This morning I’d like to talk about escaping Laodicea, and I can almost hear someone saying, “Why would I want to do that! Laodicea is the last of the seven church periods covered during New Testament times and that’s the period we’re living in today, so how can we leave, and if we could, where would we go?”

Well, it’s true, we are living in the last period of church history, which is   specified in Scripture as Laodicea, but there’s a huge difference between living during the Laodicean time period and being in the Laodicean state. First of all let me read you an inspired statement that shows there are indeed seven periods during the Christian era and that we are now living in the last one.

Acts of the Apostles, page 585, and this is speaking of the Christian church as a whole and not any specific denomination. It includes all churches professing the Christian faith from the time of Christ’s first advent to His second. “The names of the seven churches are symbolic of the church in different periods of the Christian Era. The number 7 indicates completeness, and is symbolic of the fact that the messages extend to the end of time, while the symbols used reveal the condition of the church at different periods in the history of the world.”

There’s no doubt, according to the 1260 year time prophecy of Daniel and Revelation that we are now living at the time of the end, we have been since 1798. I take it for granted you already know this, so we’re not going to take the time to prove it. So, since Laodicea is the last church mentioned in Revelation 3 and the messages to the seven churches extend to the end of time that means we have to be living during the time when the condition of the church is in the lukewarm state; does that make sense? And without taking the time to read the description of Laodicea, because you should be familiar with that as well, we know that lukewarmness is something God cannot tolerate, hence He spews them out of His mouth; that’s projectile vomiting, not a very pleasant picture. And so, the Laodicean condition is a spiritually sick condition that must find a cure. But where does the Laodicean go when he becomes hot or cold? He doesn’t stay lukewarm, so what happens to him?

Well, let me just say this; God’s desire is for us to be hot Christians, but either way, when one becomes hot or cold he is no longer lukewarm. To be cold is to reject the offer of salvation through Christ and just go ahead and live a worldly life without hypocrisy. At least a person like that is not fooling or deceiving anyone. That’s why God would rather a person be cold than lukewarm. And to be hot is to be filled with the Holy Spirit and have Jesus living within, which results in obedience to God’s Ten Commandment Law.

If you go to your kitchen sink and turn on the hot and cold taps at the same time, what are you going to get? You’ll get lukewarm water, won’t you? There are many professed Christians like that today, they look hot on the outside, but may be cold on the inside. In other words, when you see them they act like good Christians; they do all the right things, they say all the right words, and they dress as expected, but can a person like that be a good actor and be unconverted? Yes indeed, that’s one way to be classified as lukewarm.

Another way to become Laodicean is for a hot Christian to gradually become lukewarm. This can happen in a variety of ways. Perhaps they become discouraged for some reason, or begin neglecting their devotional life, or maybe they begin compromising in some area of their life where before they were quite conscientious, and they start cooling off until they are lukewarm and don’t even realize it.

And what about someone who is cold and they hear the truth and begin to warm to the message, but then they don’t go all the way and stumble over some particular point of truth they’re not willing to submit to the Lord. They don’t leave the church, they wouldn’t do that, and they know they need to make a full surrender, but decide they’ll do that sometime in the near future when circumstances are just right, but just not right now. They would also be classified as lukewarm.

All these kind of people can be church members and be in a lukewarm Laodicean state, and since we know that only a minority will be saved in these last days, that’s what Jesus indicated when He said, “Straight is the gate and narrow is the way that leads to life eternal and few there be that find it.” That means the lukewarm far outweigh the hot, and because of that, we should examine our own hearts to see if we fit into any one of these categories to make sure we are not one of them.

But here’s the point, when one becomes hot or cold they are no longer in the lukewarm Laodicean condition, because there is no such thing as a hot Laodicean or a cold Laodicean, they’re all designated as lukewarm. The reason we know for certain that the Laodicean church is not the true church is because the lukewarm are going to be spewed out, and since the true church cannot be in two different conditions at the same time, then there must be another church state that has the characteristics of hot Christians. The Laodicean state is corrupt and selfish and everything Jesus is not, and when the Laodicean state of lukewarmness turns hot, the lukewarmness disappears from the life and ceases to exist, because Laodicea is lukewarm and only lukewarm. So again, when one becomes hot, where do they fit in if not within the Laodicean church, or the Laodicean state?

Many of the pioneers of our faith understood early on that the last three churches mentioned in Revelation 3 were symbolic of the condition of Christianity just before and after the great disappointment of 1844. The fifth church, Sardis, they understood to represent the nominal Babylonian  churches, which they used to be a part of, but afterward called upon people to leave or come out, and Laodicea, they believed, represented nominal Adventists of the day, and Philadelphia represented the only true church of God on earth, because Philadelphia is the only one of the seven churches that had the type of character to be translated to the city of God, and they used an Old Testament end time prophecy to prove their point.

So let’s take a look at that. Notice what it says in Zechariah 13:8, 9, “And it shall come to pass, that in all the land, saith the LORD, two parts therein shall be cut off and die (those with the characteristics of Sardis and Laodicea); but the third (that would be Philadelphia) shall be left therein. And I will bring the third part through the fire, and will refine them as silver is refined, and will try them as gold is tried: they shall call on my name, and I will hear them: I will say, It is my people: and they shall say, The LORD is my God.” And in Review and Herald, June 20, 1907 Sister White uses these verses to describe how God is going to refine the last day church, which shows that the pioneers of our faith were on the right track when they used these verses to describe the Philadelphia state as the condition we want to be in when Jesus comes.

And you know, I believe they were correct in their understanding of this prophecy, because Philadelphia is the only church of the seven that God found no fault with. They’ve been tried and refined and have been found faithful and have developed the kind of character that is safe to take to heaven so sin cannot arise the second time. All but Philadelphia had something to repent of, and Laodicea had more problems than all of them, and we see that today within this last day church period as we observe the kinds of things being taught and practiced in the various churches professing the Christian faith, and especially for us, within Adventism.

In Revelation 3:18 Jesus counsels the church of Laodicea to buy of Him gold (faith and love), white raiment (the righteousness of Christ), and eye salve (the Holy Spirit), and if they do that they will not remain lukewarm, and verse 20 says Jesus is outside knocking on the church door, which means He can’t save them unless they let Him in, and if they let Him in He will transform their character, and their lukewarmness will disappear along with the Laodicean state. And so, it’s clear that the Laodicean state is a lost condition. That’s why Sister White said what she did in Last Day Events, pages 48, 49. Notice what she said, and notice also that the characteristics of the last three churches are represented in what she writes here.

“I was confirmed in all I had stated in Minneapolis, (and by the way, in Review and Herald, August 26, 1890 she said, “Since the time of the Minneapolis meeting, I have seen the state of the Laodicean Church as never before.” I read that just so you know what she thought about the spiritual condition of the Adventist church at that time. Now back to the quote I started with in Last Day Events, pages 48, 49) “I was confirmed in all I had stated in Minneapolis, that a reformation must go through the churches. Reforms must be made, for spiritual weakness and blindness (that’s the Laodicean state, they need the eye salve) were upon the people who had been blessed with great light and precious opportunities and privileges. As reformers (represented by Philadelphia) they had come out of the denominational churches (represented by Sardis), but they now act a part similar to that which the churches (the Babylonian churches of Sardis) acted. We hoped that there would not be the necessity for another coming out. (She obviously didn’t have much confidence in the denomination at this point, did she?) We hoped that there would not be the necessity for another coming out. While we will endeavor to keep the ‘unity of the Spirit’ in the bonds of peace, we will not with pen or voice cease to protest against bigotry. (That would be the intolerance shown to the righteousness by faith message presented by Elders Jones and Waggoner at Minneapolis, and that’s why she said, “Since the time of the Minneapolis meeting, I have seen the state of the Laodicean Church as never before.”)

“Of those who boast of their light and yet fail to walk in it Christ says, ‘But I say unto you, It shall be more tolerable for Tyre and Sidon at the day of judgment than for you. And thou, Capernaum [Seventh-day Adventists, who have had great light], which art exalted unto heaven [in point of privilege], shalt be brought down to hell: for if the mighty works which have been done in thee had been done in Sodom, it would have remained until this day. (And then she says) The church is in the Laodicean state. The presence of God is not in her midst.”

Quite an admission, isn’t it? She wrote that in 1889, and as far as I know, she never made another statement throughout the rest of her life where she backed off from that statement. If you know of one, let me know. In fact, A. G. Daniells who was General Conference President at the time later wrote a book titled Christ Our Righteousness in 1926, long after Ellen White died, and in there he stated that the church, up to that time, never did accept and implement that righteousness by faith message. Have they since that time? Not to my knowledge. And so the denomination is still in the Laodicean state, and the unavoidable conclusion is, the presence of God is not in her midst.

