From Lukewarmness to Total Devotion

Let me invite you to turn in your Bibles this morning to Revelation chapter 3. Revelation chapter 3 for our time of study and the word this morning. And We are continuing with our total devotion series and, I see on the screen it says from lukewarm to total devotion. I think on your notes, it says from lukewarmness.

To total devotion, whichever is close enough. We're gonna look at Revelation chapter 3 verses 14 through 22, and I'm struck by the irony of this message today in conjunction with Carlos's message last Sunday. Last week's sermon by Pastor Carlos was designed to accomplish one of the great purposes of the Bible, and that is to comfort the afflicted. Our passage today that we're going to be looking at is designed to accomplish one of the other great purposes of the Bible, and that is to afflict the comfortable.

Yet in our passage today, we're gonna observe Christ afflicting the comfortable in a way that is shocking, both in its severity. And in its tenderness. Faithful are the wounds of a friend, Solomon says in the book of Proverbs, and In this passage today, we're gonna see how Christ is faithful to deliver. Friendly wounds and yet how he is also gracious to minister to those wounds with tenderness and with love and with amazing hope.

In our passage today, we're going to see Jesus addressing and speaking against one of the great enemies of total devotion. which is lukewarmness. And we're gonna define lukewarmness in this way, and I probably should have put this in the notes cause you won't have time to write all of this out, but I think you can get the gist of it. Lukewarmness is a state of satisfied spiritual indifference, induced by a forgetfulness of the glory of Christ, of one's desperate need for Him, and of the ultimate good that can only be obtained through personal communion.

With him Such a state of lukewarmness is often fed by a material prosperity and ease, which deceives us into thinking that before God, we are spiritually what we are materially. We become financially self-sufficient and then begin to think that we are spiritually self-sufficient also. And because we don't need Christ too much, and indifference to the things of Christ begins to set in, wherein we don't love Christ too much and neither do we hate sin very much either. We sacrifice a little for Christ because we have come to love our comfort zone over Christ.

So we risk nothing for him in order to avoid ever being in a situation in which we are too dependent upon Him and too desperate. We lose sight of how desperately we need Christ. Even for the most basic of things, and thus we cease to daily, intentionally acquire from Christ. The things that we need from him.

And so we walk around, spiritually naked and impoverished, yet in our blindness, we think we're actually doing quite well, spiritually. Most people would look at us and think that we're good Christians. Yet the truth is that Christ has been pushed to the periphery of our lives, practically speaking. And no longer does he have the central place in our hearts and in our lives that he deserves.

This is actually the way things were with the Laodiceans in the Laodicean Church to which Jesus speaks in our passage today, and what Jesus says to this church in Revelation 3:14 through 22, I think can be most helpful for us as we seek to forsake the ways of lukewarmness and grow in a life of total devotion. To Jesus. The way we'll break down our journey through this passage today is we'll observe seven acts of Jesus and calling the Laodicean Church from lukewarmness to total devotion.

He wants to call them out of the state of lukewarmness and into a greater devotion to him.

The first thing that we observe him doing is We see him presenting himself to them as the ultimately reliable witness. And creator. We see him presenting himself to them as the ultimate reliable witness and creator. Observe how he introduces himself to them.

In verse 14. He says in verse 14 to the angel, and we saw a couple of weeks ago, to the messenger or to the pastor teacher of the church in Laodicea, write, the amen, the faithful and true witness, the beginning of the creation of God says this. Jesus is intentional about everything he says, and there's a reason he introduces himself to the Laodicean Church in the way that I just read. First of all, he presents himself as the Amen.

By the way, the Greek word that is translated amen is the Greek word amen. Or amen. That Jesus would call himself the Amen indicates that everything that Jesus is, everything that he says is absolute truth that you can rightly say amen to. Amen.

In fact, Jesus, fairly commonly in the Gospels introduces something he's gonna say by saying, Amen, I say to you. And a number of times he says to them, truly, truly, or literally, amen, amen, I say to you. Jesus explains the title, Amen, by what he says next when he describes himself as the faithful and the true witness. Jesus was a faithful and true witness during his earthly ministry and all that he said, in all that he did, testifying of the truth and of God the Father and of the way of salvation, and Jesus will be just as faithful and just as true.

