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In this message we shall cover the remaining aspects of the overcomers in the church.
In Matthew 19:29 the Lord Jesus speaks of inheriting eternal life. The overcomers will inherit eternal life in the millennium. To inherit eternal life is to be rewarded in the coming age with the enjoyment of the divine life in the manifestation of the kingdom of the heavens. Certain believers who have received eternal life enjoy it to some extent; however, they do not enjoy it to the proper extent. As a result, when the Lord Jesus comes back at the time of the manifestation of the kingdom, they will miss the enjoyment of the millennial kingdom. To miss the enjoyment of the divine life in the coming kingdom is to miss the enjoyment of eternal life during that dispensation.
When the overcoming believers participate in the coming kingdom, they will inherit eternal life and thereby have a fuller enjoyment of the divine life. In the manifestation of the kingdom, the overcoming believers will participate in the enjoyment of eternal life with the Lord Jesus. In the church life today we are enjoying the divine life, the eternal life, but this enjoyment is not in full. In the manifestation of the kingdom of the heavens, the overcomers will enjoy the eternal life in a fuller way. The overcomers, therefore, will be the first group of believers to enjoy eternal life in full.
For the overcomers to inherit eternal life in the millennium is to have their names remain in the book of life. In Revelation 3:5 the Lord Jesus says, “He who overcomes, he shall be clothed in white garments, and I will by no means erase his name out of the book of life, and I will confess his name before My Father and before His angels.” The name being erased out of the book of life indicates that the name was already written in the book of life. The book of life is a divine record of the names of those who partake of the blessings God has prepared for them. The names of all the saints chosen by God and predestinated to partake of these blessings are written in this book (Luke 10:20). These blessings are in three stages: the church, the millennial kingdom, and eternity. The blessings in the stage of the church, such as forgiveness, redemption, regeneration, eternal life, and the divine nature, are all the initial portions. All God’s chosen ones whose names are written in the book of life have a share in these initial portions to begin their spiritual life. If they cooperate with God’s supplying grace, they will mature in life in the church age, and this earlier maturity in life will constitute a prize with which the Lord will reward them at His coming back. However, those who do not mature in life in the church age will not be ready at the Lord’s coming back to enter into the millennial kingdom and share in the divine blessing of that age as a prize. Therefore, during the millennial kingdom their names will be erased from the book of life. After being disciplined by the Lord and growing in life unto maturity during the millennial kingdom, they will share in the divine blessings in the stage of eternity. Then their names should be written in the book of life again. This means that all God’s chosen ones whose names are written in the book of life and who have been brought into the participation of the divine blessings in the stage of the church shall “by no means perish to the age” (John 10:28, lit.), that is, they shall by no means lose the divine blessing of eternity. But some, who will not cooperate with the Lord in the church age, will be dispensationally disciplined by the Lord during the millennial kingdom and will miss the divine blessings in that stage. However, the names of those who have lived an overcoming life in the church age will remain in the book of life during the coming age of the kingdom.
Since the overcomers will inherit eternal life in the millennium, they will not be hurt of the second death. In Revelation 2:11 the Lord Jesus says, “He who overcomes shall by no means be hurt of the second death.” Due to the fall and the entering in of sin, every man must die once (Heb. 9:27). This first death, however, is not the final settlement. All the dead will be resurrected and pass through the judgment of the great white throne at the close of the millennium, that is, at the conclusion of the old heaven and the old earth, except those who through faith in the Lord Jesus have been recorded in the book of life. As a result of this judgment, they will all be cast into the lake of fire, which is the second death as the final settlement (Rev. 20:11-15). Hence, the second death is God’s dealing with man after man’s death and resurrection. Because the overcomers have overcome death through their faithfulness unto death under persecution and have left nothing requiring further dealing by God after their resurrection, they will be rewarded with the crown of life and will not be touched, or hurt, any more by the death after resurrection, which is the second death.
