Brother Mike Ministries

The many days of Judgment Day began on May 21, 2011!  
***
ETERNAL LIFE: No Longer Possible!! ***

Whoso keeps the commandment shall feel no evil: and a wise man's heart discerns [will know] both time and judgment - Ec. 8:5

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Revelation 3:14-22
A message to the angel of the church of the Laodiceans!
By Brother Mike (6-19-19; 60 minutes)
   

14 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 ;
15 I know thy works, that thou art neither cold nor hot: I would thou wert cold or hot
16 So then because thou art lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will spue thee out of my mouth .
17 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 :  
18 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 eye-salve, that thou mayest see .
19 As many as I love, I rebuke and chasten: be zealous therefore, and repent
20 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 .
21 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
22 He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches .


INTRODUCTION   

In this study, we look at the message unto the angel of the church of the Laodiceans. In this message, Christ first addresses the Laodiceans by saying, these things says the Amen, the faithful and true witness, the beginning of the creation of God, and we ask the questions, why does Christ call Himself the Amen, the faithful and true witness? And, when Christ calls Himself the beginning of the creation of God, does He mean that He was the first thing created, or what? The answers to these questions and more will be revealed in the following study.

But, now, Christ's message to the Laodiceans continues, and He says, I know thy works, that you are neither cold nor hot: I would you were cold or hot. So, then, because you are lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will spew thee out of my mouth: because you say, I am rich, and increased with goods, and have need of nothing; and know not that you are wretched, and miserable, and poor, and blind, and naked, and we ask the questions, Why would Christ be able to stomach a cold or hot church, but not a lukewarm church like the church of Laodicea? And, why does Christ use the five words, wretched, miserable, poor, blind, and naked, to describe the Laodiceans? And, why does He use exactly five words to describe them? The answers to these questions and more will be revealed in the following study.

Now, next, Christ gives counsel to the Laodiceans, what they really need. He says to them, 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 eye-salve, that thou mayest see. And, with respect to these words, we ask, what does He mean when He counsels the Laodiceans to buy gold tried in the fire and white raiment, and for them to anoint their eyes with eye-salve that they may see? The answers to these questions and more will be revealed in the following study. 

But, now, Christ reveals the cure for the Laodiceans. He says, 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, and with respect to these words, we ask, why was it that the Laodiceans had good reason to be zealous and repent? And, when Christ said, if any man open the door, I will come in to him, and will sup with him, and he with me, does this mean that their salvation depended upon their free will to open the door? The answers to these questions and more will be revealed in the following study. 

And, finally, we learn of the reward for the Laodiceans that overcome. Christ says, 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, and we ask the questions, who are the ones of Laodicea that overcame? And, when did or will they sit down with Christ in His throne to rule? The answers to these questions and more will be revealed in the following study.

Now, may the Amen, the faithful and true witness, and the beginning of the creation of God, our Lord Jesus Christ, guide us into the riches of His knowledge through the study of His message to the angel of the church of the Laodiceans, amen.


Revelation 3:14

14 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 . . .   

In this verse, Christ first says, And unto the angel of the church of the Laodiceans write. As we had learned in our previous studies of the seven churches of Asia, the angel of any given church refers to the elect of that church. And, we found that the elect of that church refers not only to the elect of that particular church in the 1st century AD, but also to the elect who were in churches throughout the Church Age from May 21 of 33 AD to May 21, 1988 who were typified or pictured by the elect of that church, for being one of the seven churches of Asia that, as a whole, typified the totality of all the churches during the Church Age (see Bible Number 7 ), that given church was a type or picture of a portion of all the churches that came into being during the Church Age. Thus, when the Apostle John was commanded to write to the angel (elect) of the church of the Laodiceans, He was not only writing to the elect of the 1st century church of the Laodiceans, but he was writing to all the elect that came to be in churches throughout the Church Age that were typified or pictured by the church of Laodicea, which was a great number of the elect throughout the Church Age. 

