Many Christians realize that, according to Rev. 5, Christ, the slain Lamb, is worthy, and a number of Christian hymns praise the Lord for His worthiness. However, most hymns on the worthiness of the Lamb praise Christ for being worthy because of His redemption. It is difficult to find a hymn on the Lord’s worthiness that goes beyond redemption. It is absolutely scriptural to say that the Lamb is worthy because He has redeemed and purchased us. However, according to Revelation 5, the worthiness of the Lamb is not mainly due to His redemption, but to His being able to open the secret of God’s economy. Christ is worthy to open the seals of God’s economy because He has defeated the enemy and has redeemed us. As the One who has brought God’s authority to the earth, He is the victorious, overcoming Lion of the tribe of Judah and the Lamb who has accomplished a full redemption for God’s chosen people. Therefore, He is completely qualified and positioned to open the mystery of God’s economy. This is one of the crucial points in Revelation chapter five.
Another major point in Revelation 5 is that Christ as the Lion-Lamb has “seven eyes, which are the seven Spirits of God” (v. 6). These seven eyes are also the seven lamps burning before the throne of God (4:5). Hence, in these chapters we have the seven lamps, the seven eyes, and the seven Spirits. Revelation is the only book in the Bible that mentions the seven Spirits. But here we see that these seven Spirits are the seven eyes of Christ, and that the seven eyes of Christ are the seven lamps before the throne of God.
The first mention of the seven lamps is in Exo. 25, where we see seven lamps on the one lampstand. But if we only had Exodus 25, we would not know the meaning of the lampstand and its seven lamps. According to our human understanding, we would simply say that the seven lamps are for the intensification of the light. Although this is both right and logical, the significance of the seven lamps is much deeper than this. Why did the lampstand not have six or eight lamps? In Zechariah we see something further regarding the seven lamps, for in Zech. 3 and Zech. 4 we see that the seven lamps are the seven eyes (Zech. 3:9; 4:2,10). Although Zechariah 4:10 speaks of the seven eyes of the Lord, the connection between the eyes, the lamps, and the Spirit is not made clear. Thus, we need to proceed further to the book of Revelation, where we see the seven lamps, the seven eyes, and the seven Spirits. We need to see the progression from Exodus through Zechariah to Revelation. In Exodus we have the seven lamps, in Zechariah we have the seven eyes, and in Revelation we have the seven Spirits. In Exodus the seven lamps are mentioned, but nothing is said of the eyes or of the Spirits. In Zechariah we have the seven lamps and the seven eyes with an obscure mention of the Spirit. But in Revelation we have the seven lamps, the seven eyes, and the seven Spirits.
As we pointed out in message eight, the lampstand is a symbol of the Triune God. The gold symbolizes the divine substance of the Father; the stand, which is the embodiment of the gold, symbolizes Christ as the embodiment of the Father; and the seven lamps symbolize the Spirit as the expression of Christ who is the embodiment of the Father. Therefore, we have the Father (the gold) as the substance, the Son (the stand) as the embodiment, and the Spirit (the lamps) as the expression. We have the substance, the embodiment, and the expression. In Exodus we cannot see that the seven lamps are the seven Spirits of God. We must go on to Zechariah and eventually to Revelation before we can see this. As a recovery of divine revelation, this is absolutely new.
The lamps in Exodus 25 are for the building up of the tabernacle, especially for the move in the tabernacle. Without light, it is impossible to move. The light is for the move, and the move is for God’s building. The seven lamps, therefore, are for the building up of the tabernacle, God’s dwelling place on earth.
The seven lamps in Zechariah 3 and 4 are for the recovery of God’s building. The principle is the same in the rebuilding of the temple as it was in the building of the tabernacle. The same is true of the book of Revelation. If we approach this book with a shortsighted view, we shall be unable to see that the seven Spirits, which are the seven eyes of the Lamb and the seven lamps before God’s throne, are for God’s building. But if we have an overall view, we shall see that the seven Spirits are absolutely for God’s building. Revelation begins with the seven local churches and it ends with the New Jerusalem. Although this book contains the judgment of God, this judgment is not the goal. Judgment is not for judgment; it is for God’s building. The New Jerusalem, God’s eternal dwelling place, issues out of this judgment. Thus, the seven lamps, the seven eyes, and the seven Spirits are all for God’s building. We are here for the realization of God’s eternal goal in His divine building.
