I like New Year's, I like birthdays, I like anniversaries. I like those three
things because it reminds me that God is good, that as undeserving as I am, I am
blessed and for whatever reason he saw fit to sustain me till today and I can
pray and ask for days to come. I am also thankful that each time we pass these
milestones, each time we flip a calendar or cross a day off, we are that much
closer to Christ's return. I love it. I am proud to be an Adventist. One, I believe
that he came and two, I believe he will come. The first and the second Advent, I
am, I will gladly claim that title. I want to share two things with you before we
get into our message because we have just just a little bit of time. One is
just a simple quote. There's a lot of talk about climate change here just
recently. We got super cold. This is just a wonderful quote from Charles Spurgeon.
In Christ you have a fountain of joy which frost cannot freeze and heat
cannot dry. So no matter what anybody else says in terms of the temperatures
going up or down, maybe you went without water and we pray for people that did. I
know of another man whose pipes burst and he wasn't the only one. When we get
around to summer and we complain about the heat and the humidity, your joy in
Christ is a fountain which frost cannot freeze and heat cannot dry. That's a
great quote. I like it. It made me think of that. How many of us are in the habit
of doing New Year's resolutions? Are any of us in the habit of doing that? We've
got one, maybe two. Not so many of us. I would be curious because that's a really
small fraction of our church. I'm just curious about why we don't, why so many
of us don't. I can tell you why I don't. I fail at it. I've kind of given up on
just doing it and then kind of meh and you know how do I know what I'm gonna
feel like three months from now and so on. And then I also found that a lot of
my resolutions when I was in the habit of doing it kind of ended up being a lot
of the same thing. I'm always planning and desirous of a little bit more
free time, a little bit more time spent with my family, my friends, those that
are closest to me. Now as a pastor, my church family, I really like those
moments when we can visit and talk and share. I also always have an interest in
in studying more first and foremost from the Word of God and then secondarily in
other material that can kind of help enhance that from men and women who
are wiser, more experienced, have different perspectives than me. All of
that with the prayer that I will grow in my discipling. I want to grow closer
to Christ. I want to grow more in my sharing and that was a goal that I think
has stopped just being you know a New Year's thing. It's more of just like a
well every day I should be doing this in perpetuity. So I've kind of stopped doing
that you know I want to be healthy, I want to eat and then and then I just like
well we'll see what the year brings us. It is good to set goals though. It really
is. What prevents a lot of people from setting goals is often the hurdle of
what do I decide or what if I fail or where do I begin. So a lot of people
either don't or they make things really generic so I can kind of go with the
flow of it or they get caught up with what other people are doing and it's
kind of a peer pressure thing. I'd like to I'd like to offer something if you
are in or have any interest in setting goals and this is a great time of our
year to do it. Although if you get to January 2 or 3 and you haven't yet, don't
stop and wait all the way until next December to think of starting a goal.
Any day is a good day to set a goal. This was helpful for me. I'm going to
pass it on. This is just a nice little an acronym. It's you want to set SMART
goals. So SMART. SMART goals. This is what they mean. The S stands for specific,
well-defined, clear, and unambiguous. Don't just say I want to be healthier this year.
Figure out what that means. For me, I need to watch my sugar intake. I've got a
sweet tooth. I'm rather famous in my family for my sweet tooth. So I would
like to take the amount of sugar intake, it's very specific, and cut it down to
two desserts a week. That's cutting it down. I don't think people believe me
when when when I say that's that's what I'm going to try and do but that's
specific. So think of something specific. If you want to exercise more, well what
does that mean? I want to I want to walk one mile a day three days a week. Maybe
that's where you're at. Specific. That's good. I would like to read three books
for the year. Specific. Three new books for for the year. Books I haven't read
yet. So specific. That's the S. M is measurable. Specific criteria that
measures your progress toward the accomplishment of the goal. So something
so don't don't just kind of go oh just really big and kind of long and you
don't really know stages along the way. Books are a good example. If it's three
books, well then you can mark off okay I'm halfway done with my first book and
that's measurable if I want it done by February. So half of my first book done
by the end of February. That's that's a good kind of measure that you can do. You
know if you're if you're looking at if you're looking at changing up your your
diet. I keep going back to this because like I said I'm gonna cut down on my
sweets maybe. You know something measurable. I want to have two salads a
week. Measurable. That's that's you know something that we can do. A is achievable.