Now, Christ says to the angel (elect) of the church of Laodicea, which typifies a great amount of the elect during the Church Age, These things says the Amen, the faithful and true witness. These things, of course, refer to the things that Christ is about to say about the church of Laodicea, but notice that Christ calls Himself the Amen, the faithful and true witness. Thus, in that Christ is called the Amen means that He is, at least in part, the faithful and true witness. And, when we further examine the word Amen, it is a very interesting word. Not only can it mean faithful one or true one,
but it has been called the best-known word in human speech. This has been due to its transliteration directly from Hebrew into the Greek of the New Testament, then into Latin and into English, and into many different languages so that it is now virtually a universal word. When used at the beginning of a discourse it is normally translated as verily, or truly, or of truth. But, when used at the end of a discourse or prayer, it is normally translated as so be it, or so it is, or may it be fulfilled, and so on.  

But, next, one might ask, what does it mean that Christ is the faithful and true witness? Well, He is the faithful witness because He obeyed the Father in everything, even to death on a cross for the sins of His elect, and He did all this even while suffering all the trials and hardships of being in this world as well as all the temptations from Satan. And, He is the true witness not only because everything He said and did was of the truth, but because He is the only way unto the Father; He was the only way in which people could be eternally saved from the wages of their sins, which was death. All others who claimed to be of the truth and came before or after Him were liars, but Christ is the true witness; the only true martyr for His elect who is the way unto the Father and eternal life in a new heaven and earth where there will be no sadness and sorrow, no suffering and sadness, no pain and death, but only glory and bliss in His Son forever, amen.  

Now, finally, in our verse, Christ calls Himself the beginning of the creation of God, and immediately, we ask the question, if Christ is the beginning of the creation, does this mean that He was the first created thing? Absolutely not! For we read in Colossians 1,

Col 1:16 For by him [Christ] were all things created, that are in heaven, and that are in earth, visible and invisible, whether they be thrones, or dominions, or principalities, or powers: all things were created by him, and for him

And, again, we read,  

Re 4:11 Thou art worthy, O Lord, to receive glory and honor and power: for thou hast created all things, and for thy pleasure they are and were created .  

That is, Christ was not the first thing created by God, but He was the creator of all things and, thus, He is God (see God is a Trinity ). Indeed, Christ is not called the beginning of the creation because He was the first thing created, but because He Himself is the creator, God, and all things had their beginning by Him, which is why He is called the beginning of the creation of God.  


Revelation 3:15
:   

15 I know thy works, that thou art neither cold nor hot: I would thou wert cold or hot

Here, Christ says to the church of Laodicea, I know your works. That is, Christ knew their works of prayer. He knew their works of sending forth the gospel. He knew their works of scripture study. He knew their works of worship. He knew their works of raising their kids in the fear and nurture of the Lord. He knew their works of praise. He knew their works of service to the poor. He knew their works of the ministry of the Word. Indeed, He knew all their works from the least to the greatest. There was nothing that they did which escaped the notice of the Lord, for He was and is, of course, all seeing and all knowing.   

Now, because Christ knew all their works, He concluded that they were neither cold nor hot. To be hot was to be fully given over to the Lord, to be on fire for the Lord, to be eternally saved. A hot church would be one that was diligently sending forth the gospel into the world. It was a church that diligently studied the Word of God and was attentive to obey everything therein. It was a church that was consistent and diligent in prayer and worship. It was a church wherein all the membership was saved in Christ Jesus. But, to be cold was to be completely opposite. It was a church that was not at all given over to the Lord. A cold church was one that was not diligently sending forth the gospel into the world. It was a church that did not diligently study the Word of God and was not attentive to obey everything therein. It was not consistent and diligent in prayer and worship. In fact, its entire membership was unsaved so that the church was nothing more than a social club with no real spiritual substance to it at all. Even though it carried the name of Christ, they were all spiritually dead, unsaved. Any saved people who visited such a church soon departed out to find another church, for they knew that Christ was not there. Yes, these were the hot and cold churches that Christ said the church of Laodicea was not.  

But, then, Christ says to the church of Laodicea, I would you were cold or hot, and we are forced to ask the question, why would Christ desire that they were either cold or hot instead of lukewarm as they were? Well, if they were hot on fire for the Lord, there would be no need for the Lord to get involved to chasten them for they would have no need for such a thing. And, if they were cold, there would be none of God's children there, and, thus, God would also have no need to chasten them. But, if they were lukewarm as they were, this would mean that some of God's people were there, but they were not yet hot, or on fire, for the Lord as they should be, and, therefore, they would need chastening or disciplining unto eternal salvation so that they would repent. So, the reason why Christ said that He would they were cold or hot and not lukewarm was so that He would not have to chasten His people. Even as a father takes no pleasure in chastening their son, so also the Lord takes no pleasure in chastening His people. Therefore, He said, I would you were cold or hot so that He would not have to get involved to chasten or discipline them.


Revelation 3:16
:   

16 So then because thou art lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will spue thee out of my mouth

So, we find here that because the church of Laodicea was neither cold nor hot as the Lord would have rather had them be so that He would not have to chasten them, He will spew them out of His mouth. Literally, it reads, I am about to spew thee out of my mouth. In other words, Christ had not yet spewed or vomited them out of His mouth, but He was presently about to. So, what we learn from this is that Christ cannot stomach a lukewarm Christian church. He hates when people go by His name, but they are not full out for Him. These are those kinds of people who claim to follow Christ, but they still love this world. For instance, they may claim to be Christian, but then you find out that they are having sex before marriage. Or, they are living with the opposite sex in fornication. Or, they are just living with the opposite sex with no awareness that they are witnessing against Christ by doing so. Or, they claim to be Christian, but they are getting buzzed or drunk on alcohol every weekend. And, O how they love their wine. Or, they enjoy having drinks in the bars, and they love carousing. Or, they claim to be Christian, but then they are divorcing their spouses, and, often, they then remarry to commit adultery against their 1st spouse who is still living. They are lovers of pleasure more than lovers of God. They are not saved! They are not zealous for the Word of God to make sure that they are studied to be obedient to everything therein, but they would rather read the newspaper or magazine. In fact, they tend to only read those parts of the Bible that they like, and they hate those parts of the Bible which have to do with judgment (which we know is a large portion of the Bible) as they would rather only read things that are positive. Or, they claim to be Christian, but the real reason they go to church is not to learn the Word of God and worship Jesus Christ, for we know that Christ is not even in the churches ever since September of 1994, but they go to church to meet new people and socialize. Or, to just feel better about themselves. They have no idea that all the churches are now dead, which means that they are dead as well by the fact that they cannot see that. They love to claim the name of Christ, but they deny the power thereof as the way they live is just like everyone else. We read about these people in 2Timothy 3 where we read,  

1 This know also, that in the last days perilous times shall come .
2 For men shall be lovers of their own selves, covetous, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy ,   
3 Without natural affection, trucebreakers, false accusers, incontinent, fierce, despisers of those that are good ,
4 Traitors, heady, high-minded, lovers of pleasures more than lovers of God
5 Having a form of godliness, but denying the power thereof: from such turn away .
6 For of this sort are they which creep into houses, and lead captive silly women laden with sins, led away with divers lusts ,  
7 Ever learning, and never able to come to the knowledge of the truth .
8 Now as Jannes and Jambres withstood Moses, so do these also resist the truth: men of corrupt minds, reprobate concerning the faith .  
9 But they shall proceed no further: for their folly shall be manifest unto all men, as theirs also was .  

And, I could go on and on describing the lukewarm Christians that Christ was about to vomit out of His mouth, but let's move on to our next verse.  


Revelation 3:17
:  

17 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 .  

