The Leavening of Laodicea

Obviously, last year, 2020, we did not meet an assembly for the Days of Unleavened Bread, as well well know. The last time we met for Unleavened Bread was in 2019. And in 2019, on Unleavened Bread, in fact, the first day of Unleavened Bread, I spoke on the foundation of repentance. That was the subject I covered. And I ended that message with these words.

I said, the foundation of repentance does two very important things. Number one, it keeps us unleavened in Christ. And number two, it keeps us in the fight against leaven. And it results in a resurrection beyond which you will be, we will be unleavened forever.

Today, what I want to do is continue with the delevening process. And we're going to deal with a very specific leavening. It is a leavening. It is a very specific leavening.

And it is a leavening that the church has been warned about, really since the first century, when it was recorded, which really is probably one of the most deadly leavens that we deal with at the end of the age. And we are at the end of the age. And again, it doesn't matter if it's five, ten, twenty more years. It is the end of the age that we're seeing in the process of being wrapped up. And to God's people, there is a leavening that we are very strictly and clearly warned about. So we're going to deal with that particular leavening today, and that is the leavening of Laodicea. And if you want a title, that's your title, the leavening of Laodicea. Very, very relevant and significant to the time that we are living in. Let's go to Revelation 3, verse 17. Revelation 3 and verse 17.

And in going into this leavening of Laodicea and looking at it and breaking it down and analyzing, let's read this verse. Revelation 3, verse 17.

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. So let's break it down and let's analyze. Notice the key statement. The key statement that speaks to the core issue. And here's the key statement in this that speaks to the core issue of what's involved. I am rich and increased with goods and have need of nothing. Picture someone who is part of the Laodicea, a church member, a part of the body of Christ, saying, I am rich and increased with goods and have need of nothing. See, this statement, and this is why this statement is presented right up front there, this statement goes to the heart of the problem. Everything revolves around this. This is the approach, it's the perspective, it's the personal view and attitude that is setting the tone and driving everything. This is a spiritual situation. This is a spiritual condition. This is a spiritual, it's in the spiritual realm. I am rich and increased with goods and have need of nothing. It's a spiritual statement or a statement of spirituality. It's not a statement of physical goods. It is not a statement of physical riches.

This statement is what? I'm dragging nothing. I don't know where that's coming from, but we'll keep going. Here's how the statement is fully meant. Is there a rat in that PA system? A mouse? Here is what is fully meant by the statement. I am spiritually rich and increased with spiritual goods and lack nothing spiritually.

See, I have need of nothing means. I'm fine. I'm complete. I'm mature. I am what I'm supposed to be. Well, I have met. I am meeting all of God's expectations. I have obtained maturity. I have fully arrived. I've grown up into Christ and all things. There's nothing that I lack. I'm very spiritual. I have everything I need. I'm very spiritual. I'm not missing anything. I don't need anything. I have Christ. It's interesting that with that key statement that goes to the core of the issue, and you jump over to verse 20, and in light of, I don't need anything.

I have Christ. Christ says, no, you don't. Not quite. Not like you claim, behold, I stand at the door. I'm at the door. I'm close by, yes. But I'm not on your side of the door.

I'm on the other side of the door, and I knock, because I want you to open the door. I want you to unlock the door. Open it, and let me come in. I stand at the door and knock, because I'm actually outside. I'm kind of locked out. You evidently don't seem to grasp that. I'm kind of closed out. So again, let's analyze. This is a statement. It's an attitude. It's a perspective, a personal view of self-deception.

Self-deception, because, again, notice verse 17, picking it up in the middle there, and you know not. You don't see, and you don't realize, and you don't know. The spiritual reality is that you're wretched and miserable and poor and blind and naked. And again, it's spiritual intent. It's not talking. If somebody were physically wretched, if they were physically miserable, if they were physically poor, if they were physically blind, they were physically naked, they would know that.

You ever seen anybody running around naked that didn't know they were naked? It's a spiritual statement. And again, the full meaning, it's a spiritual statement of a spiritual condition that spiritually you're wretched and spiritually miserable and spiritually poor and spiritually blind and spiritually naked. And this is the spiritual condition when self-deception and self-blindness have locked Christ out. Because that's what it's doing. That self-deception, that self-blindness, is putting Christ on the other side of the door. It's closing Him out. He's on the premises. You know, it's not like He has abandoned and walked off and said, well, the door is closed, so I'm out of here.

