THE SECOND PART: A BIRD’S-EYE VIEW OF THE NEW TESTAMENT
Revelation
Message Three—The Firstfruits, the Harvest, and the Late Overcomers
Scripture Reading: Rev. 14:1-5, 14-16; 15:2-4
I. The rapture is not mainly for our enjoyment but for God’s enjoyment; we need to be raptured to heaven, not for our happiness but for the fulfillment of God’s purpose—12:5, 7-10; 14:1, 4b:
A. The meaning of rapture is to be taken into the Lord’s presence; in order to be taken into the Lord’s presence, we must be in His presence today—Luke 21:36; 2 Cor. 2:10.
B. The rapture is for defeating the enemy and satisfying God—Rev. 12:5; 14:1, 4b:
1. God has a need for us to be raptured; we must be raptured to heaven that we may fight against the enemy—12:5, 7-11.
2. The Lord needs the man-child to fight against His enemy, but He needs the firstfruits even more for His satisfaction—14:1, 4b.
C. The Bible reveals two aspects of the rapture: the rapture of the overcomers and the rapture of the majority of the believers—Matt. 24:40-41; Luke 21:36; Rev. 3:10; 1 Thes. 4:15-17; Rev. 12:5; 14:1.
D. In Leviticus 23:10 we see a type of the rapture— the type of the crop ripening in the field— Matt. 13:24; Rev. 14:14-16:
1. The reaping of God’s crop is what we call the rapture; this reaping indicates that the believers will be taken away from the earth— Matt. 13:30, 39b.
2. Part of the crop—the firstfruits—ripens earlier and is reaped earlier; the rest of the crop—the harvest—ripens later and is reaped later.
3. According to Revelation 14 there are two kinds of rapture—the rapture of the firstfruits and the rapture of the harvest—vv. 4b, 14-15.
II. The firstfruits in Revelation 14:1-5 are the living overcomers who will be the first ripe ones in God’s field; hence, they will be reaped before the harvest as firstfruits to God and to the Lamb:
A. The firstfruits will be caught up to the heavenly Mount Zion, to the place of God’s dwelling in the third heaven, in order to be in the presence of God and Christ—14:1, 4b.
B. The firstfruits are raptured to the house of God in Zion as the fresh enjoyment to God; this is for God’s satisfaction—Exo. 23:19a; Lev. 23:10; cf. John 20:17a:
1. The firstfruits satisfy the hunger of God the Father and the Lamb, the Redeemer.
2. Whereas the man-child is for fighting to deal with the enemy, the firstfruits are for the satisfaction of God and the Lamb.
C. The firstfruits are believers who are saturated with Christ; they have been fully occupied by Christ and taken over by Christ—Eph. 3:16-17a; Gal. 4:19.
D. The firstfruits have the name of the Lamb and of His Father written on their foreheads; this is the designation of their being one with the Lamb and with the Father and of their belonging to Them—Rev. 14:1b.
E. The one hundred forty-four thousand firstfruits are believers who are for the accomplishment of God’s eternal purpose—v. 1:
1. The number twelve signifies the mingling of divinity with humanity; this mingling is for the completion of God’s economy.
2. Twelve multiplied by twelve means completion of completions, the completion in God’s administration for the fulfillment of His economy.
F. The firstfruits are the earliest ones among God’s crop to reach maturity—Heb. 5:14—6:1; 1 Cor. 2:6; Eph. 4:13; Phil. 3:15:
1. To be transformed is to be changed in our natural life; to be matured is to be filled with the divine life that changes us—Rom. 12:2; Eph. 3:19b.
2. For God’s expression there is the need of maturity; only a mature life can bear God’s image and exercise His dominion—Gen. 1:26.
III. The harvest in Revelation 14:14-16 is the rapture of the majority of the believers:
A. Whereas the firstfruits are taken to the throne in the heavens before the great tribulation, the harvest is taken to the air (the barn—Matt. 13:30; 3:12) toward the end of the tribulation, that is, at the last trumpet—1 Thes. 4:16-17; 1 Cor. 15:52; Rev. 10:7.
