It is a wonderful thought that God is pleased to give rewards to us, His servants. He has already reached out in love, to us who were His enemies, and has sent His Son to redeem us. Then He has given us the privilege of serving Him and has even given us all the resources and strength to do so. How gracious of God, in addition to all this, to offer rewards for faithfulness in service! It enlarges our hearts to think of it and encourages us in service for Christ!
It is important to understand that rewards are never presented as the motive for service for the Lord. If reward becomes the motive, then we are off the wonderful ground of grace and sliding back under law. The motive given in Scripture for service is love to Christ, for “the love of Christ constraineth us” (2 Cor. 5:14). This is illustrated in the parable in Matthew 20:1-16. The laborers who were hired first made a bargain with the owner of the vineyard, and at the end they received the wages for which they had agreed. Others who came later made no bargain, but, having confidence in the Master, simply went to work and depended on His goodness. So our hearts, if properly constrained by the love of Christ, will want to serve Him and will not look for rewards. However, God is pleased to encourage His servants with the promise of rewards, and He has told us something about them in His Word.
Private Rewards
There are rewards given which will not be public, but rather a private and personal matter between ourselves and the Lord. This is brought out in Revelation 2:17, where we read, “To him that overcometh will I give to eat of the hidden manna, and will give him a white stone, and in the stone a new name written, which no man knoweth saving he that receiveth it.” This will be personal communion and enjoyment with the Lord — that which is the Lord’s own approval of what we have done. Every Christian will receive a white stone, but each will be different, as the Lord gives His own assessment of our life and what we have done for Him. The new name brings before us individual fellowship with the Lord, as each enjoys that personal communion with Him.
Public Rewards
There will also be public rewards, and these are connected with the millennial kingdom and the display of Christ’s glory during that time. The Lord Jesus is now rejected and God’s holy character is not displayed in this world, but during the millennium righteousness will reign. God’s holy character will be publicly vindicated, and His beloved Son, whom this world cast out and crucified, will be given His rightful place. It is fitting that God chooses at the same time to give public recognition to those who have served faithfully and have suffered with Christ during the time of His rejection.
Public reward is clearly shown to us in the parable of the pounds in Luke 19:12-27. Here we find the Master, pictured as a nobleman, going away for a time, but giving His servants each a pound to use in His absence. Responsibility is brought in here, and thus there is a difference in the reward given to each. The one who is the more diligent in the use of His gift (illustrated by the pound) is given a greater reward, and reward here takes the form of administrative authority, under Christ, in the coming kingdom. We see the one who gains ten pounds being given authority over ten cities, while the one with five pounds is correspondingly given authority over five cities. “If we suffer, we shall also reign with Him” (2 Tim. 2:12). “Thy Father which seeth in secret shall reward thee openly” (Matt. 6:6). If we have served God faithfully when the Lord Jesus is rejected, God will reward openly those who have been true to Him during this time. In the same way the twelve apostles will “sit on thrones judging the twelve tribes of Israel” (Luke 22:30).
Such rewards will be wonderful! The kingdom will last for one thousand years — longer than any human empire has lasted in the history of this world. However, these public rewards will be only for the duration of the millennium, for when the Lord Jesus “shall have delivered up the kingdom to God, even the Father,” the kingdom as such will cease. There will no longer be a need for administration in this world, for during the eternal state righteousness dwells.
Crowns
God has also told us about various crowns that He will give as rewards. These are, no doubt, public rewards as well, but they are distinct from administrative positions in the kingdom. Crowns are connected more with the energy of faith in overcoming adversity in the Christian life and persevering in spite of difficulties. As believers in Christ we will all be in the Father’s house, but it is as overcomers that we will be on the throne with Christ. Crowns are associated with that place which we will have with Him on His throne. There are at least three distinct crowns mentioned in the Word of God.
Crown of Glory
“When the chief Shepherd shall appear, ye shall receive a crown of glory that fadeth not away” (1 Peter 5:4). This crown is connected with shepherding the flock of God and seeking to be a help to God’s people. God’s people are precious to Him, and He values those who will undertake to shepherd them, under the direction of the Chief Shepherd. Peter had witnessed the sufferings of Christ and was sharing them, but he looked forward to being “a partaker of the glory that shall be revealed” (1 Peter 5:1). Down here there is often not much glory connected with serving the people of God, and frequently the work is done out of the public eye. However, in that day those who have labored as shepherds of God’s flock will receive that crown of glory from the Chief Shepherd.
