We read in Revelation 3:15-22 that the elder in Laodicea was rebuked strongly by the Lord for a number of reasons.

He felt he was rich and increased with goods and had need of nothing. Riches are not related only to money. One can be rich in knowledge, gifts and talents too - and thus feel self-sufficient.

Those who are intelligent, eloquent and gifted need to walk with fear, because they are in constant danger of being proud of these human abilities and of depending more on them than on the Lord.

The elder here was satisfied with his Bible-knowledge, his gifts, his achievements, and his position as an elder. But he was not aware of the fact that in God's eyes, he was still spiritually "wretched, miserable, poor, blind and naked" (Rev.3:17). It is sad indeed when we are ignorant of our true spiritual condition, as God sees us.

While this elder brother was totally ignorant of the fact that he was a wretched man, we find a godly man like the apostle Paul crying out and saying, "O wretched man that I am" (Rom. 7:24). How did Paul know his own wretchedness and the Laodicean elder not know his? Because Paul lived before God's face, while the Laodicean elder did not. In God's light, Paul constantly realised that his flesh was corrupt (Rom.7:18). Thus Paul remained constantly poor in spirit, and became a godly man. The Laodicean elder however, not seeing the wretchedness of his flesh, became carnal and lukewarm.

It is very easy for self-satisfaction and self-sufficiency to come into the life of a servant of God, if he does not live before God's face - for he will not see his own need. And evidence of this will be seen in the way he speaks and preaches. The way a needy person speaks is quite different from the way a strong self-sufficient person speaks.

There are gifted preachers who can speak well, who are eloquent, and who know the doctrine well. But if you listen to their spirit when they speak, you will be able to sense an arrogance there. They speak as experts, and not as those who are poor and needy themselves.

The Body of Christ cannot be built by men who have a strong, arrogant spirit, but only by men who have a humble, gentle spirit.

It is easy for an arrogant preacher to whip people in his sermons!! Then he becomes like the servant Jesus spoke of, whose master had appointed him to give others their daily ration of food. But instead of giving them food, he whipped them (Lk.12:45)! Unfortunately, there is a lot of whipping that goes on from the pulpit in Christendom today. Whipping never leads anyone to a godly life, but only to feelings of condemnation, and to subservience to the preacher who whips him.

Only a man who is poor in spirit is really spiritually wealthy in God's eyes. And when such a man speaks to us, either in personal conversation or in a meeting, we can partake of his spiritual wealth. An eloquent preacher who is not poor in spirit however, can only show us pictures of wealth. He cannot make us actually wealthy.

We must give the poor in spirit the most prominent places of ministry in our assembly - and not the most gifted ones. Gifted brothers, who are not poor in spirit, can destroy the church. The church cannot be destroyed by adulterers and thieves - because these people are such obvious sinners that everyone can recognise them as such. But the church can be destroyed by eloquent preachers and gifted teachers who, like the Laodicean elder, have no sense of their own need, and who yet preach about holiness.

If we are unable to discern between those who are poor in spirit and those who are arrogant in spirit, the reason could be that we ourselves are not poor in spirit.