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In this chapter we must see something of Christ in Revelation. Christ in this book is quite different from all the other books of the Bible. Let us read Revelation 1:13-16. “In the midst of the lampstands One like the Son of Man, clothed with a garment reaching to the feet, and girded about at the breasts with a golden girdle. And His head and hair were as white as white wool, as snow; and His eyes were like a flame of fire; and His feet were like shining bronze, as having been fired in a furnace; and His voice was like the sound of many waters. And He had in His right hand seven stars; and out of His mouth proceeded a sharp two-edged sword; and His face shone as the sun shines in its power.”
In the verses above Christ is the man walking in the midst of the seven golden lampstands. We know that these golden lampstands are the local churches. This reveals that today Christ is the Son of Man walking in the midst of the local churches. We may have been Christians for years but did not realize that Christ today is the glorious man walking in the midst of the local churches. He is walking in the midst of the golden lampstands, and the golden lampstands are the local churches.
If we want Him to walk in our midst, we must be in the local church. If we are in the denominations, we are still in captivity. In the midst of the local churches, Christ is walking. We must not think that it is a small thing to be in the local churches. Christ as the glorified man is walking in their midst. This is the greatest reward for us in the local church. For more than thirty-six years I have enjoyed His precious walking in the midst. The first point in this book about Christ is that He is walking. He is not walking in the denominations or in any organizations. He is walking in the midst of the local churches.
If we would have Christ walking in the United States, we must have a good number of local churches in this country. To have Christ walking in the Northwest, there must be a number of local churches there. To have Christ walking in California, there must be the local churches there. Praise the Lord! Where the local churches are, there Christ is walking in the midst.
To have Christ walking in our midst is not a small matter. Suppose tonight we were to have the president of the United States walking in our midst. That would indeed be exciting. But he is just the president and nothing to compare with Christ. To have Christ walking in our midst is inexpressibly glorious!
Now we realize how precious is the book of Revelation. This book tells us that Christ today is walking in the midst of the local churches.
Revelation continues to tell us what kind of a Christ He is. He is a Christ who is so perfect: He is wearing a long garment down to His feet. Nothing is short or lacking; nothing is needed. He is perfect. The garment in the Bible always signifies what a person is and what he does. Christ wears a perfect garment, and we know that this is the perfect robe of the high priest. He is walking in the midst of the local churches as the High Priest. He brings the local churches into the priesthood. He is walking in our midst not as a general in the army, or as a king, but as the High Priest in a perfect robe.
It is indeed interesting to notice that as the High Priest, Christ does not gird His loins, but His breast. This means that His work has been accomplished. His work is past, but His concern and His love still remain. The girdle is not now upon His loins but upon His breast. His work is over, but His loving concern still abides for the local churches. His concern is a concern of love—this is why He girds His breast. He has finished His work, but He is so concerned in love for all the local churches.
This book also tells us that Christ is the ancient One, for His hair is exceedingly white. White hair, humanly speaking, always signifies oldness, but here it signifies that Christ is the ancient One. No one is as ancient as He. But this does not mean that He is old. He is ancient, yet He is so living. “I am...the living One” (1:17-18).
The older we are, the more living we must be. We, the older ones, must be more living. Christ is the most ancient One, yet He is the most living One. He is living forever and ever. He is ancient, and He is living.
I have known some local churches who were very living when they first began to meet, but after two or three years they became old. This is wrong. The older a church is, the more living it must be. The church must be as Christ, the Head. He is the oldest, the most ancient, yet He is the most living. I hope that as the church in Los Angeles grows older, it will also become more and more living.
The local churches should not be dead. This is why the Lord Jesus spoke in the way He did to the church in Sardis. He told them that He was the One who has the seven Spirits; therefore, they should not be so dead. There was nothing wrong with the church in Sardis except that she was dead. She had a name that she was living, but in fact she was dead. This is wrong. In Sardis was a dead local church, yet Christ is so living. This means that she had lost her contact with the living Christ.
Then we read that the Christ in Revelation has eyes like a flame of fire and feet like shining bronze, as having been fired in a furnace. All this means that He is burning. He is ancient, He is living, and He is burning. In the local churches there should be no coldness or lukewarmness, because Christ is the burning One. He is not only living, but He is also burning.
Would we be willing to pray-read for fifteen minutes and allow Christ to look upon us with His burning eyes? We must remember that He has seven eyes. Revelation 5:6 tells us that His seven eyes are the seven Spirits of God. The seven Spirits of God are like seven lamps of burning fire (4:5). If we allow these seven eyes to look upon us, surely we will be burned. If we can pray-read for fifteen minutes and yet be cold, our pray-reading must be wrong. There must be some kind of insulation, insulating us from within; otherwise, we will be burned. Christ is not only living, but He is also burning. We all must be burning. Do not speak to me too much; otherwise, you will be burned. I am burning. Every member in the local churches must be so burning.
When we are burned and burning, we are not always so clear. The coldest people are the clearest ones. When we are cold, we will have an exceedingly clear mind. But when we are burning, we are somewhat foolish. Praise the Lord! We must not try to be so clear. We need to be a little foolish, because we are burning.
Christ is the One who is walking in the midst of the local churches, and He is the High Priest whose work is accomplished but who has a concern of love for the local churches. He is also the One who is so ancient, so living, and so burning.
Suppose Christ were here today with His seven burning eyes and His feet like shining bronze, as having been fired in a furnace. Would we dare to contact Him? In the local church Christ is walking in the midst as such a burning One.
