The kingdom of heaven is like a treasure hidden in the field, which a man found and hid again; and from joy over it he goes and sells all that he has and buys that field (Matt. 13:44).

There are many wonderful paydays for those traveling the narrow path to life (Matt. 7:14). The first one occurs at conversion, on the day of repentance and faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. On that day, the new believer’s former sins are all forgiven (2 Pet. 1:9). His spirit is reborn and he becomes a “new creation in Christ” (John 3:1-16; 2 Cor. 5:17). His body becomes a temple of the Holy Spirit (1 Cor. 6:19). God becomes his spiritual Father and he becomes God’s child (1 John 3:1). Eternal life now waits at the end of the narrow path (Rom. 2:6-7). And that is just the short list!

Of all the paydays enjoyed in the Christian life, that first one is perhaps the least appropriate to call a “payday” since the word implies a benefit that is earned. That initial payday is in no sense earned or deserved. Every component is a gift of God’s amazing grace. Yet, as Jesus’ Parable of the Hidden Treasure so paradoxically affirms, enjoying the benefits of God’s grace may cost a person everything.

Scripture identifies Satan as “the deceiver of the whole world” (Rev. 12:9) and the “father of lies” (John 8:44). He “disguises himself as an angel of light” (2 Cor. 11:4).

As a master deceiver, Satan often mixes truth with error to fool the unsuspecting.

Recall that, of the four specific claims he made to Eve, only one was a lie, namely, “You surely will not die!” (Gen. 3:4). That lie was followed by three truthful claims: “God knows that in the day you eat from it [1] your eyes will be opened, [2] and you will be like God, [3] knowing good and evil” (Gen. 3:5). When the first couple ate the forbidden fruit, Scripture says, [1] “the eyes of both of them were opened” (Gen. 3:7) and God said, [2] “the man has become like one of Us, [3] knowing good and evil (3:22). One lie. Three truths.

Having considered in the previous lesson several sections of Jesus’ Olivet Discourse (Matt. 24-25; Mark 13; Luke 21), namely, the Parables of the Unfaithful Servant, Ten Virgins, and Talents, we are better equipped to properly interpret the concluding section—Jesus’ foretelling of the future judgment of the sheep and goats.

Recall that Jesus was speaking in His Olivet Discourse, not to the multitudes, but to four of His closest disciples—Peter, James, John and Andrew (Mark 13:3). Therefore, what Jesus said had application to them. That is undeniable.

The overriding general theme was that they should remain ready for the return of their Master—unlike the unfaithful servant, five foolish virgins, and one-talent slave—lest they suffer similar fates as they did. More specifically, they should remain ready by persevering in obedience so that, when their Master returned, they would be found doing His will. If they were not found faithfully serving Him, they would not only be denied access to the wedding feast (Matt. 25:10-12), but would be assigned “a place with the hypocrites” in “the outer darkness” where there “will be weeping and gnashing of teeth” (Matt. 24:51; 25:30).

Recall that the Jericho tax collector Zaccheus repented of two forms of greed:

He repented of transgressing God’s commandment regarding how he acquired money, namely, fraudulently through over-taxation—a common sin of Jewish tax collectors (see Luke 3:12-13). Zaccheus said to Jesus, “If I have defrauded anyone of anything, I will give back four times as much” (Luke 19:8b). Fraud is a form of theft and, on a broader scale, a violation of God’s commandments to love our neighbor as ourselves and to treat others as we want to be treated.

Zaccheus also repented of transgressing God’s commandment regarding his use of money, and he specifically repented of neglecting the poor. He said to Jesus, “Lord, half of my possessions I will give to the poor” (Luke 19:8a). There are plenty of commandments about caring for the poor in the Mosaic Law (Lev. 25:35-37; Deut. 15:7-11; Prov. 22:9), a law with which Zaccheus, as a Jew, was familiar. As we have also seen, Jesus spoke strongly and often about the importance of caring for the poor, and He practiced what He preached (see John 12:6; 13:29). Neglecting the poor, if one has the means to relieve their suffering, is a form of greed, and on the larger scale, it is a violation of God’s commandments to love our neighbor as ourselves and to treat others as we want to be treated.

This is all simple to understand.

The rich young ruler was not the only person whom Jesus told to keep commandments in order to inherit eternal life. Jesus said the same to all of His followers in His famous Sermon on the Mount. In fact, He told them multiple times. Let me prove it.

Jesus began with the Beatitudes, nine promises of future blessing. Five of them are unmistakably related to ultimate salvation, eternal life and heaven. They are: (1) “theirs is the kingdom of heaven, (2) “they shall inherit the earth,” (3) “they shall see God,” (4) “theirs is the kingdom of heaven,” (5) [“their] reward in heaven is great” (Matt. 5:3, 5, 8, 10, 11). The Beatitude blessings begin and end with promises of heaven.

This leads us to think that the remaining four blessings are also best interpreted as ultimately being heavenly benefits: (6) “They shall be comforted,” (7) “they shall be satisfied,” (8) “they shall receive mercy,” (9) “they shall be called sons of God” (Matt. 5:4, 6, 7, 9).

We should never think that there is anything inherently evil about being wealthy. Perhaps the best biblical support for that claim is the Old Testament figure Job. He was, in his day, the most righteous person on earth. God Himself said of Job: “There is no one like him on the earth, a blameless and upright man, fearing God and turning away from evil” (Job. 1:8). For that reason, it would seem safe to assume that Job was not guilty of any form of greed.