And every word of testimony that he is about to speak to the Laodiceans. Jesus will describe the Laodiceans in ways that they are instantly going to disagree with. But they should stop and realize that wait a minute. This is the amen who is talking.

This is the faithful and the true witness who is speaking. In verse 15, Jesus is going to say to the Laodiceans, I know. And in verse 17, he's going to say to them, you do not know. He's gonna quote what he hears them saying as they bear witness concerning themselves, and then he will flatly tell them that they are wrong.

And then tell them the real truth about their condition, which is the opposite of what they have been saying. And they need to listen to him and agree with him, rather than agreeing with themselves, because he is the amen and they're not. He is the faithful and the true, perfect witness and they are not, and neither are we. If you and Jesus ever disagree, You need to side with him.

Because he's the amen and you're not. Jesus also presents himself to them as the beginning of the creation of God, and this by no means means that Jesus is the first thing that God created. Jesus is eternally pre-existent. That means that he is the beginner, the originator of the creation of God.

This is taught in John chapter 1 verse 3, where John says all things came into being by Him and apart from him, nothing has come into being that has come into being. He is the originator. The beginner of all creation. Of God's creation.

This is an important truth about Jesus for the Laodiceans to be reminded of at the outset here. The city of Laodicea was situated in a fertile valley, which provided them some of the most luscious resources on God's Earth. And this is part of what made them so wealthy and comfortable. And Jesus wants these Laodiceans to know that all the good that they enjoy on God's good earth is from the hand of Jesus in the first place.

Even their material blessings because Jesus is the beginner, the originator of the creation of God that they enjoy the benefits of. So rather than allowing such blessings to make them less dependent upon Christ, they should have been all the more devoted to Christ and grateful to him, knowing that even earthly blessings come from him and should redound to the glory of Him who is the originator of all such blessings. It's, it, it's logically ridiculous that we would allow prosperity and blessings to take our hearts away from Jesus because they come from him.

They should endear our hearts to him.

All the more And so Jesus begins speaking to them by presenting Himself in this way. I am the Amen, the faithful and the true witness, the beginning of the creation of God. And after presenting himself to the Laodiceans in this way, he then speaks honestly. And forthrightly as the faithful and true witness, and this brings us to the next act of Jesus as he seeks to turn the Laodicean Church from A state of lukewarmness to a state of total devotion to him.

2, he tells them his reaction to their lukewarmness. Listen to what he says to them in verse 15. He says, I know your deeds that you are neither cold nor hot. I wish that you were cold.

Or hot The deeds that Jesus Mentions here would include the Laodiceans outward and their inward spiritual activities. As for their spiritual state, Jesus says you are neither cold. Nor hot The Greek word translated hot is the Greek word zestos. Which literally means to boil.

This root word is used in Acts 18:25 to speak of Apollo when he's described as being fervent. In spirit Here in Revelation 3, the word would basically mean to be fervently for Jesus, having zest for Him and being on fire for him and for everything he stands for. And so if that's the meaning of hot and pretty much every commentator says that it is, then what does it mean? To be cold This is where commentators have varying answers, but however we answer the question of what it means for someone to be cold, there's at least 3 things that from the passage that may serve to limit the options available to us.

first of all, whatever cold means, it means the opposite of hot. Or boiling for Christ. Secondly, whatever cold means, it seems to be something that Jesus genuinely wishes the Laodiceans were. He says, I wish that you were either cold or hot.

Thirdly, whatever cold means, it seems to be a condition that would not make Jesus want to throw somebody up. Think about it. If we use Jesus' words as a guide, we would conclude that it lukewarmness is the only condition that would cause A person to be spit out by Jesus out of his mouth. Someone who is hot and someone who is cold would not be spit out by Jesus.

Given these three considerations, I would at least suggest that being hot and cold are both good things. And this should not surprise us. Think about it this way, a righteous person is hotly for Jesus and righteousness, and he is coldly against unrighteousness and anything contrary to Jesus. Show me a righteous and a godly person.

