Fulness: In the Overcomer — Stephen Kaung

The Woman, the Dragon, and the Overcomers

Will you please turn to the book of Revelation chapter 12. Revelation chapter 12. We'll read from the first verse through the twelfth verse. Revelation chapter 12, verse 1. And a great sign was seen in the heaven, a woman clothed with the sun and the moon under her feet, and upon her head a crown of twelve stars.

And being with child she cried, being in travail and in pain to bring forth. And another sign was seen in the heaven, and behold a great red dragon having seven heads and ten horns, and on his head seven diadems.

And his tail draws the third part of the stars of the heaven, and he cast them to the earth. And the dragon stood before the woman who was about to bring forth, in order that when she brought forth he might devour her child.

And she brought forth a male son who shall shepherd all the nations with an iron rod. And her child was caught up to God and to his throne. And the woman fled into the wilderness where she has there a place prepared of God that they should nourish her there a thousand two hundred and sixty days.

And there was war in the heaven. Michael and his angels went to war with the dragon, and the dragon fought and his angels, and he prevailed not. Nor was there a place found any more in the heaven. And the great dragon was cast out, the ancient serpent, he who is called devil and Satan.

He would deceive the whole habitable world. He was cast out into the earth, and his angels were cast out with him. And I heard a great voice in the heaven saying, Now is come the salvation, and the power, and the kingdom of our God, and the authority of his Christ.

For the accuser of our brethren has been cast out, who accused them before our God day and night. And they have overcome him by reason of the blood of the Lamb, and by reason of the word of their testimony, and have not loved their life even unto death.

Therefore be full of delight, ye heavens, and ye that dwell in them. Woe to the earth and to the sea, because the devil has come down to you having great rage, knowing that he has a short time. Shall we pray?

Lord, as we continue in thy presence, we just bow in worship and adoration. How we do praise and thank thee that thou hast sent thy beloved son into the world to be the Lamb of God, slain for us. We do praise and thank thee that thou hast exalted him far above all, and thou hast given him a name that is above every name, and to that name every knee shall bow, every tongue confess that Jesus is Lord.

Oh, how we praise and thank thee that thou hast been so gracious to us that we can come to thee this morning with a willing heart, bowing our knees and acknowledging thee as our Lord. Oh, thou art worthy.

We worship thee this morning, and we just pray that as we read thy word, that thy Holy Spirit will breathe again upon thy word, make it living and operative in our lives. We do pray that thou will open our eyes to see, and thou will touch our heart that we may be fully in tune with thyself.

We want thy will to be done on earth as it is in heaven. We ask in the name of our Lord Jesus. Amen. This is the last full day of this conference, and I don't think I need to remind you of our theme. If you still do not know what the theme is, I do not know where you are.

Press on to fullness. This is the will of God for us. Our God is the God of fullness, and His fullness is located in His beloved Son, and we are made full in Him. We thank God for the accomplished work of our Lord Jesus.

We thank God for the operation of the Holy Spirit, that we might enter into that fullness to the glory of God. My assignment is with the book of Revelation. We have seen, first of all, the fullness of Christ in relation to His church, and then we continue on with the fullness of Christ in relation to the world.

Christ’s Fullness and the Call to Overcome

Now, this morning, we would like to see the fullness of Christ in relation to the overcomers. The book of Revelation was written approximately in the year 95 or 96 AD. The Revelation was given to the Apostle John, who was exiled to the island of Patmos, for the word of God and for the testimony of Jesus.

This is the last revelation, the full revelation of the Lord Jesus and of His fullness. This book of Revelation covers the time from the end of the apostolic age to the whole history of the church age, and reaching further into eternity.

There we find, in the first two chapters of the book of Revelation, that seven churches in Asia. Now, these seven churches in Asia are selected by the Lord with a specific reason. Because we know at that time, that is, towards the end of the first century, there were actually more than seven churches in the province, Roman province of Asia.

We know there were the church of At-Qalasi, and others. But we find that the Holy Spirit purposely chose these seven churches, because these seven churches represent the church of God throughout the ages.

On the one hand, they are actually the seven local assemblies in Asia at the time of the Apostle John. But they are also prophetically telling us of the whole church history, from the end of the apostolic age to the end of the church age.

