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 Song of Songs 5:10 and 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 Daniel 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—17:2). 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!