Message One—The New Jerusalem—the Universal Golden Lampstand

THE THIRD PART: 24 CRUCIAL LINES IN THE BIBLE

The New Jerusalem
Message One—The New Jerusalem—the Universal Golden Lampstand

Scripture Reading: Rev. 21:18b, 23-24a; 22:1, 5; 1:12, 20; 2:1

I. The New Jerusalem is the ultimate consummation of the lampstands in the Scriptures:

A. The lampstand in the tabernacle signifies Christ Himself—Exo. 25:31-37.

B. The lampstand in the temple signifies the enlarged Christ—1 Kings 7:49.

C. The lampstand in Zechariah 4:2 signifies the people of Israel.

D. The lampstands in Revelation 1:12, 20 signify the churches.

II. The churches as golden lampstands will be consummated in the New Jerusalem, the aggregate of all the lampstands—1:20; 21:18b, 23:

A. In the book of Revelation, there are two great signs—the sign of the golden lampstands and the sign of the New Jerusalem—1:1, 12, 20; 21:2, 10-11.

B. Revelation begins with the lampstands and ends with the lampstand—1:20; 21:18b, 23:

1. At the beginning of Revelation, there are seven lampstands, the local lampstands in this age—2:1.

2. At the end of Revelation, there is an aggregate, a composite, lampstand, the universal lampstand in eternity—21:18b, 23.

3. The seven lampstands are local, but the golden lampstand is universal.

4. The lampstands are signs of the churches, whereas the New Jerusalem is a sign of God’s eternal dwelling place—21:3, 22.

III. The New Jerusalem, a mountain of gold, is the universal golden lampstand holding the Lamb as the lamp shining out God as the light—vv. 18, 23; 22:1, 5:

A. The New Jerusalem is a mountain of gold—21:18b, 21; 22:1:

1. If we consider the facts that the New Jerusalem is a golden city, that it has one street which reaches all twelve gates, and that it is twelve thousand stadia high, we will realize that the city proper is a golden mountain.

2. As a golden mountain, the New Jerusalem is the ultimate, unique, and eternal golden lampstand absolutely composed of God’s nature (gold).

B. God as the light is in the Lamb as the lamp shining out from the top of this universal golden lampstand—21:23; 22:1, 5:

1. On the top of the golden mountain is the throne as the center, and on the throne is Christ the Lamb as the lamp with God in Him as the light shining out through the city—21:23; 22:5.

2. The golden mountain is a stand, and upon this stand is a lamp; therefore, this golden mountain—the New Jerusalem—is a golden lampstand.

C. The New Jerusalem, the aggregate of all the lampstands, the totality of today’s lampstands, is a consummate, universal golden lampstand to shine forth God’s glory in the new heaven and new earth for eternity—v. 24.

IV. The golden lampstand signifies the Triune God embodied and expressed, and the more we experience the aspects of the Triune God depicted in the lampstand, the more we will be in reality the golden lampstand as the embodiment and expression of the Triune God and thus become the New Jerusalem as the universal golden lampstand—Rev. 1:12, 20; 21:18:

A. The lampstand is of pure gold, signifying the divine nature, the eternal, incorruptible nature of God the Father—Exo. 25:31:

1. We need to experience the pure gold of the lampstand, receiving the golden element into the depths of our being—2 Pet. 1:4.

2. How much of the divine nature has been wrought into us determines to what extent we are the church in actuality—Rev. 1:20.

3. The degree of our shining is according to the amount of the divine element that has been infused into us.

B. The stand is a solid form signifying God the Son as the embodiment of God the Father—Exo. 25:31:

1. Christ has been regenerated into our being; He is being formed in us; and we are being transformed into His being—John 1:12-13; Gal. 4:19; 2 Cor. 3:18.

2. Through God’s organic salvation, we are being saved from self-likeness (the expression of the self) and are being conformed to the image of Christ as the firstborn Son of God—Rom. 5:10; 8:29.

C. The seven lamps signify God the Spirit being the seven Spirits of God for His expression—Exo. 25:37; Rev. 4:5:

1. Within us we have two lamps—the sevenfold intensified Spirit of God within our regenerated spirit—4:5; Prov. 20:27; 1 Cor. 6:17.

2. Both the spirit of man and the Spirit of God are lamps shining and enlightening our inward parts—1 Cor. 2:11-12.

D. All the gold must be brought together as one unit, one entity; this refers to the building—Exo. 25:31, 36; Matt. 16:18; Eph. 2:21-22; 4:16:

1. God does not desire hundreds of individual units of gold; He wants all the gold put together and beaten to form the lampstand.

2. If we have seen the building, we will never be individualistic; rather, we will realize that whatever we gain of the divine element is for the building.

