Harsh Rebuke for Being Lukewarm

Transcript

GR 1993
02/19/2017
Harsh Rebuke for Being Lukewarm
Revelation 3:14-16
Gil Rugh

We sing of the certainty and surety indeed that we have in our God and one of the things that settles these truths for us in a sure way is the fact in His Word He tells us clearly where we are going, what He is doing and the culmination of all things. That’s where we are in the Book of Revelation. We are in the first part of the book, chapters two and three, which talk about the letters to the churches. I keep reminding you that it’s important that we remember that this is a message to the churches, not just the first two chapters here, chapters two and three, but the whole book. We sometimes think of it just in the prophetic future, which much of it focuses on and is of great importance but it is for the benefit of us, the churches and it is to shape and mold the way we live and how we face the world around us from day to day.

If you’ve been here for this study, you’re aware at the end of each of these letters to the churches beginning in the first letter in chapter two, the letter to the church at Ephesus, He closes that letter verse seven, “He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.” Each letter is addressed to an individual historical local church in existence at that time. It is a message for that church but it is not a message limited only to that church. As we have noted, Christ has selected these seven churches. They give us a perspective on what all the churches will deal with down to our present day and the things that Christ looks for that are commendable in His church and those things which must be corrected in the church.

Generally it’s a mix. Come back to Revelation chapter 22 verse 16. This encompasses the whole letter, not just chapters two and three; a reminder what He is saying in chapters two and three permeates the letter. Look at verse 16, “I, Jesus, have sent My angel to testify to you these things for the churches.” Even though the church will be removed and will not be part of chapters 6 to 19, it is still a message for the churches that we are to take to heart to have fixed in our mind. It will shape the way we see the world around us today and if your views of future things are distorted and confused you will end up confused in the way you conduct yourself in these days. God has set out for our benefit these truths. Of great interest to us is the evaluation of our Lord and Savior who is the head of the Church. He is the head of every church. Individual local churches are simply the manifestation of the church on earth and what He has to say in evaluation is of great importance.

We come to the last church the church at Laodicea. It is probably the most well-known of the seven churches but not for a good reason. It is because of the severity of Christ’s evaluation of this church and as striking as it is, Christ is going to speak more severely to this church than any other church and they are oblivious. You could not be any more confused than the church at Laodicea is. They think they’re doing great and Christ says, “things are so bad here you make me sick. You make me want to throw up.” A rather graphic expression of Christ’s evaluation of this church.

The church is in the region of Asia Minor. You have the seven churches on the map. I appreciate putting that in the newsletter and if you put that map up on the screen, just to remind you where we are. We have made that irregular circle as it is often referred to starting at Ephesus and going north and we made our way up to Pergamum and then down the other side, the eastern side, now we come down to Laodicea and you see Heirapolis and Colossi are very close to that valley there. These three churches we’re familiar with, the church at Colossi for Paul wrote a letter to that church some thirty years earlier than the letter being written now in Revelation chapter three to the church at Laodicea. As we’ll see he refers to the church at Laodicea in that letter he writes to Colossi and you can understand because it is a relatively few miles in distance from this area so these three churches have a close proximity.

Turn back to Colossians chapter two. Paul is writing to the church at Colossi just south of Laodicea, which was in close proximity. Paul had visited this region, that Asia Minor region. He had never been to Colossi but he had been to Ephesus, west of Colossi and Laodicea, and he spent some time there. We have his ministry recorded in Acts chapter 19. We looked into that earlier in our studies and evidently, during that time, in the early fifties A. D. so some forty years earlier where the evangelistic ministry took place and while Paul was ministering there, centered in Ephesus, some of his coworkers evidently carried the gospel out to this region.

Epaphras is one of those who will be mentioned. Look at chapter two of Colossians. Remember now this is 10 years after Paul was at Ephesus in Acts chapter 19 and thirty years before the letter that we’re studying in Revelation is written. Chapter 2 verse one, “for I want you to know how great a struggle I have on your behalf, and for those who are at Laodicea.” So he connects them together and “for all those who have not personally seen my face” . . . so here he makes clear he had never personally visited Colossi or Laodicea but his ministry had obviously had an impact. Come over to Colossians chapter four look at verse 12. “Epaphras, who is one of your number, a bond-slave of Jesus Christ, sends you his greetings, always laboring earnestly for you in his prayers, that you may stand perfect and fully assured in all the will of God. For I testify for him that he has a deep concern for you and for all those who are in Laodicea and Hierapolis” so you see these three cities because of their close proximity, 10 miles and 6 miles from Laodicea that Epaphras perhaps you know key in the establishing and the ministry of the church here.