Something that's attainable and not impossible to achieve. You could be
specific and measurable and it could be something like this. I want to read the
whole Bible and the SDA commentary and the the full collection of Ellen White's
writings by the end of February. Good luck not sleeping. That's that's probably
not attainable. Even if you were to do it as an audio version all the time I don't
think it would be achievable. So you want something achievable. People tend to give
up when that mountain looks so high that they make it to the foothill and go oh I
can't I can't get over it. I can't actually keep going. They get beat down
and frustrated and so on. If you're looking at that if you go and this is
this is a great one if you want to increase your Bible reading okay and I
encourage everybody read more of this and less of CNN or Fox News or anything
else. Read more of this and less of that. If it's attainable for you to read the
Gospels this year great place to start. Read the four Gospels. That's
attainable enough I believe. If you are a little daunted at the idea of the
entire Bible in one year pick a few. Start with something somewhere. Maybe the
minor prophets aren't the best option but maybe Genesis is. Genesis is a good
book. Pick something attainable for you. Achievable. The R is realistic so within
reach realistic relevant to your life purpose. My life purpose is I'd like to
be a better father, a better husband, a better pastor. So I'm probably not going
to read a lot of books on quantum physics. Probably not. I want it to kind
of fit realistically within my day-to-day. I have a few side hobbies and
I have a few other interests that kind of catch my attention. Maybe I'll read an
article or two but that's not where I'm going to devote my goals towards. I'll
look for other things. And then timely with a clearly defined timeline include
a starting date and a target date and the purpose is to create urgency. You
notice that I've said kind of along the line if you wanted to do something by
the end of February or by the end of January or by the time that this is a
great thing most people know this maybe you don't. It takes most people 30 days
minimum to develop a new habit. So if it hasn't quite sunk in by the 15th of
January just keep pushing. Just keep doing it. You'll get to the third week.
You'll get to the end of January. It will become easier by the time you get to the
end of February or March. It might even become second nature and you miss it
when you don't have that goal intertwined in your life. So pick a
time, a place when you'd like to accomplish it. A thousand piece puzzle
done in a week, whatever the case may be. But I would encourage you to come up
with something, set a goal. It doesn't have to be because it's the New Year. It
could just be because. But this is just an easy way for me to
remind. I use this, you know, I remember this little an acronym on my own just
so I'm not thinking too large or too generic. Maybe it'll be helpful for you.
I don't know. With that being said we are going to turn our attention to our
passage for today. So if you have your Bible still open to Revelation or your
apps have perhaps gone to sleep, open it up. And let's have one more brief word of
prayer and then we will dive in. Heavenly Father, we want to thank you for your
loving kindness. We want to thank you that your arm is so mighty, so strong, so
far-reaching that you sustained all of us for this past year and before as many
of us are counting those years in increasing numbers. Lord, we are also so
grateful that your arm is so mighty and so strong that you will sustain us
moving forward. So I pray Lord that that would be a reality for us in our lives.
We also ask that as we turn our attention to your word right now that
your Holy Spirit would be present, impressive, and uplifting in our
thoughts. This we pray in your name, amen. A couple of light-hearted questions. I
have to thank my son for the first one. What did the porcupine say when he saw
the cactus? I have to make sure I get this right. He'll correct me. What did the
porcupine say when he saw the cactus? Well hello there dad.
What did pirates call Noah's boat? The ark. Why did Adam and Eve do math every
day? Because they were told to be fruitful and multiply. Which minor
prophet is well known thanks to cookies? I know. Famous Amos, I heard it very good.
