Faith
Wednesday February 6, 2013
Hartsville News Journal
Page 2C
FAITH COMMENTARY
"Works are Rewarded "

"Works are Rewarded" begins with you going to Revelation 4:11 (KJV) where you learn that God created you for His pleasure:

Thou art worthy, O Lord, to receive glory and honour and power: for thou hast created all things, and for thy pleasure they are and were created.

Additionally, it is your Works that lead to God being pleasured and the more you know about them, the more you can pleasure Him.

There are two kinds of Works, Good Ones, and Evil Ones. Good Works come from spending time with God while Evil Works come from the time you spend with Satan; irrespective of from where yours come, your reward is appropriate.

Looking back in time, Ephesians 2:10 (KJV) points to your workmanship, God creating you unto the Good Works of Jesus Christ and His desire that you walk in them:

For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them.

Knowing that WORKS ARE REWARDED leads to the knowledge that God created you in a way that allows you to spend time with whichever you choose, Satan, or Him. This makes sense; what other means does He have to find out who loves Him?

Recognizing that you have the choice of pleasuring either, 1 Corinthians 3:8 (KJV) shows that no matter which one you end up pleasuring, your mirror shows who to credit or blame:

Now he that planteth and he that watereth are one: and every man shall receive his own reward according to his own labour.

Deeds, whether Good or Evil, are both planted and watered by you and in Obadiah 1:15 (KJV) you see God appropriately rewarding you:

For the day of the LORD is near upon all the heathen: as thou hast done, it shall be done unto thee: thy reward shall return upon thine own head.

Understanding Good and Evil choices continues after a brief pause to check out Phonies, those whom, more often than not, choose Evil over Good. This is happening in Matthew 6:5 (KJV) where you see Christ dressing down a group of them for falsely praying to Him:

And when thou prayest, thou shalt not be as the hypocrites are: for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and in the corners of the streets, that they may be seen of men. Verily I say unto you, They have their reward.

This Seen of men grouping is easy to spot; they spend a lot of time on

 

 

 


 

radio and television begging you to call toll free numbers.

They are salespeople, selling you on joining their group in open prayer, prayer that God does not see as prayer; He sees it as a publicity stunt, one to fill their coffers with your hard-earned dollars.

Pretending to be helping you, they help themselves; God responds to this effort to bushwhack you when He says: They have their Reward!

And the next verse, Matthew 6:6 (KJV) gives an example of Good Works when it shows you being openly rewarded by God for praying secretly one on one to Him:

But thou, when thou prayest, enter into thy closet, and when thou hast shut thy door, pray to thy Father which is in secret; and thy Father which seeth in secret shall reward thee openly.

These two verses in Matthew are examples of Evil and Good Works while at the same time showing how God views them.

You being in charge mean you determine your own destiny and Proverbs 13:13 (KJV) shows two possible outcomes awaiting you:

Whoso despiseth the word shall be destroyed: but he that feareth the commandment shall be rewarded.

Destroyed, the first Reward is you being taken out of the picture while the other is you spending eternity with God.

Simple enough, WORKS ARE REWARDED and you determine your own.

Viewing Works from a different angle, James 5:20 (KJV) shows a Good Work’s opportunity available to you, one that when exercised shall hide a multitude of sins:

Let him know, that he, which converteth the sinner from the error of his way, shall save a soul from death, and shall hide a multitude of sins.

God hiding your sins is just as unexpected as it is a great Reward and what He offers here could easily be considered a Sin Eraser. He doing this shows how much He appreciates you, which converteth the sinner from the error of his way.

And when God rewards you, Matthew 10:42 (KJV) shows that you shall in no wise lose His Reward:

And whosoever shall give to drink unto one of these little ones a cup of cold water only in the name of a disciple, verily I say unto you, he shall in no wise lose his reward.

Saving a soul from death is giving to drink unto one of His little ones.

And while keeping this Reward addresses the Good and Worthy, Matthew 10:38 (KJV) addresses the Unworthy:

And he that taketh not his cross, and followeth after me, is not worthy of me.

Rewards or Unworthiness, which direction are your Works taking you? Do you avoid those that taketh not his cross and followeth after Christ?

It is a fact that WORKS ARE REWARDED but Revelation 22:12 (KJV) shows time short:

And, behold, I come quickly; and my reward is with me, to give every man according as his work shall be.

According as his Work shall be are your Works; they fall into one of two categories, Good or Evil and with Christ knocking at the door, you ask: Where do mine take me?

You now summarize and itemize your thoughts of Works, particularly as to how they relate to Satan and Christ:

First, Works come in two sizes, Evil and Good and you should also be aware

That your effort to attain Good Works requires that you allow for any influence that Satan may have on you.

Summarizing and itemizing also serve to remind you that helping to save a soul is Works of a special kind; they hide a multitude of sins.

You must also remember that the Works you obtain will never be lost; they stay with you throughout Eternity.

And lastly, God is on your side; He is cheering for you to overcome Evil from Satan’s with Good from Him.

Are you on a path of Works that makes others proud of you?

Do you see yourself helping save a Soul from Death?

How long has it been since your Works were inventoried?

 

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Pastor Billy Johnson can be reached by email at billy@lakeshorebible.info or viewed online at www.lakeshorebible.com