Scripture Reading: Rev. 1:20; 2:1; 12:1-11; 14:1-5; 21:9-11, 18-21
Ⅰ
During the time of the degradation of the church, the faithful believers are the shining stars, bearing the living testimony of Jesus—Rev. 1:20:
A
The heavenly Christ is the Star that comes forth out of Jacob and the morning star as a reward to the overcoming believers—Num. 24:17; Rev. 2:28; 22:16-17.
B
Christ's faithful followers are shining and living stars, those who follow Christ as the shining and living Star—Matt. 2:2-12; Micah 5:2; Dan. 12:3; Rev. 1:20.
C
The living stars follow the heavenly, living, up-to-date, and instant vision of Christ as the centrality and universality of God's economy—Acts 26:16-18.
D
The living stars are those who bless God and bless God's people; the more we praise the Lord for God's people and speak well of them in faith, the more we put ourselves under God's blessing; those who speak positively concerning the church receive the blessing, but those who speak negatively put themselves under a curse—Num. 24:9; Eph. 1:3; Psa. 71:14; 103:1-5; 142:7; Gen. 12:2-3; Matt. 12:34-37.
E
The living stars take heed to the prophetic word of the Scriptures, "as to a lamp shining in a dark place," so that Christ as the morning star may rise in their hearts—2 Pet. 1:19; John 6:63; Rev. 2:28.
F
The living stars enjoy and are filled with the sevenfold intensified Spirit to make them intensely living and shining for God's building—3:1; 4:5; 5:6.
G
The living stars are the messengers of the churches, those who have an ear to hear what the Spirit says to the churches; they enjoy and experience the pneumatic Christ as the Messenger of God and as the fresh message from God so that they can dispense the fresh and present Christ into the people of God for the testimony of Jesus—1:20—2:1; Mal. 2:7; 3:1-3.
H
The living stars have "great resolutions in heart" and "great searchings of heart"; they are lovers of God who are like "the stars" in "their courses" to fight together with God against His enemy so that they may be "like the sun when it rises in its might"—Judg. 5:15-16, 20, 31; Dan. 11:32; Matt. 13:43; cf. Dan. 7:25.
I
The "wandering stars" are those who are not solidly fixed in the unchanging truths of the heavenly revelation but are wandering about among God's starlike people; in order to be stable stars for God's testimony, we must beware of the seven kinds of people who are a damage to the church—Jude 12-13, 19:
１
Ammon was happy when God's sanctuary (typifying the incarnated Christ tabernacling on earth as God's dwelling place—John 1:14) was desecrated, when the good land (signifying Christ with all His riches and grace given to God's people—Col. 1:12) was desolated, and when the house of Judah (signifying the church—Heb. 3:6) went off into exile; the Ammonites signify those who hate Christ, the grace of God, and the church—Ezek. 25:3.
２
The Moabites were happy to see that the house of Judah was no longer separated from the nations; thus, they signify those who desire to bring the church into an association with the world and to make the church the same as the nations—v. 8; Rev. 2:12.
３
The Edomites were the descendants of Esau, the brother of Jacob, and thus the cousins of the sons of Israel (Gen. 36:1); Edom signifies the unregener-ated old man, and Israel signifies the regenerated new man (Rom. 6:6; Gal. 6:16; Phil. 3:3); Edom was full of hatred toward Israel, continually seeking revenge and vengeance—Ezek. 25:12.
４
The Philistines lived very close to the good land and even mingled with the Israelites; they typify the natural man of the religious people; the "Edomites" and the "Philistines" cause the most damage to the church life—v. 15; 1 Cor. 3:12, 16-17.
５
Tyre typifies those who are seeking worldly wealth and do not care for God's interests—Ezek. 26:2; 28:12-15; cf. 1 Kings 7:13-14.
６
Sidon was a pricking briar and a painful thorn to the house of Israel; Tyre and Sidon are considered a pair, indicating that if the believers love the world and care for worldly riches, they will become briars and thorns that damage the church life, frustrating the growth of life in the church as God's cultivated land—Ezek. 28:21, 24; Matt. 13:22; 1 Cor. 3:9; cf. Rev. 18:13.
７
Egypt was a nation that depended not on God but on its own resources; the Egyptians represent persons who, independent of God, exercise their natural wisdom to develop their natural resources to be rich in supply and to be a source of supply to others—Ezek. 29:2-9; cf. Exo. 4:1-9.
Ⅱ
The man-child signifies the overcomers who cooperate with Christ to fight against His enemy and to usher in God's kingdom—Rev. 12:1-11:
A
The way to become the man-child is for us to be strengthened into the inner man, to be empowered to experience the riches of Christ, and to be strong through putting on the armor of God by pray-reading the killing word—Eph. 3:16, 18; 6:10-11, 17-18; Rev. 1:16; 19:13-15.
B
"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"—12:11:
１
"The blood of Jesus His Son cleanses us from every sin"—1 John 1:7.
２
The word of our testimony is the proclamation and declaration of the divine facts of the victory of Christ to others—1 Cor. 12:3b; 2 Cor. 4:13.
３
Not loving our soul-life even unto death means that we choose to love the Lord supremely and not live by our self in any way—Col. 1:17, 18b.
C
Abigail typifies the church that is one with the warring Christ to fight for God's kingdom in the midst of sufferings—Matt. 12:3; 1 Sam. 25:42:
１
Abigail's previous husband, Nabal (meaning "fool"), shows how evil our old man is in forsaking Christ; Nabal despised, rejected, and opposed David at the time of his destitution—vv. 10-11, 25; cf. Prov. 1:7; 13:20.
２
When our corrupted nature, which forsakes, rejects, and despises Christ, is struck down, we become Christ's counterpart who follows Him in the midst of sufferings, fighting for the kingdom of God—1 Sam. 25:36-42; Rev. 1:9.
D
Gideon and his three hundred men signify a blended group of overcomers who fight together with Christ to bring in His kingdom—Judg. 6:1-6, 11-35; 7:1-8, 19-25:
１
They were willing to sacrifice in order to be used by God to fulfill God's word and carry out His economy—vv. 1-8; 8:4.
２
They fought the battle and labored, yet the whole congregation chased the enemy and reaped the harvest, signifying that when we overcome, the whole Body is revived—7:22—8:4; Col. 1:24; Psa. 128:5.
Ⅲ
The early overcomers are the first ripe ones in God's field, reaped before the harvest as firstfruits to God and to the Lamb—Rev. 14:1-5:
A
The rapture is not mainly for our enjoyment but for God's enjoyment; we need to make ourselves ready to be raptured not for our happiness but for the fulfillment of God's purpose—12:5, 7-11; 14:1, 4b; 19:7.
B
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 and learn to have nearness and dearness in our contact with the Lord, having a heart that loves and treasures the Lord for His purpose—2 Cor. 2:10; 4:6-7; 1 John 1:3.
C
The rapture of the overcomers is for defeating the enemy and satisfying God:
１
God has a need for us to be raptured, to be caught up to Him and to His throne, so that we may fight against the enemy—Rev. 12:5, 7-11.
２
The Lord needs the man-child to fight against His enemy, but for His satis-faction He needs the firstfruits even more—14:1, 4b; cf. S. S. 8:6, 13-14.
３
The firstfruits are the earliest ones among God's crop to reach maturity— Col. 2:19; Heb. 5:14—6:1; Eph. 4:13; Phil. 3:15; cf. Luke 21:36.
４
The firstfruits are raptured to the house of God in Zion as the fresh enjoy-ment to God for His satisfaction—Exo. 23:19a; Lev. 23:10; cf. Rom. 8:23.
D
Our being raptured depends on our being mature in the divine life by our walking with God—taking Him as our center and everything and doing every-thing according to His revelation and leading—Gen. 5:22-24; Heb. 11:5-6.
Ⅳ
The overcoming believers are signified by jasper and other precious stones—Rev. 21:9-11, 18-21:
A
Jasper signifies the appearance of God shining with the glory of God as the light of the New Jerusalem for the expression of God—4:3; 21:11, 18-19.
B
The other precious stones signify the riches of the beauty of Christ in different aspects for the foundation of God's eternal dwelling—vv. 19-21.
C
By the judging Spirit, the burning Spirit, and the flowing Spirit—the Lord Spirit—we are being transformed by the experiences of the riches of Christ as the God of resurrection gained through sufferings, consuming pressures, and the killing work of the cross—Isa. 4:4; 11:2; John 4:14b; 2 Cor. 1:8-9.
D
Through the process of transformation, we boast in our weaknesses and boast in Christ Jesus so that the power of Christ as grace might tabernacle over us—v. 12; 11:30-33; 12:7-9; Rom. 5:3; 1 Cor. 1:29-31; Phil. 3:3.
E
By our growth in the divine life in Christ as the living stone, we are being transformed into precious stones; through the process of transformation, the Triune God is being wrought into and structured together with us to the praise of the glory of His grace with which He graced us in the Beloved for us to become the New Jerusalem as the conclusion of the entire Bible and the good news to the entire universe—1 Pet. 2:4; 1 Cor. 3:12a; Rev. 21:18-21.