"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." Revelation 3:15-16

This week we address the seventh and final church in Revelation, the church of Laodicea. The city of Laodicea was located 90 miles due east of Ephesus, and 45 miles SE of Philadelphia. This was a wealthy city controlled by Rome. Let’s look at our first verse:

To the angel of the church in Laodicea write:
The Amen, the faithful and true Witness, the Beginning of the creation of God, says this:

The Amen is the One who guarantees confirmation and certainty of all He says. Jesus is always found faithful and true. This is one of His names in Revelation 19:11. For those of us who know Him we know how fitting that name is. He is, and was the beginning of Creation!

He then proceeds to tell the church He knows their deeds as He has all the churches. They are severely condemned for being lukewarm Christians, being neither hot nor cold. God is not a half way God. He is a radical, extremist God in His love for His children. He gave His very best to us, His Son. Jesus gave all He had, His life. That is radical! I love the character of our God. I agree whole heartedly with His idea of love. I don’t like friends who are lukewarm. I don’t like training clients who are lukewarm in their efforts. If we are His children, no matter what we are doing we should be giving our all to follow Him. The greatest offense to God, it appears is to be halfway loved, because that isn’t true love. I think second to that offense is when you have marriage partners who are lukewarm in their commitment to marriage. It takes two fully committed giving their all to have what God intended in all meaningful relationships, including parenting and grandparenting. Our purpose in life is to bring glory to God with our lives, and there is no way to do that unless we obey the first and foremost commandment to love Him with all our heart, mind, body, soul, and strength. He is an all the way God or nothing!

I must confess I feel the same way, because I belong to Him, and He sets the standards for my life. It doesn’t mean I always achieve what I desire, but when I know I have honestly given my all, it is all required. When He declares, " I will spit you out of My mouth," it literally means to vomit. Let us ponder just how repulsive a half-hearted relationship is to our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.

Verses 17 and 18 read:

Because you say, "I am rich, and have become wealthy, and have need of nothing," and you do not know you are wretched and miserable and poor and blind and naked. I advise you to buy from 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, and eye salve to anoint your eyes, so that you may see.

This so adequately describes our American culture we have evolved into! We have become quite arrogant, and full of pride concerning material possessions with so called financial success, that we don’t have the character to manage. We really are wretched, miserable, poor, and blind as a result of seeking the deceitful lust of riches, not having eyes to see, or ears to hear, or a heart of wisdom, which only comes from God. We are encouraged to invest in the eternal riches which will come from God refined by the fiery trials of life as we trust and rely on Him. Everything temporal will end abruptly in the future. All that will remain is the spiritual life most of us are neglecting in our lives and our children’s lives. Repent before it is too late and make a u-turn. God help us to want to see the reality and truth of things to come.

In verse 19 He reveals:

"Those who I love, I reprove and discipline; therefore be zealous and repent."

One of the first revelations I received early in my walk with God was discipline is a form of love. Parents who love their children discipline them, teaching them right from wrong. I taught my children this truth which completely changed their response to being reproved. I disciplined them with the Word of God. It was established as the authority in our home. When they were unkind, lied, unwilling to share, disobedient, etc , we went to the Word of God and exposed their sin. They acknowledged it, ask for forgiveness, and then we prayed as they confessed to the Lord and asked for His forgiveness. It resulted as promised in His Word the peaceful fruit of righteousness in our home. (Hebrews 12:11) We must always be zealous to repent in order to be forgiven and cleansed from all our unrighteousness on a daily basis. (1 John 1:9) Please look up your scripture references.

How profound are verses 20-21:

Behold, I stand at the door and knock; if anyone hears My voice, and opens the door, I will come in to him and will dine with him, and he with Me. He who overcomes, I will grant to him to sit down with Me on My throne, as I also overcame, and sat down with My Father on His throne.

Jesus is a gentleman. He doesn’t force the door down; He knocks. You must give Him permission to enter into your life. It is your responsibility to respond to His invitation. He is always knocking on the door of your heart if you have ears to hear. Pray for that. He promises to dine with us and us with Him. This is when we are fed the Bread of Life. We eat of His Presence and Word and we receive Life. This is what enables us to be an overcomer. He only did and said what the Father told Him. He lived a life of total obedience to the will of His Father denying Himself. He is inviting you to join Him this morning at the table where we will no longer hunger and thirst for the things of this world, but we shall long for our life to come with Him in eternity. Read the description of heaven in Revelation 21:3-8. We will be invited to sit down with Jesus on His throne as He sat down with the Father on His throne. The qualification for Him and for us is to be overcomers as He was. Our final verse to all the churches and to us today is:

"HE WHO HAS AN EAR, LET HIM HEAR WHAT THE SPIRIT SAYS TO THE CHURCHES."

In His love.

Teresa Roberts

Masterpiece Fitness

www.masterpiecefitness.com

276-237-6680

This weekend we celebrated Caleb, my middle son’ birthday! The entire family enjoyed a morning of quail hunting at Dewitt’s Hunting Preserve in Ellerbe, NC and were served lunch afterward. Then an afternoon of skeet shooting! A very special, memorable time I thank my God for!