Now, if you would, open your
Bibles to the book of James, chapter 1. James, chapter 1. And the title
of the message this morning is this, Trials and the Crown of
Life. Trials and the Crown of Life.
Let me read from verse 9. Look at James 1 and verse 9.
Now, James has set the stage for the necessity and the expectation
of trials that come from God, trials that come to God's people,
trials that are not temptations to sin, but tests of faith. And
they're the workings of our Heavenly Father to show and reveal and
strengthen our faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, who is our security. And he says here in verse 9 of
James chapter 1, he says, let the brother of low degree rejoice. And that word rejoice there is
glory. Same word that Paul used in Philippians
chapter 3 and verse 3, when he says, we are the circumcision,
which worship God in spirit and rejoice in Christ Jesus and have
no confidence in the flesh. It's the same word that he wrote
in Galatians 6, 14, when he said, God forbid that I should glory. That word's translated glory
in Galatians. Here it's translated rejoice.
God forbid that I should glory, save in the cross of our Lord
Jesus Christ. So let the brother of low degree
glory. Boast is another term for that,
in that he is exalted. How can he boast? Well, he boasts
in Christ. Because Christ is our exaltation.
He doesn't boast in himself. He has no confidence in the flesh,
Philippians 3. Glory in the cross, the finished
work of Christ. That's how I'm exalted. I'm a
sinner saved by the grace of God. When Christ died, he died
for my sins. I'm not exalted because I deserve
to be. I'm not exalted because I'm worthy. Worthy as the lamb that was slain,
Revelation 5. He's worthy. And so he says in
verse 10, but the rich now, in that he is made low. Now the
brother of low degree, you know, by nature we're all of low degree
in God's sight. Did you know that? None righteous,
no not one, none good. But here he's making a distinction
between the rich and the poor in the church. And you see, it's
easier for a poor person to be humble in certain senses than
it is for a rich person. And that's why he always issues
forth warnings to the rich that they not be high-minded, that
they not be lifted up in pride. But here's what he says about
the rich, verse 10, but the rich in that he's made low. He's made
low. Now, what does all that mean?
Well, hold on. Because as the flower of the grass he shall
pass away, for the sun is no sooner risen with a burning heat,
but it withereth the grass, and the flower thereof falleth, and
the grace of the fashion of it perisheth, We know something
about that today, don't we? How many of you have the rake
leaves? You know, somebody said, aren't these leaves beautiful
when September and October comes? I said, yes, but I wish they'd
stay on the trees. But you see, they wither. That's
death. You know what that is? And you know, I love that analogy
of the fall leaves because they are so beautiful, but they're
dying. That is it, isn't it? They're
dying. And that's like the death of a believer. We're dying in
this physical body. The body is dead because of sin.
But it's a beautiful thing to a believer. Precious in the sight
of the Lord is the death of his sins. It is a beautiful thing
because it's a step into eternity. It's our being with the Lord.
And so he's using that analogy. So also the rich man fade away
in all his ways. Everything that you possess and
have in this life, He is going to go. It's fading away. It's
not eternal. It has no eternal value whatsoever.
And so he says in verse 12, Blessed is the man that endureth temptation. These testings of faith that
are from the Lord. Endurance. Same word of patience
that he used back earlier. We'll see that in a minute. For
when he is tried, when he is tested, he shall receive the
crown of life. Trials and the crown of life.
What is that crown of life? Well, the word crown there is
like a, it's more like a, it's not like a kingly crown, but
it's more like the garland that they put on the head of the one
who finished the race, like in the Olympics. And what he's talking
about is he shall receive the crown of life. He finished the
race and that's eternal life and glory forever and ever and
ever with Christ. Now, who's going to have that?
Those who endure. All right. And he says, which
the Lord hath promised, this is, now listen, now listen to
this now. He said, he said, blessed is
the man that endures temptation for when he's tried, he shall
receive the crown of life, which he has earned. Is that what that
says? No, that's what most people think,
isn't it? He's made it, you know, he's earned it. No, it says,
which the Lord hath promised to them that love him. You say, well, now there's the
condition. Oh, no, no. Now listen to me. Who loves Him?
