Note:  Today's daily encouragement message (and the previous seven) are developed from a study I prepared for our Crossroads Adult Bible Fellowship on Sunday, November 17 based on teaching from 2 Timothy 4:1-8. This is the final message from that study.

Message summary: Today we will consider what is stored up for us in heaven: "the crown of righteousness".

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"Henceforth there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will award to me on that day, and not only to me but also to all who have loved His appearing" (2 Timothy 4:8).

Yesterday in our church service the last song we sang together was the majestic hymn, "Crown Him With Many Crowns". The theme of our service was about persecuted Christians, a condition Paul was enduring as he wrote our daily text as he is coming to the end of his life. The song calls us to worship in light of eternity, for "Thy praise shall never, never fail throughout eternity".

Today's message concludes our study of 2 Timothy 4:1-8 with a tremendous assurance Paul had of a most certain reward, "Henceforth there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, will award to me on that day".

In the previous verses he candidly states, "the time of my departure is near" and testifies, "I have fought the good fight, I have finished my course, I have kept the faith" (2 Timothy 4:6,7). What a peace-filled resolve these words reveal for a man soon to face a martyr's death. We pray for grace that we might also face our inevitable death in such a way.

Paul continues, "Henceforth there is laid up for me". He looked forward to what was in store for him in heaven. Perhaps he was alluding to the words of our Lord, "But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moths and vermin do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal" (Matthew 6:20).

Since his miraculous conversion on the Damascus Road Paul had given his life in service for the Lord Jesus Christ. He had been storing up treasures in heaven during the some 30 years that had passed and he had faithfully stayed the course, though he was beaten, imprisoned, persecuted, shipwrecked, at times perplexed, and dealt with an unspecified "thorn in the flesh".

What was specifically laid up for Paul was "the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will award to me on that day". We don't know much about this "crown of righteousness" but it was a crown that he looked forward to receiving! It would be awarded to him much like an award's ceremony in an athletic competition, though this divinely sponsored event will be a much, much bigger deal since it has far more lasting eternal value.

Consider the confidence and peace in his words, even as he faced amost certain and extremely painful martyr's death as part of his sufferings for Christ. Earlier in this very letter he had expressed his assurance, "I am not ashamed, for I know whom I have believed and am persuaded that He is able to keep what I have committed to Him until that Day" (2 Timothy 1:12).

But there's something else in the verse that especially speaks to me and I pray that it speaks to you as well: "And not only to me". Just five little words, but words that speak volumes to those who also strive to stay on course with Christ in this ever-increasing wicked age, most especially those undergoing persecution.

Paul gives us tremendous incentive in writing these five words. Let's cling to it today. This crown is not for Paul exclusively nor does he go on to say "and for you also Timothy", to whom he was writing.

No, instead he informs us that this crown of righteousness is stored up for, "all who have loved His appearing". This is a promise spanning the church age and is applicable to those of us reading with Paul's belief in a future he would not see right down to our own day and beyond. Paul looked earnestly for that day when he would see the Lord and often expressed it in his writings. The healthy outlook for the believer is to "love" or "long for" His appearing which should be our greatest longing as well. Let's keep our focus on that today as we faithfully serve Christ and steadfastly wait for "that Day"!

Be encouraged today, Hebrews 3:13

Daily prayer: Father, help us to remember in the course of this day, when so much of our work and planning is intended for this life only, that we must also fix our eyes on the life yet to come. May that which we say, think and do reflect kingdom principles that store up treasures for us in our heavenly kingdom even while we serve here below. We anxiously await that day when we receive the crown of righteousness reserved for those who have fought the good fight, finished the race, remained true to the faith, and whose greatest longing is for the glorious appearing of Christ. Amen.

CS Lewis wrote, "If you read history you will find that the Christians who did the most for the present world were those who thought most of the next. The apostles themselves... the great men who built up the Middle Ages, the English evangelicals who abolished the slave trade, all left their mark on earth, precisely because their minds were occupied with heaven. It is since Christians have largely ceased to think of the other world that they have become so ineffective in this. Aim at heaven and you will get earth 'thrown in.'"

The New Testament mentions eight crowns and here's my homiletic attempt to identify them: