Video Transcript: Jesus is Knocking

Today we're going to be reading from the book of Revelation, one of Jesus' messages to the seven churches of Revelation. 

This is the last message that He gave of those seven.

We're going to focus on the theme "Jesus Is Knocking." Knocking can come in more than one form. If you hear this: "Open up! This is the FBI!" Well, that's one kind of knocking. If you hear the police banging on the door, that sets off a certain reaction. They're there for a reason. If you hear your friend saying they're here and they'd like to visit with you, that's also a kind of knocking.

This letter involves both kinds of knocking: "You had better wake up. I'm at the door." And: "I really would like to come in and have supper with you."

Revelation 3:14–22

To the angel of the church in Laodicea:

"These are the words of the Amen, the faithful and true witness, the ruler of God's creation.

I know your deeds, that you are neither cold nor hot. I wish you were either one or the other. So because you are lukewarm—neither hot nor cold—I am about to spit you out of My mouth.

You say, 'I am rich; I have acquired wealth and do not need a thing.' But you do not realize that you are wretched, pitiful, poor, blind, and naked.

I counsel you to buy from Me gold refined in the fire, so that you can become rich; and white clothes to wear, so that you can cover your shameful nakedness; and salve to put on your eyes so you can see.

Those whom I love I rebuke and discipline. So be earnest and repent.

Here I am! I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears My voice and opens the door, I will come in and eat with him, and he with Me.

To him who overcomes, I will give the right to sit with Me on My throne, just as I overcame and sat down with My Father on His throne.

He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches."

There was an old English minister one day in a church with one of the high pulpits. He marched up the steps to the pulpit. It took him a while. He went up one step, then another, and another. He climbed all fifteen steps to the top.

After reaching the top of the pulpit, he gave his sermon: "What does it profit a man if he should gain the whole world and lose his soul?"

Then he turned around, walked back down the fifteen steps, and that was the end of his sermon.

Sometimes you need to get people's attention.

They're expecting a bit more of the same old, same old. They've grown used to feeling comfortable and complacent. Sometimes a shock is needed—the kind of shock that says: "This is the police." Or the kind of knocking that disrupts your comfort zone.

When Jesus knocks on the door of Laodicea and its church, He has some very shocking, very startling words for them.

Among the seven churches, this is the toughest message of them all.

Jesus speaks to them, and He has really nothing good to say about them at this point.In a sense, that's surprising. If you read His letters to the other churches, you'll find that several of them receive a mixed message. He says:"Here's what's good..."And then: "Here's what you need to straighten out."

For example, He says things like: "You're good on the teaching, but you're letting a lot of immorality slide by." Or: "I know you're being brave in the face of persecution, but you're putting up with this wicked woman among you."

So Jesus gives some churches a kind of mixed message.

Then there are two churches that He has nothing bad to say about. Ironically, those are probably the two churches that our church experts would have assessed as the weakest churches. They were beaten down. They had been facing hard times and persecution.

Yet Jesus told the churches in Smyrna and Philadelphia: "You guys are doing great." The two churches that received the hardest messages were the ones that appeared to be doing the best.

One was the church in Sardis. They had a great name, a great reputation, and they were the happening place. They seemed to have it all, at least in the opinion of the people around them.

Jesus said: "You have a reputation for being alive, but you are dead. Wake up and strengthen what little remains." So the church with the outstanding reputation, the church everyone thought was fabulous, did not impress Jesus.

Then we come to Laodicea. We don't know what other people thought of them, but we do know what they thought of themselves. They thought they were great. They believed they were in the bloom of excellent health. The scary thing about this church is that Jesus doesn't say any of the negative things about them that He says about some of the other churches.

He does not criticize their doctrine. He doesn't say:"You've been suckers for false teaching." He doesn't criticize their morals either. Maybe there was a lot to criticize—I don't know—but He doesn't focus on either their doctrine or their morals. In that respect, there's something similar to another church where Jesus actually complimented both their doctrine and their morals.

When He spoke to the church in Ephesus, He said: "I like the way your doctrine is strong. I like the way you're holding out morally. I like the way you're standing up to persecution."

Then He added: "I just have one thing against you. You lost your first love." That was a devastating loss.

When you look at Laodicea, it's somewhat similar, only this time Jesus doesn't begin with compliments. He simply says: "I just have one thing to say about you. You are lukewarm." He says this in a context that probably hit that church especially hard because Jesus knew the setting of Laodicea very well.

There were several things that stood out about the city. Laodicea was a very wealthy city, famous for its banking and commerce. It was also known for its medical center and for the eye salve produced there as a remedy for eye problems. It was a major center for textile manufacturing and was especially famous for its wool products and fine clothing. But it was also noted for something else: Bad water.

There were two major cities nearby.

One was famous for its hot mineral springs and the healing properties of those warm waters. Another was famous for its cold mountain springs and the refreshing water people could enjoy there. Laodicea, however, got its water piped in through an aqueduct. 

