Faith and Works (John 13:12-20 Jeff Kliewer)

For coming to Cornerstone Church. I wanna just rally everyone together. Thank you for fellowshipping together and enjoying each other's company. That's what we're called to do, is to fellowship with each other, encouraging each other, praying for one another.

It's great to see little pockets of conversations and prayer, things that are going on in each other's lives. It's great to hear and great to see. I wanted to draw your attention to a Connect card that we have.

The Connect card is available in the back on our offering box on the back table. I can also have ushers run around and give you one if you need one. If you've been here once or twice, maybe you've never seen this, you can fill this out.

This just gives us the ability to contact you to say thank you for coming. We wanna welcome you this morning the best way we can. If you need one, just slip up your hand, someone will get one to you. We also have pens available if you need one.

And if you just fill that out, you can put it in the offering box in the back. That's on the back wall, black box on the back. Or you can give it to anyone that you see up here, they'll get it to the right person and we'll send you a thank you note.

Also, for those who would like to know, on the back of that card you can put some prayer requests. So if you want to put a prayer request in, just fill that out, slip it in the box there and we'll make sure we're praying for you.

You can also do that on the Church Center app. The Church Center app has a section where you can go and put in your prayer request. And you can also have the ability to check off if you want it to be private or not.

So we can keep it internal with the leadership or something that you might want other people to pray for during prayer meeting and things like that. So if you use those, great. Put them in the offering box in the back.

I think that's all I have. John, you have a sub-announcement for us?

God as the Source of Truth

It's awesome to be together in fellowship this morning. We're going to be considering God's truth. That's always an important thing. The world is obviously out there going after you. And if you read in the book of Proverbs, it's very ripe with the dichotomy of the world's folly of truth as it's available, only available through God.

Proverbs 2, nine, speaking about those who are instructed by God, then you will understand righteousness and justice and equity and every good path. After the world teaches as hard as they can what they want you to know, what they want you to accept, go to the Lord because he is the one, he is the source of all truth.

He is the foundation for how we would perceive righteousness, justice, and really equity. We have some announcements for you tonight. We have, every alternating week, we get together on Wednesday evening for fellowship.

This week is going to be a movie night. And I've been told that there's this coin. It's a coin that will help you remember the reality of truth. And I guess if you come, I've been told if you come Wednesday night, you'll be given one of these coins.

They're actually kind of nice. And having something like this just to remember the truth of the true message. So just an encouragement to come out Wednesday. We are continuing to be in prayer for our building.

We had our 24-hour prayer and fast. But the seeking after God for his direction is something that is so, so very important. Be in prayer. Be in prayer that the church leaders will receive God's direction and that we as a congregation will be unified as we move forward.

So be in prayer for that. We're going to be having a congregational meeting. I believe it's the 19th of June. This will be brought up as to where we stand. But it's the first announcement for that congregational meeting.

Also in June on the 11th, that's just about three weeks from now, is our baptism service. It will be out there. If you are preparing for baptism, we've had classes. I think the second one is going on today.

If you desire baptism, haven't gone through the classes, it's not too late. Contact myself, Jeff, somebody up here, one of the elders, and we will work with you if you have the desire for baptism. And if this time doesn't work for you, you want baptism, don't be dismayed.

In September, we'll be going back out to LBI and do an open water baptism out there also. We want to encourage you in that way. The evangelism classes are continuing. If you've been coming to them and you've been hearing the expression about what it means to be prepared, what it means to be responsive when it's there, I know that over the last couple of weeks for me, doors have opened that I didn't expect to be open, and the opportunity just to talk.

I was with my barber, she was cutting my hair, and we had a 15-minute discussion on scripture. It's be ready, be prepared, in season and out of season. Join in with the evangelism classes. We have a prayer meeting as normal tonight at six o 'clock, so please come for that.

The VBS is coming up, and it's going to be at the end of July and into August. Some quick announcements about that. There is a flyer available in the foyer for you to pick up, but for you to hand out to friends, neighbors, family, those who might be interested.

So please take those. There's gonna be a meeting for anybody who is involved in the VBS June 3rd, and that's in two weeks following second service. There is a need for people to help out in different functions.

They're looking for somebody who can coordinate snacks, somebody who perhaps could coordinate games if you have a leading, a calling for that. It would be a great way to serve. You can register your children online on the flyer.

