Revelation chapter 3 verses 14 to 22 and Morteza is going to come and read for us. Morteza, come to you.
Good morning church.
Revelation chapter 3 verses 14 to 22.
To the angel of the church in Leodicea write,
These are the words of Amen, the faithful and true witness, the ruler of God's creation.
I know your deeds, that you are neither cold nor hot.
I wish you were either one or the other.
So because you are lukewarm, neither hot or cold, I am about to spit you out of my mouth.
You say, I am rich, I have acquired wealth, and do not need a thing.
But you do not realize that you are wretched, pitiful, poor, blind, and naked.
I counsel you to buy from me gold refined in a fire, so that you can become rich.
And white clothes to wear, so that you can cover your shameful nakedness.
And salve to put on your eyes, so that you can see.
Those whom I love, I rebuke and discipline.
So be earnest and repent.
Here I am, I stand at the door and knock.
If anybody hears my voice and open the doors, I will come in and eat with him and he with me.
To him who overcomes, I will give the right to sit with me on my throne,
just as I overcome and sat down with my father on his throne.
He who has ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.
Amen.
It is a great privilege to be with you this morning.
And I'd ask that you keep your Bible open with me there at Revelation 3.
And as we do so, let's bow our heads and let's pray together.
Gracious Heavenly Father, we thank you that part of your wonderful kindness to us
is that you speak to us through your written word.
Thank you that every part of your word has been written down for us, for our good,
that we might know you, that we might know your Son, the Lord Jesus,
that we might, as we heard earlier, be disciple-making disciples,
obeying everything the Lord Jesus has told us to do,
trusting that he truly is always with us to the very end of the age.
Father, please, in your kindness, would you speak to us now?
Help us not to think how your word applies to someone else.
Please speak to us, individually, directly, personally.
We ask these things for Jesus' sake.
Amen.
Smiley.
It was a special game played by an elderly married couple who had played this game
throughout more than 50 years of married life.
The goal of the game was to write Smiley, S-H-M-I-L-Y,
in a surprise place for the other person to find.
They took turns leaving Smiley around the house,
and as soon as one of them discovered it,
well, it was the other one's turn to write Smiley somewhere.
So they dragged Smiley with their fingers through sugar and flour containers in the kitchen.
They wrote it in the condensation on the windows on cold winter mornings.
They wrote it on the steamed-up mirror in the bathroom,
and at one time the old lady even unrolled an entire roll of toilet paper
to leave Smiley on the very last sheet.
There was no end to the places where Smiley would appear.
Little notes with Smiley scribbled hurriedly were found on dashboards,
under car seats, taped to steering wheels.
The little notes were stuffed in shoes or left under pillows.
Smiley was written in dust on the mantelpiece, traced in the ashes of the fire.
And when the old lady died, the floral tribute from her husband simply said,
Smiley.
Have you guessed what Smiley stands for yet?
See how much I love you.
A foundation truth of Christianity is that the Christian man or woman is someone who is dearly loved.
Dearly loved by the Lord Jesus Christ.
And Smiley, see how much I love you, is written repeatedly on the pages of Scripture.
Now of course the clearest place that it's written in Scripture is those that point us to the supreme demonstration
of the love of the Lord Jesus.
His sacrificial death on the cross in place of undeserving hell-bound sinners like me.
So Smiley rings out when we read words like,
But God demonstrates his own love for us in this.
While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.
Or Galatians 2 verse 20 where Paul says,
The Son of God loved me.
And he says he's wondering that.
And gave himself for me.
If you're a Christian believer this morning and you need reassurance of the love of the Lord Jesus for them,
Well I would urge you to look at the cross through which God says,
Smiley to you.
This is how God showed his love among us.
He sent his one and only Son into the world that we might live through him.
This is love, not that we love God,
but that God loved us.
And sent his Son as the atoning sacrifice from our sins.
That is the love from which nothing can separate the Christian believer.
But here's my question this morning.
Is the cross the only way that our Lord Jesus displays his love to his dearly loved people?
It is to three further proofs of his love that this letter to the church at Laodicea points.
The majestic, all-powerful, awesome Lord Jesus is giving his message to this church in Laodicea.
A message if you look at verse 22 that's also for us,
where we are told whoever is here, let them hear what the Spirit says to the church.
And as our brother read it, did you notice how solemn the message is?
Jesus pulls no punches.
He highlights the sinful, casual, half-heartedness
and the complacent self-sufficiency of this church in this place called Laodicea.
Look at verse 15.
Their casual, half-heartedness.
He says, I know your deeds, that they are neither hot nor cold.
I wish you were either one or the other.
So because you are lukewarm, neither hot nor cold,
I'm about to spit you out of my mouth.
Verse 17, he speaks of their sinful, complacent self-sufficiency.
You say, I'm rich, I've acquired wealth and do not need a thing.
But you do not realize that you are wretched, pitiful, poor, blind, naked.
Imagine you were sitting in Laodicea Baptist Church or Free Church
when this letter was first read out.
You're thinking everything's going okay in your church.
And then you hear these words of the Lord Jesus directed at you.
Perhaps they were left reeling with the shock when they heard them.
Perhaps there was a stunned silence came upon the congregation.
Perhaps as they heard these words, some of the members were left wondering,
look, if the awesome Lord of the universe is saying this about us,
that he wants to spit us out of his mouth,
is there any hope for us?
Is he going to write us off?
Well, look at verse 19.
This is where our focus is this morning.
Verse 19,
Those whom I love, I rebuke.
Let me tell you something, says our awesome Lord Jesus.
My rebuking of you is a proof of my love for you.
It's a smiley.
A see how much I love you.
And it is the first proof of the love of our Lord Jesus
to which these verses draw our attention this morning.
See how much I love you.
The Lord Jesus, because he loves his people,
here's the first thing,
he tells us off.
The Lord Jesus telling me off
is a proof of his love for me.
Have you ever had a verbal dressing down by someone
for something you've done wrong?
Have you ever been rightly rebuked
in such a way that you've been ashamed of the action
that you're being told off for?
Well, that's actually what's meant by this word rebuke.
It carries the idea of putting someone
who has done something wrong to shame.
It's the idea of a telling off
that brings conviction of guilt to the person rebuked.
It's the same word translated rebuke here
that is used by our Lord Jesus in John 16
when he speaks of the convicting work of the Holy Spirit.
And he said that the work of the Spirit
is to prove the world to be in the wrong
about sin, righteousness, and judgment.
That's what the Lord Jesus was doing
to the church at Laodicea in Revelation 3.
It's what he continues to do for us
as this message is read.
Jesus exposes sin
in a way designed to bring conviction of guilt and shame.
And in doing so, says our Lord Jesus,
I am acting in love towards you.
It's those whom I love that I rebuke.
This is real love.
This is the unique love of God
that is always for the good of the other.
This is true tender affection,
a tender affection that doesn't ignore sin.
A love that doesn't sweep sin under the carpet
as if it isn't important.
That doesn't treat sin as something
that doesn't really matter.
No, the love that rebukes
is the love that knows the serious consequences
of rebellion against God
and therefore tells off
and warns.
And will you notice two things
about the loving rebuke of the Lord Jesus?
First of all,
it's always accurate.
Now that can't be said
when we rebuke others, can it?
My wife Sandra and I and Jen
were at a camp this week
called Contagious for Young People.
It was great fun, wasn't it, Jen?
But I'm reminded of another camp
I used to help on.
And during this camp,
on two occasions,
I was aware of one of the older campers
being really unkind
to one of the younger campers.
And when I saw it happening
a third occasion,
I kind of stepped in
and boy, did I give this older camper
a telling off.
But I discovered later
that on the third occasion,
I jumped to the wrong conclusion.
On that third occasion,
the camper wasn't being unkind.
He was actually trying to be helpful
to the younger camper.
My rebuke was inaccurate,
unjustified.
I remember I had to go and apologize
to this young camper.
Our Lord Jesus
never has to apologize
for his rebukes.
His rebukes are always spot on.
Look back to verse 14.
We discover why.
It's because of who he is.
He says there,
these are the words of the Amen,
the faithful and true witness,
the ruler of God's creation.
In other words,
Jesus is the one who sees everything.
And if he says something about us,
well, it's reliable,
it's precise.
So if he rebukes me this morning
for half-heartedness
or self-sufficiency,
his rebuke is accurate
and justified,
whatever protestations
I may make.
