Four Crowns

Bible's up and waving them around make Jesus glad, the devil mad.

Thank you, worship team, beautiful job as always.

We don't take you for granted, though.

Let's say this together Say Heavenly Father, I'm glad for Sunday night.

I'm here with expectation.

Lord, you're moving me into new territory.

I've not been this way heretofore.

And, lord, right now I prepare myself for greater things.

I prepare my eyes to see, my ears to hear and my being to experience the greater glory of God in Jesus' name, amen.

Let's look at 1 Corinthians, chapter 9 tonight, and read what Paul had to say.

1 Corinthians 9 · chapter mention

You know, I want to remind you about Corinthians because it was a.

You know, paul said your carnal, your carnal church carnal means body ruled.

They were not mature.

They had gifts.

Gifts of the Spirit don't make you mature.

You can prophesy and still be immature.

You could even see some miracles from time to time and still be immature.

But God's looking for progress.

And so he didn't do that to criticize them.

He did it to lift their eyes and let them to grow.

And so he's speaking here in 1 Corinthians 9.

We'll start in verse 24.

Know ye not that they which run in a race all run, but one receives the prize.

So run that you may obtain, and every man that striveth for the mastery is temperate in all things.

Now they do it.

Who's he talking about?

Well, he's talking about the games.

He's talking about the Greek.

You know he often, you know Paul, often compares the Christian life with running the race in the games.

You know the Greeks were.

You know that's the precursor to our Olympics, that they're coming up here pretty, pretty soon.

And so he said, they do it to obtain a corruptible.

But we and up incorruptible.

I therefore so run, not as uncertainly, so fight I, not as one that beateth the air, in other words shadow box.

He's not shadow box and he's hitting devils right upside the head.

But I keep under my body, or in other words, I keep my body under subjection to my spirit, I as a spirit.

He's just talking about his spirit.

He said I keep my body under subjection to my spirit, lest that by any means, when I have preached to others, I myself should be a castaway or I myself should be disqualified.

So you know they.

They disqualified people in the games for cheating, you know so he's.

He's he's making a comparison to the Christian life and he's talking about, in the games, they compete for a crown.

Now, that crown was a wreath.

It was a wreath that you know they wove out of whatever and put it on their head.

And it wasn't just about the crown, but it was about the notoriety, it was about the honor.

Here's the winner of the race, you know.

And so tonight I want to talk about four crowns in the Bible.

We've got four crowns.

We're want to talk about four crowns in the Bible.

We've got four crowns we're going to talk about tonight.

And Paul said there are two kinds of people in the race.

There are runners and there are winners runners and winners.

And you know he's talking about the Christian life.

You know we live in the Christian life.

Once you get saved, you start the race, you don't?

You know you're in the race whether you run or not, it's up to you.

But what do you win or not, it's up to you.

And winning is not.

You're not competing against someone else, you're not competing against your brother or sister, you're.

But there's, there's an.

What he's really talking about is the is the intensity.

He's talking about what it takes to win.

And I really like to watch track and field.

A lot of people don't really like it, but you know they've had.

They've had these Olympic trials, and I tune in every great once in a while.

See some of the races I saw.

I saw a women's 60 meter hurdle race man.

I mean that boy, I'm telling you.

And they come out of the blocks.

And this one girl didn't have the good, she was the favorite, but she came out of the blocks.

She was just a little, just a half, you know, not even half a step.

She was just a little short, but I mean about 30 yards in.

She hit another gear and I mean she went off and left them and I mean it's just impressive to see somebody.

I mean they all have this tremendous talent, they all have this tremendous strength and they've been training, they've been sacrificing their bodies in order to compete in the Olympics, some of them all their life and from little age.

You, you know, they just have they, they.

But there's this, there's this want to, there's this desire that's down in the deep and and this, this young, this, this woman, who wound up being the favorite, she did win it.

I mean she just pushed ahead all the rest of them and broke.

