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Laodicea: A Church That Was Lukewarm | Revelation 3:14-22 | Pastor Daniel Batarseh (Revelation Bible Study Series) · Bible Study with Pr. Daniel Batarseh | Verse by Verse Series | Maranatha Bible Church - Chicago

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  Well, Church, we've now reached the final installment of
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  Christ's letters to the seven churches in the Book of
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  Revelation. And although this letter may be
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  the most frequently preached among the seven, it has been my
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  prayer this week that each of us would receive fresh insight and
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  fresh inspiration as we revisit it together.
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  And so I ask you now to come with me to the Book of
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  Revelation, chapter 3, beginning in verse 14 as we read the
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  entirety of this address down to verse 22.
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  This is what Jesus says to the church and Laodicea.
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  And to the Angel of the church and Laodicea write the words of
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  the Amen, the faithful and true witness, the beginning of God's
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  creation. I know your works.
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  You are neither cold nor hot. With that you were either cold
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  or hot. So because you are lukewarm and
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  neither hot nor cold, I will spit you out of my mouth.
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  For you say I am rich, I have prospered, and I need nothing.
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  Not realizing that you are wretched, pitiable, poor, blind,
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  and naked, I counsel you to buy for me gold refined by fire, so
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  that you may be rich, and white garments so that you may clothe
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  yourself, and the shame of your nakedness may not be seen and
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  solved to anoint your eyes, so that you may see those whom I
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  love. I reprove and discipline.
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  So be zealous and repent. Behold, I stand at the door and
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  knock. If anyone hears my voice and
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  opens the door, I will come into him and eat with him and he with
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  me, the one who conquers, I will grant him to sit with me on my
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  throne, as I also conquered and sat down with my Father on his
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  throne. He who has an ear, let him hear
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  what the Spirit says to the churches.
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  I'm sure that you would agree that the word lukewarm is a
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  common expression in the Christian vernacular.
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  Brother so and so seems to be lukewarm lately.
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  I visited that church and they came across lukewarm.
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  To be honest, I myself have been feeling lukewarm lately.
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  It's a familiar biblical expression, but like many
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  scriptural terms, I'm afraid that something so familiar can
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  lose its true definition, and it can even be misapplied.
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  What does it mean to be lukewarm?
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  What is a lukewarm Christian? Is being lukewarm merely the
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  absence of excitement for God? Is it the diagnosis of a
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  believer? Who is struggling with a
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  particular sin? Or is it synonymous with
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  spiritual inactivity? Thankfully, we are not left in
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  the dark regarding its meaning. In the very letter that we are
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  told about lukewarmness, we are given the description for it.
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  So let's look here at verse 16 again and notice what Jesus
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  says. So because you are lukewarm and
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  neither hot nor cold, I will spit you out of my mouth.
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  For you say I am rich, I have prospered, and I need nothing,
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  not realizing that you are wretched, pitiable, poor, blind
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  and naked. So the main reason why Jesus
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  said something remarkable, by the way, the reason why he said
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  I will spit you out of my mouth is because these Laodicean
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  Christians said out of their mouths, I am rich, I have
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  prospered and more importantly need nothing.
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  A lukewarm Christian is someone who has found satisfaction and
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  sufficiency apart from God and settles there.
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  It's the state of the heart that savers material goods and
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  earthly pursuits above spiritual treasures, all the while listen,
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  justifying, justifying because of self deception that one is
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  actually spiritually healthy when in fact they are not.
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  That is a very important part because a lukewarm Christian is
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  not someone who recognizes that their love for the person of
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  Jesus is weakening and is longing to see change.
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  No, no, no, no, no, no. Someone who is lukewarm has
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  grown content with misplaced values and affections.
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  I need nothing. I'm satisfied.
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  I have all that I need, and I believe the struggles of this
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  particular church are especially relevant to Western Christianity
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  because you know very well that we are inundated with
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  opportunities to pursue riches and worldly comforts to such a
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  degree that distraction alone has been the cause of countless
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  cases of spiritual decline. This is very applicable and
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  there's so much that we can say about lukewarmness, but I
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  thought the most beneficial approach rather is to organize
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  our thoughts under 4 headings. So if you're a note taker, this
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  will be helpful for you because I want us to look at 4 things
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  related to the spiritual condition.
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  Number one, we are going to discuss the possibility of
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  lukewarmness. Who is vulnerable to this malady
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  of the soul, the possibility of lukewarmness.
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  From there, we're going to consider the danger of
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  lukewarmness. How dangerous is it really to be
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  lukewarm? Thirdly, we're going to peek
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  into the deception of lukewarmness because there is a
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  deceptive element about it. And lastly, and one that I'm
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  looking forward to talking about, the hope in lukewarmness.
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  Let's begin here again at the possibility of lukewarmness.
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  As with many of Christ's introductions to these churches,
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  we are reminded both of His divinity and His marvelous
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  ability. And here there are three things
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  that He underscores about himself in verse 14.
