of the Lord helping me this morning,
I would direct your prayerful attention to Revelation chapter
3, the chapter that we read, and the 11th verse. Revelation
chapter 3, verse 11. Behold, I come quickly. Hold that fast which thou hast,
that no man take thy crown. Behold, I come quickly. Hold
that fast which thou hast, that no man take thy crown. These
words, which I've just announced for a text, are the words of
the risen and ascended Lord of Glory, the Lord Jesus Christ. They are addressed, as you see
from verse 7, to the angel of the church in Philadelphia. And
to the angel of the church in Philadelphia write, These things
sayeth he that is true, These things saith he that is holy,
he that is true, he that hath the key of David, he that openeth,
and no man shutteth, and shutteth, and no man openeth. Now the Greek
word there translated angel, angelos, can also be translated
messenger. So, Who are these messengers
to whom the seven letters were written here in the Revelation?
Well, they are the pastors, the ministers of the gospel, who
bring the word of Christ to the churches. Ministers of the gospel,
preachers of the word of God, are messengers from Christ, the
head of the church. They bring a message from heaven.
and those who are spiritually awakened, being quickened into
newness of life by divine grace, by the gracious operation of
the Spirit of God in their hearts, will hear and receive the word
that the messengers of Christ bring. Such receive it not as the word
of men, but as it is in truth the word of God. We read at the
conclusion of each of these seven letters to the seven churches
here in the Revelation, these words, And we note this, that
not everyone has an ear to hear. Remember how Moses spoke to the
Jews of old. Yet the Lord hath not given you
an heart to perceive, and eyes to see, and ears to hear unto
this day. You see, it is God who must give
the hearing ear, and eyes to see, and an heart to perceive. And this he does in the new birth. He that hath an ear, let him
hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches. Now the church
in Philadelphia was highly commended by the Lord Jesus Christ. There's
no word of reproof, no word of rebuke. Rather, there are these
words of commendation. we have in verse 8 I know thy
works behold I have set before thee an open door and no man
can shut it for thou hast a little strength and has kept my word
and has not denied my name in verse 10 he says thou has
kept the word of my patience this church is commended and
the Lord Jesus loved this church and he says that all men shall
know it, all men shall know that the Lord Jesus has loved this
particular church, even the persecuting Jews and other religious hypocrites
who claim to be worshippers of God and yet despise the true
church of the Lord Jesus Christ. Verse 9, Behold I will make them
of the synagogue of Satan, which say they are Jews and are not,
but do lie. Behold, O make them to come and
worship before thy feet, and to know that I have loved thee. And then there is this promise
that the faithful church shall be kept from the hour of temptation,
that is, from the hour of trial, which shall come upon all the
world. Because thou hast kept the word
of my patience, I also will keep thee from the hour of temptation
which shall come upon all the world to try them that dwell
upon the earth. When God pours out his wrath
upon the world of the ungodly, when the Lord visits the earth
with his judgments, the faithful church, the faithful gospel church
shall be kept. there's no word of rebuke or
reproof for this church in Philadelphia but there is this word of exultation
verse 11 the words of our text behold I come quickly hold that
fast which thou hast that no man take thy crown the Philadelphian church is exalted
to hold fast that which they had. Now remember how the children
of Israel were exalted by Moses in the book of Deuteronomy. Therefore
shall ye lay up these my words in your heart and in your soul
and bind them for a sign upon your hand that they may be as
frontlets between your eyes. In other words, hold that fast
which thou hast. We read in the Proverbs, Let
not mercy and truth forsake thee, bind them about thy neck, and
write them upon the table of thine heart, so shalt thou find
favour and good understanding in the sight of God and man.
And again, in that same third chapter of the Proverbs, My son,
let not them depart from thine eyes. Keep sound wisdom and discretion,
so shall they be life unto thy soul and grace to thy neck. And then shalt thou walk in thy
way safely, and thy foot shall not stumble. that which God has
given to us in his infinite mercy and love and grace we are to
keep we are to hold fast we are to hold that fast which we have Paul in his epistle to the Hebrews
says therefore we ought to give the more earnest heed to the
things which we have heard lest at any time we let them slip
and so the risen and ascended Lord says here to the angel of
the church in Philadelphia behold I come quickly hold that fast
which thou hast that no man take thy crown I'm reminded of Eleazar
the son of Dodo, the Ahohite, who was one of the three mighties. We read of him in 1 Chronicles
chapter 11, verses 13 and 14. He was with David at Pasdamim,
and there the Philistines were gathered together to battle.
