A Crown of Righteousness
John Wilbur Chapman's sermon certainly gave me something to think about, and I hope it has for you as well as I've shared these crowns. The fifth one that he mentions comes from 2 Timothy 4:8, where Paul writes this: “There is in store for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will award to me on that day—and not only to me, but also to all who have longed for his appearing.”
Crowns Laid Down
And so Paul, watching and waiting for Jesus’ coming again, longs to receive this crown. All those who are looking for him, longing for him to come and loving with his love in the meantime receive this great crown of righteousness.
So is your life a life of righteousness? You so long for Christ to come again that you live your life in such a Christlike and righteous way? What a day it'll be when those who have lived this way receive their crown from him.
But friends, you have to hear this end part because otherwise we're going to get the wrong idea from this series. As Chapman ends his sermon, he says this: “There is something better still, and that is the full reward in Revelation 4:10. And in that verse, the church in heaven is worshipping God, and the elders come down with crowns on their heads, clothed in white. And then Jesus, the King of Kings, appears. And you know what the elders do? “At once they fall in front of him and they lay their crowns down and they say you are worthy, Lord. You created all things.”
See, friends, no matter what rewards we get from Jesus for our faithfulness and goodness in this life, the greatest reward of all is simply being in his presence. When he crowns us because of our faithfulness, in the end we're gonna just take off those crowns and lay them down and say “you're the worthy one, not us.”
Grace and Glory
And so, friends, work for those crowns! Live your life in such a way that you know crowns of glory await you because you've been that dedicated to Christ. You've been that holy, you've been that faithful in your walk.
Remember that it's all God's grace, even if you have put in the effort yourself it's him who enabled you to do it and so you can't take any credit!
And look forward today when whatever crowns you're given can be laid down at his feet because when you see him you realize he deserves all the glory all the way.
