14 And unto the angel of the church of the Laodiceans
write; These things saith the Amen, the faithful and true witness, the
beginning of the creation of God;
In John 18:37 we see an interesting conversation between
Pilate and Jesus. Pilate therefore said unto him, Art thou a king then? Jesus answered,
Thou sayest that I am a king. To this end was I born, and for this cause came I
into the world, that I should bear witness unto the truth. Every one
that is of the truth heareth my voice. 38 Pilate saith unto him, What is
truth? And when he had said this, he went out again unto the Jews, and
saith unto them, I find in him no fault at all.
Pilate found Jesus to be telling the truth or he would have
charged him with a crime. I heard one
preacher say he would not be surprised to find Pilate in Heaven. When he found himself politically forced to
crucify Jesus because of the jealousy of the Jews, according to custom he wrote
the charges against Jesus on a plaque nailed to His cross in three
languages. The plaque said, “Jesus of
Nazareth, The King of the Jews (John 19:19).
While I’m sure there was a fair amount of getting even with the Jewish
leaders for forcing his hand, Pilate did everything he could to free Jesus. He even offered to release Him but the people
preferred a murderer to the Son of God (Mark 15:6-11).
This was part of Laodicea’s problem; they didn’t want to be
persecuted or embarrassed for their faith.
Unfortunately there is little choice in the matter because there are few
areas where spiritual warfare is going to take place like true Christianity and
the world. If you are a Christian and
experience no warfare you are not serving God properly.
This rather pointedly shows in John 8:39-45. The Jews earlier had impugned Jesus’
character by saying he was an illegitimate child of Mary and he in this chapter
claimed their father was the devil. This
was not a polite discourse but a powerful battle between Israel’s elite and
this upstart from Nazareth. It is
apparent that Jesus came out ahead. The
one most important statement made by Christ is that He spoke the truth. If Jesus was not the son of God, the Messiah,
then He was a bald faced liar. He could
not have been a wonderful teacher of love and grace alone because His sole
claim was that He came to bring us the truth of the Word of God.
At the end of verse 14 above he declares Himself to be the
beginning of creation. Only GOD is the
beginning of creation. He IS the AMEN,
the Word of God, the only begotten Son of the Father. Jesus is God!
Matthew 7:7 says, “If you seek, ye shall find.” In January 2006, Rabbi Yitzhak Kaduri, an Orthodox Rabbi in
Jerusalem kept praying to God that he might know who the Messiah is. He was 108 years old. Before he died he wrote what God said to him
and told them not to open the envelope for a year. The same month he died, Prime Minister Ariel
Sharon of Israel suffered a stroke and was hospitalized.
After the year passed his successors
opened the envelope to be shocked by his proclamation. He said the Lord told him that Jesus, the
Savior of the Christians was the Messiah.
He continued to state that Jesus would return again after Ariel Sharon
died. After reading this I looked up
Ariel Sharon. I remembered his stroke
and thought he had died years ago. The
former prime minister is still living though in a coma. When he is shown photographs of family or
hears their voices there is strong brainwave activity. It is seven years since Rabbi Kaduri wrote
his prophecy. Ariel Sharon is 85 years
old and still holding on.
15 I know thy works, that thou art neither cold nor hot:
I would thou wert cold or hot.
Rabbi Kaduri dedicated his entire life to his God. He appears to have been a man of great prayer
and was greatly beloved. Jesus said,
“Seek and ye shall find; knock and it shall be opened unto you.” This honorable Rabbi had nothing to lose; he
only wanted to know the truth. According
to his understanding of scripture he had to wait for a Messiah who appeared to
be somewhat late. That did not prevent
him from seeking God with passion and purpose.
Our God honored him for this dedication and personally whispered the
name of our Savior to him. Whether you
are a minister or not God expects you to press into His work for your life with
passion and purpose.
16 So then because thou art lukewarm, and neither cold
nor hot, I will spue thee out of my mouth.
If you don’t press in…
God prefers those who are passionately against Him or passionately for
Him. Paul was PASSIONATELY against
Jesus. He was wrong but because he
thought he was right God corrected him and gave him the greatest of all the New
Testament ministries. God’s question to
him was, “Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me. I’m too hard and too powerful to kick
against.” Here was a man who dedicated
his life to God and the eradication of the Christian sect. Once he learned the truth he became every bit
as zealous as the other Apostles; in fact, he received his wisdom by direct
transference from God (Galatians 1).
This is the passion God requires.
17 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:
This church had money.
