Eternal Glorious Fountain Ministry (EGFM)
Programme: Believers' Convention 2022 (Day 7 - GRAND FINALE)
Date: Saturday, 13th August 2022
Topic: Being Caught Up To God’s Throne
“And there appeared a great wonder in heaven; a woman clothed with the sun, and the moon under her feet, and upon her head a crown of twelve stars:” (Rev. 12:1). The word “sun” talks about the power of the Father. The woman was standing on the moon because the moon was under her feet. The moon was her foundation. Both the sun and the moon are lights. She was clothed with the sun, and the moon was under her feet. The moon signifies the powers of God in the earth while the sun talks about the powers of God in heaven. She was clothed with the heavenly strength of God. The woman appeared in heaven, not in the heaven where God dwells, but the one where Lucifer presently is.
“and she being with child cried, travailing in birth, and pained to be delivered. And there appeared another wonder in heaven; and behold a great red dragon, having seven heads and ten horns, and seven crowns upon his heads. And his tail drew the third part of the stars of heaven, and did cast them to the earth: and the dragon stood before the woman which was ready to be delivered, for to devour her child as soon as it was born.” (Rev. 12:2-4). The stars of heaven are angels that are closer to Satan. They used to be (high) stars of God, then they became the stars of Satan. They left their estates and are now behaving like Seraphims.
“And she brought forth a man child, who was to rule all nations with a rod of iron: and her child was caught up unto God, and to his throne. And the woman fled into the wilderness, where she hath a place prepared of God, that they should feed her there a thousand two hundred and threescore days.” (Rev. 12:5-6). God will firstly receive the child and then the child will be caught up to His throne. The woman fled into the wilderness so that she would be fed with the same materials that the child she gave birth to had been fed with. It was the baby in her that exalted her and made her appear in heaven. The child was raptured from before the presence of the dragon. The child was firstly caught up to God, and then to His throne. The child must have been doing something with God.
“And there was war in heaven: Michael and his angels fought against the dragon; and the dragon fought and his angels, and prevailed not; neither was their place found any more in heaven. And the great dragon was cast out, that old serpent, called the Devil, and Satan, which deceiveth the whole world: he was cast out into the earth, and his angels were cast out with him.” (Rev. 12:7-9). People erroneously think that this story speaks of how Satan fell from the beginning or from the heaven of angels. However, this scripture is a prophecy that speaks of a future occurrence.
“And the earth helped the woman, and the earth opened her mouth, and swallowed up the flood which the dragon cast out of his mouth. And the dragon was wroth with the woman, and went to make war with the remnant of her seed, which keep the commandments of God, and have the testimony of Jesus Christ.” (Rev. 12:17). The dragon was wroth with the woman because the woman gave birth to a child that was caught up unto God’s throne (Rev. 12:5). As a result of this child, the dragon was cast down and it went to make war with the remnant of the woman’s seed. The remnant of her seed was keeping the commandments of God and had the testimony of Jesus Christ, but they had not yet overcome the dragon. The dragon needed to make war with them before they can overcome.
Some people often say that Satan dragged two-third of the stars of heaven to the earth. Nobody knows how many spirits actually left the angelic world with Satan, nor has the account of the stars which were dragged to the earth by Satan. In Revelation 6:13, the stars of heaven fell but not all of them fell. There are some of those stars that are closer to Satan and his angels.
“How art thou fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, son of the morning! how art thou cut down to the ground, which didst weaken the nations!” (Isaiah 14:12). This is the same prophecy in Revelation 12, that Satan will fall from heaven. It is a prophecy that is not of the past but of the future. Jesus also said, I beheld Lucifer falling from heaven (Luke 10:18). A prophecy was already written concerning the falling of Lucifer. Lucifer is a lightning. The phrase “…how art thou cut down to the ground which weakened the nation” this tells us that Isaiah was not talking about Satan's fall from the angelic world, because there were no nations in that first falling. This prophecy was brought forth to predict the fall of Lucifer and to stop him from weakening the nations. Satan is the one weakening the nations of the earth.
Satan is the one weakening advanced nations, making them unable to know God. This is why certain thoughts against the existence of God invade our minds when we find ourselves in such nations. Those thoughts were not there in the air over those nations initially, but it came unto some men’s minds in trickles. These men drove themselves into inventions and thoughts, examples of such men are philosophers. Many nations have trust in philosophers more than in ministers of the gospel. Leaving out scriptures and using the knowledge of philosophy to counsel people is tantamount to pouring oil on demons. When preachers are full of the word of God, they should be able to bring relief to any soul. A believer should not suffer depression.
At the first fall of Lucifer from the angelic world, he was not brought down to the ground. Satan and his angels were first cast to the pit of hell. Hell is different from the ground. Lucifer was never on earth, not until that prophecy comes to pass — he was never an earthly creature. “For thou hast said in thine heart, I will ascend into heaven, I will exalt my throne above the stars of God: I will sit also upon the mount of the congregation, in the sides of the north:” (Isaiah 14:13). Satan had an intention of ascending into the celestial heaven; he wanted to ascend there from the heaven of the earth (or air) that he took from Adam (Eph. 2:2). The air is lower than the actual celestial or angelic heaven. The air is the heaven of the earth or of man. So Isaiah 14:12 is a futuristic prophecy by Isaiah fulfilled in Revelation 12. There is an angelic dimension called the stars of God. Satan plans to go above the stars of God and sit upon the mountain of congregation.