In these seven letters to the seven churches, they all end up with one call. He that has ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. And this call is repeated seven times. And I do believe that this is a call that has been going on throughout the whole church.

And this call is ringing out today in our midst. He that has ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. What is that call? What is the voice of the Spirit? We know that the call is the call to overcome.

He that overcometh, this is the call. In order to know, to understand what the call really is, I think first of all we need to know who is the caller. Who is calling us? The one who calls us is none other than our Lord Jesus.

He is the overcomer. And that is the reason why He calls us to overcome. He calls us to join with Him as overcomers. Here we find our Lord Jesus, He reveals Himself to His church. He reveals His fullness to His church.

And as He reveals His fullness to His church, He also examines His church in relation to His fullness, to see whether they do respond to His fullness. They do correspond to what He is. And after He has written, after He has examined, then you find the voice of the Holy Spirit.

In other words, the Holy Spirit takes up that which our Lord Jesus is given to us, and cried out and said, He that is here, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. We have the letters, we have the revelation, the examination, and now we shall hear the voice of the Spirit saying, overcome.

Overcomers Throughout Revelation

This book of Revelation, we find this call to overcome ringing again and again. We do thank the Lord that there is not only that call to overcome, but we find throughout the church age, there have been, and there are, and there will be, overcomers.

In chapter 2 and chapter 3 of the book of Revelation, letter it says, He that overcomes. In other words, there are not only that calling to overcome, but there are actually those who overcome by the grace of God.

And these are the overcomers at the end of the apostolic age, at the end of the first century. Then when you come to chapter 7, you find countless number of people. They are there standing before the throne.

They are clothed with white garments, in their hands were palms. They are waving the palms. Now who are they? They are the overcomers throughout the ages. That is to say, from the second century to the time, the end time.

They are countless. In one sense, we don't know that the overcomers are few. In every age, it seems to be that the overcomers are the minority, a remnant. And yet, we do thank God, throughout the ages, there have been overcomers in every generation, in every age.

And when they come together, you cannot count them. They are countless. Then you come to chapter 12. And in chapter 12, you find the man-child. The man-child is a collective term. It represents the overcomers at the end time.

We are in the end time. And there you'll find a man-child is going to be born. Overcomers at the end time. Then you'll find in chapter 15, there will be those who have overcome the beast and the mock of the beast.

They did not worship the beast during that great tribulation time. And there you'll find they were there, on the crystal sea, before God. These are the overcomers through the great tribulation. Even out of the great tribulation, there will be overcomers.

When you come to chapter 17, you find that when our Lord Jesus will come down on earth, for that final battle in the world of this present age, there will be His army following Him. They are the called, the chosen, the faithful.

They are the overcomers of the church. You come to chapter 20, and there you'll find thrones are set up. And who are those who sit upon the throne? They are the overcomers of the ages. And of course, when you come to chapter 21 and 22, He knew Jerusalem.

He says, He that overcomes shall inherit these things, and I will be their God, and He will be my Son. So brothers and sisters, you'll find throughout the book of Revelation, there is the call of overcomers, and we do thank God that there are overcomers in every generation and in every age.

Christ’s Personal and Corporate Victory

Our Lord Jesus is the overcomer. In the time of Adam, up to the time of our Lord Jesus, we have not seen even one overcomer being the fullest things. We find that Adam and the Adamic race have been and are defeated, captured by the enemy.

But then, thank God, one day, the Son of God came to become a man. And as a man, He overcame. He overcame by His life, and He overcame by His death. In life, He overcame the enemy, and all that is of the enemy, in a personal way.

In other words, He overcame as a person. When He was tempted, He overcame the tempter. He was on earth, nothing could put Him under. You find He was always in charge, always in control. He always was above the circumstances.

He was the only one who obeyed the Father, even unto death, and that the death of the cross. He was the overcomer, in life, in a personal way. But when He went to the cross, and there on Calvary's cross, you find He again overcame, but He overcame in a corporate way.

In other words, He overcame, not only for Himself, but He overcame for us. There on the cross, He laid the foundation for us to overcome. In life and in death, we find that our Lord Jesus overcame. And because He is the overcomer, and that is the reason why He is calling us to join Him as overcomers.

