Laodicea: A Call to Live out Our Faith- Revelation 3:14-22

going to open up by reading Revelation 3, 14

through 22 together. This is the Word of God.

It says, Write to the angel of the church in

Laodicea. Thus says the Amen, the faithful and

true witness, the originator of God's creation.

I know your works, that you are neither cold

nor hot. I wish that you were cold or hot. So

because you are lukewarm and neither hot nor

cold, I'm going to vomit you out of my mouth.

For you say, I'm rich, I've become wealthy, I

need nothing. And you don't realize that you

are wretched and pitiful, poor, blind, and naked.

I advise you to buy from me gold or find in the

fires that you may be rich. White clothes that

you may be dressed in your shameful nakedness,

not be exposed, and ointment to spread in your

eyes so that you may see. As many as I love,

I rebuke and discipline. So be zealous and repent.

See, I stand at the door and I knock. If anyone

hears my voice and opens the door, I will come

into him and eat with him and he with me. To

the one who conquers, I will give the right to

sit with me on my throne, just as I also conquered

and sat down with my father on his throne. Let

anyone who has ears to hear listen what the Spirit

says to the churches. You may be seated. Now,

the church in Laodicea is definitely one of the

more famous letters that's sent out in the book

of Revelation. We'll talk more about the context

of Laodicea and what's going on in this letter

here in a minute. I just want to start by kind

of giving us maybe a practical theme that's timely

for us. There's a musician, a Christian singer

named Josiah Queen, and he's got a song called

Dusty Bibles. And it's really been hitting me

hard as I've been wrestling through this passage,

looking at the church in Laodicea. Let me just

read a few of these lyrics to you. It says, hey,

I've been fine. I've been struggling to find

some peace of mind. It's the problem of our nation

and in our generation. In fact, it's very true.

We have an issue with finding peace of mind.

It says this, we're too busy and we just can't

find the time. Let me ask this question. Are

we busy or is it all a lie? We've got dust on

our Bibles but brand new iPhones. No wonder why

we feel this way. We walk with our eyes closed,

blind leading blind folks, and I'm done with

these idols and dusty Bibles. It's kind of getting

this idea of the fact that we've got so many

things in life, whether it's our iPhone or some

other form of a distraction, so many things calling

for our attention at any given moment. I mean,

there's how many streaming services out there

now? Like 42 bazillion? And each one has a brand

new show they're pushing in your face that you

don't want to miss. You've got this work thing

going on or this other thing going on. There's

always something that's calling for you to give

some attention. And it's so easy, so easy for

us to look back at the end of the day. the end

of the week, the end of the month, the end of

the year, and to see how much time we've spent

on all these other things and how much dust is

accumulated on our Bibles. It's amazing to me

and it's convicting to me how often I'm guilty

even of getting to the end of my day and thinking,

wow, yeah, I read my Bible today. I'm looking

back and saying, yeah, I read it for two minutes

or three minutes. What did I do with the other

23 hours and 57 minutes? Where did I really put

my treasure at? Where did I really put my priority

at? And friends, this letter to the church in

Laodicea hits close to home, and I think it should

hit close to home to us. Because Laodicea is

a town that in many ways is like America. See,

Laodicea was a town roughly 15 kilometers away

from Colossae, essentially just a little bit

past Olive Garden from here. Like, it's not very

far away from Colossae. So we went through Colossians

about a year and a half ago, and now here we

are looking at basically their sister church.

their cousin church. It's actually interesting

from the town of Colossae, from those ruins,

you can see the ruins of Laodicea and vice versa,

like they're that close together. But they also

have a lot of the same problems. And one of the

most notable problems that they have is that

they are both extremely wealthy towns. And on

the surface, that's not an issue. But it becomes

a much deeper issue. because see for both of

these churches they have a tendency to want to

look for salvation from their own wealth from

their own power from their own ability and from

what it is that they can bring to the table for

god rather than looking to god for salvation

Both of these churches find themselves embroiled

deeply in a heresy in the first century that

denied Jesus's divinity and attempted to change

how you could be saved. That's what's covered

in Colossians. If you want to hear a little more

about that, check out our podcast, The Cornerstone

Cast, on Spotify, Apple Music, or Apple Podcasts,

and everywhere else. And you can listen to the

beginning of our series on Colossians, where

we start to dive into what is this Colossians

heresy. But here's the basics of it. The Colossian

heresy stems from a lack of an understanding

of who Jesus is, a lack of an understanding of

how we are saved, and finally, a poor understanding

of how we live our lives as Christians who have

been redeemed and bought back by Jesus. In Colossians,

we see that stem in a lot of different ways.

You know, we see how that takes root in relationships

and how we treat our employees, our spouses,

stuff like that. In Laodicea, that same type

of a heresy, that idea of how do we live our

lives, takes root in the form of prosperity.

That the church in Laodicea says, how can we

get a little bit more? How can we just become

a little bit wealthier, a little bit richer,

a little bit more powerful? How do we have just

a little bit more in the bank account? How do

we make our first century equivalent of a 401k

just grow by 13 % instead of 10 % this year?

No offense, Mike. They have this strong legacy

of this idea of mentally following God, but at

the same time it was deeply flawed. Because they

had the first century equivalent of those Josiah

Queen lyrics. They had dust on their Bibles,

but they had the first century equivalent of

brand new iPhones. They had gold and they had

the fancy clothes. They had everything that everybody

else wanted. All these other churches, the church

in Philadelphia, this poorer, smaller church,

would have looked at the church in Laodicea and

been like, man, they have everything I ever could

have asked for. But what we're going to see today

is that it's all meaningless. It's all empty.

