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Scripture Reading: Rev. 1:1-2, 12-16; 5:5-6; 19:15; 2:2, 4, 7, 2:9, 17, 2:20; 3:9, 3:12, 20; Matt. 13:33; Rev. 17:1-5; 3:1, 15-16; 2:13-15
The Bible has a wonderful beginning in Genesis and a wonderful conclusion in Revelation. Without the book of Genesis, the divine revelation would not have a proper beginning. The first ten chapters of Genesis require more than thirty messages of the Life-study of Genesis to cover them. Likewise, without the book of Revelation, the Bible would not have a proper conclusion. It is very meaningful that the Bible concludes in the same way it begins. It begins with the tree of life in Genesis 2:9. Then throughout most of the remainder of the Bible, the tree of life seems to disappear. When I read the Bible as a young man, I wondered where the tree of life went after the way to it was closed. Eventually, the tree of life returns in the book of Revelation (2:7; 22:2). In this way, the Bible begins with the tree of life, and it also concludes with the tree of life.
The Bible also begins with man as God’s expression (Gen. 1:26). That man was created by God in His own image means that he was created to express God. Man was destined to be the expression of God. In the final two chapters of the Bible, man eventually becomes the true expression of God. The One sitting on the throne has the appearance of jasper, and the New Jerusalem, with man as a component, also has the appearance of jasper (Rev. 4:3a; 21:11, 18-19). That jasper is the appearance of the holy city signifies that man becomes the expression of God. Therefore, in the first two chapters of the Bible there is life and the expression of God, and in the last two chapters there is again life and the expression of God. The only difference is that the Bible begins with creation, but it concludes with a building. What is in the first two chapters of the Bible is mainly God’s creation. In the beginning God created the heavens, the earth, and many other items, including man. In the final two chapters, however, there is a city built with precious materials. A city is not something of creation but something that has been built. The building with which the entire Bible concludes is a building with the divine life, and the purpose of the building is to express God. If we grasp these few points, we can see the intrinsic significance of the entire Bible. Therefore, we must spend adequate time to get into Genesis and Revelation.
The book of Revelation is a mysterious book. On the one hand, it is a book of prophecy, but to say this with the proper understanding requires us to know what prophecy is. Prophecy is not merely a prediction, as the Old Testament prophets would say, “Thus says Jehovah.” It is something more weighty, higher, deeper, and more excellent. Although Revelation is a book of prophecy, prophecy itself is not the subject of this book. Revelation 1:1 begins, “The revelation of Jesus Christ.” We must keep this in our memory. This is a book of revelation, but the revelation is of Jesus Christ. Among the Christian teachers, there are different schools concerning the meaning of this one phrase the revelation of Jesus Christ. Some say this refers to the revelation given by Christ, but this is an inadequate interpretation. This book is the revelation concerning Christ and unveiling Christ.
We may have seen Christ in the four Gospels, the Acts, and all the Epistles, but Christ is much more even than this. Regrettably, most Christians only know Christ mainly from the Gospels and a little from the Acts and the Epistles. In the past fifty years I have met many Christians of different kinds and from different parts of the world, and I have always tried to humbly receive what they had. Throughout my entire Christian life, however, Brother Watchman Nee was the only person I met whose ministry I could fully respect. Among all the other Christian teachers I met, almost no one else truly knew the Christ in the last book of the Bible.
The Christ in Revelation is absolutely different from the One in the four Gospels. In the past I have been condemned for saying this. One preacher even said, “This is heresy. This man says that he has a different Christ.” Nevertheless, in this chapter I repeat strongly, the Christ in Revelation is different from the Christ in the four Gospels. Yes, He is the same Christ, but He is the same Christ in different aspects. In the four Gospels Christ was mild, gentle, and kind. Whenever He looked at people, they felt loved. His most intimate disciple could even recline on His bosom (John 13:23). This same Christ, however, appears differently in the book of Revelation. He has not only two eyes but seven eyes, which are like a flame of fire (1:14; 5:6). If such a Christ appeared to us today, we would all be shocked. Luke 4:22 says that words of grace proceeded out of His mouth, but Revelation tells us that a two-edged sword proceeds out of His mouth (1:16; 19:15). Moreover, in John 1:29 He is introduced as the Lamb of God, but in Revelation 5:5 He is called the Lion of the tribe of Judah. It is foolish to say that the Lion is the same as the Lamb. The book of Revelation unveils Christ to us not in a common way but in an extraordinary way. This way is absolutely different from that in the Gospels. In a sense, Revelation continues the Gospels and the Epistles, but it does not reveal Christ according to the Gospels and the Epistles. The revelation of Christ unveils Christ in a different aspect.
