Dear Laodecia: The Lukewarm Church

(upbeat music) - Good to be in church everybody. Hey, why don't you tell the person next to you to say thank you for showering this morning. Thank you for showering. That's a genuine, genuine thankfulness. Excited as always to get into the word. Any Christians brought your Bibles to church. I wanna look, we've got cameras on looking, all right? We love the word of God. Let's open up to Revelation chapter three. We wanna build up a generation that doesn't know just how to click to Matthew, but we wanna know how to get to it, all right? Pastor, where's Revelation? Go all the way to the end, brother. All the way to the end. We'll have all the verses on the screens as well, and a little bit ahead will also be in first Peter, chapter one, if you like to get ahead, like I do sometimes. We are in the series, actually concluding the series, Dear Church, the seven churches of Revelation, and what a series it has been. I wanna give a little teaser. Next week we're starting off a new series by popular demand. If anybody remembers by popular demand, which means we took a survey on Easter weekend of what you wanna hear about as a church. So by popular demand, what you guys asked for,

that's what we're gonna talk about in the series by popular demand, which starts next week for a few weeks. So you guys were in charge of coming up with that series. So you gotta come every week to see what we're gonna talk about based on what you guys asked for. Well, here we are, seven churches, seven messages from Jesus, and we come to the seventh and final church of the seven churches of Revelation. There's something significant about the number seven throughout the book of Revelation. We see the seven stars, we see the seven lampstands, we see the seven angels, the seven trumpets, the seven seals, the seven judgments. We understand biblically, seven is the number of completion. And so it is fitting that as we come to the seventh church, we come to the final message that Jesus gave to these seven churches. Because we understand these were not just historical letters to these seven churches that existed 2000 years ago. We also believe and understand that these are messages from Jesus' heart to us, his church today. And if we have ears to hear, as each letter says, we have to hear the message that the spirit has for us. And so we've been learning, week one, we learned from Ephesus, the distracted church. Week two, we learned from Smyrna, the suffering church. Week three, we learned from Pergamum, the confused church. In week four, we learned from Thyatira, the tolerant church. Week five, we learned from Sardis, the dead church, right?

They looked alive on the outside, but they were dead on the inside. And last week, passages Lane brought a message on Philadelphia, the faithful church. That was a good message. My passage is Lane, and the faithful church. That leads us to the last message today, which is dear, dear Laodicea, dear Laodicea, the lukewarm church. Dear Laodicea, the lukewarm church. Let's take a moment, let's pray. Holy Spirit, we ask that you would speak to us today. May your word come alive. May the seeds of truth from your word be planted in fertile soil, each one of our hearts. We are receptive, we are attentive, we are ready. In Jesus' name I pray. All right, let's get to it. Revelation chapter three, we're gonna start in verse 14. This is the letter to the church in Laodicea. And it says to the angel of the church in Laodicea, right? These are the words of the amen, the faithful and true witness, the ruler of God's creation. I know your deeds that you are neither cold nor hot. I wish you were either one or the other. So because you are lukewarm, neither hot nor cold, I am about to spit you out of my mouth. You say, I am rich. I have acquired wealth and do not need a thing. But you do not realize that you are wretched, pitiful,

poor, blind and naked. I counsel you to buy from me gold refined in the fire so you can become rich and white clothes to wear so you can cover your shameful nakedness and salve to put on your eyes so you can see. Those who my love, I rebuke and discipline. So be earnest and repent. Here I am, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in and eat with that person and they with me. To the one who is victorious, I will give the right to sit with me on my throne just as I was victorious and sat down with my father on his throne. Whoever has ears, let them hear what the spirit says. I have a very important question not going to sound theological but it will be in a second how do you like your coffee hot or iced let's take a poll anybody like hot coffee all right and like iced coffee all right we got a mixed group here some of you like hot coffee and I mean hot you want to see the steam coming out you can hear the passion already you want that first sip to wake up your entire soul others of you you like iced coffee your iced coffee people you want a cold refreshing maybe a little bit of cream maybe some flavor can I get an amen from the iced coffee people hot coffee we can agree has a purpose and has its people iced coffee has a purpose but it's not common it's not normal for somebody to walk into a coffee shop and say can I get the best lukewarm coffee you have here nobody says that because lukewarm coffee is not what we're craving nobody says hey make me a coffee leave it on the counter for 30 minutes and then I'll come get it nobody wants lukewarm coffee the interesting thing is we may disagree or have a preference on if we like it hot or cold but we all agree on one thing is nobody wants lukewarm and so this is exactly the picture that Jesus uses when he speaks to the

seventh and final church in Revelation Jesus says to the church at Laodicea here's the issue guys you are neither hot nor cold you're lukewarm but here's what's important Jesus wasn't talking about the coffee they served in Laodicea he's talking about us spiritually and us in impact he's talking about his church and this is a very sobering message because out of all of the seven churches in the seven churches of Revelation Laodicea is the only church where Jesus essentially has nothing positive to say about their spiritual condition so check this out they were successful from appearances successful wealthy comfortable they had resources they had influence on the outside they looked like they had everything going but Jesus looked beneath the surface and he said you're lukewarm and I believe that Jesus is asking every one of us today this question and the question for you me to consider is what is your temperature spiritually speaking where you at not not how good do you look on the outside not how long have you been in church or how many bible verses do you have memorized or how successful are you Jesus's question always gets to the is how's your heart how's your relationship with me because you can be surrounded by the things of God and still be distant from God you can sit in church Sunday after Sunday but slowly keep getting lukewarm you can know about Jesus without actually being close to Jesus and Jesus loves us too much to leave us that way and that's why we see letters like this letter now let's talk a little bit about Laodicea okay let's look at this church if you do a little bit of a breakdown of the etymology of the word Laodicea comes from Laos which means people or nation desay or decay which means justice judgment or right the combined origin in essence this Greek combination means people ruling and even that meaning is dangerous because if people are ruling the city and and the church that means God isn't so this church was self righteous self-deceived and self-sufficient Laodicea was known for a few things it was known for its gold it was it was known particularly for its textiles specifically black wool it would snow it was known for its eyes out it was medicinally known for this this ointment for the eyes it was known for banking textiles and medicine now now here's an interesting thing i learned as i studied about Laodicea it was strategically positioned between two cities to the east of Laodicea was Herropolis known for its hot springs i don't know if you've ever been to a place that has hot springs i remember last year i was in Costa Rica it has a place called La Fortuna and it's known for its thermal hot springs anybody ever enjoyed it has soothing and healing properties these hot springs to the west of Laodicea was Colossae the church of the the city of the Colossians

known for its cold mountain springs and Laodicea had this aqueduct system that brought water into the city from from both sides but by the time the water traveled through those aqueducts the the the hot thermal waters of Herropolis were no longer hot they were lukewarm and the cold mountain spring waters from Colossae were no longer cold and refreshing but they were just lukewarm something that they needed to understand spiritually. Hot water had a purpose, cold water had a purpose. Hot water could bring healing properties, cold water could bring refreshing refreshment properties, but lukewarm water brought no benefit. So when Jesus says in Revelation 3 that he wishes that they were either hot or cold, he's not simply saying, "You got to be on fire for Jesus," or else you're lost, right? Which tends to be the way that we interpret this passage often in the Christian church. But notice Jesus says that both hot and cold have its value. You see that? So the problem, check it out, the problem isn't that one is hot and the other is cold. The problem is that lukewarm has no benefit. Somebody follow me today? So the message is essentially this, let me give you a line. Be hot and bring healing or be cold and bring refreshment, but don't be lukewarm and bring no benefit. And that's powerful because Jesus is saying, "I've called you to be my church and my church is called to make a difference." We live in a world that is desperately needing healing. Can I get a name? We live in a world that is desperately needing encouragement and needing to be refreshed and hope, needing hope. And Jesus is saying, "Come on, you're my church. You cannot be lukewarm in the middle of a hurting, unrefreshed world." And so you and I have to wrestle with, well, what is lukewarmness? What does it mean to be lukewarm? Because essentially Jesus is saying very strongly, which by the way, what does he say?

