Is it worth the supreme effort necessary for achieving victory over fleshly lusts and to lay aside our life and follow Christ wherever He goes?

This is an extraordinarily important question. It is not merely academic or an issue to be debated by mystical saints. The answer to this question has to do with our status at the coming of Christ; with the quality of our resurrection; with our destiny throughout eternity.

How important is it that we, through the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, develop the spiritual strength necessary to conquer Satan, the enticements of the world, the lusts of our flesh, and our self-seeking and self-will?

Will we all inherit approximately the same glory? Or is it true that the rewards of the saints will range from an exaltation so sublime that it is beyond our comprehension, to a resurrection that is barren of glory, such as in the case of the righteous Lot being yanked out of Sodom?

Will some be "great" in the Kingdom of God, while others are "least"?

Would you enjoy being least in the Kingdom of God, least in the approval of God, Christ, the elect angels, and the saints?

Is it true that each of us indeed will receive both the "good" we have practiced in our flesh and also the "evil" we have practiced in our flesh? Is that taking place in our life even now?

What does it mean to receive the good we have done and the evil we have done (II Corinthians 5:10)?

What kind of "gold, silver, precious stones" can be built on the foundation of Christ? What will it mean to be saved "yet so as by fire" (I Corinthians 3:12-15)?

To His faithful servants, Christ will exclaim, "Well done! Well done!"

Will Christ say to the "believer" who has led a sinful, disobedient, self-seeking, self-centered life, "Well done, good and faithful servant"?

Will the careless, spiritually lazy Christian be rebuked for his sin, his disobedience, and his self-seeking? If so, just how much of a sting will there be in that rebuke?

We ought to settle such questions now and not wait until it is too late to adjust our life to the scriptural answers.

The Scriptures state all men will die and then will be raised again. Each person will be raised to stand before Christ and be judged in terms of what he has done in this life; how he has conducted himself. Then he will be rewarded or punished according to the judgment of Christ.

And many of them that sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake, some to everlasting life, and some to shame and everlasting contempt. And they that be wise shall shine as the brightness of the firmament; and they that turn many to righteousness as the stars for ever and ever. (Daniel 12:2,3)

It is our flesh and bones that "sleep in the dust of the earth." The resurrection from the dead is the awakening of our mortal body from its sleep in the dust of the earth.

To be resurrected is to be faced with the prospect either of everlasting life or else shame and everlasting contempt. What we will experience depends on our behavior during our days on earth. This is what Christ, Paul, and the others have taught us.

To be continued.