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The Door in the Distance from Refreshing Hope Ministries on Vimeo.

The Lord Jesus Christ appeared to the Apostle John, who lived in exile on a small island called Patmos. Tertullian, an early Christian author, and "Foxes Book of Martyrs," record that the Roman emperor Domitian tried to publicly execute John in the Coliseum by plunging him into boiling oil in front of a crowd. But John suffered nothing from it, and the crowd watching converted to Christianity soon after witnessing the bumbled execution. The emperor saw John as a royal pain who wouldn't stop spreading his testimony about Jesus Christ, so he banished John to the island of Patmos.

There, John wrote the book of Revelation. It is a mysterious book full of imagery and easily misunderstood. I will not try and explain it as it is far beyond my understanding. For a long time, I was so wrapped up in eschatology, the study of end-time events, that He had to correct me. He told me, "Son, don't be so concerned about the end of the book. Go back to the beginning, and take another look." So I did, and for the last thirty years, I try to spend as much time in the Old Testament as the New. Yet, the message I heard today came from the book of Revelation, and I find it both disturbing and exciting. It would take a long time to cover all this, so I will summarize, compact, and make it as simple as possible from a birds-eye view.

The Lord gave John seven messages for seven churches: Ephesus, Smyrna, Pergamum, Thyatira, Sardis, Philadelphia, and Laodicea. Each Church is located further from the Isle of Patmos. The number seven in scripture means, "Completion, perfection, and bringing to an end." Seven is completeness. Many view the churches mentioned in Revelation to be symbolic of our timeline, the church age. There are things in each message that seem to point to a time in church history. And, I happen to believe that we are near the end of the Laodicean church age, which probably began about 1906. This is just my perspective, but read the message and then look at the world around you.

Something I want to cover before I go further is "the teaching of the Nicolaitans," which appears in Revelation 2:6 and 2:15. Nicolaitans is comprised of two Greek words, Nikao and Laos. In a nutshell, Nikao means "to conquer," and Laos means "the people of God." When put together, it basically means "To conquer the people of God."

Jezebel was considered a leader of this movement as she almost wiped out the Lord's prophets and replaced them with prophets of baal. It represents fleshly leadership that rules over God's people and then leads them into idolatry. The real is replaced with a fake. This type of leadership ruled over the Church during the dark ages, and in some places, even now.

I don't want to get too far from what I believe He showed me, for all the rest is thin ice for me. So I'll stop there and get to the point of my message. Jesus sent this message to Church at Laodicea:

(Revelation 3:14–19 NASB)  "To the angel of the church in Laodicea write: The Amen, the faithful and true Witness, the Beginning of the creation of God, says this: 'I know your deeds, that you are neither cold nor hot; I wish that you were cold or hot. 'So because you are lukewarm, and neither hot nor cold, I will spit you out of My mouth. 'Because you say, "I am rich, and have become wealthy, and have need of nothing," and you do not know that you are wretched and miserable and poor and blind and naked,

I advise you to buy from Me gold refined by fire so that you may become rich, and white garments so that you may clothe yourself, and that the shame of your nakedness will not be revealed; and eye salve to anoint your eyes so that you may see. 'Those whom I love, I reprove and discipline; therefore be zealous and repent.

His question: Where's the fire? Where's the passion? What are we zealous for today? Here is a definition of zealous:

Zealous: adjective: a zealous worker: fervent, ardent, fervid, fanatical, passionate, impassioned, devout, devoted, committed, dedicated, hard-core, enthusiastic, eager, keen, overkeen, avid, card-carrying, vigorous, energetic, intense, fierce;  Opposites: apathetic, indifferent.

Where is our zeal for the Lord? We are quickly approaching the end of the line, and some of us will become His vomit because we are apathetic and indifferent. We live in an age of apathy where anything goes, and everything is accepted. There is an image of a gentle Jesus who is a weak, good-natured fellow whose only goal in life is to let us off the hook and hold nothing we do against us. Yet, that isn't the Christ spoken of in the Scriptures. This is merely an idol that has been created over the years to replace Him. Remember the teachings of the Nicolaitans. Don't get me wrong, Jesus is loving, forgiving, and accepting, but He isn't blind or stupid. When He appears, your actions are going to have eternal consequences unless you zealously repent.

