The Messed Up Church At Laodicea

Revelation 3:15-19, “And unto the angel of the church of the Laodiceans write; These things saith the Amen, the faithful and true witness, the beginning of the creation of God; I know thy works, that thou art neither cold nor hot: I would thou wert cold or hot. So then because thou art lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will spue thee out of my mouth. Because thou sayest, I am rich, and increased with goods, and have need of nothing; and knowest not that thou art wretched, and miserable, and poor, and blind, and naked: I counsel thee to buy of me gold tried in the fire, that thou mayest be rich; and white raiment, that thou mayest be clothed, and that the shame of thy nakedness do not appear; and anoint thine eyes with eyesalve, that thou mayest see. As many as I love, I rebuke and chasten: be zealous therefore, and repent.”

This was the Lord's last sermon recorded in the Holy Bible, to the blinded, poor, miserable, wretched and naked Harvest Baptist Church on Guam (I mean the church at Laodicea). In Colossians 4:15-16 the Apostle Paul told them to make sure his letter to them, was also read to the brethren at the church of Laodicea:

Colossians 4:12-16, “Epaphras, who is one of you, a servant of Christ, saluteth you, always labouring fervently for you in prayers, that ye may stand perfect and complete in all the will of God. For I bear him record, that he hath a great zeal for you, and them that are in Laodicea, and them in Hierapolis. Luke, the beloved physician, and Demas, greet you. Salute the brethren which are in Laodicea, and Nymphas, and the church which is in his house. And when this epistle is read among you, cause that it be read also in the church of the Laodiceans; and that ye likewise read the epistle from Laodicea.”

The ancient city of Laodicea has been rediscovered by archaeologists, in the country of Turkey, and renovation being done to some of their intriguing ruins since 2012. ...

“The city ruins bear the stamp of Roman extravagance and luxury, rather than of the stern and massive solidity of the Greeks.” —Laodicea On The Lycus

The church at Laodicea had succumbed to their culture, enjoying the good life like Bob Jones University today. BJU does not want to bear reproach for the name of Christ. They do not want to be outside the gate with Jesus (2nd Timothy 3:12). That is why they wouldn't stand for anything for decades, and now they have succumbed to the Devil's lie of Lordship Salvation. This is ultimately where using the Devil's Bibles leads!!! BJU were lackadaisical about soulwinning for decades, and now they have moved away from the hope of the Gospel, embracing another gospel which cannot save. 

I have learned that you cannot remain idle as a Christian in life. You are either moving forward and growing, or you are compromising and going with the flow and changing. A river is always flowing. As long as you're rowing to stem the tide you're okay, but the minute that you stop rowing, you'll go with the direction of the water flow. When BJU stopped fighting, they started moving with the deteriorating evangelical trend in America! Sadly, since 2008 the First Baptist Church of Hammond, and consequently Hyles-Anderson College, no longer are in the fight for the inspiration of God's Word. In fact, they have actually denied the inspiration of the King James Bible since 2008. As a result, they are now changing for the worse. I guarantee you in 15 to 20 years that you won't even recognize FBCH and HAC.

The Lord called the church at Laodicea “LUKEWARM” in Revelation 3:16. They were indifferent concerning the truth, whom the Lord called “BLIND” in verse 17. In fact, the Lord said: “thou art wretched, and miserable, and poor, and blind, and naked.” They were blinded to their own spiritual nakedness. There is little theological understanding of exactly what was wrong with the church at Laodicea. How were they naked, blind, wretched, poor and miserable? I cannot help but think the same thing about Harvest Baptist Church on Guam, just down the street from me; and that includes their corrupted headquarters at Bob Jones University. We do not know why the good Lord said these horrible things about the Laodicean church, we can only speculate. Allegedly they are an independent Baptist church at Harvest Baptist Church on Guam, but they diligently follow the corrupt spiritual leaders at BJU, promoting BJU's chapel sermons in Micronesia via their KHMG 88.1 FM radio station.

