TITLE:  LUKEWARMNESS IS A SERIOUS SPIRITUAL CONDITION

TITLE:  LUKEWARMNESS IS A SERIOUS SPIRITUAL CONDITION

SCRIPTURE:

“To the angel of the church in Laodicea, write: These are the words of the Amen, the faithful and true witness, the ruler of God’s creation. 15 I know your deeds, that you are neither cold nor hot. I wish you were either one or the other! 16 So, because you are lukewarm—neither hot nor cold—I am about to spit you out of my mouth. 17 You say, ‘I am rich; I have acquired wealth and do not need a thing.’ But you do not realize that you are wretched, pitiful, poor, blind, and naked. 18 I counsel you to buy from me gold refined in the fire, so you can become rich; and white clothes to wear, so you can cover your shameful nakedness; and salve to put on your eyes, so you can see.  19 Those whom I love I rebuke and discipline. So be earnest and repent. 20 Here I am! I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in and eat with that person, and they with me.  21 To the one who is victorious, I will give the right to sit with me on my throne, just as I was victorious and sat down with my Father on his throne. 22 Whoever has ears, let them hear what the Spirit says to the churches.”  (Revelation 3:14—22 NIV)

OBSERVATION:

            These messages to the seven churches in Revelation have strong correlations even to the modern church today.  The church is not perfect.  All the seven churches in here in Revelations have good and bad things going on in their midst.  Jesus revealed to John the Laodecian church by telling them what was good about them.  Even though Christ sees stains of evil and the work of Satan against each church, he always brings out things that are good about them. This underscores the need for continuous spiritual growth and maturity, and the importance of spiritual discipline in the life of a believer. 

            These are the words of the Amen, the faithful and true witness, the ruler of God’s creation.  I know your deeds, that you are neither cold nor hot. I wish you were either one or the other!  So, because you are lukewarm—neither hot nor cold—I am about to spit you out of my mouth.

            Jesus pointed out the lukewarm attitude of these believers.  Sometimes, they were hot, and at other times, they were cold.  To be a faithful follower of Christ is to be fully committed to him.  I cannot cherry-pick what I want to obey and do and what I don’t want to do if called upon.  My life as a follower of Christ must always be hot.  There is no middle ground when it comes to following Christ.  I do not put conditions on how I follow Jesus.  Jesus sets the conditions, and I follow. 

            Because of their Laodicean believer’s “lukewarmness,” they become self-reliant instead of God-dependent.  They say they are rich, have acquired wealth, and do not need anything.  But they don’t realize they may be rich in their own eyes but poor in God’s eyes.  They saw themselves as rich, but God saw them as poor.  They were wretched, pitiful, poor, blind, and naked.  The believer’s life aims to be rich toward God and faithful to him. 

            Jesus reveals what it is to be a church and a people who are hot toward God.

• They buy from God gold refined in the fire so you can be rich.  Earthly gold is not refined to God’s standard.  What is of the earth stays in earth.  What is of heaven is refined and is for heaven.
• They will wear white clothes so they can cover their shameful nakedness.  All my righteousness comes short of God’s righteousness.  My effort always comes up short and won’t be able to cover me. 
• They are given a salve to put on their eyes so they can see.  I need to see things in God’s eyes.  I need a godly perspective about what is happening in my life and around me. 
• Those whom I love, I rebuke.  Now, this is crucial to my relationship with God.  God loves me so much that he will rebuke and correct me.  I don’t get a pass just because God loves me.  Because he loves me, I will be rebuked for my lukewarmness. 

God does not force a relationship with me.  He sees what’s wrong in my life and reveals it to me, and I must then repent and make corrections.  Jesus told the church in Laodicea, I told you what you must do; now, Here I am! I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in and eat with that person, and they will be with me.  To the victorious one, I will give the right to sit with me on my throne, just as I was victorious and sat down with my Father on his throne. Whoever has ears, let them hear what the Spirit says to the churches.” 

APPLICATION:

            I want to have my ears to hear what the Spirit is saying to me daily.  I desire to listen to the voice of Jesus, who is standing at the door of my life, and knock.  I want to be rebuked by His Spirit when there are things that He reveals to me that I need to change.  Sometimes, I am too stubborn and selfish.  I realized here that I can never earn my relationship with Jesus through my efforts.  I need to draw near to Jesus daily. 

PRAYER:

            Heavenly Father, in your love, I pray that you continue to rebuke me in areas that I need to be rebuked.  Please teach me to fear you and to walk in obedience to your word.  Please help me to hear your word daily.  Please teach me how to be a committed child to your word and righteousness.  Open my ears and my eyes to your truth daily.  Amen!