Psalm 94:16-23 “If thine enemy hunger, feed him; if he thirst, give him drink” – Part 3

The two witnesses (the elect in type) of Revelation chapter 11 is the generation which God has commissioned and empowered to “rise up” and “stand up” against evildoers and workers of iniquity (Zec 4:2-6).

Rev 11:3  And I will give power unto my two witnesses, and they shall prophesy a thousand two hundred and threescore days, clothed in sackcloth.

In this third and final part of our study with Psalms 94, we will look at how this rising up and standing up (of verse 16) is accomplished through Christ’s body which must proceed with a “contrite spirit, and [that] trembleth at my word.”

That humbled spirit is symbolized as being “clothed in sackcloth” (Rev 11:3) and we rest in the Lord’s strength that comes about through the repentance that He grants us. These two verses (Rom 2:4, Isa 30:15) carry this same message of confidence and strength being obtained through repentance along with an admonition to not despise His goodness and forbearance and longsuffering, as they lead us to repentance.

Isa 66:2  For all those things hath mine hand made, and all those things have been, saith the LORD: but to this man will I look, even to him that is poor and of a contrite spirit, and trembleth at my word.

Rom 2:4  Or despisest thou the riches of his goodness and forbearance and longsuffering; not knowing that the goodness of God leadeth thee to repentance?

Isa 30:15  For thus saith the Lord GOD, the Holy One of Israel; In returning and rest shall ye be saved; in quietness and in confidence shall be your strength: and ye would not.

Each joint of Christ’s body feeds or supplies the fiery word of God which not only encourages and gives light unto our path (Psa 119:105) but also burns up our carnal mind and reveals the narrow way of the Lord (Mat 7:14). God sanctifies us with His word and prepares our hearts to receive it so that it does not return void (Joh 17:17, Isa 55:11).

Zec 4:2  And said unto me, What seest thou? And I said, I have looked, and behold a candlestick all of gold, with a bowl upon the top of it, and his seven lamps thereon, and seven pipes to the seven lamps, which are upon the top thereof: (The seven pipes represent the many joints that supply of (Eph 4:16), and the seven lamps is the complete church, that is one body, one lamp, one bread that we are (1Co 12:12, 1Co 10:17). We truly help light each other’s way in this dark world and nourish one another.)

The words “If thine enemy hunger, feed him; if he thirst, give him drink” (Rom 12:20, Pro 25:21-22) can and must be applied inwardly primarily, in our own heavens, if we are ever to see clearly how to cast out a mote out of someone else’s eye in love (Mat 7:5-6, Joh 7:24). This self examination becomes the catalyst for judging righteous judgment and clears our heavens of those things which hinder us in trying to judge in the spirit and not in the flesh as the Lord sends us forth as sheep in the midst of wolves.

Mat 10:16  Behold, I send you forth as sheep in the midst of wolves: be ye therefore wise as serpents, and harmless as doves.
Mat 10:17  But beware of men: for they will deliver you up to the councils, and they will scourge you in their synagogues;

We are also to be keeping peace with all men as we learn to walk in peace wherever the Lord takes us in this life, turning the other cheek, not resisting evil, thus thwarting our enemies attacks with a soft answer or act of kindness that can overcome evil with good (Pro_15:1-3). This outward application of feeding our enemies and giving him drink if he thirsts is what is required if we are to be found blameless and harmless, the sons of God, without rebuke in this generation.

Pro 15:1  A soft answer turneth away wrath: but grievous words stir up anger.
Pro 15:2  The tongue of the wise useth knowledge aright: but the mouth of fools poureth out foolishness.
Pro 15:3  The eyes of the LORD are in every place, beholding the evil and the good.

Php 2:15  That ye may be blameless and harmless, the sons of God, without rebuke, in the midst of a crooked and perverse nation, among whom ye shine as lights in the world;

1Th 5:5  Ye are all the children of light, and the children of the day: we are not of the night, nor of darkness.