There's a QR code that you can use to open up an app and register. I think you can also go to our website and register the children that will be coming, so please take advantage of that. And the dates of the VBS are going to be July 31st through the 4th.

They'll be in the evening from six to eight in the evening. Let's turn to prayer. Then you will understand righteousness, judgment, and equity in every good path. Lord, we pray for understanding of your truth.

We pray that through the Holy Spirit, through the power of your word, we would have discernment. Lord, that we could recognize true righteousness as opposed to the world's preferences. Lord, that we would understand true justice as opposed to the world's definition of what is fair.

And that we would understand from your perspective equity as opposed to the world's definition of what is owed. Lead us, we pray, Lord, down your path of truth. The proverb declares, when we seek, we will receive wisdom and truth from God, and then we can follow this path down your sovereign will.

Guide us, we pray, O Lord. Lord, by your grace and through your Holy Spirit, teach us even this morning. Let your truth instruct and mold us into your children. Be with those, we pray, Lord, those that are in need.

We need to hear your word, we pray, Lord, that our hearts would be open. And so be with our pastor as he brings the word to us this morning in Jesus' name, amen.

Can we stand together?

The Lord's love endures forever He is good, he is above all things His love endures forever Sing praise, sing praise

And now stretched on.

His love endures forever, that's been reborn His love endures forever, by the grace of God

Verse 45 says, I will exalt you, my God and my King. I will bless your name forever and ever. Let's sing together, how great is our God.

I'll bless your name each day that I'm here From dawn to setting sun, your greatness I'll proclaim Your glory far exceeds all human Bless your name, oh God, by Jesus' name For generations to come

Singing praises to your name. Have an overflow of the heart that we wanna continue to sing because that's the way you made us. When we are believers in you, we know that we have hope because of our Redeemer.

Lord, open up our eyes and soften our hearts. Speak to us this morning so that we may grow, grow in you, that is our prayer this morning.

Ego, Lord, as we come to you to receive the food. Your truth planted deep, shape and fashion us in your love. That the light of Christ might be seen today in your exile. Fulfill in us the sins of the world

Prayer for the Returning Teens and Cleansing by the Word

32 of our teenagers at Black Rock Retreat in Pennsylvania right now. So they'll be getting on a bus to come home. So let's open in prayer for them, for their safe travels and also for us now as we get into the word that we would hear his word.

Gracious heavenly Father, we do pray for the teens that are coming back from Black Rock Retreat. We pray that you would give them travel mercies, that everything would go well with the bus. We also pray in Jesus' name that they would come back with fire in their hearts that doesn't burn out.

Lord, that they would come back fully devoted disciples of the King of Kings. Lord, we pray the same thing for ourselves that we would be humble in your sight, Lord. We pray first of all, Lord, that you would cleanse us.

We confess our sin before you. Cleanse us with hyssop that we may be clean. Wash us and we will be whiter than snow. We pray that by the opening of your word this morning and hearing what you say, that we would be changed from the inside out, that you would make us more like Christ.

Teach us to wash the feet of the saints. And help us in your word this morning as we study. In Jesus' name, amen. Mark 16, 15 says, go ye into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature, every creature.

Now that refers to human creatures, not to physical animals. In first service, we had a little church mouse visit us. I've never seen this happen in all my years, but a little baby mouse came running up here.

People were, feet were popping up and he came right up to the altar to get saved. And instead, we kicked him out the church. It was quite an eventful experience. But when Jesus says, preach the gospel to every creature, he's referring to humans, not to wash little feet.

It was an interesting thing that happened, but tell you a true story of what happened in the 1970s. You're familiar with the hippies. Well, the hippies were considered the most loathsome of all creatures to many conservative people.

I mean, they were Marxists in their thinking. And those who understood the word of God realized that if we adopted these hippie values of Marxism, then we'll end up like Venezuela, or the old Soviet Union, or Mao's China.

It always ends up the same way and it's not a good place. They were against the natural family in many ways, preferring communes and rejecting the nuclear family. They were hedonistic. The hippies believed in pursuing pleasure, not in hard work.

In fact, if anybody would carry on the nine to five, you know what they'd call them? Squares, that's a square. And they believed in instead pursuing pleasure. And they even believed in psychedelic drugs.

And by these drugs, they would have some mind-blowing experience and they would think that from that experience, they were encountering the deeper things of God. And the revelation that they took away from this was that God is in everything, everything is God, and essentially they themselves are divine.

