What Makes God Sick?

Revelation 3:15, 16

The messages to the seven churches of Asia are messages from Jesus to the church ages. Each church listed existed in the world of that day, but their order speaks to the different era that the body of Christ has gone through since Pentecost. We are now in the final era, listed as the church of Laodicea. Each era overlaps the other, and actually, each era does not end until the rapture of the church.

When Jesus delivers the message to Laodicea, He says that their works are neither cold nor hot (verse 15), and that He would rather them be cold or hot. For most of my life, I heard this passage preached as a warning to “get off the fence” and “stop being apathetic”. Preachers, myself included, denounced any semblance of lukewarm activity, going so far as to say, “Either get fired up for Jesus, or go ahead and backslide”!

I always had a problem with that message, even while I was preaching it. It seemed pretty bad to be lukewarm, neither on fire for God nor all the way backslid from Him, but it certainly seemed better than not even being saved. I could understand God wanting the church to get “on fire”, but to tell them that He would rather them be “cold” seemed a far cry worse than at least having some heat.

When you are fed an interpretation of scripture, you often swallow it and don’t pay much attention to the questions that arise in your heart. You just assume that you are missing some deep theological point that surely time and experience will bring out, even though the text certainly needs more consideration. Finally, as God began to open my heart more and more to the message of His grace and goodness, things like Revelation 3:16 began to clear up.

The hot and the cold are descriptions of temperature. Both are symbolic of something else. The “hot” is equated with fire, and the Holy Spirit fits this description. Jesus is the baptizer with “fire” and the Holy Spirit sat on them at Pentecost as “cloven tongues like as of fire” (Acts 2:3). Anything associated with the New Covenant is of the ministry of the Spirit, thus “hot” (2 Corinthians 3:8).

The “cold” is equated with death, just as a corpse goes cold when it sits, or a stone left alone will retain no heat. The Ten Commandments were written and engraved in stone, thus the “cold” is anything associated with the Old Covenant, or the ministry of death (2 Corinthians 3:7).

Jesus is ministering to Laodicea of its obvious mixture of the Covenants. They are preaching a portion of the New Covenant with God’s grace and love but then trying to balance it with the hammer of the law. What man calls “balance”, God calls “mixture”, and while trying to strike a balance with the Old and the New Covenants, the end result will be a lukewarm mixture that turns the stomach of God.

Jesus declared that you cannot put new wine into old wineskins, for the old wineskins will not hold the new wine (Luke 5:37, 38). The new wine is the New Covenant, with the old wineskin being the Old Covenant. To place the glory of God’s grace within the container of Mosaic Law is to ruin the taste of God’s grace. It is our habit however, because we often prefer works to grace to actually like the sound of the law being preached, over the sound of grace (Luke 5:39).

Either embrace God’s grace which leads to victory or embrace God’s law which will serve as your schoolmaster to lead you to Christ (Galatians 2:24), but never mix the two. This gospel is too important to be lukewarm.

What Makes God Sick?

Revelation 3:15, 16

The messages to the seven churches of Asia are messages from Jesus to the church ages. Each church listed existed in the world of that day, but their order speaks to the different era that the body of Christ has gone through since Pentecost. We are now in the final era, listed as the church of Laodicea. Each era overlaps the other, and actually, each era does not end until the rapture of the church.

When Jesus delivers the message to Laodicea, He says that their works are neither cold nor hot (verse 15), and that He would rather them be cold or hot. For most of my life, I heard this passage preached as a warning to “get off the fence” and “stop being apathetic”. Preachers, myself included, denounced any semblance of lukewarm activity, going so far as to say, “Either get fired up for Jesus, or go ahead and backslide”!

I always had a problem with that message, even while I was preaching it. It seemed pretty bad to be lukewarm, neither on fire for God nor all the way backslid from Him, but it certainly seemed better than not even being saved. I could understand God wanting the church to get “on fire”, but to tell them that He would rather them be “cold” seemed a far cry worse than at least having some heat.

When you are fed an interpretation of scripture, you often swallow it and don’t pay much attention to the questions that arise in your heart. You just assume that you are missing some deep theological point that surely time and experience will bring out, even though the text certainly needs more consideration. Finally, as God began to open my heart more and more to the message of His grace and goodness, things like Revelation 3:16 began to clear up.

The hot and the cold are descriptions of temperature. Both are symbolic of something else. The “hot” is equated with fire, and the Holy Spirit fits this description. Jesus is the baptizer with “fire” and the Holy Spirit sat on them at Pentecost as “cloven tongues like as of fire” (Acts 2:3). Anything associated with the New Covenant is of the ministry of the Spirit, thus “hot” (2 Corinthians 3:8).

The “cold” is equated with death, just as a corpse goes cold when it sits, or a stone left alone will retain no heat. The Ten Commandments were written and engraved in stone, thus the “cold” is anything associated with the Old Covenant, or the ministry of death (2 Corinthians 3:7).

Jesus is ministering to Laodicea of its obvious mixture of the Covenants. They are preaching a portion of the New Covenant with God’s grace and love but then trying to balance it with the hammer of the law. What man calls “balance”, God calls “mixture”, and while trying to strike a balance with the Old and the New Covenants, the end result will be a lukewarm mixture that turns the stomach of God.

Jesus declared that you cannot put new wine into old wineskins, for the old wineskins will not hold the new wine (Luke 5:37, 38). The new wine is the New Covenant, with the old wineskin being the Old Covenant. To place the glory of God’s grace within the container of Mosaic Law is to ruin the taste of God’s grace. It is our habit however, because we often prefer works to grace to actually like the sound of the law being preached, over the sound of grace (Luke 5:39).

Either embrace God’s grace which leads to victory or embrace God’s law which will serve as your schoolmaster to lead you to Christ (Galatians 2:24), but never mix the two. This gospel is too important to be lukewarm.

He is Knocking

Revelation 3:20

Following the messages to the seven churches of Asia, which are types of the seven church ages since Pentecost, Christ changes from addressing the churches directly to “any man” in verse 20. Until this point He has ministered directly to the church but now shows us that the last great push before the rapture of the church will be answered by individuals, if not the entire church.

For what cause is Christ standing outside of the heart’s door in this verse? What has caused the church to push the Master to the front porch of our lives instead of allowing Him to dwell freely in the living space of our heart? This final invitation is directed to the individuals within the church at Laodicea, and I believe that we are seeing this fulfillment even now.

In this final hour there is a mixture of covenants in the modern pulpit. The cold tablets of the Law are being preached with force in most sermons, teaching people to work for their righteousness and sanctification. If that was the only message being preached then that would serve to work as a schoolmaster which would lead people to frustration, turning them to the hope afforded them by Jesus Christ (Galatians 3:24). Unfortunately, there is just as much preaching on the grace of God along with the ministry of the Law. I say that it is unfortunate because this mixture says that all are saved by grace but then maintain their salvation by individual works of righteousness. This is often referred to as “balance” in many churches, but Christ calls it “mixture”.

He tells Laodicea that because they are “neither cold nor hot, I will spew thee out of my mouth” (Revelation 3:16). Faced with a message of the heat of God’s grace and the coldness of God’s law, the end result will be a lukewarm Christian message. It will be attractive to the sinner because of the grace of God offered freely, but it will quickly become a bondage to the one who is born again.

This combination forces the beautiful presence of Jesus to the front porch of the church, where He then knocks on the door of the church, seeking permission to come back inside. His invitation is extended to “any man”, denoting that in these last days there will be individuals within the modern church system of Laodicea who will answer the call of Jesus Christ and will open up to His wonderful New Covenant.

I see people opening up to the message of pure grace every single day. Individuals who have grown weary beneath the message of works and progressive sanctification are finding rest in the finished work of Jesus Christ. They are opening up to the simplicity of Jesus Christ and Him crucified and they are experiencing the wonder of supping with Him and He with them. This mutual relationship, in which they speak freely to Jesus and He ministers freely to them, has rejuvenated their Christian walk, and there are more and more rising up every day who say as Paul said, “I am not ashamed of the gospel (good news) of Jesus Christ!” (Romans 1:16).

If you have mixed grace with law and are floundering beneath a sea of dead works, listen carefully for the knock of Jesus. He awaits perfect fellowship with you once again. Won’t you open the door today?

What Makes God Sick?

Revelation 3:15, 16

The messages to the seven churches of Asia are messages from Jesus to the church ages. Each church listed existed in the world of that day, but their order speaks to the different era that the body of Christ has gone through since Pentecost. We are now in the final era, listed as the church of Laodicea. Each era overlaps the other, and actually, each era does not end until the rapture of the church.

When Jesus delivers the message to Laodicea, He says that their works are neither cold nor hot (verse 15), and that He would rather them be cold or hot. For most of my life, I heard this passage preached as a warning to “get off the fence” and “stop being apathetic”. Preachers, myself included, denounced any semblance of lukewarm activity, going so far as to say, “Either get fired up for Jesus, or go ahead and backslide”!

I always had a problem with that message, even while I was preaching it. It seemed pretty bad to be lukewarm, neither on fire for God nor all the way backslid from Him, but it certainly seemed better than not even being saved. I could understand God wanting the church to get “on fire”, but to tell them that He would rather them be “cold” seemed a far cry worse than at least having some heat.

When you are fed an interpretation of scripture, you often swallow it and don’t pay much attention to the questions that arise in your heart. You just assume that you are missing some deep theological point that surely time and experience will bring out, even though the text certainly needs more consideration. Finally, as God began to open my heart more and more to the message of His grace and goodness, things like Revelation 3:16 began to clear up.

The hot and the cold are descriptions of temperature. Both are symbolic of something else. The “hot” is equated with fire, and the Holy Spirit fits this description. Jesus is the baptizer with “fire” and the Holy Spirit sat on them at Pentecost as “cloven tongues like as of fire” (Acts 2:3). Anything associated with the New Covenant is of the ministry of the Spirit, thus “hot” (2 Corinthians 3:8).

The “cold” is equated with death, just as a corpse goes cold when it sits, or a stone left alone will retain no heat. The Ten Commandments were written and engraved in stone, thus the “cold” is anything associated with the Old Covenant, or the ministry of death (2 Corinthians 3:7).

Jesus is ministering to Laodicea of its obvious mixture of the Covenants. They are preaching a portion of the New Covenant with God’s grace and love but then trying to balance it with the hammer of the law. What man calls “balance”, God calls “mixture”, and while trying to strike a balance with the Old and the New Covenants, the end result will be a lukewarm mixture that turns the stomach of God.

Jesus declared that you cannot put new wine into old wineskins, for the old wineskins will not hold the new wine (Luke 5:37, 38). The new wine is the New Covenant, with the old wineskin being the Old Covenant. To place the glory of God’s grace within the container of Mosaic Law is to ruin the taste of God’s grace. It is our habit however, because we often prefer works to grace to actually like the sound of the law being preached, over the sound of grace (Luke 5:39).

Either embrace God’s grace which leads to victory or embrace God’s law which will serve as your schoolmaster to lead you to Christ (Galatians 2:24), but never mix the two. This gospel is too important to be lukewarm.