“Please Answer The Door”

I want to invite you to take your Bibles this morning and let's turn to that last book of the Bible, the Book of the Revelation.  You can find the text we are dealing with on Page 1030 if you would like to use a pew Bible.

This has been an interesting week for me.  I always have a delight when Vacation Bible School is here.  My role is to go out and play with the children when they come in the door, get them all excited and then give them to their teacher.  It's a great role the pastor gets to play with the children and get them ready to be disruptive and then send them off to class.  I love kids.  I don't know what it is about children, they just make me smile, the life within them is a delight, isn't it? And what is an amazing thing is that our Lord loved children so.  Even his disciples wanted to push them away and he said, "No, no, no….let them come to me for such is the kingdom of heaven."  What a great week it was!

But because of that, and being gone the week before out of town the week before, my mind had been thinking ahead on this "Family Series" that we're in.  My mind locked in on the issue of teenagers and the Bible, and then past series of the family that I had done and that I had heard preached, and I realized that in every sermon series I have ever preached or ever heard on the family, teenagers in the family are usually dealt with as an addendum or a problem.  I wonder how that makes them feel.  You know, they really do provide great subject for preaching.  You can talk about all the things that they shouldn't do… I think I'm going to preach one in a couple of weeks on how you were when you were a teenager and why you don't trust your teenagers now; it's not their behavior but your own.  But then I realized at the end of the week, like Friday, that our Senior High Youth are gone to Pittsburg on their mission trip, so what good would it do me today to preach on teenagers, specifically Daniel, we'll deal with him later when part of our youth are gone.  It would have been really comfortable if God would have led me to a different passage of scripture, but, due to some other reading that I've been doing, in a strange way I believe the Holy Spirit of God led me to Revelation Chapter 3.  No, I am not trying to tell you that this is dealing with families, but it is a passage of scripture (we're going to be in Revelation 3 beginning at verse 14), it is a passage of scripture that won't allow anyone to squirm.  That's the difficulty with a family series, is there is always somebody in the congregation that can escape, that can sidestep the message because that applies to husbands, or that applies to wives, or that applies to parents, and that applies to children and so it's easy to sidestep those things.  And, over the years I've learned that the easiest person in the whole church who can sidestep the sermon is the one delivering it as it comes out of my mouth and goes to you.  As a matter of fact, over the years, if you are a long-term churchgoer, it really becomes easy to play dodgeball with God, doesn't it?  You hear it coming, it gets right at you and then you think, "You know, so and so needs to hear this." Or it's beginning to hit somewhere close to home and you just launch off into something about work tomorrow.

Jesus addressed seven churches in the Book of the Revelation, and I really would like to have a couple of jokes to tell in this sermon to lighten things up.  I don't have any; if one comes to mind I might tell it in the middle of it.  Because the Lord just didn't let up on these people and this is definitely not the kind of message that really goes over well in our culture, unless…. the seed of this word falls on fertile soil, and it can be one of the most refreshing, enlightening messages that the Lord Jesus gives to his Church or to you as an individual.  The interesting thing is the Lord Jesus instructs that the Angel be written to, the Angel of the Church.  The Angel, it is difficult to determine who that angel is.  Most specifically it seems to reference this connection of the earthly church and what is going on in heaven.  It may not seem close to us right now, but what we do has a direct effect on heaven and heaven knows what is going on with us, and the Lord Jesus instructs John to write these things to this church at Laodicea, and as he writes them he wants us to see ourselves in them, and none of us can escape.  So, let's read it and then we'll come back and walk through it.

Revelation 3:14

Rev. 3:14 Rev. 3:1-22

    [14] And to the angel of the church of Laodicea write; The words of the Amen, the faithful and true witness, the beginning of the God's creation; [15] I know your works, you are neither cold nor hot: would that you were either cold or hot. [16] So because you are lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will spit you out of my mouth. [17] For you say, I am rich, I have prospered, and I need nothing; not realizing that you are wretched, pitiable, poor, blind, and naked;  [18] I counsel you .

