Welcome back everybody. Well, what is lukewarmness and what barometer would we use to gauge whether or not we are lukewarm ourselves? Pastor John offered a clear definition and a gauge for us to use in his sermon on Revelation chapter 3 verses 14 to 22, a text that includes Jesus's words to the church in Laodicea where he says they are "lukewarm and neither hot nor cold." And then of course Jesus threatens to spit them from his mouth in Revelation 3.16 It's a haunting text.

So what is Lukewarmness? Here's Pastor John to explain in a sermon he preached way back in 1983 The essence of lukewarmness is the sentence. I don't need it. I Need nothing. I Have enough of Jesus. I walked the aisle one day and he came into my heart and I have him I don't need anything The lukewarm are spiritually self-satisfied To find out whether you are among that number now Don't look in your head and ask whether you think that you're a sinner because you all do you've been well taught The way to tell whether you are among the number of the spiritually self-satisfied is to look at your prayer life There's the barometer To tell whether we are in the bondage to spiritual self-satisfaction The question is how frequently how earnestly how?

expectantly how Extendedly do you strive with God to have a deeper knowledge with Christ? greater earnestness in prayer more boldness in witness Sweeter joy in the Holy Spirit. Do you long for deeper sorrow for sin warmer compassion for the lost? More divine power to love are you going after God in your prayer life?

hard every day often long and if not, that's the barometer of Whether you're spiritually self-satisfied Not what you think about yourself in your head Does the coolness and the perfunctory nests of your prayer life? stack up to exhibit a That you are spiritually Satisfied and therefore lukewarm and therefore on the verge of being spit out of his mouth Now Jesus has a word to you and to me If we think we need nothing at the beginning of 1983 if there's no sense of desperation in our hearts for change People who think that it's a bit mellow dramatic a little overdoing it a little bit to Have an all-night Prayer meeting and Friday as though there were some Volcano about to come down upon us Well, there is in verse 14 and 15 a volcano about to come down on lukewarm people here's what Jesus word of Assessment is you are in fact wretched and pitiable and poor and blind and naked Now remember that's Jesus talking.

I didn't choose those words for sermonic effect Those are the words of Jesus. That's the way he looks down through that ceiling upon churchgoers Who don't have any passion for change in? your life Who are quite content to go on day in and day out with two minutes with the Lord?

And such churchgoers if they don't begin to do something to change will eventually be spit out of his mouth now That's the threat and that's the indictment here comes in verse 18 the council counseling is big business today and Many of you with me are involved in it and I just want to say in passing Don't just read books about counseling study the master counselor See that word counsel there in verse 18.

This is counseling at its best fret promise We're gonna see the sweetest promise you ever heard before we're done. But before he gets there The awful threat here comes the council the word in between what are they to do? Therefore I counsel you buy from me gold refined by fire that you may be rich White garments to clothe you keep your shame your nakedness from being seen and salve to anoint your eyes that You may see Christ's will for the church is not to spit it out His will for the church is that our poverty be replaced with wealth That our nakedness and shame be clothed with robes of righteousness and obedience And that our blindness be healed so that we see like God sees and assess everything the way he does There's only one place where we can get that gold those garments and that medicine and that's Jesus himself And that's why he says buy from me gold now How do you buy gold when you're broke?

He just said you are poor blind naked miserable wretched not only poor Not only broke but blind you can't do any work. You can't earn any money when you're blind And not only blind naked you can't even go out of your closet How do you get the wealth of Christ?

robes of righteousness and obedience and power to love Sav to make us wise with the wisdom of God when you can't even go out of your closet The answer is in verse 20 you don't go out of your closet you open the door and let Jesus in Behold I stand at the door and knock if anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I'll come in and eat with him and He with me now that verse Can be applied with Legitimacy to unbelievers But that's not its meaning here I want to drive that home that verse is addressed to Luke warm Christians who think they have Christ Sufficiently and he's just out there knocking on the door of the Christians heart It's addressed to Luke warm Christians who think they don't need any more of Christ.

We've got his riches. We've got his garments We've got his medicine and he says you don't you're poor blind miserable naked and pitiable People who keep the door shut on the most inner room of their lives People who want to keep the Lord on the porch and deal with him like a salesman You might want to buy the thing, but you don't want him to come in Mixed up in the deep places of your life Christ did not die to purify a bride Who would keep him on the porch while she watches TV and then?

His will for the church is that we open the door all the doors of Our lives he wants to join you This is that sweet promise He wants to join you in the dining room of your life light a candle spread the table Sit down with you Talk for an hour Just try to imagine the favorite meal you've ever enjoyed with the nearest and dearest friend you've ever had That's the experience Jesus wants with everybody in this room, and he's knocking right now and asking for it Wouldn't you take the time for me, please an hour?

So that I can eat with you and you with me and when Jesus Christ Comes into the room he brings with him all the gold all the garments and all the medicine in the world To have Jesus is to have everything So how do you buy gold when you're broke?

You pray You start opening all the doors of the deep recesses of your life and you appeal to him to come into every single sphere and Be at home and sup with you and you with him I Just confess very personally there is an intimate communion and fellowship with Jesus I crave in 1983 this sermon is a sermon for me.

I'm not I'm not damning you I Preach the way I do because I want so bad to have the fullness of Jesus Christ more than I've known him before and I want us to share it as a congregation and When he comes and dwells in the innermost room of our affections.

There's gonna be power Power to love That's what we all want more than anything I said on New Year's Eve power to overcome all the crummy desires that pull us around by the nose and Floored it over us when Jesus comes in and has dinner with you by candlelight You've got power to overcome all the allurements of the world powerful excerpt from Pastor John sermon on Revelation 3 14 to 22 titled how to buy gold when you're broke I love that title how to buy gold when you're broke you appreciate it on January 2nd 1983 you can find the entire message right now free of charge at desiring God org This is a clip I like it's the one I found while listening to Piper sermons And if you have a favorite sermon clip from Pastor John's ministry send it to me I'd love to hear it as well give me the title of the sermon and the time stamps from the audio of when the clip begins and ends and tell me why it's impacted you give me your name the closest city to you and Email me all of that information at ask Pastor John at desiring God org That's an email address ask Pastor John at desiring God org and put the word clip in the subject line If you would please don't make it easy for me to find them and maybe we can share it here on the podcast with everybody else Next up a question from a listener who was offered a cash bonus by his boss But should the straight-up offer of a cash bonus be a good motivator for our labors Can the desire for more money in this case a bonus?

Be desirous in a virtuous way or is this simply the love of money? How can we tell the difference? It's a really good question and it's up next time on Friday. I'm your host Tony Reinke and we will see you then