In the third chapter of Revelation, The Lord points to the sin of self-righteousness as the main spiritual plague upon Laodicea, the last Christian church to exist before His 2nd coming, and thus it behooves us to do diligent searching of heart to see if and where this malady may exist, or lurk in the shadows. This problem arises because we may not be aware of our true condition, or otherwise, may not be cognizant of the potential for us to sin, because of the latent elements of evil in human nature.
When in the upper room Jesus had warned Peter of the danger he was facing, and the potential for him to fall, he became offended, for in his mind he could not see himself as committing such a despicable act. It’s worthy of note, that in the same discourse Jesus did not even mention the possibility of him cursing, and he himself never envisioned the likelihood of him using any four-letter words, for at this time he was an ordained preacher, working miracles, and giving Bible studies.
The speech of the disciples at this time was pure, to a large extent, for they had all been touched by the grace of Christ, and the restraining power of The Holy Spirit was upon them, for one of the very first things The Spirit does for, and in true Christians, is to remove the tendency, or the habit of using curse words, wherever such tendencies, and habits may exist. Therefore, for Christ to allege that Peter could potentially do such a low thing really irked him, and triggered a very emotional, but sincere rebuttal on his part, his pride being deeply wounded. Let’s read:
Mark 14:27 And Jesus saith unto them, All ye shall be offended because of me this night: for it is written, I will smite the shepherd, and the sheep shall be scattered.
29 But Peter said unto him, although all shall be offended, yet will not I.
30 And Jesus saith unto him, Verily I say unto thee, that this day, even in this night, before the cock crow twice, thou shalt deny me thrice.
31 But he spake the more vehemently, If I should die with thee, I will not deny thee in any wise. Like-wise also said they all.
Luke 22:31 And the Lord said, Simon, Simon, behold, Satan hath desired to have you, that he may sift you as wheat:
33 And he said unto him, Lord, I am ready to go with thee, both into prison, and to death.
[D.A. pp 712] The disciples of Jesus were noted for the purity of their language.
The reason for their self-confidence is that they had real facts to back it up for they were not in the habit of cursing, and some may have never cursed before, but under the right circumstances, elements of evil can be made manifest, of which we had no clue of their previous existence. Maybe, in Peter’s past, he may have “Almost cursed”, but someway, somehow the actual words may have never came out. We do not know.
What Christ sought to do was to make him aware of dangers he knew not of, latent tendencies that can cause havoc when sudden aggravation is triggered. And by so doing, Christ was implying that a call to prayer was in order, so that Peter, and the other ten disciples could resist temptation preemptively. But if a person does not accept the diagnosis of The True Witness, he/she would not seek the necessary help, and remedies, to brace for the determined assaults of the evil one. This is the problem with Laodicea. Let’s read:
Revelation 3:14 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;
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.
Thus, the question is, how does someone repent of, or ask for help with some sinful tendency they have never, or “Almost” done. Believe it or not, there are many Christians like ourselves living today who may have almost cursed, because of a sudden irritation, or unforeseen situation which came upon us with no warning. There may have been times when we “Almost” cursed, but somehow, through the power of the Holy Spirit, the evil words were stayed from our lips.
A Christian carpenter was once doing some wood work, and whilst hammering away at one nail, he missed the target, and thus, the blunt force of the hammer flattened his thumb. The words that first came to his mind were not “O Lord”. Again, you and I may have come across some unexpected situation, by which a driver deliberately, or inadvertently cut across our path, forcing us into the oncoming traffic with horns blaring, and other endangered, ticked off drivers shouting expletives.
In the heat of the moment with adrenaline flowing, and the blood close to our skin, the first words that come to mind, are not usually “God bless you!” But our problem may not be cursing, but we may have almost gotten angry, or we may almost have committed adultery. Whatever the almost sin may be, The True Witness of Revelation is calling us to pray preemptively, for the Christian always wins his battles on his knees, in the audience chamber of The Most-High.