Who loves God? Who loves Christ? Only those
who've been saved by the grace of God. And where did their love
come from? Wasn't in them naturally, was
it? It wasn't there to begin with. The only thing that's in
us by nature, because of our fallen Adam, because of our death
and our birth, as we're born dead in trespasses and sin, is
really a hatred of God. The Bible teaches in 1 John 4,
10, herein is love, not that we love God, but that he loved
us and sent his Son to be the propitiation, the sin-bearing
sacrifice that brought satisfaction to God's justice, that brought
reconciliation between God and sinners. Propitiation for our
sins. Interpret Scripture with Scripture.
Somebody says, well, you know, if you're just sitting there
reading that, you wouldn't understand all those things. Well, that's
true, because the natural man receiveth not the things of the
Spirit of God, neither can he know them. They're spiritually
discerned. But it takes some digging. It takes some study.
It takes some seeking of the Lord. These things are taught in Scripture.
But here's the crown of life. Now, go over to Revelation 2.
Brother Joe Redd, somebody might ask, well, why did he have you
read Revelation 2? Well, you know, the seven churches
of Revelation represent the church in the last days. And it's a church going through
trials. Now, the church has always gone
through trials. Believers have always gone through
trials. There's never a time on this
earth since the fall of man And the Lord brought forth his people
and began bringing his sheep into the fold that there hasn't
been trials and testings, temptations. Some of them hard trials, some
of them lighter trials. Paul called his trials, and you
know, if you survey the life of Paul in the book of Acts and
throughout the New Testament, you'd say, man, he really suffered,
but he speaks of them as our light affliction in the book
of 1 Corinthians. And the reason Paul said that
is not because the afflictions were easy, it's because that
compared to the glory to come, they're not even on the scale. But these churches are going
through trials, going through hard trials, trials with the
world, trials from Satan, trials in the flesh, all controlled
by God now, trials within. And this church at Ephesus, for
example, you know, he identifies himself here in verse one. He
speaks to the angel, the messenger of the church of Ephesus. That's
what that means. It's an angel. That word angel
means messenger. And he says, these things saith
he that holdeth the seven stars in his right hand. It's his ministers,
it's his church. And the complete completion of
the seven, that's the number of, and he holds them in his
right hand. And you know that's our salvation, that Christ holds
us in His right hand. We hold on to Him. But that's
not our salvation, you see. Our salvation is not our hold
upon Him, it's His hold on us. And it says, "...who walketh
in the midst of the golden candlesticks," the light. He says, you're the
light of the world. And He walks in, He's the heart
of the church. He's the sustainer of the church. He's the foundation of the church.
He's the rock. He's the chief cornerstone. He
holds us all together. And he is the heart of the church.
He said, there I'll be in the midst of them. He's the heart.
And he's the head of the church. So everything we are is owing
unto him. Everything we stay and continue
to be, we owe unto him. And everything we will be, we
owe unto him. And it's by virtue of his finished
work on Calvary. That we're saved, saved, saved. Are you saved? People ask that
question. Saved from what? Saved from sin.
Saved from the curse of the law. Saved from myself. That's what
salvation is. How were you saved? I'm saved
by the blood of the Christ. What can wash away my sins? Nothing. And I mean nothing but
the blood of Jesus. Nothing else can do it. And he
did it all. The blood of Christ cleanses
us from all sin. All sin. Some say, well, every
sin except original sin. If that's so, we're doomed. It
cleansed me from the waters of baptism didn't cleanse me from
original sin or any sin. The blood of Christ cleanses
me from sin. Well, this church at Ephesus,
they had gone through some trials. You know, Paul spoke to the elders
at Ephesus in Acts chapter 20 and he said, he said, dangerous
wolves are coming to devour the church. And he said, you, you
be faithful to preach the word of God, to lead men to Christ.
But over a period of time, this church had been through so many
trials and what they did, they lost their first love. They lost
their zeal, their original zeal. You remember When you first came
to a knowledge of Christ, how zealous you were and how fervent
you were and how on fire you were to tell people and to witness.
And then after what, you know, you run up against so many brick
walls so many times, you think everybody in the world wants
to hear this, but you find out very few do. And you just kind
of wane off, you know, and you say, well, is it all worth it?
Well, it is, but they lost their first love. And so he rebukes
And in verse 8, he talks about the church of Smyrna, how they
had gone through trials too. Listen to how he identifies himself
in verse 8. He says, these things saith the
first and the last, which was dead and is alive. That's Christ,
the author and finisher of our faith. How do we run the race
of grace? You know, we're going to be talking
about a crown of life now. That's the wreath, that's the
garland that he wears on his head. How do you finish the race?