Famous Amos. I like that one. Which nursery song would Jesus have heard the
most? Mary had a little lamb. And then finally, what kind of car would Jesus
drive? A Chrysler. I know those are awful, but fun. And it's fun. One of my
memories, people, you know, we were you just kind of greet and after you have a
holiday and some, you know, how was your holiday? And you know ours was fine. It
was very nice to have family drive down and kind of visit. I hope you had an
enjoyable Christmas holiday as well. Maybe you got to see family or friends
or phone calls. Our days were exhausting, largely because we laughed a lot and we
told stories and and we teased one another and we got to the end of it and
we were just kind of tired. It's good to be light-hearted about things at times. We
don't always have to be sticks in the mud or somber or so serious that people
wonder if we're okay. It's okay and it's good to put a smile on our face. It's
good to thank God for how he has blessed us. It is good that when people see you,
they wonder why you are joyful or can smile or can laugh or can be calm and
peaceful at times when it seems everybody else is kind of hectic, crazy,
and falling apart. Anger seems to run rampant. Stress is certainly skyrocketing.
Anxiety is increasing. I also read recently Pew Research said that that
what was it 40% ish of Christians in the United States believe we are living in
the end times. More don't believe that, but there's there's a number that do
believe that and for some people that's a positive thing for many people that's a
disheartening thing because it always makes us kind of wonder you know when
with whether we're joyful or whether we are stressed or depressed or all of
those things we have to ask ourselves sometimes why? Why would we
be that way? What kind of moves us along? Well, for me and I pray that it is for
you, for the Christian it should be that by faith we have accepted the grace of
God through Jesus Christ and his righteousness has been granted to us.
Because of that, because our Father in heaven loves us so deeply, so infinitely,
so expansively that even when I trip up and fall and he lifts me up like our
forgiveness children's story, I know he will. I know he's ready to offer it and I
can find joy in that and I can put a smile on my face. I can share that with
others. I know that when I read the Word of God and it tells me that that we are
more important and special to our Heavenly Father than birds and lilies
and the other created things on this earth. So why stress about some of these
things? That brings a smile to my face. We don't always have an easy go of it, but
as Christians when we read those things and we say praise God for a God who
loves us, we can be joyful. We can laugh and we can share and we can
perhaps let some things roll off of us that other people it burdens them. When
we read about the church in Laodicea in Revelation chapter 3, some of us
are going to be fairly familiar with the letters to the churches. A little bit of
background, it's believed that this has a two-part application. One as literal
letters to the churches in that area. Those are kind of well-known churches in
in East Asia. But then also a secondary application to churches throughout
history or to where churches are in their own application even where you are
right now. Because perhaps you are reading through and you look at
Ephesus, the works, the toil, the patient endurance and how you cannot bear with
those who are evil. You've tested those who call themselves apostles and are not
and found them to be false. Christ knows of your enduring patience and bearing up
of his name. Maybe that's a church or an experience for you. Maybe you read about
the church that has forgotten its first love and Christ is wooing you back and
and and he needs to woo you back. You want it but but you need to Christ to
ask for you to come that way. So it's not that these are locked into a specific
thing. There's a broad application but we do understand that the
church in Laodicea in a special way is speaking to the Christian church right
before Christ's return. And we can think of churches throughout history. We can
think of the Christian movement around the world and how there were joys and
there were men and women who could sing and joke and smile when other things
were crumbling because their faith was so rock-solid in Christ or they were so
poor that they could only trust in God for their provisions. And so we come to
the church in Laodicea and we see two things out of it. One we're gonna spend a
little bit more time on but first our verse. Revelation chapter 3,
Behold I stand at the door and verse 20, Behold I stand at the door and knock. If
anyone hears my voice and opens the door I will come into him and eat with him
and he with me. How many of us have heard this verse preached, expanded, and applied
at the end of an evangelism campaign? I certainly have. I have done it. That's
often where we hear it and there's nothing wrong with that. This is
certainly Jesus Christ standing at the door of humanity and saying humanity,
mankind is lost and it needs me to save them. Who amongst all of the billions
that have ever lived recognize their desperate state and will accept me as
their Savior? Christ died not for the elect and the pre-chosen but for
mankind. Any and all who would accept him. So Christ is standing at the door of
humanity and knocking saying I'm putting an effort into you. Will you open the
door? Will you acknowledge what I have done and there are no boundaries and
there are no states or countries that this does or does not apply to in a
limited sense? All of y'all. It also in a very special way applies to an
individual. This is this is perhaps where we hear it the most. Is Christ standing
at your at the door of your heart today knocking? Have you found yourself
slipping a little in your walk and communion with him? Christ is knocking.
