Peace and grace in the love of our Lord Jesus Christ.
We are in Revelation 2-3 (it has been explained from General Service in Surabaya, July 27, 2014)about the last sanctification to the seven churches.
We are learning Revelation 3: 14-22 about the church of the LAODICEANS. This is the last or the seventh church in the book of Revelation that shows the condition of the church in the last days or all of us (it has been explained from General Service in Surabaya, June 14, 2015).
Revelation 3: 21-22
3:21. "To him who overcomesI will grant to sit with Me on My throne, as I also overcame and sat down with My Father on His throne.
3:22 "He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches."
THE PROMISE OF GODto the church of the Laodiceans or all of us who overcome is sitting with Him on the throne of the heavenly kingdom. Jesus, the King of all kings and the heavenly Bridegroom becomes our husband and Head and we become His bride. This is our main and last purpose in following and ministering to Jesus.
The requirementis we overcome with Jesus (it has been explained from General Service in Surabaya, October 18, 2015toGeneral Service in Surabaya, October 25, 2015).
We must overcome the spiritual lukewarmness.
Revelation 3: 15-16
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.
The church of the Laodiceans who is neither cold nor hotis the same as the house of Israel who was neither defeated nor victorious.
Exodus 32: 17-18
32:17. And when Joshua heard the noise of the people as they shouted, he said to Moses, "There is a noise of war in the camp."
32:18 But he said: "It is not the noise of the shout of victory, Nor the noise of the cry of defeat, But the sound of singingI hear."
Consequently, there was idolatry to a gold calf.
Exodus 32: 9, 7
32:9. And the LORD said to Moses, "I have seen this people, and indeed it is a stiff-neckedpeople!
32:7. And the LORD said to Moses, "Go, get down! For your people whom you brought out of the land of Egypt have corrupted themselves.
God saw it and said "I have seen this people, and indeed it is a stiff-neckedpeople!'
The idolatry means being stiff-necked or hard-hearted until the people corrupt themselveslike in the days of Noah.
Genesis 6: 2, 11-12
6:2. that the sons of God saw the daughters of men, that they were beautiful; and they took wives for themselves of all whom they chose.
6:11 The earth also was corruptbefore God, and the earth was filled with violence.
6:12 So God looked upon the earth, and indeed it was corrupt; for all flesh had corrupted their wayon the earth.
Verse 2 refers to mixed-marriage.
There are three kinds of corrupting the way as follows.
Exodus 32: 10
32:10. "Now therefore, let Me alone, that My wrath may burn hot against them and I may consume them. And I will make of you a great nation."
Therefore, we must defeat the spiritual lukewarmness, namely the hardness of heart or the corrupted life.
Isaiah 30: 14
30:14. And He shall break it like the breaking of the potter's vessel, Which is broken in pieces; He shall not spare. So there shall not be found among its fragments A shardto take fire from the hearth, Or to take water from the cistern."
One who corrupts himselfis like a vessel that is broken in pieces. The vessel is broken after one corrupts himself in the marriage. The vessel is broken again after he corrupts himself in the service and ministry to God. It happens continually until the vessel in broken in pieces.
A man who corrupts himself is useless and not preciousalthough he seems great or intelligent. He will get the wrath of God and the perdition.
We give thanks to God because He is able to recreate us, the broken vessel, to be the new one as long as we are in His hands.
Jeremiah 18: 1-6
18:1. The word which came to Jeremiah from the LORD, saying:
18:2 "Arise and go down to the u's house, and there I will cause you to hear My words."
18:3 Then I went down to the potter's house, and there he was, making something at the wheel.
18:4 And the vessel that he made of clay was marred in the hand of the potter; so he made it again into another vessel, as it seemed good to the potter to make.
18:5 Then the word of the LORD came to me, saying:
18:6 "O house of Israel, can I not do with you as this potter?" says the LORD. "Look, as the clay is in the potter's hand, so are you in My hand, O house of Israel!
The Lord as the Potter still gives us opportunity to be recreated as the new vessel through the preaching of the true teaching Word and the Holy Communion. Do not be hopeless!
Romans 9: 20-24
9:20. But indeed, O man, who are you to reply against God? Will the thing formed say to him who formed it, "Why have you made me like this?"
9:21 Does not the potter have power over the clay, from the same lump to make one vessel for honor and another for dishonor?
9:22 What if God, wanting to show His wrath and to make His power known, endured with much longsuffering the vessels of wrathprepared for destruction,
9:23 and that He might make known the riches of His glory on the vessels of mercy, which He had prepared beforehand for glory,
9:24 even us whom He called, not of the Jews only, but also of the Gentiles?