[Now remember this is the Lord Jesus himself speaking to the church, but not only to the church but as he changes the voice that he is using, not just to the pleural but to the singular, he is speaking to every individual in the church… I counsel you… this is like a direct word from Jesus to you, his saved child] to buy of me gold refined by fire, so that you may be rich [so that you can become what you think you are]

"and white garments, that you may  clothe yourself, and that the shame of you nakedness may not be seen; and salve to anoint your eyes so that you may see."

That's similar to the parental statement ' this will hurt me more than it hurts you' except when our parents said it they never convinced me of that, but when the Lord says 'those whom I love I reprove and discipline, uh, if you read the sports page, was it yesterday's sport's page, you saw where an athlete from Lexington, KY, who, his last name is Gay, who ran track for Arkansas set a record for the fastest 100-meter  run against a headwind that has ever been run in the United States of America. Do you think he practices? Do you think that sprinter practices? Do you think he has a lot of God-given genetic ability? Would you like to race him? Thomas says he would like to race him, okay I'll see if I can line that up, Thomas.  He has more genetic ability for running in his left calf than I have in my whole body.  He could never practice and beat me, but he must practice if he is going to be the best in the world.  Who do you think of all the runners has the most strict and regimented and difficult workout? Every remember the name, Jerry Rice, those of you who watched NFL football.  When Jerry Rice was approaching 40, the rookies who came in the NFL could not keep up with Rice in his personal workouts after practice.  No wonder he was one of the best.  You see, the truth is the Lord says, "those whom I love I reprove and discipline,]: so be zealous therefore, and repent. 

We are so self-focused in our world that we think when God disciplines us, it is a sign that he doesn’t love us, but for the very best in the athletic world or the business world or the academic world, they are given the most stringent workout routines to get to their peak levels, and the Lord will discipline you as his child because of his great love and what he wants for you in life.

Verse 19:

[19] Those whom I love, I reprove and discipline, so repent. [20] Behold, I stand at the door and knock: if anyone hears my voice, and opens the door, I will come in to him, and will eat with him, and he with me. [21] The one who conquers, I will grant him to sit with me on my throne, as I also conquered, and sat down with my Father on his throne. [22] He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.

I do not mean this irreverently, but the Lord Jesus is asking you, "Can you hear me now?"  Because sometimes his words go right at us and we dodgeball him and they go right around when he is addressing us specifically.  So, let's look first at this one who gives us a very clear confrontation. 

Verse 14:

   [14] And to the angel of the church of Laodicea write; The words of the Amen.

He was probably reflecting on Isaiah 65 where God is called 'The God of the Amen."  Amen in the Hebrew language was that which verified the truth.  It was that which was verifiable it was that which was trustworthy.  This is not saying "Amen" to all the other information that was written in the letters.  This is talking about the person who is addressing us in this letter, and then he goes on and explains it with some other adjectives, the faithful and true witness. This is in contrast to the unfaithfulness of this church Laodicea.  By the way, this is the church that no commendation was given them from the Lord, it was all negative.  The faithful and true witness… what I'm going to tell you is the truth.  This one who is the beginning that is the source or the ruler of all of God's creation. 

The confrontation.  I don't like confrontation and you don't like confrontation.  I always get really tickled at those more aggressive personalities who say they like confrontation.  No, no, no, no.  What that means is you like confrontation when you get to tell somebody else where they're wrong, but you of all people can't stand confrontation when somebody else gets to tell you where you're wrong and you'll turn the tables quickly, right?

