Message to the Laodicean Church

“And write to the angel of the Laodicean church: Thus says the Amen, the faithful and true witness, the beginning of the creation of God: I know your works; you are neither cold nor hot; Oh, that you were cold or hot! But because you are warm, and neither hot nor cold, I will spit you out of My mouth. For you say: “I am rich, I have become rich, and I have need of nothing”; but you don’t know that you are unhappy, and pitiful, and poor, and blind, and naked. I advise you to buy from Me gold purified by fire, so that you may become rich, and white clothing, so that you may be clothed and so that the shame of your nakedness may not be seen, and anoint your eyes with eye salve so that you can see. Those whom I love, I rebuke and punish. So 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 dine with him, and he with Me. To him who overcomes I will give to sit with Me on My throne, just as I also overcame and sat with My Father on His throne. He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches."

Open 3:14-22.

See article: “Messages to the Seven Churches”

Chronology

As we noted earlier, the churches of Laodicea

and
Philadelphia
are historically very closely connected, their periods are intertwined.
Since the period of Philadelphia, evangelical movements rise, Israel returns to its homeland. There is a “key of David”, which when it opens, no one will close it, or if it closes it, no one will open it. All those who live in God's project can see this. The key to everything is Revelation, knowledge
. A Church that does not have Revelation, the action of the Spirit within the Church-Body, is unable to hear the voice of God and know its calling. She does not know what she is called to, what she was prepared for, what she was born for. Therefore, today such a church distributes clothes to the poor, and six months later - food.

So, the Laodicean period is the last days Church, this is the prophetic moment in time that we live in today

.
Therefore, the Lord begins His message to the Laodicean church with the words: “Thus says the Amen
.

Historical and geographical information

The city of Laodicea, located on the Lycus River, was founded around 250 BC. King Antiochus of Syria and named after his wife Laodicea. The only thing that gave significance to the city was its position. The road leading from Ephesus east and into Syria was the most important in Asia. It began off the coast of the Mediterranean Sea (near Ephesus). Laodicea lay on both sides of this great road, which entered the city at the Ephesian gate and exited at the Syrian gate. This alone was enough to make Laodicea a major trading and strategic center of the ancient world.

Laodicea was originally a fortress, but it had one very weak point; Water into the city came from springs through an underground pipeline ten kilometers long, which created a dangerous situation for the besieged city. All that was needed was peace to turn Laodicea into a major trading and financial center. And this peace for Laodicea was brought with it by Roman domination.

Laodicea had some peculiarities that left their mark on the message:

1. It was a major financial and banking center. During his journey through Asia Minor, the Roman orator Cicero received money from his letters of credit in Laodicea. It was one of the richest cities in the world at that time. In 61, it was completely destroyed by an earthquake, but the inhabitants were so rich and independent that they refused the help of the Roman government and restored the city with their own funds. It is not surprising, therefore, that Laodicea could boast that it had become rich and lacked nothing. She was so rich that she didn't even need God.

2. It was a major center of textile manufacturing. The sheep that grazed around Laodicea were famous for their soft, shiny purple-black wool. This wool was used to make a special kind of tunic called “trimita”. Laodicea was so proud of the clothes it made that it did not notice that it was naked in the eyes of God.

3. It was a significant medical center. About twenty kilometers to the west, between the city and the Gates of Phrygia, there was a temple to the Carian god Men. At one time this temple was the social, administrative and commercial center of the entire area, and then became the center of a medical school, which was transferred to the city of Laodicea. The medical school was famous throughout the world for its ointments for the ears and eyes. The Bible talks about eye salve. Laodicea was so proud of her healing knowledge that she did not realize that she was spiritually blind.

The message to the Laodicean church is directly related to the prosperity of Laodicea and its crafts, in which it was so proud. This is a prophecy about the last days of the Church on earth. Today the world has a strong influence on people with its enlightenment and growth of technology. And even some experienced believers cannot always resist this force. The world is penetrating the church, destroying it from the inside. True Faith in God is replaced by worldly programs, marketing ploys and good deeds. The man-made structures and planning of services in the church today are quenching the Work of the Holy Spirit and crowding out the need for God. Therefore, Jesus’ brother, James, writes in his letter: “Do you not know that friendship with the world is enmity against God? So, whoever wants to be a friend of the world becomes an enemy of God.”

