In chapter one of Revelation there are eight crucial points: the revelation of Christ, the testimony of Jesus, the Triune God, the second coming of Christ, the joint partakers in the tribulation, kingdom, and endurance in Jesus, the local churches, the lampstands, and the Son of Man. Having covered the first seven points, we come in this message to the eighth — the Son of Man in the midst of the churches (1:12-20). In this book, Christ is firstly revealed as the Son of Man. Whenever He is related to the church, He is revealed in His human nature because the church is composed of human beings. The Head of the church is not only the Son of God but also the Son of Man. That the Lord is still the Son of Man after His ascension indicates that He has not put off His human nature after resurrection and that His dealings with us are based upon His humanity. As a man, He succeeded in being God’s testimony. Thus, we in the churches today, being human, can also be God’s testimony. The Lord was victorious as a man, and we can be victorious also.
Christ today is “in the midst of” the churches. On the one hand, as the High Priest, He is interceding in the heavens for the churches (Heb. 9:24; 7:25-26; Rom. 8:34), and, on the other hand, He is moving in the churches to care for them. If we would participate in His move and enjoy His care, we must be in the churches.
Verse 13 says, “And 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.” Christ is not only depicted here as the High Priest, as shown by His garments, but also unveiled “like the Son of Man.” He is still both divine and human. As our High Priest, He is caring for the churches in His humanity.
Throughout the centuries, some so-called Christians have taught that Christ was not the Son of God. Even today, there are some so-called Christians who do not believe that Christ is the Son of God. To deny that Christ is the Son of God is heretical. Such a teaching is devilish and comes from Hades, and we must uncompromisingly stand against it. Some Christians, on the contrary, do not believe that Christ today is still the Son of Man. They say that Christ became a man by incarnation, but that in His resurrection He put off His humanity. Some of these Christians think that today Christ is merely the Son of God, no longer being the Son of Man. When about fifteen years ago I fought against this concept, some opposed me saying that it was erroneous to teach that Christ is still the Son of Man. While some Christians do not believe that Christ is the Son of Man today, we believe it. According to the pure Word, the Lord Jesus is still both the Son of God and the Son of Man. We cannot explain this adequately because our mind is so limited. Nevertheless, we believe and accept the fact that our Christ is both the Son of God with divinity and the Son of Man with humanity. In Him we have true divinity and proper humanity.
During the past nineteen centuries, especially during the first six centuries, Christology was a subject of intense controversy among Christians. Concerning the Person of Christ there have been differing opinions, and Christians have fought with one another about them. We must drop all these so-called theological schools. According to the Bible, we believe that our Christ is truly the Son of God and the Son of Man. He has two natures, divinity and humanity.
When Christ comes to deal with us in the churches, He does so not only in His divinity but also in His humanity. You may excuse yourself, thinking that the Lord could make it because He was the Son of God, but that since you are human the Lord must sympathize with you. As the Son of God, the Lord is quite capable, but you, as a mere son of man, are pitiful, and the Lord should not condemn you so much. But when He comes to us as the Son of Man, you have no excuse. He also was a man and made it as a man, not as the Son of God. Do not make any excuses for yourself. If you are defeated and fail in the church life, do not sympathize with yourself, saying that it is excusable because you are only a human being. Human beings are just the right material for the church life. Thus, in the midst of the churches, Christ is walking as the Son of Man. In Dan. 3 we are told that the Son of God was walking in the fire, but in Revelation 1 we see that it is the Son of Man who is walking in the midst of the churches. We all must worship Him as the Son of Man. Because He is both human and divine, He is such a wonderful One. Because He is both divine and human, He knows heaven and earth, God and man. In Him we have divinity and humanity. In Him we are in the heavens and also are on the earth. Today the Lord is both in the heavens and on the earth walking, in His humanity, in the midst of the local churches.
Verse 13 says that Christ is “clothed with a garment reaching to the feet.” This garment is the priestly robe (Exo. 28:33-35) signifying the fullness of Christ’s divine virtues and human attributes (cf. Isa. 6:1, 3). Although the word priest is not mentioned here, we know by His garment that Christ is depicted here as the High Priest. Today, the Son of Man, Jesus Christ, who is walking in the midst of the churches, is a Priest. Among the three offices of priest, prophet, and king, the most dear, intimate, precious, and lovely office is that of the priest. The priest is so dear and lovely because he takes care of the people. As Christ walks among the churches, He takes care of them.
