Revelation
Week 7
“Choose Jesus”
Today we are wrapping up our series called Revelation, we have been looking at Jesus final words to 7 churches & learning some practical lessons from what He had to say to them. If you missed any of them feee free to check them out on our Website, FB Page, or iTunes.
CONNECT
My wife LOVES reality TV, it not even a guilty pleasure because she is proud of her love for it. Some of it I like & some of it I can’t stand. And some of it, despite my best efforts I get sucked into :)
One the shows she loves, but I have a hard time watching is the Bachelor & The Bachelorette. I just have a hard time watching people make fools of themselves, it’s awkward for me, I have to leave the room, I causes too much tension, I have to look away. But she loves it.
But every one in a while I get sucked into this show in particular. I don’t know why, but it happens, DON’T JUDGE ME :)
I think it was back in 2012, it was one of those seasons. The Bachelor was a guy named Ben. I didn’t see it from the beginning, but I would walk into the room when Ange was watching and I’d get caught up in it because there were a few really sweet girls & this one PYSCHO. And regardless of how nice & awesome all the other girls were, this crazy, nasty girl kept getting picked. And in her one on one interviews she would say the craziest stuff. She was self absorbed & manipulative. And we would shake our heads & think, he has got to see through this act. This guy can’t fall for these lies, this girl is FAKE!
But week after week he keeps picker her, even when other girls would tell him, “She’s not who you think” He would get rid of them & keep her. And she ends up being in the final two!
The other girl Lindsey is a sweetheart, the polar opposite of the the crazy Courtney and I remember Ange & I talking about it back & forth, saying “He can’t be this dumb” “The Choice is OBVIOUS”
DON’T JUDGE US!
I can remember talking to the TV saying, “Don’t do it, dude, don’t do it!” And he dismisses Lindsey & pick crazy Courtney
And of course once He sees all the crap she said after the show it all crumbs, but we saw that coming, the choice was OBVIOUS!!!
That makes me CRAZY, when the Choice is clear, plain, obvious and people go the other way
TENSION
Can anyone relate to what I’m talking about?
The choice is a no brainer, but people make a bad choices.
Especially when they get advice, they ask questions, they get all the information & then they still make a BAD CHOICE!!!
I mean I’ve made some bone headed decisions in my life, I have done some dumb things, but its usually because I am clueless. If I have all the facts, all the data, and still make a bad choice, I HAVE NO EXCUSE RIGHT.
Yet people do it all the time & then we make excuses for our bad choices, we try to justify them, get other people on board with them.
Have you been there? Seen it? Done it? :)
Sometimes the choice is SO OBVIOUS, we just need the courage to make the RIGHT CHOICE
And I think that is what we are about to see in our last church
TRUTH
The last of the 7 churches was the church at Laodicea, last week Jesus only had good things to say to the church in Philadelphia & to correction. Well that isn’t the case here, it’s all correction & not praise. Jesus says…
“ I know everything you have done, and you are not cold or hot. I wish you were either one or the other. But since you are lukewarm and neither cold nor hot, I will spit you out of my mouth. You claim to be rich and successful and to have everything you need. But you don’t know how bad off you are. You are pitiful, poor, blind, and naked…” Revelation 3:15-17
Jesus says what we have heard Hims ay before in our study of Revelation, “I know everything you’ve done”
Parents, have you ever seen your children do something, their outside playing & you are watching through the window, and you step out and say something & they say “I didn’t do that!”
You just watched them, they are BUSTED but they still try to deny it right?
That’s how it is with Jesus, He sees it all, nothing escapes His attention. He has the best seat in the house, an unobstructed view, so when He says, “I know everything you’ve done” HE DOES!
And accurately says to the Laodiceans “You are neither hot or cold”
You won’t commit to be one or the other, you won’t choose which you want to be.
Laodocea was geographically situated between two other cities, Heropolis & Colossae. Heropolis was know for it’s natural “Hot Springs” & Colossae for it’s pure “Cold Springs.” And their were aqueducts that carried hot water form Heropolis & cold water from Colossae but by the time the water reached Laodocea it was “lukewarm”
Jesus used the reality of their physical location & paralleled it to their spiritual location.
Jesus says since you are lukewarm, I going to spit you out. Well that seems kinda HARSH of Jesus! But if you think about it, that’s natural reaction.
If you are outside working and you are sweating and you reach for some water expecting it to be cool & refreshing & it is “lukewarm” when it hits your mouth & it’s not what you expect, you spit it out! It’s THE NATURAL reaction!
It’s a GUT LEVEL response!
These believers in Laodocea were deceived, like the child who denied doing something when you watched them through the window.
They said “I’m Rich, I EVERYTHING I WANT, I don’t need a thing”
But Jesus said, YOU THINK THAT, but don’t even REALIZE, COMPREHEND, UNDERSTAND how bad off you are. You can’t see what’s really going on. You don’t have an ACCURATE view of the situation.
Jesus said, you are really:
Pitiful-inadequate; heartbreaking to look at; pathetic; helpless
Poor- impoverished; needy; lacking
Blind-can’t see; can’t understand your surroundings;
Naked-exposed; vulnerable; defenseless
They thought they were awesome, have it all dialed in, and not even realizing they were way out of their depth.
Like if I walked onto the Field at Foxborough, I played football as a teen, I have a decent knowledge of the game, I mean I watch football so obviously I could play it with the Pro’s right? NO!!!!
Pitiful, Poor, Blind, & Naked…Oh & DEAD!!!!
Regardless of what I tell myself, everyone watching would say “DEAD MAN WALKING”
The church in Laodocea, because they were unwilling to make a decision a real commitment to follow Jesus, they lied to themselves, they convinced themselves they were fine & everything was great & the house was on fire & they were in real danger!
Jesus says to them…
“So make up your minds to turn away from your sins. Listen! I am standing and knocking at your door.” Revelation 3:19-20
Make a choice! Make a decision, stop being indifferent, COMMIT!!!
And Jesus says “Turn away from your sins” other translations use a word we have heard a lot this series “REPENT” bring your thinking & actions into alignment with God’s Word.
And He finishes with this… “I’m standing & Knocking at your door”
I haven’t given up on you, EVEN THOUGH I SHOULD, I am still pursuing you!
APPLICATION
So what is the lesson for us? What do we learn from all of this? Every week there has been a choice, what’s out choice?
CHOOSE JESUS!!
It’s as simple as that, CHOOSE JESUS!
In just a few minutes we are going to be Baptizing some people who CHOOSE JESUS. And everyone of them would tell you the difference it has made!
Choose Jesus; He already CHOOSE US:
When we well too blind to see our need, He went ahead & did what needed to be done!
“When we were utterly helpless, Christ came at just the right time and died for us… God showed his great love for us by sending Christ to die for us while we were still sinners.” Romans 5:6-8
He already said, “I WANT YOU”
CHOOSE JESUS, And Be Made New:
Jesus is all about new beginnings, about forgiving the past & giving us a clean slate:
“Anyone who belongs to Christ has become a new person. The old life is gone; a new life has begun!” 2 Corinthians 5:17
Jesus gives us a new life, a new beginning, CHOOSE JESUS!
CHOOSE JESUS, And Never Be Alone Again:
Jesus said…
“I will never fail you. I will never abandon you.” Hebrews 13:5
He takes care of His own, CHOOSE JESUS
It doesn’t mean you will never struggle, it doesn’t mean you will never hurt again, but it does mean you will never have to do those things ALONE! CHOOSE JESUS!
LANDING
23 years ago I choose to follow Jesus, now I regret a lot of choices I have made, but I have NEVER REGRETTED THAT ONE!
