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I’m going to invite you to Revelation. Chapter three is where we’re at together today. Revelation chapter three. As we’re we’re concluding the section of Revelation related to the the seven churches. And if you’ve been in this, this time with us together, as we’ve gone through the book of Revelation, there’s a few reasons, to be honest, that we’ve we’ve ventured into this book. One is because of where we are as a country today, and the other is because where we’ve been as a church together. Yeah. As a as a country today, you don’t unless you’ve been living in a hole. You know, this has been a political year. And and it’s sometimes politics can get a little tumultuous and create some tension and a little bit of concern for future. And you know what I think is important for all of us as God’s people, especially to be reminded of, is that despite whatever happens in this world, that we serve a greater king and live for a greater kingdom, and whoever you pick may have one, you know, that’s wonderful if you feel like you’ve been victorious. But but I just in terms of what it means to be God’s people. Leaders of this world come and go, but there’s one leader who sustains through it all, and more than anything, my the desire of our heart as a church should be to honor him through it. In the book of Revelation is written to a church that’s facing tremendous persecution because of the things that they represent in this world as, as, as lights to this world, followers of Christ.
And and, you know, oftentimes people come to this book and they they read it in fear and concern. But what you discover when you read the book of Revelation is this book is an incredible book of hope and worship, and it helps us understand what it looks like to to follow the Lord in light of where we are, no matter where we’re at as God’s people throughout the centuries. It’s a it’s a powerful book of hope because we are more than conquerors in Christ. And this book reminds us of that. And as we’ve studied this book together, what we’ve learned is chapter one. It tells us at the end of chapter one that John is writing to us about what is and what is to come. And the first three chapters of the Book of Revelation, he very much talks about what is in light of what is to come. And really, this is a somewhat of a preparation for the hearts of God’s people through what they might go through. And they’ve already faced adversity. They still have some adversity in front of them. But God is using this as an opportunity to refine them. And in fact, for us, challenges that we face become this catalyst to our own spiritual life. Not to say you need to make your Christian journey difficult for the sake of being difficult, but it’s not until your faith is tested that you know it can be trusted.
It’s easy to say you follow Jesus when everything in life is going easy. But. But you really see how much Jesus matters to you when when your relationship with Christ might cost you. But, but learning that in Jesus you will never lose is an important message in the book of Revelation. And God is starting this story for us with these seven churches. And when you read about these seven churches, you may ask the question, well, why these particular seven churches? Because there are a few churches he talks about at these seven churches that you might easily recognize, like in chapter two. The very first church he tells us about is the Church of Ephesus. This is a pretty prominent, popular church in church history that Jesus’s mother lived in Ephesus. John, who’s writing the Book of Revelation, lived in Ephesus. Timothy lived in Ephesus. Paul lived in Ephesus, a very popular church in church history. But then you get to other churches like the church today, Laodicea, like outside of the book of Revelation. The question is, how many people know really the church of Laodicea? Why in the world did the Apostle John pick these seven churches? And the reason we’ve discovered together is, is because the number seven represents something in the book of Revelation. In fact, being apocalyptic literature, there’s a lot of imagery and a lot of numbers within this book that that aren’t to be taken literally, but rather are a representation of something greater.
Now, these seven churches were certainly literal churches, but the number seven represents something bigger for God’s people. And what we’ve discovered in this book is that the number seven is a number of completeness. And so what these churches represent are really a picture of all of God’s people throughout history, all the local expressions of God’s community throughout history, and the successes and struggles that we face. And as God writes these to these seven churches, these this letter is written much like a diary. It’s exposing to us where these churches are succeeding and where these churches are struggling as a way for us not to cast stones at them, but for us to examine our own lives and say, okay, in light of this, these churches, where are we as God’s people and what is it God’s calling us to do in the city of Laodicea certainly gives us a place to examine the church within this community. The impact that they are making and being able to draw from that, and Laodicea, probably more than any of these churches are, is very much more relatable to where we find ourselves in America today. Laodicea was a town that was known as a place of of commerce and wealth. In fact, Laodicea was referred to as a as a city that was the gateway to the east and to the west.