Jesus gives the church a very pointed rebuke

for really one specific thing that they are doing

wrong. And it really all centers around our main

point for today, which is this. We need to bring

the gospel to the world around us. If you've

heard, if you've read the letter to the church

in Laodicea, you might be like, that doesn't

really sound quite like the main point of the

church in Laodicea. But I promise you by the

time we get done here, about 33 minutes, that

you will see that the main point of this letter

to the church in Laodicea is they are not bringing

the gospel to the world. and that they need to

be bringing the gospel to the world around them.

This is the lesson for the church in Laodicea,

and friends, I would challenge, this is the lesson

that we need to hear today. This is the lesson

that we need to hear as we get ready to kick

off fall. Whether we're a student about to start

a new semester, whether we're just plugging away

in our office day after day after day, just waiting

for the leaves to change, this is the lesson

that we need to hear, that we need to bring the

gospel to the world around us. Look at Revelation

3 .14 with me. It says this, Jesus starts off

this letter with a very clear reminder. He does

it in three different ways, but it's one reminder

really. He is over all things. Jesus is over

everything. He introduces himself to the church

in three different ways. First, he says that

he is the Amen. He says that really purposefully.

We might be like, wait, he says he's the end

of prayer? That doesn't make a whole lot of sense

to us. That's a poor understanding of what the

word amen actually means. What's actually being

said here is that Jesus is saying that he is

the answer to all things and the ultimate authority

over all things. There is no question in the

world that Jesus is not the answer to at the

end of the day. There's kind of two main definitions

of this word in Greek. One is so be it, the one

that we use when we pray. So be it. We're giving

it to God. God, would your will be done with

this? The second definition is this is the truth.

That's the definition Jesus is using here. Thus

says the amen, the truth, the answer of all things,

the ultimate authority. Understand this this

morning. All truth comes from Jesus and only

Jesus. anywhere else that claims that they can

have ultimate truth is is just lying and falling

short We can have debates about other places,

but trust me on this, Jesus is the only place

where there is ultimate authority and truth.

Second, Jesus says that he is the faithful and

the true witness. Are you noticing a theme so

far in what it is that Jesus is getting at? He

really wants the Laodiceans to understand something.

He is truth. Truth comes from Jesus. Understand

there's a contrast going on here. The church

in Laodicea we could best describe as unreliable.

The church in Laodicea is like your 1994 Toyota

that you're trying to keep running as hard as

you can, but day after day after day, it just

breaks down in a new way. Like, I just got the

spark plugs replaced, and that belt just broke,

and I just fixed the belt, and this is out now.

Friends, the church in Laodicea is unreliable.

We're going to see that in verses 15 and 16.

So Jesus is contrasting himself with that. While

they are unreliable, he is reliable. He is faithful,

and he is truthful when at all times. Because

Jesus never changes. What he says and who he

is will always be true. And third, he is the

originator of God's creation. This is almost

identical to what we read in Colossians chapter

Colossians 1 · chapter mention

1. Do you remember how I mentioned that the church

in Laodicea and Colossae struggle with the same

heresy? Well, here Jesus is rebuking that. He's

rebuking that heresy and he's reminding them

of truth. The truth is that Jesus is the originator

of God's creation. He is fully God. He always

has been and he always will be. There's a really

horrifying study that was done a few years ago

that asked the question, and it just posed this

as a statement. You're supposed to say, like,

I strongly agree, I agree, I don't have any feelings,

I disagree, I strongly disagree. And the question

was, or the statement was, Jesus is the first

and greatest creation of God. I felt like 70

% of American Christians said that Jesus is,

in fact, the first creation God ever made. Friends,

Jesus was never created. He always has been,

and he always will be. He is, in fact, the originator

of God's creation. Listen to what Colossians

1, 16 through 18 says, for everything was created

by him in heaven and on earth, the visible and

the invisible. Whether thrones or dominions or

rulers or authorities, all things have been created

through him and for him. He is before all things,

and by him all things hold together. He is also

the head of the body, the church. He is the beginning,

the firstborn from the dead, so that he might

come to have first place in everything. Friends,

Jesus always has been, he always will be. He

is the originator of creation. That is how Jesus

introduces himself to this church, is the amen,

the faithful and true, and it's the originator

of God's creation. This is very intentional.

It shows us how well Jesus knows this church

and their need for him. And friends, maybe this

morning that's the reminder that you need to

hear, that Jesus is faithful at all times, that

Jesus will never leave you, that Jesus will never

change from you, that Jesus is the source of

all truth. In a world where everything seems

to be a little bit out of control sometimes,

it can be hard to remember that. But remember

that this morning. Jesus is the truth. Friends,

let me encourage us as a church to remember our

need for Jesus. The amen. The faithful and true

witness. The originator or the creator of everything.

Now look at verses 15 and 16 with me as we're

going to see the problem of this. We're going

to call this the rebuke of sin. in verses 15

and 16, the rebuke of sin. It says this, I know

your works, that you are neither cold nor hot.

I wish that you were cold or hot. So because

you are lukewarm and neither hot nor cold, I'm

going to vomit you out of my mouth. I'm gonna

be honest, it is not often I get to say the word

vomit when I'm preaching. It's a rarity, but

there's a reason that Jesus uses the word here.

