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Saturday, January 17, 2009

Laodicea:Last Days Church

The corporate church today exists as its former congregation under the direction of Laodicea. In the time of the Apostles, Laodicea located in the region of modern-day Turkey rested along the Meander River. The city was a wealthy trade center with heavy demand of a unique, rich, black wool and special eye ointment throughout the Roman empire. The Church of Laodicea surrounded by wealthy patrons injected a "prosperity gospel" which focused on wealth, spiritual pride and personal needs and desires. This congregation of believers embraced a hybrid worship of materialism believing their success was evidence they were pleasing God while remaining spiritually blinded to their true condition. Laodicea was but one of the Seven Churches listed in the Book of Revelation who received direct words from our Lord Jesus Christ as recorded by the Apostle and Prophet John. While some of these churches exhibited serious spiritual faults, the Lord commended something in every one with the exception of the church of Laodicea. The Lord Jesus declared "I know thy works, that thou neither cold nor hot: I would thou wert cold or hot. So then because thou art luke warm, and neither cold nor hot, I will spew thee out of my mouth. 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..."Revelation 3:15-17. The condition of this church is reminiscent of this present age under the direction of paid clergy and staff.

The church today embraces and equates wealth as an example of spiritual maturity and holiness, the selfish desires of many rises well above the needs of others. The apostles provided examples of true Christian living even while under the threat of persecution, torture and death. In the first century church the believers were of one accord caring for the needs of each other with brotherly love, comforting one another, exhorting one another even to the point of selling their possessions to provide for the poor and the widows. This was our example yet as we can clearly see this has been abandoned in the pursuit of wealth and worldly recognition, where preaching is an occupation rather than the calling to serve. The Word of God is not preached in truth but fables have entered in, making merchandise of whole congregations and destroying the flock under the direction of false shepherds or hirelings. Dominion Theology is preached in many congregations whereby they earnestly believe that they have the authority to insert a social Christianity within government office to establish a kingdom for themselves without the King. Replacement Theology is preached from the pulpits of Satan which endorses that the Jew is forsaken by God and that Israel has no future redemption or restoration as clearly promised in scripture. Prosperity gospels prevail in many churches today calling upon congregants to enlarge the personal kingdoms of their perspective preacher's in exchange for promises of financial blessings. This is the reality we are faced with today, a spiritually dead fellowship coupled with the scripturally ignorant who refuse the truth and embrace the lie.