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GodsMopol:
I believe the letters to the 7 churches is one many churches should look into to balance in God or align

Exactly my brother... They should...

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The Laodicean church was one of the most messed up churches in the Bible. So I guess it should be no surprise that today it remains one of the most preached about churches. We can learn a lot from other people’s mistakes.

In Revelations 3:14-21, Jesus gives the Laodicean church a stern warning. It was a warning that was intended to save them. In other words, Jesus was showing them the way to freedom, redemption and life. (That sounds good right?) Yet for 2,000 years preachers have used Jesus’ words as a religious rod for beating Christians.

And when Christians allow themselves to be condemned by this sort of thing, it’s like taking someone else’s medicine.

In Part 1 of this series I asked, what made the Laodiceans lukewarm? (Hint: it wasn’t apathy.) In Part 2, I asked, why did the Laodiceans make Jesus nauseous? (Hint: perhaps they reminded him of the people who nailed him to the cross.)

In today’s post I want to look more closely at Jesus’ assessment of the Laodiceans:

“You say, ‘I am rich; I have acquired wealth and do not need a thing.’ But you do not realize that you are wretched, pitiful, poor, blind and naked.” (Rev 3:17)

Self-righteousness says, “I have made it on my own. I don’t need a thing.” This is exactly what the Laodiceans were saying to themselves. But Jesus said the truth was very different. He said they were lost and in danger of rejection.

Jesus never wastes words. He never says anything he doesn’t mean. So when he says the Laodiceans are “wretched and pitiful,” he is saying they are in a bad state. Just so they don’t have any uncertainty about this, he adds that they’re also “poor, blind and naked.”

Who is Jesus talking to?

Now here’s the $64,000 question. Is Jesus talking to sinners or saints? Were the Laodiceans saved or lost when Jesus gave them this message?

I can think of three reasons why we might think the Laodiceans were Christians:

(1) They’re collectively referred to as a “church.”
(2) The idea of Jesus vomiting them out of his body makes us think they were at least once part of his body.
(3) Jesus says, “Those whom I love I rebuke and discipline.” Discipline is usually reserved for sons while love suggests the body of Christ.

(Have I missed other reasons?)

But here are ten reasons why many of the Laodiceans were probably not saved:

(1) Going to church doesn’t make you a Christian. There are many people in church who don’t know Jesus, who have neither repented nor put their trust in him. The Laodiceans may have called themselves a church, but they were a church in name only. They may have acted godly, but theirs’ was a counterfeit, useless form of godliness.

(2) We vomit up things that are foreign and do not belong to us. We don’t vomit up body parts. To use the vomit argument as evidence of the Laodicean’s membership in the body of Christ is like saying we can vomit up an arm or a foot.

(3) The love of God is not limited to the church. “For God so loved the world that gave his only Son” (Jn 3:16). Jesus said “love your enemies” and while we were his enemies he reconciled us to God (Rms 5:10). We might say a sinner is not loved by God. But God is in the business of calling the unlovely and unloved “my loved one” (Rms 9:25), and thank God he did or you wouldn’t be reading this! And while it’s true sons get special attention from their fathers (Heb 12:, the whole world needs a life-saving rebuke from a loving Savior. Part of the ministry of the Holy Spirit is to convict the world (not Christians) of sin (Jn 16:9). It is perfectly consistent with Jesus’ character and mission to say he loves sinners enough to rebuke them.

(4) Of all the seven churches Jesus addresses in Revelations 1-3, the Laodicean church is the only one where Jesus has nothing positive to say. There is no affirmation, nothing to commend. Even in the churches where there was rampant sin (e.g., Sardis) Jesus could identify a “few who had not soiled their clothes.” But no group of believers is singled out in Laodicea.

(5) Nowhere in the Bible does Jesus refer to Christians as “wretched, pitiful, poor, blind and naked.” Yet these terms are used in many places to describe sinners in general and religious sinners in particular. In Matthew 23 Jesus describes the Pharisees as “blind” five times. It is the lost who are wretched and pitiful, not those who’ve been redeemed and are now kept by Jesus.

(6) The Laodiceans were mixing law and grace just like the Galatians, but unlike the Galatians there is no hint that they ever “began with the Spirit” (Gal 3:3). The Galatians had witnessed a move of God, but by the time Paul wrote to them they were “deserting the one who called you” (Gal 1:6). There is no indication that the Laodiceans are walking away from God. There is no evidence to suggest they had ever received the grace of God.

