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In this message we shall cover further aspects of the overcomers in the church. We shall see that the overcomers will reign with Christ and be priests of God and Christ in the millennium, that they will inherit the kingdom of Christ and of God to enter the manifestation of the kingdom of the heavens, and that they will be glorified with Christ.
In the coming kingdom the overcoming believers will reign with Christ. Revelation 20:4b says, “They lived and reigned with Christ a thousand years.” Verse 6b tells us, “They shall be priests of God and of Christ and shall reign with Him a thousand years.” Furthermore, in 2 Timothy 2:12a Paul says, “If we endure, we shall also reign with Him.” These verses indicate that in the coming manifestation of the kingdom the overcoming believers will reign with Christ as His co-kings and that they will be priests of God and of Christ.
Some today teach that all the believers will be kings and priests in the millennium. This teaching is not accurate. During the millennium only the overcoming Christians, not all the believers, will be kings and priests. Those who will reign with Christ in the millennial kingdom are those who live in the reality of the kingdom today. Then, in the coming age, they will be in the manifestation of the kingdom.
As the co-kings with Christ, the overcomers will be crowned with a number of crowns. These crowns include the crown of righteousness, the unfading crown of glory, the crown of life, and an incorruptible crown.
In 2 Timothy 4:8 Paul says, “There is laid up for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will award to me in that day; and not only to me, but also to all those who have loved His appearing.” The crown is a symbol of glory given as a prize, in addition to the Lord’s salvation, to the triumphant runner of the race (1 Cor. 9:25). This prize is neither of grace nor by faith as salvation is (Eph. 2:5, 8-9); rather, this prize is of righteousness through works (Matt. 16:27; Rev. 22:12; 2 Cor. 5:10). Such a reward will be awarded to the believers not according to the grace of the Lord, but according to His righteousness. Hence, it is a crown of righteousness. The One who awards it is the Lord as the righteous Judge, not as the merciful God or the gracious Redeemer. Paul was assured that such a prize was reserved, laid up, for him and would be awarded to him at the day of the Lord’s second appearing.
Paul says that such an award will be given to all who love the Lord’s appearing. The Lord’s appearing, His coming back, is a warning, an encouragement, and an incentive to us. We should love it and look forward to it with earnest expectation and joy.
First Peter 5:4 says, “When the Chief Shepherd is manifested, you will receive the unfading crown of glory.” At Peter’s time, crowns were given to victors in athletic games and warfare (1 Cor. 9:25; 2 Tim. 4:8). Those were corruptible crowns, whose glory faded. The crown given by the Lord to the overcomers will be a reward to them. The glory of this crown will never fade. It will be a portion of the glory for the overcomers’ enjoyment in the manifestation of the kingdom of God and Christ (2 Pet. 1:11).
In Revelation 2:10b the Lord Jesus says, “Be faithful unto death, and I will give you the crown of life.” A crown in New Testament usage always denotes a prize in addition to salvation. The crown of life as a prize to those who are faithful unto death in overcoming persecution denotes the overcoming strength which is the power of the resurrection life (Phil. 3:10); it also signifies that these overcomers have attained to “the out-resurrection from among the dead,” that is, the outstanding resurrection (Phil. 3:11).
In 1 Corinthians 9:25 Paul says, “Everyone who contends exercises self-control in all things; those, therefore, that they may receive a corruptible crown, but we an incorruptible.” The incorruptible crown, which the Lord will award His overcoming saints who win the race, is a reward in addition to salvation. As believers, we have all received His salvation through faith in Him. This has been settled once for all. But whether we shall be rewarded by Him depends on how we run the race. Here in 1 Corinthians 9 the apostle is running the course. In Philippians, one of his last Epistles, he was still running (Phil. 3:14). It was not until the last moment of his running, in 2 Timothy 4:6-8, that Paul had the assurance that he would be rewarded by the Lord at His appearing. With this prize in view, the apostle charged the believers to run the race so that they might obtain the reward.
In Revelation 3:21 the Lord Jesus says, “He who overcomes, to him I will give to sit with Me on My throne, as I also overcame and sat down with My Father on His throne.” To sit with the Lord on His throne will be a prize to the overcomer that he may participate in the Lord’s authority in the coming millennial kingdom. This means that the overcomers will be co-kings with Christ ruling over the whole earth.