It was filled with business men, doctors and lawyers who dressed well
and lived in the finest houses. Notice
it says in verse 17 that they were PROUD of their wealth and believed they
needed nothing. Well does Matthew 19:24,
Mark 10:25 and Luke 18:25 say that it is easier for a huge camel to walk through
the eye of a tiny needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God. Rich men never need to trust God for a meal,
a place to sleep or clothes to wear.
They sit at the best tables in the best restaurants and get all the best
medical treatment.
In this case Jesus Himself informs them that they are
wretched, miserable, poor, blind and naked.
His focus is concerned with the spirit and not the flesh. Anyone living a life of flesh and not spirit
is dead and does not live. Even a rich
man must die to glorify God. Many times
they are led to divest themselves of all their wealth to serve Him. Zacchaeus was one such rich man who made the
difficult decision to serve God fully (Luke 19:5-10).
18 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
eyesalve, that thou mayest see.
1 Peter 1:7 That the
trial of your faith, being much more precious than of gold that perisheth,
though it be tried with fire, might be found unto praise and honour and glory
at the appearing of Jesus Christ… Jesus
is telling these rich men to bring gold tried in the fire so they may be rich,
covered in white raiment and no longer naked.
Peter reminds us that the gold He is speaking of is our faith. It is more precious than gold and even though
your faith may be tried in the fire, it will not burn up. Without faith it is IMPOSSIBLE to serve God
(Hebrews 11:6).
Rich men rarely feel they need faith, the substance of
things hoped for and the evidence of things not seen (Hebrews 11:1). They buy what they want and purchase what
they need. This tangible ability to buy
whatever you want is often so blinding that you don’t even see the intangible
needs of the spirit until it is too late.
Money can’t buy you peace of mind or a joyous spirit. These things are freely given by God at great
expense to Him.
The raiment (clothing) he is speaking of here is
righteousness and holiness. The
blindness is an inability to see spiritual things because you are so overcome
by carnal. Your heart feels like it is
drowning in grease and you have no air to breathe. You need the eye salve of God’s word to cause
all the scales of blindness to fall from your eyes (Acts 9:18).
19 As many as I love, I rebuke and chasten: be zealous
therefore, and repent.
Let’s look at Mark 7:22 below and examine it for areas we
might need to grow and mature. If God
never rebuked you for your sins, it means He doesn’t love you. His response is to be ZEALOUS and
REPENT. That means you don’t quietly bow
your head and say, “Lord, I’m sorry; forgive me.” It means that you passionately and fervently
repent with your whole heart. Apostle
Paul repented so zealously that he abandoned his entire life for the service of
the King.
Mark 7:22 Coveting (a
greedy desire to have more wealth), dangerous and destructive wickedness,
deceit; unrestrained (indecent) conduct; an evil eye (envy), slander (evil
speaking, malicious misrepresentation, abusiveness), pride ( the sin of an
uplifted heart against God and man), foolishness (folly, lack of sense,
recklessness, thoughtlessness). 23 All
these evil [purposes and desires] come from within, and they make the man
unclean and render him unhallowed.
The Laodiceans suffered from all of these issues. They wanted more money which led to
destructive wickedness. What is
that? It is when the sin in your life
begins to trick you into committing greater and greater sins until the very
weight of sin begins to crush you. Your
decisions become more and more flawed and your skills are warped and
twisted. You begin to use falsehoods and
deceit to get what you need when you would never have even told a white lie
before. Your conduct which was once holy
and gracious slips each day until you will do anything; dare anything. You begin to envy what others have
accomplished and become angry at the unfairness of your position. It doesn’t matter that they have earned
everything they have; it only matters that you do not have what you want.
Once you become deluded and feel disrespected, it is a
simple step to lie about and against those others. You no longer care what they have worked for;
only what their successes make your failures look like. You begin to speak evil of them and in so
doing you believe your words of anger and falsehood. You begin to treat them badly and believe you
deserve the honor they have worked so hard for.
In your pride you begin to doubt that even God knows what He is doing. Surely He sees you and knows you deserve
better?
You become a fool, a man or woman who has fallen into their
delusions until nothing of honor and humility is left. Your comments become reckless and without
thought. People no longer seek you out
and that makes you even more angry. All
this happens from the inside and once it festers and breaks out in a vile
disease, you have become unclean. Your
heart no longer bears the words, “Holy Unto The Lord.” Beware of this deadly downward spiral.
20 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.
Luke 13:24 Strive to
enter in at the strait gate: for many, I say unto you, will seek to enter in,
and shall not be able. 25 When once the master of the house is risen up, and
hath shut to the door, and ye begin to stand without, and to knock at the door,
saying, Lord, Lord, open unto us; and he shall answer and say unto you, I know
you not whence ye are.
