Jesus was to reign a thousand years

JESUS WAS TO REIGN A THOUSAND YEARS
EDITED BY GLENN PEASE
Revelation20:4-64I saw thrones on which were seated
those who had been given authority to judge. And I
saw the souls of those who had been beheadedbecause
of their testimony about Jesus and because of the word
of God. They had not worshipedthe beast or its image
and had not received its mark on their foreheads or
their hands. They came to life and reigned with Christ
a thousandyears. 5(The rest of the dead did not come
to life until the thousandyears were ended.) This is the
first resurrection.6Blessedand holy are those who
share in the first resurrection. The second death has
no power over them, but they will be priests of God
and of Christand will reign with him for a thousand
years.
BIBLEHUB RESOURCES
Martyrdom A Testimony
Revelation20:4

D. Thomas
I saw the souls of them that were beheadedfor the witness of Jesus, and for
the Word of God. Martyrdom is the subject of these words. The words suggest
four facts.
I. MARTYRS ARE SOMETIMESMURDERED MEN. Johnsaw the souls of
those who were "beheaded." All murders are not martyrdoms; all
martyrdoms are murders. There has often been martyrdom, and still is,
where there is no killing. There are sufferings inflicted on men on accountof
their conscientious convictions thatare often as bad, if not worse, than death
itself. There is slander, contumely, the loss of freedom, the destruction of
rights. For a man to spend his life amidst socialscorn, civil disabilities, and
religious intolerance on accountof his conscientious beliefs, is a martyrdom;
his life is a protracted and painful dying. But thousands have been murdered,
and that by every variety of method which Satanic cruelty could invent. Paul
summarizes some of the tortures of ancient martyrdom. "Some had trials of
cruel mocking," etc.
II. MARTYRS ARE ALWAYS WITNESSINGMEN. "Beheadedfor the
witness." Indeed, the word means a witness. All witnesses are not martyrs, but
all martyrs are witnesses.The man who dies on accountof conscientious
beliefs, whether they are right or wrong, hears witness to severalthings.
1. To the invincibility of the human will. The ablestmetaphysicalworks
cannot give you anything like the impression of the freedom and the force of
that powerm man which we call will, as one martyrdom. The martyr rises up
againstthe powers of the world, and dares it to do the utmost.
2. To the force of the religious element. When religious convictions gethold of
a man's soul, whether the convictions be right or wrong, they invest him with

an unconquerable power. The stake, the faggot, the fire, have no power to
crush or to subdue him.
3. To the powerof the soul over the body. Men who have had their souls filled
with religious feeling become physically insensible to all the tortures and fires
of martyrdom; they have sung in the flames. I say that a martyr, whether his
religious convictions are right or not, is a mighty witness to these things.
III. MARTYRS ARE OFTEN CHRISTLY MEN. Those whomJohn saw were
those who were "witnessesofJesus, and for the Word of God." I say often
Christly men, for false religions as wellas the true have had their martyrs.
Who but God cantell the number of men that have been put to death on
accountof their fidelity to Jesus and the Word of God? In the first ages under
Nero, Domitian, and Trajan, Christians were slain by thousands, and who but
God knows the number of those whose blood in Christian Europe has been
shed on accountof their attachmentto Christianity? These Christian martyrs
were witnesses ofsomething more than the invincibility of the human will, the
force of the religious element, and the powerof the soul over the body.
1. They bore witness to the sustaining grace ofChrist. In the midst of their
torturing agonies they gloried in their attachment to him. Their grim
persecutors, whenendeavouring to extort from them recantationof their
faith, were answeredin the same spirit as that expressedby the ancient
martyr, "Sanctus Christianus sum." They all "gloriedin tribulation," etc.
They endured "joyfully the spoiling of their goods," etc.
2. They bore witness againstthe lukewarmness ofliving Christians. The
martyrs were earnestmen.

IV. MARTYRS WHO ARE CHRISTIANS ENTER HEAVEN. John now saw
the souls of "those who were beheaded" raised to immortality, and invested
with imperishable dignities. Men whom the world consideredunworthy to
live, but of whom the world is not worthy, are welcomedinto the Paradise of
God. This factshould act:
1. As an encouragementto the persecutedChristian.
2. As a warning to persecutors. How much greaterwas Stephen than all the
members of the persecuting Sanhedrin! How angelic his countanance, how
calm his spirit, how peacefully he passedawayinto the serene heavens of love!
- D.T.
Biblical Illustrator
The souls of them that were beheaded for the witness of Jesus.

Revelation20:4-6
Martyrdom a testimony
Homilist.
I. Martyrs are SOMETIMESMURDEREDMEN. All murders are not
martyrdoms; all martyrdoms are murders. For a man to spend his life amidst
socialscorn, civil disabilities, and religious intolerance, on accountof his
coscientiousbeliefs, is a martyrdom, his life is a protracted and painful dying.
But thousands have been murdered, and that by every variety of method
which satanic cruelty could invent.
II. Martyrs are ALWAYS WITNESSING men.
1. To the invincibility of the human will
2. To the force of the religious sentiment.
3. To the powerof the soul over the body.
III. Martyrs are OFTEN CHRISTIAN men. Those whom John saw were
those who were "witnessesofJesus, and for the Word of God"
1. They bare witness to the sustaining grace ofChrist.
2. They bear witness againstthe lukewarmness ofliving Christians.
IV. Martyrs who are Christians ENTER HEAVEN.

1. As an encouragementto the persecutedChristian.
2. As a warning to persecutors.
(Homilist.)
Lived and reigned with Christ a thousand years
The millennium
H. Monod.
It is seldom that our sermons bear on the prophecies, and especiallyon the
unfulfilled prophecies. Severalreasons bind us to this reserve. First, the study
of unfulfilled prophecies has only a secondaryimportance, and is not essential
to salvation. Further, and just because they are not essential to salvation, the
unfulfilled prophecies are wrapped up in a considerable amount of obscurity.
This fact proves that the study of the prophecies is not without dangers, and
that is another reasonwhich should bind a personto devote himself to it only
with moderation. Those who give themselves up too exclusively to this study
are easilytempted to hand over to the backgroundthe greattruths of the
faith, in order to devote their chief interest to speculations, curious, perhaps,
and often attractive; but nearly always without benefit to practicallife, and
sometimes even dangerous. Nevertheless,it must not be inferred from what
precedes that we absolutely condemn the study of the prophecies. Farfrom it.
Restrainedwithin its legitimate bounds, the study of the prophecies presents
not only matter of greatinterest but of greatblessing, and many Christians do
wrong when they lay aside completely that considerable portion of the Holy
Scriptures. I desire particularly to call your attention to that glorious reign of
Christ which is announced in a greatnumber of prophecies, and more
particularly in the words of our text, and which is known in the Christian

Church under the name of the millennium. What meaning should we give to
these declarations, and in what will that reign of Christ upon earth precisely
consist? Two different systems divide on this point those Christians who are
occupiedwith the prophecies. A certain number of them take the declarations
of Scripture in their literal sense;they believe that the Saviour is really to
return to the earth, to found here a temporal kingdom; that He will literally
sit in His body on the throne of David; that during that reign, which will
continue a thousand years, the believing dead only will rise to have part in the
glory of their Head; and that this kingdom of Christ will be an epochof
temporal prosperity. The other class ofinterpreters understand these
prophecies in a figurative sense. Theythink that by the reign of Christ must
be understood the dominion which He exercises oversouls by the gospel, and
that the main point in these magnificent oracles is the spiritual progress ofthe
Church; they think that this resurrectionof believing souls spokenof in our
text denotes nothing more than the awakening ofthe spirit of faith. The
Christian law having become the rule, and infidelity the exception; the gospel
covering the whole earth with its sweetand holy influence; that is what the
millennium would be. Of these two interpretations we do not hesitate to prefer
the last.
1. Observe, first, that the spiritual or symbolicalinterpretation is more in
agreementwith the modes of style observedin generalby the prophets, and in
particular in the Apocalypse. This style, from one end of the book to the other,
is essentiallysymbolical and figurative; everywhere moral ideas are concealed
under a veil of material images;words are incessantlyturned aside from their
proper meaning to receive meanings altogethernovel. In this style, quite
impregnated with the symbolical, a church becomes a candlestick, a minister
becomes a star.
2. Notonly is that interpretation legitimate, in so far as it is in agreementwith
the analogyof Scripture, but it is in a manner required by the very
expressions ofour text. In fact, observe well that St. John speaks onlyof the
"souls" ofthose who had been put to death for the testimony of Jesus;these

are the souls which are to revive againand reign with Christ. Now, souls
cannot rise again, in the proper sense ofthe word.
3. In the third place, the literal interpretation is not in harmony with the other
passagesofHoly Scripture which relate to the resurrection. Nowhere is the
resurrectionspokenof as to take place twice or at two different periods. This
greatevent is always represented to us as to take place for all men at once,
with this only difference, that the resurrectionof the just will immediately
precede that of the wicked. The following passages clearlyestablishthis
(Daniel 12:2; John 5:28; 1 Thessalonians4:16, 17). It evidently follows from
these statements that the resurrectionof the dead, both of the just and of the
wicked, shallbe immediately followedby the judgment and eternal life.
4. In the fourth place, it is impossible to comprehend how a return to the earth
could add anything to the happiness of the righteous who died in the faith, and
are gatheredinto the rest which is reserved for the people of God. The error
of the Jews consistedpreciselyin representing the Messiahas a temporal
King; it is into a similar error that the millennarians of to-day fall.
5. And then, what becomes, in the systemof literal interpretation, of the death
of believers who are born during the millennium? In the actual state of things,
the death of believers is a deliverance; they die in peace, becausethey leave a
life of trials and an abode of misery to go to the Lord; but it would not be so
during the period of the millennium, if the literal interpretation were true.
6. If the literal interpretation were true, there would then be three comings of
Christ — one to save the world, another to judge it, and a third and
intermediate one to occupy the throne of the millennium. Now Scripture
constantly presents to us the last judgment as the Lord's secondcoming; and
nowhere is an intermediate coming admitted.

