Crown of Righteousness

14th February, 2010 (CNY Service)

Written By Rev Law Hui Seng

Posted By Teresa Han

2Tim 4:1-8

Main Idea: The eternal reward of Crown of Righteousness
Objectives: a. To learn from Paul to persevere till the end of his life in his faith b. To learn from Paul to pursue crown of righteousness.

A. Introduction
- For Chinese New Year, for Chinese, we always desire blessings during festive season like this. Most of these blessings are concentrated on good health, career success, success in our children’s education, success in business, harmony at home and with colleagues, etc.
- And lots of people make a lot of sense out of the year of tiger. For those who are born in the year of tiger, the writings say what they must do to be blessed. For those who are not born in the year of tiger, the writings also say how they can be blessed if they live accordingly.
- For us, Christians and disciples of Jesus, as long as we love Jesus and people, the presence of God is with us, we are blessed.
- But for Christians, and disciples like you and me, we have one blessing to pursue on earth that will decide whether we get it or not when we see Jesus in heaven. This blessing is called the Crown of Righteousness in the New Testament. It is something that Apostle Paul pursued very much on earth.

B. See what Apostle Paul gets at the end of his ministry and life.
- When Apostle Paul wrote 2Timothy, he was imprisoned in Rome again under Emperor Nero in between AD 66 to AD 67. In 2Tim 1:16, he said he was in chain like a common criminal.
- One of the reasons he wrote the letter to Timothy was to show his concern about the welfare of the churches during the time of persecution under Nero. He admonishes Timothy to guard the gospel (1:13, 14), to persevere in it (3:14), to keep on preaching it (4:2) and, if necessary, to suffer for it (1:8; 2:3).
- Let us see what parting words he said to Timothy, his disciple at the end of his life. From verses 1 to 5, you can see how focused he was on Christ. In fact, from verse 1, you see that he charged Timothy that in view of Christ, who will judge the living and the dead, his appearing and his kingdom, Timothy must move on to preach the gospel against all odds, keep the truth and be an evangelist who discharges all the duties of his ministry.
- Paul knew he was going to die soon, so he wrote in verse 6, “For I am already being poured out like a drink offering, and the time has come for my departure.” Paul sees his approaching death as the pouring out of his life as an offering to Christ.
- As he looks over his 30 years of ministry as an apostle, he likened himself to be an athelete who had engaged successfully in a contest, who fought the good fight, finished the race and the most important of all, he kept the faith, in verse 7. There is something significant here. As an athelete, it takes a long process of tough training to prepare for the race. Paul was in the race, he prepared and trained well. He was in the tough race of preaching the gospel and making disciples. He persevered and never gave up on Christ’s calling for him despite persecutions. He persevered in not only believing the faith of salvation in Christ, but also defending it and preaching it and most important of all, making disciples with it. I find that the last part is the most challenging. That is one very important reason why he wrote so many letters, he wanted to make disciples among his converts.
- Whatever he said and did, became Timothy’s example and it becomes our example to follow even until today.
- With all his focus in Christ, with all his efforts put in for Christ, in making disciples, now, he awaits with certainty, for the crown of righteousness, which Christ, the righteous judge will give him.
- Now, I am very excited about what Paul said in verse 8, he was telling us that there is eternal reward of crown of righteousness which Jesus is going to give us if we can persevere in keeping our faith like Paul. After working so hard for Christ in keeping the faith, Paul said he was going to get the crown; and not only himself, but also for those who long for his appearing. It means those who are faithful to Christ and persevere to see Him.
- Paul uses the metaphor of a wreath (the crown) given to the winner in a race. The crown of righteousness could refer to: (1). A crown given as a reward for a righteous life; (2). A crown consisting of righteousness. (3). A crown given righteously by a righteous judge.
- Paul expects Jesus to give him crown of righteousness at the end of his life. Do you expect Jesus to do so? Those who do not do so, that means you are not even prepared to put in efforts like Paul in order to gain the crown of righteousness. Those who do so, you would like your life’s priorities to be changed and pursue things on earth of eternal significance. It matters to you whether you obey Jesus or not.

C. Applications.
- a. In view of the future rewards of the crown of righteousness, your attitudes towards ministry; towards Jesus, must be very different now. You have to recognize and realize that at the end of the day, when you face Jesus at His judgement throne, He will decide whether you get the crown of righteousness or not. You have to reexamine your life how much you obey Jesus in your life; how much your life has made a difference in others’ life for Jesus; how much you introduce Jesus to others.
- b. In view of the future crown of righteousness reward, you must now be an expert in investing your life on earth. Everybody has a life span on earth; your seasons on earth, etc. Your time is very limited on earth, in view of the future reward of crown of righteousness, you need to see how best to use your time. One thing you cannot afford to use your precious time to sin against God, Jesus. For example, do not use your time to hate someone; harbour grudges against someone; to sin against God by watching pornography; to get angry with your wife, your husband, your children, your colleagues, etc. If I were you, by all means love the people around you, no matter how tough it is, pray for the Holy Spirit to empower you to do it.

- Just Stay

A nurse took the tired, anxious serviceman to the bedside. "Your son is here," she said to the old man.She had to repeat the words several times before the patient's eyes opened. Heavily sedated because of the pain of his heart attack, he dimly saw the young uniformed Marine standing outside the oxygen tent. He reached out his hand. The Marine wrapped his toughened fingers around the old man's limp ones, squeezing a message of love and encouragement.

The nurse brought a chair so that the Marine could sit beside the bed.All through the night the young Marine sat there in the poorly lighted ward, holding the old man's hand and offering him words of love and strength. Occasionally, the nurse suggested that the Marine move away and rest awhile.

He refused. Whenever the nurse came into the ward, the Marine was oblivious of her and of the night noises of the hospital - the clanking of the oxygen tank, the laughter of the night staff members exchanging greetings, the cries and moans of the other patients. Now and then she heard him say a few gentle words. The dying man said nothing, only held tightly to his son all through the night.

Along towards dawn, the old man died. The Marine released the now lifeless hand he had been holding and went to tell the nurse. While she did what she had to do, he waited.

Finally, she returned. She started to offer words of sympathy, but the Marine interrupted her.

"Who was that man?" he asked.

The nurse was startled, "He was your father," she answered.

"No, he wasn't," the Marine replied. "I never saw him before in my life." "Then why didn't you say something when I took you to him?"

"I knew right away there had been a mistake, But I also knew he needed his son, and his Son just wasn't here.

When I realized that he was too sick to tell

Whether or not I was his son,

Knowing how much he needed me, I stayed."

I came here tonight to Find a Mr. William Grey.

His Son was Killed in Iraq

Today, and I was sent to Inform him. What was this Gentleman's Name? The Nurse with Tears in Her Eyes Answered, Mr. William Grey.............

The next time someone needs you ... Just be there. Stay.
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D. Conclusion: Are you heading for the crown of righteousness?