God on the Throne With the Lamb and EldersBible World
5:10Revelation 5:10
And hast made us unto our God kings and priests: and we shall reign on the earth.
Those redeemed by Christ's blood from every family and language and people and nation are made unto God a kingdom of priests, a royal priestly people who shall reign on the earth. It is the close of the new song sung when the Lamb as slain takes the sealed book from the right hand of Him on the throne, being declared worthy to open its seals because He was slain and purchased them to God. That reign will be on the earth made new at Christ's second coming, where the saints occupy the restored Eden, and with Christ they sit on thrones and share in judging the wicked during the thousand years between the first and second resurrections. It is the song of grace and redemption, a new song of triumph sung only by those who have conquered sin and whose names stand in the Lamb's book of life, with earnest thanksgiving ascribing salvation to God and to the Lamb. To share it they must now learn heaven's keynote of thanksgiving, cooperate with God to become holy and partakers of the divine nature, and stand obedient unto perfection of character.
Vision Setting in Heaven
The verse closes the new song sung when the Lamb standing as slain, having seven horns and seven eyes, takes the book out of the right hand of Him who sits on the throne. At His taking it the four living creatures and the twenty-four elders fall down before Him, each holding harps and golden vials full of fragrant odors which are the prayers of the saints. They declare Him worthy to take the book and to open its seals because He was slain and by His blood redeemed people to God out of every kindred and tongue and people and nation, making them royal priests unto God who shall rule on the earth. That praise is then taken up by ten thousand times ten thousand angels round the throne declaring the Lamb worthy to receive power and riches and wisdom and strength and honor and glory and blessing. Then every creature in heaven and on earth and under the earth and in the sea joins in ascribing blessing and honor and glory and power to Him on the throne and to the Lamb forever.
The book is the sealed roll containing the prophetic account of God's providences, the history of nations and the church, and the influence of every people from the beginning of earth's history to its close. It contains His utterances, His authority, His commandments and laws, the whole symbolic counsel of the Eternal, and the history of all ruling powers and of every nation, tongue, and people, written within and without with no blanks and no space for more writing. No one in heaven nor on earth nor under the earth was able to open it, but the Lion of the tribe of Judah, the Root of David, prevailed to open it, and He alone is worthy to open it.
The scene also shows Christ's triumph as the ascended King of glory entering the holy city escorted by angels and followed by the multitude of captives raised at His resurrection, with an innumerable heavenly host in deepest adoration around their majestic Commander. He is the One slain who now lives again as a mighty conqueror in majesty and glory, yet He remains marked by the wounds of His sacrifice for humanity, and His death provides immortal life for the redeemed. Angels adore Him whose countenance lights the glorious city, bow before Him and cast their glittering crowns at His feet, then touch their golden harps and fill all heaven with rich music in songs to the Lamb, joined by His redeemed children purchased by His blood. He is honored in heavenly glory as King escorted by the heavenly host with songs of victory, and those who mocked and rejected Him will see His majesty and acknowledge His kingship.
The chapter belongs with Ezekiel 9 and Ezekiel 2:1-10 for understanding God's judgment upon wrong transactions. The Lord's eye is upon every transaction and His judgment will come upon those who do wrong, whose names are written unless they repent. This is shown by the flying roll twenty cubits long and ten cubits broad, the measurement of the porch of Solomon's temple, which enters the house of the thief and false swearer and consumes it with its timber and stones. The chapter is to be read as part of the highest education that can be given to man, which is learning obedience to all of God's commandments directly from God and His law given from Sinai rather than from unsanctified human teachers.
Redeemed Made Kings Priests
Those redeemed to God by Christ's blood from every family and language and people and nation are made a kingdom of priests, a royal and priestly people devoted to Him, who shall reign on the earth. That future reign belongs to the reward and glory of the redeemed. It is part of heaven's praise to the slain Lamb, joined by ten thousand times ten thousand angels and at last by every creature in heaven and on earth and under the earth and in the sea, and its joy includes faithful workers who led others to Christ seeing those they sought to save among the redeemed and joining the rejoicing and praise. The redeemed so made receive crowns and harps and praise and glorify God in the kingdom of heaven, and the verse calls to praise God now and to sing the songs of heaven in preparation for joining that heavenly choir.
