Seven Letters - Session 8 The Church at Laodicea- The Lukewarm Church • (Illustrate with map of the churches) • The Church at Laodicea- The Lukewarm Church • Revelation 3:14-22 (NKJV) • Big Ideas: • Jesus makes it personal (intimate knowledge) of this church • No Praise and Exhortations • Corrections and Warnings • Lukewarm • True Riches • Answer the Door • Hope • A little History about Laodicea Jesus makes it personal (Revelation 3:14) 14 “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: Revelation 22:13(NKJV) 13 I am the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End, the First and the Last.” Lukewarm (Revelation 3:15-16) : 15 “I know your works, that you are neither cold nor hot. I could wish you were cold or hot. 16 So then, because you are lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will vomit you out of My mouth. • They were the “MEH” Church. (Illustrate with the Emoji) John 15:15 (NKJV) 15 No longer do I call you servants, for a servant does not know what his master is doing; but I have called you friends, for all things that I heard from My Father I have made known to you. Incorrect Perspectives (Revelation 3: 17) 17 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— Jeremiah 9:23-24 (NKJV) 23 Thus says the Lord: “Let not the wise man glory in his wisdom, Let not the mighty man glory in his might, Nor let the rich man glory in his riches; 24 But let him who glories glory in this, That he understands and knows Me, That I am the Lord, exercising lovingkindness, judgment, and righteousness in the earth. For in these I delight,” says the Lord. 2 Corinthians 3:4-5 (NKJV) 4 And we have such trust through Christ toward God. 5 Not that we are sufficient of ourselves to think of anything as being from ourselves, but our sufficiency is from God, • Holy Brokenness Matthew 5:3 (NKJV) 3 “Blessed are the poor in spirit, For theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Timothy 6:10(NKJV) For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil, for which some have strayed from the faith in their greediness, and pierced themselves through with many sorrows. Titus 1:16 (NKJV) 16 They profess to know God, but in works they deny Him, being abominable, disobedient, and disqualified for every good work. Deuteronomy 6:6-7(NKJV) 6 “And these words which I command you today shall be in your heart. 7 You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, when you walk by the way, when you lie down, and when you rise up. True Riches –(Revelation 3: 18) 18 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. James 4:17(NKJV) 17 Therefore, to him who knows to do good and does not do it, to him it is sin. “The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing.” Edmund Burke Luke 4:17-19 (NKJV) 17 And He was handed the book of the prophet Isaiah. And when He had opened the book, He found the place where it was written:18 “The Spirit of the Lord is upon Me, Because He has anointed Me To preach the gospel to the poor; He has sent Me to heal the brokenhearted, To proclaim liberty to the captives And recovery of sight to the blind, To set at liberty those who are oppressed;19 To proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord.” Loving Corrections (Revelation 3:19) 19As many as I love, I rebuke and chasten. Therefore be zealous and repent. Hebrews 12:7-11(NKJV) 7 If you endure chastening, God deals with you as with sons; for what son is there whom a father does not chasten? 8 But if you are without chastening, of which all have become partakers, then you are illegitimate and not sons. 9 Furthermore, we have had human fathers who corrected us, and we paid them respect. Shall we not much more readily be in subjection to the Father of spirits and live? 10 For they indeed for a few days chastened us as seemed best to them, but He for our profit, that we may be partakers of His holiness. 11 Now no chastening seems to be joyful for the present, but painful; nevertheless, afterward it yields the peaceable fruit of righteousness to those who have been trained by it. Acts 3:19 (NKJV) 9 Repent therefore and be converted, that your sins may be blotted out, so that times of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord, Answer the Door (Revelation 3: 20) 20 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. John 15:4-5(NKJV) 4 Abide in Me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in Me.5 “I am the vine, you are the branches. He who abides in Me, and I in him, bears much fruit; for without Me you can do nothing. James 4:8 (NKJV) 8 Draw near to God and He will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners; and purify your hearts, you double-minded Colossians 3:1-2 (NKJV) 3 If then you were raised with Christ, seek those things which are above, where Christ is, sitting at the right hand of God. 2 Set your mind on things above, not on things on the earth. There is Hope (Revelation 3:21) 21 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. Open our ears to hear. (Revelation 3:22) 22 “He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.” Jeremiah 33:3(NKJV) ‘Call to Me, and I will answer you, and show you great and mighty things, which you do not know.’ 1 Chronicles 22:19a (NKJV) 19 Now set your heart and your soul to seek the Lord your God. • Take Away Questions: • How have you been lukewarm or apathetic in your relationship with Jesus? • Have you looked at your physical circumstances as a mark of the quality of your spirituality and how loved you are by God? • What would it take for you to be zealous for Jesus once again? • How are you going to choose to listen to Jesus in a greater way in the days ahead? • Is there a door in your life on which you hear Jesus knocking today asking to be let in?