The Lukewarm Church

Good morning!

Revelation 1:8

Prayer

We have finally made it to the last stop on our walk thru the seven churches in Revelation (7 weeks, never preached a 7 week series before, I’m sure it won’t be the last)

Revelation is a letter written by the Apostle John to 7 churches in Asia (modern day Turkey)

7 real churches, with real people, with real problems they dealt with

And at the end of the first century a real courier carried this letter to these folks

Just for fun: 275 miles journey, cross a couple mountains along the way: up 8000ft, down 6900ft

Not a big deal today, maybe, but we can drive

Animal-driven carts (or walking) even with Roman roads this was still a taxing undertaking

(Don’t you think it’s interesting that God chose to enter the world and have his Gospel spread at the exact time that the Romans, the most powerful empire in the world up to that point in time) were in control?

The holy land is in incredibly close proximity to 3 continents (Asia, Africa, and Europe); 

Romans were excellent road builders, and so up to this point there was no faster way for information to travel anywhere 

and God made it so this Gospel could go all over the world

Letter written to 7 churches

7 is symbolic, so even though these churches were real churches they are representative of the church throughout history

Their problems are our problems, different faces but the same enemy; 

so in a way Revelation was written to them but for you and me

Ephesus was a church that was doing all the right things but had forgotten why they were doing them, they had lost their love for God

Smyrna was a church who was holding strong against persecution

Their neighbors down the road in Pergamos and Thyatira were also facing persecution but instead of facing that persecution head-on they were compromising; instead of standing out against the world they were trying to blend in and that is not what we as the people of God are called to do

The church in Sardis was worse off, they were just dead; “look alive, but are dead”, 

and the only thing they’ve got going for them is that Jesus has the power to bring the dead to life (that’s a real good thing for all of us)

Philadelphia is another church that is keeping the faith, staying strong despite intense persecution

And now that brings us to the last stop on this journey, Laodicea

If I had to pick one church that I thought most closely resembled the American church as a whole, I would pick this one, for reasons we’ll discuss in a moment

Laodicea was a town located on a major trade route

Situated between two small streams where they joined to form the Lycus river

Not large enough for shipping purposes, looking on a map today it looks like maybe only a little bigger than Eddy Creek

Laodicea was well-known for their wool production and for their ophthalmology school, we’ve uncovered coins with the names of some of the physicians that learned there (hall of fame); wealthy

7 churches, each with unique people, unique characteristics, but one thing is constant between them and that is the one to whom they belong

As we’ve been studying these churches our God and Savior Jesus Christ has told us things about Himself

About how He is always near to his bride, the church (walks among the lamp stands, represent the church that shines the light of God to the world)

He is first and last, everything begins and ends with Him,

He has power over life and death, eyes like fire to see even our deepest, most intimate secrets, feet like brass with which he has crushed the head of our enemy

He has given us, His church, commands to follow

Hold fast to Him, and repent

We will face temptations in this life, even when we fail we are invited to repent, to come back to God, He will not throw you away

Common refrain each church: “For those who overcome"

Promises

Eternal life, not eternal life as a slave or a second-class citizen, co-equal with our brother Jesus

B/c of what Jesus did for us we, who believe in Him, are adopted into the family of GodWho will we be?

Will we be a church who folds to the pressures we face in today’s world

Or will we be a church who stands strong?

A church who takes seriously the promises that our God has given us and does not shy away from the truth, 

a church who is unashamed of the Gospel of Jesus Christ and boldly goes into the world to proclaim His Goodness and His mercy and His love 

and yes, His judgment for those who will not give their lives to the One who gave Himself to them

Eternity hangs in the balance for our friends and neighbors

v.14

WOW! What an image

Amen

Let it be so

Faithful & True Witness

What does a witness do?

Testify, give testimony to what they have seen and heard

Jesus is One with the father, no one has seen the Father except the Son

Do you want to know what the Father is like? Look at the Son, He is the Faithful & True Witness

Beginning of the Creation of God

What this does NOT mean is that Jesus was created

There have been false teachers for centuries who either can’t read or are hoping that you won’t 

that twist this verse into saying that Jesus can’t be God b/c He has a beginning

Look elsewhere in this letter, that claim is clearly refuted

That word beginning is the Greek word “arche” (first, greatest; “archenemy")

Batman & Joker….

Doesn’t mean created, it means first

Listen to what the Apostle Paul writes in Col. 1…….

You’re going to hear the word “Beginning” (arche) and you’re going to hear the word “Firstborn”

Another Greek word (prototokos; where we get prototype)

Colossians 1:15-18 – He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation. For by Him all things were created that are in heaven and that are on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or principalities or powers. All things were created through Him and for Him. And He is before all things, and in Him all things consist. And He is the head of the body, the church, who is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, that in all things He may have the preeminence.

Jesus is first; 

He is the image of God and it’s into His image that God is forming us

And it’s through His life, death, burial, and resurrection that we have eternal life

<gospel>

He’s the prototype and He is perfect

v.15

I know your works

No hiding from Jesus

Neither cold nor hot

both good in the context

Laodicea was situated near a stream of tepid water, its lukewarm

Nearby towns of Colossae and Heiropolis had cold and hot springs

Both of those places were destinations, thought to be helpful if you have physical ailments

Think like a hot tub or a cold plunge, we are still doing this today

And Laodicea sits right in between them with….water

Not cold, not hot, Goldilocks water (just right)

Listen, Jesus doesn’t want Goldilocks water

I could wish…..

v.16

Vomit, spit (graphic)

God doesn’t want you halfway

Jesus was not half-God, half-man; Fully God, Fully man,

Half of the glory of God did not dwell in Him; fullness of God

Jesus did not fulfill most of the OT prophecies about the coming messiah, all of them

Jesus did not almost die on the cross, he did not give half of himself or most of Himself, he did not pay for most of your sins (HE DID IT ALL)

All of Him!

