Participants: Lee Venden
Series Code: AOT
Program Code: AOT000121
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00:13 Welcome to Anchors Of Truth
00:15 live from the 3ABN Worship Center. 00:22 Well welcome, we're so happy that you could join us. 00:25 And we're looking forward to this series, 00:28 The Revelation of Whom? 00:31 And especially tonight's subject, 00:34 Hot, Cold, or Warm. 00:37 You know, we've got a water cooler in the lobby at 3ABN. 00:42 And it has hot, cold, or warm. 00:47 And I always refer to that warm as Laodicean. 00:51 And so when I go through, sometimes I will tease Mary, 00:55 who's working there at the desk, and I'll say, "I'm getting ready 00:59 to have a cup of Laodicean water." 01:01 And the truth is, I really prefer the cold water 01:06 to that lukewarm water. 01:09 But this is going to be a very interesting subject. 01:12 We're living in a time, folks, where we better get serious 01:16 about having a relationship with the Lord Jesus Christ. 01:21 You see, we can do everything we can to proclaim the gospel, 01:25 and I believe in that, going forth, the blessing is 01:30 on the "go," but I believe that what God would have us 01:33 to do more than anything else is to prepare ourselves 01:38 through a relationship with Jesus. 01:41 Knowing Him. 01:42 That's our first work and our first responsibility. 01:48 And that is the direction that we're talking about 01:51 in this series. 01:52 Our speaker, Pastor Lee Venden, 30 years a pastor. 01:58 Been a Bible teacher. 02:00 My son, John, had the privilege of having Lee Venden 02:03 when he was in his junior and senior years at Campion Academy. 02:08 And since 2008, he has been a Revivalist in the 02:14 Upper Columbia Conference. 02:16 He's written three books. 02:18 And he is the author of a Bible study lesson series entitled, 02:24 More About Jesus. 02:26 His wife is Marji. 02:29 They've been married 36 years. 02:32 And they have two wonderful children; 02:36 a son, Chris, and a daughter, Lindsey. 02:39 And this is a man who loves the Lord Jesus Christ. 02:43 I know that when he was my son's Bible teacher, 02:46 he was his favorite Bible teacher throughout all. 02:50 And he had, from first grade on, John was in our schools. 02:55 But he'll tell you, or at least second grade, 02:57 he will tell you that this was his favorite Bible teacher. 03:05 So tonight, we're looking forward to this presentation. 03:08 And we are going to invite the Lord especially to be with us. 03:14 And before C.A. Murray comes to sing, 03:18 I'd like for us to have a word of prayer, let's pray. 03:20 Father in heaven, we thank You tonight that we can come to You 03:24 in the name of Jesus. 03:26 Father, we pray that You will enter into our hearts, 03:30 speak to our minds, help us to listen, 03:35 as the Spirit is speaking to our hearts. 03:39 And Father, we thank You for all that You have done for us. 03:44 For giving us life eternal and the assurance 03:47 of that life through Jesus. 03:49 Help us to look to Him and to love Him with all of our hearts. 03:57 And in His precious name we ask it, amen. 04:01 You know, it's a real privilege to work with 04:04 everyone we work with here at 3ABN. 04:06 I enjoy it. My wife will tell you. 04:10 This last weekend we were gone. 04:12 We enjoyed very much being at Avon Park 04:15 and being with those dear people down there. 04:18 But also we had some other things to do. 04:21 We even cut some of those short and came back a day early. 04:25 Because we miss being here with the people at 3ABN. 04:30 We love working with them. 04:32 One of those that we are really privileged to work with 04:38 is Pastor C.A. Murray. 04:41 He loves the Lord. 04:43 And he loves this ministry. 04:46 And we love to hear him sing. 04:48 And he's going to sing one of my very favorite hymns, 04:53 My faith Has Found A Resting Place. 05:19 My faith has found a resting place, 05:25 not in a manmade creed; 05:30 I trust the Ever-living One 05:35 that He for me will plead. 05:40 I need no other evidence, 05:45 I need no other plea. 05:51 It is enough that Jesus died 05:56 and rose again for me. 06:09 Enough for me that Jesus saves, 06:14 this ends my fear and doubt; 06:19 a sinful soul I come to Him, 06:25 He will not cast me out. 06:30 I need no other evidence, 06:35 I need no other plea. 06:40 It is enough that Jesus died 06:46 and rose again for me. 06:53 The great physician heals the sick, 06:59 the lost He came to save; 07:04 for me His precious blood He shed, 07:09 for me His life He gave. 07:14 I need no other evidence, 07:19 I need no other plea. 07:25 It is enough that Jesus died 07:30 and rose again for me. 07:45 My soul is resting on His word, 07:51 the living Word of God; 07:56 salvation in my Savior's name, 08:01 salvation through His blood. 08:06 I need no other evidence, 08:11 I need no other plea. 08:17 It is enough that Jesus died 08:23 and rose again for me. 08:52 It is enough that Jesus died. 08:56 Wow. 08:58 Aren't you glad that He succeeded on His mission. 09:02 I want to speak to Him one more time, if that will be alright. 09:05 I think we can probably not have too much prayer, 09:08 so I'm just going to pray one more prayer, please. 09:13 Lord Jesus, I am twitterpated. 09:23 That would be a good way to say it. 09:26 And I need the Holy Spirit to just dwell inside 09:34 my mind, my tongue. 09:37 I want that for every one of us as we look together 09:40 in Your direction, but I particularly ask for 09:42 some sort of miracle right now. 09:45 I'd like to feel the cruise control take over. 09:53 I'd like to feel the gas pedal suddenly go on 09:56 some other power than my own. 09:59 And so I'm asking for You to do that. 10:06 And You told us that we could ask, 10:11 and that You delight in giving us the answer to this request. 10:16 So I'm praying for it in Jesus' name, amen. 10:25 We're doing a series, a five part series, 10:29 and it's entitled, Revelation of Whom? 10:34 And I think that there's no question who 10:37 we're talking about here. 10:38 We're talking about Jesus, with a capital "J." 10:42 There are a lot of different ways that you can study 10:45 the book of Revelation. 10:46 There are many different applications, 10:48 there are many different ways to unpack it. 10:51 But the angle that I am interested in pursuing 10:54 in the next few presentations is going to be 10:57 what I'm going to call, experiential with Jesus. 11:01 Looking for Jesus in Revelation. 11:04 After all, it's His book. 11:05 And it's the Revelation of Jesus. 