Hi, I'm Darrell Bailey. Thank you for tuning us in. Here, our Sunday morning message. Every day, you're literally building a life. Every day and every deed is another brick that you put into that building. We'll be talking about eternal foundations in 1 Corinthians chapter 3. verses 5 through 15. Everyone starts out with the same foundation. Here, January the 19th, 2025, the 19th of Tibet, 5785 of the Hebrew calendar. Thank you for tuning in with us as we get into the wonderful Word of God. I want to invite everyone to come and be with us on behalf of our home church at Bethel Crossroads Baptist Church. We're located at 450 Iron Hill Road, Taylorville, Georgia, 30178. On behalf of Pastor Keith Dempsey, come and be with us for morning worship, Sunday school at 1011, at 10 o'clock and morning worship at 11. We'd love for you to come and join us. If you have an opportunity and you're not going to a church, come and be with us. Amen. We'd love to have you. I'm glad that as a service for Christ, we're on a 501c3, which is a nonprofit organization. We go out to work alone churches and as we work in our own home church of Bethel Crossroads, to go out. We may be in different states from time to time, but we enjoy the Great Commission. And it's all about the work of our Lord and Savior and leading men and women to Jesus Christ. And so thank you for this great opportunity to come on and be with you. It's not for ourselves, but for Christ's servants of His purpose and servants in His love. Here as we get into the wonderful Word of God this morning, let's pause as we get into eternal foundations. And let's open up with a time of prayer before we read the scripture. Father, we come before you with grateful hearts and we acknowledge that you're the solid rock upon which our lives are built. And Lord, as for your word, we pray for the wisdom and understanding to be able to express it. as we do, it may be in a form that many people don't like. But Lord, I pray, Father, that through this simple way of PowerPoint, how that I've run across over the many years of pastoring, 50% in the entire building, their learning capacity is more visual than just audio. And so Lord, as we've learned over the years to try to not only take care of the audio, but the visual is in the sense to get the message across to that 50% in every congregation that are visual, that will need to listen, but not only listen, they need to look and look at something of the word of God. And so I pray that through this method, that will reach somebody this morning in Jesus' marvelous mighty way. Amen. The Word of God tells us that this is God's role in ministry because ministers are servants that God gives the growth. And I'm glad that our work will not be judged by popularity or visible success, but by faithfulness to God's calling and reliance on him. And so when we look at eternal foundations, the Bible tells us who then is Paul and who is Apollos, but minister by whom you believe, even as the Lord gave to every man, he goes on, he says, I planted Apollos watered, but God gave the increase. He goes on, So then neither is he that planteth anything, neither he that watereth, but God that giveth the increase. Now he that planteth and he that watereth are one, and every man shall receive his own reward according to his own labor. For we are laborers together with God. Ye are God's hospitality and ye are God's building. According to the grace of God which is given unto thee as a wise master builder, I believe the foundation and the other buildeth their own. But let every man take heed how he buildeth their own. For other foundation can no man lay than that that is laid, which is Jesus Christ. Now if any man build upon this foundation gold, silver, precious stone, wood, hay, stubble, Every man's work shall be made manifest, for the day shall declare it, because it shall be revealed by fire, and the fire shall try every man's work of what sort it is. If any man's work abide which he hath built thereon, he shall receive a reward. If any man's work shall be burned, he shall suffer loss, but he himself shall be saved, yet so as by fire. He goes on as we see this, the eternal foundations is the end of time, final exam. Now, you know what? How many of you today, when we look at eternal foundations of our faith, here in 1 Corinthians 3, verses 5-15, Paul speaks to the church about the importance of building on a foundation that will stand the test of time. And many of us have had many tests. Boy, in the military, there was a test about every weekend, it seemed like. You had to learn how to fire a new weapon and break it down. new explosives that had to be learned. Foundation on that was you better know what you're doing because when you're messing with those things, it better be right. Well, we live our lives and we build our spiritual journeys and as we look at the things that we can build upon sometimes in this life, we examine the eternal foundations and it is a way that we live and the work that we do and the waste that we regret. There are some truths that are not only vital for our present lives, but they have an impact on our future rewards. And as we get into the word, I want us to learn about building a life that stands strong for all eternity. And so non-Christians are going to be judged for one sin, that the sin of refusing to believe in Jesus Christ and receive him as their Lord. Christians have already had their sins forgiven and because they have received Jesus Christ, that is why the Bible says in Romans chapter 8 verse 1, there is therefore now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus. And so, what God has done for us has taken care of our sins. But what we do for God still requires