Do not become Lukewarm

Revelation 3:14

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.

Pray:

LUKEWARM Tepid; neither hot nor cold (Rev. 3:16). The city of Laodicea received its water from an aqueduct several miles long. The lukewarm water that arrived at the city served as an appropriate illustration for a tasteless, good-for-nothing Christianity.

It is possible that the terms ‘hot’ and ‘cold’ also had definite local significance. At Hierapolis the hot-spring water apparently played a major part in the healing cult which flourished there. The mineral matter deposited from the water has formed a terrace edged with spectacular white cascades. These are clearly visible from Laodicea, and are one of the more conspicuous features of the view. Hence the mention of ‘hot water’ might well have reminded a Laodicean of the curative waters of his city’s closest neighbour. For the greater part of the year the region is very hot and dry. In such a climate cold water is a most valuable source of refreshment, and the mention of ‘cold water’ inevitably brings to mind associations of that kind.

M. J. S. Rudwick, “The Lukewarmness of Laodicea (Rev. 3:16),” Tyndale Bulletin 3 (1957): 2.

You may remember a previous survey I shared with you a few months ago. According to it at least 69% of Americans identify as Christians. Of those less than 10% believe that the bible is the word of God.

What this means is we have a whole lot of wishy washy, uncommitted, lukewarm Christians out there.

Christianity has become a culture in America. One of the reasons why revival is so rare among modern churches today is that our churches have become social clubs.

And as we begin to increase our outreach here at Westside Baptist, I want to make it clear. I am interested in growth. But we must be sure to have the right kind of growth.

Having outreach programs like bowling for the youth and taking part in local events is a great way to build the church. But we must take care that we maintain our passion for the cause of Christ through all that we do.

I would say right now that Westside is on fire. That we are a church that is hot. The people here want to see God do a work in our midst. Those who are here now very much pray for one another and love one another. And without a doubt I believe we all put Jesus first in our lives.

But we must take care that we do not become lukewarm. Jude tells us how we can do the work of God without becoming lukewarm. Starting in verse 17 of Jude.

But, beloved, remember ye the words which were spoken before of the apostles of our Lord Jesus Christ;

18 How that they told you there should be mockers in the last time, who should walk after their own ungodly lusts.

19 These be they who separate themselves, sensual, having not the Spirit.

20 But ye, beloved, building up yourselves on your most holy faith, praying in the Holy Ghost,

21 Keep yourselves in the love of God, looking for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ unto eternal life.

22 And of some have compassion, making a difference:

23 And others save with fear, pulling them out of the fire; hating even the garment spotted by the flesh.

24 Now unto him that is able to keep you from falling, and to present you faultless before the presence of his glory with exceeding joy,

Matthew Henry writes of these verses:

Sensual men separate from Christ, and his church, and join themselves to the devil, the world, and the flesh, by ungodly and sinful practices. That is infinitely worse than to separate from any branch of the visible church on account of opinions, or modes and circumstances of outward government or worship. Sensual men have not the spirit of holiness, which whoever has not, does not belong to Christ. The grace of faith is most holy, as it works by love, purifies the heart, and overcomes the world, by which it is distinguished from a false and dead faith. Our prayers are most likely to prevail, when we pray in the Holy Ghost, under his guidance and influence, according to the rule of his word, with faith, fervency, and earnestness; this is praying in the Holy Ghost. And a believing expectation of eternal life will arm us against the snares of sin: lively faith in this blessed hope will help us to mortify our lusts. We must watch over one another; faithfully, yet prudently reprove each other, and set a good example to all about us. This must be done with compassion, making a difference between the weak and the wilful. Some we must treat with tenderness. Others save with fear; urging the terrors of the Lord. All endeavours must be joined with decided abhorrence of crimes, and care be taken to avoid whatever led to, or was connected with fellowship with them, in works of darkness, keeping far from what is, or appears to be evil.

ONE of the things we are being warned about here is that there will be scoffers and mockers. Now when you consider than of the 69% of people who claim to be Christians that less than 10% believe that the bible is the word of God. You are left with 59% of those out there who identify as Christians but are scoffers. They deny that the bible is the word of God. That makes them scoffers.

A scoffer is someone who shows contempt for others. But it can also be someone who shows contempt for your faith. Or contempt for the word of God.

As we begin to grow Westside, we must be aware that many of these types are out there and could come in here.

Remember the world hated Christ and it will also hate us.

