Revelation chapter 3, reading the letter from the Lord
Jesus to the church, or what's left of the church at Laodicea,
beginning in verse 14 and taking us through verse 22. Now a great many people believe
that the second and third chapter of the Revelation is made up
of seven letters to seven churches. A lot of people think that these
seven churches represent the different periods of time from
the time that our Lord gave this revelation until the end of time,
that these seven churches represent the ages through which God's
children have passed over the centuries. The problem with that
is, how do you tell when one ends and the other begins? It's
very, very subjective. therefore least likely to be
accurate. But I suggest that it may be
true to a degree, but for people who are living at a point in
time as we are and as everyone who's been before us and who
comes after us will be, we do not know how to interpret, you
know, as far back as the death of Christ and forward. My goodness,
there's a lot that's missing. There are things that are talked
about in one part of the world, but not the other. And the same
is true right on down until now. So don't let that rob you of
this letter. It is from the Lord Jesus Himself. And it is to the Church. What's
left of the Church at Laodicea. Alright, verse 14, Revelation
chapter 3, And unto the angel, that word
means, as far as I can tell, messenger or pastor if you prefer,
unto the angel of the church of the Laodiceans write. These things saith the Amen,
Christ is the Amen, the faithful and through witness, the beginning
of the creation of God. I know your works, that you are
neither cold nor hot. I would that you were cold or
hot. So then, because you are lukewarm
and neither cold nor hot, I will spew you out of my mouth. Because you say, the church at
Laodicea, at least a portion of that church, was saying, I
am rich and increased with goods and have need of nothing. Boy, that would be wonderful
if it were true. But who's blind enough to say
that that's an accurate description of ourselves or any other group
of people anywhere? The Lord Jesus goes on in the
middle part of verse 17 and says that you know not that you are
wretched. Now, a wretch is a ship that
has been destroyed by rocks, and
the only thing that remains, particularly of sailing vessels,
is just a few boards here and there. So when it says in this
statement, wretched, it's talking about people, but it's talking
about us as we look at that illustration in regard to ships being lost. You don't know that you're wretched
and miserable and poor and blind and naked. Now, look back at
that list and apply these things, not physically, but spiritually. Honestly, you can't grasp this
if you don't do that. Know you not that you are wretched
and miserable and poor and spiritually blind and spiritually naked? What is the remedy? Notice the
punctuation at the end of 17 is a colon, therefore the thought
of that Part of the verse is carried on into verse 18. I counsel
you to buy of me, these are the words of Christ to the church
at Laodicea and for that matter to all other churches of every
age and generation that have anything to do with the Lord
Jesus Christ. I counsel you to buy of me gold
tried in the fire that you may be rich. Now, our Lord is not
talking literally about gold. He's talking about the precious
things of God in the gospel of His Son. And white raiment that you may
be clothed like the wedding garment in the gospel accounts, especially
in Matthew chapter 22. and that the shame of your nakedness
does not appear and anoint your eyes with eyesalve that you may
see. As many as I love, I rebuke and
chasten. Be zealous, therefore, and repent. Behold, I stand at the door and
knock. Now to whom is this statement
addressed? It is to the church at Laodicea. From whom does it come? From the Lord Jesus himself.
So for preachers to take this expression and tell people that
God is knocking at your heart's door, and it's because you're
so stubborn and hard-headed that you won't let Him in, and He
can't come in without your permission. This is where that comes from,
and it is an absolute travesty, for that's not what it's saying.
These are the words of Christ to His church. Not to lost people. to do something so that he can
do something. You take the first step, God
will take the second. There's dozens of these stupid,
idiotic expressions that reveals the status of today's Christianity
in the world in which we live. Where was I? Oh, verse 20, I see it now. Behold,
I stand at the door and knock. If any man hear my voice and
open the door, I will come into him and will suck with him, and he with me. To him that overcome, Will I grant to sit with me in
my throne, even as I also overcame and am sat down with my Father
in his throne? He that has an ear, let him hear
what the Spirit says to the churches." To the churches. To believers, plural. Now, I didn't want to take up
verse 21, but I just cannot just read it and walk off from it.
