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In this chapter we shall consider the Spirit in the book of Revelation. In Revelation we see that the Spirit of God is now the seven Spirits. The term the seven Spirits is found four times in Revelation. Revelation 1:4 speaks of the seven Spirits who are before God’s throne; 3:1, of the seven Spirits of God; 4:5, of seven lamps of fire burning before the throne, which are the seven Spirits of God; and 5:6, of the seven eyes of the Lamb, which are the seven Spirits of God, sent forth into all the earth. The seven Spirits of God are called the seven lamps of fire burning before the throne and also the seven eyes of the Lamb. They are the seven Spirits of God; yet these seven Spirits are the seven lamps of fire burning before God’s administrative throne and also the seven eyes of the redeeming Lamb. Before you came into the church life, you probably never heard a word about the seven Spirits of God being the seven lamps and the seven eyes. Nevertheless, this is found in the book of Revelation.
Hardly anything in the book of Revelation is new. Revelation is not a book of new things; rather, it is the conclusion of the things revealed in the foregoing books of the Bible. The book of Revelation is the consummation of all previous revelation. It contains few new things, and the new things it does contain are related to the foregoing revelation. This is true with respect to the seven lamps and the seven eyes. Both are references to the Old Testament. The term the seven Spirits, however, is a new term; it cannot be found in the Old Testament. But the seven lamps and the seven eyes are found in the Old Testament. In Exodus 25, the first mention of the lampstand, we read of the seven lamps. Hence, the term the seven lamps found in Revelation is a reference to the Old Testament.
The thought of seven lamps burning and shining before God is not new; it had already been presented in the Old Testament (Exo. 25:31-37). The lampstand in the tabernacle had seven lamps burning before God. The lampstand signifies not only God’s testimony but also God’s administration. God’s administration cannot be separated from His testimony, because God’s testimony is for God’s administration. Most Christian teachers, however, have seen only that the lampstand is a testimony. They have not seen that the lampstand also refers to God’s administration. God’s administration is carried out through the shining of the lampstand.
We need to consider this lampstand in more detail. The lampstand with its branches is all-inclusive. It provides a clear picture of the Trinity. In the lampstand we have the Triune God. First, the lampstand is solid gold, made of a talent of gold. Thus, gold is the essence, the substance, of the lampstand. In typology gold signifies God’s substance, God’s nature. No doubt the gold of the lampstand signifies that the source of the lampstand is the Father in the Godhead with the divine substance. Second, the stand itself is the embodiment of the gold. Without the stand, the gold would not have any embodiment or form. But with the stand, the gold has a form and an embodiment. The stand as the embodiment of the gold signifies the Son, the second in the Trinity, who is the embodiment of God the Father. The Father is the substance, and the Son is the embodiment. Third, we have the seven lamps, which refer to the Spirit. The seven lamps, obviously, are the expression. The gold is the substance, the stand is the embodiment, and the lamps are the expression. Therefore, in the lampstand we have the Father as the substance, the Son as the embodiment, and the Spirit as the expression. This is the Triune God: the substance, the embodiment, and the expression. In substance the lampstand is one, but in expression it is seven. At the bottom the lampstand is one, but at the top it is seven.
