This evening, we shall be on somewhat familiar ground as we seek to review the lampstand of testimony.
And thou shalt make a candlestick of pure gold: of beaten work shall the candlestick be made, even its base, and its shaft; its cups, its knops, and its flowers, shall be of one piece with it.
And there shall be six branches going out of the sides thereof; three branches of the candlestick out of the one side thereof, and three branches of the candlestick out of the other side thereof.
Three cups made like almond-blossoms in one branch, a knop and a flower; and three cups made like almond-blossoms in the other branch, a knop and a flower: so for the six branches going out of the candlestick.
And in the candlestick four cups made like almond-blossoms, the knops thereof, and the flowers thereof.
And a knop under two branches of one piece with it, and a knop under two branches of one piece with it, and a knop under two branches of one piece with it, for the six branches going out of the candlestick.
Their knops and their branches shall be of one piece with it; the whole of it one beaten work of pure gold.
And thou shalt make the lamps thereof, seven: and they shall light the lamps thereof, to give light over against it.
And the tongs thereof, and the snuffdishes thereof, shall be of pure gold.
Of a talent of pure gold shall it be made, with all these vessels.
And see that thou make them after their pattern, which hath been showed thee in the mount.
And I turned to see the voice which 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.
Write therefore the things which thou sawest, and the things which are, and the things which shall come to pass hereafter;
the mystery of the seven stars which thou sawest in My right hand, and the seven golden candlesticks. The seven stars are the angels of the seven churches: and the seven candlesticks are seven churches.
So, dear friends, we come back to look again at that which, so early in our history, we saw as the object of the Lord’s concern, and therefore that to which we have given ourselves through the years, as fully, as wholly, as we have been able.
And, as you know, that which has engaged and controlled our hearts through these years has been what is represented by this lampstand of pure gold. It has its place there on the front of the little printed messenger which has gone out into the nations through all these years: the symbolic representation of all that to which we are committed.
When we stand back from the symbol, the type, and ask ourselves, “What does it inclusively represent?” the answer is: the presence of the Lord in this world in a people.
I think that explains this lampstand everywhere as we find it in the Bible. The passages which I have read are only the first and the last references to this. There are others, as you know; we will mention them in a minute.
But it is something which governs, or dominates, the Scriptures. It is there so early, comes up again and again, and it is there at the end. Again, I say, to give the comprehensive explanation of what it means, what it stands for, is just this: the Lord’s presence in this world in a people.
If you think about that, you will, I am quite sure, find more and more light upon this representation, the symbolic representation.
But then it goes on to be shown to represent not only the Lord’s presence Himself, as here in a people, but the identity of the Lord and that people.
You find that you are not able to divide these two things. While it represents the Lord, it also represents the people. While it sets forth the thought of the Lord, that thought is embodied in a people and has no real meaning apart from the people.
The Lord and His people are one for His purpose in this world. There is an identity of the two.
Now, in Exodus, as we have read, this lampstand represents the introduction of that divine thought in a symbolic form. There it is brought in at a point when things are crystallising, when what has been in the mind of God all through is now taking definite shape and becoming concrete.
The Lord is here producing, in a very real and definite way, by a concrete means, the representation of what has been in His mind. When He gets that people out to Himself, He introduces this matter of the lampstand as a part of much more; but it is with this that we are concerned.
There, then, it comes in, not as some casual afterthought of God, but as expressive of what He has been working toward and seeking to have up to that time.
You pass to 2 Chronicles 4, where you have it again. You know that that links it with the temple, and there it represents the consolidation of the divine thought.
The movement in the wilderness was as in a tent: nothing settled, fixed, and always mobile, with an end and an object in view. You come into Chronicles, the end of the object is reached, and now you have the consolidation of the divine thought.
You pass into the prophecies of Zechariah 4, and again you have the candlestick, all of gold, brought into view. You know that there it is the question of the recovery of the Lord’s thought.