If I'm going to, what do you do with lukewarm, how do you spit it out? Sometimes lukewarmness looks like worshiping on Sundays, but worrying the rest of the days of the week. Sometimes lukewarmness looks like knowing what the Bible says, but letting culture determine what we believe. Sometimes it looks like praying when we're desperate, but barely praying when everything's going fine. So, it's not this thing about like, "Oh, just hating God or being again." No, no, it's lukewarmness is loving Jesus enough to come to church, but not enough to let him change our priorities. Lukewarmness is serving God publicly while being spiritually disconnected privately. It's being passionate about politics and our sports and our careers and our hobbies, but indifferent about the things that actually matter to God. Lukewarmness. Lukewarmness is like being comfortable receiving from God, but reluctant to give or serve God. It's wanting the blessings of Christianity without the surrender of Christianity. And so, there's a danger to lukewarmness. And by the way, I don't know a Christian, I don't know any Christian that wakes up one morning and says, "You know, I want to start being lukewarm today." Because it's not something that happens in a moment, it's something that happens over time. We just slowly turn the temperature down, a little less prayer, a little less Bible, a little less generosity, a little less serving, a little less Jesus, a little more compromise, a little more comfort, a little more of the world until eventually we're still around God things and God people, but the fire in us isn't hot. We're not making an impact either way. Lukewarmness rarely happens, suddenly happens gradually. It's not a decision to leave Jesus, it's a bunch of little decisions to put Jesus second. And so that's why the danger of lukewarmness, we're all susceptible and vulnerable to fall into lukewarmness. So in life, we're connected to streams, we're constantly in the streams of influence around

us. There's the family stream, there's the work stream, there's the social media stream, there's the culture stream, there's the political stream, there's the entertainment stream. And if we're not intentional, the streams around us will slowly set the temperature in us and we've got to be careful with that and often instead of us bringing the temperature of Jesus to our environment, we allow our environment to affect our temperature for Jesus. Lukewarmness, Jesus says don't just flow with the stream, he says you be the stream. You be a stream that brings healing, be hot, be a stream that brings refreshment, be cold in that way, but but don't be lukewarm where you're having no effect. So instead of being part of the problem, we are called to be part of the solution. Why? Because Jesus lives in you, if you're a believer. And so if Jesus lives in you, you and I have the ability, we have his presence, his spirit, to be able to be hot and bring healing, or to be cold and bring refreshment, but definitely not to settle for lukewarmness. And so Jesus explains in this letter why the church had become lukewarm. He exposes the problem when he says, you don't even realize it. They thought, hey, we got money, we got everything we need, we don't need anything else. And Jesus says, you don't realize that you're poor, you're naked and you're blind. They had become so consumed with the things of this world, specifically material wealth, their visible appearance and their human understanding, but Jesus was looking beyond that. They were known for their gold, for their clothing and for their eye salve. They had everything, apparently, they thought they needed. They were rich in possessions, but spiritually they were not rich. They were dressed on the outside, but spiritually they were naked. And they were confident in what they thought they could see, but they were blind to what really mattered according to Jesus. And so you and I are called not to pursue material wealth, but to pursue spiritual riches, not just to be dressed well on the outside, but to dress with the garments of Christ spiritually

on the inside, and not just to take care of our physical health, but to pursue spiritual health and write vision. And that's why I want to share with you, I want to unpack, according to Revelation 3 18 that we just read, four things Jesus wants from his church, practically speaking, so that we do not fall into lukewarmness. Are you with me? How many am I going to share? Four, number one, number one. Faith. Everybody say, we need faith. Faith. Fine, trust God, not the outcome. In Revelation 3 18, Jesus says, I counsel you to buy from me gold refined in the fire so you can become rich. Now remember, this church was already wealthy when it comes to materially. So Jesus isn't talking about natural or material wealth. He's talking about spiritual wealth, and he's talking specifically about, everybody say it with me, faith. And I want to read together in first Peter chapter one, Peter gives us the picture of faith being tested like gold and fire. And it's interesting that Jesus says, buy from me gold refined in the fire. First Peter one verse six, it says, so be truly glad. There is wonderful joy ahead, even though you must endure many trials for a little while. These trials will show that your faith is what? So the testing, the trial will show that your faith is genuine. It is being tested as fire tests and purifies what? Gold, though your faith is far more precious than mere gold, so when your faith remains strong through many trials, it will bring you much praise and glory and honor on the day when Jesus Christ is revealed revelation to the whole world. You love him even though you have never seen him, though you do not see him now, you trust

