WHAT SHOULD YOU AND I DO TO NOT GET LUKEWARM?
The letter to the church of Laodicea which became lukewarm.
Sakkie Parsons
Translated from Afrikaans: “Wat moet jy en ek doen om nie lou te raak nie”
Someone wrote and asked if I don’t want to explain Revelation 3:16.
We read, and I begin at verse 14:
REV 3:14-16 Message to Laodicea
14“To the angel (divine messenger) of the church in Laodicea write:
“These are the words of the Amen, the trusted and faithful and true Witness, the Beginning and Origin of God’s creation:
15‘I know your deeds, that you are neither cold (invigorating, refreshing) nor hot (healing, therapeutic); I wish that you were cold or hot.
16‘So because you are lukewarm (spiritually useless), and neither hot nor cold, I will vomit you out of My mouth [rejecting you with disgust].
First just the following:
Because of earthquakes, Laodicea today is a ruined city. There are only ruins and well-organized tours of the ruins if you want to spend the money to see them.
I now want to talk to you about the three types of people you found in the church of Laodicea.
I am also going to use three persons, or I should say, three personalities from our Lord’s precious Word, to show what I mean.
First, I will share with you about the person who is cold.
Why would our Lord choose someone who is cold over someone who is lukewarm?
In my answer, you must remember that I am now talking about people in and around the congregation of the gospel of Jesus Christ.
Usually they are family, friends or acquaintances of people who are already part of the congregation – but this is not necessarily the case.
You know exactly where you stand with them regarding faith in Jesus Christ.
They do not pretend to be someone they are not.
They don’t mind being associated with you, but they don’t believe what you believe, period. Yes, you know exactly where you stand with them regarding the faith.
Such people, who are cold when it comes to the gospel of Jesus Christ, you can however bring to Jesus, with your life and testimony of the gospel.
And such people are usually, as I have experienced in my more than 51 years of working for our Lord, when they are converted, great witnesses for Jesus Christ and I share with you the best example from the gospel of Jesus Christ that I know:
Few people, or I can say, no person in the New Testament of our Lord to us, was as icy cold towards the gospel of Jesus Christ as Saul of Tarsus.
According to the Word and his own testimony, he was guilty of complicity in murders and great persecution of the first Christians:
ACTS 9:1-2 The Conversion Of Saul
1Now Saul, still breathing threats and murder against the disciples of the Lord [and relentless in his search for believers], went to the high priest, 2and he asked for letters [of authority] from him to the synagogues at Damascus, so that if he found any men or women there belonging to the Way [believers, followers of Jesus the Messiah], men and women alike, he could arrest them and bring them bound [with chains] to Jerusalem.
Years later, Paul of Christ, who used to persecute Christians coldly, by way of Saul of Tarsus, wrote to one of the congregations he founded, as follows:
GAL 1:13 You have heard of my career and former manner of life in Judaism, how I used to hunt down and persecute the church of God extensively and [with fanatical zeal] tried [my best] to destroy it.
This then bring me to the warm person I want to use as an example for my explanation of Revelation 3:16 – namely Paul, (new person/personality) whom I like to call Paul of Christ. (Saul that became Paul after his conversion to Christ Jesus)
God can work with someone who is warm for the gospel of Jesus Christ
Paul wasn’t just hot, he wasn’t just bubbling when it came to the gospel of Jesus Christ, he was boiling over – and what can’t our Lord accomplish with someone like that?
Our Lord then used Paul to write most of the books of the New Testament and as far as content is concerned, he teaches us by far the most of all the apostles about the gospel of Jesus Christ.
However, I still must talk to you about someone who is lukewarm. This is the person who is about to be spat out figuratively by our Lord and who is an example of; if you don’t change immediately and really make things right with our Lord, you are going to get to a point where you can no longer fix your case with our Lord – simply, because you will no longer really care whether your case with our Lord is right.
Such a person was Judas Iscariot.
He was chosen by our Lord as one of the twelve apostles to help Jesus preach the gospel and to do much more. We read:
MAT 10:1 The Twelve Disciples; Instructions For Service
1Jesus summoned His twelve disciples and gave them authority and power over unclean spirits, to cast them out, and to heal every kind of disease and every kind of sickness. (And Judas Iscariot was one of the twelve who had power over evil spirits and who could heal everydisease and sickness)
However, Judas Iscariot began to listen to satan, and began to cool down – until he became so lukewarm that Jesus, who handpicked him, later testify about him:
JOHN 6:68-71
66As a result of this many of His disciples abandoned Him, and no longer walked with Him. 67So Jesus said to the twelve [disciples], “You do not want to leave too, do you?” 68Simon Peter answered, “Lord, to whom shall we go? You [alone] have the words of eternal life [you are our only hope]. 69“We have believed and confidently trusted, and [even more] we have come to know [by personal observation and experience] that You are the Holy One of God [the Christ, the Son of the living God].”
70Jesus answered them, “Did I not choose you, the twelve [disciples]? And yet one of you is a devil (ally of Satan).” 71Now He was speaking of Judas, the son of Simon Iscariot; for he, one of the twelve [disciples], was about to betray Him.
We must know and understand this clearly:
Our Lord will never turn His back on you or me – but you and I have a free will of our own. We are not God’s puppets, and our Lord respects our will, just as He want us to respect His will.
He hold us in his divine hand – but if we want to release our hand from His hand, He will respect our ‘will’ – but we will bear the consequences of such a foolish step.
Therefore, what should you and I do to not get lukewarm?
Jesus is saying to you and me, as He said to His disciples when satan attacked their human weakness:
MAT 26:41
41“Keep actively watching and praying that you may not come into temptation; the spirit is willing, but the body is weak.”
You see –
You and I must constantly examine ourselves, to see if we are still in the place in our spiritual life where we should be, because:
1PET 5:8 8Be sober [well balanced and self-disciplined], be alert and cautious at all times. That enemy of yours, the devil, prowls around like a roaring lion [fiercely hungry], seeking someone to devour.
If we do not watch and pray,
If we don’t constantly make sure that we still spiritually follow Jesus, we end up in the place where we sit in church on Sundays, and do everything that our fellow brothers and sisters do. In other words, to put it this way, sitting at the table with Jesus and our fellow brothers and sisters – and then in fact are on our way to hell:
JOHN 13:2 2It was during supper, when the devil had already put [the thought of] betraying Jesus into the heart of Judas Iscariot, Simon’s son,
Sakkie
Email: bediening@sakkieparsons.co.za
Website: www.sakkieparsons.co.za
Cell: 083 457 6669
Jude 1:24-25 To him who is able to keep you from stumbling and to present you before his glorious presence without fault and with great joy, to the only God our Saviour be glory, majesty, power and authority, through Jesus Christ our Lord, before all ages, now and forevermore! Amen.
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