ROYALTY (2)
Crown of Life
Let’s continue our conversation on becoming royal. 1 Peter 2:9 says, “But you are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, His own special people,
that you may proclaim the praises of Him who called you out of darkness into His marvelous light;” If we belong
to Christ and follow His path of righteousness, we automatically become a part of His royal priesthood, where we will receive
five crowns when we get to heaven.
The Five Crowns
- Crown
of Righteousness
“Finally, there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will
give to me on that Day, and not to me only but also to all who have loved His appearing.” (2 Timothy 4:8)
- Crown of Life
“Blessed is the man who endures
temptation; for when he has been approved, he will receive the crown of life which the Lord has promised to those who love
Him.”
(James 1:12)
- Crown
of Incorruption
“And every man that striveth for the mastery is temperate in all things. Now they do it to obtain a corruptible
crown; but we an incorruptible.” (1 Corinthians 9:25)
- Crown
of Rejoicing
“For what is our hope, or joy, or crown of rejoicing? Is it not even you in the presence of our Lord Jesus Christ at His coming? For you are our glory and joy.” (1
Thessalonians 2:19-20)
- Crown of Glory
“and when the Chief Shepherd appears, you will receive the
crown of glory that does not fade away.” (1 Peter 5:4)
This is part two of a five-part series—Crown of Life.
“Blessed is the man who endures
temptation; for when he has been approved, he will receive the crown of life which the Lord has promised to those who love
Him.”
(James 1:12)
As always, let’s
break the scripture down for deeper understanding. The verse first says we will be blessed.
And what does it mean to be blessed? If we are blessed, we will have an inward spiritual joy and
satisfaction in this life right now. It is the kid of assurance and confidence we have that will carry
us through all the trials, tribulations and temptations of life. This assurance and confidence comes from
our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.
We must follow the example of Apostle Paul who said in Philippians 4:11-13, “…for I have learned in whatsoever state I am, therewith to be content.
I know both how to be abased and I know how to abound: every where and in all things I am instructed
both to be full and to be hungry; both to abound and to suffer need. I can do all things through Christ
which strengtheneth me.” In other words, we know, with
confidence that our God was, is, and will look after us and deliver us from our pain and suffering according to His will for
our life. “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.”
(Romans 8:28)
The verse
in James also mentions enduring temptations. What are the temptations of life? Let’s
look at 1 Corinthians 10:13, “Now these things
were our examples, to the intent we should not lust after evil things, as they also lusted. Neither be ye idolaters, as were some of them; as it is written,
the people sat down to eat and drink, and rose up to play. Neither let us commit fornication, as some of them committed, and fell in one day three and twenty
thousand. Neither let us tempt
Christ, as some of them also tempted, and were destroyed of serpents. Neither murmur ye, as some of them also murmured, and were destroyed of the destroyer.
Now all these things happened unto them
for examples: and they are written for our admonition, upon whom the ends of the world are come. Wherefore let him that thinketh he standeth take heed lest he fall.
There hath no temptation taken you but
such as is common to man: but God is faithful, who will not suffer you to be tempted above that ye are able; but will with
the temptation also make a way to escape, that ye may be able to bear it.” Are you experiencing any of these things right now? Know
that God always provides a way of escape; we just need to obey the promptings of the Holy Spirit.
We must stay on the narrow
path of righteousness in our daily lives to receive the Crown of Life. We must never give
up and or give in to the ways of this corrupt world. 1 Corinthians 9:24-27 says, “Know ye not that they which run in a race run all, but one receiveth
the prize? So run, that ye may obtain. And every man that striveth for the mastery is temperate in 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
beateth the air: But I keep
under my body, and bring it into subjection: lest that by any means, when I have preached to others, I myself should be a
castaway.”
There is also another reference to the Crown of Life found in Revelation 2:10, “ 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.” Jesus Himself is warning all of us that there is a cost to being royal.
The cost is persecution for our faith and belief that Jesus Christ is the only way to heaven.
We know that the world believes that there are many ways to get to heaven. The world considers us
to be backwards, narrow-minded, homophobic bigots! But in spite of what the world thinks or believes, we
must stand up for truth and righteousness, even if we stand alone. We can no longer be “politically
correct” if it goes against the Word of God and His stance on issues. We cannot worry about being
outcasts, because guess what? WE ARE!!!
If we belong to Jesus, we will not fit in. We will
stand out like a sore thumb. 1 John 3:16 says, “…the world knoweth us not, because it knew Him not.” Jesus Himself even said in Matthew 10:22, “And ye shall be hated of all men for My name’s sake:
but he that endureth to the end shall be saved.”
We must be willing to put it all on the line for Christ by surrendering all. We must live by the
words of Paul found in Philippians 1:21, “For
to me to live is Christ and to die is gain.”
In conclusion, to receive
the Crown of Life, we must endure temptations, trials, tribulations, persecutions and our reward will be
eternal life with Christ Jesus.
BELIEVE IT, KNOW IT & HAVE CONFIDENCE
IN HIS WORD!!!
Up Next:
Part 3—The Crown of Incorruption
Slowly Dying
We are going to be discussing what sin is, what the different
types of sins are, what sin can do to you, and what can be done about sin.
What is sin?
Sin is defined as a transgression of divine law. Sin is willful or a deliberate violation of
religious or moral principle. Sin is any reprehensible regrettable action, thought, or word that does not bring glory
and honor to God the Father. Sin is lawlessness (1 John 3:4) by omitting to do what God’s law requires
or by doing what it forbids. Sin can occur in thought, word, or deed. Mankind was created without sin, morally
upright and inclined to do good. But sin entered into the world when Adam and Eve violated the direct command of God
by eating the forbidden fruit in the Garden of Eden. Since Adam was the head and representative of the whole human
race, his sin affected all future generations. (Romans 5:12) tell us “therefore, just as through one man sin
entered the world, and death through sin, thus death spread to all men, because all sinned.” Associated with
this guilt is a corrupted nature passed from Adam to all his descendants. Out of this perverted nature arise all the
sins that people commit today. No person is free from involvement in sin. (Romans 3:23) tells us “for
all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.” Mankind originally fell into sin at the temptation of Satan.
As the tempter, he continues to lure people into sin. (1 Peter 5:8) tells us to “be sober, be vigilant; because
your adversary, the devil walks about like a roaring lion seeking whom he may devour.” Nevertheless, people remain
fully responsible for what they do. God is not the author of sin, but His plan for world redemption does include His
dealing with the reality of sin. So going back to what has been asked earlier, what is sin. Sin is evil.
Sin is rebellion against God. Sin is faithless rebellion of creatures against the just authority of their Creator.
Sin is a contradiction to the holiness of God. Sin involves the denial of the living God. Sin is ultimately death.
So now we know what sin is, we will discuss the different types of sins.
What are the different types of sins?
I will begin with the sin of lying. A lie is any statement or act designed to deceive another
person. The motivation for most lying is a desire either to hurt the one against whom the lie is directed to or to
protect oneself, usually out of fear or pride. Lying emphatically condemned in the Bible. It is wrong because
it is contrary to the nature of God. A lot of people in the world today are allowing themselves to be deceived by the
father of lies, the devil. In (Genesis 3:1-13), the serpent who is the devil said to the woman, “Has God indeed
said, ‘You shall not eat of every tree of the garden’?” In verse 4, the serpent said to the woman,
“You will not surely die. For God knows that in the day you eat of it your eyes will be opened and you will
be like God, knowing good and evil.” You see how the devil deceived the woman to eat of the tree and she then
gave to her husband and he ate. Are you allowing the devil to deceive you too? What lie is the devil telling
you today? Is he telling you that you don’t need God? Is he telling you that you don’t need followers
of Jesus Christ in your life? Is he telling you there are many ways to get into heaven? Is he telling you that
it is okay to use God’s name in vain? Is he telling you it is okay to go to the bar? Is he telling you
it is okay to go to the strip club? Is he telling you it is okay to be dependent on drugs and alcohol? Is he
telling you it is okay to be physically abusive or emotionally abusive? Is he telling you that it is okay to isolate
yourself because you are a good person and you are not hurting anyone? Is he telling you that it is okay for women
to be with women and men with men? Is he telling you it is okay to swear and cuss people out? Is he telling you
it is okay to be disrespectful to others? Is he telling you he doesn’t exist? The list goes on.
Hello, …hello,
who turned on this garbage station? Whoever is listening, I suggest you turn the devil’s station off and tune
into God’s Word the Bible, the Truth. Stay tuned for the next sin that will be discussed……..
