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In this message we will continue to consider Christ as the Priest who trims the lampstands, the churches.
Revelation 2:26-27 says, “He who overcomes and he who keeps My works until the end, to him I will give authority over the nations; and he will shepherd them with an iron rod, as vessels of pottery are broken in pieces, as I also have received from My Father.” This indicates that Christ is the One who has received authority over the nations from the Father and that the overcomers will share in that authority. In the millennial kingdom the ruler is a shepherd. In Psalm 2:9 God gave Christ authority to rule over the nations. Here Christ gives the same authority to His overcomers.
To reign with Christ over the nations in the millennial kingdom is a prize to the overcomers (Rev. 20:4, 6). This promise of the Lord strongly implies that those who do not answer His call to overcome degraded Christianity will not participate in the reign of the millennial kingdom. We need to first reign as kings today. In order to reign in life today, we must receive the Lord’s abounding grace (Rom. 5:17). If we do not reign as kings today in Christ’s life, we cannot be kings in the coming age to rule over the nations.
When the Lord Jesus returns, He will assign the overcomers to rule over all the nations. In that day there will be no more nonsensical talk. Everyone will talk rightly because they will be under the proper ruling. The whole earth is waiting and groaning to be released from the improper rulers. The earth will be released from that kind of rule when the Lord Jesus comes back. The nations on earth surely need to be ruled by the overcomers.
Our work, our exercise, and our use of the talent given to us by God determine whether or not we will share in the Lord’s kingship. The word talent in Matthew 25 is the equivalent of the word gift in the Epistles. Paul tells Timothy to “fan into flame the gift of God, which is in you” (2 Tim. 1:6). In life we need to grow, and in work we need to exercise our gift. The parable of the ten virgins reveals our need of transformation by the life-giving Spirit, and the parable of the talents reveals our need to have the proper exercise of the spiritual gifts. We need to be transformed by the extra portion of oil (the Spirit) in our vessel (our soul), and we need to exercise our gift to gain some profit for the Lord. We need to grow on the one hand and make profit in God’s economy on the other. Our growth will determine the time of our maturity, and the exercise of our gifts will determine the position we will share with Christ in the millennial kingdom. If we do not mature and exercise our gifts, we will miss the enjoyment of reigning with Christ in the coming kingdom.
In the parable of the talents the Lord said to the servant with the five talents, “Well done, good and faithful slave. You were faithful over a few things; I will set you over many things. Enter into the joy of your master” (Matt. 25:21). This is to be a co-king with the Lord Jesus and to enjoy the real rest, the Sabbath during the millennial kingdom. In Luke 19:17 the Lord said, “Well done, good slave. Because you have become faithful in the least, have authority over ten cities.” In the millennial kingdom, some will rule over ten cities and others over five cities (v. 19). We may be not merely a mayor of one city but a governor of ten cities.
Revelation 2:28 tells us that Christ will give the morning star to the overcomers. The New Testament reveals that Christ, who is signified by the heavenly luminaries, the lights, is the bright morning star (22:16). Concerning the types of Christ, the entire Bible begins with Him as the light (Gen. 1:3) and ends with Him as the morning star, a luminary. The morning star appears in the darkest hour, after midnight and prior to the dawn. This indicates that Christ will appear as the bright morning star in the darkest time, prior to the close of this age.
His appearing as the morning star (Rev. 2:28) and His appearing as the Sun of righteousness (Mal. 4:2) will not be at the same time. The former occurs before dawn, and the latter occurs after the dawning of the day. As the Sun of righteousness after the dawning of the day, He will appear publicly to all the people on the earth. As the bright morning star before the dawning of the day, He will appear privately to the overcomers who are watching, preparing, and waiting for Him. While people are sleeping soundly in the night, He will secretly give Himself as the morning star to those who love Him and who watch and wait for Him (Rev. 2:28), that they may have the priority to taste the freshness of His presence at His coming back after a long absence. This will encourage them to earnestly seek the Lord’s presence and be watchful so that they will be able to stand before Him in the secret part of His coming, when He will come as a thief (Luke 21:36; Matt. 24:43). Christ as the morning star will be given to the overcomers as their first reward, the earliest prize (Rev. 2:26-29). We must make ourselves ready for the secret appearing of the Lord as the morning star.
The “Star out of Jacob” (Num. 24:17) and the star appearing at the Lord’s birth (Matt. 2:7, 9-10) consummate in the morning star in Revelation 2:28. No star is as bright as the morning star. At the darkest time, within the overcomers there is a star shining. The overcomers will have and enjoy the particular light, Christ as the morning star.
At the beginning of the New Testament the star was outside of religion (Matt. 2:1-6), but at the end of the New Testament the star is within the church. If we would see the star today, there is no need for us to look to the sky, as the Gentile magi did. Today the star is in the church and among the churches. Jesus Christ, who is the morning star, is walking today among the local churches. To see the star, we must come to the local churches. If we are for religion, we will not be able to see Christ as the star. But if we are in the genuine local church, we will see the star. When we are in religion, we have the sense of being in darkness, but when the Lord brings us into the churches, we see the bright star. The heavenly star today is in the local churches.