Satan gained ascendency into the air from hell. Satan came from hell (where he was first thrown to) and took the earth by deceiving Adam. Satan deceived mankind; he deceived the whole world (Rev. 12:9). From the air, Satan still has intentions of going back to the angelic heavens to fight the war he did not finish. Satan meant what he said about ascending and he knows what to do to get there. He is depending on pressing legal charges to go to heaven. He believes that he can still deceive some angels who did not fall with him the first time. Satan’s ascension is not going to be a physical war, even though there might be some signs when this war is taking place. It is a war of the heart, to make these angels accept him. Satan has things that can make him ascend.
Lucifer is a spirit (cherub); seraphims are flames of fire (Heb. 1:7). However, Lucifer offered to teach seraphims keys that will help them change state and become like him. The fallen seraphims are now behaving like cherubims; these are the spirits Paul referred to as spiritual wickedness in high places (Eph. 6:12). They used to be flames of fire, but they were taught how to be spirits by their association with a spirit (Lucifer). Satan taught them how to be wicked; he showed them wicked content, or materials.
The antichrist is called that wicked one. That word "wicked" is not just somebody that does an obvious evil. The wicked one became almost angelic in his soul. “For the mystery of iniquity doth already work: only he who now letteth will let, until he be taken out of the way. And then shall that Wicked be revealed, whom the Lord shall consume with the spirit of his mouth, and shall destroy with the brightness of his coming: Even him, whose coming is after the working of Satan with all power and signs and lying wonders, And with all deceivableness of unrighteousness in them that perish; because they received not the love of the truth, that they might be saved.” (2 Thess. 2:7-10). It is not every man that has the workings of Satan. The wicked one has the working of Satan; that is, he has access to all of Satan’s power, signs, and wonders. Then he would have insight into how Satan deceives. The way Satan runs deception is different from the way demons do. The wicked one would also gain the serpentine status and would be able to deceive. The unrighteousness in verse 10 is the iniquity that Jesus hated, which qualified him to sit on the throne (Psa. 45:7; Heb. 1:9). Another word for iniquity is wickedness.
“And the beast which I saw was like unto a leopard, and his feet were as the feet of a bear, and his mouth as the mouth of a lion: and the dragon gave him his power, and his seat, and great authority.” (Rev. 13:2). For Satan to give man his power, seat, and authority, the man must look like him. This beast was not the first person that Satan offered these; he had offered others but he never gave them great authority and his seat until one finally cooperated with Him. This man succeeded among all he had been leading (Rev. 17:10). This beast is a man (2 Thess. 2:3).
“For the mystery of iniquity doth already work: only he who now letteth will let, until he be taken out of the way” (2 Thess. 2:7). Satan has to fall away. It is Lucifer that is holding the man of sin from appearing. This scripture is not referring to a believer who is backsliding. It is when Lucifer falls that it will be said, “Now is come salvation, and strength, the kingdom of our God the power of his Christ” (Rev. 12:10). It is not the Holy Ghost that will be out of the way. Lucifer would have to give way for this man of sin; Lucifer would fall (Isaiah 14:12). Lucifer must fall away and then the man of sin would be revealed. Lucifer is the one not allowing the man of sin to be revealed, not God.
When the man of sin is not revealed, it is better and more advantageous for Lucifer because his dream of going to heaven would be fulfilled; but if he is cut away from the air, he would be limited. The appearance of the beast is a lower manifestation. Satan and his angels love heaven but because they could not get to heaven, he (the beast) would begin to speak great words of blasphemy against God, His tabernacle and those that dwell in heaven (Rev. 13:6). A man would be taught by Satan to possess his nature. That is the nature of an angel in the human body. What makes an angel is not a physical body or wings, there is a program in that spirit that can be used on any creature.
The stars of heaven that Satan used his tail to draw to earth were lower spirits, just beneath spiritual wickedness, that did not completely fall in Revelation 6 (Rev. 12:4). So when those stars or fig tree stars fell, some still remained. Lucifer himself did not fall in Revelation 6:13, but heaven departed. When stars fell, the first veil fell and people became aware of God. This turned into a mass evangelism; not a one-on-one evangelism, but something holding people down broke. This is what will make men turn on their own volition.
Men would look for God without being preached to. They will look up and see the sign of the Son of Man and the whole earth will lament; that is repentance. Many souls that cannot be numbered turned to God having palms on their hands, but some people still did not change (Rev. 7:9). Then came the seventh seal with the purpose of harvesting again (Rev. 8:1).
The stars remaining were the ones Satan used his tail to drag down to the earth (Rev. 12:4). The purpose of this is for them to attack the man-child from the earthly terrain. This man-child’s sign appeared in heaven (Rev. 12:1).
