How Do You Want God to Designate You?

To mark, to point out, or to specify. I'll define it just a little bit further from the dictionary. Designate. Officially give a specified status or name to whatever or whoever. The word define in that same dictionary says state or describe the exact nature or scope of. So we all understand what it means to define or designate. Officially give a specified status or name to, or state or describe the exact nature or scope of. So with those definitions in mind, again, I ask the question, how do you want God to designate you?

Let me give you five statements of designation. Here's five. Number one, nevertheless, I have somewhat against you because you have left your first love. Number two, but I have a few things against you. I have a few things against you. Number three, notwithstanding, I have a few things against you.

Fourth statement, you have a name that you live and are dead. Number five, and know not that you are wretched and miserable and poor and blind and naked. Those are designations. Let's add two more. Go around it out to seven. Number six, these are two more. Number six, I know your works and tribulation and poverty, but you are rich. And then the seventh one, you have kept my word, have not denied my name, you have kept the word of my patience. These are designations. And of course, you may be writing them down, but they're already written down for you in your Bible.

I go back to the question, which is the subject. How do you want God to designate you? How do we want God to designate us? Which of these statements of these seven that I read, which of these statements do you want Him to say to you? Especially if you could pick the statement. Which of these statements, let's take it a step further, which of these statements fits you? Which of these statements defines you?

We could say, do any of these statements fit or define you? Well, if you've been given the knowledge of the truth, if you have been baptized into Jesus Christ and thus taken on His sacrifice, if you have become a part of the body of Jesus Christ, the church, slash the bride, His bride, then one or more of these statements pertains to you and me. It cannot be avoided. Because these are statements about the church, the ecclesia. These aren't statements about the Christian church at large.

Whether some would apply by attitude or whatever. This message is not to the Christian church at large, Christianity at large. This is specifically to the church of God. These statements are about the ecclesia, the called out ones, the ones that God designates as the first fruits from this age.

They form the church. And if you are a part of the ecclesia, then God is talking to you in these messages. And if you're not part of the ecclesia, forget it. Don't worry about it. He's not talking to you. The point I'm emphasizing are these statements. These are statements to the church, to those who have been baptized truly into Jesus Christ, not those who profess that but who truly have been because they've been called.

They've responded to God, and God has added them to the body. And so if we're part of the ecclesia, God is talking to us. And one or more of these statements do apply to us. Which ones do you want to apply to you? Let's read them in a little bit more entirety, a little more fully. So Revelation 2.

Let's go to the first one. These are seven messages to the church. And in one sense, it's an overall message because it's to the church. But it is broken into seven specific messages. So first, Ephesus. In Revelation 2, verses 2 through 5, Ephesus, beginning in verse 2 of Revelation. I know your works and your labor, your patience. How you cannot bear them which are evil, and you've tried them which say they are apostles and are not, and have found them liars. Verse 3. And have born and have patience, and for my name's sake you've labored, and you've not fainted, you've not quit.

Nevertheless, in spite of that, nevertheless, I have somewhat against you because you have left your first love. Remember, therefore, call to remembrance. Remember, therefore, from which you are fallen. The first love is not there anymore. The zeal, the energy, the spiritual energy, and the love, and the excitement, and joy within all of that.

It's not there. Remember where you were. Remember what you've left, where you've fallen from, and repent and do the first works. Or else I will come unto you quickly, and will remove your candlestick out of his place, except you repent. Now, the second one, Pergamos. Same chapter, verses 14 through 16. 14 through 16 to Pergamos. But I have a few things against you.

I've got something against you. I've got a few things against you. Because you have there them that hold the doctrine of Balaam, who taught Balak to cast a stumbling block before the children of Israel, to eat things sacrificed to idols and to commit fornication. So you have also them that hold the doctrine of the Nicolaitans, which thing I hate, repent, or else I will come unto you quickly, and will fight against them with the sword of my mouth.

And then the third one, Thyatira. Same chapter here, verses 20 through 23. Verse 20, notwithstanding, I have a few things against you. Because you suffered that woman Jezebel, which called herself a prophetess to teach, and to seduce my servants to commit fornication. And they think sacrificed to idols, and I gave her space to repent of her fornication, and she repented not. Behold, I will cast her into a bed, and them that commit adultery with her into great tribulation, except they repent of their deeds. And I will kill her children with death, and all the churches shall know that I am heave, which searches the rains and hearts, and I will give unto every one of you according to your works.

