Revelation 2:8-11; 3:7-13 — Are you gaining an incorruptible crown?
Twice the Lord gives credit to the church at Philadelphia for keeping His Word. They were well on their way to gaining an incorruptible crown!
Many people despise God’s Word by holding it in total disregard. They do not respect it, they do not read it, they do not want anything to do with it. They know they despise His law and they don’t care. Others despise God’s Word by having an improper legalistic view of it. They see it as a rule book to be enforced in their lives and the lives of others. Their primary concern is for the specifics of the law, not its Spirit. In their legalistic approach to the Word, they trivialize it by not loving it.
Many Christians sincerely love the Word of the Lord. They treasure it. They live by it as best they know. They live joyfully in the assurance that they are striving to live in obedience. They also keep on searching the Scriptures, asking God for further knowledge of His will so that they might walk in that also.
Which of those are you?
The believers in Philadelphia were to hang on tight to the good they had so that no one would take their crown. What crown might that be talking about? See what you think of these possibilities:
- crown of righteousness (2 Timothy 4:8)
- crown of life (James 1:12; Revelation 2:10)
- crown of glory (1 Peter 5:4)
(I excerpted the above from material I submitted for the CLE Bible 800 Teacher Guide)
