This transcript was generated by whisper.ai.

This is day four of our look together through Revelation chapter 3. We're going
to focus on verses 14 to 16 today, and as we focus on those verses we're going
to be looking at what Jesus says to a complacent church. These chapters are
Jesus' messages to the seven churches, and they're really what Jesus cares
about.

If you could sit down and talk with Jesus and say, "What do you care about? What
is your opinion of what's happening in the world today? " One of the things that
you would hear from the heart of Jesus is, "More than what's happening in the
world, I'm interested in what's happening in the church.

" Because as the church goes, so goes the world. And so the book of Revelation
begins with the messages to these seven churches, seven personal messages, seven
messages about growth and change. In Ephesus, we saw what he said to a busy
church, "Keep things that are first, the first things.

" In Smyrna, we saw what he says to a suffering church, "Look up and look ahead.
" In Pergamum, we saw what Jesus says to a confused church, "Recognize that your
doubts often grow out of your relationships. " In Thyatira, what Jesus says to a
tolerant church, "Success can carry too high a price.

" In Sardis, what Jesus says to a dying church, "Don't give up, wake up. "
Philadelphia, what Jesus says to a growing church, "Find your strength and
opportunities in Jesus Christ. " And now, what does Jesus have to say to a
complacent church, the church in Laodicea?

He says, "I want you to see your need as never before. " Let me read for you
Revelation 3, verses 14 to 16. To the angel of the church of Laodicea, write,
"These are the words of the Amen, the faithful and true witness, the ruler of
God's creation.

I know your deeds, that you are neither cold nor hot. I wish that you were
either one or the other. So because you are lukewarm, neither hot nor cold, I am
about to spit you out of my mouth.

" Those are clear words. Jesus says, "I want you to see your need. " We're going
to walk through these verses that Jesus has to share with this church, but also
with my heart, with your heart the next couple of days.

And they're all about how you and I can begin to see our need as never before.
See who we are and what God wants to do in our lives in a way that truly changes
ourselves. And because of that, it changes the world around us.

This is a powerful message that Jesus has. So powerful, as you listen these next
couple of days, your heart can be permanently changed. What does Jesus say has
to happen?

First thing he says has to happen is this, you have to see the shocking truth
about yourself. Now, if I'm going to see the truth about myself, I've got to see
it in light of the truth of who God is. And that's exactly what Jesus does here.

Before he talks to them about them, he says, "Here's who I am. " He says, "The
truth about God is, the truth about me is," Jesus says, "I am the amen. " When I
hear Jesus say, "I am the amen," that reminds me that he is one who is worthy of
my time.

The amen is an affirmation, and many of you know it means, "So be it, let it be.
" When we say, "Amen," at the end of a prayer, we mean, "Let it be. " Well,
Jesus says, "I am the final amen.

" He is the one who is worthy of our time because he is the one in whom all time
is going to be fulfilled. He is the one where all time is headed. He is the
final amen at the end of this world.

And so obviously he is worthy of my time. Jesus says, "I'm not only the amen,
I'm the faithful and true witness. " That reminds me that he's worthy of my
trust.

I can count on him. He's the faithful witness. He is the true witness.

I can count on the fact that what Jesus says is the truth. I can't always count
on other people because sometimes what they say is said with mixed motivation.
Or even if they're trying to say it with greatest motivation, they just don't
know the truth.

They haven't seen it yet in their own lives. But Jesus knows, and his
motivations are never mixed. It's always said out of love.

I can count on what he says being the truth. He's worthy of my trust. Jesus also
says here, "I am the ruler of God's creation.

" And that reminds me that he's worthy of my worship. He's the amen. He's worthy
of my time.

He's the faithful and true witness. He is worthy of my trust. He is the ruler of
God's creation.

He is worthy of my worship. He made everything, including me, including you. So
he is worthy of my worship.

First I have to start. If I want to see the shocking truth about myself, I've
got to start by seeing the truth about God, who he is. And then in light of
that, this God we've just talked about, Jesus, he loves me.

And in his love for me, he has a message that's hard to hear. I've got to do a
second thing if I'm going to hear the truth about myself. I have to have the
courage to listen.

Not to hold it out one more time, not to pretend it's not there one more time,
but to listen to what he has to say and listen to what Jesus says to this
church. He says, "I have this against you. I know your deeds.

You're not hot. You're not cold. I wish you were one or the other.

You're lukewarm. I just spit you out of my mouth. " Now, what is he talking
about here?

And why does he say, "I'd rather have you be cold"? There's an interesting
picture here in Laodicea. Laodicea is one of three cities, Laodicea, Heropolis,
and Colossae, that were close to each other, about 10 miles from each other.

And the other two cities had water in them. Heropolis had a famous hot springs.
Colossae was known for its pure cold water.

Both the cold water from Colossae and the hot water from Heropolis would be
lukewarm by the time it was piped to Laodicea. Hot water was a healing water.
Cold water was a refreshing water.

But lukewarm, it's not good for either. Some people believe that the idea of
cold here is about a cold heart, and Jesus is saying it's wrong. I don't think
that's what Jesus is saying here.

I think he's saying hot is good. It's good for healing. Cold is good.

It's refreshing water. But you're neither. You're nothing.

You might think of it like a cup of coffee. I'd like to have a hot cup of
coffee. That's a good thing.

And if it's the middle of a hot summer afternoon, I'd like to have a cup of iced
coffee. That could be a good thing. But lukewarm coffee, iced coffee that's
gotten warm, or hot coffee that's gotten cold, that's good for neither.

That's what Jesus is saying has happened here. You have become lukewarm to the
purpose of God. How do I know if that's happened in my life?

How could I be honest and see this shocking truth about myself? Well, when I'm
lukewarm, I've got not much love for the lost. Not much passion for worship.

Very little desire to grow. Not much of a heart for ministry. Not really enough
time for fellowship.

It's not a no. It's not much. Not really.

Can't quite get there. Now, as Jesus talks and says, "If you're lukewarm, I'm
going to spit you out of my mouth. " It's hard for many of us to hear words like
this from Jesus.

And part of it is because of our culture. We live in a day of political
correctness when people can't say what they really think. But Jesus, he is able
to tell us hard truth in loving ways.

If you hear anger in his tone here, you've missed the heart of Jesus Christ.
He's talking to his church. Jesus died for the church.

The church is his body. The church is his bride. He is speaking here out of
honest love to the greatest love in his life.

And he says, "You're lukewarm. " And if I take something lukewarm in, I just
spit it out. It's not good for anything.

What does it mean to be lukewarm? It means we're fortified by listening to the
moral instructions of the church week after week, but we have no appetite for
holiness or joy or love. It means we might be generally successful, even highly
motivated, reasonably happy people for whom our faith or the church becomes just
one piece of the puzzle in our lives.

The puzzle of our success. We miss what God wants to really be doing in our
lives, and it's easy to become lukewarm. A pastor was once asked, "Why is it
that new Christians create problems for the church?

" And he had a very wise answer. He said, "I don't think new Christians create
problems. They reveal them.

For the problems that have always been there, we get used to them. And new
Christians are like children, a baby that you bring into a home. They tell the
truth about things.

They help you to see things you didn't see before. Lukewarm. " If your heart's
grown lukewarm, there are three indicators.

I've cooled off, I've compromised, and I don't care. If you see that happening
in your life, it does not have to stay that way. Jesus Christ wants us to be
warm.

He wants us to live a kind of life of usefulness to him. Now, let's say you
wanted to keep something hot. How do you keep something hot?

Well, there's three different ways. You could try to cap it. You could put it in
a thermos, but that doesn't work.

It eventually is still going to cool off. You can't put a cap on God's love and
hope it lasts the rest of your life. Or you could try putting it in a microwave
and give it the quick blast, but then it's still going to cool off again.

Some people think, "I'll just come to church once a week and that'll do it. "
The only way to keep something continually hot is to keep it on the burner. You
need an external source of heat to keep the water warm.

The only way to keep your love for Christ hot is to keep continually connected
to him. That's where it comes from. That's where instead of being lukewarm, I
can live the useful life that he has for me, the kind of life that he has for
me.

Now, none of us want to admit that we've become lukewarm at any point in our
lives. So let me be the first. There are places in my life where I'm not as
passionate in my love for Christ as I want to be.

And I don't even want to admit it. That's how lukewarm I am. Now, if you're
perfect in this, then maybe you should be teaching this, but the truth of the
matter is every person I've ever talked to has places in your life, spots where
things have become lukewarm.

You've begun to put up with less than God's best for you. You've begun to settle
in to lessen the desire that you want to have, the passionate desire to grow in
him. How's it going to change?

Get reconnected. Get reconnected right now. It doesn't change in a moment.

It changes in a lifetime. It doesn't change by one prayer. It changes by daily
prayer.

It doesn't change by you saying, "Right now I want to have all the desire in the
world. Put it into me magically. " No, it changes by that external source of
connection to him.

Let's connect right now. Jesus Christ, thank you. Thank you that you want to use
us in this world to make a difference in our lives and through our lives.

And forgive us. Forgive us for those times when we make a brief connection to
you and think that's going to do it for the week or the month or the year. Or
help us to remember that if we're going to live the useful kind of life that you
have for us, the connected life for us, it means a daily connection.

And so we connect to you right now, Jesus Christ. And we ask you to use us, to
strengthen us, to grow us, to cause us to become the men and women of God that
you want us to be. And we ask this in your name, Jesus.

Amen. Tomorrow, as we look at verses 17 to 22, we're going to see the rest of
what Jesus says to a complacent church.