In Revelation 15 the overcomers are standing on the glassy sea. Recently we have had many baptisms. The place of baptism may be considered as an entry to send all the negative things to the lake of fire. A sea should be of water, but the glassy sea is mingled with fire (v. 2). Water and fire together signify God’s judgment throughout the entire Bible. God first judged His rebellious creatures with a flood of water. He judged the preadamic age with water, and He judged the age of Noah also with water (Gen. 1:2; 7:11-12, 21-23). After the flood, God told Noah that never again would there be a flood to destroy the earth (9:15). Nevertheless, the Bible tells us that God continued His judgment with fire. The glassy sea is a final symbol of God’s judgment by water and fire.
The flood at Noah’s time may be considered a kind of baptism (1 Pet. 3:20-21). The crossing of the Red Sea (Exo. 14:16-31), the laver in the tabernacle (30:17-21), and the bronze sea with the ten bronze lavers in the temple (1 Kings 7:23-40a) were also types of baptism. In the New Testament, John the Baptist told people to be buried in water (Mark 1:4; Matt. 3:5-6), and throughout the entire Christian era, many Christians have been baptized. Worldly things, sinful things, the flesh, and everything else negative goes into the water and eventually into the lake of fire (Rev. 20:14-15). Therefore, in front of God there is a sea of glass mingled with fire, and the overcomers are on the seashore, just as the Israelites stood on the shore, dancing, rejoicing, and singing after passing through the Red Sea. This signifies that in the church life we do not keep anything negative; everything negative must go.
After being buried in baptism and getting rid of all the negative things, many believers, in principle, dance and sing the song of Moses and the song of the Lamb. All the negative things are under their feet, and they are on the seashore. Today we are on the shore of the glassy sea, where all the negative things go on their way to the lake of fire. We are cleansed and pure, and every negative thing is gone. Therefore, we are the overcomers, and the world is under our feet. The world, the modern fashion, and the department stores are all in the glassy sea. We say to all the negative things, “Go to that sea. Get away from me and my home.” We are the cleansed people, the baptized people, those who rise up from the judging waters and are now on the seashore.
Whenever we come together, we should have the sensation that we are on the shore of the glassy sea. The worldly attraction of the department stores and the worldly entertainment of television are in the glassy sea on the way to the lake of fire, but we are on the shore dancing, rejoicing, and singing. We are baptized, released, and resurrected. We are meeting not under the sea but on the seashore. When we were in the denominations, we were “under the sea.” We could not shout, rejoice, or sing. The proper church life, however, is on the seashore. Those who meet in the proper church are able to stand on the glassy sea. This is the experience of the church.
The bride in Revelation 19 is what the church will be in the millennium, the thousand-year kingdom. A thousand years to God are one day (2 Pet. 3:8). Therefore, the millennium will be a wedding day. On the wedding day the female is the bride; following this, the bride becomes the wife. The church in the millennium will be the bride, and the entire thousand years will be the wedding day with the wedding feast. An American wedding feast may last only half an hour, but a Chinese wedding feast may last much longer. The Chinese truly know how to enjoy a wedding feast by eating, drinking, talking, and rejoicing for four or five hours. However, this is still too short. The bride will have a wedding feast that will last one thousand years.
The bride is clothed in fine linen, bright and clean (Rev. 19:8). In the Bible, white linen typifies Christ as our righteousness. Christ is righteousness to us in two aspects. First, we receive Him as our objective righteousness for our salvation. Then after this, we need to live Him out as our subjective righteousness. This second aspect of righteousness is not for our salvation but for our prize in the millennial kingdom (Phil. 3:9, 14; 1 Cor. 9:24). The white linen that the bride wears is not the Christ whom we receive initially but the Christ whom we live out. Not all Christians will be the bride in the thousand years. Only those who live out Christ as their subjective righteousness will be the bride.
The armies in Revelation 19:14 are the called and chosen believers in 17:14 and those who are called to the marriage dinner of the Lamb in 19:9, that is, those who constitute the bride of Christ. After the marriage dinner of the Lamb, the bride will become the army. Verse 14 says that the armies are dressed in fine linen, white and clean. The overcoming saints have two garments. The first garment is Christ as our objective righteousness for our justification (Luke 15:22; Psa. 45:13), and the second is Christ lived out of us to be our daily, subjective righteousness (Matt. 22:11-12; 5:20; Psa. 45:14; Rev. 3:4-5, 18). The first garment is for our salvation, but the second is for our reward. The fine linen in Revelation 19:8 and 14 is the second garment, which qualifies the overcomers both to attend the marriage dinner of the Lamb and to fight with the Lord against His enemy. Thus, the wedding garment becomes the fighting garment.
In Revelation 19, the enemies of Christ are Antichrist, the kings of the earth, and their armies. The war in verses 19 through 21 will take place at Armageddon, at the valley of Jehoshaphat (Joel 3:9-16; Zech. 14:2-3, 12-15), which is very close to Jerusalem, and it will be the treading of the great winepress of the fury of God (Rev. 14:17-20). As the result of this war, Christ will defeat Antichrist, who, with the false prophet, will be cast alive into the lake of fire. Then the rest of Antichrist’s armies will be killed with the sword that proceeds out of the mouth of Christ, who is the King of kings and Lord of lords (19:16).
After the millennial kingdom, the New Jerusalem as the totality of all God’s chosen and redeemed people will appear. In the thousand years the bride wears fine linen, but in eternity the New Jerusalem will be built with jasper (21:18-19). In the Old Testament the tabernacle was covered with white linen. However, this was something temporary, not eternal. After the tabernacle there was the temple, which was built no longer with linen but with precious stones. In the millennium, the overcomers as the bride will express Christ as their white linen. They will have no mixture, spot, or anything dirty, but everything will be bright, clean, and pure. That is a picture of the Christ whom we live out. However, this also will be a temporary situation. Eventually, we will all come to the final aspect of the testimony of Jesus. We will be the New Jerusalem in eternity, expressing God no longer only as white linen but as precious, glowing, shining jasper.
Step after step and aspect after aspect, the testimony of Jesus begins with the lampstands, passes through the great multitude, the universal, bright woman, the firstfruits and harvest, the overcomers on the glassy sea, the bride, and the army, and it finally comes to the New Jerusalem, where Christ is fully expressed and testified. The New Jerusalem will be the testimony of Jesus in the fullest, ultimate way. God is expressed in Christ, Christ is expressed in the New Jerusalem, and the New Jerusalem is the ultimate consummation of the church. This is the revelation of Christ, and this is the testimony of Jesus.
All of the above fellowship should help us to see what the church is. It is not satanic Judaism, demonic Catholicism, lifeless and Christless Protestantism, or devilish worldliness, with all the locusts, scorpions, frogs, beasts, serpent, dragon, and Babylon the Great, which will fall and be cast into the lake of fire. Rather, it is the corporate testimony of Jesus. Therefore, to practice the church life is not simply to meet in the name of the Lord on the proper ground of the church. We must also have the reality of the testimony of Jesus as the shining lampstand, the multitude serving God in the heavenly temple, the wonderful woman to produce the man-child, the field that grows the firstfruits and harvest, the overcomers on the glassy sea, the bride expressing Christ as the white linen, the overcoming army to defeat Antichrist, and the New Jerusalem as the full expression and testimony of Jesus. This is the genuine church life. May we all see this vision.