Vomit is a strong word picture, and Jesus is

giving a strong word picture here. And so we're

going to see that Jesus identifies their issue

in these two verses. First, there's a reminder

that Jesus knows your works. We've seen this

in every one of these seven letters. It's a reminder

each and every week I point this out, that Jesus

sees us and he knows us. It's not a bad thing,

that is a great thing, because Jesus sees you

as an individual here this morning. Jesus, the

amen, the faithful and true witness, the originator

of all creation, and knows you. Now let's look

at their works. I know your works. In so many

churches, it's been like, I know your works.

You do this well, but you don't do this well.

You know, like the church of Thyatira. You're

growing in all these ways, but also you guys

have this sin in the midst of your church that

you're not addressing. We're like the church

in Sardis. Listen, I know your works. You have

a reputation for being alive, but you're dead.

Like, hey, wake up. Be better. Here's this one.

I know your works, that you are neither cold,

nor hot. I wish that you were cold or hot. A

lot of times we might hear this passage and kind

of interpret it as, see, they're just not on

fire enough for God. The church just needs to

fire it up a little bit and just get going. They

just need to pick it up and get a little more

serious about their faith, you know? Put in a

little more work. Do a little bit more. Then

we have to wrestle with this idea of, is it better

to be cold with our relationship with God than

it is to be lukewarm? Like, is it better to hate

God than it is to... to just be lukewarm in our

walk with God. And although that's an interpretation,

I think that is a wrong interpretation of this

passage. So if you look at the geography of Laodicea,

we're going to see that there's actually two

springs right by the city of Laodicea. One is

a hot spring and one is a cold spring. The hot

spring was believed to be a healing spring, a

place where you would go for healing if you were

sick and unwell. And on the other hand, the cold

spring was cold and therefore was refreshing.

So when you were traveling and looking for water

to drink, you would go to the cold spring to

drink this refreshing water that would fill you

and would give you new life. That right there,

I believe, is the hot and the cold that Jesus

addresses. Because see, the gospel itself, the

good news of Jesus is both healing and it is

also refreshing. The gospel is healing because

the gospel repairs brokenness. We see that from

Genesis chapter 3 until the very end of the Bible.

Genesis 3 · chapter mention

That in Genesis 3, we see brokenness enter the

world through sin. We see a promise of a savior

in Genesis 3. A promise that one will come and

crush the serpent's head. That the brokenness

will be repaired. That the world will be healed,

not by some human effort, not through an initiative

that a government can launch. But through God's

plan, through the gospel, the good news of Jesus.

So first, the gospel is healing. Much like that

hot spring, it was healing. Secondly, the gospel

is refreshing. The gospel is refreshing. And

a world filled with lies. And there's a lot of

lies out there. And there are a lot of lies out

there for this church in Laodicea. This is another

place where the emperors worship pretty consistently.

There's heresy all around the church even. And

that type of a place with lie after lie after

lie, the gospel is refreshing. Truth is refreshing

because truth is different. Truth is different.

When I was teaching, I had two students get in

a fight about two weeks into being a teacher.

Can't ask for a better start to the school year

than that. Mostly because I still didn't know

everyone's names. So I'm like trying to get them

to stop. I'm like, you and you, just stop. And,

you know, of course, I ask, like, what happened?

What caused this? And it's very clear that no

one's being true with me, right? It's not that

hard to figure this out. And then finally, finally,

one of the girls says, okay, fine, I'll tell

the truth. I'm like, good, that's what you should

have done in the first place. That's recommended.

And she gives me the answer, and it was refreshing

because I finally knew what was actually going

on. Listen, truth is refreshing. And as refreshing

as truth like knowing who actually started the

fight might be, it does not compare at all to

the greatest truth in the world, and that is

the truth of Jesus. The truth of a promise of

a Savior who loves us and cares for us. The truth

of a Savior who would come to earth and give

his life on the cross for us, who would rise

again on the third day so we can have a hope

and a future. That is a refreshing truth. And

so understand, verse 15 is saying, listen, you're

neither cold nor hot. Not just, hey, burn a little

brighter for me, be a little stronger. It's saying,

listen, you don't meet people with the truth

of the gospel that gives healing and the truth

of the gospel that gives refreshing. He's saying

your church doesn't meet sinners with the gospel.

You don't give them an opportunity to be healed.

You don't meet these weary souls all around you

with the refreshing truth of the gospel. Instead,

Jesus says, you guys are just existing. You float

through life. We could say it like this, they

are completely forgettable. They're a completely

forgettable church. You show up, you sit there,

you leave. Nothing's ever changed in your life.

Their lives don't change. They are entirely forgettable.

And here is Jesus' warning. It's really similar

actually to the church in Sardis and the church

in Ephesus. If they don't change, he is going

to vomit them out of his mouth. Here's the modern

day equivalent. I enjoy going for hikes. Picture

a day with me. It is 110 degrees outside. Why

we're hiking when it's 110 degrees, I don't know.

But we decided we were going to go for a 14 mile

long hike. and you get back to the car at the

end of this thing, and you pick up your water

bottle. It's one of these plastic water bottles.

It's like, well, this will be so refreshing.

You've left it up on the dashboard. It's been

sitting in the sun all day long. But as you start

drinking it, you realize that this is not a new

water bottle. This is the old one that you just

haven't thrown out for a while. It's hot. It's

gross. It's old. So instead of swallowing it,

you spit it out, and you keep spitting just to

get that taste out of your mouth. It's just not

right. It's just not normal. That is this church.

