You are not as safe and secure as you might like to think you are. I do not speak here of this mortal life, we are all quite aware of this fact, whether we choose to admit it to ourselves or not, at any moment, at any time day or night your life can be altered dramatically, whether it be that “dreaded” phone call in the middle of the night, or a so-called calamity that strikes your own personal being, our lives are tenuous at best, anything and everything can change in a moment.
Whether it is a decision of the Lord to remove all you have but the clothes on your back or for you to hear the word ‘terminal’ from your doctor, we have far less control over our lives than we would like to imagine, but these are well known facts, they are simple conversational topics that few care to discuss, because of the perception that they have at least a modicum of control over their lives, and to admit otherwise would be detrimental to their emotional state.
“Yet thou shalt see the land before thee; but thou shalt not go thither unto the land which I give the children of Israel.” (Deut. 32:52) One mistake, the Lord did not requite Moses even once that we are aware of for killing the Egyptian that was persecuting his brethren, (Exo. 2:12) but for the one small mistake of striking the rock instead of speaking to it (Numb. 20:11) he was not allowed to enter into the promised land. Jonah was a prophet who served God faithfully, except for that small occurrence with the Ninevites, Saul was serving the best he knew how, yet the whole kingdom was taken from him because he would not be patient and wait for Samuel to show up. (1 Sam. 13:8-14) Everything is yours Adam, except for this one small thing. (Gen. 2:17)
The Roman Catholic Institution has a little thing called the “sin of presumption,” they keep their congregations in bondage by telling them that Romans 10:9 is a lie, that it takes more than just professing Jesus Christ as Lord to have the assurance of your salvation, that grace is not enough. (Eph. 2:8) By this they have achieved their desired goal of keeping those who trust in their system from ever losing any of the subject matter of this letter to you, for how can one lay up treasures in heaven if one cannot rest assured that heaven is where they are going to spend eternity, how could one lose rewards if one cannot say for a fact that the kingdom of God and all that is in it is theirs. How can one lose rewards and treasure if one has never laid up any in heaven? It is a well laid plan, one that has sent many souls to hell and earned the Roman Catholic Institution untold worldly wealth.
But what of you, what of you who have the assurance of your eternal salvation because you have believed the Word of God, who hold the truth that “ For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.” (Romans 10:13) “And I give unto them eternal life; and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand.” (John 10:28) What of you who have been blessed to be able to see through all of the lies of the world, all of the damnable deceits of the religious organizations that cover the face of this planet, what of your rewards, are they as safe as you would like to think? What must we do to lose all those things that we have laid up in heaven. “Let no man beguile you of your reward in a voluntary humility and worshipping of angels, intruding into those things which he hath not seen, vainly puffed up by his fleshly mind.” (Col. 2:18)
No man on earth can take anything from you in this regard that you do not first decide to give up. How far must a man of God sink into the mire of this world before his rewards are dissolved in heaven, how deep into sin must the believer fall before the Lord goes to His treasure house in the heavenlies and bestows those treasures and rewards upon another, what does it take to lose your rewards? “And whosoever shall give to drink unto one of these little ones a cup of cold water only in the name of a disciple, verily I say unto you, he shall in no wise lose his reward.” (Matt. 10:42) This verse infers that it is indeed possible to lose what you have stored up in heaven, with them and others of those men of old that we previously mentioned, we can see that the promises are true, that we have the ability to throw away by our actions that which we have laid up where moth and rust do not enter. (Matt. 6:19)
Perhaps Moses was just frustrated that day, upwards of a million people or more, constantly whining, constantly complaining, being shown much by the hand of the Almighty, free from the house of bondage (Exo. 20:2) maybe it just was eating on him so much that he took his frustration out on that rock, couldn’t God see that, why such a harsh punishment after so many decades of humble service.
Most Christians I believe do not truly serve Christ, they serve the perception of who they believe Him to be, they have picked out a few chosen verses and left the ones that do not assist them in feeling better about Him to lay dormant. The one who loves the infant in the manger does not want to discuss the Lord who is coming back in righteous indignation, the ones who like to contemplate His grace and mercy are not fond of discussing His wrath and righteous judgment, those who think only of His love will not think on the Lord who also made hell.
How much of what you truly believe is secure in heaven, those treasures and rewards you believe are waiting for you, are going to remain no matter the service you provide for the Master here, how many believe that once they are saved that this life just becomes a “read-through,” that what you have cannot be removed from you? Have you forgotten the parable of the talents, (Matt. 25:14-30) have you decided that the parable our Lord gave of the branch that was cut off and cast into the fire was just an analogy, what of “If ye abide in me, and my words abide in you, ye shall ask what ye will, and it shall be done unto you.” (John 15:7) “If ye keep my commandments, ye shall abide in my love; even as I have kept my Father’s commandments, and abide in his love.” (John 15:10)
There are, I am afraid, a lot of people that are going to be walking up to those gates of heaven empty handed, and just as many that will enter into the kingdom with no treasure room awaiting them, no reward in their hand. None of these will hear, “Well done, good and faithful servant; thou hast been faithful over a few things, I will make thee ruler over many things: enter thou into the joy of thy lord.” (Matt. 25:23)