A Crown of Life

The purpose of trial/temptation as you will recall is to test our faith, and thus make us strong in perseverance.
Here again is how James puts it in verses 3 and 4 of this chapter. He says you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance.
Perseverance must finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking in anything. God wants us fully grown up in every part of our being.
The key to getting there, he says, is to learn how to endure or to persevere. The word perseverance in this text in Greek is the word "hupo mone"
and it means literally a remaining behind a holding out and hence endurance, patience, or perseverance.
And what God is looking for in your life and in my life is an ability to remain faithful to Him and faithful to His call upon our lives.
Despite the temptation or the pressure that would try to dissuade us from following the Lord, it is a critical component, as I said, to become complete and mature equipped for every good work.
Now that raises the question then quite automatically, does it not? Why from God's perspective is perseverance so important? Why does it matter that we really learn to stick it out even when the pressure and the temptation is to throw in the towel and to go our own way?
Why not, as one woman told me in all seriousness a number of years ago, this was in the context of a conversation about the persecuted church and in all seriousness she said to me, I don't understand why don't those people when they are challenged for their faith, not just give it up, renounce it so they can go free and then later they can repent.
Quite an ingenious solution to the history of persecution would have saved a lot of martyrs if people could do that.
But it's not an option scripture gives you very readily. Why not? Why is perseverance so important? Well that's the issue now, Paul or James addresses then in the verse 12 that we have just read together, blessed is the man of Persevere's under trial, because when he has stood the test he will receive the crown of life that got his promise to those who love him.
As we try to unpack that verse this morning there's a number of things that I want us to know and the first is this. Persevere in some matters because it is the pathway, listen carefully, it is the pathway to blessing.
Note again how James puts it, blessed is the man or the woman who perseveres under trial. There is a linkage between blessing and perseverance not to be blessed is to have God's favor.
To be blessed means that there is something about standing firm in the midst of temptation and in the midst of trial that is incredibly pleasing to God.
And the reason for that I believe is not only that Persevere's under those circumstances is an indication that our faith is genuine but it's more than that. It's also an indication that God's grace towards us has not been in vain.
His grace has accomplished its purpose. There is, you see, a cosmic dimension as I like to call it to our faith that we don't very often think of or consider.
And by cosmic dimension I mean not only is God in heaven together with all his holy angels keenly interested in watching how the life of the believing church unfolds here upon the face of the earth so is the devil and so is all of hell.
And on a cosmic level if you can put it in human language is like there is a battle that rages about whether or not God can get for himself a people who will love him not because of what it is that he gives them but because of who he is.
And the classic illustration of that in Scripture you might recall is the story of Job. Now later on in the book of James he holds up Job as an example of Perseverance and how God is kind and compassionate Job you might recall is a man who lost everything.
In the end he got it all back double but to get there he went through hell and back most of us I trust know that story I wonder how many of us know the beginning of that story.
What set the stage for the sufferings of Job well it was a conversation in heaven between God and Satan the Bible says one day the angels or the sons of God came to present themselves before the Lord and Satan whose name means adversary also came with them.
The Lord said to Satan where have you come from and Satan answered the Lord from roaming through the earth and going back and forth in it remember in the New Testament the Bible says he goes around like a roaring lion seeking someone to devour he's always on the look out to see where he can get the advantage over you in me.
Roaming through the earth going back and forth in it then the Lord said to Satan have you considered my servant Job there is no one on earth like him he is blameless and upright a man who fears God and shuns evil.
Now comes the clinch remember Satan's response does Job fear God for nothing have you not put a head around him and his household and everything he has.
You have blessed the work of his hand so that his flocks and herds are spread throughout the land but stretch out your hand strike everything he has and he will surely curse you to your face and that becomes the beginning of the sufferings of Job.
And the implication of Satan is that nobody including Job can serve God for the sake of God he is only serving God because of what he gets out of it and the whole cosmic backdrop to the sufferings of Job is for God to demonstrate through the life of Job.
That yes it is possible to come to the end of your life and to come to the end of your suffering and to not serve God because of what he gives you.
But only because of who God is though he slay me Job says later on still I will serve him and so it is with you and me.