where was a parcel of ground full of barley and the people
fled from before the Philistines and they set themselves in the
midst of that parcel and delivered it and slew the Philistines and
the Lord saved them by a great deliverance You see, they held fast that
parcel of ground full of barley in spite of all the opposition,
in spite of all the attacks and all the assaults of the Philistines. They held fast that parcel of
ground and the Lord saved them by a great deliverance. And so
we too are to hold that fast which we have. There are those
who would seek to rob us of our crown. The devil as a roaring
lion would seek to devour us. As we do so, as we hold fast,
as we fight the good fight of faith, as we earnestly contend
for the faith which was once delivered unto the saints, as
we wrestle against principalities, against powers, against the rulers
of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness
in high places, as we do this, as we hold fast, we may be assured
that the Lord will save us by a great deliverance now in Hebrews
chapter 4 and verse 14 we see that the great motivation for
holding fast our profession is the ascension of Christ into
heaven Hebrews 4.14 seeing then that we have a great high priest
that is passed into the heavens Jesus the son of God let us hold
fast our profession let us hold fast our profession the motivation
is the ascension of Christ into heaven as our great high priest
but here in Revelation chapter 3 we see that the great motivation
for holding that fast which we have is the second appearing
of our Lord Jesus Christ behold I come quickly hold that fast
which thou hast that no man take thy crown in his first epistle
John also provokes the believers to persevere by consideration
of the Lord's second appearing 1 John 2 verse 28 and now little
children abide in him that when he shall appear we may have confidence
and not be ashamed before him at his coming Paul does so again
in the Hebrews, he says in Hebrews 10 verse 23, let us hold fast
the profession of our faith without wavering for He is faithful that
promised, and let us consider one another to provoke unto love
and to good works, not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together,
as the manner of some is, but exhorting one another, and so
much the more, as ye see the day approaching." As you see
the day approaching. What day? The day of the Lord's
second appearing. What a spur, what a motivation
this is to persevere. It's what a motive for us to
hold fast. The Lord Jesus Christ is coming
and His reward is with Him. Peter sets before us the same
motivation to persevere in his second epistle, chapter 3, verse
10, But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night,
in the which the heavens shall pass away with a great noise,
and the elements shall melt with fervent heat, the earth also
and the works that are therein shall be burned up, seeing then
that all these things shall be dissolved what manner of persons
ought ye to be, in all holy conversation and godliness, looking for and
hasting unto the coming of the day of God. wherein the heavens,
being on fire, shall be dissolved, and the elements shall melt with
fervent heat. You think it's hot today? Wait
until the last day. Nevertheless, we, according to
his promise, look for new heavens and a new earth, wherein dwelleth
righteousness. Wherefore, beloved, seeing that
ye look for such things, be diligent mark the words, be diligent that
ye may be found of him in peace without spot and blameless and so Christ says here behold
I come quickly hold that fast that thou hast that no man take
thy crown that you in proper consideration of the return of
the Lord Jesus Christ coming in the clouds of heaven with
power and great glory should have a profound effect on the
manner in which we live our lives in this present time state. As
Peter says, what manner of persons ought she to be in all holy conversation
and godliness looking for and hasting unto the coming of the
day of God. And as Paul says writing to the
Philippians Let your moderation be known unto all men, the Lord
is at hand. The return of our Lord Jesus
Christ will be sudden and unexpected. Behold I come quickly. Paul says
for yourselves know perfectly that the day of the Lord so cometh
as a thief in the night. Peter in that second epistle
says but the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night
as a thief in the night suddenly unexpectedly we have Christ's own word don't
we in Matthew 24 verse 42 watch therefore for you know not what
hour your Lord doth come but know this And if the good man
of the house had known in what watch the thief would come, he
would have watched, and would not have suffered his house to
be broken up. Therefore be ye also ready, for in such an hour
as ye think not, the Son of Man cometh. The consideration of these things
should have an effect upon us as individuals, it should have
an effect upon me. It should have an effect upon
us as a church too, and as a company of believers. Behold I come quickly,
hold that fast which thou hast, that no man take thy crown. A consideration of a second coming
of the Lord Jesus Christ should be one of the main springs of
our perseverance in the faith of God's elect, of our walking
in the narrow way, of our holding fast that which we have behold I come
quickly hold that fast which thou hast that no man take thy
crown now before we go on to consider what it is that we have
as a church which we are to hold fast let us firstly just remind
ourselves that all that we have that all that we have has been
given to us by God the faith that is the body of doctrine
that we believe that we should earnestly contend for, we are
told, is that which was delivered unto the saints. James tells us, Do not err, my
beloved brethren. Every good gift and every perfect
gift is from above, and cometh down from the Father of lights,
with whom is no variableness, neither shadow of turning, The
Corinthian Christians boasted of their gifts, but they were
reminded by Paul, for who maketh thee to differ from another?
