DAY 49 – 2004

Fred Coulter - May 29, 2004

And greetings brethren. This is day 49 in the count to Pentecost, which will be tomorrow. And as we know this is a great significance as we have been studying coming up to the time of Pentecost, how that God deals and has framed everything around His holy days. And of course the season, as we have seen, shows that this is going to be a harvest of God. Now there are many lessons we can learn, so let’s go to 2 Chronicles 29 and let’s look at some things and make some comparisons between the state of the church today and the state of Judah and Israel at the time we find here in 2 Chronicles 29. Let’s go back a little bit to 2 Chronicles 28 because we need to see what things have happened here and how they have come about, and let’s look at the stage that was set for King Hezekiah. Because you see, human nature is such that it starts out at a low point of repentance and then familiarity breeds in, and then ‘getting along and going along’ breeds in, and then Satan is there and he begins to add in his things. And just like Israel and Judah of old, the churches of God begin to incorporate some of the doctrines of Satan the devil. And of course today that’s what so many of them have done. So let’s see the parallel here beginning in 2 Chronicles 28.

Let’s begin right here in verse 1, “Ahaz was twenty years old when he began to reign, and he reigned sixteen years in Jerusalem: but he did not that which was right in the sight of the LORD, like David his father:…” And we find that’s so true. When one generation passes away and another generation comes, then it seems as though, and even in business they have said that in the third generation of inheriting businesses, the families cause it to just blow apart. So here we are in the third generation in our time, and what do we have? We have it blowing apart, and we have the doctrines of Satan coming into the church in many, many different forms. We have the doctrines from Judaism, we have the doctrines from Protestantism, we have doctrines from Catholicism. And all of these things have taken place within the church of God and caused great problems. So let’s see what Ahaz did here.

He didn’t walk in the way that God intended like David his forefather did. “…For he walked in the ways of the kings of Israel, and made also molten images for Baalim.” And of course as we know the sin of Israel was Sunday-keeping, just like the sin of Israel today is Sunday-keeping, which means that they kept the feast of Baal instead of the feasts of God. Now I want you to look at the state of the church today as we’re going through and seeing this, and I want you to consider that maybe there’s all whole lot more that we all need to do as individuals, and all whole lot more that we need to do in our lives in drawing close to God and in doing the things that we need to do. And I want you to also see that there are probably a lot of things that we need to do as a group together to do the things that God wants us to do.

Now let’s see what else he did. “Moreover he burnt incense in the valley of the son of Hinnom,…” And I want you to listen to this because then we are going to go to his son Hezekiah. And then after Hezekiah, Hezekiah’s son Manasseh went back and did the very same thing. Because you see what the problem is – people do not really want to follow God, God’s way. They get enough of God and they get enough of His Word and then they decide in their own minds that they want to follow God with this add-on it and with that add-on, and with the other add-on, and they end up telling God what to do. And the same thing has happened within the churches of God. It happened right here. “…And burnt his children in the fire, after the abominations of the heathen whom the LORD had cast out before the children of Israel. He sacrificed also and burnt incense in the high places, and on the hills, and under every green tree. Wherefore the LORD his God delivered him into the hand of the king of Syria; and they smote him, and carried away a great multitude of them captives, and brought them to Damascus. And he was also delivered into the hand of the king of Israel, who smote him with a great slaughter.”

So needless to say, when the Israelites came in, and God even used the hand of the Israelites to correct those in Jerusalem and Judah, and they slaughtered a great number and took a great number captive. But God intervened through the prophet Oded, and he said, “Do not take the captives with you.” So the children of Israel took of the spoil and they clothed them, they fed them, and they returned them back to Judah. So God didn’t want them to make slaves of them.

Now let’s see what Ahaz did, and why it was so abominable. Verse 22, “And in the time of his distress…” You see when you’re in trouble is when you need to go to God. But he didn’t. “And in the time of his distress did he trespass yet more against the LORD: this is that king Ahaz. For he sacrificed unto the gods of Damascus, which smote him: and he said, Because the gods of the kings of Syria help them, therefore will I sacrifice to them, that they may help me. But they were the ruin of him, and of all Israel.” See, because when we do what we think is right, or we do political things, or we look to other religions of this world to give us understanding of the Word of God, we’re going to be in great trouble just like it Ahaz was, and we’ll see that that was one of the problems within the church’s of God.

