152 - Crowns; Humility; Service [B]

Crowns; Humility; Service
1 Peter 5:4–7
1 Peter Lesson #152
November 8, 2018
Dr. Robert L. Dean, Jr.
www.deanbibleministries.org

Opening Prayer

“Our Father, it’s a wonderful privilege we have to come together to focus upon Your Word. Your Word encourages us, strengthens us, refreshes us. It resets our lives, repositions our focus away from the details of life, the circumstances surrounding us, onto the eternal perspective of Your plan and Your purposes for our lives, how You are working in and through us and the focus and emphasis that we should have in our own spiritual life.

“Father, it’s too often we get caught up with all the details of life and forget that we are here to serve You. There is a plan and a purpose. We’ve been bought with a price, and we are to serve You and live a life that is separate, distinct, and set apart to serving You.

“Father, we pray that as we study tonight, as we reflect upon these important passages and verses we’re studying, that You would strengthen us and encourage us. Father, we pray that we would come to understand their meaning and their application to our own thinking and to our own lives. We pray this in Christ’s name. Amen.”

Slide 2

Let’s open our Bibles to 1 Peter 5. We’re going to be looking at a couple of different things tonight. We’ll be finishing up with the first four verses, which means we’re going to actually just get to that last part of verse four talking about crowns—the rewards of believers that will come at the Judgment Seat of Christ.

Then we’ll shift gears as Peter does, starting in verse five, and focus on humility. We’ll focus on how to humble ourselves before God and the importance and significance of that. So, with that, we’ll look at our opening passage, 1 Peter 5:1–4.

“The elders” refers to the office as set up in Scripture—the most common term used. It is also referred to as an EPISKOPOS, or a bishop, also referred to as the pastor-teacher.

Slide 3

“The elders who are among you I exhort, I who am a fellow elder and a witness of the sufferings of Christ, and also a partaker of the glory that will be revealed: Shepherd the flock of God which is among you, serving as [EPISKOPOI] overseers, not by compulsion but willingly, not for dishonest gain but eagerly; nor as being lords over those entrusted to you, but being examples to the flock; and when the Chief Shepherd appears, you will receive the crown of glory that does not fade away.”

Slide 4

Last time we looked at the pairs of contrast that Peter brings out, that the leader of the church—whether deacon, whether elder, whether pastor—however we’re going to define those leaders—are to serve, not out of compulsion—not from any sense of duty or that it’s thrust upon him and he needs to do it—but out of his own desire to serve the Lord. That’s the first pair.

The second pair is “not for dishonest gain ...” He’s not going to take advantage of his position in order to enrich himself.  He does it eagerly,  even though it may cost him time—and it may even cost him of his financial resources.

Then, in contrast to leadership style, not as an autocrat, not as a dictatorial leader or lord—as the Gentiles lorded it over those in their charge, “… nor as being lords over those entrusted to you …” Again, emphasizing that for the pastor—for the leaders in the church—that the members of the church—the flock—are entrusted to our care, that we will be held accountable for how we have nourished and fed and matured the congregation.

“… but being examples …” Not only in what we teach, but in what we do, how we live our lives. Of course, I always remind people that pastors are just as much sinners as any of you. It’s just that, hopefully, we’re trying to move forward all the time. But sometimes it’s three steps forward and two steps back—like just about everybody else.

Slide 5

“… but being examples to the flock; and when the Chief Shepherd appears …” We studied this last time. The Chief Shepherd is the Lord Jesus Christ, and He will appear for us at the Rapture. This is not talking about the Second Coming—where Christ comes to the earth—but when He comes in the clouds, 1 Thessalonians 4:13–18. “For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of an archangel, and with the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first [that is, Church Age believers].” Only Church Age believers are “in Christ.”

Church Age believers will be taken up into the clouds to meet Him in the air. “Then we who are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds [not on the earth] to meet the Lord in the air. And thus we shall always be with the Lord.” So that’s when the Lord appears, and then there’s a judgment. After that there is the reception of reward.

Slide 6

I ran through this chart. Timelines, to me, are always good to study. After the Resurrection there is 40 days. Then the Ascension. And then 10 days. And then Pentecost, which means 50 days. It’s 50 days after Firstfruits. So, it was also called the Feast of Weeks or Shavuot in the Old Testament.

