Lesson 627

(Lesson 627)(05-06-13) Revelation 3:14-22, "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 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. 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 many as I love, I rebuke and chasten: be zealous therefore, and repent. 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. 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."

If any of these warnings to the Churches appear to represent a time dispensation, this one indeed does. That appearance however, may, or may not be intentional.

John's description of the Laodicians matches perfectly with what I perceive to be the condition of the vast majority of today's Churches. For the most part, the majority appear to be content to assemble as regularly as clockwork, simply for the sake of the assembly. It seems many of our Churches have, for the most part, abandoned the great commission and made the assembly their primary goal. In other words for many, what we do during the week is not nearly so important as whether or not we show up for the assembly every time the door swings.

I will admit that out of some assemblies, support is collected for "mission" work. That is a very important part of our duty as Church members and should NEVER be neglected. However, I believe that the "mission" should also include our own back yards as well as foreign fields.

Whether we like it or not, as saved people, we took on a duty to "Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature." The "ye", in this quote, is all inclusive, it does NOT tell us to designate someone to go and do the work for us.

Some might say that I've gone way off the point of today's lesson with this synopsis, however, I believe the condition John describes with this warning, to the Church at Laodicia, perfectly defines today's "Church" condition.~