Verse 13 also says that Christ, the Son of Man, was “girded about at the breasts with a golden girdle.” Have you ever seen someone girded about at the breasts with a girdle? This is quite meaningful. The priests in the Old Testament were girded at the loins for their ministry (Exo. 28:4). In Daniel 10:5 Christ is also girded with fine gold at His loins. But here Christ as our High Priest is “girded about at the breasts.” The breasts signify love. To be girded at the loins is to be strengthened for work, whereas to be “girded about at the breasts” signifies care in love. Christ’s work in producing the churches has been accomplished. Now He no longer needs to be girded at His loins for work. What He is doing now in the midst of the churches is to care for them in love. This requires Him to be “girded about at the breasts with a golden girdle.” This “golden girdle” signifies divine strength. Christ is now exercising a divine care over the churches, moving among them in His humanity and caring for them with His divine strength. What a loving care He exercises over His churches today!
Verse 14 says that “His head and hair were white as white wool, as snow.” White hair signifies great age (Job 15:10). The black hair with which the Lord is depicted in S.S. 5:11 signifies His unfading and everlasting strength, but the white hair with which He is depicted here signifies His ancientness.
Although Christ is ancient, He is not old. In this chapter we see that His head and His hair were white as wool and as snow. White wool issues from the nature of life, and white snow comes down from the sky, from heaven. Wool is not made white; it is born white, and its whiteness comes out of its nature. White wool is the color of Christ’s nature. His ancientness is of His nature. Snow is white because it comes from heaven and contains no earthly dirt or stain. Hence, white wool, both here and in Dan. 7:9, signifies that the ancientness of Christ is of His nature, not of His becoming old, while white snow signifies that His ancientness is heavenly, not earthly.
In verse 14, we see that His eyes are as a flame of fire. In S.S. 5:12 the eyes of Christ are like doves. That is for the expression of His love. Here “His eyes” are “as a flame of fire.” This is for Him to observe and search in His judging by enlightening. In this book His eyes are not two but seven (5:6). Seven is the number of completion in God’s move. Hence, His eyes in this book are for God’s operation. These seven eyes of His are the “seven lamps of fire burning before the throne, which are the seven Spirits of God” (Rev. 4:5; cf. Dan. 10:6). The “fire burning” equals the “flame of fire” and is for observing and searching. The seven Spirits of God which are sent forth into all the earth are also for God’s move upon the earth. Thus, the eyes of Christ in this book are the seven Spirits of God for God’s move and operation on earth today.
Christ’s eyes are for watching, observing, searching, judging by enlightening, and infusing. We must experience all these different aspects of His eyes, especially the aspect of infusing. His eyes infuse us with all that He is. His infusing eyes are a flame of fire which is continually burning. This can be proved by our experience. Do not exercise your mind to understand this, but check with your experience. Since the day we were saved, Christ’s eyes have been like a burning fire enlightening and infusing us. His eyes also stir us up to be hot. After Christ has looked at us, we can never be cold as we once were. By looking at us, He burns us and stirs us up in the Lord. Many times the Lord comes to us with His piercing eyes. Perhaps when we are trying to hide something from our wives, the Lord comes with seven shining eyes piercing into our being and exposing our true condition. I have had this kind of experience hundreds of times. When I was arguing with others, especially with my intimate ones, the shining eyes of Christ were upon me, and I could not go on speaking. His shining stopped my mouth.
The book of Revelation is a book with a judging nature. Fire is for divine judgment (1 Cor. 3:13; Heb. 6:8; 10:27). “Our God is also a consuming fire” (Heb. 12:29). His throne is like the fiery flame and its wheels as burning fire, and a fiery stream issues and comes forth from before Him (Dan. 7:9-10). All this is for judgment. The main significance of the Lord’s eyes being as a flame of fire is for His judgment (Rev. 2:18-23; 19:11-12). When He comes to take possession of the earth by exercising judgment over it, even His feet will be like pillars of fire (Rev. 10:1).
