The Lukewarm Church

A Deeper Dive Into the Book of Revelation - Part 80

“I know your works, that you are neither cold nor hot. I could wish you were cold or hot. So then, because you are lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will vomit you out of My mouth.”—Revelation 3:15-16 (NKJV)

It is alarming to realize that Jesus is speaking here about the church of our modern age. After all of the sacrifices and the contributions of the great men and women of God in the past, and after all that God has provided for us, we have allowed the overall condition of the Church today to become so disgusting and distasteful to the Lord that He will vomit this church out of His mouth!

And that is not spoken as just a possibility. It is a promise! It has already been determined, and it will happen!

It will be during this Laodicean Age that the Church will see the great falling away from the faith that is prophesied in 2 Thessalonians 2:3. Could this great falling away from the faith be what Jesus was referring to when He said that He would spew lukewarm Christians out of His mouth? It will be a time when a multitude of people will abandon their faith and turn away from the Lord Jesus Christ. This will happen before the Lord’s return.

Blind to Their Own Spiritual Poverty

“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—I counsel you to buy from Me gold refined in the fire, that you may be rich; and white garments, that you may be clothed, that the shame of your nakedness may not be revealed; and anoint your eyes with eye salve, that you may see. As many as I love, I rebuke and chasten. Therefore be zealous and repent.”—Revelation 3:17-19 (NKJV)

The Church of this age, particularly the Church in America, is like the rich man in Jesus’ parable:

“There was a rich man whose land was very fertile and productive. And he began thinking to himself, ‘What shall I do, since I have no place [large enough in which] to store my crops?’ Then he said, ‘This is what I will do: I will tear down my storehouses and build larger ones, and I will store all my grain and my goods there. And I will say to my soul, “Soul, you have many good things stored up, [enough] for many years; rest and relax, eat, drink and be merry (celebrate continually).”’ But God said to him, ‘You fool! This very night your soul is required of you; and now who will own all the things you have prepared?’ So it is for the one who continues to store up and hoard possessions for himself, and is not rich [in his relationship] toward God.”—Luke 12: 16-21 (AMP)

Churches of this age take in vast amounts of money, but what do they do with that money? Do they commission missionaries and send them out—fully supported—to take the Gospel message to the world? Does your church do this?

More often than not, churches of this age seem to use the non-stop flow of money to do exactly what the rich man did in this parable. They build bigger and better buildings, furnishing them lavishly and equipping them with coffee bars, state-of-the-art media equipment, playgrounds for the kids, and the most comfortable seating.

And yet, is the Gospel message going out? Is the community being transformed?

“There are paid preachers, paid assistants, paid ministers of music and education, paid choirs, paid custodians, programs, and entertainment—all costing great sums, but for all that, the power is decreasing. Yes, the church is rich, but the power is not there. God moves by His Spirit, not by the amount of money or talent in the church.” (Branham, p.342)

The great tragedy of the Church in this age is that we see ourselves as rich, wealthy, and in need of nothing, but we are just like the rich man in Jesus’ parable. We foolishly continue to store up and hoard possessions for ourselves, building bigger and greater personal empires, but we are not rich in our relationship toward God.

“Compare this twentieth century church to the first century church. Go ahead. Do that. Where is the power? Where is the love? Where is the purified church that withstood sin and walked with faith toward Jesus? Where is the unity? You can’t find it. If this church has all it needs, why were they crying out for more of God in the Book of Acts as though they didn’t have it all, and yet they had far more than they have today?” (Branham, p.345)

The truth is that, in the eyes of Jesus, the Church in this final age is “wretched, miserable, poor, blind, and naked,” and we don’t even know it!

The Remedy

Thank God that Jesus reveals our true condition to us so that we can address it and correct it!

And He gives us the remedy.

Let’s take a closer look at the three parts of this remedy that Jesus prescribes for us.

“I counsel you to buy from Me gold refined in the fire, that you may be rich. . . “—Revelation 3:18 (NKJV)

There is a price to pay for true riches. Job understood this.

“When He has tried me, I shall come forth as refined gold [pure and luminous].”—Job 23:10 (AMPC)

Gold is purified and refined in fire.

If we are going to be purified and refined, it will be through fiery trials and testings, not by complacently relaxing in comfort.

“Beloved, do not be surprised at the fiery ordeal which is taking place to test you [that is, to test the quality of your faith], as though something strange or unusual were happening to you. But insofar as you are sharing Christ’s sufferings, keep on rejoicing, so that when His glory [filled with His radiance and splendor] is revealed, you may rejoice with great joy.”—1 Peter 4:12-13 (AMP)

If we do not submit to trials now, and respond to them in ways that please the Lord, then God may have no other choice than to leave us here to be refined and purified during the final Great Tribulation period. One way or the other, we must go through trials and testings in order to be prepared to meet the King of Kings and Lord of Lords.