And what hast thou that thou didst not receive? Now if thou
didst receive it, why dost thou glory as if thou hast not received
it? If we have any gifts at all,
then we should glory in the giver, not in the gifts. If the Lord
has revealed to us the truth of his gospel, if he has revealed
Christ in us, the hope of glory, then we must, like Jacob, acknowledge
our utter unworthiness. I am not worthy of the least
of thy mercies and of all the truth which thou hast showed
unto thy servants. that which we have has been granted
to us according to the goodness and mercy of God the divine giver
of every good and every perfect gift faith and repentance has been given to us if we are
true believers in the Lord Jesus Christ they come from Him well
let us go on then to consider what we have as a church and
which we have, those things which we have received and which we
are to hold fast. Now I would suggest briefly seven things
which we have and which we are to hold fast. Firstly we have the Bible. The Lord gave the word, great
was the company, of those that published it, we read in the
Psalms. In the New Testament all scripture is given by inspiration
of God and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction,
for instruction in righteousness that the man of God may be perfect,
throughly furnished unto all good works. We believe, in the
words of the 1689 Baptist Confession of Faith, that the Holy Scripture
is the only sufficient, certain and infallible rule of all saving
knowledge, faith and obedience. Being the Word of God, it has
all the authority of God himself. And this is our sole rule of
faith and practice. But there is in these days a
concerted attack, isn't there, upon the Word of God? Now, in
a former day, the devil would seek to destroy the Word of God.
And so, copies of the Bible were burnt. Nowadays, Satan, it seems, has
changed his tactics. And there is now a multiplicity
of Bibles. There are more Bibles than ever.
There are now so many modern versions, or rather perversions,
of the Bible that nobody really knows what the Bible is anymore.
God is not the author of confusion, but the devil is. He comes, as he did in the Garden
of Eden, and he says, yea, hath God said? Well, we will, by God's grace,
hold fast the authorised version of the Holy Scriptures, the authentic
Word of God. We will not be palmed off with
a counterfeit. Beware the NIV, the ESV, the
NKJV and the rest of them. They issue from the pit. And many fundamental Christian
doctrines are undermined in these modern versions. The authorized version is not
archaic. It's accurate. And we hold to the authorised
version not because it's traditional, but because it's trustworthy
and true. If the foundations be destroyed,
what can the righteous do? Says the Psalmist. We must hold
fast this foundation, the Word of God, the Holy Bible. Behold
I come quickly, hold that fast which thou hast, that no man
take thy crown. And secondly, we must hold fast
sound doctrine as Paul says to Timothy hold fast the form of
sound words which thou hast heard of me in faith and love which
is in Christ Jesus what were those sound words which Timothy
had heard of Paul Well, surely they were the doctrines which
we see in and which we glean from the Word of God, the Holy
Scriptures, the doctrines of God's absolute sovereignty in
creation and in providence and in grace. Paul spoke of God who
created all things by Jesus Christ. And we see from Genesis that
God made all things in six days. We deny the satanic lie of the
theory of evolution, and that includes the silly notion of
so-called theistic evolution, that God used evolution. What
a delusion that is! God is sovereign in creation,
and he is sovereign in providence. Paul spoke of him who worketh
all things after the counsel of his own will. The fictious
power of chance and fortune I defy. My life's minutest circumstance
is subject to his eye." And we know, Paul says, and we
know that all things work together for good to them that love God,
to them who are the called according to his purpose. And then Paul
goes on to speak there in Romans chapter 8 of the doctrines of
predestination and election, or God's absolute sovereignty
and salvation. Romans 8.29, for whom he did
foreknow He also did predestinate to be conformed to the image
of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brethren.
