BE ZEALOUS THEREFORE AND REPENT

BE ZEALOUS THEREFORE AND REPENT

 Scripture: Revelation 3:19

Topic: Be Zealous therefore and repent

“As many as I love, I rebuke and chasten: be zealous therefore, and repent.”

                                                                                                                                             Revelation 3:19

 

Just as Jesus found in the temple those that sold oxen, sheep and doves, and the table of the moneychangers, today He also finds probably worse things in His Body. Through laxity, coldness and religiosity, we have sneaked into the church money, prosperity, wealth creations and traditions. The zeal into which newly saved souls are born into is non-existent. They are born into the same cycle of “do nothing for God”, “seek comfort” and “desire to be blessed only”. Hence, zeal which characterizes being born again, is absent in the church of today. Jesus writes to the churches in the book of Revelation. The call to each of the seven churches is to hear. The condition of the seven churches represents the seven conditions of the local aspect of the church today. These seven conditions of the church are to continue to exist in every age during the dispensation of grace but spiritual declension in them will intensify until the second advent of Jesus Christ.

 

The call is for the churches to repent. Repentance is a trivialized word in the church, and it has become so because of the lack of true repentance evidenced by fruits. This aspect has been relegated to the back in the church. Jesus said,

 

“Bring forth therefore fruits meet for repentance:”

                                                                                                                                                    Matthew 3:8

 

Repentance must bring forth fruits; fruits meet for repentance. Over the recent years, many have come into the church claiming repentance yet have lacked the fruits meet for repentance. There is no demand on those who claim to have repented to bring forth fruit and the lack of this demand has adulterated the true faith and reduced the quality of what it means to be truly saved and repentant. Repentance must be followed by fruits. Where are your fruits of repentance? There are three ingredients in repentance for the believer. To be saved and remain unproductive is no salvation but self-deception. May we all be warned to see clearly what responsibilities our salvation imposes on us. 

Many countless Christians sit in churches doing nothing except with a trumpet announcing how saved they are. This is what is called dead faith. Your faith died as quickly as it had started to live. We show forth our living faith, which is a product of grace by the works we wrought in God’s house. Show me your works and you would have evidently showed me your faith.

“Thou believest that there is one God; thou doest well: the devils also believe, and tremble. But wilt thou know, O vain man, that faith without works is dead? Was not Abraham our father justified by works, when he had offered Isaac his son upon the altar? Seest thou how faith wrought with his works, and by works was faith made perfect?”

                                                                                                                                                 James 2:19-22 

Sitting believer, for how long will you be without zeal? For how long will you trivialise your faith? Does your faith mean anything to you to necessitate consistent action?