Neither Hot Nor Cold
Rev. 3:14-22, "And unto the angel of the church
of the Laodiceans write; These things saith the Amen, the faithful and true
witness, the beginning of the creation of God; I know thy works, that thou art
neither cold nor hot: I would thou wert cold or hot. So then because thou art
lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will spue thee out of my mouth. Because
thou sayest, I am rich, and increased with goods, and have need of nothing; and
knowest not that thou art wretched, and miserable, and poor, and blind, and
naked: I counsel thee to buy of me gold tried in the fire, that thou mayest be
rich; and white raiment, that thou mayest be clothed, and that the shame of thy
nakedness do not appear; and anoint thine eyes with eyesalve, that thou mayest
see. As many as I love, I rebuke and chasten: be zealous therefore, and repent.
Behold, I stand at the door, and knock: if any man hear my voice, and open the
door, I will come in to him, and will sup with him, and he with me. To him that
overcometh will I 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, let him hear
what the Spirit saith unto the churches.
As I was sitting in services last night, the Lord impressed these verses upon
me. Pastor is going through 1 Peter during our Wednesday night services. He was
emphasizing 1:16 “…Be ye holy; for I am holy.” I did a phrase search in e-Sword
of this particular phrase and discovered that God placed this very phrase in His
Word THREE times. How wonderful that God would place that verse for being holy
three times! The number three is symbolic of the Trinity! WOW! What a blessing
that was for me. It also opened my eyes to the importance of the verse.
The topic of the end times and judgment is what drew me to Christ. When I was
first saved 26 years ago, I noticed two groups of people in my church. There
were those who were on fire and those I never got to know because they did
nothing. I never knew the lukewarm believers spoken of in verse 15. Sin was
still preached and people were still embarrassed and ashamed for these sins. I
could not comprehend why Jesus would write this letter to the Laodiceans because
that church age had not come yet!
But today, the average Christian is not
on fire and hot, nor is he/she backslidden and cold. The
average Christian is lukewarm. Noah
Webster’s definition for the word lukewarm in Rev. 1:15 is:
“Not ardent; not zealous; cool; indifferent; as
lukewarm obedience; lukewarm patriots. Rev 3.” Today’s
average Christian is not zealous for the
things of God. Today’s average Christian is indifferent to the things of God.
Then it dawned on me that today’s Christian is indifferent to sin and its
effects on their lives. They have become de-sensitized, if you will. Christians
don’t think twice about cursing or hearing curse words. There is tolerance for
sin and no longer is there shame for their sin. They can go to the movies and
watch TV shows that are shameful and not be embarassed by it.
They do not fear what God will do. The healthy fear of the Lord is gone. Now I can see prophecy
revealed in these end times by looking at those in my own church. We have a tiny
hand full of dedicated Christians. Then there are a few who appear dedicated on
the outside and do some things around the church but no interest in leading
others to Christ.
Pastor closed the message with an example which broke my heart. He said that one
day he was in a store looking at something on the shelves. A little Korean girl
(3-4 years old) ran up to him and wrapped her arms around his legs and said, "Daddyyyyyy!"
He stretched out his arms and shrugged his shoulders as if to say he was
bewildered at who she was and didn’t know her! He then said, “I wonder if our
Heavenly Father feels that way about today’s indifferent Christian when they
come to Him in prayer!”
Oh ladies, I want to hear “Well done, thou good and faithful servant” from my
Saviour’s lips.
I am ashamed that I started out strong for the Lord and have allowed the cares
of this world to dictate my walk. I am not indifferent but if I continued in
this path, I would be a member of the Laodiceans that my Saviour says He will
spit out!
How ashamed I was and broken hearted. I am thankful that our Saviour is a God of
second chances, aren’t you? I am thankful that He
uses His Word to encourage us to righteousness. “Be ye hold; for I am holy.”
Sayeth the Lord!!! I have a renewed desire to obey this verse. I have a renewed
dedication to Christ. My prayer is that Christ would renew in my heart the shame
I should feel with each sin. My prayer is that the Lord would restore that
healthy fear of His judgment in my life once again.
April 13, 2006
Kate Plourde
