Turn and Live

Welcome to Tribe’s podcast. Hey. We just wanna say thank you for making this message a part of your week. Our prayer is that these messages will inspire you to make the name of Jesus famous in your life and to the uttermost bounds of the earth. If you’re ever in Jackson Hole, we’d love for you to visit our Tribe fam in person.

To learn more about us, you can find us online or at Facebook by searching tribejh.com. Glad that y’all are here with us this morning. I know you know this, but that connect card that’s in your seat, if you don’t receive the tribe text blast, you can fill that out. We let you know about upcoming events later when we worship the Lord. One additional way through our tithes and offerings, we’ll share some announcements with you.

But if you are on the text blast, then we send out that information to your cell phone. And the great way to get on that text blast list is to fill out that connect card. You can either leave it in your seat or in the box behind you. There’s also a place on the back to fill out a prayer request. And on Mondays at staff meeting, we pour over those prayer requests.

We lift them up. And so we consider it a great honor to be able to join our faith with your with yours in whatever it is that you’re going through. And so please avail yourself to the connect card. We are starting a series of conversations today that I’m hoping will go four weeks. K.

We’ll we’ll we’ll we’ll see. It really what? Yes. I’ve I I hope that can it really is up to you. If your if your if your head is dull and your heart is stubborn, then the Lord may have us camp out here for a while.

But let’s do this. Let’s make it, concise and poignant and powerful and really get all that the Lord has for us out of these series of conversations. What we’re gonna be talking about for the next couple of weeks, came out of part of a discussion that we had the last few weeks. So we were talking about the mark of ownership and identity, to whom do you belong. And part of something was said last week or two in a conversation that the Lord’s like, oh, oh, we’re going to pull on that thread some more.

Let’s finish our conversation about identity and then let’s talk about what what the holy spirit the holy spirit said, let’s talk about this next. And so I haven’t really said too much about this particular topic before. And so it’s not necessarily new territory for me, but it’s new teaching territory for me. And what we’re going to talk you’re like, alright. Just tell us already.

I’ll get there. I’ll get there. I’ll get there. This is the preamble. Okay?

So so what we’re going to talk about, I’m sure that even the most like even Joe Rogan would know this. Right? And Joe Rogan is like, I don’t know about all this God stuff. But we’re going to we’re going to talk about this life and we’re gonna talk about the next life. We’re gonna talk about judgment.

We’re going to talk about heaven. We’re going to talk about hell. And my prayer is that as we dive into this series of conversations that several things would happen. Number one, it may fill in I’m praying that it will fill in some foundation stones in your biblical theology and your understanding of eternity that is based not on what you think or what the movies say or what Dante’s Inferno has taught us or Renaissance paintings, but what the Bible has to say. And that it will calibrate our perspective for eternity as we consider rewards that are being stored up for us based upon how we live this life.

So the the title of this series of conversations that we’re going to have is called a full reward. My prayer for you is that you would receive a full reward. So that’s the title of this series of conversations that we’re gonna have and the title of today’s conversation is so we’re on week one. The title of today’s conversation is Turn and Live. Turn and Live.

So let’s get into God’s word together and we’re going to turn to a small book in the New testament called first John. And you cheaters who pull it up on your phone, you don’t actually have to, like, scratch around and look for it. There you go. I like the pages rustling. And Chris Bates has got his bible with the little built in tabs.

That’s really nice. The rest of us with our manual bibles, we’re gonna have to flip around for it. If you’re getting to James, you’re getting really close. If you get to Peter, you’re really close. And then you’ll probably get over to the book of Revelation.

No. That that that too far. Hang a left just a little bit, and we’re going to look at second John. Oh, right. Yeah.

Sorry. Second John. That was, I was trying to, like, walk you in. So if you found first John, you’re really close. Oh, so second.

So second John. Sorry. Sorry. Sorry. Second John.

And we’re just going to look at we’re gonna look at one verse. And here’s what’s great. This is a place where you are welcome and invited to turn to the front of your Bible to the table of contents and be like, I don’t where’s that one? Every Bible has a table of contents in it where the books are listed in order of their appearance in the Bible. And so don’t ever be afraid.

In fact, I love to see when people turn to the front of their Bibles and be like, wait, where is that? On my Bible, it’s on page 1,001. It’s fine. Oh, it’s so good. That won’t be distracting for me at all for everybody’s phone to go off.

So years ago years ago, Lisa and I were leading children’s ministry at a large church and Lisa would go to the different children’s ministry environments and lead and teach worship and, she you didn’t you didn’t, like, create. You adapted, the books of the Bible song. And just a few weekends ago, we were at a wedding in Oklahoma. And the people that we were sitting across the table from, they were like, I still sing that song as I’m trying to find books of the Bible. So it will be helpful to you.

