The Mending Ministry of John, Message 5

My Great Delight in God's Word

The Mending Ministry of John, Message 5

Christ's Heavenly Priesthood Ministered to the Churches for the Producing of the Overcomers

In the last message, we learned what our glorious Christ looks like, and what His appearance teaches us about Himself. He is the great High Priest who is fully human and is ministering to us with His divine authority. He is not Someone living far way. Instead, the vision reveals that He is here in the midst of His beloved Bride, the Church.
In this message, we are going to explore what the messages to the seven churches, which appear in Revelation 2-3, teach us about Satan's scheme by which the Church has been degraded, and the antidote by which Christ recovers the degraded Church.

Satan's Scheme: Hindrances to the growth of the Church

Let us explore first what Satan has used throughout the history to degrade the Church.

1. Religion

I know the blasphemy of those who say they are Jews and are not, but are a synagogue of Satan. (Revelation 2:9b NKJV)

This is the message to the church in Smyrna. God condemns those who claim to be Jews, but they are not. They are those who have turned back to Judaism, which is the representative of religious system.
You may have thought, "Are you serious when you say that a religion can be a weapon of Satan?" My answer is, "Yes, indeed."
Well, I totally agree that according to man's standard, all the religions are basically good. They teach people how to live a good life. However, if their systems draw us away from God, they can never be good in God's eyes. God does not want us to be a good man. He wants us to be a God-man, being totally like Christ. Even Christianity as a religion itself is not an exception.
May I emphasise again that true Christianity has nothing to do with religious system. It is all about relationship with God through Christ. It is all about our enjoyment in the fellowship with Him.
Unfortunately, the Church has been poisoned with the religious system, which has drawn many brothers and sisters away from the enjoyment of the Lord. The complicated regulations and traditions have become their priorities, instead of the relationship with God, which is so simple according to the Scripture.
Watchman Nee clearly describes the fourfold contrast between the religious mindset (Judaism) and the authentic Christian mindset, as summarised here.

• The religious mindset causes people to care much about the glory of material temple in which the believers worship the Lord, rather than the spiritual temple, which is actually the worshippers themselves (1 Corinthians 6:19).
• The religious mindset makes people obsessed with written law, while ignoring the indwelling law of life which is written on our hearts (Hebrews 8:10).
• The religious mindset puts the thought in people's mind that only a small subset of people can be priests, whereas the bible strongly confirms that every believer is to serve Him as a labouring priest, a member of the holy and royal priesthood (1 Peter 2:9).
• The religious mindset focuses on the material promises and earthly blessings, with very little interest in the heavenly promises and spiritual blessings (Ephesians 1:3; Galatians 3:14).

May God help us see the danger of this first poison, and keep us from it. In my opinion, it is perhaps the most dangerous one, as it seems good. However, a good thing cannot be good if it draws us away from the best, can it?

2. Worldliness

But I have a few things against you, because you have there those who hold the doctrine of Balaam, who taught Balak to put a stumbling block before the children of Israel, to eat things sacrificed to idols, and to commit sexual immorality. Thus you also have those who hold the doctrine of the Nicolaitans, which thing I hate. (Revelation 2:14-15 NKJV)

This is the message of warning against the doctrines of Balaam and the Nicolaitans to the church in Pergamos, which represents the compromising church. What are these doctrines about and how can they harm the Church?
In Numbers 25:1-3 and 31:16, we see that Balaam enticed Israel people into fornication and idolatry. And according to the footnote of Recovery Version, Nicolaitans refer to a group of people who esteem themselves higher than common believers and whose doctrine promotes hierarchical system, thereby destroying the function of the believers. Therefore the doctrine of Balaam destroys the relationship between the Body and the Head, whereas the doctrine of Nicolaitans destroys the relationship between the Body and the Head.
May God help us that we will be the overcomers who do not fall into the trap of worldliness, but come forward to abide in the presence of the Lord.

3. Evil things

Nevertheless I have a few things against you, because you allow that woman Jezebel, who calls herself a prophetess, to teach and seduce My servants to commit sexual immorality and eat things sacrificed to idols. (Revelation 3:20 NKJV)

This message contains harsh words against the church in Thyatira, which signifies the corrupt church.
This woman, Jezebel, is the one mentioned in Matthew 13:33. She adds leaven, which represents evil, heretical and pagan things, into the fine flour, which signifies Christ. She therefore mixes the evil things with the good things. Her teaching is only half-truth. And we all know that a half-truth is actually a lie. She represents the false prophets and false teachers who deceive the believers into false Christian beliefs.
Moreover, she is also the great harlot detailed in Revelation 17-18, which is the Babylon. The principle of Babylon is related to pridefulness, hypocrisy, and self-glorifying, all of which are hated by God and will be severely judged by Him.
May God open the eye of our hearts so that we will see the danger of any false teachings and the principle of Babylon, and protect us from them.