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  The words of #1 the Amen #2 the faithful and true witness.
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  And lastly, the beginning of God's creation.
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  Did you know the Amen is a divine title that belongs to God
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  alone? We find it particularly in
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  Isaiah 65, verse 16. I would encourage you to turn
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  there in the Old Testament to see it for yourself.
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  Notice this verse and what's repeated in it.
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  Because we've every reason to believe that Christ is alluding
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  to this passage. Isaiah 65 verse 16.
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  So that he who blesses himself in the land shall bless himself
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  by the God of truth, and he who takes an oath in the land shall
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  swear by the God of truth. Because the former troubles are
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  forgotten and are hidden from my eyes.
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  How does this connect with Revelation chapter 3, verse 14?
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  Well, this is where peeking into the original language is
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  helpful. Because you see here the title
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  God of truth, which appears twice in this verse, is rendered
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  in Hebrew, Elohim, Amen. In other words, the God of Amen.
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  That's the word truth there in the Hebrew Amen.
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  And the significance of this name is that it presents the
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  Lord as ultimately faithful, totally reliable, and truthful.
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  And Christ now applies this caption to himself.
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  I am the Amen, the same one that you find and you read in Isaiah
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  scrolls. That's me.
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  And he emphasizes his dependability by following it up
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  with the second thing that he says.
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  Faithful and true. I am the faithful and true
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  witness. Now, why is he saying this to
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  the Laodiceans? To prepare them for the
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  blistering verdict about their spiritual condition.
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  This may be hard for you to accept, this may be difficult
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  for you to swallow, but remember, I am the Amen.
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  I am the faithful and true witness, and I only speak what
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  is true. And my analysis of the condition
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  of your soul is not exaggerated. It's not extreme, it's not
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  unfair, it is undeniably accurate.
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  I am the Amen. I am the God of truth.
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  I am the faithful and true witness.
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  And he pulls that from Revelation 1/5, as you remember.
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  Now I'm sure none of that is difficult for us to grasp.
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  What may be the most challenging part of this introduction is the
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  final remark, the beginning of God's creation.
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  Now millions today who do not believe that Christ is God will
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  reference this very verse as a supposed proof text.
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  Jehovah's Witnesses and Mormons hold to that view that Christ is
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  a significant individual, significant person, but he is a
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  created being. And this is a heresy that goes
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  all the way back to the 4th century called Arianism, that
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  Christ is the first being that God brought into existence and
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  through him as an agent he makes everything else.
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  And they would love to quote Revelation 314 to confirm that.
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  It seems a little bit difficult, right?
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  How do you explain this, the beginning of God's creation?
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  Well, again, this is where it's helpful to understand the
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  meaning of the original language.
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  The Greek word of beginning is the word arcade.
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  And like many Greek words prove to be, it has multiple meanings.
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  So the first understanding of the word arcade, the beginning,
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  is that of the beginning of something to come into existence
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  as the first in a sequence. Moreover, it can also mean the
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  source or the origin of something, the one by whom
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  something or process begins. And lastly, RK can also be
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  understood as the principal ruler.
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  It's where words like Archbishop or Archangel derive its meaning
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  from. So with those layers of
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  definitions, with this one word, we have to ask ourselves a very
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  simple question along with the broader testimony of Scripture
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  concerning Christ. What is the Lord Jesus most
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  likely referring to about himself?
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  Is he saying here that he is the first being that God created
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  through whom all other things were brought about?
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  Or is he saying that he is the source and the origin of all
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  creation and that he is the supreme ruler over all creation
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  from everlasting to everlasting? Any honest Bible student will
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  say it is the latter and we can spend the next 10 minutes cross
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  referencing to confirm this. But you can just stay in verse
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  14 because there is no way that the same person who says that he
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  is the Amen also says that he is a creature.
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  And so that settles it there. The question we want to answer
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  instead is how is that beneficial for this church to
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  know? Why do the lay of the scenes
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  need to be reminded that Jesus Christ is the beginning of God's
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  creation? Well, the follow up question
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  would be, is there anywhere else in the Bible that gives us
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  familiar language pertaining to the person of Christ and this
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  title? And the answer emphatically is
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  yes, It's the book of Colossians.
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  And I invite you to turn there in chapter 1, beginning in verse
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  15 to see this with your own eyes and to see the beautiful
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  Symphony of the Scriptures. In case you're not aware, the
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  purpose of the book of Colossians is Paul refuting a
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  variety of heresies. And the main way that he does
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  this is by exalting the supremacy of Jesus Christ.
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  And he does so right from the outset of his epistle.
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  Notice what he says in Colossians one, verse 15 down to
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  verse 18. Just reading it is powerful.
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  He says about Jesus. He is the image of the invisible
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  God, the first born of all creation.
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  Highlight that for by Him all things were created in heaven
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  and on earth. Visible and invisible were the
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  Thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities.
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  All things were created through Him and for Him.
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  And He is before all things, and in Him all things hold together,
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  and He is the head of the Body, the Church.
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  He is the beginning, the first born from the dead, that in
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  everything He might be preeminent.
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  So what do we find here? The magnifying of the majesty of
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  Jesus Christ. And yes, there are those who are
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  heretics that like to pick this apart and mystifying certain
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  terms. But there is no denying that
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  this is an exclamation point concerning the deity of Jesus.
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  But wait, why is the Lord referencing Paul's writing,
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  Paul's description, Paul's catalog of the glories of Christ
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  in Revelation? You want to know the answer?
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  It's in the book of Colossians. The answer to why Jesus is
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  writing or at least referencing this to the Laodiceans is found
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  at the end of the book of Colossians.
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  Are you there? Go to chapter 4.
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  Look at this brief verse in verse 16, chapter 4, verse 16,
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  Paul writes. And when this letter has been
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  read among you, have it also read in the Church of who?
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  The Laodiceans and see that you also read the letter from
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  Laodicea. This is so profound.
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  Do you see it? I hope you do.
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  What the Lord is doing in Revelation 3 is reminding the
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  Laodiceans that they have lost sight of His preeminence, of His
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  matchless glory, of His all satisfying love as it was once
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  delivered and read aloud in their presence from the apostle
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  Paul. This tells us where lukewarmness
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  begins. How does 1 become lukewarm?
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  It starts by losing sight of the preciousness of the Person of
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  Christ. It's when your vision of Jesus
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  is blurred or when your eyes all together are placed on a lesser
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  thing or things and he is pushed into the shadows.
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  It's as though Christ, by saying this, is coming to this assembly
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  and saying, Remember Me, the beginning of God's creation?
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  Now remember, we're discussing the possibility of lukewarmness,
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  right? This is where it starts.
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  And one of the most startling aspects of this is that it also
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  shows that Laodicea had light. You know what I mean by that?
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  This church had teaching from the apostle Paul.
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  They had Apostolic connections. They had relationship with these
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  men who seen Jesus and who received the Holy Spirit in a
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  unique way to expound on the glories of who He is.
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  And listen, they still became lukewarm.
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  Please hear me, please hear me. I know we got the picnic coming
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  up and I know a message on lukewarmness is not the most
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  exciting thing to hear before you go in fellowship with a
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  bunch of people. I get it, I get it.
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  But there's going to be a message of hope in this, I
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  assure you this. But let me tell you something
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  very, very important. Going to a Bible believing,
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  Bible preaching church is not enough for you to be safe from
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  the danger of lukewarmness. This church had light and they
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  still became lame. Each of us have a personal
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  responsibility to nurture the flame on the altar of our
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  hearts. Each of us.
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  It may help to go to a place that speaks the truth, that
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  explains the truth, that rejoices in the truth.
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  But it is not sufficient and all that to say that if we're not
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  vigilant, lukewarmness is possible for any of us.
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  That's the possibility of lukewarmness.
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  But let's come to the danger of lukewarmness back in Revelation
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  3 and verse 15. Notice what Jesus says.
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  I know your works. You're neither cold nor hot.
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  Would that you were either cold or hot.
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  So because you are lukewarm and neither hot nor cold, I will
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  spit you out of my mouth. That's just really feel that I
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  will spit you out of my mouth. Now, if you're not careful, you
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  may make the mistake like some do and think that Jesus is
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  threatening eternal rejection, like this is some creative way
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  of describing everlasting judgement.
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  That is not the case. Let's break this down slowly.
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  Jesus wishes that they were either hot or cold.
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  Now I understand Jesus wishing Christians to be hot.
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  You know, the original word there is not just microwave hot,
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  it's boiling hot. And you find that charge
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  throughout the New Testament that we would be fervent and
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  zealous in our love for Christ and the advancement of His
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  Kingdom. That makes sense, but how is it
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  that Christ, if they were not to be hot, would desire that they
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  would be cold instead? Well, if being cold is the
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  opposite of being blistering hot, then what Christ is
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  proposing is that He prefers people to be unambiguous and
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  consistent in their spiritual stance rather than being half
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  hearted and hypocritical in their faith.
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  In other words, it's more helpful for you and for others
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  to be honest. I'm clearly in or I'm obviously
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  out. Instead of remaining in the
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  meaningless middle and middle, according to Jesus is going to
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  church regularly while having no true desire for Christ.
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  Remember he he's not addressing the Community Center in
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  Laodicea. He's talking to a church.
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  So they were meeting on a regular basis.
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  And Jesus tells us, church, I wish you were either hot or you
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  were cold. Just as lukewarm food or drink
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  is unpleasant. Jesus says your disinterest in
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  me makes me nauseated. The more literal term there is
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  makes me sick to my stomach. It's not me that's Jesus that
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  offends you. Deal with Him.
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  This is what he says. And not only is lukewarmness
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  offensive to Christ, it's useless.
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  You know what came to my mind when meditating on this Is the
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  Lord's words about us being the salt of the earth.
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  And what happens if salt loses its flavor?
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  The only good that it has is to be thrown out and trampled under
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  foot. It has no purpose.
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  It has no power. It it doesn't have any
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  efficiency. It's it's just to be trampled
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  on. And in the same way, when when
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  there's lukewarmness, Jesus can't do anything with that.
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  He just spits it out. And that is what I believe
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  Christ is getting at here. I can't do anything with you
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  when you're lukewarm. And to tolerate self-sufficiency
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  and to be stale in our spiritual pursuits means that we miss out
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  on pleasing Christ. We disqualify ourselves from
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  being used by Him, and we do not experience His delight.
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  You can't tell me that Jesus saying I'm spitting you out of
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  my mouth means that you're living under an open heaven.
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  You're forfeiting something. You're actually forfeiting a
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  lot. And this is the impression that
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  the church is supposed to have when reading this threat.
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  And really understanding that makes verse 19 more
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  understandable. Look what he says in verse 19.
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  Those whom I love I reprove and discipline.
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  So be zealous and repent. Now the word zealous there is
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  the same word as hot, boiling hot.
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  I'm asking you Christians, to be boiling hot.
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  Now I have to be honest, I read this when I first got saved and
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  for many years whenever I would come across this passage, I
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  would be troubled by something. The problem of this church is
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  that they lacked zeal, right? They were finding their
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  satisfaction and their sufficiency and things apart
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  from God. So how is it that Jesus can
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  demand them be zealous? Can you imagine me coming up
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  here saying, listen, we've lost our passion here, so here's what
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  we need to do. Get passionate.
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  OK? How can you demand that from me?
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  And it only makes sense when you realize what he said back in
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  verse 15 and verse 16, the danger of the diagnosis.
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  He already diagnosed them and He told them what would happen.
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  And that report should have been enough to kick them into gear,
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  to get zealous again, to do whatever it takes to make sure
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  that they knew the spiritual fervor that the Lord demanded of
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  them. Now, hypothetically, imagine
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  that I struggled with maybe shortness of breath, tightness
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  in the chest, but you know, maybe it's from working out,
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  maybe it's the change of weather.
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  And so I go see the doctor and he examines me.
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  Now, if he downplays those symptoms and he just says, you
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  know, just sleep it off, I'm not going to be as excited to make
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  any changes. But we may not seem to be
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  serious, at least in my experience, in my own personal
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  analysis, if that is challenged by the doctor, who is, who is
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  true and faithful, and he says, listen, your arteries are
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  clogging and you need to start exercising and you need to
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  change your diet. You're going to die.
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  You're not going to live very long.
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  Is it going to take much for me to get serious about those
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  changes? It shouldn't.
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  I understand the danger, the predicament that I am in, and
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  that propels me forward. And that's why Jesus can say
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  this so plainly. He just finished explaining.
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  Listen, I will spit you out of my mouth.
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  You may not think it's serious, but it is deadly.
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  It's deadly for your experience of me.
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  It's deadly in your witness. It's deadly for your ministry.
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  It's deadly for many things that can follow when you remain in
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  lukewarmness. It's time to make some changes.
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  It's dangerous to remain lukewarm.
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  Do you see it that way? Perhaps not.
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  Which brings me to the Third Point, the deception of
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  lukewarmness. There's something about
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  lukewarmness that lies to us. What I find so shocking about
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  this letter is that there is no mention of sexual immorality
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  like other churches. There is no reprimand.
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  There is no confrontation about false teaching being tolerated.
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  There is no faithlessness in the face of persecution.
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  I'm confident that if you visited this church, you'd be
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  met with an environment that was warm, pun intended, friendly,
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  kind, filled with civilized people, respectable, good jobs,
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  nicely clothed, and you would say this is a splendid place and
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  Christ has no good thing to say about it.
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  Not one good thing for one main reason.
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  They failed to find their ultimate satisfaction and
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  sufficiency in Him. It was in their income.
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  It was in their luxury. It was in their health, It was
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  in their superficial relationships with other
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  lukewarm Christians. It was in their entertainment,
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  and that is what made them wretched, pitiable, poor, blind
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  and naked. You see, what makes lukewarmness
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  so deceiving is that it doesn't involve blatant wickedness.
• 27:29
  There's just enough warmth in it for you to feel like you're
• 27:34
  doing OK. But lukewarmness, tolerating and
• 27:44
  remaining indifferent is the failure to realize that Christ
• 27:49
  asked so much more of us than just avoiding certain bad
• 27:52
  things. Please hear me.
• 27:56
  If you're persuaded that Christianity is mainly about you
• 28:02
  not sinning, you missed it completely.
• 28:10
  That's part of what it means to be a Christian.
• 28:13
  But what the Lord asks of his people is that they would
• 28:17
  discover greater and deeper gratification in him, and in
• 28:22
  that pleasure he would be glorified, and you would secure
• 28:27
  the greatest good. Enjoying Jesus Christ is the
• 28:33
  chief pursuit of the Christian. Not just deflecting and avoiding
• 28:40
  and not clicking and not lying and not saying it's beyond that.
• 28:46
  It's relishing, loving, worshipping, fellowshipping with
• 28:52
  Christ and that being your energy to do everything else.
• 28:58
  But Lukewarmer says I'm all right.
• 28:59
  Like not cheating on my spouse, not wasting my resources
• 29:04
  gambling. I'm not not a violent person.
• 29:08
  I'm good. I'm good, I'm good.
• 29:10
  And Jesus says you're actually poor, you're a pauper, you're
• 29:14
  blind, you don't see it. You don't see what I'm really
• 29:17
  asking of you. And so he has come to make some
• 29:23
  offers to these believers, a series of them.
• 29:26
  Did you see it? Look at verse 18.
• 29:28
  I counsel you to buy from me gold refined by fire so that you
• 29:34
  may be rich. Oh, so you get more animated
• 29:39
  about money than about me, huh? Hey, let me let you know
• 29:42
  something. I have some gold.
• 29:43
  You want to buy some? You want to buy some gold?
• 29:50
  Why don't you spend some of your energy and efforts investing in
• 29:54
  me? Can I tell you something?
• 29:57
  You and I have spiritual treasures at our disposal that,
• 30:04
  if reached after and truly experienced, will make you feel
• 30:07
  like the richest man or woman in the entire world.
• 30:12
  I don't envy people who have a lot of stuff.
• 30:15
  In fact, most of those people are the most miserable people
• 30:18
  that I know. If they don't have Christ, Jesus
• 30:23
  says I have. I have real gold, the purest of
• 30:26
  gold. I have golden revelation.
• 30:30
  I have golden transformation. I have golden interactions with
• 30:34
  a broken and bank up world that I want to use you for get rich
• 30:39
  in God, be wealthy in me. Let's make a deal.
• 30:47
  But he doesn't just say that he goes on to say in verse 18 and
• 30:50
  white garments said that you may clothe yourself and the shame of
• 30:53
  your nakedness may not be seen. OK, so you find more thrilling
• 30:57
  shopping and dressing the best then knowing and serving me,
• 31:04
  huh? I have some clothes for you,
• 31:08
  some white garments, and these clothes if you really wear them,
• 31:13
  they will make you the most attractive in this life and in
• 31:16
  the next. What are the white garments that
• 31:19
  Jesus is Speaking of here? I believe the answers in the
• 31:21
  Book of Revelation. You just have to go to chapter
• 31:23
  19. Look at chapter 19 and verse 7
• 31:27
  as we get a glimpse of the marriage supper of the Lamb.
• 31:36
  Jesus says that I have white garments, and I believe this is
• 31:42
  what He is speaking about. Revelation 19, verse 7.
• 31:46
  Let us rejoice and exalt and give Him glory.
• 31:49
  Give him the glory. For the marriage of the Lamb has
• 31:52
  come, and His bride has made herself ready.
• 31:55
  It was granted her to clothe herself with fine linen, bright
• 31:58
  and pure. For the fine linen is the
• 32:01
  righteous deeds of the Saints. We're not talking about here the
• 32:05
  righteousness of Christ that He close us with.
• 32:07
  We're talking about the clothing, the adornment of our
• 32:11
  good works. So what is the Lord saying back
• 32:14
  in Revelation 3? I have a tailor made ministry
• 32:18
  for you. I have good works prepared for
• 32:24
  you, for you to accomplish in every season of your life.
• 32:27
  I have opened doors for you to come into contact with people
• 32:33
  that need me. You can't see it.
• 32:36
  You're lukewarm. You don't need anything.
• 32:38
  You're not desperate to know my will.
• 32:40
  You're not desperate to serve me.
• 32:41
  You're rich, you're comfortable, you're satisfied.
• 32:44
  But I'm telling you, I have white garments for you to wear.
• 32:46
  Would you wear them? Would your identity not be in
• 32:51
  this and this and this and this? Would it be in how you live for
• 32:57
  me and what you do for me? And lastly, he mentions salve to
• 33:03
  anoint their eyes. Let's finish verse 18 and salve
• 33:08
  to anoint your eyes so that you may see.
• 33:10
  Ah, interesting. So we go from materials to
• 33:14
  medicine. And it seems like this group of
• 33:18
  Christians, this community was very much interested in their
• 33:20
  health as much as their wealth. And one example that Christ
• 33:24
  brings up is how the Laodiceans apparently prided themselves in
• 33:29
  this ointment for the eyes that helped see better and heal
• 33:33
  certain issues. And Jesus wants to let him know
• 33:41
  it's so possible to be invested in the temporal where you lose
• 33:45
  spiritual vision altogether. Nothing wrong with taking care
• 33:48
  of your body, but anything can become an idol.
• 33:53
  How you look and how you feel can be why the reason you live.
