Rejoice | Part 10 | Philippians 3:20 – 4:3 | My Joy & Crown
We’re there in Philippians Chapter 4 and of course on Sunday mornings we’ve been going through this series entitled “Rejoice”. It’s really been a verse-by-verse study through the book of Philippians kind of like we do on Wednesday nights for our Wednesday night Bible study. We’ve been doing this on Sunday mornings through this book and we find ourselves in Chapter number 4 which is the last Chapter of this book. But we’re actually going to go back into Chapter three and finish up a few of the verses in Chapter three and that’ll lead us into Chapter four for this morning. Go back to Chapter 3 and as I’ve been telling you, as we’ve been going through the series every week, I’ve told you that this book is about joy. That’s why the series is called rejoice. The word joy is found 6 different times in these 4 Chapters. The word rejoice appears ten different times in these four Chapters and the Apostle Paul is teaching us about joy. He’s teaching us about Jesus. He’s teaching us about the fact that joy can be found in Jesus. We’ve been going through these lessons and looking at these things and I want you to notice where we left off last time that Paul was exhorting us and encouraging us to be “followers together of me”.
Philippians 3:17 “17 Brethren, be followers together of me, and mark them which walk so as ye have us for an ensample.”. Then in verses 18 and 19 he gives us an admonition or a warning about the enemies of the cross of Christ. And we spent both Sunday morning and Sunday night last week looking at verses 18 and 19 and something that I did not point out to you that I want you to notice. You’ll notice that verses 18 and 19 are actually a parenthetical statement. You’ll notice at the beginning of verse 18 you have a parenthesis. At the end of verse 19 you have a parenthesis. What that means is that the Apostle Paul inserted this thought. A parenthetical statement is something that is inserted in there. Something he wants us to have information about but not something that is needed for the subject of the sentence or for the completion of the sentence.
He says this parenthetically. “18 (For many walk, of whom I have told you often, and now tell you even weeping, that they are the enemies of the cross of Christ: 19 Whose end is destruction, whose God is their belly, and whose glory is in their shame, who mind earthly things.)”. Now I want you to notice in verse 17 that he said “17 Brethren, be followers together of me, and mark them which walk so as ye have us for an ensample.”. He says you should mark the good guys. Then he says parenthetically, here’s why you should mark the good guys. “18 (For many walk, of whom I have told you often, and now tell you even weeping, that they are the enemies of the cross of Christ:”. He gives us the characteristics. “19 Whose end is destruction, whose God is their belly, and whose glory is in their shame, who mind earthly things.)”.
Then in verse 20 he goes back to the subject. He says “20 For our conversation is in heaven; from whence also we look for the Saviour, the Lord Jesus Christ:”. That word conversation means behavior or conduct, the way you live your life. Now he says in verse 17 “17 Brethren, be followers together of me, and mark them which walk so as ye have us for an ensample.”. Why Paul? Why do you want us to follow those who are following Christ? He says “20 For our conversation is in heaven; from whence also we look for the Saviour, the Lord Jesus Christ:”. Here’s what he’s saying. We should live our lives as though we are going to heaven. Isn’t that a thought for a Christian?
Why should I follow spiritual leadership? Why should I follow those who are following Christ? Why should I become a follower of Jesus Christ? He says here’s why. Because you should live on earth as though you’re going to live in heaven one day. Because here’s a novel idea. You’re going to heaven. You’re on your way to heaven. The Christian life is a pilgrimage. We are pilgrims on this earth, on our way to a better country, a different country. So Paul says we should live our lives as though we are going to heaven. Why Paul? Because we are going to heaven. And he tells us that this is something to rejoice about. This is something to find joy in. The fact that our life is not complete on this earth. There is more to life than this life. He says “20 For our conversation is in heaven; from whence also we look for the Saviour, the Lord Jesus Christ:”.
Now what the Apostle Paul does is he sets up this idea of heaven and the fact that we are on our way to heaven, the fact that our end game or end goal is in heaven. Then he begins to talk to us about the things of heaven. And what he does is he gives us two kinds of subject lines or two categories. He talks to us about things that we will receive in heaven and then he talks to us of how we can earn rewards in heaven.
