WEBVTT 00:00:00.160 --> 00:00:08.800 Well, I've been praying about what to speak about, and I bank thoughts, sermons, scriptures just about every day. 00:00:09.119 --> 00:00:12.240 So when it's time to speak, I don't have to go find something. 00:00:12.400 --> 00:00:15.919 I already have stuff, and I just kind of develop what the Lord's given me. 00:00:16.160 --> 00:00:26.160 And tonight I do want to take you down a road that I believe by the end of tonight, God is going to renew your mind and your commitment to Him. 00:00:26.480 --> 00:00:30.719 And it's going to be very special, but I just want you to open up your hearts right now. 00:00:31.120 --> 00:00:32.479 We're going to laugh a little bit. 00:00:32.640 --> 00:00:35.759 We're going to learn some stuff probably we've never heard before. 00:00:35.920 --> 00:00:37.920 But I do know this for a fact. 00:00:38.320 --> 00:00:43.520 In every household in the world, there's a continuous war going on. 00:00:44.159 --> 00:00:46.240 And it's the war of the thermostat. 00:00:48.640 --> 00:00:50.479 Talk to me, somebody. 00:00:50.719 --> 00:00:53.679 And whoever controls it has all the power. 00:00:55.920 --> 00:01:03.039 Some people, one person wants to save money, the other person wants to survive. 00:01:05.680 --> 00:01:11.359 One person just wants to be comfortable, the other wants to freeze meat in the living room. 00:01:12.480 --> 00:01:19.439 Matter of fact, here's what a parent put on the thermostat at their house for their children. 00:01:19.680 --> 00:01:20.799 Parents, you'll love this. 00:01:20.879 --> 00:01:24.079 Before turning the heat on, do you have socks on? 00:01:24.239 --> 00:01:26.719 If yes, no heat needed. 00:01:26.879 --> 00:01:28.719 If no, get dressed. 00:01:29.599 --> 00:01:31.200 Do you have a long sleeve shirt on? 00:01:31.359 --> 00:01:32.879 If yes, no heat needed. 00:01:33.040 --> 00:01:34.959 If if no, get dressed. 00:01:35.120 --> 00:01:36.719 Do you have a sweatshirt? 00:01:36.959 --> 00:01:39.200 If so, no heat needed. 00:01:39.760 --> 00:01:42.719 If yes, no, get dressed. 00:01:42.799 --> 00:01:43.040 Okay. 00:01:43.200 --> 00:01:45.519 You're seeing if you can you see your breath? 00:01:45.680 --> 00:01:45.840 No. 00:01:46.000 --> 00:01:46.239 Good. 00:01:46.319 --> 00:01:47.200 No heat needed. 00:01:47.359 --> 00:01:48.640 If yes, get dressed. 00:01:48.799 --> 00:01:49.519 Like this. 00:01:50.159 --> 00:01:53.599 This needs to be on every thermostat in every home in the world. 00:01:54.000 --> 00:01:55.760 All the parents say a good amen. 00:01:58.640 --> 00:02:00.799 How many of you are usually cold? 00:02:00.959 --> 00:02:01.920 Raise your hand. 00:02:02.159 --> 00:02:03.120 You're usually cold? 00:02:03.280 --> 00:02:04.799 Okay, put your hands down, put your hands down. 00:02:04.959 --> 00:02:06.959 How many of you are usually hot? 00:02:08.080 --> 00:02:10.960 Okay, these two people marry each other. 00:02:14.400 --> 00:02:16.000 It's the truth. 00:02:16.719 --> 00:02:21.199 And you fight over this for the remaining time on earth. 00:02:21.520 --> 00:02:24.560 And that's why you need to come to the marriage conference. 00:02:25.120 --> 00:02:30.639 Sign up today at our website or the tap in the circle in front of you. 00:02:30.960 --> 00:02:34.479 Most people are just trying to be comfortable. 00:02:34.719 --> 00:02:40.800 You know, you just you just want to be comfortable, but your comfort level is relative to your experience. 00:02:41.199 --> 00:02:44.479 So your comfort level is not someone else's comfort level. 00:02:44.719 --> 00:02:50.479 And all of us are fighting just to be in that that comfortable middle area. 00:02:50.719 --> 00:02:53.759 When our daughters were young, we homeschooled them. 00:02:54.000 --> 00:02:56.879 And um so they're self-educated. 00:02:57.120 --> 00:03:02.479 So I'm just joking, they got a great education. 00:03:03.599 --> 00:03:12.000 We would show them this one guy, I can't remember his name now, but he had this great program called Drive Through History. 00:03:12.159 --> 00:03:16.159 If you're a parent and you want your kids to learn biblical history, I highly recommend it. 00:03:16.240 --> 00:03:21.599 Uh, you can get it online somewhere, I probably still, but we we were we were using DVDs back in the day. 00:03:21.840 --> 00:03:28.639 And I loved it because he would go to these biblical sites all around the globe, and then he would show you places that you might never go. 00:03:29.039 --> 00:03:31.439 Ephesus and and Philippi. 00:03:31.840 --> 00:03:35.599 And one segment that really stood out to me was in Laodicea. 00:03:35.680 --> 00:03:40.400 It it it like it grabbed my attention so much, it fascinated me. 00:03:40.560 --> 00:03:43.520 And tonight I want to talk to you about that church. 00:03:43.759 --> 00:03:46.639 So I'm gonna go to Revelation chapter 3. 00:03:46.719 --> 00:03:47.759 Go there with me in your Bibles. 00:03:48.080 --> 00:03:50.719 If you have a Bible with pages, it's the last book of the Bible. 00:03:50.800 --> 00:03:53.280 If you've gone to the maps, you've gone too far. 00:03:55.439 --> 00:04:00.080 Revelation chapter 3, verse 20 says, Here I am. 00:04:00.319 --> 00:04:01.360 Who's talking? 00:04:01.680 --> 00:04:02.400 Jesus. 00:04:02.639 --> 00:04:04.639 I stand at the door and I knock. 00:04:04.879 --> 00:04:12.400 If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in and eat with that person and they with me. 00:04:12.639 --> 00:04:23.040 Now, if you've been around church for any length of time, you're you're familiar with this verse to the point where when I read it, you almost begin to spiritually check out because you're like, I know that already. 00:04:23.360 --> 00:04:25.040 So be careful with that. 00:04:25.439 --> 00:04:33.759 This is the famous verse, but I want to zoom out and read the verses before that verse. 00:04:34.000 --> 00:04:42.800 Which anytime you see a verse, you want to know what verses come before, what verses come after, where is it in context of the Bible, because it helps you understand a little bit more. 00:04:42.879 --> 00:04:43.920 So let's go back. 00:04:44.079 --> 00:04:48.160 We're gonna hit the rewind button and we're gonna look at verse 14. 00:04:48.480 --> 00:04:50.959 To the angel of the church of Laodicea. 00:04:51.040 --> 00:04:52.319 Say Laodicea. 00:04:53.120 --> 00:04:54.480 So he's writing to the leader. 00:04:54.639 --> 00:04:56.240 These are the words of the Amen. 00:04:56.399 --> 00:05:02.240 Capital Amen, meaning Jesus, he is the Amen, the faithful and true witness, the ruler of God's creation. 00:05:02.560 --> 00:05:07.759 He turns to them and says, I know your deeds, that you're neither cold nor hot. 00:05:09.759 --> 00:05:12.240 I wish you were either one or the other. 00:05:12.560 --> 00:05:14.879 So because you are, what's this word? 00:05:15.759 --> 00:05:22.000 Lukewarm, neither hot nor cold, I'm about to spit you out of my mouth. 00:05:23.199 --> 00:05:26.480 Sounds very harsh, very insensitive. 00:05:26.720 --> 00:05:27.680 But it's not. 00:05:27.920 --> 00:05:37.519 Jesus said, You say I'm rich, I've acquired wealth, don't need to think, but you do not realize that you are wretched, pitiful, poor, blind, and naked. 00:05:37.759 --> 00:05:51.519 I counsel you to buy from me gold refined in fire, so you can become rich and white clothes to wear, so you can cover your shameful nakedness and salve, put in your eyes so you can see. 00:05:51.839 --> 00:05:54.399 Those whom I love, I rebuke and discipline. 00:05:54.639 --> 00:05:56.240 So be earnest and repent. 00:05:56.480 --> 00:06:01.759 Means turn around to him, and then we have the famous verse in context. 00:06:01.920 --> 00:06:04.639 Here I am, I stand at the door and I knock. 00:06:04.879 --> 00:06:11.680 If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in and eat with that person and they with me. 00:06:12.639 --> 00:06:14.800 Let me give you a lesson on Laodicea. 00:06:15.439 --> 00:06:24.000 The church of Laodicea that we just read, if you just read it without the context or historical context, you might miss some things. 00:06:24.240 --> 00:06:30.959 First off, you need to know he's writing to the church of Laodicea, and the church of Laodicea did not have their own water source. 00:06:31.199 --> 00:06:38.240 So they would have hot water that would come from Heropolis, cold water that came from Colossae. 00:06:38.560 --> 00:06:45.439 And this water, hot water over here, cold water from another city, it would travel through these aqueducts. 00:06:45.680 --> 00:06:51.199 And by the time the water came through aqueducts, it had become lukewarm. 