Why do you think there are so many Adventists today that are not following Spirit of Prophecy counsel? Why so much jewelry, and immodest dress, and music, so called, that does not honor and glorify God? Why so many celebration church plantings during the time we are in the antitypical day of atonement and should be afflicting our souls? Why is the divorce rate nearly equal to the world? Why so much compromise with sin? Why is the gay movement gaining momentum within Adventism as it is in the world and nothing being done about it? Why are women taking the place of men and transgenders being ordained as elders? Why are ministers coming out of Andrews University and using NLP upon their congregations? Why did they give a gold medal to the pope instead of telling the people from the pulpits that the papacy is the man of sin? Why is the denomination involved in the ecumenical movement? Why do they teach that Jesus had an unfallen human nature? Why are they now teaching the Catholic version of the trinity? Why did former General Conference president Neal Wilson say that the church’s previous view of the papacy “has now been consigned to the historical trash heap?” Why did the church leaders take people to court and pay a Catholic lawyer to sue them because they were under conviction to call themselves Seventh-day Adventists?

Why, why, why? It’s because dear friends, “The church is in the Laodicean state. The presence of God is not in her midst.” If the Holy Spirit was in control of the leaders, these kinds of things would not be going on. There is no other way to account for this sad state of affairs, and I wish I didn’t have to tell you these things. Oh how I wish I didn’t have to tell you these things, but I must tell you the truth. Back in the day Ellen White hoped that there would not be the necessity for another coming out, but I’m afraid her worst fears have been realized. There was hope in her day that the church would heed the counsel of the true witness, that’s why she didn’t leave, but that hope has vanished at this point, because they are stuck in the Laodicean mindset and are convinced that the Laodicean church is the translation church, and count it a privilege to have that distinct designation. They are anchored in that view and they’re not willing to pull up anchor, and I’ll read that to you in just a minute.

You can ask just about any Seventh-day Adventist today, leader and laity alike, and they will tell you proudly that they are the Laodicean church, and the sad thing is, they would not be telling you a falsehood. If a person doesn’t recognize they have a problem, how are they ever going to correct the problem? And it’s the same with the church. They need the eye salve of the Holy Spirit, but they’re not willing to apply it that they might see, because they think they already see just fine.

Years ago I came across a statement by the denominational leadership that says something very important about themselves that I’d like to share with you this morning. It’s really quite revealing. And I say this because many times when certain doctrinal issues come up the church leaders will tell you that they have not taken an official stand one way or the other, but in reality they have, because they continue to propagate certain views in their publications. When certain things are allowed to come to print on denominational presses, they are officially telling you what they believe; they have taken a stand regardless of what they say.

This statement is from Ministry, December, 1948, page 23, (by the) Review and Herald Publishing Association. “When the finished product (speaking of church publications) carries the stamp of a standard publishing house, it bears denominational approval. It is then a denominational, not a private, publication. It has a measure of authority and dignity not otherwise possible.”

Now why do they say this? It’s because, before it’s published it gets looked over by those in authority and they are in agreement that it is true, this is what they believe, otherwise it wouldn’t be printed and sent out for the church and the world to consume.

So, in just a moment I’m going to read you a couple authorized statements where the General Conference of Seventh-day Adventists admit they are the Laodicean church, and we can know that that is exactly what they believe because of the statement I just read to you. Notice what they themselves admit in their own official church publication, the Adventist Review, August 28, 2008, page 5: “Today we hesitate to claim we’re the remnant [and that’s a good thing, because they’re not]; but as for Laodicea, that’s us! Us alone!  No other Christian group vies with us for the dubious privilege of being identified with it. . . Claiming exclusive rights to Laodicea is not politically incorrect. So, unchallenged, we’ve become anchored in the view that Seventh-day Adventists are the sole group envisioned in the apocalyptic concept of that term.”

And here are a couple more quotes from an earlier date, which means they’ve had this understanding for a very long time. Probably longer than most of us have been alive.

Advent Review, November 9, 1939, “The last church will not be spewed out; it will not be rejected; it will go through triumphantly.”

Three weeks later in Advent Review, November 30, 1939 it says, “The Laodicean Church is the translation church. . . this is the very church that will be translated into the Kingdom of God.”

