Episode 17- Transformation Power

Welcome to another week of learning the Lord's word together! Today we are discussing lukewarm faith and the call on our lives to be good stewards of that with which we've been blessed. We will be diving into Revelation 3:14-19, Isiah 29:13, Isiah 58:2-9, Ephesians 2:8-10, James 2:14-20, and Ephesians 3:7-12 NIV. Thank you so much for listening! 

Transcript

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Hello and welcome to the Full Armor of God podcast. My name is Taylor. I'll be your host. I am so excited to dive into the Lord's Word with you this week. Thank you for coming back for another week of the Lord's Wisdom. It's gonna be so good today. It's so good every day. It's just good to be here. I'm so thankful for this time that we get together and this time that we get in the Lord's Word. Our main reading will be from the book of Revelation in chapter three. The section that we're reading is a popular one. You probably have heard it before. It has to do with being hot or cold or lukewarm in terms of our faith. And it can sound really scary, but we're gonna pick apart the meaning of it today, the context of it today, and dive into what it means for us and how we live out our faith. We're also going to be reading from Isaiah chapter 29, Isaiah chapter 58, Ephesians 2, James 2, and Ephesians 3. Let's dive right in. So the book of Revelation is a revelation or a vision that John the disciple had after Jesus had been crucified, died, raised from the dead, and ascended back to heaven. So Jesus is no longer on the earth, he's back in heaven with the Father. But he's giving this revelation, this vision to John about all these things that are about to take place. In the prologue in chapter one, it says, the revelation from Jesus Christ, which God gave him to show his servants what soon must take place. He made it known by sending his angel to his servant John, who testifies to everything he saw. That is, the word of God and the testimony of Jesus Christ. Blessed is the one who reads aloud these words of this prophecy, and blessed are those who hear it and take to heart what is written in it, because the time is near. There are a lot of books of prophecy all throughout the Bible. There are a lot of prophets throughout the Bible. This is a unique one in that it's the Lord Jesus Himself showing his disciple John what is about to unfold. And he is both foretelling and forth telling. He's telling about things that are going to happen immediately. He's also telling about things that are going to take place in the future at the end of the age. Now there are seven churches that Jesus instructs John to write a letter to. And then it reads the letter to follow. All of the letters are written in red. These are Jesus' words to these churches in these areas. So the seventh church is Laodicea in Revelation chapter 3, verse 14. It says to the angel of the church in Laodicea, write. These are the words of the Amen, the faithful and true witness, the ruler of God's creation. I know your deeds, that you are neither cold nor hot. I wish you were either one of the other. So because you are lukewarm, neither hot nor cold, I am about to spit you out of my mouth. You say, I am rich, I have acquired wealth and do not need a thing, but you do not realize that you are wretched, pitiful, poor, blind, and naked. I counsel you to buy from me gold refined in the fire so that you can become rich, and white clothes to wear, so that you can cover your shameful nakedness and salve to put on your eyes, so you can see. To those whom I love, I rebuke and discipline. So be earnest and repent. Here I am, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in and eat with that person and they with me. Okay, let's break this down. So the context of this letter, this letter was written to the church in Laodicea. The location of the city was in between two other cities. If there was a line, a vertical line of three cities, Laodicea was in the middle. The top city, the northern one, was Hieropolis, and the bottom city, the southern one, was Colossae. So the northern city, Hieropolis, was known for its hot springs. These hot springs were really useful for healing. And then the southern city, Colossae, this city was known for its cold mountain spring water, which was useful for its refreshment to those who were thirsty and in need of water. So Laodicea, because they were in the middle, they had to pipe in the water from both the northern and the southern cities. But by the time it got to them, the hot water was no longer hot, and the cold water was no longer cold. It was lukewarm. The water would be murky and filled with minerals, and it could make people sick. The teaching that I have often heard is we are either on fire for Jesus, meaning hot, or we are far from him, meaning cold, or we are lukewarm, which is just sitting in the middle. Now Jesus says, I wish you were hot or cold, but because you're neither one, I'm about to spit you out of my mouth. It doesn't make sense that cold would mean far from him, because he says, I wish you were either hot or cold. Jesus never wants anyone to be far from him. He says he doesn't want us to be lukewarm. So the question isn't necessarily, am I on fire for Jesus? The question is, am I being useful? Am I bringing healing like the hot water to those who are broken? Am I bringing refreshment like the cold water to those who are weary? Or am I just existing in that lukewarm state? Living as a comfortable