Remember Zacchaeus, I must come and dine with you. And Zacchaeus, he scrambled, and he was not. indifferent. He climbed a tree just to get a look at Jesus. And he was a tax collector.
He was a person that was considered to be against Israel. To share a meal is to share a life, at least a portion of it. It's communion. And that's what the communion table speaks. We share in Christ.
Do not imagine that sin can ever make a sinner worthless to God. Yeah. This is Cross-Reference Radio with our pastor and teacher, Rick Gaston. Rick is the pastor of Calvary Chapel Mechanicsville. Pastor Rick is currently teaching through the book of Revelation.
Please stay with us after today's message to hear more information about Cross-Reference Radio, specifically how you can get a free copy of this teaching. And now here's Pastor Rick with his continuing teaching through the book of Revelation, chapter 3, on this edition of Cross-Reference Radio. You know, the gospel of Jesus Christ. can be preached through the revelation of Jesus Christ. You can lead somebody to Christ by preaching to them what is happening in this book also.
And this is a good example. You can say to someone, are you hot or you're cold? Where are you? Are you indifferent? Because if you are, then I'll have to look for someone else.
In verse 16, so then, because you are lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will vomit you out of my mouth. That's the word. Spew is the old King James.
Well Where do you go from here? They were As I mentioned. Unenthusiastic. The faithful and the true witness. found the church repulsive and he tells them.
they should count themselves lucky. No, I I don't mean the word lucky, it's, you know Some unknown force in the universe affecting things, I mean they should count themselves fortunate.
So that's a self-correcting moment. You didn't see that. All right.
Well, God could not stomach their ways. Can you imagine that? Can you imagine that to a congregation who thinks that they're Christians? Imagine say that to anybody. God can't stomach your ways.
You repulse Him with what you're doing. Is there a stronger expression of disgust? In the whole Bible.
So God says. The calling yourself a church without him in it. grosses him out. How unfortunate. The unbeliever.
angers the Lord. And the unbelieving believer sickens the Lord. That's the great pretender. Spewed into the great tribulation. Verse 17: 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.
Oh man. though he read their hearts. And he disagreed with their self-serving assessment of themselves. They thought they were all that. He says, I disagree.
They said, I am rich and have become wealthy. In stark contrast to the church of Smyrna, who in chapter 2, verse 9, They were in poverty. Because of persecution. Their problem here in Laodicea was not their wealth per se. Certainly, nothing wrong with having a lot of money.
It's something I've tried. to get God to use me to prove. But it was a smug self-satisfaction. It engendered. That's the problem.
They thought material wealth meant spiritual health. That's the prosperity movement, and all of its heresy.
Well, if you're rich. God must love you. I'm sorry I no I'm not I'm not sorry I used that tone Thus they were completely caught. up in themselves. Powerful to buy, powerless to bless.
Man, that's got if I had a lot of money. I mean, like a lot. And I was that way and I heard a preacher say to me, That you're powerful when it comes to buying. But you're puny when it comes to blessing. That would be something that would convict me, I would hope.
And I'd run to the Lord and say, What do I do with this? Because the solution is never just throw money at something. We go to Christ, find out how it's his money, and I'll come to the verses that were. Say that momentarily, but we must not allow the world to determine the criteria for success. on spiritual matters.
He says that they were saying, We have need of nothing.
Well, only God is self-sufficient. They felt, ah, we don't need Rome to rebuild from the earthquake. And we really don't need God's input in the church.
Now they were not I doubt anybody would verbalize it that way. They just did it. And if you showed up. And you said, hey, where's Christ? Probably chase you out.
Well, how would I know that? Because I look at the churches that are doing this kind of stuff today. And you went and you said, How many of you guys don't read the Bible?
Well, because then we can't be woke. He continues, and that they were singing, and you do not know. It is a question. Do mean people know they're mean? Do arrogant people know they're arrogant?
Do cheap skates know they're cheap skates? They can't afford to tell. Yeah. That you are wretched. That's nuclear.
That's fighting words. Christ comes and says, You know, you're wretched. You're making me sick. Too wretched to realize that they were unhappy blind paupers. to reality.
It's unsettling to know that people can Become like this. Because we have to say, Lord, am I this way? He says they're miserable, no joy. You know, when you sing worship songs, You don't you know, you can just let the songs minister to you. And receive joy that way.
