THE CROWNS WE EARN

Several people who I have been talking to about our need for keeping Torah, simply asked me a very leading and important question.  If we are saved by GRACE and not of works, why should we put ourselves back under the law and keep Torah?  The answer is easy for anyone who has studied history, for two reasons:

We are not putting our selves under the law.  The commandments of God or the law as they call it are not chains of slavery but guide lines of how to be free from the slavery of sin. God’s instructions are the direction markers of being righteous. Without His commandments we would not know what sin is and would be condemned by the very law we are trying to avoid.  Look, the constitution is the law of the land.  All the judgments and rules that congress makes only describe or enforce that law.  It is the constitution or the law that makes us free in America.  The constitution provides us with protection and rights from each other and from outside forces.  We are becoming less free and more enslaved in America as congress and the courts make new unconstitutional rulings that interpret our constitution as being less and less protective. It is only when we remove ourselves from the constitution or the constitution from us, that we become enslaved.  This is what Paul was writing about in his letters to the gentile churches.  He was teaching that the law did not save us but protected us.  No place did he ever say that we should NOT follow the teachings and instructions of God.  In fact, he directly states it in one of his letters where he is teaching how we are saved by faith and that we should remain under the umbrella of the God’s instructions. Several people who I have been talking to about our need for keeping Torah, simply asked me a very leading and important question.  If we are saved by GRACE and not of works, why should we put ourselves back under the law and keep Torah?  The answer is easy for anyone who has studied history, for two reasons:

Rom 3:31  Do we then make void the law through faith? God forbid: yea, we establish the law.

In the same way that congress and the courts have been interrupting our constitution, the Catholic Church did the same thing to God’s Constitution (Torah) 1700 years ago.  By mistranslating Paul’s letters from Hebrew and Greek to Latin they were able to nail God’s Constitution to the cross and make it void.  The Popes have been interrupting and adding to God’s word ever since.  Each Pope trying to leave a legacy by adding some new religious ritual or deleting one of Yawah’s instructions. The Catholics admit this and have it well documented in their Catholic Encyclopedia.  They say that the pope has authority to change God’s word and add new ones.  In the 1400s the Protestants (Protesters) got away from some of their interruptions and additions but not all.  Only the Puritans went back to their Hebrew roots, but that only lasted a few years before we went back to our old ways.  The Protestants are protesting the authority of the priest but still keep the Catholic Sunday Worship, Christmas and Easter.  They are still marching to the Catholic drum as laid down by Constantine 1700 years ago and it is so engrained it is hard for them to open their eyes and see it is not God’s way.

The second reason is because we love Him.

Sometimes my son does not follow all my rules.  I know he loves me, but if he didn’t he would not follow any of my rules.  My rules have but one purpose and that is to instill in him as part of his character the behavior of a good and kindly person, God Loving and obedient as part of his nature.  His nature is to do exactly what he wants and when he wants.  His first impulse is to do what all his friends are doing.  When he breaks my rules, usually it is an impulse and he does not think about it, he just does it.  He is a child and we know all children are like this.  And all children are guided more by the acknowledgement of their friends and peers than anyone else.  They have a need to be accepted and that sometimes becomes more important than a father’s love.  When my son breaks one of my rules, he commits a sin against me.  He fully knows my rules because I have gone over them with him many times.  He knows that he is not receiving my love and affection because he is under my rules.  He knows full well that I will still love him no matter how severe he breaks a rule.  He knows that I will never kick him out for breaking a rule.  He knows that my fatherly love is unconditional.  Sometimes I believe that is an impetus to go ahead and break a rule; “Ahh, Dad wont get too angry and he will forgive me,” 

However, when he is really good and does not break the slightest rule, I reward him.  We do something special.  We call this Dad and Lad.  We go to the movies, or to the Skateboard Park and in winter we go snow boarding.  I have found that a lot of times he keeps my rules because there is some special thing he wants to do and if he breaks a rule then he looses the reward and is punished. 

So you see, my son obeys me because he loves me and he wants the rewards that I give when he is good.  He does not fear corporal punishment.  He has not been spanked in many years and grounding has no effect.  The combination of loosing rewards and being grounded is something he does think about. 

I can not help but think that our Heavenly Father sees us in much the same way.  Ever think about that we refer to ourselves as children of God and never adults of God.

We are saved by His grace but through obedience, He blesses us.

What are these blessings or rewards that we strive for in keeping His

commandments?