Yet Job was very wealthy. We read in the biblical book by his name: “His possessions also were 7,000 sheep, 3,000 camels, 500 yoke of oxen, 500 female donkeys, and very many servants; and that man was the greatest of all the men of the east” (Job 1:3). Job was a multi-millionaire. His wealth in livestock alone was about $34 million by current valuations. We can’t help but wonder about the value of everything else he may have owned, such as real estate. Amazingly, after Job’s trials, God restored to him double what he lost (Job 42:10).

Job was obviously a gifted businessman and leader. He likely had to employ hundreds of people to run his operation, and he must have treated them fairly in order to win the Lord’s highest approbation. Although Job had “very many servants” (Job 1:3), he could not be accused of exploiting them, and he said so (see Job 31:13-15). There was no greed in how he acquired his wealth—unlike the rich people whom the apostle James condemned in his epistle:

Bible students are understandably troubled at times by the fact that there are so many biblical stories and promises that link salvation to holiness rather than to believing in Jesus. In the previous lesson, for example, we read how Jesus declared that salvation had come to Zaccheus’ house after he repented of his greed. Not a word was said in Luke’s narrative about Zaccheus believing in, or having faith in, Jesus. Why didn’t Jesus tell Zaccheus (as He did Nicodemus), “For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life” (John 3:16)?

To the chagrin of those who explain this troubling fact by claiming that Jesus advocated “salvation-by-works” during His old covenant earthly ministry but that “salvation-by-grace” was inaugurated under the new covenant, there are many examples in the New Testament epistles of the same troubling fact^[1]. For example, the apostle Paul, certainly a preacher of salvation by grace, wrote in his letter to the Roman believers:

But because of your stubbornness and unrepentant heart you are storing up wrath for yourself in the day of wrath and revelation of the righteous judgment of God, who will render to each person according to his deeds: to those who by perseverance in doing good seek for glory and honor and immortality, eternal life; but to those who are selfishly ambitious and do not obey the truth, but obey unrighteousness, wrath and indignation. There will be tribulation and distress for every soul of man who does evil, of the Jew first and also of the Greek, but glory and honor and peace to everyone who does good, to the Jew first and also to the Greek (Rom. 2:5-10, emphasis added).

And there are plenty of other passages in the New Testament epistles that hinge salvation upon holiness.

In case you didn’t realize it, we’ve started our ascent, and you’ve already left the crowds behind. In fact, just by reading the previous lesson—in which I enumerated Jesus’ three requirements for discipleship (found in Luke 14:25-33)—you started on an upward path that most avoid. I didn’t mention it in that previous lesson, but when Jesus enumerated those three requirements, He told His audience to first count the cost:

For which one of you, when he wants to build a tower, does not first sit down and calculate the cost to see if he has enough to complete it? Otherwise, when he has laid a foundation and is not able to finish, all who observe it begin to ridicule him, saying, “This man began to build and was not able to finish.” Or what king, when he sets out to meet another king in battle, will not first sit down and consider whether he is strong enough with ten thousand men to encounter the one coming against him with twenty thousand? Or else, while the other is still far away, he sends a delegation and asks for terms of peace (Luke 14:28-32).

Clearly, Jesus was not promising an easy path. There is a cost to being His disciple, one that should be carefully considered beforehand. Jesus implied in Luke 14:25-33 that it could cost one his family members, his comfort and convenience, his money and possessions, and even his life. But He also promised that there would be a reward at the end that would far exceed any earthly price paid: “Rejoice and be glad, for your reward in heaven is great” (Matt. 5:12). The apostle Paul echoed: “For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory that is to be revealed to us” (Rom. 8:18). If you stay with me on this journey, you will be glad you did. Guaranteed.

If Jesus wasn’t already your Master as you read Lesson 1, I trust that He has since become your Master. If He’s still not your Master, there is no sense making any attempt to continue on The Stewardship Journey. The first step is to believe in Jesus, which is synonymous with becoming His follower.

Many professing Christians will tell you that they have “accepted Jesus,” but if you’ve ever read the four Gospels, you know that Jesus never encouraged anyone to accept Him. He wasn’t looking for “accepters.” He was looking for followers. He said, “If anyone wishes to come after Me, he must deny himself, and take up his cross daily and follow Me” (Luke 9:23). Clearly, following Him requires self-denial.

Some attempt to persuade us that there are actually two categories of Christians—the believers and the disciples. Believers, they claim, are born again, secure in God’s saving grace, and guaranteed eternal salvation, but they are not necessarily committed to obey Jesus. Disciples, they claim, are also believers, but they are committed to follow and obey Jesus, and they will thus receive greater reward in heaven.

Who may ascend into the hill of the Lord?
And who may stand in His holy place?
He who has clean hands and a pure heart,
Who has not lifted up his soul to falsehood 
And has not sworn deceitfully.
He shall receive a blessing from the Lord
And righteousness from the God of his salvation (Ps. 24:3-5).

If there’s one hobby that’s stayed with me my entire life, it’s hiking. I’ve always been drawn to scenic beauty, and the finest trails deliver it in generous doses, with sweeping mountain vistas along the way. The very best hikes promise a spectacular summit payoff. There is nothing like a breathtaking, panoramic view achieved through determination and perseverance.

A few summers ago, my wife and I were blessed to spend a week exploring some of Western Canada’s iconic national parks. Our most unforgettable hike was the Plain of Six Glaciers Trail in Banff. It begins on the shore of glacier-fed Lake Louise, whose turquoise waters—milky from glacial silt—draw awed visitors from around the world. The shoreline path is usually bustling with tourists, but the crowds thin quickly once the trail begins its ascent up the valley.