Scene Setup: Will Turner is aboard The Flying Dutchman -- the ghostly vessel of Davy Jones -- on a mission to steal a key to a mysterious chest. The only problem is that he has no idea where to look. He comes upon some of the ship’s crew playing a dicing game.
Roll Pirates of the Caribbean Clip
Both father and son risked all, each for the other. That’s what you call a couple of high rollers.
HIGH ROLLERS
The High Life—Part 3
A high roller, also referred to as a whale in the casino industry, is a gambler who wagers large amounts of money. Because of potential windfall these high sums can bring to the casinos, high rollers often receive increasingly lavish perks from casinos to lure them onto their gambling floors, such as free private jet transfers, limousine use and be allowed to stay in the casinos best suites.
Paschal’s Wager--Let us weigh the gain and the loss in wagering that God is. Let us estimate these two chances. If you gain, you gain all; if you lose, you lose nothing. Wager, then, without hesitation that He is. CS Lewis expounded on this idea. “If Christianity is true it is of infinite importance. If it is not true it is of no importance. The one thing it cannot be is moderately important.”
Introduce “The Ultimate Wager” $5
Hebrews is a collection of addresses that were apparently written to a group of Jewish Christians who had never seen or heard Jesus in person, but learned of him from some who had themselves listened to him. Since their conversion to Christianity they had encountered persecution—particularly at one stage shortly after becoming Christians—they had to endure public abuse, imprisonment, and the looting of their property. They had shown fruitful ministry by serving their fellow-Christians and caring for those who suffered most in the time of persecution. Yet their spiritual growth had stunted; instead of pressing ahead they had come to a full stop in their spiritual development, if not sliding backwards some. They were facing the unenviable choice of breaking ties with a religion that enjoyed the protection of Roman law or face the risks of irrevocable commitment to follow Christ. Hebrews was written to warn them against falling back. The writer encourages them with the assurance that they have everything to lose if they fall back, but everything to gain if they press on.
By faith Moses, when he had grown up, refused to be known as the son of Pharaoh’s daughter. [25] He chose to be mistreated along with the people of God rather than to enjoy the pleasures of sin for a short time. [26] He regarded disgrace for the sake of Christ as of greater value than the treasures of Egypt, because he was looking ahead to his reward. Hebrews 11:24-26 (NIV)
LEARNING FROM ONE OF GOD’S HIGH ROLLERS: MOSES
1. I’VE GOT TO REFUSE THE CHUMP CHANGE
chump change - a trifling sum of money
By faith Moses, when he had grown up, refused to be known as the son of Pharaoh’s daughter. Hebrews 11:24 (NIV)
Moses made the great refusal. Moses renounced the status enjoyed which he enjoyed in Egypt as a member of the royal household. He could not identify himself both with the Israelites and with the Egyptians; he had to refuse one or the other. To choose the slave-nation, with all the contempt and privation which that entailed, in preference to the substantial advantages and prospects which were his as “the son of Pharaoh’s daughter”, must have been an act of folly by all worldly standards. It is however, an act which has been repeatedly reproduced in our day by those who have preferred to cast their dice for another standard.
What chump change pleasure is God asking me to refuse right now?
2. I’VE GOT TO CHOOSE THE HIGHER STAKES
He chose to be mistreated along with the people of God rather than to enjoy the pleasures of sin for a short time. Hebrews 11:25 (NIV)
Moses great refusal cost him greatly in material terms. His people were being ill-treated, but he chose to share their ill-treatment
The privileges and advantages attached to high rank and power are not sinful in themselves; they can be used very effectively to promote the well-being of others. Moses might have rationalized that he could do much more for the Israelites by remaining in the Pharaoh’s court and using his influence there on their behalf than by renouncing his Egyptian citizenship and becoming a member of a depressed group with no political rights. But for Moses to do this, after he had set his foot on the path of duty clear before him, would have been sin—the sin of apostasy, against which the letter of Hebrews was intended.
What Higher Stakes is God asking me to choose right now?
3. I’VE GOT TO REGARD THE VALUE OF THE SURE BET
A sure bet is when I can’t lose. He regarded disgrace for the sake of Christ as of greater value than the treasures of Egypt, Hebrews 11:26a (NIV)
Moses weighed the issues and decided that the temporal wealth of Egypt was far less valuable than the stigma of God and his people. What others would have considered as something to be shunned at all costs he regarded as a great prize and a sure bet.
On October 28, 1949 a 22 year old man wrote the following entry into his journal. "He is no fool who gives what he cannot keep to gain that which he cannot lose." Six years later this same young man’s mutilated body was found in a river in Ecuador. Jim Elliot gave his life as a martyr trying to reach the stone age tribe known as the Auca. (While I’m talking about this display Jim Elliot’s picture on the screen
What is God asking me to regard with greater value right now?