So those who believed in the Bible often were frustrated by the hippies. One day, Chuck Smith, a pastor of Calvary Chapel in Costa Mesa, Arizona, was none too pleased when his own daughter brought home a hippie.

And Chuck was kind of looking down his nose at this young man, but was surprised to find that he had put his faith in Jesus Christ. And his heart began to warm to this man and this man came to Costa Mesa, to the church, and Chuck welcomed him and a small group of his friends.

These hippies began to come to Calvary Chapel, Costa Mesa. Now, imagine the conservative Christians who rightly rejected the hippie values, how they viewed these hippies coming into Calvary Chapel. They were looking down their noses at the hippies.

And the church had just invested money in brand new carpeting. Now, this introduced a problem because the hippies had yet another value and that was what is called the Nellipot value. To be a Nellipot is one who goes about barefoot.

And so they would come in with their dirty feet and walk around in the church and it was getting the carpet dirty and greasy and it was annoying many of the people. So now you had all this drama inside the church.

What was the pastor to do? Well, on a Sunday morning, as the people came into the building and a group of hippies approached, there you found Chuck Smith with a basin of water and some towels and some chairs.

And as the hippies came into the church building, he had them sit down and he himself got down on his knees and he asked them to put their feet in the water basin and wash their feet. And he washed their feet with his own hands and then dried them with the towel and welcomed them into the church.

This physical act of service, this foot washing, resulted in the salvation of that small group of hippies, which then turned into dozens and then hundreds and then thousands of hippies coming to know the Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.

Now, surely there were some that didn't come to a full saving knowledge, they didn't actually get saved, or maybe there were still some other issues.

Involved with that.

But the fruit of what Chuck Smith did, by welcoming them, by himself serving them and lowering himself to bend down and wash their feet, was a massive revival that swept this country. When you go to Calvary Chapel, Philadelphia, and you listen to Joe Foch preaching verse by verse, chapter by chapter through the Bible for these 40 or so years, realize that Joe was one of those hippies.

I don't know if he's one of the ones that Joe washed his feet, but he was there from the very beginning. And Damian Kyle and Greg Laurie, and these men who have been preaching the gospel for all of these years.

How many Calvary chapels are there in Pennsylvania and New Jersey? The fruit of the washing, he humbled himself, and God honored that with a supernatural outpouring of power and a demonstration of grace.

There's a lesson to be learned from this. Church, if we are the redeemed children of God, we need to be willing to wash the feet of the saints, to lower ourselves, to serve, to get to work doing the work of the Lord.

Let's turn to this story, this famous and important story in John chapter 13. And today we'll pick up in verse 12 and continue on through verse 20.

Before we read it,.

We have to be reminded of where we were last week in the first part of the story. You'll recall that Jesus, right before he was betrayed, the night before he was betrayed, met with the disciples in the upper room, this so-called Maundy Thursday, when he would give the commandment, the mandate to love one another.

It began with the washing of feet. Jesus, the King of kings, the Lord of lords, the Lord of glory, humbled himself and took off his robe and wrapped a towel around himself and went from disciple to disciple, washing their feet.

And when he came to Peter, Peter didn't understand, he said, and Jesus had told him right now you do not understand,.

But later you will.

And Peter said, do you wash my feet? And Jesus had told him, you don't understand now, but later you will. So what did Peter say? Never, Lord, you will not wash my feet. And Jesus answered, if I do not wash you, you have no share with me.

And so Peter then said, well, then not only my feet, but my hands and my head as well. He wanted to share with the Lord. But mysteriously, Jesus said, the one who has had a bath needs only to have his feet washed, but is completely clean.

Peter didn't understand what that meant. And it is a bit confusing, isn't it? Well, as we discussed last week, in this washing, there is a revelation of the gospel of Jesus Christ, that the one who believes in Christ, coming in faith to him, is washed completely clean.

Your sins will never be counted against you. You are fully justified and clean in his sight. You have moved from unclean to clean. And you will never again be regarded as unclean. You are justified by faith alone.

And through that faith in the Savior, Jesus Christ, you are forever redeemed. In the water of washing, of renewal by the Holy Spirit, regeneration, the new birth, you have come alive. Now, so why then do you need your feet washed?

Because we continue to progress through this dirty world. And we're walking these dirty streets. And there are times when we step in the mud. Each of us will sin in this Christian walk. And so we must keep coming back to him, confessing our sin, asking for forgiveness, and each time he washes our feet.

