We only know to eat Jesus, and we have the assurance that the way to eat Jesus is to call on Him, saying, “O Lord Jesus, Amen, Hallelujah!” If we repeat this three times early in the morning, we will be watered. We have seen that Revelation 2:7 speaks of eating the tree of life. Verse 17 says, “To him who overcomes, to him I will give of the hidden manna, and to him I will give a white stone, and upon the stone a new name written, which no one knows except him who receives it.” This indicates that if we eat Jesus, we will be transformed. Then verse 12 of chapter 3 says, “He who overcomes, him I will make a pillar in the temple of My God, and he shall by no means go out anymore, and I will write upon him the name of My God and the name of the city of My God, the New Jerusalem, which descends out of heaven from My God, and My new name.” If we are the overcomers who eat Jesus, we will be transformed into white stones, and we will be built into the temple. According to Revelation 21:22, the temple will be the city of New Jerusalem itself. There will be no temple in the New Jerusalem, because the temple will be enlarged to be the city itself. Eating Jesus, being transformed, and being built up is our experience in the local churches, and this is the testimony of Jesus against the nations, the denominations, and the crooked, perverted generation.
The entire book of Revelation unveils the revelation of Christ and the testimony of Jesus, and the testimony of Jesus is simply the local churches. In the first three chapters of this book, the local churches as the testimony of Jesus stand against the present crooked and perverted generation composed of the world, Judaism, Catholicism, and Protestantism. As the testimony of Jesus, we are protesting against these things. Then Revelation 4 through 11 unveils the world situation. We are not in the world, like the church in Pergamos, where Satan’s throne is (2:13). After this, chapter 12 unveils a wonderful woman—pure, genuine, bright, and heavenly, shining with the light-bearers, the luminaries, in the universe—the sun, the moon, and the stars. This woman is the totality of God’s people, composed especially of the church. In the book of Revelation there are two lines, or categories, of women, each with its own consummation. The first is Jezebel, signifying the Catholic Church, issuing in the great harlot, Babylon the Great (2:20; 17:1-5). The other line is that of the pure woman, who is first the bright, wonderful woman in chapter 12 and eventually the bride of Christ, the New Jerusalem (19:7; 21:2).
Which line are we on? We may be on the line of the bright woman, but some of the old traditions of the old religion may still remain in us. I was on the line of the old religion for many years. I was taught according to the traditional teachings of Christianity, and it took me many years to drop all the wrong things that I learned. In Christianity I learned to speak for the Lord in a formal way. Gradually, though, I realized that this is simply according to the old traditions and ordinances of religion. Today when I speak, I may say, “Praise the Lord, I have something wonderful to tell you!” When David brought the ark to Jerusalem, David rejoiced and danced before Jehovah (2 Sam. 6:12-15). David’s wife despised him for that, but her condemnation of him caused her to lose her fruitfulness and be barren (vv. 16, 23). Today we rejoice before the Lord, proclaiming that He is good for food as the tree of life and the hidden manna. If we all eat the Lord Jesus in a joyful way, we will bear much fruit. We are not bound by any ordinances or practices. Today we may be silent, but tomorrow we may come together as the living testimony of Jesus to shout, “Hallelujah, praise the Lord, Amen!” before all the demons on the earth and angels in the air. We care only for eating Jesus. We are not under Catholicism, Judaism, or Protestantism, and we are not in worldliness. We are the heavenly woman.
The woman in Revelation 12 is in the heavenlies, being clothed with the sun and having the moon underneath her feet and a crown of stars on her head (v. 1). We must be bright, having no darkness or hidden motives. Everything must be in the light. We must not be political or two-faced. Some Christians may say one thing to people’s face, another thing behind their back, and yet something else on another occasion. We must not do this. The shining woman is sincere, thorough, frank, honest, bright, and pure as crystal. We are not Jezebel; we are a part of the heavenly woman full of light, with the shining sun, moon, and stars. When many of us were in the denominations, everything was opaque to us, but when we came into the church, we came into a clear sky. All around us everything is crystal clear. We can even see clearly into the lake of fire, where John saw Satan and the beast (19:20; 20:10). We were never before as clear as we are now in the church. Many of us can testify that since we came to the church, the light has been shining. This is because the church is the greater part of the shining woman as the testimony of Jesus, testifying against the crooked, evil generation.
By our shining we testify against the hierarchy, division, and confusions in the denominations. Because of this, opposition has come to us. This opposition is not merely against one person; it is against the testimony of Jesus as the bright woman with the shining sun, moon, and stars. The ministry in the Lord’s recovery was sent to this country with the Lord’s commission, His burden, the pure Word, the shining light, the reality of life, and the newness of the spirit. The opposition cannot prevail against these things. This shining woman will prevail as the New Jerusalem in the new heavens and new earth. Moreover, this shining woman will bring forth the man-child, the stronger ones, the overcomers, who defeat the enemy because of the prevailing blood of the Lamb and the word of their testimony (12:5, 11). Then through the overcomers the kingdom of God and authority of Christ will come. Today we are in this wonderful woman as the testimony of Jesus.