When Jesus Observes Our Heart

Wealth has a way of making us indifferent to the needs around us.

After all, if I'm okay, you must be okay. Jesus had some strong words for a church in Laodicea, a first century place of prosperity. He said, because you are lukewarm, I will spew you out of my mouth. What could cause this condemnation? Today, we'll hear the final message in a series on what Jesus had to say to churches in the book of Revelation.

Stay with us. From Chicago, this is The Moody Church Hour, a weekly service of worship and teaching with Pastor Erwin Lutzer. On this broadcast, we'll hear the last of eight messages on what Jesus thinks of his church. Later in our program, Erwin Lutzer will speak on When Jesus Observes Our Hearts. Pastor Lutzer comes now to open today's service. Now at this time, we're going to ask all of you to stand for the reading of Scripture and the singing together as indicated. Would you stand, please? This is the word of the Lord from Psalm 100.

Please join me as I read the bold print. Make a joyful noise to the Lord, all the earth. Serve the Lord with gladness.

Come into his presence with singing. Know that the Lord, he is God. It is he who made us, and we are his.

We are his people and the sheep of his pasture. Enter his gates with thanksgiving and his courts with praise. Give thanks to him. Bless his name, for the Lord is good.

His steadfast love endures forever, and his faithfulness to all generations. Praise to the Lord, almighty, King of creation. All my soul praise you, for he is my hope and salvation.

All in the grave, now to his center coming, to be in the head of creation. Praise to the Lord, all my soul, confess he made it. Shelters beyond the gates, his grace to him he sustained. Lest thou not see, how I need'st the heaven and land, and live in God with your name. Praise to the Lord, almighty, King of creation. All my soul praise you, for he is good.

Father of the Earth, all the Almighty and Good, with him is the baby friendly. Praise to the Lord, almighty, King of creation. All men and all men come now with praises before him.

Let me, O man, stand now with strength over my hand, for I am in your hand now, Lord, with you. In your bulletin you have a hymn that was written this summer and we've been singing it this fall. Let's look at the bulletin and sing these words and this music together.

Let's all stand as we sing. Pomp and Circumstance Pomp and Circumstance My heavenly plan, let all in heaven rejoice. For we will make good voices and shall rejoice, rejoice, rejoice, and praise the Lord. Take heart, take heart, his hope and peace are true, are true. The gospel heals our burdened souls, rejoice, rejoice, rejoice, rejoice, and praise the Lord, praise the Lord. So praise, see praise the earth, Christ our dear is Lord. For Christ the lamb has power to save, rejoice, rejoice, rejoice, and praise the Lord. Christ the lamb has power to save, rejoice, rejoice, and praise the Lord. Christ the rice, his healthy mansion awaits, the eagle sings and makes it home again, again, again. Our Father, we want to thank you today for your mercy and grace.

Forgive us for thinking that we own something. Your word is so very, very clear, namely that all that we have is yours. What we give to you today is from your hand to us, and we give it back to you today gladly, willingly, joyfully, and sacrificially, thanking you for the privilege. Thanking you, Father, first of all, for your grace and mercy in Jesus, who though he was rich, yet for our sakes he became poor, that we through his poverty might be made rich. Oh Father, we ask that Jesus will be our model today.

But Lord, as we come into your presence, we are well aware that in and of ourselves we are like a tree in winter, bleak and without fruit. It is you, O Lord, who grants us the strength and the ability. You are the one, Lord Jesus, who covers our sins so that we may come into the presence of the Almighty.

You are the one, O Lord God, who gives us the merit that we have none of because it is all of your matchless grace. Today we want to pray for those who are hurting. We pray for those, Lord, who know not where to turn. We ask that you'll give them special grace to turn to you. We especially pray for those who do not know you as Savior, but think that either they do or, conversely, may think that they do not need a Savior. We ask, oh Father, that you will open their hearts to the truth of the gospel. Today do what only you can do for your glory and honor. We pray for our country.

We pray for our spiritual and moral disintegration. We pray that you might raise up many people in America here who love you and witness to your grace and power with winsomeness and conviction. Make us a transforming agent in this city, we pray.

May we touch the city that can touch the entire world. Thank you for the gifts that we have brought with us today. We ask that they shall be given in deep gratitude and praise and ask that wherever needs are that we may see you more clearly, that through you our needs will be met. In Jesus' name, amen. Blessings, Lord. Praise Him all, praise Him to Him we hold. Praise Him above, He heavily holds. Praise God, our Son, and Holy Ghost.

