The Cure for Laodiceanism — Shane Idleman

The Church of Laodicea and the Danger of Lukewarmness

Where we're at in the book of Revelation is we're at the last church. Jesus has been talking to the churches. Now this is important because he's talking to us today. 2 ,000 years ago, it's still relevant today.

So the last five or six or seven weeks now with Christmas, we were talking about the different churches. Now we get to the final church. And let me give you the title to have you kind of take this in for a minute.

And I looked that up, that is a word. Laodiceanism, Laodicea is where the church was. Laodiceans are people who attended or who lived in that community. And Laodiceism is lukewarmness, carnality. It's being lukewarm for the things of God.

And lukewarm is okay if you're in your bed sleeping. Right, you don't want it hot. You don't want it cold, you want it lukewarm. There's something on your wall that you can adjust to 72 degrees and it keeps everything comfortable, lukewarm.

But when it comes to coffee, you like it lukewarm? Some of you do, I didn't know that. It's not good, what about black tea or tea drinkers? Do you like it lukewarm? No, you either wanna put it in the microwave or put some ice in it.

It's either, there's this lukewarm state is good in some regards, but it's terrible for spirituality. Let me make a statement today. Hey, balcony, hoping you can hear me. Lukewarmness will kill spirituality.

Jesus said, if you're lukewarm and I taste that and you're lukewarm, I'm gonna throw up. Jesus said, I'm going to vomit you out of my mouth. So this is something we need to pay very close attention to.

This is the last sermon of the year, okay? So we gotta hit the ground running going into 2018. And at the first service, as you know, there was a survey that went out about 2018 about the church. I actually covered that at the first service.

So all you have to do is click the live feed link, fast forward to 35 minutes, and you can hear some of the things that went over in regard to the surveys and the church's direction, how we're doing financially as a church, which is we're doing very good and everything's going good in that regard.

So go listen to the first service, fast forward to the 35 minute mark, and that just saved me eight minutes. How's that, okay? Instead of trying to repeat everything. Revelation 3 .14, and to the angel of the church of the Laodiceans, write, these things says the amen, the faithful and true witness, the beginning of creation of God.

So Jesus is saying, I am the faithful witness, I am the true and living God, I am faithful to the end, I will not let you down, here's what I'm saying to you. Everyone in this audience, he is saying this to us.

The beginning of creation of God, I wanna clarify this because some, we would consider a cult, some cults teach that Jesus was created. He's not God, he's a created being, he's the brother of Satan or whatever you wanna say.

The Bible doesn't say that. The Bible says throughout scripture, in Colossians, for example, Colossians 1 .16, that in Jesus Christ, all things were created, all things have been created through him and for him.

The disciple Thomas said, my Lord and my God. That's not a created angel, we don't worship a created being, he is fully God, but he was fully man when he came here to earth. Try to understand that, you're gonna get a headache.

We just know that the scripture clearly teaches it, that Jesus was not created. Also, what's interesting, the beginning of the creation of God, the word beginning there can also mean origin. In other words, all things originated from Jesus Christ, everything, so that's a good point to clarify.

That's who's speaking to us, speaking to the church, and now I'm going to get into the deep stuff. Are you ready? If you're asleep, wake up. If you're looking at your phone, turn it off. If you're ready to go take a bathroom break, just wait.

Give me 30 minutes, maybe 45. I'm gonna try to go quick, but just pay attention here. Now, I want to just first encourage you. I don't want anyone to leave here defeated and defeated and let down and depressed.

Often, I've noticed that God will reveal something in order to heal you in that area, but when it's revealed to us, often instead of being healed, we get mad and we leave, right? You ever hear something difficult?

You're like, well, I'm not gonna hear that. I'm out of here, but God does that through his word. It hurts in order to help. He reveals something in order to heal a certain area, so hearing about this topic, I will tell you up front that it's not comfortable for many people.

