Session 6 Heavenly Crowns: Victory, Honor, and Authority

Transcription

1 INTERNATIONAL HOUSE OF PRAYER UNIVERSITY MIKE BICKLE A BIBLICAL OVERVIEW OF ETERNAL REWARDS Session 6 Heavenly Crowns: Victory, Honor, and Authority I. REVIEW A. In the age to come, Jesus will give eternal rewards to His people, expressing how He feels about how we love Him in this age. These expressions of grace will bless His people far beyond what they deserve. Eternal rewards are more glorious than anything that has entered our minds (1 Cor. 2:9). We must not reduce them to something we can easily imagine. They are befitting of royalty (1 Pet. 2:9), impart God s beauty to the redeemed (Isa. 61:3), and are commensurate with the glory of Jesus and the New Jerusalem. Jesus creativity is far greater than ours, so we expect greater diversity and beauty. 9 Eye has not seen, nor ear heard, nor have entered into the heart of man the things which God has prepared for those who love Him. (1 Cor. 2:9) Let s jump right in. This is session six. We are in an eight-part series on eternal rewards, A Biblical Overview of Eternal Rewards. It is one of the most emphasized topics in Jesus teaching. He talked on this, not the most of all of His teachings, but it was it was one of His primary subjects that He pointed out and emphasized. As I have said many times, many people in the Body of Christ never thing about this subject. They do not study it. They do not know much about it. So I want to encourage people to really focus in on this topic. (Mike prays.) We have looked just in the last couple sessions at heavenly garments, and we looked at thrones, at ruling on the earth with the Lord. We looked at some of that. Now we are looking at heavenly crowns. The first of all, I want to give a snapshot review this is really brief of some of the other sessions that are important when you are approaching the subject of eternal rewards. Number one, eternal rewards are expression of the grace of God. They are not something we earn. God gives us so much more for what we do. There is no possible way that we could earn them, so it is the grace of God. Number two, eternal rewards are Jesus expressing how He feels about the way we loved Him in this age. It is not about us strutting around because we have more rewards than somebody else. Jesus would say, I want you to know how I feel about the way you loved Me. That is what rewards are about. Eternal rewards are far more glorious than what anybody could imagine. Whatever you imagine, it is far greater because Paul said that it has never even entered the mind of any man or woman the glory that God has prepared. So, though the Bible only gives us a phrase here and there, you can be sure when we walk it out in the age to come that phrase is like the title of a book. Each one of these rewards is a glorious, dynamic, vast subject. Eternal rewards are befitting of royalty. Meaning, they are the type of things that a royal family would want. Meaning, they are valuable, they are beautiful, they are honoring, and they are glorious. They are not simple little artifacts; they are befitting of a royal family. They impart God s beauty. B. Believers differ from one another in the measure of glory expressed in the rewards they receive. 41 for one star differs from another star in glory. 42 So also is the resurrection of the dead. (1 Cor. 15:41-42) Another point I want to mention is that we will differ from one another in rewards as we have said every session. I quote this verse in 1 Corinthians 15, As one star differs from another star in glory, so every

2 Session 6 Heavenly Crowns: Victory, Honor, and Authority Page 2 individual believer will differ in rewards. I imagine when it is all said and done, there will be several billion believers in eternity. Every single one of them will have a different measure of the glory of God in their experience. There are many types of rewards. Jesus highlighted eighteen different types in Revelation 2-3. Everybody will have a different expression, a different measure of these rewards. Some will not have this reward, but another will have a great measure of that reward. C. The lifestyle of some in the kingdom will be called least, while some will be called great (Mt. 5:19). 19 Whoever breaks one of the least of these commandments shall be called least in the kingdom but whoever does and teaches them, he shall be called great in the kingdom (Mt. 5:19) Jesus is the one who said that some will be called least and some will be called great. He was talking about their lifestyle. He will call their lifestyle in this age great. He is talking about born-again believers in resurrected bodies in heaven. To some the Lord will say, Your lifestyle was least. You are in My family. I love you. To others, Your lifestyle was greatest. It does not matter how much gifting you have or who your friends are; if you are faithful to the Lord, your life can be great in God s sight. II. HEAVENLY CROWNS A. The eternal rewards that Jesus will give will include crowns that believers may obtain. (1 Cor. 9:25; Phil. 4:1; 1 Thess. 2:19; 2 Tim. 4:8; Jas. 1:12; 1 Pet. 5:4; Rev. 2:10; 3:11). 11 Hold fast what you have, that no one may take your crown. (Rev. 3:11) There are eighteen different kinds of heavenly rewards that Jesus highlighted in Revelation 2-3. They include crowns, which are very significant, very valuable. I am guessing that in the royal families through history their crowns were among their most valued, protected items in their possession the crown of a king or a queen. I am assuming that is probably true throughout history. B. The promise of crowns indicates victory, accomplishment, honor, authority, function, office, and responsibility. Crowns are associated with one s role in the nations in the age to come. In Scripture, they were used for coronations, consecration, and recognition of victory in war or athletic games. In the ancient world, they gave crowns when they won at the Olympics. If they won an event in the Olympics, they gave them a wreath of flowers that they called a crown. They did not give them gold medals. They gave them a crown. So today we think of a gold medal, but what they were thinking back in the ancient world when you said the word, crowns, they were thinking of the athletic games as well, not just the royal family. When I think of athletes, one of their prized possessions are their gold medals, which would be like their crowns. Royal families would be the same. Crowns were given not just to signify authority; they were given to signify accomplishments and honor and status and office. Crowns have many, many different types of functions. We will highlight some of them as we go. One of the most sober warnings it is encouraging, but sober is here in Revelation 3:11. Jesus said to hold fast what you have He was talking about to your obedience so that nobody takes your crown. Well, the exciting thing is that crowns are given by God. That is fantastic. The sober thing is that crowns can be lost. Jesus said, Hold fast what you have. He meant to keep your dedication fresh because a person can lose their

