Peace and grace in the love of our Lord Jesus Christ.
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.
Revelation 3:16-17
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 church of the Laodiceans or the one in the last days is lukewarm. It means that physically they are rich or do not need of anything, but spiritually, they are empty because of not being filled with the true teaching Word and the Holy Communion.
Consequently, they are like the chaff which will be burnt and destroyed forever. They are vomited by God. They are useless, unclean, and thrown away or destroyed forever.
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.
Therefore, God rebukes, advises, and chastens, so that the church of the Laodiceans or the one in the last days buy the heavenly treasure. There are three kinds of the heavenly treasure we must buy as follows.
The purpose is we can make God full. We can please His heart and He will please our life.
ad. 3. Eye salve to anoint eyes.
We need the anointing of Holy Spirit so that our eyes can see Jesus in the midst of the sea of the world.
Our journey in following and ministering to God is the same as a boat in the midst of a sea which is going to the harbor of peace, namely New Jerusalem or the eternal heavenly kingdom. We must face the wind and wave or the storm of death in the midst of the sea which comes suddenly.
The storm of death may happen in these forms.
The storm of death wants to drown the boat of our life, ministry, and marriage until it enters the sea of fire and brimstone forever.
Why does God let us face the storm of death of the world?
The solution in facing the storm of death in the sea of the world is looking at Jesus.
We can look at Jesus in the midst of the storm of the sea of the world two times as follows.
God blesses you.
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.
Revelation 3:16-17
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 church of the Laodiceans or the one in the last days is lukewarm. It means that physically they are rich or do not need of anything, but spiritually, they are empty because of not being filled with the true teaching Word and the Holy Communion.
Consequently, they are like the chaff which will be burnt and destroyed forever. They are vomited by God. They are useless, unclean, and thrown away or destroyed forever.
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.
Therefore, God rebukes, advises, and chastens, so that the church of the Laodiceans or the one in the last days buy the heavenly treasure. There are three kinds of the heavenly treasure we must buy as follows.
- Gold refined in the fire or the pure, permanent, and perfect faith.
- White garments to cover the nakedness.
- Eye salve that we may see.
The purpose is we can make God full. We can please His heart and He will please our life.
ad. 3. Eye salve to anoint eyes.
We need the anointing of Holy Spirit so that our eyes can see Jesus in the midst of the sea of the world.
Our journey in following and ministering to God is the same as a boat in the midst of a sea which is going to the harbor of peace, namely New Jerusalem or the eternal heavenly kingdom. We must face the wind and wave or the storm of death in the midst of the sea which comes suddenly.
The storm of death may happen in these forms.
- False teachings which bring perdition or the ones of Satan.
- Sins up to the peak, namely the sins concerning eating-drinking such as smoking, getting drunk, and drugs abuse as well as the ones concerning marrying-being given in marriage such as sexuality sin with all of its kinds, free sex, and wrong marriage.
- Temptations and crisis in all aspects of life.
The storm of death wants to drown the boat of our life, ministry, and marriage until it enters the sea of fire and brimstone forever.
Why does God let us face the storm of death of the world?
- Negative cause, namely one has his own mistake because he willingly gets the temptation from Satan.
- No sun, moon, and star appear spiritually.
Acts 27:20
27:20 Now when neither sun nor stars appeared for many days, and no small tempest beat on us, all hope that we would be saved was finally given up.
The sun refers to the love of God. There is no sun means that there is no love of God. It also means there is no obedience. There is only the hatred to others, even without a cause.
The moon refers to the redemption which is done by the blood of Jesus. There is no redemption means that one keeps the sins up to the lie.
The star refers to the anointing of Holy Spirit. There is no star means that one is not faithful or fervent in spirit in doing the service and ministry; even he leaves them.
Not the storm of death determines the drowning of our life, but the condition without Jesus in the boat does. - Believing the knowledge, intelligence, title, position, and experience of human more than the revelation of God's Word through the true teaching Word.