It had been lost. The lampstand had been removed out of its place. The testimony had been lost. Seventy years of exile passed over the people. They were neither in their place nor fulfilling their vocation.
Now it is a matter of recovery. The Lord has not let it go for good. The Lord has not given up this idea. There may have been some loss for this period, but it is impressive that when at last He gets a remnant back into position, He introduces the lampstand again.
It seems to come in very naturally: well, this is what it was always intended to be. So it is a matter of recovery there.
When we come to the book of Revelation and the lampstand arises again in vision, in presentation, we find that everything is being brought to judgment according to the thought embodied in the lampstand.
You know that this book is the book of judgment, and judgment begins at the house of God. So the first chapters are the judgment of the church, or the churches.
Right away, the idea of the lampstand is brought into view, and everything is, at the end, ultimately judged according to the lampstand.
That is, I am quite sure, impressive to you. It is all said with the object of impressing you with the fact that this is something about which the Lord is very jealous. He has never given it up, and He brings it at last forward as the standard and basis of His judgment dealings with His people.
There is a difference, of course, between the Old Testament and the New Testament representation. In the Old Testament, the seven branches of the lampstand, which is one, are in one place. In the New Testament, the seven are in seven different places.
It is not that branches are taken off and put in different places. It is seven in every place. The completeness is there.
Now, the focal point of the interrogation here is this: the Spirit saith to the churches. The Spirit is speaking, and speaking in relation to the lampstand in every place.
The challenge and the interrogation is, “He that hath an ear to hear, let him hear.” I want that to fasten itself upon you before we go further.
The Spirit says that at the end of the dispensation, when the judgment of this whole world and all that is here is beginning. And who shall say that we are not on the brink of that—the judgment of this world?
God cannot judge the world until He has judged His church. He just cannot. The word is that it must begin at the house of God.
We may be right on the very threshold of the judgment of this world, which must be introduced by the judgment of the church. And if that is true, if there is anything at all to indicate that, there is the solemn call: “He that hath an ear to hear.”
It is made personal; it is made individual: “He that hath an ear to hear, let him hear what the Spirit saith.”
The challenge, you see, is an individual one, and it focuses upon the faculty amongst the Lord’s people for hearing, knowing what is of the Spirit, as a very deciding factor in the end.
Whether we have an ear to know what is of the Spirit, and when the Spirit speaks, whether we know what it is the Spirit is saying—this is a very serious matter.
Well, having said all that by way of introduction, let us come to this representation and that which it represents: the lampstand, all of God—God’s purpose and God’s means—our testimony and self-revelation in this world.
We mentioned just now that in the Old Testament it is in one place, one lampstand. I think that, while there may be other meanings, the meaning is this: that in the Old Testament everything points to Christ.
Everything is concentrated upon Christ. It is Christ Himself who is the object toward which everything in the Old Testament moves. All there points to Him personally.
That, of course, is quite understandable. Nothing else can be until He is revealed and is present. But in the New Testament things go further. He is present, but in the New Testament everything moves from Christ to the church, and then to the world.
The Old Testament is a concentration upon bringing Him personally into view. When that is done, the next movement of the Spirit is through Him to the church, that the church may take up His ministry and His purpose, and the church, embodying that, may minister to the nations in the midst of the nations.
So we have, in the old, the one; in the new, the many. We shall examine this, and I do trust that we shall get through symbolism to the real spiritual meaning and message.
Need I underline what I have just said? Whether it is the one or the many, in constitution, in experience, and in vocation, they are identical. They are one: Christ and His church, in constitution, in experience, and in function.
Look then, again, in the first place, at the nature, or the substance, of this vessel. It is said to be of pure gold.
It must be that to serve the divine purpose. It just must be that. We understand, in the symbolism of the Old Testament and in the New, that it represents the divine nature.
It has been said that gold symbolises deity, and no doubt there is much truth in that. But I think it would be more correct, or better, to say that it represents the divine nature.
That which is to reveal God must be like God. That which is to convey God to the world must partake of the divine nature. It must be constituted according to the nature of God.
