Laodicea – The House of Leaven –

Laodicea
The House of Leaven
(Revelation 3:14 – 18)

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; (Revelation 3:14)
I know thy works, that thou art neither cold nor hot: I would thou wert cold or hot. (Revelation 3:15)
So then because thou art lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will spue thee out of my mouth. (Revelation 3:16)
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 3:17)
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. (Revelation 3:18)

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The Similarities in the Introduction
of the First Church and the Last Church

The glorious Church of the Lord Jesus Christ is His possession and not our possession. We are part of His Body, but He is the Head. We are His creation. He has created us to be His image of glory. We are to be made in His image in the glorious finality of His Church, His Body, His Bride. As we look at the churches of the Ephesians and the Laodiceans, these are the only churches from the seven churches in Revelation Chapters 2 and 3 that is given possession in its name.

Unto the angel of the church of Ephesus write; These things saith he that holdeth the seven stars in his right hand, who walketh in the midst of the seven golden candlesticks; (Revelation 2:1)
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; (Revelation 3:14)

Leaven can be a very small particle; however, if it is put into the meal this leaven begins to alter and slowly change the character of the meal until ALL becomes imbued with leaven. You’ve heard this phrase many times, and even maybe you have personally said the simple words of, My church, thus, subtly denoting that it does not belong to Christ. When there is leaven all around you it is difficult to define error, for the more that is leavened the less there is of truth and that which is of God.
In the seven churches in the book of the Revelation of Jesus Christ, leaven comes in through the first church of Ephesus. The Bible is unique in its words and phrases, as the Spirit of Christ introduces us to the church of Ephesus, the small word of is used. The only other time in the introduction of a church that of is used is in the final and last church of the Laodiceans. All the other five churches are introduced with the small word in. These five churches are noted through its location, not by its possession . . . church in Smyrna (Rev. 2:8); church in Pergamos (Rev. 2:12); church in Thyatira (Rev.2:18); church in Sardis (Rev. 3:1); church in Philadelphia (Rev. 3:7).

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The Same Corruption Permeated
the First and the Last Church

It is very interesting how God shows us the beginning of corruption and the finality of this same corruption. In Laodicea, instead of Christ having the preeminence, this means COMPLETE CONTROL of His Church by the Spirit of God, but man through the influence of Satan usurped the authority of Christ. God declared that He MUST have the preeminence in Colossians 1:18, And he is the head of the body, the church: who is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead; that in all things he might have the preeminence. The church of the Laodiceans becomes the earthly church for they completely surrender their inheritance in heaven. The doctrines of the Laodiceans are based on philosophy and vain deceit, they run after and follow the traditions of men. They have been swallowed up by the rudiments of the world. Beware lest any man spoil you through philosophy and vain deceit, after the tradition of men, after the rudiments of the world, and not after Christ. (Colossians 2:8) In this letter from heaven written to the Colossians we receive more understanding about the church of the Laodiceans because the spiritual failures of the Colossians were and are also the spiritual failures of the Laodiceans as well. And when this epistle is read among you, cause that it be read also in the church of the Laodiceans; and that ye likewise read the epistle from Laodicea. (Colossians 4:16)
As the Colossian epistle reveals the mind of the Spirit of God, we must consider that this Colossian letter was to two groups of peoples, the Laodiceans and the Colossians. We should see that their same failures centered around the knowledge of Christ and His Church. As we read the epistle to the Colossians, we see warnings from the Spirit of God concerning the truth of the church and how they had turned away from this truth. If Christ had the preeminence in the church of Colossi, why would the Spirit of God declare that Christ should have preeminence in His church. When we get to the Laodicean church, we see that Christ has NO position within this church, that it is no longer His Body, but a material sanctuary of those who worship their own wealth, their own goods and their own merchandise. They have succumbed to philosophy, vain deceit, the traditions of man under the influence and domination of the rudiments of the world. When you study the epistle to the Colossians, there will be more definition and more understanding of the Laodicean church. Yet, the warning began in the first church of the Ephesians in Chapter 5, verse 6, Let no man deceive you with vain words: for because of these things cometh the wrath of God upon the children of disobedience.
In Colossians 2:8 we are instructed, Beware lest any man spoil you through philosophy and vain deceit, after the tradition of men, after the rudiments of the world, and not after Christ. Then in Colossians 2:9 (For in him dwelleth all the fulness of the Godhead bodily) the Spirit of God renews our knowledge that Christ is the fullness of the Godhead bodily and this gives us more understanding of Colossians 1:18. And he is the head of the body, the church: who is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead; that in all things he might have the preeminence. For it is the Son of God who has ALL power in both heaven and earth. The Colossians had received the truth by the preaching of the gospel. When you consider the entire letter to the Colossians, we find that the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ has much more to it than just the words, Jesus saves.

For the hope which is laid up for you in heaven, whereof ye heard before in the word of the truth of the gospel; (Colossians 1:5) Which is come unto you, as it is in all the world; and bringeth forth fruit, as it doth also in you, since the day ye heard of it, and knew the grace of God in truth: (Colossians 1:6)

It is Christ who is exalted in the letter to the Colossians because they had LOST the reverence and their zeal of the indwelling Spirit of Christ. The men of Jude 4 had already come in to disrupt and deny the truth of God. Today, visible profession and massive attendance and membership does not represent nor speak of the truth of Christ but of a material world. A profession of Christianity, or attendance and membership does not make a child of God, these things do not give Heirship as a son of the Father.
In the gospel of Mark, the Lord Himself takes the present day back to the days of Isaiah to link the religious hypocrisy of the past to the hypocrisy of the present.

He answered and said unto them, Well hath Esaias prophesied of you hypocrites, as it is written, This people honoureth me with their lips, but their heart is far from me. (Mark 7:6)
Howbeit in vain do they worship me, teaching for doctrines the commandments of men. (Mark 7:7)
For laying aside the commandment of God, ye hold the tradition of men, as the washing of pots and cups: and many other such like things ye do. (Mark 7:8)
And he said unto them, Full well ye reject the commandment of God, that ye may keep your own tradition. (Mark 7:9)
For Moses said, Honour thy father and thy mother; and, Whoso curseth father or mother, let him die the death: (Mark 7:10)
But ye say, If a man shall say to his father or mother, It is Corban, that is to say, a gift, by whatsoever thou mightest be profited by me; he shall be free. (Mark 7:11)
And ye suffer him no more to do ought for his father or his mother; (Mark 7:12)
Making the word of God of none effect through your tradition, which ye have delivered: and many such like things do ye. (Mark 7:13)

These very words of the Lord Jesus Christ and the words of the past in the book of Isaiah are catapulted into our age and are part of the Laodicean church. The words that Isaiah spoke to Israel were given by the Spirit of Christ.

Receiving the end of your faith, even the salvation of your souls. (1st Peter 1:9)
Of which salvation the prophets have enquired and searched diligently, who prophesied of the grace that should come unto you: (1st Peter 1:10)
Searching what, or what manner of time the Spirit of Christ which was in them did signify, when it testified beforehand the sufferings of Christ, and the glory that should follow. (1st Peter 1:11)
Unto whom it was revealed, that not unto themselves, but unto us they did minister the things, which are now reported unto you by them that have preached the gospel unto you with the Holy Ghost sent down from heaven; which things the angels desire to look into. (1st Peter 1:12)

This not only shows that the prophets of old received the words of God from the Spirit of Christ but also shows us that the Lord Himself had full knowledge of the word that He had given. This puts more light on the prophecies of old for both Testaments are the word of God breathed by the Son of God as the Eternal Word. The conditions of the Jews in the days of the Lord Jesus Christ can be viewed as what man should NOT do. They and the church have run after the traditions of men, and the carnal works of the flesh. They attempted to appear as holy, but with eyes of sin and with no understanding of the word of God for the Lord Himself told them that THEY had made the commandments of God of no effect. In the same sense the Laodicean church made the word of God of NO EFFECT. If man has a conflict with the validity of the word of God in both word and power, then they have NO divine guidance of the Spirit of God. They argue over words in unbelief for there is no faith in them. The statements made by professing Christians as well as the statements of the world show that there is NO light within for they live in a world of the gospel of materialism. The devil has sold them on the greatness of the material world so that their eyes have turned from heaven to the world. Love not the world, neither the things [that are] in the world. If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him. (1st John 2:15) Love not the world, what is the evidence of not loving the world? One sees the present evil world for what it really is: its vanity, its deceitfulness, its meaningless and empty philosophies, its baseless traditions of men, and its ineffectual rudiments that are the foundation and construction of the fiber of nations and the people of this world. As the love of the world has crept into the church, so also, the desires of the professors of Christ are of material gain, material wealth, and the possessions of the world. Love not the world, neither the things of the world. The whole world lies in wickedness. The prince of this world, the wicked one, is a murderer and a liar from the beginning.
In Colossians 3, the Colossians had to be reminded to seek those things which are above, so that they might take their eyes off the things below in this world. They were to set their affections that is their love, on things above because Christ was to be magnified and take possession of their life. The Laodiceans were acting like children in a candy store, all looking for the sweetest candy of this world and not looking for the manna from heaven from Christ Himself.
It’s interesting how the world has gradually put away the word of God; however, what we fail to see is that the church, not the world, left their first love which was Christ Jesus, and the church never returned again to their first love. You cannot condemn the ruin of Israel without condemning the ruin of the church. Unless the Lord build His Church, they labor in vain. This shows us that the philosophies, the vanities, the deceit, the traditions of the elders, and the rudiments of the world CANNOT and WILL NEVER build the church, the Body of Christ. It was the church and NOT the world that put away the word of God. Many forget that there was a time period in the history of man called The Dark Ages. Even the study of this time period is extremely difficult for the darkness of learning had come over the whole known world. The word of God was kept in secret away from the masses. Satan had spread a dark veil over the known world, and over the minds of men. This was all part of the battle between the darkness of Satan and the light of God. In this battle Satan was ready to claim victory when God, through His Spirit, hovered over the darkness of humanity and revived and shed forth the light as a glimmer of truth that once again grew into a bright and shining light in the Person of the Lord Jesus Christ. We see that from that point in history a written mark of enlightenment came in the world of man and quickened man by the Spirit of God. That was the age of the Philadelphia church, the Age of Enlightenment, the age of the Open Door to the word of God. And to the angel of the church in Philadelphia write; These things saith he that is holy, he that is true, he that hath the key of David, he that openeth, and no man shutteth; and shutteth, and no man openeth. (Revelation 3:7) I know thy works: behold, I have set before thee an open door, and no man can shut it: for thou hast a little strength, and hast kept my word, and hast not denied my name. (Revelation 3:8) What developed was that man found FAITH once again in the Author and Finisher of faith, Jesus Christ. On the part of the world, education advanced; and on the part of the mystical body of Christ spiritual perception grew; thus, the world began to build and advance once more. There were still two factions: man driven by Satan, and Light driven by God. Man cannot acquire light from God unless God overshadows man with the glorious light of Christ in the new creation being born again and being separated from the darkness. From this point in time when God began to give His light once again, the church developed not only by the Spirit of God, but Satan began to build a parallel church. A church of false profession, a church that enjoyed the rudiments of the world, and as man had failed throughout history, he would again fail in the mere profession of faith without having the element of faith within. Again, it is the traditions of men that make the word of God of no effect. Making the word of God of none effect through your tradition, which ye have delivered: and many such like things do ye. (Mark 7:13)
Beware lest any man spoil you through philosophy and vain deceit, after the tradition of men, after the rudiments of the world, and not after Christ. (Colossians 2:8)