The reign will be on the earth made new when it is occupied by the redeemed at Christ's second coming, in the promised home in the new earth where Eden is restored. There the paradise of God will be the home of the saints of the Most High God, where riches and glory will be given to them, and there they will join the heavenly choir singing the praise of God. Their reign is worship, for crowned by Christ Himself they will cast the crowns He placed on their heads at the feet of their Redeemer and, touching their golden harps, render praise and thanksgiving to Him that sitteth on the throne. It does not belong to His first appearing, when Christ came as a humble man with human nature among the poor and needy. The Jewish expectation of being placed on thrones to reign was right for the second coming but wrong when applied to the first. Believers should talk about that home now and learn to sing that praise here, because only those who learn to praise God here will sing with that choir there.
Those who are called will receive an immortal inheritance to rule as kings and priests on the earth as members of the royal family, children of the heavenly King, heirs of God and joint-heirs with Christ, whose nature through the merits of Christ is related to angels and to Christ and to God Himself. Knowing this calling and these possibilities requires using every power of being to cooperate with God, to become one with Christ, to be holy, pure, and undefiled during probation, to strive to separate from the world and its corrupt influences, to escape the corruption in the world through lust, and to become a partaker of the divine nature, never degrading that nature. Only by becoming partakers of the divine nature can men reach the spiritual and intellectual heights God wishes them to attain, be made pure and unselfish out of moral degradation, and bear the divine credentials in life.
God makes humble people kings and priests, and love is the power that brings about this change. Christ's followers will be kings and priests with God by gaining the qualities of character that exalted Christ, including the self-denial, patience, love, and forgiveness Christ showed, and by them they will receive the scepter and share in judgment. God will exalt His faithful, obedient servants as priests and kings. This is an eternal good, unlike temporary honor from people, and it is the reward of those who remain true to God under every circumstance. All who follow on in obedience unto perfection of character until the last conflict between Christ and the enemy of truth has been fought will have truth so manifest in their lives that they stand before the world as a kingdom of priests unto God, and God makes that people who determine to serve Him in righteousness a special people unto Himself.
Those who love God and keep His commandments belong to God's royal family and will be kings and priests unto Him. Those clothed in Christ's righteousness receive this wondrous garment through His blood. The vision presents Christ as the slain Lamb enthroned, whose sacrifice purchases redemption and whose heavenly ministry dispenses the blessings and benefits of the covenant to those who believe. His atoning sacrifice remains fully effective through every age, and His merits and righteousness are offered to helpless people through faith and made manifest in obedience to God's commandments.
Future Reign and Judgment
The righteous are made kings and priests to God and reign with Christ on earth, sitting on thrones with Him. During the thousand years between the first and second resurrections they take part with Christ in judging the wicked dead, comparing their lives with the Bible and deciding each case according to deeds. The punishment due to each is measured according to works and recorded in the book of death, and Satan and the evil angels are also judged by Christ and His people.
Christ's followers share in royal and priestly authority with God and will judge the world. Those who will judge the world must be holy and obedient to God's law, and the character for this responsibility is developed in this life. The redeemed's praise to God and the Lamb belongs to people whose minds and powers are in harmony with heaven. Christ's triumph came through love, not force, while His life showed that God's law is faultless and can be kept and that disobedience brings the very evils the law's restrictions are meant to prevent.
Crowns are laid up for those who overcome, and these heavenly scenes are real and are encouragement in the struggle against evil. The redeemed are pictured as victorious, and a crown of life that does not fade away is reserved in heaven for them, with a place in the city of God where in heaven they will be kings and priests unto God. This is the hope set before believers, calling them to be ready for Christ's coming and to be overcomers. Their worship of the Lamb through music and song belongs with the overcomers' crown and their place in the city of God.
The verse is Christ's covenant pledge and promise to all who join His army and work with Him against visible and invisible foes. He declares Himself their Helper as they cooperate with Him in fighting His battles. Those who accept Him and are willing to share His humiliation in this life, who choose to suffer affliction with the people of God rather than enjoy the pleasures of sin for a season, will be made joint heirs with Him to an immortal inheritance, heirs of God and joint-heirs with Christ, members of the royal family and children of the heavenly King. They will partake with Christ in His glory, receive the dignity of His name, be given a place with Christ on His throne, and reign as kings and priests before God.