Revelation 1:2 speaks of “the word of God and the testimony of Jesus.” For many years I have considered this term the testimony of Jesus. When I was young, I was taught that if we have good behavior, we will present the testimony of Jesus to people. This means that we, the believers, must behave ourselves, love our neighbor, honor our parents, love our wife, and submit to our husband. At that time I accepted this definition, but gradually I began to feel that it is too low. Such a definition does not belong in the concluding book of the Bible. Whatever is in the conclusion of the Bible must be something higher. After this, I began to look to the Lord for the way to understand the testimony of Jesus. Gradually, I saw the proper meaning, but for over twelve years I have realized that if I spoke about this matter in an honest and frank way, I would offend many people. Twelve years ago the time was not ripe to speak in this way, even in the Lord’s recovery, so the Lord caused me to be patient and wait until another day. Recently, however, the burden came to me that now is the time for the Lord to tell His people clearly and fully what the testimony of Jesus is. For this reason I am bold. I do not care if I am rejected. I must speak the truth concerning the testimony of Jesus.
We all know that a picture is better than a thousand words. For this reason, Revelation has not only plain words, but even more it paints a picture. If we do not know how to understand this “painting,” we will not be able to understand this book. The first picture is the vision of the seven shining, golden lampstands (1:12). Then in chapter 4 there are the four living creatures; one is like a lion, the second like a calf, the third having the face of a man, and the fourth like a flying eagle (vv. 6-9). In the midst of the four living creatures is One who was introduced as the Lion, but when John looked, the Lion became a Lamb (5:5-6). The third vision is of four horses running a race (6:1-8)—a white horse, a red horse, a black horse, and a pale horse. In chapter 9 there are locusts with tails like scorpions (vv. 3, 10). In chapter 12 there is a wonderful woman clothed with the sun, with the moon underneath her feet, and on her head a crown of twelve stars (v. 1). The woman is about to deliver a child, and before her is a great dragon who tries to devour her child (v. 4). Then in chapter 13 are two beasts, one coming out of the sea and the other coming out of the earth (vv. 1, 11), and in chapter 16 there are frogs (v. 13); frogs always come out when the weather is bad. In chapter 17 there is not a wonderful, universal woman but a great harlot (vv. 1-6), and in chapter 18 there is a great, evil city that is condemned by God (vv. 2-5). In chapter 19 there is a clean, neat, bright, and pure bride (vv. 7-8) clothed in fine linen, with whom there is no mixture, dirt, or spot. Then in chapter 20 there is the ancient serpent (v. 2), and in chapters 21 and 22 there is the holy city, New Jerusalem (21:2, 9-27; 22:1-2). What marvelous pictures these are! We need to see all these pictures, vision after vision. However, the main, central figure in this whole “painting” is Christ as the Lion of the tribe of Judah. If we see all the other items but not this Lion, we will certainly miss the mark. We must turn our eyes away from the frogs, the beasts, the locusts, the dragon, and the serpent and turn our eyes upon this Lion. This book is the revelation, the unveiling, of this Lion.
Moreover, this Lion is expressed through some vessels, which are the testimony of Jesus. An expression is the full testimony of a certain person. The testimony of Jesus is the expression of Jesus, who is expressed first in the local churches today and eventually in the New Jerusalem in the millennium and in eternity. Therefore, the churches today are the testimony of Jesus.
