The manifestation of the kingdom, the kingdom in its manifestation, will be a reward and an enjoyment to us in the millennial kingdom in the coming age (Matt. 16:27; 25:21, 23). Today, in the reality of the kingdom, we have the exercise and the discipline. In the coming age, in the manifestation of the kingdom, we shall have a reward and an enjoyment. If we read Matthew 16:27 in its context, we shall see that the Lord’s coming to reward every man according to his work is related to the manifestation of the kingdom. In Matthew 25:21 and 23, the Lord says to His faithful servants, “Well done, thou good and faithful servant: thou hast been faithful over a few things, I will make thee ruler over many things: enter thou into the joy of thy lord.” To enter into the joy of the Lord is to be in the manifestation of the kingdom during the thousand years.
If we take the Spirit’s exercise and God’s discipline in the reality of the kingdom today, we shall receive the Lord’s reward and enter into the enjoyment of the coming Sabbath rest (4:9) in the manifestation of the kingdom in the coming age. If we do not accept the Spirit’s exercise and God’s discipline today, we shall miss the coming kingdom in its manifestation as a reward. We shall not be rewarded with the manifestation of the kingdom at the Lord’s coming back; we shall have no right to enter into the glory of the kingdom to participate in Christ’s reign in the millennial kingdom; and we shall lose our birthright to inherit the earth in the coming age, to be the royal priests serving God and Christ in His manifested glory, and to be the co-kings with Christ ruling over all the nations with His divine authority (Rev. 20:4, 6).
To miss the coming kingdom and to lose our birthright in the coming age does not mean that we shall perish, but that we shall lose the reward. Although we may lose the reward, we shall never lose our salvation (1 Cor. 3:14-15). Our salvation is secured forever. But whether or not we receive the reward and the birthright in the manifestation of the kingdom depends upon our exercise today.