As believers in Christ, we want to see the vision of Christ as the Son of Man walking in the midst of the golden lampstands, so we want to be the Lord’s overcoming messengers, those who are in our spirit on the ground of the church, keeping the oneness of the Spirit and remaining on the genuine ground of the oneness.
Amen, Lord Jesus, we want to be those who receive Your fresh message today. Unveil us. Keep us in our spirit. May we see the vision of Christ as the Son of Man walking in the midst of the golden lampstands. Oh Lord, grant us a living vision of Christ! May we see You today, even see You in what You are doing and in what You are to the church and for the churches! Amen!
This week in our prayerful consideration of how we can experience, enjoy, and express Christ as seen in the book of Revelation, we come to the topic: Christ as the Son of Man Walking in the Midst of the Golden Lampstands.
Blessed are believers in Christ, who read and hear the words of the prophecy, and keep the things written in it, for the time is near (Rev. 1:3). We need to be those who read, hear, and keep God’s word.
Especially as we see the time of the Lord drawing near, we need to remain in God’s word, read and pray over God’s word, and allow the Lord to operate in us according to His word.
In Revelation 22:10 we are told that the words of the prophecy are not sealed, for the time is near. This book was not closed, but kept open. We should read the Bible every day.
May we not close the book of Revelation but keep it open; may we not set it aside but read all the crucial verses in this book day by day. And the way we read is with much prayer and much consideration.
We need to read the Word of God by means of all prayer and petition, praying at every time in spirit and watching unto this with all perseverance (Eph. 6:17-18).
After reading a portion of the Word in a spirit and atmosphere of prayer a number of times, we will never be the same.
We simply become different from what we are; this is not by making up our mind but by keeping the revealed Word of God all the time.
It is the Spirit who gives life; the flesh profits nothing; the words the Lord speaks to us are spirit and are life (John 6:63).
If we simply read the divine Word day after day, in the morning, at noon, and in the evening, we will receive the Spirit of life and we will be like what is written in the Word.
What we need is to see the divine revelation and the divine vision, and then we will become what we see and read. Reading the word of God again and again nourishes us, transforms us, and swallows up our old being.
First, we drop our concepts; then, we don’t make up our mind to do something but simply read and pray over God’s word.
Forget about being able to do what the word says or not; just read the Bible prayerfully. Then, the light will come to us and gradually we will become another person. Praise the Lord!
Being the Lord’s Overcoming Messengers to See the Vision of Christ as the Son of Man
Before we can see the vision of Christ as the Son of Man walking in the midst of the golden lampstands, we need to be a particular kind of person: we need to be the Lord’s overcoming messengers (Rev. 1:9-13, 20).
The epistles to the seven local churches were addressed to the messenger in each church; for us to see the vision of Christ, we need to be the Lord’s overcoming messengers.
We need to pray that the Lord would keep us in our spirit. An overcoming messenger is a person who lives in his spirit.
We need to live in spirit; if we’re not in our spirit, we simply need to ask the Lord to remind us to turn to our spirit and keep us in our spirit.
When we find we’re outside of our spirit, we can tell Him, Lord, bring me back into my spirit. I turn my heart to You. Lord, keep me in my spirit!
In the book of Revelation, there are four major visions, and each of them was seen by the apostle John in spirit. The overcoming messengers of the Lord are persons in their spirit.
In Revelation 1:10, John was in spirit on the Lord’s day, and he saw the vision of the local churches.
Then in 4:2 he was in his spirit and saw a vision of the destiny of the world; he saw a throne set up in heaven, and there was One on the throne.
When we are in our spirit, there is a throne set up in our spirit – we are not on the throne, but the Lord is on the throne.
In Revelation 22:1, we see the river of water of life flowing out of the throne of God; when we’re under God’s throne, we drink the river of water of life.
The third great vision in Revelation is the vision of Babylon the great, seen by John when he was in spirit (Rev. 17:3). We need to see Babylon the great, the church in apostasy, so that we may avoid apostasy.
The last major vision seen by John in Revelation was the vision of the New Jerusalem, which he saw in spirit. To see the New Jerusalem, the bride of the Lamb, the consummation of all that God is doing throughout the ages, we need to be in spirit.
To be the Lord’s overcoming messengers who see a fresh vision of Christ as the Son of Man walking among the lampstands, we need to be in our spirit. We need to pray that the Lord would constitute us into His messengers.
If He has no messengers, He cannot speak to the churches. We can tell the Lord, Lord Jesus, by Your mercy, constitute us into Your overcoming messengers through whom You can speak to the saints!
Each one of us has our portion, our function, and we want the Lord to speak through us. A messenger is one who receives and dispenses Christ as the fresh message from God to His people.
This happens not only on the Lord’s day at the prophesying meeting; we need to pray throughout the week that the Lord would speak to us and grant us a fresh message.
We need to see the Lord afresh every day. Before we speak to others, we need to have the Lord’s fresh speaking.
We want to be the Lord’s overcoming messengers who have Christ as the fresh message of God so that we may dispense Him as the fresh message of God to His people to build up the church and prepare the bride of Christ.
In His first coming, Christ came as the Messenger, even as the message sent by God; He is the Messenger of God (see Mal. 3:1 and footnote).
Christ not only brings a word or a message from God to His people; He Himself is the living message.
To be the Lord’s overcoming messengers today who have the fresh message from God to His people, we need to be one with the Lord as the Messenger of God.
We want Him to be our fresh message, our living message. We are in Him, He is in us, and we as messengers are being constituted with Christ to speak Him as the living and fresh message of God to dispense God into His people.
If we are such ones, if we are the overcoming messengers who are one with Christ as the Messenger of God to speak Christ as the fresh message of God to His people, we are in reality the lampstand.
As we eat the tree of life, partake of the hidden manna, and enjoy the heavenly feast, we will be nourished with the divine element, and we become part of the golden lampstand.
The golden lampstand in reality is the overcomers in the local churches, for they shine brightly with and as the testimony of Jesus.
The overcomers will make up the lampstand; with them, everything of religion, worldliness, evil, and lukewarmness has been trimmed away, they are filled with the heavenly element, and they shine forth with Christ as the light.
This is what we want to be today. May we bring this to the Lord in prayer for Him to do this in us.
Lord Jesus, we want to be the Lord’s overcoming messengers today! We exercise our spirit and we want to be in our spirit. Amen, Lord, remind us to turn to our spirit and be in spirit so that we may see Christ as the fresh message of God! Make us one with You as the Messenger of God so that we may speak Christ to others for the building up of the church as the Body of Christ! Amen, Lord, speak to us today. Constitute us with Your speaking. Trim away anything of religion, worldliness, evil, and lukewarmness. Be our living message. Constitute us with Yourself as the tree of life, the hidden manna, and the feast. Oh Lord, fill us within and flow through us without! Flow through us as the living message of God to His people for the building up of the church! Make us Your overcoming messengers today. Speak to us and speak through us. May we remain in the light, one with You, and may we be constituted with Christ until we become the golden lampstand, the living testimony of Jesus on the earth! Amen!
Being One and Gathering into the Lord’s Name in God’s Habitation (our Spirit) with the Application of the Cross
The practice of the church life in the early days was the practice of having one church for one city, one city with only one church; in no city was there more than one church (see Acts 8:1; 13:1; Rev. 1:11). This is simple and very wonderful.
Today it should be the same; when we are in London, we meet with and as the church in London, and when we’re in Tokyo, we meet with and as the church in Tokyo; this is God’s way.
We belong to the same church as all the genuine believers in the locality we live in; we belong to the local church in that locality.
Just as there is one moon but it is seen in different localities, but it is the same moon, so there is one church manifested in different localities, but it is the same church.
We belong to the same church the apostle Paul belonged, and also to the same church that Martin Luther, John Calvin, the Brethren, Watchman Nee and Witness Lee belonged.
In relation to our meeting on the genuine ground of oneness, the place that God has chosen, there are four main characteristics seen both in Deuteronomy 12 and in the New Testament.
First, God’s people should always be one; there should be no divisions among them (Psa. 133; John 17:11, 21-23; 1 Cor. 1:10; Eph. 4:3).
God did not allow His people to set up their own worship center according to their preference; He requires them to take His choice and come the unique place of worship He has designated, even when travel was inconvenient for the people.
Today the many denominations are meeting according to man’s preferences; the Lord wants to recover us back to God’s preference and His way revealed in God’s word.
Second, the unique name into which we as God’s people should gather is the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, the reality of which name is the Spirit (Matt. 18:20; 1 Cor. 1:12-13; 12:3).
If we are designated by any other name besides the Lord’s, we are divided and denominated; this is spiritual fornication.
There is much division today in Christianity as a whole, for some call themselves Baptist, Presbyterian, Episcopalian, Lutheran, Anglican, Orthodox, or Methodist.
According to Deuteronomy 12, it is a serious matter to be gathered into any other name except the Lord’s name. We as the church are the counterpart of Christ, His wife; we should not have any other name except His name.
Just as a wife should bear the name of her husband, not the name of any other name, so we believers in Christ should bear only the name of Christ, not any other name.
Third, in the New Testament God’s habitation, His dwelling place, is particularly located in our spirit, that is, in our mingled spirit (John 3:6b; Rom. 8:16; 2 Tim. 4:22; Eph. 2:22; John 4:24; Rev. 1:10; 1 Cor. 14:15).
We are gathered into the Lord’s name and in the right place, which is our human spirit regenerated and indwelt by the divine Spirit.
As we meet to worship God, we must exercise our spirit and do everything in the spirit. God is Spirit, and we can worship Him only in spirit and in truthfulness.
If we’re in our mind or emotions, we don’t offer God the real worship He desires. In everything related to the worship of God, we need to exercise our spirit. We sing, pray, speak, and praise in our spirit.
Fourth, in our worship of God, we must have the genuine application of the cross of Christ, as signified by the altar (Deut. 12:5-6, 27), by rejecting the flesh, the self, and the natural life and worshipping God with Christ and Christ alone (Matt. 16:24; Gal. 2:20).
We do all things in spirit and through the cross; we allow the cross to operate in us and annul us, reduce us to nothing. In the church there should only be Christ; we are all crossed out. When we’re on the cross, we’re truly in spirit.
Lord Jesus, we want to return to Your way and the place You have chosen for our worship of God. Save us from worshipping God in our way or in the place of our choosing. Oh Lord, may we keep the oneness of the Spirit in the uniting bond of peace. We gather into Your name and we take no other name! Amen, Lord, we love the name of Jesus, and we gather only in Your precious name. We refuse to call ourselves by any other name but the name of Jesus! Amen, Lord, we exercise our spirit today. Thank You for dwelling in our regenerated spirit. We come together and we exercise our spirit to worship God in spirit and in truthfulness. May we do everything in spirit in the meetings for the worship of God! Oh Lord, if we still have something related to the flesh, the self, and the natural life, forgive us and apply Your cross to those things. We apply the cross and we take You as our everything in and for the church life today! Amen, praise the Lord!
References and Hymns on this Topic
- Inspiration for this article/sharing comes from the Word of God, the enjoyment in the ministry, a sharing by brother Ed Marks on this topic, and portions from, Life-study of Deuteronomy, msgs. 10-11, as quoted in the Holy Word for Morning Revival on, Experiencing, Enjoying, and Expressing Christ (4) (2025 December Training), week 39 (msg. 3), Christ as the Son of Man Walking in the Midst of the Golden Lampstands – day 1.
- Hymns on this topic:
– See the local churches, / ’Midst the earth’s dark night; / Jesus’ testimony, / Bearing Him as light. / Formed by Him, unmeasured, / In the Spirit’s mold— / All are one in nature, / One pure work of gold. / See the local churches, / ’Midst the earth’s dark night; / Burning in the Spirit, / Shining forth with Christ. (Hymns #1259 stanza 1 and chorus)
– Burning, burning, we are burning, / Ever to our spirits turning, / One for Thine eternal purpose, / in spirit one; / On the ground of locality, / We express our unity— / Many members, but one Body, / Christ as our Head. / Christ and the local church, / Christ and the local church, / Christ and the church, / Our reality and life, / Hallelujah! Hallelujah! / Lord, we’ve given our lives to You, / For the building of Your Body, / For our building up in love. (Hymns #1266 stanza 1 and chorus)
– Lord, speak to me, that I may speak / In living echoes of Thy tone; / As Thou hast sought, so let me seek / Thy erring children lost and lone. / O lead me, Lord, that I may lead / The wandering and the wavering feet; / O feed me, Lord, that I may feed / Thy hungering ones with manna sweet. (Hymns #903 stanzas 1-2)