It was on a major trade route, and because of that a lot of money flowed through Laodicea. Not only that, it was, it was known as a as a place for good medical treatment. In fact, one of the things that people saw in the city of Laodicea was a particular eye salve or a salve or an eye ointment for treating ailments to the eyes. There was a medical school there for training, and in addition to that, not only did they have wealth, medical treatment, they, they, they also had this particular type of wool that was sought after. It was the, the, the well-off people in various communities would want to buy the, the wool that from this land in order to, to produce clothing for them to wear. And so the city was known for, for several different things. And on the, on the outside, looking at this city, you might think if you were to move here, let’s say you’ve got a promotion and they’ve invited you to to lead a business in this town. If you were to just journey there to visit, you might think to yourself, well, this is a great town. There’s a lot of job opportunities. There’s a way to get, you know, great medical treatment. And we’re going to financially be somewhat secure. And it’s a good community to belong to. In fact, look at that. There’s even a church here. Right. So there’s a place for us to worship.
And and at first glance, just looking at this community, you might think, well, the community is great. And the the church looks good and they do good things and they, they have, you know, some means just like the rest of the town. And they kind of help the widows and the orphans and what a great church that we can kind of show up to and belong to. But but what you discover is as you begin to pull back the layers on this church, that while on the outside things appeared healthy and well and on on the inside that this, this church community was actually struggling and the Lord starts to pull, pull back for us the curtains of the church to sort of expose what’s what’s resting and the rot that’s on the inside to help us understand that the the complacency of the society and the comfortableness in which they have lived in has caused the church to start to reflect the culture, rather than the church influencing the culture for God’s glory. And, you know, to be honest, in the in the lull of our own creature comforts, we we have the tendency as God’s people to sort of end up in that same direction where, you know, the things around us in our society, they’re just there are a lot of creature comforts for us to be there, and we sort of evaluate our spiritual health based on the condition of our culture.
And since things seem okay, then, then that must mean that I’m okay. And, you know, I kind of go to church on Sunday because I get a little bit of Jesus there. And, you know, I got my Jesus thing on Sunday and then the rest of my life, and it’s just this comfortable life that I live And and when you read the book of Revelation, chapter three, starting in verse 15, you start to see, this is where God is speaking to the church. And when God speaks to this, this, this church, something a little unique about this church from the rest is that God doesn’t start by talking about the things the church is doing. Well, most of the pattern for these churches. God talks to them about areas where they’re succeeding, things where he really enjoys what the church is about. But then he talks about areas the church is struggling when it comes to the church of Laodicea, because they’ve been lulled to sleep in their spiritual state, and they’re judging their spirituality by the creature comforts around them. God sort of just rocks the church and its conditions, saying, no, no, no, you think that you’re healthy, but on the inside it is absolutely broken. And the way he does it in verse 15, he says this I know your works. You are neither cold nor hot. Would that you were either cold or hot. So because you are lukewarm, neither hot nor cold, I will spit you out of my mouth, which is kind of a gross thing to say, right? This is nobody really wanted.
Give me some lukewarm water, please. This is kind of a gross thing, but when you start to study the culture, you see why the Lord is saying this is because the conditions in Laodicea and and this. This reminds me of an activity I used to do. There was a time in my life when I when I first became a pastor, I led a college ministry. That was my first position as a as a pastor. And then we came out and planted ABC. We ran, you know, had the church here, and then we started a youth group. My wife and I were leading the the youth. When you when you start a church plant, you do everything right. And and so I had a good number of youth and, and one of the things that I used to do. And I’m not trying to advocate for this now, but I don’t know if you guys have ever heard of this or not, but the The Gallon milk challenge, I don’t know how many of you have ever participated in the gallon milk challenge, but but it works like this. Um, you create a competition for me, it was with college students or youth and you would say, okay, whoever can drink a gallon of milk in an hour, right? You win this prize and you can come up with something outlandish, right? Because.