According to 2 Peter 1:19, the morning star is associated with the Bible. Peter tells us to take heed to the prophetic word. If we take heed to the word of prophecy, the day will dawn within us, and the morning star will arise in our hearts. To take heed to the prophetic word is to pay attention to the living Word. It is not simply to read the Word; it is to enter into the Word until something arises within us. We may call this the dawn, or the morning star. In 2 Peter 1:19 the term “morning star” in Greek is phosphorus, a light-bearing substance. A piece of phosphorus can shine in darkness. Christ is the real phosphorus shining in today’s darkness. However, the Word cannot shine over us unless we take heed to it. We must take heed until something begins to shine within us. That shining will become the divine “phosphorus” in our heart. Then we will have the morning star. We will be like the wise men, and something from the heavens will shine over us. We must come to the sure Word and open up our whole being to the Word — our mouth, our eyes, our mind, our spirit, and our heart — until Christ as the morning star rises up in us and shines over us.
According to Revelation 3:1, Christ is the One “who has the seven Spirits of God and the seven stars.” This verse implies that the seven Spirits are for the seven stars. The seven Spirits of God correspond to the seven stars. A star is a messenger of a church, a leading one in a local church. Such a messenger should be one with the seven Spirits of God.
The seven Spirits of God enable the church to be intensely living, and the seven stars enable her to be intensely shining. To the church in Sardis, the Lord was the One who has the seven Spirits of God and the seven stars. The church, which the Lord considered dead, needed the living Spirits and shining stars, that is, the sevenfold intensified Spirit of God and the shining leaders. The sevenfold intensified Spirit is living and can never be replaced by the dead letters of knowledge (2 Cor. 3:6).
The One who has the seven Spirits of God and the seven stars spoke to the church in Sardis (Rev. 3:1). The stars are the messengers; this means that the messengers should shine as the stars. In order to shine, they must be full of the intensified Spirit, the seven Spirits. Christ has the seven stars, and He has the seven Spirits as the supply to the stars so that the stars can shine. The seven Spirits are one with the seven stars, and the seven stars are one with the seven Spirits. If we have the living word as the morning star rising within us and if we are one with the seven Spirits, eventually we will become the stars. We not only have the star shining within us but also become the stars by looking to Christ as the star and by following in the Spirit.
Daniel 12:3 says, “Those who have insight will shine like the shining of the heavenly expanse, and those who turn many to righteousness, like the stars, forever and ever.” The stars are those who shine in darkness and turn people from the wrong way to the right way. The present church age is the time of night; hence, we need the shining of the stars, the believers who shine. It is by the shining that in today’s darkness people receive the guidance and are turned from the wrong way to the right way. Anything that is wrong is unrighteousness; anything that is right is righteousness. Those who turn many to righteousness are the stars that shine forever and ever.
In the beginning of the New Testament there was only one star in the heavens that led the magi to the place where Christ was. But at the end of the New Testament there are seven stars in seven local churches. Furthermore, immediately after Revelation 22:16, which says that the Lord Jesus is the morning star, the following verse says, “The Spirit and the bride say.” This implies that, as the morning star, the Lord Jesus is linked to the Spirit and to the church, which is the bride. Revelation 3:1 says that the Lord Jesus has the seven Spirits and the seven stars, and Revelation 1:20 says that the seven stars are the messengers of the seven churches. These verses show that the stars are linked not only to the Spirit but also to the churches. If we would have the living star or the living stars, we need the Spirit and the church.
Revelation 3:3 says, “If therefore you will not watch, I will come as a thief, and you shall by no means know at what hour I will come upon you.” This verse indicates that Christ is the One who will come as a thief to steal away His treasures, His precious seekers. A thief comes to steal precious things at an unknown time. Since many believers are spiritually dead, they will be unaware of the Lord’s coming as a thief in His secret appearing to His seekers. Hence, there is the need of watchfulness.
The revelation in the New Testament regarding the Lord’s second coming is not according to our natural understanding. According to our natural thought, the Lord will suddenly descend from the throne in the heavens to the earth. According to the pure Word of God, however, the Lord’s coming back is a process. His coming back will begin from the throne and will pass through a process until He descends to fight the battle at Armageddon. The Lord will descend from the throne to the air where He will accomplish many things: the rapture of the majority of the saints, the judgment at the judgment seat, and the wedding of the Lamb. After all this has been accomplished in the air, the Lord will descend to the earth. The rapture of the early overcomers, including the man-child (ch. 12) and the firstfruits (ch. 14), will occur at the start of the process of the Lord’s coming back. In other words, when they are raptured, the process of the Lord’s coming back begins.