It's not that. He's on the premises. But He's on the other side of the door. He's locked out. I stand at the door and knock. And the relationship that the person, that person thinks they have with Christ, it's an illusion. It's not the reality. See, Christ wants something with them that He can't have. He wants a relationship. But He cannot relate with their attitude, their personal spiritual condition, their personal spiritual condition, as established by their personal take of themselves, prevents a godly relationship with Christ and with God.

Because they think they have Christ. They think He's on their side of the door. They think they're sitting fine with God. They think that everything is just fine and hunky-dory with Him and God. And so God will have to spew them out. See, this is a real message. This is a reality for our time. This is real. And this is going on. And it's going to process right on out to the day Christ returns. So God will have to spew them out to make it undeniably plain and clear that they're not fine with God. Look at verse 16. So then because you are lukewarm and neither cold nor hot, I will spew you out of my mouth, neither cold nor hot, not totally tuned in and not totally tuned out.

Kind of hit and miss, compromised. The word spew there, it's interesting. King James was nice about it. They put a euphemism in. We know that spew means something that's kind of like a projectile almost. Something spewed is like you, you know, you pick up what you think is black coffee and take a big slug out of it and it's black paint, you spew. It gets spewed. There's force behind it. In Strong's, that word is 1692, 1-6-9-2, E-M-E-O, E-M-E-O, E-M-E-O in Strong's concordance. It means to vomit. Very simple. You think about Christ giving John a message to write where he is to write that he, Christ, will vomit membership out of his mouth.

And we're talking about projectile vomiting with force behind it. Again, this is a real message in real time. And this time, we're living the progression of this. I will vomit you out of my mouth is what he's saying. And it will be done with sufficient force to make the point.

They will be spewed or vomited into the fire. There's no question what the fire is. The fire is tribulation. The fire is great tribulation. Verse 18, I counsel you to buy of me gold, tried in the fire, that you may be rich, spiritually rich, and white raiment, you know, of righteousness, that you may be clothed, and that the shame of your nakedness do not appear, and anoint your eyes with ISAV, that you may see. I counsel you to buy of me gold, tried in the fire, character.

Do we forget that there's one word that we can use to describe what's got to come out of our time of God working with us, and us working with God, and that that word and the best word there is to use is character? Character developed in and during the time of great tribulation, that you may be spiritually rich and white.

Spiritually righteous. Spiritual clothing, white robes, that you may be spiritually, righteously clothed, and that the shame of your spiritual nakedness do not appear, and anoint your eyes with spiritual ISAV, that you may see. And for this, and Christ is saying for this, very important and necessary bottom line reason, I am vomiting you with force into the fire of great tribulation because, not because I don't love you, but because as many as I love, I'm standing at the door because I do love you. I'm on the premises, I want to come in, but I'm closed out. You don't even, your self-deception and blindness has blinded you to the fact that you've actually closed me out and you don't even realize it. But you're going to have to realize it. And because I love you, I'm doing this. Verse 19, As many as I love, I rebuke, and I chase him, I correct. What he's saying, I love you, but you make me sick.

Now, you think about Jesus Christ saying that, Jesus Christ saying that to some of his membership. I love you, but you make me sick. Why do we throw up? We throw up because we get sick. Something is in our body that shouldn't be, something that our body rejects. These that are thrown up, that Christ throws up, that he bummets out. They are eclaecia. They're part of the eclaecia. They're part of the body of Jesus Christ. But they are a spiritually sick part of his body. Having and holding perspectives and attitudes that have no place or part in the body of Jesus Christ, that have no future.

Their attitude of, and again, think of this, their attitude of, I am spiritually rich and spiritually increased with goods, and I have need of nothing. Turns Jesus Christ's stomach. It makes him sick. Why? Why does it make him so sick? Because it's a statement of arrogance. If someone were to come up to you, there's that mouse again. If someone were to come up to you and say, I am spiritually rich, I am spiritually all with it, and I have need of nothing spiritually, I think you would back up a little bit, wouldn't you?

You would think, if lightning is going to fall, I don't want it to get me too. I want some distance here. I'm going to really social distance on this one. Why does it make him so sick? It's a statement of arrogance.

What are we talking about? It's a statement of pride. I want you to think about that for a moment. I have need of nothing. Is that humility or is that pride? The answer is obvious, isn't it? It's a statement of spiritual vanity and self-righteousness. What does leaven do? It puffs up. What are we told that pride does? Pride in arrogance, it puffs up. It closes the door against God. It closes the door on Christ. When the pride in the arrogance rises up, it pushes Christ out of the room. It pushes Him away from the table. It pushes Him outside the door, and it closes the door, and if it gets strong enough, it just plain locks the door.

Pride is the trademark of the devil. Now, who on earth, who in the universe would want this kind of condition with God's people? With any of God's people, be it one or be it a thousand? I mean, who would want it? The devil! He would want it because He knows. That closed Him out of heaven. He knows to the degree He can instill that through self-deception, whatever, gets somebody to devolve that, it will close Christ out. It's the trademark of the devil, not of God. Any time that Jesus Christ sees whatever type, or whatever form, or whatever degree or measure of pride in arrogance, it turns His stomach.

But of all people, it really turns His stomach with His own people. This is what He took such issue with the Pharisees. Notice Matthew 9. He talked about the leaven of the Pharisees. Of course, there was more than one form of it, more than one type of leaven with them. But frankly, the main type of leaven with the Pharisees, this is part of that main type anyway.

Matthew 9, verses 10 through 13. As Jesus passed forth from thence, skip down, verse 10, chapter 9, verse 10. And it came to pass as Jesus sat at meat, at the meal, and the house, behold, many publicans and sinners came and sat down with Him and His disciples. And when the Pharisees saw it, they said to His disciples, Why does your master eat with publicans and sinners?

But when Jesus heard that, He said to them, They that behold, complete, need not a physician, but they that are sick. But you go and you learn what that means. I will have mercy and not sacrifice, for I am not come to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance. See, the point being, the Pharisees saw themselves as whole. We are spiritually increased and rich, and we don't have any need.

We're fine. We're okay. They look at each other. I'm okay. You're okay. We're okay. They didn't see themselves as sick, spiritually sick. Therefore, they didn't see they had need. They were self-deceived, self-blinded to their own spiritual condition.

They were deluding themselves. They were living in and with an illusion, and they were out of touch with a very important reality. The reality of their own spiritual condition and state of affairs. That's why John the Baptist sent them packing when they came down to the Jordan to be a Baptist. No, get out of here! You don't have any fruits that show that you've repented. You're just being hypocritical. Get out of here! That's why Christ lured the boom on them. If you notice, Christ really only got angry at those religious leaders that were, in that sense, filled with Laodicea and Leavening.

And He lured the boom on them in Matthew 23. And this is why He vomits Psalm of the Eclaecia out of His mouth from His body. Because the pride and the arrogance of spiritual vanity and self-righteousness makes Him sick. And it's that attitude of pride and arrogance that has closed Him out to where He is standing at the door outside knocking. See, He can't really relate with that mindset. There's no true meeting of the minds because they do not have the mind of Christ.

They don't have His mind. Think about this. In Philippians 2.5, let's just scroll over there. Philippians 2 verse 5. There's no...someone with that mindset, Jesus has no meeting of the minds with them. Because they don't have His mind. They don't have the mind of Christ. Philippians 2 verse 5 says, Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus. Because when that mind is in you, and the more that mind is in you, the more He can relate with you.

The more we have Jesus Christ's mind, which is not one of pride and arrogance and puffed up with the leaven of pride and all. When we have the mind of Christ, the more we have it, the more He can relate with us. And when you look at that mind, it says of Him who, being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God, but made Himself of no reputation and took upon Himself the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of man, and being found in fashion as a man, He humbled Himself.

And He became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross.

A mind that is polar opposite to the mind of pride and arrogance and spiritual vanity and self-righteousness. Therefore, Christ cannot truly relate. Can't we walk together except they be agreed? No. Therefore, He can't really be formed in them. Will Christ be formed in you? No, because that mind is not there, so Christ can't be really formed in them. Therefore, they can't really be growing up into Him and all things.

Paul, who was inspired to write these words in Philippians, Galatians, and Ephesians, had no such attitude of pride and arrogance. The leavening of Laodicea was not in him. He had no spiritual vanity and self-righteousness that created an illusion in his mind.

He knew he had need. He knew he was not whole. He knew he was sick spiritually. He knew he needed help and healing. He was open to it. He sought it. He was reachable and teachable. In his own words, we can see that by going to Romans 7.