In this verse, the Lord gives more details as to why He was about to spew, or we could translate it, vomit the Laodicean church from His mouth. He first says, Because you say, I am rich, and increased with goods, and have need of nothing. Apparently, this church equated spiritual blessing with financial and material wealth. They were like the prosperity gospels of our day who falsely think that they are spiritually blessed because they have so much money coming in, and because they possess great material wealth. Indeed, they possessed the magnificent church buildings along with the beautiful sanctuary, and they had all the wonderful church programs and activities that you can imagine. They were like many of the churches in our day. They even possessed an amazing entertainment band to lead the worship service that drew in the masses for entertainment. Yes, outwardly, they looked as if they were being blessed by God so that they believed themselves to have need of nothing.    

But, now, Christ pulls back the curtain and says to them, and know not that you are wretched, and miserable, and poor, and blind, and naked. So, even while the church of Laodicea thought they were rich, and had need of nothing because they were doing so well financially and materially in the world, Christ reveals that they were spiritually wretched, and miserable, and poor, and blind, and naked. Thus, financial wealth, obviously, does not necessarily equate to blessings from God. In fact, we already discovered as we studied the seven churches of Asia that the churches which were spiritually doing the best were normally those churches that were not financially and materially well off. Remember what scripture says in 1Corinthians 1,   

27 But God hath chosen the foolish things of the world to confound the wise; and God hath chosen the weak things of the world to confound the things which are mighty ;
28 And base things of the world, and things which are despised, hath God chosen, yea, and things which are not, to bring to nought things that are :  
29 That no flesh should glory in his presence .    

And, again, we read,  

Jas 2:5 Hearken, my beloved brethren, Hath not God chosen the poor of this world rich in faith, and heirs of the kingdom which he hath promised to them that love him

That is, for the most part, God's true people are not financially and materially rich, but they are rich in faith. On the other hand, the church of Laodicea was not rich in faith, but they were spiritually wretched, and miserable, and poor, and blind, and naked. This is all language to reveal that they were spiritually unsaved. And, notice that Christ revealed that they were unsaved by a list of five words: wretched, and miserable, and poor, and blind, and naked. Since the number 5 in the Bible can symbolize either grace or judgment (see Bible Number 5 ), Christ is here revealing that the church of Laodicea, and all those churches that were typified or pictured by it during the Church Age, were under the judgment of God, but they did not even know it just as all the churches in our day are under the spiritual wrath of God, but they don't even know it. Yes, a church can outwardly appear to have all the blessings of God, and, yet, be completely unsaved and under the wrath of God. So, don't believe for an instant that just because a church exists and has an ever-growing membership and appears to be extremely blessed of God by riches that they are spiritually blessed. Often, they are not, and during Judgment Day which began on May 21, 2011, none of them are blessed, but they are all wretched, and miserable, and poor, and blind, and naked, and they think that they are spiritually rich when they are not. Well, let's move on to our next verse.  


Revelation 3:18
:  

18 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 eye-salve, that thou mayest see .    

Here, Christ reveals the remedy for the unsaved lukewarmness of the Laodiceans. He says, I counsel thee to buy of me gold tried in the fire, that thou mayest be rich. Of course, the gold tried in the fire that makes one rich is the faith of Jesus Christ. We can see this, for instance, in 1Peter 1:7 where we read,  

1Pe 1:7 That the trial of your faith, being much more precious than of gold that perisheth, though it be tried with fire, might be found unto praise and honour and glory at the appearing of Jesus Christ . . . 

Notice that our faith, which is the faith of Jesus Christ, is compared to being much more precious than of gold that perishes though it be tried with fire. Thus, when our verse says, I counsel you to buy of me gold tried in the fire, the Laodiceans were being counseled to buy the faith of Christ, which is the faith that brings eternal life and escape from eternal punishment. 

But, how could they buy the faith of Christ when it can only be received as a free gift as we read in Ephesians 2, 

Eph 2:8 For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God

And, again, we read,   

Ro 6:23 For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord ?  

