Luke 21:1-4 “And He looked up and saw the rich putting their gifts into the treasury, (2) and He saw also a certain poor widow putting in two mites. (3) So, He said, "Truly I say to you that this poor widow has put in more than all; (4) for all these out of their abundance have put in offerings for God, but she out of her poverty put in all the livelihood that she had.”
In this section we want to discuss how heaven values the works we do on the earth, which is completely different to this world’s standards. Many in the church mistakenly assume that this world’s standards are also applied in heaven, and so when they see for example a minister of the gospel having a “prosperous” ministry with a large following in the church they naturally assume that their reward will be great on that day. The heavenly reward for our works are never based on the impact or size of our works however, but are always based on the sacrifice that we have incurred in doing those works. You will recall that our Lord taught us that the one who desired to be great in the kingdom of God had to become last of all and servant of all (Mark 9:35). In the passage of scripture quoted above our Lord Jesus gave us a clear example of this heavenly principle, for even though this poor widow gave the least of all on that day our Lord taught us that she gave more than all the others. So why did the Lord say that? He said that because the cost she incurred in giving her offering was far greater than all the others combined, for she had given everything she had. And so this poor widow will be rewarded in heaven immeasurably more than all the others that gave on that day. The clear principle that is illustrated in this passage is that heaven never rewards us in proportion to the size of works we have done; it always rewards us in proportion to the cost that we have incurred in doing those works.
1 Corinthians 9:16-18 “For if I preach the gospel, I have nothing to boast of, for necessity is laid upon me; yes, woe is me if I do not preach the gospel! (17) For if I do this willingly, I have a reward; but if against my will, I have been entrusted with a stewardship. (18) What is my reward then? That when I preach the gospel, I may present the gospel of Christ without charge, that I may not abuse my authority in the gospel.”
In the passage of scripture quoted above we have another example of this same heavenly principle, for in this passage the apostle Paul teaches us a very valuable lesson in relation to our rewards received for the specific works that our Lord Jesus has called each of us to perform on the earth. The principle that I want you to see here is that even though Paul was preaching the gospel and impacting the lives of multitudes, he stated that he should not expect to be rewarded for doing this and in fact he stated that he would incur woe if he didn’t preach the gospel. So why would the apostle Paul say something like that? He said it because he understood the principle of heavens rewards being based on not only what works we do, but also on the cost we incur in doing those works. And so the simple act of preaching the gospel was not costing Paul very much because he had received that ability (stewardship) from the Lord. The Lord had however commanded that those who preach the gospel should live by the gospel (1 Corinthians 9:14), and so Paul had decided that he would forgo this right and preach the gospel free of charge, i.e. not take up offerings for his ministry. In this way it would cost Paul to preach the gospel, and so in that way he could expect heaven’s reward for doing that which God had already instructed him and enabled him to do.
Michael E.B. Maher
Comentarios