Statesman63
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 | | Subject: Revelation Chapter 2 (Part 18) (The Overcomers Part 4) Thu Nov 27, 2014 12:38 am | |
| Revelation Chapter 2 (Part 18) (The Overcomers Part 4)
The next overcomer statement is found in Revelation 2:26-28. Jesus is talking to the church of Thyatira. Verse 26 reads, “To him who overcomes and does my will to the end, I will give authority over the nations—” In the context of this passage, Jesus is referring to the one who overcomes the sins of verses 20-25, which we will look at later. In the greater context this applies to all Christian overcomers because this promise was given to us in other sections of the Bible. Even in other sections of the Bible, it is given only to the one who is an overcomer. We mentioned before that all overcomers are Christians but not all Christians are overcomers. This verse specifically says, “To him who does my will to the end...” If you are not doing His will to the end you will not rule over the nations. If you have been sinning, it is not too late to become an overcomer. You’d just have to repent and do His will to the end. If you have been doing His will, but later stop, you would be in danger of losing your overcomer status. The question will be “how did you finish?” Do not think you can put off obeying Christ for a future time and then become an overcomer. No one knows when they will take their last breath. Today might be your last chance to repent and obey Christ to the end.
For those who incorrectly believe that all Christians will reign with Christ and rule over nations, I’d ask them “who are the ones being ruled over?” All cannot be rulers because there must be subjects who are being ruled over. People in Hell are not the subjects that the overcomers will be ruling over because people in Heaven and Hell will not even be in the same location. 2 Timothy 2:11-12 says, “Here is a trustworthy saying: If we died with Him, we will also live with Him; [12] if we endure, we will also reign with Him. If we [deny] Him, He will also [deny] us.” The first part of this passage is for all Christians. All Christians died with Christ and were also raised to life in Christ through their faith in Him. There is no verb or command in that part of the passage prescribing us to obey. It simply says, “If you died with Him, you will live with Him.” To die with Him requires only having faith in Him. The second part has a conditional verb for obedience: that is “works.” It says, “If we endure, we will also reign with Him.” This promise of reigning is for the one who “endures” or as we are studying in the book of Revelation, it is only for the one who “overcomes.” Endure what? Endure obedience to Christ. It continues, “If we [deny] Him, He will also [deny] us.” Deny us what? If we deny Him, He will deny us the opportunity to reign with Him. He will also deny us blessings and help from trials if we deny Him. The New International version says here, “If we disown Him, He will also disown us.” The Greek word here means “deny.” Jesus never disowns us. He promised to never leave or forsake us. Once saved, a Christian is always saved so long as they believe. Belief is your lock and seal. God promises to never take salvation away from the believer. But as for our status in the next life, to determine if you will be a ruler requires having the right heart and a tendency for obedience and subservience to Christ in this life. Just to finish commentating on this section of verses, the next verse reads, “if we are faithless, He will remain faithful, for He cannot [deny] Himself.” God will deny those who disobey Him. If you are living in disobedience, it is a waste of time to pray. He will deny you blessings. And He will deny you the opportunity to rule in the next life. But even through our faithlessness, He will remain faithful and still save us to keep us from Hell because He cannot deny Himself, that is, any promise He makes, He keeps. God is always faithful even when man is not.
Isaiah 32:1 predicted this future event. It reads, “See, a king will reign in righteousness and rulers will rule with justice.” The overcomers will be the rulers. Again, there will be subjects. I like verse 5 in that passage: “No longer will the fool be called noble nor the scoundrel be highly respected.” “Heaven” will not be equal for everyone. We will not all have equal status in Heaven. Concerning the next life, Jesus said that those who are first in this life will be last in that day, and those who are last here will be first in that day (Matthew 19:30). Those who are big time; corporate owners with their noses in the air; people who think they are all that because of their income or class or racial status, will be the poor folks in Heaven and will be those who are ruled over by those who were considered lowly today. Those who are humbled and do not seek prestige; who do not seek to be first and recognized; who do not see themselves above anyone else; who do not snub the poor, will be considered great in the next life. They will be the rulers. There will be those who are considered least in Heaven, who are today considered great by the world. “Success” in man’s eyes is not success in God’s eyes. Money makes us appear great in man’s eyes but has little value to the Lord. Mathew 5:19 says, “Anyone who breaks one of the least of these commandments and teaches others to do the same will be called the least in the Kingdom of Heaven, but whoever practices and teaches these commands will be called great in the Kingdom of Heaven.” Both are saved folks; but one will be called great, and the others will be called least. When truth is revealed, Jesus is going to pull out those who were truly great in His eyes (though not the world’s) and crown them to be the rulers and grant them with the appellation of “greatness” in the Kingdom of Heaven.
