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second coming: "And, behold, I come
quickly; and
my reward is with me,
to give every man according as his
work shall be" (Revelation 22: 12).
But just what will that reward be?
Will it be golden harps ·on which the
saints can play heavenly music for all
eternity?
Notice the reward which Christ
will give to a ll overcomers: "But that
which ye have a lready hold fast tilll
come.
And he that overcometh, and
keepeth my works unto the end, to
him will
1
give
power over the na–
tions:
and he shall
rule
them with a
rod of iron ..." (Revelation 2:25-
27).
Daniel also prophesied of the time
when Christ and the saints shall rule
this entire world: " ... And, behold,
one like the Son of man
carne
with
the
clouds
of heaven.... And there
was given him dominion, and glory,
and a
kingdom,
that a ll people, na–
tions, and languages, should serve
him: bis dominion is an everlasting
dominion, which shall not pass away,
and bis kingdom that which shall not
be destroyed" (Daniel 7:13- 14).
This "Son of man" will not rule
this earth by Himself: "But the
saints
of the most High shall take the
kingdom, and possess the kingdom
for ever, even for ever and ever"
(verse 18).
This rulership will be worldwide:
"And the kingdom and dominion,
and the greatness of the kingdom
un–
der the whole heaven,
shall be given
to the people of the saints of the most
High, whose kingdom is an everlast–
ing kingdom, and all dominions shall
serve and obey him" (verse 27) .
Truly, in that day, "the Lord
[Christ] shall be
king over al/ the
earth"
(Zechariah 14:9) . Christ will
sit on David's throne. Where will
that throne be located? "At that time
they shall call
Jerusalem
the
throne
of the Lord;
and all the nations shall
be gathered unto it" (Jeremiah
3:17).
The heavenly signs mentioned in
the book of Daniel and the 24th
chapter of Matthew are also spoken
of elsewhere in the Bible:
" Then the moon shall be con–
founded, and the sun ashamed, when
the LORD of hosts shall reign in
mount Zion, and in Jerusalem ..."
The
PLAIN TRUTH Oecember 1979
{l sa. 24:23). That's right here on
this
good earth!
Salnts Rule on Earth
The saints, who at that time will have
been redeemed from this earth, will
finally exclaim: "And [God] hast
made us unto our God kings and
priests: and we shall
reign on the
earth"
(Revelation 5:10). Notice
that the saints will not rule in heaven,
but on the earth.
One of Christ's parables reveals
where
the saints shall rule. The disci–
ples mistakenly thought the " kingdom
of God should immediately appear"
(Luke 19:1 1). Christ gave the disci–
ples a parable to show that it would be
quite 'sorne time before He would
re-
We need to have
something so/id as the
foundation for our
belief We must base our
beliefs on the Bible;
otherwise they will come
crumbling down sooner
or later.
' '
turn
to this earth to set up His king–
dom: "A certain nobleman [Christ]
went into a far country [heaven] to
receive for himself a kingdom, and to
return.
And he called bis ten servants,
and delivered them ten pounds, and
said unto them, Occupy [util ize] till
I
come" (Luke 19:12,
13) .
Those who were industrious and
who gained a good return on their
master's money were given rulership
over "ten cities" (verse 17) and "five
cities" (verse 19) . This shows that
tbe glorified saints in the Kingdom of
God will be given
rule
or
authority
over the nations of this eartb.
Wben Christ and His glorified
saints sit on thrones governing the
nations of this earth, then tbere will
be peace, happiness and prosperity
for all nations. The " government [of
tbe whole earth] shall be upon bis
[Christ's] shoulder ..." (lsaiab 9:6).
And, "Of the increase of bis
govern–
ment
and
peace
there shall be no end,
upon the throne of David, and upon
bis kingdom, to order it, and to estab–
lish it witb judgment and with jus–
tice ..." (verse 7).
A Utoplan Earth
The wonderful world tomorrow, the
utopian age, will at long last dawn
upon this earth. Cbrist will judge the
world with ·righteousness (lsaiab
11:1 -5). Then wild, ravenous and
deadly animals and reptiles will
dwell at peace with the domesticated
animals. "Tbey shall not hurt nor
destroy in a ll my ho1y mountain: for
the earth shall be full of the knowl–
edge of the Lord, as the waters cover
the sea" (verse 9) . At that time, "tbe
desert sha ll rejoice, and blossom as
the rose" (Isaiah 35:1). " ... For in
the wilderness shall waters break out ,
andstreams in thedesert" (verse6).
The nations of the earth will at last
receive a "pure language" (Zepha–
niah 3:9) and will not be cursed with
the confusion of the tongues extant
today. Then "the
p/owman sha/1
overtake the reaper .
..
and they
shall build the waste cities, and in–
habit them; and they shall plant
vine–
yards,
and drink the wine thereof;
they shall also make
gardens,
and eat
the fruit ofthem" (Amos 9:13-14). ·
Men will not haveto live in crowded,
dirty, inhospitable, cursed cities wbere
they don't even bave a backyard in
whicb tbeir children can play.
And tbere shall be
no more war!
"And he [Christ] shall judge
among many people, and rebuke
strong nations afar off; and they shall
beat their swords into plowshares,
and their spears into pruninghooks:
nation shall not lift up a sword
against nation,
neither shall they
learn war any more.
But they shall
sit every man under bis vine and un–
der his fig tree; and none sha ll make
them afraid ..." (Micah 4:3-4) .
Wbat is the reward of the saints?
Rulersbip with Christ right here on
this earth! Tbe saints will assist
Christ in governing a ll nations, in
bringing peace, happiness, prosperity
and j oy supreme to a 11 man–
kind. o
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