Lord, we do worship You for the access that You have given us into Your presence through Your precious blood. We thank You, Lord, that we have had this opportunity to remember the Lord Jesus—our perfect atonement, our perfect sacrifice.
We thank You that You are made unto us everything that we need for life and godliness. As we come to this time, we commit it into Your hands, Lord, that You would speak; that we could be hidden in You and know that anointing of just that covering, Lord, taking our place in Christ. Give us ears to hear.
We pray that something of Christ could be imparted in this time that would be to the strengthening of Your people and the strengthening of Your testimony. Lord, we do worship You in Jesus’ name. Amen.
Just for some background, I originally was considering a message that our brother Dana gave, or maybe a couple of them, at the conference a few weeks ago. He was talking about how, in the letters to the churches in Revelation, the Lord opens each letter with a specific introduction of Himself in a unique way. He reveals a name, or names, of the Lord in the opening verse of these letters.
On the basis of His name—on the basis of who He is as revealed in His name or names—He examines that church’s condition. Have they been faithful to Himself, or have they been unfaithful? And so, He either provides encouragement for faithfulness or correction.
I was drawn to meditate upon the letter to the church in Laodicea, considering the names of the Lord in the introduction there and some lessons that we could glean from that.
It seemed, as I was considering that, there was also an Old Testament type, if you will. When all the children of Israel were brought to the edge of the land of Canaan, they were called to cross the Jordan and possess the land that was to be their inheritance.
Unfortunately, there is an example of two and a half tribes that decided they were not going to do that. They wanted their inheritance to be on the east side of the Jordan. It seems that there are some lessons in that Old Testament type which bear similarity to the condition of the church in Laodicea.
What I would like to do, Lord willing, is first consider God’s purpose for Israel in crossing the Jordan and possessing the land of Canaan. Then we will look at some New Testament correspondences to that—what that means for us now—and consider the unfortunate example of those two and a half tribes and the church in Laodicea in that light.
To set the stage, it seemed useful to consider first what the purpose of God was in bringing the children of Israel into Canaan. Let us look at that type first and then see if we can glean some lessons from it.
There are several Scriptures here, and for the sake of time, I have them printed out so that I can read them quickly. I talked to Josh earlier; he is going to get quite a workout if he puts all these up there. So, for the sake of time, we will just read them.
First, I would like to consider the characteristics of Canaan, this land of promise. Deuteronomy 8:7 gives a description, beginning in verse 7:
For the Lord your God is bringing you into a good land,
a land of brooks of water, of fountains and springs,
flowing forth in valleys and hills;
a land of wheat and barley, of vines and fig trees and pomegranates,
a land of olive oil and honey;
a land where you will eat food without scarcity,
in which you will not lack anything;
a land whose stones are iron,
and out of whose hills you can dig copper.
When you have eaten and are satisfied,
you shall bless the Lord your God
for the good land which He has given you.
Deuteronomy 6:10 further describes it:
The Lord your God brings you into the land which He swore to your fathers, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, to give you, great and splendid cities which you did not build,
and houses full of all good things which you did not fill,
and hewn cisterns which you did not dig,
vineyards and olive trees which you did not plant;
and you eat and are satisfied.
This speaks of a land of abundant provision. The provision is already there. There is nothing they need to do to work it up, as it were. All the provision is there; they simply need to enter in and possess it.
The Lord also provided a promise of driving out their enemies. Exodus 23:27 says:
I will send My terror ahead of you,
and throw into confusion all the people among whom you come,
and I will make all your enemies turn their backs to you.
I will send hornets ahead of you
so that they will drive out the Hivites, the Canaanites, and the Hittites before you.
I will not drive them out before you in a single year,
that the land may not become desolate
and the beasts of the field become too numerous for you.
I will drive them out before you little by little,
until you become fruitful and take possession of the land.
This was to be a land where they experienced victory over their enemies. The Lord was going to bring about that victory because they trusted Him. They would possess the land little by little.
Again, it was a land of life, fruitfulness, and abundance—a land to be possessed by faith. It seems pretty clear what this is referring to: the fullness of the salvation that the Lord has prepared for us in Christ. He is, as it were, that promised land.