Christ will come back secretly as a thief (3:3b; 16:15). No thief tells you in advance the time of his arrival. In His secret coming as a thief, Christ will come to steal the precious things. No thief steals things that are without value. Thieves come to steal only what is valuable. We need to be a treasure in the eyes of the Lord. We need to be precious by being mature so that He will come and take us secretly. Only those who are matured in life and transformed in their soul will be precious enough for the Lord to steal. As long as we are untransformed, we can be assured that the Thief will never come to visit us. The time of His secret coming is unknown. We all must ask ourselves if we are precious and if we are worthy of being stolen by Christ in His secret coming.
Suddenly, some of the believers who are the early overcomers will be taken away by the Lord coming as a thief (Matt. 24:43). No one knows the time of the beginning of the process of the Lord’s coming back and of the rapture of the early overcomers. When it comes, there will be no time for us to prepare ourselves. We must be thoroughly prepared before that time. Therefore, we must be ready and watchful.
In Matthew 24:40 and 41, the Lord spoke of His secret coming, saying, “At that time two men will be in the field; one is taken and one is left. Two women will be grinding at the mill; one is taken and one is left.” The Lord Jesus was very wise, using two brothers in the field and two sisters grinding at the mill as illustrations. Apparently the two brothers are the same and the two sisters are the same. But suddenly one of the brothers and one of the sisters are taken. After giving this illustration, the Lord said, “Watch therefore, for you do not know on what day your Lord comes. But know this, that if the householder had known in which watch the thief was coming, he would have watched and would not have allowed his house to be broken into. For this reason you also be ready, because at an hour when you do not expect it, the Son of Man is coming” (vv. 42-44). As we are working, having no consciousness that Christ is coming, some of us will be raptured. Since He is coming as a thief, we must be watchful.
In Revelation 3:5 the Lord said to the church in Sardis that “he who overcomes” will be clothed “in white garments.” This indicates that Christ is the white garments to clothe the overcomers. To overcome here is to overcome the deadness of the Protestant churches, that is, to overcome dead Protestantism. To walk in white garments is to have a living that is unspotted by death and that is justified and approved in life by the Lord. The promise of being clothed in white garments is a prize to the overcomers in the millennial kingdom. What they have been walking in during this age will be a prize to them in the coming age.
White garments refer to livingness. To be living is to wear the white garment. If we are spiritually dead, we are dirty; such a dead person is the dirtiest one. Also, if we are dead, we are naked. We need the living garment to cover us; this living garment is Christ Himself wrought into us by the living Spirit. The only way to have this garment is to turn to the spirit.
Every Christian needs two garments. The first is the garment of salvation, signifying Christ as our righteousness objectively. In Luke 15, when the prodigal son returned home, the first thing the father did was to have the best robe placed upon him. Wearing that robe, the prodigal son was justified in the presence of the father. He had been a pitiful beggar, no longer worthy to be with the father. But once he had the robe upon him, he was justified and approved. This means that he was justified in Christ and that Christ became his justifying covering. He was covered by Christ as his righteousness. Thus, the garment of justification is for salvation.
However, besides this garment of justification, we need another garment to make us approved and well pleasing to the Lord. The “fine linen, bright and clean” in Revelation 19:8 denotes this second garment. According to typology, the queen in Psalm 45 has two garments: one for salvation and the other for her to be with the king in His reign (vv. 8, 13-14). We must run the race and reach the goal. As we are running the race, there are many things that would frustrate us from reaching the goal. But after we have been saved, we need to mature and overcome all frustrations and distractions. Yes, we have been saved and justified and have the first robe for our salvation. But we must go on to maturity and reach our destination (Heb. 6:1). If we do so, then we will receive a reward. This is not a matter of Christ as our objective righteousness but of experiencing Christ as our subjective righteousness. Christ as our objective righteousness has been put upon us, whereas Christ as our subjective righteousness comes out of us. We must live out Christ as our second garment. This garment is for the reward. The white garments mentioned in Revelation 3:5 refer to this second garment. When we have this second garment, we are well pleasing to the Lord and will receive the reward.
In Luke 15 the best robe is for our justification, our salvation. In Revelation 19 the fine linen is the wedding garment of the bride. In Revelation 3 the white garments are the clothing of the overcomers for them to express Christ. Therefore, Christ is our garment for our justification, for our marriage to Christ, and for our covering to enable us to express Christ, not ourselves.
In verse 4 the Lord said, “You have a few names in Sardis who have not defiled their garments, and they will walk with Me in white because they are worthy.” The defiled garments indicate the presence of death or the absence of life. To be an overcomer in that kind of situation is to keep oneself from death. This means that we need to be living and strong, and we must have an impact. Even when we stand up to share a testimony, we should not speak in a dead way. Rather, we need to speak with our spirit strengthened and released. We should overcome the dead situation in religion, conquer all kinds of death, and wear a white garment, with no stain of death.