Because I have found in this challenge no one has ever been successful. But I will tell you about 45 minutes into it, you have some entertainment depending on how you like to be entertained, right? So, so about 45 minutes into it, people start to realize, wait, the body can’t handle a gallon of milk in an hour, right? And and then what goes into the inside all of a sudden comes back out on the outside and and if you got your cameras ready, there are some videos you can go back and laugh on if that kind of stuff doesn’t gross you out. And if it does, I’m sorry I shared that, but, um, I tell you, for me, when it ended, it ended when one time I had this, this group of college students come to my mother’s house. I was house sitting for her. And, uh, and all of a sudden, about 45 minutes into our Bible study, it ended, right? And they had to go out back. Only they didn’t quite make it very far. And my mom came home from her trip that night, and I didn’t by the next morning have enough time to clean it off, because it was later at night and she slipped in it. Right. And so that was that was the end of that for me. Right? She She reminds me of that story. But.
But this is what the the the Lord is saying. And when it comes to the city of Laodicea. Laodicea actually did not have their own source of water in the community. They had to pipe it in. And about five miles from this town there was this mineral hot spring, and they channeled that down to their city. And by the time it got to the city, it was it was lukewarm. But one thing they discovered about this particular water is they couldn’t drink this water. In fact, the gallon milk challenge would happen to you if you drank this water. It was repulsive. And what Jesus is saying is, though sometimes things may look good, though you may have water in front of you, it doesn’t mean that the water is necessarily drinkable water, that it could be toxic to your insides and cause things that that you don’t want to experience. And he’s comparing their relationship with the Lord this way. When while while the church may claim to know Jesus, the type of Jesus that they represent is actually Repulsive. It’s not the true Jesus that that really brings life. It’s this outward manifestation of saying, you know, I’m a Christian wearing the label, but but on the inside, it’s it’s full of brokenness and the true Jesus isn’t there. And so the question for us is maybe to ask, what are they going to do about it? And since this church has lost its passion for the true Jesus, we can ask ourselves this morning, how do we get that passion back as God’s people? How? How do we discover that what we what we once had in the Lord in order to to really walk with him today.
And this is what he’s encouraging the church in light of that. You know, when you look at this, this church in Laodicea, it’s very much in many ways, much like the church in Ephesus. If you remember in the beginning, the chapter two, the first church we talk about is is comparable to the the seventh church we talk about, because these churches are in this chiastic structure where church one and church seven are the same and church two and church six are very similar, and four, three, four and five are the same. And and if you remember, in the church of Ephesus, the church of Ephesus were doing all these wonderful works. And he’s saying, God knows your works here in this verse, same thing, but in the church of Ephesus, verse five, he says, but you’ve left your first love. The real Jesus really isn’t among your community, that you’re doing things that look godly but do not have the power of the Lord. And this is one of the, I think, as a pastor, one of the most difficult things that I find in sharing Christ with people is, is the person that God’s really talking to here is the do gooders? I mean, if you read the Gospels, you find the people that Jesus was most blunt with in their life was the religious people, the ones that they felt like they had it all together because they were, well, sort of doing good enough and it was better than my neighbor.
So therefore I must be okay with God. And so he’s saying, no, no, no, you’re actually in the worst position because your eyes aren’t even awakened to how much you need the Lord. You think it’s. You think it’s just about showing up to church on Sunday and getting your religious component, and then sort of doing what you want the rest of the time. And, and he’s saying that that kind of Christianity is actually not healthy. In fact, it’s it’s repulsive. It’s not it’s not doing what you think it will do. It’s kind of like if we compared it today to Utah Lake, you know, our wonderful, beautiful Utah Lake, if you ever brave enough to venture into it, you know that there’s there’s at least a few months out of the year where they just tell you don’t do that. Don’t do that. Because you got this thing now called green algae and it kills animals. And at the very least, it’s going to it’s going to do this for you. It’s going to make things come out of places that you don’t just want things to come out of places at the time. They’re coming out right like this.
This is not it’s not healthy. It’s not good. And and the reason for that is, is, well, the reason we get green algae, if you don’t know, is because there’s not enough healthy water flow through through Utah Lake. Now we’ve got the Jordan River. I mean but but but what happens is the water kind of grows stagnant. And in that stagnation, the green algae grows and it becomes toxic. And it’s sort of the picture of the Christian life that Jesus wants beautiful rivers of life flowing through you. And sometimes in Christianity, we just have this way of trying to just compartmentalize it with our little bit of Jesus over here. And that’s okay. And then we move on with the rest of everything that we want, as if we we we can compartmentalize our life in a spiritual sense. And and he’s saying this, this is not healthy for for the life of the believer. And just because you see, water doesn’t make it healthy, and just because someone labels themselves a Christian doesn’t make it healthy. So, so so how do we get that passion for the Lord? Like what? What what caused this? And how do we get it back? And let me just give you point number one in your notes. Number one is this begin with the one who is greater. Begin with the one who is greater, which is not you or me, right? As a pastor, when I when I talk to people, not even as a pastor, as a follower of Jesus.
