It is very clear all through scripture that there are only two options; believe or don’t believe. Revelations 3:14 “To the angel of the church in Laodicea write: These are the words of the Amen, the faithful and true witness, the ruler of God’s creation. 15 I know your deeds, that you are neither cold nor hot. I wish you were either one or the other! 16 So, because you are lukewarm—neither hot nor cold—I am about to spit you out of my mouth. 17 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. 18 I counsel you to buy from me gold refined in the fire, so you can become rich; and white clothes to wear, so you can cover your shameful nakedness; and salve to put on your eyes, so you can see.” Don’t take away from this verse that it is okay not to believe, sort of believing will get you spewed out of His mouth and you will join the unbelievers. This is a reference to Leviticus 18:28 “And if you defile the land, it will vomit you out as it vomited out the nations that were before you.” revelations describes what it means to be luke warm but the sad part is they do not realize they are wretched, poor, blind and naked.
This blind apathy in the church today represents unbelief. Since most do not take God at his word, they do not fear Him. They are not worried about finding the narrow gate or even the wide one, as they don’t think God will actually spew them out of His mouth. They actually do not think or will not admit that anything is wrong. If you look at the desolation of the church we see the results of being lukewarm. The result is simply a lack of power, which is very easy to see whether or not a church has power. At this point in our desolation the power is few and far between. Don’t forget that power is not represented by getting people to fill a building, it is doing the things that Jesus did in the power of the Holy Spirit. So according to the verse above we cannot be lukewarm. So which is it hot or cold as you have to be one or the other. No, this is not a trick question as cold is not really an option if you want to spend eternity with God. Joshua said in Joshua 24:15 But if serving the Lord seems undesirable to you, then choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve, whether the gods your ancestors served beyond the Euphrates, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land you are living. But as for me and my household, we will serve the Lord.” Moses said in Deuteronomy 30:15 See, I set before you today life and prosperity, death and destruction. 16 For I command you today to love the Lord your God, to walk in obedience to him, and to keep his commands, decrees and laws; then you will live and increase, and the Lord your God will bless you in the land you are entering to possess.” Okay think about it for a moment. Who in their right mind is going to choose death and destruction? But so many have chosen lukewarm and cold which results in death and destruction. Moses goes on to say, “17 But if your heart turns away and you are not obedient, and if you are drawn away to bow down to other gods and worship them, 18 I declare to you this day that you will certainly be destroyed. You will not live long in the land you are crossing the Jordan to enter and possess.” If the church does not look like scripture then it must look like the world and is why we have not lasted in the land. So it is obvious we should all choose life. “19 This day I call the heavens and the earth as witnesses against you that I have set before you life and death, blessings and curses. Now choose life, so that you and your children may live 20 and that you may love the Lord your God, listen to his voice, and hold fast to him. For the Lord is your life, and he will give you many years in the land he swore to give to your fathers, Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.”
This is where we focus on being hot, choosing life and prosperity. This means to love the Lord your God, to walk in obedience to him, and to keep his commands, decrees and laws; then you will live and increase, and the Lord your God will bless you in the land you are entering to possess.” If we want to be blessed and live in the land and defeat our enemies we must be on fire for God. We must love the Lord our God with all our heart, soul and mind. In order to be on fire we must have His fire. When Samuel was born it was just like our day. 1 Samuel 3 In those days the word of the Lord was rare; there were not many visions. 3 The lamp of God had not yet gone out. In Hezekiah’s days he restored the temple. He said in 2 Chronicles 29:5 “Remove all defilement from the sanctuary. 6 Our parents were unfaithful; they did evil in the eyes of the Lord our God and forsook him. They turned their faces away from the Lord’s dwelling place and turned their backs on him. 7 They also shut the doors of the portico and put out the lamps.” God turns his face from us and the light is dim. We need to once again be passionate about our faith. Let me clarify that I am not talking about being passionate about the church you go to but being passionate about the word of God and believing once again. To many Christians are passionate about their dimly lit churches of which many are just white washed sepulchres. When the fire burns bright once again we will see the glory of God poured out. The fire from heaven will fall once again so choose life and passion. You cannot be lukewarm as you must choose.
Revelation 3:19 Those whom I love I rebuke and discipline. So be earnest and repent. 20 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. 21 To the one who is victorious, I will give the right to sit with me on my throne, just as I was victorious and sat down with my Father on his throne. 22 Whoever has ears, let them hear what the Spirit says to the churches.” Listen to God’s voice and answer the door. There is great deception in these last days and many will not listen. We have been warned by scripture but will we listen. 2 Kings 17:13 “The Lord warned Israel and Judah through all his prophets and seers: “Turn from your evil ways. Observe my commands and decrees, in accordance with the entire Law that I commanded your ancestors to obey and that I delivered to you through my servants the prophets. 14 But they would not listen and were as stiff-necked as their ancestors, who did not trust in the Lord their God. 15 They rejected his decrees and the covenant he had made with their ancestors and the statutes he had warned them to keep. They followed worthless idols and themselves became worthless. They imitated the nations around them although the Lord had ordered them, “Do not do as they do. 39 Rather, worship the Lord your God; it is he who will deliver you from the hand of all your enemies.” 40 They would not listen, however, but persisted in their former practices. 41 Even while these people were worshiping the Lord, they were serving their idols. To this day their children and grandchildren continue to do as their ancestors did.”
So which is it hot or cold or life or death? Jesus said I am the way the truth and the life, the world cannot offer that.