• 34:00
  And so the Lord says, I have something for your eyes.
• 34:06
  You come to me and I'll give you accurate perception.
• 34:09
  I'll give you sharp discernment. I'll give you profound insight
• 34:14
  to rightly interpret this world and to see me, for I really AM.
• 34:24
  This is moving, and what makes it the most moving is the
• 34:28
  beginning of verse 18, because this quality of life can only be
• 34:32
  found in one place, more specifically, one person.
• 34:34
  Look again, I counsel you to buy from me.
• 34:41
  You want real gold? You want white garments?
• 34:44
  You want to really see you can only get it from me.
• 34:51
  You can only find in the person of Jesus Christ.
• 34:56
  So come to me, how much is it? Well, according to Isaiah, it's
• 35:01
  free. It's free.
• 35:06
  The payment has already been made in Christ.
• 35:09
  At the same time, he calls you to reach out and grab it, to
• 35:13
  believe, to hunger for it, to long for it.
• 35:17
  Which brings us to our final point.
• 35:18
  That's the hope and lukewarmness.
• 35:22
  You know, if someone told me but the way I think and the way I've
• 35:26
  been acting lately makes them sick to their stomach, I would
• 35:30
  think that they would want nothing to do with me
• 35:32
  afterwards. But that's not what we find
• 35:36
  here, because the letter is not over yet.
• 35:39
  What does he say in verse 19? Those whom I love, I reprove in
• 35:45
  discipline. So Jesus, I'm sure you're
• 35:50
  convinced, despises lukewarmness.
• 35:54
  At the same time, he loves the lukewarm.
• 35:58
  Isn't that amazing? So here you have a church that
• 36:01
  is shrinking. Shrinking in their adoration of
• 36:04
  Christ and their passion for his person, his program, His
• 36:10
  presence, and Jesus. Love never wavered for them.
• 36:18
  It's still strong and active. He's still very close and he's
• 36:25
  more specific by saying those whom I love, I reprove
• 36:28
  indisciplined. So he wants to clarify that his
• 36:31
  motive behind these words is not hatred, it's not self
• 36:38
  righteousness necessarily. It's not again, legalism.
• 36:42
  It's love, it's love. This is hard to imagine that my
• 36:51
  love for Him can be limp, pathetic really.
• 36:57
  And he's still not just feels love for me, He tells me He
• 37:01
  loves me, those whom I love. And if that assurance weren't
• 37:07
  enough, then Christ confirms it by telling us to.
• 37:11
  Behold verse 20. In other words, if you've been
• 37:14
  distracted up to this point, look at this part.
• 37:19
  Behold, verse 20. I stand at the door and knock.
• 37:25
  If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come into
• 37:28
  him and eat with Him and He with me.
• 37:31
  Now you've probably heard this verse quoted more than anything
• 37:35
  else in an evangelistic way. Jesus Christ is knocking on the
• 37:40
  door of your heart, unbeliever, and He's waiting for you to
• 37:43
  swing it open and invite Him in so that He can make His home in
• 37:47
  your heart. It's a wonderful picture, but it
• 37:50
  doesn't honor the context. Jesus is not knocking on the
• 37:54
  door of an unbeliever. He's knocking on the door of a
• 37:57
  church. And here's what ran through my
• 38:01
  mind. Hold on for a second.
• 38:02
  Jesus is outside the church, this church at least.
• 38:07
  How many meetings have you been having without Christ?
• 38:09
  He hasn't been in attendance and that hasn't bothered you.
• 38:15
  Mark my words, a church that is not hungry, prayerful, mindful,
• 38:20
  longing for the presence and power of Christ in their
• 38:23
  gatherings is a lukewarm church. That's a lukewarm church not
• 38:30
  filled with a bunch of vile people.
• 38:33
  Just, you know, like a respectable sin.
• 38:36
  Just I'm rich, I'm good, everything's fine.
• 38:40
  Nice. Serum was a little better than
• 38:42
  last week. You know, music was no, no
• 38:48
  craving, no sense of need, no realization that whatever I've
• 38:53
  known there's more than I wanted.
• 38:56
  That's a lukewarm church yet though.
• 39:04
  He's outside the church. This is the head of the church
• 39:08
  is outside the church. He's waiting outside the church.
• 39:14
  You would think that he would have left the moment that they
• 39:16
  turned away from him. Not so.
• 39:21
  Jesus says, Behold, I stand at the door and knock.
• 39:36
  And as much as this is an appeal to the church, it is also deeply
• 39:40
  personal if anyone hears my voice.
• 39:49
  So this isn't really about the whole church answering, coming
• 39:53
  to a consensus. Let's have a members meeting who
• 39:56
  votes? Having Jesus come back into the
• 39:57
  church? How preposterous, how silly.
• 40:03
  Yes, we're talking about the seven letters to the seven
• 40:05
  churches here, but this is a reminder that a lukewarm church
• 40:12
  is lukewarm because of lukewarm people.
