Stop Acting Part 2
Notes
Transcript
Revelation 3:14-22
Revelation 3:14-22
Last week we started to look at the Church of Laodicea and how they were spiritually dead (lukewarm). Christ brought to light their true spiritual health, correcting their ignorance of who they really were. The more we spend time with Christ, the more we see our lives lined up not to others but in resemblance of Jesus. This week we are going to see the Love of our Lord and Savior, Yahweh. He is patiently waiting and knocking at people’s hearts before it is too late. It’s done through His people who are called by His name, spreading the Gospel and planting seeds of hope and truth.
Jesus instructs Laodicea to reestablish their relationship with Him through five essential directives. The initial instruction underscores the importance of heeding His counsel. The second entails experiencing His love. The third mandates obedience to His commands. The fourth requires turning to His promises. The final directive is to receive His reward. Write down this acronym (T. H. E. R. O.). We will fill this out throughout the sermon.
Heeding:
Heeding:
The ‘H’ is heeding His counsel; Christ could have instantly judged them and destroyed them. Instead, He graciously offered them salvation. First, He heeds them to buy gold refined by fire. This is the purest of all precious metals, not worldly riches but heavenly riches. A word of caution here: there is absolutely nothing that a wretched sinner could do to purchase salvation. The buying here is the same as the invitation to salvation (Isaiah 55:1). The buying includes a call to repent and turn to Christ; it's our faith in Jesus as Lord and Savior (1 Peter 1:7).
“Ho! Every one who thirsts, come to the waters; And you who have no money come, buy and eat. Come, buy wine and milk Without money and without cost.
so that the proof of your faith, being more precious than gold which is perishable, even though tested by fire, may be found to result in praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ;
Jesus heeds them to clothe themselves in White garments. A stark contrast from the black wool they were so used to. Too many of us rely on our own abilities for salvation. We think that our works save us. Truth is, all we bring to Christ is black wool, filthy, dirty sin (Isaiah 64:6). What He clothes us with is white garments, which only Christ can give. White garments symbolize the righteous deeds that always accompany genuine saving faith (Rev. 19:8).
For all of us have become like one who is unclean, And all our righteous deeds are like a filthy garment; And all of us wither like a leaf, And our iniquities, like the wind, take us away.
It was given to her to clothe herself in fine linen, bright and clean; for the fine linen is the righteous acts of the saints.
Finally, Christ offers them salve to anoint their eyes. Though they prided themselves on their allegedly spiritual knowledge, they were spiritually blind. Blindness represents lack of understanding and knowledge of spiritual truth (Matthew 15:14; 23:16-17; 2 Cor. 4:4).
“Let them alone; they are blind guides of the blind. And if a blind man guides a blind man, both will fall into a pit.”
“Woe to you, blind guides, who say, ‘Whoever swears by the temple, that is nothing; but whoever swears by the gold of the temple is obligated.’
“You fools and blind men! Which is more important, the gold or the temple that sanctified the gold?
in whose case the god of this world has blinded the minds of the unbelieving so that they might not see the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God.
Experience:
Experience:
Bart Millard of MercyMe talks about how his dad was a monster when he was growing up. Even though Bart had accepted Christ, he never experienced His love. This changed when he took time to go back home, and in that time he experienced the Love of Christ. How? Through Christ’s redemptive power, which transformed his dad from a monster into who Bart wanted him to be. Listen to what John wrote (1 John 2:11). To experience the true love of Christ is to experience His forgiveness, reprove, and discipline.
But the one who hates his brother is in the darkness and walks in the darkness, and does not know where he is going because the darkness has blinded his eyes.
Forgiveness is not for them, but for us (Matthew 6:14). When we do not forgive, the Lord will rebuke and discipline us. Why? Because He loves us.
“For if you forgive others for their transgressions, your heavenly Father will also forgive you.
The Laodiceans were not saved. They had unregent hearts, desperately in need of the gold of true spiritual riches, the garments of true righteousness, and the eye salve that brings true spiritual understanding.
Christ has a unique and special love for His elect. Yet, such passages as Mark 10:21 and John 3:16 reveal that He also loves the unredeemed. Reprove means to expose or convict, and discipline refers to punishment and is used of God’s convicting unbelievers (2 Tim 2:25). Then comes obedience from the reprove and discipline.
Looking at him, Jesus felt a love for him and said to him, “One thing you lack: go and sell all you possess and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow Me.”
“For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life.
with gentleness correcting those who are in opposition, if perhaps God may grant them repentance leading to the knowledge of the truth,
Obedience:
Obedience:
Jesus commanded Laodicea to be zealous and repent. That is tantamount to the attitude of mourning over sin and hungering and thirsting for righteousness of which Jesus spoke (Matt. 5:4,6). While repentance is not a meritorious work, the New Testament call to salvation always includes it (Mark 6:12; Luke 13:3,5; Acts 2:38). In repentance, the sinner turns from his sin to serve God (1 Thess. 1:9).
“Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted.
“Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied.
They went out and preached that men should repent.
“I tell you, no, but unless you repent, you will all likewise perish.
“I tell you, no, but unless you repent, you will all likewise perish.”
Peter said to them, “Repent, and each of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins; and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.
For they themselves report about us what kind of a reception we had with you, and how you turned to God from idols to serve a living and true God,
Repentance means that you realize that you are a guilty, vile sinner in the presence of God, that you deserve the wrath and punishment of God, that you are hell-bound. It means that you begin to realize that this thing called sin is in you, that you long to get rid of it, and that you turn your back on it in every shape and form. You renounce the world, whatever the cost- the world in its mind and outlook as well as its practice- and you deny yourself and take up the cross and go after Christ (Martyn Lloyd-Jones).
Some of us need to repent, turn back to God, and serve Him alone. Pride can overcome any of us the moment we think of ourselves more than what we really are. God gives the calling, but He can also remove it from your life to humble you. PRIDE will put EGO in your life. But once we repent as sinners, we turn to His promise.
Turn:
Turn:
Christ’s promises are not like men. Moses wrote these words to Israel and for us, too (Numbers 23:19). Samuel spoke these words about Yahweh (1 Samuel 15:29). Listen to His promise in verse twenty. He stands at the door and knocks. He is knocking on all of humanity’s hearts for them to answer.
“God is not a man, that He should lie, Nor a son of man, that He should repent; Has He said, and will He not do it? Or has He spoken, and will He not make it good?
“Also the Glory of Israel will not lie or change His mind; for He is not a man that He should change His mind.”
You and I heard the knock and opened the door, and He came in. He now wants to use us to take His truth to the lost so He can knock on their hearts. For some in His bride have not answered the door, and He is knocking every day on their hearts. If they would just answer the knock, He would come in and dine with them. His knocking is broader. He is knocking on Laodicea’s Church door. The entire church needed to hear His voice and repent. The same is true for the American Church. We have fallen away from seeking zeal and repentance. But once we turn, we receive His reward.
Receive:
Receive:
His reward is greater than any treasure this world could offer. What a glorious day that will be when I stand in His presence. I can only imagine the song that Bart Millard wrote for his dad when he gets to heaven. Listen to the words:
I can only imagine
What it will be like
When I walk by Your side
I can only imagine
What my eyes will see
When Your face is before me
I can only imagine
Surrounded by Your glory
What will my heart feel?
Will I dance for You, Jesus
Or in awe of You, be still?
Will I stand in Your presence?
Or to my knees will I fall?
Will I sing, "Hallelujah!"?
Will I be able to speak at all?
I can only imagine
I can only imagine
I can only imagine
When that day comes
And I find myself standing in the Son
I can only imagine
When all I will do
Is forever, forever worship You
I can only imagine
I can only imagine
Surrounded by Your glory
What will my heart feel?
Will I dance for you, Jesus
Or in awe of You, be still?
Will I stand in Your presence
Or to my knees will I fall?
Will I sing "Hallelujah!"?
Will I be able to speak at all?
I can only imagine
I can only imagine!
Oh-oh, surrounded by Your glory
What will my heart feel?
Will I dance for you, Jesus
Or in awe of You, be still?
Will I stand in Your presence
Or to my knees will I fall?
Will I sing "Hallelujah!"?
Will I be able to speak at all?
I can only imagine
I can only imagine
I can only imagine, oh, yeah
I can only imagine
I can only imagine, yeah
I can only imagine
And I can only imagine
When all I will do
Is forever, forever worship You
I can only imagine
None of us can truly imagine what that will be like. But it is better than anything you could ever see on earth.
