Now we would like to consider the shining of the seven lamps. This is a driving burden within me, and I hope that I can stir you up! The seven lamps are the lamps of fire burning before the throne; they are not feeble lights but burning lamps of fire. Most of us would understand this as meaning that the lamps firstly shine on us, and then they burn us. We may say that the seven lamps of fire illuminate us so that whatever our inward condition is, it cannot be concealed. Whether it is genuine or false, it is completely laid bare. We can pretend in front of our husband, wife, or others, but there is no way for us to pretend before the lamps of fire because we are fully illuminated. To be sure, there is this meaning of the lamps of fire. Perhaps others would say that the burning lamps of fire indicate that we are burning in spirit. Every one of us is burning when we are burning in our spirit. This is correct, also. However, according to Revelation 4, the emphasis of the seven burning lamps of fire is neither on shining nor on burning.
Perhaps when some hear this word, they may remind me that when I was among you six or seven years ago, I said that the lamps of fire are for burning and illumining us that we may be burning. Now it seems that I have come back to throw away what I previously said. We may compare this to the view of a man’s head. If we look at it from the back, there are no openings, if we look at it from the front, there are five openings, while if we look at it from the side, there is one opening. All three descriptions are correct. In the same way, every truth has several aspects. A brother once wrote and asked me, “In the Life-study of Romans, you said that the law as the complete testimony of God testifies Him fully. However, you also said that we should put the law aside. Are you not contradicting yourself?” Towards God, the function of the law is as a testimony. Nevertheless, in God’s dealing with man, the law was only useful in the Old Testament age. In the New Testament age, the law is useless. This is the principle of the law, which has been abolished in the New Testament age. However, the morality of the law has not been abolished; on the contrary, it was raised higher by the Lord Jesus in Matthew 5. Therefore, there are several aspects to the law, and we cannot make the one word “law” cover every aspect. As to its function, the law testifies of God, but as to its principle, the law cannot be applied to us today. Once it is applied, it kills us. Today we are in the principle of faith. On the one hand, the morality of the law has been uplifted; on the other hand, the ceremonies of the law have been abolished. This demonstrates that every truth has its different aspects. Yes, with the seven lamps of fire there are the illumining and the burning aspects. However, there is another aspect we should know: The seven burning lamps of fire are for the move of God’s administration. God’s move is not merely an illumining or a burning.
After this conference, the young brothers and sisters in Taipei may go back and say, “We were exhausted in the last ten days. Now we can have a good sleep.” Likewise, the brothers from the other countries in Southeast Asia may say, “Oh, in Taipei we were scolded by Brother Lee! Let’s forget about it and get some sleep!” In a slightly better way, other brothers may go back and say, “Thank the Lord! The conference was so good. I was really helped! Before, I had no feeling when I scolded my wife. Now, since Brother Lee said that there is a sevenfold light, I dare not scold her. Starting from today I have to be a good husband, because I cannot withstand the shining.” These reactions are not the burning of the seven lamps of fire. What then should the burning of the seven lamps of fire produce? After this conference, the young ones should take action to go to the different towns and villages in Taiwan for the establishing of churches, and they should go to the schools in the big cities to gain people.
When I returned to Taiwan ten years ago, I was very clear, saying, “Your eyes have to be open. Do not be too busy outwardly. You should work on the young people, the junior highers, and the high schoolers. You should also work on the children until each week there are at least ten thousand children being taught by us. Those who are six or seven years old now will be high schoolers in ten years. If you are willing to do this, you can definitely succeed.” The brothers told me at that time that there were twenty-three thousand names on the list of the church in Taipei, comprising at least eight thousand homes. If each family has one or two children, there should be twelve thousand children. When they asked me concerning a place for the children to meet, I said, “There is no need to go to the meeting hall, and it is not necessary to meet on the Lord’s Day. You can meet on Saturdays or in the evenings. You can simply meet in the homes of the brothers and sisters. Out of the eight thousand families, you can choose three to four hundred homes to be the places for the children’s meetings, with each home holding thirty children. If you continue in this work, you will see how much you can accomplish!” Starting from 1966 and 1967 I have been talking about this very matter and have been expecting the church to practice it, because we do have the basic strength to work it out. If we had worked from that time until now, 1977, ten thousand children would have become high schoolers of sixteen to seventeen years of age. Immediately, there would be ten thousand “seeds” in different high schools. At that time, I also said that we had to work on the junior highers, the high schoolers, and the college students to gain several thousand in each category. In this way, the number of children and young people added together would be at least twenty to thirty thousand. Moreover, children increase endlessly. When these ten thousand get into high school, another ten thousand will take their place. It is a pity that you did not practice what I said!
We thank the Lord that there are so many young working brothers and sisters in Taipei. However, this is still not enough. The church in Taipei has been in existence for twenty-eight years, and many of you brothers and sisters have received many years of nurturing so that each one of you can do a work. Dear brothers and sisters, I hope that the fiery lamps of God are shining here so that your eyes will be opened. Do you know what age this is? The Lord is right before us. Look at the world situation, the condition in Israel, and the situation in the Middle East. The Lord Jesus is right before us. Now is the time for the fiery lamps to shine on us and to motivate us. When the lamps of fire shine on us, we will all move and rise up to take action. When we broke bread last Lord’s Day, we had over ten thousand people. If these ten thousand are all stirred up as a result of the shining of the lamps of fire, immediately the gospel will be preached throughout the island of Taiwan, and this testimony will be brought to the whole of Southeast Asia.