33. The Victorious Saints
Rev 4:6-11, Rev 7:9-17, Rev 15:2, Rev 19:1-10, Rev 21:1-27
In Revelation 1-3, John was in spirit in the Lord’s Day. John said that “after these things,”Rev 4:1 he was taken into the new heaven where we saw the victorious saints.
The apostle Paul said, “We overwhelmingly conquer through Him who loves us.”Rom 8:37 Paul used the Greek word νικάω (nik-ah’-o)—which is used 17 times in the Book of Revelation to describe the victorious saints.
Jesus said, “I will build My Church; and the gates of Hades will not prevail against it.”Matt 16:18
In Revelation 4, we find the four living creatures and 24 elders.
They cast their crowns before the throne, saying, “Worthy O Lord, and our God, to receive glory and honor and power.”Rev 4:11
In Chapter 7, the victorious saints enter New Jerusalem. Jesus gave us a parable of the Kingdom of Heaven, in which those who came first, bore the heat of the day. But John tells us that those who come out of the Great Tribulation will no longer bear the heat of the day.Rev 7:16 Matt 20:12 “They will no longer thirst.” They will drink from the spring of the water of life—the holy spirit that they were denied on earth—and God will wipe away every tear.
And I saw something like a sea of glass mixed with fire, and those who were victorious over the beast and his image and the number of his name
Revelation 15:2
In Revelation 15, the saints appear in the midst of the throne, standing on a sea of glass and fire, “victorious over the beast and his image and the number of his name.”Rev 15:2 In Revelation 19, we hear shouts from heaven, saying, “Hallelujah, salvation and glory and power belong to our God! … Hallelujah, her smoke rises up forever and ever!”Rev 19:1-3
Finally, in Revelation 21, we come to an exceedingly high mountain,Rev 21:10 and the Lord’s wife comes out of heaven, having the glory of God. Her brilliance was like a costly stone.Rev 21:11
In verses 6 and 7, God says, “I will give to the one who thirsts from the spring of the water of life, without cost. He who is victorious shall inherit all these things.”
34. The Holy City
In Revelation 21, the apostle John describes the Holy City coming out of heaven in God.Rev 21:10 This is the New Jerusalem that we first met in Revelation 12. She was clothed with the sun, with the stars around her head, and the moon under her feet.Rev 12:1
“Clothed with the sun” means she was clothed with God, “having the glory of God. Her brilliance is like a costly stone … having a great and high wall.”Rev 21:11-12 John told us that the wall of the city was 1,500 miles in height, if one could even imagine such height.
The Holy City is much bigger than the New Jerusalem described in the book of Ezekiel. That was the New Jerusalem on this earth. The New Jerusalem in heaven holds a great multitude “that no one could count.”Rev 7:9
And I saw the Holy City, New Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, made ready as a bride adorned for her husband.
Revelation 20:2
In Revelation 5, the number who surrounded the throne were “myriads of myriads”Rev 5:11 —or hundreds of millions. The height and width and length of the New Jerusalem were the same.Rev 21:16 All the sides were equal. There is neither male nor female nor Greek nor Jew in Christ.
The New Jerusalem’s foundation is made of twelve precious stones, which are the good works of the saints.1 Cor 3:12 Her gates are all pearlsRev 21:21 for she is the pearl of great price,Matt 13:46 built on the foundation of Christ and the apostles.Eph 2:20 On the wall of the city are twelve foundation stones with the twelve names of the apostles of the Lamb.Rev 21:14
There is no need for the sun or the moon for the glory of God and the Lamb is its light and the nations walk by this light.Rev 21:23-24
Coming from the throne of God and the Lamb is “a river of water of life, as clear as a crystal.”Rev 22:1 The leaves of the trees are for the healing of the nations.Rev 22:2
35. We will all be changed
Isa 65:17-25, 1 Cor 13:12, 1 Cor 15:51, 1 John 3:2
In Revelation 21, John said that he saw a new Heaven and a new Earth, and there was no more sea.
This new heaven and new earth, was first described by Isaiah:
Behold, I create new heavens and a new earth;
Isaiah 65:17-25
..The wolf and the lamb shall feed together,
The lion shall eat straw like the ox.
In the Book of Revelation, John described the new heaven as “the dwelling of God with men.”
But what about the “new earth.” Is God really going to create another world?