In 1 John chapter 5, verses 4 and 5, it says, He that is begotten of God has the victory over the world. And this is the victory that has gotten the victory over the world, our faith. Who is He that gets the victory over the world?

But He that believes that Jesus is the Son of God. Here we find, who is He that gets the victory over the world? He that has been begotten of God. He that believes that Jesus is the Son of God. And dear brothers and sisters, are we those people?

Are we not begotten of God? Or do we not believe that Jesus is the Son of God? We do. And because we do, we have gotten the victory over the world. Even our faith. He said in John chapter 16, In this world ye shall have tribulation, but be of good courage, of good cheer, for I have overcome the world.

And again in Romans chapter 8, We are told that we are more than conquerors through Christ Jesus our Lord. In 2 Corinthians chapter 2, that He has led us in triumph in all things. So in other words, our Lord Jesus is the overcomer.

The church that He has redeemed is an overcoming church. The church is the church triumphant. The church is not supposed to be a defeated church. The church is called to be an overcoming church. Every brother and sister in the church is an overcomer.

Why? Because we have believed in the Lord Jesus. We have received His overcoming life. So in other words, the whole church, as God has ordained her to be, is to be an overcoming church. Thank God for that.

The Church’s Failure and the Personal Call to Respond

But, unfortunately, we find that even at the closing of the apostolic age, in the seven letters to the seven churches, there you find our Lord Jesus who was walking in the midst of the seven lamb stands.

And when He looked over these seven churches, these seven lamb stands, what did He see? What did He find? There were many things there, good and bad, but not of Him. God finds Himself in some of these churches.

We find that even in the first century, at the end of the first century, we find they have lost their first love. The work is going on. The labor is going on. But the inward reality, that inward power, force, was gone.

They have lost their first love. Those teachings began to slip into the church. Find that corrupt manners began to find its way into the church. We find that the church has fallen from what it ought to be.

We find that instead of being overcomers, the church has fallen and has been defeated. So even you find in the first century, at the end of the apostolic age, already you find the church has failed in her calling.

They were not what He was. And because of that, you find there is the calling to overcome. He that overcomes. To every local assembly at that time, we find the Spirit of God is calling out. To each one personally.

The church as a whole has fallen. Now the calling comes to each one personally. He that overcomes. Now who is He that overcomes? It is He who responds to the revelation. Every church, He tells us who He is.

That is to say, He reveals Himself to us. And His revelation ought to be our vocation. That we shall respond to what we have been revealed to. But here you find many did not respond. But those who respond to Christ, to His fullness, they are the overcomers.

The overcomers of the church are not super-Christians. The overcomers of the church are normal Christians. They have become abnormal, subnormal. And that is the reason why those who respond to the revelation of Jesus Christ, those who respond to the fullness of Christ, they are the normal Christians.

And they are the overcomers. They are those who are to stand for the whole church. They are to do the work of the whole church. They are to bear the testimony of Jesus for the whole church. Because the testimony of God cannot fail.

He will have His testimony in every generation and every century. So here you'll find a call to overcome. And this call has been going out for two thousand years. And we do believe that today, this call is upon us.

Dear brothers and sisters, the whole church ought to be an overcoming church. But if the whole has failed, then God is calling for overcomers. Today we will focus our attention on chapter 12 of the book of Revelation.

The Last Days and the Woman in Travail

The reason why we be so focused is because that chapter tells us of the overcomers at the end time. Now brothers and sisters, we all know that we are in the end time. The last days. You know, in a sense, when we read the scripture, we wonder, what is really the end time?

What is really the last days? The last days or the end time is a term. You can even find it in the Old Testament. And it refers to the time that our Lord Jesus came to this earth. So in other words, the last days actually began with the first coming of our Lord Jesus.

And it will end with his second coming. So the whole time is the last days. You know, in the letter of the apostles, you'll find he already mentioned, now this is the last days. Actually you'll find the last days or the end time refers to the time from the first coming of the Lord Jesus to the second coming of the Lord Jesus.

