How were the seven churches in Asia before the Lord? They were seven golden lampstands. In other words, for every church on the earth, there is a golden lampstand in heaven. These seven churches were in seven different localities: Ephesus was a locality, Smyrna was a locality, Pergamos was a locality, etc.; there was a total of seven localities. There were seven lampstands in heaven because there were seven churches on earth. It is not God’s will to unify the churches on earth into one church. If it were God’s will to unify all the churches on earth into one church, then God in heaven would have only one lampstand, not seven. Brothers, this is very clear. We must think, and the Lord causes us to think. If we would just think a little, we would realize that if the Lord has only one church on earth, He would have only one lampstand in heaven. There are seven lampstands, however, and they are seven churches in seven localities. In each locality there is a lampstand. It is obvious to us that God’s purpose is not to unify the churches into one church.
The term lampstand is very familiar to us; it is also found in the Old Testament. In the Old Testament one lampstand with seven branches was placed before God, signifying that all the Israelites were united as one nation. God did not want the nation of Israel to be divided into two nations. The division between the nations of Judah and Israel was not pleasing to God, because before God they were one. Dividing them into two was sin; therefore, Jeroboam sinned. But in the New Testament there is not one lampstand with seven branches, but seven different lampstands. In other words, God’s original thought concerning the church is to have the respective churches standing before Him independently.
Do you see? There is not one lampstand with seven branches, but seven lampstands. The Lord was walking in the midst of these seven lampstands. They were placed there side by side, and the Lord walked in their midst (Rev. 2:1). If it were one lampstand with seven branches, the Lord could not walk in their midst. Therefore, in spiritual reality there are seven different lampstands before God, not seven lampstands united as one lampstand. This signifies that God has no intention of uniting the churches on the earth into one church. God never had such an intention.
In other words, God’s ordained will concerning the nation of Israel is different from that concerning the church. God’s ordained will concerning Israel is that it might be one nation on the earth, not two. God appointed only one place for the whole nation of Israel to worship, which was Jerusalem. The people of Israel were to go to Jerusalem every year, not to any other place. They set up Bethel, but this was not pleasing to God. It was a high place, not God’s center. Today God does not desire that the churches on earth be unified and take Rome as a center like Jerusalem. Today, there are seven different churches. Therefore, the unity of the Body of Christ does not mean that the churches on earth must be formed into one church. The Bible does not contradict itself. The Bible shows us that there is only one Body of Christ. The Bible also shows us that God does not want the churches to be unified into one church on the earth. The unity that God desires is not that the churches should be combined into one big church and formed into one great unity.
We are studying this matter step by step. We have just seen how the Bible speaks concerning the Body and the church. The unity spoken of in the Bible does not refer to the unity of one big church. To what then does the unity of the Body, which the Lord desires, refer? It must refer to something else. The unity of Catholicism cannot be applied; it is not of God. This is the first point.
Now we will look at the second point. Our brothers say that we should have a “spiritual” fellowship, a “spiritual” unity. Does the unity of the Body of Christ refer to the “spiritual” unity as advocated by the brothers in the denominations today? It is half “yes” and half “no.” The Bible clearly shows us that God’s children should not be divided, but the denominations are obviously divisions. Once we have a denomination, we can see a division. As long as a division exists, do not talk about “spiritual” unity! This behavior lacks thoroughness, as we have already mentioned. We cannot advocate unity on the one hand, yet advocate denominations on the other hand. We cannot keep the divisions on the one hand and talk about unity on the other hand. Just as in the illustrations concerning the cups, the lower half of the picture-the many cups-is wrong, while the upper half of the picture-hands stretched out in fellowship-is right. I think it is clear enough that the Bible says denominations are wrong. Galatians 5:19-21 even lists denominations (sects) as a work of the flesh: “And the works of the flesh are manifest, which are such things as...factions, divisions, sects....”
How does God want us to manifest the unity of the Body? The unity of the Body is not the unity of the whole earth, like the uniting of many churches into one united church; neither is it staying in the denominations and talking about a “spiritual” unity. What is the unity of the Body as spoken of in the Bible? I would like to spend some time to study this matter with you.
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