The Earth, and the sea are symbolic throughout the Book of Revelation. The Earth represents the people of the world, and the sea represents their salvation.
By a new earth, John means the people of the world will be changed. There will no longer be any sea because there will no longer be any need for salvation.
When He appears, we will all be like Him because we will see Him just as He is.
1 John 3:2
Therefore, in verse 6, God said, “It is done!”— in other words, His salvation plan is complete. His plan of salvation was announced in the first chapter of the Bible, when He said: “Let us make man in our image.”Gen 1:26
Paul said we were chosen from the foundation of the earth to be made in the image of His Son, “For those whom He foreknew, He also predestined to become conformed to the image of His Son, so that He would be the firstborn among many brethren.”Rom 8:29
In his second letter to the Corinthians, Paul wrote, “But we all, with unveiled faces, looking as in a mirror at the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory.”2 Cor 3:18
In his epistles, John wrote, “When He appears, we will all be like Him because we will see Him just as He is.”1 John 3:2
And Paul said, “we shall not all sleep, but we will all be changed.”1 Cor 15:51 For we shall be made like Him. “Now we see through a veil dimly but then face to face, now I know in part but then I will know fully, just as I have been fully known.”1 Cor 13:12
36. Christ will Submit to God
In the Book of Daniel, King Nebuchadnezzar prefigured the beast. Daniel told Nebuchadnezzar that he was “the King of Kings.”Dan 2:37 The beast would be the king of ten kings, until the Spirit of Christ became “King of Kings and Lord of Lords,”Rev 17:14 as described in Revelation 17. In the Lord’s Day, however, Christ will submit to God, and God will be the Lord.
In Revelation 11, the voices in heaven say, “You have taken back Your great power and have begun to reign.”Rev 11:17
The last chapters of the Book of Revelation also tell us that we will no longer worship Christ in the Lord’s Day.
In Revelation 19, when John tried to worship the One who spoke to him from the throne, He said to him, “Do not do that. I am your brother. Worship God!”Rev 19:10 Of course, we know that Christ was the One who “appeared” on the throne. He is always the image of the invisible God.
In Revelation 22, John heard an angel speaking as Christ, saying, “I am coming quickly.”Rev 22:7 Thus, he fell down and tried to worship the angel, but the angel again said, “Do not do that. I am your brother. Worship God!”Rev 22:9 Here, we again learn that when Christ submits to God, He will no longer be our Lord. He will be our brother.
In Revelation 19, we hear a great multitude in heaven praising the name of Yah, saying, “Hallelujah, salvation and glory and power belong to our God!”Rev 19:1 “Hallelujah” literally means “Praise Yihvah” or “Praise Yah.” In the Old Testament, the invisible God and His image shared the name Yihvah, which means “He WILL BE” in Hebrew. When God met Moses at the burning bush, He said, “This is My name forever,”Exod 3:15 for Christ became “I AM” when He became our Lord and Redeemer.
The prophet Zechariah said, “In that Day it shall be He WILL BE one, and His name one.”Zech 14:9 Of course, we know that God and Christ no longer share the name He WILL BE, as they did in the Old Testament, because Christ became I AM. So, what name can they share? In the last chapter of the Book of Revelation, God spoke through the angel, saying, “I, Jesus, sent My angel.”Rev 22:16
37. The Victory of Christ over the Antichrist
The battle for men’s souls began in the Garden of Eden. The Spirit of the Antichrist, Satan, the “lawless one,” deceived Eve, saying, “Did God really say that you shall not eat from any tree of the garden?”Gen 3:1 Thus, God said, “Her seed shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise his heel.”Gen 3:15 Her seed was Christ.
In the Book of Isaiah, Satan was called the “star of the morning,” the brightest of the stars.
Oh Day Star, son of the morning!
How you are cut down to the ground,
You who weakened the nations!Isaiah 14:12
In the Old Testament, the Spirit of Christ was only one of the angels of God. The Spirit of Christ was the “Captain of the Armies” of the angels of Israel. In the Old Testament, He was only one of the chief Captains of the angels.Dan 10:20-21 The opposing nations, such as Greece and Persia, also had their Captains of Angels. The most powerful of those opposing angels was the “Ruler of the People to Come,”Dan 9:26 who was Satan.
I am the root and the descendant of David, the bright morning star.