This is the authentic Paul, Romans 7, verses 14 through 25. Let's just read the flow of it. And we see that he knew he had need. He knew he was not whole. He knew he was sick. He knew he needed help and healing. He was open to it. He sought it. He was reachable and he was teachable. Romans 7, beginning in verse 14, just reading through it. For we know that the law is spiritual, but I am carnal.

So to understand, for that which I do, I allow not. For what I would do, what I would, that I do not. But what I hate, that I find myself doing. If then I do that which I would not, I consent to the law that it is good. Now then it is no more I that do it, but sin that dwells in me. For I know that in me that is in my flesh dwells no good thing. For to wield is present with me, but how to perform or carry that out, which is good. It is a challenge, I find not. For the good that I would do, for the good that I would, I do not. But the evil which I would not, do not want to do, that I find myself doing. Now if I do that I would not, that which I would rather not, it is no more that I do it, but sin that dwells in me. I find that a law. That when I would do good, evil is present with me. For I delight in the law of God after the inward man.

But I see another law in my members, warring against the law of my mind, and bringing me into captivity to the law of sin, which is in my members. O wretched man that I am, who shall deliver me from the body of this death. Thank God through Jesus Christ our Lord. So then with the mind I myself serve the law of God, and with the flesh the law of sin.

A challenge, a battle, a spiritual warfare. He was aware of it.

He never took on, carried, got puffed up with the leavening of Laodicea. His attitude was about as far as you can get from the Laodicean one. And because of that, he was able to finish his days with a confidence that came out of that.

And so with this we read here in Romans 7, and because of those realizations, and what he was willing to continue to do and humble himself and fight, and realize he had need and do and grow and overcome, then when his days did finish, he approached his martyrdom with these statements, or this statement in 2 Timothy 4, 6 through 8, a very familiar one. He says, For I am now ready to be offered. His time is up. He knows it. And the time of my departure is at hand.

He's able to say, I fought a good fight. I finished my course. I kept the faith. Henceforth there is laid up for me a crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, shall give me at that day. And not to me only, but to all of them that love his appearing. A confidence of reality, a confidence of peace and conscience. It was a confidence that rejected and had nothing to do with pride and arrogance, spiritual vanity and self-righteousness. When Jesus Christ said, Because you say, He says, Because you say, He was expressing the reality of their attitude and their operational behavior.

He's just simply expressing the reality. He's putting words on it. He's putting words on the reality of the attitude and the operation of behavior. He was basing it on their thinking and their doing. That's why He says, I know your works. I know your works, He said to them. He's basing it on their thinking and their doing.

It's what their works said about them. Jesus Christ was not necessarily saying, Oh, by the way, you will hear people say, I am spiritually rich and increased with spiritual goods, and I have need of nothing spiritually. Now, I have never, myself personally, with my ears, ever heard anyone use those exact words. But I have seen people live those words. I could name you some people right now that are the embodiment. I literally could throw out some names right now that are the embodiment of those very words. And they're found in the greater, quote, greater Church of God. And they are just permeated with the leavening of Laodicea.

And just like those who are totally permeated with the leavening of Laodicea, they don't see it. They're blind to it. Again, you will not necessarily hear someone say those exact words, although it's possible you might. But you will run into people whose attitudes and operations actually make that statement. And that attitude, it's not reachable, and it's not teachable. If you don't see that you have need, here's the thing about one caught up in that leavening.

If the person does not see that they have need, then they don't see that they lack. If they don't see that they lack, then they don't seek. And if they don't seek, they don't grow. They don't change. They don't overcome. This personal self-view of spiritual vanity and self-righteousness, this personal self-view filled with pride and arrogance, it's not reachable.

It's not teachable. And when one is not reachable and teachable, then they cannot be reached. There's no true connection and relationship. And again, that's why Christ says, I stand at the door, the outside side of the door and knock. They can't be reached with relationship. And hand and glove, when they're not reachable, they're not teachable. How many times in Jesus Christ's ministry, when you read through the Gospels, were times at the table? You ever notice that? So and so bids Him to come eat with them.

How many times did Jesus Christ use times at the meal table as teachable moments? Thus, if He opens and lets me come in, I will suck. I will eat with Him. That has always been used as kind of a metaphor or illustration or making the point of relationship. Hey, come have dinner with us. Hey, come have a cup of tea or a cup of coffee.

Hey, come, let's share a meal together. And just like today after services, if I'm not mistaken, there's a meal planned back here behind the screen. But Christ used times of meal, meal time, at the table as teachable moments. It's relational, relationship type stuff. And so open the door, I'll come in, I'll eat with you.

