Watchman Nees book: God's Plans and the Overcomers

“God’s Plans and the Overcomers”, Watchman Nee, Copyright 1977, Christian Fellowship Publishers, Inc., New York.

[Contents are in two parts. Part one is “God’s Plan.” Part two is “God’s Overcomers.”

I will quote from part two.

Under the subject heading “Who God’s Overcomers Are”, Nee quotes the promises to the overcomer from Rev. 2 and Rev. 3. We begin our quote with the next subheading.]

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“The Failure of the Church”

“The reason for the church to remain on earth is to maintain and
demonstrate the victory of the cross of Christ by binding Satan in every place, just as the Lord himself-the Head of the church – bound Satan at Calvary. On the cross the Lord has already judged Satan according to God’s law. Now God entrusts to the church the task of executing that judgment on earth.
Knowing well chow the church would affect his defeat, Satan began to persecute and kill the church. He later changed his tactics to deceive the church with falsehood. He is a liar as well as a murderer. Yet the church fears neither his smiling face nor his angry face. The book of Acts is a record of life out of death for the church. God utilized the attacks of Satan to demonstrate through the church the victory of Christ. Unfortunately, the church gradually failed – as shown in such instances as the lie of Ananias and Sapphira, the greediness of Simon, the creeping in of false brethren, the seeking by many believers of their own things, and the forsaking by many of the imprisoned Paul.

God Looks for Overcomers

Now whenever the church fails, God finds a few in the church – called to be overcomers – that they might bear the responsibility which the church as a whole ought to but fails to bear. He chooses a company of the faithful few to represent the church in the demonstration of the victory of Christ. He has His overcomers in all the seven periods of the church (as represented by the seven churches described in Revelation

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chapters 2 and 3). This overcomer line is never cut. The overcomers are not some special class. They are simply a group of people who conform to the original plan of God.

The Principle of Overcomers

The way God works, as illustrated in His Holy Scriptures, is to find a few as a nucleus in order to reach the many. This was true in the patriarchal age. At that time God chose people individually: those such as Abel, Enoch, Noah, and Abraham. Later on through Abraham (the few) God reaches the whole nation of Israel (the many) – that is to say, god reaches the dispensation of the law through the patriarchal age. Then from the dispensation of the law (the nation of Israel) God reaches to the dispensation of grace (the church out of all nations); and likewise from the dispensation of grace He will reach to the dispensation of the kingdom (the entire world), and from the dispensation of the kingdom to the new heaven and the new earth (the new creation), for the kingdom is the prologue to the new heaven and the new earth. So then, the principle of God’s operation is from the few to the many.
“…the Head, from whom all the body, being supplied and knit together through the joints and bans, increaseth with the increase of God” (Col. 2:19). The joints are for supplying, while the bands are for knitting. The Head holds the body together through these joints and bands. And these joints and bands are the overcomers.

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Jerusalem typifies the whole church, whereas Zion – which is in Jerusalem – represents the overcomers in the church. Jerusalem is larger than Zion, yet Zion is the stronghold of Jerusalem. What answers to the heart of God is called Zion; that which speaks of the failure and sins of the Jews is called Jerusalem. God allows Jerusalem to be trodden down, but He usually keeps Zion intact. There will be a new Jerusalem, but there is no new Zion because Zion never grows old.
Each time the relationship between Zion and Jerusalem is mentioned in the Old Testament we are shown that the characteristics, life, blessing and establishing of Jerusalem are invariably derived from Zion. The elders were in Jerusalem are invariably derived from Zion. The elders were in Jerusalem, the ark was to be in Zion (1 Kings 8:1). God does good in His good pleasure to Zion, and He builds the walls of Jerusalem (Ps. 51:18). God’s name is in Zion, while His praise is in Jerusalem (Ps. 102:21). God blesses out of Zion and Jerusalem receives the good of it (Ps. 128:5). The Lord dwells in Jerusalem, yet He receives praises out of Zion (Ps. 135:21). God speaks first to Zion, and then the good tidings reach Jerusalem (Is. 41:27). He dwells in Zion and thus sanctifies Jerusalem (Joel 3:17).
God today is seeking, among the defeated church, 144,000 (a representative figure, to be sure) to stand on mount Zion (Rev. 14:1). Each and every time, He uses relatively few believers as channels to pour forth life into the church for her revival. As their Lord did, these few must pour forth blood in order to let life flow. The overcomers are to stand on the ground of

