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We have seen in the last chapter that Christ in Revelation is different. Now we must see from Revelation how the local churches in the Lord’s recovery are also different. After reading the epistles to the seven local churches, we realize that the Lord’s speaking here is very different from His speaking in the Epistles written by the apostle Paul. I believe our situation today is just like that mentioned in these seven epistles. In other words, what the Lord speaks in these epistles exactly fits our present situation. These epistles were written to churches in a state of degradation, and the churches today are, no doubt, also in degradation. So all of these epistles suit our situation.
If we want to know what the local churches should be like in the Lord’s recovery during the time of degradation, we must see what the Lord demands and requires in these seven epistles. We do not have time to see every detail, but we can see the main points.
In the first epistle, the one to Ephesus, the Lord requires in His recovery of the local churches the first love. The Lord says, “I know your works and your labor and your endurance and that you cannot bear evil men; and you have tried those who call themselves apostles and are not, and have found them to be false; and you have endurance and have borne all things because of My name and have not grown weary. But I have one thing against you, that you have left your first love...To him who overcomes, to him I will give to eat of the tree of life” (2:2-4, 7).
The Lord tells this church that they have the works, the labor, and many good things, but they have left the first love. The word first in Greek means first not only in time or order but also in quality or nature. The same word is translated as “best” in the story of the prodigal son in Luke 15. The father ordered the best robe for him. That is the first robe, not only first in sequence but also best in quality.
The Lord demands of His local churches not only the first love but also the best love. He wants the love which is first in quality and nature. If when others come to our meetings, they only realize that we are doing many things for the Lord, but do not sense that we render the best love to the Lord, then we are a failure. What people must sense in our meetings is that we love the Lord first and best. We should not care too much for works or labor or for any other thing. We must only care for the first and best love to the Lord. There must be a sense among us that the Lord Jesus is so lovable, so dear, and so precious. Whenever we mention His name, our heart should feel so responsive.
This is the first requirement of the local churches in the Lord’s recovery. Do not think that we need to do a multitude of things for Him. He does not require that. What He requires is the first and best love toward Him. Do we love the Lord with the first love and the best love? Could we say that we love the Lord Jesus more than all our family? We must be able to say this. We must say to our wives, “I love you because you love Jesus.” Then we will all love one another because we all love Jesus.
As the years go by, we should love the Lord more dearly. Nothing should be more sweet to us than the Lord Jesus. We should love the church, but we should not love it as much as we love the Lord Jesus. He must be our first and best love.
It is by this love that we are the lampstand. If we lose this love, the Lord Jesus will remove the lampstand. This means that if we lose our love, we will lose the lampstand. So the more we love the Lord Jesus, the more we will be shining, and the more we will enjoy Him as the tree of life. To be the lampstand and to enjoy the Lord as the tree of life requires the best love toward the Lord, a love which surpasses all other things. We must have the first love, the best love, the most pure love toward the Lord Jesus. Then we will be the living lampstand, and we will be qualified to enjoy Him as the tree of life. Love, light, and life all go together. If we have the first love and the best love toward the Lord Jesus, we will be a shining lampstand, and we will enjoy the Lord Jesus as the tree of life. This is the first requirement.
In the second epistle, the one to Smyrna, the Lord speaks of persecution. “I know your tribulation and poverty (but you are rich) and the slander from those who call themselves Jews and are not, but are a synagogue of Satan. Do not fear the things that you are about to suffer. Behold, the devil is about to cast some of you into prison that you may be tried, and you will have tribulation for ten days. Be faithful unto death, and I will give you the crown of life” (Rev. 2:9-10).
The more we love the Lord Jesus, the more we will be persecuted. This persecution does not come from the Gentile, heathen, world, but from synagogues. A synagogue is a place where people worship God. The persecution to the lovers of Jesus is not from the heathen world but from the religious people of a synagogue system. This is the synagogue of Satan. If we only love Jesus and do not care for anything religious, we will surely be persecuted by the synagogue of Satan.
