₦Sermon 17
WAIT FOR YOUR REWARD
“Look, I am coming soon, bringing my reward with me to repay all people according to their deeds”
— Rev. 22:12 NLT.
Texts: Gen. 15:1, Judges 9:22-24, 54-56
At times we do forget that our actions speak for the kind of reward we will get. Everyone on earth will proportionally receive his reward from God. All your effort to serve God will not be in vain. Abraham was obeying God to the extent that he had no issue of his own. He had grown old and promises of God were coming to him. God spoke to him in a vision that “Do not be afraid, Abram, for I will protect you and your reward will be great” — Gen. 15:1. Thus, the obedience of Abraham was great in God and God on his own is promising great reward to him. It intimates us that the level of our work for Christ will determine the kind of reward we will receive from him whether small or great.
Abraham considers children as the great and most blessings someone must ever have. His thought might be if I have prosperity and material blessings without my own children, what is the gain? If I may have material blessing and a servant of my household control or inherit them when I die, what is my gain? It seems that Abraham did not value God’s promise to bless him any more if he had no child to inherit them. But when Abraham complained of having no children of his own, God promised him of great descendants by making him see the sky and stars on it which can never be countable.
Stars are the smallest luminous dots appearing in the cloudless portion of the sky in the night. At times when we say some body is a star, it means, he’s of great importance, a well-known person, a rich person or a popular person; thus, Abraham’s descendants are just like the uncountable stars in the sky that are very popular and well known by people today. Also, they are of great importance because they are the children born from the promised child.
At times, when we wait not for our reward and try to get them by our own human struggling, we may end up having problems here and there. Look at Abraham’s problem. He allowed himself to be used by his wife Sarah to sleep with his wife’s house maid. This was borne out of thinking of having heirs in Abraham’s house. They thought that the promised child would come from the Egyptian slave girl Hagar and this attempt caused division in Abraham’s household. The consequences have been too grave uptil today.
So many people in the scripture were rewarded for their good job done. When Rehab has shown her interest to protect God’s children from the disreputable people of Jericho, it caused the spies to vow not to execute her at the day of destruction. The vow was rigidly established and Rehab was rewarded by been taken away with her relations to the land of Israel and to be enlisted in the lineage of Christ.
Also, Noah, a faithful servant of God was rewarded after his suffering of making the Lord’s boat; some people might have tried to discourage him from doing the work of God. His friends and other people refused to obey his instructions and repent. Instead, they left the whole thing to Noah and the entire members in his household to suffer it. At last, it was Noah, his children, wife and daughters-in-law that were spared from destruction and rewarded with long life.
Brethren, what will be our reward as believers of Christ? Our reward is God’s Kingdom and eternal life. I therefore encourage you to always wait for your coming reward. Christ is coming soon.
———————Meditation Point—————————
God of Abraham, the father of the entire universe, may you reward me with long life, good children and bless me as you blessed the father of the faithful. This I ask through our Lord Jesus Christ, amen!
A sermon preached by Rev. Fortune Emerence Chinemerem Nwaiwu
Fortune.nwaiwu.fn@gmail.com
WAIT FOR YOUR REWARD
“Look, I am coming soon, bringing my reward with me to repay all people according to their deeds”
— Rev. 22:12 NLT.
Texts: Gen. 15:1, Judges 9:22-24, 54-56
At times we do forget that our actions speak for the kind of reward we will get. Everyone on earth will proportionally receive his reward from God. All your effort to serve God will not be in vain. Abraham was obeying God to the extent that he had no issue of his own. He had grown old and promises of God were coming to him. God spoke to him in a vision that “Do not be afraid, Abram, for I will protect you and your reward will be great” — Gen. 15:1. Thus, the obedience of Abraham was great in God and God on his own is promising great reward to him. It intimates us that the level of our work for Christ will determine the kind of reward we will receive from him whether small or great.
Abraham considers children as the great and most blessings someone must ever have. His thought might be if I have prosperity and material blessings without my own children, what is the gain? If I may have material blessing and a servant of my household control or inherit them when I die, what is my gain? It seems that Abraham did not value God’s promise to bless him any more if he had no child to inherit them. But when Abraham complained of having no children of his own, God promised him of great descendants by making him see the sky and stars on it which can never be countable.
Stars are the smallest luminous dots appearing in the cloudless portion of the sky in the night. At times when we say some body is a star, it means, he’s of great importance, a well-known person, a rich person or a popular person; thus, Abraham’s descendants are just like the uncountable stars in the sky that are very popular and well known by people today. Also, they are of great importance because they are the children born from the promised child.
At times, when we wait not for our reward and try to get them by our own human struggling, we may end up having problems here and there. Look at Abraham’s problem. He allowed himself to be used by his wife Sarah to sleep with his wife’s house maid. This was borne out of thinking of having heirs in Abraham’s house. They thought that the promised child would come from the Egyptian slave girl Hagar and this attempt caused division in Abraham’s household. The consequences have been too grave uptil today.
So many people in the scripture were rewarded for their good job done. When Rehab has shown her interest to protect God’s children from the disreputable people of Jericho, it caused the spies to vow not to execute her at the day of destruction. The vow was rigidly established and Rehab was rewarded by been taken away with her relations to the land of Israel and to be enlisted in the lineage of Christ.
Also, Noah, a faithful servant of God was rewarded after his suffering of making the Lord’s boat; some people might have tried to discourage him from doing the work of God. His friends and other people refused to obey his instructions and repent. Instead, they left the whole thing to Noah and the entire members in his household to suffer it. At last, it was Noah, his children, wife and daughters-in-law that were spared from destruction and rewarded with long life.
Brethren, what will be our reward as believers of Christ? Our reward is God’s Kingdom and eternal life. I therefore encourage you to always wait for your coming reward. Christ is coming soon.
———————Meditation Point—————————
God of Abraham, the father of the entire universe, may you reward me with long life, good children and bless me as you blessed the father of the faithful. This I ask through our Lord Jesus Christ, amen!
A sermon preached by Rev. Fortune Emerence Chinemerem Nwaiwu
Fortune.nwaiwu.fn@gmail.com
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