Having seen the holy anointing oil in the classics, we now want to look at Revelation 1. There the apostle John said, “When I turned, I saw seven golden lampstands” (v. 12). To see what the lampstands are, we again need to turn to the classics. I do not know if you have ever looked into the classics about the lampstands. Again, I say to the young people, you must learn to study the classics. For example, if you want to have a good foundation in the Chinese language, you must study the Chinese classics; otherwise, you will only follow others by repeating what they say without understanding what you are saying. This is true also in spiritual things. Today, not to mention Christians in general, even theologians only follow what others have said.
The seven golden lampstands are the seven churches. Why is this? Most would say that it is because the lampstands give forth light, and the churches also give forth light and shine in today’s dark age. This is to “parrot” what others say. The golden lampstands are not so simple; to know them we need to search the classics. The lamb, the tabernacle, and the holy anointing oil can be found in the classics; so also the golden lampstand is found in the classics. In Exodus we find not only the lamb and the tabernacle but also the holy anointing oil and the golden lampstand. Likewise, in John’s writings we find not only the Lamb and the tabernacle but also the holy anointing oil and the golden lampstand. John’s writings are the development of Exodus. Exodus is the seedbed, the nursery, with the seeds sown and the sprouts growing; John’s writings are a big farmland, no longer a nursery. I encourage you to go back to study the classics and “dig in the nursery.”
For seven and a half years I was with a Brethren assembly that was well versed in the Bible. I attended more than a thousand meetings there, and there was not one meeting in which we did not study the Bible or hear a message. They did not gossip, and they did not have much prayer and singing. Whenever they came together, they only read the Bible, studied the Bible, and expounded the Bible. I was with those teachers and was taught by them well over one thousand times. I cannot count how many times I heard about the tabernacle and the lamb. I also heard about the seventy weeks at the end of Daniel 9, the four beasts in Daniel 7, the two beasts in Revelation, and the great image in Daniel 2. Because I heard them speak for a full seven and a half years, from 1925 to the summer of 1932, I became so familiar and deeply impressed with these matters that even to this day I can recite the chapters and the verses. However, my point is this: After listening to so much, I only learned from the Brethren teachers that the golden lampstand signifies Christ as the light, because the Lord Jesus said, “I am the light of the world; he who follows Me shall by no means walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life” (John 8:12). I accepted their interpretation. Then after 1932 when the church was raised up in my hometown, Chefoo, I preached five times a week. I told others that the Lord Jesus is the golden lampstand, the light of the world, and that without Him we are in darkness but with Him we walk in the light. My preaching was bold and clear, and it was also very inspiring. Nevertheless, no one ever told me that the golden lampstand is related to the church. Actually, the golden lampstand is not only related to the church, but it is the church. Have you heard this before? Praise the Lord that we have heard this in the church throughout the past two years.
In Exodus the golden lampstand is Christ, but in the development in Revelation 1, the golden lampstands are no longer merely Christ but also the churches. In the nursery it is Christ, but in the farmland it is the churches. The golden lampstand has been expanded from one to seven. In Exodus there is one lampstand, but in Revelation there are seven lampstands. One lampstand is Christ, whereas the seven lampstands are the churches. Originally it was Christ alone, but Christ has become many churches. The Brethren teachers repeatedly taught that the tabernacle refers not only to Christ but also to the church; they were very clear concerning this matter. However, they never told people that the lampstand refers not only to Christ but also to the church. They did not have sufficient light concerning this matter. Thank the Lord, He has given us further light which enables us to see that the golden lampstand is indeed Christ, but this Christ who is one has become many.
Upon hearing this, those who do not have the light of the subjective truth will say, “Witness Lee teaches heresy, saying that one Christ has become many Christs. Do we, then, have many Saviors?” This is not the proper way of reasoning. Christ, who is one, has become many, but Christ the Savior is unchanged. First Corinthians 12:12 says, “For even as the body is one and has many members, yet all the members of the body, being many, are one body, so also is the Christ.” Can we change so also is the Christ to so also is the Savior or so also is God? Of course not, yet this is the method of argument generally used by the opposing ones in Christianity. I have told people in a definite way that Christ can increase from one to many, but some say this is heresy because this makes one Savior many Saviors. Nevertheless, “All the members of the body, being many, are one body, so also is the Christ.” This clearly tells us that today Christ is the Body, and since the Body is the church, Christ is also the church. In Exodus the golden lampstand, which is Christ, is uniquely one; in Revelation the golden lampstands being seven are many. In Exodus the lampstand is Christ, but in Revelation it has become the churches. If you do not agree with me, you should go back and have a quiet time to pray to the Lord; then He will give you the light to see that in the Old Testament the golden lampstand is Christ and that in the New Testament, especially at the end, the golden lampstands are the churches. In the Old Testament type, there was only Christ but not the church, but in the New Testament, Christ as the one grain of wheat has become many grains and as the one lampstand has become many lampstands. Instead of trying to argue with me, go back and pray quietly; the light will shine upon you so that you will see that today every proper local church is a golden lampstand. Just as Christ is the golden lampstand, so every local church is also a golden lampstand, exactly the same, without any difference.
More than forty years ago I had a wrong concept. I thought that the lampstand in the Old Testament consisted of one stand with seven lamps, but that the seven lampstands in Revelation consist of seven stands with a total of seven lamps. Now I would like to say that this is wrong. Each stand of the golden lampstands in Revelation has seven lamps. How can we prove this? The proof is in the sevenfold intensified Spirit. Over forty years ago I saw only the Holy Spirit but not the sevenfold intensified Spirit. Today, however, I clearly see that the lampstands in the New Testament are exactly the same as the lampstand in the Old Testament; they also consist of one stand with seven lamps each, and these seven lamps are the seven Spirits of God.