And Jesus did not do this so you could be half His, he wants all of you

He wants you

Lie you’ll hear people fall for: that we need to get cleaned up before we bring ourselves to God

You’re not getting anything cleaned up apart from Him

Jesus wants you, he wants you to bring all your scars and all your blemishes, all your baggage, and everything that is not right before a perfect God and to lay it all down and let Him do the work

It is a lie that we “get right” and then come to God

God doesn’t need you to do the work

This “lukewarm” nature is repulsive to God

VIII.v.17

B/c you say

Does that sound familiar?

We live in the most prosperous country in the history of the world

Objectively, there has never been a better time to walk the earth than right now 

we live in the best place on it

What a blessing it is to be an American

Not perfect, we have problems, but it’s the best

Clean water, ample food, stable government where our natural rights are guaranteed by our founding documents

Medicine is easily accessible

If you have an ache you can take Tylenol OR advil, you have a choice

If you have any type of infection antibiotics are a phone call away

150 years ago if you had cancer your best hope was that it could be cut out and that you wouldn’t be awake during the surgery to feel it, that you would survive the surgery, and that you would survive the almost inevitable infection you’d get after the fact

Cancer still incredibly scary but it’s not an automatic death sentence like it once was

We’ve been praying for our pastor at Pleasant Green, Bro. David

They discovered, before he had a heart attack, that he had 3 blockages in major arteries going into the heart

They cut his chest open, bypassed the heart for a few hours, stole some vessels out of somewhere else in his body and spliced them in

That surgery, basically 95% without complications

He gets to preach again next week; its been 30 days

Transportation: we can go anywhere anytime faster than at any point ever before

Journeys that once took days, weeks, or even years can be accomplished in mere hours

In fact, transportation has become so easy, we’re now trying to make it harder just so we can feel better about ourselves

We have access to almost all the knowledge in the history of humanity with a device we carry around in our pocket

History, math, science, you can read the old and new testaments in the original Hebrew or Greek, and if you don’t understand those you can learn them

Since Eden: This is the best time to be alive in the best place there’s ever been

And yet, there’s a problem: we get comfortable

We think we can fix all our problems

We like to joke around in the office that with enough money and dynamite you can fix any problem

Money and dynamite don’t fix sin

That’s the thing that kills us

Having a fat bank account can help prolong your life but it can’t buy you eternity

Top physical shape, can add years to your life, but it can’t get you eternal life

Do not know

The Laodiceans were blind to their own needs

They were so comfortable that they couldn’t even see how bad off they truly were

If money were the key to happiness then wouldn’t the richest among us be the happiest?

If we look to ourselves for salvation we will be utterly disappointed and here in our comfortable spot in history we won’t even know until it was far too late

V.18

Jesus here is speaking directly to the Laodicean church

You think you have money? You think that your wealth can provide for you?

I have gold so pure and so abundant it’ll be used as concrete when all things are made new

Laodicea makes wool, they have clothes, but their clothes don’t cover their shame, they don’t cover their sin

but the garments that Jesus offers to His overcomers do

You have an eye doctor school, that’s great; you’re blind

You can’t even see your own wretchedness but Jesus can heal you

He can make you see

He has what you need, the ONLY thing that you really need

v.19

Rebuke and chasten

When’s the last time you got this?

If you’re walking close it’s going to happen, inevitable

Some of you have been saved longer than I’ve been alive, that’s great, you are more spiritually mature than I am (sanctification)

God is a good dad, He gets on to us

Proverbs 3:11-12 – My son, do not despise the chastening of the Lord, Nor detest His correction; For whom the Lord loves He corrects, Just as a father the son in whom he delights.

<story about Dad watching me mess up… he would tolerate me being dumb but he would never tolerate me being rude>

When’s the last time you had to stop what you were doing b/c the Holy Spirit said “No”?

If you’re tuned in it’s going to happen & that’s okBe zealous and repent

The holy spirit is calling to you to turn from the life you used to live and repent, 

let that old guy finally die and be born again in Jesus Christ

v.20

We talked extensively about doors last week

About how Jesus is the only door by which we enter the kingdom of Heaven

Speaking to a church, not necessarily unbelievers

Presumably at least some of these folks are behind the door know

Calling them to close personal fellowship

There’s an abundant life right here, right now, when you live for Jesus

We have a perfect eternity waiting for us but it gets better today

We get to serve God, we get to tell people about the love He has for us and for them, too

v.21

Royalty, adopted as sons

God’s gonna make all things new…… (He gave it all for you)

XIII.V.22

What is the Spirit saying to you?

Every week it’s been that same question

Are you tuned in?

Do you hear God when He calls for you to move from where you are to where you need to be?

Is God calling you to salvation today?

Are you saved but struggling, and God is calling you into a deeper, more intimate relationship?

He wants all of you, there’s nothing he doesn’t know and He’s big enough to handle it, give it to Him

<Invite, repent, pray, praise>

XIV.Prayer

Invitation