Let No One Take Your Crown!
"I come quickly: Hold that fast which you have,
so that no one takes your Crown!" Revelation 3:11
This Verse is a clear warning from Jesus Himself that shows a Christian can lose their Crown. Receiving a Crown has nothing to do with salvation, we cannot lose our Salvation. Crowns are a Reward. but we can lose our Rewards. How tragically sad it would be for a Christian to have already won a Crown, and then by their own actions lose that Crown to another person before they have even made it to Heaven. This is a serious warning to hold fast and not get entangled with the things of this world.
God is watching His people and keeping records for the day when we will all be judged and receive rewards or loss of rewards from those things that are written in the books, according to our works. We are in a battle for Christ, we are running a race.
2 Chronicles 16:9 "For the eyes of the LORD run to and fro throughout the whole earth."
Philippians 3:14 "I [Paul] press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus."
Salvation was freely given to Paul as a gift, but only works of hardship, suffering, and perhaps even death could bring him the prize of a Crown to lay before the Throne.
2 Timothy 4:8 "There is laid up for me [Paul] 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 also that love His appearing."
1 Peter 5:4 When the Chief Shepherd shall appear, you shall receive a Crown of Glory.
The saved will one day stand before The Judgment Seat of Christ. The result of this judgment will be the gain or loss of Eternal Rewards. All Christians go to Heaven, but there are numerous rewards and Crowns that must be earned!
1Corinthians 9:24-25 "They who run in a race all run, but one receives the prize? So run, that you may obtain... They do it to obtain a corruptible Crown; but we an incorruptible [Crown]."
James 1:12: Blessed is the man that endures temptation... he shall receive the Crown of Life.
The Bride and Wise Virgins hold fast so that no one can take their Crown! They are watching for the Lord to return, telling others about Christ, doing with a love for the lost. They produce fruit because they abide in the Lord and do the things Christ said to do. They are alert and discerning, knowing His return is near.
John 15:4-5 "Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, except it abide in the vine; no more can you, except you abide in me. I am the vine, you are the branches: He that abides in me, and I in him, the same brings forth much fruit: for without me you can do nothing."
1 John 2:28 "Abide in Him; so that, when He shall appear, we may have confidence, and not be ashamed before Him at His Coming."
The things we do after our salvation are not a sin issue, God simply gives us opportunities to do things for the Lord so He can then reward us.
Multitudes of Christians love Jesus and consider their relationship with Him to be important, and yet the purpose God intended for them, is worthless, because carelessly, not through intention, not willfully, but many times just through carelessness, they are involved in everything else.
Those who have borne the heat of the battle following their Lord, will not stand on the same plane as those who avoided the battle. Every prayer, every tear, every trial suffered, every service rendered, every tract passed out, every time you spoke to someone about the Lord, all these things will all be taken into account.
Losing your Crown or keeping it is totally dependent upon your own actions. Do not lose your Crown through neglect because God had to give the jobs He intended to reward you for, to another person.
1 Corinthians 3:8 "Each will be rewarded according to his own labor."
Although there will be no envy or jealousy in Heaven, there will be great distinctions between the people in Heaven. Many of the Crowns mentioned in the Scriptures are rewards to be earned. These Crowns will be awarded to qualifying believers at the Judgment. After being saved every Christian has the opportunity to win these Crowns or other rewards.
When this life ends, then our opportunity to win a Crown or change things is finished. And the future position we hold in Heaven will be determined by what we are doing in our life now. Although all Christians will be in heaven because of faith in Christ, some will receive great reward, and some will receive no reward at all. Some will wear Crowns indicative of the Father's pleasure, and some will not.
The coming Rapture will not only surprise the world, but it will also catch countless Christians completely off-guard. There is the teaching that everyone who is saved will participate in the Rapture. The Scriptures teach just the opposite. Make sure you are not among those who suddenly realize Jesus has come, and you are left behind to endure the hardships of the Tribulation. It is the responsibility of each of us to Study God’s Word to see if what we are being taught is correct.
Hosea 4:6 "My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge."
2 Timothy 2:15 "Study [the Bible] to show yourself approved to God, a workman that needs not to be ashamed, rightly (accurately) dividing (understanding) the Word of truth."
Psalm 119:130 "The entrance (revelation) of Your Words gives light (wisdom); it gives understanding (discernment) to the simple (straightforward person)."
2 Peter 3:13-14 &16-17 "We, according to His promise, look for new heavens and a new earth, wherein dwells righteousness. Therefore … be diligent that you may be found of Him in peace, without spot, and blameless. As also in all his (Paul’s) epistles … in which are some things hard to be understood, which they that are unlearned and unstable (in the knowledge of God’s Word) twist, as they do also the other Scriptures, unto their own destruction. You therefore … beware lest you also, be led away with the error of the wicked, and fall from your own steadfastness."
Hebrews 5:12-14 (By this time) "You ought to be teachers, but you have need that someone teach you again the [elementary] first principles of the oracles of God [God's Word]; and you … have need of milk, and not strong meat. (Comparable to a baby who needs milk and cannot eat solid food.) For every one that uses milk is unskillful in the [God's] Word of righteousness: for he is a baby. But strong meat belongs to them that are of full age [spiritually mature], even those who by reason of use [trained by practice] have their senses exercised to discern [distinguish] both good and evil."
