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Voddie Baucham - What Does It Mean To Be Neither Hot Or Cold? · Voddie Baucham Sermons

• 0:00
  Speaker 1: And then here's where it gets interesting. You are neither
• 0:03
  Speaker 1: cold nor hot. Would that you were either cold or hot.
• 0:08
  Speaker 1: So because you are lukewarm and neither hot nor cold,
• 0:12
  Speaker 1: I will spit you out of my mouth or vomit
• 0:14
  Speaker 1: you out of my mouth. Sometimes we get a little
• 0:16
  Speaker 1: confused there and we think that there's some diagnosis and
• 0:20
  Speaker 1: prognosis there. That the idea of being spit out of
• 0:23
  Speaker 1: his mouth is really the consequence. That's the threat. The
• 0:26
  Speaker 1: threat is I'm going to spit you out of my
• 0:28
  Speaker 1: mouth or vomit you out of my mouth. That's not
• 0:30
  Speaker 1: the threat when you understand the context. He says you're
• 0:34
  Speaker 1: neither hot nor cold. The way that we read this
• 0:37
  Speaker 1: and understand it, again, has to be connected to the
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  Speaker 1: geography of Laodicea. If it's not, we just sort of
• 0:45
  Speaker 1: read this and we go, well, hot, that's good. Cold,
• 0:49
  Speaker 1: that's bad. Jesus is basically saying, I'd rather you either
• 0:53
  Speaker 1: be for me or against me.
• 0:56
  Speaker 2: One or the other.
• 0:58
  Speaker 1: I mean, be against me if you're going to be
• 0:59
  Speaker 1: against me, but at least just do it all out.
• 1:01
  Speaker 1: Go hard or go home. It's not what Jesus is saying.
• 1:08
  Speaker 1: First of all, we know that because he's talking to
• 1:10
  Speaker 1: the church at Laodicea. That's not what he's saying. Nowhere
• 1:15
  Speaker 1: in scripture do we find that. Be against me. I
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  Speaker 1: would have more respect for you if you were just
• 1:21
  Speaker 1: against me. The other problem with this understanding of the
• 1:23
  Speaker 1: hot and cold is that we actually reduce this to
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  Speaker 1: a matter of our passion and our intensity. We think
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  Speaker 1: of hot as very passionate and intense. And Jesus is saying,
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  Speaker 1: if you're not going to be passionate and intense about it,
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  Speaker 1: then just don't do it.
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  Speaker 2: It's not what he's saying here. Not at all.
• 1:44
  Speaker 1: This doesn't have anything to do with passion and intensity.
• 1:48
  Speaker 1: Doesn't have anything to do with being for him or
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  Speaker 1: against him. In order to understand what he means, you
• 1:53
  Speaker 1: have to use all of your context clues. One of
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  Speaker 1: them is this. Laodicea is rich in natural resources. And
• 2:01
  Speaker 1: we'll get to that in a moment because that's significant
• 2:04
  Speaker 1: as well. But there's one natural resource that they don't have.
• 2:09
  Speaker 2: That's water.
• 2:11
  Speaker 1: They don't have their own water supply. So there were
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  Speaker 1: two directions that they could go. There's Herapolis and there's Colossae.
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  Speaker 1: Now we know that there's a church in Colossae. We
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  Speaker 1: know that the letter of the Colossians. And in fact,
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  Speaker 1: Laodicea is mentioned in Paul's letter to the Colossians. And
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  Speaker 1: there's a relationship between Laodicea and Colossae. Colossae was the
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  Speaker 1: source of cold water. The strings of cold water that
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  Speaker 1: were good for drinking. They were six miles away. And
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  Speaker 1: so you would pipe the water in from Colossae for
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  Speaker 1: your drinking water. And when you pipe water in from
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  Speaker 1: six miles away at its source, it's cold. But by
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  Speaker 1: the time it goes through six miles of pipe, it's
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  Speaker 1: no longer cold.
• 2:58
  Speaker 2: It's lukewarm.
• 3:00
  Speaker 1: Well, Herapolis was 11 miles away in the other direction,
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  Speaker 1: and they had hot water. Hot water with calcium deposits
• 3:08
  Speaker 1: in these streams that were used for medicinal purposes. So
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  Speaker 1: the cold water was good for refreshing. Cold is not bad.
• 3:17
  Speaker 1: It's not hot good, cold bad. Cold is good. Any
• 3:22
  Speaker 1: of you live in Houston?
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  Speaker 2: Oh, yeah, that's right. All of us do. You live
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  Speaker 2: in Houston on a hot day? How about this?
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  Speaker 1: If you want to understand this vividly, those of us
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  Speaker 1: who live in Houston, here it is. You're in Houston
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  Speaker 1: on a hot day and you're outside doing some outside activity.
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  Speaker 2: You're at the zoo where we went recently over to
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  Speaker 2: the zoo.