God created man in His own image with the intention that man may express Him. We must all realize that our destiny is not to do certain things. We need to forget about all other things. Our destiny is to express God. In Genesis, after God created man, He did not tell man to do many things. This is because man was made in the image of God simply to express God. We may compare man as the expression of God to a photograph. A photograph of a person does not worship the person, work for him, or serve him. The destiny of a photograph is simply to express the person. Man is a “photograph” of God. When God created man, He “took a photo” of Himself. Just as the function of a photograph is to express a person, man was made to express God. However, man failed God in this very respect, but Psalm 8 tells us that a second man would come to resume the responsibility of man to express God (vv. 4-6). This is what Jesus accomplished. While Jesus was on this earth, He fully expressed God. He was the real “photograph” of God.
Now this one photograph has been reproduced. We are all the reproduced “photographs” of Jesus. Therefore, today God has a corporate expression—the church—which is the testimony of Jesus, who is the expression of God. The old man Adam was created in God’s image, but Adam failed God. Now the church is the new man, which is created in Christ according to the image of God, having Christ as God’s expression (Eph. 4:24; Col. 3:10). This expression is the testimony of Jesus, which in Revelation is first the local churches and eventually the New Jerusalem. The book of Revelation opens with the seven lampstands, and it concludes with the New Jerusalem. Both the lampstands and the New Jerusalem are figures of the church. The seven lampstands are signs of the seven local churches, and the one New Jerusalem is the sign of the ultimate consummation of the church for eternity. Revelation is an unveiling of Christ, and Christ is expressed through the church. Therefore, the church is the testimony of the very Jesus revealed in this book.
The church is a corporate expression of God in Christ. In the seven epistles that the Lord spoke to the seven churches, we can find some secrets of how we can be the expression of God. The Christ revealed in Revelation 1 through 3 is a wonderful person. It is difficult to describe this wonderful person, but we know that in this universe there is such a wonderful One. These chapters first present a vision of Christ as the Son of Man walking in the midst of the seven lampstands, the local churches (1:13; 2:1). Some Christian teachers say that since the lampstands must be in heaven, Jesus is walking among them in heaven. However, since the seven lampstands signify the seven local churches, they are still on the earth. We cannot say that Jesus is walking in heaven among the churches. Verse 11 of chapter 1 says, “What you see write in a scroll and send it to the seven churches.” John was not writing to the heavens or to the angels. Instead, he was writing to seven cities on the earth—Ephesus, Smyrna, Pergamos, Thyatira, Sardis, Philadelphia, and Laodicea. Christ today as the wonderful person is walking on the earth in the midst of His local churches.
In this portion of the Word, this wonderful person does not charge us to worship Him, and there is only a small indication that we need to work for Him. The first church, the church in Ephesus, did many good works for Him. Christ appreciated this, but not very much. Mainly, He was not happy with Ephesus. He said, “I know your works...But I have one thing against you, that you have left your first love” (2:2, 4). The first secret to being the church as the testimony of Jesus is that we must love Him. We must say, “O Lord Jesus, I love You. Lord Jesus, nothing is as sweet to me as You are. Lord, I love You sweetly, intimately, and privately. In my love for You, I have many secrets with You that even my spouse does not know of.” Can we say this to the Lord? We must have a private love toward the Lord that we have not told even to our spouse. We all need to tell Jesus that we love Him.
After this, we also need to partake of the Lord by eating Him. We should not care as much about worshipping or serving Jesus. Strictly speaking, He does not need us to serve Him. He has countless angels to serve Him. Rather, He needs some eaters. He wants us to eat Him (John 6:57). Even if the angels desired to eat Jesus, they do not have this privilege. However, we, His simple followers, do have the privilege. We must know nothing but eating Jesus. Eating Jesus is the way. Revelation 2:7 says, “To him who overcomes, to him I will give to eat of the tree of life, which is in the Paradise of God.” If we love the Lord, we need to eat Him. We need to take Him into us as our enjoyment. Nothing is as enjoyable as eating. We can forget every kind of sport and give up all entertainment, but we cannot give up eating. My residence is near Disneyland, but I have never gone there. The best land is not Disneyland but Christ our land. Christ not only gives us the good land; He is the good land. He is our enjoyment, our entertainment, our sport, our amusement, our joy, and our rejoicing. We all need to enjoy Him. To be the proper church is to enjoy Christ, love Him, and eat Him as the tree of life and the hidden manna (v. 17).