Song of Worship
The line belongs to the song of the Lamb, the song of grace and redemption sung by the gathered saints after their earthly warfare is finished. It is a new song, never before sung in heaven, sung to glorify the Redeemer because His death was not in vain. The cross stands at the center of both the church's history on earth and the redeemed church in heaven, and the song joins the legal, prophetic, and gospel dispensations as God's providence is fully revealed. They sing it while looking upon souls won to Christ and eternally saved as monuments of God's mercy and redeeming love, with shouts of praise and thanksgiving ringing through heaven. They declare the slain One worthy to take the book and open its seals because He was slain and purchased them by blood from every family and language and people and nation, and worthy to receive power and riches and wisdom and strength and honor and glory and blessing.
It is the song of triumph sung by the millions rescued from Satan's hold. Ages before incarnation Christ distinctly chose His place, foresaw His life of humiliation and rejection and crucifixion, foresaw His victory over satanic agencies and His victory over death and the grave, saw the world flooded with light and life, and heard that song of triumph. The song is sung by those who gather around the great white throne. Only those whose names stand registered in the Lamb's book of life and who have conquered in the warfare against sin will sing it. No cold, formal ones are in that throng; every soul is in earnest and every heart is full of thanksgiving for the marvelous love of God and the overcoming grace that enabled victory, swelling the song with a loud voice ascribing salvation to God who sits upon the throne and unto the Lamb.
It is united praise to God and to the Lamb sung together with the heavenly host in the society of the pure and holy. Only those with pure sympathies can sing it. Those whose sympathies are corrupt and debased cannot sing it, would be unhappy in heaven and would not feel at home there, and with darkened minds and untrained powers would be out of harmony with heaven. Music forms a part of God's worship in the courts above, where heavenly choirs sing in harmony around God's throne, and believers should endeavor in songs of praise to approach as nearly as possible to that heavenly harmony. The Redeemer leads believers to the threshold of the Infinite, flushed with the glory of God, where they may catch the themes of that heavenly song.
When the echo of the angels' song is awakened in earthly homes, hearts are drawn closer to the heavenly singers. Heaven's communion begins on earth, and believers learn here the keynote of its praise. The temple of God is opened in heaven and its threshold is flushed with glory for every church that loves God and keeps His commandments, and by study, meditation, and prayer believers receive spiritual eyesight to discern those inner courts and catch the song of heaven. They see their Advocate offering the incense of His own merits in their behalf and are filled with a sense of the immensity and diversity of the love of God, so that precious songs of praise and thanksgiving in the assemblies of the saints replace murmuring and complaining over disappointments. The choir around God's throne gives thanks, offering a glimpse of the worship heard in the celestial temple.
The redeemed give all the glory to Christ and none to any man. Christ wants to put a crown of glory on their heads and throw open the gates of the city of God so that all nations that have kept the truth may enter in and receive His blessing, placing a golden harp in the hand and inviting them to enter. They cast the glittering crowns He placed on their heads at His feet and, touching their golden harps, fill all heaven with rich music and songs to the Lamb who died for them, at last seeing the King in His beauty and beholding His matchless charms. Angels sing a lovely song of praise and honor to the Lamb, then cease singing and take their crowns from their heads and cast them glittering at the feet of Jesus crying Glory, Alleluia. That worship is surrounded by a far more, an exceeding and eternal weight of glory that gives unutterable joy to all who join in it, and the little remnant who love God and keep His commandments and are faithful to the end will enjoy this glory and ever be in the presence of Jesus and sing with the holy angels.
The crowns they cast at Jesus' feet represent the immortal glory promised to those who overcome, with eternal life with God beyond temptation, sorrow, sickness, pain, and death. Those who go to work for the Master and are found good and faithful will enter heaven as a sweet heaven of rest, receive glittering crowns and then cast them at the feet of Jesus, touch their harps and sing Worthy is the Lamb that died for us, having part in the eternal weight of glory and singing songs of rejoicing through the endless ages of eternity. God has bought the redeemed with a price to make them kings and priests who will have a place in His kingdom and reign on the earth in eternal life, going no more out forever. He will put a crown upon their heads, which is everlasting life in His kingdom, a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory that all the riches of the world cannot buy. Every one who has a crown will cast it at the feet of the Redeemer, touch the golden harp, and fill all heaven with rich music and songs to the Lamb, seeing the King in His beauty and beholding the loveliness of the Saviour.