Eph 5:8  For ye were sometimes darkness, but now are ye light in the Lord: walk as children of light:

The parable in Matthew 16:1-4 reminds us that “The eyes of the LORD are in every place, beholding the evil and the good” (Pro 15:3) and that God’s sovereignty is declared in His ability to rule over the evil and the good, the light and the darkness that are the same unto Him; the day and the night that we encounter every day within and without ourselves (Psa 139:12). He does this ruling in our heavens in the symbollic twelve hours that make up a day and twelve hours that make up a night in our lives (Joh 11:9). Only a sovereign God in heaven can be ever wakeful over His word (Jer 1:12) doing exactly what He always intended to do with all His creation (Eph 1:11) and this parable reminds us of this fact.

Mat 16:1  The Pharisees also with the Sadducees came, and tempting desired him that he would shew them a sign from heaven.
Mat 16:2  He answered and said unto them, When it is evening, ye say, It will be fair weather: for the sky is red.
Mat 16:3  And in the morning, It will be foul weather to day: for the sky is red and lowring. O ye hypocrites, ye can discern the face of the sky; but can ye not discern the signs of the times?
Mat 16:4  A wicked and adulterous generation seeketh after a sign; and there shall no sign be given unto it, but the sign of the prophet Jonas. And he left them, and departed.

God is the one who is feeding our enemy’s hunger, an enemy who fed off of our unbelief and lack of faith, which caused us and can cause us to stumble and fall in the darkness of this world unless the Lord strengthens us (Pro 24:16, Exo 16:2, Luk 22:32).

God is also the one who is quenching the thirst of our enemy, who for the longest time had no stay of bread or water. The twelve-hour process in both the day and the night, which are the same unto God, is connected to a “red sky” on both ends of the day, to remind us of the repentant spirit that God is working in His people that gives us direction and guidance through the day as we’re led of the Lord (Rom 8:14).

Luk 15:17  And when he came to himself, he said, How many hired servants of my father’s have bread enough and to spare, and I perish with hunger!

Isa 3:1  For, behold, the Lord, the LORD of hosts, doth take away from Jerusalem and from Judah the stay and the staff, the whole stay of bread, and the whole stay of water,

It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the Lord (Heb 10:31), and so at the onset of our journey when we come to see ourselves more clearly for what we are through the repentant spirit granted by God, our sky is red in the morning (Act 2:20, Joe 2:31, Rev 6:12), and we need to take the warning seriously that there will be much tribulation in our life as a Christian, counting the cost of what has been set before us (Luk 14:28, Act 14:22).

Then, in the evening, the Lord tells us “When it is evening, ye say, It will be fair weather: for the sky is red”, because this outward red sky is an inward symbol of the near completion of the work of God’s hand being in the life of those who are granted to confess their faults along the way and to declare even at the very end of the day (the day of the Lord symbolized by 12 hours) that they are unprofitable servants who have only done that which is required of them (Luk 17:10 as opposed to saying Mat 7:22).

This parable of our Lord (Mat 16:1-4) ties in nicely with the last part of our study with Psalm 94, as we contemplate how we must die daily every day for the rest of our lives, and see ourselves as being in constant need of the light of the day to take us from start to finish, as only Christ can as He feeds and clothes us and sanctifies us with His word (Joh 17:17).

With this parable in mind, we can now look at the events of the day of the Lord, inwardly primarily, and see how these verses apply to our own heavens and what a glorious conclusion God has written in each of our books as His children (Luk 12:32). It is his good pleasure to give us the kingdom, and a ‘red sky’ at night (Mat 16:2), which represents those final trimmings of the lamp of our hearts (Mat 25:7-9), is given by our Father who has prepared this work for Christ’s bride from the foundation of the world (Eph 2:10). This work will lead to the ultimate putting off of our flesh which results in our knowing God and Jesus Christ and each other face to face in a blessed and holy first resurrection. It will also serve to witness to the rest of the world that it was God’s sovereign hand that gave the elect the ability to make herself ready as Christ’s bride (Rev 19:7) as He provided both the ability to trim our lamps and the extra oil needed to endure unto the end, loving not our own lives (1Co 13:12, Rev 20:6, Mat 16:25).

Php 2:13  For it is God which worketh in you both to will and to do of his good pleasure.

1Co 3:6  I have planted, Apollos watered; but God gave the increase.

Because the Lord is our helper (Heb 13:6) we will be able to accomplish what would otherwise be impossible as described in verse 17 of our study “Unless the LORD had been my help, my soul had almost dwelt in silence”, and is the reason why the conclusion of this Psalm is so very encouraging as it describes the promise of God’s people to stand up against evil and to endure unto the end through Christ.