• 40:16
  And if that church is going to be healed of its lukewarmness,
• 40:18
  it's going to take every single person to make a conscious
• 40:21
  choice to commune with Christ again.
• 40:26
  So if anyone don't you love that anyone, not just the elders, not
• 40:32
  just the deacons, not just those who really serve any hey, if
• 40:35
  anyone's in there and they hear my voice implying what that
• 40:40
  anyone can know. close fellowship with Christ.
• 40:45
  I'll come in and I will eat with him and he with me.
• 40:50
  We'll, we'll spend some time together.
• 40:52
  What is Christ longing for from us?
• 40:56
  Relationship. Let's sit and talk for a while.
• 41:02
  Let me hear your voice. Look me in the eyes.
• 41:07
  Put the phone down for a little bit.
• 41:11
  I know you're busy running around, but do you not hear me?
• 41:19
  Knocking. The only way a church can be
• 41:25
  delivered from this is when each make a decision to prioritize
• 41:33
  solitude with the shepherd of their souls.
• 41:37
  That is the remedy for personal revival, by the way.
• 41:41
  That is the cure for complacency.
• 41:45
  Come to me and buy from me now. I was thinking, does this
• 41:51
  message deserve a step by step of how we can launch ourselves
• 41:56
  back into the right state of mind and state of heart and
• 42:01
  leave lukewarmness behind? Let me just give you one step.
• 42:04
  If you are lukewarm today, I adjure you, I call you to do 1
• 42:11
  simple thing. Go to Christ in your
• 42:13
  lukewarmness and tell him about it.
• 42:18
  Express your heart. Lord, I'll be honest, you
• 42:21
  already know it. There are more exciting things
• 42:24
  to me than you. I have no longing.
• 42:30
  I I'm not desperate, I'm just and I'm actually I'm fine with
• 42:33
  it. I I have things in my life going
• 42:36
  on. It's keeping me busy.
• 42:38
  I don't feel this shallowness or this hollowness in my heart
• 42:41
  necessarily, but I'm going to take out Your Word and realize
• 42:44
  that no matter what kind of satisfaction I am enjoying in
• 42:47
  this life, I'm actually wretched and I'm actually poor and I'm
• 42:51
  actually blind and naked. Let me find it in You.
• 42:56
  Let me know it in You. Did you know that Jesus saying
• 43:01
  this in verse 20 is yet another allusion to the Old Testament in
• 43:06
  a book that is rarely referenced in meetings and even in our
• 43:10
  personal reading, The Song of Solomon.
• 43:14
  Let's go to that in chapter 5 of Song of Solomon.
• 43:18
  The Song of Solomon is a love story and it tells the tale of
• 43:26
  Solomon and one of his brides. I guess some would say that that
• 43:38
  is all that it is. It's really a love song, a poem,
• 43:44
  and that we can benefit from the language in it in our own
• 43:47
  relationship with our spouses. I am of those who believe that
• 43:51
  there is spiritual application relating to Jesus Christ and His
• 43:55
  love for the church. Not in everything, not in every
• 43:59
  detail. Some people go so extreme, but
• 44:01
  there are clear and obvious passages that point to Christ
• 44:06
  and us and us in Christ. And Revelation 320 is just one
• 44:09
  example. Chapter 5 look at verse 2 and
• 44:12
  tell me if it sounds familiar. The bride, the woman says I
• 44:17
  slept, but my heart was awake. A sound, my beloved, is what
• 44:24
  knocking open to me, my sister, my love, my dove, my perfect
• 44:30
  one. For my head is wet with dew, my
• 44:33
  locks with the drops of the night.
• 44:36
  Do you see the urgency of the bridegroom?
• 44:39
  Who is outside? Look at the language that he
• 44:42
  ascribes her. My sister, my love, my dove, my
• 44:46
  perfect one. This is a rich love.
• 44:52
  This is passion. This isn't just business, this
• 44:58
  isn't transactional. This is adoration on the part of
• 45:03
  the man. And not only that, look at his
• 45:06
  patients. He's knocking outside while
• 45:08
  she's inside and notice how long he's been waiting for.
• 45:11
  My head is wet with dew, my locks with the drops of the
• 45:16
  night. So he he's been outside and the
• 45:22
  elements are having their way with his hair and he's still not
• 45:25
  moving. He's still hoping that she will
• 45:28
  answer the door. Now what would be the
• 45:29
  appropriate response? If you're in love, my beloved is
• 45:33
  outside. He's asking for me.
• 45:36
  He's summoning me. And she would race to that door
• 45:39
  and open it wide and embrace him.
• 45:42
  That's what Jesus is asking for from us.
• 45:46
  But that's not what happens with the bride in the story.
• 45:50
  Look at verse 3. I had put off my garment.
• 45:55
  How could I put it on? I bathed my feet.
• 45:59
  How could I soil them? You see what she's saying?
• 46:04
  She's in bed. She brushed her cheek teeth, she
• 46:08
  put on her pajamas, and now there's a surprise visit.