00:06:51.439 --> 00:06:56.000 It was full of minerals, it was undrinkable, it made people sick. 00:06:56.079 --> 00:07:03.759 And really, some resources say that it caused a nauseating feeling and even induced vomiting to some people. 00:07:03.920 --> 00:07:06.720 All the mineral buildup over the years, over time. 00:07:06.959 --> 00:07:17.759 So when Jesus says, You're lukewarm, I want to spit you out of my mouth, he's actually using their modern-day water problem as an illustration. 00:07:18.879 --> 00:07:20.000 You seeing this? 00:07:20.560 --> 00:07:24.160 So lukewarm water wasn't neutral, it was useless. 00:07:24.800 --> 00:07:30.800 And Jesus is turning to this church, Laodicea, and he says, You're lukewarm. 00:07:31.279 --> 00:07:36.079 You're warm enough to be comfortable, but cold enough to be useless. 00:07:37.199 --> 00:07:40.639 He's looking at their works, he's looking at their lives. 00:07:40.879 --> 00:07:46.639 And number two, the church it reflected the city's wealth and self-sufficiency. 00:07:46.800 --> 00:07:48.160 It was a very wealthy city. 00:07:48.240 --> 00:07:49.759 It was a banker city. 00:07:49.839 --> 00:07:52.240 Uh they made their own black wool. 00:07:52.399 --> 00:07:55.759 They were known for, fabric, you know, to make clothes and things like that. 00:07:55.920 --> 00:08:02.399 But they also were known to have this eye style that they would use to put on people's eyes to help them see. 00:08:03.040 --> 00:08:04.800 And then here's Jesus. 00:08:05.120 --> 00:08:09.120 Jesus comes around and he says, You think you're rich, you're poor. 00:08:09.279 --> 00:08:11.199 You think you can see, you're blind. 00:08:11.439 --> 00:08:13.920 I know you have these fancy clothes, you're naked. 00:08:14.319 --> 00:08:20.480 Like Jesus addresses and intentionally confronts every area of pride that this city has. 00:08:22.879 --> 00:08:23.839 You seeing this? 00:08:24.800 --> 00:08:28.879 They were lukewarm and they were spiritually independent from God. 00:08:29.040 --> 00:08:30.079 Watch this though. 00:08:30.240 --> 00:08:34.320 They did not reject God, they just did not rely on God. 00:08:34.960 --> 00:08:36.639 And this is where a lot of people live. 00:08:36.879 --> 00:08:38.879 It's not that you don't believe in God. 00:08:39.039 --> 00:08:44.639 You you believe that he's there, you believe, and you go to church occasionally, but you just don't rely on him. 00:08:44.879 --> 00:08:46.639 This is who he's talking to. 00:08:47.279 --> 00:08:59.120 So he had he had this idea to use this illustration to grab their attention because every single one of them would know exactly what he's talking about when he refers to this water being lukewarm. 00:09:00.320 --> 00:09:03.200 They had Christianity without desperation. 00:09:05.919 --> 00:09:10.480 They had an idea of God with no dependence on God. 00:09:11.519 --> 00:09:13.279 And then here's the picture. 00:09:13.919 --> 00:09:20.000 Jesus is outside the church and he's knocking. 00:09:20.879 --> 00:09:24.480 And he says, Behold, I stand at the door and knock. 00:09:24.559 --> 00:09:27.759 If anybody opens the door, I'll come in, I'll eat with them. 00:09:27.919 --> 00:09:31.200 He's talking about relationship with them. 00:09:31.600 --> 00:09:38.399 Now, if you have been around church for any length of time, you know that he's not talking to unbelievers here, he's talking to the church. 00:09:40.159 --> 00:09:47.039 Jesus is outside of the church asking to be let back in. 00:09:47.360 --> 00:09:49.519 Let that sink in for a minute. 00:09:50.879 --> 00:09:54.159 Because you can have church activity without Christ's presence. 00:09:56.320 --> 00:10:04.080 They were going through motions, they're they were meeting, they had synagogue, they had all the stuff, but Jesus was not priority. 00:10:04.879 --> 00:10:06.320 He's not present. 00:10:07.039 --> 00:10:10.240 Laodicea, there, listen, they weren't cold. 00:10:11.039 --> 00:10:13.679 We would think, well, at least they're not cold. 00:10:14.000 --> 00:10:24.639 They weren't hostile to the gospel, they weren't, they weren't, they weren't coming against the gospel, attacking the gospel, they were just comfortable, self-sufficient. 00:10:25.360 --> 00:10:28.720 They they were and because of that, they were useless to God. 00:10:30.000 --> 00:10:32.080 Not aligned enough to be you useful. 00:10:32.240 --> 00:10:37.279 And so maybe as we look at this tonight, maybe we're not just reading about Laodicea. 