Lesson #1: ONE BEING WITH MANIFOLD DIMENSION
One of the most important symbols of the Holy Spirit that the church must understand is the lampstand. The lampstand is the furniture which is placed at the left side in the holy place of the tabernacle of Moses. It is made of pure of gold and every part of it is of one piece. The Lord Himself said to Moses, "You shall also make a lampstand of pure gold; the lampstand shall be of hammered work. Its shaft, its branches, its bowls, its ornamental knobs, and flowers shall be of one piece." (Exodus 25:31) The Holy Spirit is pure and divine. There is only one Holy Spirit, but there is manifold dimension of His being.
Lesson #2: THE HOLY SPIRIT AND THE CHURCH
The lampstand has one shaft and six branches. In the apostle John's vision on the island of Patmos he saw the Lord Jesus in the midst of seven golden lampstands (Revelation 1:13). The Lord Jesus told John that the seven golden lampstands were the seven churches in Asia. So, the lampstand which represents the Holy Spirit is called the seven golden lampstands which represents the seven churches. One is the number of holiness and seven is the number of perfection and completeness. Thus, the Holy Spirit is holy and His holiness will make the church perfect and complete.
Lesson #3: THE FLOW AND THE FILLING UP OF THE HOLY SPIRIT
The shape of the lampstand is like a tree. Its shaft is like the tree trunk and its branches is like the tree branches. The lampstand must be filled with oil every day, so that its lamp always burns and gives light. Likewise, the tree must have water flowing inside every day so that it is always fresh, growing, and bears much fruits in the end. The church must grow in the Holy Spirit like the tree growing and like water flowing inside the tree or like the filling of the oil in the lampstand from the bottom to the top.
Lesson #4: GROWING LIKE THE TREE
Viewed from above, the growing process of the tree is like a circle growing bigger. The tree starts with a small seed inside the ground, then the root comes out of it. The root grows downward and spreads around for some time before the trunk comes out and the tree starts to grow upward. Then after the trunk grows upward to a certain height, the branches start to come out. These branches come out together from the opposite sides of the tree in all directions. Now the tree begins to grow around. Finally, from the branches come out leaves, flowers and fruits. So, in the tree growth, there are actually two circles that grows bigger, one is of the root inside the ground and the other is of the trunk outside the ground. It is a picture of the growth of the church. The church must be deeply rooted in the Holy Spirit, must grow up higher in the Holy Spirit, must be balanced in all the things of the Holy Spirit, and in the end, must bear much the fruits in the Holy Spirit.
Lesson #5: HOLINESS, LOVE, AND COMPLETENESS
The lampstand is designed according to the numbers of God: One, three and seven. It is made of one piece. It has one base and one shaft. It has three branches coming out of each side of the shaft. Each of these three branches can be viewed as one group. So, one group on the left and one group on the right, and the shaft in the middle makes three. Altogether, the shaft, three branches on the left, and three branches on the right makes seven. One is the number of holiness, three is the number of love, and seven is the number of completeness. It is the picture of the Holy Spirit who is holy, full of love, and complete.
Lesson #6: THE HOLINESS OF THE HOLY SPIRIT
The Holy Spirit is holy. The meaning of the word ‘holy’ here is not primarily to be without sin, but to be set apart. The Holy Spirit is so set apart from other spirits. He is so unique and there is no other spirits like Him. He has a special place even among the Trinity, just like the mother has a special among the family. The Holy Spirit is so holy that whoever speaks against Him will not be forgiven eternally. The Lord Jesus said, "Anyone who speaks a word against the Son of Man, it will be forgiven him; but whoever speaks against the Holy Spirit, it will not be forgiven him, either in this age or in the age to come." (Matthew 12:32)
Lesson #7: THE ABIDING AND THE BAPTISM OF THE HOLY SPIRIT
The base of the lampstand represents both the basic nature of the Holy Spirit as well as the foundation of the church, which is holiness. The shaft of the lampstand represents the first manifestation of the Holy Spirit for the church, which is the baptism of the Holy Spirit. The oil fills the shaft from the bottom to the top. When we believe in the Lord Jesus, God gives the Holy Spirit to abide in us. This abiding Holy Spirit is the foundation of our spiritual life, which is holiness. Next, God will give us the Holy Spirit as baptism to fill us with His holy anointing. We will become holy people, set apart for God and His purpose. The Lord Jesus said to His disciples after He rose from the dead, “for John truly baptized with water, but you shall be baptized with the Holy Spirit not many days from now.” (Acts 1:5)
Lesson #8: THE LOVE OF THE HOLY SPIRIT
Three is the number of love. God is love (1 John 4:8) and God is in three Persons: the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. They dwell together in perfect unity because They love One Another in a perfect way. The Holy Spirit loves the Father and the Son without partiality. The Holy Spirit loves the Father as the wife loves her husband and the Holy Spirit loves the Son as the mother loves her children. Both the love of the wife for her husband and the love of the mother for her children are holy love. There is no other love like the wife’s love for her husband and there is no other love like the mother’s love for her children. The apostle Paul could feel this Holy Spirit’s love when he wrote to the church in Rome, begging them to strive together with him in prayers to God for him. He wrote, “Now I beg you, brethren, through the Lord Jesus Christ, and through the love of the Spirit, that you strive together with me in prayers to God for me.” (Romans 15:30)