Jacob 4:4
.

Titles of the Lord

Like previous messages, the message to the Laodicean church begins with Jesus Christ revealing Himself to it, listing some of His titles: “Thus says the Amen, the faithful and true witness, the beginning of the creation of God.”

He is Amen.

It's interesting that the word "Amen"

, which is always used at the end of a sentence, stands at the beginning.
And this title itself sounds somewhat strange. However, in Isaiah 65:16
God is called
the God of truth
, which in Hebrew is
God Amen
.
If our God is God Amen, then we can rely on Him always and in everything. This in turn means that the promises of Jesus Christ are undeniably true. The word amen is often placed at the end of a serious statement in order to complete one's thought by guaranteeing its truth. The Great God carries out His Work by the action of the Word
.
Opening the 1st chapter of the book of Genesis
, we see one frequently repeated phrase:
“
...
and God said
...
”
,
“
...
and God said
...
”
,
“
...
and God said
...
”
.
This phrase is repeated from the first to the seventh days of creation and refers to God's action
, what God did when he created the universe.
In other words, it indicates the action of the Verb of God: he said, created, pacified chaos, produced life, arranged everything
.
And God does all this by the power of His Word. The last message begins with the word: “Amen”
.
That is, the Lord at the very beginning of the message says that the end of everything is coming, that we are at the end of the period of time allotted to us. And with the word Amen,
the Lord confirms the fact that everything that He did on earth in all periods of the Church of God, all His Work, all His words and promises are the truth.
In other words, the Lord says the following: “I am the beginning of God’s creation, a faithful witness, I say that God’s Work is the truth and this process is coming to an end
.

He is a faithful and true witness.

Any witness must meet some important criteria. Firstly

, he personally had to see with his own eyes and hear with his own ears what he was talking about.
Secondly
, he must be completely honest and accurately convey only what he himself heard and saw, without adding or subtracting anything.
Third
, he must be able to convey his testimony to those who listen to him.
Jesus Christ fulfilled all these requirements perfectly. He can talk about God because He came from Him. It is written: “For I spoke not of Myself;
But the Father who sent Me, He gave Me a commandment, what to say and what to say” Jn.
12:49 . We can trust Him because He is Amen
.

He is the beginning of God's creation.

The Lord reveals Himself here: “I am the beginning of
God’s creation.”
The Word of God says:
“Through Him all things were made, and without Him nothing was made that was made.” John. 1:3 .
He began the process of creation, was its “dynamic beginning.”
And starting this message with the word Amen
, the Lord confirms that:
“I am Alpha and Omega, I am the beginning and the end, the first and the last.”
During the period
of Laodicea,
God's judgment will begin.

What Characterized the Church of Laodicea

This is the last period in the history of the Church when God's Work in it will end. During this period, the last prophecies that speak of the rapture of the Church will be fulfilled. The main concern and concern of the Lord for the Church of this period is that it retain the fervor of the Holy Spirit, which it acquired during the period of Philadelphia. In the Church of the Philadelphia period, leadership came from the Head through the Holy Spirit. Therefore, there was an emphasis on the fact that Jesus is the Head. In Laodicea the emphasis is on the Church as the Body of Christ. And the Body, as we know, must submit to the Head, so the Lord says to the Laodicean church: “You have already decided whether you should be cold or hot.”

Laodicea (right of the people) is a latter-day church made up of large masses of people. Name Laodicea

comes from the words:
“laos”
, which means
people
and
“kaes”
, which means
right
. This is a church that is a sad exception among seven other churches - only about it the Lord cannot say anything good. Of all the seven churches, it is condemned most mercilessly. There is not a single redemptive or mitigating feature noted in her. This is the church mixed with the world. A church that does not distinguish between what is hot, which comes from the action of the Holy Spirit, and what is cold from religious people. She mixes it all in herself. This is why we see a sick church in Laodicea. The body, which should respond to the commands of the Head, is unable to do so. This is the Church, whose Body is neither cold nor hot. Since her condition is lukewarm, the Lord warns that he will spit her out of His mouth.