Tragically, Harvest and BJU have moved away from the hope of the Gospel, instead embracing a false gospel of partial faith in Christ plus works. Dr. Steve Pettit is extremely dangerous as a Bible teacher, because he preaches about faith and grace to sugarcoat his lies about having to surrender all, turn from your sins, and faithfully 'run the race' until the very end, to be saved. That is another gospel, which cannot produce the new birth in Christ Jesus! The Bible declares a curse upon anyone who perverts the simple Gospel (Galatians 1:6-9). This is a serious matter to God! A recent 2020 survey found that over half of professed Christians in America are moving away from core Christian values. The reason why we are changing is because we are not fighting not to change! Revelation 3:2, “Be watchful, and strengthen the things which remain, that are ready to die: for I have not found thy works perfect before God.” We are in the battle of our lives today over the inspiration and purity of the King James Bible, and the accuracy of the Gospel of free grace.

We learn in the Scriptures that Paul was concerned about the churches in Asia Minor being corrupted. Colossians 2:8, “Beware lest any man spoil you through philosophy and vain deceit, after the tradition of men, after the rudiments of the world, and not after Christ.” The church at Laodicea was only 9 miles west of the church at Colossae, which is likely why Paul wanted his epistle read in both churches. We do know one thing for sure—something awful happened in the church at Laodicea, something so subtle that they were naked, blind, miserable, wretched and poor and didn't even realize it!!! 

The apostate church at Laodicea epitomizes the corrupted Bob Jones University crowd today! BJU doesn't realize that they have moved away from the hope of the Gospel. Harvest Baptist Church on Guam is blinded to their own wretched condition today! I am the best friend they have, because I have told them THE TRUTH repeatedly for the past six years, but they sinfully reject and ostracize me to this very day. I love them unconditionally with Christ's love! I told the truth. I did the right thing. I honored the Lord. Proverbs 12:17, “He that speaketh truth sheweth forth righteousness: but a false witness deceit.”

Presently, Dr. Steve Pettit is at the helm as president of BJU since 2014, steering the college into the jagged rocks of Lordship Salvation, who have become shipwrecked concerning the faith:

1st Timothy 1:18-20, “This charge I commit unto thee, son Timothy, according to the prophecies which went before on thee, that thou by them mightest war a good warfare; Holding faith, and a good conscience; which some having put away concerning faith have made shipwreck: Of whom is Hymenaeus and Alexander; whom I have delivered unto Satan, that they may learn not to blaspheme.”

Although Paul called them “brethren” in Colossians, I believe they were shipwrecked concerning the faith at Laodicea, led astray by a false gospel! Read what the Apostle Paul said to the believers in the church at Colossae:

Colossians 1:20-23, “And, having made peace through the blood of his cross, by him to reconcile all things unto himself; by him, I say, whether they be things in earth, or things in heaven. And you, that were sometime alienated and enemies in your mind by wicked works, yet now hath he reconciled In the body of his flesh through death, to present you holy and unblameable and unreproveable in his sight: If ye continue in the faith grounded and settled, and be not moved away from the hope of the gospel, which ye have heard, and which was preached to every creature which is under heaven; whereof I Paul am made a minister;”

Paul wasn't saying that they would lose their salvation if they faltered in their faith; but rather, it would prove they were never really saved if they strayed away from THE HOPE OF THE GOSPEL. I believe this is what happened to the church at Laodicea! Paul wrote his Epistle of Colossians several years before John penned the book of Revelation in 96 AD. At the time of the writing of Colossians, the church of Laodicea was still doing okay. What happened? We don't know. Lordship Salvation is a perversion of grace, which has invaded our churches today. 

Tragically, I'd say that 90% of all independent Baptist churches today are errantly teaching that you must “turn from your sins” to be saved. You cannot show me any such teaching in the Bible. All you can do is take Scripture out of context. I saw a funny coffee mug the other day, which read: “I can do all things through a Bible verse taken out of context!” Yeah buddy, no kidding! That is exactly what the proponents of Lordship Salvation are doing, wrestling the Word of God to their own destruction! (2nd Peter 3:16-17). The bottom line is that you cannot show me one verse in the Bible, which says to “turn from sins” or “repent from sin” to be saved. Well-meaning sincere men add this requirement, because it seems logical to their human thinking, but it is not God's Word! In so doing they are doing wickedly.

