In Greek
Laodicea means
“opinion, judgment,
of the people” or “of the laymen”
(Rev. 3:14):
Once Philadelphia fails,
she becomes Laodicea;
the only warning
for the church in Philadelphia
is for them
to hold fast
what they have
that no one
take their crown:
They should not be weary of
doing the same things
for a long time
and should not ask for a change;
they should not contemplate
doing something new
after all the years of
doing the same things
—keeping the Lord’s word
and not denying His name.
What they have done
is right
and is blessed
by the Lord;
therefore,
they should continue in it;
they have to hold fast
what they have
and not let it go!
Laodicea is
a distorted Philadelphia;
when brotherly love
is gone,
the opinion of the majority
is the accepted opinion;
as long as the majority
is in favor,
it is all right:
When brotherly love
is lost,
the Body relationship and consciousness
are lost.
The fellowship of life
is cut off as well,
leaving only the opinions of men.
“I know your works,
that you are
neither cold nor hot;
I wish
that you were cold or hot.
So, because you
are lukewarm
and neither hot nor cold,
I am about to spew you
out of My mouth.
Because you say,
I am wealthy
and have become rich
and have need of nothing,
and do not know
that you are
wretched and miserable
and poor and blind and naked”
(vv. 15-17):
In the eyes of the Lord,
the characteristics of Laodicea
are lukewarmness
and spiritual pride:
Spiritual pride
comes from history;
some were once rich,
and they think
that they are still rich;
they still remember
their history,
but they have lost
their former life.
The Lord
was once merciful to them,
and they remember
their history,
but now they have lost
that reality.
They remember
that they were once wealthy
and had become rich
and had need of nothing,
but now they
are poor and blind.
If we
want to continue
in the way of Philadelphia
and avoid becoming Laodicea,
we have to remember
to humble ourselves
before God:
“Love does not brag
and is not puffed up
…Love never falls away”
(1 Cor. 13:4b, 8a).
We should bear in mind
that we have nothing
we have not received.
Those
who live before the Lord
will not be conscious of
their own riches.
Laodicea means
to know everything
but, in reality,
to be fervent about nothing;
in name
it has everything,
but it
cannot sacrifice its life for anything;
it remembers
its former glory
but forgets
its present condition before God;
formerly,
it was Philadelphia,
but today
it is Laodicea.
When a person
becomes proud,
forsakes the way of life,
and neglects reality,
while reminiscing
on his history and his own riches,
the only thing left
will be the opinions of many:
Among such ones
there can only be
discussion and consensus;
it appears to be
a democratic society
but bears no resemblance
to the Body relationship.
If you
do not know
the binding, authority, and life of the Body,
you do not know
brotherly love.
Those
who follow the Lord
have no pride;
the Lord
will spew the proud ones
out of His mouth:
May the Lord
be merciful to us;
this is a warning
to all of us:
we must not be proud
in our speaking.
A person
must live before the Lord continually
before he
can refrain from proud words;
only those
who live before God continually
will not consider themselves rich;
only they
will not be proud.
To be hot
for the Lord and the church
is to be boiling;
to be spewed
out of the Lord’s mouth
by being lukewarm
is to be rejected by the Lord
and to lose
the enjoyment of all
that the Lord is to the church.
In the eyes of the Lord
the degraded recovered church
has the following five characteristics:
She is wretched
because she
is proud of being rich
in the vain knowledge of doctrine,
but in reality
she is sorely poor
in the experience of
the riches of Christ.
She is miserable
because she
is naked,
blind,
and full of shame and darkness.
She is poor
because she
is poor
in the experience of
Christ
and in the spiritual reality of
God’s economy.
She is blind
because she
lacks the true spiritual insight
in the genuine spiritual things.
She is naked
because she
does not live by Christ
or live Christ
as her subjective righteousness,
as the second garment
in her daily walk.
“I counsel you
to buy
from Me
gold
refined by fire
that you may be rich,
and white garments
that you may be clothed
and that the shame
of your nakedness
may not be manifested,
and eyesalve
to anoint your eyes
that you may see.
As many as I love
I reprove and discipline;
be zealous therefore
and repent”
(3:18-19):
In the Bible
our operating, working faith
is likened to gold,
and the divine nature of God,
which is the divinity of Christ,
is typified by gold;
by faith
we partake of
the divine nature of God:
The degraded recovered church
has the knowledge of the doctrines
concerning Christ
but not much living faith
to partake of
the divine element of Christ.
She needs
to pay the price
to gain the golden faith
through the fiery trials
that she
may participate in
the real gold,
which is
Christ Himself
as the life element
to His Body.
Thus,
she can become
a pure golden lampstand
for the building of
the golden New Jerusalem.