7. Finally the text is the only passage ofHoly Scripture where a resurrectionis
spokenof to take place before the end of the world; whilst a greatnumber of
other prophecies with regard to the millennium announce clearlythe progress
and generaltriumph of the gospel. Now, which is more rational: to explain
numerous and clearprophecies by one single and enigmaticalpassage in the
Apocalypse, or rather to explain the single and obscure passageby the clear
and numerous prophecies? To put such a question is to answerit. It appears
then established, as far as we can be positive in such a matter, that the reign of
Christ, known under the name of the millennium, is to be understood in a
spiritual sense, and that the subject is the authority which He will exercise
over souls by the progress ofthe gospel. The doctrine of the millennium, as we
have presentedit to you, has important consequencesas regards conversion
and as regards salvation. Indeed, since that glorious reign of Christ is a
spiritual reign, since it will essentiallyconsistin the submission of hearts to
the gospelofJesus Christ, it depends upon eachof us as to whether the
millennium should commence in our case from the present: in order to that,
no more is necessarythan that we submit our heart to the gospeland give
ourselves to Christ. May God grant that a greatnumber of souls may know in
this church of themselves this reign of Christ, at once so powerful and so
tender, so sweetand so glorious!
(H. Monod.)
The millennium
H. Monod.
Scripture reveals to us, in a greatmany prophecies, that a time will come
when the whole earth shall know God our Saviour: that is what it calls, in its
figurative style, the reign of Christ. It does not follow from this, however, that
all men will from the heart be converted to the gospel:the expressions ofthe
prophecy go not so far; they speak only of the knowledge ofthe Lord as about

to coverthe whole earth; and we know that knowledge may co-existwith an
unconverted heart. One of the features characteristic ofthat glorious period is
that the gospel, by that very means through which it will have become
dominant, will have penetrated to the most elevatedclassesand to the rulers
of the nations. Governments will be inspired by the gospel, administrations
will be Christian (Psalm 138:4, 5). Jesus Christ shall then continue to reign in
this sense, thatHis gospelwill be seatedonthe throne in the person of
sovereigns convertedto the Christian faith. Then the religion of Christ will no
longerbe a mere political instrument in the hand of governments; it will no
longercover, as with a sacredmantle, the views of a profane ambition; it will
be the sincere expressionof the moral life of states. Among the blessedresults
which the gospelwill necessarilyproduce in the world when submissive to its
laws, one of those which Scripture puts in the first class, and to which it
reverts most readily, is the abolishment of war and the establishment of a
universal peace. Justas in consequenceofthe progress ofcivilisation and the
softening of manners we no longercomprehend legaltorture, just as we no
longercomprehend slavery, so a time will come when men will no longer
comprehend that there could ever have existed a thing so odious, so horrible,
so absurd as war. At the same time that enmities will be appeasedamong
nations, they shall also cease among individuals. Hatred, vengeance, personal
violence, will come to an end; the most unyielding characters will be softened;
concord, charity, sincerity will preside over all the relations existing among
men; natures the most opposedto one anotherwill learn to draw near and
love one another. At the same time that the gospelhaving become dominant, it
will produce quite naturally another blessedconsequence, whichat first view
does not seemto depend on its influence. I mean a considerable diminution of
physical and moral suffering. Without doubt there will still be trials, but every
person will then make an effort to alleviate the sufferings of those who
surround him. In a word, the temporal happiness of mankind will increase
beyond calculation, and will realise the most characteristic descriptions of
prophecy (Isaiah 65:18, 19). At the same time that suffering will decrease, and
always by a natural consequenceofthe benefits attachedto the gospel, the
duration of human life will be increased;it will reachthe utmost limit which
nature assigns it; neither vice, nor despair, nor violence, will any longer
abridge the days of man (Isaiah65:20-22). The extensionof human life in

duration will necessarilybe accompaniedby an extraordinary increase ofthe
population. It is easyto understand how much more rapid that increase would
be if wars, vice, intemperance, selfishness, poverty, and the want of confidence
in God, did not come and put obstaclesin the way. We may conclude that the
number of men who will live on the earth during the millennium will go
beyond that of the men who will have lived during all the preceding ages;so
that the portion of mankind which shall be savedwill be infinitely more
numerous, taken altogether, than those who shall be lost; and that thus" grace
will abound over sin" (Romans 5:20, 21). That extraordinary increase of
population is moreovera characteristic feature of the prophecies relating to
the millennium (Psalm72:16; Isaiah60:22). Another feature of the glorious
period when the gospelwhich has the promise of the life that now is as well as
of that which is to come, shall prevail, is an unprecedentedscope being given
to industry and to the arts and sciences.Commerce will no more have for its
spring selfishness,nor for its means fraud: consecratedto the generalgoodof
humanity, it will freely exchange the produce of all nations, and enrich them,
the one by the other (Isaiah 9:17, 18). Howevermarvellous the prospects
which we have unfolded may appear, all these blessings are the natural and
necessaryconsequencesofthe gospelhaving become dominant in the earth.
Let the time only come when the whole earth shall be coveredwith the
knowledge ofthe Lord, and all the wonders of the millennium are not only
possible, but they are in some sort unavoidable. The whole question then
reduces itself to knowing if it is really possible that a time should come when
all the nations of the earth will be convertedto the gospelof Jesus Christ.
Observe, in the first place, that the gospel, from that very considerationthat it
is the truth, ought of necessityto make progress in the world, and gainlittle
by little upon error. In its struggle againstpaganismthe gospelcannotbe
overcome:it never has been, it never will be. The conversionof the heathen
world can then be only a question of time. Observe, in the secondplace, that,
in the very nature of things, the progress of the gospelin the world proceeds
of necessitywith a perpetually increasing rapidity. The result of eachnew
year is not the same as that of the preceding one; but it is double, treble, or
fourfold. The conversionof the heathen world is therefore sure after a given
time, and everything announces that this time need not be very considerable.
Let them come then after all, and tell us that the work of missions is useless;

that the evangelisationof the world is a chimera; that the sacrifices made for
the conversionof the heathen are lost; that all these efforts are but a drop of
waterwhich loses itselfin an ocean. We know on what to depend. We know
that missions are a work, not only appointed by God, but reasonable,
productive, and full of prospect;we know that the millennium is not only a
brilliant ideal createdby prophecy, but that it will be the natural, regular,
unfailing consequence ofwhat passes now and henceforth under our eyes. A
last question might remain for examination on the subjectof the millennium:
we do not attach greatimportance to it, for it is more curious than useful.
What conjectures may we form as to the period in the future when the
millennium should commence? Letus remark, in the first place, that from the
present state of the world, and the progress which the gospelhas made since
the commencementof our century, it is to be presumed that the millennium
ought not to be very far distant. A century and a half ought to suffice,
according to all human probabilities, to bring about the conversionof the
world. It is thus that the creationof the world was accomplishedin six days,
or rather in six periods; the seventh day, or seventhperiod, is a sabbath or
rest. The ceremonialpurifications ordained by Moses were continuedduring
six days, and were terminated on the seventh. In the sacrifices offeredfor
grievous sins, the sprinkling of blood was made seven times, on the seventh
sprinkling the atonement was accomplished. In the visions of the Apocalypse,
the Apostle St. John sees a book sealedwith sevenseals, eachofthese seals
represents a period in the future of the Church. Since then it is a character,
which seems essentialto the dispensations ofGod, that they should continue
during sevenperiods, and never beyond the seventh, we may suppose, by
analogy, that the present world is to continue during seven periods of a
thousand years, the lastof which would be the millennium. That supposition
acquires especiallya high degree ofprobability when we compare the present
dispensation, consideredin its successive phases,with the accountof creation.
According to a very ancient tradition, and one found already among the Jews,
the six days of Genesis would be six periods of a thousand years — a
supposition which is confirmed by two passagesofScripture, where it is said,
in speaking particularly of the creation, "That one day is with the Lord as a
thousand years, and a thousand years as one day." This moral creation, like
the physical creation, is to be accomplishedin six days, or in six thousand

years. In the physical creationthere is a progressive gradationfrom beings
less perfectto beings more perfect; there is the same in the moral creation,
where humanity goes onperfecting itself from age to age, and from one
thousand years to another. The end of the millennium will be the signal of the
events which are to mark the end of the world. "When the thousand years
shall be accomplished," the prophet has told us, "Satanwill be loosedfrom his
prison, and he will afresh seduce the inhabitants of the earth." But that last
seductionwill continue but a moment, and will bring with it the final defeatof
all the powers of darkness;the dead shall rise to appear in judgment, and the
economyof time will give place to that of eternity.
(H. Monod.)
Christ's millennial reign
J. Gibb.
I. THE WITNESSES OF JESUS SHALL REIGN IN CONJUNCTIONWITH
HIMSELF, AS THEIR HEAD. As the Church is the spouse of Christ, she
cheerfully acknowledges His supreme authority in everything, and reverently
honours Him as her glorious head; yet she shares the felicity of His victories,
and, on the full establishment of His kingdom, she will be advanced, to reign
togetherwith Him and partake of His dominion.
II. THE WITNESSESOF JESUS SHALL REIGN WITH HIM ON THE
EARTH, AND EXERCISE POSITIVE POWER OVER THE NATIONS. The
kingdom of Christ is heavenly and spiritual. It is the kingdom of truth and
righteousness, liberty and peace, love and joy. But, notwithstanding the
peculiar nature of the reign of Jesus, the earth is clearlyrepresentedas the
scene ofHis dominion. He was encouragedto ask of the Father, the heathen
for His inheritance and the uttermost parts of the earth for His possession. On
the earth, He will divide the spoil with the strong; judge among the nations;
rebuke many people; break in pieces the oppressor. Canit be a low or carnal
thing for Christ to reign on the earth? Does it become them who are spiritual
to despise that dominion as mean and carnal which God the Father promised

to confer on His beloved Son, as the meet reward of His matchless humiliation
and obedience? Canthat be unworthy of the esteemof His spouse which is not
below the dignity of Christ Himself?
III. THE SAINTS SHALL REIGN PERSONALLY WITH CHRIST ON THE
EARTH. The honourable privilege is not promised to His saints during their
imperfect and militant state, which is the proper period of that course of
humble obedience and discipline, by which they are prepared for their future
exaltation. It constitutes an important part of that gracious rewardwhich
shall be conferred on the faithful soldiers of Jesus, afterthey overcome their
spiritual adversaries and finish their goodwarfare. John saw them that were
beheadedfor the witness of Jesus advancedto reign with Him as kings and
priests of God. Nor shall this high privilege be exclusively confined to those
who were beheaded, or in any other way put to death, for the sake ofthe
gospel. The disciples of Jesus that lived in former ages shallshare it generally;
and that not merely in a figurative sense, by the revival of the cause of
religion, which they promoted during their lives, but by being put in the
personalpossessionofpositive powerand dominion along with their glorious
Redeemer. Those who share the kingdom of Jesus must certainly reign while
He reigns. Their dominion, in conjunction with Him, must be enjoyed during
the proper period of His mediatorial kingdom, and not after the termination
of it.
IV. THE SAINTS SHALL REIGN WITH CHRIST IN AN INCORPOREAL
AND INVISIBLE MANNER. It is not saidthat the bodies of the slain
witnesses shallbe raisedfrom the grave to sit on thrones with Christ. The
resurrectionof their bodies could indeed add nothing to their influence and
happiness in reigning on the earth amongstimperfect creatures. The visible
and bodily reign of Jesus and His immortal saints, among sinful men, would
out off all occasionfor living by faith, and interfere with the performance of
almost every part of gospelduty. We are accordinglyinformed in our text
that, at the first resurrection, the souls of them who were beheadedfor the

witnesses ofJesus shalllive and reign with Him. The souls of the martyrs are
representedas living, and experiencing a kind of resurrection, at the
commencementof the millennium, as they shall then be exalted from a state of
rest and expectationto a state of activity and dominion. Materialists and
sceptics may refuse to believe what cannot be perceived by the senses, and
scoffat the doctrine of a future state;but, if we confess the self-conscious
existence ofspirits and angels both goodand bad, and allow that the angels
are indefatigably employed in doing goodor evil, according to their nature,
why should we hesitate to admit the future activity of those holy spirits that
shall live and reign with Jesus Christ?
V. THE SOULS OF THE SAINTS SHALL REIGN WITH VARIOUS
DIFFERENT DEGREES OF AUTHORITY, in proportion to their religious
attainments and sufferings while in the body. This may be consideredhighly
probable, on the ground of analogy. All those works of God with which we are
acquainted show that He delights in order and subordination. But Jesus has
not left this important matter to be determined by human conjecture or
remote inference. He has promised to reward His servants according to their
works. The parable of the ten servants contains a striking example of this
(Luke 19:11-19).
VI. THE SAINTS OF JESUS SHALL ALL REIGN WITH HIM IN A VERY
GLORIOUS MANNER, FAR SURPASSING OUR PRESENT
COMPREHENSION. The reignof the saints will be glorious, because alltheir
former prayers shall be answered, their ardent desires shallbe granted, and
their long continued expectationexceeded. Theyshall obtain their dominion
from Christ Himself, as a token of His high approbation, and the gracious
reward of their faithful services andpatient sufferings while in the body. If
the tokens ofpersonalregard with which earthly sovereigns rewardtheir
principal servants be honourable, who can sufficiently estimate the glory of
that reward which the King of kings will conferwhen He shall say, "Well
done, thou goodand faithful servant," etc. The saints shall reign togetherin a

state of glorious harmony and perfect love. There will be no
misunderstanding, contradiction, or bitter passions, among the spirits of the
just made perfect. Their love shall be pure without dissimulation: its ardour
shall admit of no decrease;and their felicity shall be mutually augmented by
beholding the dignity and happiness of eachother. They shall enjoy the most
intimate and delightful fellowship with Christ Himself. They shall see Him
ruling His enemies with a rod of iron, and subduing the hearts of sinners to
Himself by the word of His grace;the progressive accomplishmentof His
promises to the gospelchurch will fill them with admiration and delight; and,
whilst they share His victories and dominion, they shall cordially unite, with
adoring angels, in ascribing the highest glory and praise to Himself
(Revelation5:8-12; Revelation19:1-7). The extent and efficacyof their
dominion shall be glorious. None of their adversaries shallbe able either to
defeator resistthem. The beneficial effects of their reign shall be glorious.
Righteousness, goodness, andhappiness shall be as generaland abundant
among mankind as wickednessand misery have hitherto been. All the joyful
predictions of Scripture respecting the prosperity and glory of the Church in
the lastdays shall be accomplished. The posterity of Israelshall be converted,
with the fulness of the Gentiles.
VII. THE SAINTS SHALL REIGN TOGETHERWITH JESUS DURING A
VERY LONG PERIOD. The Lord frequently pours contempt upon the
princes of the earth by causing their greatpower to terminate in sudden
defeatand debasement. The dominion of the saints shall not be of this
transient kind. Perhaps the round number of years mentioned in the text
ought to be understood in an indefinite sense, as denoting a very large space of
time in a generalway, the precise extent of which is not fixed. Conclusion:
1. The view of the text which is now presented ought to be examined with
much candour and deliberation before it be altogetherrejected.

2. The text sets before us an object of the most laudable and hopeful ambition.
Compared with this dignity, all human distinctions are insignificant and vain;
yet it is accessible to all the servants of Jesus, smalland great.
3. This shows how reasonable and advantageousit is for men to forsake all
that they have for Christ, in order to win Him and be found in Him. In
forsaking all for Christ, we renounce only those things that are vain,
ensnaring, and perishing, to obtain the righteousness offaith, conformity to
His perfectimage, and fellowship with Him in the enjoyment of His heavenly
kingdom.
4. This subjectfurnishes a powerful incitement to faithfulness and
perseverance in the service of Christ.
5. The hope of reigning with Jesus should induce His disciples to show all
meekness andpatience while suffering for His sake. The cross is the way to the
crown. The meek shall inherit the earth. Those who suffer with Jesus shall
reign with Him.
6. This subjectaffords strong consolationto believers in the prospectof
putting off their earthly tabernacle. Theyknow that their soulshall not sleep
in a state of dark insensibility, while their body is in the dust. Death to them
will be gain.
(J. Gibb.)
The age of moral triumph
D. Thomas, D. D.

I. THE ENTIRE OVERTHROW OF MORALEVIL.
1. The great enemy will have lost his stand-place in the world. Error,
prejudice, selfishness, evilpassions, etc., willhave gone. He will have no
fulcrum for his lever.
2. The fall of the greatenemy will be complete for a time. The more humanity
progressesin intelligence, rectitude, and holiness, the more hopeless his
condition becomes.
II. THE UNIVERSAL SOVEREIGNTYOF CHRIST.
1. The only true sovereigntyis spiritual.
2. A religious spiritual sovereigntyover man is the greatwant of the race. He
who rules the human mind — directs its faculties, energies,and feelings
rightly — is man's greatestbenefactor. This Christ does in the highest and
most perfect manner.
III. THE GENERALASCENDANCYOF GREAT SOULS.
1. They will be men who have passedthrough a spiritual resurrection.
2. They will be men of martyr-mould.
3. They will be men possessing exclusive ascendancy.

4. They will be men raisedfor ever beyond the reachof all future evil.
IV. THE EXTENSIVE DURATION OF THE WHOLE.
1. This long period of holiness is a glorious set-off againstall the preceding
ages ofdepravity and sin.
2. This long period of holiness serves wonderfully to heighten our ideas of the
grandeur of Christ's work.
(D. Thomas, D. D.)
The blesseddead living and reigning with Christ during the thousand years
C. Clemance, D. D.
I. HERE IS A VISION OF MEN FROM EARTH— not of men on it. "The
souls." (So in Revelation6:11.) That the expressionrefers here to men in what
is calledthe disembodied state, scarcelyadmits of question. They are clear
and distinct words, fitting in with other statements ofGod's Word, teaching
us that the souls of the blesseddeadhave already passedinto a higher life:
that there is no lapse in their blessedrelationship to Jesus.
II. THE BLESSED SAINTS ARE SEEN IN A MORE ELEVATED SPHERE
OF HOLY SERVICE. They are "living and reigning with Christ." They share
with Him the government of the world. Here they were "kings and priests"
unto God. But in the higher state of being the meaning of these names, and the
glorious dignity they include, become far more manifest than when here
below.

III. THEIR PASSING UPWARD, IN DEATH, TO THIS HIGHER STATE IS
CALLED THE FIRST RESURRECTION.And most intelligibly so. "Surely,"
says the Rev. F. D. Maurice, "if one takes the words as they stand, they do not
describe a descentof Christ to earth, but an ascentof'the saints' to reign with
Him." The thought of a real resurrectionwithout a bodily rising from the
grave ought to be no difficulty to those accustomedto scriptural phraseology.
If, when a man passes from death to life, the phrase "risen with Christ," is not
inappropriate, neither can it be so when he makes the transition from earth to
heaven to be "at home" with Jesus.
IV. BLESSED EVEN IN THIS FIRST RESURRECTION, THE SAINTS
AWAIT IN HOPE THE CONSUMMATION OF THEIR BLISS. The
blessednessindicatedhere extends over the thousand years. While the Church
on earth is enjoying its millennial calm, believers above are reigning in life
with Jesus Christ. Knowing the blessedness oftheir first resurrection, they
can look forward with joyful hope to their second.
V. THEIR GLORY WILL BE CONSUMMATEDAT THE
RESURRECTIONOF THE BODY. "Forthis, as the ultimate outlook, the
apostle says, believers are waiting (Romans 8:23). The first resurrectionis
that to a higher state of spiritual being. The secondwill be to the completed
state of glorified life of both body and spirit.
VI. FOR THE WICKED THERE IS NO SUCH FIRST RESURRECTION.
"The rest of the dead lived not again (ἀνέξησαν,) till the thousand years were
expired." For the wicked, death brings nothing which canbe calleda
resurrectionat all. "The wickedis driven awayin his wickedness."After
death they are not extinct. They exist. They are in Hades. But their life in the
invisible realm is no "resurrection." No suchreward is theirs. They chose the
paths of sin and selfishness,and they can but reap as they have sown. The

statementof the text is, however, only negative. "They lived not again till,"
etc. What their state is, positively, we are not told.
(C. Clemance, D. D.)
The reign of the martyrs with Christ
W. Benham, B. D.
Instead of looking forward to some future age for the thousand years, is it not
more reasonable and helpful to saythat we ourselves are living in them? From
the time when the Catholic Church was setup in the world and its principles
exhibited, all that is noble and intelligent in man, all that he recognisesin
himself as immortal and made for a higher life, refuses to listen to the beast
and to be deceivedby him, but acknowledgesthe Lamb as its true King. The
thousand years, i.e., the long period which elapses afterthe setting up of the
Church — and surely this interpretation is more in accordwith what we get
from the Bible than an arbitrary fixture of just one thousand years of 365
days each— these thousand years, up to this hour, have been marked by
evidences that Christ has chained the devil, has proved Himself strongerthan
the devil, not merely when He resistedhis temptations, but ever since. The
earth has gone on acquiring new life and strength and capacity, just so far as
it has recognisedthe Lamb for its true Lord, and thus purity has been exalted
above lust, thus slaveryhas been abolished, hospitals have been built, the poor
have been educated, prisons have been reformed, criminals have been
appealedto by nobler motives than self-interest. There is enough to do yet,
God knows;but what has been done has all been clone on principles which
Christ laid down, and what is still to be achievedwill be done on the same
basis, namely, that self-sacrifice is the true life of God's earth. And what does
it all mean but that Christ has chained the dragon? Then St. John says that he
saw the souls of them that were beheadedfor the witness of Jesus and for the
Word of God — the early Christian martyrs, in fact — and they lived and
reigned with Christ for a thousand years. They were killed: the world saw no

