Participants: Justin Torossian
Series Code: AOT
Program Code: AOT000156
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00:14 Welcome to Anchors Of Truth
00:16 live from the 3ABN Worship Center. 00:23 Hello and welcome to the opening night of our 00:26 Anchors Of Truth series. 00:28 We are so happy to have you with us, those of you 00:30 who are in our house here and those who are watching 00:34 from across the street, and yea, around the world. 00:37 I would have you know that this particular Anchors 00:42 takes us somewhere over 150 of these Anchors sermons 00:46 that we have preached. 00:48 And so if you have been here for all of them, 00:51 then you've been through over 150, I think about 152, 00:57 Christ filled messages. 00:59 And I'm sure that you have grown in faith and grace 01:03 as you have listened to these various speakers 01:06 tell us of the things of God. 01:08 We need to thank our president Jim Gilley, 01:10 because this was his brain child. 01:12 And when he brought it to us, we didn't know where it 01:15 was going to go or how it was going to grow. 01:17 But I think those of you who have been here 01:19 throughout this series can say that it has been a blessing 01:22 and it has been a God inspired thing. 01:25 Our speaker tonight is Justin Torossian. 01:28 He is a young man. 01:29 I dare say at the very beginning, he is still single. 01:33 And a good looking young man. 01:34 So I doubt that will last very long. 01:37 But he is a native of California, 01:39 the Central California Conference. 01:41 He spent some time working with Pastor Stephen Bohr 01:44 and the Secrets Unsealed group, so he comes with good lineage. 01:49 He is a graduate of Pacific Union College 01:53 with his degree in theology, and is currently studying 01:57 at Andrews University working on his Masters of Divinity 02:01 before he returns to service at the 02:03 Central California Conference. 02:06 Easy guy to like. 02:07 We've met him, he's actually been on this stage before. 02:11 Have not heard him preach, but he comes with 02:13 high recommendation. 02:14 And so we expect nothing but the Spirit of God 02:17 to move in this house tonight as he speaks on the subject, 02:21 Laodicea's Sindrome, which is an interesting title. 02:28 And we are really anxious to hear him speak. 02:32 Easy guy to get to know and like. 02:34 The Spirit of God is with him. 02:35 And we like him a lot. 02:37 And we really expect God to do a great blessing through him. 02:41 Now I've got to get this right, I've got to work on this, 02:43 because he is related to Ellen White. 02:47 He is the... 02:49 Let's see, I've got to get this right. 02:50 Ellen White's youngest son was Willie White. 02:54 Willie White's oldest daughter had several children. 02:59 Her youngest daughter is his great grandmother. 03:04 Now if that's not correct, he will fix that up for us. 03:07 I think it's, great great great great, 03:09 or great great great, or great great great great great, 03:13 grandmother was Ellen White. 03:14 Now having said that, he would be the first to tell you 03:18 that spirituality is not genetics. 03:22 It doesn't come through the genes. 03:23 Each person must know the Lord for themselves. 03:27 So he gets no spiritual unction because he's 03:31 related to Ellen White. 03:32 Ellen White's twin sister, Elizabeth, there are some 03:36 argument whether she ever joined the church, 03:38 but for many years did not profess to love Christ. 03:41 So you don't get into heaven because your parents were 03:43 good Christians, or because your brother or sister 03:45 was a good Christian, or even because your husband or wife 03:48 was a good Christian. 03:50 My mom use to say, "Every tub has to rest on its own laurels." 03:55 Thus saying, if God uses him tonight, 03:59 and we know that the Lord will, it will be because he 04:02 has learned to make Jesus his personal Savior, 04:05 and he gets no credit through any work of Ellen White 04:08 even though they are related. 04:09 So we ask God's blessing on him as he talks to us 04:14 about Laodicea and what we can do to change that. 04:19 Will you have a word of prayer with me, 04:21 and then we're going to sing a song that talks about 04:25 getting to heaven. 04:27 We all want to get to heaven. 04:29 And what a day of rejoicing that will be when we do indeed 04:32 get to heaven. 04:34 And we look forward to that day. Shall we pray. 04:36 Father God, we do love You and praise You. 04:40 And we thank You so very much for the privilege we have 04:44 of hearing the Word of God. 04:47 We thank You for the power of preaching. 04:50 We thank You for the moving of the Holy Spirit. 04:53 We ask that You might, in a very powerful way, 04:56 touch the lips of Your manservant this night. 05:00 Give him words that will be meat in due season 05:04 for our souls. 05:05 And then enable us, Father, to be doers of the Word, 05:10 not just hearers of the Word. 05:13 Because it is in the doing that we are made like Christ Jesus. 05:17 And so bless each of us this night. 05:20 May we sit even for a little while in heavenly places 05:24 and hear the Word of the Lord. 05:27 And we thank You, dear Father, in Jesus' name, amen. 05:42 Sing the wondrous love of Jesus, 05:49 sing His mercy and His grace. 05:56 In the mansions so bright and blessed 06:03 He'll prepare for us a place. 06:13 While we walk the pilgrim's pathway 06:21 clouds will overspread our sky. 06:27 But when traveling days are over, 06:34 not a shadow, not a sigh. 06:43 When we all get to heaven, 06:52 what a day of rejoicing that will be. 06:58 For when we all see Jesus, 07:05 we'll sing and shout the victory. 07:17 Let us then be true and faithful; 07:24 trusting Jesus, serving Jesus, every day. 07:31 Just one glimpse of Him in glory 07:38 will the toils of life repay, 07:44 repay. 07:49 Onward to the prize before us, 07:56 soon His beauty we'll behold. 08:03 Soon the pearly gates, they will open, 08:09 and we shall tread the streets of gold. 08:18 So when we all get to heaven, 08:27 what a day of rejoicing that will be. 08:33 For when we all see Jesus, 08:41 we'll sing and shout the victory. 