Let No One Take Your Crown

Thank you so much, Candace, for that beautiful rendition. We really appreciated it. Remember, you're here in the family. We want to welcome you. We want to help you have a very enjoyable stay in this area. We want to make you feel right at home.

Now we're ready for the main message today.

And we have all seen pictures of kings and queens with their royal crowns. In England, we have Queen Elizabeth, and she was crowned many years ago, but she had on all the jewelry, what is called there in England, the crown jewels. And actually, the crown jewels are 140 different objects, of which they have over 23,000 jewels. Some are the largest diamonds on earth, such as the Star of Africa diamond with 530 carats. That is used for the queen's scepter, and it has there in the bulb the big diamond.

Do you have an idea how much those 140 crown jewels are worth today? Those that handle estimates say it's worth over $4 billion.

But it is interesting that at the beginning of World War II, the British were so concerned about the Germans invading them that they took the crown jewels from the Tower of London, and they hid it in one of the castles in a storage area in a tin container. All of those.

So even though you have all of these jewels, you don't have the security. And of course, people have attempted to steal them. I had a chance when I was a student at college to visit London. I was able to go to the Tower of London and see the crown jewels. Now, later they told us that these aren't actually all of the real ones because they have them hidden away, but I was able to see at least what they look like.

There are very few people in the history of the world that have been able to wear these great crowns as kings and queens. Basically, it has only been royalty that gets to wear them.

And crowns are a symbol of power, riches, and fame. In most cases, all of these are inherited by their children. It's an exclusive club. Very few people can ever dream of wearing a crown. And yet, in the Bible, God speaks of crowns being given to human beings. But what God is offering are not hereditary crowns.

The Kingdom of Christ will not be composed of the kings and queens of this world, with few exceptions, like some of the kings of Israel. We know David, other righteous kings.

We'll be part of that world tomorrow, but that's a very small group in comparison.

As incredible as it sounds, Jesus is calling ordinary people to fill those positions as royal servants in his kingdom. Notice in 1 Corinthians chapter 1, verse 26. 1 Corinthians chapter 1, verse 26. Paul says, For you see your calling, brethren, that not many wise according to the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble or call, that God has called the foolish things of the world. In other words, those that the world would call foolish or unimportant to put to shame the wise. And God has chosen the weak things of the world, people that don't have much influence, don't have much riches or fame, to put to shame the things which are mighty and the base things of the world and the things which are despised. God has chosen and the things which are not, as far as importance goes, to bring to nothing the things that are, the people that are important and powerful and rich, that no flesh should glory in his presence. And no one can say, well, of course, I was so great in the world. God had to call me. God had to use me. Nobody's going to be able to boast that way.

In Luke chapter 22, Jesus Christ talks about that coming kingdom. Luke chapter 22 and verse 29.

Christ, speaking to his disciples, says, And I bestow upon you a kingdom, just as my father bestowed one upon me, that you may eat and drink at my table in my kingdom, and sit on thrones, judging the 12 tribes of Israel. So we're going to have some that were fishermen, tradesmen.

We call them today blue-collar type workers that Christ chose. And these were used by God, given his Holy Spirit. They yielded to him. They became instruments. And God blessed them to the point where they are going to wear royal crowns one day.

Now, what exactly is that crown spoken of in the Bible?

Actually, in the New Testament, there are two words in Greek that are used for our translation of crowns. The most common we find in the New Testament is called Stephanos.

And that's where we get our word for Stephen. The name Stephen comes from the Greek Stephanos.

That crown was one of laurels, which is a type of a plant. And so they would make this circle with laurel leaves. And this is what they would receive, for instance, at the Olympics in the Greek world.

Also, in Corinth, they had what they called the Ithmyth games, which Corinth was an area that was between two different lands. And so Ithmyth is this bridge that goes from one land to the other. And that's where Corinth was. And they had the Ithmian games.

This crown was not inherited. It was not worn by royalty. But it was won by the sweat of the brow through very tough competition. The winners of these games would earn lasting fame, especially to become an Olympian champion. In those days, you became instantly famous.