Again, that speaks of a reachable and teachable relationship, which is what He wants with each and every one of us, His younger brothers and sisters. See, land to see is part of the ecclesia.

It is part of the body of Christ. But in the body of Christ, in His body, there is no room or place for this attitude of pride and arrogance. No place for it to fit. So when the Laodicean is spewed into the fire, when the Laodicean is vomited out, it will obviously then be obvious. It will become obvious, obvious to the Laodiceans that they held works, that is, they held thinkings and operations and perspectives that were foreign to the body of Jesus Christ that made Him sick and throw up. And it will be undeniable, undeniably obvious that they did not have the spiritual standing that they thought or had kidded themselves that they had. And it will be undeniably obvious that they did not have the relationship with Jesus Christ that they liked to think and claimed they had, and the proof will be in their face, the situation that they now find themselves in. I mean, hopefully none of you will be, and I can't say some of you won't be. The only person I can deal with on the issue is me. I'm just sharing the learning and the teaching that God gives me because it's part of what I'm supposed to do, and because it's reality in real time, and it's going on in our day and time. This is not something to happen yet ahead. But when the Great Tribulation comes, and one who, as the Laodicean, is thrust into the Great Tribulation, then, as that person is in the Great Tribulation and not being protected from it, and hearing the voice of the two witnesses out of Jerusalem, nobody will have to convince them they're Laodicean, because all the self-deception and self- blindness will be literally stripped away, burned away by the fire of the Great Tribulation.

And the good news is that for those who choose to be zealous and repent, as Christ says in verse 19 of Revelation 3, Christ will come in and He will relate, and they can wear the white clothing of righteousness, and they can be spiritually rich and spiritually see, and they can be in the first resurrection, and they can sit with Christ in His throne.

So I go back to Revelation 3 in that regard and read verse 21, to Him that overcomes what I grant to sit with Me in My throne, even as I also overcame and am sat down with My Father in His throne. They can be in the first resurrection, and they can sit with Christ in His throne. See, being zealous and repenting means rejecting this attitude of having need of nothing. It means seeing need. It means recognizing and acknowledging personal lacking.

And again, that translates into receptivity. You ever tried to feed somebody that's not hungry? How could a meal you set? Try to feed somebody that's not hungry. It doesn't matter how good the food is, it doesn't matter how good the meal is. If they're not hungry and you force them to stay at the table, they'll just push the food around. Mothers have always had that experience to some degree with the kids trying to get them to eat, you know, when they didn't want to eat or weren't hungry.

Try to give something to somebody when they can't receive it. Go out and try to take the truth just on the streets and give it to people who can't receive it. See how far you get. We've all probably one time or another tried to do that. No, receptivity. But it translates into receptivity, and that translates into reachability and teachability, and that translates into the opposite of pride and arrogance, which is humility. And all of that translates into what God is looking for. Growth, change, overcoming. Again, verse 19, second sentence, Be zealous, therefore, and repent.

Be zealous. In other words, be urgent. Be excited. Be ambitious. Urgent, excited, ambitious. Urgent, excited, ambitious for what? Urgent, excited, and ambitious to change, to grow, to take on, to increase, to overcome. Because, see, that is the opposite of lukewarm in verse 16. That's the opposite. That's polar opposite. All urgent and excited and ambitious to change and grow and take on and increase and overcome.

Nothing lukewarm about that. And that word lukewarm, in Webster's, if you... Well, first of all, if you looked up Strong's, the word's taken from, it's 5513, 5513, 5513, kiliaros, C-H-L-I-A-R-O-S, means tepid. The Greek means tepid. You look at Webster's, tepid. Unenthusiastic. Lukewarm, think about it. Tepid. Half-hearted. Ho-hum. Bored. Tired. Same-o, same-o. What's new? Lukewarm. Lukewarm in verse 16 is an acknowledgment that life-altering, zealous energy is missing. And again, why would one be urgent and excited and ambitious over something they don't see that they need?

I mean, that humanly makes sense. If you don't see you have need, why would you get urgent or excited or ambitious over something you don't see you need? If you think you're just fine, but don't see that you're not cold against sin and hot for the things of God, cold against sin and hot for the things of God, that you view yourself as positioned you halfway between those two points, Lukewarm at best, then you cannot be or become the truly spiritual product that we have to be.