Second John one eight. I have it up here on the screen as well, but I will read it for you. John is speaking, and he says this. Watch out that you do not lose what some translations say you, other translations say we, have worked so hard to achieve. Be diligent so that you will receive your full reward.

Let’s this is our this is our touchstone. This is our our key verse for this series. Watch out that you don’t lose what we have worked so hard to achieve. Let’s start by asking and answering a couple of important questions. So the idea of lose, think of it in terms of spiritual growth and maturity and progress.

Similar to fitness benefits as a result of being diligent in working out. Lose. If you don’t go to the gym, it’s not like you lose your ability to walk and run and climb upstairs. Like, you’re like, oh no, I didn’t go to the gym. Well, I’ve lost the ability to walk.

That that’s not that’s not exactly what this verse is saying. Although it certainly can apply to salvation. Watch out that you do not lose. The idea is think in terms of spiritual maturity and fitness. If you stop going to the gym, if you stop working out, you lose physical fitness.

Your physical fitness declines. And so when John is speaking, the we is apostles. The the think of the five fold ministry. Apostles that are establishing a work, prophets that are are pointing you towards God, evangelists that have shared the gospel with you. You’ve invited Jesus into your heart, made him the leader of your life.

The pastor is who shepherds you and coaches you and encourages you. And then the teacher is the one who’s opening up God’s word and helping you to see it accurately. So that’s the collective we, generally. Specifically, Paul John John and the network of churches that he kind of fathered, that he was over is exhorting people. That we have worked so hard.

We have labored to encourage you. We have taught you. We have worked to see you get set free and healed and delivered. And then be diligent so that you receive your full reward. If we look at just the grammar, there’s an implication here in terms of full reward.

What is the implication? What is not said about this idea of that you would receive a full key word being full reward? What do you think? What’s the implication? You could receive a partial reward?

You’ll miss out. I would I would invite you to say it one more time using this word. Yes. You Yes. Yes.

So so, yes. You’re exactly right. That that all that he has for you. Yes. Is it possible to be saved and receive no reward?

Have any of you you don’t need to, like, raise your hand or respond to me. This is for you to consider. Have any of you even thought about in your Christian life rewards? So many Christians stop at salvation. And if you never did anything more, come on Passover song, that would be enough.

Dayenu, that would be enough. Salvation, eternity that starts now in fellowship and communion and right relationship with Jesus is reward enough is what so many preachers have taught us over the years. And that is great, wonderful, awesome, valid, and true. But the bible speaks of reward in addition to beyond just salvation. Because can would it make sense that somebody is sort of saved?

No. It’s binary. You are either saved and all of you that need saving get saved, or you’re not saved. So reward has to do with more than just salvation. Okay.

If you don’t hear anything else, listen to to this. Every moment matters when forever is your measure. Every moment, this side of eternity matters when forever eternity is your measure. We go back to this verse, Sila. Let’s talk about this word reward.

Let’s look at the Greek really quickly to see what the definition of the word is, and then let’s talk about what is that reward. So the definition, the Greek word for reward is that of wages due to a worker. Sometimes we think of reward as above and beyond and like I wanna reward you with a special treat. And we think of it as as addition to or something above and beyond or or or special or maybe even undeserved. I want to give you a reward for just showing up to the track meet.

That’s a participation trophy. And they don’t do those in heaven, just so you know. That’s bad parenting. A reward, according to the Greek, is wages that are due to a worker for goods delivered or services rendered or a day’s worth of work. And they are always in proportion to the work done by the worker.

You Are you This this is your tracking so far. Right? Okay. Okay. Here’s a question for you.

Beyond salvation, when John says that you would be diligent so that you will receive a full reward, what is that reward? Now we have defined the word, but what is John talking about? I’d love to hear your thoughts. What is John talking about when he says your full reward? What’s that reward?

I don’t have a lot, but I think about crowns when I think about talking about heavenly rewards. It’s kinda what pops up when I think of anything that’s heavenly eternity rewards. Okay. Crowns. We’ll we’ll talk about those more maybe today, but certainly soon.

So crowns. Fruits of the spirit. I’m I’m considering it. I would say that fruits of the spirit are part of the package deal when we invite Jesus into our heart, make him the leader of our life and we get saved. Yeah.

Yeah. Here. Let’s, let’s give you the mic. The reason why we use the mic, I know that we could hear your voice here in the living room, but for all of our families that tune into the live stream, they get to participate with us when they hear your contribution. So I was thinking, basically, your reward is I don’t like my I don’t like what I was thinking now.

I was gonna say it’s like full sanctification, but now I’m just like, don’t wanna go that route at all. Okay. It’s because you’re supposed to be fully sanctified once you get to heaven. Okay. So Work it out.