A verse that we should consider in relation to Revelation 3:21 is Matthew 19:28. Here the Lord Jesus says, “Truly I say to you that you who have followed Me, in the regeneration, when the Son of Man shall sit on the throne of His glory, you also shall sit on twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel.” The regeneration is the restoration of the coming kingdom age (Acts 3:21) after the Lord’s second coming. In the coming kingdom, the overcomers will sit on thrones to reign over the earth (Rev. 20:4). The first twelve apostles, including Peter, will judge the twelve tribes of Israel, while the others will rule over the nations (Rev. 2:26).
In the coming manifestation of the kingdom of the heavens, the overcomers will rule, have authority over, the nations and shepherd them. In Revelation 2:26 and 27 the Lord Jesus says, “He who overcomes, and he who keeps My works until the end, to him I will give authority over the nations, and he will shepherd them with an iron rod, as vessels of pottery are broken in pieces, as I also have received from My Father.” This is a prize to the overcomers of reigning with Christ over the nations in the millennial kingdom. This promise of the Lord strongly implies that those who do not answer His call to the overcomers will not participate in the reign of the millennial kingdom. In Psalm 2:9 God gave Christ authority to rule over the nations. In the coming kingdom Christ will give the same authority to the overcomers.
Revelation 12:5 tells us that the man-child “was about to shepherd all the nations with an iron rod.” In the millennial kingdom the ruler will be a shepherd. The iron rod in this verse is the authority of Christ which He gives the overcomers. The overcomers will exercise the authority of Christ over the nations and rule them with Christ in the millennial kingdom.
In the Lord’s teaching about faithfulness in Luke 19:11-27, He indicates that the overcomers will rule over the nations. Verse 17 says, “Well done, good slave; because you became faithful in the least, have authority over ten cities.” In verse 19 He says, “And you, be over five cities.” Having authority over ten cities or five cities signifies the overcomers’ reigning over the nations. Furthermore, these verses indicate that the overcoming believers’ reigning in the coming kingdom as a reward will differ in extent.
In Matthew 25:21 and 23 the Lord says to the overcomer, “I will set you over many things.” “Over” signifies the ruling authority in the coming kingdom, and “many things” signify the responsibilities in the coming kingdom.
In Matthew 25 the Lord Jesus twice says, “Enter into the joy of your lord” (vv. 21b, 23b). “The joy of your lord” signifies the enjoyment of the Lord in the coming kingdom. When the Lord Jesus comes back, that will be the time for Him to enjoy the earth. Satan will be bound, Christ will recover the earth, and the entire earth will be under His reign. By repossessing the earth, the Lord will have His enjoyment. Then He will invite His followers, His partners, to participate in this enjoyment, to enter into His joy.
The overcomers will be crowned, sit with Christ on His throne, have authority over the nations and shepherd them, and also participate in the joy of the Lord. On the one hand, they will be seated with Christ on His throne to have authority over the nations; on the other hand, they will enter into the joy of the Lord. Entering into the Lord’s joy is greater than being crowned and having authority over the nations. The joy of the Lord will be the greatest thing in the millennium.
In Ephesians 5:5b Paul speaks of a believer’s “inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and of God.” The kingdom of Christ is the millennium (Rev. 20:4, 6; Matt. 16:28); it is also the kingdom of God (Matt. 13:41, 43). The believers have been regenerated into the kingdom of God (John 3:5) and in the church life they are living in the kingdom of God today (Rom. 14:17). However, not all believers will participate in the millennium; only the overcoming believers will. The defeated believers will have no inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and of God in the coming age.
The term “the kingdom of Christ and of God” refers not to the kingdom today in the church life but to the manifestation of the kingdom in the coming millennium. The millennium will be a kingdom in a way that is more practical than what we are experiencing in the church today. Only in the millennium will the kingdom of Christ also become the kingdom of God. Today all believers are in the kingdom of God but not all of them will have an inheritance in the coming millennial kingdom. Both the defeated ones and the overcoming ones may be in the church as the kingdom of God, but only the overcomers will inherit the kingdom during the millennium.
In 1 Corinthians 6:10b Paul speaks of inheriting the kingdom of God. The word “inherit” here implies enjoyment. To inherit a certain thing is to enjoy that thing. Hence, to inherit the coming kingdom means to enjoy the kingdom. The coming kingdom will be a joyful inheritance to the overcomers. According to Matthew, the manifestation of the kingdom will be a reward to the overcoming saints as their enjoyment with the Lord. To inherit the kingdom is not just to enter the kingdom; it is to receive the kingdom as a reward for our enjoyment. This should be an incentive for us to live an overcoming life. By living an overcoming life today we shall be qualified to inherit the coming kingdom as a reward.