E. As the multiplied embodiment of the processed Triune God, the golden lampstands are identical—Rev. 1:12, 20; 2:1:

1. The sign of the golden lampstands reveals that the churches should be the same in essence, appearance, and expression.

2. Jesus has only one testimony, the embodiment and expression of the Triune God; thus, all the local churches in all the cities of all the nations should be exactly the same—Col. 3:10-11; John 17:22; Rev. 21:10.

3. “I do expect that the day will come when all the local churches look alike, and I believe that when that day comes, the Lord will return” (The Church—the Reprint of the Spirit, p. 29). (2000 ST, msg. 7)

Ministry Excerpts:

THE ULTIMATE CONSUMMATION
OF THE LAMPSTANDS IN THE SCRIPTURES

The New Jerusalem is the ultimate consummation of the lampstands in the Scriptures. The lampstand in the tabernacle signifies Christ Himself (Exo. 25:31-37). The lampstand in the temple signifies the enlarged Christ (1 Kings 7:49). The lampstand in Zechariah 4:2 signifies the people of Israel. Finally, the lampstands in Revelation 1 signify the churches (vv. 12-13, 20). Christ in His incarnation was a lampstand, and He was enlarged in His resurrection. The children of Israel as God’s people were also a lampstand, and the churches as God’s chosen people are the lampstands. The one aggregate of all the lampstands will be the New Jerusalem. The New Jerusalem in figure is a gold mountain (Rev. 21:18) like a stand. Christ is the lamp on the stand (Rev. 21:23) and God is the light within Him (Rev. 22:5). In the first chapter of Revelation are the seven lampstands, the churches, and in the last two chapters is the one unique lampstand—the New Jerusalem, which is the consummation of all the lampstands. (God’s New Testament Economy; ch. 26)

A UNIVERSAL GOLDEN LAMPSTAND

Now we must see something in detail concerning the New Jerusalem. The city proper is a mountain. Its height is twelve thousand furlongs (Rev. 21:16). The number is meaningful. This is one thousand times twelve. We have seen that twelve is the mingling of three and four, which means the mingling of God and man. So the New Jerusalem is the mingling of God with man one thousand times. The length and the breadth and the height are equal (Rev. 21:16). They are all twelve thousand furlongs. The city is a big mountain with God’s throne on the top. Out of the throne the living water is flowing. At the bottom of the mountain a wall is built which is 144 cubits high (Rev. 21:17). This is twelve times twelve. The height of the wall is not too high, but the height of the city proper is twelve thousand furlongs. This mountain is all of gold, the ultimate consummation of all the golden lampstands. The seven lampstands are local, and this golden lampstand is universal. The New Jerusalem is a universal golden lampstand, holding the Lamb as the lamp shining out the glory of God (Rev. 21:23). God as the light is in Christ as the lamp shining out from the top of this universal golden lampstand. (The Wonderful Christ in the Canon of the New Testament, ch. 23)

THE SYMBOLISM OF THE LAMPSTAND

The lampstand is a full symbol of the Triune God. According to the full revelation of the New Testament, Christ is the fullness of the Triune God (Col. 1:19). The Father is embodied in Him, the Son. He, as the Son embodying the Father, is fully realized as the Spirit. With Christ, then, we have both the Father and the Spirit. This Triune God is fully symbolized in the lampstand.

Its nature is golden. A wooden table has wood as its nature. The lampstand is of pure gold. In typology gold signifies the Father’s divine nature. Thus, the nature and source of the lampstand signify God the Father.

There is a form to the lampstand. It is not a shapeless lump of gold. Its design is the very best possible. Just as the human face is so beautifully designed that no one can improve upon it, so the lampstand, whose pattern is given us in Exodus, has never been improved upon all these centuries. Christ is the shape of the lampstand. He is the image of the invisible God (Col. 1:15). The shape of the lampstand signifies the excellent form of the Son of God.

The seven lamps shining speak of the seven Spirits, which are the seven eyes of the Lamb (Rev. 1:4; 5:6). The seven lamps symbolize the Spirit for expression.

In this one entity, the lampstand, there is the Father as the nature, the Son as the form, and the Spirit as the expression. The lampstand, then, is the Triune God embodied and symbolized.

Some say that they have no trust in typology; they will take only the plain word. But if the emblems have no meaning, why are they revealed in the Bible, not only in the Old Testament but also in the New? If this emblem of the lampstand in the last book of the New Testament has no spiritual significance, why is it revealed there? A picture is better than a thousand words. The heavenly vision of the lampstand is worth ten pages of description.

Not only is the Triune God embodied and symbolized by the simple symbol of the lampstand; the church in Revelation is the lampstand. This indicates that the church is also the embodiment of the Triune God! The church in your locality is the embodiment of the Triune God! First the Triune God is embodied in Christ. Now Christ is enlarged into a corporate Christ. In New York, Los Angeles, Stuttgart, Taipei, and Hong Kong—wherever there is a church—there is the corporate Christ. The church is the lampstand, symbolizing both the Triune God and the enlarged Christ. (The Mending Ministry of John, ch. 13)

THE NEED FOR THE CHURCHES TO BE IDENTICAL

The lampstands, the churches, as the testimony of Jesus in Revelation are golden and shining (1:12-13). All the seven lampstands are exactly the same. If the seven lampstands were placed together, we would not be able to discern one from another. I hope that the day will come when all the local churches on this earth are identical to each other in reality. Then it would even be hard for Satan to find out which church is which. The church in Anaheim, the church in Frankfurt, the church in New York, and the church in Taipei would all be the same.

There is only one Spirit and one Body (Eph. 4:4), but there are many local churches as the expression of the one Body. Although the lampstands signifying the local churches are many, they are all identical. The seven lampstands in Revelation 1 represent seven cities: Ephesus, Smyrna, Pergamos, Thyatira, Sardis, Philadelphia, and Laodicea. The localities are different, but the lampstands are the same. Surely London is different from Frankfurt. But the two local churches in these two cities must be identical. The New Testament does not tell us that the local churches should be different. Paul did not teach the churches in Galatia in one way and the church in Colossae in another way. He said that he taught the same thing in every church (1 Cor. 4:17).

I do expect that the day will come when all the local churches look alike, and I believe that when that day comes, the Lord will return. What a lie it is to say that every local church must be unique! If any local church is unique, it is unique in a negative sense. The church in Pergamos was unique with the teaching of Balaam (Rev. 2:14), and the church in Thyatira was unique with Jezebel (2:20). The local churches in Revelation were unique in their negative aspects. But the seven churches as the lampstands are identical to one another in a positive sense. Unless the lampstands were numbered, one would not be able to identify one lampstand from another. The lampstands are all reprints of the same Spirit. (The Church, the Reprint of the Spirit, ch. 3)

FOUR ASPECTS OF THE LAMPSTAND
FOR OUR EXPERIENCE

As we consider Exodus 25, Zechariah 3 and 4, and the book of Revelation, we see four aspects of the lampstand that we must experience. Firstly, we must participate in the essence, the golden element, of the lampstand. Secondly, we must experience the forming of this golden substance into a definite form— the stand. The gold in the lampstand is not a lump; rather, it is formed into a stand. Thirdly, along with the form, we must experience the expression of the lampstand through the shining of the seven lamps. Fourthly, there is the matter of the reproduction of the lampstand. Hence, we must experience four aspects of the lampstand— the element, the form, the expression, and the reproduction.

EXPERIENCING THE GOLDEN ELEMENT

We all need to experience the golden element of the lampstand. If we only have an ounce of gold, how could we form a lampstand? This would be impossible. We might be able to make a ring, but certainly not a lampstand. In order to have a lampstand, there must be a talent of gold (Exo. 25:39). (A talent equals approximately one hundred pounds, or sixteen hundred ounces.) We need more gold, more of God. If we would have the church as the lampstand, we must have something substantial—the gold, which is the substance, the essence, the element, of God Himself. If we do not have this substance, all our talk about the church is vain. How pitiful is the situation among so many Christians today. They have so little of the substance, of the divine gold; instead of acquiring the substance, they discuss vain doctrine. Even if our doctrine is sound, right, fundamental, and scriptural, it is not God Himself. Only God Himself is the element. How we need God as the golden element!

We must receive God Himself as the golden element into the depths of our being. Day and night, we need to open ourselves. Never close yourself to Him or shut any part of your being to Him. Rather, tell Him, “O God, I am absolutely open to You. I exercise my spirit to contact You, the divine Spirit. O divine Spirit, come into me and saturate me.” This is the way to gain more gold.

If we all gain more gold, among us there will not only be one talent but perhaps a hundred talents. We shall be exceedingly rich in the divine element, in the material for the lampstand. All the brothers and sisters will be full of God and wherever we go, we shall see gold. When we enter into the saints’ homes, we shall see nothing but gold. When I visit the brothers and sisters, I shall see gold. When I come to the young ones, I shall see gold, and when I contact the older ones, I shall see even more gold. The sisters should not be wooden or muddy; they should be golden. I always feel shameful when I hear some sisters gossiping. Although I do not condemn them, I experience the sense of shame, for sisters in the church must be golden. A gossiping sister is not truly in the church. Likewise, I also feel shameful whenever I see a brother exchanging words without love with his wife. Where is the gold in this brother? If he is a brother in the church, he should be full of gold. When I see such things, I turn away. I do not like to see the muddy condition of the saints. Rather, I enjoy seeing the gold in them. We all need more gold. The church must be full of gold, full of God. When I see this, I feel glorious and I am in the third heaven.