White garments
signify conduct
that can be approved
by the Lord;
such conduct
is the Lord Himself
lived out of the church,
and it is required
by the degraded recovered church
for the covering of her nakedness.
The eyesalve
needed to anoint their eyes
must be the anointing Spirit,
who is the Lord Himself
as the life-giving Spirit;
the degraded recovered church
needs this kind of eyesalve
for the healing of her blindness:
In the New Testament sense,
seeing God
equals gaining God;
to gain God
is to receive God
in His element, in His life, and in His nature
that we
may be constituted with God.
Seeing God
transforms us,
because in seeing God
we receive His element into us,
and our old element
is discharged;
this metabolic process
is transformation.
To see God
is to be transformed
into the glorious image
of Christ, the God-man,
that we
may express God
in His life
and represent Him
in His authority.
The more we see God,
know God,
and love God,
the more we abhor ourselves
and the more we deny ourselves.
Dead, vain knowledge
and doctrinal forms
have made
the degraded recovered church lukewarm;
she needs to repent
of her lukewarmness
and be zealous, boiling, burning,
that thereby she
may regain the enjoyment
of the reality of Christ.
“Behold,
I stand at the door
and knock;
if anyone
hears My voice
and opens the door,
then
I will come in to him
and dine with him
and he with Me”
(Rev. 3:20):
The door is
not the door of
the hearts of individuals
but the door of the church:
The Lord
as the Head of the church
is standing
outside the degraded church,
knocking at her door.
We must realize
and hold on to one principle:
God’s presence
is the criterion
for every matter;
regardless of what we do,
we must pay attention to
whether or not we
have God’s presence.
The door is
the door of the church,
but the door
is opened by individual believers:
The church in Laodicea
has knowledge
but does not have
the Lord’s presence.
The Lord
is dealing with the whole church,
but the acceptance of the Lord’s dealing
in order to feast on Him
must be
a personal and subjective matter.
“He who overcomes,
to him I will give
to sit with Me
on My throne,
as I also overcame
and sat with My Father
on His throne.
He who has an ear,
let him hear
what the Spirit says
to the churches”
(Rev. 3:21-22):
Here
to overcome
is to overcome
the lukewarmness and pride
of the degraded recovered church,
to pay the price
to buy the needed items,
and to open the door
so that the Lord
can come in;
Christ as the unique Overcomer
includes all the overcomers.
To sit with the Lord
on His throne
will be a prize
to the overcomer,
so that he
may participate in the Lord’s authority
and be a co-king with Him
in ruling over the whole earth
in the coming millennial kingdom.
We need to see
that the seven epistles
in Revelation 2 and 3
were written
as one book
to the seven churches;
these epistles
were addressed by the Lord
to the seven particular churches separately,
but they
were sent
not as seven books
but as one book.
Although the contents of the seven epistles
differ,
at the end of each epistle
there is
the same closing word:
“He who has an ear,
let him hear
what the Spirit says
to the churches”:
This means
that each epistle
was written
to all the churches,
and it indicates
that in all the positive things
of the Lord Jesus,
the churches
should be the same;
in the Lord’s speaking
to the seven churches,
the positive things
were commended, strengthened,
encouraged, and exalted
by the Lord
for their abounding.
The seven churches
differed abnormally
only in the negative things,
which were rebuked, judged,
condemned, and corrected
by the Lord
for elimination.
If the lukewarm church
forgets all her dead knowledge
and listens to the speaking
of the living and burning Spirit,
she will be delivered
from her degraded condition.
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7 replies on “The Church in Laodicea”
Prophecy note, 15 January 2017
In Greek
Laodicea means
“opinion, judgment,
of the people” or “of the laymen”
(Rev. 3:14):
Once Philadelphia fails,
she becomes Laodicea;
the only warning
for the church in Philadelphia
is for them
to hold fast
what they have
that no one
take their crown:
They should not be weary of
doing the same things
for a long time
and should not ask for a change;
they should not contemplate
doing something new
after all the years of
doing the same things
—keeping the Lord’s word
and not denying His name.
What they have done
is right
and is blessed
by the Lord;
therefore,
they should continue in it;
they have to hold fast
what they have
and not let it go!
Laodicea is
a distorted Philadelphia;
when brotherly love
is gone,
the opinion of the majority
is the accepted opinion;
as long as the majority
is in favor,
it is all right:
When brotherly love
is lost,
the Body relationship and consciousness
are lost.
The fellowship of life
is cut off as well,
leaving only the opinions of men.
“I know your works,
that you are
neither cold nor hot;
I wish
that you were cold or hot.
So, because you
are lukewarm
and neither hot nor cold,
I am about to spew you
out of My mouth.
