morning to Revelation chapter
3. Our text will be the last paragraph
of that chapter, verses 14 through 22. This is Christ's letter to
the church at Laodicea. It is a letter that describes
that which is the most lamentable, the saddest the most desperate of all conditions
in which the professed Church of God is brought. Laodicea was a famous city of
great wealth in Asia Minor, a commercial financial center in the region. It was the home of millionaires.
Laodicea had all those things that are attended with wealth
and a city. They had three marble theaters. They had a huge stadium and a
gymnasium equipped with bands, all those things that would indicate
a city of luxury in that day or even in our day. There was
a famous school of medicine in Laodicea, and the people of Laodicea,
being rich as they were, were the envy of the Roman world,
and they knew it. They were right proud of themselves.
Really, they were unbearable snobs. This arrogant, weary attitude
was found in Laodicea, and it was also found in the church
at Laodicea. Perhaps they thought that their
wealth was a sign of God's favor, but in general, the church at
Laodicea had gradually become lukewarm, apostate, useless. An assembly of religionists without
life before God. It was in danger now of being
entirely rejected by the Lord Jesus. Apparently, at one time,
this church was something else. At one time, it was a strong,
healthy, spiritually vibrant church. If you read Colossians
chapters 2 and 4, you'll find the Apostle Paul wrote at least
one letter to the Laodicean church, and he speaks of this church
in warm, loving, affectionate parents. He gives no word of
reproof concerning them. He doesn't show any concern at
all for them. Apparently, he held the church
in very, very high esteem. But something went wrong. Something
went bad wrong. In the process of time, the church,
this once great church, this church that was once on fire
for God, this congregation that was so full of light, degenerated
into a sickening state of lukewarmness. He became careless, lax, indifferent. I don't really know why. I don't
really know why. Perhaps the earlier generation
of men and women who knew God had died out. Maybe that was
the case. Perhaps the wealth of this assembly
had seduced it into worldliness. Perhaps its ease, its relative
freedom from persecution had given them a sense of carnal
ease. Whatever the cause, the church
at Laodicea was now in a state that was nauseating to the Son
of God. It was neither cold nor hot,
but lukewarm. And I'll be honest with you,
nothing can be done with lukewarm people. Nothing. There is hope
for the cold, the hardened rebel, and it's a great, great pleasure
to work with folks whose souls simply glow with love for Christ,
whose hearts are on fire for God. Men and women who burn with
zeal for God, oh, what a joy to be around them. But lukewarm
religionists are sickening, nauseating, disgusting. Nothing is more sickening,
nauseating, or disgusting to me about myself than the terrible
tendencies I have toward lukewarmness. Even Christ himself can't stand
those who are lukewarm. He says to this church at Laodicea,
because thou art lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will
spew thee out of my mouth. May God the Holy Spirit now be
our teacher. May he graciously and effectually
apply to our hearts this portion of Holy Scripture, lest we also
gradually fall into this terrible condition of lukewarmness. Lukewarmness
or indifference, maybe that would be a better term, one more common
to us anyway. Lukewarmness, indifference to
Christ, is the apostasy of the heart. from the Son of God. That's what it is. Lukewarmness
is the apostasy of our hearts from the Son of God. As we look
at this letter to the Laodicean church, you hold your Bibles
open, and let me show you three things that are clearly set before
us in this passage. First, in verses 14 through 17,
there is the charge of Lukewarmness. In these verses, the Lord Jesus
lays this solemn charge against the church at Laodicea. It is
a charge that would most assuredly be followed by judgment very
quickly if they did not repent. The charge was lukewarmness,
apathy, indifference, carelessness. Let us be warned, this lukewarmness
is something that comes gradually, never suddenly. It is a gradual
apostasy. A lingering death, the forerunner
of judgment. Stephen Charnock was exactly
right when he wrote these words. If once we become listless, we
shall quickly become lifeless. Complacency is a spiritual sickness
that is usually the forerunner of spiritual death, if not simply
the indicator of spiritual death. May God save us from this plague,
which seems to have swept the church of the 20th century. This, like the other six letters,
was addressed to the angel, that is, to the pastor of the church
at Laodicea. Notice what he says. And unto
the angel of the church of the Laodiceans, unto the angel, the
pastor, God's messenger, to the church that is in Laodicea. It
appears that there were at least some in the congregation at Laodicea
whose hearts were true. There were at least some who
yet burned with love for Christ. There were at least some whose
hearts were yet glowing with zeal for him. But generally,
as a general picture, the congregation as a whole was insensitive to
Christ, insensitive to the gospel of his grace. and insensitive
to the glory of his name. Those were things that just didn't
really matter to them. They wore the name of the Savior.
