I've learned there are 3 types of preachers – those you don't listen to, those you don't want to listen to, and those you can't not listen to. A good preacher grabs your attention and a great one never lets go of it. I've been preaching long enough to know that I'm not a great one but I know who was. The gospels tell us that Jesus spoke to people with authority & commanded their attention; they thronged to him. So today I want to steal part of one of His messages and just build upon it. I hope His words will captivate & motivate you.

So how many of you have a retirement plan? Where I work at we have a defined benefits plan. Where I used to work we had a 401k. For some of you the plan may simply be to work until you die then let your spouse live off the insurance but that's still a plan. We all need a retirement plan. We will all retire not just from work but from this life on earth one day so we need a spiritual retirement plan as well.

I've been thinking about this because we just finished the celebration of Jesus' first coming and now we are waiting on the approaching midnight hour. It makes me think of his second coming because Jesus will come again as a thief in the night. So look with me at what he said about his return.

Read Matthew 24:37-44

Now what I'd like to concentrate on is the judgment after his return. That will determine how we retire so let's keep reading. Jesus changes gears here moving from signs of the end to parables of how to live until the end.

Read Matthew 24:45-51

Now, I've heard some people say that Christians will skip the judgment but that's just not so. It's not what the early church believed nor is it what Scriptures teach. Tertullian, a Christian writer around the end of the 2nd century, said that everybody will be resurrected "…in order to have its due meted out, according to what it has merited in the period of good or evil. Thereafter, it will have these paid out through the immeasurable ages of eternity." [p. 384 A Dictionary of Early Church Beliefs] He later added, "It will be an eternal, irrevocable sentence – either of punishment or of blessing." [p. 385 A Dictionary of Early Church Beliefs] Even earlier, the apostle Paul wrote in Romans 14:10-12 that we will all stand before judgment seat. Even Jesus himself said in John 5:28,29 that everyone, both the good and evil, will be resurrected to judgment.

We may retire when we die or we may get to take early retirement in the rapture but it is certain we will all retire. We will all retire to something. That something will be determined at our judgment.

Jesus said we ought to lay up treasures in heaven for ourselves (Matthew 6:20). Doing so we may retire to reward. These treasures or rewards may come in different forms.

They might be rewards of possessions. Scriptures tell us of 5 crowns that a believer may attain including the crown of glory, crown of life, crown of righteousness. (2 Timothy 4:8; James 1:12; I Peter 5:2-4; Rev 2:10, I Thessalonians 2:19-20; Philippians 4:1, I Corinthians 9:25-27) Even where we dwell in glory is a reward. Jesus said he has gone to prepare a place for us. Tertullian back around 213 AD penned, "How will there be many mansions in our Father's house if it is not according to a variety of deserts? How will one star differ from another star in glory, unless it is because of a disparity in their rays." [p. 245 A Dictionary of Early Church Beliefs]

Or they may be rewards of position. In Matthew 24, the faithful servant placed over all things. This man was rewarded just for faithfulness to do what he was told to do. In Matthew 25:14-30, the parable of talents, the Lord says those who are faithful over few will be made ruler over many. These were rewarded for faithfulness but received different rewards based on results.

Once there was a preacher who died and went to heaven. He was enjoying his new mansion when he noticed that a New York cabdriver had been given a better place and higher position than he had. Well he went to see old St. Peter to make sure some mistake hadn't been made. "I don't understand," he complained to Peter. "I gave my whol life to my congregation."
"Well, up here you know our policy is to reward results," explained St. Peter.
"Right," said the preacher, "I know that."
"So then what happened, Reverend, whenever you gave a sermon?"
"Well some paid attention and got right." Shyly the preacher added, "But some didn't pay attention and well some even fell asleep."
"Exactly, " said St. Peter. "And when anyone rode in this man's taxi, they not only stayed awake, they prayed and how."

It will be great to retire one day to those treasures laid up in heaven for me. As Paul put it "To live is Christ; to die is gain". Or as an old Alabama preacher once said, "They that deny themselves for Christ shall enjoy themselves in Christ." Or as Charles Hodge, one of the greatest American theologians and commentators from the 1800's, said "The Scriptures teach that the happiness or blessedness of believers in a future life will be greater or less in proportion to the service of Christ in this life. Those who love little, do little; and those who do little, enjoy less."

As well as heavenly rewards we may also receive earthly blessings as we do His will here on earth. I think of great men of God like Billy Graham and John Hagee who have been blessed with fame and wealth. But things like that should be seen as a bonus. If they come, fine but if not no sweat. After all earthly isn't the same as eternal!