What are some aspects of this life that the Lord has prepared for us? It is a life free from sins.
“She will bear a Son; and you shall call His name Jesus, for He will save His people from their sins.”
—Matthew 1:21
“For you first, God raised up His Servant and sent Him to bless you by turning every one of you from your wicked ways.”
—Acts 3:26
“For sin shall not be master over you, for you are not under law but under grace.”
—Romans 6:14
Praise the Lord. This life that we have been given in Christ is a life free from sins. It is also a life fully satisfied with the Lord.
“But whoever drinks of the water that I will give him shall never thirst; but the water that I will give him will become in him a well of water springing up to eternal life.”
—John 4:14
It is also a life that overcomes our environment. Romans 8:35 says:
Who will separate us from the love of Christ?
Will tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword?
But in all these things we overwhelmingly conquer through Him who loved us.
For I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities,
nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth,
nor any other created thing, will be able to separate us from the love of God,
which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.
It is also a life of sanctification.
“Now may the God of peace Himself sanctify you entirely; and may your spirit and soul and body be preserved complete, without blame at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.”
—1 Thessalonians 5:23
Truly, this is a wonderful, full salvation that the Lord has prepared for us in Himself.
For myself, and I think for all of us, we can ask the question: what hinders us from experiencing all this fullness in Christ?
For many of us, when we were initially saved, it seemed that the Lord dealt with and set us free from some besetting sins right away—things that plagued us before, which we could not overcome. Immediately upon salvation, the Lord wonderfully delivered us. But it seems that, as we go on with the Lord, perhaps one or a number of sins continue to cause us trouble.
I was referring to The Life That Wins by Watchman Nee. He gave a wonderful catalogue of various types of sins:
There are certain sins that, in ourselves, we try to overcome, but we cannot.
Paul’s testimony in Romans 7 speaks to this, beginning in verse 14:
For we know that the law is spiritual, but I am of flesh, sold into bondage to sin.
For what I am doing, I do not understand;
for I am not practicing what I would like to do,
but I am doing the very thing I hate.
But if I do the very thing I do not want to do,
I agree with the law, confessing that the law is good.
So now, no longer am I the one doing it, but sin which dwells in me.
For I know that nothing good dwells in me, that is, in my flesh;
for the willing is present in me, but the doing of the good is not.
For the good that I want, I do not do,
but I practice the very evil that I do not want.
But if I am doing the very thing I do not want,
I am no longer the one doing it, but sin which dwells in me.
I find then the principle that evil is present in me, the one who wants to do good.
For I joyfully concur with the law of God in the inner man,
but I see a different law in the members of my body,
waging war against the law of my mind
and making me a prisoner of the law of sin which is in my members.
Wretched man that I am! Who will set me free from the body of this death?
—Romans 7:14-24
This is Paul’s experience. You can see the despair he is going through as he longs so earnestly to overcome, but he finds that in himself and in his own strength, he is not able to.
What is the provision that the Lord has made for this condition? In the Old Testament, there is the type of crossing the Jordan, which seems to speak to this.
This is in Joshua—I apologize; I had the verse, perhaps chapter 3, but I neglected to write that down—beginning in verse 9:
Then Joshua said to the sons of Israel, “Come here, and hear the words of the Lord your God.”
Joshua said, “By this you shall know that the living God is among you,
and that He will assuredly dispossess from before you the Canaanite,
the Hittite, the Hivite, the Perizzite, the Girgashite, the Amorite, and the Jebusite.”
Behold, the ark of the covenant of the Lord of all the earth is crossing over ahead of you into the Jordan.
Now then, take for yourselves twelve men from the tribes of Israel, one man for each tribe.
It shall come about when the soles of the feet of the priests who carry the ark of the Lord,
the Lord of all the earth, rest in the waters of the Jordan,
that the waters of the Jordan will be cut off,
and the waters which are flowing down from above will stand in one heap.
