"Then answered Peter, and said unto him, Behold, we have forsaken all and followed thee: what shall we have therefore? And Jesus said unto them, Verily I say unto you, That ye which have followed me, in the regeneration when the Son of man shall sit in the throne of his glory, ye also shall sit upon twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel."--Matt. 19:27, 28.

OR a brief discussion of this subject we propose the following order:

      As introductory to the subject, we shall briefly consider the case of the young man as recorded in the paragraphs immediately preceding our text. In the parallel passage, Mark tells us that when Jesus "was gone forth into the way, there came one running, and kneeled to him, and asked him, Good Master, what shall I do that I may inherit eternal life" (Mark 10:17). Matthew informs us that [366] Jesus said unto this young man, "If thou wilt enter into life, keep the commandments;" and that he asked Him, "Which?" No doubt he, like many persons in the present day, was under the impression that the commandments are not all alike essential, and therefore he inquired which he must do. Jesus referred him to the commandments of the law. "And he answered and said unto him, Master, all these have I observed from my youth. Then Jesus beholding him loved him, and said unto him, One thing thou lackest; go thy way, sell whatsoever thou hast, and give to the poor, and thou shalt have treasure in heaven: and come, take up the cross, and follow me. And he was sad at that saying, and went away grieved; for he had great possessions" (Mark 10:20-22).

      This otherwise good young man was covetous, and Jesus knew it, and therefore put him to the test. "Sell whatsoever thou hast, and give to the poor." This he was unwilling to do. If he could have obtained eternal life without making any sacrifices, he would have been glad to accept it; but, unwilling to make the necessary sacrifice, he walked sadly away. Jesus said unto His disciples "How hardly shall they that have riches enter into the kingdom of God!" And then, to intensify the thought, He added: "It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter into the kingdom of God." That is, a rich man of that particular type--a covetous [367] rich man, who loves his worldly possessions more than eternal life.

      Now, after Peter and the other disciples had witnessed all this, and had heard the remarks of Jesus in regard to covetous rich men, they came to the conclusion that they had made great sacrifices and were poor enough. Peter, as spokesman for the twelve, said to Jesus: "Behold, we have forsaken all, and followed thee: what shall we have therefore?" The apostles were at that time expecting Jesus, as the son of David, to restore the fallen fortunes of the kingdom of David, and to sit upon the temporal throne of David. And in view of the speedy establishment of a great temporal kingdom, the question, "What shall we have therefore" was equivalent to asking, "What offices of honor and profit shall we fill in your kingdom?" Jesus, without stopping to correct their mistaken views upon this subject, answered their question by saying: "Ye which have followed me"--that is, the chosen twelve, who had continued with Him in all His travels--"in the regeneration, when the Son of man shall sit on the throne of his glory, ye also shall sit upon twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel."

      I. The Regeneration, or, More Literally, the Renovation.--This means simply the gospel dispensation, embracing the whole period of time from the setting up of the kingdom of Christ on the day of Pentecost until the end shall come and [368] He shall deliver up the kingdom to His Father. This period is very properly called the Renovation, because the gospel of Christ, which is to be preached in all the world, is the power of God unto salvation to all, in every nation, who believe and obey it. It is the great renovating agent to purify and elevate human society. Jesus, the Son of God, and the Saviour of men, is the light of the world; and wherever the true gospel is preached, men are enlightened and drawn to Christ for salvation. The Renovation began on the day of Pentecost, when three thousand souls were "convinced of sin, of righteousness, and of judgment," and became obedient to the gospel. "Devout men, out of every nation under heaven," who were sojourners in Jerusalem at that time, were among the three thousand converts made on that day; and, returning to their homes, they carried with them the light and truth that were to renovate society everywhere; not only the twelve tribes, but the Gentiles as well, after their calling.