Also, listen to what Holy Scriptures says about the man named Simon who attempted to buy the gift of God with money. We read in Acts 8,  

18 And when Simon saw that through laying on of the apostles' hands the Holy Ghost was given, he offered them money ,
19 Saying, Give me also this power, that on whomsoever I lay hands, he may receive the Holy Ghost
20 But Peter said unto him, Thy money perish with thee, because thou hast thought that the gift of God may be purchased with money .
21 Thou hast neither part nor lot in this matter: for thy heart is not right in the sight of God .    

So, we see that the faith of Christ, which is a gift from God, could not be bought. But, then, what did Christ mean when He counseled the Laodiceans to buy gold tried in the fire, which is the faith of Christ, that they may be rich? We find the solution in Isaiah 55 where we read,   

Isa 55:1 Ho, every one that thirsteth, come ye to the waters, and he that hath no money; come ye, buy, and eat; yea, come, buy wine and milk without money and without price .  

Notice, here, that everyone who thirsts was to come and buy wine and milk, which milk and wine can be shown to symbolize eternal salvation in Christ, but they were to buy it without money and without price. Therefore, it was free of charge so that to buy it did not mean to pay for the gospel or Christ, but to buy was a figure of speech which meant to simply come to Christ to receive His faith unto eternal life. Therefore, when Christ counselled the Laodiceans to buy gold tried in the fire that they may be rich, He was counselling them to come to Him to receive eternal salvation that they may be rich with eternal spiritual blessings. Presently, the Laodiceans had no such riches, but they could yet come to Christ to receive (buy) them without money and without price, but as a gift from God.  

Now, returning to our verse, Christ further counsels the Laodiceans to buy from Him white raiment, that thou mayest be clothed, and that the shame of thy nakedness do not appear. As we just learned, to buy from Christ does not mean that they were literally being told to purchase with money white raiment from Him, but it is a figure of speech that simply means to come to Him to receive white raiment as a gift. And, since the color white is commonly known in the Bible to symbolize holiness and purity, and clothing symbolizes the covering for our spiritual nakedness - that is, the covering for our sins, which is called the righteousness of Christ - the white raiment or garments that the Laodiceans were counselled to come and receive from Christ was the holy and pure righteousness of Christ that people receive upon being spiritually born of God or born from above when Christ's righteousness is accounted to them in eternal salvation. Hence, we see that when Christ counsels the elect to buy from Him white raiment, it is just another way of telling them that they should come to him for eternal salvation because at that time, the Laodiceans were not eternally saved. And they are counselled to become eternally saved, that the shame of [their] nakedness do not appear. Literally, it reads, that the shame of your nakedness may not be being made to appear. And, since the verb translated as may not be being made to appear is in the Passive Voice of the Greek language, the shame which their sins would bring upon them before God is passively made to appear without them doing anything (see Passive Voice ).    

Well, not only were the Laodiceans counselled to buy gold tried in the fire, which was to come to Christ for His saving faith, and white raiment, which was to come to Christ for a holy and pure covering for their sins, namely the righteousness of Christ, but Christ commanded them, and anoint thine eyes with eye-salve, that thou mayest see. What does this mean? I am reminded of the account in John 9,  

1 And as Jesus passed by, he saw a man which was blind from his birth .
2 And his disciples asked him, saying, Master, who did sin, this man, or his parents, that he was born blind
3 Jesus answered, Neither hath this man sinned, nor his parents: but that the works of God should be made manifest in him .
4 I must work the works of him that sent me, while it is day: the night cometh, when no man can work .   
5 As long as I am in the world, I am the light of the world .
6 When he had thus spoken, he spat on the ground, and made clay of the spittle, and he anointed the eyes of the blind man with the clay ,  
7 And said unto him, Go, wash in the pool of Siloam, (which is by interpretation, Sent.) He went his way therefore, and washed, and came seeing .  

