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Scripture Reading: Zech. 3:9; 4:7; Acts 4:10-12; John 1:42; Matt. 16:18; 1 Pet. 2:4-5; 1 Cor. 3:12; Rev. 21:11, 18-19a
I hope that every one of us can have a clear vision of the church being the reprint of the Spirit with Christ. The church is a reprint, a reproduction. This has been missed in today’s Christianity. Christianity is merely a religion and a human organization; it is not the reprint of the Spirit with Christ. The Lord’s recovery today is the recovery of the church as the reprint of the Spirit with Christ. For this reason we have a burden that not only in one locality or in one country but in every locality and in every country there could be a living testimony of the church. This does not depend on having a big number or a small number of people; rather, it depends on having some saints who meet together in the Lord’s name, in the Lord’s person, as Christ’s reprint, Christ’s reproduction.
Let us consider what the reprint of the Spirit with Christ really means. We all know what a reprint is. If we have an article that has been typeset, with every word correct and lacking nothing, all that is needed is to reprint the original on many sheets of paper. One original can be reproduced on thousands of sheets of paper. This is the meaning of a reprint. Christ is one and the Spirit is one, but the Spirit with Christ wants to reprint Christ onto the church. Whatever is in the original is also in every reprint, without “different words” or “missing punctuation.” This is the church. The church is the reprint of Christ; it is a “printed book” of the Spirit with Christ.
What, then, is the content of this reprint? The revelation in the Bible concerning this matter is not simple. Because it is not simple, the Bible uses figures to make it clear. For example, the tabernacle as a type of God’s dwelling place involves a great deal; if we do not have a picture but only use words, we cannot explain it thoroughly and clearly. Therefore, in His wisdom God gave us the tabernacle as a picture. When we look at this picture, spontaneously we understand what God’s dwelling place is. This kind of representation is clearer than a thousand words. The church being the reprint of the Spirit with Christ cannot be clearly explained even with thousands of words. Therefore, there is a symbol in the Bible to show it, yet the symbol itself is not easy to understand. We have seen that the golden lampstand apparently is simple, yet it is not simple when we really get into it.
In the previous chapter we mentioned four things: the lampstand, Jehovah, the Lamb, and the stone. We have proved that the lampstand is Jehovah, Jehovah is the Lamb, and the Lamb is the stone. The key to our proof is the seven lamps. These seven lamps are the seven eyes, and the seven eyes are the seven Spirits. The seven lamps of the lampstand are the seven eyes of Jehovah (Zech. 4:2, 10); naturally, this shows that the lampstand is Jehovah. Jehovah with seven eyes equals the lampstand with seven lamps. The Bible also says that the seven eyes of Jehovah are the seven eyes of the Lamb (Rev. 5:6). Hence, this also proves that Jehovah is equal to the Lamb and the Lamb is equal to Jehovah. Moreover, the Bible says that the seven eyes are the seven eyes of the stone (Zech. 3:9). This proves that the stone is equal to the Lamb. Eventually, the Bible says that the seven eyes are the seven Spirits of God (Rev. 5:6). Therefore, we can say that the lampstand equals Jehovah, Jehovah equals the Lamb, the Lamb equals the stone, and the stone equals God. There are seven lamps, seven eyes, and seven Spirits. The seven lamps belong to the lampstand, and the seven eyes belong to Jehovah, the Lamb, and the stone. The seven eyes are also the seven Spirits of God.
If we put these few passages of the Bible together, we can definitely see that the seven lamps are the seven eyes, and the seven eyes are the seven Spirits. Based on this, the lampstand is Jehovah, Jehovah is the Lamb, the Lamb is the stone, and the stone is God. This kind of saying may prick the ears of theologians. They may ask, “How can you say that the lampstand is Jehovah and that the stone is God? What kind of theology is this?” This is the authentic theology in the Bible. Many theologians do not know the Bible; mostly they know traditional theology. They do not see God’s direct revelation, the divine word. If, for example, the Lord Jesus had not said with His own mouth that “the stone which the builders rejected, this has become the head of the corner” (Matt. 21:42), I am convinced that not one theologian would be willing to make such a statement. Even though the Lord Jesus did say this, today’s theologians do not speak much about it because they do not understand it clearly. They do not know how the Lord Jesus can be a stone and how this stone can be the stone which was cut out without hands to smash the great image in Nebuchadnezzar’s dream and eventually become a great mountain to fill the whole earth (Dan. 2:31-35).