08:47 For when we all get to heaven, 08:55 what a day of rejoicing that will be. 09:01 When we all see Jesus, 09:09 we'll sing and shout, we'll sing and shout, 09:16 we'll sing and shout the victory. 09:44 Amen. 09:45 When we all get to heaven we'll sing and shout the victory. 09:49 Amen? 09:50 And when we do, it'll be by the grace of Jesus. 09:53 Thank you, Elder Murray, for that beautiful song. 09:55 And for the introduction. 09:57 You did have it right. 09:58 James and Ellen White are my great great great grandparents. 10:01 And I like to say it that way because they're really the 10:03 great ones, not me. 10:04 I'm just your average Joe. 10:06 And they're only great because God used them in a great way. 10:10 As He will with any of us when we surrender our lives to Him. 10:13 Amen? 10:15 I'm privileged to be here with you tonight, 10:18 and looking forward to sharing a message that the Lord has used 10:22 to challenge me to transform my life. 10:26 And every time that I study it, re-study it, and share it, 10:29 He continues to speak to my own heart. 10:32 So I pray that as we examine Jesus' message to the church 10:36 of Laodicea this week together, that you also will discover the 10:41 good news in this gospel message of Jesus' letter 10:45 to the church of Laodicea. 10:47 Before we begin together, I just want to invite you 10:49 wherever you are to bow your heads as we ask the Lord's 10:53 presence once again in prayer. 10:58 Our Father in heaven, Lord we thank You 11:01 that You are here in our midst. 11:04 We praise You for Your Holy Spirit. 11:06 We praise You for the ways that You work in our lives. 11:08 And Lord, thank You for the power of Your Word. 11:11 We pray that You would speak to each of us tonight 11:15 the message that You know each of us need. 11:18 Send Your Spirit to not only help us understand Your Word, 11:22 but to have the wisdom to apply it to our lives. 11:25 We thank You, in Jesus' precious name, amen. 11:31 It was the first century, under the power of the Holy Spirit, 11:36 God had explosively grown the New Testament church, 11:40 that fledgling movement, into an unstoppable movement 11:44 for His glory. 11:45 Feeling threatened by this movement, the Roman 11:49 Emperor Domitian issued a decree. 11:52 The year was 95 AD. 11:55 And Domitian, feeling threatened by the talk of a king that was 11:59 going to return, issued a decree that no one could worship 12:03 anyone but himself, or else be killed. 12:08 What were the Christians going to do? 12:11 They had been called by God. 12:13 They had been chosen. 12:15 But in this tough situation, would they remain faithful? 12:20 This was the question. 12:22 Jesus knew that His people needed His help. 12:26 He knew that His followers needed a message from on high. 12:30 And Jesus sent them just the encouragement that they needed. 12:34 A message that confirmed and affirmed that He, 12:37 as the King of kings, was seated on His heavenly throne 12:40 and that they need not fear this pompous pagan monarch, 12:44 even in the face of death. 12:46 Through the last living apostle, John, Jesus sent a message 12:52 to His people. 12:54 John the revelator, that walked and talked with Jesus, 12:58 was the last living apostle. 13:00 He had miraculously had his life spared by God 13:03 as he had been thrown in a pot of boiling oil. 13:06 But when Domitian couldn't kill him that way, 13:08 he exiled him to the island of Patmos. 13:11 Probably to work in the mines until he would die of old age. 13:16 But from the lonely isle of Patmos, God sent a message 13:20 to His people that would not only bring comfort, 13:22 encouragement, and hope then in the first century, 13:25 but that would be a prophetic outline 13:28 of the history of humanity down through time 13:31 until Jesus comes again in the clouds of glory. 13:35 We know it today as the book of Revelation. 13:39 The book of Revelation. 13:41 And here is where we find our passage that we'll be 13:44 studying together for our series called, Chosen and Faithful. 13:48 And it is Jesus' message to the church of Laodicea. 13:54 Now, Revelation is a book of sevens. 13:57 In Revelation, we find the seven last plagues, 14:00 we find the seven trumpets, the seven seals. 14:03 John saw Jesus in vision symbolized by a lamb that 14:06 had seven horns and seven eyes. 14:09 But before any of these things, the first mention of the 14:13 number seven in the book of Revelation is in verse 4 14:18 where John is writing to the seven churches. 14:21 And this is where we find our message tonight 14:24 and for our series together. 14:28 These letters were written by John to the local 14:31 literal churches of Asia Minor, seven of the many local 14:35 literal churches there. 14:36 But this message, or these messages rather, 14:40 are written to God's church down through time. 14:43 You see, each church is representative of a time period 14:47 of church history down through time 14:50 until Jesus would come back in the clouds of glory. 14:53 And by the way, the Seventh-day Adventist Church is not 14:56 the first church to believe and teach this. 14:59 Most of the Protestant reformers believed that the churches 15:03 were representative of seven time periods of church history. 15:08 In fact, it dates back to an Italian theologian named, 15:11 Joachim Of Fiore, back in the 12th century. 15:14 He's the first one who we have record of believing and teaching 15:17 that the seven churches were representative of seven 15:20 time periods of church history. 15:23 So friends, it makes sense that if the seven churches 15:27 of Revelation symbolize seven time periods of church history, 15:31 that the last church on the list would be representative 15:35 of God's last day people. 15:38 The church at the end of the list is symbolic of 15:41 God's church at the end of time. 15:44 And this is our focus for our series. 15:47 God's message to the church of Laodicea. 15:50 Which is symbolic of our church today, 15:54 God's last day people. 15:57 I invite you to turn in your Bibles with me. 15:59 And I hope you brought them with you. 16:00 If you're joining us from home, we want to invite you 16:02 to go and grab your Bible off the shelf. 