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Scripture Reading: Eph. 1:23; 1 Tim. 3:15-16; Rev. 1:11, 20; 2:7; 19:7; 21:2, 9-10; 22:17
Prayer: O Lord, we prostrate ourselves to worship You. We worship You for Your grace and even more for Yourself. How glorious it is that You have come into us to be our life and everything. You are one with us, and we are one spirit with You. You have also made us Your glorious Body. Lord, we really worship You. This age is evil and is dark, yet You always shine upon us with Your light. You have separated us and placed us in this glorious position today to be Your golden lampstands shining forth in each locality. You have even made us Your dear bride to satisfy Your desire; we are flesh of Your flesh and bone of Your bones. We have become one Body with You in spirit. This Body is not only local but also universal. O Lord, we are full of praises within to You. We praise You that You are the Triune God and the Lord of all, the Lord of glory. Lord, may You fill us again with Yourself. May heaven and earth be joined, and may earth enter into heaven. We all shout with joy in You, “Jesus is Lord, Amen!”
In this chapter we want to see the last mystery, which is the mystery of the church. This mystery is in the universe and also in the Bible, especially in Revelation. This is the ultimate mystery.
Although this book has only five chapters, it encompasses the whole Bible. We are fellowshipping from Genesis 1 to Revelation 22: from God, heaven and earth, and man to Jesus Christ, to the church — the golden lampstand, and finally to the holy city, New Jerusalem — the bride of the Lamb.
If we take a look at the Bible with a bird’s-eye view, we will discover that the Bible opens by saying, “In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth” (Gen. 1:1). Genesis 1 begins by speaking of God, of heaven and earth, and then about the creation of man, particularly about the creation of a spirit in man. God stretched forth the heavens, laid the foundations of the earth, and formed the spirit of man within him (Zech. 12:1). The Chinese consider heaven, earth, and man as the three powers; the Bible also ranks man’s spirit with heaven and earth. Hence, the Old Testament begins from God, passes through heaven and earth, and reaches man, even the spirit of man.
The New Testament, as a continuation of the Old Testament, begins with the four Gospels, which are concerning the incarnated Jesus the Nazarene, whose human living on earth was a solid expression of God in Christ. After the four Gospels, there are the Acts and the Epistles concerning Christ being enlarged to become the church. Ephesians 1:22-23 tells us that Christ is the Head of the church, and the church is the Body of Christ, the expression of Christ’s fullness. Then we come to Revelation, which opens by telling us that the seven golden lampstands are seven churches. This means that each local church equals one lampstand. Finally, at the end of Revelation, when the city of New Jerusalem appears, it is a huge golden lampstand, which is a great city on a great mountain. This great city is the beloved bride of Christ. How glorious! Revelation 21:2 says, “I saw the holy city, New Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband.” When Christ returns, He will marry the church as His bride (19:7). The New Jerusalem is the ultimate manifestation of this bride, the final fulfillment of that which is typified by Eve in Genesis 2.
The Bible covers six important items. The first item is God; the second item includes the heavens and the earth; the third item is man; the fourth item is Jesus Christ; the fifth item is the church, the golden lampstand; and the sixth item is the bride — the city, New Jerusalem. God, the Creator of the heavens and the earth, created man at the end of the process of His creation. However, what is important to God is neither the heavens nor the earth but man. Yet for man to exist, there surely is the need for the earth; moreover, for the earth to supply life, there surely is the need for the heavens. Hence, the heavens are for the earth, the earth is for man, and man is for God as His satisfaction.
The God who created all things came into the midst of men through His incarnation. This One who came was Jesus Christ. This Jesus Christ needed to be enlarged, and His enlargement is the church. The church shining brightly on the earth today is the golden lampstand. This golden lampstand has God as its substance, Christ as its form, and the Holy Spirit shining for its expression. In eternity the ultimate manifestation of this church is the New Jerusalem, the beloved bride of Christ. Revelation 22:17 says, “The Spirit and the bride say, Come!” The Spirit and the bride, having become one, speak together as one. God and man will become an eternal couple. Therefore, the New Jerusalem is the ultimate expression of God’s entering into man. This is the story of the universe, the ultimate manifestation of the universe. God obtains an eternal and full expression in the man whom He created. This is the ultimate mystery in the universe — the mystery of the church.
