my servant be also. If anyone serves me, the Father will honor him. "Now is my soul troubled. And what shall I say? 'Father, save me from this hour'? But for this purpose I have come to this hour. Father, glorify your name." Then a voice came from heaven: "I have glorified it, and I will glorify it again." The crowd that stood there and heard it said that it had thundered. Others said, "An angel has spoken to him." Jesus answered, "This voice has come for your sake, not mine. Now is the judgment of this world; now will the ruler of this world be cast out. And I, when I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all people to myself." He said this to show by what kind of death he was going to die. So the crowd answered him, "We have heard from the Law that the Christ remains forever. How can you say that the Son of Man must be lifted up? Who is this Son of Man?" So Jesus said to them, "The light is among you for a little while longer. Walk while you have the light, lest darkness overtake you. The one who walks in the darkness does not know where he is going. While you have the light, believe in the light, that you may become sons of light." When Jesus had said these things, he departed and hid himself from them.“
Like Jesus, we need to live for something that is truly bigger and longer lasting than the fleeting time that we have on earth in its present form - we need to live for the eternal Kingdom of God.
Study after study shows that this is one of the key ingredients to a sustained happiness in life.
https://www.gse.harvard.edu/ideas/news/23/10/mental-health-challenges-young-adults-illuminated-new-report
When seeds are sown, they metaphorically die in the ground in which they are planted that they might eventually be positioned to bring forth additional life.
Every seed planted in faith is done so with the hope of bearing more fruit.
Every aspect of our lives are seeds to be sown for Jesus and his eternal Kingdom.
Jesus would lay down his life at the cross - a single, innocent life sown in sacrifice to pay for our sins - that through his death, burial and resurrection, many souls might be born again, and through him, enter into eternal life.
As Jesus was lifted up on the cross over two thousand years ago, and is continually lifted up through our sharing of the gospel today, he promises to draw all men to himself.
May the lifting up of Jesus be the focus of all of our giving, our praying and our fasting that he might reconcile this lost and dying world to God.
And like Jesus, how can we today reevaluate how we will lay down our lives so that as we sow in our giving, prayers and fasting in the secret place, it might result in the great reward of the life of Christ being multiplied in countless souls being redeemed in the Kingdom of God?
Second City Church - Pastor Rollan Fisher