This church isn't right. This church is sick.

They are unwell. They leave behind a sour aftertaste

in the Lord's mouth. And I don't know about you,

that is not ever something I want to hear from

God. I never want to hear the phrase, Daniel,

because you're neither cold nor hot, I'm going

to vomit you out. That is never what I want to

hear from Jesus. I could say it like this. This

church has the money, but they have nothing else.

They have all the lights, but no life. They have

the newest iPhone, but they have dust on their

Bibles and no fruit to show for their life. But

Jesus isn't just saying this as a, you know,

be careful, I'll spit out some water as an image.

It's a warning to them. Remember what we saw

when we saw the church in Sardis? The church

in Sardis goes from being a church referenced

in Revelation chapter 3 to today being a town

Revelation 3 · chapter mention

with zero believers in it. When Jesus gives this

warning to the church in Laodicea, Jesus is not

just kidding. It's not just a hyperbole or an

example. Jesus is quite serious. It's a wake

-up call to them to repent and to walk with him.

Friends, in his letter to the church in Ephesus,

Jesus tells the church to remember how far they've

fallen, to repent of their sin, and to renew

or to restart their walk with God. In his letter

to the church in Sardis, we saw that Jesus challenged

believers to remember the gospel, to keep the

gospel close, and to repent when they walk away

from the gospel. And here, Jesus challenges them

with an even more basic thing. Really simple.

Wake up. Just wake up. He calls out their issue.

He says, you've got to wake up a little bit.

Stop being asleep at the wheel. Right? There's

that old country song, it's a little before my

time, Jesus take the wheel. Right? That's kind

of how this church is functioning. Jesus take

the wheel, you know, we're just going to sit

back and watch as things happen. He's saying,

no, wake up. See the world around you on a daily

basis. And in verses 17 through 19, Jesus continues

calling out their sin and also gives them a response

to sin. A response to sin in these three verses.

He says this, for you say, that's Jesus saying

what the church in Laodicea says. Now remember,

Jesus knows all things, sees all things. He knows

this is what they say. This isn't just him and...

anticipating this is what they're saying this

is what they actually are saying to one another

for you say i'm rich i have become wealthy and

i need nothing and you don't realize that you

are wretched pitiful poor blind and naked i advise

you to buy for me gold or find in the fire so

that you may be rich white clothes that you may

be dressed in your shameful nakedness not be

exposed an ointment to spread on your eyes so

that you may see as many as i love i rebuke and

discipline so it's the solution be zealous and

repent. Be zealous and repent. Jesus calls out

a little bit more in verse 17, but really it's

all about calling attention to their need to

respond to sin. See, Laodicea is this wealthy

city like we've established, and they think they

are incredible. They have bought the lie that

their money makes them better than other believers.

But in reality, although they are physically

wealthy, they are not spiritually wealthy. Here

Jesus condemns the Laodiceans for putting their

hope and their faith and wealth in human self

-reliance. And if we're honest, it's really,

really, really easy for us to do the same thing.

It's really easy for us to look around at our

daily lives and say, I've got everything I need.

You know, I've got a church family that I can

go to. I've got a house and a roof over my head.

I've got food in my bank account for groceries.

I've got a car I can drive. I've got a job that

puts food on the table. Like, I've got everything

I need. What more do I need? What more is there

for me to need? But look at the response of Jesus

to this church in Laodicea. This wealthy, successful

group of people. He says this to them. He says

that they are wretched, pitiful, poor, blind,

and naked. Even as this church prides itself

on its earthly influence, Jesus condemns it for

its spiritual death. He's saying quite literally,

church in Laodicea, you are broken and failing.

Instead of praising them for being wealthy, Jesus

condemns them as bankrupt. And here's the parallel

for us. It's so easy for us to get caught up

in that latest comfort. It's so easy for us to

find ourselves mindlessly scrolling on ESPN or

Instagram or Facebook or Snapchat or whatever

app it is that we go to. Candy Crush used to

be that thing. If you still play Candy Crush,

that's okay. Or Clash of Clans, and let's make

it a renaissance now. It's easy for us to get

caught up on all of that. and to stop looking

at the Gospels as our source of refreshment and

provision. We leave our Bible closed because

what does that have to do with us today? What

will God have to say in this situation? I don't

know, but I can definitely find satisfaction

here. But at the end of the day, understand this,

Jesus cares so much less about our 401k than

he cares about our spiritual health. And so Jesus

gives them a solution here in verse 18 and 19.

He says this, I advise you to buy for me gold

refined in the fire so you may be rich. White

clothes so you may be dressed and your shameful

nakedness not be exposed. An ointment to spread

on your eyes so that you may see. Understand

this, this is not about switching your financial

advisors. That's not what this is about. This

is about putting our worth and our everything

into Jesus Christ. This is about living our lives

as a Christ -centered life rather than Christ

off to the side. Rather than building our identity

on the things of earth, our wealth, our position

in life, our job, our own perfection. This is

a challenge to put everything into following

Christ. And we can do this because Jesus brings

us a new identity. Let me just give you three

very quick statements about identity here. 2

Corinthians 5, 17. Therefore, if anyone is in

Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed

away, and see, the new has come. Our worth doesn't

need to be in our wealth because our worth is

now in being a new creation. Galatians 2 .20,

I've been crucified with Christ and I no longer

live, but Christ lives in me. The life I now

live in the body, I live by faith in the Son

of God who loved me and gave himself for me.

