Revive Your Faith and Purpose | Revelation | Full Experience

hey what's up everybody how you doing doing all right welcome to CCV we're glad that you're here this is Jared this is Jackie and my name is Jordan and this is the band today with us so which means we need your voices loud and proud today as a part of this we're excited to get to worship Jesus together with you what about you to stand to your feet if you're not already I'd love to kick off our time together with a passage of scripture this is Psalm 73 this is what it says whom have I in heaven but you God and earth has nothing I desire besides you my flesh and my heart may fail but God is the strength of my heart and he is my portion forever the God of eternity is the same God who is present with us right now and that is something to celebrate the one who holds tomorrow is with us in our present circumstances no matter what they are and he is our portion he is enough for us forever we're thanking him for that let's celebrate that together today you down with that all right here we go let's We Praise you Darling I see you in the night sky when the stars are glowing I hear you in the windworks, the leaves rustling There's no way that I could hope that you'd have me There's no way that I could go that you haven't been Come on, let's tell them he's holy Sing it then, say it Holy, holy, holy I can't help but to sing it Cause you alone are worthy I can't help but believe it I take a look around, look at all you've done It's just a glimpse of what's to come Holy, holy, holy But if this was it then that's enough I find you in the details of everything you've been The presence of a father that's closer than a friend

In the crying of a baby, the laughter of a king There's nothing that I could find that you aren't already He said, oh There's nothing that I could find that you aren't already We worship you God, yeah Holy, holy, holy I can't help but to sing it Cause you alone are worthy I can't help but believe it I take a look around, look at all you've done It's just a glimpse of what's to come Holy, holy, holy But if this was it then that's enough You're enough for us God, in every season It's enough, cause you're enough If seeing was believing I've seen enough, it's enough Cause you're enough I'm living in the promise of what's to come It's enough, cause you're enough If seeing was believing I've seen enough, it's enough Cause you're enough I'm living in the promise of what's to come Holy, holy, holy I can't help but to sing it You alone are worthy. Yes, You are. I can't help but believe it. I take a look around. Look at all You've done. It's just a glimpse of what's to come. Holy, holy, holy. If this was it then that's enough. You've always been enough. Yes, You have. You've always been enough. And we're creation suddenly articulate. With a thousand tongues to lift one cry. And from north to south and east to west we'd hear Christ be magnified.

And word to word echoing His eminence. His name would burst from sea to sky. And from rivers to the mountain tops we'd hear Christ be magnified. That's right. Oh, Christ be magnified. The altar of Christ be magnified. When every creature finds its own nostalgia. When every human heart is magnified. And then in one enraptured hell of flames we'll see Christ be magnified. Oh, be magnified. Oh, Christ be magnified. Let His praise arise. Christ be magnified in me. Oh, Christ be magnified. The altar of my life. Christ be magnified in me. And I'll make You famous, Jesus. And I won't bow my eyes. I'll stand strong in worshiping You. If it puts me through the fire, I'll rejoin since You're there too. I won't be formed by fears. I'll hold fast to what is true. The cross brings transformation. I'll be crucified with You. Because death is just a doorway into resurrection life. If I join You in Your suffering, I'll join You when You rise. And when You return in glory with all the angels and the saints. My heart will still be singing. My soul will be the same. Tell Him. Oh, Christ be magnified. Christ be magnified. We believe. Tell Him now. Oh, Christ be magnified. The altar of my life. Christ be magnified in me. in me. ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪

♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ So great getting to sing that with you guys today. You may go ahead and take your seats. CCV, it's so good to be with you today. My name is Leo and I get to serve as one of the pastors here at our Peoria campus. For those of you who are joining us online, we're so glad that you're with us. Well, a few weeks ago, I was in the car with my son Mason. He's in junior high and we were having an incredible conversation. We're talking about movies, cars, video games, sports, life. And he's always been extremely curious, so he asks the best questions. And out of nowhere, he goes, Hey dad, what's the meaning of nothing? Huh. Well, first of all, son, you're grounded.

You know, if you were going to make me... Sound dumb, like I'm not gonna allow it, but no, we actually figured out what he was asking, but I just, man, I love how curious he is, and it got me thinking, when was the last time I was that curious about what Jesus has done for me? Because I know as a follower of Christ, I walk in grace, I walk in forgiveness, I have access to God every single day, but if I'm curious enough, I know I'm able to trace all of those things and the access to those things back to one moment, and that's the cross. And the Bible tells us in 2 Corinthians 5, 21, God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God. CCV, if you're gonna be curious about anything, let's be curious about this. What does it mean that he became sin? What does it mean that we are God's righteousness? And what that means is that the weight that should have been on us was placed on him. What it means is that the separation that we deserved was absorbed by Jesus. What it means is that the identity that we didn't earn was given to us by him because of what he did. So let's continue to be curious about the cross, what he did for us there. As we take communion today, let's remember that sacrifice, and if we're able to truly understand what happened on that cross,

every single day, the way we see everything will forever change. Will you pray with me? Heavenly Father, thank you so much for your son, Jesus. Thank you for his sacrifice. Lord, we know that because of what he did, we're able to have hope, love, joy, Father. And we remember that today. It is in the name of Jesus that we pray. Amen. Amen. ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ Alleluia Alleluia I've got one response I've got just one who

With my arms stretched wide I will worship you So I throw up my hands And praise you again and again Cause all that I have is an Alleluia Alleluia And I know it's not much But I'm nothing else good for a king Except for a heart singing Alleluia Alleluia Come on my soul Don't you get shy on me Lift up your song Cause you've got a lion Inside of those lungs Get up and praise the Lord Come on my soul Don't you get shy on me Lift up your song Cause you've got a lion Inside of those lungs Get up now praise the Lord Every voice we've got we've got Come on my soul Don't you get shy on me Lift up your song Cause you've got a lion Inside of those lungs

Get up now praise the Lord So I throw up my hands And praise you again and again Cause all that I have is a Alleluia And I know it's not much But I'm nothing else good for a king Except for a heart singing Alleluia Alleluia Singing Alleluia Alleluia One more time we sing So I throw up my hands And praise you again and again Cause all that I have is a Alleluia And I know it's not much But I'm nothing else good for a king Except for a heart singing Alleluia Alleluia Man does anybody else feel God's spirit in the room you're in right now I just Well I'll just start How's everyone else's week been? Been good? You know last weekend we started this series on Revelation I think it's so pivotal for where we're at in a society

In our world And we started answering the question last weekend Are we living in the end times? And the answer is yes we are The moment Jesus ascended into heaven Scripture teaches that that began the last days But do we know when Jesus is going to return? No we do not Which means we must live with urgency Like you don't know when your last day is going to be here And we have to keep our eyes fixed on Jesus No matter what is going on And how many of you know It's easy to get your eyes off Jesus I mean just look at the turmoil And all the tension going on in our world today, in the Middle East right now, and we're going to pray for God to move in that situation in a minute. But how many of you know it's not just over in the Middle East, the tension and turmoil, it's here, it's in our own lives, it's in our own backyards, it's maybe in your life, your marriage, whatever's going on. I mean, I want to remind you of something today. What Scripture teaches is that our battle is not against flesh and blood, it's against princes and principalities in this evil world. In other words, our battle isn't against people, it's against evil in the spiritual realm. And what you need to know is anytime God's moving, Satan is attacking, not just in your life, but also in the life of our church. I mean, if you've been around CCP for any amount of time, you've seen what God's been up to. Last year, we've never seen anything like this in our history. We saw 9,299 people give their lives to Jesus, right? Now, before you clap too much, before you clap too much, the first two months of this year versus the first two months of last year, we're seeing three times as number of baptisms as we saw last year, just this year. Do you think that makes Satan angry? Do you think it makes Satan angry what's happening with revivals all over the world?

And so Satan will do anything he can to attack a move of God, which means we must be diligent to keep our eyes fixed on Jesus and keep preaching the name of Jesus, which is the name above every name and the only name that'll change anyone in this world. Amen. Like, that's what we're going to keep doing as a church. And I was so reminded of this this past week. I was visiting with my 96-year-old aunt who we just had to put into a home, and she's in a home, and we just don't think she has much time left. And what I know about her is she's been through so many hard things, and she has just been so faithful and kept her eyes on Jesus. And when I was in Bible college, she would write me letter after letter in Bible college saying, Ashley, just keep centered on Jesus. And CCV, that's what I'm going to do, and that's what I'm going to challenge you to do. No matter what you're going through, no matter what I'm going through, no matter what our world is going through, we're going to stay fixed on Jesus so that Romans 8, 28, we'll see it live out in our lives, that we know that in all things, God works for the good of those who love him, who've been called according to his purpose. God's doing good. He will continue to do good, and we're just going to stay faithful. So I want to pray for what's going on in the Middle East right now, and maybe even what's going on in your world. Would you pray with me? Father, I just pray for peace. I pray for what's going on in the Middle East, that you would just watch over our missionaries that we have in the Middle East from CCV right now. Protect them. Protect innocent lives. God, would you watch over our military, the men and women that so graciously give their lives to keep us safe. Father, watch over our leaders. Give them wisdom. And God, I pray for our church, that you would just you'd watch over and protect us, and that when there's chaos, we would walk in peace, that we wouldn't walk in fear but faith, and we would keep our eyes on you and keep lifting your name up so we can see our city and our state and our world changed. Father, we pray all this in the name of Jesus, and everybody said amen, amen. Hey, we're continuing. We're week two of the Revelation series. One of my favorite teaching pastors in the world, part of CCV, Dave Stone, one of my good friends. Can we give it up for Dave Stone today? Come on. Different things have a way of getting our attention. Maybe in the morning it's a sound from your phone, and it wakes you out of a deep sleep. Or maybe it's a voice that you hear from behind you in a crowded room, and instantly you recognize that voice, and it belongs to a family member who has surprised you. Recently, I met a lady who was excited to meet me, and she was also excited to tell me. She said, I listen to all of your sermons online. And when she said that,

it made me feel good. But then she went on to add, I listen a lot at night as they help me to be able to fall asleep. And I'm like, you know, I can hear what you're saying. And she quickly tried to cover it, and she said, oh, I mean, I mean, she said, your voice is so soothing. And she said, it's really a compliment. And I thought, on what planet? Is that a compliment to a pastor? To her, my preaching was simply white noise to enable her to drift off into la-la land more quickly. But different things get our attention. Maybe it's a sound. Maybe it's a voice. Maybe it's a diagnosis that your doctor shares with you and that causes you to change your diet or to start an exercise routine. Well, today, we're going to see Jesus resort to using words to get the attention of some first century churches. As we continue our study of Revelation, he's going to simply give words of evaluation to seven different churches. And with his words of correction, commendation, and caution, Christ will capture their attention. And today, we're going to take a journey and we're gonna cover seven churches that were around in the year 95 AD. So if you have your Bibles, turn to Revelation chapter two, verse three. Last week, we learned that Revelation was written to prepare us, not to scare us. And toward the end of that message, Ashley asked a sobering question.

I love this. If tomorrow you stood before Jesus, what would you wish that you had done today? Are you ready? In Revelation two and three, Jesus is going to take us on this geographical journey and we will get to see that there will be seven churches. Two of them, he's gonna give a thumbs up to. Five of them, there's gonna be thumbs down. And as you listen to some of these descriptions, these performance reviews, some of them will describe maybe where you are right now in your own spiritual walk with Christ. But there's two words in particular that I wanna draw your attention to in all seven of these assessments. It's the words, I know. Jesus says, I know. And what's interesting is he reveals his observations and knowledge. The words I know are based on the fact that he has a relationship with us and who better to evaluate the church than the one who purchased the church with his own blood. So I'm gonna put a giant map up here and we're gonna walk chronologically through Revelation 2 and 3. It starts off, the first one is the church of Ephesus. And in Revelation 2, verses two and three, his I know statement is, I know your deeds,

your hard work and your perseverance. I know that you cannot tolerate wicked people, that you have tested those who claim to be apostles but are not and have found them false. You have persevered and have endured hardships for my name and have not grown weary. Jesus is saying, hey, you're doctrinally solid. You can discern things really well. You've endured tough times. You ever been in a performance review and it starts off really good, really positive, and then the evaluator inserts that little tiny three-letter word, but, and your heart sinks as the conversation takes an unexpected turn. And that's what happens here. Jesus goes on and says in verses four and five, yet I hold this against you. You have forsaken the love that you had at first. Consider how far you have fallen. Repent and do the things that you did at first. In other words, you're a great church except for one minor detail. You've forgotten the one who is the head of the church. You became a part of this church because you accepted me as your Lord and Savior, but now I'm no longer your top priority. You've forsaken me. Years ago, I had a good friend named John, committed Christian man, man of purity, integrity.

One day his boss asked him to do something unethical. And John looked back at his boss and he said, you know, I'm not gonna do that. And the boss paused and then he said, well, I guess we're not number one anymore. And John looked at him and said, you never were number one. He said, God has always been number one and my family has been number two and this job has been number three. And you hear that and you think, well, that might cost John his job. Yeah, it might, but where's your allegiance? Did you mean it when you said that Jesus was going to be the Lord of your life? I mean, this can happen in 2026. Church attendance can become more of a networking opportunity for new clients than really coming to worship the God of the universe. For each church that I talk about today, I've tried to choose one or two emojis to help us remember Christ's evaluation. And for Ephesus, I chose the frozen emoji. because they were doctrinally sound, but they were spiritually frozen. Their hearts had grown cold for Christ. Is this where you are? Church number two, the church at Smyrna. And be encouraged because they were, this is one of two churches whose divine review had more positives than negatives.

In fact, Jesus doesn't say anything negative about the church at Smyrna. He offers no improvement plan. He simply offers encouragement, but no correction. In Smyrna, the Christians there faced intense persecution and poverty, and Jesus encourages them to remain faithful amidst all of this suffering. Listen to Revelation chapter two, verses nine and 10. I know your afflictions and your poverty, yet you are rich. I know about the slander of those who say they are Jews and are not, but are a synagogue of Satan. Do not be afraid of what you are about to suffer. I tell you, the devil will put some of you in prison to test you, and you will suffer persecution for 10 days. Be faithful even to the point of death, and I will give you life as your victor's crown. What stands out to Jesus in this write-up is that they have experienced suffering, poverty, persecution, and yet they have remained faithful. And for any of you, does that describe the last year or two of your life, a season of suffering, barely making ends meet, enduring persecution or ridicule in the workplace, battling a sickness? And throughout the closing pages of the New Testament and in the book of Revelation, we're given inspiration and pep talks and encouragement to bolster the church that you remember that this world is not our home. You do realize it's gonna be tougher to be a Christ follower.

In 1 Peter 5, verse eight, it says, stay alert, watch out for your great enemy, the devil. He prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour. Stay alert, watch out. It's a very vivid and realistic picture that Peter paints. It's a double warning. Stay alert, watch out. Remember when you were a little kid, you were too close to a bonfire or the edge of a swimming pool? Your parents may have been talking in a normal tone, but in an instant, everything changes. They say, watch out, stay alert, you're too close there. And that's what's happening here. Back when I was in my 30s, I accepted some speaking engagements with a company. It was basically the same talk in eight different locations of this company. They had a little company prop plane that seated about seven or eight folks. The president, vice presidents, and myself would fly to these places. We'd do our dog and pony show. Well, one night we were flying back from somewhere and the pilot, his name was Chop. We're getting ready to return. He said, hey, you wanna ride up in the cockpit with me, Dave? I said, I'd love it. You know, I'd played video games before

and I was happy to help. But it was fascinating to see all of that stuff from that vantage point. And after takeoff, I felt so comfortable up there that I even unbuckled my seatbelt. But after about 15 minutes, Chop shared that we were going into some rough air and there were some nearby storms. And he said, hey, we'll have some turbulence. He said, you better fasten your seatbelt. Well, I fastened it. About a minute later, we hit an air pocket and this had never happened before, but my seat came off of the seat, flew up about two inches. My head cracked up on the metal of the ceiling and Chop looked over at me. He said, I said, fasten your seatbelt. And this time I sensed that puppy so tight, I cut off the circulation in my thighs. I said, hey, get us down quickly. Chop, Chop. Chop, yeah. And when Peter says to the Christian community, stay alert, he's saying, fasten your seatbelt. When he says, watch out, he's saying, I said, fasten your seatbelt. And Peter wants us to be prepared that there are seasons of suffering, there are periods of persecution

and you need to be aware of that. And that's what Jesus is doing here in Revelation two and three. He's saying, it's gonna get tougher, but keep the big picture, keep the end goal. So in this Revelation series, I want you to know that every single week as your pastors, we are saying, buckle up, fasten your seatbelt, be prepared. because it's gonna become more difficult to stand for Jesus Christ in the decades to come. But when the apocalyptic dust settles, make certain that you are standing with Jesus. And Jesus observes that the church of Smyrna went through that season of suffering. They kept their faith because they were faithful. For Smyrna, I chose two emojis, the thumbs up and the fire emoji, because of the way they came through their suffering in these fiery trials. And yet they still praise the Lord. Is this where you are? Well, here's the third step. The church of Pergamum. It begins in verse 13. Jesus says, I know where you live, where Satan has his throne, yet you remain true to my name. You did not renounce your faith in me, not even in the days of Antipas, my faithful witness who was put to death in your city,

where Satan lives. Now, Antipas was a person that they were all acquainted with. He had been a part of their church. He was a martyr for the faith. The emperor had boiled Antipas alive, and that's how he died. The reference to say that this is Satan's throne is a reference to the fact that in Pergamum, idol worship was very big, and there was a massive altar to Zeus. And all people in the city were required to burn incense and also declare that Caesar was divine as well. So you had Zeus, you had Caesar, you had all these different entities that they worshiped. And so every time the sun would shine and cast a shadow from that altar to Zeus, it left a shadow over that entire city. No wonder it calls revelation, and Jesus calls it the city where Satan's throne is. So Jesus says, I know where you live in a city that can't stand Christianity. It's quite challenging, but the other shoe's about to drop. As Jesus goes on to say in verse 14, nevertheless, I have a few things against you. And he takes them to task for their acceptance of idolatry, immorality, and false doctrine. These are major signs of straying from what God in church intends the church to be. And so in verse 16, he says an emphatic two-word sentence.

He says, repent, therefore. See, in Pergamum, compromise would be easy, courage would be costly, and Jesus calls them to repent. This is a major theme in these seven letters of the churches, and we need to sit up and take note of that. For Pergamum, I chose this emoji. It's just the hands up. You know, what are you gonna do? I mean, what are you gonna do? It's the parent who excuses their child's disobedience by saying, ah, kids will be kids. It's the wife who excuses her husband's infidelity by saying, men will be men. It's a church that always talks about grace, but never talks about repentance. It's the pastor who always preaches about heaven and never mentions hell. And the picture that's painted of Pergamum is not a flattering one from the Lord's perspective. It's a church of compromise that has caved in the culture. Is this where you are? The next stop is the church of Thyatira, Revelation 2.19. It says, I know your deeds, your love and your faith, your service and your perseverance, and that you now are doing more than you did at first. Again, this starts out so positive until the next word, nevertheless, there were like so many Christians, they were reckless in their love and they turned a blind eye to sin in the church