So when the people set out from their tents to cross the Jordan,
with the priests carrying the ark of the covenant before the people,
and when those who carried the ark came into the Jordan,
and the feet of the priests carrying the ark were dipped in the edge of the water—
for the Jordan overflows all its banks all the days of harvest—
the waters which were flowing down from above stood and rose up in one heap,
a great distance away at Adam, the city that is beside Zarethan;
and those which were flowing down toward the sea of the Arabah, the Salt Sea,
were completely cut off.
So the people crossed opposite Jericho.
And the priests who carried the ark of the covenant of the Lord stood firm on dry ground
in the middle of the Jordan, while all Israel crossed on dry ground,
until all the nation had finished crossing the Jordan.
—Joshua 3:9-17
This is a wonderful picture. As the priests enter the Jordan bearing the ark of the testimony, the Lord cuts off all the waters flowing down from above from a town called Adam. I do not think there could be a clearer type here.
The issue is, of course, the Adamic nature. The Lord has made provision through the cross in dealing with the Adamic nature. It is wonderful to consider that all the people were brought through on dry ground.
This is a wonderful provision the Lord has made in our co-crucifixion with Christ and being united with Him in His death and resurrection. Whatever the Adamic weaknesses, whatever the Adamic struggles, whatever things in ourselves that we deal with, praise the Lord, He has made provision: they can be dealt with and have been dealt with through the cross.
Our struggle is what many call a sin factory within us. The particular products of individual believers in that sin factory may look different, but we all struggle with the fact that, in ourselves, we cannot cut off the switch. We cannot cut off the power. We try, and we cannot do it. What we want to do, we cannot do; and that which we do not want to do, we do.
Paul discovered a wonderful provision. Picking up again in Romans 7, where he said, “Who will set me free from the body of this death?”:
“Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord!”
—Romans 7:25
Only God, through what the Lord Jesus accomplished through His death and resurrection, can deliver us from the power of sin. Praise the Lord, He has done this.
“I have been crucified with Christ; and it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, Who loved me and gave Himself up for me.”
—Galatians 2:20
Again, in crossing the Jordan, we see the Old Testament type of recognizing our co-death and resurrection with Christ, being united with Him. Before this land can be entered and possessed, before we can put on the new man, we have to put off the old man. We have to enter into that provision the Lord has made in dealing with that sin life. What a wonderful deliverance that is.
Second Corinthians 12:9 is another familiar passage:
“My grace is sufficient for you, for power is perfected in weakness.”
Most gladly, therefore, I will rather boast about my weaknesses,
so that the power of Christ may dwell in me.
Therefore I am well content with weaknesses, with insults, with distresses,
with persecutions, with difficulties, for Christ’s sake;
for when I am weak, then I am strong.
—2 Corinthians 12:9-10
Paul had discovered this secret. He is actually boasting in his weakness. For many of us—I know for myself—when the Lord began to deal with me and show me those aspects of my Adamic life, initially it was quite a shock. It was a little depressing, probably due to self-deception, thinking that there was something good in me.
That nature we all come into this world with wants to be able to make it on our own. It is quite a blow to that. But Paul here is glorying in his weakness. He has clearly gotten over himself. He has lost all hope in finding anything good in his natural man, and he is glorying in his weakness because of what is on the other side. It is not him; it is Christ.
There is a wonderful exchange here. The Holy Spirit would bring all of us to this realization. He has made provision that we could come into the realization of what He has done. We could agree with His assessment of our Adamic nature, agree that it is worthy of crucifixion, so that we can be united to Christ and experience the fullness of life: not I, but Christ.
I know it seems to be a hurdle for many, this matter of the cross and this blow to our self-life. But it is a glorious liberty to be able to agree with what the Lord has done, with our need for Him. The goal, again, is being united with Him in His resurrection. That is our hope. Praise God.
Paul, using the Old Testament analogy, clearly set his roots on the west side of the Jordan. As a result, we see him gaining Christ in a wonderful way.
“By His doing you are in Christ Jesus, Who became to us wisdom from God, and righteousness and sanctification and redemption.”
