WEBVTT 00:00:01.280 --> 00:00:04.000 All right, we're uh we're gonna jump into the message today. 00:00:04.080 --> 00:00:06.799 We're in a series that we're calling There's More to the Story. 00:00:06.959 --> 00:00:10.240 And uh sort of the heart behind this series is you know, we all read the Bible. 00:00:10.320 --> 00:00:12.320 At times we're not sure what to make of it. 00:00:12.400 --> 00:00:20.640 Uh you might come across a text that um might read a little funny when you read it, and you wonder if I wonder if there's more to this, that's something that I don't know about. 00:00:20.879 --> 00:00:34.799 And so what we're trying to do uh throughout this series, we really try to do this every time we open up our Bibles in these contexts, but to really look at the Bible in its context, to look at the Bible uh and to interpret it the very best we can with the tools that we have. 00:00:34.960 --> 00:00:37.439 And uh so that's what we're gonna continue doing today. 00:00:37.600 --> 00:00:42.000 Some of the verses and stories and narratives we've looked at are maybe new to you. 00:00:42.079 --> 00:00:43.840 You're like, I didn't even know that was in there. 00:00:44.000 --> 00:00:54.159 And then today we're gonna read one that you've probably, like, if you've been in church at all, if you grew up in church, if you've been around church, you have heard these verses probably. 00:00:54.320 --> 00:00:56.960 You maybe didn't know where they were in the Bible. 00:00:57.200 --> 00:01:08.879 And uh, frankly, the way that you heard them, the implications of what was being communicated might actually turn out to not be the intent of the verses. 00:01:08.959 --> 00:01:10.400 And so that's what we're gonna look at today. 00:01:10.480 --> 00:01:15.040 So if you have your Bible, we're going in today, we're going to the book of Revelation. 00:01:15.760 --> 00:01:17.840 Oh yeah, oh yeah, here we go. 00:01:18.159 --> 00:01:19.439 Turn to Revelation. 00:01:19.519 --> 00:01:22.239 If you don't know where Revelation is, it's at the end. 00:01:22.319 --> 00:01:32.239 All right, so go to the very end of your Bible, and uh we're gonna go into Revelation chapter 3, and we're gonna start reading in verse 14. 00:01:32.319 --> 00:01:36.319 We're gonna go 14, 15, 16, and then we'll talk about it, then we'll read some more and talk about that. 00:01:36.400 --> 00:01:37.200 Here we go. 00:01:37.439 --> 00:01:44.000 Revelation 3, 14 says, Write this letter to the angel of the church in Laodicea. 00:01:44.480 --> 00:01:52.719 This is the message from the one who is the amen, the faithful and true witness, the beginning of God's new creation. 00:01:52.959 --> 00:01:54.079 Verse 15. 00:01:54.480 --> 00:01:59.359 I know all the things you do, that you are neither hot nor cold. 00:01:59.599 --> 00:02:01.920 I wish that you were one or the other. 00:02:02.239 --> 00:02:08.879 But since you are like lukewarm water, neither hot nor cold, I will spit you out of my mouth. 00:02:09.199 --> 00:02:11.520 Uh, how many of you have heard a version of this before? 00:02:11.680 --> 00:02:13.199 You've heard the idea of lukewarm. 00:02:13.439 --> 00:02:17.919 I wish you were hot or cold, but you're lukewarm, so I'm gonna spit you out of my mouth. 00:02:18.080 --> 00:02:29.039 Okay, um, this is a verse that's thrown around this terminology, this language of being lukewarm, is usually set up in contrast to a person who is on fire. 00:02:29.199 --> 00:02:37.680 So you've got your lukewarm Christian, you've got your on fire Christian, and lukewarm's the one you don't want to be, because who wants to be vomited? 00:02:37.840 --> 00:02:41.199 By the way, that is the term that's used if you look at the original. 00:02:41.280 --> 00:02:44.319 This is written by uh John, the Apostle John. 00:02:44.400 --> 00:02:51.840 It's written in Greek, and in the Greek, the word that's used is the word that you would use for when you get car sick and you vomit, right? 00:02:52.000 --> 00:02:53.120 Okay, that's what it is. 00:02:53.199 --> 00:02:55.120 So who wants to be vomited out by God? 00:02:55.280 --> 00:02:56.400 Certainly not me. 00:02:56.560 --> 00:03:02.319 Uh, and usually this idea of lukewarm is in contrast to someone who's on fire. 00:03:02.639 --> 00:03:19.280 And what is uh really sort of either explicitly or implicitly communicated through this idea of being lukewarm is that God expects you to maintain an intensity and a passion to your faith that can never cool off. 00:03:19.680 --> 00:03:31.280 And if it does cool off, if for some reason, okay, your fervency and your passion for God cools off, that you are now disgusting to God to the point that you make him sick. 00:03:31.759 --> 00:03:35.199 And maybe that has created some sort of pressure. 00:03:35.360 --> 00:03:45.199 I know for me, okay, I can't speak for you, but for me, it created some shame and even some despair around feeling like this is unattainable. 00:03:45.280 --> 00:03:50.560 Like, how can you maintain fever pitch passion for anything? 00:03:50.800 --> 00:03:52.479 Okay, how am I going to do that? 00:03:52.560 --> 00:04:01.280 And so, if that's what you believe this text says, then you then you probably will sort of always be questioning am I worshiping intensely enough? 00:04:01.520 --> 00:04:04.240 Am I studying God's word intensely enough? 00:04:04.400 --> 00:04:05.439 Am I giving enough? 00:04:05.599 --> 00:04:06.400 Am I doing enough? 00:04:06.560 --> 00:04:07.759 Am I serving enough? 00:04:08.080 --> 00:04:10.080 Am I emotional enough? 00:04:10.960 --> 00:04:15.759 Is there enough passion, fervency, and am I on fire enough? 00:04:15.919 --> 00:04:18.800 You know, and so you'll always be thinking about what you didn't do. 00:04:18.879 --> 00:04:25.839 And every time you go into Walmart, you feel like you should bust out into a sermon, or you feel like you should, you know, be more bold. 00:04:26.000 --> 00:04:31.600 I'm not being bold enough, therefore I'm now lukewarm, and therefore God thinks I'm disgusting. 00:04:31.759 --> 00:04:34.720 God's vomiting me out of his mouth. 00:04:35.040 --> 00:04:38.240 Um, okay, is this what this text is saying? 00:04:38.399 --> 00:04:46.399 Is this a text about fervency and passion and emotional intensity around our faith? 00:04:46.800 --> 00:04:47.759 It is not. 00:04:48.399 --> 00:04:50.480 Okay, there's more to the story. 00:04:50.720 --> 00:04:57.759 Um, I told you guys last week I'm going to be starting a series in January, January 5th, uh, that'll go 15 weeks. 00:04:57.839 --> 00:04:59.199 We're calling it cover-to-cover. 00:04:59.279 --> 00:05:01.439 We're gonna look at the Bible as a whole. 00:05:01.600 --> 00:05:10.800 We're gonna look at the meta-narrative of the Bible, we're going to look at the genres of the Bible, we're going to look at essentially uh not only the big storyline, but how it all kind of fits together. 00:05:10.959 --> 00:05:23.759 And I'm gonna do my best to not only you know teach some stuff, but to teach you how to continue teaching us how to approach the Bible so we can really get this you know power out of it. 00:05:24.000 --> 00:05:28.000 Um, okay, so here's I'm gonna lay a little uh groundwork today. 00:05:28.240 --> 00:05:32.879 I'm gonna come back to this throughout the series, but uh this will help us in building a foundation. 00:05:33.120 --> 00:05:36.319 Is I want you to think of the Bible in three ways. 00:05:36.480 --> 00:05:46.560 All right, the first is think of the Bible as literature, the second is think of the Bible as history, and the third, think of the Bible as theology. 00:05:46.800 --> 00:05:49.040 Theology, meaning the study of God. 00:05:49.600 --> 00:06:01.600 So most everybody would think of the Bible, approach the Bible through a theological lens, which is essentially it's the word of God, and so we open it up to know more about God or to understand God. 00:06:02.399 --> 00:06:13.920 And yet the first two cannot be skipped over because the Bible is it is uh a 66 books with tremendous literary artistry. 00:06:14.160 --> 00:06:20.480 It's written in poetic forms, it's written in prose, it's written in narrative, it's written a specific way. 00:06:20.639 --> 00:06:28.240 And so if you we don't understand those elements of the Bible, then you're going to miss the literary form. 00:06:28.319 --> 00:06:31.839 And to miss the literary form means that you would miss the intent of the author. 00:06:32.000 --> 00:06:37.680 And if I miss the intent of the author, I might jump to a theological conclusion that wasn't intended by the author. 00:06:37.759 --> 00:06:39.839 None of us want to do that, that doesn't make sense. 00:06:40.079 --> 00:06:41.759 So we have to look at the Bible's literature. 00:06:41.920 --> 00:06:43.920 Second, we have to look at it as history. 00:06:44.079 --> 00:06:46.319 So again, it's written over 1,500 years. 00:06:46.399 --> 00:06:49.920 These are some of the oldest texts anywhere that we have. 00:06:50.000 --> 00:07:00.000 It's wonderful, and there's a lot of history embedded in the Bible, but some things that would cause the Bible to make more sense aren't necessarily historically embedded in the Bible. 00:07:00.079 --> 00:07:06.319 You've got to understand history outside of the Bible to then look and put the Bible in its place in history. 00:07:06.560 --> 00:07:08.959 Now certain things start to make even more sense. 00:07:09.120 --> 00:07:10.560 So we're gonna keep doing that. 00:07:10.879 --> 00:07:25.199 Today is going to be like exhibit A on how putting understanding the Bible in its literary context and its historical context is going to cause our theological takeaways to be much better. 00:07:25.439 --> 00:07:29.279 And if we don't, we could jump to a bad theological conclusion. 00:07:29.360 --> 00:07:31.439 All right, this is gonna be really helpful. 00:07:31.519 --> 00:07:33.360 So think of those three elements. 00:07:33.519 --> 00:07:36.480 Let's start with literary, let's start with the Bible's literature. 00:07:36.560 --> 00:07:46.959 We're in the book of Revelation here, and the literary form of revelation is it is the genre is po uh it is Jewish apocalyptic literature. 00:07:47.279 --> 00:07:50.560 Jewish apocalyptic literature. 00:07:50.800 --> 00:08:09.839 Um, when you think of Jewish apocalyptic literature, the design of that is to draw from the past and and ultimately to use symbols to encourage and give hope to people in the present, particularly who are suffering and struggling. 00:08:10.079 --> 00:08:19.519 It certainly has implications to the future, but Jewish apocalyptic literature is rooted in what God has done in the past and his faithfulness. 00:08:19.680 --> 00:08:28.240 And sometimes when you're right in the middle of something, you can become short-sighted and you forget about all that God has done historically. 00:08:28.480 --> 00:08:40.159 So in the book of Revelation, it is the uh the single piece of Jewish apocalyptic literature in the New Testament, but it's not the only apocalyptic literature in the Bible. 00:08:40.320 --> 00:08:44.639 In the Old Testament, there is a lot of Jewish apocalyptic literature in the Old Testament. 00:08:44.799 --> 00:08:51.840 So books like Ezekiel, Daniel, Zachariah, and some of the other prophets uh are doing the same thing. 00:08:52.000 --> 00:09:01.279 So when you start reading Revelation in chapter one, um, John immediately starts using symbols, and the symbols are a little confusing to us. 00:09:01.360 --> 00:09:22.720 If we just opened it up, we would go, okay, he's using symbols and images, but to his audience that he wrote it to, the contemporary audience, it makes a ton of sense because they're catching the parallels that he's using symbols that have already been used hundreds of years before by Ezekiel, Daniel, Zachariah, and many others. 00:09:22.960 --> 00:09:23.919 What is the point? 00:09:24.080 --> 00:09:30.799 The point of that is what John is doing is he's saying, here we are in the end of the first century. 00:09:31.120 --> 00:09:35.039 We are being persecuted by the Roman government. 00:09:35.120 --> 00:09:41.039 We are under the heavy hand of an emperor, depending on where you date the book, either Nero or Domitian. 00:09:41.759 --> 00:09:51.679 Jesus has ascended to heaven in AD 33, and here we are somewhere between AD 60 and 90, again, depending on, I'm not going to get all into the that which one that is, but somewhere there. 00:09:51.759 --> 00:09:56.639 It's either been 30, 40, 50 years since Jesus ascended and said, I'll be back. 00:09:56.799 --> 00:09:57.759 Where are you at? 00:09:58.000 --> 00:10:05.120 And it's we're struggling now because what he said about the kingdom of God is very different than the empire we are being persecuted by. 00:10:05.279 --> 00:10:08.720 So we kind of all are trying to figure out is this worth it or not? 00:10:08.879 --> 00:10:10.320 And we're thinking about quitting. 00:10:10.480 --> 00:10:14.559 So what John does is he goes back to their ancestors. 00:10:14.799 --> 00:10:25.679 Ezekiel, Daniel, Zachariah, who were under the heavy hand of the Persians, the Assyrians, and the Babylonians, and he's saying, guys, we've been here before. 00:10:26.000 --> 00:10:29.840 This is not the first time that our nation has been in this position. 00:10:30.000 --> 00:10:36.559 This is not the first time that God's people have been under the hand of a tyrant. 00:10:36.799 --> 00:10:37.919 We've been here before. 00:10:38.080 --> 00:10:39.039 Stay the course. 00:10:39.120 --> 00:10:41.279 And so he's giving them hope. 00:10:41.519 --> 00:10:50.080 Jewish apocalyptic literature is designed to create hope in the present based on God's faithfulness in the past, that I can trust him with the future. 00:10:50.159 --> 00:10:50.799 That's what it is. 00:10:50.879 --> 00:11:04.080 Now, if I asked you, hey, give me the book of Revelation, give me five-word association, give me five words, five, five to ten words that you think of first come to mind with Revelation, you probably wouldn't have said hope. 00:11:04.799 --> 00:11:08.080 But you need to know that because that is part of that genre. 00:11:08.240 --> 00:11:11.360 That's what ultimately John is doing here. 00:11:11.600 --> 00:11:11.919 Okay? 00:11:12.240 --> 00:11:16.240 Uh it if it makes me think of you're gonna think this is corny, but I don't even care. 00:11:16.399 --> 00:11:18.159 Uh, this will help us understand where we're coming from. 00:11:18.240 --> 00:11:21.440 Okay, so in during COVID, I felt like I was fighting a war. 00:11:21.519 --> 00:11:22.240 That's what it felt like. 00:11:22.320 --> 00:11:23.679 It's like everything shut down. 00:11:23.840 --> 00:11:26.000 I remember I'm listening to all the prognosticators. 00:11:26.080 --> 00:11:27.840 Everybody's like, the church is done, it's over. 00:11:27.919 --> 00:11:29.759 Every, you know, it's like finished. 00:11:29.919 --> 00:11:32.159 People aren't coming back, they're never gonna come back. 00:11:32.320 --> 00:11:37.440 My wife and I moved here, gave everything to start this church, and we church was growing before COVID. 00:11:37.759 --> 00:11:42.240 Right before COVID, we grew 700 people in six months, and the church was doing great. 00:11:42.320 --> 00:11:45.440 People were coming to Christ, being baptized, all of a sudden everything shut down. 00:11:45.600 --> 00:11:48.080 And so I'm going, man, I don't know what's gonna happen. 00:11:48.159 --> 00:11:54.000 We had work and projects we needed to do, we didn't have the money for, we needed to step out, and then we had people asking us to help. 00:11:54.159 --> 00:11:55.360 Can you help me with medicine? 00:11:55.440 --> 00:11:56.399 Can you help me with food? 00:11:56.480 --> 00:11:57.759 Can you help me with rent? 00:11:57.919 --> 00:12:03.759 And so we gave away like$200,000 that summer when we had things we were trying to do here. 00:12:03.919 --> 00:12:06.080 I had a whole staff, I felt like I was at war. 00:12:06.159 --> 00:12:07.360 So you know what I did? 00:12:07.600 --> 00:12:10.159 I started reading about war heroes, man. 00:12:10.320 --> 00:12:12.559 I started reading about Winston Churchill, okay? 00:12:12.720 --> 00:12:19.039 I'm like, I was reading the Bible and I was reading documentaries and I was reading articles about Winston stinking Churchill. 00:12:19.120 --> 00:12:22.639 I was watching Winston Churchill documentaries, movies, the whole deal, so much so. 00:12:22.799 --> 00:12:29.200 I was so inspired to fight my COVID war like Winston Churchill fought the Nazis in World War II. 00:12:29.279 --> 00:12:31.039 I went straight down to tattoo cartel. 00:12:31.120 --> 00:12:33.200 I said, tattoo Winston Churchill right here. 00:12:33.360 --> 00:12:37.360 So this day, I'm telling you right now, you can judge me if you I don't even care if you're gonna leave over that. 00:12:37.440 --> 00:12:38.799 You are gonna leave anyway. 00:12:39.120 --> 00:12:50.399 I got Winston Churchill's face tattooed right on my rib cage because I want to remember when I feel like being weak, sometimes you got to be steadfast and have some guts and stand your ground when it Okay, all right. 00:12:50.639 --> 00:12:51.759 You get the idea. 00:12:52.000 --> 00:12:54.000 This is what John is doing in Revelation. 00:12:54.080 --> 00:12:57.360 He's going back to the ancestors and going, this is the war they fought. 00:12:57.440 --> 00:12:58.320 Now is our time. 00:12:58.480 --> 00:13:00.799 Let's not fall apart, let's trust God. 00:13:00.960 --> 00:13:02.399 That's what he's doing in Revelation. 00:13:02.559 --> 00:13:05.759 Okay, so in this, that's Jewish apocalyptic literature. 00:13:05.840 --> 00:13:07.679 Let's go to this part of the text. 00:13:07.919 --> 00:13:19.519 In Romans uh, or sorry, Revelation 3, he's giving this prophetic message around seven churches in Asia Minor, which is basically modern-day Turkey. 00:13:19.759 --> 00:13:26.320 And what he's doing is he's going city to city and he's talking about the things they do good and the things they don't do good. 00:13:26.480 --> 00:13:32.240 And this really is about more than just the church in Laodicea or the church in Sardis or the church in Ephesus. 00:13:32.320 --> 00:13:39.759 He's talking, really talking conceptually, and this is why it really, this part of it is extremely applicable to us right now. 00:13:40.240 --> 00:13:43.279 And he goes through and uh he begins to talk to them. 00:13:43.360 --> 00:13:57.600 So the church in Laodicea, um, when he says, I wish you're neither hot nor cold, but you're lukewarm, and and therefore, since you're I wish you were one or the other, he says, I wish you were hot or cold, but because you're lukewarm, I'm gonna spit you out of my mouth. 00:13:57.759 --> 00:14:05.360 Well, this is this isn't some generic hot, cold illustration or metaphor he's using, it's extremely specific. 00:14:05.679 --> 00:14:10.559 So that so Laodicea um sat between two cities, okay? 00:14:10.720 --> 00:14:20.159 So it was ten miles and six miles from um the Heropolis and Colossae, where you get we get the book of Colossians, okay? 00:14:20.399 --> 00:14:24.480 So Heropolis was known for its hot springs. 00:14:25.360 --> 00:14:34.720 Okay, to this day, Heropolis is known for its hot springs, and the hot springs are known for their mineral-rich therapeutic use. 00:14:35.519 --> 00:14:40.639 So they were it was a place of soothing, it was a place of healing. 00:14:40.879 --> 00:14:53.919 Okay, so when when you would have uh heard hot, I wish you were like hot water, you would have thought of the hot springs of Herapolis and the healing agent that it was. 00:14:54.639 --> 00:15:04.159 Uh Colossae, which was 10 miles away, so Herapolis was six miles away, Colasse was 10 miles away, and they had cold mountain springs. 00:15:04.879 --> 00:15:09.039 And the cold mountain springs are refreshing. 00:15:09.600 --> 00:15:19.279 Alright, just like you think about when you're out working hard, you're sweating, you're dehydrated, your mouth is dry, your tongue is swollen, you take a drink, now I'm getting back in the game. 00:15:19.360 --> 00:15:20.559 It's refreshing. 00:15:21.120 --> 00:15:27.200 And so um, what was interesting about Laodicea is they had no natural spring. 00:15:27.519 --> 00:15:29.279 They had no natural water source. 00:15:29.360 --> 00:15:33.679 So all of the water that went into Laodicea came through the aqueducts. 00:15:33.840 --> 00:15:47.200 And some of that came above ground aqueducts, some of it was below ground aqueducts, but by the time the water traveled, you know, 10 miles and six miles in aqueducts, it got to them, it was lukewarm. 00:15:47.279 --> 00:15:50.000 It had lost its heat and it had lost its cool. 00:15:50.240 --> 00:16:01.360 More than that, and again, you can see this in archaeological digs, they've you know pulled up you know part of the aqueducts between that area, there was sediment that would settle into the water. 00:16:01.519 --> 00:16:13.759 So not only the the amount of time that it took to get there would cause the water to either uh again to become lukewarm, but the sediment that would pick up in the in the pipes caused the water to taste really, really bad. 00:16:13.919 --> 00:16:18.799 And so this was in Laodicea, this was their main beef with their community. 00:16:18.960 --> 00:16:23.200 Um, we're gonna see in a moment, they were a wealthy community, they were a prosperous community. 00:16:23.360 --> 00:16:30.480 They stood out from their neighbors in terms of economy, but they had this issue of water that everybody complained about. 00:16:30.720 --> 00:16:33.440 We don't have good water, we have bad water. 00:16:33.679 --> 00:16:44.399 On top of that, if you think about if you were going to attack a city, what makes a city vulnerable would be your ability to cut off their water source, their water supply. 00:16:44.480 --> 00:16:48.480 Really quickly, you've got them in desperation if you can cut off their water source. 00:16:48.559 --> 00:16:58.480 And so the fact they had no natural spring in their geographic location meant that if you were to try to besiege that city and you cut off their water supply, they are now vulnerable. 00:16:58.720 --> 00:17:03.679 So although they're wealthy, they have they're easily attacked. 00:17:03.919 --> 00:17:11.359 They they know that there's something just beneath the surface that's creates insecurity, and their water, again, tastes disgusting. 00:17:11.680 --> 00:17:38.400 So when uh in the writing of John, right, he's saying this is ultimately what God would say is, I wish you were either hot, therapeutic, and healing, or I wish you were cold, refreshing, and inspiring, but instead you are lukewarm, you've collected sediment, and you are useless. 00:17:40.720 --> 00:17:53.039 He's not saying you if you don't maintain a fever pitch of intensity and emotion and be on fire for God and bold and bolder than you've ever been, and if you cool off at all, God's gonna go gross, disgusting, get away from you. 00:17:53.119 --> 00:17:54.720 That's not what's being said. 00:17:54.960 --> 00:18:05.279 What's being said is you are not being used in healing and therapy, you're not being used in refreshing and inspiring, and you're useless. 00:18:05.440 --> 00:18:05.920 All right. 00:18:06.079 --> 00:18:18.319 Now, we're gonna keep going because um in the his historical understanding of Laodicea, understanding the Laodicean economy is going to help us really understand the rest of the verses. 00:18:18.480 --> 00:18:22.480 So um in Laodicea, their economy was really driven by three things. 00:18:22.720 --> 00:18:28.160 The first was they had um uh a significant bank. 00:18:29.279 --> 00:18:31.599 Um that was the the first one. 00:18:31.759 --> 00:18:36.240 The second one was they had uh wool, a wool industry. 00:18:36.319 --> 00:18:43.519 So they actually had black wool that was seen as like the best of the best wool that was used not only for clothing, for like carpets, tapestries, things like that. 00:18:43.680 --> 00:18:44.799 It was a huge export. 00:18:44.880 --> 00:18:47.680 And then the last was an ISAV. 00:18:48.559 --> 00:19:10.480 And the ISAV was actually they used the mineral-rich waters from the Hereopolis, and they manufactured you know some uh powder that would go into the uh mineral-rich water, and it was used to treat eye disorders, eye diseases, and so they made a ton of money from the ISAV, the bank, and the wool. 00:19:10.559 --> 00:19:15.119 Now, here's what's interesting there was a ton of regional competition. 00:19:15.200 --> 00:19:22.480 So, like, for example, Laodicea was in competition with other um cities around like Antioch. 00:19:22.799 --> 00:19:31.920 They were in tremendous rivalry, and yet they stood out as being superior uh economically to these other cities. 00:19:32.319 --> 00:19:36.000 In uh AD 60, there was a huge earthquake. 00:19:36.079 --> 00:19:37.519 So again, now now we're in history, right? 00:19:37.599 --> 00:19:39.839 We have the Bible as literature, Bible as history. 00:19:40.000 --> 00:19:45.359 In AD 60, there was a massive earthquake in that region that devastated the cities in that region. 00:19:45.519 --> 00:19:55.839 And so what the Roman government did was they said, hey, some of these cities are important to our economy, so we're going to send government funds to some of these cities to rebuild, and some of them they didn't. 00:19:55.920 --> 00:20:09.440 So actually, Colossae didn't get government funds, Hereopolis did get government funds, and they tried to send government funds to Laodicea because they had the bank and they had a ton of commerce and economy that was going through their city. 00:20:09.599 --> 00:20:14.319 So the think of this the Roman government says, we're gonna help rebuild Laodicea. 00:20:14.400 --> 00:20:19.599 They send government money to Laodicea, and the people of Laodicea said, keep your money. 00:20:20.240 --> 00:20:24.880 They told the Roman government, we don't need your money, we can do it ourselves. 00:20:25.039 --> 00:20:39.839 And of all the cities, took government money except one, Laodicea, said, We don't need your money, and they took their own money from their own economy, rejected Roman government funds, and rebuilt their city on their own dime. 00:20:40.400 --> 00:20:49.279 And from their bank, they created a local coin that they minted that said, had an inscription on it that said, We did it ourselves. 00:20:50.480 --> 00:20:50.799 Okay? 00:20:52.240 --> 00:20:56.559 Now, let's keep reading in the text now that we know this. 00:20:56.799 --> 00:20:58.559 Okay, let's keep reading in the text. 00:20:58.640 --> 00:21:00.400 Look what it says in, okay, we just read. 00:21:00.640 --> 00:21:02.480 Let's go back and reread what we read and then we'll keep going. 00:21:02.559 --> 00:21:02.880 Here we go. 00:21:03.039 --> 00:21:05.599 Let's look at verse 15, Revelation 3, 15. 00:21:05.839 --> 00:21:06.960 I know all the things you do. 00:21:07.039 --> 00:21:08.160 You're neither hot nor cold. 00:21:08.319 --> 00:21:09.680 I wish you were one or the other. 00:21:09.920 --> 00:21:14.720 I wish you were either therapeutic and healing, or I wish you were refreshing and inspiring. 00:21:14.960 --> 00:21:20.640 But since you are neither uh you are like lukewarm water, neither hot or cold, I will spit you out of my mouth. 00:21:20.720 --> 00:21:22.079 Now look at verse 17. 00:21:22.400 --> 00:21:25.279 You say, I am rich. 00:21:25.759 --> 00:21:27.599 I have everything I want. 00:21:27.839 --> 00:21:29.359 I don't need a thing. 00:21:29.599 --> 00:21:33.119 And you don't realize that you are wretched and miserable. 00:21:33.359 --> 00:21:39.759 Now look at these three: poor and blind and naked. 00:21:40.720 --> 00:21:42.160 Now think about this. 00:21:43.119 --> 00:21:45.359 What is the center of their economy? 00:21:45.839 --> 00:21:46.559 Their bank. 00:21:46.720 --> 00:21:52.960 He says, You think you're rich because of your bank, but you're actually poor. 00:21:54.000 --> 00:21:56.000 He says, blind is the next one. 00:21:56.079 --> 00:21:58.559 Again, these are not accidental metaphors. 