Loving Jesus is the first secret, and eating Him is the second. We need to eat Him in both an open way and a hidden way. We can eat Him by pray-reading His Word with some other saints (Jer. 15:16). This is to eat the tree of life. However, we also must learn how to eat Him in a hidden way as the hidden manna. It is when we eat Him as the hidden manna that we are given a “white stone”; that is, we are transformed into precious stones, which are for God’s building. First we eat Him openly, and then we eat Him in a hidden way to be transformed into stone. Verse 12 of Revelation 3 indicates that the stones are built into the temple as a main part, a supporting pillar, of God’s building. Here is an advancement. Verse 7 of chapter 2 speaks of eating, verse 17 indicates transformation into a white stone, and 3:12 speaks of a pillar built into God’s temple, which eventually consummates in the holy city. We are being built into the church, which today is the temple and in the future will be enlarged to be the city.
Verse 20 says, “If anyone hears My voice and opens the door, then I will come in to him and dine with him and he with Me.” In Greek, dine denotes taking the principal meal of the day at evening. To dine is to eat not merely one kind of food but the riches of a feast. This may refer to the eating of the rich produce of the good land of Canaan by the children of Israel (Josh. 5:10-12). The tree of life, the manna, and the produce of the good land are all types of the various aspects of Christ as food to us. We must eat Christ not only as the tree of life and the hidden manna but also as a feast full of His riches.
I would encourage all the young brothers and sisters to take heed to this word. Fifty years ago, when I was your age, I prayed every morning, “Lord, I give myself to You again. I put myself into Your hand. Lord, You must do something for Yourself in this age through this young man.” How I thank the Lord that He has answered my prayer. I do hope and expect that from today on, many of the young people will pray, “Lord, help me to eat You as the tree of life and even as the hidden manna in a hidden way so that I may be transformed into a white stone to be built into Your temple as a supporting pillar.” The Lord’s recovery today, particularly in this country, needs many supporting pillars in every place. To this end, we need to pray. I can assure you and testify that this kind of prayer will be fully answered by the Lord.
Now we can see what the church is. The church is the transformed humanity who loves Christ, eats Christ, enjoys Christ, and is transformed by the holy, divine element of Christ into something solid—a white stone for God’s building. In one sense, the church is still humanity, but in another sense, it is a stone, a solid, supporting pillar, and a pure, solid, golden lampstand. All these matters are covered in the seven epistles in Revelation 2 and 3.
In the seven epistles to the churches, there are also negative matters. On the one hand, the churches as the lampstands of Christ are the testimony of Jesus. On the other hand, God’s enemy never sleeps. We all need to realize that Satan is very busy. Our God also works very diligently, but He is never too busy. He never says, “This morning I do not have time to be with you. Please wait until evening.” Rather, whenever we call on Him, He is ready to answer us. However, since the time that the church came into existence, Satan has been constantly busy, doing many things to corrupt and transmute the church and even to change its nature.
In the seven epistles the Lord used very hard and strong terms. He indicated that the Jewish synagogues were no longer of God but the synagogue of Satan (2:9; 3:9). Some may be offended and say, “You are too much. In the synagogues the Jews read the Bible and worship God. How can you say that they are the synagogue of Satan?” However, we must be fair. This is not my word; it is the word of the Lord Jesus. The Lord Jesus indicated that although the synagogues apparently were something for God, in actuality they had all become something of Satan. Today the principle is the same. Today on the whole earth, all the Jewish synagogues are satanic, and the satanic Judaism is versus the church. Nowhere is the opposition to Jesus so strong as in the Jewish synagogues. Some among us are brothers of Hebrew descent, but they must all realize that the religion of their fathers has become something satanic in the eyes of God.
