Break Down The Walls Of All My Religion
Make Room (Evelyn Heideriqui, Josh Farro, Lucas Cortazio, Rebekah White)
Here is where I lay it down
Every burden every crown
This is my surrender
This is my surrender
Here is where I lay it down
Every lie and every doubt
This is my surrender
And I will make room for you
To do whatever you want to
To do whatever you want to
And I will make room for you
To do whatever you want to
To do whatever you want to
Shake up the ground of all my tradition
Break down the walls of all my religion
Your way is better
Your way is better
Here is where I lay it down
You are all I'm chasing now
This is my surrender
Revelation 3:20 -
"Here I am! I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears My voice and opens the door, I will come in and eat with him, and he with Me" .
I've heard many sermons in which Revelation 3:20 is quoted with great certainty and joy – usually in the context of Jesus standing outside the door of a person's life. It's a wonderful Gospel truth, and countless unsaved people have heard Jesus knocking and have responded to this eternal message and welcomed Jesus into their lives. Precious though that message is, it's not the context of what Jesus told John to write about in the book of Revelation.
The scripture refers to the people of Laodicea, who had been a fellowship founded on Jesus – a true church of God's people who had been called out of the kingdom of darkness to enjoy the Light of God's truth in fellowship with Him. So, why is Jesus portrayed as being on the outside of this church, knocking on the door and wanting to come in? How come that Jesus had been ushered to the door and locked out in the first place?
The Laodiceans thought they'd got it altogether – surely, they, of all people, were in a good place, doing God's will? They were rich and were in need of nothing – but sadly, they no longer showed any need of Jesus. They were confident in their own abilities, their own resources and their own wealth. Their church was located in a great trading location. Laodicea was known for its fine woollen clothing and for the salve, the balm, which people came from far and wide to buy as ointment for their eyes. They were doing well. The people were rich and well-clothed – they had acquired wealth and didn't need a thing! They were thriving on religion, but had long lost a vibrant and living relationship with Jesus. Attendance was good, the church building was well-maintained, finances were healthy, but, as far as Spirit-filled living was concerned, they were just going through the motions. They were locked into programmes, traditions and worship-sets which made the church look good and earned them a good reputation, but which had left no space for Jesus to move.
God doesn't look on the outward appearance – He looks on the heart (1 Samuel 16:7). He saw the people in the Church of Laodicea as being "wretched, pitiful, poor, blind and naked" (Rev 3:17). God saw the reality, that Jesus had been shown the door. Jesus begins His analysis of the Laodiceans' spiritual life by saying that "He is about to spit them out of His mouth" (Rev 3:16).
In the parable of the ten bridesmaids (Matthew 25:1-13), Jesus describes the five who were wise as having oil in their lamps, and contrasts them with the five whose lamps were empty of oil, whom He describes as foolish. In the parable there are only two categories – the wise, with oil, and the foolish, without oil. But as we meditate on why Jesus had been locked out of the church at Laodicea, and was now on the outside, waiting for an invitation to come back in, we begin to see that there could be another category, an even more terrible one – those who once had oil in their lamps, and were now going through the motions of Christian living, but with their lamps having run out of oil a long time ago. These are like the people of whom Paul speaks in 2 Timothy 3:5 – those who maintain a façade of religion but whose conduct nullifies their claim to faith.
We're more aware than ever before that we are entering the end of the end times and that these are days of severe testing for God's people, times in which, Jesus said, believers "will be hated by all nations because of Me" (Matthew 24:9). In these days, the god of this world is out to undermine and destroy the true people of God and to rob them of their inheritance. And, it seems, one of his prime tactics is to take people's eyes off what God is actually calling them to do and, instead, be happy, in Laodicean style, with their own interpretation of Christian living, which more easily fits in with their own desires or way of life!
They back off from the road which is rough and steep (the narrow way) and opt for the easy road (the broad way). They cease to fight for the treasure which is won through perseverance and endurance and choose to walk on a downward slope of acceptable popularity which leads to compromise of their calling at every level of belief and witness. Jesus urged the Laodiceans not to depend on their current wealth and success, but to buy from the Lord gold that has been refined by fire – so that they could become truly rich, be clothed in the white attire of righteousness and have their spiritual sight restored. Let's never forget that as individual believers, and as a church, our dependency is always on God and never on ourselves.
Jesus' letter to the church at Laodicea raises two questions:
What are the reasons, in today's end-time church, which would cause believers who once had it all together, with plenty of oil in their lamps, to discover that their lamps are dry and Jesus has been pushed outside of their church and their individual lives?
The second question relates to the urging of the Lord to the Laodiceans to go to Him to buy gold that has been refined by fire. What, in the eyes of the Lord, is this gold refined by fire – the gold which would bring restoration to their relationship with Jesus?
In relation to question one, it may be that the biggest issue in the church today is the lack of true discipleship. Many believers are not being prepared for what lies ahead. Based on the parable of the ten bridesmaids, it may be that 50% of those who sit in churches nowadays ran out of oil a long time ago and are blissfully unaware of their lack of fellowship with the Holy Spirit. There are also those who have become bitter and fraught, perhaps overwhelmed and burned out. They are in the desert and need their oil to be replenished.
In Isaiah 61:3, God promises to comfort those who mourn, to give them beauty for ashes, the oil of joy for mourning and the garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness. Sustaining a Godly focus over the long term doesn't happen accidentally. We have to be deliberate and intentional. There's no substitute for being in the Word, and in prayer and in worship and in fellowship and in service, hungering for more of God, wanting to know Jesus more and desiring a greater measure of the Holy Spirit in our lives.
The enemy is always trying to distract us so that we gradually lose that hunger and we become complacent. It can happen imperceptibly and invisibly. Like Joseph and Mary, when they were returning from Jerusalem, they assumed that Jesus was with them when, in fact, they were moving further and further away from Him. It's easy to get ourselves into that comfort zone where we think we have it all and we no longer need to press in further.
As for the second question, 1 Peter 1:7 seems relevant:
These trials are only to test your faith, to see whether or not it is strong and pure. It is being tested as fire tests gold and purifies it—and your faith is far more precious to God than mere gold; so if your faith remains strong after being tried in the test tube of fiery trials, it will bring you much praise and glory and honour on the day of His return.
Jesus asks us to 'buy gold', perhaps because of the cost involved in suffering for our faith. It's easy to substitute God's love for a worldly view of love by which love means affirming people in every way, watering down the gospel, compromising our faith, modifying God's Word to incorporate worldly and woke thinking.
Trials push us to that place where we come to the end of ourselves and throw ourselves totally on Jesus, and this is where God wants our hearts to be, so that our faith becomes steadfast and unwavering.
Are we hearing what the Spirit is saying to the church today?
Prayer
Lord God, we want our relationship with You to be living and vibrant. If we have replaced that living relationship with tradition, habit or religion, please forgive us and allow Your Holy Spirit to breathe upon us again. May Your Spirit also breathe new life into Your Church, we pray. May we not rely on programmes and rituals as substitutes for Your power and glory. Let Your Kingdom continue to break through into our world so that Your will will be done on earth as it is in heaven. In Jesus' Name we ask. Amen!
