The Reward

In finishing up this series on being the wife of a man in spiritual leadership, I would just like to encourage you with the fact that the Lord sees and knows all that you and your husband go through as you carry out this ministry of shepherding.  

Hebrews 6:10 says, “God is not unjust to forget your work and labor of love which you have shown toward His name, in that you have ministered to the saints, and do minister.”  And He has eternal rewards for those who serve Him faithfully.  Other people in your local church will never know the hours you have sacrificed for your husband to be away from your family caring for the needs of the flock.  They will never know the number of prayers prayed on their behalf.  They will never know the amount of tears shed for them.  But that does not matter, because the Lord knows.  So as you serve God’s people in this capacity, remember to do it “…as to the Lord and not to men, knowing that from the Lord you will receive the reward of the inheritance; for you serve the Lord Christ.” (Colossians 3:23-24)

And let us consider this: What did it cost the Lord Jesus to provide eternal salvation for us?  The grief that the vileness of our sin must have brought to Him.  The depth of His agony as He sweat great drops of blood while He prayed for us.  The separation from His Father that He endured on our behalf.  We will never know how great the price was that He paid.  So, in that sense, to be His servant whom He has called to help shepherd His people is a way that we can be a partaker in the fellowship of His sufferings and come to know His heart in a more intimate way.  It is a tremendous privilege.

And it’s certainly not all hardship, by any means.  There are plenty of opportunities for joy and rejoicing with the believers in your local fellowship. 

3 John 4 is just as true in the assembly as it is in your family- “I have no greater joy than to hear that my children walk in truth.”  It is such a blessing to see those you have loved and cared for, encouraged and going on well for the Lord. 

So press on in this ministry with your husband.  Ask the Lord to equip you to be the helper that your husband needs, to the glory of God. 

Temporal vs Eternal

An  overseer then must be blameless, the husband of one wife, temperate, sober-minded, of good behavior, hospitable, able to teach; not given to wine, not violent, not greedy for money, but gentle, not quarrelsome, not covetous. -1 Timothy 3:2-3 

Another qualification of an elder is that he is not covetous or greedy for money.  

Do you desire THINGS?  Your husband only has so much time.  What are you encouraging him to pursue? 

1 Timothy 6:10-11 warns us: “the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil, for which some have strayed from the faith in their greediness, and pierced themselves through with many sorrows.  But you, O man of God, flee these things…”

Think about what the Lord views as most important.  He directs the man of God to “pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, patience, and gentleness.” God is asking your husband to be concerned with the spiritual life of His people and not to be distracted by a desire for material things.  You can be a tremendous help to your husband in this area by asking the Lord to give you a heart that is thankful and content with what He has provided for you.  Whether it be much or little, hold it in an open hand to be used by the Lord in whatever way He would choose.  And encourage your husband to give himself to the things that have eternal value.   

I have a question about Hell…

Kids think about eternity.  They ask serious questions.  Here are just a few of the questions that were posed after our Bible club lesson on Hell.

Let’s go to God's Word and see how to answer them.

What happens if I die and go to hell, but then I want to go to Heaven?

Hebrews 9:27 is very clear.  “It is appointed for men to die once, and after this comes judgment.”  When your body dies, the real you that lives inside your body (your soul and spirit) will step into eternity.  Where you spend eternity is based on the choice you make in this life.  In Luke 16:26, the rich man in Hell was told that there is “a great gulf fixed, so that those who want to pass from here to you cannot, nor can those from there pass to us.”  You cannot change your mind about your eternal destiny after you die. 

Do people who go to Hell have to work for Satan?

Contrary to what many people think, Satan is NOT the boss of Hell. 

Hell was created as the place of eternal punishment for the angel Lucifer (who then became known as Satan/the Devil) when he rebelled against God.  It is a place of “everlasting destruction away from the presence of the Lord” (2 Thessalonians 1:9) 

Revelation 20:10 says that “the devil that deceived them was cast into the lake of fire and brimstone… and will be tormented day and night forever and ever.”

Satan has no authority in Hell.

I know I’m not good enough to get into Heaven, but I don’t think that I’m bad enough to go to Hell.

The question is not how good or bad you are.  The fact is you have sinned.  We all have.  And your sin separates you from God.  If you die without having your sin problem taken care of, you will spend eternity separated from God.  God wants you to spend eternity with Him in Heaven, but He knows that you are not good enough to get there on your own.  That is why He made a made a way that you can have your sins forgiven.  He sent His own Son, the Lord Jesus Christ, to die in your place.  “For Christ also suffered once for sins, the just for the unjust, that He might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh but made alive by the Spirit.” (1 Peter 3:18)  Because Jesus died and rose again for you, you can receive a living Saviour who will forgive your sins and give you the gift of eternal life.  

