Participants: Ivor Meyers (Host), James Rafferty (Host), Jason Bradley, Yvonne Lewis
Series Code: SISS
Program Code: SISS000014A
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00:30 You are not going to believe this...
00:32 we... are on the last church. Yvonne: Wow... 00:35 James: We have reached number seven... 00:36 Jason: Hmmm... hmmm... 00:38 James: And it's going to be just as interesting 00:40 and just as significant as the other six have been. 00:42 We are at the end of one cycle of sevens 00:45 in the Book of Revelation, 00:47 we've got three more cycles to go 00:48 and they're going to layer on top of each other 00:52 and bring out more and more of the story 00:54 until they just magnify in the final fourth section... 00:57 the final fourth cycle. 00:59 Ivor: Those are the seven seals, the seven trumpets 01:02 and the seven plagues. 01:03 James: Then the... the three that are to come 01:06 are the seven seals, 01:08 the seven trumpets and the seven salvation signs. 01:11 Ivor: Ah ha... okay... 01:12 so you're not including the seven plagues. 01:14 James: The seven plagues are in there... 01:15 there are seven kings in there, 01:17 there are seven thunders and the trumpets, 01:19 you know there's more than just the four cycles of seven 01:23 by the four cycles of seven... in the sense of epics... 01:27 from Apostolic Age down to the end of time and beyond, 01:30 well, we need to start with prayer 01:32 and then... as we start with prayer 01:34 we need to get right into 01:35 the seventh church... the Laodicean church, 01:37 Yvonne, would you like to pray for us? 01:38 Yvonne: Sure... sure... "Father God... 01:40 what a privilege it is for us to come together 01:42 again to study your Word and to glean these precious truths 01:46 from your Word so thank you so much 01:49 and please be with us, guide us, direct us, 01:52 help that this discussion will magnify you 01:54 and show your love for us, 01:56 we bless your name this day in Jesus' name, amen. " 01:58 All: "Amen... " 02:00 James: Jason, take us into the verses here 02:02 in Revelation chapter 3 beginning with verse 14. 02:05 Jason: All right, 02:07 "And unto the angel of the church of the Laodiceans write; 02:12 These things saith the Amen, the faithful and true witness, 02:17 the beginning of the creation of God; 02:20 I know thy works, that thou art neither cold nor hot: 02:24 I would thou wert cold or hot. 02:28 So then because thou art lukewarm, 02:31 and neither cold nor hot, 02:32 I will spew thee out of my mouth. 02:35 Because thou sayest, 02:37 I am rich and increased with goods, 02:39 and have need of nothing; 02:40 and knowest not that thou art wretched, 02:43 and miserable, and poor, and blind, and naked: 02:47 I counsel thee to buy of me gold tried in the fire, 02:53 that thou mayest be rich; and white raiment, 02:56 that thou mayest be clothed, 02:57 and that the shame of thy nakedness 03:00 do not appear; 03:02 and anoint thine eyes with eyesalve, 03:06 that thou mayest see. 03:10 As many as I love, I rebuke and chasten: 03:15 be zealous therefore, and repent. 03:20 Behold I stand at the door, and knock: 03:22 if any man hear my voice, and open the door, 03:25 I will come in to him, and will sup with him, 03:27 and he with me. 03:28 To him that overcometh 03:30 will I grant to sit with me in my throne, 03:32 even as I also overcame, 03:34 and am set down with my Father in his throne. 03:37 He that hath an ear, 03:39 let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches. " 03:42 James: The angel of the Laodiceans... 03:45 the true witness... it says here, 03:48 "the beginning of the creation of God... 03:51 the amen, the faithful... the true witness... " 03:52 and He is... He's giving us true witness here 03:55 the Laodicean church is the last church... 03:56 the seventh church... it takes us from about the 1850s 04:00 all the way down to the very end of time 04:02 and Laodicea means, "people judged... " 04:04 it is the time of judgment and it's interesting isn't it? 04:09 Because we're living in a society today 04:11 where people just don't like the idea of judgment. 04:13 Yvonne: That's right, "don't judge me... " 04:15 James: "Don't judge me... don't judge me... " 04:18 and yet, Jesus, now... you should be like Jesus, 04:20 if you're a Christian, you should be like Jesus... 04:23 Jesus wasn't condemning, He was... He was loving... 