They professed faith in the gospel of the Savior. They claimed to
be devoted to the glory of the Savior. But the name of Christ,
the gospel of Christ, And the glory of Christ really didn't
matter to them. They were indifferent. They were
indifferent. There was no fire in the pulpit and no warmth in the pew. And
so the Lord speaks first to the angel, the message of the church.
This message of stern reproof came from Christ himself, who
is the righteous judge. He says, these things saith the
Amen. The faithful and true witness,
the beginning of the creation of God. The Lord Jesus here calls
Himself the Amen because He is steady. He is unchangeable. He is immutable in all things.
His purpose will stand. His promises are sure. His word
is true. We are fickle as sand. We are
as unstable as water. But He is the Amen. And so he
speaks to his church as that one who can be counted on. As
that one who has proven himself dependable. That one who has
shown himself immutable and unchangeable. And he calls for us to cease
from our constant shifting. To cease from our constant tendencies
toward those things that are altogether indifferent to him.
He calls himself the Amen. And he speaks of himself as the
faithful and true witness. He who is our judge. Our Savior
and our God is faithful and true in his judgment. What he says
is true and what he does is just because he's faithful and true.
Because Jesus Christ is faithful and true, his testimony to men
concerning God is to be received and believed. That which Jesus
Christ has revealed is faithful and true. And because he's faithful
and true, his testimony to God concerning you and me will be
received and believed. God Almighty accepts him, and
we must accept him. He's the faithful and true one.
Those whose names Christ confesses to the Father, the Father will
accept. and those lukewarm carnal ones
who merely profess faith in his name, whom Christ shall deny
before the Father, shall be rejected in that grave and terrible day."
And then our Savior calls himself the beginning of the creation
of God. Now there are those who would
grab hold of that phrase in verse 14 and say, there you see Jesus
Christ is a creature of God. Don't be confused. Don't be duped
by them. When our Lord says that he is
the beginning of the creation of God, he is simply saying,
I am God. He's simply declaring himself
to be God, the divine creator. These words are just another
way of expressing his utter divinity. When he says, I am the beginning
of the creation of God, he says, I am the one who started this
thing. I'm the one who begins everything. Turn back to John
chapter 1. Let me show you this. John chapter
1. Our Lord is not saying, I am
the first creature of God. He's saying, I'm the one who
did the creating. I am God the creator. In the
beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word
was God. The same was in the beginning
with God. All things were made by him, and without him was not
anything made that was made. Jesus Christ, our Savior, then,
is the parent, the producer, and the first cause of all things. Therefore, He is declaring Himself
here to be God Almighty. He is our Savior, the Son of
God, He who began everything. Everything that has been, everything
that is, and everything that shall be, he began it. He's the
beginning of the old creation, for he created all things out
of nothing. And he's the beginning of the new creation, for he says,
behold, I create all things new. He's the one who builds his church,
who builds his kingdom, who shall establish everything according
to God's divine purpose. He is called the everlasting
father, because he's the one from whom all things have life. As he describes himself here,
the Lord Jesus is saying to the Laodiceans, you're dead. You're dead. You are lukewarm,
nauseating. You need life. You need a new
heart. Look to me. Turn to me. I can
create you. You. I can do for you what you
cannot do for yourselves. And then in verses 15, 16, and
17, The Son of God draws up this
solemn indictment against the church at Laodicea. He says to
the church as a whole, to the pastor, the elders, the deacons,
the teachers, and the people in general, thou art lukewarm. I know thy works, that thou art
neither cold nor hot. I would thou wert cold or hot. I wish you were one or the other.
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 in goods, and have need of nothing. And knowest
not that thou art wretched, and miserable, and poor, and blind,
and naked. Now as this word is spoken by
the Son of God. Wherever it speaks to you, take
it to you. I do. Wherever it speaks to me,
I take it as a word from the Son of God to me personally.