The Lord said: “be it either cold or hot”

.
But if you mix hot with cold, you get warm. And the Lord says: “You are neither cold nor hot;
Oh, that you were cold or hot! But because you are lukewarm, and neither hot nor cold, I will spew you out of my mouth .” Rev.
3:15-16 .
In such a church, carnal feelings are presented as the Revelation of the Holy Spirit. The ministry of such a church is just a colorful show that looks beautiful and everyone likes, but it gives absolutely nothing for spiritual edification. Therefore, for the church in Laodicea, the word of God is a word of warning, edification and exhortation

.
She says that she is rich and has no need because she uses the mind of man instead of God's Revelation. She reads a lot of different kinds of Christian literature written by different people, but spiritually she is in complete poverty. The Church has no spiritual edification, since the gifts of the Spirit do not operate in such an environment. God reveals to the end-time Church that it lives without the grace of the Holy Spirit. But what makes them live in this terrible state? Lack of knowledge or “lack of knowledge” of Oc.
4:6 .
It is written: “But you don’t know
...
”
.

The Word goes on to say: «

...
that you are wretched, and pitiful, and poor, and blind, and naked”
Rev.
3:17 . The Lord uses this expression in this message as God’s judgment on the ministry of the “word” or the “five-fold” ministry. The Apostle Paul, in Ephesians 4:11,
lists five roles in the ministry of the “word”:
apostle, prophet, evangelist, pastor, and teacher
.
In the book of Revelation
we see five types of curses, instead of five ministries of the “word.”
Another translation translates the word “wretched”
as
“without grace
.
Grace is a characteristic of the ministry of an Apostle. The ministry of the apostles is characterized by grace
.

A church like that in Laodicea is unhappy, since it lives without an apostolic

grace.
She chooses her own servants who are obedient or loyal to her human structure. It doesn’t matter to her whether they have the gifts of the Holy Spirit or not, since she still doesn’t know what to do with these gifts. In this church, human reason rules. She replaced true service to God with shows, various performances, musical performances, with everything that can look beautiful and attractive. Such a church does not have the main thing - the action of the grace of the Holy Spirit
.

The word “wretched” means that there is no sound doctrine

, which the Early Church had. The Church does not live by the true doctrine established at the very beginning of its birth. Every Sunday, a new person teaches at the pulpit, who has come to visit and conveys the word that he had previously heard from another preacher. They do not live the life of the church, they do not know how the church lives, they simply present themselves. Consequently, there is no consistency of the Holy Spirit in Revelation and in the leadership of such a church, and it goes in circles.

The word “beggar” has a direct relation to the pastor

who lives in the poverty of God's revelations. A poor Church is a church that lives by theological teachings mixed with religion and tradition, without the revelation of the Holy Spirit. This is a church that does not have an experience with the Living God. The pastor shepherds this church at the expense of his personal experiences in life, his earthly ideas. In order to keep people in the church, he holds concert services, discos for young people, table gatherings, playing with people’s emotions. The idea is beautiful. But in terms of spiritual nutrition, this is complete poverty. You can't teach people spiritual things using these pathetic things. He has read a good book in his opinion, and gives it to the church. This is poverty. Thus, there is no spiritual life in the church.

A blind man becomes a prophet

, but the prophet needs to see. The Church is blind because it does not see the Work of the Holy Spirit, it does not see Spiritual gifts, the mysteries of God are not revealed to it. Anyone who wishes begins to issue their “prophecies” in the name of God in the church, leading people astray. Because of this, the church loses its true, spiritual vision of things.

Naked is an evangelist

, who in every possible way persuades people to come to church. He is more concerned about the number of parishioners and their wallets. The evangelist must dress the person in the garments of salvation given to him by God for this ministry. But if he himself has never had the experience of salvation, then he himself is still naked. The evangelism he carries out will have neither success nor life. Today, so much money is spent on evangelistic ministries, but there is no result. And the halls at such events are filled mainly with church members. Why? Because they themselves are still in search of a meeting with the Lord. No amount of chatter from behind the pulpit can replace this meeting. This can only be accomplished by the Holy Spirit acting in the Body-Church, and not in a club where lectures by “great” theologians are heard.