And I will show you a person who is very much hot for certain things and very much cold against other things. When it comes to things that really matter, the righteous person is either hotly for or coldly against He's never lukewarm in his response to what is good and godly, and he's never lukewarm in his response against what is evil. That said, whatever your interpretation of the word cold may be, the text is clear that Jesus doesn't like the Laodiceans being lukewarm. He says in verse 16, so because you are lukewarm and neither hot nor cold, I will spit you out of my mouth.

This is a very harsh statement from Jesus that none of us would ever want to hear. He's telling them the reaction that their lukewarmness is provoking in him. He's telling them that their blase attitude toward him does not produce a blase response within him. Their lukewarmness toward him produces a very passionate response from him, a response of wretching and heaving.

Their attitude makes him want to throw up. To throw them up. At the same time, guys, This is a most merciful statement. By Jesus.

Because it implies that Jesus, amazingly, has not yet spit them out of his mouth. Actually, there's an extra verb in the Greek text that doesn't often get translated in our English translations. Literally, the Greek text reads this way, Jesus says, I am about to spit you. Out of my mouth.

So there's wonderful mercy here. Jesus has not yet spewed them out of his mouth, and he's talking to them here, so that they can hear Jesus and repent and avoid the fate of being spit out of his mouth. So let's be clear. What Jesus' words reveal here is the fact that The worst response that you can have toward Jesus is a lukewarm.

response. Even those who respond to Jesus with outright hostility, At least pay Jesus the compliment of recognizing that he's worthy of a passionate response. But a lukewarm response, that's the worst way to respond to Jesus. It's the most insulting of responses to Jesus, and that's where the Laodiceans were at this time.

Now, where did their lukewarmness come from? It actually came from a place of spiritual self-satisfaction, a satisfaction that was born of spiritual blindness to the greatness of Jesus, and the desirability of what Jesus provides, and a blindness to their own spiritual poverty, apart from him. So Jesus wants to penetrate beyond their lukewarmness and address the deeper problem from which their lukewarmness derived. And this brings us to the third act of Jesus as he seeks to call the Laodiceans from lukewarmness to total devotion to Him.

It turns out That lukewarmness is not a terminal condition. If you're lukewarm right now, you don't have to be this afternoon. Or tonight or tomorrow, you can change. Your condition by giving heed to what Jesus says here.

Number 3, Jesus tells them of their destitute condition and how to address it. First of all, Jesus starts by stating what the Laodiceans think of themselves. Listen to what he says in verse 17. Because you say I am rich and have become wealthy and have need of nothing.

Now the Laodiceans were probably not saying these words out loud, although maybe they were. But they were at least saying them in their heart and saying them in their actions. Part of what Jesus is saying here probably is saying to them, you might as well be speaking these words out loud because this is exactly what you are saying by the way that you live your life from day to day. In delivering this brag through their words and through their actions, the Laodiceans are probably not merely boasting about their material wealth.

One commentator says that it's more likely that they interpreted their material wealth as a blessing from God and thus have been self-deceived as to their true spiritual state. How can we be that bad when God has blessed us materially in this way? As another writer says, they had carried the pride of wealth into their spiritual life and assumed that they were doing fine both materially and spiritually. Given this feeling of being rich and well provided for, the Laodiceans.

felt that they were in need of nothing. We actually know from history. That this was the reputation of the Laodiceans. When an earthquake hit Asia Minor.

Where Laodicea was in AD 60, it destroyed many cities in this area, including much of Laodicea, causing many cities in this region. To need financial aid from the Roman government to be rebuilt. But not the Laodiceans. Speaking on behalf of the Roman government during this day, the Roman historian Tacitus said, and I quote, Laodicea arose from the ruins by the strength of her own resources and with no help from us.

They didn't want government help. They had what they needed to rebuild. That was the Laodicean way. And it looks like this mindset crept into the church as well, because this is exactly how the members of the Laodicean Church were thinking about themselves both materially and spiritually.

They would walk before Christ by the strength of their own resources, with no help, even from Christ. It's no wonder that they are lukewarm toward him. It's easy to be lukewarm towards someone that you don't really need all that much. And again, the Laodiceans were Not necessarily speaking this way out loud.