00:10:37.519 --> 00:10:46.480 Maybe, maybe the Lord's trying to get some of our attention because every single believer around the globe every day fights the tendency to be lukewarm. 00:10:46.960 --> 00:10:47.919 We all do. 00:10:48.159 --> 00:10:50.960 I'm not preaching at you, I'm preaching with you. 00:10:51.120 --> 00:10:56.480 We all know what it feels like to just be comfortable. 00:10:56.639 --> 00:10:58.480 I just want to be comfortable. 00:10:59.200 --> 00:11:04.879 And and at first, you're so on fire for God, and then we taper off a little bit. 00:11:05.200 --> 00:11:15.200 And every once in a while there has to be a turning back to God, a turning back to the things of God to long for Him and put our dependence back on Him. 00:11:15.279 --> 00:11:16.639 Somebody say, Stay hot. 00:11:17.120 --> 00:11:18.480 Come on, say stay hot. 00:11:20.159 --> 00:11:26.559 What I've noticed is that your heart does not drift towards fire, it drifts towards cooling down. 00:11:27.600 --> 00:11:32.159 It's natural to cool down and become a part of our environment. 00:11:32.320 --> 00:11:37.840 Like nobody ever wakes up and says, today I'm choosing spiritual apathy. 00:11:39.519 --> 00:11:41.120 Nobody says that. 00:11:41.919 --> 00:11:50.000 The cold happens quietly, the cold happens accidentally, the cold happens gradually. 00:11:51.120 --> 00:11:54.559 Literally, whatever you don't keep close to God, we'll cool down. 00:11:58.080 --> 00:12:00.639 So I call it the stovetop principle. 00:12:01.759 --> 00:12:02.639 And it's this. 00:12:02.799 --> 00:12:10.720 I put it this way it's when whenever you have something on the stove and then you take it off to heat, it begins to cool down immediately. 00:12:11.759 --> 00:12:19.519 Listen, a pot doesn't stop being hot because something's broken, it cools because something was removed. 00:12:23.759 --> 00:12:26.000 And your heart works the same way. 00:12:26.720 --> 00:12:28.399 You know this is true. 00:12:28.799 --> 00:12:38.000 There's a constant cooking effect in our soul, and there's a constant pulling away from us being close to the Father. 00:12:38.080 --> 00:12:39.519 It is a tug of war. 00:12:39.919 --> 00:12:53.120 Every day, with our attention, with our time, our focus, our money, everything in our life, there is a there is a pulling away from the Lord, a pulling away from our dependence on God. 00:12:54.159 --> 00:12:57.759 Look, I'm just trying to tell you this: you didn't lose your fire, you left it. 00:13:01.279 --> 00:13:03.919 Some people are like, man, I used to be on fire, but I lost it. 00:13:04.000 --> 00:13:04.960 You didn't lose it. 00:13:06.480 --> 00:13:07.360 You left it. 00:13:08.720 --> 00:13:13.200 And you hear me every week say, if you want to give your life to Jesus, we're gonna pray for you. 00:13:13.279 --> 00:13:17.039 But if you've also strayed, why do I include that second group? 00:13:17.200 --> 00:13:24.960 Because there's such a tendency to be pulled away from the Father, to be pulled away from intimacy with the with the Lord, to be pulled away from Scripture. 00:13:25.120 --> 00:13:31.440 There's such this pull of the world, and maybe you didn't intentionally pull away to drift, but can I tell you this? 00:13:31.600 --> 00:13:34.960 You don't have to pull away, you just have to stop pulling close. 00:13:36.399 --> 00:13:39.759 It's not you turning away, running away, it's you doing nothing. 00:13:39.840 --> 00:13:43.279 It's you stop pulling on the Lord and and working. 00:13:43.440 --> 00:13:46.799 You don't work for salvation, but you do work for closeness. 00:13:47.600 --> 00:13:49.279 You work for nearness. 00:13:50.320 --> 00:13:52.159 It's a tug of war of the heart. 00:13:52.240 --> 00:13:57.039 And Jesus does not say if you walk away, he says if you don't remain. 00:13:58.320 --> 00:14:07.840 If you don't remain, if you don't stay close, like the pride of life is always telling it, you don't need God, like you got this, you could do this by yourself, you could do this alone. 00:14:08.000 --> 00:14:11.279 But the closer we get to Jesus, how many can testify? 00:14:11.519 --> 00:14:19.279 The realization sets in we are lost without Jesus, and we desperately need him for every breath. 00:14:20.559 --> 00:14:25.200 The world's just telling you, like, grow up, move on, and there it screams independence. 