Hello.

All right, all right.

Turn in your Bibles, if you would, to Revelation chapter 3.

That's right, Revelation 3, verse 14 through 22.

I'll tell you, last week I was doing other things, but I got to hear Dawn Jackson's sermon.

I thought she did a fantastic job.

But I'm struggling a bit because it was hard for me to handle that because, you know, she talked about, I think I heard that my sermons grow stale in a few days.

And there was a loaf of bread, you know, and I thought, man, I've never had somebody compare my sermons to a stale loaf of bread.

And then what really got me, Michael, is that she talked about classic coffee.

So you know what I did today?

And it was risky because, you know, I didn't come in until the last minute.

I got her a coffee so that she could enjoy a real coffee.

Come up here for me.

So this is, I even got it extra hot so it would still be.

This is a klatch, a latte that she's about to enjoy.

So the Bible does say that teachers are worthy of double honor.

So I got her two shots in that, double shot.

So, but it's decaf because I text her earlier and I realized she doesn't drink caffeine this late.

So it's decaf.

So enjoy.

Now, you're welcome.

Now, folks, this is the end of a crucial series.

And to tell you the truth, this is decision time for you.

This is the kind of sermon that you hear that you're going to remember this day.

Because you're going to remember it because it's the day you finally made a decision that you should have made a long time ago.

Or it's going to be a day that you wish you could forget.

Because the trouble is when you hear truth, God makes you accountable to it now.

And so it's one of those type messages.

It's kind of like the day in the day of Joshua, when Joshua looked to the people.

And he was very clear in Joshua 24 when he said, Now therefore, fear the Lord, serve him in sincerity and faithfulness.

In other words, get serious about this.

And if it is evil in your eyes to serve the Lord, that's not the word for evil, evil from demonic.

That's a word that just means lesser love.

In other words, if it's not important to you, if it's not something you think is worthy, choose this day whom you're going to serve.

Choose today who you're going to serve.

And then he says, but as for me and my house, you know this, we're going to serve the Lord.

Now, remember when we started this series, we said that there's a renewed interest in spirituality, but it's not based on knowledge.

And when it's not based on knowledge, if you don't really understand who God is, then it's nothing more than self-induced psychosomatic pep talk.

That's all it is, because truth and God are inextricably tied together.

Jesus said true worshipers are going to worship him not only in spirit, so you're not only going to be, let's go, fervor, but you're also going to know the truth about who God is.

And that's extremely important because the temptation in today's world is to create God in your own image.

You think God should be a certain way, and it just so happens that as we've said numerous times before, was that God talking to me?

I just started.

We've said numerous times before that if you create God in your own image, typically he's going to like everything you like, and he's going to hate everything you hate.

But the real God is always going to contradict you at some point.

And the other thing is when you attempt to relate to God without understanding who God really is.

That's when you feel lost and frustrated and you never have an overwhelming sense of the presence of God because you can't relate to anyone that you don't know well, right?

It's superficial relationship.

Our wives have been saying that to the husbands for a long, long time.

Honey, I know you want a deep relationship, but you don't know who I am because you never talk to me.

You got it?

So you can't really have a deep, intimate relationship until you have a knowledge and understanding of who the person is.

So this series is ultimately about God.

Who is he?

What is he like?

What has he provided?

What does he expect?

And now I can't believe I wrote this in my notes, Michael.

I can't believe I'm going to say this, but it's about to get real all up in here because here's what happens in Revelation 3 verse 14.

And to the angel of the church in Laodicea write the words of the amen, the faithful and true witness, the beginning of God's creation.

I know your works.

You are neither hot or cold, rather you are neither cold nor hot.

Would that you were either cold or hot.

So because you are lukewarm and neither hot nor cold, I will spit you out of my mouth.

For you say, I am rich, I have prospered, I have nothing or I need nothing, not realizing that you are wretched, pitiable, poor, blind, and naked.

I counsel you to buy from me gold refined by fire, so that you may be rich and white garments, so that you may clothe yourself and the shame of your nakedness may not be seen, and salve to anoint your eyes so that you may see.

Those whom I love, I reprove.

I reprove and discipline.

So be zealous and repent.

Behold, I stand at the door and knock.

And if anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and eat with him and he with me.

The one who conquers, I will grant him to sit with me on the throne or on my throne as I also conquered and sat down with my father on his throne.

He who has an ear, let him hear what the spirit says of the churches.

In May of 2022, I got to actually stand.

in the middle of the ruins of Laodicea.

Still there today.

It's outstanding.

I stood among the great walls of the city and I began as the tour guide continued to speak of everything I had learned about Laodicea.

Among the seven letters to the churches in the book of Revelation, the last letter is reserved for Laodicea.

And all the other letters, as you know if you've studied Revelation, have words of affirmation and then words of correction.

So, Jesus says to the church, I like this, good job, I detest this, repent, straighten out, straighten up.

But to Laodicea, it does not include any affirmation at all.

It's only a scathing condemnation.

So evidently the church is so sick that recoverability will require something serious.

It's doable, but something serious.

Now, interestingly enough, the city was actually famous for ISAV.