But Jesus hears their thoughts. And he reads their actions. This is what they were communicating by their actions and you and I may be doing the very same thing. If you go day after day, without prayer, and without time in God's word and communing with Jesus Christ, without true fellowship with God's people, you are saying by your actions, I am rich enough and I am wealthy enough with my own resources and with my own wisdom, such that I don't need these things from Christ in order to get through my day.

You may never say those words out loud. But that's what Jesus hears you saying. As he watches your life. One thing that you have to hand to these Laodiceans is that they had a high self-esteem.

They probably thought that they were the last of the 7 churches that Jesus addresses. In Revelation 2 and 3, because Jesus was saving the best for last. How smug and how high their hopes were when Jesus began speaking to them. But Jesus shatters their estimation of themselves, and he says to them, though you speak and think and act as if this is the opinion that you have of yourselves, look at the end of verse 17.

He says, you do not know that you are wretched and miserable and poor and blind and naked. Jesus witness to them regarding their condition could not be more opposite to what they were testifying about themselves. And this is a terrible indictment. It's one thing to be all of these things, it's another thing to be all these things while at the same time, telling yourself and telling everyone that you're rich and in need of nothing.

This is an embarrassingly awful thing to be called out on. There's only one other place in the New Testament where the Greek word wretched is used, and that's in Romans 7:24 where Paul uses this word to describe himself. Even as a believing man. He says, oh wretched man that I am, who shall deliver me from the body of this death?

And then he goes on to thank God that this deliverance comes through Jesus. Paul admitted his wretchedness and looked to Jesus as his only hope. But Revelation 3:15. is an example of someone whose condition is wretched.

Yet they are saying, oh wealthy person that I am. I have no need of any deliverance. That's what the Laodiceans were doing. The word miserable translates the Greek word that speaks of the pitiable and destitute condition of A beggar Jesus also says that they're poor and that they're blind, and that they are naked.

All the while thinking and professing otherwise. These Laodiceans could not be more self-deceived. However lukewarm. The Laodiceans were prior to this moment.

Indifferent, apathetic. These words from Jesus. would have aroused in them a deep alarm and embarrassment. Being called out by Jesus like this.

In front of the other 6 churches of Asia Minor who are reading these words. But right in the middle of their moment of alarm. Jesus immediately and most graciously gives them counsel. So that they might rectify their destitute and self-deceived condition.

Look at what he says in verse 18. He says, I advise you. I counsel you. To buy from me gold refined by fire so that you may become rich and white garments so that you may clothe yourself and that the shame of your nakedness will not be revealed and I salve to anoint your eyes so that you may see.

At the very least, Jesus calls upon them to receive three things from Him, gold so that they might become rich, white garments so that they would not be naked anymore, and eyesalve so that they might see their true condition and see Christ for who he really is. It's hard to know exactly what each of these symbols mean. Commentators have a variety of ideas about what the gold and the white garments would represent, but what is clear, guys, Is that Jesus is saying that he has everything that they need to rectify their condition.

He has the finest of whatever they need to be spiritually rich and prosperous.

He has what they need to be clothed in the finest of clothing that covers the shame of their spiritual nakedness, and he has what they need. To be able to see once again. To see themselves truly and to see Christ as they ought to see him. Yet I don't know if you noticed this as we read this verse.

Oddly, Jesus does not simply tell the Laodiceans to receive or take these things from him. He tells them to buy. These things from him. That's surprising, right?

Why would Jesus tell them that they are destitute and poor? Meaning they can't afford anything, and then tell them to buy from him gold and the things. That they can't afford. I think Jesus is wanting the Laodiceans to feel the impossibility of his counsel.

And to fall on their faces before him and say, Jesus, we are wretched, we are miserable, we are poor and blind and naked, and you have the gold, and you have the clothing, and you have the eye salve that we need, but we don't even have the resources to buy these things from you that we need. In the end, the word buy simply means to acquire something through purchase. Jesus is reminding these Laodiceans by using this word that these gifts from Christ are actually very costly. They require purchase.

A purchase that he himself made through his shed blood on the cross. The Laodiceans buy such things from Jesus for themselves by obtaining them on the credit of Jesus and through his shed blood. At the cross. That's how we receive anything from Jesus.

