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What's Following You?

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What's Following You?

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What's Following You?

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In addition to the physical law of cause and effect, there is also a spiritual law of sowing and reaping. Our actions have consequences, either now or in the life to come--things that can follow us through life. We can make the choice of whether we are followed by good or bad things, based on the actions that we take.

Transcript

[Chris Rowland] How many of you know about the laws, "Cause and Effect"?  If you walked outside today and it was raining and if you didn't have an umbrella, what would you expect to happen?  You'd likely to get wet, right?  That had happened to several of us in the way in today.  What if you forgot to set the alarm to wake you up in the morning?  Then don't be surprised if it doesn't go off and you oversleep.  Well cause and effect is the idea that actions have consequences.  It doesn't take years of scientific study to grasp that concept.  Even before we learn how to talk, we'd figured out certain actions that we take will bring about certain responses.  A baby quickly learns that if it wants something, whether it's milk or comfort or a diaper change, if you cry that will bring Mom or Dad quickly to try to solve the problem for you.  Cause and effect, action and reaction is a reality that we come to understand.  There are many things in this world, especially the laws of physics has immediate consequences.

Now what do you think will happen if I hold out my arm with this toy in my hand and then I let go of the toy?  This little sheep.  Well how many of you believe if I let go of this sheep that it will remain suspended right here in the air?  Anyone who looks at it from all sides, or maybe like a character in a cartoon, the sheep would stay suspended right here until it realizes that I'm not holding it anymore and then it would fall down.  No, if I let go of this toy it's going to immediately fall towards the ground, it's pretty simple because there's a natural law called gravity.  I think we all know that, but whether or not we understand why it works, we do know what the effect will be.

Many similar laws about how things work in this world have immediate consequences and they happen right away.  You've taken science classes at school, you've probably studied a lot of laws from the field of physics or chemistry or biology and when you do an experiment in those classes, if you follow the instructions that are given for that experiment, there's a known consequence that will come about; that is if you follow the instructions correctly.  The consequences in our lives aren't always as immediate as that.  Sometimes the result doesn't follow immediately, it can take a little bit longer.

Now let's say hypothetically that last night I didn't have any dinner and then today I didn't have any breakfast or any lunch.  I may not have been very hungry to start with, but as each additional hour passes, each additional meal that I might skip, I begin to get more and more hungry.  Now that hunger will be the reaction of the fact that I choose not to eat anything for a while.  That seems obvious, right?  If I really am hungry, whose responsibility is that?  Who's to blame for that?  Whose choice was it for me to skip dinner, breakfast, lunch?  Did you do that to me?  Is it your fault?  No, it was my choice.  My current hunger would be a result of those decisions I made to skip meals, you kind of understand that.

Well one of the concepts that we want to look at for the sermon is accountability.  What is accountability?  Well, accountability is my willingness to accept responsibility for the actions that I take.  I am accountable for my hunger.  I can't blame anyone else for that.  It would be my decision to skip a few meals so I accept responsibility for the effect or the consequence of those choices, the fact that I'm now hungry.  Now who is accountable for the sheep falling to the ground?  Well in a sense, the law of gravity is accountable for bringing it to the ground, but I also have to claim some responsibility for letting go of that toy.  I knew what the consequences would be.  I knew that as soon as I let go that gravity would take over and it would pull that toy to the floor.

So throughout the sermon today we'll look at the law of cause and effect and how it can affect our lives.  We'll see how we are held accountable for the choices we make, we'll see how God holds us accountable also for the things that we do.  So when we make choices we must be willing to accept the consequences of those actions.  Now, because the consequences in our lives aren't immediate – they don't happen right away – they don't immediately follow the choices that we make all the time. Those consequences can follow us, they can stalk us, they can haunt us for the rest of our lives sometimes.  It's like, “I can see that consequence coming after me if I look over my shoulder.”  So I titled this sermon, What’s Following You?