So if you'll let me, I'd like to talk to you for a second or
two about overcoming and overcomers. If you've lived in this world
the last 20 years or so, you can't have missed this. There
was an organization formed Fifteen years ago, maybe more,
maybe less, I don't know, it doesn't matter about that, called
promise keepers. You ever hear of that? Did you
ever get joined up with them? Now listen, honest to God, there
ain't but one person who's ever had human flesh that can keep
a promise. There ain't but one promise keeper.
And that is the Lord Jesus Christ. And everybody that's in Him is
a promise keeper based on His obedience. Alright, let's come
back to the 21st verse and look at the word, overcomers. Overcomers. Now, every one of these seven
letters in the second and third chapter of the Revelation has
a statement relative to the overcomers. Just like promise keepers, there
ain't but one overcomer. And that's our precious Savior,
the Lord Jesus. And everybody that's in Him are
overcomers in Him. These things are not something
that we are to attempt in our own strength of our flesh. These
are the precious gifts of God's grace to us in Christ. Alright,
let's go back and pick up our text, verses 17 and 18. Let's
read those two verses again. Because you say, I am rich and
increased with goods, And have need of nothing, and know not
that you are wretched, and miserable, and poor, and blind, and naked. I counsel you to buy of me gold
tried in the fire, that you may be rich, white raiment, that
you may be clothed, and that the shame of your nakedness does
not appear. And anoint your eyes with eye
salve, that you may see. My title this morning is simply
this. Are you complete in Christ? Are
we complete in Christ? Am I complete in Christ? Is Christ
enough for you? Well, if He ain't, that's all
there is. And the only reason He's not
is because we can't see. We need this eye salve. We're
blind. We cannot see. The only God we will ever see
is God wearing human flesh. The Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ. Alright, let's take these two
verses, and I'll see if I can stumble through this as quickly
as I can. The first thing is this. How
mistaken I can be about my own spiritual state. To be honest with you, I can't
even tell you how much money I got in the bank, and that ain't
because there's so much of it either. If I want to know what
we've got, I have to see a certain lady. She knows. She worries
about stuff like that. I don't see any need for both
of us worrying. So when it comes to this, an acknowledgement of our spiritual
condition before God, this is a matter of infinite importance,
and you ought not give that responsibility to anybody else. John Newton wrote, Lord, decide
this doubtful state. Do I love the Lord or no? Am
I His or am I not? Well, you are or you ain't. And
I am or I'm not. But we can't be both. We're either
in Christ or not in Christ. When He died, He either died
for me or He didn't die for me. And it's not waiting to see what
we will do. It's what God will do for us
by His precious Holy Spirit and His Son, the dear Lord Jesus. All right, I want you to reflect
a moment on this description of this church that we've just
read about, the Sabbath, in these two chapters. You made me lose my point, my
thought. These people, if this description is accurate, and
it is, they were in awful shape. But they didn't know it. They
counted themselves to be somebody, and getting along pretty well,
and God ought to be well pleased with them. And if that's not a snapshot
of present day Christianity, I don't know what is. to fancy
myself well when the very opposite is true. I mean, it's bad enough
when we know our condition, but to think we are well and all
the time we are dying from a disease of the soul, this is tragic. Secondly, we are to make certain
That we are not Laodicean like ourselves in our thoughts concerning
ourselves. What do I think of me? I could just do that and you'd
understand what I think of me. And that's what we ought to think
of ourselves. Rotten, low down, good for nothing,
sorry. You just keep naming the words,
and they're all appropriate. Has the Lord, through His grace, taught us to be truthful concerning
ourselves? Now, I can't help you to answer
that. You have to answer that yourself. He speaks of these people as
being poor. Well, how poor were they? In
their own eyes, they were rich. But he says they're poor. So
how poor? As bankrupt as a sinner can possibly
be. That's what we all are in ourselves. And only the amazing grace of
God in Christ can alter that. He also called them blind. Well,
how blind were they? They may as well not have had
eyes. Now remember, I'm not talking about physical eyes. Now we're
talking about spiritual sight. I mean, we can be dressed to
the hilt and have on a thousand dollar suit or whatever that
you think it takes to make the grade in our society, but that's
not anything to God. He's not impressed. He also called them naked. Well, just how naked? Just how naked? Now, I'll try to do very little
turning, but you've got to see this one. You've got to see it.
