CHRIST'S THRONE
CHRIST’S THRONE
Revelation 3:21; Matthew 25:31 - 46; Matthew 19:28; Luke 1:32
I wish to speak about Christ’s throne, not primarily in a prophetic sense, but as to its bearing at the present time. What properly belongs to the future reflects backward, and Christ’s throne is included in this peculiarly, for we are to have part in it; at least, the twelve apostles will, and the overcomers in the assembly of Laodicea will, so that in principle the saints characteristically will have part in Christ’s throne. Therefore present education comes into mind; for, as in regard to all our great destinies, we are to be prepared for them so that we may fit and adorn them.
This subject affords opportunity for help as to the idea of the throne. As it is in the mind of God, it is peculiarly essential to our present education, for we have arrived, in prophetic history, at a time of iron and clay. The divine thought in the head of gold of the image which Nebuchadnezzar saw and which Daniel explained is being lost to view in the world. What is of God relative to the government of this world is being beclouded, and it behoves the saints who are in God’s secrets to assert what the enemy would obliterate. And so the idea of the throne is stated most concisely in the first verse read, that is, the Father’s throne in which Christ has part now, and the Son’s throne, which is for the moment in abeyance, but in which, as He takes it up, we shall have part. The matter comes close to us and raises the issue of government, of rule, in each as we are before God; for a man who learns to rule his own spirit is greater than he that takes a city (Proverbs 16:32). So that the idea begins with oneself; it is reached as [p. 246] each believer, according to divine processes, is able to say, “I myself with the mind serve God’s law”, Romans 7:25. He is controlled in himself and resolves, as in control, to serve God’s law: nor can there be any throne according to God save such as has, for its basis, God’s law — the throne of the universe, if we may speak of it thus, for the Father is addressed by the Son as “Lord of heaven and earth”. Matthew 11:25. Luke 10:21. Rule must be in accord with what He is, and that is the law that governs the universe. So, as I said, beginning with oneself, we learn this great abiding principle, God’s law, not in any specific character, but as a governing principle. Whatever may be required, God must prevail.
This leads to overcoming, seen both in Christ and in the saints. The Father was on the throne; the Lord addressed Him in that way: “I praise thee, Father”, He says, “Lord of the heaven and of the earth”. Matthew 11:25. Luke 10:21. He was the sovereign Ruler, and that throne, the Father’s throne, became the very centre of our present dispensation. We are here tonight in the understanding of it and in the security that it assures to the saints, that what is involved in it is achieved, namely, unmitigated grace. It is the Father’s throne; the gospel issues forth from it, and so does everything that is benign; all is to be enforced authoritatively. There is authority behind the gospel, for “God ... now commandeth all men every where to repent” Acts 17:30; that is authority, but it is grace. So in regard to the great servants that were fitted and furnished to go forth, they carried with them the credentials of that throne. It is not merely the announcement of the gospel in terms, but in such power as to enforce it in grace, “Compel them to come in”. Luke 14:24. Think, dear brethren, of the position as presented in the parable of the great supper: “A certain man made a great supper” Luke 14:16, and he was determined that that house should be filled, and it was filled. “Compel them to come in”.
[p. 247] It is all the outcome of the Father’s throne. It is just a symbol which men would understand, meaning that, in the proclamation of the gospel, of which love is the source, there is power and authority. Men are made doubly responsible; they are responsible for passing by the best thing possible in refusing the gospel, and they are responsible for ignoring divine authority.
Jesus overcame in relation to that throne; He is the Leader in overcoming. “As I also have overcome”, He says, “and have sat down with my Father in his throne”; that is to say, He carried through inviolably, in His ministry, the great principles of grace, as attested in the gospel, in a variety of ways. “They have both seen and hated both me and my Father”, John 15:24 He said. It was in the expression, in the maintenance, in the carrying through, of the principle of overcoming, that He has seated Himself with His Father in His throne. Let us note this well. The Father’s throne is occupied by an overcomer, the idea being that He has overcome in all things that that throne stands for; He has attested to them here below and carried them through inviolably, suffering even unto death, making atonement to make it possible, and has sat down with His Father in His throne. Think of the rightness of the position that He has reached as a Man on the principle of overcoming, so that what He is administering down here is what He knows by experience; what we are engaged in here tonight is known experimentally by Christ. He knows the full force of all that any true evangelist ever experienced or taught. Be it the preaching, He has preached, we are told, the glad tidings to them that were afar off and to them that were nigh. He did it, having experienced the thing down here and having overcome in regard of it, carried the thing right through; He has been seated with His Father as an overcomer on His Father’s throne.
