Turn up the Heat
I was thinking the other day about the way people think of God and I received a message which is quite strong. I say that it is quite strong because we all have an idea or concept of how God is. We all have the concept that He is willing to forgive us, and that He always has His arms wide open to receive us. This is a great truth, He is willing to forgive us, He does have His arms wide open to receive us, but there is also a side of God that many of us try to ignore or perhaps we are not aware of. This is the reason why I bring you this message today that many if not all will consider it to be very strong. I don't want anyone here to feel offended, I don't want anyone here to feel bad, but I do want all of us here to know that when we say that we serve God, we are talking about something that is very serious. Let's now look in the Word of God to see what I’m talking about.
Revelation 3:14-22 - He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches. 14 And unto the angel of the church of the Laodiceans write; These things saith the Amen, the faithful and true witness, the beginning of the creation of God; 15 I know thy works, that thou art neither cold nor hot: I would thou wert cold or hot. 16 So then because thou art lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will spue thee out of my mouth. 17 Because thou sayest, I am rich, and increased with goods, and have need of nothing; and knowest not that thou art wretched, and miserable, and poor, and blind, and naked: 18 I counsel thee to buy of me gold tried in the fire, that thou mayest be rich; and white raiment, that thou mayest be clothed, and that the shame of thy nakedness do not appear; and anoint thine eyes with eyesalve, that thou mayest see. 19 As many as I love, I rebuke and chasten: be zealous therefore, and repent. 20 Behold, I stand at the door, and knock: if any man hear my voice, and open the door, I will come in to him, and will sup with him, and he with me. 21 To him that overcometh will I grant to sit with me in my throne, even as I also overcame, and am set down with my Father in his throne. 22 He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches.
This letter here to the church in Laodicea is the strongest of all the letters that our Lord wrote to all the churches. Here we see that Christ had nothing good to say about them. The reason as to why He wrote such a strong letter is because as we can interpret in verse 16 instead of them getting closer to God, they were moving away from Him. They were on a path which was not pleasing to God therefore we see that He says: “…I will spue thee out of my mouth.” To have a better understanding of the significance of this letter, let’s stop here for a minute and learn about this church. Laodicea was the principal city in Phrygia and it was a very prosperous and rich city. This city was centered in the three most important roads of that era. It was an enormously rich city because it had the three major industries of that time. This city was the financial and banking center. The producer of clothing and it was the location of a prestigious medical school well renown for its production of eyesalve. With this in mind let’s now continue examining this letter and let’s examine how it applies to us today.
This letter does not only serve to warn the church of Laodicea, but it can be applied to every congregation, to all churches in the body of Christ in the present time. This letter is a very stern warning that all of us must maintain very much in mind.
Let’s think about this that the Lord is telling us when He said: “I would thou wert cold or hot.” I’m sure that many of us like coffee, tea, or similar things that are normally drank hot. I am also sure that many of us here also like things like sodas, lemonade or similar refreshments that are drank cold. I know that by now you are asking yourself: “what does this have to do with the scriptures?” But I tell you that it has a lot to do with them. I say that it has a lot to do with them because just like I know that we all like and enjoy these things, I am quite sure that we don’t like these same things if they were lukewarm. Coffee does not taste as good when it is warm, and refreshments don’t refresh unless they are cold, correct?
The main complaint that our Lord has about this church here is a complaint that is very shocking. I tell you this because this complaint here describes a large number of the members of the church, in other words a large number of the members in the Church of Christ in its entirety. The main complaint that Christ has here is that they were lukewarm. But, what is Christ telling us here? Think about the illustration that I have just said. Think about those things that we normally consume either hot or cold. What is lukewarm? Something lukewarm is something that is in between being cold and hot. If we think about this, we see that what He is telling us is that He prefers that a person be cold rather than lukewarm. He would prefer that a person be cold because a cold person is a person that knows that a need exists. A cold person recognizes that an emptiness exists in their lives, recognizes that they need God, and they seek a solution, in other words they seek God. But a lukewarm person is a person that thinks just like the people in the church of Laodicea thought, they think they have it all, they think that there is not much more that they can improve. Brethren, we must all be very careful not to fall into this same way of thinking that the church of Laodicea fell into. I tell you this because a lukewarm Christian is an indifferent Christian, a Christian that is only partially committed to God. This was the case here in the church of Laodicea. Since the city was a very rich city, a powerful city, the members of this church had to be the same way. I say this because there are not many members of any church that live too far away from the church. Then we can assume that the members of this church were people that lived in that city, and since it was such a prosperous city they did not have many needs.
