Nepaug Bible Church - http://www.nepaugchurch.org - Pastor's Adult Sunday School Notes - http://www.nepaugchurch.org/bb/bb20020630.htm

CHRIST'S SCRIPTURE PROPHECY ON CONTEMPORARY EVANGELICALISM
Part I: Identifying Revelation 3:14-22 As Christ's Message To Contemporary Evangelicalism (1950-now!)
  1. Introduction
    1. Though all Scripture is God-breathed and equips us unto doing every good work (2 Timothy 3:16-17), it would be very important for us to heed God's comments to us in our era WERE He to have made them!
    2. I believe Christ has prophetically addressed current Evangelicals in Revelation 3:14-22 as follows:
  2. Identifying Revelation 3:14-22 As Christ's Message To Contemporary Evangelicalism (1950-now!)
    1. First, Revelation contains some prophecy about every believer between John and eternity, cf. Rev. 1:1, 3:
      1. Rev. 1:1,3 shows the Revelation is God's message to His servants on what will occur in the near term!
      2. Well, John wrote the Revelation over 1900 years ago (Ryrie Study Bible: KJV, 1978 ed., p. 1785), so for the Revelation to be near term for some of God's servants, there must be sections of prophetic messages in the book of the Revelation that address each Christian's ERA in Church History.
    2. Second, very reputable prophecy experts, Dr. John F. Walvoord and J. Dwight Pentecost respectively note the Revelation 2-3 churches can or do represent seven successive eras of Church History, and that beginning with the Apostolic Church era (B.K.C., N. T., p. 932; Pentecost, Things To Come, p. 151-153).
    3. Third, each Rev. 2-3 message begins with the Greek words, Tade legei which elsewhere in the entire N.T. appear only in Acts 21:11 for a prophetic announcement by the Holy Spirit for a near term event, cf. UBS Grk. N.T., p. 844; Analyt. Grk. Lex., p. 396; Moulton & Geden, A Conc. of the Grk. Test., p. 683. This signals the seven Rev. 2-3 messages are prophecies of consecutive ERAs of Church History.
    4. Fourth, the phrase "he that hath ears to hear, let him hear" appearing in each Rev. 2-3 message signals each message is in parable form to be Biblically clarified for the godly, cf. Matthew 13:9, 10-17.
    5. Fifth, using such Biblical clarification, we identified seven eras in our "Thru the Bible Synthesis" with the Philadelphian Church of Rev. 3:7-13 being the 6th era of Fundamentalism [ending at WW II].
    6. Sixth, in viewing Rev. 3:7-13 in that study, we saw the world would be tried to judge 20th century Liberal Theology's promotion of uniformitarian evolution, a belief also denying the 2 Peter 3:4-9 prediction Fundamentalist's held, that the world would pass away with great heat. So, the close of WWII with the atom bomb was God's evidence of the truth of the 2 Peter 3:4-9 prediction to support Fundamentalism.
    7. [Note: Teachers often treat the 7th era, the Rev. 3:14-22 Laodicean Church as unregenerates who enter the Tribulation, meaning believers only up to the Fundamentalist era are raptured (Ibid., Pentecost, p. 212f). Yet, Rev. 3:19 shows Christ treats the Laodiceans as God's true sons (Heb. 12:6-8), so Laodicea pictures true Christians, so the rapture comes at Revelation 4:1 (to start the "hereafter").]
    8. Seventh, after WWII, around 1950, "new evangelicals'" tried to boost outreach by (1) abandoning Fundamentalism's separation from the world (2) and asserting a presumed more marketable Reformed posture (3) and interact intellectually with the lost, Armstrong, The Coming Evangelical Crisis, p. 29-31.
    9. Eighth, the result has been an unedifying advance of the Calvinist-Arminian SPLIT, Ibid., p. 32-33:
      1. Charismatics, who are all Arminian, reacted to Calvin's predestinationism in the Reformed posturing, going deep into false experience (Quebedeaux, The New Charismatics, p. 30f; Ibid., Armstrong, 179).
      2. Their preoccupation with philosophy in "New Arminian" evangelicals trying to evangelize intellecutals led them to react to Calvinism as did old Liberals and create similar deep error, Ibid., Armstrong, 33f!
    10. Well, Christ's Rev. 3:15-16 complaint the Laodiceans are neither the desired "cold" or "hot" water (Rev. 3:15) MATCHES this significant twofold classification of evangelicals that follows Fundamentalism:
      1. Archaeology and Rev. 3:15f indicates Laodicea piped cold water from Colossae and hot water from Heliopolis using conduits laid overland. Yet, this exposure left both lukewarm, New Bib. Dic., 717.
      2. Similarly, the Calvinist wing TRIES to advance doctrinal vibrancy (the desired "cold water") and the Arminian wing TRIES to advance experiential vibrancy (the desired "hot water"). Yet, as we will display in future lessons, there are grave deficiencies in both theologies and their effects on life and ministry (lukewarm)! [That something big is amiss is evident as even 14 Reformed belief leaders have called for a big change in the movement to avoid a "potentially lethal" crisis, Ibid., Armstrong, p. 18.]
Lesson: Christ's word to the Laodiceans of Rev. 3:14-22 is a critical call to 1950-current Evangelicals!

Application: Thus, we ALL must HEED it for blessing in OUR lives NOW (Rev. 3:22 and "churches").