The next main point is that these rewards are Eternal. They're irreversible; and they never diminish. The rewards are Eternal - they're called Eternal Rewards. It's called ‘Eternal Judgement’.
Hebrews 6:2 – “…Eternal Judgement”.
Once it's made, it's made for eternity. There's no reversing the decision. Once you arrive at that point, there's no turning back. There's no: ‘give me a bit longer’. There's no second chance! At the judgement seat of Christ, whatever reward we get, is ours for eternity - and our rewards determine the way we spend eternity!
The second thing is: the rewards are irreversible. You can't change what the judgement is. You can't reverse it! If our works are burned, and we suffer loss, there's no way to reverse it! If we are disqualified from ruling with Christ, and being near to Him in eternity, there's no way you can reverse it.
When we look at more detail on the prizes, you realise that the prizes are out of proportion to anything we do, because of the generosity of God. If God is so loving, that He gave His only Son, then how much more will He reward us, who serve God - who serve Him Faithfully?
The third thing is that the rewards will never diminish! They can never be taken away, once you've got them.
Matthew 6:20 - “Lay up for yourselves treasure in heaven, where moth nor rust destroy, does not corrupt, and where thieves can't break in and steal.”
Whatever treasure you have in heaven can't be stolen or taken away. The Bible talks about people being rewarded with crown; and the crowns are imperishable, they don't fade away.
1 Corinthians 9:26, Paul writes about ‘running the race’ and ‘run to obtain’. He says: in the natural world people do everything in order to get a crown, to get an award; and he says: that's a perishable one! Ours is an imperishable one - it can never fade. Heavenly rewards are eternal, and they're imperishable. They never go, they never perish, they never diminish.
Let's have a look at the next key principle then. We find that Jesus Himself was motivated by rewards; and He also motivated other believers. Jesus was empowered to live His life, because of what He saw ahead. He was motivated by an eternal reward.
A temporary reward would be… what do people think of me now; how well am I living now; what income have I got now; what house do I live in now? An eternal reward is something completely different. It's not temporary, it's eternal - and He was motivated by that.
We find in Hebrews 12:2, Jesus endured the shame of the cross, and it says: “...for the joy set before Him”. ‘Set before’ means: ‘to lie in front of you’ - as a reward! To be constantly in your mind!
So Jesus, in facing the cross - with all its shame, and the pain, and the difficulty, and the rejection of people... all those things, it says: “He endured it, because of the joy that was positioned, or set before Him” - the opportunity to receive reward in the coming kingdom. It was the joy of what He saw ahead - and that's how we need to live our life.
If you’ve got no vision of what lies ahead, then you've got no motivation for being sacrificial. People look, and they say: you do this, and you've given up this, and you've given that…. We see something else here - and we're paying a price for that! We're making an investment... of our lives! If you don't see what is set before you, then you've got little motivation to keep going.
Understanding this issue of eternal rewards... then you realise: I'm willing to let Jesus transform my heart. I'm willing to bring out the broken places, the hurt places. I'm willing to humble myself, to let Him bring healing. I'm willing to work on my heart attitudes. Why? Because of something that lies ahead for me!
I read somewhere that Jesus gave 50 references to Eternal Rewards - so it's a big, big thing! There are many things that He taught about that - but He did teach His disciples, over, and over, and over again, about Eternal Rewards.
He called them to ‘become great’, called them to ‘receive rewards’, called them to ‘become a ruler over much’, to have ‘authority over nations’, to ‘sit on thrones’, and ‘gain crowns’. He was constantly moving them with this prospect.