THE EXPERIENCE OF THE GOLD
BEING BEATEN TO FORM THE STAND

However, it is not adequate merely to have a large quantity of gold. We may have a thousand talents of gold and not yet have the lampstand, for we may just have the substance without the form. … How can all this gold be formed into a stand? Only by its being beaten together. All the gold must be brought together into one. This refers to the building. Firstly, we need the substance and then we need the building by beating. It is a shame to the Lord if today He cannot see any building. Many people argue with us about the church, asking how we can say that we are the church and that they are not the church. But the question is: where is the building? You may even have a great deal of gold, but if you do not have the form, by the way of the building, you do not have the lampstand. This means that you may be rich in gold but poor in the lampstand—the building.

If you would have the stand, you must be beaten together with others. You need to lose your identification. Do not say, “This is my gold. I’m spiritual.” For you to be spiritual as an end in itself is meaningless as far as the lampstand is concerned. Your experience and enjoyment of God must be beaten together with that of others. Our gold must be put together, beaten, and built up as one entity, as one unit. Then we not only have the gold, but are also built into a golden lampstand. This is the church.

EXPERIENCING THE SEVEN LAMPS AS THE EXPRESSION

Even though we may have the gold and are beaten together and are built into one as a lampstand, we still need the seven lamps, the seven Spirits of God as the expression. If we do not have the seven Spirits of God, we shall be unable to shine to express God. Whether we are young or old, we daily need to be filled with the sevenfold Spirit of God. Whenever we are filled with God’s sevenfold Spirit, we are living and shining. Because we are filled with the seven Spirits of God, we cannot be dead or dim. Being filled with the sevenfold divine pneuma, we can never be like a flat tire. Nothing can suppress us. Because we are full of the Spirit of God, the more we are pressed down, the higher we bounce up. I can testify that the more difficulties I have, the higher I rise up. Many times, others have advised me not to say certain things, but I could not keep from speaking about them because of being filled with the seven Spirits of God. Someone once asked me this question: “Why are you so living, fresh, and evergreen? Please tell me your secret.” My secret is that I have the Spirit.

There is no need to prepare yourself to function in the meetings. If you do this, your function will be a performance. To function is simply to be what you are. Sometimes the leading brothers strongly encourage the saints to function in the prayer meetings. But all such functions are not genuine functions but performances, because the saints are not filled with the Spirit. Rather, they are deflated like flat tires. They are deflated before they come to the meeting. But the leading ones may still insist that these flat tires roll around a little in the prayer meeting. This kind of activity does not come from the infilling and indwelling pneuma but from the pushing of the elders. After a brother or sister has been forced to function, he may not pray for two weeks. I can testify of this from my experience. Pushing never helps. When a tire becomes flat, it is better not to roll it around, for the more you roll it, the more damaged it will become. However, none of us should be a flat tire. Instead, we must be filled with pneuma. We have a “station” in the third heaven, and we can always be filled with the heavenly pneuma. When we are filled with the Spirit, we can function at any time. This function is not a performance—it is our living. When I am filled and bubbling over with the Spirit, I am active, aggressive, and youthful. I can even deliver a message to the demons. If the Devil would come to me, I would give him a good teaching. When we all are filled with the sevenfold Spirit of God in the built-up church, this sevenfold Spirit of God will become the very expression of God in Christ.

THE REPRODUCTION OF THE LAMPSTAND

Now we come to the fourth aspect of the experience of the lampstand—the reproduction. Both in Exodus and Zechariah the lampstand was uniquely one. But in the book of consummation, there are seven lampstands signifying seven local churches. This indicates that Christ as signified by the lampstand in Exodus and the Spirit of God as signified by the seven lamps of the lampstand in Zechariah are not only for the production of the universal church, but also for the reproduction of the local churches. One lampstand is reproduced in the seven lampstands. All the local churches as the many lampstands are the reproduction of Christ and the Spirit as the one lampstand. The more the critics oppose the local churches, the more reproduction there will be. Opposition simply lays the tracks for further reproduction. Do not care about the opposition. Simply care for the substance, the building up, and the expression. The more we have of these three things, the more we shall see the reproduction. What is this reproduction? It is actually a multiplication of the wonderful expression of Christ as the life-giving Spirit in a practical way. This is the reproduction of the church. I am glad to say that I have the full assurance that this reproduction will pave the way for the Lord to come back. By means of this reproduction, the Lord will have a beachhead on which to place His feet for His coming back to possess the whole earth. (Life-study of Revelation, msg. 31)