We Are Destined For Heaven
READ EPHESIANS 6:5-10
MEDITATION: Two, Your relationship with Christ should put your focus primarily on heaven, not on this world. Slaves in the Roman world often were treated terribly. They could be whipped, branded, mutilated, or killed. As punishment a slave could be sold so that he was forever separated from his family. John MacArthur writes that, Augustus crucified a slave who accidentally killed his pet quail. Juvenal wrote of a slave owner whose greatest pleasure was “listening to the sweet song of his slaves being flogged”
So when Paul tells slaves, in effect, “be good slaves and you will be rewarded in heaven,” critics viciously attack him: “That’s just ‘pie in the sky when you die.’ That’s cruel disregard for the hardships that these poor victims are suffering right now! How dare you promise them reward in heaven when they die!
But you’ve got to decide at this point, do you go with the world’s way or with God’s way? The two could not be much more opposed to each other than they are here. The world says, “Fight for your rights! Don’t take this abuse!” God says (6:5, 8), “Slaves, be obedient to your human masters” [emphasizing the temporality of the situation] … “knowing that each will be requited from the Lord for whatever good he does, whether he is slave or free.” The world’s focus is on the here and now. God’s focus is on rewards in eternity.
Albert E. Brumley wrote the song, “This world is not my home, I’m just passing through. My treasures are laid up somewhere beyond the blue. The angels beckon me from Heaven’s open door And I can’t feel at home in this world anymore.” You wonder how many believers today could sing that song truthfully. Paul repeats a phrase twice (6:8, 9) that reveals something that he had taught these believers: “knowing that….” The slave asks, “Why should I toil day after day in a difficult job that has no financial rewards for me?” Paul says (6:8), “knowing that whatever good thing each one does, this he will receive back from the Lord, whether slave or free.” The master asks, “Why should I treat my slaves decently and not threaten these no good, lazy bums when they don’t work hard?” Paul answers (6:9), “knowing that both their Master and yours is in heaven, and there is no partiality with Him.” Both verses point to eternity. Because of their relationship with Christ, both slave and master should have their focus on laying up rewards in heaven, not on rewards in this life.
This is a neglected doctrine in our day. If we are not living to lay up treasures in heaven, our focus is wrong. In Hebrews 11, the great faith chapter, the emphasis is on the fact that these great men and women of faith died without receiving the promised reward. They were seeking “a better country, that is, a heavenly one” (Heb. 11:16). Moses left the riches and power of Pharaoh’s court and endured ill treatment with the people of God, “for he was looking to the reward” (Heb. 11:26).
There is a story about an old missionary couple who had spent their lives working in Africa. They were returning to New York City to retire. They had no pension, their health was broken, and they were discouraged and afraid. When they went down to the wharf to board the ship, they discovered that they were booked on the same ship as President Teddy Roosevelt, who was returning from a big game hunt.
When they boarded the ship, no one paid any attention to them. Then they watched the fanfare as the President arrived, with the band playing and people waiving and straining for a glimpse of the great man.
As the ship moved across the ocean, the old missionary said to his wife, “Dear, something is wrong. Why should we have given our lives in faithful service for God in Africa all these years, and yet no one cares about us? Here this man comes back from a big game hunt, and everybody makes much over him.” His wife replied, “Dear, you shouldn’t feel that way. Try not to be bitter about it.” But he said, “I just can’t help it. It doesn’t seem right.”
As the boat neared America, he became more depressed. When the ship docked, a band was waiting to greet the President. The mayor of New York plus a bunch of national leaders were there. The papers carried the story on the front page. But no one noticed the missionaries, as they slipped off the boat and went to find a cheap flat and to look for work.
That night the man’s spirit broke. He felt that God had abandoned them. It just wasn’t fair. “We don’t have anyone to help us and nowhere to go,” he told his wife. “Why doesn’t God meet our need?” His wife replied, “Why don’t you go into the bedroom and talk to the Lord about the whole thing?”
A short time later he came out of the bedroom, but now his face was happy. His wife asked what happened. He said, “I told the Lord the whole thing. I told Him that it’s not fair. I told Him how I was bitter because the President received this tremendous homecoming, when no one met us when we returned home. And you know, as I finished, it seemed as though the Lord put His hand on my shoulder and said simply, “But, you’re not home yet.” (There are several versions of this story. This one is from Ray Stedman, Jesus Teaches on Prayer.
Do you have a boring job? Maybe it’s even oppressive. Do you look on each day with dread, thinking, “What a hassle” as you grind through work? Paul says, “Get the eternal perspective! Put your focus on heaven. Even if your earthly boss doesn’t reward you, your heavenly Master will.” This doesn’t mean that you should not look for a better job or try to better your circumstances. But it does mean that your relationship with Christ should put your focus primarily on heaven, not on this earth. How many of us did something this past week because we were consciously motivated by the thought that the Lord would reward us for it in heaven?
ACTION: Stop for a moment and picture heaven! Many of us have vivid imaginations of what Hell will look like but, we do not often imagine what Heaven will look like. Today, picture Heaven. Close your eyes and dream of yourself walking down the streets of Heaven. What do you see? What do you hear? Can you write it down? And please, please, share your images with me!!!!!
PRAY THE MODEL PRAYER FOR EXTENDING THE KINGDOM OF GOD
