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.