The revelation in the Bible is always progressive. The first mention of the seven lamps is in Exodus, but the development of the seven lamps is in Zechariah. In the book of Exodus we cannot see that these seven lamps are the Spirit of God. In order to see this, we must proceed from Exodus to Zechariah. In Zechariah 4:2 and 10 we see clearly that the seven lamps of the lampstand are the seven eyes of God. Zechariah 3:9 shows that the seven eyes of God are the seven eyes of the stone. The seven lamps are the seven eyes of God, and these seven eyes are also on the stone. According to Zechariah, this stone is for God’s building. Zerubbabel was in the process of building the temple, and that stone with the seven eyes was for God’s building. Eventually, we see that the stone with the seven eyes is the lampstand. In the book of Revelation we see that the seven eyes of God are the seven eyes of the Lamb. The seven lamps of the lampstand are the seven eyes of God, the seven eyes on the stone, and the seven eyes of the Lamb. This means that the lampstand equals the stone, the stone equals the Lamb, and the Lamb equals God. In Exodus we have a lampstand with seven lamps. In Zechariah we see that these seven lamps are the seven eyes of God and the seven eyes of the stone. The book of Revelation indicates that these seven eyes are also the seven eyes of the Lamb. The seven lamps are the seven eyes of God, the seven eyes of the stone, and the seven eyes of the Lamb. This proves that the lampstand is God, that God is the stone, and that the stone is the Lamb. The lampstand is the stone, the stone is the Lamb, and the Lamb is God. These four things—the lampstand, the stone, the Lamb, and God—are four in one. The lampstand is for shining, the stone is for building, the Lamb is for redeeming, and God is for administrating. Therefore, we have the shining stand, the building stone, the redeeming Lamb, and the administrating God.
The seven lamps of the shining lampstand are the seven eyes of the building stone; the seven eyes of the building stone are the seven eyes of the redeeming Lamb; and the seven eyes of the redeeming Lamb are the seven eyes of the administrating God. These seven lamps and these seven eyes are the seven Spirits of God. They are not only the seven lamps and the seven eyes but also the seven Spirits. In the previous chapters we have covered many of the crucial aspects of the life-giving Spirit. In this chapter we have the conclusion of the life-giving Spirit. This conclusion is that in the present age the Spirit is the seven Spirits of God who are the seven lamps of fire burning for God’s administration and also the seven eyes of the redeeming and building One for transfusion and infusion. The lamps of burning fire are for God’s administration, and the eyes are for the redeeming and building One’s transfusion.
I realize that this thought is foreign to today’s Christianity. Nevertheless, it is in the Bible. In the past did anyone tell you that the lampstand as God’s testimony is for God’s administration or that the seven lamps of the lampstand are the seven eyes of the administrating God and the seven eyes of the redeeming Lamb? Did anyone tell you that these seven eyes of the redeeming Lamb are the seven eyes of the building stone? Did anyone tell you that the seven lamps as the seven Spirits are for God’s administration and that the seven eyes as the seven Spirits of God are for Christ’s transfusion? You probably never heard any of these things. The seven lamps are for God’s administration to accomplish God’s purpose, and the seven eyes are for Christ’s infusing to perfect us. On the one hand, these seven Spirits are seven lamps shining, burning, searching, judging, and carrying out God’s administration. On the other hand, these seven Spirits are the seven eyes of the redeeming and building Christ to infuse whatever Christ is into us. Whenever He looks at us, we receive an infusion. This is today’s life-giving Spirit. Today the life-giving Spirit is the seven Spirits of God as the seven lamps of fire burning to carry out God’s administration. While He is burning us, He is looking at us. He is not only the lamps of fire burning for God’s administration but also the eyes of the redeeming Lamb looking at us, not to judge us and expose our faults but to grant us His precious infusion.
At the end of the book of Revelation we see two consummations, one negative and the other positive. The negative consummation is the lake of fire, and the positive consummation is the city of water. Whatever the seven burning lamps search out and judge will go to the lake of fire. But whatever has been infused into us by the seven eyes of the redeeming Christ will be built into the New Jerusalem. The lake of fire is a collection of everything that has been judged by the seven lamps of burning fire. Thus, the seven lamps are for searching, judging, and sending the negative things into the lake of fire. On the one hand, the seven Spirits of God are the seven judging and searching lamps; on the other hand, they are seven transfusing eyes, transfusing all that Christ is into us to make us part of the city of water, the positive consummation. Hallelujah, we are not going to the lake of fire but to the city of water!
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.
