Let's take our Bibles and turn
to the book of Revelation chapter 3. Revelation chapter 3. I'd like to deal this morning
with verses 14 through 22. I've entitled this message, counsel to a needy soul. As I was thinking on this message, the letter that was written by
the Lord, by the Spirit, through the hand of a man, John, to the
church, This thought went through my mind. What does the Lord have
to say to His bride? That's the bottom line. This
is a letter that I think contains a great mystery, great revelation,
but great comfort to God's people. It is one of those letters when
we first read it, it appears as though that there is hopelessness. But it is a letter that I believe
to the sheep, to God's elect. It displays great, great mercy
of Almighty God. The seventh letter. addressed to the churches in
Asia Minor. This letter this morning is to
you who are God's people, to you who are believers, to you
who are His elect, and to those that the Spirit of God gives
ears to hear. and to those that He leaves to
themselves, they won't. Each letter has been addressed
to the angel of that particular assembly that the Lord was pleased
to speak to. And He begins saying in verse
14, And unto the angel of the church of the Laodiceans, Right. There was a church that was located
in a city called Laodicea. Now, probably this assembly was
one that had been by the hands of the Lord Himself through a
preacher. More than likely, it was Paul
the Apostle, Bob, that the Lord used. Turn with me to Colossians
2. Colossians 2 and verse 1. This particular assembly had,
as the church had at Philadelphia, it had an open door set before
them that no man can shut. there was a place that the Lord
had raised up the gospel, the gospel of free grace. And probably,
as I said, Paul was the one that the Lord had used to raise up
this particular church. Paul speaking under the inspiration
of the Spirit of God in Colossians 2, verse 1, he said, For I would
that ye knew what great conflict or fear or care I have for you
and for them at Laodicea, for as many as have not seen My face
in the flesh." There was a church that was at the city called Laodicea,
and there was great fellowship. Turn over to Colossians 4. There
was great fellowship in this church. It was one that was noted
for hospitality and zeal in the gospel. Now, I'm not talking
about foolish zeal and, you know, just things that just don't matter,
religious stuff, to a person that knows not the Lord Jesus
Christ. It really doesn't matter to them. It's just foolishness. I mean,
you're just doing church. I remember when I was coming
up in religion, just religion. It just didn't really matter.
I mean, you know, I just went, as I said before, my mother wanted
me to. It wasn't any big deal. I didn't
really care, you know. You know, I just kind of, you
know, about done. How much longer, you know? How
long are you going to be rambling I've got stuff to do this afternoon.
But this place was a place where the gospel, the gospel of free
grace, sovereign, saving grace. These people were zealous. Over
in Colossians chapter 4, verse 12, Paul says, Epaphras, who
is one of you, a servant of Christ, saluteth you always, laboring
fervently for you in prayers, that you may stand perfect and
complete in all the will of God. For I bear him record that he
hath a great zeal for you, and them that are in Laodicea, and
them in higher Apollos." And he says, Luke, the beloved physician,
and Demas greet you. Salute the brethren which are
in Laodicea and Nymphos and the church which is in his house.