Amen. Come, thou fount of every blessing, tune my heart to sing thy praise. Streams of mercy never ceasing, call for songs of loudest praise. It is a rebellious summit, sung by many victims above. Praise the mountain fixed upon it, mountain thy redeeming love. It is a rebellious summit, sung by many victims above. It is a rebellious summit, sung by many victims above.

It is a rebellious summit, sung by many victims above. Here I raise my Ebenezer, hither by thy help I come. And I hope by thy good pleasure, safely to arrive at home. Prone to wander, Lord, I feel it. Prone to lead the God I love. Here's my heart, O taken spirit. Seal it for thy choice of thought, even a stranger wandering from the fold of God.

Here to rescue me from danger, interpose this precious one. Prone to wander, Lord, I feel it. Prone to lead the God I love. Here's my heart, O taken spirit.

Seal it for thy choice of thought. How to praise, how great a pleasure, daily and how strange to be. Let my goodness, like a pleasure, find that offering right to be. Prone to wander, Lord, I feel it.

Prone to lead the God I love. Here's my heart, O taken spirit. Seal it for thy choice of thought. Seal it for thy choice of thought. Here's my heart, O take and seal it.

Seal it for thy courts above. Let's pray that prayer. Father, we ask in Jesus' name that you will take our hearts and seal those hearts for your good, for your glory, and for fellowship with you. But before those hearts are sealed in that way, we ask also that they shall be open hearts today, overcome barriers that we naturally bring to a service like this. Whether it is the barrier of guilt or the barrier of rationalization, the barrier of stray thoughts, we ask, O Father, overcome all those miraculously so that we can concentrate on what Jesus has to say to us today.

Make this transforming even for those who didn't expect it to be. We pray in Jesus' name. Amen.

Amen. Now, all of us know that if you have a good doctor who gives you a diagnosis and also a cure, you most assuredly should take that cure. But of course, if you are self-absorbed, if you are prideful and think that you know better than the doctor, you'll try to figure out ways to ignore what he has to say.

You'll disagree with his diagnosis and you'll also disagree with his cure to your personal hurt. Jesus is the physician of the soul, and he has so much to say to us in his word, and if you take your Bibles today and turn, please, to Revelation chapter 3, beginning at verse 14. Revelation chapter 3, verse 14, where Jesus begins the last of seven letters to the churches of Asia Minor. All of these churches existed in what today is called Turkey, and unfortunately, none of the places exist as churches.

Archaeologists, of course, have found all of these places where the cities were, but the churches today do not exist, and that creates a tremendous lesson for all of us. But Jesus here is giving his last word, it's his harshest word, but it is also his most unbelievable word of hope and encouragement that boggles our minds. Chapter 3 of the book of Revelation, he says these words to the church at Laodicea. The words of the amen, the faithful and true witness, the beginning of God's creation. Who is it that is going to diagnose our case?

Who is it that is going to prescribe the cure? He is the amen, that word means verily or truly. He is the faithful witness. He's someone who is not going to lie to us, someone who will not tweak the evidence, and he is the beginning of God's creation.

Now there's some people, some people deny the divinity of Jesus and they use this text. They say that Jesus was the first of God's creation, but actually the idea here very clearly is that he is the originator of God's creation. The father created through the son by him were all things created, both which are in heaven and which are on earth, visible and invisible. So Jesus here is represented to us as the originator of God's creation. Now the reason we need to pay attention to this text very carefully is because he is also omniscient, and today he can see right through us and see our need. So in that introduction, let us look at what it is that he has to say to the church. Let us look at the diagnosis, and then let us also look at the cure and the hopeful response that people may have in his blessed presence. First of all, we have the diagnosis in verse 14 and 15.

He says, I know your works. You are neither cold nor hot. Would that you were either cold or hot. So because you are lukewarm and neither hot nor cold, I will spit you out of my mouth.

Ouch. Most of the time we interpret it this way. We say to ourselves that there were streams that were going into actually an aqueduct that was going into the town of Laodicea, and the water was piping hot. So we think to ourselves that what Jesus meant is this. I would rather have you hot, passionate for me, or totally icy and indifferent and turned off.

I'd rather have you that way than lukewarm. But there's a different interpretation. Someone who has done some extensive study, archaeologically and in other ways, has come to the conclusion that that's not exactly what Jesus had in mind. Actually, in Laodicea, there were two kinds of aqueducts. There was that which came from Hierapolis, and those were very hot springs that people would bathe in, and it was believed that they had many cures.

