The Church Of Laodicea - The LukeWarm Church

[0:00] Thank you for choosing to listen to today's message by Reverend Dr. David Etrie. We know you will be blessed as you seek and serve God. We believe that this message will stir up a desire for more of God even as you listen.

[0:13] Be blessed. Oh, sometime now, it will interest you to know that I've been talking about this same topic, the Church of Revelation, since last year and having finished it.

[0:26] We are coming back to the church, the seven churches of Asia. We have all these letters written by individuals under the, watch this, under the influence and the inspiration of God Almighty.

[0:44] So they didn't hide somewhere in their room or in a cave somewhere, and they came out and said, God said, I should write this. No, they were writing, but as they wrote, they were writing under the influence, and most of them, they didn't actually notice at the time of writing that they were writing, they were writing scripture.

[1:05] So Peter refers to Paul's letter. He says that Paul wrote some strong things in his scriptures. You know, so Paul wrote scriptures. Now, there are many letters that were written in those days, and he told them all those letters that were scripture.

[1:21] But these ones that were scripture have been put together by church fathers to help us to know what is scripture. There are so many criteria they followed to know what is scripture and what is not.

[1:32] It's not part of my assignment this morning, all right? But this is the, it's called canonized scripture, okay? Canonized, sealed, this is the scripture. Now, and then so we have the epistles, so the history, which is gospels, Martin, Mark, Luke, and John, and Acts, they make the history.

[1:51] We have the epistles, and then we have one book that stands by its own self, which is the book of Revelation, the Apocalypse. Now, the book of Revelation is, I've said all this just to draw your attention to the nature of the book of Revelation.

[2:07] What's unique about the book of Revelation? Besides the fact that it was predictive in its message, prophetic, telling us about how everything ends.

[2:18] Nobody knows how everything will end. It's only the book of Revelation that tells us how everything ends. And Genesis tells us how everything began. Nobody was there, but God, by his spirit, revealed it to Moses, and Moses wrote it.

[2:32] So Genesis tells us how everything started. Revelation tells us how everything will end. Tell me any book that can tell you this. No human book can have the audacity to tell us how things started.

[2:47] Even evolution is a theory. It's a theory. It's not a fact. It's just a theory. Scientific theory is not proven. So no book can tell us how everything started.

[3:00] Okay, let's say science is trying to tell us about evolution. How is everything going to end? No one can tell us. But thank God, the Bible doesn't leave us in the dark about all these things. It tells us there's a place called heaven.

[3:12] It tells us one day Jesus is going to return to judge the living and the dead. It tells us that when you die, it's not the end. You are going to resurrect. And some will be resurrected unto eternal damnation.

[3:23] Others will be resurrected unto eternal glory. So all these things have been covered. But the book of Revelation is unique in itself because it only focuses and tells us about things to happen. Now, that's not the one uniqueness about it.

[3:37] It is unique in the sense that it was later, so to speak, written by Jesus himself. Because it was dictated by Jesus to Paul on the Isle of Patmos.

[3:52] Sorry, John on the Isle of Patmos. So as John was on the Isle of Patmos, so John, Jesus told him, write. All right. So he said, all these things you see, write in the book and send it to the churches.

[4:04] So as it were, Jesus dictated it to him. So there are certain people called amanuenses. Amanuenses, you dictate to them and they write for you.

[4:16] And so Paul, some of his letters were written by amanuenses and then towards the end he would sign it. So there are a few times you say that this was written by my own hand, Paul. It was written by Paul, my own hand.

[4:29] Because some of the things, in fact, there was one of the books, it was so urgent. He didn't have to wait for anybody, I think, in Galatians. He just crippled it anyhow. He was writing it because he was so angry to address a particular issue.

[4:43] And now, all the churches, all the letters written in the Bible, they were not written, they were written by apostles apart from Revelation, which Jesus dictated it to an apostle. So an apostle was not somewhere that decided to write.

[4:56] Jesus dictated it. He said, write, write, write. All that, so like, I think Revelation chapter 1, verse 10, or verse 9 and 10, it says that all what you see, write in the book.

[5:10] It says that John, it's not verse 10 somewhere there. What you see, write in the book. Okay, verse 11. Let's look at verse 11. He said, write this, or verse 19, he said, write these things you have seen.

[5:22] And these things which, sorry, and the things which are, and the things which will take place after this, all right? And then verse 11 says that, yeah, verse 11, verse 11 says that, I am the alpha and omega, the first and the line.

[5:39] What you see, write in a book and send it to the seven churches. And so in Revelation, when you read it through, you always, every now and then, you come across the word, write, because he was seeing so much, sometimes he forgot to write and he was just watching.

[5:53] Say, write. It's not for your pleasure. It's for the church. Write and send it to the churches. So he sent it to seven churches. Now, the seven churches are the church of Ephesus, the church of Smyna, the church of Pergamos, the church of Titeria, the church of Sardis, the church of Philadelphia, and the church of Laodicea.

[6:12] And all these churches, he wrote a particular letter to them, describing himself as somebody who does something particular and who is a particular person.

[6:24] All of them didn't have the same description of Christ. Every one of them, based on what Christ was about to address, he gave them a description of himself and what he does. It's very important, based on the nature of the church.

[6:37] Now, five of these churches did receive condemnations. Can you imagine Christ himself giving the church some letters of condemnation? You haven't done this.

[6:48] You haven't done this. So out of the seven, five received condemnations and two received commendations. Some received both commendations, some of the churches, both commendations and condemnation.

[7:00] But two received no condemnation, only commendation. And last week, I was talking, or last, the other time, Church of Philadelphia, two churches that received commendations and no condemnation, Church of Semana, the suffering church, and Church of Philadelphia, the church that was in love with God.

[7:18] Now, we come to the last church, which is the church of Laodicea. Laodicea. Let's all say Laodicea. Laodicea.

