DO YOU MAKE GOD SICK?

Have you ever drank “lukewarm” water? NOT very appealing is it. WE want cool refreshing water on those hot summer days and nice hot beverages when the weather is cold. It’s a personal choice and what we choose usually satisfies that desire. It’s all about us and what WE want.

What about “lukewarmness” when it comes to that spiritual part of us, the part that is connected to our Faith and our relationship with our Creator? How does it affect our relationship with those around us? Do we live our lives with passion or do we do just enough to “get by?” I could ramble on with my own personal observations and thoughts but they are not important. I will say this. There seems to be no effective purpose for “lukewarm things.”

What does our Creator God say about it? Glad you asked! Go to the book of Revelation and read the letter the Apostle John sent to the church of Laodicea. This letter was sent to a CHURCH that was compromising, conceited and Christless in it’s maturity. It was blind, poor and naked in it’s spirituality. NO church should ever want to hear the words spoken to this church in Laodicea.

As you study these letters to these 7 churches in Revelation you will learn that these letters were not only for these individual churches in their time but represent the condition of “THE CHURCH” from that time until the end of the church age, culminating in the last days of mans reign on earth. The church of Laodicea was AND IS the lukewarm church that will be on the earth in the latter days. It makes God sick! I would refer to it as the “disgusting” church because Jesus said He would “vomit it out of His mouth!”

Jesus refers to this church as neither HOT nor COLD. It was materially well off but they felt like they had everything they wanted so they needed nothing more. In reality they were the most needy of all the 7 churches! The Lord had NOTHING positive to say about this church and in fact it was the only church spoken of in this manner. Their indifference made God sick!

In the cronological order of the churches down through time, this church represents the church that would be alive on the earth when Christ returns as King of Kings and Lord of Lords at the rapture of the church. In Revelation 3:13 Jesus makes a statement that He used on several occasions during His ministry on earth. He said, “Whoever has ears, let them hear what the Spirit says to the churches.” You can bet that every time He said that, what came next would be of GREAT importance. We must pray for discernment!!!

In verse 14, the letter was addressed to “the angel of the church in Laodicea.” This is actually referring to the “Pastor” or “Shepherd” of the church who would be responsible for sharing the letter with others. God actually refers to them as angels. It actually amazes me that Pastors today are afraid to teach on Revelation. It is a very important part in teaching the ENTIRE counsel of God. It is the ONLY book in the bible that promises a direct blessing to those who read it and understand it, not just once, but twice!

Jesus speaks to this church like this. “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 VOMIT YOU OUT OF MY MOUTH!” Jesus claims that they think they are rich but that in truth they are wretched, pitiful, poor, blind and naked!

Jesus then goes on to counsel them to buy from Him gold refined in the fire to help them truly see their condition. He then gives them a warning and an admonition. He says “Those whom I love I rebuke AND discipline so be earnest and REPENT!” He then tells them/us that He is standing at the door knocking. IF we open the door He will come in and dine with us. Where better to be than sitting at a glorious feast with the God of the universe itself and not outside the door begging to get in.

This church is exemplified by deceit and superficiality! I believe that they are both proud AND lazy. They are caught up in a form of religion that lacks power and authority. I may be sounding harsh here but the time is here that men are not wanting sound doctrine. They want their ears tickled with promises that are NOT based in scripture and discipline that is void of painful consequences. NOT GONNA HAPPEN!

I consider this as my shoutout to those who are in for a rude awakening very soon. The Laodicean church was a lazy church. Their focus has been on it’s members, it’s programs and what has made them feel good and they become complacent in that. We are a christian family and should support one another completely but our primary call as individual christians should be to share Christ with a lost and dying world.

We only have one thing to truly offer back to a God who has given us everything and that is EVERYTHING! We should be offering others our hands and our hearts as an expression of Gods love toward us all.

We are facing a virus right now that could potentially cause great harm to many. We should take every step necessary to control it’s spread and limit it’s impact even at great sacrifice to ourselves. I also believe we should take every step necessary to fight the complacency and laziness that has settled over us spiritually. We need to care enough about other people that we will lay down things that are important to us to help them. I call this family where I come from!

Laodicea was a complacent church, a conceited church and a Christless church. They had everything but HAD NOTHING! Does that not sound like us? Are we busting out of the four walls of our church and rescuing the perishing or are we sitting snuggly by and just praying for greater blessing on ourself?

If our leaders will not or cannot coordinate outreach into our communities then only half the job is getting done. It then becomes the responsibility of the people to stand up and get involved! We MUST CHOOSE to love God, family and country and never look back, let up, shut up, slow down, back away, or be still unless God directs us…

He gave it ALL for us, should we not offer Him the same in return?

Don’t make GOD sick