3 Session 6 Heavenly Crowns: Victory, Honor, and Authority Page 3 crown when they lose their dedication. A crown was coming their way, but they decided not to finish strong in the Lord, and they actually lost their crown. It is possible. He is not talking about losing their salvation here. C. Receiving a heavenly crown is not synonymous with receiving the gift of eternal life that is freely given to all believers by faith, based on what Jesus did for us. Crowns are given in addition to receiving the gift of salvation and are based on how we respond to Jesus leadership in this age. Crowns are not synonymous with receiving eternal life. You know when you go to a funeral, and the guy says at the funeral, Well, Brother Bill here is receiving his crown today, and everybody thinks, Yeah, Brother Bill is. Well, do not get your theology from funerals, because if you go to enough funerals, you find they think everybody has a crown. That is not what the Bible says. There is no evidence in the Scripture that every believer has a crown. But a lot of people have just kind of dumbed it down and made crowns synonymous with forgiveness. When you read it carefully and slowly, you see crowns are given in addition to forgiveness. They are not synonymous with it. They are related to one s function and to one s honor in the age to come. It is a statement about the way they lived and what they accomplished in their spiritual life, though not how many people they touch. It is not awarded by the numbers, if you touch 100 or 1,000. Like, 1,000, you get a big crown. No, it is the size of your faithfulness, the size of your heart s response, not the size of the crowd of the people that you influenced. Eternal life is given freely based on what Jesus did for us. Crowns are based on how we respond to His leadership. Still, it is the grace of God because we take one step of obedience and He gives us a mile of blessing. The gifts He gives us, the rewards, are so much greater than our obedience. It is still the grace of God. D. Each crown passage is set in the context of spiritual maturity, not justification by faith. There is no evidence in Scripture that crowns are given to every believer. Paul compared heavenly crowns to obtaining temporal crowns in athletic games (1 Cor. 9:24-27). For example, in the 2016 Summer Olympics, just over 10,000 athletes competed, but just less than 1,000 received medals (10%). Each of the crown passages we are going to look at a few of them, and for a handful we will not have time, but I have them right here in the notes each of the crown passages is in context to spiritual maturity. They are not talking about justification by faith, being forgiven of your sins. Every one of them is in context to spiritual maturity. Now the New Testament apostles view of salvation was that we would rule on the earth in the age to come with Jesus. When they thought of salvation and the kingdom, they thought of ruling on the earth with crowns and thrones, under Jesus leadership, bringing His dominion across the earth. E. The apostles saw salvation as more than going to heaven to enjoy eternal bliss; their view included reigning over an earthly kingdom with Jesus. The view that salvation is enjoying eternal bliss in heaven is an incomplete perspective, leading some to see crowns as synonymous with forgiveness. Today many people think of salvation as just going to heaven. There is no thought of reigning on the earth with a resurrected body with Jesus. So there is a very incomplete picture and perspective of salvation. Salvation to many is about being forgiven and going to heaven. I love being forgiven that is critical but being forgiven is the entrance into salvation. Salvation is much more than that.

4 Session 6 Heavenly Crowns: Victory, Honor, and Authority Page 4 We go to heaven just as a holding pattern until the second coming, then heaven comes down to the earth. Jesus brings heaven to the earth. He brings the New Jerusalem with Him. Then we are on the earth in a heavenly experience. The New Jerusalem comes down. Heaven and earth come together down here. So I do not think of the next millions of years as going away to heaven, floating on a cloud, playing a harp. I think of reigning and ruling on the earth with crowns and thrones and garments and really good food. There is no evidence in Scripture that crowns are given to everybody. This is not authoritative, but you can look at the natural realm. I mean we can see hints of what it might be like when we look at the natural, but it is not authoritative. We look at the Olympic games. In the 2016 summer Olympic games, there were just over 10,000 athletes. Only about 1,000 got medals. About ten percent got medals. Ninety percent did not get medals. Now those are approximate numbers. I think there is a corresponding reality in rewards, not that God is following the games. I think that some human nature and human expression, because we are made in the image of God, is actually expressing some of the things that are in us by God s design. So when you think of crowns, think of something that is valuable, again like the gold medals to the athlete which would have been like the ancient crown in the days of old. Probably the athlete s most prized possession. For royal families, their crown is one of their most prized possessions, as honor and authority and beauty and dignity are all associated with crowns. God created crowns to give to us. I mean, I want a crown. This is serious. I assume all the crowns are very different. I do not think there is one standard model and everybody has the same crown. I doubt that any royal family on the earth has a crown that looks like somebody else s. I am imagining they are as diverse and different as imaginable. Just go on the internet and look up crowns. There is so many types! There are thousands of types of crowns from crowns made of garments to crowns made of metal to crowns made of diamonds. There is so many types. I look at that, and it is fascinating. I just imagine, and I say, Lord, what You have planned is far more glorious. I am imagining far more diverse than anything we have come up with. Your creativity, just the power of Your creativity! There is not like a one standard model, white gown, T-shirt that everybody gets, as in, Okay, you got your clothing now. You will have a wardrobe that will be vast and glorious and diverse forever. Crowns and thrones I imagine will be very diverse in appearance and in design and the message that is communicated with it and everything. III. TWO GREEK WORDS FOR CROWNS A. Two Greek words are translated as crown in the New Testament. There are two Greek words for crowns. Now the reason I say Greek is because, as most of you know, the New Testament 2,000 years ago was written in Greek. It was not written in English. I know that you know that we translated it in English though originally it was in Greek. So when you go back to the original words of Jesus and the apostles, you see there are two different Greek words that are translated, crown. B. The crown of a ruler (Gk. diadema) indicates political authority over a region. Our word diadem comes from diadema and speaks of the power to rule. Diadema is the word used for the crown worn by the dragon (Satan; Rev. 12:3), the beast (the Antichrist; Rev. 13:1), and by Christ (Rev. 19:12).