John 15:18

18 If the world hate you, ye know that it hated me before it hated you.

What I don’t want you to take from this is an excuse to be judgmental and unloving with newcomers. If Westside ever becomes a place where we start to think we are better than others, then I have failed as a Pastor. I am not saying we should judge people. I am saying we should take care not to be influenced in a negative way by those who reject the authority of the word of God. And there is a difference.

The second thing Jude was warning us about was how much easier the temptation to sin will become as we get closer to the end times. And I believe we are in them. The temptation to sin will be almost overwhelming. But we are instructed to: “Keep ourselves in the love of God”

Jude was 100% correct on this prediction. Thanks to cell phones and the technology of the internet. Even kids can get free access to pornography on their cell phones. Could you have imagined such a thing 50 years ago? And isn’t it funny how everything in life cost something. We even buy water in a bottle now. But pornography is free to all. Think about that. It’s free. And available to children.

And let me say this to our singles out there. If you are dating someone and you find out that they watch pornography. You need to move on. Relations between a man and a woman are an act of love. And pornography reduces people to animals.

And to any married couples listening. If you bring pornography into your bedroom, you are inviting the devil into your marriage. As Christians we need to resist these temptations. The availability of sins and other temptations today are just as Jude predicted they would be. And we must be vigilant against them in order to avoid becoming lukewarm Christians.

I remember when the push for homosexual marriage was going on in the 90’s. It was said what two people do in the privacy of their own bedroom is their business. Fast forward to modern times. Now these same people are saying that they have the right to march naked in front of children. What was once done in the dark is now done openly.

The third thing Jude warns us about is divisions. Listen to me carefully. There are so many opinions on what the word of God says. That there is no way to avoid different opinions and interpretations within the church. And believe it or not, I am fine with people having their own opinions on some bible doctrines. We know that the bible isn’t for our own private interpretation. But we also know that people still have their own beliefs.

So, how do we handle this as we grow? First thing. God appoints a Pastor to be the overseer of the church. It is the pastor’s job to steer the church towards Christ. That means if someone begins to teach the bible in a way that is inconsistent with the truth it is the pastor’s job to talk to them about it.

Divisions occur when individual members decide to take it upon themselves to correct people. There is a right way and a wrong way to do things. And ultimately the pastor will answer to God for how he deals with people.

Second, there are things a pastor will choose to ignore. And I’ll give you an example. Some people believe the church will be raptured out before a period referred to as the great tribulation. Other people might believe that the church will go through tribulation. In my opinion as pastor, this isn’t something that we should fight over. As pastor I will teach it the way I believe it. And when I teach it, I will teach every interpretation so that you can study it out for yourselves. Having said that there is no excuse to have divisions over things like that. So, you can believe it the way you want. Or teach it the way you want. And I’m not going to bother with it. But I will eventually teach it from every angle. Then at the end explain where I am on why. But it is not something we need to be divided over.

And finally let me say this about division. I very much prefer the King James Version. There is a great deal of division out there about bible versions. That kind of division isn’t welcome here at Westside. I prefer the KJV because it does a much better job with interpolations than any of the modern versions. If you recall our Sunday school lesson about interpolations. It just means that in order to change Hebrew or Greek into English you sometimes have to add words or phrases. That means I will use the Hebrew and the Greek to better understand the word of God. And if you have a disagreement with me then talk to me. I’m more than happy to show you the Hebrew and the Greek so you can see for yourself.

But the bottom line here is that we do not need to have divisions along these kinds of lines. We do not need to argue about what the word of God says. In fact, we are commanded not to argue.

The next thing Jude warns us about is worldly people. I am going to repeat my warning from earlier. This doesn’t mean that we are to judge people who come to visit. I do not care if someone comes through that door wearing nothing but rags. We are going to love them. I do not care if someone comes through that door the worldliest backslidden Christian ever. We are going to love them. So how do we handle such a situation?

We should influence them and not allow them to influence us. 1 John 2:15 says:

1 John 2:15-17

15 Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world. If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him.

We do this by keeping our focus on Christ. Not on each other and not on the pastor. But on Christ. One of my favorite verses is John 8:12.

John 8:12

12 Then spake Jesus again unto them, saying, I am the light of the world: he that followeth me shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life.

We must stand firm in our convictions in the face of a wicked world. Malcolm X famously said. “A man who doesn’t stand for something will fall for anything.” And we must stand on the word of God.