16:04 You're going to be using it. 16:06 Some of our verses will appear on the screen 16:08 for the sake of time. 16:10 But go ahead and grab your Bible. 16:12 Our verse is in Revelation chapter 3. 16:16 Revelation chapter 3. 16:17 And turn with me in your Bibles to verse 14. 16:21 Revelation 3 verse 14. 16:24 I'll be reading from the New King James Version. 16:27 Jesus said... 16:39 Now I want to point out two things in this verse. 16:42 It's very easy to glaze over very important details 16:46 that God wants to communicate to us in the Bible. 16:49 Notice with me the word, "Beginning." 16:52 "These things says the Amen, 16:54 the Faithful and True Witness," that is Jesus, 16:56 "the Beginning of the creation of God." 16:59 Now the word that is translated, "Beginning," here 17:02 in the New King James and most other versions, 17:04 is the Greek word, "arche." 17:07 Now this word does not only have the ability to mean, 17:10 "the first," or, "beginning," but it can also mean, 17:14 "the active cause," or, "the originator." 17:17 So rather than the Bible saying here that Jesus is the beginning 17:21 of the creation of God, Jesus is the Beginner 17:24 of the creation of God. 17:26 And this is in line with the Bible's picture. 17:29 In Colossians 1 verse 16 and John 1 verse 3, 17:32 the Bible makes it very clear that everything that has been 17:35 created was created by Christ. 17:39 Christ is our Creator. 17:43 Now why would Jesus communicate this here? 17:45 Why would He specify that He's the Creator 17:49 in this message to the church of Laodicea? 17:51 Now I want to share something very interesting with you, 17:54 and stay with me here. 17:56 Did you know that the precursor to Darwin's, 17:59 Origin of the Species, was written in the year 1844? 18:04 The precursor to Darwin's, Origin of the Species, 18:07 was written then. 18:08 The very year that the Bible's longest time prophecy, 18:11 the 2300 day prophecy, came to an end 18:15 and the time period of Laodicea began. 18:18 In other words, God knew that His people in the last days 18:22 would be surrounded by supposedly scientific theories 18:26 that were striking at the heart of the biblical truth 18:29 that God is the Creator. 18:31 And Jesus, in this message to His last day people, 18:35 wanted them to know that He was the Beginner 18:38 of the creation of God. 18:41 Jesus was the Beginner before the beginning began to begin. 18:45 He wanted His people to know that He made the earth 18:48 and everything on it, that He breathed 18:51 the breath of life into man. 18:53 That He did all this in six literal 24 hour days. 18:58 And that He keeps every living thing living. 19:02 Jesus is our Creator; 19:06 the Beginner of the creation of God. 19:10 And this message comes from Him. 19:13 The same one that created you and created me. 19:18 He has a plan for our life. 19:20 He wants to re-create us, to form us in His image, 19:24 to breathe the breath of life into us again. 19:28 He wants to fill the darkness of our minds 19:30 with the light of life. 19:33 Friends, this message is a message from the Creator. 19:37 Now the second thing, I want us to go back to verse 14 together. 19:41 Verse 14... 19:48 Revelation 3 verse 14. 19:50 The angel of the church of the Laodiceans. 19:54 Now pop quiz. 19:57 What does the name, Laodicea, mean? 20:01 No, it doesn't mean lukewarm. 20:03 Lukewarm is the description, but not the definition. 20:07 The meaning of the name, Laodicea, is actually, 20:11 "people of the judgment," or, "a people judged." 20:15 This is what the name, Laodicea, actually means. 20:19 Now God knew that this message would specifically 20:23 be for His people living during the time of the 20:25 investigative judgment, or His pre-advent judgment. 20:29 So here in Revelation 3 verse 14 we have a message, number one, 20:35 to the people living in the time of the judgment; 20:37 and number two, a message that is from the Creator. 20:41 Question, is there any other place that comes to mind 20:45 in the book of Revelation where God gave a message 20:52 about a time of judgment, and He made clear that 20:55 He is the Creator? 20:57 That's right, Revelation chapter 14. 21:00 The three angels' message. 21:01 Revelation 14, John sees "an angel flying in the 21:05 midst of heaven with the everlasting gospel 21:07 to preach unto them that dwell on the earth, 21:09 and to every nation, kindred, and tongue, and people, 21:12 saying with a loud voice, 'Fear God and give glory to Him, 21:16 for the hour of His judgment has come; 21:19 and worship Him who made'" or created, "heaven and earth, 21:24 the seas, and the fountains of living water." 21:27 For the three angels' message is a message to the people 21:31 in the time of the judgment, 21:33 the judgment hour of earth's history, 21:35 and it's a message from God as the Creator. 21:38 In other words, the three angels' message of Revelation 14 21:41 and the Laodicean message of Revelation 3 21:44 are intimately connected. 21:46 Even more than this, they're actually the same message 21:50 when you boil it down to the core. 21:52 The message in Revelation 3 is Jesus' message to His church. 22:00 In Revelation 14, the three angels' message 22:02 is Jesus' message to the world to be preached 22:05 through His church. 22:08 One is to wake up the world, 22:10 and the other is to wake up His people. 22:12 But at their core, they are the same message. 22:16 And it can be encapsulated in the phrase, 22:19 "righteousness by faith." 22:22 I wish we had time to unpack this some more tonight, 22:25 but you know, we'll be building on it some more 22:28 in our fifth and final message together this Sabbath afternoon. 22:32 The message is called, Overcome. 22:34 And you're not going to want to miss it. 22:37 Friends, God will use the Laodicean message 22:40 to revive His people. 22:42 The Laodicean message is a revival message. 22:45 And if something is a revival message, 22:47 I want to know about it. 22:48 How about you? Amen. 22:50 Why don't we take a look at it together. 22:51 Revelation 3 starting in verse 14. 22:56 Half way through verse 14 we'll begin. 23:04 As we saw, "...Beginner..." 