5 Session 6 Heavenly Crowns: Victory, Honor, and Authority Page 5 The first word speaks of the crown of a ruler. It indicated political authority over a region, like a king, like a prime minister. They would have a diadema. It would be a crown of a ruler, a diadem. You know we all know the name diadem. Diadem speaks of the crown of the ruler. C. The crown of a victor (Gk. stephanos) was given as a prize in athletic games to honor victorious athletes; it is parallel to receiving a gold, silver, or bronze medal in the Olympic Games today. This crown denotes victory (Mt. 27:29; Mk. 15:17; Jn. 19:2, 5; 1 Cor. 9:25; Phil. 4:1; 2 Tim. 2:5; 4:8; 1 Thes. 2:19; Heb. 2:7, 9; Jas. 1:12; 1 Pet. 5:4; Rev. 2:10; 3:11; 4:4, 10; 12:1; 14:14). Then there is the crown of the victor, of the athlete, who won the prize or the beauty pageant. They get a crown. That is stephanos. We get the name Stephen from that. It is the word, crown. It is not the crown of the royal family. It is the crown of one that was victorious in the issue that they were challenged with, athletic or military. It was in war as well that they gave crowns. In the modern world they give crowns in beauty contests, and in various other things they give crowns. So one is the crown of a victor, and the other is the crown of a ruler. They are quite different and have different messages related to them. The crown of the victor is like the gold medal today, the silver, the bronze medal, etc. I have a list of verses where you see the word, crowns, when you read the Bible. I have a list here in the notes which ones are the ruler crown and which are the victor who overcame the obstacles and pressed through and finished the race and won. Again, very two different lines of thought, but both of them are connected to the word, crowns. IV. SCRIPTURE GIVES US INSIGHT INTO GOD S THOUGHTS ABOUT CROWNS A. The Lord commanded Moses to make hats (crowns or headdresses) for the high priests (Ex. 28:40). These hats were to communicate the glory and honor of the high priest s role and to express beauty. Some crowns in the Old Testament were made of gold (Ps. 21:3) and set with jewels (Zech. 9:16). 4 For Aaron s sons you shall make hats for them, for glory and beauty. (Ex. 28:40) We look at the Scripture. Just as when we looked at thrones and garments and we are going to look at other issues next week as well we want to see what the Scripture says about crowns. Because the Scripture lays out some of these things, it is an indication that it is meant to be understood as part of His design. Many things in the Scripture give us hints about His leadership in the future and how things will be. In Exodus 28, it talks about crowns that are made for beauty and for glory. Now it has the word, hats, because a crown and a headdress is synonymous. They are interchangeable. Some of the tribal chiefs had a headdress that would be their crown. It was not made of medal. It was made of feathers and many other things. It was beautiful, and it had tremendous meaning to it. Many of the tribal chiefs throughout all of history have had these. So the word here in Exodus is the word, hats, or head coverings, or headdresses, or crowns. It is the same idea. It is the crown or the headdress of the high priest. Other passages call it the crown. This one calls it the hat. Here is the point I want to emphasize: God designed them to communicate glory and beauty. So if He made earthly crowns for spiritual leaders to indicate glory and beauty, I believe that the future crowns will indicate and express glory and beauty. Glory means honor. God is saying, I want to show you how I feel about the way you love Me. I want to honor you. I want to affirm the way you lived. Here is a crown. It is My love gift to you in

