Revelation 3, verses 14-22. This is lukewarm remixed, or revisited, as we had this morning's message on this passage. And I had planned to preach on this in the evening service, and then planned to only preach on the morning service, and now we're back at it again. Meditation on Scripture implies that there is new thoughts and new insights the more we dwell upon a passage of Scripture. And so, there's more meat on the bone. And so, we'll just continue to gnaw at it, and there's going to be new insights the Lord will give us. And so, Revelation 3, verse 14, And to the angel of the church of the Laodiceans write, These things says the Amen, the faithful and true witness, the beginning of the creation of God. I know your works that you are neither cold nor hot. I could wish you were cold or hot. So then, because you are lukewarm and neither cold nor hot, I will vomit you out of my mouth. Because you say I am rich, have become wealthy and have need of nothing, and do not know that you are wretched, miserable, poor, blind, and naked, I counsel you to buy from me gold refined in the fire, that you may be rich, and white garments that you may be clothed, that the shame of your nakedness may not be revealed, and anoint your eyes with eye salve that you may see. As many as I love, I rebuke and chasten. Therefore, be zealous and repent. Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and dine with him and he with me. To him who overcomes, I will grant to sit with me on my throne. as I also overcame and sat down with my father on his throne. He who has an ear, let him hear what the spirit says to the churches. Father in heaven, gracious God, the light giver, Lord, we are visiting the same passage that we looked at this morning. And in some regards, Lord, I'm thankful because there's so much here that it would not be right, it seems, to pass by so quickly and be tempted to forget so soon the necessary message and warning that you have given here. And so, Lord, thank you for opening up some new insights to us tonight that we can, Lord, see from more angles this precious passage, not only, Lord, in its beauty, but in its severity. And so, Lord, we thank You for the love of Jesus who warns us and chastens us. Lord, speak to us tonight. In Jesus' name I pray, Lord. Amen. I'm reminded of the Apostle Paul in Philippians. He says, you know, for me to write the same thing to you is no problem. It's no trouble for me and it's a safeguard for you. And so repetition in the Christian life is no problem for the preacher. It's a joy and a delight to do these things. And it's a safeguard for all of us to hear again and be reminded in the last song, tell me the old, old story says in there, I forget so soon. And so I appreciate the opportunity to speak again tonight on this important topic. I got one point I want to make. with six proofs. And the one point I want to make tonight is that lukewarmness is fatal. That's all I want to prove tonight. Lukewarmness is fatal. And if there's anything this passage can prove that should give us a sense of the greatness of what we're looking at, that's one of the great points that should do it. There are actually six insights that Jesus gives here that proves lukewarmness is fatal. Number one, judgment is according to works. I know your deeds, Jesus says. He uses our deeds, our actions, to ascertain the state of our heart. This is old doctrine. Jeremiah says the heart is desperately wicked, deceitful above all else. Who can know it? And God says, I, the Lord, test the heart. I try the reins to see what's in a man. And then I think he says to give every man according to his deeds. So to understand what's really in a person, the Lord tests us and ascertains from our deeds the state of our heart. Judgment is according to works. Note, I am not saying that judgment is from or out of works. Salvation is never from and never out of works. We know that from Ephesians 2, from Paul's teaching on grace, laid out throughout the whole scripture. Salvation is not of works. But if salvation has any meaning at all, it leads to works. If salvation means that it changes us, then there will be evidence of that change. And so judgment is according to works. This passage teaches that a lukewarm Christian lacks the works that indicates he should be accepted before God, that there's something in his heart that should be pleasing, that would be pleasing to Jesus. John the Baptist looked at the crowds that gathered on the Jordan and said, bring forth fruit in keeping with repentance. Jesus taught the crowds in Galilee and said, a good tree brings forth good fruit and a bad tree brings forth bad fruit. A tree is known by its fruit. Jesus told the parable at the end of his days of teaching, in the last week, where he said, he will separate the nations like a shepherd separates the sheep from his goats. And you know that old, that rich parable, how the one group cared for Jesus, fed him, visited him, and