And from there he goes out to the battle, being strengthened with might and power through The Spirit, and assured of victory, even when sudden temptations arise. But it all begins with accepting the diagnosis of The True witness, for if we say we are not sick, we will not see our need of medicine. Let’s read:
1st Corinthians 10:11 Now all these things happened unto them for examples: and they are written for our admonition, upon whom the ends of the world are come.
12 Wherefore let him that thinketh he standeth take heed lest he fall.
13 There hath no temptation taken you but such as is common to man: but God is faithful, who will not suffer you to be tempted above that ye are able; but will with the temptation also make a way to escape, that ye may be able to bear it.
Ezekiel 33:13 When I shall say to the righteous, that he shall surely live; if he trust to his own righteousness, and commit iniquity, all his righteousness shall not be remembered; but for his iniquity that he hath committed, he shall die for it.
Philippians 3:9 And be found in him, not having mine own righteousness, which is of the law, but that which is through the faith of Christ, the righteousness which is of God by faith.
A very important commentary is written by the servant of The Lord pertaining to Peter’s fall, and the sobering lessons we should all learn from his experience. No matter how sincere our conversion, we are not beyond the reach of temptation, and if we see in ourselves the tendency to almost sin, in certain areas, then we should go to God in prayer, beseeching Him to keep us from falling, for He is well able to make the weakest Christian strong, and to enable us to live victoriously from day to day. Let’s read:
[C.O.L pp 155] Peter's fall was not instantaneous, but gradual. Never can we safely put confidence in self or feel, this side of heaven, that we are secure against temptation. Everyone should be taught to cherish hope and faith; but even when we give ourselves to Christ and know that He accepts us, we are not beyond the reach of temptation. God's word declares, “Many shall be purified, and made white, and tried.” Daniel 12:10. Only he who endures the trial will receive the crown of life. (James 1:12.)
In the lessons from Peter’s experience, and also in the exhortation to Laodicea, Christ gives to us the assurance that those who fall upon The Rock, will be broken, and healed, for He does not leave us with the diagnosis alone, but provides the remedy in Christ. This assurance can be clearly observed in the following two passages. Let’s read:
Luke 22:32 But I have prayed for thee, that thy faith fail not: and when thou art converted, strengthen thy brethren.
Revelation 3:20 Behold, I stand at the door, and knock: if any man hear my voice, and open the door, I will come in to him, and will sup with him, and he with me. 21 To him that overcometh will I grant to sit with me in my throne, even as I also overcame, and am set down with my Father in his throne. 22 He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches.
When, by the grace of God we are cleansed from all unrighteousness, the first words upon our lips, in times of severe, sudden temptation, will only savor of blessings, not cursing. We will not almost curse, nor will we almost sin, because these habits and tendencies would have been cut out by the roots, through the grace and righteousness of Christ. Thus, if we are shaken upside down, inside out by sudden temptation, only God’s goodness and character will be revealed. Let’s read:
Romans 12:14 Bless them which persecute you: bless, and curse not.
[G.C. 622>623] Now, while our great High Priest is making the atonement for us, we should seek to become perfect in Christ. Not even by a thought could our Savior be brought to yield to the power of temptation. Satan finds in human hearts some point where he can gain a foot-hold; some sinful desire is cherished, by means of which his temptations assert their power. But Christ declared of himself, “The prince of this world cometh, and hath nothing in me.” [John 14:30.]
Satan could find nothing in the Son of God that would enable him to gain the victory. He had kept his Father's commandments, and there was no sin in him that Satan could use to his advantage. This is the condition in which those must be found who shall stand in the time of trouble.
In closing, we encourage every Christian, and every person to take a good long look at what Christ is saying to us in our day, and wherever we may see the tendency to almost sin, let us not trust to our own righteousness, but the righteousness of Christ, for He will sustain and strengthen every person who believes in Him. This leads us to our last passage of meditation for today. Let’s read:
Jude 1:24 Now unto him that is able to keep you from falling, and to present you faultless before the presence of his glory with exceeding joy,
25 To the only wise God our Savior, be glory and majesty, dominion and power, both now and ever. Amen.
May God add His blessing to the study and practice of His every word.
God bless!