12. Reward in heaven
Matthew 5:12 Blessed are ye, when men shall hate you, and persecute you, and shall say all manner of evil against you falsely, for my sake. Rejoice, and be exceeding glad for great is your reward in heaven: for so persecuted they the prophets which were before you.
Luke 6:22-23 Blessed are ye, when men shall hate you and when they shall separate you from their company, and shall reproach you, and cast out, for the Son of Man’s sake! Rejoice ye in that day, and leap for joy: for behold, your reward is great in heaven, for in the like manner did their fathers unto the prophets.
Great reward in heaven is promised for all believers in Jesus, for all believers will be, in one degree or another, persecuted, hated, separated, reproached, cast out and spoken evil against. This is the predictable result of speaking up for Jesus in a world that hates God and His children. The munexpected result for persecuted Christians is that will have a great reward in heaven. Jesus gives this promise so that we can take comfort and be reassured at heart: when bad things happen (for any reason) God can turn them for good and the spiritual reward for enduring with faith is worth it. Even a small amount of suffering is turned into a great amount of glory. (2 Corinthians 4:17: “For this slight momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory.” Wait for it, hope on it, expect it and comfort yourself by the promise.
The promised reward is so great and awesome that we can rejoice, be exceeding glad and leap for joy whenever the people of the world treat us unfairly and hurtfully. This goes against the grain but we have the promise, which is even more certain than the experience. James 1:2 says: “Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds.” Because we have such a promise we are able to exhibit joy in the midst of suffering, smile in the face of terror and laugh when feeling pain. The world may think you are crazy, but you have a joy because of Jesus’ promise, and no one can slap away that smile on your face; great is your reward.
Great is you reward in heaven. Heaven is right now, right here, in you heart, in the spiritual experience of your present life; heaven is not just some day, some time later. The reward is in your inner being which is being strengthened, renewed, encouraged, given new life and flooded with joy and peace. And no one can touch it, disturb it or take it away. Go to that inner place and listen to the Gospel: it is more real than the circumstantial suffering.