Because you say,
I am wealthy
and have become rich
and have need of nothing,
and do not know
that you are
wretched and miserable
and poor and blind and naked”
(vv. 15-17):
In the eyes of the Lord,
the characteristics of Laodicea
are lukewarmness
and spiritual pride:
Spiritual pride
comes from history;
some were once rich,
and they think
that they are still rich;
they still remember
their history,
but they have lost
their former life.
The Lord
was once merciful to them,
and they remember
their history,
but now they have lost
that reality.
They remember
that they were once wealthy
and had become rich
and had need of nothing,
but now they
are poor and blind.
If we
want to continue
in the way of Philadelphia
and avoid becoming Laodicea,
we have to remember
to humble ourselves
before God:
“Love does not brag
and is not puffed up
…Love never falls away”
(1 Cor. 13:4b, 8a).
We should bear in mind
that we have nothing
we have not received.
Those
who live before the Lord
will not be conscious of
their own riches.
Laodicea means
to know everything
but, in reality,
to be fervent about nothing;
in name
it has everything,
but it
cannot sacrifice its life for anything;
it remembers
its former glory
but forgets
its present condition before God;
formerly,
it was Philadelphia,
but today
it is Laodicea.
When a person
becomes proud,
forsakes the way of life,
and neglects reality,
while reminiscing
on his history and his own riches,
the only thing left
will be the opinions of many:
Among such ones
there can only be
discussion and consensus;
it appears to be
a democratic society
but bears no resemblance
to the Body relationship.
If you
do not know
the binding, authority, and life of the Body,
you do not know
brotherly love.
Those
who follow the Lord
have no pride;
the Lord
will spew the proud ones
out of His mouth:
May the Lord
be merciful to us;
this is a warning
to all of us:
we must not be proud
in our speaking.
A person
must live before the Lord continually
before he
can refrain from proud words;
only those
who live before God continually
will not consider themselves rich;
only they
will not be proud.
To be hot
for the Lord and the church
is to be boiling;
to be spewed
out of the Lord’s mouth
by being lukewarm
is to be rejected by the Lord
and to lose
the enjoyment of all
that the Lord is to the church.
In the eyes of the Lord
the degraded recovered church
has the following five characteristics:
She is wretched
because she
is proud of being rich
in the vain knowledge of doctrine,
but in reality
she is sorely poor
in the experience of
the riches of Christ.
She is miserable
because she
is naked,
blind,
and full of shame and darkness.
She is poor
because she
is poor
in the experience of
Christ
and in the spiritual reality of
God’s economy.
She is blind
because she
lacks the true spiritual insight
in the genuine spiritual things.
She is naked
because she
does not live by Christ
or live Christ
as her subjective righteousness,
as the second garment
in her daily walk.
“I counsel you
to buy
from Me
gold
refined by fire
that you may be rich,
and white garments
that you may be clothed
and that the shame
of your nakedness
may not be manifested,
and eyesalve
to anoint your eyes
that you may see.
As many as I love
I reprove and discipline;
be zealous therefore
and repent”
(3:18-19):
In the Bible
our operating, working faith
is likened to gold,
and the divine nature of God,
which is the divinity of Christ,
is typified by gold;
by faith
we partake of
the divine nature of God:
The degraded recovered church
has the knowledge of the doctrines
concerning Christ
but not much living faith
to partake of
the divine element of Christ.
She needs
to pay the price
to gain the golden faith
through the fiery trials
that she
may participate in
the real gold,
which is
Christ Himself
as the life element
to His Body.
Thus,
she can become
a pure golden lampstand
for the building of
the golden New Jerusalem.
White garments
signify conduct
that can be approved
by the Lord;
such conduct
is the Lord Himself
lived out of the church,
and it is required
by the degraded recovered church
for the covering of her nakedness.
The eyesalve
needed to anoint their eyes
must be the anointing Spirit,
who is the Lord Himself
as the life-giving Spirit;
the degraded recovered church
needs this kind of eyesalve
for the healing of her blindness:
In the New Testament sense,
seeing God
equals gaining God;
to gain God
is to receive God
in His element, in His life, and in His nature
that we
may be constituted with God.
Seeing God
transforms us,
because in seeing God
we receive His element into us,
and our old element
is discharged;
this metabolic process
is transformation.
To see God
is to be transformed
into the glorious image
of Christ, the God-man,
that we
may express God
in His life
and represent Him
in His authority.
The more we see God,
know God,
and love God,
the more we abhor ourselves
and the more we deny ourselves.
Dead, vain knowledge
and doctrinal forms
have made
the degraded recovered church lukewarm;
she needs to repent
of her lukewarmness
and be zealous, boiling, burning,
that thereby she
may regain the enjoyment
of the reality of Christ.
“Behold,
I stand at the door
and knock;
if anyone
hears My voice
and opens the door,
then
I will come in to him
and dine with him
and he with Me”
(Rev. 3:20):
The door is
not the door of
the hearts of individuals
but the door of the church:
The Lord
as the Head of the church
is standing
outside the degraded church,
knocking at her door.