For the overcomers to inherit eternal life in the millennium also means that they will eat of the tree of life in the paradise of God — the New Jerusalem. Revelation 2:7b says, “To him who overcomes, to him I will give to eat of the tree of life, which is in the paradise of God.” Here the paradise of God is the New Jerusalem, of which the church is a foretaste today. Strictly speaking, to eat of the tree of life in the paradise of God refers to the particular enjoyment of Christ as our life supply in the New Jerusalem in the coming millennial kingdom, because this is a promise of reward made by the Lord to His overcomers. The enjoyment of Christ as the tree of life in the New Jerusalem in the new heaven and the new earth will be the common portion of all God’s redeemed people, whereas the particular enjoyment of Him as the tree of life in the New Jerusalem in the coming millennial kingdom will be a reward only to the overcoming believers. If we overcome all the distractions in the church’s degradation to enjoy Christ as the tree of life in the church today, we shall be rewarded with the eating of the tree of life in the paradise of God in the coming age. This will also be a fuller enjoyment of the eternal life.
The overcomers will shine forth as the sun in the kingdom of their Father. Matthew 13:43a says, “Then the righteous shall shine forth as the sun in the kingdom of their Father.” Daniel 12:3 speaks of the same thing. “They that be wise shall shine as the brightness of the firmament; and they that turn many to righteousness, as the stars for ever and ever.” Today the believers shine as lamps, but in the coming age the overcomers will shine as the sun.
Those who will shine as the sun are the sons of the kingdom (Matt. 13:38) as the righteous. According to Matthew 5:20, these sons of the kingdom will have the surpassing righteousness. They will be righteous to such an extent that their entire being will shine. This righteousness is the indwelling Christ lived out of us so that we may live in the reality of the kingdom today and enter into its manifestation in the future.
The overcomers as the righteous, the sons of the kingdom, will shine forth as the sun in the kingdom of their Father, the heavenly part of the millennium. We are sons of God the Father, and God is light (1 John 1:5; 1 Tim. 6:16). The divine light, which is God Himself, is, of course, much greater than the light of the sun. When in the millennium the overcoming believers enjoy the Father as light, they will shine forth as the sun in the kingdom of their Father.
In the coming age the overcomers will participate in the feast of the kingdom of the heavens. Matthew 8:11 indicates that the overcoming believers will feast with Old Testament overcomers. In this verse the Lord Jesus says, “I say to you that many shall come from the east and the west and shall recline at the table with Abraham and Isaac and Jacob in the kingdom of the heavens.” This refers to the manifestation of the kingdom of the heavens. It will be in the manifestation of the kingdom that the overcoming believers in Christ will feast with the Old Testament overcomers including Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.
As the overcomers participate in the feast of the kingdom of the heavens, they will drink the cup of the new covenant anew with their Lord. In Matthew 26:29 the Lord Jesus says, “I will by no means drink henceforth of this fruit of the vine until that day when I drink it new with you in the kingdom of My Father.” This word was spoken when the Lord was establishing the table (Matt. 26:26-30). By speaking this word, He made it clear that from the time He established the table He would be physically away from the believers and not drink the fruit of the vine with them until He drinks it anew with them in the Father’s kingdom. After His coming back, the Lord will drink the cup of the new covenant anew with the overcoming believers. Therefore, the Lord’s promise in Matthew 26:29 will be fulfilled with the overcomers in the kingdom of the Father during the manifestation of the kingdom of the heavens.
The overcomers will enjoy the reward. In Matthew 5:11 and 12 the Lord Jesus says, “Blessed are you when they reproach and persecute you, and say every evil thing against you, lying, for My sake. Rejoice and be glad, for your reward is great in the heavens; for thus they persecuted the prophets before you.” This reward is great and is in the heavens, a heavenly reward, not an earthly one.
In Matthew 16:27 the Lord Jesus says, “The Son of Man is about to come in the glory of His Father with His angels, and then He will reward each man according to his doings.” The context indicates that the Lord’s rewarding of His followers at His coming back in this verse will be according to whether they lose or save their soul, as mentioned in verses 25 and 26. This means that the reward will be given according to how we have borne the cross. It will depend on whether or not we keep ourselves under the killing of the cross, on whether we save our soul life in this age or lose it. If we bear the cross to follow the Lord by losing the enjoyment of our soul in this age, He will reward us with the enjoyment of the soul in the kingdom.
