Revelation 3:17 Because thou sayest, I am rich, and increased with goods, and have need of nothing; and know not that you 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 eye salve, that thou may see.
Laodicea represents the very last Christian church to be upon the planet just before Jesus comes, but the assessments made by Christ reveal that there are three main problems plaguing the modern Christian church: [1] It claims to be rich [2] It claims to be increased with goods [3] It claims to have need of nothing.
The claim of being rich and increased with goods is for all intents and purposes true. Not only does the claim refer to literal wealth, but it also refers to the spiritual wealth which comes with the increase in knowledge, Daniel once spoke about.
We currently do have at our disposal, the resources, information and tools we need to obtain a clearer understanding of God’s will, than in bygone years.
We have the Bible in a plethora of versions, we have multiple commentaries from which we can draw the Hebrew, Hebrew and Aramaic versions of texts, with exhaustive exegesis, and linguistic explanations in so much that anyone who so desires could go digging for the treasure that lies deep beneath the surface.
No longer do folks have to wait for priests, prelates and pastors to give their own private interpretation as took place during the dark ages, when the Bible was chained to monasteries and persons were told that only the clergy could understand the scripture.
Those days are forever behind us and thus, whoever would take the time to search out the deep things of God could do so, and would be richly rewarded. Thus, Laodicea’s claim to be rich and increased with goods, do have some merit.
But as if these two claims were not serious enough Laodicea is plagued with a third problem, which is the most dangerous of the three, because the third claim is the the most detrimental to the soul, and if not urgently addressed, can render folks incapable of recognizing their dire need of Christ.
In order for a person to appreciate, and appropriate that which Christ has done for the human family on Calvary, one would first have to understand why He had to do what He did, for it was the only option on the table, as far as salvation goes.
In other words, all the counsels and deliberations of The God-head, led to only one viable way to save us from ourselves, and that was to have Jesus come to earth, live a life of perfect righteousness, and then die for the sins of the world, through the shedding of His own blood. Let’s read:
Hebrews 9: 22 And almost all things are by the law purged with blood; and without shedding of blood is no remission.
Thus, the burning question to be answered is: Why was Christ’s sacrifice necessary? And why does the Laodicean church need to think again, when making the claim of having need of nothing? To answer this question, we will have to understand some of the fundamentals about fallen human nature.
Last week we mentioned a few passages in passing, which treat on this important topic, but because of the constraints of time, we did not delve too deeply into the implications and ramifications thereof.
But now, the time has fully come for the truth in the matter to be known, so that we will understand why we keep preaching Christ alone, all by Himself, as far as delivering us from bondage, and setting us free, if the choice is made by us, to have Jesus as Lord and Savior of our lives.
After Adam and Eve sinned, they and their offspring, without the intervention from Jesus, would have become inextricably tethered to the sinful, human nature which became indigenous in every person, and it is a direct production of the efforts of satan who is the king of fallen, sinful nature.
In every individual that is born on planet earth, with the singular exception of Christ, sinful human nature is capable of producing involuntary, reflex actions which are antagonistic to God and righteousness.
Some folks do stumble on the question of whether or not there is inherent innocence, and neutrality, at birth until a person could come to the age of reason where he or she can make deliberate choices, either for or against sin.
The sin problem is much deeper than mere choice, because, when it comes to our sinful nature, folks do not necessarily have to choose to be sinful, or to do that which is evil. That condition is actually who we are at our very core. This is what Jesus tried to relay to the people at His first sermon, when they became infuriated and grabbed Him.
We mentioned last week the situation that obtained with Rebekah, as her two unborn children fought one another in her womb. What is really interesting is that God told her that the reason for the ongoing conflict was that there were two different kinds of people within her womb.
And there is another passage of scripture which says that God “Loved Jacob” but “Hated Esau”. Although that passage in question poses significant challenges to theologians, we must now bypass philosophizing to take a closer look at what Christ is saying to us in those passages. Let’s read:
Genesis 25: 21 And Isaac intreated the Lord for his wife, because she was barren: and the Lord was intreated of him, and Rebekah his wife conceived.
22 And the children struggled together within her; and she said, If it be so, why am I thus? And she went to enquire of the Lord.
23 And the Lord said unto her, Two nations are in thy womb, and two manner of people shall be separated from thy bowels; and the one people shall be stronger than the other people; and the elder shall serve the younger.
24 And when her days to be delivered were fulfilled, behold, there were twins in her womb.
25 And the first came out red, all over like a hairy garment; and they called his name Esau.
26 And after that came his brother out, and his hand took hold on Esau's heel; and his name was called Jacob: and Isaac was threescore years old when she bore them.