1 Crown of Righteousness 2Ti 4:8  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 his appearing.

To be righteous, one must obey.  This first crown goes to all who have kept His

commandments.

2 Crown of Exultation 1Th 2:19  For who is our hope, or joy, or crown of exultation? Is it not even you, in the presence of our Lord Yashua at His coming?

To all who have exulted Him to his fellow man and brought them to know Yashua (Jesus) as the Divine Savior of the world so that we may be exulted.

3 Crown of Life James 1:12  Blessed is a man who perseveres under trial; for once he has been approved, he will receive the crown of life which the Lord has promised to those who love Him.

He said, John 14:15 “If you love Me, you will keep My commandments.”

To all who endure temptation and are faithful through trials because they love Him.  When He said keep My commandments, was He not talking about the same commandments that He wrote with His own finger at Mount Sinai?  Should we keep all ten or just nine of them?

4  Crown of glory

1Peter 5:1  Therefore, I exhort the elders among you, as your fellow elder and witness of the sufferings of Yashua, and a partaker also of the glory that is to be revealed,

1Pe 5:2  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;

1Pe 5:3  Neither as being lords over God’s heritage, but being ensamples to the flock.

1Pe 5:4  And when the chief Shepherd shall appear, ye shall receive a crown of glory that fadeth not away.

To all that serve and shepherd God’s people, give to the poor, help the needy, show kindness to everyone in all our encounters and opportunities.

5   The imperishable or eternal crown

1 Cor. 9:25 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. 

To those who have had self-control in all things and subdued the old sinful nature.

We need to understand why these crowns are important and are so meaningful when we stand before the judgment seat.

Rev 3:7  And to the angel of the church in Philadelphia write; 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;

Rev 3:8  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 hast kept my word, and hast not denied my name.

Rev 3:9  Behold, I will make them of the synagogue of Satan, which say they are Jews, and are not, but do lie; behold, I will make them to come and worship before thy feet, and to know that I have loved thee.

Rev 3:10  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.

Rev 3:11  Behold, I come quickly: hold that fast which thou hast, that no man take thy crown.

Rev 3:12  Him that overcometh will I make a pillar in the temple of my God, and he shall go no more out: and I will write upon him the name of my God, and the name of the city of my God, which is new Jerusalem, which cometh down out of heaven from my God: and I will write upon him my new name.

Rev 3:13  He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches.

The thing that I trust you will hear with your spiritual ear is designated in verse eleven.

We have learned from the Word of God that Believers must all appear before the Judgment Seat of Yashua that we might receive a reward for the deeds done in the body, whether they be good or whether they be bad.

We learned that after these works are judged rewards will be given if the works are worthy. There will be no rewards if the works were unworthy; but many of us may lose the rewards, which we might have had, there will be something for which God will be able to praise us. We are told in I Corinthians, chapter 4, that we should judge nothing before the time, until the day. Let the day declare it when God will reveal the motives, the secret thoughts, and the hidden thoughts of men in regard to their service and then shall every man have praise of God.

Even though there are millions throughout the world in almost ever denomination of the Christian Church who is saved through faith, not all will be in His inner court.  Not all will be close to Him.  Not all will have their name inscribed on one of the pillars of New Jerusalem. Not all of them will be in the Kingdom.  Most will be in the Nations and living in places like Egypt and if they don’t come up to Jerusalem for the Feasts they will receive no rain and the Nile will not give it’s annual flood.  Lets look at where this is described.  The scriptures are talking about the 1,000-year reign of Yashua, the millennial Sabbath.

Zec 14:16  And it shall come to pass, that every one that is left of all the nations which came against Jerusalem shall even go up from year to year to worship the King, the LORD of hosts, and to keep the feast of tabernacles.

Zec 14:17  And it shall be, that whoso will not come up of all the families of the earth unto Jerusalem to worship the King, the LORD of hosts, even upon them shall be no rain.

Zec 14:18  And if the family of Egypt go not up, and come not, that have no rain; there shall be the plague, wherewith the LORD will smite the heathen that come not up to keep the feast of tabernacles.

Zec 14:19  This shall be the punishment of Egypt, and the punishment of all nations that come not up to keep the feast of tabernacles.

So we are to keep the feast then as he said in Lev 23, forever.  Why doesn’t the church keep it now? However, this shows that of all the millions and millions that have been saved since Adam to His return will live throughout the earth and be called the nations.  Not all will live in the promised land, the kingdom with Him.

He is talking to saved people in Matthew 7:21 – 23.

Mat 7:21  Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven.

