Are you a zealous Christian? Or does your lack of passion scare you?
I've read about the lukewarm Church in the book of Revelation and always wondered if it was me. Upon further study of this passage, I finally understood what it means and Christ has become more precious to me! I hope you will find similar comfort after reading this post.
Revelation 3:14-21
Character of God
"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:" Rev3:14
In the beginning of this passage, we see who the author of the letter to the Church of the Laodiceans is.
Jesus is the Amen - all things He decrees will come to pass.
Jesus is the faithful and true witness - He faithfully speaks the truth about our hearts.
Jesus is the beginning of the creation or the first born of God – He has received the inheritance of God in becoming Lord of all.
How we see ourselves vs how God sees us
As faithful and true witness, let’s look at what Christ sees in the Church of the Laodiceans.
" 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 - " Rev 3:15-17
They were lukewarm. They were not zealous for God. They said they were rich and had no needs, but the faithful and true witness told them they were poor and utterly needy. How could there be such a contrast between what they saw and what God saw? Poor and needy didn’t describe their outward and physical state, it described their heart. In their heart they thought they were rich with their own righteousness and possessed goodness in themselves. They thought they were spiritually well off. They thought they knew God and rested easy in their own ideas. But they were deceived. They trusted in themselves instead of depending on God. It would have been better if they were righteous and didn’t know it, or wretched sinners and know it, than to believe they were righteous when they weren’t. Friends, this is the worst condition we can find ourselves in.
We become lukewarm and walk loosely in our Christianity when we don’t think we really need God. Yes, we may say with our lips we need God, but in our hearts do we have a real sense of desperation, neediness, hopelessness apart from God?
When was the last time you sought the Lord in tears, asking Him for strength because you know without it you cannot live a single second for His glory? Have you come to the end of yourself or do you still cling to that shred of self- righteousness? If the Holy Spirit was taken from you for a day, do you think you could manage? Do you think you happened to come to a correct understanding of God based on your own intellect?
Do you think you have a right view of yourself? Well, beware; God’s perspective might shock you.
"There is none righteous, no, not one;
There is none who understands;
There is none who seeks after God.
They have all turned aside;
They have together become unprofitable;
There is none who does good, no, not one.
Their throat is an open tomb;
With their tongues they have practiced deceit;
The poison of asps is under their lips; Whose mouth is full of cursing and bitterness.
Their feet are swift to shed blood;
Destruction and misery are in their ways;
And the way of peace they have not known.
There is no fear of God before their eyes." Rom3: 11-18
Danger of self-righteous living
God takes this seriously. Self- righteousness is a deceptive and deadly trap. It is a rejection of Christ and it hinders repentance.
Matthew Henry says,” Doubtless there are many in hell that once thought themselves to be in the way to heaven. Let us daily beg God that we may not be left to flatter and deceive ourselves in the concerns of our souls."
If you trust in your works, you are rejecting Christ. In saying you are good and righteous when you aren’t, you are actually clinging onto your sin and refusing the one thing that will save you from it. Not only that, Self-righteousness hinders repentance, because we won’t see a need to repent.
The remedy in Christ
So now we have identified the problem and the dangers of it. We believe that God is a faithful and true witness, and we acknowledge that we are wretched, miserable, poor, blind, and naked. Now what? It leaves us in a very hopeless and helpless state. Yes, and it is from this perspective that we see the mercy and graciousness of God.
"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." Rev 3:18
There are three remedies that Jesus supplies:
1. Jesus makes us rich.
We are spiritually poor because of sin. We can produce nothing of worth or value to the Kingdom of God. We produce nothing but wood, hay and stubble*, all of which will be burned on the day of judgment.
“…they were vastly in debt to the justice of God, and had nothing to pay the least part of that debt.” - Matthew Henry
Christ is the gold tried by fire. Jesus owns everything and it is of Him and is Him we must come and buy.
He is the treasure hidden in the field we should sell all to buy (Mat 13:44). He is the pearl of great price (Matt 13:46). It only costs us our sinful lives and our self-righteousness, which are empty, to buy Christ who is of infinite value, and graciously supplies all riches. We must give up our dependence on ourselves, to fill our every need in Him. Knowing God and resting in Christ’s work on the cross alone, is treasure and riches indeed!
“Part with sin and self-sufficiency, and come to Christ with a sense of your poverty and emptiness, that you may be filled with his hidden treasure.” - Matthew Henry
2. Jesus clothes us.
Like Adam and Eve, we have sinned, and our guilt and shame is evident. We may try to cover ourselves us by doing good things or forgiving ourselves, but in only results in leaf aprons (Gen 2:7) and filthy rags (Is 64:6). It won’t last and it doesn’t work.
White raiment is a picture of righteousness (Rev 19:8). We are clothed with white raiment, when we put our trust in Christ’s righteousness and not our own. When we trust in Christ, His righteousness is put on us and our sin and shame is put on Him and paid for – like a change of clothes. This doesn’t just happen once for our justification, but the Holy Spirit continues to cloth us as we become more sanctified. We are continually to adorn the gospel.
“…put off [your] filthy rags that [you] might put on the white raiment which he had purchased and provided for [you] – his own imputed righteousness for justification and the garments of holiness and sanctification.” - Matthew Henry
3. Jesus anoints our eyes.
When we are full of our own wisdom, we are blind to the things of God. Our eyes become closed in the stubbornness of our own will (Mat 13:15) so that we cannot see things from God’s perspective or understand the wisdom of His word. But just as Christ, during His ministry, anointed the physical eyes of the blind so they could see (John 9:6-7), He also anoints our eyes spiritually to see Him.
“… Give up [your] own wisdom and reason, which are but blindness to the things of God, and resign [yourself] to his word and Spirit, and [your] eyes shall be opened to see [your] way and [your] end,[ your] duty and [your] true interest; a new and glorious scene would then open itself to [your] souls;” - Matthew Henry
The blessings of resting in Christ
"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." Rev 3:19 -20
God loves His Church. He loves us. So he rebukes us as a loving father corrects His son, and calls us to repent. He calls us to find all we need in Christ and depend solely on Christ for everything. He calls us to be healed of our blindness and change our perspective of who we think we are to who God says we are. He knocks at the door. Whoever heeds this call will have sweet fellowship with Christ.
"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." Rev 3:21
Whoever overcomes this sin of self-reliance, will reign with Christ and share in His inheritance, for He is the beginning of the creation of God, heir to the throne of God. What blessings await those who depend on Christ! What promises are made by the Amen whose decrees will come to pass!
I pray that God impresses this on your soul: we are NOTHING; Christ is EVERYTHING.
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