In the New Testament we come to the final picture of the golden lampstand. After God saves us, He begins the work of transformation within us so that we may become a golden lampstand. Christ, who is the Head of the church, is an individual golden lampstand; the church, His body, should correspondingly form a corporate golden lampstand.
Is this what we are? As a church in a locality, are we truly a golden lampstand? We are surely not that by nature, for we were formed of the dust of the ground (Gen. 2:7), not of gold! “The first man is of the earth, earthy” (1 Cor. 15:47). When we die, we return to the dust from which we were taken (Gen. 3:19).
Nonetheless, we do have gold within us. God Himself is within us, because we have been born of Him (John 1:12-13). As His children, we have His life and nature. From our earthly parents we have our human nature, but through regeneration we have been made partakers of the divine nature (2 Pet. 1:4). Yes, we do have the gold of God’s life in us, but the question is, how much?
A glass may contain just a drop of water, or it may be overflowing its brim. Perhaps you have believed in the Lord. You pray to Him occasionally, but most of the time you are content to live without contacting Him. You come to the meetings only when someone brings you. Can there be any overflow from you? Does the gold have a way to increase and be formed in you? On the other hand, you may be another kind of Christian. Others can testify of you that when they talk with you, the water is always flowing over the brim. The gold in you has increased and is apparent to others.
Is the church in your locality a lampstand of gold, or is it only clay? You probably will have to answer that it is part clay and part gold. You were born of dust, or clay, and you grow up to be a man of clay. For you to be transformed from a man of clay to a man of gold is not easy and requires time. If you had been born pure gold, the forming of the golden lampstand would have been simple. The church in your locality becomes a golden lampstand as all of you are transformed from clay to gold.
How does this come about? To remain a man of clay does not require stealing or scheming like Jacob. If we live by our natural being, even though we do not commit outward sin, we are only clay. God, the gold in us, is in our spirit. We are to live by our spirit. We are not to love or hate by our natural being. We may recognize pride as coming from ourselves; but it is also quite possible for our humility to be from the self. We must not appreciate a love or humility which is of clay. The point is not whether we love or hate, but whether our love or hatred comes from the self or from the spirit.
You may remember how you vowed on your wedding day to love your wife or to submit to your husband. I am sure you discovered even before your honeymoon was over that you could not fulfill your promise! It is the same story for almost everyone. Even if you do find that you are able to love your wife or submit to your husband, that love or submission is of clay. The Bible tells us that Christ lives in us (Gal. 2:20) and that to us to live is Christ (Phil. 1:21). As Christ lives in us and as we live Him, spontaneously we shall find love arising toward our wife or submission toward our husband. This love or submission is of gold, not clay.
How much of your daily living is gold, and how much is clay? This is the question that should concern you. Do not ask about love or hate, pride or humility. To think in those terms is to be in the realm of religion. What you need to ask is whether the love or humility is of gold or of clay. You may have a nice way about you and be well liked by others. But is your pleasant manner from the earth or from the gold? Probably it is a mixture of the two.
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