Nowhere in there does it say anything about I've

been crucified with Christ, therefore now I am

wealthy. That's not the point there. We're given

a new identity by Jesus. And here's one of my

all -time favorites from 1 Peter 2 .9. This is

one of the verses I am the most excited for as

we go through 1 Peter on campus this fall. But

you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a

holy nation, a people for his possession, so

that you may proclaim the praises of the one

who called you out of darkness into his marvelous

light. A chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy

nation, a people for his own possession. Not

the wealthiest people, the perfectest people,

the most brilliant people, the most popular people.

No. No, instead it's a chosen race, a royal priesthood,

a holy nation of people for Jesus' possession.

Why? So that we may proclaim the praises of the

one who called us out of darkness into his marvelous

light. I think sometimes we can start to convince

ourselves that maybe we can wow Jesus with what

we bring to the table. That we bring something

so good that no one else has. I don't know about

you, maybe in elementary school you were told

by somebody, you are unique and special, and

you just are so good at this and this and this,

and no one is like you. And you start to think,

you're right, I am the only person in this grade

that can cut like this. I am, in fact, that valuable.

Guys, listen, the natural spiritual state of

a human is much more like what we see in verse

17. The I am nothing. I am wretched, pitiful,

poor, blind, and naked. Our man -made, human

-given identity is worthless, but following Christ,

that is everything. Following Christ is what

we should build our entire lives on. And Jesus

talks about giving this new gold or new wealth,

that's salvation. New clothes, that's purification.

And ointment, so we can see things anew. That's

the Holy Spirit changing how we live. When we

put our faith entirely in Jesus, that's what

we get. We get a new type of wealth, knowing

that we will be with God forever in our actual

home. We get new clothes, knowing that we've

been purified and made clean before God. We get

the Holy Spirit changing our lives on a daily

basis, growing to be more like Jesus. Friends,

let me just give us the same challenge that the

church in Laodicea is getting. We need to put

our faith and our reliance entirely on Jesus.

And then Jesus explains something here in verse

19. We've seen a lot of rebukes. from Jesus in

this series. But why? Jesus rebukes these believers

because he loves them. The word used there in

verse 19 is phileo, or caring love. Jesus rebukes

because Jesus cares. Jesus calls out to us and

tells us to live differently, not because he

hates fun, but because he loves us. When I was

coaching basketball, Occasionally I'd have to

pull a player aside and give them some pretty

pointed direction on how they needed to do something

differently. Maybe it was how they were setting

a screen or how they were making a trap in the

corner. And there were times where a player would

say something like this, but coach, I think this

way is so much better. The way I'm doing it is

just so much better. But you give correction

because you care. You love that player. You know

there's so much more. And one of the sweetest

memories I have from that was we gave correction

to this kid day after day for about a month to

help him figure out this one spot in our defense.

It's kind of a weird spot. We were in kind of

a weird defense. And then it clicked one day

after a month of correcting him. And we're talking

to his coaches, like, are we pushing him too

hard? Can he handle this? Can he not? And it

clicked. And when it clicked, he set a school

record for the most steals in a game. And then

he set it again the next game. He led our team

in scoring for the last three games of our season

because it was just constantly steal after steal

after steal because it clicked. And why? Because

we continued to correct him. Why do we correct

him? Because we loved him. We cared about him.

We wanted to see him succeed. We knew he could

do more than what he was doing. See, we correct

somebody because they have more potential. That's

why Jesus is correcting this church and Revelation,

and that's why Jesus gives us this letter so

that we can look in the mirror and we can take

these to heart too. Are we willing to be corrected?

Because Jesus rebukes because he cares. But then

Jesus tells them how to respond to that care.

He doesn't tell them to cower in shame because

of their sin. He doesn't say, listen, you've

done all this stuff wrong. You're finished. You're

done. Like, I'm spitting you out. No. He tells

them to be zealous and repent. Zealous isn't

a word we use a ton in the 21st century. I'm

just going to be honest. It's not a word I use

a whole lot. a day -to -day basis. Here's a good

way to translate that statement. Jesus tells

us to wholeheartedly turn away from what we're

currently doing. If we are currently putting

all of our worth and value and wealth on earth,

stop and wholeheartedly turn away from that and

go towards Jesus. That's what Jesus calls this

church to do. Turn away from your man -made,

man -centric identity and follow me wholeheartedly

every single day. He's calling out to the church

in Laodicea, but he's also talking to us. He's

also challenging us to turn away from sin, to

turn away from the way that we like to identify

ourselves, to turn away from the way that we

like to live on our own strength, and to walk

with him, to be zealous, to be wholehearted,

to repent, or to walk new with him. And listen,

we are here together to do just that. We are

here to zealously, wholeheartedly follow Jesus

together every single day, being quick to repent

when we fall short, because we will fall short.

and then also being quick to walk together to

be more like jesus and so jesus calls on this

church he says first wake up then he says wholeheartedly

repent turn away from what you're doing and then

look at the promise that we see in verse 20 verse

20 says this see i stand at the door and i knock

if anyone hears my voice and opens the door i

will come into him and eat with him and he with

me here's what we could summarize that verse

receive jesus Receive Jesus. Let me make this

really straightforward. Jesus is right here for

you today. Friends, I think we ripped this verse

out of context, and although it is true about

non -believers that Jesus can be working in their

hearts and reaching at them, look at who he's

actually talking to in Revelation 3 .20. It's

a letter to the church or the believers in Laodicea.

