Church at Laodicea - Revelation 3:14-22

We're at a pivotal point here in our study. The pivotal point looks like this. We've had seven churches in these seven cities. And those seven churches now brings us to the last one, Laodicea. And so it's kind of a wrap-up of those seven churches. It's also a pivotal point because Remember those in Revelation 119, kind of an outline that was given to John, the things that were, the things that are, and the things that shall be.

We're looking today at the last part of Revelation that's the things that are right now, that is, as of the time of this writing. So we're jumping into the future, the things that shall be, as we start next week. So that's also another reason why we're at a pivot point here. And so it's pivotal for that reason as well. Because John wrote, unlike Paul, who wrote like a logician, like a lawyer, this and this and this, therefore this and this, John writes like a musician. We're about to see in this writing about what's happening on earth, we're about to see in the very next verses, immediately following this, a huge And the leap is huge for two reasons.

One is the passage, as we'll step into it next week, is not only a leap into the heavenlies, but it's a leap from what is this, the past, into the future that is yet to take place. I hope it takes place before we're done. Okay? But, nonetheless, even though you're just turning over into the next chapter, it is a massive change that's about to take place. So that's the other thing I would suggest. Brace yourself, because it's about to change into a very different kind of book. This is a prophetic masterpiece, and we're about to step into this next stage, which is no small step.

It's a big one. So anyway, as we look through this, let's take a second here to look up on the slides that I've got. Here's the map of the seven cities. Patmos you see where John's writing from is that island off the coast there. And you have now these seven cities. Now this one is marked a little differently and for good reason.

Laodicea was next to Herapolis and Colossae. Colossae is the city that the Book of Colossians was written to. And those three cities, here's Laodicea is the one that's being addressed here. Those three cities right next to each other, you could see one city from the next.

They're all right next to each other in the same valley. Here is a picture of the valley. The Hierapolis across the valley and Colossae kind of up the valley, if you will, upstream. And so that trio of cities kind of has some things in common as well as things in contrast. It's interesting, an ancient writer wrote of this valley. He said it's eusistos. What does that mean? It's good for earthquakes.

It's a real shaken up kind of place. One of the things you notice here, here's the side of Laodicea from the middle of the map. You have a map on the front page there. Letters H, L, M, and N. which are marked there on the map. They're roughly in the middle of the town map area there. That's where that picture was taken from. And as you see there, they have snow-capped peaks, some resemblance roughly to Denver area even. So, but anyway, picturesque location.

Here is the larger theater, and we'll take a look at that in a minute, is map item J, which you see, It's from the middle where we were looking at before, it's slightly to the right and upwards. And so that's the larger theater right there. And here is the view of Hierapolis from Laodicea. So this Hierapolis is that white area across there. And then from Laodicea, about point B on the map, point B is next to the other smaller theater. and somewhat in the middle and towards the top of the map area.

So anyway, looking across the valley, no, that's not guano across there, thankfully. It is, however, mineral springs. And those mineral springs were there during New Testament times, and they have a place, as we'll soon see, in the letter or the message that was delivered to the church at Laodicea. We'll step into those in a minute here. Okay, so here's the background. It lies in a major crossroads.

Laodicea was one of the stronger economically and politically speaking cities of that trio of cities there. It was a city that was very well off. They were known for having lots of resources, assets, industries. They were kind of a regional banking center. And even though it was damaged by earthquakes and they were offered help from Rome, Rome said, you know, we'd offer you some money. And they said, no, don't worry about it. We got covered. We're well off and wealthy enough. We don't need the help, but thanks.

So it was also a center for the regional textile industry. They used to have a special kind of sheep there. They had a black wool that was exceptionally soft. And so what you see, now I'm at the top of page two, what you see there is with this fabric that they had from there, actually they had it named after the city. Laodicea had a significant Jewish community there and the Jewish community was also well off. So, lots of wealth, lots of assets, lots of resources. They figured they were doing pretty well.

Let's take a look at the first verse here in this passage, Revelation 3.14. To the angel, that is the messenger, of the church of Laodicea write the Amen, the faithful and true witness, the beginning of the creation of God, says this. That's how he starts it out.

