Read Hebrews 11:6. What should this verse mean to us? How should we respond to what it says? See also Revelation 22:12, Isaiah 40:10, and Isaiah 62:11. What do all these texts teach us?

The reward from God to His faithful children is unique and, like many spiritual things, may be beyond our finite understanding. “Human language is inadequate to describe the reward of the righteous. It will be known only to those who behold it. No finite mind can comprehend the glory of the Paradise of God.” — Ellen G. White, The Great Controversy, p. 675.

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Jesus concluded the Beatitudes, which opens the Sermon on the Mount, with these words: “Blessed are you when they revile and persecute you, and say all kinds of evil against you falsely for My sake. Rejoice and be exceedingly glad, for great is your reward in heaven, for so they persecuted the prophets who were before you” (Matthew 5:11-12, , NKJV). After listing the people of faith in Hebrews 11:1-40, the author begins the next chapter explaining why Jesus was willing to die on the cross.

“Therefore we also, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which so easily ensnares us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God” (Hebrews 12:1-2, , NKJV).

Being rewarded for faithfulness, however, is not the same as salvation by works. Who among us, or among any of the characters in the Bible, had works good enough to give them any merit before God? None, of course. That’s the whole point of the cross. If we could have saved ourselves by works, Jesus never would have gone to the cross. Instead, it must be by grace. “And if by grace, then it is no longer of works; otherwise grace is no longer grace. But if it is of works, it is no longer grace; otherwise work is no longer work” (Romans 11:6, NKJV). Rewards, instead, are the mere outworking of what God has done for us and in us.

<–Sabbath Monday–>

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Sabbath Afternoon

Read for This Week’s Study: Hebrews 11:6, Isaiah 62:11, Romans 6:23, John 14:1-3, Revelation 21:1-27, Matthew 25:20-23, Romans 8:16-18.

Memory Text: “His lord said to him, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant; you were faithful over a few things, I will make you ruler over many things. Enter into the joy of your lord’ ” (Matthew 25:21, NKJV).

Though we can never earn salvation, the Bible uses the hope of reward as a motivation for faithful living as undeserving recipients of God’s grace, for in the end whatever we receive is, always and only, from God’s grace.

As David wrote: “The law of the LORD is perfect, converting the soul; the testimony of the LORD is sure, making wise the simple; the statutes of the LORD are right, rejoicing the heart; the commandment of the LORD is pure, enlightening the eyes; the fear of the LORD is clean, enduring forever; the judgments of the LORD are true and righteous altogether. More to be desired are they than gold, yea, than much fine gold; sweeter also than honey and the honeycomb. Moreover by them Your servant is warned, and in keeping them there is great reward” (Psalm 19:7-11, NKJV).

In various places the Bible talks about our rewards, what we are promised through Christ after the Second Coming and this terrible detour with sin is once and for all over and done.

What are we promised, and what assurance do we have of getting what we have been promised?

Study this week’s lesson to prepare for Sabbath, March 25.

Sunday–>

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Is this True, Somewhat True, or False? If we truly listen to God, we will avoid financial hardship. Join our discussion of Lesson 11, Managing in Tough Times.

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Two Best Friends

By Chifundo Kanjo

Bahadu Ibrahim was born to non-Christian parents who expected him to follow their faith in central Malawi. He had no problem with that because he did not know any other religion.

Image © Pacific Press

But then an older brother married a Seventh-day Adventist woman and joined the Adventist Church. As a teen, Bahadu was sent by his parents to live with his brother and his wife in Malawi’s capital, Lilongwe. When Sabbath came, his brother expected him to go to church with them. Bahadu did not want to go, but he felt like he had no choice. For two years, he went to church every Sabbath out of a sense of duty.

Returning to his parents in Kaluluma village, he thought to forget the Bible. But he made friends with another teenager who happened to be an Adventist. Bahadu admired his new friend very much for his kindness and gentleness. Everyone in the village admired the young man and spoke highly of him.

One Sabbath, the friend invited Bahadu to go to church. What could Bahadu do? He went. He was glad to spend time with his best friend, even in church. As time passed, their friendship grew, and Bahadu listened to his friend explain that the seventh day was the true Sabbath of God. His friend gave him books to read. Little by little, he understood new truths about God and the Sabbath. However, he was not convinced that Saturday was the true Sabbath. Without his parents’ knowledge, he decided to compare the Bible with his family’s traditional religious book. As he read, he discovered that his family’s religious book contained only one woman’s name, Maryam, the mother of Jesus. He also discovered that Jesus is Lord. Bahadu decided to give his heart to Jesus in baptism. He no longer went to church out of sense of duty. He went to spend special time with his new Best Friend.

After Bahadu’s baptism, his parents disowned him and stopped paying his high-school fees, leaving him unable to graduate with the rest of his class. Both of his parents died without accepting his decision, and many relatives continue to treat him with hostility today. But Bahadu has not wavered in his faith. “This is the best decision that I have ever made,” he said. Today, he is a student at Malawi Adventist University, studying to become a pastor.

Produced by the General Conference Office of Adventist Mission. Find more mission stories at adventistmission[dot]org

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Further Thought:

 Though nothing in the Bible warns against wealth, nothing in the Bible talks about wealth as increasing one’s spiritual commitment, either. In fact, the opposite danger is true. “The love of money, the desire for wealth, is the golden chain that binds them [people] to Satan.” — Ellen G. White, Steps to Christ, p. 44.

Image © Stan Myers from GoodSalt.com

In fact, since the founding of Christianity, no church has ever partaken of such wealth and creature comforts as the church in many countries of the world enjoys today. The question is: At what cost? Such affluence surely influences our spirituality — and not for the good, either. How could it? Since when have wealth and material abundance fostered the Christian virtues of self-denial and self-sacrifice? Can coming home to refrigerators stuffed with more food than we can eat, and owning one or two cars, and taking yearly vacations, and shopping online, and having the latest in home computers and smartphones make it easier to love not the world nor the things in the world? Though many members of our church don’t have these luxuries, many do — and they do so at the peril of their own souls. This is not talking about the “rich” now, as in millionaires and beyond. They at least know that they’re rich, and they can heed (if they choose) the biblical cautions given them. We’re talking, instead, about many even of the middle-class people, who — amid smartphones, iMacs, air-conditioning, and SUVs — are fooled enough to think that because they are just “middle class,” they are not in danger of being spiritually pickled by their own prosperity. That’s why tithing can be, if nothing else, a powerful spiritual antidote to the dangers of wealth, even for those who are not particularly “wealthy.”

Discussion Questions:

<–Thursday

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