Musical Principles

A. The first chronological reference predates the creation of mankind: Job 38:4 7, "4 AWhere were you when I laid the foundation of the earth? Tell Me, if you have understanding, 5 Who set its measurements? Since you know. Or who stretched the line on it? 6 AOn what were its bases sunk? Or who laid its cornerstone, 7 When the morning stars sang together And all the sons of God shouted for joy?
1. Even before man was on the earth, as God built the planet, angels sang praises to God.
2. Therefore, music was angelic before it was human.

B. The first mention of music in the Bible goes back to antediluvian times, Genesis 4:20 21, "20 Adah gave birth to Jabal; he was the father of those who dwell in tents and have livestock. 21 His brother's name was Jubal; he was the father of all those who play the lyre and pipe.
1. Music was a part of antediluvian life.
2. At some point in the decades and centuries after Adam the people of the earth discovered song and music.

***but music in the Bible isn't always portrayed as virtuous (hmmm just like real life).

C. Unvirtuous Music of the Bible:
1. Drunken party music: Isaiah 5:11 12, "11 Woe to those who rise early in the morning that they may pursue strong drink, Who stay up late in the evening that wine may inflame them! 12 Their banquets are accompanied by lyre and harp, by tambourine and flute, and by wine; But they do not pay attention to the deeds of the Lord, Nor do they consider the work of His hands.

2. Mindless rejoicing of the unsaved, Job 21:7 13, "7 AWhy do the wicked still live, Continue on, also become very powerful? 8 ATheir descendants are established with them in their sight, And their offspring before their eyes, 9 Their houses are safe from fear, And the rod of God is not on them. 10 His ox mates without fail; His cow calves and does not abort. 11 They send forth their little ones like the flock, And their children skip about. 12 They sing to the timbrel and harp And rejoice at the sound of the flute. 13 They spend their days in prosperity, And suddenly they go down to Sheol.

3. The unvirtuous of Satan now plays in Hades: Isaiah 14:11, "11 Your pomp and the music of your harps Have been brought down to Sheol; Maggots are spread out as your bed beneath you And worms are your covering.

4. God hates the music of godless people, Amos 5:21 24, "21 I hate, I reject your festivals, Nor do I delight in your solemn assemblies. 22 Even though you offer up to Me burnt offerings and your grain offerings, I will not accept them; And I will not even look at the peace offerings of your fatlings. 23 Take away from Me the noise of your songs; I will not even listen to the sound of your harps. 24 But let justice roll down like waters And righteousness like an ever flowing stream.

5. Loveless music is empty: 1 Corinthians 13:1, "1 If I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, but do not have love, I have become a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal.

A Sample of the Value of Biblical Archaeology

The following is from Biblical Insights for Archaeology by Ferrell Jenkins, as found on www.Bibleworld.com. It illustrates the willingness of skeptics to accuse the Bible on the basis of the silence of the historical and archaeology, and the veracity of God's word. All of the autobiographical remarks belong to Jenkins.

1. The case of Sargon provides a good illustration of the value of archaeology in Bible study. He is one of the forgotten persons who has been brought to life by the archaeological pick, and he provides a great illustration of the historical trustworthiness of the Bible. Because the story has unfolded over a period of a century and a half it shows the need for patience on the part of students. In a day of instant communication and the quick fix, this is not easy for most of us.

2. Sargon II was king of Assyria from 721 to 705 B.C., but records which survived into the 19th century made no mention of him. In the only reference to Sargon in the Bible the prophet Isaiah says, "In the year that the commander came to Ashdod, when Sargon the king of Assyria sent him and he fought against Ashdod and captured it" (Isa. 20:1). In the earlier English versions, including the King James and the American Standard, the Hebrew term for commander was transliterated as a personal name, Tartan. Since the time of those versions scholars have learned more about the Assyrian language. The New King James continues to use the term Tartan but adds a note, "Or the Commander in Chief." The NASB simply uses the term commander. The RSV and the NRSV use the phrase commander in chief. The NIV uses the phrase supreme commander. Grogan, in The Expositor's Bible Commentary, says the term tharetan (tartan) "really means 'second' and is indirect testimony to the great value the Assyrians attached to military prowess. Their supreme commander was second in status only to the king himself."