• 46:15
  It's inconvenient. I'm already busy.
• 46:19
  I'm. I'm ready to do my own thing.
• 46:23
  And that's the danger for some of us here today after hearing
• 46:29
  this letter to the Laodiceans. That's actually the temptation
• 46:34
  every day. Lord, you don't see how busy I
• 46:39
  am? Do you not see my schedule?
• 46:46
  You really asked me to wake up a little bit earlier to hear your
• 46:49
  voice. Don't you see that I'm helping
• 46:54
  you here and I'm doing this for you there and.
• 47:03
  That's why I go back to that one.
• 47:07
  If there's one call to action, it's this.
• 47:09
  If you find yourself dormant, if you find yourself callous, if
• 47:15
  you find yourself unfazed, go to Jesus.
• 47:21
  Don't make excuses. Come to Him and let Him heal you
• 47:25
  and open your eyes and move in you.
• 47:28
  I can't tell you how many times I in my own life have have said
• 47:32
  that to the Lord. Lord, help me.
• 47:36
  Help me love you. Help me place you above all
• 47:41
  other things. Help me feel the most strongly
• 47:44
  about you. Let there be no rival in this
• 47:47
  life with my devotion to you. I'll tell you this, He's
• 47:54
  faithful to help us. He can heal you today, but if
• 48:00
  you find yourself like this woman, making excuse after
• 48:03
  excuse after excuse, He won't be able to help you.
• 48:06
  You know what's amazing? Jesus is the head of the church.
• 48:12
  If there's anybody who has a right to kick the door open and
• 48:15
  walk in, it's Jesus. He doesn't do that.
• 48:20
  He waits for us to respond. He does the same thing in Song
• 48:24
  of Solomon. He doesn't break the door down.
• 48:28
  That shows me what He really wants from us out of our own
• 48:32
  desire and longing and choice to respond to Him.
• 48:37
  Oh, would we do that today? He says that in verse 21 of
• 48:42
  Revelation 3. He who overcomes, we read it.
• 48:46
  He'll sit on my throne, right? That's the eternal reward there.
• 48:50
  But let me just focus on that first part.
• 48:51
  He who overcomes, You know what? Jesus wants us to overcome
• 48:54
  lukewarmness, and it tells me that it's possible to overcome
• 48:59
  lukewarmness. And listen, there isn't just
• 49:03
  reward in this life for those who live a blaze for Christ.
• 49:07
  There is an eternal reward. Can you imagine that?
• 49:09
  Can you imagine Jesus crowning Christians with this
• 49:13
  commendation? You overcame lukewarmness.
• 49:20
  Here's a reward. That's how much this means to
• 49:24
  our Jesus this afternoon. Now, can we come before him?
• 49:29
  Can we ask that He would remain in the midst, never outside, and
• 49:32
  not just in our meetings, but in our own hearts.
• 49:35
  He will help us. We ask you, Lord, that as we've
• 49:41
  come to the conclusion of this series within a series, we pray
• 49:48
  that if our hearts are lukewarm, if we are satisfied and
• 49:53
  self-sufficient apart from You and are settling there, if we
• 49:59
  are content in our misplaced values and affections, if it
• 50:04
  doesn't disturb us anymore, Lord, we pray that we would take
• 50:07
  heed to the danger, that we would be awakened to the
• 50:10
  deception, but we would also see the hope in our lukewarmness
• 50:15
  renew our delight in You. Help us really believe that day
• 50:23
  by day You desire us to fellowship with you.
• 50:30
  And so, Lord, from the sincerity of our innermost being, we ask
• 50:39
  that what we heard would not evaporate leaving this place,
• 50:45
  but that we would carry it with us going home tonight, and that
• 50:49
  knocking door would be in our ears as we wake up tomorrow
• 50:53
  morning. And that, Lord, every day we
• 50:57
  would believe at the beginning of God's creation, actually
• 51:02
  wants to sit with me and hear me and give to me.
• 51:10
  We love you, Lord. May this church never be
• 51:15
  lukewarm. May this church be known for the
• 51:19
  presence and the power of Jesus Christ every time we come
• 51:23
  together. Forgive us if at even for a
• 51:28
  moment we've been so caught up with other things that we've
• 51:32
  lost sight of the priority Lord from the beginning to the end.
• 51:38
  Have preeminence in this place. In Jesus name we pray.
• 51:43
  Amen. Amen.
• 51:45
  The praise team will come up and we'll sing to Him.
• 51:49
  If you really were touched today and you need to spend time
• 51:52
  sitting while we sing to talk to the Lord, you're free to do
• 51:56
  that. If you want to express yourself
• 51:57
  by standing and singing with the rest of us, you're welcome to do
• 52:00
  that as well. I know we have plans today, but
• 52:03
  let's give this window of time to really engage with the living
• 52:06
  Christ because He does see us and He does hear us in this
• 52:09
  house. God bless you.