Revelation's Lukewarm Church

Revelation 3:15-16

“I know all the things you do, that you are neither hot nor cold. I wish that you were one or the other! But since you are like lukewarm water, neither hot nor cold, I will spit you out of my mouth!”

You are a Christian or you are not, you are ‘hot’ or you are ‘cold’, you are on fire for GOD or you do not know GOD. People that call themselves Christians, but live as though they never knew GOD, are lukewarm. Lukewarm 'believers' send a bad witness to people who do not know GOD. The non-believers see this person who claims to be a Christian; doing the same things they do, acting the same way, saying the same things. How are we to stand out, be a city on a hill, be a light in the darkness, be the salt of the earth; if we are no different than those without GOD. As Christ's represenatives here on earth, we are the Body of Christ; we are the Church. We need to love as Christ loved, the places our feet walk to need to be places Jesus would have walked to, the things our hands do need to be the things that Jesus would have used his hands to do. There’s a saying, we can’t just talk the talk, we need to walk the talk -but if you’re not going to walk the talk, then please just keep your mouth shut.

 “You are the salt of the earth. But what good is salt if it has lost its flavor? Can you make it salty again? It will be thrown out and trampled underfoot as worthless.”  (Matthew 5:13 NLT)

A person who claims to be a Christian, but loses their desire for GOD has lost their ‘flavor’ and are of no use to GOD. Our job as believers is to share the Good News of Jesus’ Salvation, to shine our light and share GOD’s love with others. “Little children, keep yourselves from idols (false gods)—[from anything and everything that would occupy the place in your heart due to God, from any sort of substitute for Him that would take first place in your life]. Amen (so let it be).”  (1 John5:21 AMP) If you are living only for yourself and your flesh, you are not building up the Kingdom of Heaven, you are tearing it down! In the Old Testament, the people of Israel were lukewarm, “Then Elijah stood in front of them and said, ‘How much longer will you waver, hobbling between two opinions? If the LORD is God, follow him! But if Baal is God, then follow him!” (1 Kings 18:21 NLT) You cannot follow GOD on Sunday, then follow ‘Baal’ (a pagan god, but consider Baal to be your flesh, the world or the enemy) on the other days of the week.

This doesn’t mean a person who has turned from GOD, cannot repent and turn back to GOD.  This is for the person who is being rebellious, knows they are wrong but have no desire to turn back to GOD. If you want to be right with GOD, you can always repent and HE will welcome you back into HIS arms whole heartedly as if you never sinned. “If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” (1 John 1:9 NKJV).  But don’t be lukewarm and repent with your mouth and continue to move in the direction of your flesh, the world, or of the enemy.

When you are on fire for GOD, you thirst for more of HIM, and you are hungry for more of HIS Word. You want to be stirred up, you want to do more for GOD, and you want to put HIM first in your life; not as an afterthought. Jesus said often that, “Anyone with ears to hear should listen and understand.” Mark 4:9, as my Pastor explained this verse last night, almost everyone has ears, what HE is referring to as ears, are our spiritual ears. As new creations in Christ, we have spirit ears, we can listen to more than just the words being spoken, we can be given discernment and ascertain the Will of GOD in our lives by praying and listen to the leading of the Holy Spirit.

Again, Jesus went on to say, “’For everything that is hidden will eventually be brought to light. Anyone with ears to hear should listen and understand.’ Then he added, ‘Pay close attention to what you hear. The closer you listen, the more understanding you will be given – and you will receive even more. To those who listen to my teaching, more understanding will be given. But for those who are not listening, even what little understanding they have will be taken away from them.’”  (Mark 4:22-25 NLT). There’s another translation that says instead of “the more understanding you will be given” it says, “the measure you give will be the measure you get back”. The more you want to learn, the more you want to read the Word of GOD, the more GOD will reveal and give you wisdom and understanding. It is part of the ‘you reap, what you sow’ principal, so it’s not just a desire and a want, you do have to put forth some effort. If you want more, you have to give more of yourself to GOD. Turn off the TV, step away from the computer, sit down and spend time with GOD, read HIS Word, talk to HIM (pray), and listen for HIM.

When we have a desire and we spend time in HIS Word and time in prayer with HIM. HE will stir us up, HE will cause a burning for more of HIM, and we will want to please HIM.  “...Didn’t our hearts burn within us as he talked with us on the road and explained the Scriptures to us?” Luke 24:32 As believers we are called to be a witness to others, by our actions and our words. Jesus commanded us, “And then he told them, ‘Go into all the world and preach the Good News to everyone.’” (Mark 16:15 NLT)  That is our purpose here on earth, we all have been given different talents, different skills, different abilities to accomplish this purpose, and each one of us has been commissioned for this task. So be ‘hot’ or be ‘cold’, make a choice, but do not be ‘lukewarm’!