3. James Orr commented in 1906, "Ancient writers knew nothing of him [Sargon]. He was a mystery: some did not hesitate to deny that he ever existed" (The Problem of the Old Testament, 399). Sargon's palace was found by Paul Emile Botta at Khorsabad in 1843. In various inscriptions and annalistic reports Sargon II claims to have taken Samaria (Ancient Near Eastern Texts, 284 87). A nonagonal prism, chronicling the expedition of Sargon II against Babylon, Medians, Syria, and Palestine mentions the conquest of Samaria, "the land of the house of Omri," in 721 B.C. (British Museum artifact 22505 from Khorsabad, 8th century B.C.).

4. In one annal Sargon says: "I besieged and conquered Samaria, led away as booty 27,290 inhabitants of it. I formed from among them a contingent of 50 chariots and made remaining (inhabitants) assume their (social) positions. I installed over them an officer of mine and imposed upon them the tribute of the former king" (ANET, 284 85). In another annal he claims to have rebuilt the town "better than (it was) before and settled therein people from countries which I myself had conquered" (ANET, 284). Samaria actually fell to Shalmaneser in 722 B.C. (Assyrian records and the Bible agree). Sargon began his reign in 721 B.C. and claims some of the credit.

5. My only opportunity to visit Iraq (area of ancient Mesopotamia) was in 1970. I recall a room in the newly opened Iraq Museum in Baghdad devoted to items from the palace of Sargon at Khorsabad. The British Museum has numerous artifacts depicting Sargon or containing inscriptions about his work (BM118822; BM118828; BM135206; BM118808, et al.). Recently the Louvre has opened a remodeled exhibit of reliefs from the palace of Sargon II.

6. Fragments of a basalt victory stele of Sargon II were found at Ashdod in 1963. This artifact is now on display in the Israel Museum in Jerusalem. Ashdod is mentioned in Isaiah 20:1 as the town captured by Sargon!

7. In 1989 archaeologists unearthed fabulous treasures at Nimrud (Biblical Calah) including more than 125 pounds of gold jewelry. According to a report in Time, "Much of that gold [found in April] turned out to be priceless jewelry draped around the skeleton of a young princess named Yabahya, tentatively identified as the daughter of one of Assyria's most renowned and feared kings, Sargon II." In July, a few yards from the original find, the excavators found more than 440 pieces of gold jewelry believed to "represent the private collection of an Assyrian queen, perhaps the wife of Ashurnasirpal himself." See "The Golden Treasures of Nimrud," Time, 30 Oct., 1989: 80 81.

8. Isaiah had it right all along. One needs to hesitate a long time (maybe a couple of centuries!) before questioning the accuracy of the Bible.

34 Characteristics of False Teachers

2 Peter 2 is brimming with descriptions of false teachers, the church
age equivalent of Israel's false prophets. His descriptions fire
an unrelenting cannonade of criticism against an apparent wave of false
teaching. The epistle of Jude follows up to this nicely, and
should be read as a companion to this. The value of Peter's and
Jude's teaching cannot be underestimated; false teachers prevail in our
own time, and these portions of the New Testament equip us for a vital
identification.