4. Lukewarmness

So then, because you are lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will vomit you out of My mouth. (Revelation 3:16 NKJV)

This is a message to the Lukewarm church, the church in Laodicea. This church best describes the Church in this present age, which has significantly been degraded from the condition of Philadelphia.
Being Lukewarm is not necessary the same as being lazy. I believe that the Laodiceans are not lazy. They say they are rich (v. 17). They are only not after the desire of God's heart, but their own wealth and success, which have become a big trap into which they fall. The people become lukewarm and spiritually pride.
May God protect us from being lukewarmness, and bring us back to the condition of Philadelphian church, the faithful church.

Christ's high priestly ministry

According to the vision in Revelation 1, we know that Christ is in the midst of the church, ministering the high priestly service to us. If we want to know what a high priest does to the lampstands in order to make them brightly shine in the dark, we have to take a look at the duties of the high priest in the Old Testament.

Aaron shall burn on it sweet incense every morning; when he tends the lamps, he shall burn incense on it. (Exodus 30:7 NKJV)

Every morning, the high priest tends the lamps by trimming them. He cuts off the charred ends, so that the lampstands can do its function, which is to brightly shine in the dark. Likewise, in order to make the lampstands, signifying the local churches, brightly shine in this dark world, Christ must trim away all the hindrances to the growth of churches. He has to remove all the poisons of Satan, which have severely damaged the Church throughout the history. He is to cut off the religious system, worldliness, evil things, and lukewarmness form the Church, so that she can be His fully-shining lampstands.

And you shall command the children of Israel that they bring you pure oil of pressed olives for the light, to cause the lamp to burn continually. (Exodus 27:20 NKJV)

Furthermore, the lampstands can never function without oil. The high priest therefore needs to fill the lampstands with oil, so that the lamp can burn continually. Hallelujah. Christ as our Great High Priest has provided Himself as the tree of life (Revelation 2:7) and the hidden manna (Revelation 2:17) for us to eat of, and as a special Guest knocking at the door for us to let Him in and enjoy feasting with Him (Revelation 3:20).
These 2 duties of a high priest remind me of the principle of management of poisoning or drug overdose. (There are quite a few technical terms in this paragraph. I'm not speaking in strange tongue, I promise. Please continue reading, and you will see how it amazingly relates to the message.) For example, when a patient comes to a hospital with a history of acute paracetamol (or acetaminophen) overdose, the doctor will first give him activated charcoal in order to eliminate the drug from the body. However, a proportion of the drug has been absorbed into the body, and its metabolites have depleted glutathione in the body, which functions as the most important defence mechanism against the toxic effects of paracetamol's metabolites. Therefore the doctor also needs to administer N-acetylcysteine, the specific antidote to paracetamol poisoning, which will replenish the glutathione store and prevent the patient's liver from being damaged by the toxic metabolites.
In parallel, the Church has been poisoned with the nasty things, including religious mindset, worldliness, evil things and lukewarmness, and has been severely damaged by them. These things have depleted the Church of "life," which is crucial for the growth of the Church. Christ as our high priestly Doctor therefore has to rescue us first by eliminating these things from the Church. But the damage is still there. He therefore replenishes the Church with His "life" by administering Himself as the specific Antidote into the Body. In order for the Body to receive this wonderful Antidote, we need to eat of the tree of life, eat of the hidden manna, and feast with Him!
Brothers and sisters, are you willing to let Him trim away these nasty things today? Do you want the Church to be brought back to the condition of the church in Philadelphia? Would you like to be an overcomer who eats of Him as your tree of life and hidden manna for your spiritual nourishment and for your enjoyment? Would you open the door to Him, let Him in, and feast with Him today? Would you like to participate in God's economy today to make the Church brightly shine in this dark world and get ready for His coming?

To him who overcomes I will give to eat from the tree of life, which is in the midst of the Paradise of God. (Revelation 2:7 NKJV)
To him who overcomes I will give some of the hidden manna to eat. (Revelation 2:17 NKJV)
Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears My voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and dine with him, and he with Me. (Revelation 3:20 NKJV)

Further reading

• The Holy Word for Morning Revival: The Mending Ministry of John, week 5.

Thirayost Nimmanon (Tony)