Thank the Lord that in His abundant grace He has led us to the last message of this series. I am full of joy regarding the atmosphere of this conference. The Lord has not only revealed to us His vision of the building but has also begun a marvelous work in our hearts.
A few days ago we reached such a high peak in our spirit through the message that we all fervently responded to this glorious vision. I felt within that I should lead us all to come before God to make a specific indication of our response, that is, to formally and solemnly commit ourselves into the Lord’s hand in the church. Thank the Lord that we have realized that with such a vision in front of us, we need to consecrate ourselves. This indicates that our hearts have definitely been moved by the Holy Spirit to such an extent that we are willing to commit ourselves into the Lord’s hand to meet the need of the glorious building. I deeply believe that the Lord will accept our consecration.
In this message, standing on the ground of consecration, I would like to go on further and speak a more specific word to those who have consecrated themselves.
If we do not have the vision of the Lord in our reading of the Bible, then we will not be able to see its wonderful points, nor will we be able to see its emphasis. For example, in an earlier message we saw how the first two chapters of Genesis correspond with the last two chapters of Revelation. I believe that a great number of us had not seen such a vision in the past, even though we may have read through the Bible several times. However, now through God’s enlightenment and revelation we have discovered the hidden treasures of the Bible. When I was young and newly saved, I read through Revelation once and felt that it was a very difficult book because there were many places that I did not understand. Later, someone told me that this book consists of prophecies concerning the things that will take place throughout the ages. This greatly stirred up my interest. Thus, I tried my best to collect commentaries on Revelation for my reference. Nearly all of these books merely explained the meanings of the seven seals, the seven bowls, and the seven trumpets. Some of the interpretations were almost nonsensical. Some said that the locusts in Revelation are today’s airplanes and that the frogs are tanks on the earth. If you read those expositions of the Bible, you will find that such strange explanations are innumerable. If you lack the light of the truth and do not know the principles of interpreting the Bible, then you may think that these kinds of exposition are very meaningful and may even be moved by them. In the end, however, you will not know where you are.
By the Lord’s mercy we have gradually received some revelation and knowledge concerning God’s eternal purpose. Therefore, we have begun to realize that God’s intention is to come into us through His Son to be our life and to mingle with us as one entity for His expression. Furthermore, His desire is to build us who have received God as life into a glorious vessel to be His dwelling place and the Body of His Son, which is also the bride of the Lamb. When we see this vision, it becomes a yardstick, a standard, and a great light in our reading of the Bible. Thus, when we come to the Bible to study the prophecies, we can know precisely what they mean, and we no longer have to look at them according to the common interpretations of theology. When we see this vision, we become more and more clear in our understanding of the book of Revelation.
If we compare the beginning and the end of Revelation, just as we compared the beginning and the end of the Bible, we will discover new light. At the end of Revelation, there is a holy city. This holy city is not a two-dimensional plane but a cube. It does not have two dimensions only—the length and the breadth, but it has a third dimension as well—the height. Moreover, its length, breadth, and height are equal, each measuring approximately 1,364 miles. Another special feature of the city is that it needs no artificial light or natural light because it is illuminated by the glory of God. God Himself is the light of the city. (In His nature, God is love and light. Love denotes the nature of God’s essence, and light denotes the nature of God’s expression. God in Himself is love, and when He is expressed, He is light.) In the holy city New Jerusalem, this light, which is God, shines out through the lamp, which is Christ the Lamb. If we read Revelation 21 carefully, we will find that the throne of God and of the Lamb is at the center of the city on a high peak. Therefore, this city, which is a cube, is like a huge lampstand. The walls around the city are clear as crystal, like a great glass lampshade, diffusing and shining forth the light of the city. The nations around the city walk in this light. Thus, this city, the New Jerusalem, is a huge lampstand in the midst of the surrounding nations. This lampstand has Christ as its lamp and God as the light in the lamp.
At the beginning of Revelation the matter of the lampstand is also mentioned. However, at the beginning there are several lampstands, seven in all, and they are small, not big. These seven lampstands are the lampstands in Ephesus, Smyrna, Pergamos, Thyatira, Sardis, Philadelphia, and Laodicea. At the end of Revelation there is only one great lampstand—the city of the New Jerusalem. With regard to time, the seven lampstands at the beginning exist in the present age, while the one at the end exists in eternity. With regard to location, the seven small lampstands at the beginning are found in different localities, while the great one at the end is found in the new heaven and new earth. The lampstands at the beginning and the end may be different in size, but regardless of whether they are great or small, they all have Christ as the lamp and God as the light within the lamp.
Some Bible readers have an inaccurate understanding of this matter. They think that each local church is a shining lamp. However, this is somewhat different from what the Bible says. Strictly speaking, each local church is a lampstand, and only Christ Himself can be the lamp upon it. Unlike us who hang our lamps from the ceiling, the Jewish people in ancient times set their lamps on lampstands. The Bible likens the church to a lampstand. This signifies that Christ has put Himself into the church and that God, who dwells in Christ and who passes through Christ, shines forth through the church. Furthermore, a lamp is mainly used during the dark night. The cities and localities on the earth are full of darkness, but God as the light is in Christ, Christ as the lamp is in the church, and the church has become the lampstand shining forth the light, which is God in Christ. This is what God desires to do in this age in locality after locality.
We must be clear about the two kinds of lampstands at the beginning and at the end of Revelation. At the beginning, the lampstands are small, but at the end the lampstand is large, and at the beginning the lampstands are numerous, whereas at the end the lampstand is unique. However, in principle, all of the lampstands have Christ as the lamp and God as the light within the lamp. Furthermore, the existence and formation of all the lampstands, whether small or great, are due to the fact that they have passed through trials. The great lampstand, the New Jerusalem, is constructed with precious stones, which are produced through heat and pressure, and the seven small lampstands were produced from gold that had been burned and beaten.
What we have mentioned above are the similarities of the lampstands. All the lampstands have Christ as the lamp and God as the light within and are produced out of the divine life and divine nature through burning heat, heavy pressure, beating, and testing. However, there are also differences. First, they are different in measure. The seven lampstands are small, but the unique lampstand is large. Second, they are different in time. The one large lampstand will exist in eternity future, but the seven small ones exist in the present age. The third difference is in location. The great lampstand will be in the new heaven and new earth, but the seven small ones are located in different cities and localities. The fourth difference is in their constituents. The great lampstand comprises not only the saints in the New Testament church, represented by the twelve apostles, but also the Old Testament saved ones, represented by the twelve tribes of Israel. It is built with all the saved ones throughout the generations in both the Old Testament and the New Testament who have passed through trials and have been built into this great lampstand. The seven small lampstands refer only to the saved ones in various cities and localities in the New Testament age. Therefore, the two kinds of lampstands are the same in nature and principle but different in measure, time, location, and constituents. I believe that we all have been deeply impressed with these two pictures of the small lampstands and the great lampstand.