4. I’VE GOT TO LOOK FOR GOD’S GREATER PAYOFF
When Moses made his great refusal he did not foresee the reputation which he was going to establish for himself; he had nothing to look forward to but privation, danger, scorn, and suffering—so what motivated him to make such a choice. The liberation of his enslaved people…for sure, but there was something event greater.
because he was looking ahead to his reward. Hebrews 11:26b (NIV)
And without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him. Hebrews 11:6 (NIV)
Apart from faith no one could ever be pleasing to God. The faith which the Hebrews writer has in mind embraces belief in the invisible spiritual order, and belief in the promise of God which have not yet been fulfilled. Belief in the invisible spiritual order involves full confidence that he exists, that his word is true, and that he will reward those who sincerely seek him.
“indeed, if we consider the unblushing promise of reward and the staggering nature of the rewards promised in the Gospels, it would seem that our Lord finds our desires, not too strong, but too weak. We are half-hearted creatures, fooling about with drink and sex and ambition when infinite joy is offered to us, like an ignorant child who wants to go on making mud pies in a slum because he cannot imagine what is meant by the offer of a beach vacation. We are far too easily pleased.” CS Lewis.
[28] Peter said to him, "We have left all we had to follow you!" [29] "I tell you the truth," Jesus said to them, "no one who has left home or wife or brothers or parents or children for the sake of the kingdom of God [30] will fail to receive many times as much in this age and, in the age to come, eternal life." Luke 18:26-30 (NIV)
For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, that each one may receive what is due him for the things done while in the body, whether good or bad. 2 Corinthians 5:10 (NIV)
700 years before Christ the Greeks began what eventually become known as the Olympic Games. They were held every four years at Olympia, hence the name. Athletes from all over Greece came together for 5 days of competition. They tested their metal in foot races, discus throwing, javelin throwing, long jumping, boxing, equestrian events and wrestling. They were so successful that three other Greek cities began hosting similar events. One of those cities was Corinth. When the competition was complete , the winner would take his place on a raised platform to receive his reward. The platform had a name it was called “The Bema.” With great fanfare the athlete would be honored with a crown…in Corinth the crown was made of pine. The champion was also awarded a red ribbon and palm frond. All of these awards were presented as the athlete stood at the Bema.
The Greek word for "judgment seat" is "bema," . It referred to a "rewards platform" in sporting contests.
What kind of rewards shall we receive?
The promises of scripture can roughly be reduced to five payoffs:
1. We shall be with Christ—Can anything be added to the conception of being with Christ? The old writer said, that he who has God and everything else has no more than he who has God only. We can’t exactly comprehend what that will be like. When we think about we couch in imagery that is very earthy…like proximity of space and loving conversation as we understand conversation. But suffice it to say that God will be our ultimate bliss. On earth our experience with personal love is narrow and strained and monotonous, but not so with Christ.
2. We shall be like Christ
3. We shall receive glory—There is no getting away from the fact that this idea is very prominent in the New Testament and early Christian writings. Our salvation is constantly associated with palms, crowns, white robes, splendor and illumination like the sun and stars. At first blush, this makes no immediate appeal to me at all. Glory suggests two ideas to me, of which one seems a bit carnal and the other a bit ridiculous. Glory means either fame or luminosity. Fame puts me in mind of egotism and arrogance. And I certainly don’t wish to become a kind of living light bulb.
But when I began to look into this matter I was shocked to find that Christians such as Milton, Thomas Aquinas and CS Lewis take heavenly glory quite frankly in the sense of fame or good report. But not fame conferred by our fellow creatures—fame with God, approval or “appreciation” by God. This view is quite biblical; nothing can delete the divine accolade “Well done, good and faithful servant.” Don’t forget no one can enter heaven except with faith as a child. Nothing is so obvious in a child—not an egotistical or conceited child, but in a good child—as his great and undisguised pleasure in being praised. I’m not speaking of the deadly poison of self-admiration. But what will it be like when we learn that our life has pleased the one whom we were created to please. There will be no room for vanity then, but it will be glorious.
It is written that we shall stand before him and our lives will be inspected. The promise of glory is the promise—only possible by the work of Christ—that some of us, that any of us who choose the sure bet, shall actually survive that examination. We shall find approval. We shall please God. To please God..to be a real ingredient I the divine happiness…to be loved by God, not just pitied, but delighted in as an artist delights in her painting or as a father delights in his son. It seems impossible a weight of glory that our thoughts can not sustain. But it is so.
4. We shall in some sense be fed, feasted, entertained.
5. We shall have some sort of purposeful employment.
Therefore we do not lose heart. Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day. [17] For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all. [18] So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen. For what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal. 2 Corinthians 4:16-18 (NIV)