Let us forget about the theologians and come back to the Bible. The Bible says that this lampstand is Jehovah, Jehovah is the Lamb, the Lamb is the stone, and the stone is God. Dear brothers and sisters, we must see these matters clearly if we want to know the church. We should not forget that the lampstand is the Triune God. How, then, is the lampstand Jehovah? We need to be clear that in the Bible the title Jehovah is used specifically concerning God in His contact with man, His relationship with man. In Genesis 1, a chapter on God’s creation, Jehovah is not used even once, but God is used repeatedly. God is the Creator. It is not until chapter 2, concerning God’s relationship with man, that the title Jehovah is introduced. In the name Jesus, Je- refers to Jehovah, and -sus denotes the Savior or salvation. The name Jesus means “Jehovah being our Savior and becoming our salvation.” Therefore, the name Jehovah denotes the Triune God in His contact and relationship with man. It is true that the golden lampstand is the Triune God, but this Triune God is not without a relationship with man. The Triune God has become the golden lampstand so that He may contact man and have a relationship with man. Therefore, this Triune God—the golden lampstand, Jehovah—desires to contact man and have a relationship with him.
How can God have a relationship with man? How can He contact man? Man is sinful, but God is sinless; man is evil, but God is holy. It is not possible for that which is sinless to have a relationship with that which is sinful, and it is not permissible for that which is holy to contact that which is common. In other words, there is no possibility for the Triune God to have a relationship with sinful man unless there is the shedding of blood by the Lamb, for without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness of sins. Therefore, it is not enough to have only Jehovah; Jehovah had to become Jesus as the Lamb.
Here we see a progression. For the Triune God to have contact with man, He must be Jehovah; for Jehovah to have contact with man, He must be the Lamb to take away our sins. However, His being the Lamb is not the goal; it is the procedure. The taking away of man’s sins is the procedure, but the goal is the building of God’s eternal dwelling place. Therefore, after the Lamb there is the stone, and this stone is related to the Lamb. The Lamb takes away man’s sins, and the stone has been engraved (Zech. 3:9). Because He has been engraved, the iniquities of God’s people are removed in one day. At what point did God engrave the stone? It was on the cross. The Lord’s death on the cross, that is, His suffering on the cross, was God’s engraving. On the cross God engraved the Lord Jesus, referring to the death, the slaying, the shedding of blood, of the Lamb, and that engraving removed the iniquities of the world and of God’s people in one day. Thus, the Lamb and the stone are connected. The Lamb is for redemption and the stone is for building; thus, redemption is joined to building. The result of this progression—the lampstand, Jehovah, the Lamb, and the stone—is God Himself.
I hope these matters are clear. Here, we will give more time not to the lampstand, Jehovah, or the Lamb, but to the stone. I do not believe that among today’s Christians there are many messages given concerning the stone. Zechariah 3 says that Jehovah set a stone before Joshua the high priest, and upon that stone were seven eyes. Then chapter 4 says that Zerubbabel would bring forth a stone as the topstone of the temple. Joshua was the priest, and Zerubbabel as a descendant of David represents the royal family, the royal authority. The priesthood and the kingship joined together to bring forth the stone. The stone in 3:9 is the stone in 4:7. The stone in 3:9 has seven eyes, and the stone in 4:7 is a topstone.
The Jews built their houses mainly with three kinds of stones: the foundation stone, the cornerstone, and the topstone as the covering of the house. The housetop was flat, and on the flat surface was a topstone. First there was the foundation stone, then there was the cornerstone to join the walls together, and then there was the topstone above. When the topstone was placed on the housetop, the building of the house was completed. The Bible tells us that the Lord Jesus is the foundation stone, the cornerstone, and the topstone of God’s building. When the topstone is set, God’s building will be completed. Upon the topstone are seven eyes, just as on the golden lampstand the seven lamps are not at its base or at its midsection but on its top part. This means that the Lord Jesus as the material for God’s building has seven eyes upon Him, not as the foundation stone or the cornerstone but as the topstone.
A stone goes through a considerable process to arrive at the stage of being a topstone. This process implies death and resurrection. In Matthew 21:42 the Lord Jesus told the Jews that the stone which they rejected was made by God to be the cornerstone. In Acts 4:10-12, after the Lord’s resurrection, Peter preached the gospel to the Jews, telling them that they needed to know that Jesus Christ, the Nazarene whom they crucified, had been raised from the dead and that the stone which they, the builders, rejected had been made the cornerstone by God.
While the Lord Jesus was on the earth before He was killed, He was persecuted and rejected by the Jews. At that time He was a stone that had not been resurrected. He was a stone that had not passed through the procedure, being without resurrection. At that time people could not see much glory upon Him; they only saw a small stone from Nazareth. The Jews despised this stone; they showed no respect to this stone, considering it merely a small stone from Nazareth of Galilee. Hence, they cast it away and even buried it in a tomb. After such a casting away and burial, God came in to bring the stone out of the tomb. Before His crucifixion He was a small Nazarene. The Bible says that “He has no attracting form nor majesty that we should look upon Him, / Nor beautiful appearance that we should desire Him” (Isa. 53:2b). However, after He was raised from the dead, He became the glorious Son of Man. This means that after His death and resurrection, He became the first stone in resurrection. When He was cast away, He was a small stone from Nazareth, but after His resurrection from the dead, He was transformed into a condition like that of His transfiguration on the mountain, in which His entire being was transfigured, His face shone like the sun, and His garments became as white as the light. He no longer looked like a Nazarene who had no attracting form nor majesty. When the Lord was transfigured on the mountain, Peter said, “It is good for us to be here” (Matt. 17:4). That was a miniature of the Lord Jesus’ resurrection. The Lord Jesus’ resurrection from the dead was the transfiguration of His whole being. In other words, that small stone from Nazareth became a precious stone, exceedingly glorious and bright.