God's evaluation. What we do in this body, One day we're going to have to take one final exam before the professor of the universe and here is what we're going to find out. The end of time final exam. The very first question that's going to come up when you stand before God as a born again believer is God will assess the life that we've blessed. Because that's what we see in verse 13, that he shall try every man's work of what sort it is. God will assess the life that we've blessed. And it speaks in this verse to the idea that God will assess the quality and the nature of the work we've done. What we build in our lives will be tested and assessed by God. The Bible compares life to a building. Every day you are literally building a life. Every day, every deed is another brick that you put into that building. And so I'm glad that as we look and realize that in verse 10 of 1 Corinthians chapter 3, He says, according to the grace of God, which is given unto me as a wise master builder, I've laid the foundation and another buildeth thereon, but let every man take heed how he buildeth their own. Well, you see, the word for master builder is the Greek word that gives us the English word architect. And so you're the architect of your life. And you can build your life any way you choose to build it. You can build it with any materials that you choose, but when any building is finished, it has to pass the code and it always must be approved by the building inspector. Everyone starts out with the same foundation because in verse 11 we read, for other foundations can no man lay that is laid which is Jesus Christ. And so Jesus Christ is the foundation. He's the chief cornerstone of your life. The good news is that since you're already got a perfect foundation, you can build an outstanding life if you use the right materials. Because I'm glad that he said in verses 12 and 13, now if any man build upon this foundation, gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, and stubble, he says in verse 13, every man's work shall be made manifest for the day shall declare it because it shall be revealed by fire and the fire shall try every man's work of what sort it is. And so every day you're building a life either of that which will last or that which won't last. Either your life is being built with permanent materials or perishable materials. Eternal materials are materials, worthy materials, or they can either be worthless materials. You'll know in an instant what kind of life you've built because verse 13 says each man's work, every man's work, or each man's work will become evident for the day will show it because it is to be revealed with fire and the fire itself will test the quality of each man's work and so Your life is going to be placed on a pedestal. The way you spend your time, the way you spend your money, the priorities that you placed in your life will all be put on a pedestal. God's fire of evaluation is going to fall. And if you build your life on permanent materials, you're going to receive a reward. If you build a life made on perishable materials, you're going to lose your reward. And so the day that Paul is referred to in verse 13 is the day when Jesus Christ returns. And this is the day Jesus himself referred to in Revelation chapter 22 verse 12. He says, and behold, I'll come quickly and my reward is with me to give every man according as his work shall be. And so when we look and we realize of the things that are out there, they're going to be no favorites. They're going to be no plea bargaining and they're going to be no bribing of the judge. We're all going to be reviewed in exactly the same way. Hey, I don't care if you got an outstanding body and you look like a supermodel. It ain't going to go nowhere with God. We're all going to be reviewed in exactly the same way. It'll be a fair judgment because Jesus himself will be doing the judgment. In John 5.22, the Bible says, For the Father judges no man but hath committed all judgment unto the Son. There'll be no exemptions, no exceptions, no excuses for this judgment. I know that there's a lot of Christians who would just like to sneak into heaven. And they're not really even interested in the rewards. They just as soon skip the review. But everybody has to take this final exam on the eternal foundations. I don't mind telling you for some, it's going to be a very embarrassing exam. but we all must take it because in 2 Corinthians chapter 5 verse 10 the Bible says for we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ that everyone may appear the things done in his body according to that he hath done whether it be good or bad no one no income tax return has ever been examined as closely by the IRS as your life is going to be examined by Jesus Christ And I want you to think about something that will encourage you and that will inspire you to live every minute for God's glory. And that is God is concerned with every minute of your life and my life. Because what did he say? He said in verse 13, but there's going to come a time of testing at the judgment day to see what kind of work each builder has done and what you have done. God's not looking for quantity. He's looking for quality. And it's not just what you do for the Lord, but how you do what you do for the Lord. Even more importantly, why you do what you do for the Lord. So I'm glad that when we look around and chapter 1 of Corinthians chapter 4 verse 5 the Bible says therefore judge nothing before time until the Lord come who both will bring to light the hidden things of darkness and will make manifest the counsels of the heart and then shall every man make praise of God. Has it ever occurred to you that you can do the right