Comfort, Complacency, and Spiritual Apathy

Many people are living in a lukewarm state. That's why the churches have conditioned it in. That is why our nation is in the predicament it's in. That's why many of our lives are in the certain predicaments as well is because we are living in a state of lukewarmness, and you want to know why?

Because it is comfortable, isn't it? It's just that, don't turn up that thermometer of my heart very high, right? Don't turn it up. I'm comfortable here, Shane. I don't, go minister to the homeless. No, thanks, I'm comfortable.

Go get involved in the hospital ministries. Mm-mm, I'm comfortable. Go help with the children. Are you kidding me? I'm comfortable. Counsel a family in distress or marriage counseling? No way, I'm comfortable, right?

I'm acting like there's a gauge on my heart. 72, uncomfortable. I'm not gonna do anything that's going to burst my bubble. And God's comfortable, right? It's church on Sunday, Budweiser on Monday. Church on Sunday, Raiders on Sunday night.

I got church, now I don't want to get past that. I'm comfortable. Unfortunately for you, the Bible is not about being comfortable. Unfortunately, I should say. Did I say fortunately? But it's a good thing because when God pulls us out of that comfort zone, things start to happen.

Things rarely happen in the comfort zone. He gets us out of that lukewarm state. So what I'm gonna offer is the cure for apathy, complacency, and spiritual laziness. That's what the Laodiceans were going through.

They were apathetic, complacent, and spiritually lazy. Don't raise your hand, but does it apply? Just kind of shake and I'll see ya. You don't have to, the person next to you doesn't need to know. But just so you know, this can creep into my life as well.

All of us, nobody is above lukewarmness. And being in this Laodicean state. You remember that old hymn, Prone to Wander? Prone to wander, Lord, I feel it. Prone to leave the God I love. Oh, Lord, take and seal it.

Seal me from the courts above. Seal my heart. See, there's something in us that's prone to wander. And as we wander, when we wander, when we get into that state where we become comfortable and complacent, and we become lukewarm.

Lukewarm has its place, as I said earlier, but not in spiritual matters. And we like to hear that God has a plan for you, right? Best-selling books out there. God has a plan for you. Do you know the devil has a plan for you as well?

He has a plan for you. Hyphen, lukewarmness. That's what his plan is. He wants us to be lukewarm. He wants us to be not on fire for God. He wants us to be irrelevant. He wants us to be bored and lazy.

That's his plan for us. And there's so many distractions that come in and can take us away from the things of God. So let's read where the rubber meets the road. Verse 15. Jesus says, I know your works, that you are neither cold nor hot.

I could wish that you were cold or hot, but because you are lukewarm and neither cold nor hot, I will vomit you out of my mouth. Isn't that interesting? That's a pretty big deal. Jesus said, I wish you're hot, I wish you're cold, but because you're lukewarm, I'm going to vomit you out of my mouth.

Now, it would be pretty bad if he left us hanging there. Wouldn't it? But he gives a cure for this lukewarmness, for this Laodicean aspect that can rise up in our lives. But this shows me the seriousness of it.

When Jesus says, I will vomit you out of my mouth, I will vomit this life, basically, it's this lifestyle that makes Christ sick. It's like, have you ever seen that person that just, that is just so disgusting.

Why do you say that, but live this way? It reminds me of a story I heard about a young man coming down from the hill country, right? We can, it makes sense here. He's coming down the hills, he's going to a party in this town.

He heard, oh man, I heard the party life is wonderful, up all night, the kegs are flowing, I can't wait to go to this. And the man stopped him and said, okay, well, why are you bringing your Bible? He said, well, if it's as good as people say, I might stay till Sunday.

Now, you're gonna get that when you're driving home. The point is, right, well, if this party life is as good as they say, I'm not gonna go home Saturday night, I'm gonna stay for church on Sunday. See, you can't have Sunday and then live like hell on Monday.