You know, there's tape anymore, there's just an electronic eye but anyway she won it by, you know, just a little bit.

A foot, maybe, a hundredth of a hundredth of a second.

I mean, it's just so close in that short a race.

But you've got runners, but then you've got winners.

And this is Paul.

He's saying look, let's run, let's run to win, let's run to obtain the crown.

And again, we're not competing with each other or anyone else, we're just.

It's the intensity and I believe we've just.

You know, I want to preach this tonight.

I preached it before.

It's been a long time, but I just want to.

I want us to turn up a fire, I want us to turn up the intensity, because we're living in those days when, you know, we're facing things that are coming against us and we've got to answer that with some intensity.

Amen.

The only the winners receive the crown.

You know, everybody's running, but only winners.

There's only one winner of each, each heat, and and of the heats, you know, then they get the ones to qualify for the finals, and then there's the finals, and then you know, it's great to get second and third, but you know there's only one winner, the one that wins, the one that breaks the record.

We've had some record-breaking swimming coming up.

You know, last week this gal broke some record records swimming.

It's kind of a, you know.

I don't know if you care for it, but I like to watch it.

It just reminds me of the race we're in.

We're in a race.

Are we just running, or are we going to run to obtain Revelation?

3.11,.

Jesus said hold fast to what you have, let no man take your crown.

Jesus said that Don't let anybody take your crown, don't let somebody nose you out at the finish line.

I was watching a longer race.

I think it was an 800 meter, two laps.

It's a grueling race, it's not.

It's a run, it's not a, it's not a sprint.

I mean you know you have to pace yourself at 800s.

You know you don't 400.

I mean I.

It just blows my mind what people do on a 400.

They run flat out.

They don't pace themselves, they just run flat out.

That's what I ran in high school.

I wasn't any good at it.

I mean I'd that's what I ran in high school.

I wasn't any good at it.

I'd get to the 330 mark for the 440, the 330 mark and just nothing left in the tank.

You get all tied up, your muscles start just.

You can't even hardly run.

But anyway, this one guy right around the last you know it was the last about the last 100 yards of an 800-meter rain.

He was way back, he was third or fourth but he started kicking in and he started gaining.

And the guy in front he kind of, you know, he thought, you know, he kind of looked and he knew he had it won and so he just kind of, he just kind of kept up the same pace.

He didn't really.

And by the time he realized that guy had come all the way up on his shoulder, it was too late.

It was too late for him to reach down and grab in there and try to and try to go.

This other guy just went right past him and won it.

And you know again that intensity, somebody wanted it and that didn't look like they were going to get it, but they wanted it from back in the pack.

They weren't satisfied with back in the pack and they put in another gear.

And I mean they just, you know, and how did that happen?

Well, they had to train for it.

You can't just do it because of the mental side of it.

You've got to do it because you've trained.

And Paul talks about that training aspect.

Jesus said hold fast to that which you have.

Let no man take your crown.

After 9 11, I went to galveston to pray.

I was disappointed because I just thought that I had not had warning.

I felt like a failure.

I've, you know, I've got a prophetic anointing on my life and I see things and I have visitations of the Lord, and I just didn't recognize the tsunami dream was my warning.

I'd had the tsunami dream in June and three months later is 9-11.

So God had already warned me about this judgment of the nations.

I wasn't really, you know, he'd already warned me.

This is a year of first, first year of first, a premier year.

You're going to see things you've never seen.

Well, he was warning me.

I just wasn't interpreting the warning.

I was interpreting it on the positive.

See, this is pre nine 11.

See, isn't it amazing?

Pre nine 11, we had a certain way of looking at things, and post nine 11, everything's different and a whole lot of people forgot about 9-11.

I haven't forgot about it.

We forget about it to our own peril anyway.

So I went to galveston, you know, and the lord just started talking to about you know about, you know about the end, end days, and he, he let me know.