Lesson #9: LOVING GOD AND HIS CHILDREN
The apostle John wrote, “Whoever believes that Jesus is the Christ is born of God, and everyone who loves Him who begot also loves him who is begotten of Him.” (1 John 5:1) The church is born of the Holy Spirit, therefore, she has the love of the Holy Spirit. So, as the church we will love both God and His children. We will love the Lord Jesus like the wife loves her husband. We will live for Him. The apostle Paul wrote, “For the love of Christ compels us, because we judge thus: that if One died for all, then all died; and He died for all, that those who live should live no longer for themselves, but for Him who died for them and rose again.” (2 Corinthians 5:14-15) We will love our brothers and sisters in Christ like the mother loves her children. We are willing to lay down our lives for them. The apostle John wrote, “By this we know love, because He laid down His life for us. And we also ought to lay down our lives for the brethren.” (1 John3:16)
Lesson #10: GROWING IN THE FRUIT AND THE GIFTS OF THE HOLY SPIRIT
The baptism of the Holy Spirit will make us a holy people. We will be set apart for God and His purpose. As we continue to be filled with the Holy Spirit, we will grow in the love of the Holy Spirit both toward God and toward the brethren, like the oil begins to fill up both the right branches and the left branches of the lampstand. Growing in the love of the Holy Spirit toward God is also growing in the fruit of the Holy Spirit. The apostle Paul wrote, “But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control.” (Galatians 5:22-23) We will grow in the divine nature and become one with God Himself. Growing in the love of the Holy Spirit toward the brethren is also growing in the gifts of the Holy Spirit. The apostle Paul wrote, “But the manifestation of the Spirit is given to each one for the profit of all: for to one is given the word of wisdom through the Spirit, to another the word of knowledge through the same Spirit, to another faith by the same Spirit, to another gifts of healings by the same Spirit, to another the working of miracles, to another prophecy, to another discerning of spirits, to another different kinds of tongues, to another the interpretation of tongues. But one and the same Spirit works all these things, distributing to each one individually as He wills.” (1 Corinthians 12:7-11) We will grow in the divine abilities and manifests God Himself.
Lesson #11: GROWING IN THREE STAGES AND THREE CATEGORIES
Growing in the fruit of the Spirit can be divided into three spiritual stages: Children, young men, and fathers (1 John 2:12-14). In the children stage, we will just have love, joy, and peace in our lives. In the young men stage, we will have longsuffering, kindness, and goodness in our lives. When we have reached the fathers stage, we will have faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control, which are the signs of maturity. Growing in the gifts of the Spirit can be divided into three categories: Prophetic, revelatory, and creative. In the prophetic category, we have prophecy, different kinds of tongues, and the interpretation of tongues. In the revelatory category, we have the word of wisdom, the word of knowledge, and discerning of spirits. In the creative category, we have faith, gifts of healings and the working of miracles. We must grow in the fruit of the Spirit as well as in the gifts of the Spirit. The apostle Paul wrote, “Pursue love, and desire spiritual gifts.” (1 Corinthians 14:1)
Lesson #12: THE COMPLETENESS OF THE HOLY SPIRIT
The oil fills up the lampstand beginning from its shaft, then to its two groups of branches on each side of the shaft, until all the seven golden lampstands are full of oil. So, the oil fills up the lampstand according to the number one, three, seven. Seven is the number of perfection or completeness. The work of the Holy Spirit will be completed after the seven seals of the scroll are opened. The work of the Lord Jesus will be completed when the seven trumpets are sounded. The work of the Father will be completed when the seven bowls are poured out on the earth. In the apostle John’s vision of heaven on the island of Patmos, he saw seven lamps of fire burning before the throne of God, which are the seven Spirits of God (Revelation 4:5). The seven Spirits of God are the Holy Spirit in completeness, according to the prophecy of Isaiah the prophet: “The Spirit of the Lord shall rest upon Him, The Spirit of wisdom and understanding, The Spirit of counsel and might, The Spirit of knowledge and of the fear of the Lord.” (Isaiah 11:2)
Lesson #13: THE SEVEN SPIRITS OF GOD AND THE SEVEN CHURCHES
The lampstand (the seven golden lampstands) represents the Holy Spirit in completeness as the seven Spirits of God: The Spirit of the Lord, The Spirit of wisdom and understanding, The Spirit of counsel and might, The Spirit of knowledge and of the fear of the Lord. It also represents the seven churches in Asia written in the book of Revelation: Ephesus, Smyrna, Pergamos, Thyatira, Sardis, Philadelphia, and Laodicea. Because seven is the number of completeness, so these seven churches are the complete representation of all the churches that exist at that time as well as the prophetic picture of the general state of the church from the beginning to the end. We will be perfect and complete as the church when we have the seven Spirits of God upon us and become overcomers at the end of these last days.
