WEBVTT 00:00:04.759 --> 00:00:07.120 Hello, and welcome to this week's episode of 00:00:07.120 --> 00:00:09.919 Trinity Sermons. If you're sick and you want 00:00:09.919 --> 00:00:11.919 to take your temperature, you can use a thermometer. 00:00:12.220 --> 00:00:14.480 But how do you take your spiritual temperature? 00:00:14.960 --> 00:00:17.059 That's what Rob is going to unpack for us in 00:00:17.059 --> 00:00:20.079 today's sermon. Today we're continuing our sermon 00:00:20.079 --> 00:00:22.420 series, Dear Church, where we look at the letters 00:00:22.420 --> 00:00:25.059 that open the book of Revelation. And we're looking 00:00:25.059 --> 00:00:27.899 at the letter to the church in Laodicea. And 00:00:27.899 --> 00:00:30.920 Jesus says that this church is lukewarm, neither 00:00:30.920 --> 00:00:34.770 hot nor cold. And this is a problem. So join 00:00:34.770 --> 00:00:38.409 in as Rob dives into why this is a problem and 00:00:38.409 --> 00:00:45.969 what is the cure. Our readings today are from 00:00:45.969 --> 00:00:48.670 the book of Revelation, beginning in chapter 00:00:48.670 --> 00:00:52.049 one, verses four to five, and chapter three, 00:00:52.350 --> 00:00:58.030 verses 14 to 22. John, to the seven churches 00:00:58.030 --> 00:01:01.770 in the province of Asia, grace and peace to you 00:01:01.770 --> 00:01:05.980 from him who is and who was and who is to come 00:01:05.980 --> 00:01:08.980 and from the seven spirits before his throne 00:01:08.980 --> 00:01:12.680 and from Jesus Christ who is the faithful witness 00:01:12.680 --> 00:01:15.799 the firstborn from the dead and the ruler of 00:01:15.799 --> 00:01:20.140 the kings of the earth. To the angel of the church 00:01:20.140 --> 00:01:24.400 in Laodicea write these are the words of the 00:01:24.400 --> 00:01:27.879 amen the faithful and true witness the ruler 00:01:27.879 --> 00:01:31.670 of God's creation I know your deeds that you 00:01:31.670 --> 00:01:35.730 are neither cold nor hot. I wish you were either 00:01:35.730 --> 00:01:39.750 one or the other. So because you are lukewarm, 00:01:40.069 --> 00:01:43.909 neither hot nor cold, I am about to spit you 00:01:43.909 --> 00:01:49.489 out of my mouth. You say, I am rich. I have acquired 00:01:49.489 --> 00:01:53.129 wealth and do not need a thing. But you do not 00:01:53.129 --> 00:01:57.310 realize that you are wretched, pitiful, poor, 00:01:58.030 --> 00:02:02.379 blind and naked. I counsel you to buy from me 00:02:02.379 --> 00:02:06.219 gold refined in the fire so you can become rich 00:02:06.219 --> 00:02:09.599 and white clothes to wear so you can cover your 00:02:09.599 --> 00:02:13.599 shameful nakedness and salve to put on your eyes 00:02:13.599 --> 00:02:18.400 so you can see. Those whom I love I rebuke and 00:02:18.400 --> 00:02:23.139 discipline. So be earnest and repent. Here I 00:02:23.139 --> 00:02:27.500 am. I stand at the door and knock. If anyone 00:02:27.500 --> 00:02:30.389 hears my voice and opens the door I will come 00:02:30.389 --> 00:02:33.689 in and eat with that person, and they with me. 00:02:34.810 --> 00:02:37.750 To the one who is victorious, I will give the 00:02:37.750 --> 00:02:40.789 right to sit with me on my throne, just as I 00:02:40.789 --> 00:02:43.229 was victorious and sat down with my father on 00:02:43.229 --> 00:02:47.750 his throne. Whoever has ears, let them hear what 00:02:47.750 --> 00:02:51.090 the Spirit says to the churches. The word of 00:02:51.090 --> 00:02:54.110 the Lord. Whenever you go to the doctor's office 00:02:54.110 --> 00:02:56.150 one of the first things they're gonna do is they 00:02:56.150 --> 00:02:59.009 will check your temperature and that is because 00:02:59.009 --> 00:03:01.930 they know that Your temperature can be a measure 00:03:01.930 --> 00:03:04.270 of things that are more serious that are going 00:03:04.270 --> 00:03:06.509 on inside of you They've got temperatures that 00:03:06.509 --> 00:03:08.509 they you know the thermometers else stick in 00:03:08.509 --> 00:03:10.490 your ear They've got the ones they shine on your 00:03:10.490 --> 00:03:12.990 forehead the ones that goes in your mouth, of 00:03:12.990 --> 00:03:14.930 course there's thermometers that go other places 00:03:14.930 --> 00:03:18.409 too. I always just hope that the nurse is reaching 00:03:18.409 --> 00:03:21.389 for the right one when the time comes. But the 00:03:21.389 --> 00:03:23.069 point is you stick it in your mouth, you press 00:03:23.069 --> 00:03:25.490 the little button. the beep beep beep beep beep 00:03:25.490 --> 00:03:27.389 and you can you look and you see and you're gonna 00:03:27.389 --> 00:03:29.349 get one of three readings either your temperature 00:03:29.349 --> 00:03:31.550 is too high you've got a fever uh -oh it's too 00:03:31.550 --> 00:03:34.469 hot or your temperature is too low i haven't 00:03:34.469 --> 00:03:36.449 seen that very much but you know hypothermia 00:03:36.449 --> 00:03:39.030 i