Work it out. So like, what if someone didn’t get their full reward? Does that wouldn’t work. So Yeah. Because the person’s fully saved.

Yeah. I thank you for allowing us into your brain for just a moment. And as you were thinking these things, you’re editing and considering this is what I love about this format of how we are doing church for this season that God has called us to. Because it there’s an invitation for all of us to deeply consider thing especially if you’ve been going to church, reading your bible, and been to Sunday school, and don’t want us, and all those things are great. They have their place.

But, like, wait a minute. What do I really mean? Continue to collect your thoughts and let’s hear from Janet. That’s great. Thank you for your contribution.

For me, I think it would just be the fullness of his presence. The relationship, the the sweet aroma, the fragrance of heaven, the relationship in participating in in what he’s doing. His the fullness being able to enjoy the fullness of his presence. That’s something. That’s something.

I mean, that’s what I’m excited about. Hey, let those people in. They’re like peeking in the door like, am I even in the right place? The fullness so being able to enjoy the fullness of his presence. No.

Were they just solicitors? And what did they leave? It’s not for everybody. Adam, go chase them down. Leave the 99.

Drag them. And drag them back in. Come upstairs. Come upstairs. Kinda they’re like, oh, they’re they’re gonna run.

Hey. We do two services nine and eleven. You were probably trying to come to the ten. Amanda’s like, let me go help that. European chest touch.

Yes. Joy. Okay. So real time thought, so you might have to poke holes in this. But what if it were like a travel credit card?

Where a travel credit credit card? Credit card. So when you get the card, you have the card, and you can use it. But there’s all these benefits that come with the card, like, you know, like a a travel credit that you can use or you can get discounts at certain places or shop at certain places. So your full reward is if you use all the benefits that come with that, or you could just have the reward, which is the credit card, and have access to that.

Okay. Just a thought. So so let’s say that one of the binnies of this particular credit card is, discount purchases at whatever store. In your analogy, are you able to access those discounts using that card at the point of sale purchase in on this side or the other side of eternity? Both this side.

I don’t know. I don’t understand that question. We’ve smelled joy. Oh oh, you did the it’s a okay. So so, so you can use the card.

Uh-huh. That, you know, it’s kinda like baseline, like, privilege of that contract. But then you talk about other benefits being available. Are those benefits available on this side or, I’m asking you, would you say that those benefits are available on this side of eternity or the next? Oh, both.

So I think that you can, like, access like, if we’re saying, like, full relationship like Janet was saying, like, there’s there’s all the different benefits that you can access now in your relationship with God as well as And that’s a little bit what Gretchen was saying. After today. Fruit of the spirit Yeah. And after. And after there’s the fullness in heaven of all the things too.

Right. Okay. I’m picking up what you’re putting down. Let’s go to Jay right here and then okay. When I think of reward, I think of, like, the parable of the wedding feast, and I think about proximity to, like, the wedding.

Like, there’s a difference between, like, attending a wedding and being, like, in the bridal party, and just, like, how close you are, like, the sons of thunder and, like, sitting at the left and right hand of the throne. And and then I don’t know if you wanna get into, like, the first resurrection, but that’s another thing that I think of as well. Okay. Okay. So, proximity and similar to what Janet said, the fullness of his presence.

So proximity, and and then you said the, you you you said the term first resurrection. That’s a big bible thing, but we’re actually going to talk about that. So very good. Kat? I do.

I’ll be quick. Okay. I’m going for the more, like, tangible reward, I think. I think we’ll have houses and I think we’ll have places to go to and I think there’s a an economy in heaven. So I think but remember, it’s always an upside down kingdom.

So if you are a person who has a mansion in this life, that doesn’t necessarily necessarily mean you’ll have a little house in the next life because it’s based on your heart. So the lowly, those I think have the potential as long as their heart is trusting in Jesus and what they’ve done in this life might have the mansion on the hill in the heavenly realm and have a greater position in the economy of heaven and in the kingdom ship of heaven. So I think tangibly that’s gonna be reflected in heaven, but it’s an upside down kingdom. Here’s what I like about your answer. Presents, fullness, fruits of the spirit, while tangible and experiential, they may not be quantifiable.

Your answer says there’s got to be something quantifiable, And you are more onto where we’re going than maybe you realize. Quantifiable. Jamie’s affirming nod like well done. Let me take a different approach. Why not?

Temporal. Oh. My full reward is eternal life. Might there be less than full reward? Just a little eternal life?

Oh. Less than eternal life? Oh. You did you you merited a thousand years in his presence. You merited ten thousand years in his presence.