And when this epistle is read among you, cause that it be read
also in the church of the Laodiceans, and that ye likewise read the
epistle from Laodicea, and say to Archippus, Take heed to the
ministry which thou hast received in the Lord, that thou fulfill
it." The salutation by the hand of me, Paul. Remember my bonds. Grace be with you. Amen. It was said that the first
letter to Timothy, 1 Timothy, the epistle that we read called
1 Timothy, was actually penned by Paul, the apostle from this
church right here, Laodicea. So this is a church that has
heard and stood for the truth. as it is found in the Lord Jesus
Christ." Laodicea. Well, as in all the letters that
we've considered before, the six other letters that were written
to the churches, our Lord reveals His character through His attributes
or His quality or His characteristics. He says, in verse 14, "...these
things saith the Amen." the faithful and true witness,
the beginning of the creation of God." Now, these things that
were written concerning this church, first of all, from Him
who is the Amen. Now, in Isaiah 65, let me just
read this to you. Isaiah 65 and verse 16, it says
that, "...he who blesseth himself in the earth shall bless himself
in the God of truth. And he that sweareth in the earth
shall swear by the God of truth. Dave, you go and get you a concordance
and look up that phrase, the God of truth. This is how it's
interpreted. The Amen. When we pray together,
we end our prayers by this way. Amen. The God of Truth. So be it. Romans 3 verse 4 says,
ìLet God be true, but every man a liar.î Therefore, we conclude
that what is said to this church at Laodicea is from the mouth
and heart of Him who is the Amen. He is the Truth. And in declaring
Himself to be the Amen, the God of truth, we see that the Lord
Jesus Christ is God. Someone would say, well, isn't
that obvious? It is to a believer. They believe
it. They trust Him who is the Eternal
Son, One with the Father and Spirit, the Word Himself who
was made flesh. and in revealing Himself to be
the Amen, He is known by His Word as being the faithful and
true witness." This title is descriptive of the Lord Jesus
Christ Himself, the Anointed One, the Messiah, the God-Man,
the One who is the Judge of all the earth, the One who declares
that which is true What He does is just. Let me ask you this. If Almighty God saves a man or
a woman, saves them from their sins, is He Himself merciful? You'd say, oh yes, sir. Yes,
He is. Let me ask you this. If He leaves a man to himself,
to do just exactly what that man or woman wants to do and
lets them go to hell because they want to. Is He just in doing
that? Yes, He is. Yes, He is. If Almighty
God saves one out of darkness, it is to the mercy of His grace. But if He leaves a man or a woman
to go through this world as a rebel, He is right. The judge of all
this world is going to do right. And then he said of himself,
he said, I am the beginning of the creation of God. Colossians
1, 15-17 says, Who is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn
of every creature? For by Him were all things created
that are in heaven, that are in earth, visible and invisible. whether they be thrones or dominions
or principalities or powers, all things were created by Him
and for Him, and He is before all things, and by Him all things
consist." That means they exist in harmony to the glory of Almighty
God. Everything that you see or you
don't see, was created by Almighty God for His glory and for His
honor in revealing Himself to be the beginning of the creation
of God, knowing that everything was created by Him and for Him. Therefore, in the light of the
writing to the church at Laodicea, we realize that this church was
raised up for the glory of the Lord Jesus Christ Himself, for
His honor, for His praise. Now, obviously, we know this. When He spoke to this church,
now there's a miracle of God's grace that He said anything. I wonder how many churches, how
many buildings there were, how many assemblies there were in
Asia Minor at that time. Only seven of them heard from
the Lord. And the others were left to themselves. Of these
seven that the Lord spoke to, God revealed His great kindness. And He spoke to them. And in
speaking to them, we realize this from Isaiah 55, 11, that
goeth forth out of my mouth. Now, if God says anything, you
can bet This is what's going to happen. It shall not return
unto me void or useless, but it shall accomplish that
which I please, and it shall prosper in the thing whereto
I sent it. I don't want to go off on this
and start going off on another. set of notes here and I'm going
to try to stay with them as much as I possibly can. But do you
know how disrespectful it is to say something on this line? The Lord has sent His gospel
into this world and He's trying to see how many people He can
get saved. And if a man hears it, The Lord
wants to save him, but unless that man will give the Lord his
heart, God can't save him. I wish He could. That's the most
disrespectful and heresy I've ever heard in my life. Based
on the word of Him who cannot lie, He said, that which goeth
out of my mouth It shall not return unto me unprofitable."
