Scripture: Revelation 3 v 14 - 19: "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 eyesalve, that thou mayest see.
19 As many as I love, I rebuke and chasten: be zealous therefore, and repent."
In this passage of scripture which contains the seventh letter Jesus wrote to individual churches, He says that if your faith is neither hot nor cold but lukewarm, He will spit you out of His mouth. If you are cold it means you have never known the warmth of Jesus so your chance to know Him is still ahead of you.
If your faith is hot it means the fire of the Holy Spirit has ignited within you and you are doing the will of the Father. Jesus delights in you and you are blessed. You are not blind to The ravages of sin in the world, and you see its destructive force that needs to be conquered.
The lukewarm church is known as the church of Laodicea. It was a city in Asia Minor that was famous for its ointment to heal eye ailments. Jesus plays on words in His letter when He calls them spiritually blind and in need of eye salve.
Jesus sees that this is a materially wealthy church but He calls them wretched, poor, miserable, blind and naked. This is because they have become proud and self righteous. They are unteachable and have recreated God in their own image. Out of this last days Church will the apostasy flourish like a plague.
Paul writes about it in Thessalonians and says that before the Antichrist is revealed there will be a falling away from the truth by Christians who will be lured into fatal compromise by the enemy of our souls. These are the ones Jesus will spue out of His mouth. On the Day of Judgment there will be wailing and gnashing of teeth when Jesus declares I NEVER KNEW YOU! Depart from Me you workers of iniquity. (Matthew 7).
To the righteous souls who have followed Him faithfully He welcomes into Heaven saying "Come you blessed of Our Father, well done good and faithful servant. Enter into your rest.". This means that while in our body we must serve God faithfully, every day and in whatever way pleased Him. So find that way and do it with all your ability.
Many church groups have already begun the downward spiral as pastors are forced to turn their churches into entertainment centres to keep the flock coming to church at all. The messages are more geared to please people than to minister truth and right moral standing. This is where apostasy starts. Apostasy is The falling away spoken of in Thessalonians when churches become Bingo Halls. Or Mosques. Or pubs.
The Interfaith Movement is the mingling of other religions with Christianity. In Numbers 3 v 4 Nadab and Abihu died before the Lord when they offered strange fire on His altar. This is the first step into apostasy. The commandment says Thou shalt have no other gods before Me. Jesus is the same yesterday, today and forever and His judgment for the strange fire of Interfaith will be swift and final. It is the foundation for the One World Religion controlled by the Antichrist. True Christians will suffer severe persecution from this Interfaith movement. Already it is a rule that the name of Jesus Christ is offensive to many and may not be spoken In Interfaith assembles.
The only name by which we can be saved is the name of Jesus Christ our Saviour. It's fascinating to see and hear of Muslims having dreams where Jesus appears and pours His love and peace upon them. He does not use whatever the favoured name of the Son of God currently is In vogue. Every one of them knows Him as Jesus Christ. Why is that? Definitely demons know Him by that precious name and they tremble with fear.
When you are In a war zone and the spiritual battle is fierce, like David you fight with the most trusted and familiar weapon. He chose his sling over the king's armour and sword to slay a huge giant. When I am In battle I don't look for the new politically correct name of My Saviour. When I bind and cast out demons they flee In the name of Jesus. When I am speaking or praying In tongues I often.hear the name Jesus coming out of my mouth. The Holy Spirit used it so who am I to change it.
In Revelations 3 the Lord gives promises of great value to those who reject the lukewarm offering and become fervent and faithful followers of the Lamb of God. So repent if you have been lured into the error of false doctrines and worldliness in the church and walk in the light as He is in the light, having fellowship with one another as the Blood of Jesus cleanses you from all sin. 1 John 1 v 7.
Prayer: Heavenly Father we cannot take that which You call an abomination, lightly. We cannot stand confidently before You if we accept strange fire on Your altar. Father teach us to be steadfast and effective Christians who shun compromise and all appearance of evil. In Jesus' name. Amen.