«　WEEK 6　DAY 5　»

　　Eph. 6:10 Finally, be empowered in the Lord and in the might of His strength.

　　Rev. 19:14 And the armies which are in heaven followed Him on white horses, dressed in fine linen, white and clean.

　　According to Revelation 19, the church is both the bride who is presented to Christ and the warrior who fights with Him against God's enemy. The armies in Revelation 19:14 are the called and chosen believers in 17:14. They are also both the bride and the guests called to the marriage dinner of the Lamb (19:7-9). The guests invited to the wedding feast and the bride are the same. The bride consists of the invited guests, and the invited guests make up the bride. After the wedding, all the guests will become the army.

　　In Revelation 19:14 we see that the overcomers, as the armies which are in heaven and the ones who followed Him on white horses, are “dressed in fine linen, white and clean." The fine linen here is the clothing of the bride. The wedding garment of "fine linen, bright and clean" [v. 8] will be the armor for fighting. The overcomers who are the heavenly armies are those who constitute the bride of Christ. In other words, it will be the bride of Christ who will follow Him as His army to fight and destroy Antichrist and his army. Those who have overcome every obstacle will be Christ's co-fighters in the final battle against Antichrist. These are His bride. They have become His co-fighters by His ministering the rich life supply to them. Surely the expectation is that His overcomers will be such co-fighters. (The Conclusion of the New Testament, pp. 4339-4340)

　　The overcoming saints have two garments, one for salvation and the other or reward. The fine linen here is the second garment. This second garment of the overcomers qualifies them both to attend the marriage dinner of the Lamb (Rev. 19:8-9) and to fight with the Lord against His enemy. Thus, the wedding garment becomes the fighting garment. The second garment qualifies us not only to attend the wedding but also to join the army. The bride’s wedding garment will be the uniform that she wears as God's army to fight against His enemy….Even today, we are fighting by Christ as our garment. Ephesians 6 indicates that the whole armor of God is Christ.

　　At His coming again, … after receiving the bride, Christ and the overcomers will enter into battle against the enemy. Just as in Ephesians 5 and 6 we see the church as the bride and as the warrior, in Revelation 19 we also have these two aspects of the church. As the church, we are the bride and the warrior. In God’s economy there is one army constituted of a corporate warrior. This means that the warrior in Ephesians 6 is a corporate entity. Only as a corporate entity, the Body, can we put on the whole armor of God. This is contrary to the concept held by many Christians that an individual believer is able to wear the entire armor. The armor in Ephesians 6 is not for Christians as individuals; it is for the church corporately as the Body, …a corporate army.

　　According to verses 17 and 18, we receive the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit by means of all prayer and petition…. Among the various items of the armor, only the sword is for offensive warfare; that is, it is the only item of God’s armor used for attacking the enemy…. Satan is not only the enemy outside of us; he is also the adversary within us…. Because the enemy’s elements are within us, we need the killing power of the word to be applied to our being subjectively.

　　Pray-reading the Word of God is the way to kill the adversary within us. Every day and in every kind of situation, we should pray-read. Whenever we are troubled by something negative within us, we should take the Word of God by means of prayer in spirit. As we do this, the negative element will be killed. (The Conclusion of the New Testament, pp. 4340-4342)

　　Further Reading: The Conclusion of the New Testament, msgs. 185, 215, 343, 424-426