Now, I would agree that the true church will be translated during the Laodicean time period, but it will not be Laodicea that will be translated. Every person on this planet that is translated when Jesus comes will have escaped the Laodicean state and entered another state. The General Conference of Seventh-day Adventists is absolutely sure of who they are. They are Laodicea, and they are unchallenged about this, and I certainly wouldn’t challenge them on this statement either, because Jesus said, “By their fruits you will know them.” But what does the Spirit of Prophecy say in regard to the Laodicean Church? That’s what we need to know.

We already read that the prophet said, “The church is in the Laodicean state. The presence of God is not in her midst.” Now think this through for a minute. “The presence of God is not in her midst.” What does that mean for the Laodicean Adventist church?

In Acts of the Apostles, page 55 it says, “To the end of time, the presence of the Spirit is to abide with the true church.”

But since the Holy Spirit is not with the Laodicean church, that’s why they need the eye salve, how can it be God’s last day church? The presence of God, according to what we just read, will never leave the true church. But if the Seventh-day Adventist church is Laodicea and the presence of God is not in Laodicea, then the only conclusion we can come to is that the General Conference and all its conference churches cannot possibly compose God’s true church, plain and simple! That’s why it’s imperative that we understand who and what is the church.

You can search the Bible and the Spirit of Prophecy all you want, but you’ll never find a statement that equates the true church or the remnant church with Laodicea, not once! If you can find one let me know.

In Selected Messages, book 2, page 66 it says, “The message to the Laodiceans is applicable to Seventh-day Adventists who have had great light and have not walked in the light.” And friends, if we have the truth and are not walking in it, what are we? Lukewarm, and lukewarm is lost.

The name Laodicea comes from a Greek compound word. The first part means “a people” and the second part means “justice, judgment or punishment.” When you put the two parts together you could have several meanings which include “a just people,” “a people of justice,” “a people of judgment,” “a people judged;” “a people of punishment,” or “a punishing of a people.”

Now, according to the context of Revelation 3:14-22 as the apostle John describes the church of the Laodiceans, it could hardly mean “a just people” or “a people of justice,” because they have lots of problems to overcome and sins to be repented of, and how can you be involved in sin and be just? So that just doesn’t fit! The meaning that fits the best as you consider the character of the church of the Laodiceans is that they are “a people of judgment” or “a people judged” or the type of punishment this people will receive if they remained lukewarm; if they don’t open the door and let Jesus in.

For many years Seventh-day Adventists have been taught that Laodicea simply means a people of judgment because the time frame of this church began in 1844, which has reference to when the investigative judgment began. That’s what I was taught to believe, but it goes much deeper than that when you consider the lost condition of this church. This church comes under Divine justice or judgment because of the state it’s in, and its punishment will result in it being vomited out of God’s mouth.

Now I want to make something perfectly clear at this point. We cannot escape the Laodicean time period, it is what it is and we can’t change that. It is the last church period just before the Lord comes and we can’t juggle the time periods around, but we can and must escape the Laodicean state or we will be eternally lost. The condition of Laodicea is one that God cannot and will not accept. The lukewarmness must be transformed into hotness by obtaining the same characteristics of a people who lived during another time period, and that would be the church in Philadelphia. As you read the description of the first five churches, they all had some good points, but also some bad, which means that Philadelphia had all the good points of the first five with none of the bad, and Laodicea has not even one good point to recommend itself to God. Nevertheless, God loves them and wants them to shake off the Laodicean state, and He gives the remedy to their problem if they will take it.

Now let’s look at this subject of “a people judged” from another angle. In John 5:24, Jesus said something very interesting. He said, “Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that heareth my word, and believeth on him that sent me, hath everlasting life, and shall not come into condemnation (or judgment); but is passed from death unto life.”

You see, this is the way to escape the judgment coming to the Laodiceans and enter the state of the church in Philadelphia. We must have the word of God in our hearts, and we must believe on the God who sent the Lord Jesus Christ down here to transform and save fallen human beings, and if we do that we will have passed from death unto life and will not come into judgment. There is no need to judge the church in Philadelphia because there is no condemnation there. Those Laodiceans that heed the counsel of the true witness and become part of the Philadelphia church will not be “a people of judgment” or “a people judged” or “a people of punishment,” because they’ve already been judged worthy of eternal life through the merits and righteousness of Christ.

Let’s look at another text in Romans 8:1 that confirms what John wrote. Paul said, “There is therefore now no condemnation (again, no judgment) to them which are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit.”