23:48 As another version says, "I discipline and correct." 24:21 Now in these nine verses there is so much. 24:24 And I'm excited that we have a couple of days 24:27 to dive into this message and discover some powerful and 24:30 new things together therein. 24:32 Now you must be wondering, why Laodicea? 24:36 God could have chosen any of the churches in 24:39 Asia Minor to represent His people in the last days. 24:43 So what is it about this city that God drew parallels from 24:49 for His people at the end of time? 24:52 Well I'm glad you asked. 24:54 The city of Laodicea was just 50 miles southeast of Philadelphia. 25:01 By the time of Jesus' birth, Laodicea had about 25:04 50,000 inhabitants. 25:06 But at the height of its glory, so to speak, or the height of 25:09 its growth, Laodicea topped out at 150,000 people. 25:14 It was no small city. 25:17 Interestingly enough, the Seleucid king, 25:20 Antiochus the Great, moved over 2000 families 25:24 to inhabit Laodicea to actually grow the city. 25:28 And fascinatingly enough, Laodicea was primarily 25:32 populated with Jews and Syrians who had been called 25:35 out of the land of Babylon to move to Laodicea and live there. 25:40 Another striking parallel for God's last day people 25:44 who have been called out of spiritual Babylon. 25:47 Laodicea was seated on a mountain range 25:50 on the south side of a valley. 25:53 The Lycus River flowed through this valley. 25:56 And on the far north were mountains actually reaching 26:00 heights of 8000 to 9000 feet. 26:03 Now I grew up in the Napa Valley. 26:05 And the Napa Valley is geographically situated 26:08 in a similar way to this valley, although it's much smaller 26:12 than this one is. 26:13 Now on the north side of the valley was 26:17 the city of Hierapolis. 26:20 Hierapolis is there today in western Turkey, 26:22 and today they call it, Pamukkale. 26:26 And it literally means, cotton castle. 26:30 And you can see why if you see pictures of it today, 26:34 or if you go there today, because the city 26:36 looks like that, essentially. 26:38 It looks like a cotton castle. 26:41 The water there actually had calcium carbonate in it. 26:47 And this calcium carbonate, as it would flow down 26:50 the mountain side, would create these beautiful formations 26:53 like the ones you see here. 26:55 The water also had medicinal properties. 26:58 And besides being a site for worship, people would 27:02 come there for the medicinal properties in the water 27:05 to drink it, as well as to soak in the naturally 27:08 95 degree Jacuzzis. 27:12 So people would come from all over. 27:14 And it's still a tourist attraction today. 27:16 People actually still swim in those waters. 27:20 And they're still the same temperature. 27:22 They range up to 100 degrees. 27:25 It's there in western Turkey. 27:27 So Hierapolis was on the north side of this valley. 27:30 On the south side, the same side as Laodicea, 27:33 but 12 miles southeast of it, was the city of Colosse. 27:38 Now Colosse is familiar to us because of the book of 27:41 Colossians, which Paul wrote for the believers in Colosse. 27:45 Interestingly enough, Colossians 4 verse 13 27:48 mentions that Paul wanted the Christians in Colosse 27:52 to share this message with the Christians in Hierapolis 27:55 and Laodicea. 27:58 Now unlike Hierapolis further up north, 28:01 the water in Colosse was icy cold. 28:06 Now Laodicea had a problem. 28:08 And it was a huge problem. 28:11 Laodicea's problem was that they had no water. 28:14 No water source of its own. 28:17 No well, no spring, no creeks, no rivers, nothing. 28:23 So being the rich city that it was, they decided to build 28:26 an aqueduct to bring water from Hierapolis 28:30 down to the city of Laodicea. 28:33 And this was a huge feat. 28:36 If you go there today, to Laodicea there 28:38 in western Turkey, it's in the Denizli province in Turkey. 28:42 And if you go there today, you can actually see pictures 28:45 of these water pipes that they have unearthed and dug up. 28:50 I haven't had the chance to go there, 28:52 but some friends of mine from Andrews University 28:54 actually went with a group from Andrews University. 28:58 You can see this aqueduct. 29:00 Laodicea happens to be one of the most excavated sites 29:05 out of any of the seven churches in any of the areas in Turkey. 29:09 So these water pipes you can still see today 29:12 if you're to go there. 29:14 And this was a very, very expensive thing for them to do. 29:17 Now it sounds like a great idea, doesn't it? 29:23 "Why don't we just build an aqueduct and pipe in the 29:26 hot water from Hierapolis and we'll be good to go," 29:29 they must have thought. 29:32 It may have been good in theory, but it proved to be 29:36 a terrible failure. 29:38 Because if anyone went to Colosse to get cold water 29:42 from there, and by the time the hot waters from Hierapolis 29:46 made their way down to Laodicea, the hot water from Hierapolis 29:50 had cooled down and the cold waters of Colosse 29:54 being carried back would heat up in the Middle Eastern sun. 29:57 So Laodicea was left with lukewarm water 30:00 from both places. 30:02 Now this may not sound like a terrible thing to us, 30:07 but imagine with me that we had no cold or hot water. 30:15 Imagine with me that you're on a long walk. 30:19 And as you're walking, you decide to jog a little bit. 30:23 Get a little more exercise. 30:25 And as the sun is beating down on you, 30:27 you start to get thirsty. 30:28 You become dehydrated. 30:30 And as you're running by a park, you see it; 30:33 your eyes land upon relief. 30:37 A nice looking drinking fountain. 30:39 So you walk over to the drinking fountain 30:41 and you wipe the sweat from your forehead as you 30:43 bend down to get a drink. 30:46 You push the button, and rather than cold water to 30:50 quench your thirst, your mouth is filled with lukewarm, 30:54 tepid... yuck. 30:57 Has that happened to anybody else? 30:59 There are few feelings that are more disappointing 31:05 when it comes to drinking water than that. 31:08 Laodicea had no cold ponds, no pool to swim in 31:12 to cool off from the summer's heat. 31:15 How frustrating would it be if we didn't have cold 31:19 or hot water? 31:21 Jesus decided to speak to the Laodicean church 31:25 in a way that they would perfectly understand. 31:28 Let's read His words in chapter 3 verses 15 and 16. 31:34 Revelation 3 verses 15 and 16. 31:38 Jesus says... 31:53 There wasn't a single person in Laodicea 31:56 who hadn't been disappointed by the nauseatingly 32:00 lukewarm water that was there. 32:02 And Jesus speaks to us in a language we can understand. 32:06 You know, when He raised the girl in Luke chapter 8 32:09 from the dead, He said, "Talitha, cumi." 32:11 He spoke to her in Aramaic, the language of her home. 32:14 And here, Jesus was speaking to the Laodiceans in a language 32:18 to clear to be misunderstood. 32:20 He was saying, "You have not made a solid decision for Me." 32:25 You are riding the fence, so to speak. 32:29 Now the question comes, there are a couple of questions. 32:32 First of all, what does it mean to be spiritually hot? 32:37 To be spiritually hot means to be passionately 32:43 sharing the gospel with others. 32:44 It means to be intensely committed, 32:47 full of burning zeal. 32:49 Being consumed for a passion to share the gospel 32:51 that has transformed our own lives 32:53 with those whose lives need transformation. 32:57 To be spiritually hot means to be on fire for Jesus. 33:01 This is what it means to be spiritually hot. 33:04 To be completely sold out for Christ. 33:07 For Him to be your all in all. 33:10 Now what does it mean to be spiritually cold? 33:15 Now what does it mean to be spiritually cold? 33:17 One of my favorite things to do is to go backpacking or camping. 33:21 Last summer I had the chance to go backpacking 33:24 in Sequoia National Park with some good friends of mine. 33:27 It was incredible. 33:28 And I want to share some pictures with you from that. 33:32 Incredibly gorgeous. 33:34 We camped out at Lake Hamilton, which is in the next picture. 33:37 That was at 9000 feet of elevation. 33:40 And the mountain peaks around it rise to 12,000 and 13,000 feet. 33:45 Incredible. 33:46 Now if you've ever been camping or backpacking, 33:49 you know that it just isn't camping without a fire. 33:55 Friends, it's simple. 33:56 To be spiritually cold is like being distant from the 34:00 fire of God's love. 34:02 Recognizing that you lack warmth, that you need warmth, 34:05 but even lacking the strength to make your way to that fire. 34:09 To be spiritually cold means to be distant from God. 34:16 It means to be worldly. 34:18 To be caught up in the passing pleasures of this world. 34:22 Matthew 24 verse 12 actually gives us insight into this. 34:25 Jesus speaking to His disciples about the last days said that... 34:35 So Jesus reflected this language very clearly. 34:38 Now Jesus said something very interesting about those 34:41 that are spiritually cold. 34:43 And I want you to put it on a mental shelf 34:44 with me in your mind. 34:46 We're going to come back to it in just a little bit. 34:50 Now what does it mean to be lukewarm? 34:53 What did it mean to be lukewarm? 34:55 You know, in the English language today 34:57 we still use the word, "lukewarm," to signify 35:00 a half-hearted state of being. 35:03 Merriam Webster dictionary, among other things, 35:05 defines lukewarm as unenthusiastic, 35:08 lacking energy and excitement. 35:11 So it's still reflected in our language today. 35:14 Lukewarm Christians are those who want the best of 35:16 both worlds, and therefore get the best of neither. 35:21 They're not willing to give up their claim to heavenly things, 35:24 but they're not willing to give up the things of this earth 35:28 and the passing pleasures that the world offers us either. 35:33 The lukewarm Christian deceives both parties. 35:36 He is neither a good worldling, nor a good Christian. 35:40 Satan uses him to do a work that no one else can do. 35:45 You know, it could be said of Laodicean Christians 35:50 that they've got plenty of talk, but they're short when it 35:53 comes to their Christian walk. 35:55 I love how the Seventh-day Adventist 35:57 Bible Commentary put it. 35:59 It says... 36:09 Now friends, we should learn to be content with what we have, 36:13 but never be content with what we are. 36:15 Amen? 36:16 We should constantly be seeking a deeper walk with Christ. 36:20 Praying and studying our Bibles so that we can 36:22 rise to higher heights and deeper depths with Him. 36:26 Peter, in His last letter to the Christians that he was 36:30 writing to, said, "But grow in grace and in the knowledge 36:34 of the Lord Jesus Christ." 36:37 There was a woman who applied for a job at the 36:39 school that she was teaching at. 36:42 She had been teaching there for 20 years 36:44 and she was sure that she would get the position. 36:46 But word came in that a teacher got the job who had been 36:51 teaching for just four years. 36:53 She was furious. 36:55 She stormed into the principles office and she said, 36:58 "How is it that..." 37:00 And he said, "Please have a seat." 37:01 And she said, "No, no, no, no. I need an answer now." 37:03 And he said, "Okay." 37:05 And she said, "How is it that you didn't give me this job? 37:08 I've been teaching here for 20 years. 37:10 And you gave it to this teacher who has only been 37:12 teaching for four." 37:15 The principle calmly looked at her and said, 37:18 "This teacher has four years of experience. 37:22 You have one year of experience repeated 19 times." 37:28 Friends, many of us are like this woman. 37:31 Many of us are like this teacher who have had 37:36 one year of experience with Christ. 37:39 Back a long time ago we gave our lives to Him. 37:41 We've been in the church for 10, 20, 40 plus years, 37:46 but we're living off of old testimonies. 37:48 Friends, don't get me wrong. 37:50 We should look back to the things God has done 37:52 in our lives, the testimonies that have led us 37:54 along the way what God has done. 37:56 And we should praise God for how He's led in our past. 37:58 But it should not end there. 38:00 It needs to continue. 38:02 And God wants to be doing new things in our lives. 38:06 Friends, He wants us to be Christians who are completely 38:10 sold out for Him. 38:13 But in truth, in reality, we are lukewarm. 38:16 We're like this teacher looking at our old experiences 38:20 and living off of those. 38:22 We, as God's people, are lukewarm. 38:25 We're lukewarm when we search Google 38:27 more than we search our Bible. 38:29 We're lukewarm when we count down the hours 38:32 till the Sabbath is over so we can do our own thing. 38:34 We're lukewarm when we spend more time on our hair 38:38 than we do in prayer. 38:41 When we put our breakfast before our Bibles, we are lukewarm. 38:47 And Jesus says, "You're making Me sick." 38:51 Friends, I don't know about you, but I want to be nothing but 38:55 refreshing to my Lord and Savior. 38:57 I want God to be able to look down at me and say, 39:00 "That's My boy. That's My boy. 39:02 He is giving His everything for Me. 39:04 He's giving his all." 39:06 I want to be on fire for Jesus. How about you? 39:10 Amen. 39:11 Now I asked you to mentally shelf something in your mind, 39:13 and said that we'd come back to it. 39:16 If being hot means being spiritually healthy, 39:20 and being cold means being distant from God, 39:23 then why would God say, "I would that you were hot or cold." 39:28 Why wouldn't He just say, "I wish that you were hot." 39:31 Would God ever want someone to be distant from Him? 39:34 Now this is a powerful point. Don't miss this. 39:38 It's not that God wants anyone to be distant from Him. 39:41 The Bible says in 1 Peter 3 verse 9 that He wants 39:44 all to come to repentance. 39:45 That is God's desire. 39:47 But God is saying that He would rather us be cold than lukewarm. 39:52 He's saying that it's safer to be cold than lukewarm. 39:55 Now stay with me here. Follow. 39:57 Being distant from God and being cut off from Him 40:02 is actually safer than when we call ourselves a Christian 40:06 and we feel like we're okay when we're really not. 40:12 Friends, to be partly saved means to be completely lost. 40:16 Jesus says, "Give Me all or nothing." 40:19 He wants us to give Him our all. 40:21 And friends, it's safer for someone to be 40:23 distant from God, because at least like the person 40:26 far from the fire, they recognize their lack of warmth. 40:29 They recognize their need for God. 40:32 And God can place a desire in them to come close to Him. 40:37 A recognition of their need of Jesus. 40:40 Now friends, from the stranger in the street to the preacher 40:43 in the pulpit, we all need Jesus. 40:46 I'm so glad that He promises us in John 6 verse 37, 40:50 "Him who comes to Me, I will by no means cast out." 40:55 Praise the Lord for that. Amen? 40:57 Our Savior is ready and willing with open arms to receive us. 41:01 Now we've spoken at length about this major problem, 41:05 but being lukewarm is not Laodicea's greatest dilemma. 41:09 The news gets worse. 41:11 Let's look at verse 17 together. 41:13 Revelation 3 verse 17. 41:26 Now the city of Laodicea was filthy rich. 41:29 They were the Wall Street of the Middle East. 41:32 They were actually a banking center in their day. 41:35 They exported gold coins across the Mediterranean, and 41:38 even across the rest of the world. 41:40 When a major earthquake struck the city in AD 60, 41:44 the Roman government said, "Why don't we help you." 41:48 And listen to what they said. 41:50 The Roman historian, Tacitus, tells us 41:52 "Laodicea was in the same year overthrown by an earthquake. 41:56 And without any relief from us recovered itself 42:00 by its own resources." 42:02 In other words, Laodicea, when the Roman Empire 42:05 came to them and said, "Hey, we want to give you some money 42:07 to rebuild your city," they said, "No, no, we've got it. 42:10 Don't worry about it, we're good." 42:12 And Laodicea didn't do any halfway job when they 42:15 rebuilt their city. 42:16 It was even more beautiful than before. 42:19 There was a track that was 900 feet long. 42:23 They had a stadium and many other things. 42:26 It was more beautiful after the reconstruction. 42:29 This is how wealthy Laodicea was. 42:33 And Jesus gave this wealthy Laodicean church 42:35 a shocking message. 42:37 He said, "In spite of the gold that you hold in your hands, 42:41 you're spiritually bankrupt. 42:43 You pride yourself in your riches, 42:45 but you're in dire poverty. 42:49 How about us today? 42:51 We are living in probably the wealthiest time 42:54 in earth's history. 42:55 The average westerner today lives more luxuriously 42:59 than many kings of the past, in a physical sense. 43:02 But what about spiritually? 43:05 In Psalm 19 verse 10, David says that God's word 43:08 is more valuable than gold. 43:10 But even in the midst of a wealth of Bible knowledge, 43:14 we can be spiritually poor. 43:17 It's all too easy to have a head full of knowledge 43:20 but to have a heart void of the Spirit of God. 43:23 Well friends, God wants our head knowledge 43:25 to translate into a heart experience. 43:28 He wants the head knowledge that we have 43:31 to translate into actions, acts of faith and love. 43:34 His love working through us to change the lives 43:37 of those around us. 43:39 This is the wealth that He longs for us to have. 43:42 Otherwise, we're going to be informationaly rich, 43:44 but spiritually poor. 43:46 Jesus tells Laodicea, "In the midst of your monetary wealth 43:51 you're poor." 43:52 Next, Jesus says, "You're blind." 43:56 The city of Laodicea was renowned in the ancient world 43:59 for its medical school. 44:01 According to the ancient Greek historian, Strabo, 44:04 there was a world famous ophthalmologist there. 44:07 They manufactured different types of medication, and 44:10 one of the most famous of these was a medication for the eyes. 44:13 Available in tablet form and powder form. 44:16 And it was exported all over the then known world. 44:20 So Jesus here was saying, "Can't you see the irony? 44:23 You have an ophthalmologist in your midst, 44:26 but you're blind. 44:28 You're manufacturing medicine for the world, 44:30 but you cannot see. 44:32 You don't need that ophthalmologist, 44:33 you need Me, the great Physician." 44:36 These were Jesus' words to Laodicea. 44:40 The next and final description Jesus gives in verse 17 44:43 is that Laodicea is naked. 44:47 Besides exporting gold coins and manufacturing medicine, 44:51 Laodicea also supplied clothes. 44:54 It could be said that Laodicea was like a combination of 44:57 Wells Fargo, Keiser Permanente, and Gucci all combined. 45:03 The sheep of Laodicea were actually famous for their 45:05 soft black wool. 45:07 And it was also glossy. 45:09 It was unique to Laodicea. 45:10 Nowhere else had wool like this. 45:12 And they made these beautiful black garments that 45:14 especially the ladies liked. 45:16 And they would export them all over the world. 45:19 So Jesus was saying, "You, the very ones 45:23 who make garments to clothe the world, are spiritually naked. 45:27 You may be in fashion, you may look good on the outside, 45:31 but on the inside you're empty." 45:34 Jesus' message to Laodicea, His message to them 45:39 was a big wake-up call. 45:42 But Laodicea's greatest problem wasn't that they were 45:45 spiritually naked. 45:46 It wasn't that they were poor, blind, wretched, miserable. 45:49 The greatest problem was that they thought 45:52 that they were okay. 45:54 Laodicea didn't even know it. 45:56 Let's look at verse 17 together. 45:58 Jesus said, "Because you say, 'I am rich,' 46:01 and have become wealthy and have need of nothing, 46:05 yet you do not know that you are wretched, miserable, 46:07 poor, blind, and naked..." 46:08 The problem with Laodicea was that they 46:10 thought that they were okay. 46:12 And friends, the nature of the disease of sin is that 46:15 we don't recognize what it is doing to us. 46:18 We think that we're okay. 46:20 We feel like we're alright. 46:22 But we've been stricken with a terminal disease. 46:29 Friends, the nature of the syndrome of sin 46:33 is that we feel like we're okay when it's slowly killing us. 46:38 In reference to this kind of people, the kind of people who 46:43 think that they're okay when they're not, 46:46 in Testimonies volume 1, page 416, Ellen White says... 46:58 Brothers and sisters, this message is not just 47:00 for a church far away and long ago. 47:03 This message is for us. 47:05 God is speaking to His people, His last day people, 47:08 through this message. 47:09 You know, we may be thinking, "Oh, I sure hope 47:13 brother so and so is listening." 47:14 Or, "I sure hope my husband is listening closely," 47:17 or, "my wife is listening closely," 47:19 or, "You know, I need to get a copy of this and 47:21 send it to so and so." 47:23 Friends, that is the very attitude of a Laodicean. 47:28 That is the sign of the Laodicean syndrome. 47:32 Thinking that a message applies to someone else and not to us. 47:35 And that is human nature; to think that a message 47:38 of correction applies to others and not to us. 47:41 I had not been able to eat breakfast at home that morning. 47:44 I was rushing to class and I grabbed an apple on the way. 47:48 And I was eating my breakfast as I went. 47:51 I sat down in class and I was chewing my apple 47:54 as I was looking the teacher right in the eyes, 47:56 and nodding and taking in every word that he was saying. 48:00 And then about 10 minutes after I finished my apple, 48:02 the teacher said, "Class, I would just like to remind you 48:05 that the dean has asked that we only eat in the 48:09 designated eating areas here at Andrews University 48:11 in the Seminary. 48:13 Thank you very much." 48:15 And as he was talking, I was thinking, 48:16 "Yeah, you tell them, Dr. D. 48:18 You tell these guys bringing there granola bars and 48:21 getting crumbs everywhere." 48:23 And then in the last sentence of his request, 48:26 he looked directly at me. 48:29 And I thought, "Whoa, he's talking to me. 48:33 This message is for me." 48:35 Friends, it's human nature to think that a strong message 48:39 or a message of correction doesn't apply to us. 48:42 And this is the very nature of the Laodicean message. 48:46 The nature of the message is that if you don't think 48:49 it's for you, it's for you. 48:52 If you recognize that it applies to you, then praise the Lord. 48:55 But if you don't think it applies to you, 48:58 it applies to you. 49:00 Because the message applies to those 49:02 who think that they're okay, who think that it 49:04 doesn't apply to them. 49:06 Friends, this message is for us. 49:08 And let me tell you, as a preacher this message is 49:10 for me too. 49:12 God has to speak a message to you before He can 49:16 speak it through you. 49:17 And the Lord has been convicting me of this repeatedly 49:20 that this message is for me. 49:23 This message is for us. 49:26 And Jesus wants us to know that without Him 49:29 we're spiritually blind, poor, naked, wretched, miserable. 49:32 We are in a terrible state of being. 49:36 We're destitute. 49:38 What is the answer? 49:40 Is there any hope for us? 49:43 I love how John Flavel put it, he said, 49:45 "Man's extremity is God's opportunity." 49:49 Praise the Lord for that. 49:50 Our hope is in Christ. 49:52 Testimonies volume 4, page 87... 50:02 Friends, we have hope in Jesus because He is 50:05 the heavenly Physician. 50:07 Our hope is built on nothing less 50:09 than Jesus' blood and righteousness. 50:12 Christ alone can help us understand that although 50:15 we feel okay, we are stricken with the disease of sin. 50:20 And the nature of the disease is to struggle 50:22 to even recognize it. 50:24 But it doesn't just stop there. 50:26 And praise the Lord that it doesn't. 50:28 The heavenly Physician, Jesus Himself, who diagnoses 50:32 this disease is also the heavenly Pharmacist 50:37 who offers us the spiritual prescription. 50:40 And friends, He paid the price for that prescription 50:42 with His own blood. 50:44 Praise the Lord that Christ knows no disease that 50:47 He cannot heal. 50:49 Our Savior doesn't just point out our problems. 50:52 He supplies us with the solution. 50:54 And we can praise Him for that. 50:56 Tomorrow night in our message, The Physician's Prescription, 50:59 we're going to be examining Jesus' spiritual 51:01 prescription to Laodicea. 51:03 And I want to go there now together 51:05 just to see the good news. 51:06 Friends, the Laodicean message is a good news gospel message. 51:13 And the good news is this: Jesus says... 51:31 Friends, we're going to be examining this in detail 51:33 tomorrow night. 51:34 But know this, the Laodicean message, Jesus' message 51:39 to the church of Laodicea, is a good news gospel message. 51:44 It's intimately connected with the three angels' message. 51:46 The same message in a different form. 51:49 It's a gospel message. 51:51 Number two, for the gospel to be good news, 51:54 we have to know the bad news. 51:56 And the bad news is that we are all stricken with 51:59 the disease of sin. 52:01 And by the nature of this disease, 52:03 we feel like we're okay. 52:06 The good news is that the heavenly Physician 52:09 knows no disease that He cannot cure. 52:12 Praise God that Christ knows no disease that He cannot cure. 52:16 And He offers us the solution to our problem. 52:20 The Faith I Live By, page 306, has this beautiful statement. 52:23 "The counsel of the True Witness is full of encouragement 52:26 and comfort. 52:28 The churches may yet obtain the gold of truth, faith, and love, 52:32 and be rich in heavenly treasure." 52:35 Friends, there's still time. 52:39 This is the good news of the Laodicean message. 52:41 It's a strong message. 52:43 It's a bold message, it's a pointed message. 52:46 In fact, of all the messages to the seven churches, 52:49 the message to Laodicea from Jesus is the only message 52:53 that has no positive commendation in it 52:55 about the church. 52:57 This is the only one about which Jesus says nothing positive. 53:02 But the good news is that Jesus promises the Laodicean church, 53:07 along with all of the other churches, 53:09 "You will overcome." 53:12 He says, "To him who overcomes, I will grant to sit with Me 53:15 on My throne, even as I also overcame 53:18 and sat down with the Father on His throne." 53:21 Friends, we can overcome by the grace of Jesus Christ. 53:25 Praise God for that. 53:27 That though there is nothing positive said about Laodicea, 53:30 Christ, the perfect One Himself, offers Himself to us. 53:35 That is the good news of the message to Laodicea. 53:38 And friends, there is still time. 53:41 There is still time to receive the remedies of our Redeemer. 53:46 There's still time to answer His call. 53:51 I'll never forget, I was in the Philadelphia airport. 53:56 And I was making a connection home from a friend's wedding 53:59 in Toronto, Canada. 54:01 I was flying back to Sacramento, California. 54:04 And I had six hours of a layover. 54:07 So I thought, "Okay, I can do some work on my computer." 54:11 I got my laptop out, I put my headphones on, 54:13 listening to some beautiful Christian music, 54:16 working on emails and typing people. 54:19 And after some time, I think five hours had gone by, 54:23 and I said, "You know, I need to use the restroom." 54:25 I asked someone to watch my things and went to the restroom. 54:29 There were a number of people around, so I knew I could 54:32 trust this person. 54:34 But as I went to the restroom, I passed this restaurant. 54:37 And as I did, the aroma of the food entered my nostrils 54:42 and I thought, "Wow, that smells good." 54:44 But the Lord spoke to me through my conscience and He said, 54:46 "Justin, you've eaten already. You don't need food. 54:49 You ate two hours ago, you don't need more food." 54:51 And I thought, "Yes Lord, You're right." 54:53 And I kept walking. 54:56 I went to the bathroom and I came back. 54:58 And when I passed the restaurant the second time, 55:01 I lingered a little bit too long. 55:04 And unfortunately, I went in and I made the unnecessary 55:08 purchase of some pasta and veggies. 55:12 I went and sat in my seat. 55:14 And as I did, I finished my food and I was waiting, 55:18 and I looked at my boarding time and I thought it strange 55:20 that nobody was boarding yet. 55:23 And I thought, well I looked and I saw that I was 55:25 at the right gate, so I didn't worry about it. 55:27 I thought, "If these people are here, I'm not 55:29 going to get left behind." 55:31 So time continued to go by, and by now it was 55:34 ten minutes after the boarding time. 55:37 I finished my food. 55:39 Fifteen minutes after the boarding time, 55:40 I thought, "This is strange." 55:42 I went up to the desk and they said, 55:44 "Oh, that flight has been changed to three gates down." 55:48 And I saw that the sign said Daytona Beach, Florida. 55:51 I thought, "Oh no, that's the wrong direction. 55:53 This is the wrong terminal." 55:55 So I ran, because the terminal had been changed. 55:56 I grabbed my backpack and sprinted. 55:59 I got to the corner, I rounded the corner. 56:01 I saw the man at the desk and I looked out the window 56:04 just in time to see them closing the door. 56:08 And I asked him, "Can't I just... 56:09 Isn't there anything that can be done?" 56:12 And he said, "No, I'm sorry. 56:14 You're too late." 56:16 I hung my head. 56:18 And then he said, "Are you Justin, coming from Toronto?" 56:21 And ashamed, I said, "Yeah, that's me." 56:24 And he said, "We were calling for you. 56:27 We were calling you by name. 56:29 Didn't you hear the final call?" 56:33 Friends, because I had given in to a sin in some seemingly 56:37 small thing, I was not in a place where I could 56:40 hear the final call. 56:42 Now friends, tonight God is extending the final call to us. 56:47 He wants us to receive the remedies that He has to offer. 56:51 And soon the Savior will come in the clouds of glory. 56:55 And when He does, we don't have to go to the airport 56:58 to catch that flight home. 56:59 Because every eye will see Him. 57:02 With the most frequent flyers in the universe, 57:04 the heavenly angels, we will wing our way 57:06 to our heavenly home. 57:08 And friends, there we will spend eternity with our Redeemer. 57:12 And we can praise the Lord that He has made it possible 57:16 by giving His own life in our place. 57:19 Tonight, do you want to say, "Lord, I recognize that 57:22 I need Your help. 57:24 I surrender myself to You again." 57:27 Is that your desire tonight? 57:28 Amen. Let's pray. |
Revised 2015-12-02