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The Daily Word of Righteousness
Eight Appearances of the Victorious Saints, continued
And I saw thrones, and they sat upon them, and judgment was given unto them: and I saw the souls of them that were beheaded for the witness of Jesus, and for the word of God, and which had not worshipped the beast, neither his image, neither had received his mark upon their foreheads, or in their hands; and they lived and reigned with Christ a thousand years. But the rest of the dead lived not again until the thousand years were finished. This is the first resurrection. Blessed and holy is he that hath part in the first resurrection: on such the second death hath no power, but they shall be priests of God and of Christ, and shall reign with him a thousand years. (Revelation 20:4-6)
You hardly ever hear Revelation 20:4-6 preached. This is a shame. It is one of the most important passages of the Scriptures because it tells us about the first resurrection, that is, the resurrection that will take place when the Lord appears.
John saw "thrones." This is because the purpose of the first resurrection is to exchange the people who sit on the thrones from wicked spirits to the victorious saints. The thrones in the air govern the spiritual environment of the earth.
Being "beheaded for the witness of Jesus and for the Word of God" refers, we believe, to those who choose to forsake their carnal mind and put on the mind of Christ. I think we mentioned this earlier in connection with the eighth chapter of Romans.
The more experienced we become in the ways of the Lord the more we realize our biggest problem is our mind. A principal difference between merely religious people and the victorious saints is that the saints have learned not to lean on their own understanding while the believers who are living and ministering "in the flesh" trust their own mind and their own judgments and decisions. Boy can they make trouble for you!
The reason "judgment" has been assigned to these throne-dwellers is that they do not judge according to their own mind but according to the mind of the Lord, which they detect by looking to Jesus instead of to their own thoughts and emotions.
We already have discussed the worship of the beast and his image, and the taking of his mark on our forehead or in our hand, when we wrote previously of the victorious saints standing on the sea of glass mixed with fire.
The statement that the victorious saints "lived" means they were raised from the dead. We of today put altogether too much emphasis on life in the spirit realm. God does not consider us to be completely alive until our body has been raised from the dead and filled with His Life. The great hope of the Church is the resurrection from the dead unto eternal life in Christ and our subsequent life on the earth.
They "reigned" with Christ a thousand years, whether literally or figuratively. The purpose of the first resurrection is rulership. This is why the first resurrection must be attained. It is not for halfhearted believers.
To be continued.