Choose Wisely

[Sue J Love]

Friday, September 22, 2017, 2:52 a.m. – The Lord Jesus put in mind the song “Seek the Lord.” Speak, Lord, your words to my heart. I read Revelation 3:14-22 (NASB).

Complacent (vv. 14-16)

“To the angel of the church in Laodicea write:

The Amen, the faithful and true Witness, the Beginning of the creation of God, says this:

‘I know your deeds, that you are neither cold nor hot; I wish that you were cold or hot. So because you are lukewarm, and neither hot nor cold, I will spit you out of My mouth. ​

Complacent – “marked by self-satisfaction especially when accompanied by unawareness of actual dangers or deficiencies” (M-W).

The speaker is Jesus Christ. And, he is addressing his complacent church. They are neither totally indifferent to the Lord nor are they fully on fire (passionate, enthusiastic) for him. They are somewhere in between the two, fully content with mediocrity, self-absorption, and fundamentally unconcerned about their spiritual conditions or their relationships with the ONLY true God – Father, Son and Holy Spirit. They are worldly, and are living not much different from those who make no profession to faith in Jesus Christ at all. And, they are followers of man more than they are followers of God; more caught up in forms of religion rather than having a passionate, faithful and vital relationship with their Lord, Savior and King.

The sad reality of it all, though, is that this type of Christianity is being encouraged and promoted in today’s modern churches. They are being taught that God does everything for us, and that nothing is required of us at all other than some non-descript “faith” in Jesus Christ, but not the kind of faith Jesus taught, or that his NT apostles taught. Some of their leaders even go so far as to discourage repentance and obedience to Christ, in order to appease human flesh, and to gain disciples after themselves. They want to make everyone feel good about themselves, even in their sins, and to not offend anyone with the truth, and so they lie to their congregations and they lead them to follow humans, and they encourage worldly living.

So, what we have are a whole lot of people who bear the name “Christian” but who don’t reflect Christ in their attitudes, actions or thinking, and who think God is ok with them being that way, because that is what is being modeled to them by many of their leaders. So, they may or may not spend any time in God’s Word or in prayer, throughout their day, and God may or may not get a bare acknowledgment from them, and their free time will often be spent doing what THEY want to do, and not what GOD has for them. And, many of them are convinced that their lives are their own to live how they want as long as they give God some of their time and offerings, and many of them, too, are engrossed in being entertained continuously.

Counsel (vv. 17-18)

Because you say, “I am rich, and have become wealthy, and have need of nothing,” and you do not know that you are wretched and miserable and poor and blind and naked, I advise you to buy from Me gold refined by fire so that you may become rich, and white garments so that you may clothe yourself, and that the shame of your nakedness will not be revealed; and eye salve to anoint your eyes so that you may see. ​

Counsel – recommend, advocate, encourage, guide, instruct, or warn; to give advice to (someone); to suggest or recommend (something) (M-W).

Jesus loves his church, even the church which is half-hearted in their devotion to him, or who have forsaken their first love, or who have a reputation of being alive but are mostly dead, etc. Yet, this does not mean he is ok with them remaining in those conditions, or that he doesn’t have something better and necessary for them, or that he won’t chastise them in order to move their hearts back to him in purity of love and devotion. He will! He said so, and he is true to his Word. So, he urges, counsels, encourages, teaches, and stimulates them towards what is good for them, and he warns them against what is bad for them, and in order to move them to repentance, to renewed faith in him, and to faithful and passionate obedience to him and to His Word.

The counsel here is basically for them to move from their self-sufficiency to finding their all-sufficiency in God alone. It is also to do a self-examination and to see their own spiritual condition through God’s eyes, and through the scope of God’s Word, rather than through the lens of human thinking and reasoning. They think they are ok just how they are, because their itching ears longed to hear smooth, pleasing messages which told them that they could continue in sin and still have the blessings of God in their lives. But, God is not ok with them continuing in a sinful course, and this kind of thinking isn’t reflective of what the Bible teaches, either. So, Jesus desires that they know what his Word teaches, and that they now obey it.

So, what is Jesus’ counsel to them, in reality? It is that they purify their hearts via repentance (turning from sin to God) and via obedience to him and to his commands, and that they walk (conduct their lives) in the Spirit and no longer according to (in agreement with) their flesh (sin natures). It is that they die daily to sin and self, and that they live to Christ and to his righteousness. And, it is that they make Jesus Christ truly Lord (owner-master) of their lives, and that they become his bond-servants. It is also that they now see life through God’s eyes and no longer through the eyes of humankind and the flesh, and that they follow what is truth and reject the lies and the deceptions of humans who would lead them astray.

Convince (vv. 19-22)

Those whom I love, I reprove and discipline; therefore 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 will dine with him, and he with Me. He who overcomes, I will grant to him to sit down with Me on My throne, as I also overcame and sat down with My Father on His throne. He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.’”​

Convince - to bring (as by argument) to belief, consent, or a course of action; to persuade (sway, convert, win over) (M-W).

This is a lot like a lawyer’s closing arguments where he must convince the jury to vote in favor of the verdict he proposed based upon the evidence he presented to them of the facts of the case. This is the turning point in the argument, where now a choice must be made, and a person’s future must be determined. Only, in this case, the ones being persuaded here to make a resolution are actually the ones on trial, and they must make the decision concerning their own destiny, whether or not they will choose to follow Jesus or shut the door in his face for eternity.

And, although Jesus is still being loving and gentle, he is warning them of the dangers of making the wrong choice. He is letting them know that he will chastise and reprove them, and so he urges them to turn from their sins of complacency, idolatry and spiritual adultery, and to return to him as their ONLY God and LORD. Although they have mostly rejected him and his Lordship over their lives, he has not rejected them. He is still calling out to them, still counseling, loving, urging and warning, and reminding them of what he did for them in dying on a cross so they could be free from sin. And, he is still inviting them into fellowship with him, if they will just open the doors of their hearts to him and let him be LORD of their lives.

And, so true to God, and to his nature, and to how he consistently has dealt with his rebellious children, down through the ages, he always offers the opportunity for restoration and renewal in relationship with him to the one who will turn from his sin and will turn to follow Jesus Christ with his or her life, and who will reject his or her idols to make Jesus his or her ONLY God. His message is most always to first confront us with our sins, then to warn of the consequences of our sin, then to call for repentance, and then to promise restoration and renewal for the penitent.

Yet, we must know here that if we choose to reject his voice, and to continue on our own course of living for sin and self, following after our own fleshly desires, while ignoring his counsel, that we won’t have the promise of heaven when we leave this earth, but a fearful expectation of eternal punishment in the fires of hell (Lu. 9:23-26; Ro. 8:1-17; Gal. 5:19-21; 1 Jn. 1:6). So, what will it be? Choose wisely, because your future depends on it.

Seek the Lord / An Original Work
July 20, 2012 / Based off Isaiah 55

“Come to Me all you who thirst; come to waters.
Listen to Me, and eat what’s good today,
And your soul will delight in richest of fare.
Give ear to Me, and you will live.
I have made an eternal covenant with you.
Wash in the blood of the Lamb.”

Seek the Lord while He may be found; call on Him.
Let the wicked forsake his way, in truth.
Let him turn to the Lord, and he will receive mercy.
Freely, God pardons him.
“For My thoughts are not your thoughts,
Nor are your ways My ways,”
declares the Lord, our God.

“My word that goes out of My mouth is truthful.
It will not return to Me unfulfilled.
My word will accomplish all that I desire,
And achieve the goal I intend.
You will go in joy, and be led forth in peace.
The mountains will burst into song… before you,
And all of the trees clap their hands.”

 

[Dave M]

Great write up as usual Sue !! do you consider the seven churches also 7 time periods in the church history and that we are in final period being the church of Laodicea, I have herd several bible teachers say this,. I know that matches well for the American culture but I do not know if it matches all over the world, wondering your thoughts on that? Just to make sure I stated that correctly do you believe the 7 churches Jesus wrote to also represent 7 different time periods in the church history and that we are in the last time period??

thanks

 

[Sue J Love]

Great write up as usual Sue !!

Thank you @Dave M for these encouraging words. I appreciate them! Glory to God!

do you consider the seven churches also 7 time periods in the church history and that we are in final period being the church of Laodicea, I have herd several bible teachers say this,. I know that matches well for the American culture but I do not know if it matches all over the world, wondering your thoughts on that? Just to make sure I stated that correctly do you believe the 7 churches Jesus wrote to also represent 7 different time periods in the church history and that we are in the last time period??

thanks

I live in the USA, so that is mostly what I know. I am not very familiar with the church across the world, except for what people share on here. Yet, it appears to me that the church of Laodicea matches well the vast majority of the church here in America, but then so do the letters to some of the other churches, too, such as the ones describing those who had forsaken their first love, or those who had a reputation of being alive, but were mostly dead, or those who were putting up easily enough with false prophets and prophetesses and a false gospel, etc.

As far as America is concerned, I would say that the letters which were all positive and didn't have anything bad to say about them describe the minority of the church here, at least right now. But, in one respect or another, I believe all the letters describe parts of the church of all generations at one time or another, especially since the letters were written to actual churches then, and we know that the church has gone through many transitions throughout the generations since then. Here in is the saying, "If the shoe fits, wear it," or something like that.

So, what I believe on this subject is that all scripture is God-breathed and is profitable for doctrine, reproof, encouragement, etc. for all people of all generations, but that the application of it will depend largely on where people are in their lives at any given time. Largely I believe the American church is Laodicea, but again, it fits, in part, with the others, too. I have a feeling that the church in some other nations fit better with the church in Smyrna and the one in Philadelphia, for they are being persecuted severely for righteousness' sake, but there are Christians in the USA whose lives match those of these churches, too, though I don't know if entire congregations do or not. Yet, I do believe God is going to take the church in America through some hard times in order to purify her and to bring his wandering ones back to him, so I believe transitions are on the way.