Again, I know your works, God says, and so your works have positioned you into the needs not being met. They're not getting done. I'm beginning to think there's a devil. Your works are saying that you think you're okay. In pop psychology, I've got a book on my shelf among my books. In pop psychology, this goes all the way back to I was a young man.

There was a book that a lot of young people were buying. I'm okay, you're okay. Some of you are grinning because you've heard of it or read it or seen it. But I'm okay, you're okay. And that attitude expressed in Revelation 3, 17, folks, that is the hallmark of Laodicea. It is the leavening agent. It is Laodicean leavening. And it's the hallmark, it's the trademark of Laodicea. That's why it is inserted right up front because that's the key statement dealing with the core issue.

But bear this in mind, it doesn't always show up in the full measure that's expressed there. See, we read that and we might say, well, you know, I see that, but boy, I don't fit that at all. Or I could never fit that.

I mean, that's really... If I were to fit that, I would have to know it because it is such a bold statement for spiritual vanity and self-righteousness. But again, bear in mind, it doesn't always show up in the full measure that's expressed there. It can be in degrees, in differing measures and amounts. But any shade of that is led to seeing in flavor, and in dealing with this subject, I would be amiss.

If we did not analyze one more aspect that's very important to this subject, in truly and in safely understanding it, and thus being able to guard and stand against it to counter it in our lives, because you don't want to be, and I don't want to be, a Laodicean. I don't want God to ever have to, you know, one of the beings, the father or the son, look at the other, and kind of point at me and say, He's the Laodicean.

I don't want that ever to be said of me. And so we're covering this because it is a leavening that affects the church and will come to its fullness of effect in the end of the age that we're living in. And it's already got some pretty good inroads into the greater church of God. And so in analyzing this final aspect, I'll ask the question, is a Laodicean conservative or liberal? Let that sit there for a moment.

You just think about it. You don't have to verbally give an answer, but you just think about that for a moment. Can, well, first, is a Laodicean conservative or liberal? What do you think? Can a conservative be Laodicean? Can a liberal be Laodicean? Now, remember, conservatives and liberals are at opposite ends of the polar spectrum. They're polar opposites, aren't they? Conservative or liberal?

Is it one or the other, or could it be both? Can we say, and it'd be accurate, that all Laodiceans are conservative? I think it'd say, I don't think we can say that accurately. Can we say that all Laodiceans are liberal?

Can we say that accurately? Or is it possible that some Laodiceans are conservative and some Laodiceans are liberal? When we truly understand the hallmark of Laodicean, we truly understand that both can be Laodicean. Both can be Laodicean. Conservatism is no sure proof against it any more so than liberalism. Remember the hallmark that notates the Laodicean? I have need of nothing. Any shade of that is Laodicean flavor. Laodicean leavening. It's flavored with Laodiceanism. Any shade of that is Laodicean leavening. See, a liberal might say, I have need of nothing.

I have Christ. A liberal might say, or fall into the attitude of, I don't have to do anything. Christ has done it all for me. A liberal might say, I don't have to worry about anything. Christ is my Savior. And then proceed to not deal with personal responsibility. And then ignore and neglect personal responsibility. They see no need. Christ has done it all. A liberal might say, I really don't have to take myself and sin seriously because I'm living under the blood of Jesus Christ and God's grace. So therefore, it's not necessary for me to take sin seriously.

There's really nothing I have to concern myself about or do. I'm covered. Christ makes everything all right. Again, the bottom line is, shades off. I have need of nothing.

Now, both Paul and Jude speak to this liberal led to see and mindset. First, in Romans 5, now they're both Paul and Jude. In Romans 5, Romans 5, verse 21, Paul writes, That as sin has ruled unto death, even so might grace reign through righteousness unto eternal life by Jesus Christ our Lord. So you're okay? I'm fine. I'm rich. I'm in Christ with goods because I'm under grace and I'm in Christ.

Paul says, but now let's proceed a little further. Chapter 6, verses 1 and 2. What shall we say then? Since there is a reality there that's wonderful, what does that mean or what should we say then? Shall we continue in sin that grace may abound? Well, you know, God is so wonderful and He's so forgiving that He just loves to forgive us. So I just go and sin more and more so He can forgive me more and more and feel better and better. That's the reasoning that Psalm have had down through the age. Seriously, I'm not stretching it at all.