Just put your marker here and run back to the book of Romans,
chapter 7, and I would like to read the whole chapter, but I'm
just going to read two little verses. Now, I would urge all of us,
sometime before this day is over, to read the seventh chapter of
Romans. If you can't read the whole chapter,
at least start about verse 13 and forward. And ask the Lord to open our
eyes to see what Paul is saying. Now here's another key to Romans
7. Paul is describing himself, but the Christian religion is
divided into two groups in regard to Romans 7. Some people don't even know it's
in the Bible, but others do, and they make merchandise out
of it. They say, that Paul was talking
about his life before he met Christ on the road to Damascus,
before Christ conquered him, before he was saved. But I'm
telling you, the language of Romans 7 out of Paul's mouth
is not, I was, it is, I am. And this book is verbally inspired
in every single syllable, or it ain't inspired at all and
it ain't worth having, one or the other. If it's God's Word,
it's all His Word. And if He wanted to say, I was,
He could have said, I was, but He said, I am. Alright, look
at verses 24 and 25. Romans chapter 7. And if you want to know what
a person believes, I mean, it's hard enough to find anybody that
even believes what the book says, period. But if you want to find
out what some people believe, you just cozy on up to some Reformed
Baptists and ask them about this I Am, and you just might be shocked
at what they tell you. Oh, here's that word again, wretched,
useless, busted, shipwrecked. That's all appropriate to me,
I won't answer for you. Oh wretched man that I am! I'm telling you this is a different
song depending on whether it's I am or I was. And if we know the gospel at
all, it is indeed I am. Because true believers, Still
confess, I am. Not I used to be. Not when I
was a kid. I am, right now, a wretched,
wretched man. Who shall deliver me from the
body of this death? How are we going to escape out
of something like this? I mean, this don't just hurt
your feelings, this bankrupts you, gives you no hope whatsoever. Ah, but there is an answer. Who
shall deliver us from the body of this death? Here's the answer. I thank God through Jesus Christ
our Lord. There's our Deliverer, the very
same One that spoke and had those words written to the church at
Laodicea, the Lord Jesus Christ Himself. I thank God through
Jesus Christ our Lord. So then, with the mind, with
my natural mind, which ain't hitting on much these days, but
I still use it a little bit. But with the mind, watch this,
I myself serve the law of God. We want to. We wish we could. But we can't. But with the flesh, I serve the
law of sin. Sinners can't do anything but
sin. And I'm afraid I have to tell
you that even when you're born again, you'll still be a sinner
till your body is laid in the grave. Thank God the soul doesn't go
that way. At the moment of death, the soul
goes to be with Christ. O wretched man that I am, who
shall deliver me from the body of this death? I thank God through
Jesus Christ, our Lord. So then, with the mind, I myself
serve the law of God, but with the flesh, the law of sin." Now,
if we don't know this verse, if we've never pondered these
words and expressions and thoughts, it's high time we did. We're
not fit to leave this world until we know the secret. The next question is, has the
Lord truly taught me these things? Namely, who He is, who God is. He's almighty. He's sovereign. He's everywhere present. He knows
everything. There's nothing that escapes
His notice. This whole world and universe, every day that
rolls by, is governed by God Almighty. There's no such thing
as something gone awry. It can be a tornado, it can be
a hurricane, it can be a snowstorm, it can be anything in the world,
but I'm telling you, if it takes place, it's God's will. Love
it or hate it, it's still His doing. And though we cannot see it,
maybe once in a while we can, but we cannot see that God is
moving everything that moves from a flea to the biggest thing
ever considered or seen on the face of this earth. God is using
the movement, the works, whatever is taking
place, what men call good and what they call bad. If it is
not God's purpose, then He restrains that which is taking place, and
if it is His purpose, He allows it to continue. Let's see, there's
a statement in Psalm 76, verse 10. Looks like some of you guys could
just quote this stuff to me like nothing. I found it. Psalm 76, 10. Surely the wrath of man shall
praise you. Now boy, you just sit on that
statement a little while and see where it takes you. The evil
deeds of men redound to the glory of God. I may be too stupid to
see it, but that doesn't change what it says. Let's read the
whole verse. Surely the wrath of man shall
praise you, the remainder of wrath shall you restrain. It won't happen. They wanted to do it. They tried
to do it. God said no. And the matter was
settled. Not only who is God, But who
and what are we? And who the Lord Jesus is? And who God the Holy Spirit is? These things we must truly be
taught of God. Number four, am I more and more
aware, more keenly aware, of the utterly lost estate of every
member of the human race, every one, all of Adam's descendants. When
we come into this world, we are lost. Do not know God. When we find out something about
who He is, we hate Him. We don't like Him. And there ain't not one single
exception. Not a one. So what is my attitude in regard
to this pursuit of the knowledge of divine things? I've told you
about a preacher that was here at a meeting a long, long time ago now. I hadn't
been here, two or three years at the time, if I remember right.