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The Leaven of Deceptive Headship

The root of all deception is man under the influence of Satan from the very first time that man listened to Satan at the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. Man continues to go away from God under the influence of Satan. When someone states, My church, it shows that they have no understanding of the Body of Christ. My church shows the traditions of men, and how they have embraced the souls of man. This could explain a lot in the church of the Laodiceans. It is that church membership that buys into a piece of the church. Man has lost the vision of being PART of the Body of Christ and not the Head. For the Head of the church is Jesus Christ. This is what Laodicea lost. (Learn more about the conflict of the Laodicean church, the section is on page 14 . . . CLICK HERE.) Yet, this loss began in Ephesus in almost every circumstance. Once one loses love it seems impossible to return. One can be far away from the one they love, but love does not wane. They only time that first love is mentioned is in Ephesus; however, we fail to see that in the rest of the six churches, that first love never returned. That same love was poured out from heaven into all the churches. But there was little love returned from the churches to the heavenlies.

We live in the day of small things, but LITTLE STRENGTH by the Spirit of God can accomplish much.

This is confirmed in the Philadelphian church. They had LITTLE STRENGTH, but the Lord said of that church that the world would KNOW if they followed after the Lord in THAT strength that He had loved them. Behold, I will make them of the synagogue of Satan, which say they are Jews, and are not, but do lie; behold, I will make them to come and worship before thy feet, and to know that I have loved thee. (Revelation 3:9) Even in the natural world huge battles have been won by few and those of little strength. We live in the day of small things, but LITTLE STRENGTH by the Spirit of God can accomplish much. For who hath despised the day of small things? for they shall rejoice, and shall see the plummet in the hand of Zerubbabel with those seven; they are the eyes of the LORD, which run to and fro through the whole earth. (Zechariah 4:10) (Learn more about Zerubbabel. CLICK HERE and towards the end of the article, Zerubbabel is called the great mountain for a specific reason.)

How did we get to the milquetoast (milk toast) age of Laodicea? It all began by the church not listening to the voice of the Spirit of God sent down from heaven. We fail to see the language of the Spirit of God. It is the eye that takes in the written word of God, this word is transferred to the mind, but then there is an interpreter who only the children of God have, and that is the Spirit of Christ within. It is Christ who takes the word of God to the heart, and when He does this, He gives the heart understanding. This understanding enlightens the spirit and enriches the soul. The Lord Jesus, speaking to His disciples said that without me ye can do nothing. I am the vine, ye [are] the branches: He that abideth in me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit: for without me ye can do nothing. (John 15:5) Once again in John Chapter 15 we see the Headship of Christ as the true vine. The Lord told His disciples that He would send another Comforter and this Comforter would be the Spirit of God. This Comforter, being the Messenger of Christ, has been sent to lead the children of God into ALL truth. In John’s first epistle, he calls the Spirit of God, the Spirit of truth. We are of God: he that knoweth God heareth us; he that is not of God heareth not us. Hereby know we the spirit of truth, and the spirit of error. (1st John 4:6) It is the Spirit of God in His voice that manifests the truth in the heart of the believer by the word of God.
When the apostle Paul wrote about a little leaven, He was showing that leaven chipped away at truth, and replacing it with error. Your glorying [is] not good. Know ye not that a little leaven leaveneth the whole lump? (1st Corinthians 5:6) A little leaven leaveneth the whole lump. (Galatians 5:9) For instance, since Ephesus, the church and the men of Jude 4 have been chipping away at the Deity of the Lord Jesus Christ. (I grew up in Massachusetts and my parents took me to see the Plymouth Rock; now this rock supposedly was where the pilgrims first stepped onto the shore. My father explained why the rock was surrounded and guarded from the public by a fence because visitors chipped away at the rock so that they could have a piece of history. If this rock had not been protected, today there would be no evidence of this rock.) The church (from Ephesus to Laodicea) has been chipping away at God’s truth. So now, in this age of Laodicea, the church sees only the riches of the world without Christ, the philosophies of the world without Christ, the traditions of the world without Christ, and the rudiments of the world without Christ.
The love that comes down from heaven expects love to be returned in the worship of the Lord Jesus Christ. The Christ of God is not just a name, He is the Sovereign of all things, and expects the hearts to return the love that He, through His own crucifixion, GAVE for the whole world. The very center of John 3:16 is NOT the world, it is the love of Christ given to the world. (When you click the underlined words, the section I want you to read is on page 25.) For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.

His love was manifested in His death upon the cross of Calvary and was reaffirmed in the manifestation of His resurrection. As the Lord Jesus expresses the blindness of the church of the Laodiceans, He is revealing the lack of the Spirit of God within their hearts. We ask ourselves, Why is there so much blindness to the word of God in the church today? Jude in his day saw the evil of man within the church as deceitful workers, as liars, as ungodly servants of Satan. Paul saw the evil in his day in pronouncing a present evil world to the Galatians. John in his first epistle informs all that the whole world lies in wickedness. If one turns from the center of all truth which is Christ, the eye of faith begins to dim. If one turns far enough away of all truth, the darkness of the world comes in. So, with the church of Laodicea we see the fullness of the leaven that came in Ephesus and now more than two thousand years later, the leaven has grown into a great massive lump of confusion.

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The Leaven of Money and Merchandising in the Church

The church of Laodicea is FULL of the commerce and the merchandising of the whole world, the present evil world, all the things that the Spirit of God warned the Colossians was also applicable to the Laodiceans. The rudiments of the world within Laodicea is a list that is too long. We would run out of ink and out of paper. To aid us in understanding the deceit of the wicked one as it applies to Laodicea, we should examine the word of the Spirit of Christ in 1st and 2nd Timothy. Paul wrote these two epistles while he was in Laodicea and sent them to Timothy, who was a bishop in the Ephesian church, the first church mentioned in Chapter 2 of the book of the Revelation.

These two epistles are filled with warnings to Timothy to have his eyes wide open to what was coming, and to examine ALL things by the word of God, and by the authority of the word of God, and the mind of the Spirit of God. Paul saw the end of the church in Laodicea as he was writing from Laodicea. Laodicea was one of chief cities in Asia, they were already known for their wealth and worldly goods. So that even in that day, the Laodiceans were confounded and turned by the riches of the world. 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 3:17) If we know the mind of Christ then we will see both the present and the past. At the time that the Lord Jesus gave this letter, the Laodiceans had already fallen into the whirlpool of the fallacy that the riches of the world were the evidence of God’s approval of their feigned righteousness. They were not only momentarily wealthy but increased with goods or merchandising. It was worldliness that gave them much gain, however, the Spirit of God wants us to understand that it is only godliness that returns much gain in the heavenlies. For bodily exercise profiteth little: but godliness is profitable unto all things, having promise of the life that now is, and of that which is to come. (1st Timothy 4:8)
The word godliness is used ten (10) times in the New Testament, eight are in 1st and 2nd Timothy; also, in 1st and 2nd Timothy we have the works of evil men inspired by Satan against godliness. As we see in Laodicea there is nothing that would reveal true godliness in them. Although Paul was writing to Timothy in Ephesus there were signs of leaven already fermenting in Laodicea through their error of thinking that wealth was synonymous with godliness. This takes us all the way back to the war in heaven in Ezekiel 28:16, By the multitude of thy merchandise they have filled the midst of thee with violence, and thou hast sinned: therefore I will cast thee as profane out of the mountain of God: and I will destroy thee, O covering cherub, from the midst of the stones of fire. The vastness of goods and merchandising revealed sin in Lucifer, and Lucifer manifested that sin in the heavenlies, and for that sin, God cast Lucifer out into the earth. And he said unto them, I beheld Satan as lightning fall from heaven. (Luke 10:18)
One of the greatest natural powers is lightning. When it strikes, it shakes the earth for many miles. The clap of thunder from the lightning resounds through the air, even out of sight of the lightning strike. When Lucifer was cast down to the ground as documented in Isaiah Chapter 14:12, should we not believe that the whole world shook. When the Lord Jesus defeated Satan and sin and death on the cross of Calvary, the whole world shook. How art thou fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, son of the morning! how art thou cut down to the ground, which didst weaken the nations! (Isaiah 14:12) And, behold, the veil of the temple was rent in twain from the top to the bottom; and the earth did quake, and the rocks rent; (Matthew 27:51)

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Leaven Rejected and Spued Out

Leaven came into the church gradually. Just as leaven works in flour, so, the bacteria grew, and evil and error expanded until it had totally and completely corrupted the church. When Satan was cast down to the ground the earth shook, and in the gospel of Matthew, the earth shook when the Lord gave up His Spirit. Now, in the spiritual sense, the spiritual world shook when the Lord spued Laodicea out of His mouth. (We should realize that there is the natural and the supernatural existing at the same time and throughout the entire tangible world. When the tangible Laodicea, which was in Asia Minor, was spued out of the Lord’s mouth, it was both the natural and the supernatural. Now, in our present age, in the history of the church (both in the natural and the supernatural) we have the historic age of the Laodicean church, and God is going yet to judge THIS PRESENT FALSE PROFESSING WORLD church that erroneously labels itself as the true church of God.) The church was cast out into outer darkness because they did not obey the word of God and the commandments of God. Having eyes to see, they see not. Having ears to hear, they hear not. The word spue is only mentioned four (4) times in the Bible. And each mention is condemnation against sin.

1. That the land spue not you out also, when ye defile it, as it spued out the nations that [were] before you. (Leviticus 18:28)
2. Ye shall therefore keep all my statutes, and all my judgments, and do them: that the land, whither I bring you to dwell therein, spue you not out. (Leviticus 20:22)
3. Therefore thou shalt say unto them, Thus saith the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel; Drink ye, and be drunken, and spue, and fall, and rise no more, because of the sword which I will send among you. (Jeremiah 25:27)
4. So then because thou art lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will spue thee out of my mouth. (Revelation 3:16)

The word spued is only mentioned one time. That the land spue not you out also, when ye defile it, as it spued out the nations that were before you. (Leviticus 18:28) Let’s consider The Law of First Mention. What were the circumstances that brought the children of Israel to Leviticus 18:28? When we read the first five verses of Leviticus Chapter 18, we will understand.