A more more of a reward. And you merited eternity, full reward in his presence. So I like that you’re thinking similar to Cat. There’s got to be some type of quantifiable measurement of reward. And you both are are like knocking around the same tree.

Is that an expression? Okay. Okay. Okay. I was gonna say that isn’t his love immeasurable though?

Okay. So we’ve we end up we’ve said this a lot in several different ways. That the full reward is God’s love, God’s presence, being with Him forever. It’s great, wonderful, awesome. But that’s not what Jesus is talking about and what the Bible says, fully.

Paul says to be absent from the body is to be present with the Lord. There’s my full reward. There’s more to it. This is why so many Christians be bop along. Well, I’m a forgiven sinner.

The Bible says that the righteous man falls down seven times, but he gets back up and I’m just gonna keep trying and and someday in the sweet by and by, I’ll get to be with the Lord forever and that’s it. But but many in the church will be shocked when he says, alright. You’re in my presence. You’ve run the race marked out for you. Now it’s time to talk about rewards.

Many Christians will find themselves with their jaw on the streets paved with gold. Reward? I thought love. I thought being in your presence. I thought proximity was he goes, no.

No. No. We’re talking about something quantifiable. John understood this, which is why he said imagine if you just took out that word. If you took out that one word full, make sure that you receive your reward.

Oh, salvation. And you talked about sanctification. I have been saved. I am being saved. And someday, I will be saved.

All of those are true. If that word full were removed, we would be having a very different conversation. But that word is in there and it’s in there for a reason. And this is what we’re gonna be talking about for the next couple of weeks. And this must be why the Holy Spirit wants us to talk about it because our answers are a little bit head scratchy.

One moment. Here’s another question. When do we receive our measure of reward? When does that happen? Okay.

So seeing how your answers were good and all over the place at the the first question that I threw out. Let me just share a couple of verses with you. Reward happens at judgment. Let’s look at some verses. Hebrews chapter nine verse 27.

This is your answer to reincarnation. Just as each person is destined to die. How many times? Once you get one shot at this life, you don’t get another chance at this life. You get one shot.

Just as each person is destined to die once, after that, what’s the next thing that comes? Judgment. Now, I gotta throw a little bit of a, think of a a table that has four legs and the ground is nice and flat and it sets nice and smooth and there’s no wobbly. Anybody ever sit at a restaurant table where the table is wobbly and you’re like, it’s really hard to enjoy the whole meal? Well, I need to destabilize the table just a little bit because our minds are finite and for right now, we are moving through time linearly.

And so, we try to impose our linear progression of time into a realm that exists outside of space and time. So timeline questions when it comes to the realm of the kingdom of heaven, we quickly the table goes like this. And so so you need to be okay with a little bit of with the table. Okay? Because Hebrews nine twenty seven, just as each person is destined to die once and after that okay.

So there’s some sequence to orders, after that comes judgment. But how long after? Just let that sit in your heart for a second. Another verse, second Corinthians ten five. Write these down.

Yes. Exactly. That’s my list exia. For we must all, every man, woman, child regardless of race, creed, religion, ethnicity, country of origin, socioeconomic background, period of history that you lived in, that Greek word for all means everybody. For we must all stand before Christ to be judged.

How about this? What about the person that doesn’t believe in God or believe in Jesus? Are they included in that? Yes. You’ve heard me say this before.

It’s like standing on the edge of a tall building and saying, that’s great that you believe in gravity. That’s great for you. I’m so happy that you found your truth. I don’t believe in gravity, And then step off the edge of the building. What happens to that person?

Gravity. Judgment. Yes. Judgment. Every single person will stand before Jesus to be judged.

And then look, this has been in your bible the whole time. We will each receive whatever we deserve, wages earned, for the good or the evil that we have done in this earthly body. And you may have read that verse one quadrillion times and, receive whatever we deserve. Like, oh, yeah. Well, I deserved hell, but then I invited Jesus into my heart and so I got saved.

And so what I deserve is heaven, proximity, closeness, intimacy, like, ah, can you smell the reward fragrance in the words of this verse? Paul understood this concept of reward, quantifiable reward. So when a person, when their blood pump stops working, And you leave this life, as Paul says, to be absent from the bodies, to be present with the Lord. You will stand before God in judgment. Now there are two different types of judgment.

We’re going to talk about one type of judgment today, the next type of judgment next week. Unless Jesus comes back and then we’ll just we’ll find out. You can’t go back yet. I gotta find out the other kind of judgment. Just come back and he’ll sort it out.

So in order to get to the good news, we have to talk about the sobering truth that may not be such good news to everyone. We’re gonna look at just a few verses really quickly about judgment for those who have not received Jesus as their savior in this life. And this, be careful not to be like, oh, yeah, to race ahead. Oh, yeah. I I know this.