04:25 He was forgiving, He was merciful 04:27 and so Jesus is the one that introduces Himself here 04:30 as truthful and faithful witness, 04:32 He's going to be faithful to us, 04:34 He's going to be truthful with us, 04:36 He is going to tell us like it is... 04:39 now, when we talk about being faithful 04:43 in the scenario of marriage, in the scenario of romance, 04:47 in the scenario of relationship, 04:49 have you ever been in a situation 04:50 where you are in public 04:54 and there's something amiss in your appearance? 04:58 Maybe you've got a little something on your face 05:01 you know... a little something over here... 05:03 and you know, you might be around friends 05:05 you might be around acquaintances, 05:06 they're not going to really say anything, 05:08 and it's kind of hard... but if your wife is there, 05:11 if your husband is there, 05:12 I mean, if it's... if it's my wife, if Risé... 05:15 and if I'm with her, I'm going to say, 05:17 "Hey, honey, honey, honey... take that off," 05:19 or "you got a little thing right here... " 05:20 or she's going to say, 05:21 "Hey, honey, honey, you need to get that off, 05:23 you got to get that thing right there. " 05:24 We are a little bit gun-shy when it comes to correcting people, 05:28 when it comes... but God is faithful, He's faithful... 05:31 Ivor: He's going to tell you the truth. 05:32 James: He's got to tell us the truth. 05:34 Ivor: The other day... I was driving home from church, 05:38 after having preached a... hopefully a great sermon... 05:42 and later on in the day, 05:45 I got a text from one of my church members, 05:48 the church member said to me, 05:50 "Hey, I loved your shoes today, new style... " 05:53 and I thought to myself, "What is he talking about?" 05:56 And I looked down at my shoes, 05:58 only to discover in horror... 06:01 that I had worn two different pairs of shoes for church, 06:06 and I thought to myself, "No one told me... 06:09 no one likes telling me, 06:11 where were the faithful witnesses?" 06:14 And for the guy that texted me, 06:17 if you're watching this, "Yes. " 06:22 So, you know, yeah... often we see people that 06:26 we're kind of embarrassed for them, 06:28 "Oh, I don't want to say anything, it's not my place... " 06:30 but Jesus describes Himself as the faithful witness, 06:33 "I'm going to tell you... " 06:34 you may be like... "Ah... at first... 06:37 but it's for your good. " 06:38 He tells us for our good, not to try to embarrass us, 06:42 not to try to make us look foolish 06:45 but He... He's out to save us 06:46 so He's going to be as honest as He is with us 06:53 to let us know, "Listen, you're in danger 06:55 and this needs to be corrected. " 06:57 James: In fact, it's not only that 07:00 He's not wanting to embarrass us 07:03 but He doesn't want us to be in there, 07:04 because... because it says right here in the text 07:07 down below, it says, 07:08 and right here I'm looking at verse 18, 07:11 "I counsel thee to buy of me gold tried in the fire, 07:13 that thou mayest be rich and white raiment... 07:15 that thou mayest be clothed, 07:16 that the shame of thy nakedness do not appear... " 07:20 He doesn't want us to be embarrassed, 07:22 He doesn't want us to be seen as naked, 07:24 as without the covering of His righteousness, 07:27 the gift of His righteousness, so let's go through the text, 07:30 let's just start from the beginning, 07:32 we've done the true and the faithful witness, 07:34 and then it says here in verse 15, 07:36 "I know thy works... " 07:37 Yvonne: Well, can we go back, I'm sorry... 07:39 James: Yeah, let's go back, sure, what have you got there? 07:40 Yvonne: Verse 14... one of the things that... 07:42 there are some Denominations 07:44 that teach that Jesus was a created being 07:47 and this phrase here, 07:49 "the beginning of the creation of God... " 07:52 is often misinterpreted as Jesus having been created 07:58 but we know that in Him was life 08:02 unborrowed, underived, 08:04 He has always been... "In the beginning was the Word 08:06 and the Word was with God and the Word was God... " 08:10 so we know that He was there from the beginning 08:13 but this phrase is a little misleading... so... 08:16 Ivor: Yeah, what it... what the phrase is saying 08:19 is that creation did not begin without Him... 08:22 Yvonne: Okay, so He is the source... 08:23 Ivor: He is the starting... 08:25 Yvonne: He is the source of creation. 