There is something more. Christ is not so silent. He was somewhat silent when He was walking upon this earth, but today He is different. Today He is in the local churches with a voice as the sound of many waters. We all must be living and speaking. We are not serving a silent Christ, but One with a voice like the sound of many waters. When we come together in the local churches, we need to have the sound of many waters. In the local churches Christ is not so silent. We must be filled with Him; then our praises will be just like the sound of many waters. “O Lord, Amen, Hallelujah!” We need to be noisy, because the very Christ who is within us and who is walking in our midst is a Christ with a loud voice. Those in Christianity may say that this is extreme, but the Lord is going to revolutionize Christianity. He is even going to revolutionize our meetings. There is no need for us to keep the old way. There must be something new and living all the time.
The first chapter of Revelation is absolutely different from the first chapter of John. John 1:1 says, “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.” This is really good. But I also admire the first chapter of Revelation, for it tells us something about a Christ who is not so gentle but so fierce. Look at the picture of Christ in this chapter. His eyes are like a flame of fire, His feet are like shining bronze, as having been fired in a furnace, and His voice is like the sound of many waters. At the end of the age the Lord must be fierce. This is because the days are so dark, so evil, and so dead. We need something fierce. Dead Christianity needs a fierce Christ.
If you exercise your mind to read the Bible day by day, you will be so cold and so silent. But if you would forget your mind and contact the living Christ who is walking in the midst of the local churches, you will be burning. Why are you so silent? It is because you read too much. Why are you so silent? It is because you never say, “O Lord, Amen, Hallelujah!” If you try, you will see. You will be burned, and you will jump up and shout. You can never be so silent if you contact the Christ in Revelation. Something will burn within you. This is the way Christ is today in the local churches.
We must not bring our past impression of Christ into the local churches. We must have a new impression of Christ. The Christ who is walking in the midst of the local churches is very ancient, yet so living and burning. He has seven burning eyes, His feet are like shining bronze, as having been fired in a furnace, and His voice is like the sound of many waters. This is absolutely different from the impression of Christ we received in Christianity. Praise the Lord that we have seen such a Christ!
In Revelation 2:1 the Lord says, “These things says He who holds the seven stars in His right hand, He who walks in the midst of the seven golden lampstands.” The seven stars are the leading ones in the local churches. The Lord today is holding the leading ones. He is walking in the midst of the local churches, and He is holding the leading ones.
Then Revelation 3:1 tells us that He is not only holding the leading ones, but He also has the seven Spirits. “These things says He who has the seven Spirits of God and the seven stars.” The seven Spirits are not only for the seven churches but also for the leaders of the local churches. All the leading ones of the local churches must be burning with the seven Spirits.
Revelation also tells us that Christ has the keys of David. When He opens, no one can shut, and when He shuts, no one can open. “These things says the Holy One, the true One, the One who has the key of David, the One who opens and no one will shut, and shuts and no one opens” (v. 7). The Lord sets before the local churches an open door. I can testify that in the past years the enemy has tried his best to shut the doors to us. But the more he has tried, the more the doors have been opened. The local churches are His testimony. Who can shut them? The key of David is in His hand.
In Revelation 3:14 Christ is the Amen. “These things says the Amen, the faithful and true Witness, the beginning of the creation of God.” When we say, “O Lord, Amen,” we are simply calling on His name. Jah, the last syllable of Hallelujah, is also the name of the Lord. Jah means “Jehovah,” and hallelu means “praise.” So Hallelujah means “praise the Lord.” Therefore, O Lord, Amen, and Hallelujah are all filled with the titles of the Lord. He is the Lord, the Amen, and Jah. “O Lord, Amen, Hallelujah!”
Revelation also tells us that the Lord is the worthy One. “You are worthy, our Lord and God, to receive the glory and the honor and the power, for You have created all things, and because of Your will they were, and were created...And I saw a strong angel proclaiming with a loud voice, Who is worthy to open the scroll and to break its seals? And no one in heaven nor on the earth nor under the earth was able to open the scroll or look into it. And I wept much because no one was found worthy to open the scroll or look into it. And one of the elders said to me, Do not weep; behold, the Lion of the tribe of Judah, the Root of David, has overcome so that He may open the scroll and its seven seals. And I saw in the midst of the throne and of the four living creatures and in the midst of the elders a Lamb standing as having just been slain, having seven horns and seven eyes, which are the seven Spirits of God sent forth into all the earth” (4:11; 5:2-6).
There is none in heaven or in earth or under the earth as worthy as Christ. His worthiness is realized in the local churches. We must not forget that this is a book to the local churches. His worthiness is not revealed in other books; it is only in this one to the local churches. This means His worthiness is to be realized in the local churches. One day, throughout the whole United States, so many local churches will be built up. That will be the time when the worthiness of Christ will be revealed. In Christianity the worthiness of Christ can never be shown. The more we are built up in the local churches, the more Christ will be manifested as the worthy One.
To the enemy He is the Lion, and to us He is the Lamb. “Behold, the Lion of the tribe of Judah, the Root of David, has overcome.” So He is worthy. John came to see the Lion, but he saw a Lamb. To the enemy He is a prevailing Lion, but to us He is the redeeming Lamb. Praise the Lord!
Finally, in Revelation 19 we see that Christ is riding on a white horse for the battle. “I saw heaven opened, and behold, a white horse, and He who sits on it called Faithful and True, and in righteousness He judges and makes war...And the armies which are in heaven followed Him on white horses, dressed in fine linen, white and clean” (vv. 11, 14).
This Christ in the local churches is eventually the fighting Christ, riding on a white horse, and we are His followers. We are the heavenly army to fight the battle with Him for the heavenly kingdom.
This is the Christ in Revelation. May the Lord give us the vision to see this Christ in the local churches, a Christ who is absolutely different from the Christ in Christianity.