We must realize
and hold on to one principle:
God’s presence
is the criterion
for every matter;
regardless of what we do,
we must pay attention to
whether or not we
have God’s presence.
The door is
the door of the church,
but the door
is opened by individual believers:
The church in Laodicea
has knowledge
but does not have
the Lord’s presence.
The Lord
is dealing with the whole church,
but the acceptance of the Lord’s dealing
in order to feast on Him
must be
a personal and subjective matter.
“He who overcomes,
to him I will give
to sit with Me
on My throne,
as I also overcame
and sat with My Father
on His throne.
He who has an ear,
let him hear
what the Spirit says
to the churches”
(Rev. 3:21-22):
Here
to overcome
is to overcome
the lukewarmness and pride
of the degraded recovered church,
to pay the price
to buy the needed items,
and to open the door
so that the Lord
can come in;
Christ as the unique Overcomer
includes all the overcomers.
To sit with the Lord
on His throne
will be a prize
to the overcomer,
so that he
may participate in the Lord’s authority
and be a co-king with Him
in ruling over the whole earth
in the coming millennial kingdom.
We need to see
that the seven epistles
in Revelation 2 and 3
were written
as one book
to the seven churches;
these epistles
were addressed by the Lord
to the seven particular churches separately,
but they
were sent
not as seven books
but as one book.
Although the contents of the seven epistles
differ,
at the end of each epistle
there is
the same closing word:
“He who has an ear,
let him hear
what the Spirit says
to the churches”:
This means
that each epistle
was written
to all the churches,
and it indicates
that in all the positive things
of the Lord Jesus,
the churches
should be the same;
in the Lord’s speaking
to the seven churches,
the positive things
were commended, strengthened,
encouraged, and exalted
by the Lord
for their abounding.
The seven churches
differed abnormally
only in the negative things,
which were rebuked, judged,
condemned, and corrected
by the Lord
for elimination.
If the lukewarm church
forgets all her dead knowledge
and listens to the speaking
of the living and burning Spirit,
she will be delivered
from her degraded condition.
Day 6
Rev. 3:20-21
Behold,
I stand at the door
and knock;
if anyone
hears My voice
and opens the door,
then I
will come in to him
and dine with him
and he with Me.
He who overcomes,
to him
I will give
to sit with Me
on My throne,
as I
also overcame
and sat with My Father
on His throne.
The church in Laodicea
has knowledge,
but she does not have
the presence of the Lord.
The Lord
as the Head of the church
is standing outside the degraded church,
knocking at her door.
The degraded recovered church
must realize this!
To overcome
in these seven epistles
does not mean
to overcome
our weaknesses
and besetting sins;
it means
to overcome
the fallen condition of the deviant churches.
To overcome
in the epistle to Laodicea
means to overcome
the lukewarmness and pride
of the degraded recovered church,
to buy the needed items,
and to open the door
for the Lord
to come in.
In Revelation 3:20
the Lord said
that if anyone
hears His voice
and opens the door,
He will come in to him.
As we have pointed out,
the Lord is standing
outside the degraded church,
knocking at her door.
The door
is the door of the church,
not of individuals,
but the door
is opened by individual believers.
The Lord
is dealing with the whole church,
but the acceptance of the Lord’s dealing
must be a personal matter.
The Lord’s dealing
is objective,
but the believers’ acceptance
must be subjective.
If we
hear the Lord’s voice to the church
and personally open the door,
the Lord
will come in to us,
and His presence
will be our portion.
To sit with the Lord
on His throne
will be a prize
to the overcomer
that he
may participate in the Lord’s authority
in the coming millennial kingdom.
This means
that the overcomers
will be co-kings with Christ
ruling over the whole earth.
…Strictly speaking,
…any negative word
regarding loss or suffering
refers to
a loss during the coming kingdom,
and any positive word
regarding gain or enjoyment
refers to
the enjoyment of Christ
as our special portion
during the age of the kingdom.
The lukewarm church
is filled with cooling knowledge
but lacks the burning Spirit.
She desperately needs
the speaking of the living Spirit.
…If she
forgets all her dead knowledge
and listens to
the speaking of the living Spirit,
she will be delivered
from her degraded condition.
In all the positive things
concerning the Lord Jesus,
the churches
should be the same.
In the Lord’s speaking
to the seven churches,
the positive things
were commended, strengthened,
encouraged, and exalted
by the Lord
for the abounding.
These positive things
include:
in Ephesus,
labor,
endurance,
and the hating of
the works of the Nicolaitans;
in Smyrna,
the suffering of
tribulation, poverty, and trial,
and being faithful;
in Pergamos,
holding fast the Lord’s name
and not denying the faith of the Lord;
in Thyatira,
love,
faith,
service,
and endurance;
in Sardis,
not defiling their garments;
and in Philadelphia,
keeping the word of the Lord
and not denying His name.
The seven churches
differed abnormally
only in the negative things,
which were rebuked, judged,
condemned, and corrected
by the Lord
for elimination.
These negative things
include:
in Ephesus,
some
calling themselves apostles
and not being such,
and the church
leaving its first love;
…in Sardis,
the church
having a name
that it was living
but it was dead,
and its works
not being found
by Christ
completed before God;
and in Laodicea,
the church
being neither cold nor hot,
but boasting,
“I am wealthy
and have become rich
and have need of nothing”
(3:14-15, 17).
The Lord’s rebuking
indicates that the Lord
does not want
such differences.
…All the local churches
should be the same
in positive things,
but not in negative things.
Day 5
Rev. 3:18
I counsel you
to buy from Me
…white garments
that you may be clothed
…, and eyesalve
to anoint your eyes
that you may see.
1 John 2:27
And as for you,
the anointing
which you have received from Him
abides in you,
and you have no need
that anyone teach you;
but as His anointing
teaches you
concerning all things
and is true
and is not a lie,
and even as it
has taught you,
abide in Him.
Second,
the Lord counseled
the church in Laodicea
to buy “white garments”
that they
“may be clothed
and that the shame”
of their “nakedness
may not be manifested”
[Rev. 3:18].
…“White garments” here
refer to conduct
approvable to the Lord,
which is the Lord Himself
lived out of the church,
and which is required
by the degraded recovered church
to cover her nakedness.
…These white garments
are not Christ as our objective righteousness
for justification.
Rather,
the white garments
are Christ as our subjective righteousness,
Christ lived out of our being
…to be our second garment
for us
to be approved by the Lord.
This is
not for salvation
but for being chosen.
…When we have living faith
and participate in the divine nature,
this divine nature
will eventually come out of us
to be our living.
This living is Christ
lived out of our being,
and this is
the second garment
which gives us
the standing and the qualification
to be approved by Christ.
…Yes,
we all have been justified
and have been covered
by the first garment, the best robe
put on the prodigal son
in Luke 15.
But after being justified,
we must love the Lord,
be on fire,
and be absolutely for the Lord.
If we
are this kind of Christian,
then we
shall have the living faith
to participate in
the rich, divine nature,
which will become
the Christ
lived out of our being
as the second garment
to cover our nakedness.
Third,
the Lord counsels
the church in Laodicea
to buy from Him eyesalve
to anoint their eyes
that they may see.
The “eyesalve”
needed to “anoint” their eyes
must refer to the anointing Spirit,
who is also the Lord Himself
as the life-giving Spirit.
Because she
has been distracted
by the dead knowledge of letters,
the degraded recovered church
also needs this kind of eyesalve
for her blindness.
For all three items
the Lord counsels her to buy,
she must pay the price.
We have pointed out
that the eyesalve
is the anointing Spirit.
Spiritual insight
is always related to the Spirit.
We need more Spirit,
not more knowledge.
We do not need many doctrines
—we need more Spirit
to anoint
our eyes
and the depths of our inner being
that we
may have insight
to see things from within.
With this eyesalve, this anointing,
we may have
both foresight and deep insight
to see things thoroughly.
Then we shall say,
“Lord Jesus,
because I now see
what a treasure You are,
I am ready
to pay any price.”
…Once our eyes
have been anointed
by the divine, spiritual eyesalve,
we shall say,
“It is worthwhile
for me
to pay
any price for Christ.
The price is too low.
My self, my future, and my life
are all worth nothing.
I actually pay nothing
to gain Christ
who is everything.”
If we would see this,
we need eyesalve.
Now we realize
that the gold, the garment, and the eyesalve
are all Christ.
Christ is
everything.
Our need today
is Christ.
…It is worthwhile
for me
to pay the cost of
my family, my future,
my destiny, and my whole life
for Christ.
If I
would pay all this,
the price
is still too cheap.
Paul said
that all the things
he counted loss for Christ
were just dung, dog food.
In the church life
in the Lord’s recovery
we are
not for doctrine
or merely for the so-called truths.
We are here
for the rich Christ.
Dead, vain knowledge
and doctrinal forms
have made
the degraded recovered church lukewarm.
She needs
to repent of her lukewarmness
and be zealous, boiling, burning,
that thereby she
may regain the enjoyment
of the reality of Christ.
Day 4
Rev. 3:17-18
Because you
…do not know
that you
are wretched and miserable
and poor and blind and naked,
I counsel you
to buy
from Me
gold
refined by fire
that you may be rich…
1 Pet. 1:7
So that the proving of your faith,
much more precious
than of gold
which perishes
though it is proved by fire,
may be found
unto praise and glory and honor
at the revelation of Jesus Christ.