Paul’s rendition of the same event offers another bit of important information, because he specifically says that even though they were fighting, they did not sin. That is because they didn’t deliberately start a fight, by thinking and acting upon it. They fought it out, because it is in our nature naturally to fight, as an involuntary, reflex action. Let’s read:
Romans 9:11 (For the children being not yet born, neither having done any good or evil, that the purpose of God according to election might stand, not of works, but of him that calleth;)
12 It was said unto her, The elder shall serve the younger.
13 As it is written, Jacob have I loved, but Esau have I hated.
To understand what God is showing to us in these passages, we must observe that both were fighting. Even though Romans 9 tells us God loved Jacob, the narrative makes clear to us that it takes at least two have a fight and in fact, according to the story, Jacob continued to fight his twin brother, even after Esau was born.
Now let’s leave deliberate choice in the dust for a while, because it becomes obvious that the sinful nature that is indigenous to all persons goes much deeper than deliberate choice. In other words, the twins did not think it through, and then started to fight.
They fought, because that’s who they are at their core, for choice is not needed for our sinful human nature to manifest itself. If, and when persons find themselves spontaneously blurting out a flurry of unbecoming words when another may step on their toes we must remember this one thing, that in most cases, you did not have to think about it first.
What was said and done in such instances did come forth involuntarily, as a natural reflex reaction driven by sinful human nature, in most cases. This is the reason why babies, and young children do not need to deliberately choose to fight off another whenever their candy is taken away. They will do what they do because that’s who we are at our core.
In order for a woman’s egg to be fertilized, millions of sperm are released and they each swim upstream frantically, with the singular purpose of finding, and penetrating the egg. In the process, they battle each other on their way to the fallopian tubes, or in other words, they start off by seeking the “highest place”
Furthermore, the next passage we will read is very, critically important to our understanding of why we need Christ. Jesus does not condemn us for who we are, He never does, but He bids us consider the only remedy that is to be found in Him, in His sacrifice and righteousness in our behalf. Let’s read:
John 3: 17 For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved.
Thus, when persons speak of “Innocent children” in the context of not having done good or evil, it is to be understood from the perspective that the young members of the human family have not necessarily chosen conscientiously do good or bad. Neither do they need to see evil done, to then act as copycats.
If stranded on a remote island at birth, without any Facebook, or Instagram, or Twitter, for them to learn how to do evil, they will end up doing sin all on their own. The bad behaviors are generated involuntarily by the sheer force of sinful human nature.
Esau and Jacob were not watching Mc-Gregor in the womb, on Netflix in order to learn how to fight. The behavior they manifested is the natural by-product of sinful human nature, and this is what God points us to as the reason why we need Jesus, and the new heart and mind that comes with His salvation.
In other words, they do not need to choose to fight for according to the scriptures, our natural bent is to do evil, to retaliate, to seek revenge, and, like those unruly sperm we spoke of earlier to seek the highest place.
And these latent tendencies are indigenous in all descendants of Adam and Eve, who are born upon planet earth. Hence the reason why the beatitudes Christ taught us in Matthew chapter 5, present to us a virtual impossibility, without the intervention and salvation that is found in Christ alone.
No man in his natural, carnal state is going to turn the other cheek, if someone deliberately does him wrong. When persons are wronged in the U.S they will sue the daylights out of the offender, for it isn’t indigenous in sinful human nature to let offenders off the hook.
Again, the following passage presents profound and literal impossibilities to our natural sinful nature and it is indeed futile for a person to attempt any of that which Jesus is teaching, without the change of heart which God alone can give. Basically, in a nutshell not happening! Let’s read:
Matthew 5: 44 But I say unto you love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you.
These be-attitudes do not occur naturally in human nature, for we are born at the opposite end of the spectrum, when it comes to inherent goodness. It is not to be found naturally, in babies, in tweenagers, in adults, nor in grandparents.
One day, someone offended the child of an elderly woman, full of gray hair, and when the elderly lady got wind of it, she showed up on the scene and she threatened to shoot up the offender if the situation was not resolved in her child’s favor. Therefore, the truth about us must now be disclosed. Let’s read:
Psalms 58: 3 The wicked are estranged from the womb: they go astray as soon as they be born, speaking lies.
Psalms 51: 5 Behold, I was shaped in iniquity; and in sin did my mother conceive me.
Jeremiah 17: 9 The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked: who can know it?
[Faith & Works pp 88] Adam sinned and the children of Adam share his guilt, and its consequences; but Jesus bore the guilt of Adam, and all the children of Adam that will flee to Christ, the second Adam, may escape the penalty of transgression.