He said you know the the crown of another I have taken from, uh, from the crown of another and I've given it to you, dick.

And he put it this way he said he didn't say the crown, he said I've taken the authority, responsibility, booty, which is like pirate treasure and provision of another, and I've given up to unto you.

Let no man take your crown.

So, in other words, he would let me know somebody else's crown.

I wasn't his first choice.

Somebody fell down on the job, somebody lost their intensity and God looked around and saw me and he gave it to me and then he warned me that no man take thy crown.

Don't, don't make me look for somebody else to take your place.

Well, I just think about.

We've come a long way since nine 11 in this church.

We've seen a lot of things and God's warned us over and over different things and we've heeded those warnings.

We prayed, we've spoken against, we've, we've acted against.

Glory to God.

It is over.

I said it isn't over.

I mean, you know, we can either strive and put effort for the crown that God gives us or not.

You know, paul said run to obtain.

I think sometimes we think it's prideful.

No, it's not Well one thing.

I think sometimes we think it's prideful.

No, it's not Well one thing.

Hebrews 11, six says he that cometh to God must believe that he is and that he's a rewarder of those who diligently seek him.

There's rewards when you're diligent.

I just want to remind you of these things.

Stir you up so that you won't lose that intensity.

It's that intensity that God rewards.

In 2 John 8, it says Look to yourselves that you lose, not those things which you have gained, but that you receive a full reward.

Looking from my standpoint at my age now and been around a while I've seen a lot of people start off.

They start the race.

They're looking kind of impressive at first but something happens and somewhere along the way they either kind of cheat and get disqualified or they kind of trip up.

You know it's got to be terrible if you're in the Olympics and you trip and fall.

Can you imagine how disappointing that is?

I mean, you've trained and trained and you've done everything and you've won all.

You've got to win a lot of races to get there.

You know you've got to really be successful.

You know, to get to the Olympics, I mean that's the top of the top and then you get in the Olympic games and then you fall on the track and just don't even place.

Terrible, so that we lose not those things which we have gained, but that we receive a full reward.

Let's go all the way to the end.

Now he talks about true champions and they have to train.

You have to train, you have to have an intensity of life, you have to have a true passion for what it is that you're doing.

I just think about these.

I've been watching.

I don't know, maybe because we had in our, in my, you know stable of builders that I built with.

He was a neighbor of mine and also an office mate.

I never was in business with him, but I knew him and his daughter was just a really an Olympic.

You know, she was a Olympic athlete.

She didn't make the Olympics because she broke her neck.

Well, she no, that was after the Olympics.

She got injured in the finals, in the trials, in the US trials.

She got injured, her hip was injured, she had a stress fracture and she didn't make the finals.

And the girl that she was better than that was in her dear friend who moved here from West Virginia to live with this family.

This builder friend of mine was Mary Lou Retton.

So Mary Lou Retton would come by our house and sit at our breakfast room table with Paige and Mary Lou and talk to Gladys.

Of course Gladys would just entertain them and, you know, try to get them to eat donuts.

I said, honey, they don't eat donuts.

She fed all the grandkids donuts, all the nieces and nephews donuts.

She spoiled all of them with terrible food that they shouldn't eat.

But uh, you know, the rest was history and she was injured and couldn't, couldn't compete.

But her and she was better than Mary Lou.

They were part of that gymnasium, the Corolli Gym, world-renowned, and so I got interested in watching that.

I mean it's kind of cool to watch the kind of intensity.

I mean they're just little fireplugs, about four-foot-eight and just so, just muscled everywhere.

Just I don't know.

It's amazing what you've got to do to train.

You talk about intensity, number one, number one.

It's more than physical.

You've got to mentally.

You've got to mentally tune in to and you've got to have a passion.

You've got to love it.

You've got to want it more than anything.

Not many people do, which is why it's so rare.

Are you with me?

And so Paul is saying that about the Christian life.