—1 Corinthians 1:30
Many of us, when we first experienced the Lord and His redemption, knew what a glorious weight was taken off. What a glorious liberty that was to us when we had been trying to make ourselves right with God. All that weight of sin that we carried was taken away through His salvation.
What a glorious discovery it was that the Lord Jesus was made unto us redemption. He was made unto us righteousness. We had struggled, but we could not make it on our own. We could not put ourselves in right standing with God. But when we received Him, we acknowledged His redemption and His righteousness, and that was sufficient.
There was a great letting go of trying to make ourselves right with God. It was a great receiving of what He had done. Similarly, I believe there is a burden the Lord wants to set us free from in this matter of being sanctified. Just as Christ was made unto us wisdom, righteousness, and redemption, He was made unto us sanctification as well.
Praise God, this burden of living a sanctified life is something that He has made full provision for Himself to carry, and He desires to carry it. For us to enter into the good of it and live it, it will be on the basis of Christ in us doing the work, living His life through us by faith as we look to Him.
To make it practical: if our particular sin is pride, Christ is made unto us humility. If it is laziness, Christ is made unto us diligence. If it is a hot temper, Christ is made unto us patience. He is made unto us love.
The Lord has made provision that Christ Himself is made unto us all these aspects of a sanctified life: love, patience, kindness, humility—whatever is the need, whatever we cannot do in ourselves. He Himself has made that unto us.
To live is Christ. Praise God, there is provision for each of us to find Christ Himself as the very fulfilment of that expression of life, that which we cannot do. He can do it, and He is unto us our sanctification.
Praise the Lord, what a glorious provision He has made for us. Looking again at the Old Testament type, as they crossed the Jordan, the first area they came to was Jericho. I think there is a lesson in the conquest of Jericho as far as this matter of testifying that Christ is our life.
For six days, they marched around Jericho once each day. On the seventh day, they marched around seven times. Those who study numerology in Scripture tell us that the number six stands for man and his deficiency in his natural state.
It is interesting that when they marched around for six days, they were in silence. Silence speaks of judgment in Scripture. So it seems, perhaps, that at least the lesson we can take from this is that, as they began to move into the promised land, the basis of conquest and possessing the land was again agreeing with His judgment upon the natural man.
The number seven, we know, speaks of divine life and divine perfection. On the last day, they marched around seven times, and the Lord commanded them to shout after they had marched seven times. There was a proclamation of victory, and then the walls came down.
It seems there is a lesson here: as we look to the Lord by faith to do what we cannot do each day, we should have this shout of victory in acknowledging that Christ is our life. It has to be Him. We are looking to Him to do it. We have released it to Him. We no longer expect anything out of ourselves as far as overcoming; we ascribe that to Him. We praise Him and release the matter into His hands.
The shout of victory came before the walls came down. First, they shouted by faith in the Lord, and then He manifested His victory in their circumstances. I think the lesson here is that we do not need to wait for a feeling of being an overcomer before we praise the Lord. Then we are really living by feeling rather than by faith.
But as we ascribe greatness to the Lord, as we ascribe worship to Him, we can glory that He Himself is our victory. Again, we have completely cast this matter of overcoming onto Him. It is His responsibility. It is His life—not I, but Christ.
Some Scriptures emphasize this matter of rejoicing in the Lord:
“How blessed are the people who know the joyful sound!
O Lord, they walk in the light of Your countenance.”
—Psalm 89:15
“God has ascended with a shout,
the Lord with the sound of the trumpet.”
—Psalm 47:5
“Yet Thou art holy,
Thou that dwellest amid the praises of Israel.”
—Psalm 22:3
The shout of faith really is the hallmark of victory in the Christian life.
We know that the Lord desired Israel to possess the land and gradually dispossess the enemy as they became fruitful. Of course, this speaks of growing in this matter of Christ our life as we move on in the Lord, in order to possess the land and dispossess the enemies.
As we go on, the Lord continues to reveal perhaps areas of hidden strength in ourselves that we had leaned upon—things that need to be dealt with through the cross. As we continue to stand on that principle of our co-death and resurrection with Christ, for each area of deficiency that the Lord reveals, we give it to the Lord. The Lord has to be the One to overcome. He will lead us on into a greater experience of His life.
For an overall picture of God’s purpose for Israel in the promised land, we have looked at possessing the land and driving out the enemies. There was also this matter of building His house in Jerusalem—Jerusalem, the place where He had set His name, His very presence.
“In this house and in Jerusalem, which I have chosen out of all the tribes of Israel, will I put My name forever.”
—2 Kings 21:7
The earthly Jerusalem, Zion, was the place of the house of God and the throne of God among His people: Zion, the city of the great King. The presence of God in His house in Jerusalem was to be the centre of the life of the people of Israel.
Deuteronomy 16:16 speaks of how three times a year all the males were to appear before the Lord in the place He chose, which was Jerusalem: the Feast of Unleavened Bread, the Feast of Weeks, and the Feast of Booths, to bring an offering to the Lord.
We see this wonderful picture of the children of Israel possessing the land, dispossessing the enemies, and living in light of the centrality of the presence of God. The living God was to be the very centre of their lives together.
All these things were conditional, of course, upon crossing the Jordan and setting their roots on the other side of the Jordan.
The corresponding New Testament reality is very clear. We have looked at how our co-death and resurrection with Christ is foundational to experiencing victory over sin and growing in the life of Christ. The work of the cross is also directly related to the building of His house.
Ephesians 2, beginning in verse 19, says:
So then you are no longer strangers and aliens,
but you are fellow citizens with the saints, and are of God’s household,
having been built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets,
Christ Jesus Himself being the cornerstone,
in Whom the whole building, being fitted together,
is growing into a holy temple in the Lord,
in Whom you also are being built together
into a dwelling of God in the Spirit.
—Ephesians 2:19-22
First Peter 2:4 says:
And coming to Him as to a living stone,
which has been rejected by men,
but is choice and precious in the sight of God,
you also, as living stones, are being built up as a spiritual house
for a holy priesthood,
to offer up spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ.
—1 Peter 2:4-5
This precious cornerstone was rejected by men, and this speaks of the cross. It seems the lesson is that, for us to be rightly related to the Lord individually, we need the work of the cross. It needs to be on the basis of this finished work. As we are individually related to the Lord, then, of course, we can be fitted together.
The work of the cross is also essential in bringing about the centrality of Christ and His kingship, or His headship, over us.
I remember Brother Kong speaking of the example in the Song of Songs. In the beginning, the bride’s testimony is, “My beloved is mine, and I am his.” It seems that, in the beginning, the emphasis is on herself: “My beloved is mine.”
As we go on, we see stages in her experience. The chief object of her affection and what she is centred on becomes the bridegroom. In the beginning: “My beloved is mine, and I am his.” Then we see a transition: “I am my beloved’s, and he is mine.” Finally: “I am my beloved’s, and his desire is for me.”
There is a wonderful decentralizing work of the cross that the Lord does as we go on with Him. He replaces ourselves with Himself, that He would be the centre.
Considering the Old Testament type and all that the Lord desired to do in Israel crossing over and possessing the land, there is a tragedy in that two and a half tribes decided that they wanted their inheritance to be on the east side of the Jordan.
Numbers 32:1-5 says:
Now the sons of Reuben and the sons of Gad had an exceedingly large number of livestock.
So when they saw the land of Jazer and the land of Gilead,
that it was indeed a place suitable for livestock,
the sons of Gad and the sons of Reuben came and spoke to Moses,
and to Eleazar the priest, and to the leaders of the congregation, saying,
“Ataroth, Dibon, Jazer, Nimrah, Heshbon, Elealeh, Sebam, Nebo, and Beon,
the land which the Lord conquered before the congregation of Israel,
is a land for livestock, and your servants have livestock.”
They said, “If we have found favour in your sight,
let this land be given to your servants as a possession;
do not take us across the Jordan.”
Very sad. These tribes had experienced victories that the Lord had won. The land where they were looking to inhabit, on that side of the Jordan, the Lord had conquered. It was Sihon, king of the Amorites, and Og, king of Bashan—a giant; at least one of them was a giant.