I know where it’s going. Like, hopefully, you’ve already proven to yourself that you may not have an accurate biblical understanding of rewards, so don’t race ahead when we talk about judgment. Let’s look at Revelation chapter 20. These are such great verses for you to write down and then to come back and meditate on, chew on, consider. Revelation chapter 20 verse twelve and thirteen, this is powerful and sobering.

John, same guy that we just read from is speaking. And then I saw the dead, both great and small, standing before God’s throne. And the books were opened, including the book of life. So there are multiple books. Oh, there’s a passage in Psalms, maybe, Where he’s where David is talking and he’s like, all of my days before I ever lived one were recorded in your book.

Did you know there’s a book of your life with all of the things that God has planned for you to do? Not what you actually did, but what he has planned for you to do. That book will be open. The Lamb’s book of life will be opened. And God’s going to have his glasses down on the end of his nose and be like, let’s see.

Nathan r Johnson. The books were opened including the book of life. And the dead were judged according to what they had done as recorded in the books. There’s what’s recorded about your life, and then there’s how you lived your life. And there is a the accounting word is reconcile.

The books will be reconciled. You’ll either come out in the credit, reward, or in the debit. The sea gave up its dead, and death, and the grave gave up their dead, and all were judged according to their deeds. Let’s look at Matthew chapter 25. I’m gonna go ahead and read this.

You may not have time unless you have really fast fingers. Matthew chapter 25 verse 31 through 34 says this, but when the son of man comes in his glory and all the angels with him, then he will sit upon his glorious throne. Separate people as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. He will place the sheep at his right hand and the goats at his left. Then the king will say to those on his right, come, you who are blessed by my father.

Inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the creation of the world. Reward. Skip down to verse 41, which is gonna be up here. Then the king will turn to those on his left and say, away with you, cursed ones, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his demons. Sheep and goats.

And then what is the third category that Jesus mentioned in the verse that we just read? Sheep, we can go back to that verse real quickly. Sheep, goats, and tell me if you see a third category. It’s a little bit of a trick question. Sheep, goats, and what other animal does he name?

None. Who is it your question? Sheep and goats. And none. But not n u n, n o n e.

Grammar is important. None. You are either a sheep or a goat. I don’t know how much familiarity you have with livestock. Listen, I spent two and a half months in Mongolia several years ago, and there would be these huge flocks of animals bouncing along out in the the high step.

And the sheep and the goats all were mingled together. The shepherd with great skill could go through the through the herd and shepherd separate the sheep from the goats. The goats got tied up and milked. The sheep still got to wander around, but their time was coming because they were gonna get sheared later. But the shepherd never ever ever confused a sheep with a goat.

And in those herds, there was never any other third kind of animal. So what about the person that chooses to opt out of religion and adherence to or belief in God or Jesus. Do they fit into a third category? No. No one escapes being one or the other.

A sheep or a goat. The sheep get placed on one side, the goats get placed on the other side. And where do the goats go? Verse we can go to verse 41. Those who have rejected Jesus, those who have denied Jesus, those who have not invited Jesus into their heart, made him the leader of their life, they will be separated.

And on His left, He will say, away with you, you cursed ones, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his demons. Does that seem very nice or fair about Jesus? Oh, fair. Fair, but maybe not very nice. You gotta grab a hold of this truth.

Let it rattle your bones to the core. And you can you have you will have no capacity to even conceive of reward if you do not shake and tremble at this. Verse 46. And they will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous will go into eternal life. Jesus makes it super duper clear.

The Bible says that when he started his earthly public ministry, his first word was repent, turn, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand. Matthew chapter 23 verse 33, Jesus is ripping the Pharisees up one side and down the other. Snakes, sons of vipers, how will you escape the judgment, there’s that word, of hell? What is hell? In the Greek original written down language that we have the New Testament, the word there is Gehenna.

Now, maybe you’ve heard this preached, that there is a valley outside of Jerusalem called Gehenna. And what have you heard preached before happened in the Valley Of Gehenna? It was the city’s trash pile. And everybody in the old city, well just then it was called the city of Jerusalem, would take all their trash and refuse and, you know, dead carcasses and everything, and they would take it out to this trash pile in the Gehenna Valley and burn it. And it was always burning and nasty place.

If you’ve ever been to a landfill, how pleasant that smells, but imagine on top of that burning garbage. And that’s what’s been preached, and I almost preached that until I was like, let’s let’s do a little more investigating. That actually came about about a thousand years, a a a, a teacher who that teaching caught traction and but it was about a thousand years after the days of Jesus. But it’s not completely void. There is some significance to that valley.