[7:28] Laodicea. Say it again. Say Laodicea. Laodicea. Revelation chapter 3, verse 14. Revelation chapter 3, verse 14 says that, and to the angel of the church of Laodicea, the church of the Laodiceans, do what?

[7:50] Write. He kept saying write. Write. Write. All right. So, to the angel of the church of the Laodiceans, write. But, these things say, says the amen, the faithful and true witness, the beginning of the creation of God.

[8:10] I know your works, that you are neither cold nor hot. I could wish you were cold or hot. So then, because you are lukewarm and neither cold nor hot, I will vomit you out of my mouth.

[8:28] Because you say, I am rich, have become wealthy, and have need of nothing, and do not know that you are wretched, miserable, poor, blind, and naked.

[8:41] These are very strong words from Jesus to a church. I counsel you to buy from me, refined, gold refined in the fire, that ye may be rich, and white garments, that ye may be clothed, and the shame of your nakedness may not be revealed, and anoint your eyes with eyesalves, that ye may see.

[9:05] As many as I love, I rebuke, I rebuke and chasten, therefore be zealous and repent. Behold, I stand at their door and knock.

[9:17] Jesus is outside of the church. I stand at their door and knock. My God. This is serious.

[9:27] And knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come. I will come in to him and dine with him and him with me.

[9:40] To him who overcomes, I will grant to sit with me on my throne. As I also overcame and sat down with my father on his throne.

[9:52] He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. Say amen. Amen. These are strong words.

[10:03] Can you read it from the New Living Translation, Pastor Denise? Verse 14. Write this letter to the angel of the church in Laodicea. This is the message from the one who is the amen, the faithful and true witness, the beginning of God's new creation.

[10:18] I know all the things you do, that you are neither hot nor cold. I wish that you were one or the other. But since you are like lukewarm water, neither hot nor cold, I will spit you out of my mouth.

[10:31] You say I am rich. I have everything I want. I don't need a thing. And you don't realize that you are wretched and miserable and poor and blind and naked. So I advise you to buy gold from me, gold that has been purified by fire.

[10:47] Then you will be rich. Also buy white garments from me so you will not be ashamed by your nakedness. And ointment for your eyes so you will be able to see. I correct and discipline everyone I love.

[11:00] So be diligent and turn from your indifference. Look, I stand at the door and knock. If you hear my voice and open the door, I will come in and we shall share a meal together as friends.

[11:13] Those who are victorious will sit with me on my throne. Just as I was victorious and sat with my father on his throne. Anyone with ears to hear must listen to the spirit and understand what he is saying to the churches.

[11:27] Wow. Amen. God will not force us to hear. He said, if you have ears to hear, then listen. This is interesting. We have to just, let's know a little bit about Laodicea.

[11:41] Because we've spoken about all these churches. These cities, these cities are actual cities. That were cities in those times these letters were written.

[11:55] Some are still even there. For instance, Laodicea, all the churches anyway, all the cities are within a certain area, Asia Minor, which is modern day Turkey.

[12:09] So all the cities are there, but different names now. Like I was telling you about Philadelphia had undergone about three different types of names.

[12:20] The church of Laodicea is found in the city of Laodicea. Okay.

[12:31] So it's better to know about the city of Laodicea so we can. Laodicea was founded by a great ruler who is called Antiochus II.

[12:43] He founded this, Antiochus, yeah, Antiochus II. That's the intertestamental times. Okay.

[12:54] After Alexander the Great. There are other leaders and some of these Antiochus guys who are seven under Alexander the Great. But this is Antiochus II. He founded the city of Laodicea.

[13:06] And he founded it and named it after his wife. So Laodicea is the name of a woman. Laodicea. So it's the name of a former wife of Antiochus II.

[13:21] He divorced her later, but he kept the name of the city. Is it not interesting? Yeah. And it's a morning day, Turkey, as I say, south-west, yeah, south-westing part of Turkey, is currently called, is in a place currently called Eskihasa, which means an old fortress in Turkey.

[13:52] It's near a famous resort called the Pamukali. Pamukali. And Pamukali, you need to understand all this is because it has a bearing on the message.

[14:07] Pamukali is a place. I think you should travel there one day if you are going to Turkey. Because there are certain places that have got hot springs. Hot in some.

[14:19] There's some, I think, in America. I've forgotten the name. Oregon. Portland. No, no, no. No. South Colorado or whatever. There's some in Italy, Japan.

[14:32] These are hot springs. Now, springs are water that comes out from the rocks. So, you see water coming. But these are hot ones. So, when you go and touch, it's very hot.

[14:44] It's coming out. And this particular one in Pamukali has got, this is, Pamukali in Turkey, it means that the cotton castle.

[14:56] You see the hot springs? Hot springs. And people go and bathe in it. Yeah. It's hot. But it comes down. It gets very warm. So, people, it's nice.

[15:07] And then it flows through aqueducts. Through a kind of a gata. Flows through the aqueduct. And in those days, they'd have to dig this aqueduct. Some of them underground. And bring the water straight into the towns.

[15:21] The Romans were very good at that. So, this is actually in modern Turkey currently. You can go there. It's called Pamukali. And that is Hierapolis. City near Hierapolis.

[15:32] It's a city near to Laodicea. So, Laodicea is surrounded. That's okay. Laodicea is surrounded by three cities. Also, two cities. The Colosse and Hierapolis.

[15:44] And Hierapolis has got the hot springs. And so, Laodicea, to have natural water to drink, they have to dig aqueducts, construct aqueducts, or, let's say, gata spillway, and then dig it miles.

[15:59] And this Laodicea, no. Hierapolis is about 10 miles away from Laodicea. So, they dug through. The Romans were good at that. So, how were the Romans getting their water supply?

[16:10] They dug a lot of aqueducts, artificial aqueducts, and some of them through mountains, through rocks, through the surface. The Romans are amazing with technology, architecture. And so, these guys were so good with their water supply, they tapped fresh water from the hot springs in Hierapolis.

[16:30] And so, this fresh water will come down 10 miles down the land. You can imagine. It's hot at the top. And there's another Colosse. Colosse is also the next town to Laodicea.

[16:44] Colosse. So, when Paul wrote the letter to the Colossians, he actually mentioned Laodicea. Because they are not, in fact, Colossians chapter 2 verse 1, I will show you something. Colossians chapter 2 verse 1, put it on the screen, please.

[16:56] Colossians 2, I want you to know what great conflicts I have for you and those in Laodicea. So, Laodicea and the Colossians were like twin cities.

[17:08] All right? So, he wrote letters to them and he wrote some, he also writes some. Look at chapter 4 verse 16. He wrote letters to Laodicea.

[17:19] Paul. Now, when this epistle, you know, Colossians, the epistle to the Colossians. When this epistle is read amongst you, see that it is read also in the church of the Laodiceans.

[17:35] And that you likewise read the epistle from Laodicea. So, he also wrote a letter. Now, theologians believe that maybe the letter was not canonized. Or some believe that it is the letter that was later on described as Ephesians.

[17:50] But, whatever. He wrote to the Laodiceans. So, Laodicea was very well known in the times of. And there was one pastor called Onesimus.

[18:02] He was a former prisoner. Yeah. And Aphia and Achippus. They were all Philemon. The letter Paul wrote to Philemon. Philemon is believed to live in Laodicea.

[18:13] And his wife, Aphia, Aphia, or how you call it. Philemon verse 2, which is there, you see. Aphia. Aphia. So, and then his.

[18:26] People believe that Achippus was his son. Philemon. So, now. So. No, no. That's not. That's Apelis. Apelis, they tried a tested one.

[18:38] So, now. Back to what I'm saying. Colosse and Laodicea were very close. And Hierapolis. These are three cities very close to each other. Hierapolis was known for hot springs.

[18:50] And Colosse was known for very cold springs. Very cold springs. And the Laodiceans were getting their water from Hierapolis.

[19:05] Some of which sometimes goes to Colosse. By the time it gets to Colosse, it was very cold. But when it's coming from Hierapolis, it's very hot. And it had medicinal purposes.

[19:19] When you, people had to travel and come there for rehabilitation. Come and bathe in the water for health rehabilitation. Or for health benefits. The hot springs.

[19:30] Because it had some, it had calcium in it. And it also had sulfur. Yeah. Sorry, carbonate.

[19:41] So, calcium and carbonate. Yeah. Calcium, carbonate in it. Which was very good for health reasons. And so, watch this. Laodicea was known for its medical achievements.

[19:52] It was respected for medical achievements. Especially because they developed a particular eye salve. An ear ointment.

[20:04] Which you can't get anywhere. If you want, like, is it Bupa? What was Bupa? Private healthcare. If you want Bupa, you go to Laodicea.

[20:15] Wow. So, they were known for good healthcare. And they were also rich because it was a banking city. So, Laodicea was very wealthy.

[20:25] Because the bankers, there were a lot of Jews there. And the banking systems were very good. And not only that. So, they were known for its financial sufficiency. It was known for its medical attainment.

[20:37] And it was also known for the... They had a particular wool. There was a particular sheep there. Which produced a particular type of wool. It's very dark black.

[20:52] Pitch black and silky. It's unique. And anyone to... For anyone to wear that kind of wool, the person must be very wealthy. Just like... If you wear the... What do you call it?

[21:03] Fair. Is it fair? It's... So, those times. And Laodicea was the only place you can find those black wools. So, they were known for their banking financial systems.

[21:14] They were known for their medical achievements. They were also known for their black wool. And then, finally, they were known for this water system. Water supply system. The only thing is that when you go to Colossae and you drink the cold water, it is refreshing.

[21:31] How many of you know what cold water is? It's refreshing. And it quenches. And when you go to Hierapolis and you go and drink the hot water, it was very rehabilitating.

[21:47] It was very therapeutic. It was good. But the problem was, by the time the water leaves, Hierapolis, and travels down, gets to Colossae, if you are not...

[22:00] Sorry, I said Colossae. Laodicea. If you are not a Laodicean and you go and drink the water, you are used to drinking the water from the stream, you go and drink it, the first reaction is... It will make you vomit. Because it has all kinds of...

[22:12] It's offensive. It's not cold. It's not hot. And... It had an emetic effect.

[22:25] It was nauseating. Jesus said, you... You... You... You... You... You... You make me have nausea. Like your water.

[22:37] Now, you can understand the tone in you. So, the waters in Laodicea were neither hot nor cold. They were tepid.

[22:50] Room temperature. Look warm. Isn't it interesting how people come to church and say, oh, you are warmly welcome here. Jesus said, don't use warm. No. You should be hotly welcome.

[23:08] Jesus said, because you are warm, you are lukewarm, I will spill you out of my mouth. I will... The right Greek word is I will vomit you out.

[23:23] You are sickening. You make me sick. There are some churches that make heaven sick. Hey! Hey! It's going to get interesting here.

[23:33] Hey! Hey! But make heaven sick. And when you go to Laodicea today, it's all ruined. You only have pillars.

[23:45] Like when I was teaching on the church of Smyrna, he says that if you overcome, I'll make you a pillar. See the pillars there. See the ruins of Laodicea. Laodicea is nothing again because they are gone.

[23:57] No church is there. Jesus told them and warned them. Laodicea, do you have the pillars? Yeah. This is Laodicea. See the pillars? Most are all gone left with only pillars.

[24:10] Isn't it not interesting how Jesus said, those who overcome, I'll make you pillars in my house because everything can go but the pillars usually will stand. And you see sometimes archway and doorways. No wonder he said, I stand at the door.

[24:21] And they are very known for this stadium. This stadium could sit 12,000 people. They are very prosperous city. To the extent that, you know, that region is an earthquake region. So most of these were leveled by earthquakes.

[24:34] In the year 16 BC. In the year 16 BC. No, no. 18, 16 AD. And 60 BC. That's okay.

[24:44] These are Laodicea. The roots of Laodicea. May we not become like this. Amen. And now all those areas are heavily Islamic. But Jesus personally spoke to the church there.

[24:59] UK should wake up. Europe should wake up. God will always have his people. But is it possible that the focus and the spotlight of God will move from a city, from a nation, which used to be the center of the move of God?

[25:16] Is it possible? Is it possible when you look at these ones, you can tell. It's possible. Depending on those who have ears to hear. Very interesting.

[25:29] The church. The city of Laodicea. They were so wealthy. When an earthquake hit them in 60 AD, it hit the whole area. And so, you know Philadelphia?

[25:43] In the time of the earthquake, the emperor Flavia helped them to build it. So they named the city after the emperor Neu Caesarea. I told you the other time. So the emperor was very wealthy and Roman emperor.

[25:55] So they helped a lot of the cities that were affected and leveled by the earthquakes. Right? They helped them to rebuild. All right.

[26:06] Watch this. They helped them to rebuild. When it came to Laodicea, the emperor said, okay, I want to give you tax break because you don't have to pay taxes to Rome again because of the situation so you can build.

[26:19] They said, sorry, we don't need tax break. We are sufficient enough. And he said, okay, we want to bring you some money to help. He said, we don't need your money. We are fine. We have enough money to rebuild our own city.

[26:33] That's the city. That's the city of Laodicea. So they were self-sufficient. No wonder the church in Laodicea was booming and also became very self-sufficient.

[26:43] They didn't need anybody. Jesus said, you say you are rich but you are poor, wretched, five strong ways. Poor, wretched, blind, naked, and miserable.

[27:00] Miserable. They thought they were fine. And Jesus said, I know your works. So this is the background to the church of Laodicea or the city of Laodicea.

[27:12] Excuse me. The city of Laodicea whose condition ended up becoming the same condition of the church. Now let's go back to the text. To the agent of the church of Laodicea, right? This thing says the Amen.

[27:24] When he came to Laodicea, he describes himself as the Amen. He describes himself as, tell them, this is Amen. Amen is talking. Can you imagine?

[27:35] What's the meaning of Amen? Amen means, may it be so. Before I do that, Laodicea means that, it's two words, Laos and Desia. Okay, Laos, Laos, we get the word laity, people, and Desia, idea.

[27:49] So it was the ideas of the people. Laodicea, the ideas of the people, the ruling of the masses. It's like a religious democracy. It's very important to understand that.

[28:06] It says that, this is what the Amen says. Jesus said, I am the Amen. Amen means that he is completely trustworthy. He is perfectly accurate.

[28:16] He is reliable. He is the way, the truth, and the life. When he says anything, it is true. He's a faithful witness. So he said, I am the Amen.

[28:28] There's only one reference in the Bible, in the Old Testament, in Isaiah 65, 16, where God is referred to as the Amen, even not in all translations. Some translations will put it there. When you put the, I think the Amplified, you'll see the Amen there.

[28:42] I am the Amen. The Amen. May the God of truth and fidelity. The Amen. All right. So God calls himself Amen. Here, when Jesus was addressing the church of Laodicea, he said, I am the one who is trustworthy, who is completely trustworthy, who is perfectly accurate.

[29:01] Now, in other words, nothing in God can be fulfilled outside of me. I am the Amen. When you pray, you have to say Amen. It's, I make what your prayer, I give meaning to your prayer.

[29:13] Jesus, and Jesus was always using the word Amen, but he uses it before he spoke. We use it after we pray. He uses it most of the time. He will say, Amen, Amen, I say unto you.

[29:24] Amen, Amen, the same word. Verily, verily, assuredly, assuredly. It means that certainty, this thing is going to be. When you pray and you say Amen, what you are saying is that definitely this, as I have declared, is going to be so.

[29:36] God is blessing you. So, when you say Amen, that means it's an affirmation. You are affirming the statement that has been made that this is what is going to happen in my life. I said this week, someone is going to receive a testimony.

[29:48] God is blessing you. In 2 Corinthians 1, verse 20, Bible talks about Jesus Christ being, Bible says that, for all the promises of God in Christ, okay, in Him, I, yes, and in Him, Amen, to the glory of God.

[30:08] In Him, outside of Him, the Amen can happen. He says, I am the Amen. I am the Amen. I am the certain one. When you come to me, when I tell you something, you can take it to the bank and I'm trustworthy.

[30:22] It will work. When you depend on me, you will not be put to shame. I don't know who is here and there's something that you are torn in between, whether to count on God or use your own means, whether to look up to God and trust His faithfulness, His trustworthiness and depend on that or find your own way out.

[30:40] I'm telling you, no one depends on God and is put to shame. God is too faithful to fail. If you can trust Him, concerning your health, concerning your condition, concerning your marriage, concerning your finances, your job, if you can just trust God, stop fearing and just trust Jesus.

[30:58] He said, I am the Amen. I see the most mighty Amen showing up in your life. I see the most powerful Amen doing wonders in your life.

[31:13] Amen. Amen. Amen. You shall have a testimony. Amen. Amen. Why are you so afraid when you have an Amen to say?

[31:25] Amen. Amen. I'll say that again. I said, why are you so afraid when you can't say Amen? Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen.

[31:35] It's different if you can't say Amen, if you don't have an Amen to say. But if you have an Amen to say, if you have an Amen to say, I dare you to be bold. I dare you to move forward.

[31:47] I dare you not to fear. Shout Amen. He said, I am the Amen. I am the Amen.

[31:59] Amen. Whatever I say is so. Some of you might have heard statements and phrases like, God said it.

[32:11] I believe it. That settles it. Forget that I believe it. God said it. That settles it. Whether you believe. When you believe, that it becomes so in your life.

[32:26] Your believing authorizes God's purposes to be fulfilled in your life. Not in his life. When God speaks, he settles it.

[32:37] No doctors have said a few things. But what has God said? When you get a medical report, look for heavenly reports. And compare the two.

[32:49] If there is any disparity and incongruence there, choose God's own because God's own is reliable. They can say it genuinely. It can be right.

[33:01] But somewhere along the line, maybe some conditions or circumstances may change. Jesus said, when I say, it is so. When I say, it is so.

[33:12] And, watch, Jesus has not got bad news. Worrying news. You'll find it from Jesus. He said, I am the amen.

[33:23] And then he goes on to say, I am the true and faithful. I am the faithful and true witness. Anything I say concerning God, whatever I say concerning the plans of God, the purpose of God, the program of God, the promises of God, the covenants of God, when I say it, believe it.

[33:42] It's so. Amen. Amen. He is the true witness. He is the living verification, confirmation, validation of every promise of God.

[33:55] Amen. The confirmation, the verification, the validation of anything God has said. He is the living verification. And if you can believe what he's saying, assuredly, assuredly I say to you.

[34:10] That's why he said a few statements by starting with, assuredly, or amen, I say to you. Amen, amen. Verily, verily. Assuredly, many of the Bibles interpreted verily, verily.

[34:23] Truly, truly. It means, amen, amen. He didn't say after he, he said it before he spoke, because he's the amen. I don't know what you're going through, but the amen, sir, I should tell you.

[34:36] If you can, if you can trust God, if you can believe God, if you can put your confidence in the amen, you will not be put to say that. I'm addressing, I'm addressing your situation.

[34:48] I'm addressing your marriage. I'm addressing your family. I'm addressing your health. I'm addressing your condition. If you can put your confidence in the amen, it shall be so for you.

[35:01] It shall be so for you. All right, Pastor, guess what? I can see some people's faith are saying yes. Watch this. Watch this. I can see, I can sense in my spirit.

[35:13] Somebody's faith has connected a miracle to them. Somebody's faith, somebody's testimony is connecting a miracle for you. In the name of Jesus.

[35:24] In the name of Jesus. I'm announcing to you that your miracle, your blessing, your testimony is released. In the name of Jesus.

[35:38] Somebody's about to receive a surprising medical report, which is a very good one. I see God overturning a certain negative medical condition.

[35:53] I see God going ahead of somebody and giving you a major breakthrough. I'm not talking about next year, this year, this man.

[36:04] Hey, before the end of this man, before the end of this man, before the end of this week, I profess over your life that the airman will do one of his wonderful things.

[36:21] Over your life in the name of Jesus. Shout and believe in the name of Jesus. Please be seated. I am the airman.

[36:35] Listen, I'm going to say something. In the message, you realize they are so proud, they are not willing to humble themselves to receive help.

[36:47] You know, when you ask for help, it's kind of humbling. Asking for help can be very humbling. Receiving help can be very humbling.

[36:59] I remember years ago, a Russian submarine had a crisis under the sea. And the Americans, or I think the British, NATO also, said, we want, we can help to recover or bring the people, salvage, everything or whatever, to help.

[37:18] Russia said, we don't need your help. The people died under the dip. The submarine never came back because they refused to receive help. There is a way where pride can block you.

[37:33] Jesus said, you have a name that you are rich, but you are poor. He said that, come to me and buy. Buy gold.

[37:44] I'll show you. You are, who trade in gold? Who trade in so much wealth? He said, you are poor. Come and buy from me. There is a way where grace can locate people who have a humble heart to receive from grace.

[38:01] as I grow up, I've realized that God is not eager and in a hurry to prove his godness to anybody.

[38:13] If you are really God, then, if you are really God, God has not got interest in proving anything. You will meet him later.

[38:25] Oh, yeah. You will meet him later. It's very important. God is not in a rush. Some people say, okay, if there is God, listen, listen, listen.

[38:37] Don't believe. If you like, don't believe. It doesn't affect those of us who believe. It doesn't affect God. It's only you. It's like, when I was growing, my mom told me an adage. It says a proverb, an African proverb.

[38:49] It says that, like you, no, it's my school, one of my lectures. It said, you want to change this whole auditorium. You want to change the color with your forehead by scratching your forehead on the other side. You know, the impression will not be on this.

[39:02] It will end up being on you. You can change the whole color of a building with your forehead by scratching it. My mom said, the goat says he wants to spoil the walls of the owner by scratching his body on the wall.

[39:18] At the end of the day, you see that it has sustained wounds. Not believing God doesn't affect God. It only affects the unbeliever. I dare you, Christians must be believers.

[39:37] Believe in his word. Believe in his written document. Believe in the written document. I thought you were a Christian.

[39:50] I'm going to talk to you very soon. I'll go further about the church of Laodicea. They were believers but unbelievers. Jesus said, you make me sick.

[40:04] You make me sick. You are nauseating to me. Hey! He said, I better, I prefer you be hot or cold.

[40:17] but room temperature I don't like it. I have a message for room temperature believers. They're room temperature Christians.

[40:34] Who wants everybody to be clapping for you and accept you? And you know so much that you don't need anyone to teach you much. You know all the Hebrews and the Shebrews.

[40:48] The exegesis. You know the homiletics, the homiletics. You know everything. You know that, you know about eschatology, Christology, homophysiology, soteriology, angelology.

[41:05] you know about bibliology. You know everything. You know all the things. And you even have added self-sucing identities.

[41:22] And now, last week, I added homos novus. You know all these things, but you are not hot. You are not cold. He said, you make heaven sick.

[41:33] You are obnoxious to heaven. He said, when I drink you, you are foul. And this is, these are strong ways from Jesus to a church.

[41:46] It's possible that we can be making all this noise, having all this nice music, having all this nice environment, and yet, we are obnoxious to him. We make him sick.

[41:58] I'm going to show you what the problem was that made him sick. He said, I am the amen, the faithful witness. Then he goes on, he didn't end there. He said, I am the amen, the faithful and true witness.

[42:10] Anything I say about God is so. Then he goes on to say, the beginning of the creation of God. Now, this is very important, and it carries some theological significance. So, I need to take my time to explain it.

[42:22] Now, you remember I explained that Laodicea is very close to Colossae. Now, the book of Colossians was written to correct every epistle, practically most of the epistles, were written to correct a problem in the church.

[42:37] So, when he writes, apart from Ephesians, which was not written to address a problem, it was written to explain or to expose the heaven's perspective about the church.

[42:49] But all of them, Galatia, the Galatians was written to correct the grace and law. They are mixing the two together. Romans, to sort out the legalism or legalities about being born again, being a Christian.

[43:03] All those things were written. And so, Colossians was written to clear the air about the deity of Christ and the humanity of Christ. Because there are some people who came up, they are called Gnostics.

[43:14] Gnostics, knowledge. They know, they know, they feel they know everything, they know everything. And they said that Jesus is not God. So, that was the problem in Colossians. So, they were challenging and they didn't believe in the deity of Christ.

[43:29] So, Paul had to write a very strong letter defending the deity of Christ in Colossians. So, in Colossians chapter 1, right from the early parts of Colossians chapter 1, look at from verse 15. He started talking about Christ, who Christ was.

[43:40] Verse 15, he said, he is the image of the invisible God. How about that? The firstborn of all, of all creation. So, that same thing he said about the firstborn. Now, the word firstborn talking is not about he was created.

[43:54] He said, he, before anything was created, it's like, in the beginning was the word, the word was God and the word was God. Nothing was made, that was made without the word. So, anything that must be made had to be made through him.

[44:09] He said, and, he says that, nothing was, no, back to Colossians chapter 1, verse 15, please. Colossians chapter 1, verse 15, he says that, he is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation.

[44:24] 16, let's keep going. For by him, all things were created that are in heaven and that are on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominion or principalities or powers, all things were created through him and for him.

[44:41] He's not beginning to twerp in more light on Jesus being the firstborn of creation. He said, everything was created through him and for him. It belongs to him. That's a serious thing about Jesus.

[44:53] Now, go to the next verse and see. He says that, and he is before all things and in him all things consist. I mean, that did, this is serious Christological submission.

[45:07] Yes. It's a very serious one. Any church that gets this wrong is not a Christian church. Now, I'm taking it further and I'll explain something to you in a minute. Go to the next verse.

[45:19] He is the head of the body. That's the church. So, the church is the body. Okay? He's the head of the body who is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead that in all things he may have the preeminence.

[45:32] When we come to church, he may have the preeminence. He's in a different class. Forerunner. He's ahead. He's above. We don't bring him to the class of your challenges because you are going through this.

[45:44] Christ has disappointed. My friend, leave him out. Wow. I mean, how can you bring the queen lower her and say, okay, we should also vote? No, no, don't bring her into politics.

[45:57] Even though she's a constitutional monarch, she's not subject to voting. Jesus is a, in all things, he must have the preeminence when it comes to the church.

[46:09] Yeah. Do you know how a church becomes lukewarm? Because they are so close to Colossi, that was the problem they were having. They were having this.

[46:21] Their theology has become warped. And Jesus said, you see, a church that loses its theology. You see, sometimes we make noise about, oh, a church has done this, a church has done this, a church has done this.

[46:34] Please, let's stop focusing so much on that and let's first of all examine its cardinal theology. Then, the theology would then, the doctrines would then flow over, spill over into their teachings or their behavior and their belief and their behavior.

[46:53] So, when you see some behaviors in a church, check the fundamental theology and the doctrine. It's important. It's important.

[47:03] I mean, you can't bully me to tell you, to say fornication is all right. I know you like it, you are doing it, you live in it, but I can't change my conversion because he's the amen.

[47:17] Some people are not happy at all. I think I should go more into that. I think I should go more into that. He's the amen.

[47:29] So, when a church begins to come from, and what happened in the church of Colossae, which has spilled over into Laodicea, was that they began to err in their Christology.

[47:44] They began to lose grounds on their Christology, who Christ was. So, when he came to and said, I am the amen, I am the true and the faithful witness.

[47:56] Colossians chapter 1 again, where did we get to verse 18? Verse, I mean, let's go to verse 19. Look at this. For it pleased the Father that in him all fullness should dwell.

[48:09] Everything. So, outside of Christ, everything is empty. Somebody say, somebody say, this like, you keep saying, Jesus is the answer.

[48:20] What are the questions? Emptiness. Questions are all over us, all around us. Life is a big, complex puzzle. You don't have to ask where the questions are.

[48:31] You wake up. That's why when a child is born in Christ, they say, hey, what's the big question in life? Life is a puzzle. And the older you grow, you find that life is very complex.

[48:41] Very complex. He said that, I am the beginning and the beginning of all, the beginning of the creation of God. Which means that the beginning, the word beginning is not like the start per se.

[48:55] It means the leader, the originator, the source. The Greek word is archi. Archi. A-R-C-H-E and then the apostle.

[49:09] Archi. That's where we get the word archangel. That's where we get the word arch enemies. Arch bishop. We get the word mon arch.

[49:21] Single arch. Archi. The one above all. Mon arch. Arch angel. Arch bishop. Arch enemies. And oligarchs.

[49:32] Oh, yeah. Oligarchs. Few who are on the top. Arch has to do with the top one. The topmost one. So that archi, it's in the beginning.

[49:43] The Hebrew word said in the beginning. That word beginning is mon archi. In the arch, the beginning. The Greek word arch. That's where we get all those arch. Anything called it arch, arch, arch, arch, arch.

[49:55] The above everything else. The source. The leading. The origin. So when he says that I am the archer of the creation of God. Revelation chapter 3, verse 18.

[50:07] He says that I am, no, verse, yeah, verse 18. The, the, no, it's not verse 4. Faithful, yeah, beginning the first, thank you, verse 14. Beginning of the creation of God.

[50:19] The archer of the creation of God. The source of the creation of God. The origin of the creation of God. Without me, you won't find God. And everything God created finds meaning through me.

[50:35] Because I am the origin. I am the mastermind. Wow. I'm the head. I'm above everything created. Wow. Can you imagine how he gives this description to himself before he addresses the church that has become apostates or the church that has entertained damaging theology or Christology?

[50:58] Wrong Christology that has affected their passion for God. They are cold towards God. Or they, they were not, they are not, they will not reject Christ and they will not burn for him.

[51:08] Wow. They are just, just there. Just there. Like they are water. Like the water of Laodicea. You can't just drink it and enjoy it. When the weather, water is hot, you know you can get some tea and some stuff out of it.

[51:22] When it's cold, you know you can relax you. But what is this room temperature one? What is this lukewarm? Tepid. What is it? What am I going to do with it?

[51:33] Jesus said, you are of no use. You are foul. And your foulness has to do with you being, look, let's look at the text. Go back. Verse 15.

[51:45] I know your works, that you are neither cold, no. Can you imagine? He said, I know you. I know you. Tell someone, God knows you. God knows you. Tell another person, God knows you.

[51:57] God knows you. He said, I know you. I know you. I know who you are. I know what you do. I know where you live. I know what you have been thinking. He said, I know you.

[52:08] He said, I know you. I know you. He said, I know you. You may not think I'm aware, but I know you. You see, you think you are something, but I know you. Like sometimes a wife would tell people that I'll ask my husband, don't mind.

[52:24] My husband, if he tells you, don't mind. No, no, no. Your wife says, no, no, no. You are not like that. You forget. You can't do it. You are not like that. You will forget. You tell me. I'll remember. My husband will forget.

[52:34] He says he won't forget, but he will forget. I know my husband. See, sometimes we have opinion of ourselves, which is far from the truth. All right. He said, I know your works. That's very strong. That got my attention.

[52:46] I know your deeds. I know you. I know what you are. And he said, do you know how he knows them? He said, you make me sick.

[53:00] You make me vomit. You are nauseous to me. I know you. You think you are cool. You are not. I know you.

[53:12] Back to the text. He says, I know your works. That you are neither cold nor hot. I could wish you were cold or hot.

[53:24] So then, because you are lukewarm. You see, the word tepid. You are lukewarm. Neither cold nor hot. I will vomit you out of my mouth.

[53:37] I'm going to throw you out of my mouth. That stands to imply we are in his mouth. That's interesting. We are, we are, we are, see, Jesus has got nothing to say but through the church.

[54:00] If you want what Christ has got to say to our generation, our society, and our community, you better not go to certain churches. Because they have compromised on their Christology.

[54:12] Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Do you hear what you said? I'm not talking about denomination. No, no, no, no, no. This is not got to do with denomination. Methodist, Presby, Catholic, no, no, all those.

[54:24] No, it's not got to do with denominations. I'm talking about the church because the temperature of a church is determined by the leader of the church. Yes. Any church on fire means the leader is on fire.

[54:38] Church that remembers scriptures means the leader teaches from scriptures. Not quoting from wise men. Wise men. Mahatma Gandhi. Obama, Osama Bin Laden.

[54:50] Michael, oh, sorry. I actually was going to say, Saddam, no, the other one, Barack Obama and I said Osama Bin Laden.

[55:03] why should I even think of Saddam, Barack and, all right, Barack has said this. Winston Churchill said that and this said that.

[55:16] It's good. Some of them, Madiba said this and Jack Chirac said this a couple ago.

[55:27] Tony said this. Those things are good. Washington, D.C. and all those great guys. They are great. We thank God for their lives but you better find out what, what? What did I say?

[55:41] Did I say what? What did I say? At least, I'm not getting my scriptures wrong. That's a very bad one.

[55:59] I said what she did this. Sorry, guys. But you understand what I'm trying to talk about. What, who says don't matter.

[56:12] I'm telling you when it comes to the grand scope of things. What, there's nothing any wise man has ever said which there is no better version here. Pastor, dig, dig for it.

[56:23] Dig, dig, dig into the text and pull it out and tell them that's here the Lord. There's nothing any wise man anywhere has ever said which hasn't got better advanced versions in the text of scripture.

[56:39] But, there you go. said, you are neither cold or hot and because of that I will spill you out of my mouth.

[56:51] Because you say, ah, it's getting, oh man, let me just run this. Because you say I am rich, have become wealthy and have need of nothing. Remember? See, the Laodiceans, they don't need any help.

[57:04] I don't need anything. And it has become the same condition of the church. Now, that information I gave you was a historic information, historical information about the church, about the city of Laodicea.

[57:16] But interestingly, the condition of the city has become the state of the church. So now the church, Jesus is telling them, you, say you have become rich, because you say I am rich, I have become wealthy and I have need of nothing.

[57:32] They are known for their wealth and their health. You know health and wealth go together. The richer you are, the more you think about your health. They go together.

[57:46] But, he said, you are wealthy and you need nothing. And what you don't know is that you are rich. Now, I was studying and one man of God said something which was quite, very strong.

[58:00] I don't have the audacity to repeat it in that same fashion. But, what he said was that, put it back on the screen. He said, and this one is true. He said, these are not words describing a Christian.

[58:15] Let's repeat the words. Wretched. Miserable. Poor. All right. Some of you are so tight. Let's go one more time. Louder. Wretched. Miserable.

[58:25] Poor. Blind. One more time. Louder. Wretched. Miserable. Poor. Poor. Night. He said, these are no words to describe Christians. Jesus would use these words for Christians.

[58:38] So, his point is that those guys were not Christians. They were in the church but they are not Christians. He, when he was trying to even commend them, there was nothing he could pick on.

[58:49] Nothing good inside them he can speak, he can use. Nothing good inside them and Christ himself was not even inside the church. No wonder he was standing out of the door and was he was standing outside the door and was knocking, was knocking, was knocking, was knocking.

[59:06] He was standing out the door. He said, I stand at the door and I knock and I knock and I knock and I knock and I knock and I knock my hand is hurting and I knock and I knock.

[59:18] Ah! It's a basic basic ABC. He said, I stand at the door.

[59:37] How come Jesus is outside of his own church? Because they kicked him out. By their doctrine.

[59:49] By their teachings. But they, it's interesting. They were not even, you can't accuse them of encouraging fornication, worldliness.

[60:02] No, Jesus didn't accuse them of any of these things. He couldn't accuse them. But he was out. They have thrown him out. They were, look, whoa. When you go there, you feel so good. If you're a sinner, you are a thief, you are a nice person.

[60:15] Everybody is very nice. Hallelujah. Everybody's good. And their music was good. They have a way of appealing to the flesh and the soul.

[60:27] They appeal to the flesh. They appeal to the flesh. They appeal to the soul. But they couldn't work on the fervent spirits. Paul, when he wrote to the Romans, he says that, I beseech you by the mercies of God.

[60:42] Be ye transformed by the renewal of your mind. No, first of all, he said, Romans chapter 12, present your bodies as a living sacrifice. So, a presented body, a transformed soul.

[60:54] And the same text. The same Romans chapter 12. Presented body, a transformed soul. How about the spirits? Verse 11. Hot burning spirits. There are no hearts.

[61:06] He said, fervent in spirit. That word is hot in the spirit. When he's talking about hot, lukewarm, he's not talking about, he's talking about, when he said you are not hot.

[61:17] He meant you are not boiling hot or freezing cold. You are just in between. Be fervent. A fervent spirit. A transformed soul.

[61:28] And a presented body. Go together to make a complete Christian life. He said, I'm knocking. So, he said, verse 18 again. Put it on the screen, please. As I said, verse 18.

[61:40] He says that, let's pick it from 17. And then I'll. But you say, I am rich. I become wealthy. And I have need of nothing. And do not know that you are wretched, miserable, poor, blind, and naked.

[61:56] These are five strong ways. The next verse. Verse 18. I counsel you. To buy from me gold. Gold. Refined in fire.

[62:06] That ye may be rich. And white garments. That ye may be clothed. That the shame of your nakedness may not be revealed. And anoint your eyes with eyes salves that ye may see.

[62:19] See, the eyes salves they produced, they were proud of. He's now saying that it's not physical. They were not blind. But it didn't cure blindness. But it cured soul of the eyes.

[62:32] Laodicea was known for that. And he says now spiritually. He said, you think you have eyes salves. But come because you are blind. He used to tell the Pharisees, blind guiles. Matthew chapter 15 verse 14.

[62:44] Blind guiles. Matthew 15 verse 14. Look at it. He said, let them alone. They are blind leaders of the blind. If the blind leads the blind, both will fall into a ditch.

[62:55] Matthew chapter 23 verse 16. Matthew 23 verse 16. He says that, woe to you, blind guiles. Can you imagine? Guide. A guide who is blind.

[63:06] Follow me. That's what they had in the synagogues. Jesus said, woe to you, blind guiles. Who say, whatever we swear by the temple.

[63:17] Now their theology came in. Their theology, because they are blind, their theology was warped. Look at verse 17. Look at verse 17. Fools and blind.

[63:29] This is Jesus talking. When you read your Bible, it's in red letter. Jesus calling them fools and blind. For which is greater. Verse 19. Verse 19. Verse 24, 26.

[63:40] Then I'll stop. Verse 19 says what? Fools and blind. Verse 24. Jesus addressing the Pharisees. Blind guiles. Who strain out a nut and swallow the camel.

[63:52] You are so particular about the nut. That small, tiny insect in your water. When you are, you strain it out. But you swallow a whole camel.

[64:08] He said you are bothered about the dots and the tittle. But you are forgotten about a whole sentence that is wrong. A whole sentence is wrong. And your focus is on a dot and a comma which is not there.

[64:21] The whole sentence is wrong. Verse 26. Blind Pharisees. Let's all say that together. Blind Pharisees. Say it louder.

[64:32] Blind Pharisees. Louder for the last time. Blind Pharisees. Jesus used to tell the Pharisees you are blind. Now in the church of Laodicea, he said you think you are wealthy and you don't have any.

[64:42] But the actual state of your situation in Revelation chapter 3. The actual state of your condition is that you are blind. Verse 17. You are blind.

[64:55] You know that you are wretched, miserable, poor. In the streets. Next week I'll continue from this level. And I'm going to show you how did he end up outside of the church.

[65:07] And then when they've been using it for evangelism, Jesus is knocking at your heart. No, your heart is too small for him to come. I will explain the difference between Christ in you and you in Christ.

[65:22] Next week. I will explain that. Blind guys. Oh Lord, that you will help us not to be lukewarm.

[65:36] You will help us to be hot for you. You will help us to take a stand for you. You will help us to see you the way we should and serve you the way we should.

[65:47] Oh Lord. I think that should be our prayer. Everybody, if you can lift your right hand. Everybody. And begin to pray that prayer. Lord, help me to be hot for you. Help me to serve you the way I should.

[65:59] Help me not to compromise. Help me not to compromise on my stance for you. Lord, help me. Lord, help me. Pray that prayer right now as we bring the service to our end.

[66:10] We thank God for using this sermon, Reverend Dr. David Entry, to share this awesome word. If this message has blessed you in any way, please spread the word by sharing it and send us an email to amen at karis.org.

[66:22] Remember to stay connected with us on Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, and Twitter for regular updates on what God is doing here at Karis Ministries. Stay blessed. For more information visit www.fema.org