This is referring, of course, to Christ. This verse is to focus their attention and ours on the person of the risen and ascended and seated Lord Jesus Christ. He alone is the answer to our needs. He alone is the answer to our needs. We're going to see the promise to the overcomers pretty soon as well, and that's also significant. Now, how about this word, the Amen? The Amen, we think of it as a religious term, right? And even people out in the world will sometimes hear the word Amen and they'll associate it with religious or spiritual things.

At the time, however, the word had more legal ramifications. It had more to do with truth. Oh, that's true. And they had the idea of things that were firm and established and sure. That's what Amen was all about. That Hebrew word behind that, used in Isaiah 65-16, is used of God as the God of truth, the God of Amen. Literally, the God of Amen. The word was used to acknowledge and emphasize what was valid, sure, and true, or important and significant.

And in some ways we use that way today, although we tend to think of it in terms of religious or spiritual use. The Amen also has the idea of the final word. The last word. It leads us to a good question. Have we come to a place in our perspective of the matters of life where Christ's word is the last word? Is Christ's word something you kind of consider in the realm of all the other considerations? Or is His word the last? So when he says he's the Amen, that comes with an emphasis. He is the last word.

He is the real truth, solid, sure, certain. How about that phrase, the faithful and true witness? That also had legal significance, and from the sound of it, you would say so as well. Christ is qualified both prophetically and legally To testify. What he spoke was true without fail. Absolutely true. It defines the word Amen.

How about the beginning of the creation of God? Does that mean that Christ was the first created being? No. That's not the intent. It means it puts him at the first place, at the primary place. He is the head of, not the first created being. By the way, that's what you hear from the Jehovah's Witnesses. That's what they try to say. It's not what it's intending at all. Colossians 1, 15-17. I'll take a look here at verses 15 and 16 particularly. He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation, for by Him all things were created. Everything was made. He wasn't the first thing made. By Him everything was made. He was the instrument for creating everything else.

When we find that the material things of this universe just don't hold the satisfaction, answer, and significance they once did, it is then that the truth of this verse starts to hit home, doesn't it? We come to the place of recognizing that the creation itself doesn't answer the deepest longings of our hearts. Ever come across that truth? Find out that this stuff that the world tries to sell us The stuff is never really quite the ultimate answer, is it?

I noticed this last week they announced the revised list of billionaires. There are fewer billionaires now than there were previously. Apparently some Russians dropped off the list or something. And Bill Gates took the number one spot, not because he'd made more money, but because he lost less. than the others.

And yet somehow you don't see these billionaires as ultimately satisfied. One fellow that had spoken with a number of them said, the reality is there's a lot of very nervous billionaires out there. Hard for us to imagine, but he says, yes, very nervous. And some of them are alarmed and frightened, even defensive. So that's an interesting commentary on these billionaires.

Christ says there in verse 15 and 16, I know your deeds that you are neither cold nor hot. I wish that you were cold or hot, so because you are lukewarm and neither hot nor cold, I will spit you out of my mouth. Now, we've seen this before. Christ said, I know your deeds, right? What's the significance of He knows our deeds? Why does that matter? What importance does that have? Why does it matter that Christ knows our deeds?

Okay, yeah, that's one thing. He doesn't say, you know, who cares, right? He's not apathetic. Yeah. Here's the creator of the universe, and of all the various things, I mean, he could say, I haven't got time for that. But he does, doesn't he? That's right. That's good.

What else? What's the significance of he knows our deeds? You can't hide anything from him. He already knows everything. Yeah, yeah. You know, there's no hiding things from the Lord. There's no thinking that we can somehow shield Him from it or, you know, I'll decide what I let the Lord know. Right? Yeah. There isn't any hiding.

He knows it already. So He is interested and He is quite aware of what's going on. What else? He's all-knowing. He's all-knowing. He knows it all. Yeah. And something else, consistent with what each of you have said, is that he communicates it too, doesn't he? He communicates it. That's his character. That's what he is interested in. He knows it all. And he communicates it to us. He talks with us about these things.

But notice there, Unlike the other churches, remember with the other churches, I know your deeds, that you, da-da-da-da-da-da, what do you see? I know your deeds, and he doesn't even mention them. Oh, wow. Do you catch the significance of that? I love this, neither hot nor cold. Oh yeah, we'll get there in a minute. Yeah, that's really something. But I know your deeds. And in the other churches, he said that you do this or that. Here, you just, whoop, we got other things to talk about. I know what's going on. I know what you've done.

