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Scripture Reading: Rev. 1:12-18; 2:1, 7- 8, 10-12, 17-18, 26-29; 3:1, 5-7, 12-14, 20-22
When we read Revelation, we should consider the first three chapters together. The first chapter clearly depicts Christ as our High Priest, wearing the priestly robe, which signifies that He is ministering Himself and the divine nature and life into us. If you separate this chapter from the next two, you will not easily realize that what these two chapters cover is the real priestly service. You may think that in chapters 2 and 3 the Lord is dealing with the seven churches, and not associate this with His priestly service. If you think this way, you are missing the mark. Chapters 2 and 3 show how He ministers the priestly service to us.
This ministry of the priestly service is accomplished mainly by His speaking. Christ’s heavenly priesthood is a speaking ministry. In my early Christian life I thought that Christ was in the heavens only interceding for us as our High Priest. In those years I did not see that, besides His speaking Godward to intercede, He also has a speaking that is usward. He speaks to God to intercede for us, and He speaks to us to minister the priestly service.
Christ’s speaking to us surely follows His speaking to the Father. In other words, His intercession takes place first; then by His speaking to us, He continues to accomplish what He has interceded.
How busy Christ is! He is not only walking in the midst of the churches; He is also carrying on His twofold speaking, a Godward speaking and an usward speaking. He is a walking and a speaking High Priest. I used to think that Christ is only seated in the heavens, but actually He is both speaking and walking as well. As I am speaking, I am busy walking at the same time. In fact, I also have a twofold speaking. On the one hand, I am addressing you; on the other hand, my inner being is also speaking to the heavenly One. What Christ intercedes for, He then speaks forth to us. Then, after He speaks to us, He again speaks to the Father. He has much to say in Revelation 2 and 3 to the seven churches; correspondingly, He has much to say to the Father for the carrying out of what He has spoken in the seven epistles. This speaking, then, goes back and forth: first to the Father, then to us, then back to the Father again. Hallelujah for our speaking High Priest!
An attorney in a law court has the job of speaking. Our Attorney is the best! He is our High Priest, the Son of God, Jesus Christ our Lord. He is speaking in the heavens, and He is also speaking here. As He walks among us, He speaks. Even in these messages being given here, if the speaking is genuine, it is also a part of His speaking. Surely before the speaking of these messages there was some intercession that transpired before the throne. Then after the speaking, the intercession goes on again. All this is part of the proper speaking.
It should be clear to you now that Christ’s priestly service is not only His walking in Revelation 1 but also His speaking in chapters 2 and 3. By His walking in the midst of the churches, He gets to know the condition of each church. How could He write those seven epistles right to the point? It is because He visited all those churches. He traveled through Ephesus, Smyrna, Pergamos, Thyatira, Sardis, Philadelphia, and Laodicea. Such a tour made Him thoroughly familiar with every situation. Then after His seeing, He spoke.
Even today it is the same. Our High Priest in His heavenly ministry is now walking among the churches to look into the condition of each one. Then according to what He sees, He speaks to us. This is the real priestly service. Do not think that what He is saying is doctrine. His speaking is His serving, His ministering. If you reread these seven epistles with this understanding, you will find them altogether new. Many Bible teachers use these epistles to expound doctrines, but what Christ is speaking here is not doctrinal. It is a priestly speaking.
What is the nature of this priestly speaking? In the Old Testament there was the lampstand in the tabernacle. Every morning these lamps were trimmed by having their charred wicks snuffed (Exo. 30:7). In addition, they were kept supplied with oil (27:20). To trim is to cut off the charred ends, which would no longer burn brightly; to add oil is to supply what is needed. In Revelation 2 and 3 our High Priest was trimming the seven lampstands. He was cutting away those things that were not needed and that frustrated the shining. At the same time He was supplying the oil that was needed and that would make the lampstands burn brightly. The seven lampstands were receiving His trimming and His infilling.
Of all the things He trimmed away, to me the most striking is the synagogue of Satan (2:9). Are you familiar with this term? That the Lord speaks of Judaism in such a way indicates that by the time of the church age, Judaism had become satanic. If you are a Jewish believer, subconsciously you may still be for Judaism. When you hear that it has become satanic, you may want to protest. Nonetheless, this is the word of our heavenly High Priest. In fact, He uses the term a second time in 3:9.
A synagogue is the symbol of Judaism, just as a building with a steeple is a symbol of Christianity. In any present-day town, whether here or in other countries, if we see a building with a steeple and a bell, we recognize it as a symbol of Christianity; if we see a synagogue, we know it is a symbol of Judaism. During the church dispensation this symbol of Judaism became the synagogue of Satan. It is utilized by him in rebellion against God’s New Testament economy.
I surely love the Jews because they are God’s chosen people. Yet to speak the truth I must say that today Judaism is in rebellion against God. Who sentenced the Son of God to death? It was not Pilate; nor was it Herod. Judaism must take the responsibility. The high priest and then the other Jews called for His death (John 18:13-14; 19:14-15; Matt. 27:20).
