See how much I love you

Revelation chapter 3 verses 14 to 22 and Morteza is going to come and read for us. Morteza, come to you.

Revelation 3:14–22

Good morning church.

Revelation chapter 3 verses 14 to 22.

Revelation 3:14–22

To the angel of the church in Leodicea write,

These are the words of Amen, the faithful and true witness, the ruler of God's creation.

I know your deeds, that you are neither cold nor hot.

I wish you were either one or the other.

So because you are lukewarm, neither hot or cold, I am about to spit you out of my mouth.

You say, I am rich, I have acquired wealth, and do not need a thing.

But you do not realize that you are wretched, pitiful, poor, blind, and naked.

I counsel you to buy from me gold refined in a fire, so that you can become rich.

And white clothes to wear, so that you can cover your shameful nakedness.

And salve to put on your eyes, so that you can see.

Those whom I love, I rebuke and discipline.

So be earnest and repent.

Here I am, I stand at the door and knock.

If anybody hears my voice and open the doors, I will come in and eat with him and he with me.

To him who overcomes, I will give the right to sit with me on my throne,

just as I overcome and sat down with my father on his throne.

He who has ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.

Amen.

It is a great privilege to be with you this morning.

And I'd ask that you keep your Bible open with me there at Revelation 3.

And as we do so, let's bow our heads and let's pray together.

Gracious Heavenly Father, we thank you that part of your wonderful kindness to us

is that you speak to us through your written word.

Thank you that every part of your word has been written down for us, for our good,

that we might know you, that we might know your Son, the Lord Jesus,

that we might, as we heard earlier, be disciple-making disciples,

obeying everything the Lord Jesus has told us to do,

trusting that he truly is always with us to the very end of the age.

Father, please, in your kindness, would you speak to us now?

Help us not to think how your word applies to someone else.

Please speak to us, individually, directly, personally.

We ask these things for Jesus' sake.

Amen.

Smiley.

Smiley.

It was a special game played by an elderly married couple who had played this game

throughout more than 50 years of married life.

The goal of the game was to write Smiley, S-H-M-I-L-Y,

in a surprise place for the other person to find.

They took turns leaving Smiley around the house,

and as soon as one of them discovered it,

well, it was the other one's turn to write Smiley somewhere.

So they dragged Smiley with their fingers through sugar and flour containers in the kitchen.

They wrote it in the condensation on the windows on cold winter mornings.

They wrote it on the steamed-up mirror in the bathroom,

and at one time the old lady even unrolled an entire roll of toilet paper

to leave Smiley on the very last sheet.

There was no end to the places where Smiley would appear.

Little notes with Smiley scribbled hurriedly were found on dashboards,

under car seats, taped to steering wheels.

The little notes were stuffed in shoes or left under pillows.

Smiley was written in dust on the mantelpiece, traced in the ashes of the fire.

And when the old lady died, the floral tribute from her husband simply said,

Smiley.

Have you guessed what Smiley stands for yet?

See how much I love you.

See how much I love you.

A foundation truth of Christianity is that the Christian man or woman is someone who is dearly loved.

Dearly loved by the Lord Jesus Christ.

And Smiley, see how much I love you, is written repeatedly on the pages of Scripture.

Now of course the clearest place that it's written in Scripture is those that point us to the supreme demonstration

of the love of the Lord Jesus.

His sacrificial death on the cross in place of undeserving hell-bound sinners like me.

So Smiley rings out when we read words like,

But God demonstrates his own love for us in this.

While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.

Or Galatians 2 verse 20 where Paul says,

Galatians 2:20

The Son of God loved me.

And he says he's wondering that.

And gave himself for me.

If you're a Christian believer this morning and you need reassurance of the love of the Lord Jesus for them,

Well I would urge you to look at the cross through which God says,

Smiley to you.

This is how God showed his love among us.

He sent his one and only Son into the world that we might live through him.

This is love, not that we love God,

but that God loved us.

And sent his Son as the atoning sacrifice from our sins.

That is the love from which nothing can separate the Christian believer.

But here's my question this morning.

Is the cross the only way that our Lord Jesus displays his love to his dearly loved people?

It is to three further proofs of his love that this letter to the church at Laodicea points.

The majestic, all-powerful, awesome Lord Jesus is giving his message to this church in Laodicea.

