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THE MOST PREVALENT SIN TODAY (AMONG GOD'S PEOPLE) -- Revelation 3:14-22
This IS NOT so much a message on the condition of the church at Laodicea as it is a message on a danger to and the condition of many of the Lord’s churches today! We have a problem in the Lord’s churches today, and it is this: We believe, but we do it without zeal or enthusiasm for the things of God. It is as if we are yawning in the face of the Lord God Almighty Himself. In many ways it says to God, “You don’t excite me. You don’t thrill me. Your work is a burden.” Remember what I John 5:3 says? “For this is the love of God, that we keep his commandments: and his commandments are not grievous." (GRIEVOUS = weighty, burdensome, a load to bear.) The book of Revelation can be very easily outlined with 3 divisions: 1) The things that were (the things John had seen), 2) The things that are (the church age), and 3) The things that are to come. The “things that are” are found in chapters 2 and 3. Those chapters contain the Lord’s letters which He dictated to John to the 7 churches of Asia. Some say these letters picture the entirety of the Church Age. The characteristics named for each church present the dominant characteristic for the period of the Church Age that each church represents. If that is so, and we are living in the last days, we are living in the Laodicean Period, and the dominant trait of that church and this age is – Lukewarmness. Listen to what the Lord says. [TEXT] In the first chapter of Revelation Jesus is pictured as standing in the middle of seven golden candlesticks – vs. 13. Vs. 16 says He held “in his right hand seven stars,” and vs. 20 gives us “The mystery of the seven stars which thou sawest in my right hand, and the seven golden candlesticks.” The seven stars are “the angels of the seven churches.” (ANGEL = messenger.) A church of the Lord Jesus Christ better pray that her pastor is in the hand of Jesus! This reveals Who is in control of the one bringing the message to the church. The seven golden candlesticks are “the seven churches.” What did Jesus say in Matthew 18:20? We NEED Jesus in the very middle, in the midst of this church. This pictures fellowship. When we get down to vs. 20 we’re going to find Him where He is in relation to some churches -- on the outside. (I pray WE never put Him there.) In vs. 14 Jesus says two things about Himself. He is “the Amen.” (He didn’t just say, “amen,” He IS the Amen – the One who is steady and unchangeable in all of His purposes and promises.) He is “the faithful and true witness” -- He is the One who ought to be received and fully believed, and whose testimony of men to God will be fully believed and regarded. So whatever He says, we can count on, and He says to this church and to many churches today, “I know thy works, that thou art neither cold nor hot: I would thou wert cold or hot.” They were too hot to be cold and too cold to be hot. Have you ever forgotten a cup of coffee? It hasn’t cooled off so that it is cold, but it just isn't as good as a fresh, hot cup of coffee. That is what so many churches and believers are like today. So He begins by warning this church . . . and us of . . .
I. THE CURSE OF LUKEWARMNESS – VV. 15-16.
II. THE CAUSE OF LUKEWARMNESS – VS. 17.
III. THE CURE FOR LUKEWARMNESS – VS. 18.
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By JWHThis IS NOT so much a message on the condition of the church at Laodicea as it is a message on a danger to and the condition of many of the Lord’s churches today! We have a problem in the Lord’s churches today, and it is this: We believe, but we do it without zeal or enthusiasm for the things of God. It is as if we are yawning in the face of the Lord God Almighty Himself. In many ways it says to God, “You don’t excite me. You don’t thrill me. Your work is a burden.” Remember what I John 5:3 says? “For this is the love of God, that we keep his commandments: and his commandments are not grievous." (GRIEVOUS = weighty, burdensome, a load to bear.) The book of Revelation can be very easily outlined with 3 divisions: 1) The things that were (the things John had seen), 2) The things that are (the church age), and 3) The things that are to come. The “things that are” are found in chapters 2 and 3. Those chapters contain the Lord’s letters which He dictated to John to the 7 churches of Asia. Some say these letters picture the entirety of the Church Age. The characteristics named for each church present the dominant characteristic for the period of the Church Age that each church represents. If that is so, and we are living in the last days, we are living in the Laodicean Period, and the dominant trait of that church and this age is – Lukewarmness. Listen to what the Lord says. [TEXT] In the first chapter of Revelation Jesus is pictured as standing in the middle of seven golden candlesticks – vs. 13. Vs. 16 says He held “in his right hand seven stars,” and vs. 20 gives us “The mystery of the seven stars which thou sawest in my right hand, and the seven golden candlesticks.” The seven stars are “the angels of the seven churches.” (ANGEL = messenger.) A church of the Lord Jesus Christ better pray that her pastor is in the hand of Jesus! This reveals Who is in control of the one bringing the message to the church. The seven golden candlesticks are “the seven churches.” What did Jesus say in Matthew 18:20? We NEED Jesus in the very middle, in the midst of this church. This pictures fellowship. When we get down to vs. 20 we’re going to find Him where He is in relation to some churches -- on the outside. (I pray WE never put Him there.) In vs. 14 Jesus says two things about Himself. He is “the Amen.” (He didn’t just say, “amen,” He IS the Amen – the One who is steady and unchangeable in all of His purposes and promises.) He is “the faithful and true witness” -- He is the One who ought to be received and fully believed, and whose testimony of men to God will be fully believed and regarded. So whatever He says, we can count on, and He says to this church and to many churches today, “I know thy works, that thou art neither cold nor hot: I would thou wert cold or hot.” They were too hot to be cold and too cold to be hot. Have you ever forgotten a cup of coffee? It hasn’t cooled off so that it is cold, but it just isn't as good as a fresh, hot cup of coffee. That is what so many churches and believers are like today. So He begins by warning this church . . . and us of . . .
I. THE CURSE OF LUKEWARMNESS – VV. 15-16.
II. THE CAUSE OF LUKEWARMNESS – VS. 17.
III. THE CURE FOR LUKEWARMNESS – VS. 18.