You won prizes. You had riches. And sometimes they would give you a pension for life. The second term for a crown is the Greek diadema. And this is where we get, in our English language, diadem. So it just has an A at the end. Diadema. That's where we get diadem. And this is the crown used by royalty. This isn't some wreath or a crown of laurels. This was something that had to do with a position of governance. For instance, when Jesus Christ comes down in his second return to the earth, he is going to be wearing diadems. Notice in Revelation 19 and verse 12. Revelation chapter 19 and verse 12. Talking about the descent of Christ upon the earth. It says, his eyes were like a flame of fire, and on his head were many crowns.

He had a name written that no one knew except himself. Now, for instance, one of the translations here, one of the versions in the Bible, the literal translation of the Bible version, says, and his eyes were as a flame of fire, and on his head many diadems. So that's the correct one. That's the correct term.

Now, the use of the first term, Stephanos, for a crown, is used quite a bit in the New Testament.

And its uses provide us with seven lessons. Now, you already had seven points, so here we go again with, but this time, seven lessons. You don't plan it that way. It could have been six, could have been eight, but it just happened to fall into seven. And so I want to share with you for the rest of the message the seven lessons of the crown of laurels in the New Testament.

This Stephanos. Let's go to 1 Corinthians chapter 9 verse 24, 1 Corinthians chapter 9 and verse 24. Paul was talking to the Corinthians. Of course, they knew a lot about the Ismian games.

They followed them. They were good Corinthians. They had their own team that had to compete with all the rest of the areas and regions of Greece and Sparta and other parts. They would all come to see every four years. Well, every two years in Corinth and the Olympian games was every four years. But he knew, and he used this as an analogy of what it's like to be a Christian athlete. He says, 1 Corinthians 9 verse 24, 1 Corinthians 9 verse 24, Do you not know that those who run in a race all run, but one receives the prize? Run in such a way that you may obtain it, that you may obtain the prize. So he's telling the Corinthians, don't be lazy. Don't be negligent.

Give it your best to follow God and to do the best you can before him. Verse 25, And everyone who competes for the prize is temperate in all things, is disciplined, focuses on the right things. Now they do it to obtain a perishable crown, but we for an imperishable crown. So here, the first time this term, Stephanos, is used, it is used here for an imperishable, because that crown of laurels looks very nice when it is placed on the athlete's head. But that's just made out of plants. It's going to dry up after a couple years, not going to look good at all. It's not lasting, but he says here that we can have an imperishable crown. Therefore, I run thus, not with uncertainty, thus I fight, not as one who beats the air, but I discipline my body and bring it to subjection, lest when I have preached to others, I myself should become disqualified. So he was trying to overcome as well. He was still running the race of life. He was running toward that kingdom of God, and he didn't want to be negligent. He didn't want to be sloppy and lazy. He wanted to put his best effort just like a good athlete.

I know many years ago I read about this Swedish jumper. She was a platform jumper to a pool, and this was many years ago. But that Swedish girl practiced seven days a week, and she actually did 100 jumps into the pool every day for four years.

And of course, she won the gold prize. But you talk about effort. Have you ever dove into a pool from a very high platform? That water is pretty hard. How do you like to do that 100 times a day and not even rest? And so people have to be disciplined and focused in order to win the prize.

So Paul was saying that we have to be spiritual athletes. We have to discipline ourselves. We have to improve our time. We have to check and see if we are improving or not.

So the first lesson, to receive that imperishable crown, we need to apply maximum effort.

It's not going to be easy overcoming, running the race toward the kingdom of God.

So that's the first principle that we have, that this isn't easy. This isn't just going and having a nice social time and just listening and just having fellowship and just being like one of the churches in the world. No, we are in training. We've got a lot to hone ourselves and improve and work on ourselves, work on our weaknesses, as Lincoln brought out things that he had to overcome and he shared. And we also have to work on our strengths. Just like a good athlete, you have to know your limitations, what you can do well, what you can't do well, and stay in that margin. Don't overdo things, but don't underdo them as well. The second use of the crown is found in Philippians chapter 4. Again, the crown can be like the one of a runner, an athlete, but here's a very interesting use of the word stefanos in Philippians chapter 4 verse 1.

