Message One

The Temple with the Ark
and
the Principle of the Man-child

Scripture Reading: Rev. 11:19; 15:5; 16:17; 12:1-11; 11:15

1. The center of the second section of Revelation (chs. 12—22) is the temple with the ark—11:19; 15:5; 16:17:
   1. The throne with the rainbow in 4:2-3 is the center of all the judgments executed over the earth in chapters six through eleven on the negative side.
   2. The temple with the ark is the center of all God’s accomplishments in the universe carried out in chapters twelve through twenty-two on the positive side—11:19.
   3. The main thought of the second section of Revelation is God’s building—15:5:
      1. The vision of the temple with the ark is not for us to be holy or spiritual—it is for us to be built up—11:19.
      2. The temple and the ark are for God’s testimony, and God’s testimony is God’s expression of Himself through His building.
   4. The ark in the temple signifies Christ as God’s testimony—11:19:
      1. The ark signifies that God must be faithful to Himself, that He will not do anything that comes short of Himself, and that what He desires to do He will accomplish—2 Tim. 2:13; Eph. 1:9-11.
      2. God’s character is the basis upon which God and Christ will reign forever and ever and upon which God will cause the kingdom of this world to become the kingdom of our Lord and of His Christ—2 Tim. 2:13; Rev. 11:15.
   5. The revelation in the Bible leads us from the throne of God’s government to the temple of God’s expression—4:2; 7:15; 11:19; 15:5; 16:17:
      1. Revelation first shows us the throne as the center of God’s judgment and then the temple as the center of God’s testimony—4:2-3; 7:15; 11:19; 15:5.
      2. Ultimately, in 16:17 the throne and the temple are combined:
         1. Here God’s judgment is mingled with God’s expression, with God’s testimony.
         2. God’s judgment comes out of God’s testimony and is for God’s testimony.
      3. In Revelation we see God on the throne and God in the New Jerusalem—4:2; 22:1:
         1. God is on the throne for His administration, but He is in the temple for His expression—4:2-3; 7:15.
         2. God’s throne is for His temple; that is, God’s administration is for His expression.
         3. In the New Jerusalem, God will be in the Lamb on the throne in His temple, having His dominion with His full expression for eternity—22:1; 21:23, 11.
2. Because the church has not attained to God’s purpose, God will choose a group of overcomers who will attain to His purpose and fulfill His demand; this is the principle of the man-child—12:1-2, 5:
   1. The man-child refers to the overcomers in the church, to the portion of the people of God who are overcomers—2:26-27; 12:5:
      1. All of God’s people should have a part in His eternal purpose, but not all assume their rightful responsibility; therefore, God chooses a group from among them—the man-child brought forth by the woman—12:1-2, 5.
      2. The overcomers are the instrument that enables God to achieve His purpose; the man-child enables God to move—vv. 10-11:
         1. The man-child consists of the overcomers who stand on behalf of the church, take the position which the whole church should take, and do the work for the church—2:7b, 11b, 17b, 26-28; 3:5, 12, 21; 12:5, 11.
         2. When God gains these overcomers, His purpose will be attained, and He will be satisfied.
   2. The universal bright woman represents the totality of God’s people, and the man-child is the stronger part within the woman—Gen. 3:15; Rev. 12:1-2, 5:
      1. In the Bible the stronger ones among God’s people are considered a collective unit fighting the battle for God and bringing God’s kingdom down to earth—vv. 5, 10-11.
         1. War is raging between the dragon and the woman; however, the battle is fought not by the woman but by the man-child—vv. 1, 3, 5, 11.
         2. In the war between the dragon and the Lord’s recovery today, the battle is being fought by the strong ones, by the man-child.
      2. God will use the man-child to fulfill His economy and to accomplish His purpose—1 Tim. 1:4; 2 Tim. 1:9; Eph. 1:9, 11; 3:11:
         1. God needs the man-child to defeat His enemy and to bring in His kingdom that His eternal purpose might be accomplished—Rev. 12:10.
         2. The Lord’s recovery is the practicality of God’s economy today, and His economy can be carried out only by the man-child.
   3. The rapture of the man-child is a transaction that causes Satan to have no more position in heaven—vv. 5, 7-10:
      1. This indicates that the overcoming saints will exert a great influence upon the coming warfare in the heavens—vv. 5, 7a.
      2. The rapture is for God’s economy and God’s strategy; we must be raptured to fulfill God’s need by executing His judgment upon His enemy.
   4. The man-child is related to God’s most important dispensational move—Matt. 6:9-10; Rev. 12:10; 11:15:
      1. God wants to end this age and bring in the age of the kingdom, and for this He must have the man-child as His dispensational instrument.
      2. The rapture of the man-child brings an end to the church age and introduces the age of the kingdom—12:5, 10.
      3. The rapture of the man-child to heaven, the casting of Satan to earth, and the declaration in heaven signify that the man-child will bring the kingdom to earth; this is God’s greatest dispensational move—vv. 5, 9-10; 11:15.