In 16:27 the Lord says that He will reward “each man according to his doings,” that is, according to whether or not we lose our soul life’s enjoyment in this age. This will have nothing to do with our eternal salvation; however, it will have very much to do with the Lord’s dispensational reward to us. The Lord’s reward will be the entering into the kingdom, which will be at the manifestation of the kingdom. The manifestation of the kingdom in the millennium will be the reward to the followers who remain under the killing of the cross. All the believers who follow Christ in this way will be rewarded with the manifestation of the kingdom.
Luke 14:14 says, “You will be blessed, because they do not have anything with which to repay you; for it will be repaid to you in the resurrection of the righteous.” This resurrection is the resurrection of life (John 5:29; Rev. 20:4-6), when God will reward the saints (Rev. 11:18) at the Lord’s return (1 Cor. 4:5).
In order to receive the reward in the coming age, we need to enjoy Christ faithfully in this age. Many saved ones are not faithful to enjoy Christ today. For this reason, God has set up a reward as an incentive so that we may enjoy Christ faithfully in this present age. If we do not enjoy Christ faithfully today, we shall lose the enjoyment of Christ in the coming age. Here we see that in His wisdom God has made the enjoyment of Christ in the coming age a reward for the faithful ones, the ones who enjoy Christ faithfully in this age. There are no terms, no conditions, for enjoying Christ in this age. As long as we believe in Him, accepting God’s invitation, we may enjoy Christ today. Nevertheless, we need to enjoy Him faithfully in order to receive the reward in the coming age of the kingdom. Otherwise, we shall lose the enjoyment of Christ in the coming age.
Revelation 11:18b tells us, “The time came for the dead to be judged, and the time to give the reward to Your slaves the prophets, and to the saints.” The reward will be given by the Lord to His faithful ones at His coming back (Rev. 22:12; Matt. 16:27). The purpose of the judgment of the prophets and the saints will be to determine who among the saved persons will be worthy of a reward and who will need further discipline. The giving of the reward to the prophets and to the saints will occur after the resurrection and rapture of the saints.
In Revelation 22:12 the Lord Jesus says, “Behold, I come quickly, and My reward is with Me to render to each one according to his work.” “I come quickly” is the Lord’s repeated warning (vv. 7, 20) that we may consider His reward at His coming back. The Greek word translated “reward” in 22:12 means wages. At the Lord’s coming, this reward will be rendered to each one of the believers, after their rapture, at the judgment seat of Christ.
Second Corinthians 5:10 says, “We must all be manifested before the judgment seat of Christ, that each one may be recompensed for the things done through the body, according to what he has practiced, whether good or bad.” The judgment seat of Christ is where Christ will judge His believers at His coming back, not concerning their eternal salvation but concerning their dispensational reward (1 Cor. 4:4-5; 3:13-15). Alford points out that “recompense” is a technical word for receiving wages. While we are still at home in the body, we should do things through it to please the Lord, that we may be rewarded for them by the Lord at His coming.
Hebrews 10:35 says, “Do not cast away therefore your boldness, which has great reward.” The reward spoken of here is the kingdom reward because it will be given to us for our enjoyment in the coming kingdom, not in this age. Today in the church life the kingdom is an exercise. If we are faithful in the kingdom exercise today, we shall be rewarded with the kingdom as an enjoyment in the coming age. Then it will be the kingdom reward.
The kingdom reward is in addition to eternal salvation (Heb. 5:9). Based on Christ’s eternal redemption (Heb. 9:12), eternal salvation has been given to us freely and eternally according to God’s eternal selection of us. This is eternally secure. However, after receiving this salvation, how we would behave ourselves is a problem. Hence, according to God’s wisdom, in addition to this eternal salvation, a reward is promised as an incentive to us that we may be faithful in our living by the Lord and in our working for Him.
Eternal salvation is by faith, having nothing to do with our work (Eph. 2:8-9), whereas the kingdom reward is for our work after we are saved. We may not receive the kingdom reward even though we are saved, because we are void of the work which the Lord would approve (1 Cor. 3:15). In Hebrews 10:35 the Hebrew believers in particular are charged not to miss the kingdom reward — the coming Sabbath rest (Heb. 4:9), the enjoyment of Christ and the reign with Christ in the coming age.
