THRONE WORTHINESS

THRONE power is one of the great rewards of the faithful servant, and comparatively few attain this honour. There are many great ones of the Church who will be accounted small indeed when brought before the judgment seat of Christ. There are those, according to the statement of our Lord Himself, who are first among their fellows on earth, who will be last when the assizes of the Son of Man will have pronounced judgment upon them.

But there is a group occupying the most outstanding official position that both heaven and earth can offer. What are the qualifications for such outstanding rank? It is begging the question to say that their places have been given them through grace, and it is also contrary to the teaching of Scripture. The Book of Revelation takes particular pains to point out that it is "he that overcometh" that is the recipient of divine favour. Throne worthiness is the only guarantee for throne possession. And those who prove themselves worthy are not necessarily great preachers or clever expositors or even great soul-winners. They are those who have put into practice the lessons of holiness the Spirit has set in the Word of God, and have heeded with earnest care the applications of these to their hearts by His constant inward monitions. They have done justly, and loved mercy, and walked humbly with their God. They have paid more attention to the subduing of their own lusts than the attaining of a reputation for holiness. They have learned the meaning of perfect love toward God and man, and have been, as with unveiled face they reflected the glory of the Lord, transformed into the same image, from glory to glory, even as by the Lord the Spirit.

The Emperor Napoleon, to emphasise the fact that it was possible in his service to rise from the lowest rank to the highest, made the epigrammatic remark that - every private soldier carried a field marshal's baton in his knapsack." And so the Almighty, as He sets forth the glories of the age to come and the surpassing magnificence of the eternal city, in which have been centred all the hopes of the ages as they ran their course, broadcasts to the race a similar announcement :-"He that overcometh shall inherit all things" - a promise of joint heirship with His overcoming Son.

There is no believer in Christ to whom the highest honours of heaven are not open. But, sad to say, the number is small who give themselves to the quest, and seek first (in time and importance) the Kingdom of God and His righteousness. Nor is this due entirely to spiritual sloth nor to the claims of the world, and of the flesh. The Theology of the majority of pulpits teaches that all things are received in Christ, and fails utterly to insist on the need of "giving all diligence" in order to lay hold upon those graces and virtues which will never become the property of the saint without spiritual striving. - The Alliance Weekly.