For over forty years I have suffered persecution after persecution but not from the heathen world. The persecutions I have suffered have come from so-called Christianity, because I simply hate all religious things. If we mean business with the Lord for the local churches and love Him more than everything else, we will suffer persecution and many evil reports.
In some of our conference meetings I have said that it is unnecessary for us to say formally at the end of our prayers “in the name of the Lord Jesus.” Of course, we pray in the name of the Lord Jesus, but there is no need to put such a term at the end of our prayers in a formal way. But some have said that I tell people that there is no need to pray in the name of the Lord Jesus. They even publish these things in their papers. So we must be ready to be persecuted if we love the Lord and hate the system of religion.
From this epistle we can see that the second requirement of the Lord for the local churches is that under persecution they be faithful unto death. If we are faithful to the Lord as a pure lover of Jesus alone, we must be ready to suffer persecution. But, praise the Lord, the suffering of persecution is another sign that we are the local churches. The local churches must suffer persecution, because they can never go along with anything of the system of religion. Why does the synagogue of Satan persecute the lovers of Jesus? It is simply because the lovers of Jesus will not go along with their religious things. Under this kind of persecution, the Lord requires us to be faithful unto death.
The third epistle was written to Pergamos, and the Lord mainly dealt with two things: the teaching of Balaam and the teaching of the Nicolaitans. “I have a few things against you, that you have some there who hold the teaching of Balaam, who taught Balak to put a stumbling block before the sons of Israel, to eat idol sacrifices and to commit fornication. In the same way you also have some who hold in like manner the teaching of the Nicolaitans” (vv. 14-15).
We all know who Balaam was. He was a prophet but not in a good sense. He was a prophet who for money was hired to speak the word of God. He was hired to say something for God. At first, this was a deed, but eventually a teaching was produced out of it. Thus, there is the teaching of Balaam. In today’s Christianity there is still this teaching of Balaam with the system of hired preachers, ministers, or pastors to speak the word of God. Balaam was a prophet who was hired to speak something for God. We should never have this in the local churches.
In past years on the mainland of China, many so-called gifted Christian brothers came to contact Brother Watchman Nee. More or less, they tried to make a deal to see what position they could obtain among us. Sometimes they asked frankly, “Brother Nee, if I leave the denomination and turn this way, what kind of position will I receive?” Brother Nee answered, “I do not even know what my position is. I would even ask you what position would you give me?” This happened not only once but several times. You could not say that they did not see the way. They saw something, but they wanted a position.
In the local churches we all must hate the teaching of hired prophets. Why is it that many so-called servants of the Lord dare not speak frankly? It is because of their job. They must play the part of worldly Balaam, because the money is in the hands of Balak. They must say something to please him. This brings in spiritual fornication and idolatry. If we trace the history of today’s Christianity, we will see why so much spiritual fornication and so many idols have been brought in. It is simply because of the hired prophets having to please the Balaks who hold the money. If money becomes an influence in the local church, the church is gone.
By His mercy the church here in Los Angeles can boast to the whole universe that we never talk about money. To talk about money is simply to hold the teaching of Balaam.
Pergamos also had the teaching of the Nicolaitans. This word, according to the Greek, is a compound word. Nico is the first word, and laitans is the second. Laitans is of the same root as that of laity, which means “the ordinary, common people.” Nico means “to subdue, to conquer, or to rule over.” Therefore, Nicolaitans means “to conquer the common people.” In Christianity some have become the conquerors, and the majority have become the laity. This is today’s system of the clergy and the laity. In the local churches we do not have any clergy, and we do not have any laity. We must hate both. We are all priests in the local church. We must not bring this satanic system into the local churches.
The clergy-laity system is a religious system. It is so easy to be religious, to organize a Christian church and hire some professionals who have graduated from Bible institutes or seminaries. They are professional. They have the education to do the job. It is quite scientific, because today in the twentieth century, everyone must be professional. An electrician is professional, a lawyer is professional, a medical doctor is professional, and a pastor is also professional. This is abominable in the eyes of God.
