Revelation 3:
15 "I know your works, that you are neither cold nor hot. I could wish you were cold or hot.
16 "So then, because you are lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will vomit you out of My mouth.
17 "Because you say, 'I am rich, have become wealthy, and have need of nothing' -- and do not know that you are wretched, miserable, poor, blind, and naked --
18 "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.
19 "As many as I love, I rebuke and chasten. Therefore be zealous and repent.
The Bible warns that in the last days many in the church will have a form of godliness but denying its power. Jesus warned He would not tolerate a lukewarm church but it would be ‘vomited out of His mouth’. A cold church is one that is living in complete opposition to scripture. There is no doubt where they stand. A person who is cold and not living by any scriptural standard can come to the knowledge that they are living without hope in Christ, and can be persuaded to repent. A person on fire for God is living their life for God’s purpose and the hope of their future is in Heaven. The lukewarm person is not living for God and because they have a false Christianity, they can’t see their sins. In their own minds, everything can be easily justified. They can always do a deed here and there to make themselves feel spiritual. The lukewarm person or church has just enough godliness to feel spiritual so they don’t see any need to pursue God, however, anyone who is at room temperature is dead. A lukewarm church is a church with spirituality, but without holiness. It is a church that has a form of godliness but no love for God.
Read 1 John 2:3-6, John 14:15 and John 15:10.
How do we express our love for God?
If we do not keep God’s commandments, do we love God?
Can we be lukewarm and have a relationship with God?
Jesus condemned several of the churches because they allowed false doctrines, which polluted the true doctrine of Christ. Three specific false doctrines are mentioned in these two chapters. Lets examine them a little closer so that we can understand how this applies to the church today.
To the church in Ephesus
6 "But this you have, that you hate the deeds of the Nicolaitans, which I also hate.
To the church in Pergamos
15 "Thus you also have those who hold the doctrine of the Nicolaitans, which thing I hate.
The word Nicolaitans comes from a combination of Greek words but literally means ‘to rule over the laity’. God has never given permission for the church leaders to rule over the people. Most cults are born out of religious rule. Leaders get the power over the people by making themselves the intermediary between the people and God and make themselves the judge over who has salvation. Any student of the Bible can see the error of this. That is why almost all cults discourage their followers from studying the scriptures without ‘guidance’. I was recently given some literature from a cult that spelled out the dangers of reading scripture without a ‘study program’ or elders to guide them. Their own words were, "Regardless of how sincere you are, the scriptures will be confusing and you will be mislead if you study outside our program".
Jesus presented another plan for church leadership. Look at Matthew 20:
25 But Jesus called them to Himself and said, "You know that the rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and those who are great exercise authority over them.
26 "Yet it shall not be so among you; but whoever desires to become great among you, let him be your servant.
27 "And whoever desires to be first among you, let him be your slave --
28 "just as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life a ransom for many."
That is quite a different picture than we see in churches and religious groups that are not followers of God’s plan. A spiritual leader shows his qualifications by becoming the servant of others. A true leader leads by example and not instruction alone. 1 Corinthians 11:1 gives the picture of true leadership in one phrase, "Imitate me, just as I also imitate Christ." God said that He hates the doctrine of the Nicolaitans. That is a strong warning against all groups who practice this unbiblical style of leadership. Any leader that attempts to control or rule over the people is in direct violation of God’s commands. That does not mean a church can’t set standards; it means that the people, following scripture, submit themselves to the authority of God and then to each other. A true leader humbles himself to lead by serving Christ and others.
Why does Jesus hate the Nicolatians?
What dangers arise when people become dependent on leaders to know God or His will?
Why are cults dependent on lordship in order to maintain their doctrines?
Revelation 2:14 "But I have a few things against you, because you have there those who hold the doctrine of Balaam, who taught Balak to put a stumbling block before the children of Israel, to eat things sacrificed to idols, and to commit sexual immorality."