Zechariah 3:9 says, “For behold the stone that I have laid before Joshua; upon one stone shall be seven eyes: behold, I will engrave the graving thereof, saith the Lord of hosts, and I will remove the iniquity of that land in one day.” This verse reveals that the seven eyes are not only the seven eyes of the Lord, but also the seven eyes of the stone. This stone was engraved in one day for the iniquity of God’s people. The engraving of the stone was its being dealt with by God’s righteousness on the cross for our redemption. Christ, the redeeming Lamb, is also the stone on which are the seven eyes. These seven eyes are the seven lamps for God’s building. When we come to the book of Revelation, we see very clearly that the seven lamps are the seven eyes of the Redeemer, and that the seven eyes of the Redeemer are the seven Spirits of God for the building of God.
According to the book of Revelation, the Lord Jesus has seven burning eyes. Although these eyes are for searching, judging, refining, and enlightening, they are ultimately for transfusing us with His essence, His divine element. How can the Lord’s divine essence be wrought into our being? By the transfusing of His seven eyes. Whenever we are searched, purged, purified, refined, and judged by the flaming eyes of Christ, we gain something of Him. Not only is some element of ourselves purified, but some element of Him is transfused into us. The natural things are purged, and the divine things are transfused into us. Through this process, the Lord builds us together and carries out God’s building. The book of Revelation is not mainly for searching and judging; it is for producing and building up the New Jerusalem, the ultimate issue of this book. As a result of the transfusing of the seven eyes of Christ, the New Jerusalem will be built up. The seven eyes of Christ look at God’s chosen people, enlightening, searching, judging, purifying, and refining them, and ultimately infusing them with whatever He is. By infusing us with His essence, He makes us the same as He is and, by so doing, He transforms us from being natural into being the same as He. Then we become the transformed material for the building up of the New Jerusalem. We all must see that the seven eyes, which are the seven Spirits of God and of the Lamb, are absolutely for God’s building.
These seven Spirits are the Holy Spirit. Being the Holy Spirit, They are not separate from Christ. According to doctrine, the Spirit and Christ are two separate individuals, but according to experience, They are one. Just as a person and his eyes are one, so Christ and the Spirit are one. When someone looks at you, he looks at you with his eyes, and when his eyes look at you, he looks at you. It is ridiculous to say that the eyes are separate from the person himself. In our experience, the Spirit is the eyes of Christ. Those who attempt to argue about this may hold mental doctrines, but they lack experience. If they put all their doctrines into experience, they will find that it is wrong to separate Christ from the Spirit. The Triune God is not experienced in a doctrinal way. While some may attempt to define or explain Him, when we experience the Triune God, we realize that the Son is the embodiment of the Father and that the Spirit is the expression of the Son. They are one. The Father is embodied in the Son and the Son is realized, expressed, and experienced as the Spirit.
The Triune God is for God’s building. In order for God to have the building, the Triune God must be dispensed into us. This is fully revealed in the book of Revelation. The controlling view in the Bible is God’s building. If you have not seen God’s building, it will be difficult for you to rightly understand the Bible. The whole Bible is related to God’s building, and God’s building is accomplished by the Triune God being dispensed into us. As we come to the book of Revelation, we must hold this view. If we do, we shall be able to understand this book and see that it is not mainly a book of judgment but a book for God’s building.
The accomplishment of God’s building requires His judgment. God’s judgment is carried out by Christ’s being the One with seven flaming eyes to burn, enlighten, search, purify, and refine us. Eventually, these flaming eyes infuse us with all that He is, metabolically transforming us into His being. The whole city of New Jerusalem will have the same essence and appearance as God. As we have pointed out several times, the appearance of God sitting on the throne in chapter four is of jasper (Rev. 4:3), and the appearance of the New Jerusalem, especially its wall, in chapter twenty-one is also of jasper (Rev. 21:11, 18-19). Thus, the essence and appearance of God and of the city are the same. How can this be? Only by having the very God wrought into us. The essence of God is wrought into us by means of transfusion.
Do not ignore the seven eyes, the seven Spirits. Revelation is not a book of one Spirit; it is a book of the seven Spirits, the seven eyes of Christ, whereby the redeeming, overcoming, and building Christ transfuses Himself into all His members. While He is transfusing Himself into us, He is searching, enlightening, judging, purifying, and refining us. In this way He transforms us. How we need to see this vision! This is God’s recovery today.
Although the Bible cannot be improved, the truth in the Bible is progressive, and the recovery of the divine truths in the Bible is even more progressive. Four hundred years ago, very few of the truths in God’s Word had been recovered, but this is not so today. The recovery of the truths is richer now than it was just twenty years ago. This does not mean that the Bible changes or that we change the Bible, for no one has the right to do that. It means that the Lord is moving on in the recovery of His truths.
