Christ’s Speaking to the Local Churches in Revelation

Additional Quotes about the Local Church by Witness Lee and Watchman Nee

The following excerpts from Witness Lee’s ministry focus on the Lord’s speaking to the church in Ephesus:

We in the local churches today must be warned of the possibility of losing our first love for the Lord. We may work and labor for the Lord and we may be pure doctrinally and correct scripturally, yet not have the first love for the Lord. Perhaps in the coming years we shall not love Him as much as we do now. Beware of this. It is better to lose some of our work than to fail in our love for the Lord. Our love for Him must be the first love. We all must say, “Lord, I love You. I do not love the works I do for You, and I do not appreciate the labor I spend for You. Lord, I love You. If my labor for You frustrates me from loving You, I will cease laboring.” Do not allow anything to separate you from the love of the Lord. We must take care of the first love and constantly love the Lord.

(Witness Lee, LS of Revelation, 118)

Brothers and sisters, wherever we are, the first thing we must do in the local churches is to love the Lord. The first and greatest impression we must give people in the local churches is not how much we work for Christ, but how much we love Him. Whenever we mention His precious name, we should simply be beside ourselves with love for Him. Let us aim at this, and let us be alert lest we lose it. The second impression we must give people is that in this love of Jesus we love one another. We love Him so intimately, and we love one another. The greatest impression people must receive when they touch the church life is the love in these two aspects—love toward the Lord Jesus and love to one another. Then we will have the lampstand with the shining power and fulness of light to chase away all the darkness. Then we will have the enjoyment of the tree of life and taste it even now in the paradise of God. Hallelujah!

(Witness Lee, Christ v. Religion, 167)

The crucial words in this message are love, life, and light. The basic requirement for having the church life is our love toward the Lord. There is no problem, of course, with the Lord’s love toward us. He has loved us and He continues to love us. The problem is with our love toward Him. Although we have loved Him in the past and may love Him now, there is the danger that our love for the Lord Jesus might fade. The epistle to the church at Ephesus warns us of this. This letter also gives us a clear revelation of the source of the degradation of the church life—the fading of the first love. As we shall see, love gives us the position, the ground, the right, and the privilege to eat of the tree of life. Love gives us the supply of life. If we love the Lord, we shall have the full right to enjoy Him as the tree of life, as our life supply. Light always follows life, issuing out of the abundant supply of life. Life gives us light. In the tabernacle the lampstand comes after the showbread table, indicating that when we enjoy Christ as our life supply, we shall have the light of life. It is vitally important that we love the Lord. If we have love, then we shall have the life symbolized by the tree of life and the light signified by the lampstand.

In brief, the problem with the church at Ephesus was the fading of the first love toward the Lord. Because of this, the Lord came in to deal thoroughly with this church, warning her that if she did not repent, she was in danger of having her lampstand removed. Anyone among them who would repent and return to his first love would be considered by the Lord to be an overcomer. The Lord promised the overcomer the right to enjoy Him as the tree of life. Of course, the lampstand will always remain among those who have overcome. However, if we would not repent of our fading love toward the Lord, we will miss the right to eat of the tree of life and the lampstand will be removed from us. If this were the case, we would be without love, and light. What a pitiful condition this would be!

(Witness Lee, LS of Revelation, 114-115)

Main

Ephesus

Smyrna

Pergamos

Thyatira

Sardis

Philadelphia

Laodicea

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