11:08 So I want to find Jesus in it. 11:11 I want to hear Jesus in it. 11:14 I want to know Jesus in it. 11:17 So that's what we're going to do together. 11:19 We'll look in His direction. 11:21 And He's promised to reveal Himself to us. 11:26 When I was about probably in fifth grade, 11:29 we lived in a little town called Grand Junction, Colorado. 11:33 And in that town there was a family, they lived up 11:37 on a hill outside of town. 11:38 Johnny Watkins was the name of the gentleman, his wife Ann. 11:42 And there was a doctor in our church 11:45 whose name was Dr. Stute. 11:47 Now Johnny and the doctor were good friends, 11:50 but they were always trying to find a way to 11:52 one up the other, in terms of the teasing, or a 11:55 practical joke, or a prank. 11:57 And so that was kind of a common fare for them. 12:00 Well there's one I still remember, even though 12:02 I was only in fifth grade when it happened. 12:04 But the Watson's had most of the church family out 12:08 early in the spring when the first strawberries had come 12:12 for a church fellowship kind of an evening of fun together. 12:17 And it was a Sunday evening. 12:20 And one of the things they had done was they had arranged 12:23 to have strawberry shortcake with the first strawberries 12:28 of spring, homemade shortcake, 12:33 and Ann's famous topping, whipped cream with 12:36 the special secret ingredient. 12:38 Well among the people who were there that night 12:41 was Dr. Stute. 12:43 And when the strawberry shortcake came out 12:45 and was delivered, oh my, you could hear the people 12:48 commenting all through the house and out onto the porch 12:51 and the lawn, "This has got to be the best treat 12:55 we've had in ages. 12:56 Strawberries all ready. Strawberries." 12:59 And, "Ann, what is your secret ingredient 13:02 in that whipping cream? 13:04 It is something else." 13:06 "Well," she said, "if I told you, it wouldn't be a 13:07 secret any longer." 13:09 People ate and devoured it, and asked for seconds. 13:13 Dr. Stute enjoyed his, it appeared. 13:17 But after the event was over, around 2:30 in the morning, 13:25 Dr. Stute called Johnny Watson on the phone. 13:28 He said, "I'm sorry to waken you at such an indecent hour. 13:33 But," he said, "did anybody else call you with a problem 13:37 from the strawberry shortcake?" 13:39 He said, "I don't know exactly what it is, 13:42 but everybody seemed to be saying it was good. 13:44 And so I ate mine. 13:45 But" he said, "there was something about 13:49 the whipping cream that just didn't go well with me. 13:53 In fact, I'm feeling sick right now and I keep belching up 13:57 the taste of the whipping cream, you know. 14:00 Has anybody else called you to talk about this whipping cream?" 14:05 And Johnny said, "No, Doc. 14:08 You're the only one that had shaving cream. 14:11 Why would anybody else call?" 14:15 They had put beautiful creamy white shaving cream 14:20 on his strawberries. 14:21 And everyone else was enjoying theirs and commenting, 14:25 and so Dr. Stute thought, "It just must be 14:27 my palate this evening and I'm just not quite..." 14:30 And he ate it, ate it all, and then woke up blowing bubbles. 14:34 Well the point of it was that the strawberry shortcake 14:39 looked like something on the outside 14:42 that it wasn't really in reality. 14:46 It looked like something that it wasn't. 14:50 We're going to see how that illustration ties in 14:53 as we take a little look here in the third chapter of Revelation. 14:58 I'm going to be reading verses 14 and 15. 15:01 And if you have a red letter addition to your Bible, 15:04 you would discover that these would be in red letters. 15:06 Because Jesus is the one who is speaking here. 15:34 So what is Jesus saying here? 15:37 As He talks to this church called the Laodicean church, 15:40 He says, "I wish you were cold or hot." 15:44 Well apparently God prefers cold to lukewarm. 15:51 Because this church is lukewarm, and He says, 15:54 "I wish you were either cold or hot." 15:56 Well, if we were going to try to explain cold and hot, 15:58 I suppose we would say a hot person would be 16:00 someone who is plugged into a rich deep meaningful 16:04 personal experience with the Lord Jesus 16:06 and communes with Him regularly and faithfully, 16:09 and loves to meet with Him in His word, 16:11 and someone who has a meaningful prayer life. 16:13 We call that person a hot person. 16:16 And if we were going to try and describe a cold person, 16:18 I suppose we would probably describe somebody 16:21 who is a rebellious sort that has no interest in 16:24 the things of God, no interest in time or eternity. 16:26 Just living for the moment and indifferent to anything 16:30 that we might call spiritual. 16:31 We call them cold. 16:33 Maybe even rebellious. Alright? 16:36 Now here, Jesus is saying that God prefers cold hearted 16:41 rebellious people over lukewarm people. 16:45 Which seems a little odd at first read. 16:50 Why would God prefer cold over warm? 16:54 Well, have you ever been cold? 16:57 When you're cold, you want to be hot. 17:01 You know, you look for a hot shower to come into 17:04 after you've been out in that cold weather. 17:06 You bundle up, you put on a coat, you put on a down jacket. 17:10 You get in the car and turn the heater on. 17:13 Last night I spent some time sleeping in a car. 17:17 And my wife had said to me, "Ought you take your light 17:21 little down jacket with you on this trip just in case?" 17:23 I said, "Oh, it's spring weather. 17:25 The flowers are going to be out. 17:26 Who needs a down jacket. 17:27 That would be overkill." 17:28 But just as I was leaving the car to get to the plane, 17:31 my wife said, "You should stuff it in. 17:33 It doesn't take up much space, just stuff it in." 17:36 Well I stuffed it into my suitcase, my little carry on. 17:39 And I'm so glad I did. 17:41 Because I ended up on the side of the road last night. 17:45 I had missed my plane. 17:47 I didn't get here until three in the morning. 17:49 And I ended up on the side of the road last night. 17:51 And I thought, "Well, I'm going to put the down coat on 17:54 and I'm going to try and sleep." 17:56 Because I couldn't stay awake any longer. 17:58 And I'm going to try and sleep. 18:00 I slept for about an hour, and then I woke up cold. 18:03 My coat, my down coat, was keeping this part warm, 18:06 but the rest of me was cold, you know. 18:08 I started the car and I turned the heat to the full 18:12 as it could go, and I turned the fan as far as it would go. 18:15 Because I wanted to be hot. 18:17 And I got so hot that it was unbearable in the car. 18:21 Unbearably hot; then I turned it off. 18:23 And it lasted for another hour and a half. 18:25 So I got it so warm I was able to sleep another hour and a half 18:28 that way, so. 18:29 But when you're cold, you want to be hot. 18:33 You want to be hot. 18:34 You're looking for something. 18:35 When you're warm, you're not really concerned about 18:38 any change in your situation. 18:40 But when you're cold, you are interested in a change 18:43 in your situation. 18:45 Now how does God feel about lukewarm? 18:47 Well let's keep looking. 18:49 Verse 16 of Revelation 3, Jesus continues to 18:52 tell us, and He says... 18:55 Talking to the Laodicean church now. 19:05 What's He saying? 19:06 We could be really crass and crude, and we could say 19:10 when God sees the lukewarm it makes Him want to puke. 19:15 You know? 19:16 "You give me the urge to regurge," is what He's saying 19:19 to the church at Laodicea. 19:21 "I just want to throw up when I see you." 19:25 Well why would God want to throw up when He sees Laodiceans? 19:30 Well, because they think they're okay and they think 19:35 they don't need anything. 19:37 So they're not looking for a change in their situation. 19:40 Yet their situation is actually desperate. 19:43 However, they don't realize it and they're not looking. 19:46 Now He calls this the message to the church at Laodicea. 19:52 In order for a church to be called Laodicean... 19:57 And I got a kick out of hearing about the Laodicean 20:01 water dispenser you have here at 3ABN. 20:05 But in order for a church to be Laodicean, 20:09 more than 50% of the members would have to be Laodicean. 20:13 You follow what I'm saying? 20:15 Because if it wasn't more than 50%, 20:17 you'd call it something else. 20:19 You know, you'd, whatever. 20:20 It has to be more than 50% in order to call it that. 20:25 So more than 50% of this church is lukewarm, 20:31 the Laodicean church that we're talking about. 20:36 The majority of the people then, the majority of the people 20:40 in this last days church that Jesus is describing... 20:45 Because we understand that this church represents the 20:48 church just prior to the return of Jesus. 20:52 The majority of the people in this church 20:56 are going to be lukewarm. 20:59 Or they wouldn't call it Laodicean. 21:02 Now I went on Google this afternoon, 21:05 and I went on the Wikipedia, and I looked up the 21:09 Seventh-day Adventist Church North American Division. 21:13 And I found out that we have just a little over, 21:15 approximately, just a little over one million people 21:20 in the Seventh-day Adventist Church in North America 21:23 whose names are registered on church books 21:25 somewhere as members. 21:28 Okay, so let's just work with that number for a minute. 21:32 A little over a million. 21:34 That means that more than 500,000 of them 21:41 would be lukewarm. 21:44 Doesn't that sort of shock you when you put it that way? 21:47 More than 500,000 of them would be lukewarm. 21:50 Remember, Jesus is describing the church just before He comes. 21:53 Something is going to happen to change this, 21:55 so we're going to get there, but we're not there yet. 21:57 We're just talking about things as He describes them. 21:59 So more than 500,000 lukewarm church members. 22:08 Now if this is of any comfort to you, 22:12 this message is not limited to Seventh-day Adventists. 22:15 This message applies to all of the churches around the globe. 22:23 God has people in every church. 22:26 He also has lukewarm people in every church. 22:30 And one day something is going to happen 22:31 to change the lukewarm. 22:33 But at the present time, there are more than half 22:38 of the members around the world of all the churches 22:42 qualify here as the last day church that Jesus is describing 22:47 in Revelation 3. 22:51 If the majority are lukewarm, then you would expect 22:54 to find lukewarm people in positions of leadership, 22:58 you'd expect to find them in institutions, 23:02 you'd expect to find them as instructors, 23:04 you'd expect to find them as educators, 23:07 you would expect to find them as administrators, 23:10 you would expect to find them as pastors, 23:11 you would expect to find them as members. 23:14 If more than 50% are lukewarm, then more than 50% of all 23:18 those different groups that I just described would 23:20 fall into that category. 23:22 Alright? 23:23 Well, what is lukewarm. 23:30 At my house we have a faucet, one of those old fashion kind 23:34 where it has a knob on each side. 23:37 We have another one in another part of the house 23:39 that has one knob that goes up and left or right. 23:41 But you know, if you just have the two knobs 23:45 if you turn the one on the left at my house, 23:48 hot water comes out. 23:49 If you turn the one on the right, cold water. 23:52 If you turn them both on together and try to get 23:55 some sort of equal mix, then you end up with warm. 23:58 We would call it lukewarm. 24:01 Well, Jesus is referring to lukewarm religious people 24:06 in Matthew 23, and He calls them hypocrites. 24:08 I want to read that one off the screen with you. 24:11 Matthew 23 verses 27 and 28, Jesus says, "Woe to you, 24:15 teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites..." 24:36 So, Jesus' way of describing a lukewarm person is to say 24:42 you look different on the outside 24:44 than you are on the inside. 24:45 Like the shaving cream on top of the strawberries. 24:49 It looked good, though. 24:51 Dr. Stute suckered for it. 24:53 It looked good enough that he ate it, you know. 24:56 But it really wasn't what it looked like. 24:58 And Jesus is saying, "You're like a whitewashed tomb." 25:01 The sepulcher looks pretty good on the outside. 25:04 Nice engraving. You know, it's beautiful. 25:07 But on the inside, corruption. 25:09 Dead men's bones. 25:12 Well let's just think a little bit about those people that 25:14 Christ was speaking to when He said that, 25:17 what we just read from Matthew 23. 25:20 The people He was speaking to He said, 25:22 "You search the scriptures..." 25:26 They were familiar with the Bible. 25:28 They knew it backwards and forwards, 25:29 the Bible as they knew it. 25:31 Which we would call, perhaps, the Old Testament 25:33 type scriptures. 25:34 The writings of Moses and the prophets, right? 