One thing you will find as you study the book of Revelation is that most of the analogies are written with the assumption that the reader knows the Old Testament. It is impossible to accurately interpret these allegories without understanding the Old Testament principles they reference. Everything that God commanded in the Old Testament points directly to the plan of God, which unfolds in the New Testament. The law points to everything that Christ would fulfill. Everything that God does is for a purpose. Revelation is written to the church and people who have become students of the scriptures. The doctrine of Balaam is a reference to the Old Testament as well. We first see Balaam in Numbers 22. Balaam was a prophet of God who was hired by Balak, king of the Moabites.
After Israel left Egypt and went into the Promised Land, they began to conquer the kingdoms that occupied the land. Balak was afraid of the people and recognized that God was blessing them. He knew that he could not conquer Israel, so he sent for the prophet Balaam and paid him to curse the people. He reasoned that if a prophet of God would curse the people, God would not fight for them. Three times Balak took Balaam to a peak that overlooked the people and asked him to curse the Israelites. Every time Balaam opened his mouth, God caused him to bless the people. Balak grew angry and said to Balaam, "I called you to curse my enemies and you have bountifully blessed them. I would have greatly honored you, but the Lord has kept you back from honor". Balaam wanted that worldly honor and the riches promised him, but by his own confession, he was bound by what God put in his mouth to speak. But he did find a compromise. He was not able to speak a curse from the Lord, but he taught Balak how to make Israel curse themselves. He taught Balak that the people could be lured away from God by immorality. All Balak needed to do was send the most beautiful women of his kingdom to the men of Israel. They could then cause God’s people to defile them sexually and then draw them into idolatry. Balaam’s plan worked. The men pursued the lust of these women and were lured away from God and then they followed to gods of the Moabites.
Did Balak love God or the world?
Did Satan have the power to pull God’s people out of God’s will?
Did God’s people have the power to abandon God’s will?
This same doctrine is in the church today. We have the absolute promise that the gates of hell shall not prevail against the church. Satan can’t defeat the church. He can’t even resist or protect his worldly kingdom from the power of the church as she marches forward to fulfill God’s purpose. Since he can’t resist the church that stands on God’s power, he uses the same deception used throughout history – lure God’s people into his kingdom. The only way the church can be defeated is to leave God and pursue lust with God’s enemies. Idolizing the things of the world and sexual immorality are two powerful weapons in the devil’s hands. The children of Israel saw the temptation to get instant gratification. They allowed these temptations to draw their eyes away from the promise of God, and then they abandoned the great promise for a temporal pleasure.
Christians do the same today. We have the promise of true satisfaction and fulfillment in this life and the promise of an eternal inheritance. If Satan can get our eyes off those promises by getting us to take the bait of instant, ungodly gratification, he has won by our forfeit. We can only lose if we forfeit our inheritance in exchange for the devils handouts. If we forget the promise, we will love the world. Look at 2 Peter 2:15,
"They have forsaken the right way and gone astray, following the way of Balaam the son of Beor, who loved the wages of unrighteousness."
We love the wages of unrighteousness by loving the world. The prophet Balaam loved the world but tried to compromise by a pretense of obedience. He kept what he thought God required and feeling like he accomplished his duty, he mixed the world into his religion. We see this in many forms today. Many claiming to be Christians live ungodly lifestyles and claim that they love God. Even in recent years, two popular Christian singers have openly committed adultery and married their lovers. One claimed that this was God’s will and the other claimed that it was wrong to judge her actions. Sinning is ok, but calling it sin is wrong in the compromised church.
We also have churches masquerading as worshippers of God but in reality they worship money and wealth or self. The whole focus of their message is gaining worldly possessions. They ignore scripture while using a handful of phrases from scripture to give the illusion of obedience. God said, "I am your exceedingly great reward" but these teach that God is a means to get a reward. The Bible teaches that we are created to love God and we build our relationship with Him by conforming to His image; these teach that God is either irrelevant or that Christianity can conform to our lifestyle. The Bible calls these teachers followers of Balaam.
Does the devil have the power to defeat the church?
Describe darkness. Can darkness dispel light?
Read the last half of Luke 18:8 and 2 Thessalonians 2:3. In the end times, how does the church lose its power?
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