To be fitted for the higher courts above they must make everything of the talents God has given them and be as humble and contrite and simple as Christ was in His labor. Those made kings and priests will enter the city of God as unseparated families, with fathers and mothers and children passing together through gates Christ opens to the worthy who were faithful workers in their earthly homes. There they receive golden crowns placed upon their heads and worship Jesus by casting their crowns at His feet, giving Him the glory and praising His holy name again and again. Christ as heavenly Teacher leads them to the tree of life growing on either side of the river of life and explains truths they could not understand in this life, giving them higher education in its completeness, while angels unite with them touching golden harps and filling heaven with rich music and songs of triumph to the Lamb. The saved are ushered in through gates swung back on glittering hinges, each with a musical harp placed in the hands to praise God.
They will seek out everyone who tried to help them in this world to thank them and embrace them, then touch their harps until all heaven is filled with rich music and songs of praise and thanksgiving to the Lamb. Sharing in this reward requires being ready now to graduate and enter a higher school. The redeemed who have day by day cast the love of the world out of their hearts, learned fellowship with Christ by experience, and prepared for the Judgment will meet Christ in peace when He comes in the clouds of heaven to be admired in all them that believe. In that day they will shine forth in the glory of the Father and the Son as Christ's trophies of victory, those washed and made white in the blood of the Lamb. Angels touching their golden harps will welcome the King with His redeemed ones as witnesses that His mission of suffering and sacrifice has not been in vain, and a song of triumph will peal forth filling all heaven because Christ has conquered as He enters the heavenly courts accompanied by them.
Those made clean and tried accompany Him at His triumph and bear witness that His mission of suffering and self-sacrifice was not in vain. Those who win souls for Christ will enter the city of God wearing crowns, lay their crowns at Jesus' feet, and join heaven's praise to the Lamb, reflecting the joy of heaven over a sinner's return to God. The redeemed see the people they sought to lead to Jesus saved forever, their salvation showing that the Redeemer did not die in vain and standing as a monument to God's mercy and Christ's love, with heaven answering in praise and thanksgiving. Praising the Redeemer will be the work of the redeemed throughout eternity. Those rescued from sin are washed in Christ's blood, glorify Him, cast their crowns at His feet, and praise Him with songs to the Lamb in heaven.
They behold the King in heaven and fill heaven with songs to the Lamb, and sharing Christ's inheritance connects with having His Spirit and being determined to gain heaven. The hope is to join the family assembled in God's kingdom, becoming members of the royal family and children of the heavenly King, and praising the Lamb there. After souls are converted heaven rejoices as the redeemed cast their crowns at Jesus' feet and join the heavenly song with harps. It is connected with receiving a crown of life in God's kingdom of glory and joining heaven's worship in songs to the Lamb.
Present Life and Preparation
Heaven is full of joy resounding with praise to Him who made a wonderful sacrifice for the redemption of the human race, with the redeemed joining the angelic choir in an anthem of praise. The keynote of the song of heaven is praise and thanksgiving for the Redeemer's sacrifice. Those who will join that heavenly choir must learn on earth the song of heaven whose keynote is thanksgiving. The church on earth is therefore to be full of praise, and Christians are to publish throughout the world the joy of serving Christ. They are to face bravely and rejoice in the Lord through difficulties that try faith and patience.
Those redeemed by Christ's blood from every people are made a kingdom of priests to God and will reign on the earth, and those who lead others to Christ share in this redeemed company and rejoice in the souls saved through their labor, praising the Lamb for making them God's kings and priests. They will see the people they sought to lead to Jesus saved forever. Their salvation shows that the Redeemer did not die in vain and stands as a monument to God's mercy and Christ's love, and heaven answers with praise and thanksgiving.
The redeemed are made a kingdom and priests for God and will reign with Christ, receiving immortal honor from Christ. This promised honor is a reason to give God our affections and service rather than choose friendship with the world. Children who are prepared through Christ's sacrifice and grow in Christian character will be welcomed into God's city, receive the kingdom and crown, and praise the Redeemer.
Redeemed people are bound for a coming kingdom with immortal life in holy, happy harmony. Fitting for service in that future life must begin in this life, with the knowledge essential to stand in the great day of God made the all-important theme, because without previous training none will be prepared to blend into that harmony. That heavenly life must be entered here below by beginning now on this earth to live the life of Christ and to help and lift up those who are cast down and despondent, or the heaven hereafter will never be entered. The redeemed give all the glory to Christ and none to any man, for Christ opens the golden gates and invites them to enter and places a golden harp in the hand, and they sing a song of triumph that the Lamb slain won them to God and to heaven, at last seeing the King in His beauty and beholding His matchless charms and touching the harp to fill heaven with rich music and songs to the Lamb.