Crown of Righteousness
Paul mentions the crown of righteousness at the end of his life, in the second epistle to Timothy. There he says, “Henceforth there is laid up for me a crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, shall give me at that day: and not to me only, but unto all them also that love His appearing” (2 Tim. 4:8). Paul had been faithful during his life, and the Lord had shown him that his hour of departure was at hand. The Lord’s coming should be the proper hope of every believer, but beyond this is the appearing, when the Lord Jesus will have His rightful place. It is right for us to expect the Lord to come for us at any moment, but occasionally selfish motives may enter into this. Perhaps we want to be taken out of this world because of all its sorrow, conflict and opposition to the believer. However, when we think of the appearing, it is Himself that is before us, for our blessed Master will then be exalted and glorified publicly. More than this, the reward of this crown will be righteous, for the Lord is the righteous judge. What we do and our motives in doing it may be judged wrongly now, but in that day all will be righteous, and the crown will be a reward for those who love His appearing.
Crown of Life
The crown of life is connected with death in this world, and it is a crown that can be won in two distinct ways. When the Lord addresses the assembly in Smyrna in Revelation 2, they were going through a period of terrible persecution. His word of encouragement to them was, “Be thou faithful unto death, and I will give thee a crown of life” (Rev. 2:10). If the world’s hatred results in the believer’s making the supreme sacrifice of giving his life for Christ, God rewards him with a crown of life. Man can kill only the body, but cannot touch what is real and vital. The knowledge of salvation and of the possession of eternal life in Christ gives the believer courage to give up his natural life, for eternal life is his, and the crown of life.
However, not every believer is called upon to give up his natural life and die for Christ. Some, like the Apostle John, died a natural death, as have many of the Lord’s servants. May they not win that crown of life?
We find the same crown mentioned in James 1:12. “Blessed is the man that endureth temptation: for when he is tried, he shall receive the crown of life, which the Lord hath promised to them that love Him.” It is one thing to give up one’s life by going through the death of the body, but the believer can also give up his life by living for Christ, by resisting temptation day after day, week after week, month after month, and perhaps year after year. In that sense he is like the one of whom the Lord said, “He that hateth his life in this world shall keep it unto life eternal” (John 12:25). The one who gives up his own ambitions and desires in this world in order to follow Christ wholeheartedly will find that he too is given that crown of life. It takes courage from the Lord to stand firm in the face of death, but it also takes courage on a continual basis to resist the efforts of the world and Satan to drag us down. Every believer can win the crown of life!
Every redeemed one will have a crown in that coming day. What a privilege it will be to have it, and to sit on the throne with Christ! However, what will we do with those crowns? In Revelation 4, an overwhelming sense of the grace of God, whether in salvation or in service, causes the twenty-four elders to “fall down before Him that sat on the throne, and worship Him that liveth forever and ever, and cast their crowns before the throne, saying, Thou art worthy, O Lord” (Rev. 4:10-11). A realization of His worthiness makes us feel our own unworthiness, and then we will seek only His glory, not our own.
Eternity
Finally, we want to draw attention to one reward that seems to transcend the others, in one sense, although it certainly embraces the character of the “white stone.” In the parable of the talents (Matt. 25:14-30), God’s sovereignty is emphasized, while man’s responsibility is brought before us more in the parable of the pounds in Luke 19. Here in the parable of the talents, it is the prerogative of the Master to give to each servant as He wished, and thus some received more talents than others. The reward then given is not proportional to the number of talents, but rather for faithfulness in using them. Here the reward is simply, “Enter thou into the joy of thy Lord” (Matt. 25:21,23). Who can measure or limit such a thing? There is no real sense of distinction between believers, but rather the enjoyment of that which is infinite and eternal — the joy of the Lord. How marvelous that this will abide for all eternity, when the kingdom has come to an end, and when for all eternity God will be “all in all” (1 Cor. 15:28). God would have us to work to this end, appreciating and being encouraged by the promise of rewards, but realizing that even reward will be swallowed up in the “joy of thy Lord” which will be eternal and infinite.
W. J. Prost