him. You rejoice with a glorious inexpressible joy, the reward for trusting him, that faith will be the salvation of your souls. So Peter says that trials test and purify our faith like fire tests and purifies gold. And here's what I've learned in my journey in life. You don't really know how strong your faith is until your faith gets tested. Hey, you don't know how strong that bridge you built is until you let a Godita walk on it, somebody with a little extra weight, then you know what that bridge is made out of. Are you understanding what I'm talking about? So if you put gold in the fire, the fire doesn't make it gold, it just reveals if it is gold or not. In fact, it reveals what isn't, the impurities takes it out and it reveals what is pure, what is genuine, gold, it reveals it, it purifies it and sometimes God allows us to walk through fire, to walk through times of testing because fire reveals what is genuine in us. So here's the question. Now I'm not asking it because of you. I know that you guys have all this perfectly under control. I'm asking this for you guys can help friends out there. Here's the question. What happens to your faith when life doesn't go the way you expected? What happens to your faith? What happens to your faith when the prayer isn't answered? How you asked for it to be answered? What happens to your faith when the diagnosis doesn't change on the next medical exam? doesn't come through, when the relationship doesn't get restored, when the door you prayed for for two years, doesn't open? What happens to your faith? Because sometimes we say, "I'm losing my faith, man." Ultimately, what we're saying is, "Well, God didn't do what I wanted him to do." So then the question is that what was our faith in? The result? Or in the Lord? Let me teach you something. Let me teach you something. If your faith is in the outcome,

you don't have faith in God. You have faith in an outcome. Because faith is not primarily about believing that God will do what I want him to do. Because then the question is, "Who's God then?" Faith is believing that God is who he says he is regardless of what happens. That's why here's the line, "The object of our faith is a person, not an outcome." It's Jesus. So check it out. I can believe God for provision. I can believe God for healing. I can believe God for protection and for restoration. But my faith ultimately is not in the provision. It's in the provider. It's not in the healing itself. It's in the healer who has the capacity to heal. Is somebody with me? Because the circumstances can change and they probably will, but God doesn't change. The situation may not turn out the way I wanted it to, but if my faith is not in the outcome rather, it's in the person that I can still remain with a genuine faith. I trust who God is. I trust his character. I trust in his promises and in his word. I trust and believe that he is real and that he is faithful. And because I know who he is, I can trust him even when I don't understand and even when the outcome is not what I was hoping for. So I got to trust the person. I got to trust Jesus, not the outcome. Come on. Give somebody now and say, "Trust Jesus. Trust Jesus." We may not understand the process or the timing or the answer, but you can trust the one who holds it all in his hands. So what's the first thing that Jesus wants from his church? Faith. Two. The second thing from Revelation 3 and 18 is righteousness. Everybody say with me? Righteousness. We got to wear what Jesus gives us to wear. Because in the same verse it says, "I counsel you to buy from me." First goal then it says, "Buy from me white clothes to wear so you can cover your shameful nakedness." Again, Jesus is speaking directly into the culture of Laodicea. They were known for their clothing and their textiles, specifically their black wool. Jesus says, "You need something that you cannot manufacture yourself. You need some white garments." And I'm not talking about physical textiles. I'm talking about, "You need righteousness." Now righteousness means being right with God. It means having right standing before God. And here's the good news. It's not about my righteousness because it's not enough. I don't have that righteousness. It's about Christ's righteousness in me. When we receive Jesus Christ, his blood covers our sin. His righteousness becomes our covering. And when the Father looks at us, he sees us not through the lens of our own righteousness, but through the lens of Christ's righteousness upon us. He sees us with a different view. He looks at us through the finished work of Jesus Christ.

That's why we have verses like 2 Corinthians 5, 21. God made him, Jesus, who had no sin, to be sin for us, so that in him Christ, we might become what? The righteousness of God. It's not because of us. It's because of him. God made Christ, who knew no sin, to become sin for us, so that Christ, in Christ, we might become the righteousness of God. Can I get an amen? That's good news right there. Why? Ask me why. Ask me why. Ask me. Because the enemy will constantly try to redefine your identity. And you're going to mess up, because you're going to mess up. And me too. And when we do, the enemy's voice is whispering, saying, "Oh, look, you see, Christian. What kind of Christian are you?" Oh, you see, you messed up again. Oh, you see, you stuck your foot in it again. Oh, you see, you're not real. And the enemy wants to come against your identity. You messed up again. God can't use you. What are you doing going to church again? You're going to church today. What are you doing trying to serve God? You're not righteous. God doesn't want you. But you need to understand. You've got to fight against that. You need to understand. Your righteousness does not come from what you do. Our righteousness comes from what Christ did. And when we receive Him, it's His righteousness in us. Now, that doesn't mean that sin doesn't matter. It doesn't mean that we don't pursue holiness. It doesn't mean that we don't repent before the Lord when we mess up. But what it means is that our identity is not based on our failures or successes. Our identity is based on the new identity that we have in Christ when we come to faith in Him. clear to most of us that that is a piano that's the identity but if I came to you and said oh this is a drum set I'm probably not gonna convince most of you but but you know in the world we live in today I could probably eventually get a good group of you to believe this is a drum set question does that change the true identity of what it is no because the identity of that does not come from my opinion or my preference the identity comes from the creator who created it and so we can't believe that our identity is based on a preference or a feeling or even what I think it's based on the creator and so you and I have to remind the enemy when he comes to whisper you're nothing your garbage you're just a sinner is no no I'm a child of God yes I messed up but I am forgiven yes I messed up but because of Christ's righteous this I am covered by grace I am covered I am loved I am accepted I am forgiven I am a child of God not because

of what I've done so here's the line here's the line here's a good line doing the right things doesn't make you righteous doing the right things is the fruit of being righteous are you following me it's very important the approach our approach to God and our approach to this is so important we don't obey Jesus so that then he will love us no we obey Jesus because he already loves us so different we don't pursue holiness and righteous living so that maybe God will accept us no no we pursue holiness and righteous living because through Christ God has already accepted us so it's not something we're fighting for it's it's somewhere we're standing from Jesus makes me righteous so I don't have to manufacture my own clothes I can wear his garments that's why he says come and buy from me these white garments these white clothes Romans 3 21 says but now God has shown us a way to be made right with him and it's not about the law it's not about required the law that the keeping the requirements of the law as was promised in the writings of Moses and the prophets long ago no no we are made right with God by placing our faith there it is in Jesus Christ and this is true for everyone who believes no matter who we are and this is why the church is filled with imperfect people because we know we need Jesus your imperfection isn't an excuse to stay away from God it's actually an invitation to experience God's grace so thank you Jesus for your work in my life thank you that you cover me with your righteousness and revelation gives us a picture I want to read this passage in Revelation 7 verse 9 let's listen to this passage it describes a big group of people and it says after this I saw a vast crowd too great to count from every nation and tribe and people and language standing in front of the throne before the lamb they were clothed there it is in white robes and held palm branches in their hands and they were shouting with a great roar salvation comes from our God who sits on the throne and from the lamb and all the angels were standing around the throne and around the elders and the four living beings and they fell before the throne with their faces to the ground and worshiped God they sang Amen blessing and glory and wisdom and thanksgiving and honor and power and strength belong

to our God forever and ever amen then one of the 24 elders asked me who are these who are clothed in white where did they come from and I said to him sir you are the one who knows then he said to me these are the ones who died in the great tribulation they have washed their robes in the blood of the lamb and made them white that is why they stand in front of God's throne and serve him day and night in his temple and he who sits on the throne will give him shelter they will never again be hungry or thirsty they will never be scorched by the heat of the Sun for the lamb on the throne will be their shepherd he will lead them to springs of life-giving water and God will wipe every tear from their eyes and what are they wearing white robes and where do those robes come from from being washed in the blood of the lamb and one day if you're in Christ those of us who are in Christ are going to stand before that throne declared righteous and accepted and covered and there will be no more death and no more suffering and no more pain and no more tears because the lamb will be our shepherd because Jesus will reign and thank God for Jesus and the righteousness that he provides for us so what does Jesus want from his church faith righteous this number three he wants vision everybody say with me vision he wants us to see what God sees that's why it says in 18 the second the third part it says I can't counsel you to buy from me salve to put on your eyes so you can see why because this church had a vision problem in fact they thought they could see but they couldn't see what God saw they said we're rich we have everything we don't need anything and And Jesus says, "Really? Because from my view, your pitiful port--" yourself? More importantly, do you see what God sees? Because we live in a world full of competing voices that are constantly telling us who we are, what matters, what is true, what is valuable. The voice of technology, the voice of media, the voice of social media, the voice of culture and politics. Everybody has a perspective. Everybody has an angle. Everybody has an agenda. Everybody has a definition of what they think or say truth is, but as followers of Jesus we have been called to see through a different lens and it's God's lens. And so here's, we have to understand that behind the physical there's a spiritual. And so often we carry the pain of the hurt that

someone caught. Sometimes somebody hurts me and I carry pain from that hurt. But here's what happens. If I have limited vision, I believe that person hurt me. But I ignore what spiritual maturity tells me in Ephesians 6 that my struggle is not against flesh and blood. It's against powers and principalities and forces of evil and darkness that are in this world trying to cause pain and hurt and damage. Are you with me? So if I don't understand that, I'm going to think I got to fight against that person. I'm blind. Because then not only do I have pain, now I cause pain and I'm not even resolving the root of the issue, which often is spiritual. It's a vision. It's a vision problem. It's seeing and understanding. Jesus taught us to pray your kingdom come, your will be done on earth as it is in heaven. How is God's will going to be done on earth? Through us, through his church, through his sons and daughters, sons and daughters of the living God who carry the presence of God. Here's a good line. Darkness can only exist where light isn't present. So when Jesus calls us out of lukewarmness, what he's calling us to is to turn on the light. Lukewarmness means your light's off. You're having no impact. You've stopped seeing God's way. You've adopted the world's perspective. You've allowed culture to shape your thinking more than scriptures. You're looking more like the world than like Christ. Please hear me today. If you're only seeing things with your natural eyes, you're failing to walk in the understanding, the authority and the power that Jesus Christ has given you as a follower of him. And the only way that heaven will be seen on this earth is if we get our perspective and our vision from Jesus. There's an interesting text as we get to the finish line, John 9 verse 35, look what it says. When Jesus heard what happened, he found the man and asked, "Do you believe in the Son of Man?" The man answered, "Who is he, sir? I want to believe in him. You have seen him," Jesus said, and he is speaking to you. "Yes, Lord, I believe," the man said, and he worshiped Jesus. Then Jesus told him, "I entered this world to render judgment, to give sight to the blind, and to show those who think they see that they are blind." Some Pharisees who were standing nearby heard him and asked, "Are you saying we're blind?" Okay, pause for a second. That's kind of funny because Jesus wasn't even talking to them. And if Jesus would have been sarcastic, he would have been like guilty. And the Pharisees would have been like, "Oh no, he didn't." And so the Pharisee asked, "Are you saying that we're blind?" And in verse 41, if you were blind, you wouldn't be guilty, Jesus replied, but you remain guilty because you claim what? You claim you can see. They claimed they could see, but they didn't have

God's perspective. They had the world or their own perspective. And that's what we're dealing with in this world. Not now, how do we get God's perspective? Psalm 19 verse 8, "The precepts of the Lord are right, giving joy to the heart, the commands of the Lord are radiant, giving light to the eyes." We get God's perspective by getting into God's Word because God's Word gives light to our eyes. We don't ask, "What do I want to be true?" That's what today's culture asks. "What do I want to be true?" I'll believe in that truth. No, no, we ask, "What does God's Word say is true?" I'll go with that. We don't ask, "How do I feel about this truth?" No, no, we ask, "What does God say?" In His Word, we don't ask, "What does culture think and say? How can I be least offensive to the most of my people?" No, no, no. We say, "What does Scripture say?" And how can I align with that no matter who gets offended with it? So it's not just about seeing it, it's about seeing it God's way because if we only see with natural eyes, we will miss out on what God is doing and wanting to do spiritually. He wants to heal our vision. He wants us to see correctly. He wants but now that I have Jesus, and now I can see. Fourth thing that Jesus wants from his church here it is, intimacy. You say it with me? Intimacy, stay close to Jesus and overcome. We arrive at the most famous verse of the verses in Revelation 3.20. Here I am, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in and eat with that person and they, with me. You've probably seen this verse in paintings with Jesus standing outside of a door, knocking. Often this verse is used kind of in evangelistic invitations to Jesus, which it can certainly speak to that, but remember the context of who Jesus is talking to here. He's talking to the church at Laodicea. He's talking to people who already knew him and about him, and Jesus is telling them,

yo, I'm here at the door because it's possible to have Jesus outside. In other words, you've become lukewarm, you've become self-sufficient, you've become distracted and distant, but I'm still here. The Greek word translated knock carries this idea of urgency, persistence. Have you ever had somebody knocking on your door urgently or persistently? It's very different than a normal, you know, it's kind of like, it's kind of like, oh my God, somebody's really at the door. Imagine you're running because you're in the neighborhood and a dog started chasing you, a big dog started chasing you, but you don't know, started chasing you, and you start running and you get to a door. What are you gonna do? Are you gonna knock softly? Or are you gonna tear that door down? Because it's urgent, because it's persistent, because it's real. The kind of urgency that Jesus is communicating here, and I believe that he's knocking on our hearts today, it's because even in the midst of what we're going through, he's there, we just sometimes forget. He's there, but maybe we're so busy or distracted, and he's saying, in the middle of your anxiety, I'm here in the middle of your suffering, I'm here in the middle of your disappointment,