That valley in the book of second Kings is where Israel would sacrifice their children in fire to the god Molech. So while in Jesus’s day when he said, how will you escape the judgment of hell? His readers would have heard him say, Gehenna thought of the Valley Of Gehenna. They might not have thought of a burning trash pile, but they certainly would have connected the historical significance of that valley. Death, suffering, fire, burning, and the loss of life.

Similar to how we think of, if I were to say the name Gettysburg. Oh, war. Oh, okay. If I were to say, Dachau, Auschwitz, those names of cities in Germany are synonymous with awful dark times. That’s that’s the intended meaning behind Jesus’s words.

So will you go back to verse 41 of Matthew 25, Selah? This is pretty intense of Jesus to say. What about that song that we all sang in Sunday school? Jesus loves the little children, the little children of the world. That’s the Jesus that we like.

We do not like Judge Jesus, who is the arbiter that every person will stand before and give an account for their life. Those who have not been found in the Lamb’s Book of Life, which we will talk about next week. We’re spending so much time on this because you have to understand that a judgment judgment is binary. There’s no, like, well, let’s see if your good works outweighed your bad works. Salvation is not determined by your works.

If you like that, which is very appealing, you may want to, become either a Buddhist, or Muslim. Muslim that could be a good option for you. You get to walk at judgment. You get to walk the sword of Allah. And if your good works outweigh your bad work, yeah, you know, I messed up but did some things.

But then, you know, I drove a Tesla and I recycle and, you know, I tried to do all this good stuff. Well, then you fall on on the side of the sword into eternal life. Oh, yes. Do you mind differentiating between deeds and works? Deeds and works.

Same. Deeds and works are synonyms. Okay. Yes. Right.

So there’s salvation and there’s rewards. Our salvation is not based upon anything that we can do to earn it. And and as good Protestant Christians, we’re pretty familiar with that. For it is by grace that you have been saved, not by works so that no man can boast. However, our reward is based upon the works that we did in comparison to what was written down about our life.

And if you’re like, I’m a little confused. That’s why we’re gonna spend a couple of weeks talking about this. I’m gonna land the plane with this. If this seems harsh and brutal and savage and maybe even unfair or dare I say mean spirited of God, I want you to hear the heart of God in these last few verses. God will not compromise his justice and His righteousness at the expense of His love for you.

Look at these just last verse. They all kind of go together. Ezekiel chapter 18, God is speaking directly about Israel, but it’s for us today. Ezekiel eighteen twenty three, and this is the great thing about having, not an electronic Bible, but an acoustic Bible, is you can actually, like, underline this on the paper in your Bible. You’ve got to underline this verse.

Ezekiel eighteen twenty three, God is speaking and He says, do you think I like to see wicked people die? Says the sovereign Lord, of course not. I want them to turn from their wicked ways and live. Turn from your rebellion. Look at Ezekiel eighteen twenty oh wait.

I’ll wait for the ink to come into your pen so that you can underline that. Now let’s look at this next one. Ezekiel eighteen thirty two. I don’t want you to die. Be a goat separated on his left.

Face the fires of hell. I don’t want that for you, is what God is saying. Says the sovereign Lord, turn back and live. Can you hear the Father’s heart of love as he chooses love, but not at the expense of righteousness and justice. And then the last one, Ezekiel thirty three eleven.

As surely as I live, says the sovereign Lord, I take no pleasure in the death of wicked people. I only want them to turn from their wicked ways so they can live. Turn from your wickedness. As we said before, every moment matters when forever is your measure. This is a question for you to consider and answer.

The Bible says there’s no other name in heaven and on earth by which men may call upon and be saved. So before we talk about reward, we have to talk about judgment. And when we talk about judgment, Jesus makes it super clear. There are sheep and there are goats. Goats are those who have rejected the free gift of forgiveness of their sin.

Therefore, they must stand before a holy God and give an account of their life based upon their own merit. And that’s like having a friend over for breakfast and say, I’m gonna make I’m gonna make you an omelet for breakfast. Sounds delicious. Thank you. You crack the first egg into the omelet and it’s delicious and it gets scrambled up.

You crack the second egg into the omelet, scramble it up. It’s delicious. You crack the third egg into the omelet and that egg has gone bad and it reeks of sulfur. Well, if I crack another good egg, surely the three good eggs will outweigh the one sulfury ick egg. Would you eat that omelet?

In the same way, if you think that you will be able to stand before a holy God, give an account of your life, and trying to, litigate, be your own rep you can be your own representative in this court of law of heaven, but it doesn’t matter how good of a litigator you are. You will be separated and put on God’s left hand as a goat because you lack one thing, the righteousness that God is looking for that is only applied by the blood of His son, son Jesus. So are you are you a sheep or are you a goat? It’s binary. Are you a sheep or are you a goat?