Revelation 21:24 says, “The nations will walk by its light, and the kings of the earth will bring their glory into it.” I think I explained this verse already. I will not give much commentary here on it. I’ll explain it again when we get there. Just wanted to remind the reader of this verse that shows the rulers who will be reigning with Christ throughout eternity.
Just entering the Kingdom is granted based on our works in this life time. Without works, you don’t get to enter it. Reigning with Christ as a king or queen is granted based on true discipleship with Jesus. You have to take up your cross and follow Him if you want to be a ruler (and a true disciple). Entering the Kingdom is not that difficult. We went over the list of sins of rebellion that prevents one from entering the Kingdom. They are found in 1 Corinthians 6:9-10, Ephesians 5:5, and Galatians 5:19-21. Listen to what Jesus says about having access to enter the Kingdom. In Matthew 5:20, He says, “For I tell you that unless your righteousness surpasses that of the Pharisees and the teachers of the law, you will certainly not enter the Kingdom.” Once again, He did not say you will not enter Heaven; He did not say that you will not be saved. He said only that you will not enter the Kingdom. We shouldn’t fear too much about that passage because such a task is not that difficult. The Pharisees and teachers of the law did most of their righteous “deeds” just to be seen. Today we have preachers and people in the pew who deliberately look pious on the outside in an attempt to cover up what’s on the inside. They might shout just to be seen, or jump and catch the Spirit just to be seen. We are not to judge whether or not they are authentically catching the Spirit because we do not have the ability to read minds and hearts, but if they are doing it just to be seen, they are just like the Pharisees and teachers of the law and will be banned from entering the Kingdom of Heaven. It might do them a favor if you warn them as a friend to be genuine in their worship.
Revelation 2:26 says that Jesus “will give authority over the nations.” He is able to give authority because He has all authority. Verse 27 quotes Psalm 2:9 which is about Jesus’ authority. (The entire chapter in Psalm 2 is about Jesus.) Revelation 2:27 here posits, “He will rule them with an iron scepter; He will dash them to pieces like pottery—just as I received authority from my Father.” Interestingly, Jesus will give the overcoming rulers the same authority that the Father gave Him in Psalm 2:9. Jesus says, “You will rule them with an iron scepter; you will dash them to pieces like pottery.” Dash who to pieces? The answer to that question is too deep and lengthy to explain here; stick with me and we’ll explain this later. This verse applies to the Millennium, but Eternity in a lot of respects is a seamless extension of the Millennium.
Jesus gives two promises to this church for the overcomer. His second promise is in Revelation 2:28, which reads, “I will also give him the morning star.” Interestingly, both Jesus and Satan are referred to as “the morning star” in the Bible. Or more precisely stated: both Jesus and Lucifer are referred to as “the morning star” in the Bible. So if both are the morning star, who is Jesus saying that He will give? Himself, or Satan? In Revelation 22:16, Jesus says that He is the morning star. It reads, “I, Jesus, have sent my angel to give you [all] this testimony for the churches. I am the Root and the Offspring of David, and the bright Morning Star.” Numbers 24:17 also calls Jesus a star. It reads, “I see him, but not now; I behold him, but not near. A star will come out of Jacob; a scepter will rise out of Israel.” How awesome is God’s Word? A prophet can prophesy Jesus 1,500 years before Jesus. So Jesus is the Morning Star. Or is He? Isaiah 14:12, speaking of Satan, reads, “How you have fallen from heaven, O morning star, son of the dawn! You have been cast down to the earth, you who once laid low the nations!” Also speaking of Satan, Revelation 9:1 says, “The fifth angel sounded his trumpet, and I saw a star [Satan] that had fallen from the sky to the earth. The star was given the key to the shaft of the Abyss.” Also speaking of Satan, Revelation 12:7-9 reads, “And there was war in heaven. Michael and his angels fought against the dragon [Satan], and the dragon and his angels fought back. But he was not strong enough, and they lost their place in heaven. The great dragon [Satan] was hurled down—that ancient serpent called the devil, or Satan, who leads the whole world astray. He was hurled to the earth, and his angels with him.” Even Jesus said in Luke 10:18, “I saw Satan fall like lightning from heaven.” Satan is the fallen morning star. He used to be the morning star when he was in good graces with God, back when his name was Lucifer. This is when he was the arch angel. The name “Lucifer” means “morning star.” It means a bright shining light. God changed his name to Satan. He is no longer the morning star. Satan lost the title to Jesus when he rebelled against God. So where Jesus says, “I will give him the morning star,” He is referring to giving the title to the overcomer. Jesus is able to give it because He has the title: He is the Morning Star.
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