Notice verse 21 “21 Who shall change our vile body, that it may be fashioned like unto his glorious body,…”. The “his” is referring to Christ and the first thing he mentions is the glorified body. You say why would I live like I’m on my way to heaven? One of the great things about heaven is that our vile body will be fashioned like unto his glorious body. One thing we will receive in heaven is our glorified body. And one thing that the Bible tells us or emphasizes about this glorified body that we’re going to get in heaven is that it will be like him. It will be like Christ’s glorified body.
1st John 3:2 “2 Beloved, now are we the sons of God, and it doth not yet appear what we shall be: but we know that, when he shall appear, we shall be like him; for we shall see him as he is.”. If you are saved, this applies to you. John is saying that he doesn’t know 100% how everything will work out but knows that when Jesus appears, we shall be like him. That’s of course a reference to the rapture. The fact that Jesus is coming again. And when we see him, we shall be like him. See, the Apostle Paul is trying to teach us about how to rejoice, how to have joy, how to make it through this life not depressed and not discouraged. He tells us that 1 thing to be encouraged about is a glorified body. See, our bodies are falling apart. We get older, we get sick, we get tired, we get worn out. It’s a sinful body and it even dies. But he says one day he’s going to change our vile body that it may be fashioned like unto his glorious body. One day you’re going to get an upgrade. One day you’re going to get a new body. Now what I want to do this morning for a few minutes is talk about this glorified body because it’s not something we talk a lot about. And the Bible doesn’t tell us a lot about the glorified bodies but there’s some things that we can gather from the word of God in regards to our coming glorified bodies.
Philippians 3 21 says “21 Who shall change our vile body, that it may be fashioned like unto his glorious body, according to the working whereby he is able even to subdue all things unto himself.”. Both in Philippians and 1st John 3, the Bible says the same thing. “When he shall appear we shall be like him for we shall see him as he is.”. Now Jesus lived on this earth in a body, a human body of course and that body was put to death when he resurrected from the grave. He resurrected in a glorified body. He resurrected in a different body. The same body but it was glorified. And there’s some things that the Bible tells us about the body that Jesus walked in on this earth after his resurrection. Just some things the Bible highlights for us that I think are interesting. See, the glorified body is going to be a powerful body. It’s going to be a glorious body. There are some things that might seem a little sci-fi that I explain to you. Satan is always trying to take things from the word of God and change them. And I would just encourage you to forget about all the Hollywood garbage and just read the Bible. It’s far more interesting.
John 20. Let me just show you a few characteristics about this glorified body. Maybe some of these are things you know and maybe some of them are things that you don’t know. What are these glorified bodies going to be like? First of all, the glorified bodies are going to have the ability to walk through walls. They’re going to have the ability to walk through solid objects. Realize, nothing in the Bible is accidental or coincidental. If it’s mentioned in the Word of God, it’s mentioned for a reason. Notice in John 20:19 “19 Then the same day at evening, being the first day of the week, when the doors were shut where the disciples were assembled for fear of the Jews, came Jesus and stood in the midst, and saith unto them, Peace be unto you.”. Here you have them on the 1st day of the week for Church and they are gathered together with the doors being shut. They are shut for fear of the Jews. The Jews just crucified Jesus. Then the Bible says that Jesus came and stood in the midst and saith unto them peace be unto you. The Bible is saying that the doors were shut and all of the sudden, Jesus stood in the midst of them and just appeared unto them. Verse 26 “26 And after eight days again his disciples were within, and Thomas with them: then came Jesus, the doors being shut, and stood in the midst, and said, Peace be unto you.”. We see here that Jesus seems to have this ability to just walk through a solid object.
Why is this important? It’s interesting because what the Bible teaches there’s a time coming on this earth called the millennial reign of Christ. We as believers are going to rule and reign with Christ on this earth. On this material earth that you and I live on today, we’re going to live on it and we’re going to rule over human beings. We will rule over people just like us. But we will be in our glorified bodies. We will be in these bodies. We’ll be ruling and reigning with Christ in these powerful bodies. What are these bodies going to do? Well, apparently they are going to be able to walk through walls. Doors will be shut and we will just stand in the midst. That’s what Jesus did. Also, these bodies have the ability to appear and disappear.
