My Joy and Crown

      

Dr. Schofield was a brilliant young doctor at Oxford. He gave his life to Jesus and at the age of 29 he went to China as a missionary. He was the first Protestant missionary allowed to penetrate into the interior of China. There was nothing glamorous about missionary life there. Disease was common and he would later die from typhus contracted in his mission field.

Dr. Schofield looked at the Shansi province in which he lived, with its nine million unsaved heathen Chinese and only six missionaries. He thought about the sleeping Church back in England. At the time, few in England were interested in the China mission. This should have made him pack up his bags and go home in utter defeat. However, Dr. Schofield was a man of prayer.

Night after night, leaving behind food and leisure, he got on his knees and prayed. He prayed that God would raise up Bible teachers and shepherds, especially from the universities and send them to China as missionaries. When Dr. Schofield died, he did not physically see much answer to his prayer. It was not answered in his lifetime, but God was working in such a way as not only to answer one man's prayer but to awaken an entire nation from its spiritual slumber.

At the time of Dr. Schofield's death two little bands of workers with fifty converts, in two widely separated stations, had been the only Christians among nine millions of heathen. In 1885, eighteen months after his death, God had prepared a band of seven young men to go to china in answer to Dr. Schofield's prayers. Two of them were from great careers and five from Cambridge University, one the most prestigious universities in the world.

These young men were full of strength and vigor. That a mission so little known, poor and with methods so distasteful to the natural mind, should have attracted these men, may be a great surprise to many. But, to those who remembered Dr. Schofield's prayers there was less wonder in the harvest reaped. In 1893, ten years after his death, there were more than seventy missionaries working in seventeen stations in Shansi province.

In Philippians 4:1 Paul wrote to the Philippians “Therefore, my brothers and sisters, you whom I love and long for, my joy and crown, stand firm in the Lord in this way. Paul loved them and longed for a face to face fellowship with them. Paul was in prison yet every time he remembered them he was filled with joy. He told them “I thank my God for every remembrance of you, always in every one of my prayers for all of you, praying with joy” (Phil 1:3).

There was reason for this love and longing- they were a source of joy and wreath of honor to him. He affectionately refers to them as “you whom I love and long for, my joy and crown”. He had been instrumental in their salvation and spiritual growth which was now visible to those around them. They were in a real sense his joy, such sweet-tasting fruit from his investment.

Paul is writing this letter from prison to his disciples. If he would have just loved Jesus and kept it to himself, no one would have put him in prison.  He was in prison because of his obedience to the Great Commission “go and make disciples of all nations … teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you” (Matt.28:19-20). He had made disciples at Philippi and they were a source of great joy to him.

Disciple- making is a long process; it starts from conversion through maturity to multiplication.  It’s a costly thing and the devil fights it viciously. He does everything possible to curtail it or completely stop it. There are sacrifices to make and serious oppositions to face. Discipleship means not just sharing the gospel, but sharing our own selves.

Paul told the Thessalonians that “we cared for you. Because we loved you so much, we were delighted to share with you not only the gospel of God but our lives as well” (1 Thess. 2:8). He told the Corinthians that “I will very gladly spend and be spent for your souls” (2 Cor. 12:15). Discipleship is a time-consuming process and the results are not immediate.  But with patience it’s amazing what kind of harvest one can reap.

God richly rewards and also laces disciple-making with remarkable joy which makes all the costs worth it. Paul told the Thessalonians, “For who is our hope or joy or crown of exultation? Is it not even you, in the presence of our Lord Jesus at His coming? For you are our glory and joy” (1Thess. 2:19-20). The apostle John writes, “I have no greater joy than to hear that my children are walking in the truth” (3 John 4).

The Philippians were not only a source of joy to Paul, they were also his crown. He uses the word that described the crown given to an athlete who had won the race. There is a tremendous reward in heaven waiting for those who win souls for Christ. The angel Gabriel said to Daniel, " Those who are wise shall shine like the brightness of the firmament, and those who turn many to righteousness like the stars forever and ever"(Dan. 12:3).

The superstars of this world soon become shooting stars. The short-lived trails of light they emit quickly fade away and they are forgotten. Their amazing records are eventually broken or they grow too old and retire. However, in Daniel 12:3 the Bible talks about stars whose light will never grow dim or fade. Those who win souls for Christ and teach them to do all that God commands are true stars that will shine forever and ever.

In 1 Corinthians 15:41-42 Paul uses a similar analogy to describe the resurrection bodies in heaven. He say “the sun has one kind of splendor, the moon another and the stars another; and star differs from star in splendor. So will it be with the resurrection of the dead.” The resurrected bodies will have different degrees of glory. Some will shine brightly like the sun; others will only shine with little light like a star.

Those who make it to heaven will be rewarded for the works that will pass the bonfire test (1 Cor. 3:12-15).  Crowns will be given for the work done on earth. Crowns are not simply things to wear on the head. They are capacities to enjoy life in heaven. Everyone will have joy in heaven but the intensity will be different. Those with better crowns and brighter light will have a higher capacity to enjoy life in heaven.

The Philippians saints who have made it to heaven will be a source of joy for. He told them to hold “forth the word of life; that I may rejoice in the day of Christ, that I have not run in vain, neither labored in vain”. They will be his crown, testifying to the authenticity of His ministry and the efficacy of the gospel. Your reward in heaven will be greatly increased by those that you led to Christ, those you taught and encouraged in the ways of God.

In Philippians chapter 3 Paul had cautioned them that there are bad examples in the church who are caught up in the things of this world. He instructed them not to fall into that trap because their citizenship is in heaven and Jesus was coming soon to take them home. He told them “therefore my brothers…that is how you should stand firm in the Lord”. 

We live out our faith every moment in a hostile environment. The devil is fighting against us at every moment; the world with its intricate system of allurements and enticements appeal to our fleshly nature every day. We can only stand firm by keeping these heavenly realities in mind. The call to 'stand firm' is one of the commands in Scripture that are repeated many times.

The call to stand firm refers to a soldier staying faithfully at his post no matter what happens around him. Paul constantly repeats this command in his epistles. He knew that we would be sorely tempted to leave our post when the bullets start whizzing by our heads. In Ephesians he says “"Put on the full armor of God, so that you will be able to stand firm against the schemes of the devil… you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand" (Eph 6:11,13).

In Corinthians he says “stand firm. Let nothing move you. Always give yourselves fully to the work of the Lord, because you know that your labor in the Lord is not in vain” (1Cor. 15:58). Be on your guard; stand firm in the faith; be courageous; be strong (1 Cor.16:13). Peter echoed the same words “Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour. Resist him, standing firm in the faith (1Pet. 5:8-9).

There is a great battle swirling around us all the time, and our response to that must be stability. And in order to do that, we need Gods help. Paul told the Colossians that “Epaphras who is one of you, a servant of Christ Jesus… is always wrestling in prayer for you, that you may stand firm in all the will of God, mature and fully assured (Col 4:12). We can only stand fast when we are in the Lord; any other place is not a secure place to stand.

Great shepherds, what kind of feeling floods your heart whenever you think about your flock?  When you stand before them every Sunday do you see in them your “joy and crown”? Those who trust in the Lord are like Mount Zion which cannot be moved, but abides forever" (Ps.125:1). If you are a Christian, trust in the Lord fully and you will stand until the end. Are you called to intercede for others like Epaphras? There is a reason why his name appears in God’s great book.