Don’t think that I am assuming all these things, because I am not. Christ himself tells us exactly how they were when He said: “Because thou sayest, I am rich, and increased with goods, and have need of nothing.” Do you see it now? Our Lord is telling us this here because He knew these people very well, He tells us this because He searches our hearts, He tells us this because He knew them all individually much better than they knew themselves. Brethren, this was the biggest problem that they had, they thought that they had it all. Unfortunately, this is also the problem that exists today in the body of Christ. I say this because there are a large number of people in the body of Christ that finds themselves just like the people in the church of Laodicea. There are a large number of people in the body of Christ that think that because they have material possessions, that think that because they are financially well, that thinks that because in all reality they do not have too many needs, then it must all be a blessing from God and the person has no more responsibilities.
I tell you today that anyone that thinks in this fashion is a lukewarm Christian. I am talking about people that are able to do more for God’s work, but simply do nothing. People that can help make a church grow, but they just can’t find the time. People that find themselves happy with the partial relationship that they have with Christ. Yes brethren you heard it correctly, a partial relationship with Christ. Because when a person has a full relationship with Christ, when a person completely submits to the will of God, it is impossible to be lukewarm, it is impossible to stay cold. It is impossible because the fire of the Holy Spirit descends upon us and there is nothing that can put that fire out as long as we are seeking more of God.
A great president of this nation once said some words that became very famous during a speech. President Kennedy said: “ask not what your country can do for you, but can you do for your country.” These very famous words had a great impact on the American people, but I tell you that they can also be used by the people of God. We must all ask ourselves not what can God do for us, but what can we do for God. Brethren, a person that does not seek God, a person that does not ask “what can I do for God today? ,” is a person that has lost the fire. It is a person that is just like the people in the church in Laodicea, people that are comfortable and in other words they are telling God that they have need of nothing else. They are telling God that the material things, that the pleasures of the flesh, that the comfort, that all of those things which will not last are more important than He is. And what did the Lord say about these people? “I will spue thee out of my mouth.” In other words they make our Lord sick, they make His stomach turn.
It is for that reason that Christ here gives us this stern warning. He did not author this letter to condemn, the church, He did not do it to shame them, but He did it to call them to repentance. Look carefully at what the Lord says: “As many as I love, I rebuke and chasten: be zealous therefore, and repent.” Here we can see that the reason why He gives them these shocking words, we see that the reason why He warns all of us is because He loves us. He does not want us to become so comfortable that we may begin to think that there is not much more to improve, that we may start thinking that there is not much more we can do, that we may think that we can continue on our own little merry way just as we are, that we may continue on a path that takes us further from God. This is the same as when we warn our children; in many instances our children do things that we know may put them in peril. Then we warn them about the danger because we love them and do not want to see any harm come to them, and in many instances we even punish them when they fail to listen, correct? Our celestial Father is the same way with us, He loves us and does not want any harm to come to us, He does not want us to go further away from Him.
This is the reason that He tells us here: “Behold, I stand at the door, and knock: if any man hear my voice, and open the door, I will come in to him, and will sup with him, and he with me. To him that overcometh will I grant to sit with me in my throne, even as I also overcame, and am set down with my Father in his throne.” Like I said at the beginning, He is willing to help us, He is willing to receive us and forgive our sins. But there has to be a genuine and unconditional commitment from us. We can’t profess to be Christian without having a genuine commitment with Christ. We can’t profess to be Christians and only act as such on sundays. Everyone that professes to be a Christian has to make a commitment with God and recognize that there will always be something that will displease God. We are not perfect. We will never be perfect, but if we think that there is not much more we can better if we think that we are comfortable and we do not move toward God at all times, then we fall under the ways as the church of Laodicea.
To conclude. Brethren, let’s never forget that God searches our hearts. Let’s always keep in mind that He is always present. Let’s never forget that our Lord knows each and every single one of us individually, that He knows us better than we know ourselves. Let’s never forget that when we receive strong words it is not because He is condemning us, but He is warning us just like a parent would a child. We are children of our celestial Father and He does not want for anything bad to happen to us. He does not want us to depart from Him. He wants only the best of all things. Let’s not be lukewarm for the things of God. Let’s never think that there is not much more we can better, that there is little room for improvement. Let’s seek His presence at all times, let’s examine our lives and ask ourselves: what can I do for God? Let’s all of us united in the same spirit see what we can do for God in our daily lives. He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches.
Preached: November 5, 2000
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