The Church Age began with the Day of Pentecost with the descent of God the Holy Spirit. Never before had every believer been indwelt by God the Holy Spirit. Never before had every believer—or any believer—been baptized or identified with Christ in His death, burial, and resurrection. Never before did God the Holy Spirit have the kind of personal, sanctifying ministry in the life of each and every believer that occurs today!

So, the Day of Pentecost began the Church Age. This distinctive period of time ends with the Rapture of the church when we’re caught up to be with the Lord in the air. This immediately precedes the Judgment Seat, the Bema Seat of Christ, where we are rewarded for our service in this life, our time walking by God the Holy Spirit, when we are rewarded for that which is produced that has eternal value.

That comes before the seven years of the Tribulation begins. It’s depicted in Revelation 4 and 5 as the 24 elders, who are like representatives for the church. Not every Church Age member is going to be serving before the Throne every day, every week. But certain groups will have those who serve before the Throne of God in Heaven.

So those 24 elders are comparable to the 24 groups of priests. One from each of those groups—or 24—would be chosen to serve in the temple. That was in the Old Testament, so it’s that pattern. And those elders cast their crowns—the same kind of crown that we’re talking about here—a STEPHANOS crown—the kind of crown that is won through a contest or a military victory. And they will cast those crowns before the Throne of God.

Then, the Throne of God. At some point God will have in His hand a scroll. He is looking for Someone worthy to take the scroll, and the Lamb of God will come forward. He is worthy. He alone is worthy because He has the victor’s crown. He won––His time on earth. So, He is qualified to take that scroll, which is the title deed to the earth.

And when He does, this heavenly chorus of the 24 elders breaks out in song, praising Him because they say, “You have redeemed us.” This is a great passage that is often mistranslated and misinterpreted, but the “us,” the 24 elders, can’t be angels. Many commentaries—dispensationalists and others—will take that to be angels; but Christ did not redeem angels. They take it to be angels because in one ancient manuscript—and only one ancient manuscript—does it have, “You redeemed them.” In all the others it is, “You redeemed us.” It’s not even an issue between the Critical Text and the Majority Text or anything else—older versus newer—none of those issues. It is just one text.

But nobody could figure out how that worked, so they went with that one text. Why? Because they didn’t have the understanding of the doctrine of the Rapture. They couldn’t understand how angels could be redeemed. So they changed the pronoun in that one manuscript to refer to the angels singing referring to Church Age believers, “You redeemed them.” That causes great confusion.

But it teaches us that if they already have their STEPHANOS crowns—before the Lamb takes the scroll and before the Lamb opens the first six seals—then that means that the Bema Seat is over and done with; rewards and crowns have been distributed prior to this moment. It’s timeless in Heaven. It may seem like a long time, but in earthly time it would take place in just a couple of seconds. German has a great word, augenblick, which means the “blink of an eye,” and all Church Age believers will have received their rewards. It will seem that it goes by that fast.

The Tribulation ends with the return of Christ to the earth. This is all part of the first resurrection. And there are more judgments that take place. These are the judgments that relate to the Antichrist and False Prophet being cast into the Lake of Fire. Then we’ll have the judgment on the Gentiles that survive the Tribulation and the Jews that survive. The judgment on surviving Gentiles is the Sheep and the Goat Judgment. Surviving Jews are going to be judged, and then Old Testament saints and Tribulation saints will receive their rewards.

Those two groups—the Old Testament saints and the Tribulation saints—will go into the Millennial Kingdom with resurrection bodies, and they will serve in a ruling capacity—just like Church Age believers will. They may have a different arena of ruling—theirs will be over Israel, whereas ours will be over the nations.

Then the Millennial Kingdom ends with the Great White Throne Judgment, which is only for the unsaved dead. Satan is cast into the Lake of Fire, and then there’s the new heaven and new earth. And then we go into eternity.

Slide 7

“… and when the Chief Shepherd appears, you will receive the crown of glory that does not fade away.” This is the word I used a minute ago. STEPHANOS is the singular. STEPHANOI is the plural.  And that refers to a wreath.

Slide 8

This is the word that was used to apply to the wreath of Christ, the crown of thorns. That’s the only time—and the only way—it is used in the Gospels. It is not the word for a ruler’s crown, as I pointed out last time. The only time Jesus is said to have a ruler’s crown is when He comes in Revelation 19:12. Before that He has a STEPHANOS crown.

The verb, STEPHANOO, is used in Hebrews to describe His receiving this crown. It is a temporary crown for His victory over death, His victory on the Cross. This means that Jesus isn’t now a king. We don’t sing to Him now as the King that Church Age believers are worshiping because He doesn’t receive the crown until just before He returns to the earth to establish His Kingdom. And then we read that on His head were many crowns, Revelation 19:12.