[p. 248] Think of the link between us, dear brethren; if in any little measure we are overcomers, the point of sympathy there is between that glorious Person above and ourselves below! So that the gospel is carried on, for the Father judges no one; hence His throne is for the promulgation of the glad tidings and of all that the Father devises for the blessing of man in this dispensation, and it is administered by the One who has come down here in the very position in which we are. This is a word for us here in the very last period of the assembly’s history, which Laodicea represents. He says, “To him that overcometh will I grant to sit with me in my throne, even as I also overcame, and am set down with my Father in his throne”. What an incentive to go right through now! We are drawing near the end and there is great pressure to cause us to give up. The matter grows wearisome with some, hence the need of maintaining freshness of soul in the service; weariness there may be in it, but not of it, as has often been remarked. Weariness there may be, and the Lord knows that; He has overcome in service and He knows how to support us. Let us think of the greatness of what the Lord has to present to men, flowing from the Father on His throne, which will, as we proceed to the end, ensure us not only a place on Jesus’ throne, but a place with Him in it. Not that He vacates it for a moment, but it is a place with Him in it — how one covets that! This is the result of overcoming in Laodicea.
Now in Matthew 25 we have the throne of His glory — a beautiful expression. “When the Son of man shall come in his glory, and all the holy angels with him, then shall he sit upon the throne of his glory”. There has never been, nor ever will be, anything so glorious, such heavenly and holy pomp, as when the Lord of glory appears thus. He comes in His glory — how wide that thought is! — and the [p. 249] holy angels with Him — all the myriads of them. What a scene, dear brethren, as over against human pageantry! What a glorious prospect is this! And then, He sits on the throne of His glory — as if to enhance the thought. His love for His people is what shines here; so that, in any measure in which we come into the idea of His throne, the obvious lesson is that it must subserve the saints. Any ability I have in the way of rule, or personal influence, must subserve the well-being and blessing and protection of the people of God. What a fine field opens up to us: the youngest believer can protect his fellow-believers; any christian, whatever little ability or influence he has, can use it to serve the saints. It is in accord with the throne of Christ’s glory. Let another molest them, let another ill-treat them, the glory of Christ and His throne is involved. Woe be to those who ill-treat the people of God, the brethren of Christ! It is a question now, not of the power of His throne, but the glory — the throne of His glory; and what can His glory be more, second to His love to His Father, than His love to the saints? It is the shining out of the glory of Christ.
It is a question of His brethren, how they are to be treated. “Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me”: He says that from the throne of His glory. Am I a stranger to it? Any little influence I exercise for the good of the brethren is a reflection of this throne; it is the throne of His glory, it is the Son of man coming in His glory and all the holy angels with Him. Think of the array, the retinue — “all the angels”; who can count them? They are all with Him, as Enoch of old prophesied: “Behold, the Lord has come amidst his holy myriads”, Jude 14. I am speaking now of the glory attached to it and our being qualified for it if we are to have part in it presently, and what we do now, how we regard the [p. 250] saints, the brethren of Christ. He explains: “I was an hungred, and ye gave me meat: I was thirsty, and ye gave me drink” — notice how He goes over the details — “I was a stranger, and ye took me in: naked, and ye clothed me: I was sick, and ye visited me; I was in prison, and ye came unto me”. See how the Lord goes over the little things, as we may call them. We understand well enough, I believe, the prophetic bearing of this chapter; I am not speaking of that so much, but of the present bearing of it, the reflection of it on ourselves as we have part in this. Have I part in it? Am I learning this glorious matter, the matter of the throne of His glory, and that it refers to the saints, our treatment of the brethren? How dreadful to ill-treat the brethren! Think of what you are doing: you are dishonouring the throne of His glory; you are doing dishonour to yourself if you are one of His children. In a variety of ways we may ill-treat one another. We may fail in what is positive, even if we do not actually ill-treat them. As He says, “I was an hungred, and ye gave me no meat: I was thirsty, and ye gave me no drink”. He is speaking to us from the throne of His glory; that is, the throne that is peculiarly fitted for the shining out of what He is in relation to His brethren.
