Application
Guide: “Intolerable Lukewarmness” (Rev.
3:14-21)
July 10th,
2005: Nate Irwin, Associate Director of
Outreach, gave a stirring sermon on Jesus’ words to the Laodicean church along
with appropriate applications for us today. The key point concerning the
Laodicean’s was that their lives were so self-focused and self-driven that
their deeds were rendered totally useless for the Kingdom of God. The
overriding question for us today is, “Are you engaged in doing work for the Kingdom, or are you simply wrapped up in your life?”
- “I know
your deeds…” (v. 15). Our faith is like
wind – we cannot see it, only its effects. If we claim that our “wind” is
blowing, we must take a look at what effects it is producing (cf. Mt.
7:15-23; 15:18-19; James 3:9-12).
- What do our actions and words say about our true
selves, our heart? Is it completely possible to measure one’s heart
motives by looking at their actions?
- What actions do we often list as stereotypical
measures to determine if someone is a Christian (e.g. – go to church,
prayed a prayer to receive Christ, etc)?
- How do these stereotypical measures often fail as
true measurements of one’s heart? In other words, what “Christian” things
can people do to “play the part” and yet not truly be following Christ?
If so many of these deeds can be done simply out of religious fervor,
what deeds truly reflect a life that follows Christ (cf. Isa. 58:6-7;
Mich. 6:8; Zech. 7:1-10; Phil. 2:1-8)?
- “You
are lukewarm – neither hot or cold…” (16) Before we change, we must understand our true
condition in the Kingdom. As Christians, there are only two positions:
Either we can be useful (hot/cold) or useless (lukewarm).
- Aside from Jesus literally telling us our
condition (like he told the churches in Revelation), are there any practical
ways we can evaluate our own spiritual condition and help others evaluate
theirs? How can we evaluate if our deeds are useful for the Kingdom or if
we are simply wrapped up in our own interests?
- If we are so blind to our own sin (and so good at
deceiving ourselves), what is necessary to make this evaluation
beneficial? What standard should we use?
- “But
you do not realize that you are wretched…” (17) Because of our sin nature and propensity to look
only at externals – rather than our hearts – it is easy to not even
realize how spiritually impoverished we really are (cf. 1 Sam. 16:7; Mt.
23:24-28).
- What things in your life often prevent you from
seeing your spiritual poverty or cause you to start thinking, “I’m a
pretty good person. I don’t have any areas in my life that need change.”?
What keeps you from living in dependence on God?
- What role does pride play in all of this? How do
we know we have pride in our hearts (cf. Rom. 12:16; 1 Cor. 3:18-21;
James 4:1-10)
- “Here I
am! I stand at the door and knock…” (20) There is a cure to our lukewarm lifestyle and
spiritual poverty. We must receive from Christ true riches. We must
repent, live in humble dependence on him, and open up our lives to live in
his presence. In other words, if we aren’t spending time with Christ, we
will have nothing to give to others.
- Do you consider your relationship with Christ to
be the greatest treasure of all? What will your life look like if Christ
is your most valuable possession?
- Do your desire Christ’s convicting and healing
presence in your life? Do you welcome his fellowship? Is he sitting at
the throne of your heart?