Go to Luke 24. Now Jesus has been walking with the disciples for a while. And he’s been talking to them after his resurrection. The Bible says in Luke 24:30 “30 And it came to pass, as he sat at meat with them, he took bread, and blessed it, and brake, and gave to them. 31 And their eyes were opened, and they knew him; and he vanished out of their sight.”. They didn’t recognize him at first. Later they do recognize him but he vanishes. If you study the life of Jesus, before the resurrection we have a lot of stories of Jesus. In fact the vast majority of the new testament of the gospels deal with the life of Christ from his birth to his death. We never see him just walking through doors. The emphasis here is that he has a different body, a powerful body, a glorified body. And then Paul says that our vile bodies will be fashioned like unto his glorious body. So we see his body walk through walls and appear and disappear.
Luke 24:51 “51 And it came to pass, while he blessed them, he was parted from them, and carried up into heaven.”. Apparently these bodies have the ability to defy gravity or you and I might call that in our age the ability to fly. Here Jesus is speaking with him and then he’s carried up into heaven. And by the way, this is not the only time the Bible uses this type of terminology or these types of ideas. Go to Matthew 28. Now here’s what’s interesting. People look at the Bible and say this is just a bunch of stories and a bunch of fantasies. Here we’re talking about Jesus. He is vanishing, appearing and disappearing, walking through walls, flying. This sounds like superhero stuff. But here’s the thing, the Devil has taken all this superhero stuff to mock at the word of God. Because the Bible actually talks about the fact that Jesus has this glorified body. Let me tell you something. The most epic superhero ever is the Lord Jesus Christ.
Matthew 28:1. Here we are looking at angels and not Jesus. I want to be clear. But I will say that if you study the bodies of angels or when angels appear throughout the Bible, it’s very similar to when we’re talking about their glorified bodies or celestial bodies. It’s very similar to the descriptions we get of Jesus himself. Matthew 28:1 “In the end of the sabbath, as it began to dawn toward the first day of the week, came Mary Magdalene and the other Mary to see the sepulchre. 2 And, behold, there was a great earthquake: for the angel of the Lord descended from heaven, and came and rolled back the stone from the door, and sat upon it.”. So we see that these bodies have the ability to fly or to defy gravity, to be carried up into heaven or to descend from heaven.
Revelation 14:6 “6 And I saw another angel fly in the midst of heaven,…”. Notice the Bible says that these angels are flying in the midst of heaven. The Bible says that they are descending from heaven. Jesus was carried up into heaven. We see that these bodies have the ability to walk through these walls. They have the ability to appear and disappear. They have the ability to fly.
Go to Matthew 28:2 “2 And, behold, there was a great earthquake: for the angel of the Lord descended from heaven, and came and rolled back the stone from the door, and sat upon it.”. Go to Mark 16 and we will see something interesting about that. Mark 16:4 “4 And when they looked, they saw that the stone was rolled away: for it was very great.”. This is a very great stone. It’s a very big stone. It’s a very heavy stone. These angels not only do they descend from heaven but they also roll back the stone.
Go to Psalm 103:20. The Bible says “20 Bless the Lord, ye his angels, that excel in strength,…”. The Bible tells us that these angels have strength that is supernatural. But the Bible tells us that our bodies are going to be the same way. They’re going to be the same type of glorified body. I want you to understand that you’re going to be given an eternal body, a glorified body. It’s not going to be like the body you have right now. Your body now has limits. It is limited by gravity, strength, mobility. You can only walk so fast. You can’t just appear and disappear. You can only jump so high. There’s only so far you can go. But these bodies will one day be powerful, glorified. Not only that, but these bodies will never die. They will never be in pain. These bodies will never hurt. These bodies will be without sin. These are things that the Apostle Paul is saying. The fact that one day you’re going to receive a glorified body.
