Redeemer calls HIs people Toward Renewal

Jesus calls His people to recognize their need for Him.

Revelation 3:14-22.

What is your favorite hot drink?

What is your favorite cold drink?

Is there a drink you don’t mind cold or hot?

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When I was probably 10 years old. I was swimming at a friend’s neighborhood pool.

I was drinking a coke and had set it down on one of the tables.

Now, on a hot summer day, what happens to a cold coke sitting on a table?

It warms up.

It gets lukewarm and then eventually hot.

Let me tell you there is almost nothing worse than a picking up a coke thinking its cold and then drinking it and its lukewarm from sitting in the sun.

I say almost nothing worse.

Because on this particular day, I experienced something worse.

As I took a drink, I was about to swallow when I noticed something else in my mouth.

Something had fallen into my drink and I had just put it in my mouth.

Immediately after having this though, I felt what I can only describe as an electric shock in my nose and entire head.

In response, I spit my drink all over the concrete and noticed that a bee had flown into my drink and had apparently stung me on the roof of my mouth and now lay on the concrete.

________________

That day I experienced two bad things at once.

A lukewarm drink and a bee.

You see, hot and cold are both useful forms of drinks.

We will get into this more in a moment, but the only form of drinks that is truly useless is lukewarm drinks.

The church of Laodicea thought they were useful and had it all together…

But as we will read today, God calls them lukewarm… useless.

To be useful for Christ, we must humble ourselves and recognize we need Jesus.

We need Jesus every year, every month, every week, every day, every moment.

Let’s read from Revelation 3 this morning and see Jesus reminded this church to be useful.

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Read Revelation 3:14-20 “14 “And to the angel of the church in Laodicea write: ‘The words of the Amen, the faithful and true witness, the beginning of God’s creation. 15 “ ‘I know your works: you are neither cold nor hot. Would that you were either cold or hot! 16 So, because you are lukewarm, and neither hot nor cold, I will spit you out of my mouth. 17 For you say, I am rich, I have prospered, and I need nothing, not realizing that you are wretched, pitiable, poor, blind, and naked. 18 I counsel you to buy from 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 salve to anoint your eyes, so that you may see. 19 Those whom I love, I reprove and discipline, so be zealous and repent. 20 Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and eat with him, and he with me.”

Revelation 3:21-22 “21 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. 22 He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.’ ””

EXEGESIS:

Let’s do a quick review of last week.

Who wrote the book of Revelation? - John (one of Jesus’ disciples).

Where was he? - Patmos, an island prison run by the Romans.

What is the book of Revelation primarily about? - A letter to the seven churches of Asia Minor to remind them to endure in the gospel of Jesus Christ.

in Rev. 3:14, John writes, “To Laodicea, ‘the words of the Amen, the faithful and true witness...’”

Jesus saw their true spiritual condition, and His faithful love compelled Him to reveal and correct them.

A common misunderstanding of the church of Laodicea goes like this.

People think that Jesus is saying I wish you were hot (on fire for me) or against me (cold) being hard to things of God.

That’s not at all what John is saying about Jesus here.

Laodicea was a real place.

Laodicea was also a wealthy, self-sustaining culture.

Much like our own, Laodicea believed they had everything they needed to be successful.

They even had a form of plumbing that allowed them to bring in cold and hot water from other places.

Now as we said at the start.

Is cold water bad? - NO!

Is hot water bad? - NO!

Both hot and cold water are useful!

This is important to correctly understand what John is saying here.

Cold water is refreshing, pleasant to drink, and even to pour over ones head or body on a hot day. Cold water wakes the mind and refreshes the body.

Similarly, Hot water is useful for cooking, bathing, and feels good on the outside of the body.

Two towns near Laodicea provided them access to both forms of water.

Colossae had cool water springs. Laodicea had tapped into these cool springs and plumbed the water into Laodicea.

Simliarly, A nearby town of Hierapolis had hot springs. These hot springs were well known destinations for people to go for their belief that they would heal them and otherwise provide external comforts.

Laodicea had tapped into these hot springs as well and plumbed them to Laodicea.

But with both the hot and cold water there was a significant problem.

By the time the water reached Laodicea, it was lukewarm…

The heavy mineral content in the hot spring water was gross to drink.

In both hot/cold cases, the water would show up lukewarm and would often make many in the town sick when they drank from it.

That’s something that was true then and is true now!

Hold and Cold water are useful!

The only truly useless form of water is lukewarm water.

It’s gross, tastes bad, upsets your stomach, can’t cook anything, doesn’t feel good to bathe in, and is at a minimum repulsive.

That’s the message to Laodicea today.

They were a wealthy town.

