This
is the second time I talk about the lukewarm churches or believers. I
mentioned in K060 that the lukewarm churches do not like to hear about
the need to repent and they would find all kinds of doctrine to explain
why they do not need to hear it. They would convince each other that
Jesus is too gracious to spue them out even if they do not hear His
words, repent, or do His commandments. But the Lord has spoken:
Rev 22:13-15 KJV I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end, the first and the last. (14) Blessed are they that do his commandments,
that they may have right to the tree of life, and may enter in through
the gates into the city. (15) For without are dogs, and sorcerers, and
whoremongers, and murderers, and idolaters, and whosoever loveth and
maketh a lie.
Jesus is gracious, but He will still spue out some believers
who twist His words and lie deliberately with no repentance. Many of us
think that the Lord would just reject all kinds of immoral people or
sinners. But, if we read the Bible verses above (Rev 22:15) again, we
would know that they are not the ordinary sinners who sin or lie;
They are described as 'dogs', 'sorcerers', 'whoremongers', 'murderers',
'idolaters', 'liars' .. etc. Obviously they are not ordinary liars;
they are all kinds of 'spiritual enemies' against the kingdom of God.
They could be the evil spirits, fallen angels, false prophets, or false
believers who did not repent, but they would 'kill', 'lie', 'corrupt',
and 'destroy'. They will deceive many and draw many who are the fearful,
the unbelieving, and the abominable to join them (Rev 21:8).
Hence, today I will explain why the 'lukewarm' believers or churches are not the ordinary carnal believers
too. I will explain why Jesus would spue them out and why He is not
ungracious to do that. Many of them argue that Jesus will only spue out
the non-believers or the sinners; and hence, if they are the believers,
Jesus would never spue them out.
I will tell them, Please open your
eyes and read the 1st chapter of Revelation. Jesus was talking to the
believers and churches; not the non-believers or the sinners of the
world. How can you deny it:
Rev 1:10-11 KJV I was in the Spirit on
the Lord's day, and heard behind me a great voice, as of a trumpet,
(11) Saying, I am Alpha and Omega, the first and the last: and, What
thou seest, write in a book, and send it unto the seven churches
which are in Asia; unto Ephesus, and unto Smyrna, and unto Pergamos, and
unto Thyatira, and unto Sardis, and unto Philadelphia, and unto Laodicea.
These
churches were believers who believed, thought, or claimed to be in the
Lord; but many of them did not really believe or obey the Lord. That's
why Jesus would spue them 'out'. The word 'out' simply means that they
were 'in' but now they are out.
Hence, non-believers and sinners
are out of the question and the picture. However, we may debate if
Jesus would spue out the carnal believers, the legalistic believers, the
worldly believers, the greedy believers, the hypocritical believers,
the immature believers, the self-effort believers, the lazy believers,
the fruitless believers, the anti-law believers, the anti-grace
believers, the 'right' believers, or the 'wrong' believers. I have no
time to describe or explain each type of believers; however, I am sure
that Jesus was not talking about them or the believers who believe
'right' or 'left' when He said that He would spue out the lukewarm who
are neither 'hot' nor 'cold'. I believe that the lukewarm churches or
believers are the unfaithful believers who did something more horrible
than all other believers and deserve such judgement from the Lord.
Why would the Lord spue them out?
However,
we know that, if Jesus is still gracious to all the sinners who have
rejected Him, He would still be gracious to the believers who have
rejected Him too. He would still give them the grace to repent. Hence,
the only reason why the Lord would spue the believers out is when they
reject even the grace that is given to them for repentance. This was
clearly explained by Paul when he talked about those who rejected grace
and repentance:
Heb 10:26-29 KJV For if we sin wilfully after that we have received the knowledge of the truth, there remaineth no more sacrifice for sins,
(27) But a certain fearful looking for of judgment and fiery
indignation, which shall devour the adversaries. (28) He that despised
Moses' law died without mercy under two or three witnesses: (29) Of how much sorer punishment,
suppose ye, shall he be thought worthy, who hath trodden under foot the
Son of God, and hath counted the blood of the covenant, wherewith he
was sanctified, an unholy thing, and hath done despite unto the Spirit of grace?
Heb
6:4-6 KJV For it is impossible for those who were once enlightened,
and have tasted of the heavenly gift, and were made partakers of the
Holy Ghost, (5) And have tasted the good word of God, and the powers
of the world to come, (6) If they shall fall away, to renew them again unto repentance; seeing they crucify to themselves the Son of God afresh, and put him to an open shame.
In
fact, I have explained all these. But today, I want to go a step
further to explain what the 'lukewarm' believers or churches would do to
deserve such a 'sorer punishment': 1. They change their doctrine
schemingly, and 2. They twist God's words.
1. They change their doctrine schemingly
The
believers who will be spue out are the unfaithful believers who switch
their doctrine eg. from the 'hot' doctrine to 'cold' doctrine, and vice
versa. Yes, it could be switching from law to grace or grace to law; but
not limited to only this. I believe that the Lord is gracious enough to
allow us to correct our doctrine in good faith, to repent, or to even
change our mind in preaching law or grace. But He would judge us
severely if we switch our doctrine (like a 'ding dong bell') to confuse
God's people with the hidden and wicked intention to trap, find fault,
argue, and then turn back and falsely accuse God's people. By doing so,
we may think that we can start better revolution, increase our
popularity, and enrich ourselves, but we will be judged severely by the
Lord. We will be spue out not just because we switch like the 'lukewarm'
or 'ding dong bell' preachers; but because we have wicked behaviours.
