Word of Salvation – Vol.41 No.16 – April 1996
The Church That Was Lukewarm
Sermon by Rev. P. Kossen on Revelation 3:14-22
Congregation of the Lord Jesus Christ,
Boys and girls, do you remember the story of Goldilocks and the three bears? Goldilocks came to their house when the bears were out walking, and she tried the porridge. Do you remember? Papa bear’s porridge was too… hot. Mama bear’s porridge was too… cold. But baby bear’s porridge was… just right, and Goldilocks ate it all up.
And then she went upstairs, and Papa bear’s bed was too hard. And Mama bear’s bed was too soft. But baby bear’s bed was just right. And poor Goldilocks fell asleep.
Now what we are looking at today, is a church, which was not too hot, not too cold, but just in between. Neither hot nor cold. Just in between. And as we look at this letter today, first of all we want to look at…
- The Church in Laodicea.
Laodicea was between Colossae and Hierapolis. Colossae was in the mountains, and the water supply there was the cool, crisp, refreshing water straight from the mountain tops. Hierapolis, on the other hand, was famous for its hot mineral springs, like Rotorua, and people used this water for healing and relaxation. But by the time this water from Hierapolis flowed down to Laodicea, it was neither hot, nor cold, neither refreshing, nor healing. Just in between.
And Jesus applies this to the church in Laodicea. “I know your deeds, that you are neither cold nor hot. I wish you were one or the other. So, because you are lukewarm – neither hot nor cold – I am about to spit you out of my mouth.”
These people were not cold. In other words, they were not heathen. They were a people who professed Jesus Christ as their Saviour and Lord, and people who knew the doctrine of God. But, on the other hand, neither were they hot. And there is only one other place in the New Testament where this word is used, and that is in Romans 12:11, where Paul says, “Never be lacking in zeal, but keep your spiritual fervour, serving the Lord.”
To be hot means to be enthusiastic, to be zealous, to be keen, to be eager, to be wholehearted in our walk with the Lord. When we are hot, we are on fire for the Lord. Our faith burns within us. And we need to be careful here. We are not talking about religious fanaticism. What we mean, simply, is serving the Lord with all our heart with an enthusiasm and eagerness placed there by the Spirit of God.
The greatest example of such spiritual zeal is the Lord Himself: Jesus, who today is often pictured as so meek and so mild. In Matthew we see Him with a red face, with a whip in his hand which he is swinging to the left and to the right, speaking hard words, because there was burning in His heart such a love for God, such a desire for His glory, such a zeal for His house, that He completely forgot Himself. And this desire for God’s glory consumed Jesus. He worked so hard towards it that He often forgot to eat. In all His work, He was driven, filled with fire, consumed with doing God’s purpose, until He gave Himself to be consumed on the cross. There was The Man, on fire for God.
If this is the zeal that Jesus had for His Father’s glory, then you can understand why, when He now walks among the lampstands, He is so utterly disgusted with those who are lukewarm in their faith. Because it is so un-Christ-like. It is a form of godliness, without the power. In fact, to be a lukewarm Christian is a complete contradiction in terms, because Jesus gave Himself on the cross to redeem us from all wickedness, and to purify for Himself a people who are His very own, who are eager and enthusiastic to do what is good. And therefore, unless there is a change in Laodicea, He will spit them out of His mouth.
And to be lukewarm, brothers and sisters, is a very dangerous condition, and one which is very difficult to correct. For if you meet someone who is cold, that is, those who have never come into contact with the Gospel, you can do something with them. And likewise, if you meet sincere and humble Christians, you can work with them with joy. But it is very hard to touch the hearts of those who are lukewarm, because those who are lukewarm, have the Gospel. And they say, “we are rich, we have received this wealth, and we do not need a thing.” These people are absolutely content in their spiritual walk. They think they have it all. “We are good people. We believe.”
That’s what these people in Laodicea were like. They thought that they were just right. This was not Colossae, nor Hierapolis. This was Laodicea. Wealthy, with many banks, many millionaires. A city famous for its carpets and clothing made from fine black woollen cloth – not to mention that Laodicea was one of the finest medical centres in Asia Minor. If you wanted to learn medicine, you came here. So Laodicea was it; the place to be.
A few years before this letter was written, they had an earthquake which wiped out part of the city. But then, when the Roman government offered help to rebuild, they refused. They said, “We’re alright, we can manage on our own.” And that’s what the church was like too. “We are good folks here in Laodicea.” They had the doctrine, they had their perfect church, and it was very hard to touch them again with the power of the Gospel. Not cold. But not hot either.
And, brothers and sisters, we meet people like this all the time. You can’t touch them. They belong to such and such a church already and they don’t need the message. They have the form of godliness without, however, having the power and zeal and enthusiasm of it.
But Jesus doesn’t look at all these externals. He is the Amen, the Faithful and True Witness. And He cuts right through all the packaging and gets to the state of the heart. And He looks at the Laodicean church in quite a different way. “You say, ‘I am rich, I have acquired wealth and do not need a thing.’ But, you do not realise that you are wretched, pitiable, poor, blind and naked.”
Your horrible condition, is that you think you have everything. Whereas, in actual fact, as long as you look for your sufficiency in yourself, you have nothing. Nothing at all. You think you are a Christian. Yet Christ is disgusted with you. Wretched. Pitiable. Poor. Blind. Naked.
And that is the church in Laodicea. And it is also a condition which is found in the Church of all ages. And a condition which confronts Christians in every church of all ages. A condition which confronts us in our daily walk. For who of us can say that we ever serve our Lord and Master as earnestly as we should? How often are we also not lacking in zeal?
May we never stand before the Lord and boast, “we are wealthy.” No, apart from Him, we are not wealthy. “Lord, be merciful to me, the sinner.” And our lack of wholeheartedness ought to drive us back to Him time and again, right up to the time we are perfected and made wholehearted, in the world to come.
- The Lord’s Counsel to the Laodiceans.
In this second section, you see the extent of the Lord’s love. In verse 19 you read, “Those whom I love, I rebuke and discipline.” And so you see that the Lord has not yet spat them out of His mouth, but He still wants to bring them back. And that is why He gives them some very strong advice, in verse 18: “I counsel you to buy from me, gold refined in the fire, so you can become rich. And white clothes to wear so that you can cover your shameful nakedness. And salve to put on your eyes, so that you can see.”
Up till now, the Laodiceans found their sufficiency in themselves. They boasted about the wealth of their city. They boasted about the fine black cloth produced in their factories. And they boasted about the wonderful medicines and eye salves put out by their medical laboratories. And in the church they boasted about all the privileges they had, the external privileges.
But all the wealth in the world doesn’t give you treasure in heaven. All the clothes in the world don’t cover your spiritual nakedness before God. And all the eye treatments in the world don’t make you see. And Christ portrays Himself as the all-sufficient Saviour. You see, apart from Christ, we are all wretched, pitiable, poor, blind and naked.
It is only when we come to Him, that our eyes are opened and we are made to see. And this Laodicean church needs to look away from itself, and look to Christ alone. They must learn to say, “I consider everything a loss compared to the surpassing greatness of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whose sake I have lost all things. I consider all these things in which I previously boasted, rubbish, so that I may gain Christ and be found in Him, not having a righteousness of my own but having a righteousness that comes from God, and is by faith.”
And Christ is thus simply holding out to them the Gospel. Their church is like the empty tomb. Everything is in place, but Christ is not there. And He is saying, “Come to me; come, buy and eat; come buy wine and milk, without money, and without cost.”
And how do you buy these things? He goes on: “So be earnest, and repent. Here 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.” Yes, brothers and sisters, you see that at present Christ is outside the door of this church. And the only way for them to re-establish the fellowship with Him is to turn to Him again in repentance and faith.
Be earnest and repent. Come back to your first love. Put away that lukewarmness and spiritual sluggishness which characterises your life. I am the only giver of spiritual security. Without me there is no hope. Turn away from finding your security in other things. Return to me, with all your hearts.
And, brothers and sisters, these words always remain relevant for us. Christ is always calling us into a deeper and more earnest fellowship with Himself. And this fellowship is likened to a fellowship meal, a sitting around the Table with Him, in close company. And this personal fellowship we have with the Lord is our strength. It is with this communion with Him that we receive our zeal, our earnestness, our eagerness to serve Him.
And yet, sometimes in our own experience, we move out of that close communion. We sin and don’t immediately come back to Him. We don’t allow His Word to live in us richly. We don’t pray as we ought. And we ask, “where is that fellowship that I once knew?” Maybe, even today, you feel that your faith is somewhat formalistic. That you are not experiencing that daily fellowship with Christ. And it robs you of the joy of your faith, and the fire of your faith. And yet, the Lord promises in this text that He is near, that He is calling for us to turn back to Him, and then the fellowship will be restored.
The supper of which Christ speaks is the symbol of the fellowship we have with Him now. It begins in this life but is perfected in the life to come when the Lord gives him who overcomes the right to sit with Him on His throne, just as Christ after He had conquered sat down on His Father’s throne. And then we will reign with Him, in the closest possible fellowship, for eternity.
Brothers and sisters, this letter to Laodicea is a very heart searching one for us. It asks questions like:
Am I aware of my sins, and do I have sorrow in my heart and true repentance for these my sins? Not, ‘I am wealthy,’ but, ‘Lord, be merciful to me!’
Do I heartily believe that Jesus Christ my Saviour redeemed me from all my sin and misery by His sacrifice on the cross as the only price that could gain me peace with God?
And thirdly, is it my sincere desire, to show God true gratitude for my salvation?
And these questions, when we answer them sincerely before the Lord, will also keep us from being lukewarm in His service.
Brothers and sisters, as we grow in our fellowship with Him, may we also become more like Him, so that like Him, our whole lives and beings are consumed with love and zeal for the things of God.
Teach me to love Thee as Thine angels love.
One holy passion filling all my frame.
The baptism of the heaven-descended dove.
My heart an altar and Thy love the flame.
Amen.