We've never become unclean. We're always justified. You don't lose your salvation. But you must keep coming to him for the course of your life because you will be soiled by sin. And that is the point.

We understand that by the full testimony as we read the Bible backwards, right? As we see the later revelation shining light on these things that Peter didn't understand at the time. We understand the washing of regeneration by the Holy Spirit, which is the new covenant, Ezekiel 36.

So then let us continue on. Verses 12 to 20 now takes us beyond that teaching to the example that Christ set for us to emulate. The ones who are justified by faith are now to go out and do as Christ has done for us.

When he had washed their feet and put on his outer garments and resumed his place, he said to them, do you understand what I have done to you? You call me teacher and Lord, and you are right, for so I am.

If I then, your Lord and teacher, have washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another's feet. For I have given you an example that you also should do just as I have done to you. Truly, truly, I say to you, a servant is not greater than his master, nor is a messenger greater than the one who sent him.

If you know these things, blessed are you if you do them. I am not speaking of all of you. I know who I have chosen. But the scripture will be fulfilled. He who ate my bread has lifted his heel against me.

I am telling you this now, before it takes place, that when it does take place, you may believe that I am he. Truly, truly, I say to you, whoever receives the one I send receives me, and whoever receives me receives the one who sent me.

Justification by Faith Alone and the Example of Foot Washing

Believing that Jesus is Lord comes before we can do any good work acceptable in his sight. Until we've been washed, until we have this understanding, the knowledge of salvation, the forgiveness of sin through Jesus Christ, even our best works are like filthy rags before God.

For by grace you are saved through faith, and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God, not of works, so that no one may boast. Ephesians 2, eight and nine. Look at John 12, verses 12 and 13. When he had washed their feet and put on his outer garments and resumed his place, he said to them, do you understand?

In verse seven, this question of understanding is something that will be later revealed. Here in the text, Peter does not fully understand. Verse seven tells us that. But we in the new covenant, looking back on this event, do have understanding.

And the understanding that we have of this washing is the difference between life and death, heaven and hell. It is the most important thing to understand. It is the understanding of salvation itself, that no one will be justified in the sight of God by works, but that we must be washed, we must be clean, we must be forgiven through faith.

Salvation is by believing. Look at verse 13. You call me teacher and Lord, and you are right, for so I am. Salvation is by believing in Christ. But the understanding revealed in this text is the helplessness of man.

Peter could not wash himself. There is a kind of cleansing that comes from God in him alone. Prior to this revelation of justification, by faith in Christ, people are constantly trying to justify themselves to remove their guilt by doing good works.

Probably the most famous example of this is the one who founded the Protestant Reformation, a man named Martin Luther. In his early years, he was a monk. And he would spend four hours a day in confession, his heart tormented because he was aware of this one thing, and that is that no matter how righteous he could be outwardly, in his heart, he still had covetousness and sin and layers of guilt that he could not remove, and the weight of guilt was heavy on his shoulders.

He was commissioned by his order in Germany to travel to Rome to bring a question to the magisterium, to the Pope and his workers. And as Martin Luther approached Rome, he saw the glory of the city of Rome.

And from the outside, it was shining with splendor, and his heart leapt inside of him because this was the holy city. But when he got closer and began to walk the streets of Rome, his heart sank because what he saw was the most wicked city he had ever seen in his life.

The decadence of the city was unrestrained. The priests said nothing and did nothing to restrain the wickedness of the people. And so Martin Luther, this is the year 1510, he comes to the great steps of Rome.

Now the tradition of the Roman Catholic Church is that these were the very steps upon which Jesus was tried when he was before Pontius Pilate. They believe that as relics, these stones of the steps were brought to Rome.

And now there were these 28 steps ascending, and the pilgrims would come and climb those steps to have their sins forgiven, indulgences given for that pilgrimage. And as Martin began to climb the steps in Rome, a voice, the voice of the Holy Spirit through his word.

If anybody says they've heard the voice of the Lord, ask them what chapter and verse. This was Romans 117. And as he began to ascend the steps of the Lord, the just shall live by faith began to echo in his mind.

He didn't understand it at the time, but when he got to the top step, he looked back down behind him and he said to himself, who knows if these things be true. The seed of doubt was planted in his mind.

He returned from Rome and he began a deep study of the book of Romans and of Galatians. And one day by a supernatural revelation, without this revelation, no one will see God. He was reading Romans 116 and 117.