It's not something we ought to go through, just lackadaisical, just yeah, yeah, yeah.

I love the Lord.

So do bluebirds love the Lord?

I mean, that's Norval Hayes' favorite phrase Brother Norval, I love the Lord.

So do bluebirds love the Lord?

True passion, honest dedication Is part of it.

Intensity everybody say intensity.

And then there's the training.

You've got to condition the body.

There's no getting around it.

Donuts won't work.

You have to deny the flesh, you have to get up.

I think about Rocky, rocky Balboa.

Yo, adrian, you get up in the morning.

You know, in that crummy apartment in Philadelphia it's cold outside, it's about 25 degrees, it's dark.

And he goes to his fridge.

You know there's nothing in there but eggs.

He breaks these raw eggs into a glass, he breaks about six raw eggs and just drinks them down and then he puts his clothes on, his shoes on, he goes out there, you know, and he runs.

You know, you got to really want to train, you got to really prepare yourself and of course, with us it's not just physically, it's spiritually.

And you have to sharpen your mind, you have to set the goal before you and that's part of that finish line.

In other words, they focus.

That guy that came from way back behind the pack.

He was thinking one thing he's thinking about getting ahead of that goal, ahead of everybody else.

He's got that in his mind.

And so what are we doing?

Are we?

Have we got a goal?

Have we got something?

We're aiming to do right now?

I'm aiming to make sure we have worship in every state, capital of this country, all 50 states.

I don't know how in the world it's going to happen, but the Holy Ghost is going to help us.

As long as we keep doing what we're doing, he's going to help us.

I was thinking about I watch football, I watched the know.

A few years ago, we finally fired Bill O'Brien, thank God, I couldn't stand that guy and we got a lousy coach, two lousy coaches.

Now we've got a really good coach.

I really like this coach we have.

But in the meantime we were so bad, the top, one of the top picks, and and when the first coach came on board and we had, you know, he took over from Bill O'Brien and he wasn't that great at picking it, picking players either.

But what you know, they picked a guy from A&M.

I won't mention his name, he was good at A&M, but I mean when he he was one of the top draft picks, they picked a lineman.

I mean of all the people that you pick.

I mean mean we needed anybody but a lineman.

A lineman was way down the list of anybody anybody needed.

But we picked a lineman from A&M and he was good at A&M.

Like I said, it's one thing to be a good lineman at A&M, but now you're at the NFL and he showed up at training camp and he was fat.

Now the linemen are big, okay, but they're strong and they're in.

He wasn't in shape and he got messed his knee up before he ever I think he was game one or two, I think it was preseason.

I mean they lost him for the season.

He wrecked a knee and he came back heavier the next year after he got over the knee problem and he got hurt again and he just wasn't an NFL shape.

You know he might've been okay for A&M but you know, for the NFL he wasn't good enough.

And I watched him, you know, and I thought, man, that guy, he can't move out of his own way.

He's so clumsy and slow.

One thing about the nfl there ain't nothing slow about it, even those big old 350 pound linemen are fast.

I mean they are.

They.

They're amazing athletes.

They look fat but they're.

You know, they've got a lot of weight on them but they're something else.

Well, he just was fat.

I'm sorry, I'm sorry to say I've heard now, and they just had many camps and he's come back in shape.

Finally, third year, he's finally in shape, finally learned that he can't eat everything he wants to eat.

He finally learned he's got to work out during the offseason.

He finally learned we're fine, listen, his fish are cut bait.

Now he's either going to make it or they're going to cut him.

And I think he was like the eighth or 10th pick, first round.

Nobody picks a lineman way up there, but anyway they did.

Anyway, my point is that we've got to get in kingdom shape.

We've got to get kingdom spiritually and mentally and spiritual shape and even physical shape.

You know, health is not optional.

We need our health.

Are you with me now?

So four crowns tonight.

Let's look at back at first Corinthians nine.

