They will not "reign on the earth" in
the sense of being earthly beings, hav
ing earthly courts'and thrones their
resurrection "change" will constitute
them heavenly or spirit'beings they
will.be invisible to mankind, as now
the "Prince of this world" is invisible
and as the holy angels are invisible.
But they will possess heavenly power
and authority and wisdom and grace.
By these glorious attributes they will
be able to serve God and humanity by
a reign of righteousness, whose up
lifting or restitution influences (Acts
ill, 21) will begin with the living gen
erations, but eventually extend to "all
the families of the earth," who have
been going down for the past six thou
sand years into the great prison-house
of death—"prisoners of hope," how
ever, because of the promise of God's
Word and the redemption sacrifice of
Jesus.
My beloved hearers, if your hearts
are not moved by this message of
God's grace and this information re
specting his Kingdom and of your pros
pects of becoming kings and priests in
that Kingdom, it is because you do not
believe the message—because your
faith does not properly grasp the "ex
ceeding great and precious promises"
of God's Word (II Peter i, 4). 1 am
aware that this whole message by
Jesus and his apostles has been so
long covered by the rubbish of "the
dark ages" that it 'was lost to. our
sight for a long while, and sadly we
missed its encouragement to faithful
ness. 1 am glad, however, that now
the eyes of understanding are opening
to see the length and breadth and
height and depth in the great Divine
Plan of the Ages.
The Value of Earthly Crowns.