Mat 7:22  Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? and in thy name have cast out devils? and in thy name done many wonderful works?

Mat 7:23  And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity.

Those that work iniquity are twisting his commandments; they are lawless and teach others to do so.  Notice, He did not send them to Hell here, He just said depart from me, I never knew you. I was not intimate with you.  We were not close; you did your own thing and the things of your friends.  You looked for acceptance in the traditions of man and not my word.  You did not believe Moses and you did not believe me.  Moses wrote my commandments and of me and I taught them and explained them in my ministry.  Go away, go live in Egypt.

Mat 5:17  Think not that I am come to destroy the law, or the prophets: I am not come to destroy, but to fulfil.

Mat 5:18  For verily I say unto you, Till heaven and earth pass, one jot or one tittle shall in no wise pass from the law, till all be fulfilled.

Mat 5:19  Whosoever therefore shall break one of these least commandments, and shall teach men so, he shall be called the least in the kingdom of heaven: but whosoever shall do and teach them, the same shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven.

I sure do not want to be called the least.  Do you?  Why do most church people say they believe in the Ten Commandments but refuse to keep the first four?

Here are the first four Commandments:

1 Exo 20:2  I am the LORD thy God, which have brought thee out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage.

Exo 20:3  Thou shalt have no other gods before me.

Too many church people break the first commandment in that they have so many things that are more important than God. We have many churches that preach prosperity religion and the value of accumulating things.  Business success and things get between them and God.

2 Exo 20:4  Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image, or any likeness of any thing that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth:

Exo 20:5  Thou shalt not bow down thyself to them, nor serve them: for I the LORD thy God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth generation of them that hate me;

Exo 20:6  And shewing mercy unto thousands of them that love me, and keep my commandments.

How many churches have their statues they bow before? They are putting an object between them and God?  They are putting the object before God and themselves.  God wants to be intimate with you directly not through some idol, some statue or some priest.

3  Exo 20:7  Thou shalt not take the name of the LORD thy God in vain; for the LORD will not hold him guiltless that taketh his name in vain.

Here is a big one.  Most churches do this in ignorance.  They keep the birthday of Tammuz (BAAL) on Christmas and say they are doing it for Jesus.  They keep the birthday Of Ishtar (Easter, Queen of Heaven) and say they are doing it in remembrance of His resurrection when they know He died and arose during the Passover week, almost a month later.  They profane His name by serving other gods on their birthdays and say they are doing it in the name of Jesus.  They keep the traditions of man and not scriptures and take His name in vain.  I know this is harsh and I put it pretty strong, but if you will just think about it, you will see that by keeping worship rituals of other gods and doing them in the name of our true God, we are taking his name in vain.  We are into idol worship.  The shame is that most all church people don’t even know what they are doing.  Asking God to damn someone or something is bad but worse and a far greater profanity is to perform some pagan worship ritual intended for a false god on a day established for that false god is the extreme profanity is really what our Heavenly Father indeded with 3rd commandment.

4 Exo 20:8  Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy.

Most churches do not keep the fourth commandment in that they keep the day that Constantine commanded the new Catholic Church to keep because the pagans already kept it in their sun worship, Sunday, the mighty day of the sun.  Constantine also directed the council that they would not be keeping anything Jewish in a commanding letter to them when they were writing the church doctrine.  So this meant Sabbath was out, all seven Feasts of the Lord, and in came Saturnalia, later called Christmas, a Mass for Christ. They Christianized a pagan holiday with a lie that Yashua was born on that day so they could keep their fun loving party day.  (I could show you in the scriptures when Yashua was born but it would take up too much space and is not the object lesson of this paper.)

The commandments were never meant for our salvation.  This problem came in when Paul began teaching the pagan gentiles.  They were used to having to do things for their old gods for love and acceptance and brought their pagan baggage with them into the church.  With the Jews the problem was based on the priests making their own rules and laws beyond the Torah.  They taught that their laws were binding and some even taught they had to be obeyed to be saved.  Paul spent a lot of ink trying to get them past earning salvation.  Earning salvation could never have been God’s plan because if it was, and it did not work, it would show that the God I serve makes mistakes.  If He made a plan of Salvation that could not work, then He is not really GOD.  We know this is not true, so it must be that was never His plan.  Also if it were the way people were to be saved before Yashua (Jesus), then no one, not one, was ever saved before Yashua came.  Abraham, Moses, Joseph, David, Noah and all the prophets were saved because they believed.  The same way you and I are saved.  They first believed, then they were saved and they obeyed.  Read the story of any one of the great men of the scriptures and you will find that it happened this very way for all. After they believed God, after they were saved, they went on to perform the deeds that God called them to do.  They accomplished those deeds and kept his commandments because they loved him and knew they would be rewarded in the end.