And then there were also some springs that were very cold and refreshing, and you went from one to the other like people do today when they go to a spa. And so Jesus was saying you can either be hot and passionate, or you can also be refreshing and cool and able to take people in their need and give them and invigorate them. Maybe one or the other, but whatever you do, don't be lukewarm. So maybe that's what Jesus had in mind. But lukewarmness, neither hot nor cold, it's tepid.

Jesus said that I will spit you out of my mouth. He's talking about the indifference of the people to whom he was writing this letter. Indifference.

Does that characterize you today? Now, what is going on here in the text? Jesus goes on to say in his diagnosis, For you say, verse 17, I am rich, I have prospered, I need nothing, not realizing that you are wretched, pitiable, poor, blind, and naked. In Laodicea, the people were wealthy, and they were wealthy because there were trade routes that went through the city, and so they were quite opulent, the people were for that day, and they had a lot of things that others didn't have. Furthermore, they had eye salve. This was in connection with one of the temples that was there in Laodicea.

They believed that in this medical school that they had eye salve that actually could stop the disintegration of eyesight. So they prided themselves in that. Furthermore, they also, in addition to that, had a textile industry. The people at Laodicea, they dressed differently than the others.

They were the ones who wore the designer clothes, and they prided themselves in the cloths and the rugs and the garments that they would make. Now, what Jesus is saying is this, and notice it carefully. He's saying, despite your bank accounts, you are actually poor and pitiful and wretched. Wow. He says, despite the fact that you think that you have this clinic for sore eyes and the salve that will help them, despite this, Jesus said, you are blind and you think that you have all of these wonderful clothes?

He says, you are naked. But Jesus is saying, in the strongest possible way is simply this, everything that you think you are, you aren't. Have you met people like that? Of course you have, because you're here today, aren't you?

Aren't we all that way? Our self-perception is very different than God's self-perception. And so here you have a church that outwardly seemed to be prosperous.

They never had false doctrine. At least Jesus doesn't address that like he does some of the other churches. But Jesus is saying to them that inwardly, from what I see, you are very different. And Jesus sees us that way today too. He sees us as to who we really are, including the rot. You remember this past summer, we had a great storm here in the city of Chicago, and later on, a day or two later, Rebecca and I walked through a forest preserve. We love to go walking in the forest preserve. And we noticed that some trees were broken over.

In fact, I think in Chicago in total, there are more than 2,000 trees that actually blew over. What was interesting is to look at those and to see within, and you discovered that the ones that blew over oftentimes had within them all of that rot and hollowness that you couldn't see from the outside. What a different picture when you look within from the way in which we perceive it from without. And God says, I am the Lord and I test.

I test the human heart. Jesus says that in my presence, you are very different than you think you are. And because you are so indifferent and care less, which means that you could care less, I will spit you out of my mouth. Those are the words of Jesus. I'm not making it up.

It's in the text. Now, what is the cure that Jesus has? He doesn't leave us there. It's the diagnosis that's very, very serious. And you and I all have very, very serious issues before God. Jesus says this now as we go into the cure, I counsel you. By the way, isn't that wonderful that Jesus is the counselor? I've known people who have paid $100 for half an hour of counseling and maybe it was worth it. But imagine getting counseling from Jesus and it's free.

Isn't that wonderful? He says, I counsel you. And here's his counsel. I counsel you to buy from me gold refined in the fire so that you may be rich. Now, of course, he doesn't mean that salvation is something that we pay for. He's using the terminology of the vendors there in Laodicea.

He says, I challenge you. Come and buy gold from me. We know, of course, that salvation is free. Oh, everyone that thirsts comes to the water. Whoever has a need come buy milk and wine without money and without price.

It's all free. That's a quotation, by the way, from Isaiah chapter 55. And Jesus says, of course, it's free, but you want the true riches? You come to me. Now look at the text. What else does he say? Buy from me gold refined in the fire so that you may be rich and white garments that you may clothe yourselves and the shame of your nakedness may not be seen. What Jesus is saying, you know, is all those wonderful clothes.

You know, I'm from Laodicea. Look at the labels, you know, and inside you have all of those imaginations. Inside you are selfish.

You do not love me with your whole heart. Inside you are filled with all manner of lusts and addictions and all that. Come to me and I'll give you some real clothes. I'll give you white garments that will cover your sin.