1. Compared to the false prophets of Israel, v.1a "But false prophets
also appeared among the people as also false teachers will be among
you,
2. Subversive and brazen, v.1b, "...who will subversively
introduce heresies of destruction even while denying the Master who
redeemed them...
3. Doomed to destruction, v.1c, "...bringing upon themselves swift destruction.
4. Sensual and temporarily successful, v.2a "And many will follow their sensuality...
5. Cause for slander of the way of truth, v.2b, "...because of whom the way of truth will be slandered.
6. Greedy and exploitative, v.3a, "...and in greed they will exploit you...
7. Clever of speech, v.3b, "...with their fabricated words...
8.
In imminent danger of judgment and destruction, v.3c, "...toward whom
the judgment is not idle for a long time, and their destruction does
not sleep.
9. Illustrated by the fallen angels of the antediluvian
period, v.4, "For if God did not spare angels after they sinned, but
after sending [them] to Tartarus, He detained [them] in chains of
hadean darkness, holding [them] for judgment...
10. Illustrated by
the ancient world of Noah=s time, and Noah=s rescue, v.5. "...and [if
God] did not spare the ancient world, but He preserved the eighth soul,
Noah, a preacher of righteousness, after bringing a flood upon the
world of the ungodly...
11. Illustrated by the cities of Sodom and
Gomorrah and the rescue of Lot, vv.6-8, "...6 and [if God] condemned
the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah to ruin after reducing [them] to
ashes, having established a perpetual example for the godless...7 and
[if God] rescued righteous Lot, being oppressed by the conduct of
amoral men by means of sensuality 8 (for by a glance and a hearing that
righteous man, while living among them day after day, was tormenting
his righteous soul by lawless deeds)...
12. Grace of God sufficient
to all potential victims of false teachers, v.9, "...then the Lord
knows [how] to save a godly man from a trial, but to keep the
unrighteous, disciplining [him] unto the day of judgment...
13. Aggressive lust mongers, v.10a, ...and especially those who go after the flesh in the lust of corruption...
14. Despisers of authority, v.10b, "...and who despise authority.
15. Stubborn and brazen, v.10c, "Daring stubborn men, they do not tremble while slandering glorious beings..
16.
Contrasted with the humility of angels, v.11, "...whereas angels, being
greater in might and power, do not bring a slanderous judgment against
them before the Lord.
17. Animalistic in their sinfulness, v.12a, "But these men, like unreasoning living things, having been born as
instinctual things for capture and destruction...
18. Ignorant in
slander, blindly headed for destruction, v.12b, "...in which
[instinctual state] they are ignorant while slandering, in their
destruction they will also be destroyed...
19. Recipients of appropriate suffering, v.13a, "...receiving wrong, the wage of wrong...
20. Luxuriant and brazen in their sinfulness, v.13b, "...considering pleasure an indulgence during the day...

21. Callously deceitful, v.13c, "...indulging in their deceit while sharing a meal with you, they are stains and blemishes...
22. Always on the lookout for lustful opportunity, v.14a, "... having eyes full of adultery...
23. v.14b, "...and unceasing sin...
24. Targeting the unstable, v.14c, "...enticing unstable souls

25. Trained in greed, v.14d, "...having a heart trained in greed...
26. Cursed by their parentage, v.14e, "...cursed children...
27. Following the cosmic necessity, v.15 "...forsaking the right way they were deceived...
28.
Illustrated by Balaam, v.15b-16, "...after following the way of Balaam
of Bosor, who loved the wage of wrong. 16 But he had a rebuke for his
own transgression: a mute beast of burden after bellowing in a human
voice stopped the insanity of the prophet.
29. Deceitful and dangerous, v.17a, "These are waterless springs and mists driven by storm...
30. Doomed to eternal destruction, v.17b, ...for whom the hadean gloom of the darkness has been reserved.
31. Blustering, boastful, empty, v.18a, "For bellowing boastful words of emptiness...
32.
Making means of lust, v.18b, "...they entice by lusts of the flesh, by
sensualities, the ones who barely escape those behaving in error...
33.
Slaves who promise freedom, v.19, "...promising freedom to them, while
they themselves are slaves of corruption. For by what a man is
defeated, by this he is enslaved.
34. Doomed to loss by animalistic
patterns of cravenness, vv.20-22, "20 For if after escaping the
corruptions of the world in full knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus
Christ, and after being involved in them again they are defeated, the
last things for them has become worse than the first. 21 For it would
seem better for them not to have know the way of righteousness, than
after having fully known to turn back from the holy commandment
entrusted to them. 22 The gist of the true proverb has happened to
them: 'A dog after returning is on his own vomit,' and: 'A sow
after washing is wallowing in the mire.'"

Outward Religion

The Nature of True Religion in Care for the Helpless, vv.26-27, "26 If anyone seems to be religious, not holding in check his tongue - but deceiving his heart, the religion of this man is empty. 27 This is pure and undefiled religion from God: to care for orphans and widows in their tribulation, to keep himself spotless from the world.

