Matt. 5:11 Blessed are ye, when men shall revile 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.
Jesus saved the best for last in this Beatitude. He said that when people do you wrong for his sake, great is your reward in heaven! Wait a minute! You mean that we are going to heaven to get a great reward?
The reason I asked that question is because PEOPLE AREN’T PREACHING
HEAVEN AND HELL ANYMORE!!!!! The problem is that we have made the earth our home but it’s not! The reason why we have pain, hurt, misery and turmoil here on earth is because this is not our home! All the prosperity messages, the breakthrough messages, the money cometh messages, and the television hype messages all suggest that we should have heaven here on earth. But there is no way we can have heaven on a place that is not our home. The sin here on earth should disturb us but many of us are so busy trying to get all that we can until it
doesn’t even bother us anymore. Sure, we are to have money, that’s why we have jobs and education. Sure we are to have peace, that’s why we don’t practice sin. Sure we are to have a good time, that’s why we have family and friends. But we will continue to suffer and be persecuted because this world is not our home.
Because so many don’t have the hope in Christ’s return anymore they do not
live like he is coming back. People feel that he is not coming back to get us any time soon, so they live like the world and do what they did back in Noah’s day.
But Jesus said that your hope in his imminent return will cause you to walk purely. And that’s the way it was when we were younger. But now, church folks are thinking about what we can get while we are here. We are acting like this is our home. But Jesus said our home is with him and our reward for enduring earth is up above not here. He also said that if you seek your reward here on earth, that’s all you will get. He said if you seek the praises of men, then that’s all you will get. But if you seek a reward in heaven, you will be greatly rewarded when you return home. Heaven is our home people and the earth is not. So, get your affections off this place and keep them in things above. Save souls for the Kingdom and change lives, and stop seeking to be something in this world. If you seek first the Kingdom of God, then he will make you what you are to be and you will get your reward in heaven! Jesus is coming back for us and we must be ready at all times because he said, when the world forgets he is coming and are no longer concerned with heaven and his return, that’s the moment he will
return.
Suggested Reading: Matt. 6:2, Matt. 16:27, John 18:36, Matt. 24:44
