When Comfort Becomes a Threat
Notes
Transcript
Text: Revelation 3:14–22 (ESV)
If you would, please take your Bibles and turn to Revelation chapter 3 and we will begin with verse 14 in just a moment.
You have probably heard me say at least once or twice, or for my middle school group , 6 7 times. About the fact that we need to get comfortable being uncomfortable. There is entirely too much at stake for the church to get comfortable.
I am a part of several southern baptist and church pages on Facebook and some discussions are more telling than others, especially when you see the comments. There popped up this week a discussion on evangelistic tools to help churches grow in attendance and reach out to the community. Several people chimed in offering suggestions, and then something very troubling started to emerge in the comments. One pastor commented that there small church does not do nor want to do outreach because the are like a tight nit family and it would just cause changes to have to be made so they are great just as they are. My jaw hit the floor. Then instead of loving rebuke or biblical correction, more and more comments started pouring in . They were all in support of this way of thinking. Others stating that they are content with the way their church is. Some stating that the world is crazy and there was no way those crazies need to be brought in to disrupt the good thing they have going. I was floored. No wonder the church is losing its relevancy. Here is the perfect example of a very large group of individuals who don’t truly understand the role of being the church. These are buildings being used to codify the religious not the saved. Here is a group of individuals that think they are heaven bound, but scripture says otherwise. They aren’t dying churches, they are dead religious institutions. One comment said the only role of the church was to equip the saints. Equip them for what? The great commission of going and telling and making more disciples.
Comfort is one of God’s greatest gifts and yet it is also one of Satan’s most effective tools.
Comfort dulls urgency.
Comfort lowers our watchfulness. It causes us to let our guard down.
Comfort convinces us that tomorrow will always look like today. Unfortunately, none of us are promised tomorrow.
Today, churches are just like The church in Laodicea. They are not immoral, heretical, or persecuted. They are comfortable. And Jesus speaks more harshly to this church and its comfortability than almost any other church He addresses.
Why? Because complacency is harder to diagnose than rebellion and complacency is far more dangerous than outright rebellion.
As we get closer and closer to the final days, we need self-examination now more than ever. Eternity is at stake.
Let’s go ahead and look at our scripture this morning.
“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.
“ ‘I know your works: you are neither cold nor hot. Would that you were either cold or hot!
So, because you are lukewarm, and neither hot nor cold, I will spit you out of my mouth.
For you say, I am rich, I have prospered, and I need nothing, not realizing that you are wretched, pitiable, poor, blind, and naked.
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.
Those whom I love, I reprove and discipline, so be zealous and repent.
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.
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.
He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.’ ”
Let’s pray.
Let’s jump right in as I want to address five points this morning.
Beginning with verse 14, point one:
I. CHRIST’S AUTHORITY OVER THE CHURCH
I. CHRIST’S AUTHORITY OVER THE CHURCH
Here we see Jesus introduce Himself deliberately. As “The Amen” He is the final word, not the church. As the “Faithful and true witness” It means that His assessment is accurate and as the “Beginning” He is the ruler, not a created being
This church may have thought it was healthy however, Jesus alone has the authority to define true spiritual health.
The church does not evaluate itself by culture, comfort, or consensus. The church is evaluated by Christ and Scripture alone. Nothing else matters.
A patient may feel fine, but when the doctor reads the scan, reality is revealed. The scan doesn’t care about feelings instead, it reveals truth. Christ’s word functions like a divine scan of the church’s soul.
We live in a world that teaches us that everything is based on feelings. Unfortunately, we have allowed our feelings to infiltrate the church and weaken its effectiveness and relevance in todays culture.
We do not define health by how we feel about our church, but by what Christ says about our church.
Which brings us to point 2.
II. CHRIST’S DIAGNOSIS: LUKEWARM FAITH
II. CHRIST’S DIAGNOSIS: LUKEWARM FAITH
Verse 15 and 16.
Jesus tells this church “You are neither cold nor hot… you are lukewarm.”
Again, they are not immoral, heretical, or persecuted. They are just comfortable.
We must understand that this is not about passion levels. It is about usefulness. Jesus tells them that they are completely useless to Him. The church just going through the motions, comfortable and content is totally useless to Christ. This is serious.
Here is the complaint. This is the worst church by far of all the churches addressed by Jesus. The complaint is shocking. The reason it is shocking is because it describes most churches and members today and definitely those in the Facebook discussion.
What is the complaint? Lukewarmness. Jesus said that they were “neither hot nor cold.” This means that they were only lukewarm, only half-committed, only half-hearted. They were complacent, self-satisfied, indifferent, and neutral.