thing the right way at the right place at the right time and if you do it for the wrong reason you lose your reward for doing it? If you give money to the church just to get it off your taxes, God's not going to reward that. If you come to church just to get your needs met, not because you want to help meet someone else's needs, God's not going to reward that. And whenever you do anything that you would call a good deed, make sure that it passes the glory test. What do I mean by that? Simply this, in first Corinthians chapter 10 verse 31, whether therefore you eat or drink whatsoever you do, do all to the glory of God. Incidentally, if you will live by that principle, it'll save you a lot of heartache. and grief and it'll keep you from a lot of sin because anything that you can't do to give glory to God you shouldn't do and so we look and we realize uh everything that the Lord the end time the end of time exam is about uh how God will assess the life that we blessed but then secondly God will reward the deeds that we pressed in verse 14 Because when we read the word of God, he says, if any man's work abide which he hath built there upon, he shall receive a reward. And so what God has done, I'm glad what he would and what God still requires of each and every one of us. I'm glad that when we see that God will require the deeds that we've pressed, because He says, if any man's work abide which he hath built thereon, he shall receive a reward. Paul highlights that those who build on the foundation of Christ with good lasting deeds will be rewarded for their efforts. The Bible is very specific that any work we do, which God deems worthy, done for the right reason in the right way and doing will be a reward. And that is where Christianity parts ways with every other religion that is out there because concerning doing good deeds. Every other religion in the world teaches that good deeds take you to heaven. My Bible doesn't teach that. That's not what Christianity teaches. We do not believe that good works takes you to heaven. We do believe that good deeds follow you to heaven. Amen. Praise God. Hallelujah. Revelation chapter 14 verse 13 says, And I heard a voice from heaven saying unto me, Write blessed are the dead which die in the Lord from henceforth. Yea, saith the spirit that they may rest from their labors and their works do follow them. And so, do not mistake salvation for rewards. Salvation depends upon Christ's work for us. Rewards depend upon our works for Christ. In verse 8 of 1 Corinthians chapter 3, the Bible says, each one will receive his own reward according to his own labor. And so, don't let that pass you by. If each one of us has our own reward to receive, that means each one of us has our own work to do. And I'm going to tell you, you can't get to heaven off of my work. My wife can't get to heaven off of mine. I can't get off, get to heaven off of hers. You can't get to heaven off of your son or your daughter. You shouldn't be concerned with my reward or shouldn't be concerned with your reward. We're each going to receive our own reward and according to our own labor. And that is why there's no room for jealousy in God's kingdom and no need for jealousy. Boy, no Christian should ever be jealous of another Christian. No church should ever be jealous of another church. No denomination should ever be jealous of another denomination. We are each to do our own work for which we are each going to receive our own rewards. Keep in mind, hey, you ain't going to get the rewards off of that pastor. You're going to have to get your own rewards. Keep in mind that those rewards according to our labor and not according to our success and not according to our results, but according to our labor. In other words, a word that you could substitute there would be faithful. I'm going to receive my reward according to my faithfulness to the Lord. And that is why a pastor of a small church, no matter how faithful and all that they do and all, they may receive a far greater reward than a mega church pastor. who wasn't nearly as faithful in their own personal life. And so the way God's going to evaluate you is this. He is not going to evaluate on what you did do. But what you did do compared to what you could have done, praise God, glory, hallelujah. I'm glad thank you Lord and so I'm glad D.L. Moody made this statement that the world is yet to see what God can do with one man and one woman totally committed and surrendered to our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ amen and so I'm glad that committed and surrendered to him and so here the simple differences of the judgment seat of Christ is the comparison of the judgment seat of Christ and the great white throne judgment for the lost unbeliever because here we see the scriptures of the believers and the unbelievers and they're to the reward the faithful service of God's children but to settle the accounts of those who rebel against God's righteousness you see when you get to this point you already know you're in heaven or hell because that was those in heaven are going to come before the judgment seat of Christ and they're going to give an account of every deed they've done in their body. But the last judgment that will come will be the great white throne judgment. And by that time, when you get there, you're on your way to hell and ain't no change in it. And so here after the rapture, during the tribulation and before the millennium, but after the millennium and before the lake of fire, The unbeliever is going to have that great white throne judgment that's going to come. And so the judgment seat of Christ. Oh, man, here come the judge. Here come the judge. And so of all the different ways