The degraded recovered church (“assembly”)
…does not realize
that she
is poor in life,
blind in sight,
and naked in conduct.
Therefore,
…she needs
gold for her poverty,
eyesalve for her blindness,
and white garments for her nakedness.
In the eyes of the Lord,
the degraded assemblies
are wretched
because they
are proud of being rich
in the vain knowledge of doctrines,
but are sorely poor
in the experience of
the riches of Christ.
The degraded recovered church
is also miserable
because she
is naked, blind,
and full of shame and darkness.
The proud degraded church
is poor
in the experience of
Christ
and in the spiritual reality of
God’s economy.
…This is
real poverty,
the poverty that makes her
wretched and miserable.
In the eyes of the Lord,
the church in Laodicea
is not only poor
in the riches of Christ,
but also blind
in genuine spiritual things.
She does not have
true spiritual insight.
Although she
has some amount of knowledge
about spiritual things,
she has
no insight.
We Christians
have all received Christ
as our objective righteousness
to cover us
like a robe.
This is
for our justification
before God.
After being justified in Christ,
we need
to live by Christ
and to live out Christ,
that He
may be our subjective righteousness
as another splendid robe
to cover our daily walk.
Due to the lack of
the subjective experience of Christ,
the degraded recovered church
is naked
in the eyes of the Lord.
The vain knowledge
of doctrines
vanishes under the flaming eyes of the Lord,
leaving those
who hold them
nakedly exposed.
Only the experienced Christ
can be our covering
under His judging eyes.
First,
the Lord
counsels the church in Laodicea
to buy
“gold
refined by fire”
[Rev. 3:18].
In the Bible,
our working faith
is likened to gold,
and the divine nature of God,
which is
the divinity of Christ,
is also typified by gold.
We partake of
the divine nature of God
by faith.
The degraded recovered church
has the knowledge
of the doctrines
concerning Christ
but not much living faith
to partake of
the divine element of Christ.
She needs
to pay the price
to gain the golden faith
through the fiery trials
that she
may participate in
the real “gold,”
which is
Christ Himself
as the life element
to His Body.
Thus,
she may become
a pure golden lampstand
for the building of
the golden New Jerusalem.
All three things
which the Lord
counsels the church in Laodicea
to buy
—gold, white garments, and eyesalve—
are just the Lord Himself.
…Gold
signifies two things:
God’s divine nature
and the living faith
by which we
appreciate and appropriate
the divine nature.
…If we
do not have
the living faith
to appreciate and apply the divine nature,
it cannot be ours.
The divine nature
can only become our enjoyment
through our living faith.
Christ is
the embodiment of the divine nature,
and He is
also our living faith.
If we
have faith,
then we can participate in
the divine nature.
…We must pay the cost
and tell the Lord,
saying,
“Lord,
I have
much knowledge of
the Bible truths,
but I admit
that I don’t have
much of You.
Lord,
I would rather have You
than mere knowledge or vain teachings.
…Lord,
be my living faith.
I want to live by You
as my faith,
the faith of the Son of God”
(Gal. 2:20).
If you
speak to the Lord
in this way,
He will immediately say,
“All right,
if you would gain Me,
you must pay the price.
There is
a certain thing
that I want you to drop
because it
is a hindrance and a frustration
from My becoming your enjoyment.”
Dropping these things
is the paying of the price.
Day 3
Rev. 3:16-17
So,
because you
are lukewarm
and neither hot nor cold,
I am about to spew you
out of My mouth.
Because you say,
I am wealthy
and have become rich
and have need of nothing…
1 Pet. 5:5
…All of you
gird yourselves
with humility
toward one another,
because God
resists the proud
but gives grace
to the humble.
The last three churches,
as depicted in Revelation 3,
came out of Roman Catholicism,
and all four
will remain
until the Lord Jesus comes again.
Today
every child of God
has to choose the pathway
he should take
with regard to the church.
…Do you want to follow
the oneness of Roman Catholicism?
Do you want to follow
the many denominations of Protestantism?
Or do you want to take
the way of Philadelphia?
Or were you once Philadelphia
but are now living
in the shadow of history
and boasting of your former glory,
thus becoming Laodicean?
When a person
becomes proud,
forsakes the way of life,
and neglects reality,
while reminiscing
on his history and his own riches,
the only thing left
will be the opinions of many.
Among such ones
there can only be
discussion and consensus.
It appears to be
a democratic society
but bears no resemblance
to the Body relationship.
If you do not know
the binding, authority, and life of the Body,
you do not know
brotherly love.
We must be faithful
to continue in Philadelphia.
Do not be curious
about Roman Catholicism.
…Do not touch
the denominations in Protestantism.
This is not God’s way.
