Indeed, the confusion on the earth does not affect the spiritual reality. God’s spiritual reality still remains. But the church in her outward appearance, at least, is confused. The Roman Catholic Church claims that it is the Body of Christ. According to a survey taken in 1914 of Protestantism, there were more than 1500 well-organized denominations, excluding scattered groups, each claiming to be the Body of Christ. Before John, Paul, and Peter passed away, this had already started. Paul wrote to Timothy, saying, “All who are in Asia turned away from me” (2 Tim. 1:15). Even Ephesus was included. In this kind of circumstance, the children of God must seek one thing; that is, how should we follow and serve the Lord? What should we do? When the appearance of the church is desolate, we must ask, “What should we do?” Revelation 2 and 3 give us a way in which to walk. If we are really seeking before God, Revelation 2 and 3 will tell us what to do.

The first thing we must know when coming to read Revelation is what kind of book it is. Everyone knows that it is a book of prophecies, but if we ask whether the seven churches are prophetic, they dare not say. Chapters one through twenty-two show us that the special feature of Revelation is that it is a book of prophecy in nature. Not only are the seven seals, the seven trumpets, and the seven vials prophetic, but even the seven epistles are prophetic. This book is a book of prophecy. That is why no one dares add anything to it, nor is anyone allowed to take anything from it. Since it is a book of prophecy, we must treat it as prophecy and discover the fulfillment of its prophecy. The nature of the book of Revelation, we must note, is firstly prophetic; secondly, since it is prophecy, it will be fulfilled. At that time there were more than seven churches in Asia. Why then did John speak of only these seven? When he was on the isle of Patmos, he saw only these seven churches because these seven represent all the others. God chose seven churches which have characteristics of mutual affinity and put the prophecy on them.

On the earth there are seven churches; in heaven there are only seven lampstands. Here is a problem: Whenever there is a church on the earth, there is a lampstand in heaven. The strange thing is that John saw only seven lampstands in heaven. Are there then only seven churches on the earth? It seems that the church in Chungking has been cut off, and the church in Nanking has also been cut off. What should we do? This is why we must remember that this is prophecy. Since it is prophecy, only seven churches were selected. These seven churches are representative of all other churches; there is no number eight to be represented. There are more than seven churches on earth, but these seven are selected as representatives. There are only seven lampstands in heaven, because the history of the seven churches constitutes the complete history of the church.

We must give special heed to the word in chapter one: “Blessed is he who reads and those who hear the words of the prophecy and keep the things written in it” (v. 3). Revelation 22:7 also says, “Blessed is he who keeps the words of the prophecy of this scroll.” We may say that this prophecy is God’s commandments. Although outwardly this book is clothed with prophecy, inwardly it is the commandment of God. This is a book for practice, not for study. The prophecy here differs from other prophecies; this one is for man to keep. Between John and us there is a common principle; that is, this prophecy is for us to keep—to keep from beginning to end. How can those who do not want to keep it understand Revelation? How can they understand the seven churches?

In reading Revelation 2 and 3, we must see not only that this is a prophecy for us to keep, but also that the Lord is the Lord of judgment. The first half of Revelation 1 is the preface to the whole book of Revelation; the last half is the preface to chapters two and three. These two chapters start with the revelation of the Lord Jesus. In 1:13 we see the Lord “clothed with a garment reaching to the feet.” The priests wore long garments; here the Lord is the High Priest. The lampstand is in the Holy Place, the light of which will not be extinguished. Its light burns day and night; therefore, the priest must continually trim it and add oil to it in the Holy Place. The Lord Jesus is the High Priest who walks in the midst of the churches to see which lamp is lighted and which one is not. The trimming is the judgment, because judgment begins in the house of God. Christ walks in the midst of the churches doing the work of judgment, and today’s judgment is seen from eternity.