Well, we are dealing with the one who is faithful and true, and no matter  how strong our personality is, he is right.  And he is bringing us to a place of confrontation and the first words he says are, "I know your works."  That tells me that there is not a thing that goes on in heaven that the mind of Jesus and the eye of Jesus in heaven does not see and know.  I know your works and he also knows our state, our person.  He says, You are neither cold nor hot.  Would that you were either cold or hot so because you are lukewarm and neither hot nor cold, I will spit you out of my mouth.  The one thing I like about that verse is that it allows me to use the word vomit in the pulpit, because that is basically what spit means.  I think probably in this confrontation, we're going to see a bit of a picture of Jesus we've never really seen or we don't want to see.  How have you painted him?  I find it amazing how we are able to take out our own brushes and paint a picture of Jesus as we would like him to be, and they are so far from the truth. Loving, yes, full of grace, yes, but also full of truth; full of holiness and righteousness that will never compromise.  Full of love that would never compromise the holiness of God that would display all of God's love on the cross to his children.  He loves you too much not to tell you the truth!  And what he's telling these people may have a reflection to us, so let's listen and hear the confrontation.

His confrontation is, they are not hot nor are they cold, they are lukewarm.  Now, for years all of you have heard as well as I have heard that what that means is that it is better to be on fire for Jesus or stone cold than it is to be lukewarm, and I've never been able to figure that one out.  Why would Jesus ever want us to be cold? Dead? I don't think that's what it means.  There is reason here to think that he was talking about the hot springs that flowed down from Hieropolis up north and by the time they cascaded down this tall drop and left calcium carbonate deposits on the wall, they became lukewarm and tepid and tasteless and you'd spit it out of your mouth if you drank it there… at Laodicea, but it still doesn’t make sense.  Why would Jesus rather one of his children be cold and dead as opposed to lukewarm? There's another picture.  It is true that in Hieropolis to the north there were hot springs that were medicinal.  People loved to go sit in them and bathe.  And it is also true that to the south in Colossae there was pure cold, clean drinking, refreshing water.  It is not so much that he was judging them for their spiritual temperature.  We also note he doesn’t say anything about false teaching in this church like he does in the other.  He is talking about their self-centered complacency.  He said, "You are not hot enough to heal those who are spiritually wounded and broken and neither are you cool and refreshing to give refreshment to the spiritually weary; you, my friend, are worthless."  That's what he's telling his own church.  He's looking at them and saying, "You've got the appearance of everything right; you look in the mirror and see yourselves as okay." 

Listen, this city that they lived in was a place of wealth. Laodicea, about 60, I can't remember when it was, it was just before we entered into the time of Christ, a huge earthquake happened, I think it was about 60 B.C. and it destroyed Laodicea and several other areas.  Laodicea did not need Rome's help to rebuild.  They asked nobody for help.  It would have been like Katrina going into New Orleans and they were wealthy enough to not ask another state, the national government, anybody for money to rebuild, and they rebuilt themselves.  This city was a banking center because of that; there were so wealthy.  They also had a medical clinic there that was famous for two things; one was an ear ointment  and the other was an eye salve.  They had developed a powder that you mixed with oil and somehow it had healing properties for the eye.  And they also through very careful breeding because of their grasslands, they were shepherds of sheep, had developed a shiny, glossy, black wool.  It was sought for almost worldwide and they had a picture of themselves as a church, and, strangely it was a reflection of their culture and not of their Christ.

And sometimes I worry greatly about our churches here…. And even ours… that sometimes when people look at the mirror of us, what they see is not Christ, but a real heart effort to present a picture of success.  And sometimes when we look in the mirror at ourselves we see our clothes, we see our house, we see our car, we see our bank account and we think things are okay with us.  Jesus said, "I know your works." This is a personal confrontation from Christ Himself.  He tells us that we are neither cold nor hot.  He says he is going to spew us out of his mouth, and the confrontation continues.  He says, "For you say…[he knows what we think about ourselves] you say, I am rich, I have prospered and I need nothing.  What he's saying is that you're telling yourself that you are in the present state and ongoing state of being rich.  You are saying this prosperity that you have, you are in the state of it because you got it for yourself and that you need nothing.  What would have happened to a rich Laodicean if the Lord Jesus Himself who is the firstborn of all creation, the ruler of all, by whose hand all things are held together, said, "I don't want your heart to beat another second." And they thought they needed nothing.  Have you ever gotten to that place?  Like the man in Jesus' parable, I'll sit back and say to my soul, what are you going to do with all that you have?  For you say I am rich, I have prospered, I need nothing, not realizing, not knowing, totally unaware of the fact… by the way, whenever we become so self-focused and self-satisfied, that is when we lose any accurate self-knowledge.  We can't look at ourselves in the mirror, that's why we need the mirror of God's Word and the accountability of God's people.  "For you say, I am rich, I have prospered and I need nothing, not realizing that you are wretched, pitiable, poor, blind and naked."  That is not a picture of ourselves we want to see, neither is that a picture of the Jesus we love we want to see, but my dear friend, how would you like it if he knew what you were and he wouldn't tell you? Talk about misery!  Talk about unloving.

