by Zane Hodges, excerpted from The Journey of Faith, Sermons on Hebrews

And he who overcomes, and keeps My works to the end, to him I will give power over the nations-‘He shall rule them with a rod of iron; They shall be dashed to pieces like the potter’s vessels’—as I also have receive from My Father. (Rev 2:26-27)

“The overcomer”, says Jesus, “will rule the nations like I rule them”,

In Rev 3:21, Jesus said, “To him who overcomes I will grant to sit with me on my throne, as I also overcame and sat down with My Father on His throne.” In other words, “I am My Father’s partner in His throne, and the victorious Christian will be My partner in Mine.” It was Paul who said, “If we endure, we shall also reign with Him” (2 Tim 2:12).

Dear Christian friend, if you are Christian by faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, you will always possess eternal Life. You can be absolutely sure of living forever with Jesus Christ. But partnership with the King is something that you have to hold on to. For we have become partakers, partners, and companions of Christ, if we hold fast the beginning of our confidence firm to the end.

There is a very lovely story about a young woman in the state of Maine, who was in love with a sailor. One night, as she and her boyfriend were together and he was preparing to sail away the next day, she made a promise to him. She promised that every night while he was gone, until he returned, she would put a light in her window. The next morning, her sailor friend got on board his ship and sailed away, and was never heard from again.

Do you know what that woman did? She put a light in her window every night for fifty years until the day she died. That is loyalty. That is commitment.

My Christian friends, our Lord Jesus Christ has left the world, but it is only temporary. His Father has said to Him, “Sit at My right hand, till I make Your enemies Your footstool” (Heb 1:13). Someday, He is coming back to set up His kingdom and triumph over His enemies. His partners in that day will be those who have been faithful to Him and who have kept His works to the end. To put it very simply, the partners of the King are those who have kept their lights burning.

The songwriter was right, when he wrote “Give me oil in my lamp. Keep me burning. Give me oil in my lamp. I pray. Give me oil in my lamp. Keep me burning. Keep me burning ’till the break of day.” Christian friend, if your light is always burning for Jesus Christ, you will always be a partner of the King.

Therefore, since we are receiving a kingdom which cannot be shaken, let us have grace, by which we may serve God acceptably with reverence and godly fear (Heb 12:28).