1 Corinthians 9 - Wells of Living Water Commentary

Bible Comments
  • 1 Corinthians 9:24-26 open_in_new

    Those Whom God Chooses

    1 Corinthians 9:24-27

    INTRODUCTORY WORDS

    There are none of us who would not desire to be used of God in a large way. This is not an unholy ambition. We should not seek great things for ourselves. We should seek them for God.

    "I want in this short life of mine,

    As much as can be pressed,

    Of service true to God and man,

    Help me to be my best;

    I want in radiant garments, fine,

    In Heaven to be confessed,

    Among His chosen ones to stand,

    His holiest and best."

    Adapted.

    Daniel Webster once said, "Strike for the top, my friend; there's plenty of room at the top." We use this quotation as an inspiration to us to strike for God's best gifts.

    Paul wrote of many running in the race, and of one receiving the prize; then he said, "So run, that ye may obtain."

    Men run in the games and stretch every nerve in order that they may obtain a corruptible crown; we run with the same energy and indomitable courage, but we run to obtain an incorruptible crown.

    "The prize is set before us,

    To win, His Word implores us;

    The eye of God is o'er us

    From on high."

    Paul also wrote of how he stretched the neck for God's best. He wanted to know Christ and the power of His resurrection, and the fellowship of His suffering, being conformed to His death, if by any means he might attain the resurrection (out-resurrection) from the dead. He did not claim to have apprehended the goal, but he pressed, "for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus."

    That it is right to strive for God's best things, all, we believe, will grant. The question for us today, however, is, "That one that God chooses." We will present seven different individuals who were chosen of God to accomplish a great work for Him. Surely all of these were people who had sought God's best, and were chosen of God because of their fitness for the task.

    Christians need to be prepared in spirit and life, so that when the exigency arises they may be prepared to answer to the call of God.

    To obtain God's best in the realm of rewards when Christ comes back, we must of necessity be our best down here in every way. It was the servant who had traded faithfully with his talent, and had gained ten talents, who was made ruler over ten cities. The slothful servant who hid his talent lost even the talent he had, and in addition received the chastisement of his lord.

    If we are chosen of God to serve in any signal way among men, we will certainly be rewarded just as signally, if we prove worthy of our trust.

    Let us magnify our privileges of serving the Lord Jesus Christ. It is no small matter to be called into partnership with the Eternal One. It is worth the while to spend and be spent for such an One.

    Men of this world are delighted when chosen by the government to hold high office. A friend a few days ago was telling us how he was thrilled when he received from the king of Belgium, some medal or other for signal service rendered during the war. Another, a lady, who for faithful service during one of the English wars, received from the Queen the "Victoria Cross," was made unspeakably glad.

    Let us then seek to serve Him, and to be chosen of Him to any signal task, and we will rejoice in the day of Christ, when we receive His "Well done thou good and faithful servant."

    I. ENOCH CHOSEN TO WALK WITH GOD (Genesis 5:24)

    Enoch lived half way from Adam to Noah. He lived in the midst of a wicked and perverse generation. The world was fast ripening in wickedness and was hastening on toward its judgment. The hearts of men were continually set in them to do evil; God was not in all of their thoughts. Every imagination of the thoughts of the hearts of men was only evil.

    In the midst of conditions ripening fast in all iniquity, Enoch walked with God.

    God rejected the sons of men; but He chose Enoch to walk with Him. Others may have loved God, but Enoch loved Him supremely. Others may have testified of God and preached His righteousness among the men of Enoch's day, but only Enoch was chosen to so signal an honor.

    The New Testament bears record, that Enoch had this testimony that he pleased God. How did he please Him? Perhaps it was because he prophesied that the Lord was coming with ten thousands of His saints to execute judgment against all of the ungodly, and to convince them of their ungodly deeds, which they ungodly committed, and of their hard speeches which they in ungodliness had spoken.

    How then can we be among those whom God will choose and bless with His comradeship? We must be clean, and separated from the evil ways of men; but we must also give true testimony against their ungodliness.

