RETURNING TO THE ORTHODOXY OF THE CHURCH

Message One

The Vision of the Glorious Christ as the Son of Man Walking in the Midst of the Golden Lampstands

Scripture Reading: Rev. 1:10—2:1

RK Hymns: 381, 1184

Outline

Day 1

I. If we are going to see the vision of the glorious Christ and of the seven churches in Revelation 1—3, we must care for the following things:

A. We must take the position of a slave—1:1:

1. Paul says that he was a “slave of Christ Jesus” (Rom. 1:1); his use of this term indicates that he was not a self-appointed apostle or one hired by the Lord; rather, he was one purchased to serve God and minister Christ to His people, not in the natural life but in the regenerated life.

2. We need to be willing to serve others as a servant, even as a slave, rather than rule over others—Matt. 20:24-28; 25:14; 2 Cor. 4:5; Gal. 6:17; Exo.21:1-6; Isa. 50:4-5.

3. Christ served us in the past (Mark 10:45), He is still serving us in the present (Luke 22:26-27), and He is going to serve us in the future (12:37;Rev. 7:17); if we are going to serve others with Christ, we need to allow Him to serve us first.

B. We must exercise our human spirit as the organ for us to see,realize, and respond to God’s move; only spirit can respond to Spirit—1:10; 4:5; 5:6; Psa. 119:17-18.

C. We must have an ear to hear what the Spirit is speaking to the churches:

1. Seeing depends upon hearing; John first heard the voice (Rev. 1:10) and then saw the vision (vv. 11-12); if our ears are heavy and cannot hear, we cannot see (Isa. 6:9-10).

2. The Lord always wants to open our ears to hear His voice (Job 33:14-16; Isa. 50:4-5; Exo. 21:6) so that we may see things according to His economy.

3. The heavy ears need to be circumcised—Jer. 6:10; Acts 7:51.

4. The sinners’ ears need to be cleansed with the redeeming blood and anointed with the Spirit—Lev. 14:14, 17, 28.

5. To serve the Lord as priests, we must have our ears cleansed with the redeeming blood—Exo. 29:20; Lev. 8:23-24.

Day 2

II.The book of Revelation is the unique and ultimate revelation of Jesus Christ—1:1a:

A. John was exiled to the island of Patmos because he was faithful to God’s word and because he was for the testimony of Jesus;under such circumstances the glorious Christ revealed Himself to John and gave him new revelations—v. 9.

B. The earth had diminished before John’s eyes, but heaven was opened to him; this brings to mind Joseph who was in prison,Moses who was in the wilderness, David who was in distress,
and Paul who was in chains; they all received fresh revelations.

C. John was going down the path that they had trodden; he received visions that he had never received before, and he came to know the enthroned Lord whom he had never known before;it is unfortunate that God’s children often misunderstand God’s ordained “Patmos.”

Day 3

III. Christ as the Son of Man is the High Priest, “clothed with a garment reaching to the feet, and girded about at the breasts with a golden girdle” (v. 13), to cherish the churches in His humanity and nourish them in His divinity:

A. The Son of Man is in His humanity, the golden girdle signifies His divinity, and breasts are a sign of love:

1. Christ was girded at the loins, strengthened for the divine work (Exo.28:4; Dan. 10:5) to produce the churches, but now He is girded about at the breasts, caring for the churches that He has produced by His love.

2. The golden girdle signifies Christ’s divinity as His divine energy, and the breasts signify that this golden energy is exercised and motivated by and with His love to nourish the churches.
B. Christ takes care of the churches in His humanity as the Son of Man to cherish them—Rev. 1:13a:

1. He dresses the lamps of the lampstands to make them proper, cherishing us that we may be happy, pleasant, and comfortable—Exo. 30:7; 27:20-21; cf. Psa. 42:5, 11:

a. The Lord’s presence provides an atmosphere of tenderness and warmth to cherish our being, giving us rest, comfort, healing, cleansing, and encouragement.

b. We can enjoy the cherishing atmosphere of the Lord’s presence in the church to receive the nourishing supply of life—Eph. 5:29; cf. 1 Tim. 4:6; Eph. 4:11.

2. He trims the wicks of the lamps of the lampstand, cutting off all the negative things that frustrate our shining—Exo. 25:38:

a. The charred part of the wick, the snuff, signifies things that are not according to God’s purpose which need to be cut off, such as our flesh,our natural man, our self, and our old creation.

b. He trims away all the differences among the churches (the wrongdoings,shortages, failures, and defects) so that they may be the same in essence,appearance, and expression—cf. 1 Cor. 1:10; 2 Cor. 12:18; Phil. 2:2.

C. Christ takes care of the churches in His divinity with His divine love, signified by the golden girdle on His breasts, to nourish the churches—Rev. 1:13b:

1. He nourishes us with Himself as the all-inclusive Christ in His full ministry of three stages so that we may grow and mature in the divine life to be His overcomers to accomplish His eternal economy.

2. As the walking Christ, He gets to know the condition of each church, and as the speaking Spirit, He trims and fills the lampstands with fresh oil,the supply of the Spirit—2:1, 7.

3. To participate in His move and enjoy His care, we must be in the churches.

Day 4

IV. The heavenly ancientness of the Lord is depicted by His head and hair being white as white wool, as snow—1:14;Dan. 7:9; Job 15:10; cf. S. S. 5:11:

A. The Lord Jesus is God (John 20:28-29); He is beyond time,and He encompasses time (Micah 5:2; Isa. 57:15).

B. White hair signifies experience, glory, durability, as well as holiness—Prov. 16:31; 20:29.

C. Isaiah mentions God’s promise to cleanse man’s sin until it is like wool and as white as snow (1:18); when we consider how our sins have been cleansed and that we are as white as the head and hair of the Lord, we cannot help but marvel at the greatness of the Lord’s grace!

V. The Lord’s seven eyes are as a flame of fire for watching,observing, searching, judging by enlightening, and infusing—Rev. 1:14; 5:6; Dan. 10:6:

A. Christ’s eyes are for God’s move and operation on earth, since seven is the number for completion in God’s move.

B. The Lord’s eyes being like a flame of fire is mainly for His judgment—7:9-10; Rev. 2:18; 19:11-12.

C. “Unto the judgment seat of Christ / I daily look away; / May all my living and my work / Abide the fire that day”—stanza 5 of a hymn written by Watchman Nee (Watchman Nee—a Seer of the Divine Revelation in the Present Age, p. 75).

Day 5

VI. The Lord’s feet are like shining bronze, as having been fired in a furnace, signifying that His perfect and bright walk qualifies Him to exercise divine judgment—Rev. 1:15;Ezek. 1:7; Dan. 10:6; cf. Exo. 30:18; 38:8; Num. 21:8-9.

VII. The Lord’s voice is like the sound of many waters (Rev.1:15b; cf. 14:2), which is a tumultuous sound, the sound of the voice of the Almighty God (Ezek. 1:24; 43:2) in its seriousness and solemnity (cf. Rev. 10:3).

VIII.Christ is the Holder of the bright messengers of the churches—1:16a, 20:

A. The messengers are the spiritual ones in the churches, the ones who bear the responsibility of the testimony of Jesus.

B. The messengers, who are of the heavenly nature and in a heavenly position like stars, are those who have a fresh message from the Lord to His people—2:1a.

C. The messengers’ hope and happiness are in the heavens; they have intimate fellowship with Christ; they also have the power and authority of the Lord, because they are in the right hand of the Lord Jesus—cf. Psa. 16:1-3; 73:25-26.

D. If we are willing to submit ourselves totally to the Lord’s hand, care for the things of Christ Jesus, and gladly bear the responsibility for His sake, not only will we receive the Lord’s
reward, but the Lord will also use us to accomplish His great work—1 Cor. 15:58; 16:10; cf. Gen. 15:1; Phil. 2:19-21.

Day 6

IX. Out of Christ’s mouth proceeds a sharp two-edged sword, which is His discerning, judging, and slaying word for dealing with negative persons and things—Rev.1:16b; Heb. 4:12; Eph. 6:17.

X. Christ’s face is as the sun shining in its power (Dan. 10:6)for judging enlightenment to bring in the kingdom—Rev.1:16c; Matt. 17:2; cf. Mal. 4:2; Judg. 5:31; Matt. 13:43.

XI. Christ is the First and the Last, assuring us that He will never leave work unfinished, and the living One for the churches as the expression of His Body to be living, fresh,and strong—Rev. 1:17-18a:

A. By knowing the Lord as the God who lives forever and ever,we can be assured of His presence in our spirit all the time;nothing establishes us more than the assured presence of the Lord—2 Tim. 4:22; cf. Gen. 39:23.

B. The words I am living forever and ever should be our strength and hope (Rev. 1:18a); the living God whom Abraham called upon, whom Daniel served, whom Müller trusted, and whom
Watchman Nee and Witness Lee knew is the God to whom we also belong and whom we also serve; we should worship Him and praise His name with joy!

XII. Christ has the keys of death and of Hades—Rev. 1:18b:

A. Death is a collector and Hades is a keeper, but Christ nullified death on the cross and overcame Hades in His resurrection—2Tim. 1:10; Acts 2:24.

B. As long as we give the Lord the ground, the opportunity, and the way to move and act among us by exercising to deny the self, take up the cross, and lose our soul-life, death and Hades will be under His control—Matt. 16:18, 21-26.