rather than addressing it. Verse 20, nevertheless, I have this against you. They tolerated ongoing, unrepentant sin. They embraced a false teacher who was leading people astray. They were big on love and service and love just covered over anything that anybody did. But when it came to standing up against false teachers, they wouldn't stand up to them. And it begs the question, what's the purpose of the church if it's no different than the world? If we're just the same? So for Thyatira, because of their loose morals, I chose a tomcat as the emoji because his church had no moral boundaries and I promise you that Ashley didn't ask me to choose a cat, all right? It was, I'm gonna do what feels good to them. And for some of you, some of you don't have those boundaries either. Is this where you are? The fifth church was the church of Sardis. Now we go to Revelation 3, verse 1. I know your deeds. You have a reputation of being alive, but you are dead. In other words, you fooled the public, but you haven't fooled me because I know what to look for. Jesus says, I know the true signs of health. He goes on to say that their image and brand was one of being active and alive.

Their reputation in the community was pretty impressive, but as a lot of spectators, and not a lot of deep faith, and their leaders were asleep at the wheel, and to put it more bluntly, they were a spiritually dead church. Look at verse 2. Jesus says, wake up, strengthen what remains and is about to die, for I have found your deeds unfinished in the sight of my God. On the surface, they had a great reputation. I think it's important for us to understand that Sardis was the largest of the seven churches that Jesus addresses. I mean, they had it going on. They had a killer website. After services, there was a gridlock of donkeys and camels leaving that place for a mile. Churches came to Sardis. How do we do church? And yet Jesus says, no, that church is actually dead. And Sardis would read that letter and say, oh no, no. Postal carrier delivered this to the wrong address, but the message is clear. Activity for Christ does not equal intimacy with Christ. They'd become so busy in the work of the Lord that they had forgotten the Lord of the work. And doing religious things, they had fallen asleep in their relationship with the Lord. And Jesus says to them with conviction and with love, wake up, you've fallen asleep.

Sardis, wake up. Why would he choose those words? Well, when Jesus was born, Sardis was one of the greatest cities in the world. But by the time Revelation three was written 95 years later, it was in steep decline. You see, Sardis was built on a 1,500 foot mountain with an acropolis. It was like a fortress. It was surrounded by three sheer cliffs all around it. It was considered unconquerable, invincible. And yet it was defeated not once, but twice. How? Well, it wasn't an aerial assault. There wasn't some dramatic invasion. There wasn't bribing of the gatekeeper. No, both times, the guards fell asleep. And the enemy simply climbed in and took over the city. So Jesus' choice of words, wake up, those words were a humiliating reminder. Sardis didn't fall because it was weak, it fell because it wasn't watchful. And that's a warning for all of us. And Jesus says to Sardis, wake up, you're about to make the same mistake spiritually. And he's saying at stake is more than an acropolis, what is at stake is my church. Sardis had a great past, it just was resting on its reputation. Death comes when our memories of the past

supersede our vision for the future. And may that be a warning and a lesson for every one of us because God is blessing this church in incredible ways. I have not seen God pour out a blessing like this upon a church. And he blesses health with growth and increase. And I just wanna say, I am glad to be a part of a church that more important than numbers is making the name of Jesus famous. And we've gotta stay true to that. At Sardis, they found their solace in their size, in their reputation, but all the while their faith was fading, Jesus was no longer front and center. And so for Sardis, I chose two emojis, the skull emoji, because Jesus said you're dead and the sleeping emoji, because Jesus said, wake up. Is this where you are right now? Well, we have two more quick stops to make. The sixth church was the Church of Philadelphia. This is our second five star rating that Jesus gives out of the seven. They were a small church, weak by worldly standards. But here in Revelation, when Jesus is talking about churches, he's looking at the heart of the church. He sees the Church of Philadelphia and he saw faithfulness and obedience and a persevering spirit. And in verse eight, he says, I know you're a faithful church. Your deeds, see I have placed before you an open door

