In this message we shall cover the remaining aspects of the overcomers in the church.
In Matthew 19:29 the Lord Jesus speaks of inheriting eternal life. The overcomers will inherit eternal life in the millennium. To inherit eternal life is to be rewarded in the coming age with the enjoyment of the divine life in the manifestation of the kingdom of the heavens. Certain believers who have received eternal life enjoy it to some extent; however, they do not enjoy it to the proper extent. As a result, when the Lord Jesus comes back at the time of the manifestation of the kingdom, they will miss the enjoyment of the millennial kingdom. To miss the enjoyment of the divine life in the coming kingdom is to miss the enjoyment of eternal life during that dispensation.
When the overcoming believers participate in the coming kingdom, they will inherit eternal life and thereby have a fuller enjoyment of the divine life. In the manifestation of the kingdom, the overcoming believers will participate in the enjoyment of eternal life with the Lord Jesus. In the church life today we are enjoying the divine life, the eternal life, but this enjoyment is not in full. In the manifestation of the kingdom of the heavens, the overcomers will enjoy the eternal life in a fuller way. The overcomers, therefore, will be the first group of believers to enjoy eternal life in full.
For the overcomers to inherit eternal life in the millennium is to have their names remain in the book of life. In Revelation 3:5 the Lord Jesus says, “He who overcomes, he shall be clothed in white garments, and I will by no means erase his name out of the book of life, and I will confess his name before My Father and before His angels.” The name being erased out of the book of life indicates that the name was already written in the book of life. The book of life is a divine record of the names of those who partake of the blessings God has prepared for them. The names of all the saints chosen by God and predestinated to partake of these blessings are written in this book (Luke 10:20). These blessings are in three stages: the church, the millennial kingdom, and eternity. The blessings in the stage of the church, such as forgiveness, redemption, regeneration, eternal life, and the divine nature, are all the initial portions. All God’s chosen ones whose names are written in the book of life have a share in these initial portions to begin their spiritual life. If they cooperate with God’s supplying grace, they will mature in life in the church age, and this earlier maturity in life will constitute a prize with which the Lord will reward them at His coming back. However, those who do not mature in life in the church age will not be ready at the Lord’s coming back to enter into the millennial kingdom and share in the divine blessing of that age as a prize. Therefore, during the millennial kingdom their names will be erased from the book of life. After being disciplined by the Lord and growing in life unto maturity during the millennial kingdom, they will share in the divine blessings in the stage of eternity. Then their names should be written in the book of life again. This means that all God’s chosen ones whose names are written in the book of life and who have been brought into the participation of the divine blessings in the stage of the church shall “by no means perish to the age” (John 10:28, lit.), that is, they shall by no means lose the divine blessing of eternity. But some, who will not cooperate with the Lord in the church age, will be dispensationally disciplined by the Lord during the millennial kingdom and will miss the divine blessings in that stage. However, the names of those who have lived an overcoming life in the church age will remain in the book of life during the coming age of the kingdom.
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