A message if you look at verse 22 that's also for us,

where we are told whoever is here, let them hear what the Spirit says to the church.

And as our brother read it, did you notice how solemn the message is?

Jesus pulls no punches.

He highlights the sinful, casual, half-heartedness

and the complacent self-sufficiency of this church in this place called Laodicea.

Look at verse 15.

Their casual, half-heartedness.

He says, I know your deeds, that they are neither hot nor cold.

I wish you were either one or the other.

So because you are lukewarm, neither hot nor cold,

I'm about to spit you out of my mouth.

Verse 17, he speaks of their sinful, complacent self-sufficiency.

You say, I'm rich, I've acquired wealth and do not need a thing.

But you do not realize that you are wretched, pitiful, poor, blind, naked.

Imagine you were sitting in Laodicea Baptist Church or Free Church

when this letter was first read out.

You're thinking everything's going okay in your church.

And then you hear these words of the Lord Jesus directed at you.

Perhaps they were left reeling with the shock when they heard them.

Perhaps there was a stunned silence came upon the congregation.

Perhaps as they heard these words, some of the members were left wondering,

look, if the awesome Lord of the universe is saying this about us,

that he wants to spit us out of his mouth,

is there any hope for us?

Is he going to write us off?

Well, look at verse 19.

This is where our focus is this morning.

Verse 19,

Those whom I love, I rebuke.

Let me tell you something, says our awesome Lord Jesus.

My rebuking of you is a proof of my love for you.

It's a smiley.

A see how much I love you.

And it is the first proof of the love of our Lord Jesus

to which these verses draw our attention this morning.

See how much I love you.

The Lord Jesus, because he loves his people,

here's the first thing,

he tells us off.

The Lord Jesus telling me off

is a proof of his love for me.

Have you ever had a verbal dressing down by someone

for something you've done wrong?

Have you ever been rightly rebuked

in such a way that you've been ashamed of the action

that you're being told off for?

Well, that's actually what's meant by this word rebuke.

It carries the idea of putting someone

who has done something wrong to shame.

It's the idea of a telling off

that brings conviction of guilt to the person rebuked.

It's the same word translated rebuke here

that is used by our Lord Jesus in John 16

when he speaks of the convicting work of the Holy Spirit.

And he said that the work of the Spirit

is to prove the world to be in the wrong

about sin, righteousness, and judgment.

That's what the Lord Jesus was doing

to the church at Laodicea in Revelation 3.

It's what he continues to do for us

as this message is read.

Jesus exposes sin

in a way designed to bring conviction of guilt and shame.

And in doing so, says our Lord Jesus,

I am acting in love towards you.

It's those whom I love that I rebuke.

This is real love.

This is the unique love of God

that is always for the good of the other.

This is true tender affection,

a tender affection that doesn't ignore sin.

A love that doesn't sweep sin under the carpet

as if it isn't important.

That doesn't treat sin as something

that doesn't really matter.

No, the love that rebukes

is the love that knows the serious consequences

of rebellion against God

and therefore tells off

and warns.

And will you notice two things

about the loving rebuke of the Lord Jesus?

First of all,

it's always accurate.

Now that can't be said

when we rebuke others, can it?

My wife Sandra and I and Jen

were at a camp this week

called Contagious for Young People.

It was great fun, wasn't it, Jen?

But I'm reminded of another camp

I used to help on.

And during this camp,

on two occasions,

I was aware of one of the older campers

being really unkind

to one of the younger campers.

And when I saw it happening

a third occasion,

I kind of stepped in

and boy, did I give this older camper

a telling off.

But I discovered later

that on the third occasion,

I jumped to the wrong conclusion.

On that third occasion,

the camper wasn't being unkind.

He was actually trying to be helpful

to the younger camper.

My rebuke was inaccurate,

unjustified.

I remember I had to go and apologize

to this young camper.

Our Lord Jesus

never has to apologize

for his rebukes.

His rebukes are always spot on.

Look back to verse 14.

We discover why.

It's because of who he is.

He says there,

these are the words of the Amen,

the faithful and true witness,

the ruler of God's creation.

In other words,

Jesus is the one who sees everything.

And if he says something about us,

well, it's reliable,

it's precise.

