Nevertheless, forgive me to say that sometimes, in certain local churches, the light is not bright. It is not that there is no light, but that there is only a small amount of light. In 1 Samuel 3, when Samuel ministered to Jehovah as a child before Eli, “the lamp of God had not yet gone out” ( v. 3). This means that the lamp was about to go out because old Eli the priest was too weak. Exodus says that the lamps in the Holy Place were lit by the priests. The priests had to burn the incense when they dressed the lamps in the morning and when they lit them in the evening. To burn the incense is to pray. Whether or not the lamps of a local church are bright is absolutely related to the priests’ burning of incense before God. The reason that the lamps are not bright is that the service, the priesthood, and the burning of incense are absent. Although the Holy Place and the lampstand are real, the priestly ministry may be weak, like that of Eli. Today in some local churches the light in the Holy Place is not bright because the priests are too weak. Whether or not the light of the lamps is bright is absolutely related to the service of the priesthood.
Many in this conference come from different local churches. I hope that you will not care whether or not you are responsible brothers. No matter where you come from, you have responsibility placed on you. It is imperative that you go back to burn the incense and light the lamps. You must brighten up the light of the lamps in the local church so that when people come to the church, they will feel that it is full of light and that it is impossible for them to hide anything. Under the light there is no place to hide or conceal anything. Each local church should be so bright that once people enter in, all their situations are fully exposed so that they cannot help saying, “God is indeed among you, because my secrets have been thoroughly revealed under the shining of your light. This light is even more penetrating than an x-ray.” The church should be this way.
The church is the Holy Place, the church is the lampstand, and the church is the lampstand in the Holy Place. Not only so, in the church there is also the priesthood for the burning of the incense. Do not say that when I speak of the priesthood, I am probably referring to the elders. No, each one of us has a share in the priesthood. We are all kings and priests, and we all have to learn to fulfill our duty of burning the incense. When we light the lamps, we have to burn the incense. Is the light bright in the local church where we are? We have to burn the incense to light the lamps. When we light the lamps at night, we have to burn the incense, and when we dress the lamps in the morning, we also have to burn the incense. This means that we have to pray at night and in the morning so that the light of God may shine brightly among us. The light should be so bright that the illumining of the light becomes God’s move, His administration, His government in the universe, and His economy on earth today. This is not a small matter.
If our conference were merely a gathering of people in Christianity, this would be an exceedingly great failure. We must see, and we must be clear and realize, that this conference is the shining of the great light, and this shining is God’s move, God’s administration. This is the economy of God on earth today. It is very good that we see our past mistakes and failures at this time. We thank God for this. This is God’s visitation upon us that we may be able to see. However, if this is all that happens, this conference has failed. What I hope is that whether we are young or old, we all will say, “I am under the shining of the great light. In this meeting I have come to understand human life and God’s eternal purpose, and I have come to know the church as God’s economy.” This should be the result. The issue of this conference should be that we all have been brought into the Holy Place, and that in the Holy Place we all are under the shining of the light from the lampstand. Under this light we know what God’s way is. Today, even though many preachers are preaching, they do not know what God’s economy is. To be sure, although many Western missionaries are preaching the word abroad every day, they are puzzled within as to what God’s way is, and they wonder how they should walk in order to be on God’s way. Nevertheless, many can testify that when we turned to the church, we immediately saw that God’s light is here, and we came to know God’s economy and His way.
Revelation 1 says that when John was in spirit, he heard a loud voice, saying, “What you see write in a scroll and send it to the seven churches: to Ephesus and to Smyrna and to Pergamos and to Thyatira and to Sardis and to Philadelphia and to Laodicea” (v. 11). After he heard the voice, John goes on to say, “When I turned, I saw seven golden lampstands, and in the midst of the lampstands One like the Son of Man” (vv. 12-13). I would like to ask a difficult question: Are the seven golden lampstands in heaven or on earth? Bible scholars throughout the ages are divided into two groups. One group holds the view that the lampstands are in heaven, and the other that they are on earth. Each group has its own reasons and logic. Nevertheless, the seven golden lampstands are neither in heaven nor on earth; they are wherever the church is. Concerning the church, there is no difference between heaven and earth. Before we were saved, heaven and earth were different. Since we have been saved, neither heaven nor earth matter. This may sound peculiar, yet it is the fact. With those who live in the church in reality, there is no difference between heaven and earth.
Wherever the church is, there the dwelling place of God is. Furthermore, wherever the church is, there the lampstand and tabernacle are. The church as the tabernacle and the lampstand is not a matter of location. Therefore, when we read Revelation 1, we should not waste much thought to study whether the seven golden lampstands are on earth or in heaven. These seven golden lampstands are the churches. Where the church is, there is the Lord Jesus, the dwelling place of God, the lampstand, and the Holy Place. The church is not in heaven nor on earth, yet the church is also in heaven and on earth. The church can be everywhere. It is a matter not of heaven or earth but of the church. We all love the newly built meeting hall on Jen-Ai Road, but that is not the church. We are the church. If we are not in the meeting hall on Jen-Ai Road, there is no light or lampstand there. There is only a building with reinforced concrete, but no tabernacle. When we are here, the tabernacle, the lampstand, and the dwelling place of God are here. If we could be in midair, then the lampstand and the dwelling place of God would be there also. It is not a matter of heaven or earth but a matter of the church. Where the church is, there the dwelling place of God is.