Void. But it shall accomplish that
which I please. And it shall prosper in the thing
whereto I sent it. Brother Neal just read a passage
of Scripture and he said this, the Lord said, My sheep hear
My voice and they follow Me. My sheep They shall hear. They shall hear. There is absolutely
no possibility that any man, any woman that Almighty God has
purposed to save will not be saved. All, all, all that the
Father giveth Me shall come to Me. What if a man
or a woman doesn't come? What if they don't come? The
Lord didn't give them. The Lord didn't elect them. The
Lord didn't choose them. Is that too hard? I don't think
so. It's the truth. It's the truth. The Scripture says, The Lord
began to speak, and He said, These things saith that God is
true. the faithful, the true witness,
the beginning of the creation of God. God Almighty raised up
this church in Laodicea for a particular reason, because He was going
to call out some sheep that He had placed in that area. But doesn't the letter of Laodicea
reveal the deadness of many that were there, certainly does. Verse 15 to 17 says, I know thy
works, that thou art neither cold nor hot. I would thou wert
cold or hot, so then because thou art lukewarm and neither
cold nor hot, I will spew thee out of my mouth, because thou
sayest, I am rich and increased with goods and have need of nothing,
and knowest not that thou art wretched and miserable and poor
and blind and naked." It's hard to know which a believer
has more reverence or respect or awe for. The Lord's compassion. or the awful self-righteousness
of a dead sinner. He said, I know your works. I've
said before, this is a statement that the Lord has made to every
letter, every church, that I know your works. Listen, y'all, let's
understand one thing right here. We're not fooling anybody except
ourselves and each other. The Lord says, I know your works. I know your works. You may be
hiding in self-righteousness. You may be hiding in self-deception. But He says, I know. I know thy
works. And obviously here they were
works that were not accepted in the person of the Lord Jesus
Christ. They were works of the flesh
according to Galatians 5.19. works that found themselves in
disrespect and heresy before Almighty God. The Lord says,
ìI know thy works and this is what you are.î He says, ìI know
that thou art neither cold nor hot.î I thought on that for a while.
You're neither cold nor hot. The word cold there, it means
destitute of spiritual life. That's what it means. You're cold. The word cold there
means destitute of spiritual life. Destitute of understanding. Destitute of any perception whatsoever. But the Scripture says they weren't
cold. Cold. Cold. That's what it means. You're
not cold. And He said you're not hot. The word hot there means fervor
of mind and zeal, that is, toward Christ. They had no warmth toward Christ. As I read this, I think, now
this is a great mystery right here. He said, I know thy works
that thou art Neither cold nor hot. If I could try to illustrate
this, I thought this through a long time. I am going to try
to explain something that became very obvious and blessed to me. If I could put cold here and
hot here, one extreme to the other. He said, you're neither
cold and you're not hot either. They were somewhere in the middle.
It meant lukewarm. That's the way he described it,
Brother Scott. He said, you are lukewarm. You're not cold and
you're not hot. Now I want you to turn with me
to Song of Solomon, chapter 4. Song of Solomon, chapter 4. Verse
16, I want you to look at something here. The Scripture says, Song of Solomon.
We've been going through Song of Solomon. And Lord willing,
about two more services will be done with that. I've been
thinking about that book like a friend. It's been with us for
over a year. Song of Solomon, chapter 4, verse
16. Now listen to these words. Awake,
O north wind." That's cold wind. Awake, O north wind, and come. And thou, south, blow upon my
garden that the spices thereof may flow out. Let my beloved
come into his garden and eat his pleasant fruits. The Lord
was speaking. to the winds here in Song of
Solomon 4. The north wind, the cold wind. Come, cold wind, and come, hot
wind from the south, and blow on my garden. It is to His garden,
His elect, His people, that He sends the north wind, the cold
wind of His power and conviction, and showing them by His Spirit
of their need of Himself, the cold wind of conviction. They are convinced, mightily
humbled and directed to Him by the cold wind of the realization
that they have resisted, broken His Word, His law. The cold wind. Calm north wind. Blow, O my God. their needs, show them that they
have no warmth in themselves. And come, south wind, hot wind,
the wind of His comfort revealed in the gospel of the Lord Jesus
Christ that reveals to them their hope. A believer, one that God
has called out of darkness, they see their need of Him by the
cold wind of His conviction by Spirit. and they are comforted
in Christ by the hot wind of the north, and both in the gospel. They are convicted and they are
comforted. They are shown their need and they see their need.