So if he rebukes me this morning

for half-heartedness

or self-sufficiency,

his rebuke is accurate

and justified,

whatever protestations

I may make.

The second thing to notice

about his rebuke

is that his rebuke

is what every believer needs

all the time.

Look again at verse 19.

Those whom I love,

I rebuke.

Jesus doesn't say,

those whom I love,

I may need to rebuke.

He doesn't say,

those whom I love,

I occasionally rebuke.

No,

those whom the Lord Jesus loves

are those like me

who need to be rebuked

because those who he loves

are sinners.

We may be saved sinners.

We may be justified sinners.

We are because of his great love for us,

but we are also ongoing sinners.

Why this morning

did we start our service

with a prayer of confession?

Because we muck up.

We regularly fall into sins

like the sins of half-heartedness

and self-sufficiency.

I was asked this week

at this camp

in an interview

about what it's like

living as a follower of Jesus.

And I said,

well,

I need to be told I muck up,

which is what the Lord Jesus does.

We receive his rebuke

as we expose ourselves

to the sword of the Spirit,

his words.

The scriptures,

do you remember

how they're designed?

They're designed to teach us

and to rebuke us,

to tell us off,

along with correcting

and training us.

So actually,

every time we read God's word

or hear it read or preached,

it's right to be praying

something like this,

Lord Jesus,

you love me.

Lord Jesus,

you're the amen,

the faithful and true witness.

You see every nook and cranny

of my life.

Lord Jesus,

you're the ruler

of God's creation.

Lord Jesus,

please in your love

rebuke me.

Show me where I'm grieving you.

Show me where my behavior

is repulsive to you.

Show me where my thinking,

my speaking,

my actions are out of kilter

with your will for me.

Lord Jesus,

because you love me,

please tell me off

where I need to be told off.

I don't know about you,

but I don't like being told off.

I resent it when my wife

tells me off.

We rebel against being convicted

and made to feel ashamed.

But when that's our response,

we miss a wonderful proof

of the love of Jesus for us

as his blood-bought people.

In love,

he rebukes us.

Why?

Because he wants to change us.

He wants to change us

for our good

and for his glory.

Which leads to the second proof

these verses give

of how much

the Lord Jesus loves us.

He loves his people,

he tells them of.

Second,

he trains us up.

Look at the verse again.

Those whom I love,

I rebuke and discipline.

Now,

like the word rebuke,

discipline is one of those words

that perhaps we hear

and we think negatively about it.

Discipline is actually

a really positive word.

Behind it's the idea

of training and education,

of correcting what is wrong

with a view to putting it right.

I don't know if you remember

your school days.

I remember Miss Simpson.

She was scary

when you were a 10-year-old.

You didn't misbehave

in Miss Simpson's class

and actually you could smell her

because of her perfume

kind of 10, you know,

before she arrived at the church

and then it hung around the class

as she left.

She knew how to control us.

But I have reasons

to be grateful for Miss Simpson

because she noticed

that when I held my pen

on my pencil,

I was doing it

in a really weird way,

which meant I had

terrible handwriting.

And she took steps

to correct the way

I held my pencil.

Now I can tell you

as a 10-year-old,

I wasn't happy

with her correction.

Look, I was comfortable

with the way

I held my pencil.

The way she told me

to do it initially

was uncomfortable.

But I still remember,

I can visualize it now.

Me sitting in a corner

of the class

being told to write out

the same thing

over and over again

with her watching me

to make sure

I kept my pencil

in the right way

of my fingers.

What she disciplined

to me

became natural

to me.

I'm actually

really grateful

she did that.

and in love,

the Lord Jesus

disciplines us.

He takes steps

to correct us

where we're going wrong

that we might conform

to his good,

pleasing,

and perfect ways.

It's what Paul says

in Titus 2

when he describes

the grace of God

as teaching us

to say no

to ungodliness

and worldly passions

and to live

self-controlled,

godly,

and upright lives

in this present age

as we wait

for the return

of the Lord Jesus.

Those the Lord loves.

He disciplines.

You may ask,

well,

how does he do it?

Well,

he does it in many ways.

He does it

through his word

which rebukes

and corrects us

that we might be

trained in righteousness.

He does it

through others

whom he sets

over us

in the Lord

to teach us

his ways

by word and example.