The senior pastor of Harvest Baptist Church on Guam literally referred to me in 2017 as the church's “enemy,” for befriending them with THE TRUTH that the modern Bibles have been corrupted by Satan, and that Lordship Salvation is not by free grace! The Apostle Paul ran into the same problem in Galatia. ...

Galatians 4:16-17, “Am I therefore become your enemy, because I tell you the truth? They zealously affect you, but not well; yea, they would exclude you, that ye might affect them.”

Yes, Harvest Baptist Church on Guam and Bob Jones University consider me their “enemy,” because I told them THE TRUTH, and will continue to do so for Jesus Christ! I don't expect unsaved heathens to understand, but I do expect anybody who professes to love the Lord Jesus Christ join me in upholding THE TRUTH! We are at war spiritually dear reader. I am on the frontlines fighting the good fight of faith!!! I need your prayers. I need your help spreading THE TRUTH. I encourage you to start a blog. Perhaps start your own website. You are freely welcome to copy and paste all my writing, from my blogs and websites, to use as your own. You can even put your name on my writings, and I would be honored. No credit needs to be given. I want THE TRUTH to get out to as many people as possible. 

Hey, do you know why Google, YouTube, Facebook, Twitter and other major social media are censoring Christians and conservatives? It is because SOCIAL MEDIA WORKS! Facebook has banned my LoveTheTruth.com website, because I think Sandy Hook was a staged hoax. Don't I have a right to my opinion? No, not according to Facebook. My Jesus-Is-Savior.com website has lost 75% of my web traffic over the past 5 years on Google, because they are censoring me. I love everyone unconditionally with God's love, but when big social media companies can silence Christians, our nation is headed for destruction. 

“God gives us FREEDOM so we can use it for HIS GLORY, and if we're not going to use it for His glory, guess what, He might take it away from us!” —Pastor Steven L. Anderson: “The Dechristianization Of Our Nation”

Look what Jesus said to the Laodiceans:

Revelation 3:18-22, “I counsel thee to buy of me gold tried in the fire, that thou mayest be rich; and white raiment, that thou mayest be clothed, and that the shame of thy nakedness do not appear; and anoint thine eyes with eyesalve, that thou mayest see. As many as I love, I rebuke and chasten: be zealous therefore, and repent. Behold, I stand at the door, and knock: if any man hear my voice, and open the door, I will come in to him, and will sup with him, and he with me. To him that overcometh will I grant to sit with me in my throne, even as I also overcame, and am set down with my Father in his throne. He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches.”

The word “overcome” is used in reference to salvation in the Bible:

1st John 5:4-5, “For whatsoever is born of God overcometh the world: and this is the victory that overcometh the world, even our faith. Who is he that overcometh the world, but he that believeth that Jesus is the Son of God?”

In the parable of the wedding guest without a garment, it symbolized the guest's unsaved condition. Matthew 22:11, “And when the king came in to see the guests, he saw there a man which had not on a wedding garment: And he saith unto him, Friend, how camest thou in hither not having a wedding garment? And he was speechless.” We overcome by our faith! Again, I am not sure what happened to the church at Laodicea. Did they succumb to a false gospel like the churches in Galatia? Were they so backslidden that they stopped serving the Lord? Jesus said they were blind, miserable, naked, poor and wretched, but they thought they were doing okay. What an indictment! As I look at churches across the United States and its territories today, I see the church at Laodicea. They've got money. They've got talent. They've got people. They've got bigshots. They've got social acceptance. They've got the support of apostate Bible colleges. They are arrogant, haughty, sinfully proud, boastful, blind, miserable, naked, spiritually poor and wretched, but they don't see any of it! The Lord says: “REPENT”!