Acts 27:9-11
27:9 Now when much time had been spent, and sailing was now dangerous because the Fast was already over, Paul advised them,
27:10 saying, "Men, I perceive that this voyage will end with disaster and much loss, not only of the cargo and ship, but also our lives."
27:11 Nevertheless the centurion was more persuaded by the helmsman and the owner of the ship than by the things spoken by Paul. - Not willingly suffering in the flesh with Jesus.
Acts 27:12
27:12 And because the harbor was not suitable to winter in, the majority advised to set sail from there also, if by any means they could reach Phoenix, a harbor of Crete opening toward the southwest and northwest, and winter there.
It means rejecting the suffering in the flesh with Jesus or choosing the comfortable thing for the flesh although it is not in line with the Word.
The true teaching Word directs us to the cross or the suffering in the flesh with Jesus. Nevertheless, there is the glory with God behind it.
- No sun, moon, and star appear spiritually.
- Positive reason, namely from God.
God permits Paul to have the storm of death so that he can be His witness or the shining stars in the midst of the storm.
If we willingly suffer in the flesh with Jesus, we will be used by God.
The solution in facing the storm of death in the sea of the world is looking at Jesus.
We can look at Jesus in the midst of the storm of the sea of the world two times as follows.
- Looking at Jesus as the Lamb of God, who dies on the cross, or Jesus as the Savior.
Acts 27:33-34
27:33 And as day was about to dawn, Paul implored them all to take food, saying, "Today is the fourteenth dayyou have waited and continued without food, and eaten nothing.
27:34 "Therefore I urge you to take nourishment, for this is for your survival, since not a hair will fall from the head of any of you."
Paul broke the bread on the fourteenth day in the midst of the storm.
Exodus12:5-6
12:5 'Your lamb shall be without blemish, a male of the first year. You may take it from the sheep or from the goats.
12:6 'Now you shall keep it until the fourteenth dayof the same month. Then the whole assembly of the congregation of Israel shall kill it at twilight.
Eating on the fourteenth day refers to the Passover in the Old Testament. The house of Israel killed the Passover lamb to be saved from Egypt or the death.
Paul ate the bread on the fourteenth day to save the boat and people from the storm of death.
Matthew 1:20-21
1:20 But while he thought about these things, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream, saying, "Joseph, son of David, do not be afraid to take to you Mary your wife, for that which is conceived in her is of the Holy Spirit.
1:21 "And she will bring forth a Son, and you shall call His name JESUS, for He will save His people from their sins."
It is fulfilled in the New Testament through Christmas.
Christmas means Jesus, who is Holy Spirit, is born as a sinless human. He is born as the Passover lamb without any blemish to save the sinful men in the midst of the storm of death. Only Jesus is the sinless man who is able to save the sinful men. He must die on the cross. He is able to finish the burden of sin. Thus, He is able to finish all other burdens.
The facts found in looking at Jesus as the Savior in the midst of the storm of death in the sea of the world are as follows.- Believing or having faith in Jesus, who has died on the cross as the Savior through hearing the gospel of salvation or Good News.
Ephesians 1:13
1:13 In Him you also trusted, after you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation; in whom also, having believed, you were sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise, - Repentingor stopping sinning to return to God. We die to sin, especially the sins which directly bring the death.
Revelation 21:8
21: 8 "But the cowardly(1), unbelieving(2), abominable(3), murderers(4), sexually immoral(5), sorcerers(6), idolaters(7), and all liars(8) shall have their part in the lake which burns with fire and brimstone, which is the second death."
The cowardly means fearing something in the world until one resists against God. - Being baptized of water and Holy Spirit.
John 3:5
3:5Jesus answered, "Most assuredly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God.
The result is the new life or the heavenly one, namely the life in righteousness.
Proverbs 10:2-3
10:2 Treasures of wickedness profit nothing, But righteousness delivers from death.