Jesus said, I vomit that lukewarmness out of my mouth. It's a repulsive thing. Now, I'm gonna talk about an aspect here of a theological division, where some people are a little bit divided on this. To me, it's not a hill to die on.

But personally, again, personally, okay, you don't have to come up and argue. I believe that hot and cold can be both good traits. Here's why I say that. Jesus said, I wish that you were either hot or cold.

I wish that you were either one of those, but because you're lukewarm, I'm going to spew you out of my mouth. However, one side would say, well, if a person's cold, cold to the things of God, at least we know where they stand.

They're not a hypocrite, they're not saying I'm a Christian, they're living like they're not. We can deal with cold, either hot or cold. But if you're lukewarm, and there's validity to that, I see what they're saying.

But just because looking at the sentence structure, looking at the grammar of it, Jesus saying is, I wish, my desire, I desire that you're either hot or you're cold, one or the other. But lukewarm, it's not productive.

Lukewarm coffee, no. But hot coffee, yes. And now they've got iced coffee? You guys are crazy. Iced coffee, it's cold, ice cold. Or what about a tea? Same thing, right? Hot or cold, the benefits. Now, I remember many years ago, reading commentaries and different things, they talked about in Laodicea, there might have been hot springs representing, people could relate, that's hot, hot springs, refreshing to the body, go and sit in there like a sauna.

And then there's cold, cool springs coming down from the valley there, going into the valley there. So you can have both of that. And we see that lukewarm's not good. Have you ever been hiking up in the mountains or anything, and you see this little stream coming down, and what about if it was lukewarm?

And you're hot, it's 75 degrees, you're up in the Sierras, and you want the cool, refreshing. See, this cool has a sense of refreshing, and this nourishing element of it. Ice, and you put in ice, and you refresh the drink.

So that's what I believe he's saying here. But we know that fire, hot, describes passion and power. Be hot for Christ. Or cool represents, cold water represents refreshment and nourishment. Basically, our character is pleasing to God versus nauseating.

Conviction, Holiness, and Genuine Christian Living

Now, I want to be careful because sometimes we think, people think, Shane, are you talking about being perfect? No, I'm actually talking about being real and genuine and transparent. And serving God with all of our heart, with all of our strength.

See, there's a difference between somebody who says they love God, they go to church, but then there's no living like that. There's nothing in their life that reflects that. They're in a lukewarm state, they look like the world.

There's not a difference at all. So Jesus is saying, come out from among them, right? Be separate, be set apart from me. And the person who struggles, you can struggle and say, but God, you are my focus.

I don't want to be lukewarm, and you're transparent, you're open about it, you're trying to get back on track, you're loving God, you're making changes, you're seeking him, though you fall two steps, one step back, two steps forward, and it's this pursuit for God.

That's not lukewarm. That's welcome to the Christian walk, amen? I mean, come on, 11 a .m., this is Christianity 101. We fall and we get back up. Okay, you got me, devil, but now I'm coming back, and we go forward, and you take a step back, you go two steps forward, and you get back on track continually.

That's not lukewarm. Lukewarm is just an apathetic attitude towards God. Here's the definition. It's the death of conviction and the rise of unfaithfulness. Lukewarmness is the death of conviction. Do you remember when you used to be convicted about things?

I've been there before, a conviction, a strong conviction, but then what happens to that conviction? It starts to wane, it starts to decrease, and in spirituality, in Christianity, always remember this, it's always a fight.

You're either fighting to gain ground, or you're fighting the enemy trying to pull you back. It's a fight, it's a struggle. That's why Paul says it's warfare, and contending, and fighting. So it's the death of conviction.

Conviction, what is conviction? Holding, well, let me just show you. It's this, right, conviction, I'm living by this. Now it's like, well, I don't really care what this says. Now I'm living by the flesh.

I know what this says, but I'm no longer convicted. Isn't that interesting? People say, Shane, I'm just not convicted about that like you are. I used to be convicted. Look at the, just look at the media.