I would encourage, you know, enthusiastic worship, not out of control, not emotional ism. But I also understand that maybe you don't feel like singing, but you're still being blessed by the content of what is being sung. Is it saying or sung? Is it Sam or Son? Is it Samsung?
Alright, back to reality. They're miserable. They're poor spiritually. They're blind. They're ignorant.
In a city that produced Eye care. They had a medical school there, and they produced the eye salve, and they're blind, so he's, you know, he's. They can easily identify with this. They were naked. That means they were exposed, often associated in Scripture with shame and the shame of sin.
They were a threat to themselves. Self-inflicted. You know, there are people that they're just self-inflicted failure. There's no reason why they should have failed. They did it all by themselves.
It wasn't like Smyrna, where you had this exterior attack. It wasn't like Progamus, where you, well, yeah, Progamus, where you now had an interior attack because you let them in. There's no mention of anybody bothering them. Satan wouldn't waste the resources on this church, he didn't have to. Hey look, look, go mess with Philadelphia.
These guys are self-destructing. Yeah, you get, you know, you bristle up at the thought of these things. They had succumbed to their own affluent lifestyle. And they didn't know it. And they're not the first ones.
Another ancient city also succumbed to opulence. Let's go around the room and see if you can guess. I'm kidding.
Sodom. Ezekiel chapter sixteen. Look, this was the iniquity of your sister Sodom. She and her daughter had pride, fullness of food, and abundance of idleness. Neither did she strengthen the hand of the poor and the needy.
There's a pattern that's formed in Scripture that we cannot ignore. They were lulled to sleep. by carnality. In the face of God's blessings, God allowed them to be wealthy. Again, we're going to come to those verses.
Uh very shortly.
So Bottom line with this Looking good is not the same as being good. It can be A false appearance. You can wear an Amani suit. I would like to. Any of you have a tailor and some cash, and you want to donate to the pastor?
No, I'm not Kenneth Copeland. I'm sorry. It won't work. But what about product? Maybe it's like you wear product.
I, before in writing, said, Let me just go to their website, see if they post how much their stuff costs. That's like, you know, I can get that same tie for $25. Not $400. That's just a net tie. I mean, if you can afford it, I'm not knocking, I mean, if that's the league that you can play in, I'm not knocking that.
But I But I am saying that's not going to make the Christian. They were shamefully naked in spite of their ability to afford these things. Verse 18. This is not a tirade against rich people. Again, I would say if you can get a rich friend who's willing to pay your mortgage, that you should do it.
Just don't tell him you're being deceptive and devilish. Uh uh certainly. I I'm not Poor or rich is irrelevant. Where are you with Christ? That's what it comes down to.
Uh every single time. There's better things to do than judge other people on how they spend their money. Christ is not judging them on how they spend their money. He's judging them on how their money has spent them. That there's nothing left for him.
As with Haggai, verse 18: I counsel you to buy for me gold. which they thought they had. refined in in the fire, that you may be rich. with white garments. that you may be clothed that the shame of your nakedness may not be revealed and anoint your eyes with eyesalve That you may see.
So Jesus, he is giving them the solution.
Okay, so we're not big on counseling, we'll do it if it will help. But we're not big on it because one reason, well, I'll give you two. The second one is the most important. The first one is. Too much counseling creates a desire for just more counseling.
Do you have time to sit and talk about me?
Sometimes it's necessary for a little bit, but it gets addictive and it's not helping anymore. And the main reason why Is what Jesus, what the Bible says about Jesus. Wonderful counselor. The mighty God, the everlasting Father, the Prince of Peace. He is the counsellor.
This pulpit is the council room. The scriptures that flow from the sermons counsel us. Chuck Smith had an assistant pastor named Romaine. And When folks would come to Romaine, I'm having this marital problem, I'm having this issue with, you know, lost, I'm having this with that, whatever it was. He'd give them in those days a cassette.
Boy, it sounds like it's archaic in those days. I didn't anyway, he'd give them a cassette and he said, Here, listen to this, because this addresses what you're struggling with. And of course, for some people, that's not enough. I'm not trying to hurt your feelings, but the Lord is the counselor.
So, where He says here, I counsel you. He still does this. This is for us also. There are some things that words can't help, grief. You can't help someone with grief with words.
They have to work through that, hopefully, in Christ. I know firsthand. And some of you do also. Uh grief is a beast. But in time you will come through.
But council's not going to do it. except the council is to to make sure if if you start Drifting off the road, then the council can help, you know, get back to the Lord. Don't do this in your own strength.
Well, coming back to this, he says that they should be refined. In the fire as gold.
Well, the refining processes remove the impurities. God owns all the money, Haggai chapter 2. The silver is mine, the gold is mine, says the Lord of hosts. End of argument. But we Puts it on a little bit more.
Deuteronomy 8. Maybe you think that you are a self-made man. God says that's idolatry. You can't make yourself. any more than Adam could make himself.
And you shall remember the Lord your God, for it is He who gives you power to get wealth. that Deuteronomy 8.18 Psalm 24, verse 1: The earth is the Lord's and all its fullness, the world and those who dwell therein. 1 Corinthians 4, verse 7. And what do you have that you did not receive? God has got His hands on everything, it's His creation.
which can sometimes perplex us. Verse continuing here in verse 18, that you may be rich. Materialistically, they were already rich, so obviously he's speaking about their spiritual poverty. According to Jesus, a broken church can be fixed, else he would have nothing to say to this broken church. And it is completely broken.
The others may have been fractured, this one's broken. And yet, He's investing himself here. I've seen churches break. I can think of one. That maybe was fixed.
It would be good for the church to not get to this position where they're going to have to be fixed. Anoint your eyes with eyesalve that you may see.
Well, they had a sick view of things. He says, white garments that you may be clothed. that the shame of your nakedness may not be revealed.
Well, the white garments, of course, puri representing purity. Which um A stain on white will show up from outer space right next to the great china wall. Isaiah chapter 1, come, let us reason, says the Lord. though your sins are like scarlet they shall be as white as snow. He's going to remove the stain.
Galatians 3, verse 27 of the third chapter. For as many of you as were baptized into Christ, Have put on Christ.
Well, they obviously, being naked, have removed that covering. As foul as this church was to the Lord, and it was foul. He still offered them a chance. to be friends again. And he does it with the backslider.
And he does it with a congregation. In verse 19. As many as I love, I rebuke and chasten, therefore be zealous and repent. Time won't allow to make all the comments, but I can say that. He saw what they had become.
and he saw what they could become again. And he does that with Everybody who is in need of great repair. the reluctance of the Lord to abandon them.
So he encourages them. And he wants them to be enthusiastic.
So, where he says, therefore be zealous, he's saying an earnest, heartfelt rethink is required of you. You know, when you get around someone who's not zealous for their duty, you're pushing them up a hill. Any of you have been supervisors, you know. Maybe you're just a worker and you're just a hard worker, and there's this guy on your team. Team and your gang and your crew, whatever, is just dragging everybody down.
And it's just, man, can we just have somebody who's zealous? Christ is dealing with that. Um Verse twenty, Behold, I stand at the door and knock, if anyone hears my voice, and opens the door. I will come in to him and dine with him, and he with me. Jesus Christ became an unmissed outsider to them.
The lesson is they don't know he's absent. His love is not returned. When you love, you notice, you know where that person is. as a rule. Under these circumstances, And how could church go as Put Jesus on the outside, how could this happen?
Well, that's secondary. It's good to know if you can find out, but the matter is it's it happened, what do you do to fix it? They would insist that they believed in God. I heard a a rank sinner on One of those news things says, well, you know, being a good Christian woman, it's like, are you kidding me? You vote for abortion, you're into homosexuality, deception is nothing to you, you're corrupt.
You just say this and think that idle word will not hold you accountable on the day of judgment unless you repent. God is not mocked.
So they would have insisted. If you had taken this letter to them and said, Let me read this to you about Christ, which happened. What would they say? More a church of the lost than a church of the Lord. To keep the Lord from standing outside of your heart, why don't you just give him the keys?
You have full access. If you fail to open the door on earth, then the door to heaven will remain closed to you. If you don't sing praises with the Lord in this life, you will not be singing praises in the next.
Song of Solomon. Again, the fifth chapter.
So the Shulamite is the woman. And she has this dream because she's in love with the beloved shepherd. And she tells, she says, I sleep, but my heart is awake. It is the voice of my beloved. He knocks, saying, Open for me, my sister, my love, my dove, my perfect one.
My head is covered with dew, my locks with the drops of the night.
So he's pouring it on pretty thick in her dream. He's doting on her. And then she says, Back to him. I've taken off my robe. How can I put it on again?
I've washed my feet. How can I defile them? I can't read all of it to you, but she. She's hesitating. As love's longings flowed from his lips, excuses flowed from hers.
See how this depicts the church in Laodicea? Christ is at the door trying to get in. They've got all these excuses why they can't open the door. She was too comfortable for him, too warm and cozy to be disturbed. Perhaps later.
And of course, she goes on in the story. She says that she did get up, but it was too late. He's gone. And he left a fragrance behind to remind her of the moment missed. He says here in Verse 20: If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, no matter of your past sins, that's why he's at the door, he wants in.
They have to hear him, and they have to open the door. And when he says my voice, that's personal. My sheep know my voice. I will come in and dine with him and he with me. As was his habit during the incarnation.
Remember, Zacchaeus, I must come and dine with you. And Zacchaeus, he scrambled, and he was not. indifferent. He climbed a tree just to get a look at Jesus. And he was a tax collector.
He was a person that was considered to be against Israel. To share a meal is to share A life, at least a portion of it. It's communion. That's what the communion table speaks. We share in Christ.
Do not imagine that sin can ever make a sinner worthless to God. So long as there is life. Verse 21: 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.
Well, the bottom line is he faced sin in obedience. Obedience sometimes is painful. And a lot of Christians don't seem to understand that the word loyalty means readiness to suffer. Obedience means sometimes it's going to hurt a lot. And that's the crucifixion.
It hurt a lot. The obstacles, the ambushes of life must be met in Christ and not without Him. They were meeting their trouble fine financially. To sit with me on my throne.
Well, his remedies come with promises. I know I should finish this up, but this is very good what I'm going to read you. Donald Gray Barnhouse was a pastor of long ago. And he says, in salvation, we are not lifted back to the level. from which Adam fell but higher.
We are not lifted to the level of the angels, but higher. We are not lifted to the eminence from which Lucifer fell. but higher. We are lifted above all the principalities and powers to the very throne of heaven. I should not have told you he said that.
I should have taken credit. I had a moment. to do it and I blew it because I wanted to be righteous. Anyway, coming back to this, finish the job. There are promises that await us and they're big.
Next session, we talk about getting into heaven. And to lose sight of heaven makes life harder. To think too much about heaven makes life harder too. Striking the balance is called grace. Verse 22: He who has an ear to hear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.
Now I'm about five minutes over, and I hope it's been worth your time. And if it has not, Please keep it to yourself. This is the seventh and final call. to hear what he is saying. Do not sicken God with apathy.
whoever you might be. Indifference about Jesus. sends you into the open arms of Satan, Every time. This church stands as a warning. It has stood as one.
for almost 2,000 years now. but some have not learned anything from the lesson. These seven churches of antiquity We're fortunate enough to have these things said about them out loud. in front of their peers. We too.
We have the same thing. And they're preserved for us because they are relevant. to this very day. I'll close with this verse from Exodus. Which Sums up.
a condition in this church That was missing. And this is Moses when God said, My angel will go before you. And Moses said, no, no, no, no, no. Mm-hmm. Then he said to him, Moses saying to God, If your presence does not go with us, Do not bring us up from here.
Oh the Laodicea Have that. conviction to have the presence of Christ. Uh Mm-hmm. This has been Cross-Reference Radio with Pastor Rick Gaston. This program is a radio outreach of Calvary Chapel, Mechanicsville, in Mechanicsville, Virginia.
Pastor Rick has been teaching through the book of Revelation, but if you're interested in learning about a different book of the Bible, we have hundreds of past episodes available to listen to on demand. Just visit us online at crossreferenceradio.com and you'll find an archive of Pastor Rick's past teachings. While you're there, you can also find links to follow our program on your favorite podcast app, as well as links to get connected with us on Facebook and YouTube. There's also an interviews tab where you can learn more about Pastor Rick's heart for ministry.
Well, we hope you'll join us next time here on Cross Reference Radio. Hello.
