And the angel that talked with me came again, and waked me, as a man that is wakened out of his sleep.
And he said unto me, What seest thou? And I said, I have seen, and behold, a candlestick all of gold, with a bowl upon the top of it, and its seven lamps thereon; there are seven pipes to each of the lamps, which are upon the top thereof;
and two olive-trees by it, one upon the right side of the bowl, and the other upon the left side thereof.
And I answered and spake to the angel that talked with me, saying, What are these, my lord?
Then the angel that talked with me answered and said unto me, Knowest thou not what these are? And I said, No, my lord.
Then he answered and spake unto me, saying, This is the word of the Lord unto Zerubbabel, saying, Not by might, nor by power, but by My Spirit, saith the Lord of hosts.
Who art thou, O great mountain? Before Zerubbabel thou shalt become a plain; and he shall bring forth the headstone with shoutings of, Grace, grace, unto it.
Moreover the word of the Lord came unto me, saying, The hands of Zerubbabel have laid the foundation of this house; his hands shall also finish it; and thou shalt know that the Lord of hosts hath sent me unto you.
For who hath despised the day of small things? For these seven shall rejoice, and shall see the plummet in the hand of Zerubbabel; these are the eyes of the Lord, which run to and fro through the whole earth.
Then answered I, and said unto him, What are these two olive-trees upon the right side of the candlestick and upon the left side thereof?
And I answered the second time, and said unto him, What are these two olive branches, which are beside the two golden spouts, that empty the golden oil out of themselves?
And he answered me and said, Knowest thou not what these are? And I said, No, my lord.
Then said he, These are the two sons of oil, that stand by the Lord of the whole earth.
Dear Lord, we want to thank Thee again for inviting us to Thy table, reminding us of Thy amazing love for us.
We thank Thee for giving Thy blood to us, cleansing us from all our iniquities, shutting the mouth of our adversary, and opening the way for us to approach the very throne of grace.
We thank Thee for Thy body broken for us, that we may receive life and life eternal; that we may be united in life with Thee, and that we also may be united with one another in one Body.
Lord, as we continue in Thy presence this morning, we want to hear Thy word. Do speak to us. We are listening. We ask in Thy precious name. Amen.
Last Lord’s Day, we were here on Zechariah 3. In Zechariah 3, we see the recovery of priesthood in the recovery of the house of God. Unless the priesthood is recovered, that recovery is not complete.
Why? You may have the house, but if you do not have the priestly function in there, the house will be quiet, silent. Nothing happens. But with priests serving in the house of God, then you will find everything becomes alive.
So, brothers and sisters, in the recovery of the house of God, there needs to be a recovery of priesthood. And thank God, we are priests unto our God and Father. Because we are priests, it is our responsibility, as well as our privilege, to serve Him in His house.
Now, in the first vision that Zechariah saw, he actually saw Joshua the high priest, who represents the whole priesthood, standing before the Angel of the Lord. Yet Joshua was clothed with filthy garments.
Now, the priest must be clothed with priestly garments for glory and for beauty, making him fit to serve the glorious, holy Lord. But instead, you find Joshua clothed with filthy garments. In other words, he was not able to serve as he should.
And, of course, Joshua represents the whole children of Israel. They were in filthy rags. Satan was also there. He was standing by the right side of Joshua to resist him.
In other words, you will find Joshua was standing before the Angel of the Lord, supposed to serve the Lord, fulfilling his priestly function. But he was not able to do that because of his spiritual condition. Satan had every ground to accuse him, to resist him, and to prevent him from fulfilling his ministry.
Joshua had nothing to say. But thank God, the Angel of the Lord, who is our Lord Jesus, spoke for Joshua. He rebuked Satan and said:
The Lord rebuke thee, O Satan; yea, the Lord that hath chosen Jerusalem rebuke thee: is not this a brand plucked out of the fire?
In other words, here we find our Lord Jesus Himself. He speaks for us. He has chosen us even before the foundation of the world. Because He has chosen us, He also justifies us; and because He justifies us, He also sanctifies us.
In other words, here you find our Lord is able to take off our filthy rags and put upon us the festival robes, which are none other than Himself. He will clothe us with Himself so that we can stand before Him and serve Him as priests.
