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Revelation 3:15 to 16Jesus says clearly. I know your works. You are neither cold nor hot. Wish you were cold or hot. Because. You are lukewarm, neither cold nor hot, I intend to spit you out of My mouth.
Read the entire chapter to which the verses refer, face the truth and be warm.
John Revelation 3. 20 to 21 Behold I, Jesus. Standing before the door and knocking, if anyone hears my voice I will go in to him and have communion with him, and he with Me. The one who overcomes I will let sit with me, on my throne, just as I too have overcome and taken my place with My Father on His throne..
The church in Laodicea, the last of the seven churches mentioned.
in Revelation. .2 to 3 stands as a prophetic picture of the great public church in the last days just before the return of the Lord Jesus.
The name Laodicea means:
People's government, which is also a form of democracy in the congregation. But God's way of governing his congregation is Theocracy, which means: Ruled by God.
The last church has thus taken the rule from God. Jesus is not knocking here on the sinner's door, but on the church's door.
Matthew.16 15-19 We take verse 18, the other verses you can look up yourself. So I also say Jesus to you. That you are Petrus, and I want to build My church on that rock. And the gates of Hades shall not prevail against it.
Jesus himself will build his church.
He calls it "MY" church. He is the head, the great builder. All others are only employees on his drawings.
The word church is in the basic language: Ekklesian. This name is gone in the Book of Revelation after the end of Rev. . 3 then the congregation is taken away, which happens .4 verse 1. But that is another story, which I do not deal with here.
But how does the Lord build his church?
It is built by regenerated people. Living stones.
John 3 and 5. Jesus saw and said to him. Indeed, indeed. I say. No one can see God's kingdom unless he is born of water and the Spirit.
Jesus begins the construction of his church with regenerated people.
But that is only the beginning, if we settle for that we will not become the church that Jesus wants to build.
THERE'S MORE TO GET!
All born again must also be baptized with water baptism by immersion, which is a picture of Jesus' death and resurrection.
So a funeral.
Romans 6 4 So we were buried with Him by baptism into death, so that just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, in the same way we too shall live a completely new life.
We figuratively go into the baptismal grave and let old Adam bury and rise again, as a new spiritual man, a Christ man. We no longer live as Paul writes in Gal. 2-20, but Christ now lives in us.
But there is more to being an Ekklesia congregation:
Acts .2-38 Peter said to them. Repent, let yourselves be baptized, each one of you in the name of Jesus Christ, for the forgiveness of your sins, and you shall receive the Holy Spirit as a gift.
The gift Peter refers to here is the gift that he himself and the disciples had just received. Namely the baptism of the Holy Spirit with tongues as a sign. So one must be born again and buried in baptism and then be baptized with the Holy Spirit. Acts 10 44-48 While Peter was still speaking like this, the Holy Spirit fell on all who heard the Word. Verse 46 Those standing around heard them speaking in tongues and praising God.
Then Peter had them baptize in the name of Jesus Christ. They were buried in the water of baptism. Not all believers are baptized with the Holy Spirit, nor were they in the time of the apostles. But it is necessary to grow up into the church that Jesus is building. Paul tells: Acts 19.1-6. There he met some disciples (pupils) and asked them. Did you receive the Holy Spirit when you came to faith? They answered. We have not even heard that it is a Holy Spirit. He asked them again with what baptism were you then baptized? They responded with John's baptism. Then said Paul. John baptized with the baptism of repentance, and told the people that they should believe in Him who came after him, that is, Jesus. When they heard that, they were baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus. And when Paul laid his hands on them, the Holy Spirit came upon them, and they spoke in new tongues and prophesied.
The evidence that they were baptized with the Holy Spirit was that they spoke in tongues and prophesied. Have we ever heard of an infant at baptism speaking in tongues and prophesying? Even though they say that both the spirit of regeneration and the baptism of the Holy Spirit are given to them in baptism?
Here are some scriptures to study:
Matthew 3-11 - Mark 1-8 - Luke 3-16 - John 1-33 _ Acts 1-5 and 11-16 and 1-8.
But there is more to being the Ekklesia congregation that Jesus builds:
1 Corinthians.12 1 and 4 and 7-10 the rest you can read yourself.
Regarding the spiritual gifts brothers, I will not in shall be ignorant. There are different graces, but the Spirit is the same. And Revelations are given to the individual for common benefit. For one is given by the Spirit to speak with wisdom, another to speak knowledge according to the same Spirit. One is given faith by the same Spirit, another grace to heal, by the oneSpirit, to perform miracles, another to prophesy. Another to judge the spirits. Another different kind of speaking in tongues, and another to interpret/interpret the speaking in tongues.
All these, these gifts are a consequence of the baptism of the Holy Spirit.
Where the baptism of the Holy Spirit is not preached and practiced, these gifts are not found in the congregation.
It is not a matter of one individual in a congregation being baptized with the Spirit and practicing a gift.
No, we are talking about the whole congregation being filled with these gifts.
1 Corinthians 14,26 Now what follows here from brothers? When you come together, each of you has a hymn, or a teaching,,or a revelation, or speaking in tongues, or an interpretation/interpretation. Let it happen in such a way that it works for edification.
But this is much more to be had.
God rules his congregation, his servants.
God directs his congregation through his services: Ephesians 4.11-13. He gave us some as apostles, others as evangelists, others as shepherds and teachers, to make the saints fully prepared for their service, to build up the body of Christ, until we all come to be one in the faith in the knowledge of God Son. To manhood, that we may receive the fullness of Christ.
The five services are God's gift to his church Eklessia, which is also his own body with himself as the head.
The five services must lead the church to full maturity as it can contain the fullness of Christ.
This includes the fact that we have entered our ministry.
There is therefore a service for the individual.
For me, no doubt that this means that the individual serves in the anointing of the Holy Spirit with them
Spiritual gifts with which the Holy Spirit has equipped the individual.
The services are tasked with guiding and educating the individual for growth.
But if we don't want to accept God's drawing of what a church is, then we are not the church that Jesus wanted to build.
As I began, Laodicea was no longer his church. Jesus stood outside the door.
They themselves had taken over the governance by democracy in the congregation and deposed the Theocracy.
God rules by his five ministries.
Every congregation is not Jesus' congregation.
The Laodicean church thought they were rich and were right in the middle of God's blessing. But Jesus would spew them out of his mouth. It literally means that he would puke on them.
Dear brothers and sisters, let us align ourselves according to God's design, as he revealed it to us here in the scriptures.
Let us not be a Laodicean church, but a Philadelphian church, which is mentioned in the Revelation. 3 7-13
Revelation .3-8 I know your works. See! I have placed you in front of an open door that no one can close. Well, your power is only small, but you have held fast to My Word and have not denied My name.
It can also say: well you are only a small weak congregation.
Verse 11 I am coming soon, hold on to what you have, so that no one will take your crown.
It is the church that will be raptured before the tribulation.
Philadelphia means:
Brotherly love.
So study this congregation.
Dear brother and sister, seek the servants who have this revelation that I have here revealed to you.
Let us not be opponents of God and clever in our own thoughts and feel rich in ourselves, but be humble and accept teaching from the revelation of the Holy Spirit about what Jesus' congregation should look like and let us practice it.
Thus:
Born again, buried in abundant water, baptized with the Holy Spirit with tongues as a sign, functioning in the gifts of the Holy Spirit and guided and built up by the five ministries until we reach all the fullness of Christ.
GOD HELP US!
It is not the congregation of the great revival, but a small weak congregation that Jesus brings.
The Laodicean congregation will soon become a "big" congregation that feels rich and powerful.
amen