So the real question is:  What have you done with the Saviour?  God’s Word is very clear- “He who believes in the Son has everlasting life; and he who does not believe the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God abides on him.” (John 3:36)

There are only two options for you when it comes to a relationship with the Lord Jesus- receive Him or reject Him.  And there are only two options when it comes to eternity- Heaven or Hell.  

Jesus took the punishment of Hell for YOU!

Jesus could not stop the punishment for sin, because God is holy and sin has to be paid for.  But Jesus chose to take your place.  He paid the penalty of eternal death for you.  He did it because He loves you.

The suffering the Lord Jesus endured for you was horrible.  Jesus had never done anything wrong.  He was God the Son- He was perfect.  Yet He allowed men to mistreat Him, beat Him and nail Him to a wooden cross.  

Jesus took the darkness of Hell for you.  As He hung on the cross, the land was covered in darkness.  God the Father put all of your sins, and my sins, and the sins of the whole world upon the Lord Jesus, and then poured out His righteous judgment for sin on His own Son.  

Jesus took the punishment of an eternal Hell for you.  Jesus is not just a man- He is the eternal God.  He offered up the value of His eternal life to pay your penalty of eternal death.  

Jesus took the loneliness of Hell for you.  During that time, God the Father, who cannot allow sin in His presence, turned his back on the Lord Jesus.  Jesus cried out, “My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me?”  Jesus was separated from His Father because of your sins and mine.  

Why did Jesus willingly die on the cross?  He died so that people lost in their sin could be found and rescued.  You do not have to spend eternity in Hell because of what Jesus did for you.  

From the cross, Jesus cried out, “It is finished.”  The payment for our sins was complete.  He died, He was buried, and three days later, He rose from the dead- a living Saviour.  

Because Jesus is alive, He is able to save you.  When a person takes the Lord Jesus to be their Saviour, He gives them eternal life.  He forgives their sins and promises that they will spend eternity in Heaven with Him.

"But He was wounded for our transgressions,

He was bruised for our iniquities;

The chastisement for our peace was upon Him,

and by His stripes we are healed."

(Isaiah 53:5)

E T E R N I T Y - the flip side

Hell is a very real place, and children need to be taught the truth about it.  Jesus Himself taught about Hell when He lived on this Earth.  He did not do it in a scary way, but very matter of factly.  It is because of the Lord’s great love for us that He warns us about what is ahead if we die without having our sin problem taken care of.

Why did God create Hell?

Matthew 25:41 tells us that Hell is a place of punishment which God “prepared for the devil and his angels.”  God never intended for people to go to Hell.  But when Adam chose to believe and obey Satan instead of God, he became a sinner.  His sin separated him from God, who is holy.  Adam had made the choice, not just for himself, but for his family as well, to be on Satan’s team.  Because God must punish all sin, Adam (and all of his descendants) would now have to share in the punishment that God had intended for Satan and his bad angels. 

So, what does the Bible say that Hell is like?

We will use the word HELL to help us remember 4 things about that awful place.

Hell is H- horrible.

Luke 16:23-26 tells the experience of a man who died and went to Hell.

Hell is a place of suffering.  An eternal fire burns there- the flames will never be put out. 

Hell is also a place of utter darkness.

The sounds in Hell are weeping and wailing. 

There is no hope in Hell that things will ever be any different- there is only despair.

Hell is E- eternal.

God wants to forgive your sins and give you the gift of eternal life.  But if you will not receive His gift, and die without having your sin problem taken care of, then the punishment you will suffer is eternal death.  (Matthew 25:46)

There is no escape once you are in Hell.  You will spend eternity away from the presence of God.

Hell is L- lonely.

Some people think Hell is a place where they will get to party with all of their bad friends and do all the sinful things they want to do.  But that was not the case for the man in Luke 16.

Hell is a very lonely place.  There will be many people there, but each one will suffer alone for their sins.

Hell is L- for the lost.

When I came into this world, I was born lost in my sin.  If I go out of this world still in my sin, with no Saviour, then I will be lost from God forever.

These are some very sobering facts.  Next time we will look at what the Lord Jesus did so that no one need experience this horrible place. 

"He who believes in the Son has everlasting life; 

and he who does not believe the Son shall not see life, 

but the wrath of God abides on him.'

(John 3:36)

(Again, thanks to Craig & Nancy Rolinger for this teaching acrostic.)