00:14:25.279 --> 00:14:26.960 God is saying, stay close. 00:14:28.240 --> 00:14:30.960 Stay close, abide in him, remain. 00:14:32.879 --> 00:14:36.000 There's some wild verses in the Bible. 00:14:36.240 --> 00:14:41.200 This one, Matthew 24, 12, because of the increase of wickedness in the world. 00:14:41.360 --> 00:14:43.679 Watch, the love of most will grow cold. 00:14:43.919 --> 00:14:47.759 Not the love of some, not the love of a few. 00:14:48.080 --> 00:14:48.720 Most? 00:14:50.320 --> 00:14:57.440 Like most people, the love of God is gonna grow cold in their life. 00:14:57.759 --> 00:15:01.600 You mean they're gonna move from hot to lukewarm to lukewarm to cold? 00:15:01.919 --> 00:15:02.720 Most people? 00:15:02.960 --> 00:15:06.080 How many will be lukewarm? 00:15:07.279 --> 00:15:08.480 I don't know. 00:15:10.320 --> 00:15:14.799 But we have to take an assessment about where we are in our own hearts. 00:15:15.039 --> 00:15:16.559 Jesus said, I know your deeds. 00:15:16.639 --> 00:15:18.720 You're not cold or hot, you're lukewarm. 00:15:18.799 --> 00:15:20.720 So let me give you three temperatures of the heart. 00:15:20.799 --> 00:15:21.679 Okay, write these down. 00:15:21.759 --> 00:15:23.200 It's hot, lukewarm, or cold. 00:15:23.440 --> 00:15:24.799 Hot, lukewarm, or cold. 00:15:24.960 --> 00:15:29.519 And I just want us to kind of carefully assess and diagnose our heart issue. 00:15:29.679 --> 00:15:30.480 Where are we? 00:15:30.720 --> 00:15:31.440 Are we hot? 00:15:31.519 --> 00:15:33.600 Are we lukewarm or are we cold? 00:15:33.840 --> 00:15:37.120 Because notice what Jesus rebukes the most. 00:15:37.279 --> 00:15:40.159 I would think he rebuke cold. 00:15:40.559 --> 00:15:44.879 Because that's the farthest, in my mind, that's the farthest away from God. 00:15:45.120 --> 00:15:48.559 He doesn't just rebuke cold, he rebukes lukewarm. 00:15:48.799 --> 00:15:49.440 Why? 00:15:52.000 --> 00:15:53.679 I'll tell you why. 00:15:54.399 --> 00:15:57.440 Because lukewarm people still look like they're alive. 00:16:02.399 --> 00:16:07.200 They know how to go through motions, they know how to say the right things. 00:16:08.879 --> 00:16:09.919 Hot is this. 00:16:10.159 --> 00:16:14.000 Hot is is engaged, it's dependent on Jesus. 00:16:14.159 --> 00:16:16.240 You're alive in Christ. 00:16:16.879 --> 00:16:19.519 Hot doesn't mean allowed, it means connected. 00:16:23.039 --> 00:16:26.720 Moses in the Bible, he has a great verse. 00:16:26.879 --> 00:16:28.960 He has some bad moments, he has some great moments. 00:16:29.039 --> 00:16:29.919 This is a great moment. 00:16:30.080 --> 00:16:35.440 He said, God, if your presence does not go with us, I don't want to leave from this place. 00:16:35.679 --> 00:16:39.039 He knew that success was directly tied to proximity to God. 00:16:39.200 --> 00:16:41.679 God, if you don't come with us, we can't go. 00:16:42.080 --> 00:16:43.919 I can't do this by myself. 00:16:45.200 --> 00:16:46.559 He understood this principle. 00:16:46.720 --> 00:16:47.440 Look at David. 00:16:47.600 --> 00:16:59.519 David said, One thing I ask from the Lord, this only do I seek, that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life, to gaze on the beauty of the Lord and to seek him in his temple. 00:16:59.679 --> 00:17:00.960 He didn't say ten things. 00:17:01.120 --> 00:17:03.120 He didn't say Jesus is the backup plan. 00:17:03.200 --> 00:17:07.680 He said, This one thing, I gotta have this one thing in my life, and it's you. 00:17:12.319 --> 00:17:15.200 Hot hearts are focused hearts. 00:17:16.559 --> 00:17:20.400 If you want your heart to stay on fire for God, it's gotta be focused on Him. 00:17:20.559 --> 00:17:21.680 This one thing. 00:17:23.119 --> 00:17:24.880 And then there's lukewarm. 00:17:25.279 --> 00:17:28.640 This is distracted, busy, self-sufficient. 00:17:29.680 --> 00:17:33.920 This is all the stuff that the world loves to get us to become. 00:17:34.640 --> 00:17:36.160 Just distracted. 00:17:37.519 --> 00:17:41.359 We're living in more a more distracted generation than any generation in the world. 00:17:41.519 --> 00:17:42.319 Do you agree? 00:17:43.200 --> 00:17:44.640 We're so busy. 00:17:44.880 --> 00:17:47.839 And so so many people are busy but not fruitful. 00:17:48.160 --> 00:17:49.759 And then they're self-sufficient. 