2. They twist the words of God
Many
of them may still argue that Jesus should be gracious enough to forgive
all of them even if they have all kinds of wicked behaviours. I will
ask them, Do you think that God is gracious enough to forgive you even
if you twist and change His words? Lukewarm believers or unfaithful
believers would be spue out because of their wicked behaviours, and one
of their wicked behaviours is their twisting of God's words. They need
to twist the words of God because they have the wicked intention to
switch doctrine to confuse and trap people. They may argue that it is
not possible for them to twist God's words, but we know that they have
done it:
a. by preaching repentance when they do not really
want to repent. They preached against repentance. But they have now
switched and boasted that they have preached 'repentance' more than any
other preachers. But when you question them further, you will know that
their 'repentance' is not repentance. They have to twist the Bible to
interpret it according to what they like or think as just changing their
mind or believing only.
b. by preaching the law of God when
they do not really keep God's laws. They preached against all the laws
in New Testament as being under the law like the Old Testament. After
giving the false impression that the churches are under the law and that
they need to confess 'grace' like them, they would switch again and say
that they have high regard for the law of God, and accuse all other of
judging them or misunderstanding them.
c. by preaching confession of sin
as confession by the agnostic believers when they themselves would
never and can never confess their sins in true repentance. I do not wish
to explain again on how they would confess sins ritualistically and how
they would twist the interpretation of 1 John 1:9 to suit themselves.
I
have explained enough on 1 John 1:9 and showed why God is faithful and
just to forgive us, not just because we confess sins in obedience; but
because we have the humility to repent, admit wrong, and confess our
sins sincerely. However, I want to point out here that the 'lukewarm' or
the 'ding dong bell' preachers did not stop the twisting there, they
continue to twist or change God's words. I have just heard of a new
interpretation on 1 John 1:9 from them. They now say that 'If we confess our sin'
in 1 John 1:9 is actually 'If we confess that our sins are forgiven' or
'If we confess our sins which are forgiven'. They argue that the KJV
Bible is not perfect as it fails to point out the original intention of
John which was to confess Christ's righteousness; not to confess our
sins. I find that their interpretation is ridiculous.
This explains
why so many churches would never tell the sinners to confess their sins.
Instead of telling them to humble themselves and just confess it, they
would ask them to pray, "God we thank you that we can confess your
forgiveness of all our sins now" or "We thank you that we are the
righteousness of God" or "We thank you we can confess this.. and that
..". Many preachers think that this is the confession of sins!
Obviously, this shows that our churches are not going forward; we are
going back to teach and follow the self-righteous behaviour of the
Pharisees who are afraid to confess sins before God. Although we know
grace, we are no better than the Pharisees who are self-righteous in the
eyes of the Lord:
Luk 18:10-14 KJV Two men went up into the temple
to pray; the one a Pharisee, and the other a publican. (11) The
Pharisee stood and prayed thus with himself, God, I thank thee, that I am not as other men are, extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even as this publican. (12) I fast twice in the week, I give tithes
of all that I possess. (13) And the publican, standing afar off,
would not lift up so much as his eyes unto heaven, but smote upon his
breast, saying, God be merciful to me a sinner. (14) I tell you, this
man went down to his house justified rather than the other: for every
one that exalteth himself shall be abased; and he that humbleth himself
shall be exalted.
Obviously, whoever invented that 1 John 1:9
interpretation was trying to add his own interpretation into the Bible
when he was blinded to all the teaching of the Lord. If he was not
blinded, he should be able to understand why confessing our sins is like
confessing our apology to someone whom we have offended. Just think, If
you want to say sorry or confess your apology to someone whom you have
offended, will you go to that person and just say "Thank you" (or "Thank
you that I can confess my apology to you") without even saying sorry or
showing any repentance attitude to him? No, confessing apology without
showing the right attitude is not confessing apology. Similarly,
confessing sins 'righteously' (or thinking that you are righteous) is
not confessing sins either.
Hence, we can also say that repenting is
not just believing only because we know that the devils can believe; but
they cannot repent !
There is still grace to repent if we can repent
I
know that many preachers who have twisted the words of God in the above
manner will try to change or 'doctor' their videos, books, or sermons
desperately, in order to hide their 'fruit' (of thought) which shows
that they have preached like the false prophets. It could be too late to
hide it. But they can still repent; not just change their minds and
their doctrine, but also confess their sins. Ironically, the verse 1
John 1:9 which they have distorted the most or rejected all these whiles
could be the only verse which could save them now, only if they can
truly confess their sins and repent (again), hopefully:
1Jn 1:8-10 KJV If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. (9) If we confess our sins,
he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from
all unrighteousness. (10) If we say that we have not sinned, we make
him a liar, and his word is not in us.
Rev 3:15-19 KJV 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 eyesalve, that thou mayest see. (19) As many as I love, I rebuke
and chasten: be zealous therefore, and repent.
Heb 6:3-6 KJV
And this will we do, if God permit. (4) For it is impossible for those
who were once enlightened, and have tasted of the heavenly gift, and
were made partakers of the Holy Ghost, (5) And have tasted the good
word of God, and the powers of the world to come, (6) If they shall
fall away, to renew them again unto repentance; seeing they crucify to themselves the Son of God afresh, and put him to an open shame.
The prophecy of the Lord is always a valid prophecy to us
Many
will not want to give up justifying themselves by saying that the
churches are preaching condemnation when the churches would still preach
from the warnings of the Lord in the gospel or Revelation. They argue
that the book of Revelation is a warning to the seven churches which are
no longer around today, and therefore, the Lord's warning to the seven
churches is a past prophecy which is no longer applicable to us.
I
will ask them, Is the Galatia church still around today? No. However,
would you say that Paul's letter to the Galatia church is no longer
applicable because the Galatia church is no longer around today? No, of
course, we would never say that Paul letter is obsolete. Similarly, we
would never say that the Lord's warning is a past prophecy too.
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