(7) Even though he had not met them personally, Paul wanted the Laodiceans to read the letter he wrote to the Colossians (Col 2:1, 4:16). For some reason Paul saw a need to warn the Laodiceans against being taken captive through “hollow and deceptive philosophy, which depends on human traditions and the basic principles of this world rather than on Christ” (Col 2:. This hints at Pharisaical tendencies that promote works and independence from God. Paul wanted them to reject this teaching and become wholly dependent on Christ. Evidently they didn’t listen because by the time of John’s vision they were saying “we don’t need a thing.”

( Jesus said to Nicodemus, “Those who believe in the Son are not judged” (Jn 3:18, GNB). Other translations use the word “condemned.” In Revelations 3 Jesus is judging the Laodiceans. He is hinting that they are at risk of being condemned and utterly rejected. Condemnation and rejection is what happens to unrepentant sinners. There is “no condemnation for those in Christ Jesus” (Rm 8:1), not now, not ever.

(9) Five of the Revelations churches are accused by Jesus of various misdeeds. Four of those churches (Ephesus, Pergamum, Thyatira and Sardis) are rebuked for bad doctrine which has led to bad deeds. But with the Laodiceans the fault is themselves. Their deeds reveal that they are lukewarm. The other churches are told to “remember,” “repent” and “hold fast” to what they already have. But the Laodiceans have nothing to remember, nothing to hold onto. There is nothing they have that might save them from being rejected by Jesus.

(10) Jesus said he was on the outside knocking and wondering whether anyone would hear his voice and open the door for him to come in (Rev 3:20). Jesus has no fellowship with sinners, just as light doesn’t keep company with darkness. Although some have used this text in reference to Christians, it’s hard to reconcile with Colossians 1:27 where Paul writes that “Christ is in you.” To say Jesus was speaking to Christians is like saying Christ can be inside you and outside you at the same time. No, Jesus is addressing those who have not yet invited him in (i.e., sinners).

A church full of sinners?!

Is it possible that an entire church can be so caught up with their own religious performance that they don’t realize that they have left Jesus standing outside?

“Here I am! I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in and eat with him, and he with me.” (Rev 3:20)

A church is supposed to be an embassy for the kingdom of heaven. It’s supposed to be a place where people come to have an encounter with the living God. The sick get healed, the oppressed get delivered, the blind see, and the prisoners are freed. But in a church that is full of self-righteous religion none of these things can happen because Jesus isn’t there.

Why did Jesus say the Laodiceans were wretched, pitiful, poor, blind and naked? For the same reason he said the Pharisees were woeful and blind.

“You shut the kingdom of heaven in men’s faces. You yourselves do not enter, nor will you let those enter who are trying to.” (Mt 23:13)

Who’s wretched and pitiful? It’s the one outside the kingdom. Who’s poor? It is the one who has not received the riches of God’s grace. Who’s blind? It is the one who does not see what Jesus has already done for him. Who’s naked? It is the one who clothes himself with filthy acts of self-righteousness in a doomed attempt to make himself acceptable to a holy and perfection-demanding God.

Religion is bad for you

Nothing will keep you out of the kingdom of heaven like man-made religion. Nothing will keep you from the grace of God like self-righteousness. Sin will kill you but religion will inoculate you against the only cure. It will give you a false sense that all is well, that you are rich and do not need a thing. And that’s why Jesus hates it.

In Part 4, I will look at the only remedy that Jesus offers for the curse of religion.

https://escapetoreality.org/2010/05/18/lukewarm-in-laodicea-part-3-whos-wretched-and-poor-rev-314-21/

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bennyann:
Hmmm! Where do I start from? Could have testified yesterday but for something beyond my control yesterday. I was also contemplating if I should share it here and I decided to So as to keep the record.

Yesterday, on my way to work, I decided to take one of those red buses, former brt buses. The journey was smooth until I arrived my destination. This time I had to exit though the backdoor which is very rare for me. But we were told to alight, meanwhile the bus was still moving. A huge man went ahead of me, I saw him stumbled but couldn't tell if he fell because it was my turn to alight.

When it got to my turn, I'm sure because of how "ajebutter" I look to people, the men at the back were telling the driver to slowdown, they were even mimicking me when I was shouting "owa o“. I relented for a while to come down until I realised the bus is just about moving past my destination then I made up my mind to come down. Just as I was stepping down, I heard the "backbenchers" shouting again don't come down now but it was too late then. I had already stepped down and I just remembered myself stumbling.

