This transcript was generated by whisper.ai.

This is day three together of our look through Revelation chapter 22. As we come
towards the end of the book of Revelation, we have an opportunity to hear again
the personal response of John, the one to whom this revelation was given. The
follower of Jesus Christ, the apostle of Christ, and now the elder of the
church, who is in exile on the island of Patmos, as you remember from the very
beginning of our study, who maybe has wondered if his days are over, even though
he's looking forward to heaven, his opportunities to serve on this earth are
gone.

And in that moment, in that moment, he is given this revelation to pass along to
God's people. And in Revelation chapter 22 verse 8, we hear this about John, "I,
John, am the one who heard and saw these things. And when I had heard and seen
them, I fell down to worship at the feet of the angel who had been showing them
to me.

But he said to me, 'Do not do it. I am a fellow servant with you and with your
brothers, the prophets, and of all who keep the words of this book. Worship God.

' And then he told me, 'Do not seal up the words of the prophecy of this book,
because the time is near. '" I said to you yesterday, there are three commands
concerning how you and I are to treat the book of Revelation in this last
chapter. The first command was to keep the words of this book.

The second command is here, "Don't seal up the words of this book, because the
time is near. " Now, obviously, that means that we are to make sure that this
book is a part of God's Word and we're to read it and to study it. But think
about that with me personally for just a minute.

Don't seal up the words of this book in your own heart. Let this truth impact
your life today. You might wish that this world would get better and better.

You might wish that we wouldn't have to face any problems in this life. You
might wish that there was not such a thing as evil. You might wish that there
was not such a thing as judgment.

But these are the truths of life. So don't seal your heart against those. As you
accept those truths, also accept the love of God, that he has a different plan
for us.

If only we'll turn to him. I want you to notice what happens with John here.
It's very important.

He hears these things. He sees these things. And he does exactly what I would
do, what you would do in that instance.

He falls down at the feet of the angel who's been showing him these things to
worship. And the angel says, "Don't do it. " People like to worship angels.

That's been true all down through human history. People like to worship angels
more than God, sometimes even in our day. Not for the reasons that John was
worshiping here.

One of the reasons people like to worship angels is because angels seem to be
more visible. They're doing works that maybe I can see better than the works of
God, God the Father, who is hidden sometimes in glory. Sometimes people like to
worship angels, not John, but others that I meet today because they seem safer.

I can make an angel say whatever I want that angel to say. I can pretend the
angel is saying exactly what I want said instead of recognizing that God's word
holds true. Angels to us sometimes are more spectacular.

They're more miraculous than even God the Father because we don't get to see
directly the works of God the Father. And so it's been popular in all ages to
worship angels. You can read the book of Colossians.

It's all about the danger of worshiping angels. Right here we see the danger of
it. John is told what every one of us needs to hear.

When he falls down to worship an angel, he's told, "Stand up right now. I'm just
a fellow servant with you," the angel says. Worship God.

That's what we do together. We're going to look at that even more deeply at the
end of this week. We worship God.

But for now, let me go on to verses 11 and 12, and a very important point
towards the end of the book of Revelation. 11 and 12 say this, "Let him who does
wrong continue to do wrong. Let him who is vile continue to be vile.

Let him who does right continue to do right. And let him who is holy continue to
be holy. Behold, I am coming soon.

My reward is with me, and I will give to everyone according to what he has done.
" Now, two questions out of these two verses. First, is this saying that God
does not want us to repent and change?

Let him who does wrong continue to do wrong? Is that what this is saying? Not at
all.

You can tell throughout the rest of the New Testament, God's call for us is to
repent, and he is willing to change our lives. No, this is not God saying, "This
is what I want you to do. " This is a warning.

It's a solemn warning that decision determines character and character
determines destiny. If I do wrong and continue to do wrong, it's going to go
with me all the way into eternity. But if I am holy because of what Jesus Christ
has done and continue to be holy because of what he is doing, that will continue
all the way into eternity.

And that's not the greater question, though, in these verses. The question that
many have is, "What does this mean about my reward is with me, and I'm going to
reward everyone according to what he has done? " Doesn't the Bible say that
we're rewarded according to what Jesus has done, not according to what we do?

Since Revelation is about judgment, as well as the new creation, I do not want
you to finish the book without being very clear on the subject of judgment and
how God is going to judge believer and unbeliever at the end of time. The Bible
tells us that there are two times of judgment at the end of the world. There's
the great white throne judgment, and there's what's called the Bema, B-E-M-A,
judgment.

The great white throne judgment, at this judgment, those who do not believe in
Christ will hear their final judgment, their sentencing of separation from God.
Those who trust in Christ, who've trusted in Christ in this world, will not face
this judgment, as we've talked about as we've gone through this book. Listen
closely to this.

Don't miss this. Because of what Jesus Christ has done for you, you will not
face this judgment. The moment you asked Christ to be your savior, that was
settled.

You've already passed, John 5. 24 tells us, you've already passed from death
into life. Now, if you're not sure that you've asked Jesus to save you, be sure
right now.

Ask him right now, "Jesus Christ, save me. Save me. I'm not depending on myself
and my works before you, so save me.

" So you will not be at this great white throne judgment. There is, however, a
judgment for believers that is different from this great white throne judgment.
It is called, has been called by people who study the Bible theologians over the
years, the Bema judgment.

It comes from 2 Corinthians 5. 10. Paul, writing to the believers in Corinth,
says, "For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, that each one
may receive what is due him for the things done while in the body, whether good
or bad.