I'm here in your confusion, I'm here. I'm not asking you to figure it all out first, and then let me in, Jesus says, just let me in. And by the way, he says, I will come in and eat with you, I will dine with you, I will sit at the table with you, that's a reference to intimacy, that's a reference to relationship, that's a reference to connection, God doesn't want religion from us, he wants relationship, he wants connection, he doesn't want your intellect, he wants your heart, he wants you. That's important, because verse 21, Revelation 21 says, the one to the one who is victorious, I will give the right to sit with me on my throne, just as I was victorious and sat down with my father on his throne. And by the way, how did Jesus overcome when he walked this earth, how did he overcome and endure the cross and the pain and the suffering, he stayed connected relationally to the father. Intimacy with the father gave him strength to overcome. Last line, intimacy with Jesus gives you strength to overcome. I'm not saying that following Jesus will be easy or even convenient, because it will be a battle, but here's the promise. He promises to always be with you, to never leave you, to never forsake you. Greater is he who is in you than he who is in the world.

In Christ, you and me are more than conquerors. But there is a cost to intimacy, there will be test. And Jesus is knocking because he's saying, if you don't stay close to me, this world's gonna consume you. If you don't stay intimately connected with me, you're gonna get lukewarm, but if you let me in, I will help you overcome. Stay close to Jesus and you will overcome. So as we close this message off and this series off, bring this personally to you at the end here. Maybe you've seen yourself in one of these churches. Maybe you felt like Ephesus, you've lost your first love. Maybe you felt like Smyrna, you've been suffering. Maybe you felt like Pergamum and you've been compromising in your faith. Maybe like a little bit like Thyatira and you've been tolerating things you shouldn't tolerate. Maybe like Sardis and you've looked alive on the outside, but you know you're not on the inside. Maybe you've been like Philadelphia and you've been faithfully serving God. Question today is, are you becoming lukewarm in any way, in any area of your life, in your relationship with God? Are you spiritually comfortable? Have you become self-sufficient? Have you become so focused on what you have that you've forgotten who gave it to you? Have you become more passionate about the things of the world than the things of God?

Here's the beautiful thing about this letter is that Jesus rebukes them because Jesus loves them. And in verse 19, it says, to those whom I love, So his correction is actually evidence of his love. Jesus isn't saying you're a lost cause, you're hopeless. Stay out. No, no, he's saying, come back. I'm here for you. Open the door. Let me in. There's grace. And so the message of Laodicea is not a message of condemnation, it's a message of invitation. When Jesus is inviting his church back into faith, righteousness, vision, and intimacy. What's the advice? Trust Jesus, not the outcome. Start seeing your life from his lens and his perspective, not just through your physical eyes. Open the door to Jesus. I want to pray two prayers to close off this service. The first prayer is all for all of us and just truly open up our hearts, and if we need to open the door to Jesus, and the second one will be anybody who may be has never received Jesus to save yourself, let's pray. Lord, we thank you for this opportunity to get into your word. Thank you for speaking to us, for loving us enough to correct us and challenge us and call us higher. Forgive us for the places and ways and areas where we have become lukewarm. Forgive us for becoming distracted or comfortable or self-sufficient or spiritually blind. Lord, we ask that you would strengthen our faith. Help us trust you, not simply for what you can do, but because of who you are. Remind us that our righteousness is not in ourselves, it's found in Christ.

Give us your perspective. Help us see how you want us to see. More than anything, Lord, help us stay close to you. Let our lives bring healing to others. Let our lives bring refreshment to others. Let our light shine in such ways that others know you and want to know you because of us. And Lord, help vertical church be a church that doesn't just exist, doesn't just barely make it, but let us be a church that thrives and that makes a difference day in and day out. We pray all these things in Jesus' name.