A Word about "Laodicean" Truth
"Then I said, I will not make mention of him, nor speak any more in his name. But his word was in mine heart as a burning fire shut up in my bones, and I was weary with forbearing, and I could not stay." Jer.20:9 KJV
"And for the precious things of the earth and fulness thereof, and for the good will of him that dwelt in the bush: let the blessing come upon the head of Joseph, and upon the top of the head of him that was separated from his brethren. Deut.33:16 KJV
"And Jesus answering said unto them, Do ye not therefore err, because ye know not the scriptures, neither the power of God?"
"For when they shall rise from the dead, they neither marry, nor are given in marriage; but are as the angels which are in heaven. And as touching the dead, that they rise: have ye not read in the book of Moses, how in the bush God spake unto him, saying, I am the God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob? Mark 12:24-26 KJV
"When Moses saw (it) he wondered at the sight: and as he drew near to behold (it) the voice of the Lord came unto him," "Saying, I am
the God of thy fathers, the God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob.""Then Moses trembled, and durst not behold. Then said the Lord to him, Put off thy shoes from thy feet: for the place where thou standest is holy ground." Acts 7:30-33
Acts 7:35 "This Moses whom they refused, saying, Who made thee a ruler and a judge? the same did God send to be a ruler and a deliverer by the hand of the angel which appeared to him in the bush."
The "hand of the angel" is a type or description of the Spirit of the Word; His words are "Spirit" and they are "Life".
Also the "hand of the angel" is a type of the Holy Spirit, the Hand of the Lord representing the action, moving and power of the Holy Spirit, also used in reference to a move of God's Spirit or a demonstration of the Power of His Spirit. The terms "finger of God" and/or the "arm of the Lord" are also frequently used to designate the Power of God's Spirit -which again is not a "what" (not a force) but rather the "power of God" is a Who: the scripture tells us that "Jesus Christ Himself is power of God and the wisdom of God".
"Our GOD is a consuming fire".
This verse indicates the FIRE of the WORD is equated with God Himself and "His Word" is as a consuming fire!
Deut 4:12-13 "And the LORD spake unto you out of the midst
of the fire: ye heard the voice of the words, but saw no
similitude; only ye heard a voice. And he declared unto you his
covenant, which he commanded you to perform, even ten
commandments; and he wrote them upon two tables of stone."
Deut. 4:24 KJV "For the LORD thy God is a consuming fire, even a jealous God."
"Heb. 12:24-29 KJV "And to Jesus the mediator of the new covenant, and to the blood of sprinkling, that speaketh better things than that of Abel. 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:
"Whose voice then shook the earth: but now he hath promised, saying, Yet once more I shake not the earth only, but also heaven. 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. Wherefore we receiving a kingdom which cannot be moved, let us have grace, whereby we may serve God acceptably with reverence and godly fear: For our God is a consuming fire."
Satan is the epitome of evil personified.
However Satan is not just a concept, he is a real spiritual entity. And as Jesus said, Satan is a liar and the father of it... Satan's spirit is the rebellious anti-God and anti-Christ spirit of error which opposes the Lord whose Spirit is the Spirit of Truth.
Whenever man adulterates the word of the Living God --in "Spirit" or "in Truth" by leaning to our own understanding or by accepting the counsel or understanding of "another spirit" --if we alter the SPIRIT or THE TRUTH of God's word by any spirit other (than God's Holy Spirit of Truth) then we do err grievously by doing just as *Eve did.
*We would all do well to heed the Apostle Paul's warning: he feared that in the Last Days the CHURCH would be beguiled (deceived) as Eve was beguiled. *Eve was seduced in her own understanding of what "God hath said". She was deceived by the counsel of another spirit, -a lying spirit, concerning the truth of God's word!
Eve accepted demonic counsel & understanding presented to her mind "through logic and reasoning" acting under the inspiration or influence of the spirit of error himself, Satan.
Likewise, when we mix the error of man's perception: when we accept man's own understanding, man's counsel, man's reasoning and logic when we are influenced by any other spirit other than God's Holy Spirit "of Truth", then we are misled and deceived.
Whenever man departs from the Understanding & Counsel by the Holy Spirit who is the Spirit of Truth, then the enemy of our souls (Satan) takes advantage (through the inspiration of another spirit) and the end result is deceptive error.
Often times our error is not easily seen for what it truly is. Especially when half-truth is mixed with half error -this is what is meant by lukewarm truth or "Laodicean" teachings.
The more we allow men to mix truth with error, the more we perpetuate Laodicean Truths.
Mixing heat or the "fire of God's word" with "cold dead error" is what it means to be lukewarm. Mixing "truth with error" even ignorantly, --unintentionally mixing of 1/2 truths with error by "another spirit" (lying and seducing spirits of error) results in leavened "lukewarm truth".
Laodicean Truth is lukewarm truth, it is half-hot and half cold, half cold but only semi-truth! Satan twists the truth and mixes it with false teachings, using twisted truths to make his lies sound credible. Laodicean Truth is the truth of God's word which has been leavened with error. And it only takes just a little error to adulterate the truth of God's word, -as it is written, "a little leaven leaveneth the whole lump"!
Wresting the Word of Truth
To "wrest the scriptures" means to turn, twist or pervert the meaning and/or the proper application of the Truth of God's word.
Lying and deceiving spirits influence man's carnal understanding of God's word. The word of God says that men "wrest My word continually". Yet it is Satan who presents his lies to the minds of men; through the influence of seducing spirits, he demonically influences our powers of logic, reasoning and the perception of men, -in order to turn, twist and pervert the truth of the word of God.
In the Book of the Revelation of Jesus Christ, the Church at Laodicea represents the apostate church at the end of the age. In His Letters to the Churches, when Jesus said to the Laodicean Church, "I would that ye were all hot or all cold", He did not mean: I wish you were "on fire for Jesus" or on fire for God instead of apathetic! What Jesus was actually trying to tell us is: I would that your teachings were either all truth or all error.
Due to the falling away from the truth in the apostasy of the churches, the teaching of God's word has been thoroughly leavened with winds of false doctrine. The churches have "joined themselves" to the harlotry of false religion by adopting false teachings disguised as TRUTH! The Truth of God's word is now routinely leavened with the twisted counsel, carnal understanding, vain reasoning and logic of men. As a result, the Church is teaching a highly deceptive mixture of 1/2 truth + 1/2 error. Teachings that are all error are not usually difficult to recognize -if one has a good basis in scripture.
Laodicean Truth is quite different, it is much more difficult to see a "half truth" for the lie it truly is especially when the foundations have been removed by so many years of false teachings.
Laodicean teachings are "doctrines of demons" sown into the minds of men; they are ungodly teachings planted into the hearts of men. Like tares in the field which at first look like the good seed of the word of God, they are in fact, "lies" that promise men liberty while taking them captive.
"Laodicean teachings" are demonically inspired lies disguised as biblical truth. So well disguised are these lies that by them Satan has deceived even the very elect of God!
Since "Laodicean teachings" are a mixture of truth and error, they appear to men to be biblically sound teachings, easily mistaken for the "unadulterated truth of the word of God" and through these false 1/2 truths, the foundations are being removed!
The problem with half-truth is there's just enough truth in these false (Laodicean) teachings to make them seem to men to be true. What little truth there is "of the word of God" in these teachings "seems to bear witness" to people who's hearing is based upon scriptures taught to them according to the knowledge of men, instead of by the Spiritual Counsel and Understanding of God, in the Knowledge of God by His Spirit.
In order to deceive, a false teaching has to at least seem to be true to God's word. And remember the scripture says that the serpent (Satan) is the most subtle of all the beasts of the field, and that he comes with all deceivableness, subtlty, craftiness and flattery.
The more flattering the lie, the more it appeals to itching ears. The more subtle the lie, the more effective the deception. And so it is with the subtlity of Laodicean teachings, they are the kind of teachings which flatter men (teaching men how to be "like the Most High God" or how we can be "like Jesus" -instead of teaching that we must be hid with Christ in God and "put on Christ" being clothed with Him who is the express image and likeness of the Father!)
Laodicean false teachings contain only enough truth to make them sound biblical and right but they always contain just enough error to make them not fit for anything except to be (as Jesus said) -vomited out of His mouth!
As a result of adulterated half-truths, the Church is now, -in these last days, teaching a false psycho-social New Age gospel of Christianized Humanism (of who MAN is in Christ, instead of who CHRIST is in us!) The bulk of her teachings are "Laodicean Truths".
Her teachings are half truths mixed with what the Apostles referred to as doctrines of demons and "winds of doctrine" -teachings which sound deceptively "biblical" to most hearers but which are still false! These Laodicean false teachings are being taught to God's people by men who have risen up from among us, just as Jesus said would happen.
Highly respected (born-again, Spirit-filled) pastors and teachers are unaware that they themselves have been deceived, and they are ignorantly deceiving many with their "Laodicean truths" -teachings which are no less false -no less deceptive than any of the lies that Satan has ever told.
Contrary to what most Christians think,
Being "lukewarm" has absolutely nothing to do with how enthusiastic church members are. Being "lukewarm" has absolutely nothing to do with whether your church is quiet or lively, whether people are slain in the Spirit or kneel in the pews, whether the people sing or even swing from the rafters...
Being "lukewarm" has nothing to do with not raising our hands or shouting or dancing in the Spirit. It does however have everything to do with "false teachings" that appear to men to be scriptural truth.
Laodicean "lukewarmness" has everything to do with those things which are highly esteemed as Truth in the sight of men (even highly educated men with theological degrees) but which are nevertheless an abomination unto God!
M. Weiland aka "Noteye" cf. Gal. 2:20
| 
|  |
Updated April 2, 2000