met his needs, which means they took care of his brothers, even the least of his Christians, and the other did not. And so, the judgment, the evidence that's brought forth in the final day is our works. Paul says in 1 Corinthians 3, that those which are wood, hay, and stubble will be burned up, and that those that are precious stones and materials shall be kept. Even in Galatians 6, Paul says there that, do not be deceived, God is not mocked. Whatsoever a man sows, that he will also reap. If we sow to the flesh, from the flesh we shall reap corruption. But if we sow to the Spirit, from the Spirit we shall reap eternal life. And so we see that there is a connection. If salvation is real and I receive the Holy Spirit, it will be evidenced in my life with a crop of good works. I have sown to the spirit and I reap eternal life. The spirit was not given to me by works. That's strictly by grace, having heard the message through faith. But once I received the Holy Spirit, he does something. And so the evidence that's brought forth in the final day is the work of the Holy Spirit. And so the judgment of the final day is in accordance with the works, which is really the works of the Holy Spirit. So that's a whole angle there hidden, not hidden, but it's supporting in a backdrop of verse 15 to 16. I know your works. I have tasted what you really are and I can't stand a lukewarm person. And if Jesus can't stand a lukewarm person, but spits him out, certainly they're not accepted into heaven. That's point number one. So because judgment is according to works, lukewarmness is fatal. Number two. Revived Christianity is normal Christianity. That's implied also in verses 15 and 16. Revived Christianity is normal Christianity. if only hot Christians enter heaven. And I'm talking about in general, like the whole scope of your life. Be warned on this. We know from the Corinthian church, there was a season where I can't speak to you as to spiritual people, but as to carnal. Or we know from the Hebrews that there was a season they went through where it's like you have to be taught the ABCs all over again. But I have hope, he says, in that same chapter of greater things concerning you, things that concern salvation. So he knows they're genuinely Christian, but they've lapsed into what would be like a coma. We can be close to dead for a season, but if we remain that way, you have to ask the question, am I alive at all? Maybe this is normal state. So If, though, we take verses 15 and 16, and Jesus spits out the lukewarm, that means they don't enter heaven. Who enters heaven? The hot. Verse 19 says, Repent, be zealous, be hot, and repent. So a revived Christian, what we would talk about a revived Christian, somebody that's on fire, somebody that's really serious about the Lord Jesus, That's actually normal, according to Jesus. This is not like, wow, that person has just, you know, gone above and beyond the call of duty. This is normal. If Jesus has his way about it, he would like every church to be hot. And if not that, at least cold, but none of them lukewarm. You see, it's that kind of feel. And so revived Christianity is normal Christianity. Paul has a command in Romans chapter 12 where he actually says, it's translated, be diligent, literally be boiling. Serving the Lord, that we should have a fervency, we should have a heat behind our service of the Lord Jesus where it counts and it means for something. That's a command. To ignore that command, to not stoke our furnace with good word and good deeds and opportunities to see God's Spirit supply grace in our lives is to be disobedient. Why do you call me Lord, Lord, and do not do what I say? Every one of us in this room has a command incumbent upon us to have a furnace stoked for Jesus. This is not optional. Revived Christianity is normal Christianity. Jonathan Edwards wrote a book many, many years ago in the aftermath of the Great Awakening, one of the church's great revivals, in which he, the book is called Religious Affections, and he is identifying what are the marks of a genuine Christian. And as he goes through those marks, he dismisses the emotionalism that comes and goes. That's not a mark. High emotions for a time are not a mark. And you go, hmm, that sounds hot to me. Nope, that's not what God's looking for. That's not what Jesus is about. It's not those spikes that often are followed by those lows. The stirred up of the meeting that goes away, or the campfire, as it were. Remember, where you confess and you get right with God, as it were, and it feels so good, and you go back and you're the same. After you go through the whole book and he brings out the scriptures, portion by portion, it finally comes down to the deep-seated affections of our lives. What we really love and what really moves us. That's where religion, true religion, is seated. What we really, deep down, the modern parlances are passionate about. What we really care about, what moves