We have already seen that the church is the Body of Christ, the fullness of the One who fills all in all (Eph. 1:23). It is correct to say, according to the Greek word ekklesia for church, that the church is a group of people called out by the Lord to meet in the Lord’s name, but this is too superficial and shallow. The church is not merely a called-out congregation. Such a congregation may be a human organization. However, the church is not a human organization but an organism with the life of Christ. For example, a table that is composed of a few pieces of wood is a lifeless thing, an organization. However, our human body, which is constituted with four limbs and many other parts, is an organism with life. It is something organic, something with life, and something living; it is not something formed by organization. So also is the church. The church is neither an organized group of people nor merely a kind of gathering. Rather, the church is Christ’s organism, the Body with Christ as its life.
The Bible shows us that Christ with the church is one great person. Christ is the Head, and the church is the Body. From God’s eternal view, in the universe there is only one great person — Christ with the church. In this universal great man, Christ is the Head and the church is the Body. Man’s body is an organism, and only those parts that have an organic relationship with this body are the members of this body. We all know that to have a skin graft or an organ transplant in the human body, not only should the two lives be the same, but they should also be able to form an organic relationship with each other. This is even more true with the Body of Christ. Every part of the Body must have the life of Christ and an organic relationship with Christ. However, in today’s so-called churches there are even false members. These false members do not belong to the Body of Christ. Today we are in the churches in the Lord’s recovery, and we all have the life of Christ. However, if we do not live by Christ, we too will not have the reality of the church as the Body of Christ. This is because the church is altogether the organic Body of Christ.
Thank and praise the Lord that today our Lord Jesus is the life-giving Spirit! Once we believe in Him and receive Him as our Lord, He enters into us as the Spirit to be our life and life supply. When we live according to and by this Spirit day by day, we are the genuine and living members of the Body of Christ. We all are living members, and the Spirit within us echoes from one to another and flows from one to another; moreover, there are no distinctions and no differences among us. This is the church, which is the Body of Christ, as mentioned in Ephesians 1:23.
Ephesians 1:23 also says that the church is the fullness of the One who fills all in all. The One who fills all in all is our Lord Jesus Christ. The church is His overflow and enlargement. When the Lord Jesus was on earth, if He was in Bethlehem, He could not be in Nazareth; if He was in Nazareth, He could not be in Samaria; and if He was in Samaria, He could not be in Jerusalem. Today, however, He has been enlarged into the church, so He is everywhere on the whole earth. This is the enlargement and the overflow of Christ.
First Timothy 3:15-16 says, “The house of God, which is the church of the living God, the pillar and base of the truth. And confessedly, great is the mystery of godliness: He who was manifested in the flesh.” The church is the house of God, the manifestation of God in the flesh. The church is also the firm pillar and base to support the truth. The church has the pure and high truths, and it is the place where God speaks. God is speaking in the church today, so it is only in the church that people can receive the pure and unadulterated truths.
Revelation 1:11 tells us that John was in spirit and heard a loud voice saying, “What you see write in a scroll and send it to the seven churches: to Ephesus and to Smyrna and to Pergamos and to Thyatira and to Sardis and to Philadelphia and to Laodicea.” According to what is mentioned here, the written scroll being sent to the seven churches equals its being sent to the seven cities. This shows clearly that the practice of the church life in the early days was the practice of having one church for one city, one city with only one church. The manifestation of the church should be in localities, and it should be one city with one church.
The church is the house of God, the Body of Christ, and the fullness of the One who fills all in all. However, the church is expressed locally, one church for one city. There should never be more than one church in any one city. If there are two or more churches in a city, that is division. Yet, today there are many so-called churches in one city; this is division.