The Lord mentioned the synagogue of Satan twice, once to Smyrna and once to Philadelphia. This is because among the seven churches, these two were the most positive ones. When the church becomes dull, dark, and down, there is no need for opposition from the synagogues. The synagogues would not care about such a church, because it is so low. However, when the churches become bright and shining, the synagogues hate them. If the churches in the Lord’s recovery in the United States become bright, eventually even Judaism will rise up against them. Judaism today is satanic.
After speaking of Judaism, the seven epistles also deal with the Roman Catholic Church. In the eyes of the Lord, Catholicism is Jezebel, the evil woman (2:20), that is not only satanic but also demonic. Judaism is satanic, but it never teaches people to worship idols. In Catholicism, however, Jezebel teaches people to worship idols, which are related to demons. Jezebel is the woman prophesied by the Lord Jesus in Matthew 13:33 and the great harlot in Revelation 17:1-5, the religious part of Babylon the Great. As such, she is a sign, a symbol, of Catholicism. As I mentioned in a previous chapter, when I was in Manila, I went to the largest cathedral purposely to study the situation. I observed all the idols there. Under one idol was a sign saying that if someone prays to that idol a certain number of times a day for a certain period of time, he will reduce a relative’s time in purgatory. Of course, they did not call those things idols. They called them Saint Theresa or the “holy mother.” The outstretched hand of the statue of the “holy mother” was made of marble, but it was almost worn out, because for many years superstitious worshippers had come and touched it. What superstition this is! This is an abomination in the eyes of God. It is more than satanic; this is demonic Catholicism. This is spoken of in the fourth epistle, the epistle to Thyatira.
In satanic Judaism, the name of God is preached, and people are taught to worship God. Likewise, in Catholicism people are taught about God, Christ, the Bible, and the cross. This is a subtlety. In the parable in Matthew 13, the Lord Jesus said that this woman, Jezebel, took leaven and hid it in three measures of meal. Meal is pure, but leaven is dirty and evil. This signifies that Catholicism has mixed the “meal,” the things concerning Christ, with every kind of heathen thing. Satanic Judaism and also demonic Catholicism oppose the pure church.
The next item related to religion is Protestantism. Whereas Judaism is satanic and Catholicism is demonic, Protestantism is dead and Christless. We know this from the fifth epistle, to the church in Sardis. Sardis has a name that it is living, yet it is dead (Rev. 3:1). In principle, we also see the condition of Protestantism in the epistle to Laodicea. The Lord told the church in Laodicea that it is neither cold nor hot, and because of this He is about to spew it out of His mouth. Christ is not in such a situation; therefore, He is outside of it, knocking at the door (vv. 15-16, 20). Again, all these things can be seen in the seven epistles in Revelation 2 and 3. Have you seen satanic Judaism, demonic Catholicism, and dead and Christless Protestantism in these epistles? Where then are you?
The fourth negative factor in these epistles is the world. According to church history, the church in Pergamos was fully married to the world. The Lord told Pergamos, “I know where you dwell, where Satan’s throne is...where Satan dwells” (2:13). The world is the place where Satan dwells and where his throne is. Therefore, four negative matters are covered in these seven epistles. The Lord’s intention here is to show us the things that are versus the church, His testimony—Judaism, Catholicism, Protestantism, and the world.
Within Catholicism and Protestantism there are the subordinate items, such as the teaching of Balaam and the teaching of the Nicolaitans (vv. 14-15). The teaching of Balaam was to lead God’s people to eat idol sacrifices and to commit fornication, and the teaching of the Nicolaitans was to set up the clergy-laity system. (Please see footnote 1 on verse 6 and footnote 1 on verse 15 in the Recovery Version.) Both of these are versus the church life. The church as the testimony of Jesus must forsake satanic Judaism, demonic Catholicism, dead and Christless Protestantism, devilish worldliness, the teaching of Balaam, and the teaching of the Nicolaitans. We are here as the pure golden lampstands.
