OVERCOMERS
"He that overcometh, I will give to him to sit down with me in my
throne". (Rev. 3: 21).
AS all depends on the meaning of the words - ‘He that overcometh’, it may help those who are unaware of
this truth, or have hitherto doubted it, to hear some competent scholars on
‘overcoming’.*
[* “We do well to remember that the consciousness of what is at
stake - conditional enthronement - provides an incentive of
extraordinary power, while the ordinary teaching - that the worst backslider
will share the Throne of Christ - robs every believer of this tremendous
urge.” (D. M. Panton.)]
D. M. PANTON:-
“As
the Eternal Glory of Christ, the glory He had with the Father before the world
was, He inherits as the Son of God, while His
Millennial Glory rests on His perfect obedience as man, so our
Eternal glory rests solely on our being sons of God, while our
Millennial glory can be achieved only
by our obedience as servants.”
“Our
Lord’s overcoming, being perfect, achieves a reward that is unique; no one, man or angel, shares with Him the
throne of God. ‘I will give to him [the overcomer] to sit down with Me
in My throne, as I also
overcame, and sat down with my Father in His throne.’ Our Lord won the
LANGE:-
“The
exhortation at the close of all the seven epistles to overcome denotes
the victory of a steadfast life of faith over temptations and trials, and over all adverse things in general”.
Professor H. B. SWETE:-
“The
Only Begotten Son imparts to His brethren, in so far as their sonship has ever
confirmed by victory, His own power over the nations.”
Dr. HORATIUS BONAR:-
“He
speaks to the overcomers. Though the gifts are not wages, yet they depend on our winning a
battle. They are something beyond mere salvation”.
Professor MOSES STUART:-
“This
enthronement will be granted to all who prove to be victors in the contest with
the world, the flesh and the devil”.
STEIR:-
“Assuredly
it is the
“The
harvest is composed of those for whom Christ has overcome, the firstfruits are
those in whom and through whom He
has overcome, as well as having overcome for them.”
A. CHAMPION:-
“The
Apostle Paul had no doubt about his place in the main body, for his testimony
is clear, ‘I know Whom I have believed and am persuaded that He is able to
keep that which I have committed unto Him against that day’ (2 Tim. 1: 12). When, however, he was writing to the
Philippians (chapter 3.) he told them that there was one thing
he was seeking above all else, ‘the prize of the upward calling of God in Christ Jesus,’ that he might by any means attain to the
out-resurrection from among the dead. He was sure of having a place in
the general harvest, but not sure, as yet, of being one of the firstfruits as an overcomer.
If
Peter, James, John, and Andrew needed the warnings given them by our Lord to ‘Take heed’ to ‘watch and
pray’ (Mark 13: 3, 5, 9, 23, 33), and ‘be ye also ready’ (Matt. 24: 44),
it is clear that something more is wanted of us than faith in Christ
for [eternal] salvation
if we would be ripe enough for the firstfruits. The teaching that everyone who
believes is ready for the Coming of the Lord is a deadly narcotic. No wonder
the Church is asleep!
If, on
the other hand, we see that, being saved, there is yet a prize to be won which is worth the counting of all else as
refuse, then we find in it a powerful stimulant to a holy
and victorious life in union with our coming Lord.”
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MILLENNIAL RULERS - OVERCOMERS - THRONES
MILLENNIAL RULERS
Dr. James
Black, in his drastic criticisms of Millennial truth (Edingburgh
Record, Jan., 1925), lays his finger - as other unfriendly critics have
done before him - on a weak spot in current teaching on the Kingdom of God. “These martyrs (and it is only the martyrs,
remember!),” he says, commenting on Rev. 20: 4, “rise and join Him, reigning with Him a thousand years. The only people mentioned as ‘reigning with
Christ’ are the martyers: if you are going to be
literal, there is no ground whatever in this passage for all the elaborate
doctrine of the Pre-Millennarians, who picture Christ
and all His Christian people ruling this world for a thousand years.”
OVERCOMERS
It is
a fact that many of the sub-apostolic Church so understood the Apostle. Moreover, it is true that the extraordinary
emphasis laid on the Martyrs should have warned the Church that co-royalty
with Christ in the Age to Come - as distinct from the Eternal Kingdom beyond -
is by no means so comprehensive of all the redeemed as has been supposed.
But it is also true that such critics overlook the first division
of the fourfold thrones:- (1) overcomers, "I saw thrones, and
the sitters upon them"; (2) Christian martyrs; (3) Old Testament martyrs; and (4) martyrs under Antichrist. The first
group, overcomers not necessarily martyred, are thus defined by our Lord: -
"He that overcometh, and he that keepeth
my works unto the end, to him will I give authority over
the nations; and he shall rule them with a rod of iron." (Rev. 2: 26).
THRONES
“How shining a goal!" ‘ And I saw thrones.’ Thrones!
Not one, but many; not the great white throne, standing in solitude,
with no other throne near it; but a great multitude of thrones, co-equal
thrones: not one sceptre, but millions of scepters; not
wielded in independent authority, but rather in associated domination: there is
union amongst this confederation of heavenly kings.” (A. A. REES.)
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