That is the last days. Now if this is the case, then we are at the end of the end time. We are at the last of the last days. A very critical time. We know that the Lord is coming soon. We know that this is the end of the end time.

And we are living in a very, very vital, important period. And this is the time that we are involved. And that is the reason why we shall pay special attention to this chapter. John saw a woman in travail, in pain.

Now who is that woman? Without going into detailed interpretation or into many interpretations, just mentioning it very briefly. You know in the scripture, God often uses woman to represent the church.

We find Eve in the Garden of Eden. Adam represents Christ, is a type of Christ. And Eve is a type of the church. She represents the church in God's original thought. And then we find Ephesians chapter 5.

Christ loved the church and gave himself for her. He sanctified, purified, sanctified by the washing of the water with the world. That he might present to himself a glorious church without spot or wrinkle or any other of such sort.

Holy and blameless. Here again you find another woman. And that woman represents the church through the age of the church. The church age. Throughout the church age. You find our Lord Jesus is nourishing and cherishing his body in order to bring that body to maturity that she may become his bride.

And then you find in Revelation chapter 12. Here is a woman. And that woman again represents the church. But it is the church at the end time or at the end of the end time. And there she is in travail, in pain for birth.

And then of course you go to Revelation chapter 21, 22. You find the holy city, the new Jerusalem. And she is the bride, the Lamb's wife. Another woman. That is the church in eternity. So you find that woman represents the church.

This woman is in travail, is in birth pains. She is going to bring forth a child. Brothers and sisters, is it not a universal law that if there is no travel, there is no birth? If you are looking for a birth, you have to suffer and to travail in pain in order to bring forth.

This is true physically. And this is true spiritually. Think of our Lord Jesus. It is said in Isaiah chapter 53. That he shall see the fruit of the travail of his soul and be satisfied. Here you find our Lord Jesus.

He travailed in his soul. We see his travailing especially in the garden of Gethsemane. Brothers and sisters, it does not mean that he did not travail before that. As a matter of fact, he was the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world.

As a matter of fact, his very incarnation was a travail. His whole life on earth was a travail. But we find especially how he travailed in the garden of Gethsemane. There he said he was sorrowful, even to death.

He was deeply distressed, agonizing. He asked his three disciples that were closest to him to wait with him. And he went forward. He prayed, Father, if it be possible, let this cup be passed from me. But not my will, thy will be done.

And as he travailed in prayer, the Bible says, his sweat came out like blood drops. And the angel had to appear and sustain him. In other words, if the angel did not sustain him, he might die in the garden of Gethsemane.

The conflict was tremendous. Brothers and sisters, we could never understand what transpired in the garden of Gethsemane. There you find our Lord Jesus travailed in prayer. Why? He was to give birth. And there on the cross, we find he cried out, my God, my God, why hast thou forsaken?

What a travail, unbearable. But then we know after he died, usually when people were crucified, they did not die in several hours. They might linger for days. And you remember the two robbers that were crucified with him?

They were still alive. They had to have their legs broken to speed them to death. But when the soldier came to our Lord Jesus, he was already dead. To make sure that he was dead, a soldier thrust a spear through his side.

It entered into his very heart. And out of him came out blood. And John witnessed it. And he said, what I saw was true. He said it very emphatically. Why? Brothers and sisters, out of the sight of our Lord Jesus, God took out something to build, is built, with his blood, with his life.

Blood to atone our sins. Water represents his life. To give us. We are the fruit of the travail of his Son. And when he sees us, like a woman, when she was in tears in travail, she was in pain. And probably she went through a sense of death.

But after a child is born, she forgot all her sorrows. She rejoiced. And this is our Lord Jesus. Brothers and sisters, our Lord Jesus rejoiced in his church. Not only with our Lord Jesus, we find that we are called to the fellowship of his suffering.

Travail, Spiritual Growth, and Pressure

And there you find Apostle Paul. When you read Galatians chapter 4, verse 19, he says, Little children, I prevail again for you, that Christ may be formed. Brothers and sisters, those who know the heart of our Lord Jesus, those who love the church, as Christ loved the church, oh, how they prevail for us, that Christ may be formed in us.

Many brothers and sisters remain as babes, do not grow up. Many brothers and sisters are deformed at the burden of those who know the heart of Christ for the church, who love the church. They prevail.