Wherever it speaks to you, take it as a word from the Son of
God to you personally. Don't be offended. Rejoice that
He's pleased yet to speak to you. And he, what he says, Christ
who is our life, charges this congregation of professed believers
with spiritual death. He says you look what? The Laodiceans
were not hypocrites. They were deceived. They were
blind men who thought they had perfect vision. They were dead
men who thought they were alive. They were lost people who thought
that they were genuinely saved. Lukewardness or indifference
regarding the Lord Jesus Christ, as I said earlier, is the very
worst condition in the world a person can be in. Now listen
carefully to me. Listen carefully. If Jesus Christ
is real, if he's real, If what this book says about the Son
of God is real, if Jesus Christ is real, then he's the unspeakable
gift of God. We should earnestly seek him,
lovingly embrace him, and zealously serve him. If he's an imposter,
if he is not true, if this book is not true, then he is the most
vile, base imposter the world has ever known. And we should
earnestly oppose him, earnestly set ourselves against him. Either
case, we should never be indifferent toward him. I have more respect
for Magdalene Murray O'Hare in her zealous opposition to the
Son of God than I do for lukewarm folks who profess faith in the
Son of God. She's consistent. She was consistent. You understand
what I'm saying? Lukewarmness is intolerable.
Lukewarmness concerning Christ must never be. If He's who He
says He is, He demands fervency. If He's an imposter, His very
claim demands fervency in opposing Him. If Jesus Christ is worth
anything, He's worth everything. God convinced my heart that so.
If Jesus Christ is worth anything, He's worth everything. Why halt
you between two opinions, the prophet asked. If Jesus Christ
is God our Savior, faithful and true, then devote yourselves
to Him totally. If He is not God, if He is not
our Savior, then set yourselves against Him totally. Concerning
the Son of God and the gospel of His grace, there is no room
for neutrality. Matthew Henry wrote, Christ expects
that men should declare themselves in earnest, either for Him or
against Him. I hope we can say with Joshua,
in honesty, as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord. We will serve Him. Indifference
is an intolerable evil. Our Lord says, I would thou wert
either cold or hot. It's better to be utterly ignorant
of the gospel than to be a vain, carnal, indifferent, lukewarm
professor. These Laodiceans professed faith
in Christ, but they had no interest in promoting it. They professed
to love Christ, but had no real heart attachment to Christ. They
professed allegiance to the gospel, but they had no zeal for the
gospel. They were lukewarm. Neither hot nor cold. This lukewarmness,
this indifference, is nauseating to the Son of God. He says in
verse 16, So then, because thou art lukewarm, neither cold nor
hot, I will spew thee out of my mouth. As lukewarm water turns the stomach
and induces vomiting, so lukewarm religion turns the stomach of
the Son of God and sickens Him. Sickens Him. These are not my
words, but He is. Lukewarm religion turns His stomach. Men excuse it. They excuse it,
and they excuse their apathy, and their indifference, and their
lukewarmness, and their cavalier attitude toward the things of
God, and say, This is just moderation. We don't want to become fanatics.
We don't want to become overly zealous concerning these things.
But the Lord Jesus Christ looks upon this lukewarmness as effeminacy. Quite literally the Lord is saying,
I'm gagging on you. I'm gagging on you. I'm ready
to vomit you out of my mouth. Lukewarmness. He cannot stand. This is Christ's warning. to all compromising fit stragglers
who try to serve God in memory, who try to hold on to Him, hold
on to this world, who try to serve His glory and serve their
lusts, who try to please themselves and please Him. They shall be
rejected, completely rejected, forever rejected. Lukewarmness
he'll not tolerate. One great cause of this late
deceiving lukewarmness was their foolish pride. Oh, what a deceiver pride is. Pride deceives their hearts.
These many women had a very, very high opinion of themselves.
And wherever men have a high opinion of themselves, they better
have a low opinion of God. You can bank on it. No matter
what they say with their mouth, if man has a high opinion of
himself, he has a low opinion of God. These folks flattered
themselves with the delusion that all was well when in fact
nothing was well. They were doctrinally sound,
I'll grant that. The Lord says nothing about their
doctrine. They were morally upright and pure. I grant that. The Lord
does not charge them with fornication, adultery, deceit, or anything
like that. These men and women had a sound
creed to defend, a great name to uphold, religious ceremonies
to maintain. All it was lacking was life.