us. What's the fruit of the Holy Spirit? Very first one, right? Love. I think Jonathan Edwards was on. And if obedience is a mark of following the Lord, because we've been redeemed from sin, Romans 8, verse 3, in order that the righteous requirements of the law may be fulfilled in us who walk according to the Spirit, the righteous requirements of the law are two, to love God with all our heart and to love our neighbor as ourself. And so the mark of the Holy Spirit is love. Love fulfills the law. How many times do we see that? And so our deep-seated affections, what we really love, that is the furnace that is what is to be stoked, and it's the furnace that brings about the good deeds that Jesus is looking for as evidence of our salvation. So, first point is that judgment is according to works. Second point is that revived Christianity is normal Christianity. Heaven is an endless revival. If we don't want revival on earth, we don't want revival in heaven, because revival is revival. And a man who wants it on earth is a man who wants heaven. Revived Christianity is normal Christianity. Jesus accepts the hot Christians. Number three. Third reason why in this passage that lukewarmness is fatal indication here. Lukewarm Christians. calling them by what they would think of themselves to be a lukewarm Christian is devoid of the saving graces of Jesus Christ. The goods that Jesus says come and buy. Notice that the lukewarm here are actually poor. They have nothing that Jesus supplies. And they are told in verse 18, come, buy from me the gold that's pure, the garments that are white and the eye salve that can make you see. Which implies lukewarm Christians lack them. They don't have them. What are these graces? This is an interpretation. I will grant that. I mean, that's just to be taken for granted. Everything your pastor says, you need to take that way. If the Apostle Paul could be checked on in Berea, and those Christians, those Jews there, be commended by the Holy Spirit for doing so, please, check Bob. Okay? You can do that. So this is what seems to me to perhaps be indicated by the gold, the garments, and the eyesalve. The gold is a fired or refined gold. It's been refined in the fire, which seems to me to be faith. 1 Peter 1, I believe verse 7, speaks about a faith that's been refined or tested by fire, which is more precious than gold. Another reason why this is probably faith is that gold then becomes the means for buying everything else you need. And faith, we know from other scriptures, is the means by which we are given all the graces that Jesus supplies. 2 Peter 1 says, be diligent to add to your faith virtue and knowledge and self-control, perseverance, godliness, brotherly kindness and love. The whole gamut is added to our faith. Faith is the gold coin that we put in the hand of God again and again and again and we receive back the graces that we need for all of life. And so, It would seem like the gold here is the saving faith that obtains all the saving graces, all the goods that Jesus has in his store. The garments speak of a status of being able to stand before God at the judgment. Listen to Revelation chapter 16, verse 15. Behold, I am coming as a thief. Blessed is he who watches and keeps his garments, lest he walk naked and they see his shame. To be caught in the judgment without your garments is to be avoided. It would imply there is to be lost. And so we see these two scriptures. We see an initial cleansing of garments in chapter seven. After these things, I looked, verse nine, and a great multitude, which no one could number, of all nations, tribes, peoples, and tongues, standing before the throne and before the Lamb. Notice, they are able to stand before the judgment, because chapter six ends with the question, for the great day of his wrath has come, and who is able to stand? Well, here's a great multitude able to stand, and they're clothed with white robes. It's a sign of victory because they have the palm branches in their hands. Who are these, in verse 13, that are arrayed in white robes? John says, Sir, you know. Verse 14, these are the ones who have come out of the great tribulation and washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the lamb. Initial salvation. We come to the cross and from the cross our robes are made white in the blood of the lamb. Justification is the doctrine. We are reckoned righteous before God's throne. But a Christian must persevere and the Holy Spirit guarantees we persevere. It's a great doctrine, but we still must persevere. And so we read in chapter 3, in verse 4, that you have in Sardis a few names who have not defiled their garments, and they shall walk with me in white, for they are worthy. He who overcomes shall be clothed in white garments, and I will not blot out his name from the book of life. So that the white garments that Jesus gives is both the justification that we receive when we first come to Christ and the subsequent