I hold in my hand a letter from a young seminary
student. He's a stranger to me. I've never met
him. He writes, Dear Miss Kuhlman, I have stopped
in the middle of my Greek assignment to write
you. Having just today finished your book, I
Believe in Miracles, I read every chapter. I
was... thrilled at God's transforming power in
the lives of people. I had experienced the new
birth. But as I read your book, a great burden
welled up in my heart, which has been with me,
increasingly so, the last several weeks. This
burden is the fact that so much of what is done
in our churches today is completely human endeavor.
As I read your book, I saw how God's Spirit alone
is the answer. All the theology, all the Greek,
All the degrees that I might get will not determine
my usefulness in God's kingdom. I know now the
meaning of the words. It's not by might nor by
power, but by my spirit, saith the Lord. Pray
for me. And the young man signs his... Full name
gives his full address. He's a young seminary
student preparing to preach the gospel. We're
going to have a heart -to -heart talk. In all
probability, I will not be able to finish it
today. We will continue. And I pray with all
the earnestness of my being. that the Holy Spirit
shall take my mind, shall quicken my mind, shall
speak through lips of clay to give you something
that only He can give. I pray He shall open your
understanding to the deep truths of His Word.
You know, I consider the book of the Revelation
the greatest of all prophetic books. That's my
personal opinion. Oh, I reeled that wonderful
book of the Revelation. The thief of the Revelation
is Jesus Christ. And the Revelation begins with
the Revelation of Jesus and his church. And before
I begin talking about the seven stages of the
church as given here in the first three chapters
of the book of Revelation, I think it's only
fair that we shall have an understanding as to
just what is meant by the church. You are a Catholic
and you say, My church. I am a Protestant. I
say, my church. You may belong to another organization
and you say, our church. Jesus says, my church.
Before I will finish speaking, We will settle
that question once and for all. Which is the
right church? Which is the true church? First
of all, remember something. The church is not
a continuation of the Jewish dispensation under
another name. If the scriptures put Moses and
the law in one dispensation and Christ and grace
in another dispensation, let us respect the divine
order and not join together what God hath put
asunder. There could be no church. until the
day of Pentecost, as recorded in the first chapter
of Acts. The church is the body of Christ. In
Ephesians, the first chapter, the 22nd and 23rd
verses, you read these words. and hath put all
things under his feet, and gave him, Jesus, to
be the head over all things to the church, which
is his body. There could not be the church during
the dispensation of the Jews and law. The church
could not exist until after Jesus himself had
come because he is the head of the church. Let
me repeat. And have put all things under his
feet and gave him, Jesus, to be the head of all
things to the church, which is his body. We see
immediately. that this headship was not possible
until Jesus had been raised from the dead. Seated
at the right hand of the Father, the church,
therefore, could not have been in existence before
there was a head. For God does not make headless
things. The church, then, is the body of which
Christ is the head. Quote a little further in
1 Corinthians, the 12th chapter. For as the body
is one and hath many members, and all the members
that one body, being many, are one body, so also
is Christ. For by one Spirit we are all baptized
into one body, whether we be Jew or Gentile.
whether we be bond or free, and have all been
made to drink into one spirit. Oh, that's wonderful.
Therefore, we are born into his body. Therefore,
we see there could be no church until the day
of Pentecost. Paul is led to the Ephesians. Continues,
there is one body, the church, and one spirit,
the Holy Spirit. Even if you are called into
one hope of your calling, one Lord, Jesus, one
faith, one baptism, the baptism of the Holy Spirit.
one god and father of all who is above all and
through all and in you all there should be no
mistake as to what paul meant by the one body
now ye are the body of christ So we, being many,
are one body in Christ. The fact that the church
is a body made up of living members shows that
it is not an organization. This is something
that I pray that the Holy Spirit will make very
real to you. I pray with all the earnestness
of my being that somehow the Holy Spirit shall
so penetrate our minds, our hearts, that this
glorious truth that has robbed the church of
so much of its spirituality shall come through
and be made real to your heart and mind. Church
is a body made up of living members. It's not
an organization. It's an organism. An organization
is made up of distinct units, like doors and
windows and floors and roof of a building. These
things can be removed, replaced by new parts
without destroying the integrity of the building.
But a human body is an organism. You cannot remove
an eye or an ear or an arm or a foot or even
a finger or even a tooth. without destroying
the integrity of the body and causing a mutilation.
And so we see from this wonderful body that Christ
is talking about that to lose one member of his
body, which is a church, is to mutilate it. Neither
can the church as the body of Christ die. For
whoever saw a dead body attached to a living
head, the church of the Lord Jesus Christ will
never die. It is impossible for this wonderful
body of believers to die. It cannot. It's the
most impossible thing in the world. I know we
look around about us and we talk about the falling
away. We talk about the deadness of the church.