From God. We buy it with the currency that is Jesus and what He has done for us, not with anything we bring. But make no mistake, to acquire such things from Jesus will cost you your pride. But if you are willing to surrender your pride and purchase these things from Jesus on the credit of Jesus, Then you can have them in abundance and no longer.

Be poor and blind and naked. Just if we stopped right here, Jesus' counsel to the Laodiceans would already have brought them a long way towards solving their lukewarmness problem. There's no way someone can feel alarmed by their desperate condition and then obtain what they need from Jesus to rectify that desperate condition and continue to be lukewarm. Towards him, right?

But there's something more that these Laodiceans must do, and this leads us to the next act of Jesus and calling these Laodiceans from lukewarmness to total devotion to him, and that is he calls them to be zealous and repent in light of his loving discipline. He calls them to be zealous and repent in light of his loving discipline. Listen to what he says in verse 19. He says, those whom I love, I reprove and discipline, therefore be zealous and repent.

The Greek word that Is translated love is the word fleo. Which speaks of the love of friendship and personal affection. Which is amazing. This is a stunningly affectionate word for Jesus to use in speaking to this particular church.

As Robert Thomas, one commentator says, the surprising choice of this emotional word comes as a touching and unexpected manifestation of love toward those who deserve it least. Among the seven churches. Jesus is making it clear that even though they may be lukewarm toward him, he is not lukewarm in his affection toward them. But as wonderful as Jesus' love is, there's a corresponding burden that comes with being loved by him in this way.

He says, those whom I love, here's what I do to them. I reprove and I discipline. Our culture today loves the thought of God being a God of love. But they don't seem to realize what goes with God's love.

As Charles Spurgeon says, I love this. He says, it is a very solemn thing to be dearly loved by God. It is a privilege to be coveted, but mark you, the man who is so honored occupies a position of great delicacy. The Lord thy God is a jealous God, and he is most jealous where he shows most love.

And Jesus is manifesting that very sentiment here. He will reprove and he will discipline those whom he loves, if they are lukewarm toward him and his cause. If he has set his love on you. He will not let your sin go unaddressed.

And keep in mind that what Jesus is saying here is not simply a threat of some future reproof and discipline coming in the future. He's already been reproving them and disciplining them in this letter. And now he's telling them the place from which this reproof and discipline is coming from. It's coming from a place of love and affection for them.

He's saying, I'm speaking to you this way because I love you. And have deep affection for you. The word reprove means to verbally rebuke someone with the intent of showing them their inexcusable fault. The word discipline literally speaks of child training, which involves the introduction of pain whenever that is necessary.

Jesus is letting these Laodiceans know that what he's been saying to them so far is reproof, and it is discipline. And it does hurt. And if his words don't work in achieving their intended effect, then deeper reproof and deeper discipline will be coming. Because he loves them.

So Jesus says to them, be zealous. And repent Guys, you realize this is the only time. And all the Bible where we see the command, be zealous. Jesus is commanding them to throw off their lukewarmness.

To renounce it and to replace it with zeal. And the word translated to be zealous actually derives from The Greek word that's used earlier that means hot. Jesus is commanding the Laodiceans to be fervent. To be passionate for him.

His command to repent is a call to change their mind, to see their lukewarmness and self-sufficiency as sin, and to renounce their sin. And then to set about to moving their lives in the opposite direction than the direction that their lives have been heading. Putting the two commands side by side like this, Jesus is partly saying be zealous in repenting. But he's saying more than that.

He's saying, be zealous for me and let that zeal for me produce in you a corresponding hatred of your sin, then repent zealously. And then continue to be zealous for me even beyond your repentance. You and I are commanded by Christ to be zealous. To be fervent for Christ, are we obeying this command to be zealous for Him?

And to be equally passionate against all that is contrary to him, including our own sin and our own pride. Where do we get the wherewithal? To be zealous Like this Well, if we're regenerated and saved by God, God has given us a new heart that is capable of such zeal. On top of that, he's given us a spirit who can empower us to obey this command to be zealous.

On top of that, We have fuel. We have the very love of Jesus for us, which serves as the fountain and the fuel of our love for Him in return. That's why guys, Jesus tells the Laodiceans that he loves them in the very same verse in which he tells them to be zealous and repent. His love for them is the fuel for their zeal.