Revelation 1:12 says, “When I turned, I saw seven golden lampstands.” Then verse 20 says, “The mystery of...the seven golden lampstands...the seven churches.” This clearly tells us that a local church is a golden lampstand. Some say that a lampstand is for shining and that in this dark age today, the church shines as a golden lampstand. Although it is right to say this, the golden lampstand is not so simple. We need to read the Bible and find the entire history of the golden lampstand so that we may understand its significance.
We know that the revelation in the Bible develops progressively. The seeds of the divine revelation are sown mostly in the first few books of the Bible, and then they are gradually developed in the succeeding books until Revelation, where the harvest is reaped. The revelation concerning the golden lampstand is no exception. The seed of the revelation concerning the golden lampstand is sown in Exodus 25. Then in 1 Kings 7 it sprouts, in Zechariah 4 it is developed, and finally in Revelation it is harvested.
Exodus 25 mentions that the golden lampstand is beaten out of one piece of pure gold. It has a shaft with six branches going out from its sides, three branches on the right side and three branches on the left side. On the branches there are three layers — the cups, the calyxes, and the blossoming buds; in addition, there are the lamps. This picture first shows us that the substance of the golden lampstand is pure gold; second, that the one piece of gold is beaten into a golden lampstand with a form; and third, that the golden lampstand has seven lamps. The meaning is this: First, according to biblical typology, gold signifies the nature of God. God’s nature is unique, divine, pure, unalterable, and lasting. Therefore, the emphasis here is that the pure gold as the substance of the lampstand signifies the Father as the nature of the golden lampstand. Second, the form of the lampstand signifies Christ. The incarnated Christ is God’s form, God’s solid expression: “In Him dwells all the fullness of the Godhead bodily” (Col. 2:9). Christ is the impress of God’s substance (Heb. 1:3) and the image of the invisible God (Col. 1:15). Christ is also the only begotten Son in the bosom of the Father who declared God (John 1:18). John 14 even tells us that when we see the Son, we also see the Father because the Son is the solid expression of the Father. Hence, the lampstand here signifies the Son who declared the Father. Third, the golden lampstand has seven lamps. Concerning this, we cannot find the answer in Exodus. We need to look at Zechariah and Revelation together to understand the significance of the seven lamps.
Zechariah 4 says that there are two olive trees beside the golden lampstand. The prophet Zechariah asked, “What are these, sir?” (v. 4). The angel answered, “Not by might nor by power, but by My Spirit, says Jehovah of hosts” (v. 6). Here, therefore, the revelation of the Spirit is implied. Exodus only mentions the golden lampstand, which signifies Christ; it does not mention the olive oil, which typifies the Spirit. It is not until Zechariah 4 that there is a further revelation — a revelation concerning the Spirit. Furthermore, it shows us that the seven lamps are the seven eyes of Jehovah. Revelation 4:5 tells us that the seven lamps before the throne are the seven Spirits of God, and Revelation 5:6 tells us that the seven eyes of the Lamb are the seven Spirits of God. By putting together these passages, we can see that the seven lamps of the golden lampstand in the book of Zechariah are the seven Spirits of God in Revelation. Hence, the seven lamps signify the expression and shining of the Spirit. Thus, this golden lampstand not only has the substance of the Father and the form of the Son but even more the expression of the Spirit. In other words, the testimony of the church is the solid expression of the Triune God.
According to the record in Revelation 1, we see that where the church is, there is the golden lampstand. Where the church is, there are the substance of God and the riches of Christ, and there are also God’s dispensing, transmission, supply, and even judgment. Every local church is an embodiment of the Triune God — the Father, the Son, and the Spirit. When people come to the church, they can sense that God is here, Christ is here, and the Spirit is here. This is the Father, the Son, and the Spirit operating, shining, and being manifested and expressed here. Such a church is the golden lampstand.
Revelation 19:7 says, “Let us rejoice and exult, and let us give the glory to Him, for the marriage of the Lamb has come, and His wife has made herself ready.” The bride refers to the saints throughout the ages who are the overcomers reigning with Christ in the millennial kingdom. The readiness of the bride indicates growth and maturity in life. When we are saturated by the Triune God so that He flows out of us, we are completely built and fitted together to become the glorious church, the beloved bride of the Lord Jesus.