But compared to what we got to talk about, that's hardly worth mentioning. Hardly worth mentioning. Because we've got some other subjects we've got to get to. And we've got to get there fast. And they are a high priority. And you need to hear about them. So it goes right past the list, right past the acknowledgement, the usual, you do this and you do that. He knows them though.

Immediately that you are neither hot nor cold. Let me look at a couple of slides here. Remember, here's Hierapolis across the valley. Now, Hierapolis is about a half dozen miles away, but those mineral springs are about four miles away. And there's the close-up. And as it came out of the mineral springs, it was quite hot. But, I'll jump ahead here. Here's a section of the water pipe that went across the valley for four miles. By the time it went underground, even though it started out hot, guess what temperature it was by the time it got to them.

It was lukewarm. And of course, on a hot day, you just love a nice refreshing glass of lukewarm water, don't you? Right? Ever get a nice cup of tea and it's lukewarm? Maybe a nice cup of coffee, you know? Lukewarm. How do you like it? Probably not. Now what's interesting, What's Christ's response? I wish that you were cold or hot. He said, I would rather you were just absolutely cold to me. Spiritually cold or hot. One or the other. But this lukewarm thing is disgusting. How does he express that? Because you are lukewarm, neither hot nor cold. And notice he really emphasizes. Neither hot nor cold. He says that twice.

I will spit you out of my mouth. And that word translated spit is not quite the right word. There is another Greek word for spit. This one means vomit. I will vomit you out of my mouth. That is how disgusting he sees their lukewarmness. His words are more extreme than the English brings out. So we could translate it this way. Because you are neither hot nor cold, I will vomit you out of my mouth. That is how extreme it is to have this lukewarm character, spiritually. Why would Christ be so intense about this? I mean, those are pretty extreme words to say. What's the problem with being lukewarm, spiritually lukewarm? You don't see a need for God. You're self-sufficient. Yeah, hey, I kind of need God, sort of.

He's sort of an optional. I'll call on him when I need to. If I'm ever desperate, and it hasn't happened for a while, I'll give him a buzz. Yeah. Well, I think it's interesting. Paul was referred to as being zealous. So he was against the church, that he could use him. All he needed to do was change his perspective, but his motivation was such that he could be used. Yeah, and it's a good thing you brought up that word, because that word is hot. Zealous is hot.

The Lord is not interested in our having a spirituality towards Him. that is lukewarm. The Lord does not want us to look upon the Lord as optional. Lord, just hang out. I'll call you when I need you. Oh, by the way, it's been a while. Lord, just kind of hold off. Don't bother me. Just kind of stay there. In case I need you, I'll give you a buzz. Hold your breath. I'll call you. Yeah, don't call me, I'll call you, Lord.

Yeah. Yes? It's also the sign of a good negotiator. Okay. Because you really aren't for one side or the other. Okay. And you give in and make deals. Good negotiator, why? Real easy to compromise. Not committed. Yeah, yeah. It's easy to compromise, not committed.

Yeah, just here, there, I don't care, whatever works. spiritual lukewarmness. What does Christ think about it? Upchuck! That's what he says. And our translation, spit, that's too mild. It is definitely, in the Greek, vomit, upchuck, puke. No wonder it was saying that the new vernacular is url. Hurl. Yeah, feed the fish. Whatever you want to do on it.

But Christ's words here are extreme. This hot or cold thing, he says twice. He jumps right past the list of things that they do. He says, I know your deeds, but they're not even worth talking about. Let's get to the most important topic right now. Let's talk about this. You guys are so lukewarm, it makes me want to puke. How about that?

The Lord's words about their spiritual tepidness, they're not minor and mild. They're extreme, they're intense. Why does that matter in life? Why does that matter that we be hot or cold? Well, that's what he wants. It's pretty important. Since he's the one we're trying to please. Yeah. When this life's all done, what are you left with? You're left with your relationship with the Lord, right? Yeah.

Why would the Lord prefer cold to lukewarm? How about somebody that says, well, I believe in God. I'm just not quite sure what to do with it. When you're cold, you can come to a point of seeing your need for the Lord, and when you're lukewarm, I don't think you do. Yeah.