James sets up a theoretical case in order argue impersonally and without confrontation. He does not name names, but instead lets individuals apply the truth on their own. Nonetheless, this is a principle of truth.
The particle ei forms the first part of the theory in the form of a condition: “if.” The indefinite pronoun tis is the second part, making the verse universally applicable, “anyone.” The verb of the sentence is dokei, which describes presumptive or suppositional thinking. In fact we often say something along these lines with the English verbs think and seem: I think he’s full of hogwash;I thought I saw a puttytat; It seems the gig is up; He seems to be a good guy. A focus on outward appearance is the thrust of this verb. The seeming nature a man that is gleaned from observation. Threskos einai completes the idea of dokei – “to be religious” Threskos is a key word here, denoting the outward form of religion; attendance, visible participation in festivals and worship, and the like.

Ways in which you may have the appearance of religion:
(i) You may appear religious by your church attendance, but that’s not the fullness of what God wants;
(ii) You may appear religious by the clothes you wear;
(iii) You may appear religious by your vocabulary;
(iv) You may appear religious because you’re in church leadership;
(v) You may appear religious because of a personality affectation for the times you appear in a church;
(vi) And many other things, but the true religion is the religion of the heart, and it’s marked by Christian virtue love, 1 Corinthians 13:1-3: "If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels but I do not have virtue love, I have become an echoing gong or a clanging cymbal. And if I have prophecy and I know all the mysteries and all knowledge and if I have all the faith to move mountains, but I do not have virtue love, I am nothing. And if I give away all my possessions and if I surrender my body so that I am burned up, but I do not have virtue love, I gain nothing.

Then comes a participle which describes a sinful and simultaneous action to the claim of religion. The first is that he does not bridle or hold in check his tongue: me chalinagogon glossan. So now at the same time he appears religious, with all of the outward trappings of a good Christian, as we would say, he does not bridle his tongue. There are two major ways in which the tongue may be unbridled: The tongue may be unbridled in some form of falsehood; The tongue may be unbridled in gossip, in verbalizing something which is rightfully private.

The conjunction alla interrupts the sentence, breaking it in two. It works as a punctuation mark of sorts. The idea of interruption breaks this verse into two parts, the one about the difference between an outwardly religious person who does not bridle his tongue, and the man who deceiving his heart has an empty religion. This makes the verse into a chiasm, a literary arrangement of structure and an offshoot of parallelism. It is very prevalent in the Psalms. The chiasm goes in structure as a…b…b…a, so that the main theme forms a sandwich around the alternative. The net effect of a chiasm is rhetorical. It is a way to emphasize a principle.

Our chiasm goes like this:
(A) If anyone seems religious
1. and at the same time does not bridle his tongue
2. He deceives his heart
(B) His religion is empty.

So A and B emphasize the outward religious aspect of the man’s life, while 1 and 2 emphasize the inward sinful aspect.

Apaton kardia autou is what a person who does not bridle his tongue does. He deceives his heart. The kardia represents the inward person: 1 Samuel 16:7, "7 But the Lord said to Samuel, “Do not look at his appearance or at the height of his stature, because I have rejected him; for God sees not as man sees, for man looks at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart.” Galatians 6:3, "3 For if anyone thinks he is something when he is nothing, he deceives himself.

This is self-deception, whose root is arrogance. Obadiah 3, "3 “The arrogance of your heart has deceived you, You who live in the clefts of the rock, In the loftiness of your dwelling place, Who say in your heart, ‘Who will bring me down to earth?’ The fruit of deceit: Titus 3:3, “3 For we also once were foolish ourselves, disobedient, deceived, enslaved to various lusts and pleasures, spending our life in malice and envy, hateful, hating one another.”

Toutou mataios he threskeia is translated, "The religion of this man is empty." It is a match for the emptiness of the way of the world: 1 Peter 1:18, "18 knowing that you were not redeemed with perishable things like silver or gold from your futile way of life inherited from your forefathers; Ephesians 4:17-19, "17 So this I say, and affirm together with the Lord, that you walk no longer just as the Gentiles also walk, in the futility of their mind, 18 being darkened in their understanding, excluded from the life of God because of the ignorance that is in them, because of the hardness of their heart; 19 and they, having become callous, have given themselves over to sensuality for the practice of every kind of impurity with greediness; Romans 1:21-23, "21 For even though they knew God, they did not honor Him as God or give thanks, but they became futile in their speculations, and their foolish heart was darkened. 22 Professing to be wise, they became fools, 23 and exchanged the glory of the incorruptible God for an image in the form of corruptible man and of birds and four-footed animals and crawling creatures; Matthew 15:7-9, "7 “You hypocrites, rightly did Isaiah prophesy of you: 8 ‘This people honors Me with their lips, But their heart is far away from Me. 9 ‘But in vain do they worship Me, Teaching as doctrines the precepts of men.’”

