Jealousy is a terrible thing.
This one sin can result in gossip, theft, emotional and
physical harm to
others, even murder. And this is just the short list. Isn’t it great to know
that even though there will be differences in our standing in Heaven, there
will be no jealousy? Only by God’s grace is that possible.
Instead of being jealous, we
will be happy for whatever standing the other Christian has been awarded,
whether it is greater or smaller.
But won’t we all be equal in
Heaven you say? In many ways we will be equal, but in responsibilities and
ranks we will be different.
We will be equal in the love
the Lord has for us, and to me, that is the most important. We will be equal in
the fact that all of us who are Christians will be with the Lord Jesus for all
eternity. None of us will ever sin again. We will never hurt again. We will
never age. We will never have any of the frailties our physical bodies lay upon
us. That’s equality, and we will be equal in so many other ways.
THE APOSTLES:
Have you ever noticed that
there was a caste system of sorts Jesus put upon the twelve disciples, who
later became apostles? The twelve were separated into three groups as shown in
Matthew 10:2-4; Mark 3:16-19; Luke 6:13-16 and Acts 1:13. Judas Iscariot was
omitted in the Acts listing and of course never became an apostle.
In Mark’s listing the groups
were: Peter, James, John and Andrew in the first list; Philip, Bartholomew,
Matthew and Thomas in the second list; and James (son of Alphaeus), Thaddeus,
Simon and Judas Iscariot in the third list.
Peter was always named first
in the first list. Philip was always named first in the second list, and James
(son of Alphaeus) was always named first in the third list. This holds true in
all four sources: Matthew, Mark, Luke and Acts.
Peter obviously was the chief
apostle and also of his group. Philip was head of his group and James (son of
Alphaeus) head of his group. Also, the first group of four men would have had a
higher status than the other two and so forth.
Even in the first group,
notice in your Bible, that Peter, James and John were always chosen by Christ
to be included for special occasions.
HEAVENLY GATES AND
FOUNDATION:
In Revelation 21:12 we see
that the twelve gates are named after the twelve tribes of Israel, which were
Jacob’s twelve sons. In Revelation 21:14 the twelve foundations for the city
wall are named after the twelve apostles of the Lamb. No gate or foundation is
named after you or me, so it is clear that these are special people.
CROWNS:
The Bible also speaks of
crowns. There are five crowns: the incorruptible crown, the crown of rejoicing,
the crown of righteousness, the crown of life, and the crown of glory.
1 - “And every man that
striveth for the mastery is temperate in all things. Now they do it to obtain a
corruptible crown; but we an incorruptible.” 1 Corinthians 9:25
2 - “For what is our hope, or
joy, or crown of rejoicing? Are not even ye in the presence of our Lord Jesus
Christ at his coming?” 1 Thessalonians 2:19-20
3 - “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 Timothy 4:8
4 - “Fear none of those things
which thou shalt suffer: behold, the devil shall cast some of you into prison,
that ye may be tried; and ye shall have tribulation ten days: be thou faithful
unto death, and I will give thee a crown of life.” Revelation 2:10
5 - “Feed the flock of God
which is among you, taking the oversight thereof, not by constraint, but
willingly; not for filthy lucre, but of a ready mind; Neither as being lords
over God's heritage, but being ensamples to the flock. And when the chief
Shepherd shall appear, ye shall receive a crown of glory that fadeth not away. 2
Peter 5:2-4
REWARDS:
When we stand before Jesus
Christ at the judgment seat of Christ there will be great rejoicing for those
rewards some will receive, but there will also be great disappointment and sorrow
for those who have no rewards. I believe this may be a time that Jesus will
wipe away the tears from so many of us.
While others will have crowns
they can joyously cast at the Savior’s feet, many will have nothing to offer
because they will have no crown or reward.
OUR HEAVENLY RESIDENCE:
In John 14:1-2 Jesus tells
the twelve, “Let not your heart be troubled, ye believe in God, believe in me. In
my Father’s house are many mansions; if it were not so, I would have told you.
I go to prepare a place for you.”
I have heard several folks
over the years get really bent out of shape if verse two isn’t translated
“mansions.” Actually, the correct translation is “dwelling places,” but they
will have none of it. Anyway, we all think we’re going to live in our own
personal mansion in Heaven, but Jesus
said that He was going to “prepare a place for you.” That leads me to believe,
especially when I see the whole picture that our living quarters will all vary
based upon our faithfulness to Jesus. I guess that wrinkled a few brows.
On the other hand, I’ve heard
others say they didn’t care if they live in a hut and are appointed the street
cleaner, they would just be so thankful to be there. Now I commend that
statement because their heart seems to be in the right place. However, I don’t
personally envision “huts” in Heaven, and there certainly won’t be any streets
to clean in Heaven since everything is perfect.
All that said, there will be
different degrees of living and serving in Heaven just as there will be
different degrees of judgment in hell.
The point of this commentary
is to remind us, including myself that now is the time, while we are still
breathing, to work for our rewards and crowns. Otherwise, we may come up short.
If we are His, we will not lose our salvation, but we may lose any reward we
could have earned while here on earth.
May we desire more than
anything to hear our Master say, “Well done, good and faithful servant.”
Grant Phillips
Email: grantphillips@windstream.net
Pre-Rapture Commentary: http://grant-phillips.blogspot.com