“And Ahaz gathered together the vessels of the house of God, and cut in pieces the vessels of the house of God, and shut up the doors of the house of the LORD, and he made him altars in every corner of Jerusalem. And in every several city of Judah he made high places to burn incense unto other gods, and provoked to anger the LORD God of his fathers” (2 Chron. 28:1-5, 22-25). Now you see this was absolutely a terrible situation for his son, Hezekiah, to inherit.

Now let’s see what Hezekiah did. And here is a good example for us of what we need to do in the churches of God, what we need to do to get our lives squared around with God, and let’s see what he did. It was really quite spectacular.

Now 2 Chronicles 29:1, “Hezekiah began to reign when he was five and twenty years old, and he reigned nine and twenty years in Jerusalem. And his mother’s name was Abijah, the daughter of Zechariah. And he did that which was right in the sight of the LORD, according to all that David his father had done. He in the first year of his reign, in the first month, opened the doors of the house of the LORD, and repaired them. And he brought in the priests and the Levites, and gathered them together into the east street, and said unto them, … sanctify now yourselves, and sanctify [cleanse the temple and the sanctuary] the house of the LORD God of your fathers, and carry forth the filthiness out of the holy place.”

Verse 6, “For our fathers have trespassed, and done that which was evil in the eyes of the LORD our God, and have forsaken Him, and have turned away their faces from the habitation of the LORD, and turned their backs. Also they have shut up the doors of the porch, and put out the lamps, and have not burned incense nor offered burnt offerings in the holy place unto the God of Israel. Wherefore the wrath of the LORD was upon Judah and Jerusalem, and He hath delivered them to trouble, to astonishment, and to hissing, as ye see with your eyes.” So apparently Hezekiah did what God said – that he was to have a copy of the book of the law, and he was to read it all the days of his life. So he did what David did here.

Now look, let’s see how similar this is to what’s happening to the churches of God today. Verse 9, “For, lo, our fathers have fallen by the sword, and our sons and our daughters and our wives are in captivity for this.” Now notice his attitude – the attitude of repentance. The attitude of change. The attitude of really getting right with God and helping all of those with him to do so. “Now it is in mine heart to make a covenant with the LORD God of Israel, that His fierce wrath may turn away from us” (2 Chron. 29:1-10).

And brethren, that’s what it has to be with us. If you don’t think the fierce wrath of God has been against His churches you’ve got another thought coming. And that’s why it’s in the disarray that it is in. Now the remnant of those of us who are trying to help piece it back together, we have to do just like Hezekiah did here – to have it in our heart to do it. See, we’re not here to do our thing. We are not here to do what we desire. We are not here for organizations or numbers or peoples, we are here to preach the Word of God. And we are here to live our lives according to God’s Spirit. And we are here because we have a holy mission and a holy calling of God to do what He wants us to do in our individual lives and collectively together. And so we can pretty well say this is the kind of covenant we need to have in our hearts. And I know when I was studying, preparing for this sermon that that really got to me, that this is the thing that we need to do. Each one who has the Spirit of God needs to make the same covenant with God to get their lives right, to get them squared around, and to do so with love and with zeal, and with determination as never before.

Now then he told the Levites, “You go ahead and you get in there and you clean it up, and you do the things that need to be.” So here it was, they weren’t doing what they needed to be doing. It took them a tremendous time to go ahead and clean out the temple. As a matter of fact they didn’t get it done until the 16^th day of the first month, so they missed the Passover and on into the Feast of Unleavened Bread because the temple was so absolutely filled with abominations and destroyed by king Ahaz that it took all this time and it went beyond the Passover. So we come to chapter 30 and we see what they did here.

So here’s what Hezekiah did, 2 Chronicles 30:1, “And Hezekiah sent to all Israel and Judah, and wrote letters also to Ephraim and Manasseh, that they should come to the house of the LORD at Jerusalem, to keep the passover unto the LORD God of Israel.” Now remember, as we have already covered that the Passover is the most important thing of God, because there is no covenant relationship with God unless there is the Passover. So notice how he started out here with the Passover. And we’re going to see as we go through this that it continued on into the time of Pentecost, and actually carried forward to the fall feasts in the seventh month. So this is really a tremendous revival that has been taken place by Hezekiah. And what it does it shows this: it shows that if the people of God returned to Him they will keep not only the Sabbath but also the Passover and the holy days of God. Now you can just witness the Seventh Day Adventists. Yes, they keep the Sabbath. Yes, they have some fairly good things that they do, but they have incorporated too many of the doctrines of Protestantism, and they don’t know the plan of God. Because as we have seen, the plan of God, the framework for it is the Passover and the holy days. So it’s significant that he sent out the letters for them to keep the Passover, and it was the Passover in the second month, as we will see in the next verse here.

“For the king had taken counsel, and his princes, and all the congregation in Jerusalem, to keep the passover in the second month.” Now you can read that in Numbers 9, that if someone is unclean because of touching a dead body, or in a journey afar off, that they could keep it in the second month if they were clean within one month, or if they were back into the land of Israel at that time. Now the people were all unclean spiritually, so it’s certainly was a very important thing for them to do, to keep the Passover in the second month. And that was a right judgment to do so.

“For the king had taken counsel, and his princes, and all the congregation in Jerusalem, to keep the passover in the second month. For they could not keep it at that time [that is, the first month], because the priests had not sanctified themselves sufficiently, neither had the people gathered themselves together to Jerusalem.” So it pleased everyone. They sent out a letter, and here is the sum of the letter. You can read it, let’s come down here to verse 8 where Hezekiah makes it very clear.

He says, “Now be ye not stiffnecked, as your fathers were, but yield yourselves unto the LORD, and enter into His sanctuary, which He hath sanctified for ever: and serve the LORD your God, that the fierceness of His wrath may turn away from you. For if ye turn again unto the LORD, your brethren and your children shall find compassion before them that lead them captive, so that they shall come again into this land: for the LORD your God is gracious and merciful, and will not turn away His face from you, if ye return unto Him.” So that was the letter that went out to all of it Israel, to all the cities of Judah, and up into Ephraim and Manasseh.

So they gathered together to keep not only the Passover, but verse 13, “And there assembled at Jerusalem much people to keep the feast of unleavened bread in the second month, a very great congregation.” Now let’s understand it this way: Just like this year the Passover was on the night of the fourth of April, the second Passover was on the night of the fourth of May. Exactly one month later. Then like this year Pentecost is on the thirtieth of May. So you go from the fourth of May to the thirtieth of May and you have just right at 27 days left, don’t you? Actually inclusive counting, 28 days or four weeks. So what they did, they came, they kept the Passover and Unleavened Bread.

Now let’s come to verse 21 and see what they did. “And the children of Israel that were present at Jerusalem kept the feast of unleavened bread seven days with great gladness: and the Levites and the priests praised the LORD day by day, singing with loud instruments unto the LORD. And Hezekiah spake comfortably unto all the Levites that taught the good knowledge of the LORD: and they did eat throughout the feast seven days, offering peace offerings,…” and so forth.

Now verse 23, “And the whole assembly took counsel to keep other seven days:…” So now we’re dealing with two weeks involved, right? Yes, so they kept the other seven days. And it was a tremendous thing that took place. So let’s come down here to verse 26. “So there was great joy in Jerusalem: for since the time of Solomon the son of David king of Israel there was not the like in Jerusalem.” So this was a great revival. “Then the priests…arose…” and did all the things they needed to do. (2 Chronicles 30:1-2, 8-9, 13, 21-23, 26-27).

Now let’s come to chapter 31 and we will see that since there were only two more weeks until Pentecost, what they did up to the time of Pentecost, and what they did from the time of Pentecost on down to the time of the Feast of Tabernacles. Quite an amazing thing. Now let’s read it here. Verse 1, “Now when all this was finished, all Israel that were present went out to the cities of Judah, and brake the images in pieces, and cut down the groves,…” So this was a tremendous revival, you see. And I tell you what, this is what we really need in the church of God. All the ministers, all the elders, all the people need to go into their lives and cut down their images, and groves, and high places, and all their vanity, and stupidity, and all of the false doctrines that they have brought into the church, and all of the false calendar information that everyone is going to have one-ups man-ship on how smart they are, how great they are.

And let me just tell you this: God gave the calendar long before the Naval Observatory ever came into existence. When you start dealing with the calendar things… Now there’s one out there… There are so many calendar things out there that I can’t name them, but let me tell you something: God did not give the Calculated Hebrew Calendar to Hezekiah and the Levites, which we’re reading of right here, in vain. He gave it so it would set the feast straightforward from that time forward, and it is mathematically in tune with everything that there is in the universe. And puny little men going around looking for the wave sheaf offering, ignoring Christ, marrying themselves to Judaism and trying to get the people of God to do that are committing great sin against God. So we need to do exactly what they are doing here. Get rid of all of those doctrines within the church. Get rid of all of those selfish, self-serving beliefs. There’s even one man claiming (he’s supposed to be a minister of God) that he is “that prophet.” Now “that prophet” was Jesus Christ. Now I would say this: he doesn’t have too long before God’s judgment comes on him because he is representing himself in the church of God as a false Christ. Now see, we need to understand this. The God means business. He’s not going to give the eternal life and cause people to be resurrected in the first resurrection because they try. God expects us to do.

Now let’s read on. So what they did, he set it all up. After they did that then notice verse 3, “He appointed also the king’s portion of his substance for the burnt offerings,…” We will see they brought in all the tithes and everything. And those tithes were more than just agricultural products and animals, because Hezekiah made a foolish mistake in his pride at the end, of showing all of the ambassadors from Babylon the great treasure of the tithes and offerings that were stored up at the temple because of what the people had given. And that was all the gold and the silver and everything like that. And so one of the great limiting factors that people have today is they don’t believe in tithing. Will what you want to do, you ought to go to God and tell Him you don’t believe Him. Yes, ministers have abused tithing but that doesn’t eliminate the law. Just like people have abused Sabbath-keeping, that does not justify Sunday-keeping. See, now we need to get our heads screwed on right. If we are going to be the firstfruits of God, if we are going to be to the glory of His praise, then God expects us to do the things He wants us to do just like here.

So the long and the short of it was verse 5, “And as soon as the commandment came abroad, the children of Israel brought in abundance the firstfruits…” So it shows, because it says they kept the set feasts – was not Pentecostal one of the set feasts? What is firstfruits connected with? The Feast of Pentecost. That’s what they were doing. “…Of corn, wine, and oil, and honey, and of all the increase of the field; and the tithe of all things brought they in abundantly.” So what they did, there was so much coming in that Hezekiah had to build storehouses. And it kept coming in all summer, and they continued to do this. Here verse 7, “And in the third month they began…” [because the tithe of the holy things were consecrated to God] and they began to heap up all of the store of everything, and so he had to build storehouses. So anyway, he laid the foundation and they “…finished them in the seventh month” (2 Chron.31:1, 3, 5, 7). So all during the summer as the harvest would come in they would bring it in. And it carried right down to the seventh month.

Now likewise with us, the things that we are doing – it starts out with the Passover and Unleavened Bread and then into Pentecost. And then it comes down to what we are going to be doing after the first resurrection when Christ returns, how that we are going to be the ones who are going to help restore this world to the kingdom of God. And if there is any one thing that the events in the world are portraying today is this: that you cannot have world government without the rule of God, and without one set of laws, and with out those who are dedicated to serving God. It cannot work.

Now let’s continue on. Let’s look in the New Testament and see how the seven churches were also affected by the exact same sins that Israel was. And so we need to do just like Hezekiah here. We need to be like the people that followed him. We need to all make a covenant in our hearts to serve the Lord our God with all our heart, and mind, and soul, and being so that we can accomplish what God wants us to do in our individual lives. And whatever door that God opens for us to do to the world then we’ll do what He wants us to do. We’re not going to go out and do our thing. We are not going to go out and to create a false work of God and run down the road and say, “This is the work of God. This is the work of God. And oh, by the way God, since this is Your work, You’ve got to bless it.” Well you see, God doesn’t have to bless anything unless He is behind it. God doesn’t have to bless anything because we think we are who we are. We have to be what God wants us to be, and we have to be led of the Spirit of God to do what God wants us to do. And that’s how things are going to be accomplished. It won’t be accomplished any other way.

Now let’s come to Revelation 2 and 3 and let’s see the parallels here. Now let’s see how the book of Revelation starts out because this is profoundly important for us to understand. In our relationship with Jesus Christ, as we have seen, Revelation 1 is the Passover and Unleavened Bread. Revelation 2 and 3 represent the seven weeks harvest. Now tomorrow we’ll talk about the 50^th day harvest. But let’s see what is important here for us to realize. And let’s understand that at the set time Jesus Christ is going to come back. God’s plan and purpose has been predetermined and it’s going to be, and we have been called. And so this is why we need to understand the message to the seven churches and look at the parallels that we have seen back there in 2 Chronicles 29 through 31, and see the parallels in the churches. Because Satan the devil is the same yesterday, today, and forever, and so he’s going to use the same tactics. Maybe just a little different application. And Revelation shows us how he was doing that and what Christ thinks of it, and what we need to do.

Now first of all let’s pick it up here in Revelation 1:1. “The revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave to Him, to show to His servants the things that are ordained to come to pass shortly; and He made it known, having sent it by His angel to His servant John;…” Now in God’s eye and view from the time of John till now is shortly. “…Who gave witness to the Word of God and the testimony of Jesus Christ, and all the things he saw. Blessed is the one who reads, and those who hear the words of this prophecy…” Now let’s look at that for just a minute and understand it. You have to “read it and hear” means “to hear and to do.” Now if you want a very interesting study, why don’t you go through the book of Revelation and outline it according to the Ten Commandments, and see if not all the Ten Commandments are there.

Now let’s just if you one to start with. Revelation 14:12 (FV). “Here is the patience of the saints; here are the ones who keep the commandments of God and the faith of Jesus.” See, you have to have both.

Now another thing that’s important: Unless you are keeping the things that are written in this book, you won’t understand it. That’s what’s important. And we’re living in the time of the fulfilling of the these things. And if we’re going to understand it we need to understand it in the way that God has put the framework of the Passover and the holy days in it because the book of Revelation is the ultimate fulfillment of the holy days of God. “…And who keep the things that are written therein; for the time is at hand.” So here’s the message. It goes to the seven churches.

Now notice who it’s from. “John to the seven churches that are in Asia: Grace and peace be to you from Him Who is, and Who was, and Who is to come;…” And Jesus promised that, “if I go again, I will return.” And He is coming, and it’s going to be powerful, and it isn’t going to be a sweet nice little Jesus like most of the deceived professing satanic churches of the world, who profess a Christ. It’s going to be in power, it is going to be in might, and it is going to be an earth and universe shaking event. Because God said He is going to shake the heavens and shake the earth and the sea and everything that is in it. And this is the opening here that God gives to the book of Revelation, and then the first thing He talks too, as we will see, is the church, because the church is the most important thing in the mind of God. He can always take care of the world. His plan is eventually going to take care of it. But right now the immediate business is with the church of God. All the prophecies are going to work out the way He determines. Not one is going to fail. We may not all understand them in the way that God does, and what we do understand that has to be from what God gives us.

Now let’s continue. “…And from the seven spirits that are before His throne; and from Jesus Christ, the faithful Witness, the Firstborn from the dead, and the Ruler of the kings of the earth. To Him Who loved us and washed us from our sins in His own blood,…” Passover, right? Yes. “…And has made us kings and priests…” That’s the goal. See, what Jesus does when He begins this, He holds out to us the whole purpose and the goal of where we are headed, and what we are to do, which is the greatest thing that can be in this life. You see, all of the other churches in the world, and too many churches of God, have made it a business of being better people. Well God’s business is not only for you to be better people, God’s business is to train you for eternal life. God’s business is so that you qualify through Christ. God’s business is so that you can be kings and priests and reign with Him. That’s what it’s all about.

“…To Him be the glory and the sovereignty into the ages of eternity. Amen.” He says every eye is going to see Him. Then He shows what He is like in His very spirit existence, shining as the sun in full strength. Now notice verse 8 what He says, “‘I am the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the Ending,’” says the Lord, “‘Who is, and Who was, and Who is to come—the Almighty.’” Now that’s who has called us. That’s who has personally chosen us. That’s who has placed us in the church of God. Jesus Christ Himself, and God the Father together have made that choice for you. Now you see, when we get into the churches here in just a little bit, we’re going to see that God wants the church to stay in the condition that it was when it was washed with His blood. That is to stay in a state of spiritual righteousness with God, right-standing with Him continually. And we’re going to see where the church’s of God, because of human nature and because of Satan the devil, and sure enough you can get along with your human nature for a while but know for sure that when you do, guess who’s going to be right knocking at that the door very shortly after – Satan with his devices. And we will see that this happened to the church’s of God.

Now let’s come over here to verse 16. We won’t go through the full description of Him, but just this one here. “And in His right hand He had seven stars, and a sharp two-edged sword went out of His mouth [which is the Word of God], and His countenance was as the sun shining in its full power.” And John said, “And when I saw Him, I fell at His feet as if dead; but He laid His right hand upon me, saying to me, “‘Do not be afraid; I am the First and the Last, even the one Who is living; for I was dead, and behold, I am alive into the ages of eternity. Amen. And I have the keys of the grave and of death. Write the things that you saw, and the things that are, and the things that shall take place hereafter.’” And we’re going to see that’s the whole key in understanding the book of Revelation. Because you see by the time we go through all of the holy days of God and come to the Last Great Day after the Feast of Tabernacles, we have gone through the whole book of Revelation. Now that’s profound, because the book of Revelation lays out the plan of God according to His holy days.

Now let’s go on. Then He says, “‘The mystery of the seven stars that you saw in My right hand, and the seven golden lampstands, is this: the seven stars are the angels of the seven churches; and the seven lampstands that you saw are the seven churches’” (Rev. 1:1-6, 8, 16-20, FV). Now this is not like candelabra that was in the temple. The that was like this with three on each side and a center one. Christ is walking in the midst of the seven lampstands so it’s more like a circle. He’s in the midst. Christ is in the midst of His church. Christ is in each one of us through the power of the Holy Spirit, and we each one being a temple of God. In other words, God is living and dwelling in us with the earnest of the Spirit that He has given us, and we combined are the temple of God. And just like in the days of Hezekiah, the temple of God had to be cleansed, rebuilt, and rededicated to God. So likewise, the spiritual church of God needs to do the same thing.

Now let’s see what He says beginning with the church at Ephesus. “‘To the angel of the Ephesian church, write: These things says He Who holds the seven stars in His right hand, Who walks in the midst of the seven golden lampstands.’ ” You see Christ is in the midst of His church. That’s why it is His church. Now here’s something we need to understand: God knows everything about us. Dwelling in us, He knows all of our faults, all our mistakes, all of our sins. He knows our hearts, He knows our minds, He knows our thoughts, and everything, doesn’t He? Yes, He does.

He says, “‘I know your works, and your labor, and your endurance, and that you cannot bear those who are evil;…’” And I still don’t think we fully understand the tremendous assault that the New Testament church was really under during the times of the apostles and the establishing of the churches. And I think we’re beginning to get a glimpse of it right now today through the Nag Hammadi library that was discovered in upper Egypt where all of these false gospels are out there depicting supposedly many things that were done in the church, which were actually the forming of the false church which later became the Roman Catholic Church and the Orthodox Church - those things emanating out of Egypt. And the powers to be in the theological centers of the world today are looking at all of these gospels as a means of amalgamating all religions together. So we need to understand that they had a tremendous battle. And just like when the church first starts out “‘…you cannot bear those who are evil; and that you did test those who proclaim themselves to be apostles, but are not, and did find them liars;…’” That’s why it’s to the Word of God. Everything must be to the Word of God, and the truth of God. It’s not how important they are. It is not how good a speaker a person is. It’s not what they may say, it is what they do that’s important. So you have to check everything out by the Word of God. And the first thing that we need to do here is what Paul wrote in 1 Thessalonians 5:21, “Prove all things; hold fast to that which is good.” The only way you can prove all things is by the Word of God. And the only way you can hold fast to all things is that you have a relationship with Jesus Christ, that you are walking in His commandments and you are doing the things that are right. The that’s the only way the you are going to be able to find out truth from error.

Now let’s finish verse 3, “…And that you have borne much and have endured, and for My name’s sake have labored and have not grown weary; nevertheless, I have this against you, that you have left your first love.” And that means slacking off on the commandments - the first four commandments toward God; and of loving God with all of our heart, and mind, and soul and being. And they became involved in being more of a social club and more of do-gooders. In other words everything became so automatic. And I hear this today. People who hear some of the sermons and things that we give out, they say, “I was so bored, I was never even challenged in the church of God that I was in.” And they feel as though they’ve gotten out of a spiritual concentration camp. They lost their first love just like it is here. So here is the message. And let’s see this is for all the churches.

“‘Therefore, remember from where you have fallen, and repent, and do the first works;…’” And that’s what we need to do brethren. We need to always be in an attitude of repentance toward God, because spiritual growth takes place bit by bit, day by day. A cleansing, a changing, a rebuilding, a renewing, and that only comes from deeper repentance and understanding to God. “‘…For if you do not, I will come to you quickly; and I will remove your lampstand out of its place unless you repent’” (Rev. 2:1-5, FV). Why have so many ministers and people left the church of God? Because of this very thing. They lost their first love and they didn’t repent.