We have now come to the last of the seven overcomeths, which brings us up to the period just after supping with Jesus on high and the setting up of His theocratic throne in the earth. "To him that overcometh will I grant to sit with mo in my throne, even as I also overcame and am set clown with my Father in His throne." To take an explicit promise like this, and confine it only to a mystical and spiritual significance, is to do great violence to the word of God. We know that a "throne" is the head and center of a government, of a kingdom, and to sit in a throne means to occupy the place of royalty and share the supreme authority, and unless Jesus has a real literal kingdom of His own, and unless He is going to receive His perfectly loyal followers into participation with Him in the dominion and ruler ship in that kingdom, then there are scores of passages of Scripture which are utterly meaningless. In the book of Daniel we have a description of four great kingdoms that should arise in the earth, and then a description of the kingdom of the Son of Man, which should break in pieces all the other kingdoms, as a stone cut out of the mountain without hands.

Now, if the kingdom of the Son of Man is merely mystical, then the other four kingdoms are merely mystical also, and on the other hand, if the four kingdoms described by Daniel were real, veritable kingdoms on this earth, then with the same absolute certainty the kingdom of the Lord Jesus will be real and veritable upon this earth. The one is no more mythical than is the other. In looking into this promise of sitting with Christ in His throne, let us consider the following items:

1. The Scriptures nowhere tell us that the Lord Jesus has yet occupied His own throne. This may startle some at first, but let the Word of God settle it. The eternal Son of God is equal with the Father in nature, and substance, and attributes. But let us remember that God the Father has given to His Son Jesus, as a God-Man, as the Son of Man, and as the Savior of Men, a distinct throne and government over man and over this earth. Now all the Scriptures which speak of Jesus ascending on high represent Him as sitting "with the Father on the Father's throne," and "at the right hand of the Father," as a "mediator between God and man," but not one of these Scriptures speak of Jesus being on His own throne as the Son of Man. We read in the 7th chapter of Acts that when Stephen was being stoned to death he looked up into heaven and saw the glory of God, and Jesus standing on the right hand of God, and he said: "I see the heavens opened and the Son of Man standing on the right hand of God." Here there is no vision of Jesus being on His Messianic throne, but of His being at the right hand of the Father's throne.

In the second chapter of Acts, Peter is expounding the Messiahship of Jesus as the lineal son and heir of King David, and quotes that Psalm where the Lord said to Jesus: "Sit thou on my right hand, until I make thy enemies thy footstool." God the Father has promised to conquer the enemies of Jesus, and especially to subdue and bring back to Christ the twelve tribes of Israel. This the Father will do in His judgment as the Ancient of Days, in the great tribulations He will make the nations of the earth, and especially the descendants of Abraham, so humble that they will gladly welcome Jesus back from the wedding, and be His footstool for His millennial kingdom. At that time Jesus will ascend His own throne as King of the World and Messiah of the twelve tribes. But during the interval between the ascension of Christ from Mt. Olivet to His second coming, Jesus is on the Father's throne, interceding for His people, and awaiting the hour to take His own throne.

In the third chapter of Colossians the believer' is represented as rising from the death of sin, and seeking with all his heart those things which are above, ' 'where Christ sitteth on the right hand of God." Here there is no allusion to Christ being on His own throne, but on the Father's throne. We read in the ninth chapter of Hebrews that Christ has entered into the holy of holies in heaven, "to appear in the presence of God for us." We again read that He is "at the right hand of the Majesty on high," and again that He is on the throne of grace, that is, of merciful intercession, where He can bestow the gifts of repentance, and saving faith, and salvation. But in none of these Scriptures do we get the representation of Jesus being on His own individual throne as a glorified man to govern the world.