Let me show you a 2nd though. Not only are we going to receive glorified bodies but we’re also going to receive crowns. Philippians 4:1 “Therefore, my brethren dearly beloved and longed for, my joy and crown, so stand fast in the Lord, my dearly beloved.”. Now go with me to 1st Corinthians 9. The body has to do with your inheritance. It’s part of salvation. When you got saved, your spirit was quickened but your body one day will also be redeemed. Your body is going to be redeemed as part of the salvation process. You’re already saved. You’re completely saved. But we are waiting on the redemption of our bodies when Jesus returns. But then not only do we get redemption which is our bodies, we also get rewards. The Bible says that God is going to reward us in heaven and part of it has to do with these crowns. Because remember in the millennial reign, we’re going to rule and reign with Christ. And the crown is a representation of being able to rule and to reign. We will rule and reign as a result of receiving these crowns. We will receive authority as we earn these crowns.
1st Corinthians 9:24 “24 Know ye not that they which run in a race run all, but one receiveth the prize? So run, that ye may obtain.”. Here’s what he’s saying. Live your life in such a way to win the game that God has you in, the race that God has you in. Look at verse 25. “25 And every man that striveth for the mastery is temperate in all things. Now they do it to obtain a corruptible crown; but we an incorruptible.”. Striving means great effort and mastery is like the word for master or winner. Temperate means self-restrained or self-control. We are seeing an image of an Olympic Athlete. Those athletes have to be putting in great effort and controlling their bodies to win. He says “they do it to obtain a corruptible crown but we an incorruptible”. He says in heaven that you can earn a crown. Several years ago I preached a series on the crowns. I’m not going to re-preach that. But let me just quickly give you the 4 crowns of the Bible. I don’t know if these are all the crowns but these are the 4 that that the Bible lists that you can earn in heaven.
The first crown is what’s referred to as the crown of life. This is for enduring temptation. The Bible says
“12 Blessed is the man that endureth temptation: for when he is tried, he shall receive the crown of life,”. The 2nd is a crown of righteousness. This is for finishing faithfully. The Apostle Paul said “7 I have fought a good fight, I have finished my course, I have kept the faith: 8 Henceforth there is laid up for me a crown of righteousness,”. The third crown is a crown that we’re going to look at here in Philippians. And it is referred to as the crown of rejoicing. This is for soul winning, for evangelism, for reaching people with the gospel. And then the fourth crown is called the crown of glory. This is a crown given to preachers or to those who teach and handle the word of God, for faithfully teaching the word of God. These are crowns that you can earn. These are crowns that you can earn in heaven.
You might wonder why you should even want a crown. Well, do you want to rule & reign with Christ? People get this idea that they don’t even need rewards. These are usually the ultra-spiritual who also complain that we put a plaque of people who have read 9 chapters a day in January. What’s funny is that people complain about the plaque and don’t do the reading. Why not just do the reading and just don’t have your name on the plaque? But the thing is that God wants to motivate us. He tells us that he will pay us in heaven or reward us for the work that we did. You can earn the crowns by being faithful and finishing your course. You can earn a crown by being a soulwinner. You can earn crowns by fighting temptation. You can earn crowns by faithfully teaching the Word of God.
Maybe you think that you don’t need a crown. Well then you don’t get to rule and reign. Because those who rule and reign wear crowns. Obviously you will be in heaven either way but I’d like to earn something and be to rule and reign with the Lord Jesus Christ. You go ahead and be the janitor if you want. I want to rule and reign with Christ. I want to be able to serve him and serve alongside him and be with him. So we get this opportunity to earn crowns. Why do we earn crowns? The Bible seems to indicate we earn crowns and that has to do with the ruling and reigning, our authority and our ability to rule and reign upon this earth with him during the millennial reign. But I would say the biggest reason that we get to earn crowns is so that we get to return crowns.