They had experienced some victories. They experienced the manna in the wilderness, the quail, the Lord’s presence, the pillar of fire, and the cloud. But it seemed that, as they came to the very edge of what the Lord had purposed to be their inheritance, they settled down.
It seems they were content with whatever experiences of the Lord they had had and put a stake in the ground: thus far and no further.
The tragedy, of course, is that as we continue to look in Scripture, it seems that they essentially fade from the record. It is almost as if, because they did not choose to move on in the Lord, because they settled, they lost their testimony.
There is no settling in the Christian life. It is an upstream swim. You are either going up, or you are taken with the current down. They probably were assimilated into the surrounding peoples; they lost their testimony, and we simply do not see them going on.
In New Testament terms, of course, we see the analogy. They failed to possess Christ. They failed to be transformed into His image. They neglected the building of the house of God, this testimony of the centrality of the Lord among His people.
They had an idea. Perhaps they were reasoning; who knows? They could have said, “The Lord has blessed us with this great provision of all these flocks, and we are just being reasonable here. Let us work things out.”
Somehow, the reasoning of man came in, if we could look at it in New Testament terms, which was counter to the cross. It is a tragedy that that became a stumbling block.
It seems there are lessons we can learn. There are many things, of course, that the world is always pushing on us: “Settle down here. Get your roots in this world. Experience all that the world has to offer.”
There are many things that could crowd in, things with which we have to be violent with ourselves by the grace of God. If we can see the vision of what the Lord has for us in Christ and be transfixed by that, these other things will grow strangely dim in the light of Christ.
Finally, coming to Laodicea, it seems there is a similar attitude in the church in Laodicea to that of the two and a half tribes. Their statement, “I am rich, and I have become wealthy, and have need of nothing,” clearly shows that they were content in whatever experience they had of the Lord.
Let us read the whole passage, the letter to the church in Laodicea, beginning in Revelation 3:14:
To the angel of the church in Laodicea write:
The Amen, the faithful and true Witness,
the Beginning of the creation of God, says this:
“I know your deeds, 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 will spit you out of My mouth.
Because you say, ‘I am rich, and have become wealthy, and have need of nothing,’
and you do not know that you are wretched and miserable and poor and blind and naked,
I advise you to buy from Me gold refined by fire so that you may become rich,
and white garments so that you may clothe yourself,
and that the shame of your nakedness will not be revealed;
and eye salve to anoint your eyes so that you may see.
Those whom I love, I reprove and discipline;
therefore be zealous and repent.
Behold, I stand at the door and knock;
if anyone hears My voice and opens the door,
I will come in to him and will dine with him, and he with Me.
He who overcomes, I will grant to him to sit down with Me on My throne,
as I also overcame and sat down with My Father on His throne.
He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.”
—Revelation 3:14-22
The Lord reveals Himself as the Amen, the faithful and true Witness, and the Beginning of the creation of God.
If we consider the Lord Jesus as the Amen, another passage probably comes to mind right away:
“For as many as are the promises of God, in Him they are yes; therefore also through Him is our Amen to the glory of God through us.”
—2 Corinthians 1:20
We know that amen essentially means, “So be it.” I was reminded of how Brother Lance would always encourage us in the importance of saying “Amen” out loud in prayer meetings. He would reference Deuteronomy 19:15, which says that at the mouth of two witnesses, or at the mouth of three witnesses, shall the matter be established.
When we verbally amen prayers that are according to the will of God, we as the church are establishing His will upon the earth. In Christ as the Amen, we see that He Himself is the fulfilment of the purpose of God.
For all things to come into alignment with the purpose of God, they must be summed up in Christ. As we consider that Christ Himself is the fulfilment of the purpose of God, it becomes evidently clear how vital it is that we be transformed into His image.
Second Peter 1:3 says:
Seeing that His divine power has granted to us everything pertaining to life and godliness,
through the true knowledge of Him Who called us by His own glory and excellence.
For by these He has granted to us His precious and magnificent promises,
so that by them you may become partakers of the divine nature,
having escaped the corruption that is in the world by lust.
—2 Peter 1:3-4
In this passage, we see the importance of the true knowledge of Him and the importance of laying hold of the promises in His Word. It specifically says that as we do so, we become partakers of the divine nature.
There is some similarity, or crossover, in the application of the Lord Jesus as the Amen and the Lord Jesus as the Beginning of the creation of God. We will get into the Beginning of creation in just a moment.
Regarding the importance of revelation and the true knowledge of Him, of course, that can only come about through revelation. Paul prayed for the Ephesian believers that the eyes of their hearts would be enlightened.
I know it has been the testimony of many that we can be reading the Word, Scriptures that the Lord has stored up in us, and suddenly one day the Lord shines His light upon them. A promise becomes alive, and you know right then: this is true, it is real, and it is mine.
That is what the Lord desires—that we have this revelation, the spirit of revelation. His Word is true. All His promises are true. There is a vast treasury for us to enter into, and how we need the eyes of our hearts to be opened so that we can see, really see, and know His Word is true and can be counted upon.
As we lay hold of these promises, Scripture says that we are being transformed into His image. In this matter of the Lord as the Amen, it seems that, as we lay hold of His promises, the Lord Jesus as the Amen establishes this matter of “so be it” in our experience. He reveals Himself as the Amen, establishing the validity of His promise in our experience.
This is a precious promise to which we often cling:
“If we confess our sins, He is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.”
—1 John 1:9
I know for myself, and for many, whenever we unfortunately do sin, we experience a separation from the Lord. There is a break in communion and fellowship with Him. But when we come to this Scripture and confess our sins, how wonderful it is that we experience the restoration the Lord brings about to Himself.
This is a precious promise. As we cling to it, the Lord Jesus, the Amen, establishes the reality of that promise in our experience.
Here are some other familiar promises:
“I can do all things through Christ Who strengthens me.”
—Philippians 4:13
“My grace is sufficient for you, for power is perfected in weakness.”
—2 Corinthians 12:9
“When I am weak, then I am strong.”
—2 Corinthians 12:10
“You are from God, little children, and have overcome them;
because greater is He Who is in you than he who is in the world.”
—1 John 4:4
“You are not in the flesh but in the Spirit,
if indeed the Spirit of God dwells in you.”
—Romans 8:9
“But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God,
even to those who believe in His name.”
—John 1:12
“I will never leave you nor forsake you.”
—Hebrews 13:5
“Come to Me, all who are weary and heavy-laden, and I will give you rest.”
—Matthew 11:28
There are hundreds and hundreds of these wonderful, precious promises. As we appropriate them by faith, Scripture says that we become partakers of the divine nature. The Lord substantiates them in our experience as the Amen.
This is how the Lord is examining the church in Laodicea. Are they doing this? Do they have this living, transactional faith—looking to the Lord and standing upon His Word? Is He free to work in their lives to substantiate the reality of His Word as they cling to His promises?
The Lord also reveals Himself as the Beginning of the creation of God. Of course, we know that through Him all things were created, that He is the source of all creation.
Second Corinthians 5:17 says:
“So if anyone be in Christ, there is a new creation:
the old things have passed away;
behold, all things have become new.”
In Christ, there is a new creation. In our fallen natural state, we experience the old creation, Adam. But our position, according to the Word of God, is that He has placed us in Christ, and all that He has provided for us in Christ and in this new creation is to be ours in experience.
This new creation, of course, is this matter of not I, but Christ. As the Lord is looking at this church and examining their condition, and reveals Himself as the Beginning of the creation of God, it seems He is also considering: are they being transformed into His image? Is this new creation—Christ being formed in them?
As they lay hold of these promises—not I, but Christ—looking to the Lord, depending upon Him, standing upon His Word, this is how the Lord is examining their condition. Do they know Him as the Beginning of the creation of God? Do they know Him, and are they being transformed into this new creation?
Tragically, it looks as though this is not the case, and the Lord does rebuke them. Perhaps they are simply relating to one another along natural similarities. Their faith seems stagnant. They are not looking off to the Lord and being transformed.