That's all. And I'll say this, I am rich
and increased in goods and need nothing. Without a doubt, this
congregation was materially wealthy, rich and getting richer every
day. They had no earthly needs, but riches seldom do any good
for churches or for men who seek to serve Christ. That's just that. riches seldom
do any good for churches or for men who seek to serve Christ. I have, these past 28 years,
watched a lot of men and women struggle. Struggle to make ends
meet. Struggle to live. Struggle just
to get by. And while they struggle, Nothing
can keep them from the worship of God. Work long, hard hours. It's work hard hours, but while
they struggle, while they're struggling just to get by, somehow
there's a need, and they call on God. But when they cease to struggle
to get by, and everything's easy, and everything's
comfortable, and they don't need anything else, that don't need
God, and soon forget it. I've seen it. Oh, I've seen it
so many times. I warn you. I've been warning
you consistently. I continue to warn you. And our
Lord speaks the word plainly, because this congregation in
their wealth thought they had needed nothing. They presumed
they didn't need anything. They became poor. Only kept His name. They kept
his doctrine. They kept his morality. They
just didn't love him. And if any man loved not the
Lord Jesus Christ, his name is anathema. He's damned. The problem was these rich men
and women presumed that they were rich toward God. That their
souls were rich in spiritual things. They knew the way of life. They
had it up here. They knew it. So they presumed they were in
the way. They had the doctrines of Christ, so they presumed they
had life in Christ. They had the juice of the Spirit,
so they presumed they had the grace of the Spirit. They kept
the ordinances of God, so they presumed that they had the power
of God. But they were dead. Now why am
I stressing this? Why am I so concerned about it? How careful, how careful we must
be that we do not deceive ourselves. Now give me your attention. God
help me now, give me your attention. There are multitudes in hell
right now who once sat right where you're sitting fully convinced
they were believers, children of God, heirs of eternal life,
joint heirs with Christ. Multitudes. Multitudes. Turn over to Psalm 139. Psalm
139. Every now and then, someone hears
me preach like this and they get a little upset and they say,
how dare you? How dare you cause me to question my relationship
with God? It's time somebody did. It's
time somebody did. You'd be very wise, very, very
wise to constantly search your heart to make certain you're
in the faith. Look here at Psalm 139, David
did. He says in verse 23, Search me, O God, search me, O God,
and know my heart. Try me and know my thoughts. My heart's deceitful. I know
I'll be deceived by it. My heart's desperately wicked.
I know I don't understand it. So God, you search me. You try
me. You know my thoughts. But Richard,
what about your profession of faith? It ain't worth anything.
But what about your experience? Worth nothing. But what about
what you've done? Nothing. But what's important? See if there be any wicked way
in you. God, see if I'm still in the
way of wickedness. He's not asking to see if there's
any sin in me. He knew that. He acknowledged that. Read Psalm
51. He's saying, God, see, search,
and make me to know whether I am yet in the way of wickedness,
and lead me in the way everlasting. Be warned. Be warned. I love you. Oh, I love you dear
lamb. Thank God for you. But I speak to you as to the
finest men and women I know. I mean as the finest men and
women I know. Be warned, my friends. I say
this to my wife and I say this to your pastor. I say this to
the deacons. I say this to you in preach.