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victory for the church and instead of the church. They are to endure sufferings and shames.
Therefore, God’s overcomers must forsake all self-complacencies, pay the cost, let the cross cut off all that comes out of the old creation, and stand against the gates of Hades (Matt. 16:18).
Are you willing to hurt your own heart that you may gain God’s heart? Are you ready to let yourself be defeated so that the Lord may triumph? When your obedience is made full, God will quickly avenge all the disobedience (2 Cor. 10:6).

[Next Subsections we will not quote, but to note their titles.]

What the Work of the Overcomers Is
The Work of the Overcomers
Standing in Death That Others Might Live
The Selection of the Overcomers
How to Become an Overcomer: the Case of Gideon
The Victory of the Overcomers
The Outcome
The Prayer of the Overcomers
Authoritative Prayer
The Relationship Between Authoritative Prayer and Overcomers

[Now we enter back into the study as it begins to reference the book of the Revelation.]

Things God’s Overcomers Ought to Do in the End Time

[“Scriptures to be read” include Gen. 3:14, 15 and Rev. 12:1-11.]

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These two passages of Scripture respond to each other. The first one is found in the opening book of the Bible, while the next one is in the closing book of the Bible. In Genesis 3 there are (1) the serpent, (2) the woman, and (3) the seed in view. In Revelation 12 there are again these three: (1) the serpent, (2) the woman, and (3) the man child.

God’s Judgment against the Serpent

Genesis 3 reveals God’s judgment against Satan. It also tells us of His judgment against fallen man as well as of His plan of redemption. “Upon thy belly

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shalt thou go” is God’s decision that Satan can only work on earth, no longer can he work in the universe. “Dust shalt thou eat all the days of thy life” suggest that God has ordained that henceforth man (man of the dust) shall be Satan’s food. Thus all the descendants of Adam, as God has ruled, become food – that is to say, they are a people – for Satan.
“Woman” refers to the mother of all living. Hence she represents all living: all whom God desires to save.
“Her seed” refers to Christ was on earth He crushed the serpent’s head on the cross. Since in the head lies the vital region of power, the Lord has broken all the principal powers belonging to Satan.
For the Bible to say that the serpent is to bruise the heel of the woman’s seed is simply to denote that Satan will work behind the back of Christ. After Christ has bruised the serpent’s head and left, Satan works behind His back. This means that he works on the lives of the believers in Christ – and such is a behind-the-scenes sort of work.
The woman’s seed points to the corporate Christ as well as to the personal Christ, since all who have part in the resurrection of Christ are included in the seed of the woman. As our Lord was born of a woman without the help of a man, so the new man who is reborn in a believer does not have the Adamic nature. As Christ is the Son of God, so the new man is also a son of God. As Christ was not born of blood, so the new man is not born of blood nor of the will of man (John 1:12, 13).

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From Genesis 3 onward, the hope of both God and man centers on the seed of the woman. Satan too pays great attention to the seed of the woman. For this very reason he (1) instigated Herod to kill the Lord, (2) tempted the Lord in the wilderness, and (3) tried to harass the Lord throughout the three and a half years of His public ministry. But in all these the Lord was victorious.

The Overcomers Deal with the Serpent

Narratively, Revelation 4-11 is one section, 15-22 is another. Chapters 12-14 are parenthetical; these do not belong to the main text but serve to explain what has been written before. In thought, chapter 12 is linked with chapters 2 and 3: for note that chapters 2 and 3 mention “he that overcometh” seven times and then chapter 12 says “they overcame him”; chapters 2 and 3 tell us how God calls for some to be overcomers when the church has generally failed, while chapter 12 shows us who are these overcomers and what they do; and again, 2:27 relates how the overcomer shall rule the nations with a rod of iron and 12:5 confirms that he who shall the nations with a rod of iron is the man child. The man child represents the overcomers in the church. This man child is corporate in nature, because he is the brethren spoken of in 12:10, 11.
“The old serpent” is the name God purposely mentions here in Revelation 12 to help us recall the record in Genesis 3.
The woman who gives birth to the man child as