The Bible shows us clearly
that the Protestant movement
as a whole
had God’s blessing,
but that there
are also many things
which the Lord
condemns and rebukes.
We must learn
to stand on the ground of Philadelphia.
Always keep the Lord’s word
and never deny His name.
Hold fast the brotherly stand
and never be proud!
Do not be proud
in the face of
Catholicism, Protestantism, or the denominations.
Once you are proud,
you become Laodicea
and are no longer Philadelphia!
As soon as you
show your pride before them,
you are
no longer Philadelphia
but Laodicea.
Which way
do you want to take?
May God
bless His children
and may the brothers
take the upright path
with regard to the church.
The God-ordained pathway
for the church
is the way of Philadelphia.
…Walk on this way,
but be careful
not to be proud.
Once we
take the way of Philadelphia,
the greatest temptation
is to become proud
and say,
“We are
better than you are.
Our truths
are clearer than yours,
and we understand them
better than you do!
We have
only the Lord’s name
and we are
different!”
Once we
become proud,
we fall into Laodicea.
Those
who follow the Lord
have no pride.
The Lord
will spew the proud ones
out of His mouth.
May the Lord
be merciful to us!
This is a warning
to all of us:
We must not be proud
in our speaking!
A person
must live before the Lord continually
before he
can refrain from proud words.
Only those
who live before God continually
will not consider themselves rich.
Only they
will not be proud!
To be spewed
out of the Lord’s mouth
is to be rejected
by the Lord
and to lose
the enjoyment of all
that the Lord
is to His church.
The Lord
charged the church in Laodicea,
saying,
“Be zealous therefore,
and repent”
(Rev. 3:19).
Dead knowledge
has made the degraded church lukewarm.
She needs to become crazily burning
by dropping
the deadening and cooling knowledge,
and she
even needs to break
the bondage of her doctrinal forms.
She needs to be boiling
rather than to be dead right
according to dead doctrine.
She needs to love the Lord
and pay any price to gain Him,
even at the cost of
sacrificing the “doctrines.”
A lukewarm church
needs to be hot,
to be burning at any cost.
She needs to repent
of her lukewarmness,
not to be proud
of her knowledge any longer,
…and repent
of being satisfied with
the vanity of knowledge
and not with
the reality of Christ.
Day 2
Rev. 3:15-17
I know your works,
that you are
neither cold nor hot;
I wish
that you were
cold or hot.
So,
because you
are lukewarm
and neither hot nor cold,
I am about to spew you
out of My mouth.
Because you say,
I am wealthy
and have become rich
and have need of nothing,
and do not know
that you are
wretched and miserable
and poor and blind and naked.
In the eyes of the Lord,
the characteristics of Laodicea
are lukewarmness
and spiritual pride.
It is bad enough
for it to say,
“I am wealthy,”
but it continues, saying,
“and have become rich”
[Rev. 3:15, 17].
The two statements
are evil enough,
yet it goes on to say
that it has “need of nothing.”
In the eyes of the Lord
it is
“wretched and miserable
and poor and blind and naked.”
Where does spiritual pride
come from?
It comes from history.
Some were once rich,
and they think
that they are still rich.
The Lord
was once merciful to them,
and they
remember their history.
But now
they have lost
that reality.
There is hardly any person
in Protestantism today
who boasts of
his own spiritual riches.
I have met
many Protestant leaders overseas
as well as Protestant pastors in China.
They all say,
“We are poor!
We are poor!”
It is hard
to find
a proud person in Sardis.
There is
only one group of proud people
—those
who were Philadelphia
and who had once kept God’s word
and not denied His name.
Yet the life
which they once had
is lost.
They still remember
their history,
but they have lost
their former life!
They remember
that they were once wealthy
and had become rich
and had need of nothing.
But they
are now poor and blind!
There is
only one group of people
who can boast of their riches
—fallen Philadelphia,
the Philadelphia
which has lost
its power and life.
Brothers and sisters,
if you
want to continue
in the way of Philadelphia,
remember
to humble yourselves
before God.
Sometimes
I hear some brothers say,
“God’s blessing
is with us.”
God’s blessing is with us,
but we must be careful
when we say this.
As soon as we
are not careful,
we have
the flavor of Laodicea:
“We are wealthy
and have become rich
and have need of nothing.”
Let me say
that the day
we take this position,
we have become Laodicea.
Please bear in mind
that we have nothing
that we have not received.
Those around us
may be full of death,
but we do not need
to be conscious of the fact
that we
are full of life.
Those around us
may be poor,
but we do not need
to be conscious of the fact
that we are rich.
Those
who live before the Lord
will not be conscious of
their own riches.
May the Lord be merciful to us
that we may learn
to live before Him.
May we be rich
and yet not know
that we are rich.