Yeah, this lukewarm thing, it is amazing that the Lord's response to that would be so extreme. So extreme, let's not even talk about the stuff you guys do. I know your deeds, but let's just get past that. So extreme that He would not address it with, it kind of bothers me a little bit. but instead would just say, I want to puke.

Yeah? I think our testimony about Christ and us as we're his lover to everyone else is that if, you know, we're lukewarm, we're not attracting people to Christ with our lives. Ah, that's the thing. What good is lukewarm? She makes the point we're not attracting people to Christ. What good is lukewarm? How good is that? What's the value in being spiritually lukewarm?

There must be some advantages to it. These people were gravitating to it like crazy. What are the advantages? Can you help me here? Usually, lukewarm indicates that there's other priorities. Since these are rich people, they're willing to do and say almost anything to save their priority, which is their wealth. Other priorities? Let me tag on something else to that.

Other dependencies. We are, as human beings, dependent people, are we not? We are dependent people. And what he's pointing out here is, where's your dependence? Oh, no problem. I'll tell you where my dependence is. It's in my pocketbook. It's in our commercial resources here. We have a great medical school here, and, well, we depend on it, believe me.

We're noticing so much of that now with the people that got ripped for $85 billion by one individual. Yeah. And one person here in town, I vaguely know, He got taken for almost a million dollars. Now, he's wealthy enough that, as he said, it's not going to kill him off. He's not going to take a long walk off a short pier, but he is a million dollars to anyone around him. He's significant.

And that's where they're putting their faith right now. The fact that they've lost that million dollars or two million or whatever. They're not turning, I don't think, to the Lord. The current financial trauma really underscores, it tests the statement in God we trust, doesn't it?

Do we? We're debating right now again whether we should keep that on the coin or not. Yeah, yeah. Do we keep that on the coin? Well, where's our dependence? That's really what this is pointing to as well. Where's our dependence? If I'm not fellowshipping with the Lord, with what or with whom am I fellowshipping? Do I fellowship with stuff? Does my Cadillac make me feel cozy?

Like Silversticker, he who dies with the most toys wins. Yeah, he who dies with the most toys wins. The thing that Christ is pointing at here, this is not just some theological point to ponder. This is real heart stuff. This is eternity stuff, isn't it? Because it really comes down to, what does the Lord want? I mean, here Christ died for our sins, and He was buried and resurrected, and here we can look forward to eternal life. What does the Lord want right now?

He says, I want hot or cold. This lukewarm stuff, I'm not just sort of here nor there about it. This lukewarm stuff, that makes me nauseous. I want to puke. He says, I want hot or cold. I want hotter coal, and even better coal than lukewarm. Lukewarm is the worst. Lukewarm is the worst. It seems people are attracted to a lukewarm spirituality because it's not the Amen, it's not full truth.

Yeah. It's lukewarm, so it's easy. And where they're being attracted to, it's not. Relationship with the Lord is at your convenience. Relationship with the Lord is when I need Him. Not realizing I always need Him. Think of the I'm looking here at the bottom part of page four.

The physical characteristic of the water made a perfect illustration for the spiritual characteristic of the church in this city. The saints at Laodicea had simply become so complacent that they were spiritually lukewarm. They were neither refreshing to the spiritually weary nor therapeutic to the spiritually ill. If you were cold, you'd be refreshing to somebody. If you were hot, you'd be therapeutic. But as it is, you'd just make me sick. Ephesus had lost its first love of Christ and from Christ. Sardis had lost its light, which only comes from dependence upon Christ. Laodicea had lost its zeal for Christ and the zeal which comes from Christ. Lost, lost, lost.

Isn't that something? Are they Christians? I didn't question that. But isn't it interesting to look at these three churches, Ephesus, Sardis, and now Laodicea. They're not lost, but they've lost something. You see the distinction there? And isn't it interesting, they haven't lost their salvation, but they've lost something big. They've lost something big.

Let's take a look at page 5 there. Verse 17, Because you say, I am rich and have become wealthy and have need of nothing, and you do not know that you are wretched and miserable and poor and naked and blind, I advise you to buy from where? 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. I say I have to anoint your eyes so that you may see.

Key point here, worldly wealth can cloak spiritual poverty. Worldly wealth can cloak spiritual poverty. I would suggest to you that this is the illusion that a great many in America have bought into. worldly wealth cloaks spiritual poverty. It is like a blanket of invisibility. I have worldly wealth, therefore I don't have any need. The reality is the need is great.