God’s recovery of the truths in the Bible is absolutely for His building. The first year I was opposed was 1958, the very year that I was first burdened to minister on God’s building. That was the cause of all the opposition and criticism. Nevertheless, I only care for God’s building. I thank the Lord that He has vindicated the recovery. Man’s word means nothing; only what God says counts. God has said that He is for His building. The entire Bible is for this. At the very beginning, in the book of Genesis, we have the tree of life and the flowing river producing gold, bdellium (pearl), and precious stones (Gen. 2:9-12). At the end of the Bible, in Revelation, we have a city built with these precious materials, with gold, pearl, and precious stones (Rev. 21). Hence, the whole Bible is for God’s eternal purpose of securing His eternal dwelling place by dispensing Himself as life into His chosen ones. This is the governing vision.
If we have any other view, it means that we are shortsighted. God is not seeking holiness or spirituality. He is seeking the building. In 1958 I said that our spirituality must be tested by God’s building, that is, by the church life. When I said that God does not care for our spirituality, the opposers took this sentence out of context and condemned me, saying, “Listen! Brother Lee says that God does not care for spirituality. Isn’t this heretical?” If you keep this statement in its context, it is not at all heretical. God does not care for our spirituality; He cares for how much we have been built into His church. Individualistic spirituality is cancerous. Any individualistic member of the church is a cancer in the Body of Christ. You may say that you are spiritual or holy, but your spirituality and holiness must be tested by the church life. Perhaps your holiness is individualistic. If it is, then it is not healthy, for true holiness is for God’s building.
God does not want a group of individualistic spiritual persons; He wants the building. He does not desire a heap of precious stones for exhibition. God, of course, needs individuals, but He needs them as the material for the building. All the individual stones must be put into the building. This is not a mere doctrine but a serious fact. Have you been built into God’s building? Or are you one who is saved, who fears God, who loves the Lord, and who prays, but who says, “I don’t care about the church”? Do you say, “It is not good to talk so much about the church; it is better to be alone with the Lord and read the Bible”? You may enjoy this, but God is not as fond of it as you are. He wants you to lose yourself. You must be enlightened, searched, purified, refined, and then infused with all that He is that you may be transformed into a precious stone for God’s building. This is God’s desire today.
Why did God call the Israelites out of Egypt? It was for the building up of His dwelling place on earth. Eventually, the tabernacle as God’s dwelling place on earth became the center of the people of Israel. Whenever they were wrong with the tabernacle, they lost all their wars. But whenever they were right with the tabernacle, they were victorious. After the Israelites entered into the good land, they built the temple as the center of their life as God’s people. When they were right with the temple, they were right with God, and when they were wrong with the temple, they were wrong with God. This is a brief abstract of the Old Testament. What do we have in the New Testament? We have the church today and the New Jerusalem in the future. Therefore, a brief abstract of the whole Bible is God’s building.
Because of the darkness and degradation of this age, God has been forced to exercise Himself as the sevenfold intensified Spirit to enlighten us. We need the searching and enlightening of the seven Spirits. Perhaps you have been clinging to doctrines for years. What good have they done for you? The degraded recovered church has so much doctrine, but what did the Lord say of them? He said that they were neither hot nor cold, but rather that they were lukewarm and therefore qualified for being vomited out of His mouth (Rev. 3:16). This is the condition of the church in Laodicea.
We thank the Lord that the light concerning His building is brighter today than it has ever been. The light is shining over us. It is not a matter of being an individualistic overcomer in some minor things, but of being an overcomer in the major things for God’s building. Many Christians do not understand the meaning of overcoming in Revelation. To overcome in this book means to overcome degraded Christianity. We must overcome the degraded situation of the so-called church for the sake of God’s building. Read the book of Revelation again and again and you will see that its governing view is the building of God. We must keep this before us. Everything is for God’s building. The revelation of Christ in chapter one is for the building; the seven epistles to the seven churches in chapters two and three are for God’s building; and the scene in heaven after Christ’s ascension and the vision of Christ as the Lion-Lamb in chapter five are also for God’s building. Christ’s having the seven eyes which are the seven lamps and the seven Spirits of God is not that we might be individualistically holy, but is absolutely for God’s building. May the Lord have mercy on us. In this age, we are in a dark night and we need the intensified sevenfold Spirit as the seven shining lamps to enlighten, search, purge, and refine us. Ultimately, what we need is the Lord’s intensified infusion. We need to be infused with all that He is so that we might become transformed stones for God’s building.