Let's say it this way, we love him because he first loved us. We are zealous for him because he was first zealous for us and was willing to shed his blood to accomplish our salvation at the cross. And guys, if we spend sufficient time At the foot of the cross, gazing upon Christ who died there for us, and who is now seated at the right hand of God in glory. Jesus' fervor for his father.

And his fervent love for us. Should kindle in us a warm Fervor of devotion for him in return. A fervor that we will find to be the opposite of lukewarmness. And this fervor comes only from beholding and knowing Christ as he's revealed to us in the gospel.

Thinking about zeal when Jesus cleansed the temple, you guys will recall in John chapter 2. We're told that His disciples, the way he was acting reminded them of a passage of scripture in the Psalms. We're told in John 2:17 that his disciples remembered that it was written, Zeal for your house will consume me, which is a quote from Psalm 69:9. I just wanna ask you, are you a zealous person?

Are you zealous for God's house, which is the church? The zeal for Christ consume you? Would anyone ever look at your life and ever say, boy, he or she reminds me of Psalm 69:9. That says zeal for your house will consume me.

How zealous are you for the work of Christ here at Cornerstone, which is a household of God? How zealous are you for the work of Christ around the world? How zealous are you for your care group that it become all that Christ wants it to be? How zealous are you for making Christ known to others?

I'm not asking if you're for these things. I'm asking you if you're zealous, if you're boiling, if you're on fire for these things. Jesus says, be zealous, be fervent. Be hotly for.

Christ. Christ is demonstrating wonderful zeal in these verses. And we see the zeal of Christ for these Laodiceans manifested even further in the next verse as he keeps fighting for his relationship with them. This brings us to the 5th action of Jesus as he calls them from lukewarmness to total devotion to him.

Number 5, he promises his fellowship to anyone who will open the door to him. Look at what he says in verse 20. Behold, I stand at the door and knock. I am standing at the door and knocking.

The words that we see here just at the front end of verse 20 or Shocking and what they reveal about the Laodiceans and they're amazing in what they reveal about the persistent, loving grace of Jesus. What Jesus says at the beginning of verse 20 reveals that Jesus is apparently on the outside of the Laodicean Church, but it also shows his amazing condescension in seeking to regain entrance. He could have easily said, I'm done with you. But he doesn't do that.

He says, I'm standing here and knocking. He also could have easily barged in and knocked down their door. He is the glorified Lord who has the right to do that. But he doesn't do that either.

Instead, he says, Behold, I'm standing at the door and I'm knocking. In saying this, in part, Jesus is giving the Laodiceans perspective on what he's been doing throughout these verses. And all that he's been saying to them, he's been calling and knocking, fighting hard for his relationship with them. He continues and says, if anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and we dine with him and he with me.

What an amazingly gracious promise. Dining together is one of the ultimate signs of trust and friendship, and Jesus could not be more friendly in his promise. He's letting them know my intentions are friendly. And all that I've been saying.

I have spoken with the goal in mind of producing an outcome that may lead to me and you dining together. An intimate friendship. His promise is twofold. If someone opens the door to Jesus, he says, I will come in to him.

He never refuses someone who opens the door to him. You open the door of your life to him this morning. He will always come through that door. Then Jesus promises that he will dine with that person and that he will let that person dine with him.

In other words, they will eat together as friend with friend, eating what the other offers, that's the picture. Jesus is saying, I will partake of what you offer to me. And I will give much to you for you to feast upon. And you will be able to feast on the sumptuous, delicious portions that I offer to you.

That's relationship, friendship. Commentators argue. To some degree over what is exactly being spoken of here in verse 20. There are some who say that this verse represents Jesus knocking on the door of a person's heart or life.

Others suggest that this is Jesus knocking on the door of the Laodicean Church as a whole. A church that he's apparently on the outside of. Others say that the coming in that Jesus is speaking about here is a reference to a second coming when he comes in the glory of His kingdom, a coming that will be accompanied by feasting and dining together. And you can decide which of these you would land with, but I would suggest that That all of us would do well to just put ourselves into the shoes of these original Laodiceans and hear these words the way they would have heard them.

