The first part of 2:7 says, “He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.” At the beginning of each of the seven epistles in chapters two and three, it is the Lord who speaks (2:1, 8, 12, 18; 3:1, 7, 14). But at the end of all seven epistles it is the Spirit speaking to the churches (2:7, 11, 17, 29; 3:6, 13, 22). Once again, this proves that the speaking Christ is the Spirit. Whatever Christ speaks, that is the speaking of the Spirit. No one can argue with this. Who was speaking to the church in Ephesus? Christ, the Son of Man holding the messengers in His right hand and walking in the midst of the churches. As verse 7 indicates, the speaker eventually is the Spirit. This proves that Christ is the speaking Spirit. This not only indicates that the Spirit is the Lord and the Lord is the Spirit; it also emphasizes the vital importance of the Spirit in the darkness of the church’s degradation as indicated by the sevenfold intensified Spirit in 1:4. The same emphasis is also seen in 14:13 and 22:17. It is foolish to say that Christ today is not the speaking Spirit, and it is ridiculous to separate the speaking Spirit from Christ. The two are one.
If the speaker were only Christ without being the speaking Spirit, He could never speak some words into our spirit, and His speaking would not be very subjective and touching. But, as our experience testifies, if, as we read these epistles, we are open in our spirit to Him, the Spirit will immediately speak something of Christ into us. Because the speaker is not the objective Christ but the subjective Spirit, He speaks not only in the black and white letters of the Bible, but also in our spirit. Once we hear His speaking, something indelible is wrought into us, and nothing can take it away. Our Christ today is the speaking Spirit. I rejoice over this fact and I boldly proclaim it.
On the one hand, each of the seven epistles is the word of the Lord to a particular church; but, on the other hand, it is the word of the Spirit to all of the churches. Every church should not only give heed to the epistle written to her particularly, but also to all the epistles written to the other churches. This implies that all the churches, as the Lord’s testimony in the Spirit, should be the same. Since the Spirit today is speaking to the churches, we must be in the churches to be rightly positioned to hear the Spirit’s speaking. How else can we hear what the Spirit is saying?
The Spirit is speaking to the churches, not to any religion, denomination, or group of seeking Christians. This is the reason that not many Christians can hear the speaking of the Spirit. The Spirit does not even speak just to one church, but to the churches. Although some supposed churches want to be unique, we should not be a unique or particular church. If we are, we shall miss the speaking of the Spirit because the Spirit is speaking to the churches. In none of the seven epistles does the Spirit speak to a particular church. All the churches should be common, not unique. During the past years, I have heard many say that every church must be distinctive. Those who hold this concept say that every church must have its local uniqueness. Although this thought sounds attractive, actually it is quite repulsive. To make your local church unique is to separate yourself from all the other churches. If you do this, you are through with the Spirit’s speaking. Which is better—to be unique or to be common? Although you may say that it is better to be common, the fact is that everyone likes to be unique. In your heart, you want the church in your locality to be unique. Nevertheless, in the local churches, do not try to be unique. We all must be common because the Spirit speaks to the churches, not to any unique church. When we are in the church and among the churches, we have the right position and the right angle to hear the Spirit’s speaking.
In spiritual things, seeing depends upon hearing. The writer of this book firstly heard the voice (1:10) and then saw the vision (1:12). If our ears are heavy and cannot hear, then we cannot see (Isa. 6:9-10). The Jews would not hear the word of the Lord, so they could not see what the Lord was doing (Matt. 13:15; Acts 28:27). The Lord always wants to open our ears to hear His voice (Job 33:14-16; Isa. 50:4-5; Exo. 21:6) that we may see things according to His economy. The heavy ears need to be circumcised (Jer. 6:10; Acts 7:51). The sinner’s ears need to be cleansed with the redeeming blood and anointed with the Spirit (Lev. 14:14, 17, 28). To serve the Lord as priests also requires our ears to be cleansed with the redeeming blood (Exo. 29:20; Lev. 8:23-24). In this book, as the Spirit is speaking to the churches, we all need an opened, circumcised, cleansed, and anointed ear to hear the Spirit’s speaking.
Although our angle and position may be right, we still may not have the proper ear to hear. Chapter one emphasizes seeing and chapters two and three emphasize hearing. We need to both see and hear. Among our physical senses, which is more important—seeing or hearing? Suppose you had the choice of losing either your sight or your hearing. Which would you choose? We may say that seeing is more important than hearing, but hearing is deeper than seeing. Thus, we must tell the Lord, “Lord, I need to both see and hear. Have mercy on me, Lord, and grant me eyes to see and ears to hear.” We may have to struggle with the Lord, telling Him that we must be able to both see and hear.
Hearing is more intimate than seeing. Our closest friends will speak intimately to us. If you lose your hearing organ, you will be unable to enjoy this intimacy with your loved ones. In chapter one, John saw; in chapters two and three, he heard. We need to see the church life and we need to hear the intimate contents of the church life. To see the church is one thing, and to hear the intimate contents of the church life is another. Although many of us have seen the church, not many have heard the intimate contents of the church life. Hence, we need an ear to hear. “He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.”