That is different from deity. I am not saying that the church is to partake of deity. I would never say that; it would be wrong. But I do say that the vessel which the Lord has in mind and in view for His very purpose in this world must partake of His divine nature.
And the essence—the essence—of the divine nature is holy love.
He that walketh in the midst of the seven lampstands has a golden girdle about His breast. The symbolism is striking, because He judges according to the standard of holy love.
His hair is as white wool; that is, the character of His judgment is holiness. And He will judge according to it: holy love.
The very beginning of the judgment of the churches is, “Thou hast left thy first love.” First love is thus holy love. That is the essence of the divine nature: holiness in love, love in holiness.
It is a peculiar kind of love. There really is no love like that—holy love.
Now see: here we are in the presence of the light of God, the light of God with His people in the world.
Jesus, who is the lampstand, or testimony of God, when He was here in this world and its darkness, declared Himself to be the Light, the Light of the world, and the Light of men.
He supremely revealed in this world the holy love of God. Think about that: His life, His ministry, His works, and His death were all governed by this one thing—the holy love of God.
On the one side, a witness against unholiness; on the other side, a love for holiness, even unto death.
Sin, corruption, uncleanness, defilement—everything evil—He was here as the testimony against it. The light exposed and condemned it, and at last destroyed it in the cross.
Here in Revelation, He is present, the risen One, the living One, taking up the matter of judgment: first in the church, and then in the nations, and then in the kingdom of Satan.
Notice again, in this book, in all the symbolism, judgment is against defilement in the church, corruption in the church, uncleanness in the church, unholiness in the church; then in the world; and then the unclean kingdom for its destruction.
Judgment is against all that is not holy love, beginning with the loss of that in the church—that which is represented by Ephesus. That is all of gold, dear friends.
Well, it is not my desire for one moment to bring any burden upon you, or weigh you down. I have for some time been very, very deeply and strongly exercised about this matter of holiness in the church, in the life of the church.
If it is true, dear friends—if it is true—that the Lord calls His people, and us amongst them, and for the time being let us focus this upon ourselves, calls us into that identity with Himself for this purpose of manifesting Himself here in this world, and being in us, in the midst of us, present as light in the darkness—
—the very first thing about the vessel, as well as the last thing, says with such emphasis that it has got to be like the Lord: holy, holy.
The eyes, which are as a flame of fire, the eyes of His glory, will search out unholiness. Let there be no doubt about it: in the end, anything that is unholy and hidden is going to be brought out into the light.
In us personally, in family life, in our business life, in every department of our life, He is going to uncover that which is not holy and bring it to judgment. I am sure He is doing that.
We must be able, by the grace and mercy of God and by our faithfulness to Him, to the light He has given us, to stand in the light and walk in the light, as He is in the light.
But this is a matter of what it is that holds the light and gives the light. It is something of pure gold; that is, it partakes of the nature of God Himself. That nature is holy love.
John’s final ministry, as you know, centres in and circles round the testimony of Jesus—the testimony of Jesus.
When you look to see what John means by the phrase that he employs, as distinct from other apostles and servants of the Lord, “the testimony of Jesus,” you find that in his Gospel, in his letters, and in Revelation, the testimony of Jesus is along the line of life and love.
Life, light, and love—you know that those three words comprise his Gospel and his letters. But it is that now which is the ground of the judgment of the church universal.
Life: “I am the Living One.” Light: in the midst of the candlesticks, or lampstands. The very nature of all: holy love.
We must go on. That should challenge your heart—the light. Lord, give us grace to bear that light.
In the next place, its construction. You see that this lampstand is in the form of a tree—an almond tree: tree, leaf, flower, and fruit.
It is, therefore, an organic unity. Again, you notice the reading: “of one piece, of one piece.” This is not a composite thing.
This is not something externally put together. This is not something built up from the outside and held together by a framework.
This is not something, in other words, that is constructed and constituted and brought together, built up and held together by creed, by sacraments, by ordinances, by orders, by a set of rules and regulations, principles and practices, by human control, by legal bonds.
It is none of these. Its unity, its oneness, its organic wholeness, springs out of the very life that is in it. It is all of the Spirit.
It is of the Spirit. It is the Spirit that constitutes its oneness and maintains it.
Having said all that, dear friends, I have touched very deeply into that which the Lord has many times said, that which has been the vision of these many years.
It is not something set up from the outside, made by men, by committees or bodies; not something joined, not something with affiliation from the outside; not something with any of these things that I have mentioned—a doctrinal foundation to hold it together, or a system of regulations, or anything of that kind.
It is something which springs organically and spontaneously out of the life of the Spirit. There is a vast difference between those two things—all the difference.
One you have got to take responsibility for, to hold it together and maintain it. The other, the Holy Spirit takes as His responsibility, if it is of Him.
What is it the Lord wants here? Well, we know what He wants. We may have failed; it may be a very poor representation, but that is not what we are talking about. We are talking about what the Lord wants.
The heart of some of us, at least, is set upon that to which we have given our lives at some little cost. The Lord wants this organic thing which springs out of the Spirit of life Himself and grows by its own organic life.
Why, we have refrained from doing many things that are done in Christianity and in organisations—the many things that we could do to build up something, to make something, to form something, to extend something.
We say, “No. Stand back. Hands off. Let the Spirit do it.” Ours it is to be filled with the Spirit, and the rest will follow.
No doubt about that at all. Where there is a Spirit-filled and Spirit-governed people, the rest will follow. Souls will be saved and added to the Lord. The day follows the night, and other things will follow.
But if it is not like that, then it is a lifelong agony and burden.
Next, the spiritual formation of such a vessel: “of beaten work”—of beaten work. One translation says, “hammered out.” That is very true.
I would go further and say it has been shaped by many a hard blow. This thing is produced that way: beaten, hammered out. It goes through a process of heavy, very heavy, handling to produce the divine conception.
Well, that is one way of speaking of the suffering, the discipline, and the chastening that are essential to produce such a vessel and such a testimony. It is by this process.
The Lord finds there are preponderances and excesses; He strikes blows to reduce them. The Lord finds there are deficiencies; He works to make good. But it is all hammered out on the anvil of suffering.
There is no doubt about it. It may explain a lot, but it is very true—very true.
Let me say, in fact, that to be an integral part of such a vessel for the Lord involves a lot of difficulty and trouble that you would never know otherwise. It just does, resulting in a lot of suffering unto glory.
Let me say to the younger brothers and sisters, both in years and in association: have no illusions.
Should it be that that is what the Lord is after here in this place, in this company—should that be what the Lord is aiming at—your touching and association with that will involve you in a peculiar history of difficulty and suffering.
If you are not prepared for that, you will not stay; you will take offence. You will be in confusion. Understand that? All faithfulness necessitates this.
See, next, its position. You know the position occupied by this lampstand in the old dispensation and its typical significance.
It was in a place which symbolically was between heaven and earth, within the intermediate chamber of the tabernacle. On the one side, the very presence of God Himself, as in heaven; on the other side, this world. In between, the lampstand.
In between heaven on the one side—yes, the earth touch broken; on the other side, the heaven touch secure, established.
That opens the door to very, very much. I see such a comprehensive and detailed embodiment and representation of all this in John 17.
Read that familiar chapter again in the light of what we are saying this evening. Here is He who is the Light. He is there with the Father in prayer, and His gathered church is represented with Him there.
And what is He praying? What is it that is coming from His lips about Himself and about them? Why, “They are not of the world, even as I am not of the world.”
They are not of the world, even as I am not of the world.
I pray not that Thou shouldest take them from the world, but that Thou shouldest keep them from the evil one.
And yet, as to the world, “that the world may believe.” By what it sees, by the light which shines upon them and radiates from them, the world should be affected.
Yet it is all toward the Father, for the Father’s pleasure, the Father’s satisfaction. There is your lampstand, personal and corporate, between heaven and earth: the place of intercession.