2. When we come to search into all those numerous passages that set forth Jesus as a ruler and a king over the nations, we learn that He, as a glorified man, has been appointed of God the Father to rule this world. Just as literally as God made Adam and Eve to be a king and queen, and to have dominion over everything on this earth, so Jesus, as the second Adam and the heir of David, is^to own and govern this world, not merely as an eternal person of the Godhead, but as an incarnate God, as a perfectly holy and obedient man, as the son of Mary and the son of David, He is to rule this world. In His divinity as the Creator of All Worlds, He owns this globe, but in His humanity, here is where His body was prepared for Kim, out of the dust of this planet. Here is where He was born of a human mother and had His temporal generation. This earth has been moistened with His tears and baptized with His blood, and He as a Man has absolute rights over this planet, and over all its population, in a manner different from His rights over any other material world. This line of thought is often utterly omitted when people read the Scriptures concerning the kingdom of Jesus.

David was the founder of God's theocratic government among men. He was a man and a king after God's own heart, and the Lord made an eternal covenant with David, that of the seed of His flesh He would raise up a king that should govern this world forever and ever. Jesus was, in His human nature, the lineal offspring of King David, and is to occupy David's throne, and enlarge, and perfect, and establish, that theocratic government, which was started in the reign of King David. Hence Jesus is compared to David, far more than to any and all other men in the Bible, and His kingdom as a glorified man is so frequently termed ''the kingdom of David," and His throne as a son of man, is often called "the throne of David." In the third chapter of Hosea, we read the prophecy of the kingdom of Israel going into eclipse, -until the millennial reign of Jesus. 6 'For the children of Israel shall abide many days without a king, and without a prince, and without a sacrifice." These words are literally fulfilled in the cessation of the Jewish government, which has now lasted nearly thirteen centuries. "Afterward shall the children of Israel return, and seek the Lord their God, and David their King, and shall fear the Lord and His goodness in the latter days." Here is a specific promise of the return of the twelve tribes of Israel to the Lord in the latter days, that is, in the millennium, and then Jesus, who is here called David, will be their king, and they will love and serve Him throughout His millennial reign. Language could hardly be more definite than this prophecy, and that language has not yet been fulfilled. We read in the 30th chapter of Jeremiah of the time when the people of "Israel shall return to the Lord, and to David their king, and that at that time their King David which is Jesus, shall save them from afar, and Jacob shall return, and shall be in rest, and be quiet, and none shall make him afraid."

The prophecies of Isaiah, Jeremiah, and Ezekiel, contain many descriptions of the theocratic reign of the Lord Jesus on this earth, as King David, or as the Son of David. To deny the literal fulfillment of these prophecies is to convert the Word of God into Swedenborgian mysticism, and do violence to all the rules of scriptural interpretation.

In the 34th chapter of Ezekiel, we have a most exact and beautiful portrayal of the reign of the Lord on this earth, under the name of David, at which time, "He will make with all nations a covenant of peace, and will cause evil beasts to cease out of the land, and the people shall dwell safely in the wilderness, and sleep in the woods,'' and at that time He will make the trees of the field yield their fruit, and make the earth to yield her increase, and everything shall be safe in the land, and this King David shall break the bands of every yoke, and be at that time a plant of renown. I these words do not mean exactly what they say, then prophecy is a mere myth. In the first chapter of the Gospel by Luke, the angel Gabriel, who announced to Mary the birth of Jesus, told her expressly, "that her son Jesus should be great, and should be called the Son of the Highest, and that the Lord God should give unto Him the throne of His Father David, and that He should reign over the house of Jacob forever, and that of His kingdom there should be no end." Now remember, that these words of the angel Gabriel were addressed to Mary as the Mother of Jesus, and they prophesy the throne that Jesus should have as a man, and as the royal heir of King David. Jesus has never yet ruled over the twelve tribes of Jacob, as their own king, and so this prophecy has not yet been fulfilled, but it is to have an exact and literal accomplishment.

If we notice the parables of Jesus concerning His second coming, He so often says that at that time "the Son of Man shall sit in the throne of His glory," and at the same time those who have followed Him fully shall be glorified and sit with Him on thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel." (Matt. 19:27, 28.) And again, He speaks of "the Son of Man coming in His kingdom." He says that "when the Son of Man shall come in His glory, that then He shall sit upon the throne of His glory." (Matt. 25:31.) Jesus never speaks of sitting on His throne in His glory except in connection with His second coming.