The reason perseverance is so important is because it not only demonstrates the reality of our faith but it demonstrates that God's grace has been sufficient and God has transformed us into a people who not only love God because of what he gives us.
But because of who he is because you see there's always the tendency in your life that in my life is there not for us to love God because he blesses us.
Well fact of the matter is anybody could love God when God gives you everything that you want and when your life gets better and better and you don't experience any difficulties even a pagan would want to be in relationship with that kind of a God.
The real test of your spirituality, the real test of your faith, the real test of your walk with God is not when the sun is shining and everything goes well in your life.
Now the real test is when the sun doesn't shine when your prayers don't get answered when the rug is pulled out from underneath you and you're broken in heart and you're broken in spirit and you can cry out with Job though he slay me yet.
Well I love you once God gets us by faith in Jesus to that place.
Then God has demonstrated the reality of his grace and his ability to renew a people in his own image and in his own likeness and then he can pull back the veil and then he can pour out his blessings.
I'll just slide James later on then when he refers to the story of Job says as you know we consider blessed those who have persevered.
You have heard of Job's perseverance and you have seen what the Lord finally brought about the Lord is full of compassion and mercy.
Your perseverance is the pathway to blessing.
It matters that we say no to sin.
It matters that we say no to temptation.
It matters that we say yes to Jesus and yes to God the Father.
All heaven and earth is watching.
In fact Satan's power is brought down.
Not by the big battles we wage, not even by the big prayers we pray.
Satan's power is brought down when God's people by faith in Jesus learn to rise up and live in the righteousness of Christ.
That doesn't mean we have to be perfect but it doesn't mean that we walk in repentance and in faith and it means that we learn to stand firm in as much as God gives us the grace to stand firm.
Jesus was only one man but he brought down Satan's power because Satan had nothing in him that could hold him and he arose from the dead and today is crowned Lord over all.
And I'm making sense here. It matters how the church lives.
Blessed is the man who perseveres during trials and temptations.
So that's one thing I want us to know in this passage.
Second thing that I want us to know is that this blessing that God promises to those who persevere consists of what the Bible calls a crown.
Blessed is the man who perseveres under trial because when he has stood the test he will receive the crown of life that God has promised to those who love him.
The Greek word for crown is the word Stephanos. You'll recognize that immediately as the root word for what name? Stephen or Stephen? It means crown literally means that which encircles and hence by derivation a crown or a wreath.
Now I find it very helpful that in classic Greek and Roman culture and to some degree even today there are three categories of people who wear a crown or a wreath.
The first is a king when he receives a crown at his coronation.
The second is an athlete or a warrior when they have been successful in the competition. Think of the Olympic Games and you know the gold silver and bronze medal winners which would be the equivalent of the crown or the wreath today receiving the prize.
The third category would be an ordinary citizen who is being singled out for a specific duty or obligation or accomplishment in his community.
And in each instance a crown represents a reward. It represents a public recognition of territory that they have gained successes that they have accomplished and a corresponding degree of honor and recognition that comes with it.
It means you're being elevated and honored because of your position because of your accomplishment or by virtue of your standing in the community.
The scripture says that when we persevere under trial and when we have stood the test then God is going to give to those who love him a crown.
That is to say a place of honor, a place of recognition, a place of glory that is I believe in direct proportion to our ability to persevere and stand up under the trial or under the test.
There is no crown without a cross and I'll tell you why. As I said a crown represents authority and power.
What happens when you give authority and power to sinful and fallen human beings almost inevitably they abuse it. You get the tyrant like Saddam Hussein who is going on trial now or the trying to repeatedly killed 300,000 of his own countrymen.
You get an abusive father who uses his superior strength to brow beat his wife into submission and it tyrannizes his children.
You get a crooked boss who uses his position, his power or his influence to take advantage of his employee or you get a politician who lines his own pockets
at the expense of the electorate and we hear all of those stories all of the time. As somebody has said power corrupts and absolute power corrupts absolutely.
That is why in a fallen world we try to create government structures that include accountability and balance when out of the United States after the war of independence they put their constitution together.
They balance the legislative and the judicial and the executive offices of government over against each other so that there would be no abuse of power.
