Turn your Bible back to the book
of Revelation chapter 4. I want to read two verses. Make it three before we have
our prayer and get into the message. Verse 4 and then verse 10 and
11 of the fourth chapter of the book of Revelation. And round
about the throne were four and twenty seats, and upon the seats
I saw four twenty elders sitting, clothed in white raiment, and
they had on their heads crowns of gold. Then in verse 10, the
four and twenty elders fall down before him that sat on the throne
and worshiped him that liveth forever and ever, and cast their
crowns before the throne, saying, Thou are worthy, O Lord, to receive
glory and honor and power, for Thou hast created all things,
and for Thy pleasure they are and were created. I think probably the majority
of you were here last week when we brought the message on the
420 elders on the subject of rewards. And this morning I announced
last week that I'd be bringing a companion message today to
that message. And by the grace of God, we will.
I believe and am convicted in my own heart that it would certainly
be, that it would be all right if we managed to preach that
sermon again over about two or three times because I think that,
according to the response I got from it, that people wanted to
hear that, desired to hear it, and it was a blessing to them.
Now then, I'd like to say this morning, at the very outset,
before we review briefly some of the things that we said last
week and get into the message this morning, I'd like to say
that this service today, along with all the services held in
this Baptist Church, is to the honor and glory of the Lord Jesus
Christ. We're here for His glory. We're
here for His honor. We're here to exalt Christ. Our
message will be all about Jesus Christ, all about Christ. And
if you're yet bowing at the altar, of human pride and human merit
and free will, then you will not find anything in this message
this morning that will be of any comfort to you. If you're
here this morning and you love Christ and you desire to know
of Him, and if you want to sit under a ministry where Christ
is exalted, where Christ is preached, where the whole message is about
Him, then, beloved, I believe you've come to the right place
this morning. And I just trust that God will be pleased to give
us the enablement be true to the call which He's
given us. And I believe God called me to
be a preacher, and I believe He called me to be a preacher
of the gospel, and I believe the gospel is Christ, and I believe
Christ is the children's bread, and I believe that when Christ
is preached, God's people will rejoice, and there will be a
hope held forth to sinners, the lost sinners, to be brought into
the saving knowledge and form of our God. Now, that much for
an opening statement. Let's review just briefly some
of the things we had to say this last weekend. You remember what
I said, these twenty and four elders, that they were represented
or were symbolic representatives of all the Church of God, all
the elect family of God, all the people of God. And these
420 elders, we brought forward about 8 things that characterize
the people of God in the eternal glory. And I showed you that
these 8 things, we found them in the 4th and 5th chapters of
the book of Revelation here, set forth the character of the
people of God throughout all eternity. Those things that would
characteristic of the 420 elders are characteristics of the redeemed
family of God when they're all assembled in glory. And secondly,
We talked about who would be crowned in heaven. And we showed
you that all the living family, all God's people, all the elect
family are crowned in heaven. And all their crowns are the
same. And we do not believe, as we pointed out, that form
of doctrine that says that there are degrees of reward, degrees
of glory, degrees of happiness. Among the redeemed we said we
do not serve our God being motivated by a desire for gain either temporal
or eternal But we serve being motivated by gratitude and love
as Paul said the love of Christ constrains us I'm just giving
you a little quick review of what we said last week and thirdly
there are no degrees of reward in heaven we stress that And
we read some out of Matthew chapter 20, if you recall the parable
there. And how did this run, this idea that there are degrees
of glory, degrees of happiness, degrees of reward in heaven.
How did this run contrary to the gospel of the Lord Jesus
Christ? And we gave you five reasons
why we reject this heresy, the mercenary doctrine of degrees
of reward in heaven. Now that's what we spent our
time doing this past Sunday when we were preaching. Now this morning
I want to take up this subject again and attempt as I can, by
the help of God, to set forth some things that I believe to
be very, very important. Now if you cannot turn with me
to the scriptures, I have several references this morning to give
you. Just listen carefully, and if
you have a pencil and a little piece of paper or somewhere where
you can just jot down these references, then you can read them a little
later. You can read them this week in
your meditation and in your study. But reading through the New Testament,
through the New Testament, I find that there are five separate
and distinct crowns that are promised to believers. There
are five distinct crowns that are promised to believers in
the New Testament. Now, I want to give you these
five crowns and show you in the scripture where they're mentioned.