grace to maintain a holy life. Without which no one will see the Lord. And if we put those scriptures together of first getting cleansed garments and then keeping clean our garments, keeping them undefiled, we see those twin doctrines of justification and sanctification. Remember 1 Corinthians 1, verse 30. It's by God's doing that you are in Christ. And God made Him wisdom unto you. And God made Christ righteousness unto you and holiness unto you and redemption unto you. God makes Jesus everything that you need for a complete salvation. Everything. And so, there's no need to fear. You say, I am a dirty sinner. Yes, Jesus can be your righteousness. Well, you say, I'm a Christian right now and you're telling me I must persevere. Yes, Jesus is your holiness. And Jesus is your redemption. You will get there. Because salvation is dependent ultimately upon Him. And upon the God who placed you in Christ. It's really neat. Finally, the ISAF. The ISAF seems to be, obviously, it's something that we see. Perhaps it is coupled with verse 14, where we have echoes of chapter one, verses one and two. There's a revelation, something that's been unveiled, given to Jesus, that God intends for him to show things which must shortly take place. And so echoes of that are found at the beginning of the Church of Laodicea, that the Amen, the faithful and true witness, is giving a message. He's revealing something and he's showing something. And if you want to see it, I have eye salve that your eyes can be able, your blind eyes can see. And what are those things that you see? Glory that is coming, which is the source of our hope. It's so glorious and it's so filled with light that someday there'll be no more night and heaven itself is just one eternal day. And it's the Lamb and the God who is on the throne who are the light of that city. And if you want to see the glory to come, Jesus says, I have eyesalve that can make your eyes see. Which is really neat. How can we understand the book of Revelation, which is such a tough book? We go to Jesus. My eyes are poor. I have glasses. I can see, but I need more sight. And we go to Jesus again, and we see the glory. Flip it around. Lukewarm Christians see no glory. They see streets of gold. They see no more pain. But they don't see an endless communion with Jesus. Do you follow me? Heaven is not about the streets of gold or the endless pain as much as it is God is now tabernacling with men. That there is an eternal relationship of me with Jesus and with His Father. That's a glory that lukewarm Christians don't see. How do we know it? Because their bid later to have it. The knocking on the door, I will come in and dine with you and you with me. And they don't know it yet. So. First reason why lukewarmness is fatal. Judgment is according to works and lukewarm Christians lack them. Second reason lukewarmness is fatal. Is that revived Christianity is normal, lukewarm Christians get spit out. Third reason why lukewarm Christianity is fatal. is that they are devoid or impoverished. They do not have the goods that Jesus offers. And even if I'm wrong on the interpretation of what the gold, the garments, and the eyesalve mean, they still lack them. And Jesus says, you need them from me. And so they lack the graces that Jesus gives. Number four. Fourth reason that lukewarmness is fatal. Jesus is the friend of sinners, but He remains with those who repent. Remember that story that earned Him that title? Pharisees were grumbling. He eats with sinners, tax collectors and sinners, and all that. The occasion was Jesus had been invited by that ex-tax collector, Matthew. He left the table. He's an ex-tax collector. And Jesus had been invited to his house, and around that table were Matthew's compadres. And so all these sinners are around the table, and the Pharisees complain. Jesus' answer is remarkable. Number one, he says, where do you expect to find a doctor? Among the healthy or among the sick? It's a great answer. But don't stop there. The doctor dwells among the sick in order to heal them. Christianity is not about tolerating and accepting every sinner and every habit of lifestyle and leaving people there. Like, let's just open up arms and have a big tent. As Jesus said, I did not come to call the righteous, but sinners to what? Repentance. And so Jesus loves us too much to just dwell with us. He wants us to be freed of our sins, to be healed of our spiritual afflictions. He dwells among the sick to heal us. And so Jesus is a friend of sinners. As verse 19 says, as many as I love, which is be friendly towards, I rebuke and chasten. Therefore, be hot. and repent." The word love there is that word friendliness. It's not the word agape. That's a word that John reserves, it seems, to that special relationship in general that God has with his people. Yes, God agapes the world. Praise the Lord for that. But he also says, behold, what manner of agape, what love the Father has given to us that