Then shall the King say unto them on his right hand, Come, you blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you, from the foundation of the world. (Matt. 25:34)
What if instead of ‘You blessed ones, Come,’ He had said rather, ‘You blessed ones, Go, to a kingdom I have provided for you. Angels, conduct from My presence this ransomed people I have redeemed. Furnish them with crowns and thrones in that distant celestial city; and since I am to be no longer with them, be you to them a holy brotherhood — make them partakers of your joys!’
How would every face droop in sadness! Heaven would have a blight passed over it. Its ransomed worshipers would exclaim, ‘Our thrones are denuded of their glory — our crowns of their luster, O Savior, without You!’
But it is not so. His very opening declaration dispels their dread. ‘Come!’ Wherever your heaven is, it is to be a heaven with me: we are to share our crowns and thrones together. ‘Him that overcomes will I grant to sit with Me on My throne’ (Rev. 3:21). ‘Enter you into the joy of your Lord’ (Matt. 25:23).”
~John MacDuff, "The Final Gathering of the Flock"
Of First Importance
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