THE SECOND PART: A BIRD’S-EYE VIEW OF THE NEW TESTAMENT
Revelation
Message One
The Son of Man Walking in the Midst of the Golden Lampstands
Scripture Reading: Rev. 1:3; Exo. 30:7; Rev. 1:14a; Dan. 7:9; Job 15:10; Ezek. 1:7; Matt. 16:18, 21-26
I. 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”, to cherish the churches in His humanity and nourish them in His divinity—Rev. 1:13: (1999 ST, msg. 6)
A. The Son of Man is in His humanity, the golden girdle signifies His divinity, and breasts are a sign of love. (1999 ST, msg. 6)
B. Christ takes care of the churches in His humanity as the Son of Man to cherish them—Rev. 1:13a: (1999 ST, msg. 6)
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; cf. Psa. 42:5, 11: (1999 ST, msg. 6)
2. He trims the wicks of the lamps of the lampstand, cutting off all the negative things which frustrate our shining—Exo. 25:38: (1999 ST, msg. 6)
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: (1999 ST, msg. 6)
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. (1999 ST, msg. 6)
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—Rev. 2:1, 7. (1999 ST, msg. 6)
3. To participate in His move and enjoy His care, we must be in the churches. (1999 ST, msg. 6)
II. The heavenly ancientness of the Lord is depicted by His head and hair being as white as white wool, as snow—Rev. 1:14a; Dan. 7:9; Job 15:10; cf. S. S. 5:11: (1999 ST, msg. 6)
A. The black hair with which the Lord is depicted in Song of Songs 5:11 signifies His unfading and everlasting strength, but the white hair with which He is depicted here signifies His ancientness—Rev. 1:14. (Life-study of Revelation, msg. 9)
B. White wool, both here and in Daniel 7:9, signifies that the ancientness of Christ is of His nature, not of His becoming old, while white snow signifies that His ancientness is heavenly, not earthly—v. 14. (Life-study of Revelation, msg. 9)
III. The Lord’s seven eyes are like a flame of fire for watching, observing, searching, and judging by enlightening and infusing—Rev. 1:14b; 5:6; Dan. 10:6: (1999 ST, msg. 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. (1999 ST, msg. 6)
B. The Lord’s eyes being like a flame of fire is mainly for His judgment—Dan. 7:9-10; Rev. 2:18; 19:11-12. (1999 ST, msg. 6)
IV. 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. 1:15a; Ezek. 1:7; Dan. 10:6: (1999 ST, msg. 6)
A. Feet signify the walk; in typology, brass signifies divine judgment—Exo. 27:1-6. (Life-study of Revelation, msg. 9)
B. To be “fired in the furnace” is to be tried by being burned; Christ’s walk was tried by His sufferings, even by His death on the cross; hence, His walk is bright as the shining brass, which qualifies Him to judge the unrighteous—Rev. 1:15. (Life-study of Revelation, msg. 9)
V. The Lord’s voice is like the sound of many waters, which is a tumultuous sound, the sound of the voice of the Almighty God in its seriousness and solemnity—v. 1:15b; cf. 14:2; Ezek. 1:24; 43:2; cf. Rev. 10:3: (1999 ST, msg. 6)
A. Sometimes the Lord’s voice is gentle and tender, but at other times His voice shocks us like thunder—Rev. 1:15. (Life-study of Revelation, msg. 9)
B. Whenever we are sloppy or sleepy, the voice of the Lord will wake us up; his voice, which is that of the Almighty God, warns us and wakes us up—v. 15. (Life-study of Revelation, msg. 9)
VI. Christ is the Holder of the bright messengers of the churches—1:16a, 20: (1999 ST, msg. 6)
A. The messengers are the spiritual ones in the churches, the ones who bear the responsibility of the testimony of Jesus—v. 16. (1999 ST, msg. 6)
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—Rev. 2:1a. (1999 ST, msg. 6)
C. Because the leading ones are in His right hand, there is no need for them to shrink back; Christ truly takes the responsibility for His testimony—1:16. (1999 ST, msg. 6)
VII. 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—1:16b; Heb. 4:12; Eph. 6:17: (1999 ST, msg. 6)
A. The speaking Spirit today is just this Christ who speaks with a two-edged sword; because of the church’s degradation, we all need a certain amount of judgment; today all Christians need the judgment of the Lord by His word—Rev. 1:16. (Life-study of Revelation, msg. 9)
B. Many times we have experienced this judgment because of our being mistaken and going astray from the Lord; since we had wandered away from Him, He came to judge us—v. 16. (Life-study of Revelation, msg. 9)
VIII. Christ’s face is as the sun shining in its power for judging enlightenment to bring in the kingdom—Rev. 1:16c; 10:1; Matt. 17:2; cf. Mal. 4:2; Judg. 5:31; Matt. 13:43; cf. Dan. 10:6: (1999 ST, msg. 6)
A. When He was transfigured and His face shone as the sun, that was His coming in the kingdom—Matt. 16:28—17:2. (Life-study of Revelation, msg. 9)
B. When He comes to take over the earth for the kingdom, His face will be as the sun—10:1. (Life-study of Revelation, msg. 9)
IX. Christ is the First and the Last, assuring us that He will never leave His 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: (1999 ST, msg. 6)
A. Christ is not only the First and the Last, but also the beginning and the ending; this assures us that, having started the church life, He will surely accomplish it—vv. 17-18. (Life-study of Revelation, msg. 9)
B. We have a living Christ who has overcome death! Our Christ, who is the resurrected Christ, is living in us and among us; He is living forever and ever—vv. 17-18. (Life-study of Revelation, msg. 9)
C. In the recovery, all the churches should be as living as Christ, full of life and overcoming death. (Life-study of Revelation, msg. 9)
X. Christ has the keys of death and of Hades—v. 18b: (1999 ST, msg. 6)
A. Death is a collector and Hades is a keeper, but Christ nullified death on the cross and overcame Hades in His resurrection—2 Tim. 1:10; Acts 2:24. (1999 ST, msg. 6)
B. As long as we give the Lord the ground, the opportunity, and the way to move and act among us by our 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. (1999 ST, msg. 6)