Some of you may not know how to answer when asked if you are under the seven lamps or the seven eyes. If you are honest, you will say that you are under both, for quite often you have been involved with the things that are destined to go to the lake of fire. You have been related to the wrong consummation. But by the Lord’s mercy, whenever you repent and apply the blood, you are immediately connected to the right consummation. Hallelujah, now you are connected to the New Jerusalem under the transfusing of the seven eyes of the Lamb.
Recently in the Lord’s recovery there has been much talk about the building. The building actually issues out of the seven eyes of the stone. The seven eyes are not only the seven eyes of the administrating God but also the seven eyes of the redeeming Lamb and even more the seven eyes of the building stone. When we are involved with negative things and are connected to the wrong consummation, the lake of fire, the seven Spirits are the seven burning lamps of God to search us and to judge us. But if we repent and apply the blood of the Lamb, these seven Spirits of God immediately become the seven eyes of the Lamb. When we say, “Lord, thank You for the cleansing of Your redeeming blood,” the seven Spirits of God, which are the seven eyes of the redeeming Lamb, become the seven eyes of the stone. When in experience the Spirit of God becomes the seven eyes of the stone, His looking upon us brings about a transfusion, and it immerses us into all that Christ is. This makes us the proper material for God’s building. Moreover, it builds us into God’s building. I realize that we are still short of this building, but I believe that this building has already begun. In the coming days all the churches will be brought into such a state that the saints will be under the seven eyes not only of God and the Lamb but also of the stone. We shall be under the infusing of the building Christ.
As the unique stone, the building Christ will infuse into us all that He is. He will immerse us into His very essence to make us stones and to build us into God’s building. This building work can be accomplished only by the transfusing and infusing of the seven eyes of the building stone, which is the building Christ. In the coming days, many of us will be under this transfusing, and we shall become the proper material to be built together into God’s building. This is the conclusion of the life-giving Spirit unfolded as the seven Spirits of God in the book of Revelation.
The seven Spirits are also the speaking Spirit. Revelation 2:7 says, “He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.” Today we are hearing the speaking of the Spirit. In Christianity many sermons are given from many platforms, but I wonder how much of this speaking is the speaking of the Spirit. The speaking of the Spirit to the churches is in the churches. How can those not in the churches hear what the Spirit is speaking to the churches?
The speaking of the Spirit always turns us to the infusing of Christ. The Spirit’s speaking is Christ’s infusing. If you listen to His speaking, you will immediately be under Christ’s transfusing and infusing, and you will be immersed into Christ. Today the seven Spirits are speaking to the churches, and anyone who has an ear and listens to this speaking will be turned to Christ’s infusing. Do not analyze this with your mentality. Instead, check with your spirit and with your experience. Whenever you listen to the speaking of the seven Spirits of God to the churches, you are immediately under a precious, sweet, and dear transfusing, an infusing that changes you, transforms you, makes you the proper material, and builds you into God’s building. Whatever must go to the lake of fire is burned away by the seven lamps, and now you are under the seven eyes, being infused with all that Christ is to become part of the New Jerusalem.
Eventually, the seven Spirits become one river (22:1-2). In the first chapter of Revelation we have the seven Spirits before the throne of God. In the last chapter the seven Spirits as the seven lamps and the seven eyes become the one river of water of life flowing out from God’s administrative throne. This river contains the tree of life to supply the entire city of New Jerusalem. In a sense, even today the seven lamps and the seven eyes become the river of life in the church life. The seven Spirits are either for searching and judging or for transfusing and infusing. But eventually these seven Spirits become the river of life flowing throughout God’s building to supply the life that is needed.
In the book of Revelation we have a clear picture. If we look at this picture, we shall see that today the life-giving Spirit is the seven Spirits of God, who are the seven lamps burning to search and judge the negative things and the seven eyes to infuse us with the positive things and with Christ’s essence for God’s building. Now we are under the infusing of these seven eyes. Eventually, the seven Spirits become the river of life flowing through the churches to bring us the life supply so that we may be nourished. How wonderful and marvelous this is!
