Good day and welcome to your Kingdom Connection for Friday, January 19th. This is our final devotional on New Demons and I pray that you are embracing the understanding that warfare is real and the enemy uses many methods to distract, side-line and eventually pull us out of the will of God never to return again. Our life in Christ is very precious. It is to cherished, guarded and groomed. Christ understood this better than we ever would which is why He gave us His word, His appointed leaders, His building AND one another to ensure we endure to the end so that He can tell us, 'Well done my good and faithful servant!'.
While we will judged independently, the return of Christ for us will be done collectively. I Thessolonians 4:16-18
For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a loud command, with the voice of an archangel, and with the trumpet of God, and the dead in Christ will be the first to rise. After that, we who are alive and remain will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And so we will always be with the Lord. Therefore encourage one another with these words.
To look at God's judgement on a just an individual level is not completely accurate. Revelation Chapter 2 and 3 let's us know that God sees us as body. He assesses what we are accomplishing as a whole as well. In these 2 chapters were are presented the 7 Churches of Asia Minor. God speaks to each of them in terms of commendations- the things He commends them for as well as condemnations- the things He is rebuking or chastising them for. Each of the 7 church existed so God was speaking to them in terms of their existential presence. However it is important to understand, that spiritually, the last 4 still exist and therefore have an eschatological or end time meaning as well.
Theological and Biblical scholars recognize that we are in the last days and the last church God addresses is the Church of Laodicea. Church History lets us know that it is around the 1900s that the spirit of the church begins to enter our church world. This is the ONLY church that Christ does NOT have commendation for. He tells them:
1) He wishes they were either hot or cold (on fire for Him or hated Him)
2) Their behavior and affection toward Him is luke-warm
3) They make Him want to vomit
Now may be wondering what kind of church people do this to God? How can these things be? This last church age is church that assesses themselves. They conclude 2 things about themselves:
1) They are rich with increase
2) They have need of nothing
This church age is a prospering church. This church age is a professing church age (about themselves, mind you) and this church age is a picky church. Money has some how gotten into their hands, they are living at the point where they have need of nothing
(or desiring with everything in them get to this point) and they are phlegmatic church. They have no passion, they have become dull and simply along for the church ride.
BEHOLD! Our enemy has done this! God has commanded HIS people to love Him with ALL their HEART, ALL of their SOUL and ALL of their MIND. (Matthew 22:37) But we are looking at church that only likes God at best and tolerates Him at worst AND it's all by their standards. This church is so disconnected from God that Rev 3:20 says God is OUTSIDE of this CHURCH, KNOCKING!!!!
Can you imagine being in a church where the choir is singing, people are giving and the preacher is preaching but GOD is on the outside saying, "May I come in?" This is NOTHING be ignored. This not what we are to turn a blind eye to. Ignoring and discarding are the very traits that make this church/church age something God wants to PUKE up. How do we know God is on the inside of our churches? How do we know that our churches don't make God sick? How can we determine if the very ministry we are currently attending carries this Laodicean spirit?
I'm glad you asked! Simply compare it to the church before! The church age before is the 2nd and last church that God only has COMMENDATIONS for not a single word of condemnation. The church of Philadelphia:
1) Has little power ( God had to open and close the doors for them)
2) KEEPS His Word ( they don't change what is acceptable and unacceptable based on how the nation is changing
3) Did not deny His name (people know they LOVE God- religion is not a private matter to them)
This church has passion for God! This church is being a witness for God! This church is focusing on expanding God's Kingdom not their personal lives here on earth. This church is consumed with the return of God and His rewards not their best life NOW. They are upholding what the Bible says is right no matter what new laws, new groups, and new doctrines are appearing during our time.
This is the church that will experience the rapture for verse 10