They prevail in prayer. They agonize that Christ may be formed, fully formed in us. Oh, brothers and sisters, that we may be made full. That we may know the fullness of Christ. That is the travail going on.

As a matter of fact, the whole world is travailing. Romans chapter 8, we are told that the whole world, all creation, is groaning together. They are all prevailing in pain together. They are waiting for the manifestation of the sons of God.

That they might be set free from the corruption, the vanity. They are being put in by man. Brothers and sisters, do you know it is man that puts the whole creation into bondage, into corruption. The creation is innocent.

We are the guilty one. But all creation groans. If you have ears to hear, you can hear the groaning of all creation. They are longing for liberty, set free from the bondage, from emptiness. When will they be set free?

When the sons of God are manifested. When the church becomes full grown men, unto the measure of the fullness of the statue of Christ. It is when the man-child is born. Then you will find the whole creation will be liberated from corruption and bondage.

And Paul says in Romans chapter 8, Even we, the first fruit of the Spirit, we groan in ourselves, waiting for adoption, for the redemption of our body. Brothers and sisters, is it not true that we do groan within ourselves, especially when we come to the last?

The pressure increases to a tremendous degree. Brothers and sisters, we as believers today, we are under great pressure. Probably our forefathers have never experienced such pressure as we are in today.

We find that the world is pressing upon us. We find the enemy is tempting us, deceiving us, attacking us, trying to devour us, trying to kill us. We find that we are pressed from all sides. We are pressed by the world situation.

We are pressed by the political situation, by the economic situation. We are pressed by social situation. We are pressed by the moral situation of the world. We are pressed in the family. We are pressed in the work.

You find we are pressed on all sides. The pressure is tremendous today. The enemy wants to break us. Brothers and sisters, when we are under such great pressure, are we groaning? Are we travailing? Do we give ourselves to prayer?

There is not only the pressure around us, but we find the Spirit of God groans within us. The pressure around us is to crush us, but the Holy Spirit groans within us. That we may grow, we may be matured, we may expand, we may rise above, in pressure we are enlarged.

This is the growing pain. This is the way that we grow into the fullness of Christ. Brothers and sisters, if we allow this pressure to crush us, we miss the point. These pressures that come upon us serve as a kind of opportunities.

The Holy Spirit within us groans for birth, groans for growth. And if we give ourselves to Christ, if we yield ourselves, if we cooperate with the Holy Spirit, we find all these pressures will only mature us.

All these sufferings will only bring us into conformity to the image of Christ. Do we travel within us? Are we benefited by the travailing? That woman is in travail, in pain. But unfortunately, it seems as if that woman herself doesn't enter into the real meaning of travailing.

Satan’s Opposition to the Man-Child

Why? Because you find the red dragon, Satan, is standing before that woman. We know that Satan is opposing, when Christ was on earth, he was trying to kill him. When he was born, Yuvon Hera tried to kill all the children below two years of age in Bethlehem.

When our Lord Jesus came out to minister in his own city of Nazareth, you find they push him out of the synagogue on a cliff and try to push him down and kill him. Satan tried to kill our Lord Jesus. And finally he succeeded in killing him on the cross, but he found that he was killed.

Now the church age, the dragon is there trying to devour the church, to kill the church. He tried to kill the church by taking away the first love. You may continue on awkwardly, but there is no reality in it.

And when he couldn't succeed that, then he would do it outwardly and try to persecute and try to wipe the church out. But he couldn't do it. But sadly, you find at this time, that dragon was standing before the woman, but he had no interest in the woman.

In other words, you can exist. You do not count to me. My kingdom will not suffer because of you. You have lost the reality. You have lost the power. You have lost the testimony. The dragon doesn't care about that woman.

What he cares is that man child in the womb. There is a man child growing into maturity within the womb of that woman. And the enemy knows, this woman doesn't count. But that man child will be his end.

He wants to devour that man child. He is waiting for that man child to come out. And then he will devour that man child. Brothers and sisters, isn't that a picture of today? When we look at the church today, what do you see?

