SEVEN CROWNS OF THE OVERCOMER
SEVEN CROWNS OF THE OVERCOMER
Preached by: Pastor Carolyn
Sissom
Sunday Evening Service
November 14, 2010
The Holy Bible
describes over thirty crowns. This study
is about the seven crowns of the overcomer.
Crown means victory,
reward, and honor. Those Christians who
are faithful to the end will be given these crowns:
- Incorruptible Crown: 1 Cor. 9:25: “And
every man that strives for the mastery is temperate in all things. Now they do it to obtain a corruptible
crown; but we an incorruptible.” (1 Cor. 15: 54-57) “So when this
corruptible shall have put on incorruption, and this mortal shall have put
on immortality, and then shall be brought to pass the saying that is
written, Death is swallowed up in victory.”
- Crown of Rejoicing: 1 Thess.
2:19: “For what is our hope, or joy, or crown of rejoicing? Are not even you in the presence of our
Lord Jesus Christ at his coming?
For you are our glory and joy.
- Crown of Righteousness: 11
Timothy 4:8: “Hereafter 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 to all them also that love His appearing.”
- Crown of Life: James 1:12: “Blessed
is the man that endures temptation: for when he is tried, he shall receive
the Crown of Life, which the Lord has promised to them that love Him.
(Rev. 2:10) “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 ten days; be you faithful
to death, and I will give a crown of life.”
- Crown of Glory: 1 Peter 5:1-4: “The elders who 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 shall appear, you shall receive a crown
of glory that fades not away.” (Isa. 28:5) “In that day shall the Lord of
hosts be for a crown of glory, and for a diadem of beauty, to the residue
of His people.”
Jesus was crowned by
the world system with a crown of thorns. (Mt. 27:29) “And when they had platted a
crown of thorns, they put it upon His head, and a reed in His right hand; and
they bowed the knee before Him, and mocked Him, saying, Hail, King of the
Jews!”
Then he was exalted
and crowned by the heavenly Father with glory and honor.
- Crown of Honor: Hebrews 2:9: “But we see Jesus, who was
made a little lower than the angels for the suffering of death, crowned
with glory and honor; that He by the grace of God should taste death for
every man. For it became Him, for
whom are all things, and by whom are all things, in bringing many sons to
glory to make the captain of their salvation perfect through sufferings.
- Golden
Crown: Rev. 14:14: “And I looked
and behold a white cloud, and upon the cloud one sat like to the Son of
man, having on His head a golden crown, and in His hand a sharp
sickle. And another angel came out
of the temple, crying with a loud voice to Him that sat on the cloud, Thrust in Your sickle, and
reap: for the time is come for You to reap; for the harvest of the earth
is ripe.”
To Jesus is given all
crowns of Victory, Reward, Honor and Glory:
Rev. 19:12: “And His eyes were as
a flame of fire, and on His head were many crowns; and He had a name written,
that no man knew, but He Himself.”
Jesus has given us the victory.
(Isa. 98: 1-3) “O sing to the Lord
a new song: for He has done marvelous things:
His right hand, and His holy arm, has gotten Him the victory. The Lord has made known His salvation: His righteousness has He openly shown in the
sight of the heathen. He has remembered
His mercy and His truth toward the house of
In Moses’ Tabernacle, the crowns of gold on the Ark of the Covenant,
the table of showbread, and the altar of incense (Ex. 25:11, 24-25; 30: 3-4)
reveal Jesus as the head of the Church, the Bread of Life, and the interceding
High Priest, respectively (Jn. 6:48; Eph. 1: 20-23; Heb. 7:25). The golden plate on the high priest’s MITRE
was a crown of the grace of humility. (Ex. 29:6; 39:30).
Jesus’ blood has washed away our sins qualifying us to enter the
race---the Christian walk. We cannot
even enter the race until we have received the redemption of the Blood.
A crown was special headgear used to symbolize a person’s high status
and authority. The wreath of leaves
awarded to the winner of an athletic competition in the Grecian games was also
called a crown. The Greek word is stephanos (Strong’s #4735) which means
“to twine or wreathe; a chaplet (as a badge of royalty, a prize in the public
games or a symbol of honor generally.”
It means “that which surrounds, “from stepho (to encircle). Stephen, whose name means “crown”, was
honored to be the early Church’s first martyr (Acts 7). The Lord stood up to receive him.
The Church, the Bride of Christ, is like the virtuous woman who is a
crown to her husband (Prov. 12:4) “A virtuous woman is a crown to her husband;
but she that makes ashamed is as rottenness in his bones.”(Prov. 31: 10-31)(
Eph. 5: 31-32) “For we are members of His body, of His flesh, and of His
bones. For this cause shall a man leave his father and mother, and
shall be joined to his wife, and they
two shall be one flesh. This is a great mystery; but I speak concerning Christ
and the church. Nevertheless let every
one of you in particular so love his wife even as himself; and the wife see
that she reverence her husband.”
The prophet Zechariah foresaw the Church. “They shall be as the stones of a crown,
lifted up as an ensign upon His land”.
(Zech. 9:16b) “And the Lord their
God shall save them in that day as the flock of His people: for they shall be as the stones of a crown,
lifted up as an ensign upon His land.”
“This is the victory that
overcomes the world, even our faith”. (1 Jn. 5:4b)
There is a crown of the wise. (Prov. 14:24) “The crown of the wise is their riches; but the foolishness of fools is
folly.” (Prov. 17:6) Children’s children are the crown of old men.” (Prov.