00:21:58.799 --> 00:21:59.599 He says, You're blind. 00:22:00.079 --> 00:22:08.240 You export an ISAV and you've made a fortune doing it, but the reality is you yourself are operating in blindness. 00:22:08.720 --> 00:22:14.559 And the next one, he says, naked, again, you've got the best wool money can buy. 00:22:14.960 --> 00:22:22.640 But he says, if you could see beneath the surface and beyond your spreadsheets, you would see that you're blind, naked, and poor. 00:22:22.720 --> 00:22:24.000 So what is he doing? 00:22:24.480 --> 00:22:29.279 Understanding the history of their economy, we can see what the prophetic word is saying. 00:22:29.440 --> 00:22:37.359 Ultimately, it's saying taking the areas where they had become so self-confident, self-sufficient, that they had become self-absorbed. 00:22:37.519 --> 00:22:40.319 And in so doing, they were useless to the world around them. 00:22:40.400 --> 00:22:44.559 They're not bringing healing to anybody because they're in competition with everybody. 00:22:44.799 --> 00:22:47.359 So I'm in competition with the cities around me. 00:22:47.440 --> 00:22:49.839 I'm in competition with the people around me. 00:22:50.000 --> 00:22:55.680 And I've gotten so good at pulling my own self up by my own bootstraps and being so self-sufficient. 00:22:55.759 --> 00:22:57.279 I don't even need government funds. 00:22:57.440 --> 00:22:58.160 You can keep it. 00:22:58.240 --> 00:22:59.119 I'll do it myself. 00:22:59.279 --> 00:23:00.160 I'll do me. 00:23:00.480 --> 00:23:03.920 And so because of that, there, and by the way, by the way, that's not all bad. 00:23:04.240 --> 00:23:08.720 There's some good things about not sitting around waiting on someone to rescue you. 00:23:08.960 --> 00:23:11.920 There's some good things about being proactive. 00:23:12.079 --> 00:23:14.400 There's some good things about going, you know what? 00:23:14.640 --> 00:23:16.079 Nobody's paying for my school. 00:23:16.160 --> 00:23:16.559 That's fine. 00:23:16.640 --> 00:23:17.680 I'll pay for my own school. 00:23:17.759 --> 00:23:19.279 I'll go work my way through school. 00:23:19.359 --> 00:23:21.839 And nobody's handing me anything. 00:23:21.920 --> 00:23:22.240 You know what? 00:23:22.319 --> 00:23:26.880 I'll go earn it and I'll go start my own business, even though I don't have everything, everybody else. 00:23:27.200 --> 00:23:28.400 Nobody handed me something. 00:23:28.559 --> 00:23:29.599 I'm going to go get it. 00:23:29.759 --> 00:23:30.720 So what did they do? 00:23:30.960 --> 00:23:42.400 In the middle of an oppressed world, in the middle of persecution, in the middle of being subject to the Roman Empire, they go and thrive in the middle of all of that. 00:23:42.559 --> 00:23:44.000 And what does that produce? 00:23:44.160 --> 00:23:48.240 It goes from beyond a healthy sense of capability. 00:23:48.640 --> 00:23:49.519 I'm capable. 00:23:49.599 --> 00:24:08.240 I'm not going to act and feel in inferior and incapable to where it tipped into an unhealthy mentality where now your ability to pull yourself up on your own and to do it, be self-made, so to speak, has now become something where you are completely all about you. 00:24:08.720 --> 00:24:10.079 Because you're all about you. 00:24:10.240 --> 00:24:18.880 Yeah, you've got a lot of money and you've got this great export and you are economically self-sufficient, but nobody is being healed. 00:24:19.039 --> 00:24:20.640 You're not part of anybody's healing. 00:24:20.720 --> 00:24:22.079 No, you're not therapeutic. 00:24:22.160 --> 00:24:22.960 You're not refreshing. 00:24:23.039 --> 00:24:24.160 In fact, you're useless. 00:24:24.240 --> 00:24:27.920 And he uses the term essentially, God is causing them to taste. 00:24:28.000 --> 00:24:36.319 They go, you know how you feel when you taste that sediment water that you drink, that sediment water that's lukewarm, and you go, and you spit it, it makes you sick. 00:24:36.559 --> 00:24:39.759 He's going, that is the contents of your heart. 00:24:40.319 --> 00:24:42.319 That's how it tastes to God. 00:24:42.559 --> 00:24:43.920 It's a triggering term. 00:24:44.000 --> 00:25:05.359 It was one of their biggest frustrations, but what he's doing in a spirit of hope and change, he is doing what prophets do, which is to disrupt the status quo, to put the message in front of you and give you the opportunity, as shocking as it might be, to receive the word in due time before it's too late. 00:25:05.680 --> 00:25:09.440 And so he brings it up and says, Look, I'd rather you be healing and refreshing. 00:25:09.759 --> 00:25:24.559 He goes, and what you don't know, because you go, I'm rich and I have everything I want, and look, look, look at me compared to everybody else, and look at Laodicea compared to Antioch, and I'm just glad I'm not an Antioch, and look where look at what we were able to do, and we don't even have, we didn't need, okay. 00:25:24.799 --> 00:25:28.880 And that whole attitude of self-sufficiency became self-absorbed. 00:25:28.960 --> 00:25:33.119 And so he says in verse 18, I advise you to buy gold from me. 00:25:33.359 --> 00:25:36.640 Gold that has been purified by fire, then you'll be rich. 00:25:36.880 --> 00:25:44.319 Also buy white garments from me so that you'll not be ashamed of your nakedness, an ointment for your eyes so that you'll be able to see. 00:25:44.480 --> 00:25:45.680 Now notice this. 00:25:46.000 --> 00:25:54.720 It feels intense that he's going, vomit you out of my mouth, and he's talking about, you know, that you're naked and you're poor, and he's saying, but look what he says. 00:25:54.880 --> 00:25:59.759 He says, also buy white garments from me so you will not be ashamed by your nakedness. 