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REWARDS FROM GOD
A. Introduction: When Jesus was on earth He called people to follow Him (imitate Him, copy His example).
And He told them to learn from Him. The Sermon on the Mount is the lengthiest New Testament record of
what Jesus taught (Matt 6, 7, 8). We’ve been discussing it for several weeks and have more to say tonight.
1. Jesus delivered the sermon to mostly Jewish people who, based on the writings of the Old Testament
prophets, were expecting God to establish His visible, eternal kingdom on earth. Dan 2:44; Dan 7:27
a. In His sermon Jesus made specific statements about the kind of people who qualify for God’s
kingdom. Jesus told His audience that to enter the Kingdom of Heaven, their righteousness had to
exceed that of the Scribes and Pharisees, their religious leaders.
b. The audience understood the word righteousness to mean right actions. The Pharisees and Scribes
had an outer righteousness (right actions), but according to Jesus their motives were unrighteous.
1. These men did their righteous acts to be seen and praised by men, rather than desiring that God
be glorified in all that they did. They had a self-focused rather than a God-focused religion.
2. Jesus will later say about these leaders: Everything they do is for show…they love to sit at the
head table at banquets and in the most prominent seats in the synagogue. They enjoy the
attention they get on the streets, and they enjoy being called rabbi (Matt 23:5-7, NLT).
2. In His sermon Jesus used three examples of righteous (right) acts (giving to the poor, prayer, and fasting)
to address the need for righteous or right motives—desiring to glorifying and please God. Matt 6:1-18
a. Jesus said that the religious leaders performed these actions to be seen and praised by men. He told
His followers to give, pray, and fast in secret where only God sees what you do.
b. As Jesus taught, He talked about rewards given and lost: Do not do your good deeds (your
righteous acts) publicly, to be admired, because you will lose the reward of your Father in Heaven
(Matt 6:1, NLT). Your Father, who sees in secret, will reward you. Matt 6:4; Matt 6:6; Matt 6:18
3. This is not the first time in His sermon that Jesus has mentioned rewards. Immediately following the
Beatitudes Jesus said: God blesses you when you are mocked and persecuted and lied about because
you are my followers…For a great reward awaits you in heaven (Matt 5:11-12, NLT).
a. Then Jesus told them to love their enemies, “so that you may be sons of your Father who is in
Heaven. For He makes His sun to rise and the evil and the good, and sends rain on the just and the
unjust. For if you love those who love you what reward do you have” (Matt 5:45-47, ESV).
b. One of the themes in all of Jesus teachings during His three plus year ministry was that what you do
in this life affects the life to come. Therefore, what matters most is not what people think about
you, but rather what God thinks about you. He will reward you for your devotion and actions.
B. We’ve spent half of this year talking about the importance of becoming like Jesus in character and actions,
since He is the pattern for God’s family. God wants sons and daughters who are like Jesus. Rom 8:29
1. As part of our discussion we’ve frequently read the passage where Jesus told His followers that they
must deny self and follow Him (imitate Him, seek to be like Him).
a. Matt 16:24—If anyone desires to be My disciple, let him deny himself—that is, disregard, lose sight
of and forget himself and his own interests—and take up his cross and follow Me [cleave steadily to
Me, conform wholly to My example in living and if need be in dying, also] (Amp).
b. Note what Jesus said in the last part of this passage: For I, the Son of Man, will come in the glory
of my Father with his angels and will judge all people according to their deeds (Matt 16:27, NLT).
2. After Jesus returned to Heaven, all of His apostles (His eyewitnesses) preached this same message.
Note some things that the apostle Paul wrote in his letters (epistles) to Christians.
a. II Cor 5:9-10—Our aim is to please him always…for we must all stand before Christ to be judged.
We will each receive whatever we deserve for the good or evil we have done in our bodies (NLT).
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b. Rom 14:10—Why do you look down on (judge) another Christian? Remember, each of us will
personally stand before the judgment seat of God…Yes, each of us will have to give a personal
account to God (NLT).
c. Before we continue to work through the Sermon on the Mount we need to address the issue of
rewards given and rewards lost, and the fact that there is a day of judgment ahead. And we need to
live with that awareness.
3. We could do series on judgment and rewards, but aren’t going to. However, we do need to make some
points about this in order to fully benefit from Jesus’ teachings in the Sermon on the Mount.
a. The idea that you are accountable to God for your actions even after you become a Christian is not a
popular subject today. But that is the clear teaching of the New Testament. How you live as a
professing Christian matters.
b. I don’t want to make anyone feel guilty or scare anyone unnecessarily, but the way you live your life
has an impact, not just on this life, but on the life to come. First, let me be clear on two points.
