A Lukewarm Christain
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Good evening,
Thank Pastor
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; I know thy works, that thou art neither cold nor hot: I would thou wert cold or hot. So then because thou art lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will spue thee out of my mouth. 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: 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. As many as I love, I rebuke and chasten: be zealous therefore, and repent. 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. He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches.
We see the condition of the Church. They were lukewarm. Is this not so many of our churches today? I want to look at a few causes of lukewarmness, and the cure.
Cause 1, Contentment
Cause 1, Contentment
Verse 17
They were content with what they were monetarily, but I wonder if it could be applied spiritually. How many of us think that because we go to church three times a week, because we tithe, because we give to missions, we lack nothing? This verse reminds me of
And it came to pass, after the year was expired, at the time when kings go forth to battle, that David sent Joab, and his servants with him, and all Israel; and they destroyed the children of Ammon, and besieged Rabbah. But David tarried still at Jerusalem. And it came to pass in an eveningtide, that David arose from off his bed, and walked upon the roof of the king’s house: and from the roof he saw a woman washing herself; and the woman was very beautiful to look upon. And David sent and inquired after the woman. And one said, Is not this Bath-sheba, the daughter of Eliam, the wife of Uriah the Hittite?
Up until this point, David had conquered the Philistines: Moabites: Arameans (Syrians): Edomites: and started war with the Ammonites. He had been pushing forward for the Lord, and now he is at a place where he did not go out to war. He sent others. But why? Was he scared? Was he tired? Or was he comfortable and content?
Anytime I see in the Bible that a person is happy with where they are at spiritually, they begin to slip.
Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. Draw nigh to God, and he will draw nigh to you. Cleanse your hands, ye sinners; and purify your hearts, ye double minded.
DRAW nigh unto God. Not “be nigh” “draw” implies action. It is a constant thing. We know that we will never get to sinless perfection, but that does not mean we should not try!
But as he which hath called you is holy, so be ye holy in all manner of conversation; Because it is written, Be ye holy; for I am holy.
I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service. And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God.
For God hath not called us unto uncleanness, but unto holiness.
Cause 2, Lack of Gold
Cause 2, Lack of Gold
verse 18 a
According to the grace of God which is given unto me, as a wise masterbuilder, I have laid the foundation, and another buildeth thereon. But let every man take heed how he buildeth thereupon. For other foundation can no man lay than that is laid, which is Jesus Christ. Now if any man build upon this foundation gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, stubble; Every man’s work shall be made manifest: for the day shall declare it, because it shall be revealed by fire; and the fire shall try every man’s work of what sort it is. If any man’s work abide which he hath built thereupon, he shall receive a reward. If any man’s work shall be burned, he shall suffer loss: but he himself shall be saved; yet so as by fire.
Those that are saved, we have that foundation, and we will be judged on what we build on it. I believe Revelation 3 is saying that they need to as more gold into their works! They need to start building for Christ, not themselves. Most of you know my testimony, I started preaching when I was 15, and from 15-19 I went to church 3 times a week, I went on visitation, and youth meetings. But I did this in my free time. I lived for Christ when I was not busy. GOD DOES NOT WANT YOU FREE TIME.
I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me.
We cannot be Christians living life, we are living the Christian life!
Cause 3, Lack of confession
Cause 3, Lack of confession
Verse 18 b
How often is unconfessed sin the reason we are not growing closer to Christ?
2 Samuel 12:7-13
Psalm 51
Blessed is he whose transgression is forgiven, whose sin is covered.
Blessed is the man unto whom the Lord imputeth not iniquity,
And in whose spirit there is no guile.
When I kept silence, my bones waxed old
Through my roaring all the day long.
For day and night thy hand was heavy upon me:
My moisture is turned into the drought of summer. Selah.
I acknowledged my sin unto thee,
And mine iniquity have I not hid.
I said, I will confess my transgressions unto the Lord;
And thou forgavest the iniquity of my sin. Selah.
This Psalm is believed to have been written after the sin we talked about earlier! Remember when David got content? He committed adultery and murder, but he confessed his sins, and he was made white as snow!
The same is applicable to us,
Come now, and let us reason together, saith the Lord:
Though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow;
Though they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool.
If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.
Cause 4, Lack of vision
Cause 4, Lack of vision
Verse 18 c
This verse is telling the church to get their vision corrected. The Laodiceans were known for medicine, and created a salve that could cure sone blindnesses. I believe this verse is saying to get your vision fixed!
Wherefore, my beloved brethren, let every man be swift to hear, slow to speak, slow to wrath:
For the wrath of man worketh not the righteousness of God.
Wherefore lay apart all filthiness and superfluity of naughtiness, and receive with meekness the engrafted word, which is able to save your souls.
But be ye doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving your own selves.
For if any be a hearer of the word, and not a doer, he is like unto a man beholding his natural face in a glass:
For he beholdeth himself, and goeth his way, and straightway forgetteth what manner of man he was.
But whoso looketh into the perfect law of liberty, and continueth therein, he being not a forgetful hearer, but a doer of the work, this man shall be blessed in his deed.
Verses 19-24, does this not sound like the Laodicean church? They are hearing, but not doing, they are looking into the mirror and then forgetting. This is a church who is content with themselves! If I am happy with how I look, I don’t think about it again, but if I see myself and don’t like it, I go all day thinking about it.
The Perfect Law of Liberty here is the Gospel.
I don’t believe in works based salvation, but I do believe there should be works AFTER salvation!
If ye love me, keep my commandments.
. How do we correct our vision? By using the filter that is the word of God! The Bible is clear that the law is what shows us what sin is. Yes, the Holy Ghost convicts, but the Bible still shows us how we should live! It is the mirror that we must use to live a live that is greater then lukewarm!
Verse 19 a
Verse 19 a
We know that God will chasten us because He loves us, but that does not make it fun. We still should try to avoid it, right???
Solution 1, Be Zealous
Solution 1, Be Zealous
Verse 19 b
ZEALOUS, Warmly engaged or ardent in the pursuit of an object.
How zealously are we pursuing after a sanctified walk??
Solution 2, Repent
Solution 2, Repent
verse 19 c
To repent is to have a change of mind, to turn from sin to God. How do you avoid chastisement for lukewarmness? STOP BEING LUKEWARM