So it's a wealthy city with advanced medical centers all over the place, and they had come up with a remedy or remedies for eye illnesses, which were very common during this day and time.

Yet Jesus says, you, think about the play on words, you're spiritually blind.

You need spiritual sight.

Your spiritual sight is so bad that you're blind.

And worse yet, Jesus is saying, you don't even know that you're blind.

You don't even know that you can't see, but you can see and you're blind.

And then in verse 15 and 16, he says, I know your works.

You're neither cold nor hot.

Would that you were cold or hot.

So because you're lukewarm and neither hot nor cold, I will spit you out of my mouth.

Now we're going to talk about what that means, but for now, whatever it means, he gives the remedy in verse 19.

And in verse 19, he says, those whom I love, I reprove and discipline.

So be zealous and repent.

That word right there.

is the key to understanding this entire text.

The remedy is earnestness, or what some translators translate zealousness.

Earnestness, the Greek word is zealous.

Therefore, lukewarm Christians, if you want to know who they are as Christ followers, they are Christ followers without zeal for God.

That's what a lukewarm Christian is.

Every time this word is used in the New Testament, there's something curious.

Sometimes, it's translated zealous, but most of the time it's translated jealous.

Now that's interesting because zealousness is something positive.

You know, I'm committed to something.

I'm driven towards something.

I have a passion for something.

While jealous, that's negative.

That's envious.

That's jealousy.

That's the green-eyed monster.

And Jesus warns against that time and time again, because of the damage it can do.

It's the way the angels feel about the Dodgers, right?

The Mets about the Yankees and the Raiders, well, just about any team in NFL football.

But the question is, how can the same word deliver opposite connotations like this?

Same word, zealous and jealous.

How is that possible?

But if you think about it, it makes perfect sense because jealousy is to set your intentions on something or someone else.

So when I got to university, I met this.

woman named Robin that I'll later on marry.

But when I met her, what do guys do?

You start asking questions about her.

Hey, who's this girl named Robin?

And I said, yeah, off limits because she's got this thing for Jim Butterworth and everybody knows that she's after Jim Butterworth.

Well, who's Jim Butterworth?

So I found out who Jim Butterworth was.

I said, well, so I became jealous.

Right?

I am jealous because he has something that I want.

Now, Robin's never admitted this because you have to know Robin.

But her friends told me that after two weeks of dating me, she put a sign on her dorm room that said, on to bigger and better things.

But she's never admitted that because I was bigger and I was better.

I remember the first time I played golf at a place called Sea Island, Georgia.

And it's a very famous golf course.

And I remember we were like almost near the, actually we were on the last tee, the last hole.

And we were standing on the tee and I was watching a group of guys in front of me.

And I saw a guy swing the club who knew what he was doing.

And I was jealous because I realized I wasn't playing the same game he was.

And I wanted what he didn't have.

That's jealousy.

So if you set your intentions on yourself, you'll be jealous.

of people who have what you don't have.

But if you set your intentions on love for someone else, you become jealous for that person, their goodness, their growth, their success, their happiness.

So then to be jealous means to set your love on someone with such intensity that there's an explosion of energy on behalf of that person.

So if you set your love on yourself, the explosion of energy will be toward you or anyone who makes you look bad.

But if you set your love.

and energy on someone else, then the jealousy for them leads to an explosion of service and care on that person's behalf.

You do whatever it takes to make that person happy, to further the interest of that person.

So here's what Jesus is saying.

A lukewarm person is not a hypocritical person.

That's not the issue.

It's not the person who comes to church and they're pious and they act righteous and they walk out and yell at the parking lot attendants and embezzle from the fund or the business or...

cheat on their wives.

That is hypocrite or hypocritical.

That's not what the Landeseans are because they believed everything you should believe.

They were doing good things.

They weren't serving the poor, helping those in need.

They had good doctrine, accurate doctrine, but the supreme passion of their hearts was not God.

Their love had been set on something else, something other than Jesus.

And as a result, they're not zealous or jealous for God.

They have no zeal for God.

There's no joy, no intimacy, no passion, no wonder.

And Jesus says, I look at that and I will spit you out of my mouth.

That's pretty aggressive.

And notice verse 15, would that you were either cold or hot.

I would rather you be cold or hot, anything but lukewarm.

And I started thinking about this, really?

Because it should be cold, lukewarm, and hot, right?

So lukewarmness should be closer to hot than cold.

But no, what does he mean that you'd rather the Laodiceans be cold than lukewarm?

Isn't that a step farther away from being hot?

And once again, not really.

Because if you're hot, you have zeal and fervor and ardor and passion and desire, and you're alive and you seek God and you seek purity and you seek obedience and you're driven in the pursuit of God.

But if you're cold...

I mean, you're dead.

You're not spiritually woke yet.

I mean, it's not that you hate God, you just don't know him yet.

So you know what I'm saying?

You don't know that there's anything different.

Your eyes have not opened up yet.

Believe me, pastors understand this completely.

We have a saying in church planting.

When I was in New Zealand, we said, it's easier to plant a new church than to rescue an old one.