Thus we see, from a great number of Scriptures, the theocratic throne of David is to be restored and established in a literal government over all the nations of this world. In harmony with this line of exposition, we see in the 19th chapter of Revelation an account of "the Lamb's wife making herself ready, and being arrayed in fine linen, and then of her being called to the marriage supper of the Lamb; and this is followed by a glorious description of the Lord Jesus, with eyes as a flame of fire, and on His head many crowns, and being clothed in a vesture dipped in blood, and the armies in heaven, that is, the glorified members of His bridehood, following him, riding upon white horses, and this is followed by His taking charge of all the nations, and smiting the refractory elements of society as with a rod of iron, and then of His assuming the title of King of kings and Lord of lords."

Thus we see that each verse presents a successive unfolding of consecutive events which are concurrent with the marriage supper, and immediately following that supper. This is the same line of truth presented in the closing verses of this third chapter of Revelation, where the translated saints and the resurrection saints are to sup with Jesus, and this is followed by Christ assuming the throne of David, and re-establishing the theocratic kingdom on earth, and then taking the glorified members of His bridehood into partnership with Himself, and giving them places in His government as sitting with Him on the throne. It is in the light of this interpretation that we are to understand that large class of Scriptures which set forth that "if we suffer with Him we shall also reign with Him." But let us remember that the word suffer in this connection does not mean any kind of suffering, but it is the same word which is used of the crucifixion of Jesus, that is, "if Ave are crucified with Him we shall reign with Him." There is not a single text of Scripture which represents the new birth of itself as qualifying any one to reign with Christ in His coming kingdom, but in every single place where reigning with Christ is spoken of there are terms used which indicate something more than justification, terms strongly expressive of being dead to sin, of following Christ to the death, of being purified, made white, and tried.

3. Now Christ affirms that those who are the overcomers will share His coming kingdom just as emphatically and as surely as He at the present time as a glorified man is sharing the Father's government in heaven. Jesus tells us in this 21st verse that He has overcome,. and is now sitting down with the Father in the Father's throne, and just as much as that is a literal fact, so He affirms that His perfectly loyal disciples, shall sit in His government when He reigns on the earth.

In a vast empire there are a great many departments of government. When we look into the structure of the Kingdom of Great Britain or the United States we find a great many departments of government and each of the heads of these various departments have under them officers and assistants, divided and subdivided, extending into ramified details, covering the whole territory of government in its legislative and judicial and executive functions, at home and abroad, in its commercial, educational, religious, agricultural, scientific, and social relations, furnishing busy employment and a field for the exercise of innumerable gifts and capabilities to many thousands of persons. Thus when the Lord Jesus, as a glorified man and the crowned heir of David, shall sit on His throne as the King of this World, He will institute the greatest and most glorious and most diversified empire ever known to the human mind. All the kings that have ever existed in this world in their most perfect state of glory will be in comparison with the theocratic Kingdom of Jesus only as a feeble glowworm to the splendor of a noonday summer sun. Jesus Himself speaks of Himself and His glorified disciples "as shining like the sun in that kingdom."

We are told by the prophet Daniel that during the great tribulations under the judgments of the Ancient of Days, "that the thrones of the earth will be cast down/' that is, every human government on this earth will go to wreck in those tribulations, and all the ecclesiastical organization of the fallen churches will crumble to pieces, all secret societies and corporate organizations and federated associations will at that time crumble to pieces, and when Jesus "returns from the wedding to take His kingdom," He will find the people on the earth in a state of practical anarchy and governmental dissolution. It will be out of the wreck of all these forms of government that Jesus will organize His kingdom and remodel the geography of the globe and appoint to each member of His' glorified bridehood an appropriate office of service and a principality of honor in that kingdom. These various principalities are more distinctly set forth in the 4th chapter of Revelation which we are to hereafter consider,