Date: December 4, 1940Place: UnrecordedScripture Reading: Mal. 3:10; Rev. 3:17
Many of God's children do not know that they are poor. In fact, many Christians have fallen into the condition of the Laodiceans. In spiritual matters it is easy to deal with those who are empty, but it is very difficult to deal with the poverty that comes from self-proclaimed riches. It is difficult to do anything with a person who lives in this kind of poverty. He seems to know everything, yet he does not know anything in reality. The poverty that I am speaking of does not relate to the absence of knowledge, but rather to the inadequacy and superficiality of one's knowledge.
It is easy to know whether or not we do have something. But very few people are aware of whether they live in a condition of poverty, because poverty is something that cannot be objectively quantified. A rich man in the rural countryside becomes poor in comparison when he comes to Shanghai, and he will be even poorer when he comes to New York City. All those who are blind think that they are rich. When I was a child, whenever I had ten dollars, I would exchange them for a great deal of coins. Although I only had ten dollars, I felt that I was the richest person in the world. We can know what we have, but it is difficult for us to know that what we have is not enough! I have seen many different kinds of people, and I have drawn the same conclusion: Most of the ones who think that they are rich are actually poor.
A few days ago I was talking to a brother about obedience. He told me that during the past twelve years, he had obeyed God two or three times. When I heard this, I stood up and shouted, "Can someone like you know obedience?" Another time I was talking to a brother about the cross. Whenever I spoke, he would interrupt me. I would begin a sentence, and he would finish it. You might say that there was a wonderful "coordination," but during the conversation, I almost shouted, "Do you really know what the cross is?" Once I was talking to a man about the church. His words showed that he knew nothing about the church. I was talking to a sister about the subject of the kingdom six months ago, but she did not think that she was poor at all in this respect.
Tonight I choose to bring up this subject. I am not lecturing here; I am merely stating some facts. Most Christians today are cheap Christians. They bear a cheap cross, buy cheap obedience, and pursue a cheap kingdom. There is nothing wrong in being poor. However, when poverty joins itself to a proud person, the results are disastrous. The church in Laodicea was both poor and proud. She was poor, but she thought she was rich. This presumption is where the trouble lies. In spiritual matters those who think that they are rich are proud. Many Christians are proud, insubordinate, and troublesome because they have become full with their past experiences. These experiences have damaged them.
I have brought up the matter of the vessels in 2 Corinthians 4 and 2 Timothy 2. There is no question that we are a vessel, but the question before us is what kind of vessel we are and what material is used to build up the vessel. It is easy for us to see a vessel, but it is not easy for us to know the kind of material that makes up the vessel.
A good and honest brother from the north once questioned me repeatedly about the church. He wanted to know about the Body, the church life, and the Body life. Spiritual matters have to do with riches. They have nothing to do with how many questions one asks, but how deep the questions are. If a rich man stands next to you, you will become poor right away by comparison.
In 1920 I spent a great deal of time studying the coming of Christ. I thought that I could have had a Ph.D. in this subject. A year later I met Sister M. E. Barber. One afternoon, we were on this important subject, and we spent quite a few hours talking about it. By the end we were still not through with it. She wanted me to stay behind to talk about it some more, but I did not accept the offer. Before I left she said, "You hide your disagreements in your heart and launder your politeness out in the front." I admitted that what I knew concerning the Lord's coming was merely outward knowledge. I studied and researched His coming, but Sister Barber was a person who waited for His coming. I was an earthen vessel, while she was a vessel of gold and silver. She was rich, and I was poor.
One brother said that God had dealt with him once or twice, and that he now knew the growth of life. Actually he may still be ignorant of it. A baby grows very fast during the first years of his life, and others easily can see the growth. But after thirty years it is difficult to grow anymore. After thirty years it is no longer a matter of growth, but a matter of maturity.
The condition of the church in Laodicea was miserable and poor. Yet she thought that she was rich. God has no intention to change those who have not into those who have; He only wants to make those who are poor into those who are rich. I have heard Sister Barber and Brother Sparks speak. Both of them have the riches. During the past three or four years the shallow and superficial experiences have frustrated us. These experiences have hindered us from launching into deeper experiences. Laodicea's self-estimate was exactly the opposite of God's evaluation. If you are really rich, you should rejoice. But the pitiful thing is that you do not look like those who have something. In spiritual matters, those who are blind do not realize that they are poor; only those whose eyes have been opened realize that they have nothing. The most important thing for us to do today is to see. Once we see, we will no longer consider ourselves to be rich.
I have said to some co-workers that the messages they give now may be the same as the ones they gave years ago, but there is a deeper understanding of what they are speaking now. Sometimes when I look at some old magazines, I find some old articles that I have written. I cannot believe that I could have said what I said then. Today much of the terminology has become all too common and misused. Many people say that they have received revelation. Actually they do not know what revelation is. Those who are behind you spiritually will not benefit by what you have, while those who are ahead of you spiritually see through all your words. Once a blind man sees, the first thing he notices is his own nakedness. Just as Adam and Eve realized their nakedness in the garden of Eden, we see our nakedness when our eyes are opened. Our true condition is laid open before our God. It is difficult to preach the gospel to those who are already in the church. In the same principle it is difficult to give a message to those who already think that they are rich. The church in Smyrna considered herself poor, yet she was rich before the Lord.
What are riches? Riches are not a matter of having something. Being rich is realizing that we only have elementary experiences before the Lord. Human wisdom, verbal understanding, and pride have no place here. Those who are eloquent, who have a sharp memory, and who prepare their speeches well, are not necessarily the ones who are qualified to teach. Only those whose eyes have been opened by the Lord are qualified to speak. Every time we see something, we become conscious of our own nakedness. There is not one person whose eyes have been opened who has not seen his own nakedness. You can try this out for yourself when you go home tonight.
The first time we saw the truth in Romans 6, which reveals that our baptism into Christ is a baptism into His death, we were thrilled. But when we try to share what we have spoken of in the past, we realize that we have nothing to add. In fact, light does not add something to us; it tears down something. Once a man said that he knew the church. Later, he came back and said that he knew nothing about the church, because a greater light had swallowed up his former light. When you come to Shanghai, do not come with the thought that you will receive something. If you think in this way, you will go home as empty-handed as when you came. In spiritual matters what is needed is not knowledge. What is needed is a person who feels that he has never seen anything. Once a man sees, he will realize that he is naked. Some people think that all that is needed is some patch-up work, but this is not the way God operates. When light comes, everything of the past is torn down. When light comes, there is the stripping, and the stripping will take away everything. Light will shine to such an extent that a person will doubt whether he is saved. When light shines, a man will fall down like Saul and forget about his self-image and self-esteem.
Light will show us that we have nothing, that we are empty. It will bring us to the point where we feel that we have nothing except our initial salvation. When light comes, we will realize that we really do not know anything. If we think that we know this and that, and if we think that we know a little about everything, we will never be rich. The way to riches is not through accumulation but through destitution. Some people seem to know a little about everything, yet they can never carry on an in-depth discussion about anything. God's house is rich, but earthen and wooden vessels have no place in His house. Grass and wood are not the proper materials to build His house. God's house can only be built with precious materials. We have to come under God's light, and we have to realize that God's house is so rich that there is no room for all the riches. We should not hold on to the little that we have. Instead, we should see that there are riches in God's house. We should always receive something more, and we should always act as if we have not received anything.