By the time the water arrived in the city, it was...room temperature. Well... How many of you like iced tea? 

Some of you maybe like hot tea. How many of you love room temperature tea? 

Room temperature is not what most of us are after in tea or in water. 

When it came to Jesus' assessment of Laodicea, He said:"I wish you were hot."

They might have thought of those hot mineral springs, or of those wonderful cold springs to drink from, but instead they were too much like the water piped into town: room temperature, brackish, and tasting kind of bad.

Jesus says, in effect: You make Me feel like puking."This is not the most polite thing Jesus could say to a church that had such a high opinion of itself. You think you're great. You make Me want to puke.

Again, let me remind you: He is not directly criticizing their morals or their doctrine. He's saying the one thing wrong with them is so terribly wrong that it overshadows everything else. They've become room temperature. They no longer have the energy, the joy, the zeal, or the excitement of belonging to the Lord Jesus Christ. They're just kind of... meh.

They think they're doing well. Financially they're doing well, and in other respects maybe they're doing well. But not in the opinion of the Lord Jesus Christ, and not in their relationship with Him.

So it is very important that when we make a profession of faith, and when we see people make that commitment to the Lord, we also reflect on our own commitment. It's important as a church as a whole to ask:"Where are we at?"

We need to reflect on that in light of not just what we think of ourselves, but what Jesus thinks of the church. We need to be willing to hear uncomfortable truths, both as a church and as individuals.

A church can start out with a lot of excitement. It can be thrilled with the Lord Jesus, with what He's doing in its midst, and have a strong sense of vision. But after a while, it can settle into room temperature.

Nobody is preaching great heresies. Nobody is launching huge scandals that affect the whole congregation. The budget is doing pretty well. "Hey, we're fine." Well... maybe not. We always have to reflect on what Jesus thinks of the church.

As individuals, we also have to think about that deadly characteristic of lukewarmness. It can happen if you're a young person who grows up in the church and simply assumes: "Dad and Mom are Christians. I'm a Christian."

And then you begin to think that this churchianity is what Christianity is—nothing to get too excited about, nothing to get too worried about. That attitude can be especially dangerous if you grew up in the church.

You know the old saying:"Being in a garage doesn't make you a car."

Being in a church doesn't necessarily make you a devoted, on-fire follower of the Lord Jesus Christ.

That's an important reminder for children, teenagers, and young people who grow up in the church. Jesus did not come into the world, pour out His life, shed His precious blood, and give His Holy Spirit so that we could go around at room temperature.

And that's an important reminder not just for younger people who grew up in the congregation, but also for those of us who are about my age.

You know, we're in our middle years, and sometimes people think: "Boy, the youth—we really have to get to those youth. They can fall into this sin, and they can get into that kind of predicament." And people say: "Boy, if they can just make it through those years of youth and get to adulthood with their head on straight, then it's clear sailing from there."

Oh no, it's not.

Maybe you get settled into certain habits so that the big immoralities aren't as strong a temptation as they once were. Or maybe you're no longer at the stage of life where you're searching quite as much, so you're less likely to fall for some crazy heresy or false ideas about God.

But one of the great besetting problems of my age is lukewarmness—cynicism, just plodding along from week to week and getting by. The first love is gone. The heat, the zeal, the joy, the energy, and the excitement have sunk to a very low ebb.

So it is very important, when we hear Jesus' words addressed to the lukewarm, that we don't say: "Boy, I hope the young people are listening." Or: "I hope so-and-so is listening."Or: "That would be a good message for one of those dead churches I know about somewhere."

Instead, it would be far more advisable for each of us simply to hear the words of Jesus, to hear His startling knock, and to realize that you don't have to be a spectacular sinner or a crazy-minded heretic to get on the wrong side of Jesus and make Him sick.

You can simply go the lukewarm route, and that will do the job.

So Jesus warns them: "Because you are lukewarm, neither hot nor cold, I am about to spit you out of My mouth." Or, as some translations put it, vomit.

Therefore, we need to realize how offensive lukewarmness is to the Lord Jesus. We need to take our own spiritual temperature in light of His words.

Jesus is speaking to these people in Laodicea, and they have something else in common with us. They lived in a rich setting. They had good medicine. They had strong banks and finances. They produced some of the finest clothing. When you're well clothed, well financed, when your bank accounts and investments are about where you hoped they'd be, and when you're in excellent health with good medical care available, then you enter dangerous territory.

Those things are all blessings. And yet, they're dangerous.

Jesus said it's hard for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God. In fact:"It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God."

Why is that?

Because with affluence often comes a sense of complacency—a loss of dependence on God and a loss of longing for the kingdom of God to come. After all, we've already got it pretty good. We don't really want things to change too much because we're among the ones who are doing well.

In Laodicea, you were part of the great banking center, and as a member of that church you could say: "I am rich. What do I need?" And Jesus replies: "You do not realize that you are wretched, pitiful, poor, blind, and naked." They think they're rich. Jesus says they're poor. They think they have their famous eye salve and wonderful vision. Jesus says: "You're blind." You can't even see your own condition. Jesus says: "You can't see Me as I am." They're blind. They're also naked. They have all the fine textiles being produced in their city, yet spiritually they are naked.

Jesus wants to make two major points to them.

The first is His rebuke: "You need what I have, and you don't even know it."

The second is His promise: "I have what you need, and I am delighted to give it to you."

So He says: "I counsel you to buy from Me gold refined in the fire, so that you can become truly rich; and white clothes to wear, so that you can cover your shameful nakedness; and salve to put on your eyes, so you can see."

When people are blind to their own condition, blind to the glory and wonder of the Lord Jesus Christ, and have simply slumped into the lukewarmness of self-satisfaction, Jesus says: "I will give you vision." Vision to see Him. Vision to see yourself.

Jesus says to people who think they're already good enough: "I'll give you robes of righteousness that will truly enable you to stand in God's presence." To those who are satisfied with their bank accounts and assume their account with God must also be fine, Jesus says: "I'll make you really rich. I'll give you treasure in heaven."

The Lord Jesus Christ then explains the real motivation behind all of these shocking words. "Those whom I love, I rebuke and discipline."

He has not been speaking very politely. "You make Me want to puke" is not exactly a great conversation starter.

But Jesus says: "You need to understand that those whom I love, I rebuke and discipline."

So He continues: "Be earnest..." Or, as some translations put it more accurately:"Be zealous and repent."

Get serious. Get fired up.Turn around. "I'm telling you this because I love you."

Then He says: "Here I am. I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears My voice and opens the door, I will come in and eat with him, and he with Me."

When Jesus talks, it's so different from the way we often think about religion. We're much worse than we think we are. And things could be far greater than we ever imagine. We settle for lukewarmness, and it makes Jesus sick.

We don't realize how serious that is. We also don't realize that Jesus doesn't simply want us to clean up a little, behave a little better, or believe a little more correctly.

He wants fellowship with us.

The trouble with lukewarm people—and therefore the solution for lukewarm people—is not just doing a little more of this or trying a little harder at that.

The problem is that we've lost contact with the living Christ. The life, energy, and joy of the Lord are no longer our strength—if they ever were.

When you get close to Jesus, when you're in communion with Him, when He is living in your heart and transforming your life, then the fire comes again because Christ lives in you by His Holy Spirit.

Christianity is Christ. Christ in you. Christ dwelling in you. Christ dwelling in your heart by faith.

As the Bible says:

"I no longer live, but Christ lives in me."

These are the kinds of ways the Bible describes what it means to be a Christian.

This verse was very important in my own life.

When I was nine years old, I struggled with many questions and fears about where I stood with the Lord.

It was to this verse that my mother directed me:

"Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears My voice and opens the door, I will come in and eat with him, and he with Me."

That sounds like quite a bit. Well, you haven't heard anything yet. To him who overcomes I will give the right to sit with Me on My throne, just as I sat down with My Father on His throne.

You know, we're kind of thinking about getting by, hoping that we're not doing anything too crazy that God would get ticked off about. And He's planning on fellowship and thrones. That's why you can't get lukewarm, because He's got much bigger things in mind than just getting by and surviving and coping and making it. 

He wants fellowship forever, and He's got a throne prepared. Really, there's no middle ground. It's either fellowship and thrones or puking.

We're always looking for some little compromise, some neutral middle ground. But Jesus wants to make you into something far more wonderful than you can imagine. He doesn't have a Plan B to make you into the mediocre little thingamabob that you think you could be. He's got something a lot better than that.

So hear His voice again: 

"Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears My voice and opens the door, I will come in and eat with him, and he with Me. And to him who overcomes, I will give the right to sit with Me on My throne, just as I overcame and sat down with My Father on His throne." 

"He or she who has an ear to hear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches."

Father, we pray that You will indeed open our ears to the voice of Jesus in our hearts and to the presence of His Spirit. We thank You, Lord, for the wonders of what You promise, and help us never to settle for anything less. Where we have grown lukewarm, we pray again that You will fire us with the light and warmth of Your presence, so that we may know You better and love You more.

You are the faithful and true Witness. Oh, how our witness is compromised when we become lukewarm. So we need You, the true and faithful Witness, to live and breathe among us again and make us strong.

Revive us too, Lord, as a church. Help us never to become self-satisfied or complacent, but more and more, Lord, to delight in You and to have You delight in us. 

Help us, Lord, to see again the splendor of what You promise, that You will indeed cause us to reign with You. Help us to be faithful in this life so that we may have true treasure in the life to come. And Lord, as we have participated in the joyful occasion of a profession of faith, help us again to be stirred to new devotion and renewed commitment by the reality of who You are and what it means to belong to You by faith.

We pray in Jesus' name. Amen.