Matthew 19:27-29 “Then Peter answered and said to Him, "See, we have left all and followed You. Therefore, what shall we have?" (28) So, Jesus said to them, "Assuredly I say to you, that in the regeneration, when the Son of Man sits on the throne of His glory, you who have followed Me will also sit on twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel. (29) And everyone who has left houses or brothers or sisters or father or mother or wife or children or lands, for My name's sake, shall receive a hundredfold, and inherit eternal life.”
In the passage of scripture quoted above our Lord Jesus reinforces the principle of heaven’s rewards being directly related to the cost we incur in doing our works. In this passage the apostle Peter asked the Lord what rewards the twelve apostles could expect to receive seeing that they had left all to follow Him. Our Lord’s answer was that they would be seated on thrones judging the twelve tribes of Israel, but the Lord did not stop there, for He went on to say that everyone who left all and followed Him for the sake of the gospel could expect to receive a one hundredfold reward of that which they had left behind and also receive eternal life. Not all believers are prepared to make that degree of sacrifice however, and in fact most believers aren’t called to make that degree of sacrifice. For those who are called and obey however, they can expect to receive the one hundredfold reward that our Lord Jesus spoke about. And so the principle remains clear. Heaven’s rewards for good works are in direct relation to the cost incurred in doing those good works.
Luke 17:7-10 “And which of you, having a servant ploughing or tending sheep, will say to him when he has come in from the field, 'Come at once and sit down to eat'? (8) But will he not rather say to him, 'Prepare something for my supper, and gird yourself and serve me till I have eaten and drunk, and afterward you will eat and drink'? (9) Does he thank that servant because he did the things that were commanded him? I think not. (10) So likewise you, when you have done all those things which you are commanded, say, 'We are unprofitable servants. We have done what was our duty to do.'”
In the passage of scripture quoted above our Lord Jesus reinforced the fact that doing God’s will for our lives, in and of itself, is no guarantee of our being rewarded in heaven. For our Lord tells us in this passage that when we are obedient to do the works which our Lord calls us to do, that our attitude should be that we are just unprofitable servants who have done that which we were commanded to do. So is the Lord saying for example, that those who are called to preach the gospel and are obedient to that call cannot expect any reward from Him on that day? He is not saying that at all, because elsewhere in scripture we are taught that those who are faithful in their callings will be rewarded on that day. The Lord Jesus is dealing with the principle of cost in this passage, and so what He is saying is that the proportion of reward that they can expect is in relation to the cost that they have incurred in obeying their call. This same principle applies to every work that our Lord Jesus has called us to do.
Michael E.B. Maher
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