“. . . and white garments, that you may be clothed, that the shame of your nakedness may not be revealed . . .”—Revelation 3:18 (NKJV)

White garments are the clothing of the Overcomers.

“He who overcomes shall be clothed in white garments”—Revelation 3:5 (NKJV)

White garments come with a cost. We must lay down our lives for Jesus Christ in order to be worthy of wearing the white garments of Overcomers.

“And they overcame him because of the blood of the Lamb and because of the word of their testimony, and they did not love their life even when faced with death.”—Revelation 12:11 (NASB)

Our spiritual garments are made white by paying the price of sanctification.

Sanctification requires us to transform our souls through meditation on God’s Word. We renew our minds (as Paul exhorts us in Romans 12:2) by continually replacing the lies we have accepted into our thoughts with the truths of Scripture. As we engraft God’s word into our souls (as James 1:21 instructs us), then every spot, wrinkle, and stain can be washed from our spiritual garments, and we can be presented to the Lord in the brilliant, pure white garments of His Bride, having been conformed to His image.

“Husbands, love your wives [seek the highest good for her and surround her with a caring, unselfish love], just as Christ also loved the church and gave Himself up for her, so that He might sanctify the church, having cleansed her by the washing of water with the word [of God], so that [in turn] He might present the church to Himself in glorious splendor, without spot or wrinkle or any such thing; but that she would be holy [set apart for God] and blameless.”—Ephesians 5:25-27 (AMP)

“Let us rejoice and shout for joy! Let us give Him glory and honor, for the marriage of the Lamb has come [at last] and His bride (the redeemed) has prepared herself. She has been permitted to dress in fine linen, dazzling white and clean—for the fine linen signifies the righteous acts of the saints [the ethical conduct, personal integrity, moral courage, and godly character of believers].”—Revelation 19:7-8 (AMP)

“. . . and anoint your eyes with eye salve, that you may see.”—Revelation 3:18 (NKJV)

Spiritual blindness happens as a result of unbelief.

“Satan, who is the god of this world, has blinded the minds of those who don’t believe. They are unable to see the glorious light of the Good News. They don’t understand this message about the glory of Christ, who is the exact likeness of God.”—2 Corinthians 4:4 (NLT)

The Church today is filled with people who may have intellectual knowledge about God, but they do not really believe in the power of the Gospel. They do not believe that divine healing is for us today. They do not believe in the supernatural operations of the gifts of the Holy Spirit. They do not believe that signs and wonders are for the Church today. They do not believe that God is Who He says He is and that He will do what He says in Scripture that He will do.

There are many people in the Church today who reject large portions of God’s Word and do not believe or accept it as Truth.

Because of this unbelief, many Christians are spiritually blind.

“This I say, therefore, and testify in the Lord, that you should no longer walk as the rest of the Gentiles walk, in the futility of their mind, having their understanding darkened, being alienated from the life of God, because of the ignorance that is in them, because of the blindness of their heart”—Ephesians 4:17-18 (NKJV)

This is not only a problem among church goers, but it may be an even bigger problem among our own Church leaders! Jesus dealt with this kind of unbelief in the religious leaders of His day.

“Let them alone and disregard them; they are blind guides and teachers. And if a blind man leads a blind man, both will fall into a ditch.”—Matthew 15:14 (AMPC)

“For the leaders of my people—
the Lord’s watchmen, his shepherds—
are blind and ignorant.
They are like silent watchdogs
that give no warning when danger comes.
They love to lie around, sleeping and dreaming.
Like greedy dogs, they are never satisfied.
They are ignorant shepherds,
all following their own path
and intent on personal gain.
‘Come,’ they say, ‘let’s get some wine and have a party.
Let’s all get drunk.
Then tomorrow we’ll do it again
and have an even bigger party!’
—Isaiah 56:10-12 (NLT)

But, thank God! The Lord is able to heal spiritual blindness!

“The Lord opens the eyes of the blind”—Psalm 146:8 (NKJV)

“The Spirit of the Lord is upon me,
because he has anointed me
to proclaim good news to the poor.
He has sent me to proclaim liberty to the captives
and recovering of sight to the blind,
to set at liberty those who are oppressed,
to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.”
—Luke 4:18-19 (ESV)

Spiritual blindness can be healed by God, but it requires repentance for unbelief.

“As many as I love, I rebuke and chasten. Therefore be zealous and repent.”—Revelation 3:19 (NKJV)

This may be a harsh message for the Church of our day. Jesus has no praise for this Laodicean church. He has nothing good to say about it, and yet, He still loves us. We are still His children. We should accept this message as the discipline of a loving father who only wants the best for us, and who wants us to turn back from the destructive path we are on before it is too late.

Reference:

Branham, W. M. (2005). An Exposition of the Seven Church Ages. Voice of God Recordings. (PDF)

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