Jesus tells them that he is standing at the door and he's knocking right now, and he's calling to them and he says, if anyone singular hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in to him singular and dine with him singular, and he singular with me. Clearly Whatever this invitation is, it is addressed to each individual. In the congregation of the Laodicean Church. And it's an invitation that an individual can respond to and personally experience the blessing of So I want you to feel wherever you're at.

I want you to feel. The personal invitation. To your own soul. That Jesus is offering here.

Open the door wide to him. Jesus also delivers a wonderful promise to the one who overcomes the sin of lukewarmness, and this leads us to the 6th action of Jesus as he seeks to call the Laodiceans from lukewarmness to total devotion to him. Number 6, he promises the overcomer a seat with him on his kingdom throne. Guys, it's almost like Jesus is pulling out all the stops to persuade them to let him in.

To repent and be zealous. He says in verse 21, he who overcomes, I will grant to him to sit down with me on my throne. In other words, the one who overcomes lukewarmness, the one who overcomes their nakedness and spiritual poverty and blindness by acquiring from Christ what only he can give to this one, Jesus says, I will grant to this person. The right to sit down with me on my throne.

This is a crazy promise. This isn't just Jesus promising such a one a place somewhere in his kingdom. This is Jesus actually promising that such a one can sit with him on his throne in his kingdom. We tend to have a low view of these.

Laodiceans, but in all likelihood we're one day gonna see many of these Laodiceans sitting with Jesus on his throne in heaven. And they're gonna say, look at us now. There was a point when Jesus was about to spew us out of his mouth because of our lukewarmness toward Him. But he reached out to us and talked to us and pursued us and brought us to repentance and now we dine with him together as intimate friends and here we now sit with Christ on his throne.

What a savior, and I promise. That such Laodicean speaking in that moment will be anything but lukewarm in the way that they speak about Jesus. No one will be lukewarm toward Jesus in heaven. If you wonder what Jesus means by his promise to the Laodiceans, he explains.

He offers to let them sit with him on his throne, and he says in verse 21, as I also overcame and sat down with my father on his throne. Jesus overcame the evil one at the cross and at the tomb, and as a result of having overcome, the Father seated Jesus. At the right hand of the throne of God and here Jesus is saying, what my father did for me, after I overcame, I would like to do that for you. If you overcome, I will let you sit with me on my throne in the kingdom.

I find it staggering that Jesus would Liken his own overcoming to any overcoming that you and I might do. We all stand in awe of what Jesus did to overcome at the cross. Which is in a totally different category of overcoming. And he turns to us and says, if you overcome like I did.

Then I will give you a similar reward that my father gave to me. That's amazing And using the terminology of overcoming, Jesus is telling you that you're gonna have to have a warrior's mindset. If you're gonna overcome lukewarmness, you must make war. Powerful forces are going to be aligned against you.

And there will be battles ahead. But you should embrace the fight and take that fight to the enemy, just as Jesus did. Jesus engages in one final act in his endeavor to call the Laodiceans from a place of lukewarmness to total devotion to him. Number 7, he urges everyone to hear what he's saying to the churches.

In verse 22, Jesus says, He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches, plural. He's delivering a call to the Laodiceans to hear what he's just said to them in the 7th letter, and he's also calling for them to hear what he has said to the other churches in the other 6 letters. He's also delivering a call to the members of the other six churches to hear what he's just said to the Laodicean church, so that they might learn from the Laodiceans' error. And learn from Christ's counsel to them.

And also so that they might be praying for the Laodiceans and holding them accountable and participating with them in their journey of repentance. Jesus speaks these words to the Laodiceans in the In an audience that includes not just them, but the members of 6 other churches. Jesus also wants you and I today to listen to what he's saying to all the seven churches, including what he's just said to the Laodicean Church. The words of our passage today are a part of Christ's message.

To the churches. This fact leads Charles Spurgeon. To say these words about our text today and I'm inclined to agree with him. He says this text belongs to the Church of God, not to the unconverted.

It is addressed to the Laodicean church. There is Christ outside the church driven there by her unkindness, but he has not gone far away. He loves his church too much to leave her altogether. He longs to come back and therefore he waits at the doorpost.