6 Session 6 Heavenly Crowns: Victory, Honor, and Authority Page 6 response to your love gift to Me. Our love is weak. Our love is inspired by the grace of God, so He is ultimately responsible for stirring us up to love, but still we had to say yes. He gives crowns to give honor. The word here is glory. He might say, I want you to know how I feel about you, but it is more than that. Crowns impart the beauty of God. Again, I think there will be so many diverse types of crowns, some with great honor and glory associated with them, some with lesser. They will indicate honor and beauty. They will, I believe, be one of your most prized possessions forever. I am assuming there are several. There are a number of categories of crowns, not just two or three. I am assuming this is because God is so creative. I mean, just look at creation! There are so many species of plants, and animals, and fish, and so many stars. Everything is so vast and diverse under His creative hand. There is no reason to think His creativity is stopping simply because when He talks about eternal rewards. He only gives brief statements. He might say, I did not change My nature. I am still creative. I am still glorious. I am still really a powerful designer. I am really generous. I have plenty of money. I can make crowns for everybody if I want to. So you do not want to just conclude that because He only gives brief phrases these rewards are not coming out of His creative, powerful, glorious nature filled with love for us. B. In the Scripture, the purpose of crowns was for coronation, consecration, or recognition. I assume that God s purpose for heavenly crowns parallels His purposes for earthly crowns in the Scripture. In Scripture there are actually several purposes of crowns. I am just highlighting three. 1. Coronation: A crowning ceremony established a king or priest in a position of authority. The coronation of a king or of a high priest is when they set them in place and put them in their place of authority. It is like the ordination service and, when they anointed them with oil, they put the crown on them. It was part of their coronation or their ordination. They went together in the anointing service. I am assuming that is how God set it up in the Scripture in the Old Testament. There will be an important moment when those who are faithful will receive crowns. It will not be a quick, Hey, your crown, number 684, is over at the table. Get it really quickly and come back here; we have a meeting. I do not think it is going to be that kind of thing. I think there is going to be a celebration. I believe there will be just like in the Old Testament, a coronation mixed together with an ordination, an anointing type service in the Old Testament. 2. Consecration: The high priest wore a linen crown with a golden plate bearing the inscription Holiness to the Lord, signifying his consecration as high priest (Ex. 39:30; Lev. 8:9). 30 Then they made the plate of the holy crown of pure gold, and wrote on it an inscription like the engraving of a signet: HOLINESS TO THE LORD. (Ex. 39:30) 9 And he put the turban on his head. Also on the turban, on its front, he put the golden plate, the holy crown, as the LORD had commanded Moses. (Lev. 8:9) Number two, crowns served the purpose of consecration. When they dedicated the high priest, they put a crown on him to consecrate him or dedicate him. That is the same word, to consecrate or to dedicate. In other words, God says, You are set apart for Me in a special way. The crown is showing not just your authority in

7 Session 6 Heavenly Crowns: Victory, Honor, and Authority Page 7 My purpose, but also that you are dedicated to Me in a special way. Crowns will indicate that. Again, I think they will be so diverse and different, but it will be clear what the dedication was and the full implications of that dedication. 3. Recognition: A crown publicly affirmed position or victory in war and athletic games, etc. Then, number three, crowns are for recognition. For example, in the Old Testament or even in culture all through history, crowns affirmed victory in war. When a general would come back from war in victory, he would receive a crown. The athletes in athletic games and positions of honor, wherever there was a victorious achievement of great value to the culture, they would get a crown. It had to have great value to the culture. There had to be distinction involved. So I believe we will see these same purposes in the age to come. I mean, imagine if you have a special moment with the Lord, and He allows you to bring together those that were closest to you in this age. He puts a crown on your head to indicate the way He feels about the way you loved Him in this life. It will be so dear to Him and so dear to you, and so dear to the people around you. These kinds of things I really believe are going to happen. V. GAINING INSIGHT FROM SOCIETY ABOUT THE DIVERSITY OF CROWNS A. We see elements of God s handiwork in the common actions and responses of people in various cultures throughout history related to crowns and headdresses. In this way, we can gain insight from society, since humans are created in God s image and thus express some of His ways. Information about historical crowns is helpful, but it is not authoritative about heavenly crowns. Let s look at and gain some insight from society again. It is not authoritative. When we look at the cultures of the earth we do not say, Well, if all the cultures did this, therefore it must be this way in heaven. No, because we are fallen human beings and there is a lot of darkness in the human heart and in the culture, so it is not authoritative. Because we are made in the image of God, though, there is a thumbprint of God s heart and design and creativity in us that comes out in many different ways, though it is tainted and diminished. When we see something that happens in nearly every culture of the world, then we say, Huh, there is something about the human heart that is common. They did not get a memo, you know, 5,000 years ago in far different parts of the earth. They did it because it is indicating things that are in the human heart. One thing is that every culture of the earth has music. My guess is music is the number one form of entertainment in every culture in the earth. Now there might be one exception or a few exceptions, I do not know, but it would be very, very rare. That is because music was put in the human spirit by a musical God. That is why it shows up. There are many dark expressions of music because human hearts are dark. The human heart craves music. So that is just one of many examples of how when you see something common in cultures across the earth through centuries and centuries and it is an indicator that there are hints of how the human heart might be reflecting God s design and God s creativity. So I look at culture, and I see some hints of it. B. History has many different types of crowns, but even the most beautiful and glorious are but faint hints and whispers of the glory of the heavenly crowns prepared by God for His saints (1 Cor. 2:9). Again, Paul said that the glory of these rewards is so much greater than anything you will ever imagine. So whatever you have imagined it to be, you have come far short of it. Whatever you do, do not imagine just some