And in a parliamentary system and in the structure of committees we do the same kind of thing we try to restrain evil organizationally and structurally. But that's only a stopgab measure because crooked people will always find ways around whatever accountability that you build.
Now when God builds his eternal kingdom he's not going to take any chances on anybody messing it up because of their sinful selfishness.
And so here's what God does. God says you want a crown? You want glory? You want honor? It'll be directly in proportion I believe to your faithfulness in the here and now.
The biblical principle is if you can be faithful over little I will put you over much. So God puts us in the fire. God allows our motives to be exposed. God allows our inside deepest recesses to be laid bare so that he can burn out of us.
He can burn out of us all those places of selfishness all those places of self-centeredness so that in fact he can crown us with glory and honor. He can entrust us with authority and he won't have to worry that we're somehow going to mess up and put our own advantage on the front burner at the expense of God's glory and the well-being of his people.
Do you understand what I'm saying? Very critical. And the primary example of that is the Lord Jesus. Why is he crowned according to Scripture with glory and honor?
Why does he have the name that is above every name that at the mention of his name every need should bow? Everything God is, everything God has, God has given to the person of Jesus Christ. His word is law in God's eternal kingdom. How can God trust him?
Why and how indeed? Because he was obedient, the Bible says unto what? Unted death. Therefore God has highly exalted him and give it him the name that is above every name. God can entrust everything to Jesus.
Because in all his life and all his trials and in all his temptations, Jesus never compromises relationship with God the Father. He never put himself ahead of anybody else and God knows that he can rule authoritatively with power and honor and glory because he is demonstrated through testing, that he could be trusted with the riches of God's kingdom.
Now God intends to share the glory of Jesus with you and me. I don't know if that has dawned on you, what that means. You're going to sit on thrones with Jesus in the coming age, managing God's kingdom. I don't know what that looks like.
All I know is that the Bible says, "I hasn't seen it, ear hasn't heard it, and the heart of man hasn't even imagined what it is that God has prepared for those eleven." Paul, you will recall, had a glimpse, but he was so awestruck by what he saw that he neither could nor was he allowed to put it into words.
It was beyond human description, so great is the glory that God has for his children. But don't ever think for one moment that God is going to give.
You know, it's like you've got an expensive car and your twelve year old says, "Give me the keys, Dad, I want to go for a ride."
If you're running a big business and you're sixteen year old says, "Well, I want to take it over." Nobody in his right mind gives great power and authority unless people have come up through the ranks and they have demonstrated faithfulness.
I'll put you over much. It has huge implications for how you live the Christian life. I know all kinds of people, they want responsibility or they think they want responsibility. Usually, they just want recognition, they want the glory, the honor that goes with what they perceive as a position, whether in the church or in the working world.
Well, demonstrate faithfulness in the little show that you really care more about God than fulfilling your own agenda's dreams and ambitions that you really care for people and the expense of caring for yourself if need be.
That's what lays the groundwork for advancement in the kingdom of God.
Blessed is the man or the woman who perseveres under trial. When they've stood the test, they will receive the crown of life that God has promised to those who love Him.
Well, somebody says, "When do I get that crown?" Well, commentators differ. There are some commentators who look at a verse like this and they say, "Well, this crown that Scripture speaks of, that is in the future life to come."
Other commentators look at the same verse and they say, "It's in the here and now. I don't know if we have to make that kind of choice because I think it's both in."
Certainly, Scripture says there is a crown of life in the age to come. We read in the book of Revelation, "Do not be afraid of what you are about to suffer."
I tell you the devil, some of you in prison to test you when you will suffer persecution for 10 days, be faithful even to the point of death and I will give you the crown of life.
Not 100% sure, but I think this is the only other reference in the New Testament to the crown of life and it's clearly in the future when Jesus comes with His only angels with Him.
He gathers all of His people before Him and He hands out the rewards. He's going to be handing out the crowns.
I believe the crowns will be in direct proportion. Not to what we have accomplished in the here and now and not even to how long or how short we have served Him, but rather how faithful we have been to that which He has assigned us.
I say that because again, that's what Scripture teaches. If you're faithful over little, I'll put you over much.
You may not think it matters very much if you say no to that temptation or yes to God, particularly if nobody is watching and nobody will know.