In Colossians, and Colossae was just an upstream town or city there, Colossians 2, 1 through 3, Paul had written several decades earlier, For I want you to know how great a struggle I have on your behalf, and for those who are at Laodicea, and for all those who have not personally seen my face, that their hearts may be encouraged, having been knit together in love, and attaining to all the wealth that comes from the full assurance of understanding. All the wealth. All the spiritual wealth. resulting in the true knowledge of God's mystery, that is, Christ himself, in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge." How many of them? What percentage? All. All. Even Paul writing to a neighboring church and even mentioning Laodicea here puts the emphasis where it needs to be. Apparently the folks at Laodicea didn't heed this letter.

When Christ says that they are wretched, it means that they are in awful conditions. The same word Paul used in Romans 7 when he says, O wretched man that I am. Have you ever seen anybody this wretched? That's what he's calling these people. He said, hey, we're the banking capital. We've got a medical school here. We have great products. We are commercially on the top. We make money like crazy around here. He says, no, you're wretched. Spiritually, you're wretched. He says, you're miserable.

That Greek word means to be worthy of extreme pity. How about that? Worthy of extreme pity. It was used of those who had been pillaged and devastated by an invading army. They were in the worst possible state. When Christ tells them that they are poor, He says that they are like stooping beggars. This was the word here for the poorest of the poor. You are below subsistence level. Spiritually speaking, you're below subsistence level. Scavenging for crumbs. That's a sharp contrast from their self-assessment that they don't need anything. Oh, I need nothing. I am so self-sufficient.

Christ says that they're blind. He's likely making reference to the fact The Laodiceans produced from some of the local clays and from olive oil a renowned eye salve. Here is a marker for stamping the eye salve. What they would do is they would make a container of this eye salve with olive oil and a local very fine powder that people would apply to their eyes if they had eye problems. and they would wrap it up and then they'd put a wax seal on it and then stamp it with a stamp like this that has kind of edge markings so they would have the right words on it, you know, from Laodicea. This is Laodicea and Isav. And so here they had this famous Isav. On top of that, there was also a well-known medical school that was located there in Laodicea.

And so what does he do? He comes to them and says, you guys are blind. Wait a minute, we've got the very best eye salve in the whole area. I mean, it's even world-renowned. We've got an excellent, outstanding medical school. No, you're blind. Then Christ informs them they're naked. We mentioned earlier that they were famous for this wool, this black wool, very soft.

And it even became kind of a trade name. It's loud to see and stuff. Just kind of like we have certain trade names in our clothing industry that almost stand for something. Like we'll use, for example, the name Levi's for anything that's, you know, a denim, blue jeans or something of that sort. The trade name takes it over. Well, they had a fabric that was like that.

So what does he say? You guys may have the best fabric in the world, but you're spiritually naked. You guys may be famous for what you wear, but when it comes to spiritual things, you don't have any clothes on. Nothing. So verse 18, what does he begin doing?

He is pointing them, he says, you guys have great spiritual need. Trade all your physical assets for spiritual assets. It's a bargain. You guys need to come to me, he says. I advise you to buy from me gold refined by fire so you may become rich. By the way, if he says you need to become rich, guess what they are? Not. Not rich, right?

And white garments so you may clothe yourself that the shame of your nakedness will not be revealed. Wow. They must be clothed in Christ. Clothed in Christ. An eyesalve to anoint your eyes that you may see. Right now you're blind. You need spiritual eyesalve. That's the only way you're going to see. Spiritual eyesalve. They need insights from Christ to see spiritually.

First half of verse 19, Christ says, Those whom I love I reprove and discipline. Ever been reproved and disciplined? The Lord loves you. The Lord loves you. Hebrews 12.6, For those whom the Lord loves he disciplines. He scourges every son whom he receives.

Why would you use that analogy of buying? We all do it. First of all, buying would be something they would certainly relate to. Yes. They have the resources to buy. He's going back to the same thing again. Okay. Alright. They have the resources. What else?

The only reason that we have, really truthfully, any reason to buy anything from the Lord is because it comes from Him to begin with. We have nothing to trade in, spiritually, of ourselves. No. The only reason that we can do any of this buying is because of the Lord's assets. In truth, it's all His to begin with.