Under your own power? Under your own strength? No,
sir. He who is first and last, the Alpha and the Omega, the
second person of the Trinity, Jesus Christ, the Son of God,
who is very man of very man. And He started it all and He
finished it all and we're with Him. That's how we finish the
race. And He was dead, He died, that's
our salvation. He's alive, that's our salvation.
He died, was buried and rose again the third day. Because
He put away our sins, He made an end of sin, He finished the
transgression, He brought in everlasting righteousness, He
was made sin. Christ who knew no sin, that
we might be made the righteousness of God in Him and live forever. Receive the crown of life. That's
what He says in verse 9, I know thy works, thine tribulation,
poverty, but you're rich. You may be poor in the eyes of
the world, you may not have a big bank account, you may not own
a lot of land, but you're rich because you're rich in Christ.
He's our treasure. And that treasure will last.
All the other will fade away. And he says, I know the blasphemy
of them that say they are Jews and are not, but of the synagogue
of Satan. They say they're believers. That's what that means. He says
in verse 10, fear none of those things which thou shalt suffer.
Talking about suffering. Behold, the devil shall cast
some of you into prison. Some of you all are going to
jail. What if you got a letter from one of the apostles that
told you you were going to prison? What would you think? First thing
you'd probably think is like me, Lord, what am I doing wrong? Everything. Do I deserve that? That's what
we think. But what he's talking about,
he says, that you may be tried, tested, that your faith may be
tested. Who are you dependent upon? Who are you looking to?
Who are you living for? Whose glory? Is it for yourself
or is it for Christ? And he says you shall have tribulation
ten days. I believe that shows that this
is a complete work. And be thou faithful unto death
and I will give thee a crown of life. There's that crown of
life again. Now go back to the book of James.
What's the design of all this? It's the comfort and direct believers
under heavy trials. Rich believers, poor believers,
and everybody in between. Trials are from God. We've seen
that. They're one of the greatest evidences
of His love for His people and that we are His children. Hebrews
12 teaches that. Saving faith will be tried. Trials
reveal and strengthen faith. They don't create faith, but
they reveal it. They strengthen it. They promote
endurance. Look back here in James chapter
1. You remember verse 3? Knowing
this, that the trying, the testing of your faith worketh patience.
That word patience is endurance. That's endurance. That has to
do with perseverance of the saints. You see, that's a testimony that
That once God saves you, you will remain saved. You know,
people say, oh, once saved, always saved. That means you can go
out and, you know, no, no, no. No, there's an endurance there.
There's a perseverance there in the faith. And he says in
verse four, let patience have her perfect work. There's a completion
there that you may be complete and entire, lacking nothing.
In Christ, I have everything that God requires of me. And
one day I'll be like him, perfect before God. These trials make
us useful servants. A person who's never tried is
a useless person in the kingdom of God. These trials identify us with
Christ. These trials wean us away from
the world, let us value nothing on this earth any more than we'll
value it in eternity. That's what he's talking about
here in our text. He says, the rich that he's made low, because
as the flower of the grass, he shall pass away. You who are
rich, you cannot buy your way into eternity. You cannot live
forever on this earth. Just like the poor man, the rich
man will die. That's what he's saying. Lazarus
and the rich man. You remember that parable? Lazarus
died, the rich man died too. His riches didn't prolong his
life. Now we might say, well, it could
for a little while because they can hook you up to a machine
today and somebody can pay for it. Well, if you call that living,
that's okay. But I don't. I don't call that
living. In fact, most of you, if I would
ask you that question, do you want somebody to hook you up
to a breathing machine and keep you alive? You would probably
say no. Many of you probably have living wills. That prevents
that, I do. I don't want to be just laying
there like a vegetable, just something else breathing, that's
dead. So don't ever think that money can prolong your life in
that sense. Evaluate everything this world
has to offer in the light of death, in the light of judgment,
in the light of eternity. Because everything we see and
touch and possess will pass away, that's what he's saying here.
The greatest house will fall. You know, they talk about the
seven wonders of the ancient world. If you go try to see the
seven wonders of the ancient world, you know what you'll see?