Hebrews 11:26, speaking of Moses, says, “Esteeming the reproach of the Christ greater riches than the treasures of Egypt, for he looked away to the reward.” Because he was willing to suffer the reproach of the Christ, Moses will receive the reward of the kingdom. He was not allowed to enter into the rest of the good land because of his failure at Meribah (Num. 20:12-13; Deut. 4:26-27; 32:50-52), but he will be with Christ in the kingdom (Matt. 16:28 — 17:3). By referring to this, the writer surely intended to encourage his readers who were suffering persecution for Christ’s sake to follow Moses by esteeming the reproach of the Christ greater riches than the things they lost, and looking away to the reward.
In 1 Corinthians 3:8b, Paul tells us, “Each one shall receive his own reward according to his own labor.” Then in verse 14, concerning building upon Christ as the unique foundation, Paul goes on to say, “If anyone’s work which he has built upon it shall remain, he shall receive a reward.” According to the context, the work that remains must be that of gold, silver, and precious stones, the product of faithful ministers of Christ. Such a work will be rewarded by the coming and judging Lord. Reward is based on a believer’s work after being saved. It differs from salvation, which is based on faith in the Lord Jesus and His redemptive work. In 1 Corinthians 9:17 Paul, speaking of preaching the gospel, says, “If I do this voluntarily, I have a reward.” The book of 1 Corinthians was written not to help lost sinners to be saved but to help saved believers to grow (3:6-7), to build with precious materials (3:10,12-14), to care for the Lord’s members (8:9-13), and to run the race (9:24). For this reason, reward is mentioned repeatedly as an incentive to the believers’ progress (3:14; 9:18, 24-25).
In 1 Corinthians 9:24 Paul goes on to say, “Do you not know that those who run in a race-course all run, but one receives the prize? So run, that you may lay hold.” This reveals that the Christian life is a race we must run successfully in order to receive the prize. This prize is a reward as an incentive.
Finally, the overcomers in the church will be the New Jerusalem — the paradise — in the millennium. This is indicated by the Lord’s word in Revelation 3:12 and 2:7. Revelation 3:12 says, “He who overcomes, I will make him a pillar in the temple of My God, and he shall by no means go out anymore, and I will write upon him the name of My God and the name of the city of My God, the New Jerusalem, which descends out of heaven from My God, and My new name.” Here we see that the overcomer will be made a pillar built into the temple of God. Because he is built into God’s building, “He shall by no means go out anymore.” This promise will be fulfilled in the millennial kingdom as a prize to the overcomer.
The name of God, the name of the New Jerusalem, and the Lord’s new name written upon the overcomer indicate that the overcomer is possessed by God, by the New Jerusalem, and by the Lord; that God Himself, His city, the New Jerusalem, and the Lord Himself all belong to him; and that he is one with God, with the New Jerusalem and with the Lord. The name of God means God Himself, the name of the New Jerusalem means the city itself and the name of the Lord means the Lord Himself. To write the name of God, the name of the New Jerusalem, and the name of the Lord upon the overcomer indicates that what God is, the nature of the New Jerusalem, and the person of the Lord have all been wrought into the overcomer. The mentioning of the New Jerusalem as a prize to the overcomer indicates that this promise will be fulfilled in the millennial kingdom. The New Jerusalem in the millennial kingdom will be a prize only to the overcoming saints, whereas the New Jerusalem in the new heaven and new earth will be the common portion of all the redeemed for eternity.
Revelation 2:7 speaks of the paradise of God. The paradise in Luke 23:43 is the pleasant and restful place where Abraham and all the dead saints are (Luke 16:23-26). But the paradise of God in Revelation 2:7 is the New Jerusalem (3:12; 21:2, 10; 22:1-2, 14, 19), of which the church is a foretaste today. The overcomers in the church will actually be the New Jerusalem — the paradise of God — in the millennium, for in the coming age the New Jerusalem will be a composition of all the overcomers to be the paradise of God.