Moreover, whom he did predestinate, them he also called. And whom
he called, them he also justified. And whom he justified, them he
also glorified." Paul spoke much of Christ. He spoke much of Christ, of his
person, and of his work. For I determined not to know
anything among you, save Jesus Christ and Him crucified. Later on in 1 Corinthians he
says, Moreover brethren, I declare unto you the gospel which I preached
unto you, which also you have received and wherein you stand,
by which also you are saved, if ye keep in memory. In other
words, if you hold fast what I preached
unto you unless you have believed in vain for I delivered unto
you first of all that which I also received how that Christ died
for our sins according to the scriptures and that he was buried
and that he rose again the third day according to the scriptures.
Yes, we deny that liberal theology, that liberal nonsense, which
is no true Christianity at all, which denies the virgin birth,
the substitutionary atonement, the bodily resurrection of our
Lord Jesus Christ from the dead. We hold fast to the doctrine
of particular redemption and definite atonement. that Christ
has ransomed us by his blood from the fall and that blood
is effectual has not shed in vain there shall be no sinner
for whom Christ died in hell their sin is atoned for as Christ himself has taught
us I lay down my life And we say with the Apostle Paul
moreover that we are not under the law but we are under grace. As well as the doctrine of the
second coming of Christ we hold fast to the eternal realities
of heaven and hell and of the judgment to come. and as it is appointed unto men
once to die, but after this the judgment. So Christ was once
offered to bear the sins of many, and unto them that look for him
shall he appear the second time without sin unto salvation. Now all these doctrines we would
hold fast in our hearts, by gracious experience of the vital, that
is, the living reality of these things. Being born again, not
of corruptible seed, but of incorruptible, by the word of God, which liveth
and abideth forever. In the third place we have, and
we must hold fast, the true and proper preaching of the Gospel.
And again we have the apostolic example, Paul speaking to the
Ephesian elders in Acts chapter 20, he speaks of his ministry,
He says, from verse 20, Acts 20, verse 20, he says, I kept
back nothing that was profitable unto you, but have showed you,
now mark these words, showed you and have taught you, publicly
and from house to house, testifying both to the Jews and also the
Greeks, repentance toward God and faith toward our Lord Jesus
Christ. And then in verse 24, He says, I have received of the
Lord Jesus, again mark the words, to testify the gospel of the
grace of God. In verse 25, I have gone preaching
the kingdom of God. He says in verse 27, for I have
not shunned to declare unto you all the counsel of God. He instructs
the elders at Ephesus to feed the church of God, which he hath
purchased with his own blood. You see, It's not like that arch-Arminian
John Wesley who said, I offered them Jesus Christ. No. Paul never offered Jesus Christ. Never does Paul or any of the
apostles speak of offering Christ, of offering salvation. Never.
The only offering of Christ in all the Holy Scriptures is that
which Christ himself has offered. And that not to men, but to God.
So Christ was once offered to bear the sin of many. And neither do we use other unscriptural
terminology such as accepting Jesus. What a deplorable term
that is. Nowhere in the scriptures do
we read of accepting Christ. No. We read of receiving Christ,
which is very different to accepting Christ. Sinners do not accept
Christ. Sinners are accepted in Christ by the sovereign choice
of God the Father. They receive Christ in the new
birth which is the sovereign work of God the Holy Ghost. Now there are those who would
criticize us for the stance that we take They would say, oh, you're hyper-Calvinist. They would accuse us of not preaching
the gospel. Or they caricature our position and say that we
only believe in preaching the gospel to the elect. Well, that
is a calumny, it's a falsehood, it's a slander. Our articles
clearly state, and I quote, We believe that the gospel is to
be preached in or proclaimed to all the world as in Mark 16
15. Now Mark 16, 15 reads, and he
said unto them, Go ye into all the world and preach the gospel
to every creature. We believe in preaching the gospel
to every creature. And we hold fast to the centrality
of gospel preaching, as is evident in all our services. We believe
this to be the God-ordained means of bringing the elect to salvation
and to faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. And of building up the
people of God on their most holy faith. And we insist on the gracious
invitations of the Gospel too. The gracious invitations of the
Gospel to poor and needy sinners. Sinners who are convinced of
their sin. and of their great need of a saviour. Come ye sinners,
poor and wretched, weak and wounded, sick and sore, Jesus ready stands
to save you. Full of pity, joined with power,
he is able, he is able, he is willing, doubts no more. Ask
him, what of our hymns? So far are we from hyper-Calvinism.