    Remember that Enoch was brought forth in that little Book of Jude, the Book that says, we should contend earnestly for the faith. Days similar to those which faced Enoch, are before us. He lived before the flood; we live before the tribulation let us go forth with Christ outside the camp, bearing His reproach; let us testify to the ungodliness of men, and let us proclaim that Christ is soon coming; then we shall have the joy of walking with God, as Enoch walked; and we may be caught up into the skies by our Lord before the end of our days, and be not, because God has taken us.

    II. MOSES CHOSEN TO DELIVER ISRAEL (Exodus 3:10)

    The moment the mind goes to Moses, it involuntarily lingers a moment around the ark of bulrushes down by the river's brink. It was there that God had in preparation the future deliverer of His people.

    The command of Pharaoh was that all the male children of the Israelites were to be slain; therefore God not only outwitted Pharaoh, but forced Pharaoh to bring up a Jewish lad, instructing him in all the custom and wisdom of the Egyptians.

    Moses had an eventful life as the adopted son of Pharaoh's daughter. That he was a real man we know, because even in the lap of Egyptian luxuries he was not unmindful of his own race, which, under the king's cruelty was daily being subjected to utmost cruelty.

    Moses therefore, when he had come to years, made his choice. First, he refused to be called the son of Pharaoh's daughter; secondly, he chose rather to suffer affliction with the Children of Israel than to enjoy the pleasures of sin for a season; thirdly, he esteemed the reproach of Christ as greater riches than all of the treasures of Egypt, and, finally, he forsook Egypt, not fearing the wrath of the king.

    Back of all of this, in Moses' mind and heart, were two things: first he saw Him, who is invisible; and, secondly, he had respect unto the recompense of the reward.

    Do you wonder that when the time struck for God to deliver Israel, He chose Moses? Moses was worthy of choice. Moses was, by this time, tried, and proved. Few men were ever more fitted for leadership, and none more fitted for the leadership of so great a host under so trying conditions.

    God knew the need and God knew the man. May we be made ready, not for Moses' task, but for ours.

    III. DAVID CHOSEN AS KING (1 Samuel 16:11-13)

    Saul had been the people's choice as king over Israel. They had chosen him for his splendid physique, and human appeal.

    When the time came for God to intervene and choose a king, He sent His Prophet Samuel to Bethlehem, to the house of Jesse. As the sons of Jesse came forth, Samuel thought within himself, as he saw Eliab, Jesse's oldest son, "Surely the Lord's anointed is before Him." Then the Lord said to Samuel, "Look not on his countenance, or on the height of his stature; because I have refused him: for the Lord seeth not as man seeth."

    One by one the other sons came up, but none of them were chosen. Finally, David was brought in from the sheep-fold "Arise, and anoint him: for this is he."

    Is it possible for us to discern why God chose David? We suggest some things that his early manhood displayed:

    1. David was a youth of marvelous courage. He had met a bear that had sought to destroy his sheep, and had slain him. He was ready to meet the giant Goliath, panoplied only with a sling and five smooth stones.

    2. David was a man of undaunted faith. He trusted in God. He said as he met the giant, "This day will the Lord deliver thee into my hand."

    3. David was a man of becoming humility. He took no praise to himself as Goliath fell, but said, "That all the earth may know that there is a God in Israel."

    4. David was possessed with a heart of praise. His chief delight was playing his harp as he gave glory unto the Lord. In after years he wrote many hymns of praise; and appointed sweet singers in Israel.

    5. David was willing, uncomplainingly, to endure hardships and privations for the Lord. He was driven from the face of Saul, and was made an outcast from home and nation.

    Let us prove true to God at any cost, and God will soon be laying His hands on us for special service.

    IV. AMOS CHOSEN TO BE A PROPHET IN A TIME OF NEED (Amos 1:1)

    Elisha left his oxen to follow Elijah. Amos was one of the herdsmen of Tekoa. Should we expect God to enter the realms of the lowly to discover the stalwart and the strong to bear His banner to the front of the conflict?