Revelation 4:10. Now this is a specific verse about the elders but I want you to see that they are wearing crowns. “10 The four and twenty elders fall down before him that sat on the throne, and worship him that liveth for ever and ever, and cast their crowns before the throne, saying, 11 Thou art worthy, O Lord, to receive glory and honour and power: for thou hast created all things, and for thy pleasure they are and were created.”. The Bible seems to indicate that when you and I get to heaven, we’re going to stand at the judgment seat of Christ and at that judgment seat we’re going to be judged for the things which we’ve done in our bodies, for our conduct, for our conversation, for our behavior, for how we lived our lives. And we’re going to be able to earn some crowns. We’re going to be given some crowns and maybe there’s more crowns or different crowns that the Bible doesn’t tell us about or that I’m not aware of.
But for sure we’re going to be given the opportunity to earn a crown for enduring temptation. If we can endure temptations, trials, persecutions and also not living a life of sin then we can earn a crown for winning people to Christ. We can earn a crown for ending right, finishing right, not quitting. You might wonder what we will do with these crowns. We will earn the crowns to return the crowns. For those that act like you don’t need a crown, let me show you how we show our gratitude for the Lord Jesus Christ for dying for our sins. See, I want to rule & reign with Christ but I don’t want to stand before Christ empty-handed. See, a headless crown in heaven will prove that you’re saved but you did nothing for Jesus. You didn’t live for Jesus. You did not work for Jesus. You did not earn anything for Jesus. And what it really shows is that you really didn’t care about Jesus. You are still saved but so as by fire. That’s better than going to hell but even better is being saved with rewards. In Revelation 4 we see that we earn crowns and then cast them at the feet of Jesus. Revelation 4:10-11 “10 The four and twenty elders fall down before him that sat on the throne, and worship him that liveth for ever and ever, and cast their crowns before the throne, saying, 11 Thou art worthy, O Lord, to receive glory and honour and power: for thou hast created all things, and for thy pleasure they are and were created.”.
So we see first that we will get a glorified body. Isn’t it great that there are no aches, no coronavirus, no cancer, no disease in heaven? We’ll have these powerful bodies and then we’ll also receive crowns that we earned on earth to return to Christ in an object lesson of gratitude. The question of course is how do you earn these rewards? How do you earn these things? Notice what Paul says in Philippians 4:1 “Therefore, my brethren dearly beloved and longed for, my joy and crown, so stand fast in the Lord, my dearly beloved.”. How do we earn those rewards? By standing fast. Remember there is a crown for enduring temptation and there is a crown for finishing strong. How do you do that? Finishing your course. How do you do that? You stand fast. You stand strong. The word fast means secure or fixed. You decide to stick with it, not quit.
1st Corinthians 15:51 “51 Behold, I shew you a mystery; We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed,”. The word sleep there is referring to death, to the fact that we’re going to physically die. The Bible will often refer to death for a believer as sleep. The Bible doesn’t call when a saved person dies death. The Bible calls it sleeping. Our bodies are asleep. You say why? Because one day they will be woken up and resurrected. It’s funny that the Jehovah’s witness teach this teaching of soul sleep. They get it exactly opposite. They say your soul goes to sleep. The Bible doesn’t say your soul goes to sleep. If you’re saved, your soul goes to heaven but your body goes to sleep. In this verse it says “We shall not all sleep”. Not everyone is going to die. Some are going to live to the rapture and be raptured to heaven. That’s what Philippians 3:21 is all about. He says he is going to change our vile bodies. “We shall not all sleep but we shall all be changed.”.
Notice 1 Corinthians 15:51. The context is about the rapture. “52 In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump: for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed.”. Just like he says there in verse 51, just like he said in Philippians 3:21, he’s going to change our vile body and fashion it like unto his glorious body. We shall be changed. The dead shall be raised incorrupt. We shall be changed. Look at verse 53. “53 For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality. 54 So when this corruptible shall have put on incorruption, and this mortal shall have put on immortality, then shall be brought to pass the saying that is written, Death is swallowed up in victory. 55 O death, where is thy sting? O grave, where is thy victory? 56 The sting of death is sin; and the strength of sin is the law.”. Now that’s the context. The rapture, your glorified body.