Those redeemed by Christ's blood from every family and language and people and nation are made unto God a kingdom of priests, a royal priestly people who shall reign on the earth. It is the close of the new song sung when the Lamb as slain takes the sealed book from the right hand of Him on the throne, being declared worthy to open its seals because He was slain and purchased them to God. That reign will be on the earth made new at Christ's second coming, where the saints occupy the restored Eden, and with Christ they sit on thrones and share in judging the wicked during the thousand years between the first and second resurrections. It is the song of grace and redemption, a new song of triumph sung only by those who have conquered sin and whose names stand in the Lamb's book of life, with earnest thanksgiving ascribing salvation to God and to the Lamb. To share it they must now learn heaven's keynote of thanksgiving, cooperate with God to become holy and partakers of the divine nature, and stand obedient unto perfection of character.
Vision Setting in Heaven
The verse closes the new song sung when the Lamb standing as slain, having seven horns and seven eyes, takes the book out of the right hand of Him who sits on the throne. At His taking it the four living creatures and the twenty-four elders fall down before Him, each holding harps and golden vials full of fragrant odors which are the prayers of the saints. They declare Him worthy to take the book and to open its seals because He was slain and by His blood redeemed people to God out of every kindred and tongue and people and nation, making them royal priests unto God who shall rule on the earth. That praise is then taken up by ten thousand times ten thousand angels round the throne declaring the Lamb worthy to receive power and riches and wisdom and strength and honor and glory and blessing. Then every creature in heaven and on earth and under the earth and in the sea joins in ascribing blessing and honor and glory and power to Him on the throne and to the Lamb forever.
The book is the sealed roll containing the prophetic account of God's providences, the history of nations and the church, and the influence of every people from the beginning of earth's history to its close. It contains His utterances, His authority, His commandments and laws, the whole symbolic counsel of the Eternal, and the history of all ruling powers and of every nation, tongue, and people, written within and without with no blanks and no space for more writing. No one in heaven nor on earth nor under the earth was able to open it, but the Lion of the tribe of Judah, the Root of David, prevailed to open it, and He alone is worthy to open it.
The scene also shows Christ's triumph as the ascended King of glory entering the holy city escorted by angels and followed by the multitude of captives raised at His resurrection, with an innumerable heavenly host in deepest adoration around their majestic Commander. He is the One slain who now lives again as a mighty conqueror in majesty and glory, yet He remains marked by the wounds of His sacrifice for humanity, and His death provides immortal life for the redeemed. Angels adore Him whose countenance lights the glorious city, bow before Him and cast their glittering crowns at His feet, then touch their golden harps and fill all heaven with rich music in songs to the Lamb, joined by His redeemed children purchased by His blood. He is honored in heavenly glory as King escorted by the heavenly host with songs of victory, and those who mocked and rejected Him will see His majesty and acknowledge His kingship.
The chapter belongs with Ezekiel 9 and Ezekiel 2:1-10 for understanding God's judgment upon wrong transactions. The Lord's eye is upon every transaction and His judgment will come upon those who do wrong, whose names are written unless they repent. This is shown by the flying roll twenty cubits long and ten cubits broad, the measurement of the porch of Solomon's temple, which enters the house of the thief and false swearer and consumes it with its timber and stones. The chapter is to be read as part of the highest education that can be given to man, which is learning obedience to all of God's commandments directly from God and His law given from Sinai rather than from unsanctified human teachers.
Redeemed Made Kings Priests
Those redeemed to God by Christ's blood from every family and language and people and nation are made a kingdom of priests, a royal and priestly people devoted to Him, who shall reign on the earth. That future reign belongs to the reward and glory of the redeemed. It is part of heaven's praise to the slain Lamb, joined by ten thousand times ten thousand angels and at last by every creature in heaven and on earth and under the earth and in the sea, and its joy includes faithful workers who led others to Christ seeing those they sought to save among the redeemed and joining the rejoicing and praise. The redeemed so made receive crowns and harps and praise and glorify God in the kingdom of heaven, and the verse calls to praise God now and to sing the songs of heaven in preparation for joining that heavenly choir.
