As we talked about in the last installment of this series, Christians, now, more than ever, need to focus on spiritual things. In  these biblically predicted perilous times of the last days, it is more important than ever for us to avoid being distracted from things of eternal consequence by things without lasting spiritual significance. Having talked in our last issue about concentrating on our personal relationship with Jesus Christ in the here-and-now, the Christian’s number one priority in this life, we will turn our attention in this issue to us focusing on our being rewarded by Christ in the hereafter.  

In Philippians 4:5, the Apostle Paul teaches us to “let  [our] moderation be known unto all men,” for “the Lord is at hand.” The Greek word Paul uses for “moderation” in this verse means “to suffer to be done wrong.” As Christ was willing to suffer being done wrong for us, Paul is saying that we should be willing to suffer to be done wrong for Christ. As the Bible clearly teaches, all who live faithfully for Christ will suffer unjustly at the hands of this Christ-rejecting world.

• “Remember the word that I said unto you, The servant is not greater than his lord. If they have persecuted me, they will also persecute you.” (John 15:20)

• “Yea, and all that will live godly in Christ Jesus shall  suffer persecution.” (2 Timothy 3:12)

This explains why the Bible also teaches us that we should rejoice whenever we suffer unjustly at the hands of this fallen world. We should count it a privilege to suffer injustice for our Savior who suffered the ultimate injustice for us on the cross of Calvary. As Paul teaches in Colossians 1:24 (NIV), “I am glad when I suffer… for I am participating in the sufferings of Christ.”

Another reason for us to rejoice at suffering injustice at the hands of this fallen world is that it serves as proof positive of our faithfulness to Christ. As Jesus admonishes us in Matthew 5:11-12: “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.”

When it comes to our temporal sufferings for Christ’s sake in this fleeting fallen world, the Apostle Paul teaches us that they are incomparable with the eternal reward waiting on us in Heaven. In 2 Corinthians 4:17, Paul writes, “For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, worketh for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory.” 

When it comes to what Paul perceived as “light” and “momentary afflictions,” he enumerates them for us in 2 Corinthians 11:23-28 (NIV).

“I have served him far more! I have worked harder, been put in prison more often, been whipped times without number, and faced death again and again. Five different times the Jewish leaders gave me thirty-nine lashes. Three times I was beaten with rods. Once I was stoned. Three times I was shipwrecked. Once I spent a whole night and a day adrift at sea. I have traveled on many long journeys. I have faced danger from rivers and from robbers. I have faced danger from my own people, the Jews, as well as from the Gentiles. I have faced danger in the cities, in the deserts, and on the seas. And I have faced danger from men who claim to be believers but are not. I have worked hard and long, enduring many sleepless nights. I have been hungry and thirsty and have often gone without food. I have shivered in the cold, without enough clothing to keep me warm. Then, besides all this, I have the daily burden of my concern for all the churches.”

When it comes to the “exceeding and eternal weight of glory” awaiting us in Heaven, Paul describes it for us in 1 Corinthians 2:9. According to the great Apostle, no human eyes have ever seen, no human ears have ever heard, and no man could possibly imagine, even in his wildest imagination, the things that “God has prepared for them that love him.”

In light of all of this, why should we be overly concerned with a little temporal persecution in this world when we have such an unimaginable eternal reward waiting on us in Heaven? Why should we be overly concerned with a little suffering at the hands of man in the here-and-now when we shall spend the hereafter in the presence of our Savior where there are joys for evermore?

The Christian, according to the Apostle Paul, is to let his or her “moderation be known unto all men,” because “the Lord is at hand.” In light of the fact that “the Lord is at hand”—JESUS IS COMING—why should we get carried away with any of the temporal things of this world?

• How important will earthy possessions be, if Jesus should come today?

• How important will earthy pleasures be, if Jesus should come today?

• How important will earthy positions be, if Jesus should  come today?

This world is passing away and we Christians are only passing through it! 

Abraham, the Father of the Faith, as well as all the Jewish patriarchs, lived in tents, never settling down in this world. As Hebrews 11:9-10 (ESV) teaches: “By faith [Abraham] went to live in the land of promise, as in a foreign land, living in tents with Isaac and Jacob, heirs with him of the same promise. For he was looking forward to the city that has foundations, whose designer and builder is God.”

Christians, like the Father of our Faith, Abraham, are also to see ourselves as mere pilgrims just passing through this world on our way to our eternal home in that “city…whose designer and builder is God.” As the Apostle Peter admonishes in 1 Peter 2:11 (TLB): “Dear brothers, you are only visitors here. Since your real home is in heaven, I beg you to keep away from the evil pleasures of this world; they are not for you, for they fight against your very souls.”

I'm kind of homesick for a country

To which I've never been before.

No sad goodbyes will there be spoken

For time won't matter anymore.

I'm looking now, just across the river

To where my faith, shall end in sight.

There's just a few more days to labor.

Then I will take my heavenly flight.

Beulah Land I'm longing for you.

And some day on thee I'll stand.

There my home shall be eternal.

Beulah Land, sweet Beulah Land.