How wonderful it is to see the many aspects of the church as the testimony of Jesus in the book of Revelation! As the concluding book of the Bible, Revelation presents to us the consummation of all the divine truths, including the matter of the church.
In the first three chapters of Revelation we see that the church as the testimony of Jesus is the seven golden lampstands, the many local churches shining out God in every locality.
In chapter 7 the testimony of Jesus is the great multitude serving God in the temple – the whole Body of God’s redeemed who have been raptured to the heavens to enjoy God’s care and the Lamb’s shepherding.
In chapter 12 we see the church as the testimony of Jesus being the bright universal woman with her manchild – the church (the woman) with the overcomers (the stronger part of the woman).
In chapter 14 the testimony of Jesus is the firstfruits (the overcomers raptured before the great tribulation) and the harvest (the majority of the believers, raptured at the end of the great tribulation).
Today we want to see in Revelation chapter 15 how the testimony of Jesus is the victorious ones standing on the glassy sea mixed with fire, singing the song of Moses and the song of the Lamb! These are the late overcomers, those who will pass through the great tribulation and overcome Antichrist and the worshiping of Antichrist (Rev. 15:2-4).
Today we need to be those living in the principle of these overcomers by living in the reality of the baptism in our daily living and by praising God for His works and His ways in all that He has done and is doing. How wonderful is the nature of God’s works, and how great are they in their manifestation!
The Testimony of Jesus is the Victorious Ones on the Glassy Sea
In Rev. 15:2-5 we see a group of people who come away victorious from the beast and from his image and from the number of his name – they are standing on a glassy sea mingled with fire, having harps of God, and singing the song of Moses and the song of the Lamb!
These are the late overcomers, those believers who were not raptured before the great tribulation but will pass through the tribulation and will overcome Antichrist and the worshiping of Antichrist. They will be martyred under Antichrist’s persecution and then resurrected by Christ to reign with Him in the millennium (Rev. 20:4).
They are standing on a glassy sea – not just a sea (signifying God’s judgement by water, a type of our baptism) but a glassy sea mingled with fire (a type of God’s judgement by fire). The fact that they are standing on the glassy sea signifies that they have been resurrected from the dead and have been raptured to be above the lake of fire (of which the glassy sea points to) – they passed above God’s eternal, fiery judgement (Rev. 20:14; 14:9-11).
They sing the song of Moses and the song of the Lamb – which refer to the negative aspect of God’s judgement and to the positive aspect of God’s redemption. I love the footnotes on “the song of Moses” and “the song of the Lamb” in the Recovery Version (Rev. 15:3, notes 1 and 2),
The song of Moses, recorded in Exo. 15:1-18, praises God for the victory over the forces of Pharaoh gained by God’s triumphant deliverance through the judging waters of the Red Sea. Moses and the children of Israel sang that song on the shore of the Red Sea. Now these late overcomers sing the song again, on the glassy sea, indicating that they are victorious over the power of Antichrist, who will be judged by God with the fire of the glassy sea (19:20).
The song of Moses, indicating God’s triumphant judgment over the enemy of His people, praises God for His judgment, which is on the negative side; whereas the song of the Lamb, indicating Christ’s redemption experienced by God’s people in the presence of their enemy, praises God for Christ’s redemption, which is on the positive side. The late overcomers are positioned to stand on the glassy sea because of two facts: (1) God’s judgment over the enemy and (2) Christ’s redemption for God’s people.
These late overcomers are believers who were not ripened early (as the firstfruits were) neither were they “the stronger part of the woman” (as the man-child was), but they had another chance: they could remain faithful to the Lord through the great tribulation and eventually be martyred by Antichrist.
They praise God for His works (which are great and wonderful) and for His ways (which are righteous and true)! God’s ways are His governing principles and God’s works are His judgments. Moses knew God’s ways while the children of Israel knew only His works (see Psa. 103:7).