Christian, doing nothing with what God has given me. Another way we can ask ourselves is do I have a shallow faith? Am I going through the motions? Am I living out the things that God has called me to do? Am I living open-handedly with what he's blessed me with? And how close am I allowing my heart to get to his heart? In the book of Isaiah, chapter 29, verse 13, it reads, The Lord says, These people come near to me with their mouth and honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me. Their worship of me is based on merely human rules that have been taught. This is a lot of what took place in Isaiah's day and age, even in Jesus' day and age. There was this group of religious elite people that looked the part, that played the part. They played church really well. They would have the best words during prayer, they'd have the nicest clothes in the synagogue, they'd have the best seats during the sermons. And that's not necessarily a bad thing, but that was the extent of their faith. It was all an external appearance. He says, They honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me. Their worship is in vain, their teachings are merely human rules. It's more religious practices and traditions than it is a relationship with the Lord Himself. He touches on this again in Isaiah chapter 58, verses 2 through 9. The Lord says, For day after day they seek me out. They seem eager to know my ways, as if they were a nation that does what is right and has not forsaken the commands of its God. They ask me for just decisions and seem eager for God to come near them. Why have we fasted, they say, and you have not seen it? Why have we humbled ourselves and you have not noticed? Yet on the day of your fasting, you do as you please and exploit all your workers. Your fasting ends in quarreling and strife and in striking each other with wicked fists. You cannot fast as you do today and expect your voice to be heard on high. Verse 5, is this the kind of fast that I have chosen? Only a day for people to humble themselves. If you're in your Bible or on your app, this is one to underline, this is one to highlight. God is calling them out. He says, Is this the kind of fast I have chosen? Only a day for people to humble themselves. He's saying, is this the kind of relationship that I have been working to build with you? Just one day where you go sit in a church and you listen to my word. And maybe you're a little convicted, maybe you're a little encouraged, but the rest of the week it doesn't stay with you. Or the rest of the day, it doesn't stay with you. I want to make a note that church is important. Jesus made the church, but it was never meant to just be a one-day gathering that we gain something from. I'll keep going from verse five. He says, Is this the kind of fast I've chosen? Only a day for people to humble themselves? Is it only for bowing one's head like a reed and for lying in sackcloth and ashes? Is that what you call a fast? A day acceptable to the Lord? Is this not the kind of fasting I have chosen to loose the chains of injustice and untie the cords of the yoke, to set the oppressed free and to break every yoke? Is it not to share your food with the hungry and provide the poor wanderer with shelter? When you see the naked, to clothe them and not to turn away from your own flesh and blood, then your light will break forth like the dawn, and your healing will quickly appear. Then your righteousness will go before you, and the glory of the Lord will be your rear guard. Then you will call and the Lord will answer. You will cry for help, and he will say, Here am I. He's saying, I made you for more than this. It's more than just receiving his goodness and his grace. It's living open-handedly with it. He's saying, Feed the poor, give shelter to those who don't have it, clothe the naked, don't turn on your own flesh and blood. That's the kind of fast, that's the kind of worship, that's the kind of action that he calls us to. Not to play the part, not to look the part, not to have all the right words or to look the right way, as the religious people did in those days. It had to have a deeper root. It had to have depth. Now we've talked about this before that Christianity is not a works-based faith. We cannot earn our salvation, but there is a transformation that comes as a result of our salvation. We're going to read from Ephesians chapter 2, verses 8 through 10. It said, For it is by grace you have been saved through faith, and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God, not by works, so that no one can boast, for we are God's handiwork, created in Christ Jesus, to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do. Our salvation is not accomplished through works, so that no one can boast. And we were created in Christ Jesus to do good works. The works are part of our life in Christ. The works are a result of our faith in Him who is working through us. James chapter 2, verses 14 through 20. We've read through part of this before we're going to read through the whole thing. What good is it, my brothers and sisters, if someone claims to have faith but has no deeds? Can such a faith save them? Suppose a brother or sister is without clothes and daily food. If one of you says to them, Go in peace, keep warm and well fed, but does nothing about their physical needs, what good is it? In the same way, faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action, is dead. But someone will say, You have faith, I have deeds. Show me your