Verse of the Day
Then said Martha unto Jesus, Lord, if thou hadst been here, my brother had not died.
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Grace and Reward
Because of sin (Rom. 3:23), God has confined all of mankind under the penalty of death (Rom. 6:23). Under this penalty, one lives apart from a relationship with God and is a child of wrath (Eph. 2:1-3). At the judgment, God will execute the penalty of death on all who have not had it removed (2 Th. 1:6-9). Apart from paying it oneself (not advisable), this penalty may be removed through a substitute, one who has never sinned and is not under the penalty of death. Jesus Christ was without sin (2 Cor. 5:21; Heb. 4:15; 1 Jn. 3:5) and willingly died to pay the penalty for the sins of all mankind (1 Cor. 15:3; 1 Pt. 2:24). Jesus then was raised from the dead demonstrating that His payment had satisfied the wrath of God (1 Cor. 15:4; Acts 2:24). For those who receive Jesus as their substitute, God will view them as having already died (2 Cor. 5:14; Col. 3:3). They are free from the penalty of eternal death, and God instead gives them eternal life. Eternal life is a gift that cannot be earned by being good; God graciously gives it to all who believe in Jesus Christ as their Savior (Eph. 2:8-9; Jn. 3:16). All who receive this gift enter into a new life (John 10:10). They are new creations (2 Cor. 5:17) who have become children of God, have been joined to His family the church (Jn. 1:12; Eph. 2:19) and have been forgiven of all their sins (Acts 10:42-43). As God's children, they are qualified to receive an inheritance from Him (Col. 1:12; 1 Pet. 1:3-5) and reign with His Son Jesus Christ (2 Tim. 2:12; Rev. 5:10) in the kingdom which He will establish when He returns to judge the world (Dan. 7:13-14; Mt. 16:27). His kingdom will bring world-wide peace and prosperity as well as an end to disease, disasters, and confusion about God (Is. 2:1-4; 11:1-9, 35:1-10). In light of this awesome privilege, God calls His children to live no longer for themselves (2 Cor. 5:15; Rom. 14:7-9). Just as they received Christ by faith, they are to continue hearing and believing the word of God (Luke 8:8), the Bible, so that they might live in the way of God (Rom. 12:2; Eph. 5:10). And even though they might stumble and sin, Jesus Himself is presently in the heavens interceding on their behalf to provide on-going cleansing and forgiveness of sins (1 Jn. 1:9). Until He returns, the church is to continue His work of bringing people into the family of God (Mt. 28:18-20; 2 Cor. 5:18-20) and teaching them to walk in His ways. To accomplish this task, Jesus empowers His followers through the Holy Spirit (Rom. 8:4; Acts 2:1-4) to obey God's will and manifest the kingdom of heaven by casting out demons and healing the sick (Mk. 16:16-18). Those who walk worthy of this calling shall receive an inheritance (1 Pet. 1:4-7) in the kingdom. Unfortunately, not all of God's children will receive an inheritance, for the inheritance is a reward (Col. 3:23) for those who persevere in the faith and live their whole lives for God (2 Tm. 4:6-8). The Bible describes the condition for receiving the inheritance as having faith and patience (Heb. 6:11-12), enduring to the end (Mt. 10:22), overcoming (Rev. 2:26), and continuing in the faith (Col. 1:21-23). Those who fall away from the faith, who stop hearing and obeying God's word (Jam. 1:22), shall be disqualified for the inheritance (1 Cor. 9:24-27; Gal. 5:19-21). All of God's children shall appear before the judgment seat of Christ and give an account of their lives (2 Cor. 5:9-10). Those who live by faith shall receive their reward. Those who walk away from God and return to their old lifestyle, fulfilling their own desires and ignoring God's, shall forfeit their inheritance (1 Cor. 3:14-15; 2 Jn. 1:8).
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C.H. Spurgeon's Morning Devotional "Israel served for a wife, and for a wife he kept sheep."-Hosea 12:12
Jacob, while expostulating with Laban, thus describes his own toil, "This twenty years have I been with thee. That which was torn of beasts I brought not unto thee: I bare the loss of it; of my hand didst thou require it, whether stolen by day, or stolen by night. Thus I was; in the day the drought consumed me, and the frost by night; and my sleep departed from mine eyes." Even more toilsome than this was the life of our Saviour here below. He watched over all His sheep till He gave in as His last account, "Of all those whom Thou hast given me I have lost none." His hair was wet with dew, and His locks with the drops of the night. Sleep departed from His eyes, for all night He was in prayer wrestling for His people. One night Peter must be pleaded for; anon, another claims His tearful intercession. No shepherd sitting beneath the cold skies, looking up to the stars, could ever utter such complaints because of the hardness of his toil as Jesus Christ might have brought, if He had chosen to do so, because of the sternness of His service in order to procure His spouse-
"Cold mountains and the midnight air,
Witnessed the fervour of His prayer;
The desert His temptations knew,
His conflict and His victory too."
It is sweet to dwell upon the spiritual parallel of Laban having required all the sheep at Jacob's hand. If they were torn of beasts, Jacob must make it good; if any of them died, he must stand as surety for the whole. Was not the toil of Jesus for His Church the toil of one who was under suretiship obligations to bring every believing one safe to the hand of Him who had committed them to His charge? Look upon toiling Jacob, and you see a representation of Him of whom we read, "He shall feed His flock like a shepherd."
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