Will you please turn to the book of Revelation? Revelation 12. We will read from verse 1 through verse 17.
And a great sign was seen in heaven: a woman arrayed with the sun, and the moon under her feet, and upon her head a crown of twelve stars;
and she was with child; and she crieth out, travailing in birth, and in pain to be delivered.
And there was seen another sign in heaven: and behold, a great red dragon, having seven heads and ten horns, and upon his heads seven diadems.
And his tail draweth the third part of the stars of heaven, and did cast them to the earth: and the dragon standeth before the woman that is about to be delivered, that when she is delivered he may devour her child.
And she was delivered of a son, a man child, who is to rule all the nations with a rod of iron: and her child was caught up unto God, and unto His throne.
And the woman fled into the wilderness, where she hath a place prepared of God, that there they may nourish her a thousand two hundred and threescore days.
And there was war in heaven: Michael and his angels going forth to war with the dragon; and the dragon warred and his angels;
and they prevailed not, neither was their place found any more in heaven.
And the great dragon was cast out, the old serpent, he that is called the Devil and Satan, the deceiver of the whole world; he was cast out into the earth, and his angels were cast out with him.
And I heard a great voice in heaven, saying, Now is come the salvation, and the power, and the kingdom of our God, and the authority of His Christ: for the accuser of our brethren is cast out, who accuseth them before our God day and night.
And they overcame him because of the blood of the Lamb, and because of the word of their testimony; and they loved not their life even unto death.
Therefore rejoice, O heavens, and ye that dwell in them. Woe for the earth and for the sea: because the devil is gone down unto you, having great wrath, knowing that he hath but a short time.
And when the dragon saw that he was cast down to the earth, he persecuted the woman that brought forth the man child.
And there were given to the woman the two wings of the great eagle, that she might fly into the wilderness unto her place, where she is nourished for a time, and times, and half a time, from the face of the serpent.
And the serpent cast out of his mouth after the woman water as a river, that he might cause her to be carried away by the stream.
And the earth helped the woman, and the earth opened her mouth, and swallowed up the river which the dragon cast out of his mouth.
And the dragon waxed wroth with the woman, and went away to make war with the rest of her seed, that keep the commandments of God, and hold the testimony of Jesus.
Let us have a word of prayer.
Dear Lord, as we gather here in Thy presence, we are aware that the time is short. But we praise and thank Thee because we can lift up our heads, knowing that our redemption draweth nigh.
Dear Lord, Thou hast put upon our hearts a real longing for Thyself. How we long to see Thee face to face. We thank Thee for Thy precious promise. But, Lord, it has been a long wait.
Search our hearts to see whether there is anything in us that delays Thy return. Remove all the hindrances within us, and prepare us and use us to bring in the King.
So we offer ourselves to Thee afresh this morning, and look to Thy Spirit to breathe upon Thy Word and breathe into our hearts. We are not here seeking merely for mental understanding. We are here to be changed, transformed by Thy Word.
So, Lord, we look to Thee to work this morning and finish that task. We ask in Thy precious name. Amen.
Dear brothers and sisters, we gather together here at this time for one purpose, and that is to offer ourselves to be the link that will bring in the King.
It is a tremendous task, but it is something that is done by His grace only, and not by ourselves. Yet there is one thing needed in us: we need to humble ourselves before Him, offer ourselves to Him, and allow Him to work in us and use us to be that link for which He has been looking.
We remember that the Lord has a way of doing things. He has His principles. When God is going to do something, even though it is His work and He alone is doing it, it pleases Him to draw His people in with Him.
It is just like when a father is moving a piece of furniture. The little child, the little boy, says to his father, “Let me help you.” So he goes to help his father hold part of the furniture. Actually, he is putting more weight upon the furniture. But finally, when the furniture is moved, he says, “Father, we have moved it.”
This is exactly what God is doing with us in the spiritual realm. God made known His ways to Moses, and we are here to know His ways. His way is always to use us as an instrument, as a vessel, even though He is the One who really accomplishes everything.
So what is needed here is this: will we offer ourselves to Him, allow Him to work out His full salvation, and use us as the link to bring back our dear Lord Jesus?
Now, this morning, we would like to consider Revelation 12. This is a very important chapter because it shows us what will happen at the end. How will the change come?
John saw a vision, a great sign in heaven: a woman clothed with the sun, with the moon under her feet, and upon her head a crown of twelve stars. Being with child, she cried, travailing and in pain to bring forth.
I wonder whether any one of you has read a book by Watchman Nee called The Glorious Church. Actually, when it was published in China, it was called Holy Without Blemish. It was published during the first two years of Communist rule, because at that time there was still freedom.
In this book, our brother used four women to show us the history of the church. The first woman was Eve. Eve represents the church in God’s original thought.
The second woman is found in Ephesians 5. That is the woman the Lord has been working to gain throughout the centuries. The third woman is the woman in Revelation 12. She represents the church in the very last days.
Finally, there is the woman, the New Jerusalem, the consummation of all God’s work.
Here, then, you find this great sign in heaven: a woman clothed with the sun. In other words, this woman is clothed with heavenly glory because she is in the design of our heavenly God.
The moon was under her feet because the moon represents the law—the age of the law as preparation for the age of grace. Upon her head was a crown of twelve stars.
Of course, that brings us to Genesis 37. You remember how Joseph dreamed a dream, and he saw eleven stars, with the sun and moon, bowing down to him. So the twelve stars represent the twelve tribes of Israel.
Here you find how God relates all His work throughout the centuries in that woman. The woman was with child, and she was in travail and in pain to bring forth. That tells us the story of how the church has travailed throughout the centuries. The reason for it is to bring forth a child.
Then you find another sign: the sign of a great dragon. Now, brothers and sisters, we remember that in the very beginning, in Genesis, he was a serpent. But now the serpent has grown to be a dragon, having seven heads and ten horns, with seven diadems upon his heads.
Of course, we immediately know that this represents Satan, the adversary of God—how he rebelled against God, and in his rebellion drew one-third of the angelic host to follow him, casting them down to the earth.
There you find this dragon standing before the woman who was about to bring forth. But strangely, you discover that the dragon was not interested in the woman. Instead, his interest was in the womb, in that which was going to bring forth. Why is it so? What does it tell us?
You remember our Lord Jesus said:
I will build My church; and the gates of Hades shall not prevail against it.
In other words, from the very beginning of the history of the church to the very end of her history, Satan is deadly against her because he sees that she will be the instrument used by God to bring in His end.
But strangely, the dragon’s interest is not in the woman, because he knows that the woman herself will not be able to affect him in any way. The woman has failed in her testimony. So his interest is no longer in the woman.
But God, in spite of that, has provided that in the woman’s womb there will be a man child. That is where the dragon’s interest lies, because he knows that when the man child is born, it will mean his end. He is waiting there to devour him as soon as he is born.
So the question is: who is the man child?
People usually interpret this man child as Christ. They think that Christ is to be born, and then He will be the end of the enemy. But as you read carefully, you find that when this man child is born, he is caught up immediately to the throne.
This did not happen to our Lord Jesus, because we know that after He was born, He was on earth for more than thirty-three years. Only after He died on the cross, rose from the dead, and ascended, did He go up to the throne.
So we ask: who is this man child? The Bible tells us in Revelation 12:5:
And she was delivered of a son, a man child, who is to rule all the nations with a rod of iron: and her child was caught up unto God, and unto His throne.
That is the destiny of the man child. In the book of Revelation, we find this phrase repeated three times.
One time it refers to our Lord Jesus, because our Lord Jesus will come riding on a horse to the battle of Armageddon. He is the One who will shepherd the peoples with a rod of iron. That refers to the kingdom age.
But aside from this, we find that the other two references refer to the overcomers. In Revelation 2, there is a promise to the overcomers:
And he shall rule them with a rod of iron.
Another passage likewise promises that they shall shepherd the nations with a rod of iron. This also refers to the kingdom age.
So far as we understand today, we feel that most likely this man child refers to the overcomers before the coming of the Lord, because as soon as he is born, he is caught up into heaven.
Now, brothers and sisters, this brings us back to Matthew 24. Please turn to Matthew 24, verse 39.
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.
Here the Scripture tells us about the coming of our Lord Jesus. The word “coming” here is a special word. It is parousia. Those who understand Greek tell us that parousia means “presence.”
We know that our Lord Jesus, so far as His body is concerned, is absent because He ascended to heaven. Even though we know that His Spirit is here with us, and He has never left us nor forsaken us, yet when we think of His body, we know that He is sitting at the right hand of His Father. He is absent today, but one day He will be present again.
Now, this word parousia does not mean one moment or one act. Parousia is a period of time with a series of events. The parousia has a beginning and an end. That is the way our Lord Jesus is coming back again.
You remember Acts 1. When our Lord Jesus was leaving this earth and going back to heaven, we find in Acts 1:9:
And when He had said these things, as they were looking, He was taken up; and a cloud received Him out of their sight.
How was the Lord leaving this earth? He ascended from the mount, and while He was ascending, the disciples looked at Him. They could see Him ascending. But after a while He was taken by a cloud. When He was taken by the cloud, His disciples could no longer see Him, but He was still ascending.
How do we know that our Lord Jesus ascended to the throne? It was because of Pentecost. At Pentecost, the Holy Spirit came down as proof that He had ascended to the throne and had been anointed as Lord and Christ. The anointing flowed down into His beard and into the whole body. That is the assurance that He had arrived.
Strictly speaking, after He ascended into the cloud, the disciples could not see Him. Yet they were still looking up. While they were looking up, Acts 1:10-11 says:
And while they were looking steadfastly into heaven as He went, behold, two men stood by them in white apparel;
who also 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 return of the Lord from heaven to earth is the reverse of the same process as His ascension. His ascension was in two parts, though they are closely related. The first part was from the mount to the cloud—visible. The second part was from the cloud to the throne—invisible.
If His departure was like that, His presence will come in like manner. When our Lord Jesus comes, He will come from the throne to the air invisibly, and from the air to the mount visibly.
But, brothers and sisters, how does He begin? That is what we find in Revelation 12. There is the man child. When the man child is born, he is caught up immediately to the throne.
In Matthew 24, we find that the days of Noah shall be the coming of the Son of Man:
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.
Here you find when this shall happen. When the presence of the Lord begins, there will be a rapture. Two women are grinding at the mill, which means morning. Two are working in the field, which means daytime. In Luke 17, you find two sleeping; one is taken and one is left. That is nighttime.
It does not mean that you have six people here—only two. But because the earth is round, in some places it is night and people are sleeping; in some places it is morning and the women are grinding at the mill; and in other places it is noontime and people are working in the field.
But our question is: who are the two? You know, when you come to the church, the complete number of the church is twelve. But here you have two. Where are the ten?
You find them in Matthew 25, because there you have ten virgins going to meet the Bridegroom. Strictly speaking, the ten virgins refer to those saints who have died throughout the centuries.
The Bible tells us that they took their lamps and went to meet the Bridegroom. But while the Bridegroom tarried, they all became drowsy and slept. The sleeping here refers to death.
Thank God, even in the first century people were looking forward to His return. I believe the disciples in the early days, when they heard the Lord say, “I am coming to receive you unto Myself,” expected the Lord to come in their lifetime. They waited, but the Lord seemed to delay, and they passed away.
In every century, you find people waiting for the return of the Lord. The Lord can return at any time if His bride is ready, but He has delayed, and because of that delay many saints have passed away. So these ten virgins represent the saints of the centuries who have passed away.
The Bible never calls people of the world virgins, because in the sight of God they are as adulteresses. Only those who are redeemed by the Lord are called virgins. You remember 2 Corinthians 11, where Paul said, “I have presented you to Christ as a chaste virgin.”
We who have been cleansed by the precious blood of the Lamb are considered as virgins—virgins who are engaged to Christ Jesus. If we are chaste virgins, what will be our attitude? What will be our interest?
Our attitude and our interest are centered upon the Lord, our Bridegroom. We are prepared for Him. Whatever we are doing, our question is: is that what our Lord is pleased with?
The virgins live for their future. So you find these virgins throughout the centuries who have gone out to meet the Lord. That is their attitude, and this is our attitude. We are just passing through. We are not dwellers upon this earth. We are strangers and sojourners. We are waiting for the Lord to come. We are going out to meet the Lord.
Because of the delay of His return, they all go to sleep. But thank God, one day they will hear the voice, “The Bridegroom comes,” and they will all be raised up.
Yet you find that the result is the same as with the two. Of those sleeping, one is taken and one is left. Of those grinding, one is taken and one is left. Of those working, one is taken and one is left.
Outwardly, these two look the same, but inwardly they are different. The Lord does not look at outward appearance; He looks upon the heart. He knows who is really waiting for Him. So one is taken, and one is left.
You know, brothers and sisters, the songs we sing—sometimes we sing them without thinking of the meaning. There are a number of songs concerning the coming of the Lord, and in these songs it is often said that when the trumpet sounds, the Lord shall come.
But, brothers and sisters, will a thief come into your house blowing a trumpet first to let you know that he is coming? Never. It is very strange: he seems to know when you are not watching, and suddenly, quietly, he comes and leaves.
When a thief comes, what will he steal? He will not steal your garbage. If he did, we would welcome him every night. But he knows exactly where your treasure is, and that is what he is after.
That is the way the Lord is coming. Brothers and sisters, by all the indications around us, we know that the Lord’s coming is very, very close. As the Bible says, it is even at the door. He may come at any moment.
But we do not know the time, the hour, or the day. Throughout the centuries, people have tried to figure out when the Lord would come. When they selected a certain date, people would clothe themselves in white, go into the wilderness, leave their jobs, and wait for His coming.
A number of times, the prediction did not come true, because the Lord has warned us that no one knows the time. Only the Father knows. But we have been given to know the conditions that tell us His coming is imminent.
So, brothers and sisters, we are living at the very verge, as it were, of the coming—the parousia—of our Lord Jesus. When this happens, the first thing that happens upon this earth will be sudden and without notice.
People throughout the earth—in the morning, at noontime, and in the evening—someone will disappear, taken away. Those who are taken are those who are ready for the Lord. This is represented by the man child.
The man child is not merely one person. The man child is a collective term, because if you read Revelation 12, you can see that they overcome the accuser. In other words, it is a group of overcomers—those who are ready, prepared, looking forward, and willing to be the link for the coming of the Lord.
As soon as one is taken and one is left, and as soon as the man child arrives at the throne, something happens. Brothers and sisters, when you try to penetrate to the throne in the third heaven, you have to go through the first heaven—the air.
The air is the headquarters of the adversary of God. Satan has his headquarters in the air. He looks upon this earth, watching everything that is going on, trying to deceive and to kill.
But here you find these overcomers. They can get through the air. In other words, in their lives on earth, they have already overcome Satan. On the basis of their victory, they can go through the air and touch the throne.
In other words, they are the welcoming party for the coming of the Lord. What a privilege! What an honor!
Brothers and sisters, we live, as it were, in the most difficult time. But in another sense, we are living in a thrilling time, because there is a possibility that, without going through death, we may be caught up alive to the throne to welcome the King back. That is the work of the overcomers.
When they reach the throne, what happens? In Revelation 12, we find that immediately there will be war in heaven—that is, in the air. Michael and his angels will come and fight with Satan and his followers.
The result is that Satan is thrown down from the air to the earth with his fallen angels. The air is cleared. Why is it so? Because it is cleared for the Lord to come from the throne to the air.
But when Satan is thrown upon this earth, what will happen? I think it is very clear. If Satan is thrown upon this earth, there will be three and a half years of great tribulation. What can you expect when the devil himself is on this earth?
Even then, he will try to persecute the church. But God has prepared a place for the church, where she will be nourished for a time, times, and half a time—three and a half years.
Brothers and sisters, according to the interpretation of prophecy, there are differences of opinion. Some believe the whole church will be raptured before the great tribulation. Others believe the whole church will go through the tribulation and be raptured afterward. Still others believe that some will be raptured before the tribulation and others after the great tribulation.
Even though there are different opinions, brothers and sisters, what will edify us most? Is it not the expectation that those who are faithful to the Lord will be privileged to be raptured before the great tribulation and escape it?
You find in Revelation 12 that Satan turns to those who keep the commandments of God and have the testimony of Jesus. In other words, he makes war with the remnant of her seed.
The remnant of her seed are those who keep the commandments of God. That refers to the pious Jews, as you find in Revelation 7: the one hundred forty-four thousand of the twelve tribes of Israel. They have been sealed to go through the great tribulation.
Then there are those who have the testimony of Jesus. Who has the testimony of Jesus? The church. This shows that the three and a half years, so far as the Jews are concerned, are Jacob’s trouble; but so far as the church is concerned, they are the great tribulation.
But, dear brothers and sisters, even the great tribulation is something in which God gives His church a second chance. Having seen what has happened, surely people will be awakened.
Thank God, even through the great tribulation some will be willing to sacrifice their lives for the testimony of Jesus, and they will be ranked among the overcomers. God has given His church, as it were, another opportunity.
That is what you find in 1 Thessalonians 4. The trumpet will sound, and those who are dead in Christ will be raised from the dead. Those who are still living on earth will be changed.
Where will they be caught up to? They will be caught up to the air, not to the throne, because our Lord Jesus has already come from the throne to the air. The whole church will be gathered there in the air.
When they are gathered together in the air, what is going on? That is what the Bible calls the judgment seat of Christ.
Dear brothers and sisters, thank God, we who belong to the Lord will not appear before the great white throne judgment, because that judgment is a judgment of life and death. Because of what our Lord Jesus has done for us on Calvary’s cross, He has died for us that we may not die any more. He has taken all our sins away and delivered us from the judgment of the great white throne.
But that does not mean that, as the family of God, we will not be judged. In the old days, they had big families. When I was young, I came from a big family—four generations living under one roof. In the old days, it was like that.
From time to time, the father of the family would gather the whole family together for a meeting. Only those who were of the family were invited to attend. The elder of the family would sit in a raised place called the bema, and the rest would stand before him.
