35 - Matthew 19:28
’Verily I say unto you, That ye which have followed me in the regeneration, when the Son of man shall sit in the throne of his glory, ye also shall sit upon twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel.’ -Matthew 19:28
"Give up all, and come, follow me," Christ had said to the rich young man who recognised him as a teacher come from God to show the way of life, but had no mind for a way that began with entire abnegation. To follow Christ was to leave all, to lose all. But the matter cannot be fully understood by simply looking at that which is left; we must know also that which we acquire. To follow Christ is to lose wealth, honour, comfort, manifold worldly good, the liberty of caring for one’s-self; but "what shall we have therefor?" asks Peter, and the question is not forbidden. We are to count the cost; we may also count the gain; we are permitted to have respect unto the recompense of the reward.
It all resolves itself into this, that the disciple of Christ has Christ, and whatever is Christ’s. Has Christ the favour of the Father? The believer has that very favour, even the boundless love of God. Is the Spirit given him without measure? He is given unstintedly to the believer. Has he the peace of God? We too may have it. Has he the contradiction of sinners? We have the same. Has he a cross? We have it. We are despised and rejected with him. Is there a resurrection for him? There is a new life for us. Are the promises all his? They are ours. If we suffer with him we shall reign with him. If we partake in his humiliation we shall share his exaltation. "I am no more in the world, but these are in the world, and I have given them thy word."
’Ye who have followed me in my humiliation, confessing my name among those who despise it, and whose wrath is decreed against all that honour it; ye who have thought yourselves singularly happy in the grace that has come to you through my words, even though you had to part with all that you formerly valued; ye who have consecrated yourselves to the advancement of my kingdom in the world, at a time and under circumstances that left the glory of that kingdom a pure matter of faith, know that my dignity shall be your dignity, my triumphs yours, my unconceived glory yours. The power in heaven and in earth that becomes mine shall become yours; as the virtue of the vine passes through the branches on its way to fruit and beauty and gladness, so my heavenly power shall flow through your instrumentality into the world. I have many things to say unto you besides those I have said unto you; the Holy Spirit shall bring to your remembrance these, shall communicate those, and the Church of all time shall receive its most precious instruction from the Head of the Church through the medium of the apostolic Epistles.’
Israel is a name that belongs to the chosen people of God, the holy nation, the royal priesthood, the peculiar people. In Israel according to the flesh there was a small minority of true believers, a large majority of those who were unregenerate, dead in trespasses and sins. The discourses of our Lord in John’s Gospel show us what the great bulk of the Jewish people were. The true Israel are they who look to the Messiah. They all who look with unfeigned faith to the Messiah sit at the feet of the holy apostles whom he commissioned to declare his will; and for eighteen centuries or more wherever the Gospels have been received there also have the Epistles been received, and equally with the former have these been the means of communicating blessings to believers.
Under the old dispensation the judge was the legate of God, declaring to men the counsel of God. The sword of God was in his hand slaying all that was opposed to it; that sword being the truth. Error came to the tribunal to be exposed and to be slain. Unrighteousness came and found itself driven upon the bosses of the Divine buckler. So was it, while the Divine theory was faithfully embodied in practice. To the judge all must needs be subject, because he represented the mind of God.
"In the regeneration:" literally in the new creation. He that is in Christ is a new creature; this is the beginning of the new creation; its consummation is in the future. When Christ shall appear in glory, then shall his servants appear with him. Their destinies are one with his. When he inherits all things, all things become theirs. When he is seen upon the throne of glory, then shall they also appear upon thrones of glory. "Inherit," he will say to them, "the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world;" they shall enter into the joy of the Lord and into his glory. They shall have a body like unto his glorious body, and they shall be pure even as he is pure. In each of them (wonderful to relate) he himself will appear; "he shall come to be glorified in his saints, and to be admired in all them that believed." "I am glorified in them;" "and the glory which thou gavest me I have given them."
What shall we have? Having Christ, thou hast the destiny of Christ. Does this suffice thee? Dost thou also want immunity from suffering, the flattering regard of distinguished Christians, things made easy to thee, power, place, wealth? Wouldst thou, in agreeing to follow Christ, stipulate that he shall pursue a path that pleaseth and suiteth thee? To follow him is to acquiesce heartily in all that he proposes, and to know no good but that which his will enshrines.