    It still is true that God hath chosen the weak things to confound the mighty, and the things that are not to bring to naught the things that are.

    God looks deep into the heart and life. He sees through the outer roughness of dress and poverty of environment, and reads character, and character under stress and trials. He chooses those who will pass through fire and flood unflinchingly. He chooses men who will not turn back when once their hands have touched the plow.

    Amos was first a seer in the real sense of the word he saw things concerning Israel. He was a man who took orders and obeyed commands. What he was told to speak, he spoke. He did not prophesy smooth things. He was in no sense a dumb dog, lying down and loving to slumber, Amos courted no favor and feared no frown. He said, "Thus saith the Lord," with a conviction of truth that accepted no gainsaying. He was a man sent from God, delivering the Word of God, and never caring or daring to add one word of his own by way of addition or subtraction. He did not adopt soft and meaningless phrases to express the judgments of God on a disobedient nation. He continually thundered out, "Hear ye the word of the Lord."

    Amos was not all gloom; but he was gloom when God said gloom. Amos also saw the light of another and a better day for Israel. He told of the time when the ruins of David's tabernacle would be rebuilded, and when the nation would be for ever established in their land.

    Now we can grasp, perhaps, in part, why God chose Amos. Let us be of a like caliber willing to preach the preaching that He bids us, fearing no man's face.

    V. ESTHER CHOSEN AS THE FRIEND OF HER RACE (Esther 2:8-9)

    It was to an orphan, brought up in the home of her uncle, that God turned to befriend His people, and to save them from the tyranny of their enemies.

    One need not be surprised as they see all of the other maidens of Media-Persia rejected, while Esther, the beautiful Jewish maiden, was chosen as queen to Ahasuerus.

    We often fail to see the stately steppings of God in the affairs of men, but after all, He moves to place the men of His choice in the places where they can best serve His Word and work.

    Women have had no unimportant part in God's choice of servants. We remember Rebekah, and Sarah, and Hannah, and Deborah, and Mary, mother of Jesus, and Mary Magdalene, and Phebe, and Priscilla, and Julia, and Lydia, and many others. Indeed we cry, "The women who publish the glad tidings are a great host."

    It was women who "received their dead raised to life again: and others were tortured, not accepting deliverance; that they might obtain a better resurrection."

    God give us women whom God may choose to turn the tide of the enemies' power and sway! Esther was such an one as this. How beautiful she appears to us as she stood at the door seeking audience with her sire! How wonderful as she appeals to him to spare her people! She knew that he might depose her; for she was running counter to Haman one of the king's favorite sons. Yet she laid her life and her all on the throne of sacrifice, and God heard and answered prayer.

    VI. JOHN CHOSEN TO LEAN ON JESUS' BREAST (Matthew 4:21-22)

    As the Lord walked along the way, He first called Peter and Andrew, and then James and John. Perhaps, had we stood hard by, we would have marveled that One so great and mighty, should select men of such humble affairs. As a rule, all men were seeking their own, but Christ knew that these men would seek His own, His will and His way, and ultimately pass on to tragic deaths for Him.

    John was known as Boanerges, the son of thunder. But how gentle and loving was John as a son of God.

    Christ chose John, it seems to us, because of two great features that dominated John's character.

    1. Dark days were ahead of the Lord, and He knew it. He had come forth from the Father, and had come into the world steadily pressing His way toward the slaughter. He was the destined "Man of sorrows, and acquainted with griefs." He was to be, "Despised and rejected of men." What the Lord wanted was some one to love Him, and to lean on His breast. Nothing in the life of Christ is more soul-stirring than the Last Supper scene. Jesus was exceedingly troubled in spirit, and He said, "Verily, verily, I say unto you, that one of you shall betray Me!" The disciples turned, looking at one another. Hear now the words: "Now there was leaning on Jesus' bosom one of His disciples, whom Jesus loved." Oh, how wonderful it all seems!

    Among many things this was one reason that Jesus chose John.

    2. The resurrection and the ascension had passed. Days of testings had come, when Satan sought to deceive the flock. Then John ministered to them. Hear now the man whom God chose! Read his words. They are to be found first of all in the Gospel that bears his name; then in the three Epistles that likewise bear his name, and then in Revelation, His Epistles reveal John's inner soul. He writes again and again, "Little children." He writes of Love and Life and Light. Love, love, love. Christ chose John to love Him, and to love the brethren.

    May we be chosen to a similar task!

    AN ILLUSTRATION

    FAITHFUL UNTO DEATH

    When the Emperor Licinius was persecuting the Christians in Armenia, the Thundering Legion was stationed at Sebaste. Forty men in that Legion declared themselves Christians, and were sentenced to be exposed naked all night on a frozen pool for it was winter, and bitterly cold. In a house on the edge of the pool a large fire was kindled, and food and wine and a warm bath were prepared under the charge of Sempronius, a centurion, and a guard of soldiers; and it was announced to the forty, that if any of them left the pool and entered the house, they would be considered to have denied Christ. So night came on, and the keen wind from Mount Caucasus made the citizens close their windows and doors more tightly, and heap up the fuel on their hearths. And on the frozen pool were the forty warriors, some standing lost in prayer, some walking quickly to and fro, some already sleeping that sleep which only ends in death. And ever and again, as the hours went slowly by they prayed: "O Lord, forty wrestlers have come forth to fight for Thee; grant that forty wrestlers may receive the crown of victory." And now. as the cold grew more intense, one of the forty could endure no longer, and he left the pool and came to the house where Sempronius and his men were keeping guard. But still the martyrs' prayer went up to heaven: "O God, forty wrestlers have come forth to fight for Thee; grant that forty wrestlers may receive the crown of victory." And the prayer was answered. Sempronius, the centurion, was touched by his comrades' bravery. He declared himself a Christian, and took his place upon the frozen pool. And when the cold had done its work, and forty corpses lay upon the ice, forty glorious spirits, with Sempronius among them, entered into the presence of their King.

  • 1 Corinthians 9:24-27 open_in_new

    The Seven Crowns

    1 Corinthians 9:24-27

    INTRODUCTORY WORDS

    1. The possibility of winning a crown. There are two classes of Christians: one is the carnal, the other is the spiritual. There are some who imagine that such distinctions as we have just noted are true enough upon earth, but, that when Christ comes again, distinctions will cease.

    We believe the Bible teaches quite to the contrary. Believers are not alike on earth in their service, their life, or in their fidelity to the Faith. For this very cause believers will not be alike in their rewards, beyond this life.

    2 Corinthians 5:6-10 shows that there is a Judgment Seat of Christ, before which all must appear. The day of that Judgment Seat shall declare whether earth's service will be burned with fire, or whether it shall remain; whether the believer himself shall suffer loss, or receive a reward.

    Revelation 22:12 shows that when Christ comes He will bring His rewards with Him. In view of that fact, we have the admonition that we should "so run that we may obtain." The prize is set before us. What we want to do is to live day by day, stretching every nerve to obtain. Moses was willing to forsake Egypt with her treasures, and to choose the suffering of affliction with the children of God, because he had respect unto the recompence of the reward.

    The possibility of a crown lies before us. If there is a possibility, there must be an effort to attain. Believers are in the school of Christ. They enter when they are born again. The day of rewards (you may call it graduation if you wish), lies ahead of us. Some vainly imagine that all will wear "crowns" in the Glory.

    We wish to ask, "Where will you get the crown?" Crowns are rewards, and they will be given only to those who have won them. You cannot demand a crown. You cannot grab another's crown.

    2. The possibility of losing a crown. God has said, "Hold that fast which thou hast, that no man take thy crown." You may have a crown as a reward for service and for holy living up-to-date, but if you fail to continue, and you fall by the way, you may lose your crown; even that crown which you have thus far been sure to obtain. You cannot lose eternal life. You can lose and you may lose the rewards which should be yours.