In this account, Jesus revealed that this man was blind from birth, which is a picture of almost all humans, except those saved while in the womb, who are born spiritually blind. And, it was Jesus who had to anoint the man's eyes with eye-salve so that the man could see. Likewise, it is Jesus who must anoint humans' spiritual eyes, namely their hearts or souls, if they are going to become eternally saved and be able to see spiritual truth. So, when Jesus Commands the Laodiceans to anoint their eyes with eye-salve that they may see, it is a command for them to come to Him that He might anoint their eyes, and they become eternally saved in Jesus Christ and able to see spiritual truth.   

But, notice that in giving spiritual sight to the man, Jesus said He must work the works of the Father while it is yet day; the night comes when no man can work. And, that night according to the biblical calendar began on May 21, 20211 when Jesus will no longer give spiritual sight or eternal salvation to anyone, for the Day of Salvation has passed; the night has come. Indeed, it is now Judgment Day wherein the entire human race, except, of course, for the elect, are being tried by their showing themselves to be sinners worthy of the judgment of death when on the Last Day of Judgment Day they are all cast into the Lake of Fire to burn up and be annihilated forever, for the wages of sin is death (Romans 6:23) and all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God (Romans 3:23). 


Revelation 3:19
:   

19 As many as I love, I rebuke and chasten: be zealous therefore, and repent .   

In this verse, we see that there was still hope for the Laodiceans. Although they were lukewarm and blind to think that they were rich and in need nothing when, in fact, they were unsaved, they were yet loved, for the Lord said to them, As many as I love, I rebuke and chasten. This reminds us of Hebrews 12 where we read, 

5 And ye have forgotten the exhortation which speaketh unto you as unto children, My son, despise not thou the chastening of the Lord, nor faint when thou art rebuked of him :
6 For whom the Lord loveth he chasteneth, and scourgeth every son whom he receiveth .
7 If ye endure chastening, God dealeth with you as with sons; for what son is he whom the father chasteneth not ?
8 But if ye be without chastisement, whereof all are partakers, then are ye bastards, and not sons .  
9 Furthermore we have had fathers of our flesh which corrected us, and we gave them reverence: shall we not much rather be in subjection unto the Father of spirits, and live ?
10 For they verily for a few days chastened us after their own pleasure; but he for our profit, that we might be partakers of his holiness .  
11 Now no chastening for the present seemeth to be joyous, but grievous: nevertheless afterward it yieldeth the peaceable fruit of righteousness unto them which are exercised thereby .
12 Wherefore lift up the hands which hang down, and the feeble knees ;  
13 And make straight paths for your feet, lest that which is lame be turned out of the way; but let it rather be healed .    

Notice that we just read the almost identical thing as in our verse. It stated in verse 6 of Hebrews 12, For whom the Lord loves, He chastens and scourges every son whom He receives. And, He goes so far as to have said in verse 8 of Hebrews 12, But if you be without chastisement, whereof all are partakers, then are you bastards, and not sons. Thus, we see, in that the Lord rebukes and chastens the Laodiceans must mean that He loved them, and there must be some of His children or sons in the church of Laodicea who were yet to be saved.   

Now, the Lord commanded them, be zealous, therefore, and repent. In other words, because the Lord loves whom He rebukes and chastens, and we learned in Hebrews 12 that He chastens all His children, be zealous and repent. This word translated as zealous is the same word that was translated as hot back when we were told that the Laodiceans were neither cold nor hot. Thus, the lord was saying to them, be hot and repent. That is, recognize that you are unsaved and not at all rich, but wretched, and miserable, and poor, and blind, and naked, and be hot or zealous and come to the Lord that He might grant you saving faith, and clothe you in His holy and pure righteousness, and heal your blind eyes, namely your hearts or souls, that you see the truth forevermore in Jesus Christ. 


Revelation 3:20
:  

20 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 .   