Man’s religion can be empty, and that is what occurs when the heart is deceived and the tongue becomes unbridled.

A Brief Doctrine of Zion

The doctrine of Zion is one of those little niches that often escape believers. It has some important dispensation distinctions, covering both advents of Jesus Christ. Understanding this doctrine brings together the advents so that they make a unified statement.

(a) Zion is in Jerusalem:
(i) Genesis 14:18, 18 And Melchizedek king of Salem brought out bread and wine; now he was a priest of God Most High.
(ii) Psalm 76:2, 2 His tabernacle is in Salem; His dwelling place also is in Zion.
(iii) Isaiah 10:12, 12 So it will be that when the Lord has completed all His work on Mount Zion and on Jerusalem, He will say, “I will punish the fruit of the arrogant heart of the king of Assyria and the pomp of his haughtiness.”

(b)Zion is the dwelling place of God, the temple mount in Jerusalem:
(i) Psalm 9:11, 11 Sing praises to the Lord, who dwells in Zion; Declare among the peoples His deeds.
(ii) Psalm 132:13-18, 13 For the Lord has chosen Zion; He has desired it for His habitation. 14 “This is My resting place forever; Here I will dwell, for I have desired it. 15 “I will abundantly bless her provision; I will satisfy her needy with bread. 16 “Her priests also I will clothe with salvation, And her godly ones will sing aloud for joy. 17 “There I will cause the horn of David to spring forth; I have prepared a lamp for Mine anointed. 18 “His enemies I will clothe with shame, But upon himself his crown shall shine.”

(c) Zion is a holy place: Psalm 2:6, 6 “But as for Me, I have installed My King Upon Zion, My holy mountain.”

(d) The dwelling of God there is associated with His identity as the Lord of Legions:
(i) Isaiah 8:18, 18 Behold, I and the children whom the Lord has given me are for signs and wonders in Israel from the Lord of hosts, who dwells on Mount Zion.
(ii) Isaiah 18:7, 7 At that time a gift of homage will be brought to the Lord of hosts From a people tall and smooth, Even from a people feared far and wide, A powerful and oppressive nation, Whose land the rivers divide— To the place of the name of the Lord of hosts, even Mount Zion.

(e) The ritual feasts are associated with Zion: Isaiah 33:20, 20 Look upon Zion, the city of our appointed feasts; Your eyes will see Jerusalem, an undisturbed habitation, A tent which will not be folded; Its stakes will never be pulled up, Nor any of its cords be torn apart.

(g) Some who are on Mt. Zion will escape the Day of the Lord, and the mountain will be holy in that time.
(1) This was predicted in the hymn of thanksgiving at the crossing of the Red Sea: Exodus 15:17, 17 “You will bring them and plant them in the mountain of Your inheritance, The place, O Lord, which You have made for Your dwelling, The sanctuary, O Lord, which Your hands have established.
(2) Psalm 78:68-72, 68 But chose the tribe of Judah, Mount Zion which He loved. 69 And He built His sanctuary like the heights, Like the earth which He has founded forever. 70 He also chose David His servant And took him from the sheepfolds; 71 From the care of the ewes with suckling lambs He brought him To shepherd Jacob His people, And Israel His inheritance. 72 So he shepherded them according to the integrity of his heart, And guided them with his skillful hands.
(3) Zion is the mountain of sanctuary according to God’s promise. But a sanctuary is not inherently holy; it does not make holy the ones who stand upon it or in it. Mental attitude is everything.