Revelation 22:16
After Christ was crucified, God made Him the Lord of heaven and earth. The Spirit of Christ as the Archangel, the ruler of all the angels, cast Satan down from heaven, as we read in Rev 12:9.
When Christ resurrected, He became the first Son of God. Paul said that He “was declared to be the Son of God with power by the resurrection from the dead.”Rom 1:4 This also fulfilled the writing of the Psalms: “You are My Son. Today I have begotten You.”Acts 13:33 The writer of the Letter to the Hebrews told us that when Jesus Christ became the first Son of God, He became greater than the angels.Heb 1:4
The Book of Revelation concludes with Satan being thrown into the lake of fire.Rev 20:10 In the last chapter of the Bible, Jesus declared Himself as the victor over Satan, saying, “I am the root and the descendant of David, the bright morning star.”Rev 22:16
38. My Reward Is with Me
Rev 7:16, Rev 11:18, Rev 22:12
Jesus concluded the Book of Revelation with a promise of a reward for the saints: “Behold, I am coming quickly, and My reward is with Me, to render to every man according to what he has done.”Rev 22:12
Jesus described the rewards for the victorious saints in His letters to the seven churches. They represent the churches of all ages.
Those who hold onto the faith, the name of Jesus, and their love for God and those who test the false prophets, endure tribulation, and keep their garments white will “eat from the tree of life, which is in the Paradise of God.”Rev 2:7 They will receive “the crown of life,”Rev 2:10 and they will be given “a white stone and a new name written on the stone, which no one knows except the one who receives it.”Rev 2:17 This is the stone spoken of by Zechariah: “Behold, I will engrave its inscription, says the Lord of hosts. I will remove the iniquity of the land in one day!”Zech 3:9
Behold, I am coming quickly, and My reward is with Me, to reward each one as his work deserves.
Revelation 22:12
Those who are found faithful will have “authority over the nations [as the Psalmist said]”;Rev 2:26 they will be “clothed in white garments,”Rev 3:5 will be “a pillar in the temple of My God,”Rev 3:12 and will “sit down with Me on My throne.”Rev 3:21
The last trumpet is “the time … to reward” the bondservants of God. In Revelation 11, it was delayed by an introduction to the saints of the Great Tribulation. They “bore the heat of the day.”Matt 20:12 In their lives, they were unable to receive the holy spirit, but they will receive the same reward as the end-time saints. “They will hunger [for righteousness] no longer, nor thirst [for the holy spirit] anymore.”Rev 7:16 God will give them the spring of the water of life without cost.Rev 21:6 “He who is victorious will inherit all these things and I will be his God, and he shall be My son.”Rev 21:7
39. Do Not Seal up the Words of This Book
In the last chapter of Daniel, the angel of God told Daniel that His words were “sealed up until the time of the end.”Dan 12:9 In the final chapter of the Book of Revelation, the Angel of God warns us “not to seal the words of the prophecy of this book.”Rev 22:10
Today, we are at the end time, and we understand the meaning of all His words. The meanings of all His prophesies have been revealed. His words are no longer sealed.
The Angel of God began the Book of Revelation with a promise: “Blessed is he who reads … and heeds the things that are written in it, for the time is near.”Rev 1:3
But the same Angel of God concluded the Book of Revelation with a warning for all of us: “If anyone adds to the prophecy of this book, God will add to him the plagues that are written in this book, and if anyone takes away from the words of this book of prophecy, God will take away his part from the tree of life.”Rev 22:19
Do not seal up the words of the prophecy of this Book, for the time is near.
Revelation 22:10
These are sobering words. All those with a pure heart will understand this prophecy, but if anyone takes away from this prophecy, he will be judged along with those who are lawless. He will receive the plagues in this book.
But Jesus said to the Philadelphians, “Behold, I have put before you an open door that no one can shut, because you have kept My Word.”Rev 3:8
When we see the abomination of desolation spoken of by the Daniel the prophet, we need to flee to the mountain of the Lord’s house because there we will find our salvation.
Jesus said, “I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears My voice and opens it, I will come in and dine with him, and he with Me”Rev 3:20 … “But the way that leads to life is narrow, and only a few find it.”Matt 7:14
“As for you [Daniel], go your way till the end, for you shall rest and will arise to your inheritance at the end of the days.”Dan 12:13
