7 - Week 8
March 29, 2009
What To Do When You've Lost It
Revelation 3:14-22

Laodicea – wealthy city, part of a tri-city area of Colossae, Hieropolis. Highly commercial, sophisticated banking industry, First century BC Roman philosopher Cicero cashed his letters of credit there, so wealthy that they didn’t receive government help when a massive earthquake hit the city, they also produced wools, also a center for ancient medicine. So it was a prominent place

Jesus’ introduction
Amen – Isa 65.16 "truth" firm, fixed, unchanging, often used to affirm a true statement
2 Corinthians 1.20

Faithful and True Witness – this speaks of Jesus work on the earth, faithful and true, to the point of death on a cross

The beginning of the creation of God – arche (not a created being, but the source of all creation) NIV "ruler of God’s creation" – Col 1.15-17

Lukewarm

I know your deeds, which are neither hot nor cold, but lukewarm.
Spew you out of my mouth - vomit

Hieropolis – known for its hot springs; people would come to bathe there for healing.

Colossae was known for their cool clear water.

But Laodicea had water problems – pipe it into the city through underground aqueducts, so full of calcium and sediment that the aqueducts would actually clog up, they put vents in the aqueducts so they could clean them out. By the time the water got to the city, it wasn’t soothingly hot or refreshingly cold, it was just a nauseating, hard tasting, contaminated, lukewarm. It was useless. It was unpleasing. And if you just drank it without treating it you would get sick.

And Jesus is saying – "You’re just like you water!" Your not hot for me – your not cold,– somewhere in the middle!

When someone is hot for God, on fire Christian, you can tell. They can’t stop talking about Christ. There is a passion, fervency, love that is obvious. They worship him with emotion. They are broken for their lost friends. They are just white-hot. Luke 24.32 "didn’t our hearts burn within us?"

When someone has a cold heart, they are just closed to the things of God.

Jesus talked about a day that is coming in the last days, when the "love of most will grow cold" Mt 24.12 Cold means dead, unresponsive. These people are like, "I have no spiritual interest, I’m living my own life, leave me alone!"

But these people weren’t hot, they weren’t cold, they were just there. That is the worst place to be. Because if your hot – God can use you! If your cold, then at least you know you have a spiritual problem and you could be saved! But if your lukewarm, then you don’t think you’ve got a problem – and so your great danger! People like this are lulled into a nice form of religion but there was no power! They doing the cultural thing, attended church, claimed to be a Christ follower, but at the core indifferent, coasting, play acting. And Jesus said – "I wish that you were on board or off board, I wish you were for me or against me, I wish you were hot or cold, but this lukewarm thing make me want to throw up, vomit!"

Contaminated

These guys were claiming to know Jesus but (get this) they had so much stuff contaminating them on the inside, that they were useless to Jesus. The water was contaminated. Full of calcium and sediment, dirt, grime – that the water was useless – it had to be treated – cleaned up -before it could be any good at all.

Jesus said the same thing- MT 5.13 "You are the salt of the earth. But if the salt looses it’s saltiness, how can it be made salty again…" technically, salt can’t loose it’s saltiness – its sodium chloride. By it’s nature it is salty. But get this, the way salt looses its saltiness is when it’s contaminated with other stuff. When dirt, and other minerals, get attached to the salt that now – you can’t taste it anymore. Jesus says, "it’s no longer good for anything (useless), except to be thrown out and trampled by men." It’s worthless. No good. Why? It’s contaminated.

Same idea here - The people in this church were so contaminated on the inside – that they weren’t hot for God, they weren’t cold for God –they were just lukewarm and useless.

The word lukewarm – only appears here in the Bible and it carries that same idea- unusable, fruitless, barren, unproductive.

Is that you?

I had lunch last week with a friend, talking about this lukewarm idea. He said, "That was me several years ago. And God had to get my attention." Maybe today, God is trying to get your attention.

What causes a person to become lukewarm spiritually?
(v. 17)

You say, "I am rich, acquired wealth, have need of nothing. But you do not realize you are wretched, pitiful, poor, blind and naked."

I think the core issue is self-reliance. Look at it again, "I am rich, acquired wealthy, have need of nothing." Jesus is not slamming wealth. Wealth is a gift from God and it’s a responsibility before God, it is in itself not wrong. But when a person has great wealth-when they can get whatever they need or want, when they no longer are dependant on God, when they can meet their own needs, satisfy their own desires – then there is a undertow that pulls you to self-sufficiency, self-reliance and self- indulgence and that can draw you to the point of forgetting God. It’s the curse that comes with the blessing of wealth.

That is why the Apostle Paul wrote to Timothy and told him, "Command those who are rich in this present world not to be arrogant nor to put their hope in wealth, which is so uncertain, but to put their hope in God, who richly provides us with everything for our enjoyment." I Timothy 6.17

That is why the writer of Proverbs prayed: "…give me neither poverty nor riches, but give me only my daily bread. Otherwise, I may have too much and disown you and say, 'Who is the LORD?' Or I may become poor and steal, and so dishonor the name of my God. Proverbs 30.8-9

This was the major problem with the Israelites. They are about to God into the land God had promised them, Moses warns them.

"For the LORD your God is bringing you into a good land—a land with streams and pools of water, with springs flowing in the valleys and hills; a land with wheat and barley, vines and fig trees, pomegranates, olive oil and honey; a land where bread will not be scarce and you will lack nothing; a land where the rocks are iron and you can dig copper out of the hills. When you have eaten and are satisfied, praise the LORD your God for the good land he has given you. Be careful that you do not forget the LORD your God, failing to observe his commands, his laws and his decrees that I am giving you this day. Otherwise, when you eat and are satisfied, when you build fine houses and settle down, and when your herds and flocks grow large and your silver and gold increase and all you have is multiplied, then your heart will become proud and you will forget the LORD your God, who brought you out of Egypt, out of the land of slavery. Deuteronomy 8.7-14

Moses was saying, "You’re going to forget, you’re going to forget…" Why? Because when you have all you want, and all you need – there is the temptation to become arrogant, to forget the Lord, to no longer be dependant on him, to cry out to him, to surrender to Him, to desire him. You start to want his gifts more than you want him. And when that happens, your heart grows cold and wayward.

Moses was right, they did forget. They went through a cycle of God’s provision, then they would get self-sufficient, love for God would grow cold – lured into worship idols, feel into grievous sin, then the pain would come, they would cry out to God for help, God would deliver them and they would worship him – for a while. The whole thing would start over again. They went through that cycle 12 times in the book of Judges! Does it look familiar? Have you lived it!

That is what was happening to this church. They were in the cycle. And here is the terrible thing about it, they didn’t even recognize it. (17) "But you do not realize" – "You don’t get it. You don’t see it." This lukewarm virus is so bad that you don’t realize you have it, until it’s eating you alive. They thought they were good, like everyone else: But they were spiritually bankrupt!

(v19) "Those whom I love, I rebuke and discipline." Those who my heart is tender for, those I have affection for, I do whatever it takes to get the back to me! God will do whatever it takes for you to realize that he is your only source of satisfaction.

I believe this financial downturn is the best thing that can happen to God’s people. Shakes us out of our lukewarmness. Forces you either to get hotter or colder!

 

That may be you today. You are going through the motions, lukewarm, far from God. Self-reliant, but you have forgotten God in your life! You have minimized him, pushed him to the side, and you’re enjoying his gifts while pushing him away! "So what do I do?"

Chasing after a cure (v18)

Jesus said, instead of chasing after this world, start running hard for God! Instead of trying to acquire temporary things, start acquiring things that will last for eternity. How?

Pursue a real faith in Christ

"I counsel you to buy from me gold refined by fire, so you can become rich" – so you can be rich" Revelation 3.18

Refined gold is the image of a faith in God that has been tested through hard times and proved to be genuine and real. Peter said the same thing - "These (trials) have come so that your faith—of greater worth than gold, which perishes even though refined by fire—may be proved genuine…" I Peter 1.7

So Jesus is saying, "Hey if your going to pursue something, pursue something much more valuable to stocks and bonds, real estate, mutual funds, T-bills, or gold coins – pursue knowing God for yourself!" Ask yourself, do I know for sure that I know Christ. If you are lukewarm spiritually, it may be that you have never known Jesus at all!

Pursue a life of serving others

Instead of chasing after the latest fashion, instead of being consumed with how you look and what you’re wearing, pursue "white clothes to wear". "White clothes" in scripture, particularly in the book of Revelation, refers to righteous deeds, serving God by serving others. (Rev 19.7-8) Clothe yourself in serving others!

"Command them to do good, to be rich in good deeds, and to be generous and willing to share." I Timothy 6.18

Pursue an eternal perspective on life

Instead of putting salve on your eyes (so many did, because the medical school in Laodicea was known for producing a salve they distributed all over the Roman empire), but truth on your eyes! Don’t’ be like the Pharisees that Jesus said were like blind guides, they thought they were right with God, but they were blind to their own spiritual condition. Start living your life with an eternal perspective

Pursue a deep and personal relationship with Jesus

"Here I am! I stand at the door and knock…I will eat with him"(v20)

Jesus standing outside the church door, pounding to get in

This is personal – anyone, he, I – This is about you! What will it take for you to be hot hearted again?

He, who has ears, let him hear what the Spirit is saying to the churches.