I said to every one of you, be warned. There is nothing more
dangerous, nothing more deadly, nothing more damning to your
souls than self-complacency, self-satisfaction, and self-conceit. Complacency, satisfaction with
yourself, is your soul's most deadly Now look at the opinion Christ
had of these people. These proud, secure, lame to
sins are described now by our Lord in verse 17. Thou sayest, I am rich and increased
with goods, and have need of nothing. And knowest not, you
don't even know, that thou art wretched and miserable. poor, blind, naked. They were spiritually poor. Their
souls were starving, though they lived in the fluids. They were
wretched, undone, cursed under the wrath of God, though they
thought they were all fine. They were spiritually blind,
But they thought they had perfect vision. The light that was in
them had become darkness, and they could not see their own
condition. They could not see the things
of God, for they weren't born of God. They were naked. Naked. Their righteousnesses
were filthy rags. They had nothing but rags with
which to cover their nakedness. And the rags with which they
attempted to cover their nakedness, tattered rags were themselves
filthy, so not only did they not cover their nakedness, they
only increased their defilement. And though they were very religious
and moral, these Laodicean sinners were dead in trespasses and in
sins before God. As such, they were both wretched
and miserable. The word wretched simply means
they were deserving of God's wrath. Under the sentence of
death, in danger of hell. Such is the condition of some
of you. Deserting of God's wrath. Under the sentence of death,
in danger of hell right now. And they were miserable. A word
is pitiable. There is more to be pitied than
a person who imagines he's the object of Christ's favor, when
in reality he's the object of his wrath. He is more to be pitied than
the person who presumes that all is well with his soul, when
in reality nothing is well with his soul. Do not be so foolish as to read
this charge of lukewarmness as a mere historical narrative about
a church that once existed in Laodicea. This is a message from
Christ to you and to me. Will you honestly examine yourselves?
Will I? I mean honestly. Apathy. Complacency regarding the things
of God. If in general, if in general, I am indifferent, apathetic, and complacent, With
regard to the things of God, that I'm without life before
God, look warm. No matter what I've experienced
yesterday, no matter what I profess with my lips. Luke 1, this is
called by this carnal security, this self-satisfaction that somehow
looks back to a past experience, looks back to a profession of
faith, looks back to a decision, looks back to yesterday and says,
now, I've seen what things were, therefore everything's all right.
Everything's all right. No matter what things are now,
everything's all right, because I remember back then. Luke 1, this will result in reprobation. Apostasy is always followed by
reprobation. Yes, the Lord Jesus Christ does
reject men and women who reject his counsel. He says in Hosea
4.17, Ephraim is joined to his idols. Leave him alone. Our Lord
does stamp Ichabod on the doors of churches where once his glory
was seen. Once God's glory was revealed
in Israel. But the time came in Jeremiah
7 where God said to Jeremiah, don't you pray for this people,
I won't hear you. I've forsaken them. Very often, if not always, those
whom God has rejected are so far from knowing that judgment
has fallen upon them that they vainly imagine that God's blessing The Jews, to this day, to this day, vainly
imagine that they are themselves God's peculiarly blessed people.
And they see what goes on in Palestine, and see the increasing
of the nation, and see some measure of peace being accomplished.
They say, there, that proves it, God's blessing us. And God
told them 2,000 years ago, I left you desolate. But they won't
hear it. I hear preachers now and then
brag about how the Lord's blessing, how the Lord's blessing, how
the Lord's blessing. The more they compromise, the more they
talk about blessing. The more they depart from Christ, the
more they talk about the Lord's blessing. And I think maybe they're
deluded and really think God's blessing. They really think God's
blessing. Secondly, look at verses 18 and
19. and hear the counsel of love.
The Son of God speaks and says, I counsel thee. Oh, what compassion. What condescending grace. What
tender mercy. The Son of God speaks to counsel
with and reason with sinful men. He says, come now, let us reason
together, saith the Lord. I counsel thee. Though we often
cast his counsel behind our backs, he counsels us to buy salvation
from him without money and without price. There's hope for sinners,
so long as Christ the sinner's friend speaks graciously by the
gospel. He says today, today if you will
hear his voice, harden not your hearts, but I counsel thee. Now
here's the counsel of love which he gives. First, our Lord counsels
the poor to buy of him gold tried in the fire. Do you see that?
I counsel thee to buy of me gold tried in the fire. The exceeding
riches of God's grace in Christ is like gold. But gold must be
refined by fire. And so it is that grace comes
to sinners only through the fire of the crucified substitute,
only through the fire of God's wrath endured by the Son of God
for us. And the gold which he gives us,
his grace, makes us rich toward God. The Savior says, I counsel
you now to buy from me that which will make you rich before God.
You know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ. How that though
he was rich, yet for your sakes he became poor, that you through
his poverty might be made rich? He said, I counsel you now, buy
from me free forgiveness. Buy from me complete justification. Buy from me everlasting life. I counsel you, buy grace from
me. And then the Lord Jesus counsels
the naked to buy of him white raiment. I counsel thee, to buy
of me white raiment, that thou mayest be clothed, and that by
the shame of thy nakedness do not appear." I hold before you, listen to
me now, listen to me, I hold before you spotless, perfect
righteousness, white raiment. to covering you like the garments
of the priest, covered the priest, beginning with his mitre on his
head, down to the shoes on his feet, the garments of the priesthood,
white raiment, so the Lord Jesus gives perfect righteousness.