we should be called children of God. There's a special love there. But how neat that Jesus has a friendliness towards people he can't stomach. Now, that is an insight for us to grab and run with. If we would be like Jesus, we can be friendly with those that we can't stand in seeking their salvation. And that's what Jesus does. An example of this is found in Mark chapter 10, where it says there that Jesus loved the rich young ruler. That was an encouragement to me in my days of doubt. Because it showed me the heart of Jesus in calling. He's sincere. He means it. He wants the relationship. And so He calls us to repent. The fifth and sixth reason are actually shorter, so I'll just give them to you quickly. The fifth reason why lukewarmness is fatal is implied in verse 20. The phrase, behold, I stand at the door is very similar to phrases found at the same place in other oracles given to the other churches where he says things like, behold, I come quickly. And I don't think we should lose the larger context that when Jesus says, behold, I stand at the door, he is meaning I am ready to come and do something. Which can both imply, and praise the Lord it does, that if anybody hears and voluntarily welcomes Jesus, it means salvation. But it also seems to imply that if there's no response and the door is not opened, he's still at the door and he is, as verse 15 says, about ready to spit you out. He's about ready to judge. And so the phrases I come quickly can both imply salvation and judgment, even as the end of the book implies when he comes at the end. Salvation to those who are ready. Judgment to those who are impenitent and refuse to heed the warnings. Lukewarm, those who remain lukewarm don't open the door. But he still stands at the door and the threat of judgment remains. Final reason. It's in verse 21. Those who are lukewarm are called to overcome. There is a battle to win. There is a victory to be gained. And lukewarmness is seen as the great enemy that must be conquered. And so, to Him who overcomes, I will grant to sit with me on my throne. To reign with Jesus implies here that He doesn't yet have His throne. He has sat with His Father at the Father's right hand, but someday He will sit on His throne, as Matthew 25 says in Judge the Nations. But if we want to reign with Christ, we must overcome. It's a doctrine that Paul also teaches. John teaches it. But according to this larger context, Luke warmness is a disease that must be overcome. It is an enemy that must be defeated. Implies that Luke warmness is fatal. If I remain lukewarm and die that way, it defeated me rather than I defeating it. And therefore, I did not overcome. And therefore, I will not reign with Christ. So. Scooping all these reasons up, lukewarmness is fatal. Because judgment is according to works and lukewarm Christians don't have them. Because revived Christianity is normal, but lukewarm Christians are not revived. They're not hot. Because lukewarm Christians are devoid of the saving graces or goods of Jesus. Because Jesus is a friend of sinners, but remains only with those who repent. If I could put it in a phrase, if you want to sup and sit with Jesus, then you need to repent of your lukewarmness or He will spit when He has sipped you. And number five, lukewarm Christianity is fatal because at the door implies judgment is impending. He's about ready to spit out those who are lukewarm. And finally, verse 21 teaches lukewarmness is because there is a battle that must, lukewarmness is something that must be defeated. Please, hear me tonight. If we have entered a season where we are lukewarm, that does not mean that we are not a Christian. There are seasons like that. But if this passage means anything it is, Jesus is saying, get out of it quick. Make it your constant prayer to say, Lord, revive me. Stoke my furnace. I want to be hot for you. I want to repent quickly because I want to dine with you daily. And if that's the desire of our heart, we have and we know the heart of Jesus. He loves us. He wants to give it. He will give it. And so we can go in confidence that He will and that He will reward us with what He has promised to reign with Him. Take that. Let us take that with us to Christmas. All right? Let's pray. Father in heaven, Lord God, we commit our ways to you. We know, Lord, that we are prone to settle back, prone to cool. Praise you that you stir us up in the assembly. Praise you that you stir us up with the Word. Praise you that you stir us up with trials that force us to think and to learn of your Word. Praise you that you love us too much to leave us uncorrected and undisciplined. And so, Lord Jesus, we embrace it, your reproof and your discipline, and we ask that you will stoke our furnace, that we would be hot for you. Lord, grant us to be a church that way. Grant us to be individuals that way, to your glory, because these goods come only from Jesus. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen.