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IS NOT WHAT WE SAY THAT REALLY MATTERS In the book of Revelation, we can find many good lessons which are applicable to us today. It is in this book, written by the apostle John, that we find how some of the churches of the first century had already become so contaminated that they needed to repent or otherwise perish. Among these churches, we find the church of the Laodiceans. We read in Revelation 3:14-18, | ||
| "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, that thou art neither cold or hot. So then because thou art lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will spue thee out of my mouth. 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: 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 we break down this passage of scripture, what are some of the things that we find wrong with this church, which perhaps apply to us even today? First of all, we find that the Lord knows our works, He knows all of our works. He not only knows what we do and what we could have done, but even the motives behind everything we do. There is no way we could ever deceive the Lord as we sometimes might deceive one another. Paul wrote unto the Galatians, "Be not deceived; God is not mocked; whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap" (Gal. 6:7). The Lord also knows with what kind of zeal, conviction, and enthusiasm we do all that we do unto Him. There will be some who will be completely indifferent to what the Lord has commanded and will never pretend otherwise. They will show, by their actions and their words, that they simply are not interested in those things that the Lord has commanded. But by the same token, there will be some who are also indifferent and do not have the zeal, the conviction, or the enthusiasm they need to have, but will pretend otherwise. In this passage, we learn that pretending to do that which the Lord has commanded us to do is just one form of hypocrisy and therefore unacceptable before the Lord. Where do we find ourselves? Let us try our very best to be as the Lord would have us to be and not just pretend that we are. | ||
