reMEMber!                                    Issue 117
                                                                         4th Qtr., 2015
         Blessed are those who can 
          give without remembering 
       and receive without forgetting. 

 

 

 

 

New reMEMber Heading
 
  
  
The Stephanos
 
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In the Bible, we read of "crowns" being rewarded in Heaven to people who have faithfully served the Lord in their mortal life. There are different crowns for different accomplishments:

1. The Imperishable Crown (1 Cor. 9:24-25) for those who discipline their body like a runner training for a race in order to point people to Christ.

2. The Crown of Rejoicing (1 Thess. 2:19-20) for those who win people to Christ.

3. The Crown of Life or "Martyr's Crown" (Rev. 2:10) for those who suffer persecution unto death for Christ.

4. The Crown of Righteousness (2 Tim. 4:8) for those who love the Lord and anxiously look forward to His appearing.

5. The Crown of Glory (1 Peter 5:1-4) for pastors who faithfully feed the Lord's flock.

But have you ever wondered what those "crowns" actually are? Of course, we would certainly recognize that they must be something of great value. But what would be the point in receiving a crown made of gold and precious stones when even the streets will be paved with gold (Rev. 21:21) and the walls of the city will be built on foundations of 
precious jewels (Rev. 21:18-20)? These crowns must be something of far greater value than simply the intrinsic value of the materials from which they are made.

In the New Testament, two Greek words are used that are translated with the word "crown". One is the "Diadema" (diadem) which is the crown of royalty. It is "the kingly ornament for the head" (1).    Rev. 19:12 tells us that when our Lord Jesus returns to this earth as the "King of kings", He will be adorned with many of these royal crowns. What that will look like exactly, I don't know, but it will be befitting of His supreme position as the King of all kings. 



Like every aspect of His appearance, these crowns will radiate with such blinding glory that we will fall upon our faces in awe of His magnificence. But this is NOT the crown that will be awarded to faithful Christians.

The other word used for "crown" is "stephanos" which is the one used for rewarding Christian service and faithfulness. 



Unlike the diadem which was made of precious metals and adorned with jewels, in ancient times the stephanos was merely an olive branch woven into a circle to sit upon the head. The material from which it was made had no intrinsic value and yet, it was so desired by the Olympians that they worked for years in brutal training for the games, forcing their bodies with gut-wrenching pain to go beyond its physical limits time after time... and all of this in HOPES that they might receive the stephanos.

What made this crown so desired?  It was placed upon the head of the one who was victorious in the games... the WINNER. Its value was the great RECOGNITION that went with it. THIS is the crown with which faithful Christians will be rewarded and nothing in the entire universe will equal its value. To hear our Lord say, "Well done, thou good and faithful servant" as the stephanos is placed on one's head will be worth more than millions of tons of gold and mountains of precious jewels! The feeling of being honored before the angels and all humanity with such special recognition from our Lord is beyond description!
Whether we have the faithfulness to endure to the end of this life as a martyr or not, we cannot say until the moment we're faced with such persecution. But surely we can all earn the Crown of Righteousness as we love the Lord and anxiously await His appearing. And we most certainly should be eligible for the Crown of Rejoicing because we are winning people to Jesus Christ. Right? Of one kind or another, we will one day receive our own stephanos... Right? The sad news is that according to I Cor. 3, many Christians will reach Heaven after having lived their lives producing only works of "wood, hay, and stubble" and for such works, there will be no reward.

A great irony of the stephanos is seen in the life of the Apostle Paul. When the Apostle was still known as Saul, the zealous Pharisee, he was wholly committed to hunting down Christian men and women and having them beaten, jailed, and even killed as heretics. His slaughter of innocents put him in a class with many other such beasts mentioned in Scripture, like Herod the Great, Haman in the book of Esther, and the Egyptian Pharaoh of Moses' time.