The second thing to notice
about his rebuke
is that his rebuke
is what every believer needs
all the time.
Look again at verse 19.
Those whom I love,
I rebuke.
Jesus doesn't say,
those whom I love,
I may need to rebuke.
He doesn't say,
those whom I love,
I occasionally rebuke.
No,
those whom the Lord Jesus loves
are those like me
who need to be rebuked
because those who he loves
are sinners.
We may be saved sinners.
We may be justified sinners.
We are because of his great love for us,
but we are also ongoing sinners.
Why this morning
did we start our service
with a prayer of confession?
Because we muck up.
We regularly fall into sins
like the sins of half-heartedness
and self-sufficiency.
I was asked this week
at this camp
in an interview
about what it's like
living as a follower of Jesus.
And I said,
well,
I need to be told I muck up,
which is what the Lord Jesus does.
We receive his rebuke
as we expose ourselves
to the sword of the Spirit,
his words.
The scriptures,
do you remember
how they're designed?
They're designed to teach us
and to rebuke us,
to tell us off,
along with correcting
and training us.
So actually,
every time we read God's word
or hear it read or preached,
it's right to be praying
something like this,
Lord Jesus,
you love me.
Lord Jesus,
you're the amen,
the faithful and true witness.
You see every nook and cranny
of my life.
Lord Jesus,
you're the ruler
of God's creation.
Lord Jesus,
please in your love
rebuke me.
Show me where I'm grieving you.
Show me where my behavior
is repulsive to you.
Show me where my thinking,
my speaking,
my actions are out of kilter
with your will for me.
Lord Jesus,
because you love me,
please tell me off
where I need to be told off.
I don't know about you,
but I don't like being told off.
I resent it when my wife
tells me off.
We rebel against being convicted
and made to feel ashamed.
But when that's our response,
we miss a wonderful proof
of the love of Jesus for us
as his blood-bought people.
In love,
he rebukes us.
Why?
Because he wants to change us.
He wants to change us
for our good
and for his glory.
Which leads to the second proof
these verses give
of how much
the Lord Jesus loves us.
He loves his people,
he tells them of.
Second,
he trains us up.
Look at the verse again.
Those whom I love,
I rebuke and discipline.
Now,
like the word rebuke,
discipline is one of those words
that perhaps we hear
and we think negatively about it.
Discipline is actually
a really positive word.
Behind it's the idea
of training and education,
of correcting what is wrong
with a view to putting it right.
I don't know if you remember
your school days.
I remember Miss Simpson.
She was scary
when you were a 10-year-old.
You didn't misbehave
in Miss Simpson's class
and actually you could smell her
because of her perfume
kind of 10, you know,
before she arrived at the church
and then it hung around the class
as she left.
She knew how to control us.
But I have reasons
to be grateful for Miss Simpson
because she noticed
that when I held my pen
on my pencil,
I was doing it
in a really weird way,
which meant I had
terrible handwriting.
And she took steps
to correct the way
I held my pencil.
Now I can tell you
as a 10-year-old,
I wasn't happy
with her correction.
Look, I was comfortable
with the way
I held my pencil.
The way she told me
to do it initially
was uncomfortable.
But I still remember,
I can visualize it now.
Me sitting in a corner
of the class
being told to write out
the same thing
over and over again
with her watching me
to make sure
I kept my pencil
in the right way
of my fingers.
What she disciplined
to me
became natural
to me.
I'm actually
really grateful
she did that.
and in love,
the Lord Jesus
disciplines us.
He takes steps
to correct us
where we're going wrong
that we might conform
to his good,
pleasing,
and perfect ways.
It's what Paul says
in Titus 2
when he describes
the grace of God
as teaching us
to say no
to ungodliness
and worldly passions
and to live
self-controlled,
godly,
and upright lives
in this present age
as we wait
for the return
of the Lord Jesus.
Those the Lord loves.
He disciplines.
You may ask,
well,
how does he do it?
Well,
he does it in many ways.
He does it
through his word
which rebukes
and corrects us
that we might be
trained in righteousness.
He does it
through others
whom he sets
over us
in the Lord
to teach us
his ways
by word and example.
That's one of the reasons
he gives churches
pastors.