His Plan For Me
When I stand at The Judgment Seat of Christ and He shows me His plan for me,
The plan of my life as it might have been had He had His way,
And I see how I blocked Him here and I checked Him there, and I would not yield my will,
Will there be grief in my Savior's eyes? Grief, though He loves me still?
He would have made me rich, and I stand there poor, stripped of all but His grace
While memory runs like a hunted thing down the paths I cannot retrace.
Then my desolate heart will well-nigh break with tears that I cannot shed;
I shall cover my face with my empty hands, I shall bow my un-Crowned head.
Lord, of the years that are left me, I give them to Thy hand;
Take me and break me, mold me to the pattern Thou has planned.
Martha Snell Nicholson
In the following verses, Christ is Warning His Church to take heed, watch, pray, be sober, abide in Him, look for Him, keep their Spiritual Garments of Salvation and Robe of Righteousness, because He is coming for the Overcomers, the Saints who have kept themselves from the things of the world, and once the Rapture has taken place, the Lord will shut the door.
Matthew 25:10-12 "The Bridegroom came; and they that were ready went in with Him to the marriage: and the door was shut. Afterward came the other virgins (Foolish Christians), saying, Lord, Lord, open to us. But He answered and said … I know you not."
Luke 13:25 "When once the Master of the house is risen up, and has shut the door, and you begin to stand without, and to knock at the door, saying, Lord, Lord, open to us; and He shall say to you, I know you not ..."
There is no doubt that when the Rapture takes place, it will result in the greatest soul-searching the church has ever known. The day of "playing church" will be over, and there will be a tremendous overhauling of Christian experience. People will urgently seek God and the infilling of the Spirit which apparently will be still available until the beginning of the Day of the Lord (Acts 2:16-21). But it will be too late to participate in the First-Fruit Rapture.
So the Lord had to say to the Five Foolish Virgins, "I know you not". He did not say as He said to the hypocrites. "I never knew you: depart from me, you that work iniquity" (Matthew 7:23). He did not call the Virgins "workers of iniquity," neither did He say, "I never knew you." His words are in the present tense, "I know you not." He indeed knew them as believers who accepted Him as Savior.But at this particular hour He had come as Bridegroom. He could not recognize them as members of the Bridal Party.
The teaching of the parable "The Ten Virgins" is that the five Wise Virgins would be among the First-Fruits to God. They will be in the Man Child Company of believers in Revelation 12. In the Parable, we see the words of Christ portrayed, "One shall be taken, and the other left."
Matthew 24:40-42 "Then shall two [servants] be in the field; the one shall be taken, and the other left. Two women shall be grinding at the mill; the one shall be taken, and the other left. Watch therefore: for you know not what hour your Lord does come."
The two who are in the field and the two at the mill are all His servants, Christians. They both are busily doing their Lord’s work … but only one in each group was ready for their Lord’s return. Just like the Ten Virgins, this parable also shows that only half of those Christians working for the Lord are ready to go in the Rapture.
Put on the whole Armor of God
Ephesians 6:10-18 Be strong in the Lord, and in the power of His might. Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand(resist) against the wiles (trickery) of the devil. For we wrestle not against flesh and blood (human opponents), but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places (different ranks of evil spirits). Wherefore take to you the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand. Stand therefore, having your loins girt about with truth, and having on the breastplate of righteousness; And your feet shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace; Above all, taking the shield of faith, wherewith you shall be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked. And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the Word of God: Praying always with all prayer and supplication (requests)in the Spirit, and watching thereunto with all perseverance and supplication for all saints;
Mark 13:33-37 "Take heed (be alert), watch and pray: for you know not when the time is. For the Son of Man is as a man taking a far journey, who left his house, and gave authority to his servants, and gave to every man his work, and commanded the porter to watch. Watch therefore: for you do not know when the master of the house may come, in the evening, at midnight, at the crowing of the rooster, or in the morning, Lest coming suddenly He find you (spiritually) sleeping: And what I say to you I say to all, Watch!"
Luke 12:39-40 "If the goodman (Servant of God) of the house had known what hour the thief would come, he would have watched, and not have suffered his house to be broken through. Be ready also: for the Son of Man comes at an hour when you think not."
Luke 12:45-47 "If that servant says in his heart, My Lord delays His coming … The Lord of that servant will come in a day when he looks not for Him, and at an hour when he is not aware, and … will appoint him his portion with the unbelievers (hypocrites)."
Notice that the Lord was not talking to unbelievers when He said, “will appoint him his portion with the unbelievers.” He was warning the Christians that they could be in danger of being left to endure the Tribulation with the unbelievers. If the servant were already an unbeliever, he would have expected to be left! These are Christians who do not expect to be left!
Luke 21:34-36 "But take heed to yourselves (be alert), lest at any time your hearts be overcharged with surfeiting, and drunkenness (the pleasures of food and wine), and cares of this life, and so that day come upon you unawares. For as a snare shall it come on all them that dwell on the face of the whole earth. Watch therefore, and pray always, that you may be counted worthy to escape all these things that shall come to pass, and to stand before the Son of Man."
1 Thessalonians 5:4-6 "But you … are not in darkness, that that day should overtake you as a thief. You are all the children of light, and the children of the day: we are not of the night, nor of darkness. Therefore let us not sleep (spiritually) as do others; but let us watch and be sober (clear-headed)."
1 Peter 4:7 "The end of all things is at hand: therefore be sober (clear-headed), and watch with prayer."