It says here in verse 25, every man that strives for the mastery is tempered in all things.

In other words, if you want to win, you've got to control your appetites, your flesh.

Now they talking about the Olympics, talking about the games.

They do it to obtain a corruptible crown.

It's a woven piece of ivy or whatever that they put on your head, and it's not so much the value of the crown, it's just the fact that you are the winner and that you get to wear that and there's only one of those, and people notice you.

It's a reward for your physical and mental sacrifice that you made and the excellence of your race.

They do it for that.

They don't do it to finish second.

They don't do it just to run.

There's runners and then there's winners and there's only one winner.

You know, paul said there's just two kinds.

So they do it for a corruptible crown, but we do it for an incorruptible crown.

Everybody say incorruptible crown.

We receive an incorruptible crown.

Incorruptible means it just doesn't go away, it can't rust, it can't fade, it can't rot.

It's going to be there permanent.

It has to do with our calling.

It has to do with our calling.

It has to do with our ministry.

Every believer has a ministry, every believer has a calling.

And if you're just going to run along and just kind of well, one day, one day, no, you'll never get that crown that crown?

Why?

Because God is watching.

God's the one that gives it.

Yeah, we can finish the race, but that's not.

We ran it not just to finish it, not just to go around the lap.

Once we did it to obtain something from God.

He's a rewarder.

Remember Everybody say God's my rewarder, so it's given where it's given in heaven.

Remember Everybody say God's my rewarder, so it's given where it's given in heaven.

And heaven is the only place where something's incorruptible.

Anything down here is corruptible, but up there it's incorruptible.

We're going to get rewards.

We're going to be surprised at some of the people that are wearing some crowns up there.

And you never lose it.

Praise God, verse 16,.

Let's back up to 16 here.

For though I preach the gospel, I have nothing to glory of, for necessity is laid upon me.

See, he's humble, he's not proud, he's not going around like a peacock saying I'm going to get my crown.

Look, it's not about pride, it's about intensity.

He said yea, woe is me if I preach not the gospel, for if I do this thing willingly, I have a reward, but if, against my will, I've talked to people that just you know, they know they're called, but they just you know, I just wish I'd get somebody else, I don't know.

Well, you're not going to get anything.

I'm not saying you're going to hell, I'm just saying you're not going to get anything.

I'm not saying you're going to hell, I'm just saying you're not going to get a reward Because you don't care about what God gave you.

In fact, what you want is somebody else's ministry.

I've seen preachers want.

You know, I had a guy one time following me around at Lakewood.

I was at Lakewood on a Saturday afternoon waiting to do a wedding and the people were late by two hours and you know, they had a different time clock than I did, and you know, and I waited around and waited around.

I thought, should I just leave?

I mean, golly, when I was in college, if a professor was 15 minutes late, I just left.

I didn't bother, going to class I could.

You know these people are two hours late.

It's Saturday afternoon.

I'm sitting here.

Anyway, he came in.

This young man came in and says how did you get to do what you're doing?

I said the Holy Ghost.

And he started asking me all these questions and I knew from his attitude he wanted what I had.

He wanted to take my ministry from me.

He wanted to move me out and take my place.

I just laughed.

You know that ain't how it works, buddy.

If I do this thing willingly, I have reward, but against my will, a dispensation of the gospel is committed unto me.

What is my reward then?

Verily, when I preach the gospel, I may make the gospel of Christ without charge.

That I abuse not my power in the gospel, for though I be free from all men, yet I've made myself a servant unto all.

I had to just be a servant to those people.

I didn't like it, I didn't appreciate it, but they finally did show up and I did the wedding.

He's a doctor of something and she's a doctor of something.

They're a big old highfalutin and they had a big old mob of.

They had already had a party.

I'm sitting there waiting for them to get to the church to get married.

They've had a party before the wedding.

I thought, well, that's kind of weird.

Too bad I didn't show up over there, then I could have went ahead and got it over with at the party, you know when I had been waiting here at Lakewood.