Come down to verse 16 while you’re in Colossians 4. “When this letter is read among you, have it also read in the church of the Laodiceans; for your part read my letter that is coming from Laodicea” so Paul had written a letter to the church at Laodicea. An aside, some of you are aware that some think that’s the letter we call the letter to the Ephesians because in some manuscripts you don’t have Ephesus in that introduction. They think perhaps it began with the Laodiceans but then it becomes somewhat of a circular letter. At any rate, you see here the church received a letter from the Colossians. This Colossians letter is to be passed on to the church at Laodicea and the Laodiceans will pass on the letter they receive from Paul whether it’s a letter to Ephesus or another letter Paul wrote, the point is the same.

This is a church impacted in significant ways with biblical truth. It’s not as if they’re on their own. They’ve had some great revelation from God passed on to them because these letters were circulated. I’m sure by the time that we have John writing in around 95 A.D. some thirty plus years after the letter to the Colossians was written other letters of Paul have made their way around as people made copies and passed these on. This church has received a letter from Paul. Paul will have been dead almost thirty years by the time this is written, the letter to the Laodiceans.

Good things have not happened in this church so we see something of the situation. The church at Laodicea is in a city of great wealth at the time, prosperity. It was wealthy enough when the area we’ve talked about had earthquakes in the area. An earthquake destroyed it in 60 A.D. so about thirty-five years earlier but they were wealthy enough and proud enough they turned down Roman help. Now can you imagine a state in our country for example that had earthquake damage telling the government we don’t need your money, we’ll handle it but that’s where Laodicea was, very wealthy successful city.

We mentioned the earlier church in chapter three if you come back to Revelation. The church at Sardis these two last churches they have no commendation. We noted two of the churches that received commendations and no condemnation and then the churches that received both words of commendation and condemnation from the Lord but we noted the church at Sardis beginning in chapter three. Christ addresses it at the end of verse one and says, “I know your deeds that you have a name that you are alive but you are dead.” No positive words addressed to them. There were a few believers in the church at Sardis. You see what’s happened in a relatively short period of time. The church has turned over. It had moved from being a fellowship of believers brought together by the Holy Spirit under the headship of Christ to a collection of people who professed to be believers but have no spiritual life no spiritual relationship with Jesus Christ. That was the church at Sardis as we note. They’re spiritually dead but they have a name. They still were riding on their past but they ran ahead of their past; the past was the past it was not part of their present in that sense because it’s primarily unbelievers with a few believers in it.

When you come to the church at Laodicea, you had the church of Philadelphia in-between of course. The second church with no commendation is the church at Laodicea. We noted among commentators that they discuss which church is the worst church and we noted that’s a losing comparison. You wouldn’t want to decide do we want to be like the church at Sardis or do we want to be like the church at Laodicea; two choices you don’t want to make. We think of Laodicea perhaps as the most severe letter because of the elaboration Christ gives. He doesn’t just say they’re a spiritually dead church he says that their church is such spiritually that it makes Him want to vomit. We know that kind of thing. We even today use an expression, “it was so bad it made me want to throw up.” We say, well, that’s not a good way to talk. Sometimes we visualize it you know “yuck” What do we say? It makes me sick. Now you have the Lord of the church speaking and He’s going to say that to the church. You make me want to vomit.

You think, “wow,” so you can see why we say it’s probably even worse than Sardis in that sense and He doesn’t say I have a few things against you like He did at Sardis. They don’t even get that given here, I’m not saying there were no believers in the church at Laodicea but the church at Laodicea is so much comprised of--if I can use the word, ‘fake’ believers. Probably not a good word to use these days but professing believers who have no life. I want you to note something here. There are no particular doctrines rebuked in this church like in some of the others where they had false teachers. The Nicolaitans, who like the Balaamites, were teaching things; other doctrines the false prophetess at Thyatira, Jezebel, there’s no doctrines that come under rebuke here or association with the worship of idols. There are no moral activities condemned, certain immoral things condemned in this church. They’re a church that’s confident. They’re a good church so let’s start into the letter to the church at Laodicea.

“To the angel or messenger of the church in Laodicea write: . . . because this is the messenger from this church whether it’s one of the prominent leaders or whatever. Probably the human messenger here who is included in the rebuke that goes with the church. Christ first identifies Himself again. He identifies Himself in a threefold way here. He is the Amen, the am-ane’. He is the faithful and true Witness, and He is the Beginning of the creation of God. Some of our songs emphasize the certainty and the Rock that our God is that Christ is and that comes out in the way He identifies Himself. We’re familiar with the word “amen” as usually we conclude our prayers in Jesus’ name, amen. That’s just this word carried over He is the Amen. We just carried it over. It goes back to Hebrew. We have it in Greek and we have it here and we’ve carried it down into English.

“The Amen.” It means that which is certain, that which is fixed, that which is true unchangeable. When we pray, we close with that which we are expressing is true. We bring our desires before God but here He is the One that is certain, that is true and so everything He says has that quality because in His very nature and being He is the Amen. He is the One in whom is certainty, surety and you think about it. For those who don’t know the true and living God what gives certainty, stability, truth? There is none so then you just have a world going everywhere and sometimes believers begin to follow the world and get caught up in it. We lose our focus and our stability. We think everything depends on who the next president is, what the present president does, or who gets on the Supreme Court. We lose the fixedness and stability that we are privileged to have. It’s the delight of the devil to bring confusion and sow confusion in the lives of God’s people. And then we begin to have the same fears that the world does because we’re beginning to think like the world and wait everything’s under control. Our God is sovereign, nations come and go, presidents come and go, kings come and go; our God, we’re right on track down to all the details.

The Book of Revelation tells how it ends and we are the church living out events now in anticipation of what He is going to tell us about the future but everything is on track, it’s on schedule and that’s why those who are in power are there by the appointment of God. Romans 13 or you go back to the Old Testament and Daniel. God sets up the kingdom. Kings, takes them down and sometimes He puts the lowliest of men in power. Ah, what’s going to happen to our country? Nothing that God hasn’t planned. What’s going to happen in the world? Everything that God has planned so we have the Amen and Jesus Christ is not only man, He is God, so as we’ve talked about He obviously has the character and attributes of God.

The next characteristic describing Him elaborates on the Amen; the faithful and true Witness. Everything that Christ says everything that He is witness to is true, is settled, is certain. “Heaven and earth will pass away but My word will not pass away.” He is the “faithful and true Witness” if you come back to Revelation chapter one verse five. This letter comes from Jesus Christ, the faithful witness. Everything He testifies to is true, it is faithful. He is the faithful and true witness. There is certainty. That’s why we need to be thoroughly saturated with the Word of God. It’s what the church is to be, the pillar and support of the truth. When the church moves away from the truth, what is left in the world? Uncertainty, confusion, every foolish idea that man can come up with in his fallen state. We sometimes are embarrassed by the truth. We don’t want to be viewed as narrow, the old Fightin’ Fundies and no, we bring life, we bring hope, we bring certainty. The world is not on a course of hopelessness. God will bring it to its appointed end.

Come back to the gospel of John, chapter three. Obviously here in John 3, one of the most familiar chapters in the bible but verse 11. Truly, truly, do you know what that word is? Am-ane’ am-ane’, amen-amen. We often have it in our English bible translated; expressing the certainty, the fixedness of what is being said. “Truly, truly, I say to you, we speak of what we know . . . this is Christ . . . and testify of what we have seen, you do not accept our testimony.” How can you understand it? Look at verse 13; “No one has ascended into heaven, but He who descended from heaven: the Son of Man.” I mean here we want to know about God. We come to know Him in Christ, there’s certainty in that. Come down to verse 32 for time here. “What He has seen and heard, of that He testifies and no one receives His testimony. He who has received His testimony has set his seal to this that God is true. For He whom God has sent speaks the words of God; for He gives the Spirit without measure.” Then you have that promise, “He who believes in the Son has eternal life; he who does not obey the Son will not see life, but the wrath of God abides on him.” This is certain; this is true. Christ testifies to the truth. He is the Son of Man but He is the Son of God who has descended to this earth to be born into the human race so that He would be not only Son of God but also the Son of Man and His testimony is true. Until a person hears the truth concerning Christ and believes it, there is no salvation, for faith comes by hearing and hearing by the message of Christ; the word concerning Christ, the truth of the gospel.

You know we have all this talk about faith and we are people of faith and the people of faith should join-together. You know a lot of what is faith is faith in emptiness. It’s only faith in the truth of God and in the true God and the One who is true and who is the Savior that can truly bring salvation and transfer our hearts, make us new. “If any man be in Christ, he is a new creation.” John 18 and here we are at the end of Christ’s earthly ministry verse 37. Pilate asks Christ, “You are a king?” Jesus answered, “You say correctly that I am a king. For this I have been born, for this I have come into the world, to testify to the truth. Everyone who is of the truth hears my voice.” That’s why in John 8 he told the religious people of His day, “you can’t hear and understand what I’m saying.” Why? “. . . Because you are of your father the devil,” so He’s telling Pilate He who is of the truth hears My voice.

All right, come back to Revelation chapter three. We’re not going to do this whole letter today so don’t start to get nervous if it seems like we have a long way to go. He is the Amen, the faithful and true Witness. He is the Beginning of the creation of God. Now the way we have that translated here might give us a false idea as though Christ is a created being and God began creation by creating Christ. That’s not what He is saying here. What He is saying is Christ is the Beginning of creation. Some to make the point translated it He is the Beginner of creation. He’s the One who Begins creation. All things are created through Him and for Him.

I meant to tell you to stay in the Gospel of John but that’s easy to find so come on back to John chapter one. As we have noted, the Apostle John was used by the Spirit of God to be the penman for the Gospel of John, the three Epistles of John, and the Book of Revelation. We appreciate how God used him and is using him to our day. John’s Gospel, chapter one, we’ll pick up with verse three. The first word, the first statement declares his Deity, the Word was God and when you get to the beginning—we have to pick up verse one. In the beginning was the Word or as you might translate this tense in the beginning the Word already was. The point is when you get to the beginning Christ is already there. When you get to the beginning, the Word already was so we read Genesis 1:1. “In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth” and you understand when you get to that beginning Christ already was because He’s eternal, He’s God.

“The Word was with God the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God” distinguishing Father and Son, God the Father and God the Son. There is one God eternally existing in three persons - Father, Son and Holy Spirit. All things came into being through Him. Well what do we say? He was at the beginning, He’s the One who caused the beginning as we created beings can identify. What about before you get to the beginning. I have no way of entering into that. I know some of the things God said took place before the beginning but for creation, it all has a beginning, a beginning that is at the beginning, Genesis 1:1. This obviously gets clearer to you, right? “All things came into being through Him.” We’re talking about the Word [Christ] and apart from Him; nothing came into being that has come into being. Clear statement “and in Him was life and the life was the light of men.”

Come down to John chapter one verse 10. “He was in the world, and the world was made through Him, and the world did not know Him.” So again that emphasis. When He came into this world, it was a world He had created and usually we think of this as the Father creating through the Son and by the work of the Holy Spirit so in Genesis 1 we find the Spirit of God hovering over that creation. He is also actively involved.

Let’s go over to Colossians. Remember Colossians is closely connected to Laodicea because they were going to be exchanging letters from Paul and when you come to Colossians this would not be new material for the Laodiceans. It would be a reminder to them. In Colossians chapter 1 verse, 15 and we break in here what is one of Paul’s long sentences we have it broken up for us in English. “He is the image of the invisible God.” God is Spirit but in the incarnation, the “enfleshment” of Christ, He manifested for us the invisible God. He’s “the first-born of all creation.” He has priority and supremacy for by Him all things were created. That includes “all things in the heavens, earth, visible-invisible thrones, dominions so angelic beings all creation. All things have been created through Him and for Him; He is before all things, and in Him, all things hold together.”

I’m not so concerned that the world is going to unravel and explode. He’s holding it all together and He’s head of the body, the church. You know sometimes I use the expression, “bad theology always catches up to you” and that’s true. We think this is just an area of theology, it’s not that important. Everything God has said is important. That doesn’t mean we have a through final knowledge of everything but our desire is to know everything He has revealed as accurately and correctly as we can. If we don’t, then we’ve a weak spot and that weak spot tends to grow. You see how he talks about creation and Christ’s work in the creation then He’s talking about He’s the head over the church. You see something of that absoluteness in Christ and His work in creation and His authority in the church.

That’s why something like evolution is an attack on the very character of Christ. I know some say they’re Christians but they’re theistic evolutionist and I believe God began it all. God is more specific than that. He’s even specific on how the members of the Godhead worked in creation to a certain degree and then He walks it through in Genesis 1. Man has the audacity to say, “well, I don’t think it happened that way” and pretty soon if it didn’t happen that way in Genesis one, two and three then we’re not sure about the whole issue of sin and how it got started so I don’t know. If there’s no first Adam then I don’t know what place the second Adam has if He’s resolving the problem of the first Adam who didn’t exist anyway. Then if it didn’t begin that way who’s sure how the Book of Revelation ends and so we begin to take our bible apart and just keep the pieces that we would agree with. Where are we?

Come back to Romans 1. You note what happens after the introductions to the book. Paul’s great statement on the gospel in verses 16 and 17 that reveals the righteousness of God and that comes from faith and our faith in Christ as the Spirit of God and His grace opens our eyes to see and believe is the beginning of a life of faith. Then verse 18 “the wrath of God is revealed.” That’s a contrast to the righteousness of God. To go back now as we unfold the gospel and begin, why we need the righteousness of God, is because we were under the wrath of God and it is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men who suppressed truth. It’s not they’re just poor ignorant people. They are ignorant. They’re willfully ignorant, they suppress the truth. There is no excuse for their condition. They are what they are by birth and by choice. They suppress the truth in unrighteousness because that which is known about God is evident within them for God made it evident to them. For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes, His eternal power, His divine nature, have been clearly seen by being understood by what has been made. Therefore, they are without excuse.
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Well science tells us. Science is created by scientists, who in their fallen state, make it say what they want it to say. I mean if you’re going to begin with the presupposition, you have to explain the existence of things but you cannot bring God into the picture. You’re just out there in a world of—make you’re guesses but put a degree behind your name and it will have authority but that doesn’t give it reality. You’ll note the creation so “the heavens (do) declare the glory of God and His earth and that shows His handiwork and it’s a consistent unending testimony.” It doesn’t have the final clarity necessary for salvation. You have to bring the word of God in a passage like Psalms 14 so great. You have to hear the word of God but man demonstrates His rebellious sinfulness. He rejects what we would call general revelation available to all men everywhere. Walk around and look and then He goes on in verse 21.

“Even though they knew God, they did not honor Him as God. They don’t give thanks to God. They become futile in their speculations their foolish heart’s darkened. They exchanged the glory of the incorruptible God and now they create what we call idols they create a replacement for the true and living God so God gives them over to their sinful desires.” He doesn’t cause them to sin but the restraints being removed because of their persistent rejection of Him, they go their way. You have the depths of depravity unfolded, and we’re building until you see yourself lost. There’s no Savior for you. Salvation is for those who have been brought under the convicting work of the Holy Spirit who came to convict the world of sin of righteous and judgment. That’s why we must bring the Word of God to people but they’re held accountable. Oh, what about those poor people in counties who have never heard? They’ve seen but that doesn’t draw them to the true and living God because all men reject the revelation of creation. It just reveals our depravity and there are other passages but come on back to Revelation 3.

The Amen, the One in whom is certainty, stability if you will, fixedness. He’s the faithful and true Witness. What He testifies to the truth is truth. As Francis Schaffer said so many years ago, “true truths” not just a word devoid of meaning but a truth that will be unchanging. The faithful and true Witness the One who began creation so He ought to have our attention. Now this is the way He introduces Himself to this church. Remember this is for all of the churches, not just these seven, but you saw at the end of the Book of Revelation, this is what the Spirit is saying to the churches. “Everyone who has an ear ought to hear.” Now we can say, “yes I understand that theology, yes and I believe God created things.” Well I know your deeds I better have your attention now because as the Creator and the One who only speaks truth and the truth He speaks is fixed and sure, here’s My evaluation of you so this is not open to discussion. He’s not looking for, well I see it a little differently. This is the way it is.

“I know your deeds.” Now in some of the churches they got commendations. He then commended them for the good things they did which were a manifestation of His work in their lives but what does He say to them? “I know your deeds that you are neither cold nor hot.” Well we think it’s a good thing to be moderate, put things in perspective, we don’t have to go off the deep end on things. It’s good you’re neither cold nor hot. We want to understand what He is talking about here. Then He says “I wish you were cold or hot so because you are lukewarm you’re not cold you’re not hot you’re lukewarm.” Some connect this back to the historical situation at Laodicea that had a problem with the water contrasted to the cities connected with them. One might get hot water which was usable, the other might get refreshing cold water which was usable, but you get this lukewarm water that came in with the aqueduct. You couldn’t drink it when you feel like you need a cold drink. It’s not really usable for use when you need something good and hot. I know you; you are neither cold nor hot you’re lukewarm.

Now remember He is writing to a church and this church, as we’ll see, professes to be a church that belongs to Jesus Christ. He’s not talking about a temple of idol worshippers that are out here. We’re better at evaluating and sometimes we need to know the error that’s going on and it makes us perceptive and helps us appreciate their need for the gospel and so on but He’s talking about here a church that is professing a faith. You’re not cold you’re not hot. Now I take it the cold refers to flat out unbelievers. They don’t profess to belong to Christ. In fact these may be people antagonistic to Christ. They’re cold so we’re not talking about believers in various degrees, we’re talking about someone who is cold. We’ll talk more about that in a moment. Hot would refer to believers. We would talk about that they are on fire for the Lord, they’re fervent, they’re boiling.

Come back to the Book of Acts. There are two uses of this term in the Book of Acts, chapter 18. You remember Apollos and at this stage, he’s an Old Testament unbeliever that doesn’t have the clarity yet as we’re in this developing phase of the early church and we’re told in verse 24 he’s eloquent. He comes to Ephesus, which brings us into this region of Asia Minor where the seven churches are. He was mighty in the Scriptures so what’s going on here? He is a “man who” verse 25 “has been instructed in the way of the Lord. He is fervent in spirit.” That’s our word; he’s hot in spirit so here’s a man on fire so he comes with that fire of passion and all-out commitment to the Lord. You know things have moved on in that part of the world. They didn’t have the internet and so on at that time so you know things took time and he hadn’t been instructed yet on all that had taken place but He has a relationship with the Lord and it is a fiery relationship. Pricilla and Aquila will instruct him and then he gets things complete.

Turn over to Romans 12 look at verse 11. We are to be and he’s talking about those things that characterize us who have been the recipients of God’s grace who have been gifted by that grace who now are involved in serving Him with our gifts and our lives. You come down to verse 11. We’re “not to be lagging behind in diligence, fervent in spirit, serving the Lord.” That’s our word, “hot”. We should not be cooling down. We’ve talked about this as we went through the churches. It just seems like there is that pattern. We were talking at the men’s retreat and you know that trend you have to fight against; we are saved, were so excited were telling everyone and we can’t get enough of the study of the word. Life gets totally rearranged around being in the word but over time then these other things of the world begin to squeeze in.

You know we’re probably getting enough and we don’t need Sunday night and we don’t need a bible study through the week and then we don’t need Wednesday night. Sunday school is too early. I get quite a bit of the word on Sunday morning and it would be better if I got a little less of the word in the sermon but… and what are we doing? We’re cooling down. Is Jesus Christ more precious than He was when I got saved? Shouldn’t I be growing in my love for Him? Should my passion for Him not be like, you know like an Apollos. He was passionate with the knowledge he had but when he got more knowledge that didn’t mean now he cooled off. More of the truth shouldn’t cool us down, it ought to fire us up. We know a lot more now than when we first came to know Christ but we haven’t scratched very far below the surface of the wonders of the truths that God’s revealed and then to have our lives more and more conformed to this truth, lived out with God requiring that we be holy as He is holy. Come back to the church.

“I know your deeds you’re neither cold nor hot. I wish you were cold or hot.” We’re not going to be able to get into all this but its striking. I think coldness here is an unbeliever, an unbeliever who doesn’t even profess that he’s a Christian. Those who are hot would be those that there’s no doubt, nobody questions was Paul on fire for the Lord. I mean if you’re going to say let’s name some Christians who were boiling in their service, you’d say I’d put Paul up there. That’s the contrast here so verse 16 “because you are lukewarm neither cold nor hot . . . we’d say well that’s better than nothing is. Christ said that’s the worst of the three options. You can be a flat out cold unbeliever. You can be an on fire true believer but if you’re just lukewarm which I take it is a professor as we distinguish sometimes but not a possessor who has so much of the knowledge, so much of the information they know about the bible, they’ve heard it they came to this church because of what they heard. Maybe they were baptized, maybe they have done certain works but the reality is it’s never gripped their hearts.

One of the most unsettling things that the Scripture reveals is people can know a lot about the bible, can be involved in a lot of things that we would say are good things, even church things, and they’re not saved. I’m not talking about the liberal gone over church I’m talking about the Indian Hills churches, the quote “evangelical churches.” It’s not going to say this church is obviously gone. They’re not cold in that sense. Well they’re nowhere near the gospel when they use the bible, it’s a misuse of the bible. No, we’re talking about lukewarm professing Christians. You note what He says here because you are lukewarm neither cold nor hot I will spit you out of My mouth and you have in your margin a Greek word that means, “to vomit.” You have to say that’s a gross description. How else could Christ describe when He says to this church that you make me so sick I want to throw up? There is no connection.

This is serious business but the church says in verse 17 “I’m rich” wealthy we don’t need anything. You don’t know you’re wretched miserable poor blind. They have gone. We want to be careful. The process; I mentioned some churches--what happened to the churches that identify at the very beginning with a John Calvin or a John Wesley or Martin Luther. Men whose’ works we still benefit from reading and studying even though there may be areas of their theology that had not developed as far as we want but the churches now that may carry their name they have no connection. How does that happen, the process of churches rolling over?

We will pick up with this with the church at Laodicea but I would encourage you. Where are you? It’s not enough to grow up in this church and have parents who taught you the truth. That doesn’t mean you will be a child of the truth. It doesn’t matter, I got baptized then when I got to college and I think that settled it. No that doesn’t settle it. Well I’m looking for ways to help that doesn’t settle it either. We have to go back to the beginning. Have you personally trusted Christ? Have you understood you are a sinner? You are separated from God. You are under condemnation. You are on your way to eternal destruction. There’s nothing you can do to rescue yourself. You can only take hold of that which God provided to rescue you; salvation in Christ. He loved you, He died for you so that you wouldn’t have to perish but the only way to come into a relationship with Him is to believe in Him. You can sit and hear all my sermons, great as they are but that won’t get you to heaven. You must believe the truth that is being proclaimed and that’s what we want to keep before us.

How long has it been since you as a church, part of this church, just asked someone here--I’d like to hear your testimony? We all enjoyed hearing a testimony on Friday night. Encouraging how he came to Christ. You know we just assume, “well yeah they’ve been here forever and--but we would enjoy hearing--that’s a good thing to do on an evening when you’re together. Tell us how you came to know the Savior. All our testimonies will be different but they all bring us to the same point where by God’s grace we came to understand and believe the gospel of Jesus Christ His death burial and resurrection to settle and finalize God’s provision to cleanse us from our sin.”

Let us pray together:
Thank you Lord for Your word. Lord, we are concerned that there is a church like Laodicea. That before the Apostle John had passed off the scene there was the Laodicean church as well as the church at Sardis. Lord how sad it is that this church in a relatively a short time has come to be a church of unbelievers and yet they are ignorant of the awfulness of their situation. A church that had received letters from the Apostle Paul, a church that was in possession of Your truth but it had not changed their hearts. May we be careful as Your people in Your church today to examine ourselves to be sure we’re in the faith and to be bold in challenging others? Bless us as we serve You through the rest of the day and through the rest of the week and until Christ comes we pray in His name. Amen.






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