Talk about the conviction that is the death of conviction. 40 years ago, do you think anything that's aired today would have been allowed 40 years ago? Any, just anything, well, maybe Fixer Upper. Okay, I'll give you that one, but anything else?

Right, most of the things would never have been allowed. Why, conviction, that's what the enemy does. He's got a big sledgehammer, he just keeps chipping away, chipping away at the foundation. Let me get this foundation of integrity.

That's no longer important. Now you can't even trust the news. I mean, I remember when journalists, if they didn't like something, they would at least report the accurate facts about something. Now you don't know what's going on.

Conviction, the loss of integrity, the loss of morality. Hello? The loss of morality, of integrity, all these, that's what lukewarmness is, and America has been rocked to sleep. That's wonderful for a little baby, but it's terrible for a church.

We've drifted into a lukewarm state. Let me just be upfront and honest for a little bit, and of course I am with this, too. Maybe I should have said that, but let me just be upfront about some things.

That's why there's not a lot of people that like prayer meetings or worship mornings. That's why there's not a lot of people that attend church regularly. That's why it's that mentality of, I don't want too much of God.

I'm in this lukewarm state, I'm comfortable. And that's what Jesus is saying here. That's his challenge to us. Here's another challenge, though. When a person is lukewarm, sometimes when a believer's lukewarm, the same character traits you can see in an unbeliever.

And a person who doesn't know the Lord, they almost look the same sometimes. How do you know the difference? Well, I give you two examples of a person named Tanner and a person named Tommy. I'm just making up names here.

Tanner loved the Lord when he was little, grew up in a Christian home, right? Read his Bible, went to Awana, how's that? Right, knew some scriptures. But throughout his teens and 20s, he drifted from God.

So he's now lukewarm. He doesn't have conviction, he's not really going to church, he's doing things he shouldn't be doing, he's lukewarm. But that looks just like his unbeliever friend, Tommy. But see, Tanner is convicted.

Tanner knows there's something missing. He knows he needs to get back to that relationship he used to have with the Lord. He wants that, like a deer that pants after the water brook. He has this desire, I wanna go back, I miss that, I need that, so he's got this internal struggle.

Tommy has no struggle. He's not convicted, he's doing what he needs to do. God is not in his thoughts, he's not convicted about what he did last night. But Tanner, on the other hand, is. See, that's the difference.

So don't let this sermon beat you up. Well, maybe a little bit, right? But not to where you're beat up and don't do anything. Let it convict you. Let the hammer of God sometimes fall. Let it come down and crush pride.

Let it come down and crush hypocrisy. Let it come down and crush lukewarm living so that the fruit of that is vitality in a relationship back to God. It's okay not to like what I'm, not to like to hear what I'm saying.

It's okay. I bet if we could have him fill out a survey, a lot of people would not like what I'm saying. That's why a lot of people often don't come back to church. Now, the lukewarm church, though, it's interesting.

See, the pulpit attracts what the people are hungry for. There's many lukewarm churches. You will not hear about repentance. You will not hear about sin. You will not hear about hell, for sure not about hell.

Or God's judgment. Or the wrath of God. Or the blood of Christ. Or holy. You're not gonna hear about any of that. Why? Because lukewarm people do not want to hear that. So the pulpit, if nothing is coming out and the pulpit is lukewarm, the majority of the people will be lukewarm.

Because he set the temperature on the bathwater. And they're all sitting in it. It feels lukewarm. It feels good. But if you put a little heat into that sermon, you put a little fire, you put a little passion, you put a little holy ghost preaching into that, and the people, they either wake up, they either have a breakthrough, or they break out.

Right? It's one or the other. I remember, I think it was William Steele. He was a famous Puritan author. He said, when people, for the first time, come under the sound of holy ghost preaching, they are mortally offended because they've never been exposed to the white light of the gospel.