guess you're you're you're like it's too cold 00:03:39.030 --> 00:03:42.289 or you get it just right beep beep beep yes that 00:03:42.289 --> 00:03:45.990 that 98 .6 degrees fahrenheit or whatever it 00:03:45.990 --> 00:03:48.310 is that lets you know you're in that normal normal 00:03:48.310 --> 00:03:52.069 range well today we are learning that uh actually 00:03:52.400 --> 00:03:55.780 You have a spiritual temperature as well. I mean, 00:03:55.840 --> 00:04:00.139 did you know that? And churches as well have 00:04:00.139 --> 00:04:06.159 a spiritual temperature. The story is going to 00:04:06.159 --> 00:04:11.340 be taken today from this letter that Jesus writes 00:04:11.340 --> 00:04:16.019 to a church in Laodicea. It's in chapter three 00:04:16.019 --> 00:04:18.079 of the book of Revelation. Ali just read it for 00:04:18.079 --> 00:04:19.899 us. And what we're going to discover there is 00:04:19.899 --> 00:04:22.519 Jesus does like a little spiritual checkup on 00:04:22.519 --> 00:04:25.600 that church. And guess what? He does not like 00:04:25.600 --> 00:04:28.839 what he sees. The temperature comes back and 00:04:28.839 --> 00:04:32.959 the results are not great. We are in the nearing 00:04:32.959 --> 00:04:34.819 the end of this teaching series. We've been at 00:04:34.819 --> 00:04:37.600 all fall now. Oh, it's beeping. It's beeping. 00:04:38.480 --> 00:04:41.300 All fall now where we've been looking at these 00:04:41.300 --> 00:04:44.209 ancient letters that were written. to churches 00:04:44.209 --> 00:04:47.949 in Asia Minor like 2000 years ago. And although 00:04:47.949 --> 00:04:50.649 these letters were penned by the apostle John, 00:04:50.670 --> 00:04:53.269 they were really written by by Jesus himself. 00:04:53.269 --> 00:04:56.089 And today we come to a letter that is written 00:04:56.089 --> 00:04:59.589 to a church in the city of Laodicea, which is 00:04:59.589 --> 00:05:01.170 kind of right in the middle of what would be 00:05:01.170 --> 00:05:03.810 present day Turkey today. And in this letter, 00:05:04.050 --> 00:05:07.509 Jesus sits them down, if you will, for a doctor's 00:05:07.509 --> 00:05:09.569 appointment. And like a lot of doctors business, 00:05:09.610 --> 00:05:11.949 we don't really want to do it. It's kind of uncomfortable, 00:05:11.949 --> 00:05:15.810 but It's really, really necessary. And so all 00:05:15.810 --> 00:05:20.050 I want to do today is let us step into that exam 00:05:20.050 --> 00:05:24.069 room with this church and see what we can learn. 00:05:24.290 --> 00:05:26.829 And I really do mean that. I want you not to 00:05:26.829 --> 00:05:28.850 think of this as an intellectual exercise as 00:05:28.850 --> 00:05:30.790 in, oh, what was Jesus saying about this church 00:05:30.790 --> 00:05:33.389 2 ,000 years ago? I want us to say, what does 00:05:33.389 --> 00:05:38.569 this mean for me? And is the spiritual condition 00:05:38.569 --> 00:05:42.980 that Jesus is about to diagnose true of me? Is 00:05:42.980 --> 00:05:47.449 it true of our church? would say that of all 00:05:47.449 --> 00:05:49.910 the letters we've gone through so far this week 00:05:49.910 --> 00:05:51.730 when I was preparing this message I think this 00:05:51.730 --> 00:05:54.790 is one of the most challenging and probably one 00:05:54.790 --> 00:05:57.370 of the ones that we need to hear the very most 00:05:57.370 --> 00:06:01.009 given who we are and where we are in time so 00:06:01.009 --> 00:06:04.250 let's go into the let's go into the to the office 00:06:04.250 --> 00:06:06.470 let's go into the checkup and I've even given 00:06:06.470 --> 00:06:08.689 you some notes to follow along the doctor will 00:06:08.689 --> 00:06:12.149 see you now and let's see what we can learn let's 00:06:12.149 --> 00:06:16.439 begin with the patient Okay, when this church 00:06:16.439 --> 00:06:19.399 Laodicea, you know goes into the office and the 00:06:19.399 --> 00:06:22.920 thermometer is stuck in the reading comes back 00:06:22.920 --> 00:06:25.319 The reading comes back saying they are neither 00:06:25.319 --> 00:06:28.199 hot nor cold and now normally we would say oh 00:06:28.199 --> 00:06:30.920 that sounds pretty good, right? No fever. No 00:06:30.920 --> 00:06:34.839 hypothermia whatever but Spiritually, this is 00:06:34.839 --> 00:06:38.160 where you do not want to be. This is the danger 00:06:38.160 --> 00:06:43.050 zone Spiritually speaking, a church that is neither 00:06:43.050 --> 00:06:48.689 hot nor cold is a lukewarm church that is filled 00:06:48.689 --> 00:06:52.230 with half -hearted Christians. So the church 00:06:52.230 --> 00:06:55.610 isn't up here where they're like red -hot passion. 00:06:55.829 --> 00:06:58.430 They're also not down here where they're paralyzed 00:06:58.430 --> 00:07:02.870 and frigid. They are somewhere in that mushy 00:07:02.870 --> 00:07:06.819 middle area. The Bible actually throughout the 00:07:06.819 --> 00:07:09.000 Bible describes what you could say are three 00:07:09.000 --> 00:07:10.860 different temperatures that someone could have 00:07:10.860 --> 00:07:12.899 spiritually speaking. The first is someone could 00:07:12.899 --> 00:07:15.980 be very spiritually hot. You might remember the 00:07:15.980 --> 00:07:18.899 story where some of Jesus's disciples were walking 00:07:18.899 --> 00:07:22.379 along the road to Emmaus and Jesus, the risen 00:07:22.379 --> 00:07:24.839 Jesus appeared and walked with them for a while 00:07:24.839 --> 00:07:27.000 and he spoke with them and he opened the scriptures 00:07:27.000 --> 00:07:29.920 to them and afterwards they said oh my gosh we're 00:07:29.920 --> 00:07:34.500 not our hearts burning within us when he walked 00:07:34.410 --> 00:07:36.829 with us and talked with us and opened the scriptures 00:07:36.829 --> 00:07:42.970 to us that is a hot hot spirituality okay their 00:07:42.970 --> 00:07:46.550 hearts were burning on the other hand Jesus said 00:07:46.550 --> 00:07:50.250 that there will come a day and there may come 00:07:50.250 --> 00:07:56.269 days when the love God the love of most will 00:07:56.269 --> 00:08:00.910 grow cold a cold heart is a calloused heart It's 00:08:00.910 --> 00:08:03.269 an unresponsive heart. It's a heart that says 00:08:03.269 --> 00:08:06.850 I I don't care about God I don't care much really 00:08:06.850 --> 00:08:10.649 about anything. I don't need God now thankfully 00:08:10.649 --> 00:08:15.149 even a cold heart Jesus can thought out the coldest 00:08:15.149 --> 00:08:17.209 heart. He does it all the time some of you know 00:08:17.209 --> 00:08:21.250 that very well, but This is the danger zone. 00:08:21.589 --> 00:08:24.769 The lukewarm heart. That is way, way harder. 00:08:24.910 --> 00:08:27.810 Jesus says, I wish you were one or the other. 00:08:28.170 --> 00:08:30.269 I wish you were either cold. I can deal with 00:08:30.269 --> 00:08:32.809 that. Or, of course, I wish you were hot. But 00:08:32.809 --> 00:08:36.669 this church, as Megan said, they were half in 00:08:36.669 --> 00:08:40.529 and they were half out, right? They were still 00:08:40.529 --> 00:08:43.610 singing all the songs, but the passion was gone. 00:08:44.929 --> 00:08:47.970 They were still sitting there in the pews, but 00:08:47.970 --> 00:08:52.830 the fire... had gone out. It's kind of like coffee. 00:08:53.490 --> 00:08:56.429 I love really, really hot coffee. If you want 00:08:56.429 --> 00:08:59.070 the hottest coffee in town, go down to Camaria 00:08:59.070 --> 00:09:01.590 just down the street. They serve wicked hot coffee. 00:09:02.389 --> 00:09:05.570 And I love iced coffee, cold, cold iced coffee. 00:09:06.009 --> 00:09:09.129 The worst kind of coffee is like room temperature 00:09:09.129 --> 00:09:12.559 coffee. Coffee that you like find in the microwave 00:09:12.559 --> 00:09:14.259 that you're like, oh shoot I put that in there 00:09:14.259 --> 00:09:17.519 three hours ago That is the worst kind of coffee. 00:09:17.519 --> 00:09:22.820 It is not good spiritually speaking Jesus wants 00:09:22.820 --> 00:09:28.179 us to be hot Now he doesn't say to Laodicea Laodicea. 00:09:28.179 --> 00:09:30.279 I want you to be hot. No, he uses a different 00:09:30.279 --> 00:09:33.759 word. He says I want you to be earnest now earnest 00:09:33.759 --> 00:09:35.940 doesn't sound like a very hot word but actually 00:09:35.940 --> 00:09:38.779 it really really is because the greek word for 00:09:38.779 --> 00:09:42.539 earnestness is zealous right i want you to be 00:09:42.539 --> 00:09:45.080 zealous and that's where we got our word jealous 00:09:45.080 --> 00:09:48.399 as well what does it mean to be jealous to be 00:09:48.399 --> 00:09:52.360 jealous means you have set your love so intensely 00:09:52.360 --> 00:09:57.559 on on someone that you like overflow in energy 00:09:57.559 --> 00:10:00.620 and you kind of explode toward that person when 00:10:00.620 --> 00:10:03.240 we're like loving ourselves then jealousy is 00:10:03.240 --> 00:10:06.460 a very toxic thing but but when we set our love 00:10:06.460 --> 00:10:11.399 on God then jealousy and zeal means we will do 00:10:11.399 --> 00:10:14.840 whatever we can whatever we're able to do to 00:10:14.840 --> 00:10:18.259 to lift up his name and to praise him for who 00:10:18.259 --> 00:10:21.820 he is and when people first meet Jesus so often, 00:10:21.860 --> 00:10:24.539 that is exactly how they are. They are on fire, 00:10:24.539 --> 00:10:26.860 they can't get enough of him. They talk about 00:10:26.860 --> 00:10:29.860 him to whoever will listen, right? They carry 00:10:29.860 --> 00:10:32.980 their Bibles with them wherever they go. They 00:10:32.980 --> 00:10:38.259 may even pray before meals, in restaurants, when 00:10:38.259 --> 00:10:40.980 people can see. They raise their hands in church 00:10:40.980 --> 00:10:44.139 when they're singing songs, and that might make 00:10:44.139 --> 00:10:48.379 you a little