Peace and grace in the love of our Lord Jesus Christ.
We are still discussing Revelation 3.
According to Tabernacle Teaching, Revelation 2-3 refers to the seven sprinklings of blood before the Ark of the Covenant.
It means the seven epistlesfor the seven churches of the Gentiles or the last sanctificationdone by Jesus for the seven churches of the Gentilesor the congregation in the last days to make them perfect or without blemish like Jesus. They become the perfect Bride of heaven who is ready to welcome Jesus' second coming on the glorious clouds to meet Him, the Heavenly Bridegroom, forever.
There are seven churches of the Gentilesthat experience the sprinkling of blood as follows.
We learn the seventh church, namely the church of the Laodiceans, the last church in the book of Revelation. They refer to the church in the last days.
Revelation 3: 15-17
3:15 "I know your works, that you are neither cold nor hot. I could wish you were cold or hot.
3:16 "So then, because you are lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will vomit you out of My mouth.
3:17 "Because you say, 'I am rich, have become wealthy, and have need of nothing' --and do not know that you are wretched, miserable, poor, blind, and naked--
THE SPIRITUALITYof the church of the Laodiceans or the church of God in the last days is in LUKEWARMNESSas follows.
Praise the Lord because He wants to sprinkle the blood or help the church of the Laodiceans or the one in the last days with these two ways.
Revelation 3: 20
3:20. "Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears My voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and dine with him, and he with Me.
'dine with him'= fellowship.
'he with Me' = there is no separation anymore.
The time when God rebukes and advises us through the teaching Word sharper than any two-edged sword as well as chastens us with the whip is the same as God is knocking the door of our heart.
There are two attitudes of Godin knocking our heart as follows.
We must open the door of our heart by being meekas follows.
The Lord knocks the door of human heart from age to age. Ones who open the heart will rejoice and get salvation. On the contrary, ones who shut the heart will perish and get destruction.
The knocking and stretching of God's right hand cost the sacrifice of Christ. Do not harden your heart when the Lord is knocking at your heart. Open the door of your heart and let His right hand touch and hold you.
God blesses us.
We are still discussing Revelation 3.
According to Tabernacle Teaching, Revelation 2-3 refers to the seven sprinklings of blood before the Ark of the Covenant.
It means the seven epistlesfor the seven churches of the Gentiles or the last sanctificationdone by Jesus for the seven churches of the Gentilesor the congregation in the last days to make them perfect or without blemish like Jesus. They become the perfect Bride of heaven who is ready to welcome Jesus' second coming on the glorious clouds to meet Him, the Heavenly Bridegroom, forever.
There are seven churches of the Gentilesthat experience the sprinkling of blood as follows.
- The church of EPHESUS(Revelation 2: 1-7) (it has been explained in General Service in Surabaya, July 27, 2014up to General Service in Surabaya, September 7, 2014). The church in Ephesus must return to the first loveto return to Paradise.
- The church of SMYRNA(Revelation 2: 8-11) that had to suffer. God said to them not to be afraid in the suffering, but faithful until death(it has been explained in General Service in Surabaya, September 14, 2014up to General Service in Surabaya, November 9, 2014).
- The church of PERGAMOS(Revelation 2: 12-17) that must leave the false teachings(it has been explained in Bible Study Service in Surabaya, November 17, 2014).
- The church of THYATIRA(Revelation 2:18-19) thatmust have the sanctification to the heart and deepest mind(it has been explained in General Service in Surabaya, January 4, 2015up to General Service in Surabaya, January 18, 2015).
- The church in SARDIS(Revelation 3: 1-6) that experiences spiritual revival and their spirituality is strong= being watchful(it has been explained in Prayer Service in Surabaya, January 21, 2015).
- The church in PHILADELPHIA(Revelation 3: 7-13) (it has been explained in General Service in Surabaya, March 8, 2015).
- The church of the LAODICEANS(Revelation 3: 14-22) (it has been explained in General Service in Surabaya, June 14, 2015).
We learn the seventh church, namely the church of the Laodiceans, the last church in the book of Revelation. They refer to the church in the last days.
Revelation 3: 15-17
3:15 "I know your works, that you are neither cold nor hot. I could wish you were cold or hot.
3:16 "So then, because you are lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will vomit you out of My mouth.
3:17 "Because you say, 'I am rich, have become wealthy, and have need of nothing' --and do not know that you are wretched, miserable, poor, blind, and naked--
THE SPIRITUALITYof the church of the Laodiceans or the church of God in the last days is in LUKEWARMNESSas follows.
- Being neither cold nor hot.
'cold' means the death experience resulting in the peace. All things are easy and light.
Not being cold means there is no peacebecause the heart keeps the evil and unclean desires.
'hot' means the resurrection experience with Jesus resulting in faithfulness and fervency in spirit in serving and ministering to God.
Not being hot means there is no faithfulness nor fervency in spiritin serving and ministering to God, even one leaves the service and ministry. - Being neither dead nor resurrected. It means there is no life renewal, but keeping the flesh characteristics.
Verse 17= egoism for all things are about oneself ('Iam rich, have become wealthy, and have need of nothing'). - Being wretched, miserable, poor, blind, and nakedor only exaggerating physical things or blessings without prioritizing the spiritual ones, namely God and the true teaching Word.
'have need of nothing'= including God.
Consequently, they are vomited by God. The vomit is disgusting and unclean. It will never be taken anymore. It means an everlasting separation from God. The spirituality falls down up to the perdition.
It is the same as Adam and Eve after they sinned and got naked. They were driven out of Eden and separated from God forever.
Praise the Lord because He wants to sprinkle the blood or help the church of the Laodiceans or the one in the last days with these two ways.
- The preaching of the true teaching Word sharper than any two-edged sword. It is sharp in giving advice and rebuking.
Revelation 3: 18-19
3:18. "I counsel youto buy from Me gold refined in the fire, that you may be rich; and white garments, that you may be clothed, that the shame of your nakedness may not be revealed; and anoint your eyes with eye salve, that you may see.
3:19 "As many as I love, I rebuke and chasten. Therefore be zealous and repent.
2 Timothy 4: 2
4:2. Preach the word! Be ready in season and out of season. Convince, rebuke, exhort, with all longsuffering and teaching.
The content of the true teaching Word sharper than any two-edged sword is as follows.- Convincing= showing the sin = the sword pierces us.
The Word pierces the hidden sins so that we can realize, regret, and confess our sins to God (vertical line) and others (horizontal line). After being forgiven, we do not repeat the sins.
After that, God will help all our problems. - Hard rebukebecause we often repeat the sin after we confess it. The hard rebuke makes us stop sinning and be set free from sin. We do not sin anymore although there are advantages, chances, threats, and even forces.
For example, Joseph did not sin with the wife of Potiphar although there were chance, advantage, and the consequence of being put in prison.
Being set free from sin, we can live in righteousness and holiness. - Exhortation.
- It is the guidance of God's hand to make us righteous and holy, even increasingly.
- It is also the guidance of God's hand to solve all problems, even the door of heaven can be open.
- Convincing= showing the sin = the sword pierces us.
- The chastening of God.
Revelation 3: 19
3:19. "As many as I love, I rebuke and chasten. Therefore be zealous and repent.
It comes because of rejecting the Word. It is the mercy and goodness of God to make us not perish, but return to the holiness. Returning to the holiness, there is the solution of all problems. Moreover, the door of heaven is opened for us.
Revelation 3: 20
3:20. "Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears My voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and dine with him, and he with Me.
'dine with him'= fellowship.
'he with Me' = there is no separation anymore.
The time when God rebukes and advises us through the teaching Word sharper than any two-edged sword as well as chastens us with the whip is the same as God is knocking the door of our heart.
There are two attitudes of Godin knocking our heart as follows.
- His patiencein waiting for us until we open the door of our heart. It happens in these forms.
- The preaching of the teaching Word repetitively.
- We are still given the chance to hear the Word.
Therefore, the servants of God must be patient in preaching the Word.
We must not be hopelesswhen we are in mistake, but keep on hearing the Word. Do not keep the mistake, but open the door of the heart to remove the sin and uncleanness out and put Jesus in the heart.
- Stretching out His right handthat is full of mercy and goodness to help and lift us up.
We must open the door of our heart by being meekas follows.
- Confessing all our sins, weaknesses, and condition honestly.
- We willingly throw away those things to fully receive the will of God in our lifealthough it is not in line with our will or dream.
Do not force God to do our will and we will find good thing someday. If we force God, we will regret.
The Lord knocks the door of human heart from age to age. Ones who open the heart will rejoice and get salvation. On the contrary, ones who shut the heart will perish and get destruction.
- The age of father God or the beginning that is counted from Adam to Abraham. The representative is Noah.
The men in the days of Noah were corrupted. They lived in sinsup to the peak as follows.- The sins concerning eating-drinking such as smoking, getting drunk, and drugs abuse.
- The sins concerning marrying-being given in marriage or sexuality sin with all its kinds.
1 Peter 3: 18-21
3:18. For Christ also suffered once for sins, the just for the unjust, that He might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh but made alive by the Spirit,
3:19 by whom also He went and preachedto the spirits in prison,
3:20 who formerly were disobedient, when once the Divine longsuffering waitedin the days of Noah, while the ark was being prepared, in which a few, that is, eight souls, were saved through water.
3:21 There is also an antitype which now saves us--baptism(not the removal of the filth of the flesh, but the answer of a good conscience toward God), through the resurrection of Jesus Christ,
'the Divine longsuffering waited'= knocking the door needs a patience.
'in which a few, that is, eight souls, were saved through water' = only a fewthat open the door of heart and the rest are hard-hearted.
The Lord knocks the hearts of men in the days of Noah through the PREACHING OF THE GOSPELor gospel Word. Noah was as the preacher of the truth. Unfortunately, only eight people from the family of Noah willingly opened the door of the heart for God by entering the ark of Noah. It means ENTERING THE RIGHT WATER BAPTISM.
Ther is only one ark of Noah. It means that there is one right water baptism only, namely one who has died to sin must be buried in water with Jesus to be raised up from water with Him and receive the new life or heavenly one. We live in righteousnessand do not sin anymore.
All men in the days of Noah, except the eight people, closed the door of their hearts. They KEPT ON KEEPING THEIR OWN WILL and sins up to the peak.
Consequently, they perish because of the flood.
2 Peter 3: 10-11
3:10. But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night, in which the heavens will pass away with a great noise, and the elements will melt with fervent heat; both the earth and the works that are in it will be burned up.
3:11 Therefore, since all these things will be dissolved, what manner of persons ought you to be in holy conduct and godliness,
The men in the last days will return to the days of Noah, namely in the sins up to the peak, so there is a warning from God that the world in the last days will be condemned with the fire and brimstone from heaven until destroyed. It will continue to the hell forever.
This is the warning from God for all of us!
Let us soften our heart to receive the will of God. We enter the right water baptism to get the new life, namely the one in righteousness.
The ark of Noah also refers to the shepherding pen.
Proverbs 12: 26
12:26. The righteous should choose his friends carefully, For the way of the wicked leads them astray.
Thus, we MUST ENTER THE SHEPHERDING PEN to persevere in doing the three main services to God after we are baptized of water. We can live in holiness and godlinessto wait for the second coming of the Lord.
If we are shepherded, we will be protected from the fire to come, namely physical and spiritual temptation, the fiery dart of the wicked, the condemnation to the world, the doomsday, and the fire of hell. Formerly, the house of Israel was protected in Goshen when the hail came with the burning fire while the Egyptians were being destroyed. Later, the hail will become the love that grows cold. The burning fire becomes the fire and brimstone from heaven or the doomsday. - The age of the Son of God or the middle one that is counted from Abraham to Jesus' first coming. The representative is Job.
The Lord knocked the door of his heart because he kept the self-truth.
Job 1: 1-3
1:1. There was a man in the land of Uz, whose name was Job; and that man was blameless and upright, and one who feared God and shunned evil.
1:2 And seven sons and three daughters were born to him.
1:3 Also, his possessions were seven thousand sheep, three thousand camels, five hundred yoke of oxen, five hundred female donkeys, and a very large household, so that this man was the greatest of all the people of the East.
Job 32: 1-2
32:1. So these three men ceased answering Job, because he was righteous in his own eyes.
32:2 Then the wrath of Elihu, the son of Barachel the Buzite, of the family of Ram, was aroused against Job; his wrath was aroused because he justified himself rather than God.
The facts found in the self-truth are as follows.- Covering sins by blaming others. One does not correct himself.
- Blaming God and the true teaching Word.
The Lord knocked the door of Job's heart through CHASTENING or TOTAL TEST. Finally, Job opened the door of his heart as follows.
Job 42: 5-6
42:5. "I have heard of You by the hearing of the ear, But now my eye sees You.
42:6 Therefore I abhor myself, And repent in dust and ashes."- He confessed that he had many faults, weaknesses, and sins. He felt unworthy, so he revoked his saying.
- Job felt nothing and unable.
- The age of Holy Spirit God or the last one that is counted from Jesus' first coming to the second one. The representative is the church of the Laodiceans.
We are in 2015 now. We get the longsuffering of God because he has not come the second time yet.
The church in the last days is the same as the one of the Laodiceans. They are blessed physically, but lukewarm spiritually. It means nakedness because of KEEPING THE EGOISM.
The Lord knocks the door of our heart through the teaching Word sharper than any two-edged sword and chastening to set us free from egoism.
Revelation 3: 18-19
3:18. "I counsel you to buy from Me gold refined in the fire, that you may be rich; and white garments, that you may be clothed, that the shame of your nakedness may not be revealed; and anoint your eyes with eye salve, that you may see.
3:19 "As many as I love, I rebuke and chasten. Therefore be zealous and repent.
Philippians 2: 21
2:21. For all seek their own, not the things which are of Christ Jesus.
Let us open the door of our heart or throw away the egoism and we are in things which are of Christ Jesus. We can prioritize the work of God by actively ministering in the building of the perfect body of Christ.
The egoismmeans prioritizing other things more than the building of the body of Christ.
The egoism will cause the death. The widow of Zarephath said 'I am gathering a couple of sticks that I may go in and prepare it for myself and my son, that we may eat it, and die'. Nevertheless, she could be alive after she threw away her egoism and gave the food for God first.
This is lesson for us. If we give something for the work of God first because of the stirring up in our heart by the true teaching Word or the Head, we will be preserved until the days when the antichrist reigns over the world. The body must be moved by the head only, not others.
If we throw away the egoism, God will stretch out His right hand that is full of mercy and goodness.
Psalm 118: 15-16
118:15. The voice of rejoicing and salvation Is in the tents of the righteous; The right hand of the LORD does valiantly.
118:16 The right hand of the LORD is exalted; The right hand of the LORD does valiantly.
The results if the hand of God that is full of mercy and goodness is stretched are as follows.- We have victoryover all enemies ('The right hand of the LORD does valiantly')
It means as follows.- All problems, even the impossible ones, are solved by God. We have victory as follows.
- We serve well in our marriage. A husband keeps on loving the wife although he must sacrifice his feelings and a wife keeps submissive to the husband although she is hit by him. Someday the right hand of God will work and give the victory.
- It will be greater in the shepherding.
- The miracle we get will be greater in the inter-shepherding fellowship.
- The greatest one happens when Israel and Gentiles are united in the one perfect body. We are lifted up on the glorious clouds.
- We serve well in our marriage. A husband keeps on loving the wife although he must sacrifice his feelings and a wife keeps submissive to the husband although she is hit by him. Someday the right hand of God will work and give the victory.
- The hand of God makes all things beautiful and successful. All things are preserved in the midst of difficulties ('I will come in to him and dine with him').
- All problems, even the impossible ones, are solved by God. We have victory as follows.
- The hand of God is able to exalt or lift us up ('The right hand of the LORD is exalted').
It means as follows.- We are used in the revival of Holy Spirit at the latter rain or the building of the perfect body of Christ.
- We are sanctified and renewed continually until someday we are as perfect as Jesus is and worthy to welcome His second coming on the glorious clouds. We can sit with Him in heavenly kingdom forever.
Revelation 3: 21
3:21. "To him who overcomes I will grant to sit with Me on My throne, as I also overcame and sat down with My Father on His throne.
- We have victoryover all enemies ('The right hand of the LORD does valiantly')
The knocking and stretching of God's right hand cost the sacrifice of Christ. Do not harden your heart when the Lord is knocking at your heart. Open the door of your heart and let His right hand touch and hold you.
God blesses us.