Good morning and welcome in everybody. Today we are going to take a look at a passage of scripture, but before we do that, I wanted to tell you a little story.
I can remember going into town to buy groceries when gas was .49 cents a gallon. We needed to fill up the gas cans so we could cut the lawn back home. When I was in high school I cut a few lawns for some extra money, but I didn’t get my first real job until after high school graduation. I remember getting paid a little bit over $3 per hour. That might not sound like very much in comparison to the wages that people make today, but when the minimum wage was first introduced back in 1938, people would receive .25 cents per hour. The national minimum wage was created by Congress under the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA), and guaranteed that you would receive at a bare minimum, a certain amount for the work that you did.
This reminds me of the Christian Life.
Scriptures clearly teach us that sin leads to death. Like a paycheck that people work towards each week, people who choose to live in sin will be rewarded according to their work. They are guaranteed to reap the wages of sin, and death is its minimum wage.
“For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.”
— Romans 6:23
The dictionary defines a wage as a payment for labor or services. It is a recompense or a reward for something that you do. Eternal life is a reward for the righteous. It is a prize that is given to those who have completely submitted themselves to the will of God, while here upon the Earth. God is a rewarder, and He will reward those who diligently seek Him. It pleases Him when we obediently serve Him. There are numerous rewards for doing what is good and right, but in the same manner, sin will reap its own reward. No matter how many good works someone may do, it can never exempt someone from turning from their sins and repenting of their evil ways. Sinful living must be eliminated from every soul who wants to inherit eternal life, because sin will reap death.
Matthew 7. ²¹ Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven. ²² Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? and in thy name have cast out devils? and in thy name done many wonderful works? ²³ And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity.
Sin is so terrible, that unless you repent and conform to God’s purpose, it will result in one’s own damnation. God treats everybody the same. Those who choose to live lives of impenitence, and refuse to lovingly submit to His purpose, will reap sins reward, and incur the wrath of God.
Romans 2. ⁵ But after thy hardness and impenitent heart treasurest up unto thyself wrath against the day of wrath and revelation of the righteous judgment of God; ⁶ Who will render to every man according to his deeds: ⁷ To them who by patient continuance in well doing seek for glory and honour and immortality, eternal life: ⁸ But unto them that are contentious, and do not obey the truth, but obey unrighteousness, indignation and wrath, ⁹ Tribulation and anguish, upon every soul of man that doeth evil, of the Jew first, and also of the Gentile; ¹⁰ But glory, honour, and peace, to every man that worketh good, to the Jew first, and also to the Gentile: ¹¹ For there is no respect of persons with God.
Some people are going to receive the reward of unrighteousness.
2 Peter 2 ¹² But these, as natural brute beasts, made to be taken and destroyed, speak evil of the things that they understand not; and shall utterly perish in their own corruption; ¹³ And shall receive the reward of unrighteousness,………..
God will reward each person according to their works, whether they be good or bad.
“For the Son of man shall come in the glory of his Father with his angels; and then he shall reward every man according to his works.”
— Matthew 16:27
Revelation 22 ¹¹ He that is unjust, let him be unjust still: and he which is filthy, let him be filthy still: and he that is righteous, let him be righteous still: and he that is holy, let him be holy still. ¹² And, behold, I come quickly; and my reward is with me, to give every man according as his work shall be.
Have you ever received a payment for the work that you did? Someone promised that when you completed the job you would be remunerated. God is no different, and every man shall reap what they sow.
Galatians 6 ⁷ Be not deceived; God is not mocked: for whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap. ⁸ For he that soweth to his flesh shall of the flesh reap corruption; but he that soweth to the Spirit shall of the Spirit reap life everlasting.
Depending on how you live your life, you will be rewarded accordingly, every man according to his own works. Those who do good will be resurrected to life, while those who do evil will be resurrected to damnation. This is not fantasy but the facts of what is going to happen. This is why every man needs to keep close tabs on the way that they are living their lives. They must be preparing themselves each day for the judgment Day that is coming. Even people who sit on the highest courts in this world will have to answer to God’s Courtroom at judgment Day. We must live our lives unrebukable and blameless before God.
Hebrews 2 ¹ Therefore we ought to give the more earnest heed to the things which we have heard, lest at any time we should let them slip. ² For if the word spoken by angels was stedfast, and every transgression and disobedience received a just recompence of reward; ³ How shall we escape, if we neglect so great salvation; which at the first began to be spoken by the Lord, and was confirmed unto us by them that heard him;
To walk in righteousness leads to eternal life, while walking in darkness leads to death.
“Know ye not, that to whom ye yield yourselves servants to obey, his servants ye are to whom ye obey; whether of sin unto death, or of obedience unto righteousness?”
— Romans 6:16
“What fruit had ye then in those things whereof ye are now ashamed? for the end of those things is death.”
— Romans 6:21
“The labour of the righteous tendeth to life: the fruit of the wicked to sin.”
— Proverbs 10:16
“Behold, all souls are mine; as the soul of the father, so also the soul of the son is mine: the soul that sinneth, it shall die.”
— Ezekiel 18:4
Those who continue to live in sin are proving themselves worthy of death.
Romans 1. ²⁸ And even as they did not like to retain God in their knowledge, God gave them over to a reprobate mind, to do those things which are not convenient; ²⁹ Being filled with all unrighteousness, fornication, wickedness, covetousness, maliciousness; full of envy, murder, debate, deceit, malignity; whisperers, ³⁰ Backbiters, haters of God, despiteful, proud, boasters, inventors of evil things, disobedient to parents, ³¹ Without understanding, covenantbreakers, without natural affection, implacable, unmerciful: ³² Who knowing the judgment of God, that they which commit such things are worthy of death, not only do the same, but have pleasure in them that do them.
As a Christian, we must become sanctified by the truth, purifying our hearts and our minds from anything displeasing to God. We must walk in the truth and serve Christ, rather than the sinful nature.
“Knowing this, that our old man is crucified with him, that the body of sin might be destroyed, that henceforth we should not serve sin.”
— Romans 6:6
God is a respecter of no person, and just like a garden, whatever you sow is what you will reap. Like people who punch a clock at work each day, those who continue to live in sin are storing up a timecard of death which will eventually be paid by God. If they abide in sinfulness, they will reap the reward for their labors.
There are eternal consequences for rebellion against God, and you will never reap eternal life by living in sin. This is because death is it’s……..
…..Minimum Wage
Let’s think about these things for right now. We can be found on your web browser by searching, tlkjbc where you can find our diaries distributed through various platforms. We are not associated, nor affiliated with any other religious groups. You can get our entire podcast feeds directly, along with transcripts at tlkjbc.com or I suppose that you could find us somewhere up here, in the Great Northern Minnesota woods. Peace to you all, and Lord willing, we will talk with you some more tomorrow. Till then, bye bye everybody.♥️
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