Friends, Jesus might be today knocking on your

heart. calling for you to open the door of your

heart, saying wholeheartedly, zealously, follow

me. Follow me today. Maybe you're feeling something

new. Maybe you felt this before, but let me encourage

you, listen to your Savior who is right there.

And I love this. Jesus doesn't just say, I'll

come in and order you around. It's not the image

Jesus gives. Instead, the imagery Jesus gives

is of him coming in and eating with us. I will

come into him and eat with him and he with me.

This is a letter sent to a Middle Eastern church

where hospitality was a core value. You know,

our core values here at Cornerstone are gospel,

community, and mission. For the church in Laodicea,

just culturally, their core values have been

hospitality, hospitality, and hospitality. And

so for them, this speaks volumes. It speaks volumes

to them because Jesus uses this image of hospitality

and friendship. And understand something about

this that applies to us. I think it's easy for

us to say, walking with Jesus, it's like how

I get out of jail. It's how I make sure I don't

go to hell someday. It's like my get -out -of

-jail -free card. I'm a Christian. I accepted

Jesus when I was eight. But walking with Jesus

is not about having a get -out -of -jail -free

card. It's not just knowing a higher power, acknowledging

that there is something greater than us in the

world. Walking with Jesus is about walking with

our Savior who loves us and is our friend. Because

our friend comes in and eats with us, not some

random stranger. Understand that to follow Jesus

is to walk with our Savior who loves us and is

our friend. That is such a powerful promise that

Jesus gives to this church. The church in Laodicea

has been rebellious, right? They've been the

kid who won't listen to their parents and won't

stop doing what their parents tell them not to

do. They walk away from Jesus to try and live

on their own strength. But Jesus doesn't leave

them. And we're guilty of the same thing where

sometimes we try to just get through that season

of life on our own strength. If I just study

a little bit harder, if I just work a little

bit longer, put a few extra hours here, a couple

extra hours there, then maybe everything will

be okay. But just as Jesus didn't leave that

church in Laodicea, he's not going to leave us.

And that is awesome. Let me give you an even

better promise here. This is really all a foreshadowing

of Revelation 19, 1 -10. We don't have time to

go there this morning. But in Revelation 19,

1 -10, we see the Feast of the Lamb where everyone

who knows Jesus will dine with God, our Creator,

forever. That is the image we are given. That

is the image being foreshadowed here in Revelation

Revelation 3 · chapter mention

chapter 3. Friends, today, today, open your heart

and let Jesus direct you. Let Jesus make your

list of priorities out. Let Jesus be the one

who calls the shots. And listen, as he promises,

it's not just him bossing around, he will come

in and eat with us as a friend. Look at verses

21 and 22 with me. Every one of these letters

always contains a promise at the very end. A

promise of something greater that is to come,

something that will happen. And here's the promise

for verses 21 and 22. It says this, to the one

who conquers, that is the one who endures, or

my favorite translation, the one who wins. How

do you win? You win by following Jesus. I will

give the right to sit with me on my throne, just

as I also conquered and sat down with my father

on his throne. Let anyone who has ears to hear

listen to what the Spirit says to the churches,

all the churches. And here's the final part of

the seventh letter to the churches in Revelation.

Jesus speaks to everyone, not just the church

in Laodicea, everyone who has ears to hear. anyone

who has ears to hear, everyone who conquers,

everyone who endures. And here's the promise

that Jesus makes. The church in Laodicea wants

power and position. That's why they want more

wealth. That's why they want more money, more

influence. They want power and they want position.

And Jesus makes clear, power and position only

come to those who follow Jesus. The true power

and position we should be searching after is

not just a promotion at work. It's not just the

seat on the HOA committee. It's not just being

the president of an organization. It is ruling

with Jesus forever. And that does not come on

earth. That comes in heaven, where Jesus is reigning

over all things. And don't miss that promise

of verse 22, or that statement in verse 22, that

command. Anyone who has ears here, if you have

ears this morning, then it is a letter for you

and for me. It is a letter for us. So hear the

word of the Lord, and let's talk for about five

minutes about how we can live this out. We've

got three points of application. Here's our first

one. Refresh and repair. Refresh and repair.

You know, we saw Jesus call out this idea to

the church in Laodicea of them being either hot

nor cold, how they weren't bringing the gospel

of the world around them. I want to take a minute,

I want to talk about that. What Jesus did for

us is just so, it's honestly just amazing. Like,

it's the best word to use for it. It's amazing.

It's beyond anything that we could ever come

up with or ever deserve. It's refreshing. It's

healing. See, we are born into a broken, sinful

world. Sin is anything that is not 100 % perfect

in God's eyes. And brokenness is the natural

consequence of sin. Because sin separates us

from our perfect creator. And so when sin entered

the world, so did brokenness. But there's hope.

There's hope because Jesus came to earth, lived

a perfect life, died on the cross, and rose again

three days later to repair the brokenness of

the world all around us. And so if you are here

this morning and you have not put your faith

in Jesus, let me invite you to do that today.

Let me invite you to let Jesus repair the brokenness

of your life. It doesn't mean your life is going

to be perfect. Let's be clear on that. But Jesus

does repair brokenness. Here's the second thing.

