Ah, little do the people of God think how largely and thoroughly God will at that day own and recompense all the good and holy acts of his people.  Every bit, every drop, every rag, and every night’s harbor though but in a wisp of straw, shall be rewarded in that day before men and angels:  “Whosoever shall give to drink to one of these little ones, a cup of cold water only, in the name of a disciple, verily I say unto you,” saith Christ, “he shall in no wise lose his reward.”  “Therefore, when thou makest a feast,” saith he, “call the poor, the maimed, the lame, and the blind, and thou shalt be blessed; for they cannot recompense thee; for thou shalt be recompensed at the resurrection of the just.”

If there be any repentance among the godly at that day, it will be because the Lord Jesus, in his person, members, and word, was no more owned, honored, entertained, and provided for by them, when they were in this world; for it will be ravishing to all to see what notice the Lord Jesus will then take of every widow’s mite.  He will call to mind even all those acts of mercy and kindness which thou hast showed to him when thou wast among men.  He will remember, cry up, and proclaim before angels and saints those very acts of thine which thou hast either forgotten or through bashfulness wilt not at that day count worth the owning.  He will reckon them up so fast and so fully that thou wilt cry, “Lord, when did I do this, and when did I do the other?  When saw we thee hungry and fed thee. or athirst and gave thee drink?  When saw we thee a stranger and took thee in, or naked and clothed thee?  Or when saw we thee sick or in a prison, and came unto thee?” And the King shall answer and say unto them, “Verily I say unto you, inasmuch as ye did it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye did it unto me.  The good works of some are manifest beforehand, and they that are otherwise cannot be hid.  Whatever thou hast done to one of the least of these my brethren, thou hast done it unto me.  I felt the nourishment of thy food and the warmth of thy fleece; I remember thy loving and holy visits, when my poor members were sick and in prison and the like.  When they were strangers and wanderers in the world, thou tookest them in.  Well done, thou good and faithful servant; enter thou into the joy of thy Lord.”

3.  Here also will be a reward for all that hardness and Christian enduring of affliction that thou hast met with for thy Lord, while thou wast in the world.  Here now will Christ begin from the greatest suffering even unto the least, and bestow a reward on them all, from the blood of the suffering saint to the loss of a hair.