In their statement, “We have become rich and have need of nothing,” it is clear that any forward momentum is simply not there. It is interesting to consider the statement, “We have become rich.” Where is their focus? Their focus is on themselves and not the Lord. Only in looking off to Jesus are we transformed. That is why this spiritual rot has come into their experience.
Again, probably similarly to the two and a half tribes, these brothers and sisters had experienced something of the Lord. Perhaps they had a rich history. But tragically, it seems they were in a place where they were content with whatever experience they had had and were neglecting to move forward.
The Lord also reveals Himself as the faithful and true Witness. We have heard that Laodicea means “the will of the people.” We know that in this age, this humanistic age, much emphasis is given to the opinion of man.
Truth, as far as this world is concerned, is relative to whoever is giving their opinion. How dare anyone question anyone? This is the age in which we live.
In the Laodicean church—speaking of the will of the people—there is an emphasis upon man as the framework of reference. Perhaps there is comparing: “Well, we are doing okay because we are not as bad as these people over here,” and so we are content. There is confusion with that.
Second Corinthians 10:12 says:
“For we are not bold to class or compare ourselves with some of those who commend themselves;
but when they measure themselves by themselves and compare themselves with themselves,
they are without understanding.”
The faithful and true Witness cuts through all this cloud of confusion, all this relativity, and establishes Himself alone as the right frame of reference. He speaks faithfully and truthfully to their condition.
Praise the Lord. In this age in which we live, how vital it is to experience and know the headship of Christ, to hold to Him alone as our frame of reference—the absolute authority of truth.
The Lord advises this church to buy from Him gold refined by fire. Of course, we know that gold speaks of the character of Christ, and buying is a transaction.
He is looking to them to come out of their Adamic poverty, to have these transactions of faith, holding to His promises: not I, but Christ. He is looking to them to look to Him, to be stirred up to lay hold of Him, so that they may enter into this exchange life. Christ is the goal.
He says that they need white garments. They are naked. Considering this, it seemed that, of course, if they are believers, the Lord has imputed to them His righteousness. But as far as the works of righteousness which He prepared beforehand for them to walk in—works based on faith—they had neglected these.
It is on the basis of these works, which the Lord has prepared beforehand for us to walk in, that His righteous character can be worked into us. I believe this is perhaps the clothing that the Lord is speaking of, which they so desperately need: clothed in His righteous character.
They need eye salve as well. They need the eyes of their hearts to be enlightened. They need spiritual wisdom and revelation, that their faith be quickened to be a living faith—again, being fully convinced of the validity of the Word of God and the truth of His promises.
To the end that they would lay hold of these promises, that they would know the truth and the truth would set them free.
In closing this message to Laodicea, the Holy Spirit sends out the call to the individual: to repent, to open the doors of their heart to the Lord, to be restored to living fellowship with Him, and finally to overcome.
The Lord reaches out to the individual. We have heard, of course, that the testimony of the church—the corporate testimony—is vitally linked to the individual testimony.
This is actually an encouragement: the Lord, in His undying love for us and His undying love for His church, even in this most miserable condition, would speak to them faithfully as the faithful and true Witness. He would call out their condition in contrast to His character, as revealed in His name: the Amen, the Beginning of the creation of God.
He would make the way clear for them to repent, be restored to Him, and even be in a place of overcoming.
May the Lord Himself give us fresh vision of Himself in these days. Only in beholding Him will we have a safeguard against losing the expression of His testimony.
In closing, these two Scriptures:
“Teach me the way in which I should walk;
for to Thee I lift up my soul.”
—Psalm 143:8
“O God, restore us,
and cause Thy face to shine upon us, and we will be saved.”
—Psalm 80:3
Let us pray.
Lord, that is our prayer: that You would lift up the light of Your countenance upon us. Lord, we do not know the way in which we should walk, but if we can see You, Lord, You can reveal these things, and we ask for that.
We ask that we would see You, and if there is any hurtful way, Lord, in me and in us, that You would shine Your light, that we could repent of that.
Lord, may we follow the Lamb wherever He goes in these days. May You have a testimony here in our midst. In Jesus’ name, amen.