Jesus told us: (John 14:15 NASB)  "If you love Me, you will keep My commandments." The Apostle John who wrote Revelation also wrote this: (1 John 2:4 NASB) The one who says, "I have come to know Him," and does not keep His commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him."

Let's take a moment and look at the life of Jesus. The Passover is the biggest event on the Jewish calendar, and it is probably a lot like the Christmas season to us. There is excitement in the air and an entire month of preparation. The roads and bridges were repaired, the sepulchers freshly whitewashed. Sometimes over two million people would travel to Jerusalem for Passover.

(John 2:13–17 NASB)  The Passover of the Jews was near, and Jesus went up to Jerusalem. And He found in the temple those who were selling oxen and sheep and doves, and the money changers seated at their tables. And He made a scourge of cords, and drove them all out of the temple, with the sheep and the oxen; and He poured out the coins of the money changers and overturned their tables; and to those who were selling the doves He said, "Take these things away; stop making My Father's house a place of business." His disciples remembered that it was written, "ZEAL FOR YOUR HOUSE WILL CONSUME ME."

Jesus and His disciples traveled to Jerusalem for the feast. As they made their way through the crowded streets of Jerusalem, the road would have been lined with people selling trinkets and souvenirs.

Yet, when Jesus got inside the temple of God, it was worse than the streets outside. Jesus saw what was happening there in the outer courts. This was the court of the Gentiles, the only place in the temple where Gentiles could pray. Yet, greedy people had turned it into a thriving place of business and were busy buying, selling, and cheating each other instead.

For example, foreign money was not accepted at the temple for offerings, so there were money-changers available to convert your currency for you. They charged an excessive rate of exchange. If a man came in with a two-shekel coin, he would have to pay around a full day's wage to exchange it. We experience similar charges today called "convenience fees," which greatly profit the one charging it.

Another racket that was going on there was "approved animals" for offerings. If you brought your own, then a temple inspector could judge it as "unclean," then conveniently sell you an acceptable one. Extortion was common inside the temple grounds, and the high priest Annas was behind the whole thing. The high priest actually sold franchises for the money-changing booths and the animal sales.

What Jesus found in the temple must have looked like a religious circus complete with sheep, oxen, birds, and people haggling over the weight of a coin. So Jesus crafted a whip out of cords and then proceeded to "cleanse" the temple. Politely asking them to leave the sanctuary wouldn't work.

There is no need to sugar-coat this, for the gentle Lamb became a Lion. It was no longer Church as usual. There was money and livestock scattered everywhere when Jesus was done, with the money-changers tables overturned. The people in the courtyard had to have been shocked. Apparently, they fled the area quickly, with Jesus helping those who were not already moving by swinging a cat-of-nine-tails. The disciples who were so impressed with the temple must have watched Him with a dropped jaw.

Jesus felt holy anger because of the disrespect the Jews were showing in the house of God. They had turned the worship of God into a thriving business, and this was their biggest sale of the year. They said all the right words but did all the wrong things. Jesus rightly called them hypocrites, merely actors playing a part in a religious drama (Matthew 23:23).

Now I am not condoning violence or harming anyone in the name of the Lord. We should pursue living in peace with all men and never stoop to violence (Hebrews 12:14). Yet, we need to draw a line in the sand that we will not cross and be willing to take a stand for God and His holiness. Dare to be different. The Apostle John was ready to be dipped in boiling oil for Jesus, while many of us would not go out in the rain. I can only laugh, and cry.

Consider how technology has advanced in the last one-hundred years. Never before did mankind have the power to destroy the Earth by fire. Yet, the Apostle Peter wrote that as the Earth was once destroyed by water, the present heavens and Earth are reserved to be judged by fire (2 Peter 3:7). Live your life ready to die.

Are you ready to step into eternity? Now I am not an alarmist, and I am not saying the end of time is now upon us. What I heard was, "It's time to uncork the zeal, to relight the fire. It's time for the Church to awaken." Yet, we should remember that right after the message to the seventh Church, a door opened in heaven (Revelation 4:1).

You can pray this with me if you like:

Prayer: Heavenly Father, I pray that You uncork the zeal for You in my life. Fire me up, Lord. Here I am, use me! Fill me with Your Holy Spirit and use me to encourage others. In the name of Jesus Christ, I pray. Amen!