08:26 Ivor: Exactly... He is the starting of the creation. 08:28 Yvonne: So the key is in the 08:29 translation of the word... "beginning... " 08:31 Ivor: Hmmm... hmmm... hmmm... hmmm... 08:33 understanding it not as... He was the first to be created 08:38 but He was the start of creation... 08:41 He started creation... and without Him, 08:44 Creation would not have been. Yvonne: Hmmm... hmmm... 08:45 James: I'd like to add to that, there's a verse in Revelation 13 08:49 that will also give us some light on this 08:52 and it's one that is powerful 08:54 because Revelation 13 is a very challenging chapter... 08:58 it's very eschatologically charged with 09:02 the Mark of the Beast and these two powers that are coming in 09:05 and forcing worship... 09:07 and in the middle of that you can imagine, 09:08 "Well, where is... you know, where is Christ... 09:10 where is the gospel in all this?" 09:12 Well, He's smack dab in the middle, 09:13 the lamb... the cross... we talked about the lamb 09:16 as being a symbol of the cross because it's introduced... 09:19 we'll see in Revelation 5 as the lamb slain 09:21 and it says here in Revelation chapter 13 09:23 and I'm looking here at verse 8, 09:26 that all that dwell upon the earth shall worship him, 09:29 whose names are not written in the book of life of the Lamb 09:34 slain from the foundation of the world. 09:36 Yvonne: So... worship who? 09:38 James: To worship the beast... 09:39 to worship of the beast and receive his mark and his image. 09:42 So... "all of them on the earth who'll worship him, 09:44 the beast, his image... whose names are not written 09:46 in the book of the lamb slain... 09:49 the book of life of the lamb slain 09:50 from the foundation of the world, 09:52 we know that Jesus wasn't literally slain 09:54 at the foundation of the world. 09:55 Yvonne: Right... Ivor: Hmmm... hmmm... 09:57 James: But before the foundation of the world... 09:58 before creation started, 10:00 before this whole beautiful picture... 10:02 that God has brought to us in Genesis... took place, 10:06 there was this plan... 10:09 this "what if" pause... if you will 10:13 and God said, "You know what? 10:15 There's the possibility when we create free agency... 10:19 that there might be what has taken place there 10:23 and that is the possibility that they would choose 10:27 to go in a different direction 10:28 so before we put this creation in place, 10:30 we need to have Plan B... 10:32 and that Plan B is described here as 10:34 "the lamb slain before the foundation of the world... 10:36 before the foundation of the world... Jesus Christ... " 10:38 so the beginning of the creation, 10:40 God... is the fact that He was there from the beginning 10:43 and also the fact that the plan 10:45 for Jesus Christ to become a human... 10:48 to become one with the human race was there in the beginning, 10:51 that was created from the foundation... 10:53 that was from the very beginning of God's creation... 10:56 that plan for Jesus Christ to become a man. 11:00 James: So, the beginning of the creation of God... 11:04 "I know thy works, that thou art neither cold nor hot: 11:10 I would that thou were" get this... "cold" stop... 11:15 Ivor: Hmmm... hmmm... Yvonne: Hmmm... hmmm... 11:17 James: "I wish you were cold. " Yvonne: Hmmm... hmmm... 11:19 James: Really? Really? Really? Why? 11:25 now I understand why He wishes we were hot... 11:28 but why would He wish we were cold? 11:29 Let's just pause on that for just a minute... 11:31 why would He wish we were cold? 11:33 Yvonne: It's a place of discomfort. 11:34 James: Okay. 11:36 Yvonne: You're not comfortable if you're cold... 11:39 James: Yeah, yeah... you want to get warm. 11:41 Yvonne: Yeah... yeah... it's a place of discomfort. 11:44 James: And the colder you are, 11:45 the hotter you want to get, isn't that it? 11:46 even warm isn't good enough, 11:48 I've experienced that in the few days I've been here, 11:53 72... is not good... I want it at 74... 76... 77... 11:57 now I'm getting hot... Yvonne: Yeah, yeah... 12:00 James: Now I'm getting hot... so God is saying, basically, 12:02 "you know, it would be better if you were cold 12:04 because if you're cold, you'll feel your need. " 12:06 Yvonne: Right... 12:07 James: When you're cold... you'll feel it, 12:08 when you're lukewarm, you don't feel your need 12:10 but when you're cold... you feel your need, 12:11 it's not that God wants us to be cold, 12:13 God does not want... 12:14 cold... in practical terms... 