1. There are three things that righteous actions (or good works) cannot do for you. They can’t
make God love you more, they can’t make Him willing to save you. and they can’t wash away
your sins. He loves you and was willing to die for you and your sins without your good works.
2. There are four things that righteous actions (or good works) can do for you. They please God.
They bring reward. They make you more Christ-like. They bring glory to God.
c. When this topic comes up, people’s minds immediately go to: Are you telling me that I can lose
my salvation and end up in Hell? The fact that this question even comes up this way is due to a
fundamental misunderstanding of the gospel and why Jesus came into this world.
1. Jesus didn’t die to save us from Hell, although that is a big result of what He provided through
His sacrificial death. Jesus died for sin to open the way for men and women to be transformed
into holy sons and daughters who are like Him in character and behavior. Titus 2:11-14
2. Once we bow our knee to Jesus as Savior and Lord, a process of transformation accomplished
by the power of the Holy Spirit begins in us. But this process requires our cooperation.
3. Phil 2:12-13—Put into action God’s saving work in your lives, obeying God with deep
reverence and fear. For God is working in you, giving you the desire to obey him and the
power to do what pleases him (NLT).
d. Yes, Jesus’ sacrifice was the once for all time perfect sacrifice that secures our salvation from the
guilt and penalty of sin. And there is nothing more that we need to do or can do in that regard.
1. But the Bible is very clear that, as believers in Jesus, we are supposed to become increasingly
Christ-like. We must get rid of certain behaviors and attitudes and take on new ones.
2. In the Sermon on the Mount Jesus said that His followers are to be perfect: But you are to be
perfect, even as your Father in heaven is perfect (Matt 5:48, NLT).
A. Perfect doesn’t mean you make no more mistakes. The word translated perfect comes
from a word that means an aim or goal. Something is perfect if it reaches or realizes the
end or purpose for which it was intended or created. You were created to be Christ-like.
B. You can be perfect before you are fully Christ-like in character if your aim or intent is to
please God in all that you think, do, and say because motives and intent precede actions.
4. Motives give actions their moral value. The Pharisees had right actions but selfish motives. No matter
how you may struggle, if your heart or your motive is to please God, you’re going the right way.
a. Perfect has to do with your ultimate aim—to please God or to please yourself in everything that you
do. Is that your aim, and are you doing what you can to be faithful to that aim?
b. Paul wrote: I don’t mean to say that I have already achieved these things or that I have already
reached perfection! But I keep working toward that day when I will finally be all that Christ Jesus
saved me for and wants me to be (Phil 3:12, NLT).
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c. Paul compared the Christian life to a race, and made the point that all athletes practice self-control so
that they can win the prize at the end of the race. And Christians need to do the same.
1. I Cor 9:24-27—They do it to win a prize that will fade away, but we do it for an eternal prize.
So I run straight to the goal with purpose in every step…I discipline my body like an athlete
training it to do what it should. Otherwise I fear that after preaching to others I might myself
be disqualified (NLT).
2. At the end of his life Paul could say: The time of my death is near: I have fought a good fight,
I have finished the race, and I have remained faithful. And now the prize awaits me—the
crown of righteousness that the Lord, the righteous Judge, will give me on that great day of his
return. And the prize is not just for me but for all who eagerly look forward to his glorious
return (II Tim 4:6-8, NLT).
d. What rewards await us? Among other things, the approval of God, praise from God, being with
Him forever in a perfect world, being fully glorified or fully Christ-like in every part of our being.
1. Matt 25:21—Well done my good and faithful servant…Enter into the joy of your master (ESV);
2. Ps 16:11—In your presence is fullness of joy; at your right hand there are pleasures forever
more (ESV).
3. I John 3:2—Beloved, we are God’s children now, and what we will be has not yet appeared; but
we know that when he appears, we will be like him, because we shall see him as he is (ESV).

C. Back to the Sermon on the Mount. In Matt 6:1-18 Jesus addressed motives by pointing out that the religious
leaders did what they did to be seen and praised by men. Jesus instructed His followers to do what they do to
please their Father in Heaven, with the assurance that He will reward them for their devotion.
1. Then Jesus dealt with priorities, or what is important, and exhorted His followers not to live for this life
only, but for the life to come. We looked at this section last week, Matt 6:19-34
a. Jesus urged His listeners to store up treasure in Heaven, have a single eye, and serve God not money.
These phrases are metaphors for your ultimate intention, goal, or aim in life. If your ultimate
intention is to please and glorify your Father, it will affect how you think and act.
b. This doesn’t mean that we can’t enjoy things in this life, but it must be in the context of God. Your
priorities must be right. This life is not unimportant, but it is not the most important.
c. Jesus urged His listeners to live with the awareness that they have a Father in Heaven who sees all
and knows all—your motives and your actions. Live for His approval. Live to please and honor
Him by the way that you live. God wants full devotion. That is the place of true happiness.