That's one of the reasons

he gives churches

pastors.

As the word of God

dwells in believers,

he uses us

to admonish each other

and train each other.

And as I look back

over my life today,

boy,

am I grateful

for those

the Lord has given me

who have

disciplined me

and trained me

in godliness.

And he also does it

through the hardships

and trials

of life.

Now,

I stand here

as a visitor.

I know some of you.

But I don't know

what's going on

in your life

at the moment.

There are many mysteries

about suffering.

But the Bible

teaches that

no suffering

is senseless.

No pain

is pointless.

No adversity

is absurd

or meaningless.

Every heartache

has a divine purpose.

Not least

to cause us

to abandon

our self-sufficiency

that we might rely

more

more

on the Lord Jesus.

That's actually

a truth

taught throughout

Scripture.

Psalm 119,

David writes,

before I was afflicted,

I went astray,

but now I obey

your words.

He then goes on

to say,

it was good

for me

to be afflicted

that I might learn,

that I might be

disciplined

in your decrees,

in what you want

me to do.

In 1 Corinthians,

in 2 Corinthians 1,

sorry,

the Apostle Paul

gives his testimony

about a situation

in which he

and his companions,

he says,

we were under

great pressure.

It was far beyond

our ability

to endure it.

He says,

in our hearts

we felt the sentence

of death.

Look,

it was a pretty

serious situation,

whatever it was.

And then he says this,

but this happened

so that we might

not rely on ourselves,

but on God

who raises

the dead.

If you want to read

something else

later today,

Hebrews 12

says that the Lord's

disciplining of us

through the hardships

of life

is part of his training

of us

in the ongoing battle

that we have

with sin.

when I was a teenager,

I was given a book

which I didn't read

until I was in my 20s.

I was given it

for winning

a table tennis competition

at a youth weekend away.

So that was a long time ago,

right?

That was probably,

how old am I now?

62.

I was probably about 14

at the time.

You can do the maths for me.

I can't work it out.

Anyway,

it was a long time ago.

But in this book,

Knowing God

by J.I. Packer,

he says this.

He says,

God spends much

of his time

bringing home to us

that we are weak,

both mentally

and morally,

and dare not

trust ourselves

to find

or follow

the right road.

He goes on.

When we walk

along a clear road

feeling fine,

and someone

takes our arm

to help us,

as lightly or not,

we will impatiently

shake them off.

I don't need you.

I'm all right.

But when we're caught

in rough country

in the dark

with a storm

getting up

and we're exhausted,

when in that situation

someone takes

our arm

to help us,

we thankfully

lean on them.

Packer says,

and God

wants us

to feel

that our way

through life

is rough

and perplexing

so that we may

learn,

so that we may

be trained

to thankfully

lean on him.

He takes

step

to drive

out of us

self-confidence

that instead

we might

trust

in him.

The truth

that the Lord

disciplines

those he loves

is a truth

every believer

needs to hold

on to

in every

time

of difficulty.

Smiley!

See how much

I love you,

says the Lord

to his people

Laodicea.

I love you

enough to

discipline you,

to wake you up

from your

half-heartedness,

to wake you up

from your

self-sufficiency

mercy,

that you

might trust

me wholly,

that you

might be

wholly

dependent

on me.

Are you

still with

me?

See how much

the Lord

loves you?

Us,

tells us

off,

trains us

up,

and thirdly,

he keeps

knocking at

the door.

Verse 20.

It's one of the

most well-known

verses in the

Bible,

but we

often forget

that its

application

is first

to Christians,

not non-Christians.

It's to

Christian people

that the

Lord Jesus

says,

here I am,

I stand at

the door

and knock.

If anyone

hears my

voice and

opens the

door,

I will come

in and eat

with that

person,

and they

with me.

Have you

ever been

shut out?

Knocking at

a door,

knowing someone's

inside,

but not

responding,

knowing that

someone's

inside,

but they're

not answering,

they're not

willing to

open the

door.

Despite

their many

failures,

the whole

message of

the Lord

Jesus to

that church

at Laodicea

was him

knocking

at their

door.

I was

away this

week at

a camp.

I prepared

what I've

done this

morning before

I went to

camp,

but during

the week,

a very old

friend of

mine who

read the

Bible with

me in

my 30s,

he sent

me a

WhatsApp.