Will you open it? Have you not yet made the decision to let Christ be Lord and
Savior in your life? He's knocking once, twice, ten times, fifty times, fifty years.
If you have not yet made the decision for Jesus, He is still knocking. Don't
wait for tomorrow to answer the knock and you don't need to check the ring
doorbell to see if it's really Him. The Bible tells us it is. Have you made that
decision? Are you wavering? Is the world very attractive to you? Is your family
tradition or how others think about you keeping you from opening the door? He's
appealing and he's knocking and he's he's asking and he's calling out to you.
Will you accept that knock today? If someone here, before we move on, if
someone here that's applicable to, pray today and accept the grace that God
wants to extend to you. Don't wait. Don't consider it for too long. If you have
felt the Holy Spirit's prompting on your heart and that conscience is being
pricked just a little bit and you haven't given your all to Jesus, He's
knocking today for you. He's knocking today. Will you answer the door? That's
certainly one application and that's the application we hear the most and it's
it's a correct way of using it. We're going to spend a little bit more time on
the entire context of where this comes in. To the church in Laodicea, to the
angel of the church in Laodicea, right this is verse 14, the words of the Amen,
the faithful and true witness, the beginning of God's creation. That does
not mean that God created him, that means that he is the source of God's creation.
Christ begins God's creation. Christ is the active agent in the creation. This is
not that he was. Verse 15, this is what the letter says, I know your works, you
are neither cold nor hot. Would that you were either cold or hot, so because you
are lukewarm and neither hot nor cold, I will spit you out of my mouth. Other
translations have it a little bit more vivid. I will spew you out of my mouth. I
will vomit you out of my mouth. If you've ever eaten a piece of food that
tastes or has a texture like celery, you know what he means. You put something
into your mouth and it's instant. You can't help yourself, it's got to get out.
There are lots of foods that would fit into that category for me, maybe some
come to your mind. Because you are neither hot nor cold, and that description
is described three times, not hot nor cold, and then we add a fourth one, the
lukewarmness means take note. Christ is saying to this church, you're standing in
the middle of the road, you're straddling the fence. We talked about that this
morning in the group that I sat with for most of Sabbath school. You're right in
the middle of the road, you're straddling the fence. If you're straddling a fence
and that fence has barbed wire, you're gonna get cut. If it's electrified, you're
gonna get shocked. If you stand in the middle of the road for too long, what do
you risk? Getting run over, flattened like a pancake or a possum. Stay out of
the middle. And in the most vivid of descriptions, do not doubt that if you
are standing in the middle of the road on your Christian walk and your
commitment to Christ, it is unacceptable to Him. If you are waffling just a little
bit and you're trying to teeter-totter and balance between all of what I want
and I'll let Him have what I'm comfortable with, this verse should speak
to us. It is unacceptable to Jesus for you to give only 50% of you or 70% of
you or 99% of you. Christ will only accept you if you are fully hot in His
favor. And don't forget or pay attention to this fact that yet as Christ looks
at it, He would rather you be as cold as a hard-hearted atheist than a middle-of-
the-road Christian. That's preferential to Him than a middle-of-the-road
Christian. To the church in Laodicea, I know your works. You are this way.
In verse 17, for you say, this is how this church is neither
cold nor hot, for you say, I am rich, I have prospered, and I need nothing.
There is a very real temptation that as God blesses, we tend to attribute the
blessings to us or to the job that we work at or to the family that is helping
us. The Laodicean Church, and I dare say the Christian church in the 21st century,
in the 20th century, fits this mold. God has blessed us. We are blessed where our
church is situated. Northwest Georgia in the United States of America is a
blessed place for the location of Christianity. Not a lot of persecution
going on. You can go downtown and hand out flyers without serious risk of
threat. Maybe someone will kind of act agitated, but no one's gonna arrest you,
no one's gonna throw you into prison or say will hang you in a week. Other
countries have that. We are blessed where we are. We have air conditioning and heat
and a new roof, walls that keep out the wind, multiple rooms for our youth
departments and our adults and our wonderful kitchen and fellowship hall.