1. Jesus assured them that as they seek first the Kingdom of God and His righteousness, their
Father in Heaven will provide them with the materials things that they need to live.
2. Matt 6:33—But seek for (aim at and strive after) first of all His kingdom, and His righteousness
[His way of doing and being right], and then all these things taken together will be given you
besides (Amp).
2. Next, in the context of telling them to live their lives with the awareness that they have a Heavenly Father
who cares for them and will reward them for their devotion, Jesus gave more details about how His
followers should to treat their fellow man. Jesus addressed the issue of judging others. Matt 7:1-5
a. We discussed this passage in some detail a couple of months ago. (Review lessons TCC—185 to
TCC—189, if necessary.) Jesus talked about a man with a beam in his own eye who was trying to
get the speck out of another man’s eye. Jesus called him a hypocrite.
b. We made the point that Jesus did not say that we are never to judge. To judge means to form an
opinion. It’s a natural and necessary part of human interaction. Jesus tells us how to judge
1. Jesus was warning against harsh, critical, condemning judgment done from a position of
superiority—like what the Scribes and Pharisees did. They were proud and exalted
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themselves above others.
2. Jesus will later talk about a Pharisee who judged a tax collector. The Pharisee prayed: I thank
you, God, that I am not a sinner like everyone else, especially that tax collector over there! For
I never cheat, I don’t sin, I don’t commit adultery. I fast twice a week, and I give you a tenth of
my income (Luke 18:11-12, NLT).
3. Then Jesus told His audience to keep on asking, keep on seeking, and keep on knocking—or persist in
prayer because you have a Heavenly Father who is better than the best earthly father. Matt 7:7-11
a. Our Father gives good things to those who ask Him. If you ask for bread, He won’t give you a
stone. If you ask for a fish, He won’t give you a serpent, and if you ask for an egg, He won’t give
you a scorpion (Luke 11:12).
1. In His example Jesus contrasts things that resemble each other. In that region there were little
limestone stones on the seashore which were the same shape and color as little loaves of bread.
2. Serpent is most likely an eel, which was forbidden food under the Law (Lev 11:12). And there
was a scorpion in the area that, when at rest, tucked its claws and tail in, and resembled an egg.
b. The very next thing Jesus says is: (Therefore) whatever you wish that others would do to you, do
also to them, for this is the Law and the Prophets (Matt 7:12, ESV).
1. In other words, in light of what I’ve just said, when you see a fault in someone else, treat him as
you want to be treated when a fault or a flaw is found in you. Jesus has just reminded them that
they have a Father in Heaven who will hear and answer their prayer.
2. He has assured them that they can ask with certainty because, just as a human father does not
refuse the request of his children, so your Father in Heaven will not refuse your requests.
c. Jesus wasn’t teaching them techniques on how to get an answer to your prayer. Jesus’ point is:
Since your Heavenly Father deals with you in mercy and grace, how can you not treat each other
right? You have no right to refuse mercy and grace to others.
1. Jesus has already told them that their Heavenly Father is kind to the evil and the good, and that
that His children are to express their Father through the way they treat people. And He has
linked forgiving each other with God’s forgiveness of them when He told them to forgive as the
Father forgives us. Matt 5:45-48; Matt 6:12; Matt 6:14-15
2. Jesus began His teaching on judging with: Judge not, that you be not judged. For with the
judgment you pronounce you will be judged, and with the measure your use it will be measured
to you (Matt 7:1-2, ESV),
A. There’s more in His statement than we can deal with now, but once again, Jesus says our
actions (specifically how we treat others) have consequences for the life to come. The
way you judge others is the standard that will be used to judge you.
B. When you treat others as God has treated you, with mercy and grace, you reflect Him and
fulfill the purpose for which you were created. That’s Jesus’ point.
D. Conclusion: We have more to say in the next lesson, but consider these thoughts as we close. What does
this look like in real life? How can you seek God first and please Him and still live life in this world?
1. Over the next three years following the Sermon, Jesus will repeat and elaborate on the points He has
made. At one point someone will ask Him what is the greatest commandment.
a. Jesus will reply that we are to love God with all our heart, mind, and soul and love our neighbor as
ourselves, because all of God’s Law is summed up in these two commands. Matt 22:37-40
b. This love is not a feeling, it’s an action. The number one way you express your love for God is by
obeying His command to treat others the way you want to be treated.
2. Is it your desire to please God in everything you do? If your answer is yes, but you aren’t perfect at it
yet, be encouraged that God sees your heart intent (your motive) and is pleased with you.