faith without deeds, and I will show you my faith by my deeds. James is saying the deeds are a byproduct of my faith. We are the body of the church, the hands and feet of Christ, called to live open-handedly with what he has blessed us with. And it's not by us just trying or working on our behalf in our strength to be more useful. It's done by God. Paul touches on this back in the book of Ephesians, chapter 3, verses 7 through 12. He says, I became a servant of the gospel by the gift of God's grace given me through the working of his power. Although I am less than the least of all the Lord's people, this grace was given me to preach to the Gentiles the boundless riches of Christ and to make plain to everyone the administration of this mystery for which ages past was kept hidden in God who created all things. His intent was that now, through the church, the manifold wisdom of God should be made known to the rulers and the authorities in the heavenly realms, according to his eternal purpose that he accomplished in Christ Jesus our Lord. In him and through faith in him, we may approach God with freedom and confidence. It is not by our strength, it is not by our ability. Paul says, I am the least of all the Lord's people. Yet he has called me to go out and preach about the boundless riches of Christ. Friends, this is huge. When Christ dwells in us, when we are rooted in Christ, connected to the vine, we bear fruit, fruit of the spirit. That is when those things from Isaiah 58 go from being a checklist to a byproduct, feeding the hungry, housing the poor, clothing the naked, to when the Holy Spirit is flowing through us. We are both hot and cold water, bringing healing to those who are broken, bringing refreshment to those who are in need, giving living water to everyone that we see, everyone that we encounter through his grace and by his power. The book of Revelation, and I would argue the whole Bible, is not to be taken lightly. And when Jesus says, You're neither cold nor hot, I wish you were one of the other, but because you're lukewarm, I'm about to spit you out of my mouth. That can sound pretty intense, but this book is meant to wake us up. This book is meant to take us out of our comfort zone and into his presence. This book is meant to teach us and correct us and lead us in the direction we should go. In verse 19, he even says, To those whom I love, I rebuke and discipline. So be earnest and repent. The Greek word for rebuke means correction, often with the aim of guiding someone away from wrongdoing. That's like conviction. Repenting means you're going one way and you turn around and you go the opposite way. And he says, Here I am, I stand at the door and I knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in and eat with them. He stands at the door and he knocks. He's waiting for us to invite him into every area of our life, to invite him into a deeper and daily relationship. In Proverbs chapter 4, verse 23, it says, Guard your heart, because everything you do flows from it. If our hearts have truly been transformed by the one true living God, then everything that we do flows from that transformation. Our actions and deeds are a reflection of our faith, of our heart. And it doesn't need to be a big mission trip or giving away money to everyone that we see on the street. Those are great things. Don't get me wrong, if you are an active missionary or you are just a generous person, those are incredible things and they are ways to serve. But I also want to encourage those who maybe don't do those things because bringing healing and refreshment, it doesn't always look big. There is so much need around us. It could be donating clothes or food or tithing, it could be volunteering in our community, it can be forgiving others because Christ forgave us. If you're a parent, feeding and clothing and discipling your children is huge. Ministering to those in your own home. That's one of the biggest blessings and biggest callings that God has on so many of our lives. And the reason that this letter was written to Laodicea was to help them turn things around. It was to help them change their ways before it was too late. We have no idea the day or the hour that Jesus is going to return. And we don't know when we will get called home. To me, this letter is calling us to truly come back to him because the water flows and the fruit grows from a spirit that is rooted in Christ. Jesus even says in his letter, you can get gold from me refined by the fire, so you can become rich, and white clothes to wear, so you can cover your nakedness and salve to put on your eyes so you can see. He does not want us to be poor, blind, and naked. He wants us to be clothed and rich and to be able to see his glory manifold, manifested in what we do and what we say and how he works in and through us. My prayer for us this week is that we would do a heart assessment, that we would ask the Lord to search our hearts and show us the areas in which our faith needs more depth, in which our relationship with him needs more development. And in turn, asking him to help us be useful for the advancement of his kingdom here on earth with however many days we have left to make each of them count for the kingdom, so that our lives can be more than checking boxes or going through the motions, and our faith can be more than words. Thank you so much for joining me this week. That's all I got for us. I'll be praying for you as always. And I cannot wait to see you next week. God bless you.