Ruins. That's all you'll see. Some of
them you'll see nothing. Because there's seven wonders
of the ancient world. Doesn't sound too wonderful to
me. The finest clothes will wear out. The healthiest body will
die. But he that does the will of
God, the scripture says, will abide forever. Now, who is it
that does the will of God? All sinners who look to Christ
and rest in Him. The Bible says, Psalm 125 and
verse 1, They that trust in the Lord shall be as Mount Zion,
which cannot be removed, but abided forever. What is Mount
Zion? It's a picture of the church. And Christ said, upon this rock
himself and his finished work, I will build my church and the
gates of hell will not prevail against it. It will last forever. You see, your spiritual family,
your spiritual home, your spiritual state is the only thing that's
going to last forever. In 1 John 2, verse 17, he said,
And the world passeth away in the lust thereof, but he that
doeth the will of God abideth forever. Look to Christ. Peter
spoke of the Word of God which abided forever. The only thing
that really matters, the only thing that's really of any eternal
value is salvation by God's grace in Christ. Eternal life in Christ
is the crown of life. Let me show you some things about
this crown. First of all, it's the crown of grace. This is what
he talks about. Look at it in verse 9 again of
James 1. He says, Let the brother of low
degree glory in that he's exalted. He's lifted up. Now, the way
he's speaking here has to do with how God does things as opposed
to how the world does it. How God sees things as opposed
to how the world sees it. You know, the world looks at
a poor person and they say, well, that person's cursed or that
person's done something wrong or that person doesn't work hard
enough or doesn't do this or doesn't do that. And then they
look at the rich person and say, well, he must be doing everything
right. He must be working harder. But you see, there's an exaltation
to the poor. And then, verse 10, but the rich
and that he's made low. There's a humbling of the rich.
Now, it's not that when a poor, it's not that when God saves
a poor person, that person is not humbled because we're all
humbled when God saves us. One of the Holy Spirit's great
works in conviction is to convince us of sin, and that's everybody.
That's not just the rich, that's the poor too. We are all, we
all come to see when the Holy Spirit shows us ourselves and
shows us the glory of God's grace in Christ, we all see that we
are spiritually poor and have nothing, nothing to earn salvation,
nothing to deserve it, nothing to recommend us unto God. The
Bible says, blessed are the poor in spirit. That's the ones whom
the Holy Spirit has brought to see their spiritual poverty.
Everybody's spiritually poor, but everybody doesn't know it
until the Holy Spirit brings us to see it. But now he says,
the poor man is exalted in the sense that he is made rich in
Christ. That's what he's talking about.
Rich in the grace of God. And the rich man is brought low
in that he's seen that the only hope that he has is the grace
of God in Christ. He has not. All the things that
he owns and all the things that he takes pleasure in in this
life, he comes to see that they mean nothing. That they're going
to fade away. That they're tainted with sin.
And that only thing he has to recommend him unto God is the
blood and the righteousness of the Lord Jesus Christ. And so
what you have here is equality. And it's an equality of grace.
This crown of grace, this crown of life, which is a crown of
grace, is given to all who come to Christ for salvation. It's
a crown of grace. And it's freely given to all
who come to Him so that we are all equally justified in Christ
by His blood. You know, there's not one person
in this building who knows Christ who is more justified than another. That just doesn't happen. We
are all equally justified in Him. We are all equally righteous
in Him. There are some of you who may
have more gifts than others, but you have no greater standing
before God than you can have in Christ. No greater standing. And we're all equally saved.
equally entitled to heaven through Him. You see, this is not a crown
that you've earned or deserved. It's not a crown that you've
worked hard for. It's a crown of grace. It's given
freely to all who are in Christ. And you know, equality is really
driven home through trials, because we all suffer trials. Poor and
rich, sick and healthy, it's equal to all. Grace is the only
way we triumph over these trials. And that's the only way. He who
started the work will bring it to its completion and finish
it. And then secondly, this is a crown of endurance. Look at
verse 12. He says, Blessed is the man that
endureth temptation, for when he's tested, tried, he shall
receive the crown of life, which the Lord hath promised to them
that love him. It's a crown of endurance. This
crown, which is the completion of all things that God has in
store for His people in Christ, this crown is only given through
trials. Now, there are some who claim
to believe who will not receive this crown. I want to show you
that. Turn over to Matthew chapter
13. This is the parable of the sower and the seed. Remember, the Lord represented
Himself and His preachers here as going out and preaching the
gospel, sowing forth the seed. And it fell on different kinds
of ground. Some fell by the wayside, some fell on the hard, stony
ground, some fell among thorns, and some fell on good ground.