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  Speaker 1: All right. You're at the zoo and it's hot. I like,
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  Speaker 1: like hot, like August Houston, hot, sweaty, nasty, hot. And
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  Speaker 1: you walk over to the water fountain. And when you
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  Speaker 1: walk over to the water fountain, you don't hear that
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  Speaker 1: familiar buzz, that hum You know the hum that you
• 4:01
  Speaker 1: want to hear when you walk up to the water
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  Speaker 1: fountain that says that it's working and it's cooling the water.
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  Speaker 1: But you ignore the fact that you don't hear the
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  Speaker 1: hum and you push the button and you put your
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  Speaker 1: mouth down for a nice cold drink of water on
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  Speaker 1: a hot day.
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  Speaker 2: And it's not cold. You don't just keep drinking.
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  Speaker 1: You spit that water out and try to go find
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  Speaker 1: somewhere where the machine is working and the water's cold.
• 4:27
  Speaker 1: That's what he's saying about the cold water. The hot
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  Speaker 1: water comes from Herapolis. The hot water was good for
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  Speaker 1: medicinal purpose. These mud baths or other things that they
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  Speaker 1: would have there. It was also heavily calcified water. So
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  Speaker 1: now you have hot water that's piped in that's heavily calcified.
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  Speaker 1: By the time that water gets to you, it's no
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  Speaker 1: longer hot.
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  Speaker 2: It is lukewarm.
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  Speaker 1: If you drank that hot calcified water, it could induce vomiting.
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  Speaker 2: I mean, it was literally that nasty. Don't drink the water.
• 5:01
  Speaker 2: It's nasty. It could induce vomiting.
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  Speaker 1: So when the hot water comes, it's no longer hot.
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  Speaker 2: It's not good for its medicinal purposes. It's lukewarm.
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  Speaker 1: When the cold water comes, it's no longer cold. It's
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  Speaker 1: not good for its refreshing purposes. It's lukewarm. Jesus is
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  Speaker 1: not saying here, be passionate or not passionate, be for
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  Speaker 1: me or be against me.
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  Speaker 2: Your problem is not.
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  Speaker 2: The temperature. Your problem is the distance from the source.
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  Speaker 2: That's the issue.
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  Speaker 1: And because of your distance from the source, you are
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  Speaker 1: not fulfilling any of the purposes for which you exist.
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  Speaker 1: There are some ways in which the church is to
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  Speaker 1: be a cold drink of water on a hot day.
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  Speaker 2: Amen? To be refreshing. Refreshing.
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  Speaker 1: There are other ways in which the church is to
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  Speaker 1: be a healing balm. And what Jesus is saying is,
• 6:06
  Speaker 1: you're neither refreshing nor healing. You are vomit-inducing lukewarmness. That's
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  Speaker 1: the diagnosis. The diagnosis is not just lukewarmness. You have
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  Speaker 1: vomit-inducing lukewarmness. That's the disease. That's what it's called. It's
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  Speaker 1: a vomit-inducing lukewarmness. But, I mean, a diagnosis is nothing.
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  Speaker 1: What are the symptoms of this disease that we have?
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  Speaker 1: Glad that you asked. Look at this next part of
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  Speaker 1: the passage.
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  Speaker 2: Four.
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  Speaker 1: Now he's going to give you the symptoms of the disease.
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  Speaker 1: You say, I am rich and I have prospered and
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  Speaker 1: I need nothing. Here's where history comes into play. You say,
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  Speaker 1: I am rich and I am prosperous and I need nothing.
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  Speaker 1: Why is that significant in Laodicea? Because they are a
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  Speaker 1: banking center. They're at a crossroads. You've got Ephesus and
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  Speaker 1: Herapolis and Colossae and all these other places. We're at
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  Speaker 1: a crossroads here. And Laodicea was extremely wealthy. How wealthy
• 7:20
  Speaker 1: was Laodicea? Well, Laodicea was so wealthy that in AD 60,
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  Speaker 1: there was an earthquake, a devastating earthquake. And they had
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  Speaker 1: many earthquakes in Laodicea in this region. There was a
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  Speaker 1: devastating earthquake and it devastated towns all around the region. Now,
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  Speaker 1: in the Roman Empire, they had their own version of FEMA.
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  Speaker 1: And they would actually send money to cities in the
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  Speaker 1: empire so that these cities could rebuild after a natural desire.
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  Speaker 1: Laodicea was so rich that in AD 60, their city
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  Speaker 1: was destroyed. Rome sent money and Laodicea sent it back saying,
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  Speaker 1: we don't need your money. We can rebuild ourselves. Can
• 8:00
  Speaker 1: we read that verse again? For you say, I am rich.
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  Speaker 1: I have prospered and I need nothing. That's the attitude
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  Speaker 1: of Laodicea. I don't need anything. That is self-reliance. And
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  Speaker 1: that's the death knell to Christianity. Self-reliance. I can do this.
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  Speaker 1: That's by the way when you don't call on God.
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  Speaker 1: Why do you need to call on God? You have
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  Speaker 1: everything you need.
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  Speaker 2: I am wealthy.
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  Speaker 1: I have prospered. I have need of nothing. God, I'll
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  Speaker 1: get with you if I need something. That's the death knell.
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  Speaker 1: That's the death knell to Christianity. It's the death knell
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  Speaker 1: to the church. We don't need God because we have prospered.
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  Speaker 1: We don't need God because we have money. We don't
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  Speaker 1: need to be on our faces before Almighty God because
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  Speaker 1: things aren't bad here.
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  Speaker 2: Here's the other issue in Laodicea. We know about these
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  Speaker 2: trade guilds.
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  Speaker 1: And we know, for example, that just a couple of
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  Speaker 1: churches earlier we read about the church at Thyatira and
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  Speaker 1: that in the church of Thyatira, they had a problem
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  Speaker 1: because people were being seduced into engaging in the practices
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  Speaker 1: in these trade guilds. And that there were some people
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  Speaker 1: who had to be taken care of by the church.
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  Speaker 1: He says in verse 18, Or verse 19, I know
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  Speaker 1: your works, your love and faith and service and patient endurance.
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  Speaker 1: That word for service there refers to the service to
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  Speaker 1: individuals in the church who couldn't take care of themselves
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  Speaker 1: financially because of the pressure of these trade guilds. So
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  Speaker 1: what's happening all over Asia Minor is that churches and
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  Speaker 1: Christians are losing income because they're will not compromise. And
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  Speaker 1: if they will not compromise and join the trade guilds,
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  Speaker 1: they can't get work. And if they can't get work,
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  Speaker 1: they're barely hanging on financially.
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  Speaker 2: So in the.
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  Speaker 1: Midst of persecution of the church all over the region,
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  Speaker 1: And in the midst of Christians who are in great
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  Speaker 1: need because they won't compromise, because they're faithful witnesses to
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  Speaker 1: the gospel, and they'd rather starve than compromise, Laodicea says,
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  Speaker 1: we got all the money we need.
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  Speaker 2: How does that happen?
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  Speaker 1: Only through compromise. Only through compromise. Only through compromise. What
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  Speaker 1: does he say here? After the symptoms. He says, verse 18.
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  Speaker 1: Here's the cure. I counsel you to buy from me
• 11:03
  Speaker 1: gold refined by fire so that you may be rich.
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  Speaker 1: Why is that significant? Remember I said they were a
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  Speaker 1: banking center? That they were a wealthy city? Guess what
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  Speaker 1: they had a whole lot of? gold we're rich we
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  Speaker 1: don't need anything why are you so rich because we
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  Speaker 1: have gold jesus says you're wretched pitiable poor blind and
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  Speaker 1: naked you think you're rich but you got nothing i
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  Speaker 1: advise you to buy from me gold refined by fire
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  Speaker 1: jesus we already have gold you know what that's your
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  Speaker 1: problem you have nothing I'm the vine, you are the branches.
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  Speaker 1: Apart from me, you can do nothing. Apart from me,
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  Speaker 1: you have nothing. Jesus, we have gold. No, you don't.
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  Speaker 1: You need to buy gold from me. That thing that
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  Speaker 1: you believe you have in abundance, you need to come
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  Speaker 1: to me for that thing. You need to recognize that
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  Speaker 1: that thing is not yours. You need to recognize that
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  Speaker 1: I am the beginning of the creation of God and
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  Speaker 1: that thing is actually mine. And that thing that you
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  Speaker 1: think you have in abundance can be taken away from
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  Speaker 1: you like that. Then he says, and white garments so
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  Speaker 1: that you may clothe yourself and the shame of your
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  Speaker 1: nakedness may not be seen. Interesting, they had a thriving
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  Speaker 1: textile industry and they were known for black wool. Jesus says,
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  Speaker 1: you need to buy from me white garments. You're known
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  Speaker 1: for the black wool that you provide all over this region.
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  Speaker 1: You need to buy from me white garments. Now we
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  Speaker 1: know that these white garments refer to our cleanness before
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  Speaker 1: God and our ability to approach God in worship. And
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  Speaker 1: then finally, he says, and salve to anoint your eyes
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  Speaker 1: so that you may see. Laodicea was famous for its
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  Speaker 1: medical school. Guess what? its medical school was most famous
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  Speaker 1: for turning out. Doctors who would treat the eyes with
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  Speaker 1: a Phrygian eye salve made right here in Laodicea. Why
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  Speaker 1: do they think they're wealthy and have need of nothing?
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  Speaker 1: Because they got plenty of gold. They got plenty of wool.
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  Speaker 1: and a medical school that's renowned throughout the region because
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  Speaker 1: of the doctors that they send out there specifically to
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  Speaker 1: treat this disease of the eyes with their eye salve.
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  Speaker 1: What does Jesus say? You say you're rich and that
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  Speaker 1: you don't have need of anything. You're wretched, pitiful, poor, blind,
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  Speaker 1: and naked.
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  Speaker 2: What are they?
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  Speaker 1: Poor, blind, and naked. What do they need from Jesus?
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  Speaker 1: Gold so they won't be poor. Eye salve so they
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  Speaker 1: won't be blind. And white garments so that they won't
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  Speaker 1: be naked. That's the treatment. What are they dealing with?
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  Speaker 1: Self-denial and self-reliance. Self-denial and self-reliance.