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In this chapter we come to the book of Revelation, the consummation of the Bible. In the preceding chapters we have followed the line of the kernel of the Bible. First, we saw that in the book of Genesis God gained a transformed Israel. Then, in the book of Exodus, He gained a tabernacle, and, following that, in 1 Kings, a temple. After the captivity in Babylon the Lord gained the rebuilt temple. In the New Testament we have seen how rich Christ is in His divinity and humanity. Christ is unsearchably rich. The enjoyment of this rich Christ issues in the proper church life. Thus, in the New Testament we have first Christ and then the church.
In the book of Revelation we see seven churches, the seven golden lampstands. At the end of this book we see the unique universal golden lampstand, the New Jerusalem. In this chapter and in the one following, we need to consider these seven lampstands and the New Jerusalem.
The book of Revelation was not written to individuals. It is a book written to churches. The apostle John did not send this book to individual Christians but to seven churches. Only by standing in the churches do we have the right angle to see what is written in this book. As we all know, in order to see or hear anything, we need the right angle. When I face a certain direction, I cannot see what is behind me. If I want to see what is behind me, I must turn. Without making such a turn, I am not able to see anything. If I were not standing with the churches and in the churches, it would be difficult for me to see what is written in this book. The book of Revelation is closed to many Christians because they are not standing with the churches. Although this book is for all the saints, so many of the saints are not standing with the churches. Therefore, they are not able to see what this book contains. Throughout the centuries, for the most part, Revelation has been a closed book. Although the saints have read through this book again and again, they have not been able to see what is in it. Praise the Lord that by standing with the churches, we can clearly see the things in this book!
At the beginning of Revelation we see seven golden lampstands, and at the end we see the New Jerusalem. Both the seven lampstands and the New Jerusalem refer to God’s building, the church, the eternal habitation of God. In this book we not only see the church, the eternal habitation of God; we also see Christ. Among the churches and in the New Jerusalem there is Christ. Thus, if we would see Christ, we must be in the churches and among the churches, because Christ is walking in the midst of the churches. Today He is in the churches, and in eternity He will be in the New Jerusalem. To see Him we must be in God’s habitation.
Revelation 1:10 indicates that John saw the vision in his spirit, not in his mind. This verse says, “I was in spirit on the Lord’s Day.” This book is full of spiritual revelation, but spiritual revelation can be seen only by our spirit. Although our mind may understand many things, it cannot see spiritual revelation. For this, we need to be in spirit. Therefore, in Ephesians 1:17 Paul prayed, “That the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give to you a spirit of wisdom and revelation in the full knowledge of Him.” How much we need revelation! However, we can receive revelation only in our spirit. To see the churches and the New Jerusalem we must exercise our spirit.
I am sorry to say that some Christians are not clear that they have a spirit. Some think that the spirit is the same as the mind. Perhaps some of you have this concept. If you do, it is an indication that you are not clear that you have a spirit. You daily exercise your mind to think, consider, study, and research. But because you are not clear that you have a spirit, you cannot exercise your spirit.
Atheists are those who do not believe in God. The reason they do not believe in God is that the organ that substantiates God, the spirit, is deadened. Our nose is the organ that substantiates odors. If for some reason my nose does not function, I shall not be able to detect a particular odor that may be in the room. Thus, I would say that this odor does not exist. Actually, the odor exists. The problem is that I lack the organ to substantiate it. It is the same with the perception of colors. Although I may be surrounded with beautiful colors, if I have no sight, I have no means to substantiate them. In like manner, the spiritual things exist, but if we do not know to exercise our spirit, we cannot substantiate them. We lack the power to substantiate the existence of spiritual things.
Some saints are clear that they have a spirit, but they do not exercise it. As we grew up, we were all trained to exercise our mind. Thus, we are not accustomed to using our spirit. For this reason, many who know they have a spirit do not exercise their spirit. Suppose someone would shut his eyes and say, “You claim that there are many pretty colors in the room. What are you talking about? I cannot hear them. Have you really seen these colors, and are they truly beautiful? Why can’t I hear?” What nonsense! When it comes to seeing colors, you must forget your ears and open your eyes. Then you will behold the beautiful colors that are around you. In like manner, we need to exercise our spirit to see the churches. Although you may have read the book of Revelation many times, you may have never seen the churches in this book. Many spent time to study the book of Revelation. For the most part they saw the frogs, the locusts, the ten horns, and the great dragon, but they were not much impressed with the seven lampstands or the New Jerusalem. When you read the book of Revelation in the past, did you see the churches and the New Jerusalem? When I read the book of Revelation as a youth, I wanted to know about the ten horns, the locusts, and the frogs, but I had no desire to know about the seven lampstands. In this chapter we are not concerned with horns, locusts, and frogs. We are interested in seeing the seven golden lampstands, the seven churches.