    God has said, "In due season we shall reap, if we faint not." There are some who run well for a season. However, when the cares of life come upon them, and the pleasures of the world seek to ensnare them, or when the lure for gold enthralls them, they fall away. These will lose their crown. We read of one who once walked with Paul, "Demas hath forsaken me, having loved this present world."

    3. Paying the price of a crown. The Spirit said, "If we suffer, we shall also reign." However, if we deny Him, He will also deny us. We are "joint-heirs with Christ; if so be that we suffer with Him, that we may be also glorified together."

    People who prospect for gold are willing to pay the price of deprivation, and of toil that they may obtain.

    The ones who run a race are willing to bring their body into subjection, and to so run that they may win. Let us, also, pay the price.

    I. THE CROWN OF THORNS (Matthew 27:29)

    When Christ was delivered by Pilate to be crucified, the soldiers took Jesus into the common hall and robed Him with a scarlet robe. Then, they plaited a crown of thorns and put it upon His head, and a reed in His right hand. Then they bowed the knee before Him and mocked Him, saying, "Hail, King of the Jews"! Afterward they spat upon Him, and smote Him on the head.

    As we view our Lord thus crowned, we are stirred with indignation, and with grief. We wonder, however, if we are willing to share the ignominy and the shame of this mock-crowning? We were told by the Lord that if we would come after Him, we should take up our cross and follow Him. Should we not also take up our crown of thorns? If His brow was pierced, should we not be willing to have ours pierced?

    The fact is, the world holds no brief for saints. It conserves the same attitude toward the Christly Christian, that it held toward Christ. The Lord said, "If they have hated Me, they will also hate you." If the wicked called Him, Beelzebub, they will also call us Beelzebub.

    We know, therefore, that it is given unto us, not only to believe in Christ, but also to suffer for His sake. In the world we shall have tribulation. We need not think it strange if men cast out our names as evil, for so did they with the Name of our Lord, who went before us.

    As the study proceeds we will consider other kinds of crowns. There will be the crown of righteousness, of glory, of rejoicing, of life, and the many crowns. We wonder, however, if all of these crowns are not contingent, more or less, upon our bearing the crown of thorns.

    II. THE CROWN OF REJOICING (1 Thessalonians 2:19)

    1. Paul's entrance to Thessalonica. The seventeenth chapter, of Acts tells how Paul in the city of Thessalonica preached three Sabbath days, opening and alleging that Jesus was the Christ. Paul entered the city of Thessalonica, with a heart burning for the salvation of souls. The result was that many turned to God from their idols to serve the True and the Living God, and to wait for His Son from Heaven. His entrance was not in vain. Without use of flattering words, without the spirit of covetousness, he labored and travailed night and day, being affectionately desirous of them. He was ready to impart not the Gospel of God alone, but his own soul also.

    2. How the heart of Paul longed after the Thessalonians. His only joy seemed to be that they should stand fast in the Lord. He wanted them to be worthy of the high calling to which they were called in Christ Jesus. He sought to establish them in the Faith. After he had gone from Thessalonica, he sent Timothy back to inquire as to their welfare. Then he gave thanks to God, in their behalf, as he heard the story of their faith and love. Night and day Paul prayed that he might see their faces, in. order that he might impart unto them whatever might be lacking in their faith.

    3. Paul's crown of rejoicing. Paul looked beyond his entrance into the city of Thessalonica, and beyond his heart's concern for souls, he looked into the future, and saw the Lord coming in the clouds of Heaven. He saw the dead raised up and the living in Christ raptured. It was in view of all this that Paul wrote, "For what is our hope, or joy, or crown of rejoicing? Are not even ye in the presence of our Lord Jesus Christ at His Coming?"

    We call this the soul-winner's crown. Each of us should, in our personal work and preaching, hold before us this glorious sparkling victor's crown.

    III. THE CROWN OF GLORY (1 Peter 5:3-4)

    1. The service of the under-shepherds. Our verse begins with the story of the Chief Shepherd. This suggests to us the fact of under-shepherds over which Christ is chief. These shepherds are the elders who are called of God to feed His flock. There are many under-shepherds who are untrue to the sheep, and unfaithful to the Chief Shepherd.

    Ezekiel gives us God's message to all such. "Woe be to the shepherds * * that do feed themselves! should not the shepherds feed the flocks?"

    There are some shepherds who eat the fat, and clothe themselves with the wool, but they feed not the flock. They neither visit the sick nor strengthen the diseased, nor bind up the broken; neither do they bring back the sheep that is driven away. God pity such shepherds as these.

    The Lord admonishes the under-shepherds to feed the flock of God, and to take oversight thereof, "Not for filthy lucre, but of a ready mind."

    2. The rewards of the under-shepherds. Our key text says, "And when the Chief Shepherd shall appear, ye shall receive a crown of glory that fadeth not away." Here is a crown that lies in the reach of every faithful shepherd of the sheep. There are some who love to He down, and who are forever looking to their own gain from their own quarter; to these the Lord will say, "Ye have your reward." There are others who shepherd the flock, and are faithful in serving them. These shall receive a crown of glory.

    The idle shepherd, when he seeth the wolf coming, forsakes his sheep. The true and faithful shepherd is willing to lay down his life for the sheep.

    The false shepherd destroys and scatters the sheep. They prophesy from their own head, and prophesy peace, when there is no peace. They stand not in the counsel of the Lord, nor do they cause His people to hear His Word. All such shepherds perish. True shepherds may have less here, but over there they will wear the crown of glory.

    IV. THE CROWN OF RIGHTEOUSNESS (2 Timothy 4:6-8)

    1. Fighting the good fight. Paul in the Spirit wrote Timothy that, as a good soldier of Jesus Christ, he should endure hardness. He also wrote that a wrestler in the games striving for mastery should not entangle himself with the affairs of this life, but that he should strive lawfully, if he expected the victor's crown.

    What Paul wrote to Timothy, he himself practiced. He said, "I have fought a good fight." Paul had lived a life above reproach. He had separated himself from everything that would hinder him in the great contest of his ministry.

    2. Finishing the course. The Apostle had no greater desire than to finish his course with joy, in all sincerity and completeness. He said. "Having obtained help of God, I continue unto this day." He believed, moreover, that God would help him unto the perfect day.

    He had been "in labours more abundant, in stripes above measure, in prisons more frequent, in deaths oft." He had been thrice beaten with rods, once had he been stoned, thrice had he been shipwrecked, a night and a day had he been in the deep. In speaking of his travails, he said, "In journeyings often, in perils of waters, in perils of robbers, in perils of mine own countrymen * * in weariness and painfulness, * * in hunger and thirst * * in cold and nakedness."

    As the Apostle comes to the end of the journey he now is able to say, "I have finished my course."

    3. Keeping the Faith. The Apostle Paul contended earnestly for the Faith "once delivered." He would not turn to the right hand nor to the left. He preached Christ crucified, raised and coming again with unswerving fidelity. He not only knew the Faith, but he kept it.

    4. The happy prospect. The Apostle Paul, as he viewed his life's ministry, said, "Henceforth there is laid up for me a crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the Righteous Judge, shall give me at that day."

    This crown is a victor's crown, and it cannot be given to men who have failed to win it. Let us so fight, so finish our course, and so keep the Faith that we, along with Paul, and with those who love His Appearing, may receive the victor's crown.

    V. THE CROWN OF LIFE (James 1:12; Revelation 2:9-10)

    1. The day of temptation and of testing. James is writing to the brethren that they should count it all joy when they fall into divers temptations (testings). John, in Revelation, in writing to the Church at Smyrna, says: "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." It is given to all saints, not only to believe in Christ, but also to suffer for His sake.

    As the days of the end come to a close, the day of increasing persecutions also draws near. The believer has always had tribulation in this world, but the days of Tribulation and of darkness will deepen as the shades of the Great Tribulation, spoken of by Daniel the Prophet, and emphasized by the Lord Jesus come. The Holy Spirit, through Paul, and in Revelation speaks of these days.

    2. The day of rejoicing and rewards. The Holy Spirit, through James, said: "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."

    The Holy Spirit, through John, in addressing the Church at Smyrna, said: "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."

    Once more our crown is a victor's crown. It is only for those who win it. As we think of this crown of life, we are reminded of a gracious promise: "If we suffer, we shall also reign with Him." So it is, that we reckon that the suffering of this present time is nothing comparable to the glory that shall be revealed in us. Indeed, we are joint-heirs with Jesus Christ, "If so be that we suffer with Him, that we may be also glorified together."

    VI. THE INCORRUPTIBLE CROWN (1 Corinthians 9:25)

    1. Running the race. The context, which surrounds the "incorruptible crown," describes all of the saved as running in a race. The race-runners are also set forth in Hebrews where the Spirit says, "Let us run with patience the race that is set before us."

    2. The rules of the race. The man who was running in the race, striving for mastery, was temperate in all things. In view of this the Apostle said: "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."

    In Hebrews we read, "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." Surely no one can obtain success in running, unless he obeys the laws of the game.

    3. The incorruptible crown: Those who run in the races of men do it to obtain a corruptible crown; but we, an incorruptible. God will give us no mere wreath of flowers or ferns with which to deck our brow: "The grass withereth, and the flower thereof falleth away."

    Our crown will never wither, and never fade. Our crown, like our inheritance, is incorruptible, undefiled, and it fadeth not away; reserved in Heaven for us. Let us seek to obtain that crown.

    VII. THE MANY CROWNS (Revelation 19:12)

    1. The vision of Jesus Christ coming again. The Lord Jesus is described, in the context which surrounds our verse, as coming down from an open Heaven, riding upon a white horse. The battle of Armageddon is before us. The nations have set themselves together against the Lord and against His Christ. In spite of their array, the Lord is coming to judge, and to make war. He is coming to reign as King of kings and Lord of lords. The armies of Heaven are following Him, arrayed in fine linen, white and clean. A sword goeth forth out of His mouth. He is about to tread the winepress of the fierceness of the wrath of Almighty God.

    An angel is crying unto the fowls that fly in the midst of the heavens to gather themselves together unto the supper of the great God. The beast is taken, the false prophet who wrought miracles before him is also taken, and they are both cast alive into the lake of fire.

    2. The vision of the many crowns. As the Lord descends to the earth, there is seen upon His head many crowns. These crowns are regal crowns, they are glittering diadems.

    The One who wore the crown of thorns, in His first coming, will, in His Second Coming, wear the crowns of royalty.

    There are some who may fail to see any connection that saints may claim a part in this vista of Heavenly diadems. We are sure, however, that, as we began this study and considered the crown of thorns, all of us saw that saints bore a relationship to that crown. We knew that we were called to suffer with Him, and to go with Him outside the camp bearing His reproach. Shall we not also reign with Him? If we share with Him His crown of thorns, He will surely share with us the glory and dominion which His diadems declare. When He reigns, we will reign with Him. The Lord, Himself, said, "The glory which Thou gavest Me I have given them."

    If you desire that crown of glory,

    You must the crown of thorns, now wear;

    If you desire to share His glory,

    You must His suff'rings also share;

    So bear your cross in full endeavor,

    And to His Name be ever true;

    Then from His lips, in God's forever,

    You'll hear your name confessed anew.

    AN ILLUSTRATION

    A KNOCK BORNE FOE THE SAKE OF A CROWN

    "A man will venture a knock that is in reach of a crown." "The ambitious will run all risks of cruel wounds, and death itself, to reach a throne; the prize hardens them against all hazards. Even so will every wise man encounter all difficulties for the crown of life; and when, by faith, he sees it within reach, he will count all afflictions light through which he wades to glory. 'If we suffer, we shall also reign with Him.'