Blessed is he whose transgression is forgiven, whose sin is covered, the Bible says. And Jesus says, come to me and I'll clothe you with white garments so that all of that shame of your past need no longer control you and it will no longer be regarded by God in your fellowship with me. Come, come, I've got the clothes. And by the way, notice I also have some eye salve and to anoint your eyes so that you may see. You think that you're seeing today, but you're blind. But if you come to me, I will give you what you need so that you can see reality as it exists. The relationship with Jesus is the answer. And what Jesus is saying is physically and outwardly, you're one thing. Inwardly, you're another. And only I can cure you.

How do you get rid of lukewarmness? Well, you get rid of lukewarmness by coming close to Jesus and he will invigorate you and he will give you a passion for himself and for his gospel and for his word and for fellowship with him. Notice you say, well, this is a rather hard message. It is, but it's done lovingly. You'll notice what Jesus says in verse 19, those whom I love, I reprove and discipline, so be zealous and repent. If the doctor comes to you with some very hard news, news that you don't want to hear, and so he's trying to get your attention and giving you the consequences of neglecting that news, that is a very loving doctor because he's trying to wake you up and to understand what reality is really all about. So Jesus says, the reason I'm doing this is because I love you. Be zealous, therefore, and repent.

Turn from your sin and from all of the sin and self-centeredness that is there and see yourself as I do and then come to me because I've got the cure. Jesus is the one who takes the thermometer and puts it into our mouths and says, you are lukewarm. You're a Christian, but the people who work with you have no clue that you are.

You have kept it a secret. You are someone who has responsibility in the home, but really you are doing things on the side that displease the Lord, and that's why all the passion is drained out. All of the excitement is there. You can't witness because you are actually tepid, lukewarm, indifferent to the things that matter the most. And then Jesus gives this incredible invitation. It's one of the most popular verses in the Bible. Behold, I stand at the door.

I'm in verse 20. Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come into him and eat with him and he with me.

Well, can you imagine that? Jesus is saying, I'm at the door of this church, this church that has lost its vigor and its enthusiasm, this church in which all the passion has drained out because of secret sins that are within the heart. Jesus says, I'm standing at the door and knocking, and if anyone, now this is an invitation to individuals, if anyone hears my voice and will open the door, you know what I'll do? I'll restore the fellowship. I will come and we'll eat together. Jesus said that we'll have fellowship one with another. Can you imagine that? Now, you know, when you come to a church like Moody, and maybe if you're visiting here, you come from a church, something like Moody.

Though if you think you do, I'd love to meet you. But let's suppose that you come from a church like Moody where we still preach against sin. You know, we're against it. Remember that old line?

Who was it? And we have some people here who are actually agreeing that sin is a bad idea. Isn't that wonderful? Wasn't it one of our presidents who went to church and came home and his wife said, what did he preach on? And he said, sin. And she said, what was his opinion of it?

And his answer was simply, he was against it. Why do we preach against sin? What's so bad about sin?

Someday I'm going to write a little booklet. What's so bad about sin? Let me tell you what's bad about sin. The thing that's so bad about sin is it cuts us off from fellowship with Jesus. That's the thing that's so bad about sin. It's not even the consequences of how we hurt ourselves.

It's not even our ruined lives if we follow it to its logical destination. The thing about sin that is so serious is that the fellowship that we can have with Jesus, that fellowship is broken. That's what sin does. And God himself recognizes that we can grieve him. That's why Paul says in the book of Ephesians, and grieve not to the Holy Spirit of God whereby you are sealed until the day of redemption. You and I have had the experience of leaving church, sensing that we are filled with the Spirit, that we are excited about God, and then we go home and we turn on the wrong thing on the television set or we do something and immediately we know that we're grieving the Spirit and the fellowship between us and Jesus is broken. That's why it says in 1 John chapter 1 verse 9, if we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from every individual unrighteousness. The reason he does that is to restore fellowship. So Jesus is saying here, behold I stand at the door and knock. Are you going to turn from your sin to me or are you going to keep going in your old, indifferent, selfish attitude, not caring about me and the gospel. That's what Jesus is saying in this text. And of course, once he is in our lives, you know, he begins the renovation process.

And that can be a very painful experience, but it is so incredibly worthwhile. Now what is the response? What is the bottom line here? Jesus in all of these letters, and I feel a little badly that this is the last of the letters. I've so much enjoyed this series of messages, but this is the last of the letters. Jesus gives this incredible promise.