uncomfortable. But come on, guys. 00:10:50.019 --> 00:10:55.120 Tonight, tonight the Roger Centre is going to 00:10:55.120 --> 00:11:00.580 be filled with Blue Jay fanatics. All of Canada 00:11:00.580 --> 00:11:03.639 has set their heart on this team. They're going 00:11:03.639 --> 00:11:06.419 to jump, and they're going to scream, and they're 00:11:06.419 --> 00:11:08.940 going to paint their faces blue, and they will 00:11:08.940 --> 00:11:13.279 not care what anyone thinks. They're not worried 00:11:13.279 --> 00:11:16.019 about being called a fanatic, but you bring that 00:11:16.019 --> 00:11:19.480 kind of attitude into a church? They'll call 00:11:19.480 --> 00:11:25.039 it a cult Now I am NOT suggesting that you come 00:11:25.039 --> 00:11:30.279 to church like this, but God does want us to 00:11:30.279 --> 00:11:35.919 be wholly devoted and single -hearted and joyfully 00:11:35.919 --> 00:11:39.179 jealous of Him and maybe if you're honest you 00:11:39.179 --> 00:11:41.759 say you know that once that did describe me once 00:11:42.159 --> 00:11:43.960 But I don't really know what happened. I kind 00:11:43.960 --> 00:11:46.480 of just cooled off. I'm not cold, but I've just 00:11:46.480 --> 00:11:50.940 come to this place of kind of lukewarmness. It 00:11:50.940 --> 00:11:55.259 is a serious condition. Very serious. And I'm 00:11:55.259 --> 00:11:57.539 not joking around. Jesus isn't joking around. 00:11:57.759 --> 00:11:59.799 Jesus doesn't just say, oh, I'm really angry 00:11:59.799 --> 00:12:02.539 with you because you're lukewarm. No, he says, 00:12:02.580 --> 00:12:07.120 you make me sick. He says, you make me nauseous. 00:12:07.639 --> 00:12:11.059 I want to throw up when I think about you. I 00:12:11.059 --> 00:12:16.299 want to... Curl right I am about to spit you 00:12:16.299 --> 00:12:22.440 out of my mouth now gosh Why is he reacting so 00:12:22.440 --> 00:12:25.799 strongly to a little lukewarmness? It's because 00:12:25.799 --> 00:12:29.759 he knows the underlying pathology. He knows what's 00:12:29.759 --> 00:12:32.440 going on beneath the temperature reading, right? 00:12:32.460 --> 00:12:34.299 If you go to a doctor, they'll take your temperature, 00:12:34.759 --> 00:12:37.000 but that just tells them something's wrong. Then 00:12:37.000 --> 00:12:38.600 the doctor is going to go underneath and see 00:12:38.600 --> 00:12:41.320 what the real disease is, what is causing it. 00:12:41.840 --> 00:12:43.940 And yeah, Laodicea, beep, beep, beep, you've 00:12:43.940 --> 00:12:46.259 got a temperature. But Jesus says, let me tell 00:12:46.259 --> 00:12:51.250 you what the real problem is. You say, I'm rich, 00:12:52.309 --> 00:12:55.909 I've acquired wealth, and I don't need a thing. 00:12:56.129 --> 00:13:00.009 That, in a nutshell, is the problem with Laodicea. 00:13:00.769 --> 00:13:04.669 That's the condition. What we have here is an 00:13:04.669 --> 00:13:10.090 advanced case of affluence and chronic self -sufficiency. 00:13:12.750 --> 00:13:16.710 Laodicea prided itself on three things. First, 00:13:16.889 --> 00:13:21.090 their wealth. Laodicea was loaded. It was a very 00:13:21.090 --> 00:13:23.450 wealthy banking city. It was so wealthy that 00:13:23.450 --> 00:13:26.549 actually in the year AD 60, an earthquake flattened 00:13:26.549 --> 00:13:29.789 the place. And Rome offered financial support, 00:13:30.049 --> 00:13:31.970 disaster relief, to help them rebuild. And they 00:13:31.970 --> 00:13:34.809 said, no, no, no, no, we got it. We got it. Thanks, 00:13:35.110 --> 00:13:37.230 but no thanks. We can look after this ourselves. 00:13:37.269 --> 00:13:41.769 They were rolling in it in Laodicea. Second, 00:13:41.850 --> 00:13:45.529 Laodicea was very famous for fashion. A lot of 00:13:45.529 --> 00:13:48.990 clothes and textiles were made in Laodicea with 00:13:48.990 --> 00:13:51.330 this beautiful, really beautiful black wool. 00:13:51.450 --> 00:13:53.470 I guess there were a lot of black sheep around 00:13:53.470 --> 00:13:57.350 there. It was this beautiful like silky wool 00:13:57.350 --> 00:14:00.629 that people really desired. They were really 00:14:00.629 --> 00:14:02.870 well dressed. They were good looking people. 00:14:03.090 --> 00:14:06.350 And thirdly, Laodicea was also a medical center. 00:14:06.529 --> 00:14:09.509 One of the main products they exported around 00:14:09.509 --> 00:14:13.539 the world was called Phrygian powder. And it 00:14:13.539 --> 00:14:15.860 was a medicine used to heal all sorts of eye 00:14:15.860 --> 00:14:17.600 ailments. You got this little pill, you crushed 00:14:17.600 --> 00:14:19.759 it up, you put it in the water, you put it on 00:14:19.759 --> 00:14:22.659 your eyes, and all around the world they shipped 00:14:22.659 --> 00:14:27.019 this stuff, phrygian powder. But here is the 00:14:27.019 --> 00:14:32.460 problem. When you've got everything, you don't 00:14:32.460 --> 00:14:37.580 need God very much. They were so wealthy and 00:14:37.580 --> 00:14:41.299 healthy. And we don't want to hear this, and 00:14:41.299 --> 00:14:43.039 I don't want to hear this. I didn't want to hear 00:14:43.039 --> 00:14:45.379 this this week, but I think Jesus is making a 00:14:45.379 --> 00:14:50.539 direct link between being accomplished and smart 00:14:50.539 --> 00:14:58.039 and successful and wealthy and being lukewarm 00:14:58.039 --> 00:15:02.299 in your faith. You still believe in God, yeah. 00:15:02.700 --> 00:15:06.899 You still come to church, but the heat is not 00:15:06.899 --> 00:15:10.389 there. You see that song that we just sang, Rachel 00:15:10.389 --> 00:15:12.129 sang this beautiful song, right? Did you hear 00:15:12.129 --> 00:15:15.570 that line? You're never gonna let, you're never 00:15:15.570 --> 00:15:20.350 gonna let me down, right? Now, if you don't have 00:15:20.350 --> 00:15:23.409 much, when you sing those words, they mean something. 00:15:24.129 --> 00:15:28.649 You're never gonna let me down, God. But they 00:15:28.649 --> 00:15:31.610 sound a lot different, and we sing them a lot 00:15:31.610 --> 00:15:35.429 differently when we're rich and when we're comfortable. 00:15:36.490 --> 00:15:39.529 and when we're successful, because even if God 00:15:39.529 --> 00:15:45.289 did let us down, we'd be all right. It's a good 00:15:45.289 --> 00:15:48.110 song. Nothing against the song, but you can sing 00:15:48.110 --> 00:15:51.870 it. You can sing any song in a lukewarm way, 00:15:52.750 --> 00:15:57.590 especially when you're so self -sufficient. So 00:15:57.590 --> 00:16:00.429 that is why I think this letter is so important 00:16:00.429 --> 00:16:06.230 to us. We're living in Laodicea, North America. 00:16:06.860 --> 00:16:10.759 The GTA for sure right and I'm not saying that 00:16:10.759 --> 00:16:12.940 every single person here is rolling in at Lake 00:16:12.940 --> 00:16:16.259 Laodicea But we've got enough health care to 00:16:16.259 --> 00:16:20.039 make life comfortable. We've got RSPs to Keep 00:16:20.039 --> 00:16:22.120 us secure. We've got enough clothes. We usually 00:16:22.120 --> 00:16:25.600 look pretty good We've got enough Netflix to 00:16:25.600 --> 00:16:31.320 keep us distracted Jesus is saying those comforts 00:16:31.320 --> 00:16:36.519 are a curse when they cool down your spiritual 00:16:36.519 --> 00:16:40.840 temperature, making you, spiritually speaking, 00:16:41.399 --> 00:16:45.980 poor and blind and naked. These were rich people, 00:16:46.419 --> 00:16:49.240 specialized in eye ointments and were well clothed. 00:16:49.279 --> 00:16:53.460 You're poor, you're blind, and you're naked. 00:16:55.230 --> 00:16:58.149 In 2019, a pastor and author by the name of Francis 00:16:58.149 --> 00:16:59.769 Chan, maybe some of you have heard of him, I 00:16:59.769 --> 00:17:02.049 know our youth group is using one of his resources 00:17:02.049 --> 00:17:05.150 on Friday nights. He gave an interview and the 00:17:05.150 --> 00:17:08.789 interview was titled, Why I Quit My Megachurch 00:17:08.789 --> 00:17:13.109 and Started Again. He had built one of the largest 00:17:13.109 --> 00:17:14.910 churches in California. He's a speaker, he's 00:17:14.910 --> 00:17:17.809 an author, he's a pastor, but he began to feel 00:17:17.809 --> 00:17:22.970 uneasy because it started out red hot. But then 00:17:22.970 --> 00:17:25.269 it became lukewarm and he says at some point 00:17:25.269 --> 00:17:28.869 it felt like they were just playing church And 00:17:28.869 --> 00:17:31.269 so we left he decided to get away and he went 00:17:31.269 --> 00:17:35.930 to Asia Where he met with persecuted Christians? 00:17:36.829 --> 00:17:40.190 underground Christians who who risked imprisonment 00:17:40.190 --> 00:17:43.750 For their faith in Jesus and they were red -hot 00:17:43.750 --> 00:17:46.009 Spiritually speaking and in the interview he 00:17:46.009 --> 00:17:48.089 says this he says one of the worst things that 00:17:48.089 --> 00:17:51.950 can happen is for life to be easy and comfortable, 00:17:52.390 --> 00:17:55.009 to where you don't give a thought for things 00:17:55.009 --> 00:17:58.049 that really matter. And I believe it's Satan's 00:17:58.049 --> 00:18:00.170 plan to keep us focused on the things of this 00:18:00.170 --> 00:18:03.609 world and the things that you can see, whereas 00:18:03.609 --> 00:18:06.369 scripture tells us to focus on the things that 00:18:06.369 --> 00:18:11.329 are unseen. And I believe that if Christians 00:18:11.329 --> 00:18:14.289 from other parts of the world were to come and 00:18:14.289 --> 00:18:17.369 visit the North American church, I dare say maybe 00:18:17.369 --> 00:18:20.920 even visit our church, they would be struck by 00:18:20.920 --> 00:18:26.819 our lukewarmness. They would say, why don't you 00:18:26.819 --> 00:18:32.400 guys pray more? Or why do you spend so much of 00:18:32.400 --> 00:18:35.819 what you make on yourselves? Or why are you so 00:18:35.819 --> 00:18:40.420 afraid to talk about Jesus outside of this place? 