and then I want to explain to you the significance of these
crowns. Now, first of all, let's notice
that there is an incorruptible crown which is promised in the
Word of God in the New Testament, which is a reward of perseverance. Now, you listen now as I bring
these things to you, and after we've given you these five references
and showed you these five different crowns, and we will explain something
that I believe will help you to understand about these crowns
and about the recipients of them. But first of all, there is this
incorruptible crown. If you would turn to 1 Corinthians,
1 Corinthians chapter 9, I'd like to read to you, beginning
here with verse 24, read through verse 27. 1 Corinthians 9, 24
through 27. Listen, know ye not that they
which run in a race run all, but one receiveth the prize?
So run, that ye may obtain it. And every man that striveth for
the mastery is tempered at all things. Now they do it to obtain
a corruptible crown, but we an incorruptible. I therefore so
run, not as uncertainly, So fight I not as one that be the fear,
but I keep unto my body, and bring it into subjection, lest
that by any means, when I have preached to others, I myself
should be a castaway." So Paul mentions here in verse 25 how
that men run in a race to obtain a corruptible crown, but we run
in a race, and the people of God are in a race, And we run
in this race to obtain an incorruptible, an incorruptible crown. Now,
like runners in a race, believers press on. We're pressing on. The people of God are moving
forward. They are moving. They are moving,
as I said, and they are pressing forward on to the end. And he that finishes the race
wins the prize. But there is no crown for those
who quit. There is no crown for those who
fall to the wayside. There is a crown for those who
persevere unto the end. And they that persevere unto
the end will be saved. Now you just listen and you follow
and you'll understand what I'm saying in just a few moments.
Turn to Philippians chapter 3. Philippians chapter 3. And let
me read there from Paul's letter to this church something that
I believe is very significant at this point. We read verse
13 and 14. of Philippians chapter 3, where
Paul said, brethren, I count not myself to have apprehended,
but this one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind,
and reaching forth unto those things which are before, I press
toward the mark for the prize of a high calling of God in Christ
Jesus. Now, you get the picture here.
The apostle Paul admits that he's not yet finished the race.
He admits that he's not yet received all for which the Lord has has
laid hold of him, but he says, this is what I'm doing. In the
meantime, he said, I'm forgetting those things which are behind,
all the failings, the past weaknesses, and all the mistakes that were
made, and all the blunders that I've made. I forget all those
things, and reaching forward unto those things which are before.
That's the posture of a child of God this morning. They're
reaching forward under those things which are before them.
Paul says, I press toward the mark for the prize of the high
calling of God in Christ Jesus. Now, one who has been redeemed
by the blood of Christ and one who is indwelt by the Holy Spirit
cannot help but press on. And God helped me to be, as it
were, reaching forth, that's the language of Paul, unto those
things which are before us. And that's exactly what we're
doing this morning if we're children of God. We are not those who
quit. And those who say, well, I've
made this blunder, I've made this awful mistake, and this
is plaguing me, and it curses me, and it bothers me, and I'm
just going to give it up. No, the people of God are not
quitters. The Lord's people are those who believe to the saving
of the soul. And they believe that God has
a hold upon them. and that it is His will that
they persevere, and the righteous shall hold to His way. The righteous
is not about to turn about from His way and to quit. I'm not
saying that they don't fall seven times, but I'm saying when they
fall seven times, they shall be lifted up. I'm saying that
God's people will persevere, and they will receive the incorruptible
crown. Now, if you want to turn to Hebrews,
chapter 12, I'd like to read to you a scripture there. This
is a blessing to me, and I'd like for you to look at it with
me, if you will, Hebrews chapter 12, where it says in verses one
through three, wherefore seeing we also are compassed about with
so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight,
and the sin which doth so easily beset us, and let us run with
patience the race that is set before us, looking unto Jesus,
the author and the finisher of our faith, who for the joy that
was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and
is set down at the right hand of the throne of God. For consider
him that endured such contradiction of sinners against himself, lest
ye be weary and faint in your minds. Now, brother and sister,
I would not mislead anyone that those who persevere receive the
incorruptible crown. Those who persevere unto the
end, those that stay in the way of the Lord, Those who continue
to reach forth and to press toward the prize of the high calling
of God in Christ Jesus are those that certainly they're having
difficulty and they're having problems in this world and there's
sins that easily beset them. They're exhorted here to lay
them aside and run with patience to run expecting and believing
the race that is set before them and they're exhorted to look
Look somewhere, they're exhorted to look unto Jesus, who is the
author of their faith, and the finisher of their faith, and
they're exhorted to look to Him, who for the joy that was set
before Him endured the cross, despised the shame, and is set
down at the right hand of the throne of God. It says, for considering
Him that endured such contradiction of sinners against Himself, And
you remember how that Jesus Christ endured the contradiction of
sinners, how that he was spat upon, how that his beard was
plucked from his face, how that he was horribly mistreated, and
how that he was afflicted by the hands of sinners, lest ye
be weary in fainting your mind. lest you be weary. And so we're
to look to the Lord Jesus Christ. And so what I'm saying is that
the people of God are a tested and tried people and they endure
a great deal of struggle and a lot of problems in this world,
but they're exhorted to continue looking unto the Lord Jesus Christ. And those that persevere unto
the end shall receive this incorruptible crown. Now, the second crown
that I mention is this. It's a crown of life, and this
is the reward of faithfulness. Turn to Revelation chapter 2
and look at verse 10. Revelation 2 and verse 10. Fear none of those things which
thou shalt suffer. Behold, the devil shall cast
some of you into prison, that ye may be tried, and ye shall
have tribulation ten days. Be thou faithful unto death,
and I will give thee a crown of life. Turn to James now, chapter
1, and look at verse 12. James 1 and 12. Listen here as we read this scripture. This scripture was a blessing
to me as I looked at it this morning, and I believe it will
be a blessing to you. James chapter 1 and verse 12. Listen to it. 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. And so we have this crown of
life for faithfulness. Now, those whose faith is destroyed
by their trials never really had true faith. They shall perish
because they had not the true faith of the gospel. But those
who are faithful, enduring the trials, prove that their faith
is genuine. They prove that their faith is
the gift of God and it is the very faith of Christ. The very
faith of Christ prevails over all trials and over all tribulations. The faith of Christ. And Paul
said that he lived by the faith of the Son of God. He lived by
that faith which Jesus had in him when he was in the world.
That's the faith that all the people of God have within them.
And that faith, that faith, while sometimes we feel it to be weak,
and sometimes we feel that that faith is not going to endure,
but, beloved, it will endure if it be the faith of Christ.
It will endure unto the end. Now then, thirdly, let's go on
here and hurry, because we've got a lot of things we want to
try to say this morning. And they also shall have the
crown of life. This crown of life, which we
just mentioned, they will have that crown in their faithful.
But thirdly, a crown of righteousness is promised to all who love Christ
and his appearing. Turn to 2 Timothy, chapter 4. We're talking now about a crown
of righteousness. which is laid up for those who
love the Lord Jesus Christ and His appearing. I want you to
look at 2 Timothy chapter 4, and I want to read here verses
6 through 8. For I am now ready to be offered.
This is the Apostle Paul, and he is in prison. And he says,
I'm ready to be offered, and the time of my departure is at
hand. He says, I've fought a good fight,
I've 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 in that day, and not to me
only, but to all them also that love his Spirit. All those that
love His appearing shall receive a crown of righteousness. Now, all who love Christ and
love His appearing shall receive this crown, and I believe that
all believers do. All the children of God. Can
you imagine any child of God in this world who does not love,
would not love Christ or would not love the appearance of the
Lord Jesus? Would not want Christ to return
to earth? Would not want the will of God to be done on earth
as it is in heaven? Where is the man or woman who
has faith in their heart, the faith of Christ, who has experienced
regeneration, who would not want to see the coming of Jesus Christ
today in this world? I want you to turn to 1 Corinthians
chapter 16. First Corinthians, chapter 16,
if you will, and I want to read verse 22 to you, and I think
after I've read you this verse that you will agree with me 100%
on that statement. First Corinthians 16, verse 22,
if any man love not the Lord Jesus Christ, let him be anathema
maranatha. If any man don't love Jesus Christ,
if you know anybody loves not Christ, And if a man loved Christ,
he would certainly want Him to come. And if any man loved Christ,
he would want His superiority. And so if any man loved not the
Lord Jesus Christ, let him be an act of a barren act. Let him
go to hell, Paul said, when the Lord does come. Just let him
go to hell if he doesn't love Christ and love His superiority.
And so what I'm saying is that those who receive this crown
of righteousness that Paul is talking about is all believers,
because all believers do love Christ and they love His superiority. All right, and then fourthly,
I find in the scriptures the crown of rejoicing. How that
this crown of rejoicing shall be bestowed upon all those who
seek the salvation of God's elect. Turn to 1 Thessalonians, 1 Thessalonians
chapter 2. 1 Thessalonians 2, and I want
to read there verses 19 and 20. 1 Thessalonians 2, verse 19 and
20. For what is our hope, or joy,
or frown of rejoicing? Are not even ye in the presence
of our Lord Jesus Christ at his coming? For ye are our glory
and joy. Now let me say something about
hope. It's not saying in this text that I glory and rejoice
in the fact that I was the instrument of your conversion. No, he was
not doing that. But hope is a faithful servant
of God, and a faithful servant of God does not swell with pride
because of his service. Now I can prove that to you if
you'll turn with me to 1 Corinthians chapter 3 and look at verse 7. 1 Corinthians 3 and verse 7. I want you to know the word of
God. If you're going to ever amount to anything as a Christian,
you're going to have to know this book. And if you'll read
and study and meditate upon the word of God, You'll know these
teachings, whether they be of God or whether or not they be
of man. Now listen, 1 Corinthians 3 and verse 7. So then, he says,
I'm showing you that a servant of God, a true servant of God,
is not a man filled with pride, swelled with pride, because God
has made him an instrument in the salvation of God's elect. That's what Paul's saying. Listen
to verse 7 here of 1 Corinthians 3. So then, Neither is he that
planteth anything, that's a man who plants the Word of God. Neither
is he that watereth, but God that giveth the increase. But
God that gives increase. So Paul is saying that the man
that does the planting and the watering is nothing. It's God
that gives the increase and the glory belongs to God for the
salvation of the elect. But beloved, to be an instrument
of God in the salvation of the elect of God, I believe, is to
have joy in that you see that God is bringing his family in
and that you see that Christ is having the children that the
Father has given to him and that they're coming into the fold
and there is a crowd rejoicing and that is bestowed upon all
of those who seek the salvation of God's elect, and we're all
in this business of seeking God's elect. Now then, fifthly, let
me give you this, well, there's a couple other verses we could
read, but I think I'd better hurry off because the time is
getting away from us. Well, next I want to show you that there's
a crown of glory promised in the scripture to all those who
are in a vital union with the Lord Jesus Christ. Turn, if you
will, to the book of Peter, the book of 1 Peter, and I want to
read from the 5th chapter, verses 1 through 5. 1 Peter, chapter
5, verses 1 through 5. The elders which are among you
I exhort, who am also an elder and witness of the suffering
of Christ, and also a partaker of the glory that shall be revealed.
Feed the flock of God which is among you, taking the oversight
thereof, not by constraint, but willingly, not for filthy lucre,
but of a ready mind. neither as being lords over God's
heritage, but being examples to the Father. And when the chief
shepherd shall appear, he shall receive a crown of glory that
fadeth not away." Now this crown of glory that is mentioned here
by Peter is a crown of glory that is given to those who are
protectors of the glory that shall be redeemed. in the Lord
Jesus Christ in that day. And certainly, as we'll prove
in a little while, out of the Word of God, all of those that
are in the Lord Jesus Christ will be protectors of that glory.
I want you to turn and notice, well, let me just quote these
two verses to you. They're two verses you won't
have to turn to. One of them is 1 John 3, and
verse 2, where it says, When Christ cometh, we shall be like
him, for we shall see him as he is. And the next verse is
John 17, 22, where it says, the glory which thou gavest me, I
have given them. I have given them. And so the
crown of glory is promised all of those who are partakers with
this, partakers in this glory, and those who are partakers are
those who are in Christ, and those who are joined in Him.
Now I want to make a statement, and I want you all, I want your
attention, and I want you to listen. I've given you these
five crowns, I've mentioned them to you, briefly said a few things
about them, and I want you to understand these things about
these crowns. These five crowns are not are
not literal crowns of diamonds studded gold. They are not. They
are not literal. They are symbolic of the glory
and the joy that awaits God's elect in heaven. They are symbolic
of the glory and joy that awaits the people of God in heaven.
All these crowns are in truth and reality one crown. And that
one crown shall be possessed by all who enter heaven, by all
who enter glory. They all have this one crown.
And now listen to me now. I want you to see this. Turn
to Isaiah 25, or Isaiah 28 it is, in verse 5. Turn back and
with me. And I want to show you this morning
that this one crown that we are going to have is Christ himself. Isaiah chapter 28 and verse 5. Listen to it as I read this scripture.
In that day shall the Lord of hosts be for a crown of glory
and for a diadem of beauty unto the residue of his people. Isaiah chapter 28 and verse 5. In that day shall the Lord of
hosts be for a crown of glory and for a diadem of beauty unto
the residue of his people. Now then, the reward we shall
obtain and the glory of his people is Jesus Christ himself. He is
the glory, he is the prize that we seek. He's the crown we shall
wear, the Lord Jesus is, and he's the reward we shall attain.
He is the glory, he is the glory of his people. What more could
we seek or desire? Beloved, Christ is heaven. Christ
is glory. If I have Christ, I have all,
and I don't want anything more. That's enough for me. I don't
know how you feel about it, but that is enough for me. If I have
Christ, I have all these crowns, and I have eternal glory. Now
then, we pass on to the second thing, and that is this. I want
to ask this question. How did they get those crowns?
These crowns. How did they get this crown?
Or are all of these crowns which are, as we said, really just
one crown, who is Christ himself. Well, John saw these 24 elders,
rounded up the throne, crowns on their head. I remind you,
this is represented, symbolic, of the whole Church of God, the
whole elect family of God, those that are purchased by the blood
of Jesus Christ. Now, every nation, gender, tribe,
and tongue in the world, all believers of every age are represented
here, and they all have on these crowns, or this one crown, Jesus
Christ. Well, now, beloved, let me say
this. These are the saints of God in
their glorified state, and they're wearing here these crowns. The
crowns are symbolic. They're not literal. They represent
the honor, the glory, and the dominion of God's elect in the
world to come. How did they get these crowns?
How did they get it? Well, as the crowns are all the
same, they were all obtained in the same way. Every one of
these crowns From eternity to eternity, God's people owe everything
to God's grace. From eternity to eternity. Now,
is that a good statement or is it a good statement? Beloved,
that's how we got this crown. We got it by the grace of God.
We owe it all to God's grace. Secondly, these crowns were bestowed
upon them by sovereign predestination. They were predestinated to have
these crowns. Now all who are seated around
the throne in the end were predestinated to their glorious inheritance
before the worlds were framed by the word of God. Turn with
me to Ephesians 1 and I want to read verse 11 and verse 12. Ephesians 1 verse 11 and verse
12. In whom also we have obtained
an inheritance being predestinated according to the purpose of him
who worketh all things after the counsel of his own will,
that we should be to the praise of his glory who first trusted
in Christ. Now, we learn this here, that
the inheritance has been obtained in Christ, because in whom also
we have obtained it, being predestinated according to the purpose of him
who worketh all things after the counsel of his own will,
but we should be to the praise of his glory. Beloved, all who
are seated around this throne were predestinated to that spot
and position in eternity, and we have received this crown due
to the inheritance, due to the predestinating sovereign grace
of God, and that's why we have these crowns. We were predestinated
to that sovereignty, salt of it, that we have. Now then, thirdly,
these crowns of glory belong to God select, Listen to me now,
by hereditary descent. Now, let me explain what I mean
by that. Turn to Romans 8, and look at
verses 16 and 17. By hereditary descent. And you'll
understand what I mean just as soon as I read these two verses.
Romans 8, 16 and 17, that the Spirit itself bears witness with
our spirit that we are the children of God. This is the issue. We are the children of God. And if children, then heirs of
God. Heirs of God, and joint heirs
with Christ. If so be that we suffer with
him, that we may be also glorified together with him. There are
none in heaven but the sons of God. Amen? None in heaven but
those that have been redeemed by the blood of Christ. And all
the sons of God shall have their rightful inheritance as children
of God. We are heirs of God and joint
heirs with Christ due to the fact that we are children, due
to the fact that we belong to the Lord. God will not disinherit
any of His own. They shall all share life in
the inheritance of Christ. All those that are heirs of God,
all those that are children. Let me say that if any man had
not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of his. But if a man
is indwelled with the Holy Spirit, washed in the blood of Christ,
If a man has been regenerated by God's Spirit and Word, that
man is a child of God, and he has this inheritance. Now also,
I want to say that these men, and certainly all were sinners
in a state of nature, they're saved by grace, they have the
crowns, and I want you to get this, by rightful claim. By rightful
claim, they have a crown. As the sons of God and Christ,
they have a right to their crowns. Now remember, they have a right
to these crowns. Why? Because these crowns were
purchased for them by the blood of Christ. They were earned for
them by the righteousness and the obedience of Christ. And
Christ, who is the forerunner of the Lord's people, made claim
to these crowns in the name of his people when he entered into
the eternal glory and his ascension into heaven. Hebrews chapter
6 and verse 20. Here's a blessed verse, and I
want you to listen as I read it to you. Hebrews chapter 6
and verse 20. Quickly, the forerunner is for
us entered. I get it. The forerunner, and
that's Christ, is for us entered. Even Jesus, made a high priest
forever after the order of Melchizedek. Now, look, the Lord Jesus Christ
has went before his people, and he's entered into the glory.
He's entered into the glory, and we have, in the Lord Jesus
Christ, we have wrought proclaimed to all that is to him, because
we're in him, and we're as near to God as he is. He is our representative,
and the scripture says that he's the forerunner that has entered
for us. He has entered for us, meaning
that he's gone ahead of us, and he's entered as our representative,
and he's laid claim to the crowns that he himself earned and bought
on our behalf. For us, he has laid claim to
these crowns. So we have these crowns by rightful
claim. And in Christ Jesus, by the imputation
of his righteousness, all believers have been made worthy to receive
these crowns of glory. In the Lord Jesus, we've been
made worthy. And I ask you to turn back to Ephesians, the book
of Ephesians. And notice, if you will, there
in the second chapter, I want to read a couple of verses there
in the second chapter. Let me begin with verse 4 and
read down to verse 7, if you please. But God, who is rich
in mercy, I'm talking about how we got word. I'm talking about
rightful claim. I'm talking about how we get
these crowns because somebody who is our representative did
all that had to be done in order for us to have it, and that somebody
is the Lord Jesus Christ. But God, who is rich in mercy
for his great love for his belovedness, even when we forget his sins,
has put him just together with Christ, by grace you're saved,
and has raised us up together. and made us sit together in heavenly
places in Christ Jesus, that in the ages to come He might
show the exceeding riches of His grace in His kindness toward
us through Christ Jesus. For by grace are you saved in
faith, that not yourselves, it's a gift of God, not of works,
lest any man should boast. And so don't you see, beloved,
that our being able to rightfully claim these crowns
is due to the fact that we're in Christ, He bore them. and
He earned them, and we have them because He has claimed them in
our name. Or, He has claimed them in His
own name for us as we stand in Him as His people. Our worthiness
is the Lord Jesus Christ. Now, as we do nothing, then,
to earn these crowns, we can do nothing but which these crowns
shall be taken away from us. They are all crowns of grace,
free to the soul, but of all who are in Christ Jesus. Now
then, the last thing that we want to talk about this morning,
and I'll take a few minutes to talk about this, but what shall
we do with our crowns? Now we've talked about these
crowns, and we've talked about that Christ is true to the crown,
and we've talked about these crowns and how these 420 elders
are, the whole body of redeemed people, how they received and
how they got these crowns. Now, what are we going to do
with them? If we get to the Lord and we have these crowns, what
are we going to do with them? What are we going to do? Well,
child of God, this morning, I want you to rejoice and laugh in the
face of all your trials and your troubles here. I want you to
do that because soon you're going to have a crown. your aching
head shall soon be crowned with glory. God himself will see to
it that you have these crowns. Now when we have reached our
final destination in glory, King Jesus will crown us with the
glory which he has himself received as our representative. Now I
mentioned and quoted a little bit of John 17, 22 a little while
ago, but those of you that want to turn to that, you turn to
it and look at it, I will read it to you. I want you to look
at it, And if you can, John 17 and 22. And I want you to listen
to what Christ says here. He says, and the glory which
thou gavest me. He's speaking to the Father in
this high priestly prayer. And he says, and the glory which
thou gavest me, I have given them. And them are his people,
those of the redeemed, those of the elect, those that are
those that was given to Christ in that covenant before the foundation
of the world. He says, now the glory, I get
it now, the glory which thou hast given, which thou gavest
me, I have given them that they may be one even as we are one. I in them and thou in me. that
they may be made perfect in one, and that the world may know that
Thou sentest me, and hast loved them as Thou hast loved me."
Now that this glory the Lord Jesus Christ is going to give
us, He Himself has received this as our representative. But as
soon as the crowns are placed on our heads, as we read here
in Revelation Chapter 4, verse 10 and 11, as soon as we receive
these crowns, we should gladly take them off. We shall take
them, we shall remove this crown and walk our way. bow before
the feet of our God and Savior, and cast them down to the foot
of the throne of His sovereign majesty and grace, saying, not
unto us, Psalm 115, verse 1, not unto us, O Lord, not unto
us, but into thy name give glory, for thy mercy and truth's sake.
That's exactly what we shall do, as we see here in Revelation
4, 10, As these four twenty elders fall down before him and sit
on the throne, worship him, liveth forever and ever, and cast their
crowns before the throne. They cast their crowns before
the throne of sovereign mercy. Now this shall be the eternal
posture of our hearts. And I want to try to answer the
question briefly, why will we cast our crowns down at these
people? Why would we do this? I said, this will be our posture,
this will be the eternal posture of our hearts in glory. As we are in heaven, this shall
be our posture. Now, why would we cast our crowns
down at His feet? Number one, Christ alone is worthy
of all praise and honor. He is the King. We are His subjects,
and we fully realize that we live only by our great King's
goodness. He chose us. He redeemed us,
he gave us life, he preserves us in grace, and he shall bring
us safe to heaven. Whatever wrong he bestows upon
us, we will gladly cast back down at his feet again. Now, secondly, we will do so
because we will have a solemn reverence for him in that day. A solemn reverence for him. Now, get the picture, if you
can, in mind. We are in heaven. We are in heaven. There's the throne, and we're
seated around the throne of God. And here is the Eternal Majesty,
the Lord of Glory before us. And here is the Eternal Lamb,
the Lamb of God, the Eternal Son of God before us. And here
we see Him with the wound still in His body. And we see him there
as he is taking possession over all the kingdoms of the world,
and that he reigns in his absolute sovereignty as a monarch, religious
reign. And we'll see him there, and
certainly this will be our attitude, we shall have a solemn reverence
for him. When we see him as he is, I say,
we will say that no flesh should glory his presence. We should
say, he that glorieth Let him glory in the Lord. Let him glory
in this time. Let him glory in this time. Now
that will be, that will be the solemn reverence of our hearts
for him in that day as we're around that throne. Now, we will
be honored to cast our crown before his throne. Why? Because
we will be filled with a deep sense of sincere humility in
that day. A deep sense of sincere humility. That's the third reason. Now
let me read Matthew chapter 25. This scripture here has been
a blessing to me and a challenge to my heart for a number of years. But I want you to see something
here. I'm talking about the sincere
humility of the people of God as they cast their crowns before
the Lord Jesus. Now listen to what Jesus said.
Now this is obscene here in glory. Begin with verse 34, Matthew
25. Then shall the king say unto them on his right hand, Come,
you blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you
from the foundation of the world. For I was a hungry, and you gave
me meat. I was thirsty, and you gave me
drink. I was a stranger, and you took me in. Naked, and you
clothed me. I was sick, and you visited me.
I was in prison, and you came to me. Then, verse 37, then shall
the righteous answer him, saying, Lord, when? saw we and hungered
and fed thee, or thirsty and gave thee drink? When saw we
thee a stranger, and took thee in, or naked and clothed thee?
Or when saw we thee sick, or imprisoned, and came unto thee?
When did this happen? Lord, now I'm talking about this
is the, this is the redeeming. These are those on the right
hand that have been told, that have been called blessed and
said you inherit the kingdom prepared for you by my father
from the foundation of the world. And they said, Lord, when do
we do all this? And the king shall answer and say to them,
verily I say unto you, inasmuch as you've done it unto one of
the least of these, my brethren, you've done it unto me. They
have been in their lifetime occupied with these things, but they were
doing it to men. They didn't know they were doing
it to Christ. And so they said, when? Lord, did we ever do anything
like this that you're talking about? Now, you know, you've
been around a little bit. You've been to some churches.
You know a few people. And they'd be the first one to jump up and
say, Lord, that's exactly right. That's what I've done all my
life. I've just been involved. And I was real busy. And Lord,
you know I was just about to say, well, you know, I've raised
children above all those professing Christians in great halls. And
I was just about to do business. Lord, you're right. Well, no,
no, no, no. The question is going to be,
Lord, when? When did we ever do anything like that? When? Well, then I want you to see
this. He said, then shall I say also to the devil his left hand.
Depart from me, you curses of the devil, I shall depart from
you, for the devil is angry. He said, I was hungry, you gave
me no meat. I was thirsty, you gave me no
bread. I was a stranger, you took me not in. Naked you clothed
me not. Sickened and crippled you visited
me not. Then shall they also answer him, saying, Lord, whence
are we the hungred and thirsty, and so on and so forth? Then
he answered, saying, Verily I say to you, as much as you did not
want to be, of the least you did not to be. These shall go
away, the everlasting punishment, but the righteous and the life
eternal. What I have read of this world will show you that
there are just two places to be. Either you enter into everlasting
punishment, or you enter into life, life eternal in that day. There's no more than just two
places to be, and all those that are in Christ, they enter into
eternal glory, eternal life, because it's been prepared for
them from the foundation of the world. But there will be a sense
of deep and sincere humility in their hearts. There will be
no pride or boasting left in us. We will all, from the depths
of our hearts, confess I am nothing, I have done nothing, I deserve
nothing. We will cast our crowns and speak
because we deserve nothing. Okay, and then lastly, we will
have a deep sense of gratitude to Him, and we will all say from
our hearts, from the grace of God, I am what we are. And we
will cast our crowns before His throne because we will love our
God and Savior intentionally and supremely in that day. You know, Larry let us in that
song, the song about more love to me, Lord Christ. More love
to me. I like that song. Brother, sister,
bear in mind that's exactly what we need. That's exactly what
we need. I don't need no whip on me. And I don't need nobody
to browbeat me with a scripture. All I need is to love Christ
more. And I say to you, brother, sister,
that if you love Christ as you ought to, I just say love Christ
and do His will. Now you think on that a little
bit. Love Christ and do as you will. But if you love Christ
like you ought, he'll just take care of everything. But in that
day, we'll cast our crowns at his feet because we will love
our God and Savior intensely and supremely as he ought to
be loved in that day. And you will not keep that crown
on your head. You'll get it off and throw it down at his feet
because you will love him and you'll love him as you ought
to be loved. There's an old hymn, and just to paraphrase, just
a hymn, a verse about hymn, I'll give you this. You've heard it
before. Imagines of glory and endless
delight. I'll ever adore thee in heaven
so bright. I'll sing as I cast off the crown
from my bride. If ever I love thee, my Jesus
does not die. If ever I love thee, my Jesus
does not die. Father, we thank you this morning
for your word. We thank you for the privilege
we have of gathering this morning in the name of the Lord Jesus,
and exalting Christ before these dear ones, and setting forth
these precious truths to their hearts. And Lord, I pray this
morning that you would be pleased to receive the glory that we've
given, the honor we've given, the worship that we've attempted
to give for our hearts today. Be pleased, oh God, to receive
it. In Jesus' name, amen.