Lukewarm
Notes
Transcript
Translation:
Translation:
And to the angel of the Church in Laodicea, write:
Thus saith the Amen, The Faithful and True Witness, The Beginning of God’s Creation:
I know your works, that you are neither nor hot. Oh! I’d rather you be either cold or hot! Therefore, because you are lukewarm and neither cold nor hot, I am about to vomit you from my mouth. Because you say, “ I am rich, and I have been rich, and I have need of nothing”, and you do not know that you are miserable and pitiable, poor, blind, and naked! I advise you to buy from me gold refined by fire so that you may be rich, white robes so that you may clothe yourself and your shameful nakedness may not be seen, and medicine to smear on your eyes so that you may see.
Those whom I love I correct and teach. Therefore, be earnest and repent. Look! I stand at the door and knock. If someone should hear my voice and open the door, I will go in to him and I will dine with him and he with me. As for the one who conquers, I will give to him the right to be seated with me on my throne, just as I also conquered and was seated with my father on his throne. Let the one who has ears hear what the Spirit is saying to the churches.
The Amen
The Amen
Lion joke?
You can’t pray without an Amen
But what does Amen actually mean?
αμην
Hebrew אָמֵן
Both mean something like “let it be,” “surely”, and have connotations of “faithful”, and “true”
Jesus is the “Amen”
He is the “faithful and true witness”
He witnesses to God through his earthly ministry
He continues witnessing to God through his heavenly ministry
He is the “amen” in that he is the embodiment of God’s truth and faithfulness
He is the “beginning of God’s creation”
Through him all things were made
When we pray, nothing comes to be except through Christ
Christ must be our “Amen”, because without him none of our prayers are complete
He is the final Word, and the first Word
The “Amen” at the end of a prayer is a petition for God to remain faithful in answering us. It shows our dependency on his truth and faithfulness, and especially on his son Jesus.
Warm Water
Warm Water
Yet some in Laodicea have forgotten the “amen”
Egg water
Laodicean water
Hot/cold water
Hot for bathing
Cold for drinking
“Vomit you from my mouth”
This water literally makes Jesus sick to his stomach
“Lukewarm” Christians?
Both hot and cold are good here
Are you living a life pleasing to Christ, and how useful are you for furthering his purposes on earth?
Who is Rich
Who is Rich
What made the Laodiceans taste so bad?
Thought they were rich
didn’t need Jesus’s help
Didn’t need the “amen”, because they were self-reliant
Thought they were rich, but really poor
Laodicea is rich city
earthquake history
What is “rich” to God?
Thought they dressed in fine clothes
black wool export
But what’s fashionable to God? Purity and Holiness
Thought they could see
Demosthenes Philalethes, ophthalmologist
Phrygian eye powder
Not physical, but spiritual blindness
This church had everything going for it on the outside. But inside they were spiritually dead
I am not afraid that the people called Methodists should ever cease to exist either in Europe or America. But I am afraid lest they should only exist as a dead sect, having the form of religion without the power. And this undoubtedly will be the case unless they hold fast both the doctrine, spirit, and discipline with which they first set out. -John Wesley
“The Church attracts to itself persons who like to live in the atmosphere of the holy but have little interest in being holy themselves.” -Eugene Peterson
American Church
Very wealthy country, similar situation to Laodicea
Satan’s way of Luring us further from God: trains us to no longer be dependent on God
Let the Poor Purchase
Let the Poor Purchase
So what do we do?
“Come and purchase from me”
Jesus is the only one from which we can get true riches, holy white robes, and see real spiritual truth
But how can those who are as spiritually poor as the Laodiceans or us possibly afford to “buy” from Jesus?
How can those who are “miserable, pitiable, poor, blind, and naked” afford refined gold, pure white robes, or a doctor’s bill?
Is 55:1
The New Revised Standard Version An Invitation to Abundant Life
Ho, everyone who thirsts,
come to the waters;
and you that have no money,
come, buy and eat!
Come, buy wine and milk
without money and without price.