12:17 in spiritual terms... cold is lost... 12:19 cold is lost... okay... 12:21 it's out in the world... it's lost... cold is lost, 12:23 so God doesn't want us to be lost, 12:24 He doesn't want us to be just like... out there... 12:27 but when we're in the pig pen... feeding the pigs, 12:30 then we think, "Wait a minute... 12:33 wait a minute, wait a minute... 12:34 my Father... even his servants do better than this, 12:38 I'm going to go back to Him 12:40 and He'll make me as one of his servants, 12:42 I'm sure He'll make me as one of His servants, 12:45 phew, I got that wrong... " far beyond that. 12:47 So, yeah, so God would rather have us be cold because 12:49 then we can feel our need and that's what the goal is. 12:52 Yvonne: I was... recently I was... 12:55 well, let me just preface this by saying that 12:58 we too... even though we're in ministry... 13:02 can... can kind of move over to a warm place 13:04 and not be hot... on fire... 13:08 and I was praying about something 13:11 and I just wasn't getting an answer 13:15 I'm like, "Lord, I'm just... I'm just not hearing you... 13:18 please... tell me what to do, I don't know what to do, 13:21 I'm not hearing you, I'm not... I don't know what to do... " 13:25 and I got this impression that the Lord wanted me to be... 13:29 He wanted to stimulate some kind of passion in me again, 13:34 the fire... let's turn up the fire a little bit, 13:38 have me really seeking Him harder to get the answer 13:42 because I wasn't hearing and I was just 13:46 kind of praying about it but I wasn't really... 13:49 like really laboring over it 13:51 and I think sometimes we can get where we just... kind of... 13:57 lackadaisical... you know... in asking the Lord, 14:00 "Well, could you help me with this?" 14:01 No He wants... "Let's turn up that fire a little bit, 14:04 I'm your first love... " 14:06 and so... that... I think we should really 14:09 think about how this applies to us too 14:12 even though we're not "lukewarm" per se... 14:15 but we can kind of go over into that lukewarm area. 14:19 Jason: Another interesting thing about being like lukewarm... 14:22 when you're... if you have one foot in the church 14:25 and one foot in the world, you're not enjoying either one, 14:29 you're not... Yvonne: That's true. 14:30 James: It's miserable... Yvonne: Yeah. 14:32 Jason: You're not enjoying God's kind of benefits 14:36 of being faithful to God 14:39 and then on the other side you're not enjoying 14:42 what you shouldn't be enjoying... your sin... 14:45 so, you have... it's better to be hot... 14:49 Yvonne: Right. 14:50 Ivor: Remember where this is all unfolding... 14:52 it's unfolding within the context 14:54 of the seven-branched candlestick, where God is like, 14:57 "Look, your fire is going out, I want you to be hot... 15:00 you're fire is going out, you're not... 15:03 that flame isn't burning in you like it should be... " 15:07 that the flame is dying... is what He's saying. 15:11 So, yeah, it's crucial for us to understand 15:14 the condition of the church in this time... 15:19 is really a dangerous position to be in... 15:23 and He needs us to recognize it 15:24 and the problem is... that the people in this... 15:28 in this portion of Scripture are not recognizing their condition. 15:33 Yvonne: Hmmm... hmmm... hmmm... hmmm... 15:35 James: And I don't know if you've noticed this 15:36 in... in our conversation so far 15:39 but unlike all the previous churches, 15:42 we naturally relate to the verses we're reading, 15:48 it's almost "given" that this is us, 15:51 this is our generation, this is our church, 15:54 I want to say generation... this is our space in time... 15:56 this is it... we're just reading this verse and going, 15:59 "Yeah, this is... yeah... God would want us hot and cold, 16:01 you know how it is, we get lukewarm and... 16:04 the other ones were like, "that fits... 16:06 they were persecuted and oh yeah, 16:07 they went through this experience, 16:09 oh yeah, they went through that open door, that's right... 16:10 we need to remember, oh Smyrna, yeah... " 16:12 but we're reading this... we're going... 16:15 "Yeah, that's... that is us isn't it... " 16:17 oooh... you're just reading and you're thinking, 16:20 "Oh yeah, that's... wow... " 16:22 and... but what I love about these verses is 16:25 there's a remedy... 16:27 and the person that's speaking this... 16:29 one of the worst rebukes, 16:31 I mean, when we look at the churches 16:32 we talked about how two of them... 16:33 Smyrna and Philadelphia don't have any rebukes 16:36 okay, then we looked at the other churches, 16:38 they have a number of rebukes against them 16:40 and we saw the sandwich, you know, 16:42 and truly... they are sandwiches, 16:45 I love that because you've got the good... the positive, 16:48 then you've got the correction right here, 16:49 and you've got... "And I'm gong to give you, 16:51 I'm going to give you and I'm going to give you" 16:52 you've got the sandwich in there, 16:54 of all the churches though this church right here 16:58 receives the worst rebuke 17:00 but also receives the greatest admonition, 17:03 "as many as I love, I rebuke and chasten... " 17:07 but the worst rebuke is, 17:09 "You know what? You make me want to throw up 17:11 you make me want to throw up... " 17:13 I just want to get... I just feel sick... 17:15 and now... the way that I like to portray that is, 17:19 not so much that God is just like... eeewww... 17:23 but so much as that He is sick about that... 17:26 aren't there things that people do... things that you do 17:29 that just... you're just sick about it... 17:31 "Why did I do that... why did I say that? 17:33 I'm just sick about that... oh, I'm just sick about that," 17:36 that's the picture of Christ, "I just feel bad about this... " 17:39 and the reason why I think is because as we move through this 17:41 we realize that... and that's verse 16... 17:46 "So then because thou art lukewarm, 17:48 and neither cold nor hot: I will spew thee out of my mouth. " 17:50 That's the sickness... that's where He's feeling sick 17:52 because we realize... why is this? 17:54 "Because... " verse 17... 17:56 "thou sayest, I'm rich, and increased with goods, 18:00 and have need of... " what? 18:01 Yvonne: "nothing... " James: "nothing... 18:03 and you don't know that you're miserable and wretched 18:06 and poor and blind and naked... " 18:08 ah... now this is key right here 18:10 because there are only two places in the Bible, 18:13 where the word "wretched" is used, 18:15 there is Revelation chapter 3 and verse 17 18:19 and Romans chapter 7, those are the only true places 18:21 where the word "wretched" is used, 18:23 and what's interesting about this is 18:25 that the word is used in those two places differently. 18:28 In this place, there are people 18:32 that are professing to be followers of Christ, 18:34 "which increased with goods and in need of nothing" 18:37 who don't realize that they're wretched 18:39 they're not aware of it but in Romans 7... 18:42 Paul is speaking of his experience 18:44 and the experience of the Christian 18:46 and he's saying, "the law is good and holy 18:49 and just but me... whew... 18:51 I mean, I know what I'm supposed to do but I don't do it 18:55 and I know there are things I'm not supposed to do 18:57 but I keep doing those... " and then he says, 18:59 "Oh, wretched man that I am... " 19:01 that's the key... "that I am... " 19:04 the Laodicean church... not wretched... 19:06 Paul... "wretched man that I am 19:08 who can deliver me from this body of this death?" 19:11 And he says, "I thank God... through Jesus Christ. " 19:13 Now, what Paul is doing here is 19:15 he's showing us the two ways that we respond to Christ. 19:19 See, what happens is when Christ comes to us... 19:22 the faithful witness... and shares with us, 19:24 "Hey, there's something on your... 19:26 there's something there on... " 19:28 "There is not! don't, don't... don't touch me, 19:30 now get away... there's nothing on my face, 19:32 there's nothing there... " you see what I'm saying? 19:34 Or this, "Oh please, take it off take it off, take it off. " 19:36 Yvonne: Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. 19:38 James: you see... so... Paul got... he's got that... 19:40 a lot of people think, "Oh Paul, he was just... 19:42 Romans 7 isn't really the Christian experience, 19:44 Romans 8 is the Christian experience... " 19:45 well, that's because we chaptered the Bible 19:47 but originally the Bible was never chaptered... 19:50 there was never Romans 7 and a Romans 8, 19:52 originally it was just a continuum... 19:53 Romans 7 is the continuum into Romans 8... 