'the vessels of wrath' = the vessel that is broken in pieces or corrupted in the marriage, service and ministry to God, and oneself will get the wrath and perdition.
We are created to be the new vessel, namely the vessels of mercy or the ones of God's glory. We can glorify God because of His mercy only, not because of intelligence, riches, and so on.
The broken vessels, especially of the Gentiles, should have been thrown away, but they are created to be the new ones for glorifying Godthrough the process as follows.
Mary Magdeleneis the example of the vessel of glory that is formed from the one that has been broken in pieces.
Luke 8: 2-3
8:2.and certain women who had been healed of evil spirits and infirmities--Mary called Magdalene, out of whom had come seven demons,
8:3 and Joanna the wife of Chuza, Herod's steward, and Susanna, and many others who provided for Him from their substance.
She was conquered by seven demons. The figure seven refers to the perfection in evil, uncleanness, and destruction. She should have gotten the wrath and perdition forever, but she could be formed as the vessel of glory by the mercy of God. She could glorify God's name because she was meek, namely being silent and quiet.
Do not harden your life like Judas!He became hard-hearted when there was the Holy Communion. Consequently, he was in destruction. His entrails gushed out and he perished forever although formerly he had been the vessel of gloryas the apostle and treasurer whom Jesus trusted. Finally, he became the vessel that was broken in piecesbecause of his hard heart.
John 13: 23-27
13:23. Now there was leaning on Jesus' bosomone of His disciples, whom Jesus loved.
13:24 Simon Peter therefore motioned to him to ask who it was of whom He spoke.
13:25 Then, leaning back on Jesus' breast, he said to Him, "Lord, who is it?"
13:26 Jesus answered, "It is he to whom I shall give a piece of bread when I have dipped it." And having dipped the bread, He gave it to Judas Iscariot, the son of Simon.
13:27 Now after the piece of bread, Satan entered him. Then Jesus said to him, "What you do, do quickly."
The right attitudeis like John who leaned on Jesus' bosom.
The bosom of Jesus is the place of God's mercy and lovingkindness. Leaning on Jesus' bosom means as follows.
The Lord embraces us like a baby in His merciful hands.
Isaiah 46: 4
46:4.Even to your old age, I am He, And even to gray hairs I will carry you! I have made, and I will bear; Even I will carry, and will deliver you.
The results are as follows.
God blesses us.
We are in Revelation 2-3 (it has been explained from General Service in Surabaya, July 27, 2014)about the last sanctification to the seven churches.
We are learning Revelation 3: 14-22 about the church of the LAODICEANS. This is the last or the seventh church in the book of Revelation that shows the condition of the church in the last days or all of us (it has been explained from General Service in Surabaya, June 14, 2015).
Revelation 3: 21-22
3:21. "To him who overcomesI will grant to sit with Me on My throne, as I also overcame and sat down with My Father on His throne.
3:22 "He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches."
THE PROMISE OF GODto the church of the Laodiceans or all of us who overcome is sitting with Him on the throne of the heavenly kingdom. Jesus, the King of all kings and the heavenly Bridegroom becomes our husband and Head and we become His bride. This is our main and last purpose in following and ministering to Jesus.
The requirementis we overcome with Jesus (it has been explained from General Service in Surabaya, October 18, 2015toGeneral Service in Surabaya, October 25, 2015).
We must overcome the spiritual lukewarmness.
Revelation 3: 15-16
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.
The church of the Laodiceans who is neither cold nor hotis the same as the house of Israel who was neither defeated nor victorious.
Exodus 32: 17-18
32:17. And when Joshua heard the noise of the people as they shouted, he said to Moses, "There is a noise of war in the camp."
32:18 But he said: "It is not the noise of the shout of victory, Nor the noise of the cry of defeat, But the sound of singingI hear."
Consequently, there was idolatry to a gold calf.
Exodus 32: 9, 7
32:9. And the LORD said to Moses, "I have seen this people, and indeed it is a stiff-neckedpeople!
32:7. And the LORD said to Moses, "Go, get down! For your people whom you brought out of the land of Egypt have corrupted themselves.
God saw it and said "I have seen this people, and indeed it is a stiff-neckedpeople!'
The idolatry means being stiff-necked or hard-hearted until the people corrupt themselveslike in the days of Noah.
Genesis 6: 2, 11-12
6:2. that the sons of God saw the daughters of men, that they were beautiful; and they took wives for themselves of all whom they chose.
