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I. The seven Spirits of God
А. Not seven different spirits
B. Intensified for God's move
II. The seven lamps of fire burning before the throne
III. The seven eyes of the Lamb
А. For moving and transfusing
B. Not separate from Christ
IV. The seven Spirits, seven lamps, and seven eyes for God's building
А. The lamps and the building
B. The stone with seven eyes
C. Cleansing and infusing
D. Purifying and transforming
In this lesson we shall consider the matter of the seven Spirits of God. The Spirit is mysterious and wonderful enough without such a term as the "seven Spirits of God." Nevertheless, the book of Revelation reveals something further about the Spirit today. Let's read Revelation 1:4-5: "John to the seven churches which are in Asia: Grace to you and peace from Him who is, and who was, and who is coming, and from the seven Spirits who are before His throne, and from Jesus Christ, the faithful Witness, the Firstborn of the dead, and the Ruler of the kings of the earth. To Him who loves us and has loosed us from our sins by His blood."
[In the book of Revelation, the age is the age of the Spirit, and in this age the Spirit has been intensified.
Because the Spirit in 1:4 is the intensified Spirit of God, He is called the seven Spirits. The seven Spirits are undoubtedly the Spirit of God because they are ranked among the Triune God in verses 4 and 5. We cannot understand the Bible according to our natural, limited mentality. According to our concept, the words "seven Spirits" denote seven individual spirits. But this is not the meaning. The number seven here does not refer to seven different spirits but to one sevenfold Spirit.]
[Seven is the number of completion in God's dispensational move, while twelve is the number of completion in God's eternal administration. For example, God created the earth in six days plus one Sabbath day. Furthermore, there are seven dispensations in the Bible. For God's move today, the church has the number seven. In the book of Revelation the seven seals, the seven trumpets, and the seven bowls are all for God's dispensational move. Thus, the sevenfold Spirit is the intensified Spirit in God's move today. He is the seven Spirits of God for God's move.
As seven is the number for completion in God's operation, so the seven Spirits are for God's move on the earth. In substance and existence, God's Spirit is one; in the intensified function and work of God's operation, God's Spirit is sevenfold. It is like the lampstand in Zechariah 4:2. In existence it is one lampstand, but in function it is seven lamps. At the time the book of Revelation was written, the church had become degraded and the age had become dark. Therefore, the sevenfold intensified Spirit of God was needed for God's move and work on the earth. We all are familiar with three-way bulbs, light bulbs that can be switched to three successive degrees of illumination. When we do not need very much light, we switch the bulb to the first degree, but when we need more illumination, we switch it to the second or third degree. In like manner, the seven lamps on the lampstand were the sevenfold, intensified light. In the four Gospels, the Spirit of God was one-fold because at that time there was not the need for so much light. However, after the church had been degraded and the age had become exceedingly dark, there was the need for the Holy Spirit to be intensified sevenfold. In this way the one Spirit of God has become the sevenfold Spirit. In existence, the Holy Spirit, like the lampstand in Zechariah, is one, but in function the Holy Spirit is seven.]
Revelation 4:5 [also tells us that "seven lamps of fire are burning before the throne, which are the seven Spirits of God." This indicates that God will touch the earth by the seven lamps, by His seven Spirits which are burning, shining, observing, searching, and judging. The seven lamps here refer to the seven lamps of the lampstand in Exodus 25:37 and the seven lamps of the lampstand in Zechariah 4:2. The seven lamps of fire which are the seven Spirits of God signify the enlightening and searching of the sevenfold intensified Spirit of God. In Exodus 25 and Zechariah 4, the seven lamps, signifying the enlightening of the Spirit of God in God's move, are for God's building, either for the tabernacle or the building of the temple. Here the seven lamps are for God's judgment, which will issue also in God's building — the building of the New Jerusalem. While God executes His judgment, His sevenfold intensified Spirit will carry out God's eternal building by searching, enlightening, judging, and infusing. This is fully developed in the following chapters. The issue is the consummation of the holy city, New Jerusalem.]
Furthermore, in Revelation 5:6, John saw "a Lamb standing as having been slain, having seven horns and seven eyes, which are the seven Spirits of God, sent forth into all the earth."
[Our eyes are for our moving. If we are blind, it is very difficult to move. In God's move today, Christ as the Lamb of God has seven eyes. The seven eyes of the Lamb are also for watching, observing, and transfusing. When I look at someone, something of me is transfused into him. We often talk about loving one another; but how can you realize that someone loves you? Love is transfused through the eyes. If you look at me in a loving way, your eyes will transfuse your love into me. When Christ looks at us with His seven eyes, we may be terrified at first. Eventually, however, these seven eyes will transfuse Christ's element into us.]
[The Holy Spirit today is the seven eyes of Christ. Many Christians argue that the Holy Spirit of God is separate from Christ, but the Bible says that the Holy Spirit is the eyes of Christ. Do you think of your eyes as being separate from you? It is ridiculous to say this. When I look at your eyes, I look at you, and when you look at me with your eyes, you look me. The eyes of a person express that person. To say that the Holy Spirit is separate from Christ does not correspond with the pure revelation of the Holy Word.]