00:18:41.779 --> 00:18:46.200 That's Laodicea. Friends, that's me. Maybe that's 00:18:46.200 --> 00:18:52.029 you too. Our faith gets easy. Our faith gets 00:18:52.029 --> 00:18:56.750 sleepy. So what do we do about that? Well, what 00:18:56.750 --> 00:18:59.369 is Jesus, the great physician Jesus, going to 00:18:59.369 --> 00:19:02.549 prescribe for this condition of self -sufficiency? 00:19:03.049 --> 00:19:04.369 Well, that's where we're going to go next to 00:19:04.369 --> 00:19:07.029 the prescription. And this is what Jesus says. 00:19:07.109 --> 00:19:09.049 He looks at their condition. He actually goes 00:19:09.049 --> 00:19:10.609 to the medicine cabinet and says, I have just 00:19:10.609 --> 00:19:13.450 the thing. I have just the thing to cure you, 00:19:13.509 --> 00:19:16.670 but you're going to have to get that cure from 00:19:16.670 --> 00:19:18.789 me. You can't do this. You're going to have to 00:19:18.789 --> 00:19:21.849 take it from me. And he says, I counsel you. 00:19:21.890 --> 00:19:24.190 Now, notice everything he says has got to come 00:19:24.190 --> 00:19:28.390 from him. I counsel you to buy from me gold, 00:19:29.410 --> 00:19:32.390 white clothes from me to wear, and buy from me 00:19:32.390 --> 00:19:36.349 a salve to put on your eyes. You cannot heal 00:19:36.349 --> 00:19:39.349 yourself. It's not like the earthquake. You're 00:19:39.349 --> 00:19:41.109 not going to be able to rebuild. You're not going 00:19:41.109 --> 00:19:43.309 to be able to sort this out on your own. You 00:19:43.309 --> 00:19:46.150 can't. even go to a pharmacy and buy this kind 00:19:46.150 --> 00:19:48.970 of cure. You have to come to the end of your 00:19:48.970 --> 00:19:51.950 own self -sufficiency and you've got to come 00:19:51.950 --> 00:19:57.829 to me. That is what we call grace. This whole 00:19:57.829 --> 00:20:01.950 prescription is about receiving and not achieving. 00:20:02.069 --> 00:20:05.630 Man, we always want to achieve it. We always 00:20:05.630 --> 00:20:08.890 want to earn and own the good things that happen 00:20:08.890 --> 00:20:12.380 in our life and even the... Our own transformation, 00:20:12.380 --> 00:20:14.440 we want to say that was me, that one's on me, 00:20:14.460 --> 00:20:18.339 but receiving God's grace, not achieving worldly 00:20:18.339 --> 00:20:20.900 success, is what Jesus is on about. He says, 00:20:21.680 --> 00:20:24.579 doesn't say, Laodicea, pull yourselves together, 00:20:24.619 --> 00:20:26.900 you can do it. He says, no, come to me. I am 00:20:26.900 --> 00:20:28.279 the only one who can give you what you lack. 00:20:28.500 --> 00:20:31.680 The first prescription, first prescription, is 00:20:31.680 --> 00:20:35.400 buy from me gold, refined in the fire. I mean, 00:20:35.559 --> 00:20:38.839 gosh, Laodicea's banks were full, but Jesus says, 00:20:39.099 --> 00:20:42.380 Want you to invest in me many of us we've diversified 00:20:42.380 --> 00:20:44.200 our investments followed good financial advice 00:20:44.200 --> 00:20:46.319 throughout all our lives But Jesus has invest 00:20:46.319 --> 00:20:50.640 in me Because every other currency a success 00:20:50.640 --> 00:20:52.940 or comfort or applause or whatever it is. It 00:20:52.940 --> 00:20:56.920 will eventually collapse Especially if it's crypto 00:20:59.529 --> 00:21:02.849 But it's not just gold. It's gold refined in 00:21:02.849 --> 00:21:05.630 a fire now throughout the Bible whenever it speaks 00:21:05.630 --> 00:21:08.009 about being refined in a fire I hate to tell 00:21:08.009 --> 00:21:12.309 you this but it usually means suffering right 00:21:12.309 --> 00:21:16.630 glowing hot faith is often born out of trial 00:21:16.630 --> 00:21:20.150 and Testing, you know, Tim Keller once said that 00:21:20.150 --> 00:21:23.410 people who live incredibly charmed lives are 00:21:23.410 --> 00:21:28.130 almost all lukewarm. Those are his words That's 00:21:28.490 --> 00:21:33.509 Tough, but if that's true Then to get out of 00:21:33.509 --> 00:21:35.930 lukewarmness into a real transformed life. You're 00:21:35.930 --> 00:21:37.309 probably gonna have to go through some tough 00:21:37.309 --> 00:21:42.509 times With Jesus walking along your side red 00:21:42.509 --> 00:21:47.069 -hot spirituality is purified and suffering Those 00:21:47.069 --> 00:21:51.259 are hard words Second prescription Jesus says 00:21:51.259 --> 00:21:54.619 is buy from me white clothes to wear so that 00:21:54.619 --> 00:21:57.480 you can cover your shameful nakedness Now remember 00:21:57.480 --> 00:22:00.019 Leo to see how famous for its black textiles 00:22:00.019 --> 00:22:02.940 black clothing Jesus says all those clothes they 00:22:02.940 --> 00:22:05.339 may cover your body, but spiritually you're naked 00:22:05.339 --> 00:22:08.740 and You need my clothes to cover you now if you 00:22:08.740 --> 00:22:10.220 read a little further in the