But I served them and I did the wedding.

I did the whole thing, and then they stood and they had this music and they started dancing and they were going to dance their way down the aisle instead of marching.

You know the wedding march after you're done.

You know the wedding march as you go out?

No, no, they were going to dance and they were dancing.

They were going about half an inch, you know a minute, I mean at the rate they were dancing to go out the door.

It's going to take an hour and a half, and I've already been there two hours waiting on them to get there.

So I watched them dance a little while and then I just kind of went like this, and then I just peeled around and I went out the side door and I got in my car and left.

They were still dancing, going down the aisle.

I guess they were married, though, praise God, and I had the certificate that I mailed in, all right.

So I have to serve people.

I mean, I had to learn that I have to serve people and it's not that much fun sometimes.

That's what he's talking about, and under the Jews I became as a Jew.

That I might gain the Jews of them that they're under the law is under the law.

That I might gain them that are under the law to them that are without the laws, without the law being not without law to God but under the law to Christ, that I might gain them that are without the law, so forth and so on.

So he's talking about his attitude, intensity, everybody say intensity.

Incorruptible crown that fadeth not away.

You never lose it.

All right.

Number two 2 Timothy 4, talking about four crowns.

Tonight I want us to stir ourselves up.

That's really the intent of this message.

Stir ourselves up and get ready for what we have in front of us, because some people God's going to skip over, some people God's just going to skip over and he's going to.

He had things in mind for them and they're not paying attention and they're not.

They're not paying the price and not, they're not paying the price.

And he I'm not saying they're going to hell, I'm not saying anything, I'm just saying you know he's looking for people that are on fire.

Second Timothy, chapter four, talking to his son.

In the faith, verse seven, he tells his son I have fought a good fight, I have finished my course, I have kept the faith.

Henceforth, there is laid up for me a crown of righteousness which the Lord, the righteous judge, shall give me at that day, and not to me only, but unto all them that also love his appearing.

Glory to God.

So the crown of righteousness.

It concerns Christian living again, it concerns this Christian life.

It's a life of faith.

The just shall live by their faith.

The faith, not a faith, not any faith.

The faith In 2 Timothy 4, 10, go right there, a couple of verses later, for Demas hath forsaken me, having loved this present world, and is departed unto Thessalonica.

Demas was a right hand to Paul.

Demas was invaluable to Paul.

Paul depended on Demas, and so here he has, fought and fought toward the end of his life.

He can see the end of his life.

He's a prisoner.

He said I finished my course, I've kept the faith.

See, demas, he haven't loved the present world.

I mean, here you are, you're right next to the man who wrote three quarters of the New Testament, all the you know, all these epistles, the Pauline revelation.

You're right there with him, you're in line to receive a tremendous crown, a tremendous reward that's going to last forever the crown of righteousness.

And he lost it.

He lost his.

I'm not saying he went to hell.

Really, I don't know.

I'm not his judge.

I'm not saying he went to hell.

I'm just saying he lost his reward.

The Bible says fight the good, fight of faith, keep the faith.

So this crown of righteousness is laid up in heaven and it's given at his appearing.

I just think about when he comes.

He's going to have a whole load of rewards.

Praise God.

Do you want yours?

If you don't want yours, I'll take it Just right on there.

I endorse my reward.

Give it to pastor.

How about your angel?

You don't want your angel either.

I'll take your angel.

You're not using him.

I've got a use for him, all right.

James, chapter 1.

James 1 · chapter mention

So we got the crown of an incorruptible crown.

We've got the crown of righteousness.

James, chapter 1, talking about crown, you know God's a rewarder and we ought to believe that he's a rewarder of those who diligently seek him.

James 1 · chapter mention

I mean he wants us to obtain.

He wants us to obtain these crowns.

That's why he put them out there.

James chapter one you know God doesn't expect something for nothing.

