Scripture Reading: Rev. 3:17
Among God's children, there is a problem of a Laodicean attitude and a Laodicean heart. A man who thinks that he is rich but, in reality, is poor has a Laodicean attitude and a Laodicean heart.
In spiritual matters, the matter of having or not having is easy to resolve, but the matter of being poor or being rich is not as easy to resolve. Those who have nothing can easily see God, but those who have a little do not easily see God. Many people have nothing before God, and they often meet God. The worst kind of people are those who have a little; they understand a little of this and a little of that. But do they really know? Do they really understand? No. They speak a great deal, but they have not moved a single inch or advanced a single step. They are poor ones indeed.
The biggest problem with poverty is that a man will not easily admit that he is poor. Those who have nothing readily admit that they have nothing. If they have something, they say so, and if they do not have something, they also say so. This is very simple and clear. But poverty is something relative. If Mr. A is worse off than Mr. B, it means that Mr. A is poorer than Mr. B. But Mr. B can be worse off than Mr. C, which means that Mr. B is poorer than Mr. C. It is easy to make a judgment when one has nothing. It is not so easy to make a judgment when one is poor.
The first time a child has some money, he thinks that he is the richest man in the world. He does not know his poverty. If he does not have any money, he easily understands that he has nothing. But if he has a little money, it is more difficult to show him that he does not have enough money for certain things. In spiritual matters, God can deal with those who have nothing. Those who are poor, however, are hindered by the little that they possess. They think that they have something, and they become proud and self-sufficient.
Someone may have obeyed God only three times during the past ten years, but he never forgets that he has obeyed God. While he is talking about obedience, others who have truly learned the lesson and who are sensitive almost have to stand up and shout to him: "Do you really know what obedience is?" Those who talk about obedience in this way are poor men, truly poor men.
Many people constantly talk about the cross. One may say that what we need before the Lord is the cross. Another may say the same thing, but those who truly know the cross almost have to say: "Brothers, do you know what the cross is?" Just because God has dealt with you a few times does not mean that you have been thoroughly dealt with before the Lord. God dealt with you on the day that you were saved, but this does not mean that you have learned a deep lesson. You are still very short! Those who do not know the cross, yet who talk glibly about it, are indeed poor!
Some brothers say that they are clear that the church is this and that; they say that they did this and that when they saw the Body of Christ. Some sisters say that they are pursuing after the kingdom; they say that they are willing to forsake everything for the kingdom. But those who know them will say that they do not know what the Body or the kingdom is. Many of the things that God's children have are very cheap. They have cheap obedience, cheap crosses, a cheap Body, a cheap kingdom! Actually, they do not know obedience, the cross, the Body, or the kingdom. They are poor men!
Poverty is not a hindrance if it does not come with pride. But nothing can be done about poverty when it is in a proud person. Poverty is not the problem. Being like Laodicea is a problem because Laodicea was poor and proud yet thought that she was rich. In the spiritual realm, it is hard to find a person who is poor but not proud. On the contrary, it is often the rich ones who are not proud. It is a pity that many of God's children go around in circles and never advance. The sole reason that they suffer loss is because they think that they have something. Many people talk about the flesh, but actually they do not know what the flesh is. Many people talk about revelation, but they do not know what revelation is. They can say much about obedience. They can say much about the kingdom. They can say much about the cross, dealing with the self, or dealing with the natural life. Yet what they say and how they speak reveal that they are poor and ignorant. They have never touched God. They speak what they do not know and only deceive themselves and those who are like them. In spiritual matters, those who think that they are rich can never make others believe that they are rich. On the contrary, they only expose their poverty.
The church in Laodicea said, "I am wealthy and have become rich and have need of nothing" (Rev. 3:17a). This does not refer to material riches, but to spiritual riches. She felt that she had something. But God said, "You...do not know that you are wretched and miserable and poor and blind and naked" (v. 17b). Did she have something? Yes, but what she had was of no benefit to her. If she really had something, she should have rejoiced, yet she was wretched and miserable. She did not behave as if she had anything. Her wretchedness and misery tell others that she was poor.
Poverty is always linked to blindness. Those who are spiritually poor are always blind. The blind ones always think that they are rich. Those who have not seen the cross think that they know the cross. Those who have not seen the kingdom think that they know the kingdom. Those who have not seen the Body of Christ think that they know the church. All those who think that they have something are poor. Whenever we truly see something, we will not dare to boast that we are rich. Whenever our eyes are opened, we will see that we are naked. Only the foolish ones boast of what they have. A Laodicean is poor, but does not see his own poverty. This is a warning to us.
What is poverty? Poverty is not just a question of quantity but also a question of quality. First Corinthians 3 shows us the distinction between gold, silver, and precious stones, and the wood, grass, and stubble. Second Timothy 2 shows us the distinction between the vessels of honor and the vessels of dishonor. Such distinctions separate the poor ones from the rich ones. Even when we have something, we still have to ask what it is that we have. If all we have is a pile of wood, grass, and stubble, we are still poor. It is not enough for us to be a vessel; we still have to ask whether we are a wooden and earthen vessel or a gold and silver vessel. It is easy to be proud when we think that we have something. As long as we have something, we think that we are marvelous. Little do we know the kind of material that we have. This is poverty.
Poverty also means superficiality, childishness, and immaturity. A rich life is a mature life. We have to realize that there is a difference between growth and maturity. A child grows year by year, but after he becomes an adult, the important matter is no longer growth; rather, it is maturity. If one has only a period of growth, his life is not yet rich enough. There must be a period of maturity before there can be riches. Those who take the initial period as the whole period are those who think that they have something; they are Laodiceans, and they are poor ones. Therefore, initial experiences always spoil us from having further experiences, shallow experiences hinder us from having deep experiences, and shallow knowledge hinders us from acquiring deep knowledge.
Being rich is not merely a question of having something. It is a question of how much one has, what he has, and to what degree he has it. It is not the initial experiences. It is not a mere understanding of doctrine or something that one claims with his mouth. When God opens the eyes of a person, he begins to enter the land of spiritual riches.
One brother spent a great deal of time to study the Bible during the first year after his salvation. He concentrated on one subject: the Lord's second coming. He did a clear analysis of the things concerning the Lord's second coming, and he felt quite proud of himself. One day he met a sister who was deep in the Lord. When she talked to him about the Lord's second coming, she did not analyze; her attention was on how one should prepare himself for His coming. On that day, he learned a lesson. While he was talking about the Lord's coming, here was a person who was waiting for the Lord's coming. The one who only talked about the Lord's coming was poor, while the sister who waited for the Lord's coming was rich.
All those who have truly seen something before the Lord are not presumptuous and do not think that they have something. For example, it may take a person one, two, ten, or even twenty times of revelation before he can really see the truth in Romans 6. The first time he sees the truth in Romans 6, he may feel that nothing more can top this experience. He may say that he has seen it. But the second time he sees it, he will say, "I did not see this before." This means that when the light comes, it will tear down what one originally had. There is a brother who knows the truth about the church very well. Once a few people gathered together and had some light concerning the church. This brother said, "How interesting! I never knew what the church was. But thank the Lord that I see it today." Others may think that if he did not know the church, then no one else would have known anything about the church. But the minute he saw the light, he realized that he had nothing. The shining of the light is also the swallowing of the light; the greater light swallows up the lesser light. All light disappears under greater light. Every time a person truly sees something before the Lord, he will feel that he has never seen anything. This does not mean that he has actually seen nothing; he may have seen something. But after he receives the greater light, he will not think much of what he saw before. On the contrary, he will realize that he had nothing.
Riches come from enlightenment. When the light shines, we become rich. However, when we are enlightened, we do not have a feeling of increase but one of stripping. Once the light comes, all the former things are shattered, and what we originally had is torn down. It is true that when we are under the light, we have some increase before God. But on our side, we do not feel anything. What goes on before the Lord is one thing, and what goes on in our feeling is another thing. God may give us something once, twice, or three times. If we feel that we have increased, it proves that we have not seen anything. If we truly see something, we will feel as if we are newly saved and just starting out on our journey. It does not mean that we were not saved before this time; it means that in our feeling, we feel as if we were not saved. We feel empty and feel as if we never had a beginning. Hence, those who are rich feel that they have nothing under the light.
Our God is a rich God. He does not wish to see His children being in poverty. His works are not works of wood, grass, and stubble. The vessels He uses are not vessels of dishonor. He is a rich God, and His vessels are rich vessels. God's riches are deep and profound; they are such that "there is no room for it" (Mal. 3:10). His grace is always such that there is not room enough to receive it! His works in us are always such that there is not room enough to receive them. God does not work in a stingy way. He is not weak or miserly. This rich God can make us rich people. He is always giving us more and more. Every time He gives us something, we feel as if we are receiving it for the first time. This may sound strange, yet this is a fact. May the Lord be merciful to us, so that we truly see something before Him and so that we truly have the light. The proud ones are the foolish ones, and they are always poor ones. May the Lord empty us so that we can enter into His riches.