It's easier to start from scratch than to wake somebody up.

that's been a Christian all their lives and try to get them to see, dude, I don't know what you are or who you are, but you don't look like a Christ follower to me.

I remember doing a basketball camp.

This was my first time.

I think I've shared this before.

This was my first time of sharing my faith aggressively and openly.

My high school basketball team, I was 16 years old between my sophomore and junior year.

And we went down to participate in team camps.

Teams from all over the South were there.

And I was walking by the dorm room of a friend of mine and all the other players were in there except me.

Well, you kind of feel isolated there.

And then I know, then I stopped and I went back and then I knew why they all had a Playboy magazine and they were taking out the centerfold.

I thought, you know what?

I think it's time.

So I walked in, Vines, you don't want to see this.

We know you, church boy, you don't want to see this.

And I said, well, why do you want to see it?

We started to call, you know, we started, I was the captain of the team.

So I had earned a little bit of right to talk to them.

So what is this?

What are you doing?

Because all of you know this is not right.

You know it's not appropriate.

You know it's not.

Now, what happened then is it ended up turning into a two or three hour meeting, as I've shared before.

And one of the young men became a Christ follower.

I was able to share the gospel with these guys because they started asking questions.

Now, what group of people within my teammates were the most difficult?

The two Christians.

Because they said, hey, Jeff, you didn't tell them anything about how they're going to have to give up this, have to go.

You didn't tell them they need to start going to church every Sunday.

You didn't tell them they have to be Baptist.

And I said, dudes, chill out just a second.

Let's get them to the cross of Jesus first.

And when Jesus melts their hearts and they really understand who he is and what he's done, these things will take care of themselves.

Okay.

We fall in love with Jesus obedient.

You're going to start asking, my goodness, this guy saved me from my sins.

He's given me everything.

Now, what do I do to serve him?

Let me get them to the cross first.

By the way, the next question was, why are you guys in here looking at playboys?

Isn't it interesting, isn't it?

See, there's a risk of being in church all your life.

Familiarity breeds contempt.

You think just by the fact you're in close proximity that you're good with God.

I've been in church.

I've done good things.

And when somebody tries to question you on that, you get incredibly defensive.

When you're cold, you're ignorant and blind.

But when you're lukewarm, you think you see, but you don't.

Your identity is not in Christ.

It's in having the right answers to religious questions.

Your passion is not for Jesus, but it's for moral boundaries that you don't keep yourself.

Your joy is not in Jesus, but it's in your own self-righteousness, which is why you're miserable, because you know you're really not that good.

And you've not yet set your mind on the goodness of God's provision and grace, but upon your spiritual superiority, which is why you have no time for those who are far from God.

It's all cause and effect.

When I was in my early 20s, I was asked to go to Alexandria, Virginia.

It's just outside of D.C.

and it said, look, we want you to come up.

There are going to be hundreds and hundreds of kids and we want to do a hot topics with you.

In other words, we just want them to be able to ask you questions.

And I thought I was going to get all these deep philosophical questions.

Instead, the entire session was about basically this one question.

How far can I go away from God without crossing the line?

What can my girlfriend and I do without, you know, crossing the line?

Is heavy padding okay?

Do you remember that term?

And what language can I and can I not use?

And finally, after about 45 minutes of this, I looked at him and said, guys, you're asking the wrong question.

Well, what's the right question?

The right question is, what does it mean to set my mind on the higher things?

That's the right question.

And then I read from Colossians 3, if then you have been raised with Christ, seek the things that are above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God.

Set your mind on the things that are above, not on the things of the earth.

So the question is, what are the things above?

He told us, Jesus.

That's the thing above.

Set your mind and heart, because the closest you get to Jesus, the closer you get to Jesus, as we've said before, the less appeal earthly pursuits become.

Now, as Don pointed out last week, but still it requires effort.

Read verse 5.

Put to death, therefore, what is earthly in you, sexual immorality, impurity, passion, evil desire.

covetousness, which is idolatry.

On account of these, the wrath of God is coming.

In these, you too once walked when you were living in them, but now you must put them away, all of them, anger, wrath, malice, slander, obscene talk from your mouth.

So I said to the young people, why is it that you are asking me the question, how far away from Christ can I live without going over the edge?

Shouldn't you be asking, how can I live to get closer and closer to Jesus so that my language...

The language I use glorifies him.

My actions glorify him.

How I'm entertained glorifies him.

Do you know they got mad at me?

This was my first encounter with righteous, pious Christians.

They were livid.

They said, you're a legalist.

You're a fundamentalist.

You're judging us.

I said, well, no, no, I'm not.

Well, our parents have never drawn the line when I was young.

So I said, well, they're lukewarm too.

That was not the right thing to do.

That it was true, but you have to, you learn over time not to say certain things.

But there was one kid in the group, that youth group, that it was not a believer, but was invited by his friend.

And he said, Pastor Jeff, can I talk to you when this is over?

I thought, sure.

So we talked in private.

He goes, man, I was listening to what you said about the gospel and about Christ. And I, is it really true?

He came from a very difficult, broken home.

