Study 36 – Receiving Praise from God

'I care very little if I am judged by you or by any human court … Judge nothing before the appointed time; wait till the Lord comes. He will bring to light what is hidden in darkness and will expose the motives of men's hearts. At that time each will receive his praise from God' (1 Cor. 4:3-5).

In the light of Jesus' return, the apostle Paul exhorts us to stop judging one another in a superficial way. God's judgment will override all human verdicts because his examination will be very thorough. He's not interested only in our good deeds but also in our motivation for doing them. When Jesus returns things that are hidden in darkness will be brought to light. The fire will test the purity of our motives and dead works won't survive. It's not enough that we serve him. We must do it for the right reason.

The writer to the Hebrews exhorts us to 'press on to maturity; not laying again a foundation of repentance from dead works' (Heb. 6:1 NASB). So let's put aside dead works and concentrate on how we can serve the living God.

As a starting point, let's embrace the idea of rewards – not always a popular idea in Christian circles. Interestingly the Internet yielded very few good quotations on 'rewards' for the end of this Bible study. There seem to be lots of quotations on topics like holiness, giving or serving, but not on rewards. Many Christians consciously or unconsciously think that they shouldn't consider personal reward and that it's more appropriate to work hard with no expectation of receiving anything back. They forget that the Bible closes with the return of a glorified Saviour who is eager to share His rewards with those who have served Him well.

Which of us is going to tell the Lord of Glory that being preoccupied with rewards isn't very nice and that we've now moved on to a higher ethical code? If Jesus is for rewards and we are against them, guess who's wrong. And guess who has to change their thinking!

To Meditate On

Jesus challenges mere externalism.

'These people honour me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me. They worship me in vain; their teachings are but rules taught by men' (Mark. 7:6,7).

'I hold this against you: You have forsaken your first love.' Remember the height from which you have fallen! Repent and do the things you did at first' (Rev. 2:4,5).

'I know your deeds, that you are neither cold nor hot. I wish you were either one or the other! So, because you are lukewarm – neither hot nor cold – I am about to spit you out of my mouth' (Rev. 3:15,16).

Food For Thought

Jesus freely promises rewards – particularly in Matthew's gospel. Read the following verses and note what he says about rewards.

Matthew 5:11,12
Matthew 6:1-6, 16-18
Matthew 10:41,42
Matthew 16:27

To Consider

'Teach us, good Lord, to serve thee as thou deservest … to labour and not to ask for reward, save that of knowing that we do thy will.' Ingatius of Loyola

In the light of our study, what do you think of the above quotation?

To Ponder

It has been said that many Christians who understand grace are confused by the doctrine of rewards because they try to make everything grace and eliminate 'merit' of any kind from the Christian experience.

Why do you think that many Christians are reluctant to embrace the truth that their work will be rewarded?