00:17:49.920 --> 00:17:55.519 There's such this, there's a certain level of pride of becoming a self-made fill in the blank. 00:17:56.000 --> 00:17:58.559 I am a self-made fill in the blank. 00:17:58.880 --> 00:18:04.079 And it's this pushing away of God, and uh we are being pulled into the lie. 00:18:04.319 --> 00:18:08.960 We need to understand lukewarm is not just rebellion, it's distraction. 00:18:10.559 --> 00:18:16.000 So Martha in chapter 10 of Luke, he she has a sister, Mary and Martha. 00:18:16.160 --> 00:18:18.480 Jesus comes over to the house, which can you imagine that? 00:18:18.640 --> 00:18:22.960 Like how how you'd be cleaning like crazy. 00:18:24.720 --> 00:18:27.200 Kids, get your stuff and put it away. 00:18:27.440 --> 00:18:28.880 Jesus is coming. 00:18:30.160 --> 00:18:38.240 So that's Martha, and Mary just sits down at his feet and just is like worship, receives. 00:18:38.400 --> 00:18:39.599 Oh, this is so wonderful. 00:18:39.759 --> 00:18:41.359 And Martha's over here washing dishes. 00:18:44.799 --> 00:18:46.720 You gonna help me, Mary? 00:18:48.720 --> 00:18:50.000 She's doing all this stuff. 00:18:50.480 --> 00:18:52.799 Listen, listen to me very closely when I say this. 00:18:53.039 --> 00:18:56.799 She was busy for Jesus, but not present with Jesus. 00:18:59.839 --> 00:19:03.279 You can be close to holy things and far from holy fire. 00:19:03.680 --> 00:19:04.720 Oh my God. 00:19:07.759 --> 00:19:16.640 It is very possible for you to be close to holy things and still far from holy fire. 00:19:17.920 --> 00:19:21.599 Jesus looks at Martha and says, Mary chose what's best. 00:19:22.240 --> 00:19:26.000 There's a time for Martha and you cleaning, there's a time for that. 00:19:26.160 --> 00:19:27.680 But Jesus is here. 00:19:28.240 --> 00:19:37.359 And when Jesus is in the room, when Jesus is calling your name, it is not time to be distracted by anything else, no matter how good it may seemingly be. 00:19:44.799 --> 00:19:48.240 Cold is disconnected, it's hardened, it's numb. 00:19:48.880 --> 00:19:51.119 This is a scary place to be. 00:19:52.160 --> 00:19:56.480 And maybe you're there today, and maybe that's why you came here. 00:19:56.640 --> 00:20:03.920 Maybe you're watching online and you can't believe I'm talking about this because you feel lukewarm, you feel cold. 00:20:04.240 --> 00:20:05.359 It's Peter. 00:20:05.519 --> 00:20:17.519 There's several people, but Peter in Luke chapter 22, he turns around, denies Jesus, goes back, bails on the mission, bails on the plan, goes back and restarts his business. 00:20:17.680 --> 00:20:21.599 The one he he left to follow Jesus, he starts it up again. 00:20:22.240 --> 00:20:23.839 But notice something. 00:20:24.160 --> 00:20:32.000 Peter didn't deny Jesus at the cross, he denied Jesus while warming himself by the fire of the enemy. 00:20:36.400 --> 00:20:43.519 Here's a fire that has been started by the guards who oppose Jesus. 00:20:43.839 --> 00:20:49.680 Everybody around the fire, these are the townspeople that are connected to the high priest's courtyard. 00:20:49.839 --> 00:20:50.559 Can I tell you this? 00:20:50.720 --> 00:20:53.519 Where you warm yourself determines what you deny. 00:20:56.880 --> 00:21:02.000 Wherever you go to warm yourself, that determines what you deny. 00:21:02.160 --> 00:21:06.400 Cold hearts don't start cold, they start unattended. 00:21:06.720 --> 00:21:21.119 When you stop attending your heart, when you stop making a focus and a priority to sit at the feet of Jesus and to love him unconditionally and to follow him inexorably, when that begins to happen, fire doesn't go out, it's neglected. 00:21:22.160 --> 00:21:25.039 So nobody put the fire out in your heart for God. 00:21:25.200 --> 00:21:27.440 It just you just stopped. 00:21:28.000 --> 00:21:38.079 You you just stopped caring, you stopped prioritizing, you stopped pursuing, you stopped serving, you stopped tithing, you stopped giving. 00:21:38.160 --> 00:21:40.079 That's a big first thing to go. 00:21:40.400 --> 00:21:52.880 Like you stopped engaging, you stopped longing for holy things, you stopped engaging with the Bible, you stopped praying, you stopped seeking his face and acknowledging his presence for every decision in life. 00:21:53.039 --> 00:21:55.359 You stop growing and you're good with it. 00:21:56.480 --> 00:21:58.480 That's the scary thing about cold. 00:21:58.799 --> 00:21:59.759 You just get good with it. 00:22:01.599 --> 00:22:06.079 Like it doesn't it doesn't bother you anymore that you haven't read your Bible in weeks. 