Verse 15 says, “His feet were like shining brass, as having been fired in a furnace.” Feet signify the walk. In typology, brass signifies divine judgment (Exo. 27:1-6). When Christ was on earth, His earthly walk and daily walk were tried and tested. Because His walk was tested, He came out shining. Now the feet of Christ are as shining brass, as mentioned also in Ezek. 1:7 and Dan. 10:6, signifying that His perfect and bright walk qualifies Him to exercise divine judgment. To be “fired in the furnace” is to be tried by being burned. Christ’s walk was tried by His sufferings, even by His death on the cross. Hence, His walk is bright as the shining brass, which qualifies Him to judge the unrighteous. As we have already pointed out, when He comes to possess the earth by judging it, His feet will be like pillars of fire (10:1).
Verse 15 also says that “His voice” is “as the sound of many waters.” “The sound of many waters,” a tumultuous sound, is the sound of the voice of the Almighty God (Ezek. 1:24; 43:2). It signifies the seriousness and solemnity of His speaking (cf. 10:3). Sometimes the Lord’s voice is gentle and tender, but at other times His voice shocks us like thunder. Whenever we are sloppy or sleepy, the voice of the Lord will wake us up. His voice, which is that of the Almighty God, warns us and wakes us up.
Verse 16 says, “He had in His right hand seven stars.” As verse 20 makes clear, “the seven stars are messengers of the seven churches.” The messengers are the spiritual ones in the churches bearing the responsibility of the testimony of Jesus. Like stars, they should be of the heavenly nature and in a heavenly position. In the Acts and the Epistles the elders were the leading ones in the operation of the local churches (Acts 14:23; 20:17; Titus 1:5). The eldership is somewhat official, and, as we have seen, at the time this book was written the offices in the churches had deteriorated in the degradation of the church. In this book the Lord calls our attention back to spiritual reality. Hence, it emphasizes the messengers of the churches rather than the elders. The office of the elders is easily perceived, but the believers need to see the importance of the spiritual and heavenly reality of the messengers for the proper church life to bear the testimony of Jesus in the darkness of the church’s degradation.
Both the lampstands and the stars are for shining in the night. A lampstand representing a local church is a collective unit, whereas a star representing a messenger of a local church is an individual entity. In the dark night of the church’s degradation, there is the need of the shining both of the collective churches and of the individual messengers. As Christ walks among the churches, He holds the leading ones in His right hand. How comforting this is! The leading ones must praise Him that they are in His hands and that He is holding them. Since the leading ones are in His hands, there is no need for them shrink back, to be weak, or to be mistaken. Christ truly takes the responsibility for His testimony.
In the book of Revelation there are no elders in the churches; rather, there are messengers. At the time this book was written, the church had become degraded. Hence, in Revelation, the Lord repudiates all formalities. Being an elder may be somewhat legal or formal. Do not aspire to be an elder; desire to be a shining star. Do not be one with a mere position — be a shining star. Both the lampstand and the stars shine at night. Both the church and the leading ones in the churches must shine. All the leading ones must be stars.
In verse 16 we are told that “out of His mouth proceeded a sharp two-edged sword.” In Song of Songs 5:16, “His mouth is most sweet,” and in the Gospels, “words of grace” proceeded out of His mouth (Luke 4:22); but here “out of His mouth proceeded a sharp two-edged sword.” This is His discerning, judging, “and slaying word” (Heb. 4:12; Eph. 6:17). The “words of grace” are for His supply of grace to His favored ones, whereas the “sharp two-edged sword” is for His dealing with negative persons and things. We often say that the Spirit speaks to the churches. Remember that the speaking Spirit today is just this Christ who speaks with a two-edged sword. There is judgment here, and we all have experienced this. Because of the church’s degradation, we all need a certain amount of judgment. Today all Christians need the judgment of the Lord by His word. Many times we have experienced this judgment because of our being mistaken and going astray from the Lord. Since we had wandered away from Him, He came to judge us. His speaking today is mainly a type of judgment. I can testify to you that if the Lord would speak to you, most of His words would be words of judgment. When He speaks, He judges. Every word out of His mouth in the churches today is like a sharp knife which judges us. The words which proceed out of the Lord’s mouth are sharp, piercing into our being, dividing our soul from our spirit, and discerning the intents of our heart. This is the Christ we experience today in the church life.