Here, we have one of the most abused verses by those of the false free will gospel. They say, Jesus stands at the door and knocks, and now it is up to you to open the door, namely, to open the door of your heart so that Christ will come in and save you. Thus, according to them, salvation depends upon what you choose to do whether you will open your heart to Him, or not. But, notice that our verse says if any man hear my voice, and open the door. That is, one must hear Christ's voice, and open the door to become saved, and we already learned repeatedly with our studies of the other churches of Asia that only the ones chosen unto salvation can hear His voice. Remember, at the end of each discourse on each church of Asia, we read, he that has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says unto the churches. This, we found, taught that only those who have spiritual ears, namely those who are chosen to salvation can and will hear what the Spirit says, and this Spirit, according to the Biblical doctrine of the Trinity (see God is a Trinity ), is one and the same as Christ Jesus Himself so that those who have spiritual ears to hear the Spirit, namely those who were chosen to salvation are the same ones who hear the voice of Christ. Therefore, salvation does not depend upon one opening the door of their heart for salvation, but it depends upon God whether one has been chosen by Him to hear the voice of Christ, and open the door of their heart, or not. And, is not this what the scripture teaches, for we read in Romans 9,    

Ro 9:16 So then it is not of him that willeth, nor of him that runneth, but of God that sheweth mercy .   

And, again, we read in John 1,  

12 But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name :
13 Which were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God

And, finally, we read in Ephesians 2,  

8 For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God :
9 Not of works, lest any man should boast

Thus, people were not saved because they opened the door of their hearts. In fact, no human will open the door of their heart; nor hear the voice of Christ unless they were first chosen of God to do so by the power of God alone whereby Jesus rose from the dead. So, and I say again, it is not of him that willeth, nor of him that runneth, but of God that sheweth mercy.   

Now, Christ further says to the church of the Laodiceans, that the ones who hear His voice, and who open the door to Him, namely the elect only, will have Christ come into them, and He will sup or dine with them, and they with Him. What does this mean? Well, it reminds us of the Last Supper when Jesus broke bread and drank wine and gave it to His disciples to eat and drink, and we know that this was all an earthly picture of what Christ did for His elect disciples in offering His body and blood as an offering on the cross for their sins unto their eternal salvation. Therefore, in that Christ comes in and sups or dines with those who hear His voice, and open the door, namely the elect, and they dine with Him means that He brings eternal salvation unto them. And, as was stated before, He does not bring eternal salvation to them because they made a free will choice to hear His voice, and open the door, but because they were chosen before the foundation of the world to hear His voice and open the door. Therefore, their salvation did not depend upon their free will, but rather upon the free will of God. As God said to Moses, I will have mercy on whom I will have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I will have compassion (Romans 9:15).   


Revelation 3:21
:  

21 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 .   

In this verse, Jesus first said, To him that overcomes will I grant to sit with me in my throne. Yet, who is the one that overcomes? We have learned this repeatedly in our studies: we read in 1John 5,  

1Jo 5:4 For whatsoever is born of God overcometh the world: and this is the victory that overcometh the world, even our faith .   

That is, the ones who overcome are all those who have been spiritually born again, or born from above, or, as our verse states, born of God. These are all those who have been given a new resurrected soul or heart through the hearing of the Word wherein Christ has come to dwell in the Spirit, and these are the ones who have been granted to spiritually sit with Christ in His thrown at the right hand of the Father. As we read in Ephesians 2,  

4 But God, who is rich in mercy, for his great love wherewith he loved us ,
5 Even when we were dead in sins, hath quickened us together with Christ, (by grace ye are saved ;)   
6 And hath raised us up together, and made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus .  