Today many Christians are talking about the church, the Body, but they do not know the churches. Although they are talking about the church, they are not in the church. Without the churches we cannot be in the church. Where is the church? Are you in it? Were you in the church ten years ago, five years ago, five weeks ago? In the past we were not in the church. We were with other Christians, but deep within we realized that that gathering of Christians was not the church. According to the book of Revelation, the churches are not in the heavens; they are in cities on the earth. If you are not in one of the churches, you are not in the church, no matter how much you talk about the church. To contact the church and be in it, you need the local church.
Consider the type of the church in Genesis 2. After God had created all the animals, He eventually created man. However, God did not create a wife for man. Rather, He brought the living creatures to Adam and showed them to him. Adam seemed to say, “Those do not look like me. That is a horse, that is a turtle, and that is a lamb.” As the animals were presented to Adam one by one, he did not find one that could match him. A turtle is a turtle, a horse is a horse, and a wife is a wife. I would also say that a denomination is a denomination, a free group is a free group, and a church is a church.
In the past some dear friends tried their best to argue with me, saying, “Brother Lee, you claim that you are the church. Why are we not the church?” I answered them very simply and said, “Don’t you call yourselves Presbyterians and Baptists? Now you come to argue with me saying that you are the church If you are the church, why don’t you call yourself the church?” Then they said, “The names Baptist and Presbyterian are merely denominational names. They don’t mean anything.” I replied, “I am glad to hear that these names mean nothing. Since they do not mean anything, why don’t you drop them? Why still hold on to something that has no meaning?” They answered, “Brother Lee, how can we drop these names?” I pointed out that their words were contradictory. On the one hand, they said that the name meant nothing; on the other hand, they said that they could not drop their names. Then I asked, “What is this? If you are the church, then say you are the church. Suppose a woman wearing a name tag that says ‘Mrs. Jones’ comes to you and claims to be Mrs. Smith. I would say, ‘If you are Mrs. Smith, why do you bear the name of Mrs. Jones? If you say that this is just a name and that it means nothing, then I would tell you to drop it. If you find it difficult to drop that name, it must prove that you are Mrs. Jones, not Mrs. Smith.’ Brothers, if you are the church, why do you call yourselves Presbyterians, Baptists, and Lutherans?”
One day I pointed out to a friend that there was a group called the Church of England in China and that there was a group called the Chinese Presbyterian Church in the United States of America. What confusion this is! According to Genesis 1, everything is according to its kind. A sheep is according to its kind, a horse is according to its kind, and an ox is according to its kind. But what are the Church of England in China and the Chinese Presbyterian Church in the United States of America? They certainly are not according to their kind. The head of the Church of England is the Queen, and every British subject is considered a member of the Church of England. In order to be a member of the Church of England, there is no need to be reborn. Natural birth is sufficient. Is such a thing the church? Is it according to its kind? Certainly not!
In 1963 I was invited to speak to a group of Christians in Missouri. At the end of one of the meetings, my host asked me, “Brother Lee, why do you call yourselves the church in Los Angeles?” I said, “The church in Los Angeles includes all the saints in Los Angeles. But so many of them do not meet with the church. Rather, they stay with the denominations. Only a small number are willing to meet with the church. Consider the example of the Smith family. Suppose the Smith family has twenty-six members and that nineteen of them have left the family. Only seven remain at home. Are those seven not the Smith family? If they are not the Smith family, then what are they? We realize that all the Christians in Los Angeles are part of the church. But most do not want to be with the church. Thousands are in the Catholic Church and in the denominations. If we, the small number who want to remain in the church, do not call ourselves the church, then what would you call us? Give us a name. Any name you give us will simply cause trouble. So many members of the Smith family have gone away. Some have gone to the movies, others to the seashore, and others to the dance hall. Only seven are at home. Nevertheless, those seven certainly are the Smith family.” They had to admit that we were right in saying that we are the church in Los Angeles. However, after that time some began to doubt, saying, “Is that really the Smith family? The Smith family includes twenty-six members. How can those seven say that they are the Smith family?” Brothers, this is a day of confusion and division, and we must be on the alert. We must know how to discern what the church is. We need the local church in order to be in the church. Many of us can testify what a blessing it has been to touch the church. We can testify that we are in the proper church life. We do not care for the number. Even if the Smith family has only a few members remaining, they are still the Smith family.
Today, at the end of this age, there is need for the recovery of the churches. There needs to be a church in Rome and in every major city in Europe. In the city of Rome there are certainly a good number of saved ones, even among the Catholics. But these true believers are still in the wrong place. If even a small number would take the standing of the church in Rome, there would be a genuine local church there. If that small number standing as the church are not the church, then what would you call them? Some may argue that the church in Rome includes all the believers. But do you think it is possible to bring all the true believers in the Catholic Church who are living in Rome back to the church? This is impossible. Whether or not we are the church depends upon our standing. If we are standing upon any divisive ground, we are not the church; we are a division. But as long as we are standing on the ground of oneness, we are the church in our locality.
