The Nonovercomer
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God has determined man will rule the works of God’s hands. Through Christ the spiritual nature of man will rule the material realm in righteousness, and he is made ready to rule by the tribulations and lessons he experiences during his lifetime. Therefore the New Testament Scriptures warn of chastisement when referring to those who neglect the development of spiritual righteousness and holiness, of those who continue in spiritual slothfulness, remaining in bondage to their flesh and soul.
The Scriptures speak of outer darkness, of weeping and gnashing of teeth, of not escaping the anger of God. Expressions of displeasure and anger are directed toward the Lord’s servants who do not do His will. The admonitions of the Gospels and the Epistles are not directed toward the unsaved, toward those who know little or nothing of the Lord, but toward the elect.
The New Testament is a book of spiritual warfare, and the Lord Jesus requires that His soldiers be under the strictest discipline as He Himself is totally obedient to the Father.
The entire Scriptures are directed toward the Seed of Abraham, toward those who have been called out of the world in order to become a holy nation to God—a royal priesthood that will rule the material creation.
The Lord Jesus Christ came into the world so that to mankind may be restored all the glory of Paradise—in particular, access to the tree of life. Access to the tree of life prevents death from entering the material realm and causing it to decay. Also, immeasurable glory is to be added to mankind. Eden was but the faintest shadow of what God has in mind for His offspring, for the persons who have been created in His image.
All depends on the development of ruling spirits whom God can trust to maintain the observance of His laws, the doing of His will in the earth. "Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven."
The rewards to the overcomers, as set forth in the second and third chapters of the Book of Revelation, seem to be increments in the development of eternal life in our personality so we can serve God effectively as the overseers of a released creation.
The "seven churches that are in Asia" (Revelation 1:11), to whom the Lord Jesus spoke, represent the Christian churches on the earth.
The Word of Christ to the seven churches serves to divide the believers into those who are members of the true Church, of the Body of Christ, of the ruling priesthood, and those believers who are members of the Christian assemblies but who are failing to grasp that for which they have been grasped by the Lord.
The overcomers will prove to be a firstfruits of the true Church of the Lord Jesus Christ. It is only they who, in the present hour, are on their way toward becoming the spiritual life of the Kingdom of God.
We think the overcomers are the firstfruits of the true Church, the true Bride of the Lamb, because of what the Scriptures state concerning the Bride of the Lamb and because of what is written concerning those who do not overcome but who themselves are overcome.
We are not contrasting people who are outside the Christian assemblies with those who are inside. We are discussing only those who are part of the golden lampstands of the Lord.
First of all, what does the Scripture state with respect to the Bride of the Lamb?
My dove, my undefiled is but one; she is the only one of her mother, she is the choice one of her that bare her. The daughters saw her, and blessed her; yea, the queens and the concubines, and they praised her. (Song of Solomon 6:9)
That he might present it to himself a glorious church, not having spot, or wrinkle, or any such thing; but that it should be holy and without blemish. (Ephesians 5:27)
It is apparent that the Wife of the Lamb is to be perfect in every respect. There will be no blemish in her.
Those who "overcome" the world, Satan, and their own lusts and self-will are given rewards that are in keeping with the righteousness, holiness, and glory of the Wife of the Lamb.
What about those who do not overcome but rather are overcome, as the Apostle says:
For if after they have escaped the pollutions of the world through the knowledge of the Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, they are again entangled therein, and overcome, the latter end is worse with them than the beginning. (II Peter 2:20)
There are many expressions of displeasure and anger toward the sinful, disobedient, and slothful servants of the Lord to be found from the Gospels through to the Book of Revelation.
There will be weeping and gnashing of teeth when the children of the Kingdom see the beauty and glory of the Kingdom and realize they themselves cannot enter because of their sinfulness, slothfulness, disobedience, fear, and unbelief.
Let us think for a moment about the spiritual condition of the nonovercomer and see if it coincides with what we would expect to be true of the Church, the unblemished Wife of the Lamb. The believer in Christ should consider the following carefully, because the incorrect Christian doctrine of our day is asserting that every Christian will receive the fullness of the inheritance on the basis of his or her statement of faith in Christ.