O Lord, we are gathered together in Thy victorious name. Oh, how we praise and thank Thee that we are today in the good of Thy victory.
It is upon this ground that we meet. We praise and thank Thee because the enemy has no place in Thee; he has no place in us. Oh, how we praise and thank Thee because of Thy victory. We claim Thy victory together for tonight, that Thy will may be done on earth as it is in heaven; that the enemy shall be defeated, bound, and cast out; and that Thou Thyself shalt be exalted, and be seen and heard, and worshipped and loved.
O Lord, we do come at this time completely into Thy hands. In the name of our Lord Jesus. Amen.
Please turn to the book of Revelation, chapter 1. We read from verse 9.
I John, your brother, and partaker with you in the tribulation and kingdom and patience which are in Jesus, was in the isle that is called Patmos, for the word of God and the testimony of Jesus.
I was in the Spirit on the Lord’s day, and I heard behind me a great voice, as of a trumpet, saying, What thou seest, write in a book, and send it to the seven churches: unto Ephesus, and unto Smyrna, and unto Pergamum, and unto Thyatira, and unto Sardis, and unto Philadelphia, and unto Laodicea.
And I turned to see the voice that spake with me. And having turned, I saw seven golden candlesticks; and in the midst of the candlesticks one like unto a Son of man, clothed with a garment down to the foot, and girt about at the breasts with a golden girdle.
And His head and His hair were white as white wool, white as snow; and His eyes were as a flame of fire; and His feet like unto burnished brass, as if it had been refined in a furnace; and His voice as the voice of many waters.
And He had in His right hand seven stars: and out of His mouth proceeded a sharp two-edged sword: and His countenance was as the sun shineth in his strength.
And when I saw Him, I fell at His feet as one dead. And He laid His right hand upon me, saying, Fear not; I am the first and the last, and the Living One; and I was dead, and behold, I am alive for evermore, and I have the keys of death and of Hades.
Revelation 2:7:
He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith to the churches. To him that overcometh, to him will I give to eat of the tree of life, which is in the Paradise of God.
Revelation 2:11:
He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith to the churches. He that overcometh shall not be hurt of the second death.
Revelation 2:17:
He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith to the churches. To him that overcometh, to him will I give of the hidden manna, and I will give him a white stone, and upon the stone a new name written, which no one knoweth but he that receiveth it.
Revelation 2:26-29:
And he that overcometh, and he that keepeth My works unto the end, to him will I give authority over the nations:
And he shall rule them with a rod of iron, as the vessels of the potter are broken to shivers;
As I also have received of My Father:
And I will give him the morning star.
He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith to the churches.
Revelation 3:5-6:
He that overcometh shall thus be arrayed in white garments; and I will in no wise blot his name out of the book of life, and I will confess his name before My Father, and before His angels.
He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith to the churches.
Revelation 3:12-13:
He that overcometh, I will make him a pillar in the temple of My God, and he shall go out thence no more: and I will write upon him the name of My God, and the name of the city of My God, the new Jerusalem, which cometh down out of heaven from My God, and Mine own new name.
He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith to the churches.
Revelation 3:21-22:
He that overcometh, I will give to him to sit down with Me in My throne, as I also overcame, and sat down with My Father in His throne.
He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith to the churches.
Last evening, we mentioned that there is only One who overcomes, and this is our Lord Jesus. He is the Overcomer. It is on the basis of this that we find the call to overcome.
God can never call for overcomers if His Son has not overcome. But after our Lord Jesus has overcome, then the call is out. The call is now upon every one in the church of God: the call to overcome.
According to the order of this book of Revelation, it seems as if we are going backward. But, as our brother said, actually by going backward, we are going onward and forward.
We considered together last night the fifth chapter because, spiritually speaking, this is the foundation of chapters 1, 2, and 3. It is on the basis of Christ as the Overcomer. It is on the basis of His ascension. It is on the basis of the glory of the Redeemer that we find the first three chapters in the book of Revelation. So, spiritually speaking, this will be the right order.
In chapter 1, of course, we know it is the vision—the vision that the Apostle John saw on the isle of Patmos. It is a wonderful vision, a glorious vision. It is the vision of the Son of Man in the midst of seven golden candlesticks, or lampstands. That is the vision.