And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying, (Leviticus 18:1)
Speak unto the children of Israel, and say unto them, I am the LORD your God. (Leviticus 18:2)
After the doings of the land of Egypt, wherein ye dwelt, shall ye not do: and after the doings of the land of Canaan, whither I bring you, shall ye not do: neither shall ye walk in their ordinances. (Leviticus 18:3)
Ye shall do my judgments, and keep mine ordinances, to walk therein: I am the LORD your God. (Leviticus 18:4)
Ye shall therefore keep my statutes, and my judgments: which if a man do, he shall live in them: I am the LORD. (Leviticus 18:5)

The instruction in Leviticus 18 was about Israel’s presence in the land of Canaan. They were to forget about their lives in Egypt, and not bring into Canaan the defilement of their four hundred years in Egypt. They were not to do what the Canaanites had done in the idolatry of the land. Israel was to be obedient to the judgments of God and keep the ordinances of God. They were to keep His statutes and His judgments and if they did, they will live in them.

(For all these abominations have the men of the land done, which were before you, and the land is defiled;) (Leviticus 18:27) That the land spue not you out also, when ye defile it, as it spued out the nations that were before you. (Leviticus 18:28)

In Leviticus 18:27 and 28, the Lord told Israel about all the abominations that the people of Canaan had committed and that they also would be spued out of the land if they chose to follow the same path as the nations that had preceded them. This Chapter in Leviticus is both a warning to the nation of Israel and also a demand to be obedient to the Lord. Now let’s turn to Jeremiah 25:27, Therefore thou shalt say unto them, Thus saith the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel; Drink ye, and be drunken, and spue, and fall, and rise no more, because of the sword which I will send among you. In this verse, we have their self-destruction of disobedience to God. Their drunkenness and obsession of self-destructive acts were at such a low fallen moral state that they staggered in their disobedience in the presence of God so much so, that God reveals the sword. This was the sword of judgment to cut the nation off from the blessings of God. This was not only a message to the masses of Israel, but to the individual as well that the works of man, without God, will bring about man’s own destruction. Man will spue out of his own being the truth of God: sin will be his master and he will be in bondage to his own drunkenness.
When the wine takes hold of the body, at first the body enjoys the wine, as more wine is consumed, the body gets to a point when it vomits out the wine. What once was enjoyable becomes an outward show of abomination of the heart of man. As we turn to the spiritual world, it is sin that is the corrupting force. It is the wine of deception that overcomes man.
When we get to the last mention of the word spue, we see an entire church consumed with the world of merchandise, and the sin of merchandising. Their financial gain becomes their lust for gain and to acquire gain the ruined church acts against the commandments of God and rejects God’s truth. (This is evident in our age as the world church socially aids in engineering the resettlement of peoples from one nation to overcome another nation ALL for financial gain. The world church is not only a spiritual treacherous church, but it is treacherously deceiving the nations ALL for financial gain through accepting government money in merchandising people, aiding in sex-slavery (the selling of women and children) fulling the will of Lucifer to not only destroy the church but to deceive and ruin the nations.)

But there were false prophets also among the people, even as there shall be false teachers among you, who privily shall bring in damnable heresies, even denying the Lord that bought them, and bring upon themselves swift destruction. (2nd Peter 2:1) And many shall follow their pernicious ways; by reason of whom the way of truth shall be evil spoken of. (2nd Peter 2:2) And through covetousness shall they with feigned words make merchandise of you: whose judgment now of a long time lingereth not, and their damnation slumbereth not. (2nd Peter 2:3)

Peter warned the church, through the Spirit of God, that if they did not protect themselves against the wickedness of false teachers they would also succumb to their ungodliness, and in turn, these ungodly teachers would use them as merchandise for great gain. We see this in the riches of Laodicea. As Lucifer was betrayed by his own wealth and merchandising to sin against God, so also, through vain and perverse men, the church has fallen in love with its own riches and wealth for they consider their riches to be godliness. It is just the opposite. Their own wealth has deceived them with the tangible merchandise of the world.

For such are false apostles, deceitful workers, transforming themselves into the apostles of Christ. (2nd Corinthians 11:13) And no marvel; for Satan himself is transformed into an angel of light. (2nd Corinthians 11:14) Therefore it is no great thing if his ministers also be transformed as the ministers of righteousness; whose end shall be according to their works. (2nd Corinthians 11:15)

These workers of Satan are the same as the men of Jude 4 and the Nicolaitans who crept into the church at Ephesus in Revelation Chapter 3, and continued in the church of Pergamos where the Lord expressed his own hatred for these ungodly men. There is no evidence scripturally that these men were ever removed from the church. Therefore, we must accept the fact that these ungodly men are STILL within the church today. Five times the word merchandise is mentioned in the New Testament. Each mention is a study on merchandising and its appeal as it takes control over the heart and turns souls away from God and not to God.

But they made light of [it], and went their ways, one to his farm, another to his merchandise: (Matthew 22:5)
And said unto them that sold doves, Take these things hence; make not my Father’s house an house of merchandise. (John 2:16)
And through covetousness shall they with feigned words make merchandise of you: whose judgment now of a long time lingereth not, and their damnation slumbereth not. (2nd Peter 2:3)
And the merchants of the earth shall weep and mourn over her; for no man buyeth their merchandise any more: (Revelation 18:11) The merchandise of gold, and silver, and precious stones, and of pearls, and fine linen, and purple, and silk, and scarlet, and all thyine wood, and all manner vessels of ivory, and all manner vessels of most precious wood, and of brass, and iron, and marble, (Revelation 18:12)

The last time that the word spue is mentioned is in Revelation 3:16, So then because thou art lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will spue thee out of my mouth. Remember Jeremiah 25:27, Therefore thou shalt say unto them, Thus saith the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel; Drink ye, and be drunken, and spue, and fall, and rise no more, because of the sword which I will send among you. When wine takes over man, there comes a point when man spues out what is defiling him from within. In the same sense what has come into the church in their drunkenness of merchandising in the riches and goods, and their need of nothing has come to the point when the Lord Jesus has spued them out of His mouth. He has cast them off into outer darkness. He has cut them out of the vine, and He will see them no more. As the Lord Jesus reigned over Israel and watched her disobedience to His commandments and to His word, so also now, from His ascended place on high He has been watching His church go astray and turn from His grace and truth to their own ways. The Lord Jesus in all that He is as the most majestic God, the highest Himself, is the same yesterday, today and forever. Jesus Christ the same yesterday, and to day, and for ever. (Hebrews 13:8) In the church of Laodicea we should notice that there is no mention of Satan. Man has become so corrupt in the church that Satan stands back and watches their disobedience and denial of Christ’s Headship, the merchandising, the wealth, and the disrespect and ignorance of the written word of God and of the Living Word of God.

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The Leaven Denying the Voice of Creation by Jesus Christ

In Revelation 3:14 we read, 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; Christ identifies Himself as the beginning of the creation of God. This is brought out in Hebrews 11:3, Through faith we understand that the worlds were framed by the word of God, so that things which are seen were not made of things which do appear. This verse is confirmed in Hebrews 1:2 and 3.

Hath in these last days spoken unto us by his Son, whom he hath appointed heir of all things, by whom also he made the worlds; (Hebrews 1:2) Who being the brightness of his glory, and the express image of his person, and upholding all things by the word of his power, when he had by himself purged our sins, sat down on the right hand of the Majesty on high; (Hebrews 1:3)

Also, we have more confirmation in the gospel of John 1:1- 3. In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. (John 1:1) The same was in the beginning with God. (John 1:2) All things were made by him; and without him was not anything made that was made. (John 1:3) As we see that Christ in the beginning WAS and IS the Word of God. There is also confirmation in the Old Testament that this same word was true from the beginning. Thy word is true from the beginning: and every one of thy righteous judgments endureth for ever. (Psalm 119:160) These are all evidence of the beginning of the creation of God spoken into existence by the Word of His power from the mouth and breath of Christ Jesus our Lord. We, as born-again believers, are the creation of Jesus Christ as NEW men and a NEW race of people to worship the Almighty God, and the name that is above every name: Jesus Christ, who WAS, who IS and who IS TO COME, the Word of God, the Lord of Lords, and King of Kings. And he [was] clothed with a vesture dipped in blood: and his name is called The Word of God. (Revelation 19:13)
In the beginning of the creation of God, Christ was not only to be the Voice of creation, but He was also to be Savior from the foundations of the earth. In the Old Testament, the Lord Jesus declared, I only am savior. Who hath wrought and done it, calling the generations from the beginning? I the LORD, the first, and with the last; I am he. (Isaiah 41:4) I, even I, am the LORD; and beside me there is no Saviour. (Isaiah 43:11) In Revelation 3:14, the Lord Jesus proclaimed that He is the Amen. He is not only the beginning of all things, but the end of all things. He is the First and the Last, the Alpha and the Omega, and here in the word Amen we also see His last message to the church . . . it is the finality from heaven to those on earth who claim to be His church. The cloud, the glory, and the fire by night are about to depart. (All three represent the presence of the Godhead. The cloud is God the Father, the Glory is His presence in Jesus Christ and the Fire is the Holy Spirit.) The word Amen might end the church on earth, but the translation of the saints will continue to the true Church in heaven. This makes the word Amen a finality of His outreach by His angel and the Spirit of God to the churches. We also see the Amen in Isaiah 40:21, 22; Isaiah 44:6, and Isaiah 45:21, 22, and Isaiah 48:16.

Have ye not known? have ye not heard? hath it not been told you from the beginning? have ye not understood from the foundations of the earth? (Isaiah 40:21) It is he that sitteth upon the circle of the earth, and the inhabitants thereof are as grasshoppers; that stretcheth out the heavens as a curtain, and spreadeth them out as a tent to dwell in: (Isaiah 40:22)

Thus saith the LORD the King of Israel, and his redeemer the LORD of hosts; I am the first, and I am the last; and beside me there is no God. (Isaiah 44:6)

Tell ye, and bring them near; yea, let them take counsel together: who hath declared this from ancient time? who hath told it from that time? have not I the LORD? and there is no God else beside me; a just God and a Saviour; there is none beside me. (Isaiah 45:21) Look unto me, and be ye saved, all the ends of the earth: for I am God, and there is none else. (Isaiah 45:22)

Come ye near unto me, hear ye this; I have not spoken in secret from the beginning; from the time that it was, there am I: and now the Lord GOD, and his Spirit, hath sent me. (Isaiah 48:16)

All these verses from the book of Isaiah are manna for the soul of the redeemed especially Isaiah 48:16. This is a truth that is everlasting. Many fail to see the prophetic value within this verse. When the wisdom of God (Christ) was in the bosom of the Father from the beginning, He made His abode in the endless circle of Deity.