In Christianity, there are numerous opinions and frequent debates and fights because of these opinions. I have seen this myself. I know of one case of some Christians who were serving as board members. Once, as they were meeting together, they were discussing and debating with one another; eventually the debate turned into a fight. At a certain point one of the board members even threw a Bible at another member. But in the Lord’s recovery today we have One who is walking in our midst. He watches over us with His seven burning eyes, and out of His mouth proceeds a sharp two-edged sword. This sword has killed all the different concepts among us. This is the reason that there are almost no debates in the churches.
Recently, we completed our meeting hall in Anaheim. We can testify that during the months the building work was going on, we never fought with one another. One of the city inspectors told us that, according to his experience, whenever a church building is constructed, the building committee fights among itself. We could testify to this inspector that because of the killing sword, we did not fight with one another. This does not mean that we have no opinions or concepts. We are human and have many opinions. But, as we all can testify, every time an opinion rises up, the sword cuts it to pieces. The more you think about your opinion, the more you are cut. This is not doctrine — this is our experience. Whenever two brothers are close to fighting, the third party, the strongest party, appears, using the sharp sword to cut the opinions of both brothers. As we were building our meeting hall, the two-edged sword quelled all the turmoil. This third party is the very Christ, the Son of Man, who, as the High Priest, walks among the churches and cares for them in love. In the Old Testament, there was the need for the priests to trim the lamps. Today our Priest, the Son of Man, knows the right time to trim us. This is the reason that there is such calm among us. This is a secret of the church life which the outsiders do not understand, for they do not have the Priest trimming and dealing with the lamps on the lampstand. Now the Priest is walking among the churches caring for them by trimming all the lamps.
In verse 16 we are also told that “His face was as the sun shines in its power.” In the S.S. 5:10, 13, His face appears lovely for His seeker’s appreciation of Him, and in the Epistles, His face reflects God’s glory (2 Cor. 4:6) for the imparting of life into His believers. Here, however, “His face” is “as the sun shines in its power,” as in Dan. 10:6, for the judging enlightenment to bring in the kingdom. When He was transfigured and His face shone as the sun, that was His coming in the kingdom (Matt. 16:28; 17:1-2). When He comes to take over the earth for the kingdom, His face will be as the sun (10:1).
Verse 17 says, “And when I saw Him, I fell at His feet as dead; and He laid His right hand on me, saying, Do not fear; I am the First and the Last.” Christ is not only the First and the Last, but also the beginning and the ending. This assures us that, having started the church life, He will surely accomplish it. He will never leave His work unfinished. All the local churches must believe that the Lord Jesus is the beginning and the ending. He will accomplish what He has begun in His recovery.
In verse 18 we see that the Lord is “the living One,” the One who “became dead” and who is “living for ever and ever.” The very Christ who walks in the midst of the churches, who is the Head of the churches and to whom the churches belong, is the living One full of life. Hence, the churches as His Body should also be living and full of life. Hallelujah, we have a living Christ who has overcome death! Our Christ, who is the resurrected Christ, is living in us and among us. He is living forever and ever. What a living Christ we have in the recovery! In the recovery, all the churches should be as living as Christ, full of life and overcoming death.
In verse 18 the Lord also said, “I have the keys of death and of Hades.” Due to the fall and sin of man, death came in and is now working on earth to gather up all the sinful people. Death resembles a dustpan used to collect the dust from the floor, and Hades resembles a trash can. Whatever the dustpan collects is put into the trash can. Thus, death is a collector and Hades is a keeper. In the church life today are we still subject to death and Hades? No! Christ abolished death on the cross and overcame Hades in His resurrection. Although Hades tried its best to hold Him, it was powerless to do it (Acts 2:24). With Him, death has no sting and Hades has no power. But what about us? It must be the same. In the church life, the keys of death and Hades are in His hand. It is impossible for us to deal with death; we simply do not have the ability to handle it. Whenever death enters, it will deaden many. But as long as we give the Lord Jesus the ground, the opportunity, and the free way to move and act among us, both death and Hades will be under His control. However, whenever the Lord Jesus does not have the ground in the church, death immediately becomes prevailing and Hades becomes powerful to hold the dead ones. Praise the Lord that Christ has the keys of death and Hades. Death is subject to Him and Hades is under His control. Hallelujah!