Jesus says to this Church: “I advise you to buy from Me gold refined by fire, so that you may become rich.”

Open
3:18 .
Speaking of gold refined by fire, God offers the church at Laodicea the baptism of the Holy Spirit so that it will be filled with the power of the Spirit of God. So that she could proclaim the pure teaching of Christ without the admixtures of flesh. “And white raiment, that you may be clothed, and that the shame of your nakedness may not be seen”
Rev.
3:18 . White robes represent the experience of meeting God, a new birth.

“And thou shalt anoint thine eyes with eye salve, that thou mayest see
.” Rev.
3:18 . The eye salve is the spiritual discernment that is needed to distinguish the spiritual workings and manifestations of the Spirit from religion and its counterfeits.

In this last time of the church on earth, we must have the fear of God and not because God is terrible in anger, but because of the love of the Lord and His Work. According to Isaiah 11:2-3

in this last period the Spirit of Piety or fear is at work in the Church.
The Lord says: “Those whom I love, I rebuke and punish.
Therefore be zealous and repent” Rev.
3:19 .
The fear of God is a kind of judgment

, it's time to start settling the bills.
This is the time when the question will be asked: did you keep what you had? So God addresses this judgment to the Church, to the believers, to His servants, to root out the unfaithful ministry that is unwilling to obey His instructions as the Head of the Body. And the fear of God
in these end times has
two characteristics
:

for the Faithful Church it is fear out of love for God and His Work;
for an unfaithful woman, this is the fear of a serious trial against her.

Parable of the Lost Net

A parable that corresponds to this time period is the parable of the cast net

:
“Again, the Kingdom of Heaven is like a net that was thrown into the sea and captured fish of all kinds, which, when it was full, they pulled ashore and sat down, collecting the good things in vessels, and throwing out the bad things. So it will be at the end of the age: the angels will come out and separate the wicked from among the righteous, and throw them into the fiery furnace: there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth” Matt.
13:47-50 .

The message in this parable is separation. The net is thrown into the sea and all kinds of fish are pulled ashore. On the shore, the issue of separation will be resolved: good fish into the vessel, bad fish thrown onto the sand. God's purpose is to separate the good fish from the bad

.
His desire is to separate the bad from the good, the cold from the hot, so that there is no confusion. The Word of God says: “Then you will again see the difference between the righteous and the wicked, between those who serve God and those who do not serve Him.” Mal.
3:18 .

Sand is small pieces of a large rock and it represents religion. From feces

- This is the Lord Jesus.
Religion divides Christ, it tears out pieces from the Holy Scriptures that are beneficial to it and builds its teaching on this. And the bad fish thrown on the sand the sea waves
, which represent the world. Fish thrown ashore are scattered on the sand, there is no unity in them.

But the good fish is collected in a vessel that unites it and it personifies the Body-Church. This fish will go to the master's table to serve as food.

During the period of Laodicea, a person is either in the Work of the Holy Spirit, or, being in religion, builds his service to the Lord, who is not in God’s plan. Like Cain, who sacrificed to the Lord the fruits that the earth produced, instead of the blood created by God. Thus, the unfortunate part of Laodicea is a religious church that preaches a different gospel - the gospel of unification and incompatible unity. This gospel is ecumenistic. And this is the direct path for the Antichrist.

The Lord's Teaching

During the period of Laodicea, the Lord teaches us that the most important thing in the Body
is to obey the Head
. But for this you need to have a spirit of knowledge, discernment and a spirit of piety. Because it is discernment that characterizes the Work of God in the last period of the Church. This was also a characteristic of Solomon's reign. He had wisdom and applied the revelations correctly (Two Women and a Child). Therefore, if there are gifts, but there is no wisdom, the gifts will be lost or will not bring any benefit. The gifts of the Holy Spirit will edify and build up the church when used with the wisdom of God.

We are living in this last age of the Church of Laodicea, when the Lord says: “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 sup with him, and he with Me.”

Open
3:20 . The Lord is now knocking on the door of our hearts. And we try to open this door for Him. The problem is that the door for Jesus can only be opened by those who hear His voice. And His voice is the Revelation of the Holy Spirit. The church that hears the revelation of the Holy Spirit opens its heart to Jesus, and He comes and enters to dine with us. He abides with us by the Holy Spirit, and we have fellowship with Him. The Age of Laodicea will end with the Church of God being caught up into heaven to meet the Bridegroom, and so it will always be with Him!

He who has an ear, let him hear

The Lord concludes this message with the following words: “He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.”

Open
3:22 . This expression gives all seven messages an individual character. This appeal of Jesus Christ applies to every person, to every member of the Church of God. With this expression, the Lord seems to be saying: “This applies to you personally
.

We so often hear the message of the Lord addressed directly to us, but by and large we sometimes attribute it to anyone but ourselves. In the depths of our hearts we believe that harsh words cannot be spoken to us; and the promises of God are too good for us to achieve. But this last phrase of the Lord speaks personally to each of us: “All this applies to you.”

.
All these messages and God's Word did not apply only to the Christians of the seven churches of Asia Minor who lived nineteen centuries ago. All this applies to God's Church, of which we are a part today. Just as on the day of Pentecost, today the Holy Spirit is at work in the Body of Christ. And through this Word the Spirit of God still speaks to us: “Behold, I stand at the door and knock
.

Conclusion

So, we have tried to set forth everything that we received from the Holy Spirit regarding the “seven epistles”

.
But, nevertheless, this is just a small part. The greatest beauty of God's Word is revealed to us when we study the Word daily, apply His Revelation, and live it. This strengthens us and prepares us for Eternity. Praise God for His Revealed Word!
See also the article: “Seven Epistles, Laodicean Period”

See article: “Messages to the Seven Churches”

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The Lord is coming!

Laodicea was famous for its healing warm springs, medicinal eye ointments and white wool sheep, which made it prestigious for tourists and ensured a high material level. Of all the churches, only the Laodicean church does not have a positive characteristic, just as there is no promise of reward. Christians today, when persecution on a global scale has ceased, and opportunities for voluptuousness have multiplied and become easily accessible, including temptations stemming from television and the Internet. Taking up the cross of Christ - suffering for His name - has become uncivilized and unpopular, which makes us unworthy of the Lord (Matthew 10:38). Many desire to get rich and for this reason “fall into temptation, and into a snare, and into many foolish and harmful lusts,” which Paul calls the “Demas” syndrome (2 Tim. 4:10). Ordinary church members, and often even ministers, became involved in dubious financial pyramid schemes and fell into “disaster and destruction” (1 Tim. 6:9). At the same time, they not only fell into huge debts themselves, which they will never be able to repay, but also involved other people, including non-believers, in financial debts. Such financial scams have become the subject of discussion in the media and have brought a lot of temptation to people. The inordinate desire to get rich is a real and dangerous challenge to our churches and our ministers in recent times. Christ warned: “Take heed to yourselves, lest your hearts be weighed down with overeating and drunkenness and the cares of this life, and lest that day come upon you suddenly” (Luke 21:34). Vain faith, when we hope in Christ in this life alone, we are the most miserable of all people. (1 Cor. 15:19) The spirit of the evil and adulterous world is captivating many believers and infiltrating churches. “lest there be [among you] any fornicator or wicked man, who, like Esau, gave up his birthright for one meal” (Heb. 12:16). Enmity, strife coming from lust and envy is adultery with the world (Ik.4:1-4). The prayers of believers who do not listen and do not accept the words of God when they are convicted by it are an abomination to God (Proverbs 28:9). Disobedience in the family and church is opposition to God, who established the commandments of order and peace (1 Cor. 14:33). Church members who allow themselves to tell lies “for the sake of the world” or in tax returns “so that they have something to donate to the cause of God,” how can they enter the heavenly Jerusalem, where nothing unclean and devoted to abomination and lies will enter? When Christians are ashamed to confess the Lord before people, and often before their relatives, they are doomed that Christ will not remember them at judgment and bleeds the churches (Matt. 10:32-33). When they do not consider the Blood of the Covenant holy (Heb.10:29), they insult the Holy Spirit (Eph.4:25-32) and again crucify the Son of God within themselves and curse Him (Heb.6:6). Can such Christians be among the Lord's church? Christ was clear: “Whoever is not with Me is against Me; and whoever does not gather with Me scatters” (Luke 11:23). Jesus Christ was worried about the question: “... When the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on earth?” (Luke 18:8).

Spiritual stagnation has arrived and is deepening; we can say that the “Laodicean” state is a mortal danger for the churches, including the ministers of the last times. Some mistakenly think that in order for churches to emerge from the state of “Laodicean” stagnation, it is necessary to introduce modern, worldly innovations into the composition of divine services. For example:

Abandon old traditions and change the reverent church style and order of worship towards greater freedom; allow the use of loud exclamations, rhythmic body movements, clapping, and sometimes stamping and dancing; to assign modern preachers with broader views to the ministry and preaching than those of the older generation.
Abandon the old hymns, which seem overly old-fashioned, and switch to modern pop songs; to abandon church choirs, introducing instead so-called “worship groups”, performing modern, rhythmic, cheerful songs accompanied by loud pop music.
Include playful and entertaining elements, funny skits, and theatrical shows into our worship services to make our churches attractive to non-believers and to attract young people.
Do not “load” listeners with strict demands and denunciations from the word of God, which repel unbelievers from the church, but speak exclusively about Christ’s love and grace. It is necessary to lower the moral “bars” and requirements for believers in matters of their appearance, alcohol consumption, relationships before and after marriage, arguing that God does not look at people’s faces, He only cares about the inner state of the human heart. All these and other “innovations” are reminiscent of the Biblical story of how the wicked King of Judah, Rehoboam, having lost his father’s golden shields, installed instead cheap copper shields, which created the appearance of former splendor (1 Kings 14:26,27).

The Son of God Jesus Christ came and destroyed the works - the planned plans of the devil and returned to people the lost image of God - to be holy and His likeness - to be eternal. “having taken away the strength of the principalities and powers, he powerfully put them to shame, having triumphed over them in himself” (Col. 2:15). Christ shamed, condemned and cast out the spirits of evil from the earth where His Blood was shed, and if there had not been anyone willing to let the devil and demons into the heart, not a single spirit would have come out of the abyss. But since people are more eager to live for a sinful body, without thinking about the eternity of the soul, demons are in demand and probably there are not enough of them for everyone who wants to sin. Christ's warning is very relevant, since the characteristics of last-day believers will be little different from the pagan world. “For men will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, proud, arrogant, slanderers, disobedient to parents, ungrateful, unholy, unfriendly, unforgiving, slanderers, without self-control, cruel, not loving what is good, traitors, insolent, pompous, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God having a form of godliness , and denied his powers” (2 Tim. 3:2-6). Many Christians are sent to the kingdom of heaven along the path of least resistance, following their unbridled, sinful nature. The broad path is expansive, truth does not limit or interfere with life, in the world of postmodernism everything is relative. “For they will not endure sound doctrine, but according to their own desires they will heap up for themselves teachers to have itching ears, and will turn away their ears from the truth and turn to myths” (2 Tim. 4:3-4), “and many will follow their depravity, and through for them the way of truth will be reproached” (2 Peter 2:2). “Evil people and deceivers will succeed in evil, misleading and deceiving…. for they will continue to abound in wickedness, and their word will spread like cancer” (2 Timothy 3:13; 2:16-17). Thanks to democratic values, by the votes of the majority, human ideas and lusts are elevated to the rank of legitimacy, because humanism has put human values at the head instead of the truth of God, for it hurts the ears and unconverted, carnal believers turn away from it, and fables tickle the ears (2 Tim. 4:3 -4). Paul wrote to Timothy: “Be diligent to present yourself to God... rightly dividing the word of truth,” in another translation - “... straight cutting” (2 Tim. 2:15). Modern Christians are more interested in what entertains and not in what edifies, in what flatters the ear rather than in what convicts. Therefore, the words of the Apostle Peter are understandable: “The Lord is not slack in fulfilling his promise, as some count slackness; but is patient with us, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance” (2 Peter 3:9).