As the word of God
dwells in believers,
he uses us
to admonish each other
and train each other.
And as I look back
over my life today,
boy,
am I grateful
for those
the Lord has given me
who have
disciplined me
and trained me
in godliness.
And he also does it
through the hardships
and trials
of life.
Now,
I stand here
as a visitor.
I know some of you.
But I don't know
what's going on
in your life
at the moment.
There are many mysteries
about suffering.
But the Bible
teaches that
no suffering
is senseless.
No pain
is pointless.
No adversity
is absurd
or meaningless.
Every heartache
has a divine purpose.
Not least
to cause us
to abandon
our self-sufficiency
that we might rely
more
on the Lord Jesus.
That's actually
a truth
taught throughout
Scripture.
Psalm 119,
David writes,
before I was afflicted,
I went astray,
but now I obey
your words.
He then goes on
to say,
it was good
for me
to be afflicted
that I might learn,
that I might be
disciplined
in your decrees,
in what you want
me to do.
In 1 Corinthians,
in 2 Corinthians 1,
sorry,
the Apostle Paul
gives his testimony
about a situation
in which he
and his companions,
he says,
we were under
great pressure.
It was far beyond
our ability
to endure it.
He says,
in our hearts
we felt the sentence
of death.
Look,
it was a pretty
serious situation,
whatever it was.
And then he says this,
but this happened
so that we might
not rely on ourselves,
but on God
who raises
the dead.
If you want to read
something else
later today,
Hebrews 12
says that the Lord's
disciplining of us
through the hardships
of life
is part of his training
of us
in the ongoing battle
that we have
with sin.
when I was a teenager,
I was given a book
which I didn't read
until I was in my 20s.
I was given it
for winning
a table tennis competition
at a youth weekend away.
So that was a long time ago,
right?
That was probably,
how old am I now?
62.
I was probably about 14
at the time.
You can do the maths for me.
I can't work it out.
Anyway,
it was a long time ago.
But in this book,
Knowing God
by J.I. Packer,
he says this.
He says,
God spends much
of his time
bringing home to us
that we are weak,
both mentally
and morally,
and dare not
trust ourselves
to find
or follow
the right road.
He goes on.
When we walk
along a clear road
feeling fine,
and someone
takes our arm
to help us,
as lightly or not,
we will impatiently
shake them off.
I don't need you.
I'm all right.
But when we're caught
in rough country
in the dark
with a storm
getting up
and we're exhausted,
when in that situation
someone takes
our arm
to help us,
we thankfully
lean on them.
Packer says,
and God
wants us
to feel
that our way
through life
is rough
and perplexing
so that we may
learn,
so that we may
be trained
to thankfully
lean on him.
He takes
step
to drive
out of us
self-confidence
that instead
we might
trust
in him.
The truth
that the Lord
disciplines
those he loves
is a truth
every believer
needs to hold
on to
in every
time
of difficulty.
Smiley!
See how much
I love you,
says the Lord
to his people
Laodicea.
I love you
enough to
discipline you,
to wake you up
from your
half-heartedness,
to wake you up
from your
self-sufficiency
mercy,
that you
might trust
me wholly,
that you
might be
wholly
dependent
on me.
Are you
still with
me?
See how much
the Lord
loves you?
Us,
tells us
off,
trains us
up,
and thirdly,
he keeps
knocking at
the door.
Verse 20.
It's one of the
most well-known
verses in the
Bible,
but we
often forget
that its
application
is first
to Christians,
not non-Christians.
It's to
Christian people
that the
Lord Jesus
says,
here I am,
I stand at
the door
and knock.
If anyone
hears my
voice and
opens the
door,
I will come
in and eat
with that
person,
and they
with me.
Have you
ever been
shut out?
Knocking at
a door,
knowing someone's
inside,
but not
responding,
knowing that
someone's
inside,
but they're
not answering,
they're not
willing to
open the
door.
Despite
their many
failures,
the whole
message of
the Lord
Jesus to
that church
at Laodicea
was him
knocking
at their
door.
I was
away this
week at
a camp.
I prepared
what I've
done this
morning before
I went to
camp,
but during
the week,
a very old
friend of
mine who
read the
Bible with
me in
my 30s,
he sent
me a
WhatsApp.
