To him that overcometh will I grant to sit with me in my throne, even as I also overcame, and am set down with my Father in his throne.
Sit with me in my throne - (Matthew 19:28; Matthew 20:23; John 17:22; John 17:24; 2 Timothy 2:12; Revelation 2:26-27; Revelation 20:6.) He whom Christ just before threatened to spue out of His mouth, is now offered a seat with Him on His throne! 'The highest place is within reach of the lowest: the faintest spark of grace may be fanned into the mightiest flame' (Trench).
Even as I also. Two thrones are mentioned:
(1) His Father's, upon which He has sat since His ascension, after victory over death, sin, the world: upon this none can sit except God, and the God-man Christ Jesus, for it is the incommunicable prerogative of God;
(2) the throne peculiarly His as the once humbled and then glorified Son of man, to be set up over the whole earth (heretofore usurped by Satan) at His coming again: in this the victorious saints shall share
The transfigured elect shall with Christ judge and reign over the nations in the flesh, and Israel foremost of them: ministering blessings to them, as angels were the Lord's mediators of blessing and administrators of government in setting up His throne in Israel at Sinai. This privilege belongs exclusively to the present time while Satan reigns, when alone there is scope for conflict and victory (2 Timothy 2:11-12). When Satan shall be bound (Revelation 20:4) there shall be no longer scope, for all on earth shall know the Lord, from the least to the greatest. This, the crowning promise, at the end of all the seven addresses, gathers all in one. It forms the link to the next part, where the Lamb is seated on His Father's throne (Revelation 4:2-3; Revelation 5:5-6). The Eastern throne is broader than ours, admitting others besides the chief in the center. Trench, The order of the promises corresponds to the unfolding of the kingdom of God from its first beginnings on earth to its consummation in heaven. To the faithful at Ephesus:
(1) the tree of life in the paradise of God (Revelation 2:7) answering to Genesis 2:1-25 (1) the tree of life in the paradise of God (Revelation 2:7), answering to Genesis 2:1-25.
(2) Sin entered the world, and death by sin: to the faithful at Smyrna it is promised they shall not be hurt by the second death (Revelation 2:11). The promise of the hidden manna (Revelation 2:17) to Pergamos
(3) answers to the Mosaic period, the Church in the wilderness.
(4) That to Thyatira, triumph over the nations (Revelation 2:26-27), consummates the kingdom, answering to the prophetic type, David and Solomon's power over the nations. The seven fall into two groups, four and three, as the Lord's prayer, three and four. The last three pass from earth to heaven; the Church contemplated as triumphant, with its steps from glory to glory.
(5) Christ promises to the believer of Sardis not to blot his name out of the book of life, but to confess him before His Father and the angels at the judgment day, and clothe him with a glorified body of dazzling whiteness (Revelation 3:4-5). To believers at Philadelphia,
(6) that they shall be citizens, fixed as immoveable pillars in the new Jerusalem, where city and temple are one (Revelation 3:12). Here not only individual salvation is promised, as in Sardis, but also privileges in the blessed communion of the Church triumphant.
(7) Lastly, to the faithful of Laodicea is given the crowning promise, a seat with Christ on His throne, even as He sits with His Father on His Father's throne (Revelation 3:21).