THE COMFORT OF BEING 'LUKEWARM'! [THE PATH DEVOTIONS]

“"And to the angel of the church in Laodicea write: The Amen, the faithful and true Witness, the Beginning of the creation of God, says this: 'I know your deeds, that you are neither cold nor hot; I would that you were cold or hot. 'So because you are lukewarm, and neither hot nor cold, I will spit you out of My mouth. 'Because you say, "I am rich, and have become wealthy, and have need of nothing," and you do not know that you are wretched and miserable and poor and blind and naked, I advise you to buy from Me gold refined by fire, that you may become rich, and white garments, that you may clothe yourself, and that the shame of your nakedness may not be revealed; and eye salve to anoint your eyes, that you may see. 'Those whom I love, I reprove and discipline; be zealous therefore, and repent. 'Behold, I stand at the door and knock; if anyone hears My voice and opens the door, I will come in to him, and will dine with him, and he with Me. 'He who overcomes, I will grant to him to sit down with Me on My throne, as I also overcame and sat down with My Father on His throne. 'He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.'"” (Rev 3:14-22)

Hi everyone,

Wow, that passage from Revelation really speaks to a church that has the confidence that they are on the right track, and yet, God says that they are ‘wretched, and miserable and poor and blind and naked’- not a very accurate self-assessment! So, what can make a ‘church’ so confident that they are doing good, when in reality, God sees them in such a disgusting light? One word: Lukewarm. God hates the ‘lukewarm’ churchgoer: He wants us to be Hot for him, or ‘cold’ against Him. Why? Because ‘lukewarm Christianity’ leads people to death (eternal or relational) by its works based religion, its moralistic deism, or it’s ‘easy believism’ (words without conversion): all void of a true relationship with The Savior due to a misunderstanding and misapplication of Scripture. For those who have drifted into ‘lukewarmness’, He says for them to open their spiritual eyes, and, He is using discipline to try and guide them back into True relationship with Him. For those who are lost, He is knocking at the door, saying, ‘open your spiritual ears and hear the knocking so you can open the door to a relationship with Me’. In both cases, God wants a relationship, not a stagnate, lukewarm ‘religion’. 

Many in the church today have either drifted into some type of ‘lukewarm Christianity’ with a moralistic bent or a situationally ‘purpose driven religion’; or, have been led by false teaching into a ‘lukewarm comfort’ and false assurance while having an unconverted and unrepentant heart. That is what this last couple months of instruction about false teaching has hopefully helped us to see: these dangers are all around us and could very well be in our midst. Let’s all be diligent in our own walk with God to stay Hot and remember that we have in our possession the ‘salve’ of Truth to give to those around us who have become ‘lukewarm’, so they can see clearly the relationship they need with Him; or, by the power of the Gospel, direct the ears of others who don’t yet know him to the sound of Him knocking so they can open the door and experience the ‘radiant heat’ of His presence for the first time!

This Sunday we will be completing our study on the doctrine of ‘The Church’ and then finishing with a look at scriptural warnings specific to false teachers like those we may be familiar with or heard about. Until Sunday, I will leave you with a reading from A.W. Tozer that is really relevant to our discussion about Mankind and the Church. 

Enjoy, and See you all Sunday!

Randy

Quote from, "Experiencing The Presence Of God" by A. W. Tozer -

"I have noticed that in recent years a serious error has developed among religious people in general. I fear that its focus is on what I will call a Christ-less nature mysticism. This is even invading what is termed as the evangelical church. When the fall of the year comes around, these nature mystics imagine a little man with a paintbrush painting the leaves, and some get very watery eyed about this. Again, in the spring, when the frogs begin to make their music in the little ponds, man’s thoughts turn to love and the kind of things the poets write about. That is very dangerous, because if it is cross-less —without redemption, without Christ and without a proper reconciliation—it can be deadly. Yet, there are churches spending millions of dollars on fabulous buildings, but the congregation never hears a thing, year in and year out, about reconciliation. 

Today’s church faces the danger of a cross-less Christianity. A preacher will get up in front of the congregation and talk so piously about the “Great All Father.” Or he might say, “This we ask in the spirit of Jesus.” He did not ask it in the name of Jesus, but in the spirit of Jesus. He was a nice fellow, not wanting to offend anybody and surely too nice to embrace the cross. This does not represent the biblical focus of Christianity. We must get back to the idea of a priesthood. We must get back to the idea of God on one side and man on the other, and the two of them alienated from each other. This alienation is not by the fault of God, but by the fault of man. We must get back to a sacrifice and a priest who can come between God, who is holy, and man, who is unholy, and bring the two of them together. That is priesthood."

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