And if you’re like, I’m I view if you have you’ll have one of three answers. One, I’ve not invited Jesus into my heart, asked him to forgive my sin. I’m a goat and now you know it. Or maybe you’re like, I’m not quite sure if I’m a sheep or a goat. Never really thought about it.

Gone to church a long time but never really thought about it. The third category is, oh yeah, I’m a sheep. I fall into ditches at times and I get lost. I’m a sheep. Well, how many of you know the last date on your calendar before you go to judgment.

None of us know that. If you’re like, well, either I don’t know or I am I guess I’m a goat. Never gotten saved, but I’ll do that later. What it what? You really think that you have more time?

How do you know? You don’t. So let’s do that. Let’s let let’s land the plane with what Ezekiel says, turn and live. So I’m curious if there’s anybody in here that would today want to make a, we’ll call it a public profession.

Maybe like in the stillness of your heart, maybe you’ve like kind of said, but I’m not quite sure. Oliver, what is your birth date and year? He knows it. Good job. All of you know your birthday.

But do you know your spiritual birthday when you went from being a goat to a sheep? Chris knows his. I mean, I don’t know the the date and the time, but I remember as a sophomore in high school when I went from being a goat to a sheep. I invited Jesus into my heart. And so maybe there’d be somebody here that’s like, well I don’t I don’t know.

Without making it a big deal, why don’t we take this moment as an opportunity, as a public profession, to let the whole world know and to settle in your heart, I wanna invite Jesus into my heart so that so that I I would not face the eternal fires of Gehenna, but that I would be on his right hand where he says, come you who are blessed by my father and inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the creation of the world. So sometimes this can be an emotional moment, but let’s let’s dial down the emotion for just a moment. I know that the two of you are playing and playing beautifully to create this moment, but, yes, let’s do that. And without making it I need to resolve. Let’s resolve maybe some eternal business in your heart.

If there’s anybody in here that has either you’re not sure or you’re like, I by the conviction of the Holy Spirit, I’ve been living as a goat. I wanna be a sheep. I wanna invite Jesus into my heart. Would you just, stand up, and then we will pray together, and you can get that aspect of your life and heart settled? Maybe there’s nobody in here that needs to, but let’s just see if anybody does need to.

Here’s an indication that you might not be sure and or the Holy Spirit is prompting you, is if you if you’re like, I’m feeling some feels right now and my heart is beating out of my chest. That is the Holy Spirit. That is the word of God, the logos of God becoming the Rhema, the living word of God in your heart, where God is pleading with your heart. He’ll not violate your free will, but he is pleading with you. I want you to turn from your wicked ways and live.

Turn back and live. I only want you to turn from your wicked ways so that you can live. This particular moment door of opportunity will close soon. I’m just curious. What I’m about to say is, alright, door closed.

Hope you get another chance. I don’t know about your future. It may sound harsh, but I’m about to say those words. Okay. Door closed.

Hope you get another chance. For these next couple of weeks, beyond judgment in the fires of hell, we’re going to be focused on reward. Not just salvation, but reward. But we have to lay this groundwork first. Let me finish with a quote from C.

S. Lewis and then we will worship the Lord one other way. I appreciate your patience this morning. C. S.

Lewis says, if you read history, you will find that Christians who did the most for the present world were just those who thought the most about the next. The apostles themselves who set foot on the conversion of the Roman Empire, the great men who built up the Middle Ages, the English evangelicals who abolished the slave trade, all left their mark on earth precisely because their minds were occupied with heaven. It is since Christians have largely ceased to think of the other world that they have become so ineffective in this. Lord, help us. Help us to remember that every moment matters when forever is our measure.

Help us to be mindful of the reward that awaits us. You take just a moment, talk to him. This last part of worshiping the Lord with our tithes and offerings, normally I have Connor or Amanda come up here. But since I’m here to be fastidious with our time, let’s just roll into this and maybe you’re right in the middle of being unraveled about something that we were talking about. The Holy Spirit can continue to unravel you as we move on with just one more part of our worship service this morning.

And that is bringing a portion of our hard earned finances to surrender to him as a tithe and or an offering. We talked about this that at Tribe we believe that bringing tithes to our local church is a way of telling the Lord that we love Him and that we trust Him. Isn’t it cool the reciprocal nature of a relationship with God? He gives to us, we give to Him. He gives to us, we give to Him.

We give to Him a little and He overflows our cup. So when we bring our tithes and offering it’s an expression of telling the Lord, I love you and I trust you. Let’s pray over the offering and then I’ll share how most people give here at Trident. Lord Jesus, thank you, thank you, thank you. Not on my own merit or as Corrie was pointing out the difference between works and deeds.

There’s nothing I can do to earn my salvation or work at achieving my salvation. It is a free gift from you when we just ask you. All we have to do is turn from our wickedness and you say, I got you. Thank you. Thank you.

