Will You Be Hot or Cold?

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Scripture

Revelation 3:14
Revelation 3:14–22 ESV
14 “And to the angel of the church in Laodicea write: ‘The words of the Amen, the faithful and true witness, the beginning of God’s creation. 15 “ ‘I know your works: you are neither cold nor hot. Would that you were either cold or hot! 16 So, because you are lukewarm, and neither hot nor cold, I will spit you out of my mouth. 17 For you say, I am rich, I have prospered, and I need nothing, not realizing that you are wretched, pitiable, poor, blind, and naked. 18 I counsel you to buy from me gold refined by fire, so that you may be rich, and white garments so that you may clothe yourself and the shame of your nakedness may not be seen, and salve to anoint your eyes, so that you may see. 19 Those whom I love, I reprove and discipline, so be zealous and repent. 20 Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and eat with him, and he with me. 21 The one who conquers, I will grant him to sit with me on my throne, as I also conquered and sat down with my Father on his throne. 22 He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.’ ”

The Message

Historically it was common practice for the one who sent a message or letter to identify themselves and their audience when they were writing.

Christ

The One sending the message.

The Amen

Christ is declaring himself to be the ultimate affirmation of truth.
He’s notifying the Laodicean Church that what He’s about to tell them is absolutely accurate.

The faithful and true Witness

the faithful and true witness

faithful

Pistos - Reliable and worthy of full trust; reliable beyond any doubt whatsoever

True

faithful

pistos - reliable beyond any question.

true

alethinos - trustwothy

Witness

martys - one who testifies in legal matters

The Beginning of the Creation of God

The originator, the cause, the source

The Church at Laodicea

The recipient of the message.

Background

Located near the Lycus River.
Located in the Lycus River Valley.
Very Modern.
Very Prosperous.
Very Large - like Rome, it sat on top of 7 hills.

The Indictment

I know your Deeds

I know your Deeds

What a terrifying statement.
The One testifying against you has perfect knowledge of your deeds, your thoughts, and your motives.
The One testifying against you is possessed of a character so impeccable as to be beyond the possibility of sin.
He will never lie.
You can never a say that He did not witness your crimes because He is omnipresent.
You can never say that He was mistaken in His identification of you as the guilty party because He is omniscient.
You can never say that He has no right to pronounce you to be guilty because He is the righteous judge.
You can never say that He has the right to make or interpret the rules because He is sovereign.
You cannot say that He cannot punish your crimes because He is omnipotent.

Self Deception

It is human nature to give ourselves a free pass.
To look upon our own sin as being really not all that bad considering.
To judge the nature of our own crimes as being far less heinous than they really are.
To look at the quality or effectiveness of the church that we are involved with and say that it is better than it really is.

I am Rich

They had a very successful banking industry.
Many of them had become very wealthy as a result.
They thought they had reached the height of success and had need of nothing.

I finely clothed

They had a highly developed textile industry.
As a result there were very fine clothes widely available at very affordable prices.

I have outstanding clarity of vision

The state of their medical knowledge was very advanced.
They were famous for having developed an eye salve that would help with eye injury due to over exposure to the bright sun in the area.

The Reality

Christ said they were blind, naked paupers that were to be pitied.

Ignorance

Christ said that they were blind, naked paupers that should be pitied.
Because of their self deception, they did not know their true state.
Much like the church in America today, they had no idea they were disgusting to God.
Because of their
To borrow a phrase from Jude, they were clouds without rain.
They looked the part and called themselves a church, but in reality, they were just an empty shell with no ability to produce the results they were intended to produce.

Apathy

Their comfort had produced the effect that they were content.
They were happy with the status quo that had long existed among them.
They were making no effort to do any more than they had been doing and they were doing nothing to remedy their ignorance.

What About You

As An Individual

Do you know Christ as Savior?
Are you regularly studying His word?
Do you know how to study the Bible?
When was the last time you shared your faith with someone?
Are you engaged in the process of making disciples?

Cypress Shores Baptist Church

Are you successfully feeding the sheep that you have among your membership?
What impact have you made on the community that God put you in?
What are you doing to try to more effectively reach the community?

God’s Response

God didn’t leave them to their own devices.
He called out to them and warned them of their dreadful, dead condition.
He told them to be zealous and repent.
He told them how to get out of the mess that they had gotten themselves into.

I stand at the door

He showed up.
He came in person to offer them fellowship.

The Choice is Yours

Cold

The dead church.
The tree that does not bear fruit is good for nothing but to be cast into the fire.

Luke Warm

The church in name only.
Having the form of godliness, but denying the power thereof.

Hot

The true church.
The church that is evangelizing the lost
Making disciples of the converts
Feeding the sheep
Mending the wounded
Loving the brethren
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