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Crowns of
Position, Power & Privilege
Received by Faithful Believers on the Great Coronation Day
by Pastor John Hamel
If you have not yet
read the JHM study on “The Judgment Seat of
Christ,” it would be good for you to do so. There we have discussed the blessed
rewards of the overcoming, victorious Christian and the shame to be faced
by the carnal, compromising Christian on the Day of Judgment.
There we also made mention of the Crowns
we are about to study. Crowns that
will be distributed only to the faithful.
Crowns to be kept forever.
Symbols of position, power and privilege with the Savior. Crowns to be proudly placed upon our
heads by the Savior. Crowns which we
will in turn place at His feet, similar to the way the Elders do, on our
great Coronation Day.
“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, Thou art worthy,
O Lord, to receive glory and honour and power:
for thou has created all things, and for thy pleasure they are and were
created.” (Revelation 4:10-11)
Let’s look at these wonderful Crowns, why they will be
distributed and to whom.
The
Watcher's Crown
“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 that love his appearing.” (2Timothy 4:8)
Almighty God has reserved a very special Crown for all who have
set their eyes Heavenward in expectation of Christ’s return. These faithful Believers live a life of
sanctification and holiness – ever ready for His return and their reward.
(Titus 2:13)
Rebellious, carnal Believers have not set their hearts on
receiving this Crown. No Christian
world-lings even look forward to His coming, never mind a Crown. They know when He comes their jig is up
and it’s “Shame
City.” (1John 2:28)
They desire neither confrontation nor castigation. Believers who
choose barrooms, worldly concerts, casinos and adult movie theatres do so
at the expense of this Crown and all the power and privilege it
represents.
This is why JHM
adamantly preaches the message of Christ’s soon return, imploring Believers
to keep their eyes and minds Heavenward.
Only those who watch for Christ with all their hearts and all their
minds will receive this honor.
The
Runner's Crown
“Know ye not that they which run in a
race run all, but one receiveth the prize? So
run, that ye may obtain. And every
man that striveth for the mastery is temperate in
all things. Now they do it to obtain a corruptible crown; but we an
incorruptible. I therefore so run, not as uncertainly; so fight I, not as one that beateth the
air: But I keep under my body, and bring it into subjection: lest that by
any means, when I have preached to others, I myself should be a castaway.”
(1Corinthians 9:24-27)
In a marathon there are many runners. However, not everyone comes in first place.
This is why the Apostle Paul chose this analogy. Millions upon millions of Christians have
run the race of Christian service, but only a minority will be rewarded for
their service. Why?
Because the race many run is simply a
religious race. They serve their
denominational doctrine and not Christ’s Holy Written Word. They are men-pleasers and not
God-pleasers. They trust religion, man-made tradition and good deeds to
save them. Their trust is not in Christ’s saving blood,
walking in love or obedience to the higher call. Behind the
scenes many of them submit to the cravings of their bodies and minds. Christ Himself said this will never do.
(Matthew 15:9)
Paul said, “I keep under my body and bring it into subjection.”
(Vs.27)
Only the runners who run according to God’s Scriptural rules
and beat their cravings into submission will receive this incorruptible
Crown. Only those who chose the work
of God over the traditions of man, running the race with excellence, will
receive this incorruptible Crown.
This is not a corruptible crown of decaying laurel wreath but a
Crown that endures, along with all of its position, power and privilege,
throughout Eternity. Run your race
with excellence and receive this outstanding Crown.
The
Crown of Persecution
“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.” (James 1:12)
James calls this Crown the “Crown of Life.” I prefer to call it the “Crown of
Persecution.”
James said it is given to the Believer who endures tremendous
temptation, referring to tremendous persecution. There’s lots of persecution being offered
up these days. God is pouring out
His Spirit upon the people of the world in a greater way than He ever has
at any other time in all of human history. (Joel 2:28-29) Those who choose to run with God at this
time will suffer tremendous persecution for doing so.
I believe there are such unusual manifestations of the Spirit
of God coming into the Earth that even individuals who consider themselves
to be men and women of “faith” are going to reject those manifestations. I believe they are going to shell out
tremendous persecution to those who choose to go with this unusual move of
God’s Spirit. Jesus gave us some
pretty good instructions as to how we are to handle it, when it comes to
us, too.
“Blessed are they which are persecuted for righteousness’ sake:
for theirs is the Kingdom of
Heaven. Blessed are ye, when men shall revile
you, and persecute you, and shall say all manner of evil against you
falsely, for my sake. Rejoice, and be exceeding glad: for great is your
reward in heaven: for so persecuted they the prophets which were before
you.” (Matthew 5:1-12)
Here Jesus said that rejoicing and being exceedingly glad
during times of tremendous persecution will break the power of that ugly
demonic mess right off of your life.
It’s hard to do, I know. But
if you’ll start out in the flesh, jumping up and down rejoicing before God
that Satan is so threatened by you, you’ll end up in the Spirit. The spirit of joy will supersede the
spirit of oppression that attempts to take hold through persecution. This
is why the Bible says “…the joy of the Lord is your strength.” (Nehemiah
8:10) Anyone who will submit to the
spirit of joy in this manner will break the back of the devil during even
the most extreme forms of persecution.
The Crown of Persecution is a Crown given only to those who
remain faithful to the very end. If
Jesus came today, would you qualify for this Crown? Or would you have to sacrifice it because
of chronic grumbling over persecution?
Gripers don’t receive this Crown.
The gripers get the vipers. (Numbers 21:5-9)
The
Soulwinner's Crown
“And many of them that sleep in the dust of the earth shall
awake, some to everlasting life, and some to shame and everlasting
contempt. And they that be wise shall shine as the brightness of the firmament;
and they that turn many to righteousness as the stars for ever and ever.”
(Daniel 12:2-3)
It is obvious that this verse does not specifically mention
Crowns, but the inference is clear.
Jewel-studded Crowns sparkle as the stars on a dark clear
night. Where we live in
Vermont we often go up to
the mountains where the night sky display is breathtaking. Stars that are billions of miles away
sparkle as bright as candles flickering on a birthday cake!
In the near future a far more majestic scene is being described
by the above verse of Scripture. The
children of God who invest their lives into winning souls into God’s family
will be crowned with jewel-studded Crowns which dazzle like a northern
night sky forever! All of God’s
children are commanded to go out into the highways and byways and compel
the lost to come into His house. (Luke 14:12-24)
The Bible also says, “He who winneth
souls is wise.” (Proverbs 11:30) The
reverse application of this verse is apparent. To NOT win souls is the work of a
fool! True lovers of God will not
allow work or entertainment to hinder them from winning souls. They desire to rejoice in the Day of the
Lord, knowing they did the work of a Soulwinner
during their probationary period here on Planet Earth.
“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?”
(1Thessalonians 2:19)
Here Paul refers to the Soulwinner’s
Crown as a “Crown of Rejoicing.” He
is expressing great delight that because the above-mentioned Believers
adhered to his preaching, they would find themselves in the presence of the
Lord at His coming. As a result,
Paul said he would receive the Crown of Rejoicing. Which do you choose? Shame or rejoicing when the Lord
returns? It’s all up to you, not
Him. You are deciding your Eternal
destiny right now, not God. God
might know all about it because He’s All-Knowing. But He’s not deciding how you will spend
Eternity. You are deciding how you
will spend Eternity based upon how you spend your probationary period here
on Earth.
“And I say unto you, make to yourselves friends of the mammon
of unrighteousness; that, when ye fail, they may receive you into
everlasting habitations.” (Luke 16:9)
This verse is simpler than it first appears. It is actually saying, “Win souls [make
friends] with your money [mammon of unrighteousness]. When you get to Heaven [when ye fail] you’ll find Eternal
friends [they may receive you] who got there safely because of your
efforts.” Is this the priority of
your life? Are you busy about other
things with the money that the Lord puts into your hands for the saving of
souls? If so, you can’t expect a
Crown. You’ll get “crowned” alright,
as we say here on Planet Earth, but not with the Soulwinner’s
Crown.
“Multitudes, multitudes in the valley of decision: for the Day
of the LORD is near in the valley of decision.” (Joel 3:14)
The Bible says at any given time in human history there are
multitudes in the valley of decision.
Will you be one who goes to pluck them out? Will you be one who does all they can to
help others to go and pluck them out?
Will you have spiritual offspring when you yourself arrive in
Heaven? Will any of the millions,
billions in the valley of decision be plucked out of Hell’s fires because
of your efforts? Don’t be a
procrastinator. There is no crown
offered for that. Be a Soulwinner and receive all the Eternal privilege that
accompanies the Soulwinner’s Crown in Heaven. That’s why it is also called a “Crown of
Rejoicing.”
This is one morning muster you will want to be attending as the
Quarter-Master calls off your name along with how many you are responsible
for safely directing towards Eternity in Heaven.
The
Shepherd's Crown
“The elders which are among you I exhort, who am also an elder,
and a witness of the sufferings of Christ, and also a partaker of the glory
that shall be revealed: 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; Neither as being lords over God’s heritage, but
being examples to the flock. And
when the chief Shepherd shall appear, ye shall receive a Crown of Glory
that fadeth not away.” (1Peter 5:1-4)
This Crown is reserved only for the faithful five-fold Ministers, male and
female. By faithful, Peter means
those who were faithful to feed God’s lambs with His Word. However, a Minister cannot effectively do
this unless he or she has been faithful to first learn God’s World
themselves! This requires great
diligence, sacrifice and commitment on the Minister’s part. This is not a Crown which will be worn by
the Minister who always waited until Saturday evening to prepare a “Sloppy
Joe” message for God’s people. God
does not honor the “Saturday Night Express.” The Word of God must come first in the
lives of all who intend to wear this Crown of Honor. Sports, recreational reading, movie
viewing, etc., must all take a backseat to God’s Word and prayer in order
to win this Crown. I partake
moderately of all the above, but never at the expense of God’s Word or His
flock!
Ministers must also lead in love. Sheep are to be led. Only cattle are herded. Ministers must rule with compassion. They themselves are to be God-ruled, not
board-ruled. God’s Church is a
Theocracy, not a Democracy. The
Elders and Deacons are not to vote on whether the Minister can obey the
Word or not. That’s an insult to the
Holy Spirit. Elders and Deacons obey the Pastor,
not vice-versa.
“One that ruleth well his own house,
having his children in subjection with all gravity; For if a man know not
how to rule his own house, how shall he take care of the
church of
God?” (1Timothy 3:4-5)
Minister must not only rule the Church well, but they must also
rule their own families well. A Minister who does not rule his or her own
family well not only disqualifies themselves from Earthly service, but
disqualifies themselves from wearing the Shepherd’s Crown through
Eternity. They lose the Crown and
all the privilege that goes with it.
“Obey them that have the rule over you, and submit yourselves:
for they watch for your souls, as they that must give account, that they
may do it with joy, and not with grief for that is unprofitable for you.”
(Hebrews 13:17)
The Minister is also to be obeyed by all who expect great
reward at the Judgment Seat of Christ!
The Minister that does not require the congregation to follow him as
he follows the Word disqualifies himself from the privilege of the
Crown. The Apostle Paul said that he
“magnified” his office. (Romans 11:13)
Paul meant that he held his Office in the highest esteem and that he
required all who submitted to him to do the same. This teaches respect not only for the
Offices of the Holy Spirit but for all the things of God as well.
I recently addressed a Pastor as “Pastor” while preaching in his Church
in Vermont. I was meeting him for the first
time. He said to me, “Oh, no need to
call me Pastor. I don’t want anyone
putting me on a pedestal.” I said,
“I’m not putting you on a pedestal, Pastor.
I would prefer to call you Pastor, particularly in front of your
people. That will teach them respect
for your Office and your authority.”
He immediately realized what he was doing wrong and repented on the
spot. All Pastors and Ministers who
are making the same mistake should realize what they are doing wrong and
repent on the spot. If only for the
sake of God’s precious sheep.
I recently received an e-mail from another Pastor. He rebuked me for being “hung up on
titles.” He explained to me that he
wasn’t prideful enough to use a title and felt that those who did so had a
pride problem. That poor man was so
ignorant of his own Office and Calling that he insulted the Holy Spirit without meaning to do so. I explained to him in turn what I did to
the Pastor in Vermont who repented. Still, he refused to repent and
acknowledge the Apostle Paul’s admonition, continuing to stand his
ground. There went another Crown
right out the window and all the privilege that accompanies it.
Some Pastors wrongly believe they could never lose their
Shepherd’s Crown. But that’s not what Jesus taught.
“Behold, I come quickly: hold that fast which thou hast, that
no man take thy Crown.” (Revelation 3:11)
If that dear Brother doesn’t get his thinking back in line with
God’s Word, somebody else will come along and get the Crown that was
intended for him. He’ll be fortunate
to get one of those corruptible cardboard crowns from the fast food burger
place! That man was so deceived by
his pride that he insisted he didn’t have a pride problem. The first indication that a person has a
pride problem is the fact that they insist they don’t have a pride
problem. Everyone has to cast down
pride daily. I always say, “Deceived
folks don’t know they’re deceived because they’re deceived.”
It is not a matter of pride to require the congregation to
refer to their Pastor by his God-given title. It’s a matter of obedience.
The sheep must recognize the Shepherd and his God-given
authority. It will be exceptionally
unprofitable for the rebellious, uneducated sheep at the time of Judgment
who have not done so. Rewards will
be taken from them, not given to them.
And a lot of it will be the Pastor’s fault. Woe to that Pastor! (James 3:1)
The Minister who makes God’s standards his or her standards
will receive a very beautiful, exclusive Crown on the Day of the Lord. A Crown of Glory. One that will never fade. One that carries great power and
privilege for the blessed wearer.
Look for me on that day. I’ll
let you check mine out! You’ll say to
me, “You were right, Pastor.”
The time is at hand.
Christ will come soon. Every
prophecy that required fulfillment prior to His arrival has been
fulfilled. The distribution of
rewards, power, privilege and honor is also at hand.
What reward will you receive should He
come as you sleep tonight?
Will you
be honored of the Lord for successfully completing your probationary period
while on Earth?
Will you be shedding
tears of shame or tears of joy?
Be
Blessed, Crown seekers ... John and Barbara Hamel
How
to Be Born Again (Receive Christ as Your Savior)
How
to Receive The Holy Spirit & Power
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