Six years ago I was told that it would be rather difficult for every Christian to function in the church, because it must be something professional. This is satanic! Many people say, “We must work five days a week, but the weekend is the time for rest. That is the time for the preachers to do their job.” It sounds logical, but it is really satanic. This paralyzes the Body of Christ and kills the functions of the members of the Body.
Could my two hands say to my body, “Because we work five days a week, we need a time to relax during the weekends. The weekend is the time for the mouth to do his work”? When I am speaking with my mouth, I still need my two hands. The whole Body is meeting in the local church, not just the mouth. The church is not an organization of any society or of any kind of religion. The church is the organic Body of Christ. Everyone must function in a living way. If we are in the local church and for the local church, we must function. There is no excuse. We must chase away the satanic system of the clergy and the laity by functioning as members of the Body of Christ.
When a group of us went to the Far East in 1968, nearly all the functioning ones left for this trip. Many wondered what would happen to the church in Los Angeles, but I said, “Do not worry. If they function, they just function. If they do not function, just close the door.” So we went, and, praise the Lord, we received some letters in Taiwan saying that the meetings in Los Angeles were even more living. Everyone was functioning. This then is the local church.
All the brothers and sisters are priests of God and members of Christ. So in the local church everyone serves and functions. The local church has no laity and no clergy. We all function and serve together as members of Christ and priests of God. We must hate these two kinds of teachings: the teaching of Balaam and the teaching of the Nicolaitans. What we must have in the local church is the life of Christ ministered by the priesthood.
I am so grateful and thankful to the Lord for the situation here in the local church in Los Angeles. There are so many serving ones. We do not like to have any churchgoers, those who only come to attend the eleven o’clock service on Sunday. We all must be the practical serving and functioning ones. Praise the Lord! We have a good coordination among us in the church. Everyone functions and serves. We not only function in the meetings, but we all serve in many different aspects. This is the local church.
The fourth epistle is to Thyatira, in which fornication and idols are dealt with. “I have something against you, that you tolerate the woman Jezebel, she who calls herself a prophetess and teaches and leads My slaves astray to commit fornication and to eat idol sacrifices” (v. 20).
Spiritual fornication is the union of the church with the world. Whenever the church is united to the world, that is a kind of spiritual fornication. The church has nothing to do with the world and must be absolutely separated from the world. The world is the world, and the church is the church. These are two realms, but Christianity has married them. This is fornication in the eyes of God. The church must have nothing to do with any worldly thing. A local church must be so pure, so utterly separated from worldliness.
Worldliness is always related to idols. If we are united to the world, we spontaneously have idols. The local churches should not have any kind of idols. An idol is simply a substitute of God. Anything that replaces God and possesses man is an idol. Nothing should ever be allowed to replace God in the local churches. We should never have anything that possesses us. Our only Possessor must be God Himself. Our relationship must only be with God; otherwise, we will bring in fornication and idolatry. The local churches must be so pure and separated from the world and idols.
In the fifth epistle, the one to Sardis, the Lord did not rebuke the church for anything wrong. There was nothing wrong, but she was dead. To be dead is more serious than to be wrong.
Allow me to illustrate in this way. Suppose there is a little boy in this hall who is very naughty and wrong in every aspect. But there is also another boy in the hall who is dead. There is nothing wrong with him, for he is adjusted and fully corrected. Which one would you prefer? Would you like to contact the naughty boy or the dead one? Of course, we all would prefer the living one, even though he is wrong.
The Lord hates dead things. He told Sardis, “I know your works, that you have a name that you are living, and yet you are dead. Become watchful and establish the things which remain, which were about to die; for I have found none of your works completed before My God” (3:1-2).
I am afraid that in some of the churches, things are about to die. Their meeting is dead; their prayer is dying; everything is about to die. It is a dreadful situation. If we only have a moral mentality to know what is right and what is wrong, this proves that we do not have the sense of life. God is not a God of the dead. He is a God of the living. A local church must be living, even if it is wrong. Of course, I do not encourage anyone to be wrong, but we must be living.