This is the climax to me, it is the strangest experience that I still keep playing it back so I could understand better and remember vividly but to no avail.

Within a short moment, should I say few seconds While I was stumbling, I saw a man rush in a hurry towards me so as to save me. He came towards me in a flight so to describe, as though he knew before hand something like that was about happening. He just held on to me, and there was this force so great I sensed, I do not know if it was a force from my end or his but it made us fall to the ground and slipped, then tumbled. I could tell his person would be hurt because while we were falling and slipping and tumbling or about tumbling, he didn't care for himself but held me in the most uncomfortable way for him so as to prevent me from hurting. The next thing I remember vividly was while I was about falling facewards to the ground, he made sure I fell on him and put his palm on my chest as if trying to prevent me from hitting my face on the ground and hurting my face on his head or body. I could just tell that whatever he did was for my own protection at the expense of his. I couldn't tell if the bus stopped eventually but I could tell the passengers were looking and screaming.

Immediately it was noted I was saved, just after the man stopped me hitting my face, he just safely put me aside and I saw him ran towards the direction of the bus but didn't see him entering. It all happened in a flash that I couldn't tell where he came from and where he went to. I couldn't see his face too but I can remember I saw a part of his forehead but that's all I can remember about him.

I'm still wondering how a human can save somebody like that and still had the strength to run away just as soon as I gained consciousness of all that happened. I wanted to ask if he was OK, if he wasn't hurt and I wanted to say thank you but he ran away and it made me find it difficult to believe all that happened in such a short moment but I know it did.

Though my foot hurts from stepping down the bus, I could guess the possible outcomes, I mean I can give the worst possible scenario that could have happened to me. Like my knees hurting badly, my face being disfigured and the possible likes. But even my hurt foot is far better today after being extremely swollen yesterday which called for my colleagues in the office to hold me down and then massage it before it becomes a serious issue.

At first when I told my colleagues, they saw it as no issue since they believe I make a mountain out of a mole hill because they also see me as "ajebor" until thy saw me limping and then they saw my foot as it swells from time to time before they took it serious. They even teased me that I won't be able to catwalk again . I had to leave the office early so as to have a perfect opportunity to care for my foot so as not to let it worsen.

My dad just helped me with the use of hot water on the foot this morning before leaving for work. I have decided to take a leave from work today, though I feel quite better and nothing bad with my foot. Tomorrow by God's grace, it should be perfectly normal.

Many I told the story believe the man who came to my rescue was an angel.

I thank God for the man who rescued me at the expense of his life because where I stopped can said to be a scanty place where you don't expect anyone to be there waiting for a bus or so. I also want to thank God for the man that helped me get to the bridge because I wasn't opportuned to thank him also. May God reward them for me and above all, I give all the praise to my God and king because He knows He is the reason I am living. Thank you Jesus, may your purpose for me come to pass and bring honour and glory to your name, Amen!

Please, You're free to share your today's Testimony on this thread also.

I thank God for your life my dear. That's an angel of God... This is a powerful testimony. Every believer have an angel assigned to him or her. It just that most times, we believers don't know the kind of privileges we have in Christ Jesus. This is powerful!! The Word of God is true concerning our lives. Jesus is Lord...

analice107:
Psalm:91: 11-12
For he shall give his angels charge over thee, to keep thee in all thy ways.

They shall bear thee up in their hands, lest thou dash thy foot against a stone.


Exodus:23:20
Behold, I send an Angel before thee, to keep thee in the way, and to bring thee into the place which I have prepared.

Our little services to God speaks when there's crisis.

I believe 100% he was an Angel.

I wanted to quote that Psalm 91 to her.... That's the angel of the Lord.

God never makes us sick but did you know it’s possible for people to make him feel sick? Now there’s a staggering thought. Yet this is exactly the reaction the Laodicean church elicited from Jesus. They were lukewarm and Jesus said their lukewarmness made him nauseous:

“Because you are lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I am about to vomit you out of my mouth.” (Rev 3:16, LITV)

Jesus is literally saying, “you guys make me sick!” It sounds funny, but it’s no laughing matter. The implications of Jesus’ words are thoroughly frightening. What do they mean for the Laodiceans? Let’s ask Matthew Henry:

“They shall be rejected, and finally rejected; for far be it from the holy Jesus to return to that which has been thus rejected.”