He didn't
know I
was preaching
on this
verse.
Can I
read his
WhatsApp to
you?
It simply
said,
on a hotel
door room
was a
notice.
On one
side it
said,
do not
disturb.
On the
other side
it said,
I am in
an awful
mess,
please come
in and
sort me
out.
Then my
friend wrote,
here I
am, I
stand at
the door
and knock.
Why should
he,
Jesus,
ever wish
to gain
access to
such a
pit of
foulness as
me?
Jesus
knocks on
the door
of Christians
who actually
are a bit
of a mess.
That's what
he was doing
with the
church of
Odysseus.
His loving
knock is a
persistent
knock.
He says
he's knocking
again and
again.
He wants
to come
in.
And it's a
promising
knock for
he promises
amazing grace
to anyone who
will open
the door and
say,
Jesus,
please come
in.
Look at
verse 20.
The word
for eat
there was
the word
used for
the main
meal of
the day,
a leisurely
affair,
not a
hurried
snack.
The idea
is of an
occasion which
allowed for
intimate
conversation
between
close
friends.
And that's
what the
Lord Jesus
desires with
those he
loves.
Why does
he rebuke
us?
Why does
he discipline
us?
Because
actually he
wants to
share with
those he
loves in
intimate
friendship.
He wants
those he
loves to
welcome him
into every
part of
their life,
to share
every part
of life
with him.
And in
love,
he tires
not of
knocking on
the door,
even of
those who
have become
half-hearted
in their
devotion,
even those
who have
started to
live as
though they're
not totally
dependent
upon him.
half-hearted.
Now I
don't know
you.
But perhaps
some of
us here
are half-hearted.
Perhaps
some of us
here have
become
complacent
and self-sufficient.
Perhaps
the reality
is that we
need to
hear the
same
rebuke
our loving
Lord Jesus
gave to
that
Laodicean
church.
Perhaps
we've lost
sight of
our need
for his
rebuke.
We've
forgotten
that we're
sinners who
need that
rebuke.
Perhaps
we've
become lazy
in the
disciplines of
the Christian
life and
thought,
no,
I'm all
right,
I'm
saved.
I can
just stay
as I am
until I
get to
heaven.
perhaps we
need to
be those
who learn
to respond
to his
loving
knock on
the door
of our
lives.
You see,
look at
verse 13
again.
It tells
us how
to respond.
Verse 19,
sorry.
Those whom
I love,
I rebuke
and discipline
so,
be earnest
and repent.
We live
in a
generation
where it's
okay to
be earnest
and zealous
about your
career,
to be
earnest or
zealous
about your
family or
your hobbies,
but few
are willing
to be seen
as zealous
for the
Lord Jesus.
But the
one who
loves us
most says
that this
is what we
need to
be in
response to
his rebuke
and discipline.
We should
earnestly
desire it.
We should
earnestly
confess our
sins when
he reveals
them to
us,
earnestly
turn from
them,
seeking
instead to
live in
wholehearted
devotion and
total dependence
on him.
We should
earnestly
open the
door afresh
to him
each day,
saying,
Lord Jesus,
please share
your whole
life with
me.
Please
come in
and control
every nook
and cranny,
shape,
mold me
according
to your
will.
At this
camp we were
at last
week,
which I
really enjoyed,
it was
really great,
I was
with
Josiah's
dad,
which made
it extra
special.
But I
was asked
in an
interview,
how do you
keep going?
As a
Christian,
it's a good
question,
and there's
200 young
people and
they were
all looking
at me,
they were
all really
eager,
God gave
us a
great week.
I was
simply
asked,
how do you
keep going
as a
Christian?
And the
answer I
gave was
this,
I said
only by
having
breakfast
every morning
with Jesus.
See,
do you
remember what
happened on
the Sunday
a week after
Easter day,
do you
remember?
When the
disciples had
gone back to
fishing on
the Sea of
Galilee,
and Jesus
appears on
the shore,
and there's a
miraculous catch
of fish,
do you
know what
Jesus shouts
to the
disciples as
they make
their way
to shore?
He says,
come and
have breakfast
with me.