We talk about the lack of spirituality. But remember,
beloved, it is impossible for this wonderful
body of believers, the church, His church, to
ever die. It will never become a dead body because
Christ is the head and our head is alive and
can never die again. For in the book of Revelation,
he said to himself, I am he that liveth and was
dead. That's on the cross. And behold, I am alive
forevermore. And as long as Christ lives, and
he says his life shall be forevermore, this wonderful
body of believers, his body, the church, will
live regardless of the spiritual drought and
the lack of spirituality and the falling away.
Death will never come to his church. All to me
that's very modest. See something else. A person
can exist without a physical body as a soul exists
without a physical body between death and the
resurrection of the body. But that existence
cannot be made manifest. And so the only way
that Christ, who is now in glory, can manifest
himself to the world is through his body, the
church. That's the only way. He is not here on
earth. We do not see him. in bodily form as he
appears in our midst? No. But he still exists
as great high priest seated at the right hand
of God the Father. Because of this position,
he no longer walks this earth. in person as he
walked along the shores of Galilee. Instead,
he manifested himself to the world through his
body. The church, this glorious church of the
living God. Do you understand the importance?
of this wonderful church, not as an organization,
but as an organism. Believers. This church made
up of born -again men and women. Oh, this is
wonderful. And the only way the church can see
Christ today is in the Christian believers. This
is probably what Paul meant. When he wrote to
the Philippians, for me to live is Christ. In
other words, for Christ to live again in Paul
so that the world, the unregenerated, might see
Christ manifested in Paul. There is... Responsibility
of the church is tremendous. As we continue in
this heart -to -heart talk, I pray to God that
every minister, every born -again Christian will
see his great responsibility as a member of his
church. All right. Now, if you will, please,
go to the book of the Revelation. I just laid
the groundwork as to what the church is. And
before we begin with the seven stages of the
church, as Paul saw it in the Spirit, I want
that we get the introduction. The word says,
being in the spirit on the Lord's day. Oh, John
had a glorious vision, the Lord himself. One
of these days when I get the glory, I want a
long talk with John. You and I have had wonderful
heart -to -heart talks together, but I am anticipating.
A heart -to -heart talk with John in person.
And for once, I'm going to keep my mouth shut.
And I'm going to let John do all the talking.
Oh, that's going to be a glorious day. John said,
I was in the Spirit on the Lord's day. That wonderful
vision as he beheld the very Son of the Living
God. He heard a voice, and then he saw a form.
He heard this voice saying, I am Alpha and Omega,
the first and the last. What thou seest, write
in a book. This is what he saw, and it is of
great importance. And being turned, I saw seven
golden candlestands. Now, if I understand this
correctly in the spirit, these were not like
the candlesticks in the temple and in the tabernacle.
Sure. They were very familiar with candlesticks
in the temple. They were very familiar with candlesticks
in the tabernacle. But these were not like the
candlesticks that they had in the temple. Those
were seven -branched. Six -sided branches and
the central shaft made the seven. But John saw
not one candlestick. He saw seven separate candlesticks.
They were seven separate lampstands. Christ is
represented by the seven -branched candlestick
in the holy place. and the Spirit of God is represented
by the seven lamps upon it. But during his absence,
during the time of his priesthood, a barren glory,
his people are to be the lights for him in this
world. And so John sees in this first vision
not one candlestick with seven branches, but
seven distinct lampstands in the form of a circle
and in the midst of them he sees one like unto
the son of man girt about the breast with a golden
girdle it is the lord judging in the midst of
his assemblies. Then what do we learn about these
lampstands? What do these candlesticks symbolize?
Here it comes. This is wonderful. They picture
for us the whole course of the church's history
until the coming again of our Lord Jesus Christ.
In his absence, the church of God is responsible
to keep a light burning in the midst of darkness.
And believe me, the darkness is creeping upon
us very rapidly. And the only real light in the
world today, the only light of hope and of assurance,
is in Jesus Christ the Lord, the only real hope,
the only light that the world has is found in
Jesus Christ the Lord. There was a day when Jesus
said, as he walked upon this earth, I am the
light of the world. But the day came when he
turned and said to his people, Ye are the light
of the world. In his absence, the church of the
Lord Jesus Christ is restored. Responsible to
keep a light burning in the midst of darkness.
Know that. His church. That is the responsibility
of the church. We represent Jesus. The only way
the world can see Christ today is in the Christian
believer. And how can that light be kept burning?
What did that light? The oil of the Holy Spirit.
That's what the prophet meant when he said, it's
not... by might. It's not by power, but it's
by my spirit. It is the oil of the Holy Spirit.
In and through the believer that makes it possible
for the believer to shine and the church to shine
and give the church the power. Ye are the light
of the world.