Ten Minute Bible Talks Devotional Bible Study - Are You a Lukewarm Christian? | New Testament | Revelation 3

Episode Date: October 25, 2023

You've probably heard the term "lukewarm" thrown around. Why is it so bad to be lukewarm? Does God care if you're lukewarm? Should you be a hot or cold Christian? In today's episode, Jensen uses Revelation 3 to answer these questions and more. Your support makes TMBT possible. Ten Minute Bible Talks is a crowd-funded project. Join the TMBTeam to reach more people with the Bible. Give now. Join the TMBT community in reading the entire New Testament in one year. Get your FREE reading plan here. Like this content? Make sure to leave us a rating and share it with others, so others can find it too. Use #asktmbt to connect with us, ask questions, and suggest topics. We'd love to hear from you! To learn more, visit our website and follow us on Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter@TenMinuteBibleTalks. Don't forget to subscribe to the TMBT Newsletter here. Passages: Revelation 3

Welcome to 10-minute Bible talks, where we connect the Bible to your life and the time it takes to get to work. I'm Jensen Holt McNair. Are you a lukewarm Christian? You've probably heard this question before, or maybe at least just the idea of a lukewarm Christian is familiar to you. We often associate lukewarm as a middle ground. Not bad, not good, just not super on fire. We think a lukewarm Christian needs a pep talk. They need to go to a conference, get a new Bible study, restart the engine a little bit. It's not great to be lukewarm, but it's better than being totally cold or having no passion for God left. At least, that's how we often tend to refer to this idea of a lukewarm Christian. But did you know that the idea of being lukewarm comes from a passage of scripture in Revelation Chapter 3? You see, Revelation 3 continues along in the seven letters that

Christ has written to seven of his churches. Now, each of these letters follow a similar pattern. We have a specific description of the one who's writing to the church, that's Jesus, followed by a commendation and then rebuke of the church. Then Christ offers a solution to the people, reminds them of the consequences of disobedience, and ends by reminding the church of the promises for those who are faithful. Now, the very last letter, the letter to Laodicea, is unique in one regard. There are no positive remarks. It's all bad. It's all bad. It's really, really bad. And it's in this letter where Jesus calls the church in question lukewarm. And it begs the question, if in his letter to this church, Jesus cannot find anything positive

to commend them on, then how can our vision of a lukewarm Christian as being not great, but not that bad, be true? I think the answer lies in the fact that when Jesus talks about being lukewarm, He isn't saying what we often think he is. Let's just go ahead and dive into the letter that Christ wrote to the church at Laodicea and see if we can better understand what Jesus is saying to this specific church. Verse 14. And to the angel of the church in Laudisia write, The words of the amen, the faithful and true witness,

the beginning of God's creation. So Jesus begins this letter by reminding them of who he is. He is a faithful and true witness. All that he's about to bring against this church is to be trusted. And he's the one in whom creation was formed. He is eternal. He has always had and will always have a sovereign rule over creation. So before he begins his rebuke, he reminds this church of whom they're hearing from. They should heed his words. Continuing on in verse 15, 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 or cold, I will spit you out of my mouth. So here, Jesus says that he sees their works and that they are not hot or cold. They're lukewarm. He says he wishes that they would be hot or cold, but because they're not, he will spit them out of his mouth. And in scripture, we should note that the picture of being spit out of the mouth or vomited out of a mouth is a symbol of

severe judgment. There's nothing good about being lukewarm. It always seemed odd to me growing up that Jesus would rather I be cold or turn away from him than be lukewarm or half-hearted at times. And that is odd, because that isn't what Jesus is saying here at all. You see, the city that this church is in was located between two springs of water, a hot spring and a cold spring, and a cold spring. Both kinds of water were refreshing and useful in their own ways. Both hot and cold water are representations of something positive here. But in order for that city to get that water, it came in on an aqueduct, and by the time it got to them, it was lukewarm. It was no longer useful for refreshing them or warming them. Even more so, near the city was a river that was known

for being muddy and murky. It was undrinkable, un-useful. So when Jesus calls them lukewarm, they don't think half-hearted. When they hear hot and cold water, they wouldn't have thought on fire for God or turned off to God. They would have seen lukewarm as useless water and oftentimes potentially dangerous, undrinkable, something you would spit out of your mouth. lukewarm water was the worst kind of water and so we can better understand why jesus wants them to be hot or cold in their works active effective refreshing rather than lukewarm dead dangerous unmoving he continues to explain further what their specific problems are in this church what it is that's making their works lukewarm Verse 17. For you say, I am rich, I have prospered, and I need nothing, not realizing that you are