25:37 They were familiar. 25:38 These are people that Jesus was talking to who return 25:41 tithes and offerings. 25:42 These are people whom Jesus was talking to 25:44 who had a health message. 25:46 These are people who had their kids enrolled 25:47 in Christian education. 25:49 You might call our counterpart, Christian education. 25:51 These are people who had studied prophecy hugely. 25:56 They were major students of Bible prophecy. 25:59 They had timelines, charts. 26:01 They had it all mapped out. 26:03 They knew exactly what to expect. 26:06 They had family worship every evening. 26:10 And yet Jesus said, "You look good on the outside, 26:14 but inside you're rotten. 26:16 You're filled with corruption." 26:21 That's a pretty good list of descriptors 26:25 that we just noted about these people. 26:27 They look pretty good. 26:28 Go down the line, check those things off. 26:30 But, trouble. Trouble. 26:34 The Titanic looked good. 26:37 I've seen pictures of it. 26:38 It looked good just tied up to the dock there. 26:41 But the Titanic, they did some research after it sunk 26:45 and they concluded that there was too much sulfur 26:50 in the steel that was being used for the hull. 26:55 And when you put too much sulfur in steel... 26:57 I'm not an authority on this. 26:59 I just read this, okay, so. 27:00 But when you put too much sulfur into steel, 27:03 it becomes brittle, like glass. 27:06 And what happened was, ordinarily what should have 27:09 happened is when the Titanic hit the iceberg, 27:11 it should have dented the steel. 27:13 Like when you run your bumper into something, 27:15 it bends the bumper. 27:17 But because there was too much sulfur, it cracked. 27:22 It shattered like glass, and the water began pouring in. 27:25 And we know the rest of the story. 27:26 What was the problem? 27:27 The Titanic looked like something that it wasn't. 27:31 It looked different on the outside than it really was 27:34 on the inside. 27:36 Lukewarm people go through the motions. 27:40 They are religious, they do the right things. 27:42 But they actually are doing the right things 27:44 for the wrong reasons. 27:48 And Jesus rebuked them. 27:50 He said, "You make Me sick. 27:53 You are religious, but you are not spiritual." 27:57 Are you familiar with the difference between 27:58 religious and spiritual? 28:00 It's possible to know the rules without knowing the Ruler. 28:05 It is possible to know the laws without knowing the Lord. 28:10 It is possible to know the facts without knowing the Friend. 28:15 It is possible to know the Sabbath as a day 28:19 without knowing the Lord of the Sabbath as a Person. 28:22 So the difference between religious and spiritual 28:26 kind of lies in those differences that I was just 28:29 comparing here a moment ago. 28:31 Jesus said, "You lukewarm people are high on the standards, 28:36 but you're low on knowing Christ." 28:40 That's the problem. 28:41 That's the problem of the church of Laodicea. 28:44 They're high on the standards, but they're low on personal 28:46 relationship with Jesus. 28:48 That's why I appreciated Pastor Gilley saying at the 28:51 very beginning, there's nothing more urgent or 28:53 more important for us at this time of earth's history 28:55 than to have a personal relationship with Jesus. 28:57 A personal one. 28:59 Jesus revealed in the book of Revelation what the 29:02 last church will look like until just before He comes again. 29:05 Now unfortunately, many people have thought that 29:08 the way you get the warm to become hot 29:11 is by preaching what they call the straight testimony. 29:15 And that can look like a lot of different things, 29:18 but it often comes across like legislating standards. 29:22 If we can get people to hold the standards, 29:25 even raise the standards, we can move the warm 29:28 to being hot by legislating standards. 29:32 But legislated standards do not change hearts. 29:36 They don't change hearts. 29:38 My father, my dad, passed away last February 29:41 just a little over a year ago. 29:42 He was a preacher. 29:43 And that same church that had the strawberry shortcake 29:47 that I told you about, he pastored there. 29:50 That's back about when I was in the fifth grade. 29:53 And they were studying, during the mid-week service, they were 29:55 studying the subject of revival. 29:58 And the church members who were coming to the 30:00 mid-week service said, "We like that. 30:01 We want to experience a revival right here." 30:04 And so they said, "We need to raise the standards 30:09 if we really want to have revival." 30:10 So one of the standards they decided to raise was, 30:13 they needed to do away with anything that appeared 30:16 to have any tie or connection to jewelry. 30:18 Got to get rid of anything that was like jewelry. 30:20 Get rid of that. 30:21 And my dad thought, you know, well really... 30:23 Because he certainly didn't wear any jewelry. 30:25 So he figured that, you know, he wasn't 30:26 going to be inhibiting revival. 30:28 Until the word got back to him that they were talking about him 30:32 out in the congregation as he would preach 30:34 from Sabbath to Sabbath. 30:35 And he found out the reason they were was because 30:37 he was actually wearing a tie clasp on his tie. 30:42 He had a little tie clasp there. 30:43 And actually, it was made out of chrome. 30:47 And so there were times when if he moved just right 30:49 it would glint in the light. 30:51 Well anything that glints, that's adornment, see. 30:53 And so the people said, "Pastor Venden, we can't ever 30:55 experience a revival with you wearing a tie clasp. 30:58 You've got to get rid of that tie clasp." 30:59 So he went home, he took off his tie clasp. 31:02 But then he found that he had a problem, because his tie, 31:05 at potluck his tie kept drifting into the soup. 31:09 And now he had his tie soiled, but you know, at least 31:11 he wasn't inhibiting revival. 31:13 And so, but you know, his tie wasn't too good. 31:15 So as a way of trying to solve his problem with his tie, 31:18 he was rummaging around in the bathroom drawers one day 31:22 and he found bobby pin, some bobby pins. 31:26 Well he put a bobby pin, he said, "Well that works." 31:29 It's dark, you know. 31:30 Doesn't glint in the sun or anything. 31:32 So he put this bobby pin on. 31:34 And his tie quit falling in the soup, you know. 31:37 And then he said he actually began to feel a little bit proud 31:40 of his bobby pin. 31:41 You know, because he said people would say to him, 31:44 "Pastor Venden, what is that bobby pin on your tie?" 31:46 He would say, "Oh, it's a bobby pin because I don't 31:48 believe in jewelry. 