Intro
Because of our time together earlier this year and because Andrew his kept me informed of what has happened in your group I now feel a great love for each of you. The Lord has put you into my heart and I have a deep fatherly affection for you. I want to protect and encourage you in any way I can. It will sadden me beyond words if any of you falls away from Jesus and the reward He has for you.
Good News for the Repressed
Because I love you I am excited to share some very good news today about your situation. The economic hardship you are living in and the persecution of Christians places you in a special category for a double blessing. Listen to what Jesus said to repressed people:
Matt 5:3-5
3 Blessed are the poor in spirit,
for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
4 Blessed are those who mourn,
for they will be comforted.
5 Blessed are the meek,
for they will inherit the earth.
And listen to this:
Matt 5:11-12
Blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of me. 12 Rejoice and be glad, because great is your reward in heaven…
I was recently slandered and abused because of my trust in Jesus. It was the first time in my life. Many people have ignored me or muttered against me but I have never been openly attacked and forced out of an area of ministry. Now that the shock has passed I read these words of Jesus and I am beginning to rejoice. I have received hostility from the powers of Hell because of my dependence on Jesus. That is really good news.
Rewards
To understand why persecution and suffering are good news we must first understand what the Bible teaches about rewards in Heaven. I am not talking about gaining entrance to God's eternal Kingdom. I am assuming we all know how to get into Heaven.
John 14:2-6
"In my Father's house are many rooms; if it were not so, I would have told you. I am going there to prepare a place for you. 3 And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am. 4 You know the way to the place where I am going."
5 Thomas said to him, "Lord, we don't know where you are going, so how can we know the way?"
6 Jesus answered, "I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.
John 10:7-9
Therefore Jesus said again, "I tell you the truth, I am the gate for the sheep. 8 All who ever came before me were thieves and robbers, but the sheep did not listen to them. 9 I am the gate; whoever enters through me will be saved.
I assume we all know Jesus is the way to Heaven. However, once we have entered Paradise through the Jesus Gate we will discover treasures that were building up while we were on earth according to what we allowed Jesus to do in us. We get this false idea that in heaven everybody is equally blessed. To be able to be with Jesus and see God's face are indeed glorious blessings that outweigh anything, however, some will receive extra bonus blessings. Let me take time in the Scripture to show you that, after salvation through Jesus alone, God rewards according to what we do.
Matt 16:27-28
For the Son of Man is going to come in his Father's glory with his angels, and then he will reward each person according to what he has done.
Matt 6:19-20
Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. 20 But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moth and rust do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal.
Matt 19:29-30
And everyone who has left houses or brothers or sisters or father or mother or children or fields for my sake will receive a hundred times as much and will inherit eternal life. 30 But many who are first will be last, and many who are last will be first.
Rev 22:12
Behold, I am coming soon! My reward is with me, and I will give to everyone according to what he has done.
Luke 19:22-26
His master replied, 'I will judge you by your own words, you wicked servant! You knew, did you, that I am a hard man, taking out what I did not put in, and reaping what I did not sow? 23 Why then didn't you put my money on deposit, so that when I came back, I could have collected it with interest?'
Then he said to those standing by, 'Take his mina away from him and give it to the one who has ten minas.'
'Sir,' they said, 'he already has ten!'
He replied, 'I tell you that to everyone who has, more will be given, but as for the one who has nothing, even what he has will be taken away.
In all of these passages a specific reward is given according to how we allow Jesus to invest our earthly lives.
Negative Levels of Punishment
Just as there are positive levels of reward, so there are negative levels of punishment in Hell.
Matt 10:11-15
Whatever town or village you enter, search for some worthy person there and stay at his house until you leave. 12 As you enter the home, give it your greeting. 13 If the home is deserving, let your peace rest on it; if it is not, let your peace return to you. 14 If anyone will not welcome you or listen to your words, shake the dust off your feet when you leave that home or town. 15 I tell you the truth, it will be more bearable for Sodom and Gomorrah on the day of judgment than for that town.
Notice it says it will be MORE bearable for Sodom. In other words there are different levels of negative reward or punishment according to what was done in the body.
God is a just God and nobody is getting away with anything. Every evil act and every kindness is recorded in God's books.
Rev 20:11-15
11 Then I saw a great white throne and him who was seated on it. Earth and sky fled from his presence, and there was no place for them. 12 And I saw the dead, great and small, standing before the throne, and books were opened. Another book was opened, which is the book of life. The dead were judged according to what they had done as recorded in the books. 13 The sea gave up the dead that were in it, and death and Hades gave up the dead that were in them, and each person was judged according to what he had done. 14 Then death and Hades were thrown into the lake of fire. The lake of fire is the second death. 15 If anyone's name was not found written in the book of life, he was thrown into the lake of fire.
Notice there are two books. One is the Book of Life; the other records every action. If your name is written in the Book of Life every evil action of yours is transferred to the cross and paid for while you enter Heaven. Over in the Book of Remembrance all your evil actions are crossed out in the red blood of Jesus. All the good you did is recorded and sent on into heaven in the form of multiplied treasure. If your name is not written in the Lamb's Book of Life then you are punished for eternity for every evil act recorded in the book. Remember all this the next time someone harms you and you want to take revenge. And remember it when you are given an opportunity to perform a kindness.
God rewards. However, Jesus also said:
Matt 19:30
But many who are first will be last, and many who are last will be first.
The rewards have nothing to do with how high we advance in our doctrine or denomination on earth. The greater rewards are given to those who show love in the face of hatred, forgiveness when abused, and trust in God when earthly life turns upside down. The one who is innocent as a child and living free from all bitterness will receive the greatest treasure in Heaven.
Baby Grace
In closing I want to introduce you to a three-year-old girl I met in India this February. She was abandon in an orphanage, her crib pushed away from the others, she cried and struggled for her final breaths. I prayed and wept over her for a long time but I doubt she lived more than a day or two after I left. There was no one around to tell me her name. So I will introduce her as Baby Grace.
I am so glad for how God has arranged rewards in Heaven. For three short years of misery and neglect on earth, I want Baby Grace to be received into Paradise with a level of blessing that is a multiplied reverse proportion of her earthly pain. And hallelujah, she will. She was last on earth and Baby Grace will join those who are first for eternity.
What are you struggling under right now? How are you suffering? Friend, rejoice, dance, sing out because as you turn this problem over to Jesus you will be rewarded. You will not be rewarded if you escape the situation outside of God's will. You will not be rewarded if you accept the situation as hopeless fate, but as you turn it over to Jesus and call on His inner strength to endure you will be rewarded and celebrate those multiplied blessings forever and ever. God sees and He is with you keeping track so He can bless you.
Rev 3:7-13
These are the words of him who is holy and true, who holds the key of David. What he opens no one can shut, and what he shuts no one can open. 8 I know your deeds. See, I have placed before you an open door that no one can shut. I know that you have little strength, yet you have kept my word and have not denied my name….
11 I am coming soon. Hold on to what you have, so that no one will take your crown. 12 Him who overcomes I will make a pillar in the temple of my God. Never again will he leave it. I will write on him the name of my God and the name of the city of my God, the new Jerusalem, which is coming down out of heaven from my God; and I will also write on him my new name. 13 He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.
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