wretched, pitiable, poor, blind, and naked. You see, this city was a rich one. When they suffered a devastating earthquake, they declined money from the government to help them rebuild because they didn't need it. They were a self-sufficient, thriving economy. And so, Jesus calls them out in their pride and arrogance. They think they're doing great. They think they don't need help. Things are going well in their lives. They're comfortable. But Jesus is a faithful and true witness, and he has seen their hearts well enough to know that they are truly wretched, pitiable, poor, blind, and naked. Because we know that they were not these things physically, we can infer that Jesus is referring to their spiritual state. They may have had money beyond belief, but their spiritual lives are pitiable and poor.

Their works are lukewarm. They have neglected what is good. And Jesus tells them what must be done to correct the dangerous state they're living in. Verse 18. 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 reprieve. prove and discipline, so be zealous and repent. These people believe they are rich, comfortable, doing all right. But Jesus tells them they're the opposite. They've sought riches in the wrong places, sought comfort from the world, but Jesus tells them that they have looked to the wrong things. They may have gold and beautiful garments and enough money to fix their illnesses, but they are still spiritually poor, naked and blind. Jesus tells them that they must get the things they search for

in the world from him. No amount of money can save them from the brokenness of their hearts and this world. They need the riches of his kingdom, his white garment to cover their sin and shame, and his medicine to heal the blindness they have to truth. Verse 19 tells us that Jesus says these things. He disciplines and reprimands them because he loves them. And rather than continue to live in the lukewarm nature that they live, but they should become zealous and repent. Repent of the ways they've leaned on their own comfort, their own riches, their own prosperity to feel secure,

and instead recognize that their lukewarm lives are profitable for nothing. They're dead, unmoving, dangerous. They need to become zealous in pursuit of good works, being hot or cold water, a refreshing and useful and purposeful presence in their city, and they can only do it from an outpouring of the riches of Christ and His kingdom. They can remain lukewarm. They can remain comfortable with all that they have, but they will miss out on the riches of Christ.

Verse 20, Behold, I stand. at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come into 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. To those who are hot and cold, those who are zealous, those who repent, will eat alongside Christ. He will come and into their homes, he will bring them onto his throne in glory. Christ promises a future of blessing alongside him in his kingdom. I see, I can't help but notice that the Church of Laodicea faces a lot of

the challenges the Western Church finds itself facing. We have riches and comfort beyond what most have had throughout history. We're fed, clothed, and have comfortable bank accounts in case something goes wrong. We may feel as though things are going all right. We may feel we're not in need of much. And while wealth does not negate you from the kingdom of God, I wonder, I wonder if in our comfort, if in our pursuit of those riches, we've become lukewarm to the works of the kingdom of God. Rather than bringing life to the world around us, have we hunkered down and given ourselves over to the pursuits of the world? Have we neglected? in the work that we've been called to? Restoring justice to our communities. Sowing seeds of love,

serving those in needs, giving of our time and effort and money so that our neighbors can live in peace and prosperity alongside us. Have we neglected our duty to be hot and cold water, active, effective, refreshing, and instead become inwardly focused on our own little worlds, dead, useless, dangerous to the world around us. Maybe we need to hear the rebuke of Jesus as well. Maybe we need to remember the richness of life that he offers us, riches that will last be on death, garments that cover our shame and medicine that can heal our broken hearts. He offers us love, a place at his table, a seat of honor and glory in his kingdom. No amount of earthly riches, no amount of comfort or security is worth trading that for. The only real security we will ever have is in the promise of bodily resurrection

of the dead so that we can live alongside Jesus in his kingdom, a kingdom where we will find true comfort and experience the richness of fullness of life that we were created to live. Will we give our lives to Jesus? Will we give him our allegiance, our devotion? Will we allow him to slowly clean and purify the water of our lives so that we can become alive, effective, and refreshing to the world around us. Today, I would challenge you to spend time in prayer, repenting of the ways you may be living your life as lukewarm water, and ask that he would purify you and strengthen you to put your hope in the promise of his coming kingdom so that we would all,

becomes zealous in our pursuit of Jesus' kingdom.