And even in our times, even in Protestantism, I have read things that talk about where God loves to forgive. And the more we sin, the more forgiving He does and it makes God feel good to be able to forgive. So go and sin all you want. There's some wacky stuff out there, folks. But we're talking about and drawing it down to the church. What should we say then? And He is talking to the church here. What should we say then? You know, was there any led to see in leavening back at that time?

Sure there was. What should we say then? Shall we continue in sin that grace may abound? God forbid. How shall we that are dead to sin live any longer therein? We can't just accept it and live in it. We've got to fight it.

And then Jude, Jude 4. Jude. For there are certain men crept in on a wares who were before of old ordained to this condemnation. Ungodly men turning the grace of our God. His mercy, His pardon, His forgiveness into license to do wrong is what lasciviousness is really about. And denying the only Lord God and our Lord Jesus Christ. Not denying them with the lips. Denying them in attitudes and in works. Denying them in works. I stand at the door outside, closed out, locked out, and I knock because I would like to come in.

Can I lay it to sin be liberal? Absolutely. Can I lay it to sin only be liberal? No. Is a lay it to sin just as likely to be a conservative? Absolutely. Again, the key hallmark is I have needed nothing or shades of that. A conservative might say, a conservative might say, I'm doing everything just like I'm supposed to. Luke 18, verses 9 through 12. I'm doing everything just like I'm supposed to. Luke 18, verses 9 through 12. And he spoke this parable, verse 9.

He spoke this parable unto certain which trusted in themselves that they were righteous, and despised others. Two men went up into the temple to pray, the one a Pharisee and the other a publican. Publicans were sinners. The Pharisee stood and prayed thus with himself, God, I thank you that I am not as other men or extortioners and unjust adulterers, or even as this publican. So I fast twice in the week and I give tithes of all that I possess.

Now connect, verse 9 with 12 again, which trusted in themselves that they were righteous, and despised others. And the Pharisee, who trusted in himself and knew he was righteous, and he prayed thus with himself because his prayers didn't count with God. They didn't go up to God. God heard it, he saw it, it didn't count with God.

I thank you that I am not as other men are. I thank you that I am spiritually rich and spiritually fine and spiritually okay and have no spiritual need. Not like other men are, extortioners, unjust adulterers, or even as this publican. Well, I fast twice a week. How righteous would you have to think you are if you were to pick, let's say, every Tuesday and every Thursday to fast, every week for the whole year, year in and year out.

When I need to fast, I fast. And I don't enjoy it. If I enjoyed it, it wouldn't be affliction. And it's like I say, I don't go to bed on an empty stomach unless I'm fasting. Because I don't like to go to bed on an empty stomach because I don't sleep well on an empty stomach. And the only time I go to bed on an empty stomach is when I'm fasting. But you picture somebody that was so righteous, they're touting the fact that, well, I fast twice a week and I give tithes of all that I possess.

And keep in mind, the same beings would take seed and like tweezers or whatever and count out a tenth of little tiny common seeds in others. Conservative. Very conservative. In this example in Luke, with this conservative, you find the pride and the arrogance of spiritual vanity and self-righteous. He was proud of his righteousness. He was doing everything right in his own eyes. He saw no need because. He saw no lacking. He had need of nothing. And he would have been classified as a conservative. See, the Pharisees were known as conservative and they saw no spiritual need.

Even to the point, they did not see the need for a spiritual Savior. The Messiah to them was not a spiritual Savior. The Messiah was a physical Savior to restore the Kingdom and all and let them rule with Him. But they didn't see the need for a spiritual Savior. And I find, and I've always found something revealing and significant about the remnant of the ecclesia left behind in Revelation 12 verse 17.

I'll go over there. In Revelation 12, if I were to pick it up in Revelation 12 and verse 14, and to the woman or to the church, we're given two wings of a great eagle that she might fly into the wilderness into her place where she is nourished for a time, that's a year, and times, that's two years, making three, and then half a time making it three and a half years, we're referencing the place of safety and the woman being taken to be preserved during the time of the Tribulation from the face of the serpent.

And the serpent cast out of his mouth water as a flood, maybe a military unit, something after it. But anyhow, after the woman, that he might cause her to be carried away of the flood, and the earth helped the woman, and the earth opened her mouth and swallowed up the flood, which the dragon cast out of his mouth, and the dragon realized something.

