Rewards of Preaching

Rewards of Preaching

When men consider a vocation or profession, they ponder, what shall be the reward of it? There are definite rewards that belong to the faithful proclaimer of God's Word. Careers of the secular world offer primarily temporal rewards that perish and vanish with time. The Lord's work provides rewards that are of both a temporal and spiritual nature. The latter will last throughout eternity. Jesus reminded Peter and all others who enter upon a life of Christian service, "There is no man that hath left home, or brethren, or sisters or mother, or father, or children, or lands, for my sake, and for the gospels sake, but he shall receive a hundredfold now in this time, houses, and brethren, and sisters, and mothers, and children, and lands with persecution; and in the world to come eternal life" (Mk. 10:25-30). Consider with me some of these wonderful rewards.

The Privileges Of Being A Worker For The King

In this life, it is a signal honor to serve on the staff of the governor, even more so the president. How much greater is the honor to be a representative of the King of Kings. Jesus said, "He that receiveth whomsoever I receiveth me..." (John 13:20). Everyone engaged in the business of spreading the Kingdom is a fellow-worker with God (I Cor. 3:9). Those for whom we work on this earth can only reward us so far. Our King can provide our every need today, then crown us with immortality when this life is no more.

It is a privilege afforded to every gospel preacher to immerse himself in the study of the Holy Word. While others toil with tools, machines or figures, we are privileged above all to search the Scriptures; to mediate upon them day and night; to dig deep into the gold mine of sacred truth and uncover costly nuggets. Next to salvation and heaven, no greater joy can be known than thus feeding on the bread of life. Further, God has ordained that our fellow Christians with whom we share these lessons learned, support us while we study the Bible (Gal. 6:6).

To work as a minister of God affords us opportunity to develop our creative talents and to cultivate our leadership skills. As we help to lead the church in its program of work, we grow to be capable in many different areas while in the professions of the world one is usually hedged in to limited areas of service. Today, we ply our pen to write letters and articles, tomorrow we counsel youth and teach a class. Tonight we visit a home to instruct the lost, in the morning we comfort the sick. Week-days we study our lessons, then on Lord's Day we proclaim the glad tidings. We mediate differences, we solve problems. We travel afar, we speak on the local radio, or TV station. These varied challenges should be seen as blessings of life, not as drudgeries or burdens.

As we pursue our daily schedule, we have more freedom to direct our day-by-day work and to plan our own schedule than our counterparts in the business world. Although some stumble here, it really is a blessing for the diligent, self-starting man.

There is a satisfaction that comes from knowing we are doing the greatest work in the world, by serving God as one of his evangelists. While others work and build with stone which eventually crumbles to dust, we work with human souls that will live on into eternity.

Our primary work is to save lost men from the doom of damnation. We become all things to all men that we might win them (I Cor. 9:22). If there is a sense of accomplishment and satisfaction that comes from saving a fellow human being from physical harm or death, how much more is one rewarded when he is able to get God's gospel lifeline to those perishing in sin. The life salvaged and the good that comes from their reformed lives will endure into eternity.

We preachers spends much of our time molding and training young minds. Most of those we work with will grow up to be Christians and strong pillars of the church and community. We will see them build happy, stable homes and take their place in the business world. Some will be missionaries and preachers themselves and bless thousands. The man who invested his life and work in these youngsters will have a holy pride in their success. This is an intangible reward, more precious than gold.

Every preacher will spend many hours helping people salvage their lives from wreck and ruin. We will help save some men from the enslavement of booze. There will be mixed-up kids that will listen to our wise counsel and be profited. Time and again we will be able to strengthen and help to save marriages that are disintegrating.

In our work as soldiers in the army of Christ, we fight against sin and corruption (II Tim. 2:3, I Tim. 6:12). In so doing we mold and shape the moral fabric of the community and nation, thus saving it from the judgment of God which surely comes upon a degenerate people.

We plant and nurture congregations of Christ's church which grow strong and serve as moral and spiritual beacons in a world of darkness. They minister to the unfortunate and help the weak. A man of God can take due pride in the fruit of his labors.

All of this work with people brings gratitude and appreciation from those we have helped in the struggle of life. Their appreciation is shown in a thousand ways. Their homes are always open as a haven to us. Warm personal friendships develop. Fellowship is constantly enjoyed. Many tokens of thankfulness will be received from those who have been blest by our ministry. My home and office are laden with gifts of grateful brethren.

Benefits For Our Family

The rewards that come to a preacher's family are many and wonderful. Our children grow up in a world of books, high ideals, and lofty pursuits. They have wide and varied experiences in life that exceed those afforded to most other children. This is of great value to them in their educational work. Our families will have more opportunities to travel than most and this will broaden and enrich each of them. They will live among and daily associate with the purest and best people of society.
Of course, we all live in the midst of a sinful world, but as preachers our closest relationships will be with other Christian families. When our kids' best friends are from Christian homes and they grow up to date and marry other Christians, they enjoy distinct advantages for a happy life. Our homes may be richly blest by the hundreds of godly people that enjoy our hospitality. Preachers, elders, missionaries and all the saints of God that come into our family circle bring their train of blessings with them. Their faith, purity and dedication provide meaningful examples for our family members to profit by.

Our children will be fortunate above many because as servants of God we will work unceasingly to have a happy stable home. While other families openly quarrel and disintegrate, we will keenly feel the importance of working out our domestic problems and controlling our emotions and words. We must practice what we preach because the success of our work hinges on the stability of our home life. This accrues to the direct benefit of our children. We must be extra careful to provide a holy example for your children, because we are preachers and we would not dare do otherwise. May I quickly add that if this were our only motive for being a proper husband and father, it would not be acceptable unto God. Nor do I recommend such a shallow approach to godliness. However, I am persuaded that it is generally easier for a preacher to maintain a godly home because not only is it right and desirable, but because the pressures of his career make it indispensable.
Among other rewards that come to mind is the respect that a minister enjoys in the community in which he lives and from his fellow Christians (I Thess. 5:12-13). Although we grant that some men are not so fortunate, yet this is the exception and not the rule. Also, it often happens that a man by his own foolish conduct denies himself the honor which would naturally come.

There will come a time in each of our lives when we will suffer hardship as a direct result of our faithfulness to God. This we should gladly bear (II Tim. 2:3), "Rejoicing that (we are) counted worthy to suffer dishonor for the name" (Acts 5:41). We thus share in a small way the sufferings of Jesus and for that we can be grateful (I Pet. 4:13).

Although we have looked primarily on the spiritual, intangible rewards, I would be amiss if I did not notice that God has provided we who labor for His heavenly cause should be financially rewarded for our efforts. "The laborer is worthy of his hire" (I Tim. 5:18). The Lord ordained that they who proclaim the gospel should live the gospel (I Cor. 9:14). While this is but a small part of the rewards of preaching it is important. Most of our congregations now support their men reasonably well, and for this we are thankful.

The last and surely the most important aspect of our reward is that by faithfully preaching and living the gospel we will save not only our hearers but our own souls as well (I Tim. 4:16). All of our efforts are treasures laid up in heaven to be received at the appointed time (Matt. 6:19-21).

Having therefore these promises, beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from every defilement of the flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God. And may we never be weary in well-doing for in due season we shall reap if we faint not (Gal. 6:9), for we know that our labor is not vain in the Lord (I Cor. 15:58b).

Sincerely,

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