19:58 it just continues into Romans 8, 19:59 Romans 8 is the continuum of Romans 7, 20:01 so, to get to Romans 8 you have to go through Romans 7. 20:05 Ivor: To realize your wretchedness. 20:06 James: Yeah, you have to realize your wretchedness 20:08 to get... and the Laodicean church 20:10 is stuck in Romans 7, we could actually put them 20:12 in Romans 7 where they're saying, 20:13 "I know what I'm supposed to do... " 20:15 I know the law is good and just and holy 20:16 and even though I'm not doing what I'm supposed to do, 20:18 shhh... don't tell anyone that, 20:20 and I know I'm not supposed to do that 20:22 but shhh... don't tell anyone I'm doing that... " 20:23 whereas Paul is not like that, all he's saying... 20:25 "You know... this is me... this is me... 20:28 honestly, this is me... 20:30 but I have a hope, I have a Savior, 20:35 I have a husband, He's faithful, 20:38 He sticks by me, He loves me... 20:41 in my unfaithfulness, he points things out, 20:43 He does it because He loves me 20:44 and He's going to help, He's going to deliver me 20:47 and I'm going to go into that Romans 8 experience. " 20:49 Ivor: I have a remedy, there is a... 20:51 we talked about cross checking, 20:57 we've been cross checking with every church 20:59 and we closed off with Philadelphia 21:02 and we saw their whole experience... 21:05 Adam and Eve... perfection, they fall, 21:08 Smyrna... which is what? Persecution... 21:10 that reminds us of the Exodus in Egypt 21:13 or their time in Egypt, we have... 21:16 Pergamos... which reflects the time of compromise 21:19 within Israel once they got into the Promise Land, 21:23 Thyatira... Babylon... 21:25 the Children of Israel end up in Babylonian captivity 21:28 because of their rebellion... then we have Jezebel... 21:31 we saw Sardis... those coming out of Babylon 21:35 and beginning the work of Reformation, 21:37 ties right in with Ezra 21:39 and the work of the Children of Israel 21:42 leaving Babylon and going back to rebuild 21:44 but they... they stopped building, 21:46 you see Philadelphia which summarizes... 21:48 which brings together the people of God 21:51 to finish the house of God 21:52 relating to the Millerite Movement 21:54 and then... this is amazing... because 21:56 Jesus comes the second time in the seventh church 22:02 so what would be the parallel when Jesus came the first time? 22:07 What was the condition of Israel 22:10 when Jesus came the first time? James: They didn't need Him... 22:14 Ivor: They were neither hot nor cold... they were lukewarm, 22:18 so lukewarm that when Jesus came, it was three wise men... 22:22 no one else was even looking for Him, 22:25 there were wise men from the east 22:28 that were prepared for the coming of Christ 22:31 and so in the same sense, we have to realize, 22:34 "Whoa, history is being repeated... " 22:37 there are going to be people... and here's the thing 22:39 the Jews put stock in the fact that they... 22:43 "Hey, I've been a Jew for X long... " right... 22:47 so what are we doing today? 22:48 You ever heard of "a 4G?" 22:49 That's a term for Adventists, did you know that? 22:53 James: No, I didn't know that. 22:55 Yvonne: 4 G? James: Enlighten us... 22:56 Ivor: Yeah. Yvonne: No, unpack that for us. 22:59 Ivor: "I'm a 4th G Adventist. " Yvonne: Oh... 23:01 Ivor: What? Fourth Generation... 23:02 Yvonne: Okay... laughing... Ivor: 4 G... 23:06 so I have a special connection with God because I'm 4G... 23:09 what are you? I'm 3G... 23:10 what are you? I'm 2G... you know... 23:12 or "I'm 5 G... " 23:13 James: Oh, you weren't raised in the church? 23:15 Oh, you guys are interesting... 23:18 Ivor: Really... there is only 1G we are all... 23:23 God doesn't give us kudos 23:25 because our father was an Adventist or... 23:28 no... 1G... everyone of us must be born again, 23:31 everyone of us must have our own experience 23:33 and can not put stock in... 23:35 "I know the truth... and my family and their family" 23:37 so that's what the Jews in Christ's time were doing, 23:42 and the remedy for that... 23:44 it's interesting because there was a remnant... 