Reigning With Christ

by Paterson, J. A. | Category: The Kingdom Of God: | Nov 1957

In coming to this important subject, we come face to face with our blessed Lord Jesus Christ in all the fulness of His authority and power, and the perfection of His regality; whose Majesty outvies all other monarchs for He is King of kings, and His authority exceeds all others for He is Lord of lords.

When He shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of archangel, and with the trump of God, to present His own before the face of His Father, it will be a time of great rejoicing, and as His ascension was followed by an investiture to high office far above all heavenly principalities and powers, so also there will be the rewarding of His servants at the judgement- seat of Christ. There are differences in Scripture between that which flows out unto us freely by His grace, and the rewards that are given for faithfulness. To be saved and to reign are not synonymous terms; the, participation of believers with Christ in His government of the future Millennial kingdom is bound up with enduring (2 Timothy 2. 12), and overcoming (Revelation 2.26), during this period of earthly witnessing in the present kingdom of God.

When the Lord shall descend from heaven with a shout for His loved and His own, we are to appear before the judgement-seat of Christ (Romans 14.10 and 2 Corinthians 5.10), there to be judged according to the deeds done in the body, whether good or bad.

Rewards for faithfulness is the basis of the exhortations given in many New Testament scriptures, faithfulness in the light of the coming of the Lord.

1 Timothy 6.14: "That thou keep the commandment, without spot, without reproach, until the appearing of our Lord Jesus Christ."

1 Peter 1.13 : "Wherefore gird up the loins of your mind, be sober and set your hope perfectly on the grace that is to be brought unto you at the revelation of Jesus Christ."

1 John 2.28: "And now, my little children, abide in Him: that, when He shall be manifested, we may have boldness, and not be ashamed before Him at His coming."

James 5.8: "Be ye also patient: stablish your hearts; for the coming of the Lord is at hand."

Faith in Christ brings the sinner into blessed union with Christ and the possession of eternal life, but they who live careless lives, and show great attachment to the world and its pleasures, cannot hope to have the same place in that future kingdom as they who live in close communion with God, and are deeply conscious of being pilgrims and strangers on the earth, who obey His laws and keep His commandments, ever looking, like faithful Father Abraham, for that city that hath the foundations.

In that day of rewards we read of three crowns:

1.The crown of life (James 1.12, Revelation 2.10).

2.The crown of righteousness (2 Timothy 4.8).

3.The crown of glory (1 Peter 5.2-4).

After the saints have been caught up and the marriage feast of the Lamb is over, then shall He come with His saints to set up His kingdom on earth.

After the sound of the last trump by the seventh angel we read, "The kingdom of the world is become the kingdom of our Lord, and of His Christ" (Revelation 11.15-18), and the saints of various dispensations are seen as being the first to experience the blessed consequences of His taking His power and reigning. Then shall Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, and all the prophets be seen in the kingdom of God. "And they shall come from the east and the west, and from the north and the south, and shall sit down in the kingdom of God" (Luke 13.28, 29). Of the overcomers in the time of the great tribulation we read, "But they shall be priests of God and of Christ, and shall reign with Him a thousand years" (Revelation 20.6).

The part His faithful servants of this dispensation are to have in that future kingdom was often referred to by the Lord and His apostles. The promise to those that suffer with Him that they are to reign with Him must not be regarded merely as a figure of speech, but of actual reality. Hence the words spoken by the Lord to His disciples, "And I appoint unto you a kingdom, even as My Father appointed unto Me, that ye may eat and drink at My table in My Kingdom: and ye shall sit on thrones judging the twelve tribes of Israel" (Luke 22.29, 30), and to the overcomer He will give to him to sit down with Him in His throne (Revelation 3. 21).

To the faithful steward the promise was given, when his Lord cometh, "He will set him over all that He hath" (Luke 12.44), and in the parable of the pounds which the Lord spake to His disciples, the measure of the rewards given is linked with the measure of faithfulness found in the servants in respect to the goods entrusted to them, which they are to trade with till He come, and in Luke 19.17 we read, "He said unto him, Well done, thou good servant: because thou wast found faithful in very little, have thou authority over ten cities."

These passages of scripture and many others plainly indicate that in the coming kingdom it will be the privilege of His faithful servants to share with Him who is the universal Lord; and the sphere of that rule will be determined by the measure of their faithfulness here below.

The words of Psalm 45.16, "Whom Thou shalt make princes in all the earth," are significant. As earthly monarchs govern widely extended empires by viceroys, so this glorious King is represented as supplying all principalities on earth with princes worthy to reign with Him; such rulers will be the saints of various dispensations, exercising authority under the supreme lordship of Him who is King of kings and Lord of lords.

"Behold a King shall reign in righteousness and princes shall rule in justice " (Isaiah 32. 1).

"Let the saints exult in glory: let them sing for joy upon their beds. Let the high praises of God be in their mouth, and a two-edged sword in their hand; to execute vengeance upon the nations, and punishment upon the peoples; to bind their kings with chains, and their nobles with fetters of iron; to execute upon them the judgement written: this honour have all His saints, Praise ye Jehovah" (Psalm 149.5-9).

While all believers receive unconditional eternal blessings in Christ through simple faith, the promise to reign with Him, to share His throne in that coming day, is reserved for those deemed worthy of such honour.

To the early disciples were committed "the things of the kingdom of God" by the blessed Lord Jesus ere He left them (Acts 1.3), and they went about preaching the gospel and establishing churches of God as commanded, and all who follow in the divine pattern given and are found in churches of God today may truly be spoken of as "the little flock," to whom it is given not only to believe on Him but also to suffer with Him. God has demanded obedience from the beginning, and disobedience to His word and will has brought down judgement, from Eden's garden on through the line of human history, and so it shall continue till the end of time.

May it be our ambition to be found well pleasing to Him.

Paterson, J. A. | Nov 1957
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