I don't know what your life is like in the past, but what teachers do you remember? Are there any teachers you remember?  Just raise your hand if there is a teacher or two throughout all your schooling that sticks in your mind.  Come on, raise your hand.  Now, was it because they were nice to you and if you really made a "D" they gave you an "A"?  No, if you made a "D" they got on your case because you were a "B" or an "A" student and they said this is not proper; you're going to do this over.  Jewell Kearns was my 4^th grade teacher.  I won't do it in front of you, but I probably still could recite the multiplication tables from 1 through 12 because of Jewell Kearns.  She called me Anthony because that was my real name.  She did everything rightly.  As a matter of fact, after lunch every day she read from her little book called, "Remember your P's and Q's." I remember Ms. Kearns.  I remember C.J. Hines.  I remember Philip Allison.  One was a coach, one was a 4^th grade teacher and one was a Greek teacher in seminary because they all jumped my case for loafing.  I don't remember the people who were soft on me.  What kind of lord would he be if he patted you on the head every time you made a mistake and said, 'Oh, that will be okay.'

Because that's the picture we've painted of him and we think that's what grace is, and, my friend, a God like that only prepares souls for hell.  If we don't see our sickness we'll never look for a cure.  He says, "Look in the mirror at yourself."  Not your own mirror at the house, look at the mirror of my Word for you say, "I'm rich, I've prospered, I need nothing, not realizing that you are wretched, pitiable, poor, blind and naked."  Now here you have it.  You are lying on the ground.  Jesus has already announced your condition as one who is neither cold nor hot, but  lukewarm ready to spit you out of his mouth.  He said you think you are rich, you are prospering and need nothing, but in truth before me as I look at you, you are wretched, pitiable, poor, blind and naked. 

One thing that went through my mind, I had to ask, "What if I died today?"  What if I died today and stood before Christ and I saw him as he is and he saw me as I am?  How would I be clothed?  Would I cower or would I praise? 

And then there's an amazing turn from confrontation to counsel, Verse 18:

Now if you won't listen to his confrontation, you can't take his counsel.  You have to stop  and listen to his confrontation.

Rev. 3:18

    I counsel you to buy from me gold refined in the fire, so that you be rich; [Well, I thought I was rich, Lord]  and white garments, so that you may clothe yourself, and the shame of you nakedness may not be seen.

Now in the Biblical times, nakedness was a far greater sign of shame than it is now.  One of the things the warriors did to David when he sent them to another city to congratulate a young man who had taken his father's place as king, they shaved their beards and they cut off their robes so their buttocks shown.  That was a shaming them, and a way of honoring one is to take a robe and put it on them, like Mordecai when he was robed with the king's robe, so this visual they got!  They thought they were well clothed and yet before Christ they were in the shame of nakedness…. So cover that shame of you nakedness may not be seen.

[And they thought they saw life and themselves accurately]; and anoint your eyes with salve, that you may see.