Slide 9

It is used in 1 Corinthians 9:25 for athletic rewards to draw the analogy with the third use.

Slide 10

The third use is Christian rewards, such as the crown of righteousness in 2 Timothy 4:8 and in James 1:12 for the crown of life.

Slide 11

These are referenced in Revelation 4:4 and Revelation 4:10: the STEPHANOS crowns that the elders had which they cast before the Throne of God.

Slide 12

When we see this, this is a glorious crown that we receive. It’s imperishable as Peter had mentioned in 1 Peter chapter 1, that we would receive “... an inheritance incorruptible and undefiled and that does not fade away …”

Slide 13

Last time we went through the doctrine of rewards—what happens at the Judgment Seat of Christ and building the analogy.

Slide 14

We looked at the athletic background in terms of the races at the Olympics—and this was at Olympia. Nemea isn’t far from Corinth. Paul was writing to the Corinthians in 1 Corinthians 3. He had been in Corinth for 18 months; it would’ve covered a time when the Isthmian Games were held, and he was probably involved with that as a tent maker. So he understood the current sports terminology, sports language, and would’ve been involved there. He uses that to communicate to the culture something that they were familiar with.

There were the Delphi Games up in Delphi where there was the priestess, the Oracle of Delphi. I showed you some pictures last time. So those were where these Olympic Games were played.

Slide 15

Now, as a reward, the victors would receive a lot of different benefits, as I read last time. They would not have to pay taxes for the rest of their life. There would be a statue set up for them. They would have a special gate cut into the wall with their name on it. And there was prize money that would set them up. So his family—his wife and his children—would be taken care of the rest of their lives.  They got a pretty good contract when it came to winning the games. It seems like we’ve always had, as part of our culture, this elevation of the athlete.

That wreath that they would earn is the same wreath that they would win. It was made out of something that was perishable—an oak leaf, laurel leaf, some other kind of leaf that would wither and disappear. But as Paul says in 1 Corinthians 9, we receive a wreath that is imperishable.

There are four crowns that are mentioned in Scripture. The first is the crown of righteousness This is related not to positional righteousness but to an experiential righteousness. Every one of us, at the moment we trust in Christ as Savior, receive the imputation of Christ’s righteousness. Even in the Old Testament, we read in Genesis 15:6 that Abraham had believed God—prior to the events of Genesis 12. He had already believed God is one way we could translate that, and it was accounted—or imputed—to him as righteousness. He had received this positional righteousness.

That verse is then picked up by the Apostle Paul in Romans chapter 4 where he begins to teach about imputation. When we trust Christ, we receive the imputation of Christ’s righteousness, and on the basis of possession of that righteousness, God looks at that righteousness and declares us righteous. It’s not because we’ve done anything good on our part.

So we are justified (declared righteous) by faith alone. Now, that’s a free gift! That’s not a reward—because salvation is free. But rewards are earned. The crown of righteousness is something that is earned for our performance. This is related to spiritual growth; it’s related to spiritual maturation.

Slide 15

As you grow and as you mature, you become more and more focused on Christ. We look forward to seeing Him, and meeting Him, and being in Heaven with Him. This is how Paul uses this at the close of his life in 2 Timothy 4:6–8. He says, “For I am already being poured out as a drink offering, and the time of my departure has come [the time for him to be absent from the body and face-to-face with the Lord].” This is his second imprisonment. He’s in the maritime dungeon in Rome, and he will be taken from there out into the countryside where he will be beheaded. That would end his earthly life, and he would be face-to-face with the Lord.

Paul sums it up, and he uses this same athletic terminology. Part of the Olympics was not just the races but also wrestling and these kinds of contests. He says, “I have fought the good fight, I have finished the course, I have kept the faith …” That means that he’s hung in there to the end. He didn’t bail out. He didn’t give up on his Christianity 10 years in, 20 years in, 30 years in, or when it got really tough as he got older. He hung in there, and he trusted God. He persevered.

Perseverance is not a doctrine that teaches how we know that we’re saved. Perseverance is a doctrine that is for the believer who is maturing—to encourage us to hang in there and to not give up. That’s Paul’s example.

