Live With All Your Might

Introduction

Throughout history, there have been many good things accomplished by men and women with a deep godly passion. Martin Luther King Jr. was one of them. As we are all aware, King spearheaded the civil rights movement in the 1950s and as a direct result of him and others unwavering godly passion, the civil rights act was passed in legislation in 1964.

After King was put in Jail for a peaceful protest, he wrote about passion in the church of his day: “Wherever the early Christians entered a town the power structure got disturbed and immediately sought to convict them for being 'disturbers of the peace' and 'outside agitators.' But they went on with the conviction that they were a 'colony of heaven' and had to obey God rather than man. They were small in number but big in commitment. They were too God-intoxicated to be 'astronomically intimidated.' They brought an end to such ancient evils as infanticide and gladiatorial contest. Things are different now. The contemporary Church is so often a weak, ineffectual voice with an uncertain sound. It is so often the archsupporter of the status quo. Far from being disturbed by the presence of the Church, the power structure of the average community is consoled by the Church’s silent and often vocal sanction of things as they are.” (Letter from Birmingham Jail)

According to King, the level of passion and conviction that was once present in the early church, was greatly diminished in his day. If it was low then, now after 70 years since, where is the passion in the church today?

Soren Kierkegaard who was a famous danish Christian philosopher once said “It is impossible to exist without passion” If what Kierkegaard says is true, then that means everyone today has a passion of some kind. There is not a single Christian that is lacking in passion itself. Of course we all have passions. But what is our supreme passion? What is the the passion that drives us into everything we do? What I am asking is what is the piston that pushes us to do what we do? When all is said and done, what is your motivator in life?

Today as we look at the early church in Laodicea, we will see that like them, many of us have our passions in the wrong order. In fact some of us may be blind to why we are doing the things we do. Knowing your why is very important as a Christian. As we turn to God’s Word, let us allow the Scriptures to open and disclose the intentions of our hearts.

The Text:

Revelation 3:14–22 ESV

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. 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.’ ”

Context:

Literary:

John the apostle is exiled on the island of Patmos and he has received a Revelation from Christ. Christ has given Him 7 letters that He wants the apostle to write for Him. The 7 letters are to be addressed to 7 different churches. This letter was the last letter written to the churches and was addressed to the church at Laodicea. Christ was the original author of these letters, and John was the recorder.

We must understand, if we are going to understand this passage correctly that the church at Laodicea would read this letter. It was very personal, Christ was revealing something to them that they had not known. If you would get the most out of this passage, put yourself in the shoes of the Laodiceans.

It also is important to emphasize that this letter was written within the larger framework of the book of Revelation. What would follow after these letters is a unveiling of the sudden destruction that Christ is going to unleash on the earth during the great tribulation. Knowing this, we can understand that the nature of these letters was to serve as a warning for the churches both then and now.

Historical and Geographical:

The church at Laodicea sat just northwest of the church at Colossae. And was said by the apostle Paul to have been established by Epaphras. (Col 1:7; 4:12-13) The city was founded by the Seleucids and was first ruled by the Seleucid ruler Antiochus II who named the city after his first wife, Laodice.

*What a guy, what a gentleman. Husbands if you want to score some points with the wife, its easy, just name a city after her. She will love it.

Unique to Laodicea, they had a famous school of medicine that was known for ophthalmology. The city was also very prosperous due to its vibrant textile industry that was known for crafting its renowned “black wool”. It has been stated by Bible commentators that Laodicea was “one of the richest commercial centres in the world.”

Due to its economic situation, it is clear that the people of Laodicea had plenty of sustenance and wealth. But as we get into the text, Christ points out that they were poor in other areas.

Point 1: Christ Knows Our Condition (Rev 3:14-15)

Revelation 3:14–15 ESV

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!

Jesus Christ begins His letter to the Laodiceans by reminding them, He is the Amen, the faithful and true witness. It is important church that you and me know who we are getting our information from. The source is important because, if the source is bad, the information is most often, bad. Christ assures them that the words that would follow were not coming from a man who is fallible, but from their master, their creator, the most trustworthy person that has ever existed nor will exist. Christ would expose their faulty works and their true spiritual condition, knowing that what is being said is coming from the author of truth and life, is important for them to receive the message properly. Christ made it plain that the author of these words had more authority than the recorder of them.

Often, we value the words of those in authority over those who are not in authority. By His powerful authority and omniscience, Christ gets to the point directly, “I know your works” he says they were neither hot nor cold. Next he would point out their true condition of being “lukewarm.” Though they may have tried to hide it, suppress it down deep. Christ knew where they were spiritually. They could not hide the fact from Him.

Church we must understand, Christ knows our true spiritual condition. And as the faithful and true witness he is, He will expose it to us.

He knows when we are half-hearted.

He knows when we are living for Him and when we are not.

He knows what our deep passions are.

He knows where our treasures lie.