Is it true that I can be forgiven if I've done all these things?

Absolutely.

He said, you know, something happened to me in there.

I said, come back tonight because we're going to have a service tonight.

I'll be preaching.

We're going to worship and I'll address some of these topics again.

I did.

And of course he couldn't get up to the front fast enough to give his life to Jesus.

He said, I've done all these things and more.

Is it true?

Jesus forgives me.

Is it true that God can love me?

Really pastor?

Honest?

You're not just kidding me, right?

Now, the reason I use that story, and it doesn't happen this way all the time, but that young man ended up, man, on fire for Christ, on fire to live for Jesus.

Still lives in the Washington, D.C.

area, is in ministry, has a great family.

A Jesus revelation is what I had.

He saw Jesus for the first time and it led him to love.

So he wasn't asking the question, do I have to obey?

I love Jesus, man.

What do I do next?

I thought of the story in Luke 7.

You remember when the woman comes to Jesus and the Bible tells us she was a sinner and she learned that Jesus was reclining at the table of the Pharisee's house and she brought an alabaster flask of ointment and she starts crying and weeping for joy, wiping his feet with her tears.

She pours this expensive perfume and the Pharisees are there and they saw this and they said if this man knew who she was, if he was really a prophet, he would have known what sort of woman she is and have nothing to do with her and definitely not let her touch him.

And then he spoke in verse 40, and Jesus answered, saying, Simon, I have something to say to you.

And he answered, Say it, teacher.

Then turning toward the woman, he said to Simon, Do you see this woman?

I entered your house.

You gave me no water for my feet, but she has wet my feet with her tears and wiped them with her hair.

You gave me no kiss, but from the time I came in, she has not ceased to kiss my feet.

You did not anoint my head with oil, but she has anointed my feet with ointment.

Therefore, I tell you, her sins, which are many, are forgiven.

For she loved much, but he who is forgiven little loves little.

Oh man, you see?

Here's the problem.

Listen now.

Lukewarm people are electrified by the fact that Jesus loves them, but they're not moved by it.

Their heart is not melted by it, and they're not transformed by it.

They know it.

They believe it, but it's not the controlling principle of their lives.

Jesus is an addition to their loves, not the replacement of their loves.

He doesn't have superiority in their lives.

Oh, they believe in him, but he's not the supreme pursuit.

He's not the supreme love.

He's not the supreme entity in their lives.

So that lukewarm people are further from being hot than cold people because they do have a knowledge, but it's without power.

They're impervious to the reality that they are wretched.

pitiable, poor, blind, and naked.

They truly believe they're in.

They truly believe they're fully devoted followers of Jesus.

But the truth is, they have little to no knowledge of what it really means to be in a relationship with God.

And when they're told that Christ's followers at times will have an overwhelming experience with God, they think that's something to be shunned.

Their faith is purely intellectual.

To them, it is merely an intellectual thing.

It's a moral thing, which in their minds, they always get right.

And when Jesus sees proclaimed Christ followers without zeal, joy, wonder, and passion, with a desire to worship and to praise God with the community and in their lives, does he send down his wrath?

No, that wouldn't be good.

He simply says, You turn my stomach, you nauseate me.

He gets personal, visceral.

Now the question is why?

Now stay with me.

If lukewarmness is the symptom, what then is the disease?

Verse 17, for you say, I am rich, I am prospered, and I need nothing, not realizing you're wretched, pitiable, poor, blind, and naked.

I counsel you to buy from me gold refined by fire, so that you may be rich, and white garments, so that you may clothe yourself.

And the shame of your nakedness may not be seen and sad to anoint your eyes so that you may be able to see.

So now we have the remedy.

There's so much, folks, that we know about Laodicea.

So I've had to cut a lot of this out.

Let me try to summarize it for you.

First of all, we know it was a textile center.

So clothes containing exquisite black wool were made there, a type of luxurious, glossy exterior.

It was also a financial center.

They were so wealthy when an earthquake occurred in Laodicea, destroying over a third of the city.

Rome offered to come in and rescue them financially, and Laodicea said, no, we got this.

See, every other place that's devastated would go to Rome because that's where all the money and resources were, and they would beg Rome to come in and save them.

But Laodicea, even at the offering of being saved, said, no, we're pretty self-sufficient here.

We can rebuild ourselves.

And then they were a medical center.

They were the big pharma of their day, very successful in research and production, especially healing salves for the eye.

Their ointments were in high demand.

In other words, they were successful, self-sufficient, and very arrogant.

Jesus is bitterly ironic when he says, you think you're rich, well-clothed, healthy, and that you can see, in reality, you're naked, poor, and blind.

Now, this is difficult, but Jesus says you need help.

You are, first of all, spiritually naked.

That's a metaphor for guilt and shame that is associated with unrighteousness.

So basically, Jesus says, you're unclothed.

in righteousness, which means you're liable for punishment.

Now, this is where it gets hard because the Laodiceans are Christ followers.

They're the church.

And yet he says, you're not wearing the robe of righteousness.

Wow.

Can you imagine the theological conversation that can take place right now?