6:11 The earth also was corruptbefore God, and the earth was filled with violence.
6:12 So God looked upon the earth, and indeed it was corrupt; for all flesh had corrupted their wayon the earth.
Verse 2 refers to mixed-marriage.
There are three kinds of corrupting the way as follows.
- In the marriageas follows.
- Mixed-marriage (Genesis 6:2, that the sons of God saw the daughters of men, that they were beautiful; and they took wives for themselves of all whom they chose), namely corrupting the truthof the marriage.
Why does it happen?It happens because of getting married by the will of the eyes and flesh as well as the fleshly desire, without any spiritual consideration.
Consequently, the divorce, remarrying, and marrying-being given in marriage happen like in the days of Noah. - Corrupting the holiness of the marriage through adultery or fornication.
1 Thessalonians 4: 3-5
4:3. For this is the will of God, your sanctification: that you should abstain from sexual immorality;
4:4 that each of you should know how to possess his own vessel in sanctification and honor,
4:5 not in passion of lust, like the Gentiles who do not know God;
The will of Godis that we keep the holiness of the marriage from the beginning(without falling in sin) and duringthe marriage (without sexual affairs) until the end, namely reaching the holy and perfect marriage to be worthy of welcoming Jesus' second coming on the glorious clouds and entering the marriage supper of the Lamb.
Psalm 119: 9
119:9. BETH. How can a young mancleanse his way? By taking heed according to Your word.
'a young man' refers to the peak of fleshly desires that brings man to the sin peak, namely sins concerning eating-drinking and marrying-being given in marriage that destroy the marriage.
John 15: 3
15:3. "You are already clean because of the word which I have spokento you.
We must keep the holiness of the marriage by the Word spoken by Jesus or the revelation of God's Word through a verse that explains other verses in the Bible or the true teaching Wordthat is sharper than any two-edged sword.
There is no guarantee of the assurance of the marriage holiness if it is outside the true teaching Word or the sword of God's Word.
We must be firmin facing the sins of adultery and fornication. Do not give any opportunity to Satan! - The children are not obedient to the parents.
Proverbs 28: 24
28:24. Whoever robs his father or his mother, And says, "It is no transgression," The same is companion to a destroyer.
They are corrupting the marriage of their parents and their own lives.
On the contrary, the obedient children will make the marriage beautiful (Ephesians 6).
- Mixed-marriage (Genesis 6:2, that the sons of God saw the daughters of men, that they were beautiful; and they took wives for themselves of all whom they chose), namely corrupting the truthof the marriage.
- In the service to God.
Exodus 32: 4-6
32:4.And he received the gold from their hand, and he fashioned it with an engraving tool, and made a molded calf. Then they said, "This is your god, O Israel, that brought you out of the land of Egypt!"
32:5 So when Aaron saw it, he built an altar before it. And Aaron made a proclamation and said, "Tomorrow is a feast to the LORD."
32:6 Then they rose early on the next day, offered burnt offerings, and brought peace offerings; and the people sat down to eat and drink, and rose up to play.
It happens because of idolatry. The facts found in it are as follows.- Serving and ministering to God only to look for physical things or blessings, not God Himself nor the true teaching Word.
The gold calf was said God and the false teachings are said true in order to get physical things such as money, position, marriage partner, praise, and so on. - Serving and ministering to God with worldly waysas follows.
- The place for serving and ministering to God is set like the discotheque to make many people or youth like to come.
- The amenities of the world are put in the church like the house of Israel who danced and sang.
There must be the sanctification when there is the presence of God.
If we serve and minister to God in the sanctification because we prioritize the Wod, there will be the anointing of Holy Spiritto make every part of our service and ministry to Him neat and set in order with the joy of heaven. We honor God, not the pastor. - Unfaithfulness.
Proverbs 18: 9
18:9. He who is slothfulin his work Is a brother to him who is a great destroyer.
'slothful' means unfaithfulness in serving and ministering to God.
Consequently, one becomes the destroyer of the body of Christ.
Leaving the service and ministry to Godmeans being the same as the destroyer or Satan. - Being a stumbling-block.
Romans 14: 20
14:20.Do not destroy the work of Godfor the sake of food. All things indeed are pure, but it is evil for the man who eats with offense!
It means that one becomes a stumbling-block for others or himself, namely he easily gets angry and wants to stop ministering to God.
- Serving and ministering to God only to look for physical things or blessings, not God Himself nor the true teaching Word.