 
We are first introduced to Saul in Acts 7:58 when as a young man, he held the coats of those who stoned Stephen to death for his Christian witness. Although the Scriptures do not say that Saul participated in the stone throwing, it says he was "consenting unto his death" (Acts 8:1) and because of his zealous hatred for Christians, we might suppose that he may have been instrumental in agitating the Jews to that critical point where they "cried with a loud voice, and stopped their ears, and ran upon him (Stephen) with one accord. And cast him out of the city, and stoned him:" (Acts 7:57-58)

But after Saul's miraculous conversion on the road to Damascus, he became even MORE committed to the Christian faith than he had been in trying to destroy it and spent the rest of his life trying to bring people to Christ. Many times, he suffered horrific persecution because of his faithfulness to preach the Gospel, including one time being stoned and left for dead (Acts 14:19). How ironic that he suffered stoning, beatings, imprisonment, and eventually even death for his Christian faith... the very same things that he inflicted upon the church in his younger years as Saul, the Pharisee.

And the irony of all ironies is found in the NAME of the first mentioned Christian martyr... Stephen.  

 
As Paul sat often suffering in prison, did he think about the name of that first Christian martyr to whose death he had consented? Did he visualize him over and over again as the stones pelted him and he cried out to God, "Lord, lay not this sin to their charge." (Acts 7:60) Were those memories burned into Paul's heart? Did he weep with joy at the thought of Stephenos (Stephen) receiving the "Martyr's Crown"... the Martyr's Stephanos? And did he realize that he would also receive that same honor some day?

Maybe you and I...
should we be so honored as to one day receive the stephanos, will be even more privileged to do as the 24 elders around the throne of God do... to lay our greatest possession (our stephanos) at the foot of God's throne (Rev. 4:10). 


An even greater honor than receiving the stephanos will be to place it at our Savior's feet as a sign of humble commitment to Him.

But first, we must live our mortal lives in a way that will earn us this great reward. So, if you are not doing it already, may 2016 be a great year of committed service to Christ... not for the sake of earning rewards in Heaven, but simply because we love our Lord Jesus so much. And as we serve Him, let us not forget that He commanded us...

Matt. 6:20 - ...lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust doth corrupt, and where thieves do not break through nor steal:

1   http://www.blbclassic.org/lang/lexicon/ lexicon.cfm?Strongs=G1238&t=KJV 

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Our   Upcoming   Schedule
Jan. 8-9  - Lighthouse Baptist Church at Tomball, TX;  Bro. Mike James, pastor.

Jan. 15-17  -  Helmer's St. Baptist Church in Houston, TX;  Bro. Jacob Mendoza, pastor.

Jan. 24  -  The Garden Baptist Church in Lafayette, LA;  Bro. Larry Langley, pastor.

Jan. 25-26  -  La. Baptist Evangelism Conference at FBC Lafayette, LA 

March 6  -  Little Cypress Baptist Church in Orange, TX;  Bro. David Turner, pastor.

March 8-19  -  Israel!!!

March 27-30  -  Occupy 1 Baptist Church in Pitken, LA;   Bro. Joey Whitener, pastor.

April 5-7  -  Zion Hill Christian Fellowship in New Iberia, LA;  Dr. Darren Sophus, pastor.

 

 

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2016 Holy Land Tour

 

"Walking Where Jesus Walked"

 

 

March 8-19, 2016

 

Flying out of Houston, TX

 

$4372 per person

 

NOW is the time to get registered for this "tour of a lifetime"!  Presently, we still have room for a few more tourists in our group, but we need to get you registered asap so we can be sure that we have your airplane seat guaranteed.

 

We are very excited about this tour.  The weather should be beautiful.  The food will be fantastic. The itinerary will be comprehensive.  The fellowship will be sweet.  And, the inspiration will be tremendous!  What a blessing it's going to be!  So, call us today to get registered.

 

337-725-6209 office

337-249-8303 Al's cell

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Would You Pray About Joining Our Ministry? 

  

Maranatha Evangelistic Ministries has a program for ministry partners. For a contribution of $20 a month, folks can join our "Maranatha Partners" team. We send a monthly update letter toour Maranatha Partners. And, from time to time, to show our appreciation, we will provide CDs, books, and other materials to help in your personal Bible study. Will you pray and ask the Lord if you should be a part of this work of preaching about the soon return of our Lord Jesus?