![]() Their love to them will be such that they will rejoice that they are happier than themselves so that instead of having a damp to their own happiness, it will add to it. Those who are not so high in glory as others, will not envy those that are higher, but they will have so great, and strong, and pure love to them that they will rejoice in their superior happiness. “We will rejoice that those who’ve been most eminent in works of righteousness should be most highly exalted in glory.” Every vessel that is cast into this ocean of happiness is full, though there are some vessels far larger than others, and there shall be no such thing as envy in heaven, but perfect love shall reign throughout the whole society. It will be no dampening to the happiness of those who have lower degrees of happiness and glory, that there are others advanced in glory above them: for all shall be perfectly happy, every one shall be perfectly satisfied. But this could not be true, if a person should have no greater reward for doing many good works than if he did but few. Edwards on Heavenly RewardsĬhrist tells us that he who gives a cup of cold water to a disciple in the name of a disciple, shall in no wise lose his reward. ![]() This sounds really different than anything you’ve ever heard, I predict. If that sounds questionable, I encourage you to read the whole sermon. Yet it describes a community of love in which those differences not only do not produce envy and regret but actually function to produce the greatest happiness for the community as a whole.īefore this text I’m going to read, Edwards had just made a lengthy argument that the New Testament teaches (and I think he’s right here) that there will be different rewards for different Christians. What this quotation from Edwards does is describe heaven with real differences among the saints because of real difference in holiness here. They’re not poisonous, and we’re not going to feel envious or resentful. And I want to remedy it because I think there really are distinctions of reward in heaven. The reason I think this may be a helpful response to Alex is because he says (and I think this is the key sentence), “I feel grieved that I am unlikely to live up to the reward God may have planned for me and forever be called a ‘lesser’ compared to those with greater faith. “There shall be no such thing as envy in heaven, but perfect love shall reign throughout the whole society.” So, I want to do that again here and give it fresh exposure. Is it only my envy and pride speaking or is this something to be concerned about?” Community of JoyĪbout ten years ago, I recorded a section from Jonathan Edwards’s sermon on Romans 2:10, which I think is one of the most beautiful, mind-expanding, heaven-displaying, Scripture-opening, hope-awakening passages I’ve ever read anywhere outside the Bible. Would that not mean that God shows bias towards those with greater faith? I’m grieved because I’m unlikely to live up to the reward God may have planned for me, and forever be called a ‘lesser’ to those with greater faith. Does this mean that we may not be rewarded to a degree we could have been, depending on our faith on earth? This question has been plaguing me since I listened to that episode. There you mentioned that God rewards faithfulness, not fruitfulness. You have talked about rewards in heaven in one of your answers to a listener’s question - “Is God More Happy with Other Christians Than Me?” - episode 417. So why this discrepancy? And won’t this disparity cause eternal remorse and some level of strain among us? Today’s question comes from a listener named Alex, who lives in Germany. ![]() Some of us will get fewer rewards in heaven.
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