00:22:06.160 --> 00:22:08.640 It hadn't it doesn't bother you that you're not praying. 00:22:09.680 --> 00:22:11.119 It's like I'm good. 00:22:12.720 --> 00:22:15.279 It's a very scary place to be spiritually. 00:22:16.880 --> 00:22:33.839 Hebrews chapter 3 says it this way encourage one another daily as long as it's called today, which by the way, this is another verse trying to get your attention for you to get in a small group because people need you to encourage them, and you need them to encourage you. 00:22:34.079 --> 00:22:44.079 So go to our website, tap the circle on the chair in front of you tonight, and shop for a group that you can begin to join because every one of you needs four to seven friends going the same way as you. 00:22:44.400 --> 00:22:45.839 But watch the second part. 00:22:46.160 --> 00:22:52.400 So that none of you may be hardened by sin's deceitfulness. 00:22:53.359 --> 00:22:54.960 Sin lies to you. 00:22:55.279 --> 00:22:58.400 Sin promises you everything that only God can deliver. 00:22:59.039 --> 00:23:06.880 But did you notice in the process of the deception, there becomes a coldness and a hardness of our hearts towards the things of God. 00:23:07.119 --> 00:23:10.640 And usually it's not one big thing, usually it's a process. 00:23:11.839 --> 00:23:12.240 Look at me. 00:23:12.480 --> 00:23:14.960 Cold doesn't shout, cold numbs. 00:23:16.240 --> 00:23:21.680 It's it numbs your heart just before it injects the poison. 00:23:38.319 --> 00:23:39.119 Oh, it's good. 00:23:42.799 --> 00:23:44.640 You put that in the freezer? 00:23:46.400 --> 00:23:49.839 It begins to cool and freeze immediately. 00:23:51.279 --> 00:23:59.440 Something that was boiling at one point is now cooled way down based on its environment. 00:24:00.640 --> 00:24:02.880 Don't tell me environment doesn't matter. 00:24:03.680 --> 00:24:06.000 You ever had a lukewarm smoothie? 00:24:10.319 --> 00:24:20.480 But here's the thing: if you take that same frozen pot and put that sucker back on the oven, turn up the heat, you can get it hot again. 00:24:20.720 --> 00:24:24.480 That which is cold will begin to heat up like it did before. 00:24:24.640 --> 00:24:26.880 I'm here to tell somebody there's still hope. 00:24:27.039 --> 00:24:33.839 If your heart has grown cold, if you have become lukewarm, you can become hot again. 00:24:36.079 --> 00:24:43.119 So all I'm asking is, I want to make sure in this season, remember the word for the year is to make ready a people prepared for the Lord. 00:24:43.279 --> 00:24:45.519 Our job is to help you become ready. 00:24:45.680 --> 00:24:51.519 So if you have become lukewarm in pursuing Jesus, maybe you've maybe tapered off. 00:24:51.759 --> 00:24:58.400 It's not that you stopped believing in Jesus, you just stopped relying on him as much. 00:24:59.200 --> 00:25:07.920 You find yourself just going through the day, and it's been days since you prayed and asked him, God, I need wisdom, I need your favor, I need your help and tell me what to do. 00:25:08.079 --> 00:25:16.880 But but I want to just ask you if there's been a time where you were hotter than you are right now, and you are more on fire for God than you are right now. 00:25:17.039 --> 00:25:20.160 I'm talking about a red, hot passion for God. 00:25:20.240 --> 00:25:22.000 It's time to turn around. 00:25:22.160 --> 00:25:24.240 It's time to stop going our way. 00:25:24.400 --> 00:25:29.680 And he said, repent, which just means turn around and make Jesus Christ the Lord of all again. 00:25:29.759 --> 00:25:32.720 Come on, clap your hands if you're with me in this room. 00:25:36.640 --> 00:25:37.759 Just trying to help us. 00:25:38.000 --> 00:25:39.680 All right, how do we stay hot? 00:25:40.160 --> 00:25:42.640 Well, I was starting to write down a lot of things. 00:25:42.799 --> 00:25:43.920 You stay close. 00:25:45.039 --> 00:25:46.079 It's one way. 00:25:46.400 --> 00:25:47.599 You stay soft. 00:25:48.640 --> 00:25:49.440 Soft heart. 00:25:50.079 --> 00:25:51.039 Stay focused. 00:25:53.119 --> 00:25:54.880 Fire follows attention. 