The Local Churches in the Book of Revelation
The Local Churches in the Book of Revelation |
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Additional Quotes about the Local Church by Witness Lee and Watchman Nee1. The Seven Lampstands Being Seven Churches—Only One in a CityAnd not only were there these seven churches on earth; there were seven lampstands representing them in heaven. In the Old Testament there was only one lampstand with seven different branches, but in the New Testament there were seven distinct lampstands. Had the New Testament representation been the same as the Old, then believers in the seven Asiatic churches might have united to form one church; but there are now seven separate lampstands, each upon its own base, so that the Lord is able to walk “in the midst of the seven golden lampstands” (Rev. 2:1). Therefore, though all churches stand under the authority of the one Head and express the life of the one Body (for they are all made of gold), still they are not united by any outward organization, but each stands on its own base, bearing its own responsibility, maintaining its local independence. (Watchman Nee, Collected Works, Set 2, Vol. 30, 61-62) 2. The Progressive Revelation of the Lampstand in the Scripture (Exodus 25; Zechariah 4; Revelation 1)When all the local churches are put together they are the multiplication of the lampstand as revealed in Exodus 25; therefore, in this age the lampstands are the multiplied embodiment of the Triune God as the testimony of Jesus. In Paul’s fourteen Epistles he mainly taught the mystery of God which is Christ (Col. 2:2) and the mystery of Christ which is the church (Eph.3:4). Christ and the church are a great mystery (Eph. 5:32). Christ is the embodiment of God and the church as the Body of Christ is the embodiment of Christ; the embodiment of Christ simply means the embodiment of the Triune God. This again shows us that the book of Revelation is the conclusion of all the books of the Bible, especially of all the books of the New Testament, which reveal to us Christ and the church. The conclusion of all the aspects of the church revealed in the foregoing twenty-six books of the Bible is that the church in this age is signified by the lampstand. (Witness Lee, NT Economy, 271) In the book of Revelation we see that the lampstand is repeated again, but this time the lampstands are plural (1:11-12) because these seven lampstands are the figures, the signs, the symbols, of seven local churches. This shows us that in the eyes of God every local church is a lampstand, and by this we can see that a local church is a reproduction or a duplication of Christ. When all the lampstands or local churches are added together, they are a multiplication of Christ. In Exodus 25 Christ was the unique lampstand, but in Revelation this lampstand has been reproduced, duplicated, and thus multiplied. Actually, there were more than seven local churches on the earth at the time of Revelation so the number seven is a representative number. Every lampstand is a reproduction of the lampstand revealed in Exodus 25. The lampstand is an old item, yet it bears a number of new characteristics. In Exodus there was only one lampstand, but in Revelation there are seven. The lampstand was there in Exodus, but the sevenfold aspect of the lampstand was not there. The new aspect of the lampstand is its multiplication. (Witness Lee, NT Economy, 260) Throughout the centuries, few Christians have touched the depths of the significance of the lampstands as symbols of the local churches….In Exodus 25 the emphasis is on the stand, in Zechariah 4 the emphasis is on the lamps, and in Revelation 1 the emphasis is on the reproduction. In both Exodus and Zechariah the lampstand is one, but in Revelation it has been reproduced and has become seven. Firstly, in Exodus the emphasis is on the stand—on Christ. Secondly, in Zechariah the emphasis is on the lamps—on the Spirit. Eventually, in Revelation both the stand and lamps, that is, both Christ and the Spirit, are reproduced as the churches. In Exodus and Zechariah there are just seven lamps, but here in Revelation there are forty-nine lamps, for every lampstand has seven lamps. Hence, the one lampstand has become seven and the seven lamps have become forty-nine. The lampstands with their lamps in Revelation are the reproduction of Christ and the Spirit. When Christ is realized, He is the Spirit, and when the Spirit is realized, we have the churches as the reproduction. (Witness Lee, Genuine Ground, 134-135) | ||||