5 Instructions to the Remnant of Believers in a Laodicean Church
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The northern ten tribes of Israel had become apostate.
Worship of the two golden calves set up by Jeroboam had degraded the nation and opened the gateway for the worship of Baal and Ashtaroth.
They turned away from the living God to worship images of wood covered with gold and silver; to soothsayers and necromancy; and to witches and warlocks.
Their moral depravity became so disgusting it even included female and male temple prostitution.
The southern nation of Judah was embracing similar moral depravity and spiritual idolatry, so God called the prophet Isaiah to warn them.
“Alas, sinful nation, a people laden with iniquity, a brood of evil doers, children who are corrupters! They have forsaken the Lord, they have provoked to anger the Holy One of Israel, they have turned away backward” (Isaiah 1:4 NKJV).
They were becoming so corrupt the prophet equated Judah and the City of Jerusalem with Sodom and Gomorrah (1:10). He wrote:
“For Jerusalem stumbled, and Judah is fallen, because their tongue and their doings are against the Lord, to provoke the eyes of His glory. The look on their countenance witnesses against them and they declare their sin as Sodom; they do not hide it. Woe to their soul! For they have brought evil upon themselves… Moreover, the Lord says: ‘Because the daughters of Zion are haughty, and walk with outstretched necks and wanton eyes, walking and mincing as they go, making a jingling with their feet…’ In that day the Lord will take away the finery…And so it shall be: Instead of a sweet smell there will be a stench; instead of a sash a rope; instead of well-set hair baldness; instead of a rich robe, a girding of sackcloth; and branding instead of beauty, and your men shall fall by the sword, and your mighty in the war” (Isaiah 3:8-9, 16, 18, 24-25 NKJV).
The prophet of God gave a terrifying warning:
“For all this His anger is not turned away, but His hand is stretched out still.” This was not God’s hand of salvation and healing reaching out to redeem the “Apple of God’s eye.” It was His hand of correction and discipline, bringing a rebuke of Almighty God on a backslidden people who had rejected His Word and turned away from His love and mercy. Five times God spoke these shocking words through His prophet to the leaders and residents living in Judah and Jerusalem (Isaiah 5:25; 9:12, 17, 21; 10:4).
The description of what was about to happen to these rebellious and stubborn idol worshipers has a striking similarity to the sixth seal in the Book of Revelation. Isaiah wrote:
“They shall go into the holes of the rocks, and into the caves of the earth, from the terror of the Lord and the glory of His majesty, when He arises t shake the earth mightily. In that day a man will cast away his idols of silver and his idols of gold, which they made, each for himself to worship, to the moles and bats, to go into the clefts of the rocks, and into the crags of the rugged rocks, from the terror of the Lord and the glory of His majesty, when He arises to shake the earth mightily” (Isaiah 2:19-22 NKJV).
The New Testament prophet, John, saw national leaders and the people of the world in the last days hating God, worshiping idols, practicing sorcery and necromancy, and living in moral depravity.
He sees their response when God rebukes them for their rebellion against Him.
“And the kings of the earth, the great men, the rich men, every slave and every free man, hid themselves in the caves and in the rocks of the mountains, and said to the mountains and rocks, ‘Fall on us and hide us from the face of Him who sits on the throne and from the wrath of the Lamb! For the great day of His wrath has come, and who is able to stand’” (Revelation 6:15-17 NKJV)?
I find it very curious.
The people see the hand of God at work. They know it is “the wrath of the Lamb” and the rebuke of “Him who sits on the throne.”
Yet, they do not repent.
They do not humble themselves and seek His mercy and forgiveness for their rebellion and sinful lives.
Instead, they hide themselves, curse God, and continue to live as they have been doing, just like Judah and Jerusalem in the seventh century B.C..
Not every person in Jerusalem and Judah had turned away from the Lord.
There was a remnant of godly men and women who worshiped Almighty God.
The prophet had important instructions for remnant about living through those days of God’s rebuke.
“For the Lord spoke thus to me with a strong hand, and instructed me that I should not walk in the way of this people, saying: ‘Do not say, “A conspiracy,” Concerning all that this people call a conspiracy, nor be afraid of their threats, nor be troubled. The Lord of hosts, Him you shall hallow; let Him be your fear and let Him be your dread’” (Isaiah 8:11-13 NKJV).
The first instruction to the remnant was to not look on all the things that were happening from the same perspective as the ungodly and the backslidden people of God.