So again, if we are in Christ Jesus and walk after the Spirit, there is no need for us to be judged, because the Spirit will always lead us to love and honor and obey God and to keep His commandments. A person like that will never come into judgment, unless they slip back into their sinful ways, because he has already passed from death unto life. As soon as that happens they have already been judged worthy as a follower of Christ.

Let’s look at one more text, because this is such a wonderful truth to understand and experience, and besides, the Bible says, “In the mouth of two or three witnesses shall every word be established,” and Romans 5:18, 19 is our third witness that will establish this truth beyond question. “Therefore as by the offence of one (Adam) judgment came upon all men to condemnation; even so by the righteousness of one (Jesus) the free gift came upon all men unto justification of life. For as by one man’s disobedience many were made sinners, so by the obedience of one shall many be made righteous.”

So, judgment and condemnation are for those who are involved in sin, plain and simple, but if we have been justified and made righteous by the obedience of Jesus; if His righteousness is credited to us, that free gift, when accepted, exempts us from judgment and condemnation. And that, my friends, is a beautiful thing, and we should never forget it.

Now, as far as the investigative judgment is concerned, yes, the lives of the righteous will be looked at, but when the books are opened and the word pardoned by the blood of Christ is seen scrolled across our record book in heaven, there’s really no need to look any further, because all of our debt will have been paid by One who is above being judged, and our record of past sins will be forever blotted out. Notice how The Great Controversy, page 483 explains this.

“All who have truly repented of sin, and by faith claimed the blood of Christ as their atoning sacrifice, have had pardon entered against their names in the books of heaven; . . and they themselves will be accounted worthy of eternal life.”  And that’s what I want to happen to my sins, how about you?

Now, just in case you still have doubts, or aren’t quite sure that Laodicea is lukewarm and only lukewarm and that the only hope for an individual who is lukewarm is to escape Laodicea, let me ask you this, are the foolish virgins going to be saved? You say no, of course not, they will come to the marriage supper too late and when they get there they’ll find the door shut, and you would be right. Well, did you know that this is the very same experience every Laodicea will experience? Notice what it says in Review and Herald, August 19, 1890, volume 2, page 420, “The state of the Church represented by the foolish virgins, is also spoken of as the Laodicean state.” Then a little farther down in the next paragraph she refers to them both as “Half-hearted Christians.”

Now let me ask you another question, at what point in the parable did the foolish virgins lose their souls? Were they lost when they got to the marriage supper and found the door shut, or were they lost before that? They were lost before that, weren’t they? Right at the beginning of the parable Jesus said they took no oil in their lamps, that’s why they were foolish. They were destitute of the Holy Spirit when they needed Him most. And so, they had a problem long before they found the door shut, didn’t they? Not one single foolish virgin will be saved, and neither will one Laodicean, because they represent the same condition.

The 10 virgin parable is a warning about making preparation before it’s too late, and that’s what the message to the Laodiceans is all about. Just as the foolish virgins needed to leave the foolish state they were in and join the wise before the Bridegroom came, so the lukewarm must leave the Laodicean state and join themselves to those who are wise, or those who have the characteristics of hot Philadelphia Christians before the Bridegroom comes the second time.

In Review and Herald, August 19, 1890 it says, “The coming of Christ does not change the foolish virgins into wise ones.” So if the foolish virgins aren’t going to be changed into wise virgins, why would we think that the lukewarm will be miraculously changed into hot Christians when Jesus comes? We have to become hot and wise before that time or it will never happen, and to be hot and wise is to escape the foolish lukewarm state.

Here’s another point I’ll share with you that should help to solidify the truth about this subject in your mind. Ellen White very clearly identifies the church of Philadelphia as the church of the 144,000, which is yet another indication that this is the true church to belong to. Notice carefully what she says in Early Writings, page 15: “The 144,000 were all sealed and perfectly united. On their foreheads was written, God, New Jerusalem, and a glorious star containing Jesus’ new name. At our happy, holy state the wicked were enraged, and would rush violently up to lay hands on us to thrust us into prison, when we would stretch forth the hand in the name of the Lord, and they would fall helpless to the ground. Then it was that the synagogue of Satan knew that God had loved us who could wash one another’s feet and salute the brethren with a holy kiss, and they [the synagogue of Satan] worshiped at our feet.”

Because this is an important point, I want you to notice the similarities between what the Bible says about the church of Philadelphia and how Ellen White describes the 144,000 who will compose the translation church.

