TOPIC: LETTER TO THE LAODICEAN CHURCH 2

MEMORISE: “My son, despise not the chastening of the LORD; neither be weary of his correction;” – (Proverbs 3:11)

READ: Revelation 3:19-22, Proverbs 3:11-12 (KJV)

MESSAGE

As many as I love, I rebuke and chasten; be zealous therefore, and repent. – (Revelation 3:19)

Jesus told the Laodiceans that He was rebuking and chastening them because He loved them. If you love your son, you will chasten him when he is going the wrong way. It is only a father who hates his child that will watch him or her go the wrong way and keep quiet. He that spareth his rod hateth his son; but he that loveth him chasteneth him betimes. – (Proverbs 13:24)

In 2020 when I came out to say that the Lord was using the Coronavirus to draw the world’s attention back to Himself, many people said I was implying that God does not love the world anymore and He was punishing them. How dare I say that the Lord does not love the world when He Himself said in John 3:16 that He loves the world. It is because He loves the world that He chastens us when we are going wrong.

He can see the end from the beginning, He can see the destruction the world is calling to itself by ignoring Him, so He will chasten us. When God loves you, expect some strokes of the cane whenever you step out of line because He chastens those He loves. However, when God decides to leave a person, it is very dangerous.

When God has corrected a fellow several times but he or she refuses to change, He will leave such a person alone as he or she is headed for destruction (Romans 1:28, Proverbs 29:1). Have you been ignoring God’s rebuke over something you are doing wrong? Soon, you will stop hearing the rebuke, as in the case of Ephraim, when God said he should be left alone (Hosea 4:17).

When God rebukes a person, he or she should immediately run back to Him in repentance because if He decides to keep quiet, that person is finished. A word is enough for the wise.

KEY POINT:
Change your ways immediately God rebukes and chastens you so that He will not leave you to perish.

BIBLE IN ONE YEAR:
Isaiah 60 – 65

RCCG Open Heaven 21 August 2022, Sunday | Letters To The Laodicean Church 2