The rewards, which are promised to believers, are described in a number of different ways in the Word of God. One of the ways is the use of the word “crowns.” That is the reason we are beginning this discussion with the book of Revelation, chapter 3, reminding us that we should be very careful that no one take our crowns.

I want to suggest to you that message was addressed to the church at Philadelphia. The church at Philadelphia is that church which is typical of all true believers. The Laodicean church, the seventh church, is the church that is well organized and has great wealth, but God in the person of His Son has departed from it; whereas the church at Philadelphia represents all of the true believers regardless of the name of the building in which they might worship. The church at Philadelphia existed right along with the church at Laodicea; but of special interest to us is that it was to that church, symbolic of the church which was to be living at the very end of the age, that the Lord said, “Be careful that something doesn’t happen to your crown. "

Well, certainly that should indicate that crowns are important. Are they important to you? Someone may say, “You know, I don’t think we ought to talk about our rewards. We ought to serve the Lord just because we love Him.” Well, we certainly ought to serve Him because we love Him, but we have every right and reason in the world to talk about our rewards. We have every reason to seek the very best reward that we can when we stand at the Judgment Seat of Yashua. There is nothing selfish about that; it is what God promised in way of blessings if we kept His commandments.

If you look in Chapter 11 of Hebrews,  you will find the great faith chapter in God’s Word. In verse 23 our attention is directed to a man by the name of Moses. The point of this article is not to give a history of Moses, but starting in verse 23 we are given to a very brief history of him:

Heb 11:23  By faith Moses, when he was born, was hid three months of his parents, because they saw he was a proper child; and they were not afraid of the king’s commandment.

Heb 11:24  By faith Moses, when he was come to years, refused to be called the son of Pharaoh’s daughter;

Heb 11:25  Choosing rather to suffer affliction with the people of God, than to enjoy the pleasures of sin for a season;

Heb 11:26  Esteeming the reproach of Yashua greater riches than the treasures in Egypt: for he had respect unto the recompence of the reward.

In verse 26 we find that he had a chance to go with God or to go with the Pharoah and he chose to go with God. One may say, “Well, why did he? Because he loved God." There is no question about that, but the reason, which is given in the verse is that he loved the reward. He had respect unto the recompense of the reward. He looked steadily at the ultimate, not the immediate reward.” He weighed the reward. It may be getting materialistic, but no more materialistic than the Word of God is. He weighed the difference of the two. Pharaoh held out his reward to him and said, “I can give you this here and now.” God held out a reward to him and said, “I will give you greater in the here after.” Moses weighed the rewards and he said, “I see God’s rewards, even though I am not going to get it right now, is better to wait for and they will be longer lasting.” He had respect unto the recompense of reward.

So I do not like to hear people say, “Well, I do not think we ought to work for rewards: I think we ought to work just because we love  God.” It is evident you love God or you would not be serving Him, but there is no reason why you should not keep your eye on the rewards or the blessings. Now the rewards should not be the goal for what we do or how we behave, but it should be the gauge of Godly living. Yes, your entire life should be gauged and directed by your interest in the blessings.  A big part of those blessings will be that the greater the blessing, the closer we will reign with Him.

Look at these next verses, and notice what Paul has to say about the child of God:

2Ti 2:3  Thou therefore endure hardness, as a good soldier of Yashua.

2Ti 2:4  No man that warreth entangleth himself with the affairs of this life; that he may please him who hath chosen him to be a soldier.

2Ti 2:5  And if a man also strive for masteries, yet is he not crowned, except he strive lawfully.

The suggestion of the fifth verse is that no man who enters the athletic games can expect to win the prize unless he abides by the rules of the game. We have to face the truth that in our Christian living we have entered a war.  As a soldier in this mighty struggle, we have rules and guide lines.  Those rule are the teachings and instructions of God and is namely, the Torah.

No, the object of the race is not eternal life. Eternal life is God’s free gift. You either have it or you do not, and there is not anything you can do about that one way or another, after you have accepted it or rejected it. If you have accepted it you have it, and there is no change in that unless you once again deny it.