8 Session 6 Heavenly Crowns: Victory, Honor, and Authority Page 8 skinny, little crown that everybody has, that all look the same, and you pick it up at the table at the back-of-theroom-type deal. It is not that kind of deal at all, so just forget that. Think about this, because, though it is within the reach of every believer, I do not believe that every believer will have one. Again, ten percent of the Olympic athletes get a medal. That number is not sacred or inspired, but it might be a dim reflection. Who knows? I know again that there is no indication that everybody has one. Paul the apostle wanted one. He was aiming for the prize, he said. We will look at it in a minute if we get to that passage. He said, I am going for that prize. He said, The crown, I want it. As a mature apostle, he even said, I have not attained it yet. He is not talking about not being saved. He knew he was saved. He said, There is something else I have not attained yet, but I am pressing into God for it. If Paul the apostle, mature apostle, writing the Bible, is pressing into God for the prize and the crown, he must know something we do not know. I can assure you, we know the way forward. It is just seeking the Lord and being diligent about our relationship with the Lord. That is it. If we are seeking the Lord hard and serving people, that is what it is all about. There is no mystery to how to do it. It is challenging to do it, but it is not mysterious. It is not confusing. C. Many kinds of crowns and headdresses have been used in history to indicate authority, honor, status, and accomplishments those worn by kings, queens, members of the royal family, government and military leaders, tribal chiefs, clergy (cardinals, bishops, priests), judges, and nobles, as well as wreaths worn by the winners of athletic contests and beauty pageants. 1. Crowns used throughout history are diverse they vary greatly in style, design, shape, metal, fabric, color, and purpose. I assume that heavenly crowns will be far more diverse. In the cultures of the earth, there are many types of crowns or headdresses. Those worn by kings, queens, royal families, governmental leaders, and military leaders are all different types of crowns. Tribal chiefs, clergy, the crown of a cardinal, a bishop, a priest they are all different. All the headdresses are different. 2. Wreaths or crowns made of leaves were worn at festive events such as weddings and banquets, as well as for formal occasions. Then there are wreaths of flowers or leaves. They made these wreaths that were crowns in the ancient world. If you won the athletic contest, you were crowned. Again, I mentioned it already, now the athletes get a gold medal instead of a crown, but it is synonymous in terms of the value that is being communicated. 3. Crowns gave recognition of victory in chariot races, athletic games, war, etc. Receiving a crown then is comparable to winning a gold medal in the Olympic Games today. When we look at all the crowns of history I have already said this, but I want to say it again because I really like this thought when I looked at the internet, it is just that you could spend hours looking at all the diversity. There is so much creativity and differences, the cultures and the glory and the stature and the messaging that is in the different crowns. Some crowns say something really strong, and others do not say so much. There are many various crowns in history, very diverse. They vary greatly in their style, in their design, in the length of them, the size of them, the fabric, the color, the economic value, the jewels, the material they are made of. The purposes, the messages behind the crown, are all so diverse. Again I am imagining that heavenly crowns will be far more diverse because God is far more creative than the human mind is. He is the one who is devising the crown system, if you will let me us that strange phrase.

9 Session 6 Heavenly Crowns: Victory, Honor, and Authority Page 9 Crowns in history are worn at festive occasions, weddings, banquets, formal occasions, award ceremonies. In many, many different types of special occasions the crowns are worn, but I do not think that a person who has a crown wears it everywhere they go. I do not think they take it on their family outing, on a picnic. Probably not. Crowns give recognition to victory. The chariot races in the days of old, the athletic games, again it is like winning a gold medal. VI. THREE TYPES OF CROWNS TO RECEIVE IN THE AGE TO COME A. Three crowns with different descriptive titles are mentioned in the Scripture the crown of life (Jas. 1:12, Rev. 2:10); the crown of righteousness (2 Tim. 4:8); and the crown of glory (1 Pet. 5:4). It is possible that there will be other types of crowns in heaven beyond these three. There are three types of crowns that are designated in the New Testament. I do not believe it is limited to three. I am assuming I do not know for sure I am assuming they are only three of many categories or many types of crowns. There is the crown of life, the crown of glory, and the crown of righteousness. I do not assume at all that they are synonymous. Some people think they must all be the same, that everybody has them, and that they are synonymous with being forgiven and salvation. So, they do not think about them much. I think they are a little more intense than that because Paul was striving for the prize and fixed his heart for that prize which he called the crown. In his final, last statements before he died, he said, Finally I am there. I am right before my death, and the Lord has made it known to me I will receive the crown of righteousness. I will. He was not talking about I know that I am going to be saved on that day. He already knew he was going to be saved. He had reached and wondered about the subject of crowns. I have got a bit of that on the notes here, but I do not know if we will end up having time to look at that. 1. We cannot be dogmatic, but each crown seems to represent a distinct heavenly reward, along with having specific conditions associated with it. For example, James 1:12 promises a crown of life to any who consistently resist worldly temptations. We cannot be dogmatic, but each crown seems to represent a distinct heavenly reward. Again, you cannot be dogmatic. I am imagining these three categories and three types of crowns are three of many. There would be many, because God s creativity is far greater than man s. There are so many types of crowns devised by the human understanding. When you look at these crowns, which we will look at in a moment, I think they are distinct. They have specific conditions associated with them. It is not like the same condition of every crown. For instance, in James 1, it promises the crown of life to the people that consistently resist temptation. Then there is a crown for those that endure persecution. 2. I assume there will be great diversity among these three types of crowns, just like crowns used in this age. I doubt that any two kings or queens have had exactly the same crown. Now, again, I assume there will be great diversity just like crowns in this age. B. The crown of life: This promise is for any who stay faithful to Jesus in temptation and persecution. Those who refuse to give up in resisting temptation and the fear associated with persecution will receive this crown. It is the only crown that is described twice in Scripture (Jas. 1:12; Rev. 2:10).

