Charles Ellicott Commentary Revelation 2:26-27

"And he that overcometh, and he that keepeth my works unto the end, to him will I give authority over the nations: and he shall rule them with a rod of iron, as the vessels of the potter are broken to shivers; as I also have received of my Father:" — Revelation 2:26-27 (ASV)

Power (or, authority) over the nations: and he shall rule them (or, shepherd them) with a rod of iron; as the vessels of a potter shall they be broken to shivers.—The promise is of authority (“the might of right, not the right of might”) to share in the shepherd-like sovereignty of the anointed King.

Those who refused to stoop to the customs around them, and to gain influence by crushing or ignoring their convictions—those who, like their Master, refused to win power by doing homage to wrong (Matthew 4:8–10), would share the nobler sway which He now established.

Wherever the Church has illegitimately grasped at power, she has lost it. “The wretched power which she had wrenched and stolen from the nations has been turned against her; she has been obliged to crouch to them, and beg their help, and they have justly spurned her. She has chosen to exalt herself like Lucifer, and she has fallen like Lucifer. If she had trusted her Lord, He would have given her the morning star. She would have derived from Him what she claimed independently of Him. She would have dispensed light to the world.”