(h) The rescue of the holy remnant of Israel, the Jewish believers of the tribulation, will occur there.
(i) Revelation 14:1-5, 1 Then I looked, and behold, the Lamb was standing on Mount Zion, and with Him one hundred and forty-four thousand, having His name and the name of His Father written on their foreheads. 2 And I heard a voice from heaven, like the sound of many waters and like the sound of loud thunder, and the voice which I heard was like the sound of harpists playing on their harps. 3 And they sang a new song before the throne and before the four living creatures and the elders; and no one could learn the song except the one hundred and forty-four thousand who had been purchased from the earth. 4 These are the ones who have not been defiled with women, for they have kept themselves chaste. These are the ones who follow the Lamb wherever He goes. These have been purchased from among men as first fruits to God and to the Lamb. 5 And no lie was found in their mouth; they are blameless.
(ii) Joel 2:32, 32 “And it will come about that whoever calls on the name of the Lord Will be delivered; For on Mount Zion and in Jerusalem There will be those who escape, As the Lord has said, Even among the survivors whom the Lord calls.

Stealthy Conception, Deadly Maturity

James 1:15: "...moreover after lust conceives it gives birth to sin, and after sin is fully grown, it gives birth to death."

The logical use of the conjunction eita shows a logical progression, “moreover…” There is a very strong continuation of thought from the preceding verse, “But each one is tempted by his own lust, being drawn away and enticed…” This word in itself describes the phenomenon of the cosmic necessity. But this passage also forms a figure of speech which very dramatically illustrates the cosmic necessity: it is a climax. From Bullinger: “There are two figures to which this name is sometimes given. There is a climax where only words are concerned, and a climax where the sense is concerned. A climax of words is a figure of Grammar; and a climax of sense is a figure of Rhetoric.” The purpose of the climax is to focus on the apex although the steps are somewhat important as well. In this case the apex is death, and James wants his readers to know that death is the ultimate outcome of the conception of sin.

He epithumia is the subject, and it is wise to pay attention to it because it produces the action in this deadly chain. Lust is at the heart of this all, that inner burning of desire for what is illicit and sinful.

Sullabousa is an aorist participle that is adjectival in nature. It modifies the subject, lust, focusing on the moment of its initiation. Sullambano describes conception, the moment of fertilization in the womb. There is a vital choice before conception; it is the choice to have the kind of relations that result in conception. No seed is ever sown in the womb unless first two people choose to have sex. In other words, the first real choice has to do with receiving the seed in the first place. Yet there are times when we find that the seed of temptation has been sown despite our best efforts to say no. Likewise, just because the seed is sown in the womb does not mean that conception will happen. The sowing of the seed represents only potential conception. So also it is with temptation. The seed of temptation has an affinity for the ovum of the soul, but it is not a fait accompli. Unlike conception, we get to choose whether conception takes place.

Fertilization is secret. It takes months before there is a public manifestation of that moment. So also the conception of sin. The seed is sown in secret, in the privacy of the soul. Genesis 4:7, “7 “If you do well, will not your countenance be lifted up? And if you do not do well, sin is crouching at the door; and its desire is for you, but you must master it.” Sin crouches at the door always.

Tiktei is a very simple statement: “it gives birth.” Even as birth is inevitable after conception, so also sin is inevitable after lust conceives. Hamartian is the object of the verb, sin. This only underlines all the more where the effort must lie in your spiritual lives: don’t let lust conceive! And lust will not conceive if you do not have the kind of relations that lead to planting the seeds of lust. Here is the key to keeping sin out of your life: stay away! Don’t hang out around lust. But if it finds you, say no, flee, run to God.

De now makes a transition to the next phase in the life of sin. It is a simple transitional conjunction here. He hamartia now goes from being object to subject. This is the indicator that we have a climax here, that there is a climactic end just waiting to happen.

Apotelestheisa is word full of meanings: It describes something as grown out to its fullest maturity or potential. In a human form, this is the body grown to maturity. It may also describe the non-biological, so as to denote the completion of a project or objective. The fully grown form of sin, its very objective is death. This is Death with a capital ‘D’ here, the sin unto death. James is referring to the consequences of our sin. Ultimately, this is a warning toward our involvement in personal sin. Personal sin always has a compelling and terribly logical destination: death.

Apokuei means to brings something into being, to be the ultimate cause of someone or something. Fully grown sin brings into being thanaton, which is Death.