This is one of those places in the Bible where we want to sit up and pay close attention, for Jesus is discussing issues of acceptance and rejection. Here we should ask, what were the Laodiceans doing that led to this threat of being rejected by Jesus?

What gets you rejected by Jesus?

In Part 1 of the series I noted that some people define lukewarmness in terms of human zeal and apathy. There are at least three good reasons why apathy cannot be the issue in this case. Still, you may have come across people who think they are “hot” or “on fire” for Jesus because they have judged with Old Testament harshness those parts of the body of Christ that don’t meet their particular standards for hotness. For them it’s a self-fulfilling, self-gratifying theology. They have set for themselves a certain standard which they have met and from which they rain down judgment on others who are not like them. They excel at finding fault and their idea of helping those who struggle is to preach religion. These self-appointed judges and self-styled watchmen make me pewking nauseous.

And maybe they make Jesus nauseous too.

The Message Bible translates Jesus’ words in verse 16 like this: “you make me want to vomit.” Now think about all the people Jesus met when he walked the earth and ask yourself, which group made Jesus sick?

Was it the sinners? No. Jesus was a friend of sinners. Jesus went to the cross for sinners.

Was it those living meekly under the law? No. Jesus came to fulfill the righteous requirements of the law and set such people free. He redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us (Gal 3:13).

Was it those who showed faith? No. Jesus marvelled at such people. Faith pleases the Lord.

So who made Jesus sick? Matthew 23 gives us the answer:

“Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You are like whitewashed tombs, which look beautiful on the outside but on the inside are full of dead men’s bones and everything unclean.” (Mat 23:27)

Religion makes Jesus sick

Nothing nauseated Jesus like religious hypocrites who put law on others which they themselves did not follow. Note that the problem with the Pharisees was not what they were preaching. As we saw in Part 1, the law is good. Hence Jesus said to the Jews, “You must obey them and do everything they tell you” (Mt 23:3). Why is Jesus advocating the law? Because the law strips us of our self-righteousness leaving us silent and condemned before a holy God. The law reveals our need for a Saviour.

But then Jesus adds, “do what they say but don’t do what they do, for they do not practice what they preach” (Mt 23:3). The Pharisees lived by a double-standard. They were preaching the law to others but were diluting it for themselves. They were mixing it with a little grace of their own. They were lowering the divine standard to an attainable level thus thwarting the purpose for which the law was given. Instead of being silenced and condemned, the Pharisees were outspoken and proud. They were exalting themselves. They thought they were in right standing before God and everyone around them needed to come up to their religious level. This made Jesus furious!

“You snakes! You brood of vipers! How will you escape being condemned to hell?” (Mat 23:33)

No one would deny that the Pharisees were zealous for God. But theirs’ was a carnal zeal based on the Satanic lie that we can make ourselves righteous. Jesus said they appeared righteous on the outside, but on the inside they were “full of hypocrisy and wickedness” (Mt 23:28). Instead of submitting to Christ’s righteousness, they sought to establish their own (Rms 10:3).

Now let’s jump back to Revelations 3.

The traditional view is that the Laodiceans were lazy and half-hearted, but I suspect they were as zealous as Pharisees. They were passionate about their religion. Perhaps they gave a “tenth of all their spices” like the Pharisees did. Perhaps they traveled “over land and sea to win a single convert.” But they did so out of religious pride. Like the Pharisees they exalted themselves saying, “we are rich and do not need a thing” (Rev 3:17). Instead of being silenced by God’s holy law, they had become boastful and independent. And like the Pharisees, they made Jesus sick.

Jesus left the comforts of heaven to endure unimaginable suffering on the cross in order that we might be redeemed from the condemnation of the law. To act as if we could somehow attain that divine and perfect standard in our own strength is to insult a holy God who lives in unapproachable light. And to reject the free gift of his grace and righteousness that makes it possible for us to draw near, is to insult his Son.

Reject Jesus as unnecessary and he will reject you.

We begin to understand, then, why Jesus called the Laodiceans “wretched, pitiful, poor, blind and naked.” In Part 3 of this series I will begin look at what that means for the rest of us and the remedies that Jesus offers.


https://escapetoreality.org/2010/05/16/lukewarm-in-laodicea-part-2-what-makes-jesus-sick-rev-314-21/

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