Grace and peace in the love of our Lord Jesus Christ.
Revelation 3:14-22 is about the church of the Laodiceans. This is the seventh church or the church of the end of time, which refers to us.
The church of the Laodiceans was lukewarm. It means that they were physically rich, they needed nothing, but they were spiritually empty. The church of the Laodiceans put the physical aspects first, but they did not want to be filled with the true teaching. The consequence is they became like chaff to be burnt and vomited by God, and separated from Him forever and ever.
Revelation 3:18-19
3:18 I counsel you to buy from Me gold refined in the fire, that you may be rich; and white garments, that you may be clothed, that the shame of your nakedness may not be revealed; and anoint your eyes with eye salve, that you may see.
3:19 As many as I love, I rebuke and chasten. Therefore be zealous and repent.
That is why God rebukes, advises, and chastens us to buy the wealth of heaven so that we will not be lukewarm and vomited, but we can be eaten and can satisfy God. There are 3 kinds of the wealth of heaven as follows.
ad. 3. Eye salve to anoint the eyes.
Eye salve is used so that we are not blind. It means that we should have the anointment of the Holy Spirit so that we can see Jesus.
We also need the anointment of the Holy Spirit so that we have opened spiritual eyes to see God's fields.
John 4:35
4:35 Do you not say, 'There are still four months and then comes the harvest'? Behold, I say to you, lift up your eyes and look at the fields, for they are already white for harvest!
There are two meanings for God's fields as follows.
ad. a. The place to sow the seed of God's word.
We need to pay attention to the seed and the ground where we are about to sow the seed.
Leviticus 19:19
19:19 'You shall keep My statutes. You shall not let your livestock breed with another kind. You shall not sow your field with mixed seed. Nor shall a garment of mixed linen and wool come upon you.
There are only one righteous seed of the word. The characteristics are as follows.
1 Timothy 1:3-4
1:3 As I urged you when I went into Macedonia--remain in Ephesus that you may charge some that they teach no other doctrine,
1:4 nor give heed to fables and endless genealogies, which cause disputes rather than godly edification which is in faith.
In God's field, we should not have other teachings. In the anointment of the Holy Spirit, we need to hold firmly to the righteous teaching which we have already been believing and experiencing. In the anointment of the Holy Spirit, we have to be strict in declining other teachings, which means that we do not give even a single chance to listen to them.
Luke 8:15
8:15 But the ones that fell on the good ground are those who, having heard the word with a noble and good heart, keep it and bear fruit with patience.
James 1:21
1:21 Therefore lay aside all filthiness and overflow of wickedness, and receive with meekness the implanted word, which is able to save your souls.
The good ground refers to the gentle heart, which does not keep others' sins or follow the lust of the flesh.
We need the Holy Spirit to be able to listen earnestly to the word, and it becomes our main need, like a dog licking the bread crumbs. The Holy Spirit will help us to understand the word, so we will believe and be sure about it. When we believe and become sure about the word, it is planted and grows roots in our heart. The Holy Spirit will then help us do the word, and the seed will be fruitful.
Acts 2:42
2:42 And they continued steadfastly in the apostles' doctrine and fellowship, in the breaking of bread, and in prayers.
The fruits of being steadfast are as follows.
Hebrews 10:36-37
10:36 For you have need of endurance, so that after you have done the will of God, you may receive the promise:
10:37 "For yet a little while,
And He who is coming will come and will not tarry.
As God's second coming is getting closer, our needs are getting higher, but everything is sufficient and covered in the perseverance in the shepherding. The good shepherd has provided everything for us by sacrificing His life for us.
If we have become the place to sow the seed of God's word, we listen and become obedient to it, we are like Mary who sat on Jesus' feet. Maria chose the best place, which is eternal.
ad. b. The place to work and minister to God.
1 Corinthians 3:9
3:9 For we are God's fellow workers; you are God's field, you are God's building.
God's field is the ministry of building the perfect body of Christ. It is started from our marriage, which continues to the shepherding, inter-shepherding, until Israelites and Gentiles are united as the perfect body of Christ. If we are not active in the building of the body of Christ, sooner or later we will be active in the building of the body of Babylon.
John 4:36
4:36 And he who reaps receives wages, and gathers fruit for eternal life, that both he who sows and he who reaps may rejoice together.
Ephesians 1:13
1:13 In Him you also trusted, after you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation; in whom also, having believed, you were sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise,
The movement of sowing is the one of the gospel of salvation, the gospel word, or the good news, which preaches about Jesus' first coming to save the sinners. We are saved by believing in Jesus, repenting, and entering the water baptism and the baptism of the Holy Spirit. We receive a new life, a heavenly one, which means that we live in the righteousness.
2 Corinthians 4:3-4
4:3 But even if our gospel is veiled, it is veiled to those who are perishing,
4:4 whose minds the god of this age has blinded, who do not believe, lest the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine on them.
The movement of reaping is the movement of the light of the gospel of Christ's glory, the teaching word, or the Bride Tidings, which preaches about Jesus' second coming to sanctify those who are already saved, to be perfect.
Matthew 15:19
15:19 For out of the heart proceed evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, fornications, thefts, false witness, blasphemies.
If our heart is sanctified from seven evil and unclean lusts which make us blind, our actions and speech are sanctified, and even our whole lives are sanctified to be as perfect as Jesus.
Matthew 6:25-26
6:25 "Therefore I say to you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink; nor about your body, what you will put on. Is not life more than food and the body more than clothing?
6:26 Look at the birds of the air, for they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns; yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they?
Matthew 10:29-30
10:29 Are not two sparrows sold for a copper coin? And not one of them falls to the ground apart from your Father's will.
10:30 But the very hairs of your head are all numbered.
Birds, which never sow nor reap, are taken care of by God. Our life is like a hair, but God still counts us.
Isaiah 53:1-3
53:1 Who has believed our report? And to whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed?
53:2 For He shall grow up before Him as a tender plant, And as a root out of dry ground. He has no form or comeliness; And when we see Him, There is no beauty that we should desire Him.
53:3 He is despised and rejected by men, A Man of sorrows and acquainted with grief. And we hid, as it were, our faces from Him; He was despised, and we did not esteem Him.
Jesus was willing not to be counted when He was dead, in curse on the cross, so that we can be counted, which means we are taken care of and understood. The results are as follows.
God blesses us.
Revelation 3:14-22 is about the church of the Laodiceans. This is the seventh church or the church of the end of time, which refers to us.
The church of the Laodiceans was lukewarm. It means that they were physically rich, they needed nothing, but they were spiritually empty. The church of the Laodiceans put the physical aspects first, but they did not want to be filled with the true teaching. The consequence is they became like chaff to be burnt and vomited by God, and separated from Him forever and ever.
Revelation 3:18-19
3:18 I counsel you to buy from Me gold refined in the fire, that you may be rich; and white garments, that you may be clothed, that the shame of your nakedness may not be revealed; and anoint your eyes with eye salve, that you may see.
3:19 As many as I love, I rebuke and chasten. Therefore be zealous and repent.
That is why God rebukes, advises, and chastens us to buy the wealth of heaven so that we will not be lukewarm and vomited, but we can be eaten and can satisfy God. There are 3 kinds of the wealth of heaven as follows.
- Gold refined in the fire.
- The white garment to cover the nakedness.
- Eye salve to anoint the eyes.
ad. 3. Eye salve to anoint the eyes.
Eye salve is used so that we are not blind. It means that we should have the anointment of the Holy Spirit so that we can see Jesus.
We also need the anointment of the Holy Spirit so that we have opened spiritual eyes to see God's fields.
John 4:35
4:35 Do you not say, 'There are still four months and then comes the harvest'? Behold, I say to you, lift up your eyes and look at the fields, for they are already white for harvest!
There are two meanings for God's fields as follows.
- The place to sow the seed of God's word.
- The place to work and minister to God.
The true ministry should be motivated by the true seed of God's word. God's word is the command for us.
Proverbs 7:2
7:2 Keep my commands and live, And my law as the apple of your eye.
The true word is like the apple of the eye. Ministering to God without the true word means we work in blindness, so we cannot see Him but only seek for physical things. We will not know the way to the New Jerusalem.
ad. a. The place to sow the seed of God's word.
We need to pay attention to the seed and the ground where we are about to sow the seed.
Leviticus 19:19
19:19 'You shall keep My statutes. You shall not let your livestock breed with another kind. You shall not sow your field with mixed seed. Nor shall a garment of mixed linen and wool come upon you.
There are only one righteous seed of the word. The characteristics are as follows.
- It is written in the Bible.
- It is revealed by God through a verse explaining other verses in the Bible.
- It reveals the true marriage: there should not be mixed-marriage or marrying after divorce.
- It should be preached without expecting anything in return.
1 Timothy 1:3-4
1:3 As I urged you when I went into Macedonia--remain in Ephesus that you may charge some that they teach no other doctrine,
1:4 nor give heed to fables and endless genealogies, which cause disputes rather than godly edification which is in faith.
In God's field, we should not have other teachings. In the anointment of the Holy Spirit, we need to hold firmly to the righteous teaching which we have already been believing and experiencing. In the anointment of the Holy Spirit, we have to be strict in declining other teachings, which means that we do not give even a single chance to listen to them.
Luke 8:15
8:15 But the ones that fell on the good ground are those who, having heard the word with a noble and good heart, keep it and bear fruit with patience.
James 1:21
1:21 Therefore lay aside all filthiness and overflow of wickedness, and receive with meekness the implanted word, which is able to save your souls.
The good ground refers to the gentle heart, which does not keep others' sins or follow the lust of the flesh.
We need the Holy Spirit to be able to listen earnestly to the word, and it becomes our main need, like a dog licking the bread crumbs. The Holy Spirit will help us to understand the word, so we will believe and be sure about it. When we believe and become sure about the word, it is planted and grows roots in our heart. The Holy Spirit will then help us do the word, and the seed will be fruitful.
Acts 2:42
2:42 And they continued steadfastly in the apostles' doctrine and fellowship, in the breaking of bread, and in prayers.
The fruits of being steadfast are as follows.
- The Golden Candlestick (the age of Moses) => the perseverance in the fellowship (the age of the church in the early rain) => the perseverance in the General Service (the age of the church in the latter rain) => the fellowship with God, the Holy Spirit in the gifts of the Holy Spirit.
- The Table of Showbread => the perseverance in the teaching of the apostles and the breaking of bread => the perseverance in the Bible Study Service and the Holy Communion => the fellowship with the Son of God in the true teaching and Christ's sacrifice.
- The Golden Altar of Incense => the perseverance in the prayer => the perseverance in the Prayer Service => the fellowship with God, the Father in His love.
Hebrews 10:36-37
10:36 For you have need of endurance, so that after you have done the will of God, you may receive the promise:
10:37 "For yet a little while,
And He who is coming will come and will not tarry.
As God's second coming is getting closer, our needs are getting higher, but everything is sufficient and covered in the perseverance in the shepherding. The good shepherd has provided everything for us by sacrificing His life for us.
If we have become the place to sow the seed of God's word, we listen and become obedient to it, we are like Mary who sat on Jesus' feet. Maria chose the best place, which is eternal.
ad. b. The place to work and minister to God.
1 Corinthians 3:9
3:9 For we are God's fellow workers; you are God's field, you are God's building.
God's field is the ministry of building the perfect body of Christ. It is started from our marriage, which continues to the shepherding, inter-shepherding, until Israelites and Gentiles are united as the perfect body of Christ. If we are not active in the building of the body of Christ, sooner or later we will be active in the building of the body of Babylon.
John 4:36
4:36 And he who reaps receives wages, and gathers fruit for eternal life, that both he who sows and he who reaps may rejoice together.
Ephesians 1:13
1:13 In Him you also trusted, after you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation; in whom also, having believed, you were sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise,
The movement of sowing is the one of the gospel of salvation, the gospel word, or the good news, which preaches about Jesus' first coming to save the sinners. We are saved by believing in Jesus, repenting, and entering the water baptism and the baptism of the Holy Spirit. We receive a new life, a heavenly one, which means that we live in the righteousness.
2 Corinthians 4:3-4
4:3 But even if our gospel is veiled, it is veiled to those who are perishing,
4:4 whose minds the god of this age has blinded, who do not believe, lest the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine on them.
The movement of reaping is the movement of the light of the gospel of Christ's glory, the teaching word, or the Bride Tidings, which preaches about Jesus' second coming to sanctify those who are already saved, to be perfect.
Matthew 15:19
15:19 For out of the heart proceed evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, fornications, thefts, false witness, blasphemies.
If our heart is sanctified from seven evil and unclean lusts which make us blind, our actions and speech are sanctified, and even our whole lives are sanctified to be as perfect as Jesus.
Matthew 6:25-26
6:25 "Therefore I say to you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink; nor about your body, what you will put on. Is not life more than food and the body more than clothing?
6:26 Look at the birds of the air, for they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns; yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they?
Matthew 10:29-30
10:29 Are not two sparrows sold for a copper coin? And not one of them falls to the ground apart from your Father's will.
10:30 But the very hairs of your head are all numbered.
Birds, which never sow nor reap, are taken care of by God. Our life is like a hair, but God still counts us.
Isaiah 53:1-3
53:1 Who has believed our report? And to whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed?
53:2 For He shall grow up before Him as a tender plant, And as a root out of dry ground. He has no form or comeliness; And when we see Him, There is no beauty that we should desire Him.
53:3 He is despised and rejected by men, A Man of sorrows and acquainted with grief. And we hid, as it were, our faces from Him; He was despised, and we did not esteem Him.
Jesus was willing not to be counted when He was dead, in curse on the cross, so that we can be counted, which means we are taken care of and understood. The results are as follows.
- God will nurture and protect us, although we are weak and meaningless in the middle of difficulties in the world.
- God will help us in facing any impossible problems.
- God will sanctify and change us until we are as perfect as Him, and we are able to welcome His second coming.
John 4:36
4:36 And he who reaps receives wages, and gathers fruit for eternal life, that both he who sows and he who reaps may rejoice together.
God blesses us.