Well, are these not Christians, believers?

They're the church.

So if they're the church, are they not automatically clothed with garments of salvation?

That's what the Bible tells us.

What happened?

Did they take the garments off?

Did they trade the garments of grace in for self-sufficiency?

Just as they told Rome, we got this.

Had they told Jesus, we got this.

Rather than boasting in the cross of Jesus Christ and the cross of Jesus only, like the apostle Paul, were they boasting instead in their spiritual superiority?

Or did they, listen now, or did they equate wealth with righteousness?

Oh man, another sermon.

Do you think that if you're wealthy, it's because you're righteous?

Two, he says you're in spiritual poverty.

And the word here is for spiritual impotence.

In other words, you are so, you're in such bad condition, the way you're thinking, and there's nothing you can do about it.

Your train of thought means that you can't make yourself better the way you're trying to make yourself better.

So have the Laodiceans grieved the spirit to such a degree that the fire's gone out, that now when conviction comes, they can't see it, hear it?

recognize it?

And what put them in that position?

Have they been so impacted by the business and wealth and self-sufficiency of the Laodicean culture that they no longer, listen, they no longer had time for prayer and worship in Jesus.

And as a result, they become blind.

They don't see spiritual realities anymore.

But how is that possible?

Is it possible to pursue pleasure to such a degree?

That you choke the gospel out.

Well, that sounds like the parable of the seed and the sower.

And three, he says, you're spiritually blind.

You don't know the truth about God.

Now, did they used to know the truth about God, but because of the way they're living, has it been choked out of their lives?

Are they now ignorant?

How does that work?

And you don't know you're ignorant.

You don't know that you're blind.

Is it possible that you could have a church full of blind people?

Is it possible that you so focus on you that you lose God?

Is it possible to be religious without being Christian?

What is Jesus saying here?

And you know why it's important, right?

Because most theologians believe the American church is the church of Laodicea, that it's us, that there's a direct link between, a link between being wealthy, brilliant, accomplished, and having high achievement and spiritual lukewarmness.

That when you have all your needs met and you're self-sufficient, The reality of God's grace and provision does not grip your heart anymore.

I got this, God.

The knowledge that Jesus loves you is not a miracle anymore.

It doesn't electrify you, move you to tears anymore.

And it definitely doesn't drive you to your knees because you're not desperate.

You don't feel that you're a miracle of grace.

You've become less and less grateful, less dependent on God because your life is just not that difficult.

I'm good.

I got this.

There is an abstract link between being affluent, accomplished, brilliant, high achievement, and spiritual lukewarmness.

And it's very difficult to overcome affluence.

You know what affluence is, right?

It's you.

The reason you don't think you are is because you're comparing yourself to Elon Musk.

But to 95% of the rest of the world, oh, you're the rich.

We're the rich ones.

Remember what I said earlier?

I've said this a thousand times.

Even our little cars have houses.

They're called garages.

Most people in the world would love to have our garage to live in.

We're the rich ones.

Look at us.

I mean, we're in LA too.

Wow.

How much plastic surgery is in the room?

Don't raise your hand.

How much cars in the parking lot?

I go around the parking lot.

How many of you are going to go out to eat at least once or twice this week?

That's an incredible luxury for most of the world.

What Americans spend on ice cream in one year would feed the hunger and the impoverished in our world.

Did you know that?

Affluent people don't see themselves as affluent because they compare themselves with everybody else.

But the real problem is this.

The bigger problem is that affluency distracts you because you have the means and availability to do other things.

Now, please, I've gone down this road, but I'm going to go down it again.

It's so important.

And look, I should really be changing my language here.

I should stop saying you and I should start saying we.

Because we're all in this.

Man, I fight it.

This rat race.

Sometimes, I mean, I love you, I do.

But sometimes I'll say to my wife, Robin, can't we just find somewhere to go live where it's not a rat race, where we can have time, where it's just not so busy, where I can actually meet God again.

Next month, I'll be...

in Africa just for a while.

Don't panic.

You got Don and Michael, but I'll be in Africa.

And the reason I go every couple of years is because there's pastors.

And this year, we're going to bring the pastors.

You are, by the way, you're bringing, you're paying for this to bring the pastors of Rwanda down to Zimbabwe.

And they're going to get together for the first time in the same location.

And I'm going to spend three days with these guys.

Just teaching and training and you're going to love on them.

That's right.

Because most of those pastors in Rwanda have never been on an airplane.

They're going to get on an airplane for the first time.

And you know what you're going to do?

You're going to feed them three good meals a day and you're going to give them a nice bed to sleep in.

That's right.

You're going to do that whether you want to or not.

But here's the thing.

These pastors, I've been there.

They live in a concrete slab no bigger than probably this area.

That's their home.

They live hand to mouth.

They don't know.

They don't know if they're going to make it from one day to the next, and yet they do.

And yet, every morning at 5 a.m., they're up praising God as the sun comes up for the new day.

Now, if anybody should be praising God, it's you and me.

We got everything.

They got nothing.

What is going on?

This has disturbed me for most of my life.

Why is my commitment not like that?