This describes so many church members who are sitting in churches all around the world this morning. This is serious and this is critical, because of the judgement that Jesus Christ pronounces upon the lukewarm church and lukewarm church members. Remember, this building is not the church, we are and we are going to be judged individually not as a whole.
Think about how lukewarmness affects the church and its members.
The lukewarm church is only half-committed to Christ.
In addition to stressing Christ, they stress rituals, ceremony, and programs as a way to become acceptable and to please God. It ain’t about the pomp and circumstance, it is all about Jesus Christ. It becomes all about what they are doing for Christ and not about what Christ is doing through them.
The lukewarm church is only half-committed to proclaiming that Jesus Christ is the Son of God.
Jesus is who He said He was. There are over 400 prophesies alone that prove it. And one day everyone will have to come to terms with it whether they reject Him now or not.
The lukewarm church is only half-committed to teaching the complete Word of God.
Oh, how so many of us miss the mark here. We avoid talking the truth of scripture because we are afraid it may offend or hurt somebody’s feelings. There is the word feelings again. If you see someone living in sin, and fail to warn them, that is sin. It isn’t us passing judgement, their sin has already brought judgement. I would rather hurt their feelings here on earth than watch even my worst enemy be tossed into the lake of fire for eternity.
The lukewarm church is only half-committed to evangelism and missions.
The command is to go and do. We are to be the hands and feet as well as the mouthpiece if needed for Christ, if we don’t then who will? The church is commanded to do so. It isn’t optional. Especially in the local mission field where God has placed us. We need to be continually asking what is is we can do for this community that others can’t, and do it.
The lukewarm church is only half-committed to living pure, holy, and righteous lives.
We are to be set apart, different from the world. If we look and behave like the world, we have nothing to offer the world, and we may need to check ourselves as light cannot occupy the same space as darkness. It is completely impossible.
The lukewarm church is only half-committed to dying to self and sacrificial living.
Repeat after me: It is not about me. I am not all that and a bag of chips.
It is all about Him and without Him we are just dead men and women walking. Sacrificial living requires complete surrender to Him and Him alone.
The lukewarm church is only half-committed to the church.
You have heard 20% of the people of the church do 80% of the work? You were never called to serve a church as a bench or pew warmer. The fields are ripe unto harvest, but the reapers where are they? Imagine if you will, Upward Football, we had about 20 church member volunteers while impacting over a hundred athletes plus their families. there were times of almost three hundred individuals as a captive audience here on game days. Now imagine double the volunteers, that would still be only 40%, but the reward would be huge.
The lukewarm church is only half-committed to church attendance and true discipleship. We are commanded to grow in our spiritual learning, and though that is possible to do at home sitting on our couch, we are called to meet with each other, to worship together, to do life together. We need each other more than we can comprehend. We were made to assemble. We are called to do life together. Instead of longing for the lake, the tree stand, the sporting event, or sleeping in, we all should long to be at church and being spiritually fed. We need to be hungry. Some of us are spiritually starving to death and don’t realize it. We need to wake up and eat before it is too late.
The lukewarm church is only half-committed to supporting the church with their time or monies.
When talking about being good stewards, stewardship usually makes us think of money, however the time we give to the church beyond the three services (2 on Sunday and Wednesday) is just as important. We are to give of our monies and time sacrificially. With todays busy schedules it probably is sacrificial. As far as money, do we really need to have this discussion? If so, I will be happy to have it, just know that you cannot ever outgive God. Withholding, for personal reasons is lukewarm at best.
The lukewarm church is only half-committed to sharing the gospel.
We all have a testimony. There is God’s story, and our story, and where the two collide and it is absolutely a collision, well, that is your testimony, and we are told to share it.
The lukewarm church is only half-committed to Bible study and prayer. Sunday morning only isn’t enough spiritual food to sustain a heart hungry for the Word.
With our busy schedules, generally the first thing to be tossed out is our quiet time with the Lord. When actually it should absolutely trump everything else. Again, without Him we are dead, squeezing Him in, we are lukewarm at best, and that doesn’t rise to His standards. He is a jealous God and ALL things not somethings, ALL things come after Him not before.
The lukewarm church is only half-committed to daily devotions.
We look for the quick devotions, those that will range hopefully in 5 minutes or less. We become so busy. You get the point.
I can go on and on. I think we all should have a clear understanding of what lukewarmness means. This is a terrible reality that lukewarmness is seen so dominantly in the churches and its members. This simply means that the church and its members have on foot in the direction of Christ and one foot in the direction of the world. It doesn’t work that way.
It should scare us. Why? Jesus says, “I could wish you were cold or hot.” He is saying that it is better to be cold than lukewarm. What He is saying is, it is better to have no commitment to Christ whatsoever than be lukewarm.
Why would He say that? A cold person knows that they need clothing and heat to stay warm they are sensitive and know that they are in need. To fix a problem you must first recognize that there is a problem. When we come to the true realization that we are absolutely nothing without Him. We are dead. When we come to the true realization that He owes us nothing, it ain’t about us. When we come to the true realization that we can’t do anything on our own accord to please God and get into heaven, then and only then will He supply our every need, dress us warmly for the spiritual battle, and send us out on the recruitment trail.
Most people who profess Christ attend church only enough to clear their conscience, only enough to make them feel acceptable to God. Many people feel that God would never reject them, they believe that God will eventually accept them into whatever kind of Heaven that exists in the next life. But Jesus contradicts this. He says that all these – all the lukewarm and half-committed church members in the world- would be far better off if they made no profession of faith at all.
Being self-satisfied, feeling comfortable and respectable in one’s religion, is the worst state imaginable for a person. Because it is just that, religion instead of relationship. The religious person is the toughest of all to excite and set on fire for Christ. They can never truly experience revival. Yet sadly this is the state of so many in the church. Those who are half-heartedly committed to Christ, they are comfortable, they are complacent, they are lethargic, indifferent, and self-sufficient. This could be why we are not seeing a great awakening in the church. We better wake up and repent before it is too late.
A lukewarm church still meets, it still sings, it still teaches and still gives. But it no longer has an impact on the lost. Because it is lost.
Neutral Christianity is repulsive to Christ. It makes Him want to vomit.
Let’s look at the root of the problem. Point three in verse 17.
III. THE ROOT PROBLEM: SELF-SUFFICIENCY
III. THE ROOT PROBLEM: SELF-SUFFICIENCY
This is the language of independence from God. Laodicea was wealthy, medically advanced, and economically stable. They assumed spiritual health followed material success.
But Jesus says they were:
Wretched
Pitiable or pathetic
Poor
Blind
Naked
Everything they thought they had, they actually lacked.
We need to be careful here.
Budgets can replace brokenness
Buildings can replace burden
Programs can replace prayer
A church that “needs nothing” no longer depends on Christ.
God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble (James 4:6 “But he gives more grace. Therefore it says, “God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble.””).
Point 4 in verses 18& 19.
IV. CHRIST’S LOVING REPROOF
IV. CHRIST’S LOVING REPROOF
Jesus does not abandon them. He counsels them.
Gold refined by fire represents genuine faith. White garments represents righteousness, not reputation and Eye salve represents spiritual discernment.
He says, “Those whom I love, I reprove and discipline.” Discipline is not rejection. It is proof of sonship.
God disciplines His people because He intends to restore them.
If Jesus did not love this church, He would not have addressed it and left it alone.
V. CHRIST OUTSIDE THE CHURCH
V. CHRIST OUTSIDE THE CHURCH
Again, like I said last week, it isn’t God who abandons us, it is us who abandon Him. He is one step away. Here He says that He is patiently waiting outside the door, knocking. All they have to do is open the door in repentance and let Him back in.
This is not evangelism. This is relational and fellowship restoration.
Christ is telling the lukewarm church and its members that though they are not true believers, He still loves them. It is not out of anger that Jesus tells people they are doing wrong, sinning, missing the mark, or doomed to hell for eternity. He tells them out of love. They need to know that they are doing wrong in order to correct their behavior. They must be warned that judgement lies ahead, more sooner than later, so that they can do whatever it takes to save themselves. Christ’s only reason to rebuke is because He loves them and wants them to recognize their sin, correct or repent of their behavior, and change their lives.
A church can gather in Christ’s name while Christ is functionally absent. It is happening all across this great land.
“Be zealous and repent.”
Repentance is not feeling bad. It is turning back. (Demo)
Comfort is not sinful but Complacency is deadly.
Comfort without dependence produces complacency and complacency repels Christ.
A house can be beautifully maintained, fully furnished, and carefully secured and yet still empty of relationship.
Christ desires fellowship, not just function.
Comfort is a blessing. Complacency is a warning sign. Repentance is the doorway back to fellowship.
Reputation can hide decay but Christ sees the heart.
Let’s stand for prayer.