There are those who say that the warrant for sinners to come
to Christ is the so-called free offer of the gospel. But we say
no, that's false. The only warrant for sinners
to come to Christ is the fact that they are sinners and that
they know it and they feel it. All the fitness he requireth
is to fill your need of him. We sing in another hymn. Jesus
said, If any man thirst, Let him come unto me and drink. We are to hold fast to the true
and proper preaching of the Gospel. And we are to hold fast in the
fourth place to the ordinance of believers' baptism. Now, the
words baptism and baptise are a transliteration straight from
the Greek, baptizo, to baptise literally means to sink into,
to plunge into, or to dip into water, to submerge. to immerse
and so in order to properly baptize someone one needs a lot of water
do we not read in the scriptures and John also was baptizing in
Anon near to Salem because there was much water there Now Calvin says in his commentary
on Acts 8, verse 38, where we read of the baptizing of the
Ethiopian eunuch, he says, here we see the rites used among the
men of old time in baptism, for they put all the body into the
water. They put all the body into the
water. Ah, but then Calvin goes on to say, referring to sprinkling,
that, and I quote, the church did grant liberty to herself
since the beginning to change the rites somewhat. Well, here
we must part company with Calvin. We do not have any liberty whatsoever
to change any of the ordinances which Christ has given to his
church. Rather, we are to hold fast that
which we have, which the risen Christ has given
to us, that no man take our crown. And regarding the subjects of
baptism, we read everywhere in the Holy Scriptures that it is
they that gladly received his word were baptized. There is
not a single instance anywhere in the entirety of the Word of
God of an infant being baptized, let alone sprinkled. Not one. The practice of infant sprinkling
comes straight from Rome. It is of Antichrist. and fifthly
we have and we are to hold fast the practice of strict communion
now we have the pattern in the New Testament in Acts chapter
2 verse 41 then they that gladly received
his word were baptized and the same day they were added unto
them, that's to the church about 3,000 souls and they continued
steadfastly in the Apostles doctrine and fellowship and in breaking
of bread and in prayers. The breaking of bread, the Lord's
Supper, is for those who have been baptised, who have been
added to or joined to the church and who are continuing steadfastly
in the Apostles doctrine. That is in the doctrines of free
and sovereign grace. and who are continuing steadfastly
in fellowship to not forsaking the assembling of themselves
together and then leading on from this in the sixth place
we are to hold fast the worship of God the worship of God let
us ever bear in mind that it is God who we worship the Almighty
God we are not here to entertain one another The pulpit is not
the place for cracking jokes or for trying to make people
laugh. No. Abraham Booth says, For where
upon earth are we to expect solemnity, if not in the pulpit? There a
man should be serious and solemn as death. There must be solemnity in the
pulpit and sobriety in the pew too. God is greatly to be feared
in the assembly of the saints and to be had in reverence of
all them that are about him. Our worship of him must be according
to that which he has prescribed in his holy word. Men are not
to have their heads covered in worship in accordance with 1 Corinthians
11 but the women are to cover their heads. It is men who are
to teach and to lead in prayer in accordance with 1 Timothy
chapter 2 while the women are to be in silence. We seek to
follow New Testament instruction and guidance and the Word of
God. This is our authority. It's the
authority of God himself. And we would, by God's grace,
seek to keep holy. We would seek to sanctify the
Lord's day. Not the Lord's morning or not
the Lord's evening, the Lord's day. The only day which God has
commanded us to keep holy. I don't even believe in keeping
December the 25th. It's the Lord's day which is
to be kept. I couldn't care less if the shops were open on December
the 25th. I'd rather see them closed on the Lord's Day. We would like the Apostle John
be in the Spirit on the Lord's Day. And so we meet together
for worship following the example of the churches in the New Testament
on the first day of the week, the Lord's Day. and our worship
of God must be truly spiritual. God is a spirit and they that
worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth. We do
not want a mere form of godliness but denying the power thereof.
We want to be those who are singing with grace in our hearts unto
the Lord. Oh, if you have grace in your
heart! Or is it the mere form of godliness? We want grace in our hearts.
