Most western churches are like the fig tree that Christ cursed for its pretentious foliage when it had no fruit, Matthew 21. Most American churches have music and preaching, but may lack content as the imagery suggests re the last of 7 churches, said to be lukewarm with materialism in Revelation 3:14-21.
1. The letter to the last of seven churches in Revelation is addressed to the aggelos–the messenger or preacher. He has the door closed to Christ who is outside knocking to enter. This implies that Christ is not in the chuch, in spite of music or sermons about Him.
2. Also, the message in Revelation 3:14-21 is addressed to the aggelos—the messenger or preacher of the church who is said to be “blind and naked,” Rev 3:17. Blind means he doesn’t see what’s coming, and naked means his loins are not girded with truth, Ephesians 6:14, King James Bible.
The Holy Spirit, personified as Wisdom in Proverbs 8, understood the nature of church men to change God’s requirements and spoke through Christ to say before He comes again, “Eli[jah] truly shall first come and restore all things.” Matt 17:11. This supports the need for more truth than we hear in church.
3. We can be part of the “restitution of all things” (Acts 3:21) and play an important part to help others see present truth—not the old truths that we hear in church, like bread sliced 52 different ways a year, but truth for our time.
Christ implied the need to be like “a householder which brought forth out of his treasure things new and old.” Matt 13:52. “In every age there is a new development of truth, a message of God to the people of that generation. The old truths are all essential; new truth is not independent of the old, but an unfol-ding of it…He who rejects or neglects the new does not really possess the old.” Ellen White, Christ’s Object Lessons, pg 127.
Since God is going to reward every man according to his works, we might do better to focus on how we might help the church we are in to see truth for our time, rather than warm the pew as a spectator. This would be a good reason we might stay in our present church, but if the information we have to offer is not welcome, then consider a change.
Our first job might be to find others who also have an open mind like the Bereans. They “received the word with all readiness of mind, and searched the Scriptures daily whether those things were so.” Acts 17:11.
One area where we might find information to help fellow church members is on the topic of the wedding parables as they are commonly misuderstood as a rapture. Why not make a study of them and compare the points they have in common to discerrn a message. Do we really see a rapture, or could it have a different meaning?
There are three wedding parables. Christ gave Matthew 22:1-14 and 25:1-14 in the last week of His life and Luke 12:32-48 was given on His last journey from Galilee. For starters, His words imply that we don’t understand them!
Dr. Richard Ruhling’s websites include one on the wedding parables: http://TheBridegroomComes.com
Dr. Ruhling took enough courses for a religion major in college. He is non-denominational because he sees important truth that denominations have the door closed to--like they have the door closed to Christ who is outside knocking in Revelation 3:20. He recommends information at http://ChooseABetterDestiny.com