31:49 I don't wear tie clasps; I don't believe in jewelry." 31:51 And he would feel very pious and proud 31:54 about his bobby pin. 31:55 He said he even found out you could get different 31:57 colored bobby pins to match different colored ties. 31:59 And he said that he discovered that the latter state of 32:02 of that man was worse than the first. 32:05 Because now he was proud of his spirituality, you know. 32:13 Falsely called, but proud of it. 32:16 Legislated standards do not change hearts. 32:20 Now I'm not in favor of lowering standards. 32:22 I'm not saying that. 32:23 I'm not saying we should lower standards. 32:25 But I'm just saying that raising standards is not what 32:29 brings on revival. 32:31 That's the point. Raising standards. 32:33 Working on externals... 32:37 Hear me carefully here now. 32:39 Working on externals is the very thing that 32:42 Jesus says is wrong with Laodicea. 32:46 He says, "You clean up the outside, but your inside 32:50 is not right." 32:52 So if you're trying to get rid of Laodicea by working on 32:56 standards, that's external. 32:58 And you're actually perpetuating the very thing that Laodicea 33:02 is known for when you focus on the standards. 33:04 Do you see how that works? 33:05 That's the very problem of Laodicea, 33:07 is it's focused on the external obedience. 33:11 The kind of obedience and transformation that 33:14 Jesus wants to work out in us comes from within. 33:19 It's Him indwelling. 33:20 And as Jesus lives His life in us and through us, 33:23 we become more and more like Him as He works His righteousness 33:27 out of us from the inside out. 33:29 The indwelling Christ living His life in us. 33:32 We sing songs about it; "You'll live Thy life in me." 33:34 You know, that kind of thing. 33:36 That's what He's looking for. 33:37 Well what does He say to these Pharisees? 33:39 In Matthew 23 verses 25 and 26, He says... 33:56 Now let's go back on now to Revelation 3:18. 34:01 The first part of what we have noted in Revelation 3 34:05 has been what I'm going to call, the rebuke 34:08 to the church of Laodicea. 34:10 So far we've looked at the rebuke. 34:12 Now notice what we're going to look at next. 34:13 It's going to be called, the counsel. 34:15 And isn't it wonderful that God never rebukes 34:17 without giving counsel. 34:19 He always says, "This is the problem, here's the solution." 34:21 Here's the problem, here's the solution. 34:23 Alright, so let's look at the counsel. 34:24 Revelation 3:18, He says... 34:40 Now gold, white clothes or white raiment, and salve. 34:47 What are these things? What do they represent? 34:50 Well, I want to share something with you 34:52 from our church periodical written many years ago. 34:55 You can find it if you dig back into your garage 34:59 to the stack that's there in the back corner. 35:02 Here it is. 35:10 Now that's good news. 35:11 Because just a moment ago, I said more than 500,000 then 35:14 of the church members of any church in North America 35:17 are going to be characterized as lukewarm. 35:19 But that doesn't need to be a cause for despair, 35:22 because it says the counsel shows that we do not need 35:26 to see ourselves in a hopeless case. 35:28 "The Laodicean message is full of encouragement." 35:31 Full of encouragement. 35:36 Now what is the gold? 35:48 Okay, so what is the gold and what is the white raiment. 35:52 And also, what is the eye salve? 35:54 Where told the eye salve is the Holy Spirit 35:56 bringing discernment and understanding concerning 36:00 our need of our Savior and a personal 36:02 relationship with Him. 36:03 So that's what the eye salve is. 36:05 So we could summarize Jesus' counsel this way. 36:08 Jesus' counsel is, "You need My righteousness, 36:11 which comes through faith. 36:12 And you need love brought into your heart. 36:14 And these are the gifts that result as the Holy Spirit 36:17 works in you when you abide in Me." 36:19 Okay, so we're talking here now about a personal relationship 36:23 with Jesus as the counsel to the church at Laodicea. 36:30 Now when Jesus comes there's going to be no such thing as 36:34 a lukewarm person. 36:36 You know, when Jesus comes there's only two groups. 36:39 There's no longer three. 36:41 There's the hot and the cold. 36:42 There's the righteous and the wicked. 36:44 There's the wheat and the tares. 36:45 The sheep and the goats. 36:46 The wise and the foolish. 36:47 Everywhere you go through Scripture, when it comes down 36:49 to the final events, there's only two groups. 36:52 Only two groups. 36:53 So something happens just before Jesus comes that 36:57 causes the middle group to disappear. 37:00 You could say they go hot or cold all over. 37:04 Sometimes I've said that. 37:05 You know just recently, last week, I was walking with 37:07 my wife along a little path outdoors, 37:10 and a snake went slithering across my trail. 37:13 I hate snakes. I just despise them. 37:17 This is a tiny little thing but I tell you what, 37:19 I went hot and cold all over. 37:20 Just seeing that snake, I just went hot and cold all over. 37:23 Well just before Jesus comes, the lukewarm are going to go 37:28 hot or cold all over. 37:32 They stop being warm. 37:34 There's a little rhyme that says, 37:35 "There was a little girl who had a little curl 37:38 right in the middle of her forehead. 37:40 When she was good, she was very very good; 37:44 and when she was bad, she was... 37:47 ...horrid." 37:48 You know what it is, alright. 37:50 That's what's going to happen just before Jesus comes. 37:53 Well how does it happen? 37:55 What takes place? 37:56 And why does it take place? 37:58 God moves in and God picks up speed at the very end. 38:02 And as God moves in and picks up speed... 38:04 We're told the final movements are going to be what? 38:06 Rapid ones. 38:08 ...the warm start going one way or the other. 38:12 There's going to come a time in our world 38:14 when Jesus waits no longer. 38:17 We have often talked about the privilege that is ours 38:19 of hastening His coming. 38:21 But the idea of hastening a coming implies or 38:24 carries with it that there is a point in time 38:27 in which He comes whether we hastened it or not. 38:30 You don't hasten something unless it's 38:32 already going to happen. 