10:3 The LORD will not allow the righteous soul to famish, But He casts away the desire of the wicked.
Living in righteousness means being saved from the storm of death. The righteous will be blessed up to the descendants forever.
Proverbs 12:26
12:26 The righteous should choose his friends carefully, For the way of the wicked leads them astray.
We must be shepherded well and correctly after being righteous, so we will not be pounced by the beast. We will not go stray or fall and rise in sin.
27:34 "Therefore I urge you to take nourishment, for this is for your survival, since not a hair will fall from the head of any of you."
The result of looking at Jesus is a hair does not fall as follows.- We are firm in the salvation and truth as well as the blessings of God. We are firm in the shepherding means that we firmly sit on the grass so that we will never fall. Moreover, we can grow to the unity of the perfect body of Christ.
- We get the guarantee of assurance from Jesus, the Great Shepherd, to preserve and protect our life although we are powerless and not precious in facing the difficulties in the storm of the sea of the world.
- Believing or having faith in Jesus, who has died on the cross as the Savior through hearing the gospel of salvation or Good News.
- We look at Jesus in the glory as the King of all kings and the Heavenly Bridegroom.
Matthew 24:29-30
24:29 "Immediately after the tribulation of those days the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light; the stars will fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens will be shaken.
24:30 "Then the sign of the Son of Man will appear in heaven, and then all the tribes of the earth will mourn, and they will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven with power and great glory.
2 Corinthians 4:3-4
4:3 But even if our gospel is veiled, it is veiled to those who are perishing,
4:4 whose minds the god of this age has blinded, who do not believe, lest the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine on them.
It means that we see the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God or the true teaching Word. That is the Bride Tidings which preach Jesus' second coming for sanctifying our life until we are perfect.
2 Peter 1:19
1:19 And so we have the prophetic word confirmed, which you do well to heed as a light that shines in a dark place, until the day dawns and the morning star rises in your hearts;
We must hear and obey it, so we are always illuminated by the light of the gospel of the glory of Bride Tidings. It means that we are sanctified and changed little by little. It begins from honesty. We say "yes" if yes and "no" if no. The more we are changed, the more we become the shining star until someday we become the bright and morning star. We never fall again.
For example, Saul was illuminated to become Paul.
Acts 9:1-3
9:1 Then Saul, still breathing threats and murder against the disciples of the Lord, went to the high priest
9:2 and asked letters from him to the synagogues of Damascus, so that if he found any who were of the Way, whether men or women, he might bring them bound to Jerusalem.
9:3 As he journeyed he came near Damascus, and suddenly a light shone around him from heaven.
The signs of the shining stars are as follows.- We confess that we are the most sinful person and do not blame others.
1 Timothy 1:12,15
1:12 And I thank Christ Jesus our Lord who has enabled me, because He counted me faithful, putting me into the ministry,
1:15 This is a faithful saying and worthy of all acceptance, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, of whom I am chief. - We are faithful and trustworthy in the service and ministry to God until the end, namely we pass away or Jesus comes a second time.
- We hold fast the true teaching Word and obey it.
Philippians 2:15-16
2:15 that you may become blameless and harmless, children of God without fault in the midst of a crooked and perverse generation, among whom you shine as lights in the world,
2:16 holding fast the word of life, so that I may rejoice in the day of Christ that I have not run in vain or labored in vain.
It means that we stretch out our two hands to God and He also stretches out His hands to us until we become the star in His right hand.
Revelation 1:20
1:20 "The mystery of the seven stars which you saw in My right hand, and the seven golden lampstands: The seven stars are the angels of the seven churches, and the seven lampstands which you saw are the seven churches.
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.
God is able to solve all of our problems. He is able to give us victory and restore or exalt our life. We are lifted up on the glorious clouds when He comes a second time.
- We confess that we are the most sinful person and do not blame others.
God blesses you.