Those whom I love I reprove and discipline, so be zealous and repent.  What the Lord Jesus is saying… He says I want you to take a walk with me, just come on.  We talk about a walk with the Lord, he says I want to take you a couple of places.  The first place we're going to go is to the bank.  And you walk in this place and it doesn’t look like a bank at all.  And he says is, now what I want you to do is I want you to buy from me, I'm the owner of the bank, gold refined in the fire.  That's gold that will never wear out.  That's gold that is pure.  That's gold that has eternal value.  But you're looking at it and you think, this doesn’t look like its worth anything, but you're so miserable you buy.  And the only currency you can use is the currency of repentance, so you say, Well, Lord, I am in bad shape so you say, "I'll exchange my gold for yours."  I just repent; what I've place my trust in is worthless and I trust you. 

Then he walks you down from the bank and he takes you to the clothing store. And you look at it, and there's not a black piece of clothing in there.  But, Lord, don't you know we're known for our black wool?  I couldn't be seen in any other color than black.  Do you know how ridiculous that would be, what people would say about me? And he pulls a white robe off and he says, "You don't have black clothing on except for sin and I need to cover that up."  But, it doesn’t fit right, Lord, I'm going to be out of place, but, I think you're right…. I can't see it yet, Lord, I…

That's okay. Let's go on down a little further, I've got to go by the doctor's office.  And he takes you in the doctor's office and he reaches down and he grabs some eye salve and he puts it on your eyes and then he opens them up and you go, "Oh… WOW!  OH…. I didn't see before how naked I was. Lord, thank you for the robe.  I didn't see how poor I was, thank you, thank you for the gold, and thank you that I can now see.  Lord, I see that your rebuke of me, your confrontation of me, I take your counsel.  You've done it because you love me.  You reproved me and disciplined me.  And then his command to us is "Be zealous and repent; quit wasting time.  If I've pointed out something in you that needs to change, change it now!  And zeal is something that is ongoing; the repentance is something that is now, one time, do it and it's over with!

He confronts us, he counsels us, and then he comforts us.  Behold, I stand at the door and knock.  We use this as a text for evangelism and it is really…. It's okay, but that's not its true intent.  My question would be, "How did Jesus ever get on the outside anyway?" He's knocking on the door of his church and of his people, where is he with you and where are you with him?  Are you listening to his counsel?  Are you receiving his confrontation? Because if you're not, you're never going to be able to open the door and receive his comfort.  Behold, I stand at the door and knock; if anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come into him and eat with him and he with me.

You've been confronted.  You know you're lukewarm.  You've been confronted and you know that you have thought yourself to be rich, have plenty and be in need of nothing, but the Lord has shown his light on you and you see that you are wretched, poor, miserable, blind and naked, and you are lower than a snake's belly.  And you hear a knock at the door [knock, knock, knock] and you think, I'm not answering.  [Knock, knock, knock, knock] I don't want to see him…. I can't answer the door right now….  It would be similar to company that you really love just popping in on you and your house looks worse than its ever looked.  You're just not going to go answer it.  [Knock, knock, knock]  He's standing at the door continuing to knock.  He is not going to go away.  The knock keeps happening.  You say, I can't go, it's going to be awful; he's rebuked me; he's told me what's going on… I cannot go answer that door.  But the knocking persists.  But you've got to see the real picture.  This is not Jesus knocking on the heart's door of a lost person.  This is Jesus knocking on the heart's door of his church and of his people!  They had essentially excommunicated Jesus from his own church!

Do you talk to Jesus much?  Do you realize that every breath you draw is held in his sweet sovereign hand? Do you recognize that the life you have has been given to you by him? And sometimes instead of opening the door to let him in, we open the back door and just let him walk out because we want to live without him for awhile.  Because we see the comforts of the creatures on this earth; our cars, our house, our money, our new church building.  We look good!  And he looks at us sometimes, and he says, "I'm sorry, but you, my friend, are nothing but lukewarm.  You taste like picking up a hose in the summertime that has been in the sun for a few minutes, and slurp drinking the water that first comes out with that taste of rubber or vinyl and it's warm and you blechhhhh!   Ohh….. then he said, "You silly thing, you are so blind you think you've got it altogether and you are falling apart."