00:26:00.000 --> 00:26:03.519 He's not saying you're doomed to shame. 00:26:04.000 --> 00:26:07.440 He's saying if you don't change, that's where you're headed. 00:26:08.319 --> 00:26:09.920 You'll have something to be ashamed of. 00:26:10.000 --> 00:26:12.319 It's not too late yet, but someday it will be. 00:26:12.480 --> 00:26:14.640 And so he's saying, make the change now. 00:26:14.799 --> 00:26:16.880 Verse uh 19, though look at this. 00:26:17.200 --> 00:26:24.079 He says, I correct and discipline everyone I love, so be diligent and turn from your indifference. 00:26:24.319 --> 00:26:27.279 This text kind of rhymes a little bit with Matthew 13. 00:26:27.440 --> 00:27:01.759 If you remember the parable of the sower, I actually like to call it the parable of the soil, because it's a parable Jesus makes up where he says, Hey, there was this um sower who represents God who had seed, which represents God's word, and he says, and he threw it, and it was good seed and a good sower, but he threw it on soil, three different kinds of soil, and so you you've got the seed that landed on the footpath, and he says, It's like the footpath, like there was just a little bit of dirt there, so it grew quickly, like you know, weeds on a footpath grow up quickly, but they died because there was no real root system. 00:27:02.160 --> 00:27:08.640 So it's like someone who hears the word gets excited, grows a little bit, but then the elements show up. 00:27:08.880 --> 00:27:15.039 Hard times, wind, storms happen, and there's no root system, so it just dies. 00:27:15.680 --> 00:27:23.759 And he said, and then the second was like thorny soil, so the it's a little bit more dirt, it starts to grow, but it never bears fruit. 00:27:24.079 --> 00:27:25.039 Look what it says here. 00:27:25.200 --> 00:27:26.640 Uh Matthew 13, 22. 00:27:26.720 --> 00:27:40.000 It says, The seed that fell among the thorns represented those who hear God's word, but all too quickly the message is crowded out by the worries of this life and the lure of wealth, so no fruit is produced. 00:27:40.240 --> 00:27:42.559 This would be the church in Laodicea. 00:27:43.039 --> 00:28:08.400 Initially, they had accepted God's word and something was starting to grow, but because they were overly focused, nothing wrong with the bank, wool, and ISAV, but they became so focused on their self-sufficiency and their prosperity that their over-emphasis on this created a distraction that were like thorns in the soil that prohibited them from bearing the fruit that God had intended for them to go. 00:28:08.480 --> 00:28:12.960 So therefore they were not healing anyone, they were not refreshing anyone, and they were useless. 00:28:13.119 --> 00:28:14.960 This is this is the picture that's given. 00:28:15.119 --> 00:28:20.480 I'll give you one more thing and then we'll we'll we'll pray about what to do with this. 00:28:21.680 --> 00:28:27.279 I talked to you about the aqueducts and how when the water would run six or ten miles, it would pick up sediment. 00:28:28.319 --> 00:28:41.839 What's interesting about that at that time in Asia Minor, you had all these different cities, and each of those cities, because they were Greco-Roman, they had a patron god or Greek uh Greek god. 00:28:42.160 --> 00:28:48.240 So they would have temples to a bunch of Greek gods, but in Laodicea, their patron god was Zeus. 00:28:48.880 --> 00:28:55.839 And if you study Greek mythology, Zeus is the most powerful of all the Greek gods, but he does not care about people. 00:28:57.200 --> 00:28:59.519 And ultimately, that's what the city became. 00:28:59.680 --> 00:29:10.960 The city took on the culture of what they believed about Zeus, that greatness was being powerful at the expense of people. 00:29:11.839 --> 00:29:20.880 And the word came to the church in Laodicea: look, your city has taken on the attitude of Zeus, and unfortunately, the church in the city has done the same thing. 00:29:21.359 --> 00:29:38.160 But when you look at the Zeus as God versus Jesus as God, who is Jesus, but the all-powerful one who did not consider equality with God something to cling to, but he gave up his divine rights, took on the very nature of a servant, and was faithful to death on the cross. 00:29:38.400 --> 00:29:45.599 The one, the one who demonstrated his love toward us and that while we were sinners, he died for us. 00:29:45.680 --> 00:29:50.640 The one who came not to be served, but to serve and to give his life as a ransom for many. 00:29:50.720 --> 00:29:58.640 And he says, the sediment of the water that you become is you picked up the sediment of Zeus, you become more like Zeus, powerful and not caring. 00:29:58.720 --> 00:30:02.480 You don't care if anybody else is healed and refreshed, as long as I get mine. 00:30:03.759 --> 00:30:07.920 And you're following the wrong king, you're following the wrong deity. 00:30:08.079 --> 00:30:09.759 Your theology is off. 00:30:11.440 --> 00:30:16.480 Um Jewish apocalyptic literature. 00:30:16.559 --> 00:30:18.240 What is it designed to create? 00:30:18.480 --> 00:30:19.599 To create hope. 00:30:19.839 --> 00:30:20.640 Look how this ends. 00:30:20.799 --> 00:30:22.400 Revelation 3.20. 00:30:22.720 --> 00:30:25.200 It says, look, I stand at the door and knock. 00:30:26.240 --> 00:30:32.400 If you hear my voice and open the door, I will come in and we will share a meal together as friends. 00:30:32.720 --> 00:30:34.400 Behold, I stand at the door and knock. 