And the reality is because I don't need God that much.

I got food.

I don't have to worry about clothing.

I don't have to.

I got it all.

I wonder how many people right now are watching this message or listening and have not been to church for a long, long time.

And the reason is you have other options.

Do you know the Bible talks about praise and worship as a sacrifice.

It should cost you something to wake up on a Sunday morning.

or Saturday afternoon.

And it should cost you your time.

It should be something you freely and willingly give up to go to the house of the Lord and praise God.

Hebrews 13, through Jesus, therefore, let us continually offer to God a sacrifice of praise.

But how many people in America just have so much opportunity and liberty?

that they can go do other things on the weekend.

See, what I'm trying to say, there's nothing bad in that until it becomes your primary pursuit.

See, people in Africa don't have that option.

They got no other option.

It's church or home.

Is that a bad thing?

I'm not sure it is.

Now, here's the other problem.

In Israel, you have this judge, this warrior.

His name is Jephath.

What a name.

He's a great warrior, great judge, but it's one of the most horrific stories in the Old Testament.

He's a leader in Israel, and yet he sacrifices his own daughter to make a vow to God.

Deuteronomy is very clear that God detests human sacrifices.

The problem is Jephthah has allowed the surrounding culture to infiltrate his thinking because cultures around him did this kind of thing all the time.

And the more intense your sacrifice, the greater you can expect from the gods.

Do you know that when Christians come from other parts of the world to visit us, and where the gospel is growing like wildfire, they're taken back.

Now, they won't say anything unless you press them, but I pressed them.

And when you press them, here's what they say.

They are appalled at how comfortable, safe, and affluent we are.

They are appalled by how little we pray and how much of our money we spend on ourselves.

And how we're afraid to let people at the office know we're Christ followers when they're dying because they're committing and because they're admitting they're associated with Jesus.

And they are shocked by what entertains us.

The truth is, you and I, we are just as accommodating to culture as Jephthah was to his.

We are just as lukewarm, oftentimes, as the Laodiceans.

There is a lukewarmness in us, in affluence, that is based on pride and self-sufficiency.

I guarantee you that if I heard tomorrow that my little granddaughter was gravely ill, I would be on my knees tomorrow morning.

I guarantee if I lost my job and didn't know how I was going to pay my rent, I'd be on my knees tomorrow morning.

But man, when my health is good, when my job is good, when life is easy, it's hard for me to get on my knees.

Western Christianity is marked with a lack of zealness for God.

We don't yearn for him.

There's no explosion of energy in his service.

There's little to no pursuit of purity, no passion for sacrifice, no genuine generosity because we're just not desperate.

I've got a friend, and I'm not going to say where, because you never know, he might be listening.

But I have a friend somewhere in these United States.

I've known him for a long time, and I've watched him over the course of his life.

He is the kind of guy that will talk about how much he loves the grace of God.

You know, I don't know what I do.

God's grace is so good.

But somehow I think he thinks by saying that, that's a substitute for a transformed life.

Because there's no effort in his life whatsoever to clean up his language.

Doesn't offend him at all.

Very seldom does he do anything or take part in anything that is what I consider activity in the service of God.

He's very wealthy because he inherited a lot of money.

So what he does when he gets a guilty conscience, he gives a little bit of it away, but that's not really costing him anything.

He has the means to prance around the globe.

So he does.

He's in a different country almost every other day doing something.

But he likes to speak about Jesus and talk about how he appreciates the grace of God.

And what I've learned over time is that I think he says this because he thinks that speaking publicly of the grace of God offsets his lack of transformation.

And the sad thing is he can't see it.

What would Jesus say to him?

I'll tell you what he would say.

I know your works.

You're neither cold nor hot.

Would that you were either cold or hot.

So because you're lukewarm and neither hot nor cold, I will spit you out of my mouth.

Okay, quickly, what do we do then?

What's the remedy of this disease?

And I got to move fast.

He says in verse 18, I counsel you to buy from me gold refined by fire so that you may be rich and white garments so that you may clothe yourself and the shame of your nakedness may not be seen and salve to anoint your eyes so that you may see.

So he says you need three things.

We need three things, all of us.

Okay.

One, we need a white robe.

Now what's the white robe?

We know what the white robe is, right?

It's the robe we're given.

When we understand salvation is by grace through faith.

You can't earn your salvation, but we're told that we are given white robes.

In Revelation 7, we're told when John the Revelator has his vision, he says, after this I looked, and there before me was a great multitude that no one could count from every nation, tribe, people, and language standing before the throne and before the Lamb.

They were wearing white robes.

And they said, salvation belongs to our God.

Salvation belongs to Him who sits on the throne and to the Lamb.

In Isaiah 1, come let us settle this matter, says the Lord.

Though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be white as snow.

Though they are red as crimson, they shall be like wool.

So the robe is the robe of salvation that you cannot earn, that is given to you as a gift by God when you make him the Savior and Lord of your life.

And to do that means that somewhere along the line, you have, listen now, you have to have a Jesus revelation.

You have to at some point see him for who he really is.

And you could go to church all your life and that never happened.