We want a living faith. And we want to express that faith
in our coming together for the worship of Almighty God. And then seventhly and finally, we are to hold fast our Protestantism. Yes, our Protestantism. An offensive
word these days to many. The Salem Baptist Chapel Trust
Deed of 1824 states that the purpose of the Meeting House
is, and I quote, for promoting the Christian religion as it
is professed by Protestant dissenters of the denomination of particular
Baptists. Now a dissenter is one who dissents from or disagrees
with the established church. The word comes from the Latin
dissentere, meaning to differ in opinion, to disagree. But
what about Protestants? Where does that word come from?
Well the word Protestant again comes from a Latin word which
really means a declaration of belief, a protestation as well
as a declaration against a certain belief or practice. So it's a
positive and a negative. The word was first used in the
1500s to refer to the reformers who protested against the removal
of freedom of religion which had come in as a result of the
Reformation. There in Germany, in continental Germany, there
was freedom of religion to an extent. But that was to be removed. And there was an attempt to re-establish
the supremacy of the Roman Catholic Church and so there was a protest
against this from the reformers. This is where the word originates.
Well, we still, by God's grace, continue to declare the truth
of the Gospel and to protest against the errors of Rome. Rome
is Antichrist. Do not be deceived. Rome is Antichrist. The word Antichrist, Antichristos
in the Greek, literally means in the place of Christ. That's
what the word means, in the place of Christ. And so many of the
doctrines and practices of the Roman Church are put in the place
of Christ. So, for example, the head of
the church, they say, is the Pope, in the place of Christ. The Scripture says that there
is one God and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus. But Rome has Mary and its pretended
priesthood as mediators between God and men in the place of Christ. Rome worships the wafer in the
elevation of the host at its mass in the place of Christ. They say that the Mass is a sacrifice
for sin, in the place of Christ. They teach that any remaining
sins are burnt off in the fires of purgatory after death, in
the place of Christ, whose blood alone cleanseth us from all sin.
They preach and teach works for salvation, in the place of Christ's
finished work. And so we could go on. We have
no hesitation in denouncing Rome, and especially the Bishop of
Rome, as the very Antichrist. Now, having said this, I don't
want to be accused of Romophobia or Romanophobia. We do not hate
Roman Catholics. We love them. And we only desire
their good. Our great desire is that they
should be saved. And by the grace of God we will
have nothing to do with the ecumenical movement, or churches together,
or compromised, supposedly Protestant organisations such as the Baptist
Union and the FIEC. We seek by God's grace to obey
the scripture injunction, Wherefore come out from among them and
be ye separate, saith the Lord, and touch not the unclean thing.
and I will receive you and I will be a father unto you and ye shall
be my sons and daughters saith the Lord Almighty yes let us
hold fast our Protestantism that no man take our crown but these
are some of the things which we have that we are to hold fast
I'm sure there are other things that we can think of behold I come quickly hold that
fast which thou hast that no man take thy crown who are they
who do hold that fast which they have? well they are those whom
the Lord holds fast they are the purchase of Christ's blood
those whom he has redeemed they are those who have a real faith
and who persevere to the end again I refer you to Matthew
24 verse 12 and because iniquity shall abound
the love of many shall wax cold but he that shall endure unto
the end the same shall be saved these are the ones who hold fast
those whom Christ holds fast who persevere to the end who
have a real faith And you know there's a threefold crown reserved
for every true believer who perseveres to the end. And with this I conclude. There is a crown of righteousness. 2 Timothy chapter 4 verse 7. I have fought a good fight. I
have finished my course. I have kept the faith. Henceforth
there is laid up for me a crown of righteousness. which the Lord,
the righteous Judge, shall give me at that day, and not to me
only, but unto all them also, that love is appearing. A crown of righteousness is also
a crown of life. James chapter 1, verse 12. Blessed is the man that endureth
temptation, For when he is tried he shall receive the crown of
life which the Lord hath promised to them that love him. A crown of life. Then there's
a crown of glory. 1 Peter chapter 5 and verse 4. And when the chief shepherd shall
appear ye shall receive a crown of glory that fadeth not away. Yes, a threefold crown that the
Bishop of Rome can never wear. A crown of righteousness, a crown
of life, a crown of glory. Well, may the Lord bless his
word to us each and may he grant us grace, grace to be doers of
the word, not hearers only. Behold, I come quickly. Hold that fast which thou hast,
that no man take thy crown. Amen.