10 Session 6 Heavenly Crowns: Victory, Honor, and Authority Page Blessed is the man who endures temptation; for when he has been approved [found consistent], he will receive the crown of life promised to those who love Him. (Jas. 1:12) 10 Do not fear any of those things which you are about to suffer. Indeed, the devil is about to throw some of you into prison Be faithful until death, and I will give you the crown of life. (Rev. 2:10) Let s look at the crown of life, the first of the three that are identified descriptively in the Bible, in the New Testament. The crown of life is promised to anybody who will stay faithful to the Lord in the face of temptation or persecution. This is the only crown that is described two different times, the crown of life. It is mentioned descriptively two times. The other crowns are only mentioned once and then the other references are just general crowns. We are left to have to await that day to figure out what it is going to look like in our individual life and what we receive. This one, the crown of life is highlighted twice which just the fact of that draws our attention to it, its importance. It says in James 1, Blessed is the man, the person, who endures temptation. That is an interesting statement, is it not? They endure temptation? When they are approved, meaning when God sees them as being found as consistent, then the Lord says, Okay, this is something that was not just a momentary resistance, a momentary victory. It is something you set your heart to obey Me in. You set your heart to obey Me. It was not a one-time deal. When you are approved, you are found consistent. The Scripture says this one will receive the crown of life. 1. Enduring temptation means resisting lust until the end of our life. Temptation must be endured, because it is persistent it returns to tempt us again and again. Now, the reason that we endure temptation is because temptation is persistent. Most people have a temptation or two or three. Maybe one guy says, I have twenty temptations, whatever. Most people have a temptation or two that are far more persistent in their life than other temptations. Everybody is a bit different. Whatever those one or two or three kinds are, they are seemingly always in your face. It has to be endured because that temptation is persistent. It will not stop. I mean, you are walking with the Lord, and it still comes and stares in your face and tries to pull you off the path. The Scripture says it has to be endured. It has to be endured because it is going to show up over and over and over. It is not a one-time victory. This crown is the crown of life for enduring temptation. It is because you set your heart. The Lord would say, I gave you many, many, many times to prove that you would love Me in that area. We can fail in that area, repent sincerely, and jump right back into the race and resist that area, and still we are in the pathway of overcoming that area. So He is not talking about 100 percent perfection, but it is the idea that, once the Lord highlights that area to your life, you are at war with it. You will never just be casual with that area. You will always resist it clear to the end of your life. I mean, the temptation might become lesser. My point is that you never ever just make peace with that temptation and say that you are just going to go with it. The Lord would say, You are proving that you love Me in that issue which is pulling your heart. Look what it says right there, James 1:12. It says, I will give the crown of life promised to the people who love Me. Because the resistance of that temptation is over and over, year after year, is a documented statement of your life, documented in the books of heaven, that you loved Him in that area. Again, you might have stumbled in that area a few times, maybe a bunch of times. You ended up with your heart set, and for the years after that you were not okay with that temptation. You fought it every single time with sincerity.

11 Session 6 Heavenly Crowns: Victory, Honor, and Authority Page 11 Now when people think of temptation, a lot of people think automatically of sexual temptation. That is a real one, but temptation is far more than sexual temptation. I think one of the biggest temptations around is bitterness, slander, and just speech that is divisive. Like, Hey, I want to say what I think about that guy The Lord would say, Do not, do not, do not do that! Resist that temptation. No, no, I think he needs to get the record set straight about him. The Lord says, Do not! No, no, do not! Be a peacemaker. Do not be divisive. I think that is one of the biggest temptations. Then there are temptations about covetousness, about vengeance. There are temptations about laziness and passivity. I am not saying that you do not need to rest or you do not play sometimes. That is not what I am talking about. Some people just get overcome with passivity. They need to rise up and say No to it. It is a true temptation. Maybe they do not struggle with sexual immorality, but they struggle with real lethargy and passivity in their spiritual life. The Lord would say, I want you to resist it. Not that you are going to be perfect in it, but I want you to declare your love to Me in it. Now look at this next description, Revelation 2:10. This is now the crown of life related to not yielding to the fear of persecution. I mean, persecution is fearful. Here is Jesus, Revelation 2. It is Jesus appearing to John in the book of Revelation. He was telling this to John, face to face. He said, I want you to go tell that church, the church of Smyrna not to fear the things that are going to happen. They are going to suffer, meaning persecution. People are going to come against you for standing for My name. Do not be fearful. They might take some of your money. They may throw you in prison. They may kill some of you. It is a moment, and you are going to get a crown for billions of years, which is My declaring how I feel about the way you stood for Me. He said, Be faithful to death. Some of you will go to prison. I think the fear of prison was a primary reality. That that was the issue. You know, the fear of losing is, I was going to say is worse than losing. Probably not, though the fear of losing is real. He says, Be faithful until you die. If you die, you die. You know, the goal of life is not to not die physically. That is not the goal of life. The goal of life is to be faithful to Jesus and His leadership, and to live in a way where there is tremendous return in the age to come. I mean, that is the biggest goal of life in my opinion: to walk in love in a way that touches lives now and that is recorded in His books and then He answers then in fullness. 2. I understand the crown of life as referring to our varying capacities to experience God s life and then impart it to others by the Holy Spirit in the age to come. Now, why the crown of life? Well, when you think of the life of God, I think the life of God is the anointing of the Holy Spirit. I do not think He is just saying that they live forever. I think He is talking about a quality of the anointing. It is a crown that is associated with the anointing of God. The life of God in everybody in the age to come, each will have a different capacity to experience it. Everybody will have the life of God, but some will experience it far greater, and some will impart it to others far more. You know your ministry does not stop when Jesus returns. Ministry does not stop. The saints will be ministering to one another in the resurrection. In the age to come big subject forever we will be communicating and ministering the grace of God one to another. It is not like the day you are resurrected you get an omniscience chip where now you know everything. Sin is gone, but there are all kinds of things to grow in and increase and learn, and for our capacities in God to increase, etc. There is no sin and darkness, but neither is there instant fullness in every area of God. A billion years from now, we will still be growing in new capacities to encounter God and communicate His life. Well, I think the crown of life is associated with that. We do not know the details