Now back in Revelation, the Lord speaks to this church and He
says, I know thy works. You are neither cold nor hot.
Do you see what He is saying there? They were not cold, because
they never had their guilt revealed to them by the power of the Spirit
of God. They weren't cold. They were
dead. He told them they were. But they
had no conviction of their need. And they were not hot. There
was no warmth of His comfort as a substitute. They weren't
cold nor hot. The Scripture says, I know your
works, you're neither cold nor hot. And he says, now listen
to this, I would that thou wert cold or hot. You say, well, is that the Lord
saying something that He wishes? I wish He'd go one way or the
other. Oh, no. He's expressing His desire
to a people, and I'm going to show you this in a minute, not
yet, called out of darkness. This is My pleasure to you. I would that you were cold."
And that word, or, there can also be translated, and. This
is My pleasure. I'm going to show you. I'm going
to reveal. I would. They were not destitute of some
knowledge of the gospel. Now, this is another thing that
also is revealed in this blessed book. Evidently, because of what we've
read in Colossians, this church had sat under some sound preaching. They'd heard the truth. They
knew the truth. They'd heard it. And obviously
there were some that the Lord was pleased, and I'm going to
try, I'm going to try to tell you as much as I can, and I can
tell you already more than likely we'll have to finish this tonight.
because this is an important letter of great hope, and I don't
want to rush through it. But I'm going to show you that
toward the end, how the Lord revealed to those that He had
everlastingly loved His pleasure to call them out of darkness.
But obviously, there were some in this place where the gospel
had been preached Remember, he was the beginning of the creation
of God. All things were made by Him and
for Him. He had raised up this church
for a reason, brother Scott. There were some people in this
church right here that were neither cold nor hot. They had never
had the conviction of the Spirit of God to reveal to them their
need of Christ, and they saw no need in Christ. They weren't
cold or hot. He told them, he says, you're
lukewarm. Now that's another interesting
part to me. They were lukewarm. Lukewarm. You remember that there were
some that were there that had heard the truth. And obviously,
they possessed at least a head knowledge of the truth. But they
had no heart for Christ. They were doctrinally sound and
morally pure, but they were spiritually dead. They were lukewarm. They were fluctuating between
two opinions. Elijah said in 1 Kings 18, 21,
How long halt ye between two opinions? If the Lord be God,
follow Him. If not, bail and follow Him. They were double-minded people.
Therefore, they were unstable in all their ways. He says, I
know your works, not cold, no conviction, not hot, no comfort. I would that thou wert cold or
hot. This is my pleasure. But he says,
because thou art lukewarm in their sins, they're dead, they're
unregenerate. Because thou art lukewarm, neither
cold nor hot, I will spew thee out of my mouth. I've used this illustration before.
It's one of the best that I've ever experienced. It's concerning
my daughter. I've told you before, and I'm
going to tell you one more time. My youngest daughter, Rebecca, one that I find great fellowship
with, one night told me we were at 13th Street Bible School
a few years ago. She came to me one night and
she told me, she said, She said, I want to confess the Lord in
baptism. And I said, you do? And she said,
yes sir, I do. She said, the reason I want to
is because I believe the Lord has shown me my need of Him. She said, I have no ability to
do anything to merit a righteousness before God. You know, when one
of your children comes up and starts talking to you like this,
Start listening. And she said, I've listened to
you preach as long as I can remember. And she said, everything that
you said, she said, I understood it in my mind. I understood that
a man doesn't have a free will because he's a dead sinner. How
can a dead sinner do anything? She said, I understood that.