Let me say it like that. As a follower of Jesus, I want to talk to someone about the Lord. There is. There is one. One characteristic that I’m looking for in the heart of a person to understand if there’s going to be receptivity to the truth of who Jesus is, and that one characteristic is humility. And because sometimes in our in our arrogance as human beings, we just we think we get it figured out or we’re just not in that position where we’re willing to surrender our lives to someone else, right? Especially to the Lord. Uh, we still want to sit on the throne of our own life and sort of dictate things. And we might invite, you know, a spiritual experience. And as long as I stay in control of it. But but the problem with that is, is you weren’t made to be on the throne of your life, right? We were made to let the Lord sit there because the Lord created us for his purposes. But it’s not until we have this willingness to be humble in our demeanor, to the greatness of who God is, that we’ll even begin to discover the purpose for which we exist in him. And humility becomes a huge component to that. And this is why when the the letters are written to the seven churches with each of the churches, he begins with a characteristic of who God is.
And God shares these to each of these churches based on who he is first, because it’s not until we understand that that we’re truly going to understand who we are in light of who he is. And so the way that that that John starts with this first church, he says, 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. And then he concludes it this way he who has an ear, let him hear what the spirit says to the churches. So so he’s saying, look humble of heart. If you’re if your ears are really open to what God is saying, this is let, let let this truth fill your life. This is who God is desiring to communicate into the story. He’s saying he who has an ear, who’s demonstrating that the humbleness of heart before what the Lord is saying, and then he’s showing us the preeminence that Christ should have in our life and the way he does it. He refers to him as the words of the Amen, the faithful and true witness. The beginning of God’s creation. And this word. Amen. This is this is like this is pulling out the the southern in me a little bit, right? This is this is this is a word that’s a little different in Utah culture, especially Utah, Utah, Utah County, Utah culture, where our our experience in worship tends to be a little bit more reserved.
You know, we, we, we like the more reverent style of worship. And I know some of you. So every once in a while in our church, I hear people say this. I just want everyone to just yell Amen, because I come from that background, right? And then everyone’s a little timid to do that. Um, but, but, but we have this more reverent style here in worship. And, and when I go to the southeast, sometimes I forget. I forget like, they they’re, like, actively talking to you all the time. In fact, I was I was at a church this past spring. I had to share a series of messages and, and, uh, and the first message I said the person in the very front row was like the first point I made. They don’t just say amen. They like, yell it. Right? They yell it. And like, the first time in my life I ever jumped scared on stage. It was it was funny. And the person felt so bad he never said it again. The rest of the time he came and apologized. I’m like, I’m sorry. I’ve been in Utah for 20 years. I don’t. I forgot you did that, right. But but this this word amen is this word of affirming. It’s this word of supporting this this word of saying. And I stand with this. This is what I’m aligning my life with, right? And it’s saying, this is who Jesus is, that Jesus is the affirmation of of all this truth.
He’s the true and faithful witness. Meaning, what it’s saying to you is if you were to ask the question, what is God like? And what he’s saying in this verse is, if you want to know what God is like, look at Jesus because He’s God in the flesh. Jesus is the fullness of God in bodily form. That’s Colossians two nine. If you if you want to know what God is like, just look at Jesus. He is the demonstration of God in the flesh. He he is God himself. He is that true witness of all that God has declared. And then it says the beginning of God’s creation. Um, and some people read this and they they might erroneously think that he is the first. What it’s saying is he is the first one created, and that’s not what this passage is communicating at all. What it’s saying is he is the preeminence over all of creation. Not that he is the first one created, but he is the uncaused cause of all things. Everything that came into existence came into existence through him. And so if I give you some verses just related to that, you don’t have to go out of the book of Revelation to discover it. Like, for example in Revelation one verse eight, it tells us God is the Alpha and Omega, meaning the beginning and the end.
And then in Revelation 21 verse six, it says, Jesus is the Alpha and Omega, the beginning and end. He is the source of all things. Not not saying he’s the first thing created, but rather he is the source from which all of creation flows. In fact, that is the whole beginning of the Gospel of John, the first 18 verses that Jesus is with the father and is the creator of all things. Colossians two nine. Colossians one 1516 says the same thing. So it’s recognizing the source, the throne of your life, who sits on that throne. This is. This is the battle for your heart that that John is writing about in the Book of Revelation to the church of Laodicea for our own lives to reflect upon. So, so how do we begin to discover that passion? Well, it starts with beginning with the one who is greater. And then point number two, we have to check our hope as people check your hope. And this is this is what he does in verse 17. The church has has gotten confused. And where it’s putting its hope in by the creature comforts in the world around them, they have evaluated their circumstance in an earthly sense and say, well, since things seem okay externally, everything must be okay internally, spiritually. In fact, when you read verse 17, it says, for you say, I am rich. This is the church’s comment.
But then. But then God says, I have or I have prospered and I need nothing, not realizing that you are. This is how God describes him wretched, pitiable, poor, blind, and naked. And when God uses these adjectives to describe the church, I want us to know he’s not just pulling these arbitrary ideas out and saying, here’s what I think about you, but rather he’s taking the very source from where they have found their identity, their worth as people and the possessions of life. And he’s saying you’re evaluating yourself by by an earthly standard. You think you’re okay because, well, the world around you seems okay. But if you remember the characteristics that I described to you about the church, remember they they were a place of wealth. They were a place of this particular type of clothing, of wool, for clothing. They’re a place of medical treatment, especially this eye ointment. And so when the Lord is describing to them, he’s saying, you think you find your identity in these creature comforts, but this is not who you are. And in fact, in light of that, let me just tell you, you’re not rich. You’re poor and you can’t see. You’re blind and you’re not wearing clothing. You’re actually naked. And before the Lord. Just. Just because you think you have things doesn’t make doesn’t make everything okay. In fact, if Affluency was was to make us happy, America should be the happiest place on the planet.
In fact, in the course of history that this is this is the the best a people group have ever had it. And if that’s the way of evaluating our health before the Lord, then this would be the best place to live. The happiest place to live. But when you you take two seconds to get to know the state of America, what you find is there are a lot of unhappy people here. In fact, you can go to many countries in this world where people have very little and they seem like they’re in a better state than Americans who have a lot. And we we buy into this lie of thinking, well, if I could just get this much more, you know, if I could just attain this level, then I’m. Then I’ll be happy. Only to discover when you get there that that it’s this false peak that you continue to just raise the ladder and thinking, you know, eventually I’ll get to that spot of just having enough, then I’ll be content only to discover that it was it was at best a mirage. And then the things that you end up having really end up having you and you serve them rather than it serving you. And it controls what you do, and you found your identity and worth here, and you begin to realize it’s bankrupt in one day it’s all going to go away. And so then we might say to ourselves, well, if I could just have a better position, if I could have more power, if I could just be a little prettier and I could attain those things, then then I’ll have arrived.
And then you start pursuing those things and you find out those things in themselves aren’t bad, right? They don’t have to be bad. Everything that God created in this world is it’s all moral. It’s what you do with it that determines whether or not it’s good. I think money in itself is not bad. Position in itself is not bad. Title itself is not bad. But when you start to find your identity in those things, that’s that’s where it’s trouble. When you use it to leverage for your glory, rather than understand everything that God has given you for his glory, that that’s where you’re in trouble. Because if you put your hope in those things, what you begin to discover is those things shift and fade. And if you’re your hope is in those things, then your hope is going to shift and fade with it. In fact, it will it will diminish and die. But what’s necessary for our lives is to discover something richer, deeper that does not go away. And we tend to think, well, when you realize those things are broken. If I could just learn more, right? I could figure out what’s wrong with me. And I have enough knowledge and with enough knowledge then. Then I can fix what’s wrong with me.
But you know what the Bible says in first Corinthians chapter eight, verse one. Knowledge puffs up, meaning the thing that knowledge often produces in our lives is this place of arrogance. Where? Where you think that your your understanding becomes your source of salvation. And again, I’m not telling you to intentionally run in this world and be dumb, right? I think God gave you a brain for a reason. And you should use it. And you can use it to honor him. But but your solution is not even a lack of knowledge. It’s something much deeper. And he’s using this, this book of Revelation to to remind us that what God desires for us is something altogether different. Not to not to be content in the creature comforts of this world, but to realize we were created for so much more. And in Romans chapter 12, this is what the Apostle Paul warns us about as God’s people. Is that what the world wants you to do? Church is to reflect it rather than you reflect the goodness of who God is to it. Like the world starts to change you rather than than what God has done in you. Transform the world. And he carries this idea of Romans 12 two is that the world wants to conform you. It’s trying to press you in this mold where maybe you look a little bit different because, well, you’ve got Jesus, I’m a Christian. You wear the label.
But but in reality is all you’ve done is taken your Jesus and made it look like a just a a do good experience in the midst of of the world around you. Meaning you look a little different, but but not quite what the not not not what God calls you to. Certainly. And just a little unique to what maybe the world is. And we just can be content in that, right? And so the Apostle Paul warns us that what God doesn’t, he doesn’t want you to conform from the outside. And what God wants to do is something radically different. He wants to altogether transform your life from the inside out. And you don’t discover that by seeking things on the outside. But to understand what Jesus wants to begin to do on the inside. So, so from beyond you, things are transformed. In fact, I remember, if you remember in the the book of Genesis, we studied together, and one of the figures that we very much focused on was a man by the name of Abraham, which I never told you. One of the other reasons we’re studying revelation is because we were in Genesis, and Revelation gives a good ending to where the Book of Genesis begins. And, you know, Abraham said it like this by faith Abraham obeyed when he was called to go out to a place that he was to receive as an inheritance and look at this. And he went out not knowing where he was going, for he was looking forward to the city that has foundations, whose designer and builder is God.
So what he’s saying with the life of Abraham is he knew God had called him to something radically different. He had no idea where he was going. Right. He didn’t know where he was going, but he knew who he was going with. And that to him was the the transforming experience that a life completely surrendered over to God and what God desired to do in him. And so point, point number one, be begin with one who is greater. Point number two, check your hope, what you’re truly trusting in. And so that we can get to point number three, we can be filled with true wealth. We can be filled with true wealth. It 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 be not, may not be seen, and salve to anoint your eyes so that you may see. So he’s taking all these things from from their community that they think it gives them value, worth where they’ve put their hope. He’s saying no, no, all that that you think makes you who you are as a as a person that brings you the comforts that you think secure you. Those are those are not the source.
And so Jesus is saying these verses I love this. He says, I am counseling you. This this is where you need to seek it. And what he’s revealing for us as believers is we have this tendency to complicate things when it comes to our relationship with the Lord. And there’s the beauty of who Jesus is. And I don’t know why we do this as people, but we we make it more difficult than it has to be. And one of the beautiful things about the gospel is that you get to spend eternity plunging the depths of who God is and what he’s done for you. But at the same time, the gospel is so simple that even a a child can understand it. I don’t know why we have to complicate what it is to follow Jesus. You know, I hear in America, one of the one of the things that we’ve had the luxury to do as God’s people over the centuries is, is get into the tertiary issues of theology. Right? And those things certainly have a place. But in Christianity, we’ve got so many, so many flavors of particular nuanced areas of theology that sometimes Christians will even argue over to the point that they’ll divide. And, and, you know, I think theology certainly, certainly has a place. But I spent this past week, every year I get to the ability to go to this conference. It’s it’s by invite only, and we’re not allowed to share it publicly or anything like that.