Anyway, we had a meeting down in Fellowship Hall, and the ladies
fixed lunch, and we had a meeting of sovereign grace preachers,
at least confessedly so. And one of the guys was going
to speak to the group, and when he got up to the little speaker's
stand, Here's the first words out of his mouth. You fellers
won't believe how much I know. Yeah, I wanted to drop my teeth
too. I wanted to go through the floor. side of that coin, if it can
be even part of the same coin, is a statement that comes out
of 1 Corinthians 8.2. I've scribbled it down on this
sheet of paper, so I'll just read it, and you'll not need
to turn. But if you want to write the
reference down, it's 1 Corinthians 8, verse 2. Paul said, if any
man think that he knows anything, he knows nothing yet. as he ought to know, and that's
where we are. No matter what we know, we don't
know it like we ought to know it. We don't know it well enough
for it to make us feel like we ought to feel, that there ain't
no hope here. This guy cannot help himself.
Without God, he'll perish. So that brings us back to Revelation
3. I don't know what you'd call this. You'd almost think if the church
at Laodicea is in this bad a shape, that the Lord Jesus would have
just written them off. But no. It wasn't to be. Like the Father, He does as He
wills, when and where He pleases. They are one, you know. We are to buy of Him all that
He recommends And we are to buy of Him. Why? Why does it have to come
from Christ? I want you to turn one last time.
I think I can do that safely now. 1 Corinthians, no that's not right. Colossians chapter 2, I'm sorry. Right after Ephesians and Philippians,
you'll run into Colossians chapter 2. Oh, there's just too much of
it. Let me start with verse 3 in
Colossians 2, speaking of our Lord Jesus Christ, in whom are
hid All the treasures of wisdom and knowledge. If we are to know
anything, if we are to have any degree of wisdom, it must come
from God through Christ. He alone can impart this to us. Alright, look down at verse 9.
Colossians chapter 2. For in Him, in Christ, Dwells
all the fullness of the Godhead bodily in His human nature. Bodily. And verse 10, you are complete
in Him. Are you complete? How did you
get to be complete? Because God put me in Christ.
And Christ is complete. Do you remember the song we sang?
Complete in thee, no work of mine may take, dear Lord, the
place of thine. Verse 11, Colossians 2, in whom
also you are circumcised with the circumcision made without
hands. This is called spiritual circumcision. It is an operation of God on
the heart, but it's not this fleshly organ in here. It's the
heart of our being. It's not literally what pumps
the blood. Christ has everything to make poor sinners rich and
miserable sinners happy. Any of you that have William
Mason's little morning and evening devotion books, you can find
that expression, I think, on the cover, if not on the flyleaf
on the inside. And in our text in Revelation
chapter 3, it refers to gold and white raiment and eye salve. And that gold is representative
of God's pure grace, His mercy, His pardon, His strength, His
faith, His holiness, that white raiment. is the robe of Christ's
righteousness that declares us justified in the sight of God?
And the eyesalve of Revelation chapter 3 has to do with our
ability to see that we are nothing, have nothing, and can do nothing. Well, how are we going to get
anything done? God must do it. And He will. And He might even
use us in doing it. But it will be to His honor and
to His glory. We need ourselves to see Christ
and to see everything in Christ. If it's not in Christ, it isn't. It's all His. And it's all in
Him. Let me go back to my question
earlier. Are we complete in Christ? I think this is on the thing over there. And in our
course book, it is number 19. And let's see, the song that
we're going to sing it to is, Oh Master, Let Me Walk With Thee. Alright, number 19.