Dear brothers and sisters, the complexity of man has taken away the simplicity of God.
When our Lord was on earth, His life was so simple. He came to the earth, and His purpose was simple: “Lo, I am come … to do Thy will.” He was wholly obedient to the will of the Father.
When He was twelve years old, He remained in the temple. His mother and father came to look for Him and asked, “Why hast Thou done this to us? We were so sorrowful.”
The Lord said, “Did ye not know that I must be about My Father’s business?” Yet He obeyed and submitted to His parents and went home with them.
When our Lord came to preach the gospel, you see, He was so simple. He said, “I can say nothing by Myself. What I hear from the Father, that I speak.”
He said, “I can do nothing by Myself. What I see My Father do, that I do.”
He said, “My time is not yet here.” Your time is always convenient; you can do whatever you want to do. But He could not move if the Father’s time had not come.
His brothers in the flesh were so complicated. They told our Lord, “No one who wants to proclaim his own name hides himself away. You teach these things; You should go to Jerusalem at the feast so that everybody can see You.”
You see, their minds were so complicated. But the Lord said, “My time is not yet here. The Father’s time has not arrived.”
Even His mother was complicated. When the Lord came out to work, in John 2, they were invited to the marriage in Cana. There were many guests, more than expected, and the wine ran out.
When Jesus’ mother saw the situation, the complexity came in. She thought, “My Son can do something. This is a good chance to prove that He is the Messiah.” So she implied to our Lord Jesus that there was no wine left.
The Lord said, “My time is not yet here.”
Dear brothers and sisters, you see, men are so complicated, and the disciples were so complicated.
In Matthew 16, our Lord said to His disciples, “I am going to Jerusalem. I will be killed, and on the third day I will be raised again.”
Peter said, “Lord, You cannot do so.” Was it because he loved the Lord? He did. But he loved himself too. Because if the Lord went to the cross, every disciple would have to go to the cross. They were complicated.
The life of our Lord on earth was so simple. He had only one thought: to please the Father. Besides the pleasure of the Father, He had no other thought.
But today we are complicated. We consider this, we think of that, we count this and count that, and we count for ourselves.
The Lord speaks to the church in Thyatira: “You have to come out from the complexity.” What is spoken of there is the depth of Satan, and this is so mysterious. People cannot understand it. Only very few people, very special people, are initiated into it.
They are initiated into the depths, and this is so complicated and so mysterious.
Yes, our God has a mystery: the mystery of God, which is Christ; the mystery of Christ, which is in us. But this mystery is totally different from the depths of Satan.
This mystery is hidden in God, but through His Spirit God reveals it. It was hidden from those who were wise and prudent, and it is revealed to babes.
So, if we have the heart of a baby, if we have a simple heart and a pure heart, the mystery of God is revealed to us. This is such a simple thing.
Dear brothers and sisters, the Lord says, “There are still a few among you who have not known the depths of Satan. Only hold fast what you have until I come.”
May the Lord shed light on us and search our hearts, that we may see how much complexity is in us. We have to look to the mercy of God, that we may come out from all complexity and have a simple heart toward Christ.
Simplicity is not ignorance. Sometimes we say that if you are simple, you are ignorant; you cannot follow.
But Paul was not an ignorant man. Yet he said that he lived in the simplicity of Christ.
You see, throughout the whole life of Paul, there was only one purpose in his heart: Christ. For Christ, he forsook all things and considered Christ Jesus as treasure.
He said, “I do not count my life dear unto myself. I want to finish the course which God has set before me.” This is simplicity.
So he advised the Corinthians. He said, in effect, “You are so complex.” They had misgivings about Paul. They questioned why Paul did things this way or that way, and they were very complex.
“I am afraid that you may lose your simple heart toward Christ.”
What the Spirit says to the churches is for us to come out from complexity and return to the simplicity of Christ. Because to return to simplicity is to return to Christ.
What follows is the church in Sardis. What does the Holy Spirit say to the churches? Not only do you have to be simple; you have to be sincere.
If you are not simple, you are not sincere. The opposite of sincerity is falsehood and hypocrisy.
You have the name, but not the reality. You hold the name; you use the name; you say, “We have this name.” Yet there is absolutely no reality. This is hypocrisy.
What is hypocrisy? In Chinese, it is translated very well: it is empty on the outside. There is nothing inside.
You have nothing inside, but you have an outward appearance. This is hypocrisy. The outside and the inside are not consistent. You may use your mouth to say one thing, but you have something else in your heart. This is not sincere; this is hypocrisy.
When our Lord was on earth, He was the most sincere One. He was the same inside and outside. Even His enemies saw that.
You remember in Matthew 22, when they came before the Lord and wanted to tempt Him, they said:
Teacher, we know that Thou art true,
and teachest the way of God in truth,
and carest not for any man;
for Thou regardest not the person of men.
They said this in order to set Him with their question. Yet it was true: our Lord was sincere.
The whole world lies in falsehood. As Romans says, God alone is true, and every man is a liar. We live in this falsehood. If you want to be true, you become an enemy; nobody will believe you, and they will misunderstand you.
When our Lord was on earth, men measured Him by their own falsehood. So a simple and sincere person has to suffer.
Dear brothers and sisters, our Lord is sincere. Therefore, He wants us to be true and honest.
What our Lord hates most is hypocrisy. Seven times our Lord said, “Woe unto you, hypocrites.”
In the Old Testament, one thing that God hated was hypocrisy.
Today, the condition of the church is like that of Sardis: inconsistency between the inside and the outside. On the outside, there is a name; on the inside, there is no reality.
We are cheating. We are deceived. We are not honest and sincere before God. Although sometimes our conscience gives light, we have covered our conscience.
Please remember: neither simplicity nor sincerity is a natural thing. Nathanael was very straightforward by nature. In John 1, when Philip found Nathanael, Nathanael said, “Can any good thing come out of Nazareth?” He was very straightforward.
When he came to the Lord, the Lord said, “Behold, an Israelite indeed, in whom is no guile.” But this was his natural straightforwardness, and natural straightforwardness can cause trouble.
If not for the mercy of God, he would have rejected Jesus of Nazareth.
So sincerity here is not natural straightforwardness. In fact, there is no one on earth who is sincere. It is only a matter of degree. No one can say, “I am true before God. What I think is what I say. This is what I am, inside and outside, because there is no guile in me.”
Brothers and sisters, sincerity comes from the Lord, because His life is true. His life is simple. Simplicity and sincerity are the outflow of the life of Christ.
Therefore, we need to repent. We have to come to the Lord and confess, “Lord, we are so complex. We are so hypocritical. There is no way that we can change ourselves. We cannot be sincere. We cannot do it.”
We can only look to His mercy.
Only when the life of Christ fills us can simplicity and sincerity flow out naturally. The Lord says, “You have to come back to Me.” Besides going back to Him, we have no other way.
May the Lord have mercy on us. Let us pray.
Oh, our God, may we see light in Your light. We cannot point to others and say this; we can only speak to ourselves. Lord, we are so complex. We are so hypocritical, and we desire to repent before You. We need Your mercy.
We ask that You Yourself would take our place. May Your life reign in us. Save us from complexity, and bring us into Your simplicity. Save us from falsehood, and bring us into Your sincerity.
So that Your name will not be put to shame on earth, and so that Your testimony can be restored on earth. Hearken to our prayer, because we ask in the name of our Lord Jesus. Amen.