Mat 24:13  But he that shall endure unto the end, the same shall be saved.

Rev 3:21  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.

Php 4:13  I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me.

One last point before we look at the actual verses of the study, the word “overcometh” is mentioned eight times in the book of Revelation and reminds us that we must have hearts which become circumcised to become that new creation, the second Adam, “Jesus Christ” (Eph 4:22, Rom 2:29, 1Co 15:45). Flesh (the carnal mind) cannot be put off except the Lord grants us the faith and the five smooth rocks of faith and grace to destroy all the giants in our land which shall be bread for us that will strengthen our hearts so we can endure until the end (Lev 12:3, Eph 2:8, 1Sa 17:40, Psa 104:15).

Psa 94:16  Who will rise up for me against the evildoers? or who will stand up for me against the workers of iniquity?
Psa 94:17  Unless the LORD had been my help, my soul had almost dwelt in silence.
Psa 94:18  When I said, My foot slippeth; thy mercy, O LORD, held me up.
Psa 94:19  In the multitude of my thoughts within me thy comforts delight my soul.
Psa 94:20  Shall the throne of iniquity have fellowship with thee, which frameth mischief by a law?
Psa 94:21  They gather themselves together against the soul of the righteous, and condemn the innocent blood.
Psa 94:22  But the LORD is my defence; and my God is the rock of my refuge.
Psa 94:23  And he shall bring upon them their own iniquity, and shall cut them off in their own wickedness; yea, the LORD our God shall cut them off. 

Psa 94:16  Who will rise up for me against the evildoers? or who will stand up for me against the workers of iniquity?

Peter is just one example that we have of such a man: zealous, committed and sure in his flesh. Of course that was the problem and is the problem with all flesh. Fleshly confidence is part of the strong delusion that keeps the beast on the throne and does not allow us to see that we are of the generation which has no confidence in the flesh (Php 3:3) and need each member that offers support and love to each other so we can endure through the spiritual warfare, which is why Christ draws our attention to these words “I will forewarn you whom ye shall fear”. This power to cast us into hell represents the fiery trials that we must endure today in order to go unto perfection (1Pe 4:12). This is just another way of saying we should fear God and work righteousness (Mat 5:19-20, 1Jn 3:7) and recognize that this work of righteousness includes the heaping of coals upon our own heads that will nourish the new man and destroy the old man of sin.

Luk 12:5  But I will forewarn you whom ye shall fear: Fear him, which after he hath killed hath power to cast into hell; yea, I say unto you, Fear him.

Ecc 12:13  Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter: Fear God, and keep his commandments: for this is the whole duty of man.

Rom 12:20  Therefore if thine enemy hunger, feed him; if he thirst, give him drink: for in so doing thou shalt heap coals of fire on his head.

Our salvation comes through knowing that God is our helper (Heb 13:6) and that resting in Him and not trying to take up arms and fight against our enemies is another way in which we possess our souls with patience (Luk 21:19). Peter’s bravado and then soon denial of Christ reveals the world of trouble into which flesh will always get us when we try to battle our enemies with fleshly carnal reasoning or in any fashion that puts flesh before obedience to God (Act 5:29). It is the hardest thing to do (impossible without Christ in us as our hope of glory and obedience) to simply wait on the Lord, as our flesh has a law working in its members that says ‘let’s judge this matter and get the job done right now’ (Gal 5:17). Those with whom God is working in this age are going to learn obedience and how to properly judge a matter through the things which we suffer, which is how our Lord learned obedience (Heb 5:8). We can’t learn obedience unless we are trusting God, and we can’t trust God until we get our flesh out of the way, which again takes the orchestrated trials that God brings our way accompanied with the measure of faith needed to go through whatever particular circumstance God has ordained us to go through (2Co 1:9, 1Co 2:5).

When we have our senses exercised to discern good and evil through the trials and suffering we endure, then we will be among those who can “rise up against the evildoers” and “stand up for me against the workers of iniquity” as we overcome evil with good.

Heb 5:14  But strong meat belongeth to them that are of full age, even those who by reason of use have their senses exercised to discern both good and evil.

