G. Interpretation of the Prophecy

G. Interpretation of the Prophecy (1905 to the beginning of the great tribulation)

In terms of church history, the Laodicean church signi­fies the age from the 1900s to the time of the great tribulation. Laodicea means “the right of laity,” namely the church of people's rights. This is a time when the laity have become more “enlightened” than the ministers and when their power is such that they can even hire and fire a pastor at will. Hence, it is a spiritually corrupt age. From the beginning of the Laodicean age in 1905, theology began to criticise the Bible historically, scientifi­cally and philosophically by introducing rationalism and higher criticism. This started in Germany. The Scripture cannot be subjected to higher criticism through science and reasoning, however, for it was written by divine revelation. Nevertheless, the liberal new theology as­serted that the Bible is not scientifically or historically correct; its accounts are mostly myth. Therefore all the miracles in it must be removed.

This new theological thinking began to gain ground in America in the 1920s. It contaminated the pulpits and people, killing many churches just as it had done in Europe. Younger generations left the church, and only the older people remained in them.

Once I heard of a liberal church whose pastor said to the congregation, “Brothers and sisters, the Pentateuch of Moses is the five books of the Bible from Genesis to Deuteronomy; it records the history of Israel in a mythi­cal and instructive way.” The members who heard that reasoned, “Why should we carry these heavy books that are merely the mythical history of Israel?” So they re­moved the Pentateuch from their Bibles.

The next time they attended a service the pastor said, “All the prophetic books in the Bible were written by those who dreamed strange dreams.” The members de­cided, “We now know why they're so complicated,” and they cut those parts out of their Bibles.

The next Sunday the pastor said, “The four Gospels of the New Testament are books the disciples of Jesus made up out of extensive delusion to create a new religion with Jesus as its centre.” So the members removed the Gospels from their Bibles.

When the pastor said, “All the epistles of the New ‘Testament are the personal letters of the apostles that were sent to the churches to revive them,” the members removed those parts from their Bibles.

Finally, when the pastor said the Revelation of John was written while the apostle John was in a state of delusion, the members tore those pages from their Bibles. All that remained was the black leather cover that had

bound the pages of the Bible together. Then the members left the church, concluding there was nothing believable in God's Word.

Liberal theology leads inevitably to a single conclusion: the death-of-God theory proposed by a theologian named Thomas Altizer. He asserted that since God is dead, humanity should rebuild the church without Him.

Therefore Jesus did not commend the Laodicean church, the church of today, for there was nothing com­mendable about it. The church has economic strength, many theological schools and much knowledge. However, those don't make it commendable. Rather, liberal churches should buy the eye salve of the Holy Spirit and apply it to their eyes so they can see their spiritual wretchedness, misery, poverty, blindness, nakedness and shame.

God is using the full-gospel movement to help the church regain its faith by opening its eyes. All believers need to return to the pure gospel by purchasing gold tried in fire, putting on the white raiment of righteousness and buying the eye salve that gives spiritual understanding. All the words in the Bible, from Genesis through Revela­tion, are true, and in them we find God's plan of salvation that brings us to heaven. Those people who keep their faith in this lukewarm age will be taken to the very throne of Christ (see v. 21). Hallelujah!

The word church appears seven times in the second and third chapters of Revelation, but it doesn't appear even once in chapters 4-19. Why? Because, as we'll see in chapter 4, Jesus is going to take the church away to that throne in heaven.

Back to THE CHURCH AGE