And then you've got the fourth one, Sardis.

I'm going right down the line of the initial five statements that I read. Fourth one, Sardis, in chapter 3, verses 1-3. And to the angel of the church, and Sardis writes these things as he that has the seven spirits of God, and the seven stars, I know your works that you have a name that you live and are dead. Be watchful! Strengthen the things which remain, that are ready to die, for I have not found your works perfect before God. Remember therefore how you have received and heard, and hold fast and repent, if therefore you shall not watch. I will come on you as a thief, and you shall not know what hour I will come upon you.

And the fifth one, I skipped to in that initial rendering. The fifth one, chapter 3, verses 15-19, verse 15, I know your works. You are neither cold nor hot.

I would that you were cold or hot. So then because you are lukewarm and neither cold nor hot, I will spew you out of my mouth, because you say I am rich and increased with goods, and have need of nothing. And know not that you are wretched and miserable, and poor and blind and naked. I counsel you to buy of me gold, tried in the fire, that you may be rich, and white raiment, that you may be clothed, and that the shame of your nakedness do not appear, and anoint your eyes with eyes, sad, that you may see.

As many as I love, I rebuke and chasten, be zealous therefore, and repent.

Those were the first...

Those five statements I made came from these five.

And then sandwiched in there, the two final ones that I gave, to go back to chapter 2 here, Smyrna, in chapter 2 verses 9 and 10.

Verse 9 with Smyrna, I know your works, and tribulation, and poverty, but you're rich, spiritually rich.

And I know the blasphemy of them which say they are Jews, and are not, but are the synagogue of Satan. Fear none of those things which you shall suffer.

Behold, the devil shall cast some of you into prison that you may be tried, and you shall have tribulation ten days. Be you faithful and to death, and I will give you a crown of life.

And then the second of those two that I separated out, which is the seventh one to cover, chapter 3 verses 8 through 12.

Verse 8 of chapter 3, I know your works. Behold, I have set before you an open door. No man can shut it, for you have a little strength, and have kept my word, and have not denied my name.

Behold, or look, take notice, 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 your feet, and to know that I have loved you, because you have kept the word of my patience, I also will keep you from the hour of tribulation, which shall come upon all the world, to try them that dwell upon the earth.

So, where do you want to fit in?

Which designation do you want to apply to you? Which one do you want applied to you? Now, why do I ask that?

Because, brethren, it is your choice.

It is your choice.

God will not fit you into any of these designations.

He absolutely will not. Cannot, would be unfair of him. He will not.

You will fit yourself. I will fit myself.

I know which one I want said of me.

I will fit myself. See, we will fit ourselves as determined by our own spiritual condition that we are responsible for.

Do we forget Philippians 2, 12?

Philippians 2, verse 12.

There is a reason why God had it put here. Philippians 2, 12. Wherefore, my beloved, as you have always obeyed, Paul says, not as in my presence only, but now much more in my absence, and then so crucial to our personal responsibility, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling.

A responsibility is put on our shoulders. Work out your own salvation with fear and trembling.

I don't think we ever forget that verse necessarily. We may leave it out of the equation, and in that sense, we're kind of forgetting it, but it's in the equation, and so is Luke 21.36.

And Luke 21.36 is one that we've focused on more, especially so in recent times. But Luke 21, in verse 36.

Well, we're told this, "...watch you therefore and pray always." Watch and pray. Watch and pray. Why? "...that you may be accounted..." What? "...worthy to escape." To escape what? "...all these things that shall come to pass." These things of tribulation that shall come to pass, the great tribulation. "...and to stand before the Son of Man." Or that is, to stand before Him in the resurrection. In other words, to be in the resurrection.

See, our personal spiritual condition, as determined by our personal choices and decisions, will warrant our designation. Very simple. It's not complicated.

Our personal spiritual condition, as determined by our personal choices, our personal decisions, will warrant our description. Our personal spiritual condition will be determined by our personal choices and decisions regarding our thinking and our doing. That's why I say, you will determine your designation. I will determine my designation. No one else, not even God, will determine that.