I had an opportunity to talk with one young man who had recently been released from prison.  One of the conditions of his release was that he wasn't legally allowed to drive a car.  He wasn't going to let that stop him.  He told me that he figured out all of these different back roads to drive around the city, and he figured out all these places where the police didn't usually patrol, and they wouldn't catch him while he was driving.  But what was following him?  The mistakes that he made in the past. They were still following him.  He had made a lot of bad choices in life and now he couldn't get free from the consequences to those bad choices.  The young man had to be on guard, he was always looking in his rear view mirror hoping he would not get caught again for driving or for drugs.  His past was following him and he was afraid of it, but he was still making a choice to continue to go down the wrong way.

Now the Bible doesn't use the term cause and effect to describe the consequences of our actions.  Instead it uses an agricultural or farming analogy of sowing and reaping.  Now sowing something means that you plant something like a seed.  If I were sowing apple seeds, like taking seeds from an apple and planting those seeds in the ground so that they would sprout.  Well, reaping means harvesting what you've grown and what that apple seed has sprouted – growing to a tree and then produced some fruit. I can then reap that harvest of apples that was produced.  When talking about farming, that reaping is not an immediate event.  I don't put the apple seed into the soil one day, put a little water on it and then enjoy the apple harvest the next day.  Different seeds take different amount of time to bear fruit.  Some take a few months, some have to grow several years before there's a harvest mature enough to produce good fruit.

 If you put your finger in Galatians chapter 6 and verse 7, you can see how Paul used these concepts to explain the law of cause and effect.  Paul wrote here: 

Galatians 6:7  Do not be deceived; God is not mocked; for whatever a man sows, that he will also reap. (Paul explains here that whatever we reap is a consequence of whatever we've sown, we will harvest whatever we've planted.  The consequences of the effect are tied to the cause or the action that was taken.) Verse 8: For he who sows to his flesh will of the flesh reap corruption, but he who sows to the Spirit will of the Spirit reap everlasting life. (Two examples taking action that only satisfies the flesh will bring about results that only result in the destruction of the flesh.  But taking action that according to God's Spirit will result in lasting spiritual life.)
Why do you think verse 7 begins by saying, “Do not be deceived, God is not mocked?”  Well it's because the world wants to deceive you into believing that you don't have to reap what you sow.  You don't have to face the consequences of your actions.  But the law of cause and effect isn't really true.  To deny the law of cause and effect is a deception that does mock God and the justice that He promises us.  God told Adam the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it, you shall surely die.  He explained to them an action and He also explained to them, the consequences of what that action would be.  But the serpent said this to the woman:  "You shall not surely die."  The serpent brought a deception that mocked God, saying that mankind wouldn't have to reap what was sown.

I'd like to turn to Genesis, chapter 27.  This afternoon we're going to look at the example of Jacob.  In verse 2 we see that Jacob's father, Isaac felt that he was going to die soon.  He was talking to his first born son, Esau, Jacob's brother and this is what he tells him.

Genesis 27:2  And he said, "Behold now, I am old.  I do not know the day of my death. Verse 3:  Now therefore, please take your weapons, your quiver and your bow and go out to the field and hunt game for me.  Verse 4:  And make me savory food such as I love and bring it to me that I may eat, that my soul may bless you before I die. (Isaac was preparing here to give a final blessing to Esau.) 

Esau was not only his first born son but he was Isaac's favorite son.  Esau did what his father asks.  He went out hunting to prepare a delicious dinner just like his father had requested.  Now Jacob's mother and Esau's mother, Rebekah overheard this conversation between Isaac and Esau and she had a different idea.  Her favorite son wasn't Esau, it was Jacob.  Jacob was her favorite and she knew that Isaac was about to give Esau an important blessing.  She felt that Jacob should be the one to get that blessing, not Esau.

She also knew it would take some time for Esau to hunt some animal, to prepare it for dinner, so she cooked up something herself, in more ways than one.  Rebekah encouraged Jacob to trick his father so that he could take the blessing that Isaac intended for Esau.  Now Rebekah knew exactly how Isaac liked his meals and she told Jacob that she would even prepare that special dinner for him from the goats that they already had nearby.  She said to Jacob:

Verse 9:  "Go now to the flock and bring me from there two choice kids of the goats, and I will make savory food from them for your father, such as he loves.  Verse 10:  Then you shall take it to your father that he may eat it and that he may bless you before his death." (Well why would Isaac bless Jacob instead of Esau?  Was it just because Jacob completed a dinner and bought it to him first?  No, Rebekah was implying here that Jacob needed to pretend to be his brother Esau.  He needed to deceive his father.  Now Isaac couldn't see very well.  He was old, his eyes were dim.) Verse 11: And Jacob said to Rebekah, his mother: "Look Esau my brother is a hairy man and I am a smooth-skinned man. Verse 12: Perhaps my father will feel me and I shall seem to be a deceiver to him; and I shall bring a curse on myself and not a blessing."   Verse 13:  But his mother said to him, "Let your curse be on me my son; only obey my voice and go get them for me."  (Well Rebekah knew there would be consequences for this deception.  She talked about a curse.  She told Jacob that she would accept the curse on herself for what Jacob was about to do.  She told him that she wanted to accept the consequences of those actions, but I think you will see later that Jacob also had to accept some consequences of the deception, it was not going to be limited to his mother.) 

So Jacob was a good boy, he obeyed his mother, he agreed to play this trick on Isaac so that he might receive the blessing.  So how does a guy with smooth skin pretend to be a hairy guy?  Well remember those goats that Rebekah was making for dinner?  Jacob agreed to put the goat skins on his hands and around his neck so he would feel hairy like his brother.  I tried to imagine that, maybe you had too, how Jacob must have looked with these goat skins on his hands and around his neck.  I wonder how he attached those and if they really felt realistic.  Maybe next time that I'm at a petting zoo I might close my eyes and pet a goat and see whether it feels like a hairy guy.  It must have, but I think what was more convincing then just those skins was that Jacob put on his brother's choice clothing.  Then he would smell like Esau and that smell would be very convincing to somebody with limited eyesight.  So after those preparations Jacob went in to his father's presence, this moment of truth.

Verse 19: And Jacob said to his father, "I am Esau your firstborn."  (He lied to his father and deceived him.  Well Isaac wasn't unfairly convinced by him just saying that.  He thought that voice sounded a little bit suspicious, but when he felt those goat skins on his hands, he was deceived.  He was convinced it was Esau in front of him and not his brother Jacob.) 

But Isaac even questioned him further by saying:  "Are you really my son Esau."  Jacob replied: "I am."  So Isaac gave Jacob the blessing.  Jacob had stolen away from Esau through trickery.  He deceived his father so that he, the second born would get the reward of the first born.  Now that really doesn't seem fair does it?  Here we have an example where someone who lies to his father and stole his brother's birthright blessing and he was to be the inheritor of wonderful blessings from God.  But what were the immediate consequences of this?  Jacob was not immediately struck down for his deceit.  As you might have guessed, one immediate consequence was that his brother Esau, who had put a sufficient amount of effort in hunting food and preparing a dinner for their father was not very pleased when he found out his brother had cheated him out of a blessing that he was to receive.  We read this in verse 41:

Verse 41:  So Esau hated Jacob because of the blessing which his father blessed him and Esau said in his heart: "The days of mourning for my father are at hand; then I will kill my brother Jacob."  (Esau hated Jacob because his brother had been a deceiver and stolen that blessing.  Esau planned to kill Jacob after their father died, which seemed to take place at any time.)

Now Jacob's mother, Rebekah, was certainly not without blame in this situation, especially since it was her plan, and she acted on her favoritism that she had for Jacob, and she encouraged him to be a deceiver.  So she sent him away to another land so he could escape Esau's wrath.  Jacob's actions had completely ruined any relationship that he had with his brother.  That was one immediate consequence of his deception.  But all of the results of Jacob's deception didn't happen right away.  It wasn't like gravity that immediately takes over when I drop something from my hand.  There are still consequences of that episode that Jacob would have to deal with far into the future.  This was an action that would have severe consequences for him later on in his life.  Those consequences may not have been put there by God, those consequences may have come from Jacob's own attitude, his own character in the way that he was. But his actions left a path behind him of hatred and revenge.  Jacob now had to live in fear of Esau and be haunted by the thought that his brother might follow him to this other land and stalk him and kill him.
That's what was following Jacob at that time, the fear that his brother was going to hunt him down and kill him.  But Esau's anger wasn't the only consequence that was waiting in store and following Jacob.)