What can we learn from this? Our old religious concepts are against God’s economy and need to be trimmed away. These concepts are black, charred, and dark. They are one of the things that hinder the shining of the local churches. Thus, we need our High Priest to step in and trim them away.
Another thing that chars the wick is worldliness. Our heavenly High Priest cannot tolerate this. Pergamos speaks of the marriage of the church with the world (Rev. 2:12-17). The Lord again steps in to trim the wick. You who live in New York are surely living in a worldly city. Apart from the church I certainly would not like to live there. We heard a brother from Texas give a testimony that when he got on the subway, he said, “Lord, take me back to Texas. It’s not so worldly there.” The truth is, Texas has its own worldliness. We may think that those who live in the countryside are spared from worldliness, but this is not the case. The country has its worldliness too. All this worldliness, symbolized by Pergamos, must be trimmed away.
When the Lord comes to the church in Thyatira, He condemns them for tolerating the woman Jezebel (v. 20). Who is this evil woman He calls Jezebel? It is the Roman Catholic Church. She “calls herself a prophetess and teaches and leads My slaves astray to commit fornication and to eat idol sacrifices.” The Catholic Church is full of evil. The woman Jezebel is in the church. All that she represents must be trimmed away.
In the last epistle, the one to Laodicea, there is lukewarmness (3:15-16). “I know your works, that you are neither cold nor hot; I wish that you were cold or hot. So, because you are lukewarm and neither hot nor cold, I am about to spew you out of My mouth.” Lukewarmness also must be trimmed away.
A number of you may be lukewarm. You are somewhat indifferent, yet still you come to the meetings. You may even be proud that you are moderate, and think, “I’m a middle-of-the-road person. It’s good not to be too wild or too committed. I’m not cold, but I’m not hot either. Too much heat burns people; I don’t think that’s good.”
In 1948 an elderly sister came to me in Shanghai and said, “What you people are doing is good, but it is too hot.” She meant that we were overly zealous. She may not have liked it, but our heavenly High Priest likes us to be hot. She went on to say, “If you serve people hot water, they will get burned. It would be better to make the water neither too hot nor too cold.”
Many Christian meetings are in this category. The service is neither too hot nor too cold. It is just right for the indifferent audience who attends. But we have to be hot! We need to burn others!
Sometimes I have been advised to tone down my messages. Some said, “Brother Lee, you are too strong. It’s better to be a little milder. You don’t need to make such extreme statements. What is the benefit of saying that Judaism is satanic, Catholicism is demonic, and Protestantism is Christless?” To take such advice would be to compromise. I am not a politician, telling you what you want to hear.
Lukewarmness must be trimmed away, along with religion, worldliness, and the evils of Jezebel. Morning by morning the priests did this trimming work.
The priests also filled the lamps with oil. What is this infilling?
The Lord Jesus says to the church in Ephesus, “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 eat of the tree of life is the best infilling. This oil surpasses the oil found in the Arab countries.
Then in Revelation 2:17 He promises the one who overcomes in Pergamos, “To him I will give of the hidden manna.” To eat of the hidden manna is to be filled and supplied.
To the church in Laodicea He says, “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). By feasting with the Lord, the infilling takes place.
To eat of the tree of life, to eat of the hidden manna, to feast with the Lord: these are all the infilling.
Even as you read this chapter, the speaking trims and infills or refills. This is Christ’s high-priestly service. By it all the dark, black things of religion, worldliness, evil, and lukewarmness are trimmed away. Also by it the heavenly, divine element of the tree of life, the hidden manna, and the heavenly feast is ministered to you.
The effect of this heavenly ministry is a metabolic transformation. The old things will be discharged and replaced with something new, heavenly, and divine. You will be transformed into precious stones for the building of God’s dwelling place. Even while you read, this transformation is going on because this ministry is under the heavenly priesthood of Christ. It seeks to trim the churches and supply them with the infilling so that all the saints in the churches might be metabolically and organically transformed.
Since I last visited the church here, I can see a change especially in you young ones. There has been some transformation in you. This is not cause for you to be proud. You have probably been unaware that such a thing was going on in you. Nonetheless, you have been at least partially transformed. How has this come about? It has not been by teaching. It has been because your High Priest in the heavens is doing His priestly service, walking among you, speaking to you, and interceding for you. I believe your names have been frequently mentioned by Him in the heavens. Otherwise, none of you would still be here. For you young people to be here is a great matter. Surely it is the heavenly High Priest who has kept you. Day and night He has been taking care of everything that concerns you.
All His service and care has the aim of making you an overcomer. Religion, worldliness, evil things, and lukewarmness are not part of the golden lampstand. But when you eat of the tree of life, when you partake of the hidden manna, and when you enjoy the heavenly feast, this nourishment will become the divine element of which the lampstand is composed.
Thus every local church will be a lampstand, and in every local church will be overcomers. These overcomers will make up the lampstand. With them religion, worldliness, evil, and lukewarmness will have been trimmed away. The heavenly element will have been supplied to you as the tree of life, the hidden manna, and the heavenly feast. What you will have is the Triune God Himself. He will become your constituent. With such a golden constitution there will be the lampstand. A lampstand eventually is the overcomers in a local church.
