For
more access to
revelatory Bible studies, please contact me, Peter A. Van Breemen at pavb2001@gmail.com
or a ministry which is
not related to me: Fullness of Glory, Sharon Bolan-Yerby at www.thechange.org/new
and her
connection to “Brother D” who ministers from Arlington, Texas.
THE
LETTERS TO THE SEVEN
CHURCHES, PART 5
LAODICEA
The
final message in the
Book of Revelation that was
given to
John was to the church of the
Laodiceans. To this church is
written:
"These
things saith the Amen, the
faithful and true witness,
the beginning of the creation of God; I know thy
works, that
thou art neither cold nor hot: I would thou wert cold or hot.
So then because thou art lukewarm, and
neither cold nor hot, I will spue thee out of My mouth." Revelation
3:14-15
The
church of the
Laodiceans portrays the final era of the
Christian dispensation. It
represents the prevailing conditions
extant in the organized church world as this age
draws to
a
close. Insipid lukewarmness is the chief characteristic. Because of
this He has
spewed the entire organized church out
of His mouth, both Catholic and
Protestant. This does not
mean He has repudiated those individuals who truly believe in Him and are yet in
the organized systems. But before the end comes, they must
hear His call:
"come
out of her, My
people,
that ye be not partakers of her sins, and that ye receive not of
her plagues" (Rev.
18:4)
.
The
Lord is presented in this letter as the "faithful
and true witness" in contrast to the
unfaithfulness and distorted witness
of the Laodicean church. He is also
presented as "the
beginning of the creation of God" because
of the inception of the
new thing that He will do as the
Laodicean era comes to a
close. He will raise up a mighty witness in the remnant that is
being called out of the Babylonish church
systems, and they
shall manifest the power and glory of that new creation which
is coming forth through His
resurrection life. Since the
Lord is the firstborn among many brethren, there will be many
who will come to that measure of
maturity which will enable
Him to unveil them as the sons of God, giving them immortality
for their physical bodies (Rom.
8:19, 29). Some will
put on the glory of the celestial as their bodies are changed into
the likeness of His glorious body (Phil. 3:21); and
others will
manifest sonship on the terrestrial plane,
having their bodies
changed from
corruptible to incorruptible (I Cor. 15:40-41,
53-54).
Now
notice a further characteristic of the
Laodicean period.
"Because
thou sayest, I am rich, and
increased with goods, and
have need of nothing; and knowest not that thou art
wretched, and miserable, and poor, and blind, and naked: I counsel thee
to buy
of Me gold tried in the fire, that thou mayest
be rich; and white raiment, that thou
mayest be clothed,
and that the shame of thy nakedness do not appear; and
anoint thine eyes with eye-salve, that
thou mayest see. As
many as I love, I rebuke and chasten: be zealous therefore,
and repent."
Revelation
3:17-19
A
contributing factor to the spiritual
lukewarmness of the present
day church-world is the prosperity which abounds in most
Western nations. A feeling of smug
complacency has blinded the churches to their spiritual poverty and
their desperate
need. Clothed with their own
self-righteousness, they know
not their nakedness in His sight. Therefore He has raised up messengers
to
expose and rebuke the carnality, apostasy
and ineptness of the spiritually destitute
churches. This calls for repentance! The Lord is moving in His providence
to bring chastening through adverse
conditions in civil life
and international affairs. Conditions will become so
severe
that the people of the predominantly Christian nations will
either repent or perish. It is because of His great love for those who
know not
their folly and the consequences thereof that
He rebukes and chastens. The Lord must
awaken those who
are asleep and destined for destruction. Otherwise
there would
be
no hope.
There
is a great need now
for the three things which the Lord
offers.
The first is gold tried in the fire. Gold is a symbol of true spiritual
character, brought about by the working of His Spirit and forged in
the crucible of testing experiences. He must have a people who
are completely receptive
to His workings
in their inner being
and thoroughly purged from the dross of their own ways.
The second is
white raiment. This
is symbolic of that
righteousness and purity which only He
can impart. Only those who are fully clothed with this raiment can
enter into
the end-time ministry of that spiritual Body which He is raising up.
The third is eye-salve to anoint the
eyes. Only the revelation of the Lord's Spirit can cause us to see the mighty truths
which He wants us to
know in this hour. Since He counsels to "buy" of Him,
there is
a price which must
be paid. The price is
simply the willingness to let Him
have your life to do with it as He pleases. Only as there is complete yielding and
obedience, can He be the
means of bringing forth in your life pure gold, impart unto you white raiment, and anoint your
eyes to see His truth.
"Behold, I stand at
the door and knock: if any man hear My
voice, and open the door, I will come in to him, and will sup with him, and he with
Me." Revelation
3:20
He
longs to have that intimate communion with us which is described in
these
words. But so few want to invite Him in to
take complete control of their lives. This is the day that He is offering to make
Himself real unto a people
as never before
in history. Open your
heart and let Him have His way in you. He is then ready
to show Himself
strong on your behalf.
No other generation
has had as great an opportunity as
He is offering unto you in this hour. He stands at the
door and
knocks; the choice is
yours.
Now,
look at the final promise to the
overcomers in these seven
letters.
"To
him that overcometh will I grant to sit with Me
in My throne,
even as I also overcame, and am set
down with My Father
in His throne." Revelation
3:21
Even
though He was the very Son of the
Highest, functioning on the plane of Deity, He emptied Himself and
took on
the form of man, that He might overcome
as a man. Then was
He
highly exalted and given a place of rulership on the Throne
of His Father. This is the pattern
for those who love Him
and let Him bring them into an overcoming experience, rising above the
spiritual level of most Christians. To "overcome"
means to 'rise above', to 'come
up over to a higher spiritual
plane'. It comes
only through greater yielding and submission
to the Lord's will. The time is coming soon when He will sit upon the Throne
of His glory in the Heavenly) Kingdom which will be set up
in the realms
surrounding the earth.
Then shall the
overcomers of all the church eras be exalted
to sit on that throne with Him. They will then be kings and priests to rule
with Him over the earth (Rev. 1:6, 5:10,
20:4). Truly this is the
PRIZE of the high calling; it is both joint heirship on
the plane of
glorified life, and joint rulership
with
Him in His Kingdom. He that has an ear, let him hear what
the Spirit is
saying to the church.
Again
notice that in each of the seven
letters to the seven churches
of Asia, it is
unto the angel of the church that He
addresses His words. What does this mean? In the vision which John saw, the Lord
was standing in the midst of the seven lamps and in His right
hand He held seven
stars (Rev. 1:13, 16). Then
He spoke
concerning this mystery:
"The
mystery of the seven stars which
thou sawest in My right
hand, and the seven golden candlesticks.
The seven
stars are the angels of the seven
churches: and the seven candlesticks
which thou sawest are the seven
churches." Revelation
1:20
We
have already viewed the mystery of the
seven churches; as
portraying the seven epochs, or eras, of time from the Apostolic
church unto the end of the age.
Now
let us look at the mystery of the seven
angels. In its first
application, the seven angels are seven heavenly beings who have been
given
charge over the church during this age one
over each of the seven epochs. In its second
application the
seven angels or
messengers are seven men who have been raised
up: one within each of the seven church periods
with a special
commission and
message for that time. Each of these men
has fulfilled his commission; the seventh and last
has finished
his work. This
means that a new day is breaking and a
new era is at hand. And the Lord is now raising up
messengers
to bring His people into the truths and
powers of that new
day. Do not look back to
the past; neither to any of the messengers of the past. But receive
that which
the Lord is making known through messengers of the new day. He that has an ear, let him hear
what the Spirit is
saying to the church.