But the emphasis is, “This is not of the world.” It is impressive, again, that it is in John that you have that in his Gospel, that you have John 17, and then you go over to his letters.
What is it all about? Oh, it is this tremendous emphasis upon the matter of being apart from the world and related to heaven—all those strong things that John says in his letters about the world.
The world lieth in the evil one.
All that is in the world is not of the Father.
Here is challenge—His challenge to us. In some respects, we may not need this, and yet, I am not sure that we do not.
You may not be of those who love the world, and in some real ways you have left the world; you are not of the world. But do realise, dear friends, that the enemy’s persistent effort, in order to neutralise and nullify the testimony of Jesus, is to bring its vessel down onto an earth touch in some way.
That, of course, is so clear and evident in those letters to the churches—exactly how it happened. They had come down spiritually and touched the earth, and the enemy had spoiled their testimony.
Even the Lord had to say, “I cannot go on. I must remove thy lampstand out of its place,” unless this earth touch is broken and you get clear.
There are many ways in which the touch can be brought about. Of course, this speaks of the essential heavenly nature and relationship of the church, if it is going to fulfil this divine vocation.
It is so utterly different from, and a contradiction of, that false conception of the church which has its centre in Rome and has touched so much of Christianity outside of Rome.
It is an earth thing; it is a political thing; it is a national thing; it is a historical thing. And that is all a denial of the real nature of the church and the church’s testimony—a contradiction.
It is not political—not political. “My kingdom is not of this world: if it were, My servants would fight.” It would be a political thing, but it is not.
Any church that touches the political realm and is associated with it has left its holy place and has lost its testimony. No doubt about it.
It is not historical; it is eternal, altogether above history. It is not an earthly thing, though the thing called “the church” may be on this earth. Oh, no.
It is between heaven and earth. It touches the world for testimony, but its link is with heaven, and it is not of this world, even as Christ was and is not of this world. Lord, keep us there.
Watch carefully against the entanglement the enemy will try to bring about with you and the world. There must be a spiritual space between us all and the world—a spiritual separation.
That is, our spirits are not involved. We walk here and work here, do so much here in this world, and have so much contact with it; but our spirit must remain clear and free. It is essential to our vocation.
And finally, its function. Well, we have said it, but we underline it: the function of this lampstand, of this vessel and instrument, is the light of the Spirit.
We know that the oil is symbolic of the Spirit, and the flame in the oil is the flame of the Spirit’s life. The object of that is to give light. It is the light of the Spirit.
Do you see what we are here for? What are we here for? It may work out in many ways, in different forms, but the inclusive object is the light of the Spirit in this world.
In every point in which that light can go forth, can shine, can be manifested, those who need life can see it and find it, and find their way. That is what we are here for, or should be here for.
May the Lord help us to dwell upon these things seriously, earnestly, and prayerfully.
The Apostle Paul, it seems to me, was the instrument for the setting up of the lampstand and setting the light in every place. These seven churches were very largely the fruit of his ministry.
He is the instrument for this dispensation of bringing the lampstand in with its light. And what light? What light other spirits derived through the ministry of that servant of God all over the world!
Yes, but the light has got dim, and John’s ministry is needed.
John comes in with the golden snuffers. No doubt about it, that is the ministry of his letters and of Revelation: to get rid of the dead wick, to get rid of the smoke that has gathered around the testimony, to revive the life of the Spirit.
He says to us, “The anointing which ye received abideth in you,” and, “Walk in the light, as He is in the light.”
The ministry of John at the end is to revive the testimony of Jesus; in other words, to revive the light that was committed to the church as the vessel of God in this world for this display.
I have used many words; I have used much symbolism. I am always afraid that it might be regarded as teaching, as ideas. But may I say again, dear friends, I feel that the Lord would say this to us at this time, as a part of His very faithful speaking to and dealing with us—
—that we do not fail Him, and that we really do rise to all that He has sought to show us as to our calling through all these years.
We pray.