The reign will be on the earth made new when it is occupied by the redeemed at Christ's second coming, in the promised home in the new earth where Eden is restored. There the paradise of God will be the home of the saints of the Most High God, where riches and glory will be given to them, and there they will join the heavenly choir singing the praise of God. Their reign is worship, for crowned by Christ Himself they will cast the crowns He placed on their heads at the feet of their Redeemer and, touching their golden harps, render praise and thanksgiving to Him that sitteth on the throne. It does not belong to His first appearing, when Christ came as a humble man with human nature among the poor and needy. The Jewish expectation of being placed on thrones to reign was right for the second coming but wrong when applied to the first. Believers should talk about that home now and learn to sing that praise here, because only those who learn to praise God here will sing with that choir there.
Those who are called will receive an immortal inheritance to rule as kings and priests on the earth as members of the royal family, children of the heavenly King, heirs of God and joint-heirs with Christ, whose nature through the merits of Christ is related to angels and to Christ and to God Himself. Knowing this calling and these possibilities requires using every power of being to cooperate with God, to become one with Christ, to be holy, pure, and undefiled during probation, to strive to separate from the world and its corrupt influences, to escape the corruption in the world through lust, and to become a partaker of the divine nature, never degrading that nature. Only by becoming partakers of the divine nature can men reach the spiritual and intellectual heights God wishes them to attain, be made pure and unselfish out of moral degradation, and bear the divine credentials in life.
God makes humble people kings and priests, and love is the power that brings about this change. Christ's followers will be kings and priests with God by gaining the qualities of character that exalted Christ, including the self-denial, patience, love, and forgiveness Christ showed, and by them they will receive the scepter and share in judgment. God will exalt His faithful, obedient servants as priests and kings. This is an eternal good, unlike temporary honor from people, and it is the reward of those who remain true to God under every circumstance. All who follow on in obedience unto perfection of character until the last conflict between Christ and the enemy of truth has been fought will have truth so manifest in their lives that they stand before the world as a kingdom of priests unto God, and God makes that people who determine to serve Him in righteousness a special people unto Himself.
Those who love God and keep His commandments belong to God's royal family and will be kings and priests unto Him. Those clothed in Christ's righteousness receive this wondrous garment through His blood. The vision presents Christ as the slain Lamb enthroned, whose sacrifice purchases redemption and whose heavenly ministry dispenses the blessings and benefits of the covenant to those who believe. His atoning sacrifice remains fully effective through every age, and His merits and righteousness are offered to helpless people through faith and made manifest in obedience to God's commandments.
Future Reign and Judgment
The righteous are made kings and priests to God and reign with Christ on earth, sitting on thrones with Him. During the thousand years between the first and second resurrections they take part with Christ in judging the wicked dead, comparing their lives with the Bible and deciding each case according to deeds. The punishment due to each is measured according to works and recorded in the book of death, and Satan and the evil angels are also judged by Christ and His people.
Christ's followers share in royal and priestly authority with God and will judge the world. Those who will judge the world must be holy and obedient to God's law, and the character for this responsibility is developed in this life. The redeemed's praise to God and the Lamb belongs to people whose minds and powers are in harmony with heaven. Christ's triumph came through love, not force, while His life showed that God's law is faultless and can be kept and that disobedience brings the very evils the law's restrictions are meant to prevent.
Crowns are laid up for those who overcome, and these heavenly scenes are real and are encouragement in the struggle against evil. The redeemed are pictured as victorious, and a crown of life that does not fade away is reserved in heaven for them, with a place in the city of God where in heaven they will be kings and priests unto God. This is the hope set before believers, calling them to be ready for Christ's coming and to be overcomers. Their worship of the Lamb through music and song belongs with the overcomers' crown and their place in the city of God.
The verse is Christ's covenant pledge and promise to all who join His army and work with Him against visible and invisible foes. He declares Himself their Helper as they cooperate with Him in fighting His battles. Those who accept Him and are willing to share His humiliation in this life, who choose to suffer affliction with the people of God rather than enjoy the pleasures of sin for a season, will be made joint heirs with Him to an immortal inheritance, heirs of God and joint-heirs with Christ, members of the royal family and children of the heavenly King. They will partake with Christ in His glory, receive the dignity of His name, be given a place with Christ on His throne, and reign as kings and priests before God.