Leviticus 11 tells us several times that whenever someone touches something which is dead, he is dirty. This dirtiness cannot be cleansed only by water. A certain amount of time is also required for the cleansing. Therefore, to be dirty with deadness is more serious than to be dirty with sinfulness.
There are some who come to the meetings in the local church who are dead. If you touch them, you just touch deadness. I believe we all have had this experience. We must be careful with this kind of person. He is not a living person but a dead one; therefore, we must flee from him. We should run away not only from sinful things but especially from deadening things. Sometimes the things that come from the mouths of some people are just like a dead carcass. Their talk is just like dead bodies. We must not listen to this kind of talk. If we do, we simply touch death. Then for one week, sometimes, we are not able to praise. Sometimes we are even poisoned unto death. We must not be another Sardis. Every church must be living and alive. We must not try to be so right, but so living.
Many, many times in the so-called Christian churches, people are religiously dead. They are dead with religion. Many satanic things in so-called Christianity simply make people religiously dead. When you come to the meeting and have a burden from the Lord to utter something, the religious death says that you should not say anything, but keep yourself quiet. This is a kind of religious killing. I do not encourage you to be mad and to jump and dance. I do not care for that. But we must not be bound by any kind of religion. Sometimes when we come to the meeting, we are so filled with the joy of the Lord that we have to shout, “Hallelujah, Hallelujah!” But simply due to the religious custom we received from our background, we will not shout because we think we should not. This is something religious that kills us. We must not keep any religious customs. Religion kills, and religion is something old. Anything old will soon be dead. We must not make our meetings religious. We all must be very living, keeping ourselves open to the Spirit.
The sixth epistle is to Philadelphia, the name of which means “brotherly love.” In the local churches we need the Philadelphia, we need the love for one another. We love one another because we love the Lord. We need the brotherly love, for in this love we have the open door. The Lord said to Philadelphia, “I know your works; behold, I have put before you an opened door which no one can shut, because you have a little power and have kept My word and have not denied My name” (Rev. 3:8).
In a prevailing local church, the door is always wide open, because the brothers love one another. As long as the brothers and sisters love each other, the door can never be shut. The more we love one another, the more the doors will be opened. If we invite friends to come, it is unnecessary to preach to them; we simply let them see the love that we have with oneness and harmony. This alone will convince them. There is no need for us to preach the gospel to them. They are convinced already.
The way to open the door is to love one another. The open door is set before Philadelphia. If we would have an open door, we must love one another. This will convince the whole world.
Finally, we come to the last epistle, which is to Laodicea. We all know what is mentioned in this epistle. The church was lukewarm, neither hot nor cold. The Lord said to her, “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” (vv. 15-16).
Why was the church in Laodicea so lukewarm? It is simply because she was too much in the mind. If Christians are lukewarm, it is certain that they are too much in the mind. They have too many doctrines and too much knowledge. Romans 12:11 tells us the only way to keep from being lukewarm: “Be burning in spirit.” We must forget about our mind and turn to the spirit and say, “O Lord, Amen, Hallelujah! O Lord, Amen, Hallelujah! O Lord, Amen, Hallelujah! O Lord, Amen, Hallelujah!” If we will say this for half an hour, we will be burned. Then we will never be lukewarm anymore. We must forget about the teachings and doctrines as well as our clear and clever mind. We need to be burned in our spirit!
In Sardis the Lord promised the overcomers the reward of white garments: “He who overcomes will be clothed thus, in white garments” (Rev. 3:5). He says the same thing to the church in Laodicea: “I counsel you to buy from Me...white garments that you may be clothed and that the shame of your nakedness may not be manifested” (v. 18).
What are these white garments? They are livingness. To be alive, to be living, is the white garments. If we are dead, we are dirty. A dead person is the dirtiest one. If we are dead, we are also naked. We need some livingness to cover us. Brothers and sisters, we all need the living garments. The living garments are Christ Himself, wrought into us by the living Spirit. The only way to have these garments is to turn ourselves to the spirit. Then we will be burned and really hot—livingly hot.
From these seven epistles I believe that we have seen what a local church in the Lord’s recovery ought to be.