Then he says this in verse 57 “57 But thanks be to God, which giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. 58 Therefore,…”. Therefore means for what reason. The fact of this corruptible will put on in corruption. The fact that this mortal will put on immortality. The fact that we shall not all sleep but we shall all be changed. The fact that he’s going to change our vile bodies into his glorious body. He says “58 Therefore, my beloved brethren, be ye stedfast, unmoveable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, forasmuch as ye know that your labour is not in vain in the Lord.”.
Here’s what he’s saying. Because of heavenly rewards, because you’re on your way to heaven, because you’re going to get a glorified body, because you’re going to get rewards in heaven, we should be motivated to stand fast. How do we earn rewards? It’s simple. Just don’t quit. Just stick with it. Just stand fast. Just get secure. Look, in the Christian life, there comes a point where people often quit. We are told that when someone joins a Church to make it part of their life, they’ll do it for about 3 years and then they quit. If they make it past the 3-year mark then they will make it do about 7 years. Then they’ll quit. If they make it past 7 years then usually they will stick with it for the rest of their lives. All I’m telling you is that in the Christian life, you have to decide that your success is not measured by days or weeks or months or years but by decades. We have to decide to stick in this thing. We have to decide to stay with it, to stand fast in the Lord. That’s how you earn rewards. That’s how you earn a crown. At the end of Paul’s life, he was able to say “7 I have fought a good fight, I have finished my course, I have kept the faith:”. He said that he didn’t quit. There were trials, persecutions, battles, enemies both within and without. But he stuck with it. What I’m telling you is that if you want to earn rewards in heaven, you have to make the decision that you are going to stand fast. You have to decide that you aren’t going to quit and you will stay with it.
Let me tell you something. The Christian life is sometimes exciting and sometimes not. People often think of all of these exciting things like big protests and the Red-Hot Preaching Conference. That is exciting. Mission Trips to the Philippines. I’ll be honest with you. Maybe I shouldn’t say this out loud. But as a Pastor, often those events are things that I dread rather than look forward to. People go to all of these events but then I dread the fact that they might then skip soulwinning or Church the next day. They go to a big Missions Trip in another part of the world but then won’t show up to give the gospel to their neighbor. I’m not against those events. The Missions Trips are great. The Red-Hot Preaching Conference is great. But let me tell you something. The Christian life is not a conference you do once a year. It’s not an event you do once a year. It is something we do day by day, every day. Week by week. If you want to earn that crown for being a soulwinning, show up every week faithfully. That’s how you win that crown. Just be faithful and stand fast and stick with it.
I love the big events. But one thing I’ve learned is that people go to the big events and then they get disappointed in the non-big events because it isn’t as exciting as it was supposed to be. Who told you that the Christian life is supposed to be this exciting event all the time? Sometimes we just do it because it is our duty. We do it because we love Jesus and we love people. When the crowds are not big, when the excitement is not high and it’s just another Saturday in Sacramento with smoke in the air, we show up for soulwinning. That’s how we earn rewards. We should just be excited to serve God. If the battle shows up then we should be ready. But when they aren’t there then just continue doing what you’re supposed to be doing. Just do the same thing we do every week. We stand fast for God. We stick with it. “Therefore, my brethren dearly beloved and longed for, my joy and crown, so stand fast in the Lord, my dearly beloved.
So how do we earn rewards? Number 1 – stand fast. Secondly, we go soulwinning. Philippians 4:2 “2 I beseech Euodias, and beseech Syntyche, that they be of the same mind in the Lord.”. Notice verse 3 “3 And I intreat thee also, true yokefellow, help those women which laboured with me in the gospel, with Clement also, and with other my fellowlabourers, whose names are in the book of life.”. Notice, the Apostle Paul talks about these individuals and specifically talks about these women who labored with him in the gospel. They are fellow laborers. They’re true yoke fellows. How do we earn rewards? By being faithful and standing fast and going soulwinning. By reaching people with the gospel.