So you will find that everything is done by the Lord. It is the Lord who calls, and it is the Lord who makes us fit to serve Him.
And the word of the Lord to him is: if he is faithful, then he will be able to rule His house. He will stand among those who stand before the Lord, and he will also be one who will bring in the Branch—that is, bring in our Lord Jesus.
So, brothers and sisters, if we are faithful in what the Lord has given to us and has done to us, and if we faithfully function as priests, this will in turn bring in our Lord Jesus—His second coming.
Now, that is what we shared last Lord’s Day.
Now this morning, we will go into Zechariah 4, another vision. You know, that night was a very busy night, because a series of visions were given to Zechariah.
He had already been shown several visions. He had been shown how the Lord would recover His people, how the Lord would break the horns that broke the children of Israel, how the Lord would revive that nation, how the Lord would bring even all the nations to worship God, and how the Lord would restore priesthood. So he had really learned a lot.
And then you find he fell into sleep. You know, brothers and sisters, it always seems strange to me: when you are given such visions, visions that so uplift you and so excite you, how can you go to sleep?
But oftentimes you find in the Bible that is what happens. You remember when our Lord took the three disciples to the Mount of Transfiguration. It was such a wonderful, glorious sight. We should have had our eyes wide open to see that glory, and yet you find they all fell asleep.
It was toward the end that they woke up. And when they woke up, you know, it was almost too late, and Peter tried to retain it.
Now, it seems strange. But, you know, brothers and sisters, it just shows how limited we are. When God is revealing His mind and His glory to us, with just a little we are so contented and so satisfied that we fall into sleep. We think that is all we need.
But thank God, He always has something more for us. So the angel that spoke with Zechariah woke him up and said, “Now, what do you see? There is something more you need to see.”
And he said, “I saw a golden lampstand with a big bowl, and seven and seven pipes to each lamp.” In other words, there are seven lamps in the golden lampstand, and a big bowl there. Then each lamp has seven pipes going into it—all together, forty-nine pipes.
And then he also saw two olive trees, one standing on the right and one standing on the left. That is what Zechariah saw.
So the angel said to him, “Do you know what it means?” Zechariah said, “I do not know.”
Now actually, Zechariah should know. Why? The golden lampstand was very familiar to the children of Israel.
In the tabernacle of God, in the holy place, there was the golden lampstand. If you turn to Exodus 25:31-40 or Exodus 37, you will find the description of that golden lampstand.
God commanded Moses to make a golden lampstand to put in the holy place, according to the pattern on the mount. That golden lampstand was made of pure gold, of one talent of gold.
And that golden lampstand was a beaten work. In other words, that talent of gold had to be beaten. Think of it: a whole talent of gold, and you just beat and beat and beat until that gold takes the form of a beautiful lampstand with seven branches.
It had cups like almonds and flowers, and on the top of it, the seven lamps. It was a beautiful work, and it was to be placed in the holy place.
Aaron and his sons were to attend to it, to take care of the light from evening to morning. They would go there and pour oil in, and see that the lampstand gave light to the house of God.
Because, you know, in the holy place it was all covered. The sunshine could not penetrate into it. So in the holy place, it was all lit by the light of the lampstand. Otherwise, the priests would not be able to serve, because it would be all dark.
Now, that is the golden lampstand.
When you come to the New Testament, you know, in Revelation 1:20, that lampstand is explained to us. John, on the island of Patmos, saw a vision. He saw seven golden lampstands, with the Son of God standing in the midst of them.
And the seven golden lampstands were explained to John: the mystery of the seven golden lampstands is the seven churches in Asia.
So, brothers and sisters, the golden lampstand in Scripture speaks of the church of God. It represents the church of God. The church of God is like a lampstand.
You know, a lampstand is not an end in itself; it is a means to an end. The lampstand is for the purpose of holding the light, of lifting up the light.
And we remember our Lord Jesus. In John 8:12, He says:
I am the light of the world: he that followeth Me shall not walk in the darkness, but shall have the light of life.
The true Light has come into the world to enlighten all men. So our Lord Jesus is the Light. The church is the lampstand.
The purpose of the church is to lift up Christ, to testify to Christ, that the testimony of Jesus may be uplifted, spread abroad, and enlighten the world. Now, that is what the church is.