You may think it doesn't matter very much whether you're obedient in the area that God is calling you to be obedient to.
I tell you, God is watching and the Bible talks about people who will lose their reward in the age to come.
They will be saved as through fire by the skin of their teeth because even though they have been in Christ, they have built with wood hay and stubble and that gold and silver and all such things that that cannot be burned by the fire.
He that's faithful in little. God says, I will put over much and I think, you know, this is strictly speculation in my part, but I think in the age to come, we're going to have some amazing surprises.
People that we think, you know, ought to receive great reward. Well, maybe they could push in the corners somewhere.
That'll be hard. And people that we have, you know, hardly ever given a second glance to, they seem so unimportant and insignificant.
We really didn't want to spend our time with them. All of a sudden the Lord comes along and he elevates them because you see they were faithful even when they were unsung heroes in the kingdom.
He that is faithful over little. I'll put over much. I'll never forget the story.
Missionary had served overseas for many, many years and it had been difficult. There hadn't been a lot of fruit on his life.
And he came back by vote as I recall to New York Harbor. And as he came into the harbor, there was this huge welcoming crowd with bands and banners and he said to himself,
"Now, isn't that wonderful? They're all in the harbor to welcome me back." And he was all primed and pumped to receive that kind of recognition until he discovered they didn't notice him at all.
They were gathered for some other important personage who stepped off the boat and he was deflated to the core of his being. Nobody ever took notice until it finally dawned on him.
That even when nobody notices, God does. And if God does, that's all that matters. As a matter of fact, I'll go a step further.
And I will tell you that the more reward you have received in this life, the less reward you get in the next life.
Because Jesus says they already have their reward. But when you serve behind the scenes and nobody takes note, God does. And when the time comes for the prizes to be handed out, and they will be, when the prizes are handed out in eternity,
you will more than get your share. Hebrews 6.10, God is not unjust. He will not forget your work and the love you have shown him as you have helped his people and continue to help them.
Part of the crown is in the future. And thousands of God's people over the years have gone to death in martyrdom because they knew the light of the end of the tunnel. They'd hear the words well done, good and faithful servant, you've been faithful over little, I will put you over much.
Now, that having been said doesn't mean that all the reward is in the future. There is an element to the crown today. I mean, think back to school. You passed the test, you're first in class, you win the athletic contest, you have stood the test, you have persevered, you have endured.
There is a measure of recognition already in this life among God's people, at least if not among the world, and sometimes even among the world, there is a measure of recognition that comes along with the fact that you stood the test and you've been faithful and now God can reward you publicly.
Because Scripture also talks about that. There is a place of public reward. And Job, again, is a good case in point because he does receive in this life, double of everything except for his children after the test was completed.
You see, there is a crown. That is the blessing to those who persevered and also learned to stand up during the test.
Then I want us to notice that this blessing not only consists of a crown, but this crown in Scripture is said to be the crown of life.
Unless a demand who perseveres under trial when he has stood the test, he will receive the crown of life that God has promised to those who love him.
You may be interested in knowing that to the best of my knowledge there are only three crowns mentioned in the New Testament.
Did you know that? Crown of righteousness, the crown of glory, and the crown of life.
I don't profess this morning to know fully what the difference is between those if there is any.
It may simply be descriptions of different aspects of that same crown.
But I think the crown of life is the full summation of life lived in full abundance.
I came to Jesus that you might have life and have it fully.
See, by virtue of our creation, by virtue of our redemption, all of us are given a measure of life.
We are given certain gifts, certain talents, and certain abilities.
God's desire, originally in the creation of the world, was that those gifts and those abilities should flourish
so that we can occupy, if you will, the space that God has for us.
Whether we be, you know, a one-talent or a two-talent or a five-talent individual really doesn't make very much difference.
God wants us to occupy the full scope of our life.
And even in a fallen world, we have those moments, don't we?
Where we feel that we soar on wings like equals.
Don't you have that sometimes you wake up in the morning and you know it's going to be a good day.
Your mind is clear.
You know what it is that you're called to and you're enthusiastic about stepping into it and when you step into it,
it just goes your way and you know this is who I am and this is what I have been created to do.
I'll have that sometimes. I'll talk to somebody.