He says, then, confidently in 2 Timothy 4:8, “… in the future there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge …” Notice the connection: the crown of righteousness comes from the righteous Judge who “… will award to me on that day …” He’s righteous and He’s omniscient. Because He’s omniscient, He knows all the details. So, He will judge accurately and correctly. He won’t have misinformation. He will judge correctly, so He will judge righteously.

And this is awarded to Paul “on that day.” Again, it’s a term that indicates not a gift but a reward. I emphasize that because even in our milieu—churches and pastors that we know—there are some that still teach that all believers get the same rewards when they go to Heaven. This is not biblically accurate. An award is something that is earned; it is not something that is a free gift. This just is another passage that emphasizes that.

So Paul says it will be awarded on “that day.” “That day” is the day of the Judgment Seat of Christ. And he says, “… not only to me, but also to all who have loved His appearing.” Now, that last phrase is certainly a discriminatory phrase because not all believers love His appearing.

Loving His appearing is a result of learning. First, you’ve got to learn about His appearing. There are some believers who don’t know that—don’t know anything about the Second Coming. They don’t know anything about the Rapture. They don’t know what they’re looking forward to because they haven’t been taught about these things, and that is sad.

We live in an era today when there are a lot of churches that will not teach anything about future things, or eschatology, simply because it’s divisive. It’s complicated. There are many different views. So pastors just avoid it because they don’t want to upset anybody. They don’t teach it, so people don’t know what God has in store for us in the future.

But Paul says that this [reward] will come for those who have loved Christ’s appearing—those who have grown and matured. They know Jesus is going to come back. They look forward to it. They anticipate it. They expect it. And that only comes because you’ve grown and you’ve matured in your spiritual life. The more we grow and mature, the more we become occupied with Christ. We focus on Him, we live this life to serve Him, and we look forward to His return and being with Him.

So, this crown of righteousness is applied to someone who’s grown and matured. Therefore, they are exhibiting experiential righteousness because they’re growing and maturing. As a result of that spiritual growth and maturity, they have come to look forward to and to anticipate the appearing of Jesus Christ. That is this first crown.

Now there’s another verse that goes along with this in Ephesians 5:9. It’s a bit of a textual problem. But if we go with the Critical Text, which is possible … I think probably the Majority Text is more correct, which talks about the fruit of the Spirit. But the passage does talk about light, so that’s possible.

In Ephesians 5:8 Paul says, “For you were once darkness …” He is talking to them, “When you were an unbeliever, you were in darkness—that’s your position.”

“For you were once darkness, but now you are light in the Lord.” Positionally, we are light in the Lord. “Walk as children of light ...” So there’s a distinction between our position in Christ as light and our experience at walking—the experience of our day-to-day life, walking as light.

Then there’s this parenthesis that says, “for the fruit of the light…” The King James, the New King James, and the majority text say, “(for the fruit of the Spirit is in all goodness, righteousness, and truth)…” But for our purposes here, the fruit here is the production that comes in spiritual growth.

Whether it’s fruit of the Spirit or fruit of the light, the point is that it’s talking about spiritual growth. Now, I take it that this is the fruit of the Spirit. But the fruit of the Spirit, then, is righteousness. The fruit of the light is righteousness; that’s spiritual growth; that’s experiential righteousness. And that is the basis for this, because it will produce a love for the appearing of the Savior. So that’s the first crown.

Slide 16

The second crown is the crown of life. This crown is mentioned in two passages: Revelation 2:10; James 1:12. Now, this isn’t being given eternal life as a result of faith in Christ—because we all have that. Anyone who trusts in Jesus has eternal life. Jesus said in John 10:10, “The thief does not come except to steal, and to kill, and to destroy. I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly.”

So, the first life is eternal life—unending life—life that continues in Heaven after we die. When we finish this life, it’s not over; that’s just the first stage. Then we get transferred to Heaven, we get an interim body, we’re face-to-face with the Lord. Then when the Rapture occurs, our immaterial body comes with Him in the clouds. And then there’s a resurrection and transformation of our mortal remains into something new.

Now, that kind of surprises some people. God just doesn’t create our new body for us; He takes it from that which we had before. At least that’s the pattern we have in the resurrection in the tomb of Jesus. When John and Peter went into the tomb, they didn’t see the mortal remains of a physical body there. What had been Jesus’ mortal body that had died physically were the components that are transformed by God into a new body, His resurrection body. So when He rose from the dead, there was nothing left behind of His physical, mortal body. Our bodies will be the same.

