Christ always knows our works. God is very practical. We Christians often place emphasis on our doctrines, on our intentions, on what we think we are, on what we intend to be or what we think we ought to be doing. But God is much more realistic than this. God judges us by what we actually do.

It often is said among Christians that Christ will not judge the believer according to his works. This is one of the greatest errors of our time. The one comment that Christ makes to all the churches is, "I know thy works."

As for the concept that Christ does not judge the works of Christians:

... I will give unto every one of you [Christians] according to your works. (Revelation 2:23)

The Laodicean age is one of apathy, of indifference toward the Gospel of the Kingdom of God. The Christians in the wealthy nations of the so-called "free world" (free politically but bound with the chains of covetousness, lust, and self-will) are spiritually lukewarm because of the material comforts they enjoy every day. It is difficult to become excited about an invisible kingdom when all around us there seem to be security and pleasure (although the security is an illusion and the pleasure is frantic and temporary, being based on what is passing away).

The majority of the Christians in the wealthy nations are not burning with zeal toward God. They do not want to be consumed with Christ, neither do they desire to be consumed with Satan. They prefer to give their verbal allegiance to Christ while retaining some of their sins and disobedience.

Such lukewarm, apathetic "believers" are nauseous to Christ. They are worthless to the Kingdom of God. If they were cold they would serve as a testimony of the end result of serving Satan. If they were hot they would serve as a testimony of the end result of serving Christ and would participate in the Kingdom purposes of the Lord.

But a believer who is not burning with zeal toward Christ, whose heart is divided between Christ and his comforts and activities in the present world, is as worthless as salt that has lost its flavor. He is good for nothing.

The Christian people of today who are entangled with the affairs of the present world while hoping to escape to Heaven in a "rapture" are not firmly established in the Kingdom of God. They are the fruit of the current misunderstanding of Paul's teaching concerning grace, and of the related errors such as the overemphasis on the love of God.

This is Satan's work. He has infiltrated the churches until they consist of one huge nursery of spiritual babies who pose no threat to his control of the nations of the earth. They are sick babies because they are being fed candy instead of the pure milk of the Word of God. Their teachers are not feeding them the Word of God but on the frivolous contemporary traditions.

How sad it is that men who subscribe firmly to the Divine inspiration of the Scriptures are not preaching those Scriptures but fables that have been handed down to them! One will search the Scriptures in vain for an emphasis on flying away to Heaven, which is the central topic of the preaching and teaching of numerous Christian churches.

To be continued.