It's true. They're like, what? I've never been exposed? What is he saying? Does the Bible really say that? Does the Bible really say that? And they've never been exposed to the white light of the penitent.

See, the gospel hurts before it helps. You have to say the wages of sin is death. Ah, but here's the Savior. Point to the cross. Point to the solution. See, it has to hurt. I don't see my need for the, what does that mean to me?

That means absolutely nothing to me if I don't know why it's there. But if somebody, you read, the wages of sin is death. I'm lost without God. Christ is my all-sufficient sacrifice. He paid the penalty, propitiation.

He absorbed the wrath of God so I don't have to. Then that becomes a place of adoration, a place of joy and of worship because you understand. You understand the good news because you were given the bad news.

That's why we often say you can't understand or appreciate the good news without the bad news as the backdrop. So it's the same thing here. These things are meant to hurt initially, but often to heal and to restore and to rebuild our lives.

Because doesn't something happen to our, I mean, you sit on a tack. You're not gonna stay sitting there. Your kids can put their hand in the door. They're not gonna leave it there. Something hurts so there's action takes place.

So that's Jesus' heart with this. Here's why he's so strong, I believe, in these words. Because these people are deceived. These people are deceived. Verse 17, Jesus says, because you say, because you say, I am rich and I have become wealthy and I have need of nothing.

Oh my goodness. This poor church. These guys are so lost. And I think he's saying here, because you say, they are boastful. They are proud. They are an arrogant church. We are rich. We are rich. I have pastors tell me this.

They say, Shane, that's not true about repentance and lukewarmness. Look at how big our building is. Look at how many people we have. We have more people than you. Who are you to tell me we're lukewarm?

Boastful, arrogant, proud. We are rich. We don't need anything. We're clothed. We don't need anything. And Jesus uses these very scathing words. But you do not know that you are wretched, you are miserable, you are poor, you are blind, and you are naked.

Now, not physically, spiritually. Think about what he's saying here. You are wretched. You're miserable. You're in a miserable state, spiritually speaking. You're poor spiritually. You're blind. You can't even see.

And you're naked. You're not clothed with God's righteousness. And my heart and my passion is for this type of church, too, because I do believe a lot of unbelievers can sit and enjoy the lukewarmness and not realizing that they don't even know the risen Savior.

They can come on in. Because in churches that preach all of God's word, an unbeliever's not gonna stay there very long. They're either gonna get convicted and saved, or they're gonna say, bye, see you later.

Tried that, it doesn't work. Next on my list, because you can't, the word of God will keep convicting and keep convicting if a person is open to that conviction and they turn to God. Verse 18, I counsel you.

Christ's Counsel: Spiritual Gold, White Garments, and True Riches

God says, I counsel you, which means I'm telling you, buy for me gold that is refined in the fire, that you may be rich, and white garments that you may be clothed, and the shame of your nakedness may not be revealed.

What a good God. You're naked, you're poor, you're blind, you're miserable, but come to me, let me clothe you. Let me cover, let me hide that shame, that guilt. Just, I counsel you, I'm telling you, come to me.

Maybe that's a word for somebody this morning, I didn't hit on this at the first service, but if you're carrying tremendous amount of shame and guilt because of your past, because of where you are now, God can redeem all of that, set you free, and clothe you in his righteousness, and his love, and his grace.

And yes, there are consequences. We feel, we know our past, but our past no longer holds us. There's not the sting of shame and regret because it's been dealt with on the cross. So yeah, I can think of my past and go, oh boy, I'm glad I'm through that, but the enemy does not have that over my head anymore.

So think about that. If you're dealing with shame and guilt, God says, I counsel you, turn to me, and I will put white garments on you of purity and holiness, and anoint your eyes with eye salve that you may see.

It's this healing of the eyes that need to take place in order to see what God is doing. So let's stop here for a minute and just unpack this. Wealth, in and of itself, is never a mark of blessing. Never a mark of blessing, in and of itself.