You may have questions about some things. I do, too! There are all kinds of ways that people get incinerated other than cremation; that’s usually when the question comes up. There are people that get incinerated in fires; there are people that get incinerated in bombs and explosions. There are people that get incinerated over time for lots of different reasons. They get caught in a fire.

What about those that go down—like on the Titanic? Their bodies go down into the ocean. There’s no burial. There’s decomposition and everything comes apart. Then, there are fish, and you become fish food. We can just follow that chain out as far as we want to. But the problem is, all those molecules get scattered. But an omniscient God knows where every molecule is, and He’s going to bring it all back together.

I sometimes joke. I think, “What about, when I die, if I’ve donated certain things to someone else so that they get a transplant? They get a cornea transplant. They get a heart transplant. They get a liver transplant. Is God going to pop those organs out when the Rapture occurs? Maybe we’ll have to wait and see. See, I can just think about all kinds of strange things. Somebody is walking down the street, and suddenly their eyeball just goes!

The crown of life. This is category two. Jesus said, “I have come that they may have life [that’s eternal life—never ending life at the time of physical death], and that they may have it more abundantly.” That isn’t just a quality of life on this earth, but it will expand to a quality of life in Heaven that goes beyond the simple part of just eternal existence in Heaven. So this is what this is talking about: it is an expanded capacity for life in eternity.

In Revelation chapters 2 and 3 there are a number of incentive clauses that are put into these report cards—these reports on the seven churches—which indicate there are additional rewards other than just the crowns. In the first letter to the first church, we have the letter to the Ephesian church. In Revelation 2:7 it says, “ ‘He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches [what the Spirit speaks to the churches].’ ”

“If you’re positive, you’re going to listen, you’re going to apply what I said, and you’re going to change the negatives into positives. You’re going to obey what I said.”  

He says, “ ‘To him who overcomes …’ ” That word means to have victory. “You’re being defeated in one area of life.” For them, they had lost their first love. What John is saying here is, “If you overcome and you restore your love for the Lord, then there is a special benefit—a reward.”

“ ‘To him who overcomes I will give to eat from the tree of life, which is in the midst of the Paradise of God.’ ” The paradise of God is that close sanctuary of God in the heavens. So in the new heavens and new earth, this indicates a closer intimacy with God, a closer access to God, and benefits of eating from the tree of life. Now, they’re already going to be saved. I mean, it’s not, “Repent and clean up your life, and then you will have these things—and that’s the equivalent of salvation.” These are special rewards.

In the second letter, which is the letter to Smyrna, we have a promise at the end of Revelation 2:10. It is, “ ‘Be faithful until death, and I will give you the crown of life.’ ” In other words, “If you hang in there, if you persevere in the midst of persecution and opposition and you pass the test, then you will receive a reward.” That is the crown of life. So that’s a benefit there.

The third letter is to the church in Pergamum and there is the challenge to change or “ ‘I will come to you quickly and will fight against them [that is, the heretics in the church] with the sword of My mouth.’ ” And then Jesus says, “ ‘He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. To him who overcomes I will give some of the hidden manna to eat.’ ” So, this represents some special blessing. The manna was the heavenly food that God gave to the Israelites in the desert, and so they have something there.

They have a white stone. A white stone would be given to people like a ticket stub to get into an event, and so it’s possible that this white stone represents access into some special area. On the stone there’s a new name—a spiritual name—that’s given by Christ. No one knows except him who receives it. So, this indicates special privileges for those who are obedient.

There’s a corrupt church, a negative church. It’s mostly negative what is said to the church at Thyatira. He says, “ ‘I know your works, love, service, faith, and your patience …’ ” (Revelation 2:19) So, there are a lot of positives, but there are negatives. He says, “ ‘And I gave her time to repent of her sexual immorality, and she did not repent.’ ”  So, there is historical discipline. At the end He says, “ ‘But hold fast what you have till I come. And he who overcomes, and keeps My works until the end [again, this is the true biblical doctrine of perseverance], to him I will give power over the nations …’ ” That’s a reward to rule over the nations—the Gentiles—in the Kingdom.

In the third chapter we have the next letter, which is to the church at Sardis. This is the one that is all negative. They are warned as well and given an incentive to recover and to grow. It says, “ ‘He who overcomes shall be clothed in white garments, and I will not blot out his name from the Book of Life ...’ ” That doesn’t mean that it’s possible that they could have their name blotted out; it’s just a figure of speech called a litotes, which indicates that you’re saying just the opposite. You’re emphasizing the fact that they will be in the Book of Life, and that their name would be confessed, or acknowledged, or talked about before the Father and before His angels.

Then we come to the church at Philadelphia. In Revelation 3:12 we’re told, “ ‘… I will make him a pillar in the temple of My God …’ ” You go to some places today—you can even go to some churches—and there’s a room that is in memoriam for somebody or in honor of somebody else. This was the idea; in a temple there would be these markers on the pillars, and it was a recognition of that which they had accomplished. So, that’s the idea behind verse 12; this is another form of a reward.

Then you have the last church, which is the Laodicean church. Again, Jesus says in Revelation 3:21, “ ‘To him who overcomes I will grant him to sit with Me on My throne, as I also overcame and sat down with My Father on His throne.’ ” So, it’s position of elevated authority.

These are all the different types of rewards, but we’re just looking at the crowns. Since we were at Revelation 2:10, I decided to take us through that for a quick summary. James 1:12 also talks about this crown of life.

Revelation 2:10—they persevere in the midst of testing where they could lose their life. And in James 1:12, James says, “Blessed is the man who endures temptation [testing] ...” So, both of these are related to testing.

“Blessed is the man who endures temptation; for when he has been approved …” That’s the word DOKIMOS; the verb is used in the passage on the Judgment Seat of Christ in 1 Corinthians chapter 3 talking about that for which we are rewarded.

“… for when he has been approved, he will receive the crown of life which the Lord has promised to those who love Him.” Now, not every believer develops a real love for the Savior. Most do. Some have an infantile love—the love of a baby. Some have a more mature love. I think this is a more mature love because they have endured temptation. They have grown and matured, and so they receive a crown of life—an expanded capacity to enjoy their heavenly life.

Slide 17

The third crown is the crown of glory. Well, before we move on, I want to cover something else about the crown of life.

The crown of life is related to the believer’s success at enduring, especially enduring adversity—the hostility that may take his life. We live in a time in our nation’s history that many of us—most of us—never thought we would see. We see outspoken hostility to Christians! We see riots and mobs charging the homes of newscasters who are conservative.

If you didn’t see the news, just last night there was an ANTIFA crowd. ANTIFA DC is the group that posted the addresses of Tucker Carlson, his brother, and a number of others—Ann Coulter and some other conservatives—so that other groups would storm their houses. They stormed Tucker Carlson’s house. His wife was home alone. She heard all the commotion; they were banging on the door, trying to knock down the front door to come into the house. She’s inside. She locked herself in the pantry, called 911, and the police came.

When would we have thought that if we publicly voiced our opinions on Christianity or on our conservative beliefs, that there would be groups that would want to hunt us down and to kill us? This is what’s happening today. It is going to get worse I believe! We know that it’ll get worse in the Tribulation—and I think that it may get worse before that. It’s better to be forewarned.

We may face this kind of adversity, and it really challenges us. We live in an America where most Christians live a comfortable Christianity. They’ve never been challenged to live a difficult testimony where it may cost them something. I can’t remember her name now, but a Pakistani woman who is a Christian, because she gave water to a man that I believe was a Christian, was thrown in jail. They wanted to give her the death penalty because she, as a Christian, had defiled the water.

They just released her from that death penalty a week ago, but they’re keeping her in confinement right now because the last time somebody tried to help her they were killed. A price is on her head for a huge sum of money—for people in that culture—so the chances of her surviving … And they won’t let her leave the country. So it’s very difficult.

How would we handle that kind of thing? But this is what happened to the apostles. They gave their lives, not for a myth. They gave their lives for the truth that they knew. It wasn’t true because they knew it; it was true because it actually happened that Jesus had been raised from the dead.

So we can go through the list of the apostles. They gave their lives. They were true physical martyrs for what they believed about Jesus Christ, and they will receive the crown of life.

James, the brother of John, was beheaded in Jerusalem around AD 44.

Philip, the evangelist, who led the Ethiopian eunuch to the Lord (and also ministered with his daughters in the area of Caesarea by the Sea) was arrested and brutally whipped—flagellated—prior to being crucified.

Matthew took the gospel to Parthia—that’s modern Iraq and Iran—the Persia area. He was killed with the sword around AD 60.

James the Less we don’t know a whole lot about. But according to tradition, he was thrown from the pinnacle of the temple in Jerusalem and then beaten to death on the ground.

