In their participation in the coming kingdom the overcoming believers will also gain the soul, save the soul, and enjoy the salvation of the soul. First Peter 1:5 says that there is “a salvation ready to be revealed at the last time.” Verse 9 speaks of receiving the end of our faith, the salvation of our souls. Our spirit has been saved through regeneration (John 3:5-6). Our body will be saved, redeemed, through the coming transfiguration (Phil. 3:21; Rom. 8:23). Our soul will be saved from sufferings into the full enjoyment of the Lord at His unveiling, His coming back. In Matthew 10:39 the Lord Jesus said, “He who finds his soul-life shall lose it, and he who loses his soul-life for My sake shall find it.” To find the soul-life is to allow the soul to have its enjoyment and to not suffer. To lose the soul-life is to cause the soul to suffer the loss of its enjoyment. If we, the believers, allow our soul to suffer the loss of its enjoyment in this age for the Lord’s sake, not loving our soul, that is, our self, and if we live by the Lord and according to His standard, then when He comes back He will reward us with the kingdom, and we will have no problems, sorrows, or sufferings in our soul. However, if we are defeated believers, we will be punished during the kingdom age, and that punishment will involve our soul, with the gnashing of teeth as a sign of suffering in our soul. In Luke 9:24 the Lord said, “Whoever wants to save his soul-life shall lose it; but whoever loses his soul-life for My sake, this one shall save it.” To save the soul in this verse is the same as finding the soul in Matthew 10:39.
Many believers are loose or indifferent in following the Lord and only want things such as greatness and prosperity. This is to love the soul for the enjoyment of the soul. Such believers will lose the soul when the Lord comes back. But some believers are willing to follow the Lord in this age, to suffer and be dishonored for the Lord’s name. This is to suffer in the soul and thereby lose the soul. Such believers will gain the soul and enjoy the salvation of the soul when the Lord comes back (1 Pet. 1:5, 9) and will be saved from the realm of suffering into a realm of comfort. This is also referred to in Hebrews 10:39: “We are not of those who shrink back to ruin but of those who have faith to the gaining of the soul.”
The Lord promised the overcoming believers that they will participate in the joy of the Lord. In Matthew 25 the Lord Jesus twice said, “Enter into the joy of your master” (vv. 21, 23). The joy of the Lord signifies the enjoyment of the Lord in the coming kingdom. This refers to inward satisfaction, not to outward position. When the Lord Jesus comes back, He will enjoy the earth. Satan will be bound, and Christ will recover the earth; the entire earth will be under His reign. By repossessing the earth, the Lord will have His enjoyment. Then He will invite His followers, His partners, to participate in this enjoyment, to enter into His joy.
In the coming kingdom the overcoming believers will reign with Christ. Revelation 20:4 says, “They lived and reigned with Christ for a thousand years,” and verse 6 says, “They will be priests of God and of Christ and will reign with Him for a thousand years.” Furthermore, 2 Timothy 2:12 says, “If we endure, we will also reign with Him.” These verses indicate that in the coming manifestation of the kingdom the overcoming believers will reign with Christ as His co-kings.
The Lord promised the overcoming believers that they will rule over the nations in the coming manifestation of the kingdom of the heavens. This promise is to the believers who overcome and keep the Lord’s works until the end. Therefore, the Lord will give them authority over the nations, and they will shepherd the nations with an iron rod (Rev. 2:26-27). In Psalm 2:9 God gave Christ authority to rule over the nations. In the coming kingdom Christ will give the same authority to the overcoming believers so that they can exercise His authority to shepherd the nations with Him. This is a prize to the overcomers from the Lord in the millennial kingdom.
In the Lord’s teaching concerning faithfulness in Luke 19:11-27, He indicates that the overcoming believers will rule over the nations, having authority over ten cities or over five cities. Having authority over cities signifies the overcomers’ reigning over the nations (Rev. 2:26; 20:4, 6). Furthermore, this indicates that the overcoming believers’ reigning in the coming kingdom as a reward will differ in extent.