The gospel is the power of God unto salvation, unto those who believe, to the Jew first and to the Greek, for in the gospel, a righteousness of God is revealed from faith and for faith as it is written, listen, the just shall live by faith.

And that was the gospel that opened his mind. He realized that no flesh will be justified in the sight of God. No one can climb a stair to heaven. No one can perform a penance or buy an indulgence. And so he eventually would write the 95 theses against the selling of indulgences to spring souls out of purgatory.

And later, the church would understand that there is no purgatory at all. The gospel is the finished work of Christ. That he shed his blood on the cross once and for all and accomplished redemption for those who have faith in him, leaving no work for the sinner to do, but that Christ has done that work on our behalf and he clothes us in the robe of his righteousness.

And that robe of righteousness is seamless and perfect and we are clean. That's what Peter didn't understand in John 13, verse 12,.

But would later preach.

You cannot piece together a tattered garment of your own righteousness. By performing penances, by purchasing indulgences or taking pilgrimages, or even the sacraments, the so-called sacraments of the Roman Catholic Church, none of these things can make you righteous in God's sight.

These are a tattered robe patched together by man, but it does not make a man right before God. We must start here. Look again at verse 12. Do you understand what I have done for you? The washing of the feet is only a picture of the washing of his blood.

The one who has put faith in Christ is completely clean in the words of the text. Your sin washed away and never to be credited to you again because the righteousness of Christ, a perfect righteousness, is clothing you and counting you, crediting you as righteous.

This is Romans 4, 5. To the one who does not work, but believes in him who justifies the ungodly, his faith is credited as righteousness. It's the gospel. Now, church, all of us who have come to believe this gospel of sola fide, faith alone, all of us have come under the blood.

We are completely clean, and that must be the starting point. Without this, you are still like a hamster running in the hamster wheel. You're trying to get somewhere, but you're going nowhere. When you come with empty hands before God and you say, have mercy on me, I bring nothing.

My hands are empty. He takes you by the hand. He rescues you, and he is the stairway to heaven. He brings you where you cannot go. Justification is by faith alone, not by any works that you contribute.

Now, we understand this. We have been in the church, some of us, for a long time, and this is really kind of Christianity 101, but as you read on in the text, there was more to the meaning. Let's see it in verse 14 and 15, and that is that the one who has been justified is now to follow this example.

You call me teacher and Lord, we've said, and you are right, for so I am. If I then, your Lord and teacher, have washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another's feet. Picture Chuck Smith bending down, lowering himself to wash the feet of the despised hippies.

He physically and literally fulfilled what Jesus called him to do, for I have given you an example. Now, if you try to follow the example to earn righteousness, you boast, and you do nothing, but for the one who has come and been washed and been clean, now we have an example to follow.

That you also should do just as I have done for you. Guys, you think that this is to be obeyed literally, or figuratively. Ambrose in Milan, who was the preacher that helped Augustine come to saving faith, he actually would practice public foot washing, and Augustine agreed with him, and commended it as a good and right practice of the church.

So I wouldn't condemn Christians who for centuries have done this, but as you continue reading through the New Testament, unlike baptism and communion, which are ordinances of the church, you never see a command toward foot washing.

Because I think it's very clear that this was a stark example, as he says here, of what kind of heart and service we should give to others. Church, if you wanted to serve me, the last thing that I would want you to do for me is wash my feet.

That would be no service to me, because we wear shoes and socks in our culture, and I would have to clip my toenails, and it would just be annoying. It would be no service to me. I'm sure you would agree.

The only other mention of foot washing is in 1 Timothy 5 with the widows, and a widow is a widow indeed who's worthy of the church's support if she's offered hospitality, washed the feet of the saints, and done these other services to the beloved.

That had nothing to do with ordinances, right? She wasn't washing ceremony. No, this means when people would come to her home, she would wash their feet, because in that culture at that time, you went about in sandals, and your feet would pick up dirt and mud, and it was a service when you came into the house to wash the feet of the saints, but what does that look like in our culture?

It looks like being willing to come and serve in the sparkle and shine team and clean the toilets, or evidently, there's a church mouse, so if we've seen one, there's probably more to make sure that we never see another church mouse in this house again.

Serving, being willing to do whatever it is that God calls you to do. So why would you do that? You're already born again. You already have heaven. You're already completely clean.

Let's read on.

