The Lukewarm Church is Today's Church
Prophecy of Revelation 3:14-22 -is now in fulfilment
Rev 3:14-22 KJV
V14 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; V15 I know thy works, that thou art neither cold nor hot: I would thou wert cold or hot. V16 So then because thou art lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will spue thee out of my mouth. V17 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: V18 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. V19 As many as I love, I rebuke and chasten: be zealous therefore, and repent. V20 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. V21To 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. V22 He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches.Interpretation and fulfilment:
V14 '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;'
These things are said to us by Christ, the Amen -the One who is speaking at our present day -the close of the dispensation of the Church. 'The faithful and true witness' -He is the One who in Him very self declared to us God. 'The beginning of the creation of God' -the creation of God is the Church itself, being the first of all humanity to be reborn from spiritual death through Him. Founded on Himself, being the first to accomplish life from the dead. Col 1:18.
v15 'I know thy works, that thou art neither cold nor hot: I would thou wert cold or hot.'
'I know thy works' -Christ knows exactly what is in our hearts. There is nothing that can be hidden from His sight. Works are nearly always misunderstood as being what is outward and evident to all. But works are firstly what is in the heart. Outward works are the mere results.
'that thou art neither cold nor hot' -Those who call themselves Christians today are not icy cold in their commitment to Him, neither are they boiling hot in their commitment to Him.
'I would thou wert cold or hot,' -Christ wishes that we were either totally committed or totally uncommitted to Him.
v16 'So then because thou art lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will spue thee out of my mouth.'
This state of tepidity warrants severe judgement from Christ. Like a drink that is delightful hot or cold but nauseating when lukewarm you spurt it out in disgust or distaste. If we are lukewarm in our commitment to Christ we will be spued out by Him into the Tribulation instead of being taken up to heaven at the Rapture (ref. 1 Thess 4:16). There are many scriptures which give indication of His rejection of that which is not right in His sight -Mt 7:21-23, Mt 13:24-30, Mt 13:47-50, Mt 25:1-13.
v17 'Because thou sayest, I am rich, and increased with goods, and have need of nothing' -The lukewarm Christians think that they are completely blessed by Him. They say to themselves in their heart that they have great spiritual blessings and have no need for anything more.
'And knowest not that thou art wretched and miserable, and poor, and blind, and naked' -They are completely unaware that they are spiritually impoverished. Their minds are darkened as to their true state.
v18 '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.'
'I counsel thee to buy of me gold tried in the fire, that thou mayest be rich' -Yet Christ offers us sound counsel and remedies for our state. Though they think they need nothing, yet they need faith which is pure because it has been severely tested, 1 Pt 1:7. Faith here, is about our level of commitment to Him. It will be a test of our faith to put all of our trust in Him.
'And white raiment, that thou mayest be clothed, and that the shame of thy nakedness do not appear' -They need Christ's own righteousness to be given to them and they need to do away with their own idea of righteousness, Rev 19:8. They are not clothed with good works but are naked. Their nakedness of not having being made righteous by God would appear if they were found to be going through the Tribulation by unbelievers.
'And anoint thine eyes with eyesalve, that thou mayest see' -They are blind to spiritual things and do not understand them, Eph 1:18. They need to ask Him for true spiritual revelation and understanding of all things -especially to see and understand their own miserable state.
v19 'As many as I love, I rebuke and chasten: be zealous therefore, and repent.'
This is said specifically and directly to those who are true Christians and not to the false, because only true sons are chastised, Heb 12:8. The true Christians will hear His message and receive the stern rebuke for their folly of half hearted commitment to Christ and half hearted submission to the workings of the Holy Spirit.
v20 '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.' -To those who think that they know Him, Christ is knocking at the door of your heart asking for your permission to come into your heart. If anyone does so they can enjoy sweet communion and fellowship with Him for the first time. To those who do know Him, but have never fully surrendered to Him after conversion, Christ is knocking at the door of your heart asking for your permission to let Him completely in and fully have His way with you. If anyone does so they can fellowship with Him on a level of intimacy never before experienced.
v21 '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.' -Christ's great personal overcoming was in the Garden of Gethsemane where He struggled within himself to surrender his life to torturous death and the will of His Father. We see there the human aspect of the Son of God. Once He submitted himself to the will of His Father, He was crucified unto death, was buried, and rose again. We more so, as fallen creatures, naturally put up a strong resistance to submit ourselves to the will of God. His will for us is not physical death itself but spiritual death to self. We too are to submit to the will of God, spiritually die to self, be buried, and rise again a renewed creature. If we truly and fully give our lives and commitment to Jesus Christ we will have overcome this great struggle and will be rewarded with great honour with Him in heaven.
v22 'He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches.'
Jpt. thebibletruthsite.tripod.com