So is he saying, when he's having fun, is he saying, invest my body, invest in me? Because, like you said, he has nothing to trade. with what the Lord has done for them and made them to be and given them graciously the riches of his grace it's only by his wealth that they can buy It's only by his investment in them, so to speak, that they have anything with which to purchase what he's asking them to purchase. He's telling them to be the buyers. Yeah, isn't that something? Yeah. Yeah. They have nothing to trade. Yeah.

And he uses this word picture, buying, because that's something they would very much relate to. We're into buying and selling, right? We're into selling, and he's saying you need to buy. And in the context of these verses, I mean, 17, he just said, because you say, I am rich and have become wealthy and have neither nothing, I do not know that you are wretched, miserable, poor, blind, and naked. I counsel you to buy our meat. I think that God loves the goods that they have. And he's telling them, no you don't, because you're blind, you're poor, but you can come get everything you need from me.

Suppose we had eyes. that when people walk into the room, we saw what they were like spiritually. Not this stuff, but we saw them dressed with how they were spiritually. What if we had eyes that could see like that? That's essentially what the Lord does, isn't it? Everybody's interested in what does this look like, right? What's this outer stuff look like? But imagine if we saw people as they were in truth, spiritually. I'm afraid a lot of people would be skeletons walking around, right? Others, yeah, you're alive, but you've got nothing on, you can't see, right?

That's His assessment. That's what the Lord is doing here. He's giving that assessment of this is what I see, because He does see things that way. That's exactly what He sees. He says, here's my size up. He says, therefore be zealous. This is his hot. This is the word hot. Be hot.

Be scalding and repent. Now one of the things we have in a text box there off to the side on page six is what repenting is and what repenting isn't. We say there that repent, the English word, has the idea of sorrow or contrition. I feel very bad for my sins. But that's not what repenting is. The Greek idea focuses more on total change in thought and then behavior based on the fundamental change in terminal values, that is, the values that really count, the values of God, and indicates that we are to make a decision decisively. that we really get it about a change of mind. Not just feeling really, really, really, really bad. Not the blues. Repent what it is not.

It's not a vow never to do it again. It's not a determination to do better next time. It's not a promise to serve the Lord. It's not crawling our way back to God. It's not a guilt complex where we feel bad about our sins again and again and again. It's not a legalistic way of trying to get God's approval for our best efforts. So that's what repenting is and is not.

He says, therefore be hot and have a deep at heart change of mind. Total change of perspective. That's what he's getting at here. You guys are lukewarm, so lukewarm it makes me want to puke. I urge you to be hot. I urge you to have a complete change of mind and heart so that you are hot. That's what he's telling them.

The last couple of verses there. Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come into him and dine with him and he with me. How many of you have heard this used as an evangelistic verse? Is it an evangelistic verse? Who is it written to? Lukewarm Christians. It's written to lukewarm Christians. Christ is standing at the outside. Now notice he says, I knock if anyone hears my voice.

In our culture, we knock on the door. In the New Testament era culture, what you did is you knocked on the door and you called out. That's why, you know, you knock, he knocks, and then if anyone hears my voice, okay, because you would go, I'm here, this is Vern, and I'm here to visit you, I'm coming for dinner, and that's what you would do, okay? And you would do that, and you wouldn't wait until they came to the door to talk to them, you'd start talking through the door, okay? And the hope would be that the people inside would hear your voice and would, you know, recognize what's happening. I guess they didn't have those little peepholes with the lenses, you know?

So, that's what Christ is doing here. He says, I'm knocking at the door and I'm calling out, Hello Laodicean Church! I'm here. Do you realize who's at the door? I'm outside and I shouldn't be. I'm outside and I'm calling you. I've been calling for the last several years. And you haven't heard me. Behold, I stand at the door and knock, and I've been calling and I've been knocking. I'm on the outside.

Will you please let me in? Because if you do, I'll come in and fellowship with you and sup with you and eat with you. I'd like to do that. You see, he's being very personal, isn't he? He could come in and say, boy, I'm going to wipe you guys out. But he's being very personal. He says, I really want relationship. I really want fellowship. I really don't want to stand here at the outside and be calling and calling and calling. I'm supposed to be inside fellowshipping with you. I'm supposed to be inside dining with you. Or as Colossians puts it, Colossians 16, let the Word of Christ dwell in you richly. Richly make His home in you.