If you are a believer here this morning, let

me encourage you with how the gospel refreshes

us. Matthew 11, 28 -30 are three of my favorite

verses on this. It says this, Come to me, all

you who are weary and burdened, and I will give

you rest. I'm not going to make people raise

hands. That's only something I do at youth camp.

But I would bet if we were really honest with

ourselves, Whether it's now or recently, at some

point we have found ourselves weary and burdened.

I don't just mean like I could have used another

20 minutes of sleep today. I mean like emotionally

weary and burdened and worn down. And usually

it's day after day after day of just grinding

away and it's just not going anywhere. It's not

working well. This is speaking to you in those

times that Jesus will give you rest. Take my

yoke upon you. or take my work upon you and learn

from me because I am lowly and humble in heart.

And look at this promise from Jesus. You will

find rest for your souls for my yoke is easy

and my burden is light. See friends, the gospel

is refreshing because the gospel changes everything

there is to our lives. Because instead of having

to carry the weight of the world and the weight

of everything that the world tells us we have

to be and have to do, having the perfect house,

having the perfect this, having the perfect that,

having the perfect job. being the perfect friend,

being at everything, having always the perfect

text to send back to somebody. Jesus says, listen,

I took all that pressure off of you. My yoke

is easy and my burden is light. Come to me for

refreshment. Rather than going to Instagram for

refreshment, come to Jesus for refreshment. Come

to the cold water of the gospel for refreshment.

And friends, what is that, that burden and that

yoke? Well, we will... Talk about that in a minute

when we get to our third application point. But

for now, our second application point, reorder

our lives. I both love and hate Revelation 3,

14 through 22. I love it because it's really

powerful, and I hate it because it's really powerful,

because it really convicts me. But one of the

things I just cannot help but leave this passage

wrestling with is how we are called to live differently

and to reorder our lives. We're called to live

a life on what truly matters rather than just

on the things that we think or hope matters.

So we've been bought and redeemed at a price.

I love what 1 Corinthians 6 .20 says. It says,

for you were bought at a price. Here's the response

then. So glorify God with your body or glorify

God with your lives. So let me encourage us.

We need to reorder our lives. it's really easy

for us, like the church, to see how to start

putting all sorts of things in front of our walk

with God. And at first, we think, yeah, we're

still doing pretty well in walking with God.

Still going pretty well. But over time, what

we start to realize, we start to realize pretty

quickly, is that we've gone from maybe like,

you know, really being passionate about our faith

six days a week to now we open our Bible on Sunday

morning during the sermon. We realize that our

lives are no longer glorifying God and instead

they're glorifying us and they're not making

us great. And so let me challenge you that we

need to reorder our lives. We need to run after

Christ rather than earthly desires. So I want

to give a very practical way that we can reorder

our lives. And that is our time management. Where

and how do we spend time? Let me start with this

disclaimer. There are seasons of life that are

busy and where God has called you to very specific

things that you need to be doing on a daily basis.

Students, you need to pass your classes. Okay,

God has called you to that in this season. He

has called you to pass your classes. If you are

working, God has called you to work and to glorify

God with your work. So there are exceptions.

There are times where this might be a little

bit different. But I would challenge us that

it is so easy here in America, so easy for us

as individuals to spend our time on, frankly,

a lot of pretty stupid things. We don't think

they are in the moment. They seem pretty awesome.

But then we look back in the mirror and we say,

like, wow, what was the purpose of all of that?

And I'll just keep repeating the same lyric over

and over. We find ourselves in a spot where we've

got dust on our Bibles, but brand new iPhones

that we're scrolling on all the time. One of

the most convicting metrics I think that there

is is the screen time report that Apple gives

you if you have an iPhone. There are days where

I look at that and then I see, like, how much

time I spent on an app, and I am horrified. Like,

I am absolutely horrified. Now, there's exceptions

where you're, like, driving, then it records

screen time for the entire time Google Maps is

up. But there's other days where I'm like, did

I really spend 45 minutes today on Instagram?

Like, did I really do that? Like, how many other

things could I have done with 40 of those minutes?

Right? Let me challenge you. Friends, don't live

your life on Instagram or Facebook or just killing

time, essentially, waiting for the next thing

to happen. Get into God's word and walk with

God. Get into God's word, walk with God. Let

me give you a specific challenge. This can really

apply to anybody in this room, whether you're

waiting for a doctor's appointment, your next

meeting at work, if you're waiting for class

to start. Let me give you this challenge. When

you get somewhere with five minutes to spare,

think about what it is you do with your phone.

And I'm just going to call out that it's with

your phone because we all know we sit there and

we pull out our phone right away and we start

doing something, we respond to that text, we

do whatever. What if instead of getting onto

Instagram or getting onto ESPN to check what

time the Wyoming football game starts at, I'm

guilty of that one, what if instead of that we

took five minutes to pray? Just five minutes

to pray. I want to give you a very specific thing

to pray for. This week, we printed out about

60 copies of our Bible study. About 50 of those

are going to go to students. The rest will go

to our leaders. Let me give you this as a prayer

request. Pray that we wouldn't even have enough

Bible studies for all the students that we're

engaging. Pray that God would move in that many

students' lives. And then let me go one step

further. Don't just pray for the students that

we will engage with. Pray for our Bible study

leaders. I'm going to go ahead and put their

names on the spot. I debated that for a while

this week. Pray for these people. as their leading

Bible says. Pray for Riley and Parker. Pray for

Ken and pray for Tim. Pray for Beatrice. Pray

for Hope. Pray for Allie. Pray for myself. Pray

that we would disciple students well. We would

honor God with our actions. Take five minutes

before that next meeting, instead of going on

Instagram and scrolling through stories and seeing

what everyone's up to, just to stop and to pray.