“The marriage of the Lamb has come.” Who will the Lamb marry? The Catholic Church? No! Only the golden lampstand can be the bride of Christ. We need to live out the life of Christ. We do not care for even any goodness that comes out of ourselves, not to mention any wickedness that comes out of ourselves. We care for the tree of life, we care for the Triune God, and we care for Jesus Christ as the all-inclusive Spirit. Whether we are at home with our spouses and children or in the church meetings with the brothers and sisters, we all need to live out Christ. If we live by Christ, then what we live out is the pure gold that shines forth the light; then we can become the bride of Christ to satisfy His desire.
Revelation 21:2 says, “I saw the holy city, New Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband.” The bride here refers to all the saints, both in the Old Testament and in the New Testament, as the counterpart of Christ in eternity.
Revelation 21:9-10 also tells us that the angel said to John, “Come here; I will show you the bride, the wife of the Lamb.” John was carried away in spirit onto a great and high mountain where he saw the holy city, New Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven. This tells us that the bride of Christ is a city — the New Jerusalem. Verses 12 to 20 go on to tell us the dimensions of the holy city itself and of its wall. The New Jerusalem is a cube; its length, its breadth, and its height are equal, each side being twelve thousand stadia, which equals about twenty-three hundred kilometers; it looks like a great and high mountain. This city is built upon twelve foundations, and on them are the names of the twelve apostles of the Lamb, representing all the New Testament saints. This city also has twelve gates, on which are written the names of the twelve tribes of Israel, representing all the Old Testament saints. Hence, the New Jerusalem is the aggregate of all the saints in both the Old Testament and the New Testament. This is the ultimate manifestation of the church. What a mystery!
The New Jerusalem is built with three kinds of material. The city proper with its street is of pure gold, the twelve gates are pearls, and the wall and foundations are various kinds of precious stones. We have already said that gold signifies the Father’s nature, indicating that the Father is the substance of this city. Pearls signify the death and resurrection of the Son, indicating that His overcoming death, which terminates everything of the old creation, and His glorious resurrection, which imparts new life, become the gates of the New Jerusalem for us to enter in. Precious stones signify the transforming and sanctifying work of the Holy Spirit, indicating that under the transforming work of the Holy Spirit, we, the saved and regenerated ones, become precious stones as the materials for God’s building. Hence, the city, the New Jerusalem, is the enlarged embodiment of the Triune God. The church today is the golden lampstand, which expresses the Triune God in each locality in this age. The ultimate consummation of the church is the New Jerusalem, which will express the Triune God in the whole universe in eternity.
Revelation 22:17 says, “The Spirit and the bride say, Come!” In Revelation 2 and 3 it is the Spirit speaking to the churches (2:7, 11, 17, 29; 3:6, 13, 22), but at the end of the whole Bible it is the Spirit and the bride speaking together. The Spirit is the ultimate consummation of the Triune God as the Bridegroom; the bride is the ultimate consummation of the redeemed man. After this universal marriage the Triune God and redeemed man are not separate. They do not speak separately, but the two have become one couple, so there is the speaking of the Spirit and the bride together. Hallelujah, God and man are mingled and united to become the universal and eternal couple, moving together and speaking together! This is the accomplishment of God’s ultimate goal.
The five great mysteries in the Bible are, first, the mystery of the universe, which is God; second, the mystery of man, which is also God; third, the mystery of God, which is Christ; fourth, the mystery of Christ, which is the church; and fifth, the mystery of the church, which is the organism of Christ as the overflow and enlargement of Christ, the house of God, the golden lampstand, the bride, and the New Jerusalem. This is the ultimate mystery in the universe. Today God is moving on in every place throughout the whole earth. Every local church is a mystery as the organism of Christ, the enlargement and overflow of Christ, the house of God, the golden lampstand, and the bride. Finally, in eternity we will all become the ultimate expression of God — the New Jerusalem. Then God will achieve His ultimate goal in the universe.