that you can do some comparisons that you'll be looking at, you see, here comes the judge, the faithfulness in service. the obedience to God's word, the soul winning efforts, the love and the compassion, the motive behind the works, the use of your time, the perseverance in your trials, the stewardship of resources, the building on Christ's foundation, and the impact on others. Oh my goodness, why don't you download this PDF later on? Because each one of these things will begin to be the eternal wards whether you get a crown of righteousness or incorruptible crown a crown of life a crown of rejoicing and a crown of glory or if you're in the great white throne judgment category uh-oh what is that category the rejection of christ you did not believe jesus How pity on your soul that's going to burn forever and ever. God help them. And so the sins that's been committed, the moral accountability, the negligence of God's revelation, and the influence on others that you've led them stray into the depths of hell, the opportunities that you rejected, the pride and the self-reliance, the blasphemy and the idolatry, the neglect of the needy, and the misuse of your words. each of those deeds that is going to bring your eternal consequences, eternal separation from God, no excuse whatsoever, righteous judgment that's coming upon you. And so when we look, I'm glad that the Bible says, she had done what she could. She's come a forehand to anoint my body to the burial of Mark chapter 14 verse 8. Did you do what you could have done when you could have done it? Every one of us, when we look and realize of all the consequences that could be in our court, every one of us could do something. So the eternal separation from God, how sad that is. The story about Mary in the Gospel of Mark comes to the Lord Jesus just before he was going to die. She takes a bottle very, very expensive. a whole year's wages and breaks it and pours it over his head. She was criticized by one of the disciples very sharply for wasting the expensive oil and that particular disciple said that she should have sold that oil and given it to the poor. I want you to listen to what Jesus replied. She did what she could when she could. She pre-anointed my body for burial was what she was saying and so That is the real question that Jesus is going to ask all of us when our life is over. Did you do what you could have done when you could have done it? Some people have more ability than others. Some people have more money than others. Some people have more gift than others. And if you're simply judged according to what you did or what you gave, that would be unfair because some can do more than others and some can give more than others. And so, I tell you, my ability is to be able to get out the word of God. That's why I try and ask the Lord to give me that ability as often and as much as I can, because if I can't reach you right down the road, maybe I can reach somebody else on the other side of the world. And so if you were simply judged according to what you did or what you gave, that would be unfair. But because some can do more than others and some can give more than others. And so in Luke chapter 12, verse 48, But he that knew not and did commit things worthy of stripes shall be beaten with few stripes. For unto whomsoever much is given of him shall be much required. And to whom men have committed much of him, they will ask the more. I wonder how many of them out there saying, Oh, man, that brother over there ain't preaching the gospel the right way it ought to be preached. Oh, they ain't over there singing the way they ought to be singing. Who are you to be the judge? You're the one that's going to be judged as you step back and look at everything from your perspective and you're thinking that everybody ought to be doing it the way you're doing it. I'm absolutely convinced that one thing that is going to be true for the very vast majority of us who are believers, and that is when we stand before God, we're going to be shocked at what we did for God compared to what we could have done for God. One of the greatest Christians of all time, the El Moody, I'll tell you, the old shoe salesman that gave time from his life to go out and to reach people. That's why we ought to make sure we can do whatever we can do for God, because it doesn't matter whether anyone else sees it, knows it, or hears about it. It's irrelevant whether it even makes the newspaper, the radio, television, Facebook, the internet. If God sees it and God hears it, God will remember it and God will reward it. Hallelujah. Praise the mighty name of Jesus. And so the end of time, final exam of your eternal foundation, of what you're built on, that God will assess the life that we've blessed in verse 13. God will reward the deeds that we've pressed in verse 14. And in verse 15, We will regret the time that we have dismissed. If any man's work shall be burned, he shall suffer loss, but he himself shall be saved, yet so as by fire. What God has done for us has taken care of our sins, but what we do for God still requires God's evaluation. And so it implies the regretful work that was lost. burned up in the fire representing a missed opportunity a wasted time that it speaks to the consequences and the opportunities of a wasted because of not using our time and resources wisely if we are ultimately saved and so it speaks powerfully all of these verses verses 5 down to verse 15 about the assessment about the reward about the loss of our work and how the foundation of Christ impacts the outcome of our efforts. And so, this paints an incredible picture of the believer, the follower of Christ, who gets into heaven literally by the skin of our