He desires to bless her and so he stands waiting, knocking and knocking again and again. Had Jesus said, I'm done with all of you. And that's all I got to say in this letter. All of us would have understood that.

But instead, Jesus Christ, the glorified Lord stands knocking and calling and waiting for us to open the door of our heart to Him. When Jesus comes to earth at his second coming, he won't be knocking and asking for anyone's permission. He will invade and destroy and judge everything contrary to him. And judge with a rod of iron and perfect righteousness.

But here with the Laodiceans he knocks and he pleads and he waits for their reply, and he does the same for you and for me. Whenever we are guilty of marginalizing Jesus and his role in our life. Such that he's on the outside looking in, he pursues us and he knocks and he calls. All of us have a natural tendency to respond to people the way that they have behaved towards us, right?

If they're lukewarm toward us, then we'll be lukewarm toward them. If they've separated themselves from us, then we will separate ourselves from them. If they behaved in ways that make them odious to us, then we will consider ourselves happily to be done with them. We will spew them out of our mouths and we will view them as an encumbrance that we are happy to be done with.

But Jesus doesn't do that with the Laodiceans. They've been unfaithful to him, yet he's knocking at their door and still offering himself as a friend to them. They've shoved him to the outside of their life, but he's still knocking on their door. Had he considered himself to be done with them, no one would have faulted Jesus for that.

But he pursues them, he speaks to them, he tells them that he loves them. He tells them that he wants to dine with them, and he makes amazing promises to them, even offering them a seat with him on his throne forever. And all of this is being said to lukewarm people. What amazing grace is this.

What condescension, what persistence. And what is not to love about a savior like this who speaks like this to people like the Laodiceans. How can we be lukewarm toward one such as this? And how can we not love others with the same persistent Seeking, pursuing love.

Just in closing, let me just say this real quick. any of you feeling convicted? If you have felt conviction in your heart, At any point during this message, I want you to embrace that conviction and be encouraged because it's a sign of life. The worst fate.

that could befall any of us in this room is that we sit through a passage like this today and feel nothing, no conviction. That would mean God might be finished with us, and that's a scary place to be. But if you feel the conviction of the Holy Spirit in your heart, realize that the pain of conviction that you are feeling. Is Jesus working in your heart through his spirit?

It may be him knocking against the door of your heart, asking to be let in. Be excited about that. And let them in, repent. And start dining with Jesus.

That is the ultimate cure for lukewarmness. Jesus, open the door of your life to Him each day. Learn the art of dining together with Jesus, as friend with friend. If you've never opened the door of your heart to Jesus and invited him in, You're not here today by accident.

Respond to what you've heard and swing wide the door of your life and your heart to Jesus and invite him in. If you have opened the door of your life to Jesus, but lately you've been treating him as some non-essential Nice thing that's on the periphery of your life. Hear him today beckoning and calling. And knocking on your door today.

Open the door, invite him back in. And dine with him. A new Because no one who dines with Jesus stays lukewarm. toward him.

Zealous diners with Jesus always. Become zealous lovers of him. Let's pray together Lord, we need you. And I pray that you With everything in me, do not let me, do not let us as a church survive this series without being ruined in ways that we need to be ruined.

Without a revolution taking place in, in our hearts and In our lives. Do not let us survive this series unchanged. That would be a fearful thing. We need you, Lord.

We thank you for pursuing us when we have not been worthy of such pursuit. When we have been guilty through our sin of shoving you off and yet you continue to pursue my goodness, the glorified Lord. Pursuing us. We love you, Jesus.

And we thank you for this beautiful vision of you in this passage. In which you are honest, you are frank. You crash our fantasies and our self-perceptions. And you love us enough to give us counsel and invite.

And beckon and give promises. That are as high as the heavens. To those Who respond to your invitation. May your spirit be poured out on all of us in this room and may we all respond to you, some for the 1st time and some of us for the 100th time, opening wide the door of our heart to you.

We thank you, Lord, for this opportunity to give our offerings to you, receive these funds, do much with all that is given in this offering. In Jesus' name we pray. And all God's people said,