Revelation 3:12 says those in Philadelphia would have God’s name written upon them, the city of God, which is new Jerusalem written upon them, and Jesus’ new name written upon them, and the quote we just read from Early Writings says these same three things will be written upon the 144,000. This is conclusive evidence that those who have the characteristics of those mentioned in the church of Philadelphia and the 144,000 are the same. Do you see that?

After quoting Revelation 14:1-5, which is a description of the 144,000, notice what Ellen White says in Manuscript Releases, Vol. 18, pg. 28, “This Scripture represents the character of the people of God for these last days.” Certainly Laodiceans do not have the kind of character represented by the 144,000, do they? According to what we read a moment ago Sister White indicated that the church in Philadelphia is the only church of the seven that has the identifying marks of the 144,000. They are the ones who have “God, New Jerusalem, and a glorious star containing Jesus’ new name” written on their foreheads, indicating their Godly character, and again, that definitely does not describe Laodicea, does it?

After quoting Revelation 3:7-13, which describes the church in Philadelphia Sister White says the following about the 144,000 in Early Writings, page 30, “These (these people in Philadelphia) are they which were not defiled with women; for they are virgins (that would be wise virgins). These are they which follow the Lamb whithersoever He goeth. These were redeemed from among men, being the first fruits unto God and to the Lamb. And in their mouth was found no guile: for they are without fault before the throne of God.”  And the church in Philadelphia, friends, was the only church of the seven that was without fault.

And here’s one more point before we close. The quote we read a moment ago from Early Writings, page 15 says those of the Synagogue of Satan will come and worship at the feet of the 144,000, or those that have the characteristics of Philadelphia, the true last day church. It also says the Synagogue of Satan will say they are Jews, that is to say, they will say they are God’s people; they will say they are spiritual Israel or God’s last day church, but they are not. Why? Because their claim as the Laodicean church puts them in the same position as the synagogue of Satan.

There are not three or four or five groups or churches, there are only two. The foolish virgin church, the Laodicean church, the Babylonian church, and the synagogue of Satan are all a reference to the same church; they are all lumped into one great majority of those that will be destroyed when the Lord returns from the wedding supper of the Lamb. And any church that considers it a privilege, and claims exclusive rights to be identified as Laodicea, will suffer the consequences described in Revelation 3:16, they will be spewed out.

So please, don’t make the mistake of thinking that being spewed out means going through to God’s kingdom, or that the Laodicean church will not be rejected; or that it will go through triumphantly, or that it is the translation church. Rather escape Laodicea by becoming a hot Philadelphia Christian; do the preparatory work of developing a character that Jesus can take to heaven before it’s too late. Now is the time to make our calling and election sure, and we don’t have a moment to lose.

You may have never thought of this before, but in John’s description of the church in Philadelphia there is an open door which no man can shut, and I invite you today to enter that door and become a part of that church. John said no man can shut that door, but God can. Just as He closed the door to the Ark, He will close the door to the Philadelphia experience when He has determined that no one else is going to walk through that door. So time is of the essence.

Laodicea, on the other hand, is described as having a closed door with Jesus on the outside knocking. It seems clear enough to me that this is representative of the fact that when the Lukewarm Christian opens the door to his heart, he will be at the same time entering the open door to the Philadelphia experience of brotherly love and a hot relationship with Jesus that will transform the character and restore the image of God in the soul, because Jesus sups with no one in the Laodicean state. Only after the door is opened and Jesus invited in will we be able to sup with Him and He with us at the marriage supper of the Lamb.

I’ll close with this last statement in Christ’s Object Lessons, page 116, and as I read I want you to notice how the prophet quotes verses from both the church of Philadelphia and Laodicea as a description of what we need to do.

“Salvation is a free gift, and yet it is to be bought and sold. In the market of which divine mercy has the management, the precious pearl is represented as being bought without money and without price. In this market all may obtain the goods of heaven. The treasury of the jewels of truth is open to all. ‘Behold, I have set before thee an open door,’ the Lord declares, ‘and no man can shut it.’ No sword guards the way through this door. Voices from within and at the door say, Come. The Saviour’s voice earnestly and lovingly invites us: ‘I counsel thee to buy of Me gold tried in the fire, that thou mayest be rich.’ ”

When we buy that kind of gold, we will then be entering the open door to Philadelphia, and “the treasury of the jewels of truth” will set us free from the spiritually sick lukewarm state of Laodicea. May this be our experience.

Sermon Notes in PDF Escaping Laodicea