He didn't

know I

was preaching

on this

verse.

Can I

read his

WhatsApp to

you?

It simply

said,

on a hotel

door room

was a

notice.

On one

side it

said,

do not

disturb.

On the

other side

it said,

I am in

an awful

mess,

please come

in and

sort me

out.

Then my

friend wrote,

here I

am, I

stand at

the door

and knock.

Why should

he,

Jesus,

ever wish

to gain

access to

such a

pit of

foulness as

me?

Jesus

knocks on

the door

of Christians

who actually

are a bit

of a mess.

That's what

he was doing

with the

church of

Odysseus.

His loving

knock is a

persistent

knock.

He says

he's knocking

again and

again and

again.

He wants

to come

in.

And it's a

promising

knock for

he promises

amazing grace

to anyone who

will open

the door and

say,

Jesus,

please come

in.

Look at

verse 20.

The word

for eat

there was

the word

used for

the main

meal of

the day,

a leisurely

affair,

not a

hurried

snack.

The idea

is of an

occasion which

allowed for

intimate

conversation

between

close

friends.

And that's

what the

Lord Jesus

desires with

those he

loves.

Why does

he rebuke

us?

Why does

he discipline

us?

Because

actually he

wants to

share with

those he

loves in

intimate

friendship.

He wants

those he

loves to

welcome him

into every

part of

their life,

to share

every part

of life

with him.

And in

love,

he tires

not of

knocking on

the door,

even of

those who

have become

half-hearted

in their

devotion,

even those

who have

started to

live as

though they're

not totally

dependent

upon him.

half-hearted.

Now I

don't know

you.

But perhaps

some of

us here

are half-hearted.

Perhaps

some of us

here have

become

complacent

and self-sufficient.

Perhaps

the reality

is that we

need to

hear the

same

rebuke

our loving

Lord Jesus

gave to

that

Laodicean

church.

Perhaps

we've lost

sight of

our need

for his

rebuke.

We've

forgotten

that we're

sinners who

need that

rebuke.

Perhaps

we've

become lazy

in the

disciplines of

the Christian

life and

thought,

no,

I'm all

right,

I'm

saved.

I can

just stay

as I am

until I

get to

heaven.

perhaps we

need to

be those

who learn

to respond

to his

loving

knock on

the door

of our

lives.

You see,

look at

verse 13

again.

It tells

us how

to respond.

Verse 19,

sorry.

Those whom

I love,

I rebuke

and discipline

so,

be earnest

and repent.

We live

in a

generation

where it's

okay to

be earnest

and zealous

about your

career,

to be

earnest or

zealous

about your

family or

your hobbies,

but few

are willing

to be seen

as zealous

for the

Lord Jesus.

But the

one who

loves us

most says

that this

is what we

need to

be in

response to

his rebuke

and discipline.

We should

earnestly

desire it.

We should

earnestly

confess our

sins when

he reveals

them to

us,

earnestly

turn from

them,

seeking

instead to

live in

wholehearted

devotion and

total dependence

on him.

We should

earnestly

open the

door afresh

to him

each day,

saying,

Lord Jesus,

please share

your whole

life with

me.

Please

come in

and control

every nook

and cranny,

shape,

mold me

according

to your

will.

At this

camp we were

at last

week,

which I

really enjoyed,

it was

really great,

I was

with

Josiah's

dad,

which made

it extra

special.

But I

was asked

in an

interview,

how do you

keep going?

As a

Christian,

it's a good

question,

and there's

200 young

people and

they were

all looking

at me,

they were

all really

eager,

God gave

us a

great week.

I was

simply

asked,

how do you

keep going

as a

Christian?

And the

answer I

gave was

this,

I said

only by

having

breakfast

every morning

with Jesus.

See,

do you

remember what

happened on

the Sunday

a week after

Easter day,

do you

remember?

When the

disciples had

gone back to

fishing on

the Sea of

Galilee,

and Jesus

appears on

the shore,

and there's a

miraculous catch

of fish,

do you

know what

Jesus shouts

to the

disciples as

they make

their way

to shore?

He says,

come and

have breakfast

with me.