And, Christ not only grants to him that overcomes (to him that is born of God) to sit with Him in His throne, but He says, even as I also overcame, and am set down with my Father in his throne. So, just as all those who were born of God, born again, or born from above through the hearing of the Word overcame and were spiritually set down with Christ in heavenly places to rule in Christ Jesus, so also did Christ overcome through His death and resurrection, and was set down with His Father in His throne in the heavenly places. We read of this in Ephesians 1,  

20 Which he [the Father] wrought in Christ, when he raised him from the dead, and set him at his own right hand in the heavenly places ,
21 Far above all principality, and power, and might, and dominion, and every name that is named, not only in this world, but also in that which is to come :  
22 And hath put all things under his feet, and gave him to be the head over all things to the church ,
23 Which is his body, the fulness of him that filleth all in all .    


Revelation 3:22
:    

22 He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches .    

In this final verse, we are reminded once again that not everyone can hear what the Spirit says unto the churches. Only those who have spiritual ears can hear, and these are the ones who are commanded to hear what the Spirit says unto the churches. 


CONCLUSION  

In this study, we looked at the message unto the angel of the church of the Laodiceans wherein Christ began by saying, these things says the Amen, the faithful and true witness, the beginning of the creation of God. Here, we found that Christ called Himself the Amen because He is the True and Faithful One. He is the True One because everything about Him is of the truth and He is the only way unto the Father, and He is the Faithful One because He was faithful in everything to the Father, even to death on a cross for the sins of His elect. We also found that He called Himself the beginning of the creation of God not because He was the first thing created, but because all things were first created by Him, and for Him.  

But, then, Christ's message to the Laodiceans continued, and He said to them, I know thy works, that you are neither cold nor hot: I would you were cold or hot. So, then, because you are lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will spew thee out of my mouth: because you say, I am rich, and increased with goods, and have need of nothing; and know not that you are wretched, and miserable, and poor, and blind, and naked. In these verses, we found that Christ could not stomach the lukewarm church of the Laodiceans because they claimed to be Christians due to their financial and material wealth, but their hearts were far from God. This made Christ about to vomit them out of His mouth, for the Laodiceans believed all was well with their relationship to God when, in fact, they were wretched, and miserable, and poor, and blind, and naked. That is, they were unsaved as each of these five words describe a spiritually unsaved person in the Bible. And, being unsaved, they were under the judgment of God, which is why Christ described them with five words as the number five symbolized judgment. 

Then, next, Christ gave counsel to the Laodiceans by saying, 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 eye-salve, that thou mayest see. Here, we learned that the counsel of Christ to buy from Him gold tried in the fire and white raiment meant to come to Him to receive saving faith (the faith of Christ) and to receive the holy and pure righteousness of Christ. And, to anoint their eyes with eye-salve meant to come to Him to have their spiritual eyes (their hearts or souls) anointed by the Holy Spirit that they may be able to perceive spiritual truth. Indeed, the great need of the Laodiceans was to be saved by Jesus Christ.

Now, Christ revealed the cure for the Laodiceans. He said, 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, and with respect to these words, we first learned that the Laodiceans had good reason to be zealous and repent because in that the Laodiceans were being rebuked and chastened meant that there were some of God's true children there who were going to be saved, for we learned in Hebrews 12 that God only chastens His children. Second, we learned that when Christ said, 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, it did not mean that salvation was dependent upon the choice of the Laodiceans to hear Christ's voice, and to open the door, but it depended upon God's choice to first open their spiritual ears to hear Christ's voice so that they would open the door to Christ.

And, finally, we learned of the reward for the Laodiceans that overcame. Christ said, 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, and with respect to these words, we found that the ones who overcame are all those who became spiritually saved (born of God) in Jesus Christ, and, upon being spiritually born of God, they all spiritually sat down with Christ in his throne in the spiritual realm to rule and reign with Christ for all eternity.  


Now, may the LORD bless thee, and keep thee: The LORD make his face shine upon thee, and be gracious unto thee: The LORD lift up his countenance upon thee, and give thee peace .

1:16-20
2:1-7
2:8-11
2:12-17 
2:18-22 
2:23-29 
3:1-6 
3:7-13
3:14-22       

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