      II. The Throne of His Glory.--During the period of the Renovation Jesus is to sit on the throne of His glory. He sat down upon the throne when He ascended up to heaven and was crowned King in Zion, forty days after His resurrection from the dead. David says: "Yet have I set my king upon my holy hill of Zion" (Ps. 2:6). Again: "The Lord said unto my Lord, Sit thou at my right hand until I make thine enemies thy [369] footstool." These passages represent Christ as a King sitting upon His throne and reigning over the people. Once more: David describes the ascension of Christ to His glorious throne thus: "Lift up your heads, O ye gates; and be ye lifted up, ye everlasting doors; and the King of glory shall come in" (Ps. 24:7). Here He is called the "King of glory," when he ascends up to heaven, accompanied by thousands of angels and twenty thousand chariots of God. And on the day of Pentecost, when the multitude were together greatly wondering at the strange things that they saw and heard, and inquired of the apostles the meaning of it, Peter, standing up with the eleven, explained the whole matter to them by saying: "Therefore let all the house of Israel know assuredly, that God hath made that same Jesus, whom ye have crucified, both Lord and Christ."

      III. The Twelve Thrones of Judgment.--The Saviour promised His twelve apostles that they should sit on twelve thrones in His kingdom, in the Renovation; and, according to this promise, they took their seats on their thrones on the day of Pentecost, and are to occupy these thrones during the whole period of the Renovation. Consequently they are on these thrones to-day as judges of the twelve tribes of Israel and of the Gentiles as well. And as they have no successors in office, they will continue to judge to the end of time. This fact is practically admitted by the whole [370] Protestant world. When differences arise among them, all agree to refer this matter to the apostles for decision. All parties go to the New Testament and find what the apostles have taught on the subject, and, their words being infallible, the question is forever settled. This is an admission that the apostles are yet on their thrones of judgment in the kingdom of Christ.

      That we are correct in recognizing these twelve apostles as being on their thrones in the very commencement of the reign of Christ on earth, we further prove by the following parallel passage. Jesus says to the chosen twelve: "Ye are they which have continued with me in my temptations [trials]. And I appoint unto you a kingdom, as my Father hath appointed unto me; that you may eat and drink at my table in my kingdom, and sit on thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel" (Luke 22:28-30). That the thrones here referred to are the same twelve thrones promised in our text to the twelve apostles, no one can deny. And the apostles here are promised thrones, that they may eat and drink at His table in His kingdom while sitting on their thrones and judging the tribes of Israel. This settles the point.

      But what are we to understand by thrones, in the text? Why, simply the apostolic office. The apostles were chosen by Christ to be His chief ministers, His ambassadors, to the world, Therefore, to sit on twelve thrones in His kingdom was [371] simply to exercise the power and authority which they had received of Him as His apostles. And this authority was promised to them in the following Scriptures.

      Jesus said to them: "As my Father hath sent me, even so send I you. And when he had said this, he breathed on them, and saith unto them, Receive ye the Holy Spirit: whosesoever sins ye remit, they are remitted unto them; and whosesoever sins ye retain, they are retained" (John 20:21, 22).

      Again: Jesus said to Peter and the other apostles with him: "And I will give unto thee the keys of the kingdom of heaven; and whatsoever thou shalt bind on earth shall be bound in heaven, and whatsoever thou shalt loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven" (Matt. 16:19). These Scriptures prove clearly that Jesus gave the apostles plenary authority, as His chief ministers, to judge the twelve tribes of Israel and to remit and to retain sins by teaching the people what they must do to be saved; to bind upon them "the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus," and to loose the twelve tribes from the bondage of the law of Moses.

      But it may be objected by some one that, as Judas had by transgression fallen, and lost his apostleship, and hung himself, before the kingdom of Christ was established on the day of Pentecost, there were only eleven apostles present on that [372] day, and that these could sit on eleven thrones only, which would leave one throne vacant. But such an objector seems to have forgotten that Matthias was chosen by divine direction to fill the place made vacant by the fall of Judas. (See Acts 1.) Luke says: "And he was numbered with the eleven apostles." This made the twelve, and of course there was no vacant throne on the beginning-day. And that the selection was sanctioned by the Holy Spirit is proven by the fact that the apostles are ever after referred to as "the twelve." Luke says: "But Peter, standing up with the eleven, lifted up his voice and said" (Acts 2:14). This proves that there were twelve apostles present on Pentecost, as eleven apostles stood up with Peter on that day. So, then, the twelve apostles were present on the morning of Pentecost, ready to take their seats on the twelve thrones as soon as they received the power from on high; which power came on them in the baptism of the Holy Spirit. This seated them on their thrones of judgment, in the kingdom of Christ, according to His promise. This brings us to our fourth division.

      IV. "This Judgment of the Twelve Tribes of Israel."--In what did these judgments consist? It will be borne in mind that there were no others present on Pentecost but children of Israel, nor for some years after, when the Gentiles were called at the house of Cornelius the Gentile (Acts 10). [373]

      The term "judgment" means decision. We use the term in this sense in common parlance. Some great question is brought before the court, and when the court decides it we call this decision the "judgment of the court." The twelve apostles upon their thrones of judgment were the high court of heaven, appointed by the King himself to decide all questions that might arise after the organization of the kingdom of Christ; and the decision of these matters authoritatively is what is meant by "judging the twelve tribes of the children of Israel."

      Now let us see what great matters were submitted to them for their judgment or decision:

      1. On the morning of Pentecost, when the multitude ran together, greatly wondering at what they saw and heard, "they were in doubt, saying one to another, What meaneth this? Others, mocking, said, These men are full of new wine." The multitude were in ignorance as to the meaning of the wonderful things which they saw and heard. And those who attempted to answer the question were entirely mistaken. These men were not full of wine. But Peter and the eleven other apostles now stood up to render their first judgment after being placed on their thrones. This decision of a very important question is recorded in Acts 2:14-36, and begins thus: "Ye men of Judea, and all ye that dwell at Jerusalem." And at verse 22 he says: "Ye men of Israel, hear these [374] words." This shows that the apostles understood that their decision of this question was for the men of Israel--the twelve tribes. And the judgment closes, with verse 36, in these words: "Therefore let all the house of Israel know assuredly, that God hath made that same Jesus, whom ye have crucified, both Lord and Christ." This was the first judgment rendered after they received the power from on high and took their seats on their apostolic thrones; and it was an infallible judgment, and settled the question forever that Jesus Christ is the Son of God; and that, though the Jews with wicked hands had crucified Him, yet God had raised Him from the dead. "Therefore being by the right hand of God exalted, and having received of the Father the promise of the Holy Spirit, he hath shed forth this, which ye now see and hear" (v. 33).

      2. This first judgment being satisfactory to a great number of the men of Israel present, Luke says: "Now when they heard this, they were pierced in their heart, and said unto Peter and to the rest of the apostles, Men and brethren, what shall we do?" (v. 37). They were now conscious that Jesus, whom they had denied and crucified, is indeed the Son of God and their long-promised Messiah. But they were in ignorance of the conditions of pardon; in fact, these conditions had not yet been made known by the apostles. Here, then, is one of the most important questions ever [375] asked by mortals, "What shall we do?" This called for a second judgment, or decision, from the men upon the twelve thrones. There they stand together, having the keys of the kingdom of heaven, gifted with plenary inspiration. They knew that their decision would be a finality on earth, and be ratified in heaven, as the conditions of pardon in all the coming ages. With a full knowledge of their responsibility, and of the vast interests involved in their decision, Peter, the chief speaker, announced the judgment of the twelve apostles as follows: "Then Peter said unto them, Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit" (v. 38).

      This decision, coming from the inspired men sitting upon these twelve thrones where Jesus had seated them for the very purpose of deciding all these questions for the twelve tribes, forever settled the question of the conditions of pardon. And this decision, being ratified, or bound, in heaven, remains the law of pardon to-day, and will stand on the statute-book of heaven unrepealed until the closing up of Christ's mediatorial reign.

      This second judgment rendered by the twelve was also satisfactory to many of the multitude. As Luke tells us: "Then they that gladly received his word were baptized: and the same day there were added unto them about three thousand souls" [376] (v. 41). Peter was the chief speaker on this occasion, as usual; but the decision he rendered was the unanimous judgment of the twelve inspired judges guided by the Holy Spirit. These great questions were therefore authoritatively decided for the twelve tribes, and for the whole world as well, and for all time. Other judgments were rendered by the apostles, but of these we can not speak now, further than to say that the apostles are our teachers, and that the words spoken by them are the words of Jesus, and must be believed and obeyed by us.

      Reader, are you a Christian? Then we exhort you to stand fast in the liberty of the gospel; read and study the word of God; and never forget that the apostles are yet upon their thrones, and that their decisions, though rendered eighteen hundred years ago, have lost none of their authority. And to those who are not Christians we would say: The conditions of pardon as announced by the apostles at the beginning are the conditions yet. They are plain and simple. And we would exhort you to come to Christ. Delay no longer; now is the accepted time, and this is the day of salvation. Come! [377]

[NTC1 366-377]