the fire of the righteous judgment of God, they suffer loss of reward, even though they themselves are saved (verse

On the other hand the work and service of those believers who have progressed spiritually and come to spiritual

maturity, `abides' the test of God's holiness and they receive a reward (verse 14). It is most important to distinguish

these two different though parallel lines of truth. Salvation is a free gift by grace and received by faith in Christ

alone (Eph. 2:8,9). It is not by works or merit and cannot be earned by any human action, but is eternally secure in

the Lord Jesus. In contrast to this, reward for faithful service is earned by the believer and is dependent on his

Christian walk and witness and practical response to the claims of God's truth. Such reward can be lost by

unfaithfulness or sowing to the flesh (Col. 2:18; 3:24,25; Rev. 3:11; 1 Cor. 3:14,15). The believer cannot work for

his salvation, but he learns by grace to work it out in practice to the Lord's glory (Phil. 2:12,13), with the future day

of testing in view. Any amount of Bible difficulties and false teaching today is caused by confusing these two

differing aspects of truth or by emphasizing one at the expense of the other.

Thus we have those who say we can be saved today and lost tomorrow and those who accept this as truth can

never have divine assurance of their salvation, and thus they have no secure ground upon which they can live, be

saved and serve the Lord in this present life.

In confusing God's truth, they cannot see that `He Who hath begun a good work in you (that is salvation) will

finish it (see margin) until the day of Jesus Christ' (Phil. 1:6). The vital work of salvation which only God can

provide and start in the believer is completed and finished by Him, for God does not do His work by halves or leave

things so fundamental to His great purposes to rest upon anything so insecure as human actions.

At the same time the righteousness of God will distinguish between the faithful and the unfaithful among His

children and it cannot be otherwise. The Lord Jesus as the righteous Judge will make no mistakes or give any unfair

verdict on the service and witness of the believer (2 Tim. 4:7,8).

The faithful ones described in Hebrews 11 not only believed God for salvation, but all His revelation afterwards

and were willing to go through extremes of testing and suffering to obtain that better country and city, the heavenly

Jerusalem, and the better resurrection attached to it (verse 35 and see verses 32-40). Like Moses, they had respect

unto `the recompense of the reward' (verse 26).

Thus we see that this higher sphere of blessing is for the faithful from Abel's time onwards, through Abraham's

seed, and down to the time of the Acts of the Apostles. It was brought before the saved of the Pentecostal period

and held out to them as a reward, as well as to believers of Old Testament days. Their hope, as we have shown, was

Israel's hope, connected with the seed and the land and was the great mediatorial kingdom that looms so large in the

Old Testament as its basis and brought near by the earthly ministry of the Lord Jesus and the twelve.

Their prize was the better country, the heavenly Jerusalem, which is to come down from heaven and form part of

the new earth at the goal of the ages. To these must be added the overcomers at the end of this age under the terrible

tyranny of the Antichrist. The Lord gave to them the exhortation in Revelation 2:10, `be thou faithful unto death,

and I will give thee a crown of life'. This is the peak period of tribulation and testing in all the world's history as the

Lord Jesus predicted in Matthew 24:21,22 :

`For then shall be great tribulation, such as was not since the beginning of the world to this time, no, nor ever

shall be. And except those days should be shortened, there should no flesh be saved: but for the elect's sake

those days shall be shortened'.

Many will doubtless give their lives for the Lord, rather than receive the mark of the beast and indulge in the

worship of Satan whom he represents. However, the apostle John sees them receiving their crown, which speaks of

reward and reigning, in Revelation 20:4 :

`And I saw thrones, and they sat upon them, and judgment was given unto them: and I saw the souls of them that

neither his image, neither had received his mark upon their foreheads, or in their hands; and they lived and

reigned with Christ a thousand years'.