Before there is a call to overcome, there is a need to see. The vision actually constitutes the call. Where there is no vision, there is no call.
It is only when a vision is seen that the call is upon us. Very often we feel that there is no call to us. Why is it that some people have heard the call while others do not? The reason is that some have seen the vision, while the others have not.
So the most important thing is that we may see the vision. By vision, it does not mean that it is only something you see with your naked eyes. A vision is an unveiling of the mind of God, a revealing of the mind of God to our spirit. That is a vision.
Now here you find a vision of the Son of Man in the midst of seven golden lampstands. The Son of Man is in the foreground; the seven golden lampstands form the background. By joining these together, you have the perfect vision.
We find in this vision that the Son of Man is described in detail, but there is no description of the seven golden candlesticks. Why? Because the mind of God is that we may see Christ—the revelation of Jesus Christ. That is what God wants us to see.
God wants us to see Christ in the foreground, to see Him. And, of course, we know that by seeing Him, we see the seven golden candlesticks. In other words, the seven golden candlesticks take their character from the Son of Man. What the Son of Man is, that will be what the seven golden candlesticks are.
That is the reason why only the Son of Man is described, while the seven golden candlesticks are not described at all. By seeing Christ, you see the church. But it is always Christ in the foreground; the church is always in the background. This is the mind of God.
The mind of God is that we may see Him, but always with the candlesticks in the background—not seeing Him without any background, because we will not be able to see Him in His fullness if there is no background.
Just like in a painting: when an artist is going to paint a painting, perhaps he is thinking of painting, say, some tree. But you do not just paint the tree. You will find that you paint a background, and with that background the foreground will stand out. It will be seen more vividly, more distinctively, and more clearly.
Now, that is the way of God. He does want us to focus our attention upon His Son, our Lord Jesus Christ. But in order that we may see Him standing out, He gives us a background. And this background you always find in the church.
But, on the other hand, we must remember that the church never forms the foreground and pushes Christ to the background. Now, if you try to do that, then you will see nothing.
So here you find the unity between Christ and His church. The church takes its character from Christ. The church uplifts Christ. The church makes Christ more distinctive. The church is the background, and the Son of Man is the foreground.
Here you find that He is described in many features. In the first place, He is called the Son of Man. We know that this is a title that our Lord Jesus used of Himself while He was on earth.
The Son of Man—what is the meaning of it? Of course, it means a lot. But we will just say that, by being the Son of Man, it means that He is the beginning of a new mankind.
Now, that is what our brother is communicating to us in the morning session: that God is forming a new mankind, and this new mankind is formed according to Christ, the Son of Man, the beginning of the new mankind. And it is full of life—full of life.
He is clothed with a garment down to the foot, full of righteousness. He is full of righteousness down to the foot.
Girt about at the breast with a golden girdle, He is full of divine love.
And His head and His hair were white as white wool, full of wisdom.
And His eyes were as a flame of fire, full of spiritual discernment—penetrating sight.
And His feet like unto burnished brass, as if it had been refined in a furnace. You know, brass that is refined in a furnace shines, full of light.
If we walk in the light, as He is in the light, we have fellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus His Son cleanseth us from all sin.
—1 John 1:7
And His voice as the voice of many waters, full of strength, powerful.
And He had in His right hand seven stars, fully responsible.
And out of His mouth proceeded a sharp two-edged sword, dividing, cutting asunder, purifying.
And His countenance was as the sun shineth in His strength—in His glory, in His strength, full of glory.
Dear brothers and sisters, what we have here is a sight of Christ: the Son over His house, the great High Priest in His sanctuary, the King in His own kingdom. That is what we see. We see a sight of Christ—how glorious, magnificent, and majestic Christ is.
And we know, as He is, so is the church. The seven golden lampstands take their character from the Son.
Following this vision, you find chapters 2 and 3: the vocation. First, the vision—the vision of Christ in the midst of His church. Then, secondly, the vocation of the church.