James therefore refers here to the “deathward sin” of 1 John 5:16, “16 If anyone sees his brother committing a sin not toward death, he will ask and he will give to him life, to those who commit sin not leading to death. There is a sin leading to death; I do not say that he should make request for this.”

Even the smallest, most benign-seeming sin may work itself out in its maturity to the deathward sin. It is therefore of the greatest importance to resist temptation, and to confess and leave behind every sin that we do commit.

The Fate of the Crowns of the Elders

The New Testament records various crowns as eternal rewards for believers who remain faithful.


1. The crown of righteousness. 2 Timothy 4:6-8, "6 For I am already being poured out as a drink offering, and the time of my departure has come. 7 I have fought the good fight, I have finished the course, I have kept the faith; 8 in the future there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will award to me on that day; and not only to me, but also to all who have loved His appearing.

The crown of righteousness is awarded to those who fight the good fight, finish the course, and keep the faith, all as expressions of love for the advent of Jesus Christ through death or rapture. Revelation 3:11 is an excellent cross reference: "Behold I am coming quickly; hold fast what you have, so that no one will take your crown.

2. The 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." Also, Revelation 2:10, "Do not fear what you are about to suffer. Behold, the devil is about to cast some of you into prison, so that you will be tested, and you will have tribulation for ten days. Be faithful until death, and I will give you the crown of life."

The crown of life is awarded to those who persevere under trial. Matthew 5:10-12 alludes to this: "10 Blessed are those who have been persecuted for the sake of righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. 11 Blessed are you when people insult you and persecute you, and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of Me. 12 Rejoice and be glad, for your reward in heaven is great; for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you." This differs from the crown of righteousness in that it has the connotation of endurance in the midst of undeserved suffering.

3. The crown of glory. 1 Peter 5:4, 'And when the Chief Shepherd appears, you will receive the unfading crown of glory." This is the reward for the pastor who leads well according to the principles set forth in the preceding two verses. The crown of glory is the leadership award - not for the size of the congregation, but for the objective excellence of the leadership given. Size and maturity of congregations vary according to the trends of volition in history. A more fair and objective measure is the quality of leadership.

But then is a fascinating passage in Revelation 4, recording the fate of the crowns of the elders. Revelation 4: "1 After these things I looked, and behold, a door standing open in heaven, and the first voice which I had heard, like the sound of a trumpet speaking with me, said, Come up here, and I will show you what must take place after these things. 2 Immediately I was in the Spirit; and behold, a throne was standing in heaven, and One sitting on the throne. 3 And He who was sitting was like a jasper stone and a sardius in appearance; and there was a rainbow around the throne, like an emerald in appearance. 4 Around the throne were twenty-four thrones; and upon the thrones I saw twenty-four elders sitting, clothed in white garments, and golden crowns on their heads. 5 Out from the throne come flashes of lightning and sounds and peals of thunder. And there were seven lamps of fire burning before the throne, which are the seven Spirits of God; 6 and before the throne there was something like a sea of glass, like crystal; and in the center and around the throne, four living creatures full of eyes in front and behind. 7 The first creature was like a lion, and the second creature like a calf, and the third creature had a face like that of a man, and the fourth creature was like a flying eagle. 8 And the four living creatures, each one of them having six wings, are full of eyes around and within; and day and night they do not cease to say, HOLY, HOLY, HOLY is THE LORD GOD, THE ALMIGHTY, WHO WAS AND WHO IS AND WHO IS TO COME. 9 And when the living creatures give glory and honor and thanks to Him who sits on the throne, to Him who lives forever and ever, 10 the twenty-four elders will fall down before Him who sits on the throne, and will worship Him who lives forever and ever, and will cast their crowns before the throne, saying, 11 AWorthy are You, our Lord and our God, to receive glory and honor and power; for You created all things, and because of Your will they existed, and were created.

The 24 elders are evidently church age believers. They are representatives of the entire body of believers from our time. This is what the 24 elders do: they cast their crowns before the throne of the Lord. This is to symbolize what is owed to Christ. Our crowns are truly a matter of grace; we would never attain to them apart from Christ, and apart from the grace of God. Therefore this display of chivalry comes from grace orientation.

What will you do with your crown?