And I

found it

really helpful

to put that

verse next

to Revelation

3.20,

and to

recognize that

every morning

when I get

up,

it's as if

the Lord

Jesus for

that day

is knocking

on the

door of

my heart.

saying,

here I

am,

Johnny,

I stand

at the

door and

knock,

I want

to have

breakfast

with you,

and then

I want

to walk

with you

through

this day.

And the

advice I

gave to

the young

people was

the advice

I was

given as

a teenager

at camp.

Before you

start the

day,

take time

alone to

pray and

feed upon

God's

word to

know his

way,

so walk

the way

with him,

so start

the day

with him

and walk

the way

with him

and come

to evening

time with

praise to

him.

I told

these young

people,

I remember

as a

teenager

sitting in

church,

and there

was a

visiting

preacher,

he was

an old

man,

and he

told how

he'd become

a Christian

when he

was a

coal miner,

and he'd

gone down

the mines

at age

15,

because that's

when you

could leave

school in

those days.

And he

said he

loved the

Lord Jesus

so much,

he had to

get up at

silly o'clock

every morning

to go down

the coal

mine,

and he

described how

every morning

he had breakfast

with Jesus.

He got up,

he got his

Weetabix in

his bowl,

he put the

milk in the

bowl,

he propped

his Bible

against the

milk bottle,

and he read

his Bible

before he went

down the

coal mine.

That's having

breakfast with

Jesus,

isn't it?

That's responding

to his

knock.

That's saying,

Lord Jesus,

I'm still a

sinner,

I need your

rebuke.

Lord Jesus,

I'm someone

who needs to

be trained

in godliness.

Lord Jesus,

I want to

share my

life with

you.

Lord Jesus,

thank you that

you love me

that much,

that you

tell me off,

you train me

up,

and you

knock on

the door

of my

life,

and you

keep

knocking.

Lord Jesus,

I want my

life to be

about a

dependent

relationship

upon you

where nothing

is more

important than

having that

close,

intimate

friendship

with you.

Do you

believe God

loves you

today?

Do you

believe Jesus

loves you?

Think back

over your

life as a

Christian so

far, if

you're a

Christian.

Aren't you

grateful for

the way he's

told you

off,

trained you

up,

and that he's

never stopped

knocking on

the door

of your

life.

If you're

not yet a

believer in

the Lord

Jesus,

well, these

verses do

have a

message for

you.

Becoming a

Christian starts

with discovering

that we all

need this

loving rebuke

of the Lord

Jesus,

because we're

all sinners.

It's what

those who

have become

Christians

experience as

they've started

to listen

to God's

words.

becoming a

Christian involves

hearing the

call of

Jesus to

be earnest

and to

repent.

To repent

means to

run from

sin towards

God.

And as we

repent and

turn to

Jesus, what

do we

discover?

We discover

that he

says, receive

me into

your life.

Let me

in.

He says,

trust the

amazing love

that I have

for you

because I

died on the

cross bearing

the punishment

sinners like

you deserve.

Receive me

in, the one

who loves you

more than

anyone else

in the

universe.

And he

says, as

you receive

me, you'll

then discover

that the rest

of your life

is made up

experiencing

his love,

which includes

him telling

us off,

training us

up, and

him keep

on knocking

on the

door of

our lives.

Smiley.

Perhaps some

husband and

wives will

start writing

Smiley

everywhere, or

engage couples.

But more

important, see

how much our

saviour, the

Lord Jesus,

loves us.

Let's pray.

Lord Jesus

Christ, you

who are the

faithful and

true witness,

the ruler of

creation, we

can't hide

anything from

you.

You know

everything about

us, every

intimate detail.

You know

however we

look in

church this

morning, you

know what's

going on in

our hearts.

You know

whether we've

drifted off

into some

kind of

self-complacency

or self-sufficiency.

Lord Jesus, we

thank you for

your amazing

love for us.

Thank you that

it's proved

ultimately at the

cross where you

died in our

place.

But thank you

for your

ongoing love

that tells us

off, trains

us up, and

keeps knocking

on the door

of our lives.

Lord Jesus,

by your

spirit, help

us to be

earnest and

to repent.

May we have

breakfast with

you each day.

May we walk

through the

day enjoying

your intimate

friendship.

Please don't

give up on us

in your

love.

And we

ask these

things for

your namesake.

Amen.