You will notice that these people have left Jesus on the
outside. He is no longer the fairest of
ten thousand in their eyes. In spite of
his shabby treatment Jesus seeks an audience and humbles Himself enough to tap
on YOUR door. He is not demanding or
insisting; he is requesting an audience with you. His request only lasts for a short
season. Once it has borne as much fruit
as possible He will cease knocking and then Judgment will come. On that day it will be too late and your
opportunity will be ended.
21 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.
Matthew 19:28 And
Jesus said unto them, Verily I say unto you, That ye which have followed me, in
the regeneration when the Son of man shall sit in the throne of his glory, ye
also shall sit upon twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel. 29 And every one that hath forsaken houses,
or brethren, or sisters, or father, or mother, or wife, or children, or lands,
for my name's sake, shall receive an hundredfold, and shall inherit everlasting
life. 30 But many that are first shall be last; and the last shall be first.
At first it appeared that Jesus was speaking only to his 12
disciples, but on further reflection it is apparent he spoke to the body of
Christ at large. There is an opening
here; an opportunity if you will, to serve God through Christ, and to sit with
Him upon His throne. Most of us are
familiar with the scripture that states we will judge the Angels (1 Corinthians
6:3), but how many are aware that we will also judge the twelve tribes of
Israel? This might mean a judgment of
their actions throughout history, but that would be stepping more into God’s
area of judgment and punishment.
I believe it is more likely that we, in our glorified,
regenerated state, will be called upon to oversee and judge their actions as
the evangelicals of the Earth. Israel
has often failed her responsibilities to God but upon reflection and judgment
has stepped up and gotten it right.
During the thousand year reign Israel will be the primary body carrying
the news of the Savior of mankind and we will be the overseers. We will be the overseers because we have been
tested in the fires and have come forth as pure gold. We will no longer be unholy and unrighteous
nor will we be ruled by the passions that made the Laodiceans unworthy.
Throughout history God has allowed his judgment to fall
against the Jews. Churches which hold
that Israel is no more and God has invested ALL their promises to the body of
Christ have failed to acknowledge that they have been as shortsighted and
arrogant as Israel ever was. Israel’s
responsibility to mankind was that of divine witness of God’s grace and love. Their failure to understand and embrace His
holy call forced judgment upon them.
Instead of standing as the faith filled bearers of truth they have
become a evil watchword and angry hissing amongst the nations far in excess of
any grief they have caused past, present or future.
God has reestablished His people in their place and no
Christian church or people will EVER destroy what He has begun. The only members of the body of Christ who
will be allowed to judge Israel and her future are those who no longer do so
out of anger or a sense of self-righteousness.
We will be Christ in that day, faithfully carrying out the
responsibilities of the head as any good body does. He will be the head. We will be the body. We will sit on His throne bearing Him up.
Jesus said, “I and my Father are One.” If we do what we do for vainglory and pride
then we are not one with the Father. If
we rather submit and surrender to God and serve Him faithfully in all things
then we will rule and reign with Him.
Notice what is says in verse 29 above:
… every one that hath forsaken
houses, or brethren, or sisters, or father, or mother, or wife, or children, or
lands, for my name's sake, shall receive an hundredfold, and shall inherit
everlasting life.
What have you forsaken for the name of God? What have you forsaken for your Savior? Have you done all you might to surrender your
flesh, your feelings, your purposes or are you still wallowing in your natural
passions and failing to serve God with a pure heart. No nation or people who oppress Israel have
ever survived or failed to be punished in an extraordinary manner. They have been wiped from the face of the
earth or like Germany, split in two. In
spite of two thousand years of examples much of the body of Christ still holds
the idea that we have REPLACED Israel in God’s work and this is a lie.
Israel failed God many times but God’s mercies are new every
morning. His current punishment has
lasted this long because OUR opportunity for salvation had to bear all the
fruit it might. Now that we are coming
to an end and sin on the earth is once again on the rise, God will soon remove
us and turn again to Israel, His chosen witness and bearer of glad tidings.
One final point regarding the purpose of Israel in God’s
current plan. God promised that Jesus
would sit on David’s throne. This has
never happened. When He arrived on the
Earth Israel no longer ruled themselves.
Jesus will only sit on David’s throne after Armageddon, after Israel is
rescued by God during the final battle and from that throne He will rule Israel
with His body…us. It can hardly be
David’s throne if no descendants of David are around to be ruled.
Will you be among those who are received up into Heaven or
will the lure of carnal pleasures and wealth drag you down.
22 He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit
saith unto the churches.
Beloved, this phrase by Jesus occurs at the end of his
admonitions to each of the seven churches.
I pray you hear what the Spirit of God says to you and that you do not
allow the flesh to lead you astray.
Blessings,
Bishop J.
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