And she said, I understood that Christ was made sin for His people,
that He actually took their place a substitute. He was made what
they are against Almighty God, and He paid their debt. She said,
I understand that. And she said, if somebody were
to come up to me and say something that was contrary to what you
preach, I knew it in my head that it wasn't right. I knew
what they were saying wasn't right. And I could argue with
them. But she says, the problem is, I just didn't have a heart
for it. That's when I made the statement to her, and I said,
Becca, I understand what you're saying. I understand communism. I have a mental assent. I understand
communism. Let's all go out and work together,
and y'all all get everything that you make and bring it here. We'll divide it all out equally,
and I'll give everybody an equal portion. basis of communism,
if you want to get down to the brass tacks, you know. I understand
that concept, but I just don't have a heart for it. I understand
it. She was lukewarm. She had no
true conviction of sin and no true comfort in a substitute.
She was lukewarm, neither cold nor hot, but with a mental assent
to what she knew. She knew it in her head. But
in that state right there, she's lost. She's lost. He said, because thou art lukewarm
and neither cold nor hot, I will spew thee out of my mouth. Let me just make this statement
and I'm going to stop for this morning. And Lord willing, finish
this message tonight. He said, because you are neither
cold nor hot, I will spew thee out of my mouth. Obviously, indifference toward
Christ is high treason, and it's worthy of punishment. In the midst of our Lord's sharp
and truthful rebuke, we must realize that if God Almighty
has shown mercy to anyone, He has done it in justice. All God's sheep are the non-elect. God's people are those that He
shall leave to Himself. All were born in trespasses and
sins. like sheep have gone astray.
We've turned everyone to His own way. Has the Lord been just in dealing
out exactly what was due every man because of their lukewarmness? Yes, He has. And yes, He shall. What do you mean by that? that we all came forth from my mother's womb,
speaking lies, because we all are as an unclean thing. Every
man, every woman born in Adam was born lukewarm. Well, where was justice served
then for those that God has called out of darkness at the cross? for all born in Adam, and all
of us were, that the Lord was pleased to show mercy to. Do
you know when He spewed them out of His mouth? In their substitute. Paul said, I was crucified with
Christ. Nevertheless, I live. But the
life that I live, I live now by the faith of the Son of God
who loved me and gave Himself as my substitute gave Himself
for me." Whenever the Lord passed through
Egypt and saw the blood, He passed over all that were
under the blood, behind the door where the blood was applied.
But let me ask you this. Was He unjust? in just saying,
well, I'll pass over you and we'll just forget about it? No.
You remember, there was a lamb that was slain. A sacrifice was given. God is
a just God. He said, I will in no wise clear
the guilty. We're not going to just say,
I'm going to forget about it. He said, because thou art lukewarm
and neither cold nor hot." And that's the way we all were born.
I will spew thee out of my mouth. For all found in Christ, God
Almighty in their substitute, settled the debt that they owed
by Christ Jesus, the Lamb of God. And for all left to themselves
in their lukewarmness They shall in that day hear him say, Depart
from me, ye workers of iniquity, I never knew you. He will then
spew them out of his mouth then. This church, the church at Laodicea,
Lord willing, tonight I'm going to show you these that he's talking
to because they were neither hot nor cold, And he says, I
would that thou wert hot or cold. Because you're not, I'll spew
you out of my mouth. But these last verses afterwards,
I'm going to show you the great mercy of God to these people
that had come up, some of them, that came up in a church where
the gospel was freely preached. They ought to see them. grew up with a head knowledge,
grew up with some kind of understanding, but they were neither hot nor
cold. But then the Lord said to them, and I don't want to
get into it. I want to, but I don't want to. He says, because you
say, I'm rich and increased with goods and have need of nothing
because you say that. He said, I'm going to counsel
you. I'll counsel you. By me. Well,
if I don't stop, I'm going to get into it, so I don't want
to. All right?