Let's turn now to Genesis 29 and read about what happened to Jacob after meeting the two daughters of his uncle Laban, his cousins, Leah and Rachel. 

Genesis 29:16  Now Laban had two daughters: the name of the elder was Leah, and the name of the younger was Rachel. Verse 17:  Leah's eyes were delicate, but Rachel was beautiful of form and appearance. (Now Isaac had commanded Jacob back in the beginning of chapter 28 to take a wife from Laban's daughters.  So it looks like he has two here to choose from.  It seems like Jacob made up his mind rather quickly that he liked the beautiful one.)  Verse 18:  Now Jacob loved Rachel; and he said, "I will serve you seven years for Rachel your younger daughter."  (The Pulpit Commentary says that the custom in the east was to buy a wife or to give the usual dowry to the father.)  That's what happened back when Isaac sent a servant to find Rebekah for his wife.  Now in that case Isaac's servant gave jewels of gold, silver and clothing so that Rebekah could be married.  But in this case, apparently Jacob didn't have the goods or the money to pay the price of the marriage so he offered his own labor.  He offered his own personal services for seven years.  That will give you some idea how much a woman's dowry must have cost at that time.  Continuing in verse 19:

Verse 19:  And Laban said, "It is better that I give her to you than I should give her to another man.  Stay with me."  Verse 20:  So Jacob served seven years for Rachel, and they seemed but a few days to him because of the love he had for her.  (Ah, love – how quickly that seven years went.)  Verse 21:  Then Jacob said to Laban, "Give me my wife, for my days are fulfilled, that I may go in to her." Verse 22:  And Laban gathered together all the men of the place and made a feast.  (Laban put on quite a party for this wedding.  But Laban had a plan he was about to put into motion.)  Verse 23:  Now it came to pass, in the evening, that he took Leah his daughter and brought her to Jacob; and he went in to her. (Now wait a minute.  Laban bought the wrong daughter.  After all that feasting, Jacob wasn't very observant.  If you had one girl on your mind for seven years, you'd think that you'd recognize her on such an important night.  But Jacob had been deceived.)  Verse 24:  And Laban gave his maid, Zilpah, to his daughter, Leah, as a maid. Verse 25:  So It came to pass in the morning, that behold, it was Leah, and he said to Laban: "What is this you have done to me?  Was it not Rachel that I served you?  Why then have you deceived me?"  (So Jacob was deceived by one sister impersonating another sister at the instruction of their father which is so parallel to his case where one brother impersonated another brother at the instruction of their mother.)  Do you see the pattern there?  It's kind of weird.  Jacob was paying for his deception by being deceived himself.  Who knows how long Laban had contemplated this course of action.  I feel that probably its some point during those seven years working for Laban that Jacob probably talked about or even bragged about how he had deceived his father and stolen his first born brother's blessing.  I think that Laban considered that injustice when he planned his own deception of Jacob.  Verse 26 seems to be an indirect reference to Jacob putting himself before Esau, the first born.
Verse 26:  And Laban said, "It must not be done so in our country, to give the younger before the firstborn."   Verse 27: "Fulfill her week and we will give you this one also for the service which you will serve with me still another seven years."  Verse 28:  Then Jacob did so and fulfilled her week.  So he gave him his daughter Rachel as his wife. (So here we have a case of the trickster being tricked.  The deceiver being deceived.  Jacob had deceived his father by pretending to be his brother Esau and now Laban deceived Jacob by having Leah pretending to be her sister Rachel.  He had ended up marrying the sister he didn't want to marry.)

But I think that Laban's words that “it must not be done so in our country – to give the younger before the firstborn,” probably hit Jacob especially hard since he knew that when he deceived his father. He put himself – the younger – before the first born, Esau.  Laban saw that Jacob wanted to marry the younger before the older and made sure that the first born got the honor that she was due.  I think that we can see how Laban's deception could be considered a consequence of the actions that Jacob took earlier in life.  He had it coming to him and just as Isaac had been blinded and unable to differentiate between his two sons, Jacob was also blinded.  Now it’s not clear from the account whether he was just blinded by the darkness in the tent that night or blinded by love, by alcohol or by fatigue, but he was unable to see the difference between Laban's daughters when it mattered the most.  This story of Jacob is just one example of how cause and effect can work.  Because of Jacob's action in deceiving his father, it left behind a trail of hatred from his brother, a wife who he never really wanted to marry and deception that would continue to follow him in his life.