[Day by day, we sense that Someone is looking at us. This Someone is the Spirit, who is Christ Himself....Our Christ is not a blind Christ. He is the Christ with the seven eyes. Often, He transfuses His elements into us. At other times, He observes us like a flashlight, saying, "What are you doing? Are you fighting with your husband? Stop!" Have you not had this kind of experience? Day by day we experience this watching, observing, and transfusing Christ. This watching, observing, and transfusing take place through His eyes. His eyes are the Spirit, and the Spirit is simply Himself. If you do not believe it, you will miss the blessing.]
[The lamps in Exodus 25 are for the building up of the tabernacle, especially for the move in the tabernacle. Without light, it is impossible to move. The light is for the move, and the move is for God's building. The seven lamps, therefore, are for the building up of the tabernacle, God's dwelling place on earth.
The seven lamps in Zechariah 3 and 4 are for the recovery of God's building. The principle is the same in the rebuilding of the temple as it was in the building of the tabernacle. The same is true of the book of Revelation....Revelation begins with the seven local churches and it ends with the New Jerusalem. Although this book contains the judgment of God, this judgment is not the goal. Judgment is not for judgment; it is for God's building. The New Jerusalem, God's eternal dwelling place, issues out of this judgment.]
Zechariah 3:9 says, "For behold the stone that I have laid before Joshua; upon one stone shall be seven eyes." In Revelation 5, the seven eyes are of the Lamb, but in Zechariah they are upon a stone.
[In Matthew 16:18 the Lord Jesus said, "And I say also unto thee, That thou art a stone, and upon this rock I will build my church" (Gk.). Here the Lord refers to Himself as the rock. In Matthew 21:42 He said, "Did ye never read in the scriptures, The stone which the builders rejected, the same is become the head of the corner: this is the Lord's doing, and it is marvelous in our eyes?" The stone referred to here is the very stone with the seven eyes in Zechariah 3:9.]
The verses show us clearly that the stone is just Christ Himself and that this stone is related to the building of God's house. Christ is the Lamb-stone with seven eyes for God's building.
[Because your condition is not pure, some of you are still under the seven burning lamps. You are still involved with certain things that need to be searched and judged. Mainly we are not under the flaming lamps, but under the infusing eyes. Are you under the searching lamps or the infusing eyes? I am happy to be under the seven eyes. Suppose you are about to quarrel with your wife. The seven eyes will immediately become the seven lamps. At such a time, you need to repent and say, "O Lord Jesus, forgive me. I am still in the flesh, and I am so pitiful. Lord, thank You for Your blood. I confess my failure and I apply Your blood to my situation." Whenever you do this, the seven lamps turn into the seven eyes looking at you, and immediately you are once again under His transfusing. Christ's essence and certain of His attributes are transfused into your being.]
[First Peter 2:4 and 5 say, "To whom coming, as unto a living stone, disallowed indeed of men, but chosen of God, and precious, ye also, as living stones, are being built up a spiritual house" (Gk.). The way for us to become living stones is to come to Him and to be seen by Him. As the Lord enlightens and judges us, He looks at us, and His seven eyes transfuse Himself into us. In this way we are transformed.]
[Even now, Christ's burning eyes are flaming over us to enlighten, search, refine, and judge us, not that we might be condemned, but that we might be purged, transformed, and conformed to His image for God's building. The Lord's judgment is motivated by love. Because He loves the church, He comes to search, enlighten, judge, refine, and purify us in order to transform us into precious stones. Eventually, this book [of Revelation] consummates in the New Jerusalem which is built with precious materials. Where do these materials come from? They come from the seven eyes of Christ, that is, from the life-giving, transforming Spirit.
In the book of Revelation the Spirit is not called the life-giving Spirit or the transforming Spirit, but the seven Spirits which are the seven burning, searching, judging lamps. For the degraded church, the Spirit who gives life must be the sevenfold burning Spirit. Today, the life-giving Spirit must be the flaming Spirit, and the transforming Spirit must be the searching and judging Spirit. His searching and judging are His purifying and transforming. No one can be transformed into a precious stone without being searched by Him. How I look to the Lord that He would search us all. We are not here for doctrine and teaching; we are here under the enlightening of the pure Word and under the searching of the seven Spirits. We all need to be thoroughly searched, purified, and refined. If we are, we shall never be the same.]
In the final book of the Bible, Revelation, the Spirit is called the "seven Spirits of God." This does not mean that there are seven different Spirits; rather this means that the Spirit of God is intensified seven times for God's move. The seven Spirits are also the seven lamps for shining and judging. They are also the seven eyes of the Lamb to observe and transfuse the believers with Christ's element. The seven Spirits which are the lamps and the eyes are for God's building. The sevenfold Spirit purifies, infuses and transforms the believers to make them precious stones fit for the New Jerusalem.
