The central vision of God’s economy is the experience of Christ as life for the producing and building up of the church as the Body of Christ: We need to see a vision of the central matter in the Lord’s recovery today, the vision in Paul’s completing ministry: The central vision of Paul’s completing ministry […]
[태그:] International Training for Elders and Responsible Ones
The Church in Laodicea
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 […]
The Church in Philadelphia
As a sign, the church in Philadelphia prefigures the church of brotherly love, the recovery of the proper church life, from the early part of the nineteenth century to the second appearing of the Lord: Just as the reformed church, prefigured by the church in Sardis, was a reaction to the apostate Catholic Church, prefigured […]
The Church in Sardis
As a sign, the church in Sardis prefigures the Protestant church, from the time of the Reformation to the second coming of Christ: When the church, in her continuous fall, came to the stage of Jezebel, God could no longer tolerate it; the church in Sardis is God’s reaction to Thyatira. Sardis emerges because the […]
The Church in Thyatira
As a sign, the church in Thyatira prefigures the Roman Catholic Church, which was fully formed as the apostate church by the establishing of the universal papal system in the latter part of the sixth century. The church in Thyatira tolerates the woman Jezebel, who calls herself a prophetess: Jezebel, the pagan wife of Ahab, […]
The Church in Pergamos
In Greek Pergamos means “marriage,” implying union, and “fortified tower”: As a sign, the church in Pergamos prefigures the church that entered into a marriage union with the world and became a high fortified tower; these two meanings correspond to two of the parables in Matthew 13 —the parable of the great tree and the […]
The Church in Smyrna
The church in Smyrna was a church under the suffering of persecution: In Greek Smyrna means “myrrh,” a sweet spice that, in figure, signifies suffering; the church in Smyrna was a suffering church: This persecuted church suffered in the sweetness and fragrance of Christ. This church was in the tribulation in Jesus and was in […]
The Church in Ephesus
With regard to the seven churches, which are represented by the seven lampstands, we should understand three things: These seven churches were real churches existing at that time. These seven churches represent the sevenfold history of the church. The conditions of the churches exist simultaneously in the church’s sevenfold history. Revelation 2 and 3 show […]
If we are going to see the vision of the glorious Christ and of the seven churches in Revelation 1—3, we must care for the following things: We must take the position of a slave: Paul says that he was a “slave of Christ Jesus” (Rom. 1:1); his use of this term indicates that he […]
A Life-ministering Service
As believers in Christ and children of God, we not only have eternal life and may experience eternal life, but we can minister this life to other members of the Body of Christ (1 John 5:11-16). To minister life is to impart life; when we have a surplus of life, we can minister from this […]