They say, we're wealthy. Doesn't that happen a lot? How many times do we think, look, God is blessing me, right? God is blessing me. Look, have you seen my car? Have you seen my bank account? Have you seen my home?

Look at this wonderful job God gave me. God is blessing me. No, the devil can bless you, too, right? Just drive that way 60 miles, and there's a big Hollywood sign on a hill. The devil, San Francisco, New York, everywhere.

Just because there's abundance doesn't mean that God is in it. The devil can bless. The devil can prosper. So don't, and I hear that a lot. Health, in and of itself, is never a mark of blessing. And in need of nothing, in and of itself, is never a mark of blessing.

Now, this is a dangerous spot to be. If you're in this spot, I would encourage you, reassess your life, examine your heart. Because I run into people, they say, Shane, I don't need God. I'm doing fine.

I'll retire in a few years. House is paid off. I got the motor home to take some trips. I don't, I'm fine. See, what you're telling me, Shane, doesn't apply to me. I don't care. I'm not buying what you're selling.

Doesn't matter. I'm in need of nothing. I'm in need of nothing. We have to be careful, because that can slip into a Christian's life, as well. That's why I often say our blessings can become our curse.

And what I mean by that is, any time God would prosper his people, throughout the Old Testament, primarily, prosper them, they would become wealthy, and abundance, harvest was coming. You know, harvest, tons of food, tons of wine, tons of everything.

They begin to grow lazy and complacent. He would call the prophet Hosea. He would call Joel. He would call Amos, Micah, Nahum, Habakkuk, Isaiahs, or the Jeremiahs. And they would go, and they would call that people away from that luxury, instead of worshiping the luxury, worship God.

See, it's a dichotomy of some sorts, because you seek God. God wants to bless you. God blesses you, and then that blessing becomes idolatry, and you forget God who gave you the blessing. And that's often at the heart of Laodiceanism, lukewarmness.

All of us are susceptible, right? The money's coming. See, it's interesting. When we have prayer mornings, or worship mornings, it's usually people that are going through something, or they're interceding for family members.

They're going through something. I just got the call. I lost my job. 30 years at Lockheed. What am I gonna do, Shane? I bet you're right here. I bet you're right here the next worship morning. Why? Because you're in need.

Shane, my spouse just left. That's why I'm at church every week, at worship every week. Do you have midnight services? Do you have midweek service? I need God. Isn't it interesting? When we're not in want, when we're not in need, we have this DNA in us.

Maybe it's a chromosome, or I'm not sure, but it's like, okay, thank you, God. Instead of thanking him, we allow this abundance to become idolatry. But it's interesting. God says, I counsel you. I tell you to buy from me gold that has been refined in the fire.

He's not talking about real gold, right? Here's an ounce. It's 1 ,600 bucks an ounce, whatever it is now. He's not saying that. Gold refined in the fire. All the impurities come out when gold is refined.

All the things that have come into the gold and maybe melted with the gold when it was first formed, it begins to come out. So God's saying, come to me. Buy from me gold refined in the fire, this purity, this holiness.

But how do you buy from God? Think about that. God says, buy from me. How are you going to buy from God? It's very simple. You invest into the relationship. You invest into that relationship. You turn your affections away from gold, riches, comfort, and ease.

You turn your affections away from those and your affections towards God. You buy from God this, not working for your salvation things, but you buy from God what he's offering by turning to him. How many things in the Bible are conditional?

If you seek me, you will find me. There's a sign right out front that says, if my people humble themselves, pray and seek my face and turn from your wicked ways, I will heal their land. If you seek, if you do this, if you, if you buy from me.

Now these things in and of themselves are not bad, of course, right? We need comfort of some sort. I'm glad I'm not always gonna always have a tack in my shoe. Right, I'm serving God. Oh, there's another.

Oh, I got one. I'm just, there's no ease, there's no, thank God for a thermostat, right? Put that thing on 72. You know, and just, you know my temperature's 72 now, right? Based on this sermon. But you know, well, because the kids want 80.

