Matthew 24:1-3:
And Jesus went out from the temple, and was going on His way; and His disciples came to Him to show Him the buildings of the temple.
But He answered and said unto them, See ye not all these things? verily I say unto you, There shall not be left here one stone upon another, that shall not be thrown down.
And as He sat on the mount of Olives, the disciples came unto Him privately, saying, Tell us, when shall these things be? and what shall be the sign of Thy coming, and of the end of the world?
Matthew 24:37-44:
And as were the days of Noah, so shall be the coming of the Son of man.
For as in those days which were before the flood they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day that Noah entered into the ark,
and they knew not until the flood came, and took them all away; so shall be the coming of the Son of man.
Then shall two men be in the field; one is taken, and one is left:
two women shall be grinding at the mill; one is taken, and one is left.
Watch therefore: for ye know not on what day your Lord cometh.
But know this, that if the master of the house had known in what watch the thief was coming, he would have watched, and would not have suffered his house to be broken through.
Therefore be ye also ready; for in an hour that ye think not the Son of man cometh.
Matthew 25:1-13:
Then shall the kingdom of heaven be likened unto ten virgins, who took their lamps, and went forth to meet the bridegroom.
And five of them were foolish, and five were wise.
For the foolish, when they took their lamps, took no oil with them:
but the wise took oil in their vessels with their lamps.
Now while the bridegroom tarried, they all slumbered and slept.
But at midnight there is a cry, Behold, the bridegroom! Come ye forth to meet him.
Then all those virgins arose, and trimmed their lamps.
And the foolish said unto the wise, Give us of your oil; for our lamps are going out.
But the wise answered, saying, Peradventure there will not be enough for us and you: go ye rather to them that sell, and buy for yourselves.
And while they went away to buy, the bridegroom came; and they that were ready went in with Him to the marriage feast: and the door was shut.
Afterward came also the other virgins, saying, Lord, Lord, open to us.
But He answered and said, Verily I say unto you, I know you not.
Watch therefore, for ye know not the day nor the hour.
Our Father, as we continue in Thy presence, we ask that Thy Holy Spirit will once again quicken Thy words to our hearts, that we may be those who are wise, who are ready, who are prepared, who are waiting for Thy return, and who hasten the coming of the kingdom. In the name of our Lord Jesus, amen.
We have been fellowshipping together these days on the gospel of the kingdom of the heavens. The gospel of the kingdom of the heavens must be preached in all the habitable parts of the earth as a witness to all the nations, and then the end shall come.
This gospel of the kingdom has three different aspects. The first aspect is the spiritual reality of the kingdom of the heavens. It is given to us in Matthew 5, 6, and 7—the so-called Sermon on the Mount. It shows us what the kingdom of the heavens really is.
The kingdom of the heavens is a different kingdom. As our Lord Jesus said, “My kingdom is not of this world.” Therefore, it has a very different character: it is the character of Christ. Those who are in the kingdom of the heavens must bear the same character.
How we need to allow the Holy Spirit to work in our lives, to bring forth the new nature and the new life of Christ in us, that His character may be developed in us. This is the spiritual reality of the kingdom of the heavens.
Whether you are in the kingdom of the heavens or not depends on whether you have that character or not. Because it is a spiritual reality, it is not limited to time and space. It is now, and it is forever.
The kingdom of the heavens has another aspect: the outward appearance of the kingdom of the heavens in this age. It is called mysteries. It is very confusing; it is a mixture. This we find in Matthew 13, in the seven parables that our Lord Jesus gives.
On the one hand, the kingdom of the heavens begins with the sowing of the seed. The Lord sows the word of the kingdom, and some receive His word; therefore, they become the sons of the kingdom, whom the Lord sends again into this world to be a witness and a testimony for Him.
But the enemy comes in and sows the tares, the sons of the devil. So here you find the kingdom of the heavens giving a very confused appearance. It is Christianity; it is Christendom.
Within Christianity and Christendom, on the one hand, it has grown into a big institution, and all the birds of the air rest in it. It is being infiltrated inwardly by leaven. Yet, on the other hand, you do find the treasure and the pearl that our Lord Jesus is willing to give everything in order to obtain.
Thank God, even though today it is very confused, one day, at the completion of the age, God will send His angels and divide that which is good from that which is bad. That which is good will be taken into the vessels, and that which is bad will be cast away and burned.
This morning, we would like to come to the third aspect of the kingdom of the heavens: the public manifestation of the kingdom of the heavens.
It is the fulfillment of the prayer that the church has offered throughout the twenty centuries. You remember, our Lord Jesus taught His disciples to pray. We often say this is the Lord’s Prayer, but actually it is the prayer that our Lord taught His disciples to pray. It is the prayer of the church: “Thy kingdom come.”
One day, we know that this kingdom shall come upon this earth. This is the public manifestation of the kingdom of the heavens. Today the kingdom of the heavens is hidden; it is spiritual reality, and its outward appearance is very mysterious. But one day the real kingdom of the heavens shall appear publicly upon this earth. Christ shall reign upon this earth.
This we find in Matthew 24 and 25. After our Lord Jesus spoke the parables recorded in Matthew 13, from Matthew 14 onward you find that He often withdrew from the crowds. Out of His great compassion toward the multitude, He still ministered to them; yet He withdrew Himself from time to time from the crowd. He wanted to be with His own disciples.
He tried to prepare His disciples for what would come to Him and also to them. Again and again, He told them, “I am going to Jerusalem. I will be betrayed. I will be sold. I will be judged. I will be beaten. I will be spit upon, and I will die. But on the third day I will rise from the dead.” Yet no matter how our Lord Jesus tried to prepare the minds of His disciples, they just could not understand.
The opposition to our Lord Jesus grew in intensity. The scribes, the Pharisees, and the priests wanted to get rid of the Lord. Even though some people still considered Him a great prophet, toward the end of His life on earth He began to move toward Jerusalem.
When He entered Jerusalem for the last time, He entered with great triumph. How the people welcomed Him! How they said, “Hosanna to the Son of David: Blessed is He that cometh in the name of the Lord; Hosanna in the highest.”
Yet very soon, the same crowd that cried, “Hosanna,” was the crowd that said, “Away with Him! Away with Him! Crucify Him!” Why? Because not only the priests, Pharisees, and scribes, but also the people, the Jews, and even the disciples, just could not understand.
They were expecting the Messiah to come. They thought He was the Messiah, but their concept of the Messianic kingdom was so different from the kingdom that our Lord Jesus was offering to them.
The Lord offered to them a spiritual kingdom, but they wanted a physical one. The Lord offered to them the kingdom of the heavens, but they wanted an earthly kingdom. Even the disciples wanted it very much.
Even at the time of His last Passover with His disciples, they were still arguing among themselves who should be the greatest. What does it mean? It means that they were looking forward to the Lord establishing His kingdom. When the Lord was entering Jerusalem, they thought that this was the time that the Lord was going to be crowned King, and all of them wanted to sit on His right hand and on His left.
One day during that last week, our Lord Jesus came out of the temple. As He was leaving, His disciples pointed out to Him the building of the temple. “Look at the buildings of the temple. It is adorned with beautiful stones and consecrated gifts from all over the world.”
The temple was a beautiful building. How the Jews took pride in that temple. The disciples, being Jews, could not help but take pride in it. Yet the Lord said, “Not one stone shall be left here upon another that shall not be thrown down.”
It was a shock to the disciples. How could the temple of God be destroyed? They dared not even ask Him, but they pondered it in their hearts.
Later, our Lord Jesus sat on the Mount of Olives, facing Jerusalem, with the temple in view. Some of the disciples came privately to Him and whispered, “When shall these things be? And what is the sign of Thy coming, and of the completion of the age?”
How could they talk about the destruction of the temple of Jerusalem? If they were overheard, they would be stoned to death. It was blasphemy. To the Jews, the temple was their very life. The temple was the symbol of God’s presence with them; it was everything to them.
If the temple should be destroyed, if not one stone remained upon another, that must be the end of the world. That is why, in their question, they said, “When shall these things be? What is the sign of Thy coming, and of the completion of the age?” They thought that when Jerusalem was destroyed, that age would come to an end, and Christ, the Messiah, would come and establish His Messianic kingdom upon this earth.
This was the mentality of the disciples. In Old Testament prophecy, no prophet ever prophesied that there would be two comings of Christ. When the prophets prophesied concerning the coming of the Messiah, they could not see that the Messiah would come twice.
They prophesied concerning a suffering Messiah, and they prophesied concerning a glorious Messiah; but they could not see how the same Messiah could suffer and be in glory. It was a puzzle to them, because they did not know that Christ would come two times, not one time.
So no wonder the disciples did not understand. They thought that when Jerusalem and the temple were destroyed, that would be the end of the world, and the Messiah would then come to establish His Messianic kingdom.
Isn’t this strange? Even after our Lord Jesus was raised from the dead, when He took them to the Mount of Olives and was going to be taken into heaven, they still asked Him, “Is this the time that Thou wilt restore the kingdom?” That was all they were thinking of.
Dear brothers and sisters, even though they asked wrongly, our Lord Jesus answered correctly. “When shall these things be?” Not one stone shall be upon another. This was fulfilled in A.D. 70.
When the Roman prince Titus surrounded Jerusalem, the Jews rebelled against Rome. Finally, the Romans entered the city, and the last resistance was in the temple area. The Jewish people retreated into the temple area because the temple was built with massive stones; it was like a fortress. That was their last stronghold.
According to Josephus, Titus issued an order to keep the temple and not destroy it. But before the decree reached the soldiers, somebody had already thrown a torch into the temple area, and it began to burn.
The temple was overlaid with gold. As the fire burned, the gold began to melt and entered into the crevices of the stones. In order to get the gold, they dug up every stone. So not one stone was left upon another. The temple was in complete ruin. That was fulfilled in A.D. 70.
Then, between the first century and the coming of the Lord—the completion of the age—you find a period of about twenty centuries. We do not have time to go through all these things, or I will keep you here until tomorrow. So I have to skip and concentrate on this: the public manifestation of the kingdom of the heavens will come when Christ returns to this earth.
When He comes back, He will establish His kingdom upon this earth. This will be the time when the heavens rule upon this earth in a public way. Today the heavens do rule upon this earth, but secretly.
If you have spiritual eyes, you can see it. It is not the rulers of this earth who really rule the world. It is not even Satan, the ruler of this world, who rules the earth. Outwardly, yes; but we who know the Lord, who have spiritual eyes, still see that the heavens rule over the affairs of men. It is hidden; it is secret.
They think they rule, but they are deceived. One day heaven shall rule upon this earth in a public way. Righteousness shall rule over all the earth, and the knowledge of the Lord shall fill the earth as the waters fill the sea.
We call it the millennium, one thousand years. During the millennium, on earth you will find the Messianic kingdom. Israel shall be restored to be the first of the nations, and they shall teach all the nations.
But, dear brothers and sisters, unfortunately, when we think of the millennium, we only think of the Jews. We forget the church. During the millennium, on earth you will have the Messianic kingdom, and Israel shall be fully restored. But how about the church? Where is the church?
Remember: during the millennium period, on earth is the Messianic kingdom; in heaven is the kingdom of the heavens publicly manifested. Why? Because Christ shall rule over this earth with His saints.
The millennium has two parts. The earthly part is the Messianic kingdom. The heavenly part is the kingdom of the heavens publicly manifested. The saints shall rule and reign with Christ over the earth for a thousand years.
This shall come when our Lord Jesus returns. “What is the sign of Thy coming, and of the completion of the age?” Dear brothers and sisters, it is very important to understand this.
The word coming—in Scripture, in Greek, there are a few words translated as coming. But there is one word especially used here in Matthew 24: the coming of the Lord. That Greek word is parousia.
The word parousia is translated as presence—the presence of the Lord. In a sense, the Lord is absent today. He has gone to a far country, that is, to heaven. He has gone to receive the kingdom, and then He will come back.
In a sense, He is absent; but one day He will be present. That is parousia. “What is the sign of Thy coming, and of the completion of the age?” When will You come? How do You come? How do we know You have come?
Dear brothers and sisters, parousia is not one event. Parousia is a series of events.
When we talk about the coming of the Lord, what do we mean? I think most people mean that He shall appear in glory upon this earth, that His feet shall touch the Mount of Olives, and that the mount shall be split in two. That is the coming of the Lord; it is. But Scripture calls it the appearing of the parousia of the Lord—the appearing of the coming of the Lord.
In other words, that is the end of His coming.
When our Lord Jesus was taken into heaven, He brought His disciples to the Mount of Olives. The disciples saw Him going up. Then a cloud received Him out of their sight. They could not see Him, but He was still going up.
They were still looking up, and suddenly two men in white apparel appeared and said, “Ye men of Galilee, why stand ye looking into heaven? This Jesus, who was received up from you into heaven, shall so come in like manner as ye beheld Him going into heaven.”
In other words, the way He shall come back is in the same way that He went up, only in reverse order. How did He go up? He went from the Mount of Olives to the cloud visibly, and then from the cloud to heaven invisibly.
How do we know He reached heaven? We know because on the day of Pentecost the Holy Spirit was poured down. The pouring out of the Holy Spirit proves that He had reached heaven.
According to Psalm 2, God has anointed His Son upon Zion. According to Psalm 110 and Psalm 133, when the oil is poured upon the head, it begins to flow down upon the beard and upon the whole body. That is the beginning of Pentecost.
We know He has arrived because He was anointed as Christ and Lord over all, and the oil has come down upon us. He has arrived; there is no doubt about it.
But, dear brothers and sisters, His coming—His parousia—will be in like manner. This parousia will begin with heaven to the air, invisibly, and then from the air to the Mount of Olives, visibly.
Scripture says He shall come like a thief—invisibly. You know, the thief is almost invisible. If the thief is too visible, everybody will be able to catch him. But he seems always to be invisible. He always comes at a time when you are not prepared, when you are not ready. You know it after he has gone.
The coming of our Lord is like a thief. There is an aspect of His coming that is invisible. But if you are ready for Him, you will not let Him break through your house.
Then the coming of the Lord is like lightning. When lightning shines from the east to the west, the whole world sees it. There is no way of hiding it. Every eye shall see. That is visible—the appearing of the coming of the Lord.
So, dear brothers and sisters, we need to understand His coming. His parousia covers a period of time. It has a beginning and an end. It is divided into two stages. It is symbolized by the coming as a thief and the coming as lightning.
What is important is this: when does it begin? Has it begun yet?
The Lord said, “As were the days of Noah, so shall be the days of the coming of the Son of man.” In the days of Noah, men ate and drank, married and gave in marriage. But on the day that Noah entered into the ark, suddenly the flood came upon the world and caught them unaware.
“Two shall be in bed; one is taken, one is left. Two women are grinding at the mill; one is taken, one is left. Watch, for ye know not the day nor the hour when the Son of man shall come.”
What are the days of Noah? Of course, we can say a great deal about it, but let us confine ourselves to what the Lord says in this connection. In the days of Noah, people were eating, drinking, marrying, and giving in marriage. What is wrong with that?
That is human life. It is perfectly legitimate. We must eat, we must drink, we must marry, and we must be given in marriage; otherwise, we cannot survive.
But what the Lord means is this: during the days of Noah, people made these things the meaning of life—their purpose of life, their philosophy of life. They indulged themselves in eating, drinking, marrying, and giving in marriage.
These are the general things; these are things that we must have. But, dear brothers and sisters, these are not the meaning of our life. We should not be occupied completely by these things and forget our souls.
That is the phenomenon of the days of Noah. They were so materialistic, so earthly. They indulged themselves in eating and drinking, marrying and remarrying, divorcing and re-divorcing. That became their style of life. They completely neglected spiritual things.
Dear brothers and sisters, are we not in the days of Noah? These are the days of the coming of the Son of man. Today you find people so earthly and so materialistic, as if eating, drinking, marrying, and giving in marriage are everything. This is life; this is the lifestyle. How people neglect their spiritual needs.
No wonder that when the Lord comes, they will be caught unaware. We are already in the days of Noah. We have been in these days quite a long time already. It cannot be too long. The Lord shall come.
How do we know when Noah enters into the ark? Here you find two sleeping in bed—it is night. One is taken, and one is left. Two women are grinding at the mill—that is early morning. One is taken, and one is left. Two men are working in the field—one is taken, and one is left.
Why? Because the earth is round. In some places it is midnight and people are sleeping. In other places it is morning and women are grinding. In still other places it is noontime and people are working in the field.
When the Lord comes, people may be sleeping, working, or plowing. Brothers and sisters, do not be afraid to go to sleep. If the Lord comes while you are sleeping, if you are ready, you will be taken. Just rest.
And do not think that because the Lord is coming you should stop working. Some people stop working. “Why should we work? The Lord is coming.” Go ahead and work. You will be taken from the field, or at a grinding mill.
What do you see here? You see that a sign of the beginning of the Lord’s coming is that suddenly, all over the world, some disappear. That is part of the parousia of the Lord. He shall come as a thief.
Suppose a thief comes to your home. What will he steal? He will go into your bedroom. He knows exactly where your treasure box is, and that is what he wants to steal. If a thief should come to my home and steal my garbage, I want him to come every day and every night.
Whom will the Lord steal away? He will come like a thief, at a time that you know not. Suddenly He has come. But whom will He steal? Will He steal the garbage? No, He will leave the garbage behind. He will take the treasure.
The two in bed, the two at the mill, and the two in the field represent the church, because two is the number of testimony. Here you find believers.
Let me add one word: what are you waiting for? Some people say, “I am waiting for the day that I shall die.” Brothers and sisters, we are not waiting for death. We are waiting to be taken alive.
I do believe that the coming of the Lord is so imminent that we may not go through death. We can be taken alive. You may be sleeping and be taken; you may be working and be taken. We are expecting to be raptured alive.
What a blessed hope it is. Do not look for death; look for rapture.
But who will be raptured? Who will be taken? The common traditional concept is that everybody will be raptured together. Can you believe it?
Outwardly, the two are doing the same thing. If they are sleeping, both are sleeping. If they are grinding, both are grinding. If they are working in the field, both are working in the field. Outwardly, they are exactly the same. But inwardly, there is a great difference, and only the Lord knows.
Dear brothers and sisters, we can only see outward appearance, but the Lord looks upon the heart. Outwardly, we are all Christians; we are all believers; we seem to love the Lord. But the Lord knows who is ready and who is not ready. The Lord knows our hearts.
Do you think that Christians who believe in the Lord Jesus and live their own lives, and Christians who deny themselves, take up the cross, and follow the Lord, shall be taken together just the same? Is it logical? Is it reasonable?
Those who watch for the coming of the Lord and those who do not watch—will they be taken together at the same time? Will they have the same reward? Is that reasonable? Then why watch? Why deny yourself? Why not get the best of two worlds—have a good time on earth today and then have a good time in heaven?
Brothers and sisters, the two look exactly alike outwardly. You cannot see the difference. But when the Lord comes back to steal away, one is taken and one is left.
The one who is taken is the one who is watching, who is prepared, who is ready for the Lord. If you read on, the Lord said that if the master of the house knew in what watch the thief would come, he would be ready, so his house would not be broken through.
If you are a wise, prudent, and faithful servant, doing everything according to the master’s will, when the master returns, you will be given all things. But if you are a wicked and lazy servant, beginning to drink, to get drunk, and to beat your fellow servants, when the master comes, he shall cut you asunder, and there shall be gnashing of teeth.
Dear brothers and sisters, these are serious words. Christians today try to avoid these words. They try to say one is a believer and the other is an unbeliever. Brothers and sisters, that is deception.
You will be deceived into sleeping. You do not need to watch. But the word is: watch, be prepared, be faithful, be wise. One is taken; one is left.
It is true that one day all will be taken, but some will be taken first. Why? Because they are the firstfruits.
When you have a field and the seed begins to grow, it is always this way: in a field, some firstfruits ripen first. The firstfruits are always the best of the field. According to the Old Testament, the firstfruits are brought to the temple and presented to God. They are cut first.
But thank God, the firstfruits guarantee the harvest. The remaining crop needs more sunshine; it needs to be dried. It is too wet and needs to be loosened from the earth. It is not ripened yet. It needs the heat, the scorching of the sun, to dry it up and loosen it up. Then the harvest will come.
Dear brothers and sisters, one is taken and one is left. The one taken is the firstfruit.
Then shall the kingdom of the heavens be likened unto ten virgins. Brothers and sisters, we often think of the five wise virgins as believers and the five foolish virgins as unbelievers. Nonsense.
The Bible never calls an unbeliever a virgin. An unbeliever is an adulterer or an adulteress. The Bible calls virgins those who are cleansed by the precious blood.
Here you find ten virgins. They are virgins. You find all the similarities among them.
First, they are virgins, cleansed by the blood of the Lamb. Second, they all have lamps in their hands. For the lamp to shine, you must have oil in it. It means that everyone who is a believer has the Holy Spirit indwelling him.
Third, they all go out to meet the bridegroom. Will an unbeliever go out to meet Christ? He would never think of it, and if he ever thought of it, he would be afraid of seeing His face. It is only a believer who has a desire to go forth to meet the bridegroom.
Fourth, because the bridegroom delayed, they all went to sleep. Not only the foolish went to sleep; the wise went to sleep too.
Sleep in Scripture has a few meanings, depending on the context. It can be physical sleep, like tonight when you go to bed and sleep. Or it can be spiritual sleep: spiritually, you are sleeping; you are dull. Or it can mean death, because death is like sleep.
Certainly, in this context, sleep cannot be applied to spiritual slumber, because the wise slept too. It cannot be applied to ordinary physical sleep, because the bridegroom delayed and they all went to sleep. The only possible interpretation is that they died.
In the first century, the saints went out to meet the bridegroom, but He delayed, and they died. In the seventh century, the saints went out to meet the bridegroom, the bridegroom delayed, and they died—both the wise and the foolish.
We are now in the twentieth century. During every century, every generation, Christians expected the Lord to return in their lifetime, and that is right. The apostles were not mistaken. The saints throughout the ages were not mistaken. In their time, they were waiting for the Lord to return. That is the right attitude.
God’s timetable is not mechanical; it is spiritual. When the condition is fulfilled, He will come back. But the Lord delayed, and they died.
So the ten virgins represent Christians who had died throughout the centuries, and the two represent Christians who are still living when the Lord comes. Add the two and the ten, and you have twelve, the perfect number—the number of the church.
With the ten virgins, you find exactly the same thing. They all went to sleep, and they all heard the midnight cry: “The bridegroom cometh. Rise up and meet Him.” They all rise up; they are resurrected.
The only difference is this: the wise virgins have extra oil in their vessels; the foolish do not. What is the extra oil?
The extra oil is the fullness of the Spirit. In other words, every Christian has the Holy Spirit, but not every Christian is filled with the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit dwells in every believer, but not every believer lets the Holy Spirit rule over his life. That is the difference.
The foolish virgins have vessels, but probably they fill their vessels with gold and silver and other things. They think these things are more precious. But the wise virgins fill their vessels with oil.
Dear brothers and sisters, as to the coming of the Lord, the difference lies in one thing: do you have extra oil? Are you filled with the Holy Spirit? It means that you constantly come under and are ruled by the Holy Spirit. If this is the life you live, brothers and sisters, you will be taken.
I have gone ahead already. Let me fill in some other gaps, just for your understanding.
You remember Revelation 12. A woman was clothed with the sun, and she was about to give birth to a man-child. Then the red dragon was waiting there to devour her child that was to be born.
If you do not agree with my interpretation, you are free to do so. But this is the way I feel: the woman at that moment represents the church. The dragon, no doubt, is the devil.
The devil should devour the woman. Why? Because this woman is raised by God to defeat the dragon. The church is God’s instrument to defeat Satan.
Our Lord Jesus has already overcome. He has crushed the serpent’s head, and now He wants us to tread upon the body of the serpent. I always say what the church does is a mopping-up thing. The Lord has already overcome, and we are just following Him in the mopping up.
That is what the church must do. The enemy, the dragon, should devour the woman; but instead of devouring the woman, he is against the woman. The woman means nothing to him. Why? Because the woman has failed in her testimony. The church has failed in this mission.
But thank God, within the woman there is a man-child. The dragon is waiting for the man-child to be born. But thank God, when the man-child is born, he is instantly raptured, taken up to the throne. That is where heaven is.
Who is the man-child? If you read on, you find that “they overcame him” is collective. The man-child is collective. They overcome Satan by the blood of the Lamb, by the word of their testimony, and because they love not their lives even unto death.
Who is the man-child? They are the overcomers of the church.
How do they overcome? By the blood of the Lamb. They are not perfect; they need the blood of the Lamb. Thank God, they avail themselves of the blood of the Lamb and have their garments washed white.
They have the word of their testimony. What is the testimony? Jesus is Lord. “Jesus is Lord” is a reality in their lives. They are the sons of the kingdom. The Lord Jesus rules over their lives, and because this is effective in their lives, when they testify there is power to it.
They love not their lives even unto death. They give everything to the Lord. They overcome the enemy.
To be taken up to the throne, they have to pass through the air. What is there? The air is Satan’s headquarters. If you want to pass through your enemy’s headquarters and reach heaven, it means you have broken the enemy’s power.
The man-child thrusts through the air and reaches the throne. When they arrive at the throne, Michael and his angels come down and fight with Satan and his angels. Satan and his angels are thrown down from the air to the earth.
The overcomers of the church prepare the way for the coming of the Lord. They clear the air for the Lord to come back from the throne to the air.
They go through the air to the throne, and they follow the Lord from the throne to the air. The air is now clear.
What happens upon the earth when Satan is cast upon the earth with the Antichrist and the false prophet—the trio of evil? What can you expect other than the great tribulation?
But thank God, more heat, more fire; then the harvest comes. In 1 Thessalonians 4, it says that at the last trumpet, at the sounding of the angel, those who are dead in Christ shall be raised from the dead, and those who remain and are living shall be transformed. They shall all be caught up—to the air, not to the throne.
That is the harvest. In Revelation 14, in the beginning, you find 144,000 on Mount Zion. They represent the cream of the overcomers, the firstfruits. Then you find One with a crown on His head. He throws the sickle upon the earth and harvests the harvest—to the air, where He is.
Then there will be the judgment seat of Christ. All believers, dear brothers and sisters, will not be judged at the great white throne. Why? Because Christ was judged for you. You have passed out of judgment, out of death into life, when you believed in the Lord Jesus.
The judgment of the great white throne is judicial and governmental; it decides eternal death or eternal life. Thank God, Christ was judged for us. Therefore, we will not be judged there.
But do you think that we believers, therefore, will not be judged at all? If you read the Bible, you find that we believers will not be judged at the great white throne concerning life and death; that is solved. But we will be judged at the judgment seat of Christ.
It is not a throne; it is a seat—a bema. According to Oriental custom with a clan system, often the head of the family or clan gathers the whole family in a big room. On one side of the room there is a raised platform called a bema.
The head of the family sits on the bema, and all the members of the family stand before him. Only members of the family can attend. If you are not a member, you are not qualified. It is a family judgment.
If any son of the family has done something to add glory to the family, he will be rewarded. If any son has brought shame to the family, he will be punished—not eternal death, but he will suffer loss.
At the public manifestation of the kingdom of the heavens, those who are faithful will enter into the kingdom, ruling ten cities or five cities. But those who are unfaithful will be cast into outer darkness, where there is gnashing of teeth. They will be disciplined.
Dear brothers and sisters, I know, I know, we do not like to hear these words. But if you read the Word carefully, you will find that when the kingdom of the heavens appears upon this earth, whether you reign with Christ for a thousand years or whether you suffer loss depends on today.
If today you really live in the reality of the kingdom of heaven, in that day you will reign with Him publicly, because you are ready for it. If today you do not live in the reality of the kingdom of the heavens, when that day comes, you are not qualified.
Watch. Be ready. Be wise. Be faithful.
A word of comfort: after the millennium is over—the millennium is one thousand years—it is called the age to come. We are living in this age, then you have the age to come, which is the millennium, and after the age to come, you have eternity.
In Revelation 20, at the end of the millennium, Satan will be released temporarily. He will be able to entice a number of people on earth during the millennium. They will have the best environment. People always blame their environment, but they will have the best environment and yet their hearts will not have changed.
They will rebel against God and try to surround the holy city, Jerusalem, and the camp of the saints. That is another story—a wonderful story—but we cannot deal with it now.
Then our Lord Jesus will come down, and the enemy, Satan, will be cast into Gehenna, the lake of fire. The old heaven and old earth will pass away, and the judgment of the great white throne will be set up. Death and Hades will give up their dead, and they will all be judged.
Then you find the New Jerusalem descending from heaven upon the new earth, and all the inhabitants of New Jerusalem reign with Christ for eternity.
Who are the inhabitants? The foundations bear the names of the twelve apostles, and the gates bear the names of the twelve tribes of Israel. In other words, that is the consummation of the work of God.
The redeemed of the Lord in Old Testament times and the redeemed of the Lord in New Testament times will all be consummated in that eternal city, the holy city, New Jerusalem. Everyone is a king. That is God’s purpose.
But whether you can reign one thousand years ahead of time—that is a reward and an honor for those who press on.
Let us pray.
Our heavenly Father, we do praise and thank Thee because we do have a blessed hope. We know that Thou art coming. We know that Thou wilt reward Thy saints, Thy people. But, Lord, Thou art our great reward. It is our desire that we shall see Thee and that we shall be like Thee. In the name of our Lord Jesus, amen.