more of them; but St. John says that he did. To him it was revealedwhat their
subsequent lot was — they lived and reigned with Christ in the thousand
years. They live and reign with Him now, therefore. Where? That we cannot
tell. We know that they have not yet their perfect consummation and bliss.
But see whatwe do know. Christ is reigning now. But is that reigning merely
resting on His throne as a glorious spectacleto look upon? Which of us
seriouslysupposes that reigning with Christ means sitting with a golden
crownon, holding a sceptre? The reign of Christ is a more real thing — a very
active thing — and the martyrs who died for His sake, becausethey would not
worship the beast, reign even as He does. There is to me wonderful help and
consolationin all which this involves. The witnesses ofChrist, who caredso
much for their fellow men whilst they lived on the earth, who had laboured to
do it good, and seemedto have laboured in vain, who had told their fellow
men who their true King was;they, after they were no more seen, reigned
with Christ, i.e., they exerciseda greaterinfluence, had a greaterpower, than
ever they had before, and became from the unseen world efficient servants of
Him who had given up His life for the salvationof men. This is their high
reward, exactly that reward which their Lord promised in His parable. He
whose pound had gainedfive pounds was to be ruler over five cities. They are
not offeredidleness or luxurious indulgence, they are to enter into the joy of
their Lord, to have the delight of knowing more and more of His purposes,
and of working in conformity with them. They die and are seenno more, but
any gooddeed which they have ever done goes forth conquering and to
conquer. And, the apostle declares, this is the first resurrection, which they
who have lived evil lives and followedthe beasthave no part in. How often we
see goodand faithful men, whose careeris altogetheruseful and beneficial, cut
off in the midst of their work!We think to ourselves, "How much goodthis
man would have done if he had lived! What a loss to the Church!" So it seems
to us, and so it seemedto the first Christians, for we are told "they made great
lamentation over him." But God knew better than they. He took His martyr
awaythat he might reign with Christ. Well, was there any evidence of his so
reigning? Were any victories of his ever seenany more? Many, no doubt,
which we know nothing about.
(W. Benham, B. D.)

This is the first resurrection
The first resurrection
C. H. Spurgeon.
I. THREE PRIVILEGES.
1. Priority of resurrection(1 Corinthians 15:20; 1 Thessalonians 4:13;
Philippians 3:8-11; Luke 20:35;John 6:39, 40, 44, 54). "I will raise him up at
the lastday." Now, is there any joy or beauty in this, to the people of God in
particular, unless there be a speciality in it for them? It is the lot of all to rise,
and yet we have here a privilege for the elect!Surely there is a different
resurrection. Besides, there is yet a passagein the Hebrews where the apostle,
speaking ofthe trials of the godly, and their noble endurance, speaks ofthem
as, "not accepting deliverance that they might obtain a better resurrection."
The betterness was not in the after results of resurrection, but in the
resurrectionitself. How, then, could it be a better resurrection, unless there be
some distinction betweenthe resurrection of the saint and the resurrectionof
the sinner? Pass on to the secondprivilege here promised to the godly.
2. The seconddeath on them hath no power. This, too, is a literal death; none
the less literal because its main terror is spiritual, for a spiritual death is as
literal as a cameldeath. The death which shall come upon the ungodly without
exceptioncan never touch the righteous. Oh, this is the best of all. As for the
first resurrection, if Christ hath granted that to His people there must be
something glorious in it if we cannot perceive it. "It doth not yet appearwhat
we shall be, but we know when He shall appearwe shall be like Him." I think
the glories ofthe first resurrectionbelong to the glories which shall be
revealedin us rather than the glories that are revealedto us.
3. "Theyshall reign with Him a thousand years." I believe this reign of the
saints with Christ is to be upon earth (Psalm37:10, 11; Revelation5:9, 10;

Matthew 19:28). You find such passages as these in the Word of God, "The
Lord of hosts shall reign in Mount Zion, and in Jerusalem, and before His
ancients gloriously." You find another like this in Zechariah, "My God shall
come with the multitude of His saints."
II. To the ungodly THREE THINGS IN SIMPLICITY.
1. Sinner, you have heard us speak of the resurrectionof the righteous. To you
the word "resurrection" has no music. There is no flash of joy in your spirit
when you hear that the dead shall rise again. But oh, I pray thee lend me thine
ear while I assure thee in God's name that thou shalt rise. Not only shall your
soul live — you have perhaps become so brutish that you forgetyou have a
soul — but your body itself shall live. Go thou thy way, eat, drink, and be
merry; but for all these the Lord shall bring thee into judgment.
2. But after the resurrection, according to the text, comes the judgment.
3. After judgment, the damnation.
(C. H. Spurgeon.)
J. A. Seiss, D. D.
My convictionis clearthat the resurrectionhere spokenof is the resurrection
of the saints from their graves, in the sense of the Nicene Creed, where it is
confessed:"I look for the resurrectionof the dead, and the life of the world to
come." The placing of it as the first in a categoryoftwo resurrections, the

secondof which is specificallystated to be the literal rising again of such as
were not raisedin the first, fixes the sense to be a literal resurrection.
1. It is a resurrectionof saints only. They that have part in it are "blessedand
holy." It is true that "as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made
alive" (1 Corinthians 15:22). But it is immediately added, "every man in his
own order." It is not a summary thing, all at once, and the same in all cases.
The resurrectionof the wickedis in no respectidentical with that of the saints,
exceptthat it will be a recall to some sort of corporeallife. There is a
"resurrectionof life," and there is a "resurrectionof damnation" (John 5:29);
and it is impossible that these should be one and the same. There is a
"resurrectionof the just" — "a better resurrection" — a resurrection out
from among the dead, for which greatzeal and devotion are requisite (Luke
14:14;Hebrews 11:35;Philippians 3:10, 11) — which is everywhere
emphasisedand distinguished from another, more general, and less desirable.
As it is "the resurrectionof the just," the unjust have no share in it. As it is a
resurrectionfrom among the dead ones, it is necessarily eclectic, raising some
and leaving others, and so interposing a difference as to time, which
distinguishes the resurrectionof some as in advance of the resurrectionof the
rest.
2. It is a resurrectionwhich takes place in different stages, andnot all at one
and the same time. Paul tells us expressly that there is an "order" in it, which
brings up some at one time, and others at other times. It starts with "Christ
the first-fruits"; afterwards they that are Christ's at His coming; then (still
later) the end, "completion, or last" (1 Corinthians 15:23, 24). Christ's
resurrectionwas also attended with the resurrection of others (Matthew
27:52, 53).
3. It is a resurrectionwhich as a whole is nowhere pictorially described. The
reasonis, that the subject is not capable of it.

4. The completion of this resurrectionintroduces a wonderful change in the
earth's history. It is the breaking through of an immortal power; — a power
which sweeps away, as chaffbefore the wind, the whole economyof mortal
and dragon rule, and thrusts to death and Hades every one found rising up or
stiffening himself againstit; — a powerwhich gives to the nations new, just,
and righteous laws, in the administration of immortal rulers, whose goodand
holy commands men must obey or die. I think of the coming in of that power
— of the havoc it must needs make in the whole order of things — of the
confusionit will cause in the depraved cabinets and courts and legislatures of
the world — of the revolution it must work in business customs, in
corporationmanagements — of the changes it must bring into churches, into
pulpits, into pews, into worship, into schools, into the newspapers, into book-
making and book-reading, into thinking and philosophy, and into all the
schemes, enterprises, judgments, pursuits, and doings of men. And a good
thing it will be for the nations when that day comes. There canbe nothing
better than God's law. There can be nothing more just, more reasonable,
more thoroughly or wisely adapted to all the well-being of man and the
highest wholesomenessofhuman society. All the blessednessin the universe is
built upon it. All that is needed for the establishment of a holy and happy
order is for men to obey that law, for it to be put in living force, for it to be
incarnated in the feelings, actions, andlives of men. And this is what is to be
effectedwhen "the children of the resurrection" gettheir crowns, and go into
power, with Christ the All-Ruler at their head.
5. The completion of this resurrectionpromotes the subjects of it to a
transcendentglory.
(J. A. Seiss, D. D.)
H. Bonar, D. D.

I. WHEN IS IT TO BE? When the Lord comes the secondtime. In the
preceding chapterHe is describedas coming with the hosts of heaven for the
destruction of His enemies (1 Corinthians 15:23; 1 Thessalonians 4:16;2
Thessalonians 2:1). He comes as the resurrectionand the life; the abolisherof
death, the spoilerof the grave, the raiser of His saints.
II. WHO IT IS TO CONSIST OF. This passage speaksonly of the martyrs
and the non-worshippers of the beast;but other passagesshow that all His
saints are to be partakers of this reward. They have suffered with Him here,
and they shall reign with Him here.
III. WHAT IT DOES FOR THOSE WHO SHARE IT. It brings to them such
things as the following: —
1. Blessedness. Godonly knowethhow much that word implies, as spokenby
Him who cannotlie, who exaggerates nothing, and whose simplestwords are
His greatest.
2. Holiness. They are pre-eminently "the saints of God"; setapart for Him;
consecratedand purified, both outwardly and inwardly; dwelt in by Him
whose name is the "Holy Ghost";and calledto specialservice in virtue of
their consecration. Priestly-royalservice is to be theirs throughout the eternal
ages.
3. Preservationfrom the seconddeath. They rise to an immortality which
shall never be recalled. No dying again, in any sense ofthe word; not a
fragment of mortality about them, nothing of this vile body, and nothing of
that corruption or darkness oranguish which shall be the portion of those
who rise at the close of the thousand years.

4. The possessionofa heavenly priesthood. They are made priests unto God
and Christ — both to the Father and the Son. Priestly nearness and access;
priestly powerand honour and service;priestly glory and dignity; — this is
their recompense.
5. The possessionofthe kingdom.
(H. Bonar, D. D.)
J. Donne.
Of these words of this first resurrectionthere are three expositions authorised
by persons of goodnote in the Church. First, that this first resurrectionis a
resurrectionfrom that low estate to which persecutionhad brought the
Church. Secondly, that it is a resurrectionfrom the death of sin, of actual and
habitual sin; so it belongs to every particular penitent soul. And thirdly,
because afterthis resurrection, it is said that we shall reign with Christ a
thousand years, it hath also been takenfor the state of the soul in heaven after
it is parted from the body by death; and so it belongs to all them who are
departed in the Lord. And then the occasionof the day, which we celebrate
now, being the resurrection of our Lord and Saviour Christ Jesus, invites me
to propose a fourth sense, orrather use of the words;not indeed as an
exposition of the words, but as a convenient exaltation of our devotion: which
is, that this first resurrectionshould be the first-fruits of the dead; the first
rising is the first riser, Christ Jesus:for as Christ says of Himself, that He is
the resurrection, so He is the first resurrection, the root of the resurrection.
He upon whom our resurrection, all our kinds of resurrections are founded.
(J. Donne.)

On such the seconddeath hath no power
The happiness of being savedfrom the seconddeath
A. Horneck, D. D.
I. WHAT THE SECONDDEATHIS. A secondsupposes a first; and that
which universally we have the clearestnotion of is, that death which funerals
and the mourners who go about the streets convince us of. For —
1. Death, in the natural signification of the word, is a separationof the soul
from the body. Plants die, and beasts and birds and fishes and insects die; and
so man dies (Hebrews 9:27). And this is the first death, which all men, both
goodand bad, are subject to; and from which none can plead exemption,
exceptpreserved from it by the miraculous powerof God; as were Enoch and
Elias.
2. The seconddeath no creature is capable of but man, no inferior creature;
devils and apostate spirits are, but none below the dignity of man; for this
death is the wages ofsin, and contempt of mercy and the grace ofGod. This
seconddeath is punishment. It is true the first is so too; but by the death and
resurrectionof the Lord Jesus that punishment is softened, or rather turned
into a mercy, exchangedfor eternal life; but from this seconddeath there is no
possibility of any release afterit is once inflicted. And that we may rightly
understand the nature of it, the Holy Ghostin the chapter before us specifies
what it is, for so we read (ver. 14), "And death and hell"; i.e., wickedmen who
had been dead, and the devil and his angels," were castinto the lake of fire."
"This is the seconddeath." And again, Revelation21:8.
II. WHY IT IS CALLED DEATH, AND THE SECOND DEATH.
1. The common death of mankind is a separationofthe soul from the body;
and there being in hell a signal separation, eitherof the soul, or of soul and

body after the resurrection, from the love of God's complacency and the
societyof saints, and from all joy and comfort, the true life of the soul, it is
upon that accountthat this future torment is calleddeath.
2. The unhappy sufferer in the lake of fire is always dying, and yet never dies;
the anguish he lies under puts him into such agonies that one would think he is
expiring every moment, and yet he lives (Mark 9:44).
3. The sufferer in this lake wishes to die, and yet doth not die. The intolerable
torment forces him into vehement desires after something that may put a
period to his anguish. Common death frees men from the troubles and
diseasesofthe body, and puts an end to the pain we feelhere.
4. It is calledthe seconddeath, i.e., a death different from the common and
natural. In this sense the word "second" is used sometimes (as Daniel 7:5).
And, indeed, it is a death of another nature, attended with other
circumstances and with other consequences.It is, if I may sayso, a death and
no death; a death joined with sense, thatbreaks the man, but doth not destroy
him; destroys his well-being, but not his being; his felicity, but not his
substance.
III. WHO THE HAPPY PERSONS ARE ON WHOM THIS SECOND
DEATH HATH NO POWER, AND WHY THEY FALL NOT UNDER THAT
DOMINION.
1. In this very verse, whereofthe text is part, the persons to whom this
privilege belongs are saidto be "priests of God and of Christ," which
qualification is in other places ascribedto all the living members of Christ's
Church (Revelation1:6).

2. As by the seconddeath is meant hell and the lake of fire, so (ver. 15)it is
said, "And whoeverwas not found written in the book of life was castinto the
lake of fire," From whence it will naturally follow, that such as are written in
the book of life are not subjectto that power, and over such the seconddeath
hath no power. Now, it is certain that all Christians who are Israelites indeed,
they are written in the book of life.
3. We read (Revelation2:11), "He that overcomes shallnot be hurt by the
seconddeath." And who knows not that self-conquestand overcoming evil
with goodis the proper task and employment of all sincere Christians? And
how should this death have any power over them? As they live to the Lord so
they die to and in the Lord Jesus, and "blessedare the dead," etc. (Revelation
14:13). The Lord that bought them secures them againstthat formidable
power. The Lord that died for them, and hath abolisheddeath, and triumphed
over it, hath delivered them from that power. He is a wall of defence to them
so that the powerof this death cannot reachthem. In a word, they are under
another Prince, and therefore not subject to that power.Inferences:
1. There being such a death, even the seconddeath, surely it deserves to be
fearedand dreaded. It is true there is none desires or cares to feelit, and so
far all men may be said to fear it. But to fear, is to use the proper means to
escape the danger. It is with fearing as it is with believing: he that takes no
care to secure himself and his goods doth not believe there is a consuming fire
in his house, and he that doth not arm himself againstan approaching
inundation doth not fear it.
2. It must needs be a very great privilege to be delivered from the power of the
seconddeath; a greatermercy than to be delivered from the deluge of Noah,
from the conflagrationofSodom, from David's bear and lion, and from the
most painful diseases;a mercy to be prized above being set with princes, even

with the princes of God's people; a mercy which none canprize but true
believers, and the more they believe it, the more they will prize it; a mercy
that will be prized another day at a very great rate, even by the sufferers in
the burning lake, whenit is too late.
(A. Horneck, D. D.)
Triumphant
At one of the prayer-meetings in America a personthus spoke: — "A few
days ago I was in a church in anothercity, and my attention was attractedby
a large marble tablet at the farther end of the church from where I was
sitting. It was so far from me that I could not read it; but casting my eye
downward towards the bottom of the inscription, I made out one word,
'Triumphant.' As I lookedatthat tablet on the wall, I thought, 'Well, that is
all I want to know about that man.' I knew not whether he had been pastorof
the church, or one of the elders, or deacons, ortrustees, or who he was;I
knew not whether he was a rich or a poor man; but this one thing I had
reasonto believe — that he died 'triumphant' in Christ; and that was
enough."
They shall be priests of God and of Christ
Soul priesthood
Homilist.
I. A CONSCIOUSNESS OF THE DIVINE. The very idea of priesthood
implies the practicalrecognitionof God. God was to be everything to the
priests of His appointment. He had to do with their clothing, their diet, their
means of support. He was at once the Author, Master, and Object of all their
ceremonies. Theyprepared their sacrifices by His directions, and they offered
them to Him according to His will. Deepas may have been the impression
which the high priest had of God's presence whenhe stood in the Holy of
Holies, in the full light of the shekinah, it was not deeperthan every man

should have in passing through this life. But why should souls be ever
conscious ofGod's presence? Why?
1. Becauseit is reasonable. His constantpresence is a fact. Shall I recognise,as
I am bound to do, all the little facts that come under my daily notice, and
ignore the greatfact that God is in all, ever present, never absent? Shall men
of science give attention to the smallestfacts of nature; write treatises onan
insect's wing, or on the microscopic dust that floats in the atmosphere, and
ignore the fact that God is present? If it is wise to take notice of the facts of
nature, and wise it is beyond debate, how egregious andastounding the folly
of ignoring the greatestofall facts — the presence of the all-creating, all-
sustaining God?
2. Becauseit is obligatory. Who is He that is present with us? Our Maker,
Sustainer, Proprietor, Author of all we have and are, and of all we hope to
possessand be. To disregardthe presence ofsuch a Being is a heinous crime, a
crime which in all worlds consciencecondemns.
3. Becauseit is necessary. It is indispensable to man's well-being. You may as
well endeavour to evolve and bring into perfection the seedthe husbandman
has scatteredoverhis tilled field without the sunbeam, as to talk about
educating the soul without the consciousnessofGod. This alone can quicken
and develop the spiritual faculties of man. Nor is there any moral power
without it. It is only as we feelthat God is with us that power comes to resist
the evil and do the good, to brave peril and face death.
II. A FELLOWSHIP WITH THE DIVINE. Concerning the "mercy seat,"
before which the high priest stoodin the Holy of Holies in the presence of
God, Jehovahsaid to Moses,"There I will meet with thee, and I will commune
with thee from above the mercy seat," etc. It might be asked, how can we hold
fellowship with One who is invisible — how does soul hold fellowshipwith
Saul? Human spirits are invisible to eachother, yet do they not enjoy

fellowship? How? By symbols and sayings, works andwords. I hold fellowship
with the distant and the dead through the works of their hands, either as they
come directly under my eye or are reproduced in my memory. But words are
the media of fellowship as well as works. Through words we pour our souls
into another's and our minds meet and mingle in fellowship. Can we not thus
hold fellowship with God? Around, above, and beneath me, His works are
spread. All I see in nature are the embodiment and revelation of His ideas,
and these ideas He intends me to study and appropriate. His Word, too, is in
my hand; above all I have that wonderful Word of His — the life of Jesus.
This is the greatorganby which He communicates His ideas to me. But can
man receive the communication? Has he a capacityfor it? He has. This is the
glory of his nature. Of all the creatures onthis earth man alone is able to
receive the thoughts of God. Beyond all this — beyond what may be calledthe
fellowship arising from interpretable ideas, there is an unspeakable and
mystic intercourse. Whatdevout soul in the chamber of devotion, the services
of the temple, or in some lonely walk amidst the grand sceneriesofnature, has
not felt a softening, hallowing influence that has lifted his soul into the
conscious presenceofhis God, causedit to exclaim with Jacob, "SurelyGod is
in this place"?
III. A DEVOTION TO THE DIVINE. The priests under the law were
consecratedin the most solemn and impressive manner to the service of God.
They were in an especialsenseGod's servants.
1. To offer sacrifices forthemselves. We must offer ourselves, nothing else will
do. Whatever we present to God, unless we have first offered ourselves, will be
worse than worthless;it will be impious. The priests were set apart —
2. To offer sacrifices forothers. True priesthood involves intercession. All
souls are united by many a subtle bond; "no one liveth unto himself," and
eachis bound to seek the goodof others. Intercessionwith God on behalf of

others is a socialinstinct as well as a religious duty and high spiritual
privilege. He who first consecrateshimself is sure to mediate for the
redemption ai ethers: mediate not merely by presenting the needs of men to
God, but by presenting the claims of God to man.
(Homilist.)
COMMENTARIES
Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers
THE MILLENNIAL REIGN.
(4) And I saw thrones, and they sat . . . There is a prominence given to the
thrones, because the thought of the reign of the saints is uppermost in the
mind of the seer. The thrones are seen, and those who sat on them. It has been
asked, “Bywhom are the thrones occupied?” The answeris supplied in the
latter part of the verse. Those who are in the latter part saidto reign with
Christ are clearly those who sit upon the thrones which first caught the
prophet’s eye; these are all the real servants of God. They appearbefore the
seerin two greatclasses:—First, the martyrs who have been faithful unto
death; for he speaks first of seeing the souls of those who have been beheaded
(strictly, “slainwith the axe,” but clearlythe specialclass ofbeheadedmartyrs
is to be takenas representing all), because ofthe testimony of Jesus, and
because ofthe word of God. The number of the martyrs is now complete
(comp. Revelation6:11); these form the first class mentioned. Secondly, those
who have been faithful in life occupythese thrones. The prophet sees these,
even whosoeverdid not worship (during life) the wild beast, nor yet his image,
and did not receive the mark (comp. Revelation13:10)on their forehead and
upon their hand. The triumph and sovereignty, whateverthey be, are shared
by all the faithful. These things are stated as constituting their privileges.

They lived, whereas the rest of the dead lived not; they reigned, and judgment
was given them. This lasthas been felt to be a difficulty. What sortof
judgment is intended? The passagein Daniel (Daniel7:22) is clearly
suggestive ofthe present one. The phrase (judgment was given) is not there to
be understood as meaning that right was done them (see Note in Speaker’s
Commentary on Daniel), neither must it be so understood here. Judicial
powers are given to the saints as to those who occupy thrones; “the chief
powerin governing” (Gebhardt) is given them (comp. Matthew 19:28, and
1Corinthians 6:2-3); they reign, they judge, they live; the true and full powers
of life are seento be theirs. And is not this the case always?Who, next to Him
who knows the secrets ofour hearts, exercisesjudicial powers overmen? Do
not those whose lives, as we read them, rebuke our own? Truly, those who
lived for God, and refused the mark of earthliness, reignand judge us in our
worldliness and weakness. This is their sovereignhonour here, besides the
glad reign in the unseen world.
BensonCommentary
Revelation20:4-6. And I saw thrones — Such as were promised to the
apostles, Matthew 19:28;Luke 22:30;and they — Namely, the saints, whom
St. John saw at the same time; satupon them, and judgment was given to
them — 1 Corinthians 6:2. Error and sin being restrained, the reign of
righteousness succeeds, andthe administration of justice and judgment is
given to the saints of the MostHigh, Daniel 7:22. And I saw the souls — That
is, the persons;of them that were beheaded — Namely, with the axe, as the
word πεπελεκισμενων properly signifies:one kind of death, however, which
was particularly inflicted at Rome, is mentioned for all kinds thereof: for the
witness, or testimony, of Jesus — Fortestifying that Jesus ofNazarethis the
true Messiah, the Son of God, the Saviour, Lawgiver, and final Judge of the
world, and especiallyofthose who believe in him; and for the word of God —
In general, or for some particular and peculiarly important truth of it; or for
bearing witness to the great truths of the everlasting gospel;and who had not
worshipped the beast — Had not made any acknowledgmentofsubjection to
the antichristian powerof the beast, nor yielded to the prevailing corruptions;

nor his image — The pope and his corrupt hierarchy; but had perseveredin
the true Christian faith againstall opposition. See on Revelation13:4-8;
Revelation13:11-17. Neitherhad receivedhis mark in their foreheads, or on
their hands — Had neither made an open professionof his corrupt religion,
nor had secretlycomplied with its idolatries or superstitions. And they lived
— Their souls and bodies being reunited; and reigned with Christ — It is not
said, on earth. Doubtless the meaning is, that they ascendedand reignedwith
him in heaven; a thousand years — Namely, before the rest of the dead, even
the one thousand years during which Satanis bound, and truth and
righteousness prevailover all the earth.
Although the martyrs, when thus raisedfrom the dead, shall not continue on
earth, it is highly probable that, in proof of their resurrection, they will
appear to pious individuals, in the places where they were so cruelly
martyred, and where they are raised:as those saints who, at Jerusalem, rose
with Christ, went into the city, and appearedto many, Matthew 27:52-53. And
if so, it is likely this circumstance will tend greatly to confirm the faith and
hope of believers respecting the resurrectionof the dead, and will check vice
and profaneness, andcontribute much to the spread of the gospel. “The
martyrs and confessors ofJesus,”says BishopNewton, “who are here
representedas being raisedfrom the dead, at leastone thousand years before
others, are not only those who were beheaded, or suffered any kind of death,
under the heathen Roman emperors, but also those who refused to comply
with the idolatrous worship of the beastand his image. All these have this
peculiar prerogative above the rest of mankind: they all share in this first
resurrection. And all of them the apostle here pronounces, Blessedand holy is
he that hath part in the first resurrection— He is holy in all senses ofthe
word: holy, as separatedfrom the common lot of mankind; holy, as endowed
with all virtuous qualifications; and none but such are admitted to partake of
this blessedstate. On such the seconddeath has no power — The seconddeath
is a Jewishphrase for the punishment of the wickedafter death. The Chaldee
paraphrase of Onkelos, and the other paraphrases of JonathanBen Uzziel,
and of Jerusalem, on Deuteronomy33:6, Let Reuben live, and not die, say, Let
him not die the seconddeath, by which the wickeddie in the world to come.

The sons of the resurrection, therefore, shallnot die again, but shall live in
eternal bliss, and be priests of God and Christ, and reign with him a thousand
years” — Before any others. For the Lord Jesus will not suffer any of his
disciples to be, in the end, losers fortheir fidelity to him and his cause. These
loved not their lives unto death, but voluntarily sacrificedthem out of love to
him; and he thus amply recompensesthem. He gives eachof them an infinitely
better life than that given up for his sake — and this a thousand years before
the other pious dead receive theirs. “Nothing is more evident,” says Bishop
Newton, “than that this prophecy of the millennium, and of the first
resurrection, hath not yet been fulfilled, even though the resurrectionbe taken
in a figurative sense. Forreckonthe thousand years from the time of Christ,
or reckonthem from the time of Constantine, yet neither of these periods, nor
indeed any other, will answerthe description and characterof the millennium,
the purity and peace, the holiness and happiness of that blessedstate. Before
Constantine, indeed, the church was in greaterpurity; but was groaning
under the persecutions ofthe heathen emperors. After Constantine, the
church was in greaterprosperity, but was soonshakenand disturbed by
heresies and schisms, by the incursions and devastations ofthe northern
nations, by the conquering arms and prevailing imposture of the Saracens,
and afterwardof the Turks; by the corruption, idolatry, and wickedness —
the usurpation, tyranny, and cruelty, of the Church of Rome. If Satanwas
then bound, when can he be said to be loosed? Orhow could the saints and the
beast, Christ and antichrist, reign at the same period? This prophecy
therefore remains to be fulfilled, even though the resurrectionbe taken only
for an allegory, which yet the text cannotadmit without the greatesttorture
and violence. Forwith what propriety canit be said, that some of the dead,
who were beheaded, lived and reigned with Christ a thousand years, but the
rest of the dead lived not again until the thousand years were finished, unless
the dying and living againbe the same in both places, a proper death and
resurrection? Indeed the death and resurrectionof the witnessesbefore
mentioned, chap. 11., appears, from the concurrent circumstances ofthe
vision, to be figurative; but the death and resurrectionhere mentioned must,
for the very same reasons, be concluded to be real. If the martyrs rise only in

a spiritual sense, then the rest of the dead rise only in a spiritual sense;but if
the restof the dead really rise, the martyrs rise in the same manner. There is
no difference betweenthem: and we should be cautious and tender of making
the first resurrection an allegory, lestothers should reduce the secondinto an
allegorytoo, like those whom St. Paul mentions 2 Timothy 2:17-18.
In the general, that there shall be such a happy period is the plain and express
doctrine of Daniel 7:27; Psalm2:8; Isaiah 11:9; Romans 11:25-26, andof all
the prophets, as well as of St. John; and we daily pray for the accomplishment
of it in saying, Thy kingdom come. But, of all the prophets, St. John is the only
one who hath declaredparticularly, and in express terms, that the martyrs
shall rise at the commencementof it, though, as has been observed, probably
not to remain on earth, but to ascendand be with Christ in heaven; and that
this happy state of the church shall continue for one thousand years. And the
JewishChurch before him, and the Christian Church after him, have further
believed and taught, that these thousand years will be the seventh millenary of
the world. A pompous heap of quotations might be produced to this purpose,
both from Jewishand Christian writers; but to enumerate only a few of both
sorts:among the Jewishwriters are, Rabbi Ketina, and the house of Elias;
among the Christian writers are, St. Barnabas in the first century, Justin
Martyr in the secondcentury, Tertullian in the beginning of the third, and
Lactantius in the beginning of the fourth century. In short, the doctrine of the
millennium was generallybelieved in the first three and purest ages ofthe
church: and this belief was one principal cause of the fortitude of the
primitive Christians: they even covetedmartyrdom, in hopes of being
partakers of the privileges and glories of the martyrs in the first resurrection.
Afterward, this doctrine grew into disrepute, for various reasons. Some, both
Jewishand Christian writers, have debasedit with a mixture of fables. It hath
suffered by the misrepresentations ofits enemies, as wellas by the
indiscretions of its friends; it hath been abused to the worst purposes:it hath
been made an engine of faction. Besides, whereverthe influence and authority
of the Church of Rome have extended, she hath endeavouredby all means to
discredit this doctrine; and, indeed, not without sufficient reason, this
kingdom of Christ being founded on the ruins of antichrist. No wonder,

therefore, that this doctrine lay depressedfor many ages;but it sprang up
againat the Reformation, and will flourish together with the study of the
Revelation. All the danger is, on the one side, of pruning and lopping it too
short; and, on the other, of suffering it to grow too wild and luxuriant. Great
caution and judgment are required to keepin the middle way. We should
neither, with some, interpret into an allegory;nor, with others, indulge an
extravagantfancy, nor explain too curiously the manner and circumstances of
this future state.
We must not imagine, as Fleming observes, that the appearance of Christ, to
introduce this glorious state of the church, will be a personal one, any more
than his appearance to destroy Jerusalem, and punish the Jewishnation by
Titus, was such; for the heavens must retain him until the time of the
restitution of all things. Nor are we to imagine that, in this prosperous state of
the church, it shall be free from all mixture of hypocrisy, error, and sin, seeing
that the sudden and generalapostacywhichwill follow that period shows that
all were not Israelthat feigned themselves to be of it; otherwise it is not likely
that God, in his equity and goodness, wouldsuffer the enemies of his people so
dreadfully to assaultthem as they are here representedto do. It is safestand
best faithfully to adhere to the words of Scripture, and to restcontented with
the generalaccount, till time shall accomplishand eclaircise allthe
particulars.
Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary
20:4-6 Here is an accountof the reign of the saints, for the same space oftime
as Satan is bound. Those who suffer with Christ, shall reign with him in his
spiritual and heavenly kingdom, in conformity to him in his wisdom,
righteousness, andholiness:this is calledthe first resurrection, with which
none but those who serve Christ, and suffer for him, shall be favoured. The
happiness of these servants of God is declared. None can be blessedbut those
that are holy; and all that are holy shall be blessed. We know something thing
of what the first death is, and it is very awful; but we know not what this
seconddeath is. It must be much more dreadful; it is the death of the soul,