“Do not say, ‘A conspiracy’ concerning all that this people call a conspiracy.” God did not say a conspiracy was not happening. He was telling the true believers to lift their eyes from the world’s system and the evil that was taking place around them and look to Almighty God. What was His perspective? This did not catch Him by surprise. Indeed, it was His rebuke and His discipline of a nation that had turned their back on Him. They needed to know how they could live in harmony with what He was doing at that time. The Lord of Host was at work in two powerful ways. He was pouring out His rebuke on a rebellious people and disciplining them for turn away from His face. He was also sheltering and protecting the remnant who had remained true to Him. “The Lord of Host, Him you hallow; let Him be your fear, and let Him be your dread. He will be as a sanctuary…” (Isaiah 8:13-14).
These are important words to the remnant of God of this day.
It is important to look see clearly and to be truthful with our own hearts about the majority of the Christian churches and how similar they are to Judah and Jerusalem in Isaiah’s day.
The churches are Laodicean in spirit and immoral in character.
The United States has soaked itself in the blood of innocent children.
61,628,584 pre-born babies have been sacrificed on the altars of Baal and Molech in the abortion centers of our nation, as of May 16, 2020.
It is now legal to murder these precious ones even at full term pregnancy.
The elderly and infirmed are being neglected, abandoned, and even euthanized.
The moral depravity of this nation has become appalling and is displayed openly to such a degree, those who call for goodness and righteousness are now the evil ones.
Even inside the Christian community those who call for holiness and righteous living are criticized and silenced by the accusing words, “legalistic”, “judgmental”, or “unloving.”
All-the-while, the Christian church embraces a message of grace that “understands”:
- Young people hooking up on the weekends
- Singles going to bars and clubs
- Couples living together without being married
- Gender dysphoria and same-sex relationships.
Many of the Christian churches have backslidden to such a degree they are performing same-sex marriages and celebrating same-sex couples adopting children.
The message from these pulpits to this generation is, “God is love. God knows our weaknesses. His is grace is sufficient for you and will embrace you ‘just as you are.’”
It is into this generation of the Christian church, so filled with moral depravity, and to our nation that has turned her back on the Lord of Host, God’s rebuke and discipline has been sent and the hand of God is stretched out.
His hand is not outstretched to save and to heal, but to bring discipline.
For the first time in human history, since the tower of Babel, the whole world is under lock-down from a one-world system.
The United States of America is experiencing a government overreach and the nullification of the Bill of Rights in a manner it has not seen since 1776.
Is it a conspiracy? Yes! It is right out of Lucifer’s playbook.
There is a remnant!
5 Instructions to the Remnant of Believers in a Laodicean Church
There are men and women, teenagers, and children who have remained steadfast and true to the living God.
There are churches who are passionately seeking revival, longing for an outpouring of the Holy Spirit.
We must follow the principle and precepts exactly as the Prophet Isaiah wrote.
“Bind up the testimony, seal up the law among my disciples, and I will wait on the Lord, who hides His face from the house of Jacob; I will seek Him. Here am I and the children whom the Lord has given me! We are for signs and wonders in Israel from the Lord of Hosts, who dwells in Mount Zion” (Isaiah 8:16-18 NKJV).
These five things must be followed by the remnant believers!
1. “Bind up the testimony”
“The testimony of the Lord is sure, making wise the simple” (Psalm 19:7b).
Study and hide in your heart the ways of God. How did God deal with His men and women? How did God handle situations?
2. “Seal up the law among my disciples”
“The law of the Lord is perfect, converting the soul” (Psalm 19:7a).
Teach the uncompromised Word of God, including the Ten Commandments.
Call for holy living, “true righteousness and holiness” (Ephesians 4:24).
3. “Wait on the Lord, who hides His face from the house of Jacob”
“Show me your ways, O Lord; teach me Your paths. Lead me in Your truth and teach me, for You are the God of my salvation; on you I wait all the day… The secret of the Lord is with those who fear Him, and He will show them His covenant” (Psalm 25:4,5,14).
Spend extra time worshiping, praying, and being still in His presence. The Lord is hiding His face from so many in churches today because they are not truly seeking Him and His presence.
4. “I will seek Him”
“When you said, ‘Seek My face,’ My heart said to You, ‘Your face Lord, I will seek… Wait on the Lord; be of good courage, and He will strengthen your heart; wait I say, on the Lord! (Psalm 27:8, 14).
Passionately go after God. Make Him a priority.
It is time to set aside things that have been distractions and have little value eternally. But He will reveal Himself to those who seek Him
5. The remnant who do these things will become a living testimony to the world and the backslidden church.
Do not be afraid to walk in the mighty power of the Holy Spirit and let His signs and wonders work through your life (Mark 16:15-18; 1 Corinthians 12:7-11).
