Laodicea.

LAODECIAN WARNING

Revelation 3:14-15 ¶ 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; I know thy works...

There is one who walks in the midst of the churches and who holds the stars in his right hand (Revelation 2:1), through whom God the Father created all things, by whom the worlds do consist (Ephesians 3:9, Col 1:17).. And here he has written a letter addressed to the church of the Laodiceans, but this letter isn’t just for them, but it is for all the churches, it is for those who are in that same condition, and for those who are headed for it.

And this one, who is the Son of GOD, describes himself as the "Amen, the Faithful and true witness". That means the words he is about to speak are pure truth. It hasn’t been watered down, there is no shadow of a lie in it, it is the truth, and it is the whole truth. And thus my friends you can feel safe in saying "AMEN" to whatever he has to say to you because it is so.

And to the church, even to every individual in the church, he looks them in the eye and he says, "I know thy works".

With those words He is saying, I know your actions, I know thy words, I know your motives. I know your thoughts, I know the secretes of your heart. There is nothing hidden from me. I know everything about you. There is nothing covered. I search the reigns of your hearts (Revelation 2:23). And be sure that your sin has found you out (Numbers 32:23).

You might be able to hide your heart from the world. You may be able to fool some people, but I tell you friend, you will not fool God. You will not hide from him; No, he’ll come and point the finger at the sin, and tell you, "thou art the man" (2nd Samuel 12:7).

And when he testifies against you, you’ll not question him, you will not deny his charge, you’ll not call him a liar? For he is the "TRUTH" (John 14:6), he is the faithful witness.

HIS WITNESS AGAINST LAODECIA
Revelation 3:15-16 I know thy works, that thou art neither cold nor hot: I would thou wert cold or hot. So then because thou art lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will spue thee out of my mouth.

What did the Lord see when he looked upon the Church of Laodecia? A church that made him want to vomit. He saw a church that had a name! A Church that had a profession of faith! A pretense of holiness but yet was full of the world, was comfortable in the world and a friend of the world.

And he says, I wish you were cold or hot! I wish you either truly loved me and served me with a fervent heart or I wish you wouldn’t even take my name upon you! You know friends there is hope for sinners who know they’re lost, but there’s not much for those who think they are saved and are not.

My friends, if you are lukewarm then you are halt between two opinions. You’re attempting to serve God and mammon. You’re trying to be half way in the world and half way in the church. You’re trying to eat from the table of the devil and the table of the Lord too.

It is easy to get comfortable when you’re lukewarm. Because you fit right in with most of the church world; and Oh how the world loves them, because they are just like the world.

They have the same goals: More money. A nicer home, a nicer car. When the boss needs someone to work on Church night, watch them run to serve that Almighty Dollar!

The Laodecians like to sit in front of the television, and watch the same shows as the rest of this wicked world, and they are so distant from the Lord there is no conviction.

The Laodecians have no burden for the lost, and no desire to strive for perfection. Their religion is usually reserved for the few hours a week they journey to church; and some only go when it is convenient for them (When Church doesn’t interfere with family gatherings and their work).

The Laodecians walk around with corruption in their hearts: lusts, covetousness, jealousy, hatred, and envy, but there is no real conviction, and if there is a little conviction, there is no power for deliverance, because they are so far from the Lord.
And the scary part is, they look around and they think every thing is fine.

Revelation 3:17 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:

Laodecia says to its self: "I am so blessed, I have money, I have plenty of material possessions. You here them say, "God blessed me with a new car or a new home", when in truth they borrowed the money and are now indebted to a bank. Debt is NOT a blessing, debt is a curse. But Laodecia doesn’t cannot discern the difference. And when they think about religion they say, " I’m just as spiritual as the rest of my church. I’m no different than 90% of Christendom, everybody has some sin in their life".
And they don’t realize that they are wretched, miserable, poor, blind and naked. They can’t see that they have fallen into the trap set by satan himself.

The greatest snare Satan has is the Snare of FAVOR.

He will give you the Comforts of this life, he will give you hope for wealth, he will give you entertainment, he will put various things in your life so that you will think about anything but religion. He doesn’t want you mad at him, he doesn’t want to scare you, because he doesn’t want to inspire you, what he wants the church to be is lukewarm, so that he can rock it to sleep in his cradle of death. A lukewarm church is no threat to Satan, it is one of his tools, to deceive and to destroy.

Some may say that persecution is the greatest threat to the Church, but I tell you friends, Persecution wakes a church up. Persecution shakes you, and it makes you check yourself. It teaches you to pray and rely upon God. It cleanses the church of the hypocrites and the lukewarm. The lukewarm will either get on fire for the Lord or they will get out. And every drop of blood that is shed by a Martyr is seed for the gospel. I sincerely believe that it is going to take persecution to wake a lot of people up here in America.

REMEDY FOR THE LAODECIAN STATE
Revelation 3:18-19 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. As many as I love, I rebuke and chasten: be zealous therefore, and repent.

You remember the parable of the 10 virgins? You remember when the foolish went to trim their lamps and they had gone out, and they asked the wise virgins for oil, and they told the foolish to go and buy of them that sell it. Here Christ tells us where to buy, he says to buy of him.

Go to the Lord, and buy the gold that has been tried in the fire. Go to him and buy his white raiment. Go and buy of him that eyesalve so that you can see with spiritual eyes. I urge you church to go to him and ask him for eyesight, so you can see past the mask that sin wears. Satan always dolls himself up, he doesn’t want to appear to you as an evil monster, and he doesn’t want sin to appear to you as the evil thing it is.

But you pull that mask back and you see what is behind it. It is a devil, with razor teeth, seeking to devour your soul. It is a demon with black chains, calling for you to come, and bind yourself and be its servant. Ask God to let you see through spiritual eyes, pray for discernment. Because I tell you friends, if you can see your condition, you’ll want to repent.

As I have said about those who are lost with out Christ, if they could see their spiritual condition, they would run to Jesus Christ for salvation. If they could look through spiritual eyes, they would see demons all about them, with chains wrapped around their neck, dragging them to the grave, and upon the horizon a burning lake of fire and brimstone. Oh how fearful it is to be outside of the grace of GOD!

REPENTANCE

Now the key for the Laodecian is Repentance. Repentance means you turn. Man is born with his back to GOD, and the longer he lives the further he gets from him. But when a man truly repents, he turns 180 degrees, and faces GOD. Too many people have just turned 90 degrees, and they attempt to look at God with one eye, and the world with the other. With one hand they attempt to hold to Christ, and with the other they attempt to hold to sin and the world.

Christ wants our eyes to be single, he wants our eyes set up on him (Luke 11:34 ). The root cause of the Laodecian condition is the fact too many people are religious but have not truly repented. Today is the day for full repentance.

Today is the day to go to the cross, today is the day to look God fully in the face, and to ask for his forgiveness, for his righteousness, for spiritual eyes and power over the enemy. Ask him to shake you and to awake you from your sleep, to prepare you for his coming, so that you can be fit for his use.

Revival begins with the individual
Revelation 3:20 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.

You hear so many people say that they wish their church would experience revival. But revival is receiving the abundant life that Christ promised.

And here Christ brings it down to the individual, not to the group: "IF ANY MAN". If you want the church to experience revival, then seek revival in your own soul. So many great revivals were started by a few men, who prayed down revival in their own souls, and then it spread like wild fire.

Revival must begin somewhere. It must begin in some heart. Who knows but it might start with You ? Many Christians are waiting for a collective stirring...something which will be labeled "revival" right away. God is waiting for individual stirrings, and He is waiting for you.

Now lets read the final words to this church: Revelation 3:21-22

Revelation 3:21-22 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. He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches.

Sin is very deceptive. The backslider or backsliding Church makes all the excuses possible for the deplorable state of backsliding and powerlessness. They tell themselves that they don’t have to overcome.

Backsliders see so few better than themselves that they begin to feel secure--they lull themselves to sleep, and snore so loudly that they cannot hear the call "Awake."

But many individuals feel a sense of disappointment and failure. Their hearts are hungry for deeper blessings. They know that they are not where they should be in their spiritual walk.

You can answer this in your own heart: Are you disappointed with your walk? Are you hungry for a deeper relationship? Praise God, then there is hope for you. The holy Spirit is still stirring in side of you. I urge you to seek the Lord, ask him to fill you and free you.

He said that all who hunger will be filled.
Yet there are many more who pretend that their lives are all right, when they are not all right. They are more dangerous than conscious backsliders, for they are always praying for blessing upon ' somebody else' , ignoring their own greater need.
If you are not hungering, if you are not thirsty, go to God, and ask him to give you that hunger, to give you that thirst, to give you the eyes to see. The church is not where it needs to be, and I’m afraid except we heed to the faithful and true witness, it all will be in vain.