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spoken of in Revelation 12 is Jerusalem. It refers not just to the earthly Jerusalem, it also points to the heavenly Jerusalem. The Bible tells us that God is our Father, the Lord is our older brother, and Jerusalem is our mother (Gal. 4:26).
The sun, moon, and twelve stars coincide with Joseph’s dream. Hence this must allude to the children of Israel. Jerusalem is the center of the nation of Israel. Consequently the woman should be Jerusalem.
The woman is the Jerusalem of Revelation 21 and 22. This city includes all who have the life of Christ and are saved during both the Old and the New Testament times. Before she gives birth to the man child the woman represents the church; after she has brought forth the man child she stands for the children of Israel: because before the man child is born she is described in her heavenly state – the sun, moon, and stars, whereas after the man child is born she is spoken of in her earthly situation – she is fleeing into the wilderness.
The woman symbolizes all the redeemed of God. They are severely persecuted by the Enemy. How the woman suffers from the serpent! These who are represented by the woman ought to fight for themselves, yet they cannot. So god calls from among them a company of overcomers to fight the battle for them. These overcomers shall rule the nations with a rod of iron since they will occupy a special place in the kingdom. As these overcomers (as represented by the man child) are caught up to heaven, they cast down Satan and regain the heavenly places from the serpent.

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When they are on earth, Satan has to retreat; and when they ascend to heaven, Satan is cast down. Victory lies in regaining the ground. The man child conquers on behalf of the mother; the overcomers win the victory for the church. Moreover, in the end time, God uses overcomers to conclude the war in heaven. These overcomers shall bring “the salvation, and the power, and the kingdom of our God, and the authority of his Christ” into heaven. The serpent therefore has no more place in heaven. Hence wherever the overcomers are, Satan is forced to retreat.

The Arms of the Overcomers

They overcome the Enemy because of: (1) “The blood of the Lamb” – First, in the blood of Christ the natural life is poured forth; hence Satan can no longer work in us. Satan’s food is the dust of the earth: he can only work in natural life. Second, the blood of Christ overcomes the attack of Satan. Under the protection of the blood of Christ we will not be attacked by him, just as the children of Israel were fully protected by the blood of the Paschal Lamb. The blood satisfies the righteousness of God, because the shedding of blood signifies death. For this reason, Satan cannot attack us. Third, the blood of Christ answers the accusations of the Enemy.
(2) “The word of their testimony” – What the Enemy tries to do to the church is to overturn the testimony. The church is a lampstand, which symbolizes testimony. In order to overthrow the church Satan has to overturn the testimony. The testimony mentioned here

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is especially related to the testimony given against Satan. Three words which our Lord used while tempted himself form the testimony to be used against him. We should testify against the Enemy. When he tells us we are weak, we tell him that Christ’s “power is made perfect in weakness” (2 Cor. 12:9). Use the word of God to implement the victory of Christ. The blood stands for such victory. Using the word of God to execute the victory of Christ is testimony.
(3) “Loved not their life even unto death” – Offer up our body and life, have no self-pity and, like Paul “hold not (your) life of any account as dear un (yourself)” (Acts 20:24). The battle shall be won if we trust in the blood, give the word of testimony boldly, and maintain an attitude of no fear of death. Such people can fulfill the determinate will of God recorded in Genesis 3:15.
As the dragon waits to devour the man child about to be delivered, so Satan will now persecute and cause us to suffer. But these very persecutions and sufferings will impel us to be the man child so that we may be raptured first. The first rapture is not only a blessing, it also entails a responsibility. All who give ground in their hearts to Satan will be persecuted by the dragon in the Great Tribulation. But those in whose hearts the Enemy has no foothold shall bruise the head of the dragon under their feet (cf. Rom 16:20). Because the serpent has injured the woman, it takes the seed of the woman to defeat the serpent. God himself does not come to defeat Satan. He calls overcomers to defeat him. May we be among the ranks of the overcomers!

[End of book.]