We turn with sorrow to the awful scene that is in mind, but the glory is shining; let us not be afraid, dear brethren, of discriminatory judgment among the brethren, for it is glory. The judicial glory attaching to the saints is a matter of great importance, and if we are obliged to be the executors of judgment in any way, there is glory attaching to it. We mourn the necessity, of course, but still judicial glory is glory, and it is seen here. It is not indeed the judgment exactly, it is the throne of glory, an executive throne. It is not simply a throne or a judgment-seat for enquiry into matters, it is an executive matter; that is, as applied to ourselves, it is an [p. 251] assembly matter. There is no need of witnesses; the facts are all presented. The Lord says, “I was an hungred, and ye gave me no meat”. He is not raising the question; it is a fact. The facts are all stated, all attested, and it is a question of execution, not enquiry or deliberation — that is the throne. So the terrible words: “Depart from me, ye cursed, into everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his angels”. So, dear brethren, let us not be afraid of stating this. Matthew continually states that the extreme of judgment and the extreme of penalty should be executed on those who fail to do what is right to the brethren. Has that not a voice? I think it has. I should tremble to be found in the presence of this throne of glory in any way persecuting the Lord’s people. But then, on the other hand, “the righteous into life eternal”, namely, the righteous nations, from the prophetic point of view. This is a world matter in the full result; there has never been such an occasion as this before. The nations, it says, are all to be gathered before Christ, before the throne of His glory; and what an issue! It is no question of territorial rights, or the like, or possibility of war. No, the moral issue in this great matter is the saints, how they have been treated; and what a voice this has for us! “The righteous” — how lovely to be amongst them! — “into life eternal”, that is to say, the saved nations. The chapter teaches us that those who ill-treat the Lord’s people in a future day will go into everlasting punishment, but the righteous nations will enter into everlasting life.
Now I desire to say a word about the regeneration, in chapter 19. It is a question of following Christ, not now a world affair. Peter is enquiring what those who forsook all and followed Christ should have. It is a question now of the regeneration, and this brings out another matter that enters into our present position, namely, not only that we shall share in Christ’s throne, but that there are twelve thrones.
The word ‘regeneration’ is only used once more in the New Testament, in Titus 3:5, where it applies to the conversion and blessing of any believer. It is a great general thought and it applies at the present time, as it does in the future, for we have to do with the regeneration. If we are to rule amongst those who are regenerate in the regeneration, then certain qualifications are necessary. It is not now a question of looking after them, giving them food and drink and clothes and visiting them in prison. No, here it is a question of sitting on twelve thrones judging the twelve tribes of Israel in the regeneration. God has begun to work over again — the regeneration means that — and He has brought in another order of things, and we have to do with this new order of things. It is all in our favour, and, as followers of Christ, we may have the privilege of judging in the midst of it, but judging the twelve tribes. Notice the number twelve, both in regard to the rulers and those to be ruled. How shall we rule among our brethren save in love, and how shall those ruled be ruled save as they are actuated by love? Think of the blessedness, dear brethren, of such a position, of the throne of Christ’s glory. It is also called here, as you will observe, the throne of His glory. It is another view, but no less a view; it is a question now of the saints having each a throne. I believe verily that each believer has a throne in the measure in which he has power to influence in love; for what can this be otherwise? If I think of the twelve tribes of Israel, they are intact; they can never be broken up; it is a question of divine counsels. I look at the brethren from that point of view, and, as regards rule, I am standing in relation to others who do the same thing, that is, we are ruling on the principle of twelve, on the principle of influence in love. Let us each challenge his own heart: Did I ever influence a person on the principle of holy love? As soon as you begin to [p. 253] influence on this principle, you begin to rule on the principle of the twelve thrones and you are ruling twelve tribes. They are intact, they refer to the saints, I understand, as available to heaven, amenable to the influence of heaven, but that influence exerted through persons. Each christian has it within his range to influence another and another and another; the wider his range the more distinguished his throne. I think you will follow, dear brethren, what I am meaning. The point is now to exercise influence in holy love. Would that I could set the brethren in movement! The very youngest can begin with influencing another, his sister or brother, or even his parents — I have known of this — influencing another in love. How fitting is the throne of Christ’s glory in the midst of those twelve thrones!
Then, finally, there is the thought in Luke of Christ’s throne as carrying down all that preceded it. It is a cumulative thought, and, in the light of this, I am moving in relation to the testimony from the beginning, and this leads me to the twenty-four elders who have thrones too, twenty-four thrones. Now the idea here is that Christ’s throne carries down what preceded it. It is the throne of David and the rule is to be over the house of Jacob for ever, carrying down great thoughts from the seed-plot of God’s testimony. I am aiming at enlargement in our view, that God’s testimony is one, and, whatever I have, it is to maintain the great thought of it from beginning to end. Whatever influence I have, I allow that thought into my service, into what I am doing, into my general bearing and influence. Younger ones who need help come into it, into the greatness of the thing that this throne is to settle everything, to stabilise everything. It is the one place where it is said it goes on for ever. The throne of Christ is an eternal thought and it carries through every thread of divine authority and stabilises it, both at the present time and in the future. “He shall be great, and shall be called the Son of the Highest: and the Lord God shall give unto him the throne of his father David: and he shall reign over the house of Jacob for ever; and of his kingdom there shall be no end” Luke 1:32,33. It is His throne by inheritance; it is a hereditary throne. He comes into it, it is given to Him, and He rules over the house of Jacob for ever. It is a question of the vessels of the testimony and the whole matter being established on the principle of divine authority.
May God bless these thoughts to us!