Rom 12:21  Be not overcome of evil, but overcome evil with good.

Psa 94:17  Unless the LORD had been my help, my soul had almost dwelt in silence.
Psa 94:18  When I said, My foot slippeth; thy mercy, O LORD, held me up.
Psa 94:19  In the multitude of my thoughts within me thy comforts delight my soul.

A soul that is dwelling in silence^H1745 is a spiritually unproductive soul (Psa 115:17). It is not about how much we accomplish physically, but rather whether we are laying up treasure in heaven (Luk 10:42, Mat 6:20). “Oh earth, earth, earth, hear the word of the Lord” and sit at the feet of Christ (like Mary – Luk 10:42) is what the Lord has blessed those who have ears to hear and eyes to see do! (Jer 22:29).

Silence^H1745 – Strong’s- From an unused root meaning to be dumb (compare H1820 – A primitive root; to be dumb or silent; hence to fail or perish; transitively to destroy: – cease be cut down (off) destroy be brought to silence be undone X utterly); silence; figuratively death: – silence.

Psa 115:16  The heaven, even the heavens, are the LORD’S: but the earth hath he given to the children of men.
Psa 115:17  The dead praise not the LORD, neither any that go down into silence.

Luk 10:42  But one thing is needful: and Mary hath chosen that good part, which shall not be taken away from her.

Mat 6:19  Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon earth, where moth and rust doth corrupt, and where thieves break through and steal:
Mat 6:20  But lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust doth corrupt, and where thieves do not break through nor steal:
Mat 6:21  For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.

We acknowledge our need to rest in the Lord, who is our Sabbath rest, when we commit our ways unto Him and let him establish the works of our hands.

Isa 66:1  Thus saith the LORD, The heaven is my throne, and the earth is my footstool: where is the house that ye build unto me? and where is the place of my rest?
Isa 66:2  For all those things hath mine hand made, and all those things have been, saith the LORD: but to this man will I look, even to him that is poor and of a contrite spirit, and trembleth at my word.

1Ki 8:56  Blessed be the LORD, that hath given rest unto his people Israel, according to all that he promised: there hath not failed one word of all his good promise, which he promised by the hand of Moses his servant.
1Ki 8:57  The LORD our God be with us, as he was with our fathers: let him not leave us, nor forsake us:
1Ki 8:58  That he may incline our hearts unto him, to walk in all his ways, and to keep his commandments, and his statutes, and his judgments, which he commanded our fathers.

Heb 4:9  There remaineth therefore a rest to the people of God.
Heb 4:10  For he that is entered into his rest, he also hath ceased from his own works, as God did from his.
Heb 4:11  Let us labour therefore to enter into that rest, lest any man fall after the same example of unbelief.

Joh 6:27  Labour not for the meat which perisheth, but for that meat which endureth unto everlasting life, which the Son of man shall give unto you: for him hath God the Father sealed.

Pro 16:2  All the ways of a man are clean in his own eyes; but the LORD weigheth the spirits.

Pro 16:3  Commit thy works unto the LORD, and thy thoughts shall be established.

We find a positive example of this word ‘silence’ through hearts that have been humbled under His mighty hand, and it is with this confidence which God gives us through putting off the flesh that we can find our flight in the Lord and be able to produce much fruit in the summer months, which summer months can therefore represent our right relationship with our Father (Joh 15:8). If our relationship is halted, it is likened unto a Sabbath day in which we can’t do any work, or a winter month when nothing can be produced in the ground (Mat 24:20), and so we are commanded to pray that our spiritual flight be continual and not halted as we learn to pray always (1Th 5:16), and rejoice in the Lord always (1Th 5:17), who is the husbandman who desires that we bring forth much fruit and who can give the increase and spiritual fruit in due season in each of our lives to His glory (1Co 3:6).

“Unless the LORD” [is] “my help, my soul had almost dwelt in silence” is an encouraging reminder that God will not forget us in those wintery transitions that we must work through, or those times when it feels like we are not seemingly doing much spiritually (Mat 24:20-22).

Mat 24:20  But pray ye that your flight be not in the winter, neither on the sabbath day:
Mat 24:21  For then shall be great tribulation, such as was not since the beginning of the world to this time, no, nor ever shall be.
Mat 24:22  And except those days should be shortened, there should no flesh be saved: but for the elect’s sake those days shall be shortened.

What we are being shown over and over is that the Lord has devised a means to redeem His elect, and it is through the angels who show mercy, who come in the name of the Lord and hold us up even when our foot slips and we dash it against a stone. The manner of love that God has set upon us as His children is one that takes us through the fiery trials and the persecutions that we suffer for living Godly lives in this age (1Pe 4:12, 2Ti 3:12).

Psa 91:11  For he shall give his angels charge over thee, to keep thee in all thy ways.
Psa 91:12  They shall bear thee up in their hands, lest thou dash thy foot against a stone.
Psa 91:13  Thou shalt tread upon the lion and adder: the young lion and the dragon shalt thou trample under feet.
Psa 91:14  Because he hath set his love upon me, therefore will I deliver him: I will set him on high, because he hath known my name.

1Jn 3:1  Behold, what manner of love the Father hath bestowed upon us, that we should be called the sons of God: therefore the world knoweth us not, because it knew him not.
1Jn 3:2  Beloved, now are we the sons of God, and it doth not yet appear what we shall be: but we know that, when he shall appear, we shall be like him; for we shall see him as he is.
1Jn 3:3  And every man that hath this hope in him purifieth himself, even as he is pure.

It is in the multitude of my thoughts within me that God’s comforts delight my soul, but it is comfort that is given via the comforter, through the church, which is Christ’s body, and the place where that manifold knowledge is revealed and shared within the safety of a multitude of counsellors. Seeking comfort any other way is cold comfort in the end, even if it is pleasurable for a season.

Joh 16:13  Howbeit when he, the Spirit of truth, is come, he will guide you into all truth: for he shall not speak of himself; but whatsoever he shall hear, that shall he speak: and he will shew you things to come.

Col 1:24  Who now rejoice in my sufferings for you, and fill up that which is behind of the afflictions of Christ in my flesh for his body’s sake, which is the church:

Eph 3:10  To the intent that now unto the principalities and powers in heavenly places might be known by the church the manifold wisdom of God,

Pro 11:14  Where no counsel is, the people fall: but in the multitude of counsellors there is safety.

1Jn 2:15  Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world. If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him.

Heb 11:25  Choosing rather to suffer affliction with the people of God, than to enjoy the pleasures of sin for a season;

Psa 94:20   Shall the throne of iniquity have fellowship with thee, which frameth mischief by a law?
Psa 94:21  They gather themselves together against the soul of the righteous, and condemn the innocent blood. 

“The throne of iniquity” is the heart of man which is deceitful and desperately wicked and naturally embraces the law for the lawless in the letter and not in the spirit (Jer 17:9, 1Ti 1:9). “Mischief^H5999 by a law^H2706” is described by Christ in Mat 5:43-46, where we’re shown what the law could not do, in that it was weak through the  mischievous flesh in which we abide.

Mischief^H5999 – Strong’s: From H5998; toil that is wearing effort; hence worry whether of body or mind: – grievance (-vousness) iniquity labour mischief miserable (-sery) pain (-ful) perverseness sorrow toil travail trouble wearisome wickedness.

Rom 8:2  For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus hath made me free from the law of sin and death.
Rom 8:3  For what the law could not do, in that it was weak through the flesh, God sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, and for sin, condemned sin in the flesh:
Rom 8:4  That the righteousness of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit.
Rom 8:5  For they that are after the flesh do mind the things of the flesh; but they that are after the Spirit the things of the Spirit.

The new command is the greater command to love one another and bear each other’s burdens through Christ (Joh 13:34), whom God sent us “in the likeness of sinful flesh, and for sin, condemned sin in the flesh” (of Rom 8:3 above). That love is demonstrated through our obedience to His commandments, the “but I say unto you” part of the commandments described throughout Matthew chapter five, which no one can keep unless the Lord is giving us the power to do so (Zec 4:6, Psa 127:1).