I mean we don't do it for that exactly, but we do it because of God.

But I mean you know there's a reward in it.

James, chapter one, verse 12, blessed is the man that endureth temptation, for when he has tried, he shall receive the crown of life which the Lord hath promised to them that love him, hallelujah.

So you know when you overcome, when you endure and overcome temptation, tests and trials, james said there's a crown of life and it's given now.

Every time we overcome I mean you can't see it, but you're wearing it I mean when you go through things and overcome the devil.

You know I overcome him by the blood of the Lamb and the word of my testimony Love, not my life unto the death.

Every time you overcome, every time you conquer, every time you go through something and get to the other side of it and lift your voice and praise God and say well, I overcame that with your help.

Thank you, lord.

The greater one lives in me.

He always helps me.

There's a reward.

I mean.

The devil looks at you and thinks man, I mean I better not mess with them.

They've got a bunch of crowns they're wearing stacked up on top of their head.

I know my future.

I know if I mess with him, he's just going to beat the living daylights out of me yet again.

Revelation.

Let's turn over to Revelation, chapter 2.

Revelation 2 · chapter mention

You know the Bible has a lot to say about crowns.

Revelation, chapter 2.

Revelation 2 · chapter mention

Because thou hast kept the word of my patience, I also will keep thee from the hour of temptation which shall come upon all the world to try them that are upon the earth.

That's three.

I'm sorry, got the wrong.

I said that's wrong.

Verse Two my pages.

See, I got a new Bible.

The pages stick together.

Verse 10.

All right, fear none of those things which you shall suffer.

Behold, the devil shall cast some of you into prison, that you may be tried and you shall have tribulation 10 days.

Be you faithful unto death and I will give you a crown of life.

Faithful unto death.

I kind of thought maybe I have to go to jail when we opened during COVID.

I had to think about it.

I had to think about what it's going to be like being Harris County jail at my age with the kind of people that they have in there.

I mean, the Harris County Jail is not the place where they've got a lot of believers and a lot of really nice people.

I visited Harris County Jail.

I've ministered in Harris County Jail.

I've ministered in the walls unit.

I've been on death row in Huntsville Not a place I would like to go to again.

I've been there one time.

I don't want to go back, if I can help it.

A lot of demons, a lot of demon-possessed people, miserable.

I thought, man, I might not survive in jail.

A lot of people die in jail.

You get sick and they don't care.

They just let you die, can't get your medication, and it's not a good place to be.

I had to think about it.

I mean, I did think about it.

I thought, well, you know, if that's what it turns out to be, well, you know, I'll just go to heaven then, because we're going to open.

We're going to open.

I don't care whether the Sandinista likes it or not.

That's what I call her.

Crooked as a snake.

All of these people are crooked.

I can't wait to see all of them arrested and put in jail.

I mean, can you believe the water department?

Can you believe that?

Can you believe all of the airport concessions?

I mean, all of that is just a.

It's all crooked, every bit of it.

They're stealing millions of dollars and here you've got these poor people, 75, 80 years old, with a $5,000 water bill, and the head of the water department has sold a million dollars.

She belongs under the jail, and everybody that helped her.

Anyway, I'm off my subject.

Everybody say the crown of life.

See, I mean every time you've got a crown of life.

God is a reward of those who diligently seek him.

I tell you he's keeping the books, he's watching you overcome, he's proud of you.

You don't suffer anything in vain.

God's always there to reward you.

The last one here is in 1 Peter 5, and the crown of glory.

So we've had the incorruptible crown, the crown of life, the crown of righteousness and finally the crown of glory, four crowns that the Bible talks about 1 Peter, chapter 5.

1 Peter 5 · chapter mention

And I'm really bringing this up because I want us to stir ourselves up for the intensity and the preparation for what's ahead, because I believe that we're in this new place, that we're going to see the greatest move of God we've ever seen.

But it's going to take fire on our side.

