30. The Kingdom Parables – The Seventh – The Dragnet – Part 6 Of 6 Series

30. THE KINGDOM PARABLES – THE SEVENTH – THE DRAGNET – PART 6 OF 6

We are bringing the final Parable of the Kingdom to an end. I don’t know how many might have followed this series but the whole lot is beautiful as the word of God contains all these treasures. In every Parable, we looked at the Parable itself in context, then at the church that corresponds to the parable. Lastly, as in all of them, we consider the period of Church History represented by each in turn.

What is astounding is that all 7 parables and 7 churches and 7 Church History periods, have all been in exact consecutive order. Only God could have planned it that way, not man. The Laodicean period of Church History is the easiest for us because it is the one we live in.

The church situated in Laodicea was a miserable one, poor spiritually, though overflowing with material riches. They were naked and blind to the Holy Spirit, and to any relationship to the Lord. They were apathetic and lukewarm with the Lord placed on the outside of the church.

We must ask, “When did this date of this Church age start?” The previous one represented by Philadelphia was a blessed one all with God’s approval. I suggested that the Philadelphian period incorporated the great movements of God in the past two to three hundred years, and was NOT a denomination as some previous Church periods were.

These three great moves of God were world evangelism with such names as the Wesleys, Torrey, Moody and Billy Graham. Today some of this is carried on through great Christian radio stations internationally.

The second move of God was the great outreach of missionary endeavour and we looked at organisations for that. Then I suggested the third move of God was to bring in the awareness of eschatology (study of the last things). It was the revival of studying biblical prophecy – Rapture, Tribulation, Second Coming, but trumping all of these things, it was the return of Israel to its land that is absolutely significant. After about 1800 to 1900 years, God started to open up Israel again, and people are looking at Israel in biblical prophetic light.

I find it horrendous when I meet “people in the church” who are anti-Semitic, critical of the Jews and banishing them to judgemental fury from A.D. 70 to the present, and to eternity. It is demonic because God has not cast His people away.

Getting back to our question about the start of the Laodicea period, it would have to be around 1950 I think. Some people have an earlier date, but one of the great movers was the World Council of Churches, a liberal amalgamation of denominations, almost all of them now very liberal.

The Council was formed on 22 August 1948. “The formation of the World Council of Churches marked the culmination of a growing recognition that Christianity could be more effective and more consistent with its own theological VISION IF HISTORICAL AND DOCTRINAL DIVISIONS WERE MINIMIZED.” That produced an insipid, lukewarm profession of churches walking away from God.

In the first part of the 20th century and just before that, and even today, the influence of German rationalism was hitting many churches hard. There was the denial of miracles, questions about biblical authorship, even about the Person and Character of Christ. These great errors found their way into Bible Seminaries and Denominational training Colleges.

The church at Laodicea was powerless for the Lord, and generally speaking, so too is the modern church. It has plenty of hype with the charismatic practices, but no penetrating effectiveness in a lost world; more show and noise but not godliness.

The Baptist denomination in the United States 70 years ago was a powerful, fairly united force for God but from around the 1970s began splintering into hundreds of factions along the whole spectrum of doctrinal matters. Just this year I had a practising Baptist minister in the USA who disagreed with me on a basic doctrine of the bible, and then called me an idiot and buffoon, and an ignoramus in scripture.

Additionally I wrote to the First Baptist Church in Atlanta Georgia, where the minister is the Democrat Senator - Raphael Gamaliel Warnock. I was concerned about the liberalism there and the WOKE approach of the church and the socialism in the name of Baptist. Conclusion – I was banned from their church site on the Internet. No surprise.

In Laodicea, local orators would sometimes praise the city for its self-sufficiency and independence, so it is not surprising that the church also absorbed some of the facets of the city and chose its independence of Christ. It was wealthy and had need of nothing. It was rich in spiritual gift and ability and evidently boasted of its knowledge and light. It was conceited.