Paul says, Therefore, my beloved and long for brethren, my joy and crown so stand fast in the Lord, beloved. So we are precious before God. Never underestimate our calling, the privilege. We are nothing, but with God we are something. And Paul is calling the brethren who weren't the powerful and the rich and the brilliant of the world. There were people very ordinary, common stock, and yet he says, you are my crown. We are all working together because God has selected and chosen. He's done that. And so it's interesting how we are a crown before God.

So let's not neglect our inheritance. The second lesson, let's not neglect our inheritance.

Some people take it for granted or don't really appreciate it. They think coming to church is like going to any church in the world. It isn't. Notice in 1 Thessalonians 2.19, 1 Thessalonians 2.19, Paul repeats the same point. 1 Thessalonians 2.19, it says, For what is our hope or joy or a crown of rejoicing? Is it not even you in the presence of our Lord Jesus Christ at his coming? For you are our glory and joy. This is what all the investment is about. We're all working together. So one day you will receive that crown when Jesus Christ comes back. And we're going to rejoice. It's going to be so fantastic. And so we can't lose our sight on this. We can't take our eyes off of that goal. You are God's crown and glory.

He's working just like the disciples. They didn't think they were much. Here was this motley crew of 12 men, and there were all kinds of different circumstances there. But none of them was a scholar. No one came from the rich dynasties in Jerusalem. No, they were just the run-of-the-mill type men. But God used them just like he is using people today. But we need to keep that goal in mind.

Let's not neglect our inheritance. As it says in Hebrews 12, in verse 14, here's a man who forgot about his inheritance. He didn't appreciate it. He kind of took it for granted and sold it very handily in Hebrews 12, verse 14. It says, So people can sell their birthright. They can sell their crown.

The problem with Esau was that he was a profane and worldly man. That was a real problem.

That's why he couldn't be a servant of God. He just didn't think. Spiritual things mattered that much.

He was in through the world. He was a tough guy. He was popular. He was gregarious and married outside of the faith and just went with it. Well, God couldn't use him because of the choices he had made. Just like it tells us in Proverbs 24, verse 21, what kind of company Esau kept. He wasn't looking at the spiritual dimension of things. Proverbs 24, verse 21. I'm going to read it from the Amplified version. It says, My son, fear the Lord and the King, and do not associate with those who are given to change, change of allegiance, and are revolutionary or rebels.

So if we associate with people that are that kind, one day they're here, next day they go there, then they go here, back and forth. There's no allegiance.

And some also want to change God's laws, as we have seen in the past. Don't associate with that type of people. Just like it says there in Isaiah 8, verse 20, to the law. And if there are words, do not go according to this. It's because there's no light in them. To the law and the prophets, to God's laws. So don't be around people with fickle associations.

That takes us to the third principle in 2 Timothy chapter 4 verse 7. 2 Timothy chapter 4, verse 7.

Paul knows he's going to die soon, and he uses the term stefanos again in verse 7 and 8. He says, I have fought the good fight. I have finished the race. I have kept the faith. Finally there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness. So he's not thinking of a diadem, something that just comes from royalty to royalty. No, this is one, the victor's crown, who overcomes, who runs the race and finishes it. So there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness. Here's another. We've heard a couple of different, the imperishable crown, that we are a crown before God. Now it's dealing with the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, will give to me on that day, and not to me only, but also to all who have loved his appearing. So those that are in the race, all the way to the end. We know righteousness in the Bible is defined by Psalms 119, 172, which says, all your commandments are righteousness.

The crown of justice is awaiting those who are just keeping the path of righteousness. Righteousness, remember, is just an abbreviation for the right way of life, following the right way, keeping focused on that right way of doing things.

Then that takes us to the fourth application of the crown. James uses it in chapter one. If sciences do that, that's what happens when the priesthood judges their The Lord has promised to those who love Him. And so, again, this is the crown of Laurel. This is the Stephanos.

This is something you receive as a result of finishing the race, of doing the right thing, of overcoming to the end. Verse 13, it says, No one say, when he is tempted, I am tempted by God. For God cannot be tempted by evil, nor does he himself tempt anyone with evil. That's what he's saying. God doesn't work in the business of evil.

He is light. There is no darkness in him. He's not there to watch a person trip and fall into sin. He's not going to make a trap for a person like that. God doesn't think that way. So don't blame God when a person falls into diverse temptations and all kinds of lusts and desires, and then you get all of these bad results from it. Don't blame God, as James is saying.

Verse 14, But each one is tempted when he is drawn away by his own desires and enticed. He uses here the fishing analogy. Of course, they were over in that area of the Lake of Galilee. They knew a lot about fishing. And so he says that here, it feels like a fish. You have the bait and it's tempting. It looks good.

It smells good. And it's enticed. And then when desire has conceived, it takes a bite out of it and it's hooked and it's trapped. It gives birth to sin. And sin, when it is full grown, brings forth death. Brings forth the penalty of violating God's law.

So he goes on to say, Do not be deceived, my beloved brethren. Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above and comes down from the Father of lights with whom there is no variation or shadow of turning. Of his own will, he brought us forth by the word of truth that we might be a kind of first fruits of his creatures. So he's contrasting. He's not involved in sin. He's involved in every good blessing and help. So people should not confuse being tempted.

Now trials, God sometimes allows those, but that's not a temptation. That is a testing of a person's character. And so the principle here is resist and overcome temptations to one day be crowned. We have a daily fight against temptations. We should be always on our guard. So again, lesson three is the need to develop spiritual character. Lesson four is to resist and overcome temptations to be crowned one day.

That takes us to the fifth use of the term Stephanos or crown. First Peter chapter 5 verse 2. First Peter chapter 5 in verse 2. Paul is talking here to the ministry. He says, shepherd the flock of God, which is among you, serving as overseers, not by compulsion, not because you're obligated or you've been forced into a job that you don't want to do. No, it should be something willing. It should be an honor. It should be something that should be taken up with enthusiasm and great honor and blessing. It says, not for dishonest gain. Don't do it to make a killing or take advantage of people.

But eagerly, it's part of the serving attitude, not as being lords over those entrusted to you, not being a dictator, not running roughshod over people. People are not owned by the ministry. The ministry is there to serve the people, as it says here, but being examples to the flock. The pastors of the flock in that area of Israel, they're the ones that lead.

People follow along, and you have to set an example. If your household and family life is going to pieces and everything has not worked out, who are we to be able to say, well, there's an example to follow? Of course, nobody's perfect. We all know that. It's through the glory and honor of God that we serve. But again, it says here, verse 4, if we do it right, it says, and when the chief shepherd appears, you will receive the crown of glory that does not fade away. So now it's again the Stephanos, but of glory, something that is going to be so blessed, so marvelous if you have that crown placed on your head.

So it's a crown of glory, not of laurels, which lasts for a while. The laurels wither away. This isn't going to ever wither. So it is worth all the sacrifices through service. That's the lesson here. If we want to have this, we have to have that attitude of service, of not becoming weary in well-doing, not be there for your own glory or ambitions. You're there because you're following Jesus Christ and His example of servant leadership. So again, the crown of glory is worth all the sacrifices through service. And that service is servant leadership. Let's go to the sixth use of the term crown, Revelation 2. Here we're getting to the last book of the Bible, Revelation 2, verse 10.

Christ uses again Stephanos here. Revelation 2, verse 10, it says, "...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, that you may be tested, and you will have tribulation ten days." We take this to mean ten years, a day for a year prophecy, which it did happen in the middle, in the 300s, from 303 to 313 was the persecution by Diocletian, Emperor Diocletian, and that was the worst of all the Christian persecutions, burning Bibles.

It was like the Gestapo. If you had a Bible, you were executed. All Bibles were to be burnt. All church property confiscated, and it was just the devil really trying his last big push at that time to destroy Christianity. After ten years, Diocletian basically gave up his throne.

He went into ignominity in his life, and then after that came Constantine and realized he couldn't destroy Christianity. So he started saying, well, I'm going to join it, and I'm going to meld the empire together, which was one of the worst things that could happen, because then the world came into the church. But there would be ten terrible years. And so he says, be faithful until death, and I will give you the crown of life.

