GET HOT!

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In Christ, Mark

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The scriptures. May God bless the reading of His holy word.

“To the angel of the church in Laodicea write:”

“These are the words of the Amen, the faithful and true witness, the ruler of God’s creation. I know your deeds, that you are neither cold nor hot. I wish you were either one or the other! So, because you are lukewarm—neither hot nor cold—I am about to spit you out of My mouth.”

Revelation 3:14-16

This ends this reading from God's holy word. Thanks be to God.

Out of the seven churches addressed by Jesus through letters in Revelation, chapters 2 and 3, the church of Laodicia is last. And as we’re going to see, He saved the worst for last.

Let’s look at His opening statement here:

“These are the words of the Amen, the faithful and true witness, the ruler of God’s creation. I know your deeds, that you are neither cold nor hot. I wish you were either one or the other! So, because you are lukewarm—neither hot nor cold—I am about to spit you out of My mouth.” 3:14-16

Just within these first three verses, we see Jesus speaking what could be considered His harshest comments yet about any of the churches, comments that contained an obvious disdain for the way the Laodician church was operating.

First, let’s look at the choice of words Jesus uses to describe the church, words that all related to temperature which would be easily understood and relatable to the Laodician believers.

Jesus starts by saying the Laodician church was not hot and He wasn’t speaking about how well the church may have been air conditions. Rather, Jesus is talking about the spiritual temperature of His disciples in Laodicia. For the church had lost its fervor for serving Him and carrying out their Gospel responsibilities.

You see, churches are most effective when they are on fire for the Lord, motivated and ambitious to do whatever is necessary to follow God’s will and carry out His plans to advance His kingdom on earth. Churches such of these would be considered “hot” by the Lord because they are made up of believers who are on fire for Him. They are Holy Spirit hot and this reminds me of the words of John the Baptist as he proclaimed Jesus’ arrival on the ministry scene. John said:

“I baptize you with water for repentance. But after me comes One who is more powerful than I, whose sandals I am not worthy to carry. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire.” Matthew 3:11

The moment someone believes in Jesus, they receive the gift of the Holy Spirit (Ephesians 1:13) and the fire that comes with it but believers can go astray and that fire can run cool, not hot.

Jesus was looking for His churches to be hot, red hot for Him. Laodicia was not but as we see in our scripture passage today, they weren’t cold either. A cold church is one that has no life. There is no forward motivation for the cause of Christ, no desire to reach out beyond the church walls to fulfill the Great Commission, evangelizing and making “disciples of all nations” (Matthew 28:19-20). They have no fire for the Lord because they choose to ignore the Spirit placed within them and so these churches become more like social gathering places than Gospel-spreading entities.

Now, this might make someone think to themselves, “Well, the church in Laodicia wasn’t all bad then, right? I mean, at least the church isn’t dead.”

Jesus speaks into this and makes sure all Christians know that any church who chooses to steer the middle between hot and cold, serving the Lord in lukewarm fashion, is actually the worst. In fact, He makes an amazing statement when He says He would prefer they were even cold rather than lukewarm.

"I wish you were either one or the other."

It’s obvious from Jesus’ words that a spiritual lukewarm attitude within a church sickens Him. In fact, He says He would "spit" the Laodician church out of His mouth and so His message is loud and clear to the Christians addressed in this letter and to us today.

Jesus cannot stomach a lukewarm approach to Christian faith and service.

Before I close this message, there’s one other point I think bears discussion.

For the spiritual reputation and status before the Lord will indicate the spiritual health of the congregation. Just as a spiritually hot church is that way because its members are on fire for the Lord and are willing to do whatever He calls them to do, the Laodician church and other churches like it were lukewarm because its members were lukewarm, spiritually neutral and neither hot nor cold. This conveys the following truth:

A church and what is able to accomplish is directly proportional to its congregants and their dedication and devotion to Jesus, the head of the church. Their association with Him, or the lack thereof, will be shown by the Gospel work they accomplish together.

Some questions for reflection:

1. How would you rate your church in terms of this message and the words of Jesus? Is it on fire for Him, sedentary and unmotivated, or lukewarm in terms of their service?

2. How about you as a Christian believer and your personal service to the Lord? Are you hot, cold, or in the middle?

This opening of Jesus’ letter to the church in Laodicea was meant to get the church’s attention and ours. Essentially, our Savior is calling the church and its believers to get hot if it isn’t already there. It’s a call for the church to reevaluate its priorities and work, fixing anything that isn’t completely Christ-focused. The way there might mean a return to spiritual basics such as committed, daily prayer, a rededication to read and carry out the Word of God, and a renewed connection with the fires found in the blessed Holy Spirit. When a church and its members revisit these spiritual disciplines, they can’t help but become energized and red hot, returning to the place Jesus desires, a place where He can use them for great and amazing purposes, all to His honor and glory.

Amen.

In Christ,

Mark

PS: Feel free to leave a comment and please share this with anyone you feel might be blessed by it. Send any prayer requests to TheChristianWalkPrayers@gmail.com.