Some people may say, “I do not like to hear you talk like that, because what incentives are people going to have to live the way they ought to live? If you tell them that salvation is God’s free gift, what incentive do they have to live the way they ought to live? What is going to keep them from going out and sinning all they want to?”

No preaching is going to keep anyone from sinning all he wants. One thing is for sure. If you are a child of God and you go out sinning “all you want to,” then there is a loose connection somewhere. You had better examine that and see what the trouble is. If you are truly born-again, you already sin more than you want to. There is something wrong if you had rather sin than live as God has asked.  Show you love Him and keep His commandments.  If you do not, something is wrong with your relationship to God.

What is the incentive, then, for doing the best you can? What is the incentive for “putting it all out for Yashua?” What is the incentive for abiding by the rules of the game? (TORAH)?  What is the incentive for striving lawfully? The crown; that is the incentive. “Oh,” you say, “I personally do not think a crown is that important. I do not really care whether I get a crown or not. If I just get there, that is all I care about.”

Well, my friend, If that is the way you feel about it, you do not have the conception of the Judgment Seat of Yashua that you ought to have.

Let us look at what Paul had to say in his II Corinthian letter.  This  is how he felt about appearing before the Judgment Seat of Yashua without having done everything that he possibly could do in faithful service to the Lord.

2Co 5:8  We are confident, I say, and willing rather to be absent from the body, and to be present with the Lord.

2Co 5:9  Wherefore we labour, that, whether present or absent, we may be accepted of him.

Notice that. He said, “We labour; I work at it; I work at being accepted of Him while I am in this body and when I stand in His presence; I work at being accepted of Him.” someone may say, “Oh, you mean you work for your salvation?” No!  I have already said that salvation is settled. We are talking about whether we are well pleasing in His sight, and Paul said, “I work at it.”

2Co 5:10 For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Yashua; that every one may receive the things done in his body, according to that he hath done, whether it be good or bad.

If you get the crown, you are going to have to strive lawfully, I ask you, as a gauge for your Christian living, are you abiding by the rules of the game? You know what they are. They are laid down in the Ten Commandments or the TORAH. I want to say to you, no matter how well you run the race, if you do not abide by the rules of the game, you will be disqualified and there will be no crown for you.

John states it even better:

2John 1:8  Look to yourselves, that we lose not those things which we have wrought, but that we receive a full reward.

Look at the words again. Let them sink into your hearts and lives:

Another translation reads, “Don’t throw away all the labor that has been spent on you, but persevere until God gives you your reward.” Keep a watchful eye on all the things that are about you, in order that you may receive the reward that God wants you to have and that God will be able to give you a full reward. Again, it is interesting that those words were addressed to the church at Philadelphia, the symbol of the church found without fault.

Let us look again at Revelations. Yeshua, through the writings of John is impressing the truth on us that these rewards are something that should be a very vital part of our Christian living:

Rev 3:11  Behold, I come quickly: hold that fast which thou hast, that no man take thy crown.

Look at that word “take.” It is a translation of the Greek word, which can be, translated “receive.” It also involves the idea of taking something that does not belong to you. It involves the idea of defrauding.

Why in the world would anyone want to steal a crown that belongs to me? How in the world could anyone defraud me of the crown that God says I have the opportunity of receiving? Notice this verse especially:

These are weighty words, but go to Col 2:18  and notice this statement:

Col 2:18  Let no man beguile you of your reward in a voluntary humility and worshipping of angels, intruding into those things which he hath not seen, vainly puffed up by his fleshly mind.

Let no man beguile or defraud you of your reward. Let no man take your crown. How can a someone take your crown? How can a man rob you of your reward? The answer is found in the context. We do not have time to examine everything that is suggested, so let me sum it up. In Paul’s day and for the next several hundred years, there was a cult known as Gnostiscism. The modern day Gnostic would be Christian Science. Christian Science teach much that the Gnostics emphasized. Cults such as Mormons emphasize some of the same things. Jehovah’s Witnesses, whose tenets are related to those Gnostics, are described in this very paragraph.

Don’t let anyone rob you of your crown by getting you mixed up in things which are not true teachings of the Word of God.  Especially teachings that do not hold Yashua as the sole Head of the Church. One can see where the danger would lie. It does not lie so much in the temptation to do something evil, but more in getting involved in things, which will detract from the grace of God and keep you from growing in your Christian life, as you should.

When I was a Captain, I was a Company Commander of an Ordnance Company consisting of about 300 men.  We had weekly Officer and Non-Commissioned Officers meetings to discuss training and operation plans. Once during one of our meetings the subject of the scheduled individual weapons qualification was brought up.  It was the policy in our battalion that every person had to qualify with his rifle every year.  This was accomplished by scheduling a day at the range for each of the five companies in the battalion.  The scheduled firing was about three months away and we had to plan for practice and safety training. 

The Battalion Commander had set up a program of presenting a trophy to the company that achieved the highest over all score.  My company and several other units had won it in the past and this was the last time it could be won.  There was only one more space to inscribe the name of the winning company on the trophy.  Who ever won it this time would be able to keep it.  I mentioned that I sure would like to have that trophy for the mantle in my office.  I never said any more about it.

After that every day that Drill and Ceremonies was on the training schedule I could look out my window and see my whole company out there with rifles in their individual squads practicing standing, kneeling, squatting and the prone positions. The squad leaders were checking each person to ensure that they held the position correct, did not flinch when they pulled the trigger and was squeezing the trigger, not jerking it.  Platoon sergeants were checking squad leaders and the First Sergeant was checking everybody. My officers or me did not get involved.  This was the First Sergeant’s training time.

The scheduled day finally arrived and the whole unit reported to the firing range.  The other four companies had already completed their range firing and this was Friday, we were the last.  To qualify and for safety there were rules.  Weapons had to be pointed down range at all times.  No ammunition on the firing line until every one in position and ready to load. Only the allotted eight rounds per position per known distance would be issued.  Each man had to fire at the 100-yard, 200-yard, 300-yard and the 500-yard line.  As they completed all four positions at one distance they would move back as a unit to the next distance and prepare to fire. Anyone breaking any rule or creating a safety hazard would be disqualified and dismissed from the range.

I only made a short visit to the range and spent most of my day with the Battalion Command at an officer meeting.  The range firing was under the command of the Battalion Sergeant Major and the unit First Sergeants.  After my meeting I went back to my office to complete some paper work.  Just before Retreat (five o’clock) the First Sergeant and my NCOs came piling excitedly into my office.  The First Sergeant came up to my desk, saluted and said, “Here, Sir, this is for you.”  I tried to hide it but tears came to my eyes as he handed me the very coveted trophy.

I put the trophy on my mantle and after that I watched people as they came into my office.  It did not matter, the lowest private or the company first sergeant, I could read their minds as they entered always looking first at the trophy.  They were saying to them selves, “That’s mine.  I won it for the Ole Man.”

As far as I know that trophy still sits on the mantle in that office and everyone who sees it is thinking how that was achieved by a unit pulling together and obeying the rules of the game.

I believe this is an example of what is meant in the following verses.

Rev 4:10  The four and twenty elders fall down before him that sat on the throne, and worship him that liveth for ever and ever, and cast their crowns before the throne, saying,

Rev 4:11  Thou art worthy, O Lord, to receive glory and honour and power: for thou hast created all things, and for thy pleasure they are and were created.

Those men in my story won that trophy for their commander.  The crowns we win is for our Commander, our King.  This is what Paul was talking about working to have something to present to the "Ole Man"!

We know this fourth chapter describes the Throne Room of Heaven, which John saw as soon as he got to Heaven. It is typical of what we shall see as soon as the Church is taken up after the Tribulation. After he has tested the house of God and separated the sheep from the goats. When things get really bad there will be a great falling away and many will take the mark of the beast.  As the chapter progresses, the scene is set for the Judgment Seat of Yashua. These four and twenty elders cast their crowns at the feet of Him who sits upon the throne. I am quite sure that when we stand there with our crowns, we are not going to be holding on to them. We will get into the spirit of the activity and we will cast our crowns before the feet of the Lord and we will cry out as they did, “Thou art worthy, O Lord, to receive glory and honour and power; for thou hast created all things, and for they pleasure they are and were created.” No, you won’t be wearing your crowns throughout all eternity to show how many you have received. You will cast them all before the feet of the Savior almost as soon as you will get them and you will be praising Him for His wonder and His glory. Your carnal nature will have been eradicated by this time, and there will be no room for envy.

 Be careful that no man takes your crown. Not hired preachers with their own agenda of feel good psychology and teaching that all you need is grace and you are saved and we all get the same rewards and will be raptured out before God tests the church and the Jews alike in the tribulation. This test is to separate the sheep from the goats and afford us all the opportunity to earn the crowns promised for our faithfulness. There are at least five crowns. I have listed them at the beginning of this paper.  However, the greatest crown of all is that tiara we will wear as the bride of Yashua.