Song of Worship
The line belongs to the song of the Lamb, the song of grace and redemption sung by the gathered saints after their earthly warfare is finished. It is a new song, never before sung in heaven, sung to glorify the Redeemer because His death was not in vain. The cross stands at the center of both the church's history on earth and the redeemed church in heaven, and the song joins the legal, prophetic, and gospel dispensations as God's providence is fully revealed. They sing it while looking upon souls won to Christ and eternally saved as monuments of God's mercy and redeeming love, with shouts of praise and thanksgiving ringing through heaven. They declare the slain One worthy to take the book and open its seals because He was slain and purchased them by blood from every family and language and people and nation, and worthy to receive power and riches and wisdom and strength and honor and glory and blessing.
It is the song of triumph sung by the millions rescued from Satan's hold. Ages before incarnation Christ distinctly chose His place, foresaw His life of humiliation and rejection and crucifixion, foresaw His victory over satanic agencies and His victory over death and the grave, saw the world flooded with light and life, and heard that song of triumph. The song is sung by those who gather around the great white throne. Only those whose names stand registered in the Lamb's book of life and who have conquered in the warfare against sin will sing it. No cold, formal ones are in that throng; every soul is in earnest and every heart is full of thanksgiving for the marvelous love of God and the overcoming grace that enabled victory, swelling the song with a loud voice ascribing salvation to God who sits upon the throne and unto the Lamb.
It is united praise to God and to the Lamb sung together with the heavenly host in the society of the pure and holy. Only those with pure sympathies can sing it. Those whose sympathies are corrupt and debased cannot sing it, would be unhappy in heaven and would not feel at home there, and with darkened minds and untrained powers would be out of harmony with heaven. Music forms a part of God's worship in the courts above, where heavenly choirs sing in harmony around God's throne, and believers should endeavor in songs of praise to approach as nearly as possible to that heavenly harmony. The Redeemer leads believers to the threshold of the Infinite, flushed with the glory of God, where they may catch the themes of that heavenly song.
When the echo of the angels' song is awakened in earthly homes, hearts are drawn closer to the heavenly singers. Heaven's communion begins on earth, and believers learn here the keynote of its praise. The temple of God is opened in heaven and its threshold is flushed with glory for every church that loves God and keeps His commandments, and by study, meditation, and prayer believers receive spiritual eyesight to discern those inner courts and catch the song of heaven. They see their Advocate offering the incense of His own merits in their behalf and are filled with a sense of the immensity and diversity of the love of God, so that precious songs of praise and thanksgiving in the assemblies of the saints replace murmuring and complaining over disappointments. The choir around God's throne gives thanks, offering a glimpse of the worship heard in the celestial temple.
The redeemed give all the glory to Christ and none to any man. Christ wants to put a crown of glory on their heads and throw open the gates of the city of God so that all nations that have kept the truth may enter in and receive His blessing, placing a golden harp in the hand and inviting them to enter. They cast the glittering crowns He placed on their heads at His feet and, touching their golden harps, fill all heaven with rich music and songs to the Lamb who died for them, at last seeing the King in His beauty and beholding His matchless charms. Angels sing a lovely song of praise and honor to the Lamb, then cease singing and take their crowns from their heads and cast them glittering at the feet of Jesus crying Glory, Alleluia. That worship is surrounded by a far more, an exceeding and eternal weight of glory that gives unutterable joy to all who join in it, and the little remnant who love God and keep His commandments and are faithful to the end will enjoy this glory and ever be in the presence of Jesus and sing with the holy angels.
The crowns they cast at Jesus' feet represent the immortal glory promised to those who overcome, with eternal life with God beyond temptation, sorrow, sickness, pain, and death. Those who go to work for the Master and are found good and faithful will enter heaven as a sweet heaven of rest, receive glittering crowns and then cast them at the feet of Jesus, touch their harps and sing Worthy is the Lamb that died for us, having part in the eternal weight of glory and singing songs of rejoicing through the endless ages of eternity. God has bought the redeemed with a price to make them kings and priests who will have a place in His kingdom and reign on the earth in eternal life, going no more out forever. He will put a crown upon their heads, which is everlasting life in His kingdom, a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory that all the riches of the world cannot buy. Every one who has a crown will cast it at the feet of the Redeemer, touch the golden harp, and fill all heaven with rich music and songs to the Lamb, seeing the King in His beauty and beholding the loveliness of the Saviour.