And I
found it
really helpful
to put that
verse next
to Revelation
3.20,
and to
recognize that
every morning
when I get
up,
it's as if
the Lord
Jesus for
that day
is knocking
on the
door of
my heart.
saying,
here I
am,
Johnny,
I stand
at the
door and
knock,
I want
to have
breakfast
with you,
and then
I want
to walk
with you
through
this day.
And the
advice I
gave to
the young
people was
the advice
I was
given as
a teenager
at camp.
Before you
start the
day,
take time
alone to
pray and
feed upon
God's
word to
know his
way,
so walk
the way
with him,
so start
the day
with him
and walk
the way
with him
and come
to evening
time with
praise to
him.
I told
these young
people,
I remember
as a
teenager
sitting in
church,
and there
was a
visiting
preacher,
he was
an old
man,
and he
told how
he'd become
a Christian
when he
was a
coal miner,
and he'd
gone down
the mines
at age
15,
because that's
when you
could leave
school in
those days.
And he
said he
loved the
Lord Jesus
so much,
he had to
get up at
silly o'clock
every morning
to go down
the coal
mine,
and he
described how
every morning
he had breakfast
with Jesus.
He got up,
he got his
Weetabix in
his bowl,
he put the
milk in the
bowl,
he propped
his Bible
against the
milk bottle,
and he read
his Bible
before he went
down the
coal mine.
That's having
breakfast with
Jesus,
isn't it?
That's responding
to his
knock.
That's saying,
Lord Jesus,
I'm still a
sinner,
I need your
rebuke.
Lord Jesus,
I'm someone
who needs to
be trained
in godliness.
Lord Jesus,
I want to
share my
life with
you.
Lord Jesus,
thank you that
you love me
that much,
that you
tell me off,
you train me
up,
and you
knock on
the door
of my
life,
and you
keep
knocking.
Lord Jesus,
I want my
life to be
about a
dependent
relationship
upon you
where nothing
is more
important than
having that
close,
intimate
friendship
with you.
Do you
believe God
loves you
today?
Do you
believe Jesus
loves you?
Think back
over your
life as a
Christian so
far, if
you're a
Christian.
Aren't you
grateful for
the way he's
told you
off,
trained you
up,
and that he's
never stopped
knocking on
the door
of your
life.
If you're
not yet a
believer in
the Lord
Jesus,
well, these
verses do
have a
message for
you.
Becoming a
Christian starts
with discovering
that we all
need this
loving rebuke
of the Lord
Jesus,
because we're
all sinners.
It's what
those who
have become
Christians
experience as
they've started
to listen
to God's
words.
becoming a
Christian involves
hearing the
call of
Jesus to
be earnest
and to
repent.
To repent
means to
run from
sin towards
God.
And as we
repent and
turn to
Jesus, what
do we
discover?
We discover
that he
says, receive
me into
your life.
Let me
in.
He says,
trust the
amazing love
that I have
for you
because I
died on the
cross bearing
the punishment
sinners like
you deserve.
Receive me
in, the one
who loves you
more than
anyone else
in the
universe.
And he
says, as
you receive
me, you'll
then discover
that the rest
of your life
is made up
experiencing
his love,
which includes
him telling
us off,
training us
up, and
him keep
on knocking
on the
door of
our lives.
Smiley.
Perhaps some
husband and
wives will
start writing
Smiley
everywhere, or
engage couples.
But more
important, see
how much our
saviour, the
Lord Jesus,
loves us.
Let's pray.
Lord Jesus
Christ, you
who are the
faithful and
true witness,
the ruler of
creation, we
can't hide
anything from
you.
You know
everything about
us, every
intimate detail.
You know
however we
look in
church this
morning, you
know what's
going on in
our hearts.
You know
whether we've
drifted off
into some
kind of
self-complacency
or self-sufficiency.
Lord Jesus, we
thank you for
your amazing
love for us.
Thank you that
it's proved
ultimately at the
cross where you
died in our
place.
But thank you
for your
ongoing love
that tells us
off, trains
us up, and
keeps knocking
on the door
of our lives.
Lord Jesus,
by your
spirit, help
us to be
earnest and
to repent.
May we have
breakfast with
you each day.
May we walk
through the
day enjoying
your intimate
friendship.
Please don't
give up on us
in your
love.
And we
ask these
things for
your namesake.
Amen.