The Blessing of Serving With a Pure Heart

The third point, first of all, justification is by faith, not by serving. Secondly, though, that we do have an example. We should do like Christ, not necessarily physically washing feet, but being willing to lower ourselves and serve the church.

The third point is that there are blessings, rewards to those who serve. Verse 16, truly, truly, whenever you get that verily, verily, that amen, amen, you should perk up. Listen, I say to you, a servant is not greater than his master, nor a messenger greater than the one who sent him.

If you know these things, blessed are you if you do them. That word blessed means happy, joyful. It speaks of a reward to the one who does this. Many of us would imagine that the happiest place that you would have, your happy place is down the shore or enjoying a weekend getaway where you can summon the waiter to bring you a drink and you watch the water and relax.

But according to our text this morning, happy is the one who serves. You wanna know joy in your life? Be the servant who's given over to the work of the Lord. Be the one who is serving the saints, who's serving at Vacation Bible School or Sparkle and Shine or doing whatever it is that you can, not to get a reward on earth, but aware of this promise.

Now listen, this is very important. Look at verse 17. It says, if you know these things, blessed are you if you do them. Does it really make a difference how we live our lives in this world if all of us justified by faith are already going to heaven?

Does it really matter? According to verse 17, blessed are you if you do them. There is a blessing. There are rewards associated with what we do for the Lord. And what matters here, the joy, the blessing that comes, is in this life, but also in the life to come.

It may be that your life does not get better as you serve, but in fact, things get more difficult. And it could be easy if you don't know the promise to begin to lose heart and say, well, why is it even worth it?

I don't seem to be getting anything out of this. But if you know the promise, then you're aware that you are storing up treasure in heaven where moth and rust do not destroy and where thieves do not break in and steal.

There are rewards. Time and again in the New Testament, we learn about rewards in heaven. Those rewards are based on what we do while we're here as Christians. But it's not just the outward obedience.

It also has to do with the motivations of our heart. In verse 16, it says, a servant is not greater than his master. If the master bent down and washed our feet, how much more should we who are servants be willing to serve?

The parable that Jesus tells is of a servant being commended and he says, that's just my duty. That's just what I do, I'm a servant. And that's the attitude that we should have when we serve. In 1 Corinthians 3, verses 10 and following, we are told that there are many people who will get to heaven and discover that their rewards have vanished.

Because even though they were doing what they were told to do, their heart was not right. If anyone builds on the foundation, and there's no other foundation but Christ, if anybody builds with gold, silver, and precious stones, his reward will enter into heaven before him.

But if anybody builds with wood, hay, and stubble, the fire will reveal it to be worthless in that day. And that person will suffer loss, but he himself will be saved as through the fire. Now of course, the Roman Catholic Church will teach that this refers to purgatory.

But that's nonsense because both people are entering into heaven, but one of them has lost something. What has been destroyed? How has this person suffered loss? It is the loss of rewards. Their work was shown by the fire as the Lord tests not just the outward appearance, but the heart, the motivation, the intentions.

When you serve with a pure heart, it is like building the church with gold, silver, and precious stone. But the Lord will test the quality of each one's work. And when we go into glory, you yourself will be saved as through the fire.

There will be levels of reward in heaven, and some will lose reward because of how they live their life on earth. The attitude of a Christian should be to pour oneself out to the king of kings, knowing that the Lord will then bless, as we're told here, will put a crown on your head, a reward on your head.

And your vision of that comes from Revelation, that you take that reward and you cast it right back down at his feet. I'm just a humble servant. You have done everything for me. You washed me, you cleaned me.

I've only done my duty. Why are you rewarding me? And you give all the glory back to God,.

Expecting nothing.

You lay your work at the feet of the Savior and entrust it to him. And if that's how we'll be in heaven, we must be that way on earth. A servant heart works in the church without expectation of reward.

Perhaps never to see the reward on earth. When you serve that way, the Lord will bless you with happiness. Because it's the person with a victim mentality who thinks, I deserve to be honored, I deserve to be rewarded for the things that I do, who will go through life miserable, constantly miserable, because constantly feeling owed something.

Whereas the servant heart who understands what Christ has done for us will realize that anything you ever give is nothing compared to what he's done for us. He's the master, we're the servant. I am not a victim.

No matter what happens to my work, if I never see the reward of it, I'm offering it from my heart unto Christ. And I'm trusting it to him against that day. This is the meaning of the text this morning.