Covering you, so that from the crown of your head to the sole
of your feet, everything says, holiness to the Lord, white raiment,
perfect righteousness, through His obedience, through His blood.
He says, buy it from me without money, without price. Well, how
do you do that? By faith. You come, cast aside
your filthy rags, your self-righteousness, and die of him, white raiment,
to cover your nakedness, that your shame appear not before
God. And then it says, I counsel thee
to anoint thine eyes with eyesalve. Anoint your eyes with eyesalve. that thou mayest see." The ISAF, of course, is the gospel
of God's free grace. When applied to our hearts by
the Holy Spirit, it illuminates our souls and brings us out of
darkness into God's marvelous light. This blessed ISAF gives
us the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face
of Jesus Christ. Only the gospel of Christ reveals
the glory of God, how that God can be just and yet justify the
ungodly by the sacrifice of his Son. God's glory is his grace
and his righteousness to sinners in Christ. Now this, I say, can
be applied effectually only by the Holy Spirit. I'm preaching
the gospel to you, and I'm fully aware. I'm fully aware. Oh God, I'm fully aware that
unless God the Holy Spirit puts this eye salve on your eyes,
it'll never be put on your eyes. I'm fully aware of that. But
I'm also fully aware of this, Rex, we're responsible to apply
this eye salve to ourselves. Just as much as though we had
the ability to do so. Well, how do you apply the ISA
to yourself? By hearing the Word through which
faith comes, by believing the Word by which faith is revealed,
and seeking to understand the Word of faith which is preached
to you. This is wise and gracious counsel from the Son of God,
the wonderful Counselor. If we follow His counsel, He's
honor-bound to make it effective. He says, and buy this gold and
this raiment from me. You take this eye salve and put
it on your eyes. And he is honor bound as you
obey his voice to make that word effectual to you. The Son of
God graciously rebukes and chastens the people he loves, tenderly
but effectually causing them to repent and come to him. He says in verse 19, as many
as I love, I rebuke and chasten. Be zealous, therefore, and repent. Christ will not lose the soul
that he loves. Every blood-bought child shall
be brought to him by almighty grace. He will cause you to repent
if you're his. I promise you, you'll do it.
He may bring you through great difficulties. He may lead you
through terrifying troubles. He may cause you to come to him
through deep valleys of difficulty and trouble. But come to him
ye will, if ye his. If he has to set your bonnet
field on fire to get your attention, he'll set your bonnet field on
fire. If he has to slay your son to get your attention, he'll
slay your son. If He has to send a swarm of
bees to drive you to Him, He'll send a swarm of bees to drive
you to Him. Whatever it takes, He will have His own. He will
send His Spirit to thank you to Himself. Read the 107th Psalm. He will make you willing in the
day of His power, according to His purpose. He rebukes and chastens
His own. He does it by the gospel. He
does it by the terrors of the law, and he does it by the events
of providence, all working together by his hand of mercy to bring
the chosen redeemed sinner to repentance and faith in him. This is my prayer to God for
you who know him not. God, give them no rest. Give them no rest till they rest
in you. Give them no peace till they
die in peace. This past week, I met a young
lady raised under the sound of the gospel. She heard the word all her life,
but despised it. A few years ago, she was going
to meet a relative for a weekend of drunken revelry. On her way,
she had a terrible car accident. Nearly died. She spent a year
in constant brace and traction. She told her father a little
while after that, she said, the Lord woke me up. He got my attention. I believe
it. I believe it. I'm fully aware that providential
judgments alone Never work repentance. Never. But God does use providential
judgment in conjunction with his word to work repentance.
And if God has to set your bodily field on fire, if God has to
slay your son, if God has to send you through hell to get
you to glory, he'll bring you to glory if he is. He'll do it.