But it’s it’s a meeting of church planters from around the world, especially in areas that are persecuted. And we get the chance to talk to one another about what God’s doing around the world learning, learning, what’s being helpful in reaching communities, and what God sees as helpful. And it’s a wonderful dialogue, you know, but but when you set time, you have time to sit with your brothers and sisters in Christ, who you. That may be the last time I ever see them. Like their every day, their life is on the line and they share with you what what the Lord’s doing around the world. You know, you know what doesn’t matter to me as much is their particulars over eschatology and what they think about, you know, Calvin and Arminian, if those words even mean anything to you. Um, those particular stands, they don’t really care as much about us. Just saying, man, people need to know Jesus and I may die for this, but but I really just want them to know Jesus. And so they talk about the beauty of who Christ is and and the simplicity of what it is to follow him in a place where you know, anything you do as a believer has to be done in secret, because if you get known, you could die. I mean, I was talking to a guy that was like, yeah, I decided I got these Bibles handed to me, and I was trying to figure out what to do with it.
So I decided to go into the major city where I live and hand them out. And as soon as I got there and started to unload them, the police pulled up in a place where a religion dominates, and doing something like that will get you killed. And the police asked him what he was doing and he said, oh, I’m just unloading. It’ll just be ten more minutes. And the police said, okay, and took off. And he said, you know, had I done that in a more suburban area, by the end of the day, I would have been hanging in that kind of world. The simplicity of who Christ is, how valuable it is to know Jesus. I think for us as believers, it reminds me of that, that song as Christians, that the rich theological song for children, you know, or maybe I should say for everybody. But we often sing it with children. Jesus loves me. This I know. For the Bible tells me so. Little ones to him belong. They are weak, but he is strong. Yes, Jesus loves me. Yes, Jesus loves me. Yes, Jesus loves me. The Bible tells me so. Why do we forget that? Why do we forget the gift that it is to know Christ? I mean, more than anything, what God desires this morning is the richness of him made known in our hearts.
Why do we have to make it so complicated? To know the glory of God. That the King of everything would become the servant of servants. That I could have freedom in him for eternity to find forgiveness and hope that endures anything in this world. Why would I let go of that? And sometimes I meet Christians in life that go through a difficult time and and in that difficulty becomes sidelined, and so much so that they will remain sidelined for the rest of their life. Why would we give up on the richness of Jesus simply because of what circumstances brought me? What Jesus has done is far too valuable to let go of the wealth of knowing him. And this is what Christ is saying to this church. And so let me let me give you a point. Number four, because I need to end here. But point number four, be encouraged by God’s heart towards you. Be encouraged by God’s heart towards you. The question that we should ask is, you know God’s saying in verse 18, rather than taking from this world. He’s saying, I want you to understand your poor, blind, and naked. And then he says in verse 18, so I counsel you to buy this from me. I am your source. Buy this from me. But the question we should ask is, how in the world can I buy this from you? Because if I’m poor, blind and naked, I shouldn’t be going anywhere, right? I am definitely not going shopping.
I don’t even have a. I don’t even have a place to carry my wallet. Right. Like poor, blind and naked. I don’t even know if I can make it right. And so the question is, how in the world? How in the world can I buy this from you, Lord? When I’m poor, blind and naked? But you see the answer for that in verse 20. And Jesus says to you, behold, I stand at the door and knock. If you want to hear my voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and eat with him, and he with me. And the answer for us is, you don’t have to go anywhere because nobody wants to see that. Right. But, but but rather, the reason you’re able to take it is because he’s bringing it to you. And this is an incredible passage to think about, because what he says in verse 19 is he reproves you, those whom I love are reprove and discipline, so be zealous and repent. What he’s saying is, um, for us, we should not like to be reproved. I don’t think very much as people. It’s not like the, the, the things in life that I really love to enjoy. I’m not like, oh, reproving, please do this right. Um, but but there is a place in life where I should welcome it. And that is when, when an individual I know when they speak to me, they’re going to speak to me for my well-being.
They’re not going to try to make me become who they want me to be, but rather they care about what God wants to do in me. And this is certainly what Jesus is desiring in this passage. He cares about where you are. And so we should be encouraged about God’s heart towards us, because for all of us this morning, even though these words could be hard, and even though we may take it to heart, the whole point of this is for your well-being. And so he says, be zealous and repent. When you see the richness of Christ, just run to this like turn. Turn from everything else that you’ve been thinking and doing and living for and and make this your pursuit of your life and and to understand who God is. This word, behold is telling us to take a look at this. Like, really open your eyes. Let this let this invigorate your soul. And then he refers to us as he says, if anyone. And this is important because he’s saying in these moments he’s written to the church of Laodicea broadly, but he’s not saying personally. Now, among the church, if there’s anyone in an individual that that the truth of what God is saying here is speaking to your life. Don’t let this moment pass you by. And the reason he’s saying this is, is because this dining, this eating, this is actually a word for dinnertime, right? And so what he’s saying is, even though it might be the late hour of your life, don’t let this pass you by.
Because what God desires for you, with you more than anything, is to fellowship with you, to experience the richness of who he is and in eastern cultures. Even today, to invite someone in was was more than just simply having a meal. It’s showing communal friendship with each other. And Jesus is saying like, for some of us, this may feel late. For some of us, this this may be the last opportunity. Like you don’t know what’s going to happen to you when you leave. Why in the world would you let this pass you by? And in Laodicea, it was known in this community that a Roman soldiers loved to dwell here. And there was laws in Rome that if a Roman soldier needed housed and they picked your house, you had to provide for them. And but, but but rather than force his way in, what Jesus is saying in this story is he’s standing at the door knocking because what he desires is to dwell with you, that you would experience him. He’s not. He’s not forced upon you, but rather his his his desire is your heart, his life made known in you, that we would be encouraged by God’s heart to to Us. And so looking at this passage, I think the simplicity of what God is saying to, to Laodicea is to remind us as God’s people, we can get so easily distracted and easily reflect the things of the world.
But what God desires to do in your life is far more radically different than just simply being a, you know, a do gooder in a society, or to be, well, religious or to even wear the Christian, the label Christian, but rather have a life completely given over to him, something totally different than anything this world has to offer. So let me let me close with this illustration. There’s a great saint, um, this time of year that we like to talk about a little bit. And, and if you don’t recognize this photo, this is, uh, a saint called Saint Nicholas. And by the way, every Christian is a saint, biblically speaking. But he’s often referred to as Saint Nicholas. Some of you from a Dutch experience would know his name as is Sinterklaas, or as we say today, Santa Claus. He was a real historical figure in the fourth century. Very passionate about his relationship with the Lord. So much so that he gave up his wealth to to to honor the Lord. He he just he was he was born into wealth and he used it to to honor God. And in fact, there’s a story of him that there was he one day found out about three young ladies that wanted to be married, but the father couldn’t afford the dowry.
And so when the darkness of night, he went to their home in front of the fireplace before their stockings, he put these three bags of gold and to to help this father. But this was the kind of lifestyle that he lived very passionate in his theology for the Lord and his practice for the Lord. But here’s something interesting about Saint Nick. Many of you may not know Saint Nick by some people. He’s been dubbed the patron saint of something. Right. And I’m not advocating you need a patron saint. Okay, but but there there are some people who have dubbed him the patron saint of something. And if you don’t know what it is, it’s very interesting. He is referred to as the patron saint of pawnshops, which is a. You feel like he got the short end of the stick with that one, didn’t he? Like, out of all the things you might be dubbed a patron saint of its pawnshops. Like how in the world does that happen? In fact, some people argue that the symbol for pawnshops is three golden balls, and it comes from the story of Saint Nick and giving three bags of gold to these young ladies for their dowry. But. But when it comes to the pawnshop, you might wonder why in the world I guess everyone needs Jesus, right? Even people that run pawnshops. Why in the world is he the patron saint of pawnshops? Well, answers.
Pretty interesting. If you study the history of pawnshops, what you find is during the medieval ages, pawnshops were actually run by Franciscans monks. And the reason pawnshops were started by monks was actually to help the poor. They used it as a means not to profit off the poor, but to help the poor get through time periods where they were struggling. But what happened over time is what was once a ministry lost its way and pawnshops became whatever you think about pawnshops today. And I say all that to say the same picture that we have in mind with pawnshops in this story is often what can happen in the life of a believer, that the simplicity of who Jesus is can be lost in our hearts, and we complicate what it means to know him and to make him known. And rather than end up like what you might think about a pawnshop. What God desires to do in your life is so much more beautiful and better, but it comes to this place in our life and realizing that. And God doesn’t call me just simply to be a do gooder in this world, but something completely different to a kingdom whose builder is God. And the only way that happens is a heart that remains purified in him.