It was a family judgment. Those who had honored the family would be praised before all and rewarded. Those who had brought shame to the family would be disciplined. But that did not mean that because they were disciplined, they were no longer in the family. They were still in the family.
Brothers and sisters, discipline is necessary. Without discipline, you cannot grow; you cannot grow properly. Our heavenly Father disciplines His sons because He loves them. He loves us, and through discipline we will be perfected and become partakers of His divine nature.
So here you find the bema, the judgment seat of Christ, in the air. The family of God will be judged, because judgment shall begin with the house of God.
But what happens upon this earth? There are the seven bowls. The wrath of God will be poured out upon this earth.
Brothers and sisters, so far as we understand, this is what is going to happen in this world. Now the question is: how do these overcomers overcome Satan, the accuser?
You know, Satan is the accuser. He is accusing us before the Lord all the time, just as he accused Job before God. Satan is always doing that.
Whether his accusation is real or unreal, unfortunately, sometimes it is real. But most of the time it is unreal. Yet because of his accusation, our conscience troubles us, and we become weak spiritually.
I remember how Martin Luther dreamed a dream as he was carrying on the work of Reformation. He dreamed that Satan came to him and showed him a scroll full of writing, within and without. That scroll was the sins of Martin Luther.
Satan said, “How dare you do this work of Reformation? Look at yourself.” But thank God, Martin Luther took up a pen and wrote upon it, “The blood of Jesus cleanses from all sin,” and Satan disappeared.
Brothers and sisters, he is the accuser. How do we overcome him? Revelation 12:11 tells us:
And they overcame him because of the blood of the Lamb, and because of the word of their testimony; and they loved not their life even unto death.
The first thing is the blood of the Lamb. Brothers and sisters, do not think that you have outgrown the need of the blood of the Lamb. The closer you walk with the Lord, the more you treasure the precious blood of the Lord.
Even the tears of our repentance need to be cleansed by the blood of the Lord. The overcomers know the value of the blood, and they apply the blood to their lives.
The overcomers are not special ones or perfect ones. They are the same as we are, but they know the preciousness of the blood. They depend upon the cleansing of the blood throughout their lives. That is why they are always pure and righteous in the sight of God.
Second, they overcome Satan because of the word of their testimony. Brothers and sisters, we have been entrusted with the testimony of Jesus. We are here to testify that Jesus is Lord—not by words only, but by life.
If it is by life, then our word will be powerful and effective. I think it is very striking when you read Acts 19 and find the seven sons of Sceva, a Jewish chief priest. They were exorcists, trying to drive out evil spirits.
Because they saw what Paul had done in the name of the Lord Jesus, they tried to imitate him. They said, “In the name of Jesus whom Paul preacheth, we command you to come out.”
The evil spirit answered, “Jesus I know, and Paul I know; but who are ye?” Then the evil spirit leaped upon them, and they escaped naked.
Brothers and sisters, unless our word agrees with our life, it has no power. But if our life bears the testimony of Jesus—that He is really Lord of our life—then when we say, “Jesus is Lord,” that is powerful. The enemy cannot stand it.
Thirdly, they loved not their lives even unto death. The word “life” here is psuche, the soul-life.
The Lord Jesus calls us to deny ourselves, take up the cross, and follow Him. These brothers and sisters deny themselves. They do not cater to their own desires, wishes, or intentions.
They are willing to lay down their soul-life and allow the life of Christ to rule their lives. They love not their soul-life even unto death. With that kind of attitude, the enemy is defeated.
That is the secret of the overcomers. Praise God, this secret is an open secret. It is for every one of us.
Brothers and sisters, God’s desire is that everyone who is redeemed should be an overcomer, because He is the Overcomer. As John says, we overcome Satan by faith—by faith in our Lord Jesus.
It is available to every one of us. This is the link that will bring back the King. So may the Lord help us. Shall we pray?
Dear Lord, how we praise and thank Thee, because Thou hast not only called us to be overcomers, but Thou hast also shown us how to be overcomers.
So, Lord, we just want to avail ourselves of all the provisions that Thou hast provided for us. Lord, we despair of ourselves. Our whole hope and expectation are upon Thee.
So this day we want to rededicate our lives to Thee, surrender ourselves totally to Thee, and say, “Lord, take us and work in us. Deliver us and free us from our own self, that we may be those who have the testimony of Jesus.”
May we be those who will bring Thee the King. May we be those who are the link for which Thou art looking. We thank and praise Thee, because it is all of grace and all of mercy. We worship Thee in Thy precious name. Amen.
We do want to take a moment to seal up this time of ministry in prayer. We can do that now for a few minutes, and then we will close.