12 Session 6 Heavenly Crowns: Victory, Honor, and Authority Page 12 of this, but I like the whole sound of it, the crown related to the anointing of the Spirit in your life. Maybe when you put it on, something happens. I do not know. I would just be guessing on that. 3. As we constantly resist temptation, the Lord knows that we do it because we love Him. I love number three. Look at number three here. It says when we resist the temptations and again not just sexual, not just bitterness, not just slanderous words, but even spiritual passivity or vengeance or all kinds of emotions that we have, jealousy and anger, all kinds of temptations the Lord knows we do it because we love Him. If we stay steady with it, again not perfectly, but we keep signing up for it, He says, I know you are doing it because you love Me. It is documented in the books of heaven. C. The crown of righteousness: This crown is associated with the development of righteousness in one s character rather than with receiving the gift of righteousness at the moment one is born again. Paul speaks of this reward in the context of persevering in faithfulness to the work the Lord called him to. Those who love His appearing choose faithfulness and diligence over compromise. 8 there is for me the crown of righteousness [and] all who have loved His appearing. (2 Tim. 4:8) 22 But if I live on in the flesh, this will mean fruit from my labor 23 I am hard-pressed between the two, having a desire to depart and be with Christ 24 Nevertheless to remain in the flesh is more needful for you. 25 I shall remain and continue for your progress. (Phil. 1:22-25) The second crown that is designated and identified is called the crown of righteousness. Now this is a beautiful picture. I have already hinted at this. There is a little bit more on pages five and six on this. This is from 2 Timothy 4; this was Paul s final statement. This is the last letter that he wrote in the Bible, and it is to Timothy his son in the faith. He was in Rome, and then he was executed. This is it 2 Timothy 4 is the last chapter of anything Paul wrote. He is writing here and says, Well, there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness. Remember, earlier he wrote that he was aiming for the prize, but he did not know for sure he had it. Now he has the assurance. This is beautiful. He said, The Lord will give it to me, but not only to me. He will give it to all who love His appearing. That is Paul s last statement. Now I think the crown of righteousness is not highlighting the free gift of righteousness you get the day you are born-again because of what Jesus did. Every born-again believer gets it automatically, fully, the day they are born again. He is talking here about the grace of God working righteousness in our character. This is righteous character that has been developed. It is a crown that is depicting and honoring victory. It is the crown of a victor. This is the stephanos crown, the one where the athlete against all odds pressed in. That is the crown he is talking about here. I believe that in this context the issue of righteousness is not just moral. It is not just character traits where he is kind and is resisting immorality or bitterness. I think that he is persevering in context to his work. I believe one of the great temptations that a lot of believers yield to, which they do not even think of as temptation, they give up and give in and just get lazy about the work God has put in front of them because it does not seem glorious. The work of almost every believer, I would say every believer, most of the work is small, unnoticed, unappreciated, and not that dynamic when you do it. Many believers are kind of imagining that when they are really obeying God everyone will be appreciating it and it will have power on it, and they just will skip over the hills with joy. They think, That is what it feels like to be righteous. I have been a pastor forty plus years, and most of what I do is small, little, and goes