" Bema is the Greek word that's translated judgment seat in these verses. This
isn't the great white throne judgment, this is the judgment seat of Christ
judgment. And it says here, to Christians, we must all appear before this
judgment.

That means me, that means you, every believer who's ever lived. This is not a
judgment as to whether or not you'll be in heaven for eternity. That's already
settled.

You're not at the great white throne judgment. This judgment is all about
rewards or the loss of rewards. I saw a great illustration of that when my kids
were in school, younger in elementary school.

I went to one of the kids' third grade elementary school class, end of the year
presentations, last day of school, and the parents joined all the children and
the teacher in the classroom, and she called it awards day. This is the day that
each child would be given an award for the learning they had accomplished and
the character they had exhibited during that year. The teacher, Mrs.

Rhodes was her name, pulled out a stool, she put it in front of the class, and
she asked each child one by one to come and sit in that chair to receive their
reward from their teacher. Now as she put that stool there, Mrs. Rhodes said,
"This is our awards chair.

" Actually, this is the same chair that was our test chair for the children's
final oral exams just last week, but today it's the awards chair. There's depth
in that picture. The tests that we face in this life, we all face them, when we
pass some and we don't pass others.

In the end, we're going to sit before Jesus and we're going to be awarded
according to what we've done and not done. This is a picture of the moment that
we stand before Jesus. We will be tested in the presence of Jesus, and what
we've built into our life that does not last, it'll be lost.

Our work will be tested, and then in the presence of all, we will be rewarded
for what we've done, for that which does last. And just as every child in that
class made their way to that chair that day, every one of us will be rewarded
for our faith. Now what does this look like?

I want you to understand this so you don't live in fear, you don't live in a
misapprehension of what might happen at the end. The clearest picture of how
this judgment for believers works is in 1 Corinthians 3, 10 to 15. Paul says
there, "By the grace that God has given me, I laid a foundation as an expert
builder, and someone else is building on it.

But each one should be careful how he builds, for no one can lay any foundation
other than the one which is already laid, which is Jesus Christ. If any man
builds on this foundation using gold, silver, costly stones, wood, hay, or
straw, his work will be shown for what it is, because the day, that's this
judgment seat day, the day will bring it to light. It will be revealed with
fire, and the fire will test the quality of each man's work.

If what he's built survives, he will receive his reward. But if it's burned up,
he will suffer loss, but he himself will be saved, but only as one escaping
through the flames. " Now notice what these verses say.

They say that what we've built into our lives that will last will be rewarded.
What we've built into our lives that will not last will be lost. And these
verses say very clearly that whatever our rewards are lost, our salvation is
secure.

This judgment is pictured as a fire, a fire that tests the quality of your work
of my work. Some things in our lives are like wood, hay, and straw. They get
burned up at the end.

They may look nice, even impressive, but they're not going to stand the test of
eternity. There are a lot of things in this world that will not last beyond this
world. That's absolutely obvious.

You have a lot of things in your life that won't last even this year. Now we all
need some of those things. You need a house over your head.

You need certain things to survive, but if I spend all of my time and energy in
getting a bigger house and more and more things, all I'm doing, if that's my
only motivation, all I'm doing is adding wood to the bonfire as I head into
eternity. Now even with a house, I can use it to influence people for good by
inviting the men or I can use it to impress people with how much I own to build
my pride. Even a house I can use to build something that lasts or I can use to
build only that which burns up.

In the end, we're going to see what's truly important. In the end, we're going
to be rewarded for what we've built into our lives that will last. Now somebody
asked me just this last week, are we going to be embarrassed in the presence of
Jesus at the judgment?

We all know that we could be, but that is not what this judgment is about. We
all know that we have done things and refuse to do things. We could be
embarrassed, but that's not the loss that's talked about here.

The loss isn't shame. The Bible tells us clearly we're going to stand unashamed
in his presence. And I believe those verses, the loss is the loss of potential
reward.

John five tells us we've already passed out of judgment into life. Romans eight
tells us there's therefore now no condemnation for those who in Christ Jesus. So
we do not give an account to God that will involve whether we're saved or not.

And we don't give an account to God that will result in a sense of condemnation
or shame. Yet here we've just seen the New Testament clearly tells us we're
going to have this accounting before God as believers. What does that mean?

It is an accounting that will result in rewards being given for how we've
invested our lives, for how you've invested your life. If you've invested in
that which will last, there's great reward in that. If you've invested in that
which will not last, it's burned away.

You're saved, so is through fire. So the motivation for the fact that I'm going
to sit at this judgment seat of Christ is not the motivation of am I going to
feel guilty? Or might I possibly be ashamed?

Because we'll all stand unashamed in his presence. The motivation is greater
glory to God by investing in that which will bring praise to him for all
eternity. Let's pray together.

Our father, as we pray, help us not to try to motivate ourselves by guilt or by
shame. Jesus, you've come, you've died to deal with our guilt, to take away our
shame. But neither let us live our lives as if this day is not going to happen.

Just building on our own selfishness. Let us not motivate our lives by pride or
by ego. We want to be motivated, Father, by the glory of God.

We want to be motivated by the reward of eternity. That doesn't go to us
selfishly, but that shines to you eternally. That's what we want our motivation
to be.

Let that be my motivation today, I pray. We ask this, Jesus, in your name. Amen.

Tomorrow, we're going to look together at the focus on Jesus in the book of
Revelation.