To pray that God would move in powerful ways.

To pray that God would work in and through our

Bible studies. Go one step further. Pray the

day before lunch for our first kickoff event

that we have on Wednesday. Pray for those types

of things. Pray with us and for us. I mentioned

at the very start of our time that you could

reach campus without ever going to campus. You

can. Pray for campus. So instead of hopping on

Instagram or Facebook or whatever your time killer

of choice is, take those five minutes and pray.

And I'm going to promise you this, the first

time you do that, those five minutes are going

to feel so long. Like, well, I prayed for everything

that Daniel said, and it's been 42 seconds. What

do I do now? Let me encourage you. Pray a little

deeper. Go back to that list. Say, hey, God,

I just want to pray for our girls off -campus

Bible study. God, I just want to pray for our

girls on -campus Bible study. I just want to

pray for this person. God, I just want to lift

up Tim as he's adjusting to a new job in doing

this. So let me encourage you. Let's reorder

our lives and take advantage of those gaps of

time and use those for God. And here's our third

and final application point. Return to the mission.

I cannot leave this passage in Revelation without

challenging us with this. We need to bring hot

and cold to the people who are around us because

our world needs this hope. And let me be very,

very clear, very explicit on this. Mission is

not comfortable, but mission is worth it. And

where do we get our mission from? It is Matthew

28, 19, and 20. Go therefore and make disciples

of all nations, baptizing them in the name of

the Father, of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit,

teaching them to observe everything I've commanded

you. And remember, I am with you always to the

end of the age. There's five commands in there.

First, go. We all go somewhere every day. We

just actually do. Even if we stay at home, even

if you're watching online today and you don't

leave your house very often, we all go in some

way, shape, or form because we interact with

people on a daily basis. So we are all going

every single day. Secondly, make a disciple.

A disciple is someone who actively follows Jesus.

Let me encourage you, take your cue from 1 Corinthians

11, 1, where Paul says this, imitate me as I

also imitate Christ. So imitate Christ and help

someone else do that also. As you're taking those

five minutes before class or before that meeting

to pray, find that other Christian that's around

you and invite them to do it with you. Let me

put it to you this way. Getting God's word on

a daily basis and help others do the same. I

think we have really lofty goals for ourselves.

We're like, if I'm not reading two chapters of

scripture and three commentaries on it every

day, then it's just not even Bible study. That's

not true. Just getting God's word. Even if it's

five verses, get in God's Word and sit on it,

think on it. Those are the first two. Go and

make disciples. Here's the third one. Baptizing

them in the name of the Father and of the Son

and of the Holy Spirit. Here we go. We have a

baptism next Sunday. If you are here and you

have placed your faith in Jesus before, but you've

never been baptized or publicly declared that

you follow Jesus, I would love to talk with you

about that. Friends, as we make disciples, we

bring up baptism. We ask people, hey, do you

know Jesus? Do you know what it means to follow

Jesus? Here we go, number four. Teach them. Teach

them what? Teach them everything Jesus has commanded.

Listen, you do not have to have a special degree

to do this. You can do this on a daily basis.

With your words, with the way that you live,

it's going to take both of those. The way that

you treat people, teach them what it looks like

to follow Jesus. Teach believers, teach non -believers.

And listen, there's no age restriction on this,

whether you are more mature in your life or if

you are younger in your life. 1 Timothy 4 .12

is very clear on this. Live your life to honor

God. So teach them. Sit down with somebody. Study

the word of God together. It's why we get here

together on a Sunday morning. It's why we have

our Wednesday night stuff on campus. It's why

we have Bible studies throughout the week. We

want to teach people what it is to follow Jesus.

And here's the final promise. Remember that Jesus

is with you. Let me remind you of why Jesus gives

us this promise. Mission is not easy. Mission

is not comfortable. And mission can be lonely.

There will be times in your life where you look

around and you realize you are the only Christian

in that situation. It can be really intimidating

in that moment to want to live on mission. And

if we're honest, our natural default when we

find ourselves in that situation is they will

all put my Christian faith aside and I'll just

kind of go with the flow and let people do what

they want to do and just like kind of sit back

and kind of justify in our head like, well, no

one would listen to me or, you know, I just want

to live a lifestyle of evangelism right now.

Friends, remember this. Even that moment where

you look around, say, your classroom this semester

or your office and you don't see another Christian,

you are not alone because Jesus is with you always.

So let me encourage all of us, myself included.

Let's learn from the church in Laodicea and let's

wholeheartedly and zealously make sure that we

are running after God, bringing people the hot

healing spring of the gospel and the cold, refreshing

truth of the gospel. Let's pray. Father God,

thank you so much for your word. Lord, we just

thank you for the fact that we can come before

you, that we can live out our faith, that we

are able to do this, God. God, I ask that you

would help us to be distinctly people who are

on mission. God, I just ask that you would help

us to live on mission 24 -7, Father. Break our

hearts, burden us, God. And God, show us ways,

regardless of the situation, that we can be involved.

Lord, I ask that you would help us to find our

refreshment from you. God, I ask that you would

help us to reorder our lives to put the priority

back on you. And Father, I just ask that we would

be quick to listen to you, quick to open the

door of our hearts to you, to welcome you in,

and to eat with you, Father. In your name we

pray.