And you know, and it's just, it's interesting. I'm getting off point here. But it's okay to want comfort, you know, sometimes to relax. Who doesn't want to sit down on the couch and take off your shoes and just relax?

And God has created us for that. Money, we talk about money a lot, or gold, or riches. If God blesses a person with that, and there's people he gives you abundance, then you be a blessing to others. You know, you use that wisely, but it's when these things begin to control and they have our affections.

How do we know we have our affections? Because we'll put them before church. Do you know why most people are not at church? It's because they have higher priorities. They gotta play with the toys in the garage, right?

And we'll get to church when it's convenient. That's why I often say, when God's a priority, when God is a priority, then everything else comes around him. And that, he's the priority. Yes, enjoy life, have your vacation, do things, but where are your affections lie?

So that's what he's saying here, buy gold from me. I'm counseling you, buy these things from me. God counsels, but he doesn't force. God counsels, but he doesn't force. He counsels us, he tells us to do things.

And that's one thing I think that's kind of hard for me, is I wish God spoke a little louder than the world, but it's often that still small voice. God will not compete for our time or our attention, right?

We turn up the television, God doesn't turn up his volume. Hey, hey, I'm up here. It's that still small voice. It's that still small voice. You need a quiet place, a quiet hour, and a quiet heart to hear from God.

You get your heart, Robert McIntyre wrote that in his book, The Hidden Life of Prayer. I highly recommend that book. You gotta foster these things. And you look, you can read God's word. This is, you can read God's word to somebody, and it's penetrating, it's life-changing.

They need God. And then you hear the next day, they just died in an automobile accident. Without, Lord, why couldn't you have been louder? Louder, louder. But it is, it's a conviction of the Holy Spirit.

And what's sometimes more motivating, your father yelling at you or your father lovingly lowering his voice and encouraging, son, I love you, I love you, I love you so much, you cannot go that way. Turn back to me, turn back to me.

It's that still small voice. It was funny, Elijah was running and hiding, and he said, God, just kill me. The prophets of Baal, I killed them, and now Jezebel's going to kill me. Lord, it's just me, it's just me that's left.

Kill me, take me. And God said, don't worry, I have 7 ,000 who have not bowed their knee to Baal, nor they've kissed his image. He wasn't in the fire, he wasn't in the earthquake, he wasn't in the storm, he was in the still, small voice.

Repentance, Zeal, and Christ's Call at the Door

That's how you're going to hear from God, folks. Get rid of the clutter, get rid of the junk, get rid of the things that are distracting you. God's not going to talk over Facebook. He's going to tell you to turn off Facebook.

Turn off the media. Put me first, seek me, and you'll hear that still, small voice of a loving father. Because the world is loud and confused and impatient. God is calming and reassuring and not in a hurry.

That's the way you hear when he says, listen, seek my counsel. And then verse 19, as many as I love. Jesus is saying this to you. Everyone in this room, listen. Jesus is saying, as many as I love. I can tell you by the authority of God's word, I can stand here and know that a lightning bolt is not going to hit me, okay?

God says, Jesus says, as many as I love. He loves every single person in this room, every single person that is hearing this message later. For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son that whosoever believes shall not perish but have everlasting life.

He loves all of you, and like a loving father warning a child to come out from the street, I can see the semi going, it's 60 miles an hour. You need to get out of that street. He says, I love you, I love you.

Here's what I'm going to do. I'm going to rebuke you. I was hoping for something a little bit different, God. I'm going to rebuke you, and I'm going to chasten you. If we had time to unpack that word, it's not real pleasant.

But there's something in us that's at war with God. And I don't know about you, but people often don't change until they're rebuked. Me and my wife were just talking just yesterday. The big lesson we've learned in this church, we planted the church seven years ago with 10 people, and this year we've learned it the most, is communication.