B. All those included in the rapture of the harvest must pass through the greater part of the great tribulation—Matt. 24:21; Rev. 3:10:
1. The harvest will be left to pass through the great tribulation because green, unripened fields need strong sunshine to ripen—14:15; Matt. 13:39b.
2. In a sense, the great tribulation will be the strong sunshine which will ripen all the believers who were not ready before the tribulation.
C. If today we do not give up the world and live to Christ, Christ will leave us on earth to pass through the great tribulation—Matt. 16:26; 2 Cor. 5:14-15:
1. At that time the believers will give up the world and realize that the best way to live is to live to Christ—James 4:4; 1 John 2:15-17; Rom 14:7-8.
2. The time will come when all the believers will realize that they need to ripen and mature— Mark 4:26-29; 1 Cor. 3:1-2; 14:20; Col. 1:28.
D. The harvest will be reaped by the Son of Man; He came as the Son of Man to sow the seed, and He will come again as the Son of Man to reap what He has sown—Matt. 13:37; Rev. 14:14.
E. Regarding the rapture, we all need to receive the warning and to see God’s purpose and our responsibility to cooperate with Him—2 Tim. 4:8; Rev. 16:15.
IV. Revelation 15:2-4 unveils the rapture of the late overcomers, who overcome Antichrist, his mark, the number of his name, and his image:
A. Although they are slain by Antichrist, in the eyes of God they are victorious.
B. The late overcomers sing the song of Moses and of the Lamb—v. 3a:
1. The song of Moses indicates God’s triumphant judgment over the enemy of His people—Exo. 15:1-18.
2. The song of the Lamb indicates Christ’s redemption experienced by God’s people in the presence of their enemy.
C. The late overcomers praise God for His works and His ways, that is, for His acts and His principles— Rev. 15:3b-4; Psa. 103:7.
Ministry Excerpts:
THE COMPOSITION OF THE OVERCOMERS
The composition of the overcomers is the categories, the different kinds, of overcomers.
A. The Overcomers Crying to the Lord for His Avenging at the Fifth Seal,
Comprising All the Martyrs from Abel to Those before the Fifth Seal
Revelation 6:9-11 reveals the overcomers crying to the Lord for His avenging at the fifth seal. This group of overcomers comprises all the martyrs from Abel to those before the fifth seal. Today we are in the first four seals. The fifth seal has not come yet, but it may come soon. In the Old Testament times, there were a number of martyrs who sacrificed themselves to die for the Lord’s interest (Heb. 11:35-38). They were overcomers in the Old Testament. Then in the New Testament, from the time of the early apostles to our time there have been many more martyrs. Throughout the approximately nineteen centuries of church history, many faithful saints have been martyred. Some were not martyred physically but psychologically. They were martyred in their soul, their psyche, their emotion, mind, and will. Every day we, the lovers of Jesus, are undergoing a kind of martyrdom. By the time the fifth seal comes, there will be many overcomers crying to the Lord for His avenging. Their cry to the Lord will usher in the sixth seal, which will be the very beginning of the great tribulation.
B. The Man-child Born of the Universal Woman
The second category of overcomers will be the man-child born of the universal woman (Rev. 12:1-5). The universal woman is the totality of God’s people. Out of God’s people, the man-child will be born. The man-child comprises the martyrs who cry at the fifth seal and the additional martyrs before the great tribulation. There is a short time from the fifth seal to the beginning of the great tribulation. But even within such a short time, there will be a number of martyrs. These martyrs will be included in the man-child. Thus, the man-child is a bigger group than those who cry to the Lord at the fifth seal. The man-child will be resurrected and raptured to the throne of God before the three and a half years of the great tribulation (vv. 4b-6).
C. The One Hundred Forty-four Thousand Living Overcomers
Revelation 14:1-5 speaks of the one hundred forty-four thousand living overcomers raptured before the great tribulation to Mount Zion in the heavens before God’s throne as firstfruits to God and to the Lamb (Rev. 14:1-5). The man-child will be the dead, martyred overcomers who will be resurrected and raptured to the throne before the great tribulation. The firstfruits to God and to the Lamb will be the living overcomers, who no doubt live a suffering life under the crucifixion of Christ, by the death of Christ. Before the great tribulation, they also will be raptured. They will not need to be resurrected, because they will have never died. All the resurrected martyred overcomers and the living overcomers will be raptured to the third heaven before the great tribulation to enjoy the Lord as the morning star (Rev. 2:28). At His second appearing Christ will be the morning star to His overcomers who watch for His coming. To all the others He will appear only as the sun (Mal. 4:2).
D. The Martyrs in the Great Tribulation
Revelation 15 speaks of the martyrs in the great tribulation under the persecution of Antichrist resurrected and raptured to stand on the glassy sea close to the end of the great tribulation (vv. 2-4; 13:7a). The glassy sea mingled with fire is a sign of the lake of fire, so these martyrs stand above the lake of fire. These are the late overcomers who will pass through the great tribulation and overcome Antichrist and the worshipping of Antichrist. They will be martyred under the persecution of Antichrist and then resurrected to reign with Christ in the millennium (20:4).
When the man-child and the firstfruits are raptured to the third heaven, many believers will be left on this earth because they have not matured. This indicates that they lived a life with very little growth in Christ, so they will be left on earth to pass through the great tribulation. That will be their trial, their test, and that will help them to give up the world. Suppose a brother loves the Lord, yet he still loves the world. When the great tribulation comes and the overcomers are raptured, will such a brother still love the world? He may cry out, “Lord Jesus, why did You leave me here? Brother So-and-so who was serving with me for years has been raptured, but I am still here.” Surely this brother will repent to the Lord, turning to the Lord in a desperate way. He will not want to be left on earth until the last day of the great tribulation. This will issue in his maturity.
The resurrection and rapture of the majority of the saints will be very close to the end of the great tribulation. Even some of them will receive a reward because they will get matured through the great tribulation. After this rapture, the Lord will set up His judgment seat in the air to judge all the believers (2 Cor. 5:10). The believers either will be rewarded with the kingdom for one thousand years or will enter into outer darkness to suffer some discipline (Matt. 25:21, 23, 30).
E. The Two Witnesses Martyred, Resurrected,
and Raptured to the Heavens in the Cloud at the Close of the Great Tribulation
Revelation 11:3-12 shows us the two witnesses, who will be martyred, resurrected, and raptured to the heavens in the cloud at the close of the great tribulation. These two will be Moses and Elijah, God’s living witnesses. Moses, representing the law, and Elijah, representing the prophets, both testified for God. They will be martyred by Antichrist, and their corpses will be on the street for three and a half days. Then they will be resurrected and raptured in the eyes of all their persecutors. As the overcomers, the two witnesses will be rewarded and will be in the kingdom. Moses and Elijah appeared before the Lord on the mount of transfiguration (Matt. 17:1-3). That was a miniature of the manifestation of the kingdom.
We can see from our fellowship that the overcomers are those who live the life of a martyr. To be martyred is glorious. During the Boxer Rebellion in China in the early 1900s, many Christians were martyred. One man told me the story of a young girl who was martyred during this time. He was working one day when the Boxers were parading on the street with their long swords in a threatening way. He looked through a crack in the door and saw them leading a young Christian girl to her death. Instead of being frightened, she was singing and praising. When this man saw her, he was shocked and said to himself that there must be something special about being a Christian. Because of this, he sought to find out what this ?foreign religion? of being a Christian was, and he was saved by the Lord. Actually, he was saved through that young martyr. Later, he gave up his business and became a traveling preacher. When I was in Chefoo, he told me this story of how he was saved and became a minister of Christ. This young martyr, through whom he was saved, was a real overcomer.
THE FINAL CONSUMMATION OF THE OVERCOMERS
A. To Be Manifested as a Corporate Overcomer after Their Raptures
Eventually, all of the overcomers will be manifested as a corporate overcomer after their raptures. After they are raptured, they all become one entity. They are really built together. This can be proved by two things. First, all the overcomers become one bride to Christ (Rev. 19:7-9). Christ will not have many brides, but only one bride, who is constituted with all the overcomers. This is proof that all the overcomers will become one. Second, they become the heavenly army to follow Christ to defeat Antichrist and those who follow him (vv. 11-21). All the overcomers first become the bride, and after her marriage to Christ, the bride becomes the army. All the overcomers are really one.
This means that today, in this age before the rapture, we have to learn the lesson of how to be one and of how to coordinate with one another with no opinion. We should reject our opinion and care only for our growth in Christ, transformation in Christ, and building up in Christ. If we are such persons, the church life will be pleasant to us. When we are right persons, everything is right and pleasant to us. But when we are wrong persons, we are unhappy and everything is wrong and unpleasant to us. When we are right in an overcoming situation, we love everything and everyone, and every situation is no problem to us. Today in the church life, those who condemn and criticize others are the wrong persons. If someone comes to us to say something negative about the church, about the elders, about the ministry, about the brothers, or about the sisters, we have to realize that this person is a wrong person. We should stay away from such persons (Rom. 16:17). Otherwise, we will be contaminated. In this age we have to learn the lesson to coordinate with all the lovers of Christ. Then after our rapture, we will be ready to go along with one another, and we will be one entity as Christ’s bride and Christ’s army.
B. To Be Rewarded at the Judgment Seat of Christ
The overcomers will be rewarded at the judgment seat of Christ (2 Cor. 5:10; Rev. 11:18c). Christ will judge His believers not concerning their eternal salvation but concerning their dispensational reward (1 Cor. 4:4-5; 3:13-15).
C. To Be the Bride Married to the Lamb
The overcomers will also be the bride married to the Lamb (Rev. 19:7-9).
D. To Be the Army of the Lamb
They will also be the army of the Lamb (Rev. 17:14; 19:14). According to Joel 3:11, they will come as the mighty ones with Christ to defeat Antichrist and his armies (Rev. 19:19-21) to close the great tribulation and the present age. We should not be those who love this age, because we need to become the ones to close it. The overcomers will come with Christ to close this present, evil, and ugly age. We can hasten the Lord’s coming and the closing of this age by being the overcomers to stand against the tide and the trend of the entire situation and environment on this earth.
E. To Bring in the Kingdom of God and of Christ
When we close the great tribulation and this age, we will bring in the kingdom of God and of Christ (Rev. 11:15; 20:4, 6). The kingdom will not come spontaneously by itself. The kingdom will come by our bringing it in.
F. To Inherit the Kingdom of God and of Christ in the Fuller Enjoyment of the Eternal Life
The overcomers will inherit the kingdom of God and of Christ in the fuller enjoyment of the eternal life (Matt. 5:20; 19:23-30; 1 Cor. 6:9-10; Gal. 5:19-21; Eph. 5:3-5; 2 Pet. 1:11). First, they bring in the kingdom, and then they inherit it. They will be the co-kings with Christ (Rev. 20:4, 6; Matt. 19:28). Christ will be the leader of the kings, and the overcomers will be the co-kings to co-reign with Christ. The overcomers will also be priests of God and of Christ in the millennium (Rev. 20:6; 22:3b) to enjoy the ruling authority over the nations (Rev. 2:26-27; 12:5). To man, the overcomers will be the kings. To God and to Christ, they will be the priests. What a blessing!
G. To Be the New Jerusalem, as the Bride of Christ for One Thousand Years,
in Its Initial and Fresh Stage
What God wants is the New Jerusalem, which will be the totality of what the overcomers are. Eventually, all the overcomers will be the New Jerusalem, as the bride of Christ for one thousand years, in its initial and fresh stage. These one thousand years will be counted as one day (2 Pet. 3:8), the wedding day. This will be the initial and fresh stage of the New Jerusalem as the bride of Christ.