Paul tells us that we should be excited that we will get a glorified body and crowns. What if the glory of your glorified body was dependent on soulwinning? Daniel 12:3 “3 And they that be wise shall shine as the brightness of the firmament; and they that turn many to righteousness as the stars for ever and ever.”. Remember “he that winneth souls is wise” according to Proverbs 11:30. Those that win souls or turn people to righteousness will shine as the stars for ever and ever. The word glory is often associated with light and it connects to the idea of our glorified bodies. Our glorified bodies are going to be powerful bodies like we talked about. You’ll be able to walk through walls and appear and disappear and fly and all those things. But one of the things that makes it as a glorified body is because it’s going to shine. The shine has to do with the glory. Here’s the thing, the brighter you are, the more glory that God is bestowing upon you. Heaven will not be like the USA with no child left behind. It won’t be where everyone gets a trophy even if you lose. In heaven, God will definitely exalt and reward some more than others.
Matthew 13:43 “43 Then shall the righteous shine forth as the sun in the kingdom of their Father. Who hath ears to hear, let him hear.”. What I believe the Bible is teaching that somehow God is going to quantify the amount of energy that you spent in your life reaching others with the gospel. I didn’t say how many you got saved. I think sometimes we make a big deal about these numbers of salvation. The Bible says that sometimes we plant, sometimes we water, sometimes we reap but God gives the increase. If you play a part in the role of soul winning then God’s going to reward you for the labor that you’ve done. But somehow God is going to quantify the amount of time and energy that you spent in trying to help people and reach them with the gospel of Christ. And that will be the amount that your body shines in heaven. For some people, people like the Apostle Paul are going to shine so bright that some people will need sunglasses to see him.
All I’m telling you is that when I get to heaven, I want to shine, I want a crown. We ought to run so that we may win the race that we are in. God is going to make it extremely clear those who served him and loved him and worked for him and did righteousness for him and those who didn’t. And he says they that be wise shall shine as a brightness of the firmament and they that turn many to righteousness as the stars forever and ever. Then shall the righteous shine forth. Your glorified body will be connected to your faithfulness, your energy, your work, the labor you put into reaching others with the gospel. Here’s the question I have for you. How are you doing at reaching people with the gospel? How faithful are you? If you say that you aren’t tracking your results, realize that God is tracking your results. Your glory will be dependent upon it. Not only should you stand fast but you should go. Why? Because your glory will depend on it.
But let me also say this. Your rejoicing will depend on it. Philippians 4:1 “Therefore, my brethren dearly beloved and longed for, my joy and crown, so stand fast in the Lord, my dearly beloved.”. Remember, Paul been talking to us this whole time about rejoicing. But now he is telling us that he wants us in earth to rejoice in something we have in heaven. When you get to heaven, you’re going to get a glorified body and get some crowns and here’s what you’re going to have to also understand is that your crowns and your glorified body are dependent upon how you live for God here on earth. It’s your conversation, your conduct, your behavior. But then he says “my joy and crown, so stand fast in the Lord, my dearly beloved.”.
The Apostle Paul tells them that they are his hope, joy and crown. That is something we can celebrate about heaven. In heaven we will be reunited with loved ones. Heaven is going to be a great reunion. It’s going to be a great reunion for those that have gone on before us that have passed away. The Bible says that as believers though we mourn, we do not mourn as those which have no hope. We have hope that we will be reunited one day. We will see them one day. We will embrace them one day. We will get to spend time with them. Now often when we think of heaven and reunions, we think of those that we love and I think that’s great. There’s nothing in the world wrong with that. The Bible says precious in the sight of the Lord is the death of his saints. The Bible says that we do not mourn as those which have no hope. We will one day be reunited with those that have gone on before us. We will see parents and grandparents and children that have gone on even before their parents. And we see all of those loved ones.