First we see the golden lampstand and then the stone. This sequence—the golden lampstand, Jehovah, the Lamb, and the stone—is very meaningful. Gold is not something transformed, but precious stones are something transformed. The more they are transformed, the more glorious and precious they become. Gold denotes the Lord’s divinity, whereas the stone denotes His humanity. According to His divinity, He is gold; according to His humanity, He is stone. His divinity is unchangeable, but His humanity, which was not that glorious or bright as a Nazarene before His death, became glorious, brilliant, and resplendent like a precious stone.
Let us repeat, using the stone as a figure: When He was in the flesh, He was a small stone from Nazareth, having no splendor or brilliance. Therefore, the Jews looked down upon Him and cast Him aside. They counted Him as nothing, considering that nothing good could come from Nazareth. Hence, they cast Him aside and buried Him in the tomb, but God resurrected Him. This stone from Nazareth was changed, but His divinity was not changed. What, then, was changed? His humanity was changed. The eternal God did not change, but Jesus the Nazarene was changed. The divine nature is unchanged, just as pure gold cannot change, but the humanity that He had put on was changed.
Originally, we were not stones but clay. Thank the Lord, one day we were saved, and the pure gold came into us. John 1:12 says, “As many as received Him, to them He gave the authority to become children of God, to those who believe into His name.” Since we have become the children of God, within us is the divine nature, which is pure gold. Within us we all have a portion of the ever-unchanging pure gold. However, we ourselves are clay. The record in John 1:42 tells us that when Peter was brought before the Lord, the Lord immediately changed his name. Originally, he was called Simon, but the Lord said, “You shall be called Cephas.” Cephas being interpreted is a stone; hence, “You are a stone.” I believe at that moment Peter became a stone, but I also believe he was not yet a precious stone. The Peter in the Gospels was not precious at all. On the one hand, I like him, because my disposition is much like his: straightforward and quick. On the other hand, I am a little disgusted with him because he was not precious and was barely even a stone. However, the New Jerusalem has a foundation of twelve layers of precious stones, one of which is Peter. In Revelation 21 the stone that is called Peter is no longer an ordinary stone but a precious stone. He was changed. When he came to see the Lord, the clay was changed by the Lord to a stone. After following the Lord for many years, this stone became a precious stone.
Matthew 16 tells us that one day the Lord Jesus brought His disciples into the parts of Caesarea Philippi. The sky there was clear, unlike in Jerusalem where the religious atmosphere was thick and dense. It was there in Caesarea Philippi that the Lord asked them, “Who do you say that I am?” Simon Peter answered and said, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.” The Lord Jesus said, “You are Peter,” that is, “You are a stone” (vv. 15-16, 18). That was to remind him once again that he was a stone, and upon the rock of that revelation the Lord would build His church. Originally, Peter was clay, but he became a stone by knowing the Lord. Later, in his first Epistle, Peter said that the Lord is a living stone and we come to Him also as living stones. Just as He is a living stone, so also we are living stones. As living stones, we are being built up as a spiritual house, a holy priesthood.
Today some in Christianity also claim that they are the church. I believe that in their mind they consider that as long as there is a group of people who have been baptized in the name of Jesus and have formed a Christian organization, that is the “church.” However, our eyes must be opened to see that this is not the church. What is the church? The church is a group of muddy people, people of clay, into whom a new nature has entered, by a new birth, to make them people of stone. These people of stone, however, still have to become people of precious stones.
I can see that many of the young brothers and sisters have a seeking heart. Consider this: Were you clay before you were saved? Yes, you were really clay, but one day you were saved, and the pure gold came into you, but others could not see much stone in you. Perhaps a little transformation began in you with a tiny amount of stone, but it was hardly noticeable. Gradually, however, others can see a little stone. A few years ago when I came to Taiwan, I saw that some of the “small stones” were not bad, but neither were they precious. However, at this time, I notice that at least some among the young people are beginning to become precious. This means that others can see in them not only stone but also precious stone.
In 1 Corinthians 3:12 Paul says that we should build upon Christ as the foundation with gold, silver, and precious stones. He speaks not merely of stones but of precious stones. We must see that the ultimate consummation of the church is the New Jerusalem. In the New Jerusalem there is no clay, and there are not even stones. The New Jerusalem only has precious stones. Merely to be a stone is not enough; the stone must be precious. Do not consider this matter as mere doctrine. The Lord needs a church of precious stones today. The Lord does not want wood, grass, and stubble; what He wants is gold, silver, and precious stones.
If we carefully look at the New Jerusalem, we will see that the pure gold is mostly not used for the building; rather, it is for the base of the city. Revelation 21 tells us that the street of the city is pure gold (v. 21b). This does not mean that the street is paved with gold. Instead, it means that the entire base of the New Jerusalem is a gold mountain. The entire mountain is pure gold. Hence, strictly speaking, gold is not for the building. What, then, is used for the building? Precious stones are used. The building’s main emphasis is on the walls, which are built with precious stones. You have been saved and I also have been saved, so we all have pure gold in us. The brothers and sisters who have been saved in the denominations also have pure gold in them. Furthermore, even in the Catholic Church, as long as people have been genuinely saved, they also have pure gold in them. However, we must see that those who are in the Catholic Church and in the Protestant denominations are not being built up with those who love the Lord, because the building depends not on the gold but on the precious stones.
We have been saved and have the gold in us. It is possible for the element of gold in us to increase because the element of God increases. This is not transformation but addition. However, whether we are clay, just a stone, or a precious stone is not a matter of addition but a matter of transformation. The gold within us needs to increase, while as a lump of clay and a piece of stone, we need to be transformed. Today Christians in general do not have the reality of the church. They are the church in name but not in reality. Where is the reality of the church? The reality of the church is in the gold and precious stones. The gold needs to increase, and the stones need to be transformed.
The ultimate aggregate of the golden lampstand is the church, and the church is the reprint of the golden lampstand. The golden lampstand is first the pure gold and then the precious stones. Today’s church must first have the pure gold and then have the precious stones. Pure gold is very much lacking among Christians. Today we may meet a denominational Christian, and although he has been saved, it may take more than three hours to touch a tiny fragment of pure gold in him. Unless we contact him for a longer time, we are not even sure whether he has been saved, regenerated, or has God’s life. How can that small “chip” of gold be sufficient for the church and the New Jerusalem? It is not possible. However, sometimes when I visit a church in the Lord’s recovery, although I see the pure gold, I do not see much stone. Rather, I see much clay, even mire. Without stones, how can the church be built? I want to speak a frank word to you, brothers and sisters: We should be conscious to not go on in this way year after year. We need to bring forth the stones and the precious stones. We must not only wash away the mud but also transform the clay into stone. The mud should be washed away, but the clay should be transformed. We must see that the church is first a lampstand, then a stone, and then a precious stone.
Today the Lord has sent me neither to flatter nor to offend people. Rather, He has sent me to minister life to others and burn them with the seven lamps of fire to dry up the mud, turn the clay into stones, and turn the stones into precious stones. We must not do an ambiguous work with great “mounds of clay” having no stones or precious stones in sight. I hope that the young generation among us will rise up and go out. What the Lord wants today is the church. I have no burden to come back to Taiwan to give a few messages. I did not come back at this time to make your days peaceful. For so many years we have been giving messages every week, yet not one stone has been brought forth. Should we still give messages? Now is not the time for us to give messages; what we need today is to wash away the mud and transform the clay into stones and the stones into precious stones. The pure gold needs to increase, the clay needs to be transformed, and even the stones need to be transformed into precious stones.
If anyone builds upon the foundation, let him take heed how he builds, whether it is with gold, silver, and precious stones or with wood, grass, and stubble. If we build with wood, grass, and stubble, the more work we do, the more fuel for fire we have; we would be better off doing less. We need to work out the precious stones. We are not here to merely drift along. We do not have time for this! The Lord is very near. We should bear a burden. If we have mud, we must empty it and dry it up; if we have clay, we must transform it into stones and precious stones. Thank the Lord that the lampstand is first pure gold and then a stone. Please remember that when we come to the stone, it is not merely a matter of redemption. The matter of redemption is with the Lamb. When we come to the stone, it is a matter of the topstone. The stone has been placed on the top of the temple, and the building has been completed. Therefore, everyone can shout, “Grace, grace to the stone!” (Zech. 4:7). Only upon this stone can there be grace.
We need to come back to the Lord, for the time is short. Today in the Lord’s recovery the light has been intensified, so it is not possible for anyone to drift along blindly. Everyone’s eyes are clear. To do something just to get by is completely worthless, and to go through the motions without sincerity is valueless. We must do the work of precious stones. We need to lead others to be saved, but that is not enough. We must see that our work is also to inject life into people, injection by injection, that the clay may become stones and the stones may become precious stones. This is the building that the Lord is after today.
