The reign of Christ part 1: the role of the saints Revelation 20v4-6
"And I saw thrones, and they sat on them, and judgment was given unto them: and I saw the souls of them that were beheaded for the witness of Jesus, and for the word of God, and which had not worshipped the beast, neither his image, neither had received his mark upon their forehead, or in their hands; and they lived and reigned with Christ a thousand years."
The way the Holy Spirit puts these together is just wonderful. In verses 1-3. we have one who sought the highest exalted position in the universe, and has now become a powerless nonentity; in verses 4-6 we have those who have humbled themselves before God, have accepted Christ as their Saviour, taking upon them the fellowship of His sufferings even unto death, and these have been given exalted positions by God. The ones who exalted themselves are humbled, those who abased themselves are exalted; this is always the way in the sight of God. What we have here is the setting up of the divine kingdom on earth. John says "I saw thrones and they sat upon them ......." there is no mention here of who they are, or what the thrones are, or what they do in the new kingdom. It is simply stated as a fact, and, perhaps the reason is that God wants us to search His word to find the details that fit into this statement. Who are these people? and what are these thrones? and what will they be doing? We now look to the scriptures to illuminate our mind.
- Daniel 7v26-27 - "But the judgment shall sit, and they shall take away his dominion, (the kingdom of the beast) to consume and to destroy it unto the end. And the kingdom and dominion, and the greatness of the kingdom under the whole heaven, shall be given to the people of the saints of the most high, whose kingdom is an everlasting kingdom, and all dominions shall serve and obey Him." This can only refer to the Old Testament saints who will rule with Christ in the coming kingdom.
- Matthew 25v34 - "Then shall the king say unto them on His right hand, come ye blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world." Thus the saints who are alive at the end of the tribulation period will also reign with Christ.
- Luke 22v28-30 - "Ye are they which have continued with Me in My temptations. And I appoint unto you a kingdom, as My Father hath appointed unto Me; that ye may eat and drink at My table in My kingdom, and sit on thrones judging the twelve tribes of Israel." Thus the twelve apostles will sit on thrones in the kingdom.
- The next eight scripture references all refer to the role of the church in the millennium.
Romans 8v17-18 - "If children, then heirs; heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ; if so be that we suffer with Him, that we may be also glorified together." 1st Corinthians 6v2 - "Do ye not know that the saints shall judge the world?.....know ye not that we shall judge angels?" Ephesians 1v11-14 - "In whom also we have obtained an inheritance being predestinated according to the purpose of Him who worketh all things after the counsel of His own will. ...ye were sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise which is the earnest of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession." 2nd Timothy 2v12 - If we suffer, we shall also reign with Him..." Revelation 2v26-27; Revelation 4v4, twenty four elders sitting on twenty four thrones.
- Revelation 20v4 - This refers to the martyred dead during the tribulation.
Thus we have the panoramic view of the new kingdom and its administration. It will involve Old Testament saints, the apostles, the church, the living saints from the tribulation, and the dead saints from the tribulation. Individually and collectively they will have different roles in accordance with the scale of reward decided by the Lord himself. This will be a vast administration and will exalt human beings to a level that they could only dream of; all this simply because they trusted in Christ. The saved of all ages of time will be involved to a greater or lesser degree in the glorious kingdom.
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