No man hath seen God at any time; the only begotten Son, which is in the bosom of the Father, he hath declared him. (John 1:18)
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; (Revelation 3:14)

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The Leaven Denying the Divine Nature of Christ

Not only were all things made by Him, but all things consist BY Him. And he is before all things, and by him all things consist. (Colossians 1:17) Faith is the substance of things hoped for and the evidence of things not seen. The Holy Spirit of God is the perfect Wordsmith. In Colossians 1:17, the word consist is only use one time in the entire Bible. This little word spans the whole creation, it opens the heart to the things that we cannot see. This little word consist enriches the creation from the beginning to the end, thereby, enriching the Creator Himself. This word consist goes from the beginning of all things to the end of all things. This word consist is the perfect circle of God’s creation and His power and His divine nature. He consists as the first and the last, the Alpha and the Omega, the first born of eternity and the first born of the Father. He is the holy child (Acts 4:27, 30), the holy thing (Luke 1:35), the Holy One (Acts 2:27; 3:14; 13:35; 1st John 2:20).

Just as the word consist is only used one time in holy scriptures, in the same verse, the phrase he is before all things is also only used one time in the Bible. Think of it, in 66 books, the word consist is only used one time, and the phrase he is before all things is also used once in the complete word of God. What a message, the Holy Spirit is giving to us. When you think that there are more than one thousand, one hundred and eighty-eight chapters in the Bible, there are more than thirty-one thousand, one hundred and one verses in the Bible, and the Holy Spirit, the perfect Wordsmith identifies the Lord Jesus Christ for being before all things. This emphasizes the statement that the Lord Jesus made in Revelation 3:14 that he is the beginning of the creation of God. And then by this ONE, this Holy One, all things consist.
The things we see, the things we do not see, the things we know, and the things that we do not know, the very fibers within us and the very world around us, the constellations above, and each and every star and its glimmering light are all within His mighty power and His divine Being. What is so amazing to faith as this ONE, this Holy One, came from heaven’s glory to walk within His own creation, and to give Himself as a ransom and a sacrifice for fallen man. Even in this, the mind, the heart, the soul, and spirit can acknowledge it, but cannot reach into its depth for only the Son of God in the beginning before all things could counsel with the Father and with the Holy Spirit of God to not only plan out the entire creation, both seen and unseen, but to be SEEN and UNSEEN. Here is a mystery: two tangible objects can stand side by side, man (being one object) is SEEN, the angel beside man is unseen. Do we understand how God defines both the SEEN and the UNSEEN? Yet, the great miracle of grace is that the UNSEEN God was manifested in the flesh (SEEN) as Jesus of Nazareth, the Son of God. He took on the title the Son of man in His work to remove the first man (Adam) and give us a new Man, a heavenly Man in glory for all the redeemed. He died that we might live in Him, and not just for an earthly sojourn but for all eternity. One little verse that many read right through without seeing what the Holy Spirit is telling us through faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. He is before all things, this in itself is a tremendous statement. But then the Holy Spirit of God completes the circle that by. Him all things consist. And he is before all things, and by him all things consist.
Are the eyes of your understanding open to the majesty, the wonder, and the glory of the Lord Jesus Christ, the Holy One of God? The words Holy One are found in fifty-one (51) verses but is documented fifty-two (52) times in the Bible, and each mention needs to be looked at by the heart, the soul and the spirit. All fifty-two (52) documentations refer to the Holy thing, the Holy child, the Holy One. (CLICK HERE for all fifty-two mentions of the Holy One in scripture.) When the Lord Jesus was on the earth, He was the Son of God, and carried the title, the Son of man, not as Adam, but as a heavenly Man sent down to replace Adam, and therefore, redeem man unto Himself. When we consider all that, He is from the beginning and all that He will be until the end of this present creation, we also see Him as the Creator of a new heaven and a new earth that sin cannot touch.

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The Leaven of Idolatry and Adultery Welcomed in the Church

As the Holy Spirit teaches us all about Laodicea, again the perfect Wordsmith, the Holy Spirit, used the word lukewarm in Revelation 3:16 only one time in the entire Bible. So then because thou art lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will spue thee out of my mouth. In perspective this word only applies to the last church of the seven churches. The Son of God speaks to this wicked church age and the word repent is mentioned seven (7) times. The Lord tells the church to repent. Now here is another marvel of the Holy Spirit of God, the word repent is used first in the letter to Ephesus. Remember therefore from whence thou art fallen, and repent, and do the first works; or else I will come unto thee quickly, and will remove thy candlestick out of his place, except thou repent. (Revelation 2:5) When Ephesus did not hearken to this word repent, the Lord used this word again twice, and yet, they refused to repent. Then in Thyatira, (Revelation 2:16), the church had suffered the woman Jezebel to come in to profane the things of God, and bring with her, her children of her fornication, and idolatry, with stone and gold images to turn the hearts of the church to idols and acts of lasciviousness and fornication.

(CLICK HERE to learn of Jezebel in idolatry. CLICK HERE to read of Jezebel in the church age. CLICK HERE to understand how Jezebel was part of an evil alliance in the Old Testament.)

The Lord hangs death over this sin of idolatry because they refused to repent from their worship of idols, and God dealt with the children of Jezebel and her followers of adultery and idolatry, which in our age in the church of Laodicea is still not being judged. Idolatry and adultery are closely linked. Divorce is commonplace, not only in the world but also it is welcomed in the church. And this has led to open adultery within the Laodicea church as men having two or more wives in their divorcements, and women having two or more husbands in their divorcements.
The divine institution of marriage was given by God in the beginning as one woman and one man. But from the beginning of the creation God made them male and female. (Mark 10:6) For this cause shall a man leave his father and mother, and cleave to his wife; (Mark 10:7) And they twain shall be one flesh: so then they are no more twain, but one flesh. (Mark 10:8) What therefore God hath joined together, let not man put asunder. (Mark 10:9) And what God has joined together the Lord Jesus proclaimed, let not man put asunder. The divine Being, the Creator of all things, He that is before all things, and by Him all things consist, never approved divorce. It was only given to Israel by Moses because of the hardness of their hearts. In Hebrews 3, we find what the hardness of the heart accomplished for the Israelites, that all those who came out of Egypt fell and died in the wilderness because of their hardened hearts.

The Body of Christ is sacred to Him. The Bride of His passion is sacred to Him. He has gone beyond all measure to keep her pure in His sight. So, how much more is He grieved with the leaven of the church that accepts divorce as common place. In this, the church has exchanged her glorious white garment for filthy rags. Also notice in Thyatira, the remarkable way that the Lord Jesus introduces Himself to this church. And unto the angel of the church in Thyatira write; These things saith the Son of God, who hath his eyes like unto a flame of fire, and his feet are like fine brass; (Revelation 2:18) The Lord Jesus presents Himself in judgment. His eyes as flaming fire, the eyes of the Lord going to and fro throughout the whole world, and the whole church. The eyes of His righteousness in the seven Spirits of God examining and determining the judgment that is according to their sin. Why are these eyes of flaming fire important? This is the first time within the churches that we see these eyes of fire. Does not this take us back to paradise, the garden of God? It was the flaming sword that kept Adam from returning to the garden. This paradise, the garden of God, was so precious in God’s sight that He placed the tree of life in the midst of the garden. Many quickly read over Genesis Chapter 2, man was created first, then God wanting man to enjoy paradise, made a garden and placed man in it. And the LORD God took the man, and put him into the garden of Eden to dress it and to keep it. (Genesis 2:15) And the LORD God planted a garden eastward in Eden; and there he put the man whom he had formed. (Genesis 2:8)

Man was driven out of this paradise because Adam brought sin into the world, and thus, death by sin. So, God blocked the entrance of paradise with cherubim and a flaming sword of judgment. This sword of judgment meant certain death to Adam if he attempted to return. It is also HERE that God used fire once again, as a symbol of His judgment, as God had first used fire on the altar in the garden to sacrifice the two lambs for their skins to cover the trespasses of Adam and Eve from His eyes. So, you see, man did not discover fire, it was revealed to man by God as a symbol of His judgment against the sin of man.
In Revelation 2:18, these flaming eyes of judgment examined the whole church of Thyatira and found it wanting. Only the overcomer is blessed of God. The overcomer in Ephesus was given the right through faith in Jesus Christ to enter into paradise for Christ has borne the judgment of the flaming sword for all of the redeemed of the Lord. (Revelation 2:7) The one in self-judgment had separated Himself from the evils of this church of Thyatira. If the eyes of fire are not enough, then we read that his feet are like fine brass. All the altars of judgment in the Old Testament were made of fine brass. They were the symbols of judgment that received the burnt offering to remove the sin of Israel, as a whole, or the sin of the individual who had sinned before God. The Lord Jesus gives us this picture of Himself as an overriding Judge over His church. It is He, through the word of God and the Spirit of God, and unfeigned hearts (because an unfeigned heart called to resist sin) that trample sin out of His church.

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The Leaven Continues its Corruption
Within the Suffering Church and the Enlightened Church

There were only two churches that were not given the command to repent: Smyrna, the suffering church, and Philadelphia the enlightened church. In Philadelphia, the word of Christ’s patience was restored to THAT church. It is only in Smyrna and Philadelphia that we see the false believer of the synagogue of Satan.