The one who created the sun, moon and stars, cannot be ignorant of where you and I are at in our faith. Oh fellow brother or sister in Christ, understand as the Laodiceans had to learn, Christ is aware of everything in your life. Oh how the desires of your heart are carefully watched by His eyes. Your life and my life is under the magnifying glass of our Lord and savior Jesus Christ, and there is nothing we can do to change it.

Though you may try, you cannot hide from our Lord. He knows all. This is much reason to rejoice, because He is a merciful savior who exposes and illuminates, not with the intention to tear down, but to build up. Christ will not expose your heart, unless He wants to change it for the better. Oh fellow brother and sister in Christ, understand, to walk in the gate of freedom, we must first be prodded. It may hurt at first to be prodded, but keeping moving and eventually you will pass through those gates, forever changed.

Knowing we cannot hide, How much more should we be sure to obey Him in all that we do?

How much more should we be careful to have passion in the most godly things?

How much more should our why in life be fueled by the desire to know and glorify Him?

The church is suffering from a lack of passion, partly because the church has forgotten that they are accountable to the Lord they proclaim.

Many in the church have traded the Jesus who has eyes of flaming fire that sees all corruption, for the Jesus who accepts them as they are. Be advised, the Savior whom we claim does not accept you or me the way we are. He receives us the way we are, but our condition when we come to Him, He intends to change. If you come to Him, without the intent to change, you have made a grave mistake.

Christ does not accept your depression, He wants to heal you of it.

Christ does not accept your sin, He intends to deliver you from it.

Christ does not accept your anger, He intends to turn it to joy.

Christ does not accept your complacency, He intends to change it to diligence.

But though, He may prod, you must move, before you see change.

Oh, how I can see the church at Laodicea, being prodded by Christs conviction, but having their feet firmly planted, unwilling to move. As we will see, this complacency would lead to their spiritual downfall.

Point 2: Complacency Breeds Bad Fruit (Rev 3:16-17)

Revelation 3:16–17 ESV

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.

In His letter to the Laodiceans, Christ then goes on to say that their true condition was being lukewarm.

Due to modern biblical scholarship, we know today that Laodicea’s aqueduct that supplied them water came from a hot spring located between Hierapolis and Laodicea. By the time the water arrived to Laodicea, it was lukewarm. Because they experienced drinking lukewarm water on a daily basis, the believers at Laodicea would have quickly caught on to Christs’ language. To further show that his eyes were fixated on them, He used a physical condition that they were experiencing to explain the current spiritual condition of their hearts.

Christ was not concerned with the temperature of the water they were drinking. He had mentioned already that whatever goes into the mouth of a man does not defile Him, but it was what comes out of him that does. (Matthew 15:11) Christ was pointing to the condition of the heart, and it was lukewarm. Because of this condition, He says He would spit them out of His mouth.

The believers at Laodicea had said within themselves that they were “rich, have prospered, and didn't need anything.” (Rev 3:17) To them they were content, things could not be any better.

How many times has prosperity and good times in life bred such arrogant and complacent attitudes in our lives? When crisis shows up, we are quick to turn to God, but as soon as we get back on our feet again, how quickly have many of us forgotten him. That is exactly what happened to the church at Laodicea. They became prosperous in medicine, and the textile industry and it was not long that they let the desires and state of affairs in their current lives take control. They did not not let their passion be girded by the things of God.

Be advised church, complacency breeds bad fruit. He knew their works, as a result of their complacency, what they were doing did not add up to what they believed.

Though they thought they were okay, because of there complacency, Christ exposed their true condition. In reality, Laodicea was “wretched, pitiable, poor, blind, and naked.” (Rev 3:17) Again Christ uses their physical condition to explain there spiritual:

The city was prosperous, yet their hearts were not.

The city was rich in wealth, but their hearts were not rich in God.

Though they were known for their fine wool, They were naked before God.

Though they were known for their medicine in ophthalmology, they were spiritually blind.

Oh how it must have been a punch in the gut for the physically prosperous Laodicean to hear that he was poor. “I am rich, how am I poor?” Or that he was blind, “We have the best school of Optometry, how are we blind?” Or their nakedness, “We have the best industry for wool, and we are naked?”

Like the Laodiceans, there are some of us here today, that have let the affairs of this life, strip us from the passion we once had for Christ. When we started in our walk, there was much passion, and zeal. But for some reason, as time went on, we slowly began to view our lives through the lens of the world around us. As a result we lost our passion.

Maybe some of us think we are okay, but Christ is telling us, we are blind, naked, and spiritually poor.

Where are your priorities?

Where are your passions?

What keeps you motivated?

What is the piston that drives you forward?

This is the supreme issue we are facing today. Many in the church have lost their passion, because they have fell into the same trap the Laodiceans did.

In America, we are more prone to the trap than other places. In American culture, we have the freedom to be and do whatever we want. By our own choices and actions we can be as successful as we want. Like the Laodiceans we have a prosperous economy (even though it is going down, it is still the top in the world), on top of that, we lead the world in many different industries, and our schools of medicine are supposed to be some of the best. We are not too much different than them.

The question is, with all the available choices we have in America to do things, will we choose to do those things that glorify God?

