“At thy right hand there are pleasures for evermore” (Ps. 16:11)
“And he that overcometh, and keepeth my works unto the end, to him will I give power over the nations: And he shall rule them with a rod of iron; as the vessels of a potter shall they be broken to shivers: even as I received of my Father. And I will give him the morning star. He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches” (Rev. 2:26–29).
The church at Thyatira was having trouble keeping the corruption of the nations out of the church. But the Lord calls them to faithfulness, and urges them to overcome and keep His works to the end. For the believer who does that, God will give him authority (exousia) over the nations. In short, exercising dominion within the church, according to the Word, will result in dominion in the world. In the second psalm, God promises that the Christ will be given a rod of iron to rule over the nations, and here the Christ promises that the overcomer will share in that rule with Him. As the Christ received authority from the Father, so also will the servants of Christ receive authority from Him – and it is all at the root the same authority. That rule is not all sunshine—the nations are sometimes shattered in the process. Jesus came, after all, to set the world on fire (Luke 12:49). To the one who overcomes, God will give him the morning star. This is simply the gift of Christ under another figure. Christ is the morning star (Rev. 22:16). The one who is able to hear needs to make a point of hearing what the Spirit says to all the churches.
