"And unto the angel of the church of the Laodiceans write; These things saith the Amen, the faithful and true witness; the beginning of the creation of God; I know thy works, that thou art neither cold nor hot: I would thou wert cold or hot. So then because thou art lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will spue thee out of my mouth. Because thou sayest, I am rich, and increased with goods, and have need of nothing; and knowest not that thou art wretched, and miserable, and poor, and blind, and naked: I counsel thee to buy of me gold tried in the fire, that thou mayest be rich; and white raiment, that thou mayest be clothed, and that the shame of thy nakedness do not appear; and anoint thine eyes with eyesalve, that thou mayest see" (Rev. 3:14-18).
In the city of Laodicea where this church was located all the water came from an above ground system of aqua ducts. One of the sources of the water was a snow covered mountain and the other a hot spring. But because the system that brought the water into the city was above ground, by the time the water got to the city of Laodicea it was lukewarm. Drinking this lukewarm water was nauseating. In the same way the spiritual apathy that exists among Christians is sickening to God. I look at the church today and I'm afraid that apathy is at an all time high. There’s little longing for God, little zeal for prayer, very little appetite for the word of God. And what about a genuine burdened and anguish for the unsaved? Charles Finney wrote, "When sinners are careless and stupid, and sinking into hell unconcerned, it is time the church should bestir themselves. It is as much the duty of the church to awake, as it is for the firemen to awake when a fire breaks out in the night in a great city." Oh how the church today needs to wake up! Paul wrote, "And that, knowing the time, that now it is high time to awake out of sleep: for now is our salvation nearer than when we believed" (Romans 13:11).
Why is the church asleep? What was the cause of the Laodicean lethargy? Their lukewarmness was the result of that fact that their riches had blinded them to their deeper spiritual needs. The church today especially in America suffers from the same malady. We've allowed our riches, technology, big buildings, and slick programs to take the place of real devotion and dependence upon God. John the revelator followed his rebuke of the lukewarm church with, "I counsel thee to buy of me gold tried in the fire, that thou mayest be rich; and white raiment, that thou mayest be clothed, and that the shame of thy nakedness do not appear; and anoint thine eyes with eyesalve, that thou mayest see." It's time for the church to stop seeking the riches and ways of the world and instead seek hard after the spiritual riches and power that only God can supply. It's time to fast and pray until God rains down fire from heaven that will awaken the church from its slumber to serve the living God. John Piper wrote, "Do you have a hunger for God? If we don't feel strong desires for the manifestation of the glory of God, it is not because we have drunk deeply and are satisfied. It is because we have nibbled so long at the table of the world. Our soul is stuffed with small things, and there is no room for the great. If we are full of what the world offers, then perhaps a fast might express, or even increase, our soul's appetite for God. Between the dangers of self-denial and self-indulgence is the path of pleasant pain called fasting."
If you are lukewarm today I challenge you to turn from the allurements of this world, fast and pray for God to place a burning in your heart for him. And live for the riches that will never fade away.
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