Spider man’s papa once wisely said, “with great power comes great responsibility.” We can learn a lot from Spider man’s papa, church may I submit to you that with great freedom, comes great responsibility. The responsibility to choose that which is right and God honoring.

Point 3: Make Christ Your Aim in this Life (Rev 3:18-22)

Revelation 3:18–22 ESV

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. 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.’ ”

After Christ has pointed out their true condition, He lays out for them the remedy:

To cure their spiritual poverty they are instructed to purchase Gold from Him that has been refined in the fire. (Rev 3:18)

To clothe themselves from their nakedness they are instructed by Christ to purchase white garments from Him. (Rev 3:18)

To cure their spiritual blindness, they are instructed to buy eye salve to anoint their eyes so they can see. (Rev 3:18)

Notice in each of these exhortations, Christ is the supplier.

The church at Laodicea had been working mightily, but for the wrong ends. They had made themselves wealthy in the world’s status, by wheeling and dealing in the world. But they had greatly neglected dealing in the spiritual with God.

They knew their business partners really well, but they didn’t know Christ as well.

Christ is now inviting them to exchange the zeal and passion that they have applied in their worldly dealing to knowing and pursuing Him. Instead of worrying so much about making their next dollar or developing the next big cure for eye disease, they should pursue Him. The Kingdom of God should be their ultimate passion instead of their worldly pursuits.

He tells them that He is standing at the door and knocking, those that would be zealous and repent of their spiritual complacency, He would not rebuke them, but embrace them kindly.

How many of us today, are going through the motions of our spiritual lives while simultaneously giving our all to our other areas in life.

How many of us are putting our relationship with Christ on the back burner and trading it for wordly pursuits?

Be advised, no one can have one foot in the world and one foot in Heaven. Though we are in the world, we are not of the world. Which means that we cannot be infected with the world’s ways.

Parable of the Sower:

Matthew 13:22 ESV

22 As for what was sown among thorns, this is the one who hears the word, but the cares of the world and the deceitfulness of riches choke the word, and it proves unfruitful.

Christ mentions here in the Parable of the sower, the great danger that follows from following after the cares of this world, the Word of God is unfruitful.

That is perhaps exactly what happened to the Church at Laodicea. They heard the word of God, and recieved it with joy, but as prosperity and life worked its way into their hearts, the fruitfulness of their salvation became choked. After all, being lukewarm is a temperature, not a object. Lukewarmness was the fruit of their complacency.

Remember: Complacency breeds bad fruit.

Can a apple true bear good apples without being properly watered and nurtured?

As with what happened to the worldly Christian in the Parable of the Sower, the same can happen to any of us. But not if we let our passion be in Christ alone.

Conclusion

It is no secret that the Church at Laodicea was suffering from lack of godly passion. This lack of passion ultimately led to them being deceived spiritually and further, fallen into a deep spiritual rut.

Returning to the story I shared in the beginning by Dr. King, the church then, was found to be without passion. King pointed out that the early church had changed the culture around them drastically, they fought against the evils of infant sacrifice and gladiator battles. Instead of being influenced by the culture, they influenced the culture. Contrasted greatly by this was the status of the church in his day which he said often went by the status quo. They were complacent and tolerant. I am convinced that today in 2024, the church as a whole is in the same condition. Though there are many on the uprise, many churches have become complacent and succumbed to the status quo of the culture.

Church for many has become a place where one receives a uplifting speech and personal motivation versus coming to a deeper knowledge and faith in God.

Church has become a crutch for sin, instead of the method of becoming free from it.

In essence, we have lost our passion in the church because we have made church about us rather than about God.

Nothing has changed, at the core, that is exactly what the church of Laodicea did. They had gotten so consumed with their own selves they lost passion for Christ.

When you make your life and self the center of everything, passion for God will deteriorate and very quickly at that.

In my hand, I am holding a baton. This baton symbolizes the Kingdom of God. Now it is important that we understand, we are in the Kingdom of God and a part of the kingdom of God, but the Kingdom of God is Christs. Before Christ ascended to Heaven, He passed onto us, the baton of the Kingdom. He entrusted us to carry it with deep passion.

We must take this race of faith with great passion. What am I asking? I am asking that each one of us take a deep look into ourselves and identify your why. The why behind everything you do. Is it for Christ and His Kingdom? Or is it ultimately, when you trace it back, does it come back to yourself?

In his 70 resolutions, Jonathan Edwards famously penned the words that should be strived to live out in every Christians life. Edwards says in the 6th resolution that he had “resolved, to live with all his my might.” I wonder if we have that same reservation in our own hearts?

Let us today, as the church of Amazing Grace, resolve it within ourselves, that despite what the culture does, we are going to live and breath with godly passion.

With all our might we are going to take the baton of the Kingdom of God and carry it everywhere we go.

We will not let our light be put under a basket, but we will let it shine, so others can see and bring Glory to our Savior, Jesus Christ!

In closing I would like to encourage anyone who has lost their godly passion to come to Christ today and quickly repent. Ask Him to Restore the passion you once had. He is patiently waiting at the door for you to turn.