that no one can shut. I know that you have little strength, yet you have kept my word and have not denied my name. And Jesus offers no rebuke, just commendation. I think there's a lot of small churches that are placed in areas where the soil is really difficult and it's tough soil and it's hard soil and they're striving to convert people to Christ, but it's just tough sledding where they are. And Jesus points out that this is one of those churches, but they are faithfully fleshing out the principles of the New Testament church and they are unapologetically living for Jesus. So for Philadelphia, I actually chose two emojis. I chose the thumbs up again because Jesus commended them and the bicep flex, I'll do that quickly. Because while the world thought that church was weak, from Jesus vantage point, which is the only opinion that matters, Jesus saw them as strong. You know why? Because Revelation 3 says that they did not deny the name of Jesus. I wanna make certain you catch this. There is power in the name of Jesus. They were proud of Jesus. They were bold about Jesus and they would not compromise or back down. Their strength was in Jesus. Is this where you are?

I wish we could stop there and end on a high note, but we have one more stop. The seventh church is the Church of Laodicea. Some adjectives to describe this fellowship, they were wealthy, they were confident, they were self-sufficient and you can understand why back in that setting, Laodicea was one of the richest cities in the Roman Empire. They had beautiful theaters, they had great shopping, they had this extensive aqueduct system that they were really proud of. They would pipe in their hot water from the hot spring and they would pipe in their cold water from the mountainous area of Colossae. And this really made them feel kind of big and they were kind of proud of that. And the truth is, it is rather impressive, but down deep, the citizens even knew that this is the first century and by the time the water gets here from the hot place, by the time it gets here, it's lukewarm. And by the time it gets here from the cold place, it's lukewarm and that's the framework from which Jesus speaks to them. Revelation 3, 15 and 16, this will ring a bell with you. I know your deeds that you are neither cold nor hot. I wish you were either one or the other. So because you're lukewarm, neither hot nor cold, I am about to spit you out of my mouth. The word here is literally to vomit you out of my mouth.

So when Jesus says to this group of wealthy independent Christians in Laodicea, that phrase would hit them like a ton of bricks. It's a slap in the face to them. The inference was that the Laodicean church members had just enough Jesus to make them feel spiritual, but not enough to center their lives on him. And that is a textbook description of lukewarmness. And Revelation warns us that a lukewarm faith makes Jesus sick to his stomach. And Laodiceans were confident and they were comfortable and they were clueless. They didn't get it. And I wanna make certain that we do, because this is a trap that we as Christians in 2026 can easily fall into. The Laodiceans confidence was in what they had and not who they had. They had Jesus. If you got Jesus, that's all you need. But I can relate to their struggle because I can find my identity in what I do rather than who I am in Christ. I can find my security in the stuff that I have rather than in my relationship with Jesus. And for Laodicea, I chose three emojis. I think you'll be able to remember them. They weren't hot and they weren't cold. They were lukewarm, which resulted in making Jesus sick to his stomach and made him wanna vomit.

And my question for you, is this where you are? We've taken a look at seven churches which are representative of so many. So here's my question for you. As I describe these churches, did one of them describe how you are as a Christian? Look at these up on the screen. Feel free to take a picture of that. It's a review of the entire message and of Revelation 2 and 3. Do any of those emojis depict your current faith status? Since the church is made up of individual believers, which church would Jesus in his infinite wisdom say is a church that you would feel most at home? For years, my mom gave some of the most thoughtful gifts and also some of the strangest gifts to be honest, but it was always motivated by love and concern. One year, my mom, she saw an infomercial about a bright orange emergency hammer. It was a plastic handle with a metal tip on it and the commercial showed a car that was driving along and all of a sudden for some reason, it just turned and went off the road and it bounced down and it went into a lake and slowly the car is being submerged. He tries to open the door, the door won't open. The windows won't go down. As the car sank, the submerged driver calmly pulled out the orange hammer, shattered the window, casually swam to safety and my mom saw that infomercial