Sometimes in his speaking situation, I know the Holy Spirit comes along and the wind of the Holy Spirit catches under my wings and I fly and I say to myself,
this is what you've been created for and this is what you've been redeemed for.
You've got those moments.
Of course, in a fallen world, they don't last very long because there's always the polar gravity.
And rather than soaring on wings like equals, we're more like birds flapping around with the broken wing.
Trying to stay afloat because the devil, the world and the flesh, they all combine together to try to tear us down and to rob us of our joy.
And as we've been seeing in recent weeks, one of the reasons God allows that is because every branch that bears fruit, he prunes that it may bear more fruit.
Part of the limitation are the lies that we have embraced at the core of our being, places of sin that were bonded to places of captivity.
And under the pressure and the tests of life, the Lord lays bare those places that we have been afraid to step into those places that we think we cannot step into.
We come against those obstacles that keep us from coming into the fullness of life.
And as we persevere, as we cry out to God and as in the context of community, we confess our weaknesses to one another and pray for one another and God empowers us to step into that.
We come through those places and then we start to fly all over again because we become stronger.
We occupy the space that God has for us, think of the shy person whom the Holy Spirit is calling forth.
And he or she is learning to speak up in situations that have previously been too intimidating.
Think of the person who is fearful of trying new things and under the guidance of the Holy Spirit and with the support of family and friends, he steps out of one job into a new one.
He faces his biggest fears and God breaks through those fears. Or think of any situation in which you have been bound by fear or insecurity. And that foolishly, but because the Holy Spirit has called you into it, you're heating the prompting on the inside and filled with fear and interpretation.
You step into those situations and you discover that what you thought you could never do by the power of God, that is the crown of life.
And that crown of life begins to happen already in the here and now, as God expands us into our horizons, as God brings us into new realms of influence.
It's not important for the one talented person to be the two talented or the five, but it's important for every last one of us to occupy the space that God has designed for us and not to hold back by intimidation, fear or unbelief.
Do you understand what I'm saying?
All of that is preparation for the life to come. You said to yourself, it doesn't matter if I shrink away.
It doesn't matter if I refuse to step into the places where God is calling me. I got news for you.
You're going to miss out on a significant reward that God, I don't think you'll miss out in terms of getting into the kingdom, but I think you'll miss out on the reward that God has for you.
Because what God is looking for is a people who will step into their space for His glory, so that He can demonstrate in the midst of all our infirmity, insecurity and fear, the greatness of His love and the greatness of His power.
Not only is this crown the crown of life, but I want you to notice it is promised to all who love Him.
Blessed is the man who perseveres under trial. When he has stood the test, he will receive the crown of life that God has promised to all those who love Him.
Maybe you're sitting here this morning and you're sitting to yourself, I can't do this.
I've been tried, and I know that I've failed. I've been tested, and you have no idea how low is my pain threshold. I cannot bear it again.
Maybe you're the kind of person who says what you're asking, what God is asking of me, is more than what I can deliver. I've got good news for you. You're absolutely right.
You cannot. Because none of us can. But there's one who can. His name is Jesus.
Remember, he was tested in everything like you and me, always without sinning, was crowned with glory and honor before God because he was faithful to the end.
Well, guess what, one by faith, we're joined to Jesus, what's His is ours.
And if we will but abide in Him, let Him speak into our lives and call us forth. He who began a good work in us will bring it to completion in the day of Jesus Christ.
And when Christ comes in the wings of glory, law has only angels with Him. From the least of the greatest those who have loved God are going to be presented without wrinkle, without blemish, without any spot or any such thing.
And we will sit with Him on thrones, whatever that means. And we will reign with Him eternally.
And I always think we're going to sit there and swap stories. Remember when I never thought I could ever be here. Do this. Become this.
Let me tell you about my past. Let me tell you about my failures. I was put together so crooked, so broken. I didn't think anybody could ever fix me up.
Well, the good news of the gospel is that Jesus Christ is bigger. And if he puts us through trial and he puts us through testing, it's not just to burn off the dross. Please remember that. It's to make the gold shine.
And where Jesus puts gold in your heart and in your life, you're going to shine. And nothing and nobody in all of creation will separate you from the love of God in Christ Jesus. Our Lord and God's people said.