Otherwise, God is totally responsible for the thing that He condemns or indicts someone for, and that's not the way God is. And we all know that. See, what God simply does is God simply acknowledges the reality. He doesn't create it.

He simply acknowledges the reality, the reality which one's doings have determined.

See, right now, as God the Father and Jesus Christ, look upon each and every one of us, and know each of us very specifically and very individually.

They know exactly which designation or combination of designations that apply specifically to each individual. I mean, as we gather here, God the Father and Jesus Christ, right now, today, at this moment, know, because they know us so thoroughly, specifically, and individually, they know exactly what designation applies to each of us, or combination of designations.

Notice with me Psalm 139.

Psalm 139, verses 1 through 4, and verse 7.

Psalm 139, verses 1 through 4.

Do you think that King David, as a first fruit, as part of the Bride of Christ to be resurrected when Jesus returns, that this which applied to him does not apply to us?

He says, O Lord, you have searched me and known me. I can go to my knees and say, O Lord, you have searched me and known me, and it's not a false statement. You can do that. It's not a false statement, because God does search each of us individually. He searches us and He knows us. What David speaks of is true to each and every one of us that God is called and is working with.

David said, O Lord, you have searched me and known me.

You know my down sitting and my uprising. You understand my thought afar off. This is scrutiny.

This is, we're being surveilled 1000%.

You encircle my path.

God knows how we walk, how we do. We're talking about walking the walk, not just talking the talk.

And my lying down, and you are acquainted with all my ways.

Acquainted with all of my ways.

For there is not a word in my tongue, but, O Lord, you know it altogether.

I don't know how many words I spoke yesterday. But I can tell you that God knew every word He saw, is aware of every word that I said. Same as He'll be aware of every word I say today.

That's how aware. Don't say, well that is David only. No, that was Jeremiah. That was Peter. That was John.

And it's every one of us that God is calling and working with. Verse 7, Where shall I go from your spirit? Or where shall I flee from your presence?

God's full attention is attuned specifically to each of us individually.

We each have determined that reality.

We each are determining that reality. We each... And this is probably what's most important. Now, I'll repeat what I just said first.

We each have determined that reality. And we each are determining that reality.

But here's the most important part about it. We each can change that reality.

See, God didn't brick and mortar it in and say, you're stuck with that. I don't like such and such. Nevertheless, I have a few things against you. Nevertheless, you have a name that you live, but you're actually dead.

And that's all bricked and mortared in.

It's carved in stone.

It's set in concrete. You can't change it. No. We each can change that reality that we have been responsible for creating.

But only we each. Only we each can alter, affect, modify, change that reality. That reality lies in the hands of each of us. It lies in the hands of the individual. And only the individual can change the reality that is the individual's reality.

Guess what?

You can't do it for me.

And I can't do it for you. We can't do it for each other. We can only do it with ourself only. No one can do it for another.

And any one of us that really and truly wants a negative. See, those first five that I read, those are negative designations. Well, they're true.

And there's a reason they're there.

But we would call those negative designations because I don't want to be designated that way.

I don't want God to look at me and think of me in that light or say that to me.

Those are negative designations. But any one of us that really and truly wants a negative designation to be changed to a positive designation and will go to the efforts to do so, guess what? Wonderful. It has God's full support. See, I go back to Philippians 2 and verse 13.

Because when we want to do something about it, we're not on our own doing something about it.

When we want to do something about it and we put forth effort to do something about it, we have God's full support. Philippians 2 and verse 13.

For it is God which works in you, both to will and to do of His good pleasure. But here's something that sometimes is lost to people.

God does not ever take away your free moral agency.

Not in this life or the life to come.

But He wants you to use your free moral agency properly and responsibly in joint cooperation with Him. That's again why you have verses 12 and 13 back to back like they are.

Because it is a joint cooperative effort. And as we make the effort to have the right reality, whether we can fully succeed or not, the fact that we're willing to make the right effort to have the right reality, we have God's full support.

For it is God which works in you, both to will and to do of His good pleasure. And I go back to Revelation 3, verses 19 and 20, where God said, As many as I love, I rebuke and chase them. I loved my children.