Unfortunately, the churches did not properly heed the Lord’s instruction and warning, and as a result, the lamps of the churches of Asia Minor were shifted and went out. Today, all that remains of these churches is history and catacombs. In Cappadocia (Turkey), in 2014, an ancient Christian church was discovered in an underground city, buildings were carved by ancient stonemasons into the soft rocks of this area, tunnels up to 7 kilometers long. The newly discovered church is one of many famous in the area, some dating back to the first centuries of Christianity.

Read the book CHURCH

About the Laodicean Local Holy Council

160 I said that the Gospel was not read, because other memoirs of the apostles or the writings of the prophets were read at the Divine Liturgy,

What is St. talking about? Justin in the 1st Apology of Christians ( Just. Martyr.

Apol. 1. 68 // PG 6, 429B.). The Liturgy was performed not only on Sunday, but also on Saturday, according to Chrysostom. And of course, the psalms of David were always sung in the Church: at Matins, and at Vespers, and at all the rites of the sacraments, according to Argentis (On the Sacraments. P. 271).

And the fact that it is appropriate for monks to read the New Testament every day, and especially the Holy Gospel, is clearly demonstrated and definitely stated by Basil the Great in his letter to Chilon ( Basil. Magn.

Er.
42. 3 // PG 32, 353A.), and Peter of Damascus in the “Philokalia”, and Callistus Xanthopulus on p. 1041 of the same “Philokalia” ( Callist. et Ign. Xanthopul.
Op. ascet. 27 // PG 147. 688D.).
And the fact that the laity should also read the Gospel is proved by the example of Emperor Theodosius, who rewrote the Gospel with his own hand and read it every day, and the words of the divine Chrysostom (Discourse 32 on the Gospel of John; Discourse 19 on statues) that women wore the Gospel around their necks ( Ioan. Chrysost.
Hom. in Ioan. 32.3 // PG 59, 187–188; Ad popul. Antioch. 19.4 // PG 49, 196.).

And the Divine Gospel should be read standing, as the already mentioned St. Callist ( Callist. etlgn. Xanthopul.

Op.
ascet. 27 // PG 147, 688D.) and the historian Sozomen, who condemns the Alexandrian bishops for sitting and not standing during the reading of the Gospel ( Sozom.
Hist. eccl. VII, 19 // PG 67, 1477A.).
After all, the Gospel is the New Testament, sanctified by the blood of the beloved Jesus, the Son of God, according to the Evangelist Luke (Luke 22:20.). Gospel, according to St. Maximus, there is a certain messenger of God to man, through the incarnate Son, who gives those who believe in Him as a reward uncreated deification ( Maximus Conf.
Quaest. ad Thalass. 61 //PG 90, 637D.).
Ambrose claims that the Gospel is an abyss in which there is a fullness of gifts, and a sea of spiritual mysteries in which swims a mysterious fish (ΙΧΘΥΣ) - Jesus (Ιησοῦς) Christ (Χριστός), God's (Θεοῦ) Son (Ύίός), Savior (Σωτήρ) (or Cross (Σταυρός)), according to the Sibyl's acrostic. Ap. Bartholomew said (in Dionysius in the 1st chapter of “Mystical Theology”) that the Gospel is short and small in size, but large and extensive in the vastness of its meaning (Dion. Areop.
De mystic, theolog. I, 3 // PG 3, 1000V.).
Therefore, Jerome called the Gospel a summary of all theology, and Origen called the firstfruits of all Scripture ( Orig.
In Ioan. I, 4 // PG 14, 25C.).
The one who called the Gospel the basis and center of the entire Old Testament and the sun of the New was not mistaken. And if Augustine called all Scripture an encyclopedia of all sciences, and Basil called it the workshop of the soul and the storehouse of spiritual elixirs with which every disease is treated, then, of course, the Gospel surpasses it. See other praises of the Gospel on p. 739 “The Twelve Books” of the ever-memorable Dositheus. And the monks were commanded to read the New Testament, since some were damaged by reading the Old, especially the prophets. Not because the Old Testament is bad (let it not be!), but because of the weakness of those who read it, as Basil the Great writes to his disciple Chilon ( Basil. Magn.
Ep. 42. 3 // PG 32, 353A.).