Our blood is “innocent blood” when our first Adamic blood is washed by the word of truth (1Co 6:11, 1Jn 1:7), which is the sanctification process which we go through (Joh 17:17). Christ told us we would be hated by all men for this gift of life and cleansing that His word brings to His children in this age (Mat 10:22). If we are granted to abide in the truth and partake of the life of Christ, his flesh and blood, then we will be nourished and strengthened through that body and blood which is our communion and true life (Col 1:24, Eph 5:30, Joh 6:55), enabling us to go outside the camp with Christ, enduring until the end through this process of washing (Heb 13:13, Lev 14:7):

Psa 94:22  But the LORD is my defence; and my God is the rock of my refuge.
Psa 94:23  And he shall bring upon them their own iniquity, and shall cut them off in their own wickedness; yea, the LORD our God shall cut them off. 

The LORD is our defence, and God is the rock of our refuge, and Christ promised Peter, and by extension Christ’s body the church, that He would be our strength through this life.

Mat 16:18  And I say also unto thee, That thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.

Rev 2:10  Fear none of those things which thou shalt suffer: behold, the devil shall cast some of you into prison, that ye may be tried; and ye shall have tribulation ten days: be thou faithful unto death, and I will give thee a crown of life.

Rev 12:11  And they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb, and by the word of their testimony; and they loved not their lives unto the death.

We’ve seen how the Lord “bring[ing] upon them their own iniquity” is speaking first and foremost about how our own iniquities are used to chasten us.

Jer 2:19  Thine own wickedness shall correct thee, and thy backslidings shall reprove thee: know therefore and see that it is an evil thing and bitter, that thou hast forsaken the LORD thy God, and that my fear is not in thee, saith the Lord GOD of hosts.

Heb 12:6  For whom the Lord loveth he chasteneth, and scourgeth every son whom he receiveth.

God tells us twice, to witness to our souls, that it is Him whom we should fear when the scriptures say “and shall cut them off in their own wickedness; yea, the LORD our God shall cut them off” because we know that He is speaking about the process of the destruction of that first marred vessel that we all are, so that He can make it anew in the Potter’s hand.

Everything that the LORD does is good, whether it is in the night where we are “chastened also with pain” upon our bed, or whether we are sore pressed on every side during the day (Job 33:15-19, 2Co 4:8). Both are examples of how the Lord works the clay and puts us through the experiences of evil in this life which both humble us and nourish our souls and the reason for our title “Therefore if thine enemy hunger, feed him; if he thirst, give him drink: for in so doing thou shalt heap coals of fire on his head”.

The fruit of our life in Christ multiplies through discipline (pruning principle of Joh 15:2) and matures us to the point where we can reach out more and more toward all mankind as we grow in a deeper love that enables us to care for our enemies, whose hunger and thirst we now want to feed and quench if given the opportunity. As the Lord works with the church, we will give others drink as we have opportunity in whatever measure of faith the Lord grants us as fishers of men (Joh 7:37, Mat 4:19).

Joh 15:2  Every branch in me that beareth not fruit he taketh away: and every branch that beareth fruit, he purgeth it, that it may bring forth more fruit.

Gal 6:9  And let us not be weary in well doing: for in due season we shall reap, if we faint not.
Gal 6:10  As we have therefore opportunity, let us do good unto all men, especially unto them who are of the household of faith.

Our great reward in heaven of which Christ spoke in Mat 5:12 is produced through a life-time of trials which matures us and enables us to follow Christ’s example of loving our enemies as we endure unto the end through Him. We must fish to be fishers of men and be mindful that the exercise of fishing will yield the exact results which God has predestined to be accomplished according to the counsel of His own will (2Ti 1:9). Many will be witnessed to and saved in the second resurrection, but few will actually receive the true gospel in this age and endure unto the end (Joh 21:3-6, Eph 1:11, Mat 22:14).

Luk 6:35  But love ye your enemies, and do good, and lend, hoping for nothing again; and your reward shall be great, and ye shall be the children of the Highest: for he is kind unto the unthankful and to the evil.
Luk 6:36  Be ye therefore merciful, as your Father also is merciful.

Mat 19:28  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.

Php 4:13  I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me.

2Ti 1:9  Who hath saved us, and called us with an holy calling, not according to our works, but according to his own purpose and grace, which was given us in Christ Jesus before the world began,

Rev 17:14  These shall make war with the Lamb, and the Lamb shall overcome them: for he is Lord of lords, and King of kings: and they that are with him are called, and chosen, and faithful.