13 Session 6 Heavenly Crowns: Victory, Honor, and Authority Page 13 unnoticed. There is toil in it. There is, again, smallness and resistance in it. You think, You know what? I do not want to do this. The Lord says, No, no, do not go there. I think that is what Paul is talking about. He said, I pressed to the end. I did not back down. He was not talking about a moral deficiency in his sexual life. He was talking about, I did not back down. I finished. I went all the way. I never quit. I mean, he had people beating him with whips and rods and was in prison. When Paul got out of prison, he went to the next city where they were going to beat him up in the threat of prison. He could have said, You know, I just feel the liberty of the Spirit to go to the beachside and just kind of have a sabbatical for the next ten years. He went to the next city, and they beat him again. Like, Paul, you do not really have to do that! I mean just stop. He would say, No, no! I am an apostle in the first century. The Church is just getting birthed. God spoke to me directly. I have to do this. I mean, that was intense. That is why I think this is related to him persevering in his work. Look what he says in Philippians 1. Philippians was written about six or seven years before he died. When writing Philippians he was in prison. In 2 Timothy what we just read it was about six or seven years later, and he was in prison again. Two different prison sentences. So here in Philippians he still had six or seven years before he died. He was in prison. He said, I am hard pressed, verse 23. That is, I am hard pressed. You know what? I want to go be with Jesus. I don t even want to get out of prison, get beat up again, and get thrown in prison again. I do not. You know they did not have good air conditioning. They did not have good music. They did not have good plumbing. I mean, prisons are bad, right? So he was saying, I do not even want this. He went on, I would much rather go be with the Lord. He said in verse 24 and this is what I think is the real issue and how important righteousness was to him he said, I am going to remain, ugh! because it is better for you. If I endure this hassle, I do not like it at all. But, yeah, verse 25, I am going to remain and help you. You know what? Many of the people who Paul helped turned on him and did not appreciate his help. What he wrote here in 2 Timothy 4, a few verses earlier than the verse we started with, he wrote, They all forsook me. His churches turned on him and said, You know Paul? He is kind of a little strange. He is kind of getting out there. He is getting a little bit older. You know he is, like, missing it. So Paul was staying in the battle to help people who ultimately ended up not staying with him. He knew all of that too. I look at Paul, and I say, Man, this is serious. Notice how he says it. Let s go back up to 2 Timothy 4. Again, this is the final statement he makes before he dies. He said, This crown of righteousness is promised not only to me, but to people who love His appearing. Love His appearing. Now here is what a lot of folks would think. It would seem like saying, Oh, I love His appearing! I wish Jesus would come today! That would be good. He is actually saying that, if you really love His appearing, you make life choices now related to His leadership when He appears on the earth. Meaning, you are spending time and money, and you are stewarding your body appetites, related to His appearing. It is not just wishing He came today. The Lord would say, No, no. Live under My leadership which I am going to bring to the earth when I appear. That is what He is saying. If you love My appearing, you will spend time and money and energy differently.

14 Session 6 Heavenly Crowns: Victory, Honor, and Authority Page 14 So Paul spoke of the people who really love it because that is the only way Paul could be in prison and not give up. He could get out of prison and go right back in the battle because he loved the leadership of Jesus that was associated with when He appeared, because then His leadership would be openly displayed over the earth. He would say, I love the hour when Your leadership is displayed worldwide. Then the Spirit would say, Well, then live under My leadership now. If you love it when it is openly displayed worldwide, then do it now. So Paul was talking about more than, Wouldn t it be great if Jesus came today and we did not have to mess around with tomorrow? He was talking about something much different than that. D. The crown of glory: This crown is promised to anyone who diligently serves in and cares for the church. Service is to be done eagerly in nurturing, serving, caring for, and feeding God s people. Crowns are given to those who labor with a servant spirit and with eagerness. 1 I exhort [elders] 2 shepherd the flock of God serving not by compulsion but eagerly 4 and when the Chief Shepherd appears, you will receive the crown of glory. (1 Pet. 5:1-4) Okay, the crown of glory. This is a crown promised to anyone who diligently serves in or cares for the Church. Again, most all service in the Church is small. It is little acts of service. Most of it goes unnoticed. For most of it you do not get any recognition. As a matter of fact, many times the people you serve say, I do not even like what you did. Like, well great! There you go; there you go. Peter wrote this, I am exhorting the elders of the church [I Peter 5:1]. Elders sounds kind of cool, but it is a day-to-day involvement in people s lives and problems. It is lots of work and labor. With people you are helping, often it is three steps forward, two steps back, three steps forward, two steps back. I know lots of leaders, elders in ministries in the Church, who are saying, You know, I am just tired of the energy it takes. Peter was saying, Do not give up. It is okay to be tired, but do not give up. Do not go into that disconnect because you are not getting appreciated and the work is not easier or more glorious. He said to serve eagerly, Eagerly serving and the Lord will give you the crown of glory. 1. This is directed toward shepherds in the marketplace, home groups, etc., not just fulltime pastors. Jesus asked Peter, Do you love Me? Then feed My lambs Tend My sheep. 15 Simon do you love Me Feed My lambs. 16 He said to him again a second time, Simon do you love Me? He said Tend My sheep. 17 He said to him the third time, Simon do you love Me? Jesus said to him, Feed My sheep. (Jn. 21:15-20) Service that is done eagerly in nurturing, serving, is investing in people with eagerness. If you are only investing in happy, grateful people, there is no problem. However, it does not work that way because the people who really need your investing are not always that happy or that grateful or that responsive. Sometimes they talk about you in a negative way after you have invested in them. I have been a pastor forty years, and many, many pastors they call it sheep bite. You know, I am suffering sheep bite. I say it is just how leadership is in a fallen world. It really is how it is. Get your eyes on Jesus. Serve diligently and eagerly. Do not worry about how they are receiving you or how big the applause is. You are in the backroom, and you are helping people. Stay with it. When no one even notices, the Lord says, I see every