book of Revelation 00:22:10.220 --> 00:22:14.589 You will see that these white garments represent 00:22:14.589 --> 00:22:18.390 righteousness and represent a good life good 00:22:18.390 --> 00:22:22.690 standing before God we we spend so much of our 00:22:22.690 --> 00:22:24.730 time focusing on our outward image and appearance 00:22:24.730 --> 00:22:28.210 and resume and reputation but the only outfit 00:22:28.210 --> 00:22:31.329 that matters the only outfit of any significance 00:22:31.329 --> 00:22:35.349 is the one that Jesus gives us Jesus I don't 00:22:35.349 --> 00:22:38.309 care how good you look you need my clothes a 00:22:38.309 --> 00:22:42.680 righteous life only comes from me, let me be 00:22:42.680 --> 00:22:47.420 your garment, Jesus says. I don't know about 00:22:47.420 --> 00:22:50.480 you, but I have a pretty hard time keeping my 00:22:50.480 --> 00:22:55.000 clothes white, keeping my life holy, being righteous. 00:22:55.059 --> 00:22:58.000 So Jesus says, that's okay, put my life on, my 00:22:58.000 --> 00:23:01.900 righteousness. Let me cover your shame and your 00:23:01.900 --> 00:23:06.859 guilt and your sin. The third prescription Jesus 00:23:06.859 --> 00:23:10.180 offers is his own eyes salve to help them see. 00:23:11.369 --> 00:23:13.549 you know Leo to see his medical products could 00:23:13.549 --> 00:23:16.750 help everyone else's see but but they left the 00:23:16.750 --> 00:23:20.569 church blind to what really mattered and I mean 00:23:20.569 --> 00:23:23.150 we all are wearing some kind of cultural glasses 00:23:23.150 --> 00:23:26.049 or cultural lenses through which we see oh this 00:23:26.049 --> 00:23:29.390 is what success looks like or this is what prosperity 00:23:29.390 --> 00:23:31.950 looks like or this is what you know the good 00:23:31.950 --> 00:23:34.910 life looks like but Jesus offers eye medicine 00:23:35.390 --> 00:23:37.970 That truly restores our vision, enabling us to 00:23:37.970 --> 00:23:40.849 see what real riches are, and what real success 00:23:40.849 --> 00:23:44.390 is, and where real healing comes from. Guys, 00:23:44.829 --> 00:23:46.650 every one of these prescriptions that Jesus is 00:23:46.650 --> 00:23:50.369 offering comes from him. Jesus says, come to 00:23:50.369 --> 00:23:55.529 me. I'll give you what money can't buy, what 00:23:55.529 --> 00:24:00.849 your success can't secure. But of course, every 00:24:00.849 --> 00:24:02.609 good prescription only works if you trust the 00:24:02.609 --> 00:24:05.640 physician. And if you let him do his work and 00:24:05.640 --> 00:24:07.299 that's exactly where Jesus goes next He says 00:24:07.299 --> 00:24:11.539 behold I stand at the door and knock it's so 00:24:11.539 --> 00:24:14.539 weird Jesus has just delivered the hardest diagnosis 00:24:14.539 --> 00:24:18.839 you make me sick and Yet here he is knocking 00:24:18.839 --> 00:24:22.539 on the door saying let me in it's like on the 00:24:22.539 --> 00:24:26.420 one hand you make me sick But then he says I 00:24:26.420 --> 00:24:30.559 love you. I love you. That is the gospel people 00:24:30.799 --> 00:24:34.519 The great physician, Jesus. He doesn't reject 00:24:34.519 --> 00:24:38.160 his lukewarm church. He pursues it. He doesn't 00:24:38.160 --> 00:24:41.480 abandon you or me, the patient. He makes a house 00:24:41.480 --> 00:24:43.519 call. You don't want to come to my clinic? Fine. 00:24:43.819 --> 00:24:48.460 I will come to you. And the scariest part about 00:24:48.460 --> 00:24:50.019 this is, I think that, remember, this is written 00:24:50.019 --> 00:24:53.319 to a church, right? And Jesus is on the outside 00:24:53.319 --> 00:24:56.609 of the church. Right the person who should be 00:24:56.609 --> 00:24:59.009 at the center of what is going on there is standing 00:24:59.009 --> 00:25:02.930 on the doorstep that can happen To a church it 00:25:02.930 --> 00:25:05.069 can happen to any church It can happen to our 00:25:05.069 --> 00:25:08.049 church whenever we become too self -sufficient 00:25:08.049 --> 00:25:11.029 and too confident in our own abilities if we 00:25:11.029 --> 00:25:13.529 you know, we can sing all the songs and we can 00:25:13.529 --> 00:25:18.910 read all the words and Forget his presence in 00:25:18.910 --> 00:25:23.279 our midst Jesus the great physician is waiting 00:25:23.279 --> 00:25:27.000 to be invited in and it's not just about a church 00:25:27.000 --> 00:25:31.660 It's about YouTube if any one he says Here's 00:25:31.660 --> 00:25:35.180 my voice. Are you one of those self -sufficient 00:25:35.180 --> 00:25:37.539 people? Are you one of those people Jesus is 00:25:37.539 --> 00:25:42.329 speaking to? If so, the cure is to open the door 00:25:42.329 --> 00:25:44.710 and let Jesus back into your life and not just 00:25:44.710 --> 00:25:46.849 for a quick house call. When it says, you know, 00:25:46.910 --> 00:25:48.529 I want to come in, Jesus says, I want to come 00:25:48.529 --> 00:25:50.549 