God's not going to let me get to the woman that he's taking to protect in a place of nourishment and a place of safety. And when he sees he can't get to her at that point, he's blocked out. He returns, he leaves, he goes back. The dragon was wroth, verse 17. Was wroth with the woman, really angry, in a rage, and went to make war, with who? The remnant of her seed, who's left behind, who's spewed out, who's spewed out into the great tribulation. The remnant of her seed, notice how they're defined, which keep the commandments of God and have the testimony of Jesus Christ. They're connected to the commandments, they're connected to the testimony.

This remnant of the Eclaecia obviously contains conservatives. They're not all liberals, and they're not all conservatives, because a liberal or a conservative can foul up spiritually in this way, can be infiltrated with and puffed up through the leavening of Eclaecia. Eclaecia is just as likely to be a conservative as he or she is likely to be a liberal, because again, now liberals tend to go to one end of the pole, and conservatives to the other end of the pole are the spectrum.

And conservatives tend to go too far one way, liberals tend to go too far the other way. See, here's what conservatives have to guard against. Conservatives have to guard against becoming too legalistic and pharisaical, because once they become too legalistic and pharisaical, they have fallen into the leavening of Leaodicea also. I've known of checklists Christians.

I've known of Christians who put checklists on, might be a pantry door or bathroom door or whatever, and, okay, I can check off, I prayed today. Should you pray that day? Absolutely. They check off, well, Bible study. Bible study. They might have it broken down into 15 minutes, 30 minutes, or an hour. They check off which one. Well, it didn't get quite as much in as I should have, but I did get it in, yeah.

And did I do a good deed today? Okay, check that off. They've got their checklist. Now, up to a point, having something like that to prompt you to do what you need to form a natural habit of doing is okay. Well, once it goes beyond a certain point, it is not okay. And I've known people that was like, today I have done everything I was supposed to do. I've got my whole checklist is checked off, and I am fine and good, and I am holy and righteous with God.

And they're puffed up. And I think we all know it. It's a little embarrassing because maybe some of us have done it in the past. And we've grown beyond that. And I'm not knocking prayer. And I'm not knocking Bible study. And I'm not knocking any of the good things of God. I'm knocking legalism, Pharisaite, as well as the liberalism stuff, because if you fall into the trap of thinking, I am rich and increased with spiritual goods, it's deadly. But too many times, when there were checklist Christians, or there are checklist Christians, they measure their righteousness by the number of things they can check off each day.

And again, up to a point that serves a certain value, but beyond a certain point, it becomes counterproductive. And it leads to a legalistic mindset and form of spiritual vanity and self-righteousness, and it gets into shades of, I'm doing fine. I have need of nothing. When you really study it out, when you really think about it and analyze it, again, we realize that a Laodicean could be liberal or conservative, that either can fall into that trap.

And the reason I go through and analyze that, because we must never say, oh, I could never be leavened with the leavening of Laodicea, because I'm a conservative. So how in the world could I fall prey to that? Well, just as easily as a liberal.

Being a conservative is no ironclad guarantee against it. The pride and arrogance of the Laodicean mindset, the spiritual vanity and self-righteousness that says, I really have need of nothing. There's really nothing I really lack. Everything is taken care of. Everything is being taken care of. Everything is fine, dandy, okay. I'm a spiritually mature person. I'm operating in a very spiritually mature way. And thus, the receptivity of being reachable and teachable is not there. And there are some casualties. Here's what becomes the casualty or the casualties. Change is a casualty. Growth is a casualty. Overcoming is a casualty. And the process of reversal begins when a Laodicean truly sees and sincerely acknowledges, I have need. May we never come to the time when we think we don't have need. I have need. I am lacking. I am not what I should be. God, please help me. I can still see some wretchedness and misery and poverty and blindness and nakedness, and I want to do something about it. And with the delevaning of the pride and arrogance with humility now in its place, there is change. There is growth. There is overcoming. Christ is at the meal table with us. And because there's now receptivity of reachability and teachability, there will be the first resurrection and the kingdom for the repentant Laodiceans. There's no Scripture that says they'll all repent. We don't know. It's going to be up to them. But for the repentant Laodiceans during Tribulation, there will be the first resurrection when Christ returns. There will be sitting with Him. There will be the Kingdom of God. The repentant Laodicean who has rejected that leavening, the Laodiceanism, who has rejected the leavening of Laodicea. Therefore, to the Laodicean, that they may have a happy ending for the happy outcome, God says, be zealous and repent. Be and live unleavened.