Because when it does hit you, when you really start to understand the grace and the mercy of God, don't get me wrong, you're not going to be perfect.

We're sinners saved by grace.

I'm not saying that.

I'm just saying that there's an explosion of energy toward Christ.

You've got other pursuits, but your primary pursuit is Jesus.

And you can't earn that salvation.

When you understand what Christ has done, the natural byproduct is this incredible gratitude.

And when you have that incredible gratitude, you want to be around Jesus.

You want to hang with the people of Jesus and you want to worship and praise and you want to serve Jesus.

That's why I said the thing I've learned the most in ministry, no matter what I do, I can never coerce or manipulate you into loving Jesus.

You have to have your own revelation.

Hey, do you know this guy, Mark?

Is it Mark Fogle?

Years of suffering in a Russian prison.

President Trump's team secured his release.

The Fogel family said this, we are beyond grateful, relieved, and overwhelmed that after more than three years of detention, our father, husband, and son is finally coming home.

This has been the darkest and most painful period of our lives, but today we began to heal.

Now, I got a question for you.

How grateful do you think Mark is?

I did some research this week about Russian prisons.

Three-quarters of the prisoners in Russia, they're not like our country clubs here in the U.S.

Three-quarters of the prisoners in Russia have a serious disease such as tuberculosis and AIDS or other illnesses.

74,000 prisoners are infected by tuberculosis, 36,000 are HIV positive, 26,000 have syphilis, 1,500 have hepatitis.

Almost all prisoners are addicted to drugs.

Human rights campaigners warn that overcrowding, malnutrition, the lack of hygiene have made prisons a breeding ground for disease.

There's constant abuse and torture including rape and sodomy.

Contaminated and expired food is part of the process.

Basically, when you're a prisoner in Russia, everything goes.

There's no moral code.

How thankful do you think he is to be rescued?

Now, here's the question.

You and I have been rescued from a far greater ruin, haven't we?

Everything is decaying in this world except you and me.

The outside is wasting away, but we're being renewed every day on the inside, right?

Because not only is Jesus preparing a place for us, he's preparing us for that place.

But think about it.

Do we deserve that?

Come on.

What do you and I really deserve?

What do we deserve?

Eternal ruin.

None of us does the good in here.

We try, but don't we often fail?

I mean, if we're going to get to heaven based on how good we are, man, we are in deep trouble.

And yet he gives us the gift of grace.

What does Jesus give us?

Eternal, not just life, but eternal life.

Here's the problem.

We have forgotten about the beauty of eternal life because we really don't mind the temporal one.

When you live in affluence, see, what's amazing is we in the affluent West are shocked when things don't go well.

But most of the Christians in the world expect things not to go well.

They expect persecution and struggle.

They know this is a fallen world, and they know they can't survive without Jesus.

So they are absolutely dependent upon him to deliver and sustain them.

And when that happens, listen, when you're going through a difficult time, and somebody comes alongside you and walks with you through those difficult times, what happens?

Is a friendship not developed?

A respect and intimacy?

You and I don't need God.

And as a result, we don't know God the way that we should.

Man, I have so much more to say, but I can't.

You and I live in affluency.

And all I'm trying to get you to do is understand.

that you have a greater temptation toward lukewarmness than Christ followers who don't live in the West.

And the first way that you are going to be able to overcome lukewarmness is go back and have a Jesus revelation of how wonderful the gift of grace is.

And I can't do that for you.

Some of you need to get on your knees and just beg God to open your eyes again to what you have in Christ.

And the second way that you overcome lukewarmness is very clear in the text.

What is it?

Suffering.

I counsel you to buy from me gold refined by fire so that you may be rich.

Jesus is saying this, if you want to get out of lukewarmness into a real transformed life, you're going to have to walk through some very difficult times with me by your side.

Some of you are going to have to pray, God, I pray for difficulty.

Can I ask you a question?

Which one would you choose?

An easy life without intimacy with Jesus and little to no experience of God.

Or B, a difficult life with deep intimacy with Jesus and deep, deep experiences of his presence.

And you're going to say, can I have both?

And I'm not sure you can.

Those who have exuded an intimate, deep, existential, wondrous relationship with Jesus are those who have gone through the most difficult seasons and had Jesus come near and close and walk with them every step of the way.

So I want to ask you three hard questions and I'm going to close with three comments, okay?

Here's the question.

First of all, let's not forget that people who live charmed lives are almost always lukewarm.

Are you willing to ask yourself some hard questions?

One, do I value my relationship with Jesus above all other things?

Is Jesus the most important thing in your life?

Two, am I willing to reorder my life to live as a disciple, to pursue a relationship in prayer, to pursue the truth of his word in scripture, to deny myself the constant pursuit of fun and entertainment at the cost of being with God's people in the house of the Lord, offering the sacrifice of praise.

To obey him with a life that resists things that contradict purity, seeking instead those things that honor and glorify God.

Do I value my relationship with Jesus above every other thing?

Am I willing to reorder my life to live as a disciple?

And three, am I willing to seek first the kingdom of God in every aspect of my life?

His truth concerning my identity, sexuality, calling, his demand of the first fruits of my life, his insistence that I proclaim his name in difficult places, his mercy toward those who are less fortunate.

And finally, are you willing to take a different perspective concerning the trials of your life?

No longer to see them as God abandoning you, but God trying to draw near to you so that he becomes the most important thing in your life again.

Do you understand now why Jesus said in Matthew 19, it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for someone who is rich to enter the kingdom of God?

And you always thought the rich people were those other guys.

No, that's you and me.

By the way, the third thing is that if you want to get out of lukewarmness, Jesus says, behold, I stand at the door of knock in Revelation 3.20.

If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I'll come in and eat with him.

Isn't it interesting?

We use this verse for evangelism.

No, he's talking to the church.

He's saying, if you want to meet with me, if you want this kind of intimacy with me, I'm at the door knocking.

You don't have to knock on my door.

I'm here already.

Just come and meet with me.

Oh, be zealous for God.

Be zealous for God.

Okay.

Here's how I'm going to close.

There are three people, three types of people in the room right now.

And we got to do this because it's the end of the series.

The first group of people in the room, you cannot see.

You think you can, but you can't.

I don't know who you are and I'd never judge to say who is and who isn't.

I'm just simply saying that if you have very little emotion, feeling.

experience with God, and you've just kind of been going through the church motions all of your life, and you come to church and you go home, it's kind of a social club to you, but there's no real passion in your heart to go hard after Christ, to know Christ, to experience Jesus.

Can I tell you, you need to get on your knees and beg God for a Jesus revelation that you may see him as he really is so that those passions and emotions and the controlling thing of your life is Christ.

You heard it today.

You heard it today.

There's a second group of people in the room, and that's those who can see.

You can see, but you've allowed the cares of the world to choke the gospel right out of your life.

You're too busy for God because you have the means to be too busy.

You've got other things.

The reason you can't sit down on the couch for five minutes in the morning and pray is your mind is on other things that you want to do that day.

It's that simple.

We in the West, we got drive-up windows.

We get things delivered to us like that.

So when we want to, we want to do what we want to do and when we want to do it.

And so when Jesus says, stop and sit, I don't want to.

I got other things I need to be doing.

And that's because the cares of the world choking the gospel right out of your life.

And then there's the third category, those who definitely see and they're trying.

And they're hearing this sermon.

It's the old passage.

I hear what you're saying and I should do better.

I know you're right.

Can I tell you something?

Revel in his grace.

He's got you.

You're doing fine.

You're reordering your life.

Good for you.

He'll catch you.

You're going to fall.

He'll catch you.

But keep marching on.

Everybody in this room needs to make a decision this weekend.

Some need to repent for the first time and come to Christ and say, I need a Jesus revelation because I don't love him like this.

And the reason you don't love him like that is you haven't really gotten the gospel yet.

Men are really guilty of this because we are not touchy-feely.

Some of us aren't.

And yeah, I got the gospel thing.

It's good.

I'm going to go and do the right thing.

I'm going to man up and be good morally.

No, you're not.

Until you realize you can't, and without the grace and forgiveness of Jesus, your heart's not going to be melted.

Until your heart's melted, you're not going to walk with him.

Others of you need to rededicate your life.

You can do it right now.

You can step across the line as in the day of Joshua.

You know that you've allowed the cares of the world to choke the gospel out.

This is the time.

This is decision weekend.

Now you say, nope, that's it.

I've done this, Pastor Jeff is right, and I am on a road that leads not to discipleship, but leads me away from the Father into lukewarmness where I can no longer see spiritual things.

I repent right now.

I am going to step across the line, and while I have these other pursuits in my life, I'm going to start pursuing Christ.

First and foremost in my life.

That's what you do today.

And then the third group of you who've been doing this for a long time, don't be so hard on yourself.

You're never going to be perfect.

You know you love him.

You know you're pursuing him.

You go through up and down seasons.

Accept and receive his grace and rejoice in that he's got you.

You see that?

I love that commercial.

Well, I don't actually.

You know that love, this commercial, this thing that's happening that says, he gets us.

You seen that?

I'm not sure what that means because the real question is, do you get him?

I know he gets you, but what does that mean?

Do you get him?

And only those who pursue and go after him find him.

Father, thank you for your love for us.

Thank you for this series.

And I pray this would be a weekend where people step across the line and say, enough is enough, that eternity is in the room right now.

that the Holy Spirit and the truth of the Spirit has fallen on us.

And we get to make a decision of how we're going to live our lives right here, right now.

And we're going to step across the line and never look back.

I know that we're not going to be perfect.

I know that we're going to blow it again.

I know that we're going to do the wrong thing oftentimes.

But Father, I pray that we would understand the difference between trying and failing and not trying and not pursuing and not going hard after the cause of Christ.

In his name we pray, everybody said, amen.

So glad you were here with us today to listen to the message.

If you have questions about what to do next, or maybe you really want to explore what it would be like to follow Jesus, we would love to come alongside you.

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We hope this message blessed you and that you have a great week.

Let's go as we always do with one hope, one life in Christ.