In Galatians 5:21 Paul, referring to the works of the flesh, says, “Those who practice such things shall not inherit the kingdom of God.” The inheritance of the kingdom of God refers to the enjoyment of the coming kingdom as a reward to the overcoming believers. It is not related to a believer’s salvation. Those believers who practice the works of the flesh listed in Galatians 5 will not inherit the coming kingdom as a reward.
Second Peter 1:11 says, “So shall be richly and bountifully supplied to you the entrance into the eternal kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.” The bountiful supply we enjoy in the development of the divine life and divine nature will bountifully supply us a rich entrance into the eternal kingdom of our Lord. It will enable and qualify us to enter into the coming kingdom with all the riches of the divine life and divine nature as our excellent virtues unto the splendid glory of God.
The eternal kingdom in 2 Peter 1:11 refers to the kingdom of God given to our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ (Dan. 7:13-14), which will be manifested at His coming back (Luke 19:11-12). It will be a reward to His faithful believers who pursue the growth in His life unto maturity and the development of the virtues of His nature, so that they may participate, in the millennium, in His kingship in God’s glory (2 Tim. 2:12; Rev. 20:4, 6). To enter thus into the eternal kingdom of the Lord is related to the entrance into God’s eternal glory, to which He has called us in Christ (1 Pet. 5:10; 1 Thes. 2:12).
The overcomers will inherit the kingdom of Christ and of God to enter the manifestation of the kingdom of the heavens (Matt. 5:20; 7:21; 2 Tim. 4:18). With the kingdom of the heavens there are three aspects: the reality, the appearance, and the manifestation. The reality of the kingdom of the heavens is the inward contents of the kingdom of the heavens in its heavenly and spiritual nature, as revealed in Matthew 5 — 7. The appearance of the kingdom of the heavens is the outward state of the kingdom of the heavens in name, as revealed in Matthew 13. The manifestation of the kingdom of the heavens will be the practical coming of the kingdom of the heavens in power, as revealed by the Lord Jesus in Matthew 24 and 25. Both the reality and the appearance of the kingdom of the heavens are with the church today. The manifestation of the kingdom of the heavens will begin with the coming back of the Lord Jesus. When the Lord comes back, the kingdom of the heavens will be manifested. Whereas the appearance of the kingdom of the heavens includes all of the false believers, only the victorious, overcoming believers are in the reality of the kingdom of the heavens. After the Lord Jesus comes back, these overcoming believers will participate in the manifestation of the kingdom of the heavens.
The overcomers will also be glorified with Christ. Romans 8:17b says, “If indeed we suffer with Him that we may also be glorified with Him.” Glory is the expression of God. Christ, the hope of glory (Col. 1:27), has been sown into us as the seed of glory and this seed will grow until it reaches the stage of blossoming, at which time the glory will come out. For God to glorify us means that the glory which has been sown into us saturates our whole being and is expressed through us. When our entire being has been permeated and saturated with the element of glory, that glory will come out of us. This is what it means for the believers to be glorified.
The believers’ glorification will not be an accident. Rather, their glorification will be the issue of their maturity in life. First, we are regenerated, and then we are gradually transformed through the growth of the divine life within us. As the divine life grows within us, it saturates us with the divine element, and this element changes us metabolically. This metabolic change is what the New Testament calls transformation. Glorification is the issue of transformation, and transformation is accomplished by the gradual and continuous growth in life. One day, when we reach our maturity, we shall be glorified and thereby brought into the full expression of the Triune God.
In Romans 8:17 Paul points out that if we suffer with Christ, we shall also be glorified with Him. Although we should not say that without suffering we shall not be glorified, it is certain that the degree of our suffering determines the degree of our glory. The more suffering we pass through, the more our glory will be intensified, for suffering increases the intensity of our glory. We want to be glorified, but we may not want to experience suffering. However, suffering increases glory. Eventually, we all shall shine and be glorified, but the intensity of our glory will depend on the amount of suffering we are willing to take. Realizing this, Paul went on to say in Romans 8:18, “For I reckon that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the coming glory to be revealed to us.” The present suffering means nothing compared with the coming glory.