- They corrupt themselvesas follows.
- The will of money or evil lust.
Ecclesiastes 7: 7
7:7.Surely oppression destroys a wise man's reason, And a bribe debases the heart.
It is the same as corrupting the heart.
The lust or love of money makes one stingy and greedy.
Stinginessmeans not giving to other people who need.
Greedinessmeans robbing the right of others by receiving the bribe or doing corruption, and of God, namely tithes and offerings.
The stinginess and greediness are the same as the idolatry. - Committing adultery or the unclean lust.
Proverbs 6: 32
6:32. Whoever commits adulterywith a woman lacks understanding; He who does so destroys his own soul..
Committing adultery means the sexual intercourse between a man and a woman who are not a legal spouse; a man and another man; a woman with another woman, as well as the sexuality to oneself and wrong marriage.
1 Corinthians 3: 16-17
3:16. Do you not know that you are the temple of Godand that the Spirit of God dwells in you?
3:17 If anyone defiles the temple of God, God will destroy him. For the temple of God is holy, which temple you are.
The Lord exceedingly pleads His temple, namely our lifethat has been redeemed by the precious holy blood of Jesus.
- The will of money or evil lust.
Exodus 32: 10
32:10. "Now therefore, let Me alone, that My wrath may burn hot against them and I may consume them. And I will make of you a great nation."
Therefore, we must defeat the spiritual lukewarmness, namely the hardness of heart or the corrupted life.
Isaiah 30: 14
30:14. And He shall break it like the breaking of the potter's vessel, Which is broken in pieces; He shall not spare. So there shall not be found among its fragments A shardto take fire from the hearth, Or to take water from the cistern."
One who corrupts himselfis like a vessel that is broken in pieces. The vessel is broken after one corrupts himself in the marriage. The vessel is broken again after he corrupts himself in the service and ministry to God. It happens continually until the vessel in broken in pieces.
A man who corrupts himself is useless and not preciousalthough he seems great or intelligent. He will get the wrath of God and the perdition.
We give thanks to God because He is able to recreate us, the broken vessel, to be the new one as long as we are in His hands.
Jeremiah 18: 1-6
18:1. The word which came to Jeremiah from the LORD, saying:
18:2 "Arise and go down to the u's house, and there I will cause you to hear My words."
18:3 Then I went down to the potter's house, and there he was, making something at the wheel.
18:4 And the vessel that he made of clay was marred in the hand of the potter; so he made it again into another vessel, as it seemed good to the potter to make.
18:5 Then the word of the LORD came to me, saying:
18:6 "O house of Israel, can I not do with you as this potter?" says the LORD. "Look, as the clay is in the potter's hand, so are you in My hand, O house of Israel!
The Lord as the Potter still gives us opportunity to be recreated as the new vessel through the preaching of the true teaching Word and the Holy Communion. Do not be hopeless!
Romans 9: 20-24
9:20. But indeed, O man, who are you to reply against God? Will the thing formed say to him who formed it, "Why have you made me like this?"
9:21 Does not the potter have power over the clay, from the same lump to make one vessel for honor and another for dishonor?
9:22 What if God, wanting to show His wrath and to make His power known, endured with much longsuffering the vessels of wrathprepared for destruction,
9:23 and that He might make known the riches of His glory on the vessels of mercy, which He had prepared beforehand for glory,
9:24 even us whom He called, not of the Jews only, but also of the Gentiles?
'the vessels of wrath' = the vessel that is broken in pieces or corrupted in the marriage, service and ministry to God, and oneself will get the wrath and perdition.
We are created to be the new vessel, namely the vessels of mercy or the ones of God's glory. We can glorify God because of His mercy only, not because of intelligence, riches, and so on.
The broken vessels, especially of the Gentiles, should have been thrown away, but they are created to be the new ones for glorifying Godthrough the process as follows.
- As for God.
- There must be the mercy of God.
Isaiah 52: 13-14
52:13. Behold, My Servant shall deal prudently; He shall be exalted and extolled and be very high.
52:14 Just as many were astonished at you, So His visage was marredmore than any man, And His form more than the sons of men;
'My Servant shall deal prudently'= Jesus
We would have been condemned if we had had no mercy of God.
The mercy of Godrefers to Jesus, who is so glorious, who willingly becomes marred on the cross. His form is more than the sons of men means that He becomes like the dog and swine or Satan in order to bear all of our sins, bitterness, and destruction, so we have the opportuiny to be recreated well. We can be used by God as the vessel of His glory until someday we are as glorious as Jesus is.