The church itself is but a means. It does not draw attention to itself; it draws attention to Christ. That is the function of the church.
The golden lampstand in the holy place is not just an ornament, a decoration. It is functional. It is there to serve an important purpose.
So, brothers and sisters, that is what the church of God is. It is not just there as an ornament for people to look at and admire.
You know, oftentimes we find that is what Christianity tries to be today—something like an ornament or a monument. Let people admire it. No, that is not the purpose of the church.
Even though it is beautiful because of the work of the Holy Spirit, and because it manifests Christ, it is beautiful; but that is not its purpose. It is functional. It is to uplift Christ.
Now, this golden lampstand is made of pure gold. You know, in the tabernacle there are quite a few pieces of furniture. But of all the furniture in the tabernacle, there are only two pieces that are made purely of gold.
Some are made with brass, like the brazen altar and the brazen laver. Some are made of wood overlaid with gold. But there are only two pieces of furniture in the tabernacle that are made of pure gold.
Now one, of course, is the mercy seat. The mercy seat is made of pure gold. Why? Because Christ is our mercy seat. You remember in Romans 3, God has set Him forth as the mercy seat. Now, in some translations it is “propitiation,” but in the original, Christ is set forth as the mercy seat.
It is because of Christ that God is able to show mercy to us. And you will find it is made of pure gold—nothing but gold.
But strangely, you find there is another piece of furniture in the tabernacle that is made of pure gold, and that is the golden lampstand. Again, I find it very extraordinary.
Because when you think of the church of God, you would say it should be made of wood and overlaid with gold. That is our understanding.
What is the church? The church is not a building with bricks, stone, or wood. The church is made of people, redeemed people, the people of God. We who are redeemed by the precious blood, we are the church of God.
And you know, humanity—human nature—is always represented in Scripture by wood. So we would say the church should be made of wood, but overlaid with gold, because we have received the life of God in us.
But no. In the pattern on the mount, God said the candlestick, or the lampstand, is made of pure gold—nothing but gold. Why?
Because the church, at its truest, is nothing but Christ. In 1 Corinthians 12, it is said that there is one body but many members, many members but one body. So also is the Christ.
One body, many members; many members, one body—that is the church. But the Holy Spirit says, “So also is the Christ.” Why?
Because in the church, even though there are many people there, our flesh and our natural life are all being dealt with by the cross and left outside. So what is left is Christ in you and Christ in me. It is Christ, nothing but Christ.
So the church is the Christ. It is Christ in corporate expression.
So, brothers and sisters, when we really see a vision of the church, we shall understand how much the work of the cross must be wrought into our very life.
Everything that is not Christ in us, among us, has to be eliminated, has to be kept outside of the church. I cannot bring my opinion into the church. I cannot bring my own feeling into the church. I cannot bring myself into the church and inject myself into the church.
Because if I do, I will break the very makeup of the church, the very testimony of the church, because the church is to testify Christ—not to testify of you or of me.
All the human elements have to be dealt with by the cross. And what is left is Christ and Christ alone. Now, that makes up the church.
And I think the strangest thing is that it is of beaten work. Now, we would think that our flesh needs to be beaten. You know, we need lots of beatings. How strong is our flesh! We need lots of beatings, lots of discipline, a lot of dealings, so that we may be delivered from ourselves.
But no. What we need is not beating; what we need is crucifying. You know, the Lord knows beating is of no use. No matter how He beats us, we will still be the same.
So He said, “Crucify.” Our old man was crucified with Christ.
I have been crucified with Christ; and it is no longer I that live, but Christ liveth in me.
But the beating is to beat upon pure gold. We may think, well, pure gold represents the divine life, the life of our Lord Jesus in us. Now, that life does not need to be beaten, right? It is pure. Why should it be beaten?
Well, it is to be beaten into form. The Christ in each one of us needs to be beaten. In other words, there needs to be lots of discipline for us really to be joined into one, and to be transformed and conformed to the image of the beloved Son.
So even the divine life in us needs to be beaten, that we may be formed together into one beautiful whole. And that is the purpose of the lampstand.
You know, when the light of the lampstand shines, it reflects upon the lampstand and shows forth the beauty of Christ.
In that lampstand, you have the cups. They are shaped like almonds. A cup in Scripture speaks of a portion—the portion of the cup, what is in the cup.
And they are shaped like almonds because the almond in Scripture speaks of resurrection. It is the first flower that comes after winter, so it always speaks of resurrection.
So, brothers and sisters, here you find this lampstand, which represents the church. There is the fullness of the resurrection life of our Lord Jesus. It is not the natural life anymore; it is the resurrection life of our Lord Jesus.
And then with the cup you have the knob. The knob is the concentration; so it speaks of the fruit. Not only is there life, but there is fruit—the fruit of the Spirit.
And then you have the flower, the beauty, the manifestation of the life of Christ. So the whole lampstand, actually, you find, is to manifest the beauty, the glory, and the life of our Lord Jesus.
So when the lampstand is lit, you find it reflects on the lampstand and shows forth the beauty and the glory of Christ. That is what the church really is.
Brothers and sisters, you know, the house of God—God is so great. In Old Testament times, you find even when Solomon built the temple, he said, “The heaven and the heaven of heavens cannot contain Thee; how can this temple be Thy dwelling place?”
It is just a place for You to put Your name there. So, in other words, you find the tabernacle or the temple is where the name of God is placed. So on earth there is the name of God as a testimony to the world.
So that is the reason why during the Babylonian captivity, God is no longer addressed as the God of the heavens and of the earth. He is only addressed as the God of the heavens, because on earth there was no testimony, no name, no place to put His name.
Israel had failed God as a vessel of the testimony of God. Now, brothers and sisters, what is the church? The church is a vessel of the testimony of Jesus.
He puts His name there.
For where two or three are gathered together in My name, there am I in the midst of them.
The church is to bear the testimony of Jesus. That is what the house of God is. So unless there is a lampstand, you find the house does not fulfill its purpose.
Thank God, in the recovery of the children of Israel, the golden lampstand was to be recovered. That is the reality, the meaning, of the house of God as a vessel for the testimony of God.
So, dear brothers and sisters, in the recovery of the house of God today, there must be this recovery of the golden lampstand, because the church is the vessel of the testimony of Jesus.
You find in the early church how they bore the testimony of Jesus. And even when you come to the book of Revelation, you find John was exiled because of the testimony of Jesus.
And this testimony of Jesus must be recovered today.
What is this golden lampstand that Zechariah saw? You find it was a little different. There were some variations.
Why? In this vision, he saw three things that were not there when Moses made the golden lampstand.
First, he saw that there was a big bowl there, a big bowl as a reservoir to keep the oil. In other words, you need a big bowl to hold lots of oil.
Then you find there are seven pipes to each lamp—not just seven pipes to seven lamps. In the original, it is seven and seven pipes. In other words, to each lamp, seven pipes.
Now, seven in Scripture speaks of fullness. So it means there are full channels of supply, not just one pipe. Because one pipe is limited. Seven pipes mean abundant supply, abundant channels of supply.
And then you find two olive trees. You know, in the Old Testament tabernacle, Aaron and his sons looked after the lamps. In the evening, they would come in and see whether the oil was depleted, and they would pour some more oil into it.
That was the way to keep the light burning day and night, night and day. In other words, the light of the lampstand never went out.
But here, in this vision, it is very different. You find the oil is supplied by two olive trees.
And what the olive trees produce and pour into the bowl is gold. It is gold. But when the gold flows through the pipes to the lamps, it becomes oil.
So you find there is abundance of supply. Now, gold in Scripture speaks of the nature of God, God’s life. So these two olive trees are full of oil, but this oil is gold. It is the divine life of Christ.
They are full of the Holy Spirit. And because they are full of the Holy Spirit, therefore you find what comes out of them is the abundant life of our Lord Jesus. And when this abundant life is poured into the lamps, it becomes the oil that lights the whole world.
Now, that is something different.
So the emphasis in this vision is: how is the light supplied?
In the recovery of the golden lampstand, the emphasis is not just on the lampstand itself. The emphasis is on the light. How is the light supplied? Plenty of supply, abundant supply, lots of channels; but all comes from the two olive trees.
Now, of course, when Zechariah saw that vision, the two olive trees signified Joshua and Zerubbabel, because these were the two leaders—one royal, the other priestly.
They led the remnant of the children of Israel out of Babylon, returning to Jerusalem to rebuild the temple of God. So these two men were represented by the two olive trees.
But what is the spiritual meaning of the two olive trees? How does it apply to us today, brothers and sisters?
For the church of God to shine with light, it needs to be supplied. And where will the oil be supplied? It will be supplied by two olive trees.
Now, two in Scripture speaks of plurality, not just one person. It speaks of plurality.
If two of you shall agree on earth as touching anything that they shall ask, it shall be done for them of My Father who is in heaven.
Not only do we have the Holy Spirit. You know, when we believe in the Lord Jesus, the Holy Spirit comes and dwells in us. Every believer has the Holy Spirit.
But not every believer is filled with the Holy Spirit. We have the Holy Spirit in us, but are we filled with the Holy Spirit?
How can we be filled with the Holy Spirit if we are already filled with other things? We need to be emptied, because before we can be filled, we need to be emptied of all the other things—things that we consider precious to us, things that we keep within ourselves, like the five foolish virgins.
We need to be wise virgins. We need to empty ourselves of all that is not of God, not of Christ, not of the Holy Spirit, and allow the Holy Spirit to fill us—to fill us to the brim, to fill us to overflowing.
You know, the filling of the Holy Spirit is an experience. According to the word of God, you find a person can be filled with the Holy Spirit many times. It is an experience.
When you really abandon yourself to the Lord, give yourself to the Lord, yield yourself to the Lord, when you really empty yourself, He will fill you. We will experience the filling of the Holy Spirit.
But more than that, it is not just that you were filled five years ago. You know, we often hear people say, “This is a person who is filled with the Holy Spirit.” Now, we want to ask, “When was he filled? Was it five years ago, when he had that experience? But how about today? Is he still being filled by the Holy Spirit?”
So in the Bible, you find Stephen and Philip were full of the Holy Spirit. In other words, it is not just an experience; it is a state.
It is a continuous situation. You are filled with the Holy Spirit that you may be full of the Holy Spirit. You will become an olive tree.
Not just a vessel filled with oil once at a time, and maybe after five years it is already depleted. You need to be full of the Holy Spirit, continuously filled. In that full state of the Holy Spirit, you become an olive tree.
That is what the Lord wants. And the church needs lots of people like that.
The reason why the testimony of Jesus is not being shed abroad is because there is a lack of people who are full of the Holy Spirit, whose lives are controlled by the Holy Spirit, ruled by the Holy Spirit, and constantly filled with the Holy Spirit.
And be not drunken with wine, wherein is riot, but be filled with the Spirit.
And with such people, there will be plenty of supply to the church, that the church may fulfill its mission of bearing the testimony of Jesus.
So, brothers and sisters, I believe this is what the Lord is trying to say to us. May we be these olive trees, standing before the Lord and standing by the side of the golden lampstand.
Now, that is the vision.
But with a vision, there is always the word. You know, whenever a vision is given, there is a message from the Lord. It is not just seeing something; you will also hear something.
So what is the message of this vision?
The angel asked Zechariah, “Do you understand?” He said, “I do not.” So the angel said, “This is the message.” That is to say, in this vision there is a message, and the message is this: a message to Zerubbabel.
Zerubbabel was a descendant of David. He represented kingship. The name Zerubbabel means “born in Babylon.” He was born there. He never saw Jerusalem. He never saw the temple built by Solomon.
He was born in Babylon, and yet the Spirit of God moved him to return to Jerusalem to rebuild the temple. In other words, he knew nothing about Jerusalem. He knew nothing about the temple of Solomon.
And yet somehow the Spirit of God gave him such a burden for the name of the Lord upon the earth, for the testimony of God upon the earth. And he was moved by the Holy Spirit to return and to do this work.
He went back with a remnant for the only reason of rebuilding the house of God. So you remember in the book of Ezra, when they came back, they started with building an altar.
And afterwards, they tried to lay the foundation, and they tried to build the house, but they met with lots of opposition from their neighbors. They were accused before the Persian king, and the whole work was stopped.
Their hands were weakened. They could not go on. And the whole work was stopped for maybe fifteen years or more, until the second year of King Darius Hystaspes.
Then, through the prophecy of Haggai and Zechariah, you find the hearts of Joshua, Zerubbabel, and the remnant were encouraged. And they rose up and continued with the building of the house of God.
So here you find there is a message to Zerubbabel: “You came back with a purpose of restoring the testimony of God upon this earth, but you are met with a mountain, a great mountain, a great difficulty. You cannot overcome it, and the whole work was stopped.”
How can you resume it? Even if you resume it, look at what you have done. It cannot be compared with the temple of Solomon. It is so small.
So you find, on the one hand, Zerubbabel, even though he had a heart, was discouraged by the difficulties around him—a great mountain standing in his way.
And he was also discouraged by the little that he could see being done. What could he do? He could not build a temple as glorious as Solomon’s temple. It could not be compared. Even if it was finished, it could not be compared. He was really discouraged.
So the word of God came to Zerubbabel:
Not by might, nor by power, but by My Spirit, saith the Lord of hosts.
“Might”—that word can also be translated as host or army. Not by army. So might here represents the combined strength of all the people.
“Nor by power.” Power speaks more personally to Zerubbabel. In other words, if you want to succeed in this task, even if you pull all the power, strength, and resources together, you will not be able to do it.
It is beyond human power. It is beyond corporate strength. Nobody can do it.
Not by might, nor by power. There is nothing that you can depend upon—the combined resources of the people, the strength of the people. No, there is nothing you can do by your own power. You cannot. Nothing can be done. It can only be done by the Spirit of God.
What a message that is!
Who supplies the oil? The Holy Spirit is the oil. So the olive trees are full of the Holy Spirit, and it is only by the power and might of the Holy Spirit, poured into the lampstand, that makes it shine. By the Spirit.
And you remember, the Lord said, “I am with you. I am with you.”
There are seven eyes, representing the seven Spirits of God. It means His sevenfold functions—one Spirit with sevenfold functions, as you find in Isaiah 11.
The eyes of God are watching. When He saw the plummet in the hand of Zerubbabel, he was going ahead. Zerubbabel, who began it, shall fulfill it, and shall put on the topstone, and shall shout, “Grace, grace, unto it!”
In other words, the Lord is assuring Zerubbabel that if he depends on the Holy Spirit, he will be able to finish the whole job. And it is all of grace.
Do not think that you can do anything. You are not able to. It is all grace. It is the grace of God, by the working of the Holy Spirit, that He will raise up His house and light up the lamps.
Do not think it is the day of small things. Do not despise it. Even though it may look very little in your eyes, the eyes of the Lord are upon it. He sees it. He is pleased with it. He accepts it.
Brothers and sisters, we today are living in the days of small things.
You remember what the Lord said to the church in Philadelphia:
I know thy works; behold, I have set before thee a door opened, which none can shut, that thou hast a little power, and didst keep My word, and didst not deny My name.
People are looking for something big, thinking that that is tremendous. But, brothers and sisters, the Lord is not looking for quantity; He is looking for quality.
This is the day of small—small, but pure; small, but it is all of Christ; none of self. And His eyes are upon it. It is all of grace.
So, dear brothers and sisters, I believe when Zechariah was given that vision and received that message, what a comfort it was.
What is the work of us who are kings unto God? The work of a king, or the work of kings, is to restore the testimony of Jesus. That is the work. That is a royal work.
And the Lord has entrusted that work to His people. So may we not draw back. May we give ourselves totally to Him, knowing that there is nothing in us. Everything is in Him.
Let Him fill us with His Spirit and, by His Spirit, supply the light that is needed for the testimony of Jesus.
Dear Lord, how we want to thank and praise Thee that Thou dost have a message for us today:
Not by might, nor by power, but by My Spirit, saith the Lord.
Lord, we want to confess to Thee that we have no might nor power. But we know Thou hast the Spirit, and Thou hast given it to us.
So, Lord, teach us how to be emptied of everything, and let Thee fill us to the brim, to overflow, Lord, that the testimony of Jesus may be recovered in the church and Thy name may go forth.
We ask in Thy precious name. Amen.