And finally, Jude warns us that there are people who do not have the Holy Spirit. In verse 19 Jude tells us “Having not the spirit”

These are not Christians. And they are welcome here. We want lost people to hear the word of God. We want to have an outreach to the lost and dying in the world. And as these people begin to come in, we must keep in mind that they will not have the Holy Spirit. Galatians tells us what the fruits of having the Spirit are:

Galatians 5:22-23

22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith,

23 Meekness, temperance: against such there is no law.

We cannot expect those without Christ to behave like us. And it is very important that when dealing with them that we withhold judgement. And demonstrate the Holy Spirit to them through our actions. We are not a social club. The world is a very tribal place. People get in their little niches and start to separate themselves on terms that are unbiblical. For example, me and my family have been members here since 1825. If you want to attend OUR church, then you need to come through us. Folks that is not what God had in mind. Or this one. We are a black church. Or we are a white church. Folks unless you are saying that the color of the building is black or white you are ignorant.

For God so loved the world is what my bible says.

There is no such thing as a black church or a white church. There is only the church. And while we recognize that we have our differences. It is not our differences that bring us together. It is what we have in common. And that is the love of Christ shed abroad in our hearts.

So, if you are talking to others about Westside, please do not say we are a White church. We do not need to create divisions for any reason. And that includes the lost who have not the Spirit. Love them. Bring them in from the fields of sin. Just make sure that we are the ones influencing them and not the other way around. Now look at verse 24. Again, in Jude:

24 Now unto him that is able to keep you from falling, and to present you faultless before the presence of his glory with exceeding joy,

The Greek here translates this: Him that is able to help you stand.

We are to hold fast to our faith. Hold fast to the word of God. And stand firmly in the truth. When a church begins to compromise its standards in any way, complacency sets in.

If a pastor is too lazy to build a church. And decides that he would just become non-denominational and just invite every one in. You can bet that the very same pastor will wink at sin to grow a work. Folks I have nothing against non-denominational churches. But we are a Baptist church. And I am a Baptist minister. And that is because I believe in the security of the believer. I believe in the virgin birth of Christ. I believe in the deity of Christ. I believe that a person should be completely immersed during baptism. And I believe that the bible is the word of God. And as we grow we MUST hold fast the standards and principles of our heavenly father.

Folks this is why we should NEVER judge those who fall into sin. We are kept by the grace of God. If we are walking with Christ, we are doing it with Gods help. When we look down our nose on people who have fallen into sin. What we are saying to the world is that we are keeping ourselves out of sin all on our own and we are boasting. The irony is that by boasting we then fall into the sin of ego. This is why the bible warns us:

1 Corinthians 10:12

“Wherefore let him that thinketh he standeth take heed lest he fall.”

You stand because of what Christ did for you and you have no right to judge the lost and no right to judge Christians who have fallen into sin. That is what the world does. Every time one of these television preachers fall into sin the world rejoices. They point their fingers in derision and celebrate as if they achieved something.

But that is NOT our way. As the children of God, we forgive others and lift them up gently in the spirit of love. And that is the warning here in Jude. We stand because God gives us the legs to do so. Do not fall into the sin of believing that you are better than other people. This way of thinking will destroy the house of God by killing the grace of God and replacing it with lukewarm Christians.

We are faultless because the work Christ did on Calvary and not because of anything we have done.

Matthew Henry does a great job of summing up the closing of Jude here

Where there is no sin, there will be no sorrow; where there is the perfection of holiness, there will be the perfection of joy. Let us more often look up to Him who is able to keep us from falling, to improve as well as maintain the work he has wrought in us, till we shall be presented blameless before the presence of his glory.

In summation. As we grow. How do we keep from becoming lukewarm?

1. Expect scoffers and mockers. But do not judge them. Love them. Pray for them. And stay close to Christ. Never forget. If we draw close to Christ, He will draw close to us.

2. Avoid division by refusing to fight with other Christians about our differences. And let the pastor deal with those who teach false doctrine. Do not take it upon yourself to play the role of the pastor. Trust that the Lord will do the work the way HE ordained it to be done. Nothing good can come from fighting over what the bible says.

3. Expect worldly people to visit. But do not let them influence us. It is we who should influence them by lifting Christ and being a witness to what Christ has done for us. And never make the mistake of worshiping your pastor. It is perfectly fine to respect your pastor as we must all respect one another in the very same way. But we are here to lift up Christ and not man.

4. Be a separated and called out people. We are in the world but not of the world. We stand with Christ and do so by the grace of God. We must stand for our Godly convictions without wavering. And without judging those who fall short for whatever reason.

Remember we live in a world where sin is everywhere. And it is getting easier and easier to fall into sin. But we are to be like Christ in every way.