That baby called the “man-child” referred to the soul, not the body. This does not follow the order of the natural birth. The seed of the woman keep the commandments of God and as they are keeping the commandments, they are converted until they become babies that the woman can carry (Rev. 12:17). The first born was also keeping commandments and then he entered the woman’s womb. The more you keep commandments, the more you lose the character (in the soul) of a man who can fend for himself. The purpose of the commandment is to bring about conversion in the soul.
The commandment would work on the seed until the seed becomes the fruit of the womb. So there is a difference between the child in the womb and the one walking. The seeds are children of the woman; they are the fruit of her womb. It’s the opposite of the concept of natural birth. As we obey the laws of God, the more childlike we become. Doing the commandments of God turned the children into the littlest child until they entered the womb of the woman (Matt. 18:4). It is that law of being born via the womb that would satisfy their acceptance on the throne. If they are not being born via the laws of the womb, the throne of God won’t accept them.
The children of the womb of the woman are children of works (Isaiah 62:11). These works are the works of love. God will not put anyone on His throne except such is being born. You have to be born of the 'New Jerusalem mother'. What Michael is waiting for are the fruit of the womb. When we are not yet the fruit of the womb, he won’t stand or war with Lucifer. Satan has always been in the air, but he had never appeared until the fruit of the womb showed up. Satan knows what can overcome him.
Being in the womb is the last stage. Doing the commandments of God takes you to a dimension as a child where you cannot stay outside, you have to be taken into the womb. That womb is the womb of the morning. God used that woman’s womb to birth the man-child. God kept a firmament in her that is suitable for the child that would be born. The child was in that womb for a while until a time came when the woman travailed. When Satan heard the sound of travail, he knew that his time had come; he knew that God wanted to give birth to one that would sit on the throne. So Satan committed to devouring the child as soon as he is born. To devour the child is not to kill the child but to make the child do things that are contrary to the will of God. That is why the child was caught up as soon as the child was born.
To be caught up is not to disappear but to yield to a commandment of God. There is something you must do. It is yieldedness to a commandment that would save you (Rev. 12:11). Whosoever still has his life intact or whosoever has not learnt to love not his or her life won’t be caught up. That child in the womb was learning; he was dying in the womb. The womb is not conducive for a grown-up man. This means that anyone in the womb is dying to himself or to his strength. Such a one will keep dying until Satan would not be able to tempt him. Satan cannot devour any man except he yields to temptation. So we should keep dying until we are dead.
A time came when the last strength of the child dropped, and the child was born. Immediately the child was born, Satan wanted to devour it, but the child was caught up. The fruit of the womb is completely helpless and that is God’s reward (Psa. 127:3). That is the kind of baby that Michael wants. God sent Michael to give us the ability to form togetherness until we lose the sense of our own and submit to a high commandment of God. This is the commandment that would not make us refuse to come up hither.
The child did not immediately sit on the throne, he must be caught up to God first. The child was caught up to God first and then to His throne. The child was first caught up to God because it is only God that can sit on the throne. This God is the eternal God or the Only True God; He is the rewarder of them that delightedly seek Him (Heb. 11:6).
The throne is too powerful, it does not take man. The throne takes God. The first to sit on the throne was the Lamb, the next person was a child (the man-child). God is welcoming those who are weak in themselves, who have no strength of their own, because He wants people who have no lust. This is why one has to be caught up to God first before sitting on the throne. There is something about God – you can’t sit on the throne without the only true God. God is the equipment for the throne.
The child must be caught up to God first. The child will not sit on the throne until he has done all the rewards highlighted in the book of Revelation to the six Churches. There is the tree of life, the white stone with hidden manna, rod of iron, morning star, the name to be written on their forehead; then the last reward is the throne. The reward is to be caught up to God, then you would sit on the throne. There are activities that take place when one is being caught up to God.
“And there shall be no more curse: but the throne of God and of the Lamb shall be in it; and his servants shall serve him: And they shall see his face; and his name shall be in their foreheads.” (Rev. 22:3-4). Seeing His face is the communication of name. If name can be communicated through face, it means that other rewards can be communicated through His face. The rewarder of the brethren is the Lamb. The kind of people that the Lamb will reward are the fruit of the womb, those who have overcome the devil. To go through the curriculum in the womb is to prepare the man-child for the reward.
There are two seeds of God: the incorruptible seed and eternal seed (1 Pet. 1:23; Rev. 22:2). The incorruptible seed is a dicotyledon. The incorruptible seed has two seasons: the season of the first love and that of second love. The first love makes the soul living, while the last love turns the soul into an abider. Jesus was born by both the incorruptible and eternal seed. It is the everlasting seed that destroyed the works of the devil. The eternal seed does not war with the adversary, you must have defeated the adversary before relating with the eternal seed. This is because the eternal seed does not war.
Immediately the man-child was caught up to God and His throne, Michael fought war with the adversary and not the man-child. For the first time, Michael had the jurisdiction to cast the devil down because another man (child) is seated with Christ on the throne of God.
All the rewards in the book of Revelation are receptions of mercy. The overcomers will receive the rewards until they receive it fully. Receiving the new name is an indication that we have been made full of mercy. It is afterwards that we can be faithful. The terms “faithful and true” are eternal terms for people who have crossed form everlasting to eternal realm.