The time is short. The Lord is coming soon. As we have pointed out, before His coming back, He needs to complete the building of the church. It would be a shame to Him to come back without finishing this. Look at today’s Christianity. Look at the Catholic Church, the denominations, and the free groups. What a mess! What a confusion! Is not all this a shame to the Lord? How could He come back to such a situation? Where is the fulfillment of His word in Matthew 16 that He will build His church? Where is the church built upon the rock? For the sake of His coming back, the Lord must build the church.
Now I want to say strongly that the Lord must build His church in the territory of Antichrist. Before Antichrist appears, the Lord Jesus must build His churches in Western Europe. Although many Christians are waiting for the Lord to come back, He is waiting for the building up of His churches. Praise the Lord that our eyes have been opened to see the need of the building of the local churches! In Italy, France, Switzerland, England, Holland, Denmark, Sweden, and Norway there is such a need. How I long that you all would be burdened to go to the major cities in Europe so that the Lord might have a church in each of them! You need to say, “Lord, burden me to go to Paris for the church life. Lord, burden me to go to Rome so that You may have a church there. O Lord, burden me for a church in Stockholm.” If you are faithful to the Lord, honest with Him, and willing to be burdened, even five or seven could move to a city to start the church life there. So many cities need a shining lampstand. Paris needs one! Geneva needs one! Western Europe is not a heathen land like Mongolia or Tibet. It is an old region saturated with Christianity. But where is the church? Although this is a land of Christendom, of Christianity, where is the church? Can the Lord Jesus come back to the Church of England? Can He come back to the confusion in the free groups? If the Lord came back today, He would be ashamed because the bride has not been prepared. Suppose it is the day of your wedding, and your bride is not present. Would that not be a shame to you? Certainly no bridegroom would come, stand, and wait for his bride until he was assured that she was prepared and adorned for him. The Lord Jesus is coming as the Bridegroom for the bride. But where is the bride in all of Western Europe?
This is not a matter of doctrine. I hate the mere doctrine of the church. I want to see some genuine, living churches. I do not care for the number that are in these churches. If there could be a church in Rome with a hundred fifty people who are shining, filled with Christ, and immersed in Christ, the Lord would be able to boast to Satan. He could say, “Satan, in your city of Rome I have a shining church!” Brothers, you all must be burdened for the churches in Europe. What is the use of merely studying the Bible, attending conferences, and listening to messages? The Lord needs churches. Young people, the Lord needs churches, and you must bear the burden for this. Surely the Lord desires a church in Madrid, the capital of the old Catholic country of Spain. Who is willing to be burdened to go there? The Lord is calling for this. Who will go to Paris? To London? To Rome? In these dark cities there is no lampstand. Oh, the Lord is calling! Who is willing to be burdened to go to a major city in Europe so that the Lord may have a church there? The Lord is calling! He is calling you and me to bear the burden for the major cities in Europe so that He may have churches built up in the territory of the coming Antichrist. Go and tell others that today the Lord needs churches!
Some may wonder how we can be used by the Lord for the spread of the churches. The only way is to consecrate yourself every morning and every evening, day after day. Again and again you need to pray, “Lord Jesus, I consecrate myself to You. I offer myself to You for Your church.” If you do this, the Lord will open the way. Something will happen. The Lord will lead you to someone, or He will lead someone to you. You and that other person will be one, and something will be accomplished. I assure you that something will be worked out. Do not follow the old track, the old religion, and do not follow the free groups. Do not follow any vain talk, vain teachings, or vain messages concerning the church. You must claim something practical and say, “Lord, I hate vain talk. Lord, I want to see a practical church in the place where I am.”
Forty-five years ago I was in a situation where there was no church. Every morning I rose up early, went to the top of a mountain, and prayed to the Lord. No one had taught me to call on His name, but there on the mountain I practiced calling on the Lord. Every morning I cried to the Lord, calling on His name and saying, “Lord, what do You want me to do? Lord, as a young man, I am here and I am ready. I am ready for You, for Your interests, for Your kingdom, and for Your move on earth.” I prayed like this for nine months. Eventually, in that city the Lord started the church life, and that church became very prevailing. Because of that church, many churches were raised up in the north, northeast, and northwest of China. Oh, the Lord is able! He can do it! But it all depends on you. Are you willing for this?