In these two chapters, you find the seven churches in Asia. Now, these seven churches are not hypothetical cases. These seven churches are actual churches in the Roman province of Asia at the time of John the Apostle. These seven churches really existed at the end of the first century, before the last of the twelve apostles passed away.
There in Asia were these seven churches, as represented by the seven golden lampstands. God chose these seven churches in Asia at the end of the first century. Why?
We know that there were more than seven churches in the Roman province of Asia at that time. But the Holy Spirit chose these seven. Why? These seven give us a full picture of the church of God then, at that time, and even up to now.
The condition of the church of God is fully represented by the seven churches in Asia. So we are not looking at these seven churches merely from a historical standpoint. We are not just reading their conditions from almost two thousand years ago.
Nor are we looking at these seven churches in a prophetic sense, as if they represent the whole church history. But, brothers and sisters, we would like to see these seven churches together.
He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith to the churches.
—Revelation 2:7
Vocation follows vision. Vocation should be the practical expression of the vision seen. Vocation makes the vision practically seen by all. Vocation should correspond with vision.
Probably there is a reason why, in the letters to the seven churches, every letter begins with something of Christ, as we have already seen in the first chapter.
Whenever vocation and vision are separated, whenever there is discrepancy between the vision and the vocation, you know there is failure. If there is contradiction between the vision and the vocation, then the failure is great.
At the time of the Apostle John, when our Lord Jesus looked upon His church at that time, He found that there was much that did not correspond to Himself.
The Lord had not removed any of these lampstands yet, nor had the Lord spewed them out of His mouth yet. The Lord still recognized these churches as His, and they were still continuing on, outwardly at least, as usual.
In each one of them there were some commendable virtues. And yet, when the Lord tried to measure Himself with the churches, He found there was much discrepancy, and sometimes great contradiction.
It is for this reason that the Lord Jesus is walking in the midst of the seven golden lampstands. He is there to reprove. He is there to restore. He is there to recover. And it is with this background that the call for overcomers comes forth.
Dear brothers and sisters, if the Lord Jesus should walk among us, His churches today, do you think we are in a better position or in a worse position?
Not to say that there is much lacking in the inward reality—even in the outward form. We wonder whether the Apostle John would recognize us.
And if this is the case, then certainly the call to overcome is most urgent.
In these seven letters, we find in each letter the call to overcome.
We are not able to go into details, but I think probably it will be of some help to us if we just pick out some of the important points and then try to see what constitutes that call.
What is the call to overcome? Wherefore shall we overcome? In what place have we fallen? Who will be overcomers?
In the first measure, let us consider the letter to the church in Ephesus.
Now, if we know anything of the history of that church, you know, if you read the book of Acts, you will find the church in Ephesus had a very good beginning.
The word of God prospered in that city. Paul stayed in that city for years, and there the word of God prospered greatly. Many of them came and confessed their sins, and they burned all their books of magic, which were worth a great deal.
In other words, you find there was fervent love in that church in Ephesus. They loved the Lord with a perfect heart.
That is the reason why we have Paul’s letter to the Ephesians. We know that this letter to the Ephesians reveals to us the very height of spiritual knowledge and wisdom—the full knowledge of God.
Why is it that Paul was able to communicate the mystery of Christ, the mystery of God, to that church, which he could not do to the church at Corinth? That church boasted itself of knowledge. They thought that they had knowledge; they were not behind anybody in knowledge. But knowledge puffeth up.
Because they were full of this kind of knowledge, Paul was not able to communicate to them the full counsel of God. But you find that to the Ephesians Paul was free to communicate the mystery of Christ. Why?
It is because these were a people of love. If you read the letter to the Ephesians, you will find the word love is mentioned, if I count it right, seventeen times. Love, love, love.
It is because they loved. They loved God, and that opens the avenue to real knowledge.
If you want to gather information, if you want to get mental knowledge, so to speak, love is not required. You may accumulate great knowledge without love. But if you want to know God in the real way, love is the secret.
It is not by poring upon books; it is by loving—by loving God.
And you know, the letter to the Ephesians concludes with a most wonderful verse. I do not know if you have noticed that. The last verse of the sixth chapter, Ephesians 6:24:
Grace be with all them that love our Lord Jesus Christ with a love incorruptible.
In the letter to the Corinthians, Paul concludes by saying, “If any man loveth not the Lord, let him be anathema. Maranatha.” But here you find, “Grace be with all them that love our Lord Jesus Christ with a love incorruptible.”
This church, this people, loved God with an incorruptible love—not with the love that is corruptible, and we know what that love is: human love. But with a love incorruptible, divine love. They were so filled with Christ, constrained by the love of Christ, that they loved God with an incorruptible love.
That is the church in Ephesus. But when the Apostle John was used of God to write the second letter to the Ephesians, we find many outward manifestations which were actually the result of their inward love toward God.
These good manifestations, in the beginning, were the consequence of their inward love of God. But you find that after some years these outward manifestations continued. They looked very well, very commendable, and they continued on. Yet the inward flame was gone.
You find the Lord Jesus says, “I have somewhat against thee,” in spite of all the good things you have, all these outward things you have. “I have somewhat against thee.”
The Lord is very hard. “I know all your good things, but I have somewhat against thee.” Oh, if we know the heart of God, we can even sense the agonizing in the heart of God: “I have somewhat against thee, because thou hast left thy first love.”
Remember therefore from whence thou art fallen, and repent; and do the first works; or else I come to thee, and will move thy candlestick out of its place, except thou repentest.
—Revelation 2:5
In other words, there will be no testimony of Jesus.
I do not know, brothers and sisters, whether you can find out the reason why they had left their first love. The Lord said, “Remember therefore from whence thou art fallen.” There must be some reason for them to fall away from their first love. But I wonder if you can find out the reason.
The Scripture seems to be silent on that. What is the reason? Wherefore have they fallen? On what point? For what reason? On what particular occasion did the downfall, the decline of their love, begin?
I cannot find anything specific. If you can find it, please let me know. Because there does not seem to be any specific reason. We can only take it in a more general principle.
You will remember that there is a principle in Proverbs 16:18:
Pride goeth before destruction,
And a haughty spirit before a fall.
That is the general principle: pride goes before destruction; a haughty spirit before a fall. I wonder if the church in Ephesus fell on that point.
Because of their love toward God, God had so privileged them with such full knowledge of Him. Probably, gradually, they began to be proud of themselves. They had plenty of reason to be proud.
Instead of looking off unto the Lord, they began to look into themselves. “How much we love. How much we do love.” And as they began to be proud of their spiritual achievement, of their spiritual condition, as some people put it, they began to have spiritual pride.
Probably this is when they began to think of themselves instead of thinking of Him. Pride goes before destruction, and a haughty spirit before a fall. Maybe—I do not know—maybe they fell in that particular instance.
Here, brothers and sisters, this is the danger that is ever present with those who are a little more privileged by God. If you are not so privileged, you really have no reason to be proud.
But if you are somewhat favoured and privileged, the danger is that you begin to feel that you have become someone. Remember, that is where you begin to fall.
You will fall from your first love. You may still maintain the outward form, continue on, and, in a sense, you will try your best to maintain it. That is right.
The inward flame is gone, but the outward form must continue, because if it does not continue, people will begin to know. Then you are on an entirely false ground.
That is the reason why the Lord said, “If you do not repent, I will remove the testimony,” because it is not the testimony of Jesus anymore; it is the testimony of yourself. You are trying to maintain it.
What is the call to overcome? The call to overcome is to restore the first love—that absolute, perfect love, first love toward Christ, toward God.
Who is an overcomer? An overcomer is, very simply, a lover.
Do you think that to be an overcomer you have to do some great things, accomplish some great task? To be an overcomer just requires one thing: to be a lover of God. That is all that is required. That is the call of an overcomer.
We move on to the second letter, Smyrna. We know that the church suffered a great deal. There you find the call is for faithfulness unto the end.
As Christ emptied Himself and became a man, as Christ humbled Himself as a man and became obedient unto God, even unto death—yea, the death of the cross—as Christ suffered to the very end, so the call is that we too may be faithful.
Anyone who is to be faithful to God must suffer. These two things go together.
Through many tribulations we must enter into the kingdom of God.
—Acts 14:22
These are they that follow the Lamb whithersoever He goeth.
—Revelation 14:4
We have to walk the way of the cross, because this is the way. Are we willing to suffer for Him, for His sake? Are we ready to go on all the way with Him, even unto death?
Sometimes we wonder why He does not deliver us. He ought to. If we are so faithful to Him, He ought to deliver us. But here you find in the letter, “Some of you will be put into prison yet.” Worse things will happen yet.
And if God just stands back and allows everything to happen, are you offended? Are you willing to go on all the way with Him? Are you faithful to Him, even unto death?
What is the call of an overcomer? What is an overcomer? An overcomer is a martyr—a martyr, one who bears the cross and follows the Lord.
You know, very often I have this kind of feeling: “Oh, if God will give me the privilege of being a martyr.” You know, whenever we read the story of Christian martyrs, we are stirred in our hearts: “Oh, how we long that we may be privileged.”
But you are already privileged without knowing it, and you are always trying to get away from it.
A living martyr suffers more than a dead martyr. But are we willing?
Dear brothers and sisters, we live in a time, as the Apostle says, when people love themselves. We live in a time of self-love. We love ourselves too much—oh, especially in this country.
We will not allow ourselves to suffer a little bit. We will go to the utmost for ourselves. This is incompatible with the love of God.
Are we willing to be a living martyr? Are we willing to follow the Lamb whithersoever He goes? Or do we just go to a certain limit and say, “Now, thus far, no more. If You want to go on, come back. You come back, just like in the Song of Solomon. Come back. I am not going with You, but You come back to me.”
But you will find He will never come back. He always goes on. Oh, if we want to go on with Him, we have to go on. He will not come back. An overcomer is a martyr, a lover of God.
Then you move on to the third letter. There you find, in the letter to the church in Pergamum, worldliness.
The doctrine of Balaam: the mixing of the people of Israel with Midian. There is worldliness, worldliness.
When Satan fails in destroying the church by persecution, he tries to endow the church and give favours to the church. That is where worldliness comes.
On the one hand, the doctrine of Balaam: worldliness. On the other hand, the teaching of the Nicolaitans: professionalism. Here you find worldliness and professionalism come together. They always go together.
Is it not that we are in a worse position than the church in Pergamum at that time? Oh, how the world has a great place in Christianity, and professionalism is prevailing everywhere.
The call to overcome is the call to be separated. Come out of the world. Come out of professionalism, and be united with the real One.
So an overcomer is basically a separatist.
Then you come to the fourth letter, the letter to the church in Thyatira. There you find in that church not only corrupt conditions, but a corrupted system.
The church is reduced into a corrupted system, like a mustard seed that has grown abnormally into a big tree, and all the birds of the air rest upon its branches.
It has become a big system, full of corruption, and yet full of mystery—mysterious, superstitious—but a gigantic system.
And the call of the Lord is for purity.
Here, brothers and sisters, we are living in a time of great mixture. And what the Lord is looking for is pureness.
Blessed are the pure in heart: for they shall see God.
—Matthew 5:8
We do not know what that mystery is, the mystery of Satan, and do not try to know it. If only we know what has been given to us, once for all delivered unto the saints. People may call you ignorant, but blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God.
The call for overcomers is the call for purity.
I believe that as the age is coming to a close, God is looking more and more for purity—for purity.
When a thing is pure, it may be reduced to very little, but it is pure. And that is what God wants.
The overcomers are the pure in heart. They know nothing but God.
Then you come to the fifth letter, the letter to the church in Sardis. They have a name that they live, but they are dead.
In other words, they have a form, but without life. What God is looking for today is life, not just a name. You may have a good name in the past. You may inherit a good name. But what God is looking for is life.
Is there life there? Is there the true life there?
You know why it is that the church in Sardis has lost its life? You may find it in the very beginning of that letter, when the Lord said He is the One who has the seven Spirits.
When you lose your contact with the Holy Spirit, with the Spirit of God, you miss life. Life is Christ. Christ is life. Christ is life. But that life can only be experienced in the Holy Spirit.
It is only when we are in living relationship, in living communication with the Spirit of God, that you are full of life—the life of Christ.
Once that contact is lost, life recedes. The name remains, but the life recedes.
So it is most important for those who respond to God, to Christ, to maintain a continuous living relationship with the Holy Spirit.
And as for you, the anointing which ye received of Him abideth in you, and ye need not that any one teach you; but as His anointing teacheth you concerning all things, and is true, and is no lie, and even as it taught you, ye abide in Him.
—1 John 2:27
Abide in Christ. That is where you find life.
Then the sixth letter: the letter to the church in Philadelphia. What is it that the Lord is looking for in that church? I think probably what the Lord is looking for is this thing: the Lord said, “Thou hast a little power.”
The Lord is looking for power—spiritual power, power in that church. “Thou hast a little power.” The little power is real power.
Sometimes we may have a great deal of power, but it may not be the real power. The Lord is looking for spiritual power. Where does that power come from?
It comes from, first, “Thou didst not deny My name,” which means that they have been continuously under the authority of the name of our Lord Jesus.
“You didst keep the word of My patience,” which means the word of the cross.
And, “Philadelphia”—brotherly love. You love one another.
On the basis of these three things, you are under the authority of the Lord, the Head; you have walked the way of the cross, kept the word of His patience; and you have loved one another. This is power. This is spiritual power.
It may not seem to be very great to the world, and yet the Lord said, “Thou hast a little power.” That is it. There is the power I am looking for.
Are we powerful people of God? Do we have power before God?
And then, lastly, the letter to the church in Laodicea. What the Lord is looking for in that church is reality.
We know that that church lives in a pretension, a falsehood. They say, “We are rich. We are not lacking anything. We have everything.” Probably they did have something in the beginning.
And yet the Lord said, “Thou knowest not that thou art wretched, and miserable, and poor, and blind, and naked.” In other words, they are living in a falsehood. They are not living in reality.
The Lord suggests to them, advises them, to buy gold refined by fire—living faith; to buy white garments—the righteousness of the saints, practical righteousness; and eye-salve—spiritual insight.
They have to pay a cost to get these things. But what the Lord really desires is reality. He is the Amen, the Reality, the true One.
Dear brothers and sisters, we are living in a world of falsehood. And very often, even in our Christian world, there is much that is false.
We are deceiving ourselves. We are under a great deception. And it really needs the Spirit of God to awaken us, to see how much is real and how much is unreal.
One day, that which is unreal must pass away. And when that day comes, we do not know how much remains. Only that which remains counts. The others do not work out.
So the Lord really is looking for reality—spiritual reality.
Now, dear brothers and sisters, all these are real for Christ. He is the Son of Man, full of life. He is full of life, full of light, full of glory, full of righteousness, full of love, full of everything. This is what He is, and this is what He is looking for in His church.
What He is looking for in you and in all the others—nothing else really matters.
Today the call is out:
He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith to the churches.
—Revelation 2:7
The Spirit of God is speaking, but do we have the ear to hear?
He is looking for Himself in His church. That is what He is looking for. You may have many things in your life that are good, but that is not what He is looking for in you.
He is trying to find Himself in His church. Will the Lord find Himself in His church? How much can He find among His own that corresponds to Him, that responds to Him?
These constitute the nature of overcomers.
So, dear brothers and sisters, our Lord Jesus, He is the Overcomer, and He is calling us to overcome.
An overcomer is not a superman, is not a giant, is not one who has done something great and spectacular. No.
An overcomer is a lover, basically. In other words, he is one who responds to the Lord.
Or, to use the word that is very popular now, he is a normal Christian—a normal Christian.
So may the Lord be gracious to us. Shall we pray?
O Lord, do open our eyes to see Thee as the Overcomer, full of life, full of glory, that we may be so taken up with Thee that our whole being, our whole attention, may be focused upon Thee.
We may forget all the other things, but seek for one thing only: that Thyself shall be formed in us.
Oh, how we praise and thank Thee that Thou art not looking for any foreign things in our lives. Thou art just looking for Thyself in us.
And we do desire to give ourselves to Thee, that Thou mayest have a greater place in our life—a greater and greater place—that Thy heart may be satisfied.
We ask in the precious name of our Lord Jesus.