What's the difference between your home and a motel room? Motel room, you really never make it your home, do you? At least hope not. The home, you want to dwell in your home richly. You want to have all the place, the whole place just so that it looks and feels like your place. It's a place that you can put all your little nooks and crannies, every little personal mark. That's what Christ wants to do. He wants to come in and dwell richly.

He says, I shouldn't be on the outside knocking like this. I shouldn't have to be on the outside calling out for years like this. He says, because I want to fellowship with you. Notice, I will come into him and dine with him and he with me. So notice it's two ways. I want fellowship that goes back and forth. It's interesting. I want fellowship that goes back and forth.

One of the problems if you ever have a relationship with somebody where one person is doing all the talking, By the way, I hope I'm not doing that. But if you ever have a relationship where one person's doing all the talking, that's not quite satisfactory, is it? It's not really something you enjoy or look forward to. He says, I want this to go both ways. I want to have true fellowship and depth of fellowship with you.

And verse 21 there, and it's pivotal, He who overcomes, and by the way, he who believes, that's 1 John chapter 5, is the one who overcomes. I will grant him to sit down with me on my throne, as I also overcame and sat down with my father on his throne.

Yeah? Do you think what you previously talked about could refer to that passage that says, I never knew you? I don't think it's about the I never knew you passage, because that's the person who truly is not saved. This is one where Christ belongs, you know, they're fellowshipping. And the knocking on the door and calling is not about the I never knew you, but he says I do know you, but I should be on the inside.

I should be fellowshipping with you, and it should be both ways. We're about to see in the very next chapter, the beginning of the next chapter, where this particular talking about sitting on the throne with me fits in. But it also fits with our position in Christ, that is who we are in Him, that we are already in our position seated with Him. So this is making it into a full reality. And we'll see the very next passage we get into what this is talking about.

We read Ephesians 2, 4-7, But God, being rich in mercy, because of his great love with which he loved us, even when we were dead in our transgressions, made us alive together with Christ, it is by grace you have been saved, and raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus. Done deal. In our position in Christ, that's already done and accomplished. It will be fully realized even to the point where we are with the Lord. When we go to be with the Lord, it will be described in the very next verses in the chapter that follows.

He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. Can you hear it? Can you hear what the Spirit says? And one of the things that the Lord has just focused on, that that hearing also has a responsiveness to it. Responsiveness of heart. Right? How do we know that we're hearing what the Spirit says? How do we know? Mike's holding this black book up. What's this? Bible. Okay. It bears witness with our spirit. Okay. It bears witness with our spirit. Okay. Good. Anybody else have something to add to that? Yeah.

This is kind of Triton probably. used way too much, but you have a feeling of peace in what you do or in a situation after you've prayed about it. He says you have a feeling of peace in what you do, having prayed about it. When it seems unnatural to our natural inclinations. It seems unnatural to our natural inclinations. Anything else? You need to be hot or cold. There you go. As you look at it, we at certain times, aside from doctor visits, might want to take our temperature. How's the spiritual temperature doing? I don't think you can get anything to read that at the drugstore. But how's the spiritual temperature doing?

He's got that as a part of his urging. Be zealous. Be hot. Be zesty, is his urging there. Be hot. The believer who is responsive is hot. And what does hot look like? Hot recognizes our constant need for the Lord. Hot does not get sold out on the illusion that being physically well off means I must be spiritually okay. Haught continues to recognize our dependence upon the Lord. Haught continues to have fellowship with Him.

Is the eternal relationship there? Yeah. For everyone who believes that Christ died for his sins, buried, resurrected, and that person is saved. But that's relationship. So that's not an issue. What's at issue here is fellowship. How's that fellowship doing? How zesty are you? How hot are you? That's the question.

Let's pray. Lord, as we look at this passage, it's down to some real important and basic issues. And certainly in our culture, it's real easy to get drifting towards lukewarm. But Lord, it's become very clear as we look at this that you don't want lukewarm. And in fact, The measure of hot is our fellowship with you. Draw our hearts to that. Help us to recognize our need for you and help us to see that nothing else will compensate. Nothing else will replace that need for you. Give us eyes to see and ears to hear. In Jesus' name.