38:33 You can make it happen more quickly, 38:36 but it's going to happen whether you hasten it or not, okay. 38:39 See, I figured out on Google today also how far it was 38:43 if I had driven instead of flown here. 38:45 It was 1,973 miles from where I live. 38:49 Then I punched into my calculator and I discovered 38:51 that if I had driven that at 60 miles an hour, 38:54 it would have taken me 33 hours. 38:56 That's not stopping for the bathroom or gas. 38:58 That's just 33 hours of nonstop driving. 39:02 Then I thought, well what if I changed it from 60 to 70. 39:05 Because there's a lot of speed limits on the interstates 39:07 that say 70. 39:08 Well it changes it to 28 hours instead of 33. 39:13 I can hasten my trip by going 70 instead of 60. 39:18 But if I go 60, I'm still going to get here. 39:21 Alright? 39:22 So we have had the privilege of hastening the return of Christ. 39:26 But He's going to come whether we hasten it or not. 39:28 He's going to come. 39:29 He's got a time figured out when He's coming. 39:32 And I believe that the point when He's planning to come 39:36 is not based on the clock. 39:37 I believe it's based on world conditions. 39:40 World conditions. 39:42 I believe the world is going to reach a point where it is 39:45 so rotten that if He didn't come there'd be 39:48 nobody left to come for. 39:49 Because we'd be on the verge of self-destruction implosion. 39:53 Billy Graham, I believe, is the one who said, 39:55 "If Jesus doesn't come soon He's going to have to apologize 39:58 to Sodom and Gomorrah, because we are 40:00 approaching their wickedness. 40:02 And it wouldn't surprise me if we don't pass it." 40:04 And so then He'd have to apologize, see. 40:06 So I believe there's conditions, world conditions. 40:08 And when our world reaches that point, 40:10 God is going to pull out all the stops. 40:12 As they say for the organist. 40:14 Pull out all the stops. 40:16 Romans 9:28 says... 40:24 So as God finishes His work, a great polarization takes place 40:29 and the lukewarm disappear. 40:31 Have you noticed... 40:33 Probably many of you haven't, because you're not as old as me. 40:36 I have crossed the threshold of age. 40:39 And now I notice things and say things that I use to hear 40:43 older people say, but I say them now. 40:46 But 50 years ago on television, 50 years ago Mary Tyler Moore 40:52 and Dick Van Dyke were required to wear pajamas 40:55 that buttoned all the way up to their necks, 40:57 they had to wear wedding bands, 40:58 and they had to sleep in twin beds, 40:59 because the censures for the networks said, 41:03 "We will not have anything... 41:05 These people aren't married. They're actors and actresses. 41:08 And we're not having them in the same bed. 41:10 That would just look like scandal. 41:11 We're not going to put our actors and our actresses 41:13 in a compromised situation. 41:15 So they're going to sleep in twin beds." 41:16 That was the Dick Van Dyke show. 41:18 50 years ago. 41:20 I don't think I need to tell you how things have changed. 41:23 Commercials are worse than what any censure would have 41:28 ever dreamed back 50 years ago. 41:29 Okay, so that's just one example. 41:30 I just grabbed that one out of the hat. 41:32 But there are all kinds of examples where the world is 41:35 becoming increasingly wicked. 41:36 At the same time it is also becoming increasingly interested 41:40 in spiritual things too. 41:42 You see both camps forming. 41:43 You see both camps forming. 41:45 For example, 50 years ago the only place you could 41:48 get a Christian book would be at camp meeting at the ABC. 41:52 Now you can buy Christian books at Wal-Mart. 41:54 Did you know that when they were selling the Passion of Christ, 41:57 that DVD, it came with the Desire of Ages? 42:01 Did you know that? It was packaged. 42:02 I actually saw it with my own eyes, I saw it. 42:05 The Passion of Christ packaged with the Desire of Ages, 42:07 Christian book; you can get this a Wal-Mart. 42:10 This is a lot different than 50 years ago. 42:13 So what I'm trying to say is, we're seeing the 42:15 world conditions polarizing. 42:17 We're seeing the wicked become more wicked, 42:19 and we're seeing an increased interest in spiritual things 42:21 and in the things of God as well. 42:23 Simultaneously. 42:24 That's a good sign. 42:25 That is a good sign. 42:27 The message of Jesus and His righteousness is rising. 42:31 And as it rises, the result is going to be a genuine 42:35 true remnant church. 42:39 Now you might say, "Well what do you mean 42:40 by a genuine true remnant church?" 42:44 Prior to lukewarm's disappearance, 42:48 so when they're still lukewarm, 42:51 the remnant church is remnant doctrinally, 42:55 but not experientially. 42:58 It has it here, but it doesn't have it here. 43:03 When God finishes what He's going to do 43:06 and the polarization is concluded, 43:08 His remnant are going to have it here and here, not just here. 43:12 Not just here. 43:15 When that happens... 43:17 Well John 4:23 says, Jesus was talking to the 43:22 woman at the well, remember her. 43:24 And she asked Him what kind of worship 43:28 God was interested in most. 43:30 As a diversion, because she got a little bit nervous 43:32 when He talked about her personal life. 43:33 And He said, "Whoa." 43:34 She says, "You must be a prophet. 43:36 Can we change the subject? 43:37 Let's talk about God's worship style," and so on. 43:38 So then she asked Him the question. 43:40 And it went up on the screen, but I ended up digressing. 43:43 I'll come back to it now. 43:44 And Jesus said to that woman, 43:47 "Do you want to know what kind of worship God's looking for?" 43:56 Jesus said, "The kind of worship God is looking for is two kinds. 44:00 He's looking for spirit and truth." 44:04 It's like saying heart and head. 44:06 See, if you're in a rowboat and you only have one oar, 44:09 you're going to go in a circle. 44:11 In order for the rowboat to make any kind of progress, 44:13 you have to have both oars in the water. 44:15 And Jesus is saying, "It's not enough to have it here 44:17 if you don't have it here." 44:19 It's not enough. 44:20 Just having it here is not enough to save anybody. 44:23 Knowing the facts, knowing doctrine, 44:25 knowing the truth, that doesn't... 44:26 See, have you ever heard people say, 44:29 "Please pray for my son," or, "my daughter. 44:30 They left the truth." 44:32 Or, "We've been in the truth for this X number of years." 44:34 Or "I first found the truth..." 44:35 Ever heard that phrase? 