Some of us have come to the point where we recognize where we're falling apart and this is where the idea of family came in.  I have talked to so many people who ask this question as parents, "Where did we go wrong?"  I've talked to young people who want to say, "You know, I've blown it and I really don't know why."  I've talked to spouses who have cheated and they wish they could turn the clock back.  Before people they feel miserable and before Jesus… [knock, knock, knock] I… I can't answer the door… I can't do it!  [Knock, knock, knock]

Finally, because of his persistence, you get up off the couch, like an old crippled woman or man because your soul is so weighted you make it… he's still knocking.  Out of some something in you working that you can't even explain, you creep up and you hold that door and you just open it and you turn a little bit… and you look…. And he walks in…. and he puts his arm around you because you have decided to shop at his store where the only currency is repentance, not your own righteousness, but repentance to buy at the expense of his righteousness.  He puts his arm around you; you recline at the table together, you begin to dip the bread in the sauce and you eat and he says, "Oh, would you like a bite?"  Listen to what it says, it says, "I WILL COME INTO HIM AND EAT WITH HIM AND HE WITH ME."  The dinner in the oriental world, the Middle Eastern world is so different than the dinner here.  You've got to somehow think of the very best of best of friends that you have and you have prepared a meal and you sit down together and the meal started at 6:30 but you're still sitting there at 11:30 at night talking, crying, loving, laughing.  Jesus has come in to fellowship in the most intimate way with you, a broken, ruined, lukewarm, wretched sinner child of his!  It's too good to be true!  And it is if it weren't for the Son of God. 

He confronts us, he counsels us, he comforts us, and then he asks… "Will you be a conquerer?"  We're not home yet.  This is in verse 21:

Rev. 3:21

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

It's hard to even grasp that, isn't it?  You're going to die one day and you're going to rule and reign with him because of his shed blood, because of your faith in him, you are going to sit on the throne of God in Christ.  We are already seated with him by faith in the heavenlies, and then he says, "He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches."  And that's why I say not with any irreverence at all, the Lord Jesus is saying to you, "Can you hear me now?"  He's not asking you if your husband can hear him.  He's not asking you if your wife can.   He's not asking you if your children can hear him.  He is asking you and he is asking me.  Man, I'm a preacher.  I've been studying the Bible for years, most of my life.  Surely I've got an in with God.  No… this passage of scripture was like being laid on the operating table with no anesthesia and the scalpel was the Word of God.  Oh, but bless that sweet scalpel!  Because to taste and see that the Lord is good, to sit down and have some of his heavenly bread when you've been stuffing your soul on the white bread of the world, and to feast at his table with him, oh my…. It puts in perspective and proportion all the problems that we have and we come to him with the currency of repentance and say, "Lord Jesus, work a miracle."  He'll do it.  Are you weary?  Are you dry? Are you broken?  More than likely it is simply because you have tasted the gifts of God instead of tasted God Himself, and you are satisfied with things that can never satisfy and so we think we are rich and have plenty and have need of nothing, when our soul is a barren wasteland.  So, do not run from God.  Just listen for the knock…. [knock, knock, knock] and open the door.

One other thing before I close.  I need you to know that that specific address is for God's children; those who have repented and asked Christ to save them.  But that same one who knocks at their door a second time is not to save them again, but it's to remind them who their savior is.  Knocked an original time to show them the sickness of sin, of pride that says, "I can live without God."  And he offers to the world his free grace of salvation, of forgiveness, so that you can clothe your soul with that white robe of his righteousness, and he will take your sin off of you and do away with it at the cross.  I make an invitation to you this morning, at the word of the Lord Jesus, if he is knocking at your door for repentance, as a child of God to be refreshed, or repentance as one who doesn’t know him to be saved, please answer.  The way to answer is just to simply say to him with your heart, the words are so unimportant, Lord Jesus, I'm a sinner. I need you to save me.  Or, Lord Jesus, I am your child, but I've been living without you.  Please don't let me starve my soul anymore.  Let's pray together.