The overcomers will also be the New Jerusalem as the present Paradise of God in the millennial kingdom (Rev. 2:7). This bride will be the Paradise of God. The three things are one: the bride, the city, and the Paradise of God.
The overcomers will shine forth like the sun in the kingdom of their Father in the heavenly part of the millennium (Matt. 13:43; cf. Dan. 12:2-3, 13). The millennium will have two parts: the heavenly part and the earthly part. The saved Israelites who will repent at the Lord’s coming back (Rom. 11:26-27; Zech. 12:10; Ezek. 36:25-28) will be the priests in the earthly part (Zech. 8:20-23; Isa. 2:2-3), which will be the kingdom of the Son of Man (Matt. 13:41; Rev. 11:15); whereas the overcoming believers will be in the heavenly part to shine as the sun in the kingdom of their Father. For one thousand years, the overcomers will shine forth the light, and the light is the Triune God Himself (1 John 1:5).
H. To Consummate and Complete the New Jerusalem in Full,
as the Tabernacle of God and the Wife of Christ
in the New Heaven and New Earth for Eternity
Eventually, the New Jerusalem will be consummated and completed in full, as the tabernacle of God and the wife of Christ in the new heaven and new earth for eternity (Rev. 21:1-3, 9-10). In the kingdom of one thousand years, the New Jerusalem will be composed only of the overcomers. Besides the overcomers there will be a great number of immature saints, but after the thousand-year kingdom, all the believers will be matured. The Lord has a way to cause all the believers to be matured. If we do not get matured in this age, we will be matured in the next age. The process of being matured in the next age, however, will be very severe. Eventually, all of the believers will join the overcomers to make the New Jerusalem larger than it was in the thousand-year kingdom. That will consummate and complete the New Jerusalem in full, as the tabernacle of God and the wife of Christ in the new heaven and new earth for eternity.
In eternity the New Jerusalem will be the wife of Christ. On the wedding day, the wife is the bride, but after the wedding day she is no longer the bride but simply the wife. The believers who do not overcome in this age will participate in the New Jerusalem as the wife, but they will have no share in her as the bride because they will mature too late. The New Jerusalem in eternity future will be with the addition of all the saints perfected for their maturity in the divine life through the discipline in the kingdom age (Rev. 21:2, 12, 14). This will be for the eternal expression, to its fullest extent, of the processed Triune God in, with, and through all the regenerated, transformed, and glorified tripartite saints in eternity (Rev. 21:10-11).
I. Consummate Finally the Triune God’s Eternal Economy
in Christ through the Consummated Spirit
The overcomers will consummate finally the Triune God’s eternal economy in Christ through the consummated Spirit. This is proven by Revelation 22:17??The Spirit and the bride say, Come!? The bride is the overcomers, and the Spirit is the consummated Triune God. This is the ultimate consummation of the entire economy of God, and this consummation is the glorified saints married to the processed and consummated Triune God.
J. To Participate in the Fullest Enjoyment
of the Processed and Consummated Triune God
The overcomers will participate in the fullest enjoyment of the processed and consummated Triune God in the fellowship with all the redeemed and glorified saints forever and ever. In the thousand-year kingdom, the overcomers will be happy, but they will no doubt miss their spiritual relatives, the other brothers and sisters in Christ. But after the one thousand years, all the believers will be matured to be included with the overcomers as the New Jerusalem for eternity. Then we will enjoy the Triune God in fellowship with all the saints throughout the ages as the New Jerusalem forever to be in His glory as His expression for His satisfaction. In this chapter we have seen the New Jerusalem. Our ‘dream’ is to become the New Jerusalem as the final consummation of the overcomers and the consummation of God’s economy. (The Overcomers, msg. 6)