Well, listen to what it says in verse 18 of Matthew 13. He
says, Hear ye therefore the parable of the sower. He says, when anyone
heareth the word of the kingdom, that's the preaching of the gospel
like I'm doing to you right now, preaching to myself, preaching
the gospel of Christ. When anyone hears that and understands
it not, then cometh the wicked one, and catcheth the way that
which was sown in his heart, and this is he which received
seed by the wayside. Now, he received it in his mind
in the sense that he heard it, and he knew what was being said.
But he didn't understand it savingly, and it walks away unaffected.
In verse 20, it says, He that receiveth the seed into stony
places, the same as he that heareth the word, and anon, or immediately,
with joy receiveth it. But now look at verse 21. Yet
hath he not rooted himself, but dureth, or endureth for a while,
for when tribulation, trials, or persecution arises because
of the Word, by and by, he's offended. He stumbles over it. He can't take that, and he leaves
it. And then verse 22, it says, He
also that receiveth seed among the thorns is he that heareth
the Word, and the care of this world, and the deceitfulness
of riches choke the Word, and he become unfruitful. Now, those
are the two who claim to believe it for a while, but then leave
it. Now, what did James say? What did the book of Revelation
say? He that endureth shall receive the crown of life. And so, in
verse 23, it says, But he that receiveth seed into the good
ground is he that heareth the word and understandeth it, which
also beareth fruit, and bringeth forth some an hundredfold, some
sixty, and some thirty. That's the born-again believer.
That's the sinner saved by the grace of God. Now, turn to 1
John, chapter 2. Now, let me tell you this. If we endure unto the end, it's
only by the grace of God. Isn't that right? Again, it's
not by our own power. It's not because we're better
than the stony ground here or better than the thorny ground
here. It's only by the grace of God. That's why Christ, when
He talked to His disciples about trials and tribulations and how
they would suffer persecution in John 15 and John 16, He concluded
John 16 by saying this. Now, you look at 1 John 2, but
let me just read you John 16, 33. He says, These things I have
spoken unto you, that in me you might have peace in Christ. Not
in the world. He says, in the world you shall
have tribulation, but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world. He didn't say, be of good cheer,
you have overcome the world. He says, be of good cheer, I
have overcome the world. You see, our victory is in Him.
But look at 1 John chapter 2, look at verse 18. Now look at verse 17. He says,
the world passeth away. Remember what he's telling the
rich man there in James chapter 1. He says in verse 17, the world
passeth away and the lust thereof, all of its desires, will pass
away too. All of its unlawful desires.
But he that doeth the will of God abideth forever. Now he says
in verse 18, little children, it is the last time. This is
the last days, John said, and those days referring to the days
between the resurrection and ascension of the Lord into glory
and his second coming. And he says, and as you have
heard that Antichrist shall come, even now are there many Antichrists,
the spirit of Antichrist, whereby we know that it's the last time.
And look at verse 19, and here's how he describes them. They went
out from us. They left. But they were not
of us, they were never true children of God. He says, for if they
had been of us, they would no doubt have continued with us,
but they went out that they might be made manifest that they were
not all of us. Verse 20, but you have an unction,
that's a power, a dynamic, from the Holy One, and you know all
things. You're not going to leave. All
of these issues of endurance, this is how this crown of life,
it's a crown of endurance. It comes through trials. Christ
spoke of that in Revelation 2. He said, those who are faithful
unto death, I will give thee a crown of life. But here's the
third thing. It is truly a crown of life. Though many of God's servants
have died is still a crown of life. Their death was not the
end. We see that in the first act of murder that ever happened
when Cain murdered Abel. Cain killed Abel, but Abel's
death, through that death, he received a crown of life. In
the book of Matthew chapter 10, In verse 22, the Lord speaking
to His disciples, He says, you shall be hated of all men for
My name's sake. But He says, but he that endureth
to the end shall be saved. And then He tells them, He says,
but when they persecute you in this city, flee to another. You
go to another. Just keep on preaching. Turn
to 1 Corinthians chapter 9. Let me show you this one. Paul
here likens the life of a believer the life of grace to run in a
race. And he says in verse 24 of 1
Corinthians 9, he says, No ye not that they
which run in a race run all, but one receiveth the prize. So run that you may obtain. Now that's significant. He's not saying run that you
may earn. I want you to hold on to that
thought that you may obtain. And he says, and every man that
striveth for the mastery is temperate in all things. Now, they do it
to obtain a corruptible crown. It's like an athlete. He trains
for the Olympics, for example. If he doesn't train, he's not
going to finish the race. They do it to obtain a corruptible
crown. That's going to fade away. Even
the gold medals and silver medals in the bronze, that's going to
fade away. But we are incorruptible. In our endurance and patience,
in our seeking to obtain the crown of life, we're doing it
for something that's incorruptible. Now, why is it incorruptible?