Now each time we've noticed that the promises seem to be getting greater and greater and more wonderful and more unbelievable to the overcomers or as it is translated here, the conquerors. But listen to the text. And you should bring your Bibles to church.

You should open them, if not use the pew Bible, because if you don't do that, somebody is going to come up to me later and say, pastor, you know what you said the Bible said? I don't believe it's there. You must be making it up. Well, I'm not making it up.

Listen to what the text says. The one who conquers, verse 21, I will grant him to sit with me on my throne as I also conquered and sat down with my father on his throne. Jesus, can you be serious? To the one who conquers, it's not just that he's sitting on his throne and he says, pull up a chair next to me. What he's saying is if you are a conqueror or an overcomer, then you will sit with me on my throne. We're talking about the throne of the universe. You'll sit with me on my throne, even as I overcame and sat with my father on his throne. Do you realize what Jesus is saying? You be a conqueror, you be an overcomer, you will get to sit on the throne of God.

Do you believe it? Think about it. I mean, we're not worthy for this man to come under our roof. And yet Jesus says that if you invite me to your table in this life, you'll be able to sit with me on my throne in the life to come. You be a part of my family, you invite me as part of your family in this life, in the life to come, you'll be a part of the divine family. He who overcomes to him, I'll grant to sit with me on my throne. See, that's what makes sin so bad is that you don't get to sit on the throne of Jesus forever and ever and rule with him. That's what makes sin bad.

It hinders fellowship, and your final destiny is not only perhaps in doubt, but your final destiny may not be to rule with Jesus. Now, no wonder the text ends up by saying, he who has an ear to hear, let him hear, because not everybody can hear this. Let me give you two very important observations that should change our lives forever if we're listening.

So listen first. To see ourselves as God does is a divine gift. To see ourselves as God does is a divine gift. If you ask the average Bible student what was wrong with the church in Laodicea, very often the Bible student will say, well, you know, it's because they were lukewarm. That is not the worst problem of the church at Laodicea. Lukewarmness was not the worst problem. I'll tell you why. Because there's a good cure for lukewarmness. It's called repentance. That can be taken care of.

There was something more serious with the problem at Laodicea. They were lukewarm and thought they were hot. They said to themselves, we have need of nothing. And Jesus says, you do not know that you are poor, wretched, blind, and naked. That's our greatest need is a misperception of who we are in God's presence.

And you cannot see who you are unless God helps you do it. Because, you see, we even come to a service like this, filled with rationalizations, enshrouded in denial, thinking to ourselves, well, I'm okay. Many years ago, before some of you were born, there was a book written entitled, I'm Okay? You're Okay? Oh, really? So we're all okay?

Jesus would say of himself, hey, friend, let's get this straight. I'm okay, but you're not okay. All right? You're not okay.

Sorry about that. You have a serious problem. And the problem is so deep.

The problem is so ingrained. Our imaginations, our perception of who we are, our desire to do whatever we want to do is so much a part of who we are that unless God shows it to us, we'll go on our way, on our merry way, and our unmerry way to the bitter end. And for sure, we'll never get to reign with Jesus Christ. Only God can show us. That's why it is that so many people think that they are okay, and they are indifferent, and they have no idea, no idea how they are perceived by God. And so the text of Scripture is a reminder to us that what we must do is to let God show us who we really are. And when God does this in power, there are transformation of individuals all over. In fact, years ago when there was what is called a revival where God was doing unusual things in the lives of people, I remember one testimony of one man said, he said, I thought it was a good thing that there was a revival coming because I thought that all the people around me needed revival. Then he said that he realized that he was the one who needed it.

I think of a man in Detroit who came into a meeting one Saturday and there were 200 people, 200 men on their knees weeping over their sin. And he took his hand and he put it into, he put his fist into his hand and said, God, you'll never get me. Now, why would a Christian man say God, you'll never get me? It's because he had a hot temper and five children.

It's a bad combination. And he knew that if God ever got him, he would have to go to his children and apologize for his irrational temper that ruptured his relationship with those children long ago. And he was a proud man. Well, I'm here today to tell you that God got him. God got him. And that's what happens when we let God get us. It is deep. It is abiding, eminently worthwhile. And guess what?

We get to rule with Jesus on his throne. Think of the contrast. I mean, just think of the contrast over here. You're indifferent, cold, indifferent, cold in the wrong sense. You don't care. It's OK by me. Doesn't matter. On that hand, I will spit you out of my mouth.

On the other hand, imagine. What we should receive and what we don't receive and we receive in its stead to rule with Jesus because we are overcomers. You say, oh, Pastor Lutzer, that's fine. That's good. We've heard you.

We're listening. But how do we become an overcomer? I mean, isn't that what you're asking?

Because it seems to many of you to be an intolerable responsibility. I mean, think of all the things that you're supposed to overcome. Who can do it? I can't.

You can't. Becoming an overcomer begins at a very basic level. The Bible says these words. It says that everyone who is born of God overcomes the world.

There's the same word. Everyone who is born of God overcomes the world. And who is it that overcomes the world?

Except the one who believes that Jesus Christ is the son of God. I'll tell you how you begin becoming an overcomer. You begin by acknowledging Jesus to be the Christ and confessing your need of him and receiving his free and abundant and unfettered grace.

That's the way the process begins. And then in him, you and I can be overcomers. Meanwhile, he stands at the door and knocks.

Could I urge you today, don't say no to that voice. Remember the story of the wealthy man who is also a drunkard who would count his money in the cabin and then put it beneath the floor and keep it there. And he had a dog. And one night the man went to bed after a bottle of whiskey and was sleeping tightly. And the dog began to bark and bark and bark and eventually the man in a stupor shot the animal.

And it was after that that the men that were outside came in and stole his money. Don't say no to the voice of Jesus who is speaking to you today, either as a Christian because you're not in fellowship with him or someone who's never trusted him as savior. Do not say no to that. That was for emphasis.

Unplanned emphasis. Do not say no to that voice. It's the only one that can save you. And so Jesus knocks. Sometimes he knocks through a funeral.

You go to a funeral and you realize that you too are going to die and you begin to think about eternity. Sometimes he knocks through the prayers of a grandmother, the prayers of a mother, the prayers of a spouse. And Jesus knocks. And sometimes he knocks in a message like this. And he knocks through the beautiful music and the words that draw us to God.

But don't you stifle the only knock that can save you. Let's pray. Well, Father, what else do we have to say? There is the invitation. There is the grace.

But there also is the great challenge. Would you speak to all who have heard you today? Anyone whose ears were open? Would you speak, Father? We ask. And we pray that whatever you are asking people to do, they will do. May I be willing to do it? May others, the staff and the elders, the leadership be willing to do it?

We ask. Oh, Father, come to us. Now, before I close this prayer, I want you to pray. What is it that you need to say to God? Christian, are you willing to confess that sin and get rid of it so that you can have fellowship with Jesus?

You as an unsaved person? You're willing to come to Christ and let him change you as you put your faith in him and thank him for what he did on the cross for you? Whatever it is that God tells you to do, you do. Father, hear the cry today of all who have listened, all who have really listened, and have mercy on us because we are dependent on your grace. In Jesus' name. Amen.

Amen. This ends, as you know, the series of messages on the churches. And I'm going to ask that as we'll be standing in just a moment to sing a familiar song, if God has talked to you today, would you come down the aisle and would you shake my hand? There's no value in shaking my hand except this, that you are saying God has talked to me today. And what he has shown me, I'm going to be obedient to. So as we stand to sing, if God has talked to you, I'm going to be on the floor level in just a moment. Come and join me there and let us seek God together that we might be overcomers.

Let's all stand to sing. I've decided to follow Jesus. I have decided to follow Jesus. I have decided to follow Jesus. The world behind me, the cross before me. The world behind me, the cross before me. The wheelchair is bad.

The wheelchair is bad. On today's Moody Church Hour, Pastor Lutzer spoke on When Jesus Observes Our Hearts, taken from Revelation chapter 3. His final message on What Jesus Thinks of His Church. Millennia ago, God called a man out of a pagan background and made him the father of a great nation.

Join us next time for a series on the life of Abraham, a man who made a long journey toward the promised land. What Jesus Thinks of His Church can be yours on CD for a gift of any amount to The Moody Church Hour. Call 1-800-215-5001. Let us know you'd like to support Moody Church's ministry.

Our thank you to you is a CD album with eight powerful messages you can listen to and then pass on to others. Call 1-800-215-5001 or you can write to us at Moody Church Media, 1635 North LaSalle Boulevard, Chicago, Illinois 60614. Online, go to moodyoffer.com. That's moodyoffer.com. Join us next time for another Moody Church Hour with Pastor Erwin Lutzer and the Congregation of Historic Moody Church in Chicago. This broadcast is a ministry of The Moody Church.