00:30:34.480 --> 00:30:36.240 If anyone hears my voice, open the door. 00:30:36.400 --> 00:30:39.359 I'll come in as a friend and sit in fellowship at a table. 00:30:39.519 --> 00:30:40.400 He's creating hope. 00:30:40.480 --> 00:30:41.359 This isn't despair. 00:30:41.519 --> 00:30:43.039 This isn't forever shame. 00:30:43.119 --> 00:30:48.160 This is saying, look, your self-sufficiency has gotten out of balance. 00:30:48.720 --> 00:30:53.839 And because of that, it's kind of become all about you and you become useless spiritually. 00:30:54.160 --> 00:30:56.480 And I want you to take all the things that you have. 00:30:56.559 --> 00:30:58.640 And by the way, what is it, what is that text saying? 00:30:58.720 --> 00:31:00.319 It's saying there's still time. 00:31:00.480 --> 00:31:01.440 There's still time. 00:31:01.599 --> 00:31:02.720 I'm knocking on the door. 00:31:02.880 --> 00:31:03.440 Let me in. 00:31:03.519 --> 00:31:15.680 Let's correct some stuff as friends, not so that I put you in a state of despair and shame, but so that we can correct and repent and change and we can get to some healing and refreshing like never before. 00:31:15.920 --> 00:31:16.960 You know what this does? 00:31:17.119 --> 00:31:23.759 This understanding the literary and the historical element, it creates a much better theology, but it makes this attainable. 00:31:35.599 --> 00:31:37.039 So I ended up feeling in despair. 00:31:37.119 --> 00:31:38.079 It felt unattainable. 00:31:38.160 --> 00:31:39.039 Why even try? 00:31:39.359 --> 00:31:40.960 Yet that's not what this is saying at all. 00:31:41.039 --> 00:31:42.240 But you you know what I can do? 00:31:42.319 --> 00:31:43.759 And you know what you can do? 00:31:44.960 --> 00:31:47.279 I can help in the healing of one person. 00:31:47.680 --> 00:31:50.160 I can help in the refreshing of someone around me. 00:31:50.400 --> 00:31:55.200 Perfect application for today is my friend Jermaine is hanging out with me today. 00:31:55.279 --> 00:31:57.599 He came and met me here this morning at 8 a.m. 00:31:57.920 --> 00:31:59.759 And I ran through the message with him before. 00:31:59.839 --> 00:32:01.839 This year, Jermaine lost his father. 00:32:01.920 --> 00:32:03.519 His father passed away and died. 00:32:03.680 --> 00:32:04.559 He's dealing with grief. 00:32:04.640 --> 00:32:06.880 He's dealing with his first Christmas without his dad. 00:32:06.960 --> 00:32:08.640 You know what he's not feeling? 00:32:09.039 --> 00:32:12.319 Super fervent and excited, super passionate. 00:32:12.480 --> 00:32:16.640 Part of him wants to pull his covers up over his head and not help anybody do anything. 00:32:16.799 --> 00:32:22.400 And yet, in his process as he's walking through healing, he showed up today and was refreshing to me. 00:32:22.720 --> 00:32:27.680 Don't have to refresh the whole world, don't have to heal the whole world, don't have to do too much. 00:32:27.920 --> 00:32:33.920 But yet God can use you in an effective way, even in the middle of your healing, to bring healing to somebody else. 00:32:34.000 --> 00:32:38.000 And sometimes part of your healing is intertwined in God using you in someone else's. 00:32:38.240 --> 00:32:43.119 Sometimes when you refresh others, you yourself are refreshed, right? 00:32:43.680 --> 00:32:51.279 And so now this just became attainable instead of me having to wallow in the shame of not being intense enough for God, so he's gonna be grossed out by me. 00:32:51.440 --> 00:32:56.000 To go, no, who is like either hot or cold or hot and cold, I don't know. 00:32:56.160 --> 00:33:00.799 Who is the where's the refreshing that you're supposed to bring to maybe one person around you? 00:33:00.960 --> 00:33:01.759 Where's the person? 00:33:01.839 --> 00:33:23.039 Not that you're just gonna heal them all by yourself, but to be part of in some way, uh a group of people used by God to help somebody heal, it might just be in listening to them, it might be in a shoulder for them to lean on, it might be just a simple word of encouragement, but now, now this Revelation 3 just became attainable. 00:33:23.200 --> 00:33:24.079 We can do it. 00:33:24.319 --> 00:33:36.319 And by the way, as a church body, if we don't want to be a lukewarm church, it's not going to be because we jump higher and yell louder and shout harder and are more intense and more bold than any everybody else. 00:33:36.480 --> 00:33:42.079 It's gonna be when we are a place of healing and refreshing to the world that God's put us in. 00:33:42.240 --> 00:33:43.920 I'm gonna invite you to stand up on your feet. 00:33:44.079 --> 00:33:46.079 Now I'm gonna call our prayer team forward. 00:33:46.240 --> 00:33:56.079 I know in a message like this, you know, as we talk about being the hot and cold spring, being the one to bring refreshing and healing. 00:33:56.240 --> 00:34:00.319 Some of you come today and you say, I am in need of refreshing and healing. 00:34:00.400 --> 00:34:03.039 And if that's you today, our team is here to serve you. 00:34:03.200 --> 00:34:06.160 As I close in prayer, I want to invite you to come down and receive ministry. 00:34:06.319 --> 00:34:08.719 If you're watching online, I want to invite you as well. 00:34:08.880 --> 00:34:10.960 Lord, we come to you in Jesus' name. 00:34:11.280 --> 00:34:24.400 Lord, we thank you for the power of your word, the way it's so beautifully written, particularly this passage and uh written by John, that really gives us uh a sense of hope and really kind of clear evaluation. 00:34:24.800 --> 00:34:27.519 Where are we bringing healing and refreshing? 00:34:28.559 --> 00:34:35.119