Because we don't have anything to do with it as far as earning
it or deserving it or working it. It's Christ. And he says
in verse 26, I therefore so run, not as uncertainly, so finite,
not as one that beateth the air, but I keep under my body and bring it into subjection,
lest that by any means, when I preach to others, I myself
should be a castaway or disqualified." Now, this crown of life is a
crown of grace, it's a crown of life, it's a crown of endurance,
but you see, it's not a way by which we earn life. Now, turn
to Colossians chapter 1. the book of Colossians, chapter
1. And the reason I want you to
see this is because these are some of the if statements of
Scripture. You know what an if statement
is. It's like, if you, if you, if you. And he says in verse
19 of Colossians, chapter 1, look at this with me. He said,
For it pleased the Father that in him, that's in Christ, should
all fullness dwell. That's the fullness of the Father,
the fullness of the Son, the fullness of the Spirit. In Colossians
2 and verse 9, it says, "...in him dwelleth all the fullness
of the Godhead bodily." And verse 20, "...and having made peace
through the blood of his cross." That's peace between God and
sinners. Now, how is that made? You see,
somebody says, well, now, you need to get right with God. You
need to make your peace with God. Well, what he's saying here
is peace has already been made. How? By the blood of Christ.
And he says, "...by him to reconcile all things unto himself." We're
reconciled unto God by the death of Christ. God not imputing our
trespasses unto us. He says that in 2 Corinthians
5. In other words, God didn't charge His people with their
sins, He charged them to Christ. And so he says, by him I say
whether they be things in earth or things in heaven, and you
that were sometime alienated and enemies in your mind by wicked
works yet now hath he reconciled. Now those who were by nature
alienated, that's separated from God, and enemies of God in their
minds by wicked works, that includes the most religious to the most
immoral, anybody without Christ. And that's the kind of people
he reconciled through the blood of his cross. In other words,
he didn't reconcile, he didn't bring together God and people
who deserved to be there. He didn't bring together God
and people who earned their way there. He didn't bring together
God and people who were qualified by their works or by their pedigree
or by their promises to do better. It was
people who were alienated and enemies. Think about that. Now, what kind of salvation is
that? That's grace. That's what that is. That's sovereign
grace. That's the only thing you can
say. You know, people run around all over the place, religiously
in this country, talking about, well, God will do this if you'll
do that. If you'll just make your decision
for Christ, that's not what this book says. Not at all. And it says in verse 22, look
here, now he's reconciled us, it says, "...in the body of his
flesh through death," you see that? "...to present you holy
and unblameable and unreprovable in his sight." Now how in the
world can those who by nature are alienated and enemies be
holy and unblameable? That means you can't lay any
blame to them. And unreprovable, you can't even correct them,
he says. In his sight now, how is that possible? By the blood
of Christ. In his righteousness alone. But
now look at verse 23. He says, If you continue in the
faith, grounded and settled, be not moved away from the hope
of the gospel which you have heard, and which was preached
to every creature which is under heaven, whereby Paul made a minister.
If you continue. There's two ways of looking at
an if statement. You can look at an if statement
as a conditional statement. In other words, this is something
that will happen if you meet a certain condition and qualify. The second way to look at an
if statement is evidence. In other words, this is true
of you if the evidence is there. I'll give you I'll give you an
example. Now a conditional if statement.
You will get paid at the end of the month if you work your
job. That's a conditional if statement.
You won't get paid if you don't work the job. Right? That's conditional. Now let me give you an evidence,
an evidential if statement. You are alive if you breathe. You're not alive. Your breathing
does not give you life. For example, you were alive before
you were ever born, when you were conceived in your mother's
womb. I know they argue about that today, but that's crazy.