44:37 Generally when people use that phrase, they're referring 44:39 to a set of theological beliefs, of doctrines, 44:42 of scriptural lining things together 44:45 and saying, "Okay, this is the truth." 44:46 They're talking about basically theology and doctrine. 44:49 That's usually what they're referring to. 44:51 Okay? 44:53 But Jesus said, "I am the way, the..." What? 44:55 "...the truth." The Truth is a capital "T." 44:57 The truth is a person. 44:59 It's something more than head knowledge. 45:00 It's a person. 45:02 And when Jesus talked to that woman, He said 45:04 the kind of truth that God is... 45:06 The kind of people that God is looking for is people who 45:08 worship Him in spirit and in truth; both head and heart. 45:14 Well as God starts to finish the work a shaking takes place 45:19 in the church. 45:21 And I believe this shaking takes place in every church, 45:24 every denomination, around the world. 45:27 Right now I'm a Seventh-day Adventist pastor, 45:28 I intend to stay that way. 45:30 And so I'm referencing my own church. 45:32 But I believe this is happening in all churches. 45:34 All churches. 45:37 What happens is the shaking takes place. 45:39 Very interesting, long standing members start leaving. 45:44 And backsliders start returning. 45:47 Isn't that weird? 45:49 People who have been in the church for 60 years leave, 45:53 and people who left in discouragement come back. 45:56 That's one of the results of the shaking. 45:58 But what causes the shaking? 45:59 The little book, Early Writings, page 70, says this... 46:13 Now please refresh yourself. 46:15 Just a moment ago, we noted what the counsel was to the 46:18 church at Laodicea. 46:19 The counsel was the need for a personal relationship 46:23 with Jesus; faith and love. 46:26 The eye salve of the Holy Spirit who reveals our need of a Savior 46:29 and a union and communion with Him on an ongoing basis. 46:32 That's the counsel. 46:33 That's the counsel. 46:35 Now this is a real puzzler, because it said there 46:38 in that Early Writings, page 70, it said the shaking is not 46:42 caused by rebuke. 46:45 The shaking is not caused by raising standards. 46:49 The shaking is caused by the counsel of the True Witness. 46:54 Which is another way of saying, then, that what causes 46:57 the shaking is an increased focus and interest 47:01 in the Lord Jesus Christ. 47:02 Now isn't that a puzzle? 47:04 Why that would cause people to go one way or another... 47:07 You would think that a focus on Jesus would be embraced 47:11 by everybody, both in the church and out of the church, you know. 47:15 You would think. 47:16 But it actually ends up causing a lot of lukewarm people 47:21 to leave completely. 47:28 Why? 47:29 Why would an emphasis on Jesus cause people to leave? 47:35 Well, because they have been substituting something else 47:39 for their security. 47:42 What have they been substituting? 47:44 They have been substituting external goodness. 47:49 They have been substituting intellectual 47:51 understanding of truth. 47:54 They have been substituting theological purity 47:59 in doctrine for a personal experience with Jesus. 48:03 They've been substituting that. 48:06 Now I'm not saying that you can't have both. 48:08 You can have both or Jesus would not have said here and here. 48:11 Right? 48:12 But if someone gets unhappy with a focus on Jesus, 48:17 it's because they have been depending on 48:18 something other than Jesus. 48:21 They have been living their stainless pure life 48:24 apart from Him. 48:26 And when someone comes along and says that doesn't count, 48:28 they get angry. 48:30 I was preaching at a camp meeting in Alberta, Canada. 48:34 And I mentioned this. 48:35 And after the meeting a gentleman came up. 48:37 He had white hair and a beard. 48:39 And he started poking me with his finger in my chest. 48:43 And he stood there after the meeting and he said to me, 48:45 "Don't tell me that all of my staying out of trouble 48:48 for 60 years doesn't amount to some brownie points in heaven. 48:51 I don't have that daily time with God that you 48:54 talk about, and I don't need it. 48:55 I have stayed out of trouble, I have kept my nose clean, 48:57 I've got a clean slate. 48:59 And God knows that and it doesn't matter what you say. 49:02 Don't give me that kind of nonsense." 49:04 He was mad. 49:05 He was mad that I was telling him, just staying out of trouble 49:09 doesn't get anyone to heaven. 49:11 Just raising standards doesn't get anyone to heaven. 49:15 You have to know Jesus. 49:16 What's the root word of "Christian?" 49:17 "Christ." 49:19 If you don't know Christ, just knowing biblical truth 49:22 isn't going to be enough to save you. 49:24 It isn't going to be enough. 49:25 Remember, the people who killed Jesus knew what 49:28 day to go to church on. 49:30 You know, but they killed Jesus. 49:32 It's not enough to have a biblical knowledge 49:34 or understanding if you don't have a relationship with Jesus. 49:37 It's all for not. 49:39 I had some members of one of the churches I pastored, 49:44 prior to what we're doing right now... 49:47 A group of my actual elders and some of the key leaders 49:51 in my church, board members, sent a letter to my 49:54 conference president, my boss, my CEO. 49:57 And the letter, they sent me a copy of it, because they wanted 49:59 me to see what they were complaining about. 50:01 They actually signed the letter. 50:02 There was about half a dozen of them. 50:03 And some of them had been, before they retired 50:06 they had been influential leaders in the world church 50:09 and denomination, and so on. 50:11 And they signed their name. 50:13 And this is what they wrote to my president. 50:16 They said, "We're getting tired of all of the sermons 50:19 being forever and always about Jesus. 50:22 What we would like is some good old fashion 50:24 Seventh-day Adventist preaching down here for a change." 50:27 That's what they wrote. 50:29 That was the letter. 50:30 Well, what were they thinking? 50:31 They were thinking good old fashion Adventist preaching 50:34 wouldn't be about Jesus. 50:35 It would be about truth, truth, truth. 50:38 "Make sure they know what the truth is. 50:39 Hit them with the truth, and if they don't know the truth, 50:41 man, they're in deep trouble. 50:42 We know the truth, and if they want to be 50:43 correct they will sign up with us. 50:45 If they don't sign up with us, they don't have the truth." 50:47 That's good old fashion. 