In this message we shall cover four aspects of the overcomers in the church: the dead overcomers, the living overcomers, the overcomers as the bride at the marriage feast of Christ and in the millennium, and the overcomers as the armies in heaven fighting with the coming Christ against Antichrist and his armies.
The believers may be overcomers either as the man-child (the dead overcomers) or as the firstfruit (the living overcomers). The dead overcomers are the man-child within the woman in Revelation 12. Verse 5 says, “She brought forth a son, a man-child, who was about to shepherd all the nations with an iron rod; and her child was caught up to God and to His throne.” In the Bible the woman signifies the weaker one and the man the stronger one (1 Pet. 3:7). Hence, the man-child in Revelation 12:5 signifies the stronger part of God’s people. Throughout all generations there have been some stronger ones among God’s people. These are considered in the Bible a collective unit fighting the battle for God and bringing God’s kingdom down to earth.
The fact that the man-child “was about to shepherd all the nations with an iron rod” indicates that the man-child consists of the overcomers, as mentioned in 2:26-27. Furthermore, “brought forth” in 12:5 signifies resurrection, as in Acts 13:33 and 34.
The man-child is composed of the dead overcoming saints resurrected. This is proved by the words “unto death” in Revelation 12:11. All the overcomers who die will be part of the man-child. By resurrection the man-child will come into full existence. Abel, who was the first martyr, the Apostles, and all the martyrs and deceased overcomers are waiting for the time of resurrection. The resurrection of all the dead overcoming believers will be the delivery of the man-child. Therefore, the man-child is composed of all the overcoming saints who die before the time of this resurrection.
A believer who is an overcomer today and lives until the Lord Jesus comes back will not be part of the man-child but may be among the firstfruit. However, a believer who is an overcomer and dies before the Lord Jesus comes back will be resurrected to be part of the man-child. The man-child in Revelation 12:5 does not represent the overcomers who live until the Lord comes back, but represents all the dead overcomers who will be resurrected before the Lord comes back. This resurrection will be their delivery as the man-child.
The dead overcomers, the man-child within the woman, comprise the overcomers of both the Old Testament and the New Testament (Heb. 11:33, 39-40). All these overcomers as a totality are the man-child. As Hebrews 11:39 and 40 indicate, the overcomers in the Old Testament dispensation need the overcomers in the New Testament to be their completion, their complement. This means that the New Testament overcomers will match them in victory over all negative things. Eventually, in the millennium, all will join together to enter into the feast of the kingdom.
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