The late overcomers know not only God’s works (which are great in manifestation and wonderful in nature) but also God’s ways (which are righteous in His principles and true in His promises) – and they praise God for them! Great and wonderful are God’s works, and righteous and true are His ways!
One of His works, eventually, will be God’s judgement upon Antichrist (Rev. 14:17-20), of which all the overcomers and believers are happy!
Living in the Principle of the Victorious Ones on the Glassy Sea
What does it mean for us today to live in the principle of the victorious ones on the glassy sea in Rev. 15? In principle, the glassy sea before God’s throne signifies the operation of baptism. God judged the world at least two times by water, but He promised never to judge the earth again by water (Gen. 9:15); from Noah’s time onward God is judging by fire (see Gen. 19:24; Rev. 14:10; 18:8; 19:20; 20:9-10; 21:8).
The glassy sea mixed with fire signifies both kinds of judgement by God (by water and by fire), and it issues in the lake of fire. Today in the church life we have a big baptistery where we can “jump in” and be washed.
We may have been baptized once, but the things of the world and dirt comes in, weighing us down. According to doctrine there’s only one baptism, but according to experience, we need to live in the principle of baptism (being terminated and buried) and, if the Lord touches us and we want to have a new beginning with Him, we can be baptized again!
If we mean business with the Lord we need to see that we have come out of the world by passing through the water of baptism.
The people of Israel had to pass through the Red Sea, and then after 40 years in the wilderness, they had to cross the Jordan river. The baptistery is a place where you leave your dirt and natural things, and they are “mailed” / sent to the lake of fire!
Don’t keep the dirt on yourself: be washed and cleansed in the church! Live in the reality of your baptism by letting the Lord bury you, cut away anything natural, remove the earthly dirt, and wash you from anything of the old things, and you will be full of joy, singing the song of Moses and the song of the Lamb!
We don’t want to be dirty and earthly: we want to be washed, cleansed, and be made one with the Lord for the testimony of Jesus, the church! Every day in reality we want to be standing on the shore of the glassy sea, testifying that we have passed through, died to the world, and now live to God, rejoicing and singing!
Lord Jesus, whatever it takes, make us Your overcomers. We want to be those who live in the reality of their baptism today. May we mean business with You today in our daily life. May we see that we have come out of the world – we are not OF this world – through the water of baptism. Lord, the world is dead to us and we are dead to the world. We are for Christ and the church – we are for the Word of God and the testimony of Jesus! We want to be one with You, Lord, for Your testimony on this earth!
References and Hymns on this Topic
- Inspiration: the Word of God, my Christian experience, bro. Dick Taylor’s speaking in the message for this week, and portions from, The Testimony of Jesus (ch. 9), as quoted in, the Holy Word for Morning Revival on, The Mending Ministry of John, week 5 / msg 5, Christ’s Heavenly Priesthood Ministered to the Churches for the Producing of the Overcomers.
- Further reading: recommending all the footnotes in the Recovery Version on Rev. 15:2-5.
- Hymns on this topic:
# In death’s waters I am buried, / For with Christ my Savior, I have died; / Now the world cannot pursue me, / For its power here is nullified. / I with Christ have risen too, / Out of death with Him I walk and live; / Now the Spirit life supplies / And His strength exhaustless unto me doth give. (Hymns #936)
# O Lord, You’ve taken us across / The fiery sea of glass, / With all the worldly things beneath; / Across the sea we’ve passed. / Praise the Lord! Praise the Lord! / Now we stand / As the Hebrews, Hallelujah, / On the sea! Praise the Lord! / We’ve passed through everything! (Hymns #1270)
# Now we’re overcomers on the sea of glass; / This final crossing will forever last. / Sing the song of Moses, make the praise complete, / Look! All our enemies beneath our feet. / We’re overcomers, that’s our real name. / God has His city; Satan gets the shame. / God is our portion for eternity. (Hymns #1271)