00:25:57.359 --> 00:26:00.799 Wherever your attention goes, that's what you begin to have a heart for. 00:26:01.119 --> 00:26:02.319 He even said it with your money. 00:26:02.480 --> 00:26:04.720 Where your treasure is, that's what your heart will be also. 00:26:06.000 --> 00:26:07.279 Stay hungry. 00:26:08.079 --> 00:26:11.200 Have you found out that satisfied hearts cool the fastest? 00:26:11.759 --> 00:26:14.720 And you just kind of get like, ah, I don't need anything else from God. 00:26:14.799 --> 00:26:16.000 I just I'm good. 00:26:16.240 --> 00:26:18.160 Your heart begins to cool very, very fast. 00:26:18.400 --> 00:26:19.519 Stay faithful. 00:26:19.759 --> 00:26:23.759 It's consistency that keeps coals burning in the fire. 00:26:24.319 --> 00:26:25.519 Stay pulling. 00:26:25.839 --> 00:26:27.119 What does that mean? 00:26:27.440 --> 00:26:34.160 Well, the moment you stop beat pulling is the moment you start being pulled away. 00:26:35.039 --> 00:26:36.880 Remember, there is a tug of war. 00:26:37.599 --> 00:26:46.240 You're pulling yourself closer to God, but the moment you stop pulling yourself closer to God, the world, the enemy, that begins to pull your mind away from God. 00:26:46.400 --> 00:26:47.519 Stay personal. 00:26:47.759 --> 00:26:51.440 Like this needs to be a personal thing, not just a church thing. 00:26:51.680 --> 00:26:57.519 Church is wonderful, and we're gonna help you, but this also needs to be personal because bald fire always burns out. 00:27:02.640 --> 00:27:03.759 Is this okay? 00:27:04.559 --> 00:27:05.839 Stay surrendered. 00:27:07.119 --> 00:27:08.240 Surrendered to God. 00:27:08.480 --> 00:27:14.720 Like, Lord, whatever you want from me, my answer is yes before you even get the words out of your mouth. 00:27:14.880 --> 00:27:15.519 Yes. 00:27:15.839 --> 00:27:18.480 You have my yes without conditions. 00:27:18.720 --> 00:27:20.079 It's surrender. 00:27:20.480 --> 00:27:23.119 Like fire falls on sacrifice, church. 00:27:23.359 --> 00:27:24.640 We want the fire of God. 00:27:24.720 --> 00:27:31.359 It happens when we build an altar and we burn some stuff and we say, God, my whole life, my plans, it's it's yours. 00:27:31.440 --> 00:27:34.880 This is a sacrifice, and the consuming fire of God comes down. 00:27:35.039 --> 00:27:41.839 Stay dependent on God, stay teachable, stay in love with Jesus, stay engaged, stay put. 00:27:43.519 --> 00:27:45.359 Some of y'all just need to stay. 00:27:52.400 --> 00:27:54.319 Stay put for a while. 00:27:55.440 --> 00:27:57.920 Some people are church hopping like crazy. 00:27:58.000 --> 00:28:04.240 Just wherever there's a great conference or wherever there's if you're at go to another church, stay there. 00:28:04.400 --> 00:28:06.319 If this is your church, stay here. 00:28:06.480 --> 00:28:09.839 Like, don't be uprooting so many times. 00:28:13.039 --> 00:28:14.799 Some of you have been praying to leave a job. 00:28:14.880 --> 00:28:16.799 Maybe God's saying stay. 00:28:17.359 --> 00:28:19.200 Some of you have been trying to bail on your marriage. 00:28:19.359 --> 00:28:20.880 Maybe you ought to stay. 00:28:26.880 --> 00:28:27.680 That last statement. 00:28:27.759 --> 00:28:28.240 Let me go. 00:28:35.200 --> 00:28:38.160 I mean we all laugh, but there are some heavy things going on. 00:28:38.400 --> 00:28:39.039 Can I tell you? 00:28:39.119 --> 00:28:42.400 Even David didn't stay when Saul was throwing spears. 00:28:42.559 --> 00:28:45.599 So I'm not saying abuse and infidelity is okay. 00:28:45.759 --> 00:28:46.400 Like you have to stay. 00:28:46.480 --> 00:28:46.720 You don't. 00:28:46.799 --> 00:28:50.000 There's biblical, okay, but I just need to say that part too. 00:28:51.759 --> 00:28:53.839 But honor, you get what I'm saying? 00:28:54.880 --> 00:28:57.119 So many of us are just so flighty all the time. 00:28:57.519 --> 00:29:01.920 Looking at real estate in other states and other cities, and God, He ain't called you there yet. 00:29:02.160 --> 00:29:03.920 If He calls you there, then go. 00:29:04.079 --> 00:29:05.440 That then bless you. 00:29:05.599 --> 00:29:07.599 What's good for you is good for us. 00:29:08.480 --> 00:29:12.319 But I'm just trying to break the mindset of being flighty. 00:29:13.920 --> 00:29:14.960 Look at this. 00:29:17.279 --> 00:29:20.000 Jesus is this is such a sad verse. 00:29:20.559 --> 00:29:22.400 Our heart breaks for our Savior. 00:29:22.960 --> 00:29:25.039