It was better
for Moses
not to know
that his face was shining,
even though it did shine!
Once a person
knows himself,
he becomes Laodicea,
and the result
is lukewarmness.
Laodicea
means to know everything,
but in reality
to be fervent about nothing.
In name
it has everything,
but it
cannot sacrifice its life for anything.
It remembers
its former glory
but forgets
its present condition before God.
Formerly,
it was Philadelphia;
today
it is Laodicea.
First Corinthians 8:1b says,
“Knowledge puffs up,
but love builds up.”
Teaching without love
may puff us up.
We may listen to
the messages of the ministry
and become puffed up
with mere knowledge.
This does not build up.
Love builds up.
How can we overcome
the degradation of the church?
We must have
a burning human spirit of love.
Under today’s degradation of the church,
we all need
a spirit of love
fanned into flame
to be burning in spirit.
Love prevails
in this way.
According to my observation
throughout the years,
most of the co-workers
have a human spirit of “power”
but not of love.
We need
a spirit of love
to conquer
the degradation of today’s church.
We should not say
or do anything
to threaten people.
Instead
we should always say
and do things
with a spirit of love,
which has been fanned
into flame.
This is
what the recovery needs.
Day 1
Rev. 3:11
I come quickly;
hold fast
what you have
that no one
take your crown.
Rev. 3:14
And to the messenger
of the church in Laodicea
write:
These things says
the Amen,
the faithful and true Witness,
the beginning of the creation of God.
Those in Philadelphia
are reminded
to hold fast
what they have.
In other words,
they have
what is right,
and they should not lose it.
They should not be weary of
doing the same things
for a long time
and should not ask for a change.
They should not contemplate
doing something new
after all the years of
doing the same things.
They have to hold fast
what they have
and not let it go!
This is
the only warning for Philadelphia.
The Lord
has only one charge
for Philadelphia
—to hold fast
what they have.
What they have done
is right
and is blessed
by the Lord;
therefore,
they should continue in it.
If Philadelphia
does not hold fast
what it has,
God will raise up others
to take away its crown.
The crown
has already been given
to Philadelphia.
But others
will come
and take its crown
if it
does not hold it fast.
…Philadelphia overcomes
by not losing
what it has.
This is different
from the other six churches.
We must pay attention
to the Lord’s Word.
There is
only one church
which meets the Lord’s standard
—Philadelphia.
Her characteristic
is keeping the Lord’s word
and not denying His name.
Do not think
that Protestantism
is Laodicea.
…Protestantism
is Sardis,
not Laodicea.
Protestantism
can only be Sardis today;
it cannot be Laodicea.
…After Philadelphia has fallen,
it becomes Laodicea.
Sardis
came out of Thyatira,
and it was
one step beyond Thyatira.
Philadelphia
came out of Sardis,
and it was
one step beyond Sardis.
Laodicea, however,
comes out of Philadelphia,
but it is
one step behind Philadelphia.
These four churches
will remain
until the Lord Jesus
comes again.
Laodicea
is a distorted Philadelphia.
When brotherly love
is gone,
Philadelphia immediately turns
into the opinions of many.
This is
the meaning of
the word Laodicea.
As soon as Philadelphia
becomes degraded,
the “brothers”
become the “many people,”
and its “brotherly love”
becomes “the opinions of the many.”
Love
has degenerated into opinion.
Brotherly love
is something living,
but the opinion of many people
is something dead.
When brotherly love
is lost,
the Body relationship
is lost.
The fellowship of life
is cut off as well,
leaving only the opinion of men.
The opinion of the Lord
is lost,
and the only things left
are the vote of the majority,
ballots,
and the show of hands.
Once Philadelphia falls,
it becomes Laodicea.
The church in Laodicea
is the church in degradation.
In Greek
Laodicea means
“the opinion, the judgment,
of the people”
or “of the laymen.”
The church in Laodicea
as a sign
prefigures
the degraded recovered church.
Less than a century
after the Lord recovered the proper church
in the early part of the nineteenth century,
some of the recovered churches (“assemblies”)
became degraded.
This degraded recovered church
differs from the reformed church
signified by the church in Sardis,
and also differs from the proper recovered church
signified by the church in Philadelphia.
It will exist
until the Lord comes back.
By laymen exercising authority,
we mean
exercising the authority of the majority.
The opinion of the majority
is the accepted opinion;
as long as the majority
is in favor,
it is all right.
This is Laodicea.
In other words
it is
not the fathers
who rule,
nor the pastors,
nor the Holy Spirit,
but the opinion of the majority
that counts.
…Laodicea
does not stand
in the position of brothers;
rather,
it is men
who are according to
the will of the flesh.
Everyone raises the hand,
and that is all.
…Whenever there
is no brotherly love
but only the opinions of men
according to the flesh,
you meet Laodicea.