In spite of all the pressure, in spite of all the things that are happening, it seems that the church does not respond to the working of the spirit within. It seems as if the church is not groaning. It seems as if the church is like the church in Laodicea.

They are boasting. Look, we have become so big. So influential. So prosperous. We lack nothing. Isn't that a picture of the church today? If you want to know what the church is, see what is the attitude of the Red Dragon.

They stand before that woman and will not even bother to do anything with her. She doesn't count. The church today does not count. Not even in the sight of God. But even in the sight of the enemy. As the scripture says, there will be a falling away.

A general falling away. But thank God, within the womb of the church, a man child is growing. They receive the benefit of all the pressures and the movement of the Holy Spirit within. They respond to the voice of the Spirit.

They repent. They return. They go back to the source. They humble themselves. They empty themselves. They deny themselves. They look at the Lord. They receive from Him what He is. Brothers and sisters, these people, the enemy, is afraid of.

This man child is collective. Because we are told, they overcome. They overcome. Brothers and sisters, in these last days, the Spirit of God is calling for overcome. He does not call you to be super-Christian.

He calls you to be normal Christian. He calls you to respond to the revelation of Jesus Christ. He calls you to receive Christ Jesus in all His fullness. He calls you to be faithful to Him. He calls you to bear His testimony.

The Rapture and the Defeat of Satan

In this last day, will you respond? And when this man child was born, do you think the enemy can devour him? Actually, in the womb of the woman, He has already defeated the enemy. He has got the victory.

The Lord has led him in triumph. As soon as he is born, he is caught up, raptured to the throne to God. This rapture is the sign of the coming of the Lord. The parousia, the presence of the Lord. One day, brothers and sisters, when the world says, peace, peace, when the world is sleeping, suddenly you find throughout the whole world a number of the Lord's children disappear.

The Lord has taken them. They are taken to the throne. As they are taken to the throne, they go through the air, the headquarters. They break through the headquarters of the enemy and they arrive at the throne when the overcomer.

And because of this, the Bible says, there will be war in the air. Michael and his angels will fight with Satan and his angels. And Satan shall not prevail, but he shall be defeated. And he will be thrown from the air to the earth with his angels.

Do you know why? Do you know what this is? Because the air must be cleared for Christ to descend. Be delightful, those who are in heaven, but rule to those who are on earth. Because Satan now is on earth.

He knows his time is very short. I have to borrow a little time. This man shall, these overcomers, they are not super-Christians. They do not overcome because of themselves. They overcome because of the blood of the Lamb.

Overcoming by the Blood of the Lamb

Oh, brothers and sisters, they are not perfect. They are weak. They may even fall. But they know the preciousness of the blood of the Lamb. Whenever they fall, they repent. They go to the blood of the Lamb.

And they have their garments washed. The enemy is the accuser. Satan is the accuser. Sometimes his accusation has some ground, unfortunately. But many times he exaggerates. And sometimes it is completely false.

But, brothers and sisters, we do thank God that we have the blood of the Lamb. And that blood shut up his. The more you are near to the Lord, the more you find the blood. Do not think that you can outgrow the blood of the Lamb.

Brothers and sisters, the more we are closer to the Lord, the more we know how weak we are. How full of spot, wrinkle we are. Blemish we are. How we need the blood to wash us, day by day, hour by hour.

Even our tears of repentance need to be washed by the blood. Thank God for the blood of the Lamb. Often times the enemy tries to use darkness to surround us. We do not even know ourselves. And because we do not know ourselves, we may have sinned, and yet we do not know.

We may not have sinned. But in darkness, when we are under accusation, we think we have sinned. But, brothers and sisters, if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, God is in the light. We shall have fellowship one with another.

And the blood of Jesus, God's Son, shall wash us, cleanse us from all ills. If only we walk in the light, that is the light of life. We have this light of life within us. This light that we have received from the Lord Jesus will shine within us.

And if we walk in that light, as he is in the light, we will have fellowship with him. And the blood of Jesus will wash us from all our sins. In other words, there is no need for us to be in darkness.

There is no need for us to be defiled, in defilement. There is no need for us to be under accusation. There is no need for us to have our fellowship, communion with God, interrupted. These people have uninterrupted communion with God to overcome.