Turn now to Genesis 37 and verse 18.  We'll continue the story.  Now Jacob had a favorite too.  There are lots of favorites in this family.  Jacob had a favorite son, Joseph who he loved more than any other children and he had several children, quite a few.  He made him a tunic of many colors.  Now I know that Jacob had reasons for favoring Joseph.  He was the son of his favorite wife, Rachel.  This favoritism is unhealthy.  Just like how the favoritism that Rebekah and Isaac conspired for, Jacob and Esau resulted in breaking their family relationship.  This favoritism that Jacob showed for Joseph broke his family relationship with his brothers.  We see how this pattern of favoritism repeated itself in this next generation and Joseph's brothers hated him because their father loved him more than any of them.  Well in verse 18, Joseph had just gone out to meet his brothers throughout tending his father's flock. 

Genesis 37:18  Now when they saw him afar off, even before he came near them, they conspired against him to kill him.  Verse 19:  Then they said to one another, "Look, this dreamer is coming."  Verse 20:  "Come therefore, let us now kill him and cast him into some pit and we shall say, "Some wild beast has devoured him. We shall see what will become of his dreams!"   (Things had gotten quite serious.  They were premeditated a plan to kill their own brother.  In verse 23 after Joseph arrived they took off his tunic and cast him into a pit in the wilderness.  In verse 28 they pulled Joseph out of the pit and sold him to some Midianite traders.  But that was a better plan than killing him because not only would they not be guilty of murder but they would have made a profit from it too.  But they had to come up with something to tell their father, Jacob.)  Verse 31:  So they took Joseph's tunic, killed a kid of the goats, and dipped the tunic in the blood.  Verse 32:  Then they sent the tunic of many colors and they brought it to their father and said, "We have found this.  Do you know whether it is your son's tunic or not?" Verse 33:  And he recognized it and said, "It is my son's tunic.  A wild beast has devoured him.  Without a doubt Joseph is torn to pieces."  Verse 34:  Then Jacob tore his clothes, put sackcloth on his waist and mourned for his son many days. Verse 35:  And all his sons and all his daughters arose to comfort him; but he refused to be comforted and he said: "For I shall go down into the grave to my son in mourning.:  Thus his father wept for him. (Jacob's sons brought him Joseph's tunic.  It was covered in blood from the goat and based on that, maybe there was a little bit of coaching from the brothers.  Jacob concluded that Joseph had been killed.  There's another case where Jacob the deceiver was deceived.  Now in this case, let's look at some interesting parallels to Jacob's deception.)

When Jacob deceived his father Isaac, he was wearing his brother's clothing and thru the skin of a goat, and here Jacob himself is deceived by his son's clothing and thru the blood of a goat.  So Jacob was tricked again.  This time by his own children.  His own children lied to him and deceived him with the goat's blood on Joseph's coat.  They made Jacob believe that his favorite son Joseph was killed by a wild animal when actually they sold him into slavery. Did Jacob really get away with his deception without being punished?  Or did he have to pay dearly throughout his life and face the consequences of those actions?  The sad story of trial of deception followed Jacob throughout his life until he was a very old man.  At first he had to work all those extra years for a wife that he didn't love and second he was deprived of his favorite son, thinking that he was dead until he was finally reunited with him as an older man.  Please note that I'm not saying that God caused these painful events to happen in Jacob's life, but He certainly allowed them to happen. 

A lot of time our own behaviors, our own attitudes are what lead to the difficult situations in our life much more than God intervening and inserting various trials.  But the lesson I want to get across to you in this sermon is that we need to be very careful of our actions because they can be followed by consequences that we cannot even begin to imagine at the present time.Now, whether its things that happen to us in this life or things that will happen to us ultimately on the day of judgment, whatever may be following behind us, it will catch up to us sooner or later, God will hold us accountable for what we do.  Consequences can follow us, stalk us or haunt us for the rest of our lives.  So what's following you?  Let's turn to Numbers 32. God gave us certain commandments that He expects us to follow and there are consequences to come from breaking those commandments.  Now in this verse Moses is telling the people of Reuben and Gad the consequences would be, if they didn't help in the conquest of the land of Canaan.

Numbers 32:23  "But if you do not do so, (If you don't do what you promised), then take note, you have sinned against the Lord; and be sure your sin will find you out."  (Now don't get the wrong idea, cause and effect doesn't always have to be something negative.  But it's not always something bad that's following us as a result of our actions.  We can have good things follow us.  Blessings that we can receive from making right choices in life.)

Deuteronomy 28:1  (We can see here what God promised us)  Now it shall come to pass, if you diligently obey the voice of the Lord your God, to observe carefully all His commandments which I command you today, that the Lord your God will set you high above all nations of the earth.  Verse 2:  And all these blessings shall come upon you and overtake you, because you obey the voice of the Lord your God. (You see that language there, the blessings will come upon you and overtake you.  It's like they're following us and they'll catch up to us and overtake us.  It's the image that if we're diligent, observe what God had commanded that these blessings are chasing us, a reward is catching up to us and that's an amazing thing.  The following verses up to verse 14 describe these good stalkers that could follow us, good consequences that we can expect from good action.)

I'd like to take a look at one individual whose example is recorded in the bible for making a good choice.  Let's turn to Joshua 14.  You've likely heard the story of Caleb, how he and Joshua were among the spy's who were sent to investigate the Promised Land.  Ten of those spy's bought back a bad report.  They didn't believe that God could deliver them.  But Joshua and Caleb encouraged the people, they believed that God would keep His word – that they could overcome.

Joshua 14:6  Then the children of Judah came to Joshua in Gilgal.  And Caleb the son of Jephunneh the Kenizzite said to him: "You know the word which the Lord said to Moses the man of God concerning you and me in Kadesh Barnea.  Verse 7:  "I was forty years old when Moses the servant of the Lord sent me from Kadseh Barnea to spy out the land and I brought back word to him as it was in my heart."  Verse 8:  "Nevertheless my brethren who went up with me made the heart of the people melt, but I wholly followed the Lord my God."  Verse 9:  "So Moses swore on that day saying, 'Surely the land where your foot has trodden shall be your inheritance and your children's forever, because you have wholly followed the Lord my God.' Verse 10:  "And now, behold, the Lord has kept me alive as He said these forty-five years, every since the Lord spoke this word to Moses while Israel wandered in the wilderness; and now here I am this day, 85 years old." Verse 11:  "As yet I am as strong this day as I was on the day that Moses sent me; just as my strength was then, so now is my strength for war, both for going out and for coming in."  Verse 12:  "Now therefore, give me this mountain of which the Lord spoke in that day; for you heard in that day how the Anakim were there and that the cities were great and fortified.  It may be that the Lord will be with me and I shall be able to drive them out as the Lord said."  Verse 13:  And Joshua blessed him and gave Hebron to Caleb the son of Jephunneh as an inheritance. Verse 14:  Hebron, therefore became the inheritance of Caleb the son of Jephunneh the Kenizzite to this day because he wholly followed the Lord God of Israel. 

Joshua and Caleb were the only men in their entire generation who were still alive.  The rest had died in the wilderness.  They would not be allowed to enter the Promised Land and as Caleb said, it took forty-five years for that blessing from God to come to pass.  Caleb made the right choice and in doing so he set into motion a blessing that wouldn't come for many, many years.  While Caleb traveled for those forty years in the wilderness, there was a blessing that was following behind him that hadn't yet overtaken him.  God blessed Caleb with strength so that at age 85, he was still as strong and as able as he was at age 40.  God blessed him with an inheritance with that land that he had spied out.  I'm sure that 45 years seemed like a long time to Caleb as he endured the hardships of wandering through the wilderness, watching all of his peers die.  But God doesn't forget His promises and those blessings will surely come.

For some of us, we will reap what we've sown in this physical life.  For others, that reaping is not until the resurrection.  Nobody gets away with committing sin and nobody will miss out on their blessings when they follow God.  There will be justice for everyone.  There will be a day of reckoning when the righteous will be rewarded, when the wicked will be punished.

Let's turn to II Corinthians 5 and read what Paul wrote to the church in Corinth about this coming day when we will appear before the judgment seat of Christ. 

2 Corinthians 5:9 –   Therefore we make it our aim, whether present or absent, to be well pleasing to Him.  Verse 10:  For we must appear before the judgment seat of Christ, that each one may receive the things done in the body, according to what he has done, whether good or bad. Verse 11:  Knowing therefore, the terror of the Lord, we persuade men; but we are well known to God and I also trust are well known in your consciences. (Paul is talking about an appointment here.  An appointment to appear before Christ.  A day of judgment, a day of reckoning for what we've done in this life.  We are ultimately accountable to God for how we have acted and how we've lived.) 

In verse 11, Paul mentions the terror of the Lord.  That's a day you don't want to be on His bad side, it's a terrible thing.  We can avoid that terror of the Lord if we take this life seriously, if we commit ourselves to practicing righteousness, following those laws that God has laid out for us to follow.  Paul also continues in verse 11 by saying we are well known to God.  You might think that maybe we can hide something from Him or maybe that maybe that God doesn't really know how I feel or what my motivation is, but that's wrong.  You are well known to Him.  Paul also mentioned that some things are well known in our consciences.  God has given us a conscience to help convict us about whether we are doing right or whether we're doing wrong.  Be accountable to your conscience.  Don't ignore it.  If your own mind is telling you that you're doing something wrong, listen to it.  You don't have to wait for God to step in and tell you or wait until you see some place in scripture that specifically says that thing is wrong.  If your conscience says its wrong, that should be enough to change your behavior.  We should all strive to have clear consciences.

Let's turn now to Matthew 6. There are several verses in this chapter that I want to draw our attention to because God sees the things that we do in secret whether they're good or whether they're bad.

Matthew 6:3 - But when you do a charitable deed, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing.  (Because a charitable deed may be in secret)  Verse 4:  That your charitable deed may be in secret; and your Father who sees in secret will Himself reward you openly.  (This phrase, charitable deed, the English Standard version translates this as give to the needy.  Giving to the needy, sharing the blessings that God has given us, that's something that's private but that God takes note of.)  Verse 6:  But you, when you pray, go into your room and when you have shut the door, pray to your Father who is in the secret place, and your Father who sees in secret will reward you openly. (Praying is also something that's private, something that should be done in private but that God takes note of.)  Verse 17:  But you, when you fast, anoint your head and wash your face.  Verse 18:  So that you do not appear to men to be fasting, but to your Father who is in the secret place; and your Father who sees in secret will reward you openly.  (Fasting should also be private.  When we're fasting we shouldn't go about looking hungry, looking miserable.  We shouldn't brag on Facebook, "I'm fasting today, I'm so miserable and I'm so righteous."  While we might have physical discomfort, that's something we should keep to ourselves.  It doesn't have to be a secret but the topic might come up and it's o.k. to let somebody know that you're fasting, but it shouldn't be obvious.  Fasting is something we do privately but God does take note of.)

In this chapter we just looked at three examples of good things that we can do; it can be charitable deeds, praying, fasting and in describing each of those actions, each time Jesus says:  "Your Father who sees in secret will Himself reward you openly.´ Those three things should all be private.  When we help the needy, that's private.  When we pray, it's private. And when we fast it's private.  In other words I shouldn't have any idea whether you're a person who is helping the needy, or someone who prays, or fasts (maybe it's the Day of Atonement and it's kind of expected.)  Jesus says that these are all private things – things that our Father sees in secret.  Those are things where we need to be accountable to God and accountable to our own conscience.  These are things that Jesus says the Father will reward us openly if we do them.  Do you do those things?  That's something your conscience should be able to answer for you.  Perhaps sometime you think whether I donate to the needy or not, whether I pray or not or whether I fast or not, does it really matter?  Well it does matter to our Father who sees in secret.  Jesus says that He will use those criteria as the basis for rewarding us for how we've lived this life.  If we do those things, blessings will follow us.  But what if we've made mistakes?  Or if we've made bad choices and have to live with those consequences.  I've made lots of bad choices.  Even if you followed the wrong way in the past, you can change.  You can now follow the right way, that's called repentance.

Let's turn to Ezekiel 18 and let's see what God recommends to someone who has made serious mistakes in life.

Ezekiel 18:21 - "But if a wicked man (Now a wicked man is somebody that has done a few wrong things, quite a bit of wrong things to be called wicked.) turns from all his sins which he has committed, keeps all My statutes and does what is lawful and right, he shall surely live, he shall not die.  Verse 22:  None of the transgressions which he has committed shall be remembered against him; because of the righteousness which he has done, he shall live." (God wants us to turn from our sins, to set out on a new path, on the path of righteousness.)

Yes, we've sinned and to be sure God will forgive us our sins when we ask Him.  We can have or sins forgiven through the blood of Jesus Christ.  We have to remember that being forgiven of our sins doesn't always mean that we still won't have to face the consequences of those actions.  However, we can rest assured that we won't have to pay the spiritual penalty of our sins, the penalty that Christ paid for us.  Verse 22 says that when we start walking down the path of righteousness that none of the transgressions that we've committed will be remembered.  Those bad things that were following us can begin to loose sight of us and be replaced by good things.  There will be an accounting for all of the things that we've done; whatever seeds we've sown, whatever paths we've walked down, God will demand that we explain why we did that.

Are you able, are you willing to explain to God why you have made certain choices that you've made; why you've obeyed Him and why you've disobeyed Him?  Jacob and his mother will have to give account to God for why they deceived Isaac and took Esau's blessing away.  Laban will have to give an account to God for why he deceived Jacob and gave him Leah as a wife instead of Rachel.  Joseph's brothers will have to give account to God for why they sold him into slavery and lied to their father.  Caleb will have to given an account for why he gave a good report.  That will be a good thing to give a report for and why he was diligent to obey God.  We will have to give an account too.  When we sin do we repent?  Do we change?  Do we strive to walk according to righteousness or do we keep walking in sin thinking it doesn't matter.  Well the good news is that God can forgive us of our mistakes, He can remove our sins as far as east is from the west.  God know that we will sin, but He's waiting to see if we choose to turn our backs to that sin and do our best to please Him or rather we continue in that sin to please ourselves.)

Look at Proverbs 21 briefly.  The things that follow us through life depend on the path that we take and the things that we choose ourselves to follow; what follows you and what you should expect from your future depends on who and what you follow.  

Proverbs 21:21 - He who follows righteousness and mercy finds life, righteousness and honor. (If we can learn to follow righteousness, if we can learn to show mercy, then we will find life.)

No matter what our previous situation may be like, if we sow these good behaviors we will reap the blessings both now in this life and in the life to come.  Those of us who are parents or grandparents, we should instruct our children in how to show mercy and how to live in peace with other people.  We should instruct our children what God had defined is right and wrong so that we can give our children the gift of a fully developed conscience to help guide them in future decisions.  So to get to the end of the sermon, today I want you to think about which way you want to follow.  Where are you going to direct your life and how will you make your future choices?  Whatever way you follow will determine what's following you.  It will determine the consequences that you should expect in the future.  The law of cause and effect is not something that's only true in the physical sciences, there's also a spiritual principle of cause and effect.  So decide which way you will follow.  I urge you to follow after Jesus Christ and follow after His righteousness.  If you choose to do the right thing and obey what you know to be right, then you won't have anything to fear from bad consequences.

For a last scripture I want to read from the last verse of Psalm 23What's following you?  If you look over your shoulder do you see bad choices from your past following you; things you wish you could hide from before they catch up with you?  Or do you look over your shoulder and see blessings and good things following you because of the good choices that you made in life?  David wrote this in:

Psalms 23:6 - Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life; and I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever.

Whatever is following us, the consequences or the choices we make in life depends on who we will follow and the choices we will make.  Don't we all want goodness and mercy to be following along behind us waiting for opportunities to bring blessings in our lives?  With many decisions that you make from this day forward, you'll have a choice to follow life or follow death.  I urge you to consider the consequences.  I urge you to choose life so that goodness and mercy shall follow you all the days of your life and you too can dwell in the house of the Lord forever.