Self-sufficient.

But so much so that they forgot they needed God.

Their wealth externally led them to feel pride internally.

In 2 Corinthians 6:10. Paul says, “10 as sorrowful, yet always rejoicing; as poor, yet making many rich; as having nothing, yet possessing everything.”

This is a contrast to Laodicea. This church had everything, yet they were spiritually bankrupt.

I know i’ve been saying this a lot lately, but doesn’t this look like our culture?

We have everything. We are self-reliant.

Our we glorifying God for all of the things we have, or are we becoming lazy and apathetic that every good gift comes from God?

Jesus wants us to recognize our need for Him.

The first step to being useful for Christ is this:

Diagnose the sickness.

When I was in 4th grade, I missed 70+ days of school.

homeschooled the rest of the year.

No idea why I was sick.

I had surgery to have my adenoids removed in my nose… nothing. Didn’t help a bit.

I was on medicine all the time.

Finally, I went to an allergist.

Turns out I am highly allergic to cats and most of the time when I was laying around feeling poorly, guess what was cuddled up with me… One of our two cats at the time.

The thing that was killing me, literally, was the thing with me all the time making me sick.

Before we can be useful, we must diagnose the sickness in our lives.

For Laodicea, Rev. 3:17 “17 For you say, I am rich, I have prospered, and I need nothing, not realizing that you are wretched, pitiable, poor, blind, and naked.”

Before we can be useful, we must recognize what’s making us useless.

2. familiarize yourself with Jesus’ priorities.

Sometimes we call things blessings that are distractions.

Jesus’ priorities are for eternal well being.

Jesus wants us with Him in eternity.

Why would God give you something on earth that is going to distract you from your heavenly dwelling?

Sometimes we think the house, car, team, grades, or college are the blessing when in actuality, they are the distraction…

man.

I’m telling you I think God began teaching me that in high school and it radically changed my worldview.

So many people care about external things.

But the bigger your house, the more property you own. The more time you have to spend cleaning, or maintaining those things.

I don’t know about you but I don’t want to prioritize doing things in my life that won’t matter after I’m dead.

I want to prioritize what Jesus prioritizes.

Rev. 3:19 “19 Those whom I love, I reprove and discipline, so be zealous and repent.”

So accept God’s correction at times to remember God wants us to think as He thinks.

Be careful not to call things that aren’t blessings gifts from God.

Finally, To be useful for Christ,

3. Let Jesus reign

in Rev. 3:20 “20 Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and eat with him, and he with me.”

Alot of times people refer to this in a gospel presentation.

That we need to open the door of our hearts to God.

But remember, this is actually written to a church.

The language here indicates that Laodicea is so self-sufficient that they are just cultural Christians.

They are doing church, but there is no Jesus in the church.

Jesus is outside knocking, and they are so self-sufficient, they are carrying on inside without Jesus.

This is so beautiful.

Jesus isn’t sitting idly by passively waiting to be noticed.

Jesus is knocking.

He cares about people.

He seeks us out.

Are we going to let Him in our churches and let Him reign?

APPLICATION:

To apply this today I want us to consider a few things.

As we prioritize Christ, we neglect worldly things.

As such, we are going to have to begin recognizing what God loves and what God hates.

Money is a wonderful thing that can be used for much good, but loving money is also the root of all evil.

Money can give us a false sense of security.

It can make us feel self-sufficient and not be in need of anything.

But is that how God intends us to live?

At the same time, does God intend for us to be poor always relying on Him for our next meal or to meet our next physical need?

Certainly not.

A good word here is Gary Lawhornes favorite word.

We need balance.

If we are so reliant on money for our security that we never see our need for God, that’s not good.

At the same time, if we are so poor that we can’t ever use our money in life to help other people, well that may not be best either.

SO what’s the point? What’s the answer?

The answer is the same for Laodicea and for us.

Is your primary need in life God?

Do you see your need for Him every day? Every moment?

Are you running to him in the morning?

Are you feasting on His word?

Are we complacent and lazy thinking we have arrived spiritually?

If so, we may be in danger of being lukewarm.

When we get lazy, we are more susceptible to compromise.

Remember Matt. 4:4 “4 But he answered, “It is written, “ ‘Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God.’ ””

As we dwell on God’s word, gather weekly for worship with other believers, and pray to God, may we also focus our eyes daily on our need for God.

We need every word that comes from the mouth of God.

A song I’ve been singing to the boys lately perfectly illustrates this.

“Turn your eyes upon Jesus.

Look full on His wonderful face.

And the things of earth will grow strangely dim.

In the light of His glory and Grace.”

May the things of earth always grow dimmer as we daily remember our need for God.