Following Jesus 114

Blog #2015-57 

Following Jesus: What kind of church are we? 

“And to the angel of the church in Laodicea write: ‘The words of the Amen, the faithful and true witness, the beginning of God's creation.

“‘I know your works: you are neither cold nor hot. Would that you were either cold or hot! So, because you are lukewarm, and neither hot nor cold, I will spit you out of my mouth. For you say, I am rich, I have prospered, and I need nothing, not realizing that you are wretched, pitiable, poor, blind, and naked. I counsel you to buy from me gold refined by fire, so that you may be rich, and white garments so that you may clothe yourself and the shame of your nakedness may not be seen, and salve to anoint your eyes, so that you may see. Those whom I love, I reprove and discipline, so 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 eat with him, and he with me. The one who conquers, I will grant him to sit with me on my throne, as I also conquered and sat down with my Father on his throne. He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.’” (Revelation 3:14-22 ESV)

What does it mean to be lukewarm? Essentially it means to be a hypocrite. A pretender. A person who is not passionate for what he is or what he is not. It is a follower of Jesus who is unenthusiastic, halfhearted, unexcited, uninterested and indifferent to the truth of God. It is a church or a person which is apathetic. 

It is a church which pretends to be something it is not to be, and pretends to not be something it is called to be. It pretends to be part of the worldly system which at heart is rebellious against God, when it is called to holy. At the same time, it pretends to not be the unique body of Christ called to be holy, and prefers to be nothing more than a social club or a source of community activities. 

Therefore, in light of this condition, what does the lukewarm Christian, or church, need? We will seek to answer this question from the text next time. Until then, Soli deo Gloria! 

The Lukewarm Church Needs Jesus Christ. Vs. 14. Jesus directs the Apostle John to write to the pastor of the church in Laodicea. Jesus identifies himself a final time to the final church listed in this section of Revelation. He calls Himself by three specific titles. 

The first word is Amen. Amen means a strong affirmation of what is declared. Essentially, Jesus is saying that He is by nature truth. Jesus is the God of truth. He is by His very nature. At this point, Jesus is not speaking of what He does, but rather who He is: true and truth.

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