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