No need to fight against him. It's a losing battle. The chastening of the Lord, both
that which brings us to Christ in the beginning, and that which
brings us to Him day by day, is proof positive of His eternal
love for us. Oh, I pray God won't let you
alone. If God leaves you alone, you'll
go to hell. If God leaves me alone, I'll
perish. Leave us alone. Now look at verse 20, 21, 22. Here's the call to life. The Lord Jesus tenderly calls
the dead to life. Behold, I stand at the door at
night. If any man hear my voice, open
the door. I'll come in to him and will
sup with him and he with me. Now you can read that verse of
Scripture and immediately decide you're going to start defending
a position or you can read this verse of Scripture and understand
what it says. I hope you understand what it
says. Here's the Son of God, the Son
of Man, leaning, leaning against the door that had been bolted and barred
against Him by lukewarmness, callousing self-sufficiency, self-complacency. The door to the big boat that
he leans and knocks. By his word, by his providence, By the voice of his spirit, he
says, come on now. Open the door. Open the door. And thank God, he will not be
turned away. He's not willing to be turned
away. Open to me, my sister, my dove,
my love, my undefiled. We respond, I put off my coat,
have to put it on. But he continues to lean on the
door and he puts his hand in by the hole of the door and causes
us to arise and open to him. Our Lord sovereignly opens the
door and lets himself into the hearts of his people. I know
that. Yet he only comes in where he's
wanted. He opens the door in regeneration
and pours in the oil and wine of his grace. But we open the
door in conversion, earnestly desiring him to come in. And
both must be done. Both must be done. Or you'll
have to open your heart, or you'll never open to him. But you must
open the door to him, or he will never come in. Now, if you open your heart and
receive the Lord Jesus Christ, He will graciously come in to
abide with you forever. I fully realize that dead men
have no ability in themselves to do anything, and yet I know
that if you will awake and arise from the dead, Christ will give
you life. He said so in Ephesians chapter
5. And the fact that you do so, the fact that you awake and arise
from the dead, is evidence that he has awakened you and raised
you from the dead. Give an example. The Lord Jesus
stands outside the tomb of Lazarus and says, Lazarus, come forth. Well, he can't do that. He did. He did. The power by which you came forth
is the power of God. I'm fully aware of that. But
I'm going to tell you something. I suspect Lazarus was very willing
to get out of that tomb. I suspect he was delighted to
come out of that tomb. I don't suspect it, I know it.
And I'm telling you, that if the Son of God speaks, you will
arise from the dead. You will awake, and you'll come
to Him. You'll open the door of Christ.
Come to me, Lord Jesus. And with all your heart, you'll
long for Him to come to you. If you open to Him and receive
Him into your heart by faith, it's because He's already entered
into your heart in life-giving power. Yet, you must open to
Him. You must open to Him. You must open to Him, else you
will perish forever. And that fellowship and communion
which begins on earth in conversion will continue to life everlasting
in eternal glorification to Him that overcomes it. How? By faith. That's all. By faith. Not by
word, by faith! Not by trudging along, by faith!
to him that overcometh, will I grant, freely, graciously grant,
upon my merit, through my blood, in my righteousness, by my power,
by my grace, I'll grant to sit with me in my throne, even as
I also overcame and am set down with my Father in his throne." He that hath an ear to hear Let
him hear what the Spirit is saying unto the children. If the Son of God has spoken
to you this day by His Spirit, open to Him. Oh, open to Him. And He'll come
in. If you're a believer, but one
who becomes somewhat indifferent to Christ, You say, Pastor, do you think
that can happen? Oh, I know it happens. I know it happens. If you're a believer, the one
who's become somewhat indifferent to Christ, somewhat hardened
to Him, somewhat apathetic toward Him, then cast yourself down
at His feet. Open to Him. And He will come in again unto
you. He will forgive you. Now, children of God, I send you home with this word
of great care. Fear, carnal presumption, like
you would fear the plague. The thought of lukewarmness and
indifference terrifies Yet it is ever with me. Only Christ can keep me in life
in grace. Let us ever beware of our danger
and hold fast to our dear Savior, trusting Him alone, His grace
alone, His blood alone, His righteousness alone to sustain us, preserve
us, and bring us at last into His glory, to sit with Him in
His throne, even as He has overcome and is seated with His Father
in His throne. Turn us, O Lord of hosts, turn
us, O God of our salvation, and we shall be saved.