Eternity 101: The Final Exam
James Merritt
1 Corinthians 3:5-15
Introduction
1. Everyone who has ever gone to school, be it high school, college or graduate school knows that there are two words that can turn your stomach into a pretzel, make your mouth as dry as cotton, shoot your blood pressure through the roof and send your sweat glands into apoplexy. Those two words are the words - ''final exam''.
2. I will never forget the final- final I ever took. It was my oral examination in front of my three supervisory professors in my doctorial program. I've never felt such pressure in my life, because in your orals you either pass or fail and you have to pass unanimously. If you fail, three and a half years of your life go out the window. I can still remember the joy in my heart when I walked out of there knowing it was the last final exam I would ever take.
3. Later, reading the text we are going to study today, I was reminded that I still have one final exam to go. This is a unique final exam. You cannot study for it. You cannot cram for it. The reason is you take this exam every day. You are taking it right now - that is if you are a follower of Christ. If you are a believer, from the moment you receive Christ as your Lord and Savior, you begin to take this exam.
4. You are never going to know your grade until the end of time. Only Jesus Christ can grade this exam, because only Jesus Christ knows the right answers.
5. There is one other difference with this exam. You can fail the exam without flunking out of school. This exam does not concern salvation. It concerns service. Christians face a totally different type of judgment than non-christians.
6. Non-christians are going to be judged for one sin and that is the sin of refusing to believe in Jesus Christ and receive Him as Lord. Christians have already had their sins forgiven, because they have received Jesus Christ. That is why the Bible says in Romans 8:1,
''There is therefore now no con ...
James Merritt
1 Corinthians 3:5-15
Introduction
1. Everyone who has ever gone to school, be it high school, college or graduate school knows that there are two words that can turn your stomach into a pretzel, make your mouth as dry as cotton, shoot your blood pressure through the roof and send your sweat glands into apoplexy. Those two words are the words - ''final exam''.
2. I will never forget the final- final I ever took. It was my oral examination in front of my three supervisory professors in my doctorial program. I've never felt such pressure in my life, because in your orals you either pass or fail and you have to pass unanimously. If you fail, three and a half years of your life go out the window. I can still remember the joy in my heart when I walked out of there knowing it was the last final exam I would ever take.
3. Later, reading the text we are going to study today, I was reminded that I still have one final exam to go. This is a unique final exam. You cannot study for it. You cannot cram for it. The reason is you take this exam every day. You are taking it right now - that is if you are a follower of Christ. If you are a believer, from the moment you receive Christ as your Lord and Savior, you begin to take this exam.
4. You are never going to know your grade until the end of time. Only Jesus Christ can grade this exam, because only Jesus Christ knows the right answers.
5. There is one other difference with this exam. You can fail the exam without flunking out of school. This exam does not concern salvation. It concerns service. Christians face a totally different type of judgment than non-christians.
6. Non-christians are going to be judged for one sin and that is the sin of refusing to believe in Jesus Christ and receive Him as Lord. Christians have already had their sins forgiven, because they have received Jesus Christ. That is why the Bible says in Romans 8:1,
''There is therefore now no con ...
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