into your house. I want to sit down and I want 00:25:50.549 --> 00:25:53.210 to eat with you. In ancient times, all of those 00:25:53.210 --> 00:25:55.589 things, sharing a meal, sharing your house were 00:25:55.589 --> 00:25:58.309 very intimate things that you only did out of 00:25:58.309 --> 00:26:01.559 out of a deep and ongoing friendship. So when 00:26:01.559 --> 00:26:05.140 you let Jesus back into your life and into your 00:26:05.140 --> 00:26:08.059 decisions and into your relationships and into 00:26:08.059 --> 00:26:12.099 your schooling and into your work, then and then 00:26:12.099 --> 00:26:17.039 only will your spiritual temperature begin to 00:26:17.039 --> 00:26:21.680 rise again. And so then finally we come to the 00:26:21.680 --> 00:26:25.609 prognosis. What is the prognosis? Is there any 00:26:25.609 --> 00:26:27.329 hope for the patient? What is the prognosis for 00:26:27.329 --> 00:26:29.589 those who willingly open the door to Jesus? Jesus 00:26:29.589 --> 00:26:32.990 says, oh gosh, there's amazing prognosis to the 00:26:32.990 --> 00:26:36.009 one who is victorious. I will give the right 00:26:36.009 --> 00:26:40.829 to sit with me on my throne just as I was victorious 00:26:40.829 --> 00:26:44.789 and I sat down on my father's throne. No doctor 00:26:44.789 --> 00:26:48.650 in history has ever told a patient you're dying. 00:26:49.950 --> 00:26:54.329 But when I'm done. You'll rule the world with 00:26:54.329 --> 00:27:00.029 me. No doctor, no patient has ever gone from 00:27:00.029 --> 00:27:03.170 being in the sick bed to being on the throne. 00:27:04.470 --> 00:27:07.029 But only Jesus makes that kind of promise. Now 00:27:07.029 --> 00:27:08.829 obviously, we would say, obviously, yeah, Jesus 00:27:08.829 --> 00:27:12.410 reigns. Jesus died and he rose again on the third 00:27:12.410 --> 00:27:14.589 day and he ascended into heaven. So obviously, 00:27:14.869 --> 00:27:18.329 yes, every crown, every authority, every throne 00:27:18.329 --> 00:27:20.670 belongs to Jesus. He deserves to sit there, but 00:27:20.670 --> 00:27:23.299 here's the miracle. You know what he says to 00:27:23.299 --> 00:27:26.000 this lukewarm church? You know what he says to 00:27:26.000 --> 00:27:28.500 this half -hearted, self -satisfied church? He 00:27:28.500 --> 00:27:30.700 looks at you and he looks at me and he says, 00:27:30.839 --> 00:27:32.299 you know what though, if you open the door to 00:27:32.299 --> 00:27:38.099 me, I will open heaven to you and you will reign 00:27:38.099 --> 00:27:42.039 with me. That is one heck of a prognosis. The 00:27:42.039 --> 00:27:45.039 prognosis is this, total recovery for the patient 00:27:45.039 --> 00:27:50.380 and eternal reign with the Son of God. And you 00:27:50.380 --> 00:27:53.720 didn't earn any of it. The only reason we can 00:27:53.720 --> 00:27:55.660 wear white clothes is because he was stripped 00:27:55.660 --> 00:27:59.720 naked on the cross And the only reason that we 00:27:59.720 --> 00:28:03.960 can be rich is because he was made poor right 00:28:03.960 --> 00:28:06.880 the only reason the patient lives is because 00:28:06.880 --> 00:28:11.700 The physician died that is the gospel and Jesus 00:28:11.700 --> 00:28:16.200 wrote that prescription in his own blood Our 00:28:16.200 --> 00:28:19.400 love For him might be lukewarm, but obviously 00:28:19.400 --> 00:28:22.720 his love for us is not he is jealous for you 00:28:22.720 --> 00:28:26.559 He loves you. He's willing to die for you. He 00:28:26.559 --> 00:28:30.440 has given himself so utterly to us So then how 00:28:30.440 --> 00:28:35.140 can we not give ourselves? Completely back to 00:28:35.140 --> 00:28:38.779 him. How can we be half -hearted? How can we 00:28:38.779 --> 00:28:43.619 be lukewarm? So again, I'll end where I began. 00:28:43.680 --> 00:28:47.210 What's your temperature this morning? What does 00:28:47.210 --> 00:28:51.130 the thermometer say? Not the one in your mouth, 00:28:51.190 --> 00:28:55.750 but the one in your heart. Are you hot? Are you 00:28:55.750 --> 00:29:00.849 burning with love for Jesus? Are you cold? Are 00:29:00.849 --> 00:29:07.049 you like distant and hard -hearted? Or are you 00:29:07.049 --> 00:29:11.369 lukewarm? Just comfortable, you know, and a bit 00:29:11.369 --> 00:29:16.849 distracted these days. The good news is... Whatever 00:29:16.849 --> 00:29:21.089 your temperature, the great physician is here. 00:29:21.150 --> 00:29:25.410 Even now he's here knocking at your door, calling 00:29:25.410 --> 00:29:30.369 you and still offering that cure that all of 00:29:30.369 --> 00:29:39.690 us need. So open the door and let him in. Thanks 00:29:39.690 --> 00:29:44.490 be to God. Thanks for listening to this week's 00:29:44.490 --> 00:29:47.309 episode of Trinity Sermons. This sermon was recorded 00:29:47.309 --> 00:29:49.809 at Trinity Church Streetsville in Mississauga, 00:29:50.230 --> 00:29:53.329 Ontario on October 19th, 2025.