Don’t Be Spew
Introduction:
Everybody loves to quote John 3:16 "For God so loved the world that He gave His one and only Son, that whoever believes in Him will not perish but have eternal life." People at football games proudly hold up signs with this scripture reference on it. Homeless guys will hold the same sign on the street corner hoping to attract a believer to hand them some money or food. The whole world recognizes this incredible verse.
But what about Revelation 3:16? How many of us know this verse? It’s not as touchy feely and John 3:16. It’s because John 3:16 is all about grace and love while Revelation 3:16 is about accountability and judgment.
Revelation 3:14-22
To the angel of the church in Laodicea write:
These are the words of the Amen, the faithful and true witness, the ruler of God’s creation. 15I know your deeds, that you are neither cold nor hot. I wish you were either one or the other! 16So, because you are lukewarm—neither hot nor cold—I am about to spit you out of my mouth. 17You say, ’I am rich; I have acquired wealth and do not need a thing.’ But you do not realize that you are wretched, pitiful, poor, blind and naked. 18I counsel you to buy from me gold refined in the fire, so you can become rich; and white clothes to wear, so you can cover your shameful nakedness; and salve to put on your eyes, so you can see. 19Those whom I love I rebuke and discipline. So be earnest, and repent. 20Here I am! I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in and eat with him, and he with me. 21To him who overcomes, I will give the right to sit with me on my throne, just as I overcame and sat down with my Father on his throne. 22He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches."
So let me ask you a question. Are you hot or cold?
Our challenge is to not be SPEW.
This church of Laodicea wasn’t always lukewarm. They were a well established church. Laodicea was known for it’s wealth, it’s banking, the manufacturing of a special eye salve, as well as of a glossy black wool cloth. Paul even referenced this church a few times in his letter to the Colossians.
However, Jesus said “I know your deeds, that you are neither cold nor hot.”
They Lost Their Fire (v15-16)
We see here that God is gauging Christians in three different spiritual temperatures.
Remember, he is talking to the “church”, not the world.
1. HOT: a burning heart on fire for God
In Luke 24 we see two men walking as they were discussing the crucifixion and resurrection of Christ. At that very moment, Jesus appeared to them but they didn’t recognize Him. They walked and talked about it and they even sat down to eat a meal together. Then they finally realized who they were talking to and Jesus vanished. Their response was “Were not our hearts burning within us while he talked with us on the road and opened the Scriptures to us?"
A HOT Christian is one whose heart stirs for the things of God. They want to know and experience all that they can in their relationship with Christ. They want to talk about Him as they walk through their day. They discuss the things of God as they eat. They post it on their blog. They show it by how they live.
2. COLD: a cold heart
In Matthew 24 Jesus is telling his disciples about the signs of the end of the age. He tells them that there will be wars, famine and earthquakes as well as false prophets and persecution. Then he says, “Because of the increase of wickedness, the love of most will grow cold.”
A COLD Christian, simply put, isn’t a Christian at all – at least not any more. It’s someone who once believed and had a relationship with Christ, but because of circumstances, conditions, conflict, or cowardice, they turned their hearts cold to the things of God. They no longer put their trust in Christ and their faith has wavered.
3. LUKEWARM:
The lukewarm Christian is comfortable, complacent, and either ignores or simply doesn’t realize their need for Christ in their daily lives. Here in Revelation 3:16 is the only instance of this word in scripture, yet we see many stories of characters who suffered with this very affliction – Lot, Samson, and Judas.
So the Lord revealed these three spiritual temperatures and then made the indictment that the church of Laodicea was indeed lukewarm.
Illustration: your waitress
Illustration: 2nd law of thermodynamics requires that a “closed system” eventually moderates so that no more energy is being produced. Unless something is added from the outside, the system decays and dies. Without added fuel, the hot water in the boiler becomes cool; without electricity, the refrigerant in the freezer becomes warm.
The church cannot become a “closed system”.
Jesus said in John 15:5, “Without me you can do nothing.”
The Laodicean church was independent, secure and self serving. “We have need of nothing”, they said. They were a “closed system” and their spiritual power was decaying. Their material wealth and glowing statistics were but shrouds hiding a rotting corpse (Wiersbe). The Lord was outside the church, trying to get in (3:20).
Now, because they had become a “closed system”, because they had become lukewarm, Jesus warned them. “So, because you are lukewarm – neither hot nor cold – I am about to spit you out of my mouth.”
Transition:
They lost their FIRE. Once we lose our fire we start losing other things as well.
They Lost Their Values
It appears as if the Laodicean’s lack of economic need twisted their values. It may have also been due to spiritual pride, thinking that they were spiritually rich; that is, to boast of having enough religion. It is highly probable that both attributed to their lukewarmness.
So, they said, ’I am rich; I have acquired wealth and do not need a thing.’
When Christians tend to lose their fire they begin to exalt material wealth in contrast to spiritual values. They will also use past experiences in revival or around an altar to surmise that they have arrived spiritually. The result was that they were lulled into false contentment by their temporal sufficiency.
Jesus response, “you do not realize that you are wretched, pitiful, poor, blind and naked.”
These first two characteristics “wretched” and “pitiful” are more than likely linked together to refer to their spiritual destitution before God.
“Poor, blind, and naked”, however, refer to three sources of their condition.
1. Poor
They may have stored up material wealth, had a nice church building and money in the bank, but they were still poor.
Jesus said in Matthew 19:23 “it’s hard for a rich man to enter the kingdom of heaven.”
They may have had a great spiritual heritage and experienced spiritual encounters and great accomplishments in the past, however, in God’s eyes they were spiritually poor.
God is concerned about the here an now.
His Counsel – “buy from me gold refined in the fire, so you can become rich”
Gold was a source of the wealth of the city. The gold Jesus was refereeing to is it’s spiritual counterpart – that which corresponds to the glory of God Himself. I believe this to mean the priceless possession of salvation which brings eternal life.
Even as David prayed in repentance after his sin with Bathsheba, the lukewarm Christian needs to pray “restore unto me the joy of thy salvation and renew a right spirit within me.”
2. Naked
Obviously this wasn’t referring to them being physically naked, but spiritually naked – exposed and unprotected from the elements.
Remember, their city was known for it’s manufacturing of a glossy black wool cloth. It was a source of their revenue and notoriety. But there clothes would never meet the requirements of righteousness.
His Counsel – “buy from me… white clothes to wear, so you can cover your shameful nakedness”
Isaiah 61:10 I delight greatly in the LORD; my soul rejoices in my God. For he has clothed me with garments of salvation and arrayed me in a robe of righteousness, as a bridegroom adorns his head like a priest, and as a bride adorns herself with her jewels.
The only thing that can cover our shamefulness is the righteousness of Christ. And just like the father of the prodical son put HIS garment on his back to cover the shame of his worn out and stained clothes, Jesus takes off his coat and covers us in HIS robe of righteousness.
Salvation means that Christ’s righteousness is imputed to us, put to our account; but sanctification means that His righteousness is imparted to us, made a part of our character and conduct. (Wiersbe)
3. Blind
Their blindness meant that they couldn’t see the reality of their condition. They were living a fools paradise, proud of a church that was about to be rejected. They lacked spiritual insight. They had no spiritual vision.
Proverbs 29:18
Where there is no vision, the people are unrestrained, but happy is he who keeps the law
Laodicea had a famous school of medicine and was known for its production of an eye salve called “Phrygian powder”, famous for its cure of eye defects. This special powder couldn’t do anything for their spiritual blindness.
His Counsel – “Buy from me… salve to put on your eyes, so you can see.”
A church lacking spiritual insight is destined to fall. A church lacking spiritual vision will cease to grow and become stagnant.
The church of Laodicea lost their focus!
They were so wrapped up in building their own kingdom that they had become lukewarm in their concern for the lost world.
Transition:
The church of Laodicea may have lost their FIRE becoming lukewarm resulting in the loss of their spiritual VALUES, but as it is with God’s character, He leaves room for grace.
They Needed to Lose Their Life
After the rebuke and all the discipline Jesus reveals the way to avoid being spew – spit out of His mouth.
1. Accept Your Rebuke
“Those whom I love I rebuke and discipline.”
Rebuke means to “expose, convict, or punish”
Discipline means “to train or educate”
Parenting 101 tells us “spare the rod, spoil the child”. Did you know that’s scriptural?
Proverbs 13:24 says, “He who spares the rod hates his son, but he who loves him is careful to discipline him.”
Don’t get offended or defensive when a rebuke comes. Accept it as a token of love.
1 Peter 4:17
For it is time for judgment to begin with the family of God; and if it begins with us, what will the outcome be for those who do not obey the gospel of God?
I Corinthians 11:31-32
But if we judged ourselves, we would not come under judgment. 32When we are judged by the Lord, we are being disciplined so that we will not be condemned with the world.
Let the rebuke of Christ lead you to repentance not bitterness.
2. Embrace Repentance
So be earnest, and repent. (v19)
Repent – to turn from sin and dedicate oneself to the amendment of one’s life.
When Jesus said “be earnest” and repent, it means to be serious in your turning from sin and embrace a fervent allegiance with Christ.
Plain and simple, get right with God.
3. Open Your Heart
He stands at the door of your heart knocking. Admit your mistake, your sin, and return to your first love. Ask God to forgive you. Let Him in your heart so that He could fellowship with you and begin rebuilding that relationship.
God’s grace brings instant forgiveness to those who repent, but we must then work at correcting our lukewarmness.
We must work at restoring our FIRE and becoming HOT for Him. It’s start by opening our hearts to Him.
Altar – stand, bow heads
As you stand here this morning before God, you are either hot, or cold, or lukewarm. God knows your deeds just like he did with the church of Laodicea. Are you willing to be honest with yourself this morning? If you were to die and be judged today where would you spend eternity?
1. Maybe you’re here this morning and your heart is cold, you haven’t responded to God’s love before – you haven’t asked him to forgive your sins – you haven’t received that free gift of eternal life. Salvation is for everyone. The Bible says that if “we confess with our mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in heart that God raised Him from the dead, we will be saved.” Do you want that eternal life this morning? Do you want to be saved?
2. Maybe you’re here this morning and you have a lot in common with the Laodicean church goers. Maybe you’ve been self-sufficient, independent, a “closed system”. Are you willing to admit that you’re lukewarm? Maybe the rebuke of the Lord has revealed to you that you’re not as rich as you thought. Maybe he showed you that you’re naked without the righteousness of Christ. Maybe you realized that you have been spiritually blind to the purposes of God.
I challenge you to respond the God’s Word and “buy from me gold refined in the fire, so you can become rich; and white clothes to wear, so you can cover your shameful nakedness; and salve to put on your eyes, so you can see.”
Even as the music is playing, come to the altar and accept this rebuke as a token of God’s love, embrace repentance by turning from your sin and pledging your allegiance to Christ, open your heart to Christ and begin rebuilding that relationship with Him today.