14:18) “The simple inherit folly; but the prudent are crowned with knowledge.” There is the soul winner’s crown.
These crowns can be taken from us and lost.
Rev. 3: 10-12: “Because you have kept the word of My patience, I also will
keep you from the hour of temptation, which shall come upon the entire world,
to try them that dwell upon the earth.
Behold, I come quickly; hold that fast which you have, that no man take your crown. Him that overcomes
will I make a pillar in the temple of My God, and he shall go no more out; and
I will write upon him the name of My God, and the name of the City of My God,
which is New Jerusalem, which comes down out of heaven from My God; and I will
write upon him My new name.”
Rev. 3: 14-22: “And to the angel of the church of the
Laodiceans write; These things says the Amen, the faithful and true witness,
the beginning of the creation of God. I
know you work, that you are neither cold nor hot; I would you were cold or
hot. So then because you are luke-warm,
and neither cold nor hot, I will spew you out of My mouth. Because you say, I am rich and increased with
goods, and have need of nothing; and know not that you are wretched, and
miserable, and poor, and blind, and naked:
I counsel you to buy of Me gold tried in the fire; that you may be rich;
with white raiment; that you may be clothed, and that the shame of your
nakedness does not appear; and anoint your eyes with eye salve, that you may
see. As many as I love, I rebuke and
chasten: be zealous therefore, and repent.
Behold, I stand at the door, and knock: if any man hear My voice, and
open the door, I will come in to him, and will sup with him, and he with
Me. To him that overcomes will I grant to sit with Me in My throne, even as I also overcame, and am set down with My Father in
His throne. He that has an ear let him
hear what the Spirit says to the churches.”
This is a first fruits company of overcoming
sons who shall pioneer into the unseen realm of the Spirit and press beyond the
Veil into immortality and life.
How do
we lose our crown? How can it be taken
from us? The scripture says,
“temptation”. That means we can
backslide, sin (disobedience), be distracted,
and fall from Grace. Then if our
crown can be taken from us, I would think that could mean we follow after men
rather than the leading of the Holy Spirit.
It could mean those who fail to answer their calling or permit another
(out of their covetness) to usurp our ministry from us. It could mean that we are not willing to pay
the cost to answer our calling. It is
those who miss God.
Rev. 4:10: “The 24 elders fall down before Him that sat
on the throne, and worship Him that lives for ever and ever, and cast their
crowns before the throne, saying, You are worthy, O Lord, to receive glory and
honor and power; for You have created all things, and for Your pleasure they
are and were created.”
Van Tanner – The Seven Thunders of God:
“… Every time we see the elders fall down, we have surrendered our will
to Him. This brings more lightning and
thundering to continue His sanctifying work in us. The process goes on and on until we are in
the fullness, or we decide to stop pressing forward because we think the cost
is too great. Some will be distracted
and not reach the fullness. Rev. 8:5
adds earthquakes to the thundering and lightnings; and Rev. 11:19 adds
earthquakes and hail. This shows that
God is going to continue to motivate us onward, trying not to let us stop. If we do stop, it is an act of disobedience.”
Ps. 103:4 ‘Bless the Lord, O my soul; and all that is within me, bless His holy
name…Who redeems your life from destruction; who crowns you with loving kindness
and tender mercies.”
Lord I pray for your crown of Grace, Kindness
and tender mercies to help all of us “stay-the-course”.
Preached by:
Pastor Carolyn Sissom
Sunday Evening Service, Nov. 14, 2010
Scripture from K.J.V. Text from Understanding Types, Shadows, and Names by: Kelley Varner; The Seven Thunders of God by: Van Tanner; Comments and conclusions are my own and not meant to reflect the views of those from whom I have gleaned.
30 Crowns listed in Dake's Annotated Reference Bible:
1. Of the ark (Ex. 25: 11-25).
2. Of high priest (Ex. 29:6; 39:30)
3. Of golden altar (Ex. 30: 3-4; 37:26)
4. Of table of showbread (Ex. 37: 10-16)
5. Of anointing oil (Lev. 21:12)
6. Of the head (Dt. 33:20; 2 Sam. 14:25)
7. Of kings (2 Sam 1:10; 12:30; 2 Ki. 11:12;
8. Of queens (Esther 1:11; 2:17)
9. Of glory (Prov. 4:9; 16:31; Isa. 28:5; 1 Pet. 5:4)
10.0f man (Pr. 12:4)
11. Of the wise (Pr. 14:24)
12. Of old men (Pr. 17:8)
13. Of royalty (Esther 2:17; 6:8)
14. Of pride (Isa. 28: 1, 3
15. Of thorns (Mt. 27:29)
16. Of corruption (1 Cor. 9:25)
17. Of the soul winner (Phil. 4:1)
18. Of righteousness (2 Tim. 4:8)
19. Of life (James 1:12; Rev. 2:10)
20. Of Sun Clothed woman (Rev. 12:1)
21. Of Christ (Rev. 14:14; 19:12)
22. Of glory and honor (Psa. 8:5; Heb. 2:7)
23. Of knowledge (Pr. 14:18)
24. Of the year (Ps., 65.11)
25. Of loving kindness (Ps. 103:4)
26. Of Sabeans (Ez. 23:42)
27. Of elders (Rev. 4:4, 10)
28. Of demons (Rev. 9:7)
29. Of Satan (Rev. 12:3)
30. Of Antichrist (Rev. 6:2; 12: