In 1 John 2:17 we read these profound and solemn words, “The world passeth away, and the lust thereof: but He that doeth the will of God abideth forever.” As we have been reminded elsewhere in this issue, we live in a world that is bounded by and characterized by time. We must live and move within a sphere of time, yet we are all headed toward eternity. In John’s ministry we do not get assembly truth, but rather truth about the family of God and the family of the devil. The family of God is characterized by living in view of eternity, while the family of the devil has as its horizon only the things of this world. Satan controls men’s lives by the attractions of this world, and he may use only a small trinket in order to do so. But if necessary, he can “up the ante” to “all the kingdoms of the world” (Luke 4:5), which he offered the Lord Jesus as an inducement to persuade Him to worship him. The family of the devil is, of course, controlled by him in this way, but it is sad when he is able to lure believers along this same path, by the same temptations.
Present and Eternal Consequences
It is a most serious fact to ponder that all our actions in this life, whether for a believer or an unbeliever, will have both present and eternal consequences. For the unbeliever who departs this world without Christ and whose life has nothing in it for God, we are told that “the dead ... were judged every man according to their works” (Rev. 20:13). According to Luke 12:47-48, some will be “beaten with many stripes,” while others, less responsible, with be “beaten with few stripes.” God is just, and He holds men responsible for their degree of light as to divine things.
Various scriptures tell us of rewards that will be given at the judgment-seat of Christ for believers. “If any man’s work abide ... he shall receive a reward” (1 Cor. 3:14). Some of these rewards will be limited in time, such as positions of responsibility in the coming millennial kingdom (Luke 19:17,19), but others will be eternal, such as crowns and the white stone. Also, there is the intangible aspect of rewards, such as what we find in Matthew 25:21,23: “Enter thou into the joy of thy Lord.” No doubt every believer will enter into this joy, but those who have labored for the Lord, using their talents well, will surely “receive a full reward” (2 John 8). Thus we see that there will be degrees of punishment in hell and degrees of reward in heaven, based on what we have done in time.
All this is very searching, and if taken in and understood by the unbeliever, must surely impress upon him the importance of coming to Christ. But we read in the Word of God that “the god of this world [Satan] hath blinded the minds of them which believe not, lest the light of the glorious gospel of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine unto them” (2 Cor. 4:4). The things of this world, which can never satisfy, blind men’s minds to the reality of eternity.
Heavenly Things
However, it is perhaps even worse to see believers who have been brought into the light and who know Christ as their Savior, spending their time acquiring and trying to find their enjoyment in the things around them, instead of enjoying the heavenly things with which God would seek to occupy our hearts. Paul could tell the Colossians, “Have your mind on the things that are above, not on the things that are on the earth; for ye have died, and your life is hid with the Christ in God” (Col. 3:2-3 JND). If we as believers were more aware of the eternal consequences of our actions in time, how careful we would be not to use our time in a wrong way!
The Steward
When our Lord was on earth, He illustrated a most important principle for us as believers, namely, the use of present advantage in order to have future gain. In the parable of the unjust steward (Luke 16:1-12), we find a steward who lost his job because he was accused of wasting his master’s goods. But before he was discharged, he used his position to reduce the amounts owed to his master by various debtors. His strategy was that he would gain the friendship of these debtors by this means, in order that he would be able to count on their help when he found himself out of a job. In commenting on the parable, our Lord did not in any way commend the steward for his dishonesty, for He calls him “unjust.” However, He did commend the principle on which the steward acted, in that he used his present authority as steward to provide for his future.
Treasure in Heaven
The lesson for us is that if we have resources in this world — such as time, freedom, money and education—we may use them for that which will be temporal, or we may use them to “lay up treasure in heaven.” If we use this world’s goods faithfully (which really belong to the Lord; we have them only as stewards), then God will commit to our trust “the true riches” (Luke 16:11). The real measure of our spirituality is how we use the things of this world — things over which we are merely stewards. But for all eternity we will enjoy those things that are really ours!
Our Lord’s word to his servants is, “Occupy till I come” (Luke 19:13). All that is of this world must pass away, but, again, “he that doeth the will of God abideth forever” (1 John 2:17). “So teach us to number our days, that we may apply our hearts unto wisdom” (Psa. 90:12).
W. J. Prost