23:48 within the people of God so some were lukewarm 23:51 some were cold... but there was a remnant 23:53 and even the remnant kind of struggled but they had a remedy 23:57 and that remedy was the cross, because think about it... 24:01 Peter thought he was hot... Yvonne: Yes. 24:04 Ivor: "I'm not going to deny you no way... " 24:08 it was not until his encounter with the cross 24:11 and I believe, that's the remedy for the Laodicean church, 24:16 Christ and Him crucified, right, 24:19 Christ lifted up as a remedy 24:21 because when we fix our eyes on Christ, 24:24 "Woe is me... " 24:26 remember when John sees Him and he falls as dead at His feet, 24:31 when Daniel sees him, he says, 24:32 "my comeliness was turned into... " what? 24:34 Corruption... he is acknowledging 24:37 that his condition without Christ is miserable, wretched, 24:44 naked, blind... so when we see Jesus, 24:47 we see ourselves for who we really are 24:50 and we see Jesus for who He really is, 24:52 and that is the remedy, that is what opens our eyes, 24:55 that is what clothes us with the white raiment, 24:58 we are washed in His blood and sacrifice, 25:01 and it's interesting that he says, 25:05 "I will cause you to sit on my throne," 25:07 right? "those who overcome" 25:09 but look... you can't... there's no throne... 25:11 no crown... before the cross... 25:14 so to overcome... we need the cross... 25:17 and then... the throne... 25:19 Yvonne: When... when... we talk about... when... 25:25 here it talks about how... because you say, 25:29 "I'm rich and increased with goods 25:31 and have need of nothing... " 25:33 I think about Society, at large, 25:35 I think about our Country, 25:37 I think about the fact that years ago, 25:38 we sent missionaries out to third-world countries 25:41 to win souls for Christ 25:44 and now they need to send missionaries here, 25:46 because the third-world countries 25:48 are growing exponentially, 25:49 because they know that they have a need, 25:52 but here, we are pushing God out of everything, 25:56 we're pushing Him out of just everything... 25:59 James: We're self-sufficient... Yvonne: We're self-sufficient... 26:02 self-reliant... it's all about us... 26:05 and in so doing, we feel... we feel like... 26:08 we don't need... what do we need? 26:10 But if we only knew what we are missing... 26:13 if people only knew what they were missing... 26:17 by not having God... by not... you know... 26:20 by not knowing Jesus Christ for themselves... 26:23 they would... 26:24 and that's what we're all about... 26:26 just trying to share that. 26:27 Jason: Well, when we turn on the news, 26:28 we see what a Society without God looks like, 26:31 we see all these killings and rapes and murders and... 26:35 just... I mean... all kinds of stuff 26:37 that we see on the news, 26:39 that's what a Society without God looks like, 26:41 they took God... they're taking Him out of schools 26:44 and everything else 26:45 but they're introducing all the things that are spoken against 26:50 in the Word of God... 26:51 and then you wonder why all this stuff is going on. 26:54 James: Hmmm... and then we're highly medicated, 26:57 Society is highly medicated... with drugs, with sports, 27:00 with entertainment, all of this stuff is calculated, 27:04 we'll see this in Revelation 16 27:05 with the unclean spirits like frogs 27:08 it's all calculated to medicate Society 27:10 so that we don't feel the need of Jesus, 27:11 in some of these third-world countries 27:13 where they don't have that much stuff... 27:15 now they're catching up... it's growing there, 27:17 the medication is being shared more and more 27:19 because you know that's why... that's the danger 27:21 that Satan sees to His kingdom 27:23 is that these countries would feel their need 27:26 so he tries to soothe them with this same medication, 27:29 we got about 30 seconds left and I hate to close this out 27:31 but we're going to continue with the Laodicean church 27:34 let's just close with a word of prayer, 27:36 "Father I just want to thank you again for your Word... 27:38 and for the remedy in Jesus Christ... 27:41 and as we look to Him... as we lift Him up... 27:44 we pray that He will indeed become precious to us 27:47 and attractive to us and that we will hear His voice 27:50 calling... beckoning... outside the door 27:52 knocking for entrance and that we would find 27:55 a way, by your grace, to open that door, 27:58 to let Him in and to sup with us and for us to sup with Him 28:01 so continue to guide us 28:03 as we study this beautiful message 28:04 of the Laodicean church that helps us to see our need 28:07 help us, guide us, direct us we pray 28:09 and those watching, in Jesus' name, amen. " 28:11 All: "Amen... " |
Revised 2016-08-23