LUKEWARM
"I know thy works, that thou art neither cold nor hot: I would thou wert cold or hot. So then because thou art lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will spue thee out of My mouth. Because thou sayest, I am rich, and increased with goods, and have need of nothing; and knowest not that thou art wretched, and miserable, and poor, and blind, and naked..." (Revelations 3:15-17).
These words of the Lord to the Laodicean church in Revelations are
most sobering, especially so when one considers their relevance to the Church
today. The Laodiceans had become
lukewarm in their faith, and Jesus told them that He would spit them out of His
mouth. Just like a glass or cup of
liquid that has become room temperature and no longer satisfies the need that
it was poured for, they had become neither cold nor hot. They were therefore unable to satisfy the needs
around them. Jesus said He would rather
they be one way or the other: to get in all the way, or get out. One who is hot for the Lord is already close
to Him, and one who is cold is at least being honest about his state and is not
making any pretense about it. The
lukewarm soul is not walking with God, but is trying to convince everyone that
he/she is.
The evidence of the lukewarm state of the Laodicean church was
that they told themselves that they were rich, had an abundance of goods, and
were in need of nothing; but, in reality, they were unaware of their true
spiritual condition, being wretched, miserable, poor, blind, and naked.
Complacency and spiritual pride are extremely dangerous. When we as Christians begin to think of
ourselves as having everything we need spiritually, and forget that we are a
work in progress, then we can lose our hunger for the Lord, and our drive to
grow and mature in Christ. Jesus told
the story of two men who had gone up to the temple to pray. One was a Pharisee (a leader in the church;
one respected in the community), and the other was a publican (a common sinner;
one looked down on by the community). The
Pharisee prayed, "God, I thank Thee,
that I am not as other men are,
extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even as this publican. I fast twice in the week, I give tithes of
all that I possess." The
publican would barely lift his eyes to heaven, but stood a ways off and beat
himself upon his chest in remorse and true repentance saying, simply, "God be merciful to me a
sinner." Jesus said the
publican went home justified before God, but the Pharisee went home empty and
unfulfilled (Luke 18:10-14). Many of us
experience this same lack of fulfillment in our relationship with the Lord and
don't realize that we are not being filled because we are not hungry. Jesus said, "Blessed are they which do hunger
and thirst for righteousness:
for they shall be filled." (Matthew 5:6).
How do we become lukewarm?
It is much like the hot or cold liquid: it only requires our sitting
around for too long! If we aren’t
actively seeking the Lord, then we are cooling off - and this can happen
rapidly. When we neglect meaningful,
heartfelt prayer, Bible study that is driven by a desire to see and understand
more of Christ, and fellowship with other Christians that goes deeper than
"Hi! How are ya," and the latest gossip, then we begin to grow
lukewarm and are less able to satisfy any real needs around us. All we can then do is share facts, but not
real life.
"I
counsel thee to buy of me gold tried in the fire, that thou mayest be rich; and
white raiment, that thou mayest be clothed, and that the shame of thy nakedness do not appear; and anoint thine
eyes with eyesalve, that thou mayest see." (Revelations
3:18). Three things the Lord urges us to
purchase - and contrary to what some may teach, there is a price which the Lord demands in exchange for these
things. The price that He requires is
our life. "For whosoever will save his
life shall lose it: but whosoever will lose his life for My sake, the same
shall save it." (Luke 9:24). The three things that He offers us in
exchange are:
1.
Gold tried
in the fire that we may be rich.
This gold represents faith, not wealth.
We're told, "Hath not God chosen
the poor of this world rich in faith."
(James 2:5). Peter wrote, "That the trial of your
faith, being much more
precious than of gold that perisheth, though it be tried with fire,
might be found unto praise and honour and glory at the appearing of Jesus
Christ." (1 Peter 1:7). Our
faith is purified through the fires of adversity and temptation. Each trial works patience in us and valuable
experience which, in turn, gives us hope when we pass through subsequent trials.
We must learn to exercise our faith if
we are to remain "hot" for
the Lord.
2.
White raiment that we may be clothed. Nakedness
represents sin in the Bible, and there is only one thing that will cover our
sin, and that is the Lord's righteousness.
Our righteousness is not
sufficient. It is like filthy rags to
the Lord (Isaiah 64:6). When Adam and
Eve discovered they were naked, they covered themselves in fig leaves, which
was unsatisfactory. God Himself
fashioned animal skins for them to wear, and this hid their nakedness; but it
cost an animal its life and was the first time that innocent blood was shed in
the world. This, of course, foretold the
shedding of the innocent blood of the Lamb of God to cover men's sins. It also was a glimpse into God's desire for
us to adorn the righteousness which comes by faith in Christ alone, and not by our
own self-righteous works (See Romans 10:1-11).
3.
Eye salve that we may see. We need God's
help to see spiritual things. Without
His help we are quite blind. Scripture
tells us, "Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither
have entered into the heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for them
that love Him." (1 Corinthians 2:9). God has remedied this problem by placing His
Spirit within every believer to lead them into all truth. The Spirit is like salve that heals our
blindness and allows us to see the things that God has promised us in
Christ. "But God hath revealed them unto us by His Spirit:
for the Spirit searcheth all things, yea, the deep things of God." (1
Corinthians 2:10).
The apostle Paul understood the
danger of becoming lukewarm through spiritual complacency and self
righteousness. He told the Philippians, "Brethren, I count not myself to have apprehended: but this one thing I do, forgetting those things which
are behind, and reaching forth unto those things which are before, I press
toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus."
(Philippians 3:13, 14). One
thing he says that he does to keep himself in a right place with God: he
forgets the past, and presses toward the future. Paul realized that the past, with its
successes and its failures, has no
bearing on where we stand today. If we
have accomplished wonderful things in the Lord in days past, those things do
not define where we are with the Lord today.
If we have fallen and committed great sins in the past, those sins do
not define who we are today, or what we do with our lives going forward. Satan uses our failures to discourage and
destroy us, trying to convince us that there is no hope for us because we have
let the Lord down. He also uses our
successes against us to make us feel self-righteous even when we are not
seeking the Lord today. Our response
must always be to press toward the prize of the high calling of God in Christ
Jesus. We must always be about our
Father's business. If this is the case,
we will never grow lukewarm.
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