I know thy works, and tribulation, and poverty, (but thou art rich) and I know the blasphemy of them which say they are Jews, and are not, but are the synagogue of Satan. (Revelation 2:9)
Behold, I will make them of the synagogue of Satan, which say they are Jews, and are not, but do lie; behold, I will make them to come and worship before thy feet, and to know that I have loved thee. (Revelation 3:9)

There is a great mystery in Revelation 2:9 and Revelation 3:9. If we return to the age of the apostle, John, we see an infant church, many of the Jews had sincerely repented and had come to the knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ, but even then, Satan was stirring the pot by sending in unbelieving Jews (Satan’s allied combatants) to turn the hearts of the true believers back to the Law and the traditions of man in order to separate them from the supremacy of Christ in their faith and to re-institute the blood line of Adam and remove the crimson thread of faith.
As we travel from Jerusalem to Asia Minor and Philadelphia, the Lord shows us the spreading of this synagogue of Satan. In Smyrna there was great tribulation and poverty. The tribulation was physical abuse attempting to turn their hearts back to the Law. In their poverty they were shunned, and many were unable to find work. When we reach Philadelphia, we see the same treacherous synagogue there and the same Jews with their lies and their forcefulness working against the infant church. The Lord said of these Jews that they lie, taking us back to their father of lies in John 8:44. They are not only of the synagogue of Satan, but they were of their father the devil: one and the same. Now the Lord Jesus reassures the overcomer, the true believer, that after their poverty, tribulation and persecution, that Christ will make those of the synagogue of Satan to worship before thy feet and to know in all their wickedness that Jesus has loved His own. For I have loved thee, and to know that I have loved thee.
In the history of the church, we see the seven phases of its history in these seven churches in Revelation 2 and 3. Remember when Paul was on the ship and the great wind called Euroclydon came against that ship, the Lord told Paul that all would be lost except the souls that were in the ship. Although the goods were lost, and the ship was dashed upon the rocks, not one soul was lost. They all found themselves safe on an island of mercy. There is also a parable in this sequence of events: the Lord was telling every believer that although the visible is destroyed, the souls who belong to Him will not go down with the ship. The outward church of the synagogue of Satan may sink with the world, but those of faith in Jesus Christ will stand on the isle of mercy and will not be lost. This same message is also seen through the parable of the ninety-nine sheep and the one that was lost was so precious to the shepherd that the shepherd would willingly give his life to find and secure that one lost sheep. For the joy that was set before the Lord Jesus Christ He endured the cross, despising the shame, and is sat down at the right hand of God. Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith; who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God. (Hebrews 12:2)
As we examine the false believer (the synagogue of Satan) in the church in Smyrna and in the church in Philadelphia, the works of righteousness is strongly evident. The true believer in Smyrna was not willing to give up the truth even in tribulation and poverty. They clung to the deity of Christ as the only true God and to the power of His endless life. And unto the angel of the church in Smyrna write; These things saith the first and the last, which was dead, and is alive; (Revelation 2:8)
Philadelphia was and is mixed with unbelievers. The world synagogue of Satan has far surpassed in numbers those of real faith, those who cling to the word of God. Those of Christ are not only a small minority in this wretched and wicked world, but they are a small minority compared to the synagogue of Satan or in our modern age, the church of Satan. I’m sure there are many churches that line the highways and fill the towns where you will not find one believer. Remember, according to Jude 4 this corruption came into the early church and spread as leaven through the whole. For there are certain men crept in unawares, who were before of old ordained to this condemnation, ungodly men, turning the grace of our God into lasciviousness, and denying the only Lord God, and our Lord Jesus Christ.
Revelation 3:9 shows a separation of true believers FROM the church of Satan. Those of true faith have walked away from the unrighteousness of the church of Satan. They are not willing to give up the truth although the world is against them. The Person of the Lord Jesus Christ and true fellowship WITH HIM is more important to their hearts than to sit in the pews of unrighteousness and stain their garments with the filth of the unrighteous church. When anyone tells you that they are a Christian, you insist that they back that up with the word of God. John tells us in his first epistle, to try the spirits because there are many who say that they are Christians and are NOT. Beloved, believe not every spirit, but try the spirits whether they are of God: because many false prophets are gone out into the world. (1st John 4:1) In a great house there are vessels of righteousness and vessels of unrighteousness.

Nevertheless the foundation of God standeth sure, having this seal, The Lord knoweth them that are his. And, Let every one that nameth the name of Christ depart from iniquity. (2nd Timothy 2:19) But in a great house there are not only vessels of gold and of silver, but also of wood and of earth; and some to honour, and some to dishonour. (2nd Timothy 2:20) If a man therefore purge himself from these, he shall be a vessel unto honour, sanctified, and meet for the master’s use, and prepared unto every good work. (2nd Timothy 2:21)

It is the word of God that divides the unbelievers from the true believers of the Lord Jesus Christ. It is the word of God that divides false professors from true possessors. It is the word of God that stands the test of time and eternity because He, the Lord of glory, holds the truth IS both Grace and Truth. Grace and truth came by Jesus Christ, and He has not changed.

And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth. (John 1:14)
For the law was given by Moses, but grace and truth came by Jesus Christ. (John 1:17)

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Overcoming the Leaven Through the Divine Force of Deity

In all the seven churches we have seven messages from the Lord through His seven angels TO the seven churches, and we have the voice of the Spirit of God at the end of each church seven times. Around His throne are the seven Spirits of God, and those seven Spirits utter the voices to the church seven times. He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches. Time melts into time, but all seven churches are called by the Spirit of God. They are to hear the voice of God and to obey the word of God. Contrary to belief, it is NOT the intellect that hears the Spirit of God, it is the heart, for the ear as well as the eye are merely the gateways to the heart.
In Revelation 1:12, the Spirit of God uses this phrase, I turned to see the voice that spoke with me. And I turned to see the voice that spake with me. And being turned, I saw seven golden candlesticks; This was the GREAT voice of many waters. And his feet like unto fine brass, as if they burned in a furnace; and his voice as the sound of many waters. (Revelation1:15) I was in the Spirit on the Lord’s day, and heard behind me a great voice, as of a trumpet. (Revelation1:10)
The great voice that John heard was as of a trumpet which announced the presence of the Son of man, the Lord Jesus Christ. As He received from His Father all power in heaven and in earth, now in Revelation, we see the divine image of that power and that might over all the world and heaven also. This is the same voice that is heard in the beginning of all the seven churches. It is the same voice that we hear to every overcomer in ALL seven churches, and at the end of all seven churches, we have the voice of the Spirit to conclude all that the Son of God has spoken.

1. He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches; To him that overcometh will I give to eat of the tree of life, which is in the midst of the paradise of God. (Revelation 2:7)
2. He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches; He that overcometh shall not be hurt of the second death. (Revelation 2:11)
3. He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches; To him that overcometh will I give to eat of the hidden manna, and will give him a white stone, and in the stone a new name written, which no man knoweth saving he that receiveth it. (Revelation 2:17)
4. He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches. (Revelation 2:29)
5. He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches. (Revelation 3:6)
6. He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches. (Revelation 3:13)
7. He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches. (Revelation 3:22)

The voice that you hear at the beginning of each, and every church is the voice of the Son of God from heaven. Hebrews Chapter 12 warns us and instructs us to HEAR the Man in heaven and LISTEN to what He has to say, See that ye refuse not him that speaketh. For if they escaped not who refused him that spake on earth, much more shall not we escape, if we turn away from him that speaketh from heaven: (Hebrews 12:25) This voice from heaven was not given in meekness, but in ALL the power of the Divine Force of Deity. We see the power OF the voice of the Lord in Hebrews 12:26 and 27. Whose voice then shook the earth: but now he hath promised, saying, Yet once more I shake not the earth only, but also heaven. (Hebrews 12:26) And this word, Yet once more, signifieth the removing of those things that are shaken, as of things that are made, that those things which cannot be shaken may remain. (Hebrews 12:27)

The true believer has been translated into the kingdom of God’s dear Son. The Spirit of God instructs us that we, as believers in Jesus Christ, have received a kingdom that CANNOT be moved. Therefore, every believer is brought into God’s grace, and through this grace we serve the Living God with REVERENCE and GODLY FEAR. Wherefore we receiving a kingdom which cannot be moved, let us have grace, whereby we may serve God acceptably with reverence and godly fear: (Hebrews 12:28) For our God is a consuming fire. (Hebrews 12:29)
The Lord’s voice from heaven has authority over the whole world. It is He who has earned this place of authority by His personal sacrifice on the cross of Calvary. The voice from heaven is given to an angel to bring it to earth and each angel ministers to his respective and assigned church . . . this is the earthly connection. The Spirit’s voice has been sent down from heaven with the gospel. He also is here on earth to instruct EVERY believer in the word of God. (And just as the reminder He speaks in ALL seven churches.) It is at the close of the message from heaven above that the Spirit of God confirms to what has been spoken by the Lord. Chapter 3 of the book of the Revelation closes with a double message from the Son of God and from the Spirit of God. Verses 20 to 22 is the double witness of God.

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. (Revelation 3:20) 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. (Revelation 3:21) He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches. (Revelation 3:22)

In verse 20 the Lord Jesus is OUTSIDE the church. He is making a last attempt to gather the wheat for the harvest. This is His LAST attempt as the true witness of God to quicken the souls that are yet to come into the veil of grace. He doesn’t just say, He cries out with a LOUD voice, that those who hear the voice of the Spirit should open the door, and He with grace and truth will come in as the word of God and fill the heart and soul with His presence. The Son of God in Revelation 3:20 is giving the FINAL CALL to the souls upon the earth and then in verse 22 the Spirit of God SEALS the messages of the Lord in His FINAL VOICE to the churches. The LAST MESSAGE of the angel, the LAST MESSAGE of Christ, and the LAST MESSAGE of the Spirit, and the LAST MESSAGE of the Bride, for the bride has washed her garments in the blood of the Lamb and is white and clean. Throughout the entire history of the church, the bride has fought her battles with the synagogue of Satan and those who have claimed to be Christians and are not. This last battle of the Laodicean age is full of leaven. And again he said, Whereunto shall I liken the kingdom of God? (Luke 13:20) It is like leaven, which a woman took and hid in three measures of meal, till the whole was leavened. (Luke 13:21)

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Leaven Caused Envy, Strife and Division

Today, this very moment, the fullness of leaven has overcome the collective church, those who profess but do not possess the righteousness of God but have gone in the way of Jude 4 – 25. The testimony of Laodicea is self-centered in their riches. Even the servants of this apostate church will not open the house of God for naught. Who is there even among you that would shut the doors for nought? neither do ye kindle fire on mine altar for nought. I have no pleasure in you, saith the LORD of hosts, neither will I accept an offering at your hand. (Malachi 1:10) These men are rich only in physical wealth and in merchandising. Yet, their souls lay impoverished without the manna of God. The material goods of this world, the gold and the silver, the wood hay and stubble will all be burned and removed from the way.
In Malachi 2, we have the downfall of Judah, of Israel, and of Jerusalem where God had specifically placed His name. Judah hath dealt treacherously, and an abomination is committed in Israel and in Jerusalem; for Judah hath profaned the holiness of the LORD which he loved, and hath married the daughter of a strange god. (Malachi 2:11) God has only chosen one nation to be His people from among all the peoples of the world and that nation WAS and IS and will EVER BE Israel.

He placed His name of earth. However, when the Lord was crucified and rose from the dead and ascended into heaven at God’s right hand . . . He placed His own name IN heaven, and then He began to form His Church under a name that is above every name. It is the highest Himself who has claimed and manifested His name above every name and that name is Jesus Christ. Not just only the knees of Israel will bow, but all the knees in heavens, and all the knees on earth, and all the knees under the earth will bow to His majesty, to His glory and to the wonderful image, the visible image of the invisible God and the brightness of God’s glory, Jesus Christ. Wherefore God also hath highly exalted him, and given him a name which is above every name: (Philippians 2:9) That at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of things in heaven, and things in earth, and things under the earth; (Philippians 2:10)
Although God Almighty has given a name, a name for heaven, a name for earth, and a name for all eternity . . . what does the church do? It hunts and pecks for other names because they are neither satisfied nor will they bend the knee to the Lord Jesus Christ alone. They bow down to philosophy, to social fads and to trends, to wealth and to the fallacy of the wisdom of men, and they raise up men of deceit. They embrace the rudiments of the world whether you want to believe it or not, there are organizations claiming to be Christian that support abortion, that support tyranny, that support the mutilation of children, that support all the rudiments of the world and that financially supports enemies of Christianity. Yes, the apostate world church KNOWINGLY supports the enemies of Christ. I will make this statement and it will not be believed but it is true: whether it is the Sheriff of Nottingham or the kings and tyrants of the world the burden of taxation is the slavery of the world. Taxation itself is never satisfied. It is the root of socialism and all tyrannical governments. This is why, in these last days, anarchy has overtaken minds, hearts, souls and spirits. Man laughs and enjoys his sin when that sin is bringing forth the death of mankind. Man (through taxation) is paying for his own destruction. How blind and how sad the descendants of Adam have become. (Colossians 2:8)
The word of God tells us that the true treasure that man can receive must be laid up in heaven and before anyone can do this, they must be removed from Adam first, and be born again in Jesus Christ. The treasures of heaven cannot be bought by the mammon of the world. The currency of the world has not value in heaven. You can cast all the money you have before man’s altar and the only credit that you will receive is from man on earth and not from the Lord in heaven. True riches come from within the heart, they are the riches of faith, and they are the riches of faithfulness to God. The apostles and Antipas had no worldly possessions to cast before God, yet, their names, their deeds and their lives are written for examples for every Christian to follow. Those who rationalize their dead faith for real life are the fools of this world. They not only have seen leaven, but they have devoured leaven in their own self-deception that they are Christians. That little bit of leaven has corrupted the whole lump of Laodicea.
In the very beginning of church history God gives us 1st and 2nd Corinthians not to reveal the good in the church, but to unveil the leaven and the fleshly lusts and the preeminence of the flesh and the turning away from Christ and from the Spirit of Christ. 1st and 2nd Corinthians reveal that all was NOT well in the infant church. We see puffed up divisions in 1st Corinthians 3:3. For ye are yet carnal: for whereas there is among you envying, and strife, and divisions, are ye not carnal, and walk as men? The Spirit of God used the word carnal for the flesh had taken the preeminence over truth. They were enjoying the Cain Syndrome to Lord themselves over others. Envy led to strife, and strife led to division, and the church became splintered and fractured into diverse groups following men of renown instead of following Christ ONLY. They were carnal and still walking as men following after the rudiments of the world. This discloses that the Corinthian church did not understand the death of Adam on the cross. Do you? Do you really understand that the manifestation of the Lord Jesus Christ IN the flesh, in the Body that was prepared for Him was to take away Adam and give us a New Man in heaven. In the Corinthian church and in the church today, Adam still has life. Adam, under the influence of Satan, continues to rule. Satan’s ministers among them were willing to deceive all for their master Satan. Adam still had life in their flesh. They were not living in the power of the resurrected Man Jesus Christ. They had not claimed in their hearts, souls and spirits the inheritance and sonship that Christ had brought down from heaven for them. They could not raise themselves to the kingdom of God where Christ sits at the right hand of God. If ye then be risen with Christ, seek those things which are above, where Christ sitteth on the right hand of God. (Colossians 3:1) Set your affection on things above, not on things on the earth. (Colossians 3:2) For ye are dead, and your life is hid with Christ in God. (Colossians 3:3)

And declared to be the Son of God with power, according to the spirit of holiness, by the resurrection from the dead: (Romans 1:4) Can we understand and comprehend the greatness of the depth of God’s righteousness?

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The Leaven Overcome Through
Christ the Eternal Sacrifice – The Eternal Lamb

The path to fulfilling ALL righteousness in Jesus Christ began before the foundations of the world. The path to the cross began when the Lord Jesus spoke the worlds into existence. The determinate counsels of God had already determined in their plan, in the architecture of creation, that Christ would be the Lamb of sacrifice and the Bearer of salvation for man. And all that dwell upon the earth shall worship him, whose names are not written in the book of life of the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world. (Revelation 13:8) Look at the last eight words of this verse . . . Lamb slain from the foundation of the world . . . The lambs in the garden were shadows of the Lamb on the cross. Abel’s lamb of sacrifice through which Abel obtained righteousness, the righteousness of God was a shadow of the Lamb on the cross.
The lamb that Noah sacrificed in the new world was a shadow of the Lamb on the cross. The lamb (ram) that Abraham sacrificed on mount Moriah was a shadow of the Lamb upon the cross. The lamb that was slain in Egypt and the covering of its blood on the door posts and the lintel was a shadow of both the horizontal and the vertical beams of wood with the Lamb stretched out on the cross of Calvary. The sacrificial lamb for the nation of Israel was a shadow of the Lamb of God on the cross. All the lambs of sacrifice from Solomon to Josiah were shadows of the Lamb on the cross.

All through the Old Testament, every lamb that was sacrificed revealed what the True sacrificial Lamb would be without blemish, without spot both outwardly and inwardly. A Lamb set aside from the foundations of the earth was and is the Eternal Lamb and the Eternal Sacrifice.

And he shewed me a pure river of water of life, clear as crystal, proceeding out of the throne of God and of the Lamb. (Revelation 22:1)
And there shall be no more curse: but the throne of God and of the Lamb shall be in it; and his servants shall serve him: (Revelation 22:3)

When John the Baptist came into the world, there was not one sacrifice identified with him, for John came into the world to show the people of Israel death in Adam and life in Christ. So, it was John who had the divine privilege to introduce the True Lamb IN Jesus Christ to take away the sin of the world. The next day John seeth Jesus coming unto him, and saith, Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world. (John 1:29) And looking upon Jesus as he walked, he saith, Behold the Lamb of God! (John 1:36)
Let me reaffirm this. The Lord’s journey to the cross began from the foundations of the world. The very foundations that He Himself had laid was that He would be the sacrificial Lamb to take away the sin of the world BEFORE sin came into the world. The determinate counsels of God had determined this, as the Godhead agreed, that ALL three, Father, Son and Holy Spirit, the GODHEAD, the highest Himself would work through divine power in the total plan of redemption of man.
When John’s ministry began, he came out of the wilderness (as a stranger among his own nation) and began baptizing the people unto death . . . yes, that is right . . . John was not the minister of life, he was the minister of death to show all man who Adam really was. Adam was the destroyer of all of mankind, and all of mankind was destroyed through the sin of Adam. John the Baptist was the minister of death. He also introduced to the nation of Israel to life in the Son of God which taketh away the sin of the world. In Matthew 3:13 -17 the key in these verses is the element of fulfilling all righteousness and leave nothing out for if one tiny speck of sin continued there could not be the fulfillment of the righteousness of God.

Then cometh Jesus from Galilee to Jordan unto John, to be baptized of him. (Matthew 3:13) But John forbad him, saying, I have need to be baptized of thee, and comest thou to me? (Matthew 3:14) And Jesus answering said unto him, Suffer it to be so now: for thus it becometh us to fulfil all righteousness. Then he suffered him. (Matthew 3:15) And Jesus, when he was baptized, went up straightway out of the water: and, lo, the heavens were opened unto him, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove, and lighting upon him: (Matthew 3:16) And lo a voice from heaven, saying, This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased. (Matthew 3:17)

When John baptized the Lord Jesus Christ, he baptized Him into the shadow of the Lord’s death upon the cross. When Christ came up OUT of the Jordan, it was a divine shadow of His resurrection and the power of His endless life. His practical path of righteousness began THERE at the Jordan when He was baptized into His own death which would come on mount Moriah, Golgotha, the place of the skull, also known as Calvary, where the likeness of flesh in the Body that was prepared for Him would accomplish and fulfill all of God’s divine righteousness.

The Son of God would end Adam’s journey and God would see Adam no more. By the offering of His flesh Jesus Christ took sin away. His offering to God allowed God to create a New Man for Himself, a heavenly Man who would begin a NEW heavenly race of children of God, of sons of God. They would come out of Christ’s death, and one by one, they would be born again, God would see Adam no more. For in the death of God’s dear Son, ALL righteousness was completed. The sweet savor of God’s love ascended up to heaven and righteousness was completed forever. The complete debt of Adam and his race was paid. Man would be without excuse if he denied the salvation of God through Jesus Christ. The sin of the whole world was taken away: past, present and future. God allowed His own sword of judgment to fall upon Himself in His beloved Son, the Lord Jesus Christ.
When Paul wrote his epistles, he had the reality of his own death in Jesus Christ and today in the present every believer has the presence of his own death in the crucifixion of the Lord Jesus Christ. The Spirit of God teaches this in Galatians 2:20. I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me.
The reality of being crucified with Christ can only come through the witness of His Spirit to the center of our hearts. The center of the heart is man’s existence. It is from the center of that heart that man MUST die before he can live again in Jesus Christ. We MUST die His death so that we can live His life. It is His Spirit that has the power of an endless life and He has embraced each and every child of God forever in the power of that endless life.

Concerning his Son Jesus Christ our Lord, which was made of the seed of David according to the flesh; (Romans 1:3)
For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus hath made me free from the law of sin and death. (Romans 8:2)
Who is made, not after the law of a carnal commandment, but after the power of an endless life. (Hebrews 7:16)

In these verses we see that the center of the Christian’s life is Christ and Christ alone. While He is the Center, no leaven can enter in; however, if Christ is put aside and Adam is taken up then we see that the false professors have NO power of that endless life. When anyone is asked at the church if they are going to heaven and they reply, I hope so, this shows that there is NO power of an endless life in them. Leaven has destroyed the church that professes to be of Christ, when they cannot realize that IN CHRIST is LIFE EVERMORE.

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The Leaven of Pride

Let’s see more of the seed of the leaven in 1st Corinthians 4:8, Now ye are full, now ye are rich, ye have reigned as kings without us: and I would to God ye did reign, that we also might reign with you. They had exalted themselves above measure. Measure of what? The measure of leaven, for Adam was in their hearts, not Christ. As we progress through Corinthians, we see the lump of leaven growing.

And these things, brethren, I have in a figure transferred to myself and to Apollos for your sakes; that ye might learn in us not to think of men above that which is written, that no one of you be puffed up for one against another. (1st Corinthians 4:6)
For who maketh thee to differ from another? and what hast thou that thou didst not receive? now if thou didst receive it, why dost thou glory, as if thou hadst not received it? (1st Corinthians 4:7)
Now ye are full, now ye are rich, ye have reigned as kings without us: and I would to God ye did reign, that we also might reign with you. (1st Corinthians 4:8)
For I think that God hath set forth us the apostles last, as it were appointed to death: for we are made a spectacle unto the world, and to angels, and to men. (1st Corinthians 4:9)
We are fools for Christ’s sake, but ye are wise in Christ; we are weak, but ye are strong; ye are honourable, but we are despised. (1st Corinthians 4:10)
Even unto this present hour we both hunger, and thirst, and are naked, and are buffeted, and have no certain dwellingplace; (1st Corinthians 4:11)
And labour, working with our own hands: being reviled, we bless; being persecuted, we suffer it: (1st Corinthians 4:12)
Being defamed, we intreat: we are made as the filth of the world, and are the offscouring of all things unto this day. (1st Corinthians 4:13)
I write not these things to shame you, but as my beloved sons I warn you. (1st Corinthians 4:14)

They were reigning as kings. The material gospel had already come into the church. While the infant church was reigning as kings, the apostles were downtrodden by the world in hunger, in nakedness without a dwelling place, and persecuted for their faith through physical buffeting and spiritual slander. Yet, Paul warned the church in Corinth by the Spirit of God, yet they did not turn to the humility of Christ. In1st Corinthians 4:18, they were puffed up, pride had come in as a flood to quench the Spirit of God. Now some are puffed up, as though I would not come to you. They were puffed up with pride, and pride goes before a fall. From verse 18 to the end of Chapter 4, we have a dire warning of judgment to come in the rod of God. The choice was up to them. They could go back to the love of Christ, which is beyond all understanding, or they could be exercised by the rod of judgment from the Almighty God.

But I will come to you shortly, if the Lord will, and will know, not the speech of them which are puffed up, but the power. (1st Corinthians 4:19) For the kingdom of God is not in word, but in power. (1st Corinthians 4:20) What will ye? shall I come unto you with a rod, or in love, and in the spirit of meekness? (1st Corinthians 4:21)

Chapter 5 of 1st Corinthians begins with the spirit of Paul and the Holy Spirit of God grieving over the sins of Corinth. The Corinthians were defiling the flesh. The apostle picked one of many sins. It was the most grievous sin to the apostle and to the Spirit of God. Even the Gentiles had escaped this wickedness. The Gentiles were clean of this most grievous sin. And again, in this wicked sin, the Corinthians were puffed up.

It is reported commonly that there is fornication among you, and such fornication as is not so much as named among the Gentiles, that one should have his father’s wife. (1st Corinthians 5:1) And ye are puffed up, and have not rather mourned, that he that hath done this deed might be taken away from among you. (1st Corinthians 5:2)

In Chapter 6 of 1st Corinthians, we can see the leaven multiplying.

Dare any of you, having a matter against another, go to law before the unjust, and not before the saints? (1st Corinthians 6:1) Do ye not know that the saints shall judge the world? and if the world shall be judged by you, are ye unworthy to judge the smallest matters? (1st Corinthians 6:2) Know ye not that we shall judge angels? how much more things that pertain to this life? (1st Corinthians 6:3) If then ye have judgments of things pertaining to this life, set them to judge who are least esteemed in the church. (1st Corinthians 6:4) I speak to your shame. Is it so, that there is not a wise man among you? no, not one that shall be able to judge between his brethren? (1st Corinthian’s 6:5) But brother goeth to law with brother, and that before the unbelievers. (1st Corinthians 6:6) Now therefore there is utterly a fault among you, because ye go to law one with another. Why do ye not rather take wrong? why do ye not rather suffer yourselves to be defrauded? (1st Corinthians 6:7) Nay, ye do wrong, and defraud, and that your brethren. (1st Corinthians 6:8)

The Spirit of God was replaced by worldly wisdom. The church became more corrupted by openly destroying their testimony through suing each other by the law of man. To sue someone has a dire effect. But the church of the Lord Jesus Christ was not above this in the Corinthian church. As the world has a seared conscience, so all false professors of Christ also have a seared conscience, thus, allowing themselves to wear the mask of Christianity. This was the early church of Corinth. The apostle doubted them of being in Christ, he doubted and questioned their Christianity. I am sure that many said, I am from the Corinth church, and I am a Christian, however, when the apostle Paul, through the Spirit of Christ, examined the whole, he doubted that they were in Christ. Where was the evidence of the Spirit of holiness and the humility of Christ? The leaven just continued to grow.

Nay, ye do wrong, and defraud, and that your brethren. (1st Corinthians 6:8)
Know ye not that the unrighteous shall not inherit the kingdom of God? Be not deceived: neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor effeminate, nor abusers of themselves with mankind, (1st Corinthians 6:9)
Nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners, shall inherit the kingdom of God. (1st Corinthians 6:10)

In 1st Corinthian Chapter 6:8-10 we have a long list, and those who continue in these fleshly sins will NOT inherit the kingdom of God. Through the Corinthian letters, we see the growth of leaven in the infant church. This was WITHIN the first fifty years of testimony. In 1st Corinthians Chapter 8, they had turned to other gods. They were mixing Christianity with pagan temples, and rituals. CLICK HERE to understand more about how the mixing of paganism with the things of God came into the tribe of Jacob at its beginning.

The Christian church had gone so far as to eating things dedicated and offered to idols. In Chapter 11 we have the result of the leaven as they were performing the Lord’s supper. This do in remembrance of me, was abused and was not attended with a full heart for Christ. It is sad to say that the Lord’s supper became a mere ritual: a place of attendance, and not a place of the presence of the Lord. And even today, the simple words, This do in remembrance of me, are taken merely as ritual and theatrics. The heart of man has grown cold in pride and has driven out the presence of the Lord from His own supper. In many cases, This do in remembrance of me, has long been forgotten. The place of worship has become a theatrical stage where the big band sound has come into the church and usurped worship, and in some places the advocates of rap lyrics are entertained and substituted for worship. The leaven has grown. The contemporary world church meets around the word Christianity while profaning and blaspheming the Christ of Christianity. This do in remembrance of me is documented three (3) times in the Bible; thus, referring to God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit.

And he took bread, and gave thanks, and brake [it], and gave unto them, saying, This is my body which is given for you: this do in remembrance of me. (Luke 22:19)
And when he had given thanks, he brake [it], and said, Take, eat: this is my body, which is broken for you: this do in remembrance of me. (1st Corinthians 11:24)
After the same manner also [he took] the cup, when he had supped, saying, This cup is the new testament in my blood: this do ye, as oft as ye drink [it], in remembrance of me. (1st Corinthians 11:25)

The pride of leaven led to profaning the Lord’s supper and thereby denying the resurrection of Christ. If you turn to the beginning of Corinthians and follow it through into Chapter 15, looking for the leaven, you can observe how it grew into a great massive lump of denial and rejection of the Godhead bodily. Consider, 1st Corinthians Chapter 15, verses 12 thru 17.

Now if Christ be preached that he rose from the dead, how say some among you that there is no resurrection of the dead? (1st Corinthians 15:12)
But if there be no resurrection of the dead, then is Christ not risen: (1st Corinthians 15:13)
And if Christ be not risen, then is our preaching vain, and your faith is also vain. (1st Corinthians 15:14)
Yea, and we are found false witnesses of God; because we have testified of God that he raised up Christ: whom he raised not up, if so be that the dead rise not. (1st Corinthians 15:15)
For if the dead rise not, then is not Christ raised: (1st Corinthians 15:16)
And if Christ be not raised, your faith is vain; ye are yet in your sins. (1st Corinthians 15:17)

You might say that this is all negative. However, there is no place in scripture where truth is negative. Truth is always a positive, for truth is the path of righteousness. What a state the Corinthian church was in . . . being full of leaven. The door to the next world was open wide, but sin lieth at the door (Genesis 4:7) keeping them out of the kingdom of God.

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The Battle Between Leaven and Righteousness

Christ, the Center Point of God’s redemption, said of Himself in John Chapter 10:9 that He and ONLY He WAS and IS the Door. He declared, By me if any man enter in he shall be saved. I am the door: by me if any man enter in, he shall be saved, and shall go in and out, and find pasture. Also, in John Chapter 10, the Lord informed His disciples of His power of an endless life. He proclaimed that He had the power to lay down His life and to take it again. Therefore doth my Father love me, because I lay down my life, that I might take it again. (John 10:17) No man taketh it from me, but I lay it down of myself. I have power to lay it down, and I have power to take it again. This commandment have I received of my Father. (John 10:18)
And declared to be the Son of God with power, according to the spirit of holiness, by the resurrection from the dead: (Romans 1:4) Christ is raised by the power of His own Spirit, the Spirit of Christ. But God raised him from the dead: (Acts 13:30) In these previous verses we see the power of an endless life in the Son, in the Father, and in the Holy Ghost. We see the unity of the Godhead in the resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ. Hebrews Chapter 7 presents Melchisedec who is the Eternal Priest of God. It is Melchisedec who is Jesus Christ. The priesthood of Aaron in the Old Testament proves the existence of Melchisedec BEFORE the days of Christ. The book of Hebrews shows us the eternal existence of Melchisedec. The visitation of Christ as Melchisedec in Genesis Chapter 14 reveals the future manifestation of Jesus Christ as Prophet, Priest and King. When studying the life and the prophecies concerning the Son of God, Jesus Christ, then you will see each position fulfilled when He walked upon the earth. He was a Prophet sent from God as Jesus Christ. He was THE High Priest Melchisedec sent from God. He was both the King of peace, and the King of righteousness sent from God, He is the only Being in His divine manifestation that could fulfill ALL these positions as Prophet, Priest and King. And to add to this, He was the manifestation of the invisible God. He WAS and IS the brightness of God’s glory and IN Christ the manifest image, the Body WAS and IS the fullness of the Godhead bodily. For in him dwelleth all the fulness of the Godhead bodily. (Colossians 2:9) Wherefore when he cometh into the world, he saith, Sacrifice and offering thou wouldest not, but a body hast thou prepared me: (Hebrews 10:5)

Now here is the secret of faith: to make Christ who is the Author and Finisher of faith, the very Center of one’s faith because there is NO leaven IN Him; and therefore, if Christ is before the eye of the heart leaven cannot enter. We also see by the testimony of the early church when the love for Christ grew dim, then leaven came in.

The result of leaven in 1st and 2nd Timothy, removed the testimony for Christ in the Laodicean church, and this is where we are today. We are in the age of the gospel of self-gratification, a gospel of self-delusion delivered by men and woman of deception who also live in a state of delusion . . . so, the Lord spues . . .spues . . . spues them out of His mouth for they have rejected Him and His word, so He said to the Laodicean, 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 3:17)
The word wretched is only mentioned twice in the Bible, both times signifying defilement: one mention is about the body of man, and the other with the body of Christ. O wretched man that I am! who shall deliver me from the body of this death? (Romans 7:24) The apostle Paul asked the question, who shall deliver me from the body of this death? Today, this false professing church that exists under the banner of Christianity should be asking themselves individually, who shall deliver ME from the body of this death? It is NOT YOUR church. It is NOT YOUR wealth. It is NOT even YOUR WORKS, for NOTHING of man can enter into the kingdom of God. The answer to who shall deliver ME from the body of this death? shows that there is someone. The answer to WHO is found in Romans 8:1 and 2. There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit. (Romans 8:1) For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus hath made me free from the law of sin and death. (Romans 8:2)
One must have full dependance and assurance in the Lord Jesus Christ. Again, the eye of the heart must see Jesus only. As we journey from the Corinthians to the epistle to the Galatians, the Spirit of God reveals the great beginning of the church, then the deceiver came in and they were bewitched. O foolish Galatians, who hath bewitched you, that ye should not obey the truth, before whose eyes Jesus Christ hath been evidently set forth, crucified among you? (Galatians 3:1) Three times the word bewitched is found in the scriptures, and it is of great importance that it is only found in the New Testament after the church was formed and the witness of the Holy Spirit had descended from heaven with the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ.

But there was a certain man, called Simon, which beforetime in the same city used sorcery, and bewitched the people of Samaria, giving out that himself was some great one: (Acts 8:9)
And to him they had regard, because that of long time he had bewitched them with sorceries. (Acts 8:11)
O foolish Galatians, who hath bewitched you, that ye should not obey the truth, before whose eyes Jesus Christ hath been evidently set forth, crucified among you? (Galatians 3:1)

In Acts Chapter 8 we are introduced to Simon as an instrument of the devil, as a combatant of the truth. He was a sorcerer who had bewitched the people of Samaria. He used sorcery: witchcraft, necromancy (the calling up of the dead) enchantments and the language of the spirits in spiritualism, and divination: all the elements of occultism. The bewitcher must have the power from the ultimate bewitcher, Lucifer, the old serpent, the devil, Satan, behind the mask deceiving the world. This bewitching still exists today in many places, and it is welcomed into the church. These bewitching spirits command the attention of the whole church through their gibberish language pretending that they are spirit filled, they ARE spirit filled, but it is the deceiving spirit of Satan.
The Christian needs to build a fence around his eyes and ears. In our day and time, not only the ears but eyes should also be fenced. To all those who are born again including myself, the devil is using the visual and the audible to bewitch those who are of Christ. Simon was all about gain. Seeking to enrich himself he saw the church and the gifts of God as a new venue of his sorcery, and tried to purchase the gifts of God, which cannot be bought. The gifts of God are without repentance and can only come from God. Simon took great pleasure in his sorcery bewitching the people and putting them in bondage to evil spirits. This word bewitched found in Galatians 3:1 shows that Simon was not alone. There had been many Simons, and they wear many disguises, and as predators they stalk their prey. Galatia was a large geographical area in Asia Minor; therefore, bewitching involved a large territory. As the flesh and Adam under the influence of Satan had taken control over the Corinthian church through fleshly lust, so now, the Galatian church was being bewitched by the insertion of the Law AND the rituals of the occult. As Satan used Simon in Acts Chapter 8, he now brought men from Jerusalem to bewitch the Galatians to turn them back to the Law of Moses. Man in Adam is prone to tell lies by the time a person reaches adulthood their conscience is seared and lies have become a habit that is difficult to break. Those without the Spirit of Christ within, have no defense against the lies of the world, nor the lies within. Knowledge and education can neither hinder, nor suppress the dark forces of sorcery today that take over the minds, hearts and souls of the children of Adam. The child of God is in the last days of the battle of truth. The true child of God needs to guard their ears and eyes. They cannot listen to Jannes and Jambres, nor the men and women of renown spoken of in Jude 4 who resist the truth. One must, through the Spirit of God, resist the evil words and the denial of truth. Now as Jannes and Jambres withstood Moses, so do these also resist the truth: men of corrupt minds, reprobate concerning the faith. (2nd Timothy 3:8) But they shall proceed no further: for their folly shall be manifest unto all men, as theirs also was. (2nd Timothy 3:9) what we have in verse 9 God will prevent them as He prevents the proud waves with . . . Thus far and no further. For their folly, as Simon, will be revealed by the Spirit of truth. Consider the words of the Lord when He stated that the end time would be as the days of Noah. We often concentrate on the sin of those who were destroyed, failing to see that down to one man God still had a testimony in Noah. Noah was a preacher of righteousness; his words were of grace and truth to a world that was dying and about to be destroyed.

As church doors open all over the world on Sunday, the voice from the top of the mountain cries out, Where is truth? As it was in the days of Noah . . . we cannot doubt that the world once again has been permeated with the sin of the antediluvians. Romans Chapter 1 is a reflection of that old world in our contemporary age. Man of reprobate minds denying the truth of God, and yet, the Lord is long suffering, and the Spirit of truth will NOT let the Son of God be abused by wicked man of this age. Laodicea is a church under the judgment of God because it is FULL of leaven. 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 3:17) They lavish themselves in their riches and possessions which are fading at best, thinking that their bonds of wealth will go with them. Yet, as they sleep, all will go. Their last breath will end their sojourn on earth. All their plans, all their wealth, will be divided eventually by ungodly man. Their planned foundations and the corrupt men who run these foundations will destroy the wealth that they left behind. Another truth: foundations are NOT of God. They have been established by man to protect man’s wealth, and God has nothing to do with them. Man cannot protect anything AFTER he draws his last breath. It is the world that keeps giving these dreamers a carrot of false hope. Remember that the devil NEVER pays interest. The wages of sin is death. It is NOT what you DO with what is left behind, but what you do in this lifetime. It is the works of your heart, soul and spirit in the name of Jesus Christ drawing from the world of drudgery precious souls to the Body of Christ through the complete gospel of the Lord Jesus, thus, laying up treasure in heaven by the Spirit of grace and truth.
The work of the Lord through the Spirit of God demands grace and truth. The Spirit of God demands righteousness and holiness in every word ministering the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ God can’t accept anything less. Look again at Simon in Acts 8, and then look at the ‘building program,’ the ‘social work,’ ‘the entertainment program,’ all that your church does for the community out of your abundance . . . you have made yourself poor and blind and naked. Your riches have deceived you. 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. (Revelation 3:18) The Lord Jesus speaks to the heart of all the Laodiceans. He counsels them to buy of Him righteousness, or gold tried in the fire. This fire of judgment from the heart needs to stimulate self-judgment and open the eyes of those who are blind so that they might see . . . submitting themselves to the will of God and not the will of man.
In Acts Chapter 8, there was also a man named Phillip. He was the complete opposite of Simon the sorcerer. Phillip was full of the Spirit of God and had a true heart for God. Phillip purchased grace and truth and the righteousness of God. In Revelation 3:18, they are naked, and they need to purchase of HIM white raiment as the Bride adorned for her husband by grace and truth. Her nakedness also reveals the first two (Adam and Eve) at the tree of the knowledge of good and evil when they saw their nakedness. The Lord Jesus desired that the church of the Laodiceans would SEE their own nakedness and REPENT. They had lost the light of testimony; their eyes had become dim covered with the cataracts of sin . . . they see not. The eye is the light of the body, and how can the Spirit of God be in someone that refuses the light of God’s word. The Lord says to the Laodiceans, anoint thine eyes with eyesalve, that thou mayest see. The word of God is that eyesalve. It is the eyesalve of heaven come down from heaven by the Spirit of truth. Read every word of Psalm 119 and apply it to your heart and to the eyes of faith, and the eyes of faith will be opened by the oil of gladness in the Lord Jesus. The Lord said, that thou mayest see. What are you to see? The truth in the word of God in comparison to the lies and the error all around you. Then the Lord towards the end of this letter to the Laodiceans singles out those He loves from all the masses of corruption. And even these who He loves, He rebukes and chastens because they also have stained their garments by their closeness to the deceitful workers of Satan. To those He loves, He proclaims, Be zealous of the truth and REPENT of the error.
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. These are the last words for the Laodiceans, and in Revelation 3:20, the Good Shepherd seeks those who are lost. He stands at the door knocking, and He reaches out for the last time and if any man hears HIS voice and opens the door, Christ will come into him and sup with him. The word of God will open as a blooming rose and the rose of Sharon will utter His voice. The Lord of glory will teach all things concerning Himself from Moses and the prophets, and the psalms and from the New Testament. From the beginning of God’s word to the last words of Even so, come, Lord Jesus.
As Christ taught and expounded the word of God to the two on the Emmaus Road their hearts burned within. Can you today say that the word of God burns within your heart? We desire the sincere milk of the word at the very first breathe that we take when we are born again as newborn babes. This is the first evidence of a heart for God. As we grow in grace, and in the knowledge of Jesus Christ, we learn in our hearts and souls that man does not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God. This is more evidence and assurance of our faith in Jesus Christ. Then, by the Spirit of truth, He reveals ALL truth so that we can discern between good and evil. But strong meat belongeth to them that are of full age, even those who by reason of use have their senses exercised to discern both good and evil. (Hebrews 5:14) There is such a thing as ‘full age’ of a Christian. One of the key aspects of this ‘full age’ is that faith has revealed TRUST in every word of God. If one has NO desire to learn the word of God for themselves, then . . . who hath bewitched you. You cannot live on other people’s crumbs. If you have NO desire to grow in grace and in the knowledge of Jesus Christ, if your heart does not burn within when you study the word of God, if your senses are not exercised to discern both good and evil then as Paul wrote to the Galatians in Chapter 3, verse 1, I ask you . . . who hath bewitched you. As Peter told Simon in Acts 8:20, Thy money perish with thee. Then in Acts 8: 21, Thou hast neither part nor lot in this matter: for thy heart is not right in the sight of God. Now the closing verse in Revelation 3:22, He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches.

Selah and Amen
May the Spirit of God anoint your eyes and heart with eyesalve.

Published on November 27, 2023 @ 12:31 pm (EST).
Article may be used, but not for gain. Freely ye have received, freely give.
All Scripture references are from the King James Bible. (KJB)

Laodicea – The House of Leaven –

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