Wednesday

Related Verses
Rev. 1:13
13 And in the midst of the lampstands One like the Son of Man, clothed with a garment reaching to the feet, and girded about at the breasts with a golden girdle.

Eph. 5:29
29 For no one ever hated his own flesh, but nourishes and cherishes it, even as Christ also the church,

1 Tim. 4:6
6 If you lay these things before the brothers, you will be a good minister of Christ Jesus, being nourished with the words of the faith and of the good teaching which you have closely followed.

Eph. 4:11-12
11 And He Himself gave some as apostles and some as prophets and some as evangelists and some as shepherds and teachers,
12 For the perfecting of the saints unto the work of the ministry, unto the building up of the Body of Christ,

Psa. 42:11
11 Why are you cast down, O my soul? And why are you disquieted within me? Hope in God; for I will yet praise Him, The salvation of my countenance and my God.

Heb. 4:15
15 For we do not have a High Priest who cannot be touched with the feeling of our weaknesses, but One who has been tempted in all respects like us, yet without sin.

1 Cor. 1:10
10 Now I beseech you, brothers, through the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that you all speak the same thing and that there be no divisions among you, but that you be attuned in the same mind and in the same opinion.

Phil. 2:1-2
1 If there is therefore any encouragement in Christ, if any consolation of love, if any fellowship of spirit, if any tenderheartedness and compassions,
2 Make my joy full, that you think the same thing, having the same love, joined in soul, thinking the one thing,

Related Reading
To cherish people is to make them feel happy and comfortable. To nourish them is to feed them, to give them something to eat…As the Son of Man, Christ as the High Priest is taking care of all the churches as lampstands (Rev. 1:12-13). On the one hand, He is cherishing the churches in His humanity; on the other hand, He is nourishing the churches in His divinity…When we visit people, invite them to our home, or contact them before and after the meetings, we must be one with Christ to cherish and nourish them. (CWWL, 1994–1997, vol. 5, “The Vital Groups,” p. 152) 

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Christ is the best model of cherishing and nourishing…Christ is taking care of the lampstands by being the Son of Man with a long garment. This garment is the priestly robe (Exo. 28:33-35), which shows that Christ is our great High Priest. 

He is also girded about at the breasts [a sign of love] with a golden girdle…The golden girdle is one piece of gold to become a belt. The Son of Man is in His humanity, and the golden girdle signifies His divinity. 

The priests in the Old Testament were girded at the loins for their ministry (Exo. 28:4). In Daniel 10:5 Christ also was girded at His loins, with fine gold. To be girded at the loins is to be strengthened for the work. Christ has finished His divine work in producing the churches. Now by His love He is caring for the churches that He has produced…Now He takes care of the churches with the girdle not on His loins but on His breasts, signifying love. I hope we all could realize that in these days even among us, Christ is wearing a golden girdle on His breasts. 

The totality of Christ in His divinity has become a girdle. The golden girdle signifies Christ’s divinity becoming His energy, and the breasts signify that this golden energy is exercised and motivated by His love. His divine energy is exercised by and with His love to nourish the churches. 

Christ takes care of the churches as the lampstands in His humanity as the Son of Man to cherish them (Rev. 1:13a). Christ as our High Priest takes care of the churches that He has established first in His humanity to cherish the churches, to make the churches happy, pleasant, and comfortable. 

The high priest in the Old Testament dressed the lamps of the lampstands every morning (Exo. 30:7). To dress the lamps is to make them proper. 

Christ cares for the lampstands by trimming the wicks of the lamps of the lampstand, just as the priest did according to the type in the Old Testament (Exo. 25:38). When the wick was burned out, it became charred and black, so the priest had to come to cut off the black part of the wick…The charred part of the wick, the snuff, signifies things that are not according to God’s purpose which need to be cut off, such as our flesh, our natural man, our self, and our old creation. All the lampstands are organic. They are living lampstands. Since each church is a living lampstand, each church has much feeling. A church with charred wicks will not feel comfortable. 

I thank the Lord that today in His recovery He is the High Priest in His humanity…We do not have a High Priest who cannot be touched with the feeling of our weaknesses, but One who has been tempted in all respects like us, yet without sin (Heb. 4:15). Our Christ is the same as we are…He always sympathizes with our weaknesses in His humanity. He is the High Priest in His humanity taking care of us by cherishing us all the time. (CWWL, 1994–1997, vol. 5, “The Vital Groups,” pp. 154-156) 

Further Reading: CWWN, vol. 17, “Scriptural Messages,” issue no. 22