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Scripture Reading: Matt. 6:10; 28:18-20; Rev. 11:15, 17; 12:5; 2:26-27
Revelation is a book concerning the kingdom (1:6, 9). In order for the kingdom of Christ to come to the earth, there must first be a group of overcomers. This group of overcomers includes the man-child spoken of in chapter 12. Verse 5a says, “She brought forth a son, a man-child, who is to shepherd all the nations with an iron rod.” From chapter 2 we can see the constituents of the man-child, who is to shepherd all the nations with an iron rod. Verses 26 and 27 say, “He who overcomes and he who keeps My works until the end, to him I will give authority over the nations; and he will shepherd them with an iron rod, as vessels of pottery are broken in pieces, as I also have received from My Father.” In Matthew 28 the Lord said, “Teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you” (v. 20). Those who keep the Lord’s works until the end are the overcomers who will shepherd the nations with an iron rod.
Revelation 12:5b says concerning the man-child, “Her child was caught up to God and to His throne.” The man-child consists of the overcomers, who will be caught up to the place where God reigns. As a result of their being raptured, verses 7 and 8 say, “There was war in heaven: Michael and his angels went to war with the dragon. And the dragon warred and his angels. And they did not prevail, neither was their place found any longer in heaven.” This implies that prior to this time Satan and his angels still had the right to be in heaven (Job 1:6; 2:1). However, after the overcomers are raptured, there will be no place for the devil in heaven.
Revelation 12:9 says, “The great dragon was cast down, the ancient serpent, he who is called the Devil and Satan, he who deceives the whole inhabited earth; he was cast to the earth, and his angels were cast down with him.” When the overcomers are raptured to heaven, the devil will be cast down from heaven, and heaven will be thoroughly cleared up.
Verses 10 through 12 say, “I heard a loud voice in heaven, saying, Now has come the salvation and the power and the kingdom of our God and the authority of His Christ, for the accuser of our brothers has been cast down, who accuses 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 soul-life even unto death. Therefore be glad, O heavens and those who dwell in them. Woe to the earth and the sea because the devil has come down to you and has great rage, knowing that he has only a short time.” The accuser is Satan, the devil, who is cast down because of the overcomers. When this occurs, the coming of the kingdom will begin.
It is clear from the Scriptures that God’s glory depends on God’s authority, and the exercise of God’s authority depends on God’s kingdom. For this reason we know that God’s goal has always been to obtain a kingdom. The kingdom is the sphere in which God reigns. In this kingdom as the sphere in which He reigns, God can exercise His authority and carry out His will. Because His authority can be exercised and His will can be done, His glory can thus be expressed. God’s glory being expressed is Himself being expressed. God’s glory being expressed is altogether a matter of His reigning in the kingdom.
It is amazing that in the Bible God places all these three things—His kingdom, His authority, and His glory—upon His Son. God desires to glorify His Son in the kingdom as the sphere of His reign. When His Son is glorified through reigning in the kingdom, God Himself will be glorified in and through the Son. Hebrews 1:3 says that the Son of God is the effulgence of God’s glory and the impress of God’s substance. However, for the Son of God to be expressed as glory, He must have a kingdom in which He can reign. Hence, if we do not allow the Lord to obtain a kingdom in which He can reign, the glory of God that rests on Him will have no way to be expressed.
Based on this, it is clear that the kingdom is the most central item in the New Testament. When the Lord Jesus taught us how to pray, He particularly charged us to pray for the coming of the kingdom, because the fulfillment of God’s desire depends on the coming of the kingdom (Matt. 6:9-13). If God’s kingdom comes to the earth, His will and His authority will be brought to the earth, and His glory will be expressed on the earth. Furthermore, all this depends on His Son. Hence, His Son must obtain the kingdom and must reign. His Son taught us that when we pray, we should focus on the coming of the kingdom. This means that the kingdom must be the center of all our prayers. The central significance and purpose of the prayers of Christians should be the coming of God’s kingdom. To pray for the coming of God’s kingdom is to ask God to set up His throne on earth and exercise His authority on the earth. The Lord taught His disciples to pray in this way.
After the Lord ministered on earth for three and a half years, prior to His crucifixion He indicated in Luke 19 that His going was for Him to receive a kingdom (v. 12). He was soon to depart from the earth, but His going was that He might receive a kingdom and return. He had to go in order to bring the kingdom of God’s reign formally to the earth. He said that one day He would receive His kingdom and return; that day of the Lord’s return will be the day of His second coming. After He was raised from the dead, He told His disciples, “All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth” (Matt. 28:18). Thus, He has apparently already received His kingdom, for all authority has been given to Him in heaven and on earth. In other words, the kingdom of God has already been given to Him. The issue today is who on earth actually submits to His authority? God has given the kingdom to the Lord; God the Father has given to the Son all authority in heaven and on earth. On God’s side there is no problem. God’s desire is to glorify His Son that He may be the King in the entire universe. God has given all authority in heaven and on earth to the Son in His resurrection. For this reason the Lord Jesus was able to tell the disciples, “All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth.” However, we need to consider whether the Lord is actually able to reign today.
There are still two problems. First, man does not submit to His authority. Second, the rebellious devil and his angels are still opposing God’s authority on the earth. The Son of God received authority from God to establish His kingdom on earth, but the situation on earth does not match this. On the earth today man does not submit to His authority, and the devil and his angels rebel against Him. In this situation, how can the Lord establish His kingdom on the earth? How can He exercise God’s authority on the earth?
There is a picture of this situation in the Old Testament. One day King David’s son Absalom rebelled against him. Because of Absalom’s rebellion, David was cast out. God had anointed David and given the authority to him. According to God, David was the king whom He had appointed, but the earth was filled with rebellion against David (2 Sam. 15:1—19:8a). He was cast out by his son and the rebellious ones. David was the king appointed by God, but he was not able to reign in the kingdom. Luke 19 portrays a similar situation. In this chapter the Lord told a parable showing that He had to pass through death in order to receive the kingdom. In the Lord’s resurrection God gave Him all authority in heaven and on earth. God also exalted Him to His right hand and made Him both Lord and Christ (Acts 2:33, 36). In Psalm 2:6 God declared, “I have installed My King / Upon Zion, My holy mountain.” However, the parable in Luke 19 indicates that His citizens, the people on earth, sent an envoy to tell Him, “We do not want this man to reign over us” (v. 14). After the Lord Jesus was raised from the dead, the people on the earth made such a declaration. The devil instigated men on earth from within to say to the God of heaven, “We do not want Jesus of Nazareth to reign over us.” In such a situation, though our Lord is the King of kings and the Lord of lords anointed by God, He cannot reign over the earth, for it is filled with rebellion. Man is not willing to submit to His authority, acknowledge Him as King, and allow Him to reign. Rather, the people on earth follow Satan, who rebels against Him. Therefore, after receiving all authority and the kingdom from God in His resurrection, the Lord sent out His disciples, saying, “Go therefore and disciple all the nations” (Matt. 28:19). The Lord wanted them to go all over the earth to preach the gospel of the kingdom.
What does it mean to preach the gospel of the kingdom? It means to make all the tribes and nations on the earth disciples of the Lord Jesus. What does it mean to make the nations disciples of the Lord? It means to bring them into submission to the Lord. Formerly they followed Satan to rebel against the Lord, but now we must bring them into submission to the Lord. The Lord is not only the Lord who created the universe; He is also the King anointed by God, the King of kings appointed by God. God has given all authority in the universe to Him that He may establish God’s kingdom on the earth to exercise God’s authority and express God’s glory. However, Satan instigated the people on earth to declare to God, “We do not want Jesus, whom You appointed, to reign over us. We do not want this Nazarene to reign over us.” What should the Lord have done when He heard this from those on the earth? Should He have destroyed them with lightning and thunder? Should He have commanded fire to come down from heaven and consume them? The Lord was not willing to do this. If He had done this, He would not be able to fulfill God’s will and establish God’s kingdom. The Lord said, “The Son of Man has not come to destroy men’s lives but to save them” (Luke 9:56). Hence, He sent His disciples to preach the gospel to all the nations, to spread the gospel of the kingdom to all the earth, and to disciple all the nations to bring them into submission to the Lord and make them the kingdom people.
The first thing mentioned concerning the gospel is the need to repent (Matt. 3:2; 4:17). What does it mean to repent? To repent means that originally we were rebellious and against God, but then a voice of love asked us to return, to turn back, to God. Hence, to repent is to turn back in submission to the Lord and receive Him as our Savior. When we receive Him as our Savior, He comes into us. He enters into us not only in the status of a Savior but also in the status of the King of kings. Today He is no longer the Christ nailed to the cross; He is the King on the throne. When we repent, turn to Him, and receive Him as our Savior, He is the King on the throne. Therefore, we have received not only the Savior but also the King of kings, the Lord of lords. When the King of kings comes into us, His throne simultaneously comes into us. His desire is to establish His kingdom in us in order to make us rebellious ones His kingdom.
Formerly, we did not submit to God’s authority. We were willing to do anything, however bad it might have been. Before we received the Jesus whom God appointed to be our King, we acted loosely and recklessly because the heavenly authority was not ruling us. However, now we are saved and have received the Lord Jesus as our Savior. Moreover, as our Savior, He also has the statuses of the Lord of all and the King of kings. Hence, when we receive Him as our Savior, He enters into us to set up His throne and establish His kingdom in us so that we may become His kingdom.
Revelation 1 and 5 reveal that the Lord has purchased us with His blood to make us His kingdom (1:5-6; 5:9-10). What is His purpose in making us His kingdom? His purpose is to rule, to reign, to accomplish His will on earth, and to gain a group of people on earth to be under His authority. This is the result that has been produced by the gospel during the last two thousand years.
In the last two thousand years there have been many people from every part of the earth who have received the gospel and come under Christ’s ruling. Newly saved ones, however, are often not clear about this matter. They think that their believing the gospel is only for them to receive certain benefits, such as peace through forgiveness of sins, eternal life, eternal blessing, a living God who always bestows His blessings and peace on them, and a living Savior who always saves them from pain and suffering and preserves them to be those who behave properly. Gradually, however, the Lord will show them that the Savior whom they have received has the status of a king and that He is even the King of kings. As our Savior, the Lord is no longer on the cross; rather, He has passed through the cross and has been enthroned. He is now the King on the throne. At the time that we received Him, He had already been given all authority in heaven and on earth and had been exalted to God’s right hand and made both Lord and Christ. The One whom we have received is a glorious King, the King of kings, who is sitting on the throne. The Lord enters into us not only to be our Savior but also to be our King, connecting the throne in heaven and the authority in heaven to us.
Perhaps after receiving the Lord, we did not hear a message on the kingdom, but inside us there was always a feeling that Someone was asking, “Do you love Me? Are you submissive to Me? Do you follow My leading? Do you listen to My word?” What kind of feeling is this? This is the Lord asking us to submit to Him from our heart and to submit to His authority. Thus, we should not expect Him to be only our Savior; we must allow Him to be our King also. When we encounter a difficulty, we may pray, “Lord, have mercy on me and save me.” If so, He will ask us in return, “Do you listen to My word? Do you follow My leading? Do you obey My command?” What does this mean? It means that we want Him to save us, but we must be willing to allow Him to be our King. We want Him to grant us love, joy, and peace, but we must be willing to allow Him to set up His throne in us. After we are saved, we often have this experience—the Lord desires to establish His kingdom in us, yet we are not willing.
The Lord leads us again and again to see this truth, this vision. The gospel saves us so that we may become the Lord’s kingdom. The Lord enters into us so that He may establish His kingdom in us. The Lord in us is not only our Savior but also the King of the kingdom. The Lord’s life in us is not for us to meet merely a small demand but for us to meet the great demand of the kingdom. If we hope only that the Lord’s life will prevent us from losing our temper and make us a meek person, the Lord’s life will not comply. The Lord will not pay attention to this kind of hope, because His life is given to us to supply us to meet the kingdom requirements. We need to say, “Lord, I acknowledge You as the King of kings. I allow You to set up Your throne in me and rule over me in everything. I am the sphere in which You can reign; I am Your kingdom.” Then spontaneously we will not lose our temper and will be a meek person.
What is the purpose of our becoming Christians? We become Christians in order to allow the Lord to establish His kingdom in us. For what purpose do we believe in the Lord Jesus? We believe in the Lord not so that we may go to heaven or obtain blessing, joy, and peace but so that we may submit ourselves to the King of kings. He is the King appointed by God, the Lord of all, who has received all authority in heaven and on earth; God has given all things to Him. He is a glorious King, the King of kings. Hence, we should desire to submit ourselves to Him, receive Him, and allow Him to establish His authority, His throne, and His kingdom in us. We must be fully under His ruling. We should not be those who by our will determine to be meek, who by our effort try to be patient, or who by ourselves try to be perfect. Rather, we should be those who are under His authority and who allow Him to have the full ground to establish His kingdom, to set up His throne, and to be enthroned in us as He is enthroned in heaven. Our believing in the Lord Jesus is for this.
The Lord Jesus has purchased us back with His blood that we may be His obedient people, those who submit to His authority, who are His kingdom, and who allow Him to set up His throne to rule and reign in us. Everything related to us must be in submission to His authority. If we all have this view and live in this kind of situation, all the enemies will spontaneously be defeated. Our temper? It will not prevail. The world? It will lose its attraction. Every sin and temptation, whether it is from the devil, the evil spirits, the flesh, or fleshly lusts, will be defeated. When the King of all is enthroned in us, all the enemies will fall prostrate.
There is a clear picture of this in the Old Testament. God’s people, the children of Israel, were God’s kingdom under God’s ruling. Whenever they allowed God to rule and reign, all the enemies around them surrendered, and they had peace in all their borders. They were a victorious people, an excelling people. Because they allowed God to rule, and God’s kingdom was established among them, all the enemies surrendered. However, whenever they did not allow God to rule or reign over them, they fell, and their enemies rose up one after another. At certain times the Philistines came, and at other times the Midianites, the Moabites, the Amalekites, or the Ammonites rose up to fight against Israel. Eventually, the seven nations in the land of Canaan rose up one by one. At one point even the Ark was carried away. The enemies prevailed because God had lost His throne and His reign among His people. As a result, the holy city was destroyed, the holy temple was trampled, and all the vessels in it were carried away. The children of Israel lost God’s presence and His testimony. This was because they had lost God’s authority and did not allow Him to be enthroned among them.
This is a picture, a type, of the situation today. When we have Christ’s throne and authority in us, all the enemies will surrender, and God Himself, Christ, His testimony, His authority, and His power will be with us richly. Conversely, when we do not allow Christ to reign in us, but we make decisions, govern, and have the preeminence ourselves, we will find that all the tests and temptations, including our temper, will come. When we allow Christ to reign in us, we are able to praise and give thanks in every situation that we encounter. At such times we do not know temper, tests, or temptations. Yet when Christ is not able to reign in us, and we do not give Him the ground within, we will immediately begin losing our temper and murmuring. It will seem that nothing is going smoothly.
This is often our experience. For example, this morning we might have blamed our parents for not waking us up earlier. Later, we still could pray, “Lord, help me and save me from losing my temper. Lord, You are the Lord of resurrection, the Lord of power. You have the resurrection life, and this resurrection life is powerful. Please change me.” Yet in the end this did not work. The Lord did not answer our prayer, help us, or save us; neither was His resurrection power manifested in us. Why is this? It is because He never offers this kind of help, and His life is not for meeting this kind of demand. Rather, His life is for Him to reign and establish His kingdom in us. We must be under His authority and be His kingdom; we must have His throne and be ruled by Him within. Then His life can be manifested in power.
Christ’s life is only for His kingdom. If a brother is not a kingdom person within and is not living a life ruled by Christ, often Christ’s life will not bear responsibility for him. Although he may read the Bible, he will still fail. He may pray, but he will still be weak. Although he may go to meetings and listen to messages, he will still not be victorious. The reason for this is that he has not allowed Christ to be enthroned within him. If we do not have Christ’s kingdom and reign within us, if we are not His domain, and if we still make the decisions in everything and keep everything as our domain, kingdom, and rule, then the Lord will be forced to stand aside. He will not and cannot do anything for us.
We need to see the reason God saves us; that is, we need to see His purpose in saving us. God saves us so that we may be His kingdom, so that through us He may establish the kingdom of His Son. Today Satan is still active in the air and on the earth. Satan rules in these two realms, and Christ’s authority has no way to be expressed. However, Christ finds a way by extending His authority into us who believe in Him. If we allow Him to exercise His authority to a sufficient extent, we will be a group of overcomers. According to God’s ordination, the whole church should be like this. All those in the church, every saved one, should be under the authority of Christ, should allow Christ to reign, and should be a place where Christ can exercise His authority. Many saved ones, however, desire the Lord’s salvation, the Lord’s love, and the Lord’s blessings, but they will not allow the Lord to reign in them so that He may gain His kingdom.
What will the Lord do in this situation? The Lord must do a further work in the church to gain a particular group of people. Throughout the last two thousand years the line of these lovers of the Lord has never been broken. Apparently the church is in decline, and indeed the church as a whole is in decline. However, in this decline there are still overcomers. In this decline there are still some who love the Lord and tell Him, “Lord, I am under Your authority. I am Your kingdom. I am willing to allow Your throne and Your authority to come in. I love Your ruling. Lord, You are the King, and I am under Your ruling. I submit to Your authority.” In these last two thousand years the line of such persons who submit to the Lord’s authority has never been broken. These persons are the Lord’s overcomers.
We absolutely believe that there are some brothers and sisters on the earth today, though they may not be great in number, who are able to tell the Lord, “Lord, I am Your kingdom, and I am under Your authority. Lord, You are the ruling One, the reigning One. I am saved and have become a Christian for no other reason. I do not desire anything on the earth. I know only that I am under Your authority, that I am Your kingdom, and that Your throne is in me. Lord, You are enthroned, You reign, and You rule over me. I submit absolutely to You and to Your ruling.” I believe that there are such saints. Though they may not be great in number, there surely are some.
We may say, “I cannot submit.” But if we cannot, others can. Amazingly, however, we also can submit if we have received mercy. Everyone who has been shown mercy and grace can submit to the Lord. Throughout the ages there have always been such persons, a group of those who love the Lord and who are willing to submit to His ruling. I have never met a group of Christians among whom I could not find some who love the Lord in this way. Although there may not be many, there are always some. No matter where we go, we can always find some Christians, and among them we can always find some who love the Lord in this way. I can testify that in many places I have found some who love the Lord. When they mention the Lord’s name, they are crazy. It seems that when they mention the Lord, they do not care for anything else; they are not concerned with anything but the Lord.
There was a brother in a certain place who loved the Lord very much. He loved the Lord so much that his father said to him jokingly, “My child, if your father were to die today, would it matter to you, or do you love only Jesus?” The reason his father asked him this was that in his father’s eyes, this young man knew nothing except the Lord Jesus. He was “drugged” with Jesus. It seemed that when he was awake, he thought of Jesus; when he was asleep, he thought of Jesus. Jesus was everything to him. He was unclear in all other things, but when speaking of Jesus, he was very clear. This young man loved Jesus to this extent. However, this kind of person can be found everywhere. It is as if they are drugged with the Lord Jesus.
It is spontaneous for such persons to submit to the authority of Christ. In their view it is certain that Jesus will be the Lord; it is spontaneous for the Lord to reign in them. Their entire being is Christ’s domain, Christ’s kingdom. Christ’s throne is in them, and Christ’s will is carried out in their living. Their entire life is Christ’s reigning; the reality of the kingdom is in them. At this time and in this kind of situation, what is manifested in them is entirely the kingdom of God. Their life is not merely human; the divine, glorious, resurrection life is manifested in them. They can overcome and overcome absolutely; they can endure and endure utterly. It is humanly impossible to live the kind of life they live; man cannot manage this kind of living. Only God can live in such a way. In other words, God comes forth from them. Because the throne is established in them, the power of life is manifested in them.
Those who submit absolutely to Christ are the overcomers. They are the man-child born of the universal woman mentioned in Revelation 12. The universal woman signifies Christians in general, that is, the church as a whole. The entire church is the universal woman. The man-child signifies the stronger part of God’s people, the overcomers who love the Lord. There is a man-child in the universal woman. One day a group of overcomers will be produced from the church.
The condition of the church is weak, as represented by a woman, but the overcomers are like a strong man-child. In the Bible the woman is the weaker vessel, and the man is the stronger vessel (1 Pet. 3:7). The church as a whole may be weak, but there is a group of people who love the Lord, who allow the Lord to reign, and who have the Lord’s throne in them. The kingdom is in them, and their inner being is Christ’s domain. This group of believers, composed of both brothers and sisters, is truly strong and victorious, like a man-child.
The spiritual condition of most saved ones, including the brothers, is weak, like a woman. When they learn of the need to pay a price to follow the Lord, they decline, saying, “Do we not receive everything as a gift from the Lord? How is it that we need to pay a price? What kind of price are we able to pay anyway?” This is the tone of a weak woman. Hence, not only the sisters are women, but the brothers also may be women in this sense. Those who truly love the Lord, however, remain faithful even at the risk of death. They allow the Lord to rule and reign in them; they submit to the Lord’s ruling. They love the Lord to such an extent that they have no fear even when facing death. As long as they have the Lord’s presence, they are able to go anywhere for Him. All those who truly love the Lord, not only the brothers but also the sisters, have this boldness. Everyone who truly loves the Lord is strong; everyone who faithfully loves the Lord fears neither heaven nor earth. This group of believers includes both brothers and sisters. They are the man-child, a group of strong ones.
In the woman in Revelation 12 there is a man-child; this means that in the weak church there is a group of strong overcomers. Perhaps we do not see this situation today. It seems that the man-child is still being conceived in the woman’s womb and is hidden among the believers. One day, however, the travail of the woman will come. Travail is a suffering, a trial. At the end of this age a great tribulation will come upon the whole inhabited earth (Matt. 24:21; Rev. 3:10). When this trial comes upon the church, the man-child will be brought forth, and the weak ones will flee and hide (12:6). At that time the strong man-child will say, “I am here.” Hence, Revelation says that the brothers overcome the accuser and that they do not love their soul-life (v. 11).
When the affliction and the trial come upon the church, the weak will still be weak, and the strong will truly be strong. At that time the woman will cry out because of her pain and her travailing in birth, and the man-child will be brought forth (vv. 2, 5). Those in the man-child are so strong that they love not their soul-life even unto death. In verse 5 the phrase brought forth signifies resurrection, as in Acts 13:33, meaning that the man-child is composed of overcomers who overcome even death and are raised from the dead, just as the Lord was raised.
Because the man-child is such an overcomer, he is Satan’s adversary. When the man-child is caught up to heaven, a war will be stirred up. There will be war in heaven, and Satan’s place will no longer be found in heaven (Rev. 12:7-8). The reason for this is that the overcomers will be caught up to heaven. Wherever the overcomers are, Satan has no place. When the man-child, this group of overcomers, is in heaven, Satan’s place will no longer be found there. Revelation 12:9 says that Satan will be cast to the earth, and his angels will be cast down with him.
Verse 10 says that at that time there will be a loud voice in heaven, saying, “Now has come the salvation and the power and the kingdom of our God and the authority of His Christ, for the accuser of our brothers has been cast down, who accuses them before our God day and night.” The accuser is the devil, the one who has been cast down. The devil hinders God’s authority and damages God’s kingdom. Through this group of overcomers, however, the devil will be cast down so that God’s kingdom can come and Christ’s authority can be carried out. At this point the kingdom can be manifested. Today it is a kingdom with authority only, but on that day it will be a kingdom with an actual sphere. The kingdom of the world will become the kingdom of our Lord and of His Christ (11:15). The rebellious Satan will be cast down, first to the earth and then to the abyss (20:1-3). Who will actually cast down the rebellious Satan? It will be the overcomers, the group of believers who allow Christ to reign.
We need to remember that the Lord’s desire in us is to establish His kingdom. To be a Christian is not merely a matter of being holy and victorious; it is a matter of submitting to the authority of the kingdom. To be a Christian is not only a matter of grace, enjoyment, life, and power; it is also a matter of allowing Christ to have the right to govern us, constitute us His kingdom, set up His throne, and carry out His will in us. When there is a group of people in the church who are willing to allow Christ’s authority to flow among them, this will bring Christ’s kingdom to the earth. When there is a group of overcomers in the church, these overcomers will bring the authority of heaven, the kingdom of God, to the earth. At that time the church will be victorious, and the enemy will be powerless.