I would not allow them to get away with certain things.

If they went down a certain road, if they wanted to do certain things that I knew were wrong, that would harm them, I didn't just stand by and do nothing. I took action.

And they would rather not have the action, so they would avoid doing the wrong thing that they should and do the right thing to avoid the action they were going to get if they didn't do the right thing. As many as I love, I rebuke and chase them. Be zealous therefore and repent. Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If any man hear my voice and open the door, I will come into him and will sup with him, eat with him, and he with me.

See, the responsibilities upon us, yes, based on Philippians 2.12 and Luke 21.36, but such responsibility, responsibly exercised, incurs God's good pleasure and full support.

Now, we have... I can't say what your designation is in God's eyes.

I can't tell everybody, well, this is how God designates you. I know the options. I know the choices that are written in God's Word. But whatever designation we have, whatever designation we hold in God's eyes, whatever the reality of our designation, we've earned it. Is that simple? We've earned it. We've earned it by our works. Our works. We've earned it by our works. Our works of... and you could break works down into thinking and doing if you wanted to break it down that way, because that's what our works are. David said, God, you have searched me. You've known my heart. You looked at my ways. You've looked at my words. You've looked at my thoughts. Well, our works, your thinking and our speakings and our doings, our actions. See, what was one of the things in all seven of those messages, what's one of the things that we read in every single one? We read it seven times, because there are seven messages to the church, and seven times we read, I know your works. God says, I, God, I the Father, Christ Jesus beside me, we, I, we know your works.

That's how God accurately judges what the reality is. I know your works.

You can go back and in all seven, you have those there.

I won't go back and read that necessarily simply because we have read that. It's one of those common things. I know your works. Whatever your designation is, whatever my designation is, you have earned it by your works. I've earned it by my works. And so, what it boils down to is, my works, my works define my designation. Your works define your designation. See, God, in all of His tremendous fairness, doesn't hold any one of us accountable for somebody else.

We are judged individually by what we do or fail to do. Can we affect others? Absolutely. Can we influence others? Absolutely. Can we cause joy to others? Absolutely. Can we cause pain to others? Absolutely. But can somebody else's works define me and God's eyes? No. My works define me and God's eyes. Our works define our designation. And our designation is not preordained.

Our designation is not predestined by God. Oh, I'm going to call this one, and I'm going to preordain that they have to be designated as having lost their first love. I'm going to call this one, and I am going to designate, I'm going to preordain and predestined that they have to be designated as having a name that they live but they're dead. God doesn't do that. And if you did, you wouldn't be dealing with a fair God of love. And also, you would be contradicting Scripture after Scripture after Scripture. No. Our designation is in our hands. He's not responsible for our designation. He's not responsible for our spiritual condition. God, my spiritual condition is your fault. See how far you get with that. My spiritual condition is really poor, and I'm not sure how many of those designations I come under. I come under. I may hold the record for how many I come under, but it's all your fault, God. Your God. Do something about it, God. God says, you do something about it.

I know how I want you to be, and I've made it plain, so you get busy with it, doing what you should, and I will support that. No. God is not responsible for our spiritual condition. We are, and God simply addresses and acknowledges the reality that you and I generate. And keep in mind, and those are the designations. There's five we would consider negative. There's two that are very positive. But again, God simply acknowledges the reality and addresses it as a warning, serves it up as a warning. Why? Why does He do it that way? Because He loves us. Because He loves us. Again, No. 1, because He loves us. It's right here in chapter 3 and verse 19. Because this statement in that seventh message is a statement that's intrinsic in His dealings with His church, no matter what His designation is. Because it's the way He operates.

Verse 19 of chapter 3, "...as many as I love." As many as I love. I go to the trouble and the effort and the energy and the attention of, rebuking and correcting. You see a parent who lets their kids get away with murder, that parent doesn't love that child. They don't love their children. Now, you can get a black eye or a broken nose telling them they don't love their kid. But they don't. Not any kind of true love, right love, mature love, healthy love. No. Because where there is truly love, in the true sense of what love really is, they wouldn't let their children just get away with anything, would they? Neither does God. As many as I love, I rebuke and chasten. I correct. Now, again, I said God simply acknowledges the reality. He addresses that as a warning. He serves it up as a warning because, number one, He loves us. And guess what? He wants us with Him. He really does want us with Him. Again, verse 20 and 21 here. Behold, I stand at the door and knock.

I am truly interested and desirous and motivated to truly being in there with you in deep, personal relationship. I really want to be in there with you. If any man hear my voice and open the door, I will come into him and will eat with him and he with me. And to him that overcomes, will I grant to sit with me because I want you with me in my throne, even as I also overcame and I'm sat down with my Father in His throne.

He addresses it as a warning, serves it up as a warning because, number one, He loves us and wants us to be with Him. And because, number two, we're the ones that have to do something about it. A child can be corrected and they can set themselves in stubborn will against their parents. They can't avoid the correction, but they can chafe and burn inside and just bide their time till they're old enough to get away from all of it and do what they want.

And usually the parents can see that. God could see it too and obviously that will not be incorporated into eternity. We're the ones that have to do something about it. There is another message in those seven messages that's in each of those seven. In every one of them, what we read in verse 19, be zealous therefore and repent. Repent is the command in every...you go and you read. Now, I'm pulling a little fast one on you right now. Some of you may have caught it. Some of you may not have. But that word, repent, that's in the messages is only in the first five designations that I gave you. You will only find the word repent where God says, repent in those first five designations. He said it with Ephesus. He said it with Pergamos. He said it with Thyatira. He said it with Sardis and he said it with Laodicea.

Now, I'll just focus on that for a moment. Here's the encouraging thing. If we know our spiritual condition isn't what it should be, if we know that we fit into one or more of those five designations that I gave first and we don't want to be in that designation, we can do something about it. You know what we can do? You know what I can do? We can do. We can repent. It's that simple. It's not complicated. We can repent.

God, do my repenting for me. God says, No, I can't. I can help you with it.

First of all, you've got a desire to repent. You've got to want to repent. You've got to try to repent. You've got to make an effort to repent. But God, it's hard. Of course it's hard. How do you think you got to where you are? You weren't exercising repentance properly. Repent.

I can't do it for you, but I can help you with it.

If we know that we fit into one or more of those designations that we don't want to be in, again, we can do something about it. We can repent. Because, see, here's part of the beauty. We're not automatically stuck with it. We're not automatically stuck with it, that particular designation. Now, if we were just preordained and predestined to just be stuck with it no matter what, well, God, why should I try to repent? I can't. I'm fated to be in this designation. God says, No, you're not. All I'm doing is calling the reality of where you are. You can change that reality. And if you want to change that reality, then I am more than desire. I'm wanting you to want to change it. I want you to make an effort. I'm with you in there to bring you out of there into a better designation. No, we're not automatically stuck with that particular designation. But the remedy is repentance. Repentance is the remedy. And repentance can and will change the designation. That's why God says, in all five of those, repent. It will change the designation. And again, if we don't know for sure what our designation is, and again, remember, our designation is based on our spiritual condition. If we wonder about our spiritual designation and or suspect that it may not be what it should be, that it may not be favorable, then we just need to examine ourselves candidly. Usually at this time of the year, not that this is the only time of the year that we can do it or should do it, but we absolutely must do it at this time. We may have let it slip through the year, but coming up on Passover, Days of My Lemon Bread, about to start off another annual holiday cycle, we cannot afford to let it slip that we don't candidly examine ourselves very candidly. Where we've got the courage and the guts and the grit to be open with ourself, to be honest with ourself, to grill ourself, to really take a very in-depth look at ourself, honestly before God, and to ask for His help to know ourself. Humble ourself before Him and be reachable and teachable, crucial. Be reachable, be teachable, and He will help us to know and to change. And for those in those first five designations, which actually on the message has come out to be the first and the third and the fourth and the fifth and the seventh as far as the five, who positively and responsibly respond, there is a positive change and outcome. But at this point, there are two designations that I want to draw special attention to, and that's the two that I skipped when I started because they didn't meet the same criteria in one sense, not by designation part of it, as the five I gave, but the two designations that I want to draw special attention to, that's what is actually the second message, Smyrna, and also the sixth message, and that's Philadelphia. There are two particular aspects with these two that are not found with the other five. You got your own Bible. You got the verses there. You can fact check me. You can fact check me with your Bible. Number one, here are two particular aspects with those two that are not found with the other five. With Smyrna and Philadelphia, number one, there is no indictment mentioned. They are not indicted on anything. There's admonishments, but there's not indictment.

It's pretty interesting. They're not indicted. God has no indictment against those who meet the designation of Smyrna or Philadelphia. No indictment. Number two, there is no call to repentance.

That's interesting. No call to repentance.

Now, let's detail that out a little bit. Obviously, and I say obviously because we do know, don't we? We should.

That the lack of any indictment does not and cannot mean that they had no human nature to deal with. They're human. They had human nature to deal with. It does not and cannot mean that they had no carnality to overcome. They were flesh and blood. They had human nature. They had to battle.

They had to make effort. They had to do. And just as obviously we know that the lack of a call to repentance does not and cannot mean that they didn't need repentance. That repentance wasn't necessarily in their lives. It should be obvious, and this is what should be obvious, why these two things are left out. No indictment and no call to repentance. What should be obvious is why these two things are left out. Them being left out is an acknowledgement by God. Because God is the one who is giving this message through Jesus Christ to John to write down.

Those two things being left out is an acknowledgement by God that a genuine and a healthy repentance sufficient to change, sufficient to grow, sufficient to overcome is being exercised. They're not called to repentance because they're actively living in repentance.

They're living in a sufficiency of a repentant frame of mind to be changing, to be growing, to be developing, to be overcoming. See, the two designations of the second and sixth messages automatically infer that a healthy repentance is being exercised. And that's where God wants us to be. And thus, there is a genuine, guess what? Reachability. You're reachable. God can reach us. There's a teachability. God can teach us. There's a genuine reachability and teachability. And as follows suit with such, guess what happens when there's a reachability and a teachability that comes because repentance is a healthy and active force in your life, framework in your life, then what follows suit is growth and overcoming. It takes place.

And again, let me reiterate and then close with a couple of final thoughts.

These seven designations are seven designations of the ecclesia of the church.

They're not designations of the false woman. The great false church and the harlot daughters.

Doesn't mean that some of these things can't apply, but these are specifically addressed to God's church. And although these seven messages to a certain degree represent, again, the true church down through time from its beginning right on to the return of Jesus Christ's head, and there are certain things as successive stages, overlaps, parallels.

Here's what's most important. They also express spiritual conditions or attitudes that have been and are coming to the church ever since its creation on the day of Pentecost in Acts 2. And regarding these designations, these attitudes, these spiritual conditions, if we know, if we suspect that we're in one that we don't want to be, then we can do something about it. We're not automatically locked in. And genuine and deep, heartfelt repentance is the key.

And there's no better time of the year to look at this issue than right now, as we examine ourselves, partly for the purpose of seeing, are we really in the faith?

You know, you can go read the Scriptures, are we really in the faith?

Genuine and deep, heartfelt repentance is the key. The key that unlocks us from one designation, unlocks us from one, and opens up another and a better one. With that said, I'll close with this.

All my life, and my life has already extended out a lot further than ever thought it would in this age.

And it may extend out a lot longer. God controls when this age will end.

And who knows how many or a few years we have yet ahead of us. But all my life I've heard Philadelphia, quote, Philadelphia emphasized and promoted.

And I have promoted it. And I shall continue to promote it.

Because that is certainly good and fine, because brethren, there is no better designation in those seven messages. There is no better designation than the Philadelphia. But too many have laid claim to it without having what qualifies one for the designation. Isn't that the irony? Some people, even, quote, a church can lay claim to the name without having what qualifies one to even carry the designation. And God doesn't go by what one claims. He goes by the reality of one's spiritual condition. Study this particular designation very carefully. And for that matter, study all of them very carefully as well. And ask God to truly help you to do so. In the times we are living in, in these times when this age can and will eventually close, there is no better and more blessed designation than to be designated as a Philodephean in God's eyes. I hope and pray that each and every one of us will truly see and apply the criteria that will qualify us to be classified as such, because it is a great and a wonderful standing in the eyes of God the Father and Jesus Christ.