and she thought, oh, I've got to get some of those. And so that Christmas, every son, every daughter-in-law and every grandchild 16 years or older was given this orange hammer, all right? Yes, thank you, thank you. That's my mom's envoy there, appreciate that. We thought it might be safer and cheaper to just teach family members to actually drive on the road and not into bodies of water, but after receiving those gifts, I'm telling you for the next few years, every family get together, when we'd be getting load up and leave, my brother or I would do the same thing. Is anybody going to be crossing a bridge later today? And we'd say, does everybody have their orange hammer? They'd reach in their car and they'd say in unison, yes. And our mom would just shake her head and say, you boys are terrible. And she'd walk off. The intent of her words and warning was to bring awareness and ultimately life. Here's the truth, that hammer really wasn't about drowning, it was about love. It was about always being prepared, it was about life. And these words of warning and these letters in Revelation two and three are really orange hammers from Jesus. They're not meant to shame you, they're meant to save you. They're not scoldings from a critic,

they're warnings from a savior. Jesus says, wake up. Jesus says, repent. Why? Because he wants you to live, really live, to live life to the fullest. Whenever I see that orange hammer, it reminds me of someone who loved me and wanted to prepare me and warn me. And when you read Revelation two and three, you realize that so does Jesus. He just wants you to be watchful and ready. It's a savior who refuses to let his church sink quietly or to cool slowly or to fade completely. Jesus wants Christians and churches to experience the abundant life, life to the fullest. And this chapter concludes with a challenge to repent. And Jesus gives an invitation for people to accept him for the first time or to recommit if they've strayed away. In Revelation chapter three, just next paragraph down in verse 19, says those whom I 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. You see, back in that culture, the relationship was all about the meal. It was getting to know one another

and Jesus wanted to get to know people. He wants to get to know you. He knows you, do you know him? I wanna show you a picture. It's back from the 1960s. It was a very common sight in most churches in the 60s. It was a portrayal of the verse that I just read from Revelation three, 19 and 20. But what's interesting is the detail that most everyone misses when they glance at this picture. But if you study the picture, the artist was actually conveying a very profound truth. Because if you look closely, there's no latch. There's no way to open the door. from the outside. You see, the point of the picture is that Jesus knocks gently on the door of your heart. You're the only person who can invite him in. He asks, he urges, he begs, he makes his presence known, but he doesn't force his way in. But you, you can open that door to him when he knocks, and you can do it today. You can believe that Jesus is God's son who lived a perfect life and died an atoning death and walked out of his own grave, and you can believe in him today, and you can be baptized into him. And at every campus, when this service is over, there will be, there will be some folks up front who would just love to pray with you, just talk to you, guide you on that journey. People ask me, what's the world coming to? What's the world coming to? I'll tell you what the world's coming to. The world is coming to a day when every knee shall bow and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of God the Father. That's what the world is coming to. And so either you're going or he's coming. Are you ready? Whether we're living in the last days, the reality is you're living in your last days. Because the Bible tells us in the book of James that your life is like a vapor, it's a mist. It's here today and gone tomorrow. You have no promise of tomorrow. Do you know that there will be seven or eight of you who will hear this message this weekend who will not be

alive next week? You say, wow, that's a kind of a morbid thought. It's a morbid thought, but it's a true thought. And it's based on statistics and it's true. And we must realize that these are our last years or months or days. So how then should we live? Well, we should take Jesus at his word and we should repent. And if our heart has grown cold, it's time to fire it up again. And if our morals have gone off center, then it's time to come back to him. And if we're just playing at church and we're lukewarm, then it's time to get on fire for him. May this message be a warning to turn to God, to open the door of your heart and to invite Christ in. Let's pray. Lord, remind us that knowing that you are coming is more important than knowing when you are coming. Heaven is a prepared place for prepared people. May we be prepared. It's in Jesus name we pray. Amen. Next week, will I be raptured? We'll see you then.