The warning is out to William Murphy, TD Jakes and to Mike Bickle, and others.
We're not wishing judgment upon them, but we're warning them that the Lord is serious about His church. The other thing that we have to understand is that not everyone is a part of the Body of Christ. We do have tares among wheat (see Matthew 13).
Wolves among sheep and the false among the real.
Let us look at 5 of the 7 churches in the Book of the Revelation of Jesus Christ.
The warnings, at least.
Ephesus
Revelation 2:5 (NKJV) "Remember therefore from where you have fallen; repent and do the first works, or else I will come to you quickly and remove your lampstand from its place—unless you repent."
Pergamos
Revelation 2:16 (NKJV) "Repent, or else I will come to you quickly and will fight against them with the sword of My mouth."
Thyatira
Revelation 2:21-23 (NKJV) "And I gave her time to repent of her sexual immorality, and she did not repent. Indeed I will cast her into a sickbed, and those who commit adultery with her into great tribulation, unless they repent of their deeds. I will kill her children with death, and all the churches shall know that I am He who searches the minds and hearts. And I will give to each one of you according to your works."
Sardis
Revelation 3:3-5 (NKJV) "Remember therefore how you have received and heard; hold fast and repent. Therefore if you will not watch, I will come upon you as a thief, and you will not know what hour I will come upon you. You have a few names even in Sardis who have not defiled their garments; and they shall walk with Me in white, for they are worthy. He who overcomes shall be clothed in white garments, and I will not blot out his name from the Book of Life; but I will confess his name before My Father and before His angels."
Laodicea
Revelation 3:18-19 (NKJV) "I counsel you to buy from Me gold refined in the fire, that you may be rich; and white garments, that you may be clothed, that the shame of your nakedness may not be revealed; and anoint your eyes with eye salve, that you may see. As many as I love, I rebuke and chasten. Therefore be zealous and repent."
Today, many people honestly don't believe that the Lord is serious. That He loves His people so much that He would never inflict judgment on His church.
Exposing sin isn't judgment.
Ephesians 5:11-14 (NKJV) "And have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness, but rather expose them. For it is shameful even to speak of those things which are done by them in secret. But all things that are exposed are made manifest by the light, for whatever makes manifest is light. Therefore He says:
“Awake, you who sleep,
Arise from the dead,
And Christ will give you light.”
It's a warning that He's about to severly judge sin.
1 Peter 4:17-19 (NKJV) "For the time has come for judgment to begin at the house of God; and if it begins with us first, what will be the end of those who do not obey the gospel of God?
Now
“If the righteous one is scarcely saved,
Where will the ungodly and the sinner appear?”
Therefore let those who suffer according to the will of God commit their souls to Him in doing good, as to a faithful Creator."
On the contrary. He loves His church so much, that He will correct and chastise His church as He sees fit. If the Lord didn't love you, He wouldn't correct you.
Hebrews 12:5-6 (NKJV) “My son, do not despise the chastening of the LORD,
Nor be discouraged when you are rebuked by Him; For whom the LORD loves He chastens, and scourges every son whom He receives.”
Psalms 30:5 (NKJV) "For His anger is but for a moment, His favor is for life;
Weeping may endure for a night, but joy comes in the morning."
Very few children refuse to weep when chastised but when the commensurate pain is inflicted (see the Book of Judges)....
Hebrews 12:11 (NKJV) "Now no chastening seems to be joyful for the present, but painful; nevertheless, afterward it yields the peaceable fruit of righteousness to those who have been trained by it."
If you can allow me..............if not, no problem...............
Weeping may endure for a night, but joy comes in the morning, no chastening seems to be joyful, but painful, afterwards, it yields the peaceable fruit of righteousness...."
We cried in our beds after a beating from our parents, but in the morning, it's all over.
Much like a little child that tests his parents.
The child is betting that mom or dad would not inflict pain. And in one split moment, because the child transgressed the law of father or mother, measurable and justified pain is severely inflicted for a reason.
The purpose of inflicting justified measurable pain is to teach the lesson, that when a child deliberately crosses the line, the penalty is real. Why?
There's a greater penalty called hell for all eternity given to those that insist on its own way. Rejecting God's way.
Proverbs 8:32-33 (KJV) "Now therefore hearken unto me, O ye children:
for blessed are they that keep my ways. Hear instruction, and be wise, and refuse it not."
1 Corinthians 11:29-32 (NKJV) "For he who eats and drinks in an unworthy manner eats and drinks judgment to himself, not discerning the Lord’s body. For this reason many are weak and sick among you, and many sleep. For if we would judge ourselves, we would not be judged. But when we are judged, we are chastened by the Lord, that we may not be condemned with the world."
But here with the seven churches, only 2 went unscathed (Smyrna and Philadelphia) because they were doing what the Lord expected them to do.
With the church at Ephesus and Pergamos, we see that Ephesus is a local church, born out of the gospel that was preached by Paul. But they've left their first love. You shall love the Lord your God with all of your heart, soul, mind and strength. Ephesus was commended for their good works, and they've hated the doctrine of the Nicolaitans.
But Pergamos had the doctrine of the Nicolaitans in their midst.
What's the doctrine of the Nicolaitans?
According to Strong's Concordance, they were a "a sect mentioned in Rev. 2:6,15, who were charged with holding the error of Balaam, casting a stumbling block before the church of God by upholding the liberty of eating things sacrificed to idols as well as committing fornication."
They were dealing with idolatry and sexual immorality. In other words, they tried to mix it up with Christianity. But Paul was clear with the church at Corinth.
2 Corinthians 6:14-18 (NKJV) "Do not be unequally yoked together with unbelievers. For what fellowship has righteousness with lawlessness? And what communion has light with darkness? And what accord has Christ with Belial? Or what part has a believer with an unbeliever? And what agreement has the temple of God with idols? For you are the temple of the living God. As God has said:
“I will dwell in them
And walk among them.
I will be their God,
And they shall be My people.”
Therefore
“Come out from among them
And be separate, says the Lord.
Do not touch what is unclean,
And I will receive you.”
“I will be a Father to you,
And you shall be My sons and daughters,
Says the LORD Almighty.”
With Thyatira, they've had a woman that professed to be a prophetess. But she tried to mix it up too by teaching the people to commit sexual immorality and eat things sacrificed to idols.
With Sardis, they were dead. or unresponsive to the Lord. They thought that they were alive to God, but they were dead. Although the sin was never identified, yet, in order to be dead, you have to be engaging in some kind of activity to be told that you were dead.
Then there's Laodicea. They were indifferent. Lukewarm. Completely in the middle. For the Lord to spit you out of His mouth. It means that you're forcibly ejected from the Body, and just like in John 15, you're a branch that's been cut off to be bundled and to be burned in hell forever (see Matthew 7:15-23).
When you've been warned to turn, the Lord is very serious.
The churches and leaders today may not need a prophet to come and warn them because we have "a more sure word of prophesy." The Scriptures, breathed upon by the Holy Spirit is more than sufficient to issue the warning to every rogue place and leader.
In some instances, the Lord will remove the candlestick, and we won't even know it.
In other places, it will be very dramatic.
Like with killing Jezebel and her children with death. The very worse is to have your name "blotted out of the Book of Life."
Folks, this is what's before us. Even to this day.
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