This church is blessed, and you are blessed. I heard some statistic.
Up until, I believe it was in the late 1800s, Americans lived on what would be
less than 50 cents a day by today's money, up until the late 1800s.
Don't quote me on that. I'm pretty certain that was roughly less than 50
cents a day is what Americans lived on until the late 1800s. That is well below
abject poverty in terms of how we measure those kinds of information. The
reality is most of Earth's history, the vast majority of men and women and boys
and girls have lived well below poverty and into abject poverty. People died
young, women had a couple of kids if they survived the childbirth, men had gotten
married multiple times because of that. Kids, you might have seven kids but only
three of them would see adulthood. That is tough for most of history. We are
blessed. We are very blessed. But the Laodicean Church, and if this fits to you,
often takes those blessings and says, how wonderful am I, how hard have I worked,
my merits helped me, and so on. Because we see our blessings and we go, what more do
we need? We've got the carpet and the pews and the lights that turn on. We have
prospered and we say we need nothing. But as Christ looks at us, he says, not
realizing that you are wretched, pitiable, poor, blind, and naked. I counsel you to
buy from me gold refined by fire so that you may be rich in white garments so
that you may clothe yourself and the shame of your nakedness may not be seen
and salve to anoint your eyes so that you may see. Our real condition in our
self-dependence is that we are wretched and naked and poor and blind and so on.
The moment you become self-dependent in your Christian walk is the moment that you
are that to Christ. He can bless you, but if you take those and say, this
is mine, then you are now, now the description of Laodicea. Do you have that
problem in your life? There are times when I get caught up in what we have.
There are times when I just go, well maybe I deserve this or I've earned
this so it must come to me. We have what we have because God is good and he sees
fit to give or allow all things, all things. But the Laodicean Church is not
that way. The Laodicean Church believes that they are so rich and prospered they
don't need anything. Maybe they go through the motions, maybe they say the
right words, use the correct terms, feed the same way, go through what we've
always done before and we'll just keep on going because we have need for
nothing else. And along the way we tend to trust in the actions and the motions
and so on rather than always seeking how is God leading us, what is his will for
us. Because then we come down to this in loving and tender words, those whom I
love I reprove and discipline so be zealous and repent. In other words it's
not, you are not out of hope. In love he teaches us what we should do
because I stand at the door and knock he says. If anyone hears my voice and opens
the door I will come into him and eat with him and he with me. In this context
we are speaking about a church that has become so self-dependent that we have
edged and elbowed and nudged and pushed Christ out the door like an unwanted and
unwelcome guest in our house and then we've slowly closed that door until it
clicks. This is a picture of Christ standing outside of his church and he
only gets there when we have edged him out. He only gets there when we have
closed the door on him. Christ only gets out of the church when we have said
we've got this. We don't need you. When we reflect on how good he has been and
maybe we say thank you and you can say the words and you cannot mean it, how
true is that? Inch by inch we've kicked him out. Inch by inch we've shoved him to
the edges and the borders until we've pulled the curtain closed and clicked
the door and I dare say in some congregations and in some individuals
lives they have also deadbolted it, shackled it, put the lock down in the
floor and in the door jamb. So self-sufficient are they? I believe that's
one reason why the Christian Church has been on an accelerating decline in a
country where we are so blessed to practice our faith. We should be growing
in the Adventist Church in the United States. We should be growing in
Christendom writ large where we are. All the benefits are there for us. God is
good to us and we're not. It is estimated that Christianity in the United States
is going to be in the minority in about 30 to 40 years give or take in the
minority. We're currently at about 60 to 63 percent of Americans profess
Christianity but it's sliding rapidly downward. Well when churches have edged
Christ out of the church and then they become self-sufficient and they think
that they can razzle and dazzle and that will attract, will never out razzle and
dazzle the world, never will. As people forget about loving your neighbor as you
love yourself and loving others as Christ loved, as we forget about working
and graciously entering into people's lives where they are instead of
automatically expecting them to be where we are, it's no wonder people
edge out. It's no wonder that the young ones, the younger generations look at
empty formalism because we are self-sufficient and say where's Christ?
Where's the love that I read about in the gospel? Where is the man that
touches the sick, that listens to the hurting, that has a hurting person come
to them and welcomes them into the fold instead of just kicking them out,
goes to the strangers, etc. When they see churches that don't do that it's
no wonder that we are on a decline. We think we've got it all figured out and we
aren't hot. This is a message for the church. Thankfully the one who
conquers, Christ will grant him to sit with him on the throne as he conquered
and sat down with his father on his throne and then he who has an ear let
him hear what the Spirit says to the church. As we come to the end of the year
it is a great practice to reflect on how God has blessed you in 2022. It's great
to think of as a Christian a good spiritual practice. It's great to take a
pen or a pencil in hand, not an electronic typing, there's studies that
say it's better this way, take a pen or a pencil in hand, real paper and write it
out. Sticks with your memory longer. It takes effort to write. Write out, God has
blessed this year and I am thankful for XYZ. And then at the end of it say it's
not because of me that I am blessed, it's because of Christ and Him crucified that
I am blessed. When we are seeking Christ, when we are hearing Him knock at our door
and crying out to us, if you hear His voice, He's not a silent knocker, He's
crying out. When we hear that and then let Him in, acknowledge it tangibly at
times if you need to. Put it first on your lips, praise God for what He has
blessed me with. I don't have it without Him. Open that door. I assure you when
you hear Him knocking at the door of your heart and when we as a church hear
Him knocking at the door of our churches, at our church's door and we let Him in,
not secondarily but first, primary, out front leading and lighting the way and
He gets the glory and the praise and the Thanksgiving. Not only will we have a
reason to smile and to laugh and to find a fountain of joy that frost can't
freeze or heat dry up, we will also come across this verse and realize that it is
not a knock-knock joke. This is Christ knocking and we should take it very
seriously. Do you desire as we enter into a new year, do you desire for Christ to
enter into your heart? Do you want to invite Him to cross the threshold of
your mind and fill you with His presence? Change your character and mold it
after Him and lead you forward until He takes us home to glory. Is that your
desire? I want to invite you to join me and stand if that applies to you. If you
have answered in the affirmative, stand and join me as we pray and as I pray I'm
going to have a moment of silence and that's the time. If you want to send up
your own prayer and open that door and accept Him in for this year and years to
come, take advantage of it. If not, still pray. Loving Heavenly Father, we thank you
for your love for us. We thank you that your love did not need it to be earned,
that your love was so abundant from time, eternity in the past until present and
time, eternity into the future that you could not bear to have us separated from
you so you gave Christ to us. Lord we thank you and we acknowledge that if it
were not that way we would have been lost before the outset had even been
completed. So we praise your name for that. Lord we thank you that your
efforts toward us are unwavering, they are steady and they are sure. Lord I am
so thankful that today we are not only expressing a hope in the future but also
we are claiming an assurance in our salvation today. Lord if there are those
of us that need to be prompted a little bit harder, I pray that you would bring
it home to us. Lord I would ask now that you would listen to these prayers as we
offer them up before your throne.
Heavenly Father, thank you for turning an attentive ear towards us. Lord I pray that as we look forward to this new year I pray that we will commit to
Lord, I pray that as we look forward to this new year, I pray that we will commit ourselves
wholly and completely to you, to your service, to being a witness for others.
Lord, we desire to be counted among those that stand on the sea of glass.
Lord, I pray that you, through the presence of your Holy Spirit, would attend to each
one of us and our families and our loved ones wherever they might be.
Woo us closer to you.
Put your arm around us.
Lift our thoughts above this dark world and into a heavenly world.
Lord, I pray that you would forgive us where we fall, for we will fall.
I pray that you would lift us aright again.
And Lord, I pray that your grace would then be poured out immeasurably upon us.
Lord, we thank you for hearing our prayers.
We thank you for sustaining and providing and blessing.
But most of all, we thank you for the gift of Jesus Christ and Him crucified.
For we pray all of these things in His blessed name.
Amen.