teeth. It's like a man whose house catches on fire who has no time to gather any belongings, any mementos, anything of value. He simply leaps out the window having lost everything except their own life. And that is the way many Christians are going to go to heaven. empty-handed with nothing to show for their life. Oh my goodness, I wonder what in the world, I don't even think they got as low as a doorkeeper for your position or probably even mine. But I love to listen to all those folks out there that speak, motivational speakers, preachers, radio preachers. One of the greatest, Charles Jones, his middle name was called Tremendous. And one of the things he said, remember two things, he said, number one, you're not as tremendous as people say you are. And number two, don't worry about all this. I was going to burn it all up anyway. He tells a story walking down to his basement after a Youngstown flood that had left its damage and the water receded and have some left some thick mud and junk almost waist deep. His basement was where he kept all of his rewards, his plaques and all of his honors of being tremendous Jones. Well, they were still standing under about four feet of mud. And he said as he was standing there, he was feeling sorry for himself, hardly believing that what had happened when God spoke to him and said, Charlie, remember these two things. Number one, you're not as tremendous as people say you are. And number two, don't worry about all this. I was going to burn it all up anyway. Oh, man. Many of you've heard about many things in life. But I'm going to tell you, when we go through life today, one of the all time statements is C.T. Studd, Charles Thomas Studd, missionary, as he began to have a very powerful saying that stuck with a lot of people. And that is, you have only one life. It will soon be past. Only what's done for Christ will last. And when you take that final exam, as we all are going to do, I hope and pray that you'll hear Jesus say to you, well done and good and faithful servant. I hope and pray that you hear him say that. And how we relate to the eternal foundations on Judgment Day is the eternal significance of our service. Only what aligns with Christ will endure the gold, the silver, the precious stones, our motives and our methods will matter. Oh, man, that old boy over there, he's on that PowerPoint all the time. And and, you know, oh, my goodness, he don't he can't preach. He can't do anything. Probably not. Probably won't amount much either. But what little that I can get out on the other side of the world, because you can go down the street and nobody is wanting to listen. But there's some people out there that do. And there's some people that want to change. Eternal significant of our service. Personal responsibility. Each believer is accountable for how they use their gifts and opportunities in service to God. testing and refining. The fire symbolizes God's righteous evaluation, revealing the true value of your work and the rewards for faithfulness. Eternal rewards are promised for those who build wisely on the foundation of Christ and warning against superficiality, building with wood, hay or stubble, shallow or self-seeming efforts. It's all about me, myself and I. It's all about me, my stories and I. It's all about Jesus. And it ain't even about all of the demonstrations of what's going on in the world, the results and the loss. We emphasize the importance of the depth and the integrity. It's all about building on the gold, the silver, the precious stones. We're building on Jesus Christ. And so, as I close out, each and every one of us, as we reflect on the words of 1 Corinthians chapter 3, verses 5 through 15, and how we highlighted 13, 14, and 15, we're reminded of the urgency and the responsibility that we bear in how we build our lives. The foundation of Jesus is unshakable, but it's up to us to build wisely upon it. The life that we live, the work that we do, and the way that we manage the time God gives us will all be tested by fire. And when that day comes, only what we've built with eternal value will remain. So as we leave today, let us be intentional in the choices we make, building with materials that will withstand the fire of God's judgment, focusing on what truly matters and committing ourselves to live in a way that honors God. May our work and our lives reflect the eternal foundation of Christ. And may we have no regrets when we stand before God. I'd hate to be some of them deacons and those leaders that they are the very reason people are in hell because it had to be done their way. And that's the way we've always done it at this church, because that's the way we're going to do it. That's the way we've always done it. Send all them folks to hell because of your ways and your traditions. God forbid. There's eternal foundations and everyone starts out with the same foundation. What's your choice going to be? Because every day you are literally building a life and every day and every deed is another brick that you put into that building. And so I hope and pray that on that note, that each and every one of you, as we close out, that we will have our building on an eternal foundation. Thank you, Heavenly Father, for that foundation is found in Jesus. Everything that we do, we build, has eternal significance. Help us to be wise builders, choosing carefully how that we build, what we work for, how that we use the time wisely that's given to us. And may our lives be marked by purpose, faithfulness, desire to honor you in all things. As we leave, empower us to live in the light of eternity that awaits. As we trust in your guidance and grace, in Jesus' marvelous mighty name we pray. Amen. God bless you.