It cannot happen without Jesus. - There must be the longsuffering of God.
Romans 9: 22
9:22. What if God, wanting to show His wrath and to make His power known, endured with much longsufferingthe vessels of wrath prepared for destruction,
The longsuffering of God means that He always gives us opportunityto repent and be created as the vessel of His glory.
The forms of His lovingkindness are as follows.- He has not come a second time yet until today.
Do not think that God is negligent. - We are still alive because God gives us long age.
- He has not come a second time yet until today.
- There must be the mercy of God.
- As for us, we must be silent and quiet.
Isaiah 30: 14-15a
30:14. And He shall break it like the breaking of the potter's vessel, Which is broken in pieces; He shall not spare. So there shall not be found among its fragments A shard to take fire from the hearth, Or to take water from the cistern."
30:15 For thus says the Lord GOD, the Holy One of Israel: "In returning and restyou shall be saved; In quietness and confidenceshall be your strength."
We will be destroyed if we are hard-hearted.
BEING SILENTmeans that we correct ourselves by the sharpness of the sword of God's Wordthat points at our hidden sins.
We have the opportunity to be silent when we are in destruction now.
Finding a sin, we must confess it to God and other people. After being forgiven, we must not repeat it, but return to God or repent. The destruction that happens to the broken vessel is stopped.
BEING QUIETmeans that we control ourselvesas follows.
1 Peter 4: 7
4:7. But the end of all things is at hand; therefore be serious and watchful in your prayers.- We are shepherded well and correctly.
We control ourselvesmeans that we control our flesh with all of its wills and desires. - Not hoping in others, but believing and hoping in God only, so we can prayand worship God.
- We are shepherded well and correctly.
Mary Magdeleneis the example of the vessel of glory that is formed from the one that has been broken in pieces.
Luke 8: 2-3
8:2.and certain women who had been healed of evil spirits and infirmities--Mary called Magdalene, out of whom had come seven demons,
8:3 and Joanna the wife of Chuza, Herod's steward, and Susanna, and many others who provided for Him from their substance.
She was conquered by seven demons. The figure seven refers to the perfection in evil, uncleanness, and destruction. She should have gotten the wrath and perdition forever, but she could be formed as the vessel of glory by the mercy of God. She could glorify God's name because she was meek, namely being silent and quiet.
Do not harden your life like Judas!He became hard-hearted when there was the Holy Communion. Consequently, he was in destruction. His entrails gushed out and he perished forever although formerly he had been the vessel of gloryas the apostle and treasurer whom Jesus trusted. Finally, he became the vessel that was broken in piecesbecause of his hard heart.
John 13: 23-27
13:23. Now there was leaning on Jesus' bosomone of His disciples, whom Jesus loved.
13:24 Simon Peter therefore motioned to him to ask who it was of whom He spoke.
13:25 Then, leaning back on Jesus' breast, he said to Him, "Lord, who is it?"
13:26 Jesus answered, "It is he to whom I shall give a piece of bread when I have dipped it." And having dipped the bread, He gave it to Judas Iscariot, the son of Simon.
13:27 Now after the piece of bread, Satan entered him. Then Jesus said to him, "What you do, do quickly."
The right attitudeis like John who leaned on Jesus' bosom.
The bosom of Jesus is the place of God's mercy and lovingkindness. Leaning on Jesus' bosom means as follows.
- The place to confess all of our weaknesses with our broken heart; both physically, namely destruction in our future life and economy, and spiritually, namely our sins.
- The place for strugglingso that we can be set free from our weaknesses and destruction.
The Lord embraces us like a baby in His merciful hands.
Isaiah 46: 4
46:4.Even to your old age, I am He, And even to gray hairs I will carry you! I have made, and I will bear; Even I will carry, and will deliver you.
The results are as follows.
- The Lord carries or embraces us. It means that the merciful hands of God are able to form us to be the vessel of His glory.
- The Lord bears us. He is responsible for our life and death. It means as follows.
- The hand of God is able to preserve our life in the midst of difficulties in the world until the time when the antichrist reigns over the world.
- The hand of God is able to helpus or solve all of our problems, even the impossible ones.
- The Lord carries us. It means that the merciful hand of God bears all of our burdens and weariness, so we are peaceful and all things become easy and light.
- The Lord delivers us. It means that the merciful hand of God is able to sanctify and change us until we are as perfect as He is. We are worthy to welcome His second coming on the glorious clouds and we sit with Himon the heavenly throne forever.
God blesses us.