We're going to have to really get with the program here.

The elders which are among you, I exhort who am also an elder and a witness of the sufferings of Christ and also a partaker of the glory that shall be revealed Feed the flock of God which is among you, taking the oversight thereof, not by constraint, but willingly, not for filthy lucre but of a ready mind, neither as being lords over God's heritage but being examples to the flock.

And when the chief shepherd not if when the chief shepherd shall appear you shall receive a crown of glory that fadeth not away.

Oh well, pastor, that's talking about pastors.

Well, it's talking about pastors and everybody that helps them.

It's talking about a ministry team.

It's talking about a team of people like in this church that are my hands extended.

It's talking about my life team, my gatekeepers.

It's talking about my cover girls.

It's talking about my greeters, my welcome ministry, my hospitality, my sound, my worship.

It's talking about everybody in this church that does anything, of people that teach in children's church.

I'm telling you, it's talking about everybody that's part of this church, because I can't do it by myself, I can't do it by myself.

A crown of glory the word glory there means honor, it means boasting, it means praiseworthy.

I mean God is bragging on you, it's given in heaven and it never fades away.

It never fades away when the chief shepherd shall appear.

You know, I just picture the marriage supper of the lamb as being a huge reward ceremony.

I mean, here we are breaking bread, we're eating, we're having the marriage supper of the lamb, we're the bride of Christ and he's passing out crowns, he's passing out rewards that never fade.

Oh, come on, lift your hands right now, lord.

We thank you right now and we stir ourselves up.

We will not be distracted by the wickedness and the current that flows against us.

You know there's a current, there's a riptide against us.

You know there was just.

I read about a couple in their fifties that that in Florida on vacation and they, they drowned in front of their six kids Most of them are are, uh, teenagers and they got in a riptide in the current off of the coast of Florida and they and the kids got in there and tried to rescue them and they did.

It was too strong for them, they couldn't get to them and the parents died in front of these six kids.

I just think of tragedy, how hard, horrible.

I mean there's a tie.

There's a tie that works against us all the time.

It's a spiritual thing.

It just that that it's flowing out away against everything that we're doing.

It.

It opposes everything that we're doing.

It opposes everything that we're doing, and so I just listen.

Greater is he that's in us than he that's in the world.

I mean there's no kind of tide of this world that can take us out of what God has for us.

No kind of tide can kill us, no kind of tide can turn us away from what we're doing.

We've got the greater one living inside us.

Hallelujah, come on, lift your hands.

Right now, glory to God.

Lord, we're running our race to win the crown.

We're keeping the faith and we're not going to give up on it.

Hallelujah, glory to God.

Be encouraged tonight.

Thank you, jesus.

Come on, let's lift our hands.

We thank you, lord, our hands.

We thank you, lord.

We thank you for this wonderful reward of serving you.

Lord, it pays to serve you Now.

In Revelation, chapter four, it talks about the four and 20 elders that took their crowns off and threw them at the feet of Jesus.

You know there's a.

There's a probably heard of a of a Christian group, a cast in crowns.

You know there's a probably heard of a Christian group casting crowns.

You know the idea of taking our crowns and casting them for the Lord, you know.

But you know the Lord is not a taker, he's a giver.

You know he doesn't want your crown.

You know.

To me that's just.

We wouldn't have a crown if it wasn't for his grace on us.

We don't take credit for the crown he gets.

All the glory he gets all every knee shall bear, every tongue shall confess that Jesus Christ is Lord.

So I'm not trying to accumulate crowns for my own glory, it's his glory.

You see, when we have that, it's all points to him, anyway, points to him.

We don't all points to him, anyway.

Points to him.

We don't have anything in ourself that deserves anything except hell.

But we don't deserve.

Wow, we were bought.

Thank God, we've been bought out from under it.

So it's not about deserving, but it is about intensity of life.

It is about sacrificing certain things of this world to make sure that we do what God called us to do.