And of course, this is talking about the crown of eternal life. So don't let trials paralyze us. God allows tribulation to prove us, to perfect us. In Romans 8, verse 16 through 19, Romans 8, 16 through 19, we see what Paul speaks about here, which fits so well. Romans 8, verse 16, it says, the spirit, and it should say itself, bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God. And if children, then heirs, heirs of God, enjoin heirs with Christ. Here's how we can get a diadem, the crown of royalty, because we become Christ's younger brothers and sisters.

It says, if indeed we suffer with Him, that we may also be glorified together. For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us, for the earnest expectation of the creation eagerly waits for the revealing of the sons of God. Here, it's talking about the revealing, the glorification of those children. That's what this whole universe is waiting for, the glorification of the children of God to become spirit beings, to be able to be co-heirs with Christ, to beautify the universe that is out there for us.

And so, the lesson is, at first, we're going to have to endure this type of tests. In Revelation 2.10, it says that there's going to be tribulation. And guess what? In our lives, we're going to first have to endure wearing a crown of thorns before we end up wearing a crown of glory. We're all going to have to go through sufferings and difficulties before we can have a crown of glory. And that takes us to the final mention here in Revelation 3, verse 10. In the next chapter over, Revelation 3, verse 10, talking to the Philadelphia church, he says, verse 10, Because you have kept my command to persevere, it literally means here, because you have persevered in the Word, I also will keep you from the hour of trial, which shall come upon the whole world to test those who dwell on the earth.

Behold, I am coming quickly. Hold fast what you have, that no one may take your crown. He who overcomes, I will make him a pillar in the temple of my God, and he shall go out no more. There will be that intimate relationship with God. Let no one take away your crown. God doesn't say in that sense that it's something that is off the cuff and it's something that is incidental. No, he says you already have a crown waiting for you. It's just a matter of persevering and you're going to receive your crown.

But, he says, don't let anyone take your crown. And there are ways that we can lose that crown. One way is to disqualify ourselves. God's going to choose someone else. He will call someone else. He doesn't need us. We need him. If we don't follow this course and continue, he's going to be saddened by it, but he's going to call somebody else in our place.

And they will have the crown that we could have had one day. Can you imagine having that in the back of your mind? What you could have had. And so, who wants to take it away from us? We have three adversaries. First is ourselves, our ego, our carnal human nature. It wants to trip us up. It wants us to get discouraged. It wants us to, in some way, soothe our egos. And we can have pride, vanity, all of these things, ambition. Sometimes it's resentment built up.

Whatever it is, it's part of ourselves. It is the greatest enemy we have, our carnal human nature. Secondly is the world. The world would love to absorb us back in, to follow the worldly ways.

And there are all kinds of different alternatives. Some places are very nice, and they're going to be kind to you. But you know what? That's not where you get to crown. And so, you can have some palliative, some little aspirin to make us feel better, but it's not reducing or diminishing the cause, which is going against God's perfect and just laws. So, the third adversary is Satan, the devil. He's roaming and looking to see who is weak, who has strayed that he can really attack them and get the person down and get the person depressed and get them to forget that they have a crown waiting in God's kingdom to be given to every one of us.

You have to prevail and overcome. It's no use running the race and not finishing it. Giving up. So, we see the kings and queens of today. Oh, they have fancy physical crowns. Some are worth millions and millions. Well, what does that mean in God's kingdom? It's not going to mean a hill of beans. That's not the type of crown that God wants to give us.

Ours is far greater in value and lasting benefit. We have an opportunity to wear spiritual crowns of glory. Yes, Stephanos first. And we have to have that crown of thorns, which we have to endure trials and difficulties, pain and suffering before we have that crown of glory placed. The fall feasts are approaching where we look forward to that coming kingdom. And so, brethren, remember the seven uses of that term, Stephanos, the crown of laurels, but in our case, it's one of the crown of imperishable value. It's a crown of life, the crown of justice, and, more than anything else, the crown of glory.