The Message of the Teachings on the Mount (102)
By Abraham Eli
This study was first taught on January 24, 2012
Topic: Entering Into The Kingdom of Heaven (3.7.1)
No audio available for this study.Background
Last week, we saw that the Lord (who introduced Himself, as the One Who has the keys of David, and Who shuts a door that no one can open, and opens a door, that no one can shut), had placed before the Philadelphian church an open door which no man can shut, because even though they had little strength, they nonetheless kept His word and did not deny His name. For this same reason, the Lord assured the church in Philadelphia of protection when the hour of temptation comes upon the whole world. They were, however, warned not to let go of what they had, including their profession of faith and hope in Christ, so that they would not lose their eternal reward.
We said that the believer in Christ today, can similarly be given unimpeded access into the hearts of individuals, whole communities, tribes, and nations, so that they can come to the saving knowledge of Christ. Believers can also gain access into the mystery of the word of God so that they can unambiguously declare same to sinners and believers alike. In the same way, believers in Christ can receive the assurance of eternal life through guaranteed entry into heaven. All that is required is that we adhere to or uphold the word of God, and refuse to deny Christ by our conduct and in our interaction with others. We also learnt that:
1. Keeping the word of God with patience, and refusing to deny Christ is more important to the Lord than our preaching, prophesying, casting out demons, and performing miracles, signs and wonders.
2. How little your strength is in any form, should not, and cannot, be an excuse for not continuing to keep the word of God, or denying Him before men.
3. There will be challenges in your walk with God, but you are not expected to give up on the profession of your faith and hope in Christ.
4. You are to keep on holding on to what you have of God until the end, so that your crown will not be taken by someone else.
5. For every door that is open, there will be adversaries, but the Lord has assured us of victory over them, so we must not relent in our prayers.
Scripture Text(s)
Matthew 7:21-22; Revelation 3:14-22
Our second text gives us the Lord’s message to the church in Laodicea, which was essentially a chastening on one hand, and counsel of what they need to do if they were going to enter into heaven, on the other hand. The chastening addressed two issues: the temperature of their Christianity, and their measure of success as Christians. Tonight, we shall focus on one of the issues raised in the chastening of the Laodicean church. May the Holy Spirit help us to understand and apply this issue in our walk with God, in Jesus’ name, Amen.
The temperature of Christianity can be described as the fervency or earnestness with which believers in Christ live and conduct themselves by the word and in the world. From our second scripture text, we see that there are three possible temperature readings or categories of individuals in Christianity—cold, lukewarm, and hot. The Lord seemed not to have issues with the first and the last categories; in fact, He said He preferred a person to be either of these. But of the lukewarm category, He was extremely disgusted, and wouldn’t stomach—“I will spit you out of my mouth” (NLT).
Romans 8:9; Ephesians 2:12; 2 Chronicles 15:3, 5-6; Ephesians 4:17-19; Genesis 1:2; Romans 1:20-32; John 1:12-13; Acts 26:4-19; 9:7-22; 10:1ff; Esther 4:16; Luke 14:25-27; Revelation 12:11c; 2 Corinthians 12:15; Acts 21:10-13; 1 Kings 18:21; Matthew 6:24; 12:30; Exodus 32:26-29; 1 Corinthians 10:21-22; James 1:8; 2 Chronicles 25:2; 2 Timothy 3:1-5; 1 Corinthians 4:20; 2 Timothy 4:2-4; Joshua 24:14-23; Romans 12:11.
Conclusion
The church in Laodicea had become lukewarm in its devotion to God, as the fervency they probably once had was now gone, and in its place was a strange aberration of Christianity. They talked the talk, but did not walk the walk! They oscillated between God and idolatry. They did not take a firm stand for God, and were insincere in their devotion to Him. They were repugnant to the Lord, so, He threatened to ‘spew them out of His mouth’. It is therefore clear that entry into heaven will not be a matter of merely prophesying, casting out demons, and working miracles, in the Lord’s name; rather, it is the fervency with which such things were done. Where a person is found wanting in the ‘fervency department’, there is the danger of being excluded from the kingdom of God on the last day.
The Lord views individuals as, cold, hot, or lukewarm.
1. The ‘cold’ individual is someone who does not have the Spirit of God at all. He is dead to God, vain (empty), insensitive, darkened in understanding, and given to habitual sinful conducts. He may be involved in religion, but it is not through Christ and not by the Holy Spirit. But whether or not he is involved in religion, the ‘cold’ individual is nonetheless sincere, loyal, and devoted to his belief!
2. The ‘hot’ individual is fervent, fiery, and, fanatical in his devotion to God. He is filled with the Holy Spirit, and loves God above everything else, including his own life. He cannot be separated from the love of Christ! Above all, he is sincere in his devotion and service to God.
3. The ‘lukewarm’ individual seeks to serve God and Mammon at the same time. His devotion to God is marked by indifference, lack of concern, half-heartedness, pretenses, and backsliding. Although he talks like a Christian, he does not live like one; he stands for nothing, and is not known to have any position on anything; he is unstable in all his ways, faltering between opinions; he knows what is right from what is evil, but will defend what is evil; and, he cannot endure sound doctrine, but seeks to hear what will make him feel good, rather than hear what can make him good. Worse of all, he is insincere!
If there is anything the Lord is interested in, it is people who are sincere, either on the side of God or otherwise. But for the insincere person, He vomits them out of His mouth—He cannot stomach them. The lesson we must take away from this study tonight is that if we are indeed going to achieve our goal of entering into the kingdom of God at the end of this age, we must of necessity re-energize and be fervent in our devotion and service (prophesying, casting out demons, performing miracles, etc.) to God.
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