But let me tell you something. In heaven you will not only rejoice because of the reunion of those that you expect. Paul says you may actually also rejoice because of a reunion of those that you don’t expect. 1 Thessalonians 2:19 “19 For what is our hope, or joy, or crown of rejoicing? Are not even ye in the presence of our Lord Jesus Christ at his coming?”. Now let me tell you something. When the Bible talks about crowns, I believe they’re literal crowns. I mean the 4 elders had crowns that they took off their heads and cast them before Christ, cast them before the throne. I believe these are literal crowns that we’re going to get. But here Paul kind of makes an analogy. He says well what exactly is our hope? Hope is a word that’s often referred to with heaven. Hope is not used in the same way that you and I use it. When we use the word hope it’s more like I hope this happens. In the Bible hope is something I’m looking forward to. It’s secure. It’s going to happen. That’s my hope. It’s called the blessed hope. “19 For what is our hope, or joy, or crown of rejoicing? Are not even ye in the presence of our Lord Jesus Christ at his coming?”. Look at verse 20 “20 For ye are our glory and joy.
He’s teaching us how to rejoice in heaven. He says you’re rejoicing in heaven. Your rejoicing in heaven will be dependent upon your rewards which will be dependent upon your soul winning which will be dependent on your faithfulness. And then he says to the Philippians “my joy and crown”. He looks at the Philippian converts that he won and says they are his joy & crown. Here’s a question. What if aside from being with Christ, what if aside from being reunited with our loved ones, what if a great reward and reason to rejoice in heaven is people walking up to you? Because remember, we’re going to go through the judgment seat of Christ. That’s when we get our rewards right before the millennial reign. Then we’ll serve through the millennial reign with your crown ruling and reigning or with no crown serving. And then at the end of the millennial reign, the Bible says that there’s the resurrection of the dead. When God resurrects people out of hell and we have this great white throne judgment, the Bible says we’ll all be there. The Bible says that the books will be opened and that the dead will stand before the great white throne and they’ll be judged out of the book. They’ll be judged for their works because that’s what they wanted to be judged by. They’ll be found guilty. They’ll be thrown into the lake of fire. We will all witness that. We will all watch people who rejected Christ or who never had the opportunity to get saved because there wasn’t a soulwinning bringing them the gospel getting cast into hell.
What if one of the greatest opportunities to rejoice in heaven is somebody walking up to you and saying “You probably don’t remember me but you knocked on my door and gave me the gospel and I got saved. I didn’t go to church. I didn’t read the Bible. I didn’t do anything. You got my saved and I’m not in hell thanks to you.”. We will rejoice with those that we brought with us. Paul says he will get a crown of rejoicing. He was probably the greatest soulwinning other than the Lord Jesus Christ who ever lived. He says that they are his crown of rejoicing, those that he won to the Lord.
Here’s what I’m saying. If you get to heaven, you will have the opportunity and all of eternity to find the person that got you saved. Because if you’re saved, somebody got you saved. To find the person that got you saved and say thank you for giving me the gospel is going to be powerful. I’ll be able to walk up to my parents and specifically my dad who’s the one that led me through the sinner’s prayer. But of course both my parents raised me in a Christian home and I’ll be able to hug and embrace and say thank you for getting me saved. And I’ll have the opportunity to thank the person that got me saved. You will have the opportunity to thank the person that got you saved. But will anybody thank you? Have you taken time out of your schedule to win someone to the Lord?
Psalm 126:5 “5 They that sow in tears shall reap in joy. 6 He that goeth forth and weepeth, bearing precious seed, shall doubtless come again with rejoicing, bringing his sheaves with him.”. Why will they be rejoicing? Why will they have a crown of rejoicing? Because they took the time to preach the gospel. What I’m saying is that when I get to heaven, I want to thank Jesus for saving me. That’s why I want to earn crowns so I can return them to him. I want to thank those who made it possible for me to be saved. But I also want to be thanked. You say why would you want to be thanked? Because it shows that I did not live a life of selfishness. It shows that the gospel did not end with me. The Bible says if our gospel be hid it is hid to them that are lost. And I just wonder, how many people will walk up to you and say thank you. Thank you for serving. Thank you for standing fast. Thank you for being faithful. Thank you for soul winning. Thank you for knocking on my door and giving me the gospel when you didn’t have to. Because when they do, you’ll rejoice and I’ll rejoice in heaven.
Let’s pray.