The lampstands in Revelation are the symbols of the local churches. Every local church is a lampstand shining forth the testimony of Jesus with the sevenfold intensified Spirit of God as the lamps in its locality.
The lampstands are golden. As we have seen, gold signifies the divine nature of God. That the lampstands here are golden signifies that the churches are constituted with the divine nature of God. We have the Father’s life and nature (2 Pet. 1:4), the Father’s gold, possessing His golden divine nature. How wonderful that we have this divine substance.
We may pay our attention only to the lampstands and neglect the lamps, but the lampstands are not for the lampstands; they are for the lamps. If the lampstands had no lamps, they would be meaningless. Therefore, we must point out what the lamps are. We see the lamps in chapter four: they are the seven Spirits of God burning before the throne (4:5). Thus, the seven Spirits of God are the seven burning lamps. Some have said that the lamps are Christ and that the church is the stand which holds Christ as the lamp. This is not bad, but Revelation does not say that the lamp firstly is Christ. Of course, when we come to chapter twenty-one, we see that Christ is the lamp in the New Jerusalem. However, Revelation does not say that Christ is the seven lamps today; rather, it says that the seven Spirits of God are the seven lamps.
We must be deeply impressed with how much the seven Spirits mean to us. If we are the churches as the lampstands, what should we hold? To say that we should hold Christ is too doctrinal. Who and what is Christ today? In our experiences for the church life, Christ is not merely Christ—He is the Spirit (2 Cor. 3:17). This Spirit, who is the life-giving Spirit, has been intensified in the book of Revelation into the seven Spirits which are the seven Spirits of God. These Spirits are the seven eyes, not only of God, but also of the Lamb. The church life is completely dependent upon these seven Spirits. It is not a matter of Christ doctrinally, but of the seven Spirits experientially. We must experience the Spirit. In our work, daily life, meetings, service, and testimonies, we must have the Spirit. If we lack the Spirit, we are empty and are nothing. The lampstands must hold the lamps which are the seven Spirits.
The seven Spirits are the expression of Christ. This is clearly indicated by the lampstand in Exodus 25. This lampstand, which was one piece of gold weighing a talent, is expressed through the seven lamps. This solid piece of pure gold signifies God the Father as our very substance. But if we only had God the Father, we would not have the form; we would have the gold, but no stand. To have only the Father without the Son is to have the substance without the embodiment. Only when the gold is beaten into the form of a stand do we have the embodiment. While the stand is the embodiment of the substance, without the seven lamps, this embodiment cannot have its expression. Hence, the substance is the Father, the embodiment is the Son, and the expression is the Spirit expressing God the Father in the Son. Since all that God the Father is in the Son is expressed through the seven lamps, the Bible later tells us that the seven lamps are the seven Spirits. Hence, the Spirit is the expression of the Triune God. Eventually, in the book of Revelation, we see that this expression is the expression of Christ, because the seven Spirits firstly were the seven eyes of God in Zechariah 4:10, and have become the seven eyes of the Lamb in Revelation 5:6. The seven eyes of the Lamb are the expression of Christ. Today, the Holy Spirit, who is the life-giving Spirit and also the seven Spirits, is the expression of Christ. Where is this expression today? It is with the churches, for the seven Spirits are the seven lamps held by the churches as the lampstands.
Many Christians today do not know the life-giving Spirit and the sevenfold intensified Spirit, or the seven Spirits as the expression of Christ held by the churches as the lampstands. If you would meet this Spirit, you must be with the churches. If you would touch, enjoy, and experience this Spirit, you must be a part of the church, for it is the churches as the lampstands which hold the seven Spirits of Christ who are the very expression of Christ. This Spirit is no more separate from Christ than your eyes are separate from you. Since a person’s eyes are his expression, they cannot be separated from him. Likewise, since the seven Spirits are Christ’s expression, they cannot be separated from Christ. The churches are the lampstands, and the lamps are the sevenfold intensified Spirit of God as the expression of Christ. This light is shining brighter and brighter, and the vision is becoming clearer every day.
The local churches as the golden lampstands shine with such a Spirit in the dark age of today. In today’s dark age, the church really needs the sevenfold intensified Spirit of God to shine forth the testimony of Jesus.
The church is the embodiment of Christ and the reproduction of the Spirit. The Spirit is the reality of Christ (John 14:17-20; 16:13-15), and the church is the reproduction of the Spirit (Rev. 22:17a). The church with the Spirit is the embodiment of Christ, the testimony of Jesus (Rev. 1:2, 9; 19:10). Therefore, the more Spirit, the more church and the more testimony of Jesus.
In 11:4 we see the two lampstands, the two witnesses, for God’s testimony during the great tribulation. The overcomers will be raptured before the tribulation, whereas the weaker ones, the green and tender ones, will be left on earth to pass through the tribulation. Due to this, there will be the need for the strengthening of God’s testimony. To meet this need, God will send Elijah and Moses back to earth. Today, the testimony of the church mainly depends upon the stronger, more experienced ones. When the experienced ones have been raptured, the weaker ones will need to be strengthened. Although it may be quite good to be supplied by Moses and Elijah, I want to leave the earth before they return. In principle, the two witnesses in chapter eleven also are lampstands. The Bible describes them as the two olive trees which supply oil to the weaker ones (Zech. 4:3, 12). According to the parable of the ten virgins in Matthew 25, the five foolish virgins will need to buy oil. Once Brother Nee said that probably these foolish virgins would go to the two olive trees to gain the extra portion of the Spirit at a cost. These two olive trees are also called the two sons of oil, for they are full of the Spirit for God’s testimony (Zech. 4:14) and are able to supply the weaker saints. During the great tribulation, many of the unripe ones will be strengthened and matured through their ministry.