Thank you. It is out of love that we bring an expression of love with our tithes and our and our offerings. It is also a way of telling you that we trust you to take care of all of our needs according to your riches and glory, which are found in Jesus. So God I ask that you would receive these tithes and offerings. You would use them to make your name famous.

Here at Tribe, in Jackson Hole, the surrounding region, and to the uttermost balance of the earth. We pray these things in Jesus’ name, and everybody said, amen. You can give through that little, wooden box that’s in the corner there. There’s also a black box outside where you can drop, cash or a check, even Bitcoins. We’re still accepting those.

Right, Chris? Yep. You can put those in there. You can give through our website, tribe j h dot com. But a lot of people are generous with their ties through this text to give number, (833) 369-7847.

And you can follow the instructions right there. Few things that I wanna draw your attention to. The main thing is this, Look on the fridge, as you leave. All the important things in a family happen on the refrigerator. And so same with us here at Tribe.

Just check the fridge. Wednesday, August 6, we are going to help prep and serve a meal at the Good Samaritan Mission. That’s 04:30 for food prep, and then we serve and then clean up. And that is a great way that is a great way to serve our local community is by providing a meal for those that don’t have any food in their belly or a place to lay their head. Wednesday, August 6, and then we’re gonna do it again August 20.

Please sign up for that. Sunday, August 17, a big Sunday, we’re gonna do church in the park. How many of you have been to a church service that we’ve done at Powder yeah, not the park Grand Teton, but Powderhorn right in town. It is a really it’s a really fun Sunday. This is gonna be a Sunday to do two things, bring your soccer mom chair and invite a friend.

Okay? We’ll do church service outside, not your soccer mom friend, but a soccer chair and well, I guess it could be a soccer mom. You can invite a soccer mom if you’d like. I’m a soccer mom. You’re a soccer mom.

I’ll invite you. You’re invited. Sunday, August 17, and then we’ll do a little picnic afterwards, and then we’re gonna go down to the Snake River for a baptism. So I remember Adam, he got baptized in the Snake River. You got baptized in, like, a warm spring.

Yeah. Yeah. Smart. But it was also really cold. We’ve done baptisms in Flat Creek before.

This, we’re gonna do a baptism as, in Snake River, Well, you got baptized in that warm water too. It was the Snake River. Okay. The sheen says Oh, we’re doing it at Flat Creek. Oh, right here.

After the chart. Okay. Thank you. Yes. I should read my own announcements.

We can always change it, but it’ll be easy for everyone to just go from Powderhorn right over to Garmin Park. Yes. Oh, my gosh. That’s so smart. It’s almost like we thought about it.

Wow. What an incredible team. So if you’re if you’ve never been water baptized and you would like to be water baptized, would you come visit me after service today and or reply to that text blast message that you get from (307) 690-5053. Just say, I’m interested in getting water baptized. That is wonderful and amazing.

And then there are other events, but I invite you to look at the refrigerator. Sign up, please sign up. Let’s do this together as a family. Did I get everything? The Jews on the square?

Yes. Today, 5PM, for over two years now. Six hundred and seven days since the terrorist attack in Israel on October 7, where where hundreds of innocent Israeli citizens were brutally murdered, and some were captured and taken into as hostages being held in underground tunnels in Gaza. And they are still there, and as long as they’re there, I will stand with Israel calling for the release of those hostages and reminding the world that there are still families and loved ones that are separated from from the world, being held in tunnels like caged animals. And so the Jewish community here in Jackson, once a month, the first Sunday of every month, they gathers they gather on the town square calling for the release of their Jewish brothers and sisters in Israel.

And the church is invited, the big c church is invited because God says those who bless Israel, I will bless. By blessing, it doesn’t mean a total blanket carte blanche support of everything that’s happened. The situation is complicated. Israel is not perfect, but God’s mandate is super clear, undisputed in scripture. And so as a tribe family, you are invited to come down to the town square.

That’s today at 5PM. And, you can come with questions, you can come with curiosity, and you’re invited to come show your support for the Jews in this community as they stand for the Jews around the world. Okay? Would you now stand so I can pray for you, bless you, and get you out of here so that the 11AM service can have their toes dangled over the hell fires of hell as well. Next.

Lord Jesus, thank you so much for the free gift of salvation that you’ve offered us. Help us to live our lives with eternal reward in mind. I command a blessing over each and every person here today. Lord, I ask that you would that you would speak to them about baptism. You would speak to them about eternal war reward, and you would help them to live their lives to make your name famous.

We pray these things in Jesus’ name, the strong Son of God. And everybody said, I love you so very much. Have a great week. And remember, you got this.