eternal separationfrom God. May we never know what it is: those who have
been made partakers of a spiritual resurrection, are savedfrom the power of
the seconddeath. We may expectthat a thousand years will follow the
destruction of the antichristian, idolatrous, persecuting powers, during which
pure Christianity, in doctrine, worship, and holiness, will be made known over
all the earth. By the all-powerful working of the Holy Spirit, fallen man will
be new-created;and faith and holiness will as certainly prevail, as unbelief
and unholiness now do. We may easilyperceive what a variety of dreadful
pains, diseases, andother calamities wouldcease, ifall men were true and
consistentChristians. All the evils of public and private contests would be
ended, and happiness of every kind largely increased. Everyman would try to
lighten suffering, insteadof adding to the sorrows around him. It is our duty
to pray for the promised glorious days, and to do every thing in our public
and private stations which canprepare for them.
Barnes'Notes on the Bible
And I saw thrones - θρόνους thronous See Revelation1:4; Revelation3:21;
Revelation4:3-4. John here simply says, that he saw in vision thrones, with
persons sitting on them, but without intreating who they were that sat on
them. It is not the throne of God that is now revealed, for the word is in the
plural number, though the writer does not hint how "many" thrones there
were. It is intimated, however, that these thrones were placedwith some
reference to pronouncing a judgment, or determining the destiny of some
portion of mankind, for it is immediately added, "and judgment was given
unto them." There is considerable resemblance,in many respects, between
this and the statement in Daniel7:9; "I beheld until the thrones were cast
down, and the Ancient of days did sit"; or, as it should be rendered, "I
beheld" - that is, I continued to look - "until the thrones were placedor set,"
to wit, for the purposes of judgment. See the notes on that passage. So John
here sees, as the termination of human affairs approaches, thrones placed
with reference to a determination of the destiny of some portion of the race,
"as if" they were now to have a trial, and to receive a sentence of acquittal or
condemnation. The "persons" onwhom this judgment is to pass are specified,
in the course of the verse, as those who were "beheadedfor the witness of
Jesus, who had the Word of God, who had not worshipped the beast," etc.

The "time" when this was to occur manifestly was at the Beginning of the
thousand years.
And they satupon them - Who saton them is not mentioned. The natural
constructionis, that "judges" saton them, or that persons saton them to
whom judgment was entrusted. The language is such as would be used on the
supposition either that he had mentioned the subjectbefore, so that he would
be readily understood, or that, from some other cause, it was so well
understood that there was no necessityfor mentioning who they were. John
seems to have assumedthat it would be understood who were meant. And yet
to us it is not entirely clear; for John has not before this given us any such
intimation that we can determine with certainty what is intended. The
probable construction is, that those are referred to to whom it appropriately
belongedto occupy such seats ofjudgment, and who they are is to be
determined from other parts of the Scriptures. In Matthew 19:28, the Saviour
says to his apostles, "Whenthe Sonof man shall sit on the throne of his glory,
ye also shall sit upon twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel." In 1
Corinthians 6:2, Paul asks the question, "Do ye not know that the saints shall
judge the world?" The meaning as thus explained is, that Christians will, in
some way, be employed in judging the world; that is, that they will be exalted
to the right hand of the Judge, and be elevatedto a station of honor, as if they
were associatedwith the Son of God in the judgment. Something of that kind
is, doubtless, referred to here; and John probably means to say that he saw
the thrones placed on which those will sit who will be employed in judging the
world. If the apostles are speciallyreferredto, it was natural that John,
eminent for modesty, should not particularly mention them, as he was one of
them, and as the true allusion would be readily understood.
And judgment was given unto them - The power of pronouncing sentence in
the case referredto was conferredon them, and they proceededto exercise
that power. This was not in relationto the whole race of mankind, but to the
martyrs, and to those who, amidst many temptations and trials, had kept
themselves pure. The sentence which is to be passedwould seemto be that in
consequence ofwhich they are to be permitted to "live and reign with Christ a

thousand years." The "form" of this expressedapproval is that of a
resurrectionand judgment; whether this be the "literal" mode is another
inquiry, and will properly be consideredwhen the exposition of the passage
shall have been given.
And I saw the souls of them - This is a very important expressionin regard to
the meaning of the whole passage. Johnsays he saw "the souls" - not "the
bodies." If the obvious meaning of this be the correctmeaning; if he saw the
"souls" ofthe martyrs, not the "bodies," this would seemto exclude the
notion of a "literal" resurrection, and consequentlyoverturn many of the
theories of a literal resurrection, and of a literal reign of the saints with Christ
during the thousand years of the millennium. The doctrine of the last
resurrection, as everywhere statedin the Scripture, is, that the "body" will be
raisedup, and not merely that the "soulwill live" (see 1 Corinthians 15, and
the notes on that chapter); and consequentlyJohn must mean to refer in this
place to something different from that resurrection, or to "any" proper
resurrectionof the dead as the expressionis commonly understood.
The doctrine which has been held, and is held, by those who maintain that
there will be a "literal resurrection" of the saints to reign with Christ during a
thousand years, can receive no support from this passage, forthere is no
ambiguity respecting the word "souls" - ψυχὰς psuchas - as used here. By no
possible constructioncan it mean the "bodies" ofthe saints. If John had
intended to state that the saints, as such, would be raisedas they will be at the
last day, it is clearthat he would not have used this language, but would have
employed the common language of the New Testamentto denote it. The
language here does not express the doctrine of the resurrectionof the body;
and if no other language but this had been used in the New Testament, the
doctrine of the resurrection, as now taught and received, could not be
established. These considerations make it clearto my mind that John did not
mean to teach that there would be a literal resurrectionof the saints, that they

might live and reign with Christ personally during the period of a thousand
years.
There was undoubtedly something that might be "compared" with the
resurrection, and that might, in some proper sense, be "called" a resurrection
Revelation20:5-6, but there is not the slightestintheation that it would be a
resurrectionof the "body," or that it would be identical with the "final"
resurrection. John undoubtedly intends to describe some honor conferredon
the "spirits or souls" ofthe saints and martyrs during this long period, as if
they were raisedfrom the dead, or which might be representedby a
resurrectionfrom the dead. What that honor is to be, is expressedby their
"living and reigning with Christ." The meaning of this will be explained in the
exposition of these words; but the word used here is fatal to the notion of a
literal resurrection and a personal reign with Christ on the earth.
That were beheaded - The word used here - πελεκίζω pelekizō - occurs
nowhere else in the New Testament. It properly means, "to axe," that is, to
hew or cut with an axe - from πέλεκυς pelekus, "axe." Hence it means to
behead with an axe. This was a common mode of executionamong the
Romans, and doubtless many of the Christian martyrs suffered in this
manner; but "it cannot be supposed to have been the intention of the writer to
confine the rewards of martyrs to those who suffered in this particular way;
for this specific and ignominious method of punishment is designatedmerely
as the symbol of any and every kind of martyrdom" (Prof. Stuart).
For the witness of Jesus - As witnessesofJesus;or bearing in this way their
testimony to the truth of his religion. See the notes on Revelation1:9; compare
Revelation6:9.

And for the Word of God - See the notes on Revelation1:9. "Which had not
worshipped the beast." Who had remained faithful to the principles of the
true religion, and had resistedall the attempts made to seduce them from the
faith, even the temptations and allurements in the times of the papacy. See this
language explained in the notes on Revelation13:4.
Neither his image - notes on Revelation13:14-15.
Neither had receivedhis mark upon their foreheads, orin their hands - See
the notes on Revelation13:16.
And they lived - ἔζησαν ezēsan, from ζάω zaō, "to live." Very much, in the
whole passage,depends on this word. The meanings given to the word by
Prof. Robinson(Lexicon) are the following:
(a) to live, to have life, spokenof physical life and existence;
(b) to live, that is, to sustain life, to live on or by anything;
continued...
Jamieson-Fausset-BrownBible Commentary
4, 5. they sat—the twelve apostles, andthe saints in general.
judgment was given unto there—(See on [2740]Da7:22). The office of judging
was given to them. Though in one sense having to stand before the judgment-

seatof Christ, yet in another sense they "do not come into judgment (Greek),
but have already passedfrom death unto life."
souls—This term is made a plea for denying the literality of the first
resurrection, as if the resurrectionwere the spiritual one of the souls of
believers in this life; the life and reign being that of the soul raisedin this life
from the death of sin by vivifying faith. But "souls" expressestheir
disembodied state (compare Re 6:9) as John saw them at first; "and they
lived" implies their coming to life in the body again, so as to be visible, as the
phrase, Re 20:5, "this is the first resurrection," proves;for as surely as "the
rest of the dead lived not (again) until," &c., refers to the bodily general
resurrection, so must the first resurrectionrefer to the body. This also accords
with 1Co 15:23, "Theythat are Christ's at His coming." Compare Ps 49:11-
15. From Re 6:9, I infer that "souls" is here used in the strict sense ofspirits
disembodied when first seenby John; though doubtless "souls" is often used
in generalfor persons, and even for dead bodies.
beheaded—literally, "smitten with an axe";a Roman punishment, though
crucifixion, casting to beasts, and burning, were the more common modes of
execution. The guillotine in revolutionary France was a revival of the mode of
capital punishment of paganimperial Rome. Paul was beheaded, and no
doubt shall share the first resurrection, in accordancewith his prayer that he
"might attain unto the resurrectionfrom out of the rest of the dead" (Greek,
"exanastasis"). The above facts may accountfor the specificationofthis
particular kind of punishment.
for … for—Greek, "forthe sake of";on accountof"; "becauseof."
and which—Greek, "andthe which." And prominent among this class (the
beheaded), such as did not worship the beast. So Re 1:7, Greek, "and the

which," or "and such as," particularizes prominently among the generalclass
those that follow in the description [Tregelles]. The extent of the first
resurrectionis not spokenof here. In 1Co 15:23, 51;1Th 4:14 we find that all
"in Christ" shall share in it. John himself was not "beheaded," yetwho
doubts but that he shall share in the first resurrection? The martyrs are put
first, because mostlike Jesus in their sufferings and death, therefore nearest
Him in their life and reign; for Christ indirectly affirms there are relative
degrees and places ofhonor in His kingdom, the highest being for those who
drink his cup of suffering. Next shall be those who have not bowedto the
world power, but have lookedto the things unseen and eternal.
neither—"not yet."
foreheads … hands—Greek, "forehead… hand."
reigned with Christ—overthe earth.
Matthew Poole's Commentary
This is a very difficult text. Thrones are places of dignity and judicature; they
seemhere to signify only places ofdignity.
And they satupon them; those mentioned afterwardin this text satupon
them.
And judgment was given unto them; that is, a power of judgment, 1
Corinthians 6:2,3, to be executedafterward. The persons sitting upon these
thrones are described to be:

1. Such as had kept themselves from idolatry, or any compliance with
antichrist, either in the form of the beast, or of the image of the beast.
2. And for that non-compliance had suffered death, and for witnessing to the
truths of Christ contained in his word.
These are describedas living with Christ in honour and dignity, all that space
of the church’s rest and tranquillity before expressed. Our learned Dr. More
interprets the thrones and judgment, concerning those thrones or places of
judicature, upon which the dragon’s officers satto condemn the saints of God,
from whence issuedthe putting to death of many of the saints of God, and
thinks that in this vision there is a recourse to the secondthunder. Now these
saints are said to
live and reign with Christ a thousand years; that is, say some, in heaven, in a
blessedstate of glory, while the militant church upon the earth enjoyed great
rest and quiet on earth. Others have thought that these should be raised from
the dead, and live with Christ on earth these thousand years. Which notion (if
true) will solve a greatphenomenon, and render it not improbable, that the
number of the saints on earth will, during these thousand years, be enough to
rule the world, and overbalance the number of all the wickedof the earth.
Those who think thus, judge there will be two resurrections;the first, of
martyrs, which shall antedate the generalresurrectiona thousand years: but
the Scripture no where else mentions more than one resurrection. Formy own
part, I shall freely confess thatI do not understand this and the two next
verses, nor shall I be positive as to any sense of them: for the spiritual
resurrection, as to the martyrs, it was long since past, or else they had died in
their sins. But of this see more in the next verse. {Revelation20:5}
Gill's Exposition of the Entire Bible

And I saw thrones, and they satupon them,.... Besides the throne of God the
Father, and the throne of glory, on which the Sonof God sits, and the twelve
thrones for the twelve apostles of the Lamb; there will be thrones set, or
pitched, for all the saints, Daniel 7:9 who will sit on them, in the characterof
kings, and as conquerors, and shall sit quiet, and undisturbed, and be in
perfect ease, andpeace, forthey that sit on them are the same persons
hereafterdescribed in this verse;for after the binding of Satan, an accountis
given of the happiness and glory of the saints during that time:
and judgment was given unto them; that is, power, dominion, regal authority,
possessionofa kingdom, answerable to their characteras kings, and to their
position, sitting on thrones, Daniel 7:22 unless it should be rather understood
of justice being done them, which does not so manifestly take place in the
present state of things, and of which they sometimes complain; but now
righteous judgment will be given for them, and againsttheir enemies;their
persons will be openly declaredrighteous;their characters will be clearedof
all false imputations fastenedon them; and their works and sufferings for
Christ will be takennotice of in a way of grace, andrewarded in a very
glorious manner. And so it may respecttheir being judged themselves, but not
their judging of others, the wicked, which is the sole work of Christ; nor will
the wickednow be upon the spot to be judged; nor is that notion to be
supported by See Gill on Matthew 19:28, See Gill on 1 Corinthians 6:2, See
Gill on 1 Corinthians 6:3. The Jews fancy that their chief men shall judge the
world in the time to come; for so they say (w),
"in future time, (or in the world to come,)the holy blessedGod will sit, and
kings will place thrones for the greatmen of Israel, and they shall sit and
judge the nations of the world with the holy blessedGod:''
but the persons here meant are not Jews, but sufferers for the sake of Jesus, as
follows:

and I saw the souls of them that were beheaded for the witness of Jesus, and
for the word of God: these, with the persons describedin the next clause, are
they who will sit on thrones, during the thousand years of Satan's being
bound, and will have judgment given them; even such who have bore witness
to the truth of Jesus being the Son of God, the true Messiah, and the only
Saviour of sinners, and to him as the essentialWord of God, or to the written
word of God, the whole Gospel, all the truths and doctrines of it; and who
have been beheadedfor bearing such a testimony, as John the Baptist was, the
first of the witnessesofJesus:and since this kind of punishment was a Roman
one, it seems particularly to point at such persons who suffered under the
Roman Paganemperors, and to design the same souls saidto be under the
altar, and to cry for vengeance,Revelation6:9. This clause, in connectionwith
the former, is differently rendered; the Syriac version renders it thus, "and
judgment was given to them, and to the souls that were beheaded", &c. the
Arabic version, "and to them was given the judgment the souls killed", &c.
the Ethiopic version, "and then I saw a seat, and the sonof man satupon it,
and he rendered to them judgment for the souls of them that were slain for
the law of the Lord Jesus".
And which had not worshipped the beast, neither his image, neither had
receivedhis mark upon their foreheads, orin their hands, see Revelation13:1.
This describes suchwho shall have made no professionof the Popish religion,
nor have supported it in any way; who shall not have joined in the idolatry of
the Romishantichrist, but shall have protested againstit, and departed from
it, and shall have adhered to Christ, and to the true worship of God; see
Revelation14:1. And so this, with the preceding character, includes all the
saints that lived under Rome Pagan, and Rome Papal, to the destruction of
antichrist, and the setting up of Christ's kingdom; not that these martyrs and
confessors, oreven all the saints of their times, are the only persons that shall
share in the glory and happiness of the thousand years'reign of Christ, and
binding of Satan; for all the saints will come with Christ, and all the dead in
Christ will rise first, or be partakers of the first resurrection; and all that are
redeemedby his blood, of whatsoevernation, or in whatsoeverage ofthe
world they have lived, even from the beginning of it, shall be kings and priests,

and reign with him on earth, Zechariah 14:5 though John only takes notice of
these, because the design of this book, and of the visions shownto him, was
only to give a prophetic history of the church, from his time, to the end of the
world; and these particularly are observedto encourage the saints under
sufferings for Christ:
and they lived; meaning not spiritually, for so they did before, and while they
bore their testimony to Christ, and againstantichrist, and previous to their
death; nor in their successors, forit would not be just and reasonable that
they should be beheadedfor their witness of Christ and his word, and others
should live and reign with Christ in their room and stead;nor is this to be
understood of their living in their souls, for so they live in their separate state;
the soulnever dies; God is not the God of the dead, but of the living: but the
sense is, that they lived again, as in Revelation20:5 they lived corporeally;
their souls lived in their bodies, their bodies being raisedagain, and reunited
to their souls, their whole persons lived; or the souls of them that were
beheadedlived; that is, their bodies lived again, the soul being sometimes put
for the body, Psalm16:10 and this is called the first resurrectionin the next
verse:
and reigned with Christ a thousand years; as all that suffer with him will, and
as all that will live godly must, and do, 2 Timothy 2:12 2 Timothy 3:12. Christ
being descendedfrom heaven, and having bound Satan, and the dead saints
being raised, and the living ones changed, he will reign among them
personally, visibly, and gloriously, and in the fullest manner; all the
antichristian powers will be destroyed; Satanwill be in close confinement;
death, with respectto Christ and his people, will be no more; the heavens and
the earth will be made new, and all things will be subject to him; and all his
saints will be with him, and they shall reign with him; they shall be glorified
together;they shall sit on the throne with him, have a crownof righteousness
given them, and possessthe kingdom appointed for them; they will reign over
all their enemies; Satanwill be bruised under their feet, being bound; the

wickedwill be shut up in hell, and neither will be able to give them any
disturbance; and sin and death will be no more: this reign will not be in a
sensualand carnalway, or lie in possessingworldly riches and honours, in
eating and drinking, marrying, and giving in marriage;the saints will not be
in a mortal, but in an immortal state;the children of this resurrectionwill be
like the angels;and this reign will be on earth, Revelation5:10 the present
earth will be burnt up, and a new one formed, in which these righteous
persons will dwell, 2 Peter3:13 of which See Gill on Revelation21:1 and it will
last a thousand years;not distinct from, but the same with the thousand years
in which Satanwill be bound; for if they were distinct from them, and should
commence when they are ended, the reign of Christ with his saints would be
when Satan is loosed, whichis utterly inconsistentwith it. The Syriac version
very rightly renders it, these thousand years, referring to those of Satan's
binding. Norare these thousand years to be understood prophetically, for as
many years as there are days in a thousand years; for as this would defer the
judgment of the wicked, and the ultimate glory of the saints, to a prodigious
length of time, so it should be observed, that prophetic time will now be no
longer, according to the angel's oath in Revelation10:6 but these are to be
understood literally and definitely, as before, of just such an exact number
and term of years;see 2 Peter3:8 this is a perfectnumber, and is expressive of
the perfectionof this state, and is a term of years that neither Adam, nor any
of his sons, arrived unto; but Christ the secondAdam shall see his seed, and
shall prolong his days longer than any of them, Isaiah53:10. It is an
observationof the JewishRabbins (x), that the day in Genesis 2:17 is the day
of the holy blessedGod(i.e. a thousand years), and therefore the first Adam
did not perfect, or fill up his day, for there wanted seventy years of it: and it is
a notion that prevails with them, that the days of the Messiahwill be a
thousand years (y); and so they will be at his secondcoming, but not at his
first, which they vainly expect, it being past: and also they say (z), that in these
thousand years Godwill renew his world, and that then the righteous will be
raised, and no more return to dust; which agrees withJohn's new heavenand
new earth during this state, and with the first resurrection: and so Jerom, who
was conversantwith the Rabbins, says (a) that the Jews expecta thousand
years'reign.

(w) Yalkut Simconi, par. 2. fol. 41. 4. (x) Bemidbar Rabba, sect. 5. fol. 185. 4.
vid. Jacchiad. in Daniel 7.25. (y) Midrash Tillim, fol. 4. 2.((z) T. Bab.
Sanhedrin, fol. 93. 1, 2. & Gloss. in ib. Yalkut Simeoni, par. 2. fol. 42. 1. & 49.
3. TzerorHammor, fol. 150. 2.((a)Comment. in Zach. xiv. 16, 18.
Geneva Study Bible
{6} And I saw {a} thrones, and they sat upon them, and {7} judgment was
given unto them: and I saw the souls of them that were {8} beheadedfor the
witness of Jesus, and for the word of God, and which {9} had not worshipped
the beast, neither his image, neither had receivedhis mark upon their
foreheads, orin their hands; and they lived and reigned with Christ a
thousand years.
(6) A descriptionof the common state of the Church of Christ in earth in that
space ofa thousand years, during which the devil was in bonds; in which first
the authority, life, and common honour of the godly, is declared, Re 20:4.
Secondly, newness oflife is preachedto others by the gospelafterthat time;
Re 20:5. Finally, he concludes with promises, Re 20:6.
(a) For judgment was committed to them, as to members joined to the head:
not that Christ's office was given over to them.
(7) This was a type of the authority of the goodand faithful servants of God in
the Church, takenfrom the manner of men.
(8) Of the martyrs, who suffered in those first times.

Jesus was to reign a thousand years

Jesus was to reign a thousand years

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