50:49 But my conference president wrote them back a letter, 50:51 and he sent me a copy. 50:53 And he said, "I'm looking forward to the day 50:55 when I get complaints like yours from every 50:57 church in my conference. 50:59 I want Jesus to be first and foremost in every church. 51:03 I want Jesus to be the subject matter and the theme of 51:06 every congregation." 51:08 And I said, "Thank you." 51:10 It's wonderful to work for a boss like that. 51:13 Well I said that the people who have been depending on their 51:17 goodness instead of their relationship with Jesus, 51:20 they get unhappy and they leave. 51:22 But at the same time, backsliders... 51:26 People who left because they couldn't produce the goodness 51:30 on their own. 51:31 They had tried to keep the rules. 51:33 They had given it their best shot. 51:36 They had been sincere about trying. 51:38 Like the Israelites, "All that the Lord has said, we will do." 51:40 They had tried. 51:42 They had been told, "This is the truth, this is it. 51:44 You know, walk in it," and so on. 51:46 But they kept falling and flopping and failing. 51:48 And they got so bruised and bloody that in 51:50 discouragement they left. 51:52 They thought, "I'm not going to add hypocrisy to failure. 51:55 I'm just going to check out. 51:56 I can't do it, I can't do it. 51:57 I can't walk this talk." 51:58 And they left. 52:00 But along comes this emphasis on Jesus. 52:03 Remember, the counsel to the church at Laodicea 52:06 is what causes the shaking. 52:09 And what is it? 52:10 They're told, "Jesus wants to be your friend. 52:13 And if you are involved in a personal relationship with Him, 52:17 He promises to work in you both to will 52:19 and to do of His good pleasure. 52:21 He promises to complete the work He has begun in your life. 52:24 He promises to do for you what you cannot do for yourself. 52:27 It is a gift. 52:28 And He's asking you, He's inviting you into a relationship 52:32 with Him and He's saying, "If you will enter into 52:34 fellowship with Me, I will transform you into My likeness." 52:37 That is good news. 52:38 And when backsliders hear that, they say, 52:41 "Oh, I must have left too soon. 52:43 If it's about Who and not what, then I have a chance." 52:49 If it's about Who and not what. 52:53 So the last thing that happens just before Jesus comes 52:57 is, people trade places. 53:01 Those who have not chosen to be in a 53:03 relationship with Jesus leave. 53:04 Remember when He cleansed the temple the second time? 53:08 You can read about this. 53:09 It's very interesting. 53:10 The people who leave were religious people. 53:14 The people who stayed were the bruised and the battered. 53:18 The helpless and the hopeless. 53:20 They stayed and He healed them. 53:22 Remember the story, He healed them. 53:24 And the religious people were unhappy about it. 53:27 But He ministered to the hopeless and the helpless. 53:32 And so the weak and the infirmed, and I would also 53:36 suggest the strong who actually realized that they are weak 53:40 even though they appear strong. 53:42 Those are the people who embrace this message of Jesus 53:46 wanting to be friends. 53:47 "Can we be friends?" 53:49 "Can we be friends?" that's His message to you and to me. 53:52 Well... 53:58 Those weak and infirmed open the door to Jesus 54:03 so He can come home. 54:04 Or maybe I should say, respond to His knock 54:10 and open the door. 54:11 I have a friend, Carl Hafner, he's a pastor over in 54:13 Kettering in Ohio. 54:16 And he has a little girl, her name is Claire. 54:18 She's not such a little girl any more, but my wife taught her 54:20 as a kindergartener in school. 54:21 And Claire has loved the Word of God. 54:25 She just loved it ever since a little girl. 54:27 She loves the Word of God. 54:29 And she wrote her own paraphrase of Revelation 3:20. 54:32 And I want you to see what she wrote. 54:34 She wrote this as a fifth grader. 54:36 A fifth grader, Revelation 3:20. 54:38 Notice this. 54:39 "Knock, knock..." 54:41 The reason I say "CHV" is that it's the Claire Hafner version. 54:47 Okay, so here it is. 55:16 Remember, He said, "If anyone hears My voice 55:18 and opens the door..." 55:20 Isn't it sad how many of us have not opened the door 55:23 because we have been distracted with other things. 55:26 See, when Jesus knocks on the door, I don't want to be 55:29 sidetracked with my bank account. 55:31 When Jesus knocks on the door, I don't want to be 55:34 sidetracked with my new car or my new boat 55:37 or my new toy. 55:38 When Jesus knocks on the door, I don't want to be 55:41 watching television so that I can't hear Him 55:44 above the late night show. 55:45 When Jesus knocks on the door, I don't want to be so distracted 55:49 with current events and the news, which is usually nothing 55:52 more than a report on what the devil's been doing 55:54 for the last 24 hours, that I don't have time to hear His 55:57 knock or run to the door. 55:59 When Jesus knocks at the door, I don't want to be so distracted 56:02 with my earphones, and my iPhones, and my iPads, 56:06 and my headsets, and my music, and... 56:09 I don't want to be so distracted that I can't hear Him 56:12 when He rings the doorbell. 56:14 I don't want to be so consumed with my school and my education, 56:18 or my job, or my career that I don't have time 56:20 to open the door. 56:22 When Jesus knocks, I want to open the door and have Him 56:26 come in and fellowship with me and I with Him. 56:31 And guess what? 56:32 Even if you don't think you have anything to offer Him, 56:34 if you say like Old Mother Hubbard, I go there and 56:37 the cupboard is bare, He brings everything with Him. 56:41 Isn't that good? 56:43 And He lays out for you a table full of the bread of life 56:49 and the water of life. 56:51 And He says, "Let's eat." 56:53 And the best part of eating is you're going to eat with Him. 56:57 The counsel to the church at Laodicea is, 57:00 let's fellowship with Jesus. 57:03 Let's respond to His knock on our heart's door. 57:06 Let's pray. 57:07 Lord Jesus, thank You for being interested in us 57:11 enough to want to hang out with us. 57:14 To what to, no big agenda, but just to be friends, 57:17 to share a meal, to share life. 57:20 Forgive us for being distracted far too easily with things 57:23 that are going to rot, or rust, or burn. 57:25 And encourage us, Lord, strengthen us 57:27 to hear the knock and to open the door. 57:31 And to share with others the good news. |
Revised 2014-12-17