Andrew was crucified on a cross for three days. And during that time he witnessed—he gave the gospel—to everybody who went by. Andrew was Peter’s brother. He was a fisherman.

Peter was finally arrested in Rome, and there he was brutally whipped and flagellated like our Lord. They were going to crucify him. But he didn’t think he should die the same way the Lord did, so they crucified him upside down. That must’ve been a much more miserable death than to be crucified right side up.

Thomas took the gospel to India. There’s a rich tradition among a group of Christians in India that can trace their lineage all the way back to Thomas. He took the gospel there, but he gave his life when someone drove a spear through him in India.

Tradition tells us that Jude was crucified in AD 72, and that Bartholomew was beaten to death with clubs. John had been condemned to being boiled alive in a cauldron of boiling oil, but he escaped and later died a natural death.

Paul was beheaded in Rome by Nero. Barnabas was stoned to death by Jews in Thessalonica. Mark was dragged through the streets of Alexandria by his feet and then burned to death the following day.

Luke was hanged on an olive tree in Greece. Matthias was stoned and then beheaded. That’s just a list. The only one who died a natural death was the Apostle John.

They all gave their lives for the gospel, and they will all receive the crown of life.

Slide 17

Third, the crown of glory. This crown is the crown that we are studying here in 1 Peter 5:4. It is a glorious crown that is awarded to pastors and shepherds of congregations who faithfully study and communicate the Word to their congregation and who fulfill what this passage says—that they are examples to the flock. For those, they will receive the crown of glory.

That means that a pastor-teacher has to be faithful in his preparation for ministry. We live in such a tragic generation today. This is not just true for the Christian community; I think it’s happening in other communities as well. But the tradition among Christians has been that, for the most part, pastors would come to an understanding of the gospel young. They would come to an understanding of their gift as pastor-teacher. They would spend many years in study, in preparation.

I have been told that as late as the 1820s, you would not be considered for ordination in the Anglican Church if you had not memorized all 150 psalms and if you were not working your way through every psalm at least every three or four weeks in prayer. What does that do? If you are rehearsing all those verses in your mind that much, the depth of your understanding of the Word and of what God is doing is incredible! It’s profound! We don’t see men and women like that.

I count it a privilege when I was young to have known men from my grandparents’ generation who had a grasp of the Word and memorized the Word, so it just saturated their souls. I don’t see leaders today that even come close to those leaders. Part of that, I think, is because of the increased secularization of our culture where people grow up—“Well, what we do on Sunday, what we do at Bible class, goes there. And the rest? Just live like everybody else.” The whole of our life is to be in service to the Lord.

So, we don’t have young men who are making decisions to train. I remember when I was sitting in Bible class when I was in high school, I would get called on quite a bit. And I thought, “You know, maybe the Lord has given me the gift of pastor-teacher, and I need to do something about that.” I worked summers at Camp Peniel as a counselor—which gave me lots of opportunity to give kids the gospel and to teach the Word. I realized that really thrilled me! What could be better than teaching the Word?

And I went through a time in college when I thought, “This is an incredible responsibility. I don’t want it! Let’s go find something else to do.” I often tell people that who think, “Do I have the gift of pastor-teacher?” I say, “Well, if you have the gift of pastor-teacher, if you can do anything else, go do it!” If you’re a pastor, that has to be clearly what God has gifted you to do. So, “Go do something else if you can go do it. But if you can’t do anything else—if there’s a passion in the core of your person to teach the Word and to minister to people—then that is what you should do!”

I came to understand that more fully when I was about a junior in college. I had even set my course of study—to study history, to study English, to minor in education. I had set that course of study thinking, “That’s going to prepare me to be a pastor.” I didn’t go into other areas of study because I always had that in the back of my mind. There was that constant preparation until I went to seminary.

So, we have to have young men who are faithful in training. And it doesn’t stop with graduation at seminary. I’ve often heard people who listen to me say, “You ought to teach in a seminary.” No, I shouldn’t. The word “seminary” comes from the word “seminal,” which means a seed. It is not the full-bore plant. It’s not the full, mature oak tree. It is the acorn that is going to grow into an oak tree in a pastor’s life.

The sad reality is that too many men who go to seminary never increase their knowledge beyond what they learned in seminary. What happens in seminary is that you are given those seeds that you are to fertilize and nourish—and read and study and develop—over the course of your life. In seminary you will go through Romans in one semester. But when you teach it, you have the wonderful luxury of taking a couple of years—really digging into it and taking all those tools you’ve been given in seminary.

I’ve heard very arrogant men say, “I don’t need to go to seminary because I already know all of that doctrine!” What is so sad is that a lot of what you learn in seminary has nothing to do with book learning; it has a lot to do with trusting God to pay your bills while you’re spending all that time studying. When you get out, you’re going to be in a congregation. And that congregation is going to have budget deficits. That congregation is going to need to have money to build a building. That congregation is going to need to be able to pay your salary. And you have to trust God for it. If you don’t learn to trust God when you’re in seminary, then you’re going to have to learn the hard way when you become a pastor of a church.

We’re losing that today. All these young men, “I don’t want to suffer any! I don’t want to give up anything! I just want to get on the Internet and do it all at home!” Doing that, you’re never going to produce the kind of quality pastors that the “old school” would produce. Now, that doesn’t mean that doesn’t happen. I know some pastors who are in incredible, and they were self-taught; they were autodidacts.

A couple of weeks ago, we studied about Granville Sharp. Granville Sharp was an autodidact; he taught himself Greek. But those are few and far between. You find too many arrogant young men who say, “I can do it because so-and-so did it.” Yeah, you don’t have half the IQ that so-and-so has. So you can’t do it!

So, we have to have this training, and the pastor has to continue it beyond seminary. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve gone back and taken myself through first-year Hebrew texts and first-year Greek texts, read through different systematic theologies, and worked through histories of Christianity all to solidify in my soul and in my thinking that which I learned in seminary.

A pastor has to be faithful in his own spiritual life. It’s not just about academics and getting information, but it’s about your own personal relationship with God. A pastor has to be faithful to feed the congregation. And his motivation needs to come from his own relationship with the Lord. So, all of this is part of the reward that comes—the crown of glory—to pastors who stick with it, faithfully serve the Lord, and faithfully serve the flock that God has given them.

Slide 18

The fourth crown is the victor’s crown. I take this from 1 Corinthians 9:24–27, where Paul uses just the analogy of running the race. Not all who run get the crown, but we need to run as those who will win. We each need to run our life. The competition is not against others; the competition is in terms of fulfilling the mission—or not. Those who reach the finish line are those who receive the victor’s crown.

These are just some of the rewards. I think we’re just going to be blown away by the complexity of the crowns, the rewards, all that God provides for us! We’re just given such a skeletal sketch and outline of what the Judgment Seat of Christ will be like. Ultimately, it will be a time of rejoicing and a time of celebration because of what the Lord has done for us. He’s not going to be judging us harshly. He will be judging us graciously! And we’ll be surprised at how well we’ve done.

Many times in my life I’ve been encouraged as I read through Hebrews chapter 11. You get down to the end, and it’s talking about these great men of faith who were examples in the Old Testament. I hope you’ve gone through my Judges series; if you haven’t, you should. I think it’s still one of the most significant and culturally relevant series I’ve done.

But you go through Judges and you realize something about those judges—men like Barack, men like Gideon, Jephthah, and Samson. If all we had to go by was the Book of Judges, we would think they were absolute spiritual failures because they had some incredible flaws! But they’re all listed in Hebrews 11 as heroes of the faith! They fulfilled their mission at some point, and so God mentions them in Hebrews 11. I don’t know about you, but that gives me great hope that somehow I won’t be a complete failure when I get to the Judgment Seat of Christ. So, God is going to judge us very, very graciously.

That brings us to the end of those first four verses. Then we get into the next section. Rather than starting with that tonight, I’m going to wait. We’ll get into this next time where we can look at the totality of what Peter is teaching about humility and about how to show that we are humble—learning what it takes to be humble before the Lord.

Closing Prayer

“Father, thank You for this opportunity to study these things, to be reminded to reflect upon Your grace—that You have given us so much. From Your goodness, Your kindness, Your generosity, You have supplied us with everything necessary for eternal salvation, to be restored in fellowship with You, to be able to commune with You, to talk with You in prayer, to think about You and Your Word, and to have God the Holy Spirit bring these things to our mind.

“That we are elevated above the circumstances and the difficulties and the challenges of living in a corrupt, fallen world with corrupt, fallen people. That we can live above that, and we can have a stability, and a peace, and a joy in our life that is unknown by most human beings—simply because You provide that for us in Your goodness.

“Father, we pray that we might hunger for Your Word, thirst for Your Word, that we might passionately desire to serve You and glorify You in all that we do. In Christ’s name. Amen.”