You do not need to know much doctrine or be that “spiritual.” Look at Peter, John, and the other early apostles. Some of them were young fishermen still working with their fathers when the Lord called them. They did not have any college degrees. But the Lord called them and spent three and a half years with them. I have spent a good deal of time to find out how old the apostles were when the Lord Jesus called them. I am convinced that Peter was not more than twenty-five years old when he was called. He was still a young man when he became an elder in Jerusalem, the first local church. All the elders of that first church were young people. I am assured that none of them was more than thirty. The Lord’s move is always with the young people. The young people will turn the age. David turned his age, and Daniel turned his age. Do not think that you are too young. You do not need a college degree in order to be in the church life. Everything depends upon your heart, upon whether or not you are willing to pay the price. Are you willing to sacrifice? If you are, the Lord will use you. I know what I am talking about. I did not receive a college degree or graduate from a seminary. But a church was raised up.
You do not need graduation; you need consecration. And do not consecrate yourself merely occasionally. It will not work if you consecrate yourself every few years. Rather, you must consecrate yourself day after day, again and again. Consecration is the secret. For the sake of the raising up of churches in Europe, there is an urgent need for consecration. It is by our consecration that the Lord will have a way to raise up more local churches.
If you read Revelation 2 and 3, you will see that again and again the Lord is calling the overcomers. The overcomers according to Revelation 2 and 3 are those who overcome degraded Christianity, those who overcome the present situation of Christianity. In order to overcome the present situation of Christianity, we must answer the Lord’s call and offer ourselves to Him. We must say, “Lord, I know You are moving on. You are for something new, and I am ready to move on with You. Lord, I am one with You for Your move. Lord, have mercy on me, and do not leave me behind. As You are moving on, take me in Your hand and carry me on.” This is the way to pray. The apostle Peter, a fisherman, did not go to school for several years, graduate, and get ordained. He was a fisherman who gave himself to the Lord. That was sufficient. Young people, you need to give yourselves to the Lord and follow Him in the churches for a few years. At the end of this time, you will be equipped and qualified. This is what the Lord needs today.
In the seven epistles in Revelation 2 and 3 the crucial matter related to the churches is eating. To those in the church in Ephesus the Lord Jesus said, “To him who overcomes, to him I will give to eat of the tree of life, which is in the Paradise of God” (2:7). To those in the church in Pergamos He said, “To him who overcomes, to him I will give of the hidden manna” (v. 17). To those in the church in Laodicea He said, “Behold, I stand at the door and knock; if anyone hears My voice and opens the door, then I will come in to him and dine with him and he with Me” (3:20). In the midst of the degradation of Christianity, we must eat Jesus as the tree of life and as the hidden manna and enjoy Him as a feast. If we do this, we shall grow and be qualified for the Lord’s move on earth today.
In Revelation 2:17 not only did the Lord speak of the hidden manna; He also said that He would give the overcomer a white stone. This stone indicates that those who eat the Lord as the hidden manna will be transformed into a white stone for God’s building. If we eat Jesus daily, we shall be transformed into stones, the material for God’s building.
The building is also referred to in Revelation 3:12, which says, “He who overcomes, him I will make a pillar in the temple of My God, and he shall by no means go out anymore, and I will write upon him the name of My God and the name of the city of My God, the New Jerusalem, which descends out of heaven from My God, and My new name.” In all these verses we see eating, transformation, and building. If we eat Jesus, we shall be transformed and built up.
Along with speaking concerning eating, transformation, and building, in these seven epistles the Lord condemns the teaching of Balaam, the teaching of the Nicolaitans, the teaching of Jezebel, and the teaching of the deep things of Satan. Although there are all kinds of teachings in Christianity, the Lord Jesus in these seven epistles condemns the teachings and encourages the believers to eat Him as the tree of life and as the hidden manna and to feast with Him. We also must reject the teachings of Balaam, of the Nicolaitans, of Jezebel, and of the deep things of Satan.
Some may argue that the teachings the Lord Jesus commands us to reject are all wrong teachings. That is correct. But are you sure that the teachings you received are correct? How do you know they are? Perhaps you have already been deceived and cheated, although you are entirely innocent. You think that all the teachings you have received are very good. You do not realize that these good teachings have poisoned you. A number of believers could have been good material and could have been used by the Lord for His church. But they have been poisoned, deceived, and distracted from the proper church life by the teachings they received in the past. Take counterfeit money as an example. How do you know that the currency you have is not counterfeit? Do not say that the bills others have are false and that yours are genuine. You may be deceiving yourself. In like manner, do not say that others have received wrong teachings and that the teachings you have received are right. Perhaps you also have taken in some inaccurate teachings. If you are in doubt about the validity of paper money, do not accept any paper money at all. In its place, take only gold. Do not trust in your discernment. Trust in the gold. Do not have an appetite for teachings, for you may not have the discernment to determine which are correct and which are false. No counterfeit money bears a mark saying that it is counterfeit. Rather, every false bill is nearly the same as a genuine one. Therefore, if in doubt, accept only gold.