[The Great Controversy pp 533] Adam could not transmit to his posterity that which he did not possess; and there could have been no hope for the fallen race, had not God, by the sacrifice of his Son, brought immortality within their reach.
This brings us to a critically important juncture in the study of sinful human nature, for if Laodicea were to hold tenaciously to the teaching of natural, inherent innocence and neutrality at birth, it raises the question of whether children and babies would be eligible for God’s grace.
Let the question be posed bluntly: Does a child who has not come to the age of reason, or accountability need salvation, forgiveness, and grace just like those who are in their adult years?
Answer: They absolutely do. Babies and underaged children who would be saved in God’s kingdom can only be saved through Christ, who came to save His people from their sins.
The scripture teaches us that not a single member of the human family, whether young or old can be saved without Christ, and the salvation He procured for us on Calvary.
Not long ago, a person in the news media asked the former president Trump if he would pardon himself if re-elected. His response is interesting, because he replied by saying it may not be necessary to pardon himself, for he did nothing wrong.
He actually has a point, for “if” and that’s a big “IF” there is no wrong there is no need of a pardon, and then youngsters would have no need of The Savior, for they did not in most cases, deliberately choose to do wrong.
In other words, if sinful human nature is predicated on, and determined by one’s choice alone, then the involuntary or reflex acts of sin, are not sin, for they manifested themselves spontaneously, and thus are not to be reckoned as a willful, deliberate act. That this is absolutely not the case is borne out by the following scriptures.
1st John 5: 17 All unrighteousness is sin: and there is a sin not unto death.
Isaiah 1: 6 From the sole of the foot even unto the head there is no soundness in it; but wounds, and bruises, and putrefying sores: they have not been closed, neither bound up, neither mollified with ointment.
This is where the righteousness of Christ, and His death for us on Calvary comes in, for his death and life cover all who are brought to God through Him, from the helpless babe in its mother’s arms to the senior adults, who suffer from bouts of deliberate, and involuntary sin. The salvation Christ brings is sufficient to cover all. Let’s read:
Romans 5:12 Wherefore, as by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned;
17 For if by one man's offence death reigned by one; much more they which receive abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness shall reign in life by one, Jesus Christ.)
18 Therefore as by the offence of one judgment came upon all men to condemnation; even so by the righteousness of one the free gift came upon all men unto justification of life.
19 For as by one man's disobedience many were made sinners, so by the obedience of one shall many be made righteous.
[ Special testimonies April 10 par 4] We are not to serve God as if we were not human, but we are to serve him as those who have been redeemed by the Son of God and through the righteousness of Christ we shall stand before God pardoned, and as though we had never sinned.
The fact of the matter is that if a person is not guilty he/she does not need pardon, or a Savior, and if the babies and children were exempted from the state of sinful human nature, they cannot be eligible for God’s grace through Christ. That they being exempt from sinful human nature is absolutely not the case, is born out in the scriptures. Let’s read:
Isaiah 49:24 Shall the prey be taken from the mighty or the lawful captive be delivered?
25 But thus saith the Lord, Even the captives of the mighty shall be taken away, and the prey of the terrible shall be delivered: for I will contend with him that contends with thee, and I will save thy children.
As Laodicea contemplates the assessments given to us by The True witness, it will be necessary for us to first humble ourselves by accepting the diagnosis as being true.
This is the first step in bringing about the necessary changes, because if we were to conclude that God is wrong in His analysis of Laodicea, the appropriate remedial measures will not have meaning to us, and persons would turn away from Christ, encased in a sarcophagus of self-righteousness.
When one believes that there is some inherent form of goodness within the natural human heart, then that person risks suffering a severe shock, when, out of the blue they might do things, and speak words that they never believed, or knew that they were capable of.
Jesus does not make His assessments of our fallen condition just to make us feel bad; instead, He has to make us aware of our dire need, because Jesus deploys resources and remedies only where they’re needed.
Hence the reason why He bids the members of the last Christian church, to take stock of ourselves, to buy the gold that is tried in the fire, and be clothed with the righteousness of Christ, without which no one will be saved.
We therefore end with a message of hope, for it is the will of God that Laodicea would turn and live, and indeed, according to what is written in the Bible very many persons would heed the counsel, and will be saved in God’s kingdom. Let’s read:
Revelation 3:19 As many as I love, I rebuke and chasten: be zealous therefore, and repent.
20 Behold, I stand at the door, and knock: if any man hears my voice, and opens the door, I will come in to him, and will sup with him, and he with me.
21 To him that overcomes 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.
God Bless!