To be fitted for the higher courts above they must make everything of the talents God has given them and be as humble and contrite and simple as Christ was in His labor. Those made kings and priests will enter the city of God as unseparated families, with fathers and mothers and children passing together through gates Christ opens to the worthy who were faithful workers in their earthly homes. There they receive golden crowns placed upon their heads and worship Jesus by casting their crowns at His feet, giving Him the glory and praising His holy name again and again. Christ as heavenly Teacher leads them to the tree of life growing on either side of the river of life and explains truths they could not understand in this life, giving them higher education in its completeness, while angels unite with them touching golden harps and filling heaven with rich music and songs of triumph to the Lamb. The saved are ushered in through gates swung back on glittering hinges, each with a musical harp placed in the hands to praise God.
They will seek out everyone who tried to help them in this world to thank them and embrace them, then touch their harps until all heaven is filled with rich music and songs of praise and thanksgiving to the Lamb. Sharing in this reward requires being ready now to graduate and enter a higher school. The redeemed who have day by day cast the love of the world out of their hearts, learned fellowship with Christ by experience, and prepared for the Judgment will meet Christ in peace when He comes in the clouds of heaven to be admired in all them that believe. In that day they will shine forth in the glory of the Father and the Son as Christ's trophies of victory, those washed and made white in the blood of the Lamb. Angels touching their golden harps will welcome the King with His redeemed ones as witnesses that His mission of suffering and sacrifice has not been in vain, and a song of triumph will peal forth filling all heaven because Christ has conquered as He enters the heavenly courts accompanied by them.
Those made clean and tried accompany Him at His triumph and bear witness that His mission of suffering and self-sacrifice was not in vain. Those who win souls for Christ will enter the city of God wearing crowns, lay their crowns at Jesus' feet, and join heaven's praise to the Lamb, reflecting the joy of heaven over a sinner's return to God. The redeemed see the people they sought to lead to Jesus saved forever, their salvation showing that the Redeemer did not die in vain and standing as a monument to God's mercy and Christ's love, with heaven answering in praise and thanksgiving. Praising the Redeemer will be the work of the redeemed throughout eternity. Those rescued from sin are washed in Christ's blood, glorify Him, cast their crowns at His feet, and praise Him with songs to the Lamb in heaven.
They behold the King in heaven and fill heaven with songs to the Lamb, and sharing Christ's inheritance connects with having His Spirit and being determined to gain heaven. The hope is to join the family assembled in God's kingdom, becoming members of the royal family and children of the heavenly King, and praising the Lamb there. After souls are converted heaven rejoices as the redeemed cast their crowns at Jesus' feet and join the heavenly song with harps. It is connected with receiving a crown of life in God's kingdom of glory and joining heaven's worship in songs to the Lamb.
Present Life and Preparation
Heaven is full of joy resounding with praise to Him who made a wonderful sacrifice for the redemption of the human race, with the redeemed joining the angelic choir in an anthem of praise. The keynote of the song of heaven is praise and thanksgiving for the Redeemer's sacrifice. Those who will join that heavenly choir must learn on earth the song of heaven whose keynote is thanksgiving. The church on earth is therefore to be full of praise, and Christians are to publish throughout the world the joy of serving Christ. They are to face bravely and rejoice in the Lord through difficulties that try faith and patience.
Those redeemed by Christ's blood from every people are made a kingdom of priests to God and will reign on the earth, and those who lead others to Christ share in this redeemed company and rejoice in the souls saved through their labor, praising the Lamb for making them God's kings and priests. They will see the people they sought to lead to Jesus saved forever. Their salvation shows that the Redeemer did not die in vain and stands as a monument to God's mercy and Christ's love, and heaven answers with praise and thanksgiving.
The redeemed are made a kingdom and priests for God and will reign with Christ, receiving immortal honor from Christ. This promised honor is a reason to give God our affections and service rather than choose friendship with the world. Children who are prepared through Christ's sacrifice and grow in Christian character will be welcomed into God's city, receive the kingdom and crown, and praise the Redeemer.
Redeemed people are bound for a coming kingdom with immortal life in holy, happy harmony. Fitting for service in that future life must begin in this life, with the knowledge essential to stand in the great day of God made the all-important theme, because without previous training none will be prepared to blend into that harmony. That heavenly life must be entered here below by beginning now on this earth to live the life of Christ and to help and lift up those who are cast down and despondent, or the heaven hereafter will never be entered. The redeemed give all the glory to Christ and none to any man, for Christ opens the golden gates and invites them to enter and places a golden harp in the hand, and they sing a song of triumph that the Lamb slain won them to God and to heaven, at last seeing the King in His beauty and beholding His matchless charms and touching the harp to fill heaven with rich music and songs to the Lamb.