Crowns Won and Crowns Lost # 1

Crowns Won and Crowns Lost # 1

Reading: "I come quickly: hold fast that which thou hast, that no one take thy crown" (Revelation 3:11).

First of all we ought to look at these words and get hold of their implications, for things are implied here which are rather impressive, certainly very serious.

A Crown Offered

There is first, if not a positive statement, it is as good as a positive statement, that there is something related to the life of the child of God which is called a crown, his crown, her crown. You notice that the application of the exhortation is personal - "He that hath an ear, let him hear." It is not just a general application even to a local church. The thing is brought down to the individual, and therefore we are permitted, at least permitted, to reach this conclusion, that with every individual child of God there is bound up something in the mind and purpose of God which is called his or her crown, the crown of his or her life. That brings into view a time when every child of God should, in the will and purpose of God, have that great seal set upon their lives which was God's intention, when He will say, 'This is the thing for which I marked you out, this is the thing which I had in view for you, this is the thing for which I called you, this is the end for which I laid My hand upon you, this is the very crown of all my thoughts, desires, intentions, where you are concerned!' Now that is not straining what is here,k it is not exaggeration, it is stated here that to him that overcometh, there is that which is his crown, her crown.

So first of all we want to allow this to come right home to our hearts. You and I, each one of us individually in God's thought, is marked out for something which is called our crown. What that crown is, we will not stay to try and inquire. Paul speaks of several crowns, but we will leave exactly what the crown is, only reminding ourselves that Paul himself was one who recognized this truth in those great words in Philippians 3. You remember he said, "That I may apprehend, that I may lay hold of, that for which I have been laid hold of by Jesus Christ." "I press toward   the mark of the prize of the on-high calling." The prize of the on-high calling - I press toward that! We may come back to that passage again presently, but Paul saw this that, in that day on the Damascus road it was as though the hand of the Lord Jesus came and took hold of him - he called it being apprehended, the hand of the Lord came on him - on that day it was with a purpose in view, a crown in view, an on-high calling, a prize, and he said, "I have been laid hold of, I have been apprehended by Christ Jesus and now my one business in life is to lay hold of the thing for which I have been laid hold - the prize.

Let this come home to your hearts very strongly. I remember what a strength and help and inspiration these words were to me as a young Christian when I first, as a young fellow, took a very definite stand for the Lord in the midst of surroundings which were anything but spiritually helpful, very much to the contrary. In the midst of a great many difficulties and a good deal of cost, I took a stand for the Lord. These very words, in the light of what I am saying now, were a tremendous strength to me. There is a crown which is your crown, which belongs to you in the purpose of God. Now then, it is your business that no one takes your crown. Well, that is the first thing.

The Possibility of Losing Our Crown

Then, of course, the second thing which does so clearly arise from this statement is that it is possible to lose our crown. I am not thinking now of losing our eternal salvation but that which is called the crown, the prize of the on-high calling. It is possible; these words, if they mean anything, mean that. "That no one take thy crown." It is possible for us to have our crown taken by someone else, for us to lose it. It is terribly and really possible that we should reach that day which should be our crowning day and there not be the crown for us that the Lord intended.

Now, Paul lived in the light of that possibility also. As you remember, he said on one occasion - "lest having heralded others (our version is "preached to others", but the word is "heralded") I myself should be rejected", turned aside, cast away, I myself should miss (1 Cor. 9:27). "Lest..." - that is a word of precaution.

Well, the second thing is the terrible possibility that we should lose the thing for which the Lord has laid His hand on us.

Then another thing which runs with that is this - someone else can get what we were called to. God intended something for us, He called us in relation to something. Someone else was not in the first place called to that particular crown, that was not their crown, but by double faithfulness on their part, that is, by faithfulness to their own calling and by faithfulness where we were unfaithful, they have got their own and ours as well. That is implied here, isn't it? Someone else can get the crown we were  called to. That is terrible. I will tell you how that happens. We will not go to the application yet. Just look at the text. There it is.


The next thing, of course, putting that round the other way, is this, that we can get someone else's crown as well as our own. That is, we can get a double reward; we can excel in this matter. We are not wanting other people to lose their crown, I am sure we do not want to take another's crowns, we would sooner everybody had their crown. We are not ambitious in this sense that we want to do anybody out of their eternal glory, not a bit of it, but there it is. Here is the word, and there is a great deal that supports it, that there are those who are forfeiting what the Lord meant for them and someone else is taking that. The word here is so clear and so simple, so precise - "that no one take thy crown." Cut it right down if you like - "one take thy...". Well, we can come in for something of double glory by faithfulness where the Lord is being disappointed in others. Whether that appeals to us or not, in outworking that is a very great reality.

~T. Austin-Sparks~

(continued with# 2)