Is it a human being or is it a human life? That's crazy. That's
just the reasonings of the natural man wanting to justify himself
in sin and at his own convenience, and so forth. They have abortion
and justify it. That's murder. You're murdering
a human being. Somebody says, well, that's the
mother's body. No, that's another body inside her body. But you see, Breathing is not
a condition you meet in order to obtain physical life. Breathing
is the evidence that you're already physically alive. And what this
is is an evidential if statement. It's not you will get the crown
of life, you will make it to heaven if you meet the condition.
Christ has already met all the conditions. He's already met
all the qualifications, all the stipulations, all the requirements.
What are those requirements? He had to die to satisfy the
justice of God. He had to bring in everlasting
righteousness. God had to be just to justify
the ungodly. Those conditions were met at
the cross. And out of that experience of
his death comes what? Life. Christ taught that. He said, and I, if I be lifted
up, will draw all men unto me. If he died, there's going to
be life to his people. He met that condition. Now, how
do I know if I'm one of his people? What's the evidence? I'll be
born again by the Spirit. I'll be given life. I'll breathe
spiritually. What is spiritual breath? It's
faith. It's repentance. It's prayer. It's endurance.
The continuing here is not a condition that we meet in order to obtain
or attain or earn the crown. The continuing here is the evidence
that we're born again by the Spirit. That when that seed was
sown, it was sown on good ground, good not in itself, but made
good by the grace of God. And so if you continue, let me
show you one more. Turn to Hebrews chapter three. And this is a
crown of life. Which has which the Lord has
promised to them that love him, and the only reason we love him
is because he first loved us. Let me show you this one. Talking
about how Christ is the builder of his own house, his own household,
his own family, the builder of the church. And he says in verse
six of Hebrews three, but Christ as a son over his own house,
his own household. Whose house are we? We're members
of that household. How do you know if you're members
of his household, his church? If we hold fast the confidence
and the rejoicing of the hope from unto the end, if you hold
fast. That's the evidence that you're a member of his household.
Holding fast doesn't make you a member of his household. Holding
fast is the evidence that you're a member of his household. How
are you born into your earthly families? You're born into them,
right? You didn't meet qualifications. You didn't meet conditions. You
may have problems when you're in there. But you're still a
child of your family, of your mom and your daddy. No matter
what you were born into. And listen to this, he says,
whose house are we if we hold fast? What? The confidence. What
is our confidence? Not in ourselves, not in our
holding fast. Our confidence is in Christ.
We glory in Christ Jesus. Our confidence is in Him. And
then he says, the rejoicing of the hope, firm unto them. What
is our hope? It's the certain expectation of the crown of life,
of final glory in heaven. Because Christ has met all conditions,
met all stipulations, met all requirements. You see that? These are the issues of the crown
of life. Now, let me show you this. Turn
to Revelation 4, and I'll conclude with this one. You know, Paul called this crown
of life. In another place, in 2 Timothy,
he called it a crown of righteousness. I like that. Well, whose righteousness
is he talking about? He's talking about Christ, not
us. And this crown of life, it's
the reward of grace. It's not of debt. It's called
a crown because of the glory of it. It's called a crown of
life because it's for eternity and it will not fade away. Well,
what will we do with our crown? Now, here in Revelation 4, look
at verse 9. He starts off here, he says, when those beasts give
glory. Now the beast there, you know, in the Revelation, there's
two kinds of beasts. There's the wild, untamed beast. That
represents the enemies of Christ and his church. False preachers. And then there's the servants
of God who are represented as beasts of burden, beasts of service.
Ministers. That's what this is talking about.
When those beasts, those servants of Christ, give glory and honor
and thanks to him that sat on the throne, who liveth forever
and ever, The four and twenty elders fall down before him that
sat on the throne, and worshiped him that liveth for ever and
ever, and cast their crowns before the throne, saying, Thou art
worthy, O Lord, to receive glory, and honor, and power." You see,
this is not a distribution of earned rewards at all. It's a recognition of the grace
and the power and the glory of God in my salvation, not only
in bringing me to a saving knowledge of Christ, but keeping me and
bringing me unto glory itself. Thou art worthy, O Lord, to receive
glory and honor and power, for Thou hast created all things,
and that includes the new creation, for we are His workmanship created
in Christ Jesus Unto good works, not because of, unto good works,
which God hath before ordained, that we should walk in them.
And for thy pleasure they are and were created." There's your
crowns. That's the crown of life. The
crown of grace, the crown of endurance, and the crown of life.
All right. Let's sing Rock of Ages as our closing hymn. Hymn
number 126. Rock of Ages.